#for just promoting this butch biker show

[prettyfuckinhot]

my honest genuine #real opinion is that anyone who's ever had a serious problem with trans men saying tranny is an ignorant asshole. There's no good reason. Any variation of "it's not about you" is just genuinely wrong. Not only is there tons of historical precedent, there's also violent modern precedent if you paid any attention to trans men at all. Arguments like "look it up on Google images!" are so stupid because using Google images as to who is affected by a transphobic slur is a very, very dumb strategy to live by. Picking out trans men as the people who's language about transphobia you want to police is a bad joke.

[thecartoonarchivist]

Weekly Spotlight #4

Week number 4 of the Weekly Spotlight! I apologize for the wait; I’m still working out the kinks in my schedule.

Alrighty! So! Our weekly spotlight winner is:

*an even more vibrant drumroll!*

My Life as a Teenage Robot

I have a lot of fond memories of this show, as I’m sure many others do. Before sitting down and rewatching a couple episodes, from what I remembered about it, it was a little bit of an odd-ball. It always skirted this line of being accessible enough that the average viewer could relate to it while also being straight up bizarre enough to remember just how different this world is from our own. This show would mix the 1950′s aesthetic with science fiction concepts to cement itself, at least in my mind, alongside other animations such as Meet The Robinsons, George Shrinks! and, oddly enough, Samurai Jack. It was a slice of life, mixed with action and adventure, and some elements of horror? Which... ended up distinguishing itself from other similar “crime fighting teenagers” like Kim Possible, Teen Titans, or W.I.T.C.H. As a result, this show dealt with a lot of common problems and themes that teenagers faced in very odd ways, all under the guise of an action, sci-fi show.

So let’s have a little bit of a history lesson, shall we?

Back in the late 90′s, Nickelodeon began to host a show that was called Oh Yeah! Cartoons which has been called TV’s biggest animation development program ever. Dozens of filmmakers were contracted by Nickelodeon to create 7 minute cartoons that would be spliced together into a half-hour time-slot. This “show” would then air on television and depending on the approval ratings of the audience, these cartoon shorts would then be commissioned into a TV show for Nick. Producing nearly 100 of these cartoon shorts, this “animation laboratory” would jumpstart many individuals’ careers in the industry such as Seth MacFarlane, Vincent Waller, Dave Wasson, and Butch Hartman.

One such individual would be a man named, Rob Renzetti with a short titled, My Neighbor Was A Teenage Robot. Due to very high approval ratings, Nickelodeon commission for the show and would later on be titled, My Life As a Teenage Robot. It aired in 2003 and was eventually cancelled after 3 seasons (ironically) due to poor ratings.

So for our premise!

Jenny (or, XJ-9, as her mother calls her) is a crime-fighting, superhero robot who dreams of being a teenage girl just like other human beings. However, she has to juggle her duties as a superhero and her social life as a teenager, which leads wacky shenanigans, problems, and overall, grief  for Jenny as she attempts to fit in. She’s partnered with her friends Brad and Tuck as they tag along on her adventures, and she even has an admirer named, Sheldon, who tries to woo her in his own awkward way. She fights monsters, aliens, and a robot queen named, Vexus who is trying to recruit Jenny her robot world the planet Cluster Prime, while also dealing with the Crust Cousins who are out to destroy Jenny’s social reputation. Can a girl ever catch a break?

These episodes are broken up into 2 eleven minute segments with problems that are usually resolved by the end of the episode. There isn’t so much of a “continuity” per se, but there are episodes that reference earlier ones so while you can dive right in with any old episode you want, I’d keep in mind which one I’m choosing.

So on the whole how did this series hold up?

Well, the first several episodes are pretty shaky. Although the visuals were very unique to watch and the soundtrack was entertaining to listen to, I felt that some of the episodes weren’t all that entertaining. The problems felt fairly realistic, or at least believable for a “teenage robot,” however, it was easy to tell that the creators were still figuring out what they wanted to do with this series. What kind of character did they want to make Jenny? What kind of dynamic did they want the support cast to be like? What kind of bad guys did they want Jenny to go up against? And as a result, some of the early episodes suffered in quality. Overall, I felt like the first season, especially a lot of the first half, was simply establishing the status quo of the series. Yet, in spite of this, there were several episodes that I felt that the series really hit its stride and gave a solid balance of uniqueness and familiarity that left me both intrigued for more and very entertained with the product I’ve received.

There were some episodes that left me simply... disturbed. Two of them being Attack of 5 and 1/2 ft. Geek and The Return of the Raggedy Android. Some of you might remember the second one as the skin episode... (And if you don’t, consider yourself blessed...) With Attack of the 5 and 1/2 ft. Geek, Jenny has a screw loose in her arm and solicits the help of Sheldon to fix her problem. Having a large passion for robotics, Sheldon is not only happy to help but also becomes extremely infatuated with Jenny after she saves him. Extremely infatuated. To the point of stalking her. And showering her with unnecessary gifts. The others kids at school even laugh at her and bully her for her newfound “boyfriend.” Jenny is obviously embarrassed and uncomfortable and finds any excuse to get away from him. Eventually, she gets a call from her mother saying that there’s a gang downtown (the Lonely Heart’s Club, btw) which is causing havoc and requires her assistance. With Sheldon following her every move, the gang gets very jealous of Sheldon and Jenny’s “relationship” and kidnaps Sheldon. Jenny has to swoop in and save him, having also finally snapped at having Sheldon being called her boyfriend. She goes off, calling Sheldon creepy, a stalker, and a host of other things that are not only accurate, but legitimate concerns that any other teenage girl would have in such a situation. Sheldon is hurt and in a weird turn of events, he saves Jenny after she gets captured during her rant. The episode ends with Jenny apologizing about what she said and says that maybe they can hang out sometime... as friends. Just... friends. Sheldon goes on to be a recurring character of the series, causing a lot of shenanigans and other problems as a result of his infatuation.

Since the series ended with Jenny never establishing a relationship with either Brad nor Sheldon, many speculate as to which one she would have started dating. Although there aren’t any definitive answers from the team about who would have ended up with, the team appears to favor Sheldon as a candidate. Which... I find very problematic.

Sheldon stalked her, made her uncomfortable, and through the course of the series, lied to her, toyed with her emotions, and caused her much emotional grief. And yet, she’s supposed to apologize to Sheldon for being so “cruel” even though she was voicing some legitimate concerns about his conduct, and eventually end up with him as a boyfriend? Nuh-uh. No bueno. That’s not exactly something you should be teaching little girls. If she is uncomfortable being around him, she shouldn’t be obligated to hang out with him--- even if it hurts his feelings. And by remaining friends with him, she’s using him for upgrades her mother denies; stringing him along with the possibility of being “more than friends”; and overall, setting up an uncomfortable situation for both of them to be in. I don’t see how that’s okay to promote that kind of relationship to any kid. It’s just simple wish fulfillment and for a TV show that will be shown to children, that’s not okay. Keep it in your personal diary, or on your personal computer, because promoting this sort of relationship is extremely toxic and I don’t approve. At all.

Now... the infamous skin episode...

The basic problem of the episode is that Jenny wants to hang out at teenage hotspot called Mezmer’s. However, the owner of the shop won’t allow her in because she’s a robot. Remembering the freakish false skin that her mother designed her several episodes before, she attempts to reuse it after having received several upgrades to make it more believable. And it works! She becomes beautiful! More popular! She even gets to dance with Don Prima, the local heartthrob that Jenny has a crush on! Overall, she’s simply... normal. However, the second-skin seems to have a life of its own and puts itself on in Jenny’s sleep. It coaxes her to be more normal, to stop fighting crime, to focus on her beauty and her looks because that’s what a normal girl does. But once Brad becomes endangered by an intergalactic biker gang that threats destroy the shop, Jenny sheds her new skin and learns to accept herself for all her imperfections and unique personality traits. Because that’s what’s truly normal about her.

This episode was probably the most prominent that I remembered watching as a kid. And for a good reason too... This. Episode. Was. Horrifying! I’m not even kidding! Rewatching this as an adult, I kept thinking to myself “This is a children’s show?!?” One of the first interactions that we see with this new skin is that it claws its way up Jenny’s body while she shouts, “I can’t breathe!”

Later on, we see the exoskin crawl its way across Jenny’s floor and attack her like a snake while she sleeps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJjJmGv6ztY

(The video is pretty poor quality, but it’s the only one I can find.)

What. The. Fuck.

Oh, but it’s alright because she sheds the skin in the end and everything returns to a relative normal.

Except for the fact that the ending implies that the skin takes another victim and survives. Yeah. IT’S A REAL THING.

The message that the episode taught was great. It’s a message that teenage girls really do need to hear: that you have your own normal and that trying to be others’ version of “normal” can end up changing who you really are and up taking away all of the cool, badass qualities that make you, well, you. The problem is that this episode is so terrifying how the hell do you show this to kids?!? The fact that I remembered this episode so vividly despite the fact that I haven’t seen this show since it aired is a testament to the fact that it I probably shouldn’t have watched it as a child. I just... I’m baffled on how this got made! It’s... just... *shivers.*

I mean, questionable episodes aside, the show itself was interesting. The visuals were certainly unique and interesting to watch. The character designs were so original and iconic that going back and watching the original cartoon short, it’s kind of crazy that they weren’t always like that. The soundtrack, sound effects, even some of the voice acting was enjoyable the listen to. As I said before, it has a very 50′s aesthetic with a futuristic twist, which gives it this odd balance between feeling dated but also surprisingly modern. The backgrounds appear to be hand-painted, which is probably the reason for its dated look; I think it was a rather nice touch. I honestly have to give it to the sound effects department for being so on top of the little noises and such for every little movement Jenny made. It really created a sense of life in the character and I really did appreciate it in the small moments. I will have to say though, going back and watching this series, it didn’t exactly age as well as I had hoped. There were some nice episodes that I enjoyed but many of the episodes I found were pretty mediocre at best. Maybe it’s simply because I’ve gotten older and many of the jokes/gags just weren’t funny anymore. Maybe it’s because the characters themselves were simply 2-dimensional at best and dealt with stereotypical teenage problems. I’m not sure but really, I just wasn’t amused. Now, maybe I just need to watch more of this series as it appears to be a bit of a slow burn but really I’m just not that hype to jump on rewatching it.

If I had to rate this show, I’d probably give it a 6.8 out of 10. 

I’ll probably sit down and rewatch all of this at some point; after all, it seems decent enough. But really, if I never watch it again, I wouldn’t be too upset. It’s pretty much what I’d call “bubble gum TV;” if I want to turn on something mindless for a little while, I’d probably watch it but I wouldn’t be too invested. It’s just pretty... bland.

I think a lot of people have a bit of rose-tinted goggles when looking at this show and as such, it becomes kind of hard to criticize it. Does it deserve to be forgotten? Not necessarily. But I don’t think that it’s really as great as a lot of people think of it to be.

As for me, I’m gonna put this back in the shelves of my vault to watch one day. But when that day will be? We’ll just have to wait around and see what happens.

[Edit 11/21/118: I’m testing out a new tagging system. Let’s see if this fixes the broken links issues.]

If there are any corrections you’d like to make in regards to this post, please feel free to send me a message with your corrections and I’ll get back to it as soon as I can!

Do you remember a cartoon your friends have never heard of? Got a scene from an animated film that you’re dying to know the name to? Send your questions to The Cartoon Archivist and I’ll see what I’ve got in the vault!

[inappropriatefangirlneeds]

Gotham s4ep8 “Stop Hitting Yourself” Review

“Toodles, poodle” Warning spoilers below

* JIM GORDON between CAPTAIN and MOB.  “He´s a disgrace” “What does that make you?” This is what he tells the mayor when he scolds Harvey Bullock for working with Penguins goons and he has got a point about the mayors involvement but he really is not the person to provide such a hit. Harvey picks the issue up after Jim signs the contract: “Nothing in Gotham is free Captain Gordon.  You just better hope you can pay up when your bill's due. And it'll come due.” Jim Gordon knows Sofial Falcone got her hands in his promotion: “No contribution necessary, Jim. Just the Falcone name and everything that it implies.” “Well, I won't do it. Not like this. And not at Harvey's expense.” This time there is no certain thing he has to do in exchange but he know that there is mob influence at play and he certainly should be imagine that this is just not friendliness even before the: “I came to restore the Falcone name, and that's exactly what I'm going to do.” announcement.

 * PRO PENGUIN? FLUNKIES & FRIENDS   Uncivilized is what these girls are. Outside the bounds of a proper criminal society.” which is said by the biker gang guy about Barbra/Tabitha/Selina which is a really odd thing to hear. Proper Criminal Society. Just let that roll of your tongue a few times. But we quickly get the contrast. Not everyone is on board with the system Oswald Cobblepot has established. The narrows laugh about the mockery Ed makes of him.  OSWALD COBBLEPOT´s mentoring interactions with little murderous Martin set the tone for the episode. Apart from the questions of old and new friendships & love the second big issue is loyalty to Penguin. With Penguin there seems to be a distinction between BUSINESS and PRIVATE: “Revenge is never as simple as a mere tit for a tat. Revenge must be specific in nature.” “For instance, friendship can be an especially deadly tactic.” “Feels good, does it not? Minions are so much better than friends.” “The greatest friend I ever had turned into my worst enemy. Shun friendship. You and I we're more than friends. We're conspirators.” Private friendship has hurt him and he is avoiding it now. This later reminds him to second guess his own newfound friendship. The Business dices get mixed this week: There is resistance forming in the Narrows. Selina Kyle starts the mood with telling Oswald “We're not your toadies.” She wants something back for their work but Oswald only offers to not take anything from them. Barbara agrees but later announces “I would like to announce that we just quit working for Penguin.” This could have been partly show for the audience to win their favour but given their previous ambitions and that hostility between them and Oswald is likely true. Also Lee´s comment about Barbara was equally unfavourable: “You're working as Penguin's flunky. That suits you.”  Penguin has no grasp and support in the Narrows: “Firefly´s Penguin's enforcer.  And who's the one who got Firefly down here, Cherry? She informed on Ed to Penguin.” “You're a snitch, Cherry.” Cherry gets killed and Firefly at least knocked out. Then new leader Lee doesn´t favour him either and Jim now head of the GCPD. > The BUSINESS SIDE of Oswald´s empire starts to be thin ICE.   > At least he seems to have figured out on the PRIVATE side that there is a fight approaching.  For once it seems SOFIA FALCONE´s manipulation falls on deaf ears: Her attempt to distract Oswald further from his business by trying to see the value of personal and private pursuits won´t work out. But her trying to suggest Oswald needs an interest outside the business, something to relieve the stress was something I liked just because it referred back to Carmine Falcone´s chickens: “Um You need chickens.” “I'm sorry?” “Do you remember my father's chickens?” “I seem to recall the don's predilection for poultry” Where OSWALD seems to loose footing: JIM GODON and LESLIE THOMPKINS gain it. Jim accepts leadership of the GCPD and Lee now is a respected figure in the Narrows. “Uh, Lee, I'm supposed to be the stupid one. You heal their children. You stitch up their warriors. You've slain a fire-breathing monster, and you helped topple the queen. This is your turf now.” “No, no, no, no, no, I am not a leader.” “Okay, well, if you don't do it, somebody else will, probably worse than Cherry.” Both Jim and Lee are shown to have some reluctance. Jim because of the way he got the job but Lee does not consider herself fit to be a leader.  But both got encouraged with the notion that there could be worse persons to take over the Job. (Sofia saying Harvey will get more cops killed, Ed just saying someone worse than Cherry) And alliance between Jim and Leslie seems to be possible in the future. “You don't just have these people laughing. You have them ready for a fight.” “So?” ”So? So, what happens when Penguin hears about all this?” “Well, let that bird waddle in here. I have Grundy. I'm gonna be fine.”  “And what about them? Your fans?” “Not my problem.”  “Ed, you've put yourself on the front line of something. You can't just bail when fighting starts.”  “Okay, Doctor. If you would like to stop hiding from your past and do some leading, you go right ahead.” “That's not what I'm here for.” “Well, then, case closed.” “Neither of us are willing to put our necks out.” At least Leslie recognizes the responsibility that could suggest she could do good in a leading position but I´m unsure about the ambition part. It´s clear that JIM wants to take action against Penguin but I´m curious to see where they will place Lee in that question. I´d actually like her to lay low for a while in the big politics and continue to build infrastructure in the narrows, if that then could develop into a stronger conflict with Oswald this could provide motivation and reason to actually pick up that fight that has already been suggested here (and in a way I would like to see.)

SOFIA FALCONE & JIM GORDON : PUPPETS and PARTNERS Sofia´s ability to manipulate Jim crumbles. She clearly appeals to his sense of duty (not unlike Oswald did it when convincing Jim to kill Theo Galavan!):  “How much longer do you plan on propping him up? And how many more cops need to die because of his incompetence? I need to go.” But choosing Harvey Bullock as her target was not wise. If she had shown more sympathy for Harvey and tried to say something among the lines of Jim should see what kind of toll the job is taking on Harvey and tried to argue that he might be doing him a favour actually relieving him from what troubles him so much things might have gone differently. But she decided to take the Harvey has to go route and at least Jim has enough friendly feelings for Harvey that it makes him resent Sofia. I do actually think that this is the point that rips them apart. The line that he “won´t do it, not like this” (being captain because of mob interference) falls flat against his history of getting his job back through mob interference the second part of “and not at Harvey´s expense” seems to have more weight.  Obviously what Jim believes is his duty still weighs more than loyalty to Harvey but his old partner still matters enough to question new ties:  “You can toy with Penguin all you want, but I am not your puppet.” “No, you're not. You're my partner.” “Your partner? I just stuck a knife in my partner's back.”

JIM GORDON &  HARVEY BULLOCK:  PARTNERS and FRIENDS With Harvey Bullock not doing his job at the BulletholeClub the show managed to find a “elegant” way for the transition of Jim Gordon taking over his job. Least I´m sure that´s what they think, the whole issue is still icky and seems forced and rushed in the light of their past and history of friendship. “Jim, I shot Officer Patel. What the hell was I supposed to do?”  Jim has a point to remind Harvey that it is part of the Job but he again is not the person to scold someone who forgets what is part and not part of the Job. Harvey saying : “I know you have my back, partner.”  should have been true. LUCIUS FOX shows more empathy and understanding for Harvey´s situation than Jim does:  “No wonder he wants a friend there.”  Jim´s following “no wonder” has an irrationally cruel tone. 1. Harvey has had Jim´s back on more than one occasion. Jim has gone astray the rules more than once and Harvey followed him without any questions and not more than a exhausted sigh. 2. Harvey has had his issues with the rules in the past and Jim could look past that it doesn´t make much sense that things would be so drastically different now.   Both Harvey and Jim have more than once failed their job but I can´t think of anything where Harvey failed Jim as much as Jim does it now for Harvey.

 * BRIDGIT PYKE & SELINA KYLE Bridgit and Selina´s interactions and meetings have been a bumpy road since she became Firelfy but this week we get to know that she has both left her past and her old friends behind. She´s in line with Penguin. It feels like she lost personality and I don’t like it.  “Come on, Bridgit.  Don't do this. You're from the Narrows.” “Yeah. And I couldn't be happier to be out. Penguin's right about this place. It's a sewer. Only way to kill the stink is to burn it.”

 * TABITHA GALAVAN & BUTCH GILZEANE “He loves me too much to hurt me.  Grundy kill! Babe, I love your faith, but I really think you should take this.” I ´m still 110% salty about he Tabitha&Butch&Barbara plot rubbish but oh my god Tabitha was so sweet when she thought she could reunite with Butch. Her face almost warmed up my frozen heart. Barbara promptly referring back to being owed for the electrocution was nice too. Those tree seem to continue to be a mixed back of love, friendship and alliances.

SOFIAL FALCONE & OSWALD COBBLEPOT: COMPANIONS and FRIENDS  “You see, Oswald? Business is not the end all of life. There are other rewards to be had. Companionship, peace of mind. Friendship.”  Words that spark some suspicion in Oswald: “Sometimes, if you're not very careful, friendship can blind you to what is staring you right in the face.”  I´m intrigued where this will lead. I´d really like to see Oswald repay the favour of pretending to be friend for a while just until he resumes the upper hand in all matters again. (Also as much as I love Sofia I can´t root for her to win, this is awkward .. )

* “That is quite a lot to go awry in one day.”   I absolutely loved the scene where OSWALD COBBLEPOT got all the bad news from Mr. PENN in front of MARTIN. He had to hold himself and his tantrums back. He only did it because he had his little audience and I suppose he mostly did to look like a strong person to look up to. A role model. You can´t be a mentor if you don´t have your shit together. Mr. Penns surprised face to see Oswald not go screaming into his face for a couple minutes was marvelous but I even more liked how this was promptly followed by a revelation. Holding himself back, restricting his outbursts and reflecting on what he does obviously had a good effect on Oswald it helped him realize something he could not see before. A little CHILL is a good thing for a Penguin ..

*“I get melodramatic under pressure.” * “And you don't know him, so you don't get to laugh.” * “Trust me, it's a great idea but far too messy to be practical.” Oswald to Firefly about feeding people their eyes. He´s a great mentor. * “We don't all make decisions based on what it can get us. There are other people in the world.” “Wow. Sexy and self righteous. What does Jim think of this new you?” //  “I thought you'd changed, but turns out, just got a new hairdo.” //   “Wow. I have got to know what is up with this outfit.” BARBARA about LEE´s outfit and saying what I was thinking a scene before.  Also: Apart the sexy and self righteous line  the “Other cheek”  line from Babs after Lee hit her was awesome!  And I bet that Barbara calculated that she would do Lee a favour shooting Cherry. I´m intrigued. * SET DESIGN did great work with Sofia Falcones table and I really appreciate the “Police through the time” piece on the wall in the bar! *Quick Question: How does CHERRY find people who get in the ring to get their arms ripped off? * Other Quick Question: How does Ed know about the Honk Honk? * I like that they incorporated some of SELINA KYLES background. She providing information about the Narrows and how things work there was a great detail! Love that! * “I was just having a little drinky-poo.”  “Toodles, poodle.”  What even? * “No one appreciates how hard it is to be a crime lord. I did actually spend my childhood being raised by one.” “My very point.”