olive's digital garden

[Rating:: 70/100 ]

Easy reading, engaging, and hard to put down. Not ground breaking narratively but a fun satire, the story flows off the page making this an quick page turner. I was able to read through this in a day. I would consider re-reading after watching a few more videos about the subject from the positive and negative.

Book Notes

After her friend, Athena's, tragic death, Juniper takes and publishes a draft recently completed as her own. This then sparks the tirade of social media backlash and backpeddling to stay float amongst the calls of racism and plagarism. This continued friction leads to the visions of Athena's ghost, haunting Juniper as she attempts to come to terms with her actions.

My Thoughts & Notes

Junpier's inner monologue continues to be racist, it starts off with microagressions but when put all together it becomes very obviously racist.

The led juniper definitiely has a superiority complex, the need to be remembered by all stops her from pursuing the easy way out and a life less complicated, this is a narrative encompasses all workers that do not pursue a creative outlet, the accountant to the barrister.

I am very glad I am no longer that active on social media.

Reviewing an interview with the author it is a satire on the publishing industry, this is very apparent.

"Gremlin mode pandemic novel" I think this is apparent from the focus on twitter and how toxic and terminally online the community is.

The book reminds me of American Fiction - the characters that are american asian and restricted by what they write, the publishing industry restricts them in writing stories only focusing on heritage. This is one small aspect for Yellowface but an important point, Juniper expresses her frustration that she felt Athena was a "diversity hire" but lacking the understanding that because of this she was restricted in her writing and what she could do. The double edge sword of a diversity hire.

The dislike Juniper expresses about chinese food is very deliberate.

Requiring that people must only write about what they know harms all - reduces everyone.

"How do you avoid writing a polemic"

"white taste makers" - we forget that in the end those in the publishing world, film industry and choosing which stories to tell. Everything is still curated through a white lens in most cases.

Classism and intersectionality is brief but not so focused, Athena comes from wealth but it is not expanded.

"Publishing is not a meritocracy"

Favorite Moments / Memories

No set moment stands out but it was a very easy and engaging read, what left me wanted to finish the book was to see the resolution. As it continued the main character became more and more insufferable which definitely led to a satisfying ending, also reflecting on the warring narratives that were extremely likely to happen.

What were you doing when not watching this?

Just completed a 10k and spent most of Easter Sunday relaxing on the sofa listening to atmospheric music.

Relevant Links

PouredOver: R. F. Kuang on Yellowface - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df6bOjbBmZY

Ghibli Inspired Atmosphere - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAqUpjcs_xc

Notes

In this podcast, the journalist explores the pro-natalism movement in the US through the attendance of a Pro-Natalist convention. It starts off by presenting the side of the pro-natalist and then expanding on how this movement has been co-opted by the far right and adopting far right rhetoric. In the end it meets one of the few liberal/left-leaning attendees and discusses whether this issue requires comment an adoption by the other end of the political spectrum to become a bipartisan issue.

My Thoughts

The right wing rhetoric is extant throughout many of the talking points by members of the conference.

Of course there was a large population of men attending a pro-natalist conference, there is little comment by women and those who are able to birth children about what they want and what are the barriers to creating families.

There is a huge focus on monogomous hetereosexual families, again with the far right right wing rhetoric, a focus on "presevation" of cultures.

There is a huge panic created by the far right and addressing this issue as a war against another where it really should be a hollistic understanding in the reduction of the birth rate, it doesn't help that a focus of continuous growth in a finite resource is one of the compounding factors regarding the worry of a population decline.

I think the conclusion of the argument that other parts of the political spectrum should address this issue is important, I think there are many avenues to discuss, especially the importance of choice to have children. The focus on the nuclear family unit has warped the idea of what a family unit could look like.

It has made me reflect upon my own decisions as to why I do not want children, whilst I do not want to have my own I could see myself having a vested interest in raising a child in my later years, potentially as part of a bigger unit which would allow me to achieve my goals but also raise others and hopefully inspire.

Overall I think it's very rich that cis men are the drivers behind this movement, there is no risk for them regarding children and they are not the ones that will pick up the child rearing responsibilities and care in the future.

Relevant Links

[Rating:: 85/100 ]

Good placing, story, and plot, would recommend to others to watch and would absolutely watch again.

Watch Notes

It was such a charming and lovely film, I was not too certain what the actual subject of the film would be. the characters were moving and fun to see the unique interactions.

The film provides a reminder of how we may get old but our humour and connections can remain the same and current.

My Thoughts

Thoughts during the film

Favorite Moments / Memories

My favourite part of this film was the roadtrip to see the mystic. Whilst my favourite it was also frustrating as it highlighted the inability for the main character to take any control over his life and situation and confront his mother regarding assistance.

I also really enjoyed the resolution in the ending, instead of sending the mother to the care home for the duration of the book tour, the other three mothers were able to assist and band together, showing support and love for one another which I think is lacking in our continued isolationist society.

What were you doing when not watching this?

A chilled walk into town, making the most of my mubi ticket.

Relevant Links