#i don't think it's a groundbreaking film

[kattahj]

The Barbie movie isn't about girl power. It's not about how women can do everything they set their mind to. It's about how sometimes women are tired and average and that has to be okay too, because you don't have to do everything to be worth anything. (And that this is also true of men.)

[starrypawz]

Saw Barbie yesterday finally

It was good

[i-aint-even-bovvered]

Apparently some people think America Ferrera's speech in the Barbie movie is "corny" or "obvious" or something like that. But here's my personal perspective

First thing out of the way: I am nonbinary. I am not a woman. I am AFAB, though, and was therefore socialized like a girl and young woman, even if I felt like those words never really applied to me. Most of the time, though, other people who don't know me will see me as a woman. It's whatever.

No, this movie is not saying anything new. It is not a groundbreaking statement to say women face all these exhausting contradictions that cause them to bend over backwards to do the slightest thing.

But I don't think it's supposed to be groundbreaking. I don't think most people at the Barbie movie are going to have a huge revelation because America Ferrera said something that never heard or thought before. In the context of the movie, the character is speaking to a literal doll who has only recently learned that the real world is kinda shitty for a lot of people. Because this doll is literally something little girls project on, and little girls very often grow into women who deal with this shit. Yes, this is feminism 101, because it's speaking to a character who, until a day ago, lived in a matriarchal society where she never HAD to learn feminism 101. The oppression she faces is literally new to her!

And let's not forget that this is being said by a Latina woman in a blockbuster film. How often do you see that? She describes herself as a "boring mom with a boring job," and then she gets to rant about the fact that she's expected to always be extraordinary, but at the end of it all, she just wants her daughter to love her back and have a good day. And because of that, she's the hero of Barbieland!

Yes, it's cheesy. No, it's not subtle in the slightest. But sometimes, it's nice to hear someone say the words out loud.

And honestly, if you're going into the Barbie movie expecting subtlety, that's on you.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Hedy Lamarr (Samson and Delilah, Ziegfeld Girl)—Look. I'm sure someone has already submitted Hedy Lamarr because she was spectacularly beautiful, and a very strong lady too: she fled both an abusive marriage AND nazi persecution at a very young age and rebuilt a life for herself pursuing her love for acting all on her own!! Her career as an actress was stellar; while she began acting outside of Hollywood (her very first movie, Ecstasy, won a prize at the Venice Film Festival), she conquered American hearts very quickly with her first movie in the US, Algiers, and then just kept getting better and better. If all this isn't enough, she was also an inventor: her invention of the frequency-hopping spread spectrum radio transmission technique forms the base of bluetooth and has a lot of applications in all kinds of communication technologies. I think that deserves a prize, don't you?

Diahann Carroll (Paris Blues, Carmen Jones, Porgy and Bess)— Face of an angel. She had the range. She brought chemistry with every romance she portrayed. She also had a great fashion sense, and was so pretty Mattel made a doll based off of her.

This is one of two semifinals in the Hot & Vintage Movie Women Tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Propaganda is not my own and is on a submission basis. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Hedy Lamarr:

The only person you can find both on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in the Inventor's Hall of Fame--her radio-frequency-hopping technology forms the basis for cordless phones, wi-fi, and a dozen other aspects of modern life. She was also passionate in her efforts to aid the Allies in WWII (unsurprising for a Jewish-Austrian Emigree to America), and her name served as the backbone for one of the best running jokes in what is possibly Mel Brooks' best movie. Look, Louis B. Mayer apparently believed he could plausibly promote her as "The world's most beautiful woman". Is an entire website full of people going to be less audacious than one Louis B. Mayer? I didn't think so!

Described as "Hedy has the most incredible personal sophistication. She knows the peculiarly European art of being womanly; she knows what men want in a beautiful woman, what attracts them, and she forces herself to be these things. She has magnetism with warmth, something that neither Dietrich nor Garbo has managed to achieve" by Howard Sharpe, she managed to escape her controlling husband (and Nazi Germany) by a) Disguising as her maid and fleeing to Paris or b) Convincing the husband to let her wear all of her jewelry to a dinner, only to disappear afterwards. Also she was particularly clever and helped develop Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum (I can't really explain it but anyway...)

Her depiction of Delilah and Samson and Delilah just lives rent free in my head. The woman was gorgeous.

One of the most beautiful women ever in film, spoken by many critics and fans. Beautiful shapely figure, deeper seductive voice, and often played femme fatale roles. She was also brilliant and an inventor. Mainly self-taught, she invested her spare time, including on set between takes, in designing and drafting inventions, which included an improved traffic stoplight and a tablet that would dissolve in water to create a flavored carbonated drink, and much more.

Gorgeous and brilliant pioneer of modern technology and the middle part.

Diahann Carroll:

Another groundbreaking black actress, although she might be better remembered for her television roles. She was also an activist and worked with charities to support women in need.

here she is hanging out with shadow prince anthony perkins :3

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Ladybug and Cat Noir: The Movie

Once again, I'd just like to apologize for the lack of activity the past few months. The holidays have kept me busy, especially at work, and I've officially decided to go back to school next month. Don't get me wrong, one of my new year's resolutions is to at least try getting back to consistently working on this blog, which is one of the reasons why I'm going to tackle She-Ra in the future. Either way, I'd like to thank you for supporting me this past year even though I haven't been as active as I should be.

When I heard Miraculous Ladybug was getting a movie, I didn't really pay too much attention to the news due to all of the side projects that have been canceled left and right, but then I saw the trailer. It looked decent, and while I had issues with the animation, I was willing to give it a shot since Astruc wasn't on the writing team. Then the movie came out, and while it got mixed reviews, this was how a lot of people in the fandom saw it after suffering through Season 5.

Yeah, a lot of fans hold this movie in high regard. It's nothing as groundbreaking as other animated films that came out the same year like Across the Spider-Verse and Nimona, but for a Miraculous Ladybug project, it turned out pretty well. That is, except for the brief schism it caused in the fandom. While it's mostly subsided, when the movie came out, there was a debate on which handled the story better, the movie or the show. As always, fandom arguments tend to get complicated, and things only got worse when Thomas Astruc himself decided to throw his hat in the ring by claiming that the show he worked on was better.

Yes, even though fans enjoy a movie based on his characters, because he isn't the one who made it, Astruc thinks his version is better. Just remember, he tweeted this about a month after “Derision” premiered. I feel like that speaks for itself.

Thankfully, the argument has died down for the most part, though there's still discussions on which is the better version. Before I really get into the movie, I just want to remind everyone reading this that my opinion shouldn't be taken as fact. I am not the authority on what people should like, and I don't want anyone to use my review as an excuse to bully other people online for having a different opinion on the movie. While I've made jokes about the show's decline in quality, the show and movie both have their own strengths and weaknesses, and we should be able to discuss them.

With all that out of the way, let's get into Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie

Just to be clear, I'm not going to tackle this like my usual reviews. Instead, I'm going to break this review into three sections: what I liked, what I didn't like, and what I'm mixed on.

Things I liked

For one thing, the characterization is pulled off very well. None of the characters are really as annoying or incompetent like they were in the show's later seasons. Part of what I think makes it work is that there's more focus on character arcs that have to be completed by the end of the film. Marinette has to learn to step up as a hero, Adrien has to learn humility while dealing with the loss of his mother, and Gabriel struggles to resist the allure of villainy.

Marinette's anxiety is more pronounced in this movie, especially since in this continuity, Chloe is just starting to harass her, so she's not used to this kind of treatment. While Chloe is a minor antagonist in the civilian plotline, the biggest threat to Marinette when she's not Ladybug is her own self-doubt. Her status as an outcast is used to add to Marinette's lack of confidence in herself. The whole reason she even meets Adrien here is because she tried to hide from Chloe in the library, and she was too nervous to really speak up to Adrien. Hell, the first time she transforms into Ladybug, it's only because Tikki forced her to transform.

I like how Marinette's insecurities transition into her origin as Ladybug, where she's put in a situation where she has to take charge and be more confident. She still gets frustrated with her situation and her new partner's ego (more on that in a minute), but she struggles to really get her head in the game at first compared to how things were in “Origins”. It makes her development into the confident hero we're all familiar with feel more natural, as the climax of the movie shows her fully asserting herself as the protector of Paris and a beacon of hope for those to look up to.

Adrien is also handled very well here. As much as I liked “Origins”, I have to admit it didn't really do much with him as a character. With the exception of wasting his first Cataclysm, he just goes about the two-parter like it's another day at the office for him. That's why I'm a huge fan of the movie actually giving him stuff to do. Unlike the show, his arrogance is shown in a more negative light and is shown to be a major character flaw he needs to overcome. Nobody tries to excuse or deny his actions, and he learns how to become a better person.

This is what makes his dynamic with Ladybug so interesting. For their first battle together, he's overconfident and assumes that he's the leader, even though he's just as new at this as Ladybug is. The two trade insults and bicker while fighting their Akuma and even when they meet Master Fu afterwards. While Cat Noir does fall for Ladybug, Marinette still isn't open to it, not because she loves someone else, but more because she finds him to be unbelievably annoying. She doesn't really hate him the same way she does Chloe. It's more like that one coworker you can't stand but have to tolerate regardless.

Both Ladybug and Cat Noir help the other improve as they gain each other's respect. Ladybug gains more confidence in order to keep Cat Noir from bossing her around, while Cat Noir becomes more humble to become a better hero. Eventually, Cat Noir reverses his position and assumes he's the sidekick, only for Ladybug to deny that claim and declare that the two are partners. This statement also reflects how both of them are responsible for saving the day in the end. While Adrien ultimately reaches through to his father, Ladybug saves Adrien and repairs the damage caused by Hawkmoth. Both played a role that was instrumental in the climax, and neither one feels ignored by the narrative.

Another character who really got a much needed revamp is Chloe. Yes, she's still Marinette's primary bully, but it's more downplayed than in later seasons. She stays a challenge exclusive to Marinette's civilian life instead of trying to be a challenge to Ladybug. The closest thing she does to opposing the heroes is kick Cat Noir off a runaway Ferris wheel out of fear, and even then, she gets her comeuppance through Ladybug throwing her in a dumpster while saving her. Chloe is also much smarter than in canon, being able to read the room to mask her emotions and maintain her image or to prey on someone's insecurities if they get in her way. Don't get me wrong, she's still a source of comic relief, but the movie treats her slightly more seriously than canon does.

Speaking of comic relief, here's something that I think made this Chloe better than the one seen in the show: The jokes were actually funny. Yeah, it's not laugh out loud, but I like how rather than make jokes about how immature and stupid Chloe is, her jokes are focused more on her own ego and self-image. Well, that, and wanting to kick Marinette's ass. I'm not making this up. Chloe in this movie threatens Marinette several times, and it's honestly amazing.

She unironically put the fear of God in Marinette's eyes in her first scene alone.

I also like how they handle her role as a love rival to Marinette. Unlike the show, Chloe and Adrien never interact, and it's implied that this continuity won't use the childhood friends element introduced in Season 2. It's a good way to show the difference between her and Marinette, how for all her boasting, Chloe doesn't know Adrien the way Marinette gets to know him.

Gabriel is easily the best part of the movie. This version is more fleshed out compared to the show. Rather than flip-flop between sympathetic and pure evil, the movie leans more on the sympathetic side for Gabriel's character. His very first scene shows the grief he's going through while thinking about Emilie, and Keith Silverstein gets to show off more emotions than just over the top sociopathy. You understand why he chooses to become a supervillain, but you want to see him get better, making for a very somber character. I especially love the delivery of the line where he finally gives in and transforms for the first time.

Gabriel: If chaos is the way, I will burn the world and lose myself in the flames to do so!

That line has no right to go as hard as it does.

We see him descend more into villainy as his appearance becomes more disheveled. Despite claiming to care for his son, the Gabriel and Adrien don't interact until the 70-minute mark. By the time the two do talk, Gabriel looks like a mess compared to how he looked at the beginning.

I really like this writing decision, as it highlights the distant relationship between the two, and how being Hawkmoth has only made things worse for Gabriel. Seeing Gabriel finally realize how unhealthy his coping mechanisms have been when he learns Adrien is Cat Noir is a satisfying scene, as it feels like a natural way to put an end to his arc. Compared to canon where he wins and never really feels bad for what he did, this version of Gabriel is far more remorseful at the sight of his son battered and bruised and breaks down sobbing. Remember, this was the version Astruc said we “wanted” and not the one we “needed”.

As for the Miraculous, things were changed to better fit the story, and I like most of what they did. I like how there's more focus on the teamwork between Ladybug and Cat Noir. Their Miraculous don't just grant a wish when used together. They literally become stronger when the two work together, and it makes a lot of sense. I like how the teamwork aspect is rewarded in-universe, because it shows how the heroes can do more than create and destroy stuff. I also think the addition of a call function on their Miraculous makes perfect sense, and clears up a ton of potential communication errors.

The fight scenes are also pretty creative. There's a lot of focus on using the environment to fight the Akumas. The very first fight has Ladybug and Cat Noir defeat the Akuma by letting a train hit it, and the second major fight involves a Ferris wheel going out of control. This leads to more varied action and well choreographed fight scenes. I especially like how with the exception of the Mime (and a brief reference to the Bubbler and Guitar Villain), all of the Akumas are brand-new, so older fans don't know what to expect with these guys.

This level of action also extends to the climax. Hawkmoth uses an Akuma on himself, sending out a massive flock of butterflies. You'd think it'd be like this movie's take on “Heroes' Day”, right? Nope! Instead, the Akumas become tiny attack drones that swarm over Paris like the eight plague of Egypt. I don't know how the animators managed to make an army of purple butterflies menacing, but by God, they did it.

Speaking of animators, my thoughts on the animation have changed drastically. While I still have minor gripes with the character design, I still love how the city of Paris is brought to life, making it seem more populated than in the show. I never really held the limited amount of civilians against the animators in the show, but I'm so happy we can see this show's environment on a cinematic budget. The animation is another reason why I think the action works so well in this movie.

Things I didn't like

When it comes to the changes to the Miraculous, one thing I'm not a fan of is Ladybug not getting her Lucky Charm. It misses the point of her having the power of creation. Yeah, she still has the spotted vision thing she had in the show, but it takes away what made the way she defeats Akumas interesting. She doesn't just beat them into submission. Sometimes, she outsmarts them or reasons with them, and part of the fun with the Lucky Charm is seeing just how she'll use something like a coat hanger or an old football trophy to defeat them.

I also don't like this movie's take on the Butterfly Miraculous. The very first scene has Master Fu build it up as an evil artifact capable of turning people into monsters. Remember, “Origins” established the Butterfly as something capable of creating superheroes, a power Gabriel twisted to create villains instead. Hell, I hate this rule, but the Paris Special made it clear that Miraculous can be used for good or evil, and it all depends on how the power is used. In other words, Miraculous don't kill people, people kill people. Bottom line, I prefer the idea of the Butterfly being the same as the other Miraculous, with the user and intent making it evil.

The one character who I felt the movie absolutely misrepresented was Plagg. This version of the character has none of the heart he had in the show. Yes, Plagg was crass there too, but he had just as many scenes showing how he cared for Adrien like a little brother or a nephew. He was Adrien's primary confidant and wanted to help him however he could. Even bad Plagg-centric episodes like “Kuro Neko” or “The Kwamis' Choice” made it clear he wants what's best for Adrien and is capable of coming up with plans if they'll help him.

Here, Plagg is mostly just there to make snide comments and fart a lot. Say what you will about the show, but at least it didn't make Plagg farting into a running gag. Plagg only gets a handful of lines in the entire movie, to the point where even Tom has more lines than he does. Tikki gets plenty of scenes with Marinette and an entire song, while Plagg feels like an afterthought.

Things I'm mixed on

This might be a little controversial, but I have mixed feelings on the portrayal of the Love Square as a whole in this movie. Don't get me wrong, the Ladynoir scenes are great, but there's not as many Adrienette, Ladrien, or Marichat scenes. In fact, I don't think there were any Ladrien or Marichat scenes in this movie, which is weird. I can at least excuse those, but it's weird how little Adrienette scenes there are. Not counting the masks, they only have four major scenes together before the end, and one of those is a deleted scene that had the dialogue cut over a montage.

While I'm glad the entire movie wasn't about the Love Square drama, the romance between Marinette and Adrien specifically feels a little rushed. I think it would have benefited the movie to have ten or fifteen more minutes to flesh out this subplot a little instead of only focusing on Ladynoir.

I'm also unsure what to say about the songs. Most of them are pretty catchy and have great visuals, but the dissonance between the singing voices of Marinette and Adrien throws me off. I don't get why neither actor for the French or English dub was asked to sing. For some reason, Tikki and Gabriel's voice actors got to sing, but not Marinette and Adrien. At the very least, Drew Ryan Scott's singing voice sort of sounds like Adrien, but Lou's singing voice makes Marinette sound twice her age. Don't get me wrong, I still liked the songs, but this choice was very jarring to me.

And now, because literally nobody asked for it, here's every song in the movie ranked.

8. If I Believed in Me

A very dull “I want” song that's just Marinette wandering around Paris on the way to school. Compared to “Little Town” from Beauty and the Beast, where you can easily follow Belle and understand how she goes about her day, it's not clear what kind of route Marinette is taking. Even the lyrics are pretty bland, just talking about wanting to follow her dreams and be more confident. The issue is that her dreams of being a fashion designer barely factor into the plot, and she only becomes more confident thanks to being a superhero, something she didn't dream of. The only real dud in the soundtrack.

7. Opening Remix

Not much to say here. It's a remix of the opening theme with the new singers. It sounds nice.

6. Reaching Out

This is a much better song than “If I Believed in Me”. It does a great job expressing Marinette's doubt and how she feels pressured to be somebody she's not. Great way to follow up on her heart getting broken by Adrien.

5. My Lady

This one's a quickie, but it's still fun. I love the visuals in this one and how it gradually crescendos, reflecting the new feelings Cat Noir has for Ladybug developing.

4. Stronger Together

Surprisingly, Ladybug and Cat Noir's only duet in the movie, but it's still really good. I love the use of the set in the theater Cat Noir took Ladybug to at the beginning before they run around Paris. The lyrics do a great job showing how far the two's relationship has come, making it clear how close they are, only for reality to metaphorically kick them out of the sky.

3. You Are Ladybug

Another duet, this time between Marinette and Tikki. While I still think Cristina Vee should have gotten to sing this one song given her chemistry with Mela Lee, Lou still does a great job expressing her anxiety. The back and forth between Tikki and Marinette makes this a blast to watch, especially with it using the same music as the theme song. Even the rap part with Tikki was fun to watch. I especially love the part where Tikki excitedly tells Marinette about how dangerous the job is and how close she'll come to getting killed.

2. Chaos Will Reign Today

The villain song in this movie had no right to be as good as it is. The visuals are eerie and fit the more menacing tone of the song. Keith Silverstein gives his all to make up for his crime of singing the Hawkmoth Rap. It's also a hell of a lot better than the villain song Disney had to offer that year.

1. Courage in Me

Easily my favorite song in the movie. The visuals of Marinette struggling to hop across these black spots symbolizing her yo-yo before her transformation into Ladybug is awe-inspiring. The lyrics are a great way to solidify Marinette embracing her role as Ladybug, and it's such a triumphant song to listen to.

Other things I noticed

During the first Akuma fight, Ladybug and Cat Noir pass by some guys with stereotypical French accents while almost every other character speaks like they're in America.

Careless Whisper plays one time in Cat Noir's mind as he develops feelings for Ladybug. The fact that he listens to it after getting his heart broken has to be one of the most subtle jokes I've ever seen in this franchise. Of course, it's clear what the best superhero cover of Careless Whisper really is.

Cat Noir says he has the power of destruction in his introduction while being impressed when Master Fu says the same thing.

There's a Volkswagon tie-in that actually features the two heroes promoting some cars in-universe. This is a real shot from the movie.

I think Chloe ships Alyanette, judging from this exchange:

Marinette: Seriously, Alya, you think Adrien would say yes?

Alya: Of course! I'm gonna ask Nino.

Chloe: I think you should go together, 'cause Adrien is coming with me, not with some baker girl.

I don't think Ladybug ever learned Cat Noir could play the piano, so seeing Cat Noir try to woo her with a little piano number is a nice inclusion.

When Cat Noir's mask is destroyed in the final battle, his exposed eye is still green. Was this where the chibi shorts got the idea from?

Other people have pointed this out, but the picture of Adrien as a kid is traced from a character from The Boss Baby. That's an automatic ten point deduction for making me remember that movie exists.

The post-credits scene with Nathalie was weird.

Did Master Fu not know he lost the Peacock Miraculous too?

Why isn't Emilie in any form of suspended animation?

Is the Peacock still damaged?

Did the Peacock still kill her/send her into a coma?

Was Adrien still created by the Peacock?

Why didn't Gabriel use the Peacock or at least consider it?

Did Gabriel forget to tell anyone about the other Miraculous he has after turning himself in?

Why did Gabriel choose to tell Nathalie when she didn't seem to help him while he was still Hawkmoth?

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a really good movie, and a fresh take on the show's universe. I had issues with it, but I still think this movie series has promise. The animation was great, the songs were catchy, and the characterization was on point for the most part. It even manages to be a better musical than the ones big names like Disney and Warner Bros have made in the past two years. It's one of the best things to come out of the franchise, no question. I wouldn't mind future installments set in this continuity over whatever Season 6 churns out.

[mariacallous]

Twenty years ago, MySpace and Facebook ushered in an inspired age of social media. Today, the sticky parables of online life are inescapable: Connection is a convenience as much as it is a curse. A lot’s changed since those early years. In June, the US surgeon general, Vivek H. Murthy, called for a warning label on social platforms that have played a part in the mental health crisis among young people, of which “social media has emerged as an important contributor.” Social Studies, the new FX docuseries from documentarian Lauren Greenfield, bring the unsettling effects of that crisis into startling view.

The thesis was simple. Greenfield set out to catalog the first generation for which social media was an omnipresent, preordained reality. From August 2021 to the summer of 2022, she embedded with a group of teens at several Los Angeles–area high schools for the entire school year (the majority of the students attend Palisades Charter), as they obsessed over crushes, applied to college, attended prom, and pursued their passions.

“It was an unusual documentary for me,” Greenfield, a veteran filmmaker of cultural surveys like The Queen of Versailles and Generation Wealth, says of how the series came together. “The kids were co-investigators on this journey.” Along with the 1,200 hours of principal photography Greenfield and her team captured, students were also asked to save screen recordings of their daily phone usage, which amounted to another 2,000 hours of footage. Stitched together, the documentary illuminates the tangled and unrelenting experiences of teens as they deal with body dysmorphia, bullying, social acceptance, and suicidal ideation. “That’s the part that is the most groundbreaking of this project, because we haven’t really seen that before.”

The depth of the five-episode series benefits from Greenfield’s encyclopedic approach. The result is perhaps the most accurate and comprehensive portrait of Gen Z’s relationship to social media. With the release of the final episode this week (you can stream it on Hulu), I spoke with Greenfield over Zoom about the sometimes cruel, seemingly infinite experience of being a teenager online today.

JASON PARHAM: In one episode, a student says, “I think you can’t log in to TikTok and be safe.” Having spent the previous three years fully immersed in this world, I’m curious if you think social media is bad?

LAUREN GREENFIELD: I don't think it's a binary question. I really went into this as a social experiment. This is the first generation that has never grown up without it. So even though social media has been around for a while, they are the first generation of digital natives. I thought it was the right time to look at how it was impacting childhood. It’s the biggest cultural influence of this generation’s growing up, bigger than parents, peers, or school, especially coming out of Covid, which was when we started filming. You know, I didn't go into filming with a point of view or an activist agenda, but I certainly was moved by what the teenagers said to me and what they showed in their lives, which is that it's a pretty dire situation.

Without a doubt.

Jonathan, in episode five, says it's a lifeline, but it's also a loaded gun. So I don't think it's about whether there are good things in it and bad things. We see both in the show, but we also would not let our kids be around a loaded gun. So I do think that we need to change the engineering of it so that we can keep the good and not have the bad.

I entered high school in 2000, before the social media boom, and I always joke with friends how I probably would not have survived if we had it the way kids do now.

The genie is out of the bottle. But there is regulation now to get rid of it in schools, which I think is great. We also see the problem of distraction in the show. And we see the need of this generation for person-to-person connection, which they don't have enough of. We've also seen how for people like Nina, LGBTQ+, even some of the social justice reactions that happen in the series, it has a use. It also is a means of creativity and entrepreneurship. And we see that with our characters too.

But there are also just things that make life extremely toxic for teenagers—the 24/7 comparison culture, the algorithm bringing them down harmful paths of learning. What some of the new information coming out of TikTok’s internal research shows us is that these apps are engineered and they can be engineered differently.

Have you seen the Jim Henson movie? It’s called Idea Man.

No, I haven’t.

One thing that really moved me that I thought was relevant to social media and thinking about the good and bad of it, is that Joan Ganz Cooney—the TV producer who started Sesame Street—had this idea of bringing in people who know what kids love, which was Jim Henson and the creatures, with people who know what kids need to learn and what they need. It’s that second piece that has never been relevant to tech designers and engineers who have only been designing for maximum engagement, even if it's at the expense of the health and well-being of young people. We have a mental health crisis on our hands because of it. Technology is important and important for so many reasons, but I think we have an untenable situation with the current engineering of social media.

So you’re saying we need even more guardrails?

Now having filmed the show—and I hope people get it—we have to have empathy for these teenagers. Like, it's not fair to ask them to self-regulate when the apps have been designed to be addictive.

How did you land on Los Angeles as the petri dish for this social experiment?

I've been looking at youth culture for 30 years. My first book, Fast Forward: Growing Up in the Shadow of Hollywood explored how kids were influenced by the values of fame, image, and materialism. Those themes are also really relevant in the social media age. Fame is something that is not for celebrities anymore, it's for every kid looking for likes. And likes have become a rite of passage, in terms of popularity. Image making, FaceTune, Photoshop, styling, curating your brand—all of these things that used to be the realm of celebrities are now the realm of everyday children. And a lot of times in my work, I'm trying to document the air we breathe, the popular culture that's all around us. Sometimes it's hard to see. So for me, with LA, I wanted to look at where that was the most pure and strong, rather than where it was average.

The point of view shifts between students and parents. Ivy’s mom in particular has very sharp views about trans people, vaccines, and politics. Why also include their voices in a series so acutely focused on teen life?

When I started, I didn't know I was going to include the adults, but they ended up being so important. There are a lot of loving, caring parents in the show who have no idea what's going on in the social media lives of their kids. I didn't know a lot as a parent either. I think that the show is very entertaining for teenagers, twentysomethings, and thirtysomethings. For parents, it's more of an education and I hear more of them being shocked by it. It was important to see the disconnect between this generation and their parents, how much things have changed, and how much parents don't realize what's going on.

Many of the kids started taking action into their own hands.

One of the most important things I came out of this with is, parents, teachers, and administrators are not addressing the problems. They might not even understand the problems. So we get this world of young people helping each other. We have Jonathan, Cooper, and Dominic all working at a crisis hotline doing peer counseling for kids in distress. We have Anthony who becomes a vigilante because he's so frustrated that nobody's doing anything about the racist incidents and sexual assault that he’s seeing. And we have kids also making media, like Cooper having a podcast about body image. That stuff is sprouting up because they're very alone in this.

Why do you think there is such a disconnect?

They’re just from a different generation. My youngest, who is 20, I remember I would ask to see stuff. And this was in the earlier stages of social media. You know, I kind of demanded that he would show me. But he refused. He had a different view of everything. He felt it was his private space. We need to move off that and open up a dialog. This show, it's really meant more to open dialog rather than have solutions, even though the kids give us some solutions. But the parents are an important part of the equation.

Like Ivy’s family?

Ivy's family story was a really important social media story. It's kind of the story of the division that we're seeing in our culture now—how algorithms and silos take us into these different ways of thinking and split us apart, how they make the other the enemy. We’re seeing how terrible the disinformation problem is, how tragically it could affect all of us in this election. Their story came about very unexpectedly. But I thought it was fascinating, and getting to know all the members of that family, you can see how both parents love their kids, how both kids love their parents. I didn't want to vilify anybody. But we also see how tragic it is when ideas and algorithmic silos divide family members.

Watching the series made me wonder if these kids are doomed, in a sense, because they are so beholden to platforms like TikTok and Snap. It’s all they know. Is this a tragic story?

No, I don't think so. The hope we see in episode five and their resilience is a testament to the resilience of this generation and the way they can help us carve a path forward. If anything, the adults have been a little bit irresponsible and kind of unknowing. The tech companies have been downright irresponsible. Safeguards like we have in all other media have been missing. Not to point fingers, this is a medium that has come up very quickly—

Please point fingers.

Look, it's relatively new what we're learning. In episode five, Sydney says, “Once we knew the harm of cigarettes with lung cancer, there was change made, there was regulation. And now we know there's a connection between social media, mental health, eating disorders, and suicidal ideation.” So once this knowledge is here, we have to act. To me it's very hopeful, and I know at the end the kids are like, “What do we do? We can't live without it.” But understanding that ​​there are actually a lot of things that can be done, between regulation, between asking tech companies to change the algorithm, and also legally if they were responsible for their publishing, like every other publisher, we might be in a different space.

[judesmoonbeauty]

Since there is a LACK of PV still, I've been holding off on one of my main theory posts, but I don't know, I may post it later on. Anyway, here are some thoughts I had today...

I was thinking about one of the last sentences from his, "Evil Behind The Scenes" premium end, and how it reminded me of this line from one of his bond stories:

There's always a lot of tension between him and Kate in events, and I especially eat up his POVs of how much he fights his desire of wanting to be with her. I LIVE for that.

We know he is probably do some irritating, twisted, and down right cruel stuff to her in order to drive her away, and honestly I cant' wait to see how far he goes......Is it wrong that I want it to be harsh?

And I don't mean harsh because I want Kate to suffer, but I want it to be as harsh as possible because it proves just how much he cares for her well-being. We know that there is going to be a wall there, and it'll be nice to see how Kate blows that up (I mean we know she'll be a fighter and stuff), but I'm hoping they present it in a fresh way.

In the end, he's not going to be able to resist the "root of all evil," which he considers to be love. Just like he couldn't bring himself to let go of her hand in the event I mentioned. I can't wait to see how that root plants itself so deeply within him, that his desperation shows (in his style of course.) That's what I thought about.

Totally random, but I was thinking how that "root of all evil" bit may also be an nod to Maleficent calling herself the "mistress of all evil," in the 1959 SB film. I know I said that it may indicate he had religious instruction in a ragged school from a previous post (and that may be), but it just hit me as I was typing this.

That's it. That's the post. Nothing groundbreaking or important. Just me and my delusional thoughts.

[bibibbon]

You know? It's kinda of funny how LOV fans treat the whole "I want to be a hero for villains" of Shigaraki as something groundbreaking, when the same concept was already introduced in the series (and was done better) with Nine.

Unlike Shigaraki, Nine literally meet his team members when he saved their lives. In Chimera's case it was when a bunch of racists were about to execute him just for being a mutant.

Nine also was a hero for them in a more thematic level, as he not only save their lives but actually give his team mates a reason for live and fight. He offered them the chance to fight for create a better world. For me it's quite remarkable how Nine despite being a homeless and chronically ill person, go for save people he view as equally oppressed by the world.

He was selfless enough to sacrifice his own health using his quirk to save Chimera despite it was destroying his body, and without expecting nothing in exchange for share a dream Nine a hand to people at their lowest point.

That's much more of an "All Might for the villains" or whatever Horikoshi tried to make Shigaraki in the final moments. Or hell Nine even acts better as a foil to Deku in the sense both are selfless individuals who fight despite their bodies are crumbling, just for the save of the persons who are important to them.

How ironic is that Nine, the original movie villain that was supposed to be just a prototype for the "final villain" of MHA, ended executing the same themes way better than Shigaraki.

Hi @nyc3 👋

A main reason as to why people treat shigaraki's I want to be a hero for the villains ideology better than nine's is simply because I assume a lot of people forgot the plot of the 2nd movie or haven't read the one shot manga chapter mha leauge of villains undercover. All of this is a shame because I heavily agree that nine's version of I want to be a hero and hope for the villains is executed and built up 10000x times better than shigarakis and nine had a fraction of the screentime that shigaraki got which is saying a lot.

Actually rewatching the film and rereading the manga one-shot has showed me that nine and shigarakis arcs are pretty similar with nine's having a better execution and shigaraki having more wasted potential.

The movie sets it clear that nine and shigaraki are supposed to be foils for one another so it makes sense that they would share parallels. However, you would expect that by the time nine is defeated that shigaraki would naraatively prove to us that he is ultimately the better character but in truth he doesn't and nine's downfall by shigaraki ends up being quite disappointing to me.

Another problem within the narrative is also the lack of interactions that nine and shigaraki have. I think that nine is essential to helping shigaraki and start to infulence him to realise that he is just a puppet and should develop a goal outside of just destruction. If shigarakis goal stays as destruction then the destruction of what? Everything? And how would that benefit anyone including him?

Nine like you said meets his teammates and saves them. He sees his teammates suffer like him and chooses to help them and they choose to help him. There is a clear relationship being developed and all the characters come together for the same goal, with similar backgrounds and varying styles yet they work.

When nines team see him in distress they run to help him and vice versa. The team has trust and overall everything that a lot of the leauges dynamics and development lacks.

Nine seeks destruction but his path is clear. He seeks to liberate and let nature flow its course with the strong overtaking the weak and finally being leaders instead of feared and abused because they don't fit into the small little box that is the mha's status quo. Nine plans to get stronger while being fully conscious and knowing the consequences. He makes a logical and heroic decision where we see him realise that he is trading his own autonomy and agency in becoming a lab rat all in exchange for power and a slim chance at achieving his goal.

This is all contrasted with shigaraki and his actions. We don't see his goal of destruction develop into a much more consistent and precise idea like destroying the giver and status quo. We don't see shigaraki fully conscious to come to the conclusion that yes the doctor is evil but he needs power. We lack everything from shigaraki and the information of chapter 419 just makes his character worse as shigaraki was a lab rat through and through.

Horikoshi tries to make shigaraki the better character but nine outclassed him in every way possible from the traumatic beginnings, to the developed flawed goal and to the final bitter end where we see nine crumble due to various factors 1)shigarakis decay and 2) his illness whereas shigaraki dies due to afo still being a lab rat that fulfills his purpose.

All of this reminds me of the ask that said mha's manga ending is a sloppy edited 2nd movie ending (except I was only looking at it from a hero perspective but it even applies to the villains)

Nine deserved better!

[technicolorfamiliar]

The Passing of the Third Floor Back Dir. Berthold Viertel 1935

I think The Stranger could fix me.

I will never understand why more people don't reference this movie when talking about Connie's career. It's in his top five must-watch's for me, for sure.

The Passing of the Third Floor Back is not by any means a great or groundbreaking film. Some moments are shot well, some of the lighting is interesting, but over all there are relatively few bells and whistles, not that the film needs any. It's based on an older silent film based on a play, and that comes across in the film's focus being primarily on the story and character relationships. Some of the breakneck pacing doesn't really suit the dialogue or the story, but that was the style of filmmaking at the time. And that's why casting Connie as The Stranger was a brilliant move; his thoughtful and considered line delivery as well as his calm, grounded physicality disrupts the 1930s Britishness that defines the rest of the film. Casting another British actor as The Stranger may have worked depending on the actor, but Connie's otherness -- not only in his voice but also his height, demeanor, and fashion -- works in the character's favor… and the story's too.

The story of The Passing of the Third Floor Back is timeless because it's so true to life. People act out all the time without even realizing. They are cruel and unkind to others and themselves. It's contagious, if one or two people in a closed environment like a boarding house, workspace, team or club are overly negative and meanspirited, soon more and more people in that environment will start behaving similarly. At least that's been true in my experience. One person with a bad attitude or a tendency to gossip or be lazy or cliquish can slowly create a general atmosphere of bad behavior (especially so if that person is in a position of leadership).

The Stranger says of the other people in the boarding house, "It's not easy for them to see themselves. The illusions are so strong." Before he arrived, none of them were really seeing one another. They were reacting to their assumptions of one another, or to the worst versions of each other brought out by stress, living in close quarters, personal and interpersonal problems, etc. It took an outside perspective and the presence of someone seemingly different for them to begin to actually, finally see one another and themselves.

The single, 30-something Miss Kite's self-loathing presents as cruelty barely concealed by humor. But after a brief, sincere and openminded conversation with The Stranger, she dives into the wake of a huge steam boat to save Stasia (who really was asking to fall, I don't care how excited she was). When someone Miss Kite supposedly didn't care one iota about is suddenly in danger, she steps up without a second thought. She didn't do it for the recognition or attention, she put herself in harms way because it was the right thing to do, and afterward is treated like a hero. She's given a new source of self worth -- she realizes she can be brave. But it's not a one and done fix, she still reaches for her makeup when she sees her reflection after being in the water. But because she revealed her courage in the face of a crisis, people begin to see her differently, and hopefully so too she would gradually begin to see herself in a new light.

I really appreciate that The Stranger's influence isn't perfect. Everyone easily reverts back to their old ways, supposedly because of Mr. Wright acting against The Stranger, but they probably would have slipped into their old patterns regardless. The best The Stranger can hope for is to plant seeds of goodness in each of them. And just like people in real life, some people just aren't as receptive to change. After all, it's always harder to eliminate bad habits than it is to implement good ones.

I'm not sure what's going on with Mr. Wright. Does he know who or what The Stranger really is? Or is he just a dick? The movie probably would have worked without an openly antagonistic character. Wright could have just been creepy and gross in a normal creepy and gross way. I'm not sure we needed the scenes with him and The Stranger to play out the way they did. The more I think about it I feel like those scenes kind of cheapen the story. Most audiences are smart enough that you don't have to turn your script into an outright morality play for them to get the point. Those two scenes are probably the only thing I would have changed about the script. The Stranger and Wright needed to have a confrontation, but Wright insinuating that he knows The Stranger's motives and rules makes it seem like Wright is more than he appears to be and ehhh idk. The movie just doesn’t need it. In my opinion, anyway. It's like the writers were trying to say a bad guy can't just be a regular dude who does bad things. It would speak more to our reality, in 1935 as much as 2025, if Wright was just a regular person without any special knowledge or abilities who enjoys hurting and exploiting others. And it's interesting that he's a self-made man, someone who built himself up from nothing -- if this movie really wanted to say something it could have been about the nature of power and money being potentially corrosive to a person's soul. So as a formerly destitute person, Wright could have been a challenge for the audience as someone we want to empathize with deep down, because he raised himself up by his bootstraps and that makes him more relateable. But any empathy we may have had for Wright as a complicated character is destroyed when he outs himself as having some kind of special knowledge about The Stranger for some reason. I haven't read the book or the play, so I don't know if this dynamic originated in the source material or if it was an addition on the part of the screenwriters but it's unnecessary and treats the audience like they're too stupid to handle a morally complicated character.

I'm not going to do a character analysis of everyone in the film (today… maybe in the future lol), but it's worth talking about Stasia. I like that she's far from perfect, that her victimhood makes her act out even more than she probably would have otherwise. I like that she's not this naïve, innocent little kid. She's seen and been through some shit. And her armor is to be as mean-spirited and selfish as everyone else. She can give as good as she gets and, although she's clearly one of the more sensitive characters in the film, she's not a doormat. I mean, everyone calls her a useless little slut to her face all the time, no wonder she's as volatile as she is. She clearly has a conscience when most of the adults around her seem to lack any empathy at all until The Stranger arrives. Everyone in the house treats Stasia like she's an imbecile but she's likely the smartest out of all of them. She's the only one interested in nurturing something, the delicate white flower she keeps in a small pot. It's not clear how old Stasia is either. (Rene Ray was 23 - 24 when the film was made.) She's young enough that the landlady can threaten to send her back to whatever horrible orphanage or group home she was living in previously. But though she's a child, we get the impression from her interactions with Wright that she's lived a hard life, having to resort to thievery and very likely sex work to get by. But for as hard as her life has been when we meet her, she still maintains a childlike sense of wonder that finally gets to flourish when The Stranger comes into her life, and I just CAN'T TAKE IT. Stasia's the only one out of all those broken people who could have summoned The Stranger because, even if she's not perfect, even if she's damaged goods, she's the only one who is able to ask for "one decent person in the world." And we hope, we pray that the few days The Stranger spends with her will help her be that one decent person that someone else might need one day. UGH.

See, I love stories like this. For as mangled and beaten down as my own heart is, I love a story where someone good and full of love appears under mysterious circumstances to a bunch of messed up people. Usually these kinds of stories are centered around Christmas -- The Bishop's Wife: Carry Grant's Dudley helps David Niven and Loretta Young's marriage; Miracle on 34th Street: Edmund Gwenn's Santa Claus helps Natalie Wood and Maureen O'Hara believe in magic. While The Passing of the Third Floor Back isn't a Christmas movie and The Stranger isn't specifically called out as a supernatural being like Dudley the angel or Santa Claus, there are echoes of this story in those later films. There's almost as much suspension of disbelief in this film, and there may not be as much literal magic but the message and structure are basically the same. I mean, this movie is not subtle -- the boarding house is across the street from a church which we really only see when The Stranger arrives and departs. They don't really talk at all about God or Jesus like in The Bishop's Wife, but The Stranger embodies traditional virtues like hope, charity, and justice as well as values like patience, empathy, and honesty. It could very easily have been a Christmas movie if it had been made 5 - 10 years later. I guess the main difference is with those other movies, at the end you're left feeling like everything's going to be ok, everyone lives happily ever after. Here it's not such a sure thing. We hope Stasia and everyone else has healed permanently, but it seems incredibly tenuous. We hope The Stranger's work had lasting results, but there's no way to know for sure. Their new found hope in one another and themselves needs to be taken care of and nurtured regularly like Stasia's little flower UGHHHH, the s y m b o l i s m .

Obvs I have a lot I want to say about Connie's performance specifically, but here's a quote from him about the role from Feb 1, 1942 in the New York Herald Tribune:

"Evil can be strong and powerful, but it can never take the place of good. I felt this deeply at another time when playing the Christ-like character of the Stranger… My one aim was to play him as a man who wanted to give the world a lift, just as now the world so sadly needs a lift. The Stranger was the most difficult role I ever undertook. There was ever the danger of going too far. If for an instant it were made insincere, the part would fall to pieces.

"Another delicate question was that of appearance. I don't want to be blasphemous, but I played him as a well-dressed man… My one precaution in this respect was to keep the Stranger from any possibility of seeming theatrical. It struck me that those boarding-house people to whom he came might readily think of him as a traveler, even a traveling salesman, and so I had him wear a gray suit and carry a suitcase. His hair was well groomed, though white. But his face was not old. I tried to make him ageless.

"No mysterious light came or went with him. But when he was shown in his dingy room he took a flower from his coat and put it into a glass of water, then opened the blind and let in a gleam of sunlight. It was the simplicity of beauty you can make out of nothing. Of course, there was far more than that, something not quite of this world. The Stranger, like the Wandering Jew played by me earlier, was fantastic in a spiritual way."

I'm so glad we have quotes like this so we can kind of understand the way Connie thought about his work on this film, even several years later. The interview the quote is from must have been around the time he was doing Nazi Agent, which is another interesting point of comparison. The good brother in that film, Otto, is just an ordinary man but he's put in an extraordinary situation. The Stranger on the other hand is an extraordinary creature put in a very ordinary situation. Otto's goodness is human and relatable, or at least should be in the face of war and crimes against humanity. The Stranger is, like Connie said, Christ-like and therefore considered exceptional in his goodness. The love The Stranger has for humanity radiates out of him not through any special lighting effect but just by his calm openness.

(There are some interesting choices the filmmakers made with lighting. Throughout the film, The Stranger emerges from or is partly concealed shadows. I'm not sure if this was like The Spy in Black and a nod to Connie's past work in German Expressionist silent films or just a successful way to keep the character mysterious. Either way, I thought it was a good choice.)

For having top billing, Connie doesn’t have a lot of dialogue in the film, at least comparatively. And what lines are spoken are done so with such exceeding gentleness and softness. Some lines are almost whispered. He does raise his voice in a plea to Wright, but that's the only time. Even when he lets the boarders have it for attacking Stasia at the end of the film, he's intense without shouting at everyone. A lesser actor could NEVER.

Most of the time The Stranger is observing everyone else. I love watching him watch everyone, especially Stasia. When he arrives at the boarding house, he has very little to say at their dinner party but is busy watching how the boarders interact with one another. He's not merely gathering data, he's reacting to them internally. The Stranger clearly has feelings, but Connie's so incredibly masterful at subtlety, that I wonder if this wasn’t one of the bigger challenges of the film for him. Regardless of however hard he's working, he makes it look effortless. I love watching him watch Stasia have fun and experience joy when they all go out on the steam boat. You can see in the way he looks at her that he's so happy for her, that she gets to actually be a kid for a few hours.

Connie was really concerned about dropping the ball with this film. He, at least in interviews at the time*, was worried that stepping back from more obvious acting choices, in order to inhabit the character in the most authentic and appropriate way possible, wouldn't translate through a camera. It seems he thought he was taking a big risk with the way he chose to play The Stranger, and I agree.

The Stranger, as a performance, is THE perfect example of being vs showing one's art. And so we get one of the most interesting, soulful, deeply compassionate, empathetic, and gentle performances from a male actor during this era, especially in British filmmaking where actors were often either total caricatures or way too buttoned up to emote at all.

I mean, Connie's fans know he could broadcast sexual vibes through time and space, but here in this film he's affectionate without any expectation of reciprocity or sexual overtones. He's broadcasting real intimacy, in his confidential tone of speaking, in his hand on another character's shoulder or arm, in a quiet secretive look. This is a person who makes whoever he's with feel exceptional, like they're the only two people in the world in that moment. He's completely present. It's. So. Fucking. Good. Connie talked about wanting to give the world a lift, but he's also lifting up his scene partners! He brings out the best in whoever he's on screen with with this performance, the same way The Stranger lifts people up! Yes, I am yelling!

And what about The Stranger himself? It's never explicitly stated that he is anything other than a wanderer, a traveler looking for lodging. We don't get any exposition scenes of him before he arrives at the boarding house. The audience knows as little about him as the characters in the film do. He is completely mysterious, and yet everyone pretty much trusts him implicitly, with the exception of Wright of course. We know exactly three things about The Stranger: one -- he is Good and hopes to inspire good in others; two -- he came to the boarding house specifically because Stasia wanted (instead of needed, interesting…) someone like him in her life; three -- he cannot directly interfere with people's lives in order to accomplish a desired outcome. And that's all we need to know! I can't help thinking if this movie was made today, most filmmakers would add some unnecessary backstory for The Stranger. Let protagonists be mysterious, people! Audiences don't need to know everything! Let us draw our own conclusions! Personally I like the possibility that The Stranger is the physical embodiment of an abstract concept/s, but that's just me. My point is that it's GOOD to have characters that spark conversation and multiple interpretations, I LOVE IT DO MORE PLEASE.

This matters even more when people walk away from a film being truly touched by a character or performance. People went to see this movie when it came out and were flattened by Connie's take on The Stranger, an existing character. Unfortunately I can't find the articles or quotes where this was originally mentioned (there really needs to be some kind of text-only repository of Connie articles/interviews), but apparently some people were so affected by this film that they wrote beautiful, heart-wrenching letters to Connie. Some people were so deeply touched and claimed this film helped save them in some small way, saying it was exactly what they needed at that moment in their lives. That, in short, Connie was unbelievably successful in what he hoped to accomplish with his performance, that he was able to reach through the camera and offer something genuinely beautiful and hopeful to those who needed it. UGH.

Maybe my takes on The Passing of the Third Floor Back are not new or even particularly nuanced. People have been saying the same things about this film ever since its 1935 release. But it remains one of my favorite Conrad Veidt films, I mean, top shelf stuff. He's doing the most interesting internal work an actor can do, certainly for the 1930s. He stands head and shoulders, literally and figuratively, above his fellow cast members and indeed most of his peers at that time. The kind of inward, reflective, subtle work he is doing in this film wouldn't become commonplace for years.

There's so much more about this movie to unpack. I haven't even talked about the gramophone man and class discrimination. Or the queer coding of Miss Kite and Larkcom. Or Wright's death -- was it really just a heart attack or did The Stranger "interfere" by opening the window for the gramophone man to get in?? Or about how Connie was making this AND King of the Damned AT THE SAME TIME. The two films could not be more different. Blows my mind.

Anyway, tl;dr Connie understood the assignment and gave us something truly beautiful and special.

*"My Most Difficult Role", Conrad Veidt interviewed by Max Breen, June 29, 1935

[pascaloverx]

UNREQUITED LOVE

Summary: Being a new student is already complicated. But when you end up developing an unwanted crush on a schoolmate, everything seems to get worse. This particular schoolmate is romantically involved with someone. And to make matters worse, the popular school quarterback starts to bother you.

Author's Note: This fanfic will be short and set in the universe of the movie Bottoms (2023), directed by Emma Seligman, using the characters from the film. The characters do not belong to me. The fanfic will not strictly follow all the situations from the movie. I hope you enjoy it. Initially, there will be no adult content. There will only be inappropriate language and scenes of violence.

TWO FOUR

THREE

You don't want to be dramatic, but your first day at the new school is a much bigger challenge than you imagined it would be. After chemistry class, you had math with a teacher who spent more time flirting with Jeff than actually teaching anything. During the break, you couldn't avoid Josie and her group. It's not that you wanted to avoid her, but spending the time you should be using to eat in peace watching adorable couples seemed like something that would make you sad. Besides, from a distance, you saw Hazel's girlfriend with her at the table. The last thing you need is to see the girl you might be attracted to with someone else. So you ate alone in the bathroom, which is kind of gross, but you promised yourself that you would pretend it never happened. The rest of the day was almost as if you were invisible. That is, until after your last class, when you ran out because the bus that would take you straight home was about to pass near your school. But as soon as you turned, you collided with someone. The moment your body hit theirs, you fell to the ground.

"Can't you watch where you're going, damn it?" you mutter furiously. It had to be the number one enemy of peace: Jeff, the jerk quarterback.

"Look who's got a sharp tongue. Little nerd, you were the one who ran into me. But I think it's cute that you want to crawl on the floor to get to me." Jeff says, striking a pose like he’s Superman. You roll your eyes and try to get up. Without success.

"Your stupidity is honestly infuriating. I would never crawl to you. In fact, every interaction I’ve had with you today has been against my will. And since I’m being honest, calling me a nerd isn’t as groundbreaking as you think. There are a thousand other ways you could address me that would be more insightful and creative." You say as you struggle to get up from the ground. Your other classmates are already leaving the class you were in, and thanks to the idiot in front of you, you missed your bus.

"You should worry more about getting off the ground than giving me tips on what to call you, nerd," Jeff says, winking at you. Before you can think about kicking him, he moves away from you, almost skipping. How infuriating. As you finally manage to stand up, you notice Hazel watching you, as if she had been waiting for you.

"How long are you going to keep looking at me?" You ask as you brush the dirt from the floor off your clothes. The anger you're feeling right now could make you go after Jeff and kill him. But the truth is that you already have enough problems and don't want to be transferred again.

"I thought you'd want a ride. And it was a little fun watching you get up by yourself." Hazel speaks while exuding an air of amusement at your humiliation. You instantly roll your eyes.

"You don't need to give me a ride, walking home is the icing on the cake of this horrible day at school." You’re out of patience, especially since it seems you can’t avoid either Jeff or Hazel.

"Are you so afraid of being alone with me?" Hazel asks with a mischievous smile, which makes you a little indignant.

"Try to decide what you want to accuse me of doing, either I'm in love with Jeff or I can't resist you, Both aren't worth it." You say while looking straight into Hazel's eyes. Your concentration is all on not looking at her mouth and imagining what it would be like to kiss her lips.

"I'm still getting to know you. I can't say exactly which option is right. But come to think of it, you probably like me." Hazel is very confident while suggesting that you like her. How can someone you’ve known for less than twenty-four hours already deduce that, and be right about it? It’s insane.

“Alright, you win. I’ll accept your ride if it means you’ll stop talking and we can move on.” You say while trying not to admit any attraction to Hazel.

"My car is the one to your left. If you’d follow me, mademoiselle, I’ll take you home." Hazel says, pointing to her car while accompanying you to it. She seems eager to impress you, even opening the car door for you.

“You know, I can open a door myself. And I just noticed that you offered me a ride without knowing where I live. What if it’s out of your way?” you say while getting into the car and fastening your seatbelt.

“I think I mentioned wanting to take you to my place before dropping you off at yours so we could work on the chemistry project together, remember?” Hazel says with a mischievous chuckle as she starts driving. You look at her with a judging stare.

“You know what I think? That you’re taking advantage of the situation to spend more time with me. Which doesn’t make much sense since you were accusing me of liking you, but it’s actually you who wants to spend your free time with me, even though you’re already committed.” You emphasize while turning to look at Hazel, who is focused on driving but glances at you with a sideways smile for a few seconds.

“First of all, I’m not committed. PJ and I hook up sometimes, but it’s not a serious or exclusive relationship. And I never said I wasn’t interested in you; I only accused you of being interested in me. Don’t blame me for stating the obvious.” Hazel replies with such calmness. You regret bringing up her commitment status, realizing it might come off as jealousy.

“Well, whatever. Your personal life is none of my business. What is my business is where you’re taking me.” You say softly, trying to appear uninterested in Hazel’s life. Wherever you’re going, there are beautiful gardens along the way.

“Actually, it was cute to see that I sparked jealousy in you so quickly. You must be the type who gets attached easily, which is sweet. And we’re almost at my place.” Hazel says, glancing at you briefly as if to reassure you.

“As long as we only talk about the project, it’s fine with me.” You say, still trying to appear disinterested. Hazel chuckles and then parks the car in front of a large house.

“And what else could we do besides talk about the project?” Hazel asks, getting close to your face as if she’s about to kiss you. You, foolishly, close your eyes as if expecting the kiss. But instead, she simply removes your seatbelt for you.

“Are you trying to mess with me?” you say, still with your eyes closed, thinking Hazel has already pulled away. But when you slowly open your eyes, you find her watching you, not in a weird way, but as if she’s enchanted by you.

“I am. And I hope it’s working,” Hazel says, then moves towards you, pulling you in for a kiss. The kiss is gentle and surprising, yet overwhelmingly captivating. Her lips touch yours as if both of you were starved for it. For a moment, you lose yourself there in Hazel’s car, savoring the sweet taste of her mouth. Then her phone rings, and after trying to ignore it, she answers, interrupting the kiss. Noticing it's PJ, you decide to wait outside the car. So, you stand there, next to the car of someone who interrupted a breath-stealing kiss to answer her situationship.

[markantonys]

i already made a joke post about it but genuinely, the whole "wot s1 sucked, which was 100% the show's fault and not the source material's, but now s2 is so much better! shocking! who could've seen that coming!" narrative is SO annoying

like, the eye of the world is boring as shit! it's generic as shit! of COURSE an entire season based on it is not going to be the most groundbreaking or thrilling fantasy television you've ever seen in your life! how on EARTH can the readers who've been saying for decades that the books don't start to hit their stride until book 2 or 3 or 4 fail to grasp the correlation with season 2 being better than season 1? but even so, s1 alone IS more groundbreaking and thrilling than book 1 alone, because the showrunners knew that book 1 is boring and generic as shit and did their absolute damnedest to pull in as many unique elements from later books as they could conceivably fit in this early on.

second, s1 had to do a HUGE amount of heavy lifting in terms of setting up characters, relationships, lore, and worldbuilding. s1 did all this groundwork so that s2 could have the payoff you're enjoying so much, s1 constructed the basic building blocks so that s2 could explore the more advanced concepts you're gushing over. s1 ran so that s2 could soar! put some respect on its name!

third, stakes tend to get higher, characters to get deeper, and plotlines to get more exciting as you go along in a story. this is how stories work. why are you shocked that s1 only built the basic foundation of the story and s2 has the space to grow and deepen that story? that's how stories work, that's how TV works, and that's most certainly how the WOT books work.

fourth, practical constraints s1 had that s2 had less of

budget: s1 was starting from scratch, whereas s2 had more budget to spare since some things could be reused from s1 AND it got a bigger budget than s1 in the first place.

experience: second seasons almost universally tend to be better than pilot seasons, simply because everyone involved in making the show has gotten into the groove and solidified how they want to do this thing. this is how television works.

covid: it should go without saying that s1 would have been One Million Times more difficult and expensive to make than s2 due to covid stuff. whatever effect we may think covid had on s1, the true effect was probably astronomically higher than what we imagine. the majority of "looks too cheap" "looks too empty" complaints likely come down to this (notice that most of those complaints are about episodes 6-8 and not the early episodes; 6 was filmed pre-covid, yes, but i wouldn't be surprised if some covid-related restrictions were starting to rear their heads before production was officially shut down).

the worst part is the people who end their above-mentioned take with "they must have listened to audience criticism of s1 and made changes accordingly." [moiraine voice] the arrogance. s2 had already been written and filming was WELL underway (if not finished or close to finished?) by the time s1 even started airing. if you're impressed by what a great season they've delivered, the credit for that lies entirely with the people who made the show, not your stupid ass.

[daresplaining]

Do you think a blind person could play Daredevil or is Matt a bit too "competent" considering his super-senses? Like once he stops hiding his super-senses? Tho, by my honest and humble opinion, if the actor would get a proper tour of the sets, instructions and (if the actor would want to do his own stunts) training and co-operation, he could do the work pretty well (and with the help of stunt-doubles). Whitch while i love Charlie Cox, his performance and i know he loves the character and cares for him, and i am not even blind so i don't think i have any authority or even right to say anything (whitch is fine tbh) but i'd love to see that sort of authenticity and representation.

I'll go one step further: I think a blind actor should play Daredevil, full stop. I wish Charlie Cox all the best and success in his career, but I truly feel that casting him was a mistake and a huge missed opportunity, and the more effort that the MCU makes to start actually casting disabled actors (Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, for instance), the more awkward it feels to still have a sighted actor hanging around playing Matt.

To me, this is not really an issue of whether a blind actor is capable of playing the role, because of course they are, for all of the reasons you mentioned and more. What it comes down to is this: If accommodations are required to allow an actor to play a role successfully, then the answer is for the studio to make those accommodations. If screen acting or action film/TV acting or whatever is not accessible at this stage, the answer is to make it accessible, not to avoid casting disabled actors.

But to me, this isn't even about that. It's about the fact that there are very few blind characters in media, that Matt Murdock is arguably one of the most high-profile blind characters in media, and that this is a role that would have changed a blind actor's life and provided groundbreaking representation for the blind/visually impaired community. Plus, as you point out, having a blind actor in the lead role (not to mention in the writer's room, etc.) would ensure authenticity and add nuance. It's not about whether a blind actor is capable of playing Matt (they are), or about how well a sighted actor is able to embody the blind experience; it is about giving opportunities to actors who historically have not received them.

I really appreciate your question, and I'm sorry if this reads a bit rant-ish. This topic has been stewing for quite a while, as you can imagine, both in my brain and in the wider DD fan community.

[castlebyersafterdark]

I agree with you. The people who have problems with byler having sex are the younger fans. It has nothing to do with sexuality or gender. They are always calling people pedophiles for liking "their teen ship." It doesn't belong to them. I know many people have said this, but I think Will and Mike are meant to give a coming-of-age to people who never got one in the 80s. I think teens today have a hard time relating to it. Which may be part of the reason they are uncomfortable when people talk about it being groundbreaking. It's also noteworthy that no one gives a fuck when people were talking about mileven having sex at 14. A thing that was far more problematic for a lot of reasons. But byler having sex when they are older and emotionally mature is an issue for people. Adults tend to be more mature about sex. But this fandom in particular has been crazy to witness. The younger fans don't really get how to act in a fandom in general. They get upset if people have crack ships or do anything that isn't strictly canon. They get upset if someone has a theory that goes against what they like. They get upset if anyone actually has a background in a topic and knows more than them (i.e. there used to be a lot of people here who studied film and talked about that. At least up until a lot of younger people got upset they were proving their theories wrong. Then they got attacked for it.)

Being freaked out by sex falls in line with the rest of their behavior. Which is odd considering how many porn bots Tumblr has. You'd think they'd be more comfortable with it. But the people who are discussing spicy byler stuff are doing totally normal fandom things and I personally haven't witnessed anyone being creepy about this. So the outrage is (what a shock) out of proportion to the discussion that people are having about it. I think with this fandom in particular, there may have been more gay men in it at one point, but so many people have left now due to the hostility. I know Will means a lot to them so it's a shame if this is true. But I've seen a lot of homophobia coming from young people as well. Especially directed at Noah. It's possible they just left because they didn't want to listen to it anymore. I also thought it was funny and really odd that that one ask specifically mentioned lesbians being uncomfortable with byler having sex. WHY? No one is forcing them to have sex with a man if they watch it! It won't make them straight. People tend to like sex in general regardless of their own orientation. I'm sure there are lesbians around here who support the ship and the rep it brings and want it to be a good story too.

I don't have much more to add but this is a very good read on the current fandom culture in general!!

My hope moving forward is that well-adjusted and mature, level-headed fans just trying to have a good time exploring all a fandom/ship offers can find their people and seek out these little circles until the greater fandom changes as time moves forward, don't engage with contentious people who are probably teens ill-equipped to handle the world outside their own perspective yet, and keep speaking up against any hatred. Wish I'd done that in the past but, well. Here I am now. Continuously crossing my fingers for change on the horizon 🤞🤞🤞

[dominickeating-source]

Star Trek Magazine (2002)

As ENTERPRISE approaches the end of its opening season, we catch up with Dominic Keating to get his view of Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, weapons officer and action hero.

After several months of ENTERPRISE's grueling weekly shooting schedule, Dominic Keating is as energetic as he was on day one. "I'm still cheery!" he says. "It's going well. It's been a hell of a ride, but I've really found my place, and I'm having a great time. And they're starting to look at Malcolm quite closely, and that's really fun."

MAJOR EPISODE

Dominic's biggest show so far has been 'Shuttlepod One,' aired in February, and he was delighted with it. "Dare I say it was quite the best work I've ever put into a camera lens. Connor and I had an amazing time; the chemistry between us was electric. It was a great dynamic, and I think the fact that I'm English adds an extra angle for an American audience, just in that I would be the voice of reason. Malcolm isn't all doom and gloom, although Trip refers to him as the Grim Reaper; he bares his soul, and it's a very moving moment when you actually get to see inside the somewhat brittle shell of this army man. He's becoming a real, breathing, living human being. This episode was groundbreaking--I can't say it in any other way; you see a side of this man that's real and that's very touching and vulnerable, and I just hope that episode does not just sit out there and never happens again."

The actors suffered real-life discomfort while making the show. "They froze the stage!" says Dominic. "That was the hardest part of the whole filming. They brought the temperature down inside this igloo that they had built, and put the shuttlepod in there. In the script we had turned down the thermostat in the shuttle to conserve oxygen, so, space being as cold as it is, the temperature inside the shuttle drops to below zero, so they wanted to see our breath.

SUFFERING ON THE SET

"The gag kind of worked, but you weren't seeing enough breath, so it became a hell of a process, which took about a day to figure out. They literally shot 20 seconds at a time, and in between they just filled up the shuttlepod with liquid nitrogen and turned on six huge, massive air-conditioning units that made a real din. We shot for three days like that, and it was hard! It was freezing cold, very noisy, and it was hard to listen and hear, and you never really got a run at a scene. If I'd had to do another day I'm sure I could have dug it up from inside of me, but at the end of the third day, when we knew it was over, my knees just buckled. But, like I say, we put some incredible stuff in the camera, and I think it's one of the finest hours."

Previously, 'Silent Enemy' had made it clear that Malcolm is pretty hard to fathom, and even his parents didn't know what his favorite food was. Dominic says, "That episode brought the audience's attention to the fact that you don't know much about this guy, and actually by the end of the episode you still don't know that much about him! But I was glad they didn't try to wrap me up in an hour's show. It was a great forerunner to 'Shuttlepod One,' where you really get to see the mettle of this guy."

AVOIDING CLICHÉS

Had Dominic been aware there was more to come? "Not really, no--like every other show I've worked on, they keep us pretty much in the dark. We're like mushrooms; every now and again they open the door and shovel some scripts on us! But I'm glad he's not two-dimensional, and I'm glad they didn't just make him this gun-crazy, buttoned-down Brit. I was fearful that ultimately that's what was going to happen to me on the show, but they haven't done that. And I remember saying that to Rick Berman after they'd offered me the job and I went to meet them all, 'I don't want to become a talking head over a console that just happens to be English; the money's great and everything, but I'd pull my hair out! And it hasn't become that, and I'm really happy. My fear, though, is whether they know where to find a normal episodic voice for Malcolm, so that he actually gets to be in the shows when he's not doing something extraordinary every few episodes--a place where he has a normal voice with the captain and the rest of the crew."

Despite being an ensemble show, it's usual in STAR TREK for a pair or threesome to become the main focus of attention, whether deliberately or naturally arising out of the chemistry between the actors. "There was a moment when I was fearful that it was Trip, T'Pol, and the captain, and I rang Brannon [Braga] and he said, 'Well, just hang in there; there's a long way to go yet.' And then they started looking at him, and I'm really happy about that. But if they wheel him out once every seven shows and give him a really cracking go, then I can play golf and go to the beach the rest of the days, and learn how to direct, and do something else."

ENSEMBLE CAST

"I look at this show and I think, 'Why can't it be like 'er': just a bunch of people working.' I think it would be just as feasible to make all these characters real human beings who happen to work on a starship, and to give them real emotions and put them in real situations, either on an alien planet or just working with each other. I think there's room for a lot of drama between them on the ship, and I hope they do it; I don't know whether they will. They have something of a formula that they know works, but I think with this incarnation they seem to be going for more human drama."

Dominic feels close enough to his character to recognize that he's using some of his own personality traits to help portray Malcolm. "I don't want to make him altogether me because 'altogether me' is not Malcolm Reed. But there's certainly an element of me; I nearly joined the army as a 17-year-old, and I was a very keen cadet officer in school, and so I'm kind of playing him like I was when I was at school aged 17, quite frankly! That's what I'm referring to in my little library of the Dominics I know. That side of me is the one he's closest to, when I was a teenager and a serious student thinking about joining the army, but of course I liked running off to the pub as well, trying to kiss all the girls! So he's multifaceted, I hope, but it takes me a while as an actor to appreciate that a character can have contrasting and conflicting character traits that aren't completely in sync with one another. Sometimes I find myself pulling a face or laughing inside about something and I think, 'Oh stop it; that's not very Malcolm,' and then I realize it could easily be Malcolm and not just me. I'm really exploring the character just as much as the writers are."

Dominic is also enjoying the more boisterous scenes. "Another thing I like that they're doing for me, of course, is that being the tactical officer I get to be the action man. In 'Sleeping Dogs' we were on a Klingon ship and Malcolm is in the thick of it, and gets beaten up by this Klingon supermodel. It was hard work--somehow I signed up to do the stunt myself, and we were wearing EVA suits; and, man, that's quite a trip, getting beat up in an EVA suit!"

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

If there's anything Dominic is not 100 percent happy with, it's being called Malcolm. "At the first meeting, apart from saying I didn't want him to be this and that, I also said, 'And do we have to call him Malcolm?' They must have listened because there's a moment in ˜Shuttlepod One™ where I have a dream sequence and I think we've been rescued and, as Archer and the doctor are leaving sickbay, T'Pol is hanging around, and then starts coming on to me and telling me that Vulcan's can't resist heroism and I acted unlike the rest of my species. She says, ˜May I call you Malcolm?™ and I say that that's fine but I've never liked the name because I always thought it was a bit too stuffy!"

TV AND FILM ROLES

Dominic's career back home in the UK included a regular role for six years on the comedy show, "Desmond's" as well as guest spots on major TV drama shows, including "Inspector Morse™ He has lived in the States for several years, and was already becoming familiar to TV audiences thanks to guest spots on "G Vs E" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and most recently, "The Immortal" in which he had a recurring role. I played the Prince of Darkness! That was really fun to do. And I've got a movie coming out called "The Hollywood Sign" with Burt Reynolds, Tom Berenger, and Rod Steiger, playing my first American role - I went to this audition for a part as a mob guy from New York, and they bought it and gave me the job! I showed up on the first day of shooting with an English accent, and they said, "What the...™

But for the next few years, Dominic's career will be centered on STAR TREK. Is he happy at the prospect? "Yeah, I am. It was a consideration for about nought point three seconds, but I'm at a time in my life where I want what this will give me, which is security. If I finish STAR TREK in seven years and perhaps do a couple of movies with these guys, that'll be great. And I'm going to start directing; I'm at the LA Film School and am taking classes there. I have to inform Rick [Berman] somewhere down the road that I'd like to direct, and if I show him that I really want to do it, he'll let me. They're wonderful like that."

FUTURE PROSPECTS

As for performing, I'm a good actor, I think.- if I can blow my own trumpet -"and a versatile one; and with a bit of luck, and a producer or director with some imagination, I could certainly go on and do other stuff that's far removed from STAR TREK. But if STAR TREK is the rest of my acting career from here on in, fine " particularly if they write stuff for me like "Shuttlepod one" I was utterly thrilled and complete doing that; it was everything I would ever want to do in front of a camera.

BIOGRAPHY

Dominic Keating was born in Leicester, England. Cast in a school play while at prep school, he developed an interest in acting that continued during boarding school, where he had the lead role in a Shakespearean play. He then attended University College in London, studying for a BA in history, but also continued to perform in several theater productions; his credits to date include "Live Class™ ,˜Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead","The Christian Brothers", and "The Best Years of Your Life."

While still in the UK, Dominic played the regular role of Tony in popular sitcom, "Desmonds" which ran for six years, and guested in one of Britaina's most popular TV detective shows, "Inspector Morse™ He moved to Los Angeles a few years back, and is best known to American TV audiences for guest roles in ˜The Immortal,™ in which he played the roll of Mallos, ˜G vs E",˜Special Unit 2,˜Buffy the Vampire Slayer,™ and ˜Poltergeist: The Legacy.™

He has also had several big-screen roles; he starred in ˜Jungle2Jungle™ opposite Tim Allen and Martin Short, and appeared in the Academy Award-winning movie ˜Almost Famous,™ and before signing on for ENTERPRISE, he filmed ˜The Hollywood Sign™ with Burt Reynolds. He also plans to take up directing, and is currently studying at the LA Film School.

Source: www.dominickeating.com

[hotvintagepoll]

Donald O'Connor (Singin' in the Rain, Francis, Call Me Madam)— LOOK AT HIM. Those giant blue peepers. Those tappy tappy little feet that don't quit. The ears that stick out like little wings, ready to lift him up to goofy heaven. The way his face contorts into the strangest yet most endearing expressions. His ability to sing and dance alongside the hunk that is Gene Kelly and yet pull all attention away with his big-eyed buffoonery. The way his energy is unmatched in songs like "Make 'em laugh" - bouncing off the walls and tumbling through the air straight into my cold cold heart. Who else but a true scrungly lil guy would sit upon the witness stand and defend a talking mule with all the love and affection in the world - staring out into the court room with his bright wide eyes and eternally mouse-like expression, openly admitting that the mule is his best friend?!??! I see him and I want to pull him from the screen into my hand and just squiiiiiiiiiiiiish with all my might. I want to pinch his cheeks and have him bat those eyes at me. He just makes me go "eeehehehehehe" every time I see him and his silly little self. He is pure chaotic, ridiculous, scrungly perfection!

Mantan Moreland (Mr. Washington Goes to Town, Cabin in the Sky)—i love mantan moreland SO. MUCH. and he is the pERFECT scrungly little guy!!!!! like a lot of black actors at the time he was always getting sidelined into small parts, but unusually he also managed to become a star in his own right and was almost one of the three stooges! he was a groundbreaking comedic actor known for his distinctive stare (very good for the horror movies he did), and he always is way more fun to watch on screen than anyone else. he had a famous double-act where he perfected this technique of non-conversations (where both people keep finishing each other's sentences before any actual information is conveyed). a lot of his movies are free on youtube and i really enjoy seeing him do his silly little guy thing in all of them!!! anyways yeah please include mantan he deserves some recognition as peak scrungle

This is round 3 of the contest. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. If you’re confused on what a scrungle is, or any of the rules of the contest, click here.

[additional submitted propaganda + scrungly videos under the cut]

Donald O'Connor:

My silliest little guy. My funnyman. My horsie. I have watched many a bad movie for this man. The scrungliest fact I know about him is that he was supposed to star as Danny Kaye's role in the iconic White Christmas (1954), as he had known Bing Crosby since he was a child, but couldn't because he caught a mule disease while working on those Francis the Talking Mule films Universal endlessly made him do. I wouldn't exactly recommend those movies, but Don's character getting psychologically tormented by a sardonic mule does make for quite a good movie night, if you know what you're getting into. Are You With It? is another one I don't exactly recommend, but it does open with Donald as a math genius actuary who is about to kill himself over a displaced decimal point before getting taken in by a traveling carny instead. His more well-known and beloved roles have plenty of scrungliness too, in my opinion. This man slapsticked so hard he wound up bedridden for his physical exertion! Rather than submitting Make 'Em Laugh, which the electorate has likely already seen (I hope), I'm submitting an underrated dance number of his, where he explains maths through tap dance. That movie is Not good, but god do I love him in that role.

I think it's arguably very scrungly to seemingly be a real life cartoon character made out of rubber, as proven by how slapsticky the list of scrunglies is so far. In which case, Donald O'Connor? He scrungles supremely. He even played Buster Keaton in a movie (that apparently can't be recommended, but still).

Mantan Moreland:

here's his double act in action!! [editor's note: Benson Fong cameo too!]

He just had a scrungly look about him and he played big with his roles so any of it became especially scrungly. Plus he was very funny in the way only scrungly people can be.

the FUNNEST GUY TO WATCH ON SCREEN. he was an immensely gifted physical comedian, able to convey loads with his eyes, and while some of his parts are so sad and cringeworthy, I feel like he always brought a humanity and humor that lifted them beyond cheap stereotype.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: January 2025

New year, same me.

……….FILM……….

The Substance (2024) Despite not liking horror or needles, I was really excited for this. The premise sounded great and then I sit down and see a 2+ hour runtime and start getting nervous. Did I love everything about this movie? Yes. Do I think they could've done it in an hour thirty or an hour forty-five? Yes. Except the last 20ish minutes; keep that exactly as it is.

Beverly Hills Cop (1984) I knew this movie was written for Sylvester Stallone but I didn't realize that almost all of the comedy would stem from Eddie Murphy. Without him (or his stellar wardrobe), I suppose it's just a fairly straightforward crime/detective movie. Just an incredible performance.

The Lighthouse (2019) As someone who also lives where they work and does so in (mostly) isolation, I'm glad I watched this when I didn't have looming deadlines or the urge to get back to work. Anyway love a good fairytale movie and this is a good fairytale movie.

Nosferatu (2024) Watched this shortly after The Lighthouse and while it was fun to see overlapping visuals and themes, I kinda wished it was...weirder? Still so many beautiful scenes and bold performances, but not nearly as unhinged as I was expecting.

……….TELEVISION……….

Laid (Episode 1.01 to 1.08) Fun and funny and, for something that acknowledges the pandemic, really strikes a good balance of feeling contemporary but not immediately dating itself. I'm torn on the ending but it's definitely more hits than misses here.

Skeleton Crew (Episode 1.05 to 1.08) A nice breezy adventure. Perhaps expecting a few more narrative beats or one-off adventures but really I can't complain with what this is: an all-ages entry in the Star Wars universe that stands on its own.

Columbo (Episode 2.06 to 2.08) Some really fun...villains/murderers this season and I love the recurring doctor/vet visits. Peter Falk's comedic timing and charisma are on full display this season.

……….YOUTUBE……….

The Alt-Right Playbook x PhilosophyTube: Doublewrong by Innuedo Studios Don't fall into the trap of meeting a value-driven discussion with facts and logic. It doesn't work. Instead see where your values differ and focus on that. VIDEO

What Now? by Sophie from Mars This came out at exactly the right time (for me, at least). It's not denying the struggles ahead. Instead it's a perspective that sees a way through. Community above all else. VIDEO

Why No One Wins the Fast Fashion Debate by Broey Deschanel A thoughtful look at both the fashion industry and global economics. VIDEO

……….READING……….

The Truth by Terry Pratchett (Page 45 of 442) Always a treat to spend more time in the Discworld and it's been a while since the main character is wholly new. It's refreshing.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (Complete) Given how much I love Le Guin's Earthsea series, I was really excited for this. Maybe it was the length, maybe it was that it was sci-fi, but I found it to be a slog. I could feel how groundbreaking this must've been, and appreciate how relevant it still remains, but the long stretches of world-building and describing arctic travel/survival was not for me.

Doctor Strange Vol 1 and 2 by Jason Aaron, Chris Bachalo, and more (Complete) I read the Donny Cates run a few years ago and didn't realize this was set before that. While I didn't like that run, I'm digging the visuals and narrative here. Doctor Strange feels a little too...quippy, but that's just because I've always liked the contrast of a very serious lead with a whimsical and unexplained setting. Happy to keep going with this and see how it ties up!

Batman - One Bad Day: Two Face by Mariko Tamaki and Javier Fernandez (Complete) A decent introduction to this series but it didn't really grab me. Great character writing but the...mystery....never really clicked.

Batman - One Bad Day: Mr. Freeze by Gerry Duggan &, Matteo Scalero (Complete) This, on the other hand, really worked for me and delivered everything I want out of a Batman comic: sympathetic villain, Bruce Wayne going undercover out of the costume, plucky Robin, and a cool bat suit. I'd definitely read this one again. Heck Mr. Freeze briefly has a sidekick called Frostbite! This is superhero comics at their best.

……….AUDIO……….

Sunflower by The Beach Boys (1970) Pet Sounds is one of my all-time favourite albums and yet I never really got into much of the other post-surf output from The Beach Boys. After seeing this review I dived in head first and now adore it. It really is a shame that they didn't blow up the same way as the Beatles, given how similar their musical trajectory was.

……….GAMING……….

Mika and the Witch's Mountain (Chibig) I don't really Kickstart video games so this was a gamble. The art direction and characters are great, but quickly realized there's really only one trick to this pony. I was even more frustrated that the trick (flying on a broom) never really clicked for me. There's potential here but it's not quite there yet for me.

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The party is spinning so many plates that it's a marvel none of them have dropped yet. Right now they're investigating a murder tied back to their first session. You can read all about it here.

Wonderland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 crew got back together for a one-shot! We had two character deaths but a lot of loot and XP for those that survived.

And that's it. See you in February!