Scan barcode
grace_ace's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
I know nothing about horror movies, but I always enjoy forgotten history (especially if it in about women or other marginalized folks) and this was no exception. I was surprised by how much of Milicent's life I had almost heard about - in particular her working on animated movies. I am surprised I never came across her in my teen years when I was trying to learn everything about animation. (But also, it's not that surprising because the lack of women in animation in the early years prevented me from learning about the few who did work at Disney during Milicent's time!) I am so happy that I know her story now :)
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
notorious_mjt's review against another edition
4.0
Like the author, I too remember watching Creature from the Black Lagoon on cable TV as a kid and had no idea the design of the creature was done by a woman. I listened to the audiobook narrated by O'Meara and through her words she took me on the wild ride of the life of Milicent Patrick and her own journey to research her life. O'Meara drew parallels between Milicent's life, hers, and the plight of women in Hollywood from its beginning to the #MeToo era. At times it felt like filler but I think she made some valid points about how women were and still are basically at the mercy of some pretty powerful and terrible men. I recommend this for anyone interested in movie monsters and some of the more obscure areas of Hollywood history.
leasummer's review against another edition
5.0
This is part biography of Milicent Patrick and part memoir/journey of Mallory O'Meara, the author. Together,they weave a wonderful tale of movie history, feminism and monsters. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey O'Meara took to track down Milicent, what perseverance! This is a page turner, very well written, the author's enthusiasm sucks you in. Highly recommend.
coolkiks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
This was probably the best moment in my life for having read this book, as a film student about to graduate who has, already, experienced injustice before even entering the industry. Millicent's still a surprisingly underground figure, even though the Creature is one of the most successful and recognizeable Universal Monsters. Knowing that it was designed by a woman, and knowing more about her life's story, made me fall in love with The Creature from the Black Lagoon even more.
Milicent has a very interesting and particular life story. She was a peculiar figure, and this biography was interesting for so many reasons. It made me reflect on one of the things I usually say to people, and it is that I hate biopics. This seems unrelated to the review, but it is not. As I was reading, I started to think that maybe the reason why I hate biopics is not because they are all the same. It might be because we always hear about the same people. There are artists that get dozens of biographies, biopics, spin-off movies and things made about them, and thousands of other artists who will never be recognized. I believe if there was a biopic of Milicent Patrick I wouldn't turn my head and say "Ah, no, I can't believe it. What a cash grab". I would be actually interested in hearig more about her personal and professional life, and I believe it would be important for the world to see as well.
This book was interesting not only for Milicent's life, but also for the mention of influential women that directly and indirectly participated in her life, such as Nelbert Chouinard and Julia Morgan. They were big, influential women before all discussions about women in the workplace, and seeing these figures so active over a hundred years ago makes me both happy and sad. Happy that women have been around in history, making history and happy that these documents prove that women are capable of doing great things and have been forever, but it also makes me sad that nowadays it is still difficult to have a majority of women in such power.
The one thing that set me back reading this book was that the writing sounded amateur, and at times unnecessary, with many comments as "I guess we'll never know" or "I wasn't able to find out", and having read other biographies they make this book stand out as, like I said, amateur. I don't deny that the author has an interesting voice and may have improved in other books, though at times her reflections seemed redundant. Still, I would like to read more of her work.
Milicent has a very interesting and particular life story. She was a peculiar figure, and this biography was interesting for so many reasons. It made me reflect on one of the things I usually say to people, and it is that I hate biopics. This seems unrelated to the review, but it is not. As I was reading, I started to think that maybe the reason why I hate biopics is not because they are all the same. It might be because we always hear about the same people. There are artists that get dozens of biographies, biopics, spin-off movies and things made about them, and thousands of other artists who will never be recognized. I believe if there was a biopic of Milicent Patrick I wouldn't turn my head and say "Ah, no, I can't believe it. What a cash grab". I would be actually interested in hearig more about her personal and professional life, and I believe it would be important for the world to see as well.
This book was interesting not only for Milicent's life, but also for the mention of influential women that directly and indirectly participated in her life, such as Nelbert Chouinard and Julia Morgan. They were big, influential women before all discussions about women in the workplace, and seeing these figures so active over a hundred years ago makes me both happy and sad. Happy that women have been around in history, making history and happy that these documents prove that women are capable of doing great things and have been forever, but it also makes me sad that nowadays it is still difficult to have a majority of women in such power.
The one thing that set me back reading this book was that the writing sounded amateur, and at times unnecessary, with many comments as "I guess we'll never know" or "I wasn't able to find out", and having read other biographies they make this book stand out as, like I said, amateur. I don't deny that the author has an interesting voice and may have improved in other books, though at times her reflections seemed redundant. Still, I would like to read more of her work.
samhl's review against another edition
3.0
The author occasionally seems to take leaps in logic and at times the book is an opinion piece about the plight of women in Hollywood rather than a biography. All that said, the story of Patrick’s life and career are entertaining and I’m glad to have learned about her story and work.