movie review and more Vorkosigans

[psocoptera]

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a movie about an awesome kid who refuses to be crushed by awful circumstances. Which, on the one hand, yay kid! It was a pleasure to watch her being cute and fierce. And on the other hand I felt the movie crossed the line from awesome-despite to awesome-because-of, which turned into a sort of perverse celebration of the awfulness, or at least apology for it. I get that adversity-made-me-stronger and bright-side-to-everything are powerful narratives, but, I don't know, I think younger-me is rolling my eyes that I'm about to say this, but, in a culture where there is a lot of disagreement over whether we should have a social safety net, I think it's dangerous and dubious to tell stories about how extreme poverty and alcoholism and abuse lead to more authentic, joyous, and independent lives, and social services are something people don't really want and will properly resist if they get the chance. I mean, yes, I think there are people for whom that is a true story, and the movie does admit that this is in some ways really fucking sad, but it still cheats by never showing anyone whose rejection of the safety net doesn't work out the way they're hoping.

I have been thinking more about Vorkosigan casting but Q is finally asleep so it will have to wait...