Oooh I just realized this makes my 52nd reviewed work of the year and my first Cannonball!!!
Look, this is not a useful review by any stretch. If the following comment makes you nod and say, EXACTLY:
There’s this part in book six where Harry holds Quidditch tryouts for Gryffindors only and is like, “Yeah, I don’t know any of these people.” HOW? There are 150 of you tops and you all live in a tower together and eat treacle tart family style every day! You’ve never met Cormac McLaggen before?
Like, have you read West’s work before, either in the Guardian (I believe) or another book or via Hulu and Aidy Bryant? Frankly, if you are even aware of West (and not in the way that makes you go immediately She’s the Worst Shut Up Feminazi), then this book will likely be right up your wheelhouse.
It is not, as The Witches Are Coming was, overtly political insofar as any writing on popular culture can be apolitical. I’m also not aware of how much of this book is genuine new content versus rehashes of her writing for Jezebel and other sources–i.e. if you type “Lindy West” into Google, the first suggestion is “Lindy West Love Actually,” which I believe I must have read at some point but, like the movie Love, Actually, makes for a delightful re-read/re-watch. The only difference appears to be that the online version has pictures. Which is to say, if you paid money for this book but are a regular consumer of West’s movie critiques, you might feel cheated. I got this book from the library and, in general, have no issue with writers getting paid for their content as many times as they are able to get publishing houses to pay them.
I definitely skipped the chapters for movies I have not watched and/or didn’t have enough osmosis knowledge to keep up with. Aka I read the chapters on “Back to the Future II” and “Terminator 2” despite not having watched either, but I skipped the chapter on “The Rock” because I genuinely don’t even know what that is. Does it star The Rock? West’s writing is meant to be chatty and personal, and as a result veers sharply away from a traditional review that might aid you in determining whether you want to watch a movie. West has viewpoints, and she’s sharing them with you.