Why I Won't Watch 'The Help'

Or at least go out of my way to see it, which inevitably means upturning the sofa for loose change.  Or jump onto the bandwagon of raving reviews.

For the last couple of weeks, I couldn’t quite put a finger on what bothered me about 'The Help,' especially considering how I’d been so excited when I first saw the trailer. There was just something about it that gnawed at my racial consciousness over time.

And then I found this article "Why I'm Just Saying No to ‘The Help and Its Historical Whitewash" by Akiba Solomon that exactly articulated my reservations--it’s another typical white guilt project that places the white protagonist at the very center, and colored folk at the sidelines to advance the white protagonist’s (or other white folks’) personal journey or enlightenment. Says Solomn:

I just can’t bring myself to pay $12.50 after taxes and fees to sit in an aggressively air conditioned, possibly bed bug-infested New York City movie theater to watch these sisters lend gravitas to Stockett’s white heroine mythology. I’m sorry, but the trailer alone features way too many group hugs to be trusted.

Aside from the lovely snark, she’s completely right. It might be premature of me to pass judgment without having seen it, but really? If you’ve see one white guilt movie, then you’ve seen a dime and a dozen. They all have the same characters and plots, with endless variations as long as it’s about the white person, of course.

Best Story Ever

You don't have a heart if this doesn't bring a smile to your face. 

After persevering decades of sexism denying women equal recognition in martial arts, 98-year-old Keiko Fukuda became the 16th person and first woman ever to earn the 10th degree black belt in judo. 

She began in 1935 but she remained a 5th degree black belt for twenty years because of strict rules curtailing women's advancement in the Kodokan. Only in 1971 was she able to move onto her next belt. 

At the 3:15 mark, you see exactly how much this means to her. Aww, why are grandmas so cute?

On a side note, what the hell are the Japanese eating that keeps them preserved like that? I can only pray to look that good when I go over the hill.

Minx Lovin'

The word is out. Next week, Friday, August 19th, to be exact, Minx is going to spend the night together.

Make love. Get bizzay. Color. Have sexy time. The Bavarian jig. The horizontal tango. Bump uglies (except, Christina B. Lind and Sarah Glendening’s uglies still look better than most of us in our Sunday best).

And that was the sound of thousands of lesbians squealing and sighing in delight.

YESSSSSS. Finally. FINALLY, our Binks gets to be like all the other characters of AMC—a human being with sexual desire. It’s been, what, a year and a half since she got some? With Reese, in Paris?

Daughters of Club Bilitis Subbed!

I'm happy to say that someone has kindly subbed Daughters of Club Bilitis!

Watch it here!

As a side note, before I found these subs, I tried subbing for the first time. And it was not that easy. It requires time and dedication in vat loads. And comparing my translation with theirs, it's clear that it requires skills. So much thanks to all subbers out there making the world a better place. :)

Daughters of Club Bilitis

Korean lesbian drama.

Yes, breathe and repeat after me: Korean lesbian drama.

Watch it here on YouTube. 

Say what? Am I in the twilight zone? I must be because I thought that I would need a time machine to see anything like this happening.

Yeah, it's only a one episode special, but still! It's an hour-long special following three lesbian couples—high school-ers, 20-30 year olds, and a middle-age couple—whose lives are intertwined, and it addresses some of the issues lesbians in Korea face, such as coming out, self-acceptance, enforced heterosexuality, and above all, THEPARENTSHOLYSHIT. And you know what's the best part? It was done in a socially sensitive and respectful way.

Damages: An Overview

I love Damages.

I really do. I think it’s sophisticated, intelligent, powerfully characterized, and socially relevant, which is more than I can say about 95% of the crap in the current media. More importantly, it doesn't rely on the sexual appeal of its two female main characters to carry the show. Which is why I’ll be recapping (read: gushing over) it.

Before I begin, though, I’m going to need a moment.

Thank god for DirecTV because seriously, what in hell was FX thinking when they decided to cancel their only award-winning show? Ratings be damned, did they have no idea what that would do to me? Each season of Damages was tantamount to sex for me (fyi, I watched all three seasons within two months, but yes, it was somewhat of a dry spell at the time). The way the non-linear s/l was set up, I knew what would come at the end—no pun intended; I would get hints and flashes, but the build-up was always tantalizing and more than enough to satisfy me until the end.

Dorky, gay, loser fangirls

I’m gonna give this a shot.

No, really. A legitimate shot this time.

Not like all the countless times in the past when I swore up and down, cross my heart, to persevere with maintaining a journal, only to lamely peter out with much begrudged and increasingly brief entries three days later at which point I unfailingly went, Resolution, what resolution?

But, o ho, this time, the circumstances are different. I’ve come to the realization that I have reached an impasse where I can no longer afford to delude myself of the inexorable truth. Oh, it’s a long story--one of excoriating self-exposition and of highs and low reached—but at the end, the one truth rings loud and clear.

Quite plainly and simply, I’m a loser fangirl.