Funnies: Faceswap

My best friend, and co-producer on Avery Parrish Thieves, Lily, posted this yesterday. Literally laughed out loud. 

 

Medusa and Other Headless Women

   When I saw the above portrait of Medusa (Caravaggio) in a book when I was a kid, I was haunted by it. I've probably mentioned on here before about my childhood fear of decapitation, needless to say seeing this painting didn't help. It wasn't just the headlessness or the snakes, it was the look on her face. Shock. Rage. Hurt. I never forgot it.  Ever since, I became not only fascinated by Medusa, but felt heavy sympathy for her. In a way, we can give credit to Caravaggio for making me feel all of this, but besides the painting, I knew her story. And as I get older, I understand it even better. 

    Medusa has forever been and will continue to be seen as a monster. After being raped by Poseidon, Medusa was cursed by Athena who was jealous. She gave her a head of snakes and the ability to turn anyone who looks at her to stone. After years of turning to stone the warriors that sought her out, a young man named Perseus outdid her and chopped off her head. 

   This classic greek myth shook me has always shaken me to the core. In the words of the Wicked Witch of the West, "what a world!" Not only did she get taken advantage of, but she was punished, humiliated, and killed. And her death, a victory to everyone else. 

   I feel just as upset about Medusa's mythological death as I do about the true and historical ones of say Mary Queen of Scots, also beheaded. Did you know they burned her clothes in front of her before her execution? I visited Holyrood whilst in Scotland two and half years ago and felt a deep sense of sadness for Mary as I looked upon her home, her trinkets, and her friend David Rizzio's blood that still reddens its famous corner. Locked up and beheaded. What a life.

   Or even Marie Antoinette, our favorite "party girl." When people speak of her death, it's in mockery. There's a secret pleasure to knowing that someone was killed, and brutally, for not being "the best" at her job. Why do we look at Marie and laugh? 

   Why do we look at all of these women, real or not, and feel their deaths are just? Or at even just how it is? 

   I chose to dress up as Medusa last Halloween because this recent year was a tough one. Sure I didn't get my head cut off, but I realized that many people I had loved turned out to be the types who laughed at Marie, or told Mary to shut up and stay locked away, or rooted for Medusa's head to hit the floor. Last year, I lost and said good-bye to many friendships, women I grew up with. I was heartbroken by each one of them, as well as by the few men I had naively given my heart too throughout the year. It was a year of disappointment and hurt. A year of being misunderstood and mistreated. A year of being humiliated, that lead to me losing all humbleness. I had always identified with villains, but now I felt I had really "understood" them. 

   With the recent year involving friendship drama with the women in my life (something I hardly ever experience) combined with the hurtful realizations that men don't take most women seriously, I figured out why I felt such fury for these historical and mythological deaths. I guess, sometimes, the world is one that enjoys putting down women. That headless women are celebrated. That whatever they have to say or feel is disposable. Not to mention the constant desire for only their bodies, but that's a whole other talk. 

   I had written an essay about this topic (headless women and their significance) a few years ago, but this was the year that really taught me just how present these hidden beliefs are in our culture - and sometimes amongst those we least expect. It sounds far fetched and a bit dramatic, for sure. But I still feel and know that generally the world is harsh on women (both men and women to each other). I realize it's probably just a rough patch, a tough age, a difficult generation, etc. I know too that things are much better now and if anything, I'm so grateful for all of the lessons I've learned, and wouldn't trade that for anything. And I'll always value random insightful experiences like this one, even if they are not easy to go through. Either way, I'll forever be a woman, living amongst the rest of us, doing everything I can to keep my head up high. 

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Our Wild Thing

I was so happy this Halloween when I discovered that all of my friends got really into their costumes. I will probably do posts about them all eventually, but I decided to start with my best friend Alex: The Wild Thing. He made his costume all by hand, inspired by the release of the film "Where the Wild Things Are."

One of the funniest parts of Halloween night this year was when my guests and I ventured out into the neighborhood to do some "Big Kid" trick 'r treating. After walking across the street and down the Hill, Alex (who had just arrived at my house) called us asking where we were. I felt terrible, how could we forget to wait for him?! I gave him some directions so that he could meet us, but I worried that they weren't very good directions, so I decided to walk up the hill by myself to see if I could find him. My friend told me that he had dressed up as a Wild Thing and shouldn't be too hard to spot.

Let's keep in mind that I wasn't wearing my glasses as I was trying to keep the whole look of my costume original and creepy; with that said, I walked up the steep hill, all alone, squinting my eyes in search of Alex, or a Wild Thing, I should say. Soon, I could see a figure of a person walking down the hill on the other side of the street. It looked like it had a huge tummy, a huge head, and no arms. Finally I asked, "Are you Alex?" The figure turned and said, "Yeah." At this point I was so relieved that I had found our Wild Thing and shouted, "Get your butt over here, dude!"

Turns out he had not only made such an amazing Wild Thing costume (a stuffed tummy, round animal-like mask...), but he accidentally made the mask in a way that the eye-holes fell too low when he put the mask on. Because he had trouble seeing, he started holding the mask up with his hands for most of the night- the main reason I thought he had no arms... I should just get contacts for crying out loud.

Halloween 2009

All Gathered for a Seance

Well, this Halloween was a very special one! Thanks to my mom, my aunt, and our good friend Rita, we gathered our magic powers together to create a festive party on Saturday night to celebrate the greatest night of all: All Hollow's Eve. Putting the party together was a major piece of work (decor, food...) but it all payed off in the end. I get such a kick out of seeing all my friends dress up in crazy costumes I also love how they are all so accepting of my strange love for Halloween.

During the day, and the day before, I spent every minute I could on making the decor look just right. I don't know how my family puts up with me and my habits of being a big perfectionist when it comes to my favorite day, but they still stood by me. I had decorated the inside of the house a week prior and worked on all the finishing touches on it on Friday. Saturday, I put all the outside decor together to create my spooky displays. Usually instead of changing things up every year, I tend to just add on to my old traditional displays- with a few new tweaks, of course, so this year I used the small amounts of time I had to spice things up just a little bit more than they were last year. And with that I'd like to say thanks to all who helped me out this year, including all the amazing artists who inspired me- Thanks!

I promise to post some pictures of the decor very soon, but in the mean time, enjoy viewing them on Flickr at My Photostream.