Eternal Moonshine of the Witless Mind (or Female Movie Characters Don't Matter)

Who was overlooked in the '100 Greatest Movie Characters' list?

Women.

Yahoo is reporting that their movie experts are disagreeing with the top 25 movie characters of all time, from a list of the 100 greatest movie characters of all time. And while they're upset that characters such as Willie Wonka and Mr. Miyagi weren't included in the top 25, I'm personally curious as to why there's only ONE woman on this ill-fated top 25 list. (There are four on Yahoo's edited list -- wait, three and one honorable mention.)

Why is this? Is it because there aren't really that many notable female characters in movies? Maybe. But what about Bethany from Kevin Smith's Dogma? She was not only a multi-dimensional LEAD character, but she was funny, not impossibly skinny or beautiful (although the actress who plays her is beautiful), nor was she all of 20 years old.

We face this question a lot, and it turns out that there really aren't that many female characters in movies. Those that are present tend to follow along a formula that is dependent on the male lead -- either the love interest, the enemy, the mom, whatever -- and tend to be kind of shallow, one-dimensional figures -- think Neo's girlfriend in the Matrix trilogy; you don't even know her name, do you? (I sure as shit don't.)

So, what the fuck, Hollywood? Women watch movies too -- and not all of us are excited for the next Sex and the City movie. Some of us actually vomited on our friends or spouses when we saw there was a second Bridget Jones movie. Not only do women deserve to be acknowledged by the Movie Industrial Complex, but we deserve to have characters we can relate to. Maybe the gals from Sex and the City are really super great, but the characters in that show/movie represent the only type of female character in movies. Period. The slut. The purity slut. The bitchy one. And Carrie.

Women come in more flavors than upper-middle-class, fashion-and-sex-obsessed, skinny white women! DUH! It should be portrayed that way in movies as well. For god's sake, some of us aren't even skinny!

Then again, Hollywood has always been behind the times in terms of diversity. Blackface? Mexicans and Asians playing "Indians"? Indians playing Iraqis (sorry, I know, I love Naveen Andrews too)? Mainstream films essentially ignoring that there are other ethnicities than "white"; other sexualities than straight; other relationship statuses than married? Woody Allen movies?

This has got to stop. We need more diversity in so-called liberal Hollywood. Actors may be women, gay, non-white, intelligent people who read, but they certainly aren't allowed to act like it. And it's pretty frakking annoying.

(Title from Natalia's list.)

From the makers of Nypraxxor

Enlargen is a twice-hourly drug used for bonerification. You should consult your doctor before taking Enlargen as certain conditions such as heart beat and certain thyroid diseases may cause severe reactions to Enlargen.

If you experience nausea, vomiting, vertigo, eye pain, blood in your stool, fainting, or an election lasting longer than 24 hours, please consult your doctor or governmental representatives.

If you begin a twice-hourly regimen of Enlargen, do not stop it suddenly as severe headaches, muscle spasms, and an inability to process visual stimuli may occur.

Women who are pregnant or nursing should not take or handle Enlargen because they do not have penises and there is a slight chance of serious birth defects or illness.

Despicable tabloid of the day

The Sun. (Via the F-word, UK.)

Now, I admit I don't know a lot about prostitution aside from what I read on the internets (but I mostly read sex worker rights advocate blogs), but I'm pretty sure that these women don't deserve to be harassed and shamed by the police who arrested them, and then have their identities plastered all over the internet by a tabloid from another country. (The "street-walkers" were arrested in Tennessee, the tabloid is based in the UK.)

Shame on the Sun. This is low even for a rag like that.

Dear Secretary Clinton,

I'm so proud and glad that you have accepted President-Elect Obama's nomination to be the next Secretary of State. I know that your status on the world stage as well as your experience in government are the chief reasons you were nominated, but I'm also glad that President-Elect Obama nominated a woman, specifically you, for this position. There are few people who are more qualified.

Since you will now be heading up the foreign policy arm of the new Obama administration, however, I have a few requests. Well, one really: make women's rights around the world a top priority. I know that I don't have to tell you about the injustices experienced by women in all parts of the world -- women in Iran are not allowed the opportunity or means to get out of abusive marriages; women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed out of their homes unescorted by a man; women in various parts of Africa are still subject to forced female genital mutilation; rape rates around the world are appauling, as well as forced abortions in China, Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Sex trafficking is appauling the world over, especially in East and Southeast Asia and many former Soviet States.

A woman of your skill and prowess has the ability, nay the duty, to demand these atrocities (at the very least) be addressed. Because we all know, but for our privileged birth, we could have been thrust into those same conditions through no fault or will of our own. I know you care deeply about these things, as I do, as many feminists (and non-feminists) do, so this must be something that you champion as Secretary of State. I know that President-Elect Obama will support this, as he realizes that but for his own privileged birth his daughters could be forced into the same circumstances.

I certainly hope you have the opportunity to, for example, discuss women's rights with the heads of Iran when you go to talk to them about their aggression toward the United States. And I look forward to cheering you on as you do so.

Affectionately,
Rachel

New work at RachelSetzer.com

Check it out, won't you?

Vagina Solidarity (Well, Unless You Shave Down There)

In a previous post, I vowed to link back to Natalia's post of titles for Batshit Radfem blogs. Well, that list has been updated, and can be read here. Look for it later, and look for those titles in my titles for blogs responding to the batshit radfems (not all radfems are batshit, of course, Twisty seems pretty cool).

In addition, Belledame at Fetch Me My Axe, has put together a similar list for MRA blogs. Hi-larious. In the future, I will be linking to this post and using a title when I write about stupid sexist m3nz (not all men are stupid and sexist).

I once again extend my non-creepily-patriarchal love to my fellow humorous feminists.

What I'm thankful for

This post by Ann over at Feministing reminded me of something for which I am very thankful.

Food stamps.

From my sophomore until my senior year in college I used food stamps to feed myself, and often times my friends. Cornish is a private art school with no dorms and no meal plan, so I had to use whatever money I earned from my two jobs to pay for rent and bills (including the credit card bills I racked up freshman year before I had two jobs and was on food stamps). Unlike a lot of people (although, not unlike a lot of other people) my parents didn't have the resources to help me out with food money, except maybe $30-$50 every couple of months, so I was basically on my own.

I was told that I was being irresponsible. I was told that I was wasting other people's tax dollars. I was told to drop out of college and get a real job instead of being a mooch on the state. All of those things that have been pressed by the right wing of this country, especially Republicans. Those things were dredged up and pushed in my face.

Nevermind that I was actually being responsible with the giant sum of $150 I got each month (these days, the Schmoogie and I spent roughly $700-$800 a month on food), and helping whomever I could. My friends needed dinner? I would invite them over for pizza or salad -- once in a while we even did fondue. I spent my food stamp money on vegetables and fruit; organic meats, skim milk and yogurt. Yeah, once in a while I'd get something bad for me like Dorritos or something, but I don't really like that stuff anyway.

Nevermind that I pay taxes too. That my parents pay taxes. That the amount we pay between the three of us probably outweighs the giant sum of $150 I got each month to feed myself.

Nevermind that if I had dropped out of college and gotten a real job I would have been thrust immediately back into poverty and needing to use food stamps because I wouldn't have the degree necessary to get much better than a minimum wage job and would be unable to repay my student loans, as well as paying rent and bills.

Nevermind that the whole "Welfare Queen" thing was completely false; that most people on welfare are white women, and in most states you can't even get welfare unless you have at least one kid. Nevermind that food stamps aren't even considered welfare in the first place!

When I was on food stamps, $150 was a huge sum of money. I could feed myself for three weeks on that money. Now, I can't seem to make $150 last one week, let alone three -- thanks Student Loan Debt!

When I was on food stamps, I didn't have to worry about where my next meal was coming from (I don't now either, of course, I have a real job now). When I was on food stamps, I felt so lucky, and I liked to share my food with my friends who also had two (or more) part time jobs and went to school full time. We didn't have a lot between us, but there was always that opportunity to share, and it helped me to form life-long friendships, and show that even though our food budgets were determined by the electric bill, we could still have a marvelous feast -- remember the spaghetti?

People who have food take it for granted. People who have money to buy food take it for granted. Forget that there are too many people in this country who are homeless. Forget that there are too many children in this country, this country, who are hungry -- 50% more in 2007 than in 2006. Just keep pedaling your ideas that people who get food stamps are mooching off of the state -- that that paltry $150 a month is irresponsible spending on the part of the state in the first place.

I'm thankful to the State of Washington, to the people in the Student Affairs office at Cornish, for helping me find the resources to feed myself. As someone who has always had issues with food, that was a really big deal. I am now far enough removed from it to know how lucky I was to have it.

I'm also thankful for beer (which you can't buy with food stamps). Yay beer. Yay 2.6 day work week.

Happy Thanksgiving.

More silliness

This week's horoscope: Pisces

"Your desiccated remains will be found on a desert island along with an empty water bottle, three emergency ration packages, and the exact right CD for the occasion."

I laughed. Care of the Onion.

And now for something completely different

Schmoogie: My food got tossed :( Damn it.
Me: 7.7 TRILLION dollars spent in the last year on bailouts.
Schmoogie: Ok that's worse
Me: So at least you didn't lose 7 trillion hot dogs.
Schmoogie: No, thank Jebus
Me: But if Paulson had his way, he'd have all the hot dogs.
Schmoogie: Hank hordes hot dogs?
Me: In lighter news, Ann Coulter smashed her face up and her jaw is wired shut.

Threats of violence from commenter Tim

Back in August a disgusting piece of racist trash was assaulted in NYC for making, selling, and wearing t-shirts, that among other things said "Obama is my slave". In a blog about that, I said,

"In my non-legal opinion (as I have not yet studied law in a full academic setting, nor passed a bar exam in any state) making or wearing a t-shirt that says "WHO SHOT OBAMA?" is an equally violence inciting action, and this asshole should be, at the very least, kicked in the balls several more times."

Commenter Tim took issue with this call for violence, however tongue in cheek it may be. Saying, (several times),

"I am absolutely horrified at your suggestion that a man simply wearing a T-shirt with a message on which you don't agree with should deserve a kick in the testicles. Speaking from experience, I claim that no woman can ever experience the level of pain an accurate placed kick to the testicles can produce, and for you to suggest that the wearer of the T-shirt (in your words) "should be, at the very least, kicked in the balls several more times" abhors me.
I was once kneed in the balls by a woman for wearing a message on a top after an argument followed from her disagreeing with what I had printed on it. She was with two other women and there was no sympathy from any of them while I was in absolute agony and unable to stand up. A result of feminism perhaps ?
Women should NEVER attack or make suggestions like you have about attacking testicles. This type of behaviour must stop.
I'll probably be censored with you being a feminist but at least I'll get my message across to you !"

Well, not only did I publish his comment (twice, though it was submitted three times), I'm writing a blog about it.

In my response, I mentioned two things, and only one of them was addressed: the one that made it look like he was making a reasonable argument and I was making a fallacious one. This was followed by a nice, tidy little threat:

"You women should watch your step regarding your views on men getting kneed/kicked in the balls as some men may get angry over this, and overall we're bigger and stronger than you. Men don't have testicles to be hit in them !"

Some might say that I shouldn't get upset about this threat, that I started it by saying that Doron Braunshtein, aka Apollo Braun, should be kicked several more times for being a racist piece of trash. However, I did say in my response to Tim's original comment that I should not be making calls to violence because violence only begets more of the same; this was before Tim's threat.

I've been threatened with physical violence for my views before. I've endured physical and emotional violence in the past, and I'm not about to sit back and be threatened, but Tim is certainly courageous enough to make those threats from the comfort of his mom's basement (and judging from the British spelling of "behavior" in his first comment, I'm guessing he's at least 8 time zones removed from me).

Making threats on the internet does not make you a big strong man. You're not standing up for anyone's rights because you threatened a woman, or women in general, with physical violence, especially when doing so from thousands of miles away. And yes, the feminist who kicked you in the balls was wrong, but I do have to say there are some circumstances where people get the things the deserve -- I realize the latter portion of that statement goes against the ethos that violence is always wrong, but it seems to me that this boy has an axe to grind against feminists, and he did go back all the way through my blog looking for something on which he could call me out.

Fine, out I have been called and I will say once again, that I should not have advocated future violence against Doron Braunshtein, aka Apollo Braun. I will say again that the person who assaulted Tim was wrong. But, make no mistake, Tim is also wrong because even after I made the statements above, he saw fit to threaten me.

While my first instinct is to tell Tim to bring it the fuck on, I will not do so because I don't want to advocate future violence, nor give the so-called Men's Rights movement (the anti-feminist assholes who take whatever they can find and use it against feminists) more fodder. I will merely point out that I was threatened publically, and any escallation in threats will be reported to police. And my dad.

Correction

A friend of mine who prefers anonymity on the interwebs recently sent me this message:

You might want to correct your note about Harvey Milk. He was not in US Congress: he was on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. (He did run for state congress, but didn't win.)

I apologize for the mistake and will make greater effort in the future to get my facts straight. Many thanks to my friend for giving me the opportunity to issue this correction.

Cheney, Gonzales, indicted in Texas.

It's real.

Holy shitballs.

Edit: couple more links, via Randi.

Prop 8 Protest, Seattle, 15 Nov 2008

Here are almost all of the pictures I took on Saturday. As a blogger-member of the press *gling*, I took well over 200 images. 117 of them were good enough to share. Below, interspersed with my notes, you'll find some of my favorite images.

I got to Volunteer Park around 11:30, after sharing a bus ride with at least a dozen other people bound for the demonstration, and I headed for the outdoor stage. On my way, I passed this protester. I think this is one of my favorite images -- don't hate on America. Simple. The thing that the pro-8 people forget is that Gay Americans are just as American as Straight Americans.

I took several other pictures on my way up to the stage, many of people with clever signs, some kids running around, and between my arrival and the beginnings of the speeches, I took several pictures of couples who just want their unions to be as valued as those of straight couples.

There were a lot of kids. It was great to see too. And, in light of Seattles homogeny (as in milk), it was good to see the amount of diversity at the event. Old, young, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, straight, gay, and trans (and a Mormon missionary -- whom I point out because he was the only person advertising his religion on his sleeve... literally). All kinds of people showed up to rally around a single message: homosexuals are people too.

The festivities themselves were relatively brief, but featured a number of Seattle and Washington politicians who are out and pressing for the recognition of, not only their own marriages, but those of others.

Organizer Kyler Powell told us about growing up in the LDS church, and how when he asked about love, his dad said "Love is a promise two people make when they would move mountains for each other.

State Senator Ed Murray and his partner Michael spoke briefly. Senator Murray quoted Gandhi, "First they ignored us, then they laughed at us; then the fought us; then we won."

He was followed by State Senator Joe McDermott, who said, "we may be here out of frustration, but we can use that energy" to make the changes we seek.

Next up was the very enthusiastic King County Executive, Ron Simms -- so enthusiastic, in fact, that it was hard to get a good picture of him. He recalled, back in the day when people would try to used the Bible to justify their racism, and how his teachers would laugh at him and tell him to go home; when he told his parents his father would smile and tell him it was time for another march. "Talk about immorality?!" Simms began, "Talk about hunger - talk about war, that's immoral! But do not tell me that when two people love each other - that is right!"

PFLAG representatives Ben Vogt and his partner Jeff Albertson also spoke, rejecting the idea that their partnership, their citizenship was somehow less. Jeff quoted Dr. King, "When any society tells me that I cannot marry, that society has cut off a segment of my freedom." Hells yes, Dr. King.

"I am Charlene Strong, and I'm here to recruit you," said the next speaker, invoking the memory of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay member of the US Congress (who was assassinated 30 years ago). "Equality is not multiple choice," she said, still feeling the pain from being told that she could not see her wife as she lay dying several years ago. Heartbreak still wells up in me, to think that anyone would be denied the opportunity to comfort a dying loved one, all based on some arbitrary rule that says one couple's union is recognized by the state, but another union is not. How did we come to this? This hierarchy of relationships? It's bad enough that so many relationships have a power structure built into them, but to have a power structure amoung two different, unrelated relationships? That's just stupid.

Seattle Mayor, Greg Nickels agreed, declaring 15 November 2008 Marriage Equality Day.

After that declaration, the flags were unfurled (American and Gay Pride) and the march to Westlake Center began. I would estimate that about 4,000 people showed up. 4,000 people, marching 2.5 miles, with signs and chants, and various other forms of jubiliation.

Despite the fact that I climbed the 100 or so stairs to the top of the water tower (and back

down) and was very,

very sore by the end of the day, I had so much fun. Civil Rights are very important to me, and it was very rewarding to stand up with my fellow citizens and say "NO, we're not going to allow the rights of Americans to be taken away like that". And while a protest, no matter how enormous it was (4,000 times 50 states... 80,000 people -- that's an Obama rally!) is not going to repeal Prop 8, or magically give gay Americans their rights, but the more of us that stand up in more places and more often, the sooner we'll be taking further steps toward true equality. The struggle to help gay Americans have their full rights didn't end on Saturday. The struggle for freedom for everyone in this country isn't even close to being over, but that we are still striving rather than having resigned ourselves to accepting this shit because "that's how it's always been".

We all know that "that's how it's always been" isn't good enough. It's simply not. The people I marched with on Saturday are all very important people. They vote, they pay taxes, they love, they get angry and throw things, they get sick, and just because it's always been that because of their sexual orientations or gender identities they've been thought of as less-than, does not mean that it can, should, or will continue that way. If this country is going to remain the greatest, we have to start measuring our greatness by the way we treat our citizens, not the sizes of our guns.

And start acting like Americans.

I still love Dan Savage

Samita at Feministing isn't the first (nor, obviously, the last) in the feminist blogosphere to talk about the foot-in-mouth incident wherein Dan Savage (EIC of my hometown's only newspaper) makes some possibly-racist remarks. I say "possibly" racist because if he had said it better, there wouldn't be quite the uproar. Had he said "homophobia in the African American community is a huge problem" that, as he later points out, hurts gay people of color more than white gays, we'd still be cool.

Dan Savage is a lot of things, but he's not a racist. He admits that his statement

"I’m done pretending that the handful of racist gay white men out there—and they’re out there, and I think they’re scum—are a bigger problem for African Americans, gay and straight, than the huge numbers of homophobic African Americans are for gay Americans, whatever their color."

sounds racist, because it does. However, we can't always take what someone says while brooding over information such as "Seventy percent of African American voters approved Prop 8, according to exit polls, compared to 53% of Latino voters, 49% of white voters, 49% of Asian voters" which ignores the fact that this breakdown of racial minorities represents a minority of the population -- also that people in those communities as well as white communities were mislead with ads that said Barack Obama approved Prop 8, which he didn't and doesn't because he's a frakking Constitutional Scholar (amoung other reasons, of course).

However, had Dan said that sexism in the African American community is a huge problem, no one would be calling him a racist for pointing this out -- as we know, sexism is a huge problem in all communities, including white and non-white communities. Had he said that sexism and homophobia in less-integrated immigrant communities are huge problems and he's not going to pretend that racist white fags (said with love) are a bigger problem than homophobic Mexican immigrants, we wouldn't have a problem.

The issue here is that yes, homophobia in all communities is a huge problem and affects members of those communities stronger than the homophobia of other racial groups. The other issue is, of course, that we cannot scapegoat racial minorities in this. The divide is more age-related than race-related, anyway.

Also, one last thing. Seattle is overwhelmingly white, so if Dan Savage doesn't do his climb-down fast enough, that's probably why. But he's a good guy, a good EIC, and an advocate for the rights of others -- he's really pissed off about the passage of Prop 8, and I know that when I feel as assaulted as he and gay people across the country must feel, I tend to say things in less-than-diplomatic terms.

Art of the Possible is Gender Neutral, bitches!

I find this website amusing. You type in your blog address and it guesses which gender the author is. My result:

We guess http://RachelSetzer.com/blog.html is written by a woman (50%), however it's quite gender neutral.

You know, certain of my relatives don't read my blog because it's too feminist and obviously feminist things are of no interest to anything but women. Sorry bitches, the internet says my blog isn't too feminist. And the internet is smarter than you.

Fuck You Too -- An Open Response

(See Natalia's list.)

An Open Letter from Me, Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff, to Pro-Porn, Pro-Prostitution, Misogynist, Male-Centered, Anti-Feminist Persons

This open letter will be very short.

I won’t be silenced. I will continue to vocally and outspokenly oppose pornography, prostitution, sex trafficking, the enslavement of women, male dominance, white male heterosupremacy, and all brutality towards women throughout the world. There is nothing you can do, in the end, to silence me, to discredit me, or ultimately, to stop me.

Guaranteed. It’s been tried before, a number of times. And, here I still am.

Just sayin’.

Heart

Dear Heart,
Fuck you too. While I could write a dissertation on how awful the language is in this open letter, I won't because that's beside the point. Don't confuse people who are for the rights of sex-workers with those who are against the rights of women in general. Your logical fallacy here (oh no! phalus!), stating that those who support rights are the same as those who oppose rights, is stupid and I could do no more as a pro-porn feminist to discredit you than you have done with your phalacious logic (see, I can make up words too).

I oppose and deplore violence, and since prostitution and sex have been around longer than falacious logic, and will always occur whether your tiny little brain likes it or not, we need to accept that sex workers are humans, and that the female sex workers are women and deserve the same respect as any other woman doing any other job -- however, you come off as not really know what that's like since you seem to have the privilege to deny the humanity of others.

And you know what, "here I still am" doesn't mean you're right. I mean, for god's sake, Sarah Palin is still in the media. And she's pretty fucking wrong. The longer and more outspokenly you speak, the more you discredit yourself. Keep it up. Ren isn't the only one who needs the entertainment.

Just sayin'.

Rachel

p.s. BINGO!

Link for later use

A semi-comprehensive list of proposed titles for only the most hardcore of radfem blogs. I love you, Natalia, and not in a creepy patriarchal way.

Presidential Quote of the Day

"I can't go to my old barber shop anymore, I have to have my barber go to an undisclosed location to cut my hair." - President Elect Barack Hussein Obama

It's kinda sad... but understandable. I'm pretty sure that Bush did that too. Cheney had a barber in an undisclosed location too... in a man-sized safe, but that's another issue all together.

It's Monday and I'm feeling kinda silly. I've got a bunch of stuff to share from the Prop 8 Protest on Saturday, but I haven't uploaded pics from my camera yet. For now, check out this video of Wanda Sykes.

Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State?

It's not a sure thing yet, but there was a meeting between Barack and Hill in Chicago this week.

On this, I'd like to hear from those who supported Clinton in the primaries. I think she would make a spectacular Secretary of State -- now she wouldn't be the first female Secretary of State, but she would be the first competent one. (Condoleeza Rice's specialty is Russia, and she kinda sputtered around like a mo-ron during the Georgia/Russia business this summer.)

Now, a lot of people are going to question this pick since Hillary made so many attacks on Barack during the primaries, but we have to remember that Barack Obama doesn't want to fill his cabinet with Yes-People (certainly Chris Squire would make a fine Secretary of Energy, but he's not going to get it) and people who all agree with him. That's not Barack's style. He's going to surround himself with people he trusts and respects first, and agrees with second. Competence and integrity is more important than having the exact same opinion as the President in a Barack Obama Administration. Refreshing, frankly.

With Clinton in State, we have essentially the Holy Trinity of Diplomats leading our country: Obama, Biden, and Clinton. That is a signal to the rest of the world that the United States is completely effing serious about diplomacy.

So, to those of you who supported Clinton in the primaries, do you think that the highest cabinet office is enough for Hillary? Should she stay in the Senate and get things through there? What do you think?