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Marie Antoinette is one of history’s most infamous royals for better or for worse. Held up as a symbol of an out of touch, gluttonous, and extravagant monarch, the last queen of France before the Revolution was often made the scapegoat for a lot of forces that were beyond her control. She may not have said “let them eat cake,” but she was rich and distant at a time when people were starving. Yet she had an appeal to some and fame that’s lasted long after her death—and it has trickled all the way to her accessories.

According to The Guardian, a “travel bag belonging to Marie Antoinette has sold for more than five times its estimate in an auction of royal memorabilia near her one-time home in Versailles.” The leather travel bag featured a studded “Queen’s room number 10” inscription, and it was estimated to be worth between €8,000 and €10,000, but ended up for selling for €43,750 (that’s about $54k).

The Osenat auction house said that there was fierce bidding late on Sunday “both in the room, over the telephone and on the internet” for Marie Antoinette’s belongings. I’m not shocked, because if I was that rich and extravagant, maybe I’d drop a year’s salary on something like that. Maybe? Probably more so if it was a gown.

That was only one of the number of items sold that belonged to the late Austrian-born queen:

The damask serviette, embroidered with the fleur-de-lis insignia and leaf crowns with a bouquet of roses at its centre, went for €14,500. A lock of hair from her husband, Louis XVI, who was also executed, went for €4,000. The couple are still regarded as martyr saints to French monarchists, with the king’s hair kept inside a medallion of rock crystal in the shape of a heart.

Okay, wait … French monarchists are still a thing? You learn something new every day.

I’d recommend anyone who wants to know more about Marie Antoinette should check out the Antonia Fraser biography: Marie Antoinette: The Journey as it is one of the most highly regarded of recent publication and has a fairly balanced view of the royal.

Much cheaper than €43,750

(via The Guardian, image: Columbia Pictures)

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We can all agree that spending Saturday morning in detention is the worst. So let’s do something on the opposite end of the spectrum instead. Join us here at Nerdist for the latest and greatest installment of #NerdistFromHome this Saturday, May 30, because we’re going to be watching The Breakfast Club with none other than Brat Pack legend Anthony Michael Hall, a.k.a. Brian Johnson in the movie. It has been a minute since we’ve visited this too cool for school crew, and we’re hyped.

The 1985 film directed by John Hughes is a classic. Starring Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy, the movie focuses on a group of teens stuck in Saturday detention. Like, all-day dentention. It sounds tedious. And on top of the whole thing being a drag, a very bossy assistant principal rules the roost. But this group—all from varying cliques at Shermer High School—finds ways to work around him and have a memorable day.

Eminently quotable, The Breakfast Club shows what happen when teens step outside their usual circles and take the time to get to know others. Sure, there are misunderstandings. Even a little snobbery. However, hours and hours of being stuck together softens the lines and everyone comes together for some truth-spilling and plenty of comedy.

You can get The Breakfast Club on digital now. Buy it here. The film is also currently streaming on Hulu, so you have a couple of ways to watch along with us.

Universal Pictures

Join us on Twitter, @Nerdist and @UniAllAccess (Anthony Michael Hall will be taking over that handle!), and watch and tweet with us on Saturday, 5/30 at 1:00pm PT. Be sure to use the hashtags #NerdistFromHome and #TheBreakfastClubAtHome to join the conversation. We look forward to conning Assistant Principal Vernon with you.

Featured Image: Universal Pictures

Amy Ratcliffe is the Managing Editor for Nerdist and the author of Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

The post Watch THE BREAKFAST CLUB with Anthony Michael Hall and the Nerdist Team! appeared first on Nerdist.

The upcoming event “D&D Live 2020: Roll w/ Advantage” brings together an all-star group of gamers to reveal the latest storyline in June—and it’s raising money for a great cause.

Dungeons & Dragons has been going strong with folks spending a lot of time inside; when you can’t venture out to the street or to stores or bars, you can still have a rollicking adventure. And now Wizards of the Coast is giving us a game event on an epic scale with their “D&D Live 2020” announcement:

An amazing cast of characters led by expert storytellers preview the latest D&D storyline with live gaming sessions, all while raising money for Red Nose Day to help the most vulnerable children across the US and around the world, who have been so affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The adventure begins 10:00am PT on June 18, 2020 and will run through June 20, 2020 at dungeonsanddragons.com.

Big names in geekery like Karen Gillan, David Harbour, and Brandon Routh will be playing along, and some other faces you might recognize:

Funny people like Brian Posehn, Kevin Sussman and Thomas Middleditch will work together to solve problems or, more likely, cause some hilarious new ones. WWE ® Superstars Xavier Woods ®, Tyler Breeze ®, Ember Moon ®, Alexa Bliss ® and Dio Maddin ® will contend with beefcake destroyer Jeremy Crawford, a.k.a. Principal Rules Designer for D&D. Deborah Ann Woll will lead a group of actors in improvising a way to help people in a fantasy world not that different from ours. And principal D&D writer Chris Perkins takes players new to D&D, including Brandon Routh and David Harbour, through adventures sure to de-mystify the hobby for all who tune in.

You can view the whole schedule for #DnDLive2020 at dungeonsanddragons.com, and there’s a frankly adorable t-shirt commemorating the D&D partnership with Red Nose Day and featuring creature companion Snowy Owlbear. I’m kind of obsessed with this shirt design:

I already grabbed my Snowy Owlbear shirt, and the campaign for that stays open until June 1st, 2020. There’s also “a custom-designed adventure families can easily play together” available. Here’s a bit more info on what D&D Live 2020 has in store, and how to better benefit Red Nose Day:

Fans of D&D will learn all about the new setting and storyline as well as accompanying new products plus tons of unique gameplay available on June 18, 2020. D&D Adventurers League has four new short adventures everyone can enjoy. By donating a small amount to Red Nose Day, fans will have access to sign up for D&D sessions with players around the world! During #DnDLive2020, fans will also be able to choose the character best suited to help the region through Reality RP, a mashup of fantasy storytelling, community engagement, and reality television.

(images: Wizards of the Coast/screengrab)

It’s Memorial Day, and we hope everyone was safe out there (and inside). What did you see today?

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The past 40 years have been an interesting journey The Shining. Though now considered a classic, the 1980 release had a slow box-office start and mixed reviews. Along with the latter were some complex feelings from Stephen King himself. One of the author’s biggest criticisms was with the film’s version of Wendy Torrance. In a BBC interview, King said she’s basically in the film to scream and be stupid—a sentiment that many fans agree with to this day.

It makes sense for King to not be thrilled about this version of his character because she’s quite different from her novel counterpart. The novel Wendy is even-keeled, independent, and courageous, while film Wendy Torrance, portrayed by Shelley Duvall, is quite the opposite. She’s not the “badass” female horror protagonist that most fans crave. But her story—and, by extension, Duvall’s on-set experience—deserves compassion and respect.

Warner Bros.

It’s exciting and thrilling to see women and girl characters break past societal expectations to be their authentic selves. Who doesn’t love Arya Stark’s evolution into a Night King killer? These women typically represent our idealized selves—in other words, who we would be without limits and fears. Sometimes, these characters exhibit “masculine” traits that society associates with success and power.

But a woman character doesn’t have to physically, mentally, nor emotionally “strong” to be an effective, valuable part of a narrative. Women are humans with a wide range of experiences, flaws, and personality types that deserve exploration. Basically, not everyone can (or should) be a bold and outspoken baddie who is tough as bricks. There are countless women just like Duvall’s Wendy: timid, passive, anxious, and dealing with the complexities of an abusive relationship.

Wendy Torrance’s The Shining Story

The film quickly establishes Jack and Wendy’s dynamic. He’s a struggling writer who accepts a hotel caretaker position to make some money and hopefully pen a book. She is a supportive, kind, dutiful, and optimistic wife and mother who hopes Jack will realize his dreams. However, Wendy’s meeting with a doctor reveals a darkness in their relationship.

Wendy reveals that Jack dislocated their young son Danny’s shoulder in a moment of drunken anger. Wendy downplays and defends the disturbing encounter, likely in an effort to keep her husband from getting in legal trouble. There’s an underlying tension in her interactions with Jack as she replies with optimism to counter his cynical nature. She asks lots of curious questions about the hotel’s origins and looks at it as an adventure while Jack simply sees it as a work opportunity. Her positive nature increasingly annoys him as time goes on.

Warner Bros.

She essentially takes on Jack’s caretaker job, maintaining the building during the winter season while Jack’s mental state begins to unravel. He becomes verbally abusive, using expletives while blaming Wendy for his lack of focus and overall success.

Jack slowly chips away at her cheerful outlook and confidence. Wendy begins to question everything—the decision to stay at Overlook, her son’s safety, and her husband’s motivations. She’s subject to his constant gaslighting, blatant lies, and emotional manipulation along with her concern over Danny’s mental health. This is shown in one scene where Jack goes off the rails after Wendy suggests that they leave the hotel.

“It is so f**king typical of you to create a problem like this when I finally have a chance to accomplish something! When I’m really into my work. I could really write my own ticket if I went back to Boulder now, couldn’t I? Shoveling out driveways, working at a car wash, wouldn’t that appeal to you? Wendy, I have let you f**k up my life so far but I am not gonna let you f**k this up.”

We can guess that this is not the first time that Jack has lashed out towards Wendy in anger. His harsh tone and words hurt her feelings, but she shows no real shock over his actions. The situation is a lot for anyone to digest, especially when they are alone in a strange place. As reported by Psychology Today, isolation is one of the primary reasons why women stay in abusive situations. Wendy Torrance likely didn’t have the confidence or drive to leave without Jack because of his verbal badgering.

The extent of Jack’s instability shakes Wendy to her core. Her clumsy, frail baseball bat swings at Jack still make many fans cringe, even laugh. Why is she so weak? Why doesn’t she immediately clock him good and get out of there? That would be the normal, natural reaction for anyone in that situation.

But is it really the normal reaction? Would we have a steely reserve if a loved one threatened to bash in our head? It’s not easy for us to admit nor accept that perhaps we wouldn’t channel our favorite action hero in a life-or-death situation. It’s often bothersome to see others exhibit the traits we don’t like to acknowledge within ourselves. Wendy’s fear is quite authentic and believable.

It honestly took a lot of guts (and some physical strength) for her to hit Jack and drag him into the pantry in the midst of almost paralyzing fear. Wendy’s reactions are perfectly normal and justified throughout the remainder of the film. Who wouldn’t scream profusely if their spouse rammed an ax through a door?

She’s not some big hero who jabs a knife through her husband’s chest while delivering a quotable line. But she does the needful, throwing her son out of a window to save his life. Ultimately, Wendy Torrance is a survivor whose personality type serves as an excellent foil to Jack’s descent into madness.

Shelley Duvall’s Real-Life Shining Experience

Shelley Duvall’s performance as Wendy Torrance has been the subject of endless criticism. However, she portrayed the character’s intense fear, pain, and anxiety in a way that felt terrifyingly real. In a reflective article by Shining co-writer Diane Johnson, she admits to giving Wendy more dialogue to make her a more well-rounded character. However, she says writer/director Stanley Kubrick cut many of the lines because Duvall “couldn’t say them.” Meanwhile, Duvall said they were cut because she was at odds with the director. Kubrick and Duvall’s on-set tension is often a topic of discussion.

Duvall’s 1980 interview with Roger Ebert reveals that her experience filming The Shining was miserable and exhausting.

“Going through day after day of excruciating work. Almost unbearable. Jack Nicholson’s character had to be crazy and angry all the time. And in my character I had to cry 12 hours a day, all day long, the last nine months straight, five or six days a week. I was there a year and a month, and there must be something to Primal Scream therapy, because after the day was over and I’d cried for my 12 hours, I went home very contented. It had a very calming effect. During the day I would have been absolutely miserable.”

The Shining ran far past its production schedule because Kubrick, who was often called “difficult,” shot every single scene multiple times. For example, the aforementioned baseball bat scene was filmed a grueling 127 times. Nicholson spoke about the Duvall and Kubrick friction in Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures, admitting that he was treated differently from Duvall by Kubrick on set.

The tension between Kubrick and Duvall is clear in rare behind-the-scenes footage by Kubrick’s then-teenage daughter Vivian. They get into heated debates over her performance and lines. He later tells crew members to not sympathize with her, even after she admits to pulling hunks of her hair out. Duvall admits that she was frequently sick during the six-month-long shoot due to stress from the role and being away from home. Those raw, shaken emotions in the film are legit.

In a sense, Duvall could relate to Wendy Torrence’s plight. She was in the midst of an emotionally taxing situation that got progressively worse, causing her to doubt her ideas and thoughts. Duvall was also pushed to the brink of fear and terror and subject to callous treatment.

Duvall went on to other TV and film roles, acting regularly until 2002, when she left the industry for unknown reasons. She made a controversial 2016 appearance on Dr. Phil after years of living away from the spotlight, leading many to suspect that she may have a mental illness. On the episode, Duvall told Dr. Phil that she has been threatened by the Sheriff of Nottingham and believed that Robin Williams was a shapeshifter. Moreover, the actress admitted to Dr. Phil that she was “very sick” and “needs help.” Dr. Phil was criticized by many public figures, including Vivian Kubrick, for exploiting Duvall’s mental state on his show. Per USA Today, Dr. Phil said he worked with Duvall’s family to get her into a treatment center but that she refused treatment.

Warner Bros.

No one except a mental health professional can make a direct connection between Duvall’s treatment on The Shining set and her current mental health standing. But a traumatic experience certainly doesn’t foster an environment for mental well-being. It may not be clear what is going on with Shelley Duvall but, no matter what, her performance in The Shining is as real and raw as it gets.

Does Wendy Torrance have to be on your favorite horror heroines list? No. Is it okay to still think that she could be annoying at times? Yes. But, examining Wendy’s fictional story and Shelley Duvall’s real-life filming obstacles will hopefully make many fans want to show more compassion and understanding towards her integral role in this classic horror thriller.

Featured Image: Warner Bros.

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