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Mel Zog

@crying.spells

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♡ Desire in media & film 🫦
♡ Essays on yt and substack
Inquiries: [email protected]
⟟ Paris

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The Homoeroticism of Female Rivalry — Episode 1: Mean Girls

I’m fascinated by movies that are supposed to depict an intense rivalry between two women, but end up conveying a very homoerotic subtext instead.

In this series we’ll discuss homoerotic media that depicts intense competition between women and what they say about female relationships. by @crying.spells

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a day ago

The Female Pervert Canon - Episode 3: The Piano Teacher

In 2001, king of uncomfortable movies Michael Haneke adapted Elfriede Jelinek’s novel “The Piano Teacher”: a tale of repression, abuse and desire all blending together into one of the most unsettling movies ever made.

This is the type of story that is as special as it is disturbing, because we rarely get to see characters like Erika on our screens. Erika isn’t simply a villain, but a complex character destroyed by her upbringing, pathological perfectionism and inability to open up to others. It’s hard to classify her as simply one thing, just as it is hard to make excuses for her behavior.

Trigger warning! The Piano Teacher is a hard watch, with several scenes of SA and mutilation, watch at your own discretion.

Further readings that were wonderful and helped me build this video:

Polyester Zine. Film fatale: The Piano Teacher and the femcel community. Charlotte Amy Landrum.

Senses of Cinema. Between action and repression: The Piano Teacher. Nina Hutchison. by @crying.spells

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14 days ago

Exploring the Female Pervert Canon - Episode 2: Possession

In 1981, Isabelle Adjani delivered a performance so intense as Anna in Possession, that it took her years to recover.

Possession is the disturbing tale of a marriage falling apart. Yet, many women have found in Anna a relatable representation of what they were always taught to keep inside.

This episode looks into what makes Anna such a relatable character in online girls meme culture.

I also recommend @sihaamn 's fantastic personal essay on Anna from Possession, available on her substack by @crying.spells

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21 days ago

Exploring the female pervert canon - Episode 1: The Secretary

I’m fascinated by young women’s dark desires because they rarely get the attention they deserve. So, I’ve been studying the female pervert canon through the lens of memes created by girls online.

This is the first episode of the series!

'The perversion of quiet girls' meme from @sydneyf888 by @crying.spells

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a month ago

Maybe the real horror of The Substance is that it managed to make us laugh at our own selves<3 by @crying.spells

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4 days ago

No man was hurt nor stood up in the making of this video

Excerpt from my essay "The most erotic thing a man can do is wait" on Substack

Dreamy anime compilation from maih_ on YouTube by @crying.spells

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a month ago

The Homoeroticism of Female Rivalry, full video essay now on YouTube!! 🤼‍♀️🔪🍒 (link in bio)

#essay #videoessay #rivalry by @crying.spells

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7 months ago

Super excited to announce that we'll be hosting a night of readings with four brilliant writers who will confess a time they kinda felt.. like the villain.

If you ask me, I'd say this is the perfect way to kick off fall and spooky season all at once. If you're around London at that time we would LOVE to see you there<3

Link to the event in bio! taken in London by @crying.spells

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a month ago

Eros the Bittersweet is a reflection on love and its duality, how it is both pleasure and pain. Anne Carson offers a close study of Sappho's use (and invention) of the word "bittersweet" in one of her poems and uses it as a starting point to explore eros as lack.

It is also, more broadly, an exploration of writing as an erotic act and of the question "what does the lover want from love?"

It's poetic, bold, meditative and I can totally see why this book was named one of the 100 best non fiction books of all time.

+ my cat looked particularly angry for some reason? by @crying.spells

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2 months ago

Why is female rivalry so.. homoerotic? by @crying.spells

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2 months ago

I wrote a whole video essay because of that scene. That's what a good horror movie will do to you.

Imagining the End of Loneliness is now out on Youtube (link in bio)

#sinners #videoessay #filmstudies by @crying.spells

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4 months ago

Frames from my last video essay, but vaguely colour coordinated with stills from the media I discuss in it<3 by @crying.spells

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3 months ago