#sammi haney

[hbowar-bracket]

Albert Blithe 

Alex Penkala 

Alice 

Alton More 

Anna

Anthony 'Manimal' Jacks  

Antonio 'Poke' Espera  

Antonio Garcia 

Army Chaplain Teska  

Baba Karamanlis  

Bernard DeMarco   

Bill 'Hoosier' Smith  

Bill Leyden  

Billy Taylor  

Brad 'Iceman' Colbert  

Burton Christenson 

Capt. Andrew Haldane  

Carwood Lipton 

Charles (Chuck) Grant 

Charles Bean Cruikshank   

Charles K. Bailey  

Col. Robert Sink 

Cpt. Bryan Patterson  

Cpt. Craig 'Encino Man' Schwetje  

Cpt. Dave 'Captain America' McGraw  

Curtis Biddick  

Darrell (Shifty) Powers 

David Solomon  

David Webster 

Denver (Bull) Randleman 

Donald Hoobler 

Dr. Sledge  

Edward (Babe) Heffron 

Elmo 'Gunny' Haney  

Eric Kocher  

Eugene Jackson 

Eugene Roe 

Eugene Sledge   

Evan 'Q-Tip' Stafford  

Evan 'Scribe' Wright  

Everett Blakely   

Father John Maloney 

Floyd (Tab) Talbert 

Frank Murphy   

Frank Perconte 

Frederick (Moose) Heyliger 

Gabe Garza  

Gale 'Buck' Cleven  

George Luz 

Glenn Graham   

Gunnery Sgt. Mike 'Gunny' Wynn  

Gunnery Sgt. Ray 'Casey Kasem' Griego  

Hamm  

Harry Crosby  

Harry Welsh 

Helen  

Herbert Sobel 

Howard 'Hambone' Hamilton   

Jack Kidd  

James (Mo) Alley

James Chaffin  

James Douglass  

James Gibson   

James Miller 

Jason Lilley  

Jean Achten  

Jeffrey 'Dirty Earl' Carisalez  

John 'Bucky' Egan  

John Basilone  

John Christeson  

John D. Brady   

John Fredrick  

John Janovec 

John Julian 

John Martin 

Joseph 'Bubbles' Payne   

Joseph Liebgott 

Joseph Toye 

Josh Ray Person  

Katherine 'Tatty' Spaatz   

Ken Lemmons  

Lance Cpl. Harold James Trombley  

Larry Shawn 'Pappy' Patrick  

Leandro 'Shady B' Baptista  

Lena Basilone  

Lew 'Chuckler' Juergens  

Lewis Nixon 

Lt. Edward 'Hillbilly' Jones  

Lt. Henry Jones 

Lt. Nathaniel Fick  

Lt. Thomas Peacock 

Lynn (Buck) Compton 

Maj. 'Red' Bowman  

Maj. John Sixta  

Mama Karamanlis  

Manuel Rodriguez  

Mary Frank Sledge  

Meesh  

Merriell 'Snafu' Shelton  

Navy Hm2 Robert Timothy 'Doc' Bryan  

Neil 'Chick' Harding   

Norman Dike 

Old Man on Bicycle 

Patrick O'Keefe 

Phyllis  

R.V. Burgin   

Ralph (Doc) Spina 

Renee Lemaire 

Richard Winters 

Robert 'Rosie' Rosenthal   

Robert 'Stormy' Becker   

Robert (Popeye) Wynn 

Robert Leckie  

Rodolfo 'Rudy' Reyes  

Ronald Speirs 

Roy Claytor  

Roy Cobb 

Sammy   

Sgt. Mallard  

Sidney Phillips  

Stella Karamanlis

Teren 'T' Holsey  

Vera Keller  

Walt Hasser  

Walter (Smokey) Gordon

Warren (Skip) Muck 

Wayne (Skinny) Sisk 

Wilbur 'Runner' Conley  

William Guarnere 

William Hinton  

William J. DeBlasio  

William Quinn  

Winifred 'Pappy' Lewis  

[nysocboy]

Raising Dion: Gay kid with superpowers and his scoobies fight monsters, deal with a helicopter Mom

There are lots of movie and tv shows about teenagers discovering that they have superpowers, but not many about eigh-year olds. In Raising Dion, single mom Nicole must deal with her own problems and her son's superpowers, which draw the attention of the usual medical specialists, dark-government agencies, and monstrous supervillains.  Gavin Munn plays Dion's best bud.  To see if they have a gay-subtext relationship,  I reviewed Episode 2.2, about a new boy in school, figuring that this was the episode where Gavin first appears.

Prelude: Mom and Dion off a giant smokey monster in naked human form.  So far, so good.  The monster leaves, and a guy named Pat (Jason Ritter, left) is left (fully clothed).  He explains: "It took a whole day for my body to completely reform, and another to walk to the nearest town, where I decided to start a new life."

Scene 1: Zoom out: he's being interrogated, claiming that he did unspeakable things because the Crooked Man was controlling him.  And now it is controlling someone else!  Big Boss Suzanne doesn't believe him.

Scene 2: Guys in Hazmat suits investigating a giant crater.  There are footprints down there -- maybe the security guard. They call him to check, but he's at home with a disgusting pustulating growth on his neck.  They block off the crater so no school kids fall in.

At that moment, Mom and Dion (Ja'siah Young) drive past. Dion, now ten years old, is troubled, but Mom tells him that there is nothing to worry about.  He praises his superpower trainer, Tevin (Rome Flynn, top photo). Mom says "I'm glad you like him."  Next subject of conversation: the upcoming musical, which Esperanza is counting on him for.  Does Dion have a girlfriend?  TV writers are hesitant about portraying gay pre-teens or even teenagers, but they'll happily have toddlers expressing heterosexual desire.

Scene 3: At school, Dion is drawing in the abs on a muscular superhero.  Questioned by his friend Jonathan (Gavin Munn, already a regular), he claims that they are power stabilizers to help him go faster.  "Um...ok," Gavin says, rather obviously pretending not to know that Dion is gay.  I'd better take another peek at Dion's interest in his superpower trianer.

Their third friend Esperanza (Sammi Haney), who has a unique body type and uses a wheelchair, wants to know when they're going to investigate the mysterious crater. How about today after school?  Next, she has picked out the songs they're going to use for their auditions for the school musical.  BFF Jonathan says there's no need: he has his song picked out, and it's going to be awesome!

During class, the new kid Brayden (Griffin Robert Faulkner) keeps glaring at Dion. 

Scene 4: B Plot with Mom and her sister Kat discussing where their lives went wrong. 

Cut to school: after class, New Kid Brayden reads the minds of the kids around him, mostly criticizing him for being strange.  Dion and his buds friend-up to him: "I know how hard it is being the new kid."  They ask him to audition for the school musical.

Scene 5: Out in the hall, Crooked Man tells Brayden to "get him alone!", so he asks Dion for a tour of the school. BFF Jonathan wants to come, too, but Brayden mind controls him into agreeing that it should just be the two of them. 

They walk down a deserted hallway.  Dion asks Brayden why he moved to Atlanta.  "To find you."  I don't think he means "we were meant to be together."  

Crooked Man smokes out of Brayden and tries to grab Dion, but fails.

Scene 6:  After school.  Mom arrives to pick up Dion, but Esperanza stalls her, and at the crater, BFF Jonathan stalls the hazmat guy, so Dion can zap down and investigate. It's got glowing purple flowers with undulating stamens that reach out for him -- ulp, time to zap away! 

Scene 7:  At the Bio Institute, while Dion is changing into his superhero-workout clothes, his trainer Tevin asks Mom out.  I'll skip the Mom and Patrick plots.  Actually, they take a while.  I guess child stars can't work a lot of hours.

Scene 8: Brayden at home -- he lives by himself -- eating pizza.  He criticizes the Crooked Man smoke-monster for trying to attack Dion, when he wasn't strong enough.  "Well, he was just so close, and I couldn't help it."   Crooked Man is not quite as scary when he whines to a little kid.  

Next criticism: "Why are you using the weird flowers to build an army? Why can't you kill Dion all by  yourself, you wimp?"  Crooked Man doesn't answer; he just complements Brayden: "You're making me stronger.  Soon I will be ready." 

Next: when the job is done, will Crooked Man abandon Brayden?  "No, I'll keep you with me."  Ten to one he's lying.

Scene 8:  Dion in his room, reading comic books.  Why is there a map of Scandinavia on his wall?   Suddenly Brayden appears!  He explains: "I'm not actually in your room, I'm in your head.  I have powers, too."  While Dion stares, he says "I think we're going to be best friends."  Uh-oh, that sounds sinister.  The end.

The Dion plot is a little thin, so lI'll add a scene from the next episode:

The Musical Auditions:   Dion's main friends and Brayden compete for Dion's attention.  Brayden uses his superpowers to zap the two of them into a field (a boring field?  How about Disney World?). But Dion still chooses his main friends.  Brayden roils with jealousy.

The femme diector, Mr. Kwame (J. Harrison Ghee, who won a Tony for his role in Some Like It Hot ), uses the opening of Fame: "you got big dreams?  You want fame?  Well, fame costs, and here's where you start paying -- in sweat!" This is a fourth grade musical review, not Broadway!  

Ulp, all of the kids sing "Oh, Susannah!"  Badly!  "Fosse, forgive me!" Mr. Kwame cries. Then Esperanza does a mesmerizing performance of  "Beautiful Dreamer." 

Jonathan doesn't audition; he uses pyrotechnics and confetti cannons to push for the job of stage manager.  The end.

Beefcake: None, but I included the butts of Jason Ritter and Rome Flynn after the break.

Heterosexism: Just among the adults.  I researched the series, and none of the kids is involved in a heterosexual romance.

Gay Characters: One scene implying that Dion is gay.  There are probably hints in other episodes, too, but I doubt they go beyond.  

According to AfterEllen, Mom's sister Kat gets a "surprise! she's a lesbian" moment that is never referenced again.  There are rainbow posters around the school, but I can't read what they say.

Gay Subtext: Dion and Brayden have a kid version of a toxic romantic relationship, complete with gaslight, blaming, and abuse.  Nothing with Dion and Jonathan in this episode. 

My Grade:  Esperanza steals every scene, and Jonathan is amazing as a pre-teen operator.  Dion is the morose, troubled Peter Parker type.  Mom is definitely over protective.  Kid plotline: A-.

Overall, this seems to be Mom's story, about the problems of raising a "special needs" kid and dealing with the season's Big Bad.  Grown-up plotline: C+.

The nude photos are on Righteous Gemstones Beefcake and Boyfriends

[tordenvejr]

Raising Dion (S2 out on February 1st 2022)

[koringus]

[carolinahope]

The Best of 2019 - 10 female characters (8/10)

[brwn3y3dgirl]

Raising Dion Prod. Dennis Liu, Michael B. Jordan & MACRO Studios, 2019

[vintagewarhol]

[thesevenwondersofawitch]

"I'll send a storm to capture your heart and bring you home."

This series sure captured my heart, and has me wishing I was a kid again with magical powers and a snail.

[knighttimesong]

Esperanza played by Sammi Haney in Raising Dion is honestly the best character in any tv show and I now stan her

[gebo4482]

Raising Dion

Official Trailer

[jensencaraballo]

dopest dialogue recently written on disability&ableism 💯♿️

SS #1: I’m sorry for bailing on you and for being jealous of you and Jonathan.

SS #2: And for trying to fix you when you aren’t broken.

Dion Warren, played by Ja’Siah Young apologizing to his disabled best friend, Esperanza Jimenez (played by Sammi Haney), after Dion tried using his superpowers to “heal” Esperanza.

#RaisingDion #Dion #Esperanza #Disability #Ableism

[emetophobiareview]

Raising Dion

Season 1

Eps 1-6 SAFE!

Ep 7 SAFE! Child looks s*ck for most of episode, but never V*s. A couple mentions of P.

Eps 8-9 SAFE!

[disruptedvice]

This so much!!

Recently started watching Raising Dion on Netflix and was absolutely astounded by how it felt more real than any tv show I’ve ever seen.

Then I watched this, and realized why that was.

Interviews with the show’s costume designer (Charlese Antoinette Jones), Makeup Dept. head (Stevie Martin), and Hair Dept. head (Nikki Bell), all talking about what they do, how they do it, and why it’s important to have diversity on set.

“I think it’s important to tell our own stories. I would get scripts and I’m like, this isn’t the black experience that I know. We have these shared experiences and we have the short hand sometimes, in that we can communicate these things visually in a different way.” - Charlese Antoinette Jones

And I’m like, ‘Oh. That’s why the verisimilitude of Raising Dion is off the charts. A show about superpowers has the most “real” feeling out of anything I’ve ever seen, and beats every single crime show, sitcom, and drama that’s set in our world hands down.’

So hell yes, I’ll believe that having more women working behind the camera on Birds of Prey leads to much more than an organic feeling.

Also, while you’re waiting for Birds of Prey to come out- go watch Raising Dion. I cannot rec it enough. If you want a take on the superhero genre that isn’t bleak, makes you laugh, makes you feel things (I’m pretty sure I cried on episode 4), and that leaves your heart feeling whole (at times heavy) but ultimately intact (unlike some other superhero stuff lately), and genuinely makes you feeling better for having seen it- Go watch “ISSUE #101: How Do You Raise a Superhero?”

Also, we like character with disabilities being played by actors with disabilities, right?

Here’s Sammi Haney talking about it- some numbers she mentions: “Even though 20% of the population in the US has a disability, only 2% of characters on TV do, and 95% of those characters are not cast authentically.”

Like oh, maybe that’s another reason why, as someone who’s worked with elementary school age children with special needs and disabilities, this show feels more real to me than anything geared towards me as a target audience does. The character who has brittle bone disease and uses a wheelchair is played by an actress who has brittle bone disease and uses a wheelchair.

And she is awesome in the show and in real life!

For real! Go watch Raising Dion!

During one of Birds of Prey’s fight sequences, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) identifies a teammate’s vulnerability and provides a critical assist — by lending her a hair tie. This small act of sisterhood is as familiar in an everyday context as it is surprising in the DC Extended Universe. It’s one of the many ways that Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) differs from its superhero movie forebears: It not only stars women, it was made by them, too. “There’s more women in front [of] and behind the camera than any movie I’d worked on, which is pretty incredible,” says Robbie, who also produced the film. “It was partly a conscious decision, but it also always felt like the organic, right choice to make.”

—Entertainment Weekly: How the R-rated, women-powered Birds of Prey flips the bird — and the script — in high-flying style

[brwn3y3dgirl]

Raising Dion | Official Trailer