An Bittersweet End, and A Beautiful Beginning

After nearly 7 years, it's finally time. As of March 1, 2017 the BattyMamzelle blog will officially become defunct at this address. Over the last two months I've been working closely with a designer I trust to build a website that's more suited to my needs. A lot has happened over the last few years and Blogger is no longer sufficient to handle everything that a professional writer needs.

But, alas you can't get rid of me that easily. I, and the blog, will still be alive and well over at www.cate-young.com. I've very excited about this change. Moving platforms has been on my to-do list for the better part of three years, and I've finally done it. This blog will remain up as an archive. Most of it has been gutted circa 2012 or so, but the important stuff is all still here for reference when needed. The essays, the rants, the nonsense; it's all right where it's always been and will remain up until the Google machine sees fit to swallow it up.

Over the next couple weeks I'll be finishing up the migration and switching over my social media. My handles will stay the same, so you can always come find me for a chat online. I will continue to blog sporadically over at my new home and I hope you'll follow me there. To everyone who has read me, cited me or just complimented me, THANK YOU. It was that encouragement that made me confident that I could make something of my passionate rantings. I'm grateful and excited for the future.

Passengers Should Have Been Brave Enough To Explore Its Dark Premise

Imagine the scenario: your high-tech hibernation pod on the spaceship you're travelling in to colonize a far flung planet has popped open 90 years too early because of a technical malfunction. Faced with the knowledge that you will be long dead when everyone else wakes up, what do you do? According to Passengers, the answer is "doom a beautiful woman to the same fate and lie about the fact that said fate was in fact your choice. Fall in love with her then stalk her across the ship when she discovers the truth and wants nothing to do with you."

In another world, this would be the perfect setup for an exciting thriller with feminist undertones about men's entitlement to women's bodies. But if you can believe it, Passengers is meant to be a story of true love, forged in the fires of intergalactic peril.

No, I'm not kidding.

Other critics have noted the sinister undercurrent of the film's very premise, but the problem with Passengers is that it tried to have its cake and eat it too. Either you're making a film about unconscionable behavior in the vast emptiness of space, or you're making a romance drama about two people effectively lost to time who find love. It takes a level of skill that this film lacks to blend the two successfully.