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btsorpheus · 5 years ago

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(BTS (방탄소년단) '봄날 (Spring Day)' Official MV; Feb. 12, 2017.)

THE BANGTAN MYTH, II

In the context of the BTS Universe, the double could also represent the parallel universes that exist as a result of Jin’s Groundhog Day-style time travel. Though the implication is that they all exist in a linear timeline that Jin travels back through to a specific point, there still technically existed at some point a version of, for example, Jungkook who died.

(A diagram explaining how the Save Me webtoon’s time travel operates.)

Multiple versions of the BTS characters exist within the same work--not unlike how multiple versions of the BTS members exist within our world, within the public and the private spheres.

6. Black Swan

The idea of the sinister double culminates in BTS’s music video for “Black Swan.” Though it’s more of a performance-based video than a narrative one, the visuals are haunted by shadows and mirrors.

(BTS (방탄소년단) ‘Black Swan’ Official MV; Mar. 20, 2020)

As Suga raps onstage, his shadow (which, in the behind-the-scenes, is revealed to be a projection of another member) moves in an entirely different way. The same happens to RM as he raps, the shadow on the ceiling above him dancing even as he simply remains stationary.

(BTS (방탄소년단) ‘Black Swan’ Official MV; Mar. 20, 2020)

The shadow even faces the wrong way. There’s an obvious disconnect between the rappers and their shadows, but they barely acknowledge one another.

The same image repeats itself with Jin in front of a set of mirrors.

(BTS (방탄소년단) ‘Black Swan’ Official MV; Mar. 20, 2020)

As Jin turns to face the camera, his multiple reflected selves don’t move. This seems to be more case of the Good Twin and Bad Twin. The eerie disconnect between the parallels continues but unlike with Eurydice (as exemplified by Judy in Vertigo), they don’t occupy the same space. The self and the reflection coexist as separate entities--an Orpheus and Aristaeus.

Where Eurydice could not exist with multiple selves occupying her body, so too must Orpheus and Aristaeus come into conflict.

The tension is echoed in the violent lyrics for “Black Swan,” wherein Suga and RM describe a “first death” due to a lack of artistic inspiration. But it’s more than just a quiet death--some outside force is actively “killin’ [them]” as, even still, they demand someone “film it now.”

It’s the conflict between the artist and the idol--something they describe in their aptly named song, “Idol.” Though in “Idol” these two identities seem reconcilable (“You can call me artist / You can call me idol / .... / I know what I am”), here BTS seem to have realized how being an idol can harm the artist.

Again, instead of producing art for art’s sake, there’s a need for everything--even their “first death”--to be commodified. A large part of being an idol is being constantly accessible to fans. Because that isn’t realistic, they instead film enough content for nearly 100 37-minute episodes of their V Live series BTS Run, several docuseries (Burn the Stage, Bring the Soul, and the soon-to-be-released Break the Silence), their YouTube clip series called Bangtan Bombs, among appearances on reality and variety shows and commercials.

They are constantly called upon as entertainers, a role that must be exhausting on its own. That they need to produce art atop all these responsibilities makes this “first death” seem less surprising.

Interestingly, Aristaeus could be described as an idol. As an agricultural god, he would have had worshippers and rituals dedicated in his name for success with crops (and particularly bees, for whom he was a patron). Orpheus, the great mythic musician-hero, could easily be described as an artist.

The conflict between idol and artist can be represented by their mythic forebears, Aristaeus and Orpheus. Even the way idols’ public images are tightly controlled reflects the way Aristaeus complies with the gods’ instructions--versus Orpheus the artist, who wields his music in unruly, revolutionary ways.

Just as BTS embody the multiplied, dying Eurydice, so too do they embody the conflicting Orpheus and Aristaeus.

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Cursed Films Season 2 Confirmed by Shudder

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The thing about curses is that when you obsess over them, their omens appear to multiply. Such is the case for Cursed Films, the cult docuseries on the Shudder streaming service in which some of the most famous “curses” associated with popular Hollywood films are re-explored and in some cases recontextualized. The series, which is one of the streaming service’s biggest hits is also coming back for more, with Shudder announcing Cursed Films Season 2 is a go Thursday afternoon.

“Season one of Cursed Films captivated audiences with its thoughtful but unflinching exploration of the often tragic events surrounding some of history’s most notorious productions, becoming an instant hit for us and earning rave reviews from both critics and viewers,” Shudder General Manager Craig Engler said. “Since its debut, the number one question we’ve been asked is: Will there be more, and how soon? We’re delighted to say that we’re partnering with Jay [Cheel] once again for a second season of Cursed Films that will be even bigger and better than the first.”

Jay Cheel is the writer, director, and executive producer behind the first season of the series. Taking a slightly more skeptical eye than a lot of televised productions about Hollywood “curses,” Cheel reexamined the tragedies and rumors associated with classic Hollywood productions like The Exorcist, The Omen, Poltergeist, The Crow, and Twilight Zone: The Movie.

“Filming season one of Cursed Films was an amazing experience,” Cheel said in a statement, “so I’m thrilled to have the chance to interview a new group of talented filmmakers and film critics while exploring the stories behind five more legendarily ill-fated film productions. This time around we’ll be heading outside of North America for a few episodes, which will not only widen the scope of the series but offer an exciting collection of stories connected to a diverse group of movies.”

Some of the stories Cheel revisited in series are well-worn for horror movie hounds, such as the fact The Exorcist set caught fire or that Gregory Peck was almost onboard a plane that tragically crashed before going to film The Omen. But some of the better elements of the new series were how Cheel was able to debunk or challenge the gossip mill that surrounds these pictures. When Den of Geek had the opportunity to speak with Cheel last spring, he spoke candidly about getting Craig Reardon, the special effects makeup artist on Poltergeist, to talk about the real skeletons used in that film’s climactic sequence.

“When I first reached out to [Reardon], he was definitely not interested,” Cheel told us. “His initial response was that he would sue me personally if we even mentioned his name in the series… When people are suggesting choices he made could have potentially led to the deaths of actors involved in the production, he takes extreme personal offense to that.” But in the end, Reardon “saw it as some cathartic opportunity to just lay it all out there.”

You can watch that resulting interview on the first season of Cursed Films, which is available on Shudder now.

The post Cursed Films Season 2 Confirmed by Shudder appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/33yQOv2

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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midewestcoast · 5 years ago

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The only thing I want to talk about is ‘Cheer’ on Netflix

It’s “Friday Night Lights” meets MTV’s “True Life” multiplied by Cirque du Soleil. This six-episode docuseries about the Navarro College cheer team will make you cry, smile, grimace and, yes, cheer.

source https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/25/entertainment/cheer-netflix/index.html

from WordPress https://midewestcoast.wordpress.com/2020/01/25/the-only-thing-i-want-to-talk-about-is-cheer-on-netflix/

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bountyofbeads · 5 years ago

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The R. Kelly Story Is Bigger Than Most People Know

Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning elaborates on well-known allegations from last year’s documentary. It also incorporates, and interrogates, the assertions of the singer’s defenders.

By Spencer Kornhaber | Published January 2, 2020 1:01 PM ET | The Atlantic | Posted January 2, 2020 |

The first episode of Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning features two women who, unlike most of the women in the Surviving R. Kelly documentaries, are not reporting abuse by the star. Nor are they social commentators pondering why Kelly has gotten away with his alleged behavior for so long. They are, rather, R. Kelly’s former assistants, and they have thoughts on the first Surviving R. Kelly installments that aired a year ago. “The women I saw in the docuseries were the type of women that Robert would have picked,” says Lindsey Perryman-Dunn, who worked for Kelly from 1999 to 2007. “And you know what they’re upset about? That they didn’t get the limelight until they were on Lifetime television.” She closes her eyes and purses her lips: a face of sorry not sorry.

It’s a shocking moment. Last year’s Surviving R. Kelly vividly highlighted the names, faces, and stories of numerous women who say they were abused by Kelly, resulting in such accusations being taken more seriously by the public, the media, and even law enforcement. The singer is now in jail and awaiting trial on charges that include child pornography and witness tampering. And yet the follow-up to Kelly’s takedown gives airtime to people who believe his denial of all allegations against him. Perryman-Dunn’s twin sister, Jen Emrich, who also briefly worked for Kelly, speaks as well, to praise the social-media campaign that has harassed and posted private information about Kelly’s accusers. Perryman-Dunn then says this:

I feel that a victim of any crime needs to call 911. If you have been raped or victimized, you need to go to the emergency room immediately. You need to seek medical help. You need to see a psychologist. You need get an attorney involved. You need to sue. You need to take action. I believe in the American justice system. I do not believe in the justice system which is going on right now, which is just the public justice system.

That statement might make some sense on its face, but—as the documentary goes on to demonstrate—it’s incoherent in the context of the nearly three-decade Kelly scandal. In five episodes airing over three nights (starting tonight), Part II elaborates on known allegations, brings new ones to the forefront, unpacks the cultural context for abuse, and describes the reception to the documentary’s first edition. Moreover, it demonstrates that any “limelight” alleged victims receive is dangerous, that the American justice system often proves insufficient to stop serial abusers, and that no amount of evidence will lead certain people to condemn a culturally prominent predator.

Like its predecessor, the documentary is a piece of workmanlike TV that relies on restless editing, conspicuous background music, and repetition, with talking heads providing both sharp insight and familiar platitudes. Some of the alleged victims who participated in the first documentary have declined to sit for the second one and have alleged behind-the-scenes insensitivity by Lifetime’s team. Many of R. Kelly’s accusers, though, do return. There’s no denying the force of the material here nor of the ambitious, decades-spanning, multi-angle tale that the series tells.

One of the most wrenching anecdotes is that of Lanita Carter, who worked as Kelly’s hair braider in the early 2000s. The gig didn’t pay well and made great demands of her time, but Kelly’s celebrity was a currency of sorts. “I gained the respect of many people for doing his hair,” she says. “My family, they let me finish sentences when normally they didn’t really care what I had to say.” As she braided his hair, Kelly offered her praise and life advice, encouraging her to dream big and respect herself. She thought of him as a brother, she says. Then one day, according to Carter, Kelly demanded oral sex—and, when she resisted, he forced himself on her.

Carter describes the attack in painstaking, moving, and tearful detail. She affords the same level of attention and emotion to what happened next. She called a cousin of hers and asked him to beat up Kelly, but he told her that Kelly was too famous for such vigilante justice. So Carter called the police. An investigation resulted, but after a brutal round of questioning for Carter from the grand jury, the prosecutor assigned to the case suggested she seek a settlement. With what she says was reluctance, Carter followed that advice. She is now breaking the nondisclosure agreement she signed with Kelly because “money does not heal you,” she says. “Money does not cover up what you feel.”

Carter’s case, which occupies much of the show’s third episode, affords the documentary the chance to break down a host of issues that have enabled Kelly to continue operating despite allegations dating back to the early ’90s. Confidentiality agreements, settlement-hungry lawyers, the hesitation in the black community to involve law enforcement, the vagaries of the legal system, the way in which survivors of abuse are made to feel complicit, the way fame can lure vulnerable people: All of these issues get dissected by commentators and advocates whose interviews are interspersed among Carter’s. It’s notable, too, that Carter was 24 years old when she met Kelly and describes a very straightforward case of sexual assault. Her story thus defies the notion that Kelly only targets underage women (something he himself has suggested he has become more careful about doing over the years) or that he engages in unconventional-but-consensual relationships of dominance (the defense for his ongoing arrangements with Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary, whose families say they have been brainwashed).

Indeed, Part II portrays Kelly as an omnidirectional creep: accused of many disparate offenses that are united by a disregard for the humanity of those who he considers to be his playthings. Other allegations from the documentary include that Kelly made one of his so-called girlfriends sign a suicide pact with him in case he was ever jailed, and that he surreptitiously filmed his own brother having sex with a woman at his compound. But the larger point is about systems and culture. The first episode, the one featuring Perryman-Dunn and Emrich, might even strike some as strangely sympathetic to Kelly as it details the sexual abuse he himself suffered in childhood. It does so not to exculpate him but rather to show how sexual assault is a problem capable of multiplying itself over generations.

Substantial portions of the documentary also recount the fallout from the first Surviving R. Kelly: a gun threat at a screening attended by the alleged victims, online and physical harassment of the film’s participants, and Kelly’s public attempts at image rehabilitation even as police in multiple states filed new charges against him. The picture painted is of advocates, journalists, and newly empowered survivors of abuse pushing the culture in the direction of justice—but only haltingly, and with great resistance. “This is not about women finding our voices; we have always had our voices,” the #MeToo founder Tarana Burke says at one point. “This is about people’s ability to hear. We’ve just finally found a frequency that people can hear us.” That’s a precious achievement, clearly, but also a fragile one.

#sexually #sexualization #sex criminals #sex trafficking #sex crimes #me too movement #me too #me too campaign #r. kelly #surviving r. kelly #u.s. news

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