wednesday

[felinejumper]

Had an actual ask that I will put up top: I am soliciting recommendations for media about Iran! Books, movies, comics -- although books are preferred, fiction or non-fiction.

Media report, in no particular order:

1. H is for Hawk deserves every ounce of praise it got. Contents: hawking, grieving, complex relationships and projections with the natural and human world, historical queers. A+++



2. I am re-watching Black Sails with housemates, who are watching it for the first time. HOO BOY. S1 is very good, on rewatch; I'm, as always, 500% here for Miranda and Eleanor, and this time for the religion/forgiveness themes. My Flint feelings are inextricably bound up with my breakup feelings, which really complicates Media Analysis(!). We are now on to s2(!!) I



3. Sara Farizan's YA If You Could Be Mine; Iran, present day, girls in love and also coming of age. It features some Iran-specific trans v queer politics, which are really fascinating to illuminate how sexuality and gender can and do occupy very different idealogical spaces. That said, I felt pretty dubious about the trans politics, which in an American context would have been quite upsettingly transphobic & TERFy. All that said, I would really appreciate it any other recs about Iran—compelling histories or modern fiction or anything in between! (I've also read Greg Egan's Zendegi, which also had a plot point revolving around Iran's transsexual politics, and I'm v. much side-eying the way the trans people are used, but not as the main characters. Farizan is Iranian-American and Egan is not, although I don't know much about Farizan's stated queer politics).



4. Have now finished all of Murderbot; I found them thoroughly delightful sci-fi/space hijinks, but not quite the trans gut identification that I'd hoped for. But: hella fun!



5. Also binged all of Stranger Things S3. I cried, although I'm not sure I really feel it was totally earned.



6. I'm moving in the fall and I went to visit my new city! I am freaking out a little bit about, you know, moving away from my entire social support system, but also excited about the ~opportunities, professionally and in terms of time freed up for solo hobbies.