Liars and Saints

 My family has started to wade in the waters of sex education. I've read that it's smart to talk, and talk, about sex, so that kids do not begin to conclude that certain natural behaviors are filthy and worthy of shame. For example, I'm told, a two-year-old should start to get familiar with the terms "vulva," "vagina," penis," "clitoris," "bum," and "nipples." These should just be parts, like any other parts, like your head, shoulders, knees, and toes. To demystify the word "penis," and to convey the sense that the world is wide, you could mention to your child: "Not everyone with a penis is a boy." I said this, and my husband choked on his coffee; "I just, I thought you might begin with some context," he whispered. Then: "I guess I have to learn not to giggle when I hear the word  penis ." I am not a barricade-building revolutionary, but some tired ideas about gender really bothe...

  The movie "Titanic" is 25 years old, and the bad parts are just as bad as you may recall. Yes, Rose says, "Put your hands on me, Jack!" And: "Draw me like one of your French girls." And, yes, Rose confronts her fiance and screams: "I'd rather be Jack's whore than YOUR WIFE!!!!" But, at the same time, how do you resist a movie like this? A young woman (Rose) feels she must follow a certain script to save her family from financial ruin. She is pissed. The only real option she spots is suicide (just fling yourself from a ship). But a guy intervenes. He tells her that the water is brutally cold. ("Have you ever been ice-fishing in Wisconsin?") This young man, Jack, indicates that he will dive in after Rose jumps--so, regardless, Rose is going to have company. At this point, the movie briefly becomes a rom-com. Rose is drawn to Jack, and can't accept this, so she becomes snide. But Jack gets the girl because he is (apparently) ...

The Barrett-Solomon Film Exchange continues. My husband's great gift to me over several months has been "Friday Night Lights," which I wouldn't have watched on my own. The show was originally marketed as a football story, but when producers noticed that their main audience was affluent women, the marketing changed. ("It's About Life.") However, this switch happened too late for me--so I had to discover the show later, via streaming. Everyone talks about the big innovation of "Friday Night Lights": It's a prestige drama about a basically functional family. Contrast this with "Mad Men," "The Sopranos," and "Breaking Bad," where members of families are sometimes literally, physically attacking one another, and there is always a case of The Other Woman. "Friday Night Lights" even winks at this prestige formula when it threatens to throw Tami Taylor into an adulterous situation with "Glen," the s...

 In this house, we talk a fair amount about "Mare of Easttown." Spoilers ahead. The series wasn't perfect. The weird bits of "comedy" bugged me. A slapstick-y interlude where one young lesbian's ex-girlfriend accidentally witnesses a clandestine hook-up.....felt especially half-baked. And we never learn much about a serial kidnapper's life or motives. Why was this guy locking women to large pipes in a hidden back room? I, at least, would be interested to explore that question. All that said, I admire "Mare" for giving a female character quite a bit to do and think about--and I especially admire this when the series "Younger" is falling really flat at the same time. I liked the unpredictable chats between Winslet and Jean Smart; I also liked Smart hiding ice cream in an empty bag of frozen peas. (Over seven seasons, "Younger" doesn't bother to tell us anything about Liza's mother, if Liza has, or ever had, one.) I lik...