“I think women like to read about murderous mothers and lost little girls because it’s our only mainstream outlet to even begin discussing female violence on a personal level. Female violence is a specific brand of ferocity. It’s invasive. A girlfight is all teeth and hair, spit and nails — a much more fearsome thing to watch than two dudes clobbering each other. And the mental violence is positively gory. Women entwine. Some of the most disturbing, sick relationships I’ve witnessed are between long-time friends, and especially mothers and daughters. Innuendo, backspin, false encouragement, punishing withdrawal, sexual jealousy, garden-variety jealousy — watching women go to work on each other is a horrific bit of pageantry that can stretch on for years. Libraries are filled with stories on generations of brutal men, trapped in a cycle of aggression. I wanted to write about the violence of women. […] I particularly mourn the lack of female villains — good, potent female villains…I’m talking violent, wicked women. Scary women. Don’t tell me you don’t know some. The point is, women have spent so many years girl-powering ourselves — to the point of almost parodic encouragement — we’ve left no room to acknowledge our dark side. Dark sides are important. They should be nurtured like nasty black orchids.”
Today I’m bringing a new post theme to my blog, seeing as I have an audible subscription, I thought you guys might be interested to see what I download each month. I get one credit per month and am so thankful for it – it means that I don’t have to pay £25 for something. (WOO.)
This month I downloaded Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I watched Gone Girl when it was out in the cinema…
So, another week, another list of things I read. There are a few pieces I was saving to read this week, but then I died twice, which cut into my reading time. Nevertheless, I did manage to read some stuff.
People got such a charge from seeing their names in print. Proof of existence. I could picture a squabble of ghosts ripping through piles of newspapers. Pointing at a name on the page. See, there I am. I told you I lived. I told you I was.
Cast: Ben Affleck (Nick Dunne), Rosamund Pike (Amy Elliot-Dunne), Neil Patrick Harris (Desi Collings), Tyler Perry (Tanner Bolt), Carrie Coon (Margo Dunne), Kim Dickens (Detective Rhonda Boney), Patrick Fugit (Officer James Gilpin)
Screenplay by: Gillian Flynn
Based on: Gone Girl (2012 book also written by screenwriter)
I waited patiently — years — for the pendulum to swing the other way, for men to start reading Jane Austen, learn how to knit, pretend to love cosmos, organize scrapbook parties, and make out with each other while we leer. And then we’d say, Yeah, he’s a Cool Guy. But it never happened. Instead, women across the nation colluded in our degradation! Pretty soon Cool Girl became the standard girl. Men believed she existed - she wasn’t just a dreamgirl one in a million. Every girl was supposed to be this girl, and if you weren’t, then there was something wrong with you.
—Gillian Flynn,Gone Girl (Part 2: Boy Meets Girl, Amy Elliott Dunne: The Day Of)
A town so suffocating and small, you tripped over people you hated every day. People who knew things about you. It’s the kind of place that leaves a mark.
“Being born a woman is an awful tragedy…yet, God, I want to talk to everybody I can as deeply as I can. I want to be able to sleep in an open field, to travel west, to walk freely at night…”
“The Female Man” - Joanna Russ // “The Robber’s Bride” - Margaret Atwood // “Gone Girl” - Gillian Flynn // “Ways of Seeing” - John Berger // “The Female Man” - Joanna Russ // Sylvia Plath
