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Posted by Khamosh Pathak

https://lifehacker.com/tech/i-tried-bing-free-ai-video-generator-against-the-paid-options?utm_medium=RSS

AI video generation is a rapidly developing field, with the likes of Google's Veo and OpenAI’s Sora constantly out-doing each other. We are approaching the time when it might be difficult to discern some AI generated video content from reality. But all those gains are limited to the top-tier paid services. To get access to Google’s flagship Veo 3 model (which can now generate dialogue), you need to fork over $250 a month. Until now, no one has really tried to make free AI video generation a thing, given just how resource intensive it is. But now, Microsoft's stepping up to the plate.

Of all things, the Bing app is integrating a free video creator, that while limited, generates short videos for free using OpenAI’s Sora model. But is it worth your time? And how does it compare to Gemini’s Veo 2, which requires Google’s $20/month AI Pro subscription?

How Bing's free AI videos work

Microsoft is rolling out its Video Creator feature first on the Bing iPhone and Android apps, with web and desktop versions to follow soon. It’s completely free to use, but is quite limited.

The feature is built on OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video platform that’s still in public beta, and is normally part of the $20/month ChatGPT Plus subscription. In Sora, you are able to edit and adjust videos after creation, but there’s no such option in Bing Video Creator.

Bing Video Creator also limits you to 5 second videos at 480p resolution, and only in a portrait 9:16 aspect ratio (landscape aspect ratios are coming soon).

Because the platform is free, it revolves around Fast Generation credits. When you first start using Video Creator, you’re handed 10 such credits, which you can spend to generate videos in just a couple of seconds. After you run out, you’ll have to wait a couple of hours for each video you generate (the app will send you a notification when a video is ready). Unfortunately, there’s no direct way to buy more credits, but you can redeem 100 Microsoft Rewards Points for future quick generations.

How to generate free short AI videos using Bing Video Creator

To get started with Bing Video Creator, first download the Bing app on your smartphone, then tap the Menu button from the right edge of the toolbar. Here, choose the Video Creator feature.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

You’ll see a text box where you can enter your prompt, alongside a Settings icon for changing your aspect ratio, the duration of the video, and generation speed. Microsoft will flesh out those first two options in the future, but for now, you can set your generation speed to Standard to avoid spending a fast generation credit. When you're ready, click create to start generating your video.

Once it’s done, your video will be saved in a gallery, and you'll have 90 days to share or download it.

How does Bing’s free AI video generator compare to the paid options?

As I mentioned above, completely free AI video tools are mostly unheard of, or are supremely limited. Canva offers 5 video generations for free, but then requires an upgrade to Canva Pro. Runway does have a free plan that offers 125 credits, but in my testing, I found that I couldn’t use it to generate videos—only images.

I generated three videos using Bing’s free video generator and was happy with the output of one of them. My prompt of a bride in a wedding dress resulted in a video of a bride twirling her body in front of a mirror, but not her head. Eerie.

Next, I asked it to generate a video of someone removing a carrot cake from an oven (not at all related to my sugar fast), and it just couldn’t nail the motion of the person moving a physical object with their hand.

It did well in one task though: a video of a freshly brewed cup of coffee, with people in the background.

Canva’s output was equally jarring. There's a nice moment with a camera flash, but the hands are like putty, and the facial expressions are really far off.

Google’s Veo 2 did much better. It showed a bride smiling away in her new white dress. The view was too cropped in for my liking, but at least there’s no dislocated elbows or necks.

As it stands, the video quality of paid AI video generators is still quite a bit better, and free options are akin to the early days of DALL-E, where AI couldn’t really nail down fingers and hands.

If you want to generate a short video to share on your company’s page, or just as a gag, sure, go ahead, try it out. For anything else, it might be best to try Google's Veo, which is currently the best AI video generator out there, at least based on the testing conducted by my colleague, David Nield.

https://lifehacker.com/tech/i-tried-bing-free-ai-video-generator-against-the-paid-options?utm_medium=RSS

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Posted by Stephen Johnson

https://lifehacker.com/entertainment/shows-like-severance?utm_medium=RSS

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Being a fan of Apple TV+'s Severance requires patience. Hopefully the wait until season three is released won't be as interminable as the three-year drought between seasons one and two, but you never know, so we gotta just hang in there.

There's nothing quite like Severance. The series uses the head-spinning sci-fi premise of people having brain surgery to deal with their damn jobs to explore identity, corporate control, and the nature of humanity itself, while maintaining an unsettling vibe and managing to be darkly hilarious. That said, these five shows blend mind-bending concepts, workplace satire, and existential dread, and may just help you scratch that Severance itch while you wait for season 3 to drop.

Mr. Robot (2015-2019)

Mr. Robot follows the story of Elliot Alderson, a young cyber security expert with mental health problems who goes rogue to try to take down the mega corporation he works for. Like the re-integrated characters in Severance, Elliot isn't always sure where reality ends and his delusions begin. Viewers aren't, either. The two shows share thematic ground—a bleak view of late capitalism, the last embers of humanity being ground out by forces beyond anyone's control—but Mr. Robot lacks the coldly removed vibe of Severance. It's all told from the point-of-view of the main character, so it's more intense and personal. You can stream Mr. Robot on Tubi.

Dark (2017 to 2020)

On the surface, German sci-fi drama Dark resembles Netflix's Stranger Things more than Apple TV's Severance—it's partly about a group of teenagers who discover a weird lab on the outskirts of their town where something supernatural seems to be going on. But Dark is smart and interesting throughout its three seasons instead of falling off after season one. Like Severance, Dark features complex characters and an intricate plot where the fantastic element at its center is really a way to explore themes of loss, time, memory, and identity. And I really appreciate any show that doesn't insult its viewers' intelligence by over-explaining everything. You can stream Dark on Netflix.

The Prisoner (1967-1968)

If you're the type who likes to explore the source of the thing you love, you have to watch The Prisoner. The title character is a British secret agent being held in a surreal prison for reasons he doesn't understand. It's hard to overstate how innovative and ahead of its time this show was when it aired in the late 1960s: It's basically the blueprint for every mind-fuck TV show that followed, from Lost to the X-Files to Severance. While The Prisoner is obviously dated, there's a charm to the old-school cheesiness. It's a low-budget James Bond with sci-fi elements and serious ambitions—how could you not love it? You can stream The Prisoner on Prime, Tubi, Sling, and Plex.

Silo (2023-present)

Apple TV+'s other ambitious, original science fiction show tells the story of a civilization that has lived in a huge underground silo for so many generations, they're not even sure why they're down there anymore; they only know that returning to the surface means death. Or does it? The way Silo's corrupt government tightly controls information has definite similarities to Lumon Industries' petty authoritarianism. While Silo is, overall, a less nuanced show than Severance (it's closer to exciting, YA fiction storytelling than Severance's carefully plotted puzzle of a plot), if you need a sci-fi series fix, check out Silo. You can find Silo on Apple TV.

The Kingdom (1994)

Filmmaker/provocateur Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom is the only TV series I know of that balances comedy and surrealism as well as Severance. While The Kingdom's characters work in a Danish hospital built on a cursed burial ground instead of an evil cult's corporate office, both shows feature a powerful institution corrupting its employees, and both are, on some level, absurdist, darkly hilarious workplace comedies. Severance has a weird cult, a brain operation, and a goat room; The Kingdom has patient-led seances, a ghostly ambulance, and a monster baby. You can stream The Kingdom on Mubi.

https://lifehacker.com/entertainment/shows-like-severance?utm_medium=RSS

thebattycakes posting in

ways_back_room

Helllllooo Milliways, it's Wednesday. I almost forgot, but then I didn't!

Today's DE:

It's 12 AM. Your pup is hungry. What are they gonna eat?

glitteryv

Yup, this post title is ACCURATE.

In the second ep of Run Jin, he spends a day at his former middle school and basically hangs out, i.e. battles against a bunch of children. NGL, I've cried from laughing so hard while watching this one.

Watch on YouTube

Then, in the following episode, he does a part-time stint at a PC bang cafe. His OJO at the 2:48 mark (as the PC bang clients literally run into the establishment) is super lulzy. Soon enough, though, Jin's competitive gamer streak bubbles up the surface (due to the mission he has to complete.)

Watch on YouTube

askamanager_feed

Posted by Ask a Manager

https://www.askamanager.org/2025/06/my-company-doesnt-tell-people-why-theyre-being-fired.html

https://www.askamanager.org/?p=30543

A reader writes:

I’m a manager in an office environment. I’m not involved in hiring or firing. I only make recommendations, and someone else makes the decision and implements it. My instructions are not to talk to the person about it and refer any of their questions to HR. I’ve heard from former employees that when the company lets someone go, they don’t tell them anything about why, just that today is their last day. In some cases the person getting fired expects it somewhat based on past conversations, but some people are completely blindsided and never know what made them lose their job. Is this normal?

I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

Other questions I’m answering there today include:

I regret giving relationship advice to my employee
Interviewing candidates before the job has been approved

The post my company doesn’t tell people why they’re being fired appeared first on Ask a Manager.

https://www.askamanager.org/2025/06/my-company-doesnt-tell-people-why-theyre-being-fired.html

https://www.askamanager.org/?p=30543

lh_wayfarer_feed

Posted by Khamosh Pathak

https://lifehacker.com/tech/i-tried-bing-free-ai-video-generator-against-the-paid-options?utm_medium=RSS

How Bing's free AI videos work

Microsoft is rolling out its Video Creator feature first on the Bing iPhone and Android apps, with web and desktop versions to follow soon. It’s completely free to use, but is quite limited.

Bing Video Creator also limits you to 5 second videos at 480p resolution, and only in a portrait 9:16 aspect ratio (landscape aspect ratios are coming soon).

How to generate free short AI videos using Bing Video Creator

To get started with Bing Video Creator, first download the Bing app on your smartphone, then tap the Menu button from the right edge of the toolbar. Here, choose the Video Creator feature.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Once it’s done, your video will be saved in a gallery, and you'll have 90 days to share or download it.

How does Bing’s free AI video generator compare to the paid options?

It did well in one task though: a video of a freshly brewed cup of coffee, with people in the background.

Canva’s output was equally jarring. There's a nice moment with a camera flash, but the hands are like putty, and the facial expressions are really far off.

Google’s Veo 2 did much better. It showed a bride smiling away in her new white dress. The view was too cropped in for my liking, but at least there’s no dislocated elbows or necks.

As it stands, the video quality of paid AI video generators is still quite a bit better, and free options are akin to the early days of DALL-E, where AI couldn’t really nail down fingers and hands.

https://lifehacker.com/tech/i-tried-bing-free-ai-video-generator-against-the-paid-options?utm_medium=RSS

lh_wayfarer_feed

Posted by Stephen Johnson

https://lifehacker.com/entertainment/shows-like-severance?utm_medium=RSS

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Mr. Robot (2015-2019)

Dark (2017 to 2020)

The Prisoner (1967-1968)

Silo (2023-present)

The Kingdom (1994)

https://lifehacker.com/entertainment/shows-like-severance?utm_medium=RSS

twocents_feed

Posted by Khamosh Pathak

https://lifehacker.com/tech/i-tried-bing-free-ai-video-generator-against-the-paid-options?utm_medium=RSS

How Bing's free AI videos work

Microsoft is rolling out its Video Creator feature first on the Bing iPhone and Android apps, with web and desktop versions to follow soon. It’s completely free to use, but is quite limited.

Bing Video Creator also limits you to 5 second videos at 480p resolution, and only in a portrait 9:16 aspect ratio (landscape aspect ratios are coming soon).

How to generate free short AI videos using Bing Video Creator

To get started with Bing Video Creator, first download the Bing app on your smartphone, then tap the Menu button from the right edge of the toolbar. Here, choose the Video Creator feature.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Once it’s done, your video will be saved in a gallery, and you'll have 90 days to share or download it.

How does Bing’s free AI video generator compare to the paid options?

It did well in one task though: a video of a freshly brewed cup of coffee, with people in the background.

Canva’s output was equally jarring. There's a nice moment with a camera flash, but the hands are like putty, and the facial expressions are really far off.

Google’s Veo 2 did much better. It showed a bride smiling away in her new white dress. The view was too cropped in for my liking, but at least there’s no dislocated elbows or necks.

As it stands, the video quality of paid AI video generators is still quite a bit better, and free options are akin to the early days of DALL-E, where AI couldn’t really nail down fingers and hands.

https://lifehacker.com/tech/i-tried-bing-free-ai-video-generator-against-the-paid-options?utm_medium=RSS

twocents_feed

Posted by Stephen Johnson

https://lifehacker.com/entertainment/shows-like-severance?utm_medium=RSS

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Mr. Robot (2015-2019)

Dark (2017 to 2020)

The Prisoner (1967-1968)

Silo (2023-present)

The Kingdom (1994)

https://lifehacker.com/entertainment/shows-like-severance?utm_medium=RSS

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

1. Dear Annie: I'm a brokenhearted Nana who could really use your advice.

I have a 10-month-old grandson whom I adore, but I'm not allowed to kiss him -- not even on the back of his head. Recently, in a moment of pure affection, I forgot and gently kissed the back of his head. It was instinctual. I love him so much, it just happened.

The reaction was swift and harsh. I was scolded and now I'm not allowed to hold him unless he's sitting on my lap, facing away from me. To make matters worse, I'm only allowed to see him every other weekend for two hours, and someone has to be in the room to supervise me the entire time.

I've tried to talk to my son about it, but any attempt leads to an argument or a shutdown. I feel like I'm walking on eggshells just to be near my grandson, and my heart is breaking.

Is there anything I can do in this situation? I feel so lost. -- Heartbroken Nana

( Read more... )

**********

2. Dear Annie: I've been dating a wonderful man for five years, and for the most part, our relationship is strong and loving. We don't live together, so we typically see each other just a couple of times a week, with more time together when we go on vacation. That time feels precious to me. But lately, I've found myself increasingly frustrated, and I'm not sure how to bring it up without sounding jealous or petty.

The issue is his 30-year-old son, who calls or texts him constantly, even when we're on vacation. It's not about emergencies -- just frequent check-ins or casual conversations that end up interrupting our time together. I understand and respect the bond between a father and son, but I can't help feeling like a third wheel when we're supposed to be enjoying quality time as a couple.

I don't want to compete for attention, and I certainly don't want to damage their relationship. I just wish my partner could create some boundaries during our time together so we can stay focused on each other.

How can I bring this up in a way that's honest but kind, and without sounding like I'm being unreasonable? -- Feeling Overlooked

( Read more... )

alpennia_feed

Posted by Heather Rose Jones

http://alpennia.com/blog/how-erase-queerness-myth-wild-west

Wednesday, June 4, 2025 - 08:00

The Lesbian Historic Motif Project

History must not only be studied, but continually re-studied and re-surfaced. We have all seen how easy it is for something "obvious" to become memory-holed even in as short a time as the last five years. How much easier when the primary sources were shaky to begin with and the myth-makers have a social and political agenda that they may not be entirely conscious of themselves. How easy it is to re-write history "as it should have been" (a phrase that has always grated on me in the context of the Society for Creative Anachronism, regardless of the direction of one's "should").

Major category:

LHMP

Tags:

LHMP

LHMP #480d Boag 2011 Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past Chapter 3

About LHMP

Full citation:

Boag, Peter. 2011. Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 978-0-520-27062-6

Part Two – “The Story of the Perverted Life is Not Attractive”: Making the American West and the Frontier Heteronormative -- Chapter 3 – “And Love is a Vision and Life is a Lie”: The Daughters of Calamity Jane

This section of the book examines how the reality of cross-dressing in the West was erased from the historic record. As usual, the chapter begins with a detailed biography.

Joe Monahan died of a sudden illness in rural Idaho in 1903. The friends who prepared him for burial were surprised that he had a female body and buried him quietly. But another local felt that Monahan had been done a disservice and brought the matter to the attention of a newspaper, extoling his ordinary, virtuous life. Few facts were known about him at that time and only a few more can be found in the archives. He was born around 1850, probably in New York, and had been living in Idaho since at least 1870. He was spotty about picking up his mail—but he did receive mail—and had voted in 1880. (Women did not have the vote in Idaho at that time.) An acquaintance noted that the letters he received were possibly from a sister in Buffalo New York, to whom he wrote occasionally. This friend wrote to an official in Buffalo hoping to locate his family (in part, to deal with his estate). This turned up a foster mother and foster sister, who confirmed that “Johanna Monahan” had gone West around age 14 and had corresponded regularly. Their letters were later found in Monahan’s cabin.

But searching the archives in Buffalo for a Johanna Monahan only added some further confusion about her birth family and identity. In any event, the foster mother reported that Monahan’s mother had dressed her in boy’s clothes and had her earn a living with jobs typically performed by boys. When her foster mother took Monahan in, he was sent to school. In her version, Monahan left in 1869 first to California, then to Idaho.

As the story made its way into the Idaho media, other people began adding details to Monahan’s history, including that many had suspected he was a woman but no one made a fuss about it. People in that region were aware of many cross-dressing women, for various reasons. Even in correspondence discussing this issue, Monahan’s associates used male pronouns for him.

All of this is backstory for how Monahan’s story was picked up in popular media. In the 1950s, Monahan’s story was revived in newspapers, theater, and eventually movies with the 1993 film The Ballad of Little Jo, all of which include a large amount of invention and no hint of queerness. Monahan is made fully heterosexual and “man troubles” are offered as the motivation for her transformation.

This framing was begun in 1904 when uneasiness about the sexual implications of cross-dressing led newspapers to “reclaim” Monahan as essentially feminine, including fake images in a hoopskirt and an invented romantic betrayal by a man. (The fiction is embellished by many details with no connection to Monahan’s actual history, including the addition of an illegitimate child.)

The chapter moves on to provide more examples of how the actual biographies of cross-dressing women were re-written in the late 19th and early 20th century to disarm concerns about gender and sexuality.

Existing fictional genres were adapted, such as the seduction motif in which the woman both flees and cross-dresses to escape her shame. Such a fiction was assigned to Charley Parkhurst when a post-mortem not only identified his bodily sex but indicated a previous pregnancy. (Motherhood was a strong motif for feminizing the subject.)

Dime novels of the 1870s were fond of using heterosexual relationships as the motivation for cross-dressing, as with fictionalizations of the life of Martha Jane Canary (Calamity Jane). The real life Canary rarely cross-dressed and identified as female, but her fictional twin is more cagey, implying either inversion or non-binary identity, and cross-dressing regularly in order to hunt down the man who betrayed her.

Several other fictional examples of “betrayal and escape” or “betrayal and revenge” are listed. Such stories solidly establish the heterosexual credentials of their heroines. Such overt inventions then sometimes were resurrected as “true” news stories.

Fictional cross-dressing narratives sometimes re-normalized their protagonists with marriage and a return to female presentation. Often this includes a return to the urban East, symbolically localizing cross-dressing to the peculiar logistics and needs of Western life.

Another subgenre involves a woman cross-dressing to join a male lover in criminal activities—a genre that has roots in a number of actual biographies. (Note: these are all cited from newspaper accounts, and it’s unclear whether the author considers them wholly fictional or simply sensationalized and “straightened.”)

Even as the fictional genre of cross-dressing women came to popularity, the acceptance of real-life cross-dressing women waned, with women in San Francisco and other locations facing arrest for cross-dressing by the early 20th century.

The chapter concludes with a discussion of whether cross-dressing destabilized gender or enforces it by aligning activities and characteristics rigidly with gender presentation. I.e., women could participate in the “Wild West” but only as men. This alignment must then be undermined by re-feminizing the participants once they were separated (by time, space, or reality) from the actual frontier.

Time period:

Place:

Misc tags:

cross-gender roles/behavior

Event / person:

Joe Monahan (Josephine?)

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http://alpennia.com/blog/how-erase-queerness-myth-wild-west

shewhomust

One of the pleasures of quizzing is reaching into the bran tub of your memory and coming out with something that might be a piece of random word-association, but turns out to be the right answer. But sometimes you get spectacular results from something that takes no effort at all. This doesn't seem fair, but that's how it goes.

Last week at the pub quiz, the beer round -

- the beer round is a free-standing round: the marks don't contribute to your overall total, but there is a prize of drinks tokens, provided by the management. Its five questions are given at one time, which gives the Quizmaster a chace to breathe, count the takings, whatever. The questions can be verbal, but are more often pictures, and occasionally music. Scores are often very low, and there is usually a tie-breaker -

- and last week the challenge was to identify five flowers from Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies of the Summer. I went straight through it, writing in the names: honeysuckle, poppy, foxglove, harebell, pimpernel. And I thought the Quizmaster had miscalculated here, and there would be a massive tie-breaker for all the teams scoring five out of five. Admittedly, of all the Flower Fairies books, summer is the one I had as a child, but these surely aren't difficult flowers to identify. The scarlet pimpernel might cause some problems, but ...

Which just shows how much I know. There were three teams (out of 20 - it was a busy week) who scored four, but we were alone is scoring full marks. Which was gratifying, if unexpected. What's more, talking to the Quizmaster afterwards I learned that we were the only team who had identified the harebell: he wasn't sure himself how it differed from the bluebell. It's blue, it's bell-shaped... I didn't tell him that it's also called the Scots bluebell, just that it's a completely different flower: bluebell; harebell. You're welcome.

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

DEAR ABBY: I see a psychiatrist and psychologist for generalized anxiety disorder, major depression disorder and borderline personality disorder. According to my doctors, my psychiatric disorders are a result of the 44 years of abuse I received from my mother, as well as the abuse she allowed others to inflict on me.

Her physical abuse stopped when I fought back at 17. When I was 18, it was the last time her precious prince of a son raised his fist to me because I told him I'd press charges and have him arrested. The sexual abuse had stopped when I was 12, and I realized she'd known what had been happening the whole time. It also ended my wanting a relationship with my mother, but her emotional abuse continued until she died in 2013.

I am being told that, because she's dead, I should just let it go. My siblings backed her because they wanted to be in Mommy's good graces. After years of hatred and abuse, I believed the only family I had were my own two children, but even they are cold to me now. They scold me -- "Your mother's dead. Get over it." How do I explain that when abuse starts before a child can walk, you DON'T just "get over it"? -- BLEEDING HEART IN OHIO

( Read more... )

oursin

What I read

KJ Charles, Copper Script (2025): somehow not among my top KJCs.

Finished Bitch in a Bonnet Vol 2, perhaps even better than vol 1.

Angela Thirkell, The Old Bank House (1949): not quite sure why this got to be picked as a Virago Modern Classic: WO WO Iron Heel of THEM i.e. the 1945 Labour Government, moan whinge, etc etc; also several rather repetitious passages of older generation maundering to themselves about the dire prospects that await the younger members.

Finished Dragon's Teeth, the last parts of which were quite the wild ride.

Latest Slightly Foxed, a bit underwhelmed, well, they can't always be talking about things that really interest/excite me or rouse fond memories I suppose.

On the go

Have started Upton Sinclair. Wide is the Gate (Lanny Budd, #4) (1943) simply because I had very strong 'what happens next? urges after the end of Dragon's Teeth, but that gets answered in the first few chapters, and I think that in this one we're already getting strong hints that Lanny is about to head southwards to Spain, just in time for things to start getting violent. I might take a break.

I have just started a romance by an author I have vaguely heard well of and was a Kobo deal but don't think it's for me.

Up next

Dunno: perhaps that Gail Godwin memoir.

***

Even barely woken up I was not at all sure that this was not all one of those cunning scams that is in fact a fraudster telling you they are your bank/credit card co, but it turned out it was actually about somebody making fraudulent charges - in really odd small ways - on my card, when I got onto the website and found the number to ring - the number being called from with automated menu bearing no resemblance to the one on my card, ahem - went through all the procedures and card is being cancelled and new one sent. SIGH. This is second credit card hoohah in two days, yesterday got text re upcoming due payment for which bill has so far failed to arrive, for the one for which logging into website involves dangers untold and hardships unnumbered and having the mobile app. (Eventually all resolved.)

reactor_feed

Posted by Christina Orlando

https://reactormag.com/the-merry-spinster-and-the-art-of-falling-between-two-stools/

https://reactormag.com/?p=815468

Books Hidden Gems Book Club

The Merry Spinster and the Art of Falling Between Two Stools

Revisiting Daniel M. Lavery’s surreal take on fairy tales.

By Isaac Fellman

Published on June 4, 2025

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Christina Orlando</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/the-merry-spinster-and-the-art-of-falling-between-two-stools/">https://reactormag.com/the-merry-spinster-and-the-art-of-falling-between-two-stools/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=815468">https://reactormag.com/?p=815468</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-vertical"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/books/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Books 0"> Books </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/hidden-gems-book-club/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Hidden Gems Book Club 1"> Hidden Gems Book Club </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>The Merry Spinster</i> and the Art of Falling Between Two Stools</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Revisiting Daniel M. Lavery’s surreal take on fairy tales.</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/isaac-fellman/" title="Posts by Isaac Fellman" class="author url fn" rel="author">Isaac Fellman</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 4, 2025 </p> </div> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6"> <a href="https://reactormag.com/the-merry-spinster-and-the-art-of-falling-between-two-stools/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]"> <svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" 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7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="407" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/merry-spinster-header-2-740x407.png" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Cover of The Merry Spinster by Daniel M Lavery" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/merry-spinster-header-2-740x407.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/merry-spinster-header-2-1100x605.png 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/merry-spinster-header-2-768x422.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/merry-spinster-header-2.png 1400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p>Welcome to <a href="http://reactormag.com/tags/hidden-gems-book-club">The Hidden Gems Book Club</a>! In this new series inspired by our <a href="https://reactormag.com/the-most-iconic-speculative-fiction-books-of-the-21st-century/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Iconic SFF Books of the 21st Century</a> poll, guest authors will excavate precious stories that have gone overlooked by the speculative fiction community. With a focus on contemporary backlist titles, this series shines a spotlight on our “why am I the only one who read this?” books, “this got dismissed but is actually doing something interesting” books, or “this simply deserved more love” books. Let’s re-discover them together!</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <p>Comedy and horror hit us in the same nerve. This is one of my longstanding theories. If we feel them in different places, it’s just that nerves are long, and sometimes pain travels. Both of them are based on the unexpected, the surreal, the incongruent; we can expel air as a laugh or a scream. But people don’t pick up one of these genres expecting the other, even though <em>Saw</em> and <em>Taskmaster</em> have basically the same premise, and books that combine genres aren’t guaranteed an audience. That’s what happened to Danny Lavery’s <em><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-merry-spinster-tales-of-everyday-horror-daniel-m-lavery/262b6a7f8c79a1cf?ean=9781250113429&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror</a></em> (2018), his followup to 2014’s bestselling <em>Texts From Jane Eyre</em>. He himself has told me so. A collection of blackly comic fairytale retellings, it was a critical darling (<a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781250113429">Publishers Weekly</a>: “Strikes directly at the heart […] a tour de force”), but it did not sell, and went especially unread in SFF circles, a thing I’d like to change.</p> <p>Background for the under-30 set: Lavery made his name in the 2010s, cofounding an online magazine called <em>The Toast</em>. Although it ran a variety of essays and stories, <em>The Toast</em> specialized in literary humor that juxtaposed highbrow references with contemporary, often feminist jokes. It has held up well, though its format is an artifact of an Internet that has passed away, and this has made the humor seem more dated than it is. Lavery remains a successful writer, working in a whack-a-mole series of genres (trans memoir/Biblical exegesis! Wryly comic midcentury pastiche! Debonair food writing! A long run as the advice columnist in <em>Slate</em>!). These projects are so different that each one implies a separate career-that-never-was, a ghost history of an imaginary author. You can readily imagine the five slim, stylish novels by the author of <em>Women’s Hotel</em>, none of which Lavery wrote in this life. </p> <p>I wouldn’t confuse all of this with a bit. Lavery isn’t Madonna; he doesn’t “reinvent himself,” or “refuse to be pinned down.” He’s just, as Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, “too many people, if he’s any good.” But there’s a Lavery, somewhere in the multiverse, who’s a Kelly Link or Carmen Maria Machado type, and that Lavery wrote <em>The Merry Spinster</em>. </p> <p>The first thing you notice about <em>Spinster</em> is that it combines a <em>lot</em> of registers. Though pitched as comedy-horror, it’s a melding of many credited sources—Brothers Grimm fairy tales, the Bible, classic children’s literature, murder ballads, the short fiction of Donald Barthelme—and even more uncredited ones (I’ll die on the hill that “The Thankless Child” partakes of <em>Dune</em> a little bit, and not just because the main character is called Paul). All of these sources have their own vibes, but they’ve been cooked down until the flavors have melded. The best material, like a hybrid of the Grimm tale “The Fisherman and his Wife” and <em>Frog and Toad Are Friends</em>, combines this stylish melding with a missing-step abruptness. These strange tastes work so well together, and the book is an easy and elegant read, but it is not <em>agreeable</em>. Think instead of the sea, a recurring theme in <em>Spinster</em>: colorful fish, rusty sheet metal, bones. Under a placid surface, something sharkish and ancient.</p> <p><em>Spinster</em>’s humor comes from this abruptness, this invitation to stumble. It lives in the mixing of registers that comes so readily to Lavery. The burnt-out angel in “Fear Not: An Incident Log” bemoans early humans’ habit of dying at the sight of him: “Great burly men and women too, not like the kind you see nowadays. I mean, real antediluvian hulks with chests the size of wine barrels and legs like cedar trunks.” There’s a little bit of Broadway in those lines, some composer setting the words “antediluvian hulks” to the right musical phrase, showing off the capabilities of the English language like a dressage horse. The book slides between anachronisms: a magic flounder grants a fisherman a house whose wood floors “had an oil-modified urethane finish,” the little mermaid goes “pale at the prospect of losing Radial Symmetry, which she had been catechized in from her earliest memory.” This is a trademark Peter S. Beagle move, at least half of what makes <em>The Last Unicorn</em> such a shocking book. If you do it well, I am yours forever. All this casual/formal, old/new, technical/mystical business does not add up to laugh-out-loud humor, though I did cackle a few times while rereading it. Instead, it’s a sly, twisty linguistic humor that softens you up for the horrors to come, and that deepens them, like a drug interaction.</p> <p>When the horror arrives, it’s brutal. I wouldn’t describe these stories as scary, but I would readily describe them as <em>Lynchian</em>, in that they’re surreal and effectively dreamlike, and also everything is better (and worse) if you assume they’re literally happening. Dismissing them as a kind of dream is an easy out; it’s a legitimate reading, sure, but what does it mean if these characters really do meet a frog that “look[s] like a calf’s heart with a mouth slit across it” which insists on sleeping between their knees in exchange for a favor they don’t remember asking? And what if the story ends like that, with this psychosexual frog in the bed with them forever? The characters in these stories aren’t dreaming. Or if they are, they’ll never wake up.</p> <p>“Tales of Everyday Horror” is a good subtitle. These stories center on prosaic fears—being lied to about your own motivations, being the only one in the room who’s missing the obvious, failing as a partner, being surveilled—which blend with supernatural events. They wrong-foot the reader by simply being alarming in a realist way when you expect the fantastical, or vice versa. It would be foolish not to point out, but churlish to analyze in detail, that this book coincided with Lavery’s early transition and is suffused with nightmarishly articulated dysphoria—with bodily claustrophobia and a sense of mistaken identity. Being trans is not the only reason a person picks a theme. All authors do, within limits, pick themes on purpose, and we don’t like it when people treat our choices as a sort of emotional offgassing. But it is a very trans theme, and there’s a reason he does it well. </p> <p>A lot of these stories are about gaslighting, a term that’s become ubiquitous now and experienced some drift to its meaning, for the excellent reason that it’s a useful and supple word which can stand some drift. Lavery’s gaslighting is fairly traditional, though. His characters are always being told that up is down, that their perceptions of their own lives are insane, that they never said something that they did say or vice versa. What makes it genre is the fact that these stories hinge on magic, and Lavery’s vision of magic is of the opaque and inexplicable kind. We know there are rules, and the characters are constantly being told off for breaking them, but we don’t know if they have. All we can rely on is our own knowledge of bad actors. We can recognize exactly what the people in “The Frog’s Princess” and “The Thankless Child” and “Some Of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Mr. Toad” are doing. What we don’t know is whether there’s any truth behind their words, or any way to stop them. </p> <p><em>The Merry Spinster</em> is uncategorizable. It’s not comedy and it’s not horror (or it’s both). It’s not genre and it’s not literary fiction (or it’s both). It’s not even consistently recognizable as British or American, since Lavery adopts a kind of mid-Atlantic diction which speaks to the odd Britishness of American childhoods, the way fairy tales are introduced to us in an English voice. It’s a witty book, but its humor is as black as its mood. The result is a collection with an identity all its own, and also one I would like to see recognized as part of a lineage of calculatedly feral fairy tales, a la Shirley Jackson and Angela Carter. It’s a family you join by not getting along well with anybody. The surest way for a book to be something is to be not quite anything.[end-mark]</p> <section class="wp-block-shop-the-book shop-the-book"> <h2 class="shop-the-book-headline">Buy the Book</h2> <div class="shop-the-book-content"> <figure class="shop-the-book-image-desktop image-cover"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="445" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/merry-spinster.jpg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="The Merry Spinster" /> </figure> <div class="grow shrink basis-0"> <div class="flex items-center"> <figure class="shop-the-book-image-mobile image-cover"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="445" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/merry-spinster.jpg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="The Merry Spinster" /> </figure> <div class="grow shrink basis-0"> <h3 class="shop-the-book-title text-h3">The Merry Spinster</h3> <p class="shop-the-book-author">Daniel M. Lavery</p> </div> </div> <div class="shop-the-book-description">Tales of everyday horror</div> <button type="button" class="inline-block px-8 py-4 text-center btn tablet:py-3 text-h6 bg-red text-white shop-the-book-button" id="buy_book" data-trigger="modal" data-target="#modal-1749055833" aria-open="false" aria-label="Buy Book"> <span class="inline-flex items-center button-label btn-label"> Buy Book </span> </button> </div> </div> <div id="modal-1749055833" class="shop-the-book-modal"> <div class="shop-the-book-modal-inner"> <button class="js-modal-close absolute top-5 right-5 z-10" type="button" aria-label="close modal"> <svg class="w-[19px] h-[19px]" width="18" height="19" viewbox="0 0 18 19" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="close" role="img" aria-hidden="true"> <path d="M1 17L17 1" stroke="black" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" /> <path d="M1 17L17 1" stroke="black" stroke-opacity="0.2" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" /> <path d="M17 17.0809L1 1.08093" stroke="black" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" /> <path d="M17 17.0809L1 1.08093" stroke="black" stroke-opacity="0.2" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" /> </svg> </button> <div class="shop-the-book-modal-content"> <figure class="shop-the-book-modal-image-desktop image-cover"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="445" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/merry-spinster.jpg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="The Merry Spinster" /> </figure> <div class="grow shrink basis-0"> <div class="flex items-center"> <figure class="shop-the-book-modal-image-mobile image-cover"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="445" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/merry-spinster.jpg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="The Merry Spinster" /> </figure> <div class="grow shrink basis-0"> <h3 class="shop-the-book-modal-title">The Merry Spinster</h3> <p class="shop-the-book-modal-author">Daniel M. Lavery</p> <div class="shop-the-book-modal-description-desktop">Tales of everyday horror</div> </div> </div> <div class="shop-the-book-modal-description-mobile">Tales of everyday horror</div> <p class="shop-the-book-modal-label">Buy this book from:</p> <ul class="not-prose ebook-links ebook-links-shortcode"><li><a class="btn" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B074ZJW3SL?tag=tordotcomgeneral-20" data-book-title="The Merry Spinster" data-book-store="Amazon"><span class="inline-flex items-center button-label text-h6 text-white font-aktiv">Amazon</span></a></li><li><a class="btn" target="_blank" href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/7992675/type/dlg/sid/tordotcomgeneral/https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781250113429" data-book-title="The Merry Spinster" data-book-store="Barnes and Noble"><span class="inline-flex items-center button-label text-h6 text-white font-aktiv">Barnes and Noble</span></a></li><li><a class="btn" target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781250113436" data-book-title="The Merry Spinster" data-book-store="iBooks"><span class="inline-flex items-center button-label text-h6 text-white font-aktiv">iBooks</span></a></li><li><a class="btn" target="_blank" href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250113429" data-book-title="The Merry Spinster" data-book-store="IndieBound"><span class="inline-flex items-center button-label text-h6 text-white font-aktiv">IndieBound</span></a></li><li><a class="btn" target="_blank" href="https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=9781250113429" data-book-title="The Merry Spinster" data-book-store="Target"><span class="inline-flex items-center button-label text-h6 text-white font-aktiv">Target</span></a></li></ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/the-merry-spinster-and-the-art-of-falling-between-two-stools/"><i>The Merry Spinster</i> and the Art of Falling Between Two Stools</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/the-merry-spinster-and-the-art-of-falling-between-two-stools/">https://reactormag.com/the-merry-spinster-and-the-art-of-falling-between-two-stools/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=815468">https://reactormag.com/?p=815468</a></p>

olivermoss

I took the Empire Builder Amtrak line in and out of the gorge. It's a long haul ling, goes all the way to Chicago, so big delays were a strong possibility. I could handle a 12 or 20 hour delay coming back. One going out would be more of a problem, but I did plan as if it would be delayed. But, then it was delayed way more than I'd planned for.

The gorge from the train is stunning, but also the windows were too dirty to even try to get really solid shots. I went more for 'train aesthetic' shots. I will get one or two stunning shots of the gorge someday, but that day hasn't happened yet.

The the Coast Starlight is considered the gold standard of scenic Amtrak trips and people are like 'what? why?' when I say I prefer this line is something I will never understand.

The reason why the delay was a problem is that when I arrived I'd need to get across a bridge you cannot cross on foot. Not only is it illegal, but it's old, narrow, the platform is mostly metal grating and there is a curve meaning a truck at speed will not see a pedestrian ahead:

I needed to have a pre-scheduled cab ride to get across and even though I gave myself lots of wiggle room, I was sitting in the middle of nowhere through my whole appointment window. The cab company says on their website that you can't cancel or reschedule, but for things like this they do track delays and move things around if they can. Despite getting in very late, a little blue car pulled up for me as soon as I arrived. I was so relieved.

The first place I stayed was very mid-century. The directions to my room was 'take a left, then a right, go through the breezeway, when the floor splits go up, then down the hall, then up again....' There were a lot of architectural elements I've only seen in midcentury hotels.

I enjoyed the place a lot.

conuly

Ideally something I can get through the NYPL or the Queens Public Library (I haven't yet re-upped my Brooklyn Public Library card. I ought to go do that this weekend or the week after.)

I suppose I should set a good example and rec something to all of you first. Lemme see....

I did recently enjoy both Long Live Evil and How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying!

******************************************

( Read more... )

puddleshark

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Posted by Sarah

https://reactormag.com/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-navigating-the-landscape-of-human-emotion/

https://reactormag.com/?p=815479

Column Science Fiction Film Club

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Navigating the Landscape of Human Emotion

Does this beautiful, weird, messy movie hold up over 20 years later? Absolutely.

By Kali Wallace

Published on June 4, 2025

Credit: Focus Features

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Sarah</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-navigating-the-landscape-of-human-emotion/">https://reactormag.com/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-navigating-the-landscape-of-human-emotion/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=815479">https://reactormag.com/?p=815479</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/column/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Column 0"> Column </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/science-fiction-film-club/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Science Fiction Film Club 1"> Science Fiction Film Club </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</i>: Navigating the Landscape of Human Emotion</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Does this beautiful, weird, messy movie hold up over 20 years later? Absolutely.</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/kali-wallace/" title="Posts by Kali Wallace" class="author url fn" rel="author">Kali Wallace</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 4, 2025 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&_a]:link"><p>Credit: Focus Features</p> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6"> <a href="https://reactormag.com/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-navigating-the-landscape-of-human-emotion/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]"> <svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] 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id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="444" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-header-740x444.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-header-740x444.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-header-768x461.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-header.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Credit: Focus Features</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p><em>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind </em>(2004). Directed by Michel Gondry. Written by Charlie Kaufman, based on a story by Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry, and Pierre Bismuth. Starring Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, and Tom Wilkinson.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <p>Sometimes when I rewatch movies I saw several years ago, I have to pause and think, “Was that movie actually great, or was I just painfully in my twenties when I saw it?”</p> <p>There’s a bit of trepidation that goes along with that thought. I was <em>painfully</em> in my twenties in 2004 and have little reason to trust the heightened emotional memories of the time (mental illness, graduate school, etc.). But I am happy to report upon rewatch that <em>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</em> is still great.</p> <p>In fact, it’s even better than I remember.</p> <p>The story behind <em>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</em> begins, as many great stories do, with some friends sitting around and wondering, “Dude, what if we could erase our exes from our minds?” Except they probably wouldn’t have said “dude” because they were French. Please substitute the appropriate French term to imagine the scene accurately.</p> <p>The man posing the question was artist <a href="https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/pierre-bismuth" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pierre Bismuth</a>, who became fascinated by the idea of what would happen if we were able to erase people from our memories. He even contemplated carrying out a performance art experiment of sorts, where he would send cards to people telling them that somebody had been erased from their minds. Sometime in the late ’90s he shared this idea with his longtime friend and filmmaker Michel Gondry.</p> <p>Bismuth and Gondry had known each other since the ’80s, when Gondry was the drummer in the French pop band Oui Oui. That band, and music in general, was how Gondry got into filmmaking. He started out making music videos for Oui Oui; here is one that you can watch online: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yymYmzZPJe4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Ma Maison.”</a> His trippy videos caught the eye of Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk, and she brought Gondry on to direct the music video for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0mRIhK9seg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Human Behavior”</a> (1993), the lead single from her first solo studio album, <em>Debut</em>.</p> <p>Everybody should take a few minutes to watch that video and remember that it launched the illustrious careers of two world-renowned artists. Let that serve as a lasting reminder to all artists to live your truth and never let the world file down your weird edges. And maybe to include giant teddy bears and hedgehogs in all artistic endeavors.</p> <p>Gondry kept making music videos for Björk and many other musical artists: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKYPYj2XX80" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Around the World”</a> by Daft Punk, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBG7P-K-r1Y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Everlong”</a> by Foo Fighters, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTH71AAxXmM" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Fell in Love With a Girl”</a> by The White Stripes, and so many more. He also directed a bunch of high-profile ad campaigns, including the famous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj6G1C6c0uw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Drugstore”</a> ad for Levi’s and the even more famous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbOGJy3P6rA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Smarienberg”</a> ad for Smirnoff, the latter of which is cited as an inspiration for the “bullet time” visual effect used in <a href="https://reactormag.com/the-matrix-hope-fear-and-radical-liberation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>The Matrix </em>(1999)</a>. (To be more precise, John Gaeta, the visual effects supervisor for <em>The Matrix</em>, specifically named Otomo Katsuhiro’s <em>Akira </em>(1988) and the collective works of Michel Gondry as inspirations for the funky time-and-perspective trickery that makes up the bullet time effect.)</p> <p>Gondry’s career directing music videos and commercials was wildly successful, but his first attempt at directing a feature film was a dud. That was <em>Human Nature </em>(2001), which I have not seen, so all I know is what’s in the plot summary <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0219822/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on IMDb</a>: “A woman is in love with a man in love with another woman, and all three have designs on a young man raised as a chimpanzee.” Take that as you will.</p> <p><em>Human Nature</em> was Gondry’s first collaboration with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman; <em>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</em> would be their second. Gondry presented Kaufman with Bismuth’s memory-erasing idea, and they put together a pitch to bring around to various studios in Hollywood. They both assumed it would be a tough sell, but it generated <a href="https://www.avclub.com/michel-gondry-charlie-kaufman-1798208337" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a lot of attention and a bidding war</a>, and it was picked up very quickly. They didn’t have a script at that point; Kaufman had to go and write it.</p> <p><site-embed id="8405"/></p> <p>This was in the early 2000s, when Kaufman had already earned a reputation as a screenwriter of weird films thanks to <em>Being John Malkovich </em>(1999), which was the debut feature film for both Kaufman and director Spike Jonze. It was the kind of film debut that garnered a lot of very position attention, and also the kind of film that meant when Kaufman and Gondry pitched <em>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</em> nobody was really surprised by the whole “it takes place almost entirely in the main character’s mind” approach.</p> <p>Humans have always been fascinated by the workings of our own minds. And I do mean <em>always</em>: there are Mesopotamian stone tablets that provide advice on interpreting dreams. One of those tablets is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/23/arts/design/dream-tablet-Iraq-artifact-returned.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a fragment of the <em>Epic of Gilgamesh</em></a> that was infamously among the thousands of artifacts looted from Iraq and purchased by Hobby Lobby founder and odious evangelical Steve Green. According to the tablet and Gilgamesh’s mom, if you dream about hugging an axe, it means you have an epic bromance in your future, and also that you should never shop at Hobby Lobby.</p> <p>That doesn’t have anything to do with this week’s movie. It’s just proof that humans have always wanted to poke around inside our own minds, and we have always used stories as one way of doing exactly that. The recent success of <em>Inside Out 2 </em>(2024) suggests that nobody is getting tired of the trope any time soon. We humans are terribly self-involved creatures, and it drives us nuts that we don’t really understand the workings of our own minds. We’re always looking for ways to conceptualize, visualize, and analyze what’s going on inside our troublesome noggins.</p> <p>Visualizing a person’s thoughts and emotions is the concept at the heart of <em>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. </em>The film tells the story of a guy named Joel (Jim Carrey, in one of his best performances) who learns that his girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet, in one of her best performances), has undergone a procedure to erase him completely from her memory. He retaliates by choosing to do the same to her. The procedure is carried out by Howard (Tom Wilkinson) and his trio of employees (Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunce, and Elijah Wood in his first of several post-<em>Lord of the Rings</em> roles playing a weird little creep). While the procedure is in progress, however, Joel changes his mind. What follows is a chase through his mind as he tries to hide memories of his relationship with Clementine from the erasure procedure.</p> <p>The film makes no attempt to be scientifically rigorous; <a href="https://scriptmag.com/features/script-screen-eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kaufman is very candid</a> about the fact that he wrote the sci fi premise as a tool for exploring the story of a tumultuous relationship. On screen, this manifests with a deliberate mundanity: the ordinary doctor’s office, the unprofessional employees, the cheesy sleep helmet and clunky computers that make up the system. Even the assumed links between experiences, objects, and memories are more or less handwaved in favor of getting into the meat of what it means for the characters. We aren’t meant to care much about the neurology, because that isn’t the point. The point is Joel’s journey through his memories of the relationship, mostly moving backwards from its bitter end to its waning days to the excitement and warmth of how it began.</p> <p>It’s less common these days, but when the movie came out there was a bit of commentary, including from Kaufman himself, that the lack of scientific rigor—and a lack of interest in scientific rigor—means it’s not really science fiction. I’ve never liked that sort of genre-splitting, and I suspect that in 2004 a lot of it came from a place of people thinking, “Well, if it’s good and emotional and wins awards, it can’t really be sci fi.” Which is, of course, silly, and “imagining a new technology that changes how people live” is one of the most classic sci fi premises out there, even if the science is wishy-washy.</p> <p>What matters is that it’s a very effective way to tell the story of a relationship. One component of why it works so well is that Carrey and Winslet are both such good actors playing such messy characters—but without any sort of moralizing or judgment on how messy they are. Because they are messy! They have fantastic chemistry and charm, but he’s sulky and passive to a fault, and she’s a mercurial alcoholic, and sometimes we want to shove them both out a window because of how frustrating they are. It’s so easy to believe both that they love each other and that they eventually can’t stand each other. These are complicated characters in a complicated relationship, and for extra emphasis they are surrounded by the equally messy relationships of the doctor’s office employees.</p> <p>That story would already make for a perfectly fine movie, but this movie is better than perfectly fine. It’s unique and wonderful, and that’s because of <em>how</em> it shows their relationship. The imagery that is used, the symbols that weave through the subconscious world, and the overall structure and composition of the scenes, it’s all visually striking and very memorable.</p> <p><site-embed id="8406"/></p> <p>It was also, apparently, something of a trial to achieve during production. Gondry was the director and Kaufman was also heavily involved in the production process (which is unusual for a screenwriter), and there are two more people whose work is intrinsic to the look of the film: director of photography Ellen Kuras and editor Valdis Óskarsdóttir.</p> <p>Quick aside: Film editor is the one high-level movie production role that has historically been held by <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/09/1236786943/oscars-movies-film-editing-women" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a significant number of women, even in the most high-profile films</a>. Still <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/movies/kim-roberts-kate-amend-and-other-female-film-editors.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nowhere close to parity</a> with men, but noticeably more than, for example, the percentage directors or DPs who are women. It’s rare for both the DP and editor of a major feature film to be women. Both Kuras and Óskarsdóttir are, obviously, very good at their jobs, and their work in the film is lovely to behold.</p> <p>In <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/heroines-of-cinema-ellen-kuras-rockstar-among-cinematographers-45242/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a 2012 interview</a>, Kuras spoke a bit about the particular challenge of filming a movie that Gondry wanted to look both realistic and surrealistic, the kind of film where one scene can be a convincingly drab New York apartment and another scene can be a brightly distorted childhood memory of bathing in the sink, and both scenes look and feel like a part of the same world. It’s a tricky balance, but they manage it by limiting the number of visual cues that separate the “real” world from the world inside Joel’s memories. There is very little CGI; the <a href="https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/19247/1/a-secret-history-of-michel-gondry" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">effects are mostly in-camera or practical</a>, making use of techniques like forced perspective, split focus, and unusual lighting and sound to create the surreal instability of Joel’s flight through his memories. Both realities have the same texture and palette, which makes them hard to distinguish at first, but they operate by different rules when it comes to the navigation of time and space.</p> <p>That’s also where the editing of the film comes in. <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/heroines-of-cinema-valdis-oskarsdottir-and-the-invisible-art-of-editing-44254/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Óskarsdóttir has also talked about</a> the process. Her perspective on it is delightfully no-nonsense. About figuring out how to convey the director’s vision when it’s not necessarily captured on camera, she said, “A director might say, ‘What about that shot where he’s sitting and you can see that he’s thinking, and then he stands up and he’s very disturbed’. And you look at the shot and there’s just some guy standing up and walking across a room.” I love that. We always think of films showing us a director’s vision, but the editor is the one who has to look at everything that’s been filmed, all those variations on guys standing up and walking across rooms, and put together the pieces that actually capture that vision.</p> <p>Apparently the editing room for <em>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind </em>was a somewhat crowded and contentious place, as Óskarsdóttir and Gondry—who both describe themselves as stubborn—frequently clashed over how to piece the movie together, and <a href="https://www.avclub.com/michel-gondry-charlie-kaufman-1798208337" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kaufman was also offering his input</a>. That’s a lot of opinions to wrangle, and it was by no means a simple process, as on the whole the movie is non-linear and a bit inside-out in terms of structure, and on a granular level there are scenes were elements are repeated, deleted, or obscured for emotional impact.</p> <p>They all knew it could very easily be too confusing for audiences, and there was a lot of trial and error involved in shaping the film into something that told the story as effectively as possible. They were also aware that filmgoing audiences in 2004 would have expectations for a non-linear film about memory, as Christopher Nolan’s <em>Memento </em>(2000) had come out just a few years prior. The movies are very different, but what’s in a movie is not the same thing as what casual audiences pick up from promotions and taglines. Interestingly, <em>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind </em>is one of the few movies I’ve read about that used the test-screening process as an actual, good-faith beta-read on the film (rather than the usual studio-mandated test-run for marketing). They made note of where the test audiences were confused by the film’s timeline and re-edited some things to address the problems. In <a href="https://www.avclub.com/michel-gondry-charlie-kaufman-1798208337" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">an interview with AV Club</a>, Gondry said about the test screenings, “We need other people to watch it with us and come at it from a fresh perspective.”</p> <p>Luckily for us, all of that effort and all those editing room arguments were worth it in the end, because the movie comes together wonderfully. I know there are some people who found it confusing, but for the most part critics and audiences had no trouble with the film’s nonlinear structure—or understood that some parts are meant to be confusing, because Joel is often as confused as we are.</p> <p><site-embed id="8407"/></p> <p>It’s a beautiful movie. I love the way it meanders back and forth between stark winter landscapes and cozy domestic interiors, from scenes of acrimonious commotion to moments of oppressive loneliness. I love how all of that beauty works together with the strong writing and fantastic acting. No element feels out of place. There are some movies where it’s easier to imagine them in a different form, such as a novel or a stage play, but this isn’t one of them. The quirky <em>movieness</em> of it all is part of the film’s statement about how we might visualize and experience our own memories.</p> <p>Perhaps the most impressive part of the movie is how all of those elements combine to send us on such a powerful emotional rollercoaster. We’re along for the frustrating, painful, but still hopeful ride of Joel and Clementine’s relationship, and we never really get away from it, even in those moments when we are convinced they are terrible for each other. We see in excruciating detail why they fell apart, but in the end we still get that little pang of hope, the same one the characters are feeling, that maybe they can work it out. Maybe they can find happiness again, and maybe it will be worth it even if it is temporary. People aren’t neatly-trimmed puzzles pieces made to fit together without friction, after all, and memories are not cleanly cleaved into pleasure or pain. We’re all so much more complicated than that.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots" /> <p>What do you think of <em>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</em>? Do you think it holds up twenty years later?</p> <p>Next week: We’re wandering down a haunted road through time in Mattie Do’s <em>The Long Walk. </em>Watch it on <a href="https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/15152086" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hoopla</a>, <a href="https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/12291533" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kanopy</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0U04O2GHHHSMTPL9CNHDL4HPO5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/84e8372ed02554ed8e80c9080e3e1b8b/the-long-walk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Roku</a>, and <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-long-walk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more</a>.[end-mark]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-navigating-the-landscape-of-human-emotion/"><i>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</i>: Navigating the Landscape of Human Emotion</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-navigating-the-landscape-of-human-emotion/">https://reactormag.com/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-navigating-the-landscape-of-human-emotion/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=815479">https://reactormag.com/?p=815479</a></p>

cimorene

Neve the wild mini phalaenopsis orchid started to bloom! From above you can kinda see the size difference compared to Georges and Ella next to her. She's got so many buds already.

Wax's philodendron Jungle Boogie or Henderson's Pride, if that is in fact the one it is (apparently hard to tell, came without a proper label, on sale after being sadly mistreated at a hardware store), has made a new leaf recently and it's making a branch. I really love the leaves which are very majestic, but I keep trying and failing to get pictures of it. It's just so large and the light is from the wrong direction where it lives.