25 Little Known Facts About Buffy the Vampire Slayer

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer came out at an interesting time in the horror genre. Joss Whedon stated that he wrote Buffy as a response to the helpless damsels in distress characters he saw in typical horror films, as he felt women needed better screen idols to look up to. Buffy debuted just a year after Scream, a film that heavily commented on the sexist representations of women in horror cinema. Sarah Michelle Gellar would appear in Scream 2 and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Both were penned by 90’s screenwriting wunderkind Kevin Williamson, who was also behindDawson’s Creek.

2. Before accepting the role of Buffy, Sarah Michelle Gellar was also up for the part of Sabrina Spellman in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. In landing Buffy Summers, she beat out Selma Blair and Katie Holmes, who both ended up on other WB shows — Dawson’s Creek and Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane. (Blair also got to be the voice on the phone when Gellar is murdered in Scream 2, which is a consolation prize, I think.) Gellar initially auditioned for Cordelia, but Whedon and company felt she would make a better Buffy. Good choice.

3. One of the things that prompted Joss Whedon to make a TV version ofBuffy was his feeling that the movie version was bungled, as too much of the original script was rewritten. (Donald Sutherland improvised a lot of his scenes, which Whedon felt made the dialogue lack coherence. Joss now refers to Donald Sutherland as a “dick.”) In the movie version, Buffy states that her four life goals are to “graduate, go to Europe, marry Christian Slater and die,” and through the TV version, she achieves three of those four things. (Slater unfortunately starred in Interview with the Vampire instead of cavorting with Buffy Summers. Jerk.)

4. Although Whedon states that the film version should not be treated as canon, there are a number of interesting connections with the movie version. Kristine Sutherland, who plays Mrs. Summers (#neverforget), created her stage name as a tribute to Donald Sutherland, the “dick” who plays the original watcher. Seth Green and Ben Affleck both appear in the original film, although Green’s part was cut down to that of a glorified extra. Affleck officially entered the Buffyverse in a Season Three episode of Angelin an uncredited role. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was future two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank’s first film role, but she has yet to come back to Whedon. I guess she’s all booked up with dat New Year’s Eve and P.S. I Love You. Busy, busy.

Read more at the link above.

Source: inourwordsblog.com

I think I'm starting to hate Taylor Swift, and I don't like it

I first became aware of the fact that Taylor Swift was a thing in 2008—because the internet (and almost every girl I knew) told me that I should like her.  The message was kind of like one of those Netflix recommendations.  “Do you like cats, pining for unattainable men, baking cookies and angry breakup songs with a sunny refrain?  Then you will love this adorably porpoise-faced teen from Tennessee!  Did you know she writes her own songs AND loves hanging out with her mom?”  You see, I love cats and hanging out with my mom, but I also inherently resist being told what to like by other people.  Someone could tell me about this new thing called “rainbows and sunshine,” and I would be skeptical.  I would ask, “But sunshine, what’s its deal really?  I mean, does it HAVE to be so bright?”  Sometimes I come around and sometimes there’s Grimes, who I don’t think is a real person.  It’s a S1mOn3 thing, I know it. (Cont.)

Source: inourwordsblog.com

25 Little-Known Tidbits About Hocus Pocus

Like almost everyone else in the world, Hocus Pocus was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I would curl up on the couch with my parents every Halloween to watch a movie technically too old for my age group. Through this movie I learned what virginity and yabos were, but there were lots of things I, apparently, did not pick up on. Through a recent re-watching of Hocus Pocus (while procrastinating on a grad school paper) and way too much research on a children’s film about a virgin who lights a candle to resurrect dead witches, I discovered that the movie is filled with goofs, weird facts and interesting in-jokes that don’t technically make any sense.

This is what happens when you try to apply logic to early 90s Disney movies, and in a weird way, I think it makes me like the film more. It’s a film that’s meant to be talked about, picked apart and shared — then you laugh about it with friends after. How does a witch know what a driver’s permit is? Lawl! With a movie like Hocus Pocus, you come to embrace it, flaws and all. It’s what love is.

Also, if you ever stage a Hocus Pocus trivia night, don’t say I didn’t prepare you. 

Source: inourwordsblog.com

Poster Boy: What We Talk About When We Talk About Chris Brown

[Trigger warning: Abuse.]

There’s a lot that troubles me about the ongoing Chris Brown-Rihanna saga.  It’s now been over three years since photos surfaced on TMZ showing the wounds that Brown inflicted on Rihanna, a physical assault that not only destroyed their relationship but also left an indelible imprint on the popular consciousness.  The very image of Rihanna’s abuse was inescapable and continues to be so.  In fact, just this week, a school in New York reenacted that night (in blackface!) for a pep rally and an audience of spectators that didn’t seem to mind that the students involved reenacted a woman’s brutal abuse for laughs at a SCHOOL ASSEMBLY.  When the school apologized for the students’ skit, they mentioned the racist element of the proceedings (which was also beyond effed up), but not the assault aspect.  Luckily, Jezebel was there to remind America that abuse isn’t funny.  Because guess what?  Abuse is never ever funny. Ever. Ever. Ever.

But what troubles me just as much as the students’ behavior is the ongoing discursive tabloid space that their embattled relationship occupies.  In the media’s obsession with Chris Brown and Rihanna, the abuse element has always been front and center, forcing us to remember her trauma and relive it, when Rihanna has publicly made clear her desire to move on.  People who continue to bring it up say that they want the best for her and to empower her to make good choices, but where is the agency here?  (Read More—>)

Source: inourwordsblog.com

Did the New OneRepublic Song Rip Off Florence + the Machine?

America, the dog days aren’t over after all. If you’re a big fan of the Florence + the Machine song on which this pun is based, you can rejoice in the news that producer/front man Ryan Tedder has brought them back. If you’ve listened to Tedder’s new single with OneRepublic, “Feel Again,” it’s like they never left. You can rest easy.

Released last month, “Feel Again” is just beginning to gain wide radio airplay, and Tedder’s earworm single has “hit” written all over it — because it sounds exactly like a song America already loves. Originally released in the UK back in 2008, “Dog Days Are Over” became a surprise smash in the U.S., even before Glee‘s Ryan Murphy got his auto-tuning paws all over it. (Note: Florence Welch should stay away from all people named Ryan. Flo, if you see Paul Ryan, just run.) Everyone in the known universe adored it, even your great-grandmother you didn’t think could still hear busted out her tambourine and flowy skirts to jam along.

So, when I heard that same tambourine rhythm in “Feel Again,” I experienced a feeling that was equal parts déjà vu and “Oh, no she did not!” Judging from the critical responses to the track, I wasn’t alone in seeing that one of these things was exactly like the other. Not only does Tedder gun for the same four-quadrant inspirational uplift that’s a hallmark of F+TM’s music (see: “Dog Days,” “Never Let Me Go“), Scott Shetler of Pop Crush noted that “its urgent hand-clapping and swelling vocal hooks…[sound] so similar to “Dog Days Are Over” that the band might as well add a ‘Featuring Florence + the Machine’ credit.” While Christina Lee of Idolator also cited their similarities in drum beats, vocal tones, style and composition, Bill Lamb of About sensed an equally strong influence from The Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done.” I personally would have welcomed the use of a psychedelic gospel-choir breakdown during the bridge, but Tedder probably consulted his high school plagiarism guide and felt that would have been too much. None for you, Brandon Flowers.

Source: inourwordsblog.com

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Broad Shoulders: An Olympics of Storytelling

This is the much belated fourth edition of Broad Shoulders, a new collaborative podcast to showcase stories from across Chicago’s Live Lit community. Each month, the show invites performers from various Live Lit shows to come and read their work, and those performers are either chosen by the audience or the hosts of those shows themselves.  For this month’s show, Essay Fiesta and Story Club hosts Keith Ecker and Dana Norris joined host Nico Lang and guests Patrick Gill (Essay Fiesta), Will Hindmarch (Story Club) and Mimi Nguyen (In Our Words).

Source: inourwordsblog.com

This is a short documentary of Queer Is Community that Nico Lang and Melanie Battista filmed for a DePaul documentary course. For the assignment, it was only allowed to be 15 minutes long, so this is only an abridged cut of all of our interviews. Currently, Lang and Battista are working on putting together a longer version that will also include Tony Soto, Yasmin Nair, Precious Jewel and many more. Stay tuned.

[Watch Part Two here.]

Choice and consent are not, in themselves, sacrosanct values. When I think about the terrible choices that some people are forced to make, I can see why some feminists are suspicious of S&M. I still think they’re wrong if they tell me that I’ve been abused. But when I think about people who choose to get HIV, I can see why a feminist who doesn’t like S&M would look at it and be afraid of abuse.
Clarisse Thorn, What We Said At Slutwalk

Source: inourwordsblog.com

Gaycism and the New Normal: the “Hot” Trend This TV Season is Bigotry

In recent months, there’s been a lot of chatter on the interwebs about this thing called “gaycism” on the TV.  As defined by Lauren Bans of GQ, gaycism is “the wrongheaded idea that having gay characters gives you carte blanche to cut PC corners elsewhere.”  In her example, Bans cites shows like Modern Family and freshman comedy Partners as emblematic of this trend.  Modern Family is an Emmy-juggernaut, a critical darling and a much-lauded champion of LGBT characterization on TV, but that progressivism comes at the expense of Gloria, the lone woman of color.  Sofia Vergara is a terrific comedienne and kills in the role, but the brunt of her jokes revolve around her flimsy command of the English language.  Gloria’s B-story FOR AN ENTIRE EPISODE revolved around her use of malapropisms, like “doggy dog world” and “don’t give me an old tomato,” because being foreign and sexy is her whole purpose on the show.

Although Modern Family has gotten away with Charlie Chan-ing South American women (so fiery! yelling!) for three seasons, Two Broke Girls came under fire earlier this year for the same stuff.  But the difference between the two is while Modern Family is racist like that friend you have who wears Native American prints from Urban Outfitters until you say something about it and then they apologize and never do it again.  You know they mean well, and “flesh colored” band-aids provewhite privilege is hard to spot sometimes.  However, Two Broke Girls is like your white gay friend who thinks he’s entitled to say whatever he pleases because he’s been oppressed, so he’s allowed to oppress other people and call it being an “equal opportunity offender.”  He’s earned the right to be a racist, insensitive asshole, because I guess he asked Audre Lorde and she said it was okay? (Read More—>)

Source: inourwordsblog.com

The reason I believe that art is a weapon, is that propaganda is a form of art. To be abstract about it, as an artist, anything can be art. Art informs society, art creates consensus. Look at hip-hop, look at its impact. The fact that just a few people started off by speaking their piece, about how they felt that violence was the answer, misogyny was the answer, and now the world listens.
KOKUMO via Nico Lang, Interview with KOKUMO, Chicago Trans* Activist and Founder of KOKUMOMEDIA

Source: inourwordsblog.com

Uncanny is one of those people that puts a lot into a relationship, who really throws their heart and their soul into it, someone any other Kellen, Robert or Taylor on our block would kill to text back and smother with a million messages, in a number of communication forms. They might even bring back carrier pigeons. And rather than dating one of these other guys, I asked the friend why they are so intent on making it work with this guy who either doesn’t give a crap about them or can’t be bothered to show it. This is a problem I recently ran into. I dated a guy who couldn’t text to save his life and also couldn’t call, Skype, email, letter, tweet or Dixie Cup. Sure, things were great when we were actually together, but what’s the point if you aren’t together that often? Rather than obsessing about why he isn’t calling me or what I’ve done to make him NOT LOVE ME ANYMORE, I decided to stop so much of a fuck. I let that carrier pigeon go and started seeing other people. What was the point in putting so much effort and emotional energy into something I wouldn’t get it back from? Life is too short to spend it furiously checking your phone while crying on the couch and eating every pint of ice cream Ben and Jerry sell—not that I would know anything about that.
Nico Lang, Let the More Loving One Be You

Source: inourwordsblog.com

Queering Inequalities: the Lasting Legacy of the Chicago Teachers' Union Strike

The Chicago Teachers’ Union is on the side of history. For decades, Chicago’s teachers have been burdened with a system crumbling around them. They’ve weathered dilapidated buildings, books coming apart at the seams, classrooms bursting with too many students and too few seats and rooms that sweat with a lack of A/C and a lack of available resources. These conditions are a reflection of a system that underfunds its students and undervalues its staff, simply letting parents who can afford to leave the district take their children and their business elsewhere, favoring the new laissez-faire mentality of the market-modeled school and the charter school success story. For far too long, we have let the poor, disadvantaged and “weak” suffer, while flight favored the “strong” and the relatively rich, and the results by district reflect these realities. New Trier High School, in Winnetka, and Manley Career Academy, on Chicago’s West Side, don’t just exist in different income brackets. They exist in different universes.

As someone who came from a modest background, I was at least lucky enough to have my own book for every class I took, to go to a school where we didn’t have to choose between metal detectors and buses and to have teachers with the educational support system to teach me well. The system was on my side. Like the young male protagonist in Dr. Seuss’ Oh, The Places You’ll Go!, I was white, and all the students around me were white, products of the gentrification of the Cincinnati suburbs. In a town where the hills were lined with Starbucks, it felt like the possibilities were endless, and I could ride in a Seussian hot air balloon to Princeton, Yale, Ithaca or Stanford, which was the university I wanted to go to. When I took placement tests in third grade that showed me to be a “gifted” student, there were special classes and teachers waiting for me, ready to put me on a fast track to wherever I wanted to be. (cont.)

Source: inourwordsblog.com

But for young women, the culture of slut shaming that the Kristen Stewart scandal represents won’t go away. I might not be concerned for K-Stew, but I am concerned for all the young women today who are tuned into this scandal, ones who are learning that it’s not okay to screw up, ever. Chris Brown can publicly beat the hell out of his girlfriend but still be played on the radio and win Grammys. However, if you ever cheat on your boyfriend, your life is over and no one will ever want to be associated with you. Almost no one will blame the much-older guy you cheated with, and it might actually make him more famous and help his career. Few will care that he was your boss and in a position of authority or that he may have have taken advantage of your youth and relative inexperience. Everything is your fault, and your life will be threatened over it. If you are a trampire, you will be publicly staked for it, even though cheater Ashton Kutcher recently emerged relatively unscathed by the media. No one asked for him to be fired from Two and a Half Men.
Nico Lang, “Trampire:” Why the Public Slut Shaming of Kristen Stewart Matters For Young Women

Source: inourwordsblog.com

15 Things Your Best Friends Teach You

1. Emotions are not fun things.

My best friend and I have lots of emotions. An ocean of emotions almost. And sometimes our mental constitutions sink like the Titanic into that ocean. Instead of dealing with those emotions like emotionally mature individuals, we do everything but that. We take extremely long walks making condescending comments about everything around us; we sit in parks and ruminate and play with other people’s dogs; we eat lots and lots late night “sadness waffles” and try to guess which Eastern European country our waitress is from; we watch terrible movies and laugh at them. All this is way more fun than talking about why he isn’t calling me? Why isn’t he calling me?

2. Nothing is more exciting than a barbeque.

Every so often a barbeque will be held and everyone will be invited. Individuals from various social groups will end up mixing and socializing. These are people who should probably never ever meet each other. Inevitably, people start sulking off into corners to talk about how much they don’t like that “pretty redheaded girl who really isn’t that pretty and I don’t know why everyone keeps saying she is because she really isn’t I mean seriously” and the drunkest girl there is the one allowed to light to tiki torches. Don’t let people fool you: it’s not a party until drunken gossip and small contained fires start.

(cont.)

Source: inourwordsblog.com

But the problem isn’t that people have too high of standards; it’s that they have the wrong standards, ones they don’t require of themselves. This is because they’ve been taught to want the wrong things, on attaining perfection and this impossible notion of “having it all,” as if that were even possible. Life is not Stepford or Sex and the City, and you can’t have it all: Not at work, the buffet at Golden Corral or the take out menu at Mr. Taco. I can’t even get it all from my vibrator (who I would marry if it were a human being), so why should I expect that from my love life? And so many people get stuck on that—thinking you “deserve” Prince Charming with a 401K and a Benz—that many can’t accept the relationships that are in front of us.
Nico Lang, If You Want to Date Someone Great, Be Someone Great

Source: inourwordsblog.com

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