it sounds like a sexy hamburger

Went and saw Superbad Friday night and laughed my ass off. Definitely not a movie I'd like to see with my parents (one day I'll see the 40 Year Old Virgin again, and properly enjoy it); it was filthy in the way that only immature boys can be. But it was also awfully sweet. The two friends are facing separation in a few months, and nothing will ever be the same, and they both realize that. It's guy love, between two guys. Plus, Michael Cera is so delightfully awkward--he can somehow convey acute discomfort by just standing there, and it's honestly hilarious and endearing.

It's true that there's very little screen time spared for the girls, but I liked that there seemed to be some kind of hidden layer to them. Maybe I'm just projecting, but since the boys only got imperfect glimpses of that whole other world that is teenage femaleness, it seemed pretty clear that there was more at work behind the scenes than the audience got to see. And also, that the boys just didn't get it. On a somewhat related note, my favourite bit in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was when Hermione explained why Cho was crying when Harry kissed her and Ron was all, no one person can be feeling all that at once without exploding! Right there, one of the (admittedly cliched) differences between the sexes. We ladies are complicated creatures, and no one understands us, not even ourselves.

Over at Pajiba, there's some kind of crazy shitstorm going on about the politics of Superbad. I mention it not only because Dan Carlson is really sorry for inadvertently starting it, but also because I've been thinking quite a bit about the personal and the political. I thank whatever powers that be that there are women a lot smarter than me who did all the theoretical thinking behind feminism (I'm referring to it as a philosophy; it's a great thing that someone said, hey, just cuz I have a vagina, I'm not allowed to vote? WTF?, but to sit down and hammer out papers on the power imbalances inherent in the very language we use, the dynamics in society that implicitly favour males, etc etc etc... well, damn, I'm just grateful to have enough brainpower to be able to mostly follow along). It does, however, become INCREDIBLY exhausting to safeguard feminine equality, just because there is so much to fight. (There's a manager at the Meat Palace who consistently gave the guys (one of whom was much slighter than me) the dirty, muscle-y jobs during our opening week--for all I know he still does; I rarely work with him given my limited schedule--and it amused me slightly while also ruffling my feathers. Then I said to myself, Susan, do you WANT to mop the bathrooms out? Haul around the dusty barbeque? No? Then shut up.)

Anyway, what I'm saying is that while I fully understand and support the rationale behind confronting the casual oppressions that the patriarchy unthinkingly imposes, I can't really envision an end point to it. And that exhausts me. So does the fact that it's really hard to convince people of things that they don't want to believe or understand, no matter how reasonable your arguments are. You pretty much have to get them while they're young. I like to think that if I ever have kids, I'll be able to raise them to treat everyone with respect, and avoid the gendered pigeon holes that society still propagates--and that enough feminists (male or female) manage to do so that eventually it'll snowball, and the world will slowly become a better place. I'm not really planning on having kids, unfortunately for future generations (that's right. You just WISH you could get a hold of these genes!), but theoretically speaking, that's the plan. There are an alarming number of knuckleheads out there who just don't and won't get it; I have defended my views on feminism to guys who have pretty much just scratched their heads and said, "Why are you even bothering about this? You're pretty; you don't need to worry about it."

Now I'm all riled up again. Want to be depressed? Go read this. The most fucked up part is in the fifth to last paragraph. But they do say they're hopeful; maybe instead of being exhausted, I can try that too.