Bitch Planet Vol. 1
I just read the first volume of Bitch Planet, and it's a little hard to talk about because the story is just warming up, and it's taking its sweet time. Which is fine. I just have a hard time forming strong opinions on certain things until I get to see how they unfold.
But really, the reason why I'm writing this review isn't because of the plot of the thing, which has a lot of different ways in which they could play out, but instead, because the tone of the comic really sticks with me.
I described it on Twitter as 'a primal scream of feminist rage' and that's pretty much exactly how and why it works. It took me a bit to get on board with it. The first issue feels a little too 'The Handmaid's Tale meets Orange is the New Black' and it felt like it was checking off boxes on 'patriarchy is horrible and women suffer under it a lot' checklist that feminist literature/media tends towards.
But.
But.
Then the story transforms into something else entirely. It's not just about female suffering. It's about female anger and female agency as well. There's almost a visceral power fantasy in it, the ability to fight back, to take what's awful in the world and shove it in the faces of the people who don't know or don't care or who are perpetuating it. There's a pulpy glee to the worldbuilding that prevents it from being dreary. I'm glad people recced it to me, and I'm glad I get to pay that rec forward.
This entry was originally posted at http://thedeadparrot.dreamwidth.org/593212.html. You can comment there using OpenID or you can comment here if you prefer. :)
comments there
But really, the reason why I'm writing this review isn't because of the plot of the thing, which has a lot of different ways in which they could play out, but instead, because the tone of the comic really sticks with me.
I described it on Twitter as 'a primal scream of feminist rage' and that's pretty much exactly how and why it works. It took me a bit to get on board with it. The first issue feels a little too 'The Handmaid's Tale meets Orange is the New Black' and it felt like it was checking off boxes on 'patriarchy is horrible and women suffer under it a lot' checklist that feminist literature/media tends towards.
But.
But.
Then the story transforms into something else entirely. It's not just about female suffering. It's about female anger and female agency as well. There's almost a visceral power fantasy in it, the ability to fight back, to take what's awful in the world and shove it in the faces of the people who don't know or don't care or who are perpetuating it. There's a pulpy glee to the worldbuilding that prevents it from being dreary. I'm glad people recced it to me, and I'm glad I get to pay that rec forward.
This entry was originally posted at http://thedeadparrot.dreamwidth.org/593212.html. You can comment there using OpenID or you can comment here if you prefer. :)
comments there