Also, we got our econ exams back on Monday and i got a B which is probably better than i deserved. And Ann is definitely employing me next year, so that is also of the good.
And i think my computer has stopped fighting with me for the time being. Damn tantrummy machine.
“The Bloody Chamber” was one of the stories we read for Betsey’s class today and we talked about the role of the mother, particularly at the end. Betsey said she thought the arrival of the mother was the creepiest part of the whole story. Honestly i thought it was possibly the least creepy part of the whole thing. Yes the mother is described in very animalistic terms, but the husband’s castle is full of death and pain and beauty and terror. It’s deeply erotic, but also deeply creepy. Also, the weird imagery of my brain sees the mother as this figure of metal and stone bursting into this world of lilies and blood. Thoughts from those who’ve read it?
In my UMass class today, we watched part of Mickey Mouse Monopoly. (I have seen so many of the MEF documentaries these past couple years.... They’re quite good; i’m just amused that i’ve seen so many of them.) The section we watched was on gender role modeling in Disney. It began with how all the females have the same mannerisms, seductive eye thing, all that (and showed clips to great effect -- i hadn’t realized just how nearly identical the animation is) even when they’re animals. By this point, the whole presentation-of-unrealistic-standards-of-b
I hadn’t really thought about the fact that when Lumiere is seducing the duster behind the curtain, she is saying No, says “I have been burnt by you before.” Then it gets worse. I’m not exactly majoring in feminist film criticism or anything but one might wonder how i didn’t notice the whole Beast-as-abusive-boyfriend thing before. One of the women in the documentary talked about how she works with kids who come from violent homes and how watching the movie through that lens, the abuse is really horrifying. The Beast rips her family away, confines her, says if she won’t eat with him she won’t eat at all, generally has this terrifying temper, and yet the whole thrust of the story is that Belle is supposed to be nice to him, to bring out the prince inside. Then they asked 9 year old girls what they would do if they had a friend like Belle, and both said they would encourage her to keep being nice to the Beast in the hopes that that would make him be a better person, and lo, in the movie that works. A clip of Belle and the Beast out in the snow when she’s singing “There's something sweet and almost kind. But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined. But now he's dear, and so unsure. I wonder why I didn't see it there before” shown right after that felt downright creepy with the now obvious parallels of the cycles of relationship abuse.
Hitchcock’s Vertigo...
romantic epic
1(9.1%)
creepy film
10(90.9%)
Oh, that reminds me, i never did post the SCMA-car poll stuff.
If the Smith College Museum of Art were a car, what kind of car would it be?
athene: shinyhedy: one of those funky cars with bottle caps and trolls on itlaynamarya: double-decker bus, lots of room for all sorts of people and tastes.rhipowered: One of those little hybrid sports cars. All silver and glass.Spring 2001 Market Analysis (thus predating the construction of the building we have now)
If the Museum were a car, what kind of car would it be?
(Female) A BMW
BMW. Why?
(Female) Oh, I just -- I kind of think of Smith as a BMW so by [association] —
OK. Why? Because it’s expensive?
(Female) Yeah, and classy.
Classy. What else? What color is it?
(Female) Navy blue.
OK. What else about it? What else? Somebody else? Another car.
(Male) Mercedes.
Why?
(Male) High class, well established, maybe politcally correct in some ways.
OK. Big Mercedes? Small Mercedes
(Male) S-class.
Yeah, OK.
(Female) A Lamborghini.
Why? Why a Lamborghini?
(Female) Because it has style. It has class. It is prestigious.
(Male) I would think of it as a student car. I mean, whatever the kids are driving now is what I think. I don’t even think of that as a museum. It is part of the college. I am not aware of it as a museum.
OK. Good to know.
(Female) I was wondering if it was open to the public.
(Male) I mean, the fact that so many of us haven’t been there is, I think, very important. You know, I don’t know that it exists.
(Female) Well, you know, it is hard to park there. Where at Springfield it’s easy to park at. I have been very lucky. But I think that addresses the...of are you welcoming or not. I mean, I think if I had an occasion to go I would probably look to whoever was at the door and say, “Is the public welcome?” And if they say, “No, it’s a school,” I don’t think I would feel elitist or that they were elitist. I would just think that it is a facility for their students. But I would feel I had to ask before I went in with what I know about it.
Oh,
susiebabylon, you wanted me to make an icon out of this cap? With text = something about Lindsey having sex?Was sleepy through all classes today, so even though i’ve accomplished next to nothing, it’s late enough to be bedtime.
