StarvedByLove.

CW for incest, rape/sexual assault, abuse. similarly, there will be discussions on imperialism/fascism, colonialism, etc…

Interests: family abolition/youth liberation, communist and gothic literature, deconstruction of fairy tales, transness, eroticism, sadomasochism, unbalanced and unrequited love, media analysis, suicidality, etc

Posts about: revolutionary girl utena, alien stage/zombie stage, chainsaw man (pt 1), shuzo oshimi’s works, i want to hold aono-kun so badly i could die, sand castle by yukari ichijo, oniisama e, mawaru penguindrum, bandori, assorted literature, music (mostly rasputina), films and video games.

Art blog | My partner’s fundraiser

Hello! I never got to reply until now as I have been quite ill. I apologize.

I think I’ll start by mentioning one of our favorite parts of Alice, and it is how it’s more a concept that it is simply a novel, and it functions as the starting point of many other series! I think, no matter what way you read Alice, your interpretation fits into the story as it’s a very nonsensical, illogical read. After all, it is a piece of media that thrives on the reader’s interpretation even to this day: from Alice having schizophrenia, maladaptive daydreaming and/or dissociative disorders to her being peer pressured into substances like drugs… I have seen so many different interpretations of the story and I don’t think any is particularly wrong per se (though I am not that big of a fan of calling it a drug trip, something adaptations like Jan Švankmajer’s get quite often). I am definitely someone that has many (including this one) and also appreciates the story by itself! It is my absolute favorite book and as a child, I remember feeling represented by it. I’m sure other kids felt the same too, and, even if we couldn’t quite articulate how or why, we recognized ourselves in it, living in an adult world as children.

Now, as for retellings, American McGee's, in my opinion, is the best. Not only because of its relation to the book, but to the author and his alleged pedophilia, naming the character after his victim: Liddell, a child who was Lewis Carroll’s muse for years on end. McGee then proceeds to make the second game in the series about anti-sex trafficking. It’s very meaningful to me.

Liddell allegedly named one of her sons after Carroll (named Caryl), which is something that has given me much to think about. One of her great-grand daughters believed him to have been in love with Liddell, but was so repressed he could not dare to transgress any boundaries. Eventually, there was a tear in their relationship, but not much of that is known. However, my reading of Alice being that of rape, is not necessarily based on these facts. I do not think it’s very productive to view things as “this creator solely writes about this because they experienced it/did it to someone else”.