Atelier

After reading a text by Paul Lafargue, I was inspired to create a book.

This book is in french but I did find an english version of the text if you are interested: The Woman Question (1904).

Page setting, illustrations, montage/seam by me.

Excerpt 

As Capitalism has not snatched woman from the domestic hearth and launched her into social production to emancipate her, but to exploit her more ferociously than man, so it has been careful not to overthrow the economic, legal, political and moral barriers which had been raised to seclude her in the marital dwelling. Woman, exploited by capital, endures the miseries of the free laborer and bears in addition her chains of the past. Her economic misery is aggravated; instead of being supported by her father or husband, to whose rule she still submits, she is obliged to earn her living; and under the pretext that she has fewer necessities than man, her labor is paid less; and when her daily toil in the shop, the office or school is ended, her labor in the household begins. Motherhood, the sacred, the highest of social functions, becomes in capitalistic society a cause of horrible misery, economic and physiologic. The social and economic condition of woman is a danger for the reproduction of the species.

A quick review

Why Love by Gaspar Noé is everything but a film about love.

!!! This review is going to be very subjective and non-professional.

In this movie, the parisian film maker said he wanted to show a love story without eluding the sex scenes. I was very excited about it. If you are wondering, I am not a big fan of his work but I admire the fact that he seems to film whatever he wants to film.

I thought I was going to like this one. Reading the plot and some interviews of Gaspar Noé, I was expecting a movie where we could sneak into the intimacy of a couple, sharing the pleasure of two characters in love, being a part of their life through many passionate moments via long and sensual exchanges (verbal or physical).

Before the movie I was like Yeaaaah…

Now I feel like I just watched a movie with flat dialogues between two (or three, or more) people constantly hurting each other and fucking to feel alive. I have to agree with people though: this was not strictly a porno because the sex scenes sometimes were soft and slow and the girls had pubic hair. (No need to say I was happy to watch it alone and not with my mom…) The sex was ok. The rest painful to watch.

In GQ France, Gaspar Noé himself even said he wanted to show a love story but not during the steady stage (wtf?) of real love and trust. More the passion’s fever.

Mon but était de raconter une histoire d’amour. Pas l’état amoureux stable entre deux personnes qui s’aiment et qui sont confiantes. Plutôt la fièvre de la passion.

He just made a point. Why did he have to call his movie Love then? If only he had called his movie Lust… It is indeed a story about desire, destructive passion, lust. They cheat. They lie. They cheat and lie. Of course, they also do drugs and have sex with several people at the same time. Well, a regular couple really. From the very begining, this couple had no chance. Lust without trust -and so without love in my opinion- does not end well. Actually, if this movie was an article on the internet, it could be called “Top 10 Reasons Relationships Fail: Follow Our Instructions To Destroy Your (Love) Life.” (the main and boring character ends up with the wrong woman and an unwanted baby).

…and then I watched it.

I would like to quote R., an awesome friend: “Haddaway used to say in his song what is love, that the baby must not hurt him not hurt him no more. Is that what people strive for nowadays? Is that what love is supposed to be? Lots of sex with bags of walking std and a miserable couple?”

You know what? Maybe the movie shocked because the contents were pretty (very) empty compared to the many sex scenes, not just because of them. Also, I do not like being manipulated: “I am going to show you love and sex = No, you showed me sex and self-destruction.” To the people claiming that this is a movie about love, I am wondering if they are having fantasies about a love/hate relationship because they never truly experienced passion/lust or if that is truly how they see love.

I love trust. I love sex. I love having feelings. I was not moved once. I was not really turned on neither (at least not more than porn). What is left? I guess I did not like Love, The Movie, and I am the first one to be disappointed.

What about you? Your thoughts about the movie?

The perfect husband

Today is all about creating the dream husband we all wish for. We are going to give life to our perfect husband through characters from movies (you could also put Leonardo Dicaprios characters all in one, that will work). I wanted to make this clear : you are looking for a husband-for-life, not a boyfriend-for-fun. Let’s go!

First of all, you need a genuinely nice guy, with an inherent sense of morality and deep values. A good education is a plus. His style has to be casual, as you do not want your friends to think you are married to a clown. Someone like Joel in Eternal sunshine in a spotless mind.

Let’s add some craziness. The problem with Joel is that he is a bit boring and we all know that women need some adventures in their life! Your husband has to be a romantic guy, a dreamer, a sensitive buddy inspired by your beauty and your beautiful soul. He will write poems about you, will cook sweet chocolate cookies for you, will take your hands in the streets just because it makes him happy like Tom in 500 Days of Summer. I know he is in a way sensible but love makes him do spontaneous things and that is all you need to know.

Then of course, your husband has to be smart. I mean, really smart. Not a “I have a degree” smart but more a “I have a PhD and was able to speak before I was one year old” smart. A man like John in A Beautiful Mind should be good to shine in society.

Intelligence is ok, but you need to feel you are protected by your man, right? That is why your husband needs to be strong and ready to fight for you. The world is a dangerous place and he should be able to make you feel that “everything is gonna be alright” and that nothing is going to happen to you, because he will always be there, no matter what. A real man full of virility, a G.I, a Gerry in World war Z.

Adventures are good but not everyday. That is, if you plan to have a quiet family week-end in a cottage, your husband needs to know how to relax and do nothing but hanging around in pyjamas and eat ice cream on the couch. Laziness is quite enjoyable, specially if you are going to be together until the end of your existences. The Dude in Big Lebowski does the trick. According to the picture, he might go to the groceries without you, wich can be a very good point.

Finally, what is life without sex? Your almost perfect husband should have a last great skill on his list : he has to be a good, a wonderful, a magnificent lover. I see only one guy to  embellish the picture : Brandon from Shame.

I wish you all the best to find your perfect husband and in case you already found him, lucky you. I probably missed some skills, feel free to correct me and add some wonderful abilities to this list because we women are never satistied. Yeah!

PS1: I now speak for myself but a beard and nice hair are qualities to consider.

PS2: This is NOT a sarcastic post. I repeat, this is NOT a sarcastic post.