Buffy

created by: Joss Whedon
aired: March 10, 1997 until May 20, 2003
rating: i am not sure yet i am only on episode 4


so there is a lot to say about buffy. most of it has probably been said already. chances are you have already heard it.

so most of the geeks i know and most if not all of the feminists i know LOVE this show. so great job?

i am just here to report that this


makes my eyeballs demand early retirement. and they have unionized so it is a big hassle.

*sigh*

i am sure Xander's character gets better. yeahyeahyeahyeahWHATEVEReyesrolledintothebackofmyheadYAWN. i'll give him a chance.

but that font...

i will never warm to that font.

Rugrats

created by: Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain.
premiered on August 11, 1991 and aired its last episode on June 8, 2004.
rating (outta 4 stars): * * *

Rugrats was probably my number one favorite television show when i was in my adolescent stage. the show has been around for a long time, and there is much to review. but i am limiting my thoughts to Season 2 and 3 of Rugrats, because:

1.) that is what is on Netflix instant.
2.) Season 1 is too boring and slow for me to watch (even the episodes i have nostalgia for).
3.) for me, the show lost its edge once the movies were made. probably even before then.

hopefully everyone i know has seen this television show, but just in case you haven't here is the dealio. the show features the daily interaction and adventures of a group of three babies (Tommy, Phil and Lil), one toddler (Chuckie) and one Pre-schooler (Angelica). it is told from the perspective of children and the adults are sub-plot material, at best.

there are a couple things going on that i appreciate.

first, i like how the show animates both the reality of the babies activities and how their imagination warps their perception.

Rugrat Reality:









Rugrat Imagination:



the lenses switch frequently, but the story remains cohesive and the animation mildly stimulating and visually pleasing. so, great job, i guess. it must be said that the animation isn't my favorite, and that the babies in this show are not capable of engaging in pretend play at this point in their lives. but its a show, so whatever.

the show is not TOO patriarchal. maybe it even has some feminist moments, cause it seems like the show's creators like to shake up the gender stereotypes sometimes.

Phil and Lil are twin babies in the Rugrats crew. they are the only brother/sister relationship featured in the early seasons of the show.


Phil and Lil's mom is super jocky, loud and crass. their pop is quiet, shy and a bit of a klutz. active gender reversal, perhaps? there are several episodes that show that people treat Phil and Lil differently based on their gender. once, Phil and Lil switch places and their Mom comforts a screaming Phil because she thinks it is Lil. in another, Lil is breaking into their home office and their mother assumes that it is Phil because she is behaving adventurously. i don't think the show is actively criticizing this behavior, but it is nice that the television show is addressing such issues at all.

Angelica is another interesting and perhaps feminist character. Angelica is Tommy's cousin. she is spoiled rotten, a liar, has trouble making friends with other children, is greedy, manipulative, physically aggressive and sometimes straight up malicious. on the bright side she is imaginative, brave, highly articulate, and very intelligent. behind the tough and rude exterior can sometimes be sort nice. sometimes. she often acts as a mentor and leader for the other Rugrats.

Angelica is heavily influenced by her mother, Charlotte, an executive at Merge Corp.




what Charlotte does is probably terrible. for example when her daughter Angelica asks, "Mommy what DO you do?" Charlotte replies, "Let me put it this way, a corporation is like a big hungry monster, my job is to find it smaller, weaker monsters for it to eat."

also, she was abducted by eco-terrorists.

so Charlotte is The Man, but sometimes it is nice to have The Man be a woman. her character is awesome because she is demanding, powerful, ruthless and logical. The show constantly implies that as a working mother she ignores her daughter. Drew (the husband) is portrayed as the primary caretaker of Angelica.

not too typical.

Charlotte is a strong woman and Angelica is a strong girl, but that doesn't make them feminists. there is however some interesting dialogue. that happens. in one episode ("Rhinocertis!"), Angelica is playing doctor. she harasses a dog, who runs into the house and disturbs her dad's work. he yells at her. cue the next scene:


Angelica: Yup, I guess I am just about the best doctor in the whole world.

Chuckie: I don't know...your dad seemed kind of mad.

Angelica: That's because he is threatened by working women.

in the episode "Princess Angelica", Angelica is acting like a total brat. her dad is talking to her mom about her attitude problem.

Drew: Have you noticed lately that Angelica is acting like a REAL Princess?

Charlotte: Drew, that's great!

Drew: Great?

Charlotte: Dont you see...if Angelica is ever going to make it in a Male Power dominated structure she's gotta eat, breathe, drink and sweat self esteem!

ZING!



the show may be a bit annoying now for us older young adults, but i think some teens could revisit it. and i would recommend it for younger kids, cause of all the awesomeness. this show was (sadly) my first explicit introduction to Judaism (no joke). the grandpa was great! the maybe feminisms! kid power! and most importantly, mark mothersbaugh did the soundtrack.

A Song of Ice and Fire

Author: George R. R. Martin
Year Published: 1996-2005 (and more to come, i hope)
Rating (outta 5 stars): * * * * *

dear Sarah Belknap,

this post is for you.

so i have this awesome aunt who gives me books for my birthday and christmas. it is the best, and she always gives me stuff that i want to read and its like she has known me since birth. or whatever. because she has, y'know?

you too, have also given me one of the best birthday gifts i have ever gotten. ever, ever, ever.

i am not sure if you knew that by giving me A Game of Thrones you would start a life long obsession in some poor, unsuspecting lady. i am pretty sure you did, because you know how awesome these books are. cuz they got rad ladies who are awesome and In Charge. and its more political and diplomatic than you would expect a fantasy series to be. also the suspense, oh gawshwhathappensnextijustgottaknow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! awesome, aweosme, awesome.

i recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

i guess now all we gotta do is sit around and hope that our dear friend George R. R. Martin sticks around to finish the series. i hope that guy has a plan. if he doesn't, its totally ok. cuz imma gonna write it for him!

so thanks, Sarah. this is one of my favorite book series ever. its amazing and so much fun. i reread each of them twice, and i will probably reread them to prep for Dancing with Dragons.

i can't wait to just dance with a dragon.

thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!

<3 sade

The Group

Author: Mary McCarthy
Year Published: 1954
Rating (outta 5 starts): * * * * *

LOVED, loved LOVED this book. The Group was about a bunch of recent grads of Vassar making it big in the NYC. The year was 1933. It begins at a wedding and ends at a funeral. there are lots of very divisive lady characters. granted they are all white and pretty well off, and i think christian too...but they are all very interesting and have different opinions and the whathaveyou.

it might be a bit too heavy for young adults but i think that it would be excellent reading to put american lady issues into a bit of perspective. the women in this book are highly political, and lots of...er.....stuff is discussed.

plus, this book is prettttttty hot for having been written in 1954. thanks for the steamy sex scenes Mary. young adults love steamy sex scenes, so i approve this book for those audiences.

this review wasn't very good, but please don't let that be a reflection upon the book. read it. if you really need more convincing, my good friend pictured below read this book.

and she thought it was awesome.

Up

Director: Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
Year Released: 2009
Rating (outta 5 stars): * * *

There will be spoilers.


As we all know there are ten Pixar films. My top three are:
1.) Monster's Inc.
2.) Toy Story
3.) The Incredibles

Heads up, sorry up.

Well, not too sorry, cuz this movie was great. Heck, it made you care about the characters in the first five minutes. Pretty impressive. Plus there were talking dogs, and EVERYBODY LOVES TALKING DOGS, riiiiiiiiiight?????

BUT.

There were a couple of things that bothered me about this movie.

Adventures or children? Adventurous children?

In the beginning of the movie a young, married Carl and Ellie couple found out that they couldn't have their own biological children. They were pretty devastated. So they decided to save all that kid money for an adventure. It takes them a loooooooooooong time to save (seriously Ellie and Carl, how the fuck were you planning on having kids with this sort of fiscal irresponsibility?). So long, in fact, Ellie dies before they can do anything exciting.

Scene ends, movie begins. Carl, being a lonely widower and whatnot, goes on an adventure and by the by becomes a father figure to one Russell. Which is what made the whole thing worthwhile--raising children, not adventure making.

Sorta?

So, that's kind of annoying, and I am not sure what to make of it really. Should Ellie and Carl have adopted? The movie showed that adults can grow attachments to children that they didn't pop out of their vaginas, right? That adventures are not worth having if you don't have someone to share it with? That that person that you share it with should be your kid? Or your spouse? Or birds? I dunno. Just, seemed sort of trite to me.

As I have mentioned before, most Pixar films fail the Bechdel test. This one fails pretty damn hard. Ellie dies in the first five minutes, and the other two lady characters are barely characters. One is a bird. A bird, DAMMIT! The other is at the very end of the film for 2 seconds and I totally forgot about her until this moment (SPOILER ALERT: it's Russell's mom).

One could say that Ellie was there throughout the movie because her character serves as the muse for Carl's journey. A very silent, invisible, not that integral, muse. I am glad she was in the movie to make it more touching. You know, for the LADIEZ.

I would have liked this movie more if Ellie and Carl had switched places. Carl dies, Ellie goes on an adventure. Ellie finds a bird and her old childhood hero. Then they battle. But, after they make out. Ellie meets Russell and the two become best pals. Ellie talks to those talking dogs that everyone loves.

This movie would have been way more awesome that way.

But who am I kidding? Women are too weak and stupid to have their own adventures. Not to mention us ladies with our tiny lady brains have the darnest time getting helium into balloons. Women are really boring to watch, and no one likes them. And they smell bad.

Like cat poop. Or something.

Question: What do all these Up movie posters have in common? Answer: They all feature dudes, duh.

Everworld

Author: K.A. Applegate
Year Published: 1999-2001
Rating (outta 5 stars): * * *




i went to a book store the other day, thinking i could just peruse without buying anything. mission impossible.

so i walked out with three books in hand, two of which are the first books in this fantastic embarrassingly entertaining series. i am talking total brain candy pot brownie here, people.

this series is about a team of four unlovable high school sorta-stereotypes who are sucked into an alternative dimension (Everworld) created by the gods of old. they get into all sort of crazy, adventures with leprechauns and dragons and mermaids and and and and fairies and gods and Merlin and swords and all sorts of wonderful shit that i wish i would encounter on a daily basis. of course, much Angst Tea is served at this part-tay.

let it be known, I Love Shit Like This. would eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner if i could.

K.A. Applegate is an interesting lady. she typically makes a point to include ladies (though they never outnumber men) and minorities (in Everworld's case a black and jewish guy). interestingly, the humans that inhabit Everworld are made up of all races that are scattered evenly throughout the realm. so, you know. there were lots of black and hispanic and asian vikings in the book i just read.

however.


if memory serves me well, and it doesn't (thanks Wikipedia), the featured gods/cultures are Egyptian, Norse, Greek/Roman, Irish, British, and Aztec. i applaud Applegate for putting effort into making the characters (both main, recurring and peripheral) diverse. but it seems that most of the books featured euro-centric mythology. sure she used Aztec lore but only in one book. whereas Merlin, the norse, irish and greek gods were popping up constantly. only 2 of the 12 books featured were about the egyptians and the aztecs. the rest were all anglo-centric. i mean, how hard would it have been to use Anansi, Shango, Coyote, or Chu Jung? c'mon, just one of those?


i am pretty sure she only used the Aztec gods because of those awesome movies that came out in 2000.


maybe its all A-Ok because the main lady character (April) identified as a feminist. right? its ok for me to like these still, right? RIGHT?!?!?!??!!

prep

Author: Curtis Sittenfeld
Year Published: 2005
Rating (outta 5 stars): * * * *

i read this book the first year that it came out. 2005, a year of Being a Freshman. it was The Worst. because it was The Worst i projected such feelings onto this book and thought it was The Worst too. maybe i was wrong. maybe reading a book about sadness at a fancy MA prep school, pill popping suicides, asshole boys, rich chicks, loneliness, loser personalities and maladjustment rang too familiar for me.

but now i am older and not in practically the same place as the protagonist. the main character Lee Fiora is introspective and intelligent, but immature. Lee was an LMC (lower middle class) from Indiana and was grossly unprepared for a WASP nest. That girl suffers from all of the 5 Pillars of Sadness:

1.) body issues: she gains some weight while there. and is never pleased with her bod.
2.) ugly: she isn't that pretty and has no confidence.
3.) lonely forever: she only has one friend, Martha. they are roomies, and even Martha gets annoyed with her sometimes. she also is madly in love with some dude, cross sugerman. they bone and stuff but he would never be with her (his words).
4.) the world is a horrible place: she goes to Ault (read: Exeter) which is a a horrible place to be in. plus, i am pretty sure this book takes place in the 80s. the 80s were a horrible time.
5.) stupididity: she gets bad grades and makes many a social faux pas.

yup, poor old lee was a Class A suffer of the pillars of sadness. oh how i love self-loathing characters!

while at tufts (a school lee later gets rejected from) i took a class called Differences. it was one of those stupid english requirements they made everyone who wasn't smart enough to test out of it do. in one class we had a HUGE argument about affirmative action. some pudgey white dude was all we should change affirmative action based off of class not race. and i was all, that will never happen because it costs ca$h money$, but i support an idea like that (sorta). the rest of the class wasn't too keen on affirmative action at all so the conversation was a bit of a dud. anyway, we read a bunch of really shitty books (minus Stone Buch Blues), and we should have read this one. i think maybe it would have helped all the dumb asses in my class.

the character was smart, multi-dimensional, confused, funny and interesting. see that cover? it says its "a complex tale of social class, race and gender politics." too true BG, too true. lee thinks all the minority students are on scholarship, and was proven wrong. lee assumes that being a minority or being poor disqualifies you from being in a relationship, and is proven wrong. and so on, blah blah blah.


just read it already, people.

what really smears my pap is that this book came out around the time this piece of shit did:

they are slightly similiar. the biggest difference is that prep rocked and charlotte simmons sucked hairy, smelly wolf balls. this book was an excuse for Tom Wolfe to push is his "artistic boundaries" by writing from the perspective of a college-aged woman lost in a sea of yuppie puppies (read: this was Tom Wolfe's excuse to masturbate to a fantastical tale of the perfect woman {brilliant, beautiful, shy, young and innocent} to be fucked over by different men {who probably personify aspects of himself} just to be saved by the perfect man {maybe, himself}). it was hella patriachal. i really want to tell him that, one day.

Me: hey TDubs, i hate to break it to you, but most women's college experience isn't so guy centric. it can be, but mostly not. most of my college lady friends were doing awesome things like getting kate bornstein to visit or shoving pie in each other's faces on election night, y'know? also, having the female's protagonists climax be finding the perfect man is such a cliche and offensive cop out.

Tom Wolfe: who the fuck are you?

Me: *sigh*