12.5.23
media that has been simmering in my mind like a pot of soup on the stove
finishing this up a bit late + also after a weeklong break from classes so! lots of stuff mostly movies…
watching
supernatural season 6 (2010) - tv show
still working my way thru supernatural…honestly this season felt like a slow start 2 me like it took a while for me 2 get into it mostly bc it kinda felt like they were just repeating certain plotlines. towards the end i started having fun tho especially w the various twists + betrayals <3 also liked all the monsters in this season felt like it got back a bit to the classic new-monster-per-episode format of the earlier seasons although it didn’t stick 2 it completely…really enjoyed the season finale as well <3
saltburn (2023) - movie
UM. loved this…went 2 see it w my twin + some friends not really knowing what it was about but i thought it was SO fun probably one of my fave movies from this year. v gross & erotic & weird highly recommend. story itself is about a scholarship student at oxford who befriends ultra-wealthy & popular felix, then gets invited to spend the summer at his family’s estate. one of those movies that slowly gets darker & weirder as it goes on…
aside from the people freaking out over how weird/gross/etc the movie was (annoying…just say ur boring & leave…) the main critcism i’ve seen the film get is that it paints the ultra-wealthy in soft light while making out oliver, the main character, to be an evil lower-class interloper. can’t entirely break down why i don’t fully agree w this critique without spoiling some key moments, but i was honestly a little surprised by it—i thought the movie was pretty critical of the wealthy family it centers around, albeit in more subtle ways than some of oliver’s antics. i thought it was a pretty strong & clever satire overall without being didactic, but maybe a lot of the bite relies on how strongly the audience identifies with or against certain characters—in which case i can see why it might hit for some and not others.
triangle of sadness (2022) - movie
a much more heavy-handed “eat the rich” satire about two models who go on a luxury cruise + end up stranded on an island with a small group of survivors. thought this movie was fun but honestly a bit milquetoast as far as the satire went…sort of similar to how i felt about ‘the menu.’ the film felt more focused on punishing the characters for being rich than actually examining or condemning the ways in which wealth is accumulated etc…i still enjoyed the movie though, so!
knock at the cabin (2023) - movie
such a disappointment omg…i read the book this was based on (the cabin at the end of the world) within the last…year or so? i think? and i was actually pretty excited to see how it would translate as a film. story is about a family taking a vacation to a remote cabin who suddenly have to defend themselves from four intruders who insist that the apocalypse is going to start unless the family makes an ~impossible~ choice to stop it. unfortunately shyamalan decided to follow the book plot pretty closely in the first half and then break away COMPLETELY in the second half in a way that sucked out everything interesting about the story and made it really boring. would say just read the book instead…
the texas chainsaw massacre (1974) - movie
a classic!! and yet i had never seen it…i think the movie is interesting as a historical document within horror studies etc + because of the clear impact it had, but on its own i’m not necessarily a fan lol. did not find it particularly compelling as a slasher film & it relied v heavily on ableism + classism for its shock + horror. one thing i did find interesting was the direct contrast in how the protagonist + her friends treat her disabled brother vs. how the cannibals treat their disabled grandfather, and i also think the entire family dynamic that the cannibals had going on was interesting…would maybe revisit this film if i was specifically researching or writing abt cannibalism and/or slasher movies but otherwise it’s not necessarily something i’d recommend.
saw iii (2006) - movie
yuckiest of the 3 i’ve seen so far…actually had 2 look away at a few points in this one. honestly think i liked it better than 2 but 1 is still the best movie…with each successive installment thus far the plot has just gotten more convoluted + execution is not really hitting for me personally. might keep working my way slowly through the franchise tho bc i’ve been watching them w my sisters <3 fun sibling activity etc…
gladiator (2000) - movie
watched this bc my mom put it on while i was visiting home & i asked what she was watching & she was like “oh it’s called gladiator…” & when i asked why she picked it she was like “oh people were talking about it and saying it didn’t get a lot of attention but it was actually really good.” which led me to believe it was a movie that had come out somewhat recently? but no—2000.
anyway. pretty forgettable unless ur really into like. movies dramatizing ancient rome etc. yet i did sit through the entire thing, so.
love hard (2021) - movie
watched this w my twin who had already seen it & really wanted 2 rewatch it for some reason…hallmark-y xmas film about a girl who meets her dream guy online + goes to surprise him for xmas, only to find out she’s been catfished. not good and not even particularly fun as far as stupid hallmark holiday movies go…no idea why my twin wanted to rewatch it so bad.
quiz lady (2023) - movie
cute cheesy sibling comedy abt 2 sisters who compete on a quiz show 2 win money 2 cover their mother’s gambling debt. watched it mostly bc i saw one specific charades clip that made me laugh & bc my twin had already watched it + said it was pretty fun. honestly found the pacing a bit weird but still enjoyed the movie; it was interesting seeing sandra oh in a role that’s so different from anything else i’ve seen her in but she was great <3
the mothers of plaza de mayo (1985) - movie
documentary abt argentina’s dirty war + specifically the activism of the mothers whose children were disappeared by the military. have studied the dirty war across various history + spanish courses so this was not my first introduction to the subject, but i thought the film provided a good overview & it’s really interesting to see footage + testimony of the women involved in the movement. this version is the english version, but i think the original spanish version is also on youtube, so! worth a watch if ur interested in learning more abt this particular historical moment etc.
reading
all for the game (nora sakavic) - trilogy
twin started listening 2 the series as audiobooks while driving so of course i had 2 reread the entire thing…trilogy of books about a teenager, neil, who is on the run but agrees to join a nationally-ranked college sports team for a made-up sport called “exy.” i read this about a year ago & enjoyed it, despite its various flaws…definitely not a series that u can read if ur gonna be worrying about realism, but fun if you want something fast-paced + slightly ridiculous in terms of stakes. comes w a long list of trigger warnings though, so it’s not for everyone.
gold tower (max lavergne) - short story
another short piece from lavergne, who is quickly becoming one of my fave substack writers…this one is about a guy working at a ski resort. i’m a big fan of lavergne’s writing style + loved the ending of this piece <3
for slow scholarship: a feminist politics of resistance through collective action in the neoliberal university (mountz et. al) - article
read this for a class; article co-written by a bunch of professors criticizing the neoliberalization of the university and the “publish or perish” imperative that essentially demands academics constantly churn out research + publications such that working conditions become unsustainable + quality becomes an afterthought. the article offers suggestions for ways to push back against these policies + try to implement changes, which i did appreciate, but overall i found it a bit lackluster…think it rightfully acknowledges a lot of the problems with academia but stops short of what could have been a deeper institutional critique of The University and instead focuses on reform in a way that feels a bit more like treating the symptoms than the cause, etc. also many of the proposed changes rely on the hierarchical power structures embedded in universities that cause/contribute to many of these issues in the first place, which makes it hard to feel confident in their viability and/or utility.
race and ethnicity II: white women and the possessive geographies of white supremacy (anne bonds) - article
another class reading, sort of an overview of scholarship in a specific field (geography) focused on white supremacy + breaking down the ways in which white women specifically invest in & uphold white supremacy. even though it’s somewhat specific to a certain field, i still found it a pretty informative overview w some more broadly applicable observations about the role white womanhood plays in perpetuating white supremacy, so!
unpacking the crisis: women of color, globalization, and the prison-industrial complex (julia sudbury) - article
another nice sort of overview reading for a class—this one is specifically about antiprison activism + is very clearly organized such that i think it’s a really nice introduction piece to the concept of prison abolition. sudbury breaks down 4 factors that underly mass incarceration in the u.s.—globalization + economic restructuring, the war on drugs, the criminalization of migration, and the prison-industrial complex—to show how these factors are linked + work together to perpetuate cycles of carceral violence. she then turns to an overview of antiprison activism + possibilities for abolition. context is pretty u.s.-specific, but sudbury does spend some time higlighting international implications due to globalization.
‘ethnic cleansing’ bleaches the atrocities of genocide (rony blum, gregory h. stanton, shira sagi, elihu d. richter) - article
short but informative piece unpacking the history of the term ‘ethnic cleansing’ + arguing that the term is essentially used to water down genocidal violence + allow international institutions to equivocate. constrained somewhat by its focus on international instutions, many of which carry legacies of colonialism directly implicated in the violence they claim to address, but still worth a read w that in mind.
a palestinian meditation in a time of annihilation: thirteen maqams for an afterlife (fady joudah) - essay
incredibly relevant & poignant reflections—this part, in particular, stuck with me:
I am terrified to think that the steady snail-pace of pro-Palestinian solidarity in the US has not recognized how largely it has leaned on the near absolute condition of Palestinian suffering. As long as Palestinians are the sole recipients of death, dying, and wretched life, solidarity with them gains in legitimacy. Any disruption in this balance—which never alters the Palestinians as the landslide majority owners of misery—must be attacked, contained, belittled with moral superiority by allies who had not said much of anything previously about Israel’s decades-long atrocities.
listening
nov.22 - playlist
what i was listening to in november…mostly modest mouse…
spotify wrapped 2023 - playlist
the wrapped playlist…i actually really like mine this year <3 biggest surprise was simply that i did not realize how much i listened 2 ‘pollen’ by tennis…
other thoughts from the week(s)
got a new tattoo…went 2 a christmas market…made a kimbap charcuterie board 4 a party…spending lots of time in thrift stores collecting items & trinkets & such. also continuing 2 knit gifts 4 friends & family etc…staying cozy…& so on…
many thanks again for all the recommendations, especially the non-fiction/articles. have now been convinced to go and see saltburn, fingers crossed for it being as gross and fucked up as i've heard it is! have a good week <3