June 2022

The Maltese Falcon.
The Wizard of Oz.
Lord of the Rings.
The Red Violin.

These films all, arguably, hinge on the transfer of a thing to set the action in motion. A physical object functions as the central point of tension, around and against which the characters must demonstrate their capacity for change. Or not. Having a thing be constant so that the passage of time on screen is more impactful and more pronounced is effective, however hard to pull off. If you haven’t seen it, The Red Violin will break your heart while making it sing.

But, rather than focusing on fictitious things right now, I am preoccupied with the legacy America is handing down to its daughters. I had never known a world without access to safe, legal reproductive health resources until Friday’s precedent-destroying decision pinged to our phones and stopped each of us in our tracks. Some cheered. Many wept. I took to my bed.

There is mania and vitriol coming from all sides as trigger laws have already taken effect in much of the Midwest and the south. Meanwhile, the Court’s decision has been roundly decried by four of the seven G7 leaders. Since 2019 Ireland, Argentina, Thailand, and Colombia have legalized access to abortion care. In 2022 the US went from being a world leader in equal protections for women (though with room for improvement), to setting the cultural clock back 50 years. Regardless of your opinion on abortion specifically, all Americans should be alarmed that the rights we have collectively relied on passing down to future generations are being questioned, and walked back. (Except if you’re a gun.)

Good luck to all those faced with impossible decisions. And good luck to all of us dealing with the fallout. Except for Justices Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and especially Clarence Thomas. I do not wish them luck. At all.

I promise to return to movie chat soon, but my capacity to enjoy distraction is currently depleted.