#but to try and downplay this one just to praise a white actor is absolutely insane

[dulacdat]

people on iwtv twt play too much 😭. assad deserves every single award there is, and all the praises for his phenomenal performance in "Don't be afraid, just start the tape" (S2E5). what a gem of an actor, he really bodies the role and delivered mesmerizing scene after scene. the cadence, body language, facial expressions, and terrifying portrayal of an ancient vampire with unprocessed rage, contempt, and yearning all at once.

he will always be famous, and the episode will go down as one of the best on tv ever.

[broken-clover]

So after rewatching with the director's commentary (yeah, technically I watched the movie twice in two days, but the second time I mostly had it in the background while doing other stuff) and having some more time to collect my thoughts, I think I'm just deciding to do a list of all the things I thought the movie did really well, expected or otherwise. Like, everyone knows about the bizarreness and the so-bad-it's-good memery but I want to highlight some stuff I thought was genuinely admirable

-In watching the director's commentary, it seemed that he had a pretty realistic and relatively grounded and familiar understanding of the source material, which is inherently more than the live action Mario movie did. Even if it didn't pan out like expected, it's cool to see that passion went into it and he had a sense of respect for the games instead of writing them off as childish and trying to 'improve' it

-Likewise appreciate the director sharing petty grievances with the film, it humanizes things quite a bit. In fairness I also want those swizzle sticks and Bison dollars and would've been bummed if I was the only one who didn't get any.

-100% will always respect practical effects and physical set design. There were a few areas where CGI was used but for the most part it's all tangible

-Also!! Practical fighting!! Yes it's easy to make jokes about Van Damme's accent when playing someone so cartoonishly American but in a movie like this that relies so heavily on fight scenes he's exactly the sort of person you'd want to cast.

-(Perhaps an odd aside but upon reflection and trying to see other peoples' opinions on the film I think @ninewheels makes a very solid point in that having an immigrant Guile subtly works in the narrative's favor while also downplaying the plot's 'white savior' element to a degree)

-Again, discarding the canon divergences, Honda and Balrog had some terrific moments as a comedic duo, and for as little screentime was they had they managed to make their characters compelling. It's made completely understandable that given all three having their lives ruined by Bison in some form that they and Chun-Li would gravitate towards and work together. Unironically would watch a whole side series just about the three of them they bounce off of each other in a strangely natural way

-Likewise, Dhalsim!! Was not expecting to find him so compelling. I know it's a steep deviation from canon but at the very least they gave him his own little character arc, and the desire to use his skills for the betterment of humanity does sound a lot like canon Dhalsim behavior so I'm fine with it.

-Like I mentioned before, I was quite shocked at how well done Vega's presence was in the film, being rather spot on visually and personality-wise. As I found out while looking up more info, apparently his actor was still learning English at the time, so it's understandable why he only had a few short lines. However, just about everything else makes up for it. The costume design was near-perfect, and even without dialogue his body language did a terrific job of having him come across as condescendingly smug and dismissive. I see a lot of (absolutely deserved) praise for Mr. Julia but Jay Tavare did a fantastic job and absolutely deserves more credit

-On that note in general a recurring sentiment I kept having was that the silent/gesture comedy in this was really, really sharp. Some of the funniest parts in this movie were ones with no dialogue whatsoever

-This movie was funny on purpose!! I've seen some people describe the memetic moments in this and make it sound as though the whole thing is a straightforward action flick, but there were a whole lot of actually intentionally comedic elements and most of them landed perfectly well!

-Zangief is another underratedly terrific performance. Even if he's much duller than he is canonically it's played with so much gusto and enthusiasm that it's so enjoyable to watch him in action.

-Raul Julia. No explanation needed.

-Ming-Na Wen. Slight explanation needed bc WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME SHE WAS SO GOOD IN THIS. Woman did her own stunts and gave the movie a dose of colder realism that worked excellently with the somewhat unsteady tone

-Bazooka Cammy. Also as iffy as I was initially at having a pop star acting in this Kylie turned in a pretty solid performance.

-Gun Ken. I don't have much elaboration for this one it was just funny. Super magical spirit karate from living in backwoods Japan for like a decade with some old guy and you just decide to use a gun. We brought back Neck Snap Cammy from the II OVA for 6 so we can totally bring back Gun Ken for SF6 too right?? Please?? Don't even have to do anything too fancy just take regular Ken and give him Gun.

[iamtooarealdoctor]

Diary 5.16.87

Everything has been happening very quickly.  L’anamelach is dead...or...something.  Taken care of, at least.  So far as Caladon is concerned.  It is probably time to leave.

Straf disappeared briefly last night.  He claims he was summoned back to Quintarra by Raven, who wanted her gloves returned.  That makes little sense to me, but he reappeared without them.  So - no more teleporting.  That will be good for Dyna’s headaches, but is even more reason to tarry as little as possible.  Fortunately Roseborough is only two days out from here, even on foot, and the season remains very pleasant.

The plan had been to take care of some business in town this morning, before proceeding into the sewers to beard the demon in its lair.  The party from Dernholm overnighted at the Sobbing Onion, which continues to hold Straf’s fascination for reasons which escape me.  Dyna and I rose early to call upon Maxim, leaving the elves to meet up with our allies at the Onion, on the hope that they would not have too much time or opportunity to get into really serious trouble.  In this we were wholly wrong, albeit in ways we could not conceivably have predicted.  Maxim is as scattered as ever, and sadly the photographs recovered from the wreck of the Zephyr have done less to repair his reputation than we had hoped, but he seems undeterred, which is good.  He was happy to let us use his workspace and materials to repair the damage to my guns.  I mean, I have plenty of guns, but when one is literally a divine relic, attempts should be made to take care of it.

We returned to the Onion to collect our party to find sheerest chaos - and in the midst of it Straf and another elf stabbing themselves repeatedly with a carving knife for some unknowable reason.  As far as I have been able to piece together, Straf and Wolf found the halfling thief Frondo - the one who had recovered the blade of Xerxes last night - engaged in a poorly thought out game of cards against the strange Elf.  Eventually he wagered, and subsequently lost, the blade itself to his opponent, who turned out to be none other than the demon L’anamelach himself!  If I had thought these adventurers fools last night, how much more imbecilic have they revealed themselves in the light of day.  It was at this point I gather, for reasons which remain entirely opaque to me, that Straf engaged the demon in a game of self-stabbing.  Perhaps his aim was to buy time, since both of them proved largely impervious to injury of this kind.  I have long since given up trying to decipher what passes for logic in the undifferentiated mass of salt that occupies the spaces usually reserved for a brain.

In any event, the patrons had given this scene a wide berth, and the party from Dernholm was blithely oblivious to the implications of what had transpired.  Not just imbeciles but useless as well.  I was able to get off a single futile shot at the demon before being forced to take equally futile cover.  I am now doubly grateful for Lloyd’s fireproofing, without which I would have fared much poorer.  It also saw fit to magickally seal my mouth, which was as uncomfortable as it was frustrating, but at least I was not transformed into a rat again.  I hate wizards.  And demons.  And demon wizards.  

Dyna, by contrast, made good use of the distraction to surreptitiously relieve the demon of its mortal blade.  It had had to set aside its winnings briefly to concentrate fully on Straf, and Dyna attempted to dispatch the abomination as we had been instructed.  Dyna is, sadly, not especially tall - had the demon’s stature been nearer her own, I am sure she would have struck home, but alas the heart is a small organ to hit from behind and below, and there was slightly too much impervious elf intervening for Dyna’s efforts to have quite the desired effect.  Nevertheless, I am confident that given time, and perhaps a stepladder, the day would ultimately have been hers.

Instead, that glory goes to Wolf, if it can safely be called that.  As best as I can understand, knowing the demon’s true name, she was able to summon it and bind it to herself, as she previously had with Dante.  And unlike Dante, her control over it seems absolute - I have only before seen that dead expression in Captain Wheeler’s eyes, when he released Straf from prison in Tarant.  She has renamed it Mephistopheles, and it is wholly hers now.  What implications this has for Dante, I do not know.  My hope is that  that one is safely returned to its infernal home, having been replaced by a more biddable minion, and has not simply been loosed unsupervised upon Arcanum.  L’anamelach’s erstwhile host, though, freed from its possessing essence, is quite dead, and will torment Caladon’s flesh markets no more.  Unless, I suppose, Wolf so wills it.  I...think we will not return the blade of Xerxes to our allies from Dernholm.  It is good to have some insurance against the demon in our midst.

But with that sudden end to an equally sudden confrontation, we are now Heroes of Caladon!  The good captain Henderson arrived to shower us with praise and writs for our reward, although the demons gambling winnings, now forfeit, have already done much to ease our financial situation.  This has been a mixed blessing, though, since our attempts to keep a low profile while in Caladon are now thoroughly undone.  For Henderson has at last recognized Dyna through an unwise word from Straf, despite her careful disguises, and the media presence that accompanied him recognized me, beard, lemon juice, and all, as the now notorious Pervert of Tarant... and while these might have been skillfully talked down, had any among us possessed such skill, among the gawkers at the Onion proved to be none other than Ristezze!

This proved too much for Dyna, who fled in a blind panic.  I managed to catch the newspaper man to try to save what is left of our reputations.  I find I get on very well with reporters.  I was able to convince him, I believe, that we are actors, hired by Sammie White to create disturbances in the normal humdrum of life, and I managed to keep Dyna’s name and role out of his stories at least.  He seemed impressed with my narrative of the earlier fight, which ought to both entertain his readers and give most of the attention to Frondo et al., while downplaying our own role and ultimately eliding the ultimate fate of the demon.  He may not be able to resist his “Pervert of Tarant becomes Hero of Caladon” angle, and I regret that he has my photograph as well, but my reputation is already tarnished beyond repair, and this may be salvaged into a distraction from our current aims and mission.  I also was able to convince him of the value of running a story on Maxim’s Flying Machines, and sold him a copy of the prints.  Perhaps skillful journalism will sway public opinion in despite of the ongoing skepticism of the Caladonian Council, and do some good for a friend, if not for us.

We tracked Dyna to the cemetary, where she had apparently made the acquaintance of the local gravedigger, and had regained some modicum of control over herself.  Norman seems to have imprinted on Ristezze and vice versa, and neither could be persuaded to come without the other.  Also Norman thinks he can fly...but as far as I can tell has only succeeded in jumping thus far.  Dyna was...not pleased at Ristezze’s presence, and Ristezze for his part, seems undeterred in his pursuit of her - although he may be the first person in all of Caladon to be taken in by the fake mustache, and seems to have renamed her “Dino.”  It has been a day for that.  We finally got rid of him with a bizarre scheme to romance the entire Moseley clan, and returned at long last to the Mushroom.

We depart for Roseborough at first light.  We sent out for supplies, and it should only be a few days journey.  I should like to be away before my face is plastered all over the front page of the newspaper.  Also it seems that the Thieves’ Underground has bounties out for us - and mine is insultingly low!  And also insultingly high, since I have never, to my knowledge, done anything to offend them, but folks these days seem no longer to require a reason.  Dyna has been very quiet all evening, but she never enjoys being confronted with her past, and this homecoming has been especially hard on her.  She did say something about Magnus - something about finding his lost clan of ditch diggers?  I don’t know, but I expect we shall find out.

I regret that we had no opportunity to visit the famous Caladonian Zoological Society, or work further with Maxim on guncraft, although I am not sorry that we were spared the inevitable whining from Straf that a trek through the sewers would have entailed.  But a great many questions should be answered in Roseborough - T’sen-Ang, the Black Spire, the Archeon, the Plain of Black Glass and the Great Wheel, and maybe an opportunity to speak privately with Elder Joachim.  And perhaps staying ahead of our enemies a little while longer.

[rockinjoeco]

#WhitePrivelage - A trend or a concern?

Following up on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s decision to quit the royal family, the subject of racism has come into the equation in relation to the media’s treatment of Meghan Markle. A buzzfeed article emerged comparing the media’s treatment of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, prompting a debate as to whether there’s a subconscious racial bias at work from the UK press. Many Twitter users will have noticed the hashtag #whiteprivilege trending following up on an ITV interview featuring Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, where she discussed the press treatment of Meghan Markle and whether there was a racist agenda against her. She also brought up the concept of white privilege, where white people are considered to be more privileged in the sense that they won’t be judged by the colour of their skin as much as those from another racial background. In my blog post, I stated that the media’s treatment of Meghan Markle and members of the royal family has been appalling and I can’t blame Meghan Markle for deciding to move to Canada. Looking at the buzzfeed article, it is certainly valid to debate whether there is a racist agenda against Meghan Markle, but the debate of whether racism is still rife amongst British society is one that has been in the making for a long time.

Racism is a topic that prompts many heated arguments from many people, because it is a very sensitive, serious issue. Unfortunately, it has been present in many different aspects of our society and racism has occurred whether it’s blatant sluts or vulgar subtlety to disguise any racist agenda with apparent insight. I am absolutely disgusted by racism as much as any other member of a civilised society, but as a white person myself, it’s hard for me to speak up against it as many would argue that I am unqualified to do so because, being white, I’ve never experienced racism firsthand. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have empathy for those who do suffer from it, and I am not blind to see that it still exists in society today. The topic of white privilege seemed to be interpreted as some kind in contest on Twitter to see who is more or less privileged than who, when actually it was made just to spread awareness. In fact, some have argued that the concept of white privilege is actually racist towards white people, as brought up by actor Laurence Fox on Question Time last night. He accused an audience member of racism for calling him a ‘white privileged male’ during a discussion of the media treatment of Meghan Markle, and Fox then responded by saying ‘I can't help what I am, I was born like this, it's an immutable characteristic. So to call me a white privileged male is to be racist. You're being racist.’ This sparked a large amount of backlash on social media. Whatever you make of Fox’s comments, it does beggar the question; how does a white person approach a discussion about racism? Nobody could ever do the discourtesy of downplaying the trauma that a victim of racist abuse goes through, and I most certainly wouldn’t. I first learnt about racism in year 7 history when I learnt about slavery and how black people were slaves in the 18th and 19th century. It was sickening to learn that people were treated this way because of the colour of their skin. It also sickens me that racism still exists today.

After the general election result where the conservatives won by such a wide majority, many argued that the result was driven by an increase of racism in our society, particularly as Brexit was a factor in the election. Since the first referendum back in 2016, incidents involving racism has increased and now there are more reports of racism than there had been before. Brexit has arguably brought out the worst of human society and while it’s easy to say that those who voted for Brexit are racist, I’ve learnt in life that there are people who have different needs and things that are important to them. We live in a free country where people can vote for whoever they choose, and to condemn them for voting for a certain party would be killing democracy. However, I haven’t heard a significant reason as to why leaving the EU would be a good idea. It seemed to me that the arguments in favour of Brexit were in the form of slogans rather than actually being informative. Having seen the billions of pounds being spent on trying to make Brexit happen for over three years, you can’t help but feel that money would’ve been better spent on an underfunded NHS and helping reduce homelessness and poverty in the UK. As many will know, Boris Johnson has been accused of racism many times, and he also once write a racist novel back in 2004 called seventy two virgins, which featured Arabs who had been described as having a hooked nose and slanted eyes and Jews that controlled the media, sparking outrage over its racist stereotypes.

Racism has also been prominent in the English football this season, as racist chanting has been heard during games such as Man City v Man United and Tottenham v Chelsea. Raheem Sterling was a victim of racist abuse last season, and he said that sections of the media were responsible for fuelling racism, comparing Daily Mail headlines about young Man City players Phil Foden and Tosin Adarabioyo when they bought a new house. When Phil Foden bought a house, the headline read ‘Foden buys new £2m home for his mum’, but as for Adarabioyo, the headline read ‘Young Manchester City footballer, 20, on £25,000 a week splashes out on market for £2.25million despite having never started a Premier League match’. Just like with the comparisons of Daily Mail headlines regarding Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, this has aroused suspicion of uncscious racist bias from the Daily Mail. Sterling posted it up on Instagram and has called for the media to give all players an equal chance, and then went on to receive praise and admiration for speaking out against racism. Earlier this season, an FA Cup game between Haringey and Yeovil was abandoned because of racism from fans, bottle throwing and spitting and the players marched off the pitch as a result. This happened not long after the Bulgaria vs England game when England players were subjected to horrific racist abuse from the Bulgaria fans. Prior to the game, England players had threatened to walk off the pitch if they received any racist abuse from the Bulgaria fans. During the game however, despite the match being temporarily stopped because of the abuse, the players bravely decided to continue the game and England went on to win 6-0. There is a three-step protocol from UEFA when there is abhorrent racist abuse at football matches. It’s first step is ‘Stop the match and instruct the stadium authorities to read out an announcement, calling upon the spectators to stop the discriminatory behaviour.’ The second step is ‘If this announcement does not have the desired effect, make another announcement, suspend the match and send the players to their dressing rooms for a specific period.’ The final step is ‘After consultation, abandon the match if the discriminatory behaviour still does not cease or breaks out again.’

There has also been a diversity row in the entertainment industry too, with the BAFTA and Oscar nominations listing prominently white and male nominees. There was a similar row when the Oscar nominations were announced back in 2016. This brings out the argument that whether the awards committee made the nominations out of genuine merit or from an unconscious bias. Stephen King said on twitter that he would ‘never consider diversity in matters of art’. This caused huge controversy with his followers and seemed to undermine the struggle that minorities go through when trying to get into the arts. I cannot say for sure the list of nominations this year had a racist or sexist agenda or not, but I can understand the debate about it. There was a documentary called ‘The Problem with Apu’, which explores the controversy of the Indian character Apu from The Simpsons. The documentary writer Hari Kondabolu talks about how he first idolised Apu on The Simpson’s because he was a main Indian character on a popular worldwide TV show, but then as he got older he started seeing problems with the way the character was represented and perceived the characterisation of Apu to be racist. This then brings up whether stereotyping in comedy is considered racist, particularly noting that Apu is voiced by American actor Hank Azaria. In the sense that white privilege can blind white people from seeing potential racism, our enjoyment of seeing Apu in the Simpsons has arguably blinded fans like myself from seeing that actually Apu is a racist representation of Asian people, particularly as this controversy was brought up 25 years after the character first appeared in The Simpsons. Amidst the criticism of Apu and the fact he is voiced by a white actor, nobody had mentioned the fact that the character of Cleveland Brown, a black character on Family Guy, is voiced by a white actor. Another example of stereotyping in comedy is in the characterisation of Manuel from Fawlty Towers, who is portrayed by the late English actor Andrew Sachs. Manuel is portrayed as a hapless Spanish waiter who is often abused by main character Basil Fawlty for his incompetence. Having found Manuel hilarious in Fawlty Towers, am I now guilty of laughing at racism? Has my apparent white privilege blinded me from seeing that this use of stereotyping could be considered offensive?

Racism is not the only form of discrimination existing in our society. There have been recent cases of antisemitism in Britain, such as a Jewish father and son being abused on the London Underground back in November and antisemitic graffiti being smeared onto a synagogue in London. The Labour Party were investigated for racism due to allegations of antisemitism. That is only the second time a political party in the UK had been investigated for racism, and the other time that happened was for a party of actual nazis. Departing labour leader Jeremy corbyn had been accused of antisemitism after endorsing an antisemitic book and his association with hate preacher Sheikh Raed Salah, who once claimed that Israelis bake bread out of their children’s blood. Although Jeremy Corbyn had been victim of a smear campaign by the media before, being Jewish myself, I do take these allegations seriously, as have many members of the Jewish community. Even though Corbyn has been smeared before and even though he has a noble background of campaigning against racism and volunteering at homeless shelters, but that shouldn’t clear him of any kind of wrongdoing. Those who speak of right-wing propaganda and how powerful the media establishment is forget that departing Lib Dem’s leader Jo Swinson was equally smeared and ridiculed by the media too, and was also excluded from the first leaders debate on ITV, prompting me to believe there was a hidden misogynist agenda from the broadcaster. Yes, I know that Swinson’s voting record wasn’t perfect during the coalition, especially when she voted If they had argued that another party leader was a victim of right-wing propaganda too, then maybe I would have believed in that concept. Even though some media outlets seemed to be more biased towards Boris Johnson, I didn’t believe that there was a conspiracy against Corbyn within the media, as I thought some people seemed to confuse criticism for propaganda and smears. Had they mentioned the bad coverage Jo Swinson received from the media, then they might have had a case.

Homophobia is also sadly an issue in our society, as demonstrated with attack victim Charlie Graham showing images of the injuries she sustained from an attack due to her sexuality. She told Sky News about how she was assaulted and the injuries that she sustained. Last summer, a horrific attack on a lesbian couple happened on a London bus which saw four teenagers sentenced last month. The image of the injuries sustained by the couple was one of the most devastating images of 2019, showing how this type of discrimination exists and the horrific effects of it. Sexism is another issue, with the prominence of the #MeToo movement becoming a trend back in 2017 following the sexual harassment case against Harvey Weinstein. The movement actually began in 2006 by Tarana Burke, who was a victim of sexual harassment herself, but it was in 2017 when it became a hashtag to promote feminism and hopefully end sexual harassment. Pay gaps in the workplace have also underlined the problems with discrimination. 78% of major companies in Britain have male employees being paid more than their female colleagues working at a similar level, despite the Equal Pay Act 1970. There is a similar issue with disabled employees too, with Tory MP Sally-Ann Hart stating during her election campaign last month that disabled people should be paid less than the minimum wage as they wouldn’t understand money. As a disabled person myself, it is extremely degrading to hear that people like myself apparently don’t have the right to be paid the fair amount like other employees.

There are many forms of discrimination, so along with white privilege, there are many different types of privileges. While I personally don’t believe that the criticism of Meghan Markle is racist, I can understand the debate. I would also say that while I understand the concept of white privilege, an awareness campaign which has unfortunately been confused for an attack on white people, I think Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu missed an opportunity to really cement her point by showing the comparisons in headlines of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle from the Daily Mail and also the comparisons in headlines of those two young Man City footballers too, which shows that the Daily Mail have been guilty of unconscious racial bias before. Brexit has brought on more hate than before and claims that UK is a tolerant country seems to be completely laughable now, and events like the Notting Hull carnival which celebrate diversity seems to be rendered redundant and don’t really make much sense knowing what Brexit has made the UK become. Whether or not the criticism of Meghan Markle is racist, it is completely pointless and tabloid journalism (and also Piers Morgan) only speaks to the ignorant, uneducated population of Great Britain. The sooner this brand of journalism is killed off, the better. It is of no surprise that the majority of those who are against Meghan Markle and claim that criticism of her isn’t racist have voted for Boris Johnson and Brexit, which clearly states their stance on racism. I’m not going to compare which form of discrimination is worse, because ALL forms of discrimination are completely wrong and I, along with other good human beings, hope to see the end of discrimination once and for all.