#that's Trauma with a capital T mes amies

[the-forest-library]

February 2024 Reads

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands - Heather Fawcett

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins

Mislaid in Parts Half Known - Seanan McGuire

Love at 350 - Lisa Peers

I Hope this Email Doesn't Find You - Ann Liang

The Lily of Legate Hill - Mimi Matthews

Set the Record Straight - Hannah Bonam-Young

At Her Service - Amy Spaulding

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend - Emma R. Alban

My Fair Brady - Brian D. Kennedy

Simon Sort of Says - Erin Bow

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears - Tehlor Kay Mejia

A Knot in the Grain - Robin McKinley

Freshman Year - Sarah Mai

When I Was Your Age - Kenan Thompson

I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt - Madeline Pendleton

White Supremacy is All Around - Akilah Cadet

Sex with a Brain Injury - Annie Liontas

All the Women in My Brain - Betty Gilpin

One in a Millennial - Kate Kennedy

I'll Be Just Five More Minutes - Emily Farris

Outofshapeworthlessloser - Gracie Gold

The Woman in Me - Britney Spears

The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion

The Liars' Club - Mary Karr

Secure Love - Julie Menanno

The 5 Resets - Aditi Nerukar

Tiny Traumas - Meg Arrow

A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home - Melissa Dilkes Pateras

Gut Renovation - Roshini Raj

Veg-table - Nik Sharma

Soup Club - Caroline Wright

Soup Season - Shelly Westerhausen Worcel

Bold = Highly Recommend Italics = Worth It Crossed out = Nope

Thoughts: 

Emily Wilde II didn't disappoint, but Mislaid in Parts Half Known did. I was really hoping we'd be immersed in a world of dinosaurs similar to Across the Green Grass Fields, but we spent such little time there.

The non-fiction reads this month really outshone the fiction reads. I especially enjoyed Betty Gilpin's All the Women in My Brain. It was weird and wonderful.

Goodreads Goal: 76/200

2017 Reads | 2018 Reads | 2019 Reads | 2020 Reads | 2021 Reads | 

2022 Reads | 2023 Reads | 2024 Reads

[agentemo]

if we was in the emo shit discord server together anyone reading this, I have crippling anxiety related to relationship trauma and I've been self-isolating in general and the idea of being in like 5 discord servers was fucking me up so I had to leave most of them

we chillin I love y'all this is actually a sign I'm healing

[ethanalter]

How 'Bria' is charting a new course for 'The Girlfriend Experience'

Carmen Ejogo stars as Bria in ‘The Girlfriend Experience’ (Photo: Starz)

At first glance, the “Bria” portion of The Girlfriend Experience‘s bifurcated sophomore year doesn’t appear to have much in common with the “Erica & Anna” half of the season. Where Lodge Kerrigan’s Washington D.C.-set arc navigates the impact sex and money have within the corridors of power, writer/director Amy Seimetz’s tale takes place far away from the nation’s capital city in the desert heat of New Mexico. It’s here that former escort Bria (Carmen Ejogo) has been relocated by the Witness Protection Program after escaping an abusive lover. But she can’t — and, more importantly, doesn’t want to — leave the past behind. Under the nose of the U.S. Marshal (Tunde Adebimpe) assigned to her case, Bria once again starts to provide “girlfriend experiences” even as it jeopardizes her safety.

Although separated by geography and circumstance, “Erica & Anna” and “Bria” are united in the way they depict government intrusion into women’s personal lives. In the case of escort Anna (Louisa Krause) and political operative Erica (Anna Friel), they willingly serve as pawns in D.C.’s never-ending political gamesmanship. For Bria, her new existence is created and rigidly enforced by federal officers, who insist they know what’s best for her. In light of the recent regressive moves by the current administration in regards to issues like birth control and workplace equality, Seimetz’s portrait of a woman fighting a male-dominated system to pursue her own destiny couldn’t be more timely.

“You’re just telling everyone my subtext,” Seimetz said with a laugh when Yahoo Entertainment sat down with her and Ejogo at the Toronto International Film Festival to discuss The Girlfriend Experience. “It’s always been that way for women, to be quite honest. This sounds terrible, but I almost had a sigh of relief when Trump was elected because now I don’t have to have all these conversations in my own head about sexism.” Ejogo concurred, and added that “Bria” likely wouldn’t have had as much impact if she and Seimetz had tried to tell this story even five years ago: “People are ready now to have this honest dialogue with themselves and the public at large.”

We spoke with the duo about their behind-the-camera collaboration and the complications of telling a trauma survivor’s story.

Amy, you directed my favorite episode of The Girlfriend Experience‘s first season, and I noticed a fair amount of visual continuity between it and “Bria.” Was that episode pivotal to you in deciding the style and content for your portion of Season 2? Amy Seimetz: Yeah, I feel like I’m really great when women are losing their s**t! That’s my territory. [Laughs] In television, you’ve got to lay the groundwork to earn that. And the first few episodes of “Bria” are a pressure cooker — that’s a term I used a lot when we were shooting. You’ve got to keep the water boiling and the lid on. Then you can have fun. Episodes 5 through 7 are just like, “Woo!” Last season, having not written or directed for television before, I felt like I needed to do something way more traditional. This season, I was like “No f**k it.” This is the character; how do we get the information across super-fast and get the audience to run with us?

Amy Seimetz wrote and directed the ‘Bria’ portion of ‘The Girlfriend Experience’ Season 2 (Photo: Starz)

This storyline breaks new ground for the series in that it’s a survivor’s story — Bria has endured a traumatic experience, and carries that with her even as she continues to work as an escort. How did that affect your approach to the character? Carmen Ejogo: This is clearly somebody that’s a survivor from the get-go, even if her backstory doesn’t get fully revealed in the first episode. Where does she go from here is the real question, and I love that the answer isn’t so cut and dried. There’s something really complicated about the people that I’ve known that are in dynamics that are maybe unhealthy for them, whether it’s transactional relationships or marriages. I know plenty of people that remain in scenarios that are really not good for them, and they know they should be leaving, and it’s a constant battle in themselves. Beyond that, it’s interesting to explore how women’s minds work when confronted with this sort of stuff in any aspect of their lives.

Seimetz: When you go through trauma, your reaction is never clean or rational. We’re dealing with a woman who has definitely been through trauma, but refuses to be seen as a victim, almost to the point of her undoing herself. Whether you’re a man or a woman, it’s really hard to be treated like a victim, nor do some people even realize they’re victims. I think that’s sort of Bria’s character, too: she’s like, “Stop treating me like I’m traumatized. Leave me alone, I’m fine. I want to move on. I want a new boyfriend.”

Ejogo: It’s funny; there’s an assumption that our choices play out in a linear fashion. The truth is, most of us are working with such immediacy in how we make choices. So inevitably you’re making decisions that are not really healthy or smart for you, and that will have repercussions down the road. We’re all survivors in that sense. We’re all just kind of winging it, if we’re honest. We like to think we’re leading these very organized and controlled lives and, in fact, a lot of us would be quite capable of making some very ridiculous decisions. Even now, I make choices where I’m like, “Really?” I think, in that sense, Bria’s a really authentic character in a way that you don’t see often on television.

Bria is also the first biracial girlfriend the series has featured. In your preparation for the role, what did you learn about the racial politics that exist within the escort world? Ejogo: Just in my own world, I know how fetishized I am every day. My whole career potentially could have gone down that road had I let it. That’s why it’s probably taken me until now to go into territory like this. Had I done it at 20, I’d have had a completely different, exoticized career. I really worked hard not to be put in that space, because there’s a shelf life to that and, frankly, it doesn’t interest me. At this point, we’re maybe more prepared to play with that sort of stuff. We’re absolutely playing with [male] fantasies.

How does race factor into the show going forward? Ejogo: It doesn’t, which is great. It doesn’t have to be a big issue. Her new boyfriend does have a type, it’s true. But Bria’s picking her clients, so the power is on her side in terms of who is choosing who.

Ejogo and Tunde Adebimpe in ‘The Girlfriend Experience’ (Photo: Starz)

What’s your collaboration like as director and star? Ejogo: To be honest, I worked with Amy in a way I’ve never worked with anyone else before. I was so entirely trusting and invested in her idea that I would walk onto set and be all ears as to what she was expecting out of that moment, and then attempt to deliver. I would still bring my own spin and my own sense of character, but it was such a complete conceptualization that I was very happy to be her puppet. I’m not often willing, but I appreciated her approach. Having seen her body of work, I knew where she was coming from as a filmmaker, and it meant that I knew this was territory that could be handled in a very messy, nuanced way.

Seimetz: The nice thing is that I cast her before I really wrote anything. So even the ideas that I threw out, I’d share with her during the process. She knew everything, and then on set she’d be like, “That idea didn’t make it into the script, but is it still there?” And I’d say, “Yes.” You have to have something in common to reference: for example, I’ve worked with my director of photography, Jay Keitel, for 15 years, so I can be like, “Let’s do it like that shot in our previous movie,” and he can go, “Right.” There’s a shorthand there.

What can you tease about where the story goes over the course of the season? Seimetz: The whole thing is based on the idea that we’re living in a time with a shaky foundation. It’s really hard to know what’s going to happen moving forward. The only thing you can do is take control of your own destiny, which is what Bria does. She can’t trust anyone, so she goes f**kin’ rogue.

Ejogo: That’s what we’re saying. She goes way rogue!

The Girlfriend Experience airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on Starz.

[shineyma]

Amy, have you seen this group promo shot for s5? (Insert here link that shall not be named and that hopefully came through in the ask before this. I hate all the work I'm forcing on you.) I love it to bits. First, everyone looks so good and I dig the vibe even though I'm not sure what they were going for with Fitz and a little bit with Daisy. Fitz is good albeit a bit awkward. However, Daisy's look is... well, bitchin'. She looks a million bucks. And Elena is also a babe, Mack's invariably (1/3)

good-looking, May is also a babe but I'm so worried about that bandage with the blood stain (?) around her left thigh, and Coulson... is the usual post s1 Coulson. Anyway, let's get to Jemma and how my Jem- and Biospecialist-loving heart loves how everyone is so similar in this shot except for Jemma who's so glaringly different, I want to scream and yell in joy. Both Jemma and Ward have always had great positionings in promo shots, both individually and in relation to one another. (2/3)

Dare I say that half their season character developments were in those shots and the other half in their meager screenings? Yes, I dare. The writers can fight me. Anyway, so everyone is standing, power poses, looking straight ahead, heads heald high, as if in defiance and as if ready for battle. And then there's Jemma. Front and center, at the forefront, sitting, lower than everyone, hunched over, looking down and away and as if she's lost in thought, her gaze unfocused. Thoughts??!! (3/3)

Awwwwwww, nonnie, I feel bad that you went to so much work! I did see the promo pic - I follow Clark Gregg on twitter and he retweeted it this morning! (Link for those who haven’t seen.)

I LOVE Daisy’s look (did you see the individual shots? there’s one where you get a MUCH better look at her new outfit and I am just saying: space pirates AU) and Elena is super amazing, even if I wish she weren’t so far back! As for May’s bandage......no comment. #spoilers

And with that out of the way: JEMMA! I am SUPER concerned about how different Jemma is from the rest of them: she’s the only one not looking at the camera, she’s all hunched in on herself, she looks so SAD, etc. I have Thoughts on that, but they’re spoilery as relates to the premiere clip, so. hm. Let’s just say I worry that being in space is gonna be rough for her, considering her previous experiences.

(And if it isn’t: WHY NOT? She has capital-T Trauma and she darn well deserves to deal with it.)

That said, the fact that she’s front and center gives me a little hope, maybe? Like maybe she’ll be the focus~, at least for a while? They are in space, and she’s the sciency one who’ll probably be leaned on to find them a way home, so...fingers crossed!