Ember and Wade in Elemental (2023)
Marketing did Elemental DIRTY
Just saw the movie, it was well worth the watch. The trailer made the movie look like some half assed race metaphor Zootopia ripoff with a canned, rehashed love story you've seen a million times.
Let me be clear, Elemental was none of the things the trailer made you believe it was.
First things first, The Romance:
There's a reason aro/ace people are flocking to this movie. The main couple falls in love without having to rely on any passionate kisses or hand holding; they fall for each other based on who they are, their personalities, their interests, their appreciation of the other's uniqueness. The central hand holding comes at a point in the movie well after the two are established as a couple, and have gone on many dates together. This movie makes their characters fall in love over mutual appreciation, not physical chemistry, and its such a genuine, sweet, wholesome romance to see play out
On top of that, this movie goes into a lot of aspects of immigrant life and the expectations that come with being a first born in a new country. The romance does not shy away from this or sweep it under the rug. The romance blossoms as the two learn more about each other, and come to understand and respect those differences.
Second, the movie isn't about romance, its about being an immigrant.
I came into this movie expecting zootopia 2: now with elements, and what I got was a heart-wrenching look into the life of a first generation child in a new land, born to immigrant parents. The movie absolutely does NOT sugar coat things, showing not only an ellis island moment of having your name changed, but also a number of topics ranging from having to navigate in a city made for people who are nothing like you, being denied housing, micro-aggressions, and straight up being denied entry to public places based on who you are.
The true heart of this movie is about the child of immigrants realizing the life she wants for herself, struggling with disappointing people who gave up everything they had so they could give you a better life, repaying that sacrifice and what a burden it feels like, and somehow facing the truth of who and what is staring back at you from the mirror.
Third, and lastly, the movie is absolutely beautiful
The trailers did this movie dirty. You never saw the refracting lights from firelight streaming through water, you didn't see the glassblowing, or how the fire dies down to barely a wisp when Ember is sad to burning like a wildfire when she's angry. You didn't see the scene underwater with the tree and |Spoilers|, you didn't see the world building or the character design that went into the background characters. This movie is absolutely beautiful, and uses light as both a visual treat and a metaphor for the movie's themes. Its absolutely gorgeous.
So, if you're wondering whether to skip this movie or watch it, I'm telling you now: ignore the trailers and go see this in theaters.
worst college experience actually was people seeingme use tumblr and say 'haha oh i used to use tumblr we could follow eachother' and i open their blog and its like 700 artic monkeys band gif grunge images pastel moodboards and im sitting here hands folded like you are about to learn our uses of this site are wildly different and i just posted a photo of a buff man in a g string
i wouldnt lie online
2016-2021 Toyota Land Cruiser
Neither romantic nor sexual nor platonic but a secret fourth thing (bonded like stray cats who cannot be adopted separately)
horny doesn’t always mean wanting to have sex. sometimes it means wanting to be beat up or stabbed or smth
“It is literally impossible to be a woman. You’re so beautiful and so smart. And it kills me you don’t think you’re good enough. Like we have to always be extraordinary. But somehow we’re always doing it wrong. You have to be thin, but not too thin, and you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin! You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money, because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about you kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men’s bad behavior which is insane but if you point that out you’re accused of complaining. You’re supposed to stay pretty for men but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood but always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged so find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful. You have to never get old. Never be rude. And never show off. Never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory! And nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong but also everything is your fault! I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie ourselves into knots so that people will like us.” -Gloria (America Ferrera, BARBIE)
Dana’s last ‘fuck you’ to Disney
He/they collector
Genderqueer/bi-gender papa king
TWO girlfriend kisses
Onscreen mlm kiss
Implied aladarius
a happy ending to the bi/enby couple
A happy ending to the aro/ace character
And
Death to the white Christian puritain
People who want to legalize child marriage and who want a child to be forced to give birth to a rapist's baby believe that the LGBT community are groomers.
People who hit their children, who berate their children for bad grades, who gaslight their children, and who constantly threaten their children with hell believe that teaching about white privilege is child abuse.
They're not trying to protect the well being of children. They're trying to protect their power over children. That's the only way that their beliefs are consistent.
Incredible new thing happening with Elon today: he fired a disabled Twitter engineer for prima facie discriminatory reasons, trashed talked the ex-employee on Twitter and then discovered this employee came to Twitter by way of an acquisition of that employee's software start up and the sale contains a clause that if Twitter terminates his employment it has to pay him 100 million for the software he developed. The fact Elon Musk might have to personally sell of Tesla stock to meet this obligation has caused Tesla's share price to dip yet again.
Also Musk deleted his tweet trashing the employee but it's preserved and being reposted by multiple Twitter users, at least until Musk can figure out a way to nuke the screen grabs from orbit.
keep circulating the screenshots
I like stories where a normal human child is being raised by a sinister supernatural being who is totally malevolent except when it comes to their kid. Those are so much better than the “kids are scary” changeling type horror movies.
Like a perfectly well-adjusted well-mannered friendly child that is like “This is my dad, Surazal. He comes out of the mirrors in dark rooms. He makes really good blood pudding but he’s bad at playing catch. Most people can’t see his corporal form but I can because he says I have special eyes.”
“Mom says that you can stay over but you have to promise not to leave my room between midnight and 1 am. You can play Mario Cart with me! But you have to knock on every closed door in the house before entering just because dad might be in there and if you look upon his visage without drinking the holy fruit juice, you might go crazy or something. Also dad is really excited I have a new friend and he’s going to to make hardtack and mystery stew for us! You’ll love it!”
In high school the kid gets a friend that is an amateur demonologist who initially befriends them in hopes of exorcizing their house but ends up becoming buddies with Surazal too because they crave parental affection.
Surazal stands at the end of the vast dark hallway and says “You Too Have Special Eyes, Little One. You Can See Me Without Being Taken By The Madness. Within You, I Sense Great Turmoil And Sadness. In My Younger Years, I Would Have Exploited The Sadness As Weakness In Your Very Soul. I Would Have Worn Your Skin Like A Mask And Run Through The Village Streets, Supping Blood From Every Man I Encountered. But Now I Have No Use For Woe. Perhaps You Would Like To Watch Beetlejuice In The Family Room With My Daughter While I Prepare Cupcakes. I Am Sensing You Have A Fondness for Red Velvet.”
bonus:
After I had a doctor ruin my health, cost me years of my life, and nearly kill me by missing the diagnosis of a tumor which was compressing my spinal cord, I learned this script:
“I’m not here to talk about my weight; I’m here to talk about [problem]. I have a history of doctors focusing on my weight and ignoring problems like ‘a tumor in my spine,’ so I’m sure you’ll understand why I would prefer we did not ignore my stated complaint to focus on my weight instead.”
“I would like to focus on the complaint that brought me in today, which is [complaint], not my weight.”
“What tests or course of treatment would you recommend to a thin person presenting with my symptoms? Why are we not doing that? I would prefer to proceed with those tests and that course of treatment.”
“Please write in my chart that I asked you for these tests and course of treatment that you would give a thin patient with my symptoms, and you declined.”
“I’d like to request a copy of my visit notes from today,” [if the above don’t work and you don’t have MyChart, “what’s the correct email for my written request?”
It may be difficult to insist on a patient advocate to be in the room with you, but in many states you are legally entitled to one. I bring one of my partners bc I have medical-triggered PTSD. They know how to advocate for me or support me if a doctor tries to steamroll me..
If you are in a hospital situation and cannot get an official advocate in the room with you, ask for a chaplain. Chaplains are used to being in a room to comfort and help patients and in many circumstances, just having a witness in the room will change a doctor’s tune REALLY fast.
Medical fatphobia is a big problem, and it really heavily affects but is not restricted to people that doctors perceive to be women (whether or not those people are women). Don’t let yourself be bullied!
Excellent scripts and advice!
Having a witness present is a truly excellent tip. Recently, someone I love was subjected to weight-based abuse by a doctor whose “pet project” was “helping” people lose weight by harassing them for most of the visit and recommending dangerous practices like fasting and fad diet websites. At a follow-up visit there was a nurse present, and the appointment got *real* professional *real* fast.