If you came here looking for cohesion or a particular theme, I have only one thing to say: Don't come around here no more. As befitting a blog which boasts multiple personalities, you should expect to see a variety of topics: everything from fanfiction to stuff I am coveting to crafty tutorials to picture of my cats and California life to reflections on libraries and librarianship. The one unifying theme: complete and utter self-absorption. Or is it just my attempt to establish my voice and identity in the cyberworld? Does it even matter? You decide.
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Sometimes I think my desk is a cruelly accurate representation of my life at large.
Today was one of those days where each time I tried to clear some of the work off my desk, more would come my way. Strangely enough, these are the kind of days that I like. There are other days—not many at all, thank goodness—that are so routine, so unremarkable that I find myself having a little moment of panic as I think, What if I wake up one day and I am 45 and I am still doing this?
(I should be so lucky. What’s to complain about? I work in a great environment with amazing, kind, patient colleagues and supervisors, and I have the honor of serving the public and helping along the enrichment of a large population.)
Anyway, today was not one of those “Oh god, will nothing ever change?” days. If for no other reason than there was simply no time for anything but hard work! I suspect my bosses keep passing on tasks and assignments to me to keep me out of trouble. Heh. Little do they know how adept I am at multi-tasking!
Just not so adept at the keeping the desk clean thing.
#work #library #librarian to the stars #desk
(Before I commence this post, I will readily concede that I am looking at this through the worldview of a non-disabled person, and so my opinions are informed accordingly).
When I first heard about DC’s decision to “reboot” a lot of their main characters, I was tickled pink. My interest in the comic universe is a fickle thing, usually inspired by movies with hot Wolverines or Batmen interesting superhero storylines, but I always get frustrated by the fact that I have to read back like 50 years to get the whole back-story—and then let’s not forget the a/u story arcs! So to have Batman and Batgirl (among many others) reboot to Issue #1 is a great opportunity for me to get my geek on with relatively little effort.
I received the news about Barbara Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle “rising again” with more ambivalence. I am delighted to see her be more mobile and take on the traditional superhero mantle (so long as she does not give up her mad brain skillz); I think that often, in our society, women are relegated (and often relegate themselves) to a more passive, hands-off, intellectual/intelligent/smartypants role. One needs look no further than the American Community Survey, which is showing that 34% of women ages 25 to 34 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, as opposed to 27% of males in the same age range. So it has sometimes felt to me as though Oracle was typecast as the smart, behind-the-scenes, not-allowed-in-frontline combat character who was, through her disability, unintentionally reinforcing this new gender role for women.
Don’t get me wrong. I am a librarian. I love to put people (men, usually) through the mincing machine of my brain. I recognize the need for women to show off their smarts as much as possible. And I recognize and honor what Batgirl came to represent to many people, myself included, through both her brains and her refusal to be restricted in what she could do due to her injury.
But the times, they are a changin’.
Batgirl: She’s not just your symbol, your role model, be you a woman or a man or a person negotiating a disability. She’s here to be a symbol and a role model for everyone, should they want her. She was disabled and confined to a wheelchair. And now she’s not. Just as one is more than their hot body or beautiful face, so too can they be more than their disability or their wheelchair. It’s their mind, their strength of spirit,their talents, their character which is the true role model. Everything else—their wheelchairs, their capes, their fancy gadgets—all these are just trappings. Her wheelchair is not an essential part of her personality; her brains are.
While I understand, at least on an intellectual, if not emotional, level what Oracle represents as a disabled person, to disabled people, she is more than her wheelchair. The story arcs of her as a disabled woman don’t cease to exist; they simply re-boot. Oracle, Batgirl, whatever you want to call her, will still be there, just not in her wheelchair. Be angry if she loses her stellar brains, her ideals, her integrity, folks.
I understand how essential it is for us to be given examples of diversity though pop culture. We “other” people all the time, and shy away from them. Disabled people. Minorities. Women. Weird people in Amish garb. Little people. San Francisco liberals. Undocumented immigrants. You name it, someone is gonna be hatin’. And I suppose I could be accused now of “othering” people in wheelchairs because I am supportive of a Barbara Gordon that I can personally identify with—that is, a Barbara Gordon who is not confined to a wheelchair. It’s neither my desire nor my intention to minimize the substantial obstacles any “other” in our society faces; I acknowledge them and honor every person who faces their obstacles head-on. But what it boils down to is this:
It’s time to share her with other people; Oracle or Barbara Gordon or Batgirl doesn’t need her wheelchair or her disability any more. She had it, it served as a beautiful, inspiring, and substantial storyline for years, but it’s time for other things. We all need Barbara Gordon—as well as many other role models—but all Barbara Gordon needs is a large market of people who need her—and that means everyone, male and female, disabled and otherwise.
Was it DC’s intention to turn Barbara Gordon into an iconic role model for the disabled segment of the population? Were they simply trying to get rid of her, make people hate the Joker even more, and then suddenly realized that they had stumbled onto something big, both as a marketing ploy and a vehicle for change and acceptance? Who knows? What I do know is that DC is being equal opportunity: everyone gets a reboot. If Barbara Gordon didn’t get some sort of reboot, that would look very odd indeed. Her wheelchair never really stopped her before—and so it won’t stop her from being rebooted, either.
#geekery #DC Comics #Batgirl #Reflections #Am I an asshole?
I will start by saying that I am not a fan of Daniel Craig. He’s a bit weasely for my tastes.
I will continue by saying that I am also not, as a rule, a fan of American re-make of foreign movies.
I will continue further by saying that I think Noomi Rapace embodied Lisbeth Salander perfectly in the Swedish Millenium Trilogy. She is my current, and strongest, girl crush.
Given these parameters, it’s kinda funny that every time I see the poster for the American version for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I just about have a mental orgasm:
The pirated trailer for the US version was compelling enough, but this poster? Omg, omg, hawt!
Daniel Craig looks as weasely as ever—not to mention possibly constipated—but seriously? He is so much better to portray Mikael Blomkvist than this dude:
I’m a ladies’ man, yeah! No one is impervious to my charms.
Lest I be accused of being a typical shallow American, with no concept of beauty outside our narrowly-defined standards here in the big ol’ US of A, I will say this:
Uh, well, maybe guilty as charged. But! I simply don’t see how the Swedish version’s Mikael Blomkvist could possibly be so appealing, and it strained credibility. In addition to lacking physical appeal, I just don’t see how he even offered any sort of charismatic je ne sais quoi that Larsson’s character possessed. Vaguely rodent-like though he is, I think Craig’s a pretty good choice for our American remake. Not conventionally attractive, but still—there’s something so elementally raw and sexy about him (at least in the movie poster) that no amount of feigned dyspepsia can diminish.
Psychologically, the poster is hot. I can’t even begin to go into describing how, exactly, without giving you (and perhaps me, too) an unwanted picture of my psyche. But even that movie picture pales in comparison to the uncensored (that’s right, it gets hotter) version:
I will, however, lament the lack of Noomi Rapace in the American version. Have I mentioned she’s my current girlcrush and I would happily let her kick my ass and steal my lunch money? Yes, plz!
Let’s just save some time. You give me your lunch money,
and I won’t have to kill you dead. I have piercings that could impale you.
