#introducing... Diva!Priscilla !

[blokettte]

took me 8 months (on and off) and accidently deleting my entire sims 3 folder but i finally finished my lepacy challenge that I started last November. So let me introduce you to this family:

Generation One: Base Game - Annika Gonzalez (née Rae)

Traits: Schmoozer, Ambitious, Bookworm, Flirty, Handy

Lifetime Wish: Renaissance Sim

Occupation: Journalism

Partner: Darren Gonzalez (Husband)

Children: Clemencia Gonzalez, Arturo Gonzalez, Valentina Gonzalez

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Generation Two: World Adventures - Clemencia Gonzalez

Traits: Hopeless Romantic, Lucky, Genuis, Adventurous, Natural Cook

Lifetime Wish: Private Museum

Occupation: Culinary

Partner: Gustave Delvin (fling/one-night stand), Theodore Bachelor (Husband)

Children: Antoine Gonzalez, Riley Bachelor

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Generation Three: Ambitions - Antoine Gonzalez

Traits: Eccentric, Ambitious, Genius, Neurotic, Perfectionist

Lifetime Wish: Paranormal Profiteer

Occupation: Ghost Hunter

Partner: Kate Lee (Wife)

Children: Priscilla Gonzalez, Enzo Gonzalez, Keelly Gonzalez (Time Machine Child), Dorothy Gonzalez (Time Machine Child), Zero Gonzalez (Simbot)

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Generation Four: Late Night - Priscilla Gonzalez

Traits: Schmoozer, Mean Spirited, Dramatic, Good Sense of Humor, Star Quality

Lifetime Wish: Superstar Actor

Occupation: Film (Acting Branch)

Partner: Matthew Hamming (ex-Fiancé), Vladimir Schlick (boyfriend)

Children: Otto Gonzalez-Hamming, Lilith Gonzalez-Schlick

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Generation Five: Generations - Otto Gonzalez-Hamming

Traits: Athletic, Good, Nurturing, Adventurous, Dramatic

Lifetime Wish: Surrounded by Family

Occupation: Firefighter, Teaching

Partner: Jodie Duke (Wife)

Children: Silena Gonzalez, Marigold Gonzalez, Eli Gonzalez, Guiliana Gonzalez, Grayson Gonzalez

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Generation Six: Pets - Selina Gonzalez-Duke

Traits: Animal Lover, Lucky, Good, Loves the Outdoors, Family-Oriented

Lifetime Wish: The Jockey

Occupation: Horse-riding

Partner: Joshy Gonzalez(Husband/Imaginary Friend)

Children: Angelina Gonzalez

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Generation Seven: Showtime - Angelina Gonzalez-Duke

Traits: Diva, Natural Born Performer, Snob, Dramatic, Schmoozer

Lifetime Wish: Vocal Legend

Occupation: Singer

Partner: Callum Ford (ex-boyfriend)

Children: Odette Gonzalez-Ford

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Generation Eight: Supernatural - Odette Gonzalez-Ford

Traits: Proper, Ambitious, Brooding, Supernatural Fan, Rebellious

Lifetime Wish: Master of Mysticism

Occupation: Fortune Teller (Mystic Branch)

Partner: Dante Goldsmith (boyfriend - deceased)

Children: Sage Gonzalez-Goldsmith, Belladonna Gonzalez-Goldsmith

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Generation Nine: Seasons - Sage Gonzalez-Goldsmith

Traits: Ambitious, Friendly, Frugal, Loves the Heat, Kleptomaniac

Lifetime Wish: Home Design Hotshot

Occupation: Interior Design

Partner: Lily Carter(Wife)

Children: Aelia Gonzalez, Artemisia Gonzalez, Ionee Gonzalez (Alien Abduction)

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Generation Ten: University Life - Aelia & Artemisia Gonzalez

Aelia

Traits: Schmoozer*, Charismatic, Artistic*, Irresistible, Social Butterfly, Great Kisser, Avant Guard

Lifetime Wish: Perfect Student

Degree: Communications

Occupation: Art Appraiser

Partner: Jacob Salaman (Husband)

Children: Venetia Gonzalez-Salaman

Artemisia

Traits: Green Thumb*, Ambitious, Computer Whiz, Eccentric*, Good Sense of Humor, Socially Awkward, Genuis

Lifetime Wish: Scientific Specialist

Degree: Science & Medicine

Occupation: Science

Partner: Star Shue (Wife)

Children: Leaf Gonzalez-Shue (Plant-Sim)

* extra traits from degree/social club

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Generation Eleven: Island Paradise - Venetia Gonzalez Salaman

Traits: Loves the Heat, Ambitious, Loves to Swim, Disciplined, Genius

Lifetime Wish: Seaside Savior

Occupation: Lifeguard

Partner: Kazuo Nakamura (Husband - deceased)

Children: Hiro Gonzalez-Nakamura

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Generation Twelve: Into the Future- Hiro Gonzalez-Nakamura

Traits: Eccentric, Mooch, Bot Fan, Family-Orientated, Genuis

Lifetime Wish: Made the Most of my Time

Occupation: Bot Building

Partner: Clark Bellamore (Husband)

Children: Astra Gonzalez-Nakamura-Bellamore (Genetically Engineered), Andromeda Gonzalez-Nakamura-Bellamore (Alien Abduction)

Plumb-Bots: HERA, ACHILLES, N4NN13

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i have like around 2000-ish screenshots of this lepacy, so if anyone would like to see each generation in more detail, I'll be happy to show

[qnewsau]

Meet the Cast of 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 17

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/meet-the-cast-of-rupauls-drag-race-season-17/

Meet the Cast of 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 17

RuPaul’s Drag Race has confirmed the cast and release date for its 17th US season.

This season, 14 queens will be competing for $200,000 and the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar, with the theme ‘Drag Queens Got Talent’. This year, contestants will also continue the “Rate-A-Queen” system introduced in Season 16, but with an unspecified “all-new twist,” per an MTV press release.

The upcoming season is set to premiere on January 3, 2024.

Here are the 14 queens vying for the crown and the chance to become America’s Next Drag Superstar:

Acacia Forgot

Los Angeles, CA

“This honky-tonk diva puts the country in California. Glitzy, glamorous, and with a penchant for blonde hair, Acacia Forgot has never met a rhinestone she didn’t like. Musically talented, as well as being a singer-songwriter, Acacia plays the guitar, piano, banjo and ukulele. Will this aspiring country star also become America’s Next Drag Superstar?”

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  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

Arrietty

Seattle, WA

“Arrietty hails from the House of Dubois – her drag mother is none other than ‘Drag Race’ Season 15’s Irene (The Alien) Dubois. Obsessed with the fantasy genre, this uniquely creative queen designs and sews her own outfits, often with a ‘futuristic elf’ aesthetic. Add in the ability to beat a mean mug when needed, and this talented, twisted queen is ready to go all the way in the competition!”

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  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

Crystal Envy

Asbury Park, NJ

“With looks so polished, it’s hard to believe this makeup artist and drag queen has only been performing for 3 years. In New Jersey, Crystal swiftly dominated the club scene. Crystal Envy’s name comes as a mixture of their birth name Chris, and the fact that every outfit she wears is bedazzled and sparkly. This pageant princess commands a club crowd, but can Crystal hold that same command over the judges this season?”

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

Hormona Lisa

Chattanooga, TN

“This Southern bubblegum babe was infamously plucked from the crowd by RuPaul on the Atlanta stop of his ‘The House of Hidden Meanings’ book tour, and invited to Hollywood. Now officially a part of the season 17 cast, this campy queen — inspired by Disney princesses and vintage screen sirens — hopes to catch the eye of RuPaul again, this time where it counts the most: on the main stage of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’!”

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

Jewels Sparkles

Tampa, FL

“Out of drag, this youthful queen has a sweetness and an innocence, and is a self-described ‘ditzy clumsy bimbo.’ But don’t be fooled — Jewels intends to enter the competition with intention and strategy. With influences that range from Ariana Grande to Priscilla Presley, to her Puerto Rican and Cuban heritage, you’d be foolish to underestimate this talented doll as merely a ‘look queen.’”

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

Joella

Los Angeles, CA

“Joella calls herself ‘The Slaysian Diva,’ and with her own unique style of drag, mixing traditional Chinese costume with street fashion and pop culture, you can see why. Having already won local West Hollywood drag bar contests, Joella is now ready to represent plus size queens in the biggest drag competition in the world.”

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

Kori King

Boston, MA

“This boisterous queen has rapidly risen to the top of the Boston scene, amassing a respectable TikTok following along the way. Only in the drag game for two years, Kori has already been awarded Boston’s Best New Performer To Watch award, and is the name on everybody’s lips. She is Season 16 finalist Plane Jane’s drag sister, so expect a razor sharp wit, and somebody who tells it like it is!”

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  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

Lana Ja’Rae

New York, NY

“Lana’s drag mother is Luxx Noir London, from Season 15 of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’ so expect a level of fierceness from this fashionista! Luxx saw Lana competing in a New York drag competition and was so impressed, she approached her backstage and asked if she could adopt her on the spot. Bringing legs and body to the main stage, Lana is ready to strut away from this competition with a crown.”

    View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

Lexi Love

Louisville, KY

“Lexi Love is a full-time ‘playmate’ at Play, Louisville: a bar known for its high-energy drag excellence. As a performer, Lexi knows how to turn the party up — but she’s also someone you’d love to kick it with. Having survived a period of homelessness and drug addiction, she has emerged a stronger and more independent queen, and is ready for the re-birth of Lexi to take over the world.”

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by Lexi Love (@mslexilove)

Lucky Starzzz

Miami, FL

“Lucky Starzzz was born in Havana, Cuba. She is an expressive, colorful, living cartoon. Lucky’s drag meets at the intersection of club kid and camp, and this resourceful queen uses as much paper and spray paint as she does sequins and rhinestones. Lucky describes her drag as ‘a venus fly trap in a room full of roses.’ Can Lucky’s eye-catching creativity catch the eyes of the judges this season and win her the crown?”

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

Lydia B Kollins

Pittsburgh, PA

“To understand this absurdist, unique queen you only need to know that the ‘B’ stands for b*tthole. Named after Winona Ryder’s character in ‘Beetlejuice,’ Lydia Deetz, and inspired by Tim Burton, John Waters and David Lynch, Lydia B Kollins is a queen who values creativity over perfection. Will the judges find Lydia’s looks BOOTYful, or will her time on ‘Drag Race’ be a disASSter?”

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

Onya Nurve

Cleveland, OH

“Smashburger cook by day, enchanting and in-demand drag artist by night. Onya Nurve got bitten by the performance bug in high school, and took an artistic career path to drag via a BFA in Painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art. A comedic actress as well as being able to belt out a tune, Onya represents a real threat in this competition!”

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

Sam Star

Leeds, AL

“Stunning, stylish, Southern! Sam is quite the Renaissance queen, having trained in musical theater, and being a retired gymnast and cheerleader who can do back handsprings! With polished makeup skills and a gorgeous mug, Sam has gone on to win an impressive number of pageant titles for such a young queen; it’s no surprise to learn that Trinity The Tuck is her drag mother and mentor.”

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

Suzie Toot

Fort Lauderdale, FL

“Suzie’s uniqueness is her greatest strength in drag. A professional tap dancer, with a look rooted deeply in 1920s and 30s fashions, Suzie describes herself as the ‘cross section between Betty Boop and Lucille Ball.’ A skilled actor with a wild sense of humour and excellent comedic timing, Suzie hopes to wow the judges with her quirky take on drag.”

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by RuPaul’s Drag Race (@rupaulsdragrace)

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[myxcenterxstage]

{ @pyrrhicha | Prima Donna Aboard | closed starter }

Third dock. Second to last galleon on the left. As she bid her escort adieu, Priscilla boarded the great ship. How magnificent, she thought, gazing up in awe… that is until she saw its crew. The most bohemian looking group of sailors she’d ever set eyes on. With pursed lips and raised eyebrow, she was more miffed that none had even come to greet her yet than their appearance. How discourteously uncivilized! It wasn’t every day to have the treat of one of Europe’s great opera soprano onboard. (The poor dear, the thought had not yet even occurred to her that she was on the mistaken ship!)

Finally, at least two ignoramuses noticed her. Though in unconventional attire, they were British - fortunately! Before either of the pair could hardly speak a word, she handed her bags to the stout one and adjusted the fur capelet around her neck before linking her arm with the lankier one. “Good evening, gentlemen. If you could kindly take those to my quarters and direct me to your Captain - who is expecting me - so that I may personally thank him."

The two shared quizzical expressions. And she, growing impatient took out her fan and swatted it, urging them both to proceed. “Come, come, please. I don’t have all night!”

It didn’t seem they had much choice than to oblige. After a knock on the door to the Captain’s quarters, they entered - or really, she entered, with the two bumbling ones clamoring behind her, “Sorry, Sir. Captain!” the men called out, “There is a — ah, a um, Missus? Miss — here to see you?”

Rolling her eyes as she left the imbeciles, the diva in question confidently approached the Captain with a courteous smile and extended her expensively ringed, gloved hand - expecting the usual greeting any gentleman would give to so glamorous a woman as she.

"Captain Crusoe! Enchanté! I bring greetings from your comrade Captain Robinson, and I personally desire to thank you and your comrade’s extended generosity to have me aboard on such short notice."

[divcs]

                            ⋮  回 ♡ ━━   ❛ ℘𝙻𝙾𝚃 𝚆. 𝙳𝙸𝚅𝙸𝙽𝙰. ❜

       HEY ! what’s up y’all ? since everyone is makin’ rounds for plots i guess it’s a good time to introduce myself and make my call so without further ado this is DIVINA THORNTON, known to most as just her first name. her prominence comes from being a members of a pop girl-group since 2010 but following their disbandment last year, she’s now a new member of CAPITOL RECORDS. falling under the modern southern belle trope, she has a sweet nature/feisty temper and is on the hunt for some connections. all basic connects are welcomed as well as collaborations ( literally anything/everything ) and i have some plots typed up as well. if interested, click the lil’ read more below and hit the lineee !!!

𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄.   —   divina priscilla thornton

𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄.   —  normani

𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄.   —   july 31st, 1997.  ( 23 )

𝐙𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐂.   —   leo.

𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐘𝐏𝐄.   —  the queen. the diva. 

𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐒.   —  leader. outgoing.  confident. expressive. stubborn. passionate. down to earth. spontaneous. bad tempered. 

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍���𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘.  —  esfp.

𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓.   —  chaotic good.

𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓.   —   sanguine-choleric

𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍.  —  savannah, georgia

𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄.  —    2010-

𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒.   —  sashabelle. janet jackson. toni braxton. brandy. late 90′s/earlt 00s mariah carey. britney spears. paris hilton. 

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐋𝐒  —  celia foote. jodie landon. 

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍.   —  despite her big and sometimes overwhelming personality, divina is trying her best to fit into the music industry that she’s always felt outcast in due to where she’s from and what she looks like. navigating through colorism in the industry, sabotage from some people she’s pissed off, shedding the girl group image and still trying to figure out where she wants to take her career in entertainment; divina has a lot on her plate. she’s grown discouraged in a music career after being overlooked in a group for years but is doing what is expected of her. all in all she wants what most of her peers do, fame, fortune and some real friends. 

𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊 𝖑𝖎𝖊𝖘

ROMANTIC X MALE

Muse A has been an aspiring musician for years. They have finally hit it big; their music quickly climbing the charts, labels scrambling to sign them, screaming fans waiting outside venues. Muse A meets DIVINA at an industry event, and the two hit it off immediately. Muse A invites DIVINA out after the event, and they end up going home together afterward. As they continue to bump into one another at industry events over the next few weeks, the pair decides to act on their chemistry and try dating. It isn’t long before they start to fall for each other, but Muse A’s rising fame sweeps them up, leaving DIVINA, (who’s still stuck in her girl group contract) behind while Muse A travels the world. DIVINA does their best to deal with the distance and the insecurities that come along with dating a musician but, they finally reach their limit when a photo surfaces of Muse A kissing a fan after a show. Muse A expresses regret about the incident, but can’t promise that they’ll be 100% faithful while on tour. After a difficult talk, the two agree that they shouldn’t be together right now, and they’ll just have to see what happens when the tour is over. Now, the tour is over and when it’s time for Muse A to write their sophomore album, nothing is more inspiring than their relationship with DIVINA. Their first single is released and it’s a break-up song that’s all about missing Muse B. This doesn’t sit well with DIVINA, who’s now signed as a solo artist and doesn’t want their relationship tainting her new path of a career.

𝖉𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖆 𝖘𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖗 

PLATONIC

DIVINA has recently signed her own solo deal and is on the cusp of breaking into the big time as a solo artist. She has her loyal following from the group that she loves dearly, but their lifelong dream has always been to be a major headliner and to see her name lit up on the marquis of the biggest venues. Muse B is a well-known artist who is also a talent manager, looking for a new artist to lend their skills and expertise to. Muse B attends one of DIVINA’s promotional shows one night and is absolutely blown away by their magnetism and raw talent. After the show, Muse B introduces themselves to DIVINA and makes it known that they are very interested in working with them. DIVINA isn’t sure at first. They don’t want to be constantly told what to do or play and Muse B doesn’t have the sharpest personal reputation. The pair spend time together, share a few stories, their dreams and aspirations and begin to hit it off really well. Muse B offers their services, but DIVINA is hesitant to accept, even though this may be what she really needs to establish herself outside of her girl group image. After a bit of persuading and a few more meetings, DIVINA finally agrees. Muse B utilizes every resource they have to propel DIVINA into stardom. As DIVINA gets closer and closer to achieving A-list status, Muse B steers her towards more questionable behaviors (alcohol, drugs, outbursts, etc.) in order to get additional publicity and headlines. When she refuses, she begins to see a more vile side of Muse B who threatens to completely derail her career if she doesn’t take their orders. 

𝖜𝖆𝖛𝖊𝖘 /  𝖘𝖜𝖎𝖓𝖌

ROMANTIC X GROUP 

Muse A and DIVINA are in a lowkey ‘situationship’. DIVINA is embarking on her first national tour as an opening act. Muse A has been close friends with DIVINA since she was seventeen and they’ve been one of her biggest supporters in the industry. The pair have decided to continue ‘talking’ despite DIVINA leaving to tour. Though they talk over video chat and text almost every day, it’s just not the same as them being in the same room together. After the first leg of apart, DIVINA’s chats are getting shorter and Muse A’s calls go to their voicemail more frequently. It makes Muse A curious, especially because of publicity showing DIVINA and MUSE C; another artist touring with DIVINA who has openly expressed being romantically interested in her, growing questionably closer. When one particular  video of DIVINA and MUSE C cozied up together surfaces and Muse A can’t get in contact with with DIVINA for explanation; Muse A is deeply angered after assuming the worst. Enters Muse D, who is both DIVINA’s best friend and a collaborator of Muse A. When Muse D encounters Muse A, someone they’ve secretly cared for as more than friends, who is noticeably upset over DIVINA’s questionable behavior, Muse D takes the opportunity they’ve been waiting for. Muse D offers themselves as a confidant to Muse A, purposely fanning the flames of Muse A’s suspicion and hurt to encourage Muse A to forget about DIVINA and open their eyes to what’s right in front of them – a person who’d never do them how DIVINA was. Muse A gradually listens to Muse D and a relationship begins to blossom between the two of them. What happens when DIVINA has a break between tour dates and surprises Muse A back in L.A.?

𝖒𝖔𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖎𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

ENEMY X FEMALE

DIVINA is offered a song by a prominent producer in the industry, the same song Muse A has already recorded and has prepared for their next release. DIVINA loves the song so much she decides to record it and prepare to release it as her lead. Once industry bugs begin getting to Muse A, they realize the song they had recorded is now about to pushed by a different artist. Of course, the producer does not disclose they offered DIVINA the song and Muse A believes DIVINA and her team made a shady business move and stole the song from under her. Muse A’s first instinct is to blast DIVINA on social media but she decides to simply record more music and put her lead out on the same date as DIVINA’s lead. The timing of the singles mean interviews, music videos and award show performances will all be align around the same team which ultimately turns into a social media feud assumption and a whole lot of comparisons as both songs compete for the higher Billboard position. When asked about this in an interview Muse A is noticeably passive-aggressive and shady towards DIVINA, who still isn’t aware of the issue. Things only boil swifter when DIVINA deliver’s a very shady acceptance speech when she wins an award over Muse A for the song. 

[queermediastudies]

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Self-Exploration

The movie I chose to review for this assignment is The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). This movie follows two gay men and a transgender woman who all work as professional drag queens as they travel through rural Australia to perform a four-week residency at a resort. Tick (aka Mitzi) is the one who booked the residency because it is his wife’s resort, where she lives with their son. Tick needs a change of pace and to address his history with his wife and son. He is accompanied by his fellow performer Adam (aka Felicia) is young and adventurous, he sees the trip as an adventure and a chance to fulfill his dream of climbing a mountain dressed as a drag queen. Lastly, Bernadette is an uptight transgender woman who has recently lost her younger husband and decides to accompany the other two on their journey. They embark across the Australian outback in a rundown bus that they christen Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The three queens meet many new people along the way and have various positive and negative experiences throughout the trip. During this trip they address their own personal problems and bond as a group while truly experiencing an adventure. This movie is a comedy of misadventures and feeling like a fish out of water in rural Australia. Told through a queer perspective and utilizing camp aesthetics this film questions identity, sexuality, and stereotypes with humor and a flair for the dramatic.

This film covers a lot of ground and looks at many important themes and topics throughout the film. The four key themes identified in this film are identity, sexuality, queer culture, and camp. These themes are explored through aesthetics, dialogue, and experiences that cause us, the viewers, to question our understanding of what it means to be queer.

This film looks at identity in a unique way. It shows queer identity through the actions and personalities of Tick, Adam, and Bernadette rather than explicitly stating that they are queer. This is demonstrated the most in Tick’s fluid sexuality. Tick has a wife and a son, who was born after he began performing as Mitzi, and they have been living in a small community while he has been living in the city. This journey begins because Tick’s wife calls him and asks him to come perform at the resort she runs. Bernadette and Adam do not know this at the beginning of the film. When they learn about Tick’s past they question his sexuality, specifically whether he is bisexual or gay, and Tick refuses to label himself. “Queer theory posits that sexuality is a vast and complex terrain that encompasses not just personal orientation and/or behavior, but also the social, cultural, and historical factors that define and create these conditions for such orientations and behaviors. As such, queer theory rejects essentialist or biological notions of gender and sexuality, and sees them instead as fluid and socially constructed positionalities” (Benshoff & Griffin, 2004, p.1). It is later revealed that Tick’s wife is also sexually fluid and has dated women in the past. Another interesting identity category employed in this film is urban versus rural cultures. “Identity may then be understood as the interface between subjective positions and cultural situations” (Andersson, 2002, p.4). This film portrays rural communities as white, uneducated, and masculine. The only friend the group makes on their journey is with a man who often talks about how he has traveled throughout his life before settling down. This is a common portrayal of rural communities across media.

The three main characters in this film all work as professional drag queens. They transform into alternate personas through the use of makeup, costumes, and wigs. Throughout the film Tick, Adam, and Bernadette wear wigs made from a myriad of materials, costumes that speak for themselves, and makeup that completes the illusion. These three individuals embody camp aesthetics and fierceness. “By fierceness, I mean a spectacular way of being in the world—a transgressive over-performance of the self through aesthetics. This over-performance works simultaneously to change the dynamics of a room by introducing one’s sartorial, creative presence into the space as well as it is to crystalize, highlight, and push back against limiting identity categories” (Moore, 2012, p.72). To these queens there is no such thing as too much, or being extra, they aim to create an illusion and entertain not just with their performance but with every aspect of their existence. These over the top performances and costumes set them apart from the people around them, especially as they enter the rural towns in the Australian outback. Their appearance itself questions what queerness, masculinity, femininity, and identity mean. “To be fierce is to transcend and to unravel, to self-actualize and to return the gaze. Because of its transgressive potential and deep connection to showmanship, fierceness allows its users to fabricate a new sense of self that radiates a defiant sense ownership through aesthetics” (Moore, 2012, p.72). Drawing inspiration from their favorite divas Tick (Mitzi), Adam (Felicia), and Bernadette challenge the perceptions of everyone they meet, bringing a flare for the dramatic and snarky humor everywhere they travel.

While this movie shows many positive views of queerness that break down some of the dominant ideologies held by the majority of audiences. It also includes some problematic representations and subplots that conform to those dominant ideologies. This includes representing AIDS as a gay problem, transphobic jokes, and problematic portrayals of people who are different from the three main characters.

In the film Tick, Adam, and Bernadette stop to spend the night in a small town. Tick lost a bet to Adam and so they enter the town in full drag and get a room at a motel. They then choose to go out to the bar where they have a tense encounter with a butch woman who says they do not belong in the town and should leave. After Bernadette insults the woman and “puts her in her place” they end up getting drunk and partying with the towns people. The next morning, they leave the hotel to see that someone has painted “AIDS FUCKERS GO HOME!” on the side of Priscilla. This is clearly a homophobic statement against the only obviously queer people in the town. This moment is starkly different from the camaraderie experienced in the bar the night before in the bar. Using AIDS as a way of attacking queer people shows the view that AIDS is a gay disease, and that their mere presence will spread the disease to this town. “Such diverse conceptualizations of AIDS are coupled with fragmentary interpretations of its specific elements… stereotypes about homosexuals generate startling deductions about the illness” (Treichler, 1987, p.34). This view is a harmful stereotype that negatively impacted medical policy and puts lives at risk. In the early 90s when this movie was made the AIDS epidemic was still a concern for many individuals. Using this as a way of demonstrating a homophobic attack on the main characters uses that stereotype and knowledge as a way to demonstrate ignorance in the community. Despite using the stereotype to display ignorance, it still uses AIDS as a synonym for gay. “We cannot effectively analyze AIDS or develop intelligent social policy if we dismiss such conceptions as irrational myths and homophobic fantasies that deliberately ignore the ‘real scientific facts’” (Treichler, 1987, p.34). The stereotype of AIDS as a gay disease cannot be dismissed or used simply as an ignorant view held by uneducated rural communities. AIDS has a much longer and damaging history.

One of the three main characters in this film is a transgender woman named Bernadette. In the beginning of the film her trans status is only mentioned I reference to how hard to was for her to find her partner, who has recently died. As the group embark on their journey through the outback there is more attention on her identity. Many people in these rural communities are not used to seeing a group of queer people and they often do not accept them. This film utilizes transphobic jokes to demonstrate this. However, the main person who insults or critiques Bernadette’s identity is Adam a cis white gay man. Adam routinely calls Bernadette by her dead name, Ralph, as a way to get a rise out of her. It upsets her every time so he does so throughout the film with little regard to how it makes Bernadette feel. Many members of the LGBTQ community are not accepting of transgender individuals, especially when they fail to pass as cisgender men and women. This is a current problem in the community, and a film that is targeted to that community should not use a person’s gender identity as a punchline. It is somewhat obvious that Bernadette is transgender and this causes many people to ask her about her trans status, including very personal questions surrounding her body. “Particularly emphasizes the performativity and social construction of identity by referring to transgender as people who move away from the gender the were assigned at birth, people who cross-over the boundaries constructed by their culture to define and contain that gender” (Fischer, 2018, p.94). While Bernadette is good natured about these questions and willingly answers them it still reduces her trans status to her physical biology. Bernadette is a tough woman and displays this in multiple tense situations throughout the film, but she is largely used as support for the other characters or as the spokesperson for the transgender community. She even plays a mothering figure for Adam after he is almost assaulted in a town for going out dressed as a woman and flirting with straight men. Despite Bernadette’s kindness and support Adam continues to invalidate her identity and use her dead name as a joke. “Scripted and fictional content engaging trans characters often reasserts heteronormativity rather than challenging or subverting gender binaries in efforts to appeal to dominant, cisgender audiences” (Fischer, 2018, p.98). This shows a lack of respect for an already marginalized community, who routinely face threats of physical violence, and reduced trans identity to biological essentialism.

In The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert almost every character is white. There are only two scenes in the movie where people of color are shown, and they are used exclusively to further the storyline or feature the three main characters. First, there is a group of aboriginals having a party in the middle of the desert. The adults in the group are shown drinking and talking with some playing music, while there are children sitting on the ground. After Tick, Adam, and Bernadette get there it is awkward at first. The band playing finishes their song and Tick, Adam, and Bernadette get into drag and perform for the group which is embraced. This is a very different from the reaction of a group of white townspeople who see the group in drag near the beginning of the movie. This is a moment of community, however, there is no interaction outside of this moment. Rather the aboriginals are used as an audience for Tick, Adam, and Bernadette without having any lives or personality outside of this moment. “Much depends on how common ground is defined, and in recent years an important multicultural critique has shown that too often the middle ground has been assumed to be that of relatively dominant positions: white, males, and middle-class” (Warner, 1991, p.16). This moment of community only happens because they are with other people who fall outside what is considered the norm. Instead of being queer they are people of color. The only other representation in this film is an Asian woman, Cynthia, living with her husband in a small town. This representation portrays her as negatively, she speaks in broken English and is looked down on because of her past as a sex worker. Her husband expects her to be submissive and when she is not he ignores her or verbally reprimands her. Then when she chooses to leave him, he is given the sympathy of the group while she is considered crazy. Cynthia is used as a foil to show that performing as a drag queen is not morally wrong compared to other forms of entertainment, like Cynthia’s performance. Cynthia is used only to show that Tick, Adam, and Bernadette are moral and respectable compared to her. “Queer struggles and those of other identity movements, or alternatively of other new social movements, often differ in important ways—even when they are intermingled in experience” (Warner, 1991, p.18). Cynthia is used as a pawn to further the respectability of the three, white, main characters.

My identity as a white cisgender bisexual woman allows me to both appreciate and enjoy the movie while still questioning its problematic traits. My identity influences how I view all media texts because identity is built through an individual’s environment and experiences. In this section I will look at how my race, sexuality, and gender influence how I experienced this film. This movie centers on white individuals with only a few scenes that include people of color, and they are represented in potentially damaging ways. This is a common problem in films that center whiteness. It is also a common problem for films made in the 1990s when many white people were less socially conscious of bias and stereotypes for people of color. The people of color shown are exclusively used to either further the storyline for the three white main characters or as a joke that serves to relieve some of the tension built up in the narrative. These portrayals are damaging especially for the marginalized groups represented. This film was widely popular among white gays and negatively portraying other marginalized groups furthers racism and discrimination within the gay community.

This movie addresses sexuality in a unique way. Instead of making sexuality a clear binary it is shown as a spectrum that can shift throughout an individual’s life. This is an important representation considering how prominent binary thinking is even today. The main character Tick has a wife and son, while he has also had boyfriends. He refuses to identify his sexuality and says he is not bisexual or gay he is with people. It is later revealed by his son, Benji, that Tick’s wife has been in relationships with women as well as men. This shows that sexuality does not have to be defined. While this concept is explored they also prominently feature a transgender character in this film. While there are some transphobic jokes and Bernadette does not pass as a cisgender woman, the only romantic storyline throughout the film centers on Bernadette and Bob (a mechanic in a small rural town). Showing a romantic relationship between these two characters challenges how transitioning is understood, Bernadette has had a gender confirming surgery but she does not pass for a cis woman, and the stereotypical portrayal of rural communities shown in the rest of the film. As a bisexual woman I appreciate sexuality being shown as fluid rather than in binary terms. Bisexuality is not always accepted in the queer community and many people see it as a stepping stone to becoming gay or as a pit stop before going back to heterosexuality. This film challenges that notion and even states that sexuality does not have to be defined or proven to anyone else. I like the portrayal of trans womanhood in this film because it questions beauty standards and focuses on how comfortable Bernadette feels with herself. While the movie discusses stereotypes of transness it does not make that Bernadette’s entire identity.

This film is enjoyed as a celebration of queer aesthetics and renowned for its costumes and pays tribute to camp; it also has a lot to say about queerness. It wraps up its critiques and challenges in comedy but, it still questions the dominant ideologies surrounding identity and social positioning. This film has flaws, many of which are not uncommon for a 90s movie, and these must be recognized however it also has important social critiques that are still relevant today. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert utilizes queer aesthetics to examine identity politics and question dominant ideologies.

Reference:

Andersson, Y. (2002). Queer Media? Media Research in Progress, 1(1), 2–10.

Benshoff, H., & Griffin, S. (2004). General Introduction. In Queer Cinema: The Film Reader (pp. 1–15). New York, NY: Routledge.

Fischer, M. (2018). Queer and Feminist Approaches to Transgender Media Studies. In Terrorizing Gender: Transgender Visibility and the Surveillance Practices if the U.S. Security State (pp. 93–107). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Moore, M. (2012). Tina Theory: Notes on Fierceness. Journal of Popular Music Studies, 24(1), 71–86.

Treichler, P. A. (1987). AIDS, Homophobia, and Biomedical Discourse: An Epidemic of Signification. AIDS: Cultural Analysis/Cultural Activism, 43, 31–70.

[therapardalis]

🏰 - a historical castle. [vacation location meme]

[Vacation Meme from @myxcenterxstage.]

France, 1820s …

… Nothing was ever simple, was it? Which was to say, it should have been. it should have just been the exciting adventure, a journey back in history for the event to be headlined by the famous Miss Priscilla Kimbleton, renowned opera star. If only Miss Kimbleton could perhaps calm down - and if only her companion could stop her thoughts from dropping back a couple of centuries every time she looked around.

Exiting their carriage had been the rough equivalent of ‘entering, stage left’, everyone in attendance turned to stare at the Diva. Only far fewer then moved on to the chaperone in her shadow - though when she was introduced as Lady Landsend, more eyebrows rose.

Thera herself was happy to stay in the background for the time being, using the time to observe the people and the house - and to try not to expect a Musketeer or two to appear - as she followed in Priscilla’s sweeping wake.

[softsovnd]

Celebrities and Their Diamond Engagement Rings

What better approach to show the world that you are infatuated than by the demonstration of giving and accepting a precious stone wedding band? With numerous entertainers and different well known ladies wearing greater and sparklier precious stone rings, big name commitment have become an enjoyment for the adornments darling. The size of the precious stone isn't really the key regarding what makes a portion of these rings so popular and unmistakable, rather it is by all accounts a blend of the wedding band itself and the renowned woman it is related with.

The historical backdrop of precious stone wedding bands

Maximillan I of Austria gave the principal precious stone wedding band on record to Mary of Burgundy in 1477. He had the ring authorized to join their two houses and make their marriage a bringing together image to the nation.

The littlest precious stone wedding band at any point made was given to Princess Mary who was hitched as a substitute to the Dauphin of France in the year 1518. Princess Mary was two years of age at that point.

From the beginning of time precious stone wedding bands have expanded, increasingly intricate Engagement Rings Perth, and have incorporated a wide assortment of different gems and metals. Precious stone wedding bands settings can be made of silver, platinum, white or yellow gold or a blend of these components.

Well known women and their wedding bands

VIPs and different renowned individuals impact the look and style of numerous angles in design and furthermore set patterns. Jewel wedding bands are no special case to this standard. Coming up next is a fractional rundown of the popular women and their similarly well known wedding bands:

Eminence:

Sovereign Elizabeth II got a wedding band from Prince Phillip that was produced using jewels from his mom's tiara.

Effortlessness Kelly was given a 12 carat emerald-cut precious stone wedding band from Prince Rainier.

Woman Diana was locked in with a ring made of a 18 carat blue oval sapphire that was hovered by fourteen jewels.

Entertainers:

Elizabeth Taylor was locked in to her third spouse, Michael Todd, with an emerald cut jewel that weighed just about 30 carats. Be that as it may, she is progressively known for her different bits of adornments, one more striking than the other: the 39 carat Krupp jewel, the 69.42 carat pear-formed Taylor-Burton precious stone and the seventeenth century heart-molded Taj Mahal precious stone.

Priscilla was locked in to Elvis with a 3.5 carat precious stone wedding band that was hovered by another 21 littler jewels and precious stone chips.

Sharon Stone was given a three precious stone, 3 1/2 carat emerald-cut jewel wedding band by Phil Bronstien.

Catherine Zeta-Jones' guarantee to Michael Douglas was settled with a 10 carat antique marquise jewel assessed at amost $2 million.

Joan Collins got a heart-molded jewel ring in a nineteenth-century setting from spouse Percy Gibson.

Pop stars:

Madonna got from Guy Ritchie an antique Edwardian three-stone precious stone ring with a beautiful platinum band. The Neil Lane ring should speak to their family: mother, father and child Rocco.

On account of Toni Braxton, drummer Keri Lewis planned a staggering 4.5 three-stone jewel ring with an oval-molded focus stone and 2 heart-formed precious stones on the sides.

Paris Hilton, despite the fact that not a pop star but rather a diva in any case, got 2 precious stone wedding bands from very rich person Paris Latsis, a $5 million 24 carat canary jewel ring and a $2.1 million 15 carat white jewel ring.

Britney Spears has two wedding bands additionally: one that she purchased for herself before the wedding, a $40,000 4 carat pad cut precious stone ring with a platinum clear setting, and one that she got multi month after the marriage from spouse Kevin Federline.

Christina Aguilera got connected with to Jordan Bratman after he introduced a $54,000 20-carat precious stone wedding band structured by goldsmith Stephen Webster.

Whitney Houston sports a staggering 4 carat oval-molded focus stone with trillions on the sides which she got from Bobby Brown.

Reproduction precious stone wedding bands

Obviously there is the exceptionally popular pink jewel ring that Ben Affleck provided for Jennifer Lopez. This 6 carat brilliant molded pink jewel immediately grabbed the eye of the general population and has gotten an exceptionally looked for after imitation. It is finished with a platinum band just as three roll white jewels on each side. The pink jewel wedding band is accounted for to have been bought for $1.2 million out of 2002. The ring, while effortlessly distinguished is additionally extremely ladylike and present day looking.

Imitations of the acclaimed pink precious stone ring are presently accessible at a moderate cost. The expense of the imitations relies upon the nature of the stones and the materials utilized in repeating the pink jewel wedding band.

A few imitations are styled as progressively old fashioned precious stone wedding bands. These rings have an everlasting quality and symbolize convention and legacy. The ongoing commitment of Camilla Parker Bowles in February of 2005 included such an antique wedding band. The platinum ring has an emerald-cut focus jewel with three precious stone loaves on each side. This ring initially had a place with the Queen Mother and is accepted to be esteemed at over $1 million.

Since hardly any individuals can bear the cost of the first thing, there will consistently be a business opportunity for imitations of these exceptional jewel wedding bands. The nature of the imitations differs, as does the cost. Note that the styles of jewel wedding bands that are well known with big names will before long become the styles that are looked for after by the not exactly so rich and acclaimed.

[victoriagloverstuff]

5 Great Books of Hollywood Outsiders

The Los Angeles literary genre became a household staple when my family moved there from Italy in 1994. My parents unloaded garage sale finds of Joan Didion, Nathanael West, Christopher Isherwood, and Raymond Chandler, and countless celebrity biographies at the house every weekend. The books were intended as literary tour guides to understand a certain kind of loneliness, a feeling of being unhinged that was specific to the city, particularly Hollywood; the pinnacles of success and dark areas of addiction of Jerry Stahl’s Permanent Midnight, the sordid repertoire of Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon, and Marya Wyeth’s painful meanderings in Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays were a warning about the things that could happen to the women of the land: psychiatric ward internments, suicides, divorce, and nocturnal excursions on freeways.

For me, the texts functioned as group therapy, introducing me to a circle of ghosts and living legends that provided much needed comfort: everyone went through it—brutality, fear, solitude, miraculous streaks of good luck, bursting bank accounts and overdrawn notices. Whether or not you became successful, the toll was always the same. Nathanael West’s The Day of The Locust reassured me that madness was not elitist. It visited the rich and the poor, the industry’s insiders and newcomers without distinction. Jean Stein’s oral history West of Eden, Eve Babitz’s L.A. Woman and Slow Days Fast Company, and David Ulin’s anthology Writing Los Angeles live by my bedside table and serve as a plane ticket from Italy whenever I want to escape to grandeur, desperation, and lust.

But as much as I love a good LA-based novel or essay, I’ve noticed that the stories that truly kept me company were the ones about outsiders, the people who lived on the fringes of show business and re-invented the rules according to their own vision. Maybe everyone in Hollywood feels like an outsider, but below are my favorite ones.

Christopher Isherwood Diaries, Volume 1, 1939-1960, ed. Katherine Bucknell

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A European writer in exile, Isherwood immigrated to the United States in 1939 with his friend W.H. Auden and joined the community of expats, artists, and intellectuals who had fled Nazism. As uncontrollably cool as Isherwood was, there was no way he could not have been an outsider: British, gay, a pacifist, an ardent explorer of Hinduism, mysticism, and vedantic consciousness, and the future life partner of a man thirty years younger than him.

He worked in Hollywood as a writer for hire, but to him it was a way to have an income: “The studio, is just an office I visit in the daytime.” His diaries offer a unique insight into the feelings of those who had been lucky enough to escape the war. He essentially became an outsider observing outsiders, people striving to find a moral balance between everything they had left behind (war, deportations, bombings, persecution) and everything they were stepping into (sunshine, movies, ocean).

How did they navigate the duality of this shaky territory? Where and how did their sense of guilt for having escaped come into play? The diaries are also filled with observations about Hollywood figures like Greta Garbo. In particular I adore his account of a picnic with the diva and the guru Krishnamurti: “Garbo was anxious to meet Krishnamurti. She was naturally drawn to prophets––genuine or otherwise . . . She wanted to be told the secret to eternal youth, the meaning of life—but quickly in one lesson, before her butterfly attention wandered away.”

The Animals: Love Letters Between Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy, ed. by Katherine Bucknell

Katherine Bucknell deserves a monument for the archival work she’s done editing Isherwood’s diaries. It’s thanks to her research and drive that I encountered the epistolary relationship between Christopher Isherwood and his lover, the American portrait artist Don Bachardy. The two met in 1952, becoming involved shortly thereafter and openly living together in Hollywood for decades as a gay couple with a big age gap. Through their letters (and the subsequent podcast curated by Bucknell, where Simon Callow interprets Isherwood’s letters and Alan Cumming plays Bachardy) I fell in love with this brave and visionary couple.

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The letters reveal what it means to be a real artist, true to your calling, essentially timeless and disconnected from fashion, moralist impositions, and lifestyle trends. Isherwood allowed their love story to develop over years and long distances (Hollywood, New York, London, and continental Europe) so that Bachardy could develop his artistic career and see the world. The Animals is both a book about love and a book that teaches us the grace of being part of one’s artistic milieu (literature, film, art, ballet in this case) without falling into the trap of having to adhere to its rules. Isherwood and Bachardy wrote to each other for years in the guise of horse and cat. Bachardy was “Kitty”, “Fluffcat,” “Sweetpaws,” and Isherwood is “Drub,” “Dobbin,” “Old Pony.” The safe animal world they created was their way of making sense of their existence, lived simultaneously on the fringes of society and in extreme engagement with it.

Peter Viertel, The Canyon

This somewhat autobiographical coming of age gem from 1940 is virtually impossible to find today. The protagonist, George, grows up in a canyon by the ocean with a small gang of friends, a delightful cast that includes Betsy, a sensual tomboy who opens him up to his budding sexuality. As the kids grow they become more aware of their class differences, and the wild, free life of the canyon grows more complex and layered. At 17 the group breaks up for good. In the novel, a twenty-something George ponders those days of early youth and the way in which a small neighborhood was once considered a town.

Even though this is not a proper Hollywood book, it is written by a personality who is Hollywood as they come. Peter Viertel was the son of poet and theatre director Berthold Viertel, and screen and fiction writer Salka Viertel, who was a great friend of Greta Garbo and a godmother figure to Isherwood. They immigrated to America during the First World War when Peter was still a boy. On Sundays, the Viertel house hosted members of a certain kind of bohemian expat community, including Marlene Dietrich, Charles Chaplin, and Aldous Huxley. This novel is in a way a reflection of Peter’s own relationship with the land and people he was tied to from an early stage in life. Somewhere beneath the surface is the suggestion that if you move to Los Angeles, Hollywood will find a way to creep inside the hidden canyon of your community, break up your friendships, and instill its barriers, determining from early on who is in and who is out.

Isis Aquarian with Electricity Aquarian, The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13, and The Source Family  

Thanks to the documentary Wild Wild Country, it has become easier to understand why hundreds of wide-eyed young people would live communally, run organic restaurants, and follow a charismatic guru who acts like a rock star. I have always been fascinated by Father Yod, an otherworldly Hollywood Hills figure who started a commune and married 14 women, all of whom were young, beautiful and seemingly either pregnant, breastfeeding or with small children on their hips.

This book, edited by one of these very women, Isis Aquarian, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing for Document Journal has been an essential travel companion for me since I first discovered it. Part oral history, part photography book, it documents the lives of the members of the Source family, the other side of the coin of the Manson family. As Isis says: “We were the beautiful, rich and generous. We had sex, drugs and rock and roll, but we encountered the spirit.” Father opened The Source Cafe in the late 1960s on Sunset strip, hosting a bunch of kids in a mansion in the hills in exchange for their work at the restaurant.

In its heyday, the Cafe’s patrons included Jack Nicholson, Frank Zappa, Julie Christie, Marlon Brando, and Warren Beatty. But not long after the Manson murders of 1969, Hollywood had little patience left for white robes and polyamorous cult leaders, and the very people who had enjoyed the “divertissement” of this peculiar gang of Hollywood cool kids were the ones who drove them out of the city. Though the family possessed the aura of rock stars (father fronted a psychedelic rock band called Ya Ho Wa 13. The CD is included in the book) this remains a story of outcasts and lost souls. When the family broke up, several of them relocated together to Hawaii in 1974, only to be rejected by the locals there. With nowhere to go and very little money left, Father Yod made a grand exit by jumping off a cliff with a hand glider on a windy day. He broke his back, refused to go to a hospital, and died surrounded by his most faithful “children.” This exceptional book goes hand in hand with the The Source Family a feature length documentary directed by Jodi Wille and Maria Demopoulos.

Michael Frank, The Mighty Franks 

The Hollywood memoir as a genre in itself deserves a whole other best-of list in my personal repertoire. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it weren’t for Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking, Drew Barrymore’s Little Girl Lost, Priscilla Presley’s Elvis and Me, and the classic Mommy Dearest by Christina Crawford. Within this genre, Michael Frank’s recent memoir, The Mighty Franks, is a tsunami of everything I love most: a dysfunctional family with no sense of boundaries, Laurel Canyon, European Jewish émigrés, amazing style, and a passion for arts and film. At the center of this story is the relationship between young Michael and his mercurial, seductive aunt Harriet, or “Hankie,” who elects him as the heir of the family’s artistic legacy––aunt Harriet Frank Jr. and Irving Ravetch are screenwriters and producers, and the title The Mighty Franks is Hankie’s way of addressing the family.

Good read found on the Lithub