Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer

8 reviews

rustproofbottom's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

wow. so much to unpack in this book. I will absolutely be returning to this one again and again. it's that important and rich in thought and reflection. 

at the top is a helluva swing at examining what we should do about the relationship between art we love (in all form and genre) & artist & our consumption of it in context of artists (overwhelmingly mostly men) that end up doing horrible things are could righteously be called gigantic pieces of sh+t... they are, monsters. 

This is a topic that I've talked with friends about and never landing anywhere near anything that resembled a satisfying answer.

I feel like this could be 10,000 page book easily. Because this book is so much more than a take down of these people or a simple guide to rationalization. It's an open invitation to consider how your consumption of art can be a mirror into who you are. Not as a "we" or "us" that resents a broader group, culture, or society. But as individuals. 

you are taken through a series of analyses and reflections that invite you to reflect on the intersection of the art that is being consumed, the artist's biography AND your own biography, not the idealic, sanitized version, the real, raw, warts and all version. The whole story - stains and all. 

you're also invited to think broadly about the role of societal norms & expectations, pressures of late-stage capitalistic systems, and morals and virtues that are constantly evolving. How do they contribute to your own definition of self? How does art help inform that definition? How are your own beliefs & behaviors influenced by, caused by, supported by, identified with all of those? 

Part philosophy. Part critical analysis. Part history lesson.

I love it because I was left with a ton of things to think about within myself. There's also not a prescriptive answer. There's not an empirical rubric to give a pass/fail too.

It is not a purity test. It's not transactional. It's not simple. It's relational, subjective, and evolving. 

It's messy and complicated and terrible and beautiful.

Just like the human experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Antisemitism, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Sexual harassment

This book examines dark, horrible behavior by people who caused a lot of harm to others sometimes with extreme violence. It is not presented in a way that is gratuitous or dramatized or dwell on them. It states supported facts plainly - which can be difficult to hear / read but is critical to the understanding the plain context of the intent of the book.

nicollej's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

3.0

I like the concept of the book and it definitely made me think a bit. A little slow paced at some points.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Violence, and Sexual assault

larajgriff1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

3.0

Unfortunately my expectations and hopes for this book were vastly different than what I experienced.  I wanted a more broad view of how "monstrous" artists affect their fandom and what the group as a whole or individually moves forward.  This book is much more personal to the writer and more of a memoir of her life and how she relates to different artists than the effect of their actions on the world.  

However, I cannot fault the author for the book not being what I hoped.  It is written very well and does make some good points about how these moments and artists affect us.  Though in the middle of the book she seems to be "existential crisis-ing" in circles and it doesn't feel like there is momentum again until the last few chapters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Sexual violence, Suicide, Racism, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abortion, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Rape, Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

this is a book about people who do terrible things. It is hard to avoid anything, but I did skip a full chapter because I was so uncomfortable with the crimes of an artist.

kaiolenatac's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I overall enjoyed this memoir/narrative essay. Her conversations on Nobokov, Miles Davis, Woody Allen, and Rosemary's Baby particularly impressed me, sharing her anecdotes of being a fan or even just an enjoyer of these artists, etc., and coping with their biographies being "monstrous." Sparked thoughts and reflection on my own experiences with the media I interact with and love.
However, I did not think the two main discussions (being about consuming monstrous media vs. being a creator and avoiding monstrosity) were very cohesive and often became disinterested or unfocused because of said incoherence. 
I see myself referencing her reflections in future conversations and papers of mine and am generally pleased with the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction

jainabee's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I am so glad this book exists because I NEEDED it. It needed to exist in the world. The question of how to balance fandom of my favorite works of creativity with the toxic and destructive behaviors of the creators is an issue that torments me. Dederer directly addresses some of my own pet monsters; Woody Allen, David Bowie, JK Rowling, Miles Davis. This book makes me think a LOT. This book is very uncomfortable in a vitally important way. This book challenges me in ways I needed. The chapter comparing and contrasting Valerie Solanas and Sylvia Plath (!!!!!) flipped my wig with the brilliance of unexpected insights about how women respond to the violence of misogyny. The chapter about Lolita is a sparkling gem of brilliant insight and analysis that might be the best review of it I've ever read (spoiler alert: Nabokov is not a monster, though he is a genius). This book is FULL of triggering content, as it describes the crimes of the creators. No way around that. The point of the book seems to be to face the monsters directly and feel the extremely uncomfortable dilemma between loving something, even the monster, "even after everything." I got a lot to think about here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Rape, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Child abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Abandonment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pedophilia, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Racism, Mental illness, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, Drug abuse, Cursing, Grief, Murder, Racism, War, Xenophobia, Genocide, and Hate crime

Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and Fire/Fire injury

I need to read this book again. And probably again.

aqtbenz's review against another edition

Not what I thought this was going to be

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Self harm, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Suicide

cpalmerpatel's review against another edition

This would've been a great book if they had included just a little bit of critical research. Their "lit review" consisted of emailing an old professor to ask him what's written on the topic and upon being told there wasn't anything, set out to fill the gap with their own personal opinions.
 I'm not entirely sure who's the intended audience for this book. Other film critics? Or maybe her usual audience? ie the people that turn to film critics as the authority on whether a film is good or bad. She drops in names of people without explaining 1) why they're famous and 2) what they've done that was monstrous, assuming you already know and it leaves you turning to google to fill in the gaps. When she discusses a film, she talks about characters and setting in a way that assumes that everyone has seen it and appreciates it's "genius". I'm not convinced that any work of art can be described as "genius" and it left me with the feeling that the author wrote the entire book in order to justify why she continues to love her favourite movies even though the men creating them were rapists.
 She also focused more on men and when the discussion turned to women it centred on the classic dillemma of the working mother trying to balance mum mode with work mode, except exasperated here because art ("real art"?) isn't "work" but a madness or passion. 

It was okay, and sparked some ideas but not as stimulating as I thought it was going to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual harassment, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, and Incest

Moderate: Genocide, Racism, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Sexism, and Transphobia

milesjmoran's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Sexism, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Hate crime, Alcoholism, and Alcohol