#thecoppercow

Thanks!

I did not notice that! I think @andithil will be happy to read this. 

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

I mean, do I really have to explain? *Stefon from SNL voice* This movie has everything: Channing Tatum is a dog, Mila Kunis is Queen of the Bees, Eddie Redmayne is Eddie Redmayne and he [whispers] but then SCREAMS!!!!, at some point they use a menstrual pad as wound care, bad Russian, Sean Bean is a honey bee and I think he dies as always but I can’t be sure, etc

Okay who the fuck is this ugly homophobe and why can't they read, how incredibly thick do you have to be to go 'yes, Call Me By Your Name is actually child abuse' (it isn't) but The Handmaiden is *rightfully* framed as so (again, no)? Call Me By Your Name was a perfectly lovely, decent movie, people who haven't seen it don't get to comment this kinda nonsense on it, and frankly this kind of nonsense just puts me off watching The Handmaiden by association. As for 'consenting adults' - I'm going to go ahead and assume this person is American? Because most of the rest of the world understands that literally everyone in CMBYN was of consent. It's just Americans that seem to lose their shit - which is weird because like, the US still has child brides and weird texan shit, how are you getting hung up on a gay character being 17 oh no wait I know why

Good points, all!

Don’t get me wrong, The Handmaiden is a great movie, and I think it mostly handles its troubling content responsibly. I’m of the opinion that the graphic violence and kink are there to exhibit just how abusive and creepy the men in the story are, and as a weird sort of commentary on how lesbian stories are controlled by men in gazey ways. It makes all the better when the women take back control of their lives. (Trying to explain this in the least spoilery way)

But! There’s definitely room for another interpretation of that film. The friend I saw it with (a straight guy!) said he felt that the film was still pretty male-gazey and wasn’t willing to let those moments off the hook. I’ve seen other people take that tone, too. At the very least, I wouldn’t grant that the film didn’t frame it to be titillating for someone (and I think that’s an overly shallow understanding of how the gaze works anyway). Regardless, the imagery itself is still pretty upsetting, and could likely be triggering for people with histories of sexual abuse, bad experiences with kink, etc. regardless of thematic intent.

So my point was that it clearly fails the black-and-white-thinking test that “anti” Tumblr uses. I find it just utterly ridiculous and laughable that anyone who’s seen CMBYN and said “this film is unambiguously about child sexual abuse and grooming and is toxic and has no redeeming value” is going to see The Handmaiden and be like “ah yes this film definitely condemns all these things in clear terms, handles it completely perfectly, has nothing problematic about it whatsoever.” No way would they think that! Again, I have friends who are way less black-and-white in their thinking and media analysis than Tumblr is (straight guy friend mentioned above is a film studies grad student who likes a lot of weird movies) who still took issue with those aspects of that film. It makes it even more obvious that these people have not seen the movies they’re discoursing about, or gushingly dropping on representation lists.

First of all thanks so much for sharing this with me. There’s an unacceptable lack of Endeavour meta in my life.

I really need to rewatch series 3 (I’ve already rewatched Ride, can you tell lmao) but, yeah, I totally agree. “Immature unrequited romanticism” is basically Morse’s whole thing, isn’t it? I mean, I don’t doubt that he’s got feelings for Joan but I also think that he’s got this idealised version of her in his mind… they haven’t exactly spent a lot of time together, and none of it has been particularly flirty on his part (and we all know that he’s pretty on board with this sort of thing when he’s attracted to someone) - it all just kind of happened retroactively and then he spent like, half a year pining after her. It’s not exactly a sound basis for a healthy relationship.

There’s also this thing with Morse where he thinks that monumental declarations of idk, knee-jerk romanticism will totally save a relationship (instead of, you know, talking things through and being open with each other). Like that weird ‘let’s move abroad’ thing with Monica and then that really inappropriate marriage proposal with Joan (which to Joan is this moment must have seemed coldly pragmatical instead of romantic). I wonder if he’s pulled the same thing with Susan and then never really grew out of it because everything begins and ends with Susan anyway,

Omg I agree so much with this - I used to love this movie as a kid (still do) but when I watched it back recently a lot of the messages kinda stick out?

I’m dying - srsly you were right about how this kink only works with nice sounding names

Check out my terrifying creepypasta:

You’re at home, lighting candles on the menorah because it’s Hanukkah and your whole family is there to celebrate. You’re wearing a snappy button-up face-print shirt that is way too big on you because you weigh about 80 pounds, and you’re listening to 80s music on your oversize vintage 80s headphones. It is not the 80s at all, you’re just kinda a douchebag.

The phone rings. You are filled with an inexplicable sense of dread as the Hanukkah gelt you just swallowed forms an uncomfortable lump in your throat. The candles on the menorah flicker and black flies swarm the room despite it being winter; surely God has left you.

You pick up the receiver. It is Donald Trump. He wants to call you by his name.

Ooo oooh how was it, is it basically Farm Gays VI but with Hints of Brexity Topicality