links for 2009-06-04
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""Janet came home after the luncheon and said to me, 'It hurts so much to be told that remembering my history is unbecoming,' " said William Cohen, her husband, who was secretary of defense during the Clinton administration. "Then she said, 'I wonder what Anne Frank would have said to Emmett Till?' And I said, 'Go write it.' And she did — using two thumbs and a BlackBerry."
The play, "Anne and Emmett," turned out so well that two performances are scheduled for next week in commemoration of Anne Frank's 80th birthday. One is an invitation-only engagement at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on June 10; the other is open to the public at George Washington University on June 12. "
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"Malcolmson argues that her project is different from the kind of celebrity activism so in vogue these days because of its scale — Shakira needs to get governments to change their policies, something mere benefit concerts won't do — and because it is homegrown."
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"Miranda's statement is of the garden "divide and conquer" and "anything but black" variety. It's an obvious wedge that has worked over and over in our country's history as ethnic minorities have come to America, assimilated, and do a social leapfrog over blacks as the most hated/feared minority. The Latino population is primed to be the next group to do this, except the virulent anti-immigration wing of the GOP has alienated that voter base so badly that it's hard to imagine, regarding the Sotomayor nom, that this wedge plan is going to work."
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"This all reads as rape apologism. These men are portrayed in such a way that their abusive tendencies are just their "flaws"; flaws in heros serve as a grounding, something that makes them more human. In this case, what makes these heros more human is they participate in the rape and abuse of women. In the case of the victims in these novels, rape is inevitable, and the only thing they can do is accept their task to "fix" their rapists by loving them."
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Fiqah wrote:
RE: “Anne and Emmett” – Wow.
Posted 04 Jun 2009 at 12:46 pm ¶
Yonah wrote:
The woman’s comments to Janet Cohen were sad in a couple of ways. Jews were remarkably silent about the Holocaust for a long time, afraid for a number of reasons – that people wouldn’t believe them, that it would give people ideas, that people would think it was a fabricated cry for attention. Basically, talking about it was thought to be Bad For the Jews. Of course, it’s very very hard to hold something like that in, and in the eighties narratives exploded out anyway. I wonder if it was some of that fear talking when the woman made her remark.
I personally think the play is a really interesting idea, and would like to read the script. I’m sure it was tricky to write, because there’s the potential for appropriation both ways… I wonder if it was a Jewish woman who reread, memorised, and claimed Emmett’s history for her own (as opposed to a Black woman with Anne Frank) if that would be well-received.
Posted 04 Jun 2009 at 12:59 pm ¶
FilthyGrandeur wrote:
thanks for the link love!
Posted 05 Jun 2009 at 12:27 am ¶
jen* wrote:
I’d really love to read Anne and Emmett. I hope it becomes available soon.
Posted 05 Jun 2009 at 10:30 am ¶
timarasa wrote:
Most depictions of rape in movies or literature completely skeeve me out b/c in them the ‘titillation factor’ usually wins out over delving into any psycho-emotional honesty. I watched a ‘foreign classic’ the other day called “Rocco & His Brothers” starring Alain Delon as Rocco. In one climatic scene Rocco’s brother, Simone, in a jealous fit of drunken rage rapes Rocco’s girlfriend, forcing Rocco to watch all the while (thanks, bro). What pissed me off was that: 1) the rape scene, or the girlfriend character more appropriately, was used as a tool to bring the emotional rift between Simone and Rocco/other brothers to a tumultuous head; no one gave an eff’ing bleep about the girlfriend! Rocco’s devastation and shame at having to witness the woman he loved ‘defiled’ was the emotional focus of the scene…what the mess??! and 2) it indulges in that age-old, ‘you-know-she-wanted-it-anyway’ male rape fantasy. Girlfriend was fighting tooth-and-nail against Simone UNTIL Simone gives her this long passionate kiss [read moment of penetration] at which time things get eerily quiet. No more screaming? No more protestations? She basically submits for that moment, b/c “you know really wanted to, anyway” [skin crawling at the thought]…
I understand (albeit very grudgingly) that “Rocco & His Brothers” (1960) was a product of its times. But Sara Douglass really has no excuse. Admittedly, I haven’t read these series of novels, but if many of the female characters eventually fall in love with their rapists (especially the Cornelia character, seriously?), what if anything is the author trying to say about female desire and submission in the face of violent male domination? Or are these just reflective expressions of Douglass’ own rape fantasies without commentary (which I bring up only b/c rape fantasy and roleplay is a very real thing)? Again, I guess I should read the books to find out for myself; but like I said before, I hate reading most rape scenes.
Posted 05 Jun 2009 at 11:06 pm ¶
FilthyGrandeur wrote:
@timarasa–
while the books are good for the actual storytelling elements, her use of rape is triggering…and it’s present in all of the novels i have read of hers (read: almost all of the ones she’s published). while i don’t ever enjoy reading rape in stories, i think if it is present in the books it should at least be more woman-oriented–not what the woman’s rape means to the men around her! either way though, there is nothing good about rape scenes in books (or movies) and i think its even more disturbing when rape is used to uplift the men to progress the story.
Posted 06 Jun 2009 at 9:18 pm ¶