Sans Titre

This is the space where I grant the world my unsolicited hot takes on popular culture.

[empressmcblondie]

Haven't been here for a hot minute, but my wrath was triggered by the fact that Samira Mohan's story arc ended with her APOLOGIZING to Dr. Robby for doing absolutely nothing wrong. I think that scene left such a sour taste in my mouth because I too found myself in situations where I had to admit fault, when my behavior was clearly not the core issue, in order to placate someone who was in a position of power over me. I really hated seeing her go through everything that happened to her, and then, at the end of a really shitty day, have to tend to a man's fragile ego as the icing on the cake. I do not believe for a second that this was the intended, predetermined send off for her character.

[empressmcblondie]

I could write essays about Blonde Blazer for days because I love her so much, but really, I just came here to say that the inversion of gender dynamics between her and Robert is such a refreshing thing to experience, and it holds a special place in my heart. We all know about the step on me muscle mommy trope that kind of positions the man in a whimpering submissive position, but like... That is not the case with BB. The inversion here isn't purely for sexual gratification, but rather intimacy. She is the initiator, asking for Robert's consent when unmasking him, the one who cradles him and flies him across the LA skies, the one who kneels before him and kisses his hand. She is the protector, the provider, the literal boss, and she never takes advantage of that or makes Robert feel inadequate or less masculine even though he is often times presented as the damsel in distress. The fact that she leaves Phenomaman for Robert just goes to show that it isn't about what you look like or what you can or cannot do within the traditional realm of your gender category, but whether you actually see the person in front of you. Robert sees Blazer / Mandy, and she sees him back... As equals. *SLAMS HAND DOWN* I LOVE THEM YOUR HONOR.

[empressmcblondie]

I have been a Shauna Shipman truther for a long time. I loved her vulnerability, I loved her bite, and I thought them brown puppy dog eyes could do no wrong. Let me tell you... The seething anger that coursed through my body when she bullied everyone into voting her way during Ben's trial was visceral. I don't hate her. I think what surprised me the most was that for a show that paves a pretty clear way for the characters to develop the way that they are... Shauna's adamant hatred of Ben made little sense to me. I understand being angry at the world for the loss of your best friend and baby, I understand being angry at your immediate surroundings for shoving some pseudo religious bullshit down your throat, and I understand the bitterness of a teenage girl that isn't chosen when she feels like she should have been... But what I do not understand is the outright rejection of an earnest apology and the blind insistence on someone's guilt when it was made abundantly clear that there was reasonable doubt. It almost felt like she did it because she could, and she wanted to show everyone she could, and I am sorry... But that feels a little out of pocket even for her. I struggle understanding her reasoning because besides unbridled anger and maliciousness... There is no substance to her. For the first time, Shauna Shipman feels empty to me.

[empressmcblondie]

Y'all also forget that Shauna has a personal bone to pick with Mari over that one time that Shauna chose to side with Taissa about going to the lake, and then Jackie literally using Mari to get Shauna jealous. COINCIDENCE? I think not. Mari's been on her shit list ever since.

[empressmcblondie]

The S4 finale of "The Umbrella Academy" made me feel as if I had just done a month long hike up a really big mountain, and as I reached the peak, waiting to see the world spread before me in a glorious panoramic view, yet I was met with nothing but fog. The disappointment was, as you imagine, visceral. I think my biggest issue is that they did what a lot of shows do when they're lazy... Invent time-skips that "resolve" a lot of previous issues that they do not have the time or the writing capacity to deal with. Humans are dynamic. They do not just resolve things and move on. They will come back to traumatic events from the past, and they will have lingering thoughts about them even decades into the future. This idea that a time skip can change these people (I know that they are characters, but is that not why we consume media? To "know" character but "see" and "feel" person on the screen?) so inherently that all of a sudden certain things are magically resolved, is idiotic. Personally, I find that "Yellowjackets" and "House of the Dragon" are a masterclass in time skips done right when it comes to the complexity of character psyche.

I clearly have a plethora of other issues to go along with it like weird and clanky temporal and spatial allocation (did someone say "Shadow and Bone" S2, what is going on Netflix?) where you cannot discern how much time has passed or how long does it take the characters to travel from point A to point B. The million and one questions that needed actual answers and the decision to introduce MORE elements (i.e., Jennifer and the Squid) that would just remain unanswered. Like, it's one thing not to answer the questions viewers have had from S1, it's another to add more bullshit into that mix. Lastly, the characterization and the utterly unhappy ending of it all... The they-were-meant-to-die-all-along schtick is so outdated. Is it fitting? Maybe, sure... If the narrative was constructed to guide us in this direction, but it never was! Not even in S4 itself! If you want to pin the "blame" on someone for the Marigold and Durango mess, it should have been Abigail, and with a few tweaks to her inconsistent characterization, it could make sense. She should have been the one to absorb the children's Marigold out of her own repentant volition (if she really wanted to fix Reginald's transgressions INCLUDING traumatizing a bunch of children for his own selfish agenda), with Viktor's help (because why have him be able to give and take away Marigold FOR IT TO NOT HAVE USE WHEN IT MATTERS MOST???) and then she should have sacrificed herself to the cleanse, killing Ben with her and reclaiming the original timeline. Yes, yes, Ben dying is very unfortunate, but I think it is thematically beautiful to see how his initial death broke the family, and how this one unites and potentially heals them. It would also mean that the guilt does not remain at the hands of the abused children, but instead, a parent figure rises up to the task and assumes the role of responsible parent, something that Reginald was incapable of doing. I also think Reginald should have succumbed to the cleanse after Abigail's sacrifice (suicide, yet again), which would mean that this is the closest they get to the OG 2019 timeline: Reginald, Abigail, and Ben are dead.

IT WAS THAT SIMPLE. They literally had all of the elements set in place already, and to think that there was a room full of seasoned writers that didn't see any of this is just surprising to me.

[empressmcblondie]

The ick Criston Cole gave Alicent after that haircut was mortal and honestly, girl, same.

[empressmcblondie]

What Criston Cole is to Alicent Hightower is the same thing that Jeff Sadecki is to Shauna Shipman. These men are heterosexual--and therefore, acceptable--substitutes for an inaccessible sapphic partner. We have to take into account the rigid societies in which both of these characters find themselves in. In Yellowjackets, the teen timeline only allows characters to be openly homosexual in the wilderness. Meaning, only under the most extreme removal of societal rules can homosexuality flourish. In House of the Dragon, these restrictions are tenfold given the characters' religious affiliations and status. Alicent cannot be with Rhaenyra in the same way Shauna cannot be with Jackie. So... They take the next best thing, the men to whom these women lost their virginity to. These heterosexual relationships will never be more meaningful than the sapphic desire that propelled them to begin with. This desire transcends distance, time, and even death. Ignoring this is reductive, and frankly, just boring.

[empressmcblondie]

Did you know that during the Holocaust, there were 'model' ghettos like Theresienstadt, which was brimming with cultural life, and was generally perceived as less horrifying than let's say, Auschwitz? So much so, actually, that foreign delegations were brought to these specific ghettos to see how "well" the Jews were living, in order to continue justifying the Nazi cause. These delegations were also given fabricated statistical data about the ghetto, and they even got to watch a play called Brundibár which was performed by the children's opera there... You know, for light entertainment. Does that make Theresienstadt in any way less of ghetto? Does that make the experience of Jews there less horrifying just because they looked good? That's what the Nazis wanted these delegations to believe.

If your hot take of the day is, ah, look at the Israeli hostages, they look well... Then let this be a lesson in the fact that looks can be deceiving, and Hamas is no less of a maniacal terrorist organization today than it was eight months ago. We might never know the extent of the trauma that these hostages underwent, or the burdens that they will be forced to carry for the rest of their lives, but just because it isn't marked externally doesn't mean that it's not there. This idea that Jews owe you the visibility of their trauma for it to be considered real and valid is just mind-boggling to me. What happened to the hostages in the past eight months, and what continues happening to the remaining 120, will never be acceptable, justifiable, or forgivable.

[empressmcblondie]

I have such a vivid vision of GIRLFAILURE™ Jackie Taylor (some deluded AU, I guess???) going to Rutgers while Shauna ends up in Brown, and wow Jackie would be upset about this for like 15 mins but then she'd meet her non-verbal goth roommate and do her utmost best to bring a little sunshine to her life because in Jackie's head she needs it and she'll be told off time and again because girlie this isn't high-school, and boundaries are a thing. Eventually they'll become comfortable enough with one another for her roommate to pretend to listen to Jackie's frivolous rants (mostly about Shauna, an unnamed ex best friend, or kinda still a friend but she never emails or calls so idk what we are anymore). Jackie will eventually climb the social ladder, as Jackie does, and even though she's awkward and a little out of touch, she still manages to weasel her way into the in crowd. She realizes very quickly that in Wiskayok she was a big fish in a small pond, and here she's just a mediocre fish in a huge lake and everyone's so much prettier and have so much more going to them and honestly, being the soccer captain isn't that much of a big flex anymore... Maybe her mom was right??? But she still waves it around like a badge of honor because fuck people who think it's lame! There's something seriously endearing and magnetic about how she stands there in the middle of the party, her clickity clackity knees touching in her summer shorts as she elegantly holds onto a red solo cup in one hand and a cigarette in the other (she only socially smokes like three puffs you guys stop) and goes on and on about that one game where they got to nationals because it was their best game ever!!!!! The excitement!! The candor!! The memory of Shauna's hands weaving around her so tightly... Anyways, she'd experiment because everyone does (just a little weed nothing too crazy she hates it honestly and like a kiss or two between female friends... Okay so maybe it was more than a kiss but it's totally not a big deal and that doesn't make her gay, does it?) So, she'd come back on holidays and she and Shauna would meet because when they're face to face it's like nothing else matters literally so what if you didn't answer the 64 emails I sent you over the semester it's not biggie you were probably busy charming everyone with your short stories, do you ever write about me Shauna? Shauna's eyes widen so big when Jackie tells her she slept with a girl that they might fall out of her head and it's hilarious. So what? Everyone does it, Jackie would say, and Shauna would shake her head... She didn't. She didn't dare. There was something much more painful about the thought of Jackie with another girl than any other slight that may or may not have lingered between them but she fucked Jeff and kept it a secret she'll take to the grave so she literally can't say anything. Anyways, they'd dance this dance of unspoken yearning for intimacy and eventually they'll put the capital L and B in the LGBT because lord knows Jackie Taylor came out a lesbian out of the womb and Shauna Shipman swings both ways but for Jackie she'd swing the full home run. Yes, they end up together and it's as beautiful and unstable as you'd imagine it to be... But boy would it be worth it.

[empressmcblondie]

Jackie Taylor, you would have LOVED Chappell Roan.

[empressmcblondie]

My HOT(D) take of the day: Team Black this, Team Green that, Rhaenyra vs. Alicent blah, blah, blah. These two women are in an equally fucked up sinking boat, taking a plunge into the depths of the ocean hand in hand. They really said 'we cannot live our lives together in love and in peace eating cake? Fine, then we'll self-destruct.' At the heart of this conflict there is the simple, straightforward desire of two young girls to reunite, but they are continuously kept apart by the constant meddling of crusty old men. Men are what got us into this situation, and they're what is going to keep us in it until the bitter end.

[empressmcblondie]

Both Melanie Lynskey (in The Tattooist of Auschwitz) AND Sophie Nelisse (in Irena's Vow) portraying characters that, during one of the most tumultuous and openly anti-Jewish periods since the Shoah, explore the narratives of Jewish suffering, antisemitism, and gentile solidarity during Nazi Germany is just a beautiful coincidence and a comfort to my aching heart.

[empressmcblondie]

Kill yourself piece of shit

Case in point.

[empressmcblondie]

Israel did not win the Eurovision contest, which was expected, but that doesn't matter, the audience support exposed something much more important about the world. The bitter antisemites lost this cancel war so hard they're spiraling. Not only so, but they also resorted to one of the most cliche libels to explain it away: the Jews control the media. You know, the really sad part about it all is that all we need to do is exist in a space as Jews and you guys show your true colors. Our mere existence is provocation to you.

[empressmcblondie]

You can bully us. You can hate us. You can boo us off stages. You can spit when we walk by you. You can block our paths. You can ostracize us. You can turn a blind eye to the violence directed at us. But the one thing you will never do is snuff out our Jewish spirit. Here, Eden Golan, you dropped this queen. 👑

[flem17ng]

“jackie taylor and shauna shipman were in love” i say into the microphone. the audience responds with a chorus of boos.

i see someone in the front row pull a tomato out to throw.

“wait!” says a voice from the back.

“she’s right!” the voice calls, silencing the jeering crowd. i look over through the haze- It’s Melanie Lynskey.

[empressmcblondie]

As you know I'm already down this Shauna and Jackie rabbit hole (this pun is absolutely intended), and so, I wanted to touch upon something else I've noticed. During 1x01, we see Shauna's rabbit collection, and obviously, in 1x06 Shauna receives a little ceramic rabbit from Mrs. Taylor under the impression that "Jackie just adored rabbits." Now... Shauna's facial expression in reaction to this statement is very telling. She plays along with whatever this is. Yes, Jackie adored rabbits, sure thing... And because of that, I adore rabbits now because I've become a Jackie substitute in the eyes of her bereaved parents. Initially I scratched this off as a mother who didn't actually know her teenage daughter well enough, which is pretty on brand. The Taylors give me perfect-on-paper-but-dysfunctional-in-reality energy with a lot of the tension coming from Jackie's relationship with her mother. Jackie herself denounces this connection to rabbits quite explicitly in the immediate scene that follows when she and Shauna go checking the traps, referring to the animal as a "squirrel with floppy ears and a pompom on its ass." Clearly, Jackie did not care for rabbits whatsoever. But... Where did Mrs. Taylor even get the idea that Jackie likes rabbits in the first place? It has to have come from somewhere, no? It did.

It most likely came from Shauna.

Shauna's room in 1x01.

You can see the small ceramic rabbit, strategically placed beneath the light in Shauna's room, linking her to the animal explicitly. It's not that Shauna took it upon herself to love rabbits because of Jackie's parents. It's that Shauna projected her own love for rabbits (to whatever length that went) onto Jackie. Just like with the journal in my previous post... Shauna is rewriting Jackie not just by taking on Jackie characteristics as her own, but by inserting her own characteristics into Jackie posthumously.

Shauna's confession of "I don't even know where you end and I begin" (also a Radiohead song) takes on a whole new layer of meaning. It's not just that Shauna doesn't know anymore... But we, the audience, don't either. It's becoming increasingly difficult to understand who Jackie is. What elements of Jackie's life are actually Jackie's doing and what are props, planted by Shauna... Small edits she makes to match the story that she tells herself in her own head. Anyways, as always, this show is a gift that keeps on giving.