recent media

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, written by Tom King, art by Bilquis Evely - Yes, I totally got this on Libby because I read that James Gunn would be adapting this for the Supergirl movie. I've read that it's supposed to be "True Grit in space", making it a kind of Western in space. The art is gorgeous. I should have read it on my tablet - the illustrations really pop, and I like the way the artist uses space and color. The writing...is a bit on the tedious side. It feels like the writer wanted to make Ruthye, the protagonist, sound like she came from medieval times by using old-fashioned words and taking ten words to describe something that could be done in two. The effect was that it only made me impatient with the prose. The overall story is fine, except I'm not too fond of the ending - it's kind of too dumb for my liking. Ruthye is a young, impoverished girl hellbent on avenging her father, and she meets Supergirl, and goes on adventures with her to chase down the guy who killed her father. One of the absurd bits that completely took me out of the story was when Supergirl teaches Ruthye to wash her hands after using the restroom. Like, what? I'm interested to see how James Gunn adapts this to the movie. There are long stretches where nothing really happens, which makes for evocative art, but kind of boring storytelling. 

Secrets of Adulthood by Gretchen Rubin - I didn't find this as useful as her previous books, because a lot of the wisdom pointed out in this short, compact book was already aired on her podcast, which I still listen to. I have started repeating some of it to my daughter, especially the bits about indecision. "Not making a decision is also a decision." My own secrets of adulthood: exercise is, unfortunately, a good thing to do. So is flossing. 

Zeteo has a new podcast hosted by Simone Zimmerman called "Beyond Israelism" - the first episode is with Hannah Einbinder, of "Fuck ICE, go birds, free Palestine!" fame. It is a really good, deep dive on Einbinder's journey with Zionism and anti-Zionism, and what it means to be Jewish these days. Currently, it is locked behind a paywall, but I think Zeteo is worth the subscription (even if I dislike also giving money to Substack - hoping they get big enough to just straight up move off of it). Zeteo also usually posts their podcasts/videos on YouTube within about two weeks if you don't feel like paying. 

I came across this Proximity Media deep-dive video on Sinners and the Chinese-American roots depicted in it, with cultural consultant/journalist Dolly Li. It's really good, and it does contain spoilers for the movie, so you shouldn't watch it unless you've already watched Sinners.