Playboy Club - Stop Fooling Yourself

 

It was actually not the worst show of the fall launch and was a lot cleaner than I thought it would be. It isn't good, I won't keep watching, but it wasn't horrible. But it wasn't the bunny outfits or the sleeze-ball guys, or the generally objetification of women that made me mad. You expect those things going into a show called Playboy Club. What pissed me off was at the very end, the "Hugh Heffner" voice-over says something to the effect of 'at the playboy club women could be anything they want, they had a freedom in the club that they didn't have anywhere else' and the lead female character suddenly imagines herself singing on stage ala Roxy from Chicago. I have no problem with sex, or sexiness, or dressing up like a bunny, or making money off sex. My problem was "Heff" pretending his sex club was anything other than that. You want to dress women up as bunnies and sell their bodies for sex? As long as everyone is consenting, knock yourself out. But don't pretend for one second that you are doing it for the women and their own sense of liberation or empowerment. You are objectifying women for money - period! Be honest with yourself, your customers, and your audience; we are a lot smarter than you think we are. At leadt I hope we are. I think the ending of the show might be the reason for the show's major failure. It hasn't been cancelled quite yet, but don't expect it to be around long. And while the show of couse has it's circle of criticisms (mostly over the mere idea of playboy bunnies) I think that had it been more authentic it would have been more interesting (more tantelizing) and would have keep viewers based largely on the shock value and the scandal. But by trying to make the show (and the whole idea of bunnies) something it isn't (something that was for the benefit of women as opposed to getting guys off), sudiences were turned off. At least I know I was.

Why DC lost me as a potential comic reading customer

I don't like comics. I never have. I don't like the business of the panels and the bubble chat in them. However, I do *love* comic characters. I am a huge nerd-girl. I love the stories of comics, the cartoons, the movies, the characters, the video games, the costumes. And as much as I think Batman is just the sexiest man alive, I don't like the world of geek for the men - it's the women. Women like Storm, Catwoman, and Lois Lane are all the strongest, most beautiful women ever invented. They, of course, are not realistic. Their boobs are too big and their waists are too small. But Barbie is built the same way, and I love her too. And so do most little girls. The people who complain about Barbie being a poor role-model for young girls because of her unrealistic body only surface every few years and are largely ignored. This is because we all play with Barbies and few of us end up with a traumatized view of our own bodies because of it (there are plenty of other things that surround us to cause that, but not our toys). But comic have been waging an eternal battle with the anti-nerd community to defend the art of the comic. Not only do Catwoman, Storm, and Lois Lane have huge boobs, they also have huge attitude. And huge strength. And huge brains. Comics take average women, a librarian or a news reporter, and make her something amazing, and all on her own merit. She isn't defined by the world around her or the men in her life. She is her own person, making her own decisions, and we love her for it. We want to be her.

When DC announced the "New 52" relaunch of the entire DC universe, I was interested. I am the perfect person that DC would be trying to court with this new project. Comic readership is down. Comic readers are growing up or going broke. I have read many other blogs by comic reads who sometimes made the choice to buy comics or buy food. But the average reader isn't going to make that sacrifice. DC needs not only to keep the reads they have, but they need new ones as well. And where they should be focusing - is women. Over the last decade the number of females geeks and gamers coming out of the closet has skyrocketed. There is a whole new push in the gaming community to cater more to female fans. Some women reject this notion because there shouldn't be a difference between male fans and female fans - just fans. But I think that is kind of like saying there is no difference between males and females at all. If there was no distinction between fans, then why bother making a lesbian Batwoman or a Latio Spiderman? Isn't that making a distinction between sexual orientation or race? But the fact that comics have been traditionally written for men is what also has given them their bad repuyation. Face it, if comics were not written for a male readership then the women wouldn't have such huge boobs or wear such revealing outfits. If women had designed them or if they had been designed with women in mind, most female comic characters would look very, very different.

So since DC (and Marvel for that matter) need more readers and the number of female reads are increasing, it would make sense that with the relaunch, they would make the new characters and new storylines more appealing to both genders. But, no. That is not what has happened. In fact, DC has completely stepped back to the dark ages and has further created scorn and ridicule for the comic community and has alienated the possible female readers it should have been trying to entice. Is it really that bad? There are two particular cases that have the community of female readers up-in-arms. Catwoman of her own Catwoman series and Starfire, a character formerly of Tean Titans and now in the Red Hood and the Outlaws series. So what is the problem?

There are two great article already out there by female comic aficionados that you can read to get more background on this growing issue. The first is a great article by a female comic reviewer, you can read it here. In it she breaks down why the new Catwoman and Red Hood and the Outlaws have so many readers upset. This article is written by another woman who has made comics her life, but is now about to pack her bags. Both of these articles, and this one I am writing, are basically all saying the same thing - having lots of sex doesn't equal sexual liberation and empowerment.

I have no problem with sex. In fact, I like it. And I like the idea of Catwoman and Batman having sex. It's awesome! They should be having sex. So don't think for one second that I have a problem with Catwoman or Starfire or anyone (male or female) having sex. But there is a huge problem with the sex (or false promise of it) being used to objectify women, any woman. When it comes to Catwoman, every blogger is pretty much harping on the same problem - she doesn't have a face. But it is more than that. For the first three pages of Catwoman, Selena Kyle is not only faceless, she isn't even a whole person. She has boobs, hands, a butt, a chin, feet, boobs, ass, legs, boobs, ....oh and 3 pages later, a face. She is a series of pieces, but not a complete human being. *Edit* When we do see Catwoman's face for the first time, this is how she looks:

I call her "Derpy-Catface." *End Edit*

This classic objectification for every fetish out there. And, of course, I don't have a problem with red lingerie. I have some myself. But when I wear it for my husband, I don't keep my face covered. I'm a whole package, not just a series of body parts strung together. I want to see what the new version of Catwoman looks like, her hair, her eyes, how tall is she, how muscular, the sly smile when she is about to do something naughty, the glint in her eye when she attains her ill-gotten prize for the night. I want to know her. And when she does have sex with Batman, it should be enjoyable for male and female readers to read/look at. Is this sexy? 

How are they even having sex? Her skin-tight latex pants are still on! I think one of the reasons why reading the new Catwoman has me so angry is that I already have an emotional connection to her. She has always been my favorite. She is the one that I have always wanted to be. To see her treated like just a set of T&A and not the strong, powerful, beautiful woman she is just pisses me off. Shame on you, DC!

An objectification that evokes a completely different response from me, is Starfire. I never cared for Teen Titans (it's for kids). So I didn't know who Starfire was before the release of Red Hood and the Outlaws. In the community, she is invoking a lot of the same outrage people have over Catowman. But I think because I don't know her, it just makes me sad. When reading "The Big Sexy Problem.." I seriously wanted to cry when she was writing about Starfire. It hurts me to see any woman, even one I don't know, treated like a piece of meat. I don't find anything sexy about it. I find it pathetic and pitiful because it isn't about the female characters wanting sex. It is about male readers wanting the female characters to want to have sex. It is like Playboy Bunnies. They aren't dressed as bunnies because they want to be dressed as bunnies. They are dressed as bunnies because men want them to be dressed as bunnies. There isn't anything sexually liberating or empowering about being dressed as a bunny. Sure, she is sexy, but being empowered isn't about being sexy. You can be completely plain, overweight, have a flat chest, or a big nose and still find sexual and personal power and liberation. Being sexy is just a bonus! If you are strong, powerful, and liberated, and have a nice set of T&A, then you are an ideal woman, for both men and women who might look your way. But if all you have are boobs and butt, but you don't have self-worth, respect, or control of your own destiny, then what are you? Simply an object to be either pitied by women or used by men.

This is what DC has chosen to do with female characters and female readers. They have only reinforced the negative stereotypes that comics objectify women and have further alienated male readers who don't see women that way and potential female readers who don't want to be seen that way.

Film Review: Nine

So I finally got to see Nine the other night. I am a huge fan of musicals; I was raised on South Pacific and Oklahoma and Chicago with Catherine Zeta-Jones is not only one of my favorite musicals, it is one of my favorite movies, plays, and soundtracks. So I was excited to see Nine and see the elaborate musical numbers and get lost in a great story. But, alas, it is no surprise that it did not wow the critics and only received a 37% rotten rating on the tomatometer. Of course you would expect critics and mainstream America to have no appreciation for musicals and theater in general, so you would think that the tomatometer would be off. Unfortuntely, it wasn't.

Nine follows the journey of Guido Contini as he strives to make his 9th film after a few recent flops. Apparently he was a film genius but now has lost his nerve. The problem is, you just don't care. Guido is a self-indulged, womanizing, has-been. You don't care if he comes up with a great new movie or not; in fact, you hope he even fails. I kept watching, hoping that he would have some dramatic change in his life that would make him become a better person. And while he does at the end try to do a different kind of film, you don't really care.

The actors in the movie are brilliant. Daniel Day-Lewis puts his heart and soul into everything he does, and you can see it. Marion Cotillard is beautiful and talented as always, as is Nicole Kidman. Fergie is very interesting. She has an amazing voice that probably isn't used to its full potential in the Black-eyed Peas. Penelope Cruz is...well, I hate her character, but she acts it well (though her singing voice doesn't exactly match her speaking voice so a part of me really wonders if it was dubbed). The surprise of the film was Kate Hudson though. I am really surprised her career hasn't taken off more after this film. She is very talented and needs to get out of the horrid comedies and do something serious (though, again, hate her character).

The women in this film are disgraceful. They all want to sleep with Guido and you can't really figure out why (again, old, womanizing, has-been - who wants to shag that?). While the women in Chicago are naughty, like a guilty pleasure, the women in Nine are raunchy, annoying, slutty, have no self-respect or respect for one another.

The music cannot even save Nine. While I don't really care for Mama-Mia, the music is great. I play it and sing it all the time. But in Nine, even removed from the film, it isn't really enjoyable. This is probably because removed from the film, the music wouldn't make sense. Most of the songs are all about....you guessed it, Guido. And usually they are sung by the nasty slut-whores who want to steal him away from his wife (the one character in the film you actually do have sympathy for). The only song that is enjoyable is "Be Italian" (congrats to Fergie for getting the one musical bright spot in the film).

So, overall, just hugely disappointing. After the huge success of Chicago, it seems as though Rob Marchal is trying to strike gold again (Dreamgirls did well also and was an OK film). But it is hard to touch the stars twice and this one falls painfully short and crashes back to earth with a sickening 'thud.' The actors try so hard, though, which is probably the most painful thing about it. Any academy award nominations they got were well deserved, but the film itself did not deserve any since Marshal needs to remember that character and story are what make a film, not song, dance, and flash - those are just the yummy extras.

Facebook and Rotten Tomatoes

So I have recently (as in like an hour ago) found out that Facebook as almost seemlessly aligned with Rotten Tomatoes. Now you can go to Rotten Tomatoes, find a movie you have seen recently, write a review on it, rate it. and post it to your Facebook page. And, the main reason why this is really cool, is it posts a film poster and all the film information along with it, which takes a lot of the extra steps out of the process since you don't have to post the picture yourself. This is really a nifty interface and I have really enjoyed using it (probably much to the chagrin of my FB followers to wake up to 20 movie reviews from me, lol). But I will keep posting movies reviews here since I don't want to bog down my FB posts with long movie reviews. But it is a nice way to sum up your feelings, give a quick rating, and post a link to a blog with a more indepth review. The only thing that would be nicer about the merger would be to include blogger in it so I wouldn't have to post to RT/FB and blogger :) Maybe that will be the next wave.

New York City Fashion Week

So, I have been pouring through pictures from New York City's fashion week last week trying to find pictures of Tiny Hats for my other blog, and I have to say I am generally disgruntled with Fashion Week. Designers suck. They are so out of touch with what people really like or would ever wear. Now I realize, part of the appreal of fashion week is to be daring and to make something new, but most of the clothes are just down right stupid, like this one: Now, I ask you, have you ever seen a more herione addicted model, a more stupid looking outfit, or a worse color combination? Ugh! Get with the program A Detacher!














But, thankfully, just as I was about to poke my eyes out from the horror, I came across Belle Parish. Her outfits are for kids, but they are just so cute! Here is a sample:











Too Cute!

Another good designer I found, and one very popular in China, is Betsey Johnson. She had some crazy, off the wall things (like the over above), she also had some very nice ball dresses and good use of color.

So you wanna be a pirate?

This post is mainly for my sister, Jessica, so she can learn the marvelous trade of pirating and stop wasting money on DVDs and CDs and so she can (FINALLY!) watch True Blood. But anyone who has been wondering what the heck is this pirating thing or anyone who wants to know how to do it will also enjoy my easy step-by-step guide. There are several steps to this process, but once you get everything installed and downloaded, it is very easy.

1) Install utorrent. Torrents are the ripped off information that is shared between computers, and utorrent is the software that gathers and combines the information. uTorrent can be installed here.

2) Now, many movies and TV shows cannot be played with Windows Media Player, so you will just need to install DivX and Xvid so that they will actually play on your computer. Again, this is very simple, you just need to install them both on your computer by going to the links provided. All you need is the free version of both.

3) Find a site to download your freebies. There are tons of torrent sites out there. There are risks associated with file sharing, though. It can open your computer up to viruses. But the way to protect yourself from this is to find sites and torrents that are being used by lots of people. If thoughsands of people are downloading the same file, then it must be safe. Some sites I reccommend are Demonoid (but it is so popular that it is hard to get an invitation code) and The Pirate Bay. But the best place to get TV shows (espeically Tre Blood) is EZTV. But if none of these sites have the file you are looking for (classical and world music can be especially hard to find) you can just go to google and type in "torrent" and the name of the CD or Artist or TV show you are looking for.
4) Download your freebies. Now when you click the link to download your torrent, a window asking if you want to open, run, or save your file will pop up. Click "open." This will actually open uTorrent for you. Then tell uTorrent "OK" to start downloading the torrent. You can watch in UTorrent to see how much of your torrent is downloaded and how long it should take to finish. Once it is 100% downloaded, just go to your downloads folder and voila! there your stolen file is for you to enjoy!
Have fun!

True Blood

I love True Blood. It is the greatest show ever and the best thing to happen to vampires since Interview with a Vampire. What makes it so great as opposed to Twilight (worst thing to happen to vampires ever) is that Harris takes what we already know about vampires and adds to it without taking anything away. Things like the addicitiveness of vampire blood, glamouring, etc are all unique to her, but she doesn't undo the fact that vampires have mesmerismic powers and that there are tales about humans drinking vampire blood. Her universe is also unique. What would the world be like if vampires "came out of the coffin"? Meyer on the other hand completely shuns what we all know about vampires (like that they burst into flames in the sun) and makes a completely different creature. Now, there is nothing wrong with making unique characters and a new mythos. The fundamental problem with Meyer's books is that she calls them 'vampires.' A clear case could be made that Meyer's creatures are not vampires at all since they do not follow any of the known historical facts about them. Had she called them "sparklers" or "cursed ones" it would be much less of a problem.

But the main point is that True Blood is the greatest thing ever and if you are not watching it, WATCH IT! NOW!

The Season 3 Finale is this Sunday night on HBO.