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longlive-electraheart · 2 years

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Let's talk about The Mummy (1999)

Someone was talking at me yesterday about this movie and I was getting riled so I decided to go full rant. Specifically in regards to the feminist podcast that slammed it.

I don't even remember which podcast it was, but I am still rankled and baffled that any "feminism in movies" podcast could jump to anything but "this movie is phenomenal."

First of all, even just discussing the overall quality: sure, it might not have been groundbreaking with its cgi or plot twists. But back in the 90s, that wasn't the standard of measure like it is now (and even now is a shitty standard that needs to die). This movie was light and funny and yet hit all the right beats to maintain the dire stakes needed to make it a compelling action flick.

Its characters are fully realized and entirely distinct from each other. Even those treated with a broader brush, such as the Americans, were charismatic enough that we were fully invested in their fate. The entire cast of characters were real people with real impact and real agency.

The script is quotable and fucking hilarious. There are gems from literally every single character. Rick and Evie have actual chemistry, aided by Rachel Weisz's natural magnetism and Brendan Frasier's career-long knack for acting utterly charmed with his female costars.

Actually, let's talk about Rick O'Connell for a second. This is peak 90s Brendan Frasier. He is absolutely GORGEOUS, suave, and cool, rugged and handsome. He is the epitome of the 1920s adventure hero. Dear god I want to kiss those casting directors. But for all his general peak masculinity? He's feminist as fuck. He is equally dumbstruck by Evie as she is by him, and it's wholly evident that it's more than a "oh no she's hot" thing.

How do we know?

He steals her some tools to dig with. This gift demonstrates that he a) has identified her passion for archaeology, b) has recognized her proficiency in the field, despite it not being explicitly stated on screen, and c) sees a chance to restore her full and active participation in the discovery of Hamunaptra.

There is never a moment where Rick assumes to be the leader of the expedition. He is the weapons expert, the muscle--and he knows it. Better than that, he's totally okay with it. He follows Evie's lead in all things.

Another favorite moment of mine is when they're facing off with the American team on Day 1, and Evie realizes there's a chamber underneath Anubis they could use to excavate the statue. She puts her hand on Rick's arm, looks him in the eye, and says very deliberately "there are other places to dig." And he yields, instantly.

By comparison, see the way the Americans treat their workers and guide.

Does he groan about his work being made exponentially harder as a result? Nope. And that's a recurring theme in his behavior the entire goddamn movie. The only time he is in charge is when a situation is in his wheelhouse-- namely, combat and rescue. And it deserves mentioning that the majority of the time that he's in charge, Evie is not present.

Meanwhile, Evie-- her adventurer's spirit chafing in an academia that dismisses her for her gender-- is an absolute marvel. She is visually coded as being very feminine (she's in dresses and long hair most of the film), but that fact in no way detracts from her competence and agency.

She is consistently protrayed as a fully capable expert in egyptology and there is never a single moment where she waffles on what to do. Even when she's the damsel in distress, she actively makes the choice to be so because she weighs the potential outcomes and decides doing so provides their best chance of success.

Evie is never the passive victim. She is constantly brash, constantly scheming, and saves the lives of her would-be rescuers mid-abduction. And when her brother (who is the failure of the family, against type) needs help with translation, she correctly translates for him while being throttled by a mummified priestess.

When I first saw this film, I was too young to realize how novel it was. Back then, all I knew was that it was just a good time. But now as an adult-- an adult acutely aware of the treatment female characters have gotten in the twenty years since-- I marvel at the respect with which the writers and directors treated Evie.

I marvel at how tender Rick was allowed to be, despite his rugged adventurer archetype.

The Mummy (1999) is peak storytelling. It doesn't try to outsmart the audience, but rather lays out a consistent, coherent narrative that gives the characters and viewers room to breathe. It invests the audience enough to care whether the characters succeed in their goals.

The Mummy (1999) does it right. It's the reason that any talk of the Tom Cruise version gets an immediate eyeroll from me, because whatever modern grimdark grit they shove into a story about a mummy cannot compare to the reliable and timeless entertainment of the 1999 adaptation.

All modern media should aspire to be the kind of film that The Mummy (1999) is.

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longlive-electraheart · 2 years

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Breakeven lyrics sounds like something Warner would write.

#Or i'm just in my feelings about aaron warner after such a long time #aaron warner #shatter me #breakeven

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longlive-electraheart · 3 years

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The Princess Diaries (2001) dir. Garry Marshall

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longlive-electraheart · 3 years

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Young Justice Season 4 - Phantoms

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longlive-electraheart · 3 years

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IT WAS LITERALLY TAKEN RIGHT BEFORE WILL JOINED THE LEAGUE

I’M GOING FERAL.😭

#IF WE HAVE AN EPISODE WITH SCENES OF THAT DAY I'LL CRY #young justice phantoms

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longlive-electraheart · 3 years

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ʙᴀɴɢᴛᴀɴ | sᴇɴsᴇ8 ᴀᴜ

seven strangers are thrust into each other’s lives, each other’s secrets, and in terrible danger. They share a connection, feelings and abilities as they try to avoid their extermination.

#i still love this one

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longlive-electraheart · 3 years

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I have a friend with Cancer North Node, and it was fall in her 6th house. She was a big success for our circle. At that time, she was not yet 20 but already in a power position. She even was able to rebuild her own home with her salary. She was the head of the family who has mother with a terrible health condition. I was envy of her because her early major success. In 5 years, she could be higher than everybody was expected.

Turns out she was unhappy about her achievement because her mother was terribly abandoned alone while she was working so she couldn't take care of her. She fell into depression after she realized that her mother often forget to eat just because her mother misses her so much. She felt guilty over her achievement because she felt that she sacrificed her mother's wellbeing just for insane work hours. She fell sick and i was taking care of her, but all she did just mumbling how bad is it to abandon the only one parent left that made her as a bad kid. Not to mention that she was unhappy too because people are getting jealous of her achievement and tried to put her down with some false accusation or a bad conspiracy around her. I felt bad for her especially because she isn't 20 yet.

Two weeks later, she decided to quit her job even it was in the head position that provide her money and power. She came back to her mother's house and decide to take care of her while tried to sell Nasi Kuning (Yellow Colored Rice by Turmeric and Spices, Indonesian traditional food) in traditional market every early morning. She was making less money than before, but at least, she is 20 and happy.

That was beautiful for me. For Cancer North Node folks like her, emotional necessity is prioritized over any material necessity. In her case, it was through act of service by taking care of her mother (6th house). Not to mention, when they encourage themselves to really focus on emotional necessity, incredibly, their material necessity also developed in a very nurturing way.

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longlive-electraheart · 3 years

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North Node in Cancer

This person has come into the world for healing. And while that healing may eventually extend beyond one’s self and reach out into the community, it is critically important that it begin with the Self.

In the karmic past, he or she did not have the luxury of tears. We certainly do not need to shame them for that; only to recognize that there was simply a realistic adaptation to inhumanly harsh realities. The intent now is to soften. There is a soul-contract to integrate, accept and comfort the weaker, more emotional, gentler parts of the psyche.

He or she must cry those old, unfallen tears. With a south node of the Moon in Capricorn, underlying the karmic mood of this individual is an abiding hunger to be safe–at last. That hunger is inseparable from a need to establish an emotionally-secure place in the world. Physical and financial safety are part of it, but equally central is the feeling of heart-safety that comes from committed intimacy. That could mean marriage or a similar bond, but it can also as easily mean deep, long-lasting friendship. The guardian angels smile when they see this person feeling safe and stable enough to plant trees instead of seasonal marigolds. They jump for joy when he or she feels safe enough to express sorrow or fear or need or other “weaknesses.” Cancer is the Great Mother, and with the north node there, it is time to rest a while in her arms.

–Steven Forrest, Yesterday’s Sky

#this is beautiful #north node in cancer #8th house

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longlive-electraheart · 3 years

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longlive-electraheart · 3 years

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Neptune aspecting the Sun and Moon

Neptune is a transpersonal planet of collective emotion, of archetypal imagery, of dreams and escapism. Neptune is unbounded, impersonal and can be found in the trends of culture more than anything – that which is sought collectively as an ideal or transcendent image. Depending on the sign Neptune is in at a point in time will effect the images and notions people associate with the highest and most refined state to aim for, it will also point to what is perceived to be key to sooth the self in the face of the darkness of mortal reality. I’ve written about Neptune before but it’s such a difficult planet to get a grasp of. It’s like trying to concretize the nature of the ocean – it’s too boundless and multi-faceted. When it’s contacting personal planets in the birth chart, the oceanic deity that is Neptune is influencing the personality. This means that the person is set up to experience some aspect of the personality as belonging to the archetypal realm of the unconscious ; image-making and dreams. Dreams are essentially a way for the psyche to smooth out the edges, intuit the subtle messages and process the things that happen in life through symbols. Dreams are often distorted, exaggerated or confusing but also wonderful, romantic and blissful – they are unpleasant as well as pleasant. Many people occupy themselves with dream analysis to get better insight into the workings of their own unconscious. After all, it’s said that archetypes of the unconscious are governing our lives – making us repeat patterns and gets us into certain dilemmas until we become conscious them. Often times an archetypal pattern has taken over the person rather than the person consciously cooperating and working with the pattern.

Even though archetypes of the unconscious are autonomous and real in the sense that they’re living through us and defines us, they are not real in an ultimate sense. Life is not what appears on the veil, rather, it’s pure being, pure consciousness. There is no hierarchy of illusions – all of them are equally real or unreal. For example, Venus as an archetype, is not more or less real than its counterpart Mars. They both have their legitimate place, yet, we can’t find any ultimate truth looking to either the goddess of love or the god of war. Perhaps they can be viewed as agents of the divine, as opposed to being divine in and of themselves. People often refer to the divine feminine vs. the divine masculine as the highest and purest expression of these principals, but even in their most subtle, ”spiritual” and refined expressions they are not to be confused with the ultimate. Neptune is commonly manifesting itself in us as seeking the ultimate, while perpetually confusing it with images on the veil.

(Buy products with my art here)

Sun aspecting Neptune

The Sun is representative of the self, the conscious ego, the center of the personality. It’s the Sun that constitutes our path toward self-actualization, self-discovery and self-knowledge. In it’s most evolved state, the ego is able to illuminate and include all aspects of the greater Self as its own. It’s the ego that consciously responds and reacts to the things that happen within the psyche.

The typical interpretation of Neptune aspecting any planet is that it gives it a lack of boundaries and a strong receptive nature. In the case of the Sun, the ego isn’t very rigidly defined and is very open to being swayed by the dominating influence of the environment. In the case of the conjunction especially, there’s a sense of not having a definite center from which one consciously respond to inner and outer events. The conscious self is taken over by the the ocean, making the person too swamped to be able to respond in a way that is stemming from a place of clarity. The Sun has a lot to do with personal integrity and pride, but Neptune kind of negates these traits because it is functioning to dissolve and obscure the planet that it conjuncts. This person might be at a loss of how to consciously asses situations and the will might be weak. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the person’s physical drive and motivation is weak, it simply means that the ego doesn’t take a definite stance at any point. It’s difficult for these people to get a grasp of what makes up their sense of self because it’s so subtle that it’s barely noticed. To individuate is a process, but Neptune doesn’t allow it to ever become too tangible and linear. The very recognition of a conscious center can feel fictive, like something one has made up for the sake of blending in. People with Neptune conjunct the Sun will live their lives trying to actualize and realize themselves through the collective ideal. Not only is this impossible to reach in practical terms, but it bordering on self-undoing. It is impossible to be everything and anything, and so either one becomes a puppet of the subliminal cues of the environment, or one completely shuts down and can’t respond at all. The person usually can’t stand to get into any harsh confrontation with ”reality”, which might lead them to seek escape or transcendence.

The trine and the sextile aspects are not as intense as the conjunction. They give the conscious self a sensitivity to shifts and changes in the atmosphere and an ability to spontaneously pick up on subtler cues without consuming the will of the individual. One also has the ability to illuminate the archetypal realm, of bringing fairytales and fantasy to life through one’s own pursuit of self-actualization. While the conjunction would be more prone to delude and confuse to the point of detriment through these mechanisms, the harmonious aspects would gently add a bit of glamour and sense of elevation to the self, as well as a sense of connectivity or rather subjective awareness of the oneness of life. Music or any type of art is a typical Neptunian expression and the person might have a natural gift for appreciating and creating musically and artistically. The trine is usually so natural to the individual that this gift is usually taken for granted while the sextile usually is linked with the recognition that one has the potential for accessing the realm of the intangible and draw inspiration from it. While the trine denotes a sensitivity and imagination that is innate and unable to ”shut off”, the sextile needs to be ”tapped into” and can therefore be a resource rather than a constant.

The square and the opposition aspects indicate that the conscious self is pitted against and disconnected from the higher octave experience that Neptune endows, which usually leads to an acute sense of needing to not lose either planet to the other. In the case of the square, there’s effort and struggle to dissolve the boundaries of the self, yet there’s resistance to being completely swayed by the dynamics of the unconscious. Carl Jung had this aspect and it certainly stimulated him to become aware of the workings of the psyche – probably because of the tug he felt within himself between forces of the unconscious and his sense of self. In his book ”The Undiscovered Self”, he argues that only by gaining awareness and understanding of one’s conscious mind, and true inner nature, ”the undiscovered self” can we as individuals acquire the self-knowledge that is antithetical to ideological fanaticism and the dangers posed by mass society. ”Mass society” in this case is Neptune – the collective waves of ideology, while the self (the Sun) is an antidote to this big and frightening force. This square relationship between Neptune and the Sun is very characteristic of Jung’s work. Squares tend to stimulate action because they present a conflict that is uncomfortable enough for the person to want to fix. The opposition is not so much of a conflict as it is a disconnect - the person has to strike a balance between the planets. There’s an obvious risk of overdoing Neptune – escaping the conscious self and failing to individuate, of sacrificing consciousness for sweet oblivion.

Moon aspecting Neptune

The Moon is representative of the inner emotional nature, personal needs and subconscious reactions and responses to the environment. The Moon, unlike the Sun, is something that isn’t consciously chosen, but rather innate and instinctual. It is not possible to be a slave to one’s ”Sun” because it is consciously strived for, but the Moon is what it is, regardless of our ideals and desires. The emotional needs often go hand in hand with our physical comfort and well-being.

Moon conjunct Neptune is perhaps a more difficult aspect than the Sun-Neptune conjunction considering that Neptune elevates and obscures the personal needs rather than the conscious will. My grand mother has this conjunction and she is neglectful of her basic needs while simultaneously going for more refined and glamorous pleasures. She likes to ignore the rougher and less refined parts of being a human and likes to focus on the superficial appearance. To her, it doesn’t really matter if she feels bad as long as she can be living her fantasy of luxury. To put it bluntly, she would rather delude herself into living a different reality than acknowledging the ”flawed” one she has in front of her. It doesn’t even have to be that ”flawed”, but there’s an irrational tendency to overlook certain things that are deemed that way. Curiously, she can appear to be very accepting of circumstances, but only because she has dissociated from the actual reality of them. Needless to say, this aspect can really get the person into trouble. The instinctual reaction is so elevated that it is barely anchored in any concrete reality. The person may unintentionally hurt the body because of the need to be boundless. This need seems to extend itself to wanting space and lose clothing, nothing that pinches or constricts bodily movement – it might also make the person crave being near water and the elements of nature. The Moon is a cyclical planet and wants different things at different times, and the person might naively demand that these needs will be met by other people or the world at large. The victim complex can set in when something is being ”withheld”, even if it is completely understandable from a practical perspective. For example, something as irrational as becoming upset that there’s no money left after just spending it all. Or, that one can’t afford the most expensive jewelry or luxury item when one wants it soooo badly. In any case, there’s usually some kind of story that is made up around every event that is constructed and molded into something tragic or wonderful. The person is essentially living in a fairytale where everything and nothing makes complete sense.

The harmonious aspects of Neptune to the Moon denotes a delicate constitution that is sensitive to stimuli and very receptive. In case if the trine, the person is automatically sensing and picking up on the subtleties of the environment and is emotionally attuned to the collective ideals and narratives. The person naturally merges with the emotional urges of the masses without loosing touch of the personal needs. The person is typically quite empathic and soft-hearted for this reason. Although the same could be said for the conjunction, it’s much more prone to confusion and loss of boundaries that one can’t effectively empathize in the same way without being swamped. The trine aspect might be difficult in the sense that the person might be vulnerable to strong emotional influences and might not be able to emotionally react in a way that is wholly personal. One is too aware of the emotions of other people and the overall atmosphere to be solely in one’s own personal emotions. People with Moon-Neptune often seem to have very universal emotions that they need to process, which usually gives them the reputation of being sensitive but impersonal. They dislike discordant and messy emotional influence yet can’t take it personally – they simply need to accept it, because they can’t blame anyone or take personal offense. They might crave solitude in order to process everything. The sextile aspect is probably the most easy to deal with because Neptune isn’t in free flowing communication with the Moon the way the trine is. Neptune nudges the Moon in a way that is stimulating the personal emotions in a creative way – it gives the potential for sensitivity and receptivity without being a constant. The sextile denotes the capacity for imagining and dreaming while the trine denotes it as a natural state. As stated with the Sun-Neptune aspects, artistry might be exercised and appreciated – especially with the sextile.

The square and opposition aspects are more straining. The square indicates that there’s conflict between the personal emotional nature and the movement of collective emotion. Jung, who had Sun square Neptune emphasized the importance of pursuing self knowledge (the Sun) as to not be victim to the dangers of giving in to mass movement (Neptune). The square between Moon and Neptune would consequently make the individual concentrate to define and experience the private inner nature as to not give up personal needs through the pull of collective emotion and the collective unconscious. As always with Neptunian aspects, they lend themselves to creative pursuits and exploring collective themes, myths and emotions, but with the square, the individual will suffer a lack of emotional integrity and personal needs. The tension between these planets often stimulates concentrated effort to learn and practice connecting to one’s own needs and that which is felt through reflecting and embodying the immortal archetypal energies. The pull to experience something greater and glamorous and ”higher” is strong, but usually because of a sense of being deprived that very thing in childhood. Singers like Rihanna and Justin Bieber have this aspect and they are both perfect examples of escaping their own emotional nature and sacrificing their own needs for a spot in the limelight. The pull to give oneself up for the sake of becoming an ”icon” and puppet of the collective unconscious might be done at the expense of personal well-being.

The opposition works in a similar way, though it lends itself more to extremism of completely abandoning the emotional well-being in order to get a taste of the oceanic bliss that Neptune can provide. Many people in the public eye with Neptune negatively aspecting their Sun or Moon complain that they’ve had to give up normal life and their connection to the rhythm of their inner most selves in order to become a star, an ”immortal celebrity” or an object of adoration. Fame comes with a lot of glamour, staged spectacles and rituals that are above and beyond normalcy. Even though a person with this aspect isn’t a celebrity, one might perceive that there’s a necessity in sacrificing one’s personal emotions for the purpose of reflecting something of more sophistication and elevation – something transcendent. Marilyn Monroe had this aspect and she was very sad, yet very glamorous – she certainly felt the need to escape from her ordinary life and troubled childhood through becoming an object for the collective to adore. The loss, of course, is that she wasn’t necessarily adored for her own personal reactions and responses, her own heart and soul, but for her ability to morph into the image of the collective beloved.

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longlive-electraheart · 3 years

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La paz que buscas esta en ti mismo.

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longlive-electraheart · 3 years

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