Lolita's Fist

Do I have to let it pass the Bechdel on a conversation where the child-Susanah-York plays with her mother's make-up and her mother has a Sybil-like meltdown re 'painted ladies'. Must I? Aren't discussions about 'painted ladies' actually about men obliquely? IMDB Freud (1962)  Actors: Montgomery Clift, Susannah York Director: John Huston

🍒 Cat Stevens' song, "If you want to sing out". One of my favorite movies of all time. A musthave. "If you want to be me, be me. If you want to be you, be you. If you want to be free, be free." YouTube If you want to sing out, by Cat Stevens IMDB Harold and Maude (1971) Actors: Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort Director: Hal Ashby

#Feminism Aargh. He managed her from the back. He was the manager, she cried for most of the film and was a 'quirky' (not serious) boss who was unable to manage her staff (messy dump table) unable to use them effectively (she treats a fellow woman with a business degree like a girl friday and she cries too) she can't have it all (her husband wanders off) but it's ok because a man tells her she has to replace herself with a fab (a man, as it happens, no women mentioned) CEO of her choice, a man manages her life behind her back and her husband manages her family. And, it's not a Bechdel-passer. What a surprise. IMDB  The Intern (2015) Actors: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway Director: Nancy Meyers

Yuck. And I had to pass it on the Bechdel because of a 2sec goodbye. IMDB Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)  Actors: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum Director: Roland Emmerich

#Feminism ~ So the male characters get called on their surnames, and the black woman, Nagata, gets called on her first name - that ends on an 'i'. Not very subtle back-handed insult. IMDB Expanse (Series 2015)  Actors: Cas Anvar, Wes Chatham

There's actually some pretty sinister predatory scenes where Elaine is intimidated into compliance or evasion. Scary to think I didn't notice that as a young girl .  # Feminism IMDB Seinfeld Actors: Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Richards x

Best first five minutes EVER. Rest of film great. Bechdel-passer because women are part of a discussion about a female sports player. IMDB How do you know (2010)  Writer: James L. Brooks Director: James L. Brooks

Abandoned because it was so vile. But something interesting. Liza Minnelli is a naïve young girl twirling around tunefully suggesting that we must believe in the possibility of magic transforming our lives, unexpected, dreamy, snowhitian nonsense. And Ingrid Bergman, older (painted as insane and embittered), says we must make certain 'suggestions' to men about how much we like diamond necklaces, and then, the implication is, that we 'pay' for them. Just saying, I feel very wise. IMDB A Matter of Time (1976) Actors: Liza Minnelli, Ingrid Bergman Director: Vincente Minnelli

A different take on slavery and the war to end it in America. Had to pass Bechdel because two women speak about a spindle. IMDB Free State of Jones (2016) Actors: Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw Director: Gary Ross

“She would only make love with me. But she would shop and cook and fall asleep with you.”

It's fascinating watching and hearing 'Borg' as 'Black'. The crew I watched so avidly seem very racist this time round. #WhiteSupremacy. IMDB Star Trek Voyager (Series)  Actors: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran

Star Trek Voyager S04E02. Kes was not known from the outset to be female, having no assigned gender. She has a life-span of 9 years. Kes unexpectedly goes through puberty (she has been PREPUBESCENT and in a relationship with Neelix (the oldest-looking character, and oldest) until now!), and she wants Neelix to father her child, and part of the ritual is that her PARENT must massage her feet until her tongue swells!, and then she will be ready to mate. On the other hand Tuvok looks late twenties and he is 107, his parents are not involved in his mating ritual. Gosh, I know the idea is that we embrace all the cultures and species of aliens, but sjoe, this may be asking a wee bit too much of me. I should get over myself, right? A trekkie can make me understand this correctly, né? IMDB Star Trek Voyager (Series) Actors: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran

Tasha Robinson describes the Trinity Syndrome Trope ~ introduce a fabulous, interesting, accomplished woman, and then have her be the protagonist's armrest. I can think of many off the top of my head - Uma in Paycheck and Gattaca. Scarlett on The Island. Shailene in Divergent. So many. Article: We’re losing all our Strong Female Characters to Trinity Syndrome IMDB Matrix (1999)  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093 Actors: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne Directors: The Wachowski Sisters

#Feminism ~ Actors. Audrey Hepburn. This article takes a positive slant. I love Hepburn, but I don't think much of this article is believable except that most of her films turn her stories about love into stories about prey. Don't get me wrong, I do love the article, I see the old men paired with the teenage-looking and much-younger-in-years Hepburn. I see that she knew that her appearance-compliance as a fashion-window-doll makes (the patriarchy) treat you as a 'lady' ((god) I hate that term so much). I know My Fair Lady embodied that acquiescence to constructed femininity and that I read her end-face to know she knows that as a flower-girl she had her own agency. There are bits in this article perfectly valid. But on the whole I believe that simmering pedophilia and fashion coercion and overt #RapeCulture ruled every movie she was in. I guess this article represents the glass-half-full version the hordes coerce us into displaying. Almost an ironic reflection of Hepbur...

🍒 Loving it.  So Feminist Famous Five for grown ups. Love when real women are believable. Nice! IMDB Bletchley Circle (Series 2012-2014)  Actors: Rachael Stirling, Julie Graham

You know how the #Backlash paints Feminists as man haters? And how the lazy of mind siphon that stuff up? People never think about how disappointed women are when they find themselves beaten, cheated on, trapped in patriarchal boxes with shoes and razors, openly spat on in the workplace, dismissed from the tables of political influence. Just like Whiteness is incredulous that they have to shoulder the blame for the previously-openly-hateful, so #AllMen have a responsibility to actively subvert the system they benefit from. Not many do it visibly. You, Robert, are one. Thank you. Just like a Black person can never be racist, only damaged, so a woman can not be sexist, only damaged. Our hurt and disappointment comes from somewhere, and people who question that are suspect. No one would question the damage of Black people. And Whites are suspect and damaged as collateral damage, self-damage. So men are self-damaged. Women are not self-damaged. There's a war against the bodies of th...

Feminism ~ #Loveit ! #LoveRoxane . Witty, poetic, beautiful. Our society is set up to make women vulnerable when they choose. Feminists are hairy, angry, man-hating... as if those are bad things... now it seems like a rational response. You never want to be that rebel woman until you realise you are that rebel woman. We have the right to make choices about our bodies without legislative oversight or evangelical doctrine. Powerful women are afraid to call themselves feminist because of repercussions (like any social pariahs) Take Beyoncé at her grown-woman word - she is a feminist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxt_MZKMdes

Meryl Streep as 'god'. I have total faith in her. I believe the world would be better as-constructed. Utopia manifested. The patriarchs don't have a clue what they are doing. Their manifested Utopias fail. Soylent Green, Logan's Run, Handmaid's Tale, The Island, Minority Report... whatever. Why do we always advocate for a return to The Outside that represents The Same as Now. That's stupid. Streep has the right idea despite being shrouded with the eye-rollingly insidious trope of being The Woman Who Holds the Man Back from Duty and Greatness. Snore. They can never see that we are always right and shouldn't have to be painted the Baddy when we are saving them from their Culture of Violent Masculinity. The very war that traumatizes Jeff Bridges. But No! They are obsessed. Not Sweet Death, but trophy-hunting, limb-shredding, sex-worker-dismembering War. Snore. IMDB The Giver (2014) Actors: Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep Director: Phillip Noyce

#Feminism ~ Decca Aitkenhead, Movies with a female lead make 15% more money. Male and female co-pays make 24% more. Source: Geena Davis: ‘Thelma & Louise changed everything for me’

Offends because of #RapeCulture. She says she doesn't want to kiss. He persuades. She says she wants to break up. He 'buts' her and they end up in bed. IMDB 360 (2011)  Actors: Rachel Weisz, Jude Law Director: Fernando Meirelles