#6: The Saturday 411
A roundup of posts, an online film class, and invitation from yours truly
Dear readers,
First, I just want to take a moment to say thank you so much for reading Leading Ladies.
Leading Ladies has existed since the summer of 2022, but I’ve only been consistently writing here (and podcasting a little bit too) in the last six months.
I’m really grateful that all of you have been along for the ride. I sincerely hope that what we’ve been writing here has helped you consume more consciously and has increased the value of your time spent watching film and television.
I have more to come — so many ideas! so many things I want to write about! — so stick along for the ride and read the newsletters that interest you the most.
Here are few other ways to support our work here:
In the words of Alison Roman, “If you’ve found your way over by some miracle but are not yet subscribed, here, let me help you with that”:
You can also upgrade your subscription to paid, the cost of one latte per month, and receive a personalized watchlist after taking a survey!
And lastly, the best way to grow this readership, and the work, is by word-of-mouth referrals. When I think about my favorite things on the internet, be it a newsletter, clothing brand, even a show, most of them originated from a friend’s recommendation. The things that trusted friends recommend, those are the things that stay.
Most creators on the internet are tired of trying to promote their work on social media and, at the end of the day, it really doesn’t drive any traffic. Most of the time, it doesn’t bring me new subscribers (shoutout to my one exception this week!). So, if you’re inclined, it would mean the world if you share this newsletter, or specific posts you really like, with someone you love.
Thank you again, I am so grateful you’re here! I also would love to hear from you, seriously. So please comment, chat, and you can even direct message me now (I think. This is a new feature, so let me know)!
Alright, now that we’ve taken care of business, let’s get to the really fun stuff!
Round Up of Recent Posts
In case you missed it, here’s my two-part series on why you should not watch Persuasion and why you absolutely should watch EMMA. and Love & Friendship!
I wrote much of this two years ago and didn’t have the gumption back then to publish my opinion. But here we are today: I’m telling you, EMMA. is one of the best Jane Austen adaptations of all time! Go watch it!! I’m very tempted to do so myself when I’m finished writing this!
And this week, I published
and her piece on the moral dilemma of watching Poor Things.Here’s an excerpt:
I have loved Emma Stone since I first saw her in Superbad. I have loved seeing the different paths she’s chased down in her career, complex characters, wildly different from each other. I love it when she wins awards. I love it when she makes me laugh by being charming and goofy during Q&As. I want to see her. I want to root for her.
And you know what, I want to trust her. My discomfort while watching her in Poor Things was less about what I was seeing and more about the story I was interpreting.
Here was someone I love — Emma Stone — telling me a lie about something that’s deeply personal and deeply vulnerable: the value of sex and the sacredness of our bodies. In this movie, she was telling me they’re meaningless. And I know they’re not.
It might sound silly, but to watch this movie with my integrity intact, I had to engage in a mental, emotional, and spiritual battle. I had to tell myself that the message it was giving me wasn’t true. I had to remind myself that sex and our bodies are sacred. It’s hard to do. It’s so much easier to sit back and consume the story I’m given without question.
I highly recommend you read her entire essay! She’s wrestling with something we each have to decide for ourselves. In the gray area of problematic content, what are we willing to watch?
I imagine this is just the start of the conversation, for us here at Leading Ladies and for you at home with your families and friends.
Take a Film Class with Me!
I’m taking a film class and I could not be more thrilled. Prof Mary McCampbell is teaching an online, go at your own pace film class over at The Empathetic Imagination. The class is called “Philosophy & Theology in Film” and you can look at the updated course list here.
The funny thing is that, even though I’m writing about film and television now, I never took one of the amazing film classes offered at my alma mater. Sure I took criticism classes and oftentimes film was incorporated into our philosophy classes, but I used up all my elective credits on english classes to get a minor in literature. And a lot of good that’s done for me!
Just kidding, I’m very grateful for the course reading lists of all my undergrad lit classes. I would not be the reader I am today without them. And probably not the writer or analyzer, either — so many 500 word reading responses!
Anyways, I’m very excited to learn many things I don’t yet know, and to combine three wonderful things I really like: philosophy, theology, and film.
I’ve also only see two of the films on the docket, so I’m looking forward to watching some classics I haven’t hit yet, guided by guest lecturers and discussion questions.
If this interests you and you’ve got the time, I recommend checking it out!
A Personal Invitation from Yours Truly
I have relaunched my personal blog in the form of a newsletter called Now We See Dimly!
I’ve written about why I created this new project and what I’ll be doing there in an intro post.
Basically, I’m truly embracing the identity and calling of WRITER, and writing more than ever before! I have some big things underway that I’ll be sharing about there.
Now We See Dimly is very personal. It’s about about knowing in part, living with loss, learning to grieve, and clinging to hope. It’s about losing my dad, memories of him, and life without him now.
It’s also another step in my journey to leave social media, so I’ll share more photos and updates from my life there. I will also probably keep writing about and processing the exit in the occassional post.
If that is not your cup of tea, and you already have too much to read in your inbox, I completely understand.
Just know that it’s there for you to read, especially if you know someone who is grieving or if you begin to live with loss yourself.
Or if you’re trying to leave the social networks!
But even your reading of Leading Ladies here supports my writing over there at Now We See Dimly. Did I mentioned yet how grateful I am?! So grateful.
Thank you for reading and happy weekend reading/recreating/watching/resting!