"The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo": American version trailer

As I have stated previously, I don´t like remakes. They don´t make sense, especially when the first editions are done perfectly to the point. But of course, if the idea is good (read: marketable) and worth repeating, it will be exploited.

The original Swedish "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", based on the book "Men who hate women" by the late Stieg Larsson, was superb. Mostly due to the main actress of the film, Noomi Rapace. After her international debut, she is now well on her way to becoming a big star. Duly deserved. By all accounts, her successor in portraying the feisty character of "Lisbeth Salander" will have a hard time convincing the fans of the story of her acting abilities. If anything, the role is extremely demanding, and not meant for the mainstream Hollywood lightweight thespian.

So far, the clip of the forthcoming American remake by David Fincher does not show us much of the skills of Rooney Mara, trying to reenact Rapace´s brilliance. If anything, the short clips show us identical images and scenery resembling the original film.  Why? Because it was _filmed in the exactly same locations_. In Sweden. So why the redo? Because they just don´t like to read subtitles over there. They don´t. Good idea can be capitalized so much more smoothly without those pesky letters ruining the lower half of the screen. I will be eager to see the full final version of this re-cooking, though.  And whether it turns out to be a financial success. Rooney Mara? Not expecting that much, sorry. What mostly strikes me in this clip is the haunting music by Trent Reznor of the "Nine Inch Nails". He also composed "The Social Network".

"The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo": American version trailer

The Evolutionary psychology -defense: Or, Can´t help it, it´s in my Blood

Meet Mr. Satoshi Kanazawa. Chances are, you have encountered his clever ideas somewhere, or some of his like-minded fellow, hmm,  scientists. Mr. Kanazawa likes to sow his brilliant thoughts around, so let´s have a look at some of the snappy tidbits circling our mass consciousness these days.

Just because one claims to be a psychologist, even a qualified one, does not really mean a thing. Everyone and their uncle (no pun intended, it just slipped) who has seen a therapist knows this. There are quaks on every field, and the art of playing with your mind is not an exception. Then again, who am I to judge? Few of you might agree with what Satoshi writes, and these slogans seem to go around a lot these days. To the point of using evolutionary slogans as a defense for just about everything. Even so-called "smart people" of the world have seemed to stop questioning this, and base their judgement on statements standing in thin water. (Just think of the East-Finland Court of Appeal) It is almost like trying to win an argument with a die-hard evangelist: everything _just is_ this way, because the Bible says so. There is no rhetoric, no controversy.

But let´s get back to Satoshi and his wonderful little ideas about the world. All these writings can be found here, as in "why Feminism is the anti-Viagra". The guy writes for Psychology today, which I know some of you might hold in high value. Don´t.

In 2008:  "The best thing for people to do to become happier is to get in touch with their animal nature. Recognize and accept that we are animals. In some ways, in many ways, men are more similar to male chimpanzees or gorillas than to women. Forget what feminists, hippies, and liberals have told you in the last half century.  They are all lies based on political ideology and conviction, not on science. Money, promotions, the corner office, social status, and political power are what make men happy.Spending time with their children is what makes women happy.The best thing to do is to kill all the feminists and hippies and liberals.  Destroy political correctness completely once and for all."


Charming. Let´s see what else he has a sweet opinion on.




In 2011:  "Are all women essentially prostitutes? Yes.  Prostitution is evolutionarily familiar, because mating is evolutionarily familiar and prostitutes (at least the classy ones) are no different from other women, whom men also have to pay – not in cash payments but in dinners and movies, gifts, flowers, chocolates, and motor oil – if they wanted to impress them enough to have sex with them." 


And his latest jewel of a daily thought:  "Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women? There are marked race differences in physical attractiveness among women, but not among men. "




(And here we have a cute pink graph explaining the whole theory, hope it helps!):

"There are many biological and genetic differences between the races. However, such race differences usually exist in equal measure for both men and women. For example, because they have existed much longer in human evolutionary history, Africans have more mutations in their genomes than other races. And the mutation loads significantly decrease physical attractiveness (because physical attractiveness is a measure of genetic and developmental health). But since both black women and black men have higher mutation loads, it cannot explain why only black women are less physically attractive, while black men are, if anything, more attractive"

Just wonderful. I´m sure that he and late Mr.Mengele would have had a lot to talk about.

Cup of tea, some silly theories to ponder on, fireplace in the background... Charming. 

The Evolutionary psychology -defense: Or, Can´t help it, it´s in my Blood

The Good Old Days of Advertising: Or, is it always illegal to kill a woman?

Shockingly, these disturbing images were once considered acceptable mainstream advertising. Oh, the nostalgia.

 I can´t wait to see what happens 50 years from now; will I look at those pesky Axe/Lynx men´s deodorant ads with a fresh eye? At first one might be appalled at looking at these old pictures, but then again... I´m amused. The reality, in which we live today in the Western countries, is quite far from the "Happy Days" -era pictured below. Woman´s space within the society has greatly expanded from the pigeonhole of wife-mother-whore -dimension, and as a female myself, I am truly glad over that development. Then again, let´s not forget that it is 2011, and yet in Saudi-Arabia women still have to fight over the right to vote. Or to be even recognized for being born  in the first place.

The Good Old Days of Advertising: Or, is it always illegal to kill a woman?

Look! She really does not care!

It is amazing the stuff they can sell with women´s bodies. Even now. Here´s an ad from "The Saturday Evening Post" from the golden fifties. This was the age of rising consumerism, belief on a never ending supply of energy, resources and constant economic growth. Women were curvier, blonder and well, "domesticated". At least according to the image this commercial portrays. She seems to be having an orgasm from the simple pleasure of having her breasts being watered by a random strange man. (Seriously, how can that happen? Do you know how cold that hosed down water usually is?) Hmm, I have a feeling this whole picture could be just a metaphor for something quite else going on between a man and a woman. I might be wrong. But the illustrator must have/had some imagination going on in that head of his.


Her hair, makeup and the entire outfit look high maintenance. Yet she does not mind it all being ruined by a splash of water. Because she doesn´t care! Everyone wants to win the Miss wet t-shirt contest, orchestrated by a man in a lab coat -all in the name of science. The things we just have to do, or what, ladies?

And this ad was brought to you by the Continental Oil Company, defunct company since 2002.

Look! She really does not care!

The Wife test -keep her or leave her?

This post is dedicated to my anonymous male friend, who is battling with these demons, as we speak. I am talking about those pesky late-night moments, when the thought creeps  into your consciousness -is s/he worth it? Shall I go on? Is this meant to be? Decisions, decisions. To be, or not to be.
(That is the question. Still. )

Yes, those scientists of the 1930s were crafty. They came up with a scientifically formulated rating chart to ease those tensions clouding your judgment. See, it is easy to rank the spouse!  Much like giving points in the Eurovision song contest, this table gives you all the answers. Hmm, better keep that suspiciousness under the belt. So not ladylike. Aw, I do hope she keeps over the 24 points!

Well, this picture would not be perfect without the opposite, now would it?

Let´s introduce the Husband chart, or in other words, is the dude worth keeping around anymore. 

Like a lot of these 1930s "inventions", this one was criticized as well. Really? And I thought this was so scientific and accurate! No way! Poor George Crane. The shrinks don´t always get it right.

Personal bias be damned. 

Although most people who read the test today find it humorous and obviously dated, Crane did attempt to make it scientific. His method was to interview 600 husbands on their wives’ positive and negative qualities. Then he listed the 50 demerits and merits that arose most frequently. Crane, did admit to using a personal bias in weighting the items that he thought were most important in marriage. (Via neatorama)

The Wife test -keep her or leave her?

"I´ve been careless with a Delicate Man"

While waiting for some new material from our fabulous miss Fiona Apple, let´s see some of her older classics. "Criminal" from her 1996 album "Tidal" is considered by many to be her greatest, and did receive a Grammy-award. (While accepting the award, she gave her famous "don´t model yourself after what we say" -speech)
The music video, directed by Mark Romanek, was controversial, and raised concerns over exploiting Apple. Although she was 19-years-old at the time, she looked years younger, to the point where the music video was judged borderline child pornography. The whole early image of Fiona Apple teased the public with "a malnourished, depressed Lolita" -denotations, with or without her blessing.

The video starts with Apple taking a picture of "us", making us the voyeur of her actions. She knows she is being watched, and thus takes the control of the gaze from us. The space is dim and dark, and the lighting gives an impression of a flashlight being forcefully focused into something morally ambiguous escaping harsh judgment. We should not be watching this, yet we want to. The stuffed animals and beer bottles move into the images and so does a scantily dressed Apple. The scene being played out looks disturbing, yet Apple never gives away the control.  Half-clothed, laid out bodies next to Fiona appear just before she sings "I´ve been a bad, bad girl". The other people remain faceless, plain body parts which are used by the main subject. The idea of an orgy is played with, presented to us as a night gone awry, and the seemingly under-age girl is looking for redemption for her actions. The sin being here is her desires, and hiding in the closet cannot erase sexuality. Apple moves to kitchen tables and begins to undress. By now it is clear that we are not watching a woman, but a "child-woman" still maturing. In her thin and fragile frame she appears uncomfortable, vulnerable and awkward.

The images of a sports car seem at first out of place, until we see Apple trapped and half-naked in the backseat of the car. Someone is taking pictures and video of her, making her an object. She is shown enjoying herself being filmed, yet her body movements suggest there is something more sinister going on. The forbidden sexuality is hidden in closets, bedrooms, showers, bath tubs, pools and cars- yet made visible to the voyeur inside of us, watching her. While she sings " I´ve got to make a play, to make my lover stay, so what would an angel say, the devil wants to know" she admits her guilt and deception for the first time. The final images of the floating dish detergent are an all-too obvious metaphor to be discussed and the video ends with Apple lying on top of sleeping men while turning her gaze away from us, ashamed. Although the lyrics of the song "Criminal" suggest Fiona is on control of the sexual situations laid out for the audience, the visual imagery of the video imply otherwise.

"I´ve been careless with a Delicate Man"

Kitchen Dreams in the 1950s

Back in the 50s, people had high hopes for the future. It was commonplace to believe in a colony in Moon, talking robot helpers and glowing democracy that would save us all with a wink of capitalism.
So no wonder the scientists dreamed up all kinds of fancy aids to help in the kitchen.

This beautiful dream was cooked up by the engineers at General Motors in 1954. Electric mixers and food blenders would rise out of the counters and motorized cabinets move up and down.

In this idea, everything would work out like magic with the touch of a button.

And this image shows us a quite advanced scifi-kitchen. As in, it is still not possible. Frigidaire´s and General Motors´Kitchen of Tomorrow in 1956. The IBM manufactured card containing a recipe file not only shows the picture of a dish on the screen, but it would dispense the ingredients and start preparing the dish itself. Automatic laundry machine would start washing clothes on its own when the load reached 8 lbs.Now that would be a  housewives/or househusbands savior!

This era is quite charming. Capitalism and peer pressure pushed the middle class into buying all the new shiny toys for their new suburbian houses, and commercials emphasized how having all the latest gadgets, floors, furnitures etc. for your home was absolutely necessary. Otherwise you were an unacceptable house(wife). Everything was pushed with appeals to technology, modern times and normality. It was "abnormal" not to have a modern kitchen and a house. Nowadays advertising is much subtler, which can be noticed while watching this video.

Kitchen Dreams in the 1950s

Career choices : My life as a college pimp

Ever wonder what the hard and arduous days in the life of a pimp sound like? Here is an interview for you all .
Monthly income 10 000-25 000 dollars, nightshifts, gun mandatory, the flashy outfit optional, manipulation skills a plus.

Read the interview, if you have the stomach for it. I especially like the part, where the unnamed fellow claims "to help women, who are his friends, to find paying customers as a form of service". He does admit that girls must be kept "dummy" and dependent, or they just might get smart and leave "his service".

Career choices : My life as a college pimp

Men who hate women

Poor Stieg Larsson. The Swedish crime reporter handed his 3 manuscripts in a plastic bag to the publisher in 2004. Shortly after he died of a heart attack while climbing the stairs to his office, never witnessing the humongous success his writings have garnered around the world. He was only 50 years old.
Conspiracy theorists are speculating that his death was not an accident, but a carefully orchestrated murder. The man did have a large collection of haters among the criminals he exposed in his writings, but a murder has not been established. link

His tales on the sidelines of the celebrated Swedish well-fare system paint a barren image: all is not well within the bureaucracies of a country priding itself on its abilities to take care of the weak and vulnerable. What is a girl to do among men who hate women? She takes the law on her own hands and tattoos the sins of the fathers on its skin.When a woman becomes nothing but an object and a fetish in the boys´game, she shoots back. Where it hurts. Without condoning violence in the real world , this is the kind of sassyness and attitude that a lot more females need. Instead of always adjusting and silencing our voices in the midst of bare injustice and misogyny, maybe we should say it out loud as it is. After all, being a good girl is awfully overrated.

The inevitable movies based on Larssons´ books were made, with a brilliant casting of Noomi Rapace on the lead role  as Lisbeth Salander. The American version is on the making, and Daniel Craig is rumoured to be playing the male lead. David Fincher is directing the bound-to-be washed-out version of the original, and young Hollywood starlets are competing for the part of Lisbeth. The problem is, the original is so good, that there does not seem to be any sane reason to remake this. Why ruin something that works? Because the Americans can´t read subtitles? Oh please.

Here is the trailer for the original and only real version of the first movie in the trilogy:

Men who hate women