An excellent review of Women who wouldn’t wheesht! Whilst I’ve yet to read the book, I followed some of the main protagonists at the time on twitter, so am well acquainted with the struggle. On my list to buy! And, re Michael Moseley; I always admired his broadcasting style, so was delighted to bump into him briefly, when he travelled to Glasgow a couple of years ago, to film our little boot camp class, for his tv series. He said all the right things about being impressed with our group, and he returned last year to film again, though unfortunately I couldn’t make that one!
It's impressive that, however people came into contact with Mosley - as a colleague, as a broadcaster, as "talent", as a professional peer - they only have good things to say. Most people manage to piss off at least one or two sectors of everyone they meet...
The first series of Westworld is brilliant. The second still fun but not quite so interesting. The third disappeared entirely up its own fundament and was unwatchably bad.
The problem with revisiting the past is that we have no way to be sure our memory is accurate. I have kept a diary since my teens. I am also known in my family for having the best recall of events (being the youngest of 6 I guess I just had a younger brain at key moments) and yet even I occasionally read entries in my diary and discover they aren’t quite how I remember. So I’m willing to bet that Ciment’s new memoir is not necessarily any more true than her previous one, and comes with similar cultural baggage thanks to the time it was written in and the age of the author. There’s that great study about people’s recall of 9/11 where they asked them the day after it happened and then a year later and so many people had changed their memories.
That in itself is interesting though. My sister lived with a much older man in her teens. At the time she would have sworn blind it was all natural and good and equal etc. Now she has a different take based on how she’d feel if her own children did the same. She also reads her partner’s intent differently and points to her own need to be loved. But was the past version of her incorrect? Or can both be true?
Totally agree about Westworld. First series did everything and then it was diminishing returns.
And even diaries aren't necessarily the truest version of the truth, because you're writing a version for yourself (and maybe a future reader). I know there are things that happened to me where I needed the language to comprehend their harms, and the language only came later. I guess the question is always, is it possible to recreate the you who had the experience? And if you can, does she necessarily get final say on what it meant?
So true. Certainly in my early diaries I was VERY aware of how they might read to me when I was older (or if someone else saw them). And you're right about the language sometimes coming later. In fact, that happens even as adults. A great example of this is when women react to inappropriate behaviour with a polite laugh to diffuse a social awkwardness, and only afterwards realise they actually feel angry or humiliated. I'm thinking particularly of the Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso when she was kissed by the coach.
You might also enjoy Jonathan Nolan's Person of Interest which came out in the mid-2010s, just before Westworld. It's about sentient AI and whether it is GOOD or BAD which gives it some gravitas but there's also a lot of action and cool guns. Featuring a very deadpan Jim Caviezel (post The Passion and pre Q-Anon), lovely Michael Emerson and Fred from Angel!!
An Angel link! I'm in! (Actually, Westworld's best twist reminded me of the greatest Angel episode, Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been. I don't want to elaborate because spoilers, but if you know you know.)
When I was working in the classroom as a psychology teacher, I referred to a lot of Michael Mosley’s videos and podcasts in lessons or set them for homework over the years. He was someone who wanted to make science available to all, whatever your background or past experiences. I will always be grateful to him for his work. Thank you for mentioning him in this piece.
I hear you on the recent EU elections and the prospect of Farage in the House of Commons. And on that note, I read that Holly Valance of Neighbours fame, and one-time singer is hosting a Trump fundraiser for Americans living in the UK. Farage is supposedly attending. Holly Valance!? One of the weirder stories of the day.
Same as Stacey Dash (from Clueless) who spent time being an avid Trump fan (but has now reconsidered apparently... (and please let's not talk about Scott Baio, my childhood crush).
I read somewhere that Valance once something like everyone starts as a leftie and then you wake up and realise all the policies are crap…. and I couldn’t help but wonder if her change in perspective was before or after she married a billionaire?
"Which is fundamentally how fiction works. As the audience, you agree to have your emotions scammed."
An entire English Literature degree course in two sentences.
Ah but I did do seven years of English literature degrees to get to this insight...
An excellent review of Women who wouldn’t wheesht! Whilst I’ve yet to read the book, I followed some of the main protagonists at the time on twitter, so am well acquainted with the struggle. On my list to buy! And, re Michael Moseley; I always admired his broadcasting style, so was delighted to bump into him briefly, when he travelled to Glasgow a couple of years ago, to film our little boot camp class, for his tv series. He said all the right things about being impressed with our group, and he returned last year to film again, though unfortunately I couldn’t make that one!
It's impressive that, however people came into contact with Mosley - as a colleague, as a broadcaster, as "talent", as a professional peer - they only have good things to say. Most people manage to piss off at least one or two sectors of everyone they meet...
The first series of Westworld is brilliant. The second still fun but not quite so interesting. The third disappeared entirely up its own fundament and was unwatchably bad.
Agree, the first was fantastic but after watching a few episodes of the second one, I felt like I had wasted my time.
I'm giving the second a chance, though it definitely lacks the relentless focus of S1. The father-in-law arc was impressively horrible, however.
The problem with revisiting the past is that we have no way to be sure our memory is accurate. I have kept a diary since my teens. I am also known in my family for having the best recall of events (being the youngest of 6 I guess I just had a younger brain at key moments) and yet even I occasionally read entries in my diary and discover they aren’t quite how I remember. So I’m willing to bet that Ciment’s new memoir is not necessarily any more true than her previous one, and comes with similar cultural baggage thanks to the time it was written in and the age of the author. There’s that great study about people’s recall of 9/11 where they asked them the day after it happened and then a year later and so many people had changed their memories.
That in itself is interesting though. My sister lived with a much older man in her teens. At the time she would have sworn blind it was all natural and good and equal etc. Now she has a different take based on how she’d feel if her own children did the same. She also reads her partner’s intent differently and points to her own need to be loved. But was the past version of her incorrect? Or can both be true?
Totally agree about Westworld. First series did everything and then it was diminishing returns.
And even diaries aren't necessarily the truest version of the truth, because you're writing a version for yourself (and maybe a future reader). I know there are things that happened to me where I needed the language to comprehend their harms, and the language only came later. I guess the question is always, is it possible to recreate the you who had the experience? And if you can, does she necessarily get final say on what it meant?
So true. Certainly in my early diaries I was VERY aware of how they might read to me when I was older (or if someone else saw them). And you're right about the language sometimes coming later. In fact, that happens even as adults. A great example of this is when women react to inappropriate behaviour with a polite laugh to diffuse a social awkwardness, and only afterwards realise they actually feel angry or humiliated. I'm thinking particularly of the Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso when she was kissed by the coach.
You might also enjoy Jonathan Nolan's Person of Interest which came out in the mid-2010s, just before Westworld. It's about sentient AI and whether it is GOOD or BAD which gives it some gravitas but there's also a lot of action and cool guns. Featuring a very deadpan Jim Caviezel (post The Passion and pre Q-Anon), lovely Michael Emerson and Fred from Angel!!
An Angel link! I'm in! (Actually, Westworld's best twist reminded me of the greatest Angel episode, Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been. I don't want to elaborate because spoilers, but if you know you know.)
When I was working in the classroom as a psychology teacher, I referred to a lot of Michael Mosley’s videos and podcasts in lessons or set them for homework over the years. He was someone who wanted to make science available to all, whatever your background or past experiences. I will always be grateful to him for his work. Thank you for mentioning him in this piece.
I hear you on the recent EU elections and the prospect of Farage in the House of Commons. And on that note, I read that Holly Valance of Neighbours fame, and one-time singer is hosting a Trump fundraiser for Americans living in the UK. Farage is supposedly attending. Holly Valance!? One of the weirder stories of the day.
The hard right afterlife of Holly Valance is a real curveball. And v much the bread and butter of this newsletter!
Same as Stacey Dash (from Clueless) who spent time being an avid Trump fan (but has now reconsidered apparently... (and please let's not talk about Scott Baio, my childhood crush).
I read somewhere that Valance once something like everyone starts as a leftie and then you wake up and realise all the policies are crap…. and I couldn’t help but wonder if her change in perspective was before or after she married a billionaire?