My old art historian roommate had to read all these old German guys for her degree whereas I have to read all these old French guys: the is the real divide within the humanities
in the best-case scenario they get a straight guy in a Bruins hoodie who walked in because he thought they were playing the game
Comically over-ambitious to try this in Rhode Island (I have seen every single person who lives in this state with my own two eyes)
to understand Liza Minnelli, as a concept, you have to remember that she’s literally the child of a homosexual man and Judy Garland -- basically, the gay Kwisatz Haderach
Hi, I’m Johnny Knoxville and welcome to Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom!
to be clear, my point is really just that I think it's reasonable for the movie to show that the conventions and mores of theatre spectatorship (as we understand them now) were neither universally recognized nor set in stone in the early years of the 17th century
sure, amateur productions of the type mocked in A Midsummer Night's Dream would have presented anyone with the basics, but the playhouse is a different game, and most scholars agree that Tudor audiences were rowdy, with little regard for the symbolic dividing line of the proscenium.
there are no purpose-built theaters in the whole country between Roman Britain and the 1560's (and that one is a short-lived blip.) They spring up in the 1570's-90's but, strangely, only in London (with literally just one exception: the Prescot Playhouse)
I think the film takes it a bit too far, but it is easy to forget what a genuine novelty permanent theaters were in Elizabethan England. Yes, plays were performed by amateurs in churches and schools (and importantly, the Inns of Court) but professional theatre was new!
funnily enough, I wasn't a big fan of Hamnet but I do feel a bit defensive of an aspect of the film that seems to have drawn a lot of criticism: Agnes's "naive" reaction to the theatre
could have added: you have third-year PhD candidates born after 9/11 lol
Older faculty member made a joke to me about how college students probably don’t even remember 9/11 any more and I was just like Right so our college freshmen were born in 2008, actually.
including theology, mind you
it's incredible how Evangelicalism has produced literally nothing of value in any arena of culture
Yes Fear Shakespeare
I can tell at a glance who has and who hasn't had the humiliating but formative experience of walking through Hot Topic with their parents as a teenager
(Anglican guy at the tavern in 1620 or so) very well—what say you to this: Catholic son or Dissenter daughter?
"The decision to enlist in the army is shaped by historical, material circumstances beyond an individual's control and so you can't" -- first of all, literally all decisions are shaped by historical and material circumstances that are outside of our control
I like some of his work but Jonathan Goldberg (RIP) is always arguing that we can overcome the trap of retroactive Identity by historicizing sodomy (etc) and it's like Fine so why are you only writing about the gay sonnets then? Why stake any claim to be the inheritor of the old "Gay Studies"?
like Okay
early modern queer theory from the past 15 years or so tries so hard to overcome any sexual specificity implied by the term "sodomite" to make it mean something like "general antisocial activity" and then you look at their examples and it's always someone who just happens to have been fucking dudes
there's something funny there, too, about the relationship between behavior and identity (Shane having sex repeatedly before announcing himself gay, mocked by many viewers as "obvious," as opposed to Love Simon's entirely platonic homosexuality, sundered from desire etc.)
yeah I think that sounds exactly right -- Love Simon is a good point of comparison (am I remembering this correctly or does he not even meet the romantic interest until the literal last 10 seconds of the film? lol)
I wasn't bored myself but I was surprised by how little dialogue there was throughout? Long periods of simmering silence between more climactic scenes etc.
at its core it responds to the fantasy that someone else will see your hesitation and your self-consciousness and be drawn to it, putting into words your own desire for you -- apt at a cultural moment when just approaching someone at a bar seems to take godlike confidence
It speaks to this moment well because it's all about the embarrassments of desire, constantly both activating and then soothing the feeling of embarrassment. The Shane character is essentially put through a series of interpersonal stress tests designed to crack his composure.
can I be honest with you all, I went into Heated Rivalry in the pose of D.A. Miller contemptuously viewing Call Me By Your Name (his review of that film belongs in some hater's hall of fame btw) but instead I just found it really well made and surprisingly charming lol
I have never needed a cigarette more in my life but I’m stuck at home because of snow and all I have is a 5-year old cigar that I might just be desperate enough to smoke
until now I thought that I was the only person who remembered Feist
you know what, I genuinely wasn't expecting the Feist needle drop in HR episode 3
