Eating the Rich, The Rise of Physical Media, and The Whole Bloody Affair

Hey diva.

I’m warning you now: today’s newsletter is particularly bloody. From an “eat the rich” novel to gratuitous movie violence, there’s a lot to unpack.

But don’t worry, I’m including a physical media palette cleanser in between the two. Eat up.

Delilah S. Dawson’s Guillotine was released last year, and its themes still ring truer than ever. The novel follows Dez Lane, a fashionista on a budget. She finds herself dating the ultra wealthy Patrick Ruskin. He’s exactly what you would expect from someone who has always had the world handed to him on a silver platter.

Despite his awful personality, she sees him as a vessel for forming the type of high society connections that could catapult her into a successful fashion career. The puzzle pieces fall into place once she gets invited to his family’s private island for Easter—or so she thinks.

She’s hoping for an intro to Patrick’s mom, a prominent fashion magazine editor. But things don’t exactly go as planned. From the moment she gets to the island, the vibe is immediately off. On top of that… the family’s servants seem to be there against their will.

And so begin the makings of a brutal uprising against the family. Dawson clearly knows the class struggle from firsthand experience, which is reflected in this iconic dedication at the start of the novel:

The stakes are high. Dez finds herself caught between the servants and the family. While she knows she’s just cosplaying rich for the weekend, she desperately wants to leverage any new connections to her benefit. Can you blame her?

At the same time, she knows she has far more in common with the servants. Without giving away any spoilers, let’s just say she’s forced to make a very important decision.

And things get bloody. Really bloody.

This book isn’t for the queasy. That being said, if you don’t mind gore and want a campy, cathartic read about sticking it to the man, you’ll absolutely love this.

Pssst… I finally made a TikTok! And I made a post about this book. Feel free to check it out here.

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Ironically, the more time I spend online, the more I see creators talk about their desire to spend less time on social media—and more time enjoying physical media instead.

I get it. With my embarrassingly high screen time and the mind-numbing amount of brain rot out there, flipping through a magazine, listening to a record, or watching an actual DVD can start to feel like a remnant of the past.

But it shouldn’t! Plus, I’m also a big fan of supporting local newsstands and bookstores. I’ve compiled five of my recent favorite magazines that I’ve purchased at a local stand over the last few months.

My friend Makenzi and I went to see Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair over the weekend, which meant we watched both movies back to back. I’ll preface this by saying that the almost five hour long showing (with a brief intermission) isn’t for the faint of heart. But we loved it! Warning: spoilers ahead.

Looking past the gratuitous violence, excessive feet shots (classic Tarantino), and the sometimes questionable depiction of underrepresented groups… I really enjoyed the films.

The female assassins were phenomenal. Each of them did an excellent job portraying the resiliency of women, and this was especially apparent through The Bride (Uma Thurman’s character). She stopped at nothing to survive and get down to business.

Two scenes that particularly stood out to me were when she got buried alive, and when she finally defeated Bill in the end. In both instances, she used nothing but her own hands and the techniques she learned from the one and only Pai Mei, which is a stark contrast to the use of swords and other weapons throughout the rest of the film.

I interpreted the absence of weapons in those instances as powerful symbols of her own self-will and self-actualization. Ultimately, Kill Bill goes to show that you really shouldn’t mess with a woman who’s on a mission.

P.S. for more of my thoughts on the film, check out my review here (including the outfits I was obsessed with… because let’s be real, the costumes are incredible).

I also posted an OOTD inspired by the film and documented it here.

Calling all creatures to the front! I adore Lushious Massacr. I also thought she’d be fitting as this week’s weird girl, since her drag name is evocative of the gore mentioned earlier in this newsletter.

Despite her name, Lushious Massacr is a bright light in drag and entertainment. I discovered her earlier this year and have been obsessed with her Dragvestigations series, where she investigates and conducts woman-on-the-street style interviews in everyday places like Ross, Home Depot, and Spirit Halloween in full drag.

She’s been blowing up all over social media, and I love that she’s remained true to herself and her values in the midst of fame. For example, she often includes shoutouts to the Latino community, the queer community, the “unemployment dolls” and other groups who have been feeling the firsthand effects of the current administration.

I linked her recent appearance on The Bald and the Beautiful podcast above. It had me cracking up from start to finish.

What can I say? She’s a natural-born star.

That’s it for now. Want more weird in your life?

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The Weird Girl Edit is a weekly newsletter written by Maya Rector, and it gets published every Wednesday. View past editions here. If you haven’t already, subscribe for the latest wacky musings in literature, media, and pop culture each week!