#Also it creates a really horrible “us vs them” mentality when you single out white people as the only “other” group of people

[these-detestable-hands]

Your first mistake was lumping all white people into one group. Your second mistake was lumping all people that are not white into one group. Your third mistake was assuming that only white people are racist. Your fourth mistake

[flying-elliska]

Skam France Season 6 Review

It’s that time, I guess. My feelings are, like many, mixed. I think I enjoyed the season more than most people here, but the ending was a massive let down. Overall it boils down to this : Skam France is great at moments and very bad at structure. A lot of my issues with the season is what is not in it. I saw so much potential that never quite materialized, and it left me frustrated. At the same time, Lola is a really cool character, her arc is really interesting, her relationship with her sister is one of the best things they’ve ever done, and the actors killed it. Loved La Mif, discovering other sides of Eliott, the urbex backgrounds, and Maya. A lot of fascinating character moments. This is definitely my second favorite season after s3 - at times I even thought it would equal it. Sadly, though, Skam France will remain a bit of a one hit wonder for me. Because they are so good at bringing up problems in a nuanced layering way - be it addiction, grief, eating disorders, internalized ableism, racist microagressions - but when it comes to resolving what they brought up, they default towards a ‘let’s all be nice to each other, hug or kiss, love saves the day yay !’ story. Which is, when you claim to deal with real world issues, simplistic, immature, and at times quite offensive. It works for s3, which is at its core a tale of self-discovery, self-acceptance and romance. But niceness doesn’t solve racism, and family problems aren’t solved with a hug, and addiction recovery doesn’t hinge on having someone to kiss, and the series came dangerously close to implying that at times. 

All in all, this is a show that often manages to be both brilliant and terrible at the same time. At least it’s not dull. 

Positives/Negatives/Meh breakdown :

Positives :

- Sisterly love : My favorite thing without a doubt is the relationship between Lola and Daphné. Flavie and Lula killed it. Almost all the clips that made me cry were the ones with the both of them in it. At the beginning their rivalry is so relatable to me : the responsible sibling who takes on too much burdens and is too controlling and parentified vs. the problem sibling who acts out to express the issues the rest of the family are repressing - i have been in both of those spots. you can see how they slowly realize that the gap between them didn’t need to be there, that it wasn’t their fault, that it was the result of their parent’s bullshit and even shittier circumstances. seeing them make little gestures to recognize each other’s pain, to nurture each other, to give each other support, but also to tell each other some unpleasant truths, was so incredibly powerful. Relationships between sisters can be just so...complex, and loving, and petty, and jealous, and supportive, and feral, and annoying, and understanding, and ugh, they made me feel all of that and more. I have a sister, and I have a relationship like that with her, and this season gave me some very important perspectives. Really, relationships between women aren’t explored enough, and this season really did this one thing excellently and if only for that, it deserves to be watched. That moment where Lola talks to Daphné about her self destructive tendencies...so important. I am so happy that Daphné was the one finding Lola in her tower of solitude, and the moment where she says ‘you pay too much attention to what other people think, Lola’ was the emotional turning point of the season for me, because it was Daphné recognizing Lola really cared behind her mask of coldness, but also that she was hurt by that and that she needed to love herself regardless of the love her parents didn’t give her ; and also that she heard Lola saying it to her and that it inspired her too, so there is this amazing reciprocity. It was so powerful, I’m still reeling from it. And it was a beautiful full circle from the beginning of the season. 

- Family of outsiders : the urbex gang was such a wonderful new group this season. It was bound to be tricky getting us to like this new generation, and I think they did a pretty good job. Even tho I wish we got to know them a bit more, they were all intriguing and interesting on their own, and the vibes of Lamif as a whole were just so fun and lovely. Loved the neuroatypical vibes I got from Sekou and Jo. Love that they introduced a trans guy character. Loved Maya as group mom. And seeing them warm up to Lola was really sweet. The social media of them hanging out was more or less the only good social media we got this season lmao. The urbex thing was a great symbol for Lola finding a home with the outcasts, a bit on the fringe of society, and the start of acceptance, of bringing her in from the cold. Maya and Lola’s relationship fit in that really nicely, especially the bits about them talking about their shared experiences of grief, and my favorite scenes with them is showing Lola that her scars can be beautiful and that her rough experiences are part of who she is. The way she didn’t take Lola’s bullshit was great, and even tho I think their relationship was rushed, overall they really fit well together. Love Maya’s character as a concept in general, this funky purple haired lesbian environmentalist with amazing sense of style, and I really hope we see her again in upcoming seasons. And finally, I also really liked Eliott and Lola’s friendship (except for the ending) - the fact that they understand this darkness that they share, but that Eliott has succeded in climbing over it, and so he can give Lola support, understanding, guidance. I loved that we got to hear a bit more of his perspective on mental illness, the good and the bad times, that we saw his passion for movies become more real. I loved the fact that they bonded over creative things and photography, too, and that she found a safe space in the video store. And even tho it wasn’t resolved properly, the scene where he comes to get her and punches Aymeric really made me cry. Also, BASILE. Best bro in law ever. Their scenes together were so homey and warm and sweet. They will have such a good relationship in time. Overall, I really like how central friendship was in this season, shown as so powerful and important. They could have done more with it but I love a lot of what we got. I am just a sucker for found family, man.

- Lola herself : I know she was a controversial character right from the start. She’s been called manipulative, selfish, out of control, toxic. And honestly at times...maybe she was a bit. I still love her. She is just so interesting to me. The lack of compassion towards her in the fandom was seriously depressing at times, and often felt like a symptom of something I’ve seen in a lot of different fandoms, ie the capacity to only tolerate moral ambiguity when it’s attached to attractive white male characters - and to only tolerate mental illness symptoms when they can be romanticized. In the end, she’s a struggling teen from a deeply dysfunctional family who’s had a very rough life, of course she’s not going to be well adjusted. All in all, I think she’s so brave, and she is a fighter. I adored her feral energies in the trailer. I also really liked her blunt honesty at times, even if it was sometimes hurtful and excessive. I think because I have the opposite tendency to be afraid to speak my mind, I really dig a character who isn’t afraid to speak the ugly truth. Even though, again, ‘the truth’ isn’t always cut and clear, and what Lola is often doing instead is listening to ‘depression voice’ who tells her to believe the worst in people. I find that fascinating, because in my experience, yes, depression comes with this terrible lucidity that makes you see through a lot of bullshit but at the same time, is distorting your perspective because of fear and shame, and kicking that, and disentangling your perception from that fatalism, is very complicated. I loved how genuine she was, how mature too sometimes through the pain, more mature than she should have been. It was rough watching her relapse, but I think the portrayal of addiction was pretty very well done overall, not romanticized and explained in a very coherent way. I wish the show had given her a bit more of a clearer view of her inner thoughts towards the end and let her apologize a bit more. And a clearer realisation that her parent’s lack of well expressed love didn’t doom her. But...yeah Following her really made me question my own - more hidden - self destructive impulses, linked to family shit, that pushes me to sabotage and isolate myself. Like Eliott said to her - it’s really a lifelong struggle. I think overall her arc was pretty satisfying, learning to step away from the edge, letting people in, seeing that she isn’t alone, accepting she deserves better and that her failures don’t doom her. That it is about getting up and trying again. Love her using her mother’s camera and wanting to get a phoenix tattoo, a perfect symbol for her. Also Flavie was amazing, she’s got a bright future ahead.

Negatives :

- No follow up to the assault storyline : The thing that I am, without any single doubt, most mad about, is the fact they didn’t bring up the sexual assault again. Along with Charles’ rape apologism, this creates a very dubious pattern of trivializing the issue ‘as long as it’s not real rape’. The fact that the morning after immediately turns to Elu drama is what sort of started my disconnect from the season, and the fact that they don’t bring it up afterwards even once made me angry. I think Lola, before going back to the hospital, should have told someone about the abuse she endured there, and should have told someone about Aymeric, even if only to acknowledge she wants to be done with that part of her life. Aymeric is like...Lola’s biggest villain, in a sense, he is a horrible predator but he also somehow represents her worst impulses, that part of herself that tells her she doesn’t deserve better, and I think that as a character, he was interesting, and he should have been adressed/exorcised better. If Lola was a real person, of course, she would probably have to deal with this in therapy, down the line, later, but as a story, never adressing this again left it unfinished. And this is really the kind of event you NEED catharsis and resolution for. Otherwise, it’s irresponsible.

- A generally overstuffed and disjointed structure : My biggest problems with this season are about what isn’t and what isn’t it. I liked most of the clips, I don’t have an issue with them going dark, strangely enough, but the way they were put together was just...messy. Like many people have said, too much stuff not properly adressed. Palm of most annoyingly useless subplot, the whole Tiff thing. Yes, it was cool comparing her clique to Lamifex and Lola realizing she wants nothing to do with those shallow fake bitches. Sekou hacking her account to replace it with pigeons, amazing. After that though, it should have been DONE, and in general, it should have taken a lot less time and attention. Comparing Tiff’s social media addiction to Lola’s issues felt like some trivializing bullshit. The whole thing was just so annoying. It would have been good if it had led to some discussion of social inequality but like...not this shit. Char, equally useless (although, cool actress, cool style). Another MASSIVE problem is the lack of follow through on big clips. A great thing about SKAM, usually, is that it shows you the aftermath of big moments - characters lying in bed, cuddling, talk to their friends, crying in the shower, etc. It allows the viewer to breathe and really get into the character’s perspective, to be comforted and process drama, and for the emotions to resonate better, to have space to develop richly. Here...we had Lola brush off her assault, we saw nothing after Daphné got her back from the tower thinking she could have killed herself, we learned that they had money problems and the father didn’t go to work and then that was never adressed again and the light was turned back on by magic (????), we saw Eliott go on a major bender and didn’t really see how he got better, etc. Big lack of introspective clips in the latter part of the season took me out of Lola’s head. It was all stressful and breathless, all intensity and no pause like one grating high pitch note instead of music, it felt oppressive, with poor contrast, and very badly paced. It made everything blur together and feel less relevant. The problem with that is it really takes you out of the story ; it’s hard to care when you know whatever is happening might not have a resolution, and it doesn’t put you in the shoes of the character. This was compounded by how mediocre the social media was, when it is usually used to bridge in the gaps. And then to finish : the structure was so uneven, especially in the second part of the season. Towards the middle we had some very short episodes with very underwhelming endings, and Vendredis that felt like non events, and there wasn’t a lot happening - and then, bam, ep 9, drama overload, almost like misery p*rn, and then a super rushed resolution in ep 10. Like they cared more about twists and giving the opposite of what was expected instead of solid coherent narrative and rhythm. The romantic back and forth felt repetitive as hell too. All in all, it made for a very unsatisfying live watching experience, pretty sure anyone who didn’t watch live would like it a lot more. 

- The last two episodes : Really, I could have overlooked all the problems with the season if they had given us a good ending, but...they really really didn’t. And contrasted with last season, where my problems were focused on the middle, for me the ending is really the worst part of this season. I didn’t dislike the controversial club clips, I liked having the insight into Eliott’s insecurities, but they should never have brought those up if they weren’t going to let him adress them properly. Having everything go to shit in Lola’s life at once felt like overkill - they really should have solved those problems earlier, and then dealt with a few ones properly, showed us Lola freaking out on her own, and taken out the bullshit at the high school. Thierry slapping her was also too much, he could just have said these clumsy things. She could have distanced herself from Maya instead of pushing her away again. Also, they really should have had this happen in episode 8 again, and given us a proper resolution. While the tower sequence was incredibly powerful, I pretty much liked nothing after that. It was so annoying that Eliott brushed off Lola’s apology because while he wasn’t wrong that he decided to get drunk himself, she still needed to apologize and actually state that she wanted to get better so she didn’t hurt her friends, so as a resolution it was very mediocre. Thierry recognizing they should have given Lola the choice to go the hospital was a step but really not enough. And the moments with Maya were cute sure but mostly cheesy and unearned. Same for the ending clip. Mostly it’s such an unsatisfying farewell to the old generation, and it really feels like they wanted us to force to move on - didn’t want to properly recognize the end of an era, gave us almost nothing about their BAC or their future plans, etc etc. Also, letting Charles talk and having Arthur and Alexia kiss again ? SO BAD. UGH. I will be forever disappointed they didn’t give us a Multi POV or at least sth better on social media. And not having Eliott’s POV or at least a real Elu conversation (pretty much all season...) so frustrating I will never not be bitter about that. So yeah. The season started so powerfully but went out with a whimper instead of a bang. That whole ‘romantic love solves everything!!!’ shtick...very undercooked tbh. 

Meh : 

- Mayla’s development : I wanted to stan them SO BAD. Like, wlw in skam (that doesn’t turn into a panphobic mess?) YES, all the way yes. Maya and Lola had great chemistry, great dynamic. I loved their first few clips, the kind of confrontational flirting, the boldness, it was like...damn girls ! we love a non useless lesbian ! But...somewhere along the way, their relationship really suffered from the wacky plot structure. They should have shown us more bonding before we got to the angsting (esp during first urbex night). Also, their first kiss was sweet but I hated the ‘you’re my addiction’ line and that kind of put a damper on it. I liked the scenes where they open up about difficult things, the love Maya showed to Lola’s scars, the dandelion symbolism was lovely, but it wasn’t balanced enough with other stuff, and I felt Maya was way too stoic at times. And I really, really didn’t like the ending, honestly. They kept a good balance all season showing Lola wasn’t relying entirely on romantic love, that her family and friends were also important - but saying ‘i’m okay as long as you’re here’ at the end...honestly that sounds unhealthy and codependent as fuck. I really wish they’d done a more subtle, taking it slow ending for them.

- The financial issues : Again a storyline with much potential that wasn’t dealt with properly. It’s really good that we got a main that wasn’t from an economically priviledged background. Especially it felt very relevant to Daphné’s storyline, with the shame she felt at her friends seeing her place, the pressure to make it work, tying into her ED, etc etc. But cutting off the power, the father not working going nowhere...it’s like the plotline meandered and then vanished into thin air. Instead of that, they could have given us a scene of Daphné freaking out over the bills like in OG w Vilde, keeping the focus on her for that plot because she’s the most affected ; and then in the end of the season the father taking them over from her and telling her he’s found another job and that those things shouldn’t be her responsibility. That would have been relevant, instead of just...a loose end.

- Family issues : The Lecomte family dynamic seemed fascinating to me at the start. The mom being this shadowy complicated figure. The inability of the father to deal with anything. Daphné being parentified, Lola becoming the symptom child. They could have done a lot with this, but in the end, it felt like it was brushed aside too easily by saying the mom sent letters so she wasn’t too bad and Thierry is making breakfast so he’s trying. Not enough. I wanted them to let Lola acknowledge she deserved better and that their parent’s crap wasn’t on her. That her mom should have looked for help and the other two shouldn’t have pretended everything was okay. In general, there is way too much pressure to overlook toxic parent behavior and I wish they’d been clearer about this. 

- Mental health portrayal : Some parts of it were really good. Showing Daphné’s ED, letting Eliott talk about his episodes and relapses, showing some of the dark sides of depression and addiction. They just needed to show more of the recovery, because that is often the representation that they lacked the most. I don’t blame them for showing the bad sides of the mental healhcare system (which is terribly outdated and dysfunctional in France, I’m speaking from experience) but they should have shown the good too. Like do they find recovery boring or something ? Because as a person w MI, that’s actually what I’m dying to see, and they’ve been a real letdown in that department. I also think they should have acknowledged that the Lecomte family has mental issues as a whole, that the mother should have gotten help, and the father probably needs it too (still think they should have gone to therapy as a group lol).

- Elu and Eliott’s development : Honestly, not a big fan of how they wrote Lucas in s5&s6, in a lot of clips he was the angry guy with a temper, I miss s4 Lucas who was so compassionate and showed real growth and emotional intelligence. Here it just felt like they were fitting his character to plot needs, and it’s so sad for a character who had such an amazing story development. Now, I loved the glimpses of domestic Elu we got, how Axel and Maxence really showed the intimacy that had grown between them, they really felt married with all the nonverbal conversations and touches, that was sweet. But it’s so annoying that they hinted at Lucas’s insecurities and Eliott’s lack of communications and just brushed it away with ‘oh they love each other they will be okay’ sure bitch but then show us how ? that’s the interesting stuff ? it really feels sometimes like the writer(s) didn’t like how strongly the fans focused on the romance when they wanted to be talking about MATURE dark stuff not that frilly fluffy romance shit *eyeroll* male writers who think they’re above that stuff is so annoying as is the conflating of dark and mature - anyway. Again I liked seeing Eliott in his element this season, he is really thriving, with his movie and the video store, and that made me very happy. I don’t think it’s unrealistic he didn’t make a lot of friends in uni - French university can be so isolating, there isn’t a campus or a vibrant social life like in the US, it’s a very common experience to feel lost and isolated for newbies and it was also my case - but ? Sofiane ? Idriss ??? They could have found a better excuse to implicate Lamifex in the movie making tbh, like Jo egging him on about her passion for directing or whatever, and Sofiane could have been there chilling with them it would have been so cool. I just wish Eliott would have had more of an arc like Daphné did. It wouldn’t have taken much, and since he is my favorite character, I will never not be disappointed at all the wasted potential. 

Yeah so in the end i think this was a very good story they didn’t entirely give themselves the right storytelling tools to tell. Like there is something in the way they prioritize certain moments over others that...I just find very frustrating and weird. So...flawed, but still very interesting overall.

[queensweasley]

Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of Grindelwald - Review

Okay so yeah, post got some likes so I’m doing it.

I am one of the lucky people who was able to see Crimes of Grindelwald already. It’s been released today here in France but since my cinema had a premiere yesterday night, I have been able to see it one day prior.

First of all, if you want PSA, you can find them here : [link]

So, let’s start with :

NON-SPOILER PART

Overall, I didn’t dislike the movie. I didn’t really like it either. I feel like there is too much information, too much plots at the same time, and in the end you don’t really care about any of them. The movie is a complete train wreck, tbh. Too many things happening and it’s all crashing together into some kinda alphabet soup where you can see the letters but can’t really form words.

The first scene is one of the best in my opinion, and yet also one of the worst. Nothing makes sense in it. You totally get what is going on, but you don’t understand how it could happen. It clearly summarize the movie, I’d say. It shows an action, done following a plan, but some element are just coming out of nowhere. This scene doesn’t look right at the beginning of Crimes of Grindelwald. It should have been the ending of Where to Find Them.

At that is, in my opinion, one of the movie’s biggest problem. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a good movie, but a bad introduction to a 5-movies-long saga. Most of the element that seem forced in COG could and SHOULD have been introduced in WTFT. Mostly characters, tbh. I’m mostly thinking Leta. Okay, technically she has been introduced back then, but I think we should have had more than just a photograph and a mention of being New’s ex. Tbh, I don’t even understand why she’s Newt’s ex but that might got too spoiler-y so we’ll talk about that later.

Other characters, in the contrary, are largely underused. They are clearly there to serve later in the movie saga, but in that case they have too much screen time and importance. I’m not only talking about then being too present in the movie, I’m talking about them being too present in the press tour, ads and everything. Part of the marketing of the movie has been done around them, all that for them not being a huge part of the movie. And I’m not talking Dumbledore here, well, not only Dumbledore at least.

Characters treatment, meanwhile, is one of the most inconsistent things. While some like Newt, Jacob, Grindelwald or to some extent Tina are faithful to what we saw in the first movie, others like Queenie, Credence or to so extent Tina seem kind of OOC. (Yes Tina is in both cases). I’m not saying how they are different, but while it didn’t displease me too much for Credence, it sure makes me want to start #justiceforqueenie. This leads to the relationships going from really great for most of them to a complete trainwreck in others and, in one case, abusive.

While I’m clearly saying mostly negative things, the movie isn’t all bad. As I’ve said, some characters are great, most jokes are great too and while some complain about the visual effects I wasn’t too choked by them. The music is discreet but immersive and that’s all I ask of a soundtrack tbh. It’s just mostly been through the WB effect. To quote Deadpool : “So dark and broody, are you sure you’re not part of the DCEU ?” It is a good story, just not rendered in a good way. You know, one of those story you like almost all elements but not how they’re treated and you just want to rewrite them yourself to fix it. That’s at least how I feel about it, I’m ready to kick J.K. out and write in her place.

Now this might be a bit confused but I don’t want to say too much. So if you don’t care about them, we can now enter into :

HEAVY SPOILER PART

They are, quite obviously, to be found under the cut. 

I have a lot to say about it so I’m going to organize them into categories. I might forget some things but hey, I’m no professional. So, let’s start.

Scamanders and Lestrange - I find the trio to have a really good alchemy. The brothers are not depicted as the old-as-time “the successful asshole vs the weirdo angel” trope. Theseus, although successful indeed, never use it to compare himself with Newt. I don’t even think he compared himself with Newt. He’s successful, wants to help his brother the best he can and fuck, he’s a hugger and it’s refreshing to see brothers hug. (I’m saying that as someone whose sister has never hugged her, so I might be totally partial here). The relationship Newt has with Leta is also pretty good. You can sense that there’s history and it’s clearly not a case of the girl now being a bitch. Problem is, I have no idea why they split up in the first place. They seem to still go along, they seem to still care, if not feel love, for the other… And in the contrary, I don’t see why Theseus and Leta are engaged. Outside of “we need to bring Leta into the story”. They seem to go along pretty well, and clearly they care about one another but I don’t sense love. And it’s got nothing to do with the actor’s chemistry. They do have chemistry during interviews and all. No, it’s clearly lazy plotting. I think things would have been better if Leta had been engaged to Newt from movie 1 and a friend (maybe colleague) of Theseus.

The Lestrange lineage - Now you will not make me say one single good thing about that crap. The movie has indeed some good things but this is not one. First of all, it’s a mess. We don’t care about it for most of the movie and the moment we start caring, we learn that it’s not even really related to our story. Also, it’s quite the horrible story and it’s not treated in a good way at all. It’s also highly problematic, like a white man casting imperius to rape a black woman clearly sends some messages, but it’s not even used. There is no moral to this story. Lestrange is not depicted as bad because he raped the woman, he’s seen as bad because he never loved anyone besides Corvus, made Leta hate herself because she’s born of a rape and inspired revenge in the family of the woman he raped. And not only is there no moral to it, but it’s just a plot device. It’s just here to grow some artificial suspense as to the origin of Credence and only to reveal that it’s not even the real origin of Credence. And you know how it could have been avoided ? By saying that Youssouf is not the half-brother but the cousin of Leta. Leta is the daughter of arranged marriage, as is the custom with pureblood, and her father remarried to have Corvus. Now you can present him as being an asshole for not loving his wives and daughter. And Youssouf is not here for revenge but because he thinks he’s found his cousin’s brother and want to reunite them.  Here. How to create your fake suspense without adding rape and racism.

Nagini the maledictus - She could have been removed from the movie. Really, she’s useless so far and I’m hoping she’ll have more use later. She’s got too much screen time and I’m sure she had to be connected to Credence somehow but then they should have been more warm to one another because so far all she’s done is stand silently behind him.

Queenie and the treatment of mental health - I love Queenie. She’s been my favorite for along time in the first movie, after a few rewatching got her replaced by her sister. She’s still a character I loved a lot and I was always defending her when a friend who doesn’t like her at all was talking bad about her. Now… Well… I get that she’s not mentally alright. And I suppose that someone like me who doesn’t have any mental health issue, I’m not the best judge of that. I actually find very interesting that she suffers from her legilimency, and the fact that it gives her panic attack, all alone in this city she doesn’t know, hearing thought she can’t even understand (French people think in French after all, at least most of us do) is a really interesting thing that deserves to be treated better.What I struggle with is how abusive they made her relationship with Jacob, and the conclusion that is given of her mental state. Queenie is a legiliment more powerful than most others, able to read thoughts without much efforts, and who never revealed her nature to any ministry member because she didn’t want to be used like a tool, an object. Yet she manipulate Jacob like a toy, taking his consent away as a mean to finally get engaged. She’ basically doing to him what the first movie established she didn’t want done to her. And when it’s revealed that she’s just struggling with her identity, her difference,there is only one conclusion. “You’re mad.” Or “You’re crazy” idk I saw the movie with french dub. At first it’s just a thought. Jacob has been manipulated by the woman he loves, he’s confused. And he regrets it immediately. But by the end of the movie, Queenie who’s been suffering, who seem to have found a solution, hears it again and this time it’s not a lost thought. It’s an affirmation. “You’re mad.” That’s all she’s gonna get from the people she counted on. Between a man who condamns her mental health and a man who offers to help, I can understand she choose the latter. But this still doesn’t make sense.If she’s such a powerful mindreader she should have known that Grindelwald is manipulating her. You know what I think ? I think Jacob should have turned.

The reference to WWII - One of the things I loved was that mention. Grindelwald show the future and it’s not a great one. Jacob, who has been in the first war, is shook to see that. It was strong. In France (and maybe elsewhere I don’t know), WWI has a nickname. “La der des der”. Basically, the last of the last (war). Seeing the violence of the war, the soldier who fought in it believed it to be the war who would put an end to all the wars. Never could another be worst, be more violent. History proved that it wasn’t the case. But at the time, they delieved it to the core. Jacob believes it to the core. And then, this man who has fought, this man who is of polish origin (if not a polish immigrant, i’m not sure if it’s been specified), sees the war, the violence, the people in line in a concentration camp. And tbh, I think this might have been a turning point for him. He’s seen what the human race has done worst, and then he sees that it’s not even the worst, and that the worst is to come. Many would just want to stop that, that’s what Grindelwald is proposing. While him not turning is a good thing, the contrary would have been interesting as fuck.

Paris yes, but not in France - Okay so this is totally coming from me being a French girl. I didn’t see Paris, I didn’t see France, in that movie. I saw it with French dubbing so idk if there was some french dialogue but if there was that’s the only clue we have that we’re in France. We could have been in another country, I wouldn’t have had a clue. I don’t see what the point was. Why settle the plot in Paris, exactly ? There was to use of France’s culture, history or anything. Nothing justified being in Paris. I mean sure the ministry was pretty. But yeah that’s all. You know, I think about it because I’ve just rambled about WWI and II but it would have been a nice thing.If Jacob was to be tempted by his PTSD, one thing that could have been nice to show are the “gueules cassées”. Gueules cassées literally means “broken faces”. It designates the soldiers that survived WWI but came back with huge disabilities and/or deformities. The movietakes place in 1927. Before 1930, disabled people struggled more than ever to find a job, most couldn’t find any at all. THIS is a huge part of French history and THIS goes in accordance with the message of Grindelwald that muggles are dangerous, destructives.

Grindelwald himself - He was… not that bad, actually. Maybe I was expecting too much bad things from him. Depp isn’t that terrible, I found that lately he’d been under-acting ? Don’t know if that makes sense. But he seemed to be at least invested. His plan wasn’t that great though, overly complicated for nothing and all. But overall, while not a great villain, not a bad one. I wish he was more manipulative, because right now it seems just saying “Hi” makes people join him like wtf. Also… “I hate Paris”. Yes dear, like every french people, get over it. :)

The Strange Case of Aurelius Dumbledore - Okay, two possibilities. One, Grindelwald is lying to Credence about his real identity, in order to give him a target. He’s just making him a weapon against Albus. Two, Grindelwald is telling the truth and Credence is actually a long lost Dumbledore brother. This would make no sense. Dumbledore is, at least 18 years older than Credence is. The younger Dumbledore is supposed to be Ariana, and she is only 5 years younger than Albus. (She was 14 when her mother died and Albus had just left Hogwarts so 17). It’s written black on white in the book that she was attacked when she was six years old. Their father was imprisoned the same year. Three years before Credence was born, his alleged father was imprisoned for life in Azkaban. Somehow, I doubt there are conjugal visits. This is totally messing the timeline up tbh. I really hope Grindelwald is actually lying.

So… I might have forgotten a few things. Don’t hesitate to message me if you want to discuss about these things or some I might have forgotten.

[rnelodyy]

I feel like Belos as a character really gets to the core of bigotry, which is that, no matter how many logical arguments bigots try to make, no matter how much they care about facts and logic and the truth, fundamentally, bigotry is a way of thinking that is rooted in pure emotion, using the language of facts to disguise that.

He says that, without a doubt, witches are evil, barbaric creatures. The Boiling Isles is a place that corrupts and destroys any human that enters it. Humanity is in imminent danger, and the only way to save it is to kill every single witch and demon, adult or child, in one fell swoop, even if that takes him CENTURIES to accomplish.

Meanwhile, all around him is the evidence that that isn't true. That witches are just people, and people are largely kind. That the Boiling Isles is just a place, and the people who end up in it get to decide what they make of it. That witches are mostly curious or indifferent about humans unless he goes out of his way to provoke them, and that none of them have a desire to invade the human realm.

But that's not what he sees, because it's not what he CHOOSES to see. He only sees the things that align with what he already believes. When Lilith punches him in the face and breaks his nose, he's seething and malding about horrible sorcerers all the way back to his shitty little cave, ignoring the fact that, if you and your 14 year-old niece were tricked into being cannon fodder for a massive monster, and the guy that tricked you starts offering you info provided you be his cannon fodder AGAIN, breaking his nose is actually a pretty fuckgin tame response.

And all that shit about protecting humans is just a flimsy justification for his hatred of witches. The only person that has seriously harmed the humans that ended up on the BI has been Philip himself. This dude saw that Caleb happily married a witch, built a life for himself on the Boiling Isles, and got SO fucking pissed that he grabbed a knife and stabbed his own brother to death. This dude tried to petrify Luz when she pointed out his own hypocrisy, and was SMILING as he watched her cry and beg for her life as she slowly turned to stone.

TW for real life bigotry (racism, anti-LGBT+ sentiments) between the brackets:

(For this same reason, extreme racists have the concept of "race traitors", mostly meaning white people in interracial marriages, but also referring to white people who are just sympathetic towards the issues POC face. For this same reason, extreme homo- and transphobes are obsessed with their gender expression, shunning anything that makes them look "gay" or spending hours studying photos of celebrities to see which one of them is secretly trans.)

Philip doesn't just want all witches to die, he wants humans to see things his way, and if they don't, they may as well be witches themselves. It's the ultimate us VS them mentality, it's fascist thinking applied to a fantasy setting.

He's a hypocrite in every way possible, but pointing that out just makes him more angry and violent. He claims to be humanity's savior, and yet he's a genocidal maniac, so warped by 400 years of eating Palismen that he's basically just a pile of sludge pulled into a vaguely human shape by black magic and willpower. He claims to care about his family, but was so enraged at his brother finding happiness with witches that he not only murdered him, but created DOZENS of clones of him in an attempt to make a version of Caleb that would just... do whatever Philip wanted him to do, without questioning or disobeying, usually through extreme physical, emotional and psychological abuse.

But the thing is, pointing out this hypocrisy, or the fact that he's wrong about witches, or the fact that genocide is Not Cool Bro, doesn't help, because his beliefs aren't logical. It's like the old saying goes, you can't logic someone out of a belief they didn't logic themselves into. And by now, 400 years, a fratricide and approx. 95 Grimwalkers deep into the sunk cost fallacy, getting him to give up is an impossible task.

The thing that really strikes me about Belos is the fact that his motivation can't even really be called selfish. It's just straight up cruel.

Like when a character does something selfish, even if it's horrible, you can see where they're coming from. They have something to gain by taking out this action.

Belos, on the other hand, wants to kill all witches and demons and then leave the Boiling Isles all together. He's going back to the human realm, he wouldn't see any more witches or demons regardless of if they're dead or alive.

In the finale he does give some indication that he wants glory but it's only touched on, almost as an afterthought. He can't even justify that he's really keeping humans safe from witches because the two worlds don't really interact. He definitely would have realised that the "witches" he used to persecute before he came to the Boiling Isles weren't actually real.

Even more he litterally plans to take witches into the human realm so all pretences of protection cam kind of be scrapped there because he's basically taking the "threat" right to where they could harm humans.

Belos is such a horrible villain because it's obvious he doesn't really believe any "justifiable" (there's no justification but, ya know) excuse to eradicate magic, he just decided that magic users don't deserve to live and went from there. It means there's no reasoning with him and that's what makes him so scary.

[howaminotinthestrokesyet]

The Beatles/Beach Boys/Led Zeppelin: Random Quarantine Thoughts

The Beatles

1. The Beatles Vs. The Rolling Stones... In another article, I spoke about the fact that we’re comparing these two bands as far as legacy is like apples and oranges. The Beatles were together for nine years, while the Rolling Stones have been together for 50 years. The Rolling Stones have released many more albums than the Beatles, which means they had many more opportunities to throw stuff at the wall to see what sticks. The other part of it is the fact that the Rolling Stones in the 1960’s were always chasing the Beatles creatively. I am reminded of when the Stones had a party to celebrate the release of Beggars Banquet, which was the appearance of the Jagger-Richards Collaboration. The Beatles were there and they played the White Album, which had not been released yet. Everyone was blown away by that album, instead of Beggars Banquet.

2. John Lennon Vs. Paul McCartney... An analogy I always make when discussing the dynamic between Paul McCartney and John Lennon is the former was VH1, while the latter was MTV. Now, please note I’m talking about MTV in its early days when the channel actually played music. McCartney symbolized moving towards the mainstream. His music, and for the most part his life, illustrated that fact. In contrast, Lennon was much more rock ‘n’ roll, where he liked to take chances, stir things up, and gradually began to move away from that middle road of popularity.

3. No Deep Cuts... I was thinking that bands are always referring to concerts, where they played deep cuts, but with the Beatles that might be a bit difficult. Their entire catalog has been lionized, analyzed, and covered via pop culture in every way with everything. They are one of the few bands that simply does not have hardly any deep cuts at all. Now, granted there are songs that people do not know, mostly from the early days, but those songs are few and far between.

4. Brian Epstein Was Actually The Fifth Beatle... People are always talking about who was the fifth Beatle. My answer would be the late manager, Brian Epstein, who passed away in 1967. The reason being was that he literally handled everything on the business side, up to that point. The band had absolutely no idea about much of anything on that side of things. After his death, the Beatles decided to start Apple and handle those things themselves, which created a division within the band. Paul started to take the lead on many things causing a rift with the other members. The other aspect to this, which contributed to the failure of Apple was that as time passed their decisions sometimes did not make a lot of sense or they failed to follow through.

5. Yoko Ono Did Not Break Up The Beatles But She Did Not Help... I know you have heard the age old argument that Yoko Ono broke up the Beatles. I do not buy that argument. Yet, her presence in Lennon’s life merely sped up the breakup. The growing rift between Lennon and McCartney over music, celebrity, politics, drugs, and everything else under the sun was happening before she came along. Now, my issue with Ono was that Lennon put her on the same level creatively as McCartney and the others. This is ridiculous to even think about actually. How did an abstract, experimental artist like her earn the ability to influence one of the greatest songwriters ever so much, but she did. Perhaps, he was simply looking for an outlet to reinforce his leanings towards the fringes of culture at that time.

The Beach Boys

1. One Beach Boy You Love to Hate... I am not going to mince words when talking about Mike Love. The dude is a straight up asshole when you get right down to it. As time has passed, his ego has taken over in many fruitless attempts to change the narrative. I do sympathize with him struggling as the lead singer, while Brian Wilson received all the credit as the band’s resident genius. He simply is going about it the wrong way. Now, in interviews and that sorry excuse for an autobiography he wrote, all of it sounds like very sour grapes. One must not forget as well that he was always this way. The reason Smile was never finished among other things was because he fought hard to continue doing surf songs. He argued that Wilson’s album was silly and would never sell.

2. One Beach Boy That Actually Surfed... One of the things I find funny about the Beach Boys, who did all these songs about surfing emerged in that drummer Dennis Wilson was the only one who actually knew how to surf. The other band members were pretty much borderline dorks when they started the band in high school. All of those songs about catching waves, chasing girls, and having fun were all about how Dennis Wilson lived his life.

3. One Beach Boy You Didn’t Know... Carl Wilson has always struck me as the one member of the band that people really do not know that much about at all. Fans know him as the deep voice of “Barbara Ann” and other songs, but not much else. This is why I was fascinated about his death when I learned that he was the glue that held the band together for a long time. Mike Love did not dare declare any sort of war against Brian Wilson until Carl passed away.

4. One Beach Boy Who Was Not Made For Rock and Roll... No single person in rock ‘n’ roll history has had as many triumphs and as much sadness in the course of one career. He is probably the greatest songwriter in the history of modern pop music, but he suffered endlessly for his art. From a childhood filled with abuse from his father to drug addiction and mental issues. On top of all that was the monumental pressure to use his musical gift for others again and again. Wilson was and still is a fragile soul, who seemed in no way prepared for the cruelty of the music business. The worst part of it, as a fan, was the power struggle within the Beach Boys. You had Mike Love, who contributed very little creatively, but always stifling his artistic vision again and again. I just wonder how much great music we missed out on because of him.

5. And Then There’s Murray... Finally, you had his father, Murray. This is always a catch 22 as you discuss his influence on the legacy of the Beach Boys. For one, he was a horrible person. He abused his sons physically, verbally, financially, and emotionally. Yet, the man was a musician, who encouraged his sons in that way. This is the one connection to his father that Brian Wilson can never step away from. Would Brian Wilson have been any different if his father had not been a musician?

Led Zeppelin

1. A Dressed Up Blues Band... Led Zeppelin was essentially a hard blues band for most of their early albums. They took old blues songs that were well known, then rearranged them into psychedelic rock songs. The band took these traditional blues classics and pretty much remixed it into late 60s hard rock blues on steroids. This would have been fine, if they had not tried to take credit for the songs as being completely original. Critics saw right through it, which emerged as probably why the band was immediately looked down upon from music writers. One of the interesting things about their decision to use blues songs was Jimmy Page did not think he had the time to write new original songs before a tour.

2. Robert Plant What If’s... One of the biggest what if’s of Zepplin has always been will Robert Plant ever agree to a tour. What if he had not offered so much resistance since the 1980s for any kind of reunion? For years, Plant never wanted to reunite, with the only exception being a duet with Jimmy Page, but not John Paul Jones. They did eventually reunite for one show in celebration of the founder of Atlantic records. If there was to be any hope of reunion, it should have happened then. Plant finally relented eventually, but by that time, John Paul Jones was working on an opera at the time. I believe it is time to face the blues music that this is never going to happen.

3. The Songwriting and Musicianship of John Paul Jones Saved the Band... One of the things that a lot of fans may not realize how important John Paul Jones was to the overall success of the band. He played multiple instruments including bass guitar keyboards, mellotron, and many others. For this reason, the band never needed to hire any musicians to play on stage with them because Jones would switch to whatever instrument was needed at the time. He was also a top-notch composer and arranger of music. His signature is all over songs like “All My Love,” “Trampled Underfoot,” “Kashmir,” “In the Light,” “Fool in the Rain,” and many more. Beginning with Physical Graffiti in the albums that followed, Jones was able to substantially layer the band’s sound, which resonates with music lovers still today.

4. I Told You Black Magic... Jimmy Page in the 1970’s was a big fan of the occultist Alastair Crowley. This fandom even led him to buy Crowley‘s former house in 1972. Page thought it would be a cool place to possibly write some music and give him inspiration as well. He never really spent any time there. Page hired a gentleman to manage the house for him, which he did and eventually raised his family there. Although, the manager did report some very strange occurrences at the house, which was always rumored to be cursed by Crowley. The guitarist’s decision to even purchase the house is probably a really good illustration on why you should not use heroin.

5. Led Zeppelin Was Not Heavy Metal...An ongoing argument for a long time has always been whether or not Led Zeppelin invented heavy metal. I am here to tell you that they did not do so, but they heavily influenced it. Black Sabbath was the first heavy metal band, but for a long time they distanced themselves from that label. Led Zeppelin was more of a hard rock band or a hard rock blues band, who dabbled in other genres including folk and reggae. Not only was their music a bit softer in places, but the themes were much more positive when compared with heavy metal. Sabbath ushered in themes of darkness, evil, the devil, and for the most part riffs that were fast and loud always. Yet, in later years, the distinction between heavy metal, metal, and hard rock was blurred again and again making it difficult to understand the differences.

[gamerszone2019-blog]

Modern Warfare Dev Downplays White Phosphorus Controversy, Says Multiplayer Is About The Fun

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/modern-warfare-dev-downplays-white-phosphorus-controversy-says-multiplayer-is-about-the-fun/

Modern Warfare Dev Downplays White Phosphorus Controversy, Says Multiplayer Is About The Fun

Infinity Ward released a heap of new details about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare‘s multiplayer mode this week, both on a livestream and to journalists at a hands-on press event in Los Angeles. Those details included some of the game’s new Killstreak rewards, which struck up controversy in the days before the announcement when Infinity Ward revealed that white phosphorus is one of the weapons players will have access to in multiplayer.

In the real world, white phosphorus is a chemical weapon that has horrific power. The chemical ignites when it interacts with oxygen, creating a thick white smokescreen that can obscure troop movements and disorient soldiers on the battlefield. But white phosphorus also burns extremely hot, making the chemical very dangerous. It can melt skin and burn through muscle and even bone; it also is capable of reigniting days or weeks after its use.

Infinity Ward saw criticism for choosing to allow players to use white phosphorus against each other in the game. The inclusion of the weapon also seems at odds with Infinity Ward’s stated goals for its single-player campaign. The studio has said it means for Modern Warfare’s narrative to be gritty and realistic, exploring morality and gray areas soldiers have to navigate when balancing completing their missions and doing the right thing.

Call of Duty games of the past have included weapons in multiplayer that are horrific in the real world, including flame throwers, napalm, and even nuclear weapons. Art director Joel Emslie pointed out during an interview with GameSpot that Modern Warfare’s multiplayer trailer ended with a nuclear detonation. Nuclear bombs have been Killstreak rewards in past Call of Duty games.

“Ultimately, I think it’s a realistic game,” Emslie said. “It’s mature-rated and, you know, you saw a nuclear bomb go off at the end of the trailer.”

As far as the disconnect between what the narrative is trying to say about war and the way multiplayer portrays it, Emslie said the two modes are trying to accomplish different things.

“I think that, in the end, the narrative is telling a story, a serious story, and it does things in a way, to make things–it’s trying to get a dramatic reaction out of the player, and making you feel things,” Emslie said.

“We want people to be thoughtful about what they’re playing,” audio director Stephen Miller added.

“In the narrative experience, you’re using this landscape and this universe to make people care about these characters,” Emslie continued. “And then when you’re in the multiplayer space, you’re trying to get them, using the same things in the same universe, to care more about the fun that they’re having. It’s almost like a mental chess game, where you’re solving puzzles with mechanics and doing these things. And the characters that are in there, it’s more about representing you in this play-space.

“…It’s almost like having two different actors in the same film,” he said. “You might have a really dramatic, deep, disturbed character with a horrible past and all this trauma. And then over here, you’ve got another character that’s devil may care, whatever. But I look at it that way. I almost look at the game as, it’s three very different characters and actors in the same film, in the same play.”

As NPR reports, the US military has used white phosphorus in Iraq during the war there and in fighting the Islamic State. The substance isn’t banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, as long as it’s used to create smokescreens and not as a weapon itself. Human rights organizations have pushed the US and others to stop using the chemical weapon, however, because of the risk to civilians, especially in urban settings.

We saw white phosphorus in use in Modern Warfare during our hands-on session. It blankets the battlefield in white smoke, which does a small amount of damage to enemy players, renders their screens in black-and-white, and disorients them as they go cough through it. We didn’t encounter any canisters, which apparently will “burn any that wander too close,” according to Infinity Ward’s description of the Killstreak reward. You can see white phosphorus used in our gameplay capture of a 20-vs.-20 Modern Warfare match.

Source : Gamesport