#truly the gayest film in the franchise

[hoss-bonaventure]

saw v to me is just a huge allegory for being gay idc. strahm at all times going insane over hoffman, obsessing over him at every waking hour, fucking talking to himself in empty rooms as if he was there with him, going to the places he might've killed at, literally abandoning all his rational judgement and thinking just for the possibility of getting his hands on him, his final words to hoffman being "i know who you are" while hoffman is in a literal glass coffin???

plus, the way hoffman as a character has to deal with his two worlds: working as a detective and being a jigsaw apprentice. him having to put on a mask of normalcy, only really being himself when he is working with john. him having this consistent and innate fear of being "caught". and the way he can't bring himself to look at strahm's death!! also, you cannot tell me hoffman’s dick didn’t immediately stand up when he saw that strahm managed to escape his trap. he wanted that cookie so effing bad.

[sohkrates]

It Drinks Light: The Origins of the Xenomorph and LoadingReadyRun's Heat Death

In previous drafts of this essay I spent paragraphs outlining my love of the Alien films, defending Alien 3 and Resurrection, and using that to lead into why you would enjoy an Alien RPG actual play series called Heat Death. But I just spent a lot of money on a tattoo that I think will speak to my bona fides:

I like the Alien franchise. I like Geiger’s xenomorph, I like the clunky cassette futurism imagined in those 80’s movies. It feels increasingly like a much needed antidote to modern digital interfaces, and the maddeningly undefiled aesthetics of the corporate digital age.

But after I saw Prometheus and then Covenant it became very apparent to me that Ridley Scott isn’t interested in the parts of the universe that I am interested in. Or at least, his answers to those questions aren’t particularly satisfying.

There are some good things in those movies, don’t get me wrong. The moment when the two Michael Fassbenders have flute lessons is some of the gayest shit in the series, right alongside Ripley and Call having come good ol’ fashioned knife play in Resurrection.

The prequels also continue the theme established in the first few movies that the whims of the rich and powerful will doom us all in general, and the people who work for them specifically. Their corporations are shown time and again to be fundamentally opposed to human flourishing. True as it ever was.

But that’s kinda it for me.

The question at the heart of these prequels is “Where did the xenomorph come from?” to which they answer:

Some sort of chemical weapon or tool synthesized by tall aliens called engineers for ambiguous purposes. Millenia later this was discovered and hijacked by a singular android of human design, flawed in all the ways its creator was flawed. Some iterations and experiments later we get the xenomorphs we recognize. 

Admittedly there may be more nuance than that. But as far as I can tell any further details are all muddled in cut content and unskilled storytelling.

Ultimately, according to the prequels thus far, the xenomorph is something we did to ourselves.

That is not a particularly engaging answer to me. I don’t really care about how the titular alien came to be. I don’t need to see the engineers, or the origins of the space jockey. I liked it when it felt like that tall alien was merged with the cockpit, when it looked like one organism, a new and novel form of life from another evolutionary path completely unlike our own.

And if you feel the same, I have something to recommend to you. 

Heat Death is an actual play series made by the Canadian comedy/streaming troupe LoadingReadyRun in 2020 as part of their Dice Friends series. They did 6 episodes where Cameron, the GM, leads 4 players through their own scenario in the official Alien RPG.

And it’s one of the best Alien stories I’ve ever seen.

Cameron provides much more interesting answers to the questions Ridley Scott keeps asking, and in a method that compliments the familiar set up of Alien films. A typical day in the life of spacers is interrupted by a combination of corporate malfeasance and/or the existence of the xenomorph.

The setup of Heat Death is thus: The crew of the research vessel Ludomia, our PC’s and NPC’s for the series, wake up on a strange and grandiose space station called New Eden. Their vessel is missing, the rest of their crew is missing, and they have no idea where they are. They seek answers, they seek escape, and they try to figure out what was happening here hidden in the shadows of space.

And in typical Alien fashion, it all goes to hell.

Part of the reason the series works so well for me is because the GM has a background in the sciences. This helps when the characters are confronted with the truly alien things they find. I am an amateur appreciator of things like biology and astronomy ,and so there is just enough detail to make me feel like I know what’s happening, but also enough unfamiliar jargon that I feel an appropriate sense of awe and dread. Cameron doesn’t talk down to his audience or his players, he describes the world in ways that would make sense to the character’s point of view, and offers explanations and details when prompted.

The xenomorph’s biology is described as being reminiscent of Teflon, an immediately startling non sequitur.

The primordial black goo from the prequels is described as incredibly hazardous to human beings through exacting technical terminology. It makes it seem real and dangerous. In the prequels it always felt flat and… out of place.

I like Heat Death because Cameron and the players are actively investigating the question of the origins of the xenomorph without limiting the possibility space. It’s not a closed loop that begins and ends at LV-426 with the space jockey and its ship. Instead we see a possible answer to what is waiting for us in the stars, a galactic ecology that we have stumbled into and are ill-equipped to handle. It makes the machinations of Weyland-Yutani seem even more feeble and doomed.

It also works so well because the players are all in on it. They lean into the themes of the franchise, of roughnecks who shoot first, of commanders in over their head, and corporate representatives quietly manipulating things to their own end. There’s no power gaming or looking to get the upper hand or finding an optimal path to survival. They see the awfulness coming and they don’t look away.

There’s more that I could recommend about this series, but I run the risk of giving away too much. There’s the poetic introductions to each episode that give breadth to the fiction. The investigations of different bits of lore and tech, from faster than light travel to how synthetics work. But I guess I’ll end by going over all the players and their characters.

First there’s Commander Roman Moritaka, played by Ian, who I think more than anyone leans into the doomed nature of the storytelling. Ian is always ready to make the obvious mistake and try to do the most reasonable thing in an unreasonable situation. One of my favourite moments in the game comes from Roman making telemetry calculations. How many AP’s do you know that bother with the drama of rocket science?

Then there’s Clinton Barker played by Alex, a colonial marine who thinks in equipment and utility, and has no time for metaphor or theory. Alex is also obviously an Alien fan and someone who knows military tech and lingo, which lets him launch into interesting asides and funny anecdotes that punctuate the story.

There’s Gregory Sinclair Jr., the corporate liaison played by Cori. He is a perfect mix of uselessness and cold corporate comfort. Cori plays him relentlessly, a perfectly willing pawn right into the final moments of the final episode, and a constant needle in everyone’s side.

And then there’s Harris Schafer, played by Adam. Harris is a laid back academic and scientist, which makes them a great foil for the other characters and the perfect POV character to let us know just how bad things are, much like Adam himself. Adam is a great addition to the table, always willing to ask the basic questions and react in relatable ways.

I’ve already mentioned Cameron, and as GM he plays all the NPC’s with depth, and deftly cuts between scenes, heightening moments of tension and underlining moments of impending dread. His obvious writing ability is on full display. It feels like he loves this stuff. And in a way that Ridley Scott kinda doesn’t. Not in the same way. There’s curiosity and time and thought on display here, and I really appreciate that.

And that’s it. You should watch it, especially if you like the alien series and the art of actual play. It’s good. It’s on Youtube and it’s on podcasts. Check it out. Let me know what you think. Recommend me some other Alien fanfiction.

And if you would have liked to have read this earlier, or would like more essays and stuff like this, kick me a couple of bucks on Patreon. If folks like this sort of thing, I may do more essays. Heck, I'll probably do them if you hate it.

[popculturebuffet]

Pride Month: Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (Commission for WeirdKev27)

Hello all my children now and welcome back to pride month which once again was way shorter than planned for this blog. I might do some extra queer reviews. It was still a good pride month: I finally got a bi pride shirt

My sister came out as trans, and in general it was a pretty good month. And whlie I've only gotten the previous review and another out, there's always time for queer content. But what I have gotten to this month thanks to kev's been great and today we cap off pride month with a spot of horror, something I honestly don't expect from Kevin. While he did have me do all of Evil Dead, it's the only horror franchise he expected and the blackening was my pitch. So with a busy schedule I haven't really gotten to dip into the big franchises i've wanted to cover. So when Kev asked me to do so, I took the sudden blessing to review a film from one of my franchises and a film this queer whose lead's role in this both ended his career but ultimately brought him peace later on.

Now I get most of you going to this are nightmare fans: you followed the tag etc. But since some readers may be less familiar like Kevin or my good friend @jess-the-vampire who watched the film with me, a brief primer: Nightmare on Elm Street was a 1984 film from horror legend Wes Craven, the film that made his career, put New Line Cinema on the map, and created one of the greatest horror icons of all time in Freddy Kruger, while injecting much needed new life into the slasher genre.

So naturally New Line wanted a sequel. Craven hadn't, already not liking the twist ended forcefully slapped onto the original nightmare where "Oops nancy didn't win after all", was still offered the chair which he turned down as he didn't like the scripts concept of Freddy going into the real world, feeling it'd dilute the character or the exploding bird that has nothing to do with the plot we'll circle back to later, from a script written by two faced motherfucker Howard Chaskin. We'll circle back to why he is later, but you should know up front he's a two faced mother fucker

So directing duties fell to Jack Shoulder of Alone in The Dark (The other one) and The Hidden Fame. Jack Shoulder.nt. For now he was a good director, and new line needed one. He also had no idea what the fuck he was doing, having to do a ton of effects shots he had no idea how to pull off. Thankfully riding shot gun was Kevin Yeager, creator of my favorite killer in all of horror.

Yes it's him who brought my baby way older than me boy to life, with the help of don mancini and brad dourif of course, but he created the real life doll and deserves as much credit as his fellow legends.

So Nightmare 2 came out and it did MONSTEROUS numbers. On a 3 million dollar budget , it made 30 MILLION. Ten time sit's budget. So New Line was still doing good but the mixed reception both for legit reasons (A switch up from the original, having nothing to do with the original per wes craven's wishes to not use any of the characters from the first, and Freddy in the real world) and the gay panic around the film. Nightmare on Elm Street 2 is one of the gayest slasher movies sisnce gay came to gay town, so let's get into WHY it's so gay, why it adds a lot to the film, the impact it had on it' star, and how the film itself is as a whole under the cut. All night long.

You've Got the Body, But I've Got the Brains

Before we can get into this movie's queerness, let's look at the film itself. If you haven't seen nightmare on elm street, please do it's excellent. One of horror's best despite a goofy bit here or there that clashes with the tone and some truly mind numblingly dumb parenting, which as you'll soon see is standard for the franchise and the one thing this sequel decided to esclate.

For those who haven't, the film followed Nancy Thompson, an average teen who is soon stalked in her sleep along with her friends by Freddy Kruger. As the film gradually reveals Freddy was a child murderer who got off on a technicality, so the local parents all burned him alive. He came back from the dead as a vengeful ghost demon man, brought back by dream demons that look like sperm who we as a fandom like to pretend don't exist. I won't go deep into his stalking of Nancy and her friends as like I said this sequel wasn't allowed to use them and i'd like to cover the original at some point. For now the bottom line is freddy was seemingly defeated, came back to strike nancy, but she somehow surivived as confirmed by this film, having been told by urban legend to have "gone crazy" after he boyfriend was hacked up to bhits.. which is a.. less than accurate version of what happened to glenn.

So the film opens up 5 years later: Nancy is a sequel non entity who left a diary we never saw her writing behind, and her house has been moved into by the walsh family. Our lead is Jesse, played by the incomprable mark patton, an average teen who opens the film as that awkward kid in the back of the bus, can relate

This is naturally a nightmare as Freddy's back for his revenge.... by possesing a teen who has nothing to do with nancy or his murder to get a body to. .become a living god with all his dream powers? Then take his revenge. The title makes only marginally more sense than why do this overcomplicated plan and "why didn't he do it last time", but Englund's still at the top of his game and the film really likes to do terrifying closeupfs of freddy's eyes, just both just starring at you. The makeup here is REALLY good and really horrifying.

So Jesse's stuck on the bus when it locks him and two giggling girls inside, who shriek when they get parked atop a cliff. The horror for this one uses more abstract art for i'ts inspriation, this using a very narrow cliff and a later one using salvador dahli's "Persitance of Memory" as it's base , swapping clocks for "everything jesse owns".

Jesse's been having nightmares since they moved and woke up scremaing each time. But this is `1985 so his family just ignores it and hopes it'll go away. His family consits of his hard ass dad, his mom and his sister, none of whoms names I care to remember. Played by Clu Galagher, Hope Lange and Christie Clarke respectively. All do a decent job but their mostly here as props: his mom worries about him, his hard ass dad is a grumpy dick constantly, and his sister is there to almost die later and get scared.

At School things are a mixed bag for Jesse: ON the one hand he has a sort of girlfriend in Lisa Webber, played by ken meyers, a rich girl who drives him to school every day and hangs out with him a lot and he soon gets a friend/possible partner? in Grady, a rough and tumble jock played to douchey but loveable perfection by Ron Rusler. Grady dosen't like Jesse at first for reasons and the two get into a wrestling match where Grady pulls Jesse's pants down exposing mark patton's ass for all to savor (Patton was 26 at the time, though it's still VERY werid to have this scene with a teenager and in general). On the bad end is Coach Schinder, your standard coach played by Marshall Bell who may or may not be a sexual predator but probably is, woh makes him do pushups, run laps and generally is just the worst.

The pushups do bond our new brochachos and honestly had Freddy not got involved i'm pretty sure he , Lisa and Jesse would be a throuple. Or he and jesse would be a couple at least. I mean they did pull each other's pants down. That has to be some form of second base. I'm only 5 years in to being a Man loving men and I still don't get all the mechanics. Don't get them all with women either. I'm a bi mess.

Jesse's dreams only intesify though, and we get some cool bits like the dali refrence, freddy opening his brains to show jesse , and the boiler room appearing in the walsh basement, Freddy's layer in life and in death. I also love the use of heat as a common denominator in freddy's possessions and dreams here: Given fire ended him, it works VERY nicely as a theme for the guy, from a furnace to jesse's stuff melting to an exploding bird.

Okay time to finally circle back to the exploding bird which dosen't work in any way shape or form but is still funny. First off as PushingUpRoses pointed out and Jess helpfully reminded me, birds tend to get a raw deal in horror with thier deaths not mattering as much or tommy wiseau becoming one

The recent film The Watchers at least corrected this as the bird Dakota Fannig was escorting before the woods kidnapped her is kept with her the whole film, survivies the film (Not saying if Dakota and co do or not, watch it it's pretty good if with a wobbly third act), and while not a major presence is still a nice visual calling card for the film.

Bird Ethics aside, the point is one of the walsh birds murders the other, attacks Grumpy Ass Dad Man, and then explodes

So Grumpy Ass Dad man naturally assumes.. Jesse did it. Despite a cherry bomb not working that way and Jesse being as shocked as anyone. Your son did not shove a payload of explosives up a bird's ass good sir. What are you on. Jesse storms away and Grumpy Ass Dad Man wants to fight him. He also got defensive earlier about not telling Jesse they live in a murder house after grady spills the beans.

Things progress and Patton.. is a fucking marvel in this film. Seroiusly his facial acting is top notch and the guy can scream like no one else, making me sad what happened after the film, circling back to THAT in a bit, all teh sadder. There's a deep sadness to jesse, an awkard teen struggling with his possible sexuality (Subtext Patton portrays greatly), a monster trying to literally tear his way out of him, and confusoin about what' sin him, all while no one really helps him: Lisa continuly assures him it was "just a dream", which it is not as Freddy's glove ends up outside at one point and things soon escalate to the point it couldn't possibly be, his dad thinks he's on drugs, and his mom just.. worreis a bit. Grady isn't super helpful, partly because he's a macho weirdo who asks if he's mounted Lisa yet and .. well i'll let him tell us why he's grounded.

We get no context for this and that just makes it all the more hilaroiusly batshit. Rob Russler is fantastic.

We feel that same powerlesness nancy felt: just as the first film was a metaphor for how adults often let teens down by not listening to them as threats claw at them, here it's how Adults and one's peers can often be unhelpful against internal struggle: Jesse is slowly loosing control of himself, possibly loosing his mind as far as he knows, and has this .. thing stalking him in his dreams.. but like Nancy no one can accept the truth. The subtext jesse is closested, either gay or bisexual (possibly pan) onlly adds to it: in a time as homophobic as the 80's staying in the closet isn't a choice: it's the only way for someone Jesse's age without the money to live on his own to survive. His dad is already an asshole man, he'd be even worse if he find out Jesse liked going inside literal assholes. Patton spends the film with a dour look, on the verge of cracking and only getting worse as Freddy takes more than more control.

The possesion element.. is great. It is mildly troubling iwth the gay subtext: having Jesse's fear of his queerness be repreesnted by a serial killer wasn't a good idea.. but the film still works regardless of that, in part because Freddy could represent Jesse's fears of being gay: all the sterotypes, horrible things said about gay people manfested into a gross abomination with a blood lust. All of poor jessee's shame over who he is, shame he never should've had but society forced on him, making him into this beast. Granted it's hurt a bit by his sorta girlfriend later getting jesse to expel him with the power of love, but given the film end son a nother cliffhanger, with freddy not defeated if seperated from Jesse, more on that later, it says to me at least that you can't defeat wh oyou are.. only oyu can fight your own self doubt and accept it.

Eventually Freddy gets to the murdering: Jesse wonders out in a fuege state and an underated aspect of nightmare 2 is it's dreamlike quality: like the original, the film has this dreamlike atmosphere, but goes farther with it: things lke a snake suddenly appearing on jesse, the bird exploding or jesse going to a gay bar gay bar are all left vauge: was he dreaming? is he sleepwalking? how much happened and how much was a dream? With the film not relying on the series iconic dream kills, it allows it to really play with things. Did ANY of this happen by the end? For a slasher. it's ambitious, brilliant and a joy to watch.

So he winds up at a gay bar gay bar gay bar. Or a leather bar. Either way i'd want to go. His coach finds him there then.. makes him run laps. Beofre he can get to child predator stuff though, Freddy does what jess called "pulling a matilda on him" as he suddenly has telekensisis kyle and whips the coache's bear ass before whipping him to death.

This dosen't help as next night after some more stuff we can gloss over, Jesse overs over his sister.. wtih glove in hand. Freddy nearly killed her and jesse is left a begging wreck. He tries to get Kim to undrestand at her dope pool party, but she only wants to fuck it out of him and freddy's tounge showing up tells Jesse that's not an option. He goes to grady who in the bluntest line tells jesse when he says something wants my body "Yeah she's female and waiting at the cabana and you want to sleep with me"> Which yes, yes he does but that's not the point.

Tragically.. Grady dies after Freddy claws his way out of Jesse in the film' sbest sequence and best kill. Rusler nails it with Grady's sheer fear nad begging being horrifying as nothing can save him and the sleeper awakens and slashes Grady to death. The horror in this flim is underated: even I underated it first time I watched it but on second watch while the film dosen't have as many jaw dropping set pieces as the first

Jesse goes to lisa.. but freddy kills her fish, sets a lamp on fire and emerges. This leads to the infamous pool party scene after a really tense underated scene of Freddy stalking Lisa in the cabana.

This scene was one of the main reasons Craven didn't want to do the film, feeling this exposed how short englund was. And first watch I found it goofy as hell... but on second.. it sinks in what freddy's really doing chasing the teens: he's playing with them. The same way he does in his dreams. I do admit, Freddy in the real world isn't AS terrifying on concept.. but the film finds a way to make it so with something I missed the first time: FREDDY IS STILL A GOD HERE. By coming to our world the way he did, he apparently kept his powers. He can still teleport to a degreee, makes the pool boil over, the gates too hot to touch. He may not be able to shapeshift, though in fairness he only shifted his arms in the first one so he may not have been able to period yet, but his fire powers more than make up for it, a jet of flame interuppting as he iconicaly declares

Yes the setting itself is a bit cheeesy.. but ti works. Freddy isn't chasing them because he's devolved or has less methods, he could probably burn them all. .h'es chasing them.. because he's a sadistic bastard. Always has been, always will be. He didn't HAVE to puree Glen

But he likes making a sport of it. His kills in the first.. are all horrifically ironic, if more subtle than he would be from 3 onward. I hate to spoil them for those new to the franchise, hi kevin, but it's needed for comparisons sake: he dragged tina's corpse across the celing, hung up rod in his prison cell with his own bedsheets and ... whatever it is your looking at right now. While this was all revenge there's no illusions that freddy isn't a sadistic bastard who makes a spectacle of his victims. He's smart enough in cases that aren't blood fountain to make it look plausable to the folks who find the corpses, as being widely known would make it harder to do this (as shown by Freddy Vs Jason), even with the wilfull ignorance of Elm Street's parents already helping a ton.. but he likes to drag it out. He likes to make it as horrific as possible. The films after this emphasise this with him finding some way to twist both their fondest dreams and greatest nightmares into something, from slamming someone who badly wants to be famous into a tv while welcoming her to prime time, bitch, using a pupeteers veins for strings, making an aneroxic eat herself to death or having an invisible karate fight with a karate man because they ran out of budget, this shit is his art.

So while him slashing people with his glove isn't super artful as these. .it fits as the "piece" he's doing here while tearing these teens to pieces.. is getting to kill SO many at once, using his powers to herd them like cattle while he gets to be the butcher. And he hasn't lost his touch as an idiot trying to reason with him like this was a monster movie and no ta guy slashing people with a glove, gets slashed and thrown into a fucking grill. While it clearly took TIME to posses jesse, he didn't HAVE to announce himself during it (That we're aware of) or try and kill his sister. He loved making this poor kid painfully aware that he's taking control and everything Jesse knows and loves will be dead when that happens. He gave him his body back after Grady ONLY to let the poor boy cry and scream in anguish at what Freddy had done with his body and wonder right where Freddy wanted. Freddy.. is a monster, literally and figuratively and this film captures that beautifully. I will say his dream powers are better than "whatever heat related powers the writers want", no question, but given the series later decline to thinks like super freddy and the power glove, it's easy to go back to this one and see the craft putting into making freddy terrifying.

The body possesion thing works too: like I said Jesse is a prisoner in his own body, either trapped deep in his subconcious or again, given Freddy sucks, probably forced to watch. The idea of not being in control of your body is terrifying and Jesse covered in Grady's blood is just horrifying. It's not the same as the original, true.. but it's fantastic all the same.

That said the ending.. is a bit of a disapointment. We get all this build up, even Lisa's Dad shooting him dosen't stop freddy.. and the climax. .is lisa confronting freddy alone at the old steel mill he used, telling Jesse "it's all in his head, he can control it power of love blah blah blah" and Freddy's just .. defeated. Now i'll give the film some slack: while it gets shit for this ending and deserves it, deflating a well crafted terrifying build up with "I love you so you can escape him", this series... seems to suck at endings. I've only seen the first three, so I can't fully say, but i've seen enough reviews of the later ones and heard enough to a least get the sense none of them know how to defeat freddy in a way that's both convincing and sets it up for sequel. Even the first one, as much as I love it, has Nancy luring freddy out and using home alone traps, which is a WAY bigger blow to his dignity than hardrock rooftop poolside vilas ever were. There are exceptoins: 3, New Nightmare and Freddy Vs Jason have and seem to have banger endings. But for the most part it's some convient deus ex machina to beat freddy that either never came up before or is vaugely hinted at. It's why I do lean toward the chucky franchise a bit: while Chucky's never truly beaten for good, the final battles with him always feel climactic and big. Even 3 , the worst of the films i've seen, has chucky get ripped to shreds by an unreaslitic carnival ride. With Freddy.. the scale on him's so big it's hard to find a way to convincingly put his ass down, even temporarily but they never seemed to try that hard either.

It dosen't help they just.. repeat the same "Is it really over HA HA BITCH IT ISN'T IT REALLY ISN'T EXPECT TO NEVER GET CLOSURE ON THIS SCENE" ending as the last one. It does at least have a bit more style as it's Jesse once again getting on a buss, with Tina assuring him thigns are okay and her friend talking about "what a wild party that was" and brushing off people died horribly from a weird claw man which...

Tracks. Then it turns out OH NO FREDDY'S DRIVING THE BUS AGAIN.

THE END

JESSE FUCKING DIED I GUESS

It's the same ending as the last one minus the implication everything was a dream and the horribly fake freddy hand. Now Jesse COULD'VE survivied and just skipped town which given his dad... probably a smart move long term. Nancy was trapped in a speeding car made of freddy Kruger and lived somehow. Like Jesse's ultimate fate, they never really explained how Nancy survived. This film confirms she did as Grady, master of sympathy he is, probably would've mentiond her death too, and the next film has her come back in full, but they never explain HOW, and never touch on Jesse again as the franchise tends to pretend like this flim dosen't exist.

And that's a sad fact of the film: It was an evolutionary dead end. Rewatching it.. it's fantastic. It's not as good as 2 and 3 which have more realistic adult characters who are still useless, but feel like actual people with Nancy's mom being an alcholic, her dad being a hardass if not an asshole man like Jesses, and the jerkass nurse at the mental institute having at least reasons for her distrust of nancy as to defeat a dream man, nancy had to do some sketchy shit. Their not good people, but they come off more as people and not a cardboard cutout, his wife and a bad sterotype of queer people being accused of being pedophiles. The film also has weird shit like the birdsplosion, the snake and drags at times, while Lisa feels VERY underwritten and the ending half assed and lazy. It's not perfect.. but rewatching it let me see the films good sides: it's queer subtext, which we're almost to, is well done for the most part, Mark Patton is fucking amazing as are Robert Englund and Robert Rusler, the effects are fantastic especially on a low budget and the concept is well thought out and creepy. The film is an oddball in the series.. but it's one that tried new things and gave us an atmospheric, creepy and throughly gay horror film. So on that last part

Scream, Queen!

Sooo there's no easy way to do this so i'm just going to come out and say it: This is one of the gayest films I have ever seen

It's why we're here, it's why it's my finale for pride month, it's why Kev had me review it, and it's why for better or worse this film is remembered. It has other layers I mentiond: Mark Patton's performance is, after this rewatch, one of my all time faviorite's in horror, great effects, a trippy atmosphere, and Freddy at some of his most terrifying. But let's be frank: if this film is remembered, it's not because of any of those valid reasons.. but for the simple reason of

Before we even get into metaphor the film has TONS of shirtless scenes of Mark Patton, with most dream scenes having him shirtless or in his underwear. His first meeting with Grady ends with Grady pulling down his pants while they wrestle , exposing his butt to one and all. He goes to a leather bar in his dream. His coach is a pedophile, which is a very harmful sterotype and a very harmful thing to conflate. Grady outright lampshades that Jesse wants to spend the night with him instead of an eager to bone lisa. He says "somethin'gs inside of me". The film is not subtle.

And yet.. it also is? Jesse's metaphor of feeling uncomfortable contsnatly, trying to be who people want by having sex or dating but not being able to, being afraid of what he is and as I mentioned the metaphor of freddy as everything he fears about being an out queer person in a time when they were often blamed for hate crimes against them, to the point For Better or Worse writer Lynn Johnston wrote a whole arc in the strip about a longtime character coming out because a close gay friend of hers died and the police SYMPATHIZED WITH THE MURDERER. Jesse is in a constant gay panic: Is he bi,? is he gay? it's hard to tell because he can't accept himself or what he feels, and like Freddy tends to do, he gloms onto that fear to feed himself.

The film is gay as hell and for 1985 it's a bold statment: looking back it's impossible to not see HOW gay it is and that's a good thing. However HOW the queerness was implimented.. was a very bad thing. And i'm not just talking about the pedophile teacher which is bad and maybe having freddy whip him to death was a bit... much. Then again...

Maybe that ship had sailed for this franchise.

No i'm talking about the fact writer David Chaskin is a two face mother fucker. Told ya we'd circle back. See Shoulder.. had no idea the film was gay.. or claims he dosen't. Given how well directed the film is and how we get a full shot of Mark Patton's glorious ass I will never let you forget about, I have doubts he REALLY didn't know. But given NO ONE at new line caught the subtext till it was out except maybe Robert Englund, it's just as likely he was THAT oblivous and included the random ass shot without question. Also to clarify i'm not sayin ga shot of a man's ass is inherently gay.. but i'm saying it is when he's wrestling anothe rman while trying to also remove HIS pants. Context is king.

See making the film gay.. wasn't a bad idea. Chaskin wanting the mostly hetero teens wawtching to get being gay wasn't bad and the gay teens to feel accepted..was noble. It was how Chaskin handeled the backlash over the film being gay that makes him a monster.

A film this queer naturally got gay panic, not helped with the open homophobia brought about by the AIDS crisis shortly after. So Rather than... admit this was his idea, Chaskin instead blamed Patton.

This.. Was a dick move on so many levels but the biggest was.. patton's sexuality was an open secret. As the only openly queer person in the room, he was an easy target and Chaskin knew it. It saved Chaskin's career but only made what was already a hard time in LA for Patton worse. As I found out via an interview with Plus magazine, Patton already wasn't super happy in LA, having his agents dictate what he wore and unlike his time in new york, not being able to be openly queer as agents were, and I shit you not he really said this and I can sadly fully belivie it, scoping out clubs in west hollywood to tank the careers of people up for parts against their clients. They didn't let him interview with a queer magazine.

So Nightmare had come at an already stressful time for the man, as patton said in the article, which you can find here

“By that point, AIDS was all around me. Everyone I knew was getting sick"

And when it caame to Chaskin's bullshit Mark said

“David would just blame me any time it came up alluding to something along the lines of, ‘Well, he’s a big old fag and he chose to play the part in a big old fag way.’”

This all came to a head with an audition for an abc sitcom, the whole horrifying situation here, which I found about on Patton's wikipedia entry (and might of come up in the film, it has been a bit), is what lead me to the article.

“It was what I would consider my last true hardcore audition,” Patton remembers of nearly getting a part as a gay character on CBS. He was sitting a table with nearly a dozen other men. “They began to ask me if I would be comfortable playing a gay character and telling people I was straight if they began to question my sexuality? I remember looking around that table and I knew every one of those men were gay. All I could think about was how everyone I knew was dying from AIDS and we were having this bullshit conversation. My heart just broke and that was the line for me. I knew I would never be able to do what they were asking, so I walked away from Hollywood and decided to move on to a place where it was totally acceptable to be gay.”

So Mark became an interior decorator and while he was happy life wasn't finished beating the poor man upside the head as he then got diagnosed with AIDS

“I found out on my 40th birthday and three days later I was in the hospital,” Patton says. “But because of the infections I had, they made me take tuberculosis medicine and that didn’t mix with those older HIV meds. There were so many side effects.  It was like I was poisoned. ” He pauses for a long moment before he continues. “I almost died there, but thankfully my friends took me to an AIDS health clinic, which saved my life.”

Seriously I can't thank the Plus article enough. So Mark survivied, found love with his husband Hector Morales Moondragon, and now sells art in mexico.

It was in this calm, happy phase of his life, after all this bullshit.. that he FINALLY made piece with the film that had caused him so much strife. He was approached to be interviewed for Never Sleep Again, an exaustive documentary on the Nightmare franchise I highly recommend, and in doing so finally told his side... and as a result with many now knowing he was still alive and still out there, it got him on the convention circuit. Somethign the documentary emphasises, as well as the plus article.. is how cathartic that was for Mark: after years of his film being mocked "The Gay One"... it got embraced as the gay one. The gay community had embraced the film, many being awakened by patton in it, and warmly embraced their scream queen.

Patton is still hanging in there: last year he had to GoFundMe for a liver operation and his health is rough.. but he's alive, in good spirits and well loved: By his husband and his fans. And as one of his fans... I wanted to spotlight Mark's story because i'ts a tragedy.. but it ends in triumph. Mark left a place he wasn't accepted to find love , acceptance and ultimately peace. Chaskin.. never actually apologized, still hasn't and didn't show up in Scream Queen despite mark's best efforts, but fuck him: Patton found peace, people found themselves in this movie, and I personally enjoyed it. The writer sucks but it can't take away from the deft direction or patton's performance. I hope Mark does better and gets to act at least one more time, and I may review his other film swallow next pride. For now stay proud, thanks for reading and to mr patton personally.. thank you.

[saintofdaggers]

top 10 movies I've watched this year (so far!)

cinema my beloved artistic medium <3 I'm not counting rewatches, so here are some of my new faves.

Saw: but of course. masterfully made and intense as hell, amazing characters, some iconic lines, one of the most endings ever written. careful: may induce immediate and massive brainrot.

Saw V: one of the best (and gayest) in the franchise. criminally underrated. people with taste know exactly what I'm talking about.

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944): old movies are a LOT less boring and tame than some people would think. an almost perfect insane black comedy with impeccable acting and some truly unhinged jokes. Cary Grant and Peter Lorre were such icons in this.

Angel Dust: liminal-spacey urban isolation, obsession, a dreamlike murder mystery that gets more and more unhinged the deeper we go. one of the most hypnotically beautiful psychological horror movies I've ever seen.

A Nightmare on Elm Street: a true classic. adore the set design, the soundtrack, the scares. new favorite final girl just dropped.

Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary: an Expressionist silent film adaptation of a ballet adaptation of Dracula. insanely beautiful and beautifully insane.

Don't Look Now: another classic I should have checked out much sooner. tense, eerie, unsettling, heartbreaking. the color red has never been scarier. it literally gave me a nightmare!!

A Dark Song: a minimalist occult character study about grief, selfishness and flawed people making each other worse. an absolutely beautiful obscure Irish slow-burn horror that I adore to pieces (I also think that jarring ending was thematically perfect for the story, but that's just me).

Let the Corpses Tan: one of the most stylish horny movies I've ever seen! hypnotically colorful, visually rich, and the sound editing is shiver-inducing. this might be the kinkiest neo-western thriller ever (I realize that's a pretty narrow category anyway, but this movie dominates it for sure).

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace: an absolutely deranged masterpiece. genuinely one of the funniest parodies I've ever seen, and so magnificently tasteless. my sides were aching by the time I was done.

+ short films: My House Walk-Through (fucking terrifying!!!), Meshes of the Afternoon (symbolic cinema at its finest, and so beautifully eerie), AM1200 (stylish, terse, scary as hell), The Black Tower (what does it mean? what does it all mean??)

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

April 2021 Part 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Second Chance Ep 1 - living up to its name since it looks to be a series of redemption arcs. Launched with a college confession and a broken friendship, then a flash back to them as seniors in high school. Pairings include friends to lovers, nerd/jock, and maybe cafe boss/employee. There’s a lot going on, but it’s still... quiet and sweet. The script is pretty pat but it’s still WAY more watchable than Cupid Coach or Brothers and most of the acting is solid. Ep 1 tropes included: he’s in engineering, wound tending, fast & bicurious. This could turn into what I wanted My Gear & Your Gown to be. Fingers crossed. 

Love Poison 2 Ep 1 & 2 turns out I did watch and report on season 1 (8 eps), season 2 seems equally unmemorable. Thai countryside setting, strong dialect, incomprehensible plot, camp side characters, and ghastly singing. 

Y-Destiny Ep 1 (eng subs?) - opened with the sports romance enemies to lovers (they aren’t going in the teaser order). When the couple got over fighting, the flirting was v cute, but the flipping SPONGE BATH trope had to rear its ugly head. Still, this series is shaping up to be less coy and more frank than most BL, better than expected. It feels, I don’t know, gay-er or something?  *** Sources were correct that each couple is getting (at least) 2 eps, and MDL has been updated to say this is a 15 episode series (not 7). 

Cupid Coach 12 fin - The new Nite was great and should have been a main all along. It felt like we got a tiny nugget of what could have been in about 10 minutes worth of this last ep. It was way too slow with terrible editing and a criminally bad script, but at least it ended happy. Mostly, like Friend Forever, I’m just disappointed that these two actors were done dirty by the series. Bad Cupid Coach, no screen caps for you. 

Lovely Writer Ep 6 - breaking news, there’s a het couple I like: toppy bi femme + soft boi = such a good pairing! I know, but this NEVER happens. Meanwhile, Sib’s secret is out, Gene is a bit of a drama queen, and the plot thickens. We half way through.  

Brothers Ep 9 - Kaow had a serious moment of advice giving that was truly lovely. Lots of family dama made this a superior episode to... well... any of the others in this series. Which isn’t saying much. 

1000 Stars Ep 10 fin - at the start this series didn’t grab me the way GMMTV’s last BL, Tonhon Chonlatee, did. But boy did it end 1000x better. Might have given us 2021′s best forehead kiss. I enjoyed the ultra romantic cliff-top reunion kiss, and I LOVED the stinger flirting scene. That was an absolute gift we had no right to expect. This drama is a poster child for finishing on a high note (always focus on that dessert course). Final thoughts? This was FAR more a classic romance than it was BL. There were some BL tropes used but not many and most of them originated in the romance genre not yaoi. A picture perfect ending bumped 1000 Stars much higher up my best-of list than expected. Not sure how often I’ll rewatch it as a whole, but this last episode? I’m probably rewatching it right now. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Dear Uranus (Taiwan GL) Ep 3 fin - I guess that’s it? Okaaaaay  

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 3 (AKA Ep 5-6) - we got actual legit gay culture not just BL (always appreciated) from XingSi. I’m starting to find LiCheng’s “show them we fucking” hijinks hilarious rather than annoying (not sure why, maybe I just love a rubber chicken, or maybe it was the STUFFED CORN WITH THE TASSEL that did it). 

-- H4 Moment of RANT --

Tropes included beach trip, there’s only one bed, cook for him, baby is a floppy drunk, carry baby to bed, and.... drunk non-con. Whoopdedoo. Here we go again. Did TharnType teach us NOTHING? (Apparently it taught us if the chemistry is good enough, I have no morals at all.) At least H4 seems to be taking us out of cheese into serious when it comes to assault. Or is it? 

I take back what I said last week about XingSi & YongJie being codependency + salvation trope, that only works if YongJie is the uke. He’s NOT. So we got us an obsessive predatory villain with a possible redemption arc. That’s more common in crime dramas, mafia romance, and epic fantasy than BL. It’s real hard to redeem a sexual predator in a reality-grounded universe like contemporary romance (See Kla in LBC1&2). 

Next week is gonna be a test of the whole damn franchise. Imma remind both me a you that this was ep 3 of 10 so we got a ways to go yet... but ooof, what have we wrought, BL? (I ended up doing a whole post about the stepbrother trope because of this sub plot.) Taiwan is killing me.

-- RANT ended --

Word of Honor (China) Ep 19-21 - over half way point so we got ALL the back story (in a classic 4 act story structure midway reveal). Now we know who WKX really is and his lineage. We also got some cute hugs and hand holds. Moving along at a nice clip despite being 36 eps total. Still gayest thing to come out of we-not-gay China since Advance Bravely. 

Most Peaceful Place (Vietnam) Ep 2 - takes them a while to get eng subs together and ep 2 didn’t drop until late. So I’m putting this in a Thurs time slot going forward. Miscommunication already cleared up and a 2nd couple has been introduced. The pacing on these Vietnamese BLs is always a bit... off. But it’s still better than most of its ilk, enjoyable. I’m thinking it’s a 6 ep arc. 

We Best Love 2 (Taiwan) Ep 5 - after the initial drama DRAMA of ep 2, the current external crisis at work is much quieter, giving this whole season a top heavy feel. Taken along side the first season, I think it’s fitting nicely into a 4 act structure, but that might be my bias. I hope I’m not wrong, we’ll find out next week. Shi De puttering about being domestic with Shu Yi on his back was the best execution of the piggyback trope EVER. Meanwhile, our little D/s side couple of codependency, salvation trope + mental illness is becoming weirdly appealing. I don’t know. H4 done mess with my head. 

Stand Alones 

Absolute BL AKA Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai vs Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko  (Japan) Ep 1-4 mini series. Found subs under A Man Who Defies The World of BL. IT’S HILARIOUS. It’s Japan making fun of us, but also itself for having started this whole BL nonsense - from yaoi roots to present day. It’s parody goddamn gold. Utterly cheeky unto the very last line. We are not worthy. 

Apparently the most powerful tropes of all time are: baby is a floppy drunk and the piggyback fo nobility. Oh and chocolate. {Full review here.} 

Honestly, this show may have been made with only @heretherebedork and I in mind. I don’t know if you’d even understand half of it if you don’t have a history with the manga source genre and an obsessive interest in underlying narrative devices. I haven’t seen much chatter in the blog’o’sphere on this one because, in the end, it’s not a romance at all, it’s social commentary. 

The ending line was a masterclass in lampooning a genre. I’m going to rewatch the whole thing just to catch all the digs I missed first time around. It is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. 

Thank you Japan. I forgive you all your hair-styling sins of the last decade. 

Breaking News 

Spring Line Up:

Scholar Ryu’s Wedding Ceremony AKA Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korean historical BL) April 15th 

Close Friend the series (Thai trailer) April 22. 

2gether the movie (Thai trailer) April 22 to Thai theaters.

Nitiman (Thai) May 7 on One31.

I Told Sunset About You 2 (Thai) May 27 on LineTV

Ossan’s Love (Hong Kong) June to Viu 

Gossip 

Bad Buddies released its first promo op via Arm Share, which means GMMTV is at least *thinking* about filming it. 

Fun behind the scenes gossip sesh with eng subs for Tell the World I Love You (that Perth Bas movie we are maybe getting someday but will likely be sad). 

New Thai BL Bite Me (adapted from novel Grab a Bite) dropped a teaser. It stars Mark Siwat (Kla in LBC) as uke character Ake, a delivery boy with special foodie powers, and chef Eua (seme played by Zung Kidakorn) who discovers him. It’s from the same author as Manner of Death so we might even get some actual plot. Since it’s an established BL actor who I happen LOVE, a known author, and a plot about FOOD, I could not me more excited for this one. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed a day later than actual air date for accessibility reasons. Some are dropping multiples at a time but just started so I’m not sure on numbering. 

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About Loki (Season One)

(Sorry this is later than it should have been. I may or may not be experiencing burnout from reviewing every episode of the gayest show Disney has ever produced)

Salutations, random people on the internet. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

Do you want to know what's fun about the Marvel Cinematic Universe? It is now officially at the point where the writers can do whatever the hell they want.

A TV series about two Avengers getting stuck in a series of sitcoms as one of them explores their personal grief? Sure.

Another series as a guy with metal bird wings fights the inner racism of his nation to take the mantel of representing the idea of what that nation should be? Why not?

A forgettable movie about a superspy and her much more mildly entertaining pretend family working together to kill the Godfather? F**king go for it (Let that be a taste for my Black Widow review in October)!

There is no limit to what you can get with these movies and shows anymore, and I personally consider that a good thing. It allows this franchise to lean further into creative insanity, thus embracing its comic roots in the process. Take Loki, for example. It is a series about an alternate version of one of Marvel's best villains bouncing around the timeline with Owen Wilson to prevent the end of the universe. It sounds like just the right amount of wackiness that it should be too good to fail.

But that's today's question: Did it fail? To find out my own answer to that, we're gonna have to dive deep into spoilers. So be wary as you continue reading.

With that said, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Loki Himself: Let's get this out of the way: This isn't the same Loki we've seen grow within five movies. The Loki in this series, while similar in many ways, is still his very own character. He goes through his own redemption and developments that fleshes out Loki, all through ways that, if I'm being honest with you, is done much better in six-hour-long episodes than in past films. Loki's story was already entertaining, but he didn't really grow that much aside from being this chaotic neutral character instead of this wickedly evil supervillain. Through his series, we get to see a gradual change in his personality, witnessing him understand his true nature and "glorious purpose," to the point where he's already this completely different person after one season. Large in part because of the position he's forced into.

Some fans might say that the series is less about Loki and more about the TVA. And while I can unquestionably see their point, I still believe that the TVA is the perfect way for Loki to grow. He's a character all about causing chaos and controlling others, so forcing him to work for an organization that takes that away allows Loki time to really do some introspection. Because if his tricks don't work, and his deceptions can't fool others, then who is he? Well, through this series, we see who he truly is: A character who is alone and is intended to be nothing more than a villain whose only truly selfless act got him killed in the end. Even if he wants to better himself, he can't because that "goes against the sacred timeline." Loki is a person who is destined to fail, and he gets to see it all with his own eyes by looking at what his life was meant to be and by observing what it could have been. It's all tragic and yet another example of these shows proving how they allow underdeveloped characters in the MCU a better chance to shine. Because if Loki can give even more depth to a character who's already compelling as is, then that is a feat worth admiration.

The Score: Let's give our gratitude toward Natalie Holt, who f**king killed it with this series score. Every piece she made is nothing short of glorious. Sylvie's and the TVA's themes particularly stand out, as they perfectly capture who/what they're representing. Such as how Sylvie's is big and boisterous where the TVA's sound eerie and almost unnatural. Holt also finds genius ways to implement other scores into the series, from using familiar tracks from the Thor movies to even rescoring "Ride of the Valkyries" in a way that makes a scene even more epic than it already could have been. The MCU isn't best known for its musical scores, partly because they aim to be suitable rather than memorable. But every now and again, something as spectacular as the Loki soundtrack sprinkles through the cracks of mediocrity. Making fans all the more grateful because of it.

There’s a lot of Talking: To some, this will be considered a complaint. Most fans of the MCU come for the action, comedy, and insanely lovable characters. Not so much for the dialogue and exposition. That being said, I consider all of the talking to be one of Loki's best features. All the background information about the TVA added with the character's backstories fascinates me, making me enthusiastic about learning more. Not everyone else will be as interested in lore and world-building as others, but just because something doesn't grab you, in particular, doesn't mean it isn't appealing at all. Case in point: There's a reason why the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise has lasted as long as it has, and it's not entirely because of how "scary" it is.

There's also the fact that most of the dialogue in Loki is highly engaging. I'll admit, some scenes do drag a bit. However, every line is delivered so well that I'm more likely to hang on to every word when characters simply have honest conversations with each other. And if I can be entertained by Loki talking with Morbius about jetskis, then I know a show is doing at least something right.

It’s Funny: This shouldn't be a surprise. The MCU is well-known for its quippy humor in the direct acknowledgment that it doesn't take itself too seriously. With that said, it is clear which movies and shows are intended to be taken seriously, while others are meant to be comedies. Loki tries to be a bit of both. There are some heavy scenes that impact the characters, and probably even some fans, due to how well-acted and professionally written they can be. However, this is also a series about a Norse god traveling through time to deal with alternate versions of himself, with one of them being an alligator. I'd personally consider it a crime against storytelling to not make it funny. Thankfully, the writers aren't idiots and know to make the series fun with a few flawlessly timed and delivered jokes that never really take away from the few good grim moments that actually work.

It Kept Me Surprised: About everything I appreciate about Loki, the fact that I could never really tell what direction it was going is what I consider its absolute best feature. Every time I think I knew what was going to happen, there was always this one big twist that heavily subverted any and every one of my expectations. Such as how each time I thought I knew who the big bad was in this series, it turns out that there was an even worse threat built up in the background. The best part is that these twists aren't meant for shock value. It's always supposed to drive the story forward, and on a rewatch, you can always tell how the seeds have been planted for making each surprise work. It's good that it kept fans guessing, as being predictable and expected would probably be the worst path to take when making a series about Loki, a character who's all about trickery and deception. So bonus points for being in line with the character.

The TVA: You can complain all you want about how the show is more about the TVA than it is Loki, but you can't deny how the organization in question is a solid addition to the MCU. Initially, it was entertaining to see Loki of all characters be taken aback by how the whole process works. And it was worth a chuckle seeing Infinity Stones, the most powerful objects in the universe, get treated as paperweights. However, as the season continues and we learn about the TVA, the writers show that their intention is to try and write a message about freedom vs. control. We've seen this before in movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Captain America: Civil War, but with those films, it always felt like the writers were leaning more towards one answer instead of making it obscure over which decision is correct. This is why I enjoy the fact that Loki went on saying that there really is no right answer for this scenario. If the TVA doesn't prune variants, it could result in utter chaos and destruction that no one from any timeline can prepare themselves for. But when they do prune variants along with their timelines, it takes away all free will, forcing people to be someone they probably don't even want to be. It's a situation where there really is no middle ground. Even if you bring up how people could erase timelines more destructive than others, that still takes away free will on top of how there's no unbiased way of deciding which timelines are better or worse. And the series found a brilliant way to explain this moral: The season starts by showing how the TVA is necessary, to later point out how there are flaws and evil secrets within it, and ends things with the revelation that there are consequences without the TVA keeping the timeline in check. It's an epic showcase of fantastic ideas met with exquisite execution that I can't help but give my seal of approval to.

Miss Minutes: Not much to say. This was just a cute character, and I love that Tara Strong, one of the most popular voice actors, basically plays a role in the MCU now.

Justifying Avengers: Endgame: Smartest. Decision. This series. Made. Bar none.

Because when you establish that the main plot is about a character getting arrested for f**king over the timeline, you're immediately going to get people questioning, "Why do the Avengers get off scot-free?" So by quickly explaining how their time-traveling antics were supposed to happen, it negates every one of those complaints...or most of them. There are probably still a-holes who are poking holes in that logic, but they're not the ones writing this review, so f**k them.

Mobius: I didn't really expect Owen Wilson to do that good of a job in Loki. Primarily due to how the Cars franchise discredits him as a professional actor for...forever. With that said, Owen Wilson's Mobius might just be one of the most entertaining characters in the series. Yes, even more so than Loki himself. Mobius acts as the perfect straight man to Loki's antics, what with being so familiar with the supposed god of mischief through past variations of him. Because of that, it's always a blast seeing these two bounce off one another through Loki trying to trick a Loki expert, and said expert even deceiving Loki at times. Also, on his own, Mobius is still pretty fun. He has this sort of witty energy that's often present in Phil Coulson (Love that character too, BTW), but thanks to Owen Wilson's quirks in his acting, there's a lot more energy to Mobius than one would find in Coulson. As well as a tad bit of tragedy because of Mobius being a variant and having no clue what his life used to be. It's a lot to unpack and is impressively written, added to how it's Owen Wilson who helps make the character work as well as he did. Cars may not have done much for his career, but Loki sure as hell showed his strengths.

Ravonna Renslayer: Probably the least entertaining character, but definitely one of the most intriguing. At least to me.

Ravonna is a character who is so steadfast in her believes that she refuses to accept that she may be wrong. Without the proper writing, someone like Ravonna could tick off (ha) certain people. Personally, I believe that Ravonna is written well enough where even though I disagree with her belief, I can understand where she's coming from. She's done so much for the TVA, bringing an end to so many variants and timelines that she can't accept that it was all for nothing. In short, Ravonna represents the control side of the freedom vs. control theme that the writers are pushing. Her presence is necessary while still being an appealing character instead of a plot device. Again, at least to me.

Hunter B-15: I have no strong feelings one way or another towards B-15's personality, but I will admit that I love the expectation-subversion done with her. She has this air of someone who's like, "I'm this by-the-books badass cop, and I will only warm up to this cocky rookie after several instances of them proving themselves." That's...technically not B-15. She's the first to see Loki isn't that bad, but only because B-15 is the first in the main cast to learn the hidden vile present in the TVA. It makes her change in point of view more believable than how writers usually work a character like hers, on top of adding a new type of engaging motivation for why she fights. I may not particularly enjoy her personality, but I do love her contributions.

Loki Watching What His Life Could Have Been: This was a brilliant decision by the writers. It's basically having Loki speedrun his own character development through witnessing what he could have gone through and seeing the person he's meant to be, providing a decent explanation for why he decides to work for the TVA. And on the plus side, Tom Hiddleston did a fantastic job at portraying the right emotions the character would have through a moment like this. Such as grief, tearful mirth, and borderline shock and horror. It's a scene that no other character could go through, as no one but Loki needed a wake-up call for who he truly is. This series might heavily focus on the TVA, but scenes like this prove just who's the star of the show.

Loki Causing Mischief in Pompeii: I just really love this scene. It's so chaotic and hilarious, all heavily carried by the fact that you can tell that Tom Hiddleston is having the time of his damn life being this character. What more can I say about it.

Sylvie: The first of many surprises this season offered, and boy was she a great one.

Despite being an alternate version of Loki, I do appreciate that Sylvie's her own character and not just "Loki, but with boobs." She still has the charm and charisma, but she also comes across as more hardened and intelligent when compared to the mischievous prick we've grown to love. A large part of that is due to her backstory, which might just be the most tragic one these movies and shows have ever made. Sylvie got taken away when she was a little girl, losing everything she knew and loved, and it was all for something that the people who arrested her don't even remember. How sad is that? The fact that her life got permanently screwed over, leaving zero impact on the people responsible for it. As badass as it is to hear her say she grew up at the ends of a thousand worlds (that's an album title if I ever heard one), it really is depressing to know what she went through. It also makes her the perfect candidate to represent the freedom side of the freedom vs. control argument. Because she's absolutely going to want to fight to put an end to the people who decide how the lives of trillions should be. Those same people took everything from Sylvie, and if I were in her position, I'd probably do the same thing. Of course, we all know the consequences that come from this, and people might criticize Sylvie the same way they complain about Thor and Star Lord for screwing over the universe in Avengers: Infinity War. But here's the thing: Sylvie's goals are driven by vengeance, which can blind people from any other alternatives. Meaning her killing He Who Remains is less of a story flaw and more of a character flaw. It may be a bad decision, but that's for Season Two Sylvie to figure out. For now, I'll just appreciate the well-written and highly compelling character we got this season and eagerly wait as we see what happens next with her.

The Oneshot in Episode Three: Not as epic as the hallway scene in Daredevil, but I do find it impressive that it tries to combine real effects, fighting, and CGI in a way where it's all convincing enough.

Lady Sif Kicking Loki in the D**k: This is a scene that makes me realize why I love this series. At first, I laugh at Loki being stuck in a time loop where Lady Sif kicks him in the d**k over and over again. But a few scenes later, this setup actually works as a character moment that explains why Loki does the things he does.

This series crafted phenomenal character development through Loki getting kicked in the d**k by the most underrated badass of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's a perfect balance of comedy and drama that not every story can nail, yet Loki seemed like it did with very little effort.

Classic Loki: This variant shows the true tragedy of being Loki. The only way to survive is to live in isolation, far away from everything and everyone he loves, only to end up having his one good deed result in his death anyways. Classic Loki is definitive proof that no matter what face they have, Lokis never gets happy endings. They're destined to lose, but at least this version knows that if you're going out, you're going out big. And at least he got to go out with a mischievous laugh.

(Plus, the fact that he's wearing Loki's first costume from the comics is a pretty cute callback).

Alligator Loki: Alligator Loki is surprisingly adorable, and if you know me, you know that I can't resist cute s**t. It's not in my nature.

Loki on Loki Violence: If you thought Loki going ham in Pompeii was chaotic, that was nothing to this scene. Because watching these Lokis backstab one another, to full-on murdering each other, is a moment that is best described as pure, unadulterated chaos. And I. Loved. Every. Second of it.

The Opening Logo for the Season Finale: I'm still not that big of a fan of the opening fanfare playing for each episode, but I will admit that it was a cool feature to play vocal clips of famous quotes when the corresponding character appears. It's a great way of showing the chaos of how the "sacred timeline" works without having it to be explained further.

The Citadel: I adore the set design of the Citadel. So much history and backstory shine through the state of every room the characters walk into. You get a perfect picture of what exactly happened, but seeing how ninety percent of the place is in shambles, it's pretty evident that not everything turned out peachy keen. And as a personal note, my favorite aspect of the Citadel is the yellow cracks in the walls. It looks as though reality itself is cracking apart, which is pretty fitting when considering where the Citadel actually is.

He Who Remains: This man. I. Love. This man.

I love this man for two reasons.

A. He's a ton of fun. Credit to that goes to the performance delivered by Jonathon Majors. Not only is it apparent that Majors is having a blast, but he does a great job at conveying how He Who Remains is a strategic individual but is still very much off his rocker. These villains are always my favorite due to how much of a blast it is seeing someone with high intelligence just embracing their own insanity. If you ask me, personalities are always essential for villains. Because even when they have the generic plot to rule everything around them, you're at least going to remember who they are for how entertaining they were. Thankfully He Who Remains has that entertainment value, as it makes me really excited for his eventual return, whether it'd be strictly through Loki Season Two or perhaps future movies.

And B. He Who Remains is a fantastic foil for Loki. He Who Remains is everything Loki wishes he could have been, causing so much death, destruction, and chaos to the multiverse. The important factor is that he does it all through order and control. The one thing Loki despises, and He Who Remains uses it to his advantage. I feel like that's what makes him the perfect antagonist to Loki, thanks to him winning the game by not playing it. I would love it if He Who Remains makes further appearances in future movies and shows, especially given how he's hinted to be Kane the Conqueror, but if he's only the main antagonist in Loki, I'm still all for it. He was a great character in his short time on screen, and I can't wait to see what happens next with him.

WHAT I DISLIKED

Revealing that Loki was D.B. Cooper: A cute scene, but it's really unnecessary. It adds nothing to the plot, and I feel like if it was cut out entirely, it wouldn't have been the end of the world...Yeah. That's it.

That's my one and only complaint about this season.

Maybe some scenes drag a bit, and I guess Episode Three is kind of the weakest, but there's not really anything that this series does poorly that warrants an in-depth complaint.

Nope.

Nothing at all...

…

...

...I'm not touching that "controversy" of Loki falling for Sylvie instead of Mobius. That's a situation where there are no winners.

Only losers.

Exclusively losers.

Other than that, this season was amazing!

IN CONCLUSION

I'd give the first season of Loki a well-earned A, with a 9.5 through my usual MCU ranking system. It turns out, it really is the best type of wackiness that was just too good to fail. The characters are fun and likable, the comedy and drama worked excellently, and the expansive world-building made me really intrigued with the more we learned. It's hard to say if Season Two will keep this momentum, but that's for the future to figure out. For now, let's just sit back and enjoy the chaos.

(Now, if you don't excuse me, I have to figure out how to review Marvel's What If...)

[queermediastudies]

Little Effort for LGBTQ Representation in a “Maximum Effort” Superhero Movie

In comic books, one of my favorite characters is and has always been Deadpool. He is “popularly known to be pansexual and isn't particularly choosy about the gender of his partner, much like he has no particular affinity to anything. While this wasn't reflected in the 2016 film starring Ryan Reynolds, both Reynolds and director Tim Miller have hinted that this might come up in the sequel” (Vijaykumar, 2016). After watching it, I feel that the movie succeeds on some marks for giving out adequate LGBTQ representation, but not for the character one might expect. The movie Deadpool 2centers around Wade Wilson’s “one or two moments” that make him an (anti)hero. After losing his love Vanessa from the first movie, Wade finds himself attempting to create the X-Force in order to protect Russell, a mutant teenager from Cable, an experienced and genetically enhanced time-traveling soldier on a quest for revenge. Most of the movie focuses on the drama that ensues after Deadpool’s vain attempt to die is foiled by his own mutant abilities, his grudging acceptance of life and a sense of responsibility for Russell only to then (spoiler alert!) die. Except he doesn’t. Yet, in all of the CGI fights and snarky comments and constant breaking of the fourth wall, the movie does actually manage to discuss some elements of LGBTQ identities and representation. There are two main topics surrounding LGBTQ issues that the movie Deadpool 2 focuses on: the alleged hypersexuality of bi/pansexual people and alternatively, the de-sexualization of queer couples already in a relationship. Deadpool’s‘R’ rating and the characters’ own desire to “Fuck Wolverine” by getting better ratings in the second film took away from the potential of better, full-fledged LGBTQ representation stemming from the titular character, however, the film manages to cover up some of its pitfalls by succeeding in portraying a healthy lesbian relationship between one of the already established characters in the franchise and threading subtleties that condemn conversion therapy and argue for acceptance of others.

           At the start of the film, Deadpool makes a valiant, but luckily, unsuccessful attempt at suicide with the first two words being “Fuck Wolverine.” This merges directly into his habit of breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience and promising that he’ll be dying in this film too. Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds then goes on to explain what led up to this moment which can be quickly summed up as the love of his life, Vanessa, was killed and he feels responsible for her death. The fact that Deadpool only begins to show more signs of a queer sexuality after Vanessa (his love from the entire first movie dies) indicates that being queer means exhausting every other opportunity of expressing yourself. Without the director and actor Ryan Reynolds discussing it in interviews, the average viewer would have been largely unaware of Deadpool’s canon queer identity in the comics. GLAAD actually gave the first movie some flack for its “veiled references” to Deadpool’s sexuality, however, the second film does not seem to take the subject much further (Romano, 2018). It is easy to view Deadpool’s flirtatious manner with Colossus as simply a moment of weakness and used as a joke, rather than an affirmation of his queer identity and sexuality.

           The other, more direct aspect of LGBTQ identity that is given in the movie is between Negasonic Teenage Warhead and her girlfriend, Yukio. The following scene occurs just prior to Deadpool’s confrontation with Colossus.

           “The power-couple proves groundbreaking, proving to be the first truly open, explicitly LGBT couple in superhero cinema” (Armstrong, n.d.). Despite this being the first out relationship in a Hollywood movie, the moment isn’t treated like a groundbreaking moment. In some ways, this could be seen as negative, because it isn’t treated like a big deal, but Armstrong argues that it could also be a way of trying to prevent alienating viewers by “mak[ing] any LGBT representation too visible [then] make certain audiences uncomfortable” (n.d.).

           In the article from Scott, Darieck & Fawaz, the authors explore queerness using the X-Men as an example (2018). The queerness in X-Men characters is even more pronounced for certain individuals, such as Iceman who are actually labeled as gay/bi/pansexual, alongside of Deadpool. There is a scene in the second X-Men movie in which Iceman “comes out” to his parents, except rather than dealing with sexuality, it is about his mutant status (Puchko, 2018).

           Exchange the word “gifted/mutant” for “gay” in the previous clip, and the movie would have passed for solid LGBTQ representation. This movie was filmed before “the character Iceman realizes that he has been in the closet after his younger self confronts his older self in Uncanny X-Men (in a messy time-travelling episode)” (Vijaykumar, 2016), but the franchise as a whole still works to entice LGBTQ viewers for the marginalization that mutants feel in society that mirrors the lack of acceptance for LGBTQ individuals. Going back to the film, although Deadpool 2fails at giving enough exposure and time to focus on Deadpool’s pansexuality, it still adopts many of the themes from previous X-Men movies that argue for acceptance alongside of Negasonic’s relationship with Yukio. The movie provides its own anxious teen serving as a symbol for queer youth and their fight against with bigoted condemnation through flame-throwing Russell Collins” (Puchko, 2018). Russell, or “Firefist” lashes out in violence because of the torture suffered at the hands of Essex House’s mutant-hating headmaster whose techniques are similar to real-life “pray away the gay” conversion therapy (2018). Given that Russell is seen purely as a victim, regardless of the violence he instigated and the reckless choices he made that led to Cable searching for revenge against him in the first place show how damaging the lack of acceptance is for people in marginalized communities. Russell was persecuted because of his mutant status, and despite the film not exploring the canon texts of queer visibility in the comics in any nuanced way, it still provides some representation what is still a hilarious movie.

           I only just recalled the Celine Dion music video that came out before the movie that Deadpool did a music video to and is the song for the very Bond-esque opening credits for this movie. Check it below, both the music video and the opening credits.

Music video: 

Opening credits to Deadpool 2: 

Given that I’ve read the Deadpoolcomics, I saw the moments where Wade is flirting with Colossus as an affirmation of his sexuality in the most “Deadpool way,” that is, ridden with crude humor and sexual overtones. However, it is understandable to me where audiences would downplay those moments because the movie does not return to them or make them “a big deal,” when it needs to be in order to provide a critical and engaged LGBTQ character. Additionally, Deadpool’s character is very much an anti-hero. Although we see him have a couple heroic moments in this movie, he is still a mercenary who has a murder tally in the hundreds for the movies and thousands in comic books, which doesn’t bode well for overall positive LGBTQ representation. Also, given that the network Fox was subsequently bought out by Disney just prior to this movie’s release makes me concerned for the future of Deadpool and the X-Force as a whole because of Disney’s now long-running trick of the presenting their “first” LGBTQ character appearing in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene in recent movies (Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Onward). Personally, I identify as pansexual, so seeing a superhero movie where it was at least alluded to more directly, alongside an explicit lesbian couple appearing on-screen simply gives me great joy although I definitely want to see Hollywood go further in how it portrays queer characters. My biggest issue with the movie was actually that the character Yukio has already been portrayed in X-Men films and is actually at one point, dating Wolverine. Therefore, her relationship with Negasonic does not make any sense if one follows the movies and comics very closely, however, it is a sin I was willing to forgive because other than Yukio’s rather small presence in other movies, she shines in Deadpool 2.

References:

Armstrong, B. (n.d.). Deadpool 2 is Groundbreaking, But Still Lukewarm LGBT Representation. Retrieved October 2020, from Metzia.com <https://metiza.com/culture/lifestyle/deadpool-2-is-groundbreaking-but-still-lukewarm-lgbt-representation/>

Puchko, K. (2018). ‘Deadpool 2’ is the gayest superhero movie yet. That’s not saying much. Retrieved October 2020, from Mashable. <https://mashable.com/2018/05/20/deadpool-2-queer-representation/>

Romano, N. (2018). What Deadpool 2 gets right and wrong about Hollywood’s first LGBTQ Marvel heroes. Retrieved October 2020, fro, Entertainment Weekly. <https://ew.com/movies/2018/05/18/deadpool-2-lgbtq-superheroes/>

Scott, Darieck & Fawaz, R. (2018). “Queer About Comics.” American Literature 90(2), 197-219.

Vijaykumar, N. (2016). Wonder Woman and other LGBT characters in comics universe. Retrieved October 2020, from The Week. <https://www.theweek.in/webworld/features/society/lgbt-comic-characters-wonder-woman-deadpool.html>

1465 words

[amplesalty]

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) & Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street (2019)

One, two, Freddy’s coming for you...

I feel like I’ve mentioned Nightmare 2 a few times on here but it never had it’s own dedicated entry so I’ve had a rewatch of it on my mind for a while now. That was only hastened when I recently learned of ‘Scream, Queen!’, a documentary cantered around Mark Patton who plays the lead character Jesse in 2.

Amongst the less than favourable reviews Nightmare 2 has, it also has the reputation of the ‘gayest horror movie ever’ which lead to the typecasting of Patton and him walking away from his acting career. It’s not something I was immediately aware of on my initial viewing of it, certainly there are a lot of moments that with that in mind stand out upon rewatching and a few that are less than subtle, such as Jesse going to a gay bar in the middle of the night only to run into his gym teacher. Some of it seems a little too much like people trying to read into things that aren’t there, like it seems people point out an early scene where Jesse gets into a tussle with one of his classmates Grady during a softball game. Grady rips Jesse’s trousers and they have a bit of a roll around on the grass before being separated. There are doubtless hundreds of examples of kids getting into fights like that across TV and cinematic history that people wouldn’t point out as examples of homoeroticism. But when you couple that with moments like a later scene where Jesse runs away from his girlfriend as they’re about to have sex, only to seek solitude with Grady and they have this exchange:

“There’s something inside of me. And last night it made me go into my sister’s room. And tonight with Lisa in the cabana, it started happening again.” “I think you are seriously losing it, bro.” “I’m scared, Grady. Something is trying to get inside my body.” “Yeah, and she’s female, and she’s waiting for you in the cabana. And you wanna sleep with me.”

You can perhaps see why people might start drawing conclusions from other scenes.

That ‘something’ is Freddy who is seemingly manifesting himself through Jesse into the real world. Up until that point though, the lines have been very blurry as to whether or not Freddy is actually back or whether Jesse is just going crazy, caught up in the wild stories of this vengeful killer from beyond the grave and becoming some sort of copycat.

It’s that part of the movie that I really like, this gray area where you’re not sure exactly what’s happening. It’s something the Nightmare series is able to explore with its switching between the normal and dream worlds but it’s taken to another level here, rather than just use that to build suspense as to whether a character is in danger due to Freddy being present in the dream world, you can see Jesse descending into this madness and are left to wonder whether or not he’s the one actually the one committing these murders.

Things can be a little disorientating at times due to the editing which I’m not sure is intentional or due to them making cuts. I think there’s a couple of occasions where things will pick up in the morning with Jesse wearing one set of clothes, then jumping to lunch time at school or in the evening back home where he’s wearing different clothes, inplying a day or more has passed. I suppose it does add to the atmosphere in a way but it also comes off a bit weird to me.

The movie is pretty much entirely in the real world so it lacks the creative and unique kills that often arise when people slip into slumber and into Freddy’s realm. But it does feature a scene where Freddy finally emerges into the real world and terrorises a high school party. You don’t really get that widespread sense of panic elsewhere in the series, there’s often that sort of low level of ongoing dread once the group of kids realise what’s happening and fear the next time they fall asleep but Freddy often kills people when they’re alone so it’s a change to see dozens of kids trying to escape, trampiling each other as they try and break through a gate or climb a wall. Apparently Wes Craven didn’t like this scene as it made Freddy look silly by having him surrounded by a bunch of muscular jocks. I find that a little strange though since, yeah Freddy might not be the most imposing figure size wise but his body is pretty much one giant, oozing sore complete with knives for fingers so I’m pretty sure he’s going to come out on top in terms of intimidation. Not to mention all the supernatural shit he’s seemingly conjuring like turning the pool into a boiling pot and summoning up pillars of fire.

I feel like this is where things take a sharp downturn, having the manifestation of Freddy emerge kinda removes all doubt and also takes Jesse out of the movie until the very end. It just feels a little anti climatic to have this big final battle suddenly fought by Jesse’s girlfriend who falls back on the trope of ‘I know you’re still in there, I love you!’ as she implores Jesse to fight back and finally overcome Freddy. So much for that gay subtext if it’s hetro love that finally saves the day.

Going into this rewatch, I had this built up very highly in my head which I don’t think it was able to live up to. Possibly because this years Invisible Man has surpassed it in my head as the really good example of that ambigious horror I like so much. Like Elisabeth Moss in that film, Patton has a real good look to him here in getting across the anxiety that Jesse is going through.

And to draw comparison to another Universal horror, there’s something of a Jekyll and Hyde or Wolfman to Jesse, the way he worries about this transformation that he’s going through and about the thing inside him coming out. During that scene at Grady’s place, Freddy emerges from Jesse’s body almost like a butterfly breaking free of it’s cacoon. Maybe that’s what everyone is talking about when it comes to the gay themes, that sense of discovery taking place amongst young adults and the angst surrounding whether or not they really want to reveal their true selves to a world that, as we’re unfortunately discovering more and more these days, still isn’t ready to accept everyone even nearly 40 years after this movie came out.

So for the documentary – Scream, Queen is an appropriate name for more than just the play on the ‘scream queen’ moniker given to notable horror movie actresses like Jamie Lee Curtis, and the obvious double meaning with it being focused around Patton’s sexuality. There’s quite a few instances of him delivering screams during Nightmare 2 which is a little unusual for a male character in a horror movie, not least a lead like he was. Plus it’s a little unusual for a male to be the lead at all, ‘last girl’ and all that, especially in the Nightmare franchise, all the other ones I’ve seen so far are female led.

They talk about the negative reputation the movie has and highlight a lot of internet comments about the sexual themes, a lot of slurs in there and comments like ‘Jesse screams like a girl’. Well wouldn’t you if some burn victim grabbed you in your house, ran knived fingers across your face and then ripped the top of his head off to expose his brain? I don’t doubt for a second that there are scores of people out there who would write this off due to this, I would hope that those are just a minority and if people don’t like it that they have legitimate reasons for that.

It’s a very eye opening story because even after learning about all this ‘gay subtext’ surrounding the movie and Patton’s departure from acting, I hadn’t really thought about the wider reasons behind that. Like, you hear about him being typecast and you just think that he doesn’t want to be pigeon holed into just playing one type of character or that it was hard to find work in those roles because not many of them existed. But it’s much deeper and more disturbing than that, delving into the emergence of the disease into the wider public knowledge during the 1980’s and the panic surrounding that. They show archived headlines and TV clips, with one member of the public being interviewed on the news saying “what they’re doing is abnormal...they’re not fit, they’re not human beings”. It’s painted as a bit of a witchhunt, with tabloids trying to out any closeted Hollywood stars and Patton tells a story of being duped into divulging information on his own boyfriends illness. With blood tests implemented for any prospective actors and him being advised to look and act a certain way to be more palatable to casters, he’s being asked to deny who he truly is.

For as much as the movie looks at the darker period of his formative years and him walking away from Hollywood, it’s encouraging to see his re-emergence into the public eye and embracing the fandom surrounding the movie, taking part in conventions and screenings that shun the negativity and instead see the role as empowering, encouraging people going through similar situations and being something of a role model.

The film culminates in a sit down talk between Patton and Nightmare 2’s writer David Chaskin who he feels has thrown him under the bus whenever talk of the ‘gay subtext’ has come up, having long denied any such thing before slowly changing his story and claiming that it was the casting that ruined the movie. Just before this there is footage of Patton and Jack Sholder at a convention where Sholder comes across as a little condescending. He’s basically telling Patton that directing his ire at Chaskin is misplaced and that he should drop the whole thing given it’s been 30 years. There’s an element of truth to that but I think it’s understandable that Patton would feel that way, especially when he points out that it’s only recently that Chaskin has taken ownership of the subtext now that we’re living in a more understanding time where it’s perhaps viewed as a brave move to introduce this kind of element. It’s going to be hard to look past someone enabling more vitriol by pinning problems on you.

The talk between Chaskin and Patton is a little awkward and it comes across like they’re there for different purposes, Chaskin trying to lighten the mood periodically where Patton keeps a serious tone, challenging Chaskin on some of the comments he’s made.

There’s one in particular where Chaskin suggests that the movie could be played at conversion camps....yikes.

Patton openly saying beforehand that he’s looking for an apology but I don’t know if he exactly got that. Chaskin says he hopes Patton can forgive him and that there are previous comments he made that he regrets but it comes across a little laboured. Maybe there was more said whilst the cameras weren’t rolling or maybe Patton is just accepting what little he can get from the experience in order to bring some closure to the whole thing.

[cracked]

While the Razzies appear to challenge the industry's laziness, it also seems to perpetuate Hollywood's prejudiced social norms. For example, in 2015 -- incidentally the year that Laverne Cox became the first transgender person be nominated for an acting Emmy -- the Razzies couldn't stop themselves referring to Transformers: Age Of Extinction as "Trannies #4." We're sure you'll agree that this is clearly the bravest joke an award show dedicating to punching up at cynical Hollywood elites could make. We're kind of amazed the Razzie for Worst Picture isn't called "The Gayest Movie Of The Year Award." When your whole schtick is pointing a mocking finger at how hacky Hollywood can be, you need to at least try harder than the movies you claim to hate so much.

Black actors don't exactly receive a fair hearing from the Razzie crew, either. In the past 35 years, black actors have won Academy Awards only 13 times -- that's less than one out of every ten awards. Oddly enough, that's still an impressive score, seeing how few nonwhite roles there are in Hollywood. But in the same timespan, the Razzies have bestowed 14 awards to black actors, because when it comes to hating things, the world suddenly becomes an absolute meritocracy.

Look, it's not like we're saying that 2004's Catwoman didn't deserve to be cat-pooped on for being horrible, but it's not like Halle Berry had a million chances to become a black lead in a superhero movie either. The Razzies had a chance to be more than a dart to throw at shitty movies, a truly outside-the-box ceremony that could have turned on Hollywood's deeply entrenched racism by pointing out that the best franchise Hollywood had to offer Academy-Award-winning actress Halle Berry was an indecipherable bastardization of a beloved female icon. (In the film, Catwoman has to bring down an evil cosmetics empire, because women be shopping.) But instead, the Razzies are usually as lazy and cynical as whatever Adam Sandler movie they've nominated this year.

4 Reasons The Razzies Suck (And Should Be Abolished Forever)