somewhere in my mind there is an alternate version of the odyssey where odysseus died at troy and it’s just his ghost trying so desperately to get back to ithaca. the fates won’t let him go home because it’s not right for a corpse to want to live
on a serious note regarding the wga strike and (as of 1:50 AM PST 7/13) upcoming sag-aftra strike, dsa-la has a fundraiser called The Snacklist which provides snacks and water on the picket lines here in LA. right now the funds they have will not last through the end of the summer, especially given the current and upcoming heatwaves necessitating more supplies. if you have a couple of dollars to spare it’s a great way to directly support the writers (and potentially the actors) during this difficult time!
happy first sag-aftra strike in 60 years to all who celebrate.
if you are an enjoyer of media (which i will guess based on your presence on tumblr that you are) please consider donating to the snacklist (linked above) or to any of the following mutual aid funds that directly support striking actors/writers, IATSE and teamster union members who are also out of work and by and large refusing to cross the picket lines, and nonunion PAs and assistants (like yours truly) who are directly impacted by the work stoppage. everyone in this industry works unbelievably hard to bring you the shows, movies, webseries, and variety programs that you enjoy and every worker deserves a fair contract. any support you can give is extremely meaningful.
The Entertainment Community Fund provides emergency financial assistance to anyone in the entertainment industry who is unable to pay their immediate basic living expenses such as housing, food, bills, and healthcare.
The Union Solidarity Coalition has been formed by members of the wga, sag, and the dga to help cover the cost of healthcare for IATSE and teamsters who will not get enough work hours to qualify for their coverage this year due to their refusal to cross a picket line.
The Hollywood Support Staff Relief Fund (also run by the Entertainment Community Fund but separate from the above link which supports all film and tv workers) offers assistance to tv and film support staff and assistants who are not protected by a union and have been displaced from low or entry level positions.
Drive 4 Solidarity is an IATSE organized event in August raising funds for all union and guild members. Tickets are available for those in socal but donations are being taken as well.
“The Barbie movie is just brand propaganda and you’re giving in to capitalism” I really really don’t care like I REALLY don’t care and btw marx isn’t going to fuck you
[VD: A black person stands at a podium. They say, “There is no war on police. There is no such thing as a blue life. The thin blue line is a tantrum of immature and petulant adult children. If your egos are too fragile to accept the rightful criticism of your tactics, then quit. If you can’t do your job without somebody constantly hovering over your shoulder, then say it. We’ll hold your timid hands at every step. You’ve already forfeited any career aspirations you may have had. We live here, y'all have made it abundantly clear that you all just work here. If accountability makes you uncomfortable, go somewhere else. Atlanta has no place for you. The police have shown time and time again that the training they’ve been given isn’t interested in de-escalation, conflict resolution, or preservation of life. If I had 57 bullets, I could assassinate every member in this chamber with three shots each and still have nine bullets left over. I dare any single one of you to tell me that you believe that is justified, reasonable or acceptable as standard operating procedure. Wars have been fought over, much less. What’s the difference between a bullet and a cop? If a bullet kills someone, you’ll know it’s been fired. If you have a problem, call the police. Then you’ll have two problems: money or violence. You seem to only respond to these two categories using one to beget the other. Can’t even get the correct dates on your signed off warrants, but expect us to believe that you have the competency and due diligence for a 100 million dollar project that we have told you repeatedly that we do not need and we do not want.The May 31 deployment of militarized police units on a residential street to raid a bail fund on suspicion of white collar financial crimes is tyrannical. Tyrannical entities must be demolished by any means necessary. You have the option to resign willingly, be cast out politically, or be removed violently. The choice you make today on this bill will be inextricably linked to the method that will be chosen. You will vote no. You will vote no. You will vote no. All of you will vote no today and you will re-plant every tree you uprooted a hundred times over. Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable. If you build it, we will burn it.” End VD.]
This painting was left intentionally incomplete. Haring began it when he was dying due to complications from AIDS, and knew he didn’t have much time left. The piece represents the incomplete lives of him and many others, lost to AIDS during the crisis.
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“AIDS Memorial Quilt” — Multiple
This quilt is over 50 tons heavy, and one of, if not the, largest pieces of community folk art. Many people who died of AIDS did not receive funerals, due to social stigma and many funeral homes refusing to handle the deceased’s remains, so this was one of the only ways their lives could be celebrated. Each panel was created recognition of someone who died due to AIDS, typically by that person’s loved ones.
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“Untitled” — Felix Gonzalez-Torres
This pile of candy weighs the same amount as an average adult man. Visitors are encouraged to take some of the candy. As they do so, the pile of candy weighs less and less. This is a commentary on how AIDS deteriorates the body of those who have it, as Gonzalez-Torres’ partner, Ross Laycock, had died due to AIDS-related complications that same year.
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The SF Gay Men’s Chorus
This photo was taken in 1993. The men in white are the surviving original members. Every man in black is standing in for an original member who lost their lives to AIDS.
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“Electric Fan (Feel it Motherfuckers); Only Unclaimed Item from the Stephen Earabino Estate, 1997” — John Boskovich
After the death of his lover, Stephen Earabino, from AIDS, Boskovich discovered that his family had completely cleared his room, including Boskovich’s own possessions, save for this fan. An entire person, existence and relationship had been erased, just like so many lives during the AIDS crisis. Boskovich encased the fan in Plexiglass, but added cutouts so that its air may be felt by the viewer, almost like an exhalation. In a sense, restoring Earabino’s breath.
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“Blue” — Derek Jarman
This was Jarman’s final feature film, released four months before his death from AIDS-related complications. These complications had left him visually impaired, able to only see in shades of blue. This film consists of a single shot of a saturated blue color, as the soundtrack to the film described Jarman’s life through narration, intercut with the adventures of Blue, a humanization of the color blue. The film’s final moments consist of a set of repeated names: “John. Daniel. Howard. Graham. Terry. Paul". These are the names of former lovers and friends of Jarman who had died due to AIDS.
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“Untitled” (Perfect Lovers) — Felix Gonzalez-Torres
Created by the same man who created the previous untitled piece, this piece was also inspired by his lover’s deterioration and death due to AIDS. This piece consists of two perfectly alike clocks. Over the course of time, one of the clocks will fall out of sync with the other.
In a letter written to his lover about the piece, before his lover’s passing, Gonzalez-Tourres wrote, “Don’t be afraid of the clocks, they are our time, the time has been so generous to us. We imprinted time with the sweet taste of victory. We conquered fate by meeting at a certain time in a certain space. We are a product of the time, therefore we give back credit were it is due: time. We are synchronized, now forever. I love you.”
While every force available in the world is searching for the 5 people in the oceangate submersible, a boat filled with mostly Syrian and Pakistani refugees sank under still “unknown” circumstances off the coast of Peloponnisos, Greece (with the coast guard present). More than 600 people drowned but guess which of the two is making headlines
Crazy how our bodies are literally built for pleasure and overly ascetic patriarchal religions try to tell us that our flesh is evil. We have thousands of taste buds for enjoying delicious food and drink. Happy hormones are triggered when we dance. We can sing to entertain ourselves and others. Conscious, aligned sex with a good partner feels great and improves your health. We have beautiful eyes, figures, lips, hair to attract each other. We laugh so hard we cry and it feels GREAT. The smell of a rose on a warm summer breeze lifts my mood instantly. Our bodies are so so sacred. Nature is sacred. The Divine dwells in the earth and within us just as much as ‘up there’.
I honestly think that the lack of non-sexual nudity in public spaces has done horrific damage to American society.
We deeply struggle to understand the natural diversity of bodies because we only see naked bodies in a sexual context. We are taught that seeing nudity is somehow inherently harmful, especially to children. We struggle to differentiate between sexually suggestive and sexually explicit material.
It fucks up the way people think about and talk about sex ed. It fucks up the way people think about and talk about breast feeding. It fucks up the way people think about and talk about queer folks. It feeds into fatphobia and ableism and is all rooted in this deeply harmful puritanism.
Like, I need people to understand that seeing a bare titty in public is not going to hurt a child. Seeing a man in a banana hammock isn’t inherently traumatizing. I would argue, in fact, that adults treating those things as dangerous and gross and scary is going to do way more damage to a kid’s psychology than seeing the nudity in the first place.
i’m working on a play about 65-year-old lesbians, and my dramaturg is an older gay man who has been helping me with historical context and research, and also just in general giving me advice based on his own personal experiences.
fav thing he told me so far, said with a lot of love: “dyke drama was specific. it was always so specific. it was precise and narrowed and pointed. and also so dumb.”
also spoke to an older lesbian professor. i was asking her all these questions about marches and protests and summits and infighting and rallies and “what was it like what did this mean to you what was it like to experience that?”
and she kinda stared at me for a bit and said, “you know, it was a lot. and it was big and it did feel revolutionary. but also at that time i was mainly focused on getting my heart broken in a bar.”
and like. yeah.
another thing my dramaturg told me, from the perspective of a gay man who lived through the 80’s, was that whenever a young gay person asks him what the dating and play scene used to be like, he answers:
“we went to rallies and funerals.”
our persistence in our continued existence is big and scary and revolutionary, and the grief stretches on and the losses hit hard.
and because of that, i think it’s important to remember the dumb drama, and the first loves, and the first heartbreaks over beer. i think it’s important to go to rallies and vigils, and also dive bars and game nights.
fewer posts about “why do women date men who hate them” and more posts about “why do so many men hate women that it’s genuinely difficult for women to find romantic & sexual intimacy with a man who doesn’t hate them”
update: this post was written by a trans person & is about misogyny, which affects all women, including trans women. transmisogynists begone, please.
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