The Goncharov meme has exposed several really interesting things:
1) It highlights tumblr as actual social media based in community effort rather than status
2) It shows what tumblr as a whole values in media (in particular, queer representation, strong relationships between characters, emotional catharsis, and dichotomy of themes such as spending one's life building a legacy versus just living life)
3) Tumblr humor is based primarily in improv "yes and-ing" and commitment to the bit, and people will put 200% effort into pushing the bit even further if the bit keeps being fun
4) More than anything, people want to entertain each other, and being in a community that values entertaining others leads to incredible collaborative works of creativity that don't even feel like work to make
Le Monocle was a famous lesbian club that opened in Paris in the 1920's. At the time, Parisian lesbians would wear a monocle or a white carnation in the buttonhole so they could be indentified by other girls looking for fun.
In Le Monocle, women would dress as gentlemen, wearing suits, short hair and sometimes hats. For 20 years, it was a place of gathering, entertainment and freedom.
You can find this painting, The Monocle Club, as a print on my new website! Click here!
Vanity Fair: Viola, I think viewers will be amazed by your beefed-up physical transformation. You really trained hard to play General Nanisca.
Viola Davis: We started intensely a few months before shooting—four hours a day, five days a week. Weight training, sprinting, martial arts, and weaponry training for the machete. I like to say that I was the OG warrior. [Laughs.]
Vanity Fair: The battle scenes in the film appear to be graphic, and culturally specific. We see dark-skinned Black women with well-oiled bodies, muscles, and serrated fingernails that are used as murder weapons.
Prince-Bythewood: My approach was that you don’t need to add anything to the story. These women were fascinating and didn’t need to be embellished or glossy. I wanted it to be real and visceral and raw.
Vanity Fair: Will it be difficult for the average American moviegoer to digest these images of ferociously powerful, dark-skinned female warriors? I kept thinking as I watched the early footage that Black women have never been seen this way onscreen before.
Prince-Bythewood: If you can digest Avatar, then you can digest this.