1. Déjà vu “In the year after I arrived, the women described dreams they’d been having, and then eventually, as the pieces fell into place, they came to understand that they were collectively dreaming one dream, and that it wasn’t a dream at all.”
As a woman who was having babies pre-feminism and has been fighting this fight ever since Betty Friedan and the grand awakening, all I can say is Bravo. Thank you. Thank the women who lived it, the women who produced and starred in those movies. Thank the women who carry on. My daughters, my nieces, and my granddaughter are carrying on.
A very strong substack newsletter. I felt the movie, Women Talking, was weakened because it left out the context or marginalized it into one after-intertitle. She Said is magnificent -- did you know it did not "do well" at the box-office (as they say) and neither did Women Talking? I've bought the books for both and they are my midnight reading Excellent books I've read Annie Ernaux for a long time and didn't know about this movie or the Alice one, which now I'll try to see. I'll circulate this where I can. I had two miscarriages in my life, the second one I nearly died: luckily I was in England when it occurred where I was taken good care of (this was 1976). I voted for Sanders until he was unjustly knocked out because he was genuinely leftist, a socialist insofar as this is possible in the US.
This is a remarkable piece that is both a series of film reviews and a primer on the history of feminism and the rolling cascade of political events of the last few decades...two steps forward, five steps back...that sort of thing. If reading it was a necessary reminder of some grim facts that are rapidly getting lost, I imagine it must have been challenging and maybe grim for the author to re-visit. We need these pieces.
This is such a major piece; I was amazed by how many important political events of the last few decades are like a rolling cascade....two steps forward...five steps back...and so on. I've only seen one of the films you discuss ("Alice, Darling"), and can't say, that given the "heaviness" of the subject matter of the others, that I am rushing to see them. I'm getting that "should" feeling that brings out the rebel in me! I did fid Alice, Darling to be a very well-done depiction of psychological abuse, gaslighting, etc... Anna Kendricks, who seems to usually get cast as a pert, ultra-competent, asexual professional....does a fantastic job in a demanding role. I was so moved by how the two friends saved her in the end; their physical power. Thank you for writing these reviews.
As a woman who was having babies pre-feminism and has been fighting this fight ever since Betty Friedan and the grand awakening, all I can say is Bravo. Thank you. Thank the women who lived it, the women who produced and starred in those movies. Thank the women who carry on. My daughters, my nieces, and my granddaughter are carrying on.
We will never go back.
A very strong substack newsletter. I felt the movie, Women Talking, was weakened because it left out the context or marginalized it into one after-intertitle. She Said is magnificent -- did you know it did not "do well" at the box-office (as they say) and neither did Women Talking? I've bought the books for both and they are my midnight reading Excellent books I've read Annie Ernaux for a long time and didn't know about this movie or the Alice one, which now I'll try to see. I'll circulate this where I can. I had two miscarriages in my life, the second one I nearly died: luckily I was in England when it occurred where I was taken good care of (this was 1976). I voted for Sanders until he was unjustly knocked out because he was genuinely leftist, a socialist insofar as this is possible in the US.
Excellent Susan. Thank you for all of these reminders, for the context, for the focus on these films.
This is a remarkable piece that is both a series of film reviews and a primer on the history of feminism and the rolling cascade of political events of the last few decades...two steps forward, five steps back...that sort of thing. If reading it was a necessary reminder of some grim facts that are rapidly getting lost, I imagine it must have been challenging and maybe grim for the author to re-visit. We need these pieces.
This is such a major piece; I was amazed by how many important political events of the last few decades are like a rolling cascade....two steps forward...five steps back...and so on. I've only seen one of the films you discuss ("Alice, Darling"), and can't say, that given the "heaviness" of the subject matter of the others, that I am rushing to see them. I'm getting that "should" feeling that brings out the rebel in me! I did fid Alice, Darling to be a very well-done depiction of psychological abuse, gaslighting, etc... Anna Kendricks, who seems to usually get cast as a pert, ultra-competent, asexual professional....does a fantastic job in a demanding role. I was so moved by how the two friends saved her in the end; their physical power. Thank you for writing these reviews.