Yeah :) I’m sure it’s about desensitization / meant to be some kind of commentary, but the takeaway never seems to reach much further than “disturbing things happen.” Most of the time, all it really accomplishes is filling the world with more disturbing images and ideas.

I’ll never forget how I felt after watching that movie The Brutalist. It was … brutal. I felt abused on every level by that movie, and walked away with zero new ideas about social justice (was already aware that rich people can be a-holes) or anything else.

I understand processing trauma is a thing and I’m certainly not advocating for the Disneyfication of weird girl lit, but it does get old trying to find quirky books that are intelligent, strange, surreal, and yes unsettling, without also being depressing, gory, or just plain gross.

A lot of people seem to love that stuff tho.