There is no unifying theme to this Wrecked, it's just stuff I've been into
Doris Lessing, H.E.R. and Melkbelly
Summer as a kid was always kind of lonely for me. Being in quarantine with my books and records and digital connections (no longer MSN messenger), is reminiscent of those long, luxurious, lonely days when I would read an entire book in a day and set my schedule by when my favorite shows were on, before staying up late working on some weird project while listening to emo music.
I don’t think it’s just me who does this, but I tend to shift through musical genres seasonally. Summer drives are for hip hop and punk music, spring cleaning calls for new wave rock, etc. This way of listening can sometimes act like its own time machine, propelling me to where I was last winter or that summer before high school started. One of the most powerful things media can do is move us through time.
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The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
When David Lovatt meets Harriet at an office party, they both immediately fall in love. They both share the same conservative outlooks, which they perceive to be a rarity in the London of the 1960s. The two marry and purchase a large house in a small town within commuting distance of London. The couple both intend to have several children, a wish frowned upon by the rest of the family. By the time they have four children, two boys and two girls, their house becomes a centre of joy not only for them but for all their relatives and friends who come and visit. This continues until Harriet has a fifth, wildly dysfunctional child, Ben. Her painful pregnancy with him marks the beginning of the misery and suffering that this child brings to the whole family.
It’s apparent and emphasized that David and Harriet want to achieve some idea of home and family that was already antiquated in the 1960s, despite exhaustion, tight finances, and family members who caution them against their plan. And even with all these obstacles, they relish their lives together for a long time, up until their fifth child is born.
As a baby, Ben is strong, ugly, and goblin-like, and as he grows — really, before he leaves the womb — he displays dangerous and violent tendencies, terrifying everyone around him. He is sequestered to his room in the house, where he can’t harm the other children or disgust the adults. The only effective mode of discipline resembles how one might treat a delinquent puppy.
He is sent away to an abusive institution before Harriet rescues him, a move made out of guilt rather than love. The rest of the family, including Ben’s father, are furious with the boy’s rescue. They want to sweep the family’s ugliness away and resume the lives they had before Ben. The family deteriorates as a direct consequence of Harriet’s bringing Ben home, and Lessing asks throughout the rest of the story if Harriet’s choice was the right one.
Although the story is told through Harriet’s perspective, the events are held at arm’s length, with scenes of bodily horror told with realist prose. The critic Charlie Fox writes that “Special anxieties are kindled by the thought of monstrous children, manifesting a fear about what the human may become in the future and stimulating bad dreams about innocence and beauty fatefully warped.” Unlike Rosemary’s Baby (1968) or even The Omen (1976), Lessing does not explain why Ben is the way he is, she never questions whether he really is the couple’s child. Why Ben is a monster is not the question; what to do with him is. His very existence takes away everything that Harriet understood about the world.
The Fifth Child was published 20 years after the movie Rosemary’s Baby premiered. The latter shines a light on how women’s position in society make them the perfect victims of gaslighting, and the movie ends quickly after the child is born. Lessing’s novel asks if a mother has an obligation to raise a monster and how she may do so. Both emphasize the impossible role mothers are expected to fill, how they are to be a vessel and consummate caregiver who really can’t win no matter what choice they make. As Rosemary physically wastes away throughout her pregnancy, Harriet materially and psychologically wastes away during Ben’s upbringing. Lessing zeroes in on maternal duty and how it may not always be so noble or right as it is made out to be; she never quite condemns the idea, but she dares to ask. It should make anyone with an idea of How A Mother Should Be very uncomfortable.
Once he is grown, Ben finds a group of people his own age and moves through the world as a violent young adult, less of a fairy tale variety monster and more of a Dateline villain. This shifts the story from domestic, familial horror to one that has the potential to spread horror to the rest of the world.
I am a tiny piece of fluff
{Y’all already know the new Phoebe slaps}
H.E.R. Vol. 2 EP by H.E.R.
H.E.R.’s (Gabi Wilson, although we didn’t know that at the time this EP was released) wry, seemingly off-the-cuff lyrics capture the incredibly personal but semi-detached feeling of trying to navigate personal relationships without getting hurt in the process. The album embraces the multifaceted, sometimes contradictory, nature of being a person — impersonal and open, distant and intimate. Wilson’s voice is smooth and velvety, so even sharp blows feel hypnotic and seductive. This makes the relatable ruminations and questions she asks in her songs feel like they are coming from someone older and wiser than most other 23-year-olds* I know.
*20 at the time of release, I’m reeling
PITH by Melkbelly
I saw Melkbelly open for the Breeders, and they have a companionable sound: a punk- noise/dancey hybrid coupled with sweet and melodic vocals. On PITH, Melkbelly experiments and floats between indie rock genres. Some songs have a mellow shoegaze sound and others feel like an ode to the pop punk band Jawbreaker. This trip through contemporary guitar history is complimented by weird, vivid lyrics. The band really strikes a balance between syntax and hard edges, and the energy and complexity of the album makes it one that rewards multiple listens.
Thanks for reading! As always, let me know how I can do better. See you later.