Sex Appeal is Evil?

Watched a movie the other day, and as soon as this one female character walked on screen and spoke a few lines, I knew she was going to be one of the bad guys.

I was so disappointed, really. She was confident, sexy, and intelligent. She was deffered to by the men she spoke to and the implication I came away with at first was that it was because she was smart and took no bullshit.

Alas. She's one of the baddies.

Sex appeal, time and time again, is one of the easiest ways to tell when a female character is good or bad. Particularly, if the woman is aware of and able (willing) to use her sex appeal to her own ends.

Some how, it's okay for the suave stud-muffin male lead to make the ladies swoon. But it's not okay for a sexy woman to turn heads and be pleased with it.

It's a little disappointing because I know this sort of culture is going to make it hard for Bo Fexler to find a publisher for her novels. But it's also empowering because I know I have something different. Something that does have an audience.

In fact, I just got another story accepted. It's nice to know that even after a long drought, I still have the ability to write things that (some) publishers want. The trick, I suppose, is finding the right ones.

What do you tell yourself to keep going?

The Conundrum of Movie Store Categories

While I understand that it's human nature to categorize, one of the areas that I have severe trouble is in the video store.

Our local Lackluster Video shelves the new releases by title. Which is good for me. Though I have this quirk of starting at the A-side and often have picked my two movies before I get halfway around. Then, with my new releases in hand, it's time to pick my "old" movies, which I get for free if I rent on certain days when the planets are aligned. That doesn't bother me-- I keep pretty good track of planetary alignment and lunar shifts. I do work with high school wolves kids.

It's the organization in the center of the store where the 'old' movies hang out, eating old popcorn and watching the TV monitors that show clips of new releases with ittybittytiny words saying what movie the clip is from. We'll overlook the fact that my glasses are seriously out of focus and I should have called about them about four months weeks ago. Some of the classifications eventually make sense-- like Star Wars under Action. Some seem to stretch just a bit-- like The Number 23 under horror. And some are just absurd-- like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as a comedy. And I thought I had a warped sense of humor.

So this system of categorizing certainly presents a conundrum when I stroll into the movie store. I can usually remember a few recent previews or reviews. And maybe a few movies that I've been wanting to see for a while. So I wander up and down the aisles looking for movies that I not only recall the titles but also have some recollection of whether I thought I wanted to see them, once upon a time. The classifications only make it harder. Is it really a comedy? Or is it one of those dark movies that makes a few 'jokes'.

And where's the section of "based on books" or "have actual plots"? I know that there's a neat website for the former would-be-section, but yeah, like I remember any of those when I go to Lackluster. Especially since Lackluster is located on the return stretch of my driving-- it's a block from home on the right hand side. I stopped only on the way home... and I've actually driven right by (even with the intention to stop!) because I was thinking about being almost home.

What would really be great, though, is if the movie store put in a couple of those kiosks like book stores have where you can find out more about the movie-- maybe get some reviews, compare to other titles, that sort of thing. Then, if I'm looking for something like Kill Bill, I don't have to remember to do/ bring my research with me.

Let's stay far away from how I'm really way too young to be so forgetful.

• Currently Reading: Hollowed Ground by Lori G. Armstrong
• Working on: Getting my home computer (aka "Spud") set up the way it was before I traded "old and busted" for "new hotness"
• Current Song: Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down