ModLebowski's discussions

The woman in the pink sweater, is she Mercedes from America’s Next Top Model?

After a catcaller responded to my assertive “leave me alone” statements by following and groping me on the street, I got “you should carry a gun” advice from a lot of people (I live in Texas). I would reply by asking, at exactly which point in the story should I have killed this man? When he said hello to me? When he… Read more

I’m so looking forward to this film, and I really appreciate how this interview explains the approach to Tubman’s visions. 

In addition to the massive creepiness, it’s somehow perfect that a person who is an OBGYN can be so blinded by ideology that he forgets how bodies work, as if every menstruating person has a regular cycle, and knowing one detail about that cycle automatically reveals what medical procedures they’ve had.

I was at an estate sale a little while ago and there was a Ouija board in among the board games. I looked at it, remembered the lessons of Witchboard, and said “Not today, Satan.”

I loved the part of her speech where she said that she hopes that the leaders of the world just don’t get it, because otherwise they’re just evil, and she doesn’t want to believe that. Call evil by its name! 

I’m all for abolishing the Oscars as a thing, but my thinking is that for certain demographics it increases the film’s viewership. I’m also very curious to see how the film handles the spiritual components, and the superhero parallels seem especially interesting at this particular moment in film history.

This is the kind of movie that could theoretically get Oscar attention, and while the Oscars are a whole big ideological mess, I would be delighted if she won.

I enjoyed this trapped-in-a-field trailer, but got especially excited when I saw it was directed by Vincenzo Natali, director of everybody’s favorite trapped-in-a-box movie, Elevated, and trapped-in-a-series-of-boxes movie, Cube. 

I’ve been to the Rattlesnake Roundup and it’s astonishingly disgusting. Apparently, a consequence of the roundups is that the snakes that don’t rattle end up surviving because people don’t catch them. So, thanks, everybody, for helping the rattlesnakes to evolve out of their early warning mechanism. 

I second this position re: Ming-Na, and assert that all shows are improved by her presence. 

In order for the show to offer serious commentary, it needs a far more rigorous intellectual/historical/philosophical foundation. For example, there have been lots of critiques of how the show handles race, and the way that season three frames June’s journey as costing the lives of a series of black women is, frankly,… Read more

Yes, this. The further away they get from Atwood’s novel, the more this becomes just another tv show. 

I echo everyone’s comments about safety and security (consider the waste if they had to block off half a commercial flight so that Superstar doesn’t get stabbed by a stalker or similar). Further, this gets dangerously close to whataboutism and criticizing individuals for not being able to effect the vast structural… Read more

Any ideas about the identity of the character with the mop top, vest, and red bottoms?

When the Playboy mansion was for sale, my fantasy was to buy it and turn it into a feminist art collective and sex worker advocacy institute. I have similar dreams for this helicopter. 

The Tortoise and the Hare is a fable. Designing your life around raping girls and helping your rich friends to do the same, is not.

This was my thought as well - the decision to make her gold at all is surely a C-3PO reference, so...

I wish they would hire more women of color as creatives on the show in order to address these dynamics better. While they do make a point of basing a lot of characters’ behaviors, particularly those that might seem illogical, on United Nations data on refugees and people who have experienced torture and political… Read more

I’ve read a good point about this elsewhere - it’s useful in the lead-up to Episode IX to remind us how fiercely Leia loves.