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alexalblondo · 4 years ago

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hi! this is gonna be so random and sudden i'm sorry but i have a question -- how do you cope with people writing off and criticizing seb? i started to really stan him over winter break (mostly because of blogs like yours!) and i made the mistake of reading three articles that said aston martin made a mistake in choosing seb (one from max, one from eddie jordan, and one from reddit) and i'm just... just y'all fucking wait to eat your words sebastian "twink-turned-fuckboy-turned-father" is gonna be back to kick all of y'alls asses 😤😤😤 but honestly tho like how do you cope with that. it's fine if you don't answer this (ik this may be sudden and draining) but i hope you're having a good day!! 💓

Hello 💕

Okay, so this ask is super old and I remember seeing it and having so many thoughts and then no time to answer and then forgetting and then remembering but being embarrassed cause it took me so long and ... I just reblogged sth about toxic traits and yeah, that’s one of mine: never answering messages 🙈

So I am sorry but if you still care: here are my thoughts!

(Under a read more cause a bitch has things to say)

I should admit beforehand that I am still fairly new to online fandom of F1, I didn’t really consider getting involved in it when I watched as a child and I didn’t care enough to look for fandom when I restarted keeping up with it in like 2018 ... until Ferrari fired Seb and ya‘ll kept trending that is 🙈😂

But back to dealing with the criticism, I think it comes down to a few things:

1, You have to figure out what you want from F1 and especially this fandom! Me, I met some really cool people and I found out I love making memes so that’s what I am doing and - this is my white girl privilege I guess - I will sometimes ignore toxic stuff so it won’t kill my mood (it‘s easier with Seb than it is with Alex cause some of ya‘ll are ✨racist✨)

2, consider who is criticizing Seb, which for me is such a big thing cause if you look at the people the criticize him (Max aside) it‘s never the people who know him and never the people who actually raced against him! Those people are usually full of praise of him, like Lewis or Charles or Horner or fuck, even Mark! Hell, even Fernando has by now admitted that Seb didn’t deserve the shit he said about him back then!

3, what are they actually saying? I mean, generally speaking it‘s always: Seb is washed up. Seb is too sensitive of a driver. Seb just got lucky being in RBR at the time. Sbinalla! And just, you know what? You don’t get 4 titles, you don’t become the third most successful driver of all time and you don’t take the fight so close to Lewis and Mercedes for so long by sheer luck!

4, Seb says he doesn’t care and while I think it’s bullshit that he doesn’t care at all - I think Seb has been in this sport too long and has gotten too much shit even when he was running the show to actually give the critics too much space so why should I? I am here to support Seb not to fight assholes!

5, one thing that plays into this but for me deserves it’s own point: you mentioned the thing about proving the critics wrong and while I want Seb to come out on top with Aston Martin ... I also think he has fuck all to prove to anyone, buddy IS the third most successful driver (so far), he IS a four times WDC, he IS an amazing athlete ... and most importantly he seems to be a wonderful human being and a loving father and honestly that‘s more important to me and also means (imo) he has shit all to prove to anyone, especially guys like Max or Martin Brundle or men on reddit who haven’t had a quarter of the success he‘s had!

6, and this is where I commit sacrilege so please no one cancel me as a Seb fan but: one thing that really helped me deal with people criticizing Seb is the fact that I accepted (for myself) imho Seb really isn’t the best driver ever ... he isn’t as talented as Lewis or Michael or Ayrton or whatever ... he does have more flaws as a driver ... he can be a bully on track ... he makes dumb mistakes ... but you know what? Idc! That‘s the thing for me: Idc if he‘s the best or if he’s winning or if he beats so and so and proves so and so wrong cause I like HIM both as a driver and a person and I want him to be happy and I wanna support him and while I am obviously always hoping he comes our on top if he doesn’t? Eh, that‘s okay for me! What I love about Seb is that he’s been so successful despite all his flaws because for me Seb wasn’t this successful cause he’s oh so talented (like Max supposedly is) but cause he put in the work! For me Seb proves that sometimes loving something and then working for it ... even when you might not be as good at it initially ... is worth it! That wanting something bad enough can get you somewhere even when everything wants you to fail

And that‘s my thought and if you do read it dear anon, I hope you are well and this helped or maybe you have completely different thoughts by now or don’t even care about Seb anymore but yeah, this is how I deal!

Anyways, stay frosty and remember: red means stop but green means go!

#f1 #sebastian vettel #this is long as fuck and I‘m writing on mobile so I‘ll have to post and then get the read more uuups #but anyways #honestly™️#no ask tags just vibes #💚🥦💛🥦💚

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Every Upcoming Blumhouse New Horror Movie For 2021 and Beyond

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In just over a decade Blumhouse Productions has gone from a very smart agile indie to possibly the most significant horror production company out there. It’s slate is huge, it most quickly and cheaply, trusts in its creators and favours originality and genuine scares. Though the pandemic has meant certain release dates have had to move, or not as yet locked in, it’s clear the Blumhouse juggernaut is showing no signs of slowing. It has several film in production, with release dates set for 2021 and even more movies in various states of development.

We’ve rounded up the latest on all of Blumhouse’s upcoming horror movies. Note: we have not included TV, we haven’t included anything which is clearly not a horror and the projects which have been in development hell for many years are summarised briefly at the end. We’ll keep this updated so pop back for all your Blumhouse needs.

Image from 2013’s The Purge

The Forever Purge

Release date: 9 July 2021

This fifth installment of the The Purge franchise will reportedly be the last with creator and writer James DeMonaco promising a ‘really cool’ end to the series. This movie was originally scheduled for a summer 2020 release – filming wrapped in February 2020 – but dates inevitably shifted and now it’s aiming for Summer 2021. While DeMonaco wrote the script, the movie is directed by Everardo Gout who’s best known for his work on National Geographic series Mars. The movie stars Ana de la Reguera and Tenoch Huerta with Josh Lucas and Will Patton.

Welcome to the Blumhouse (second batch)

Release date: 2021 tbc

This imprint which launched in October and streams on Amazon Prime will get another four installments in 2021. The series once again aims to give a platform to upcoming and underrepresented voices. The movies are:

Madres

A pregnant Mexican-American woman and her husband move to a migrant community in California where she starts to experience strange visions and phenomena. Is it the legendary curse? Or is something more sinister going on? This is a first feature from Ryan Zaragoza and stars Tenoch Huerta (The Forever Purge) Ariana Guerra, Evelyn Gonzalez, Kerry Cahill, and Elpidia Carrillo.

The Manor

Residents of a nursing home are haunted by supernatural forces in this film from Soulmate director Axelle Carolyn. Barbara Hershey stars as a woman who’s recently moved into the home following a stroke who suspects malevolent beings are at prey and needs to convince everyone around her she doesn’t belong there at all in order to escape.

Black as Night

Teenage misfits battle vampires who are attacking New Orleans’ disenfranchised in this feature from Maritte Lee Go which sounds like it might appeal to a young female demographic as well as the usual Blumhouse fans. It stars Asjha Cooper, Fabrizio Guido, Craig Tate, Keith David, Mason Beauchamp, Abbie Gayle and Frankie Smith.

Bingo

Set among an eldery community in the Barrio of Oak Springs, Bingo sees a stubborn group of friends lead by the matriarchal Lupita who keeps them together a family, face their toughest threat yet when they discover their Bingo hall is to be sold to a powerful force. Gigi Saul Guerrero, who directed an episode of The Purge TV show and also a segment of Blum’s Into The Dark horror series takes the helm.

Halloween Kills

Release date: October 15 2021

Originally planned for October 2020, this follow up to David Gordon Green’s 2018 Halloween reboot (which was a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween) will now arrive in October 2021 to carry on the saga of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her family in their ongoing battle with Michael Myers. The previous installment was a smart addition to the franchise dealing with themes of PTSD in the wake of what Laurie experienced as a teen so we have high hopes for this. Blum has said the movie will be “Huge” and “Intense” and will feature returning legacy characters from the original.

Halloween Ends

Release date: October 14 2022

The third part of the reboot trilogy is planned for 2022 and will bring to a close this part of the saga. Ahead of the release of Halloween Kills it’s difficult to predict which direction part three will take us in but if IMDb is to be believed Laurie, her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and Granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) will be in a final showdown with The Shape.

Paranormal Activity 7 (as yet untitled)

Release date: 2022 TBC

Announced back in 2019, Blumhouse is supposedly planning a seventh installment to the found footage franchise, with Oren Peli the creator of the original Paranormal Activity attached to write. No plot details have been released yet and it’s possible the unexpected events of 2020 have affected plans for this. The latest in the franchise – 2015 Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension is the least profitable of the series but still grossed $79M worldwide from a budget of $10M.

Vengeance

Release date: 2021

This is the directorial debut of actor and comedian BJ Novak (who was one of the writers on the US version of The Office, where he also played Ryan Howard), which follows a radio host from New York (also played by Novak) who travels down South in an attempt to solve the murder of his girlfriend and discover what happened to her. The movie co stars Logan’s Boyd Holbrook as well as Ashton Kutcher and Issa Rae. The production began in March 2020 but was put on hold due to COVID19, but has started back up again and Blum says they’ve almost finished shooting what he describes as “a cool, offbeat movie”.

Five Nights At Freddy’s

Status: Pre-production

Currently in pre-production is this adaptation based on the popular horror video game franchise where a night security worker at a restaurant called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza is terrorised by sentient and murderous animatronic characters who come alive after dark. The movie was originally optioned by Warner Bros with Gil Keenan to direct but is now with Blumhouse under Chris Columbus. Despite delays, Blum is confident this is still very much on the cards telling Inverse “”It’s still active. We haven’t quite figured it out, but we’re getting closer every day.” The videogame franchise featured several sequels and spin offs so if Blum and Columbus can make this a hit there’s every possibility for multiple sequels.

Wolfman

Status: Pre-production

After the massive success of The Invisible Man, long time Blumhouse collaborator Leigh Whannell has signed on to tackle another classic Universal monster with the Wolfman. This is one of the strangest but most exciting titles on Blumhouse’s slate with Ryan Gosling attacked to star as a man who is cursed after being bitten by a werewolf. Gosling is a massive talent, Oscar nominated twice, who is selective with his projects so we can only imagine the script must be something special.

Mother Nature

Status: Pre-Production

Announced back in May Mother Nature marks the directorial debut of Jamie Lee Curtis herself. An eco-horror co-written by Curtis and Russell Goldman who’s head of development at Curtis’ company Comet Pictures, this is the first film in a three year first look deal Comet Pictures has with Blumhouse. Details are scant but it looks like this will be themed around climate change. “I’m 61 and my motto now is: ‘If not now, when, if not me, who?’” Curtis told EW. Well quite.

Untitled John Ridley Paranormal Thriller

Status: Pre-production

Novelist, screenwriter and director John Ridley is set to write and direct this chiller based on this article entitled ‘Project Poltergeist’ which tells the true story of a young boy who is purported terrified by supernatural occurrences in a public housing project in the 1960s. “This is an incredible true-life narrative of a young man dealing with horrors – both paranormal and racially systemic — in a community that is scarred by hate, yet ultimately brought together by hope,” said Ridley, speaking to TheWrap. “I really appreciate Blumhouse’s commitment to telling stories that seek to entertain audiences even as it challenges them.”

Patrick Wilson in Insidious

Insidious 5

Status: Pitch

It’s been ten years since the very scary first installment of Insidious, one of the franchises that really helped put Blumhouse productions on the map, and the series shows no sign of disappearing into the Further just yet. A fifth film is apparently on the cards with star Patrick Wilson set to direct. The film will focus on the Lambert family ten years on as son Dalton prepares to go to college. “We’ve had a lot of luck with first-time directors who are actors, even Jordan Peele (Get Out) or Joel Edgerton on The Gift,” Blum told Den of Geek.

Caroline Ward in Host

Untitled Rob Savage project

Status: Pre-production

Sure the defining horror movie of 2020 has to be Host, a low budget indie written, shot and released in just 12 weeks during lockdown, a Zoom horror which perfectly captured the zeitgeist. After rave reviews, Savage and his team, screenwriters Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd and producer Douglas Cox signed with Blumhouse for a three picture deal. In typical quick and dirty style they’ve already begun work on the first of these features, which will reportedly be scarier and more ambitious than Host. Definitely one to watch.

Untitled Dracula project

Status: Treatment

Announced back in March, Jennifer’s Body and The Invitation director Karyn Kusama is attached to another Universal Monster project – a new adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Kusama told the Kingcast podcast that it would be a fairly faithful adaptation which will lean into the idea of multiple voices and points of view to tell the story, and perhaps present a slightly different version of the Count himself. “I would just say in some respect this is gonna be an adaptation called Dracula but it’s perhaps not the same kind of romantic hero that we’ve seen in past adaptations of Dracula,” said Kusama.

Untitled The Thing Remake/Untitled John Carpenter/Blumhouse Project

Status: Pitch

January of 2020 saw rumours that Blumhouse was working on a new iteration of The Thing, based on the (relatively) recently unearthed longer version of the story the movie is based on Who Goes There?, by John W. Campbell Jr. – the longer version is called Frozen Hell. Though there are two separate entries on IMDb for this project they are clearly the same ‘Thing’ – the ‘Untitled John Carpenter/Blumhouse Project’ suggest the Halloween 2018 director David Gordon Green maybe attached.

Firestarter

Status: Script

This new adaptation of the Stephen King novel has been kicking about since 2010 but there has been some movement recently. Zac Efron has been cast in an as yet undisclosed role and Blum has promised a “faithful” adaptation. At one point Akiva Goldsman was attached to direct, then later Fatih Akin but as things currently stand The Vigil director Keith Thomas is the frame to re-tell this story about a young girl with the telekinetic power to set things on fire. There was a previous adap of this story released in 1984 starring Drew Barrymore and directed by Mark L. Lester, with a miniseries Firestarter: Rekindled broadcast on the sci-fi channel in 2002, so this sits within remake territory.

Untitled Elizabeth Moss Project

Status: Pitch

This is a proposed adaptation of Virginia Feito’s novel, Mrs. March, with Moss producing and set to star. The novel will be published in 2021 and has been likened to Shirley Jackson. According to the synopsis it follows an upper Eastside housewife “who unravels when she begins to suspect the detestable protagonist of her husband’s latest bestselling novel is based on her”. Moss’s Love and Squalor productions with partner with Blumhouse on the project

Also in development:

Blumhouse has a multitude of other projects at different stages of development many of which likely won’t ever see the light of day. Here what else has been mooted.

Mark Duplass in Creep

Creep 3

Status: Development unknown

Third part of the Mark Duplass/Patrick Brice series – reached script stage, last updated Dec 2016

Curse

Status: Optioned

Werewolf story based on a graphic novel, optioned April 2018

Devil’s Night

Status: Development unknown

Night before Halloween story, reached script stage, last updated July 2017

Families

Status: Development unknown

Cannibal horror, reached script stage in 2015, last updated January 2017

Fangland

Status: Development unknown

Dracula as an arms dealer. Script in 2009, last updated March 2017.

Intruders

Status: Script

Dead Snow’s Tommy Wirkola is attached to write and direct this domestic abuse thriller, last updated May 2018.

Movies

13 Best Blumhouse Horror Movies Ranked

By David Crow and 3 others

Movies

How Jason Blum Changed Horror Movies

By Rosie Fletcher

Invasion

Development unknown

A home invasion occurs at the same time as an Alien invasion. Script as of March 2018, last updated July 2020

M3GAN

Status: Script

Housebound director Gerard Johnstone is attached to this story about a robot doll who develops sentience, with Get Out’s Allison Williams attached. It reached the script stage in July 2018, but no news since.

Magic Eight Ball

Status: Script

This project about the kids’ toy has been kicking around since 2006 with the latest version of the script listed as June 2019. Currently Jeff Wadlow of Fantasy Island is attached

Sleepwalker

Status: Script

Alexander Aja who made Switchblade Romance is listed as attached to this, though there’s been no update since September 2017

Snapshot 1988

Status: Optioned

Mike Flanagan was attached to this adaptation of a Joe Hill story, though nothing’s been updated since 2016

The Black Phone

Status: Treatment

Another planned adaptation of a Joe Hill story, with Scott Derrickson attached. No updates since the treatment in 2017 though.

The Breathing Method

Status: Development unknown

The only story from Stephen King anthology Different Seasons not to be turned into a movie, Scott Derrickson was also attached to this, but there’s been no movement for years with the last update in May 2017.

Untitled Chris Hardwick/Blumhouse Project

Status: Pitch

Collab with comedian and actor Hardwick, no news since October 2017

Untitled Dee Rees Horror Project

Status: Treatment

Collab with Mudbound director, Rees, described as “ghost story centering on an African-American lesbian couple living in a small town”. No news since May 2017.

Untitled Jason Blum/Chris Morgan Project

Status: Script

This collaboration with producer Chris Morgan has been around since 2013, with the latest update April 2017. The synopsis reads “A group of students get in over their heads with their new technological invention.”

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photolover82 · 4 years ago

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The Masked Singer Season 4 Episode 5: Last but not Least, let's (finally) meet Group C! (Commentary and Guesses)

Hey fellow Masked Singer fans! Welcome or welcome back to Ana’s Masked Singer recap, where I, Ana, recap every episode of the Masked Singer. I am so happy to be back after a short break after the World Series (thank God for the Dodgers). If you don’t know how these recaps go, first of all hi, feel free to follow me if you want to see more of these. Anyways, so how these work is that I first talk about who gets eliminated, give my thoughts, and then give my guesses and commentary for the remaining contestants and their performances. I also try to back up my guesses as much as I can by using the clues... even though I guide myself with the voice of the individual contestant. Anyways, having said that, let’s jump into it:

Warning ⚠️: If you haven’t watched the show yet, there are spoilers below, so read at your own risk.. this is your official spoiler alert warning. Don’t say I didn’t warn you...

With this episode, we met our last group of contestants, Group C, which consists of 5 masked characters, Squiggly Monster, Mushroom, Jellyfish, Lips, and Broccoli. Overall, to me, they are the weakest group vocal wise, but they were still fun to watch.

Alright, so let’s talk about the eliminated contestant, who was...

*DRUMROLL PLEASE*

Lips 💋

Performance: Alright, so she sang “Native New Yorker,” by Odessy.... and I really try to be as kind and constructive as I can with these recaps especially when critiquing their performances because being rude really doesn’t solve anything and I want you guys to understand why I don’t like a performance if I dislike a performance (so we can start an open dialogue you get me?) ... but I am so sorry, this lady can’t sing like at all. Oh and I knew exactly who she was (haha insert Ken’s voice into that phrase lol) the moment she opened her mouth. The thing is she is talking and she messed up in the middle by laughing/snorting in the performance, it was kind of hilarious not gonna lie... it made me laugh, which I guess is a good thing, but like yeah it’s kind of obvious why she left first, because she (I mean no offense to this.. well maybe I do because I am not a fan of the person under this mask like at all since she ain’t kind and civil like at all) blew it, like it kinda felt like she messed up on purpose or that she is actually horrible at singing, which is ok because she isn’t supposed to be a professional singer and that’s fine. All that to say Lips made me laugh and I appreciate it but I am kind of glad she was the first one to go....

Anyways, she was revealed to be (to no surprise of my own) controversial talk show host...

Wendy Williams

Whoop whoop, I got it right (as did like everyone who knows who she is because her voice is that distinct... oh and also she spoke during the song so it was kind of obvious, but I am still claiming my victory: Gotten 3/5 correct so far and I am proud of that number)! Anyways here are the clues that pointed to her:

Shock= she says very shocking things on her show and is a pretty polarizing figure, you either love her or hate her (I am not fond of her myself but whatever I guess)

“Speak my truth”= she’s known for stating her mind and is unfiltered with her thoughts on things

West Wing= her initials WW

Fire= Hot Takes is a segment on her show and also a reference to her book Wendy’s Got The Heat

Alright, now that we have finished with her, let’s talk about our remaining 4 masked contestants:

1. Squiggly Monster 👾

Performance: I really liked his performance of Have You Ever Seen the Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival. He did super well, like I really liked it, I had low expectations because of the costume (it’s kind of creepy looking ngl) but I was pleasantly surprised. Having said that, the moment I heard him, because of his tone, I knew exactly who it was (again insert Ken’s voice here)...

So, for my guess, I think it is Full House actor/comedian:

Bob Saget

Ok, so besides the voice, lemme give you why I think that clues wise (credit goes to this Screen Rant article for the details idk on my own):

Penguin visual in the package= he directed a parody nature documentary called Farce of the Penguins

Father and a scoundrel= father part due to him actually being a father to 3 girls/his role on Full House as Danny Tanner (a single father of 3 daughters which I think is wow funny) and the scoundrel part referring to his raunchy/dirty comedy

Cookie clues= nod to Michelle from Full House and her love of cookies

“Breaking News” and him on a news show kind of thing= reference to his Full House character Danny Tanner being an anchor for Good Morning San Francisco

He also was on the show as a shrimp cocktail as the friend for the Taco aka Tom Bergeron! So it makes sense for him to come back this season which I am all into

2. Mushroom 🍄

Performance: Ok, so this is like the most confusing, is it a he or is it a she? That’s the biggest question, my money’s on a boy... so my guess is going to be male (I am gonna call Mushroom a he because of that so I apologize if I am misgendering them, I just need to narrow it down somehow and I am gendering them based on who I think it is, and I feel like he is the correct pronoun). Anyways, I love him, he’s my favorite Group C contestant, and his performance of This Woman’s Work was amazing, people said it was not good, but I really enjoyed it because I am a sucker for a good falsetto and this guy was almost all falsetto, I was feeling it. Having said that, maybe I like him so much because I feel like it is someone I adore, like if I meet him, I will faint status...

Having said that, I think it is Broadway star, heartthrob, actor, singer, adorable human...

Jordan Fisher

Omg he is so cute... sorry I am gonna stop being 😍 for him I promise. Anyways, big clue was a video of him singing this exact song (I think it sounds so similar, but you guys can judge for yourselves), here it is: https://youtu.be/3lzRsMl8M8Q

youtube

Apart from that, here are some actual clues (with a bit of help from this Screen Rant article) that got my mind thinking it is him:

WAITTT 🤔... before we get into that, what I found interesting is that he tweeted and I quote “Seasonal tweet to let everyone know that ____ on the masked singer is once again not me 💜” and THE MASKED SINGER RETWEETED IT... but also I just checked and this is the first time he’s ever had to clear that up... soooo maybe he’s a liar (bc of an NDA ofc you cannot really spill the beans.... but let’s go with he’s a liar)... a cute liar... but he’s lying.

Ok, now onto the clues:

A lot of Hamilton clues= “a healer and a scholar,” “young, scrappy, and fun-gy,” “shroom where it happens” = he replaced Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton in the Broadway musical Hamilton (and also can reference his Broadway roots in general like being on Dear Evan Hansen)

Started at a “rat race” and Men in Black were mice= could be a reference to his start on Disney (Liv and Maddie and Teen Beach Movie)

A shot to turn a hobby into a career= reference to him streaming video games on Twitch

Stars clue with audience= he won Dancing with the Stars back in 2017 and also hosted DWTS Junior

3. Jellyfish 💚

Performance: I really liked her performance of Big Girls Don’t Cry by Fergie even though I felt like she was holding back a bit (I can kind of say the same about Mushroom... but I still enjoyed it). I am really curious to see what she can really do, because I felt her nerves in the performance and like she can do more. This one’s killing me because I feel like I have heard that voice but I can’t put my finger on who it could be

So, with that said, I have no idea who to guess:

But I do know that it isn’t ✨Billie Elish✨

No, but like seriously, that ain’t Billie Elish even tho a lot of people are guessing it, I am not buying it... you’ll see why in a second, here are the clues:

The Little(ish) Jellyfish title on a book

Reigned supreme in an underwater kingdom

Fans, Tiara (“princess”)

Angel Fish

Flower Crown

Missed out on normal girl stuff like parties and making friends

Billie Elish “Bad Guy” lyrics in the background= that’s way too obvious for it to be Billie Elish

4. Broccoli 🥦

Performance: His performance of House is Rockin’/Whole Lotta Shakin Going On by Stevie Ray Vaughan/Jerry Lee Lewis was not what I expected to be honest. I thought it was going to be someone younger or a rapper, but it was an older gentlemen, and he was rockin, not gonna lie. I really liked it, not my favorite though I don’t think he is bad by any means. Anyways, I feel like I know who it is... maybe I am getting this from another person on YT’s guess who I really liked (Shoutout to them idk their user sorry)

So, for my guess for the Broccoli, I think it is legendary singer...

Paul Anka

The reason why is because of the following clues:

Can of Soup= he won a Campell’s Soup competition and that jump started his career

Tik Tok reference= his song Put Your Head on My Shoulder went viral on Tik Tok

Also, the letterman jacket is very 60s which is his era I guess (my mom knows more ab it than I do)

Anyways, that’s it, guys! I hope you enjoyed this recap, I apologize for how long they are, it’s kind of my thing lol! Don’t forget to comment your guesses (do you agree with me? Disagree? I wanna know below... especially Jellyfish guesses bc I have no idea who she can be), like, and follow for more Masked Singer content. I’ll see you all next week for the Group C Playoffs! Bye guys! 👋🏼

#the masked singer season 4 #the masked singer #themaskedsinger #celebrities #hollywood #movies #music #tv series #tv shows #wendy williams #lipsmask #bob saget #jordan fisher #paul anka #performance

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clarabosswald · 5 years ago

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okay so someone on twitter dug up this absolutely outstanding uhhh “”article”” on his dark materials in general and the golden compass movie specifically by one david j stewart and i just. i HAVE to break down at least some of it because it’s an absolute gem

(this is a bit long - there is a LOT of stupidity to cover here)

first of all, the url

i could honestly just end the post here because that line right there is a masterpiece by itself. screw eurovision, hellivision is the next hot thing

There is no movie any more evil than THE GOLDEN COMPASS.

that’s the first line of the article. what a first line. the most amazing thing is that in an entirely different context i can kind of agree with this claim

Philip Pullman is a sinfully proud, God-hating, militant atheist.

militant! oh wow. is the hdm fandom actually pullman’s secret army? like dumbledore’s army in hp? do we have secret meetings? i want in

The movie has been dumbed down

yet again i find myself agreeing with mr stewart

in the end the children kill God and everyone can do as they please.

people having free will? good lord, the horror.

The movie is indescribably evil.

damn dude yet again you’re right but you’re kinda preaching to the choir here at this point

The word "demon" is repeated several dozen times throughout the movie, as each child has it's own lovable demon.

this is the first time in the article that mr david j stewart stubbornly refuses to understand that there’s this thing called “concept” and “artistic license” and that in the context of the hdm world, pullman used his artistic license to change the common meaning of the word d(a)emon. NOT TO MENTION that pullman hardly made up the concept of a daemon as a positive creature - “originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit”, literally the first line in the wikipedia article about the classical concept of daemons. but yeah i’m unfairly expecting mr dave to do his research so i guess that’s kinda mean of me.

Witches by the hundreds are featured in the movie, and are portrayed as being good, helpful and rescuers.

for a moment i wondered what mr dave’s opinion on harry potter is like, but i can imagine it quite vividly.

The star character, a little girl named Lyra Belacqua, loves her demon (who takes various animal forms), and she has named him "Pan" (short for Pantalaimon)

somewhere inside of me, my inner hdm myth fanatic is screaming in rage at all the gross misunderstanding of the basic plot of hdm, but well we’ve got more serious problems here

Pan is the pagan god of sexual rape, lust and fertility. Statues of Pan are often displayed showing him with an erection.

you know what’s EXTREMELY ironic here? pantalaimon isn’t named after that pan. he’s actually named after the greek saint pantaleon. (mr dave now provides a link to his rage fest over narnia. good to know he’s against even blatantly pro-christian fiction.)

NOTE: Pullman uses the word "daemon." A "daemon" is just another term for "demon."

...no, honey, they really don’t, but we already know you didn’t do your research.

In the movie THE GOLDEN COMPASS, there are at least 50 references to a child's "DEMON."

imagine this grown up dude sitting in a movie theater watching a kids’ movie and counting the number of times the word “daemon” is said dkgsdaoighs

In one part of the movie, a missing boy (Roger Parslow) is found, but he is out of his mind and looks distraught because his DEMON has been taken away from him. Talk about twisting the truth around. The little girl who stars in the movie, Lyra, vows to find and return the boy's demon.

aslkdghsaodigho yeah this guy was definitely too busy to count “daemons” to actually pay attention to the plot

Pullman is hoping that unsuspecting parents will take their children to see the movie

no i actually think that at this point pullman didn’t want anything to do with the movie

The title for the trilogy comes from a line in John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Pullman views his trilogy as a re-telling of Milton’s poem (which means that His Dark Materials is in reality Pullman’s re-telling of the Genesis story in fantasy form)

no, not really, not as literal as that, but artistic subtleties seem to escape you quite frequently, my dear dave

In the trilogy, a young girl becomes enmeshed in an epic struggle against a nefarious [extremely wicked] Church known as the "Magisterium."

iooisadhgosdiahgosa i LOVE how dave made the EFFORT to explain the meaning of “nefarious” to the reader

Pullman's books are a work of darkness that every Christian needs to diligently expose (Ephesians 5:11)

damn dude can you believe hdm got so popular it’s referenced in the bible

America was founded upon faith in God, and the Communists are trying to rob it from our children

kefhsaoidgsdoh COMMUNISM CONFIRMED

at this point in the article mr dave finally decides it’s time to talk about the story of the golden compass in mere two paragraphs. spoiler: the first paragraph is yet again dedicated to anti-pullman ranting. so much for that plot summary.

In the books, Pullman represents God as a decrepit and perverse angel who captures the dead in a “prison camp” afterlife.

damn the dude says he’s gonna talk about the plot of the golden compass and then goes ahead and spoils the amber spyglass just like that. where are your internet manners, dave

The story centers on Lyra, a young girl living at Jordan College in the Oxford of an alternate world where everyone is accompanied by a daemon, a physical representation of their soul in animal form.

this is the ONE time dave refers to daemons as what they ACTUALLY are. but i suspect he just copy-pasted this bit without actually reading what is said in it.

One morning, Lyra's school Master

yet again someone was too busy counting words then remembering the plot/characters

Lyra then finds herself in a world where she must fight against evil, and here lies the controversy. Lyra is the "chosen child" who must do battle with evil. But in this story, the things that are good are evil (the church is the Magisterium, the bad group trying to gain control of all) and evil is good (daemons and witches are allies.)

it’s almost...... as if......... it’s somewhat........... symbolic.......... you know, that artistic device? symbolism? yeah? no...?

our darling dave then links to this piece as the source of his info on the plot of tgc and god that’s a whole nest of wasps i can’t even begin to deal with here. but it’s p entertaining how in only briefly reading the thing i can already recognize whole sentences who got copy-pasted by dave for his own magnificent piece of critique

Satan's Bid for Your Child

oh, WHAT a title for the next segment of the article. i’m hooked

Even though the books are strongly anti-God and anti-church, they’re getting a strong push in the godless public school system as curriculum resources. First the God-hating Communists introduced the lies of Evolution into the public school system. Then they kicked God's Word and prayer out of the public schools in 1962 and 1963. Now they want to teach our children homosexuality and witchcraft.

communism! evolution! homosexuality! witchcraft! god, i’m trembling

dave goes on for a while without mentioning the movie again, just ranting against the world in general. parts of it are still amusing, though:

Evolution is in fact a religion, as is humanism, witchcraft and Satanism.

yeah man i miss it when in school we used to pray to darwin every morning before class started :(

It requires faith to believe Evolution because there is NO proof, or even evidences to permit study. It is tragic that young people today are being taught a theory that has NO proof whatsoever. In sharp contrast, the Word of God is supported by an overwhelming abundance of scientific, historical, archeological and astronomical evidence.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD. WOW!!!!!!!!!!

Public school children are being taught religion; but it's the religions of Humanism (i.e., man is his own god), Evolution, New Age and now Demonism.

are daemians aware that daemonism is being taught in public schools as a whole ass religion??? damn

With the rise of the New World Order since the 911 attacks

holy shit dude dave is diving deep into the waters of conspiracy at this point

Surely Satan is already panicking, knowing that he must accomplish much in a very short time frame. This explains why we see a flood of demonism, witchcraft and apostasy sweeping the world in an effort to destroy Christianity. Have you heard about the new FLY Pentop COMPUTER for kids, which features witchcraft? Did you know that Toys-R-Us sells a VooDooz doll for children? It comes complete with a spell book, and pins to stab your VooDooz doll with. I was at Barnes and Noble bookstore and saw a Teenage Witchcraft Kit.

THIS DUDE IS FUCKING WILD i imagine he started yelling at some poor employee for having witchcraft in that store

Doesn't anyone love God anymore?

this is sad.

The Bible condemns all forms of witchcraft—Voodoo, charms, spells, divination, incantations, palm readings, Ouija boards, psychics, witchery, sorcery, wizards, magic, potions, good luck charms, astrology, necromancy, spiritism, magic candles, mesmerism, hypnosis, astral projection, levitation, and anything else that invokes the power of Satan.

he actually............went through the trouble of listing all of that. from memory, no doubt

WE’RE BACK TO THE GOLDEN COMPASS AT LAST LADS

Instead of presenting the trailer on the homepage, The Golden Compass website uses audio to introduce the characters of the film and their respective demons, and then provides a prompt to "Meet Your Demon." Twenty questions are presented which promise to reveal "your true character and the form of your demon." Once you complete the questionnaire, you can send your resulting demon to your friends, presumably to build a community of young demons who will all later commune at the theater. This is pure Satanism and it's being directed at our children. Satan wants your child. The Golden Compass series glorifies demonism, witchcraft and divination; while blaspheming God Almighty.

Satan Wants Your Child

In the movie THE GOLDEN COMPASS, children are being kidnapped by a mysterious group called the Gobblers and taken "to the North" where they are tortured by having their daemons separated from them. This is the Satanic garbage that film producers and book publishers are vomiting upon our children. Towards the end of the film, the starring little girl deliberately destroys the machine that was robbing children of their daemons. Literally, the movie portrays the little girl as a hero for ensuring that all the other children can continue to be daemon possessed. This is one sick movie, straight out of the pits of Hell.

it’s fucking ASTOUNDING how this paragraph could straight up pass as magisterium propaganda

How about you? Our time on earth is short my friend. This life will be over before we know it. Is your heart right with God? Are you saved? Have your sins been washed away by the precious blood of Jesus Christ?

this dude got so fucking emotional over one bad movie he grossly misunderstood i am INSPIRED

our dearly beloved dave now goes on to quote yet another highly reputable source on the evil of the golden compass

"His Dark Materials" by atheist Philip Pullman

is “atheist” a title at this point? now that pullman is a sir, do they call him “atheist sir pullman” or “sir atheist pullman”?

Unsaved Heathens and Apostates Praise Pullman's Works of Darkness

do i get to officially call myself “unsaved heathen and apostate” because that’s one rad fucking title

Satan truly is the god of this world (2nd Corinthians 4:4), and he has many servants.

this is such a confusing fucking statement. how can satan be the god of this world if there is only one god? or two, because there is god and there’s also jesus? god i don’t know christianity never made any sense so this statement isn’t actually that surprising

Why would any professed "Christian" support Pullman's works of darkness, which he admittedly calls HIS DARK MATERIALS?

esteemed article writer dave is unaware of the existence of the concept of “references”

Sadly, ChristianityToday magazine promotes this vile filth, giving it a rating of 2 1/2 out of a potential 4 stars. I give the movie a ZERO rating, and so should you if you love the Lord Jesus Christ!

yeah guys! we must purify this dirty world by giving bad ratings to hollywood movies! this is the only way to show jesus our love and devotion!

Movie writer-director Chris Weitz has said he wants to make the next films more "iconoclastic," so consider this bit of sacrilege a taste of what is yet to come. The word "iconoclastic" means "Characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions." In other words, the sequels to The Golden Compass are going to blaspheme God and attack Christianity much worse than the first movie.

man.... chris had good intentions. too bad new line fucked him over with how bad they butchered the movie in post-prod.

If we don't complain, then who will... the atheists?

this line is so confusing and meaningless and yet so timeless and iconic. wow

The Golden Compass is a Sicko Movie

i can’t breathe this sounds like an early 2000s compliment coming from a middle school bad boy who does tubular tricks on his skateboard

For Pullman, sexual experience is an essential part of becoming a full-grown human, despite the confusion and pain it can cause.

HOW IN THE FUCK IS THIS CONTROVERSIAL OR WRONG FOR NON-ACE PEOPLE KADSH;GOIDAGSDKJG

Children Using Divination to Confirm Guidance from Demons? "Lyra tries to consult the alethiometer to see if the daemons are right.”

Things Taking Wildly Out Of Context Making No Sense?

Kill God?

after reading this torturous rant? yes absolutely. next

Of course the idea in a trilogy is to read the second and third books, and not just the first. Naturally Scholastic is selling nicely packaged boxes of the trilogy.

i love how dave felt the need to explain to us how trilogies and bookselling work. what a sweetheart

Blasphemy! Children are being taught that killing God is quite a desirable thing to do.

will anyone ever understand that WILL AND LYRA NEVER INTENDED TO KILL GOD, AND WHEN GOD DIED IT WAS BY MISTAKE AND MADE THEM UPSET AND SAD? i mean this guy won’t, but people who actually read the books???

God and the Church Are Awful and Pathetic?

dave at this point in reading your rant i hate the whole of christianity. yes. next

Summoning Witches? “Serafina and her witches decide that they need to summon other witch clans....”

Mr Dave Is Unaware That The Word “Summon” Has Got Several Meanings

“He is so weak and old that he blows to bits with the first breeze, but his dissolution comes as a relief. It is as though God does not want the burden of leadership. In the end, Will and Lyra don’t kill God. Instead, they free him, and he becomes one with the universe again. The fact that God dissolves just like the newly freed ghosts suggests that perhaps God is simply the spirit of the living.”

i love how dave quotes this whole bit - ACTUAL GOOD ANALYSIS OF GOD’S DEATH IN HDM - without absolving any of its meaning

Conclusion The Golden Compass is evil.

i love this

children today are being challenged to hate Christianity, and are being invited to join ranks with the Devil's army.

damn i totally missed that bit about joining satan’s army in hdm

All we hear about nowadays is how religion throughout the ages has caused wars and suppressed people's rights.

it’s almost as if it’s true!

Increasingly, children today are being brainwashed to view Christianity as a power-hungry "MAGISTERIUM" (i.e., the evil organization in The Golden Compass), which seeks to suppress the rights of homosexuals, Wiccan witches, Evolutionists, abortionists, feminists and other degenerates of society.

WHAT a sentence!!!!!

The grave danger of Harry Potter and The Golden Compass

that sounds like one hell of an au

Christians are commanded not to associate with any professed Christian who is a drunkard, chases women, lives for money or lives in unrepentant sin.

and yet donald trump is president of the united states! go figure, davey

Public school children are being taught that the sin of homosexuality should be accepted; BUT, God says "No." Now you know why homosexuals hate God's Word so much.

we’re almost at the end of the rant and dave didn’t reference balthamos and baruch even once and i feel ROBBED

Women in the 1960's embraced feminism, because they were told (just as Eve) that the higher powers were trying to suppress their rights. Satan lied to Eve, thus creating a sinful power-struggle between her and God.

damn why won’t women just understand that men are like god :\\\

Satan is recruiting. Satan has a bid for your child mom and dad, and he will stop at nothing to recruit your child's soul.

gotta admire the determination there

Again, The Golden Compass is evil. It is not just a fantasy for children. The author of the series (Philip Pullman) is a militant, God-hating atheist who has openly stated that his goal is to "undermine the basis of Christian belief" in the mind's of children.

dave decided that the best way to end his rant is to quote a line that already appeared in the text at least 2 times before. man, if you ever think you’re a bad writer, remember that at least you’re not as bad as this dude.

moral of the story is: dave probably needs some sleep. and professional help

#his dark materials #the golden compass #god you gotta love the internet

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auntynationalsblog · 5 years ago

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5 Netflix Films for the Week, set before the 21st c.

How’s quarantine going? Yeah, same here. But it’s Monday after all, and you still have over 150 hours to kill if you’re dealing with this quarantine via a week-by-week approach. I can help you kill around 8%, 12 of those hours. Here are five must-watch films set before the twenty-first century. Don’t watch them all at once, that’s lame.

No spoilers.

5. The Revenant (1823)

Main Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy

“Revenge is in the Creator's hands.”

Many of you will know of this film as the one which finally gave LDC his first Oscar, for Best Actor, at the 88th Academy Awards. Unfortunately, you would have stopped at that information and not bothered to watch the film. Released in 2015, the film is based on a novel of the same name. The definition of ‘Revenant’ is “a person who has returned, especially supposedly from the dead.” The story-line does not deviate from the title, as an American frontiersman named Hugh Glass is engulfed in a bear attack and is left for dead by his hunting crew. But he survives. And he’s fucking pissed. The novel is called The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge, and yeah, the film is pretty vengeful too. Interestingly, even though Hugh Glass was indeed a real person, and it is mostly believed that the film and novel are based on a story, there exist no writings from the man himself to verify the description of his story. His story was first published in a Philadelphia literary journal known as The Port Folio. Some say that it is no more than a legendary tale. Nevertheless, a brilliant film, don’t miss out.

4. Before Sunrise (1994)

Only Cast (LOL): Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy

“If there's any kind of magic in this world…it must be in the attempt of understanding someone.”

If you’re a fan of love stories/romantic films, and if you haven’t come across the Before Trilogy, I don’t know what kind of love stories you watch. Why is this film unique? In technical terms, it’s minimalist. In simple words, there’s no real plot. There’s no action or drama or horror. These two just walk and talk. Then they talk some more while walking, and when they’ve nothing to talk about, they just walk quietly. So why watch the film? For starters, it’s very peaceful and relaxing, unlike The Revenant, which is fucking intense. Secondly, the conversations in the film constitute some of the best dialogue-exchanges in the history of cinema. Their characters are very carefully crafted, as their varying perspectives on living and loving bring out some deep AF points throughout the film. It is a slow film no doubt, but I promise you that the blandness is worth it, and the ending is too nice. Don’t get bored, give the film some time and thank me later.

3. Django Unchained (1858)

Main Cast: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, and Leonardo DiCaprio

“Sold! To the man with the exceptional beard and his unexceptional nigga!”

Django Unchained is Tarantino’s highest-grossing film ever, for good reason. Although it has been criticized for historical inaccuracies, violence, and unprecedented high use of the N-word, Tarantino delivered one of the most dramatic and entertaining films from the era of plantation slavery. While the image above portrays Foxx, a slave, and LDC, a rich plantation owner, the highlight of the film was the German dentist-turned-bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz, played by Christoph Waltz. Waltz’s performance is impeccable, only matched by his portrayal of Standartenführer Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (also directed by Tarantino). While the film starts off with Dr. Schultz hunting for his bounties, it eventually goes on to become a rescue mission, where Django and Schultz look for the former’s estranged wife, Broomhilda von Shaft. TW; extreme cursing and racism. But the film is a work of art. In fact, Jamie Foxx has revealed that LDC was pretty uncomfortable on the set, as his character had to use extremely racial slurs. But boy, he pulled off that role brilliantly.

2. Zodiac (1969 - 1980s)

Main Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr.

“I wanna report a double murder. If you go one mile east on Columbus Parkway, to a public park, you'll find kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye.”

What happens when Iron Man, Hulk and Mysterio gang-up against one of America’s most notorious serial-killers? For now, I can only tell you that it was a pretty uneven contest. Based on a true story, this film depicts the useless San Francisco Police Department’s hunt for the Zodiac Killer, led by Dave Toschi (Ruffalo), and aided by political cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Gyllenhaal) and crime reporter Paul Avery (Downey). In case you’re wondering if they’re fictional characters, they’re not. They became pretty famous while the Zodiac Killer was running havoc, and have multiple articles and Wikipedia pages dedicated to all three of them. The Zodiac Killer remains unidentified by the way, and the cases are still officially open. Why watch the film then? Because the mysteriousness of it will blow your mind. Note that the film is directed by David Fincher, the same guy who directed Seven, Fight Club, Gone Girl and Mindhunter, among many other murder mysteries and thrillers. Don’t be surprised if you spend the rest of the day investigating the case yourself, happens to the best of us.

Consolation Prize: The Irishman (1950s - 1970s)

Main (legendary) Cast: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci

“I work hard for them when I ain't stealing from them.”

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking how can a film with a cast of three actors who redefined cinema in the late twentieth century earn only a consolation prize on this list? The truth is, that such crime/mafia/gangster films, no matter how legendary the cast is, only appeal to a particular audience. A lot of film buffs who truly appreciate cinema and actors are simply not enticed by this genre, which is okay. Nevertheless, this film, which spans over 200 minutes, is one of Martin Scorsese’s best works, along with other mob movies like Goodfellas and The Departed. Based on a true story, it follows the adventures of ordinary truck driver-turned-assassin Frank ‘Irishman’ Sheeran (De Niro), who gets mixed up in some extraordinary business with mobster Russell Bufalino (Pesci), his Pennsylvania crime family and American labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). The punchline of the film is “I heard you paint houses” - a mob code implying: I heard you murder people for money, the paint being the symbol of the blood that splatters when bullets are riddled into the target. Typical Scorsese, mesmerizing direction. The punchline is also the name of the novel the film is based on, in case you love reading about organized crime.

1. Dallas Buyers Club (1985)

Main Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto

“Sometimes, I feel I'm fighting for a life that I just ain't got the time to live. I want it all to mean something.”

On the day of the 86th Academy Awards, Facebook and Twitter erupted in outrage. LDC had not been awarded the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street, also known as The Film You Must Never Watch With Your Family. I merely asked every hot-tempered schmucks who posted that LDC had been snubbed, “Have you watched Dallas Buyers Club?” Either the answer was no, or the answer never came. The point being, Dallas Buyers Club is one of the best films ever made. Based on the true story of Ron Woodroof, a once homophobic, junkie cowboy diagnosed with AIDS, co-starring Jared Leto (who won best supporting actor) as Rayon, a fictional trans-woman with HIV, this film tells us an extraordinary tale of friendship, hope and empathy. When Ron discovers that the Federal Drug Administration has been systematically banning cheap drugs that can improve the condition of existing HIV-AIDS patients, he opens a ‘buyers club’, that enabled sick people to make drug purchases at lower prices. Things get more interesting with the role of Dr. Eve Saks, an AIDS doctor, who recognizes the villainous role of the state, but wants to remain within the ambit of the law. Ron’s character development might be the highlight of the film, as he transforms from a selfish, homophobic asshole to a dying man waging war against the American government, fighting for the healthcare of the underprivileged. Very few equally magnificent films have come out post Dallas Buyers Club. Don’t miss out.

So that’s it folks. Make good use of your quarantine by immersing yourself in good quality cinema. I’ll come up with some more suggestions on films and TV shows soon enough. Till then, Netflix and Don’t Chill.

#netflix

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madameinsomnia · 6 years ago

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Why Jordan Peele is One of the Most Important Directors of our Generation

Intro:

Before the horror-comedy sensation Get Out was released in 2017, I’d never heard the name Jordan Peele before. Now, after seeing his most recent success, Us, I can’t see myself not perking up at reading his name in the credits.

Peele didn’t just appear magically out of thin air as a gift from the filmmaking gods, even though it seems like so. His career actually kickstarted in 2003 when he joined the cast of Mad TV in its ninth season. I’m not here to give you an entire biography of Jordan Peele’s life, but this does give some insight to just how long he’s been working in the industry.

Get Out was Peele’s first job as a solo director, but with the amount of professionalism and mastery put into it, you’d never know it was his debut. Might I also add he was the sole writer as well?

Thrilling, with a premise as outlandish as The Stepford Wives, but with so many silly and satirical moments, Get Out feels very much like real life because of this perfect mix. As a screenwriter (wannabe), I must gush a bit about how well his characters are written and how natural their behavior feels given the situation. The protagonist of Get Out, Chris (played wonderfully by Daniel Kaluuya) feels like someone you could meet at a bus stop or in line at the coffee shop, point being he’s an everyman. Not every lead character has to overtly stand out to be noticable; we just have to be able to fit in their shoes.

But what really made Get Out work is how Peele wrote it as a horror movie, without the need of all those cliche horror tropes that our generation is so accustomed to. About to go off topic for a bit, but I assure you, it’ll all make sense as to why I made this article about Jordan Peele.

What is Horror and What WAS Horror?

Horror is, perhaps, one of the most enigmatic genres there is because what can be defined as scary or unsettling is entirely subjective. There are very few things that people are universally afraid of. Things that only seem more common today but really have always been around... what makes today different from then is that everyone talks about it.

Imagine it’s the 1960s, you live in a cookie-cutter neighborhood where everyone knows everyone. Everywhere you look is a friendly face. Then suddenly, down the road, there is a break-in. The parents left the baby with a sitter and she was brutally attacked. Well, the only way you’re bound to know is through the newspaper or word-of-mouth, but after a while, is anyone going to talk about it or want to? Not a chance. You’ll always hear: These things just don’t happen around here. Not in our town. When really, they do. They happen everywhere. Then of course this is how urban legends start. The Hook Killer on Lover’s Lane, the Boogeyman that creeps at night.

A documentary that goes more in depth on this idea is Joshua Zeman’s Killer Legends. He explains how the real-life stories that inspire these legends are far more scarier than the films they create... and that’s how it all started.

Let me explain: the ‘Horror’ genre was meant to showcase just what people didn’t want to talk about what was happening down the road or across town. There’s a man that lures people into his hotel to kill them? Our neighbor killed his wife in cold blood and is trying to hide it? My upstairs neighbors might be psycho Satan worshippers?! Nah. Let’s just ignore it and hope it goes away.

A lot of people think if we don’t talk about it, these issues will vanish. But Horror films reminded us that such terrors exist in the real world, and can only be stopped if we acknowledge that they’re there. That’s why such films like Psycho or Rosemary’s Baby were so revolutionary--the idea that the scariest things are not even supernatural (Peele understands this greatly, but I’m getting there).

Horror worked well as a unique genre for the creative minds of Alfred Hitchcock, Wes Craven, and Tobe Hooper. Then this happened:

The Slasher Era:

HOLD UP. I’m NOT undermining the effect that these films have. Halloween is a classic, and there are plenty of other ‘semi-modern’ thrillers that work like this, but...

They unintentionally got the ball rolling for marketing genius and filmmaking disaster. Halloween was far more effective in 1978, when it was released, than it probably would be had it been made today (No, we’re not talking about 2018′s Halloween. Now stop distracting me). With horror, timing is everything... as in, ‘what’s going on in the world’ timing. Babysitting late nights was far more common then than it was now, and teenagers didn’t have modern conveniences they do now should anything happen. Back then, they actually had to WATCH the children, ensure their safety as well as their own, not give them an iPad and watch TV for an hour or two.

On top of this, as much as we take it for granted, 911 wasn’t always around. Until 1968, US citizens had no way of getting in immediate contact with the police until they got the operator on the phone to connect you to them. So Halloween recreates that idea of what if the babysitter got into a terrible situation with no way of getting immediate help? But they also decided to make things a little edgier... better said, bloodier. Cue Friday the 13th.

Teenagers go to sleepaway camp all the time (No, we’re not talking about that movie either, so hush), so what would parents be like seeing this film about kids going to a sleepaway camp where there’s a murderer hanging around? A brilliant idea that sold tickets back in 1980 to young adults and grown-ups alike. That’s because these ideas were new and horrifyingly relevant and real. They’re reminded of the threats that are out there.

But here’s the catch that ruined everything: it sold tickets. Sure, it scared some people for a good while, but they didn’t always leave with the idea lingering in their heads. But the producers and writers don’t always care about the latter, once they realized how easily money can be made by movie-goers wanting a good scare and a ‘fun time,’ the Slasher genre skyrocketed, and the brilliance of horror got dumbed down... and down... and down over the years with few exceptions. Let’s not mention, marketing blew up with Slasher films. Did anyone ask for four Halloween sequels or seventeen more Jason films? Nope. Did it make money anyway? Yup. It’s all in the name, not in the art...

Come On In, Get Out!

(See what I did there?)

Repeating myself at the intro, for those who forgot that this is really about Jordan Peele, I’d never heard of him before I saw Get Out. Even then, I only really knew about the movie through everyone talking about its 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. I went into the movie blind, a little confused to what made it considered a ‘horror’ when it looked like perhaps a Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? type film.

When I saw it for the first time, I was sinking back into my seat whenever I felt Chris’ (the lead’s) discomfort. Again, it’s because we all fit into his situation seamlessly, being somewhere you’re not sure you’re welcome (hence the clever title). The audience was cheering by the end, eager that our in-movie buddy had made it out safe (Spoilers, I guess, but c’mon. If you haven’t seen it yet, get out :D).

But what made Get Out stand out from other modern-day thriller films is that when I went back, I caught things I’d missed my first time through; small hints and cues that clue you into what’s really going on. Did they have to be there to make it more enjoyable, probably not... but Jordan Peele wrote them in anyway, combining it with his perfect set-ups and shots so that the more cerebral movie-goers can have those ‘ah-ha’ moments! It’s a horror film where, for once, you feel like a genius for getting those little hints and figuring out what’s going to happen next (We are all Rod, who pretty much kept a running commentary of the movie-watcher’s thoughts).

Again, all not required, but very necessary if your film is going to be effective. While Peele deservedly won Best Original Screenplay, I say he was next up for Best Director from the perfect pauses in dialogue, to the little awkward looks in the camera by the hypnotized victims.

Why was it so successful among audiences everywhere, of all nationalities and ages?

Intelligent Horror:

Jordan Peele himself stated that Get Out was from ‘an effort to master fear.’ Us, I think, is an extension of that idea. What made these two films so effective wasn’t that they were filled with scary moments now and then and called itself ‘horror.’

They were smart films.

Get Out has very real fears we as people have; being out of place, uncomfortably watched by people, being abducted and never heard from again which horrifyingly happens far too often here in the States.

Us offers similar real-life horrors. A home invasion, being separated from your kids (and in return, kids being separated from their parents, their source of protection since day one). There always seems to be something supernatural or paranormal at play here, but there’s nothing of such going on. In Peele’s writing, it’s all real-life. After all, is the real world not a scary place?

The only difference I noticed in Us is that Peele maintains his effective dialogue with subtle clues of what’s going on, while visually he kept some of his trademarks (the wide shot of a figure walking towards the camera, looking right into it with wide, terrified eyes) but with a lot less visual hints than Get Out (to me, at least, but I’ve only seen Us once and will definitely be watching again).

While Get Out’s message leaned more towards the race issues in the US (and the world by proxy), Us is more muddled in what the audience is meant to take from it... and that’s perfectly fine. Jordan Peele’s horror is that you might not necessarily leave the theater scared to turn your light off at night, but you’re up late thinking about it and what it all means. And those are the kinds of films that stay on Hollywood’s radar for generations to come and not just as Halloween-time fun. Heck, Get Out came out in February, 2017. Us came out in March, 2019. Normally we expect cheesy rom-coms this time of year; so when a movie claiming to be a thriller shows up on the ‘coming soon’ list, you bet people are going to raise their brows and see what’s going on.

Peele understands how to entice people, to make them feel comfortable with his characters and then worry for their safety, while at the same time being far too fascinated by what’s going to happen to even think about taking their eyes off the screen to check their phones while waiting for the next jump scare.

He knows how to bring out the actors’ most unsettling parts of themselves, actors we may be familiar with and are used to seeing them as friendly faces (Lupita Nyong’o managed to creep me out while being an amazing spectacle on camera)! Daniel Kaluuya became an Oscar Nominee from his performance as a man being held captive going into full survival mode.

Don’t we all worry about what we’d do if we were in the situations those people were in? Wouldn’t we hope to have the smarts or guts to fight our way out just as they did? That’s the idea of what horror really is meant to be. Not be that one idiot character that goes into the scary house that’s known to be haunted while your friends tell you no (or film you for snapchat, I dunno).

No, in Peele’s movie, you’re going somewhere that’s supposed to be safe, where something unexpected that you were unprepared for happens... and that’s scarier than any ghost story I’ve seen.

#Jordan Peele #Modern Horror #Filmmaking #Get Out

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sotdae · 5 years ago

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A Look into Lauren Wolk’s Wolf Hollow

Note: The following article is a personal review and analysis of Wolf Hollow, focusing on various characters and places that caught the blogger’s interest. Illustrations inspired by the book (drawn by the blogger) are present, and may differ from the actual text. Both illustrations and writing may contain spoilers.

Into the Woods

It was the first day of November when I read Wolf Hollow, an autumn day just like Annabelle’s. Unlike the bustling heart of Seoul however, her story takes place in the quiet countryside of 1943 Pennsylvania. Away from the brunt of Word War II, Annabelle enjoys the relative peace and quiet that country life gives, until the day Betty Glengarry arrives.

At first glance Betty seems to be your average school bully, tormenting the younger children and threatening Annabelle to “bring her something”. However there are also hints of something sinister in this blonde city girl. A few days later, Betty kills a quail in front of Annabelle for apparently no reason.

Betty’s brutality doesn’t end there. Once Toby steps in to defend Annabelle, Betty begins a chain of events that pit villagers against each other, start a manhunt, and test Annabelle’s boundary of what is right and wrong.

The Wildlife around You

Where a person lives influences how they think, and Annabelle is often seen using animals to describe the people around her. Aunt Lily has a “birdlike head”, Betty’s poison ivy rash is reminiscent of ”a bullfrog in full croak”, and Toby is like a wolf that is “torn between the need to fight and the urge to live”. As an artist heavily inspired by animals, Annabelle’s (and ultimately the author’s) description of people makes for delightful art.

Toby

Toby is an interesting character. Unless you know him personally, like Annabelle, he is what many people will regard as suspicious; a recluse who carries around three guns and refuses to answer personal questions. Add the fact that he might also be taking pictures of you when you’re not looking, and many people today might call the police. Annabelle likened Toby to that of a wolf. Wolves were often negatively portrayed, the classic Little Red Riding Hood being a prime example. Toby’s predicament is similar. As Betty goes missing Toby’s lone wolf personality makes him the prime suspect, with only Annabelle and her parents giving him the benefit of doubt. During his disguise as ‘Jordan’, his mingling with the troopers brings to mind the wolf in sheep’s clothing, or in this case, wolf in hound’s clothing.

Aunt Lily

One other character that I found as aggravating as Betty was Aunt Lily. While her role in the story was essential for providing conflict, her assumption of people based on their appearance is personally teeth-grinding. It is highlighted when she alternates between talking about Toby and ‘Jordan’. Being my least favorite character in the story, it was almost cathartic, watching her dig her own grave as she mistakenly rebukes Annabelle for lying;

“She hit me hard enough to leave a black bruise the size of a cucumber,” I said. “No way I could exaggerate black.” Aunt Lily sat up straighter. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor,” she said sharply.

But though it had been some time since Betty had swung that stick, I stood up and bared my hip right there for everyone and let them see the mark that was still visible. Still ugly enough.

(Wolf Hollow, Chapter 10)

Turtle Stone

The Turtle Stone was a location that caught my eye. A large boulder in Wolf Hollow, Annabelle describes it as “a pretty place, but serious too”. Descriptions of it make it seem almost sacred, especially with lines like “It was in a little clearing as if the trees had not dared to get too close”, and how Annabelle hypothesized that the Indians might have used it for their ceremonies. Turtles are known for their long life span, and their association with wisdom and tranquility might have been what prompted the author to use the turtle imagery for this particular location.

Returning Home

Wolf Hollow reminds me of nature, the wilderness that can frighten, but also bring forth the more daring side of oneself. The stark, yet hopeful undertone of the story gives me my own sort of hope, to face the difficulties of the present and reach out to those around me. Of those who find themselves reading Wolf Hollow, I wish that you too find the same courage and inspiration.

Korean ver. in Naver blog

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Book info]

Title: Wolf Hollow

Author: Lauren Wolk

Publisher: Corgi Childrens (2016. 6. 30)

ISBN: 9780552574297

Cover art: Gelrev Ongbico (2016)

[Personal Illustrations inspired by book]

Titles: “Betty Glengarry“, “In the Hayloft“, “Among the Hounds“, “The Wolf enters the Hollow“, and “Turtle Stone“

Artist: Sotdae / Sotdaescape (Suyung Cho)

#literature #book review #book analysis #Wolf Hollow #Lauren Wolk #young adult novel #mild spoilers #spoilers #illustration

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thecomicsnexus · 6 years ago

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NEW TEEN TITANS: DRUG ABUSE AWARENESS (KEEBLER/NSDA) 1983 BY MARV WOLFMAN, GEORGE PEREZ, ROSS ANDRU, DICK GIORDANO, ADRIENNE ROY, JOE GIELLA

SYNOPSIS

These are two of at least three drug abuse awareness specials that came out in 1983.

The first one involves Speedy (a rehabilitated drug addict), helping the Titans (with the help of the Robin look-alike, The Protector). They try to dismantle a drug dealing operation that is affecting the youth.

The second story is pretty much the same, but is more focused on regular kids.

THE PROTECTOR

That is not Nightwing, nor Robin. So who is the Protector? DC FANDOM answers...

Jason Hart was a student that went to a normal high school; he was a good student and good in sports. Everything was okay until the day that he discovered that his little cousin named Ted had tried drugs and apparently he was quickly becoming an addict.

Jason Hart would tell his family about this in an attempt to to get Ted off drugs. Although the family talked to Ted, he did not care about what they said.

Jason Hart remembered that his little cousin was obsessed with comic books, so he took a hero costume and the codename of the "Protector". Hart hoped that as a superhero Ted would listen to him and quit drugs.

However the Protector was forced to battle drug dealers to save his cousin. Soon after that, Nightwing learned about this incident and decided to make Jason Hart an honorary member of the Teen Titans due to his great sense of right and wrong and how he defended the innocents from the criminals. Nightwing didn't stop there though, he also decided to train Jason in terms of hand to hand combat to make him able to become a real superhero if he wanted.

So that is who he is, but why was he in this story and not Robin. Well, it turns out Batfamily characters were licensed to Nabisco. Because these comic boks were sponsored by three companies (Keebler, NSDA and IBM), they couldn’t use the character, and thus, The Protector was created (he was recently killed by Tom King in Heroes in Crisis, just in case you were wondering what happened to him).

CONTEXT

If you were around in the eighties you may remember the catchphrase “Just say no”. This was Nancy Reagan’s pet project, as Wikipedia enlightens us:

The campaign emerged from a substance abuse prevention program supported by the National Institutes of Health, pioneered in the 1970s by University of Houston Social Psychology Professor Richard I. Evans. Evans promoted a social inoculation model, which included teaching student skills to resist peer pressure and other social influences. The campaign involved University projects done by students across the nation. Jordan Zimmerman, then a student at USF, and later an advertising entrepreneur, won the campaign. The anti-drug movement was among the resistance skills recommended in response to low peer pressure, and Nancy Reagan's larger campaign proved to be a useful dissemination of this social inoculation strategy.

Nancy Reagan first became involved during a campaign trip in 1980 to Daytop Village, New York. She recalls feeling impressed by a need to educate the youth about drugs and drug abuse. Upon her husband's election to the presidency, she returned to Daytop Village and outlined how she wished to help educate the youth. She stated in 1981 that her best role would be to bring awareness about the dangers of drug abuse:

Understanding what drugs can do to your children, understanding peer pressure and understanding why they turn to drugs is ... the first step in solving the problem.

The "Just Say No" slogan was the creation of Robert Cox and David Cantor, advertising executives at the New York office of Needham, Harper & Steers/USA in the early 1980s.

In 1982, the phrase "Just Say No" first emerged when Nancy Reagan was visiting Longfellow Elementary School in Oakland, California. When asked by a schoolgirl what to do if she was offered drugs, the First Lady responded: "Just say no." Just Say No club organizations within schools and school-run anti-drug programs soon became common, in which young people were making pacts not to experiment with drugs.

When asked about her efforts in the campaign, Nancy Reagan said: "If you can save just one child, it's worth it." She traveled throughout the United States and several other nations, totaling over 250,000 miles (400,000 km). Nancy Reagan visited drug rehabilitation centers and abuse prevention programs; with the media attention that the first lady receives, she appeared on television talk shows, recorded public service announcements, and wrote guest articles. By the autumn of 1985, she had appeared on 23 talk shows, co-hosted an October 1983 episode of Good Morning America, and starred in a two-hour PBS documentary on drug abuse.

The campaign and the phrase "Just Say No" made their way into popular American culture when TV shows like Diff'rent Strokes and Punky Brewster produced episodes centered on the campaign. In 1983, Nancy Reagan appeared as herself in the television programs Dynasty and Diff'rent Strokes to garner support for the anti-drug campaign. She participated in a 1985 rock music video "Stop the Madness" as well. La Toya Jackson became spokesperson for the campaign in 1987 and recorded a song titled "Just Say No" with British hit producers Stock/Aitken/Waterman.

In 1985, Nancy Reagan expanded the campaign internationally. She invited the First Ladies of thirty various nations to the White House in Washington, D.C. for a conference entitled the "First Ladies Conference on Drug Abuse". She later became the first First Lady invited to address the United Nations.

She enlisted the help of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, Kiwanis Club International, and the National Federation of Parents for a Drug-Free Youth to promote the cause; the Kiwanis put up over 2000 billboards with Nancy Reagan's likeness and the slogan. Over 5000 Just Say No clubs were founded in schools and youth organizations in the United States and abroad. Many clubs and organizations remain in operation around the country, where they aim to educate children and teenagers about the effects of drugs.

Just Say No crossed over to the United Kingdom in the 1980s, where it was popularized by the BBC's 1986 "Drugwatch" campaign, which revolved around a heroin-addiction storyline in the popular children's TV drama serial Grange Hill. The cast's cover of the original U.S. campaign song, with an added rap, reached the UK top ten. The death of Anna Wood in Sydney, Australia and British teen Leah Betts from Essex in the mid-1990s sparked a media firestorm across both the UK and Australia over the use of illegal drugs. Wood's parents even released her school photograph on a badge with the saying "Just say no to drugs" placed on it to warn society on the dangers of illicit drug use. The photograph was widely circulated in the media. A photo of Betts in a coma in her hospital bed was also circulated in British media. Both teenagers died due to water intoxication as they drank too much water after ingesting ecstasy.

Nancy Reagan's related efforts increased public awareness of drug use, but a direct relationship between reduced drug use and the Just Say No campaign cannot be established. Although the use and abuse of illegal recreational drugs significantly declined during the Reagan presidency, this may be a spurious correlation: a 2009 analysis of 20 controlled studies on enrollment in one of the most popular "Just Say No" programs, DARE, showed no effect on drug use.

The campaign did draw some criticism. Nancy Reagan's approach to promoting drug awareness was labeled simplistic by critics who argued that the solution was reduced to a catch phrase. In fact, two studies suggested that enrollees in DARE-like programs were actually more likely to use alcohol and cigarettes. Critics have also suggested that inflamed fears from "Just Say No" exacerbated mass incarceration and prevented youth from receiving accurate information about dealing with drug abuse. Critics also think that "Just Say No" contributed towards the well seasoned stigma about people who use drugs being labelled as "bad", and the stigma toward those people who are addicted to drugs being labelled as making a cognizant amoral choice to engage in drug use.

REVIEW

I know there are at least three specials, not numbered, and there also seem to be an alternate cover to the second special (the one here has a label that says DC COMICS over the original text (American Soft Drink Industry). This makes me think that it was reprinted.

Of the three I only got to read the first two, but I understand they lose quality as you keep reading them.

The first special is actually good for what it is. The Protector is a bit distracting, but having Speedy there added some legitimacy to the story. I do not think the story is better than the Green Lantern story where he was revealed an addict (even if the solution is a bit magical over there).

The second special is probably where they lost readers. The Titans are almost not there as the story is centered around the Protector’s cousin. It is a better example of peer pressure, but there are just too many bursts of information, sometimes in the unlikeliest moments.

I also feel that, at least in these two episodes, there is little mention of addiction being a lifetime sickness. They do talk about psychological dependency, but it is a bit vague why.

The first one is also drawn by George Perez. That is a big plus in my book, even if the other artist is Ross Andru.

On the second special it feels like Wolfman was trying to make sure certain bits of information were there even if they stopped the action. And in the first special there is too much repetition (some facts are duplicated during the confessionals and during the story).

But, if you compare this to the Famine relief books... these are much better. And to think they happened two years before those. Of course, there is one small difference: these books were sponsored and didn’t need the gimmick of having as many superstars in it as possible. And I suspect that may be the main reason why it doesn’t completely suck.

I give these books a score of 7

#ross andru #dick giordano #george perez #titans #new teen titans #speedy #protector #drugs #war on drugs #just say no #dc comics #comics #review #1983 #modern age

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clairen45 · 6 years ago

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Red Re-Read: The Company of Wolves and the ST

This meta is long overdue. When I started my blog in January, I had a list of prospective articles I wanted to write about Kylo and Rey, or some themes that I was seeing suggested in the ST. On top of the list was Little Red Riding Hood, and I never even imagined going there without at the very least a honorable mention to Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber (1979) and the extended movie companion to 3 of these tales, Neil Jordan’s 1984 The Company of Wolves. Special request by @missnomerblr pushed me to finally complete the task. Also tagging our dear Reylo she-wolf extraordinaire, @ravenmaiden. The aesthetic and special effects left quite an impression on my mind as a child when the movie was released. Of course I was only allowed to watch it years later, and I didn’t get all the symbolism as a young girl, of course... but the idea that men with Frida Khalo eyebrows could turn into wolves, and that the wolf could get as seduced as the girl, were forever ingrained in my mind. How is it relevant to Star Wars, will you tell me? Ok, I will imagine that you didn’t catch any reference before, or read any meta on the sexual subtext of the movies, but how could you miss the obvious red-themed campaign for the release of TLJ in theaters, with all the characters’ clothing dipped in red, and that little piece, very much unabashed about its reference:

Daisy Ridley even joked at the time about her poster, calling it “Little Rey’d Riding Hood”. That’s a good one, Daisy.

Officially, so many tales have been used by the Star Wars team to describe the ST. JJ compared Rey to Cinderella in his audio commentary to TFA. Sure, it’s a rags to riches story for Cinde-Rey-lla who is an orphan, undervalued and under-appreciated, and who maintains through her many hardships and trials a positive outlook on life and people, and a sunny character. Like your classic Disney princess who can talk to birds and mice, Rey understands every language. And if it’s not with a glass slipper that her prince identify her as his future bride, it is a blue lightsaber that does the trick. A saber, which like the slipper in Disney’s version, gets broken in the process right before the epilogue (part 3). Second reference: the characters were apparently coded as Goldilocks and the Bears during the shooting for TLJ. Again, that’s fair, because Rey, like Goldilocks, takes an adventurous stroll into the woods and ends up borrowing, like a cuckoo, things that don’t belong to her: a saber, a MF etc... She also trespasses onto Luke’s island, and then onto the Supremacy. And, like Goldilocks, in the positive versions, after a narrow brush with danger, she escapes barely unscathed with possibly a valuable life lesson. There is also Snow White, and the glass pod/ coffin that Rey uses to meet with her prince. I will add another element later, but I’ll hush for now. There is also the implicit Sleeping Beauty in the title The Force Awakens and the idea further developed in TLJ that Rey’s powers have been dormant ... until a prince awakened it... And then, there is Little Red Riding Hood.

This tale belongs to the cycle of educational tales about menstruation and loss of virginity. They are pretty easy to spot (intended pun): they are the ones with the color red encoded somewhere, with numbers that evoke the passing of time (12 fairies, 7 days, etc...), and also stories that require the heroine to lose a bit of blood: from the finger pricking of Sleeping Beauty or Snow White’s mom to the potential gore of Bluebeard and Little Red Riding Hood. And yes, usually menstruation and seduction go hand in hand pretty nicely. Because, traditionally, a woman who bleeds has just become fair game: she is desirable because able to bear children. So cycle of blood it is: menses, hymen, labor. What is fairly subtle, symbolic, and innocuous in cautionary tales aimed at children is brought to full light in Carter’s take on the classic tales aimed at adults. Her heroines, though, are given more obvious agency. More attention is given to the fact that it is also a time of budding sexuality for the heroines as well, a time when desire shifts from narcissim to the desire of the other. In tales, this otherness gets the extreme treatment: the object of desire is a monster, an animal, that normally becomes civilized by the end, so that desire fits conventional standards and doesn’t disrupt society. So the monster turns back into a prince when he can be salvaged (The Beast, the Frog), and he is killed when really too far gone (Bluebeard). I will also argue that, most of the time, the transformed one is actually the princess: though she doesn’t change physically, she has learned to accept her desires and stops seeing male desire and sexualty as monstruous. She has accepted the otherness, so she stops seeing him as a monster. She has changed psychologically. That being said, Carter was not the first one to bring a magnifying glass onto the implied sexuality in Little Red Riding Hood. It is implied for children, but has been very much understood as it was by adults... Think of Tex Avery’s wolf and Red for instance. What chance would have Wolfie against the very savvy and alluring vampish Red Hot Riding Hood? So the story of seduction has been going both ways for quite a long time, with Red being seduced or seducing the wolf... Then you have different outcomes, and frankly, writers and directors have done them all: girls gets devoured by wolf, girl gets devoured and rescued, girl barely escapes, girl outsmarts wolf, girl kills wolf, wolf falls in love with girl, girl becomes a wolf, girl tames wolf... you name it.

ELEMENTS FROM LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

It was quite a bold choice in TLJ to have Rey in full Little Red Riding Hood Cosplay when so far the elements had been merely subtext in TFA. Red, so far, had been mostly coded as Kylo’s color. But as we get to find out more about him, the color seeps and bleeds, especially in TLJ, the litteral “core” (aka heart) of the ST, the middle chapter which is very much about Kylo’s exposed wounds (both figuratively and symbolically), culminating with Crait, the planet that seems to be bleeding every time you but skim its surface. Remember also that “raw” was the keyword in the trailer, and defines Kylo: “raw untamed power”. Raw means what it means. Exposed flesh, scorched, flogged. I thought I had read somewhere that the throne room scene had been coded with Little Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf during shooting, but I have never been able to find the link through my research... Please, if you happen to know or remember that, just let me know. But back to the hood...

There has already been many metas on the importance of Kylo and Rey meeting in the woods. They could have met on Jakku, they were that close... But they didn’t. There’s the woods, but there’s also straying from the path. Red, like Goldilocks, is cautioned against that. Nothing bad will happen to little girls who stay on the straight and narrow. Possibly nothing at all wil ever happen to little girls who remain on the path... In most stories, though, straying a bit will be the good start for some journey... And indeed, Rey, given a clear path, “the first steps” on the famous Path of the Jedi, through her Force visions, refuses it. Rather than following the path, she runs away... straight into the woods... Where she meets her big bad Wolf. As in the original story, he starts out being more cunning than Red, and is able to get her where he wants her to be. Abduction in TFA. Long way to Granny’s house while he takes the short cut. Plotwise, there are also some common elements. Red carries a basket full of goodies that she is supposed to take to her sick grandmother. Her mother commissioned her to the task. It’s all female realm. The grandmother lives alone, far away, in a secluded place. The grandmother represents knowledge, and also fate for the little girl: one day she will be a mother, and then a grandmother. The wolf wants to get there and get it all: the girl, the goodies, and the grandma. By getting away with the grandmother, he also symbolically tampers with the girl’s future: aka, being seduced/bedded (and not married), she will never be a wise, old, respected lady one day. As for Rey, this is not too far off. Her basket of goodies is short round BB8 which holds information. Information that is of importance to Leia. And which can lead to an old, wise... Granny Luke? living alone in a far away, secluded place... And who in a way represents a potential future for Rey, being the Last Jedi. Kylo also wants to get there. So just as in the tale, there is a potential race towards Luke’s place. And by getting the girl, Kylo is also tampering with her future: dark Side or Light Side Rey?

ANGELA CARTER’S SHORT STORIES

3 tales deal more specifically with wolves in Carter’s The Bloody Chamber : “The Werewolf”, “The Company of Wolves”, and “Wolf Alice”. I am just going to undeline a few elements that can resonate with what we have seen in the ST so far.

“The Werewolf”: the little girl gets attacked on her way to see her grandmother. She defends herself and cuts off the forepaw of the wolf. The paw turns out into a human hand. When she finally gets to her grandmother she finds her really sick and feverish, and understands that the wolf was actually her grandmother. She kills her and takes her place in the house. For that one, I want to underline the idea that monsters can hide under familiar faces, or that something that was deemed monstrous can reveal a human side. Depending on what side you are looking at it. That was the point of the ST in the cross flashbacks that tell us about Luke and Kylo. The monster gets humanized, and we get to see something unattractive and upsetting about someone who had all our trust. I am not saying that Luke is a monster, but that he potentially could have done something monstrous, which it turns out he did, because this fleeting moment turned Ben into a monster. And on the other hand, Rey gets to see Ben the man under Kylo the monster. Special bonus to the Skywalker special in the Werewolf story: the cut off hand. And in the end, Rey is indeed the one in Luke’s stead.

“The Company of Wolves”: different folk tales and folklore about wolves and werewolves... I have underlined that one for you: “Before he can become a wolf, the lycanthrope strips stark naked. If you spy a naked man among the pines, you must run as if the Devil were after you”. It reminded me of half naked Kylo. And then the story of the girl.This description of the girl:

She stands and moves within the invisible pentacle of her own virginity. She is an unbroken egg; she is a sealed vessel; she has inside her a magic space the entrance of which is shut tight with a plug of membrane; she is a closed system; she does not know how to shiver. She has a knife and she is afraid of nothing.

Some of these images of virginity (and virginity consumated and broken) we have seen played out on the screen: from the veil covering the MF on Jakku, the eggs on Ahch-To, the curtains on the Supremacy, to the cave on Crait... In Carter’s story, the girl is not a little girl, she is described as a pubescent, or verge of pubescence, girl, barely formed. She meets a young man in the woods who holds a reamarkable object, “a compass”. It’s nature versus culture. He bets her a kiss that he can get to Grandma before she does. The girl will take her time, she wants to lose that one. In the meantime, the man does away with the grandmother, but not before stripping naked and showing his genitals (”His genitals, huge.Ah! huge!”). When the girl walks in, she is no fool. She understands fast enough. She starts by showing compassion to the lot of wolves howling in the cold night. Then she starts shedding her clothes she “took off her scarlet shawl, the colour of poppies, the colour of sacrifices, the colour of her menses, and since her fear did her no good, she ceased to be afraid”. As the man talks about eating her, she starts laughing: “she knew she was nobody’s meat”, and she joins him in bed. The last line sees her sleeping sound and sweet “in granny’s bed, between the paws of the tender wolf”. Which reminds me of Isaiah “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb” and the coming back of a Golden Age.

“Wolf Alice”. That one is about two awakenings. On the one hand we have a young girl who was suckled by wolves and is found by nuns. Desperate to fully civilize her, they deliver us to the house of The Duke, who is some kind of a monster. You think he is a vampire at first, since he has no reflection in the mirror , then some kind of monster feasting on corpses. But he turns out to be a werewold at the end of the story. So the two creatures are actually very much alike. There were a lot of elements there that reminded me of a particularly twisted AU Reylo, to be honest. To begin with, their circumstances: she is a nobody, without any family, barely a first name, and he is a Duke, with a castle and countless trinkets from the past. For instance, Alice’s description:

Like, the wild beasts, she lives without a future. She inhabits only the present tense, a fugue of the continuous, a world of sensual immediacy as without hope as it is without despair.

It could fit Rey on Jakku, marking down each day. She does not have any plans beyond today. She is caught in a stasis.The Duke is constantly described by his hunger: “huge, inconsolable, rapacious eyes. His eyes see only appetite. These eyes open to devour the world in which he sees, nowhere, a reflection of himself”. That also reminded me of Kylo’s need to cover his face and his body in TFA, as if he wanted to disappear. They never interact with each other. The castle is referred to as “the den where she and the Duke inhabited their separate solitudes”. Alice changes, though, as she discovers the passing of time through her menses, and her reflection in a mirror. The mirror scenes can also evoke Rey’s experience on Ahch-To... At first Alice is very happy about finding a girl in the mirror because she thinks she has made a friend, that she has a companion to share experiences with... After a while, she ends up understanding that this companion is “no more than a particularly ingenious variety of the shadow she cast on sunlit grass”. With this knowledge, she puts on a wedding dress that she found in the castle and starts roaming outside. Her wanderings take her to the graveyard where the Duke is having a feast, and where he is hunted by an angry mob who manages to wound him. That’s when Alice (in full bride attire) and him interact, and that seeing him in pain, she nurses him back to life.

Poor, wounded thing... locked half and half between such strange states, an aborted transformation, an incomplete mystery, now he lies writhing on his black bed in the room like a Mycenaean tomb, howls like a wolf with his foot in a trap or a woman in labour, and bleeds.

The whole beginning could have been written for Kylo. And the symbolism at the end is clear rebirth. As she gently licks his face. Where there was nothing in the mirror, gradually appears the face of the Duke under her ministrations:

the prey caught in its own fishing net, then in firmer yet still shadowed outline until at least as vivid as real life itself, as brought into being by her soft, moist, gentle tongue, finally, the face of the Duke.

It sure reads like some smutty AU fanfic... And not far from Rey’s own experiences and interactions with Kylo. Two solitudes that meet. The girl so hopeful to find what she wanted to see in a mirror and finally crying when she understands it was all a lie, a shadow, and not what she wanted. And who turns to another solitary person right afterward, who may be the only person in the world to understand what she goes through. A creature that is caught between two states. A monster tracked down and wounded, whose human face she is alone able to reveal.... Ummm...

THE COMPANY OF WOLVES: CINEMATIC PARALLELS

Though Neil Jordan’s adaptation of Carter’s tales is contemporary to other fairy 80′s classics such as Labyrinth, Legend, The Neverending Story or Dark Crystal, that one was never aimed at children. In an article from Film Ireland, this movie is best described as

more influenced by filmmakers like Jean Cocteau (Beauty and the Beast) and 1970’s Parisian pornographic art movies that embedded fairy tales with a salacious twist. The result is a film drenched in sensuality, richer than chocolate cake, and sporting enough themes and allegory to keep film students occupied indefinitely.

Neil Jordan worked with Carter herself to write the script for this movie. And, interestingly, most of the crew for the movie came from the Star Wars movies... The story goes like this: in a house in the country, a young girl is sleeping in her bedroom, dreaming, and visibly upset. She has an elder sister who doesn’t like her, and parents who are at a loss about her behaviour. In her dreams, the girl imagines she is a peasant girl from an XVIIIth century village, plagued by wolf attacks. Her elder sister gets conveniently killed at the beginning of the story. The girl spends most of her time with her grandmother (Angela Lansbury), some kind of a witch/fairy godmother, who knits her a wonderful red coat, and who warns her about men and wolves. Most of the stories do come from Carter’s tales but are fleshed out. The girl, who doesn’t have a name in the original story, becomes Rosaleen. She also has a suitor in a village boy... But then one day she meets a strange man in the forest and then...

There are indeed many interesting parallels to draw between Jordan’s movie and what we have seen so far in the ST, as far as Rey’s journey is concerned. The Company of Wolves is supposed to be a journey after all, an experience, what Film Ireland superbly calls “ a timeless and psychedelic daydream/nightmare, undulating and shifting”, that is supposed to reflect a young girl’s fantasies and fears as she is on the cusp of womanhood. This is about transformation, and, as the girl is portrayed sleeping most of the movie until the end, about an awakening. Which is not too far off from what Rey is experiencing, albeit in a galaxy far far away, and in a totally different genre. But, it would not be smart to overlook the implications of the title for the first installment: The Force Awakens. We know, from Snoke and Kylo’s conversation in TFA, and from Rey’s conversation with Luke in TLJ, that it is not so much about the Force Awakening (did it ever sleep?); but about someone awakening within/to the Force. And who else but Rey has been awakened? “Something inside of me has always been there... But now it’s awake. And I'm afraid. I don't know what it is or what to do with it. And I need help. “ Which could honestly be uttered by any teenage girl (granted, boys too) as she experiences puberty... The novelizations insist on Rey’s dreams and nightmares, something we unfortunately never got onscreen...

There are more parallels to draw between Rosaleen and Rey. Rey, like Rosaleen, is the girl with the rose. The wilted flower in her AT-AT was a subliminal call to the Beast’s magic rose in Disney. White roses, red roses, are not just emblems of love, they also represent female sexuality, and female blood.

They both are fighters. Rosaleen carries a knife with her into the forest. And when her grandmother tells her a story that ends with a husband beating his wife, Rosaleen’s reaction evokes Rey: “I'd never let a man strike me!”. Her meeting with the wolf/man is also interesting to compare with Rey and Kylo. In Carter’s story, the man is described as a hunter, but in the movie he is turned into a rich man, a marquis. There is a class divide that did not exist in the short story. When she finally quizzes him about what he really is, whether he is a man or a wolf, his answer is that he doesn’t belong in one or another, that he belongs to both. Something that is further echoed by the Priest who finds the wolf girl and wonders whether she is “God’s Work” or the Devil’s, and finally decides it is better to show compassion to a suffering creature. Like Rey, Rosaleen ponders about the nature of her adversary, and decides first on hurting him: she shoots him after stealing his own gun (like someone we know who got somebody’s saber and struck thet somebody down). But then, when she sees him in pain and crying, she offers her compassion and realizes they are not so different. Her mother had warned her that there was also a beast in women’s hearts, so the ending shows Rosaleen turned into a wolf, apparently from her own free will. She chose to become the man’s companion. Much like our characters in TLJ who realize they are more connected than they thought, and Rey seeing Kylo differently.

I would like to offer further parallels in themes or scenes between the two movies:

Before meeting the wolf man, the girl has a suitor: a boy she met in her village. She is not romantically interested... and sees him more as a friend.

Meeting in a snow forest, both armed

Blood on the snow.... This classical Snow White reference is also a symbol for loss of virginity or first period... In both movies, the guys are the ones “bleeding” the snow... Can’t get more obvious than that...

The “duel” involves a “red moon”... Before the girl gets inside Granny’s house, the moon turns red, and looks like an eye. Starkiller base has this reddish eye, and it explodes (turns red) after their fight...

Both women wound the wolf... Rosaleen shoots at the wolf and wounds him in the shoulder. Rey cuts Kylo’s face and part of his chest.

High waisted pants...

Do you like subtle phallic symbols? (Remember that in Carter’s short story, he was showing his huge genitals... Well, that’s the best they could do... LOL)

And more of that...

From hunter/prey dynamic:

To real intimacy by the firelight, in “Granny’s House”... Luke is the “Granny” of the story...

The compass... It is the object that the hunter shows the girl as a lure. Compass is a song in Rey’s spotify playlist, and we have seen a compass in Luke’s hut.

The mirror, the eggs, and the nest.... The need to breed. Proof that it is all linked and that Ahch-To was indeed sex-ed class.

A lot of points can be made between Luke and the grandmother. If, unlike Luke, the grandmother is more than willing to teach the girl, they both have magic skills. She turns out to be a (good) witch. The girl loves her grandmother and believes all her stories to be the truth, but her mother warns her at one point about the grandmother’s biased view of the world. Luke’s views also turn out to be partial, and the truth slightly twisted. During one of her strolls, the grandmother encounters a snake...

Remember Luke on Dagobah?

When the wolf faces the grandmother, he shows up with blood on his mouth, implying that he has “enjoyed” Rosaleen. The grandmother asks what he did with her. The wolf: “Nothing she didn’t want”. We find these two ideas first in the smut hut when Luke is shocked to discover that Rey has allowed herself to get this close to Kylo, and then when Kylo tells Luke that he will destroy Rey... Also, if the wolf kills the grandmother, no blood is shed. When the wolf attacks the grandmother, she breaks as if she were a doll. She is thus a simulacrum: she was not a real person, she was the image of a person. Just like Kylo unable to kill Luke because he is just an image projected from across the galaxy. I think this is a very intriguing point. The point here is to shatter illusions, dreams, and fantasies. The girl in The Company of Wolves is sleeping next to a horror book called “The Shattered Dream”.

Other possible parallel? The pack!

The Snow White references and subversion. From this:

To this:

I was also interested in the little scene when the grandmother explains how the Devil meets a young man in the wolf and gives him the potion that turns him into a wolf. This reminded me of how Snoke ensnared and turned Kylo... Heck, for that matter, Snoke is even like a very grotesque Terence Stamp!

Oh, and the Hamlet scene...

And yes, I can definitely see some parallelisms in the potential ending as well with Rey running away with Kylo... Look at this poster for the French DVD, which fuses the face of Rosaleen with the wolf and compare it with the TFA poster where Rey and Kylo merge their weapons (prelude to sex, right?) and complete each other, as well as the concept art in Art of The Last Jedi that merged their faces for Ahch-To:

The point is not to say that the writers thought of this movie or this set of story to create the ST. Maybe they did, but that doesn’t really matter, anyways. The many similarities, in my view, are mainly due to the fact that both stories tap into similar themes. The coming of age of a girl, the fears and fantasies stemming from the desire for the other, the ambivalence between disgust and attraction about sexuality, the fear of losing oneself and one’s identity (the path, the compass, the metamorphosis). Again, this is a tale as old as time. Which is why it has so much appeal and resonates into our psyche. Maybe this will never be the main event for many people who will just enjoy the cool battles and special effects. Maybe it is this extra depth that irks the discontented fanboys, because, though they don’t fully see it, they still understand that something else is at play there... But this is why this movie will endure the test of time as a story. Themewise, it has universal SEX appeal.

#reylo #reylo fandom #reylo meta #little red riding hood #star wars meta #star wars parallels #cinematic parallels #the company of wolves #the company of wolves and star wars #little red riding hood and star wars #star wars the st #sequel trilogy meta

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blackkudos · 6 years ago

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Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates ( TAH-nə-HAH-see KOHTS; born September 30, 1975) is an American author, journalist, comic book writer, and educator. Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic, where he writes about cultural, social and political issues, particularly as they regard African-Americans.

Coates has worked for The Village Voice, Washington City Paper, and Time. He has contributed to The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washington Monthly, O, and other publications. In 2008 he published a memoir, The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood. His second book, Between the World and Me, was released in July 2015. It won the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction, and is a nominee for the Phi Beta Kappa 2016 Book Awards. He was the recipient of a "Genius Grant" from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2015. He is the writer of the Black Panther series for Marvel Comics drawn by Brian Stelfreeze.

Early life

Coates was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to father William Paul "Paul" Coates, a Vietnam War veteran, former Black Panther, publisher and librarian, and mother Cheryl Waters, who was a teacher. Coates' father founded and ran Black Classic Press, a publisher specializing in African-American titles. The Press grew out of a grassroots organization, the George Jackson Prison Movement (GJPM). Initially the GJPM operated a Black book store called the Black Book. Later Black Classic Press was established with a table-top printing press in the basement of the Coates family home.

Coates' father had seven children, five boys and two girls, by four women. Coates' father's first wife had three children, Coates' mother had two boys, and the other two women each had a child. The children were raised together in a close-knit family; most lived with their mothers and at times lived with their father. Coates said he lived with his father the whole time. In Coates' family, he said that the important overarching focus was on rearing children with values based on family, respect for elders and being a contribution to your community. This approach to family was common in the community where he grew up. Coates grew up in the Mondawmin neighborhood of Baltimore during the crack epidemic.

Coates' interest in books was instilled at an early age when his mother, in response to bad behavior, would require him to write essays. His father's work with the Black Classic Press was a huge influence: Coates has said he read many of the books his father published.

Coates attended a number of Baltimore-area schools, including William H. Lemmel Middle School and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, before graduating from Woodlawn High School. Coates' father got a job as a librarian at Howard University, which enabled some of his children to attend with tuition remission.

After high school, Coates attended Howard University. He left after five years to start a career in journalism. He is the only child in his family without a college degree. In mid-2014, Coates attended an intensive program in French at Middlebury College to prepare for a writing fellowship in Paris, France.

Career

Journalism

Coates' first journalism job was as a reporter at The Washington City Paper; his editor was David Carr.

From 2000 to 2007, Coates worked as a journalist at various publications, including Philadelphia Weekly, The Village Voice and Time. His first article for The Atlantic, "This Is How We Lost to the White Man", about Bill Cosby and conservatism, started a new, more successful and stable phase of his career. The article led to an appointment with a regular column for The Atlantic, a blog that was popular, influential, and had a high level of community engagement.

Coates became a senior editor at The Atlantic, for which he wrote feature articles as well as maintaining his blog. Topics covered by the blog included politics, history, race, culture as well as sports, and music. His writings on race, such as his September 2012 The Atlanticcover piece "Fear of a Black President" and his June 2014 feature "The Case for Reparations", have been especially praised, and have won his blog a place on the Best Blogs of 2011 list by Time magazine and the 2012 Hillman Prize for Opinion & Analysis Journalism from The Sidney Hillman Foundation. Coates' blog has also been praised for its engaging comments section, which Coates curates and moderates heavily so that "the jerks are invited to leave [and] the grown-ups to stay and chime in."

In discussing The Atlantic article on "The Case for Reparations", Coates said he had worked on it for almost two years. He had read Rutgers University professor Beryl Satter's book, Family Properties: Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America, a history of redlining that included a discussion of the grassroots organization, the Contract Buyers League, of which Clyde Ross was one of the leaders. The focus of the article was not so much on reparations for slavery, but was instead a focus on the institutional racism of housing discrimination.

Coates has worked as a guest columnist for The New York Times, having turned down an offer from them to become a regular columnist. He has also written for The Washington Post, the Washington Monthly and O magazine.

Coates is a national correspondent at The Atlantic.

Author

The Beautiful Struggle

In 2008, Coates published The Beautiful Struggle, a memoir about coming of age in West Baltimore and its effect on him. In the book, he discusses the influence of his father, a former Black Panther; the prevailing street crime of the era and its effects on his older brother; his own troubled experience attending Baltimore-area schools; and his eventual graduation and enrollment in Howard University.

Between the World and Me

Coates' second book, Between the World and Me, was published in July 2015. The title is drawn from a Richard Wright poem of the same name about a Black man discovering the site of a lynching and becoming incapacitated with fear, creating a barrier between himself and the world. Coates said that one of the origins of the book was the murder of a college friend, Prince Carmen Jones Jr., who was killed by police in a case of mistaken identity. In an ongoing discussion about reparation, continuing the work of his June 2014 Atlantic article on reparations, Coates cited the bill sponsored by Representative John Conyers "H.R.40 – Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act" that has been introduced every year since 1989. One of the themes of the book was about what physically affected African-American lives, e.g. their bodies being enslaved, violence that came from slavery, and various forms of institutional racism. In a review for Politico magazine, conservative pundit Rich Lowry stated that while the book is lyrical and powerfully written, "For all his subtle plumbing of his own thoughts and feelings and his occasional invocations of the importance of the individuality of the person, Coates has to reduce people to categories and actors in a pantomime of racial plunder to support his worldview." In a review for Slate, Jack Hamilton wrote that the book "is a love letter written in a moral emergency, one that Coates exposes with the precision of an autopsy and the force of an exorcism".

Black Panther

Coates is the writer of the comic book series about the Black Panther for Marvel Comics drawn by Brian Stelfreeze. Issue #1 went on sale April 6, 2016, and sold an estimated 253,259 physical copies, the best-selling comic for the month of April 2016.

He also wrote a spinoff of Black Panther titled Black Panther and the Crew which ran for six issues before being cancelled.

We Were Eight Years in Power

Coates' collection of previously published essays on the Obama Era, entitled We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy has been announced by Random House, with a release date of October 3, 2017. The title is a quote from 19th-century African-American congressman Thomas E. Miller of South Carolina, who asked why white Southerners hated African Americans after all the good they had done during the Reconstruction Era. Coates sees parallels with the Obama presidency.

Teaching

Coates was the 2012–14 MLK visiting professor for writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He joined the City University of New York as its journalist-in-residence in late 2014.

In 2017, Coates will join the faculty of New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute as a Distinguished Writer in Residence.

Upcoming projects

Coates is currently working on several projects. These include America in the King Years which is a television project with David Simon, Taylor Branch, and James McBride about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project will be produced by Oprah Winfrey and air on HBO. He is working on a novel about an African American from Chicago who moves to Paris.

Coates is also set to adapt Rachel Aviv's 2014 New Yorker article "Wrong Answer" into a full-length feature of the same title, starring Michael B. Jordan with direction by Ryan Coogler.

Personal life

Coates says that his first name, Ta-Nehisi, is an Egyptian name his father gave him that means Nubia, and in a loose translation is "land of the black". Nubia is a region along the Nile river located in present-day northern Sudan and southern Egypt. As a child, Coates enjoyed comic books and Dungeons & Dragons.

Coates lived in Paris for a residency. In 2009, he lived in Harlem with his wife, Kenyatta Matthews, and son, Samori Maceo-Paul Coates. His son is named after Samori Ture, a Mandé chief who fought French colonialism, after black Cuban revolutionary Antonio Maceo Grajales, and after Coates' father. Coates met his wife when they were both students at Howard University. He is an atheist and a feminist.

With his family, Coates moved to Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, New York, in 2001. He purchased a brownstone in Prospect Lefferts Gardens in 2016.

In 2016, he was made a member of Phi Beta Kappa at Oregon State University.

Awards

2012: Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism

2013: National Magazine Award for Essays and Criticism for "Fear of a Black President"

2014: George Polk Award for Commentary for "The Case for Reparations"

2015: Harriet Beecher Stowe Center Prize for Writing to Advance Social Justice for "The Case for Reparations"

2015: American Library in Paris Visiting Fellowship

2015: National Book Award for Nonfiction for Between the World and Me

2015: Fellow of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Bibliography

Monographs

Asphalt Sketches. Baltimore, Maryland: Sundiata Publications, 1990. OCLC 171149459 Book of poetry.

The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2008. ISBN 978-0-385-52684-5 OCLC 638193286

Between the World and Me: Notes on the First 150 Years in America. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2015. ISBN 978-0-812-99354-7 OCLC 912045191

Comics

Black Panther (#1–) (2016–)

Black Panther: World of Wakanda (#1–6) (2016) (with Roxane Gay, Yona Harvey)

Black Panther and the Crew (#1��6) (2017) (with Yona Harvey)

A Nation Under Our Feet (collects issues #1–12)

A Nation Under Our Feet Book 1 (tpb, 144 pages, 2016, ISBN 1-3029-0053-6)

A Nation Under Our Feet Book 2 (tpb, 144 pages, 2017, ISBN 1-3029-0054-4)

A Nation Under Our Feet Book 3 (tpb, 144 pages, 2017, ISBN 1-3029-0191-5)

Vol. 1: Dawn of the Midnight Angels (tpb, 144 pages, 2017, ISBN 1-3029-0650-X)

Vol. 1 (tpb, 136 pages, 2017, ISBN 1-3029-0832-4)

Selected articles

"Promises of an Unwed Father". O: the Oprah Magazine. January 2006.

"American Girl". The Atlantic. January/February 2009. Profile on Michelle Obama.

"A Deeper Black". Early, Gerald Lyn, and Randall Kennedy. Best African American Essays, 2010. New York: One World, Ballantine Books, 2010. pp. 15–22. ISBN 978-0-553-80692-2 OCLC 320187212

"Why Do So Few Blacks Study the Civil War?" The Atlantic. The Civil War Issue. February 2012.

"Fear of a Black President". Bennet, James. The Best American Magazine Writing 2013. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. pp. 3–32. ISBN 978-0-231-53706-3 OCLC 861785469

"How Learning a Foreign Language Reignited My Imagination: Pardon my French". The Atlantic. Vol. 311, Issue 5. June 2013. pp. 44–45

"The Case for Reparations". The Atlantic. June 2014.

"There Is No Post-Racial America". The Atlantic. July/August 2015.

"The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration". The Atlantic. October 2015.

"My President Was Black". The Atlantic. December 2016.

"The First White President". The Atlantic. October 2017.

Multimedia

with Richard Harrington, Nelson George, and Kojo Nnamdi. Hip Hop. Washington, D.C.: WAMU, American University, 1999. OCLC 426123467 Audio conversation recorded January 29, 1999, at WAMU-FM, Washington, D.C.

with Stephen Colbert. "Ta-Nehisi Coates". The Colbert Report. June 16, 2014.

with Ezra Klein. Vox Conversations: Should America offer reparations for slavery?" Vox. July 18, 2014.

The Case for Reparations. Middlebury, Vt.: Middlebury College, 2015. OCLC 904962550 Video of lecture delivered at Middlebury College on March 4, 2015.

with Amy Goodman. "Between the World and Me: Ta-Nehisi Coates Extended Interview on Being Black in America". Democracy Now!. July 22, 2015.

with Jon Stewart. "Exclusive – Ta-Nehisi Coates Extended Interview" "Pt. 1" and "Pt. 2". The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. July 23, 2015.

https://goo.gl/HzyZFK

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cryptostache-blog · 6 years ago

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The 'Stache Invades Crypto Invest Summit; What I Saw & What You Missed!

All good conventions in LA begin about the same way, with sitting in traffic on the 110, 101, or the 405 at some point! This was, of course the case as I headed downtown Los Angeles to Crypto Invest Summit at the LA Convention Center. If you follow my journey here you know that I have been writing about all the things I was excited to see and do at this falls event and I was not disappointed. Check out all the trouble I got into at CIS and day-by-day review of the event and keynote speakers! Crypto Invest Summit Double Top Pattern Emerges As I wrote in previous articles, I was super excited about hearing both Steve Wozniak as well as Tim Draper speak at the event and I found both of them inspirational & motivating in very different ways. Each day of the summit kicked off with one of these major keynotes and it really set the pace. I JUST about missed the start of the Woz speaking, but managed to get my badge and get in there quicker than I anticipated. Here is how Day 1 at CIS went. CIS Day 1

I got my media pass quickly thanks to the amazing staff at CIS and headed into the expanded main hall (it was much bigger this year than last year). I got there just in time to see Adam Draper finish his opening remarks with event co-founder Alon Goren. Adam has a style all his own compared his father Tim and I enjoyed hear the tail end of what he had to say about the future of crypto and predicting that in the next few years you will have 3 apps on your phone that use blockchain and you won't even know it.

Steve Wozniak came out next and was being interviewed by my buddy David Bleznak of Totle who always kills it on stage. When you talk about tech legends they don't get much bigger than Steve and hearing him recant the beginnings of his career and correlating them to current conditions with crypto as an emerging market was fun. Steve tends to go off on a few tangents from time to time which I actually enjoyed even if it didn't really answer the question presented. The spark that you see in other "crypto people" you can hear in Steve's voice as he talks broadly about the subject, claiming he sold all his Bitcoin and only retains 1 for testing purposes.

Network Hokey Pokey At CIS After Steve speaking I headed over to the booth floor and started mingling with people and projects. I first ran into my friends over at Blockchain Beach who had a media booth and were on fire with the number of interviews they were pushing through. They even roped me into doing an interview for them with a project that was overbooked and I had a lot of fun helping out!

Shortly after that I finally got to meet CryptoBeadles of my youtube buddies who also produces great crypto content as well as co-founding the Monarch wallet (which I will be reviewing very soon). He had the whole crew out there with him doing interviews on site as well and I had a blast hanging with them at the booth throughout the day. I headed inside to check out the booths, but I could hardly make it a few feet without running into someone I knew! One of the things I love about going to these cons is talking with everyone. I got to do an interview with my buddy Gaston for Blockchain Beach as well with a quick appearance by Ernesto from Crypto Space San Pedro.

I ran into the infamous Kenn Bosak and of course we had to get a pic of the epic meeting! This guy is a crypto warrior, spreading adoption everywhere he goes. Talking with him, he said he is on pace to hit 50 conferences this year! wow!

When you go to these things a few times you do start to see a lot of the same people which makes it fun and what conference would be complete with out a little Brekkie Von Bitcoin? We had multiple Satoshi Droppers in the house including Andy & Daniel from the Coinboys, BitcoinBella and CryptoWendyO on Day 2. I certainly made a lot of new friends on the day and saw a ton of other people like Crypto Rick here below.

Favorite Booths I make a point to talk to just about every booth at the conference since there are 2 days and you can easily do so with the amount of booths there depending on how many speakers you catch.

My overall favorite has to go to the Abra booth as they had a great looking setup, but they best thing? They were giving you $25 in Bitcoin for downloading their mobile crypto wallet right there on the spot! Epic! They had this screen counting down to how much of the free Bitcoin was left. I would have loved to see it counting down in Satoshis, but still really cool.

I had fun at the Sense chat booth too as well as got to do a quick interview for them (Brekkie did one too!). Sense is a decentralized messaging app. They had one of those fun wheels and my first spin landed on a CryptoKitty, but they were out, so I ended up getting an invite to Taco Tuesday at their office sometime soon along with a sweet hat. I talked to Matthew at Kingsland School of Blockchain and I really liked what they are trying to do with training blockchain engineers and helping make the end connection. Since this is right up my alley I wanted to let them know I supported their cause and would love to help out if I could in any way. The IDEX / Aurora crew was also at the summit and I got to talk to them a bit about the recent decision to stop allowing New York customers use their platform. They have a solid team and I think with a hybrid solution this makes a lot of sense legal wise to be cautious of where you operate. Of course Totle is always on the top of my list and the Title sponsor of the event did not disappoint with David, Jordan, and the rest of the team help many learn how to improve their DEX experience by using the Totle software.

Rounding out the list is the Autonomy chain project that had a cool autonomous car prototype there showing you how the scanner works. The folks over at Crypto Poker Exchange have a very clean and fun looking blockchain poker, and I HAD to include ODB coin (named after the late, great Old Dirty Bastard of Wu Tang) who are making coins for individual music artist. Day 2 At CIS

As I walked into day two at Crypto Invest Summit bright and early, there was CryptoWendyO already doing interviews at the Blockchain Beach booth, so I said hi real quick and headed over to the main hall to hear legendary investor Tim Draper speak. When it comes to crypto Tim knows his stuff a little better than The Woz does and I really love how excited he gets over how it can change our future. This is a guy who lost his BTC in the Mt. Gox crash and then doubled down and went in again because he believes in it that much. We kicked the morning off with some jumping jacks at Tim's request and then Alon settled in and they dove in. I think when we see well known and respected men like Tim & Steve giving crypto their seal of approval it really means we are headed in the right direction of mass adoption in my opinion.

Directly after the great keynote by Tim, Ran Neu-Ner the host of CNBC's "Crypto Trader" show did a live taping and had Tim on as the first guest along with a few other great guests. It was cool to see them hustle to pull this off completely unscripted! I will say one of the highlights was this really funny eToro commercial featuring a Game of Thrones kinda theme! https://youtu.be/Ihd0moB0ehM I cut out a bit early before the taping ended to get in the VERY long time to get a free copy of Tim Draper's new book "How To Be The Startup Hero" signed by the man himself.

They had a huge pile of books to give away to everyone at the summit, but damn was that line long! I waited about an hour and thirty minutes but it was worth it to get a personalized copy of the book and this great selfie with Tim!

I hung out for a little while longer at the convention talking with people and projects and I was even surprised by my buddy Arnold with these amazing mustache shaped cuff links that he gave me! How amazing are the people I continue to meet in this crazy crypto world?!?

After such a great conference I am really looking forward to the next one, but until then... 'Stache That Crypto Friends!

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Lovecraft Country Soundtrack: Complete Details and Playlist

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HBO’s latest blockbuster drama effort, Lovecraft Country, is a unique Lovecraftian beast. As adapted by Matt Ruff’s novel of the same name, the show takes classic horror, sci-fi, and adventure tropes and adapts them into a timely story of American racism.

Though the series is certainly timely, it’s also timeless. As evidenced by our helpful explainer article, it wasn’t immediately clear when Lovecraft Country even took place. That’s partly because the Jim Crow era of American institutionalized racism was a lengthy one. And the fact that Atticus “Tic” Freeman was a war veteran didn’t help out much. Which war coincided with “whites only” restaurants and sundown towns? World War II, The Korean War, The Vietnam War – take your pick, really. That pleasant disorientation is enhanced by an equally disorienting soundtrack.

Rest assured, Lovecraft Country takes place in the mid 1950s. But the show’s excellent soundtrack is not limited to the mid 1950s. Sure, there are your standard old-timey classics like “I Just Want To Make Love To You” by Etta James and “Sinnerman” by Nina Simone. But the show’s music choices also include some anachronistic numbers. The hard-changing “Clones” by Tierra Whack is unmistakably modern hip hop. Even Marilyn Manson of all people contributes a song as an episode closer.

Lovecraft Country’s superb soundtrack isn’t even limited to music itself. The series’ first two episodes both feature extended spoken word monologues from Black academics and deep-thinkers that serve as the score for certain scenes. Episode 1 “Sundown” brings a James Baldwin debate to the table while episode 2, “Whitey’s on the Moon” gets its name from a Gil-Scott Heron poem that scores a climactic scene.

Given the depth of Lovecraft Country’s fascinating soundtrack, we decided to catalog it. Follow along with the show’s song choices here.

Episode 1 – Sundown

“Main Title (From the Jackie Robinson Story)” by Herschel Burke Gilbert

“Sh-Boom” by The Crew Cuts

“I Just Want To Make Love To You” by Etta James

“Clones” by Tierra Whack

“I Want a Tall Skinny Papa” by Sister Rosetta Tharpe

“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” by Big Maybelle

“September Song” by Sarah Vaughan

“You Upset Me Baby” by B.B. King

“Recipe For Happiness” by Jimmy Self

“Sinnerman” by Alice Smith

Episode 2 – Whitey’s on the Moon

The Jeffersons Theme Song by Ja’Net DuBois and Oren Waters

“Bad Moon Rising” by Mourning Ritual (feat. Peter Dreimanis)

“The End” by Earl Grant

“Blackbird” by Nina Simone

“Killing Strangers” by Marilyn Manson

“Whitey’s on the Moon” by Gil-Scott Heron

“River” by Leon Bridges

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Episode 3 – Holy Ghost

“Window” by The Album Leaf

“Ain’t That a Shame”by Fats Domino

“Ständchen” by Marian Anderson and Franz Rupp

“God’s Been Good to Me” by The Mighty Walker Brothers

“Boogie at Midnight” by Roy Brown

“Good Rockin’ Daddy” by Etta James

“Is You Or Is You Ain’t My Baby” by Louis Jordan

“I Don’t Hurt Anymore” by Dinah Washington

“Take It Back” by Dorinda Clarke-Cole

“Satan, We’re Gonna Tear Your Kingdom Down” by Shirley Caesar

Episode 4 – A History of Violence

“Bitch Better Have My Money” by Rihanna

“Get Em” by Jade Josephine

“Cops and Robbers” by Bo Diddley

“Devil or Angel” by The Clovers

“Cows” by Kbn Kbnlondon

“I Put a Spell on You” by Marilyn Manson (cover)

Episode 5 – Strange Case

“Tonight, You Belong To Me” by Patience & Prudence

“Dark Phrases” by Janet League from For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf (1976)

“Return to Love” by Black Atlass

“Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea”

“Money” by Cardi B

“Bad Religion” by Frank Ocean

“Please Give Your Love to Me” by Robin Robinson

“Tutti Frutti” by Pat Boone

“My Baby Dearest Darling” by The Charms

“Sweetly Sad” by Alain Bernard Denis

“Melody in F” by Trevor Brown

“Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard

“Lovin’ Machine”

“Lonely World” by Moses Sumney

“Bodak Yellow” by Cardi B

Episode 6 – Meet Me in Daegu

“The Trolley Song (from Meet Me In St. Louis)” by Judy Garland

“Neujeun Jajinmori” from APM Music Library

“Main Title (from Easter Parade)” by Johnny Gree, The MGM Studio Orchestra & The MGM Studio Chorus

“Oppaneun Punggakjaengiya” by Park Hyang-rim

“Overture (from Summer Stock)” by MGM Orchestra

“You Wonderful You (from Summer Stock)” by Gene Kelly and Judy Garland

Episode 7 – I Am.

“A Message From The Man In The Moon” by Josephine Baker

“Baby Let’s Make Some Love” by The Penguins

“Besame Mucho” by Josephine Baker

“Tear The Roof Off” by Moonshine (Extreme Music Library)

“Piel Canela” by Josephine Baker

“Better To Miss You” by FirstCom Music Library

“Bam-A-Lam” by Roy Milton Orchestra with Mickey Champion

“Lady Marmalade” by LaBelle

“Fire” by Mother’s Finest

“Sinnerman” by Alice Smith

Episode 8 – Jig-a-Bobo

“Cruel Summer” by Bananarama

“Wee Small Hours” by APM Music Library

“Stop Dat Knocking” by Peter Di-Sante, Brian Mark, David Van Veersblick & Roger Smith

“I Put A Spell On You” by Alice Smith

“Topsy With Her Yellow Eyes” by actors

“’m here to say never again for black girls too” by Naomi Wadler at the March for Our Lives rally

“Stormy Weather” by Bilie Holiday

“Sinnerman” by Alice Smith

Episode 9 – Rewind 1921

“Avalon” by Al Jolson

“My Baby’s Foxtrot” by FirstCom Music Library

“Don’t Kill Dub” by Rob feat. Sonia Sanchez

“Tulsa, 1921: Catch The Fire” by composer with Janai Brugger of the Metropolitan Opera

Episode 10 – Full Circle

“Easy Living” by Billie Holiday

“Ready Or Not” by Gizzle

“Jungle Alibi” by FirstCom Music Library

“Weary” by Solange

“Swing Out Sister” by 5 Alarm Music Library

“I Am Blessed” by Nina Simone

“Sh-Boom” by The Chords

“Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning” by Mississippi Fred McDowell

The post Lovecraft Country Soundtrack: Complete Details and Playlist appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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tessatechaitea · 4 years ago

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Darkstars #4

Hey hey! It's the Nineties!

I sometimes wonder how people into fashion and fashion history can look at some item of clothing and know exactly when it was created. Same with experts on music and visual art and poetry. But then I realize that even though I'm hardly an expert, I could probably do a fairly decent job of looking at comic book art and guessing what era it was from. I'm sure if I studied a bit, I'd be excellent at it considering I've done so much pre-course work due to my comic book hobby. The only really difficult part would be guessing art from artists who have really long careers and their style doesn't change a great deal. Like maybe somebody like Curt Swan, you'd be able to guess when he started and maybe a decade or so after as his form improved. But at some point, Curt Swan is just fucking Curt Swan for, like, decades! So I'd probably be terrible at recognizing the minutia that would be the fingerprint of the decade he was working in at the time. What I'm saying is, "This cover looks like if The 90s ate some bad oysters and wound up shitting and vomiting at the same time but got caught in the rotation so neither The 90s mouth or butthole were facing the toilet and the sick just sprayed out of both ends and landed on the cover of Darkstars #4." And that was one of my less tortured metaphors! According to this cover, somebody is still trying to make "The Darkstars" happen. According to next issue's cover, it didn't happen. I knew I was on the right side of history when I refused to use the article! This is the title of this issue:

Imagine how much more exciting George Lucas's movie franchise would have been had he chosen to put an exclamation point at the end of the title. What a tragic loss!

I want my legacy to be, "He wrote a thing that was as good as Lucille Bluth's 'Here's some money. Go see a Star War.'" Evil Star begins destroying a city because he's evil. The star part of his name must be vestigial because he doesn't act like a star. Unless he doesn't mean the astronomical star but the Hollywood star. I guess the tantrum he's throwing because Green Lantern hasn't welcomed him to Earth is quite star-like. I take it back about the "Star" being vestigial but mostly because I was probably using vestigial wrong. And if I was, just know I was using it metaphorically which means you can't criticize me for using it wrong. Evil Star calls Green Lantern "the green coward." In the last three issues, no character has actually said "Green Lantern." It's like when a star on a game show is from a show on another network, they don't mention the network because it's their rival. Although they do sometimes. I think it was probably a certain time where nobody would mention the competitors. Probably the 80s. And since I don't know as much as I thought I knew before I started typing this crap, maybe I should have stuck with the analogy of how Marvel and DC always refer to each other as "the competitor." Unless it's another word that's a synonym for competitor. See, I don't know much about that either! The Eee! Tess Ate Chai Guarantee: "I might sound like I know everything but I'll readily admit to you when I absolutely know nothing (but only if called on it and can't deflect the accusation)." Some cops pull up to stop Evil Star and one cop is all, "I'll show you power, jerko!" And the other cop is all, "No, don't!" Not because he's against lethal force but because he realizes Evil Star has even more lethaler force, a lesson the cop learns for himself rather quickly.

I'm not saying I cheered at this panel because that would open me up to a bunch of criticism from online jerks who don't understand fiction, satire, or hyperbole.

So with the cops dead, it's up to Darkstar and his sidekicks (one of which is a cop) to stop Evil Star! Unless Green Lantern suddenly appears but I think he's not allowed to show his face in this comic book and/or he's busy becoming Parallax. So there's this big comic book fight and it's a lot like every other comic book fight you've ever read. Which really makes you wonder why some comic book fans only want to read comic books where there are big fights. Why would you want to read the same thing over and over again?! Some people just like to look at the different outfits, I guess. Anyway, I'm not going to describe the fight blow-by-blow. Y'all know how these things work! The good guys get beat up for awhile and maybe defeated after which the bad guy flees instead of killing them. Or the good guys get beat up for awhile before digging deep and defeating the bad guy. It all depends on how many issues the story is set to run. And since I think this story is over this issue, the fight will be of the latter sort.

I'm not saying, after looking at this panel, I subsequently wrote a fan-fic story that went into way too much detail describing Colos's cock and how Detective Beer-Guzzles' mustache felt rubbing against the thick, pink skin because that would open me up to a bunch of fan-fic writers who would try to befriend me so we could swap dirty stories.

Meanwhile, Carla White learns that you can't quit family. Or mob bosses.

He's from America. Another thing you learn in America: if somebody doesn't respond to you being polite, you have every right to become a violent asshole. It's the major defense on Judge Judy. "Yes, your Honor, I smashed up her car. But she wouldn't move it when I asked her politely to move it for no reason at all except that I wanted to park there!"

Evil Star retreats to a junk yard to engage in an existential crisis. Why is he evil? Why does he do bad things? Why does everything have to die? I mean, on a metaphorical level and not on an evolutionary level where death drives evolution, creating room for offspring more and more capable than the parent of living in specific environments through the recombining of different genes and sometimes through lucky mutations. Darkstar feels like it's a good time to wait and see what Evil Star winds up doing but Detective Mustardstache has a better idea: beat the living crap out of him and maybe kill him if he gives him any fucking excuse at all! Detective Darkstar gets his ass kicked by the Starlings and Darkstar has to rush in to save him. They then retreat to observe Evil Star.

Every right winger on Twitter who thinks they're the greatest debater since some famous person who could debate well. Napoleon, maybe?

Detective Pork-chops-as-an-appetizer apologizes for getting carried away. Notice how Homeless Mo didn't get carried away and try to kill the perp even though he hasn't had nearly as much training as the cop? Carla was kidnapped by her ex-client, the guy being used by the aliens to run the Loco drug ring. Kidnapping a lawyer seems like a bad idea. I mean, kidnapping anybody seems like a bad idea but kidnapping a lawyer seems like it would have extra consequences. I used to do cabinet work for my cousin's cousin David. He was a train wreck of a human being but he did good cabinet work. At one point in his life, he had a lawyer working on his DUI case to try to get it dropped and he was juggling his bills. His solution was to bounce a check to the lawyer. I don't know how that all worked out because I tried not to work with him too much (only enough to pay for comic books, really) but I'm assuming his lawyer decided not to argue the charge down and David wound up in jail.

This is the argument of everybody who has ever kept the world from becoming a better place.

Carla refuses to keep working for the mob boss so now he probably has to kill her or else he's facing kidnapping charges which are as bad as murder charges. Which seems like a bit of a mistake, in my opinion. I mean, sure, you want kidnapping to have a steep punishment. But if kidnapping is equal to murder, every kidnapper is just going to murder the person they kidnapped because it does away with the main witness. I guess the point is that people that wouldn't murder won't kidnap either because the penalty is so great. But if somebody is kidnapping somebody and the penalty were only a year in prison, they'd still probably murder that person in the hopes of getting away with it and not having to spend a year in prison. Darkstar, using his super computer on his ship orbiting Earth, learns that Evil Star's mind shackle that keeps him from turning into Evil Star is on the fritz. So he's occasionally feeling like a genocidal maniac while mostly just feeling scared and guilty about his terrible thoughts. To stop him, Darkstar inundates him with images of all the people he killed on his home planet. I guess Evil Star was the original Lobo, committing planet-wide genocide.

Earlier I mentioned how he laughed while his wife and son died not because I'd read ahead but because, probably like the author of this story, I read the Who's Who entry on Evil Star.

Evil Star collapses from the guilt and Darkstar takes him into custody. He encases the Starlings in scrap metal and, I don't know, sells them at a yard sale. Carla gets extra-kidnapped by the mob boss whose name I probably should have learned four issues in. Darkstars #4 Rating: B+. This issue was better than the previous three but I can't explain why. Maybe because there was a super villain and most probably not because some cops died and the other cop got harshly reprimanded for immediately resorting to violence. The Darkstar Colos has turned out to be far more diplomatic than I was expecting. I wouldn't have guessed that Hal Jordan was more temperamental than some testicle-headed alien in a 90s costume called Darkstar.

#Darkstars #DC Comics #DC #Michael Jan Friedman #Larry Stroman #Scott Hanna

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beckyhop · 7 years ago

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I watched a crappy anti-SJW documentary today

I may have been re-listening to Hbomberguy’s Measured Response videos as background noise lately, and it inspired me, in between chores and drawing today, to check out the inspiration behind some of his early popular videos: the infamous “documentary” The Sarkeesian Effect.

I’ll fully admit to not having watched Anita Sarkeesian’s videos (making me about as knowledgable about her work as Davis Aurini himself), and my opinion on her is one of massive indifference, though I think she deserved none of the awful harassment she got. However, as a connoisseur of shit movies with questionable messages…this sounds like a goldmine to me.

I know I’m late to the party on this one, but screw it, a documentary shouldn’t feel limited to the time period it was created in. And even as someone who’s not interested in Sarkeesian’s videos, I don’t think that should matter because a good documentary shouldn’t just preach to the choir; it should be able to inform people who may not have any stakes in the game.

…emphasis on “should”.

For a better idea of what I’m in for here, check out We Hunted the Mammoth’s coverage. Also, this is a great opportunity to break out my updated Alt-Right bingo card!

So without further ado, here’s my notes on Jordan Owen and Davis Aurini’s The Sarkeesian Effect: Inside the World of Social Justice Warriors

First shot is of Jorden Owen’s “production logo”

Between the font choice and the accompanying sound, I think he’s trying to imitate the THX logo. It fails because it’s butt-ugly and the “JO42” is barely readable.

The movie proper starts with this quote:

“Our censure should be reserved for those who would close all doors but one. The surest way to lose truth is to pretend that one already wholly possesses it”

-Gordon W. Allport

Time will tell how ironic this choice may be.

The title sequence is a CGI shot going across a goddamn CONSPIRACY THEORY WALL, WITH THUMBTACKS AND STRING AND EVERYTHING. Good job establishing your side’s credibility already, Jordan.

OH YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT, THUNDERF00T’S IN THIS DESPITE DECRYING THE DOCUMENTARY LATER ON. Really, though, Jordan took out all mentions of Davis Aurini, so I’m surprised Thunderf00t’s still in this thing.

Speaking of Thunderf00t, does he always look like he just rolled out of bed, or is it just me?

Oof, I think Jordan Owen needs to get a new pop filter.

Alright, I think you can cut Anita a little slack for forgetting that Zelda was the main character in two of the CD-i games; Nobody wants to remember those, and they sure as fuck aren’t canon.

Bringing up the assumption that Anita’s an “art critic” is some rather flimsy justification for interviewing a traditionally attractive female erotic photographer, Owen. Also, WHY CAN I SEE YOUR HANDS IN THE SHOT, HAVE YOU NEVER WATCHED A GOOD DOCUMENTARY BEFORE.

God, that’s an awkward jump cut. You couldn’t throw in some B-roll to make that cut less awkward? AND WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS LIGHTING, COULD YOU NOT FILM HER IN AN AREA WHERE THE CHANGING OUTDOOR LIGHTING WOULDN’T FUCK UP THE WHITE BALANCE

The hell does Mallorie mean by not seeing female game characters as “women” and learning not to “anthropomorphize” characters, and only seeing characters as a means to further a story? Isn’t that kinda defeating the purpose of engaging in media? She’s acting like video games and all fictional characters should exist in a politics-free vacuum, when they really, really can’t. Taking away a character’s wants, desires, and their cultural implications kinda ruins the effect of a story, if you ask me.

Aggggh, the quick shots of each “social justice warrior” game critic are cut way too fast for me, I had to pause to actually read some of the names and credentials here.

Another interview subject who couldn’t be bothered to clean up his appearance before showing up on camera. Sigh.

AGGGGH, FUCKING FONT COLOR CHOICE, please tell me this is other peoples’ pet peeve as well.

I’ve seen documentaries where you could hear the interviewer’s voice in the interview, or see them actually in the shot, but those were usually done for a purpose (such as making the question being asked clear to the audience), and the interviewer themselves usually has enough screen presence to pull off actually being seen on camera (look at most Werner Herzog docs, for example). Jordan Owen has the screen presence of a mildewy sponge, and I don’t need to hear him go “right” and “uh-huh” every few seconds during interviews. I LEARNED THIS IN ONE GODDAMN CLASS IN COLLEGE, HOW HAS HE NOT LEARNED THIS YET.

Side note, I find it kinda eyeroll-worthy that, when listing logos of sites that have been pro-Sarkeesian, both Gawker and Kotaku are shown. Dude, Gawker owned Kotaku at the time you were making this, that’s a little redundant.

Also, as someone who has worked freelance, I don’t care much for Brad Wardell’s assumption that freelance writers are willing to work for free so they can push their agenda. Fuck you, buddy.

Black Sabbath quote, huh? Man, I’d love to see Ozzy Osbourne’s opinion on being dragged into this shit.

Oh god, more shit lighting, I should not be seeing goddamn artifacting or lighting glares from the mirror in this shot. And could you not nudge the camera tripod a little further down? Maybe fix the focus a little? And why is your fucking shoe in this shot?!

One of the subjects in this interview says that Sarkessian claims that anyone who enjoys media with sexist elements is a bad person. Again, I haven’t actually watched any of Sarkeesian’s stuff, but I think this viewpoint sums up a lot of angry gamers’ reaction to even the slightest criticism of anything they like. For the record, I don’t think you’re a bad person if you like something with problematic elements, but people are allowed to criticize media with sexist elements because how else are we going to progress?

Jordan. I know you had lapel mics on hand for this documentary. I know you and Davis got a LOT of money to produce this thing. Could you not make the sound quality a little better? Because I SHOULD NOT BE HEARING ANY ECHOING.

Was…was that an actual dip in volume? Where did you learn your skills, Jordan, the James Nguyen School of Sound Editing? Also, I had to move my left headphone speaker away from my ear for a second because I thought I heard something in the other room, and noticed that once I did, I could hear NOTHING the interview subject was saying. Fucking…can he not balance his audio channels?

These are the kinds of threats that several interview subjects think Anita should have just brushed off:

…you guys, uh, don’t see any bigger problem with women being called whores or being told to kill themselves over goddamn video game opinions? Okay then.

I’M ONLY 20 MINUTES IN.

“Police don’t just delete records…do they?” Uh, yeah. Sometimes they do. A quick Google search might have told you that.

You know, normally if the audio quality of a call is crappy, you put subtitles on the video. Just saying. Also, even if nothing comes of a terror threat, IT’S STILL LAW ENFORCEMENT’S JOB TO INVESTIGATE IT.

I don’t need to hear every intake of breath in your narration, Owen.

He…he’s actually using a fanfiction of Sarkeesian threatening Randy Pitchford and then killing him over Aliens: Colonial Marines as a talking point? What?! This documentary just got hilarious.

“Why would Anita Sarkeesian…endorse the spread of such a chilling snuff narrative?” Uh, because it doesn’t sound like it’s a very serious story, and anyway doesn’t most of the gaming community hate Aliens: Colonial Marines and Randy Pitchford’s attempts to brush over that controversy? I mean, I think a fanfiction that also costars Spider-Man and the Green Goblin should be taken way less seriously than actual rape and death threats.

Christ, if you’re gonna have lower thirds, keep them up long enough for people to read them without pausing, asswipe.

Wait, are you seriously crediting this guy as a Wikipedia editor? Isn’t that like crediting someone as a clothes-wearer? He also claims to have edited over 1,000 articles which…man, that’s a weak claim to fame.

Okay, so Wikipedia guy says he was trying to point out on the Talk page for Sarkeesian’s Wikipedia entry that there was nothing on there about how she once worked with a pickup artist (he points out this as hypocrisy, though let’s be real, we’ve all associated with people we grow to despise the views of later in life), and he claims that the Wikipedia admins were forbidding him to edit GamerGate related articles. Sounds to me like the higher-ups at Wikipedia were just getting really, really goddamn tired of vandalism on Wikipedia pages for people related to GamerGate, and this guy’s editing attempt just got lumped in with a lot of the bullshit.

Now the Honeybadger ladies are criticizing Sarkeesian for bringing up toxic masculinity and relating it to a then-recent mass shooting. I don’t deny the questionable nature of those comments, but you guys ARE aware she’s nowhere near the first (or worst) person to use a shooting to bring up one of their favorite talking points, right?

AGHHH, WHO’S MAKING NOISES RIGHT INTO THE MIC MY POOR EARS

Why is all the footage of Wikipedia guy so weirdly shot and edited? It looks like he’s trying to scoot out of the frame.

Oh hey, actual context for that “I’m not a fan of video games” clip I’ve seen floating around in gif form. Sounds to me in this video like she’s just too turned off by the video game fandom and the content of certain games to really consider herself a gamer. And from personal experience in other fandoms I’ve been in, I totally get it.

I never thought I’d see a gamer documentary actually defending Jack Thompson and his views on violent video games, after all the backlash I saw against him in the 2000s.

AGAIN with the awkward jump cuts, Jesus.

Oh, is Jack making the old “How can you get angry about THIS sexist issue when there’s BIGGER sexist issues out there” argument? Despite the fact that most feminists I know are capable of multi-tasking?

JIHAD! JIHAD! HE SAID THE MAGIC BUZZWORD! HE COMPARED HER TO RADICAL ISLAM!

Oh don’t try to one-up her in the Who-Got-More-Death-Threats Olympics, Jack. Also, wow, he actually sounds bitter that she got an award for her coverage (even claiming that awards undercut a critic’s credibility!) and that some people actually like her while he’s gotten nothing. Overall, Jack Thompson sounds like a whiny old man who’s mad that nobody respects him the way he thinks he should.

Thunderf00t is claiming that Rebecca Watson’s reaction to being propositioned at 4 AM during an atheist conference was overblown. Dude, in a society where women can and do get date raped under similar circumstances, I think she had every right to be creeped out and explain to men why she felt that way. And I don’t think she’s saying “all guys shouldn’t hit on girls” I think she’s saying “please consider if you’re coming across as a creep”. And let’s be real, a LOT of dudes don’t consider that.

Christ, how many instances are we going to get of a dude in this documentary trying to one-up a woman’s claims of harassment by saying “I’VE SUFFERED WORSE, GROW THE FUCK UP” Like…dude. It’s not about you.

What…what even is this bit of editing?

That’s how this shot is edited in the film, I swear to god.

Hoo boy, are we touching on the “PTSD is only for veterans” chestnut?

Hey, now I know the context of that one screencap of a feminist with bright red hair! And her name (Chanty Binx)! And it…sounds like she was just trying to make a point and was getting more and more pissed off that people were interrupting her? Really, this is what anti-feminists like making memes out of? (Also, she apparently later admitted she got pretty rude)

…wait, what does an “adult performer” have to do with any of this? Jordan Owen, I once again SERIOUSLY question your methods in picking interview subjects.

Okay, the performer, Mercedes Carrera, clarifies that she thinks that women who claim their failures (particularly in STEM fields) are rooted in misogyny are being ridiculous. She cites her own experience in a STEM field as proof. Ma’am, I don’t doubt your experience, but let’s not invalidate others’ here. Perhaps you were just lucky?

Apparently one of the interviewees thinks “mansplaining” is one of the most sexist terms ever. Pfffffffffffft.

Hey, come to think of it, in this section about “professional victims”, do we have any actual evidence that the women in question received any money for their victimhood? Maybe that might have helped your point, buddy.

One interviewee, Jim Goad, says “Do micro-aggressions EXIST in sub-Saharan Africa” WHAT IS HE EVEN TALKING ABOUT?

Seriously, why are so many of these interviews so weirdly cropped? Is this “artsy”?

Ugh, thanks a lot for reminding me of the existence of Shredded Moose, asshole.

Brad Wardell claims he didn’t know anything about the gross pornographic cartoon the Shredded Moose guy drew of Zoe Quinn when he reached out to said artist, and claims that Quinn and people on her side (including Jim Sterling!) were lying about him reaching out to him because of the anti-Quinn cartoon. Maybe so, dude, but you really, REALLY should have done some research on this artist before making that job offer. That’s just good business sense.

Oh, THAT’S why Mallorie Nasrallah’s an interview subject: she worked with Zoe back when the latter was a nude model, and claims that Zoe was a compulsive liar!…and this has anything to do with video games how? (also, not sure about verity of the compulsive lying thing)

You know, even if posting images of Zoe’s porny past doesn’t count as “revenge porn” in the strictest sense, the fact that people are bringing these up specifically to discredit her IS A GODDAMN PROBLEM.

This is the image Jordan uses when discussing “social justice warriors”:

…really making your side look mature there, bud.

Jim Goad compares SJWs to “cell warriors” in prison WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS DUDE ON.

Frankfurt School! Ooooh, bring up Cultural Marxism for the sake of my bingo card.

Now we’re seeing a collage of “SJW” game journalists and their respective publications. Shit, this was produced while Jim Sterling was still working at The Escapist, feels like that was forever ago.

Oh of course this documentary would feature people who hate the Southern Poverty Law Center.

More “wisdom” from Jim Goad: “When I was a kid, if you were a Communist or a homosexual, then you’d lose your career. Now communists and homosexuals are in power and are seeking to destroy the career of anyone who’s not down with their agenda.” OOOO! HOMOPHOBIA! I’m one “red pill” mention away from a bingo!

“Orwellian idea of hate speech”? You know, sometimes I wonder if the political Right ever actually understood George Orwell.

Oh for the love of…

STOP CROPPING THINGS SO WEIRDLY, JORDAN OWEN. Or was that Davis’ idea, given how similar this is to the editing of that Alt-Right Dogs trailer?

Citing Breitbart as a source? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh God, this feels even worse in the current political climate.

I’m an hour and 40 minutes in AND THERE’S 50 MINUTES LEFT, GOOD GOD JORDAN OWEN IS A TERRIBLE EDITOR.

I must not have ever looked too closely at this picture of Zoe Quinn before, because Jordan Owen’s constant use of it has made me realize for the first time she’s wearing a necklace with Sailor Moon’s Cosmic Heart Compact on it.

I don’t always wear jewelry, but I need to find out where she got that now.

Watching a segment on actual death threats aimed towards anti-feminists and Gamergaters, and I should mention that I’m not denying that harassment occurs from the other side of the debate. Death/terror threats probably shouldn’t be the first course of action against someone you disagree with, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum. That said, I’m not comfortable with the whole “Our death threats are worse than yours!” narrative this segment seems to be hinting at.

Wait is…is this how Jordan Owen censors out brand names?

Dude, a blur effect would have looked way better here.

So, why are we presenting the threats Brad Wardell got threatening to rape his wife and child as completely serious, but some of the similar threats that Anita got as “That’s awful, but it’s just how people are on the internet!” Shouldn’t both situations be concerning?

Seriously though, Jordan, thanks for using pics of Zoe Quinn that give me more inspiration to go find sweet-ass Sailor Moon necklaces.

(I want that jacket, too)

Oh NOW, after about a goddamn hour, we get back to Anita Sarkeesian, a.k.a. THE PERSON YOU NAMED THIS DOCUMENTARY AFTER.

Back to the Honeybadger ladies: “If our society were misogynistic…it would not work at all” Hello, I’m from the future-year of 2017, and do I have some bad news for you.

JIM GOAD SAID “BETA MALES”, I CAN CHECK OFF THE ALPHA MASCULINITY SQUARE!

On the #NotYourShield topic now. I don’t feel knowledgeable enough to speak about the racial minorities or trans people who took part in that movement (I am very white and very cis), but I will say that as a woman, I’ve certainly encountered my fair share of misogynist women (who usually justify themselves as being “better” than modern women).

…also, I’m gonna give Jordan Owen the benefit of the doubt and assume that this segment isn’t the documentary equivalent of saying “I’m not racist, I have black friends!”

And the PhD candidate you found to explain “false consciousness” is Christina Parreira, who is first and foremost credited as a sex worker. Now, I’ve got nothing against sex work, but that title seems pretty irrelevant to the subject at hand and just makes me continue to question how you picked half the female interviewees.

Holy shit, what is with this weird buzzy echo in this segment?

Jordan goes on to talk about feminist opposition to sex work and porn, and Parreira brings up Anita’s use of “prostituted women” for female sex workers, but using “sex worker” when referring to male characters in that industry. I certainly won’t deny that certain forms of feminism haven’t been kind to sex workers (there’s a reason the term SWERF exists), but I do think it’s unfair to ignore that there are issues with the porn and sex work industries that really need to be examined and dealt with. (Problems that, admittedly, could be solved partly by destigmatizing women who choose those lines of work)

Christine Parreira goes on to talk about how she broke away from feminism because other feminists didn’t get how she was a proud sex worker. I understand where she’s coming from, but I’d also like to point out that feminism isn’t the monolith Jordan Owen’s trying to present: there’s a reason why we have constant discussions about TERFs and “white feminists” and how feminism really needs to work on its inclusivity issues. It’s not a sign of how feminism has failed, it’s a sign that, like all political movements, it’s still got a long way to go.

And now a serious story about how a sex worker was raped in her home and, despite being informed about it, Anita and many other feminists ignored the story and crowdfunding efforts to support her. I really don’t have much to say about this part except I hope she did get the help she needed (Oh, and Mercedes’ Carrera’s comment about “we don’t get workman’s comp”? Perfect example of the sex industry problems I was talking about)

With all this pointed out, I should state that these notes are being written as I watch the movie, and I now realize why Jordan Owen brought in sex workers to talk about Sarkeesian. However, given that the sex work talk doesn’t start till after the 2 hour mark, it seems really, really odd for those couple of hours that he’s brought in sex workers to talk about a video game critic. If he were a better writer, director, or editor, I wouldn’t be questioning this. Fuck, if he were a better filmmaker, I don’t think this thing would have been two-and-half hours, period.

This is the second time Nick Robalik’s shown up in the film and I just NOW noticed the goddamn pizza box in the background.

I’m pretty sure most filmmakers don’t show their craft services in the film itself. And for god’s sake, WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH THAT ECHO

So now Jordan Owen is criticizing the concept of “gamification”, and specifically using video games as a political mouthpiece. But…aren’t video games art? And isn’t there a long, rich history of art and political messages going hand-in-hand? JORDAN OWEN, YOU ARE A FAN OF SKELETOR, FOR GOD’S SAKE.

Oh and hey, speak of the (almost literal) devil, there’s a quote from Rand herself!

“Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a bandage for their wounds. I am not a sacrifice on their altars.”

Ironic, considering Rand’s being used as a tool for Jordan Owen’s use here.

Brad Wardell says that he was inspired to get into game programming thanks to Sid Meier’s Civilization and he wanted to know what happens “when that spaceship leaves Earth”. Well, if I may be a smartass here, he could’ve just waited for Alpha Centauri…

Ooooh, and now Jordan Owen gets all ominous as he builds up the reason why he and many others are mad at Anita Sarkeesian, and he describes it as “the unending fountain of rage from which we draw strength” and WAIT ARE YOU USING A SCREENCAP OF AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE PATREON CAMPAIGN FOR THIS VERY FILM TO ILLUSTRATE YOUR POINT?!

WHAT THE FUCK

And speaking of “what the fuck”, why is Jordan going into some monologue about the nature of virtue and morality and the will to live while zooming in on some stock animation of a galaxy?

I’m not kidding, this is an actual screencap from a film about Anita Sarkeesian and GamerGate:

Why is he talking about how we’re different from other animals this is a documentary about video game feminism

He’s claiming that feminists want to take fun and competition out of games. No, dipshit, most geeky feminists I know just want to feel comfortable in gaming communities.

Oh god, he’s comparing them to parasites, WHAT KIND OF DAVE SIM WINGNUTTERY AM I WATCHING NOW

He’s calling gamers “historically ostracized”?! Look, I know what it’s like to be bullied for being a nerd but…I still don’t think that’s the appropriate phrase here?

Oh god oh god oh god he’s claiming that feminists want goverment regulation of the gaming community what is this shit

He claims SJWs who want games to be “better” only want propaganda and can’t see the imaginative potential in games. Dude, making games more inclusive and diverse would, in my opinion, expand the creative possibilities in game design. I’VE LIVED THROUGH SEEING WAY TOO MANY GODDAMN GAMES FEATURING GENERIC BROWN-HAIRED STUBBLED STRAIGHT DUDES AS THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERS FOR ME TO LET THAT ARGUMENT SLIDE.

He’s claiming that people who want to be represented in art simply want to use creators as mouthpieces. REPRESENTATION. DOES NOT. WORK THAT WAY.

He keeps using this animation to represent how SJWs want to beat opposition into submission or some shit and good God, man, you think the Left is fearmongering?

“It is not because we resent the idea of gaming’s expanding horizons, but because we know that there was never any limits in the first place” Except the limits of close-minded execs who only want to appeal to 13-year-old male COD players, of course. But you won’t touch on that, now will you?

And he pulls out the old “If you want representation, make your own stuff” argument. And yet, I do distinctly remember him deriding Gone Home as “D*ke Mansion 3D”, so even if someone took his advice, people like Jordan Owen would still complain about its political agenda. People do make their own diverse works and yet they still get pushback from anti-SJW types.

And a montage of gaming history to prove “how far we’ve come without [SJWs]”. I noticed a clip from one of the King’s Quest games in this montage, which is hysterical to me considering how many Sierra adventure game people refused to work with Jordan Own specifically because of the views he spouted in this very documentary.

I’m admittedly a little grumpy he included footage of one of my favorite game series, Portal, in the “We don’t need SJWs to make good games!” montage

And now a montage of the interview subjects telling what they’d say to Anita Sarkeesian if given a chance. One of the Honeybadger ladies pulls out the “get a real job” line, which, as someone working in a creative field, admittedly made me flinch.

Are…are some of these people trying to psychoanalyze Anita?

Well, if all else fails, Jordan, you could always get a job making overly-long montages for awards shows.

Oh, so you ARE at least crediting Davis for the videography! First of, I think you mean “cinematographer” or “director of photography” and second, holy fuck does that explain a lot given what I’ve seen of Davis’ camera work in other stuff.

Sargon of Akkad gets a special thanks! Another person who would (understandably) break ties with Davis Aurini!

And that was, undoubtedly, the worst documentary I have ever watched…

…at least, until I get around to watching Davis Aurini’s version.

And here’s the Alt-Right bingo results! Didn’t get the bingo I wanted, but I came REALLY damn close:

One last note: in the description for this video, Jordan Owen says "No, I am not returning to Sarkeesian/SJW related commentary." Good, because you suck at delivering said commentary.

#long post

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