deerstalker
Jennette McCurdy provides a riveting account of her life growing up as a child star and being forced into a competitive industry by an emotionally manipulative mother. Unlike other autobiography content, McCurdy’s self-accounts are raw and barely refrain from exposing those who put her in uncomfortable situations.
The book also shares the narrative that McCurdy’s negative actions are often a direct result of verbal and emotional abuse by adult influences. In her autobiography, I’m Glad My Mom Died, McCurdy takes her power back by using little censorship with her words as she details the abuse inflicted by her superiors.
The Significance of “The Creator”
McCurdy shows great strength and courage as she tells her truth while using vivid phrases to reveal those who do her wrong. The significance of limited censorship in McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died is it establishes the narrative of whom is to blame for the detriment of her childhood and upbringing. She is very raw in her truth, to the point that readers familiar with her work can use context clues to figure out who she discusses or wants to expose.
Her autobiography is not simply her life story but also serves as an exposé. She exposes her mother, grandmother, and TV executives, as the adults who fail her and contribute to her downward spiral. These spirals include her eating disorder, secrecy, and burgeoning maturity.
Although the focal point of the autobiography is McCurdy’s relationship with her mom and how Jennette was forced to be the breadwinner by booking TV roles, she notes other influences who inflicted pain upon her. She vaguely mentions a prominent Nickelodeon executive using terms like “The Creator” to issue a powerful statement. By using terms like “The Creator” to describe her abuser, her audience can understand the power that person has on her and the industry.
McCurdy does not use their name for privacy reasons, but still illustrates the power dynamic this person has on her by calling them “The Creator.” The Oxford Dictionary defines “creator” as “a person or thing that brings something into existence.” In this case, The Creator symbolizes both the maker of a show and a person of power. The Creator brings her show into existence which also serves as McCurdy’s big break in acting. Like her mother, The Creator is also one of the adults in her life that she tries to never displease; she will not face repercussions.
Why such a title?
On the cover of her memoir, McCurdy wears a salmon-colored attire and smirks while carrying a pink urn. One may think that the cover image and title I’m Glad My Mom Died is a rather harsh take on a toxic maternal relationship. But, it helps to create the story about McCurdy’s truth.
There are portions in this autobiography in which McCurdy empathizes with her mother. In specific chapters, she cries about her mother’s illness and does what she thinks will satisfy her mother or gain approval. Even though McCurdy shows human emotions over particular events that impact her mother and their relationship, she is still a victim of abuse. The grieving and mourning for her abuser’s health or obedience to her mother’s wishes, don’t make her any less of an abuse victim.
A large percentage of the abuse she endures is emotional and verbal. Her mother is one of the figures who know how to emotionally manipulate her. She is glad the abuse is over. The death of her mom puts life into perspective. It brings an end to her manipulation that otherwise would remain had she not passed. The abuse, control, and suffering are gone. She is done living life on eggshells; she is free.
Growing up and losing control
I’m Glad My Mom Died is a coming-of-age book. This book cover’s McCurdy’s childhood, awkward teen years, and ultimately her becoming a woman. Despite McCurdy’s stages of growth, her mom fails to provide her daughter with the independence that comes with maturation.
McCurdy discusses the discomfort she feels due to the lack of respect her mother has for her daughter’s body. As McCurdy grows older, the feeling of owning her body doesn’t come with it. Throughout her book, she discusses the awkwardness of having her mom still bathe her, wash her hair, and wipe her. Her mother never wants her to grow up and it’s obvious. Youth is significant to McCurdy’s mom because it enables a stronger acting career for her daughter.
The younger and smaller she looks, the more child roles McCurdy will book. In McCurdy’s case, appearing young allows her mother to treat her like a child rather than a teen. Her mother seems to suffer from “good little girl” syndrome. She does not want to let McCurdy grow up. This is a crucial part of her memoir because the lack of space between the two, or the coddling that goes on between them, signifies an unhealthy relationship that leads to an unhealthy self-image. Like her relationship with The Creator, this is also a power dynamic issue.
Drawing Conclusions
McCurdy concludes that she spends the majority of her youth pursuing an acting career she never sought. It takes McCurdy years and a little self-discovery to realize that she lives out her mother’s dream not her own. Although she establishes a name for herself in the industry as a successful Nickelodeon actress, she no longer wishes to act. In the pursuit of an acting career, McCurdy instead discovers a toxic industry. She learns that the vast majority of the adults in her life are abusers, and through this memoir, she unveils their truth.
Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died is now available as an eBook or audiobook at Barnes & Noble.
By Désirée Guzzetta
The new documentary, “The Territory,” director Alex Pritz’s feature-length debut, combines his footage with that taken by the indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people, whose land in Rondônia, Brazil is being clear-cut by illegal settlers and others. Shot over three years, the film details the conflict over the indigenous tribe’s 6,000 square miles of the Amazon rainforest, a conflict exacerbated by the Brazilian government’s seeming indifference to the Uru-eu-wau-wau’s rights. Darron Aronofsky (“Pi,” “Mother!”) is one of the documentary’s high-profile producers.
“The Territory” almost plays like a thriller. We are introduced to Bitaté Uru-eu-wau-wau (all tribe members take the tribal name for their surname), who is 19 and becomes his tribe’s leader. His mentor, Neidinha Bandeira, has been an activist for several decades trying to support the tribe and protect the rainforest. The work is dangerous, especially after Jair Bolsonaro becomes president of Brazil, an event which emboldens the illegal settlers to further encroach on the Uru-eu-wau-wau’s land. Bandeira receives regular death threats, and Bitaté and his people are treated like they don’t matter. Pritz includes interviews with some of the illegal settlers, including small farmer Sergio, who starts an Association to make his group’s efforts “legal,” and Martins, an invader who feels entitled to a piece of the land.
I saw the film when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2022 and was bowled over by its passion, and a second viewing cemented my opinion that it’s one of the best documentaries of the year.
Ahead of the film’s general release on August 19, 2022, I spoke with director Pritz about his project, including what drew him to tell this story, why he included interviews with the illegal settlers, how he met Neidinha and Bitaté, and how the global community can support the Uru-eu-wau-wau. Spoiler warning: The conversation does include a few spoilers for the content of the documentary.
To learn more about “The Territory” and how you can support the Indigenous people of the Amazon, go to https://theterritoryimpact.org/
The post The Territory, A Conversation with Alex Pritz appeared first on The Nerd Element.
It’s been twenty-one years to the day since the tragic death of music icon Aaliyah. Today, we honor her memory by revisiting the young actress’s second and final film, Queen of the Damned.
After the success of 1994’s Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, based on Anne Rice’s book of the same name, a follow-up film was inevitable. But instead of adapting the second book in Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles series, The Vampire Lestat, Warner Brothers oddly chose to combine its storyline with Rice’s third book, Queen of the Damned. The 2002 film, directed by Michael Rymer (Hannibal) and written by Scott Abbott (Introducing Dorothy Dandridge) and Michael Petroni (The Rite), celebrated its 20th anniversary back in February this year.
Lestat de Lioncourt (Stuart Townsend) has been in a vampiric slumber for decades. One night in a New Orleans cemetery he’s awakened by a band rocking out in his abandoned house. (Is it their first jam session here, or did Lestat not hear them until this specific night? We don’t know.) He adopts the band, generously lending his haunting voice to their instrumental-only setup. The keyboard player says vampire with a very Bon Temps twang, a treat for all us True Blood fans out there.
With a vampire wearing super low-rise leather pants on vocals, the band, named The Vampire Lestat, skyrockets to fame, despite never playing actual concerts. I guess their The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari-esque music videos were enough to gain a following.
When he’s not bragging about his modern-day rockstar status and snacking on goth groupies, Lestat narrates his undead beginnings with his vampiric maker Marius de Romanus (Vincent Perez). While still a baby vamp, Lestat awakens Akasha (Aaliyah). The titular queen and mother of all vampires awake with his furious violin playing, similar to how he’ll respond to the hard rock of the 2000s.
Aside from Lestat’s narration, we also hear Jesse Reeves (Marguerite Moreau), a researcher at the Order of the Talamasca — a secret society that keeps tabs on the paranormal. But studying isn’t enough for Jesse, who clearly has a death wish. It’s the age-old tale of a moody vampire fascinated by a gutsy human and vice versa. However, their connection seems to develop over exactly two brief encounters.
Lestat’s coming out of the coffin isn’t ideal for his fellow vampires. He uses his music and one massive press conference to taunt them. He actually says, “Bring it on,” at one point. He really could’ve tried to be scarier with that. Lestat essentially invites his undead haters to the band’s first and only concert in Death Valley (featuring over 3,000 local Melbourne goths). Why these vampires, who wish to remain in the shadows, would choose to attack him in public in front of a massive crowd of humans is beyond me. Korn frontman Jonathan Davis provided the vocals for Lestat in the film (though it’s completely unconvincing that a French vampire would have Davis’ distinct voice).
Queen of the Damned feels more like one long music video than a 101-minute film, but that isn’t meant as an insult. The soundtrack is expertly curated by Korn’s Jonathan Davis (American Satan) and fellow composer Richard Gibbs (Love Don’t Cost a Thing, 28 Days). Davis and Gibbs wrote original songs and scored the film. But they also included rock hits like “Excess” by Tricky (which is also heavily featured in Thir13en Ghosts), Disturbed’s “Down With The Sickness,” and the sexy and spooky Deftones’ “Change (In The House Of Flies)” — which plays during the aesthetically pleasing sex scene between Lestat and Akasha.
Of course, the highlight is Aaliyah, though she doesn’t appear on screen until 50 minutes into the film and has limited screen time. Queen of the Damned was the budding actress’s second movie role following Romeo Must Die with Jet Li. At the time, an ancient vampire queen seemed like a surprising choice, but Aaliyah was a horror fan. In a May 2001 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Aaliyah described her characters as “very regal. Very grand. A lot of great costumes. She’s sexy, but she’s evil.”
On August 25, 2001, six months after production wrapped, the 22-year-old R&B star died in a plane crash flying from the Bahamas to Florida after shooting the “Rock the Boat” music video. After her untimely death, Aaliyah’s brother, Rashad Haughton, completed ADR during post-production.
In addition to it being a part of Aaliyah’s legacy, Queen of the Damned was the first R-rated movie I watched in theaters. I was 12 years old and a few months into my goth phase. Admittedly, I envied all the pale-skinned girls because that was just the typical image of goth girls. I felt the same seeing Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death in The Sandman. though thankfully, it’s becoming less the norm. But seeing a brown-skinned vampire was mind-blowing to me.
Queen of the Damned is mostly considered a bad adaptation, over-the-top silly, and just a poorly structured film in general. All are true. However, many, myself included, see it more as a disasterpiece, a guilty pleasure, a piece of 2000s nu metal nostalgia. It also had a killer soundtrack, gorgeous and intricate costumes, and good acting. As stated by her family and colleagues, Aaliyah would’ve been proud.
Queen of the Damned is currently streaming for free on The Roku Channel.