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Birds in a hands

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Someone on Reddit keeps getting recommended the Jane Austen subreddit despite knowing nothing about Jane Austen, so they posted an Ask Me Anything. Best response so far:

Sorry JA, no longer a truth universally acknowledged.

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I believe the same can be said for Zoë Heller's Notes on a Scandal, but in a slightly different way.

Our narrator is Barbara, a manipulative woman who likes to find ways to weaken and dominate potential "friends". The "notes" spoken of in the novel's title are Barbara's diary, meaning we are reading of the events purely from her perspective.

Though, like with Humbert in Lolita, we automatically feel disgust at Sheba's abuse of 15 year old Steven, this is used as a means to an end. As Barbara uses Sheba's secret to manipulate her, Barbara's narrative voice having the same disgust we do when recounting Sheba and Steven's sexual encounters is used to manipulate us to bring us on side with everything else Barbara does.

This becomes particularly potent in her narrative voice as Sheba continues the affair with Steven and becomes frustrated when Steven begins to turn his interests towards a girl his own age. There is a huge trap here for readers. We want the abuse of Steven to end, we are glad that Steven's interests have finally moved to someone his age, but at the same time we see Sheba as pathetic; someone to pity. ALL BECAUSE OF BARBARA'S DIARY ENTRIES.

The worst of it is, Sheba is married and has kids. She is married to a much older man who was her university professor when their relationship began. Sheba's sexual/romantic exploits are at two opposite ends of the spectrum, her husband and children who Barbara disdainfully deems "perfect", and a 15 year old, vulnerable child. Sheba cites excitement as being one of the main things she feels Steven fulfils that her husband and family do not, presenting her as child-like herself, again bringing about a sense of pity. This is used to suggest that Barbara should take on a parenting role, care for Sheba and make sure she stays on the straight and narrow, which we must be careful of because this is simply her heroine complex and desire to dominate someone.

At the end of the novel, Sheba finds Barbara's diary. She is horrified by the fact that Barbara has been writing recounts of everything, including events she was not present for and making judgements about those close to Sheba. She is particularly shocked by Barbara's star sticker system as she "plots" the key events in the story with gold stars. Even though we as readers have been aware of this from the beginning, we cannot help but feel that same shock. This ilicits a sense that we are innocent bystanders, just as Barbara believes she is when hearing about the abuse of Steven from Sheba. But the truth is, Barbara is complicit in this as she kept the secret from authorities (and is subsequently forced to retire after the abuse is discovered), and we have been made complicit through third-hand information from Barbara.

like with lolita I feel like even when people are defending the book they tend to go too far in the wrong direction and flatten it into “well obviously the book isn’t sympathetic towards pedophilia, you’re supposed to hate humbert and think he’s disgusting at all times” and I just feel like that’s reductive bc like. the book is absolutely not sympathetic towards pedophilia but imo you ARE supposed to find humbert funny and kind of tragic and charming and that’s like. the point! like he’s intentionally written to be all these things!

if the book wanted to just be like. a straightforward condemnation of pedophilia, then humbert wouldn’t be the narrator. but it’s not a book about child sexual abuse being bad – like that kind of goes without saying, you don’t really need to argue it – it’s a book about the ways humbert justifies his abuse to himself, and to the audience. it’s a book that’s largely about how stories are told, and the way personal and cultural narratives can be used to justify even the worst imaginable behavior. humbert doesn’t describe himself abusing a child, he describes himself being ‘seduced’ by a ‘nymphet’; he likens his relationship to that of dante and beatrice or petrarch and laureen to establish historical legitimacy and lend a sort of tragic romanticism to it. it almost feels like the book is less focused on the story itself, and more on the way humbert spins it. he isn’t written to be an obviously hateable monster, he’s written to be erudite and tragic and funny, and that’s because the book isn’t trying to teach you that child abuse is bad, it’s demonstrating the ways that being erudite and tragic and funny can be used to normalize and justify something that you already know is bad. imo it’s largely a book about the ways that someone can construct a mythology to convince themselves of anything, and how if we don’t think critically about what we’re told then we can fall into the same trap.

it’s also absolutely a story about reading past the lines to figure out what’s actually going on. like it’s funny that the book has become such a touchstone for discourse about Media Literacy bc I really think that ‘media literacy’ is like. one of the core themes. like the book kind of requires that you ignore the way humbert writes to make out what he’s actually describing; the worse his behavior gets, the more flowery and beautiful his writing becomes. the story the book tells if you buy into humbert’s mythology and the story it tells if you don’t are dramatically different.

like the ways that the book depicts dolores suffering are there, but you almost have to read past the narrative humbert presents to see them, right? like when he complains about dolores being irritable and cruel and moody, he’s presenting the picture of a fickle and unreasonable WOMAN who is toying with his emotions. but when you read what he’s actually describing instead of the way he describes it, it reads like a fact sheet on spotting child abuse! she has mood swings, she lashes out at people, nothing makes her happy, she cries herself to sleep most nights. if we read humbert’s account at face value, she’s a fickle seductress who gets a sick thrill out of hurting him; if we recognize his bias and intentions in writing it, she’s a deeply depressed and traumatized child still attempting to resist her abuser despite everything she’s been through. like it’s as close to an exercise in ‘media literacy’ as a book can get in that regard.

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Hello, Neil!

I'm from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and wanted to cosplay Crowley during Carnival.

But it will be too hot to wear the same clothes (it's summer here).

What would Crowley wear?

Thank you!!

Less.

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Talking about this–

My whole life was a lie.

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Bit late to this one, but the McDonald's x Lupin III cross-over has picked up again in Japan with a new commercial that makes a song and dance of mobile ordering! 🍔🍟

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“I spent a long time preparing this one-shot. The only possibility I didn’t account for was you five attempting diplomacy”

 -GM

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Awww look at the little baby

Wah

Now look at the big baby

WOPPER

I made a silly boy for this art prompt

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A conversation with @minie-mastermind that sent us all reeling😅

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This is so much more powerful than the classic recommendation to just ignore bullies, too. Bullies want emotional reactions, never rise to it. Instead, rise above them with your words.