EXCUSE MY FRENCH
Welcome to the inner workings of a twisted and unconventional mind. This is where all my ideas, silly or profound are expressed, keeping in mind that above all things, aesthetics matter more than reality. As I always say, fuck realism and embrace everything surreal and abstract.
If ever you should ask why I chose EXCUSE MY FRENCH as my title, excuse my French is an idiom used when one tries to pass swearing off as French. The language being one of the most colorful and beautiful in the world, it comes to no surprise that I try to pass off the garbage I write as French.
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The Stepford Wives is a 1972 novel by Ira Levin about a fictional suburb in Connecticut called Stepford whose wives seem to be subservient robots who aim to please their husbands and maintain an impossibly immaculate home while looking like Martha Stewart bombshells. When photographer Joanna Eberhart moves in, she is afraid that she will be next and fights her way out of the town.
Honestly, I first saw the adaptation, and it had to be the 2004 version with Nicole Kidman. I thought it was pretty funny but I think it ruined the experience of reading the novel. Because the 2004 version was more of a camp comedy, I didn’t feel the thrill while reading. Or maybe it was supposed to be lighter than Rosemary’s Baby - now that was scary.
Overall, I enjoyed the book despite my expectations. I liked the ending better than the one in the adaptation, and that was a pleasant surprise. It had that trademark Ira Levin touch (at least in Rosemary’s Baby) where - basta, you have to read it.
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The Cement Garden is a 1993 film by Andrew Birkin based on the novel of the same name by Ian McEwan. It deals with four kids who has to learn to survive without their parents, who both died. For fear that they would all be separated and taken into care, they keep their mother’s death a secret by burying her in a block of cement and hiding her in the basement. In the midst of fending for themselves, they give free rein to adolescent explorations that lead to disturbing proclivities.
Like the book, the film was disturbing. I thought the pacing was slow but it remained faithful to the book and did not lose its central theme - that theme being kids get up to crazy shit when left alone. The book was more chilling but this is a good adaptation, one that doesn’t ruin the brilliance (and creepiness) of the novel.
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Madam 90210: My Life as Madam to the Rich and Famous is a 1993 semi-biographical account by Alex Adams and William Stadiem about Alex, an infamous madam in Beverly Hills. As the premier supplier of call girls, her extensive list of clients includes the hottest celebrities, producers, writers, and politicians from around the world. The book details Alex’s rise and fall, and the ways she handled her clients and her girls.
I thought the book was very interesting and offers a peek inside the secret world of the call girl. I’ve heard of Joseph Kessel’s Belle de Jour and Belle de Jour’s (Dr. Brooke Magnanti in real life) The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, and have even read Golden’s Gigolo, but rarely do we read an account through the eyes of a madam (a female pimp). I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of Heidi Fleiss, madam to the stars, but do know that Heidi was one of Alex’s girls. Alex is the original.
What I found the most interesting was that Alex Adams is half-Filipina. Sure, being busted for running California’s biggest and most exclusive sex ring isn’t something to be proud of, but what fascinated me about her was that she was born and raised here, in Makati, and studied in Miriam College. She remained fluent in Filipino all her life.
The book is episodic rather than continuous, but the major characters are explained thoroughly and everything ties up in the end. All in all, the book is just an informative read on the business of prostitution - and personally, how lucrative it can be if you opened one.
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Black Hole is a graphic novel by Charles Burns divided into 12 parts that were released from 1995 to 2005. It deals with a group of teenage outcasts who develop the “Bug,” a sexually transmitted disease that causes genetic mutations like tails, the ability to shed skin, or an extra mouth.
I first heard about this late last year when plans for a movie were announced. Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary (who directed The Rules of Attraction and wrote Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Silent Hill, and Beowulf) agreed to adapt the screenplay with David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as director, but all three eventually backed out. I got interested but it slipped my mind until I saw a copy of the graphic novel in a bookstore in Alabang. The problem was, I couldn’t afford to make unnecessary purchases because I spent an arm and a leg to buy a new phone so I sold my old one to buy this book. Talk about passion, eh?
The story deals with a group of kids who either have the disease or about to get it and the complicated social dynamics that define one’s teenage years. I like the storyline (which is both simple and complex) and the dark and brooding mood that seemed to settle through me whenever I read it. There was always a cloud of confusion, which didn’t come from the weaving storyline but the sympathy I felt for the characters who didn’t know what to do after contracting the Bug. Perhaps the drawing style helped, which was very gloomy and used a lot of black. If you’ve seen the ads for Altoids, they were done by Charles Burns.
The graphic novel won many awards, including the 2006 Harvey Award for Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work, the 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006 Harvey Award for Best Inker, and the 2006 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Anthology or Collection.
