Bernthal was outstanding in that role. I’m still disappointed we don’t see more of him in other things.

Sure, but I think the think that you haven’t really accepted is that people (agents, publishers, marketers, sellers, critics, buyers) already choose on the basis of gender and skin color, and you are the beneficiary of that choosing.

It’s interesting that you consider it being “punished.” I read a lot, over 50 books a year, and that’s still not enough to read everything good out there. On the whole, how one chooses which books to read is fairly arbitrary: how books are placed in the store, what the cover looks like, whether someone I know happened…

This is a good point. I don’t know how many people of African ancestry she would be exposed to in Hungary, compared to all of the stunning people of different races and ethnicities we’re accustomed to seeing in the US.

Hah. I doubt there would be a different response universally, but I find my immediate response to be kind of a distraction. But I guess it highlights the vanity of this project, the belief that you can take something so beautiful and make it more (less) beautiful by inserting your own irrelevant face into it? It makes…

The original photos might very well be color corrected, but I don’t think it would be hard to find women who’s facial structure is classically beautiful. I can’t say whether these women would be considered beautiful in their own cultures, but I feel comfortable saying that the Hungarian women specifically does not…

I don’t mean this to sound... I dunno, catty, but the women in the portraits are, to be absolutely frank, more classically proportional and symmetrical, and thus stunning AND unlike her, they have absolutely striking personality and emotion that comes through.

That’s just stupid. We have something in common, and it’s a big thing. I have more in common with native New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent than I do with a Jew from Iraq. Or even a Jew from the suburbs of Sacramento.

What? You’ve never heard of Native New Yorkers of Puerto Rican heritage? Should I be referred to as a Jew instead of a Native New Yorker?

The men were native New Yorkers.

The same thing happened in New York City 15 years ago.

True story. I didn’t appreciate Guns n’ Roses at the time because my middle school self HATED hair bands and made a snap judgement based on their appearance. It wasn’t until a friend of mine found his old Appetite for Destruction tape and insisted on listening to it every time we drove somewhere that I realized what…

I’m a huge fan of British procedurals and mysteries, and even watch the silly ones like Blue Murder <— don’t actually recommend. (I’m also a Robson Green fan.) But, yes, the classic British shows are so much better than what we’ve had here, before cable stations starting copying the Sopranos ambiguity models.

Yeah, but Wire in the Blood is arguably the start of the (much lighter) American mystery procedural trend where the male protagonist is the somewhat incapable and eccentric genius, while the female antagonist is the highly competent and uptight assistant who clears the way for the male to be a genius. Monk, Castle,…

No, it was Miles from Lost. The actor’s name is Ken Leung and he’s of Chinese heritage, not Korean (like Steven Yeun is).

Honestly, I have to wonder if your ex was misdiagnosed. People with BPD are more likely to self-harm than to batter others.

It’s irresponsible to tell people with BPD that there’s no hope for them. Absolutely irresponsible. I’m not suggesting that anyone shouldn’t guiltlessly cut ties with those who suffer from BPD, but to suggest they can’t get better harms the sufferers and their loved ones.

It’s also not true that personality disorders are untreatable. In fact, BPD is the most manageable of the personality disorders, with appropriate intervention.

That’s not necessarily true. Specialized therapy that deals with a) developing empathy, b) shoring up fragile ego points, and c) teaching impulse control can be very effective with a lot of men. Most abusers are not complete sadists or psychopaths, although plenty are. In fact, social education around domestic abuse…

The best way of handling this is to call 911 when someone makes a suicide threat. If they’re serious, you’ll get the help you need. If they’re faking, having the police show up and a possible psych hold will knock that shit off.