All art is at once surface and symbol

Why the #AskELJames Tag Matters

I think when people comment on what happened yesterday, they see her as an author who is being savaged. Again, if people stick to critiquing the problematic themes and ideas of the book and its terrible writing “style,” then that’s truly fair game. However, I think some of her defenders, like with Vanity Fair, are unaware that E.L. James isn’t being bullied. Instead, she has seemed to behave like a bully for years. She’s been nasty to the Twilight fandom who made her famous. A May 2012 article from Crushable by Natalie Zutter, in its texts and comments, documented the history of Ms. James and her fans during her tenure in Twilight fandom. During that time, she encouraged her “Bunker Babes” or fan army to overrun Goodreads and Amazon forums (against the spirit of the terms of service) to promote her book and shout down detractors. Additionally, she would send nasty emails and publicly mock readers on Twitter who even pointed out typos or expressed genuine confusion by the text. Most appalling of all was her alleged apparent tendency to use her Twitter to post the personal addresses and information of her critics (something the Stop the Goodreads Bullies site has faced massive criticism for in the past). She even allowed her fans to harass a teenage girl in Russia who made the mistake of translating Fifty Shades of Grey, then Master of the Universe, into Russian without James’s express permission.

I’m not saying previous troll-like behavior justifies personal attacks on the #askeljames tag. It does not. Again, the minority of the comments were attacks on her and her fans personally and those weren’t okay. However, those nastier ones don’t negate the real valid comments about abuse and stalking, the retweets of quotes from the actual books that match red flag checklists, or the legitimate questions and expressed hurt of offended survivors.

...

That’s what the bulk of the hashtag was about, and that’s why it matters. In an age when celebrities can throw enough money at problems to make them go away, the Twitter tag is a small relief, a way to get thoughts out there even if they will largely stay ignored. Besides, can anyone really be so ignorant after Bill Cosby’s tar-and-feathering with the #CosbyMeme or Robin Thicke being taken to task for his creepy behavior toward his ex-wife and his terrible views on consent in “Blurred Lines” with his #AskThicke tag, that they truly believe asking Twitter for an honest conversation with a controversial celebrity is going to work well? Again, on Tuesday, Republican hopeful Bobby Jindal’s #AskBobby tag was equally as large a disaster. Oddly, you don’t see nearly as many articles in the mainstream media about it period, and so far I’ve seen none that have called what happened to him “bullying.” James is about as public a figure as Jindal now. Again, you can’t be Publishers Weekly’s “Publishing Person of the Year” in 2012 and not also live under public scrutiny. It’s a trade-off.

"Does Mr. Roger's know you're at a party again?" He smirks.
"Mr. Rogers?" I don't get it.
"Your boyfriend. He is the biggest square I have even seen”

Don't you dare bring up Mr. Rogers like that, you miserable ball of slime. He's a million times more the man you'll ever be, Mr. Totally-Not-Overcompensating-With-My-New-Name Hardin.

“Don't talk about him like that, he is.. he is.. nice" I stutter.

Harry laughs and I stand up. He doesn't know Noah at all. "You could only dream of being as nice as he is" I snap.

“Nice? That's the first word that comes to your mind when talking about your boyfriend? Nice is your 'nice' way of calling him boring."

Yeah, a boy who actually treats girls like they're human beings? How dull.

“He isn't boring, you don't know him”
"I know that he is boring. I could tell by his cardigan and loafers"

Harry's head rolls back in laughter and I can't ignore his dimples.

While we're at it, let's make assumptions about people from the way they dress.

“He doesn't wear loafers" I say and cover my mouth so I don't laugh with him at my boyfriend's expense.

You can go to hell too, Tessa.

I grab the water and take a drink.

"Well he has been dating you for two years and hasn't fucked you yet, I would say he is a square.”



It's too bad there's no complete sporkings of this series. It's the only fucking way I can get anywhere near this thing. At least I can take comfort in the fact the published version flopped abysmally.

Meanwhile, I'm dealing with ableist bullshit at a comm I frequent. That's what happens when you're openly autistic on the Internet, I suppose. Whoopee.

Will Sylvain Reynard shut the fuck up about "Closer" from Nine Inch Nails? All she ever does is quote the "fuck you like an animal" line and act like it's the single most objectifying and sinful lyric in the universe. Never mind that Trent Reznor's written other sexually-charged songs and that "Reptile" is 100x more violent, degrading, and disturbing. Never mind that he wrote "Fragile," one of my favorite NIN songs and one of the wibbliest love songs ever. On the other hand, I totally see Reynard using "Fragile" as a way for Gabriel to compare it with Julia, and yuck. I actually hope it never comes up. Reynard already thinly alluded to Trent doing backup vocals for Tori Amos' "Past The Mission," and I don't want her to shit on more of my favorite bands and songs.

Everybody in this book other than Gabriel has better chemistry with Julia. Rachel was basically professing her love to Julia before she had to go on the plane. DON'T LEAVE ME RACHEL, YOU'RE THE ONE CHARACTER I DON'T FEEL LIKE STABBING A PIKE THROUGH *sobs*

It never ever goes through Julia's brain that her big nostalgic night with Gabriel was when he was drunk off his ass. Of COURSE he doesn't remember her! Why the fuck doesn't she tell him about the night at the apple orchard? Just say, "Hey, I don't think you remember me, but one time, we kissed at an apple orchard." It's not that fucking hard. Manufactured drama/Lack of Communication Kills like this does not increase the goddamn tension in romance novels; it just makes me think the characters are fucking stupid!

IhatethisbookIhatethisbookIhatethisbook

By the way, there's still four chapters open for anyone who wants to spork the book here. :D I might consider taking another chapter on, this book is pissing me off this much.

Edit: ( TW: Slut-shaming and tasteless use of eating disorders )

Badfic and crappy novels (*cough*specifically50shades*cough*) are making me sick of the word "blush" like shitty sci-fi novels made Stephen King hate the word "zestful." It's gotten to the point where I use it sparingly, usually referring to makeup. If used as a verb, it's for something that doesn't involve a person's face turning red. DEAR GOD EVERYBODY BLUSHES ALL THE TIME IN BADFIC, USE OTHER WORDS DAMMIT. Which is a shame, 'cause blushing is usually cute, but it's gotten to the point where it almost means nothing because it's all juvenile writers make their characters do when they're embarrassed.

I have two essays I have to work on, and both have to be a minimum of eight pages. I'm behind on reading material and I'll have to talk to the Disabilities Services and my professors for an extension. I did the first part already, I just have to wait until Monday for the latter. Home life isn't doing much better, since Dad had been having back problems to the point where he had to have surgery last Monday. He's lying in bed now, but he can't drive. I'm also scared as hell for my dog Freddie. About last week, he got into the garbage and ate something bad for him, so he's been vomiting blood and bone splinters. He used to be energetic and run around all the time. Now he doesn't smile or wag his tail, he usually just lies there. I'm really scared for him, especially since he's much younger than Amanda.

God I just want to get the semester over with and go to Portland. But if I'll need extensions for my essays, it'll take way longer than I anticipated.

Top 10 Books That Have Stayed With Me (in no particular order):

♥ Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
♥ The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
♥ The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
♥ Animal Farm by George Orwell
♥ Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov
♥ The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
♥ Misery by Stephen King
♥ Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
♥ Bambi by Felix Salten
♥ WE by Yevgeny Zamyatin

I like how the Cinema Snob does episodes of movies involving cannibalism, necrophilia, talking vaginas, coprophagia, pedophilia, bestiality, Nazisploitation, and E.T. porn without anyone batting an eye, but the second he does m/m gay porn like "Gayracula" or "Drive," the commentors immediately start questioning his sexuality. Lesbians are okay, and aliens are fine (as long as they're female), but gay men? "You can be a cannibalistic serial killer who fucks dogs and children, but if you're gay, god that makes me so uncomfortable!" It'd be just like the Snob to post another gay porn episode just to spite them. :D

Speaking of which, I got to thinking after watching his review of "Mommie Dearest." You ever been recommended a movie or book for its camp value and over-the-top hilarity, only to see it for yourself and be genuinely terrified and uncomfortable? I felt the same thing about V.C. Andrews' "Flowers in the Attic" and "My Sweet Audrina" that Brad did for "Mommie Dearest"; I expected something corny, trashy, and silly, but I ended up being creeped out and not finding any laughs at all. Albeit, FitA and MSA aren't great to begin with, but still. I had to stop reading both books because they were disturbing in ways I didn't like at all.

I guess I had a similar reaction to "Twilight" and "50 Shades" too. To this day, I never got past the first chapter of "Twilight" because I'd immediately get bored and pissed off at Bella whining that she got a fucking car from her dad. Though with "Twilight," I did manage to get a little bit of hilarity from the movie; I just needed a better audience (and Rifftrax) to watch it with. (I saw "Twilight" with my Mom and I wasn't allowed to make snarky commentary, which led to a dull, dull watch. I still laughed out loud at the SKIN OF A KILLER!!!1!1 scene though) But "50 Shades"... when it wasn't boring me to death, it frightened me and made me angrier than a bull at a firetruck. The only other book I can think of that incites this much rage from me is "Wuthering Heights." Just... ugh.

What do you think, guys? Have you ever been recommended something that's supposed to be trashy and So-Bad-It's-Funny, only to make you legitimately uncomfortable?

I was looking up articles from a college database (Points of View Reference Center), and my Composition II professor allowed me to use fanfiction for the topic of my paper. Go figure, lots of newspaper articles on E.L. James and 50 Shades popped up. I mainly skipped over them, but then I came across an innocuous article called "What is fanfiction.net?" from The (United Kingdom) Times. Yet another 50 Shades article. I skimmed over it for a while, then came across this:

( Bolding is mine. TW for Eel denying rape in her novels. )

Since I found the article at a college-specific database, I unfortunately can't link to it. But I can tell you the source: Times, The (United Kingdom), Apr 12, 2012, p5, 1p

This article is making me think about certain story-telling elements.

I don't necessarily agree with everything, but it does bring up some interesting points. Like how the "fantasy" elements in fantasy novels are usually depicted as "ZOMG-SOOOOO-MUCH BETTER!!11!1" than the real world, aka "boring ol' reality." The Hero's Journey has lately become a tale of leaving the "banal" world behind and embracing the supernatural. The author argues that this is the hero's way of "refusing to grow up."

Where I disagree is that while a Hero's Journey doesn't always have a "return," it doesn't mean that they're bashing reality. Take two of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales, "Thumbelina" and "The Little Mermaid." Thumbelina doesn't go back to her mom, and the mermaid doesn't go back to sea. But they're still bildungsromans in that they're newly formed "adults" trying to find their place in the world, with varying degrees of success. Thumbelina (and Disney's Ariel) make it, but the original mermaid wasn't so lucky. Their journeys are about finding a place they can return to.

That said, there's the treatment of adults, teens, and children in stories, and why I feel so alienated from a lot of YA and children's books lately.

There's this pervading feeling I'm getting that adults = bad, children = good. I know, I know, Adults Are Useless has been around since the beginning of time, but bear with me here. There's a lot of conflicting messages in society that vary from "Jesus, grow up." and "Childhood is the most magical age! I wish I were a kid again!" Hell, I've indulged a lot in the latter thinking. As a kid, I went back and forth between wanting to grow up or staying young forever. I'm almost 25 and I feel like I act younger than my age, and I don't know if it's a good or bad thing. I'm uncertain of who I am and I don't know everything like an adult "should." So when I read a YA or children's book that says, "Ugh, adults are stiff and unimaginative scum who are too old to understand anything, children are pure and awesome and know things older people can't possibly conceive!" I feel like a bunch of kids are frowning and pushing me off their sandbox saying, "Go away, you're grown up. We don't want you here anymore."

I'm not sure if I got the impression that adults were evil as a kid. When I was reading Dahl's books, the mean adults were punished because they were assholes, not necessarily because they were adults. You still had adults like Miss Honey and the Narrator's Grandmother from "The Witches" to look up, and I'm certain the bugs in "James and the Giant Peach" were grown-ups who adopted James. In Narnia, the adults weren't oblivious so much that I got to share a secret that only the Pevensies and I know. (That said, Lewis's dismissal of Susan in the last book pissed me off. How dare she try to build a life outside of Narnia, especially after the tragedy that befell her family!) In fact, through life, I got the impression that adults and children were capable of both good and evil.

I think that's part of why I love Lord of the Flies so much. Golding had the guts to say that not only can kids be bullies, they can be downright sadistic due to their undeveloped empathy. From what I learned in psychology, children have a "ME ME ME" mindset that makes it hard for them to understand complex emotions or see themselves in "another person's shoes." They're extremely literal. I still haven't finished reading Peter Pan, but I get a creepy vibe from Book!Peter because of his inability to grow up. To quote a review of the book: "Barrie loves the Child, but he does not hide its foolishness, its selfishness, its ignorance. The Child in this is almost pre-moral. They have some understanding of villainy, but do not grasp the virtue of a hero. Barrie deems a key attribute to being a child as being heartless." Hell, Battle Royale is engaging for me because it's about a bunch of high schoolers and the various "adult" choices they have to make against a violent dystopia.

While working on my novel, I found myself dealing a lot with the subject of childhood, nostalgia and growing up. In a way, a child who stops playing with a toy is an allegory for a toy beginning "adulthood." Eventually, you will be outgrown, and stop being played with. There's absolutely no stopping this, and that's okay. Now you have the freedom to learn, explore and grow, and that journey is never-ending. It's not easy, but life has its balance of ups and downs, and all of them worth experiencing. The book is about Ann & Andy's life after Marcella, and what happens to them. Maybe the novel is my way of helping myself adjust to adulthood and finally discover my place in the world. Hm.

DON'T MIND ME, JUST BABBLING.

Okay, now that I've taken a few deep breaths, let's play a game inspired by Maureen Dowd's twitter, 'cause it's awesome.

Instructions: Take a favorite book or imagine your favorite video game/movie/webcomic/etc. was a book. If its original creator was a guy, genderflip him and give his book a stereotypically girly cover. If a female creator, genderflip her and give her book a badass/decent cover that accurately shows what her book is about.

( Here's a few examples I made to get you started. :) )

Sold a bunch of old games and books today and made quite a profit! I bought a few new books in return, including two Angela Carter books (The Bloody Chamber and The Magic Toyshop. I've heard good things about her work), a non-fiction ant book by the "Indiana Jones of entomology," and a copy of Leaves of Grass. I also got The Phantom of Manhattan, which inspired the Sequel Musical That Must Not Be Named. I heard the original book actually isn't supposed to be that bad, so I'll see how much Andrew Lloyd Weber has fucked up.

Battle Royale reading has been going slow (being a doorstopper and all), so I've been caught up with Smoke & Mirrors by Neil Gaiman. Good stuff, it's been a while since I was hooked on something. :o