Zeni Perez > Recent Status Updates

Poor Gayle :( all the stress of being mistress might have led to cancer omg

Mitchell rejecting the dancers that left for a film is ridiculous. He admitted it himself, he can’t offer the salaries Hollywood could—Harlem’s best offer was 10k? Please

Maybe Mitchell was gay or bi but living in that time his internalized homophobia was more about protecting his company & dancers than it was about himself. Being black was already new & hard in classical dance so to add sexuality into it, it’s just only adapted in recent years now.

Seeing someone like you on a cover of a magazine makes all the world of difference 🥺

I’m happy Gayle got her moment 🥹 Also Abarca getting to do Revlon & married in the same year wow—at least one of them worked out

A musician cheating on a dancer… classic. What pressure Gayle must’ve been over to be the ballet mistress when she was once just in the ensemble. The part where she said you can’t complain about not being the lead when you’re working your dream job 👌

I understand Mitchell being unimpressed with critics reviews because he’s right,there have always been black dancers in classical dance—they just weren’t allowed on stage to show how good they are until he made the platform for it. What a relief to have their own space due to a philanthropist.

Mitchell kissing his muse & continuing the narrative of skinny is desired in ballet was a turn… you’d think he was gay

To think if Marcia didn’t see the Dance theater of Harlem she might’ve stopped pursuing ballet is so sad but is also why representation matters. They get told it’s not for them until they see proof it is. Glad her mother gave her so many examples to follow.

Lectures to little ones is honestly genius marketing in that day

Mitchell’s mindset to grind down his dancer’s ego to dust before someone outside their community does is the kind of teacher you want. He was right, you do have to work 10x harder than someone with privilege just to be credited.

“Always walk on stage like you are somebody” aww Mitchell really poured into Tania 🥹 appreciated the pianist. Being able to see other POC in a predominantly white art allows one to just focus on the craft & get to excellence. “We never had to justify to each other our right to ballet” 🙌

Already I am loving the way this is written because for telling someone’s real life its still very good at setting the stage for each’s background & keeps it engaging

The laboratory chapter is the most interesting part of this book so far and I get the feelings it’s just gonna be a blip that doesn’t answer much questions

Idk if it’s the writing but I don’t feel as much grief for this character so I maybe should.

This whole hunting game chapter is vile but again wouldn’t be surprised if this was happening now with how horrible the world has revealed to be

Is the main character rapey or is he just a man🧍‍♂️

This man has experienced so much grief 💔

Halfway through the read and haven’t figured out a lot of the main character’s relationships with the other characters 🤨 or why he perceives them as such

Shorty is sus but the ending of the chapter gives you so much to wonder what the workers must be thinking to do something unnatural everyday.

So did he get SA-ed by the female butcher & still works with her… wondering what happened to his baby especially in this dystopian world. Can the woman in the band speak or do they all have their vocal cords taken out, ugh the thought of that is awful

Dismembering the impregnated women & removing their vocal cords. I wonder what their thoughts must be & that is the most horrific part of this book so far

Only 2 chapters in and in today’s society sadly this doesn’t feel like just fiction. It’s disturbingly numbing

“Nihilism may offer short-term benefits for oligarchs, but it isn’t a winning strategy in the long term. Sensible oligarchs don’t want to destroy the state; they just want to have the right kind of state.”

They want an administrative state with unlimited power but that contradicts the founding fathers who no longer wanted a king & implemented checks & balances… they’re wanting a dictator

Privileged boys club pushes fascist fantasies cosplaying as philosophical visionaries. Pretending they’re the poor white who are growing resentment towards a system that fails them when they’re just the Ivy League elite vs. the ultra wealthy.

They want to control minorities because they are fragile and afraid they will no longer have power once there is equality. They’re saying the quiet part of dismantling our rights out loud to actually do it.

A nazi propelling their rhetoric at a conservative college? Not surprising. Embracing authoritarianism as a “leader above the law” is crazy

The subtext of a conservative school going full fascism is a legitimization of violence & illiberalism. Intellectuals take from Pluto and friends philosophy that if you don’t accept what they’re giving you, worse will come? Leads to blaming all who break the norm