Link Round-Up: Women, Media, and Things That Are Cool

Alexander McQueen’s collection at the Met. Also known as what I would like my production of The Tempest to look like, in that daydream world where I produce it with an unlimited budget.

I am in that terrible place where, in spite of sleeping nearly twelve hours last night and drinking three cups of coffee before 1PM, I am still tired. Maybe because it’s 81 degrees F out there, and at least a few degree hotter in our un-air-conditioned apartment? That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

In lieu of a focused blog post like I usually try to do, here are some links to stuff that I’ve been meaning to blog about:

• A Female Artist’s Foray into Male Modeling: Olympic swimmer and artist Casey Legler is a woman and a male fashion model. Favorite line: “Is it a stretch for me to be styled wearing men’s clothes? I mean, I think anyone can look at me fifty seconds and see that that part is actually not so complicated. I think the part that can feel complicated sometimes is that I also look really fierce in a dress.”

• Not unrelatedly, Is Gender-Flipping The Most Important Meme Ever?: Caitlin Welsh examines the trend of gender-flipping, from The Hawkeye Initiative (artists drawing male superhero Hawkeye in the sexualized/ridiculously weird poses female superheroes are put in on comic book covers) to Tootsie to — probably my favorite — the cover designs of novels. Fair warning, some of these images are borderline not safe for work.

Let’s be real though, I would have been devouring this book at age thirteen. And then my friends wouldn’t be groaning in horror at me now when I say I still, still haven’t read A Song of Ice and Fire. (Click for commentary from the artist, who designs covers for a living.)

• Some Thoughts On Our Business: Jeffrey Katzenberg’s 1991 memo to Disney’s executives lays out a set of ideas and strategies that are — and clearly were, given the incredible success of Disney’s animated features from 1991 to 1999, including Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Mulan — good for the company both creatively and financially. Hat tip to Lillian of Lillian Lemoning for the link; she pointed out that Katzenberg recognized the dangers of relying on “bankable,” “foolproof” stars and spectacle rather than a good story, the exact dangers that led to the massive disappointment of The Lone Ranger. The best of many takeaway lines: “We are lucky. We get to manufacture magic and, in so doing, produce a product that makes a difference.”

• Neil Gaiman says a black actor was offered Doctor Who but said no: Like a lot of social justice-minded Whovians, I was rooting for the Twelfth Doctor to be cast as a non-white character, or a woman, or better yet a non-white woman. (Also known as “Lucy Liu for every role ever.”) I am ultimately quite happy with the choice of Peter Capaldi, especially because I think the change in dynamic from “young hot companion + young hot Doctor” to “young hot companion + older hot Doctor” will be really interesting. (And because, as many other fans have pointed out, Steven Moffatt’s track record with writing women is pretty atrocious, especially on Doctor Who, and it would be better to wait for a female Doctor until there’s someone running the show who doesn’t say things in interviews like “There’s a huge, unfortunate lack of respect for anything male [in civilised countries].“) Neil Gaiman evidently agrees, and gives some interesting insights and commentary on the whole regeneration thing in general. And also fills my head with tantalizing images of him as a showrunner.

• Emerald City Comic Con announces special guest Jeff Smith: I AM INEXPRESSIBLY THRILLED WITH THIS. I have loved Bone for a long time, and I have a giant omnibus of the entire epic courtesy of my sister, and I really want to get it signed, and wait oh my god I could cosplay as Fone Bone, or Thorn, or a Rat Creature! I could be Bartleby! I’M SO EXCITED. (Other guests giving me conniption fits of glee: Nichelle Nichols and Mark Sheppard. Emerald City is pretty quality, guys.)