Men Who Hate Women

I saw The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo tonight. I was thinking about posting this on Death of a Trend but the subject matter is a little heavier than squeeing over boys, so I think its more at place over here at Dark Vaudeville.

So where to begin?

Synopsis: An elderly millionaire, Henrik Vanger (Svend-Bertil Taube), is haunted by the disappearance and suspected murder of his niece who vanished 40 years ago. Each year he is sent a package from an anonymous sender, whom he believes is his neice's killer. He enlists the help of a well respected journalist, Mikael Blokvist (Michael Nyqvist) who has just been convicted of libel. He has 6 months before he must serve his sentence and 6 months to solve this 40 year old mystery. Vanger tells Blokvist that he believes the killer is a member of his family as they all reside on one island and the day that Harriet disappeared, there was an accident blocking the only entrance and exit to and from the Vanger family Island. Throughout his investigation Blokvist is being tracked by professional hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Repace). Salander, in making the first break in the case in over 39 years, decides to help Blokvist investigate the disappearance and possible murder of Harriet Vanger. Through their investigations you learn that the Vanger clan are indeed a horrible bunch who hold many secrets between them and each scene brings you closer and closer to the deplorable truth.


My verdict: From an asexual standpoint I thought it was an excellent movie. Suspense, mystery, plot line, acting, action, it was all there. Injustices were 'righted' and the good people won in the end, so from an asexual standpoint I could leave the theatre satisfied that those sick motherf-ckers got theirs.

BUT

From a female standpoint it left me shaken. Oh there might me spoilers up a head so if you don't want me to spoil anything, stop reading now!

As I've grown older I've become more aware of what it means to be a woman in this society and what our status is. This doesn't make me a harpy, or a lesbian, or a militant feminist who hates men, so if that's your line of thinking you can go ahead and shut the f-ck up. In this movie there is a lot of violence towards women, as in brutal violence, rape, and murder and it didn't just happen to one woman or two women or three women but MANY women, in fact the violence touched all the female characters in this movie save one.

Watching this movie, it really disturbed me because how many movies are out there that brutalize women just for a shocking end or to prove the evilness of the bad guy? Why is it that when writers want to show the darkest of human nature they take it out on women? This is not me being oversensitive, because watching The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo I got that cold, heavy, nauseating feeling in my stomach I had when I watched:

-The Cell
-Se7en
-Kiss The Girls
-Silence of The Lambs
-Jagged Edge
-Eastern Promises
-Perfume: Story of a Murderer
-Copy Cat
-From Hell
-The Black Dahlia

There are probably more but these are the ones that came to mind. So there are many movies with brutal violence toward women and no its not just a punch in the face kind of violence, its sexual violence which is even more devastating than a broken nose or arm could ever be. I'm probably more aware of this because I am a woman and the threat of sexual violence is a very real concern, as I talked about here, when I was explaining it to my brother he rolled his eyes a bit but then I listed all the movies above and then he understood and agreed there is a lot of violence towards women in our mass media. If you see this movie then you will know the sexual violence the female characters must endure. Lisbeth, who I admire (as much as you can admire a fictional character), is raped and beaten. Harriet Vanger was a victim of rape and incest. All the women that were investigated were brutally tortured, raped, and murdered.

Seriously what the f-ck?


I'm not against telling stories about violence against women, it happens, A LOT, 1 in 4 women are victims of sexual assault, think of the 4 most important women in you life, one of them has experienced some kind of sexual abuse, so not to talk about or address it, to just sweep it under the rug would be doing the women who are abused a disservice. HOWEVER, was it necessary for essentially every woman in this story (the movie was based on a book) to have been sexually assaulted in such terrible ways? Could we not get a respite? Because I felt it went beyond the point of telling the story of violence against women and crossed the line of exploitation. It got to a point where I was sick to my stomach.

Lisbeth, Harriet, Liv, Magda, Sarah, Mari, BJ, all the nameless women who showed up in the killer's trophy photos, beaten, raped, and most of them killed. The Swedish title of the book/movie is called 'Men Who Hate Women'. Really, because much of human history and current events could not tell me that, I needed a book and movie to let me in on this inside information.
This movie left a dark cloud over my soul because I've seen this story line many times before, maybe too many times. I'm trying to be as pragmatic as possible here, to ensure that I'm not overreacting but I don't think I am. Lisbeth's rape was particularly brutal as you saw everything, and despite her getting revenge on her attacker, I still felt deeply upset by it. Even though you don't see Harriet get abused, in a flashback you see a 16 year old girl, face bloodied, blouse torn open, exposing her bra, running away from her shirtless, drunken father, even a scene like that is enough to leave me shaken.

If it was strictly a murder mystery without the torture and rape I think I would have appreciated the movie more but with all this sexual violence, despite Lisbeth and Harriet's strong spirit, this movie just left me feeling empty inside and proving once again that women are only vehicle's for men's desires, fears, and fantasies.

The book was a trilogy and there are two other movies that have been made, I might see them because I am curious about Lisbeth Salander's story, she was the best part of the movie, and I think I'll make a separate post on her alone but if I do decide to see the other two movies, I'll mentally prepare myself because to be honest The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo blindsided me.

You just know, you just do

I love the XX, so subdued and yet so refreshing. I want to go to their concert in March so badly...we'll see

The Bachelor

Have you heard Patrick Wolf's 'The Bachelor'? If you haven't you must!

Patrick's Wolf's voice is so rich and beautiful, and so emotive! Sometimes he honestly takes my breath away. The Bachelor is just another stepping stone on his way to greatness. He is seriously underrated! His songs are like dark adult fairy tales on acid, that's the best way I can describe it.

Not to mention he's fucking weird...and I wouldn't want him any other way.

Holy Motherf*cking Sh*t!

Just watched the latest episode of Dexter.

Oh.My.God.

FUCKING BRAZILLIANT!!!!!!!!

The writers on this show, just fucking tops! I mean they took a while to get there last season but this season? FUCK ME, AMAZING!

I've been watching from the first season and the character development is the best I've ever seen. Take for example Rita, although I don't really like her character but her progression and development has been amazing, from season one where she was a severely damaged, meek, tragic woman to today where she's strong, confident, and the anchor of her marriage. Complete 180 to what they introduced her as. Can you believe?

The twists and turns of this season have just been exhilarating, and John Lithgow is the epitome of fucking creepy! To me season 2 is still the best season but this comes in at a close second! I cannot wait until next week. I'm so revved up. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING TO HAPPEN?????

God why such a nerd?

Good Use of Interpol

Here's the promo of Big Love Season 4:



I can't wait for this season to start! So many questions need to be answered, is Roman dead? How will Nikki's daughter fit in? Will Sarah get married? Is Barb finally going to implode? Is Alby going to get a boyfriend? so many questions that I need answers. BOO to you HBO for having 8 week long shows and then we have to wait nearly a year before we find out what happens!

PS Interpol fits perfectly! If there ever was a band who is deserving of their indie cool cred/hype its Interpol, Paul Banks voice alone is sad, haunting, and strangely enamouring!

The XX

Beautiful. Warm. Perfect.

You Got The Love


Islands


Heart Skipped a Beat


Shelter

Don't Judge Me But...

I kind of really love this song...SHUT UP!

New Favourite Song!

I love, love, love, LOVE this song:



When it comes to music I'm such an anglophile, and I kind of hate it. Don't get me wrong British music is good but there is some great Can Con out there (Wintersleep, Broken Social Scene, Jen Grant, Junior Boys, etc) but somehow when going through my playlist(s) about 85% of the artists are British. What's that all about? Britain's okay and all but it ain't all that...I wish people I went to school with, understood this.

The Myth

After a year in an independent study high school my mother decided I should transfer to an all girls school. Both schools were Catholic but they could not be more different in how they approached religion, worship, and sexuality.

School one had a more laid back approach. Our priest was well known in the school community, he had an office in the school, he was easy to talk to, really friendly, and wore jeans when he wasn't leading mass. When we'd go to mass it was either in the gym or in the summer months it was on the field at the back of the school...yes mass on the grass. The emphasis was put on community, helping each other out, and being good people. At school I didn't feel stifled by religion or its dogma, and as a young woman I didn't feel as is I was carrying a burden of temptation and morality.

...in comes school two.

School two was an all girl school and not a week went by when abstinence, pro-life, and sexist dogma were not shoved down our throats. I could feel the shift instantly. Suddenly there was an abstinence group, where they'd put on lame, badly acted, skits on how to avoid having sex with your boyfriend (ironically enough one of the main members of this group was one of the most sexually active in the school) . Health class was a joke, it only highlighted the STIs we could contract if we had sex. (It was later revealed by my sister that, our gym teacher, who taguht health, had taught her year about condoms and birth control but adminsitration caught wind of this and shut down the safe sex unit in health class altogether.) Mass was held at the convent next door where we preached at about the special gift God gave to us and how it must be cherished as well as protected. Pre-marital sex was a sin. Homosexuality was a sin. Materbaution was a sin.

We were taught all of these things and yet girls at my high school still got pregnant before graduation, girls still contracted various STIs, and girls still got it on in the parking lot with their boyfriends during school dances.

I don't know about you but I'd say absitence only programs do not work.

We had this discussion with one of our more religiously inclined teachers. A classmate asked why safe sex shouldn't be taught in schools, our teacher said that providing condoms and lessons about birth control would be giving young people persmission to have sex (except that we don't need permission), my classmate countered 'but we're having sex anyway' after that my teacher shut up and continued on with the lesson.

So completely shocked and disgusted that my vagina and womb were constant fodder for both fear and control, I asked my brother and a few of my male friends who went to the all boys school up the road about abstience and pro-life: 'What's that?' 'Huh?' 'Oh we don't have that' 'They don't teach us about condoms either'

WHAT THE FUCK???

I was so angry! The blatant double standard was dispicable! I mean, a girl cannot get pregnant on her own, she cannot contract an STD all by her lonesome!

In light of this extrem sexism I started to weapons of the weak it. I skipped mass. Slept in religon class. Argued with my philiosphy teacher that yes, transgendered men and women are in face people...I was rude to him too, he deserved it! And I took a stand in business class, it may have not been on the Rosa Parks scale but I yielded the little power I did have:
It was pro-life week, the pro-lifers were passing around pictures of dead burnt babies and shit. At the end of their terrible presentation, they passed around these forms saying I making this promise to God, that I will keep my purity for marriage signed ________.
Oh fuck no!

I was seated beside a girl named Jessica, she was 6 months pregnant, so when said forms were being handed out, the pro-life girl handed me a form and sheepishly asked Jessica, 'You don't want one, do you', Jessica smiled nervously and shook her head. As everyone was signing their names the pro-life girls announced that all these sheets of paper would be placed in a bowl and be offered up to God at mass.

...



...


So as everyone passed their sheets up to the front the girls around be were like 'why aren't you handing in your sheet?' and I stated loudly, and clearly 'I'm not going to make a promise that I'm not going to keep, least of all to God' They gave me cut eye and turned back around. And that was my defiance in the fact of sexism, mysgongy, and religion.

It sucks that a woman's morality is contingent on her sexuality. A man would never be considered a bad person because he's has double digit, sexual partners but if you found out a woman had the same amount well then she'd be considered a slut, someone to be gawked at, someone to be avoided, someone not worthy of a commited relationship.

Really? REALLY?

Take a fucking walk!

Hot Song Alert

Don't you just love hot songs? Songs that just awaken those primordial instincts of just wanting to mate ALL THE DAMN TIME?

Yea I love those songs too!

There are many hot songs out there but like people, some hot songs are only good for one night and others always get the job done. I prefer the latter, personally but hey to each their own, right?

This hot song comes from Hamilton's own Junior Boys its called Parallel Lines and when homeboy sings "that final taste before you're taken away", UGH I am a puddle, completely disarmed.



mmmmm, hell yea!

Take Me To The Hospital

This is one of my all time favourite songs! I have a thing for songs that spell out words...it could have something to do with the fact that I was a cheerleader for a whole 20 minutes (no lie!). My favourite part is when he spells out blood:

Now I'm losing blood from my veins. They're slowly emptying. I'm bothered by this crimson red to the color of blood. To the color of a B. The color of a L. To the color of a O. The color of O. To the color of a Deep crimson red from a little bitty accident. ACCIDENT.

After that I always say to myself 'OH SNAP' because they finish off the d in blood with deep, eh? eh? witty, huh? Also they come up with the best line ever: Anything worth doing, is worth getting hurt for.

Words to live by, if you ask me!

PS My favourite part is when that wind surfer and shark get run over by the boat and the paramedic picks up pieces of both their bodies, gets me every time...apparently I'm easily amused.

Peace Will Come To Me

Depeche Mode - "Peace"


The chorus has some church flavour to it, classic Depeche Mode always dabbling in spiritual and religious imagery (see Jesus, Personal; Rumours, Blasphemous; The Revelator, John). Not as good as 'Wrong' but still amazing! Ugh DM, please don't ever leave us!

TV on the Radio

I went to go see TV on the Radio with Val and her friend Matt on Tuesday. Before that night I heard about them but never heard their music and before that night I had not seen Val since high school graduation, so how did this come to pass?

In high school we were into the same music and even went to the edge to meet Kasabian together, she was cool and all but our group of friends...well let's just say they didn't overlap, we could probably thank the other one for that but that's not important. So anyways, she randomly messaged me on facebook a few weeks ago and have since exchanged several messages about, what else, our amazing taste in music, lol.

Last weekend she messaged me about how she had an extra ticket to TV on the Radio and asked if I wanted to go. At the time I was feeling pretty low about Alice and Vivienne, and we got along well enough in high school, and I'm a pretty accommodating person so I thought 'why the fuck not?'.

I must say I do not regret my decision. There was only one semi-awkward moment when her and Matt were talking about school and I was just like 'I study people...' but overall I had a good time. The opening act, Dirty Projectors, were garbage! Yea I just said that you hipster fucks! But TV on the Radio were sooooo good. I didn't know what to expect and I was pleasantly blown away by them, they were amazing! They're music is this folky, soulful, indie, eclectic, concoction . Its effing brilliant!

I'm really glad I went because now I have a concert buddy, and its always nice to rekindle old friendships. Yey, more friends! Why not?



PS Can you detect a certain legend singing in the background of 'Province'? If they got him to sing with them, then you know they're good!

Fever Ray

'If I had a heart'


My first purchase off of iTunes. It was only $7.99, and boy was it ever worth it. Fever Ray is the solo effort from The Knife's Karin Dreijer Andersson. It jumps to sounding how The Knife's cousin would sound, to Oriental Surrealism, to Flamenco dancing on acid, to African tribal music, to something that could only come out of Scandinavia.

I don't know. This is my interpretation. Its a wonderful album. Every song is so different and yet so very much the same. Karin's vocals are so bizzare, so crazy, and so beautiful. If you're a fan of The Knife or of Sigur Ros then you'll love Fever Ray!

4/4

1) If I had a heart
2) When I grow up
3) Dry and Dusty
4) Seven
5) Triangle Walls
6) Concrete Walls
7) Now is the Only Time I Know
8) I'm not Done
9) Keep the Streets Empty For me
10) Coconut

*Bolded are my personal favourites