#who needs another live action monster high movie? not me.

[brebug242posts]

when will the live action remake trend die?

like some of them are good

and then we have some not even out yet and already getting mass hate

[inkbutterflyuniverse]

People should stop hating on something they haven't seen/didn't give a chance just because it's a reboot.

I wantee to make a post about shows that had a reboot and that were judged too soon, before people even watch it, for a long time, and what is happening with the Winx Reboot motivated me. Beware that it's a long post.

I think a good way to start this would be with Monster High.

Monster High was a show from the 2010s. It had a tv show in 2d and a bunch of movies in 3d. Monster High was popular all around the world, people really liked it, the characters were compelling, the storyline were nice and it's whole concept was based around dolls. (I know there's also books but they're so different that I won't talk about them)

In the middle of the 2010s (I would say 2015-2016) the selling of the dolls weren't as great so they stopped everything. In 2018 they tried launching Monster High Gen 2, with new designs and new dolls, but it didn't work.

In 2022, they launched a new show, that is Monster High Gen 3. It still was a story about a bunch of monsters at a school made for them, and the beloved characters were back.

So what was the problem you would ask? Well, the characters were the same but different. Their essence was still the same (Frankie being a Frankenstein creature, Clawdeen a werewolf, Draculaura a vampire, etc..), but their characterization and stories were differents, and so were the designs. So people started complaining about it online. (This Gen also had live action movies but I won't talk about it, as it's about the tv shows).

But in reality, the show was GOOD. People who were fans of the OG show liked it! The show had a storyline, a direction, it knew what it wanted to explore it, and it did it. There was a real plot about Clawdeen's mom that was talked through the episodes, and progress was made as the episodes were airing.

But some people still decided to hate it without watching it, and it's sad because the show deserves some love!

As for now, Gen 3 isn't renewed for a third season, mainly because it's Nickelodeon and Mattel wants to distance themselves from the company, partially because of the Quiet on Set documentary.

So of you haven't see that show, you should really watch it, because it's totally worth it!

But Monster High is not why I wanted to make a post, my main concern is the Winx Reboot.

Recently, a trailer dropped for a reboot that will come on Netflix in 2025. The Winx we know are still here, but some things changed as we saw in the trailers. It's not redoing the Winx in 3d, it's a new series that starts from the beginning.

And people are already hating it, saying that we don't need a reboot, that it's ugly, etc. Everyone can have their opinion, but personally I think a reboot is much needed.

If you ask people about the Winx, some will say "seasons 1 to 3 are good, after I didn't really watched/I didn't liked it" ; some will say "I liked the newest season but I can recognize the problems, I think it was good until season 5/6/7" ; and majority will agree that the designs of season 8 were too childish and that it kinda ruined the show.

The live action series was very different and will not be discussed.

So actually, a reboot can be a good thing, it can fix some problems that had the show (like the reason why Stella was on Earth with Knut. In the trailer of the reboot it's Stella and Flora who are here for Bloom, and I'm very interested in how they knew there was a fairy here!)

I see so many people HATING on the show even before it's out, and it's TIRING. I know it's common to hate on something, you don't want things you knew when you were a child to change, but it's just something else that will introduce another generation to it! And old fans will certainly enjoy rediscovering the Winx under a new light!

You are allowed to not like the designs, to not want to watch it, but hating it won't change anything. The show will still exist and some people will like it, so just ignore it, and stop being a part of the hate campaign I see everywhere!!

On the top of my head, I can think of other shows that had the same issues!

The Disney Channel movies ZOMBIES got a 3d series about them redoing their senior year thanks to alien magic. People are saying "it's ugly", "no one asked for this", "cancel this please", "it's because of show like this one that The Owl House was cancelled" (definitely NOT TRUE, it has nothing to do with it).

In the ZOMBIES Re-Reanimated Series, we can find the characters of the movie living new adventures at Seabrook, we can meet new characters, and enjoy new catchy songs! The actors from the movies are dubbing their animated characters, and those characters were designed based on the actors. Again, you can say that you don't like the style, but no need to hate it.

Also, I watched a few episodes, and it's great! It's two episodes of 11 minutes in one episode on Disney+.

I can also think of the LEGO Friends franchise. The original show had a reboot named "Girl on a Mission" and now it has a third show, with a new generation. The OG girls all appeared in the show once or two, and one is actually the mother of a girl from the new show.

And maybe it's a deep cut but do people remember Heidi? It also had a 3d reboot.

I personally didn't liked it, but I know that it allowed some children to discover her, and I'm happy about this! I don't go everywhere saying that it sucks and that they should give us the Heidi from our childhood back.

And I'm sure there are other shows in the same situation...

This post is a bit long, but I really wanted to express this, because it really bother me.

A reboot is, most of the time, not a bad thing. The idea behind it is usually to make a new generation discover this thing, and sometimes it turns great, sometimes not. But that's okay.

What I wanted to say is that anyone is allowed to not like something, but hating before seeing because it's a reboot from something you really like, is not okay.

People are working on it, and maybe some of those people are also fans of the show, and are grateful to be able to work on a reboot of that show.

So please, please, please reconsider hating like this online, on something you haven't seen. If you didn't liked it, that's okay, but in the case of the Winx Club it's not even out and all I see is people criticizing it. And when some are trying to be positive about it, they are criticized.

[michaelpyromaniacal]

ok i just saw a commercial for the monster high live action sequel, which naturally reminded me of the first live action monster high movie, and now i'm mad. because, like, they massacred my boy. and my girl. and my other girl. oh, and a couple more of my girls. and for what?

I'm mad about all of them, obviously. i'm mad that fashionista Clawdeen has a newly garbage sense of style. i'm mad that the zombies speak english now. i'm mad that cleo is an irredeemable bitch instead of a fundamentally kind girl with a lot of mummy issues, and i'm mad that Lagoona is a bitch along with her. speaking of, i'm mad that Lagoona isn't aussie anymore. i'm mad about a lot of things.

but lord god above. what did they do to my boy deuce.

for one. he was kind of a himbo, but an absolute angel, and it worked. why the fuck did they change his personality?

for another.

my guy. why did you invent monster racism to give him more angst. i can understand wanting him to have more obstacles to overcome for the sake of a deeper character. obstacles for your characters are a hallmark of great writing. that being said, you do not need to invent a new flavor of racism.

he's fucking Medusa's son.

there's so much you can do with that. the obvious daddy issues. even some issues with mom? clearly, she loves him and she's trying her best, but maybe on bad days she can't look at him because he reminds her of Poseidon. maybe Posea goes to school with them, and you can have drama with the two of them. there's so much you can do. and you don't even have to spell out for the kids what exactly led to these shitty circumstances. they don't have to know why his father isn't in the picture. but if you just say that he is, everyone who's read Medusa's story will know, and the younger audience just won't. I fail to see what the problem with such a storyline would be.

and guess what. you don't have to invent a new kind of monster racism.

which wouldn't even make since in the larger world, btw. deuce's cousin is a world-renowned make up artist. if the greater monster society were actually that freaked out about gorgons potentially going nuts and turning them to stone, why would Elissabat, her manager, directors, crew members, etc. all be okay with having Viperine around Hauntlywood?

and what are they so worried about, anyway? even if gorgons were going nuts and turning people to stone all the time, it'll just wear off in a few hours! and if it was your intention that it not wear off in this version, then say that for all of us who are used to g1 and g2!

ok. i promise i'm done now.

[netherfeildren]

wait wait you like minari too? your taste is impecabble<3 just wondering, do you have any other favourite movies/recs?

sat on this bc I wanted to give a detailed response lolz I love minari so much I thought about youn yuh-jung's performance in that film for such a long time after watching it she was so gorgeous and so phenomenal and when she won the best supporting actress Oscar I about lost my damn mind, so so deserved

other things I love in no particular order:

-the favourite (I love Yorgos Lanthimos' work the lobster is another favorite and his new one coming out poor things looks AMAZING and like it was constructed specifically with all of my own personal tastes in mind - I'm so excited for it and need to read the book immediately)

-not to be a film bro but interstellar is top two of my favorite films of all times idc Nolan is a master and I watch and love everything he makes (ive watched tenet like 10 times and still have no idea wtf is going on and I LIKE THAT about it )

-not to be a basic bitch now but pride and prejudice is my favorite movie ever ever I watch it at least once a month every single month it'll never get old and yes I do cry at the end every time

-to go hand in hand with my love of historical romance novels I am also a great lover of period dramas obviously I love Emma (2020) so much it's a gorgeous work of art, Jane eyre (2011) I love Mia wasikowska, Marie Antoinette and anything else Sofia Coppola has ever made, Anna karenina (another Joe wright masterpiece)

-anything Wes Anderson but particularly Rushmore (1998) which is one of his lesser known films I feel like but it means a lot to me for various very personal reasons and I wish more people talked about it (I need to watch asteroid city immediately)

-PHANTOM THREAD greatest romcom of all time (jk hehe) but fuck Paul Thomas Anderson I don't like that dude

-everything guillermo del torro but particularly crimson peak (guillermo my man pls pls pls plsssssssss do Dracula and cast Adam driver I'll give u my first born plsssss splsssssss guillermo father pleaaassseeeeee!!!!)

-the green knight !!!!!!!!!!!! changed my brain when I watched it dev Patel is so fucking hot but also like it was just so gorgeous and such a wonderful adaptation and the monster fucker in me low key liked the green knight himself likeeeeeeee idk what to say I am the way I am

-Robert Eggers the light house, the man from uncle (I love most guy Richie films I love his high paced action and all that fun stuff), park chan-wook's STOKER !!!!!!!! I fucking love that film omg, everything Denise villeneuve too but particularly arrival is a goddamn masterpiece and it's so wrong that Amy Adams didn't win the Oscar for that (poor Amy with the no Oscar curse)

-for like comfort movies stepmom (1998) - devastating but I watch it all the time if I could live in any house from a movie ever it'd be Susan Sarandon's house in that movie, billy elliot (2000), 20th century women (2016), lady bird, funny girl - BARBARA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!, howl's moving castle, this is 40 (my favorite comedy ever), paterson (2016), uptown girls, the rocky horror picture show

-oh and more recently the banshees of inisherin moved me so incredibly deeply I actually recently got in an argument with someone who said that it was pointless and stupid and I was SO OFFENDED devastating funny introspective all the things I was very sad when Collin ferrel didn't win the academy award for it I thought he was so ... I don't know what the right word is I guess like changed? in the role of padraic and GOD BERRY KEOGHAN there goes that dream I cried so hard so beautiful Kerry Condon also they were all so spectacularly devastating in that film I could go on about it for days

sorry this was so long you guys know I love to run my mouth when given the opportunity hehe

[magic-hcs]

Would love a matchup~

Some basics:

-She/her

-5.7" (172cm) tall

-Fair skinned, blue eyes, blond medium length hair, glasses, a bit of soft squishy chub

-Pansexual

Who am I?

I'm on the autism spectrum, so I'm often shy and quiet to begin with, especially in crowds. Unless you mention something I'm interested/passionate about then expect sparkles as I rant. Then get profusely embarrassed and blushy after said rant. Never out and about without my earbuds/headphones, listening to music keeps me from getting over stimulated.

I love to dye my hair all sorts of colors. I mostly tend to stick to reds and purples, but occasionally change things up with another color, blue, green, pink, rainbow. Would totally dye my hair the same color as their magic for fun.

Don't follow fashion trends, I wear what I like. Can go from wearing all black to colourful outfits. Likes layers, often wear dresses and skirt. Lots of knitted clothes. Soft cottagecore. Doesn't wear much makeup day to day, but when I'm going out or during special occasions I'll go all out and look absolutely bomb every time. Self conscious about my looks and struggle a bit with my body but still try to wear what I want.

I prefer home dates, but love to every now and then go out, cinema, go out to eat, shopping, hiking or other fun activities that's not too high energy*.

Struggle with ME*(chronic fatigue syndrome), so I have good days and bad days. Only have really bad days if I push myself too much physically. Mostly just manage to move myself from bed to couch. So wont always be able to keep up with chores or go out when I have bad days. Try to do some crafts but don't always have the energy for it. Despite it all I have a positive outlook and always try my best to make the best of the day.

I'm bad at initiating physical touch at first, but I love being close to my partner. You know I'm crushing on somone when I start leaving touches and once we're steady I'll start leaning into them for comfort when I'm getting overstimulated. They become my safe haven. Mostly just physical with a partner. Love being together and touching in some way, if were doing something together or doing separate things in the same space. Arms touching, leaning into each other, head/legs on lap. If their head is on my lap and I have a free hand, I will be softly caress their head, chest or somewhere else. Occasionally I will need some alone time to decompress.

Very creative and have all sorts of creative hobbies. Always interested in learning new things and can often spend hours learning and watching videos of my current hyperfixation.

I run my own little online store were I sell my creations.

On to my hobbies, I'll make this short and sweet~

-Knitting, Crochet, Jewelry making, Beading, Clay, Painting, Resin, Sticker making, Graphic design, Illustration, Video games(pc, switch), movies and series(live action and animated), Reading, Writing, Baking, Sewing, Photography, 3D design, Playing my Kalimba(thumb piano)

- I love to collect cute things, figures, trinkets, miniatures, plushies, scented candles, essential oils and fairy lights. Have way too many soft, fluffy blankets and pillows.

My love language for giving is quality time and gifts(love to give handmade gifts to people I love), for receiving it's acts of service and gifts(I don't care about expensive stuff, just the fact they saw something no mater what it is and thought of me enough to buy/make, gives me the big fuzzies).

A deal breaker for me is bad hygiene, especially not washing those hands or regularly brush their teeth (this might lean more towards humans rather then skeleton monsters). Somone who doesn't like animals, I come with at least 2 cats and a dog. Wants to have pet rats again.

I love when my hair is played with, having somone run their fingers through my hair and/or messaging my scalp and I'll immediately turn into a puddle. Absolutely adore the sound of purring, one of the best sounds in the world.

Dislike strong smells and hard, stiff fabrics. Haven't worn jeans in over 10 years.

Not particularly any physical traits I'm attracted to, it's all about their personality. I love someone who can make me laugh, someone who I can be silly with. Somone who will help and support me during my bad days without complaint. Somone who I can relax and be lazy with, but also somone who can push me a bit to go out more, small daily walks (love a little quiet nature walks).

I'm ok with multiple matches and love me a cute poly~

Can't wait to see who you match me with 💚 Hopefully I didn't rant on to much >w<;;

Gonna start off and say I love your essay about yourself, organized enough to make finding stuff I need easier! And you don’t have to worry, you didn’t rant too much!

Let’s do this!

Matchups are closed!

~~matching…~~matching~….~matching~~…~DING~

You match with Syrup!

✨✨

(US Papyrus): Syrup:

I feel like Syrup knew you from one of his brother’s short lived clubs (Sky loves trying out all kinds of hobbies but to prevent him getting too bored of it he cycles through them) or from his D&D club/campaigns. So Syrup sees you around sometimes, at first he hadn’t talked to you often, he heard all kinds of good stuff about you from Sky so he got curious. Then one day he or his brother mention something and you start gushing. And oh boy, oh boy, Syrup practically sees you start to glow as you rant, and then you get embarrassed and blushy and Syrup can’t help but find you adorable. He acts on the urge to make a joke to lighten up the situation and brush off your embarrassment because there’s no need to be embarrassed about ranting about things you love. And your laugh is like music to his non-existing ears.

You guys become the best of friends, I can tell you that. Syrup encourages you to use your headphones/earbuds to help you out from getting overstimulated. He gets it, his own coping mechanism to deal with overwhelm-ness, stress and frustration is to suck on lollipops. Everyone got their own things. Very early on you two made a system where Syrup either draws your attention by waving when he wants to talk to you, or he sends a message to the device you’re currently using to draw your attention. It’s so neither of you get frustrated.

As everyone knows, Syrup is one clumsy boy. So he falls often. Meaning he can fall into a crush quite easily. It’s a tiny crush that makes him a bit more clumsy and stuttery/easily flustered but those he can get over quickly. However as he gets to know you, he trips further and ends up falling hard.

He loves the colors you dye your hair in. Syrup likes to guess what new color you’re dying your hair with. If you dye your hair the same color as Syrup’s magic then you succeeded in crashing his system! He straight up freezes as his entire face erupts in a darkish orange color and a high pitched whistle leaves him.

Loves anything you wear. I’m legit, this boy believes you’re gorgeous, he adores you in whatever you choose to wear. As long as you like it and are comfortable in it. Be prepared to get your chub worshiped because come on, an amazing pillow is right there and it’s made of you. Syrup would be crazy to not love that.

While we are on the topic, he loves to nap on you.

The moment you give him any sign of an ok he’s all over you with touch. Syrup is a cuddle bug true and through, you can’t change my mind. However before you two are together, it’s more small touches and sitting closer together. The moment you guys are together he goes full on cuddles and snuggles. He blushes while he initiates contact at first but the more he does it the less flustered he gets. Until you start initiating touch back. Syrup goes straight back to being flustered. The first time you leaned on him he swears he had died and gone to heaven or something.

Syrup too sometimes needs his alone time.

On the bad days Syrup will either just join you on the couch or message you memes and joke around to make you smile.

Once he learns you have your own store he’s buying stuff from it, he already loves stuff you make he just wanna show his support. That being said, if you made him something he will treasure it forever.

He likes animals and he wouldn’t mind pets, him and Sky were planning to get a dog anyways. He loves to play with your critters.

This boy will deadass giggle at your blunt/brutally honest comments. He loves that a lot about you.

✨✨

[rudojudo]

Next Episode Trailer

So I figured instead of looking back at the last year, I’d get more out of thinking about my plans for the next one. So here’s everything in the works from me/Rudo Judo Games in 2023! I hate being so transparent about it, but I’d love it if this got shared around a bit for the people who’d be interested.

Giant of Light

This is the big one! My love letter to the modern incarnation of the Ultraman series. This is an adventure game about being someone who either turns into a giant superhero or has access to a portfolio of kaiju. You investigate trouble and when the time comes, the action shifts to a grid-based battle system for the super-sized action. It’s probably 90% written and I want to get some more art for the interior, then it’s out there.

The Hard Way

This one’s less an adoring homage and more a shitpost that came to life. The core concept is playing through an entry in the SAW series, with the intended vibe of the table being friends watching a trashy horror movie with snacks. I thought this one was done, but then I ran a session and realized that it needed refinement, so now I’m refining! Still coming soon, though.

Santa Carla at 4AM

Another joke that possessed me suddenly (shout out to Lil), this is a short, possibly even one-page RPG about being one of the Lost Boys before/outside the narrative of the movie itself. You play as a beautiful, immortal dirtbag looking to amuse themself and help eternity pass faster. Pull big stunts, feed on tourists, get in fights, and most importantly of all, have profound homoerotic tension.

Further Down the Pike

Not projects I’m going to probably get finished this year, but here are the ideas I’m most interested in working on when those three are done:

Free Lunch for Magic Users: in a magical post-apocalypse, players are con-men and odd-jobs using their extremely limited magical powers to make a living. Think Fallout, Cowboy Bebop, and Adventure Time, but starring people on the level of Arataka Reigen or Peter Venkman.

V/H/Essence: play as a movie monster in a world that hates you for existing. Less X-Men, more a thesis statement about being Queer in America. Comes from the fact that almost all the people I know who really, passionately love horror are gay and/or Trans.

Demon Castle Dracula: a team-based game inspired by the Castlevania series. Work together to map the castle, slay the coterie of monsters from world mythology living there, then take on the dark lord and break his curse on the land.

Sentai Squad (working title): each player gets their own team of brightly-colored heroes who work together to defeat monsters, but you’re also making sure that your team is the most beloved, the most famous, and the top seller of merchandise. Maybe being a hero can get a little cutthroat.

Journey to the Quest: an adventure game inspired by Shonen Jump comics like Dragon Ball (not Z) and early One Piece. Play as a heroic child on a quest for greatness, making the world better as you pass through it.

Things That Aren't Games

As though that wasn't plenty. But I do want to try to do more, since hanging all my hopes and dreams on a single hobby/subculture is asking for trouble. But I have three other big goals, things that will probably get priority over a fourth game.

A novel: I have an idea that I've been nurturing for a while and I think it's really coming together. I think I can manage a first draft of a short novel in one year, even working around the games and day job.

A short story submission: this one's a bit fuzzier, but I'd like to have some published fiction I can point to if I'm going to be shopping a novel around for publication, so it makes sense to have more work in print.

Podcasting: I want my games played. I want people to hear how they work and I would love to connect with the massive talents out there in the Actual Play space. So I want me and/or my games to make two appearances on shows this year.

SO! High bar. I know. I didn't get a quarter this much done in 2022. I know I won't do it all unless I really put myself into it, but if I can even come close, this will be my best creative year yet. I hope you can join me.

[denizavoech]

“I’ve felt that pain, that loss, and I wake up every morning, asking myself how I can stop it from happening again”

A strong, profound statement from Professor Sato underscores the driving force behind his and Ken’s battles against the enemies, highlighting the emotional toll and the persistent fight to protect the world.

Ultraman: Rising is a Japanese tokusatsu film directed and written by Shannon Tindle that is part of the expansive Ultraman franchise, which is known for its iconic giant heroes and epic battles against monstrous foes. The movie continues the tradition of the Ultraman series by introducing new elements while staying true to its roots of heroism and adventure.

At first, you may feel frustrated with Ken Sato’s character because it shows how stormy his life is. After losing his mother in an accident, life for him was not the same anymore. He blamed his father for everything, forgetting the intimate connection they had. Based on reality, in Philippine culture and beliefs, talking back to elders is considered disrespectful. That's why there is a negative first impression towards the protagonist.

One day, he gained another responsibility by taking care of the kidnapped baby monster, Emi. At first, he didn’t know what to do, what was the monster’s wants and needs until his life saver since childhood, his AI Mina gave ideas on how to take care of it. Despite the struggle in juggling his career and parental duties, he still declined for his father’s help. However, while saving and finding Emi in the city of Tokyo, Ken Sato accidentally injured her shoulder while trying to save her. With no choice, he finally contacted his father for help, who heals her and aids him in raising her.

As time passes, he finally gets the hang of being a parent and a superhero, setting his mood up high in the air, as bright as the sunshine, and as calm as the sea.

Digging deep into the movie and putting ourselves within his shoes, different backstories and reasons were shown on why his personality and routine was like that. To further explain, whenever he wakes up he’s always in a bad mood and whenever he ends his day, he binge-drinks coffee until his body couldn’t take it anymore. Realizing his sufferings and weaknesses as a hero, formed a prism broken down into dimensions representing every reason of his outraging personality.

The movie teaches us that it’s not just fighting giant monsters, rather than itself fighting the anxiety, the fear, the distractions that come in life and the importance of family despite personal issues.

When it comes to personal reactions, especially in the emotional aspect, the mobie gave me mixed emotions. There were scenes that made me feel angry, sad, fluttered, and surprised. The scene that made me really angry and sad other than the disrespect that Ken showed to his father was when the KDF lured Emi using her mother’s whines causing her to run away and that event was used as a bait to destroy Ken’s home, losing his AI Mina and putting his dad in a critical state. It was like a flush of problems dumped onto someone. On the other hand, the scene that made me flutter was the screen time of Ken Sato because he had a face card that never declines, in short he is very attractive, getting turns and stares in every street he passes. Lastly, the scene that surprised me was how Emi’s mother still had consciousness and memories despite being covered in a robot suit and fighting along Ultraman’s side.

In correlation to all superheroes in every movie, series, and films, they truly live within the saying “With great power, comes great responsibility”. Each day they are called to action as the chosen ones to protect and maintain peace in the world, just like Ken Sato, also known as Ultraman. Within the movie, it shows reality, how powerful people can be strong and weak in some fields. Ultraman is strong when it comes to combating and saving the world, however he is weak when it comes to family. Living the bearing legacy as “Ultraman” has consequences in life choices. It’s whether to keep your peace and let the world suffer or lose your peace and let the world be in a great state.

For the movie analysis, the producers were strong in making the visuals of every character in the movie and its plot. The character of Ultraman was showed effectively and accurately just like the similar films. The movie is relevant, especially this 21st century since people also tend to struggle in different fields despite being known as an intellectual person. Additionally, the movie helps close-minded people to understand and give empathy to what others feel during times that the world is against him/her. However, something felt missing since I wanted to know the details on the disappearance of Ken’s mother and the movie was too short for me despite being aired for two hours.

To sum up everything, it gave me mixed feelings but it was a great movie. It would be better if it had a live interpretation with accurate characters and a longer storyline with a great plot twist. I’m sure other people who are into action and superhero movies would like this. So if I were you, take a seat, prepare your popcorn, watch Ultraman, and give me your thoughts.

[mysticdragon3md3]

😴🪦📺📚 🏜🪱

5:54 PM 3/22/2024

20 Thousand Hertz podcast just had an episode about Hans Zimmer, and had a big section covering his music compositions for the Dune movies. So naturally, I had to re-listen to an old episode of Imaginary Worlds Podcast, about how Dune references Islam.

.

Even so, I feel strangely unmotivated to go watch Dune. I felt that way about the first movie. I feel that way about this recent second movie. This lack of excitement makes no sense, when I like scifi, Dune is a scifi classic, all the makers behind the Dune movies are very skilled (Denis Villeneuve, Hans Zimmer, the actors, etc.), and I've heard nothing but acclaim for the Dune movies. I should be excited about some good movies.

.

But the thought of watching them makes me feel so tired. And not just the tired of a homebody like me, still taking precautions against the pandemic, not wanting to risk going to theaters, nor deal with all the precautions to take after returning home from a completely superfluous outing. It feels more like the fatigue of adding another piece of media to my backlog. That overwhelm I get, whenever someone says I NEED to watch this anime, or I NEED to watch this cartoon, or I NEED to read this manga, or I NEED to listen to this podcast, or another. Whenever that happens, no matter how acclaimed the media is, I just feel so tired at the thought of adding another thing to my backlog, or even just the idea of tackling another thing, whether it's a 50 episode anime or a duo of movies. I recently saw Frieren overtake Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood in the "best anime series" rankings, and despite both being highly HIGHLY acclaimed and FERVENTLY recommended by EVERYONE, all I can feel is tired at the idea of tackling another thing. I don't quite understand my overwhelmed fatigue, especially for Dune, because I don't frequent places/people who tell me I NEED to watch Dune. All I can think is that because the atmosphere of the trailers, plus the acclaim, have built such an air of awe around the franchise, I am already overwhelmed and tired at the anticipated emotional labor that would be expected to be involved with media of such high acclaim (especially a live action, with lots of drama).

.

I have been immersed in primarily the "iyashikei" genre for MANY years now. I used to be a Shonen anime/manga junkie. My favorite genre? Demon hunters. Everything from Bleach, to Devil May Cry, to Phantom Quest Corp., to Claymore, to Inuyasha, to Yu Yu Hakusho, to Ushio and Tora,… If there were exorcists fighting monsters with a combo of swords, melee weapons, supernatural powers, magic, some martial arts, and maybe some "urban fantasy" flair, then I was in.

.

But I've gotten tired in recent years. I switched to the "slice of life" genre, some "moe anime", and mostly "iyashikei". Literally, "soothing culture". Maybe I've become too anxious in my real life to handle anything more stressful in my supposed "relaxation time" entertainment. One of my top 3 favorite anime is still Natsume Yuujinchou. The most peaceful and soothing take on the supernatural yokai genre I've seen. And it still manags to have more action than Tactics, Yokai Doctor, or Morose Mononokean. Lucky Star used to be my contender against Code Geass for my 3rd favorite anime, because I rewatched the "slice of life" genre so much.

.

Then I heard someone talk about "emotional labor", and that's when I realized that was what I was experiencing. I couldn't take anymore emotional labor. It didn't matter how empowering that Shonen anime/manga felt, I just couldn't deal with even that anymore. It made sense. It was the same reason why I hated the "drama" genre. That genre is just all emotional labor, all the time. I didn't want that. I didn't need that stress, especially during my supposed decompression times. I don't watch "Oscar bait" movies, and I generally don't watch "live action". The reality of looking at real life peple was never as beautiful to me as moving or still illustrations, but now I was beginning to think the heightened reality of "live action" also just disallowed my social anxiety to rest.

.

People recommend "Game of Thrones" to me, and I am just unmotivated. I look at Dune and think "I should be interested in watching that", but I can only feel tired.

I wonder if part of the reason I'm so into figure collecting now, is that the backlog concept is not so overwhelming. When I collected manga, it was a waste if I didn't get around to reading the book. But as soon as my figurines pass the unboxing backlog stage, then they are already consumed. I can enjoy them, just by glancing at them. I don't have to devote the time to watch a movie. I don't have to devote the emotional labor of experiencing a story's emotional reality. I can just collect figures, play with their poses, take photos, and enjoy them without the stress of emotional labor. The unboxing backlog may make me feel a little overwhelmed sometimes, but it's not as tiring as adding another story media to my backlog lists.

[the-haylien]

What I've Been Watching On Netflix

Big Bug

Big Bug is a fairly good series full of robots acting badly. It's a Sci-Fi black comedy from France.

Godzilla: King of Monsters

I watched these out of order, so I almost turned it off. But I'm glad I stayed through the end. It was worth the watch. Rogue scientists race to reset the balance of humanity by awakening monsters. Godzilla rises to fend off the Titans.

The Midnight Sky

George Clooney does sci-fi in a slow-moving post-apocalyptic story about a lonely scientist in the Arctic. He works to stop astronauts from returning to a global catastrophe on Earth.

Atypical

I enjoyed this comedy-drama series set in Connecticut. It focuses on 18-year-old Sam Gardner, who is on the autism spectrum. But we get to know the whole family and their various quirks and foibles.

Chimp Empire

An excellent documentary about our cousins' culture.

Prometheus

I didn't know this was the 5th installment of the Alien franchise. I began to suspect as familiar objects appeared and the action progressed. Actually, it was a quite satisfying way to watch it!

The Social Dilemma

Billed as a docudrama, this is about the negative effects of social media. It may be informative if you live under a rock, but I did keep watching to the end.

You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment

I learned that little things in your diet can make a big difference in your health. Our food system is screwed up. You can look slim on the outside and still be fat on the inside. A lot of doctors are still not educated on what a healthy diet consists of. I also lost my appetite for animal protein.

School Spirits

Not another High School series! But I liked it. Maddie investigates her own murder at the local high school. She meets other ghosts from different eras and becomes friends with them. They are all trying to figure out how to move on.

65

Humans discovered Earth 65 million years ago. After a crash landing, an astronaut finds a girl from one of the other ships and works to get her off the dangerous planet. Slow moving, but it works well.

Lift

Heist comedy worth $500B in gold bullion. Exciting. You can see the twist coming.

LIve to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones

Another long drawn-out documentary. Nothing you haven't heard before, except the Blue Zones are shrinking and disappearing. You need to do some work to create your own Blue Zone.

Detective Forst

Polish detective movies are in their own genre: grungy, dark, brutal, complicated, frenetic, blurred lines of right and wrong, survival against the odds.

Cowboys and Aliens

A spaceship arrives in 1873 Arizona. Yeah, okay, good movie. But it begs the question, why are aliens who are smart enough to build an interstellar spacecraft so brutal, running around naked, trying to kill everyone? So they are the advance-testors, but even so.

A Trip to Infinity

A documentary about the concept of infinity filled with enough explanatory moments to give us a brief idea about the endlessness of the universe.

Level 16

A mostly boring, science fiction B-movie. Nothing to see here people. Move along.

The Magicians

Fantasy with depth and young adult angst. I never watched season five, so I watched the whole thing from the beginning again. I also read the novels at least three times. You probably won't believe me when I claim to like hard science fiction better. But you would be correct to say that I love Mr. Grossman's story. I am satisfied with the TV series timeline.

Made in Italy

Starring Liam Neeson and real-life son, Micheál Neeson, this film is about a father and son who travel to Italy to sell a house they inherited. The film examines themes of art, loss, and family.

Queer Eye: Season 8

So nice to have the Fab 5 back on my screen, but oh so short! This season seemed a bit too slick, but I loved it anyway. What am I going to do without them?

Orion and the Dark

This is a kid's animated movie. It's a bit jumpy--maybe that's a reflection of the neurotic kid who's afraid of everything. Just when you're thinking it's over and that was real short, it starts in again.

Rim of the World

Another kid's movie. Not much to see in this poorly developed sci-fi movie. Crudely pasted together: for example, an injured child with vital information is unconscious, then up and running when it is time to go. Lots of running around in circles because there is nothing better to do, and the movie needs to be longer.

Anon

This is future hi-tech criminal noir. How can you get away with murder when everyone records what they see? Great science fiction.

Alexander: the Making of a God

A dramatized documentary. Very enjoyable, but they draw things out. It probably could have been done in half the episodes. I enjoyed hearing the historians interviewed as much as I liked watching the dramatic presentations.

Freaks

Science fiction story. Some humans have new powers and are being discriminated against out of fear. They fight for their life.

Einstein and the Bomb

Another dramatized documentary. All of Einstein's words were taken from real life. A good show for the most part.

Pluto

Anime about strong robots with strong AI.

[notmuchtoconceal]

This is going nowhere.

I'm spelling it out, but you're not listening,.

Your troubled schooldays. How you're conflicted about marriage. Your denial of death. The unfounded guilt. Abnormal sexuality.

18 years of denial.

A whole universe of fantasy in that thick skull of yours. A skull teeming with agents of repression. Blind children clutching photos in the dark. Pale freaks, goggle-eyed from watching home movies on loop.

The term is complicated grief. But it's simple, isn't it?

A young girl. Her parents don't get along. She blames herself, as all children do. Then daddy dies. What's a girl to do? Deny that daddy died. Denied who daddy was. What seven year old actually knows who their parents are, anyway? So she obsesses and obsesses over this fantasy dad, propping up her make-believe with scraps. Scraps of a happy life that never was. Scraps of a happy life that never existed.

WAKE UP.

Your dad wasn't a hero. He wasn't your knight in shining armor.

[ [

He was a human being. You never knew him. And you never will.

The dad walking around inside your head isn't even a ghost. He never existed. A Frankenstein's monster. A child's fantasy.

But you're alive. Your mother is alive. She's not the monster you make her out to be. You need to live your life. Cheryl.

...

You've been with me for so long.

I always will be.

...

[[[ ]]]]

\ Why did you have to die?

It wasn't my fault.

Someone has to take the blame.

Forget me.

[[[ ]]]

/ Dad.

You are a hero.

The man who died? That wasn't my father.

That isn't who I remember. Those memories are all I have.

You're all I have.

... I'm not even a ghost?

| ((( )))

|

/ ... /

aha haha

sweetie

daddy?

i love my daddy

/ . / You'll be careful...?

Sure.

Harry.

We've said enough. Let's just...

Sweetie, don't film this.

You know this has nothing to do with you.

Even though mom and dad don't love each other anymore, we'll always love you. And we always will.

\ . \

Action.

Come on, girls! Introduce yourselves!

I'm Michelle. And I'm Midwich High's Prom Queen.

And our next star ... ?

haha I'm Lisa. I'm a nurse.

And I'm Harry Mason!

Famous author and seducer of Prom Queens and Nurses!

Can we be in your next book?

Suuuure.

Can you dedicate it to us?

Nope. Dedications are always to my wife and daughter.

It's only fair.

Ahahahahahaha

woooooaaah

\ . \ You piece of shit. When are you gonna bring in some real money.

[ ]

You think your crap is Shakespeare? Your piece of shit novels?

NOBODY EVEN READS THEM!

[ ]

BE A MAN!

COME ON FIGHT BACK!

You're pathetic.

To think I used to hang off your every word!

DICKLESS WASTE OF SPACE

...

.

.

/ . /

, , ,

,

,

What the hell are ya filmin me for?

Am I suppsoed to dance for ya?

ya ya hey hey hey hey

' ] [

GAGH

Be a good girl for daddy, get him another drink, will ya?

NOW

GIMME A DAMN BEER

no i wonder i drink with a family like this...

. ,.

,

.

,

|

This.

This is it?

After all we've said, all we've discussed...

You honestly believe ... that your father was abducted by aliens?

It made more sense when you were talking about cults and demons!

This whole town... It's really a giant spaceship :D

[[[ ]]]

James?

Wrong day again?

See you tomorrow, James.

]]] [[[

One of my couples therapy patients.

Haven't seen his wife in a while...

Where were we?

(woof-woof-woof)

My mother was a bitch.

((( ))) )))((( ((()))

Go on. I'm listening.

[newwwwusername]

Hiii! Omg so excited to see another person who loves the life action movies!! I wasn’t sure if you only saw the G3 movies, or the G3 series as well?

this isn’t gonna be my request ask. I was just genuinely curious about the ‘Toralei has Tourette’s’ HC?? Like it seems so interesting and you must have a reason why!

Toralei is my personal little scrungly pathetic wet cat so I have shifted my whole world to revolve around her lol. I HC her with numerous things. A absolutely crippling phobia of Thunder. RAD that morphed into BPD because of childhood trauma (plus her extremely CANON abusive ass mom. Something you’d only see if you watched the G3 series). Ooo I also have her have chronic pain and ptsd from her extremely traumatic murder attempt! Cause no way would she be stabbed five times and not loose some feeling in her arm/ have extreme permanent pain/ need extreme physical therapy. and she totally gets ptsd panic attacks where she thinks she’s back and Paris and- I wrote a long ass fic about thag on Ao3. I’m Nadiahilkerfan btw.

sorry im rambling aren’t I. I just love Toralei and I saw you also like toralei (I also love Frankie. Wrote some stuff for them too). So my little monster high heart is just going off!

anyway. Main question was just about the Toralei Tourette’s HC. Cause I am very interested about that

You’ll probably see another ask from me that actually has my fic request (heads up. Anyone who knows me knows it’s gonna be a Thunder angst fic. It’s kinda my genre/brand/cult like trope I instill into everyone lol)

Oh lol hi haha

I haven't watched the g3 cartoon, just the live action movies and the headcanon just comes from me having Tourette's and needing to project that onto *someone* lol. She just has. The vibe ig

Like I could very easily imagine her suppressing it super hard for appearances and then just completely losing it as soon as she's alone

I appreciate your enthusiasm 🫡

[fillingthescrapbook]

In 2012, my boss pitched creating a live-action version of Voltes V. She was told that it wouldn't fly because it would be effects-heavy, and the Filipino audience weren't into sci-fi stories. Not anymore.

In 2016, in the midst of writing for the Encantadia reboot/sequel, our director shared that he pitched a Voltes V movie to the bosses. He showed us a demo reel of what he and the effects company he was working with could do. I joked that it wasn't gonna fly. Because my boss already pitched it before, and she was shot down. But my boss, head writer and creator of Encantadia, said they could try to pitch it again.

Near the end of 2016, I was given the task to collect everything I could about Voltes V: episode guides, bestiaries, character sketches--everything. I trawled through ebay and bought the VCD set of what was aired in the Philippines back in the 70s. I even ended up with a vinyl record of the show's closing credit song from back then.

Before we finished writing for Encantadia, we were given the go signal to start pre-production on Voltes V. We didn't have approval from TOEI yet, but the rights holder here in the Philippines were confident that they would be cooperative. We just had to treat the material right.

In 2017, I had one of my biggest anxiety attacks. Followed by another. I let go of my projects, but I was told to keep working on Voltes V. We got our green light from our higher ups in 2018, but we still needed to get the approval of TOEI. And in between writing letters to TOEI, creating story maps, breaking down the character development from what the original material gave us--I was also given the task of writing the pilot script.

We got approval from TOEI in late 2019 or early 2020. Right before the pandemic. By then, we already had the story map plotted out, and the character beats figured into how the story would unfold. We cherry-picked the monsters that would come out in the series, keeping in mind that what's cheap for animation to do isn't cheap for the live-action version. So each monster we would use needs to have an impact on the story--and more importantly: the characters.

And then we went back to the pilot script.

I don't know what my higher-ups were looking for, but I wasn't bringing whatever it was apparently. Mixed in with my growing depression and the anxiety attacks that kept rearing its head in--I was second-guessing everything I was doing.

During this time, I was also part of another show that was already airing. Someone missed the script deadline, and while my boss was reminding me to send whatever draft of the Voltes V pilot script I was on at the time--our program manager thought I was the cause of delay for our airing show. I got an official memo, telling me I needed to shape up or face consequences.

This was in the middle of one of my bouts of depression.

I accepted the memo. My boss corrected our program manager, defending me. But it was too late. I already had the memo. And mixed in with everything going on in my personal life (which takes up around 70 to 75 percent of why I was depressed and anxious all the time), I was at my breaking point.

In 2020, the pandemic happened. Instead of reaching out, I kept myself locked away for three months from Day 1 of the initial lockdown. I didn't talk to anyone.

Month number 3 became 4. A friend found me on discord. Four became five. And six. And seven. And I never reconnected with anyone. There was a moment, late in 2020 when I thought maybe I am finally ready to go back.

And then, on my birthday in 2021, I get a visit from a high school friend who accused me of making up my anxiety and depression. Whatever strength I had mustered up went away.

It never came back.

It's 2023. Exactly two years since that fateful day when said friend went to my house to tell me I was lying about being depressed. And YouTube recommends me the trailer of the live-action Voltes V. It's finally coming out. And all I can say is...

I wish everyone who worked on it success.

I watched the trailer on mute. I think... I think it's a good thing I am no longer involved with it. But I still wish people will watch it and will like it.

And the long-short of it is... I think the trailer cemented for me the idea that I don't want any more birthdays to come after today.

[qqueenofhades]

The Green Knight and Medieval Metatextuality: An Essay

Right, so. Finally watched it last night, and I’ve been thinking about it literally ever since, except for the part where I was asleep. As I said to fellow medievalist and admirer of Dev Patel @oldshrewsburyian, it’s possibly the most fascinating piece of medieval-inspired media that I’ve seen in ages, and how refreshing to have something in this genre that actually rewards critical thought and deep analysis, rather than me just fulminating fruitlessly about how popular media thinks that slapping blood, filth, and misogyny onto some swords and castles is “historically accurate.” I read a review of TGK somewhere that described it as the anti-Game of Thrones, and I’m inclined to think that’s accurate. I didn’t agree with all of the film’s tonal, thematic, or interpretative choices, but I found them consistently stylish, compelling, and subversive in ways both small and large, and I’m gonna have to write about it or I’ll go crazy. So. Brace yourselves.

(Note: My PhD is in medieval history, not medieval literature, and I haven’t worked on SGGK specifically, but I am familiar with it, its general cultural context, and the historical influences, images, and debates that both the poem and the film referenced and drew upon, so that’s where this meta is coming from.)

First, obviously, while the film is not a straight-up text-to-screen version of the poem (though it is by and large relatively faithful), it is a multi-layered meta-text that comments on the original Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the archetypes of chivalric literature as a whole, modern expectations for medieval films, the hero’s journey, the requirements of being an “honorable knight,” and the nature of death, fate, magic, and religion, just to name a few. Given that the Arthurian legendarium, otherwise known as the Matter of Britain, was written and rewritten over several centuries by countless authors, drawing on and changing and hybridizing interpretations that sometimes challenged or outright contradicted earlier versions, it makes sense for the film to chart its own path and make its own adaptational decisions as part of this multivalent, multivocal literary canon. Sir Gawain himself is a canonically and textually inconsistent figure; in the movie, the characters merrily pronounce his name in several different ways, most notably as Sean Harris/King Arthur’s somewhat inexplicable “Garr-win.” He might be a man without a consistent identity, but that’s pointed out within the film itself. What has he done to define himself, aside from being the king’s nephew? Is his quixotic quest for the Green Knight actually going to resolve the question of his identity and his honor – and if so, is it even going to matter, given that successful completion of the “game” seemingly equates with death?

Likewise, as the anti-Game of Thrones, the film is deliberately and sometimes maddeningly non-commercial. For an adaptation coming from a studio known primarily for horror, it almost completely eschews the cliché that gory bloodshed equals authentic medievalism; the only graphic scene is the Green Knight’s original beheading. The violence is only hinted at, subtextual, suspenseful; it is kept out of sight, around the corner, never entirely played out or resolved. In other words, if anyone came in thinking that they were going to watch Dev Patel luridly swashbuckle his way through some CGI monsters like bad Beowulf adaptations of yore, they were swiftly disappointed. In fact, he seems to spend most of his time being wet, sad, and failing to meet the moment at hand (with a few important exceptions).

The film unhurriedly evokes a medieval setting that is both surreal and defiantly non-historical. We travel (in roughly chronological order) from Anglo-Saxon huts to Romanesque halls to high-Gothic cathedrals to Tudor villages and half-timbered houses, culminating in the eerie neo-Renaissance splendor of the Lord and Lady’s hall, before returning to the ancient trees of the Green Chapel and its immortal occupant: everything that has come before has now returned to dust. We have been removed even from imagined time and place and into a moment where it ceases to function altogether. We move forward, backward, and sideways, as Gawain experiences past, present, and future in unison. He is dislocated from his own sense of himself, just as we, the viewers, are dislocated from our sense of what is the “true” reality or filmic narrative; what we think is real turns out not to be the case at all. If, of course, such a thing even exists at all.

This visual evocation of the entire medieval era also creates a setting that, unlike GOT, takes pride in rejecting absolutely all political context or Machiavellian maneuvering. The film acknowledges its own cultural ubiquity and the question of whether we really need yet another King Arthur adaptation: none of the characters aside from Gawain himself are credited by name. We all know it’s Arthur, but he’s listed only as “king.” We know the spooky druid-like old man with the white beard is Merlin, but it’s never required to spell it out. The film gestures at our pre-existing understanding; it relies on us to fill in the gaps, cuing us to collaboratively produce the story with it, positioning us as listeners as if we were gathered to hear the original poem. Just like fanfiction, it knows that it doesn’t need to waste time introducing every single character or filling in ultimately unnecessary background knowledge, when the audience can be relied upon to bring their own.

As for that, the film explicitly frames itself as a “filmed adaptation of the chivalric romance” in its opening credits, and continues to play with textual referents and cues throughout: telling us where we are, what’s happening, or what’s coming next, rather like the rubrics or headings within a medieval manuscript. As noted, its historical/architectural references span the entire medieval European world, as does its costume design. I was particularly struck by the fact that Arthur and Guinevere’s crowns resemble those from illuminated monastic manuscripts or Eastern Orthodox iconography: they are both crown and halo, they confer an air of both secular kingship and religious sanctity. The question in the film’s imagined epilogue thus becomes one familiar to Shakespeare’s Henry V: heavy is the head that wears the crown. Does Gawain want to earn his uncle’s crown, take over his place as king, bear the fate of Camelot, become a great ruler, a husband and father in ways that even Arthur never did, only to see it all brought to dust by his cowardice, his reliance on unscrupulous sorcery, and his unfulfilled promise to the Green Knight? Is it better to have that entire life and then lose it, or to make the right choice now, even if it means death?

Likewise, Arthur’s kingly mantle is Byzantine in inspiration, as is the icon of the Virgin Mary-as-Theotokos painted on Gawain’s shield (which we see broken apart during the attack by the scavengers). The film only glances at its religious themes rather than harping on them explicitly; we do have the cliché scene of the male churchmen praying for Gawain’s safety, opposite Gawain’s mother and her female attendants working witchcraft to protect him. (When oh when will I get my film that treats medieval magic and medieval religion as the complementary and co-existing epistemological systems that they were, rather than portraying them as diametrically binary and disparagingly gendered opposites?) But despite the interim setbacks borne from the failure of Christian icons, the overall resolution of the film could serve as the culmination of a medieval Christian morality tale: Gawain can buy himself a great future in the short term if he relies on the protection of the enchanted green belt to avoid the Green Knight’s killing stroke, but then he will have to watch it all crumble until he is sitting alone in his own hall, his children dead and his kingdom destroyed, as a headless corpse who only now has been brave enough to accept his proper fate. By removing the belt from his person in the film’s Inception-like final scene, he relinquishes the taint of black magic and regains his religious honor, even at the likely cost of death. That, the medieval Christian morality tale would agree, is the correct course of action.

Gawain’s encounter with St. Winifred likewise presents a more subtle vision of medieval Christianity. Winifred was an eighth-century Welsh saint known for being beheaded, after which (by the power of another saint) her head was miraculously restored to her body and she went on to live a long and holy life. It doesn’t quite work that way in TGK. (St Winifred’s Well is mentioned in the original SGGK, but as far as I recall, Gawain doesn’t meet the saint in person.) In the film, Gawain encounters Winifred’s lifelike apparition, who begs him to dive into the mere and retrieve her head (despite appearances, she warns him, it is not attached to her body). This fits into the pattern of medieval ghost stories, where the dead often return to entreat the living to help them finish their business; they must be heeded, but when they are encountered in places they shouldn’t be, they must be put back into their proper physical space and reminded of their real fate. Gawain doesn’t follow William of Newburgh’s practical recommendation to just fetch some brawny young men with shovels to beat the wandering corpse back into its grave. Instead, in one of his few moments of unqualified heroism, he dives into the dark water and retrieves Winifred’s skull from the bottom of the lake. Then when he returns to the house, he finds the rest of her skeleton lying in the bed where he was earlier sleeping, and carefully reunites the skull with its body, finally allowing it to rest in peace.

However, Gawain’s involvement with Winifred doesn’t end there. The fox that he sees on the bank after emerging with her skull, who then accompanies him for the rest of the film, is strongly implied to be her spirit, or at least a companion that she has sent for him. Gawain has handled a saint’s holy bones; her relics, which were well known to grant protection in the medieval world. He has done the saint a service, and in return, she extends her favor to him. At the end of the film, the fox finally speaks in a human voice, warning him not to proceed to the fateful final encounter with the Green Knight; it will mean his death. The symbolism of having a beheaded saint serve as Gawain’s guide and protector is obvious, since it is the fate that may or may not lie in store for him. As I said, the ending is Inception-like in that it steadfastly refuses to tell you if the hero is alive (or will live) or dead (or will die). In the original SGGK, of course, the Green Knight and the Lord turn out to be the same person, Gawain survives, it was all just a test of chivalric will and honor, and a trap put together by Morgan Le Fay in an attempt to frighten Guinevere. It’s essentially able to be laughed off: a game, an adventure, not real. TGK takes this paradigm and flips it (to speak…) on its head.

Gawain’s rescue of Winifred’s head also rewards him in more immediate terms: his/the Green Knight’s axe, stolen by the scavengers, is miraculously restored to him in her cottage, immediately and concretely demonstrating the virtue of his actions. This is one of the points where the film most stubbornly resists modern storytelling conventions: it simply refuses to add in any kind of “rational” or “empirical” explanation of how else it got there, aside from the grace and intercession of the saint. This is indeed how it works in medieval hagiography: things simply reappear, are returned, reattached, repaired, made whole again, and Gawain’s lost weapon is thus restored, symbolizing that he has passed the test and is worthy to continue with the quest. The film’s narrative is not modernizing its underlying medieval logic here, and it doesn’t particularly care if a modern audience finds it “convincing” or not. As noted, the film never makes any attempt to temporalize or localize itself; it exists in a determinedly surrealist and ahistorical landscape, where naked female giants who look suspiciously like Tilda Swinton roam across the wild with no necessary explanation. While this might be frustrating for some people, I actually found it a huge relief that a clearly fantastic and fictional literary adaptation was not acting like it was qualified to teach “real history” to its audience. Nobody would come out of TGK thinking that they had seen the “actual” medieval world, and since we have enough of a problem with that sort of thing thanks to GOT, I for one welcome the creation of a medieval imaginative space that embraces its eccentric and unrealistic elements, rather than trying to fit them into the Real Life box.

This plays into the fact that the film, like a reused medieval manuscript containing more than one text, is a palimpsest: for one, it audaciously rewrites the entire Arthurian canon in the wordless vision of Gawain’s life after escaping the Green Knight (I could write another meta on that dream-epilogue alone). It moves fluidly through time and creates alternate universes in at least two major points: one, the scene where Gawain is tied up and abandoned by the scavengers and that long circling shot reveals his skeletal corpse rotting on the sward, only to return to our original universe as Gawain decides that he doesn’t want that fate, and two, Gawain as King. In this alternate ending, Arthur doesn’t die in battle with Mordred, but peaceably in bed, having anointed his worthy nephew as his heir. Gawain becomes king, has children, gets married, governs Camelot, becomes a ruler surpassing even Arthur, but then watches his son get killed in battle, his subjects turn on him, and his family vanish into the dust of his broken hall before he himself, in despair, pulls the enchanted scarf out of his clothing and succumbs to his fate.

In this version, Gawain takes on the responsibility for the fall of Camelot, not Arthur. This is the hero’s burden, but he’s obtained it dishonorably, by cheating. It is a vivid but mimetic future which Gawain (to all appearances) ultimately rejects, returning the film to the realm of traditional Arthurian canon – but not quite. After all, if Gawain does get beheaded after that final fade to black, it would represent a significant alteration from the poem and the character’s usual arc. Are we back in traditional canon or aren’t we? Did Gawain reject that future or didn’t he? Do all these alterities still exist within the visual medium of the meta-text, and have any of them been definitely foreclosed?

Furthermore, the film interrogates itself and its own tropes in explicit and overt ways. In Gawain’s conversation with the Lord, the Lord poses the question that many members of the audience might have: is Gawain going to carry out this potentially pointless and suicidal quest and then be an honorable hero, just like that? What is he actually getting by staggering through assorted Irish bogs and seeming to reject, rather than embrace, the paradigms of a proper quest and that of an honorable knight? He lies about being a knight to the scavengers, clearly out of fear, and ends up cravenly bound and robbed rather than fighting back. He denies knowing anything about love to the Lady (played by Alicia Vikander, who also plays his lover at the start of the film with a decidedly ropey Yorkshire accent, sorry to say). He seems to shrink from the responsibility thrust on him, rather than rise to meet it (his only honorable act, retrieving Winifred’s head, is discussed above) and yet here he still is, plugging away. Why is he doing this? What does he really stand to gain, other than accepting a choice and its consequences (somewhat?) The film raises these questions, but it has no plans to answer them. It’s going to leave you to think about them for yourself, and it isn’t going to spoon-feed you any ultimate moral or neat resolution. In this interchange, it’s easy to see both the echoes of a formal dialogue between two speakers (a favored medieval didactic tactic) and the broader purpose of chivalric literature: to interrogate what it actually means to be a knight, how personal honor is generated, acquired, and increased, and whether engaging in these pointless and bloody “war games” is actually any kind of real path to lasting glory.

The film’s treatment of race, gender, and queerness obviously also merits comment. By casting Dev Patel, an Indian-born actor, as an Arthurian hero, the film is… actually being quite accurate to the original legends, doubtless much to the disappointment of assorted internet racists. The thirteenth-century Arthurian romance Parzival (Percival) by the German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach notably features the character of Percival’s mixed-race half-brother, Feirefiz, son of their father by his first marriage to a Muslim princess. Feirefiz is just as heroic as Percival (Gawaine, for the record, also plays a major role in the story) and assists in the quest for the Holy Grail, though it takes his conversion to Christianity for him to properly behold it.

By introducing Patel (and Sarita Chowdhury as Morgause) to the visual representation of Arthuriana, the film quietly does away with the “white Middle Ages” cliché that I have complained about ad nauseam; we see background Asian and black members of Camelot, who just exist there without having to conjure up some complicated rationale to explain their presence. The Lady also uses a camera obscura to make Gawain’s portrait. Contrary to those who might howl about anachronism, this technique was known in China as early as the fourth century BCE and the tenth/eleventh century Islamic scholar Ibn al-Haytham was probably the best-known medieval authority to write on it extensively; Latin translations of his work inspired European scientists from Roger Bacon to Leonardo da Vinci. Aside from the symbolism of an upside-down Gawain (and when he sees the portrait again during the ‘fall of Camelot’, it is right-side-up, representing that Gawain himself is in an upside-down world), this presents a subtle challenge to the prevailing Eurocentric imagination of the medieval world, and draws on other global influences.

As for gender, we have briefly touched on it above; in the original SGGK, Gawain’s entire journey is revealed to be just a cruel trick of Morgan Le Fay, simply trying to destabilize Arthur’s court and upset his queen. (Morgan is the old blindfolded woman who appears in the Lord and Lady’s castle and briefly approaches Gawain, but her identity is never explicitly spelled out.) This is, obviously, an implicitly misogynistic setup: an evil woman plays a trick on honorable men for the purpose of upsetting another woman, the honorable men overcome it, the hero survives, and everyone presumably lives happily ever after (at least until Mordred arrives).

Instead, by plunging the outcome into doubt and the hero into a much darker and more fallible moral universe, TGK shifts the blame for Gawain’s adventure and ultimate fate from Morgan to Gawain himself. Likewise, Guinevere is not the passive recipient of an evil deception but in a way, the catalyst for the whole thing. She breaks the seal on the Green Knight’s message with a weighty snap; she becomes the oracle who reads it out, she is alarming rather than alarmed, she disrupts the complacency of the court and silently shows up all the other knights who refuse to step forward and answer the Green Knight’s challenge. Gawain is not given the ontological reassurance that it’s just a practical joke and he’s going to be fine (and thanks to the unresolved ending, neither are we). The film instead takes the concept at face value in order to push the envelope and ask the simple question: if a man was going to be actually-for-real beheaded in a year, why would he set out on a suicidal quest? Would you, in Gawain’s place, make the same decision to cast aside the enchanted belt and accept your fate? Has he made his name, will he be remembered well? What is his legacy?

Indeed, if there is any hint of feminine connivance and manipulation, it arrives in the form of the implication that Gawain’s mother has deliberately summoned the Green Knight to test her son, prove his worth, and position him as his childless uncle’s heir; she gives him the protective belt to make sure he won’t actually die, and her intention all along was for the future shown in the epilogue to truly play out (minus the collapse of Camelot). Only Gawain loses the belt thanks to his cowardice in the encounter with the scavengers, regains it in a somewhat underhanded and morally questionable way when the Lady is attempting to seduce him, and by ultimately rejecting it altogether and submitting to his uncertain fate, totally mucks up his mother’s painstaking dynastic plans for his future. In this reading, Gawain could be king, and his mother’s efforts are meant to achieve that goal, rather than thwart it. He is thus required to shoulder his own responsibility for this outcome, rather than conveniently pawning it off on an “evil woman,” and by extension, the film asks the question: What would the world be like if men, especially those who make war on others as a way of life, were actually forced to face the consequences of their reckless and violent actions? Is it actually a “game” in any sense of the word, especially when chivalric literature is constantly preoccupied with the question of how much glorious violence is too much glorious violence? If you structure social prestige for the king and the noble male elite entirely around winning battles and existing in a state of perpetual war, when does that begin to backfire and devour the knightly class – and the rest of society – instead?

This leads into the central theme of Gawain’s relationships with the Lord and Lady, and how they’re treated in the film. The poem has been repeatedly studied in terms of its latent (and sometimes… less than latent) queer subtext: when the Lord asks Gawain to pay back to him whatever he should receive from his wife, does he already know what this involves; i.e. a physical and romantic encounter? When the Lady gives kisses to Gawain, which he is then obliged to return to the Lord as a condition of the agreement, is this all part of a dastardly plot to seduce him into a kinky green-themed threesome with a probably-not-human married couple looking to spice up their sex life? Why do we read the Lady’s kisses to Gawain as romantic but Gawain’s kisses to the Lord as filial, fraternal, or the standard “kiss of peace” exchanged between a liege lord and his vassal? Is Gawain simply being a dutiful guest by honoring the bargain with his host, actually just kissing the Lady again via the proxy of her husband, or somewhat more into this whole thing with the Lord than he (or the poet) would like to admit? Is the homosocial turning homoerotic, and how is Gawain going to navigate this tension and temptation?

If the question is never resolved: well, welcome to one of the central medieval anxieties about chivalry, knighthood, and male bonds! As I have written about before, medieval society needed to simultaneously exalt this as the most honored and noble form of love, and make sure it didn’t accidentally turn sexual (once again: how much male love is too much male love?). Does the poem raise the possibility of serious disruption to the dominant heteronormative paradigm, only to solve the problem by interpreting the Gawain/Lady male/female kisses as romantic and sexual and the Gawain/Lord male/male kisses as chaste and formal? In other words, acknowledging the underlying anxiety of possible homoeroticism but ultimately reasserting the heterosexual norm? The answer: Probably?!?! Maybe?!?! Hell if we know??! To say the least, this has been argued over to no end, and if you locked a lot of medieval history/literature scholars into a room and told them that they couldn’t come out until they decided on one clear answer, they would be in there for a very long time. The poem seemingly invokes the possibility of a queer reading only to reject it – but once again, as in the question of which canon we end up in at the film’s end, does it?

In some lights, the film’s treatment of this potential queer reading comes off like a cop-out: there is only one kiss between Gawain and the Lord, and it is something that the Lord has to initiate after Gawain has already fled the hall. Gawain himself appears to reject it; he tells the Lord to let go of him and runs off into the wilderness, rather than deal with or accept whatever has been suggested to him. However, this fits with film!Gawain’s pattern of rejecting that which fundamentally makes him who he is; like Peter in the Bible, he has now denied the truth three times. With the scavengers he denies being a knight; with the Lady he denies knowing about courtly love; with the Lord he denies the central bond of brotherhood with his fellows, whether homosocial or homoerotic in nature. I would go so far as to argue that if Gawain does die at the end of the film, it is this rejected kiss which truly seals his fate. In the poem, the Lord and the Green Knight are revealed to be the same person; in the film, it’s not clear if that’s the case, or they are separate characters, even if thematically interrelated. If we assume, however, that the Lord is in fact still the human form of the Green Knight, then Gawain has rejected both his kiss of peace (the standard gesture of protection offered from lord to vassal) and any deeper emotional bond that it can be read to signify. The Green Knight could decide to spare Gawain in recognition of the courage he has shown in relinquishing the enchanted belt – or he could just as easily decide to kill him, which he is legally free to do since Gawain has symbolically rejected the offer of brotherhood, vassalage, or knight-bonding by his unwise denial of the Lord’s freely given kiss. Once again, the film raises the overall thematic and moral question and then doesn’t give one straight (ahem) answer. As with the medieval anxieties and chivalric texts that it is based on, it invokes the specter of queerness and then doesn’t neatly resolve it. As a modern audience, we find this unsatisfying, but once again, the film is refusing to conform to our expectations.

As has been said before, there is so much kissing between men in medieval contexts, both ceremonial and otherwise, that we’re left to wonder: “is it gay or is it feudalism?” Is there an overtly erotic element in Gawain and the Green Knight’s mutual “beheading” of each other (especially since in the original version, this frees the Lord from his curse, functioning like a true love’s kiss in a fairytale). While it is certainly possible to argue that the film has “straightwashed” its subject material by removing the entire sequence of kisses between Gawain and the Lord and the unresolved motives for their existence, it is a fairly accurate, if condensed, representation of the anxieties around medieval knightly bonds and whether, as Carolyn Dinshaw put it, a (male/male) “kiss is just a kiss.” After all, the kiss between Gawain and the Lady is uncomplicatedly read as sexual/romantic, and that context doesn’t go away when Gawain is kissing the Lord instead. Just as with its multiple futurities, the film leaves the question open-ended. Is it that third and final denial that seals Gawain’s fate, and if so, is it asking us to reflect on why, specifically, he does so?

The film could play with both this question and its overall tone quite a bit more: it sometimes comes off as a grim, wooden, over-directed Shakespearean tragedy, rather than incorporating the lively and irreverent tone that the poem often takes. It’s almost totally devoid of humor, which is unfortunate, and the Grim Middle Ages aesthetic is in definite evidence. Nonetheless, because of the comprehensive de-historicizing and the obvious lack of effort to claim the film as any sort of authentic representation of the medieval past, it works. We are not meant to understand this as a historical document, and so we have to treat it on its terms, by its own logic, and by its own frames of reference. In some ways, its consistent opacity and its refusal to abide by modern rules and common narrative conventions is deliberately meant to challenge us: as before, when we recognize Arthur, Merlin, the Round Table, and the other stock characters because we know them already and not because the film tells us so, we have to fill in the gaps ourselves. We are watching the film not because it tells us a simple adventure story – there is, as noted, shockingly little action overall – but because we have to piece together the metatext independently and ponder the philosophical questions that it leaves us with. What conclusion do we reach? What canon do we settle in? What future or resolution is ultimately made real? That, the film says, it can’t decide for us. As ever, it is up to future generations to carry on the story, and decide how, if at all, it is going to survive.

(And to close, I desperately want them to make my much-coveted Bisclavret adaptation now in more or less the same style, albeit with some tweaks. Please.)

Further Reading

Ailes, Marianne J. ‘The Medieval Male Couple and the Language of Homosociality’, in Masculinity in Medieval Europe, ed. by Dawn M. Hadley (Harlow: Longman, 1999), pp. 214–37.

Ashton, Gail. ‘The Perverse Dynamics of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, Arthuriana 15 (2005), 51–74.

Boyd, David L. ‘Sodomy, Misogyny, and Displacement: Occluding Queer Desire in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, Arthuriana 8 (1998), 77–113.

Busse, Peter. ‘The Poet as Spouse of his Patron: Homoerotic Love in Medieval Welsh and Irish Poetry?’, Studi Celtici 2 (2003), 175–92.

Dinshaw, Carolyn. ‘A Kiss Is Just a Kiss: Heterosexuality and Its Consolations in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, Diacritics 24 (1994), 205–226.

Kocher, Suzanne. ‘Gay Knights in Medieval French Fiction: Constructs of Queerness and Non-Transgression’, Mediaevalia 29 (2008), 51–66.

Karras, Ruth Mazo. ‘Knighthood, Compulsory Heterosexuality, and Sodomy’ in The Boswell Thesis: Essays on Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, ed. Matthew Kuefler (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), pp. 273–86.

Kuefler, Matthew. ‘Male Friendship and the Suspicion of Sodomy in Twelfth-Century France’, in The Boswell Thesis: Essays on Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, ed. Matthew Kuefler (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), pp. 179–214.

McVitty, E. Amanda, ‘False Knights and True Men: Contesting Chivalric Masculinity in English Treason Trials, 1388–1415,’ Journal of Medieval History 40 (2014), 458–77.

Mieszkowski, Gretchen. ‘The Prose Lancelot's Galehot, Malory's Lavain, and the Queering of Late Medieval Literature’, Arthuriana 5 (1995), 21–51.

Moss, Rachel E. ‘ “And much more I am soryat for my good knyghts’ ”: Fainting, Homosociality, and Elite Male Culture in Middle English Romance’, Historical Reflections / Réflexions historiques 42 (2016), 101–13.

Zeikowitz, Richard E. ‘Befriending the Medieval Queer: A Pedagogy for Literature Classes’, College English 65 (2002), 67–80.

[ppgxrrblove]

I am honestly glad monster high is officially been killed...the cgi child like reboot was okay, I didn't have a problem with it at all, it fit the target audience 100%

but the new reboot they're doing is just a woke, satanic - well woke is satanic in its core definition, if your a Christian you'll understand this, for those who don't understand - Satan, lucifer is woke himself. All of the woke hot garbage agenda comes from him, "shocking I know" lol - anyway, back to the topic; they changed possibly more characters personality, changed who they are originally to fit the woke agenda they even changed one or more character sex - to again please the woke sex cult, to be exact...and I honestly believed back in the day till this date..until I found out through reddit fanatics that it has always been a theory including the doll community as well - that it was true that clawdeen is bisexual, and...I forgot the rest lol cause of this ugly as heck live action movie, it was the only reason how I remembered this old news discussion.

But as I stated already it was false, it was made up by the fanatics that desperately wanted to project their personal life styles onto a children's TV show a bunch of adults - don't try to make up excuses that teenagers were the ones that asked for this a lot of times when they weren't, I still remember those early day comments and majority of the children viewing MH were more interested in how the show progressed, who Frankie gonna ditch next, or who she is gonna actually end up with, to making a huge stack of monster high oc - that's what majority of the children that watched MH were focused on, yes I know of the woke parents indoctrinated they're children towards their woke ideologies, that they will be asking for such stuff, however, they weren't as many as the regular child audience.

Nonetheless, it doesn't surprise me that the creator of MH is lgbt, - I found out by the time the lady gaga doll collab released, it hit me right there and then - of course, the books "hinting" it honestly more like treasure hunting hiding it because nick ain't about that life at said time this was occuring, they don't want to get again caught by grooming situation *cough* icarlycreatorandpeopleonnick , but yeah, i can see why they told the groomer - I mean creator for MH to not put that into the children's TV show back in the day...until they broke it off this year with loud house..really terrible show, I believe there may have been a before first lgbt stuff on nick content?? But that's the only one that I believe was the first time they've done that towards going on with there other grooming tactics lol.

Now the gromreator...trying to fuse groom + creator here e.e....not working, creating a monster name hahaha....- had stated on his Instagram that he was just gonna slap all types of grooming(making the entire cast well some of them, lgbt) content originally for MH but nick again didn't want to around said time - they need to rail in those fishes before they do such acts. So knowing that this happened...it sucks cause I love monster high, my first favorite monsti was Frankie stien until I learned about her just being a terrible, cheap dollar teenage whore...yeah...once you realize this- it..it don't look right even if they try to 'fix' it by potentially making her love interest be that unicorn Grey rainbow hair guy - sadly it didn't even last, like jeez they really destroyed her character on the relationship department and back then up until before this entire reboot live thing occurred people despised the heck out of Frankie and now people love her(note; reddit go to r/monsterhigh and scroll past until you find the post about Frankie being none binary - look at the comment section, and I do believe there is another one as well discussing it too) - not kidding, because she is none binary..because of that..they will ditch the real og Frankie- accept..like you're just trying to half butt clean a stain that has been left there for too long mate - it ain't gonna work for those who can see, smell the pandering, and yes they should've created a new character for that instead of grabbing an already existing character which really does fit with draculaura but we shall get to her in a minute, - fairly it doesn't really matter the real Frankie, will always be a skank, and a terrible ghoul nothing that you do will change about this character.

After me accepting that Frankie is like this, I drifted apart from the series, but, I did try my best to keep up with it by rewatching each web episode on their website back in the day. Thanks to me rewatching the episodes my love for drac, blew up - like drac, Gothic Victorian, Lolita cutie pie drac stole me away - I drew all my attention towards her until they gave her a wrong "boyfriend" ..sigh..I had hoped it would be someone else but yeah not into the whole pairing sorry, and clawdeen as well - I fell in love with her she was adorable, sassy and what made me love her even more was the matter of her being into fashion - her story progressing in the France movie was really sweet..but, that's not to state that I didn't like any of her outfits she wore cause boy oh there were times that i just couldn't stand some of the outfits at all she wore. I loved some but others ew.

Now in the live action, as I stated before I would be mentioning said quote i mentioned how they should have created a new character instead of stinking being lazy pieces of poop and taking an already beloved established character..again this a reboot to the series so..it doesn't surprise me but it disgusts me. They already *have* a witch character, so what do they do with draculaura? For those who don't know yet, they swapped her entire characteristic of what she does - just slap the witch gross sticker on her and call it a day..I am not gonna lie that I was upset about it but I already had moved on from it since i know that will never be og draculaura, even though..in the game that I have for MH I find out that she vegan..I forgot about her profile bio it's been so long and my memory ain't well at times, so me realizing it again, is yeah..not into her being vegan like I get it she's trying to avoid blood but she can still eat meat just cooked - i never understood why she couldn't eat cooked meat..- it doesn't have no blood at all lol plus it's coming from animals.. while clawdeen got 0 problems eating meat with the rest of the characters as well as ghoulia being a zombie xD - it just I don't get it.

...With that being stated, I am done here, MH was a good show, it was fine while it lasted for me, now I have since moved on from it..though I will never move on from my favorite ghouls, I already have cut ties with media that has woke imagery in it..that includes og MH it had way too much of it, now the new one is gonna have a ton on blast it's just not my tea anymore, I rather continue following the lord then just engross myself with something that is vile.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

“The Suicide Squad” movie review:

Short review:

It’s better than the 2016 movie. I give it a solid A rating.

Long review: 

I’m going to approach this movie from a different angle than my usual reviews. For me to really talk about this movie, I have to go back and discuss how I felt about the 2016 movie. First and foremost, let me just say that I hate the 2016 Suicide Squad film. It was clunky, pointless, and felt like a bunch of scenes stapled together rather than a cohesive picture. What’s interesting is that a big reason why the 2021 movie succeeds is that it fixed a lot of what I felt were the 2016 movie’s problems. 

This is why I have to take a different angle for this review. To really talk about the good points, I gotta go into what I felt were problems in the 2016 movie and explain how the 2021 movie rectified those mistakes. Alright, let’s begin.

1) The mission is more appropriate for this type of team. I felt that the 2016 movie went about the wrong way by sending the Suicide Squad in to stop Enchantress from conquering the city/world. I know that it was more so to rescue Amanda Waller, but I felt that the mission in the 2016 movie was more suited for a Justice League-type team. 

The Suicide Squad is a black ops team made of imprisoned supervillains that is sent in to do Waller’s dirty work. They should be doing shady shit that rubs the audience the wrong way. And in the 2021 movie, that’s what they’re doing. The mission is objectively horrible since it’s the US intervening in a South American country to cover up their illegal actions (insert real world parallels here). That’s far from heroic, but it works for the movie since that’s exactly what the Squad should be used for.

/

2) The movie actually lives up to the “Suicide” part of “Suicide Squad”. If I recall correctly, only two members of the Squad and some rando Navy SEALs died in the original film. While I generally frown on stories just killing people off for shock value, Suicide Squad is an exception since a high body count is to be expected for this team. Heck, even Deadshot called out that there’s a high chance most of them will die during the mission. So yes, most of the team dies in the 2021 movie, but it’s fine since it’s being true to the story and the comics.

/

3) The movie did a better job at portraying the team as villains being forced to do another villain’s dirty work. Deadshot repeatedly says in the 2016 movie that they’re bad guys, but the movie didn’t do a good job showing that. It’s Will Smith, the audience knows his character is actually a good man on the inside. And that’s not even covering Diablo, the tragic man who is trying to repent for his past actions, or Katana, who isn’t even a supervillain.

In the 2021 movie, it’s a lot more clear that the characters we’re following are horrible people. Bloodsport is a shitty father who competes with Peacemaker over who can kill the most creatively. Peacemaker is Captain America but if he was a crazy, right-wing monster. Ratcatcher 2 is an apathetic bank robber. Polka Dot Man is basically Norman Bates. And Harley Quinn is...Harley Quinn. While the team does get their hero moment, I like that the Squad was actually portrayed as supervillains being forced to do good. 

/

4) Way better characterization for Amanda Waller. While 2016 Amanda Waller was no saint, 2021 Amanda Waller is straight up an irredeemable monster. And that’s good because the concept of the Suicide Squad (forcing prisoners to do illegal operations for the government) is vile to begin with. 

/

5) The found family dynamics feels more earned in this movie than the 2016 film. I already wrote this in another post, but it’s not enough to just tell the audience that the team is a family. Harley Quinn can say her teammates are her family all she wants, but it’s not convincing since there were barely any scenes of the 2016 team just bonding. Yeah, they had that scene at the bar, but most of that scene was dedicated to Diablo’s backstory. Other than that, the team were just sorta together. 

In the 2021 movie, you actually believe that the Squad is a found family just based on how they interact. What’s the big difference? Well, the team actually...you know...interacts with each other. This is where James Gunn really shines through since the “Guardians of the Galaxy” vibe really works for this type of story. You can’t just tell the audience that the team is a family, you need to show it, which Gunn does. 

/

6) The movie utilizes the team way better than the 2016 film. A big problem I had with the first film was that the story didn’t really justify why the Squad had to be the ones to handle Enchantress. The US government already had the Navy SEALs. Plus, there were several members who didn’t really contribute to the mission. I kept forgetting that Killer Croc was there, Captain Boomerang wasn’t given that much to do, and Katana was completely wasted.  

The 2021 movie did a better job justifying why each member of the Squad was important. Yes, most of them died, but the deaths established just how expendable the team was. And for the final battle, each member contributed in taking Starro down. I never felt that there was a teammate who could’ve been left out of the movie. Even the members who died early on were more memorable than the 2016 roster. 

/

Okay, that’s a good stopping point. To sum up, this movie feels like James Gunn read the negative reviews for the 2016 movie and used them as a reference in directing the 2021 movie. Even though Warner Bros and DC don’t want to call this movie a reboot, it really does feel like one due to how much it feels like a do-over. And you know what...I’m fine with that since the end result was a much better, more cohesive story.

[vintagegeekculture]

The Chinese Cultural Inspirations for Dragon Ball Z and Super

Journey to the West was only the beginning. 

A lot of people are vaguely aware that Dragon Ball was inspired by Chinese culture and Hong Kong Kung Fu movies and novels, but are unaware of how deep and long lasting it goes. The Japanese spent the 1980s fascinated by China, which opened up from being a closed society for decades in 1978; the most famous human being in Japan in the 80s was either Michael Jackson or Jackie Chan. 

In fact, a lot of people commonly believe that the Chinese action movie and Kung Fu novel cultural and media influence on Dragon Ball ended very early on. This is untrue. Sure, we started to see qipaos and cheongsams less frequently when they headed to West City, but it absolutely did not finish, because there’s tons of influence to see even as impossibly late as Dragon Ball Super. Interestingly, I don’t think any of these point of inspirations have been pointed out before, mainly because a lot of Chinese adventure novels are simply not available in English. 

 The Piccolo/Gohan plot was inspired by the Chinese action novel “Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre.”

Okay, tell me if you’ve heard this story before: a truly demonic, weird looking monster villain is defeated by a martial arts hero, but by circumstance, is forced into training his greatest enemy’s young son. The villain trains the young boy, the son of his enemy, in martial arts and over time, becomes like a second father or uncle to him and his family, putting the boy in his “evil” sect, and thanks to his love of his rival’s son, this baddie turns over a new leaf and goes from evil to just…grumpy, and becomes a loyal, though gruff, ally of the boy.

Of course, the events of Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre are a bit different from Dragon Ball in details. The Lion King becomes Wuji’s teacher because they are both stranded together on an island after a shipwreck, for instance, and he is blinded and made vulnerable. Also, the Lion King wasn’t so much evil so much as he was misunderstood by the orthodox martial world. However, in broad outlines, this trajectory for a face turn (becomes friends with his greatest enemy’s son, and becomes like a second father to him as he trains him, causing the villain to become a gruff good guy and ally) is essentially from one of the most famous Chinese novels ever written in the 1960s. 

Oh, and while we’re at it, Gohan is likewise inspired by another character from a Louis Cha novel: the Prince of Dali Duan Yu in the Kung Fu novel Demigods and Semi-Devils. The Prince in that novel is a naïve, pacifistic scholar who prefers books to fighting, and who was raised to be timid and avoid combat, absolutely out of step with his family, all of whom are martial artists and warriors. In fact, the beginning of the story is the prince gets incredibly lost in the wilderness, where the hopelessly naïve prince is utterly out of his depth, with all the robbers and scary beasts, and needs to be saved by real martial artists that protect him like fairy godparents. He spends the first part of the story running away from everything, scared as hell. However, by circumstance, he has naturally high power he cannot fully initially control, and eventually realizes that even scholars and others who hate fighting have to sometimes become fighters to protect those they love.

The Duan Yu part of Demigods and Semi-Devils was made into a film, the Battle Wizard, which was reviewed by PewDiePie. The Dragonball similarities went over his head because, honestly, PewDiePie does not strike me as a perceptive person. 

 Hit was based on the screen persona of Chow Yun Fat.

Chow Yun Fat was a Hong Kong cinema superstar who was to director John Woo what Robert de Niro was to Martin Scorsese. There are three giveaways that Hit was based on Chow Yun Fat. One, he’s an assassin, same as Chow Yun Fat’s character in the Killer, and is even given a sequence that’s a John Woo homage with an assassination in an office building with guns pulled on an empty elevator in an act of misdirection. Second, he’s wearing the single piece of clothing Chow Yun Fat is associated with, a black trenchcoat (fun fact: in Hong Kong today, trenchcoats are called Brother Mark Coats, after Chow Yun Fat’s character in John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow). Third, his power is essentially bullet time, a visual technique refined by John Woo in Hong Kong in the 80s and 90s in his gunplay triad movies starring Chow Yun Fat (what, you think the Wachowskis invented it?).

 The Goku/Vegeta relationship is from “Legend of the Condor Heroes.”

Here’s a story you might have heard before. It’s about two rivals, but by circumstance, one is raised in the wilderness beyond civilization, where he becomes an honest and goodhearted, though overly naive bumpkin, martial arts prodigy. The other is raised a wealthy prince by a conquering enemy, who grows up to also become an armor wearing martial arts expert, but also a cunning, arrogant, emotionally distant sociopath.

The similarities go into their love lives, too. The unsophisticated bumpkin hero is betrothed to a daughter of a powerful bearded barbarian king against his will, while the one hint of vulnerability and loss of emotional detachment in the otherwise sociopathic prince, the crack in his smirky arrogance, is that he loves a girl he otherwise pretends to hate, and even fathers a child with her who becomes a main character later.

This is Guo Jing and Yang Kang from Legend of the Condor Heroes. The most fascinating similarity, and proof that female psychology is the same all over the world, is that the fangirls love the emotionally distant, arrogant, and sexy/evil prince (remember when Rhonda Rousey said her first crush was Vegeta?). Girls everywhere love bad boys and sexy villains, and oh boy, do they love Prince Yang Kang. I think you can probably guess who all the fan art is about for Legend of the Condor Heroes, and what ship is the most popular.

I have to emphasize that Legend of the Condor Heroes, which came out in the 1950s-60s, is possibly the most widely read novel by the most widely read novelist on earth - the sales on that dwarf Twilight and Harry Potter. It’s probably not an exaggeration to say nearly every Chinese person, even if they never read it, knows who these characters are. In fact, Yang Kang and Guo Jing from Condor Heroes are basically repeated over and over in Asian, Chinese, and Japanese culture. Does the unsophisticated but gifted martial arts prodigy bumpkin hero, and the glib, arrogant wealthy prince rival remind you of….another duo of rivals?

Gohan/Videl comes from Little Dragon Maiden

One of the most important and influential Martial Arts novels of all time is “Return of the Condor Heroes.” A sequel to Condor Heroes, this time, the main character is the teenage son of one of the main characters from the first novel. It gets even more familiar from there.

“Return of the Condor Heroes” was about a martial arts couple who are also master and student, the same age but vastly different in experience and skill so one somehow seems “older,” and they fall in love because the circumstances of training together requires they spend lots of time together and become intimate. The training story and the love story are exactly the same in “Return of the Condor Heroes.” The dead giveaway one story inspired the other is that in both, the most significant training sequence is one where the master teaches the student how to fly (though Return used a chamber of sparrows for lightness Kung Fu).

There are some differences of course – obviously in Return of the Condor Heroes, the genders of teacher and student are flipped from Gohan and Videl (it’s the Little Dragon Maiden who is a powerful teacher, and the boy who is the student). It was the girl (Videl) who was a rebellious delinquent in Dragon Ball Z, when it was the opposite in the novel, true. But it was obvious this story was in the back of the creator’s mind as a way to combine Kung Fu with the love story, by making teacher and student lovers.

Addendum: hey, remember that awesome movie Kung Fu Hustle, the one Hong Kong movies normies have seen? Well, remember the landlord and landlady? The landlady was named Xiao Lung Nu, or Little Dragon Maiden, and her husband was named Yang Guo – the same as the main characters in Return of the Condor Heroes. It was a joke that went over the heads of Westerners, by giving these names of attractive and naïve young people in love with each other to a surly, bitter, arguing and chain smoking middle aged couple who don’t give a damn.

 Going Super Saiyan comes from “Reincarnated” aka “Bastard Swordsman.”

Stop me if this sounds familiar: a terrifying warlord tyrant prone to killing underlings who displease him has achieved a level of skill and cultivation so tremendous nobody can stop him. But there is one, and only one, thing he fears and that can defeat him: a long-lost legendary skill that nobody has achieved in recent memory, that includes a supernatural combat power transformation that turns the hair light to indicate it worked.

This is “Silkworm Skill” from Reincarnated aka Bastard Swordsman, a novel and TV series from Hong Kong in the early 1980s. Of course, there are differences. To get the power boost and new hair color, the hero has to jump in a cocoon he weaves himself. In fact, the scene is so well known that they actually have it on the poster.

(To those saying “Super Saiyan turns your hair blonde, not white” my response is that it turns hair white, or uncolored, in the comic book.)

The idea of your hair turning white to indicate a new supernatural combat transformation or martial state wasn’t created by Bastard Swordsman, though – though it is the best example and probably the one most familiar to a 1980s audience due to the hugely popular books and TV series. For an older example, a famous Chinese movie based on a folktale is “Bride With the White Hair,” about a bride who’s hair turns white when she is betrayed, in her anger, she becomes less a woman and more a supernatural creature of vengeance (interesting that anger should be the means to unlock it).