We’ve said many times that Frock Flicks is a feminist publication. We’ve also written in favor of diverse casting and story-telling in costume dramas. We’ve written about size inclusivity and actors of all ages. We regularly feature queer frock flicks and point out negative stereotypes. We don’t do this to look ‘woke’ or ‘politically correct’ or somesuch bullshit. We just do this because it’s how we feel, and because it’s 2020 for chrissakes.
That said, we dislike policing our own words or images because someone else says so. Yes, you may be offended! We might not be politically correct according to your definition. And we don’t give a fuck.
Frock Flicks comes with no trigger warnings or content warnings. Aside from this, we suppose.
We reserve the right to make fun of whatever the fuck we want to. Because our charter is to pick apart historical costume in movies and TV. Yes, we know there are hard-working costume designers out there who make this stuff — we’ve addressed that time and again. But just because someone spent time (and even money, maybe?) on something doesn’t mean it’s historically accurate. See also: what we mean when we say something is not historically accurate.
When we make fun of something that is not historically accurate, we’re not making fun of the person wearing it. That seems rather difficult for a few people to get. But we’re very clear that we don’t blame the actors for what they’re wearing (except Raquel Welch in The Three Musketeers, she’s a Known Issue!). If a historically inaccurate dress or hairstyle makes a person look like shit, yeah, we’re gonna point that out. Thems the breaks. But that actor got paid for the movie or TV show, and we aren’t getting paid for writing this site, so we’re punching up, not punching down.
Related: Just because the actor is a woman or a person of color that doesn’t mean we can’t criticize what they’re wearing! Equality is a multi-directional street. Don’t #NotAllFrockFlicks on us because when we see a shitty so-called historical costume in a movie or TV show, we are going to snark it, no matter the race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital status, citizenship, national origin, genetic information, or any other characteristic of the person wearing it.
It’s not racist / sexist / whatever-ist to point out a horrible costume on a person of color unless you say the horrible costume is intrinsically horrible because of the person’s race. That’s not what we do. We’re talking about horrible costumes because they’re historically inaccurate.
We’re also not shy about using whatever fucking words we want, including swear words obviously. This is our site, so our words. Sometimes we use “guys” or “dude” to mean “everybody” or “people,” and yeah, maybe that’s not as inclusive as it could be (though as three native Californians, we call everyone “dude” even though we don’t surf or skate, it’s just a thing, get over it). We use “crazy” and “derpy,” and no, that’s not meant to stigmatize mental illness. Maybe there’s other words in our vocab that you might object to.
Dear reader, you must understand that words have multiple meanings and varied usages. If you don’t like the way we use them, that’s cool. You don’t have to read this blog! Don’t support us on Patreon. Don’t follow us on social media. But we’re going to keep writing the way we write because we do this for fun, for us.
Lastly, we don’t participate in ‘call out’ or ‘cancel’ culture. Just because an actor / director / producer / costume designer / etc. said a shitty thing on social media doesn’t mean we’re going to automatically scrub them from our site and never speak of them again. And we are aware that Certain People in Hollywood are grade-A assholes, but maybe we have a review of their movies because, hey, shitty people have always and will always continue to make art that might be worth looking at.
That art doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and when we can and when we feel it’s relevant, we may engage with where the art intersects with how / why the artist is an asshole. But maybe we haven’t each and every time, and that’s our prerogative as reviewers. Our crusade is against shitty historical costumes in movies and TV, not against shitty people in movies and TV. That’s someone else’s crusade. Go read their blog.
We’re happy for the readers who get us and enjoy our writing and laugh with us! We love positive feedback, and we appreciate useful, thoughtful feedback. But we have yet to see any whining about our “offensiveness” that wasn’t from a humorless n00b or from some virtue-signaling tyrant ranting about stuff they don’t have a real stake in. We hate when some folks don’t get a joke and leap to dumbass conclusions.
The rest of you are all good though!
This post deserves a standing ovation
Don’t change. Don’t ever change. Those who have issues can just go somewhere else. We love you just the way you are.
I love you awesome dudes. 💓💓
You rock on just as you are – you bring so much joy and fun, as well as fabulous informative stuff and cracking opinions. Thank you hugely. You go Girls!!!
… or is saying “Girls” sexist now??????? I can never keep up! starts steaming out of ears in overload! ;)
Said with love, I’m fine with it! Said by rando on the street as I walk by, hell no ;)
Context is everything!
Phew. It was most certainly said with love. :D Context is indeed all!
Your blog is one of the most informative blogs out there right now.I don’t think anyone should be offended by your snark.Even the critics at rotten tomatoes serve snark in spades,albeit covered in velvety purple prose.It will be very easy for you to just post the screencaps and references,but you take the pains to share your personal thoughts about the costumes with us.Sadly,certain people don’t value your efforts.
I have taken time to read all your posts and throwbacks and nowhere did I find even a hint of racism or sexism in your words.Even better,you have reviewed foreign films in languages that you may not know anything about,still your comments on the costumes remain flawless.That is something I have always loved about frock flicks.
Thanks. We’re not perfect by any means! But we’re trying. Also, we’re doing this out of love for movies, costumes, & history, & for fun :)
And that’s what makes you so special.To persue your passion in a way that you can live life to its fullest,while not looking for a career in it.
Dudes, you fucking rock. (Native Californian – everyone and every THING can be Dude.)
Duuuuuuuuuude!!!!
Stands up and applauds.
Fucking A.
As a former Californian, YOU DUDES ROCK!
I’ve been reading FrockFlicks for, I believe, six years and I have yet found a bigoted racist comment. Inclusion thy middle name is snark!
Power to the Frock.👊👍
As a native, current and forever Californian, you ladies are also fucking cool.
And in the wise words of Bill and Ted ‘You are fucking (my contribution to Bill/Ted) EXCELLENT’
And to include as M.A.S.H.-ism ‘FINEST KIND.
You call ’em the way you see ’em, and that should be good enough for anyone. Anyone who doesn’t like it can take his/her marbles and go home.
I love you guys. I love you for the snark. I love you for the fucking swearing. But above all I love you for the learning. Never change. Ever.
Will this post summon virtue signallers hell-bent on “purifying” this blog? stands by with edamame and popcorn
Please don’t let costuming be the next group hit with the plague of purity spiraling.
You 3 ladies are epic, and your blog is perfect! Do not ever change. I also want to say that this is one of the few places on the internet where I can ignore the “never read the comments” rule. Thank you all for that!
Now that’s high praise! You guys make our comments golden <3 <3 <3
Love you guys. Keep on keepin’ on.
Off topic, but why do y’all say Raquel Welch was the most famous? I lived thru the 70’s and she was B-list. Her claim to fame was ripping up her costume in ‘One Million Years B.C.’ so that everything showed; that’s what got her cast in those other movies. She started off ‘making her own costumes’ early in her career.
xoxo to you all
Read our Three Musketeers review linked above — that movie has gorgeous historically accurate 17th-c. costumes, except for hers because she specifically asked the designer not to put her in the 17th-c. fashions. It’s really rare for an actor to have that much say in what they wear in a historical movie. The director, sure, but not the actors ;)
if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the blog. I support your choices.
So wait, does this mean you wont warn for things like CSA, and other forms of a abuse and sexual assault? Because even that’s in poor taste like really poor taste and while I do love the critiques and snark weeks I’m not subscribing to someone who takes such acts and traumas lightly just because you think people need to suck it up, please tell me that’s not what’s happening here
Going by the wording, sad to say I think they aren’t? Like since they have the “there’s no spoilers in history” which is technically true (but let’s face it, most dramas are in name and vague costumes only lmao) so I doubt they’ll put any trigger warnings in future reviews. Best to move on and find a different blog
I think their not posting trigger warnings doesn’t mean they take such acts lightly. From all that I have read here, they do not take them lightly.
We don’t warn for anything. You read our site at your own risk.
Our main focus is on the historical costumes. We may or may not discuss plot elements, depending on if we feel like it. If that includes something we find objectionable, we’ll note our objection, but we’re not going to put any kind of warning up at the top of the post.
I suffer from mental illness but the epithet ‘crazy’ has never offended me unless it is meant to actually stigmatize a person with a mental illness. I can’t speak for derpy, though it and the backlash against it seem fairly new (though retarded is a no-go for me). Also it’s really hard to not say ‘you guys’! It’s not gendered to me because growing up in the northeast I associate it so much with my sister and female friends growing up, and it feels artificial to say ‘folks’ or ‘y’all’ when I am not from regions that say those things.
Oh, and your site is very inclusive about gender and race issues, so that is much appreciated.
I say ‘y’all’ bec. part of my family is from the south, so I picked it up from them, but growing up in California, ppl could make fun of me if that slips out! So yeah, nothing is perfect.
I love this site, and you all do such an amazing job of calling people out for terrible and ridiculous costuming (not to mention all the work this is for you guys on top of day jobs). Thanks for being who you are and for giving all the rest of us who love and appreciate this blog things to laugh about when we watch historical dramas.
Thank you for your wonderful blog. I have learn a lot of things here.
I’m a relative newbie to your site, but thank the Goddesses I found it! I get to laugh almost everyday and if I’m at work, sometimes my laughter scares my coworkers, so added bonus! Thank you for all your work you put into it. I have learned so much! And if someone can’t deal with a swearword now and then, they need to get off the fucking internet!
You can always disagree with something we’ve written. But anyone who’s saying we shouldn’t critique certain things or use certain words or talk about person or topic XYZ because it’s supposedly inappropriate or triggery or whatever will get shown the virtual door. This is our blog, & we get to call the shots about our content.
But disagree on a historical point or whether a show is worth watching? Sure, that’s nbd!