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crooked-wasteland · 11 months ago

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The Anti-Bojack: Anti-Intellectualism and the Death of Substance

In the blog essay “Staging Philosophy: the relationship between philosophy and drama”, Kristen Gjesdal opines on the home of philosophy. Many today would consider philosophy a relic of a bygone era with names such as Keikegaard, Voltaire, and Neitzsche. Many don’t know, however, of the close relationship philosophy has always held with the arts. Gjesdal mentions Ibsen in the article, discussing how many playwrights of the time were avid students of philosophy and how many philosophers regarded the arts highly. Nietzsche spoke of social leaders, specifically the religious leaders of his day in Beyond Good and Evil when he wrote, “Men, not great enough, nor hard enough, to be entitled as artists to take part in fashioning man.” Frankly denouncing the power and influence held by the religious men which he felt was more appropriately left in the hands of artists. In fact, Nietzche considered art the definition of culture and hence why he says that artists are the ones who should be responsible for shaping society and defining what it means to be “man”. As such, the expressions of art, poetry to cinema, is a definition of man and inherently a philosophy.

Bojack Horseman is an openly philosophical series that plays with existentialist schools of thought. Having liked several tweets endorsing the comparison of her work to that of Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Vivienne Medrano demands her work be valued the same way. From being favorably compared to Bojack Horseman to being praised as the “Anti-Bojack”. Which begs to question, what does that even mean? First let’s discuss the Philosophy behind Bojack Horseman, then compare the tweets Medrano liked and her series to that of Bojack directly, and then study the overlapping themes and why Medrano’s style of writing makes her storytelling a mockery to the art.

Existentialism in particular has been the darling of the theater for about the last 150 years, though generally ridiculed by “proper” society. For a philosopher to be labeled a nihilist or existentialist was often a denouncement of their school of thought, often for their general rejection of fundamental social structures like ethics. In 1942, writer Albert Camus published his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, rebranding traditional existentialist concepts as Absurd philosophy.

Camus begins his work poised with the question of suicide and whether life is worth living at all. He argues that life is inherently meaningless, an idea originating with Kierkegaard, but while the latter sided with finding purpose in constitutions like religion, Camus argues that religion itself is a philosophical suicide. In the Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy by Charles Guignon, he writes of the criticisms levied against existential and absurdist philosophies in a society awash in moralist anti-intellectualism. He opens this section by saying, “Existentialism has been criticized from a number of different angles. One line of criticism holds that the emphasis on individual freedom and the rejection of absolutes in existentialism tends to undermine ethics; by suggesting that everyday life is ‘absurd’ and by denying the existence of fixed, binding principles for evaluating our actions, existentialists promote an ‘anything-goes’ view of freedom that exacerbates the nihilism already present in contemporary life.” Which comes from this negative misreading of nihilism.

In their video Nihilism: Are We Missing the Point, youtuber Michael Burns of Wisecrack tells an anecdote of his time in grad school where he paraphrases his professor as saying, “This idea of the constant misreadings of Nietzsche’s writings on Nihilism leads to, his words, angry seventeen-year-old atheists.” Which tends to be the issue when discussing concepts such as nihilism, existentialism and absurdist philosophy. Nietzsche, the credited father of the school of thought, is often taken out of context or his views distorted by society’s sensibilities. For one, the quote given earlier extends further into a condemnation of religion by saying, “Such men, with their "equality before God," have hitherto swayed the destiny of Europe; until at last a dwarfed, almost ludicrous species has been produced, a gregarious animal, something obliging, sickly, mediocre, the European of the present day.” Which many an angry seventeen-year-old and moralist has seen as an endorsement of the might-is-right philosophy that nihilism is credited with.

To a lesser extent, Camus writes in The Myth, “I must say what counts is not the best living, but the most living”. It feels like it should be rather straightforward then, the concept of the thought. More equals better, and Camus practically says as much when he later writes “Why should it be essential to love rarely in order to love much?” However, if one follows the first quote to its natural conclusion, he continues, “The most living; in the broadest sense, that rule means nothing. It calls for definition.” His wording may come off confusing as the essay is translated and the theories involved are dense, but Camus clarifies that “most” could mean the sheer number of experiences or the depth of the experience. He is not saying one or the other is the correct answer, but that both are equally valid ways to live one’s life. The focus, then, is not on directing anyone how they should live, but in the manner they should do so. He says, “It is not up to me to wonder if this is vulgar or revolting, elegant or deplorable … Suppose that living in this way were not honorable, then true propriety would command me to be dishonorable.”

Camus, and even Nietzsche, argue that truth is the only ultimate value. It throws back the moralist dilemma by arguing that living to a code of ethics or values when one is not truly that sort of person is to live reprehensibly. Better is it to live authentically “without appeal” as Camus says, than it is to live the lie of following the rules.

Thomas Polzler from the University of Graz in Austria wrote a 2014 article titled “Absurdism as Self-Help: Resolving an Essential Inconsistency with Camus’s Early Philosophy”. Personally, I fundamentally and adamantly disagree with his assessment that there is any sort of inconsistency in Camus’s writings. Camus’s books of The Stranger, The Plague, and The Fall are not inherently inconsistent, but depict his philosophy in layers.

Like water painting, Camus starts with a thin veneer of color, a loose and almost detached protagonist in Meursault from The Stranger. He is a man aware of the absurd as an individual, the story maintaining the focus of a man living aware his life means nothing and thus seems to have an almost neurodivergent disinterested in the world beyond himself. What he feels in the moment is all that matters, so when he commits murder out of feeling uncomfortable from the heat of the sun and the painful blinding of the light, he is then juxtaposed with the ethical society he exists simultaneously within and outside of. Meursault is held up as a sociopath for not wishing to see his mother’s body the night before her funeral and smoking by her coffin. Because he does not cry at her passing, he is deemed a danger to society. Because he goes on a date to a comedy picture the day after, he is denounced as a menace. None of which has anything to do with the man he killed. The trial highlights the absurdity of ethical society and how the moralists demand the appearance of values over actually having them.

In fact, the trial of Meursault closely resembles that of Bojack and Sarah Lynn. The end of season 3, Bojack and Sarah Lynn go on a cross-country drug-fuelled bender to apologize to people Bojack has hurt in the past, stopping at the Griffith Observatory where Bojack has a profound revelation. He talks about living in the moment and how neither the past or future really matters at all. What you did and your legacy don’t matter if you cannot exist now. It is this moment that he realizes Sarah Lynn is not responding. It isn't until season 6 that it is shown that Bojack waited before calling the police and thus played a hand in Sarah Lynn's death. He is taken to civil court by Sarah Lynn's mother and step-father and made to pay them a fine for his involvement. However, is it really justice when Sarah Lynn's mother exploited her in the business and never once supported Sarah Lynn for what she wanted and what her dreams were, or even just who she was? Can one argue that it is justice when Sarah Lynn was sexually abused by her step-father throughout her childhood? Yes, Bojack does have responsibility in Sarah Lynn's death, but so do her parents. The absurdity of it all being that in no way could there ever be justice for Sarah Lynn.

Brief mental health sidebar. While I have to expressly disagree with Polzler’s reasoning, I do agree with his conclusion. Philosophy and especially Absurd existentialism are powerful tools in the journey to self improvement. It is both the line from Bojack where Diane says "That's the thing. I don't think I believe in 'deep down'. I kind of think all you are is just the things that you do." And Dr. Wong in Rick and Morty when she says, “You seem to alternate between viewing your own mind as an unstoppable force and as an inescapable curse. And I think it is because the only truly unapproachable concept for you is that it's your mind within your control … You are the master of your universe.”

It may be shocking to know that Medrano was not a fan of Dr. Wong, considering the scene all about telling and not showing Rick’s problems. However, this is after two and a half seasons of witnessing Rick’s shortcomings and Dr. Wong is not telling Rick’s problems, but rather identifying the solution. In both the words of Diane and Dr. Wong, who we are, comes down to the choices we make. There is no moral argument being made with either of these comments. Bojack asked Diane to tell him that he’s actually a good person deep down. That he means to be good, that despite his actions he doesn’t want to hurt anyone and that his bad behavior is the fault of his emotionally unavailable and narcissistic parents. So really, he isn’t a bad person. Whereas Dr. Wong calls out Rick’s behavior as a choice because Rick knows he is making these choices.

The difference between Rick and Bojack is the level of personal awareness and responsibility. Rick knows he has the power to change, but simultaneously so miserable but is so afraid of change that he turns himself into a literal pickle and risks his own death over confronting his own choice to stay the way he is. It is easier for him to justify his lack of trying by simply claiming this is just what it means to be as smart as he is. Whereas Bojack feels helpless. Bojack was not set up for success as a child, his success was never validated by his mother and thus he never valued himself, and every time he tries to change he has no internal fortitude to keep from backsliding at the first sign of defeat. Rick knows everything that is making him miserable is himself. Bojack externalizes his misery and thus also externalizes the solution to his problems, which is why he lets himself return to square one whenever things don’t go his way.

Absurdism is the recognition that life is meaningless and thus we have two choices: Live or die. But these concepts are not so straightforward when discussed. To live, in Camus’s philosophy, is to live authentically to oneself. That may sound like Rick’s situation of accepting things as they are, but that is only true in the case of the individual genuinely wanting to be that way. Authenticity is a dichotomy consisting of both how we behave and how we feel. In the case of Rick he lies, cheats, manipulates, and behaves cruelly towards his family. However, it is implied and later revealed that Rick genuinely cares about his family, but is too afraid of experiencing loss to really let them in. So he’s abusive and insulting, keeping his family at an emotional distance that keeps them around, but never too close, making Rick miserable. He really wants his family, so his feelings are at odds with his behavior. So in reality, him claiming “this is just how things are/who I am” is just as weak an excuse and removes agency over oneself as Bojack saying “It’s because my mother was never there for me.”

The actions both Rick and Bojack partake in are what Camus would call a philosophical suicide. Concisely put, to commit a philosophical suicide is to remove one’s sense of agency in their own life. How can one claim to be living when they have no effect on anything including themselves? You would exist in a void no different than a dreamless sleep. Your actions are meaningless, your thoughts are meaningless, your feelings are meaningless because you are a passenger to the act of living. Everything else has power, everyone else can influence you, so you may as well be nothing. Camus includes religion in this section of his philosophy, as living for something other than yourself is the same as not living at all. And this encompasses Ethics.

There is a massive difference between being kind because you are supposed to, and being kind because you want to. This delves further into living inauthentically and how that mere act alone results in misery. Even if one is to behave in a way deemed “right” without making the choice, they will inevitably become resentful. There is no such thing as faking it until you make it. One has to actively choose and change themselves on a fundamental level to find happiness, and that takes work. Just as Dr. Wong says, “It’s just work. And the bottom line is some people are okay going to work and some people, well some people would rather die.”

Which gets to the main point.

Medrano’s liking of a series of tweets calling Blitzo the Anti-Bojack has both infuriated and confused me. I suppose that I should be embarrassed at the latter since it's obvious both Vivienne and her fans lack basic media literacy. It’s actually rather spectacular just how badly they misrepresent the situation of the characters in the narrative. I can only break this down comment by comment.

For one, Bojack’s entire character is that he doesn’t intentionally hurt others. He has his reasons that fundamentally comes from a weak sense of self associated with a child who never had the emotional support he needed growing up. Those aren’t excuses, those are the reasons. Bojack has an unhealed inner child who wants to be a good guy, but he is so caught up in his self-loathing and resentment that he doesn’t do anything about that inner child. Instead he indulges these immature emotions through self medicating with drugs and alcohol, lashing out, promiscuity, and careless spending. These are the symptoms of the problem, the problem does lie in past trauma. The issue is Bojack doesn’t see the solution as himself, but someone or something else. In my post comparing Bojack and Todd’s relationship to Blitz and Moxxie, I pointed out how Bojack and Blitz treat their “closest friends” exactly the same by verbally abusing them and tearing down their abilities. While not always consciously intentional for Bojack, it is to keep Todd feeling codependent on Bojack and thus never leaving him which is abusive and manipulative. For Blitz, the narrative says it's because he is aware of his behaviour and is intentionally pushing Moxxie to be better, which is abusive and manipulative.

My point herein being that these are the same people. There is no Anti-Bojack happening here. If anything, Blitz is more malicious in his abuse seeing as he appears actively aware and intentional in how he mistreats Moxxie. Bojack is abusive towards Todd, but in a way that is a reflection of Bojack. And the series acknowledges how Bojack's inability to be alone actively harms his other relationships. Not just Todd.

In one way, however, Blitz absolutely is the Anti-Bojack. Blitz externalizes the source of his behavior to a character failing on Moxxie's part. And the series reaffirms and justifies Blitz's abuse as okay.

The other misconception of this post is thinking that an explanation is an excuse. Creative Screenwriting did an interview in 2019 with Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s process and philosophy of writing Bojack Horseman, quoting him for the title of the article, “Characters should be understandable in their vulnerabilities.” What Medrano’s fans fail to do, fundamentally, is understand. Their opinions and twitter orations are so barren of understanding that one must ask if they simply choose to ignore what does not serve their narrative or if they really are just incapable of comprehension.

They see Blitz’s mother’s death as a reason for his attitude more than his behavior. His behavior then necessitates that it needs to be excusable. As such, Blitz cannot actually make mistakes. Things happen by chance rather than a deliberate choice on any of the characters’ behalf. The fire in Oops wasn’t a mistake made by Blitz, if it is anyone’s mistake, it is the no-named imp who lit the candle before getting to the room. Blitz didn’t intend to bump the other performer, he just happened to turn at that moment. His mistake, then, is one that only makes sense on a metanarrative aspect. His mistake was deciding not to confess his feelings to Fizz. Which… no. As novel as the concept of the butterfly effect was in 2015, the fundamental nature of something inconsequential being attributed to a disaster negates blame. No one is going to blame the butterfly for a hurricane. Similarly, Blitz’s decision to not confess has nothing to do with the fire, in fact the fire itself is not even his accident. His contribution begins and ends with accidentally bumping the other imp; a situation that would have been entirely harmless if not for another character’s unrelated decision made off-screen.

Additionally, Blitz is a heinously insufferable individual who has been nothing but insulting and abusive to his “friend” throughout the series. He sexually abuses Moxxie in Harvest Moon by touching his penis against his will. He threatens to rape Moxxie and Millie in Murder Family. Blitz humiliates Moxxie through emasculation by masculinizing Millie over Moxxie, mocking Moxxie’s anatomy through his weight and genital size, and degrading Moxxie’s hobbies and abilities. Often without any prompting whatsoever and for Blitz’s own personal enjoyment. Blitz simply is a malicious individual, and at one point the series seemed to know that. The issue isn’t that Blitz is an awful person, it’s the lack of acknowledging that fact. The fans and Medrano conveniently ignore who this character is and what he has done to justify him instead of seeking to understand him. This is a running theme throughout the show.

I also briefly compared the scene in Oops to Herb and Bojack in this post, but I didn’t focus so much on the characters and more the metanarrative reason why Bojack worked and Helluva Boss didn’t.

Here, let’s look at why Bojack went to see Herb: Because Herb told him to. Unlike the scenario between Fizz and Blitz where they didn’t see each other for fifteen years and then conveniently run into each other and just so happen to be spotted by Crimson and Striker who, for some reason, know all about Fizz and Ozzie being a thing and they just keep Blitz around because … he’s the main character. Sure, one could argue both Crimson and Striker have a personal thing against Blitz, makes you wonder why they didn’t, you know, do anything to him? No torture or revenge of any kind, he’s just there now. Conveniently tied up and kept with Fizz instead of literally anything else they could have done with him. There is no internal logic to the characters as to why things turn out this way. As seen in the Mammon episode, it's a metanarrative compulsion to make sure Blitz is in every episode regardless of whether it makes sense or goes anywhere, or not.

Another sidebar, but the fact that so much of the series is not able to be explained within the narrative and requires an understanding of how Medrano and her team formulate a script is a huge issue. It removes the ability to properly dissect the characters as individual people and necessitates a reading of them that is how Medrano wants the audience to think about them. When it comes to the character dissections, it is effectively impossible to have a complete or coherent reading in regards to the literary philosophy of the Death of the Author. You have no story or character if you remove Medrano. The world as a whole completely falls apart unless you inject it with her metacommentary and narrative intention like one would preserve a corpse through glycerin. There is absolutely no substance here. And the longer she goes on, trying to compile the whole show into a coherent narrative of its own is like building a skeleton with a human ribcage, an ostrich spine, an elephant skull and the lower half of a barbie doll.

Bojack calls Herb after finding out he is dying from cancer, Herb tells Bojack to come visit him. He refuses to talk to Bojack any other way, and Bojack is compelled to go by his guilt, not ego. Herb calling him to his house obliterates Bojack’s ego, this is Herb’s home and he is the one being summoned. This is where Herb has the most power compared to, say, over the phone. This is not only a move of superiority on Herb’s part, but an act of submission on Bojack’s. Herb forces Bojack to come to him. Once again, this is what power dynamics look like. But, despite the resentment and awkward bitterness, he does want to see Bojack.

I don’t know how many times I can articulate this. Herb is the one in control and he is the one who wants to see Bojack and he is the one calling the shots. Not at all comparable to Fizz being kidnapped, forced to interact with Blitz and then wholly reliant on him due to the narrative in order to facilitate this forced reconciliation. Herb and Bojack are people with complex feelings and agendas. Blitz and Fizz are two dolls being smashed together and held in place by the will of a childish god.

Second, the reason Bojack calls Herb is because he feels guilty, not for abandoning Herb but because he betrayed Herb. He told Herb he would stand with him and walk off the show if they tried to fire his friend, but according to Bojack, he was a coward and didn’t keep his word. He feels guilt for that, he regrets it. But when he apologizes to Herb for it, Herb corrects him. It isn’t because Bojack didn’t keep his word, like the horse man thought, it was because he thought the betrayal was more important than their friendship.

He’s a coward, but not for staying on Horsing Around. He’s a coward because he didn’t believe in their friendship. They were together for years and Herb thought that meant something, but Bojack avoiding Herb and never reaching out to him showed how little their friendship meant to him. And it wasn’t because Bojack didn’t care, Herb knows that. And that fact is necessary to understanding the sequence. Bojack didn’t value the friendship because he thought he was valueless. He avoided Herb because he thought Herb would never forgive him, because that is how little Bojack thinks of himself. Him calling Herb is the active display of him still not forgiving himself, so he needs Herb to do it for him. And Herb knows all of this.

“You know what your problem is? You wanna think of yourself as the good guy. Well, I know you better than anyone else and I can tell you that you're not. In fact, you'd probably sleep a lot better at night if you just admitted to yourself that you're a selfish goddamn coward, who takes whatever he wants, and doesn't give a shit about who he hurts. That's you. That's BoJack Horseman."

Bojack has no value in himself, leaving him extremely fragile. So he took what he wanted, he took their relationship and defined it for both of them. He ran away, protecting himself while determining that this is what Herb would want, and left Herb alone and powerless even in his closest friendship. Which is why Herb demands Bojack come to see him, it’s Herb reclaiming his power in the relationship. And all of this only has any meaning if you clearly define the fact that Bojack apologized for the wrong thing.

There’s an alternate universe where Bojack doesn’t go back and apologize at all, and he and Herb rebuild their friendship anew in Herb’s last days and they simply, quietly agree to start over. Because that’s not off the table. Herb still values the telescope. He still values their friendship. Bojack, once again, takes it away. And Herb, a dying man, fights viciously to keep hold of it. Him not forgiving Bojack is not wanting his friend back, if anything, it’s because he desperately wants Bojack back that he won’t forgive him.

The telescope isn’t just a metaphor when it breaks. It's the symbol of their friendship the entire time, and the physical actions taking place over it are a screenshot of what happened. Bojack took their friendship and left with it. But it meant something to Herb, and you would only know that by how he fights over it now. And when it breaks it shows that, because of Bojack and his cowardly need to run away from his problems, their relationship is now, finally, beyond repair. Not because Herb didn’t forgive him. It wasn’t over when Herb didn’t forgive him. The telescope is literally on the shelf the entire time.

Bojack ended it, not Herb.

But just like Bojack, Medrano and her fans believe that forgiveness is the end all of the story. It’s why so many people were not invested in Fizzarolli and Blitz makeup. Because Fizz just forgiving Blitz makes everything they went through meaningless. It strips the characters and what they went through of depth and nuance in a single moment. It also validates Bojack's general mindset in the belief that one moment can fix a systemic problem. In this case, Medrano isn't the Anti-Bojack, she just is Bojack.

The issue between Herb and Bojack wasn’t the job, or even the time. It was Bojack. And it is the failure of Bojack identifying the part of himself that resulted in this outcome, and not making the choice to do anything different that results in the end of everything. Maybe Herb would never have forgiven the Bojack who left him. But that’s why Bojack needed to be a different Bojack. And he wasn’t.

Wrapping this back around to the start of the essay and how Absurdist philosophy plays into Bojack intrinsically, Herb says exactly that truth to Bojack. That if Bojack was only honest to himself and lived authentically, maybe he would be able to sleep at night. Because being good is less important than being real.

This reminds me of Jean Baptiste Clamence from Camus’s The Fall. A Frenchman in the seedy center of Amsterdam, a city encircled by canals like the rings of hell. He spends his nights in the bar just outside of the red light district, drunk off his ass, it is uncertain if he is actually telling his story to anyone at all. Over the course of four nights, he tells his story of his fall from grace. His self exile to Hell after being unable to cope with his guilt. He tells so many stories of himself, egotistically claiming he has the lost panel of the Ghent Alterpiece in his apartment, the piece titled The Just Judges.

Even his name is a plea for repentance. John. Baptist. Clemency. He claims to sleep with Judges looming over him. Words endlessly flow from him and he confesses his sins.

It’s when he fesses to witnessing the suicide of a young woman in Paris that he explains why he ran away to Netherlands. He says how she called for help after jumping into the water, but he quickly fled the scene, hearing the splashing below become eerily silent. One could argue that he couldn’t do anything. In the Paris winter, the freezing water of the canal could kill them both, let alone the dangers of trying to save someone who is drowning. The main concern being the victim drowning their savior in a frenzied panic of keeping themselves above the water. It could be said that he did the only thing he could. However, he knows she was aware he was there, so she called out to him specifically when she came to her senses. No one witnessed the incident or knew he was there but her, and no one could fault him for doing nothing.

But he feels the guilt in himself, and thus runs away.

Jean-Baptiste, Bojack and even Diane all have the same mentality. They fetishize their misery and trauma, making themselves important through the loops of suffering they inflict on themselves. Thinking that because the events happened to them, it must mean they are somehow special. That their damage meant something out of all the other people on this planet who suffer. That because they felt alone and responsible, they are a mythical chosen one selected from the masses to do something. They find value in the negative self-image they have, their pain being their purpose.

Because if it didn’t matter, why did it happen to them?

This is where I normally would keep just ripping apart the arguments, but frankly, there isn’t one anymore. For one, the original poster just blatantly lacks any fundamental understanding of Bojack as a series since the entire premise of the show is every season Bojack tries to change.

On a narrative basis, the lack of intentionality on Blitz’s part absolves him from needing forgiveness. Fizzarolli forgiving him holds no weight because Blitz didn’t intentionally set the fire, he didn’t see Fizz in the explosion when he ran away, he didn’t not try to see Fizz in the hospital and then Medrano puts the cherry on top about how Fizz’s life is actually better because of everything that happened. It’s equal parts boring and vile. The conflict is artificial, the resolution is repulsive and contrived. There is no depth to these characters and Medrano actively removes depth, either because she herself lacks the ability to comprehend it or because she knows her fans are incapable of doing so.

Also, let's just not comment on how this line explicitly overshadows Fizz's trauma. Everyone knows you don't end an apology with "but". That negates the whole apology. This is literally "I'm sorry you got hurt and I can never make that up to you, BUT my mom's dead so you don't even know what it's like being me and feeling responsible for that."

While the writers of Bojack sought to make their characters understandable and thus empathetic, they at no point excused or retconned the behavior. The writers on Bojack didn’t do anything to justify their characters in order to control how the audience felt about them. They were showing that the characters were well rounded, had reasons, why they had those reasons, what core memories made them who they are today. And the audience had the choice in how they responded to the characters. Medrano needs her audience to feel the same way about her characters as she does in order for the story to work, because she has never put forth the effort of actually telling this story.

One does not need the interviews with Bob-Waksberg to understand his cast and their story. Everything a viewer needs to know can be found in the show proper. There are not huge points of context happening just over there, off screen, between episodes and relegated to background details. Everything relevant to these characters and their stories is in the show. That has not and at this point never will be the case for Helluva Boss. So in many ways, yes. Helluva Boss is the anti-Bojack.

That's not a good thing.

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hotvintagepoll · 7 months ago

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Propaganda

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[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

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She's Thee Hot Vintage Movie Woman of México. She's absolutely gorgeous and always looks like she's about to step on you. you WILL be thankful if she does.

"María Félix is a woman -- such a woman -- with the audacity to defy the ideas machos have constructed of what a woman should be. She's free like the wind, she disperses the clouds, or illuminates them with the lightning flash of her gaze." - Octavio Paz

María Félix is one of the most iconic actresses of the Golden Era of Mexican Cinema. La Doña, as she was lovingly nicknamed, only had one son, and when her first marriage ended in divorce her ex-husband stole her only child, so she vowed that one day she’d be more influential than her ex and she’d get her son back. AND SHE DID! María Félix rejected a Hollywood acting role to start her acting career in Mexico on her own terms with El Peñón de las Ánimas (The Rock of Souls) starring alongside actor, and future third husband, Jorge Negrete. She quickly rose to incredible heights both in Mexico and abroad, later on rejecting a Hollywood starring role (Duel in the Sun) as she was already committed to the movie Enamorada at the planned filming time. Of this snubbing she said, quote: “I will never regret saying no to Hollywood, because my career in Europe was focused in [high] quality cinema. [My] india* roles are made in my country, and [my] queen roles are abroad.” (Translator notes: here the “india” role means interpreting a lower-class Mexican woman, usually thought of indigenous/native/mixed descent —which she had interpreted and reinvented throughout her acting career in Mexico— and what abroad was typically considered the Mexican woman stereotype, with the braids, long simple skirts, and sandals. This also references the expectation of her possibly helping Hollywood in perpetuating this stereotype for American audiences that lack the cultural and historical contexts of this type of role which would undermine her own efforts against this type of Mexican stereotypes while working in Europe) She was considered one of the most beautiful women in the world of her time by international magazines like Life, París Match, and Esquire, and was a muse to a vast number of songwriters (including her second husband Agustin Lara,), artists, designers, and writers. Muralist Diego Rivera described her as “a monstrously perfect being. She’s an exemplary being that drives all other human beings to put as much effort as possible to be like her”. Playwriter Jean Cocteau, who worked with her in the Spanish film La Corona Negra (The Black Crown) said the following about her, “María, that woman is so beautiful it hurts”. Haute Couture houses like Dior, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Hérmes, among others, designed and dressed her throughout her life. She died on her birthday, April 8, 2002, at 88 years old, in Mexico City. She was celebrated by a parade from her home to the Fine Arts Palace in the the city’s Historic Downtown, where a multitude of people paid tribute to her. Her filmography includes 47 movies from 1942 until 1970, and only two television acting roles in 1970. She has 2 music albums, one recorded with her second husband, Agustín Lara, in 1964 titled La Voz de María y la inspiración de Agustín «The voice of María and the inspiration of Augustín», and her solo album Enamorada «In Love» in 1998. Her bespoke Cartier jewelry is exhibited alongside Elizabeth Taylor’s, Grace Kelly’s and Gloria Swanson’s. In 2018, Film Director Martin Scorsese presented a restored and remastered version of her film Enamorada in the Cannes Classics section of the Cannes Festival and Google dedicated a doodle for her 104th birthday. On august 2023 Barbie added her doll to the Tribute Collection.

Marie Doro:

Unfortunately nearly all of Marie Doro’s movies are lost, and I don’t know a lot about her, but as soon as I came across Marie for the first time, I fell in love with her. The early Edwardian era is my favourite decade for fashion, and Marie wears it all so well! In every photo she looks like an angel made out of porcelain, too perfect to be real. She was Charlie Chaplin’s first love, and he remained in love with her for years after their first encounter, and let’s be honest, who can blame him? He said about her in his biography:

‘She was so devastatingly beautiful that I resented her. I resented her delicate, pouting lips, her regular white teeth, her adorable chin, her raven hair and dark brown eyes. But, oh God, she was beautiful! It was love at first sight. At the theatre I would time the moment that she left her dressing room so as to meet her on the stairs and gulp 'good-evening.' When I met Marie Doro again, it was like the second act of a romantic play. After we were introduced I said: 'But we've met before. You broke my heart. I was silently in love with you.' Marie, looking as beautiful as ever, said: “How thrilling”.

Doro retired from filmmaking in the 1920s and became very reclusive after that, so unfortunately there’s hardly any footage of her to watch. I feel sad that more people don’t know who Marie Doro is, because she’s very important to me.

Linked gifset to see Marie in action

#marie doro #maria felix #hotvintagepoll #fuck that old woman #ladies 3

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oldfashionedbutlervibes · 7 months ago

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Oilver Swift Headcanons Because Im Horridly Forgetful<3

Relationship;

—Okay, too start off he is the most supportive dork you will ever meet

—loves you more than anything-

—He actually has like four brain cells are three of them are specifically for remembering your anniversary

—He takes you to the damn cinema so excitedly like he doesn’t work there-

— gets you a discount on drinks whenever you go

— he also flirts..well, attempts too-

—HE. FUCKING. GIGGLES. AND. TUCKS. IMAGINARY. HAIR. BEHIND. HIS. EAR WHENEVER YOU FLIRT BACK

— god hes chaotic as fuck too-

—if y’all even consider marriage Gingi has to be best man-

Overall a 900/10 relationship<3 :DD

Friendship;

—y’all are getting up to absolute NONSENSE together-

—hes so fun, he just bounces around commits arson and gets high all in one day with you trailing behind him either encouraging his chimp-like behavior or desperately trying to calm him down-

—PLEASE PRAISE HIM FOR DOING BASIC TASKS- he has a very bruise-able ego!!

—So you know how dogman told us how exactly phones kiss? Like, gentle face mashing? He practiced with you-. 10000% yes he did-

—start a book club with him he’ll be your biggest fan and you two can read Dostoyevsky together or sum-

—HE TEXTS IN ALL CAPS WITH ABSOLUTELY NO PUNCTUATION OR GRAMMAR

9/10 friendship in general! (One point docked if you don’t match fez’s with him, then he’ll ghost you and cry in Randy’s dumpster for half an hour)

General;

—…here me out, man’s got pec’s to feed a village. (I’m a good person I promise.)

—Hes a veeeeeery physical touch oriented guy, literally has his arm around someone 24/7

—addicted to Mountain Dew, it’s chronic at this point

—hes a very talented painter, probably only paints the lewdest things imaginable but still, it’s something!

— he makes his bed a very specific way and actually beams whenever someone compliments it

—he has a collection of classic literature and poetry that he will rant about upon asking

—Jerry’s adhd son- Oliver has Jerry on speed dial incase he tries doing something strenuous and or stupid- (yes I realize how odd that speed dial part sounds upon reading it over)

— Owns over eight flannels for different ocassions-

—…….hes very experienced in the lewd activities some of you’d like to partake him don’t ask me how I know-

Overall, If you can’t tell I loveeee this silly little moron- (apologies once again for this taking so long once again, I appreciate all of your support so very much- please, send me a request if you’d like more-) (it also wouldn’t let me add the photo at the top AAA tumblr how darent you-)

(Update: OH. MY. GOD??? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT I LOVE EVERYONE OF YOU-)

#dialtown #randy jade #dialtown oliver #dialtown randy #jerry dialtown #dialtown phone dating sim #oliver swift #hes my bbg #I

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embarassedwithapicketsign · 25 days ago

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lucy x reader blurb

date nights

rpf!!!

- you and lucy loved trying new things during date nights. you tried pottery for the first time, expecting to make some cute bowl or mug, but yours ended up looking more like something that came from a kindergarten classroom (the worst part being that lucy's was an artwork and though she insists that she loves yours, she still brings it out from the cupboard to show people in fits of laughter)

- some of your mutual friends had recommended an axe throwing place that sounded fun (lucy decided you were creepily good at it and forbid you from ever doing it again) (she claimed it was unrelated how she had just finished listening to a murder podcast)

- sometimes you would choose to stay home, trying new recipes that sometimes turned out amazing and sometimes were such complete disasters that they led to lucy pulling out the fire extinguisher while you phoned for some takeout

- however, both of you agreed that your favourite place ever for date nights was this small, old style cinema that you and lucy would drive out to in the next city over. you both would dress in horribly unconvincing disguises that tended to draw more attention than divert it, and pick the absolute worst movie that was showing. it started out as a competition to see who could find the cheesiest romcoms, but gradually you had both become genuinely invested and had serious plans to go see 'a bite to kill 2' (an unnecessary sequel to a low budget horror movie about a shark attack where the cgi is so bad it becomes a comedy)

- lucy being lucy, drew up a way to rank them so you two could definitively say which was the best, worst movie you two had watched (important headings include: most plot holes per minute, an unrealistic plot twist (actually a requirement for you both), amount of random musical numbers), and you would both write up your unnecessarily long and detailed letterboxd reviews as if you were writing serious academic papers

- another thing you both loved to do on nights together was go to late night poetry readings, though this was something of a rarity as the small, independent bookshop in your area only held them once or twice a month. you two would stay up for hours afterwards talking about it, and though you were still trying to convince your girlfriend to divulge her own poetry, she was gradually becoming more open to the idea

- mostly you just loved spending time together, so whenever you didn't have time to plan a big excursion, you would do simple things like a trip to your favourite record store to pick out some new albums, or carving pumpkins during fall and christmas market shopping in december

#boygenius x reader #lucy dacus x reader #phoebe bridgers x reader #julien baker x reader #this is so stupid

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light-lanterne · 11 months ago

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random idea i just had:

a small offering @boycattj, @byelerss, @catboy-cabin, @conanssummerchild, @cosmobrain00, @dark-quill, @fenixashes, @fluffyfangirl, @holyvirgilscriptures, @foodiewithdahoodie, @hyperfixationcentralsvoid, @karenchildress @runninguplenorahills, @rotisseries, @saffirez, @willow-lark, @yearninginblue.

au where the party, nerds as they are, spend their afternoons in the school library reading novels and scientific journals, and playing a game of "who can find the weirdest trivia fact of the week". one day, as they are doing this, mike comes across a very unassuming notebook hidden amidst the oldest books in the library, the cover for which has three simple words written sloppily on its cover which read:

"do you dare?"

intrigued, mike opens the notebook and discovers a series of riddles and clues that has him running around the library and unveiling obscure novels and forgotten poetry books, each of them bringing him closer to crack the hidden code until, just in time before the library closes, he manages to uncover a rather confusing message:

"welcome to the hellfire club. you will find your first task inside your locker, first thing in the morning."

needless to say, he immediately discards it as absolute bullshit and goes on with his evening, saying goodbye to his friends and quickly forgetting about the affair as he heads home and busies himself with his homework.

however, he is immediately reminded of it all when he arrives at school the next morning, early for once, and finds a little note folded neatly atop his messy school books, the same handwriting as in the notebook staring him right in the face and he almost freaks out, for no one has his lock combination nor did he see anyone in the library other than his friends so there's no way anyone would've seen him figure out the code.

and yet there it is, and he kind of wants to scream, but he has to keep his composure lest he scares his arriving friends and gets in trouble with them for playing weird games without telling them about it.

thus, he hides the paper and decides to burn it as soon as he gets home, then opens it in the restroom during lunch for he is curious by nature and it certainly wouldn't hurt to just see what it has to say, right? it's only a piece of paper and he's completely and utterly alone here, so whoever's behind it can't possibly know if he read it or not,,, right ?

so he opens it, holds his breath for a moment, then reads it and sighs in relief as he notices it's nothing but a simple challenge:

"graffiti the bathroom stall."

a silly prank indeed. nothing mike hasn't done by himself quite a few times in the past, in fact, nor anything to freak out about considering it's a simple, harmless request.

so,,, mike decides to play along, if only so he can maybe figure out who is behind this and ask how they knew he'd cracked the code, how they figured out his locker combination, or what even is the hellfire club.

and at first, the challenges are rather innocuous: hide mrs. click's textbook before class, "misplace" the basketball's team storage key, put some roses in (will's) a classmate's locker without being spotted, free his neighbour's neglected dog and take it to a loving home, lock troy walsh's bike to a tree without him finding out.

then, they get a little more complicated: spend an entire day inside the cinema without paying a dime or getting kicked out, steal the chief of police's pen from his pocket, walk into a store's fitting room to try something then exit without paying while wearing the garment, make out sloppy with his male best friend in a broom closet during homecoming, take some of his parent's money and donate it to a cause they wouldn't support.

(make out with his best friend again during sunday's morning service at church, then escalate it a little more for extra points, if he dares)

little by little, mike gets lost in the game and soon he stops questioning the origin of the notes, or the increasing amorality of the requests, or how the one behind them always knows when he's succeeded. all he knows is that the notes have promised him a big reward should he complete fifty tasks successfully, and he's not about to give up now that he's come so far.

so he plays, and he becomes obsessed with winning, and it only occurs to him that something's terribly wrong when he reaches the fiftieth challenge and the note for his last task is left on his bedroom's desk, the black ink with which they'd all been written suddenly gone and replaced by red words.

"kill someone,"

his last challenge reads, and mike's much too involved to resist.

- the end -

(pretty sure this type of concept has a name, but i can't really remember it rn and i think the ending for that thing is far darker so let's leave it at this x.x also, feel free to imagine the type of funky business mike gets up to throughout the game; anything that would be "amoral" goes i suppose ~)

#✨#🧸#byler #byler fanfic #byler fanfiction #byler ficlet #will byers #mike wheeler #dark byler agenda

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calciumdeficientt · 3 months ago

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I BEG… FOR TOM… GURNEY… HEADCANONS…

THOMASSSSSS MY SONNNNN MY BOYYYYYYYYY yah absolutely :3

TOM GURNEY HEADCANONS

That’s an autistic boy if i ever did see one. Tom is me i am tom. The no shoes thing is definitely a sensory issue, i like to think its the socks more than its the shoes, likely the seams around the toes. I feel like if tom is forced to wear socks and shoes he’s got very specific sensory needs. Absolutely no ankle socks, those were sent by the government to make your ankles feel like they’re being strangled by their oppressive regime, only gym socks pulled up as far as they can physically stretch with sneakers that are tied so tight he takes them off and there’s an indent of the laces on his foot and absolutely zero circulation from the ankle down

Tom runs a very successful horror blog, he talks about behind the scenes info for his favourite movies and also provides ratings of movies both new and old. It’s really funny to watch him in the cinema because he sits with a little norepad and makes notes the whole time so he can come up with a decicive score on the blog. He spends a lot of time in the movies, its where most of the money he threatens out of other students ends up. He goes to watch movies a minimum of 5 times to make sure he didn’t miss any details or lose any plot points that might bump up his initial scores. He has a secret spreadsheet and everything, its insane commitment, but special interest is gonna special interest, am i right gamers?

A very very good student when he applies himself, especially as a creative writer, if you look past all the blood, gore, and general slasher rapiness in his works you can definitely see all the signs of a promising novelist or screenwriter. In the poetry department, he’s not so stellar. Tom is still of the mindset that all poems must rhyme and are generally quite superficial and pointless pieces of writing. And they’re completely separate to all the private free form stuff he writes in his journal from time to time. Those aren’t poems at all they’re just… succinct vents

Tom is also a greatly talented drummer, the kid has rhythm all the way up to his eyeballs, and if he wasn’t so scared i think he’d be a great asset to bullworth’s marching band. But he knows he’d get torn to shreds by his friends so he stays well enough way no matter how hard miss peters begs for him to try out. He borrows a drum kit Russel keeps in his garage and practices using karaoke tracks of songs he illegally torrented onto his iPod, no sheet music, just vibes.

Tom’s face bruise is actually part bruise and port wine stain birthmark, hence why it stays that lovely purple hue forever. The redness in his eye is from repeated blows to the head from both friends and foes but the purple skin around his eye is (mostly) just birthmark

The rest of his bruises are actually just from minor injuries. I think tom has elhers danos syndrome (EDS) so the kid bruises like a peach. Minor bumps from passersby in the busy halls of bullworth leave him looking like he was in a full on beat down. That’s not to say that he’s not often in huge scuffles because he absolutely is, he’s just a little more physically delicate than the other bullies

Tom has the hots for angie (at least in my save he does) so he tries to act like a sweetheart whenever he’s around her. He knows that she knows he’s a bully but i think tom really wants to show her that he’s more than that, he’s better than that. Tom doesnt even like being a bully all that much, it’s just the hard facts of life at bullworth that you’re either in or out, and god knows he wouldn’t last a day if he was out.

#bully cce #bully #bully canis canem edit #bully se #bully rockstar #bully scholarship edition #bully bullies #tom gurney

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firelise · 1 year ago

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Further Context:

-Sand and Ray smoke into each other's mouths kiss? what more can I say? marvelous

-Nick watching Boston and Top fuck nasty in the car from just a few feet away while listening to it live on the recording he wiretapped the car with? bellisima...

-Mew's "I love the sound you make when having sex" while his boyfriend is pinned down underneath him and he plays audio of him cheating to confirm the matching moans??? previously undiscovered levels of iconic achieved.

-Mew tapping in Nick, then putting on badboy drag to dig dirt on Boston and blackmail him with a sex tape in front of his family, dangle Boston's metaphorical lil legs over the railing, and then shrug it off with a smile??? A genius.

-Sand and Ray violently fighting into passionately making out?? changed my brain chemistry.

-Ray inserting himself into bed between Sand and Nick and clinging to Sand like a koala?? name a female comedian.

-Ray's gratitude cheek kisses post-making LOVE to Sand and having his head banged against the wall of a caravan??? Cinema. Poetry.

-Mew's "We don't know what the future holds" evil smile into Boeing's entrance? Going on a date with his boyfriend's ex as more revenge? Diabolical.

-Music swelling as Ray calls out to Sand across a bar and they just look at each other and cry, exhausted and both absolutely gutwretchingly in love, as Ray simply says "I'm sorry"?? I YELLED. Electricity. Peak romance.

-Nick's rise to supreme - going out with his boss by day, hanging with Boston by night, and making out with Boston's current enemy for revenge, to then go back to Boston's place and kiss Boston some more?? Applause. Awards.

#only friends the series #only friends #ofts #i started listing and decided it should be a poll #this is partial genuine interest partially me just venting i cant believe its gonna end #;(#dont cry because its over cry because it happened

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mrhaitch · 2 months ago

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Hello! I hope you’re doing well today!

Since you said that you used to work for a cinema chain, has it ruined the concept of good old movie dates for you?

Because someone in my family works for a cinema chain as well (they look over the construction and management) and whenever we go to the movies, they can’t help but see everything with a critical eye. It’s like their work has taken the joy for the movie experience away from them.

Before I answer - I will absolutely get around to your poetry ask when I've got the brain space, please don't think I've forgotten.

Yes it has ruined cinema for me, which is a shame as it was once our favourite date night and I used to go for free (plus 25% off on food).

I can hear a whisper on the other side of a crowded auditorium and see the faint glow of someone's phone even when they're six or seven rows behind me. Without checking I can tell you with reasonable accuracy who has been pissing into an empty coke cup instead of going to the toilet, who has been spitting gum on the floor, and which two people are most likely to start a fight.

For four years I went into a cinema screen ready to be screamed at, spat on, to cradle and comfort someone having an epileptic seizure, put out fires, restrain drunks, and generally deal with all manner of nightmares and high-adrenaline scenarios.

What's worse is that I'm both good at dealing with those things, and part of me misses them. I hated that job, but there's nothing like the feeling when everything has gone wrong, your back is against the wall, someone is about to be seriously hurt, and for some magical reason you're the one who has the presence of mind to move, to help.

It also meant I've defused more fights than I can remember, and had way too many knives waved in my face or pointed at me. Thank god I only ever had to lay hands on people a couple of times.

But yeah, cinemas are horrifying places when you've spent time on the other side of the screen - so to speak.

#mr.haitch #mrhaitch #mr haitch #mrhaitch answers you too

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tamavonpineapple · 1 year ago

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Leosagi culture shocks I wanna see (based on my personal hcs)

Medicine/hygiene: as excited as Leo is to finally have Usagi visiting New York, you can't tell me that one of the first things Leo does isn't throwing his edo period boyfriend in the shower and chucking his clothes in the washing machine. Since they live in a sewer, Splinter made extra sure to drill good hygiene and cleanliness into his tots. As such Usagi's first two visits are spent learning about soap/shampoo (special kind for fur from Hidden City), toothbrushing, toilets, etc. I feel like he'd be amazed and shocked at how much cleanliness actually matters when it comes to health. He'd also be dragged to Donnie's lab frequently for vaccines. Even after bacteria and viruses are explained to him, Usagi would still be kind of scared and Leo is just holding his boyfriend's hand the whole time. Considering Leo is the resident medic, Usagi would be very interested in hearing Leo info dump on how surgeries and major wound stitches are done along with disinfection.

Modern tech: this one's obvious, he's from the Edo period and Leo is from the 21st century. Usagi is mesmerized by how advanced everything is and is shocked that none of it is magic. Donnie takes immense pleasure in educating Usagi in the ways of modern technology and how it all functions.

Culture: as a traveller, Usagi probably has quite the open mind for his time and generally appreciates the new cultures he comes across. I think he'd be so amazed at how big and how diverse the world is. Especially when it settles in how Japan (what was previously his whole world) is such a small part for an enormous planet. Considering that New York is an immigrant city, Usagi would probably adore how much of a cultural melting pot it is. Leo gets them some cloaking broaches and the two have several dates just exploring the cultural hubs of New York. Be it the traditional preserved cultures or the new ones created from the mesh.

Self expression: another thing I feel Usagi would appreciate is how freely people can express themselves. Be it gender or culturally, people just wear what they want. Especially people as nonchalant as the turtles. The four have been having fashion nights with April since forever and no way they didn't absolutely slay in dresses and skirts. No way they also didn't drag Usagi into their fashion shenanigans.

Art: it's canonically confirmed that Usagi is a lover of art in all its forms. He'd absolutely loose his mind at how many styles of everything there are. I can see him bonding with Mikey in this aspect, with the young turtle showing Usagi all the best drawing/painting techniques there are. Music is another big thing: he's that one dude who's spotify is just a mix of everything (different genres, languages, instruments, etc). Electro music is something he'd take longer to warm up too, but I think he'd end up enjoying vocaloid. Mostly because of how diverse in themes vocaloid is (depression, love, violence, redemption, etc) and because it's his first exposure to modern music that he can actually understand (since it's japanese).

Reading: I don't think Usagi would've been an avid reader before Leo. Mostly cause there wasn't much to read. Now that he can visit New York, he just gobbles up whatever literature he can find. He reads a mix of Japanese and English (helped him learn the language faster). Usagi really likes mythology, history, and poetry books. He also has a taste for the occasional novel and manga that Leo recommends him. As a samurai, Usagi's all about self improvement. So I feel like he'd read a lot therapy-esque books regarding things like healthy relationship and adjusting to new perspectives. He'd also work on any biases or assumptions he has from living in Edo Japan (like towards disabilities).

Media: like with any other tech, Usagi is shocked by how easy it is to learn anything curtesy of the internet. I also feel like he'd have a deep appreciation for the art of cinema considering its like theater but so much more. Especially with animation since its story told through moving art. Hell I bet he and Mikey have their own little animation stop motion drawing pads.

Relationships: here's where the biggest shocks are mostly cause how different things are from how Usagi was raised. First comes his relationship with Leo and how they each express love. Even nowadays PDA is frowned upon in Japan and Japanese don't tend to explicitly outright say they love each other. Usagi, who's probably very reserved with his affection and likely a little touch starved, is just floored with how openly affectionate both physically and verbally Leo is. I feel like he'd be a little embarrassed at first and slowly ease into being more open with how he loves Leo in more physical ways. Then there's the general Hamato dynamic. Even now, japanese culture has emphasis on respecting elders and the heavy expectations children have to succeed in the eyes of said parents. Combined with general edo period extreme formalities between parents and their children plus how Usagi's father barely raised him yet still put pressure on him to become a great samurai. Then we have Splinter: a rat man who's doing his absolute best to be involved in his kids lives and make up for the time they lost due to his trauma (mother's death, kidnapping, battle nexus, turning into a rat, etc), never pressures his kids, lets them grow as individuals and enjoy their own interests, very involved in their shenanigans, works hard to support his kids, and (most importantly) freely shows unconditional love. Just seeing a parent as involved and affectionate as Splinter is would be a big shock to Usagi. Especially a male parent cause traditional gender roles and since Usagi is from an era where fathers freely send their sons to die for honor while Splinter would blow up the Earth before even thinking of knowingly putting his sons at risk. Plus the brothers constant talk back and disobey their father. Then we go to the sibling dynamics. Like with parent-child relationships, edo period sibling dynamics were draped in formality and seriousness: affection is very reserved and any threats are literal plus the hierarchy placed by seniority. The Hamato siblings are probably Usagi's first exposure to a normal healthy sibling dynamic. Which would probably be confusing in itself since sibling relationships are a weird mesh of superficial hate but genuine love. Like Donnie wouldn't hesitate to take a bullet for Leo but no way in hell is he touching his new boots. Any of the brothers could be arguing as if they're about to kill each other and be cuddling on the couch not 15 minutes later. The constant back and forth would be a whiplash for Usagi and it would take some time to fully decipher how they communicate. Then there's their relationship with April. Splinter doesn't see her as his daughter but she is undeniably the Hamato's big sister. If you add in Cass and Sunita, then you have Usagi reveling in finally having strong independent female friends who aren't potential love interests. Throw in Casey Jr and the typical TMNT adventures and you've got Usagi collapsing exhausted from the sheer craziness of this friend group. Usagi would be civil and respectful with Draxum.

Okay i completely forgot about this, I saw it during vacations and then proceeded to forget about it. Sorry Okay, ejem, there are thing that I want to adress.

1. During that (and previous) period, japan already had toothbrushes, shampoo and soap, they already new about hygiene. We tend to imagine that this topics are modern and, let's be honest, came from Europe. No, for GODS' SAKE TOILET PAPER WAS INVENTED IN CHINA DURING THE 6th CENTURY!! And let's bw honest, Usagi lives in a world of furries, of course they already specialize soap/shampoo. I had nothing to add to the vaccines, i had a couple of scenes already planned regarding that topic. However, Usagi has been stabbed a couple times, and was perfectly fine with Chizu drugging him so he could get a rest, I can't really picture this man being a childman who needs to hold someone's hand to get vaccinated. (tho it'll be ironic, ngl)

Culture: Usagi himself has stated some levelnof discomfort regarding immigrants in Japan, because is japan, I wont go deep here, cuz theres a bunch of articles and videos about japan being an isolated country. It is certainly easier to imagine an initial rejection and a LONG adaptation process that will culminate with him accepting that the world is much more diverse than he imagined, but he would not stop being himself.

Art: usagi and Mikey bonding through art It's another plot that I had envisioned for rabbit stew, Usagi's fascinated by markets, color pencils, and all that, but usagi will also showed him the traditional techniques from his father homeland, cuz you know, sumi-e and ukiyo-e, since they're not inferior to modern of different techniques. (Btw have you ever heard of that band that plays with modern and traditional instruments?)

youtube

As for the rest of it, I mostly agree with the other points you've made. Except for one small detail that is bothering me and that is that it only seems to focus on how New York is going to change Usagi... I'll be real with you all, if we are just going to make Usagi a white dude and erase what being a 16th century samurai is... Well, I don't see the appeal anymore.

There are also things to rescue from there that the modern society lacks, despite of how murky the society in which he was raised may be. But here it seems like we're focusing on how cool New York is over Japan.

And let me tell you, food, environment, manners, global warming? These are some of the many things that Usagi will have a strong opinion on... That's if it survives the rot that is being fed microplastics to actually learn about it.

#usagi yojimbo #miyamoto usagi #leosagi #usagi miyamoto #turtle soup #leonardo hamato

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wen-kexing-apologist · 1 year ago

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Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those who are not aware, I have decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s Queer Cinema Syllabus and have officially started Unit 2: Race, Disability, and Class. The films in Unit 2 are: The Way He Looks (2014), Being 17 (2016), Naz and Maalik (2015), The Obituary of Tunde Johnson (2019), Margarita With a Straw (2014), My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Brother to Brother (2004), and Beautiful Thing (1996)

Today I will be writing about

Brother to Brother (2004) dir. Rodney Evans

[Run Time- 1:31, Available- Amazon, Netflix, Language: English”

Summary: “A drama that looks back on the Harlem Renaissance from the perspective of an elderly, black writer who meets a gay teenager in a New York homeless shelter.” from IMDB

Cast: * Anthony Mackie as Perry * Roger Robinson as Bruce

___

God. You know what. I am really fucking glad that I decided to do this project. Because there are so many beautiful pieces of art out there that I never knew existed and it has been such a treat to experience them now.

I don’t know if y’all know this about me, but I am an absolute slut for beautiful prose, and this film is just plastered scene to scene with wonderful words. This film is poetry. Which makes sense because it centers heavily around Richard Bruce Nuget, and other famous authors and artists of the Harlem Renaissance: Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Wallace Thurman. This film is woven through with their words, their lives, their experiences. It was just…

It’s a reminder for me that I have a lot more reading to do.

Because, I’ll be honest, I haven’t read any of their work. I think in high school we were asked to read Their Eyes Were Watching God in my American Literature class, but we were asked to do so as an optional reading over a school break, so no one did it.

Brother to Brother just so beautifully unpacked the multiple layers of oppression that come from being Black and queer. There are so many conversations in this film about how Black gay men have historically been harmed by white communities for being Black, and by Black communities for being gay. This is not a film where much happens, the forward progression does not really exist. Instead the audience is taken on a journey through the past, to the life and times of the Harlem Renaissance.

I loved everything about this film. I loved that the memories were told in black and white, that they rooted us in the time. That Perry and Bruce could stand in a corner watching the scene unfold, imaging, remembering the life that existed in Harlem. That they could stand in this broken down home, abandoned and falling to pieces, and remember when it was real, and habitable.

A decent amount of this film takes place in the former home that Bruce lived in when he and the other famous writers were all living together in Harlem. In 2004, the house is in ruins, condemned, wood rotting, dust everywhere. And there is a moment near the end of the film where Perry sees a door beyond the stairway for the first time and he asks “what’s this door?” and Bruce responds “That was Langston’s room,” and I was just…struck by this weight. This is a film set, I know this, and yet I was just hit with the force of understanding that there are doors all over the world that important people, influential famous historical people slept behind.

And that includes the closet door.

Bruce Nuget was important for many reasons, but in case you don’t know anything about him, as I did not until like three hours ago, Bruce Nuget was one of the few publicly out gay men of the time. I cannot find much on his Wikipedia page about how he lived, but in Brother to Brother, Bruce is presented as a homeless man. Which, accurate to his actual life or not, was a very important detail for me. Because I have worked with unhoused people in the past, and they are people society so frequently disregards, and there are many assumptions placed on unhoused folk about their contributions to society. Homeless people are so frequently referred to and regarded as net negatives to society, and yet, I know people who are unhoused who graduated from fucking MIT, and who worked as nurses, and how are putting themselves through school right now. And please do not get me wrong here, homeless folk who do not have those types of accolades ascribed to them are just as important and vital to society and their community.

But to have this prominent, famous writer, painter, artist be unhoused both, in my mind, acts as a metaphor for the destruction that was wrought upon his life as he lost his friends one by one, and as the Harlem Renaissance disappeared in to the Great Depression. And it also serves as a reminder that fame and notoriety do not protect Black gay men. Perry says to Bruce something like “I can’t believe you’re homeless, a respected author of the Harlem Renaissance” and Bruce responds with “I was sleeping in hallways and rooftops then, what’s the difference now? Respected? You couldn’t write about being gay then.”

Queer people, queer culture, has always been driven and supported by the unhoused, by sex workers, by trans women of color. It is important that Bruce be homeless in this film. It is important for us to see how our society fails its citizens, especially intentionally.

As a white person myself, I am not certain I have a place to discuss in depth and detail the commentary in Brother to Brother around homophobia in the Black community that is constantly being referred to. So I’ll let the film speak for itself here:

“James Baldwin wasn’t tolerated. I mean, he was basically silenced because him being gay as a threat to the major leaders of the civil rights movement.” || “I didn’t even know James Baldwin was gay” ||“We’re talking about activism and political struggle, not what people do with their sex organs. If you like to take it up the ass- The majority of people at the time didn’t care that Baldwin was gay, That’s completely beside the point” || “This class is about Black political struggle” || “And what I have to say has nothing to do with that?”

“That anger you feel about white people is how brothers feel about me being gay” || “You know if you got in to any trouble, they still got your back.”

“I know about white men and black men, and I’ve been menaced by both.” || “That’s right, and the psychic distance between love and hate is the same as the physical distance between a smile and a sneer”

And since this syllabus is technically a build up towards BL, I want to mention briefly that some of these statements remind me a lot of the messages in The Eclipse. Because The Eclipse discusses as part of its main thesis that in order to keep the status quo, you can weaponize oppressed groups against their own people, or against other oppressed groups as a means of survival. Chadok is a gay man, and his authoritarianism is driven from trying to remain in a position of power. Akk is a gay teen, and he is being manipulated and brainwashed by a gay man in to enacting terrible deeds against other gay teens.

Similarly, Brother to Brother says: “blacks and queers were the vices that needed to be cleaned up to get the country back up on its feet,” which to me serves to unite Black people and queer people in a common struggle.

I also drew a parallel between the messages in Brother to Brother and the way that I have been engaging and discussing Only Friends, in a scene where Nuget, Hurston, Hughes, Thurman are discussing starting their literary magazine Fire!! comes the line:

“They have been so busy justifying their presence in a hostile, racist environment that they’ve ceased to be human beings. With the new magazine we will cease to look for respectability in the white person’s eyes. We will express the beauty and ugliness of our individual selves for ourselves. If anything is deemed disturbing or pornographic, then so much the better”

And it instantly made me think of the conversations I have been having around queerness and respectability politics/respectable promiscuity in Only Friends. I was thinking about my essays on queer culture, cruising, tearooms, etc. when I was watching a young Bruce Nuget get arrested for engaging in sex in a public bathroom. I was thinking about the Steven Barker photo I added to this post and the photobook it came from, when I was watching Wallace Thurman taking nude photos at a house party. I think Brother to Brother just so seamlessly integrates the realities of queer life in to its story.

For me, this is one of those “everyone should watch it” types of films. It was beautiful the whole way through.

For/By/About

Gay Trifecta!

Again, the for is a little tenuous, because I always feel like the race, disability, or class element in this unit’s films is what is supposed to be highlighted. But this is a story of a Black gay man learning from a Black gay man. And those two things are absolutely and inextricably linked. The way this film discusses homophobia, the way queerness is included and referenced, just feels like it is speaking to queer people.

Favorite Moment

This is really difficult. I think my favorite scene is this moment where Bruce is talking with a bartender friend of his about recognizing someone you barely know. He gives this beautiful line:

“...Their entire past and future flashes right before your eyes. And your heart starts beating faster, cause you know how hard their life’s gonna be. And it just tears you up inside. I just listened and stared at him. And I wanted to hold him. And I looked down at my hand and thought to myself, “Where’d this come from?” You ever think like that? Like, “What’s the hot piece of ass doing trapped in this old man’s body?””

Because there are a few other moments in this film where Bruce is thinking about the past, and he is always and constantly looking at himself as a young man. It is just this wonderful visual representation of adulthood, of aging, and of maintaining a spirit that burns forever young and passionate. And it is especially wonderful to watch, knowing that some of Bruce’s friends died so young. Knowing that by the time we meet Bruce in the present he is the only one remaining.

Favorite Quote

“I think Langston really taught me about kindness. Zora taught me how to listen, and Wally, he showed me how to use words like weapons and how to have fun with them. Actually, maybe I taught him that.”

This line is said by Bruce to Perry, and it is, for me, just an absolutely beautiful reminder that history lives right beside us. That these massively important, influential people, were just that…people. They were friends, they learned from each other, they partied, they fought, and they left this world some truly beautiful words.

Score

10/10

#queer cinema syllabus #queer media #brother to brother #brother to brother (2004)#lgbtq #queer #queer film

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