I work in a public library and there are times a book comes through circulation that is so awesome I can’t believe I hadn’t seen it before.
Last week I came across this lovely children’s picture book called Why Johnny Doesn’t Flap: NT is OK! by Clay Morton, Gail Morton, and illustrated by Alex Merry. (Pardon the library barcode covering part of the title here.)
[Pictures of the front and back covers of the picture book. The back cover summary says: “My friend Johnny is different from me. We have fun together, but sometimes he acts pretty strangely. He is never exactly on time, he can;t seem to strict to a routine, he stares right into your eyes, and he often says puzzling things. Johnny is neurotypical. I like Johnny and I think being NT is OK.”]
The fact that I was seeing the term “NT” on the cover of a children’s book was enough to pique my interest. Upon further inspection, I discovered that the book is really quite lovely!
[Two page spread reads: “We have a lot of fun together, but sometimes he acts pretty strangely. Mom says it is because he is NT, or neurotypical. He doesn’t have autism, so his brain works differently from mine, but that’s OK.”]
It flips the typical “little Timmy has a special friend” narrative on its head. Instead, the narrator is an autistic boy who has an NT friend who he sometimes struggles to understand.
[Two page spread reads: It can be pretty interesting being friends with a kid who is NT. He has a lot of quirks that can be very frustrating until you get used to them. Mom says that everyone’s brain is different and different isn’t always wrong.”]
The book uses simple terms to describe a perspective not usually seen in any literature, let alone lit intended for children.
[Two page spread reads: “When something exciting happens, Johnny doesn’t respond like you would expect. He doesn’t flap his arms or jump up and down. He just moves the sides of his mouth up and slightly widens his eyes. Maybe he doesn’t know much about how to express emotions.”]
I think ultimately this flipping of the narrative is more effective in getting the message across that kids with autism are just like everyone else but with unique needs.
[Two page spread reads: “Johnny never has a meltdown when disasters happen, like a fire drill or art class being canceled. He is afraid of what people might think. It seems like he is bottling his feelings up, but he just has his own way of dealing with things, and that’s OK.”]
And this book is something autistic kids don’t usually have– it’s a book from their perspective! And it’s a non-offensive, matter-of-fact perspective, which is all the rarer.
[Two pages spread reads: “When he talks to you, Johnny looks directly into your eyes, which can make you pretty uncomfortable. He doesn’t mean any harm, though. That’s just the way he is, and that’s OK.”]
It talks about things that autistic people experience and can relate to.
[Page reads: “I like Johnny. I think that being NT is OK.”]
I’ve been researching western wear brands this morning (I have legit business-related reasons, don’t ask) and I’ve become fascinated by women’s western wear sizzle reels and ads, many of which read like trailers for contemporary lesbian westerns made by independent film directors with titles like Turquoise or Sleeping With Girls in Trucks.
Reblog to support casually fashionable queer girls in love driving trucks across a barren wilderness that symbolizes the difficulty of growing up different in a small Oklahoma town.
That looks very lesbian. From here it sadly also looks like it includes a bunch of native appropriation?
Yeah, that is depressingly de facto for western wear. You pretty much won’t ever see a line of “western” clothing without patterns or designs stolen from Native art, unless it’s one actively owned by Native people, and I have yet to see any specifically western-wear oriented companies like that (though Beyond Buckskin has a long list of places you can buy products from Native-owned businesses).
I am not, btw, in any way holding this up as actual queer representation, I’m sure they’d be horrified at the very idea. I just think it’s funny how gay it manages to be regardless.
Having watched the video, I can literally peg at least some reasons why it’s so amusingly “lesbian” vibe:
1.) No men. Literally not a single man anywhere. Side effect of showing off womenswear in specific, I know, but they’re not even TRYING to pretend their customers are even remotely interested in attracting a man or even being around one. It’s probably intended to be progressive, and it is, but it carries an amusing implication with other context in there…
2.) The OUTDOORS! Okay so not every lesbian is an outdoorswoman, but a.) it’s not uncommon for them to be, particularly if they’re a bit tomboyish or butch and b.) the idea of literally going camping with only ladies (notice the RV!) kinda has a Getting Away From Men AND ALSO SOCIETY So We Can Enjoy Each Others Company in Peace and Freedom And Be Ourselves feel and like….that’s not necessarily on its own Lesbian? But it is definitely not NOT Lesbian, if you know what I mean. Basically there’s a ton of Freedom Of the Outdoors Away From It All imagery and look I get that ~rustic cowgirls~ are supposed to be into to that anyway but without dudes in the video At ALL, it’s very easy to read it as a super Lesbian Fantasy Of Having Flirty Fun With Other Ladies Away From it All
3.) Speaking of which: Sexy model shots of ladies’ butts and of them leaning all over the place with chests at angles to emphasize boobs and hips. Yes, it’s to show off elements of the clothing and how it fits, but again, with no men in the video, who ARE they showing off for? There’s an implied Fourth Wall for at least most of this video (I only watched it once, it may well be throughout it!), it’s very Cinema Verite esque, so who are they showing off their boobs to with such simmering looks, if it’s not dudes? Who is looking at their asses in those cute jeans? BY IMPLICATION, THE OTHER LADIES
4.) Again, speaking of which: several inter-cut shots of ladies giving SIMMERING LOOKS and/or smiles often with shots MIRRORING the other’s direction so it kinda contextually looks like who they’re eyeing is literally each other
5.) CONSTANT FLIRTING BODY LANGUAGE IN GENERAL. I want you to watch this video and notice how often they not only Genuinely Smile At Other Ladies and Laugh At Each Others Jokes, they also tilt their heads while looking at each other.
This movement is called either a “head cant’ or “neck cant” (forget which) and it is a gesture people, especially women, tend to do seemingly instinctively when trying to appeal to a person…ESPECIALLY during romantic or sexual flirting! It is believed the reason it is done is that it exposes the jugularto the person you’re speaking to, showing Vulnerability and Trust, and trying to invite a social bond based on “I trust you literally with my own jugular!”.
There’s also a lot of general Trusting body language throughout the video between the ladies, from thrusting chests forward, to just generally not closing off vulnerable body regions…while they smile constantly at each other. Or give Simmering Looks. Or both at once.
6.) also a lot of Cuddly Touches and Enthusiastic Hugs. Which, again, with the FLIRTY body language…
So. What I am saying is that when all of the shots are taken together, there is actually a reason, several in fact, why it comes across as Super Gay. 😛
And the funniest part to me is that unless everybody involved in this was a wlw, chances are very good the higher-ups and/or director of the ad thought this is just What Female Friendship Looks Like, and that the models were directed to Look and Act Sexy and Happy and Carefree…….with…a bunch of other ladies. And not dudes.
They thought they were JUST showing sexy ladies looking good in clothing and having innocent ~sexy~ fun with each other in the outdoors…with…no men…
JUST
OUTDOORSY GALS
BEING PALS
A) This has greatly improved on my post from a cinema studies standpoint (I did notice the “mirroring” looks and lack of dudes but the rest is a really good point) and
#aparrently a forensics lab disposed a bag of hands improperly which like. how. how do you do that
don’t worry about it
No but really if you read the article it just raises more questions. The govt is like “nbd, you know how sometimes you cut the hands off a corpse so you can check the fingerprints? they just did that a bunch and then didn’t get rid of them properly.”
Except. That’s not how forensics works? If the body is too fucked up to use ink like with a live person, you use powder and tape the way you would with any other physical object you were trying to lift prints off of. (And if you needed dna it takes like, a fragment. Not both fucking hands.) So you’re left trying to figure out, is there a forensics lab where they’re just routinely lopping both hands off every corpse they find? Why would they not just print them immediately instead? If this IS about identification, what are they going to tell all these families when they turn over their loved one’s body with both hands chopped off?
So really this still brings us back to the original question, which is WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING IN RUSSIA.
I’m finally watching Black Panther and it’s a three screen feature. I’m crying.
It was AMC I think
Omfg
WHAAAAAT
It’s called 270 degree viewing, for future reference. I just looked it up and Black Panther is only the second movie to be viewed this way. There are only 3 movie theaters outside of Asia that have this viewing experience. 1 theater is in Las Vegas and the other 2 are in California. This is so freaking surreal. I would have lost my mind had I been able to see this. Just wow….wow.
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