#midge rants

[glitchyred56]

why is chiakao actually one of the best enstars ships but yall are too weak to say it lmao

[darloe]

I was listening to some of Lenny Bruce’s old sets, as one does, and even got to the Steve Allen part, and let me tell you this. First off, because I know how some people can misunderstand words easily, I love Lenny Bruce.

Both Luke Kirby’s characterization and the actual person.

Second, that real life version was not as cool and slick as you were made to believe through your modern eyes. Especially at Playboy’s Penthouse.

He seems like the average middle school boy to me and with that mindset, everything he said was just 10x times funnier. Like, he’s not funny to us modern day people but he’s definitely made me laugh more times than I thought.

Anyways, don’t even have to tell me, I’m sure Lenny Bruce was considered the coolest cat in those times. But, in this era, he is very much like a middle school boy. He’s also way more sassier than I originally thought.

Also!

Why does man have his butt cheeks out!?

They lookin finda firm and pert though, not gonna lie I’d like to squeeze that juicy thang…

Okay I’m done, you can lock me up too.

[ellisdelanceys]

Someone really called me a "Pick Me" because I said that true Barbie fans hate the Barbie movie.

Ah, yes, because being against tearing down others in order to "build others up," vilifying beloved kind characters to make some kind of social commentary, and mocking beloved characters and brands totally makes me a Pick Me Girl. 🙄 (I never even said the treatment of men is why I hate the movie, but it is a reason why. But certainly not the only, the first, or even the biggest reason why for me.)

People really just throw that fucking term at any woman that hate. I've heard of characters who are the opposite of a "Pick Me" being called that by haters, just because they couldn't think of any other insult to throw at her.

If being a fucking decent person makes me a "Pick Me," if not wanting characters and a brand (that have brought so many people happiness for decades) that I have loved since my early childhood makes me a "Pick Me," then I will proudly be a fucking "Pick Me."

The people who simp for this garbage film are truly a damn cult.

[lefttigerobservation]

i humbly offer you this edit that took me three (3) whole days in the midst of starting s4 of tmmm LATE TO THE GAME. please enjoy it. i love it. i'm having so much fun & they are so dear to my heart.

i love streisand & she just FITS this series so well. the urge to do happy days are here again is also very strong. up next is potentially a smidge "love is the opening door" or "killer queen" :]

PS: mxonyx is just a personal handle, there are no actual accounts associated with it hehe. if I start to post more, i'll let y'all know!

PPS: cyberlink you have treated me well ty.

[atlasshrugd]

ok im gonna put aside my ‘luke kirby’s lenny bruce can do no wrong’ hat for a second. bc I need to talk abt this.

mans let midge walk home during a BLIZZARD. like, he knew after he yelled at her she would not be coming back to his hotel and she did not come w anyone, + u can’t get a cab in that weather. so she came down there for him, got yelled at, then had to WALK HER ASS HOME in a snowstorm at night? ofc she got hypothermia! i rly want to know what he was thinking here. 😭

and after all that, he doesn’t even call her to make sure she’s okay?? not to check if she got home ok?? like, they DID sleep together. midge is the kind of woman who likes a follow-up and he knows her well enough to know that. sure, he doesn’t want to lead her on during his financial/legal troubles, but come on. y’all were friends first. at this point it’s just disrespectful!

(ik midge was a stubborn ass who should have apologised for turning down the bennet gig. but it’s the 60’s, man! and basic courtesy! do not let the woman you slept with [or any woman] walk home alone during a blizzard, and then avoid her!)

[box-dwelling]

I've been a fan of Marvellous Mrs Maisel since season 1 but like, the Susie gay stuff is feeling like a real fucking tease. Even with the most recent episode where it finally seems confirmed I feel baited. I'm guessing this is going somewhere with it being the cliff hanger but I just, I don't feel it. And honestly all the cast interviews feel so weird too and always have. Like "oh her sexuality isn't important and we don't have to show it" ok so why are you fucking teasing us with it so much. Why are you getting so close to showing but then not? Like I'd honestly respect it more if Susie was just butch and they never touched it instead of edging us like this. Like haha she went to a gay bar but she still looked super uncomfortable. Ooo she has an ex girlfriend but they never actually say they were dating and they could just be like ex clients. I just feel fucking teased. Commit you god damn cowards. If Susie's sexuality doesn't matter when every single second of midge's personal life is the be all and end all of the show, then why are you just cowardly hinting? Have some god damn balls.

It really doesn't help that I just am losing my patience with the plot. A lot of people were saying how last season it started just feeling like rich white woman temper tanturm hour but this last episode really solidified it. Midge's unprofessionalism is feeling less enderingnand edgy and more like she's just sulking because has to actually work to get to the top. Oooooo I'm a professional writer on one of the most famous comedy shows in the country, but I'm not allowed to guest star because of very reasonable professionalism rules. I'm sure my position as a writer on one of most watched shows in the country definitely won't open other doors to get on other shows. So I'm literally going to completely ruin a completely unrelated gig. Remember when her unprofessionalism was that her jokes were too edgy for the time? That her quick wit and desire to tell the world the way she sees it was what was getting her in trouble. The was what she bonded with Lenny over which was by far one of the most interesting relationships in the show. But tbh they ruined that by having them sleep together. Lenny worked well as this almost mythical concept of what she could become, both good and bad. The relationship was complex and interesting and worked way way way more as friends/peers. But no midge now suddenly has to be romantic with every guy in the show, including her boss now? Which they just don't comment on the blatant workplace harassment there? It's just tee hee Midge is pretty so her boss wants to sleep with her.

Also like can I just say the stuff with Abe was so fucking gross this episode. For a guy who's been pretty heavily autistic coded throughout the show the way they framed him trying to make up with Rose after their fight, which yes he was an asshole in and needed to apologize for, it felt like they made what seemed to me like an honest loving gesture of apology communicated non verbally, which yes he's been heavily autistic coded this whole fucking show so that's likely the best way he has to communicate, as child like and pathetic was just disgusting. Like I can see myself in his head so much. He messed up and he knows he did but he doesn't know how to apologize for it so he gets up in the middle of the night and picks her roses to scatter on her bed and then comes to be non sexually intimate with her, deliberately trying not to get too close into her personal space so she doesn't feel overpowered or attacked. A pose that could literally be interpreted as him begging her forgiveness. And that describing it's sounds so sweet but in the show he's blocked like he's being a pathetic child. It's so so gross.

And that's not even talking about the conversation that triggered it which spends half the time treating every woman in the scene like they're shallow and unable to understand media, before seemingly taking a minute to mock anyone who wants to read more into stories, highlighting queer analysis especially, as people who refuse to just let stories be and being too forceful for asking people to actually think about what they're watching. Real the curtains are blue shit.

I honestly love Abe so much he reminds me of my dad in a lot of ways so I am pretty biased but even still I just feel so gross after bits of this episode. Especially when they do stuff like "haha men don't want to know about lady problems" while actively undermining sexual harassment and making all the female characters besides queen of all midge and Susie, who despises all thing femmine, (in a way that used to feel like butch rep but with the other stuff seems now like a way to say she's competent because she's not acting like a silly girl) be portrayed as dumb.

Idk man I miss mai.

[harrietmjones]

I’m definitely going to watch the show until the very end because I’ve watched from the beginning but it still hasn’t stopped me from feeling frustrated with how S5 is going and I’m sure heading towards.

I could give a list of why I’m feeling like I’m feeling but I’m too tired, so I shan’t. Just know that this show has been one of my all time favourites, at least up until last season (and certainly after watching this season 🤦‍♀️).

So, because of this, it’s spurred me on to finally write/flesh-out an idea I had when I was about 15/16/17, long before TMMM even existed.

I don’t know if it’ll be any good in the end but I’m excited that after not feeling I could write anything for several years, I’m trying to give myself pep talks that I can…and I will! I just lack the confidence really.

Anyway, one of my uncertainties towards writing this particular idea/story of mine, is because it’s very similar to the show. There’s a lot to it that’s different (and I’m trying with new ideas, to add as many of these differences into it as possible), so it doesn’t seem like I’m copying the show because I’m not (it was an idea I had back in the late 00’s) but I just didn’t want to start something, if anyone who was familiar with TMMM would say I was copying the writing.

The similarity is, is that it’s about a young woman in 60’s London, who changes the momentum of her life (because of external factors) and turns herself towards a career in comedy (I did toy with other career changes but a comedian worked the best with what I had envisioned).

There are plenty of differences but this sole similarity is a pretty big one.

Also, a more recent idea, which has flared up even stronger because of 5x01, was including a friendship with a male fellow comedian, that ends on a much happier note than the show will end up having. Originally, it was a platonic female friendship between two female comedians/people in the business but inspired by the epic chemistry of Midge and Lenny (or should I say, the steering forces behind them, Rachel and Luke), I decided to create a friendship based on theirs instead (but with a happier ending).

Sorry if this is a bit of a ramble and apologies for any accidental swapping of tenses with this, I just needed to get this down, however and whatever way my brain needed it to be.

I’ll end this whole thing, with some gifs of the gorgeous people who reignited my urge to write once more. 🥰

[theycallme-thejackal]

I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS SCENE.

(warning: a lot of joel hate below)

*clears throat*

So. I want to focus on Joel and Lenny in response to Midge getting heckled.

Midge very clearly has a handle on things. This guy is being a dick, and she’s able to roast him very effectively in contrast to how she dealt with hecklers earlier in the season - see 1x05: Doink (except don’t because that whole episode is cringeworthy).

Joel’s immediate response is to defend her honor. Now, I know a lot of people would go, Aww that’s because he loves her. He’s protecting her.

And to that, I say look at Lenny.

Lenny's watching her, enjoying her work (you can see him laugh a few times). He’s not jumping in. You can attribute that to the fact that he’s also a comic. He understands hecklers and knows it’s part of the game. Knowing how to deal with people not liking your act (even - and especially - if it is funny) is important for a comedian.

Now I direct you to the second gif.

When the heckler stands, Lenny’s face changes. He’s watching the guy because while he knows Midge can handle herself, he also knows there are people who get physically aggressive, and there’s no way this ‘cute uptown chick’ can take this guy in a fight. There’s clearly mild concern on his face.

There’s also obvious admiration because Midge got under the guy’s skin. She won.

Midge is his friend. Nothing’s happened. Lenny’s still wearing a wedding ring (even though he and Honey got divorced in 1957 irl, but I digress), so we can assume he’s not thinking about ever pursuing something more than friendly.

But if the guy had charged the stage, I’m pretty sure Lenny would have stepped in and taken that punch for her, maybe even punched the guy first. Joel might have, too, but Lenny’s only a few feet away, and Joel’s across the bar.

Third gif.

When the guys leave, Lenny watches them go. He relaxes a bit, but it’s obvious he’s making sure they’re actually getting out. He’s still got his hackles raised enough, but once again, he respects Midge enough to let her fight her own battles.

And then there’s Joel. *sigh*

Joel watches this all go down. He saw his ex-wife engaged in friendly conversation (read: banter) with his comedy hero, and that clearly got under his skin. Then she went up on stage and roasted him and his mistress for a while, which continued to bother him. 

He just watched her obliterate this guy and take care of herself, and that made him angry. Because as far as Joel is concerned, Midge needs him, and watching her handle herself without him is the final straw.

The guy is angry and aggressive, and he doesn’t respect Midge. He views her as his. His to defend, his to provide for (and if you don’t agree with that, Michael Zegen even said at the Emmys that Joel is very protective of his girl, to which we got a very shady - and very attractive - eyebrow raise from Luke Kirby). 

It kills Joel to see her being self-sufficient because it means she doesn’t need him anymore. He sucked at providing for her. He sucked at taking care of her. The one thing he can still do for her is punch a guy who’s being a dick to her.

So he does it to make himself feel better.

When he gets pulled off of the guy outside, he says, She’s good. She’s fucking good and gets really, really sad about it. Like, the guy is crying.

That punch wasn’t in defense of Midge. That punch was because he needs to believe that he still has a purpose in her life outside of being a punchline.

You will never convince me that Joel didn’t, for even a split second, imagine it was Midge he was punching in that moment.

She’s up there, telling jokes that are a million times funnier than anything he could ever write, and she’s doing it off the cuff. She’s just being herself. Making fun of her pain - the pain he caused, by the way - and she’s funnier than he could ever hope to be.

Look, Joel might love her, but he doesn’t respect her. In this scene, Lenny doesn’t love her (yet), but he respects her. And that is crucial.

Midge doesn’t need a man, but if she wants one (and clearly she does), he has to respect her as her own person, believe in her and her ability take care of herself, but also be there for her when she needs it. Now, who does that describe?

Lenny, who shows up in her life at the most seemingly random times? Lenny, who stands outside a hotel room waiting for her to make the move and then letting her walk away without pushing any further? Lenny, who keeps a respectful distance in his hotel room because he never ever wants her to feel like he’s pushing her into anything?

Or Joel, who hasn’t even bothered in four seasons to apologize for the absolutely degrading way in which he left her?

[glitchyred56]

Okay yall hear me out but I think the new unit is possibly 1st and 2nd year high schoolers!!! Am I just desperate to keep the high school connection relevant maybe,,,,

But okay these poses do not look like confident or seasoned idols!!! They’re awkward and a bit disjointed as a group

Also they seem to all be similar heights and on the shorter side??? Like it could be a perspective thing but I think they’re a younger unit

[mangle-my-mind]

New episodes of Mrs. Maisel already have me feeling iffy. Spoilers below :)

1. The flash-forwards are making me deeply unhappy. Why did Midge lose everyone important in her life on her way to the top? Did it need to happen that way? Her relationship with her kids is awful imo, and I don’t know how much of it is justified based on how we’ve seen her interact with them thus far. Like, sure, there will be problems, generational trauma, but wow I think they pushed it way too far. And not having Susie anymore? That’s actually infuriating. Why were we given this dismal future? Fingers crossed that maybe it’s a bait-and-switch of some kind? idk 

2. The way they write Mei out of the show is terrible!!!! She is such an interesting character, and she definitely is justified in leaving Joel and the cookie-cutter suburban life and becoming a doctor, but I really wish it wasn’t this like three-minute fight scene and then we never see her again. We’re really not gonna get to see Stephanie Hsu tear it up anymore? >:(

3. Not nearly enough Lenny NOT NEARLY ENOUGH LENNY I don’t CARE what path his real life is taking and if he’s meant to be in California at this time I DON’T CARE I NEED HIM IN NEW YORK I NEED HIM INTERACTING WITH MIDGE IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT THEY’RE DOING I JUST NEED HIM ON MY SCREEN

[darloe]

People don’t talk or theorize enough about Midge’s Carnegie set, especially since she canonically gets pulled off the stage for something that I didn’t quite catch in season 5 which was the worst season imaginable.

I like to imagine she just constantly and subtly references Lenny Bruce, like she’s all ‘oh, and I have this special friend, a dear friend of mine, blah blah..’ and the friend is Lenny Bruce but no one except Susie knows this.

Also, I love when authors redo Midge’s apology to Shy. The whole episode was just a disaster.

Before it’s her turn, Midge finds out she apparently took Moms Mabley’s spot and then she’s all anxious already because it’s the Apollo and Susie isn’t here so she gets this vague pep talk from Reggie and he’s like ‘talk about Shy, these are his people’ and because she’s desperate for laughs, it’s exactly what she does.

Her words are her own fault and her apology sucked, this is one of the instances that we see how she hates admitting when she’s wrong but I also sympathize with her because of what happens before she goes on the stage.

Let’s quickly talk about season 5. I knew Midge was going to be an absent and neglectful mom, she knew this as well. Because you can’t have everything, there’s always a sacrifice. But it still hurt to see, especially since in every season before, she references her kids a lot.

And Lenny? Don’t get me started. How old was Kitty when Lenny died? Fictionally, since Lenny’s Carnegie set in Midge Maisel is in a different timeline than the actual time Lenny went to Carnegie, I assume Kitty is a bit older? Maybe.

Anyways, if any writers could possibly make a fic where Midge acquires Kitty after his death and now has to take care of his kid while also balancing her rising career and then it ends up with her becoming closer to her actual kids (the ones that she distanced from due to her career) i would be eternally grateful.

I’ve read that one fic, and if you’re in the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fandom on ao3, you would know what fic I’m talking about because it’s the largest fic there is in the fandom. That one, done by both of those authors? Absolutely gorgeous.

I especially loved how they explored Midge and Joel’s relationship and how it constantly affects Midge’s life.

(And if you just lived under a rock and don’t know what I’m talking about: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46657975)

- Darloe.

[nace-maisel]

Season 5 of Mrs. Maisel or How ASP loves to ruin her characters

Hey. I don’t usually posts stuff here but I do need to rant a little bit about the last season of the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

I saw a video that pointed out that one of the main themes of the show was “can women have it all?” and that is a theme ASP uses in both Maisel and Gilmore Girls, to the detriment of the shows. In her world, it is impossible for women to be successful in their careers while having healthy relationships. In turn, every successful woman gives up something and her success comes with a cost way too high that ultimately dehumanizes her.

Initially, I was fine with the flash forwards because, of course Midge is not parent of the year. However, the multiple marriages was just a shock, it feels monumentally out of character that, after declining a marriage and having her marriage fall apart she would enter any other relationship with the intent of just marrying cause whatever. that’s not her, at least not what we were shown these past four seasons.

While she’s very pretty and has her romantic interests, she’s actually very thoughtful about getting into relationships, she is way more guarded now and considers the ramifications for her, her career and her family.

Also, what is she doing? Midge feels almost like a secondary character to her own story now, she’s lost in a (kinda) dead-end job for her, not working on her craft like she promised herself (and Lenny) and blowing up opportunities because she is way too selfish to look past her own nose. It feels like ASP understands successful or disruptive women as women who are annoying and stubborn and cannot take a single piece of criticism. 

I truly loved the show and I loved Midge being a single mother sorting her career out with Susie, putting in the hours and the work, climbing slowly to the top and while I understood the narrative thread in season 4, carrying it to season 5 is just a drag. We know she “makes it”, we know she has a strained relationship with her kids and Susie and that she didn’t end up with any of the romantic interests we have met so.... by episode 3 what even is the point of the show anymore.

[whiskyinteacup]

finally watched barbie, why do I feel like I've seen a very shallow class on basic feminism 101 for dummies

[pajamadragon]

Every time my friends say someone called them gross names because they ship Sun/Moon, my urge to draw Sun/Moon grows.

[evil-bonched]

I love Susie Myerson because I love bitchy toxic mean liar lesbians who are also repressed. And that’s the facts

[jojoblessed365]

Mrs Maisel || Gilmore Girls

Okay, so I have a few thoughts after watching the first few episodes of Mrs Maisel and I would really love @stellaluna33 @sagesfandomspot @butchjess @parisgellergf @thegreatwars to chime in, cause what I'm about to say may be unpopular or a little controversial:

Spoilers Ahead if you haven't watched the S5 premiere of Mrs Maisel!!!

So, as we all know: Stephanie Hsu aka Mei Lin, is officially out of the Maisel narrative and here's how she was written out:

She has officially moved to Chicago for her residency, she (presumably- it was hinted at) ended her pregnancy and broke up with Joel.

So, from an interview with ASP and Dan Palladino, this is what she quoted about Mei:

“[She] was brought in for a hot blast [to knock] Joel off of his axis [and] out of the Midge world, she also represent[ed] the next generation of women that would be coming up after Midge, who might be thinking a little ahead of the game, like, ‘Maybe before I get married and have kids, I’m gonna accomplish this.’ Midge was a little late for that. She fell into her ambition. Stephanie was playing those girls in the 60s who are, like, ‘I’ve seen my mom’s way, and maybe I’m going to do it a slightly different way.'”

Another quote from Dan Palladino was:

“We wanted to show Joel with a woman who was even more independent than Midge was. Midge embraced the Betty Crocker myth; Mei did not. So [her] pregnancy [teed up] an inevitable conclusion [for the character].”

So, I was thinking and I know it's controversial but-

What if Rory could have that same thing?

Everyone has assumed that Rory will follow in her mother's footsteps, become a single mom and thrive in a career, but that doesn't have to necessarily be the same.

The fact is that Rory had more support than Lorelai when she got pregnant. And she's on the cusp of something, just like Mei. So she could and it's a big could, that she ends the pregnancy.

IMHO, what would be the bigger kick was if Rory miscarried- that would have even more hurtful effects than if she willingly terminated the pregnancy. Given Rory's character arc and personality, she would definitely take it hard and she would then try to bury her grief by burying herself into her career but then she could push away her family, and have zero interest in romantic relationships till she slowly starts growing out of that shell she went into in the later seasons of Gilmore Girls and AYITL, and also by opening up to, and in my perspective, someone like Jess, who she has a healthy platonic/romantic connection with; and this has to be of the opposite sex, I don't think Lorelai, Lane or Paris would help, given that they are moms and Rory would feel a pang of jealousy and sadness given that she may interpret the miscarriage as a mistake on her part and that it was the universe's way of saying that she's not cut out or fit to be a mom. In this way, she shrinks into Lorelai's shadow and this again amps up the drama.

Anyway, I like that ASP has these kinds of narrative parallels that are shocking but actually work- they are controversial, given that we are in a post Roe vs Wade conflict, but it's very realistic and understandable when you analyse it on a microscopic level.

To conclude, I would like to point out the central theme of Maisel's final season which is summarized in a single quote by Mei as well as the parallels that are set with Midge through the flashforwards of Esther, Ethan and Midge's future:

“I can’t have it all, Joel. If I’m really going to be a doctor then I have to be a doctor.”

And Midge in her 60 minutes interview saying:

"Lucky in life, unlucky in love."

So, it could be the same for Rory and what she chooses: being her mom (continuing what AYITL sets up) or forging her own path (Like Mei) or dealing with something that is her own individual trauma that no one has experienced and she has to deal with it firsthand.

So... Thoughts Please!!!