Caleb Zimmer > Recent Status Updates

This is going to be good! As a fan of Ms. Adendt’s work, I can feel my bias growing as I learn of Mr. Berlin’s immense distaste for her work and her own person. Although I’m aware that Kei Hiruta warns against the futility of weaponizing this book towards championing either protagonist, I have no issue admitting that I am pro-Arendt and am looking for a win here. Please forgive me for my competitiveness. 😅

Chapter 6 reviews The Shining (1980). Among the six films discussed in this book, The Shining is singular in its blatant portrayal of a male abuser, the isolating horror of domestic entrapment, and the changes that affect victims of these dynamics. This straight-forward depiction emphasized these same themes from the previous films with undeniable recognizability in the American consciousness.

Ch. 5 reviews Ridley Scott’s “Alien” (1979) and James Cameron’s “Aliens” (1986) as feminist allegories against r*pe, forced pregnancies, and harmful or lethal birthing processes. These films also inconspicuously (“Alien”) and conspicuously (“Aliens”) combat the popular arguments against the Equal Rights Amendment at that time: whether or not women should be eligible for full military service.

“In [the previous films], the male malefactor is deliberate and malicious toward the women they torment. Robert (Thorn) by contrast, is uxorious - lying to Kathy (his wife) because he genuinely believes it will be best for her. By extension, the film warns that any man thinking he is doing right for his wife may do violence to her simply by denying her agency, knowledge, and choice.

Chapter 3 discusses The Stepford Wives (1975) and the history of the Equal Rights Amendment. Special attention is called to the parallel of the robotic automatons that replaced the women of Stepford and the modern social media phenomenon of tradwife influencers.

Fuck Phyllis Schlafly btw 🖕🖕🖕

“Perhaps [what is] more important… than it’s ability to speak to victims and survivors of domestic violence is that this film enabled men and women who had not lived with this demon to grasp some portion of what it might be like to be imprisoned by a sadistic torturer in your own home [and] with your own child.

“In 1972 and 1973… there were 14,000 complaints of wife battery in the family courts system in New York City alone. The reported figure is estimated to be approximately ten percent of the true total.
Almost none of these 140,000 suspected instances were successfully prosecuted… The legal system routinely dismissed cases or ruled that the husband was within his rights to do whatever act of violence to his wife.

Chapter 1 discusses the film Rosemary’s Baby (1968). The history of New York’s reproductive legislation and cultural perspective toward’s women’s rights is reflected the story of Rosemary’ Baby, it’s popularity, and affect on viewers.

Dr. Eleanor Johnson masterfully weaves together a retelling of Rosemary’s Baby, NY state’s history, and a synthesis of their relating themes and effects in America.

Introduction: 5/5 stars! I was already excited to read this book, but the introduction provides context and perspective that really sells it! I actually put all my other books on hold because I couldn’t stop imagining reading this next. This is going to be amazing.

I’m now so invested in the plot that I wanted to bring this book with me to work today. Hopefully everything turns out well for Myyah 🙏