#anyway i also need to watch more stuff with michelle yeoh in

[lesbiangracehanson]

sandra oh is truly the only person whose thoughts on eve i care about at this point + her saying that eve became ‘truer and more whole’ over the 4 seasons, through her experiences + her relationship with villanelle, feels like a bit of closure tbh

[discotreque]

Disco 3.08: The Sanctuary

This week IRL was a real mixed bag for me: a lot of messy and barely-manageable anxiety about my health, my day job, and uhhhh *gestures outside*—but also I’ve recently fallen in love (from a responsible social distance)—so it’s been equal parts re-writing professional emails to edit the panic attack out of my tone and gazing dreamily at Discord notifications with cartoon hearts in my eyes. It feels like my life is going to hell in the cutest, coziest handbasket—which is to say that Michael Burnham could not possibly feel like a more relatable character to me right now.

I continue to have issues with the writing at a strange medium-level—somewhere between micro, where the dialogue and characters are really good, and macro, where I’m digging the pace of the overall season, it almost feels like something went wrong in the assembly process, and the script ended up a little bit less than the sum of its perfectly good parts. Again.

But that’s such vague criticism as to be nearly meaningless, and it’s hardly the most interesting level to spend time on anyway. If I zoom out, the parallel season arcs of “getting used to the future” and “the mystery of the Burn” are hanging together wayyyyy better than the Red Angel saga did last year.

And if I zoom in? This episode was funny as shit, wtf.

The discourse re: Tilly these past couple of weeks has been bullshit, and I have a whole angry thing to say about it—but honestly, if you can’t appreciate Doug Jones and Mary Wiseman as a comedic duo, I’m not really mad: mostly I pity the lack of joy in your heart.

Everyone on this show is so funny. Doug’s prissy little delivery absolutely slaughters me (“Execute!...?”), Mary will make a face sometimes that has me screaming laughter into my hands, and I’ve gone on before—and will again—about Sonequa Martin-Green’s egregiously underrated comedy chops.

They were obviously casting for folks w/ jokes in the new season too: David Ajada is no slouch in the dry-delivery or the goofy-face department; his energy and chemistry with Sonequa are as suited to comedy as they are to romance (i.e. extremely 🥵). Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz we knew about, but Blu del Barrio—a certified tiny baby!!!—holds their own and lands every smartass whiz-kid one-liner just on the right side of “too precious to stand.” (I almost always at least chuckle, and never roll my eyes, and for a “teen genius” character that’s literally as good as it gets.) And living legend Michelle Yeoh is clearly having the time of her life, omfg.

Disco’s not funny-funny like Lower Decks, but they do funny-on-purpose better than any live-action Trek except maybe DS9. They have such a deep comedic bench they don’t even need Tig Notaro—they have her on just to flex, I presume.

(I don’t know if I’m predicting, per se, that Strange New Worlds—with Rebecca Romjin’s deadpan, Anson Mount’s twinkly eyes, and Ethan Peck’s twinkly-eyed deadpan—is going to have a tone somewhere between Disco S3 and LwD—but I mean... it kinda has to, right? And you know they kept the number for Rainn Wilson’s agent.)

***

At the start of this episode, I was “sure, why the fuck not” about First Officer Tilly; by the end, I was completely on board. And to everyone who’s still wringing their hands about “the real military” this (always from people who have no idea how actual militaries work, lol) and “Lt. Nilsson” that (she... already has a job on the ship? And no character traits besides “stoic” and “furrows brow”? Oh, I get it—she’s skinny and blonde)—y’all are kind of embarrassing me.

“Rank” and “position” (and “seniority” and “day-to-day duties”...) aren’t the same thing, in Star Trek or any IRL military. Yes, the permanent first officers of normal-duty Starfleet ships we’ve seen have usually been command-division officers with the rank of Commander—but not always. Star Trek: Discovery-A, if you will, is a unique show about a unique ship in a unique situation: “B-b-but that’s not how they do it on Star Trek!!!” isn’t a legitimate criticism, not of this—it’s the mournful cry of an entitled pissbaby who isn’t having their hand held all the way to the fireworks factory.

Here’s what an argument supported by the text of the first 37 episodes of Star Trek: Discovery actually looks like: Sylvia Tilly is nervous and lacks self-confidence, but once she gets over herself—which she can do pretty much instantly in a crisis, even when hilariously intoxicated—she is competent as hell. In lower-stakes situations, without intense pressure to focus her attention, she sometimes gets sidetracked by her own insecurities; at her best, she channels that anxious energy into ambition, drive, and being scrupulously organized.

The only person Tilly doesn’t always get along with is Stamets, and even Stamets’s husband thinks he’s an asshole. Since Season 1, we’ve seen her easily socializing with the rest of the crew, who seem to universally adore her. And she’s also happy to leave her social comfort zone at a moment’s notice: she aligned herself with Ash Tyler (miss you, Shazad!) when no one else would, and she instantly befriended Po even when Po was in Weird Feral Alien Princess mode and Tilly had salad in her hair. She doesn’t like confrontation, but she’s brave enough to initiate it anyway if she needs to, and she’s compassionate with other people’s feelings while still setting firm boundaries. (Her graceful dodge of Rhys’s tipsy kiss at the party in 1.07 lives rent-free in my head to this day.)

No, Tilly didn’t finish the Command Training Program—but she started it, which is almost certainly more command training than any of the lieutenants whose names we know, all of whom are Ops or Science personnel with, presumably, specialized non-command training of their own. The same could be assumed for any unseen ranking officers on this science ship with an entirely volunteer skeleton crew.

And seriously, about Nilsson: she’s my #3 background bae after Octopus Head and the lady on Pike’s Enterprise with the spiky red face, but her job is Spore Drive Ops, not personnel. If she’s running after Saru with a holo-clipboard, who’s going to look serious and push holo-buttons when there’s a Black Alert? *drops holo-mic* Drumhead!

***

The stuff on Kwejian, though. Ooof. Ol’ Two-Takes Frakes directed this one, and between the kinetic energy he always adds to the camera and the scintillating performances he evokes, things stayed moving so briskly I almost didn’t notice Book’s entire “homeworld” was a rental house outside Vancouver, a couple acres of adjacent woods, and like six or seven people.

It’s a hot mess in retrospect, but in the moment it gave us the intensity of Book and Kyheem trying to hurt each other’s feelings by poking at 15-year-old wounds, which as a sibling with complicated sibling relationships I found both funny and devastating—not to mention Frakes directing “shaky bridge” explosion falls at an obvious intensity of “10” on an outdoor location shoot. It falls apart at the slightest scrutiny, but I can’t lie, on first viewing I was totally along for the ride.

***

I’m dying to see where this Georgiou thing goes. It doesn’t feel like a stretch to assume she got Cronenberg’d a couple weeks ago, probably to get her under the thumb of this century’s Section 31, and that her arc is going to take Michelle Yeoh off this show in a way that sets up the S31 show. But also, I don’t care so much whether I’m right, I just want to watch Michelle Yeoh—and Sonequa Martin-Green, and also David Cronenberg tbh, and bring back Shazad Latif while you’re at it—get wherever they’re going.

It’s also a fun and interesting direction to take the comically-evil comic relief character and show that her performative moustache-twirling is partly habit and partly a transparent emotional defence against very real fear and vulnerability. We’re all products of our circumstances, and a radical enough change in circumstances can afford almost anyone at least the opportunity to change. I can’t say Emperor Georgiou would have been my first choice of protagonist for that storyline, but it’s not like Michelle Yeoh’s not going to fuckin’ crush it.

***

Miscellany:

So the Burn had an origin point, and now that point is broadcasting a signal that’s somehow both a haunting melody that everyone seems to know—but no one can remember learning—and a Federation distress signal. What the fuck, y’all. I have full-body goosebumps just typing that.

Saru workshopping his own captainly catchphrase with the aid of Tilly’s extreme sincerity and organizational skills is probably the funniest thing that’s ever happened on this show—followed closely by the uncomfortably lingering reaction shots when he’s trying them out on the bridge 😂 (And omg please give Rhys and Bryce the dumbass buddy-comedy C-plots they deserve next season, I beg you.)

I would do a little “prop watch” entry on those Kwejianian(?) bolt-throwing rifles, but I’d have to stop drooling over them first. “Curvy polished hardwood” seems to be New Trek shorthand for “extra sleek and futuristic” (cf. the bridge of the USS Titan in the LwD finale), and I have to say: I am fully into it.

Restating my prediction that we will not see Detmer and Owosekun get together this season, because we will find out that they’ve been together for ages. Everyone knew—Pike even knew!—it just never came up in front of the audience before. That would be one of the cutest ways to do it imho, and one of the funniest too, especially as a meta-joke about how much character development didn’t happen in the first two seasons. (That said, if we get to see their first kiss, I will be screaming with incoherent joy for days, so this is a real win-win for me.)

Speaking of cute: IRL spouses Mary Wiseman and Noah Averbach-Katz, both Julliard-trained actors (it’s where they met!), can’t quite hide their chemistry in the scenes between Tilly and Ryn. I loved seeing Tilly be a hardass when Ryn was rude to the captain, but that sparkle in her eyes didn’t quite match the context <3

And speaking of people who are VERY OBVIOUSLY IN LOVE: that last scene with Book and Michael, and his nervous little “yeah, I said it” eyebrow lift, and her irrepressible giggle as she’s walking away... it was almost too much. Especially right after the queer-family scenes with Stamets and Culber and Adira. My poor heart is going through a lot lately, and I guess I’m just glad Season 3’s emotional intensity is melting it with soft sweet scenes like that instead of kicking it down repeated flights of stairs like Season 1.

***

Next week: everyone stops caring about the Burn and starts trying to solve an even more important mystery—why is this (holographic) dude wearing an early-2360s uniform with an early-2370s combadge?

[halfacat]

Thoughts on Crazy Rich Asians

Let me just say: IT’S ABOUT TIME ASIANS GOT THE SPOTLIGHT!!!! Holy hell, I’ve been waiting for this moment for the past eight years and dreaming of something like this happening for all my life. Asians are hot, Asians are cool, and Asians are worthy. 

With that said, I am hyped for Crazy Rich Asians. I am currently reading the book right now, and I’m having a lot of fun. It’s a dumb book, but it’s dumb in the best way possible: it’s luxurious, dramatic, emotional, and crazy, and I AM HERE FOR IT. It’s less than seven days until CRA hits theaters and already, the reviews are awesome (which, naturally, makes me tear up). And with the reviews coming in, so are the people who are not so excited for this movie...

1) According to Rotten Tomatoes, CRA is at 100% with 17 reviews. Obviously, this rating will fluctuate the more reviews that come in, but 100% with 17 reviews? This movie is looking BOMB. And yet, people are complaining about the rating: how obviously the movie has to be Fresh or else the critics will be deemed racist or how CRA is getting the same treatment as how Black Panther did. I have just one thing to say: Yes, this movie is about Asians and with an Asian cast, but can’t a movie be Fresh just because it’s a good movie? Why do we have to politicize everything? I get that the title is “Crazy Rich Asians” but it’s just a title! Should “Black Panther” just be Panther? It would’ve still done well in the box office regardless! Also, CRA is a rom-com so can’t we just enjoy it as it is?

2) ASIAN MEN! *heart eyes* Okay, but there has been controversy surrounding the casting of Nick Young. Why is Henry Golding, a hapa, playing Nick Young, a full ethnically Chinese character? Golding is half-white, and Hollywood has a knack for picking white characters for their lead roles. With a perfect opportunity to cast a hot Asian dude, why cast only half of one? I agree that the casting may not have been the best BUT just because Golding is half doesn’t mean we should discount his Asian heritage. Asian people are Asian, and some Asians are more “Asian” than other are, but that’s alright. Henry Golding is charming, cool, and hot, and I am confident that he will play an impeccable Nick Young. And honestly, if people aren’t ready for a full Asian love interest, then at least they can go halfway if that’s what it takes for them to understand that Asian men are hot as hell.

3) Asian representation! Asians in general have always been portrayed as weak, nerdy, smelly, and weird. We are constantly fetishized, hypersexualized or desexualized (no in-between), and seen as either sex objects or the laughing stock. Our facial features (specifically those of East Asians’) are always mocked. People don’t think Asians suffer from racism but we do. Unfortunately, we are seen as white people so the public is less inclined to care. We are always overlooked in entertainment (i.e. Doctor Strange, Ghost in the Shell, Aloha, etc, etc.) and when something good comes along that protray us as something else other than ninjas or geeks or ancient masters or sex toys, people have the gall to say to make fun of us STILL. For example: “CRA is racist! There are no white people!” By the racists’ logic, every movie that features little to no POC is considered racist...

4) But, where are the other Asians? Both the book and movie have been criticized for its lack of South and Southeast Asians, groups that are prevalent in Singapore, which is already a Southeast Asian country. CRA should be “Crazy Rich East Asians” because only East Asians are features. (By that logic, shouldn’t it be “Crazy Rich Ethnically Chinese”?) People are confused as to why the characters speak in British accents but are from Singapore...why not Singlish? I agree that there should have been more diversity in Asians (because we have problems with that already). HOWEVER, not to excuse the plot at all, but Kevin Kwan created a story about Chinese people in Singapore. He wasn’t obliged to write about the minorities, and that sucks, but who are we to tell him what to write about? Not everything can include everyonem and with CRA, it focuses on the Chinese elite that are very narrow minded - that is the point! Also, Kwan is writing about the crazy rich Asians, and already, that excludes much of the population in the world anyway. But yes, like I said before, I do wish more Asians were included, but for right now, I’m just so, so happy that Asians, specifically East Asians, are getting some real appreciation in the modern Western world. Like what Constance Wu tweeted, “I know CRA won’t represent every Asian American. So for those who don’t feel seen, I hope there is a story you find soon that does represent you.” Honestly though, how many Hollywood films can you say had an East Asian lead that wasn’t a stereotype? How many Hollywood films can you say even had East Asians in it that actually talked and did stuff? How many Hollywood films can you said has East Asian love interests? 

5) CRA is not the best Asian representation. It is Asian representation, and LOADS BETTER than the usual portrayals of Asians, but it’s not the best. I mean come on, pipe smoking moguls? Evil psychobitch mother-in-laws? CRA is basically a Korean drama. Am I complaining? Not really. I’ll be lying if I said I didn’t wish a different film was used to highlight Asians. Then I remind myself that CRA is a step. Not a huge step, but a step towards a more inclusive Hollywood. 

~~~

UPDATED 8/15/18:

6) The actresses are white-worshippers. Constance Wu has been seen with a white boyfriend, Gemma Chan has dated Jack Whitehall, and Michelle Yeoh is married to a Frenchman...these women are not Asian! Oh, but they are. Since when did our dating preferences decide whether we were more a race than not? If they really are white washed then sure, we can be wary. But Wu has always been an advocate for Asian rights and Yeoh is an Asian legend, and Chan isn’t tied down to her race either. Asian women have a bad reputation in the dating game and are seen as white-worshippers. This is true only for some Asian?Asian American women. I have seen and know more than fifty Asian and Asian American women who are either dating or engaged or married to Asian and Asian American men. Take that.

7) It’s just a rom-com but with Asian people...That’s the point! Since when has Hollywood ever casted an Asian man as the lead for a blockbuster? Since when were Asians seen as worthy of love, attention, and sexual attraction? Since when were Asians viewed as people with passions and emotions and desires? Crazy Rich Asians changes all of that. 

~~~ 

I’m relieved that we are finally getting the spotlight for once, and a spotlight in which people can laugh and swoon over. Besides for a select few Asian led films (i.e. Joy Luck Club), CRA is a milestone in Hollywood history. Sure, it may not be the best portrayal of Asians or be that inclusive for other Asians, but it’s progress, and we have to recognize that! Racists, let us have our moment. South and Southeast Asians, I know it’s all East Asians but I promise, CRA is a nod towards the right direction. Whatever your thoughts on this book or movie or casting or actors or wahtever, please set them aside because CRA happening and Hollywood allowing it to happen is just amazing. 

I’m so overwhelmed right now. I’m here for all this representation, and I know that CRA will pave the way for other POC to shine like how Black Panther did. Please go watch this movie, guys. We need to break box office records and show that Asians do matter. Let’s support!