Poetry Matters: Bed Bug - Original

Bed Bug
2018

You ensnare me in your web of silk sheets

And crawl into my arms

To mark me with your kisses

And give me a rash of reasons

To catch incurable affections

TV Matters: Insatiable Reviews

Insatiable, Netflix

2018

Insatiable, or rather the reviews of the show, exposes a leftist reactionary tendency toward a kind of representational censorship that erases reality in favor of a progressive vision of the future. To be clear, I'm as left leaning as then come. To paraphrase Sarah Palin, "I can see Brooklyn from my house." Which is why I think it's important to unpack these reviews and the reaction they have caused to understand where we on the left miss the mark when it comes to our tolerance for certain forms of representation.

It's been widely reported that the show was petitioned to be cancelled based solely on its trailer. Man, do we love petitions! We know that we can't stop Netflix from airing the show, but we can show that world that there are hundreds of thousands of us on the right side of history!

Indeed, the trailer, posted above, is full of representational triggers for many marginalized groups; plus-sized women, southerners, closeted people across the LGBTQIA spectrum, Asians, Christians - each group is represented in base stereotypical ways for what seems to be cheap laughs. 

Thankfully, our side has an army of critics telling the world things like, 

[Insatiable] just doesn’t have many discerning opinions about body image, confidence, and overcoming bullying. It tries so hard to push the envelope that it doesn’t really push anything at all, falling flat as a satire and as an intentionally over-the-top comedy. 

The sentiment here seems to be two-fold. First, Insatiable fails because it's tone-deaf and secondly because it's poorly made. Which begs the question, why should we expect a poorly made show to have "discerning opinions?"  Why are we holding a show that was ordered (and cancelled!) by The CW and released in the middle on August on Netflix to such a high standard?

Because, dear reader, your social conditioning (which isn't your fault) makes you think that the trailer is sexy and wildly appealing. Which means that you need to be made aware of the fact that it's NOT sexy and is, in fact, UNAPPEALLING.

Which feels, a bit, reactionary and, a touch, self-righteousness.

Perhaps I take these critiques personally because I spent a year of my life trying to make art that addresses privilege and intersectionality. Guess what, it's really really hard to do. The attempt, in and of itself, is admirable. But the very nature of this art practice is highlighting sites of micro(macro)aggression to elicit a reaction/reflection from/by the audience that is uncomfortable.

Cringing when you see Debby Ryan in a fat suit is the point. Why did you cringe? Is it due to that fact that throughout film history representations of womens' bodies are wrought with problematic stereotypes that have lead to widespread body dysmorpia and bullying? My Brooklyn readers are nodding furiously in agreement. Or, could it be because you've internalized the value proposition that certain body configurations are more valuable than others and seeing a fat body is repulsive? My honest readers are half-nodding in resignation.

Of course, there are myriad other reason one might cringe but it's the cringing that's interesting, not the representation in and of itself but it's representation that's under attack. Take Vulture's Jen Chaney's following comment for an example,

Insatiable is impressive in its capacity [to] offend a vast array of ideologies, including the notion that TV in 2018 should really be a hell of a lot smarter and more nuanced than this.

The implication here is that there is a base "smartness" and "nuancedness" that a show must have in order for it to be aired in 2018. I'm not sure what 2018 the reviewer is referring to, but the one I live in has a reality show star as President of the United States of America.

There is an argument to be made that art should (re)present a world that has moved past body-shamming, racism, sexism, abilism, classism, and homophobia and that we are all living in Woketopia (a neighborhood in Brooklyn, I presume) so that we can one day make it there. But there is another argument that art should re-present the world we are living in through a place like Masonville, Georgia where all of these societal ills still exist despite a mountain of evidence that they should not so that we can start to change our minds.

In fact, in a world were arguments about isolationism and nationalism are winning at the polls around the world, an artistic attempt to grapple with these topics in a milieu were the hegemonic forces of the community tacitly condone marginalization is probably a more relevant exercise.

Blast Insatiable for not having enough Nonnie or for having too many puns but be careful when calling out the show for not representing the toughest issues of our day in a way that makes sure that every marginalized group is represented in their best possible future as opposed to their broken and complicated present.