The Ticket Booth

Every ticket is a vote. I'm a grad school student just trying to navigate the magical world of film on her own terms. This blog's about the movies and TV shows I watch, as well as my life as a media studies MA student. This blog is a mix of fandom, commentary, and original content.

[votingattheticketbooth]

hey lovely followers!!!

so this blog is now DEAD. IT'S DEAD, JIM.

if you still care for my musings, some about film but most not, then feel free to follow my personal (fairly new) tumblr, url: hyenamckenna

some of my posts here will make their way over there over time!

thanks :)

[votingattheticketbooth]

TV Shows Seen in 2014:

19. Bob's Burgers season 1 (3.5/5)

20. Bob's Burgers season 2 (3.5/5)

21. Kings (3.5/5)

22. Justified season 5 (5/5)

23. Bob's Burgers season 3 (3.5/5)

24. Adventure Time  season 2 (3.5/5)

[votingattheticketbooth]

Brief (spoilery) Under the Skin ranting beneath the cut.

So I essentially seem to be the only person irritated/frustrated/disappointed in this movie. When I tell people this, they assume it's because I came to the movie with some preconceived notions about what it was going to be, which was not the case. I knew what the trailer told me, which was very fucking little. But the first half sets the film up for a variety of readings, and the one I had (which I'm predisposed to as a feminist obsessed with monster women) was entirely negated by the end of the movie.

I have a lot of complicated feelings about Under the Skin. I've been thinking about it off and on consistently since I saw it on Saturday night. My friend and I have been reading a variety of reviews, talking about the film in relation to our personal interpretations as well as the reviewer responses, and we're even planning to read the novel it's based on (which she's reading as we speak, and which I'll be reading once finals are done). Suffice to say, watching/experiencing/recovering from this movie is no simple task, and in that I applaud it.

But here's my bottom line: No matter how artfully or logically or respectfully or interestingly someone argues that Under the Skin is a pro-women text wherein the universe of the film is sexist, but not the film itself, I will not buy it. And I won't buy it for the following non-negotiable reasons:

I am tired of women being written as victims

I am tired of rape as a plot point

I am tired of female characters being defined solely by their sexuality

I am tired of women having to rely on men in film

Yes, the universe is more overtly patriarchal and anti-woman, but the film itself makes specific choices about how to tell the story of our world's ironic inhumanity towards women that I think are bullshit. Laura has no agency, recovers no agency, and is eventually slaughtered for existing. And you can argue all you want that that's that message of the movie, how this world sees women as objects, how rape is destructive and tears women apart, yada yada yada, but then what am I supposed to take away from this film?  As a woman, I already fucking know my physical body is more important to the rest of the world than any other part of me. I am already aware that my chances of being raped in this lifetime are pretty fucking good. What on earth am I supposed to take away from a movie that presents me with a female character completely controlled, reliant, and destroyed by men? Besides the obvious, "Yeah, ladies, sorry you get such a raw deal, but lol didn't I tell it in a pretty way?"

Another friend of mine said I don't have to take anything away. That there doesn't have to be some bigger message. She was satisfied with the world presented within the confines of the two hour movie experience. And I'm glad for her. I'm glad that she was able to watch this undeniably orgasmically gorgeous film and find few problems with it. But I am at my fucking limit for these kinds of stories about women. I found nothing innovative in the commentary on our society. Shit's awful for the ladies! Yes, I already know. 

And look, I totally know that I probably expected way too much from this movie as I watched the first half. I understand that it's me who gave expectations to the movie that it then didn't meet, and not the movie that made me promises it then didn't keep. But when you're going to make a movie that so obviously deals with women's issues, I think it's understandable that someone like me is going to then have a problem with the way the movie dealt with those issues, especially when you consider how many other people are reading this as a feminist film that ~ingeniously~ comments on the rape culture.

I call bullshit. I think this movie is still very obviously told from a male perspective. As I said to my friend that night when we got home, I feel like I watched a movie about a manic pixie dream girl, but still from the dude's point of view. And I know that's a weird statement that probably makes more sense in my head than in writing, but I sort of still stand by that initial reaction. Laura doesn't mean anything to me. She's just another gal in a long line of gals to be screwed over by men. I get it. We're all fucked. Literally. 

[metadefumaca]

You don’t wanna wake up, do you?

Under the Skin (2013) [x]

[votingattheticketbooth]

paper 1 of 3 begins.

[infinitygems]

MCU MEME →  Two Avengers

Natasha Romanoff [1/2]

“I find that it’s easier to keep your true self buried under several layers of untrue selves, to protect yourself.”

[chevalierene]

What Hannibal’s really thinking (Moral cannibal edition)

[tsukiyamo]

(on his move from Europe to Rockland County, NY at the age of 12) “I had an accent. High school was tough a little bit for a few years. I wanted to fit in. I wanted to be liked. I wanted to be good-looking. I wanted to be popular. I spent a lot of time thinking, ‘What are these people going to think of me?”

[aprilsludgate-deactivated201503]

[votingattheticketbooth]

Marvel Cinematic Universe known Working Titles.

[wondersmith-and-sons]

[savingbucky-deactivated20160210]

#HE DOESN’T LOOK AT STEVE LIKE STEVE IS THE UNIVERSE OR ANYTHING #NOPE #NOT AT ALL 

[maulthots]

[votingattheticketbooth]

i'm simultaneously irritated and confused by my body/bio readings. 

am i just totally misunderstanding what this dude is saying neosexuality is about???

[votingattheticketbooth]

finished my lit review

which is great

except now i have to start my analysis

and i am so not ready

[votingattheticketbooth]

things i said i would do: my fucking latina feminisms draft

things i said i would not do: start a new fucking tv show until i finished my fucking latina feminisms draft

things i am doing: starting fucking kings and not writing my fucking latina feminisms draft

[votingattheticketbooth]

looooooooooool, made the mistake of reading about anne helen petersen leaving academia for BuzzFeed, and now i really don't want to sit here and write this paper because lmao academia is terrible.

[votingattheticketbooth]

So it's getting to be finals time round these parts, and I am quickly losing control of everything. But, you know, it's cool. I'm fine. It'll all work out.

I haven't talked too much about school here, not as much as I intended to. I really did plan for this space to be about my experiences as a grad school student, but frankly my experiences have oscillated largely between two emotions: disappointed and demoralized.

I don't want to get into that, though. I'm trying to stay positive and what not. I start thesis work relatively soon, and since I'm talking about Welcome to Night Vale, I think that will be a generally exciting time. Mostly I stopped by to whine talk about my final paper for my Latina Feminisms course.

For whatever reason, this paper is killing me. I'm super excited about it, but it's also really frustrating because a) I can seem to pin down exactly how I want to approach my topic (which I'll get to in a moment), and b) my topic is, in and of itself, fucking irritating.

So I'm analyzing the depiction of the McCall family in Teen Wolf (which I might just pare down to Melissa and Scott because I don't have a lot to work with when it comes to Rafael) as POC, exploring whether they're meant to represent POC in the first place, and if so how do the actors' real ethnicities play into that. After discussing all that good stuff, I then plan to analyze how fandom has understood/interpreted their representation, using tumblr (YOU GUYS!) as most of my source material for that.

What this means is that I have to surround myself with either HORRIBLE, RACIST POSEYGATE FUCKERY, or really sad, disappointed, and angry fan discussion about poc erasure in the series. It's a bummer, and it makes me want to wash my hand of fandom because sometimes it's just a really miserable place. 

But the research on the academic end has been really fascinating. I've never really looked into the scholarly discussion on mixed individuals (which, considering I am mixed, is sort of strange...you'd think it would have occurred to me to take an interest in mixed representation before now...although I have to say doing all this reading on multiraciality is also sort of irritating/sad, because no one talks about Arabs; this sort of speaks to a recent frustration of mine that when I do engage in discussions about race in my classes, the go-to is generally African Americans, Latin@s, and Asian Americans, which, like, I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND--they're the largest minority groups and the literature on their struggles is much larger, and also, you know, solidarity means discussions about racism are sort of blanketly that's so not a word applicable to all poc--but lately I've just been really desperate to talk about Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim issues in the US; but I mean I'm taking a class on Gender and Clothing in Muslim society next semester, so I'll be happy as a clam then), and it's really interesting. Also finally learning about internet reception studies, which has been wonderful. I need to learn more about knowledge communities, but, like...reading about fan democracy and convergence culture has been super great.

But the pressure's on. I have a full draft for this paper due on Wednesday, and I'm still compiling research materials. I think I'm about done, and only have a few more things to read, but I'm really freaking myself out about the lit review, which is making me feel like I need to READ MOAR, and I really absolutely do not. Wow, that was a long sentence.

Okay, so I think that's all I've got in me right now. It's after one, and I still haven't eaten anything (or had any coffee, god I need coffee...), and okayophelia finally posted some of her Winter Soldier meta, which I LIVE FOR (and omg, can we talk about Winter Soldier? PLEASE???). So yeah. Break time. Stay groovy, followers.

[votingattheticketbooth]

When you come up with a great research question/topic, only to realize it’s already a heavily investigated subject, it’s both validating and irritating.

On the one hand, you’ve come up with an important observation that’s critical and interesting and obviously worthy of examination all on your own.

On the other hand, you realize you just ain’t that fucking special.