Well, this is tough. Obviously it sucks to describe female roles in terms of how "hot" the character is supposed to be. But in terms of casting, it's not ENTIRELY about looks, but how the actor actually plays the role and is able to perform the dialogue. If an "average" looking woman can't perform to the part,…

Ah yes, but that's part of the marketing appeal and awards-generating talent gimmick for the movie: Look at esteemed actor Christian Bale and how he has transformed himself into this fat, bald, ugly guy! What an amazing actor he is, that he can pass so well as such a disgusting character! (which he probably…

Ah yes, but that's part of the marketing appeal and awards-generating talent gimmick for the movie: Look at esteemed actor Christian Bale and how he has transformed himself into this fat, bald, ugly guy! What an amazing actor he is, that he can pass so well as such a disgusting character! (which he probably…

The part that I feel empathy for the guy about is not wanting to hear about the sex going on with other people he knows behind their back. It's not just HER sex life she's sharing, she's also talking about other people who might not appreciate her blabbing everything to the rest of the world. Maybe the guy suspects…

so that you'll act out with *them* I meant to write.

It's kind of amazing to me how women can be attracted to married men who are willing to cross the line in the first place. That he would be willing to screw over his wife is usually EXTREMELY unattractive to me (I guess because I would probably be devastated if I were a wife in that situation). And a guy can tell…

Just Breaking: Reality comes crashing down on schmoopy, self-involved, fantasy-obsessed male writer. More news at 11.

You sound like you don't ever want to have to admit that you actually like someone. If you really liked someone, it probably wouldn't be that difficult to call it a date. I feel pretty sorry for you.

What about working to change the precedent on women in STEM fields on the INSTITUTIONAL side from the bottom up though? What I mean is, if we encourage both boys and girls into STEM classes in coed environments earlier on, doesn't that also have the potential to have male students see the value of female colleagues…

I experienced a class with this set up in elementary school. The teacher was a pretty cool lady, and I think was trying untraditional ways to structure classes to better help students at different levels. But honestly though, I hated it so much, and I wonder if it was actually a very good way to do the best service…

Horrible!

As a female practicing photographer and photo instructor, I think that female artists should expect to be held to the same standard as male photographers if they expect to compete realistically in a competitive job market. Nobody said it was an easy field, and if you are lazy or do poor work, you're not going to get…

Completely right on. It's possible that the lighting and camera placement is all done by assistants now, and she just looks through and gives the thumbs up without really looking at it. When you're that big, you can do that, apparently. It's how a lot of high level photographers are, and that whole…

Yeah, but it also doesn't help when a female artist gets a lot of acclaim for doing shitty work, over other female artists who don't. Speaking as a female photographer here....

I just don't understand the covering up with the black dress thing. I wonder if it fit differently when she was standing up vs. sitting down. Otherwise, why not pick a dress with a higher neckline to begin with? It is possible that the neckline drooped after taking several photos....ugh, who knows...

I doubt that Annie is editing her own work. As such a widely known photographer, she definitely has her own studio, in which she probably employs assistants to do the editing work, per request by the magazine (I don't know if magazines actually do that much editing to the images themselves - from photographers I know…

The composited one looks really weird.

I had a similar situation with someone. Someone who had lost someone ended up turning every situation for the next 3 years about her own personal loss, and it just got to be too much, to the point of blaming unrelated people for not feeling properly sorry for her. I think the woman's actions here were probably…

It does feel wrong to like one of the male leads more than the female characters, but as discussed, maybe this is intentional? To further draw attention to the ridiculous self absorption of the supposedly desirable (in terms of their class and social status) female leads?

Oh no, I wasn't writing them off as crazy at all! For some reason, I just happened to pay more attention to the blonde's facial expressions in that scene, because they were so over the top and amazing! It was her determined righteousness that started the whole confrontation in the first place — she was the one who…