#a barbie song winning song of the year.....

[pinkhairdye]

okay so the recording academy just doesn't give a fuck about music okay

[bethrnoora]

it's nice that scene queen actually makes decent music now

[booksandabeer]

It's still early but I'm calling it now. Greatest acceptance speech performance of awards season definitely goes to Margot Robbie for smiling through her teeth while accepting the bullshit award for "Cinematic and Box Office Achievement".

Regardless of my personal opinions about the movie, THIS (well except for that Billie Eilish song but honestly who cares about that, it's not even really the best song from the movie!) being the only win for Barbie feels like such a barely veiled insult. Like 'Hey Greta, hey Margot, thanks for basically keeping all of Hollywood afloat this year by making a gazillion dollars with this movie that millions of people loved, but no, we're still not gonna give you a real award for this.'

[christinaroseandrews]

A lot of people are talking about how Disney didn't get nominated for their flagship 100th animated feature, Wish. Which is a big deal, I am not disputing that. This was a stellar year for animation and the academy had a glut of good options that did not include Wish. (I would have liked makoto shinkai's Suzume to be nominated but...)

But I want to talk about something else that is probably sticking in Disney's craw.

None of their Animated movies, in particular Wish, were nominated for "best original song."

Starting in 1940 with "when you Wish upon a Star", Disney's animated features could be counted upon to receive a nomination for best original song often winning the Honor. This includes movies such as Bambi; Saludos Amigos; Cinderella, and that racist mess that Disney would like you to forget, Song of the South. Even during the years after Walt's death a bunch of songs were nominated from things like Pete's Dragon and The Rescuers. But it wasn't until The Little Mermaid and the animation Renaissance that Disney's almost stranglehold and expectation that they're animated films would get nominated for an Oscar for best song really came into the forefront.

Take a walk through the best song nominations from 1989 to now and pretty much the majority of Disney and/or Pixar movies put out in those years has a best song nomination. There are a few exceptions, there always are, but generally when Disney includes original songs in its Animated properties it gets nominated.

That makes this year so odd. Disney technically has a nomination with Diane Warren's song for Flamin' Hot, which I suspect has more to do with the fact that the academy loves to nominate Diane Warren and then never give her the Oscar. ~_^ The big thing I noticed was that there were no nominations for Wish or even Elemental. And even more crucially, there was no one setting up a hue or cry that these movies (particularly Wish) didn't get nominated for best song.

Wish had all of the ingredients to be both an Oscar Bait for best animated feature and best original song. And the academy ignored it.

And frankly, I think this is 100% deserved. Wish was an okay movie. It wasn't good it wasn't bad it was just okay. And it's songs were forgettable.

Worse than that, in my opinion, they were unsingable. And what I mean by that is the songs were so complex so lyrically and musically difficult that a four-year-old in a princess dress would struggle to sing them. There were too many jumps and the lyrics were incredibly tongue twisty and they even sounded difficult for an accomplished singer like Ariana DeBose to sing. Seriously, the chorus of This Wish has so many jumps and drops that it is almost impossible to stay on key and also follow the melody. The music is just there.

When I walked out of the theater, I couldn't remember any of the songs. I still can't. And as most of my friends can tell you I have a bloody musical memory. I remember songs.

The first time I saw Barbie, I had three of the songs (What was I made for, I'm just Ken, and Pink) wrestling for dominance over who was going to be my earworm for the day. The same thing was true with Frozen, Moana, Encanto, beauty and the Beast, and even Tarzan. I still can't remember the music from Wish at all. To even write this, I had to go on YouTube and listen to the songs. And after listening to them, I still can't sing them. But just typing "I'm just Ken" has put that song in my head.

So rather than just celebrating Wish being excluded in a very good year for animation (it was so good, y'all) we should also be laughing and pointing that the Disney's attempts at getting a best song nomination for that movie also went unheeded.

Because I sure am.

[jaidens]

I Find Myself Running Home To Your Sweet Nothings

pairing [s] : jake seresin x reader

warning [s] : nothing much

a/n [s] : requests are open

Jake was a man of many deserving titles.

He was a Captain in the United States Navy, and he held his own Top Gun classes to teach graduates. He was highly respected and was understood to be hard as well not understanding if you had messed up and would have killed your team of pilots. However, who would have known the big and scary Jake Seresin was a family man? Jacob Seresin, the same guy who yells and the room goes quiet, carrying his sleeping daughter in his arms while he packs up the items he chose to bring to the park. The same guy who puts Barbie Band-Aids on his daughter’s knee whenever she jumps off a swing and scrapes her knee against the wood chippings.

Jake, your lovely husband, wakes you up with kisses and soft touches that lie on your skin for years to come. Jake Seresin who loves his sweet girls and gives kisses to his daughter’s head before she tackles school for the day to come. The Jake you fell in love with who drinks Pumpkin Spice Lattes the day they get released at Starbucks. The one who yells and screams at The Longhorns winning a football game. Jake Seresin, the man who has a heart big enough for hundreds of people that he carries with him every single day he lives. The guy who adds extra sugar and creamer to his coffee because of the bitterness of it.

You're in love; you're completely sure of it. The baby on your stomach that weighs on you is another reason why. The small boy sits on your chest, sound asleep with a hat on his small head and a one piece swimsuit. Your daughter and Jake are in the ocean, catching waves with their boogie boards as you stay back with your song, Theodore. He's small and tiny, only two months old. The heat of San Diego pushes through the canopy you have set up, making you sweat and Theo as well. You stand up and push against the beach chair and walk to the shore of the beach. The sun is high in the sky, the sunglasses you wear barely do much to stop the burning in your eyes.

The water is much cooler, but it only does so much to help the heat that radiates from Theo and the sun at the same time. Jake has a, particularly sleepy, Lily in his arms as she yawns. “Everyone is getting sleepy, huh?” You say as your children are laying against their father's toned chest as he pushes his hair back. He's hot and handsome, the water that drops done him gets you undeniably hot inside. “Lemme hold Theo.” He tells you and talks the s boy in his arms, lying him on his arm and head against his bicep. Lily and Josie start walking back to the tent and sit down, eating the snacks you had packed for them.

“He was so hot whenever he was laying on my chest. I had to get into the water.” Jake laughs and gives you a kiss against the lips. He smells and tastes like the ocean and salt water, as you almost gag at the taste. “Let’s get maybe.. 2 bags and take them to the house. We're allowed to keep the canopy and stuff on here because it's our private beach.” Jake tells you and you nod, taking Theo back in your arms as you watch Jake pick up things and put them in bags and pick them up gracefully before beginning to walk up the beach. Lily is talking with Josie about what they were going to watch on Netflix whenever they got back and you smiled happily. This is what you needed. A family. A caring family with people who have learned to live and support one another.

Jake is taking the things upstairs and you follow after him, before Theo starts to get fussy and upset about being in the heat and not his bed. Jake, a father of many years, quickly resumes his role and takes care of his son. “I love you.” You say as you watch him hold Theo in one arm and the bags in the other. “Love you too honey!” He shouts from your bedroom and you walk into him. The Jake Seresin you know and love, the one who changes diapers and gives raspberries to Theo’s stomach as he does so. It was a reprise of his Father's role for a new baby, and he was in it very well. It was the total he took more seriously than the Captain or the King of Darts at the bar. A father. A man who has children he loves and cares for them.

It was love and that is exactly what you loved. The domesticity makes you smile and stand on that edge of the doorway as you listen to whatever he has been saying. You love him: and he loves you. So much more than everyone else.

[bobgoesw00t]

It happened...the one movie I really, TRULY cared about when it came to this year's Oscars (two if you include Barbie winning Best Original Song), How Do You Live/The Boy and the Heron FUCKING WON BEST ANIMATED FEATURE!!!!!

Not only did it, against all odds, beat out the front runner, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse but it did so with VERY little fanfare from the audience. Of the nominees, it was Across The Spider-Verse that got the most applause from the room, so when Hayao Miyazaki won his SECOND Oscar (and possibly his last), the lack of cheers from the audience was music to my ears. They REALLY wanted Across The Spider-Verse to win, but all the haters and whiners can SUCK IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!

Not only is this the SECOND Oscar Miyazaki has gotten, but it's also the SECOND anime movie to win the award, the second 2D film to ever win it, and it's also the first PG-13 animated film to win. If this was indeed Miyazaki's final film, it's safe to say he went out WITH A FUCKING BANG and made his mark on America once again.

Congrats once again to How Do You Live/The Boy and the Heron for winning not only the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature but also the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. With the additions of being the first PG-13 animated film to win, the second anime movie, and the second 2D animated film being some sprinkles on top.

[the-90s-music-colosseum]

Round 2 Group D Match 6

expand for propaganda! (major wall of text warning)

Henry Rollins:

"Honestly, Johnny Mnemonic Henry with the glasses and the lab coat was pretty hot"

"A wonderful physical specimen. Plus he’s really funny and weird….best hot ones interview of all time."

"I want him to run me over with a bus"

Stephen Malkmus:

"i can't even stand stephen malkmus but there's a very special girl out there who needs this win"

"My perpetually stoned, nonsensical girlfriend...if we don't invent the time machine soon I might die. He's like 6 ft tall so unfortunately I'd be like one of those birds that ride on giraffes and eat bugs out of their fur. And then I'd die in a weed accident during the recording of Wowee Zowee? Before that though I'd spend 25 hrs a day in bed with him. Alright thanks"

"Stephen Malkmus chronically addicted to moaning and gasping in Pavement songs like he’s getting the best dicking down of his life in the back of the tour bus while everyone else is asleep"

"This is the indie-label match, right? Then it has to be Malkmus, he *made* the scene. And he's still releasing excellent music today. He's just the most influential rockstar of the 90s."

"my gay pavement fan uncle gets out of prison tonight and he knows you ratted him out in '06. the only way to make this right is to vote for stephen"

"Pretty please vote for him, my friend loves him and he really wants him to win"

""There were times he refused to speak to his bandmates, pulling a jacket over his head and referring to himself as "the little bitch"." I have also heard him refer to himself as a brat, a queen, a primadonna, a sociopath, and a narcissist. All of these descriptors have made me want to slam him against a wall and turn his neck fun new colors."

"I mean, Pavement is THEE indie band of the 90s. The lowkey snark, Koreaaaa, so much style that it's wasted. And Malkmus is an understated cool rockstar: the hair, the face, Silver Jews! He never ever sold out. He's the 90s."

"the most beautiful man ever he looks like a gorgeous fairytale prince. he has been hot since he emerged on the scene and continues to be so as their reunion tour comes to a close. stephen forever"

"we have to consider the autism swagger. find me a pavement write up that doesn’t spend three paragraphs waxing lyrical on his inability to make eye contact. find me a YouTube comment section that doesn’t have hoards of moms swooning over his flat affect. his refusal to wear anything more formal than a flannel for the first decade of his career? genuinely culturally influential. 30 glorious years of expressionless performances. sunglasses in the dark. so many straight men falling over themselves for him they made a joke about it in the Barbie movie. raw tbh sex appeal. and he’s got a great nose"

"he had a couple of unfortunate haircuts during this period but highkey i would break both of my arms to just be able to make out with him. please vote for SM my life is in danger if you don't"

[thirstyformoreheizuha]

-Heiji girl dad au.

One of the most horrible cases that Heiji solved was the murder of a young little girl who was barely five years old. The three suspects were the mother, the father and the live-in nanny of the little girl.

Murder cases always had a suspenseful air that he grew used to, but nothing compared to this. The mother wept and howled for her dead daughter. The father sobbed and was barely coherent during the interrogation. The nanny kept staring into blank space and the police struggled to get her attention.

Truly, a horrifying case.

The little girl was found in her bed, a knife to her chest. Despite being surrounded by dolls and plushies, forensics informed them that the little girl desperately hugged one particular toy in the brink of death : a Barbie doll.

Heiji kept staring at that bloodied Barbie doll, feeling a sense that he recognised it, but couldn't put a name to it.

He tried focusing on other aspects. But nothing helped. It was a locked room murder, and they still haven't found any key evidence such as the clothes the murderer was wearing. The suspects were all too out of it to get any more info.

But seriously, he knows he's seen that Barbie doll.

Forensics were finally done tracing and taking photographic evidence, so they began extracting the lifeless body. The mother's screams grew hysterical and the father wept louder and fell to his knees as their little girl was taken away.

Truly, he could only look away solemnly to prevent himself from imagining his own daughter in such a state.

Please, never.

He noticed an officer about to put away the bloodied Barbie doll into a ziplock bag.

"Excuse me, can I have a look?"

After wearing his gloves, he took the doll and inspected it. In true Barbie fashion, it had blonde hair, wore a pink dress and a pink tiara. The only noticeable difference is that this Barbie had a microphone in her hand and a built in necklace.

Wait, a built in necklace?

He realised something and pressed the heart shaped necklace.

A song played.

Everyone in the room stared at him as the Barbie doll in his hand started singing a song he's heard before.

He knew this doll. He knew which Barbie movie this doll was from.

A few months ago, Kazuha and their daughter were having a Barbie movie marathon in the living room and dragged him along. Despite his initial protests, they were able to shut him up by shoving some homemade Okonomiyaki into his mouth. One movie stood out to him because their daughter basically held a concert while watching the movie; Barbie the Princess and the Popstar.

And during a visit to the toy shop last week, she managed to secretly show him a Barbie doll she wanted before Kazuha caught her red-handed.

"Ya already have so many dolls at home"

"But Mama! It's Princess Tori!"

"Nope. Auntie Sonoko just bought ya a Barbie doll the other day. And YA BARELY EVEN PLAY WITH IT!"

"Papa!! Help me out please 🥺"

Heiji took one look at Kazuha's glare.

"Sorry Princess. Your Mama wins"

Their daughter looked at him with such an adorable sad face that he almost gave in. Luckily, Kazuha snatched the doll from his hands in time before walking away to place it back on the shelf.

As Heiji carried their crying daughter and rubbed her back to calm her down, Kazuha walked next to him outside the store.

"Trust me, she's not going to remember that doll at all when we get home"

And sure enough, when they reached home, their daughter turned on Youtube on their smart tv and watched Kpop girl group music videos instead.

"Papa, I like Le sserafim"

"Hmm? Why so?"

"Because Mama's in it"

"Hah?"

Kazuha laughed before explaining to him that one of the members is also named Kazuha. And just like the wonder of childlike innocence, her current favourite K-pop group is simply based on the fact that a member has the same name as her mother.

"How did she even found them?"

"I don't know. I looked away for just half an hour to cook dinner and then suddenly she's now a Le sserafim stan"

" ..... I'll try coming home earlier to reduce her screen time"

Suddenly, he realised the nanny's name: Hirai Tori.

Suddenly, it all clicked together and he started noticing little bits and details that he initially looked over because they were too circumstantial.

And sure enough, within minutes, he figured out where the evidence was and how she managed to perform an almost perfect locked room murder.

Almost.

When he cornered her with his deductions, the nanny stared at him wide eyed and her feet gave away "H-How?"

"I won't deny that you planned all of this really well. Unfortunately for ya, the one thing that gave you away was this Barbie doll"

"that Barbie doll?"

Heiji felt a prick of annoyance. "What the? You're her nanny and ya don't even know her toys? Ahou, this Barbie is a Princess Tori doll"

"Tori???" The nanny asked in rage.

The father, who barely managed to calm down, asked with a strained voice "so, our daughter was trying to tell us who killed her?"

Heiji contemplated whether to tell them the truth.

"THAT LITTLE BIT*H. I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M CAUGHT BECAUSE OF SOME STUPID DOLL"

The nanny lunged towards Heiji but the police were quick to restrain her.

"Even after death, that little monster still manages to ruin my life"

"No. You're wrong"

Heiji looked at her dead in the eyes.

"She's just a kid. She wasn't trying to ruin anything. It's simply the childlike innocence of hugging the one toy that reminds her of her beloved nanny for comfort "

After a moment of silence, the murderer was finally dragged away from the scene hysterically laughing at the irony of the situation. The parents broke down further into tears, holding each other in a futile attempt to console each other.

He heard some officers whisper of the possibility to make the murderer take a psychopath test, but for now he's exhausted and just wanted to go home.

To his own little girl.

..............................

"Tadaima"

"Okaeri" Immediately Heiji was caught off guard by a fluff of pink running into his arms.

"Woah there Princess!" he caught his daughter and lifted her up.

"Papa you're back! You can become Prince Charming and save me from the monster!"

"Who are you calling a monster you little brat?"

The girl shrieked and hugged Heiji's neck to hide her face while Heiji laughed watching his favourite two girls.

"Welcome home" Kazuha smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Dinner?"

He nodded with a smile and three of them ate with the usual scenario of the little Princess chattering away whatever adventure she had today. However, Kazuha noticed that Heiji seemed a bit distracted whilst responding to whatever it is their daughter was saying.

In the background, the night-time news started airing on tv and the news reporter began reporting on a murder case of a little girl that happened just a few hours ago in Osaka.

Despite the tv being on low volume, Kazuha's sharp hearing caught the news reporter stating that the young girl was murdered by her nanny whom police suspected was a psychopath.

"Turn it off. Please"

Kazuha was surprised that the father-daughter conversation was interrupted by the sudden request, but she noticed him clenching his fists.

Oh.

That was his case.

Their daughter seemed unfazed by her mother getting up to turn off the tv or her father's tense face. She gobbled up the last remaining pieces of her meal and drank from her sippy cup.

"Papa! I'm done! Let's play!"

Heiji snapped out of whatever daze he was in. "What? Oh. Alright. But let me help Mama with the dishes first okay?"

Their daughter was about to pout before her mother came back to the table. "It's okay Heiji, I can handle the dishes"

"But.." Heiji looked at Kazuha in confusion. Kazuha smiled and whispered to him to go.

He looked at her once again.

She knew.

She knew exactly what was bothering him.

He thanked the lucky stars for the angel of his wife.

"Okay Princess. Let's go fight that big bad dragon you were telling me earlier"

"Yeayy!" Heiji picked his daughter up from her seat and carried her to the sink to wash their hands together. After drying off their hands, they start heading towards the living room.

On their way, Heiji managed to sneak a little kiss on Kazuha's head and a soft 'thank you'.

..............................

That night, for the first time in a long while, Kazuha suggested a 'sleepover' and have their daughter sleep together on their bed instead of in her own bedroom.

The little girl was delighted to be held in between both of her parents under their warm blanket. After a good night kiss from Mama and Papa, she drifted away to dreamland and slept soundly.

Heiji, who held his family close in his arms gazed at the two people he loves the most. He brushed his thumb over Kazuha's cheek gently, which prompted her to look up towards him sleepily.

"Kazuha"

"hmm?"

"Love you"

Kazuha smiled and held his hand that was holding her cheek. A few moments later, he watched as his wife also fell into slumber without letting go of his hands.

Truly, it was a horrible case that would likely continue to haunt him for the rest of his career. But for now, with his wife and daughter safe in his arms, he's going to be okay.

--------------------------------

I think I read somewhere before that in Japan, it's quite rare for people to actually say "I love you" literally even between parents and children. Something about saying "I love you" too often takes away the sanctity and meaning of it.

I kept going back and forth on whether Heiji would say 'thank you' or 'love you' before falling asleep because it is even rarer for men to directly express their affection verbally.

But you know what, I believe this case took a heavy toll on Heiji who he himself is now a father to his own little girl. And despite trying to (kinda?) hide it, Kazuha still caught on that the case disturbed him and so tried to calm Heiji's nerves by making him stay close to their daughter in small but subtle manners.

And I think that the subtleness is exactly what Heiji needed to calm down on his own instead of direct words and affection.

It would comfort him more to see his daughter jumping around and having fun with his own eyes instead of having someone tell him that their daughter is safe verbally.

Hence, the "love you" had a deeper meaning of thank you for understanding me. Thank you for knowing exactly what I needed. Thank you for being patient. Thank you for marrying me. I love you and I'm truly grateful for you. God damn I should have confessed earlier.

GOSHO AOYAMA MAKE THEM CONFESS PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU.

[lanadelreyvisualaesthetics]

If you're a Billie Eilish fan, you won't like what I have to say. I suggest you skip over my post or just stop following me. This is my page and I will speak freely on my own page. If you attack me, you will be blocked, so fuck right off. Go dry hump grass in your backyard.

If you needed further proof that Billie Eilish is an industry plant, don't look further then the fact that she unfairly won her second Oscar last night. First for that James Bond song and now for that stupid Barbie movie. Both songs inferior to the masterpieces Lana wrote for Big Eyes and The Great Gatsby.

Let this sink in. Lana has never been nominated for best song for a film, for either The Golden Globes or The Oscars. Remember how shocked we all were when Young and Beautiful was completely ignored. Even the press stepped in and wrote articles about how fucked up that was.

All Billie has to do is win a Tony award to be a EGOT. She did a red carpet interview yesterday for the Oscars and she was laughing about that. She will eventually win a Tony. She will eventually be an EGOT.

Then there's the Grammy's where Billie beats Lana for every fucking category nominated right along with that other asshole Taylor Swift. Taylor isn't a industry plant but there's speculation that she bribes Grammy voters committee members to keep voting for her. It's something a lot of artists do to win Grammys. That's why the same artists keep winning every year for the top categories. That's why Midnights won AOTY this year over Ocean Blvd and SZA's SOS. None of the songs on Midnights stood out like A&W did. SOS was THAT album. Had SOS won, I wouldn't be bitching right now.

It's a cruel joke by this point because everybody know how desperate Lana wants that Grammy trophy in her hands. She never asked to be forcefully dragged on stage to watch Taylor win over her and then call her a fucking legacy artist.

Last night The Oscars just re-opened up the rage for me. It's not fair that an industry plant with boring songs keep winning all these prestigeous awards and Lana doesn't even get nominated. Let all this sink in.

I feel better letting this anger out. Let me go about my day. 🙄

Go stream Big Eyes and Young and Beautiful all day. 🌹

[bleedingoptimism]

part one.

”I hope he sees it and it fucking breaks his heart.”

/tap/

“I hope he sees it and it fucking breaks his heart.”

/tap/

“I hope he sees it and it fucking breaks his heart.”

/tap/

Eddie has seen the video a hundred times already, and everytime he rewinds the last part and watches it again, and again, and again.

Not that he needs to watch it to hear the song all the time, it’s playing fucking everywhere. And some radios even left the part where Steve says he’s allowed to be a bitch about it.

Karma is the bitch. 

He was in the middle of a tour in Europe when the video went viral. He got a text from Chrissy saying ‘Don’t go on twitter’ then another one five minutes later that said ‘Sorry’.

He obviously went on twitter after that, ‘Barbie and the Kendolls’ was trending and so was ‘Who is Eddie?’ and ‘Marry Me Instead’

He called Chrissy after, they hadn’t talked in a while but she was the only one who still talked to him after he broke up with Steve, turns out she wasn’t really sorry for the song going viral, “I love you Eddie, but you kinda deserved it” she told him.

He knows he does, doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, doesn’t mean he doesn’t want Steve back.

They had been so happy, they were so in love. Living together in a small duplex downtown, friends and band members always coming and going. Eddie was getting his big break in music and Steve was starting his experimental band with the girls.

Barbie and the Kendolls was actually a joke name Eddie came up with because Chrissy always called Steve ‘Kendoll’ and Steve called her ‘Barbie’. He didn’t really know how to feel about them keeping the name.

Actually, he kind of loved it, he’d always had a thing for Steve’s bitchiness.

He fucking missed him so much.

He’d screwed up big time.

Back then he’d thought he was stopping Steve from achieving his dreams by being with him. Steve always talked about marriage and life together and kids someday.

Eddie always talked about life on the road and his hate of white picket fences. 

It had never occurred to him that when Steve talked about marriage he meant marrying him.

Eddie had spent the last year of their relationship waiting for Steve to break up with him.

In the end he couldn’t take it anymore. He broke up with him first.

He had no idea Steve was going to propose.

Even after, when he'd talked to Robin and asked how Steve was doing, she never told him.

“How do you think he’s doing Eddie? You… shattered him. Don’t call here again, please.” That was the last time he’d heard from him and the last time he spoke with Robin too.

Chrissy kept in touch but she never talked about him, ‘don’t ask me, you don’t have the right’ she’d told him once.

He knew that, and Eddie had regretted the choice the second the words left his mouth, but he couldn’t take them back.

He had even tried to move on, but you can’t move on from perfect. There’s nothing else that’s worth it.

So Eddie never did stop asking about him.

After the song goes viral and the band starts getting more famous Chrissy confessed to him that Steve hates and loves the fact that’s the song that got them on the map.

The thing is, Eddie wants him back. Yes, he made a mistake. Yes, it’s been almost a year. But he still feels the same about Steve, he wants him, he wants to marry him, he just didn’t know he could have it all. It didn’t seem possible, to be so lucky, to have his music and have him.

And he got scared and did what he does best, he ran. 

But there’s another thing he’s good at.

And that’s writing songs.

He’s going to win him back. He’s going to mend his heart. And he’s going to do it the same way Steve tried to break his. With a song.

part three

[coulsons-fullmetal-cellist]

The Lack of Kenergy

(Dieter x horror loving female)

Words: 610

Summary: Dieter is upset over the results of the 96th Academy Awards. Sorry to people who liked Oppenheimer, it was a good movie, but it wasn’t my favourite film of the year.

Warnings: opinions on films that you may not agree with, two people who are in love but also really horny for each other so lots of saucy suggestions!

Check out masterlist here

It was night and you were in bed reading a book.

Alone.

There was a severe lack of Dieter in bed. You were so used to the blanket of his body warmth you almost felt a little cold.

You knew the Academy Awards were on in the afternoon, so he was probably watching that. Normally, neither of you cared much about them but this year his favourite film Barbie had been nominated and he greatly cared about it and wanted to know whether it had won anything.

Eventually, he walked into the bedroom with such a glum look on his face. He fell onto the bed face down and gave out a whine much in the way an upset puppy would.

You couldn’t help but stroke his hair sympathetically, “Dieter, what’s wrong?”

You couldn’t hear his mumble, so you nudged him to sit up.

“Barbie didn’t win Best Picture.”

“Oh, so that’s what you were up to,” he nodded. “So who won?”

“Oppenheimer.”

You rolled your eyes, “Of course they did.”

He turned to face you, “They won way too many awards.”

“Did they win Best Costume?”

“No, that went to Poor Things.”

“Oh good, I liked those costumes.”

“Yeah they were, but Barbie went through years of doll history to recreate several outfits for every character and so much thought was put into them.”

“Sounds like they were snubbed a bit.”

“They did win Best Song.”

“I’m Just Ken?”

“No, What Was I Made For.”

“Well, at least it won something.”

Dieter sighed, “Yeah but it deserved more. Honestly, I didn’t think Oppenheimer was as amazing as everyone made it out to be.”

“Yeah, personally I thought it was a bit long and the fast-paced editing left me with anxiety.” He gave you a concerning look, but you shrugged it off. “But what do you expect? It ticked all the boxes; it’s a film about a prominent American figure of history.”

Dieter scoffed, “Barbie is a prominent figure of American history.”

“It’s a film about mans role in the world.”

“Barbie did that too, but with more humour and an awesome musical number.”

You sighed, “It’s a film that people will talk about for years to come.”

“I think people will talk about Barbie far longer as it speaks to a wider array of people.”

“Oh, but you forget that Oppenheimer was written and directed by men and the judging is mostly white men. They’ll say it’s the most important film of the year.”

“Yeah, for white men it is. Ugh, it’s all a dick competition with them.”

“Wouldn’t you win that every time?”

“Yeah, but then it’ll bruise there fragile egos. That’s why I stopped dating men.” He snuggled close to you. “In fact, I’d given up on dating and accepted the fact that I was doomed to die alone. But then you had to go and ruin those plans.”

“Oh? How am I going to be punished?”

“Well, for starters,” he sat up so he was sitting right next to you. “I’m going to marry you. Then you’ll be stuck with me for all eternity.”

“For all eternity?”

“Do you think death is going to keep us apart?”

You couldn’t help but smile, “That’s not going to happen for…how long now?”

“Six months and 21 days,” he said that without having to think about it.

“So what about in the meantime?”

“Oh,” he kissed your neck. “I’m thinking the blindfold, if you want?”

Giving a tiny nod of consent, you asked, “Can I rant about the lack of nominations for female directors?”

“Will this include Greta Gerwigs snub and the double standards?” You nodded. “Oh absolutely.”

Lovingly tagging @boliv-jenta @simpingcowboy @ellenmunn @o-sacra-virgo-laudes-tibi @chaithetics @myloveistoolittle @cevans-is-classic @glshmbl @cupcakehp @gswizzsstuff

[pinkacademic]

How Barbie: Princess Charm School engages with Class Inequality

Barbie: Princess Charm School engages with class inequality by presenting a story of someone being given the opportunities to escape their class experience. The twentieth film in the Barbie movies franchise of pink powerful (mostly) princesses is the tale of an unwitting princess raised in poverty and “unlocking her princess potential.”

In the fictional land of Gardania, Blair Willows is a hardworking young woman who is granted the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend the titular Princess Charm School and train as a lady royal, giving her the skills necessary for a job in a royal household. It would put her up, likely for life, and allow her to fund her sick mother’s medical care and give her sister opportunities that Blair most likely hadn’t had at the same age.

While Blair does discover that she is in fact the long-presumed dead Princess Sofia, true heir to the Gardanian throne, she actually spends the majority of the movie’s runtime fighting the uphill battle against class inequality as the only commoner among the future princesses and well-off lady royals.

To preface, herein is an analysis of the plot and how aspects of Blair’s class background affects her character, but also brief interludes for speculation, though, as often as possible, it is inspired by or compared to real-life equivelents, due to Gardania being a fictional place.

A Brief Summary of Barbie: Princess Charm School

For those who do not follow Barbie movies as closely as gospel, like I have no shame in doing, Barbie: Princess Charm School is the story of Blair Willows, a young woman who wins the opportunity to attend a prestigious school, and who during her time there, discovers she is the presumed-dead Princess Sofia. During her time in Princess Charm School, Blair uncovers cruel plots by the devious Dame Devin, who is determined to put her daughter Delancey on the throne. She also meets Headmistress Alexandra Privet who tutors her in the skills she’ll need to pass her year in school, and Princesses Hadley and Isla who become her confidantes- and provide the necessary exposition.

Blair also meets Delancey Devin, who goes against her mother’s wishes and helps Blair, Hadley, and Isla to discover the truth, and places Gardania’s Magical Crown on Blair’s head, which reveals her to truly be the heir to the throne.

You can tell she’s Not Yet a Princess

Blair’s background is established from the opening scene of the film, which is a montage to the song “You can tell she’s a Princess.” While obviously the song is direct and blatant foreshadowing Blair’s identity being revealed later, it also sets up the movie’s key ideal that “there’s a princess in every girl.” How Blair shows this is through her hard work.

We see in the montage that Blair opens the Café Gardania in the morning, performing all of the necessary duties such as setting up the tables and chairs outside as well as the sign, and setting out the baked goods. We see her serving customers throughout the day, picking up tips to take home, and closing up the café in the evening.

Speculation: It is unclear who owns the café, and if it is a chain etc. Blair is the only worker seen, and what I consider to be likely is that the café was originally owned by her mother, with Blair working in it and possibly dropping out of school to help as her mother’s illness progressed, finally taking over.

Speculation: Blair gets access to all of the tips due to the café having belonged to her mother before her illness became too much for her. Blair has taken over in recent years, with it being likely that she never finished school and dropped out to make money to keep her family afloat. This may also be why the family are able to survive for a short period of time when Blair goes to Princess Charm School.

Regardless, it is clear that Blair is working hard in a working class position, establishing the position from which this essay will operate. As a note on the nature of speculations made within the essay, the majority of real-world comparisons will be made with Los Angeles, California due to it being a major city near El Segundo, the home of Mattel, and Malibu, the home of the character of Barbie Roberts and her family within her fictional universe separate to Gardania.

Living in a Blight

This establishment of Blair’s working class status indicates the first aspect of Blair’s class that is addressed in the movie, and that she works against over the course of the story: housing. Of course, not everyone can live in a castle, and while Blair is of course not expected to before Princess Charm School, the castle does serve as a vehicle to convey how Blair is faced with housing inequality.

When Blair gets home from her long day at work, we see that the Willows family lives in what is notably a “poorer area,” as Dame Devin later describes it as. We see the train track, which would cause noise polution, immediately making the area seem less-desirable. Blair also states that she wished they could live in a “better area,” and hoping for a “better place for [Emily] to grow up,” making it clear that it is not the place that Blair would ideally choose for her younger sister.

Speculation: It is implied also that the Willows family had to move from a nicer area, likely due to needing to save money for Blair’s adoptive mother’s medical bills. It is stated that Blair was found on a doorstep, heavily implying that the family used to have a doorstep, and a nicer home attached, likely in the suburbs.

Naturally, moving into a private school attached to a palace could certainly create feelings of inadequacy in Blair, and shows the stark contrast between what she had just come from. According to privateschoolreview.com, typical private school tuition in Los Angeles is over $16,000 USD in 2023, and according to salary.com, average waitress salary in Los Angeles is in the range of $23,000 usd, which means that without the lottery, living in Princess Charm School would be inaffordable for Blair. But it isn’t just the cost that makes the housing inequality obvious- it is the ammenities that Princess Charm School offers; this is not in reference to ammenities that might aid in education such as the ballroom and pool, but rather the vault and the security system.

The palace has an extensive vault full of trinkets beyond just the famous Magical Crown. It features references to Barbie movies such as a nutcracker toy, but what it represents is security beyond literal security for one’s possesions: it represents the financial security for possesions worth keeping secure.

When Blair enters her home, we see no visible lock, and while it presumably exists, it doesn’t quite compare to the impressive bank-type vault storage room in the palace. Vaults of this nature are comparable to the likes of Fort Knox, which, while it is significantly less-penetrable than Dame Devin’s date-based passcode, holds a significant amount of the USA’s resources.

On the same note, Hadley is familiar with the laser security system that is seen outside the main body of the vault. While laser systems as shown in the movie only exist to add drama in cinema, the kind of system can be implemented, and one to the scope of the vault would be expensive to set-up. While according to homeimprovementcents.com the upfront costs can be inexpensive, “if you want a more advanced system, you will need to pay more (…) you can spend more than you anticipated or within the budget range you had initially hoped for.”

It doesn’t appear that the Willows family have the kind of budget for even a lower-level security system. And of course, they don’t seem to have much worth stealing, with value of the sentimental variety being the key worth anything seems to hold.

One of the most major plot points of Barbie: Princess Charm School, and the one that largely prompts Delancey towards her own redemption, is Dame Devin’s plot to displace the less-fortunate people of Gardania, including Blair’s building specifically, in order to build a park. This is an aspect of housing inequality related to class as it is a distinct parallel to the history of Central Park- or rather, Seneca Village.

Note: While Los Angeles and wider California have similar issues, Central Park’s history as Seneca Village is an on-the-money comparison, as well as being arguably the best known.

The official Central Park website explains the history of the park:

“Before Central Park was created, the landscape along what is now the Park’s perimeter from West 82nd to West 89th Street was the site of Seneca Village, a community of predominantly African-Americans, many of whom owned property.”

The website also relays the destruction of the Village, noting that, “[t]here were roughly 1,600 inhabitants displaced throughout the area,” and that “[a]lthough landowners were compensated, many argued that their land was undervalued.”

This history strongly parralels not only similar events in the areas surrounding Barbie’s home of California, such as Bruce’s Beach, but also of Blair’s home in Gardania. Dame Devin refers to Gardania’s “poorer areas” as a “blight to the otherwise beautiful community,” announcing her plan, in Delancey’s name, to “bulldoze the buildings” in order to make room for “beautiful, rolling parks.” Upon Blair’s protests, Dame Devin states that the poor families will simply move elsewhere, to which Blair points out that those people can’t afford to “just pick up and move,” as Dame Devin implies.

“Comfortable? She should be all better!”

Taking a trip back to the earlier scenes, as Blair settles down in front of the old tv that has to be hit to function, we meet the representation of the next aspect of Blair’s class inequality. The reason for Blair being the sole-earner is her adoptive mother’s ill-health. While it is unclear what her mother ails from, it seems to be an on-going medical condition.

According to the Guardian, “[m]illions of Americans – as many as 25% of the population – are delaying getting medical help because of skyrocketing costs.” We can gather from dialogue that Blair’s adoptive mother has seen a doctor recently, but the jar of loose coins emphasises the scarcity of money to pay for these visits.

Meanwhile, to compare to one of the only living monarchs in real life, an article by StyleCaster states that “King Charles’s net worth is $600 million.”

It can be assumed that the princesses and non-commoner lady royals would be able to pay for Blair’s mother’s medical bills, but Blair does not have that kind of money. Even if we were to assume that princesses are more like senators than real-world royals, given the sheer number of princess graduates in Blair’s class, we can compare to Senator Alex Padilla of California who, according to incomepedia.com ”earns anywhere from $174,000-$200,000 annually.”

While that’s not exactly comparable to King Charles, it is not exactly comparable to Blair’s hypothesised $23,000 either.

Ultimately, any of the princesses could likely pay for Blair’s mother’s medical bills, and Blair just would not have that money without the Princess Charm School scholarship.

Royal Skills put to the Test

The mention of the scholarship thus brings us to the point that dominates the majority of the plot of the movie: education inequality as a result of class. Blair is awarded the amazing opportunity to attend Princess Charm School on a scholarship as rewarded by the annual lottery, which Headmistress Privet refers to as a chance to “change her life forever.”

However, while sprites such as Grace exist in Princess Charm School with the role of personal princess assistants, the lottery win is not the magic-wand solution Blair’s sister Emily seems to have hoped.

Headmistress Privet informs Blair that “only twenty-seven percent” of the lottery girls even make it to graduation, meaning Blair has just over a one-in-four chance of getting the “better life” for Emily and her mother.

This chart by slate.com highlights the very same point that Headmistress Privet warns Blair about: how likely it is that she will not be able to complete her year in Princess Charm School. She asks Blair if she “has what it takes,” but as this chart displays, it might not even matter how hard she works: If we compare becoming a princess or lady royal to a bachelor’s degree, Blair as a low-income student has to give it her all just to have a comparable chance to a middle-of-the-road princess.

Speculation: It is unclear as to whether Princess Charm School is more comparable to a university or high school setting, as it seems to be a one year course. That said, most of the students seem to have an established knowledge of how the school operates, indicating that it is more like a high school and they have all been there for three years prior to the film’s beginning, especially as we see classes going on as Blair enters.

The last point of the speculation is the most crucial, however- classes ongoing implies that Blair is either joining mid-year or before the start of the final year of multiple. It puts her at a distinct disadvantage compared to her peers.

The system of Princess Charm School, regardless of unclear details of the nature of the institution, works against Blair as she tries to advance, with her family as her constant motivation. Just like how the same article on slate.com references that:

“sociologists Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton documented the ways that one large state flagship university sacrificed the needs of poorer undergrads in order to cater to the desires of mediocre but wealthy students looking to spend four years tailgating and doing keg stands,”

Dame Devin shows favouritism to Portia, a princess who is visibly failing a class exercise, over Blair, who Dame Devin actively wants to saboutage. In her poise lesson, Dame Devin instructs the princesses and lady royals in how to maintain correct posture and walk elegantly while balancing books on their heads. Dame Devin gives harsh criticism to the majority of the class such as comparing one girl to a “migrating duck,” and suggesting another seems “crazy,” but Portia, who is shown to seemingly be one of few friends her daughter Delancey has is “doing fine” even though she is carrying the book over her head.

In fact, Dame Devin sighs and put her head in her hand upon witnessing Portia’s inability to perform the task, in a way that implies this might be a common occurance. Teachers in Princess Charm School are well-used to Portia’s incompetance, and yet, it is Blair who is “utterly unfit for the royal life.”

Speculation: Portia’s kingdom is considered one of the most important to maintain a relationship with for Gardania, hence her getting away with this when no one else does, and hence her being Delancey’s friend.

Dame Devin’s petition to Headmistress Privet for Blair’s expulsion is also an indication of another aspect of education inequality as a result of class, as, instead of expelling Blair, Headmistress Privet offers to tutor her personally. This in and of itself has aspects, the first being another addressing of income, as Tutors.com states that “[o]n average, a private tutor costs between $25 and $80 an hour.” And, again, Blair’s potential income is not likely to account for such things.

But also, noting Headmistress Privet’s earlier note of only 27% of lottery girls making it to graduation, would more of them have succeeded if they’d also been given the same chance as Blair? Is the vast majority of these girls failing a result of lottery girls being as “unfit” for the world of princesses and lady royals, or is it a result of a failure in the system that Blair was luckily handed the opportunity to avoid?

An article in the Guardian outlines a tutoring scheme that involved university students volunteering as tutors, and highlights that one student says “the one-to-one support has “really made a difference” to her understanding of the key concepts in biology.” So, if that same logic could have been supplied to many of the lottery girls that had come before Blair, who knows how many could have become lady royals with their “pick of any lady royal position,” just as Headmistress Privet said Blair could.

Blair’s friendship with Hadley and Isla, while both of them lift her up as best as they can, serves to emphasise the gaps in knowledge Blair has as a result of class-based education inequality, be it due to losing time in school from having been working, or by the lower standard of education she’d have been used to at that point. Going back to the article on slate.com, “the Department of Education found that slightly less than ten percent of high schoolers from poorer families had top math scores, compared to 48 percent of those from wealthier backgrounds.” While the example here is maths, Blair’s history knowledge of her own country compared to her royal counterparts is lacking to a similar degree. It is Hadley and Isla who tell Blair about Gardania’s Magical Crown and the rumours about the car crash that killed Queen Isabella and King Reginald. Without their knowledge, the trio would never have placed the true heir of Gardania on the throne.

Mother and Daughter: Pulling up the Ladder, and Lowering it Back Down

Making a return to the devious Dame Devin, her actions are an example of “pulling the ladder up behind oneself,” which addresses an issue in class-climbing that can be prominant in leadership positions. We learn from Hadley and Isla that Dame Devin was once a lottery girl too, but is now hellbent on Blair’s distruction, appealing to Headmistress Privet for her expulsion from the school. Of course, we learn later that it is due to a far more sinister plot for power, but nevertheless, Dame Devin’s actions represent a huge class-related issue. The Australian newspaper The Sunday Morning Herald wrote an article about women in positions of power who, according to Lucy Brogden, “were refusing to help other women repeat their success.” If Dame Devin had had half the heart that Delancey has of her own volition later on, she could have recognised herself in Blair, recognised her own struggles, and been the one to tutor her. She could have helped every lottery girl between herself and Blair.

Instead, her jealousy and her desire for the throne- and her desire to keep her murderous past hidden, no doubt- kept her from showing kindness, and ultimately led to her downfall.

But Delancey chooses another path:

The other key aspect of why the plan succeeds is Delancey’s reformation. Her leaving a window open for the girls within the palace walls is what allows them to get anywhere near the vault. Going against her mother, Delancey is able to lower the ladder back down. Where in the Sunday Herald article Mrs Brogden states:

“Women argue that far from nurturing the growth of other female talent, they see colleagues pushing aside possible competitors by undermining their self confidence and professional standing,”

Delancey chooses to stand against that, stating she “want[s] what’s right.”

And actually, that’s a rarely-seen example of class interaction: the wealthier choosing to join a lower class status and handing the higher status to another, which is the undoing of Dame Devin. Because Delancey handing Blair the crown, lowering the ladder to her is how Blair is not only able to climb up too, but to offer something back: Delancey’s lady royal tiara.

Crowns on our Heads, Lights in the Air

And thus leads us to the concluding point that the film wants us to reach. While not every working class young woman can be the secret princess, Blair and Delancey’s swapping of roles is proof of Blair’s final words that end the film: “there’s a princess in every girl.” This is a representation of how Barbie: Princess Charm School engages with class inequality- by addressing many aspects of class, the damage that can be done, and how much work it will take to undo that damage- but by working together, Blair, Hadley, Isla, and Delancey and able to create something more powerful than the differences between them.

Barbie: Princess Charm School represents the class struggle of a young woman who did not have access to the same things as her princess peers by showing every aspect of class that Blair has to overcome in order to arrive at the position that she is in at the end. But it also shows that, it is the actions of those with the privileges that truly make it possible for Blair to attain the crown.

It is Hadley and Isla who bridge the gaps in her knowledge, Headmistress Privet who teaches her the skills she’ll need to govern, and Delancey who hands her the crown. Even tiny acts of kindness such as Miranda handing Blair a slice of strawberry swirl are the kinds of details that keep Blair going, and without which, Dame Devin would be using her daughter as a puppet to drive Gardania into the ground.

Blair’s hard work gets her far, but it is her Princess Charm School allies that allow her to overcome class inequality once and for all, which is truly the most important aspect of how Barbie: Princess Charm School addresses class inequality.

[salvadorbonaparte]

2023 in Films

I watched way too many films this year. Here are my opinions on some of them

January

Las Cosas Del Querer (1989) - Amazing if you love sad hot people and flamenco

Canadian Bacon (1995) - Incredibly silly and Alan Alda plays the US president

Nope (2022) - A highlight of the year

February

Hellraiser (1987) - This film is actually about miscommunication in this essay I will-

Predestination (2014) - Time Travel and Gender Moments

Malignant (2021) - Camp horror masterwork

Late Phases (2014) - Mediocre werewolf film with some really interesting comments on ageism, ableism, suburbia and religion

March

Sterne (1959) - Plays into some problematic stereotypes from today's perspective but revolutionary for its time, first German film to address the Holocaust

Major League (1989) - A film I only watched to confirm that it uses a weird phrase I also found in my thesis project

Carry On Screaming (1966) - Camp. Gay. Horror. Parody.

Glen or Glenda (1953) - A product of its time and no longer up to date in its understanding of gender but surprisingly revolutionary in its compassion and earnestness despite the bad reviews

April

Taxi Driver (1976) - Isn't it frustrating when annoying people tell you a film is good and then it's actually good?

June

Mr Deeds Goes To Town (1936) - Mr Deeds has autism swag

El Espíritu de la Colmena (1973) - I really wanted to like this because civil war era Spain and Frankenstein are super up my alley but unfortunately it was so much slower than expected

Das Boot (1981) - Very long and claustrophobic but holds up to the hype

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022) - RIP King

July

Nimona (2023) - His big wet eyes bewitched me

First Blood (1982) - You're telling me the film is about Americans fighting an enemy they view as simultaneously weak and dangerous, escalating the situation, and then sending more and more men into a rainforest to die through guerilla warfare after being warned again and again they can't win this? sounds familiar

Barbie (2023) - Insert a bunch of pink emojis

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) - Made me crave bagels

Jojo Rabbit (2019) - God I love war satires

Sweet Liberty (1986) - Alan Alda having fun and also using his own film as a therapy session

The Majestic (2001) - A rewatch but it's so tragically underrated, Jim Carrey is very good in dramatic roles and McCarthy-era media is like catnip for me

Joker (2019) - This is just Taxi Driver with extra steps

August

Tin & Tina (2023) - Probably one of the worst films I have seen in a while

Battle of the Sexes (2017) - I love women

Four Lions (2010) - The ending really got me, I love when satire gets serious

The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid (1979) - Can we talk about how the theme song is just going "I'm the sheriff" "yes you're the sheriff"

Happiness (1998) - Nauseating but in a "good film but what the fuck" way

They Call Him Bulldozer (1978) - Italian Lagaan

The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) - Sad and Gay

Twister (1996) - So much better than expected

Magnolia (1999) - Cloudy with a chance of frogs, a really long but really good film and I'm not entirely sure I got it

Doubt (2008) - Somehow I watched 5 films with Philip Seymour Hoffman that month because I was haunted by his ghost or something

September

The Terminal (2004) - I assumed this to be more of a classic romcom but the whole concept (based on a true story) is so terrifying and tragic that it made me feel all emotions at once

Apocalypse Now (1979) - I knew a lot of trivia about the film but for some reason I didn't know anything about the cast so every single actor was a surprise and made me go "!!!", Also I kinda wanna write an essay about it

October

Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984) - Some of the gay jokes absolutely killed me

Last Night in Soho (2021) - I'm Not Like the Other Girls to Time Travel Murder Nightmare Pipeline, actually I really enjoyed this one but it's also super silly

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) - How do you say poor little meow meow in gaeilge

The Menu (2022) - I go to the murder restaurant I order the beesechurger, I was super surprised there's no cannibalism but tbh that would have been low hanging fruit

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) - Explains a lot about religion in the US, I love that she was pro lgbt, also I googled her ex husband and he has a prepper/survivalist thing going on now and scams more people

The Darjeeling Limited (2007) - we can't eat pray love ourselves out of this one boys

Holes (2003) - Hated the book as a teenager for school reasons but gave the film a try and really enjoyed it

Renfield (2023) - I expected werewolves but I enjoyed it nevertheless, My Chemical Romance is on the soundtrack, it's very silly, the effects are great

Interview with the Vampire (1994) - Oh people weren't lying about it being homoerotic

The Big Lebowski (1998) - I've had days that feel like that

November

Pappa ante Portas (1991) - Funnier now that I'm an adult, basically half the jokes my mum makes are from this film

The Meg 2: The Trench (2023) - I watched this while sick and really wanted to see a giant shark fight a giant octopus and boy did it deliver

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) - Very nice animation style

JFK (1991) - I actually fell asleep halfway through because it's so long but can we talk about how this film is just A-listers but has some of the worst wigs and makeup I've seen

Bottoms (2023) - A spiritual sequel to Heathers

December

When Harry Met Sally (1989) - They deserve each other (derogatory) but that one restaurant scene was pretty funny

The Royal Nanny (2022) - one of the many Hallmark films my mum made me watch and this is perhaps the worst one, incredibly sexist even for a Hallmark film and they clearly mean Mi5 but say Mi7 which was a WW2 propaganda service? Also they really want me to believe there is a British prince called Colin and that he doesn't look like his family tree is a circle?

I forgot the title but there was also the one where two people get stuck in a time loop while trying to make a sponsored youtube video about baking and I didn't really pay attention much but man that was bad

[2manythoughtz]

Is Barbie A Joke To Critics?

Just a week ago I wrote an article about the Barbie movie and how it was not only misunderstood but also overlooked when it comes to its deep meaning. We’ve had people like Jo Koy mocking the movie and comparing it to Oppenheimer which is a movie inspired by real events of our past, not only that but the winning song was I’m Just Ken, that alone should show just how little critics care to take what the movie teaches us and use it in the real world.

And we’re back at it. As you know, the nominations for the Oscars have been released. You’d be surprised to see that neither Margot Robbie (the main actress who interpreted Barbie) nor Greta Gerwig (the director of Barbie) got nominated in their categories. Speaking of the directors’ category, Greta is not new to being snubbed by the Oscars, it had already happened with Little Women. The only difference is that in 2020 there were no women nominated as best director, this year we have a female director who’s been nominated and that’s Justine Triet with Anatomy of a Fall, which is not bad. What’s laughable is the fact that Barbie has won the Golden Globes Award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement and yet its director is not taken seriously.

And we’re not even talking about any film, to this day Barbie has made 1.45 billion U.S. dollars worldwide which makes it the best movie debut for a female director. 

Margot Robbie didn’t get nominated as best actress although her performance as Barbie was absolutely iconic, she really brought Barbie to life in a unique way that not many actresses could’ve achieved. If you thought it couldn’t get any worse, let me tell you that Ryan Gosling (the actor who interpreted Ken) got nominated as Best Supporting Actor. That is fair, Ryan did an amazing job at portraying Ken, he really made his character funny and entertaining, he earned his nomination and I’m sure everyone is happy that he was one of the two nominees for Barbie. 

But fans were not the only ones who were disappointed, Ryan Gosling himself commented on the matter and showed his displeasure. Here are his words:

“I am extremely honored to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films. And I never thought l’d being saying this, but I’m also incredibly honored and proud that it’s for portraying a plastic doll named Ken.

But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film.

No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius.

To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.

Against all odds with nothing but a couple of soulless, scantily clad, and thankfully crotchless dolls, they made us laugh, they broke our hearts, they pushed the culture and they made history. Their work should be recognized along with the other very deserving nominees.

Having said that, I am so happy for America Ferrera and the other incredible artists who contributed their talents to making this such a groundbreaking film.”

As Ryan said, the only woman who got nominated is America Ferrera who had an impactful role in the movie, her monologue about women and every hardship that they have to face because of society has become viral. Her character represents women, any women, and she did an outstanding job that earned her the nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The only shame is that she’s the only woman who got the privilege of being nominated for a movie that talks about feminism and how women don’t have the same treatment as men.

The Oscars proved Barbie right once again. 

[choicesjanuary2024]

MASTERLIST || WELCOME || PROMPTS || RULES || HOST

Listed in alphabetical order by artist name. If I missed adding one on this list, or missed reblogging, please let me know.

@aallotarenunelma

Chronicles of a Crimson Summer 11 (ID Fic & Edit, Cas x MC)

Songs that describe my pairings (ID & It Lives Songs)

@dutifullynuttywitch

Starlit night (WtD Fic, Troy x MC)

@inlocusmads

chosen family (CoP Fic, Trystan)

hello, goodbye ~ jimmy rose (CoP Fic, Jimmy)

laplace’s angel (CoP Fic, Trystan x MC)

meeting at a crosswalk (CoP Fic, Trystan x MC)

slam poetry (MAH Fic, Stevie x MC)

@jerzwriter

A Different Fate - Final Chapter (OPH Fic, Ethan x MC)

A Little Mess (OPH Edit, Tobias x MC)

A New Perspective (OPH Fic, Tobias x MC)

A Tipsy Winter Tale (CoP Fic, Trystan x MC)

Clucking Amazing (OPH Edit, Ethan x MC)

Different Destinations (OPH Fic, Tobias x MC)

If the hat fits… (CoP Fic & Art Commission, Trystan x MC)

It Always Starts Somewhere…. (CoP Fic, Trystan x MC)

Pen-sive (OPH Fic, Ethan x MC)

Pietro & Azul (OPH Fic, Tobias x MC)

Stress Reduction (OPH Fic, Tobias x MC)

The Morning (WtD Fic, Eli x MC)

Trystan’s 2023 Holiday Recap (CoP Edit, Trystan x MC)

Twenty-Five (WTD Fic, Troy & MC)

@ladylamrian

A Prince for the Holidays (Blades Fic, Aerin x MC)

His Barbie, Her Ken (Nightbound Fic, Nik x MC)

Loyal to be Royal (Nightbound Fic, Nik x MC, Garrus x MC)

@liaromancewriter

Daddy’s Girl (OPH Fic, Ethan x MC)

Making It Work (OPH Edit, Ethan x MC)

Miami Nights: Before and After (OPH Edit, Ethan x MC)

New Year Wishes (OPH Fic, Ethan x MC)

Whatever It Takes (OPH Edit, Ethan x MC)

@lilyoffandoms

Alex as the Winter Princess (Nightbound Art, MC)

Aerin x Raine (Blades Art, Aerin x MC)

Aerin x Raine (Blades Art, Aerin x MC)

Ash Clark (ILITW Art, OC)

Captain Pandrosion Elara (AtV Art, Sol, Meridian, Kepler, MC)

Casey MacTavish (OPH Art, MC)

Coffee Date(s) (CoP Art, Trystan x MC)

Detective Lilah Rose (CoP Art, MC)

Ethan (OPH Art)

Gabriel Rose (CoP Art)

Imtura Tal Kaelen (Blades)

Inspired by Mal x Daenarya (Blades Art, Mal x OC)

Kajsiab (Alpha Art, MC)

Kieran (TCH Art)

Lancelot x Guinevere Silhouette (Guinevere Art, Lancelot x MC)

Leaf, King of Birds (TCH Art)

Lilah Rose (CoP Art, MC)

Luca O'Rinn (ID MC)

Mal Volari (Blades Art)

Marianna Howard (Desire and Decorum Fanart, OC)

Nia Ellarious (Blades Art)

Nora Rose (CoP Art, MC)

Sabastyan Thorne Case File (CoP Art)

Saini Rusanen (ID Art, MC)

Tatum x Aubrey (FA Art, Tatum x MC)

Together We Win (Blades Art, MC)

Trystan (CoP Art)

Tyril Starfury (Blades Art)

Wallace (Blades Art)

@lovealexhunt

Happy New Year (RCD Fic & Art Commission, Thomas x MC)

Helios - Emma’s Arylu (TE Art, Familiar)

#plantlove (OPH Fic, Bryce x OC)

Post Christmas Bliss (RCD Art Commission, Thomas x MC)

Spread Joy #841 (Blades Edit, Mal)

Tuneless Wonders (TE, Fic & Art Commission)

Valax (Blades Art)

@peonyblossom

Hades of House Nightbloom (Blades Art Commission, MC)

I Wasn’t Built For Iceland (AME Fic, Carson x MC)

We’ll Figure It Out (Untamable Fic, Kit x MC)

@stars-are-within-me

In Her Arms (CoP Fic, Vasili, Juliana)

The Skies (Blades Fic, Imtura, Ventra)

@tess-liam

Turning the Page (TRR Fic, Liam x OC)

@thosehallowedhalls

A 2AM Christmas Tree Farm [1/2] (CoP Fic, Trystan x MC)

Babysitting the Demonic Duo (CoP Fic, Trystan x MC)

Home without - Part One (CoP Fic, Trystan x MC)

Progression (CoP Fic, Trystan x MC)

Tabloids, or a story in 5 headlines (CoP Fic, Trystan x Emma)

[countesspetofi]

I promise I'll shut up about this eventually, but not just yet.

With the gloating of the manosphere declaring that the song was nominated because Ken was the only redeeming feature of a "woke feminist" movie, that Ken was the innocent victim of a villainous Barbie, that female viewers only enjoyed Ken because of Ryan's looks, etc., Mark and Ryan could have easily used this opportunity to keep the spotlight only on themselves. Instead, we got:

A loving homage to musical numbers associated with female icons

A performance undeniably queer in its sensibilities

Inclusion and highlighting of not only the other (multiracial) Kens, but also the female colleagues Ryan felt had been snubbed, the instrumentalists, the camera operator, Ryan's partner, and THE WHOLE DAMN AUDIENCE

A moment celebrating the sheer fun and joy of the movies on Hollywood's stuffiest night of the year, and stealing the whole show in the process

Ever since the Oscar buzz started nearly a year ago, I've been saying that I didn't believe the movie would win any awards, but all I wanted was for the song to be nominated so we could get a performance like this. And sometimes, little girls' wishes come true.