Ant that Crossroads review is infuriating. We have to put up with the male gaze in Every Fucking Movie because apparently it’s the only possible way of shooting a film, and then also hear men defend the fact that they reacted to the Male Gaze in exactly the way the movie industry presupposes that they will — in exactly the way that keeps the movie industry inundating us with the Male Gaze — by saying the camera made me do it! Wow. You’re a middle-aged man, take some effing responsibility for your own objectifying.

Actually, come to think of it, I haven’t had to fast forward through him on the podcasts recently…is he not reviewing for them anymore? Because, if so, I’d like to send a virtual high-five in Terry Gross’ direction.

and the part about how the enjoyment of the sexuality of the characters can be interpreted as a circle of two: that it’s independently enjoyable for young women THEMSELVES well, we are working towards that, if not there

You bring up an interesting point on expecting better from him, however, because he is a film critic and located in NY and is “exposed to a higher number of thoughtful accounts of experiences that are Not Your Own than the average American male living in, say, the Midwest.” I remember my own disappointment at finding out things like this are not necessarily true. Exposure is just exposure – it doesn’t mean you’ve done any work in questioning your assumptions about others. Also, you can live in a large city and only spend time amongst those who share your points of view. A “good morning” in a coffee shop to someone who doesn’t look just like you does not equal a greater understanding of people who aren’t like you – but many big-city dwellers seem to think that it does. It’s a form of regionalism that I find particularly irritating.

Yuck.