#I love the show so far but certain things are not hitting as comedic relief as much as the show thinks

[lilyminer]

Just started watching Evangelion. When are these children just going to be treated normally for 3 seconds?

[catchester]

Guardians of the Galaxy, Ragnarok, and Classic Loki

I was discussing Classic Loki's costume with someone online and I admit, in the small teaser, I was really disheartened.

Yes, it was a faithful copy of a classic Loki costume, but comic book costumes are ridiculous, especially older ones. And if that wasn't bad enough, his pants looked like a nappy.

I'd been mostly impressed with the mixture of drama and comedy but this outfit was just a step too far for me. I was not confident in where the series was going.

Then in the next episode, they took this walking visual joke and gave him not only a full, but a fulfilling character arc.

I admit, Classic Loki is my second favourite variant, just pipped to the post by alligator Loki.

And isn't that weird? Alligator Loki is objectively more ridiculous, not in his costume but in his whole character. He's a freaking reptile FFS! But I love him.

And that reminded me of a discussion I'd had with a Ragnarok fan who would hear no wrong said about her movie. The points i brought up with her had nothing to do with Loki, I chose the slavery

It's on Sakar

Valkyrie is a slave trader selling people into certain death because no one wins forever, but somehow a hero,

And that Odin build Asgard using slave labour.

And there's the colonialism, related to the third point.

Both of these issues went totally unaddressed in a movie that didn't even need them. They could have written it a different way and still had a good movie.

I mentioned how T'Challa went into the afterlife to berate his father and ancestors for their wrongs and promise to correct their mistakes, while Thor went to his colonising, slaver father and... asks for advice? Really? That's like showing Thor asking Robert E Lee for advice.

She of course, argued that they were making entertainment, not the colour purple or 12 years a slave. Of course that's a straw man argument, but I reminded her that Black Panther had plenty of humour, and GotG literally sends itself up all the time, and even has a goddamn dance off with the villain, yet it still made me care enough to cry about the death of a tree!

Ragnarok had me wondering why Thor tortured his brother, do heroes do that now? Thor isn't even an anti-hero, he's just straight up hero. That scene just left me cold, it wasn't funny and because it was played for laughs, I didn't empathise with Loki. I mean, he just looks constipated.

You all know how much I love Loki, I've written enough stories about him, after all, but Ragnarok Loki is just meh. I care that he was being tortured from an intellectual perspective, because it feels wrong for the hero to do that, and his betrayal of Thor cam out of left field, but I don't feel sympathy for him. I can't relate to him, I feel neither love nor hate for him, I'm just indifferent (to all the characters actually).

The only thing that rouses any emotion in me is Taika and the rage his mishandling of important issues and dismissal existing character arcs brings out in me.

Contrast this torture scene with GotG, which had me sympathising with Nebula while she was being tortured because, sure she's a bad guy, but she's also a well rounded character and her torture wasn't being played for laughs. We know she's been tortured, in one way or another, her whole life. Yes, she's bad, but I can relate to her because I understand her.

Then this Taika fan said something that was more telling than she knew, and was actually 100% correct. Taika thinks comic books are ridiculous, and he's out here making a Road Runner movie.

And it suddenly hit me, she was right.

Everything in Ragnarok is treated the same way an anvil falling on Wile.E.Coyote's head is treated. There are no consequences. There are no lessons learned. There are no character arcs. At the end of the Road Runner series neither the roadrunner or the coyote had changed in any way. They were 2 dimensional, both literally and figuratively.

Unfortunately for her argument, 30 years ago we had what is still arguably the best cartoon Batman series ever, Batman the animated series. It took it's two dimensional animated characters and gave them three dimensional personalities. 30 years later it's still hailed as brilliant.

And I think that's why Classic Loki and GotG can take utterly ridiculous characters (let's face it, all superheroes are ridiculous to some extent) but while some even acknowledge how silly their comic book heroes are, they actually take the characters, the story, and the issues raised seriously.

Yes, Classic Loki looks like a joke, but he's never viewed as one from the crew's perspective.

Alligator Loki is even more preposterous! Who even made his horns, and who puts them on for him? But while the show acknowledges how silly he is with our Loki's questioning, he's a Loki and everyone treats him as a Loki. Yes, he injects some comic relief, but the laughter is never at his expense. He's even shown to be able to hold his own in a fight.

Rocket is a talking raccoon, but he's never laughed at. In fact he's even pitied once you learn what happened to make him that way. He's ridiculous, but he's not a joke. And yes, he makes jokes about how ridiculous they all are (bunch of jackasses standing in a circle) but while a comedic character, the joke is not on him. He's a fully formed, well rounded character. We care about him.

Yes, Star Lord is an idiot at times too, but his heart is in the right place and he wants to do the right thing. So you think he's gone mad when he has a dance off with the villain, but you quickly realise he's being an idiot for a very good reason and is playing to his strengths (and using idiocy as a strength is clever). I think we also understand, because he's a fully formed character, than his humour is a defence mechanism. He plays the fool because that's the niche he's carved for himself to help him cope, but that doesn't mean he is a fool.

Ragnarok wanted to be GotG, but Taiks forgot the part about while it's ridiculous and fanciful, the characters aren't a joke.

To Taika, if it doesn't get a laugh, it's not important. The few serious or touching moments we get are as a result of the MCU bigwigs forcing changes in reshoots, or forcing Taika to stick to the script.

There are no character arcs. You could argue that Loki goes from villain to hero or anti-hero, but he's already been through that journey in Dark World. Why did he regress? Who cares, it's not funny, he's just a bad guy again, forget about the plot holes and just laugh at the guy being killed smelling like toast!

Thor turning away from his father's teachings, like T'Challa did, would have been a wonderful character arc. Seeing his dad, realising his dad was wrong that and he needs to do better, and calling on his own inner strength to protect his people. That would have been a fulfilling arc. Instead he still needs advice from his colonising, slaver father. And this is actually one of the few scenes that wasn't played for laughs. It had so much potential, yet Taika just didn't care enough to reach for it.

Ragnarok is a road runner movie where our heroes toss a series of ACME anvils and dynamite at each other and the bad guys, but like the RR cartoon, there are no consequences. Just like Wile.E, they get straight back up again and lob another anvil at someone.

Hulk has been murdering innocent slaves for quite a while now, but he doesn't care. You'd think Bruce Banner might care about what his alter ego has been up to but no, this good, gentle, introspective, intelligent and caring man doesn't give one single fuck, because it's ACME Hulk and murdering innocent slaves has as many consequences as crushing them with an ACME anvil.

And I think that's the difference. Yes, your characters can be utterly ridiculous, but the crew must take them seriously and make them fully rounded characters who face consequences. Consequences are how we learn and grow.

And if they don't take the movie or characters seriously, you end up with a 2 dimensional story that no one cares about, because you haven't given them a reason to.

I don't care why Wile.E is trying to kill RR. I don't care what his motivation is. I don't care when he gets squashed or blown up, or falls off a cliff, because he's not a character, he's a caricature.

Ragnarok is just a collection of caricatures.

[ofmermaidstories]

Spoilers for the latest chapter of Something!

I'm gonna go ahead and apologize now because this is long; please feel free to ignore my wordy ass, I just have a lot of feelings about a certain someone that showed up in the new chapter lol.

I am still trying to get my shit together enough to write a proper review, but I did want to come yell at you for making the grape boy somewhat likeable, like...

Firstly, how??? Secondly, why?????!?!

Lmao, in all seriousness tho, it's nice to see him have a personality that isn't just "Mmmm, tits" *drools* I like to think that everyone in the series grows up and (mostly) out of the worst of their habits, and while Mineta is still a bit of a lecher here he isn't nearly as offensive/creepy as he comes off in show. In fact he's actually sympathetic in a lot way. The bit about seeing his first dead body before "getting laid" hit different like... He tries to play it off like a joke, but dude has to have just as much PTSD as the rest of them, maybe even more given that he wasn't able to fight back in the same way as someone like Bkg or Deku would be able to with their super powerful offensive quirks. They were all just kids, but they had to face hell full on from jump, and let me stop before I get too in my feelings lol.

In a lot of ways, he reminds of you the boys from school — crude. Taking for granted the safety from being in a pack, unchallenged. Leering at posters, saying off-colour things because no one corrects them.

That's exactly the way I view him, just a crude little thing that refuses to be put in his place for long lol. Still, with his being a hero I would hope that he keeps a cap on it while he's on the job--in fact I'm sure he does; if he didn't I'm sure that Aizawa would've yanked his licence by now, the likes of Deku and Kiri wouldn't continue to associate with him, and that's saying nothing of the shit that would get posted to social mead and such. I feel like the only reason he says what he says to the Reader is b/c she's a little gremlin herself and he knows he's got a bit more leeway, yanno?

The little hangout session that they had at the end of the chapter was weirdly heartwarming?? I want a friend(???) that I can be a surly little shit with and draw on and that will call my bf that's not really my bf but should be my bf because he's (that is Mineta) got more emotional intelligence than me lmao. Never thought I'd see the day when the grape would make for such an excellent wingman--tho I gotta wonder what that text he sent to Deku said. Probably something along the lines of "come get yo girl, she must be bored/lonely af because she asked to hang out with me" followed by "are you ever gonna close the deal or not? or have you already hit it??? >:)" just to give the guy an extra push (or maybe he's got a better sense of self-preservation than what I give him credit for, idk lmfaooo...)

Okay, this is WAY too long, I just had to get it out of my system lol. I loved the new chapter lots and I cannot wait to see how things play out in the next one!!

LOL, oh Puck, i adore you sdlkfjsdlkfjsdlkfj

me being a shit-stirrer/asking myself questions i don’t have answers for under the cut

Cat asked me this question earlier today, actually — why Mineta. And honestly? Part of it is the challenge he represents — like, how do you write him into a fic and mature him up so that he’s at the very least, tolerable, but also keep the backbone of his character (which is being a little degenerate). Like, is it possible? One of the most popular tags on ao3 for mineta minoru is something along the lines of “mineta minoru is replaced with shinsou hitoshi” LOL so…….. why didn’t I just use Shinsou? Or Aoyama or Iida, as Cat suggested? And beyond the part of me that delights in giving myself perceived challenges, there were two stark reasons that stuck out to me, when i was first mulling over his inclusion.

1) the fact that he can draw. it’s literally as simple as that. ever since the BNHA exhibition opened up in Japan and it was revealed that there was a scene in there with a class blackboard and the kids having their little drawing competition — and that Mineta was objectively the most skilled — i was like, “i have to include that”. LOL. it’s like you say, Puck, our Reader is a little gremlin herself — i thought if I was going to write a Reader that could handle interacting with him (ie, be in a position to pay him out) it was going to be this one. I think being in the manga industry and starting out on this journey of creating and drawing a Shonen manga sort of put Reader in this unique position of… being in what seems like a boys’ club? So she’d be used to the male gaze within her field. I follow Horikoshi’s assistant (former assistant?) on twitter and let me tell you, that man is not shy about the things that he likes to draw LOL.

the 2) thing was the philosophy i’ve sort of accidentally given myself LOL and that’s the fact that — as a Bakugou stan, if i’m giving grace to a character who was a literal violent bully then………. i can use my magic powers and hand it around to the other characters, too, LOL. and like, i would argue that with Bakugou it’s different, like we’re currently seeing in the manga how he has grown and learnt and is actively changing, which is the key to any kind of redemption. do i think Mineta will ever undergo that in cannon? absolutely not lmao, i see him as being being Hori’s idea of comedic relief, he’s always going to be a horrible little degen. but i want it for him…… if only to justify why the boys of Class-A collectively ignore his bullshit, for the most part? Like, none of them actively call him out on it?? i think of the time he tried to climb the wall to spy on the girls in the onsen — and how it was literally only Iida scolding him and how it took a child to stop him. Or the one when he found the stupid hole into the girl’s changing room and while the boys all looked grossed out….. Jirou’s the one that point an end to that?????? I saw a TikTok (derogatory) suggesting how like, none of the girls of Class-A would trust Aizawa, as adults, because he didn’t do anything to put an end to Mineta’s bullshit, and it was a devastating suggesting. None of us want to believe that our favourites would be passively okay with this kind of behaviour, right?? Which means……. Mineta’s gotta change LMAO. And if Hori isn’t going to do it then imma borrow him and do it myself. Does it work? I have no idea LMAO i can’t judge anymore, my meter is broken. but i’m gonna work with what i’ve given myself and it either will, or it won’t LMAOOOO kldsfjlksdjflkdj fic is about having fun at the end of the day. :’)

But it’s like you point out, Puck — Mineta is also a child, when these kids get trotted out to their first War. And he’s also not as offensively built as the hard-hitters like Deku and Bakugou and Shouto are. Even if it’s not explored in the manga, that War is going to change them all somehow.

So, my gameplan for Mineta was to grab ahold of the tiny things about him — the talent for drawing, the like one [1] observation he has about the wreckage of the war/pro heroes during the war arc, his tears for Bakugou when B wakes up afterwards and how he tells Deku how cool he was and how much he admires him, in the current Bring Deku Home chapters — and try to envision a sleaze bag who learns that the bullshit he pulls won’t be tolerated, even if he’s still ultimately a skeeze LOL. i mean, he’s never going to drop that er…. appreciation for the female form. and i mean, hey, live your best life King, i’ve distinctly noticed a hand-fetish floating around on this site lately so i’m not gonna be like “NO men can’t like ANYTHING”. But the thing with him being a sleaze and open with his leering is like, he’s actively made the girls of his class uncomfortable with that in the past — how do you write it so that he’s not doing that in a position of power with the women he works with (and saves!), as an adult?? Maturity only goes so far. How much can I bank on the war and the subsequent bullshit they’re gonna face from it on…. transforming him??? It shouldn’t be up to the girls he’s learning with to police him, they’re just children. I have a vague gameplan for it — whether or not it works will be one thing; whether i can naturally shove it into the fic is another, LOL. Guess we’ll see. 🧐

SAYING ALL THAT,,,,, i’m actually really glad you liked (???) the ending scene with him because it’s my favourite LMAO lkdjflkdsjflkdjfkldsjf. 😭😭 Reader is by no means perfect, and she and Mineta both need to start treating each other with more respect, but her bullying of him was fun to write and I like imagining a Mineta who considers himself to be close with Deku (whether or not Deku thinks the same is up for debate) going along with it. i could see this version of Mineta being enough of a shit-stirrer to say something like, “gotta lock that shit down” to Deku LMAO kdfjlkdsjflkdsfjdklsfj and then getting left on a skyscraper somewhere…. RIP short King.

[tsukuna]

Side by Side

Summary: You wandered into Red Grave City to warn the “Legendary Devil Hunter” of a certain… negative shift in the area’s energy. It was an energy you knew to be demonic, and it grew stronger by the day. But on your way to meet with the intermediary, a noisy bird caught your attention. A noisy bird that would bring you to a frail man on the brink of falling apart.

Rated M • Female Reader • Before the Events of DMC V• Under the Cut • Part 2

The news began to speak of the Qliphoth, or the “tree shaped object,” that emerged in Redgrave City. No one, from the average citizen to local police, had a clue that a powerful demon lurked inside. Despite repetitive warnings to take shelter, crowds loved to gather around the base and just stare. Ignorant fools, all of them. 

You observed the horde from a helicopter heading into the den. There was you, V, and Dante of course, but an additional two women accompanied. One had short, ebony hair and an eye of green, an eye of red--not to mention an enormous arsenal. The other was a near carbon copy of the woman you saw on Dante’s desk, and she smelled like a demon. Frankly, it was all perplexing, but you assumed questions would receive no answers. They are beautiful though. You admired their deadly radiance.

While the three demon hunters chatted amongst themselves, you looked to V. His demeanor was entirely muted, and his face showed little expression. There was a decent understanding between you too at this point though, and you could tell there was anxiety building in him. You would have given him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder; however, you had a feeling the gesture wouldn’t be too well accepted.

“So,” the black haired one drawled. “Who are you?” She eyed you rather intensely.

You introduced yourself. “What about you two?” You looked back just as intense. The names Lady and Trish rang out. “Your names are pretty,” you smiled softly.

“Pretty?” Trish was surprised by the comment.

“Mm,” you affirmed. “I wouldn’t have guessed them. But they match perfectly.”

“Ahhh, so you think we’re pretty, huh?” The girl named Lady tried to tease.

“Extremely,” you said with confidence, not allowing yourself to show embarrassment.

Both of them seem more than satisfied with your answer. “How come you never pay us compliments, huh, Dante?” Lady complained.

“I don’t want to inflate the egos of two crazy ladies anymore than they already are,” Dante replied with a shrug. That seemed to spark an impassioned, yet silly argument. It was an interesting display of friendship for you. I never knew it could seem so… fun.

The light air wasn’t meant to last though. Once the helicopter landed, it was business. “Hey, Dante,” Lady spoke up. “I haven’t even heard the target’s name yet.”

“Uuh… hey poem kid,” Dante seemed peeved.

But in juxtaposition, Griffon began to laugh, “Hee hee hee, that’s our wise guy Dante! What a memory! V, he deserves some praise.” You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at the bird. So extra.

“... some said, it is Urizen.” It was a name you proposed after you met up with Dante before the trip.

“How about Urizen?” Those deep green eyes looked at you with a curious expression. “I read the story in your little book,” you explained.

“Ah yeah, right.” Dante seemed less than enthused. “Urizen, Urizen. You people keep it in mind for me.”

“Not a problem,” you whistled a tune while exiting to wait outside Devil May Cry once again.

“I’m surprised you remembered the name,” V admitted.

“How come? I spent quite some time reading the book while waiting for you.” There was a small pause before you giggled. “I was even pleasantly surprised by how soft your hair was. I thought about doing a little braid.”

“I’m glad it didn’t come to that,” V placed his palm on his face, but it didn’t fully hide the amused smirk on his lips. In spite of what was about to go down that night, you were glad you could provide some bit of comedic relief.

The skepticism on Trish’s face at the name made you a tad nervous, but whatever she was thinking, she didn’t bring it up.

“Looks like the party venue is still open,” Dante announced as you made your way into the Qliphoth.

“Shit, gross.” Your nose crinkled upon moving forward. But why does it seem similar to V’s faint demonic scent?

Lady affirmed, “Oh, it stinks in here.”

“I know. Smells like hot garbage.” Dante fanned himself with an irritated expression. But was it truly irritation, or something else? You couldn’t help but remember his reaction to the true name of the demon. Vergil.

V suddenly crumbled forward, and you caught him just in time before his whole body hit the (disgusting) bottom. His face looked similar to when he was on death’s door. “V?” There was no hiding your concern.

“This is far worse than I thought,” he whispered underneath his breath.

There was no time for questioning before Dante called out. “There’s no crime in turning tail. These things might be a little too much for ya.” He continued to walk while looking at him, hands cooly in his pockets.

“... you’re right.” V gritted his teeth. “I’ll leave the rest to you.” He turned on his heel, leaving both you and Griffon to stare in disbelief. Immediately, the demon flew over to question him in a panic.

Dante’s eyes turned to you. “What about you?”

You did consider your two options. You knew you could fight, and you could tell they needed all possible help. But could V make it without you? It seemed as though his health took a turn for the worst in the blink of an eye. “I’ll go with him, just in case.” Dante nodded before waving goodbye unceremoniously.

It was only a short jog before you caught back up with V. “One must always have an insurance policy,” he told Griffon. Strange. V acknowledged your presence with a nod. It let you know you weren’t unwelcome or a hindrance to whatever he was planning. Had he not given you the clear, however subtle it was, well… you supposed you would’ve turned back to rejoin the other there.

“What do you mean, insurance policy? Wait… Do you mean that brat?!” Griffon quite literally screeched. “Hey, hey… he got his right arm lopped right off,” he tried to reason with V. “He won’t be of any use in battle!” V mumbled some sort of reassurance to him, citing the blood of Sparda. It offered Griffon no comfort. “I said not to fall behind Dante, right? And then you just leave! If they kill him while we are out fetching some greenhorn, we’ll...” the little demon trailed off.

V glanced back. “That… won’t happen. I think.” It appeared this situation was worse than imagined.

“Perhaps I should’ve gone,” you thought aloud.

“I believe you would’ve died,” he paused. “And that would be rather unfortunate.” While V often omitted aspects of the truth, he didn’t seem to lie about what he did choose to reveal.

You, Griffon, and V made your way back to Morrison and the helicopter. His expression was confused. “Well, that was quick. Where’s Dante?”

“Inside. Send the helicopter now.” It wasn’t a question.

“Right now? And send where?” Clearly, the intermediary was puzzled.

“Fortuna,” V stated.

Fortuna--it was a place you heard about in passing. Rumors of mass destruction caused by demons and the existence of cults in the obscure city floated about. Is this where that “brat” resides? The entirety of the Qliphoth was once more in view. It was a disappointment, leaving before you had done a thing about the demon within.

Clearly, V noticed your irritation. “It will be solved in time. It must.” Though he said that to you, it also seemed like he was reassuring yourself.

“I simply wish it will be sooner rather than later.”

You fell back into a lull of science. Until the pilot broke it with annoyed chatter about these “boonies” having no heliport and how he’d have to look for a little landing spot.

“There is no time. We’ll meet below. I’m going ahead,” V prepared to jump from the helicopter, causing the pilot to panic even further. He turned to you and offered his hand. You hesitantly took it. You had a suspicion Griffon would be the way down, but you were skeptical on how well he’d do with carrying the weight of two people.

You clenched your jaw when the air initially hit your face. “God, fuck.” V seemed to laugh under his breath at you before pulling you a bit closer to make Griffon’s job easier.

“While I don’t mind helping out because, y’know, my life counts on it… try not work me too hard,” Griffon bitched. His complaints were met with no words of remorse.

Before your feet hit the ground, V began to discuss his plan. “I’m going through the window.”

“Alright, I’ll wait outside.” The distance to the bottom wasn’t far, so you let go, landing on your feet softly enough. At least I’m stealthy.

Over 15 minutes passed before your ebony-haired companion made his way back down. You looked around for whatever it was he came for. “He’ll be here shortly.” So it IS the brat.

The rattling of metal had you turning around, your eyes catching sight of a boy with blue eyes and silver hair--very similar to Dante. He looked to V, who he already met, then you with skepticism. Regardless, he moved forward to join you. “You’re telling me that’s our ride? Talk about posh.” When you looked at the city streets you assumed that yes, it was posh in comparison to what other residents typically saw. “...Don’t get it too close, the others will wake up.”

V was irked by the comment. “Do I look like I can contact it right now? Try jumping and telling the pilot in person.”

“Yeah, sure,” the other boy rolled his eyes. The conversational-less void quickly turned awkward, unlike the time you typically spent with V. You knew nothing about this boy though, and it’d be a lie if you said you weren’t semi-interested.

While still staring forward, you said your name. The boy turned to you with a questioning look. “Your name?”

He seemed to consider whether or not he even wanted to give it to you at first. “Nero,” he finally said.

Immediately upon landing in the Qliphoth, Nero seemed ready to rush in. But V warned him of the danger that waited. Shortly after, a gurgling sound came out from what you noticed to be Shadow’s “liquid” form. “I’m leaving,” V looked over his shoulder. “I doubt you two would get lost here, but still… I suggest you do not fall behind.” And so he did go ahead, using Shadow as a mode of transportation.

Nero’s face soured a bit, making you release a short laugh. “Not very personable, is he?”

“I can agree to that,” Nero grumbled. It wasn’t long before demons began to spawn, creating little roadblocks in your path. “Get behind me.”

“I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t need protection, y’know?”

“I don’t see any weapons on you,” he eyed you.

You sighed. “Why must one waste energy and space by carrying physical items?” You gave Nero a peace sign before allowing white-gold light to envelop your hand. With a small shake, the glow around your hand turned to light throwing needles. “You take care of half of them, I’ll deal with the rest from a distance for now.”

The demons crawled closer and he grudgingly understood there was no time to ask more at the moment, but oh man, you knew it’d be constant interrogation once there was time. Whatever. A disgusting creature with both the face of a man and an ant’s body caught sight of you. You lazily threw a needle at it, watching it explode once it was pierced between the eyes. They were clearly bottom of the barrel demons. They were quick work for you, and clearly Nero as well who finished shortly after you.

“So you gonna tell me what the hell that was about?” He placed his shoulder across his back as you two continued walking.

“Don’t think that’d be right,” you drawled, “I haven’t even let V know yet, and I’ve been hanging out with him longer.” Nero huffed. “But I will let you know that light exists to extinguish this darkness.”

“How poetic,” he rolled his eyes, which warranted you to bump you first on his head. “Hey! What the hell?”

“Don’t be a douche, Nero,” you stuck your tongue out. “But y’know what? I won’t give too much away from myself, but I have to say, for a kid with one arm, I’m rather impressed by your sword skills.”

“Tch. You should’ve seen me when I had both,” it was funny how quickly Nero could go from brooding to cocky.

A sideways smirk spread across your face. “Would’ve loved to spar with you and kick your ass.”

You both continued to banter and deal with anything in the way. It was actually fun, and, surprisingly, the pair of you laughed together. It took no time for you to see V in the distance once again.

Nero stepped forward. “Huh? What, did you come back?”

The comment undeniably miffed V. “I told you, had I not? Your presence is needed.” You still didn’t quite understand why he needed Nero. He was strong, yes, but he still only had one arm. And if the reaction V and Griffon had earlier meant anything, this demon was far out of Nero’s league.”

Speaking of the devil (or rather the demon), Griffon piped up. “Hey, hero, you do know your role, right?” Nero quirked a brow at the bird. “What I’m saying is get going. We’ll take care of the grunts.”

“Whatever,” he turned around. But then he called out your name, which had a surprisingly colloquial tone to it. “You coming with?” Dante asked the same thing, and you would give the same answer.

“This seems to be your fight,” you shook your head. “I’ll stay back and help here.”

“Gotcha,” Nero nodded and began to move forward.

Griffon cackled, “Fast friends, huh?”

“He’s a funny kid. But how about we focus on the issue before us, hm?” The demons, which Nero had let you know were called empusas, bubbled up.

“Work, work, work!” Despite the complaint, Griffon charged then released cracks of lightning onto the demons. “Fuck yeah!” Huh, I guess I never saw what he did. The bird then chided V for not helping.

“Don’t rush me,” he voiced as he pierced one of the empusas. “Garbage.”

“He, he, that’s the spirit. We gotta catch up to the kid! Even she is helping out!” Griffon was ranged, you noticed, so you took a more melee stance this time (as opposed to your strategy alongside Nero). Instead of conjuring the needles, you created an elegant scythe of light. While the hacking and slashing was entertaining, being splattered by rancid demon blood was a major downside.

“Ugh, disgusting,” you at least wiped it off your face. V looked at you, startled and speechless. “No time for a Q and A, we’re needed ahead.” You grabbed his (warm) hand and began to run forward. “I can tell they’re right up there!”

The first thing you saw was Nero already bloody and beaten. “Fuck, Nero!” You rushed towards him and continued to scan the scene ahead of you. Dante. Lady. Trish. All of them lying on the ground in defeat. The demon, the monster, who defeated the famed devil hunters sat at the far end, appearing bored on his “throne.”

“He lost?! How did this happen?!” Griffon’s panicked screeches rang in your ears. “Oh no… oh no… This is it. This is the end.”

V softly murmured “Dante…” It was as if that conjured him back from the grave.

“Round two!” He transformed into a devil right before your eyes. Who the hell are all these people I got involved with?

“Heeey, what do we do?! We could lose an arm too V!” Griffon flew around anxiously. “Earth to princess V! Get yourself together!” You joined his chorus of yells, however… the words did not reach his ears. Tears rolled down V’s face and you realized just how dire this situation was for him.

“V!” You and Griffon shouted, but he continued to stare ahead. “V!” This time you took him by the shoulder and began to turn him around. “We need to go!” His eyes finally came back into focus and he nodded.

“Get Nero out of here! This was a bad move,” Dante yelled out.

“I can still fight,” Nero screamed in response but you were already beginning to pick him up and drag him away. “Tch, shit, back off!”

“You’re just deadweight!” By expression alone, you could tell that Dante’s words reverberated through his whole being.

Even as the ground collapsed, Nero shouted, “Quit messin’, back off!”

“We have to leave here!” You and V both tried to shake sense into the boy. “He’s far stronger than we could’ve imagined…!”

“That bastard called me “dead weight”?! Don’t underestimate me!” Nero screamed out Dante’s name.

Your eyes widened with shock as V threw Nero against a wall. “If you’re frustrated then think of ways to get stronger!” You had never heard his voice ring so loudly. “If Dante loses… I need you to defeat Urizen.” Nero’s face was full of scorn, but he seemed to finally give up fighting you and V off.

“Yes Urizen, the demon king…” He’s the demon king? Fuck. “That’s the name of the demon who took your arm,” V explained to Nero. It was news to you that it was Urizen who stole Nero’s arm. First question you had was why? What was so special about his arm that the demon king needed it to ascend? Perhaps I can barter information with him another day. I’m sure we shall meet again.

A crisp snap cut the air, and suddenly the black from V’s hair dissipated, leaving only white behind. An enormous creature crashed down and busted the rocks. Its appearance seemed to be made of rock (though that would be too simple) and it had a single eye. Another of V’s familiars, huh? But unlike Shadow and Griffon, especially, it didn’t seem to have any conscience. “This is Nightmare,” V  whispered to you. Good to know he thought that you may want that information.

The descent was over and once the familiar gurgled away, V’s hair became black once more.

“Where’s Dante? Hey!” Morrison exclaimed, voice full of confusion.

“He’s buying us time.. But it won’t last long,” V answered smoothly, not showing his despair to the other man.

Morrison was stunned. “Dante lost?!”

[celticheartedfangirl]

My OUAT Rewatch -- S6E10 -- Wish You Were Here

Link to Rewatch Review and Ranking archive

This episode was glorious.  GLORIOUS.  I mean yeah, there are nits to pick at and I’ll certainly do that, but this was basically a Swan Queen fanfic come to life with Princess Emma and her “Prince” -- er -- Queen -- and the CS fans went totally apeshit and it was BEAUTIFUL.

BEAUTIFUL.

No game show today -- Emma’s supposed to look like that, and she even slams herself for it.  Like I said . . . . . GLORIOUS.  And Emma wants Regina to have the “key to her kingdom.” ACTUAL LINE on the show.  Bless.  

It took them TEN episodes this season to get to an episode that didn’t make me bored or stabby or just say “well this isn’t THAT bad” -- I mean the ratings are below 1.0 at this point due to 9 episodes of utter bullshit, but at least we see the light at the end of the tunnel?  Sort of?

Also this guy.  Come on in, the only thing being dragged in here are the writers, the CS fans, and the utter stupidity of the logic of the Wish Realm . . . . . which we will have MORE fun with in S7!

Okay, first of all -- let’s link this BEAUTIFUL post paralleling Sleeping Beauty and her prince to Emma and Regina . . . . 

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/180498595422/frankie-blue-sq-sleeping-beauty-prince-phillip

So before the nitpicking starts, lets discuss the things I enjoyed:

1.  Swan Queen OBVIOUSLY

2.  Rumbelle FINAL-FUCKING-LY having a conversation and not being a pile of OOC bullshit.  I still have nits to pick at that -- but they’re tiny nits and being starved for content after being fucked over by the writers for THREE YEARS now I’ll take what I can get.  Which is sad but it is what it is.  So the content wins over the nits to pick.  For now.

3.  Okay, I enjoyed much of the Wish Realm.  I mean -- I have nits there too and those I WILL pick at, but most of that will be in S7.  But at THIS POINT -- it was about 85% fun, 15% bullshit.  See below for bullshit.  

So that I enjoyed.  It was truly the first episode of this season that I consider to be, overall, actually GOOD.  Good writers should not have their first quality episode in their SIXTH SEASON to be halfway into said season, but these are not good writers so is anyone really surprised?  Also, I pointed out after EPISODE FOUR that the writers had already switched gears by killing off one of their touted S6 villains so I’m presuming, aside from Aladdin and Jasmine, that the rest of the Land of Untold Stories will REAMAIN untold because the writers have the attention span of a gnat and suck at follow through.  Am I correct?

(Oh lord I’m SO GLAD A&E never got their hack hands on THAT.  Can you even imagine?)

So aside from Agrabah stuff, say bye to the Untold Stories.  Perhaps you will be found on A&E’s AMAZING STORIES that is currently hiding on Apple+TV with zero accolades or attention.  Which is really what they deserve.  

One more nit to pick at the writers -- can you please -- PLEASE stop with the rape stuff?  Look . . . . we all know that you have some sort of fetish for female rapists, you already have two of them in canon and you’ll be adding a third in S7.  STOP.  Its gross.  Its never addressed the way it should be.  So the Evil Queen making rape suggestions to Aladdin, and the only response from him is “ew” and its played at FUNNY?

I mean if this were the first time the show had ever done anything like this, MAYBE it could have come off as a comedic moment.  MAYBE.  But in S6, after a long history of rapey shit?  Nope.  

Okay . . . . . onto the CS fan stuff . . . . now this IS funny, and it may take a while . . . . . 

I think by now, anyone reading these reviews, present or future, if you’ve gotten this far, you GET that I’m not a Hook fan or a CS fan.  But I’m not really sure if you understand just HOW BAD it was while this show was originally airing.  And since we’ve now hit THE episode where the CS fandom lost their collective shit in the most ridiculous way possible, I think this is a good point to explain -- especially for those who weren’t there during the original run -- what was up with this.

See, the CS fans, once S4 started, got collectively more annoying with every episode.  And it wasn’t just the general fans -- although they WERE bad -- they had a handful of ringleaders that were just flat out AWFUL people that would hijack the posts of fans of Rumbelle or Swan Queen or Swanfire and just tear into them for no reason.  And if they couldn’t hijack because they were blocked, they’d screen cap and proceed to harass on their own blogs.  This was a DAILY occurrence. DAILY.  For THREE YEARS.  Also, many of us are very certain that the IMDB boards got shut down -- ALL OF THEM -- because of an especially rabid CS fan that went there for no purpose other than trolling, and there was no option to block on IMDB like on Tumblr.   

Also, the CS fans had the support of the media.  Every media outlet was up CS’s ass by S4, deserved or not.  It was VERY difficult to find any outlet that said positive things about Rumbelle or Swan Queen, and when we did it was cause for a tear-filled celebration of joy and relief.  And this RARELY happened.

Also, there was one particular reporter for Entertainment Tonight, Leanne Aguilera, who was so far up CS and A&E’s ass that she probably qualified as a legitimate hemorrhoid.  She liberally blocked Rumbelle and Swan Queen fans on Twitter and wanted NOTHING to do with us.  So when she’d “ask for questions” on Twitter for interviews, of fucking COURSE they were all going to be CS questions, because EVERYONE ELSE was blocked by her!  

Lastly, ABC’s official social media everything was CS this and CS that.  They promoted the shit out of them, non-stop, and did so without apology.  And Adam, one of the head show runners, mostly ignored fans of Rumbelle and Swan Queen on Twitter, but he’d HAPPILY engage with the CS fans.  DAILY.  

Also, we non-CS fans were told -- repeatedly -- to shut up or stop watching if we didn’t like what we were seeing.  They heaped praise upon praise to Adam and the writers and thought that we were the most horrible people on the planet for even DARING to challenge their brilliant skills.  

So knowing all of THAT . . . . after this episode . . . . which was basically a Swan Queen love letter . . . . . the CS fans LOST THEIR SHIT.  Here are some of the glorious results of that . . . . . . . 

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/154091883637/omg-that-episode-swan-queen-af-tribute-to

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/154061253177/c-fans-being-obtuse-as-fuck-on-twitter-this

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/154088222312/and-the-hits-just-keep-on-coming

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/154075793467/honest-question-are-the-disgruntled-c-fans

Please make it a point to check out the replies in that last one because some of them are BEAUTIFUL, and also there is a flat out HIJACK of that post that pefectly illustrates all of the bullshit that I just laid out for you here.  Eh, I’ll make it easy for you -- here’s the hijack -- with comments:

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/154118960442/honest-question-are-the-disgruntled-c-fans

Okay . . . . the wish realm . . . . here are the 15% of things that I call bullshit on:

So Neal/Baelfire is dead in EVERY REALM.  Whee.  We get it.  But also . . . . if he was IN this realm, then why would Rumple need to be searching for him via dark curse?  Makes no sense.

Speaking of Rumple -- in S2 he said he was NOT trapped and could have escaped any time he wanted to, he just didn’t want to.  So WTF?

Why is Henry still named HENRY?  

Why is the Wish Robin Hood YOUNG -- he should be the same age as Snow and Charming. 

Now I know that A&E had some bullshit explanation, which some people bought, but going into S7 -- it’s just stupid.  STUPID.  

Finally, I made a post after this episode -- which TANKED in the ratings, BTW -- that I’d like to share:

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/154082059462/so-the-ratings-tanked-last-night-for-ouat

I stand by that post.  And frankly, I think I was RIGHT about the rest of S6.  And everything else.  

Points tally:

40 points to start

5 points for Swan Queen

3 points for the implied Swanfire

1 point for in character Belle -- I personally don’t feel she’s THERE yet, but A for effort

5 points for in character Rumple

5 points deducted for Hook

Despite the nits to pick, I can’t deduct anything more and I’ll give this one the 25 bonus because it’s really pulled the show out of its slump.

Total points:  74

Follow #celtichearted OUAT ranking tag for more to come!

[luckycheesefoodie321]

I’m about to unleash a LONG review of HTTYD3: The Hidden World RIDDLED with spoilers sooooo... (this is probably trash, it’s been several days since i started this so idk the flow and my thought process was a mess but i better post this now before i forget)

Spoiler free review: 9/10, I did cry, personally felt it was on par with HTTYD2 butttt I like it in a different way to HTTYD2... the animation? ferguckin’ gorgeous, there are fracking LEVELS to the beauty of the Hidden World (the actual place and the movie)...and Astrid’s hair??? mmmm yeah goals

OK SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT (and it looooong yall)

Ok so time to explain the 1/10:

the flow wasn’t as smooth?? as it could have been... it all made sense why things happened and where the motivations came from but...the transitions from sequence to sequence seemed...a little disjointed??? there were parts (maybe it was because i had a kid with me so I got distracted in like two parts) where I was like “oh wait something is happening?? oh wait no yeah I get it sure...so it took me second to realise how one scene got to the other (but again that might’ve been because i was distracted.)...and as a result of the slightly jarred flow, the pace seemed a little disrupted??? maybe it’s just me wanting more, but it felt like things could’ve been a bit...meatier??

also, this was a very Hiccup and Toothless film (I mean obviously, and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and I intend to discuss how great it is later), and so it sorta left little fulfilment or finality for the side characters...they all had their moments sure, and somewhat of an end, but i feel like just a minute here and there more to give them a more satisfying character ending would’ve been nice...

NOW ONTO THE 9/10, and since we’re here already, let’s talk side characters

OUR DRAGON SQUAD

Tuffnut finally got a chance to shine for more than a second of screentime, and while he remained the comedic relief he’s always been (in the films, haven’t seen the shows or short films), it was fun to see him branch out and engage with Hiccup directly...the continuous through-line of him and his beard and trying to impart wisdom on Hiccup was great... Ruffnut also got some solid screentime and she finally made her choice of man (when really she didn’t have any for reasons I will explain later) and “accepted” Fishlegs...but idk didn’t care about that, her scene when she was “captured” by Grimmel was fantastic...Kristen Wiig delivered perfectly from intonation to comedic timing, loved her work! 

Snotlout...I literally had to pause a few seconds just now after typing his name bc *sigh*...we all know Snotlout’s has mild braggadocio...he spitting words with no follow through...annnd that doesn’t much change??? He’s still trying to front and compete with Hiccup and then Eret, and that was originally his charm point...but I would’ve liked to see him find validation in himself rather than an intentional compliment from Valka...and speaking of Valka??? Snotlout just latching onto the closest woman likkkkeeee Snotlout calm down you’re like 40 years younger than her??? maybe not 40 but point is Valka is a badass dragon momma who really isn’t going your way...I just wanted Snotlout to have his moment... 

Fishlegs...yeah he was all dragon daddy carrying his baby Gronkle around and also enjoying his baby Gronkle and that big dragon’s friendship...also Ruffnut has claimed him...bc Snotlout is chasing Valka...so there’s no real option for her (she moved on from Eret and her self-confidence is kinda dope)

HOMIE ADULTS

Eret, son of Eret...I wanted more of him...he just hanging around making passing comments and being the knowledgeable other about Grimmel...and then he had a little something something implied with Gobber??? they had some scenes that had me side-eyeing hardcore... Gobber basically has the same relationship he had with Stoick, but with Hiccup...general calling him out, questioning his lack of planning...just sorta done with everything...true sassy queen...and also yeah him and Eret??? suss

Valka, my queen, my dragon wizard lord who floats through the clouds... maintains her badassery and voice of wisdom role but again steps back to make way for Hiccup and Toothless...and she encouraged Snotlout, for which I am not down...like sure support him but ugh you know he’s into you so just...just...no

MAIN CHARACTERS

Grimmel...definitely a more fleshed out villain than the Red Death and Drago...not necessarily a complex villain, but he was a lot smarter and impacted Hiccup in a way the other two didn’t...rather than using blood and fire to cut to Hiccup’s core, he lured Toothless away and forced Hiccup into a sobering reality that he and Toothless can’t always be together...that said, his “death” was kinda lame...could’ve had more of a bang than probably drowning

The Light Fury was used in an interesting way...she’d already been captured and was used as bait, not just stumbled upon in the wilderness as I had assumed from the trailers...I enjoyed how she was so clearly a wild dragon...from the way she responded to Toothless and his attempts at flirting, spurred him to tap into his true potential and abilities that Valka had alluded to in HTTYD2, to how she always trying to get him to come away into the sky and away from the humans...that said I love how she gradually warmed up to Hiccup...not in the way Toothless did, but in a way where you knew she acknowledged that Hiccup was someone who was important to Toothless, and had no desire to harm her or other dragons and the fact she was the one who saved both Toothless and Hiccup at the end was great...

Astrid, once again, is the only one (aside from Valka, and apparently Eret) with any real sense, both common and fighting...she’s kept to her roots as a skilled fighter in her own right, as opposed to the others relying heavily on their dragons...her chemistry with Hiccup continued to be adorable and flirtatious and pure and wholesome and with all the mad banter...her being so firm against being married so quickly bouncing off Hiccup’s clearly apparent willingness to tie the knot was an adorable under-plot...her character was probably the most consistent of all the characters imo...and she got a fulfilling ending...plus once again, her hair, ESPECIALLY IN THE WEDDING SCENE WAS SO FRIGGEN GORGEOUS AND BEATS ALL ANIMATED HAIR EVER

And now the boys of the hour, Hiccup and Toothless

This was a Hiccup and Toothless film. No side story about his mom and dad, no arbitrary villain just there to cause conflict. This was a film about two best friends in an increasingly complicated world realising that in order to tackle that world? They’d have to separate. It’s the same feeling as realising that the people you grew up with or the friends you made in school won’t be able to stay by your side anymore. You each have a path to take and it’s not one that can be shared...maybe run parallel at times but not the whole way. This is what our boys had to face. 

I love love LOVED that there were sooo many parallels to the first movie...ugh to have that footage so I can count and display all the moments that just brought you back to all the charm and things you fell in love with in the first movie, but with more meaning, more stories to tell...it’s like when I saw Miley Cyrus sing The Climb again many many years after the Hannah Montana movie...there was suddenly more depth to her performance...this was the vibe I got..and it was obviously intentional in bringing so many parallels to the first movie...bringing the story full circle and all that, and of course it culminated in the most perfect moment, the moment that started us all on this journey...

BUT IN THE MOTHERFRACKING REVERSE!!! this was the moment that let those tears slip...I had gone in expecting to cry, but had far and away found myself having more fun and slowly accepting that maybe...maybe I wouldn’t cry in this movie...we got to the big goodbye, and I embodied my inner Jake Peralta and was like cool cool cool no tears yet, I can make it through and then BAM! they did the reverse hand touch and tears were spilled, and my friends were just watching me with unbridled glee in the dark as I got emotional...I’d been watching with increasing suspicion as moment after moment echoed the first movie, but somehow I didn’t realise they would do the reverse hand thing...maybe it’s because the hand thing had been embedded in every moment that Hiccup and the dragon riders encountered new dragons that I did not expect he would ever have to do it to Toothless again?? but in reverse???? because he was letting GO?!?!?!?!?! god it hit me hard...

But then a downside: they started to overuse it in the prologue-y sorta bit with the kids and meeting Toothless again...liiikkkeeee we already had that major impactful, emotional moment...why overuse it??? i would’ve much rathered they just gazed at each other for a bit before Toothless suddenly gives his signature toothless grin...or he swoops in and grabs Hiccup by the pegleg into the air, freaks everyone out, only to do the upside down grin thing- that would’ve been great...I mean they had that moment with the Light Fury but I wouldn’t have minded if they used that one again...

my mind is wandering and this probs doesn’t make any sense at this point sooo: the separation thing! good they established the over-reliance on the dragons and Hiccup’s thinking he can’t do well without Toothless, and Astrid, my QUEEN, coming in and telling him what’s what...and also not marrying him until he was more certain of himself because she knew if he wasn’t ready to face the world alone, he wasn’t ready to face the world with her (at least that’s my interpretation and again idk where I’m going with this thought process)...also love that Hiccup was lowkey jealous of the Light Fury...also also glad she never got a name...keeps her wild, as she should be...

I think this was definitely an incredible ending to an incredible trilogy of films...maybe not Toy Story perfect, but it was full of heart and emotion and continuously brought you back to all the wonder of the first film. Literally, there were so many parallels to the first film it was insane...while I talked about disjointed flow earlier, this incorporation of these callbacks was so well embedded, becoming just a natural proceeding of events... 

I’m coming back to this review after several days so idk where I was going with this soooo just gonna wrap this up:

ASTRID’S WEDDING HAIR WAS GOALS. THE END.

[michael-radi-the-glamorous-life]

Hole-y Plots, Batman!

Over the course of my musical direction this past year I have had the pleasure of working on shows that I know well, as well as a couple that I didn’t. But one thing is for certain - you never truly know a show well until you have worked on it.

And once you have worked on a show, it becomes ingrained in you somehow. A piece of your life. A window into a specific period of time or a specific mindset. Perhaps it changed you somehow. Perhaps it was just a great time. Or perhaps it was a less positive experience. And all of this is wonderful and valid, but it’s also not what I’m going to be focusing on today.

Today I come bearing a question. At the end of the day what is more important: an airtight plot, or to move the audience?

Several of the musicals I have worked on in my life have brought me to ask this question, but I have been thinking about this yet again this year. Of the three shows I MDed this school year, 2 of them had “hole-y plots,” yet both seemed to give some sort of emotional satisfaction to the audience. And the other was absolutely airtight in plot, but was ultimately more entertaining than moving.

So which is more important? And can we have both?

I Am The Very Model

There are a few accepted standard models of structure for theatrical storytelling, which can tell you a great deal about the characters, their journeys, and plot movement on the whole. For this reason, I am a firm believer that everyone who works in the theatre should be aware of these models, be able recognize the patterns, and therefore know how to break the rules when necessary.

3 Act Structure

This one is fairly straightforward.

Your play or musical is divided into 3 similar-length acts, where Act I and Act II occur before intermission (or become “Act 1”) and Act III occurs after intermission (“Act 2”).

Act I - Introduction to the world, all main characters, and the major “want” of the protagonist. At the end of this act, something changes and the protagonist’s goal shifts or the stakes become raised.

Act II - Introduction to B-plot characters (often comic relief) and the protagonist moves toward their main goal with speed and/or great determination. At the end of this act - right before the intermission - the protagonist reaches a point of no return.

Act III - After a lighthearted opening (usually from B-plot characters), the protagonist must find a way out of the bind they’ve most assuredly gotten themselves into, and find their way back to a new normal, hopefully with their goals completed. Plus a big closing number or final moment, of course.

Most of the early musical theatre canon follows this model. Sometimes Act III is broken into two “Mini-Acts” with a big comedy moment dividing it in half, but it’s not always necessary or appropriate to the story to do this.

This structure is a very comfortable and satisfying general model, though there is a slightly more specific and nuanced version that exists as well…

5 Act Structure

This time the show is divided into 5 shorter, but still similar-length, acts where Act I, Act II, and Act III take place before intermission (“Act 1”) and Act IV and Act V take place after intermission (“Act 2”).

Act I - Introduction to the world, all main characters, and the major “want” of the protagonist. At the end of this act, something changes and the protagonist’s goal shifts or the stakes become raised.

Act II - Introduction to B-plot characters (often comic relief) and the protagonist begins making advances toward their new goal. There is often a little more time and calculation than action, but by the end of this act a major decision has been made.

Act III - The protagonist now moves toward their main goal with speed and/or great determination. At the end of this act - right before the intermission - the protagonist reaches a point of no return.

Act IV - After a lighthearted opening (usually from B-plot characters), the protagonist usually has the opportunity to revel in their successes thus far. Then things begin to go wrong and spiral quickly, leading to the greatest low-point at the end of this act.

Act V - This act generally opens with the biggest moment of comedy or fun in the entire show (ie. the gravediggers in Hamlet, or “Officer Krupke” in West Side Story). After this, the protagonist must find a way out of their troubles and make their way back to a new normal, hopefully with their goals completed. Plus that big ‘ole closing number.

Personally, I find this model a little more informational and satisfying (even just to read through), but both of these models create excellent general guidelines for writers as they craft their shows.

Now, of course writers are not bound to these models, but they are extremely useful tools to refer back to, both in the outlining and major editing phases. And more importantly, if you can track every character’s journey through this model, there is a far greater likelihood that major plot holes will be fixed.

Okay, so yes, these models are all about creating an airtight plot. And there are even more specific models that you can use if you really need structural guidelines when writing out a story (aka “The Hero’s Journey”). But what about the emotional arc of the piece?

These models actually lend themselves quite well to inserting a satisfying emotional rollercoaster, but they don’t really specify what those high and low points should be. So…what should they be?

Sometimes I’m Down, Sometimes I’m Up

Emotional arc is a bit more nebulous to speak about - there is much less of a “set guideline” to follow.

However! There are some general universal truths that we all seem to acknowledge as human beings who love good storytelling. And if these emotional moments are hit correctly, the satisfaction of the journey can often overshadow a story’s shortcomings.

Here are some general truths that seem fairly well agreed upon:

The stakes must constantly be raised. We all love a good story - successful or tragic - but we have a tendency to lose interest if the stakes don’t get higher the further into the story we go. Often this means that everything gets messier and more complicated, but sometimes it’s more about the personal importance of the goals to the protagonist. Either way, by the time intermission lights come up, the stakes should either be, or feel like, life or death.

Pacing should never slow. Generally, you have the most “playtime” at the beginning of a show to introduce the world and characters before the action really begins to take off. But once it has taken off, the pacing of the main action should never get slower than it was previously. Notice that it’s the main action that doesn’t slow - B-plots and moments of fun/rest are almost always welcome (particularly in musicals). But then immediately - back to the action!

Grab us at the top. The opening of a show should bring the audience directly into the world and lives of the characters, and you don’t have a lot of time to make this happen. I’ve heard a rule said that plays have ~20 minutes to pull us in and musical have ~10 minutes. By the end of that time, you should have us prepped and ready to follow wherever the show may lead.

Benchmarks of conflict. The structural models above build in these moments at the end of each act, but there can certainly be more. The most important thing to note here is that the audience never wants a protagonist’s journey to bee too easy. Stories are all about conflict, and we want to watch people overcome the tremendous obstacles that have been thrown in their way. It’s also a great way to give the audience signposts as to where exactly in the main journey we are, and how far is left to go.

Moments of rest. Audiences need these. Non-stop action can work okay in a movie, but it’s far more taxing in a piece of theatre. These moments of rest should come directly after the largest moments of conflict in the main story, and are generally most satisfying when they involve side characters. Rest moments do not need to be comedic, but audiences do love a good “ha ha”!

The point of no return should force us to come back to our seats for Act 2. This moment in the story must be so compelling that the audience has no choice but to return for the end of the show. Preferably, it’s also a moment that’s energizing and gets a little bit of buzz from the audience as they stretch, run to the restroom, or hit the concessions line.

The biggest rest/laugh moment should be halfway through Act 2. I’m not exactly sure why it’s as satisfying as it is, but it really works. Directly after the protagonist hits their absolute lowest moment in their story, the next moment of rest should be an absolute delight. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but it does tend to work particularly well.

The final moment is everything. Openings are great. Act 1 closers are great. Comedic songs are great. 11 o’clock numbers are great. Everything when well done is great. BUT, the final moment of a show can make it or break it. A perfect final moment can erase a lot of less perfect things from earlier in the show. And an incorrect final moment can leave an audience confused, upset, or downright angry. So…no pressure there, eh?

So why do I even point all of this out?

Well, as I said earlier, 2 of the shows I worked on this year had major plot holes in them. But what I didn’t say is that the audience didn’t seem to care because the emotional journey was satisfying.

Personally, I find this odd. But then again, as a writer and performer, I’m always looking for the airtight plot. I certainly want it as an audience member, but I also look for it because I empathize with the writers and performers as I watch a piece. And I’m sure most theatre professionals do the same.

But many shows seem to prove time and time again that, if the emotional journey is satisfying, then who is to say that the show doesn’t work? After all, at the end of the day, box office is king.

Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off

I think that what I have learned in this journey of analysis is that it all comes down to personal taste.

Sure, an airtight plot and a satisfying emotional journey would be fantastic, but that’s extremely difficult to create time and time again. And we haven’t even mentioned how the other production elements (Direction, Sound, Lights, Orchestration, Cast, Scenery, Choreography, Musical Direction, etc.) can alter the feel and journey of the show. A show may work well in one production, but completely flop in another.

What I do know is that story is conflict and we enjoy watching characters struggle, overcome, and either succeed or fail spectacularly. Isn’t that ultimately why we go to the theatre?

So, my takeaway? Tell stories and make art and, hopefully, you’ll occasionally strike some gold. Go forth!

[tjkiahgb]

Anon and I wrap up Season 2 - Part 3: Best and Worst Character Arcs

“Question Three: Which main character had the best arc and vice versa? I’ll go extra and give out a list in order of best to worst - Buffy, Bex, Cece, Jonah, Andi and Cyrus.

Bex had a really cool arc from trying to find a niche between friend and mom. But more importantly, her arc on graduating and finding her career is a good message to kids not to give up on their education. 

Cece has really loosened up this season and it’s nice to see her have fun.

Jonah arguably had powerful moments but I find his arc to be disjointed. It’s like the writers never really knew what to do with him and decided to give him a mental breakdown out of the blue. I initially thought it was a clever twist to make Jyrus happen but it ended up being just more lousy writing.

Andi may be the main character but she hardly had any development for the whole season. Sure, she’s more assertive and outspoken but I feel like those are just magnifications of the same Andi that we saw in season one. It doesn’t help at all that Jandi is the biggest thing going on with her, which made her pretty stagnant. The only storyline where she had any sense of agency was playing the Bexie matchmaker.

Speaking of agency, this is the main criteria of which I base this answer. And thus Buffy Driscoll takes the crown. Where to begin? Her insatiable hunger to be good at the things she sets her mind into? Her refusal to cave in to peer pressure and engage in a romantic dyad she feels she isn’t ready for? Her determination to break barriers to show that girls can be better than boys even in sports? Her ability to exercise self-control and perseverance despite and in spite of the animosity and ostracism she has faced in her team? Her decision to be the bigger person and helping her tormentor for the sake of being a team player?  Her compassion and loyalty to Cyrus? The only time Buffy lost agency in this season is when her mom got a job somewhere else and they had to move - but even then she stubbornly refused to say goodbye and dictated the terms of her departure. Man, this season has been the season of the slayer.

In all fairness, Cyrus did have a lot of agency in this season as well. There was his aforementioned coming out scene, his determination to make his Bash Mitzvah a success, and Tyrus. However, the reason why I rate him as having the worst arc is that most of these big developments occur off-screen. On the basis of what is actually shown on the show, the biggest arcs he had was Ciris. Which was pretty okay but I felt was just abruptly cut off. I know a lot of people here lament the fact that he never used the word gay. But I think his refusal to use that label also shows agency on his part. I think my main problem is that his arc appears to be disjointed - he’s just the kooky sidekick who’s there for comedic relief until his big moments come. And this has made point A to point B to point C Cyrus seemingly different persons. And seeing all the press, I find a certain dissonance between using Joshua as a poster boy for representation and having his character’s story relegated to the backburner for most of the season. The writers have treated Cyrus’ story as this precious china that is there mostly for display only to be brought out during special occasions. As I have said before, for someone who's second on the billing, Cyrus' story gets short changed over and over and over again.”

It’s hard to argue with too many of these, Anon. I’ll pass on ranking them myself, but I’ll jump in and add a little bit more.

I love how multifaceted Bex’s issues are. She’s learning how to be a mom. She’s learning how to be a better daughter and interact better with her mother. She’s dealing with her relationship with Bowie and trying to find a split between being mature (respecting where he’s at in life) and going after the man she wants. And she’s finding her place in the working world. Her growth seems to happen pretty quietly, but it’s impressive to see how far she’s come.

Celia is such a fantastic character. I think it’s great that now that she doesn’t have to shoulder so much of the responsibility of raising Andi, she can finally be more of a grandma. Her relationship with Bex continues to be fascinating -- trying to help her succeed while also trying to figure out when she’s overstepping. Her stuff with Ham this season has been a bit of a disappointment though. They interact less and less as time goes on, so much so that their storylines have become about how they don’t talk enough. Celia buying The Fringe without telling Ham can be chalked up a little to her go-getter attitude, but that’s still way too much. And Ham deciding to leave the country without telling her is about on par. I’m hoping for some cleaner stories in season 3 between those two (though I get the feeling Ham’s going to be doing a lot of “traveling” for much of the time).

I sort of agree with you on Jonah’s arc being disjointed, though for different reasons. Much of 2A was tied in Andi and Jonah feeling out their relationship, but I found it to be not incredibly interesting stuff. As I said in part 1 of this series of posts, I actually liked the introduction of the panic attack. I think it gave Jonah some depth that he was sorely missing as a main character. I never saw it as a way to move him towards Cyrus, though. I accepted it as being sprung from his relationship issues with Andi. The stuff with him in 2B was hit and miss. I liked the idea of him treating his anxiety through music, but doing all of that therapy through the lens of Bowie, who’s really kind of making things up as he goes along, was maybe a mistake. He should seek professional help at some point (perhaps in season 3). I do like the steps he’s taking to mature, as well. Being gracious around Walker at the art fair was a great move. But, right after that, he signed up to go to a two month frisbee camp, which is the worst thing he’s ever done. I mean, it’s not really bad, but, you know, TWO MONTH FRISBEE CAMP?!

I’d argue Andi’s arc has been the worst of the bunch. Season 2 overall for her has been a lot of messy back and forth about how much she does or doesn’t need Jonah in her life. Her relationship with the GHC remains pretty much the same, which is sort of nice, to keep it as this constant bright spot in her life, but doesn’t allow for a whole lot of drama. And the Bexie stuff has been pretty static for her as well. Andi started the season trying to get them together and didn’t really veer off that path. I feel like even in 2A, when it seemed like Bexie maybe wouldn’t happen, or later, when there were obstacles like Bowie getting a serious girlfriend, Andi never stopped believing that Bex and Bowie had to get married. I’ve enjoyed the growth in her relationships with her immediate family members, but on the whole, her arc has been lacking.

You’re right about Buffy having had the most to do this season. She’s shown strength throughout all of season 2 in various ways, but being strong is fairly consistent with her character. I find her most interesting moments come when she lets her guard down a bit: admitting to Jonah she’s chasing victory to prove to herself she’s strong, admitting to her mother she’s not strong enough to leave her friends. I think finding the ability to forgive those who’ve wronged her -- Amber and TJ -- showed a lot of emotional strength. Buffy’s season has been an interesting study in the ways strength manifests itself, and that sometimes the strongest thing you can do is admit to a weakness.

I know we’ve made a lot about Cyrus’s storylines receiving a lack of visibility, but I will say I think his arc is still a decent one. (For the record, I think not saying “gay” and the fact that he does only have a few explicitly gay moments a season comes from the Mouse up above rather than being a choice made by the writers.) Cyrus has matured a lot over the season. He’s grown, he’s had his Bar Mitzvah, he’s begun to learn what he does and doesn’t want in a relationship. Letting go of his vision of Jonah and moving on (while it upset a lot of viewers) is actually quite a big move for him. He’s trying to see people more for who they are rather than what he’s made them out to be. Plus, he’s starting to gain more confidence, which is great. When you look at his three explicit moments of gayness this season, you see that. The coming out conversation with Buffy was fraught with confusion and fear. His coming out with Andi was much lighter. By the time he’s talking to Buffy about his lost crush on Jonah, it’s business as usual. He’s gay. He can talk about his feelings for a boy (at least to Buffy) with little drama. Here’s to hoping it gets a little more spotlight in season 3.

I want to touch on a couple of the recurring characters, too. (Not TJ. Everyone knows where I stand on TJ’s arc.)

Amber. Poor Amber. My heart goes out to any Amber stans in the audience. Her redemption arc was beaten up and tossed around all over the place. I thought maybe they were heading there in 2A but that whole ferris wheel thing happened. I thought they might try again in 2B, but they just ripped off her eyebrow and forgot about her for almost the entire rest of the season until they suddenly brought her back with a few episodes to go and did a pretty sloppy story. The friendship with Cyrus could maybe work, given some time, but the Buffy thing happened way too fast. And really, Amber’s story is mostly with Jonah and Andi anyway, so why go there? At least she’s starting to get put into a better light. Maybe she’ll finally get to settle things with Jonah and Andi in season 3.

And Walker? He was introduced as this charming, artsy boy, and now, several appearances later, what more do we know about him? Sort of nothing. He’s still a charming, artsy boy. We know he’s coming back for season 3. I’m curious what kind of arc he might have in store for him. What other aspects does he have besides being charming and making art?

[e-w-movement]

The East to Western Movement

Growing up in a Filipino household, I never truly noticed the amount of Eastern Asian culture I was surrounded by. I was so used to watching anime before and after school or eating Asian foods my grandma cooked or bought from the supermarket down the road. It was not truly impactful until I was exposed to social media for the first time when I was 13. The impact of social media on the spread of international media is immaculate, as I watched throughout the years this spread of Eastern Asia taking over my news feed on Facebook and Twitter, to the point where it has almost become a social niche. Ranging from media to electronics to becoming so widespread that the Asian culture has become a fetish and aesthetic.

Above image 

The United States have always had an upperhand in media market, but in the last couple of decades, Asia has been trying to overcome and even challenge the west. Asia has one-seventh of the world’s population, yet they control two-thirds of the world’s total information control [here]. For example, a large breakthrough for Asian media is the growth of Japanese animations for the last couple of decades, specifically since 2013, where contracts from surrounding countries, including the United States, to own the rights to stream anime in their country has grown a tremendous 172% [here]. This is due to the influence of social media. Constantly, videos and pictures are shared, reviews bring certain shows to the top of the list, and friends bond and recommend shows to each other. It is a constant flow of exposure, which what has made mainstream animes, such as Naruto, Attack on Titan, and Dragon Ball, so popular to the point where anime conventions have become an event where thousands of people all over the country attend. San Diego had about 130,000 in attendance in 2017, with an economic impact of 140 million USD [here].  Of course not only Japanese Anime is the only thing given credit, as other popular U.S. shows and comics are included, it plays very big part. Just a couple weeks ago, I went to a local convention called Saboten where I watched several people dress up as their favorite character, including my best friend, and even spent more than I want to say on merchandise and posters (as you can see, my wall is growing in size).

Above Image is Mine

This popularity in anime has led to mascots and video games that have taken over the gaming industry. Pokemon has always been popular since the release of the game, making Pikachu an iconic mascot that even non-fans can recognize. This and Super Mario led to Nintendo’s worldwide popularity. Nintendo’s global net sales are an astonishing 9.95 billion USD and 75 billion USD in the global video game market, the U.S. being the largest share of Nintendo’s revenue (https://www.statista.com/topics/2284/nintendo/). Nintendo games have become a fan favorite, Pokemon and Legend of Zelda being big parts of childhoods. I have not met a single person, online and off, that don’t know or did not enjoy these games. There is also the influence of video games and anime on art, specifically fanart as seen on prints sold at conventions. Even my own art is heavily influenced by these, as I enjoy drawing my favorite characters from my favorite shows and games. This, in turn, causing my art to reach 300-400 notes on fanart on tumblr. This would not have been possible without the help of countries being connected through media and the internet in general, and that has only grown as technology has evolved altogether. A message and a post can spread within a matter of seconds all over the world. Without this, we’d be missing a part of our childhood.

Above Image

This can also be said about Asian film and media. Although not as popular as their anime counterparts, dramas and movies have been moving up, perhaps due to their storytelling that almost emulate those cheesy romance scenes you see in anime, or their stunning videography that make them so appealing. This can be seen specifically in the Korean industry, as movies like Train to Busan, A Love So Beautiful, and Descendants of the Sun, which are seen to be trending on Netflix. Usually, Asian dramas are typically shorter in length, so a lot of viewers tend to go towards them. This can also be seen in the popularity in some animes, which are shorter and usually have a interesting and flowing story line. The U.S. has also been introducing Asian actors and all Asian cast films into Hollywood, something rarely if ever seen before. Movies like Crazy Rich Asian ended up having a box office success of 76 million USD, and To All the Boys I’ve Loved before with an Asian female lead soared in popularity, but this wouldn’t have happened if not for the social media spread of Eastern Asian T.V. into Western media. Asians have always been cast as the nerdy side character or a comedic relief in sitcoms, yet in these films we see them portrayed as something more than that, someone human and not a martial artist specialist. This is important for young Asians in the West that don’t get very much representation in western media, making them feel left out, unattractive, and confused. Fortunately, this Eastern takeover has made Asians out to be more than a fetish dream, something we will get to more about later.

The U.S. has been seen making remakes of shows and movies like The Good Doctor (same title) and Boys Over Flowers (Between Boys and Friends), and upcoming is a remake of a popular Korean variety show, King of Masked Singer. Variety shows are popular for their ability to bring on famous pop singers and actors to learn more about them and make them seem like real people, rather than the pedestal they are put on here in the U.S.. King of Masked Singer is particularly popular for taking Idols and other popular T.V. persons to show their voice and talent, rather than their looks. This is important because of perfection that is portrayed in media, such as in music videos and T.V. shows. They are to be pure and without fault, making the idol status something to be sought after by not only young adults in eastern countries, but also now in the west as the spread of J-Pop and K-Pop has grown tremendously.

Above Image

K-Pop boy band BTS (as show above) and girl group BlackPink has hit the Billboard top 100, with BTS currently at 81 with their new hit “IDOL” ft. Nicki Minaj [here]  and BlackPink formerly at 55 with their single “Ddu-Ddu Du” [here]. Though, many idol groups aren’t far behind this peak, like TWICE and EXO and many more climbing their way up with millions of views on Youtube. This increase is most likely due to that challenge of western standards, with many songs emulating pop genres and simplistic beats and twisting it into something catchy, almost hypnotic. You’ll hear many songs incorporate several genres into one, such as pop, rap, and even rock. Along with this is how flawless an idol looks in their videos, their skin seemingly free of all blemishes and fashion that isn’t something ridiculously over the top or painfully simple, but fashionable and wearable. It’s as if these idols are perfect, which is desirable for many young people. Who doesn’t want to seem perfect?

This ideal in looks has turned Asians from being seen as ugly and undesirable, to gorgeous, cute, and natural. This, in turn, going again that human standard I was talking about before. Soon, people began to ask how they keep their skin like their favorite idols, what makeup they use, and how their hair is cut. Unfortunately, the pedestal the west puts their stars on are nowhere near the God-level the east puts their idols on currently, no matter how many variety shows they are on. This human-like quality is being drowned out by this impossible standard of beauty and personality set by none other than eastern media themselves. Eastern Asian beauty products have had a huge impact on how the west does their skincare. Even large sellers, such as Sephora and Ulta, have a section on their website dedicated to Korean skincare. Even I have put Korean and Japanese beauty products into my daily routine, in order to achieve that perfect skin they have (as seen below) and I have to admit, they are working so far, but it really strikes home as I am writing this that perfection is really what we are looking for in today’s society and it’s very difficult to escape.

Above Image is Mine

This has also hurt the idea that fetishization of Asian culture has also gotten worse, much worse. For years, Asians have been seen as the perfect little wives, shy and obedient. Older white men in the west have turned to dating sites and other sites to look for a Asian wife to marry, but just Asian. As you can see in this short trailer for the film “Seeking Asian Female” by Debbie Lum, the “market” for Asian women is large and has been ongoing for years upon years, especially when the internet really took off. “Asian” has become a tag on pornography sites (along with other races as well, but it is dehumanizing to depict a race as a fetish itself). The perfection of women and men in Asian media has grown this over the past decade, as men and women alike have only wanted to date an eastern Asian man or woman because they “look the best”. Users on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram exposed to Asian media are known for using Asian people to fit their “aesthetic”, or even going as far as wishing and lying about being Asian has become the norm. The Asian culture has been boiled down to nothing more than simply… an aesthetic and a fetish. “When you generalize a specific race or group of people, you deny each and every one of them their individuality and their right to be who they are.” (http://beyondhallyu.com/k-pop/i-love-korean-boys-the-problem-of-fetishization/).

Yet, the east to west movement has opened up this opportunity to change this, as can be seen in western media movies like To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and Crazy Rich Asians. The people in this film are not perfect, far from it. They are shown as humans unlike the crazy high standards held in Eastern media itself. This would not have been done without the spread of eastern media to the west. Especially in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, there is no emphasis on the lead’s race, she is simply a normal girl in high school falling in love.

While this widespread media exchange has had it’s ups and downs on society as a whole, I think we are getting to a place where acceptance is the goal. Social media is a place of opinions and has the potential of creating an entire social movement overnight. The East to Western movement has been on the move for decades, but it is coming to fruition now and creating a change in how the West perceives the East.

Written by Silvia Jordan

[curingcancercomics]

The Year in Review 2017

2017 was another fantastic year for music, with tremendous albums from so many genres. It’s sad seeing how many obvious entries made the cut on all those other websites, which makes us even more confident that we’re giving you a pretty good list here and really, would you expect anything less from us? Let me just say, our taste in music is better than our taste in comics. That should speak volumes.

Though we had some favorites, it’s probably safe to say that the order of these releases would change depending on the day. One thing is certain, however: it was pretty obvious early on which albums all others had to live up to. And even though we’re a music site, we thought we’d have some fun this year and give you our two cents as far as movies and TV shows were concerned.

Without further adieu, these are the best of the best of 2017.

Top 10 Best Albums of the Year

1. Priests - Nothing Feels Natural

Everyone was anticipating this album. And by “everyone” we mean those who know their music. As soon as it hit, the feelings of surprise were soon replaced by relief. Nothing Feels Natural became the album all others had to compete with this year. It’s a wonderful progression from the band’s more punk roots and a fantastic debut. This is what we needed.

 2. Run The Jewels -  RTJ3

RTJ3 renewed our hope in rap. As it turns out we were right all along: it’s the mainstream that’s the problem. RTJ3 is smart, witty, political and full of risks. And chances are you’ll discover something new every time you hear it.

 3. Death From Above - Outage! Is Now

If it takes a 10-year hiatus for a band to get its shit together and return with great albums back to back, then more bands should do the same. Outrage! Is Now is slower and groovier than its predecessors, but there’s no denying those riffs.

 4. Mastodon - Emperor of Sand

The album that made us realize that 2017 is full of bottom-heavy releases. As in, albums that pick up halfway through. Emperor of Sand is the more polished Mastodon sound and sure enough, a few tracks into a solid beginning it satisfies more than the casual metal fan.

 5. Pissed Jeans - Why Love Now

How to even classify an album that’s so satirical in its testosterone-laden style. Why Love Now sounds like a joke when you first hear it, and once you get it, you start focusing on the beauty in its sludgy, aggro, style. It’s in on the joke.

 6. Dopamines - Tales of Interest

Tales of Interest was a grower, because the formula is so familiar. But underneath that formula lies pop-punk magnificence and the best work the Dopamines have done so far. This is the pop-punk album of the year.

 7. Sandy Alex G - Rocket

Rocket is definitely Americana, folk, and punk at the same time. It’s a collection of songs that sound like a rainy day and a beautiful sunny Summer afternoon. It will take hold of your feelings and take you places.

 8. Open City - Selftitled

With this pedigree, it was a no-brainer than Open City’s debut was going to be something to reckon with. This selftitled is a hardcore album that injects enough inventiveness to keep the genre fresh.

 9. The Bombpops - Fear of Missing Out

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. In the case of the Bombpops the cover looks like a bunch of 13-year olds who shop exclusively at Hot Topic and make a derivative on derivative pop punk. However Fear of Missing out has the hooks, riffs, and songs that will have you singing to yourself in the shower. It seems the joke’s on us.

 10. The Bronx - V

Few things are certain in this life. What we CAN be certain of, however, is that the Bronx will deliver a hard, raw, fast, and aggressive album that sounds unique and hot to the touch.

 Best of the Rest (in no particular order):

 LCD SoundSystem - American Dream

 Propagandhi - Victory Lap

 Frenzal Rhomb - Hi-Vis High Tea

 CJ Ramone - American Beauty

 Spoon - Hot Thoughts

 Oh Sees - ORC

 Gorillaz - Humanz

 Worriers - Survival Pop

 Western Addiction - Tremulous

 Ty Segall - Selftitled

 The Hold Your Horses Award:

 Cayetana - New Kind of Normal

Repeat the chorus and pause at the end

Repeat the chorus and pause at the end

Repeat the chorus and pause… at the end!

 Best TV Shows of 2017:

The Chris Gethard Show

An exercise in escapism, but what anarchic escapism it is. It’s Gethard’s show, but he’s hardly the one in control. It’s punk, it redistributes power, it’s fun and truly a unique entity in a sea of cookie cutter talk shows.

 Twin Peaks: The Return

While most revivals dwell in nostalgia, Twin Peaks chose this opportunity to world-build instead. The already complex Twin Peaks became even more complex and compelling, and had us chomping at the bits for new information each week. Not to mention its perfect Lynchian ending. It’s beautiful both on the outside and inside.

 Best Movies of 2017:

Raw

I never expected what I got from Raw because I didn’t know what to expect in the first place. I went into Raw knowing nothing and haven’t been able to stop thinking or talking about it. And I’ve only seen it once. This is the power of this movie.

 Get Out

How great it is for a film to actually live up to its standards. Get Out does a lot throughout its story and gives its viewer an incredibly satisfying payoff. Watch it and rewatch it and you’ll uncover more each time.

 Your Name

If I were to describe the genre of Your Name I’d say it’s a comedic/contemporary/sci-fi/mystery/cultural love story. In other words, it’s everything I’d like in a movie. It twists and turns, changes tones, and engages its audience masterfully.

 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Seldomly is a movie so dark and at the same time so hilarious. The major success of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is how it deals with such intense events and themes and personal loss and growth and does it with such humor that I can imagine rewatching it time and time again just for its great script and dialogue.

 The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water can be divided in two parts because it’s almost trying to fit too much in just two hours. Guillermo Del Toro has created a masterpiece of a fantasy movie that looks gorgeous and develops its characters in subtlety and detail. It’s beautiful, dreamy, steamy complex and detailed.

 Worst Fake Beard in a Movie

Dave Franco - The Disaster Artist

The funny thing is that there’s a story behind Greg Sistero and his beard situation in the Room. In the Disaster Artist things go full circle as Dave Franco, who can grow a perfectly fine beard, has the fakiest, glued-onest, most distracting beard I have seen committed to the big screen. The make-up artist is the true Disaster Artist in this story.

 Best/Worst use of CGI to complement an otherwise average lead performance

Margot Robbie - I, Tonya

Never mind the fact that I, Tonya suffers from such obviously terrible CGI that it immediately takes you out of all the skate sequences. Who I actually feel bad for is that poor skater who probably had to suffer through the entire routines wearing some uncomfortable green screen mask on their face for nothing and never get credit for it.

[nooo-body]

Beautiful Hamlet review

A union of laughter and tears Posted on 21. September 2017 by katbwritings When Shakespeare connoisseur Kenneth Branagh directs Tom Hiddleston as Hamlet at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, you know it is bound to be good. As soon as the news about the production hit the public, expectations went through the roof. Even I, who generally doesn’t praise a production before the curtain call starts, wasn’t immune to that. Because of the cast, the director, the small theatre, the ticket ballot lottery, and the exclusiveness of it all, I, too, had very high expectations when I went to the Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre last Friday. Some of them were met, some were not, and some were even exceeded.

We all know ‘Hamlet’ as one of Shakespeare’s greatest, if not THE greatest of his tragedies. So one wouldn’t necessarily suspect a staging of the play to contain a lot of comedy. But that is precisely the case with this production, and it’s by far the most unexpected and pleasant surprise of the evening. Thanks to great comedic timing of the entire cast, most of all the actors of Polonius, Hamlet and the Gravedigger, who provide most of the comic relief, there is a vast number of opportunities for laughter. And speaking of timing…the general timing of the actors during the play in simply phenomenal. It speaks of great talent from both the cast and the director and makes not only for a pretty much perfectly timed delivery of all dialogue but also an endless number of little, perfectly timed moments that make this evening so special and outstanding. When Hamlet and Polonius engage in some brief synchronised leg-crossing, it is not only funny and entertaining, but also shows how well-rehearsed those sequences are. To use the terminology of playwright Alan Ayckbourn, this is the crafty art of playmaking at its best.

Probably the most special aspect of the production is the intimacy of the theatre. No audience member is more than a few feet away from the centre of action, making everyone somehow automatically a part of what’s happening on stage. The audience surrounds the stage on three sides, which is why the cast isn’t so much acting in front, but rather right in the middle of them. Every member of the audience has a different angle from which they get to experience the play. And because the actors deal so naturally with the fact that they can’t face the entire audience at the same time, even on occasion turning their back on some of them, the situation sometimes feels almost voyeuristic. The intimate setting also allows for far more intimate character interaction than a big stage would. And, interestingly, some of the strongest moments of the evening were the things that weren’t said, the silent looks. Whether it’s the accusing looks of Hamlet towards his uncle, the disciplining looks of Queen Gertrude towards her son, the silent communication between Hamlet and Horatia, or the ghost of King Hamlet quietly watching over the events taking place in the beginning of the play, those silent moments are some of the loudest and most intense of the whole evening.

Apropos silent… The most impressive performance of the evening is delivered by Caroline Martin as Horatia, even (or maybe especially) in the moments where her character remains silent. Her presence on stage is simply breathtaking and Martin doesn’t even need lines to capture attention. Whenever she’s on stage, she owns it with every fibre of her body and radiates confidence and a constant care for Hamlet, her best friend. She is the fierce protector that the character of Horatio is intended to be. She’s his confidant, his conscience, the person who knows and understands him best. And while (thankfully!) Horatia and Hamlet aren’t in any way romantically involved, there’s always the subliminal question of what they could be if they allowed themselves to cross that line. It is without a doubt that Martin’s Horatia loves Hamlet. Definitely as a friend, maybe even more than that. It is her reaction, her silent tears and her refusal to accept the death of the man she loves, that make Hamlet’s death in the end so unbearable. I suffered with her, I cried with her.

Almost equally heartbreaking is Kathryn Wilder’s performance as Ophelia. She is so young and so innocent, so pure in her love for Hamlet. And the turn of events in the play completely take that innocence away, both emotionally and possibly physically. Yes, physically. Perhaps I’m only reading to much into it, but I believe it is entirely possible that Ophelia did lose her virtue to Hamlet, resulting in a pregnancy. Because when she points her brother’s gun at her head, already taken over by madness and grief, it seems to be a pain in her abdomen that stops her. Maybe it’s just coincidence, maybe it is not. The production doesn’t answer the question, leaving it up to the audience to interpret. Wilder’s strongest moment is Ophelia’s attempt at putting back together the pieces of a letter that Hamlet tore apart in his rage. Without saying a word, simply kneeling on the floor, her despair becomes so visible and so understandable. And it explains why supposedly losing Hamlet takes this toll on her.

Thanks to the casting choices, Rosacrantz (Ayesha Antoine, also in the role of Bernarda) and Guildastern (Eleanor de Rohan, also as Marcella and the priest) are not only Hamlet’s friends but also women in his life. And to first answer the question of ‘Did they or did they not?’…yes, I think they did. It is never addressed, but there is a certain vibe in their initially playful relationship with the Danish prince that makes me believe that the good times they had together in Wittenberg included more than just dancing and drinking games. Given that’s the case, their betrayal of Hamlet becomes somehow even more outrageous. Both Antoine and de Rohan deliver a brilliant performance as the spineless instruments of King Claudius who gradually forget that Hamlet once was their friend. Or maybe he never really was?! On a sidenote, they both also rock running around in killer high heels.

The character of Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, has never really been a very likeable one to me. In the beginning of the play, that goes for Lolita Chakrabarti’s Gertrude as well. While she is the epitome of grace (seriously, she is!) and always a loving mother to her son, she is also the woman who gladly shares her bed with her first husband’s brother. But over the course of the play, Chakrabarti shows Gertrude as a woman who starts to doubt and to question. In the midst of worrying about her son, doubting her current husband’s motives and questioning the circumstances of the death of her first, she becomes a sort of plaything of the events taking place. And while she obviously wants to stop it all from happening, especially anything concerning her son and the madness of Ophelia, she is completely helpless and caught in the wheel of lies and schemes. Gertrude has to start wandering the fine line between giving into her impulses, her doubts and remembering her duties as the Queen and wife to Claudius, something that Chakrabarti portrays with utter perfection.

Nicholas Farrell plays his Claudius with lots of power and strength. Even in the moments of doubt, I never developed any kind of pity or sympathy for the King. He is a Claudius I loved to hate. While Farrell’s delivery is flawless, it lacked a certain spark and unfortunately kept me from connecting with the character in any way.

The complete opposite of that is Sean Foley’s Polonius (and also later in his portrayal of Osric). Just like Gertrude, I never really regarded Polonius as a likeable character and considered his death somewhat of a relief in the play. Not this time. Foley plays him with so much charming wit, refreshing humour, adorable awkwardness and, unexpectedly, true honesty that I just couldn’t help but like him. He isn’t constantly plotting and calculating, as the character is often portrayed. This Polonius is most of all a caring father who really loves and worries about his two children. And because he’s also a loyal servant to the King, he is constantly torn between his duties and the love for his family. Foley brilliantly displays that inner conflict without letting it suffocate the character, on the contrary, which makes his Polonius by far the most entertaining and most memorable I’ve ever seen on stage.

Polonius’ son Laertes is portrayed by Irfan Shamji, who delivers a strong performance (also in his portrayal of the Player Queen). Even more touching than his pain over the loss of his family, is the playful and loving relationship he has with his sister. His Laertes is very affectionate towards Ophelia and never leaves any doubt that he’d do everything to protect his sister. And that strong relationship makes his rage even more powerful and understandable. This Laertes doesn’t want revenge out of a sense of honour or obligation. He wants revenge because he wants to hurt the person who took his beloved family from him and Shamji’s delivery never leaves a doubt about that. He also shines in the intense sword fight at the end of the play.

The unexpected versatile surprise of the evening is without a doubt Ansu Kabia, portraying the ghost of King Hamlet, the Player King and the Gravedigger. If the programme didn’t confirm it, I’d never suspect all three characters to be played by the same actor. Kabia’s Player King is very intense and his monologue recital did indeed bring tears to my eyes. His Gravedigger is, just as Shakespeare intended, a clown with great comedic timing and a great feeling for rhythm. When the character uses the dug up skulls as a kind of drumset to entertain himself, it seems somehow morbid and at the same time incredibly funny, all thanks to Kabia’s on-point performance. But his most impressive performance of the night is his portrayal of the old King Hamlet. He lends the ghost a very own physis and manner of walking that really makes him seem like he’s out of this world. It is a ghost who is in pain – pain over his own death, pain over the loss of his family, pain over his brother’s betrayal, pain over being trapped in the state between living and dead. Kabia allows the audience to see, hear and feel that pain in every step, in every word.

And last but not least, there is Tom Hiddleston, who simply owns the role of Hamlet. All of his many talents shine throughout the play, most of all his physical presence on stage, his flawless technique and his ability to deliver Shakespeare lines with the greatest ease and, at the same time, so much meaning, depth and emotion. His Hamlet is a complex one. He’s confident and yet so doubting and vulnerable. He’s calm and yet there is an ocean of emotions raging inside him. He’s grieving and dealing with sadness and yet he’s surprisingly funny and at ease sometimes. He’s gentle and yet his words can hurt more than any sword ever could. The list of polar opposites in this Hamlet goes on and on and on. And Hiddleston manages to switch between them in the blink of an eye and every new emotion, every new idea simply hits the nail on the head. His ‘To be or not to be’ isn’t a question at all. The confidence with which he delivers the famous soliloquy is almost shocking and leaves no doubt that his character has very well understood one of the most essential questions of human existance. Unfortunately, not all monologues are that convincing. There are moments in which Hiddleston’s delivery feels a bit too recited, too rehearsed even. In these moments, I wished for a more emotional and less restrained Hamlet. But none of this changes the fact that Tom Hiddleston’s performance is absolutely outstanding. The sheer power he radiates on stage makes it impossible not to connect with the character and not to feel what he feels. He also once again shows great comedic timing and it is hopefully only a matter of time until he is cast in a full-on (Shakespeare) comedy. And after witnessing live how he makes Shakespeare’s words his own and gives them new power and meaning, I am now once and for all convinced that Tom Hiddleston is the best Shakespearean actor the world has seen in a very long time.

For someone familiar with Kenneth Branagh’s œuvre, there are many moments and little details that bear his handwriting. Combined with a stellar cast, his understanding and obvious appreciation of Shakespeare created a production of Hamlet that is very true to the literary original and yet demands enough freedom to be original and unique. It is also a nice nod towards Shakespeare and the exclusively male actors of his time, that the Player Queen in the play in the play is actually portrayed by a man.

Sure, in general, it isn’t a groundbreaking staging that offers some never before seen take on the play. But as a complete work of art, the production is absolutely coherent and offers unforgettable cast performances as well as true emotions. And due to the close proximity of the audience to the stage, it is basically impossible to escape those emotions that range from wholehearted laughter to heartbreaking tears. Emotions that still move me when I think back to what I was allowed to experience at the theatre. The production is a union of laughter and tears, delivered with great honesty. And when theatre is so honest and moving and technically flawless, it doesn’t need to be groundbreaking to be phenomenal.

https://katbwritings.wordpress.com/2017/09/21/a-union-of-laughter-and-tears/

[hipandcriticalblog]

Jamm’s Top 7 Must See Netflix Series

Monday, August 28, 2017 7:50 PM by. Jae Covington (Jamm)

  We are all familiar with the juggernaut streaming service NETFLIX and its mega successful and award winning  series’ like House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black. While these shows are well deserving of all the glory that they have received, there are still a wealth of less recognized series that deserve some of the spotlight  as well. So here is my list of seven essential shows for your viewing pleasure on NETFLIX.

1. Sense 8    Let's start off with the most well known show from the list, Sense 8. The series has been making waves recently due to its fans loud uproar of disapproval following the shows cancellation, right after the release of its second season. But if you take the time to experience this epic sci-fi drama/thriller, you'll no doubt join in on all of the rage.

 Sense 8 introduces the idea that there is a more evolved species of human on the planet called sensates (get sense 8, sensate), with the ability to share memories, emotions, and all senses with other sensates. These amazing abilities combine to make a another one called "visiting". Visiting is kinda like making a projection of yourself directly into someone else's consciousness, something like a hologram. While the premise is enough to bring you into the story, the characters and their interactions with one another is definitely what keeps you engaged. The story revolves around, you guessed it, 8 characters in a cluster (you'll learn about the term from the show) from all over the world. Each character has their own unique background, talents, and personalities which vary greatly from the other characters. Like Capheus, a Kenyan bus driver living in the slums of Nairobi and Nomi, a transgender lesbian hacker from San Francisco.

    The show dedicates itself to exposing the nuance of the lives that the characters live, and introducing that same nuance and culture  to people who would never experience it. It is an extremely engaging show to say the least, full of likable characters, drama, and action. This short summary won't give it its due justice, so you should just experience it yourself.

2.       3%    Now when I first started 3% I had no idea what I was watching and what to expect. But I ended up witnessing a thrilling and thought provoking series that I highly recommend. 3% takes place in a dystopian Brazil, where the mass majority of people live in extreme poverty and in a desolate landscape, where people fight and die over resources like food and water. Meanwhile, a small chunk of the population live in a complete paradise separated from the mainland called "The Offshore".

   The main plot is people from the mainland trying to get to the The Offshore, but the only way to achieve this is through an extreme series of testing simply called "The Process". While the plot was beginning to open up, I thought I was going to get another Hunger Games clone but I was lead into something much more dramatic and thought provoking. 3% is like the Hunger Games however, only a certain amount of people can participate. But unlike Hunger Games however, instead of picking children and teenagers, all participants are 21. Also instead of an all out battle royale, the process includes mental challenges and teamwork in some cases in order to advance.

   This show delivers drama, action, mystery, and even a revenge story pulled together into a single narrative creating a must see series.

3.       The OA    Straight up, this show is weird. Usually, I can predict plot points before they are revealed while watching movies or a new series. This however was not the case for The OA. This series left me full of questions and a deep need to find out what is going to happen after the first season. Fair warning: This show will confuse you, but nonetheless, you should watch it.

   In a nutshell, the show tells the story of a blind girl who was kidnapped, but then years later returns to her hometown, with her vision once more. Unfortunately, if I go any more into detail about the story it would spoil too much...so strap in for this one because The OA will take you on a wild ride.

4.       Ozark    If you love gritty crime shows with rich character building and an intense plot, then welcome to your new favorite show, Ozark. This show grabbed me at the first episode and never loosened its grip on my attention and imagination. The series follows an intelligent Chicago financial advisor Marty Byrd, who is also a money launderer for a huge Mexican drug cartel. The basic premise of the show is based around Marty trying to launder 5 million dollars within a short time frame of a few weeks for the cartel, or the cartel will kill him and his family. The show takes a slow start in the first episode but it makes up for it drastically, with a major increase in tension towards the end of the episode.

 In order to launder this mass amount of money Marty takes his family to Ozark, Missouri, a small country lake town in order to capitalize on the large tourist population during the summer. The show is very reminiscent of Breaking Bad. The difference is this show does right when Breaking Bad starts to fall off. Personally, I started to lose interest in Breaking Bad when Walter White connects to the South American drug lord. The interplay between the two characters didn't really add any more drama to the show and I thought the drug lord played too much of a role in the plot, but with Ozark it's the opposite. Every time you see the cartel after the first episode, it's nothing but intensity. Instead of being always seen the cartel thrives in the background but reappears just enough to stay relevant without overdoing it.

   All in all, this show is simply amazing and I highly recommend it to drama show lovers.

5.       Chewing Gum   Sexual, Awkward, Hilarious, are the words that comes to mind when I think about Chewing Gum. This series takes raunchy comedy to an entirely new level. In its two seasons it has become a comedic masterpiece that is choke-full of truly laugh out loud moments. The story revolves around a young woman named Tracey, that’s trying desperately to lose her virginity despite the rules of her highly religious mother. Now one might think this plot to be simple and easy to overcome, but when you are as awkward and so out of touch as Tracey your idea of simple might change.

    The wild and outrageous situations that she finds herself in in the pursuit of sex are to die for. I must admit though, that not all the jokes land well but those are few and far in-between, and the ones that do hit hard and are memorable and will keep you laughing for minutes on end. What makes this show stand out to me however is the fact that Tracey is black. We really don’t see black women in leading comedic roles, nor do we see them actively looking to engage in sex.

This BAFTA winning series is by far one of my favorites on the air right now. It's refreshing, funny, honest, and truly worth your time to watch.

6.       Grace&Frankie    To keep the comedy wagon rolling next up is this "buddy buddy" comedy that brings "old eyes" on current issues. This series will definitely will be one that will be discussed for years to come, due to how it handles topics like; sexuality, ageism,  infidelity, and family issues. And it only helps that it's funny as well. The best way to describe this story is messy, as it follows two older married couples Grace and Robert and Frankie and Saul whom are all friends via Saul and Robert, who are also partners in their own law firm. Where things get messy is when Saul and Robert both come out as gay and in love with each other and have been over the majority of both of their marriages. So to help each other through the situation that they both found themselves in, Grace and Frankie both move in together to be apart from their ex-husbands. I needed some sanitizer writing this because it gets so messy, as this is just the basic premise of the show.

   But through all of this drama and heartbreak the series still finds the space to fit in plenty of comedy in the mix. Mainly the comedic relief falls on Frankie and hippy like lifestyle as it clashes with Grace's upper class and bourgeois status and sensibility. As stated before, the show really shines by its ability to integrate current topics to older characters, which is very seldom seen in television. I really enjoyed watching both Grace and Frankie trying to re-enter the dating scene after being with one person for over 20 years. The show also does a good job of sharing screen time with all of its characters including the children of both marriages, all of whom are complete individuals and have their own storylines to follow.

   In my opinion, Grace&Frankie is one of the best crafted shows that you will see on television. So if you haven't seen it log on to Netflix and delve right into it, you deserve it.

7.       Black Mirror    This show just might be my favorite thing on the entire Netflix platform. It might even be my favorite television show period. Yeah it’s that good. It’s definitely the most complex show on the list, and no doubt will be the hardest to describe...so let’s just get into it. First off, every episode is different so there is no continuity nor connectivity with each episode, just one recurring theme of how technology has, is, and might affect people and society as a whole. The lack of continuity was confusing at first, because the series gives no indication of it, so I was taken back at first, but the feeling faded as I got into the second episode and beyond.

    The show really plays out like a collection of movies instead of television series, due to the quality of the production and how immersive every episode is. What I truly enjoy about this series is that every episode provokes thought and the feeling of "What if that were to really happen to me/us?". A great example of when I felt this sensation is in an episode where the bee population is so low that a company created mechanical bees to make up for the low natural bee population. The problem however is when someone hacks into the artificial bee's systems and start using them to kill people who are chosen over twitter via people attaching their name to a certain hashtag. The show gets deep and when you are watching it it becomes hard to turn away and remove yourself from your captivation to it.

    I can never do this masterpiece any justice from this short description of it. You just have to immerse yourself into it to truly understand how great it is.

   So that’s it with the list of my top seven must see shows. So take a day or two for yourself, and your favorite binge buddy, grab some snacks, and start checking off the shows on your new watch list.

[lisacongo2-blog]

‘Shrill’ Shreds Hollywood Stereotypes About How Women of Size Eat

The first time you see Annie, the protagonist of the new Hulu show Shrill, eating, her meal doesn’t look particularly pleasant. Played by SNL cast member Aidy Bryant, Annie grabs a plastic container from the fridge, opening it to reveal three white disks — supposedly pancakes — from a Tupperware labeled “Thin Menu.” While standing in her kitchen, she tries to break off a slab, puts it in her mouth, and wrinkles her nose in disgust. Her roommate, Fran (played by Lolly Adefope), walks by to witness the three doughy pucks, and says, “Good God.”

It’s not the only time Annie eats in her kitchen. Later in the series, Bryant opens a sealed container of leftover spaghetti, standing alone over an island near the sink. She twirls noodles around her fork, grinning in anticipation. She looks confident, blissed out, holding her hand under her chin as a noodle inches toward her lips. She scrunches her eyebrows and crinkles her nose, the perfect opposite of her look of disgust eating the Thin Meal pancakes. She nods and smiles while chewing, enjoying the moment.

The annals of TV are full of stories where women change themselves, from Mad Men’s Peggy Olsen to Eleanor Shellstrop in The Good Place. But Shrill, the six-episode adaptation of writer Lindy West’s memoir of the same name, is a different kind of “transformation” story, starring a woman of size. The show tells the story of Annie, a Portland-based calendar editor for an alt-weekly newspaper, trying to jump start her career, earn the love of Ryan, a painfully oblivious loser, and become a more honest, self-assured person. What Shrill is not is a story of body transformation, of a fat woman getting thin. Although it shows Annie eating diet meals and exercising with her mother, her real goal goes beyond the universal challenge of self-acceptance — she wants to feel powerful, as a woman of size and simply as a woman. She wants to demand respect from the people around her.

Those people often fat-shame Annie, whether it’s her obsessive online troll, her perpetually sneering editor, or an invasive personal trainer who eventually devolves into calling her a “fat bitch.” Still, Annie’s relationship with her body is more nuanced. Her insecurities are more often portrayed in physical details or unspoken interpersonal choices she makes because she feels that, in her words, “there’s a certain way that your body’s supposed to be and I’m not that.”

In media where a woman’s relationship with her body plays its own role, the eating scenes are telling. There are countless movies in which women devour ice cream during break-ups or lonely moments. And for years, when a person of size ate on screen, it was portrayed as comic relief, from Melissa McCarthy consuming a napkin in Spy to a cross-dressing Chris Farley on Saturday Night Live inhaling his friend’s french fries while asking, “Can I have some?”

Even in shows and movies celebrated for their representations of non-normative bodies, eating is reserved for emotional distress. In HBO’s Girls, Hannah Horvath (played by Lena Dunham) is often caught eating during low moments, like when she eats cake with her hands after her purse is stolen on the train. In Real Women Have Curves, it takes a conflict with her mother to get the protagonist, Ana (America Ferrera), to eat a bite of flan in a moment of overall positive defiance. Rarely do women of size get the opportunity to eat happily on screen without some tumult, some churning emotional hang-ups or interpersonal conflict. The exception, of course, is when people of size are shot eating healthy foods, like when the contestants on The Biggest Loser marvel over turkey burgers. But if a not-thin character is caught eating a cupcake, the audience is meant to laugh or cry at their expense.

When Annie eats so-called “indulgent” foods in Shrill, she’s not considered a failure, and it’s not used as a comic device. Instead, it’s often tied to a moment of personal or thematic triumph completely unrelated to her weight. By simply showing Annie eating the foods countless people love in a way that’s empowering, Shrill reinforces the idea that people, regardless of size, have the right to enjoy food in its entirety — not just salads and apples and other pious things, but rather the foods that are seen as permissibly comforting and luxurious for people of a smaller size. Like last year’s hit culinary travel show Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, Hulu’s new series rewrites the rules for who gets to enjoy food on television.

Annie isn’t the only big millennial woman eating spaghetti on TV. In a scene on Girls, Hannah grabs handfuls of noodles from a takeout box, dangling them into her open mouth. There is an element of watching this scene that feels relatable, especially for anyone who lives alone, but nothing about that moment is sexy or empowering. At its best, it’s a moment of comic relief born out of universality; at its worst, it’s Dunham’s self-ridiculing humor shaming herself — and other women — for eating without control while not thin.

This is far from the only moment when a woman eating sugary, greasy, and otherwise “bad” foods on television works as a boiler-plate scene representing rock bottom. In her essay “Why is it sad and lonely women who turn to chocolate?” Telegraph culture writer Rebecca Hawkes recalls similar moments in romantic comedies, like when Renee Zellweger devours chocolates under a blanket in Bridget Jones’s Diary, or when Sandra Bullock turns to ice cream in Miss Congeniality. “When you look at the trope in more detail, the implication is that eating chocolate is something ‘naughty,’” she writes. “It’s something that (calorie-counting, figure-obsessed) women shouldn’t be doing, but can’t help resorting to in moments of extreme trauma — or simply due to a comedic lack of discipline.” In her essay, Hawkes also brings up another classic plus-sized person comically shamed and punished for their gluttony: Augustus Gloop, the rotund little boy in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, presumably killed for wanting to eat some of the chocolate in a literal river of chocolate — as if anyone wouldn’t.

Ryan (Luka Jones) and Annie (Aidy Bryant)

Photo: Allyson Riggs/Shrill

But still, beyond little boys, beyond thin ladies, it’s plus-size women whose eating is most often used as a thematic example of a psychological and/or personal failure, whether it’s comical or supposedly tragic. “With any overweight, unruly woman, there’s always a tendency to pathologize their relationship with food,” says Kathleen Rowe Karlyn, author of The Unruly Woman: Gender and the Genres of Laughter. “[For] women who dive in to the quart of ice cream or the box of chocolate, food is a source of comfort because life is not giving them other types of comfort.”

If women get fat as a plot device, they’re often shown eating something like pizza, ice cream, chocolate, or other sweets — take, for example, Goldie Hawn gorging herself on frosting post-breakup in Death Becomes Her. If a character appears to get them out of a slump, a chicken wing might be yanked out of their hands. And they won’t reach personal fulfillment until they’re skinny again. Meanwhile, women who are thin and confident — whether it’s Drew Barrymore in Charlie’s Angels, or the titular Gilmore Girls — are free to eat as much as they please, to the delight of all who watch them.

Annie didn’t originally eat the spaghetti. It was made by Fran’s brother, Lamar (Akemnji Ndifornyen), who spends the third episode, “Pencil,” visiting his sister and her roommate. For most of the first few episodes, Annie is busy obsessing over a man (Luka Jones) who is so embarrassed by her that he sends her out the back door of his apartment so his roommates can’t see her. On their first date, she eats a salad. When she arrives home after Ryan has stood her up, Lamar and Fran offer her the spaghetti. She turns it down.

Lamar, a chef, spends the episode quietly fawning over Annie. When he arrives, he gives her a box of chocolate turtles, an elaborate reference to a memory from their past. He lights up when she enters the room. And later, when she comes back after choosing not to see Ryan, he admits that he likes her, and that he always did. After they have sex, Annie tiptoes downstairs to the kitchen, where she finds the pasta he made. The scene is romantic and almost sexy, in a totally subtle, maybe even unintentional way. He didn’t make the pasta for her, specifically, but it was made by him.

But beyond the romantic arc of Annie and Lamar, the scene’s impact comes directly from what it means for her, in her path to self-respect: she’s giving herself what she wants and deserves, on her own terms. And the bewildered delight in her face as she eats is so contagiously joyful that the context of her weight becomes irrelevant.

Annie (Aidy Bryant) and Lamar (Akemnji Ndifornyen).

Photo by: Allyson Riggs/Shrill

Beyond the men in her life, one of Annie’s most fraught relationships is with her mother, Vera (played by Julia Sweeney), who’s responsible for the Thin Menu meals. During a pivotal rant, when Annie describes the ways the people around her have made her size seem like a moral failing, she says, “At this point, I could be a licensed fucking nutritionist because I’ve literally been training for it since the fourth grade, which is the first time that my mom said that I should just eat a bowl of Special K and not the dinner that she made for everyone else so I might be a little bit smaller.” One of Annie’s most significant plot developments with her mother, when she pushes back against her health policing, starts with a meal of meatball subs with her father. And when the season ends, we leave Vera lying on the ground with a bag of chips, suggesting that Annie’s number one advice giver also needs respite from controlling everything.

“Whether they’re very curvy like Mae West or they’re slender, I think what we haven’t seen in a long time is the ability of women just to be seen enjoying food,” Karlyn says. “Food is enjoyable (to women), not because they’re neurotic, not because they’re crazy, not because they’re sex-obsessed, just because food is a natural pleasure of life.” That’s how Shrill treats food, but also most of life’s joys: dancing at a party, swimming in a pool, having sex, being honest. Counter to the ways television and movies have previously presented plus-size women, as victims of their own lack of self-control, Shrill shows how restrictive life as a plus-size woman can be, and how often that’s a direct result of their self control. Shrill seems to be advocating for more self-designated freedom for women of size — the freedom to live with abandon. As Annie says, lying in bed and taking charge, “I’ve got big titties and a fat ass — I make the rules.”

Brooke Jackson-Glidden is the editor of Eater Portland. Edited by: Greg Morabito

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Source: https://www.eater.com/2019/3/28/18284128/shrill-hulu-aidy-bryant-food-eating

[becomeshield-a]

I don't care for Jaune's character. Would you care to elaborate on why he deserves a second look? Genuinely curious, mun seems to like him very much.

*cracks knuckles*

            alright, firstly, you are not obligated to suddenly love him just because i do. all these points and facts and junk i want to bring up don’t need to sway anyone. it’s ok if you still don’t care for him after we’re done.

           THIS IS ALSO NOT AN INVITATION TO REBLOG THIS SHIT AND ARGUE WITH ME. you will most likely be blocked lmfao ain’t nobody got time for that. 

              THAT BEING SAID, you asked so let’s start this shit off hot.

          people love to point out jaune’s blaring flaws whenever given the chance. its normal, start with the shit wrong with the person you don’t like. i get it. the most common flaws being his inability to take ‘no’ for an answer from weiss during the first few volumes, and his macho-man bravado that almost cost him his team and respect. while i understand these hit home for a lot of people, and people can relate how uncomfortable a pursuer like that can be, i also want to point out they are still teenagers. jaune is, i believe, 17 during volume one (correct me if i’m wrong but i can’t be far off.) as far as we know, beacon is his first big venture out into the world on his own. he’s probably learned how to interact with others outside of his family from tv, movies, and popular media. how does popular media usually portray the guys in things?

          the hero. the suave, muscled, sweetheart who gets the girl with a smile and a strum of his guitar. the guy who saves everyone. he’s also probably used to the women in his life saying exactly what they mean to him. weiss sort of just said ‘no’ a lot and ignored him.

          i’m not saying he didn’t make mistakes, of course not. weiss wasn’t obligated to spell out what he was doing was wrong. what i’m saying is everyone in the entire series has made mistakes based on what their upbringing is like, based on what they already know, and what they’ve yet to learn. weiss was literally racist at one point. she had to/is still unlearn(ing) an entire lifetime of bigoted ideals.

         jaune wants so badly to be considered strong, to make his family proud, to be the hero, that he is unaware of the people he hurts in the process to get there. this inability to see past his own nose is incredibly human, in my opinion, and a trait that takes time and patience to grow out of. we see him do so in small steps, but they are indeed there; when he defends weiss to neptune, when he pretty much backs away to let her chose, when he apologies to pyrrha, when he stands up to cardin, when he steps up to the ‘leader seat’ after his chat with ruby. the steps become larger after pyrrha’s death. he realizes there can be more going on than he initially sees when he learns about pyrrha’s ‘choice’, and he becomes more aware of other’s feelings, which is made obvious when he reaches out to ruby to comfort her, and make sure she knows they were here with her by choice. i truly don’t think volume one jaune would have been able to catch on just how much ruby was internalizing. 

       basically, he flubs up, but doesn’t mind admitting that he did so in the first place.

                          MOVING ON. 

          i may get flak for this but a lot of people say they hate jaune because he’s a ‘screen hog’ and a ‘self insert’ thanks to his va being a head writer. while a lot of people don’t want to admit it, team jnpr was considered to be a large, integral part of the rwby story as a whole, even at the beginning. monty didn’t add in anything that wasn’t necessary, it’s just how he worked. i believe jnpr was just as much a part of the main cast as team rwby. i love rwby for the strong female cast but to immediately demonized any male that gets more than two minutes of screen time in their stead is just. idk man it’s shitty. rwby is planned to be over seven seasons long. just because one season had jaune talking for a whole extra two minutes more than blake in its entirety doesn’t mean the show should be renamed jnpr. like, i mean, ren had a giant chunk of story line near the end of volume four, it almost felt like filler to me compared to the overall story (cinder, salem, the relics, maidens, etc) and no one really was up in arms about it? whether its because ren is more liked or that ren was, in essence, monty’s character, i’m not sure. it just feels a bit centered around jaune when it comes to ‘males are killing rwby.’ 

          ntm the screen time he does get ends up him being comedic relief, usually. (at least before pyrrha died and gave him crippling anxiety lmfao.) people love to shit on jaune but the show literally does it for you. he’s seen constantly being thrown around, screaming at the top of his lungs, saying dumb things (we hit it. HARDER!), being laughed at, and just generally being the ‘lovable goofball’ who needs a pat on the head and some warm milk before being sent to bed. i personally like those kinds of characters, they have the largest room for growth, but a lot of people don’t, and that’s totally ok! but he serves a purpose.

          regarding the parts he’s in vol 4 being sad and junk, i made a whole post on why jaune deserves to mourn pyrrha just as much as anyone else, so i won’t repeat it. but here’s the post if you’re curious. 

          people also dislike him for being a tutorial character, but what we hate to admit is that every good show needs one. again, he serves an important purpose. there’s the guy who has no idea what anything is about and needs to be explained about the world around them; jaune was that for us, the audience, so we could be informed about the lore and world we were being presented. you don’t have to like characters like that, it’s fine, but don’t forget they are there for a reason. literally every good show based in an alternate world/reality has one. 

          overall….honestly, i find jaune’s growth to be incredibly relatable. here’s this guy who had this idea in his head on who he wanted to be, what he wanted to do, and how he was supposed to do it. while he had good intentions, he was inherently selfish when the series started. i won’t deny that one bit. most people are. we want what we want and we’re sad when it seems like, no matter how hard we try, we won’t get it. he had his moments where even i cringe (why you had to talk to pyrrha like that tho??) but he turns around and tries to make up for it in the end. he learns a lesson, and makes amends. he reminds me a lot of rock lee, this character from naruto whom i have loved since i was a kid: in a show about super powered ninja’s who use chakra to make magic stuff happen, he’s the only normal one. he can’t do anything but fight with his own two hands. but he tries so hard and never gives up and he manages to become on of the strongest characters in the series? 

          jaune is that for me. he is very human. and humans are inherently flawed creatures. he is inexperienced. he is self-conscious. he is ignorant to certain virtues, and values others too much. he is scared. 

          but that’s what draws me to him, and characters like him. 

           tl;dr he’s not perfect but characters that are are boring af

[sparkvelvet75-blog]

‘Shrill’ Shreds Hollywood Stereotypes About How Women of Size Eat

The first time you see Annie, the protagonist of the new Hulu show Shrill, eating, her meal doesn’t look particularly pleasant. Played by SNL cast member Aidy Bryant, Annie grabs a plastic container from the fridge, opening it to reveal three white disks — supposedly pancakes — from a Tupperware labeled “Thin Menu.” While standing in her kitchen, she tries to break off a slab, puts it in her mouth, and wrinkles her nose in disgust. Her roommate, Fran (played by Lolly Adefope), walks by to witness the three doughy pucks, and says, “Good God.”

It’s not the only time Annie eats in her kitchen. Later in the series, Bryant opens a sealed container of leftover spaghetti, standing alone over an island near the sink. She twirls noodles around her fork, grinning in anticipation. She looks confident, blissed out, holding her hand under her chin as a noodle inches toward her lips. She scrunches her eyebrows and crinkles her nose, the perfect opposite of her look of disgust eating the Thin Meal pancakes. She nods and smiles while chewing, enjoying the moment.

The annals of TV are full of stories where women change themselves, from Mad Men’s Peggy Olsen to Eleanor Shellstrop in The Good Place. But Shrill, the six-episode adaptation of writer Lindy West’s memoir of the same name, is a different kind of “transformation” story, starring a woman of size. The show tells the story of Annie, a Portland-based calendar editor for an alt-weekly newspaper, trying to jump start her career, earn the love of Ryan, a painfully oblivious loser, and become a more honest, self-assured person. What Shrill is not is a story of body transformation, of a fat woman getting thin. Although it shows Annie eating diet meals and exercising with her mother, her real goal goes beyond the universal challenge of self-acceptance — she wants to feel powerful, as a woman of size and simply as a woman. She wants to demand respect from the people around her.

Those people often fat-shame Annie, whether it’s her obsessive online troll, her perpetually sneering editor, or an invasive personal trainer who eventually devolves into calling her a “fat bitch.” Still, Annie’s relationship with her body is more nuanced. Her insecurities are more often portrayed in physical details or unspoken interpersonal choices she makes because she feels that, in her words, “there’s a certain way that your body’s supposed to be and I’m not that.”

In media where a woman’s relationship with her body plays its own role, the eating scenes are telling. There are countless movies in which women devour ice cream during break-ups or lonely moments. And for years, when a person of size ate on screen, it was portrayed as comic relief, from Melissa McCarthy consuming a napkin in Spy to a cross-dressing Chris Farley on Saturday Night Live inhaling his friend’s french fries while asking, “Can I have some?”

Even in shows and movies celebrated for their representations of non-normative bodies, eating is reserved for emotional distress. In HBO’s Girls, Hannah Horvath (played by Lena Dunham) is often caught eating during low moments, like when she eats cake with her hands after her purse is stolen on the train. In Real Women Have Curves, it takes a conflict with her mother to get the protagonist, Ana (America Ferrera), to eat a bite of flan in a moment of overall positive defiance. Rarely do women of size get the opportunity to eat happily on screen without some tumult, some churning emotional hang-ups or interpersonal conflict. The exception, of course, is when people of size are shot eating healthy foods, like when the contestants on The Biggest Loser marvel over turkey burgers. But if a not-thin character is caught eating a cupcake, the audience is meant to laugh or cry at their expense.

When Annie eats so-called “indulgent” foods in Shrill, she’s not considered a failure, and it’s not used as a comic device. Instead, it’s often tied to a moment of personal or thematic triumph completely unrelated to her weight. By simply showing Annie eating the foods countless people love in a way that’s empowering, Shrill reinforces the idea that people, regardless of size, have the right to enjoy food in its entirety — not just salads and apples and other pious things, but rather the foods that are seen as permissibly comforting and luxurious for people of a smaller size. Like last year’s hit culinary travel show Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, Hulu’s new series rewrites the rules for who gets to enjoy food on television.

Annie isn’t the only big millennial woman eating spaghetti on TV. In a scene on Girls, Hannah grabs handfuls of noodles from a takeout box, dangling them into her open mouth. There is an element of watching this scene that feels relatable, especially for anyone who lives alone, but nothing about that moment is sexy or empowering. At its best, it’s a moment of comic relief born out of universality; at its worst, it’s Dunham’s self-ridiculing humor shaming herself — and other women — for eating without control while not thin.

This is far from the only moment when a woman eating sugary, greasy, and otherwise “bad” foods on television works as a boiler-plate scene representing rock bottom. In her essay “Why is it sad and lonely women who turn to chocolate?” Telegraph culture writer Rebecca Hawkes recalls similar moments in romantic comedies, like when Renee Zellweger devours chocolates under a blanket in Bridget Jones’s Diary, or when Sandra Bullock turns to ice cream in Miss Congeniality. “When you look at the trope in more detail, the implication is that eating chocolate is something ‘naughty,’” she writes. “It’s something that (calorie-counting, figure-obsessed) women shouldn’t be doing, but can’t help resorting to in moments of extreme trauma — or simply due to a comedic lack of discipline.” In her essay, Hawkes also brings up another classic plus-sized person comically shamed and punished for their gluttony: Augustus Gloop, the rotund little boy in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, presumably killed for wanting to eat some of the chocolate in a literal river of chocolate — as if anyone wouldn’t.

Ryan (Luka Jones) and Annie (Aidy Bryant)

Photo: Allyson Riggs/Shrill

But still, beyond little boys, beyond thin ladies, it’s plus-size women whose eating is most often used as a thematic example of a psychological and/or personal failure, whether it’s comical or supposedly tragic. “With any overweight, unruly woman, there’s always a tendency to pathologize their relationship with food,” says Kathleen Rowe Karlyn, author of The Unruly Woman: Gender and the Genres of Laughter. “[For] women who dive in to the quart of ice cream or the box of chocolate, food is a source of comfort because life is not giving them other types of comfort.”

If women get fat as a plot device, they’re often shown eating something like pizza, ice cream, chocolate, or other sweets — take, for example, Goldie Hawn gorging herself on frosting post-breakup in Death Becomes Her. If a character appears to get them out of a slump, a chicken wing might be yanked out of their hands. And they won’t reach personal fulfillment until they’re skinny again. Meanwhile, women who are thin and confident — whether it’s Drew Barrymore in Charlie’s Angels, or the titular Gilmore Girls — are free to eat as much as they please, to the delight of all who watch them.

Annie didn’t originally eat the spaghetti. It was made by Fran’s brother, Lamar (Akemnji Ndifornyen), who spends the third episode, “Pencil,” visiting his sister and her roommate. For most of the first few episodes, Annie is busy obsessing over a man (Luka Jones) who is so embarrassed by her that he sends her out the back door of his apartment so his roommates can’t see her. On their first date, she eats a salad. When she arrives home after Ryan has stood her up, Lamar and Fran offer her the spaghetti. She turns it down.

Lamar, a chef, spends the episode quietly fawning over Annie. When he arrives, he gives her a box of chocolate turtles, an elaborate reference to a memory from their past. He lights up when she enters the room. And later, when she comes back after choosing not to see Ryan, he admits that he likes her, and that he always did. After they have sex, Annie tiptoes downstairs to the kitchen, where she finds the pasta he made. The scene is romantic and almost sexy, in a totally subtle, maybe even unintentional way. He didn’t make the pasta for her, specifically, but it was made by him.

But beyond the romantic arc of Annie and Lamar, the scene’s impact comes directly from what it means for her, in her path to self-respect: she’s giving herself what she wants and deserves, on her own terms. And the bewildered delight in her face as she eats is so contagiously joyful that the context of her weight becomes irrelevant.

Annie (Aidy Bryant) and Lamar (Akemnji Ndifornyen).

Photo by: Allyson Riggs/Shrill

Beyond the men in her life, one of Annie’s most fraught relationships is with her mother, Vera (played by Julia Sweeney), who’s responsible for the Thin Menu meals. During a pivotal rant, when Annie describes the ways the people around her have made her size seem like a moral failing, she says, “At this point, I could be a licensed fucking nutritionist because I’ve literally been training for it since the fourth grade, which is the first time that my mom said that I should just eat a bowl of Special K and not the dinner that she made for everyone else so I might be a little bit smaller.” One of Annie’s most significant plot developments with her mother, when she pushes back against her health policing, starts with a meal of meatball subs with her father. And when the season ends, we leave Vera lying on the ground with a bag of chips, suggesting that Annie’s number one advice giver also needs respite from controlling everything.

“Whether they’re very curvy like Mae West or they’re slender, I think what we haven’t seen in a long time is the ability of women just to be seen enjoying food,” Karlyn says. “Food is enjoyable (to women), not because they’re neurotic, not because they’re crazy, not because they’re sex-obsessed, just because food is a natural pleasure of life.” That’s how Shrill treats food, but also most of life’s joys: dancing at a party, swimming in a pool, having sex, being honest. Counter to the ways television and movies have previously presented plus-size women, as victims of their own lack of self-control, Shrill shows how restrictive life as a plus-size woman can be, and how often that’s a direct result of their self control. Shrill seems to be advocating for more self-designated freedom for women of size — the freedom to live with abandon. As Annie says, lying in bed and taking charge, “I’ve got big titties and a fat ass — I make the rules.”

Brooke Jackson-Glidden is the editor of Eater Portland. Edited by: Greg Morabito

Eat, Drink, Watch.

Food entertainment news and streaming recommendations every Friday

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Source: https://www.eater.com/2019/3/28/18284128/shrill-hulu-aidy-bryant-food-eating

[butaneplate02-blog]

‘Shrill’ Shreds Hollywood Stereotypes About How Women of Size Eat

The first time you see Annie, the protagonist of the new Hulu show Shrill, eating, her meal doesn’t look particularly pleasant. Played by SNL cast member Aidy Bryant, Annie grabs a plastic container from the fridge, opening it to reveal three white disks — supposedly pancakes — from a Tupperware labeled “Thin Menu.” While standing in her kitchen, she tries to break off a slab, puts it in her mouth, and wrinkles her nose in disgust. Her roommate, Fran (played by Lolly Adefope), walks by to witness the three doughy pucks, and says, “Good God.”

It’s not the only time Annie eats in her kitchen. Later in the series, Bryant opens a sealed container of leftover spaghetti, standing alone over an island near the sink. She twirls noodles around her fork, grinning in anticipation. She looks confident, blissed out, holding her hand under her chin as a noodle inches toward her lips. She scrunches her eyebrows and crinkles her nose, the perfect opposite of her look of disgust eating the Thin Meal pancakes. She nods and smiles while chewing, enjoying the moment.

The annals of TV are full of stories where women change themselves, from Mad Men’s Peggy Olsen to Eleanor Shellstrop in The Good Place. But Shrill, the six-episode adaptation of writer Lindy West’s memoir of the same name, is a different kind of “transformation” story, starring a woman of size. The show tells the story of Annie, a Portland-based calendar editor for an alt-weekly newspaper, trying to jump start her career, earn the love of Ryan, a painfully oblivious loser, and become a more honest, self-assured person. What Shrill is not is a story of body transformation, of a fat woman getting thin. Although it shows Annie eating diet meals and exercising with her mother, her real goal goes beyond the universal challenge of self-acceptance — she wants to feel powerful, as a woman of size and simply as a woman. She wants to demand respect from the people around her.

Those people often fat-shame Annie, whether it’s her obsessive online troll, her perpetually sneering editor, or an invasive personal trainer who eventually devolves into calling her a “fat bitch.” Still, Annie’s relationship with her body is more nuanced. Her insecurities are more often portrayed in physical details or unspoken interpersonal choices she makes because she feels that, in her words, “there’s a certain way that your body’s supposed to be and I’m not that.”

In media where a woman’s relationship with her body plays its own role, the eating scenes are telling. There are countless movies in which women devour ice cream during break-ups or lonely moments. And for years, when a person of size ate on screen, it was portrayed as comic relief, from Melissa McCarthy consuming a napkin in Spy to a cross-dressing Chris Farley on Saturday Night Live inhaling his friend’s french fries while asking, “Can I have some?”

Even in shows and movies celebrated for their representations of non-normative bodies, eating is reserved for emotional distress. In HBO’s Girls, Hannah Horvath (played by Lena Dunham) is often caught eating during low moments, like when she eats cake with her hands after her purse is stolen on the train. In Real Women Have Curves, it takes a conflict with her mother to get the protagonist, Ana (America Ferrera), to eat a bite of flan in a moment of overall positive defiance. Rarely do women of size get the opportunity to eat happily on screen without some tumult, some churning emotional hang-ups or interpersonal conflict. The exception, of course, is when people of size are shot eating healthy foods, like when the contestants on The Biggest Loser marvel over turkey burgers. But if a not-thin character is caught eating a cupcake, the audience is meant to laugh or cry at their expense.

When Annie eats so-called “indulgent” foods in Shrill, she’s not considered a failure, and it’s not used as a comic device. Instead, it’s often tied to a moment of personal or thematic triumph completely unrelated to her weight. By simply showing Annie eating the foods countless people love in a way that’s empowering, Shrill reinforces the idea that people, regardless of size, have the right to enjoy food in its entirety — not just salads and apples and other pious things, but rather the foods that are seen as permissibly comforting and luxurious for people of a smaller size. Like last year’s hit culinary travel show Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, Hulu’s new series rewrites the rules for who gets to enjoy food on television.

Annie isn’t the only big millennial woman eating spaghetti on TV. In a scene on Girls, Hannah grabs handfuls of noodles from a takeout box, dangling them into her open mouth. There is an element of watching this scene that feels relatable, especially for anyone who lives alone, but nothing about that moment is sexy or empowering. At its best, it’s a moment of comic relief born out of universality; at its worst, it’s Dunham’s self-ridiculing humor shaming herself — and other women — for eating without control while not thin.

This is far from the only moment when a woman eating sugary, greasy, and otherwise “bad” foods on television works as a boiler-plate scene representing rock bottom. In her essay “Why is it sad and lonely women who turn to chocolate?” Telegraph culture writer Rebecca Hawkes recalls similar moments in romantic comedies, like when Renee Zellweger devours chocolates under a blanket in Bridget Jones’s Diary, or when Sandra Bullock turns to ice cream in Miss Congeniality. “When you look at the trope in more detail, the implication is that eating chocolate is something ‘naughty,’” she writes. “It’s something that (calorie-counting, figure-obsessed) women shouldn’t be doing, but can’t help resorting to in moments of extreme trauma — or simply due to a comedic lack of discipline.” In her essay, Hawkes also brings up another classic plus-sized person comically shamed and punished for their gluttony: Augustus Gloop, the rotund little boy in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, presumably killed for wanting to eat some of the chocolate in a literal river of chocolate — as if anyone wouldn’t.

Ryan (Luka Jones) and Annie (Aidy Bryant)

Photo: Allyson Riggs/Shrill

But still, beyond little boys, beyond thin ladies, it’s plus-size women whose eating is most often used as a thematic example of a psychological and/or personal failure, whether it’s comical or supposedly tragic. “With any overweight, unruly woman, there’s always a tendency to pathologize their relationship with food,” says Kathleen Rowe Karlyn, author of The Unruly Woman: Gender and the Genres of Laughter. “[For] women who dive in to the quart of ice cream or the box of chocolate, food is a source of comfort because life is not giving them other types of comfort.”

If women get fat as a plot device, they’re often shown eating something like pizza, ice cream, chocolate, or other sweets — take, for example, Goldie Hawn gorging herself on frosting post-breakup in Death Becomes Her. If a character appears to get them out of a slump, a chicken wing might be yanked out of their hands. And they won’t reach personal fulfillment until they’re skinny again. Meanwhile, women who are thin and confident — whether it’s Drew Barrymore in Charlie’s Angels, or the titular Gilmore Girls — are free to eat as much as they please, to the delight of all who watch them.

Annie didn’t originally eat the spaghetti. It was made by Fran’s brother, Lamar (Akemnji Ndifornyen), who spends the third episode, “Pencil,” visiting his sister and her roommate. For most of the first few episodes, Annie is busy obsessing over a man (Luka Jones) who is so embarrassed by her that he sends her out the back door of his apartment so his roommates can’t see her. On their first date, she eats a salad. When she arrives home after Ryan has stood her up, Lamar and Fran offer her the spaghetti. She turns it down.

Lamar, a chef, spends the episode quietly fawning over Annie. When he arrives, he gives her a box of chocolate turtles, an elaborate reference to a memory from their past. He lights up when she enters the room. And later, when she comes back after choosing not to see Ryan, he admits that he likes her, and that he always did. After they have sex, Annie tiptoes downstairs to the kitchen, where she finds the pasta he made. The scene is romantic and almost sexy, in a totally subtle, maybe even unintentional way. He didn’t make the pasta for her, specifically, but it was made by him.

But beyond the romantic arc of Annie and Lamar, the scene’s impact comes directly from what it means for her, in her path to self-respect: she’s giving herself what she wants and deserves, on her own terms. And the bewildered delight in her face as she eats is so contagiously joyful that the context of her weight becomes irrelevant.

Annie (Aidy Bryant) and Lamar (Akemnji Ndifornyen).

Photo by: Allyson Riggs/Shrill

Beyond the men in her life, one of Annie’s most fraught relationships is with her mother, Vera (played by Julia Sweeney), who’s responsible for the Thin Menu meals. During a pivotal rant, when Annie describes the ways the people around her have made her size seem like a moral failing, she says, “At this point, I could be a licensed fucking nutritionist because I’ve literally been training for it since the fourth grade, which is the first time that my mom said that I should just eat a bowl of Special K and not the dinner that she made for everyone else so I might be a little bit smaller.” One of Annie’s most significant plot developments with her mother, when she pushes back against her health policing, starts with a meal of meatball subs with her father. And when the season ends, we leave Vera lying on the ground with a bag of chips, suggesting that Annie’s number one advice giver also needs respite from controlling everything.

“Whether they’re very curvy like Mae West or they’re slender, I think what we haven’t seen in a long time is the ability of women just to be seen enjoying food,” Karlyn says. “Food is enjoyable (to women), not because they’re neurotic, not because they’re crazy, not because they’re sex-obsessed, just because food is a natural pleasure of life.” That’s how Shrill treats food, but also most of life’s joys: dancing at a party, swimming in a pool, having sex, being honest. Counter to the ways television and movies have previously presented plus-size women, as victims of their own lack of self-control, Shrill shows how restrictive life as a plus-size woman can be, and how often that’s a direct result of their self control. Shrill seems to be advocating for more self-designated freedom for women of size — the freedom to live with abandon. As Annie says, lying in bed and taking charge, “I’ve got big titties and a fat ass — I make the rules.”

Brooke Jackson-Glidden is the editor of Eater Portland. Edited by: Greg Morabito

Eat, Drink, Watch.

Food entertainment news and streaming recommendations every Friday

By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and European users agree to the data transfer policy.

Source: https://www.eater.com/2019/3/28/18284128/shrill-hulu-aidy-bryant-food-eating