I cannot stress this enough the fact that Rebecca Black overcame the absolute inundation of internet harassment and bullying after she released a kind of bad song that she didn’t even want to make, because people love to hate teenage girls, and NOW just dropped a new single with a killer mv about being wlw is SUCH an iconic plot point of 2021
sorry wait i know i’m reblogging this twice and with a comment but this information changed my entire worldview on particularly teenage girls in music when i first found it out
which was at a thing called “music fridays” at my high school, where we’d spend 5-10 minutes at the beginning of every friday going over pop culture or even obscure music things
Friday came out and after like a month of resisting, my teacher just walked up to the board and wrote “is Friday a bad song?”
we concluded, after listening, dissecting, and discussing the song, that yes, it is. and then my teacher pulled up information about the company behind the whole thing.
“any of you could have sung this song. Rebecca Black did not write this. It was a gift. and her gift, from well-meaning parents trying to give a girl a taste of her dream, went viral.”
lots of “oh fuck"s went around the classroom. not out loud, bc the teacher would have given us Looks at that, but like.
he talked about how often young people are eviscerated for decisions that might not be their own. how often that happens particularly in the arts, and how that can destroy the essence of a person, because at that young, you ARE your art, even if you didn’t WRITE your art.
he talked about justin bieber, britney spears, hilary duff. it definitely went over that 5-10 minutes, but goddamn, it changed my mind about a LOT of things.
the Triplets of Bellevilleis about an elderly woman searching for her son who was kidnapped in the middle of a Tour de France race. It’s largely free of dialogue, but the sound effects and such are wonderful. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature—it lost to Finding Nemo.
A Cat in Parisis about a young girl and her cat who discover mysteries in the course of one night. It was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, but it lost to Rango.
Persepolisis based on an autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi about her early life in Iran. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but it lost to Ratatouille.
the Illusionist is about an aging magician and an imaginative young girl who form a father/daughter relationship. It was also nominated for a Best Animation Oscar, but lost to Toy Story 3.
The Rabbi’s Catis a story about a cat who swallows a parrot and gains the ability to speak like a human. It is set in 1920’s Algeria.
Ernest & Celestineis the adorable story about a big bear and a little mouse who forge an unlikely friendship. It was also nominated for an Oscar in Best Animated Picture, but lost to Frozen.
Kirikou and the Sorceressis a story inspired by West African folklore that tells the story of Kirikou, a boy who was born with the ability to walk and talk, who saves his people from an evil witch. The film was popular enough to spawn sequels and a stage adaptation.
A Monster in Parisis a 3D animated musical film that is reaaaaalllly loosely based on the Phantom of the Opera. It’s set in 1910 and is about, surprisingly, a monster that lives in Paris, and his love for a young singer.
The King and the Mockingbirdis an 80’s film about a cruel king titled Charles V + III = VIII + VIII = XVI, who is obsessed with a young shepherdess, and whose attempts to capture the young girl are thwarted by a mockingbird whose wife the King had previously killed.
Those are probably the most famous of the feature length animated films.
But the animated short films are just as glorious. Here’s a compilation of a bunch of short films and I can link you to others as well.
Sorry for the long answer but I just really love French animation.
Reblogging over here. French animation tends to do better with diversity than Disney does, hahaha.
The single greatest and most fascinating “futurist” architecture movement in the world right now is happening in Bolivia, where national prosperity and a dedication to works for the poor and public housing led to an explosion of colorful styles inspired by Aymara Indian art. There should be more articles about this, the interiors are just as amazing. Incidentally, most of these buildings are not for the rich or in trendy neighborhoods, but are public housing. I’ve heard this style referred to as “Neo-Andean” but like most currently thriving styles it doesn’t have a universally agreed on name yet.
