f-list ilu + stuff + rant about tv that doesn't deserve being ranted about
1) Thanks so much to everyone who sent those pretty glass hearts ♥ my profile looks a lot prettier and my v-day sucked a lot less than it usually does. ;) Ilu all.
2) Dear world, I'm ready for this session to be over and for the weather to get better, because when you live in the only sort of civilized city where buses don't have wheels for snow in 75% of the cases and if it snows a bit 75% of the public transportation gets shut down and so you end up at home revising which is exactly what you did since vacations were over, you start to go stir-crazy. At least another two and then I can just go see five movies in a row. And the fact that a lovely coffee shop/bakery that sells glorious not-so-tiny cupcakes opened near home therefore making it the only reachable not-useless place around is threatening my levels of sugar, not that I regret cupcakes.
3) Okay, uh, you remember when I said that I couldn't be bothered with Ringer not being just plain stupid anymore but bordering on (imo) offensive? Yeah, I take it back because today's episode was just - I have no freaking words. Rant under the cut, feel free to ignore if you a) like that show, b) don't watch it (and it's good for you). Also: discussion about triggering material (non-consensual sex).
Okay, let's not dwell on the fact that by now whenever Bridget does something I facepalm and whenever Siobhan does something else I headdesk. By now I'm calling them Facepalm and Headdesk respectively. Let's still not dwell on about how I don't care about anyone else or about how much Facepalm/Andrey is still the skeeviest thing I've watched on my tv in ages.
Let's dwell about that idiotic out of any sense rape storyline.
Now: dear person who wrote this, other than respectfully suggesting to a) resign and b) research something about what teenager girls being raped actually means, if we want to stick to tv do me a favor, pick S4 and S5 of Six Feet Under and feel ashamed from now until you retire. (Or: SFU did a rape storyline too, but it actually was done right. Also because I wanted to throw up in my mouth for most of it, but guess what, maybe I was supposed to.)
Because: I had understood that something fishy was going on because we hadn't actually -seen- the thing happen, but: THE THREE OF THEM LIED ABOUT TWO TEENAGE GIRLS BEING RAPED BY THEIR TEACHERS IN ORDER TO ROB HER DAD OF A HANDFUL OF MILLION DOLLARS AND BECOME RICH? And other than two teenage girls doing it THE THIRD PART IS THEIR TEACHER?
Okay. Breathe in, breathe out. What the fuck. No really, what the fuck. Not that this show's point ever was... well, sending a message of any depth, but THIS? We're passing the idea that:
a) if you fake being raped and your story is convincing enough and you have a good plan hey, you can make money (the fact that when people actually tell the truth about it and it's not granted that others believe them is totally not an issue here, is it);
b) that if your dad decides that at fifteen or sixteen or whatever you're not mature enough to handle a million-dollar trust fund (which hey, it's a) his right, because he's your DAD and you surely didn't earn that money yourself, and b) in Juliet's case the only answer to that would have been sucking it up) then hey, why not finding another way to get it back? That's cool, you can get away with it!
c) by the way, the poor girl who goes to public school of course in the story was the one lying about being raped because she wanted attention (RAGE, RAGE, because of course saying that is a way to get attention! It's a fucking serious thing, and it's not a given that lying about it means doing it for attention. ATTENTION).
d) and by the way, no one, NO ONE has thought for a second (in the case that Juliet had indeed told the truth) 'if we settle and that guy does that again?', especially considering his job - if he managed to get it back or to find another? NO. FUCKING. ONE.
e) and also, if you're raped and the case doesn't work in your favor, what is it that you should do? try to 'BUILD BACK YOUR REPUTATION.' It just - obviously you'd want to change scenario, but... to build back YOUR reputation? Because obviously having had non-consensual sex is a bummer for your -reputation-, if the case doesn't work through. (Which is not a given.)
Other than that: the ending just - it felt like they were laughing about the whole trial thing. I mean there are people that have to go to trial and press charges when they really have been forced, and who might not have, uuuuh you know, a millionaire dad who can support them, means to pay for good lawyers etc. etc., not to mention that if you're a woman and you're young and you don't dress covering yourself up completely then someone will obligatorily think that you were searching for it. (Speaking generally.) So Juliet goes through that entire ordeal like any other real victim would do, and we all feel for her etcetera, and then in the end LOL SORRY THAT WAS A JOKE WE WERE ALL FAKING WEREN'T WE SMART. I mean how triggering is that? And let's say that someone who went through it watches this - what should the even think?
And now you know what I'm actually fearing? (Not that I'll be around to watch it - next week there's Misha and then sorry Eyelashes but I'll look up your scenes on youtube and I'll be done.) That considering how they shot the last scene and how Juliet & her teacher were looking at each other, maybe now he might actually have sex with her when she doesn't want to and it'll come out like 'well see, she lied about it but guess what? It really happened and who's gonna believe her now, considering that they shared money?'. Which - if it happens then I can't even. Not that I'll watch it, but.
Just - really, I can't. And I'd really just like to tell those people that non-consensual sex is actually a serious thing and not a joke that is valid only for bored teenage girls, and that if you have to do that kind of thing on tv, either you do it with sensitivity/respect for the topic/researching what the hell are you doing, or you just DON'T DO IT. (IE: that Six Feet Under storyline I was talking about implied: seeing most of the entire thing happen on screen & throwing up in your mouth because of it, and then we saw the repercussions for THAT ENTIRE SEASONS AND THE FOLLOWING ONE, because at least they were gracious enough to understand that if that kind of thing happens to you for real, and it doesn't happen because you go search for it, you don't get over it in a minute. And they also avoided any kind of victim blaming. Which btw, in Ringer it happened, and who did the victim blaming? The victim's mother. I'll go throw up in my mouth for different reasons.)
Also: I do realize that this might seem like beating a dead horse - like, what the heck I do expect from this show, to be actually sensitive about serious issues? At which okay, I'll give you that I don't expect anything from this show except a) ridiculousness and b) Eyelashes looking gorgeous, but there's entertaining dumb and there's offensive dumb. I got pissed when during H50 (which I don't watch for the plot either) made me watch five minutes of SEALS shooting unarmed Middle-Eastern civilians, I'll get pissed when this one comes up with a rape storyline that manages to be offensive in any possible way a rape storyline can be offensive.
And that said: whoever wrote this almost made the hideous SPN wedding ep of this season look less bad than it actually was, at least in comparison to this one. Kind suggestion: find a new job. Thanks, me.
4. And after that rant that was probably too long for that show, and to remind myself why I'm watching it next week after all, here, have some Misha being OMG ADORABLE NEXT TO THE GUINNESS WIN CERTIFICATE. I'd just like to state that having contributed to be in a Guinness primate feels pretty darn awesome. I have something to tell my nephews now. ;)
5. Also, the porn battle is sadly over. :( I managed six fills this round which was awesome. Posting will happen tomorrow or so. (And recs as well probably.)
6. Aaand it's almost 1 AM and I have fic to finish and stuff to study/revise tomorrow so I'll just thank everyone for the shiny sparking hearts and be off. Sigh. One of these days one of these entries will be full of exciting RL shenanigans, but this isn't it.
2) Dear world, I'm ready for this session to be over and for the weather to get better, because when you live in the only sort of civilized city where buses don't have wheels for snow in 75% of the cases and if it snows a bit 75% of the public transportation gets shut down and so you end up at home revising which is exactly what you did since vacations were over, you start to go stir-crazy. At least another two and then I can just go see five movies in a row. And the fact that a lovely coffee shop/bakery that sells glorious not-so-tiny cupcakes opened near home therefore making it the only reachable not-useless place around is threatening my levels of sugar, not that I regret cupcakes.
3) Okay, uh, you remember when I said that I couldn't be bothered with Ringer not being just plain stupid anymore but bordering on (imo) offensive? Yeah, I take it back because today's episode was just - I have no freaking words. Rant under the cut, feel free to ignore if you a) like that show, b) don't watch it (and it's good for you). Also: discussion about triggering material (non-consensual sex).
Okay, let's not dwell on the fact that by now whenever Bridget does something I facepalm and whenever Siobhan does something else I headdesk. By now I'm calling them Facepalm and Headdesk respectively. Let's still not dwell on about how I don't care about anyone else or about how much Facepalm/Andrey is still the skeeviest thing I've watched on my tv in ages.
Let's dwell about that idiotic out of any sense rape storyline.
Now: dear person who wrote this, other than respectfully suggesting to a) resign and b) research something about what teenager girls being raped actually means, if we want to stick to tv do me a favor, pick S4 and S5 of Six Feet Under and feel ashamed from now until you retire. (Or: SFU did a rape storyline too, but it actually was done right. Also because I wanted to throw up in my mouth for most of it, but guess what, maybe I was supposed to.)
Because: I had understood that something fishy was going on because we hadn't actually -seen- the thing happen, but: THE THREE OF THEM LIED ABOUT TWO TEENAGE GIRLS BEING RAPED BY THEIR TEACHERS IN ORDER TO ROB HER DAD OF A HANDFUL OF MILLION DOLLARS AND BECOME RICH? And other than two teenage girls doing it THE THIRD PART IS THEIR TEACHER?
Okay. Breathe in, breathe out. What the fuck. No really, what the fuck. Not that this show's point ever was... well, sending a message of any depth, but THIS? We're passing the idea that:
a) if you fake being raped and your story is convincing enough and you have a good plan hey, you can make money (the fact that when people actually tell the truth about it and it's not granted that others believe them is totally not an issue here, is it);
b) that if your dad decides that at fifteen or sixteen or whatever you're not mature enough to handle a million-dollar trust fund (which hey, it's a) his right, because he's your DAD and you surely didn't earn that money yourself, and b) in Juliet's case the only answer to that would have been sucking it up) then hey, why not finding another way to get it back? That's cool, you can get away with it!
c) by the way, the poor girl who goes to public school of course in the story was the one lying about being raped because she wanted attention (RAGE, RAGE, because of course saying that is a way to get attention! It's a fucking serious thing, and it's not a given that lying about it means doing it for attention. ATTENTION).
d) and by the way, no one, NO ONE has thought for a second (in the case that Juliet had indeed told the truth) 'if we settle and that guy does that again?', especially considering his job - if he managed to get it back or to find another? NO. FUCKING. ONE.
e) and also, if you're raped and the case doesn't work in your favor, what is it that you should do? try to 'BUILD BACK YOUR REPUTATION.' It just - obviously you'd want to change scenario, but... to build back YOUR reputation? Because obviously having had non-consensual sex is a bummer for your -reputation-, if the case doesn't work through. (Which is not a given.)
Other than that: the ending just - it felt like they were laughing about the whole trial thing. I mean there are people that have to go to trial and press charges when they really have been forced, and who might not have, uuuuh you know, a millionaire dad who can support them, means to pay for good lawyers etc. etc., not to mention that if you're a woman and you're young and you don't dress covering yourself up completely then someone will obligatorily think that you were searching for it. (Speaking generally.) So Juliet goes through that entire ordeal like any other real victim would do, and we all feel for her etcetera, and then in the end LOL SORRY THAT WAS A JOKE WE WERE ALL FAKING WEREN'T WE SMART. I mean how triggering is that? And let's say that someone who went through it watches this - what should the even think?
And now you know what I'm actually fearing? (Not that I'll be around to watch it - next week there's Misha and then sorry Eyelashes but I'll look up your scenes on youtube and I'll be done.) That considering how they shot the last scene and how Juliet & her teacher were looking at each other, maybe now he might actually have sex with her when she doesn't want to and it'll come out like 'well see, she lied about it but guess what? It really happened and who's gonna believe her now, considering that they shared money?'. Which - if it happens then I can't even. Not that I'll watch it, but.
Just - really, I can't. And I'd really just like to tell those people that non-consensual sex is actually a serious thing and not a joke that is valid only for bored teenage girls, and that if you have to do that kind of thing on tv, either you do it with sensitivity/respect for the topic/researching what the hell are you doing, or you just DON'T DO IT. (IE: that Six Feet Under storyline I was talking about implied: seeing most of the entire thing happen on screen & throwing up in your mouth because of it, and then we saw the repercussions for THAT ENTIRE SEASONS AND THE FOLLOWING ONE, because at least they were gracious enough to understand that if that kind of thing happens to you for real, and it doesn't happen because you go search for it, you don't get over it in a minute. And they also avoided any kind of victim blaming. Which btw, in Ringer it happened, and who did the victim blaming? The victim's mother. I'll go throw up in my mouth for different reasons.)
Also: I do realize that this might seem like beating a dead horse - like, what the heck I do expect from this show, to be actually sensitive about serious issues? At which okay, I'll give you that I don't expect anything from this show except a) ridiculousness and b) Eyelashes looking gorgeous, but there's entertaining dumb and there's offensive dumb. I got pissed when during H50 (which I don't watch for the plot either) made me watch five minutes of SEALS shooting unarmed Middle-Eastern civilians, I'll get pissed when this one comes up with a rape storyline that manages to be offensive in any possible way a rape storyline can be offensive.
And that said: whoever wrote this almost made the hideous SPN wedding ep of this season look less bad than it actually was, at least in comparison to this one. Kind suggestion: find a new job. Thanks, me.
4. And after that rant that was probably too long for that show, and to remind myself why I'm watching it next week after all, here, have some Misha being OMG ADORABLE NEXT TO THE GUINNESS WIN CERTIFICATE. I'd just like to state that having contributed to be in a Guinness primate feels pretty darn awesome. I have something to tell my nephews now. ;)
5. Also, the porn battle is sadly over. :( I managed six fills this round which was awesome. Posting will happen tomorrow or so. (And recs as well probably.)
6. Aaand it's almost 1 AM and I have fic to finish and stuff to study/revise tomorrow so I'll just thank everyone for the shiny sparking hearts and be off. Sigh. One of these days one of these entries will be full of exciting RL shenanigans, but this isn't it.