I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: GRIMES-“Kill v. Maim” (2015).

I don’t know Grimes very well at all.  When I first heard this song I didn’t really know what to think, but after repeated listens, I think it’s great.

It opens with a synth riff (and air horns) and one of Grimes’s many voices (this one is kind of childlike).  But by the end of the second line, she screams “they don’t know me” and that seems to set up the various personas in this song.

It’s the pre-chorus that I find so catchy–sung like the cheerleader chant “B-E-H-A-V-E aggressive.  B-E-H-A-V-E nevermore.”  And then the super fast chorus (with her voice lifted to an incredibly high pitch).

There’s a slower section with what I assume is her natural voice (which is quite lovely).  But it’s soon back to the fun chorus.  I need to hear more from her, but if this is her only good song, that’s okay.  It’s angry and you can dance to it.  Welcome to 2016!

[READ: December 20, 2015] Bitch Planet

This series is a great manifesto for the new year–don’t take shit from anybody.

Kelly Sue DeConnick is a force to be reckoned with.  In addition to presenting Captain Marvel as a woman (in the amazing series of that name) and making some other cool looking series that I intend to read, she has created this feminist masterpiece.  Bitch Planet addresses violence and injustice against women and the whole “prison culture” that is always titillating for men.  It pushes Orange is the New Black to even further extreme that a comic book can.

Designed in a retro style by Valentine De Landro, the book comes complete with ads for “crap” in the back of each issue.   Which you may actually be able to buy.

The premise behind this series that women who disobey (in almost any way) are deemed Non Compliant, and are sent to a correctional facility called Bitch Planet. The book opens with naked women of all shapes and sizes being marched into the prison, getting inspected, rejected and selected.  And then we see the men who run the prison and watch the procession.

There’s an awesome parallel story told about a man who has gone to the head of the prison to see about rescuing his love.  At the same time, we watch his wife in prison, getting abused from all sides.  This story unfolds in a genius way.

This also serves as an introduction to Kamau Kogo, an athlete whom the prison warden will find useful going forward.

The “ads” in the back of each issue are just great.  The headline is “Hey Kids, Patriarchy!” and there are X-Ray specs that “see through his intentions.”  There’s also “non-compliant” tattoos and masks (which have apparently really taken off).

The second volume shows the warden (a woman) suggesting that Kamau should start a women s megaton game. She resists until the other prisoners come to her and tell her why she should do it–they can get something out of it (I love what’s happening in the background of these scenes, by the way).

The we see the origin of Penny Rolle.  Penny is a very large woman with a shaved head.  She is angry and tough.  And we learn that she was initially incarcerated for being fat.  The “punchline” at the end of her story is awesome.

The ads at the back offer a poster which you can hang on your door (rather than that Marilyn Monroe print they keep trying to sell you on the commons).  There is also a recipe for the muffins that Penny makes.

Volume 4 introduces us to the game of Megaton.  We learn that a player died on-screen and that yielded the biggest ratings ever.  So having a female convict team should be even better.  In “The obligatory shower scene” we learn how deals are made in one room where there are no cameras (although someone is always watching).

And then in No 5 the women take on the guards in a game of Megaton (again the events in the background of the scenes are indispensable).  But the guards have no intention of losing, even if the women play better.

The end of the book feature a discussion guide that asks about how you reacted to the injustices seen in the book and talks about feminism (even footnoting a PDF from 1989 “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics”  by Kimberle Crenshaw).

This is such an amazing series with great art and a fantastic premise.  I can’t wait to read more of this and really anything else that DeConnick does.