meridian_rose

Apr. 30th, 2019

Half Magic is very much a women's movie. Written and directed by and starring Heather Graham, it focuses on three women's attempts to improve their lives and relationships with a little help from each other and some magical candles.

I rarely watch romances and this was in the romance section of Sky Movies but I'd seen wonderful gifs featuring Luke Arnold (Black Sails) and I knew it starred Stepanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) so I gave it a shot.

Gif from: http://significanceofmoths.tumblr.com/post/171215086687

Sexism, Friendship, Sensuality, Sexuality and Self-Acceptance

Honey (Graham) is working as a development assistant with her asshole boyfriend (Chris D'Elia) who uses her for his sexual gratification over making sure she's enjoying it and puts her and her ideas down at every opportunity. She wants to make his movies less sexist, wants to write and direct her own screenplays. Supported by fellow office worker and a female sponsor, Honey keeps pitching to make the scripts featuring her boyfriend feature more women with sexual agency.
( Read more... )

Crossposts: https://meridian-rose.livejournal.com/649551.html

One of the tumblr posts GYWO shared recently was by ladykit and begins "4 reasons you shouldn’t just tear it all down".

"Sometimes, it’s very tempting to start tearing things down, to disconnect and disengage when you’re upset. Because you feel like you don’t belong somewhere or you feel like no one wants you or you feel like the things you make are pointless and stupid. It’s tempting. It is. I know.

Destruction is so much easier than creation. Even easier now—click a button and an account is gone, a file’s erased. Easy.

Here’s why you shouldn’t—

1 )Someone, somewhere enjoys the things you made. Sometimes they feel like your works speak directly to them. They identify with the struggles and hardships of your characters. Or maybe they just enjoy the softness of the scene. The sweetness of it. Don’t take that away from them. Just because you can’t find value in it doesn’t mean someone else can’t. Let other people enjoy the things you’ve made."

The other three things are explained in more detail but can be summarised as 2) it's ok to be niche, 3) You are not defined by the quality or quantity of the things you make (or how many people read them) 3)You have value as a person

I admit I very much privilege my creativity as essential to my worth though...

It continues "Destruction is easy. Disconnection is easy. Creation is hard. Connecting with other people is hard too"; it acknowledges the highs and lows.
It made me think of "Desperado" and I reblogged the post with the relevant gif:

Gif from cloudcity, https://tmblr.co/ZbQKHc2V_H2Sp
Gif shows a close up of Antonio Banderas in the movie Desperado, dialogue text reads "It's easier to pull the trigger than play guitar. Easier to destroy than to create"

It's one of the things I've thought about lot since that movie, that line and what it means for creative people and for the world.

The post ends "And remember, it’s okay to step back and retreat for a little while. It’s not all or nothing. You can put a hold on things. You can back away. And you can do that without destroying the things you’ve made and cutting off from the people you care about."

The post itself is worth reading in full and reblogging for those still using tumblr in some form, especially the writeblrs: https://itsladykit.tumblr.com/post/180381876834/4-reasons-you-shouldnt-just-tear-it-all-down

I've seen a few things lately talking about how sad it is when fiction gets deleted, when whole journals and communities were lost at LJ, and yet on the flip side a few comments on how it's probably better to delete your fics with no comments as if they're now worthless, and you should just delete your blogs because they're pointless anyway...and I was glad of that post this week that says "No, don't be hasty, think again."