Liars and Saints

Spoiler alert.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1orjA9Z8g4 One of the better movies I've seen this year is "Private Life," by Tamara Jenkins. It's not perfect. These days, at least in many cases, if you're having a baby through surrogacy, you're explicitly advised *not* to use the donor egg of someone you know well. Given that this warning now seems to be the norm, it's weird that Jenkins doesn't include a lengthy discussion w/r/t Giamatti/Hahn's violation of the norm. It's plausible enough that a couple would choose to violate the norm. Maybe it's a financial question. Maybe the couple is so smitten with their donor, they're convinced nothing emotional/spiritual/moral could ever go awry. I'm willing to believe these things. But Jenkins needs to have dialogue in which these things are spelled out. And she needs to have a scene were Giamatti/Hahn confront Molly Shannon and really wrestle with the idea of carrying out a perilous...

(5) If you're the object of trauma, you remember many of the circumstances, and you remember who did the deed. This is said repeatedly, now, but it merits (even more) repeating. And there's generally an element of irrational shame, particularly if the action involves sexual assault--so, over and over again, the victim not only opts against doing any reporting, but also makes a concerted effort to give the appearance of "everything is perfectly normal." This ground was covered in Krakauer's "Missoula," several years ago, and in several other places. Given this information, it's really stunning to me that people like Susan Collins can continue to seem as (willfully?) ignorant as we've been observing. All that said, I have to mention a Tweet Adam Goldman recently issued: "You either believe women or you don't." I disagree. Life isn't that simple. Women are not a monolith. Different cases require different interpretations. Which m...