#look at me treating american history as if it's a tv show

[fictionadventurer]

People will often say, 'If you could be with Lincoln for dinner, what would you want to ask him? What would be the unanswered question?' And I know I should be asking him, 'OK, suppose you had not been killed, how would you have dealt with the South? How would you have dealt with Reconstruction and all the controversies that arose?' But I know that if I really had him for dinner one night, I would simply ask him, 'Tell me a story, Mr. Lincoln.' Because then I would see him coming alive. He laughed so hard when he told one of his funny stories, his eyes would twinkle. And then I'd know that the Lincoln I knew -- who was somehow able in the worst days of the war to dispel the anxiety of his Cabinet members by his humor and his life-affirming sense of storytelling -- then I’d know I would have seen him alive.

-Doris Kearns Goodwin, Presidential Episode 16

This was where I had to stop the Lincoln episode at the end of my commute, and as I pulled into the parking lot I said to myself, "Wow, that's lovely." A little schmaltzy, perhaps, but I think it gets to the core of why people study history. Sure, there's the intellectual impulse to analyze and understand events with the benefit of hindsight, but deep down, the heart of historical study is a desire to connect with people. To bridge the gulf of time and space and get to know people despite the fact that they lived in a completely different century.

History's not just dry lists of dates and names and theories. It's people. It's personalities. It's quirks and memories and stories. It's knowing that a historical figure isn't just a face on a monument, or a source of information, but a guy who can tell really funny stories. And I wanted to share this quote because it really understands the humanity of history in a way I rarely see expressed.

[shortsweetespresso]

okay, but on a serious note, as someone with a degree in history, this is a terrifying event. not only is this showing that our leaders and former leaders are not safe from an attack, but this attempt also happened against a former president that may will use this to his advantage. this man, a former REALITY TV STAR, knows how to play a crowd. he knows how to put on a show and manipulate people to be on his side. he already has an insane fan base who has ALREADY incited an insurrection attempt on the very government they CLAIM TO LOVE.

history loves a martyr, and a living martyr can make things worse. whether this was real or staged, it will be treated as real by every single news source that matters unless proven otherwise -- which could end up being proven years down the line. the right are already using this as a reason to vote for trump. I can't scroll through my facebook without people in every single group I'm in discussing this. all press is good press, especially to the right wing where they can spread their propaganda.

this night is going to be in history books. unless the American people come together, and EVERYONE who can vote against trump, votes for Biden (god help us), this night may very well be listed in the reasons fascism came to take hold of the United States.

you can read the reasons why World War I and II happened, and you can see the clear picture as all of those reasons are laid out in front of you.

Not to fear monger, but World War III's causes are already being laid out in front of us clearly, unless we can work together to stop it. Ukraine, Palestine, and many other places are already the places of first conflict. take a look around. read the news from all angles.

Vote. VOTE. V O T E. FUCKING VOTE. Biden is the much lesser of two evils, and it literally hurts to say that the president currently funding a Palestinian genocide is the better option, and the fact that I HAVE to vote for him in order to keep trump out of power is breaking me and everything I am inside. biden is funding it -- yet trump said he would help israel "finish the job"

donate to Palestinians. donate to the people of Ukraine. vote democrat in the 2024 election.

I'm sorry that this is not the most eloquently written tumblr essay, but I am terrified.

[all-souls-matinee]

Quick-bite reviews: Late Night With the Devil (2023) dir. Cameron and Colin Carnes

A 70s talk show host looking to to regain his former spotlight finds a perfect opportunity in Sweeps Week (the time of year networks evaluate ratings and ad revenue) falling on Halloween night. Carson would never stage something so dramatic as a case of demonic possession.

I always ask for hyperspecificity in movie settings and it could not get more specific than this. A period piece about greed, con artistry, the history of American television as reflection and distortion of society?? As someone who rewatched Quiz Show (1994) for the fifth or sixth time just last week and loves found footage horror, hearing about Late Night felt like they were making it in a lab for me. I thought there had to be some kind of catch, but plot, pacing, and characters are all very solid and fun; actress Ingrid Torelli in particular is phenomenal. There are some stumbling blocks, sure, like the five-minute exposition dump of an intro (I can see why Stephen King is a fan) and a few lukewarm acting and editing choices. I was frustrated that they tried to juggle both TV psychics (yay!) and demonologists (boo), but I appreciated the ambition and thought the combination of real-world events and places with fabricated ones was a nice touch. These aren't catches, just friendly points of critique; so far, so good.

...The catch is that Late Night With the Devil doesn't have any grasp of its own setting. Horror films rarely deserve to be criticized for 'inaccuracy,' but when realism is a cornerstone of the pitch it's extremely frustrating that no one acts or talks (or in the camera's case, tapes) like they belong to the world they're inhabiting. Dakota Johnson may have "iPhone face" but lead David Dastmalchian and many of his castmates have YouTuber face. I was frustrated by the pivot from psychics to demonologists not just because of personal preference, but because even if the fictional show had gone off without a hitch it wouldn't have been run in the way it is. Direct references to the Satanic panic and Jonestown are at minimum two years too early, while colorblind casting and the way people speak are at minimum two decades too early. The directors were super gracious when Late Night caught some heat last year for using AI, clarifying that it was only used to generate concept art for bumpers, and while I think that absolves them ethically it's also the perfect distillation of why I can't fully love what they've created. It's all a lot of poorly-researched frosting.

Buy a ticket? Not a hard no- frosting is still a treat after all!- I'd just recommend it for something to throw on while you get ready for a Halloween party rather than as a great film. Spoiler for the whole thing under the cut but I also have to say that

it ends exactly the same way The Night Flier does but worse, and I was just sat there like "this happened to my friend The Night Flier." asdfgh watch The Night Flier!!

[kustas]

can you talk about your issues with blue eye samurai

I can! warning: i will spoil the show here.

This show has an incredible issue with consistency, among other problems which make it one of the worst series i've watched in a long time. It has a basic plot thread it wants to follow and everything it does is malleable for the sake of said plot beats. The main character's personality can change from one scene to the other depending on if they want the moment to be funny or sad. Battle wounds, established personality traits and other Deus ex machinas vanish randomly when they become irrelevant. The show also has no idea of the tone it's going for. It wants to be everything at once, funny, tragic, epic; and does so by lazily copying better media of reference down to at times remaking shots nearly 1:1. It does nothing it attempts well.

The historical setting is a mess. For a show who's premise is entrenched in a particular historical period you'd expect it to be a major part of the story, but Japan is mostly used as a cliché set dressing. Each episode pulls out a few cultural setpieces in a shallow way that felt ridiculous if not borderline offensive. It's Japan right? Oh we gotta reference the Sakura. The sumo ring. The matcha tea. And I say Japan and not historical Japan because I have doubts about the veracity of every cultural element and how well researched it is. Keep in mind I am no expert, I know very little of either the country and the time period but even with that every episode made me go huh? This is not true. There is little to no effort spent on accurately representing a foreign culture's history and it is very visible in how the characters act - aka like modern american TV characters. The worst part? The cultural things its cast casually goes against are referenced...as jokes or as set dressing for each episode's look we are in Japan;););) scene. So, they know. They just don't care.

When it comes to...a bit more troubling topics, the show sucks too. The first episode reveals its main character is crossdressing to make her way across the world and the show has many secondary female characters in female social roles to contrast her to. This premise is a great one: watching a woman evolve in a sexist society by disguising herself into something she's not. Is it well done? Lol, nope! Gender remains explored in a very surface level way. The thing is, if the characters indeed acted like their time period would imply, I would be fine with much more, as this is a society with very strict gender roles. But given most of the times they act like modern american TV show characters, it stings that despite the MC's position, said gender roles are not much explored. Notable examples that made me facepalm damn hard: a side character who's established as a rich brat trying to work her way out of an arranged marriages ending up finding satisfaction in said arranged marriage; and the main character herself who i will repeat spends her whole life passing as male and fighting dudes, getting found out by the villain mid-fight because of her "fragile female bones". What the fuck?

Additionally, the show has two disabled characters, a blind man and a man born without hands. The former is written okay, the latter is not. He is treated like a comic relief and spends his time on screen (where he's not being a buffoon) sucking up to the other characters. It feels frankly insulting to have your fat guy with a deformity be this archetype and he is not allowed much growth or serious moments.

I'm not a woman, I'm not japanese and I am not disabled so all of what I say here should be taken with the grain of salt of: it's my impression, as someone who's not been on the recieving end of things. Seeing this show being celebrated for being progressive is a fucking joke.

[akitoscorpio]

No one cares.

Greenlightvolume10 :P

So you can tell this person Was not committed to the message, otherwise they wouldn't be doing this as an Anonymous "question"

But considering this was likely in response to This post I made a few days ago in which I vented some, honestly pretty well-deserved frustration at the mediocre quality of the merch they sell and the fact that they, are basically saying to fans "Oh you made this great design? Sweet we're going to sell it on a shirt so we don't have to pay an actual artist and not credit you at all for your work?"

Is frankly shady as all hell.

but this does give me a chance to be "Rwde" to the more hardcore fans on Twitter once again. Because I've had some thoughts on the #Greenlightvolume10 campaign, and why people demanding this should stop being a bunch of selfish assholes.

Hey, have you all head about this thing called the WGA/SAGAFTRA - Strike? Yeah turns out The Screen Actors Guild, the Writers guild of America, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. are all currently on strike for some very valid and awesome reasons such as....

Preventing their Jobs from being replaced by AI, or in actors cases, Keeping their likeness from being use by an AI without pay.

Demanding better pay when working on shows for "Streaming services" (Hey wait a sec Rooster Teeth, HBO Max, and Crunchy Roll are streaming services)

Getting better royalty/residual payments for shows in reruns on Network TV or when shown on streaming services (By the way when a show you worked on gets pull from a streaming service after a couple months, that's happening to fuck the people that worked on it from getting residual payments.)

Not to mention "Better working conditions" something anyone who has paid attention to RT in the last few years know how badly that is needed

All of these things, in some form or another, have the potential to affect RT staffers that would have to be, in this case, rehired back on to work on a Volume 10.

As a side note boy, it's cute when people say "Protect Crwby" cause most of what you know as Crwby was let go and have likely moved on a year or two ago.

Back to the point though, to my understanding, I don't think anyone directly working for RT is part of SAG, WGA, Or AFTRA, but they really should be. Because if any of the production staff of Volume 9 were part of the WGA or AFTRA then there would have been a larger stink when the bulk of them was let go after the last frame of Animation for Volume 9 was finished.

The point is, Greenlighting Volume 10, during this strike, would be a fucking awful look for the company, they would be affectively "Scabs" who were crossing the picket lines to work, and honestly, anyone who really does give a damn for the people who create Rwby, really should not want them to do this because crossing that line, will make it so much harder for Rooster Teeth to get people who are part of any of the above organizations to willingly work for them in the future.

So show some God damn patience, Wait till the strike is over, and then demand that they greenlight the next season of Rwby. While you're at it keep demanding better working conditions for the people who create the content you watch at the same time. Don't forget Rooster Teeth has a long history of treating its employees like shit that anyone who can rub two neurons together should understand, is not something that should be forgotten and swept under the rug.

But to directly counter the Anon here, I didn't say I didn't want a Volume ten, cause at this point I do want to see how it ends. I said

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Currently frustrated at people conflating DreamWorks leadership making decisions that affect the lives of their staff and the perceived quality of some of their post-PUSS IN BOOTS 2 offerings. (Including the ones they didn't even oversee, like MEGAMIND TV Pilot Thing.)

It's also kinda unusual that "animation fans" are certain that the future outsourced DreamWorks Animation movies that'll be made at Sony Imageworks... Ya know, the main vendor for most of Sony Animation's movies? The SPIDER-VERSE movies, especially?? Will somehow look terrible in comparison to what were already partially-outsourced, sub-$100m productions? I thought you were outraged for the animators there that allegedly got exploited during the making of ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE? Now you're saying they're going to deliver subpar work on future DreamWorks movies??

No-no-no-no, the real issue here is animators in Canada being exploited and underpaid, animators on the American West Coast being put out of a job, and the bean counters trying to make animation into this assembly line thing when *gasp* you have to have the teams and resources, and you HAVE TO BE PATIENT AND PAY THEM.

I'm very upset about what's happening to animators and artists at the main DreamWorks campus in Glendale. I think it's super fucky how they've been treated lately... I was also upset when they laid off animators every time a movie of theirs flopped, pre-Comcast acquisition. Even HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, which went on to make a lot of money in 2014, lead to layoffs after its opening weekend gross turned out lower than expected... And I was especially upset when they shuttered Pacific Data Images, over a movie that didn't even lose money... DreamWorks has a sorry history of this kind of stuff, and yet... The artists there. The real deal... They're the ones who continue to make exemplary stuff.

Even if the movie in question isn't really to our liking, the hard work is always there.

But the YouTube Animation Opinion Industrial Complex and baby-brains online have to turn it into "This is why KUNG FU PANDA 4, TROLLS 3 and the high school sea monster girl movie suck! DreamWorks, why haven't you made PEAK In Boots again???"

Watch, when THE WILD ROBOT comes out... That'll be an "exception", somehow. No, you just liked that movie. That's what. Made under the same circumstances as the last two or so pictures, they were all in development around the same time.

For me, this whole ordeal stings because DreamWorks is turning 30 and they're one of the BIG American animation studios. The work was done in-house and at PDI for sooooo many years, and now that's just... Not going to be a thing anymore. I'm sure there will be future movies of theirs that I like/love, but it's sad that it's all down to outsourcing and an unwillingness to make these movies relatively fairly. It's capitalism, it's Hollywood, it's the biz... Eventually, it was gonna really clamp down hard on the animation industry again, like it usually does... And it always sucks to see.

Again, DreamWorks has been in similar jams. The post-RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, pre-COVID days were particularly rough with all the layoffs, all the movie cancellations (still not over the partially-finished LARRIKINS getting canned just like that), PDI being shut down after 35 years of work and pioneering... The craft of the storytellers will eventually shine on.

Disney Animation has done it plenty of times, all the way back to the 1941 Disney strike days and the animation unit being severely downsized following SLEEPING BEAUTY's 1959 release, Pixar sometimes cuts down, etc. Lots of companies tried to get in on the animation game in the '90s following the Disney Renaissance and Don Bluth's one-two punch of Spielberg-produced movies... Only to fail, and it resulted in studio shutdowns (such as Fox Animation after the disastrous showing of TITAN A.E.) and lots of layoffs. 2D being shown the door lead to layoffs and cutbacks, too. It just happens all too frequently in animation-land...

... But first and foremost, I hope the animators and crews are okay. And that they find work, security, etc.

As for the movies, which is secondary to me... Well, the writer's strike ended, so I'm sure the storytelling end of things could go more swimmingly. (I'd like to think a lot of KUNG FU PANDA 4's production was affected by that and the actors strike.) While still understanding that these things are all subjective. TROLLS 3 and RUBY GILLMAN were largely locked before the strikes began, but you still had internet weirdos calling them a comedown of sorts from THE LAST WISH. That's irrelevant.

The animators strike, I feel, is what we should want. How it changes things going forward, I do not know. I don't think DreamWorks in particular will re-staff the California campus, as the damage has been done and that Sony Imageworks making their movies is their future for now. Maybe I'm wrong. But this strike has been a long-time coming, especially with what's been going on post-COVID outbreak. Animation was one of the few things that could resume production during lockdowns and make Hollywood money while everything else was on hold, and yet this is how the industry treats the medium? Yeah, something's gotta give...

I'll take that conversation over "waaah KFP4 Trolls 3 Sea Monster Girl MID, what happened Dreamworks you used to be soooo awesome ?!??"

[beardedmrbean]

Oh sorry I for the back to back

Actually tv was airing reruns of good times once so my mom put it on and I watch a couple of episodes. I mentally went OH NOOOOOOOO halfway through the trailer when realizing what it was sequel about

THERE A FUCKING REASON IM MORE EXCITED ABOUT PLAYING AS YASUKE IN A HISTORICAL FICTION THAT CENTER AROUND A ILLUMINATI WAR AND MOST GODS ARE ACTUALLY MISREMEMBERING OF A HIGHLY ADVANCED CIVILIANIZATION THAT CREATED HUMANITY FOR SLAVE LABOR 75,000 YEARS AGO

Ugh sorry for the detour, but for why Ghettos now means bad neighborhoods. I remember something

So in 7th grade , a daughter of two holocaust survivors told her parents stories. She mentioned that they immigrant to Chicago

So my theory is that when holocaust survivors was telling how they were treated prior to the Final Solution. That people especially black Americans might have started to see parallels to how African Americans were treated in America

Of course not 1:1 but we all know how Jim crows America was

Oh and that pos racist urban planner Robert Moses that lead to the huge race issues of neighborhoods

And the projects, yeah the crime ridden place that was intentionally there to keep my community as animals

Of course not every black person live in it. But there a reason why a lot of black Americans including the lunatic Kanye in his songs, reference Chicago as Chiraq

Oh sorry detour, but remember the OG candyman? I seen people ask why it focus on a white woman…holy fuuuuuuuck

🤔

Could been that a lot of middle classic Americans especially fans of the horror genre wouldn’t know about the terrible situations of the Chicago projects so they made a stand in for the majority white consumers?

Ugh don’t get me started on the remake…where they tackle police brutality… in Chicago… a Democrat and heavily black politicians voted city.

Source: I live in the Chicago area and one it suburbs. I can see the Sears tower (I will call its Willis when I’m dead) in the distance when I use the backroads

Sorry now it remind the issues with the black panther movies. Yeah it was made by race obsessed people but also it was written as a Black ™️ movie

A prime example is Killmonger backstory, yeah it was wrong for the wakandans to abandoned to the streets of Oakland….

But the problem is the vast majority of MCU consumers were white middle class people and even I had to explain some shit to a Indian mutual

Coogler forgot that media intentionally turns a blind eye to black on black crime now and how horrific black inner cities still are. So most people wouldn’t know how crime ridden Oakland was. Okay okay they would, but a lot of the intentionally markers wouldn’t

But they sure as hell remember how evil the cia iiiiis!

Tangent, but why are black creators acting like the shitty made, poorly run projects integral to our communities?

They forced upon to use when we had very limited access to jobs and such. The whole guns, crack, and welfare system was created by racist politicians to ensure we ran back to arms for votes.

Shiiit, now I’m think about, the projects should been seen as modern plantations. Made to keep us away from the others. And so many black kids who could have been doctors, lawyers, and more. All gun down in crossfires or force to join gangs in order to survive….

Oh sorry I for the back to back Actually tv was airing reruns of good times once so my mom put it on and I watch a couple of episodes. I mentally went OH NOOOOOOOO halfway through the trailer when realizing what it was sequel about

Ya, Jeffersons, Good Times, and 227 were all great shows that need to be left alone, Sanford and Son too, they're trading on the name without actually honoring the place it came from, it's a shame.

You're sort of right on Ghetto

How America's Ugly History of Segregation Changed the Meaning of the Word 'Ghetto'

Short short version is the black community adopted the term since it matched up well enough to their circumstances with forced segregation looks like as early as 1910

Oh sorry detour, but remember the OG candyman? I seen people ask why it focus on a white woman…holy fuuuuuuuck

Never saw it, but I will take your word for it on all that stuff

Sorry now it remind the issues with the black panther movies. Yeah it was made by race obsessed people but also it was written as a Black ™️ movie A prime example is Killmonger backstory, yeah it was wrong for the wakandans to abandoned to the streets of Oakland…. But the problem is the vast majority of MCU consumers were white middle class people and even I had to explain some shit to a Indian mutual

Didn't see that one either, but I did gather that it was not quite what it should have been, unfortunately there is only so much time in a movie so gotta leave it up to the viewers in places I guess, also I imagine there were plenty of people that didn't care anyhow they just wanted to see the people fighting and all the cool gadgets and such.

Coogler forgot that media intentionally turns a blind eye to black on black crime now and how horrific black inner cities still are. So most people wouldn’t know how crime ridden Oakland was. Okay okay they would, but a lot of the intentionally markers wouldn’t

You should look up the angry reviews about that one episode of Family Guy, lot of people upset at the 'family guy 'nobody cares about black on black crime' line at the end.

Tangent, but why are black creators acting like the shitty made, poorly run projects integral to our communities? They forced upon to use when we had very limited access to jobs and such. The whole guns, crack, and welfare system was created by racist politicians to ensure we ran back to arms for votes.

because people continue to consume it so there's not much motivation to change the formula, need to bring back George and Weezie, Jefferson's was a good show, Sinbad was a good show, hell even Martin wasn't half bad.

They'd hate The Jefferson's now because meritocracy is bad somehow, but how else are you supposed to move on up to the east side, to a deluxe apartment in the sky, at least most people have to work for it, especially if they started at the bottom.

Can't tell people that they have some responsibility for where they land in life now it would seem.

Shiiit, now I’m think about, the projects should been seen as modern plantations. Made to keep us away from the others. And so many black kids who could have been doctors, lawyers, and more. All gun down in crossfires or force to join gangs in order to survive….

See above about The Jefferson's and previous comments about 'crab in a bucket/work 3 times as hard'

You want a media conspiracy there you go.

[otakween]

Digimon Hurricane Touchdown / Transcendent Evolution! The Golden Digimentals (2000)

This was weird...I didn't really like it. It was pretty at least?? Okay pretty might be an understatement, some scenes were aesthetic af. It was just the writing, pacing and inconsistencies in the animation that tanked it for me. I got so bored that I took an hour break 30 minutes in lol. I thought I'd be mad that they cut these movies (OVAs?) up for an American release, but now I'm thinking that might have been the right move...

Digimon introduced: Gummymon, Chocomon, Terriermon, Lopmon, Antylamon, Wendigomon, Gargomon, Kerpymon, Seraphimon, Magnadramon, Rapidmon,

Notes:

-Dang those titles are long! I wonder why Digimon has this weird history of having movies that aren't really movies. I read on some wiki that the Ojamajo Doremi movie was sandwiched in between the two parts which is...a choice (kinda reminds me of the Angela Anaconda thing lol).

-I liked Wallace's design, voice and concept (even though he couldn't pronounce his own name lol), but I didn't really like him being so aggressively flirty with the girls? Felt awkward and forced. Also, Western stereotypes strike again!

-How could Wallace possibly not know about the digital world by now?

-The concept of twin digimon is really cool and Terriermon and Chocomon are adorable. I liked Terriermon's voice a lot. I thought he might be voiced by a young child, but I guess his VA was in her 20s...

-I'm kinda confused about who worked on this. There were times when it seemed like there was an attempt to mimic Mamoru Hosoda's style but then it would switch to a style with really heavy line-art that was like almost the opposite style. Also, they would sometimes freeze frame randomly or use shots from the show which was jarring for a theatrical release.

(Look at this cursed Patamon with lips!)

-Some of the best shots in this were close-ups of things (a digivice, a mouse, an airplane, etc.) Like whoever did the background/object artwork really popped off.

-Mimi's star hair looked so good in this style! It looked awkward in the TV series but here they made the stars kind of holographic and dialed back the colors.

-Literally every new digimon introduced in this was great, but I feel they kinda blew the Seraphimon and Magnadramon introduction. They appeared for like two seconds and didn't do much. If you're going to introduce digivolutions that epic, they should probably take the final blow in my opinion (in other words, they should have just been introduced some other time).

-A Wendigo reference!? In MY Japanese cartoons?? I guess they did their North America research...His design is pretty wild, but I like it.

-Not a whole lot of explaining going on this movie. Chocomon "disappeared one day" and then reappears as Wendigomon and is all confused. Where did he go? Why did they treat all of Chocomon's digivolutions as some kind of disease? Usually when digimon digivolve they call them by their new names, but they never used anything but Chocomon. Were the "bad digivolutions" kind of like Skullgreymon?

-Terriermon's ears are spectacular. I love that they drag on the ground and that they puff up when he flies. A+ mon design.

-I kinda wanted to laugh when Wallace was like "there are digimon in Japan!?" But then I remember "digimon" is a portmanteau of two English words so there's that. Why do his digimon mostly speak in Japanese? For convenience I guess, but it's confusing...

-Seeing Hikari and Takeru ride Amtrak was a hoot. Also, I think this is my first time hearing Denver mentioned in an anime (my friend used to live there lol).

-Why did this billboard look so weird?

(It looks like an animation/editing mistake?)

-The whole "random American movie character" thing reminded me of Melissa from the first My Hero Academia movie. I feel like anime has the tendency to go abroad when they want things to feel special.

-Kinda funny how the dub censors guns but then there are characters like Gargomon who literally has funs for hands. Good luck with that!

-Everyone's baby versions were adorable. I especially liked Daisuke's lack of teeth :)

-Did they break a rule at the end there with Chocomon's digiegg reappearing in the real world? Probably.

Yeah this plot was just...weird. And then there there were a bunch of drawn out scenes with no soundtrack and kinda creepy vibes. It just felt like they didn't know what they wanted to do with this one. Nice to look at, but left me kinda hollow.

[veronicaleighauthor]

“Queen Charlotte”: A Review

::there may be spoilers::

 Description:

We are one crown. His weight is mine, and mine is his…”

In 1761, on a sunny day in September, a King and Queen met for the very first time. They were married within hours.

Born a German Princess, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely intelligent… not precisely the attributes the British Court had been seeking in a spouse for the young King George III. But her fire and independence were exactly what she needed, because George had secrets… secrets with the potential to shake the very foundations of the monarchy.

Thrust into her new role as a royal, Charlotte must learn to navigate the intricate politics of the court… all the while guarding her heart, because she is falling in love with the King, even as he pushes her away. Above all she must learn to rule, and to understand that she has been given the power to remake society. She must fight—for herself, for her husband, and for all her new subjects who look to her for guidance and grace. For she will never be just Charlotte again. She must instead fulfill her destiny… as Queen.

Author Bio:

#1 New York Times bestselling author JULIA QUINN began writing one month after graduating from college and, aside from a brief stint in medical school, she has been tapping away at her keyboard ever since. Her novels have been translated into 43 languages and are beloved the world over. A graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, she lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest. 

Look for BRIDGERTON, based on her popular series of novels about the Bridgerton family, on Netflix.

 My Thoughts:

I recently won a copy of “Queen Charlotte,” from a Goodreads Giveaway, in return I’m giving an honest review. This book is a tv series tie-in; I haven’t watched the series (I haven’t watched any of the Bridgerton Series, though I have read five of the books) so I can’t comment on it. I can only offer my thoughts and feelings on the novel. Another thing I want to point out, and the author pointed this out too, this book is a work of fiction loosely inspired by a true story. Also, the whole Bridgerton Series – books and show – are a kind of fairytale au of the Regency era. The same could probably be said about “Queen Charlotte.”

Now, with all that in mind – the work of fiction inspired by a true story and the fairytale au of the era – I was able to go into it with an open mind. I only knew two things about King George III – that he was the king during the American Revolution and that during his reign, he went mad and his son ruled in place of him. I knew nothing of Queen Charlotte.

We’re introduced to both George and Charlotte on their wedding day; it’s an arranged marriage and they don’t meet until right before ceremony. They have a meet cute, sparks fly, and though there are challenges, you have a feeling of how it’s going to play out. But I was okay with that, the whole story worked for me as a romance. It’s a bodice ripper, so if you prefer clean fiction, or a faithful depiction of King George III and Queen Charlotte’s lives, this might not be for you.

I loved the king and queen’s relationship. They have chemistry, they complemented one another, and they truly lived out the vows they made. In this novel and in the Bridgerton universe, Queen Charlotte is a woman of color. It’s debated whether the historical figure was or not. From the portraits that exist of the queen, she could have been (I personally think she was). History is often whitewashed. King George III’s mental illness is depicted and it is heart wrenching to read how the mentally ill were viewed and treated. The treatments given in that era were basically torture. The novel doesn’t lie – true love doesn’t cure mental illness. The best that could be done in the 18th and 19th centuries is offer unconditional love and understanding. I think that’s what I liked best about “Queen Charlotte.” It doesn’t sugarcoat; it shows how an 18th century couple might cope with an arranged marriage, racism, and mental illness.

If you like the Bridgerton books or the tv series, you’ll probably like “Queen Charlotte.” I, for one, preferred this book to the others I read.

[ekebolou]

...I got tagged in a thing. I never get tagged in a thing! So I’m going to do the thing.

8 Shows to Know Me By...

Okay, so this is pretty hard, but I’m going with some instinct here... Like @afhenley​ said, I also had a regulated TV watching childhood. And I got sucked in to anime right when it was becoming much more widely available in the US, so I had that nice weird mix of bootlegs sourced from older dudes who suspiciously only had friends in highschool and below and like... TV dubs.

But I guess I should start with

Gundam Wing

DID YOU GUESS THAT THE LEGACY ANIME ABOUT MILITARY PHILOSOPHY AND INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT THAT WAS ALSO A WEE BIT GAY WOULD BE INFLUENTIAL? well then you get a cookie.

The Adventures of Pete & Pete

I don’t know if it’s actually a forgotten classic, but it feels like a forgotten classic and I own the DVD sets. Grunge-alternative influenced, slightly gonzo semi-fantasy about suburbia’s inherent nonsensicalness and... friendship.

The Haunting of Hill House

Blatantly stealing this from Henly to appear somewhat modern. But also I loved this show. It’s a good example of how fundamentally different something something can be when you change the message, but that doesn’t necessarily make it bad. I am still waiting for a really good adaptation of the actual story though. Very happy to rewatch this a million times in the meantime.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Yes, I chose the seasons 3-6 image over the station because I wanted people who weren’t familiar to be able to see the CAST. the CAAAAST. So I watched a bit of Star Trek as a youth as reruns came on TV, but did a watch through of all the series from TOS until Enterprise killed me. DS9 is so good. So good.

Horatio Hornblower

Honestly some of this is just stuff I own. This is an obvious choice when you realize I am into maritime history. and a huge nerd. The pictures are getting bigger because I don’t know what I’m doing.

Ren & Stimpy

LOOK, it was either this or Beavis and Butthead, and I think this one edges them out because I wasn’t technically allowed to watch MTV late enough to catch Beavis and Butthead. You want to talk about problematic creators? here’s a way to, through what was genuinely a discomfiting and absurdist and hilarious show. As far as I know Mike Judge is cool. But I did watch this one more. and quote it occasionally.

Queer as Folk (American version)

Yet another show I watched when I wasn’t supposed to watching TV and only when special preview weekends or deals meant that our cable company was carrying it for free. But I met nice people through Queer as Folk and learned a lot and also saw a lot of penises. or very nearly. it was hard to tell through the snow.

PBS Mystery

Probably part of why I love Edward Gorey (or at least, a large part of why I’m familiar with him - I might love him because his work is great). This is a weird one because it was kind of treat, but I also kind of hated it? Like, you never knew what you would get, and it was cool, and I loved watching it with my Mom, but it was never regular thing and sometimes my little kid brain just wasn’t turning at the rpm that let me enjoy it.

Aaaaaan... I dunno who I should tag. I don’t know who’s already done it, and who would be interested, but I guess it is fun? and I am curious. Always, tags are optional - no need to respond if you’re tagged, but if you want to: @nanavn​, @dharmagun​, @astronicht​, @leakingoven​, @marisolinspades​

[pradagymbag]

Providence’s own Beverly Hills - Unpacking the Lore Behind College Hill Homes

Welcome to my architecture limited series where I review homes. In this installation we will be exploring College Hill, located in Providence, Rhode Island. A bright neighborhood whose heart is kept beating by nepo-babies, and Thayer Street. In this review I am going to be featuring some of my recent homes of interest. These are the ones I often walk by and wonder, who the hell is living in there, and what’s their story? (please forgive the photos being taken at different times)

For starters, the first house I see when I reach the top of the hill. I know this is a shot from the side but this is my usual perspective and it’s important. This house may as well not have a front face and if it does I don’t want to see it because it will ruin the narrative I have in my head. Okay so obviously...it’s haunted. I mean you can tell even with the sun shining and blue skies. I say this because it reminds me so much of the house from the first season of American Horror Story. (a show that had a very drastic impact on me when I watched it at an alarmingly young age. I imagine a family with a really unique vibe lives inside even though it’s probably college students.

Okay this house is actually haunted. And not because I made it up as a result of a TV show that traumatized me as a child. Believe it or not, one of my Dear friends' mothers is a ghost hunter! When she came up to Providence for a visit a few months ago she treated us to a private ghost tour of Benefit Street. Apparently Providence has a very rich history when it comes to ghosts and things of that nature. I pass this house pretty often and I always remember it from the tour. Something about paintings moving or they can hear a girl singing. I love it though because it has those funky trees out front and something about the layout and geometry of it scratches an itch in my brain.

This is a haunted house. Just kidding hahaha imagine? This is actually my neighbors house and I look at it everyday wishing it was mine because who wouldn’t want this perfect little pink house. In my mind an older woman who is a retired artist lives here. She’s married but she and her husband kind of do their own thing. The kids have been out of the house for years. The side of their house that faces mine has a little bird in the window. I’m not sure what it’s made out of but it always catches me off guard because it looks so real. They always have the curtains drawn so I have no idea what the inside looks like. For some reason when I picture the inside the lights are never on and there’s blankets hanging from the ceiling. It’s very soft gray and solemn inside despite the bright pink exterior. Not in a sad way though just like insanely chill, quiet grandma vibes.

Okay the finale, the Old Stone Bank house. Rumor has it this house was purchased by a doctor a few years ago. Ever since I found this out I’ve been obsessed with this property. Whenever I walk by (which is everyday) I spiral fantasizing about the happenings inside. Surely the owners must be super gross rich. I assume they only come by the “house” when Providence is warm and all the college students have gone home for the season. When they aren’t sleeping in the vault I assume they’re staying in one of their many other properties. I can’t even begin to imagine the family dynamics here and I think that may be for the best. There seems to be little crafts made by children hanging in the window which compliments the solid stone columns really well. Overall, thinking about the lore of this building puts me into psychosis because I’m too poor to comprehend it.

[broomchickabroom]

Ten Good Things in 2023

Thanks @lantur !

Book Clubs! I was (am) part of a truly absurd number of book clubs this year—two for work (my department and the larger corporate group), and one with a couple of friends from high school who are VORACIOUS readers and regularly are like “we can read three books this month!” With a couple of exceptions, I read ALL of the books for all of these book clubs, and ended up having consumed significantly more nonfiction than I usually do. I read about social justice, a significant amount about mental health, team building, and self improvement. Oh, and AIDS—I read a 600 page (densely printed) book about the AIDS crisis, and feel like I took an entire class on it—I understand so much more about that era in American (and global) history. 

Marriage! Alex and I both really enjoyed the influx of loved ones that the leadup to the wedding produced. I had a SPECTACULAR time at my bachelorette party, and the wedding day was so much fun. It feels like my love for Alex has just grown—it happened once when he first moved in, and then just being “husband” and “wife” didn’t change day to day life, but it feels so much more settled in love—like—secure and kind. I am very happy.

Meds.  I have been on Zoloft for nearly a whole year, and was able to reduce my prescription to a half dose this year, which removed some of the side effects that I didn’t like much. It feels great to be equalizing emotionally, and I keep hitting goalposts that remind me of how far I’ve come like “hey, in January of last year I felt AWFUL when we had no sun for a whole week and this year it only bothered me in passing!”

Mom getting a MN condo.  Right before the wedding, my mom bough a condo in Minnesota which seems like such a ridiculous extravagance, but it’s made it a lot easier to have out-of-town guests (including my mom). People can stay longer and have their own space which makes for such a fun visit!

Making clothes! I got really into making clothes from scratch this year, and while I’m not very good at it yet, I really enjoy the process—from picking fabric and patterns to the small successes while I’m working on new things!

Friends, beloved friends! I was able to spend a lot of really quality time with friends this year and enjoyed every minute of it!

Intentional downtime. I picked up two TV shows that I’m watching independently at my pace and have really been enjoying—it’s nice to feel like I’m taking charge of the feeling that I’m always behind all of the pop culture that everyone else is experiencing! 

Getting more comfortable being alone. Before my current household setup, I spent a lot more time with my roommates, and was basically never alone or far from the action which I really liked. Now my husband and roommate spend most of their time upstairs during evening downtime which has been a hard transition for me, and resulted in some bad self talk and feeling lonely. I’m not totally adjusted yet, but I’ve been working really hard on being okay with the alone time, and practicing looking forward to it rather than letting it feel sad!

Less scrolling. I cut out about 50% of the time that I used to spend scrolling on Tumblr, fanfiction sites, and social media sites (thus the month later response to Lantur’s prompt :)). I still get plenty, but it’s nice to realize that I haven’t really been on the computer/phone outside of work in a couple of days now and then. 

Taking out all of the tools I need before I start a project. Lol, right? Right. I am 3x as quick and productive if I do all of the walking around and gathering tools before I start something, and having the correct tools makes a project so much easier. This is a small part of a larger personal project where I force myself to plan more than I ever have before—i.e., less winging it. Most of the time. I still get to wing it sometimes, as a treat. :)

[cbrownjc]

Also, let's just note the elephant in the room that "Maitre" is just French for "Master." And that there is just a loaded history behind any black American being forced to call someone that, period.

Especially given how, just last season Claudia was openly and directly mocking Louis, via them talking in their minds to each other, about how -- in her eyes -- Louis was treating Lestat like he was their "Massa" and declaring that she and Louis were both just Lestat's slaves (in episode 1x06).

And now here Claudia is, only just 5-6 years removed from all of that, and . . .

If Armand was still white in the TV show this would be even more notably pointed. But even without that, and as it is, Armand showed no inclination or desire to tell Claudia to stop calling him that, as he did for Louis at the end of episode 2x02.

But it does tell me this show, again, isn't afraid to go to places like this.

And I admit I've already been wondering before this if the show would have Armand -- not just a former child sex slave, but now a brown POC one at that -- call Roman Marius "Master" when we get to all of that backstory. And now I do think the show will . . . though in Italian I supposed (which, looking it up, would be "Maestro").

Okay but I don't see enough people talking about the "hazing" ? period Claudia did for the theater. I mean calling her puce is one thing but the whole "eyes down" and armand talking to her this way in her own house?

I can't even start with the whole maitre thing, claudia girl where is that pride that wanted to burn lestat?!!!

I found the "puce" thing not half as bad as the "eyes down", which may be a personal thing because I think the "puce" was almost an endearment, but the whole thing turned my stomach.

And had, unfortunately, the anticipated ending -.-

I said it before, when the OST came out, them having her be "Baby Lou".... fuck.

And now she's in it. And I think deep, deep down Claudia knows how this will end, and I think that might be one of the reasons why the whole thing with Madeleine happens. (Not the sole reason, obviously. But if Claudia were happy she would not search for more.)

And yes, the maître thing... the show is making it a lot clearer that Armand is the puppet master than it may seem at times in the book. Which is good, I guess, given how some things just fly over peoples heads, but of course it comes at the price of subtlety.

But the red flags have been waving like crazy this season, that's for sure.

[odinsblog]

Don’t fool yourselves, tankies, Putin and the Russian government are every bit as terrible as anything you hate about America. Homophobic, transphobic, pro-Trump, and racist af. And every bit as capitalistic. Putin and his cronies are all billionaires.

The video below shows Russian state tv (their nationalized Fox News) and how very much they are like conservatives and Republicans. It’s a little over three minutes long, but please watch it:

Pandering to theocracy and Christofascists, invoking a “holy war” against Ukraine, likening Putin to a Godlike figure (authoritarianism much?), the whole “traditional” “Christian” “family values” rhetoric, homophobia, demonizing and dehumanizing their enemies into subhuman things that aren’t worthy of life, denigrating Ukrainian culture and history, and sO much worse…

Look, I’m Black. I remember seeing those videos of how shitty those Ukrainian and Polish border guards were treating Black students who were fleeing war. That was wrong and inexcusable. Period. But you know where those Black students weren’t fleeing to? They were not fleeing to the “safety” of Russia. And they didn’t go to Russia to complete their studies in the first place. Why?? I mean, if Russia is so pure and if Putin is so good, why tf didn’t they go to Russia in the first place?? Why would they have gone to Ukraine if it was full of Nazis?? Why didn’t they run to Putin to (lol) “save” them from the Nazis???

And JFC don’t even get me started on what they’re doing to Brittney Griner, a Black, openly lesbian woman. For cannabis oil! Just like American conservatives & neoliberals would treat her here at home, if given half a chance.

And, when Putin invaded them, Crimea wasn’t in NATO, and Ukraine wasn’t in NATO. Putin started these wars. Not NATO and not Ukraine. If you believe that invading and going to war with another country is okay because you’re afraid of what they might do, then you’re every bit as imperialistic and jingoistic as Benjamin Netanyahu or any American President.

And, if you believe that ALL Ukrainians are Nazis, then congratulations—you’re stupid af and very easily manipulated. I’m going to need you to please explain to me how the allll of the Jewish residents currently being bombed in Odesa are Nazis.

Putin’s army is mass bombing innocent civilians, raping people, and committing horrific war crimes. Because what? Because Putin was allegedly “afraid” they were all Nazis? Or, because Putin didn’t like that sovereign nations were talking to countries he didn’t like?? It’s straight up imperialism. It’s naked colonialism.

Anyway, this was something that came up recently, and I just wanted to take a moment to say I’m old, and Russia hasn’t been a “communist” country since almost before I was born, and to tell tankies to fuck all the way off.

[edgepunk]

The Witcher Netflix Rant from your local frustrated Slav I cannot tell you how tired and frustrated I am by TWN and its treatment of Slavic people. An actual Polish man has pitched the show to Netflix, multiple other producers of Slavic descent have been alienated and felt like they didn't belong there because of how they have been treated, then ultimately left the production that has been handed over to a literal Karen that doesn't give a shit about it. The show has removed every instance of Slavic(mainly Polish)/other European (Germanic, Nordic) influences, cultural significance and turned it into an uninspired, boring, muddy fantasy. Hell, I have tons of criticisms about the games, but at least they kept the Central-Eastern European influences and, despite TW being a dark fantasy, weren't scared to make the games look bright and colorful. You'd think that Girlboss Lauren and her posse would put some effort into representing the cultural influences since the games pretty much got the series popular with the blend of different Central-Eastern European (mainly Polish, obviously) cultures and the usage of Slavic folk music thanks to Percival. A lot of the themes in the books draw from Poland's history, which also have been lost in the show (here is a post that's written by an actual Polish person and explains it better than I could since I'm not actually Polish, ya know). All of that has been lost, both the writing and aesthetics lack the cultural and historical significance that has influenced the world of The Witcher, because the showrunners are a bunch of Brits and USAmericans who aren't willing to put any effort into trying to understand the history and culture. They just want to make the next GoT, which,, huh? GoT ended up like it did, but to give them some credit, in the beginning the writers mostly stuck to the books instead of making a badly written Wattpad fanfiction from the get-go.

And it's possible for a western person to try to understand the circumstances, look at Craig Mazin, the man who directed HBO Chernobyl. Of course it's dramatized, of course they added some things that didn't actually happen and a few things were inconsistent. But you can clearly see in the production of the show that they put a lot of effort and interviewed people from Ukraine. Not sure if it's true, but I've seen somewhere (or was it a podcast?) that they gave the scripts to some Ukrainian people who were alive during the Soviet Union and asked them to correct the dialogues to make them sound more authentic, closer to how people adressed each other during the USSR (and how Eastern Slavs adress each other since it's a little different than western people do, including us Western Slavs, here is a nifty post explaining it if you're interested).

Can't speak for all Slavs, but the overall reaction has been positive from the people I talked to and my older family member. Note that a lot of "older" people here have been born pre '89 (that's when the USSR fell apart, the disaster happened in April '86), so the majority of them lived through the disaster. The biggest criticism people had that they turned Dyatlov into too much of a villain. when in reality he was way calmer during the night the disaster happened. Not to mention Mazin had it more difficult since he was adapting a story from real life that affected thousands upon thousands people. Mazin is a westener, he could've just shrugged it off and said "eh who cares about these filthy Eastern Euro people" but he and his team went out of their way to actually approach the victims, read several books written by people who actually lived through the disaster, that affected them and their families to make the story more authentic and respectful. Now, why can't Miss Lauren and her posse do it with a fantasy setting? Because they don't care. The only instance of "Slavic influence" (using that term very loosely) in the show is during the Striga episode when they mention a "vukodlak" which literally translates to "werewolf" so like,,, eh. It's still a werewolf, just a different version. I'm sure the writers were patting themselves on the back for including that word they found on the werewolf Wiki page. It would've been so nice to see a Slavic piece of media make it to Hollywood, but you see how that ended up. We barely get any recognition and if there is a Slavic character in a western production they're always: an assassin, gopnik, Seksi Female Spy that falls in love with the American, thief, mob boss, and I could go on. They never get the language right, because all Slavs speak botched Russian, right? All of us are named Anton, Ivan, Nikita, Natasha or Svetlana. And there are other mythical creatures besides Baba Yaga which Hollywood can't get right either. And it bleeds into the fandom too, all the modern AUs take place in the US or the UK. When other Slavic people criticize the show for its westernization they are told by westerners to shup up or they're "haters" (I do actually hate the show and the corpo bullshit Netflix is trying to pull here so,,, you can come at me all you want lol) tl;dr: The Witcher was the perfect opportunity for Slavs to have something positive in Hollywood, but it got doomed the moment it was handed to an USAmerican woman who doesn't understand the cultural influences and has zero interest in doing proper research. I probably would've forgiven her and her team if they actually tried, but they didn't. But seeing how other cultures that aren't USAmerican are being treated in movies and TV shows it shouldn't surprise me. Also I feel like I have to clarify - this has nothing to do with the actors, this is purely on the writers, the background and costume designers that put zero effort into researching the different cultures (not just Slavic, but I am Slavic so I wrote this from my perspective) that influenced The Witcher universe.

[spuddlespudloves]

Fuck Shit Up - Fiction Edition

A non- comprehensive list of shows/films/books that get the revolutionary juices flowing (arbritrarily divided into sad vs empowering categories by me, and in no particular order)

Feel free to add to the list - particularly content created by women of colour and non-England centric stuff

FUCKING SHIT UP: we can and we WILL smash the system

Damnation (Netflix TV Series)- western meets antifash in this striker vs strike breaker epic. Great plots and characters and white supremacists getting shot in the head, what more can you want?

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - A++ cinematography, great action, and Charlize Theron for the gays

Snowpiercer (Netflix TV Series) - I enjoyed it and it's a fun premise about a class system running on a train which holds the last humans since everything froze over

Pride (2014) - feelgood movie of the century - miners, gays and gay miners solidarity - true story

Sorry to Bother You (2018) - a sureal masterpiece - watch it for a good mindfuck

Pose (FX TV Series) - an amazing look at 1990s New York ballroom culture - chef kissing noises

The Dispossesed (Ursula Le Guin) - sci-fi that plots out what an anarchist society might look like - there’s other books in the series too -  it takes a bit of getting into

Newsies (1992) - a musical about a newspaper boys strike - still not watched it so review tbd

Made in Dagenham (2010) - unions & 1960s costumes yes pls - a true story about a sewing machinist strike in the 1960s - take it with a pinch of salt

Brassed Off (1996) - a heartfelt tale about a fictional mining village in Barnsley towards the ‘inevitable’ end of the miners strikes - accents are surprisingly passable and there’s a young Ewan McGreggor to oggle

9 to 5 (1980) - Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin kidnap their boss and take control of their office. What more could you want?

The Parable of the Sower (Book) - an absolute classic by Octavia E. Butler, I'm really excited to read the sequel

Enola Holmes 2 (2022) - gets an honerable mention for the matchgirl strike scene

SHIT IS FUCKED UP: social realism and tough times

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist (Robert Noonan) - A fictionalised look at difficulties of working life in the early 1900s - he died of TB before he had finished editing it - it takes a bit of getting into

Love on the Dole (Walter Greenwood) - similar vibes to the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist but set in the 1930s in northern England - just found out there’s a film brb

The Plague (Albert Camus) - a very timely book about the rise of plague (and metaphorically fascism) in a town in Algiers in the 1940s  - only read if you want to feel validated in your mask wearing and antifascism

The Boys from the Blackstuff (BBC TV Series) - the stories of several tar layers dealing with working life and unemployed life in the 1970s/80s - dare you not to cry

The Handmaid’s Tale (Book or TV Show) - interesting look at ideas about how reproductive rights can fit into patriarchal systems

I, Daniel Blake (2016) - you will cry, and cry and cry again - a harrowing look at the brutality of the UK benefits system

Sorry We Missed You (2019) - another Ken Loach film about the brutal way delivery drivers are treated

Jude the Obscure (Thomas Hardy) - the king of depressing plotlines brings you his saddest book. This will fuck you up. Social mobility is a lie and you’re sad and alone in the world. Basically any other Hardy book is an equally good choice.

Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck ) - the king of depressing plotlines about the phalacy of the American Dream - again, social mobility is a lie and you’re sad and alone in the world- also recommend his other books such as the Pearl

Peterloo (2018) - an important telling of the Peterloo massacre, a significant moment in English worker’s history - a lot of the background is spelled out if you don’t know a lot of the history. It's a bit cheesy and heavy handed at times