A review by motherofallbats
Brave by Rose McGowan
5.0
As a lifelong fan of Rose McGowan (both as an actress in the olden days and as an activist/social media presence/general human being in recent years) this was an extremely difficult but extremely rewarding read.
On one hand, it's deeply saddening to have an actress whose work you really loved tell you in excruciating detail how much that work psychologically and emotionally destroyed her. Cherry Darling was one of my biggest badass female film idols as a teenager, and learning how Rose poured her heart and soul into this character in spite of Planet Terror's awful, abusive production both makes me love the character that much more and taints my love for the movie with disheartening sadness. (As someone who's also a lifelong fan of Robert Rodriguez's work, it's also deeply disheartening to have to add his name to the list "Men Who Deserve to Have Their Penises Skinned With Potato Peelers.")
On the other hand, it also reaffirms why I've continued to love and admire Rose so much after her Hollywood retreat. I can't think of anyone else in the industry who is so deeply committed to living and speaking her truth so deeply, at the potential cost of "marketability" and "likability" and all the other Hollywood buzzwords. She is direct, brutally honest, sometimes abrasive, sometimes a buzzkill. I don't necessarily love or agree with 100% of what she says and does, even in this book, but the wonderful thing about Rose is that she truly, madly, deeply does not give a fuck if I like or agree with everything, and for that I respect her immensely.
On one hand, it's deeply saddening to have an actress whose work you really loved tell you in excruciating detail how much that work psychologically and emotionally destroyed her. Cherry Darling was one of my biggest badass female film idols as a teenager, and learning how Rose poured her heart and soul into this character in spite of Planet Terror's awful, abusive production both makes me love the character that much more and taints my love for the movie with disheartening sadness. (As someone who's also a lifelong fan of Robert Rodriguez's work, it's also deeply disheartening to have to add his name to the list "Men Who Deserve to Have Their Penises Skinned With Potato Peelers.")
On the other hand, it also reaffirms why I've continued to love and admire Rose so much after her Hollywood retreat. I can't think of anyone else in the industry who is so deeply committed to living and speaking her truth so deeply, at the potential cost of "marketability" and "likability" and all the other Hollywood buzzwords. She is direct, brutally honest, sometimes abrasive, sometimes a buzzkill. I don't necessarily love or agree with 100% of what she says and does, even in this book, but the wonderful thing about Rose is that she truly, madly, deeply does not give a fuck if I like or agree with everything, and for that I respect her immensely.