a review of 所有的美丽与血泪

stunning. sprawling. comprehensive. cohesive. astute. poignant. this woman is an absolute force. to watch these two stories play out. her activism as a young, developing artist acting inside the art world (and acting outside the art world at the same time) to change perception of art and of women artists. then, her more classical activism, putting her career on the line to help hold some of the most evil people to ever live accountable for their greed and blatant disregard for human life. so, so much human life. "as long as there's a jail, they should be in it. until the whole prison system is dismantled." this is the pragmatic abolitionism i love (and i think i wrote almost these exact words in a review of one of the sackler documentaries). this is visceral. nan has a complete confidence in disclosing some of the darkest and most unseemly parts of her life. yes, at this point it's likely a balm for her that helps her remember and stay true to herself...and it also hits you like a mac truck. this is an ode to all the weirdos and loners and addicts. lovely to hear her very, very candid narration over the slide show segments. the video segments are stunning in their own right. a ballad to all those who live their lives and create beauty and meaning in the face of a lack of accountability for those who cause them harm. i wonder if "he" were alive today, would david be a trans woman instead of a "queen". gender vagrancy is so incredibly fascinating. to witness how people and society individually and collective change our perception of gender over time is astonishing. and at the end, none of it is real, and all of it is drag. "if they didn't like one of the pictures, they tore them up, and that was okay with me." "nobody photographs their own life." and just like that she participates in this documenting of the documenting of her life. the form of the art follows the form of her art, the form of her life. and we see her participating in both simultaneously, and the documentary and her life blend together to become almost indistinguishable. and then the stories converge and actually become one as nan's art activism becomes something more like classical, radical political activism. this is the stuff of magic and of change and of justice. this is truly incredible editing and storytelling. "she sees the future and all the beauty and the bloodshed." "my mother and father were not equipped to be parents. they had children because it was expected, more than it was about nurturing other human beings." "...and about stigma. the wrong things are kept secret, and that destroys people." thank you to all those who stand together in solidarity. thank you to all those who continue fighting against all odds for a better, more fair, more just world.