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A review by coolkiks
The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O'Meara
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.