Okay, I watched this new-fangled TV series, which I told y’all I was pretty psyched about several months ago, (and ya’ll should be really happy because this time I actually did what I said I was gonna do), and overall, I can say I was not disappointed. It was very good. I heard it’s probably getting a second season, and I’ll take a look at that.
Amazon moved the date of the release up one day, so I watched it this Wednesday evening, conveniently right before I had a day off, so I could binge watch this all night. I guess most people didn’t know about the early release time on Wednesday, so most people waited until Thursday morning, and some are watching it Friday. There are eight episodes and I finished them sometime around four in the morning of Thursday. I don’t binge watch stuff very often because I usually don’t get that type of open time, but I did this week, and except for a couple of slower episodes that seemed to be treading water, even though they were still important to the backstory, I very much enjoyed it.
There are several iterations of Fallout in game form, and I haven’t played a single one of them, so I understand the worldbuilding on the show based on the experience of someone who has never played the games. I did watch a few videos explaining the lore, after I watched the series, because I had questions. Like: How many Vaults are there? Are all the vaults as messed up as the one I saw in the show? What are ghouls, and how do they happen? What were the monsters I saw? What’s up with that dog? (It’s just a regular dog, as far as I can tell.) After watching the series and looking at it from the point of view of someone who has never played the games, I can understand why some of the lore was changed, like the making of the zombie-like creatures we see in the show. I was seeing a few comparisons to the HBO series The Last of Us on my YouTube thumbnails, asking if the show was better, worse, or as good. I can honestly say I don’t think its as good as TLOU, but it is a lot more fun, very compelling, and I was intrigued and captivated enough to keep watching one episode after another. I don’t know that this will make my “best of” list at the end of the year, ( I think that distinction will go to Shogun) but it was alright!
The series literally starts off with a bang! We meet one of the primary characters in a flashback on the day of multiple atomic bomb explosions, on an alternate Earth. One of the things non-gamers have to understand is this is not our world. It’s an another reality where atomic bombs have been dropped on countries more than once (there is a war in the Middle East over oil, China invaded Alaska, the US has annexed Canada) and the technological, and some of the cultural foundations, is that of the fifties, with an international war over basic resources, and the invention of cold fusion, a perpetual energy source, all of which is the base plot of the entire series. There are several things that are very different about this world. One of those is that there was no Jim Crow, or MLK, I guess because interracial marriages are widely accepted, and people’s greatest concern is the coming war between China and the US. There is no McCarthyism, but people are paranoid about their colleagues and actors being Communists. There is a certain level of fantasy 50’s technology too.
We then meet the main character we saw in the trailer named Lucy. The show moves back and forth in time, covering the backstory of the three primary characters, Lucy (played by Ella Purnell), The Ghoul (played by Walton Goggins), and Maximus (played by Aaron Moten). Each one of these characters gets a backstory, a clear character arc, and a mystery or goal they need to solve before the end of the season. The episodes move from the adventures of one character to another and occasionally back in time. The Ghoul’s story is told entirely in flashback though because that explains who and what he is in the present. The show is directed and written by the same people who brought us Westworld, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, which I was happy to see, because the two of them are very competent at weaving multiple story threads together. There is no confusion about where we are in the story, what’s happening to who, and/or why.
The primary story, which takes place 200 years before we even meet Lucy, involves a company called Vault Tech, which created over 100 bunkers designed for the survival of the human race after WW3, but not all is at it seems. Most of that is the backstory of The Ghoul, because his wife plays a large role in the creation of this future. The show then shifts 219 years in the future, where Lucy’s story begins as she is about to get married to a member of another Vault (#32) that’s connected to her own. Lucy is from Vault 33 (hence the numbers seen on the backs of the character’s blue radiation proof suits.) Her marriage goes tits up when the wedding party is massacred and her father is kidnapped, which prompts Lucy’s exit from the Vault in an attempt to find him. Along the way, she meets Maximus who is a member of a faction called The Brotherhood of Steel, who have taken it upon themselves to act sort of like the cops of the nuclear wasteland beyond the Vaults. Lucy and Max become allies. Interspersed with Lucy’s story is how Max came to be a member of The Brotherhood.
There are several other factions and creatures that Lucy interacts with outside Vault 33. She eventually meets up with Goggin’s character, who is simply called “The Ghoul”, who has lived an unnaturally long life (over 200 years) thanks to being exposed to radiation and a special serum he needs to constantly procure, in order to remain sane. Remember, this is an alternate world based on what people believed about technology in the 1950s, so in this world people can survive severe radiation damage by becoming what we would essentially call “zombies”. They can keep their minds from deteriorating by ingesting a special drug. Without it they turn into what others call Ferals (basically the wild, people-eating, type of zombies).
All three characters converge in an effort to take the bounty on a Scientist from another faction, called The Enclave, whose worth is stored in his brain. After he is dead, all that is needed is his head. These three characters, and a couple of others, spend most of the season chasing after it, beating the crap out of each other, and falling into various adventures, over this man’s decapitated head.
The worldbuilding is well done. Not every image gets an answer this season, as they are holding back a lot of information for the second, and what you think is a tiny scrap of information has significant resonance later, even throwaway characters turns out to be important detail to the worldbuilding, like Lucy’s father (played by the always excellent Kyle McClachlan). You do get thrown in the deep end, with some characters and mysteries being presented along the way, and a cast of interesting and occasionally disgusting, creatures like giant cockroaches, giant aquatic grabbers, organ stealing robots, brains in jars, irradiated mutant bears (ugh!), a Snake Oil Salesman who f**ks chickens (???), a Ghoul dog, people who hate Ghouls and Vault Dwellers (they do not have the best reputation in this world), and a faction of Vault raiders.
Some of the most interesting things (that are non-spoilery) is the show’s approach to sex. The women in the series are shown as enthusiastic initiators of sex, happily jumping guys bones if they are also willing, which is something I found both remarkable and deeply funny. It’s an element of storytelling that is rarely thought of or shown, in favor of showing women as semi-reluctant prey, or sexual assault victims. Walton Goggin’s character is married to a Black woman and the two get pretty frisky, sometimes in front of other people. so this particular contingent of human beings seem to have very healthy attitudes towards sex, although one must note that I had not noticed any gay or lesbian characters. Lucy is especially interesting in this regard. At one point, she just comes straight out and propositions Maximus, who, having never even been told about sex, (since he’s been raised by an order of violent, but celibate, monks) has no idea what the hell she’s talking about.
Next to all the other somewhat gray and villainous characters in the series, Lucy and her fellow Vault Dwellers tend to be what we would call “annoyingly wholesome”, in that they wear their hearts on their sleeves, believe in old 50s American values, and are refreshingly honest about their feelings, even when they’re villains. The only other gray character in the Vault is Lucy’s brother, because he’s always shuffling quickly around like he’s furtively holding onto a secret, but he’s not a villain, and it’s for a good reason.
No doubt, the star of the series, and the character most people are tuning in to watch is Walton Goggins, The Ghoul, mostly because he is professionally ultra-violent bad ass, who is the most mysterious, and we love Bounty Hunters! How did he get that way? What series of events allowed him to survive the nuclear events in the opening scene? What happened to his wife and daughter and are either of them Ghouls like him? I guess we’ll find out next season, and I hope there will be, because the series has received some very good reviews, and Amazon has been offered a deal for more episodes.
I would say more, but then I’d start getting into spoiler territory. I don’t have a problem with giving spoilers (the series is kind of hard to spoil, really), but I want y’all to watch the show, and some of the episodes have some really nice and very funny surprises. Yes, the shows is darkly humorous, so it’s okay to laugh at some things. Of course Mr. Goggins gets ALL the best lines, but the other actors aren’t phoning it in, and some of the situations these characters get into are dangerous, but still very ridiculous.
Usually when I fall in love with a series I hope for at least three to five seasons, which is just enough for a show to hit its stride, and gets most of the viewer’s questions answered, all without getting too bogged down in minutiae, or getting boring. So here’s to two more seasons of Fallout!
Next up:I wanna talk about Shogun ,which may turn out to be the best show of the year, and the movie Poor Things, which I greatly enjoyed.
I’m just finishing up this series. So far its been pretty good. I love Hiroyuki Sanada and I get to watch lots of him in this show. I had my doubts about the lead character whose god given name is apparently Cosmo. I wasnt sure I could trust an actor named Cosmo, but he turned out to be great. No, he’s not as memorable as Richard Chamberlain. Its hard to top perfection, but he is very good. This version of Shogun has done some very differetn things than the original series and most of it holds up well.
For one thing we spend a lot more time on Japanese politics, which turns out to actually be fascinating in a Game of Thrones kind of way. I don’t normally pay a whole lot of attention to political intrigue, but I like this. It turns out that all these characters and political machinations are “based on” real-life people, like Tokugawa. The settings and costumes are gorgeous and as authentic looking as they could make them considering that this series is made mostly by Americans.
This has been worth the watch, but I still waffle over whether I should wait until a series is done before watching it, or try to catch it weekly. Now that I no longer have cable TV, its been kind of hard to remember that I’m supposed to be watching something every week.
So that is why I’m going to increase the amount of trouble I’m about to get into by adding yet more shows that I now need to remember what days they air.
What I Watched
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – I thought I would be put off by the cutsiness of this movie but it turned out to be very good. It was also calming with very sweet and likable characters. No wonder everyone was so ga-ga over this movie a couple years ago. Marcel is such a precious character.
Poor Things – Again! I saw this at the theater and rented it after the Oscars aired. I still think its better than Barbie, which I really did love, but still…this movie went hard in the paint on the whole feminism thing. I will not be allowing my niece to see this movie. It is not for kids.
The Holdovers – I was surprised that I enjoyed this so much. Of course, I was expecting it to be good, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so moving. Expect e to write an essay in the future on how this movie defies stereotypes of Black women.
Once Upon A Time In China Trilogy – Here’s some vintage Kung Fu I’d been looking for everywhere, and no one was streaming it. Finally, it landed on HBO Max, and I’ve already watched the first one in the trilogy (although there are about five or six of these, not all of them star Jet Li, just the first four, I think.) There are some other Kung Fu and Martial Arts movies I’m looking forward to watching like: Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman, The Flying Swordsman, The One Percent Warrior, and Night of the Assassin.
I have yet to get around to watching The Swan, Spaceman, and Shirley, all of which are streaming on Netflix. I will get around to watching the new Roadhouse movie this weekend, since its gonna be a long one because I don’t have to work Monday.
I just put the animated Samurai Champloo and The Deer King in my TBW list on Hulu, and hope to get around to actually looking at either of these this weekend.
And further more…
Star Trek Discovery – April 4th (Paramount+)
It is now time for the annual viewing of the Star Trek Discovery! Apparently, this is the last season. I’m okay with that. I’m grateful we got five seasons of some of my favorite characters (even though, and don’t tell anyone I said this, last season wasn’t especially good. Shhh!) I’m looking forward to this final season and hope they go out on a great note, not necessarily with a Bang, but I hope all the characters end in a good place, because I really like all of them!
Parasyte: The Gray – April 5th (Netflix)
Coming this Friday is the live action version of the anime series Parasyte. I did watch the original anime, which was funny and gory. This appears to take place in the same universe, with different characters, and looks like a straight-up Horror series with a lot less humor. I’m ready for it. The past year I have not been much in the mood for heavy shows like Shogun and this one, preferring much lighter, happier, stuff, but I think I’m ready to get back into the groove, and actually start thinking and feeling things again. That is probably a sign that my mourning period is over. I still miss my Mom, and always will, but I guess my brain has gotten used to the idea that she’s gone, (even if my heart hasn’t), and has decided that it’s ready to get back to work.
Fallout – April 11th (Amazon Prime)
This is the show I’m most excited about. I’ve never played the game this show is based on, but it looks like a lot of fun, with lots of lore, monsters, and machinery. Hopefully, Amazon will release all the episodes at once so I won’t have to try to remember the days it’s airing!
What?! I still got plenty of time for silliness.
Strange Way of Life – April 12th (Netflix)
I mentioned this in my Gayest Shows/Best of 2023 List. It stars Pedro Pascal, and Ethan Hawke. I saw this “elsewhere”, but its now coming to Netflix, so I’m looking forward to watching it, again.
Conan Must Go – April 18th (Hbo/Max)
I watched the last season of this series and I had a great ol’ time. Conan O’Brien is a lot funnier when you take him out from behind a desk, put him in situations, and just let his hosts do their thing. This should satisfy my sillier side for a while, and I can watch the episodes at my leisure, rather than trying to remember when they’re streaming. You should really watch the first season just to see Conan visit one of my favorite locations: Japan.
The Sympathizer – April 14th (Hbo/Max)
This looks very interesting. Like I said, I don’t normally watch political intrigue shows, but I have been known to watch these types of shows when they have Asian characters in them. We don’t know why! *shrug*
Rebel Moon – April 19th (Netflix)
Will have my butt in the seat to watch some shit blow up on this date! I was a little disappointed in the first part of this movie, but not disappointed enough to completely disavow it. I’ll let y’all know what I thought about this.
And finally there are a couple of nature shows on Disney that I’m looking forward to. One of them is about Tigers, and the other about the Octopus. I forget the dates on these, but I’m certain Disney+ will not be shy about letting me know when these documentaries will be streaming.
I do not necessarily mean that I’m hotly anticipating these movies. Somebody, somewhere is though, and since I just went on YouTube to see what new trailers came out, this is my list. Some of these are movies I mentioned before, but there’s a couple of new ones here, or just new trailers for stuff I’m still excited about!
But, you will definitely know which ones I’m excited to see.
Alien: Romulus
I finally got hold of a trailer for this and the trailer looks good. It looks genuinely frightening! My anxiety levels shot up to about 9.5 on my Nope-a- Meter, which means I will not be sitting in a dark theater watching this movie.
It’s directed by Fede Alvarez, the guy who brought us The Evil Dead remake and Don’t Breathe, two films I really liked. It was initially set to be released on Hulu, but that was changed to theaters, and I hope it succeeds as a hit. I will rent it on Amazon or something as soon as its on streaming, so I can watch this at home, and turn it off when it gets to be too much. I love Horror movies but some Horror movies can be too scary. Speaking of which, its probably time to make another post about movies that are too scary, even for me!
Furiosa
Yeah. Yeah. I know. This is really just a cash-grab, (even though we were kinda asking for this) but dayyum, y’all!!! This movie looks like FIRE!!! I’m really starting to fall in love with Anya Taylor-Joy, where she appears to be successfully channeling Charlize Theron, and I am interested in Furiosa’s backstory. This is one I want to see in the theater. I think I’ll invite one of my nieces.
Boy Kills World
This movie looks crazy. I really want to check this one. Its giving off Suicide Squad, John Wick, The Crow vibes, and I’m here for it. I dont think its going to be playing in a theater near me, because its kind of indie, but I will definitely be checking this out when it streams.
Fall Out
I ain’t gonna lie! They had me with the first trailer, with this beautiful imagery, and the opening strains of Nat King Cole’s I Don’t Want To See Tomorrow. I’m always a sucker for King Cole. This is definitely “hot” and “anticipated” by me. It doesn’t hurt that this is by the same guy that brought me so many hours of in-depth thinking in Westworld.
This is based on videogames I have never played (although I have looked at the game art books), so I had to do a quick 101 on the world of the game, which was fun. I found out some interesting things like ghosts and other eldritch beings exist in this universe. I wasn’t expecting that. I thought it was a straightforward apocalyptic drama type of thing, but apparently, it’s a lot weirder.
Rebel Moon Pt. 2
I didn’t find the first part of this movie satisfactory, but tried to keep in mind that its just the first part of a movie and this is the part where all the characters and stakes are introduced. It felt unfinished because it is…get this…unfinished! So, when the second part of this gets released next month I’ll be watching the two back to back. This is the longform trailer for the second half. I really really like this trailer, even though I feel Zack Snyder should maybe cool it on the use of slow motion.
The Crow
I’ve been hearing loyalists to the first movie panning this one already, and I’m not listening. Thye can dismiss this if they want to but I won’t. I absolutely love the first movie. Me and my Art school friends loved that movie multiple times! I went out and bought any books associated with the franchise over the years, because there’s a ton of books out there about The Crow, and although the first movie was perfection (even with the tragic death of the lead actor), just about any kind of story can be told using this motif.
I’ve said it before, that its hard to improve on perfection, and that first movie was as well made as it could possibly get, but I’m not sure this is that kind of remake. It has a different plot for one thing. So far, I’m liking Skarsgaard, and Danny Huston is always a draw. I just really like him. I don’t know much about FKA Twigs other than she’s a rapper/performer and I’ve listened to a couple of her songs. She has a cute accent in this movie though. I like the music in the trailer and the action looks wild, so I’m gonna be there in the theater, popcorn in hand, hoping to have a good time.
I don’t know that I’ll go see this multiple times, but I will invite my nephew to see this with me, since he really loves the Moon Knight TV series and the John Wick movies.
The Wild Robot
This some beautiful wholesome stuff that I can take my youngest niece to see. She hipped mt ot the Disney film Elemental which I really enjoyed a lot so I’m going to return the favor and ask if she wants to go see this. Her tastes are pretty wide ranging. She likes children’s cartons like Despicable me, Horror movies like M3gan, TV shows like Stranger Things, and some romantic comedies.
I like that she’s not limiting herself to just one or two types of films. She’s willing to try different things until she finds something she likes, but that also makes it hard to suggest something she will be excited to see. I kinda have to wait until she demands (because she does not believe in making requests) that we go see something. I really want to see this so I’m going to ask her.
The 3 Body Problem
This based on the Science Fiction novels of Chinese writer Cixin Liu. I have read some of his work, although not this particular one. He also wrote The Wandering Earth for those of you who are fans of that series. I have not watched that one, but I plan to watch this one since I’m always up for a good First Contact drama.
Interview With The Vampire (Season Two)
I’m ready to fully immerse myself in the world of Interview With the Vampire once again. I’ve been waiting to see a longer trailer for this second season of the series. There is a new Claudia because the last actress ahd to move on to some new things but I like this new girl so far. The actor playing Louis is his usual exemplary self, and at the end of the last season we were introduced to his long-time lover, The Vampire Armand, and naturally all of the copies of this book have just been checked out at my library!
I hope, at some point, we will get Armand’s backstory, where we will be introduced to Marius who is one of my favorite characters. (He also has a most fascinating backstory.) I skipped the Mayfair Witches series because I didn’t care for the rather bland lead actress, and I have never found witches to be particularly interesting characters. Vampires, on the other hand, are always fascinating.
The Acolyte
I missed the last Star Wars series, Andor, and I didn’t get a chance to finish Ahsoka, before something that was shinier distracted me. Both series are in a backlog of other shows I have not had the time to watch because I keep watching things I already watched whenever I’m idle.
But I like this trailer and I’m curious to see what this series is about. Its interesting to see Jedi fighting without lightsabers, and I wonder what that’s about or if this is something unique to that particular character. Of course no story about the Jedi would be complete without the addition of some Sith. I am told that this story takes places about a hundred years before the rise of the Empire and the birth of Anakin Skywalker.
Kaos
Imma be honest, they had me at Jeff Goldblum. Thas all they had to say, and they put that right at the top! I have no idea what this is about, nor do I care, even after watching this trailer several times, because it’s JEFF! Goldblum!!
No, seriously, I don’t even care what the plot is about.
Harold and the Purple Crayon
I’m putting this here because I have very fond memories of reading this story as a child. It was one of my absolute favorites. I will not be going to the theater to see this though. I will watch it when it streams, but I am very excited that a trailer was finally released for this movie, and I thought you guys might get a big kick out of seeing it, especially those of you who remember this story as happily as I do!
Deadpool and Wolverine
My nephew and I made a pact to go see this all the MCU films together, so this one is on the list. See, movies are not just about a film being good. A lot of the reason I love the films I love is because of the memories and people associated with it. There are a number of films I love not because they are great films, but because I watched them, for the first time, with my Mom, and she loved them, even though the film might not have been to my taste. We shared a thing, and watching it again brings back memories of having these moments with her.
Fortunately, my nephew and I are huge Marvel fans, although our love for the superhero genre comes from different places. Mine comes from having read all the comic books as a kid, and his comes from the movies themselves and informational videos on Youtube, but his love for the genre is genuine, and we both share this thing. I am not an MCU fan just because I’m excited to see superheroes I read about as a child on the big screen. I love these movies because this is something I can share with the people I love.
Borderlands
Well, this trailer looks pretty zany, and its got Cate Blanchett in it. I love Cate, but I’m probably not going to see this in the theater, unless one of my family members says lets go see it, which I very much doubt will happen. I really do like this trailers though and I love the cast, which includes Kevin Hart, and the movie looks like a fun time. I know Kevin Hart is not everyone’s cup of tea but Imma fan because he has made me laugh on a consistent basis often enough (Jumanji) that I trust he’ll make me laugh during this movie.
One of my personal bugaboos is people who think all animation is for children, and judge adults for watching it. These people make the classic mistake of thinking that any genre is a monolith and that if you sample a bit of it then that’s all you need to know about it. Just like with different groups of human beings, there is no genre of anything, from movies, to music, to art, that is all the same. Just becasue you were exposed to some Rap songs 20 years ago, or watched a couple of Slasher films back in the 80s, does not mean you know all there is to know about Rap music or Horror movies.
Well, some animation is definitely not for kids, and quite frankly, if you sat your five year old, (or even your ten year old) down in front of any of the “cartoons” that I’m about to mention, I would question your parenting skills. These look cute and harmless but they are not Disney and Pixar films. They contain mature adult themes and subject matter that kids simply won’t get, or maybe they will get it on a certain level, but aren’t mature enough to understand it, and in at least a couple of cases some of these are actually traumatizing nightmare fuel!
Chainsaw Man
Chainsaw man is AWESOME!!! This is the wildest, coolest, craziest, most pathos shit I’ve ever seen (and trust me I have seen some crazy shit on a screen)! I have not read the Manga on which this series is based and have no plans to since I don’t have time for that. (I’m already collecting a ton of books I’m supposed to be reading and I’m not reading them.) One of the reasons I don’t watch a whole lot of series anime is because its hard keeping track of all the characters and another reason is that is an investment of time I’m getting too old to indulge. I’m much more apt to fall asleep than finish a series, but I finished this one. It’s easier keeping track of characters in live-action two hour chunks. I have also heard that the Manga has more sexual content, something which is mostly just strongly hinted at in the series.
Chainsaw Man exists in a world where all kinds of human concepts can also exist as physical demons, often based on human fears. The more humans fear the object, or concept, the more likely it is to manifest a demon form. There are plant, marine life, and vegetable demons (and who outchere getting scared of tomatoes? I don’t care for raw tomatoes too much but I don’t think that amounts to an actual fear.), apparently there is a chainsaw demon, an eternity demon (fear of time), and zombie demons, and the Big Bad is the elusive Gun Demon. The size and the power of the demon depends on how scared people are of that particular concept, so you can get cute puppy-sized, chainsaw demons like Pochito, and demons of massive size and power like the Gun Demon (apparently there are enough people who are afraid of tomatoes that that particular demon can reach a massive size, although it seems completely powerless, and enough people are afraid of bats that that demon is pretty damn huge and powerful).
Random human beings can be possessed by these demons or form alliances with demons for power. They usually have to pay the demon in the form of some kind of body part, an eye, an arm, a kidney. Sometimes human can fuse with demon bodies (although that’s more rare) and that’s the case for the lead character, Denji.
Denji is a typical teenage boy, but he formed a friendship with a cute, tiny, chainsaw demon, named Pochito, when he was a little kid. He grew up trying to pay off his late father’s thousands of dollars of debt to the local mob boss by killing small-time, minor demons like the Tomato Monster. He’s so poor from his debts, that he has sold off various body parts to survive, and can only dream about having fruit condiments on his toast. Like a lot of teenage boys he also dreams about having a girlfriend, touching boobs, and just having friends, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Anyway, the mob boss betrays him and kills him, but Pochito saves his life by bonding with his body, giving Denji the ability to form working chainsaws of his arms and face.
In this society, demons can show up anytime, anywhere, so naturally a bureaucracy has sprung up around professional demon hunting. After he is revived, Denji gets recruited by the very sexy and manipulative Makima, the head of the demon hunting Ministry of Public Safety, and Denji starts killing larger, more important, demons, and living some of his best life. He gets to live in a house instead of a shack, and is so happy to be able to put jam, jelly, and marmalade on his toast, that he can’t contain himself. Along the way, he gets partnered with various co-workers, some of whom are demons, or like himself, demon adjacent. The strength of the series though lies in the relationships between the characters.
There’s his mentor, Aki, who is suffering from the trauma of watching all of his family, friends, and colleagues get killed by the demons they fight, but most especially the Gun Devil which killed his entire family. And then there is the demon possessed Power, (that is her name), who is my automatic favorite. She seems to be everyone’s favorite character since she appears to be pure Id, who never speaks in anything less than a commands or declarations. And then of course, there are the various demons which are horrifying enough as concepts, but in demon form are sort of like looking at biblically accurate angels.
The reason why I say this isn’t a show for kids is because it doesn’t have much resemblance to anything Disney has ever made. There is an incredible amount of violence in this series and occasionally some disturbing sexual elements. There’s not really any sexual activity in the show, but characters talk about it a lot, and sometimes it’s …weird, like when Power allows Denji to feel up her boobs as repayment for saving her cat from a demon. Yeah, I know.
Just keep in mind that this is a very graphic Horror series.
Bird Boy
This is not a movie for small children. I very much doubt its the kind of thing big children should be watching, also probably most adults. I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one other than it looks very pretty and is unrelentingly melancholy. It’s not a feel-good type of movie really. It has a really strong focus on ecological issues, so there’s that, but while it was engaging, I cannot say I loved or enjoyed this. I liked looking at it.
The reason I found it so compelling to watch is because it is deeply surreal and you need to be ready for that. More than likely kids could probably watch this and think its cute, but it does have a lot of mature themes and even some gun violence in it. The lead character, named Birdboy, is always getting shot by the police because he is suspected of dealing drugs. After the destruction of an island where he used to live, he creates a safe place for himself with lots of other animals, singing birds, and a large tree. There is also a female involved named Dinky who, along with some animal friends, are trying to escape their dying island but can’t until they steal some more money. While doing that, she falls afoul of some rat-like creatures that require her to be saved by Birdboy. There’s a toy duck boat involved in these shenanigans.
This all sounds really cute but I wouldn’t call this movie fun.
The movie is so surreal I was unsure if some of it was imaginary or real, since a lot of the concepts (just like in Chainsaw Man) take the form of demons, (like a demon of drug addiction that takes the form of a giant spider.) Yes, there are adult themes like theft, and murder, and police brutality in this, but its hard to watch it because there’s cutesy animals in it.
This movie has kids in it but it’s not for kids!
Paprika
One of the reasons I say none of these cartoons are for little kids (mostly anybody under age twelve) is not because of the levels of sexuality or violence, but because many of them, while being very pretty, present concepts and ideas that are beyond the understanding of children. They can watch them but they won’t understand it beyond the action scenes. Paprika is a perfect example of this. There isnt anything overtly sexual or particularly violent about it, but the plot is distinctly philosophical in intent. I had to watch it twice to get an understanding, and although I’ve watched it a few more times since then, I still have the impression that there’s a lot of stuff I’m just missing because I keep getting new insights every time the visuals pull me back in.
Paprika is a surrealist fever dream. It wasn’t until I watched it a third time that I wasn’t so distracted by the imagery that I could understand the plot. Paprika is the name of a dream therapist, and the alter ego of a woman who works for the company that invented the machine (called the DC Mini), which allows her to tap into the dreams of her psychiatric patients. Someone steals the device and begins using it to tap into the dreams of different scientists all over Tokyo, dreams which start to manifest in the real world, and drive people, Paprika, her alter ego, and other scientists, to insanity.
A lot of the movie is about unconscious desires and repressed and unrequited love, as certain characters fall in love or are obsessed with other characters, but feel they can’t express it. It is only through reconciling their real selves with their dream alter egos, that some of the characters are able to save the rest of Tokyo from the power obsessed madman, who thinks he’s protecting the creatures of the dream world from living humans.
See! It took me three watches of this movie just to get that plot, and I’m absolutely certain that, because I’m not from the culture in which this film was made, that I’m still missing a lot of subtext. For a kid, this movie isnt going to be anything but pretty images.
But you know, I could be wrong, and some kids will probably understand it better than me, since some mindsets are a product of adulthood. I’m reminded of when I watched Finding Nemo with my niece, who was about twelve at the time, and she understood details of the movie that totally escaped me, and that I must have been “too adult” to understand, so it’s possible that a kid could watch Paprika and understand it completely.
When the Wind Blows
I have never watched Grave of the Fireflies, the horribly depressing Ghibli film about two orphans trying to survive WW2 Japan, but if you liked (that’s a strong word) that movie than When the Wind Blows is just as emotionally devastating, and exists in a kind of dialogue with it. I knew a little bit about what was going to happen before watching it. I walked into it expecting it to be difficult to watch and I still was not ready. There have been quite a number of Disney cartoons that have brought me to tears over the past thirty years but I think this movie was the only one I’ve ever seen that moved me “beyond” tears. This was horrifying. It was a movie I had to sit with and contemplate for several days. It was a haunting experience and I’ve watched it exactly two times in my life.
Anyone who grew up during the Nuclear Determent Decade of the 80s will understand why I was so affected by this movie. We grew up under the constant heavy tension of nuclear annihilation happening any day, and I was a teenager at the time, in the very middle of my first existential crisis. When the Wind Blows is another one of the British movies about a nuclear strike hitting its country and sits in dialogue with the 1984 Threads, also a pretty harrowing experience.
The movie is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Raymond Briggs, which I read sometime in 92, or 93. and follows an elderly couple who are attempting to survive a nuclear strike on Britain with little to no understanding of what just occurred or how to protect themselves. The two of them are a typical English couple from the 80s, and are so hapless and ignorant about what has just happened to them that they just wander around in their irradiated home, contemplating when the proper authorities will arrive, getting sicker and sicker, and totally not understanding why they’re sick. And since we, the viewers, know more about what has just happened than they do, we are horribly aware of the fate they were not even remotely prepared for. It’s a film that’s difficult to watch because you like them so much, they are so cute and bumbling, the animation style is completely disarming, the events are so awful, and the two remain hopeful to the end.
No. Like Grave of the Fireflies, this is not a movie for children at all. You could watch it with teenagers, as long as there is a trigger warning of some kind before they watch it, and you would definitely need to have some type of discussion afterward.
Gyo: Fish Attack
There is a contingent of people who cannot seem to let go of the idea that just because something is animated, it must be for children. Movies like these defy all those qualifications. Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack is a movie that is, most emphatically, not for children. I cannot stress that enough. I mean, you can let your kids watch it, (I’m not gonna tell you what to do) and they will certainly get it, because unlike Paprika, this movie is pretty easy to understand, more or less, but the movie is also very graphic, with a lot of body horror images, a plane crash, chase scenes, and at least one sex scene. A giant semi-mechanical shark chases people through the streets, a girl gets eaten by metal roaches, and people get turned into naked mechas powered by clouds of sentient gas, which all sounds as if it might be funny.
It’s not.
All of this imagery isnt just for titillation though. There is a deep ecological message underneath all of this along with messages about friendship and caring for others, and betrayal issues, and a smart teenager will probably get all of that, but most kids under fifteen or sixteen will probably just be traumatized. I was a reasonably bright fifteen year old, and I would’ve been bothered by this movie. Hell, I’m bothered by it as a grown woman!
This movie is the definition of nightmare fuel.
Unicorn Wars
One of the reasons that people might be confused about letting their kids watch movies like this (and Bird Boy) is because they look so cute and colorful. I haven’t had the chance to watch this movie yet, but as you can tell from the clip above, (and the synopsis I read), nothing about this movie is for children. Not the themes, not the imagery, and not the plot either. Unlike Gyo Fish Attack, which isn’t even trying to appeal to kids, this movie is like a grown-up that’s cosplaying as a kid. This is an adult war movie using teddy bears and unicorns.
This movie is like a cross between Full Metal Jacket and Watership Down, with Teddy Bears in a kind of boot camp, warring against their enemies, the Unicorns, in order to fulfill some kind of ancient prophecy. This and Bird Boy are movies where you watch some really cute little characters doing some fairly horrific shit to other cute little creatures and each other, so don’t say I didn’t warn you, when you watch this. If you find the sight of cutesy little creatures committing acts of extreme gore and violence against each other disturbing, then your kids should never be subjected to this either.
By the same director who brought you Birdboy, which should tell you all you need to know, really!
This is the movie my nephew and I are most looking forward to watching this Summer. We’re both big Deadpool fans, we both like Wolverine, so… Not sure how this movie is going to play out, but I’m hopeful that it will be as much fun as the first two Deadpool movies, and at least as much fun as the comic books.
The Quiet Place: Day One
This is going to be a great year for Horror movies, starting with one of my favorite franchises, The Quiet Place. I greatly enjoyed the first two films, which, while full of some pretty scary moments, and are definitely considered Creature Features, I still classify as being more alongside the Action genre. It also happens to star two of my favorite actors, Lupita Nyong’o and Djimon Hounsou. Despite loving the movie American Fiction, I actually do like watching movies with multiple Black actors where the subject doesn’t revolve around racial issues. It should be a perfectly normal thing to see Black actors in all kinds of different movies.
Interview With the Vampire Season 2
I greatly enjoyed season one of this series and I’m excited to immerse myself back in this world again. Even though the actress who played Claudia has left the show, (she was a lot of fun), I’m still ready to watch this. I loved the characters and their interactions with each other, and the season left off on something of a cliffhanger.
Dune (Pt. 2)
Again, I enjoyed the first part of this and I’m excited to enter this world of Dune again. Denis Villeneuve has done an excellent job with this franchise.
Fallout
I’ve never played these games and know almost nothing at all about the lore of this world, so I had to take a quick crash course to understand some of the images I saw in the trailer. I’m excited to visit this place based solely on the strength of the trailer! I hope it’s as interesting as the trailer suggests.
Shogun
I already mentioned my love for the original film, so I’m eagerly awaiting the premiere of this remake next week.
Avatar
I think we can all agree the movie was a disaster, but based on the trailer, this series looks pretty good, and faithful enough to the original to merit a look-see.
House of Ninja
I have not started this series yet, but it looks like fun.
IF
I think I will prefer this over the Horror movie about imaginary friends. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely going to check out the Horror movie, but the addition of Ryan Reynolds makes this one look more fun.
Furiosa
I am not sure we needed a movie about Furiosa’s backstory but this looks very exciting and she is such a beloved character that I guess the filmmakers simply couldn’t resist. I am becoming a huge fan of Anya Taylor-Joy, too. I don’t know that I will see this in the theater. I probably will if one of my nieces would like to join me.
Monkey Man
I am deeply in love with Dev Patel and it is very exhilarating to see him in an Action film ala John Wick style! It does not hurt at all that one of the Producers behind this gem is Jordan Peele, who, as far as I’m concerned, can yet do no wrong onscreen. I am definitely going to see this one in the theater.
Borderlands
I don’t know anything about the original source material (a videogame) on which this movie is based, I just love the idea of this cast (Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Jamie Lee Curtis) all starring in this silly, cheesy looking, Guardians of the Galaxy/Mad Max ripoff! Pure Popcorn!
The Ones Who Live
I have not watched any of the other Spinoffs from The Walking Dead, but I am invested in the romance of Michonne and Rick, and hope this offers all the feels I’m looking for in a TV series this Spring!
Honorable Mentions:
Axel F – This is one of those Netflix originals type of things. I’m a fan of the Beverly Hills Cop movies and it will be fun to visit with Axel Foley again!
Space Man – I’m not sure I like the idea of a giant talking space spider, but I’m going to watch this because I’ve enjoyed Adam Sandler’s previous non-comedic work.
Rebel Moon Pt. 2 – I hesitate to say this was a good movie because it had some story drawbacks. On the other hand, the story is not finished, so hopefully, the second half of this movie will flesh out the problems of the first half of this movie. The visuals were gorgeous, but that means nothing if the story behind those visuals is lacking.
Road House – I talked about being a fan of the original cheesy film, and this is streaming on Amazon Prime, so I don’t have to worry about spending money on a theater experience. It looks kinda cheesy and fun, like a Saturday afternoon “popcorn/on the couch” event.
Sting – I’ve heard this is a comedy. I will not be seeing this in the theater because again…giant spider!
Abigail – My niece has expressed some interest in watching this vampire ballerina movie. I get it. She loved that Megan film, and seems to have this thing about movies with little girls behaving badly. I’m not sure I want to see this movie but since she has trusted my judgement on choosing movies to watch, I’m trusting her judgement on this.
The Fall Guy – I have memories of having watched the TV show on which this movie is based, but I cannot for the life of me remember anything beyond that it starred Lee Majors, (from The Six Million Dollar Man), who was once married to Farah Fawcett. I like Ryan Gosling. That’s all I got.
Nosferatu – I do not have a trailers for this but its a remake of the original 1920s Silent film by one of my favorite directors, Robert Eggers! It looks as if this will be dropping in December/
War of the Rohirrim – I know nothing about this movie other than its based on Tolkien’s writings and it too is dropping in December. I dont even know who is starring in this yet. I don’t even have a trailer or even an announcement that this is happening. It just showed up on FirstShowing.net
I grew up watching a lot of SciFi on TV and I don’t think I’ve ever talked about my top favorite series cuz I got favorites y’all , and this time I’m actually going to rank them fromleast to most in the order I’m supposed to instead of just tossing them up in any kind of order like I normally do.
This isn’t a list of best and worst SciFi because I don’t normally think of the media I consume in terms of best and worst. What most matters to me is how I felt when I watched it, how long it sticks in my memory, and if the show had any personal relevance for me, not whether or not other people (who I decided are not me) liked it. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when people like the things I like, but that doesn’t often factor into whether or not I like it.
10. The Bionic Woman (1976)/Wonder Woman(1975)
And right off the bat, you can see where some of my little baby feminism is leading. I had to do a twofer on this one because I watched both of these shows around the same time. Like a lot of little girls I’ve known I wanted to see women and girls onscreen, having adventures, kicking booty, etc., and in the 70s and 80s, this is what I got! I count these two shows because I had the TV all to myself at the time of day these shows aired. I don’t know where my brothers were, but they never bothered me during these shows. I remember they used to air on Saturdays, usually around 11AM or Noon.
The Bionic Woman was a spinoff series from The Six Million Dollar Man and I thought of both them as superhero shows. I didn’t learn about The Bionic Woman until some time after The Six Million Dollar Man left the air in 1978. My brothers had Steve Austin (which I also watched) but I had Jamie Somers, and I have a very distinct memory of all of us doing that slow-motion running thing that the main characters did in the series. Yes, it was silly, but this was the 70s and we were like 7, 8 and 9 years old. The series was about a woman who had had various body parts, like her legs and arms replaced by machinery which gave her the ability to run really fast and super strength. Needless to say, this was not depicted very well on network TV, but it was good for what it was. There was a one-season remix of the idea in 2007, which had an engaging lead character and better special effects but couldn’t overcome the nostalgia factor of the original I guess, because It didn’t last long.
The Bionic Woman first aired in 1976, and Wonder Woman aired in 1975. I was five and six years old and I watched them in syndication around nine or ten. The lead character in WW was Lynda Carter who has had a bit of a resurgence in her popularity since the release of the WW movies. I’m sorry guys but Gal Godot is pretty and all but she is, at best, a whispy presence next to the truly Amazonian frame of Lynda Carter, who will always be my favorite Wonder Woman, with her sunny smile, twinkling eyes, and truly impressive bosoms. I also remember the themes songs from both series and yeah, and I and every other girl my age definitely did that twirling around shit that turned Lynda into Wonder Woman.
9. The Incredible Hulk(1977)
This was one of my favorite shows and I have the memory of watching it with my Mom. I’m often surprised by how laid back and relaxed a lot of the shows we watched were from that time period. I watched a retrospective of this series a few years back and I was struck by its wholesomeness, Bill Bixby’s gentleness, and intelligence, and the series’s complete lack of urgency, something of which was captured in Mark Ruffalo’s version in The Avengers, which is probably why I like him so much.
Another reason these shows are favorites is because of the theme songs. The song for The Incredible Hulk was a treacly piano number titled The Lonely Man and it just perfectly captured the tragic vibe of the series, where Bixby’s Banner had to keep moving on from place to place, getting involved in various adventures while dodging the authorities and a nosy news reporter who was determined to out him to the rest of the world.
The Incredible Hulk was one of the few SciFi shows introduced to me by my mom, even though she wasn’t into superheroes and didn’t watch many SciFi shows. I know she approved of Bill Bixby and knew that I liked him from shows like My Favorite Martian (which she did watch), and The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. When The Avengers came out The Hulk was one of the few characters we could talk about, and I think it was because of her grounding in this series that she was able to smoothly glide into a discussion of superhero movies.
8. Space 1999(1975)
This is one of my favorite shows right now. I remember that a lot of my relatives thought the show was pretty boring because they didn’t think much happened on it, but I also have the distinct memory of watching this show in my grandmother’s living room, and my other relatives indulging my love of this show because it aired around the same time as Star Trek and Lost in Space. I think the reason they indulged me most of the time is because the theme song for the show just slapped, but there were times we would groove to the title song, and then turn the channel.
I was only a kid but I remember Martin Landau from other shows I watched, and I grew to like Barbara Bain, but my favorite character was the shapeshifting Maya, played by Catherine Schell, but she didn’t show up until about season two or three. I thought she was beautiful and exotic at the time but I saw this series before I watched Star Trek so I didn’t know she was a kind of Spock ripoff. Admittedly the show and the characters were slow-moving and very non-dramatic in their behavior, which prompted quite a few people to say the show was boring. It’s true that it was not an especially dynamic cast and the show was a lot more cerebral than most of my family was willing to sit through, but part of the reason I liked it was for its Horror elements. The show was genuinely scary in its first season.
The show was ind of built on a Horror premise about a group of scientists on Moonbase Alpha who get lost in space when the moon gets knocked out of Earth orbit. Yeah, the basic premise is silly, but I watched a retrospective of the show on Youtube a few months ago and the episodes not only still hold up, but fit right in today’s shows from a plot point of view, and involved things like portal aliens that swallowed people alive, a man who was turned into a vampire like creature and had to be stopped, and creatures that were like ghosts. Every episode had a mystery that needed to be solved, the outcome wasn’t always predictable, and people died in some fairly gruesome ways.
There were also a number of toys associated with this show and I remember I had a large replica of the spaceship from this show. I don’t remember if my Mom bought it or I stole it from one of my brothers but I cherished this toy and played with it with my Legos! I was not a Star Wars fan. I was a Space 1999 fan.
7. Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone(1959)
Watching this first iteration of the Twilight Zone is one of my earliest memories of watching TV shows with my Mom. She was a huge fan of Rod Serling, probably because of the social messages in his work. I remember having discussions with her about the meanings of some of the episodes we watched or just hearing her talk about some of her favorites.
One of our top favorite episodes was It’s a Good Life, with Billy Mumy from Lost in Space as a kid with reality-bending superpowers, which was genuinely terrifying to me at that age, and one of my Mom’s favorites was Nightmare at 20,000 Feet which starred William Shatner before I knew him as Captain Kirk. I thought that episode was a bit overdone but some of the scarier episodes for me were Time Enough At Last, about a man who manages to get time to read all he wants except for one little hiccup, the Living Doll episode which might have something to do with why I find inanimate objects that move so terrifying, and The Monsters are Due on Maple Street spoke to both of us. I think the saddest episode was Five Characters in Search of an Exit, about five characters trying to escape some kind of prison, but with a horrible twist.
The Twilight Zone aired after Primetime and was one of the few shows she would let me stay up late on a weeknight to watch, which was a big deal when I was ten, sitting in my Mom’s bed while I drank milk and she had soda, and my brothers were already asleep. She and I didn’t have a lot of favorite shows that we watched together (although she carefully monitored what I watched sometimes) but whenever the original series aired we’d be right there for it, so you can imagine there is a huge nostalgia factor for me here. I was very young and until my own tastes started to diverge I simply watched whatever she watched and she had some fairly wide-ranging tastes. I did however draw the line at soap operas. She absolutely loved her “Stories” while I found them uninteresting.
6. Aeon Flux(1991)
When I was in college MTV and the Syfy networks used to air a program called Liquid Television very late in the evening, and this was where I first saw Aeon Flux. I loved the animation style but otherwise was kind of puzzled. I didn’t know what to make of the plots or stories and I wasn’t sure if they were supposed to be funny or not. Later, I decided that only some of the episodes were meant to be funny. Aeon herself was something of a sad sack. She never accomplished her goals and almost always died either because she was simply unlucky, or just through her own clumsiness.
When the series began the episodes were just one-offs that were not entirely connected to one another, although some had recurring characters, like her arch-nemesis Trevor Goodchild, who was the leader of some kind of authoritarian state that Aeon was in opposition to. Later, the single shorts became an entire series which was every bit as bizarre and puzzling but at least Aeon lived to the end of the episodes, sometimes.
The very first episode I saw, I thought was pretty groundbreaking. In it, Aeon is fighting a running battle between two different hordes of soldiers, and all of the viewer’s focus is on her until she gets taken out about halfway through it. I wasn’t expecting that! There’s another one where she’s doing some spy stuff on a train with Goodchild and she accomplishes her goal but is unlucky enough to get strangled by her own rope as she escapes. In another episode she just gets shot in the head by her enemy before she can finish the job. As an artist (who studied animation in school), the animation style was very exciting to me and unlike any other style I’d seen on TV, although it looks kind of jerky today, and I still don’t get why everyone was wearing BDSM gear, which I thought was pretty funny.
5. Star Trek Discovery(2017)
Before the show aired, I’d been watching Sonequa Martin Green’s character on The Walking Dead. I was pretty upset that she was killed off that series but later found out that she asked to be written out of the show because of her newest project. And then I heard about this show, and I was very excited since I really liked her. When I heard that she was starring in the series as an Ensign I was a little put out by that because I was led to believe the entire series would be based around her and it couldn’t be that way if she wasn’t a Captain. See, up to this point, all the Star Trek shows revolved around Captains and their crews.
But the show had something a little more subtle in mind because it turned out to be a psychological study of the effects of trauma, and a chronicle of Michael Burnham’s fall, redemption, healing, and eventual rise to Captaincy. I saw this pattern by the second season, but I don’t think a lot of people understood what the show was trying to do. I also had to explain to several people that weren’t used to seeing this kind of thing that this Black woman was basically getting the Full Hero Treatment that is usually given to straight white dudes in these types of stories, and that in itself was groundbreaking for Star Trek!
I have to admit, I couldn’t contain my excitement for this angle of the series, and I had (and still today) no patience for other people’s criticism of this show. To Hell with all of them! This was what I wanted to see and I don’t give a damn if people call it pandering because I want to be pandered to as much as every other demographic! This was what I’d been asking for for years. This was the representation I always wanted to see of women who looked like me. I waited forty years of my life for this, and to have Star Trek do the thing was enormous to me, and celebrating this kind of story was the reason I started this blog. The top four genres of film and TV (Action, SciFi, Horror, and the Western) had almost entirely erased the existence of Black women. We showed up from time to time and said a few lines, or supported some other character’s journey, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of that, but when that is the only type of character you infrequently get…
Michael wasn’t just a sidekick or a token. She is the hero. She is the star around which all the other characters and the plot orbited, just like what happened on shows with white lead characters. She is passionate, smart, brave, reckless, and foolish, and I watched this character grow and learn and become everything she is to today and I am here for it. And she wasn’t the only great character on this show. I grew to like all of the top characters, (Tilly, Saru, Stametz), the tech was unique, and there were also all my old friends, the Klingons, the Romulans, and the Terran Empire. And I am fortunate to have gotten four whole seasons of this series.
Don’t get me wrong. I liked the other Star Treks well enough (at least the ones I watched), and consider at least one of the spinoffs some of the finest hours of television ever made, but you can’t tell me nothing about Discovery. Straight white guys have had umpteen bajillion SciFi series where characters who look like them were the center of attention, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that but…
This one is mine!
4. The X Files(1993)
I’m not sure what I can say about this series. it was my first introduction to conspiracy TV via Chris Carter. I was initially attracted to the show because when it first began it used a monster of the week model, and it was the monsters that kept me addicted to it. Along the way, I got a heaping helping of alien conspiracy theories, and a will they/won’t they love affair between the two lead characters, Mulder and Scully, which I only halfheartedly rooted for. I have never cared too deeply for romance in the shows I liked.
I remember when the show first aired I kind of hated Mulder who I thought was like every mansplaining, arrogant, know-it-all nerdy white guy I’d met in college, but over the years I grew to like him and his better qualities (one of which is that he turned out to be more or less right in his theories.) I liked Scully right away, although later in the series watching her get damseled always irritated me, and eventually, her skepticism became rather annoying, but I never stopped liking the show, not even after both lead actors left, and I continued to watch it even when it was briefly rebooted a few years ago.
I don’t always know why I like certain shows and The X-Files falls into that category. I can’t exactly pinpoint why I loved it so much, which is something I can do for other shows like Buffy and Supernatural. The X-Files just happened to show up at the right time for me to like it, I guess.
3. Farscape(1999)
This is another show I don’t have a whole lot to say about other than it was one of my all-time favorite SCIFI series, back when the SYFY network was firing on all thrusters. I loved it purely for the aesthetics, and there has really never been anything like it since. I watched all five seasons multiple times. I just liked spending time with these characters, and it had puppets, and it was funny, and actually, it was a very sexy show without being too upfront about it, with lots of black leather and high heels.
Not pictured above is the actress Virginia Hey who played the elegant, blue-skinned, Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan. This was an actress I remember from The Road Warrior. My favorite character wasn’t Crichton though, it was Gigi Edgly’s Chiana, who was just weird, and I really liked the weird. The aesthetics for this show were just crazy. I can say it was one of the prettiest and most imaginative SciFi shows on TV. The fashion, the colors, the special effects, and no bumpy-headed humans. Since the show was created by the same company that created The Muppets, they had the ability to make aliens that really looked (and in many cases acted) truly alien.
Storywise, the show wasn’t a rival for Star Trek but it made up for that by being hella sexy, about an American astronaut who flies through a wormhole, ends up on a living ship with a bunch of galactic prisoners, and gets chased around this new universe by various baddies while trying to find his way back home. I’ve never seen that much black leather in another SciFi series. Yes, I had favorites, but all the characters were engaging, which made the stories terrifying, funny, or sad just because you cared about what happened to them. Speaking of which, I kinda miss these guys. It’s probably time for a re-watch.
2. Mork and Mindy (1978)
I don’t think there are enough words to express how much of an effect this show had on me in my formative years and just how much I miss Robin Williams. He was a strange guy and Mork was a weirdo and this series taught me that it was okay to be like that, no matter what anyone said. This show taught me to love and accept myself, and through that love, accept the eccentricities of others. I was a strange little girl. I didn’t get picked on too much or teased a lot when I was little but I did get raised eyebrows from a lot of my teachers and my family, and most kids my age were disinterested in me or just generally avoided me. My mother however never batted a single eyelash at her strange daughter, who dressed funny, had odd but very focused interests, read everything that wasn’t nailed down, was a picky eater, watched entirely too much TV and liked the weird shows, and talked like the books she read. My Mom just rolled with all of it, loving me no matter how weird I was, never asking why, and indulging every one of my odd artistic interests, like weaving!
I remember watching this show when it first aired because I was in the fourth grade. I remember this because I went to a school in my neighborhood and I remember wearing those exact suspenders to school every day. No one and I mean absolutely no one, recognized those suspenders, but I loved them and wore them with everything. I guess that was my eight-year-old version of cosplaying. Other little girls had tutus. I had Mork Suspenders. I memorized Mork’s catchphrases and hand gestures (the sideways split hand greeting) that I later recognized from Spock, sitting in chairs on his face, how each and every episode was Mork discovering some new thing to report back to his people. This show went a long way towards explaining other human beings to me and as Mork discovered these things, so did I.
I loved this show so much, and if that’s how I felt about Mork and Mindy, then you can imagine how I must have felt about Star Trek!
1. Star Trek: The Original Series(1963)
What can I say about how great this series is that hasn’t already been said:
From Forbes Magazine:
Star Trek stories are humanistic; they are founded in Gene Roddenberry’s belief in the perfectible human. They provide an optimistic vision of our future. Star Trek tells us that no matter how crazy the world may look today, it will get better. We will get better. There will be a time in which doing great things will be the norm.
Star Trek depicts a meritocracy. The characters were cool not because of looks, wealth, or social position, but because they were very good at their jobs. It is a rare television show that sends the message that it is cool to be smart.
Star Trek’s optimistic view of the future stands as a contrast to the bulk of science fiction. Most television and cinematic science fiction depicts varying dystopian futures. Dystopia provides writers with shortcuts to conflict; it’s easier. When just making it through the day provides conflict, writers don’t have to generate as many new ideas. Star Trek thrives on those new ideas.
Star Trek showed blacks, Asians, and women in roles of respect in a time when that was not the norm. Whoopi Goldberg has talked about freaking out when, as a child, she tuned into Star Trek and saw that black women were part of the future. Nichelle Nichols has told the story of how when she was contemplating leaving the show, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. told her not to, because her character was a symbol of hope for equality.
Oh, and we not gonna talk about how I wanted to grow up to be Spock when I was a kid, or how I used to pretend I was visiting a new planet whenever we moved into a new house, or how eventually my goal in life became being as elegant and beautiful as Lt. Uhura. The ideology of the series became something to aspire to. It was okay to be smart in this universe. The focus was on solving problems, not infighting, or shooting things (although there was some of that too). The show was pretty imaginative for the sixties, and I liked the aesthetics, the uniforms, the bright colors, and the fashions.
Star Trek was the show to which I compared all the other shows, tbh.
Once again we have a bit of a mixed bag although there were really no “bad” episodes this season. Some of the episodes were, for lack of a better term, uninteresting as far as story, but at least had interesting characters or interesting animation styles.
This season has gone global and I think this makes it better than last season. The styles of story and animation are very different from the first season, and many of them are reflections of the cultures of their creators. The episodes are large;y aimed at children since children are either the focal points of the stories and many of the animation styles are sort of aimed at kids with either soft colors and/or rounded non-threatening forms. There were similar themes throughout with hopeful (or cynical) adults inspiring children to be their best, or having to let them grow away from them, or children finding the strength to save themselves or their loved ones. The Sith and Jedi don’t feature in all of them, which is sort of what I was expecting, although most of the episodes take place during the Imperial era. Not all of the episodes are Force related as Westerners understand the use of The Force.
My all-around favorite episode was the first one called Sith (1) by a Spanish animation studio, and while the story was kind of lackluster, just a tidbit of a story that echoes other episodes, the animation style was spectacular and reminded me heavily of the Spiderverse film. My second favorite was Screecher’s Reach (2) because it had a bit more story attached to it, and is by the same Studio that did WoldTalkers and Secret of the Kells. My third favorite was the very culturally specific The Bandits of Golak ( 7) which has a distinctive Indian flavor. Plus, there was a lightsaber-wielding grandmother that I absolutely adored. She’s one of the characters I’d love to see more of in the Star Wars universe because I sensed a helluva backstory there.
These were my top three favorites but as I said none of them are truly bad, only less interesting than the others. I mostly checked out of the Korean-inspired, Journey to the Dark Head (5), although it asked some interesting questions and compared the Jedi’s use of The Force with the basic tenets of Buddhism. The story was mildly intriguing but the animation style was mediocre, and then there was the infinitesimal storyline of the 9th episode called Aau’s Song, which I really wanted to like because the characters looked like animated Teddy Bears, but it simply didn’t capture me the way the earlier episodes did, or maybe I was just tired.
Children will probably love the other 3d animated episode called In the Stars (3), or the 2D Spydancer (5) episode, both of which I thought had some lovely animation, but the story in Spydancer was a little too much like the Sith episode. While I found the idea of nightclubs for Stormtroopers kind of ridiculous, I understood the parallel the writers were trying to make between pre-WW2 Germany and the New Republic. In the Stars came very close to being a top favorite but just missed it, coming in as a fourth-place favorite because it had some good action scenes and a rah-rah moment towards the end.
One of the middle episodes titled I Am Your Mother (a play on Darth Vader’s statement to Luke Skywalker) was drolly funny but involved drag racing scenes and my brain automatically checks out when it comes to that subject. I wanted to like it, since it was created by Aardman Studios, the makers of Wallace and Gromit but it just didn’t capture me. My least favorite was titled The Pit. I’m just not ever in the mood to watch slavery-adjacent stories.
I do have to admit that watching this season was a little more frustrating than the first because all these episodes serve to do is show these tiny snippets of what Star Wars could be, the kinds of characters we could be having, and I’m sure there are some really interesting backstories for some of these characters like the woman from Sith, who has left both the Sith and Jedi Orders to become a painter on some backwater world. I liked her, and speaking as a former painter the animation style was inspired.
It would have been hard for any other episode to top that one for me but Screecher’s Reach came the closest, not because of the animation style but because of the story, which is about a little girl discovering her Force abilities by going toe to toe with an old Sith villain in a cave. I do wish some of the episodes hadn’t focused so much on fight scenes but the ones that didn’t do that didn’t offer much else to fully grab the attention though.
Overall, I liked this season marginally better than the first one. There’s still just a bit too much sameness between the stories and I’d like the stories to branch out a bit more and not be so much about fighting but it was a satisfying watch.
And by America I pretty much just mean me! I want to watch these movies and shows because they look pretty interesting and/or fun. I’m all about sweetness, bright colors, and light, this Summer.
I’m looking for wholesome. I’m looking for people of color to do interesting things. I’m looking for some amount of novelty (but not too much). I’m looking for lovely and loving messages. Some of the darker stuff on this list isn’t released until August, which is when I start looking towards a more solemn Fall viewing list, in preparation for Halloween Month, of course.
But from May until then, “Don’t nobody bring me no bad news!” because Hot Girl Summer is out. Hot Movie Summer (all thirty minutes of it in the Midwest) is in!
Summertime (Whooo!!!)
Polite Society
Okay, this looks novel and deeply funny. I’ve never watched a Bollywood, martial arts movie, so I’m up for watching this. I will not be seeing this in any theaters though. This one is just for at-home viewing only. I’m here for Hindi Action Girls even though I have issues with watching dance routines breaking out in the middle of Action movies. This seems like the kind of movie where breaking into a dance simply makes sense though.
Queen Cleopatra
This actually turns out to be a kind of live-action documentary. It’s funny that this trailer showed up right after I read a mystery book that prominently featured the character, so I was somewhat informed about Cleopatra’s background before watching it. This is not a person that I’ve ever paid a whole lot of attention to really, so I don’t know much about her backstory, but this looks gorgeous, and hopefully, it will be informative and worth the watch.
I like that they cast a Black woman in this role although I kept hearing from historians that she was Greek and Iranian. I mean, that doesn’t rule out her being at least part Black nd here she looks like a woman of mixed ethnicity, but you know it’s just gonna bring out the racists and bigots who are sure to be mad about it, and while I do my best to ignore them (since their rantings have affected nothing in Popular entertainment), I’m still very tired of them.
Star Wars Visions Season 2
I have mixed feelings about the first season of this series. I liked maybe half of the animation in the first one. I hope that the ratio of good to bad cartoons is better this season, although the novelty has worn off. I hope it’s not all one style of animation. I like to see different types. I’m also hoping to see a lot more Old Republic-type stories, too. We got a little bit of that in the first season, but I hope to see more.
Ahsoka
I love to see Latinas in Sci-Fi and love seeing them get the full hero treatment. I’ve been a huge fan of Rosario Dawson since she starred in Men in Black twenty years ago. Ahsoka has been a favorite character of mine for a while and I’m always happy to see her whenever she makes a cameo (The Mandolorian) but here she’s got an entire series that’s all about her and I’m here for it. What kind of adventures is she having? Where has she been? I’m looking forward to finding out.
The Marvels
This looks really colorful and fun, and I’m looking forward to hunkering down in the theater with this movie, some popcorn, and an Icee! It definitely looks more appealing than the first movie, which I thought was okay, but not great. The addition of Kamala Khan is going to be great for the movie since I enjoyed the sensibilities of the series. I just liked how bubbly she was and the series felt happy in general.
I liked Kamala’s family a lot. I liked that they are from the Islamic faith and that they’re mostly onboard about Kamala’s superpowers. The Peter Parker days of keeping it all a secret mostly appear to be over. Nowadays the hero’s parents and friends all seem to know about their status as heroes, and that’s kind of refreshing since I was never into the idea of superheroes leading these kinds of double lives. Daredevil I can understand but a lot of others just seemed to be pointlessly having a secret. Also, I haven’t seen Monica since Wandavision and I really like her. I’m glad to see Photon, the original Captain Marvel, is making a comeback, and wonder what she’s been up to. I also like Brie Larson’s cocky little Carol Danvers who is so much like that in the comics. This is a character who has POWER, knows it, and carries herself like it, and I’m good with that.
Also, I love it when my favorite characters team up.
Secret Invasion
I have mixed feelings about this series. I was never a fan of the Secret Wars and Invasions series in the comic books so I have no particular urge to run to my TV to watch this. But it is novel in that it’s the first time I will get to watch Samuel L Jackson star in his own TV series. The action scenes look really cool and it’s got a lot of cameos, so that looks like fun. It does look like it might be confusing though and my fried-up brain doesn’t want to go near that. I don’t hate it but I’m not loving it either. We’ll see how I feel when we get close to the release date. I mean some shows seem okay but you just don’t know if you want to make that kind of long-term commitment. A two or even three-hour movie is a fling, but a six or eight-hour TV series is a love affair!
Autumn:
I’m really looking forward to at least a couple of these this August and September.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
I was feeling mixed about this when I first heard about it. I was wondering why it was being made, but I like this trailer, hope the movie lives up to it, and by August I’m probably going to be looking forward to some grim and dark movies for Fall anyway. The title sounds appropriately dreadful and it’s been a minute since I’ve watched some good Horror/History.
I will not be taking my niece and nephew to see this unless they specifically ask, because I think it looks too scary for them. On the other hand, my nephew did watch all of the Halloween movies, so we’ll see if I will be watching this in the theater alone.
The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
This looks like an interesting take on the Frankenstein’s Monster movies of my youth. It’s not every day we get to see Black girl mad scientists. I don’t know that I’m enthusiastic to watch this, but I’m putting it here because it’s just different enough from the other Horror movies that it bears mentioning. You can see that the lead character is reading a copy of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. I read that book when I was somewhere near that character’s age and I was unimpressed, although I did like the Kenneth Branagh version from the 90s.
True Detective Night Country
I’ve been a True Detective fan since the first season, (with season 2 being the weakest of the three) even though I don’t normally make Detective series a regular part of my viewing habits. Most of the time it’s because I don’t care for the sometimes obnoxious personalities involved, although the series Psych is an exception to that. I don’t think you can get any more opposite of the Psych style of TV series than True Detective though. It looks very dark (literally in this case) and gritty, and about as close to Horror as a show can get without actually being classified as Horror. I’m also partial to shows and series set in snowy environments (I blame the excellence of 1982s The Thing remake for my rather odd taste.)
The novelty is this will be my first time watching Jodie Foster star in her own series. The last time she was in a TV series was when she was a child in the 70s. I’ve been a big fan of hers since we were both kids and I wasn’t supposed to be up late watching her movies. I’m not “jazzed” about it, mostly because this doesn’t seem like the type of show one gets jazzed about, but I am looking forward to it. I don’t know who her co-tar is so I had to look her up. She is a boxer who is an Indigenous Rights activist and has won some award nominations for her acting debut in Catch the Fair One, which I have not seen (and not likely to see since I am not in the headspace to watch it right now. But it looks great and yall should check it out). I kinda like her already because of her “fuck around and find out” facial expression.
So far, there’s no release date for this, but I’m expecting it to show up in the middle of high Summer.
The Penguin
This series is not set to be released this year but I’m looking forward to it anyway. Apparently, that is indeed Colin Farrell, who I just don’t see in this character, no matter how many times I’m told that’s him. He is completely unrecognizable! (Although I think they’re doing the most on his makeup.) I did like the last Batman movie but I had a couple of misgivings about the villain. I liked the aesthetics and some of the messaging. I also liked the hyperrealistic gritty Gotham that was presented in the movie. This trailer sort of reminds me of a classic mob movie like The Godfather or The Untouchables, something that should be starring Robert DeNiro or Joe Pesci.
The Continental
This is a series a lot of people are eagerly anticipating. The world of John Wick is just a very intriguing sort of place and I’m interested to find out how it works, how it got that way, and how deep all of this goes. One of my friends pointed out to me that she couldn’t get into it because there is no law enforcement in this world, even though it looks very much like ours. I think I pointed out to her that there are quite a number of things that are NOT in the Wick-verse, (like McDonald’s and Soda) and that I liked it because it had some unique worldbuilding, which, in the best instances, is like getting a glimpse into an alternate universe where the police simply never evolved. These other organizations (the Assassins Guilds and the High Table) are the ones that keep order apparently.
Unfortunately, the addition of the racist and anti-Semitic Mel Gibson greatly reduces my enthusiasm for this series. I’m not boycotting the series or anything. I’m just saying that my enjoyment of it will be severely impacted by his presence, which I find deeply distasteful, and I really wish the creators had chosen another actor. I realize he’s got to work somewhere. I just wish he was starring in something I didn’t particularly care about, so I’m going to wait to see how much of him is in it before I commit to watching it.
Next up: Movies (and TV) I had no intention of watching but will probably end up looking at on some idle Saturday afternoon.
I started off the month of October by easing into the Horror movie genre with some classic favorites like Alien and The Thing, but at a certain point it was time for me to move on and try new movies and shows (see my review of Interview with the Vampire on AMC) and these are some of the new shows I watched just this weekend. I enjoyed all of these and want to give a quick rundown on what to expect if you come across them.
Let The Right One In – Epis. 1 (Showtime)
This is a new series on Showtime that’s based on the Swedish vampire movie Let The Right One In, about a child vampire that befriends a lonely bullied little boy who lives in her new apartment building.
This version is set in the US, so it’s a little more like the American version of the above film, titled Let Me In (which I also enjoyed for different reasons). The story has been modernized from the book version as well. In the book Ellie is a vampire that’s very, very old, she doesn’t know how old she is because her brain has not developed beyond twelve years old.
In this series, she has only just been turned into a vampire and she is traveling to different cities with her father, who is trying to find the vampire that attacked her based on if there are any serial killings going on in that city. At the same time, he’s trying to deal with her insatiable need for blood because he doesn’t want her attacking (and possibly creating) new vampires, which is what happens when a person gets bitten, but not killed, in this series version of vampirism.
Ellie meets a little black kid at her new apartment building, who is being ostracized and bullied in school (because I suspect he’s on the spectrum). I liked the boy whose name I cannot remember just now, but he loves magic tricks and loves to show them to people. Ellie is all set to eat him until he shows her a magic trick. She has eyes that glow in the dark, which fascinate him, and she tells him it’s magic, and that’s how the two bond. In the meantime, her father is responsible for a tragic event that is going to upheave her new friend’s life, and the cops are investigating the murders that her father is committing on Ellie’s behalf to get blood for her. You realize that her father is using the other murders as a cover for committing his own.
Ellie is very likable and the relationship with her actual father is the focus of the series, unlike in the movies where the focus is on the relationship with her new friend. In the movies, the man taking care of her isn’t her father, but some other little boy she met many decades ago who grew to adulthood as her human servant. Ellie and her dad are Latine, so I can’t help but think there’s some dialogue occurring here about immigrants and new situations, and people, but I’m not an immigrant or Latine so I can’t definitely say. Just like in the movies though, there’s a focus on the logistics of keeping Ellie fed because if he doesn’t, as a predator, she is perfectly capable of going out and procuring her own blood.
The first episode is free on Prime, but I’m not going to sign up for Showtime to watch the rest of this. It’s not a bad episode but there are a few too many coincidences that might not sit well with others. I can’t say it’s enjoyable, because it actually is too tense and suspenseful to be fun, but it makes a good effort to reproduce the feelings of melancholy and dread from both movies. It’s too convoluted to be truly scary. Scary needs to have a bit more mystery, and there are too many things that are explained in this episode, but the tension and dread are there though.
Werewolf by Night (Disney+)
I didn’t think I was going to be too heavily into this show, which is not a series as far as I can tell but just an hour-long Halloween special of some kind, based on the comic book of the same name, but it turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought. I thought I wouldn’t Ike it because it’s shot in black and white and some of the acting is in the old classic 30s style of filmmaking, but I slipped right into the story and had no trouble following what was going on. It was all good fun, and the fight scenes were excellent!
In this story, a group of monster hunters congregate to compete for a McGuffin called the Bloodstone, the only object in the show that’s shown in color. That’s it, really. The guy who owns the Bloodstone dies and holds a contest where the hunters are encouraged to take each other out (thereby eliminating their competition), while they’re also hunting a monster (a werewolf) who has been planted within the group.
You’re definitely going to feel some type of way about the participants because some of them look pretty cool, but you do become aware that these are probably not good people, and that there are certain characters you’re meant to root for. One of the biggest things that threw me off my game was seeing one Marvel character show up at the end of the show! If you’re aware of the history of Swamp Thing (who is a DC character) then you might also be aware that he was preceded by a Marvel character called The Man-Thing whose catchline in the comic books was: Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing’s touch!
But that’s not the only easter egg for fans of Marvel comics, and series. I missed most of them because there was a lot of stuff I haven’t read, and a few series I skipped, but it was still fun even if you know nothing about the comic books or other shows. The plot and characters aren’t dependent on any of that stuff.
I’m not going to say what happens at the end, but it’s interesting because while some of the show is pretty predictable that part was not, and now I’m interested in seeing a lot more of this part of the Marvel universe which is basically a set up for adding demons, vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures into the MCU, like Blade! I mostly ignored the monster parts of the Marvel comic books. I did read some of the Werewolf by Night comic books, and I’m familiar with a couple of demonic superheroes, but mostly I ignored all the vampires and demons and stuff. So this part of the MCU will kind of be new to me too.
This show isn’t especially scary but the fight scenes are pretty gory and brutal, alleviated by the aspect of a lack of color. I wouldn’t let little kids watch it but it’s okay for kids above twelve maybe, who are used to watching horror/action movies.
Hellraiser (Hulu)
I was having some feelings about watching this one. In one aspect, I was eagerly looking forward to watching it, because I liked the first film in the franchise, have never watched a single one of the various sequels, and I was curious about the new Hell Priest being played by a woman. I’ve read all of the books about Pinhead and the Cenobites, including the comic books, and the last two Hellraiser books called The Scarlet Gospels, and The Toll and I enjoyed those.
The movie isn’t great, but it is very compelling and worth watching. If you’ve seen all the other movies in the franchise your mileage may vary, but I generally liked it and will watch it again when I’m in a mood.
The lead character is a flawed woman named Riley, a former drug addict/alcoholic living with her brother, his boyfriend, and another woman friend of theirs. She is the kind of woman who has a habit of making bad choices (probably as a way to run away from a tragic past which we don’t get details about) and one of those mistakes is having regular sex with a guy she just met. Through him, she gets mixed up in the machinations of the villain, a wealthy man who owned the Hellraiser box, got what he wished for, and now horribly regrets being given what he requested.
One of the primary themes of the Hellraiser franchise is people calling up the Cenobites, either through ignorance, or greed, and fucking around and finding out that the demons have nothing to give you that you would actually want to have and that anything they give you will only involve you suffering horribly. The only thing the Cenobites have to offer is one form of suffering or another, and it’s interesting to me that so many of the people who call on them think otherwise.
Through a combination of ignorance and reckless behavior the Cenobites take Riley’s brother, and she spends the rest of the movie trying to solve the puzzle in an effort to save him while sacrificing the people she knows along the way. The rules are that when she solves the final puzzle she will be given five or six themes from which to choose, and one of those is the resurrection of her brother. Riley makes a more interesting choice that shows her growth as a person, especially after all the death she has caused.
I genuinely liked this and feel it lived up to the standards of the original film, but then I can say that having watched not a single one of the movies beyond the second one. The new Hell Priest, Jamie Clayton, has a difficult job to do because, no matter what, she’s going to be compared to Doug Bradley, the original Pinhead, but I think she holds her own. She doesn’t possess his sheer gravity or his voice, but she is quietly, and frighteningly compelling in her own way (and oddly beautiful) and she does get to recite some favorite lines from the original film, making them her own.
The overriding theme is addiction and how far people are willing to go to feed one. Riley has been using addiction to run away from a painful past, and one of the primary reasons people call on the Cenobites in the first place is because many of them are suffering from various addictions and are greedy for more sensations, or are trying to escape from pain, which is ironic, but also makes Riley’s choice at the end even more interesting.
**If you are not into the Hellraiser movies this is not the place to start. We are talking extreme body horror, so if you have a problem with gore, this is not for you. I have friends who do not like Horror movies and I would never recommend something like this to them, not even jokingly. This movie is for hardcore Horror fans only.
In 1998, Samuel R. Delaney, acclaimed Black Science Fiction writer, was asked at an awards convention about racism within the genre. Here he is referring to the writing community but I’ve observed that this can be equally applied to every industry, including movies and television:
As long as there are only one, two, or a handful of us, however, I presume in a field such as science fiction, where many of its writers come out of the liberal-Jewish tradition, prejudice will most likely remain a slight force—until, say, black writers start to number thirteen, fifteen, twenty percent of the total. At that point, where the competition might be perceived as having some economic heft, chances are we will have as much racism and prejudice here as in any other field.
We are still a long way away from such statistics.
But we are certainly moving closer.
We need to be clear that what we’ve been experiencing very strongly for the last six or seven years is a white social media backlash against women and PoC representation in popular media. As marginalized people are seen more often in media projects what we’ve also been seeing is a white, straight, backlash against their slightly more positive/nuanced depictions.
What Delaney means is that more racism will be expressed by those white people who feel most threatened by Black progress in that industry, and I can say this because this has been noted in every industry in which it has occurred.
This is not new! It hasn’t been new in over a hundred years.
What we’re seeing today in the pushback against Black actors in visual media has happened multiple times and in every industry, from music, to literature, to politics, to movies, and television. Every time PoC have made inroads into any field of endeavor there has been a white backlash against it. The only thing that changes are the industries in question, and their arguments against that progress. Now we see it happening in visual entertainment.
In the 1920s, Jazz was seen as barbaric and immoral. It was considered the kind of music that lead white women astray and put them in environments where Black musicians had access to them. All manner of immorality was attributed to Jazz including drug use, violence, and hypersexuality. The exact same criticisms were made against Rock in the 50s, Disco in the 70s, and Rap music in the 90s, when those gained ascendances in popular culture. Rock music was a genre that championed drugs and sex, Disco encouraged homosexuality, and Rap music was considered too violent for white sensibilities.
The same backlash that we’ve been seeing for the last six or seven years against Black actors in the Fantasy genre is the same backlash we experienced when N. K. Jemison won back-to-back Hugo awards in 2016, 2017, and 2018 for her Fantasy trilogy The Obsidian Gate. As Delaney predicted, a select group of white male critics complained that women and PoC were getting too many awards, and so formed a contingent of fans and authors called “The Rabid Puppies” in an attempt to game the Hugo awards rules to win awards for themselves. In other words, they preferred to cheat, rather than accept that Science Fiction fans were a diverse group of men and women who had moved on from the type of Science Fiction they wrote, which centered on white European men as the heroes. Much of the hoopla in the industry has since calmed down, but that does not mean that parity has been reached for authors of color, and we have seen the exact same dynamic play out in other arenas where women and PoC have made any kind of inroads, including politics, where white men have decided that rather than share political power, they would prefer to game the system to keep it all of it for themselves.
In 2014, Candace Patton was cast as the Black love interest of Barry Allen in The Flash television series on the CW network. That same year, Disney released The Force Awakens, the first film in its latest Star Wars trilogy, and the lead character was a Black actor named John Boyega. They both experienced immediate backlash for daring to perform the fictional roles that they had been hired for. Candace Patton has received unending racist vitriol on social media for the last 10 years for playing the Black love interest of the lead white character solely because her character was a white woman in the comic books. And don’t make the mistake of thinking the only toxic fans are white men. White women established themselves firmly in the contingent for bigotry by weaponizing fandom against Candace and harassing and bullying John Boyega on social media.
In 2016, a new version of The Ghostbusters was released with an all-female cast and received immediate pushback from gatekeeping white male fans who believed they owned that franchise and argued that women couldn’t be fictional Ghostbusters. The movie starred three white actresses, but it is very telling that the onus of their hatred landed squarely on the only Black cast member in the group, Leslie Jones, who was driven from social media by the racist backlash against her original characters’ very existence. So we can see that even arguments that PoC and women make their own original characters rather than supplant characters who used to be white are simply a smokescreen for racist abuse. Original characters do exist and receive the same level of acting out and foolery that race and gender-swapped characters do, as we saw with the release of Black Panther.
In 2018, there was a massive backlash against the release of Disney’s tentpole superhero movie, The Black Panther, in which the same gatekeeping white male fans attempted to downvote the movie’s ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, causing Disney and RT to temporarily shut down the audience portion of the site to prevent the abuse. Thinkpieces were written denigrating the making of the film, and some fans engaged in violence callouts, falsely reporting that they had been harassed and/or beaten by racist Black Panther fans in order to sully the reputation of the film. Black fans had to be vigilant in protecting the actors from harassment on social media and debunking the claims of violence.
Every time Disney releases a film that isn’t centered on the heroic activities of straight white men there is a backlash from white men against those films, against the actors, and even against the fans who talk about them. Women and fans of color aren’t even safe in their own fan spaces as those will, at some point, be invaded by trolls and bigots spewing racist vitriol at them for daring to like a movie they were the audience for. We saw this with Captain Marvel in 2019, and Shang Chi and The Eternals in 2021, with each successive film being criticized as the worst film ever made in a franchise, how the MCU is failing, and the blogs, videos, and websites of fans of color being reported as abuse, and blocked on TikTok and Youtube for daring to discuss entertainment that is aimed at them as the audience.
This also happens with television shows. Since it is Disney that is leading the charge of diversity and inclusion in its many franchises, it is Disney’s fans and employees (the actors) who have borne the brunt of the backlash, during and after series like Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Ms. Marvel, and the newest series, She-Hulk. Why? Because the stars of these series are women and PoC. It is notable that there was no backlash against series with white male leads like Loki, Hawkeye, and Moon Knight which were also released in the last year.
These shows are not alone in having a racist fan problem. Since John Boyega’s debut as one of the first Black Stormtroopers in Star Wars, there has been a racist and misogynist backlash against every single advance of a PoC, or woman, in that franchise, especially in any film in which a white male wasn’t the star, but even a few that were, as with the last TV release, Obi Wan Kenobi, which prominently starred a woman of color. The lead villain of the series, Reva Sevander, is played by Yale graduate Moses Ingram. She had to endure toxic fans who called her everything but a child of god, questioned her undeniable qualifications for playing her role, and was flatly told by some of them that she could not be a part of Star Wars.
In the past year, we have seen a racist backlash against casting PoC in any SciFi and Fantasy film or television series. The casting of Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series, the casting of Black Hobbits, Dwarves, and Elves in Amazon’s Rings of Power series, the casting of Halle Bailey in Disney’s live-action version of The Little Mermaid, and the casting of Black legacy characters in the Game of Thrones spinoff series, House of the Dragon, has racist/toxic fans pulling out all the stops to troll, harass, and make sure that Black fans, actors, and creators are aware that they don’t belong in genre films and series.
You also have those bad faith actors who try to hide their bigotries behind legitimate concerns, like questioning the credentials of the actors who were chosen, not understanding that when the only time you care about whether or not a character is qualified to perform the role they’ve been hired for is when they are a woman, or gay, or a person of color, that that too is performing a racism.
The Whiteness ofthe Past, the Present, and the Future
White people for the last hundred years of film and TV have crafted entire fictional universes with pasts, presents, and futures that were entirely centered around themselves, with not a single face of color to be seen. When I was a little girl, I was sitting in our kitchen watching some futuristic movie and turned to ask my mother why there were no Black people in the future. Really quick she said, “Maybe we left.” She’d noticed it too and seemed to have that answer ready for me, just in case.
White people who are making the arguments that we don’t belong are speaking from a long history of whitewashing, of never having seen Black and Brown faces in historical epics, present-day dramas, or futuristic landscapes unless we were playing happy slaves, silent victims, or menacing drug dealers. The industry was so whitewashed that when it eventually developed the use of color, Black and Brown people weren’t even a consideration, and color was only attuned to white skin tones. Movies and TV were so white that Black women didn’t have hair and makeup people of their own until a scant few years ago.
According to white people making the loudest noise, we don’t belong anywhere in their all-white fantasylands of the past or the future. Their entire understanding of historical events comes not from study, or reading, or actual knowledge, but from Hollywood movies in which our presence had been, downplayed, erased, or ignored, even in our own stories. Based on these deeply ignorant people’s understanding of history, the only stories in which Black people should be allowed to appear are the ones based on slavery, as if enslavement was our only contribution to the world. We’re not allowed to appear in movies set in the present unless we’re being killed or killing, and apparently, we don’t exist at all in the future, not just physically, but in any cultural or social contributions we made to the making of this country thast sre simply never referenced.
Candace Patton talked about how she didn’t have anyone to do her hair, and Black actresses called out Hollywood in 2020, for its lack of hairstylers for them. Many of them confessed to having to do their own makeup because white makeup professionals never bothered to learn how to do Black skin or hair. White hairstylists didn’t need to know that to have successful careers! There was such a complete lack of Black female stuntwomen that white stuntwomen wore blackface on the rare occasions that Black actresses needed stuntwork done! This was pretty rare indeed because up until about ten years ago we never got to be in Action movies often enough to need stunt doubles!
All of the white backlash against Black women (in particular) participation in genre media we are seeing today is just one part of the side effects of Hollywood’s insistence that there is only one demographic that needs to be pandered to, (therefore all the other demographics can be ignored), and the idea that movies with diverse and inclusive casts don’t make any money, (which results in the erasure of PoC in order for anything to be greenlit). Many films cannot receive funding to get made without a big enough named actor in the cast. Unfortunately, Hollywood not casting PoC in certain films and for certain roles results in actors of color (in particular Asian American actors) finding it nearly impossible to become big enough named actors to ever get projects funded. They can’t get to A-list status if they are never given the opportunity to do so.
Not being considered for roles in certain genres of film limits an actor’s career prospects, and when those roles are obtained (as with Candace Patton’s casting as Iris West in The Flash, Moses Ingram’s casting in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and Leslie Jones casting in Ghostbusters) they receive no protection from their employers from the harassment and pervasive racist vitriol on social media, which is one of the nastier side effects of Hollywood never having hired actors who look like them for these roles in the past. Part of their employment means they are subject to public emotional abuse while working in a role they were paid money to perform. These actors often receive little to no support from their white industry colleagues or white female fans either (something which has only begun to change just this year!) It has continually fallen on the fans, especially Black women, to be their support systems under trying and stressful circumstances.
Until this moment passes, and seeing PoC in these types of roles becomes normalized, and white fans fully begin to understand that this is not a situation that is going to change (because diversity and inclusion is proving to be a very lucrative deal for the corporations engaging in it), we will continue to see this kind of toxic behavior, and we all need to be ready for that. Much of this behavior can be laid at the feet, not just of the kinds of fans who are used to being the only demographic that was pandered to for over a hundred years, but Hollywood’s idea that PoC, neither the actors nor the audiences, were worthy of consideration.
It is long past time Hollywood realized we too are worthy of being pandered to and that representation always mattered, not just to us but to white people who are unused to seeing PoC as anything other than the stereotypes which Hollywood has always given them.
As I stated when I first started this blog:
Black women like to have adventures too.
It is a shame I’ve had to wait nearly my entire life for Hollywood to realize women like me exist.
Hey, we got a bunch of exciting new trailers that recently dropped so let’s check them out! Which ones are you looking forward to, and why. Let me know in the comments!
Jurassic World: Dominion
This is such a great trailer for the movie. I would watch an entire season of short snippets of people coping with dinosaurs, so I’m really excited to watch this. I hope it’s a really good movie because this was the kind of stuff I used to imagine when I was a kid and I don’t want to walk out of the theater disappointed.
Wow! I mean just think about it! What if dinosaurs existed at the same time as modern humans? We’d have to take the good (incredible images and photos) with the bad (possibly being eaten). What if you lived in a place with a dinosaur infestation? What would your insurance be like? How would you explain being late for work because there were some triceratopsians blocking the freeway? What if the local pack of herbivores showed up in your backyard and ate your flower garden? And let’s be honest here, there is a part of me that thinks watching human beings be menaced by giant predators is just deeply entertaining.
Incidentally, if you like this video there’s a trilogy of books by James David called Footprints of Thunder that has this same plot, with dinosaurs having made it into the modern world through a time rift! Not sure if it’s still in print but if you can find some copies, check them out.
As I mentioned before, my youngest niece and nephew have already decided we’re going to see this film, and I believe in shamelessly indulging their interests. My Millennial sister likes dinosaurs too, so I hope to turn this into a full family affair, (although my oldest niece may miss out because of work).
The Winchesters
Okay, I have no intention of watching this. I watched all 15 years of Supernatural and I have no more taste for their story. I stuck it out to the end, and have moved on. More than likely this is an appeal to a younger generation of supernatural fans who while they may have watched the old episodes, are probably more likely to watch this than those of us who sat through 15 seasons of the original series. The actors are all very pretty but I don’t know any of them and I don’t want to supplant any of my memories of the original with any images from this one, so I’m going to pass on it.
But I know there are some people who are greatly interested in this, so I’m giving y’all a heads up in case you hadn’t heard the news.
The Umbrella Academy
I am very excited about this series and I’m really looking forward to the season three premiere. If you haven’t seen the first two seasons, I implore you to check it out. There will be at least one character you will fall in love with. I thought the character I would love the most was Klaus, who acts like a free spirit but is mostly traumatized by his ability to speak to the dead, and so self medicates. To my surprise, my favorite character turned out to be Number Five, an old man in a child’s body (due to time mishap) and who is the smartest sibling along with being a complete badass.
But this series is notable for having Eliot Page. Eliot came out as non-binary transgender last year and everyone was wondering how the character he played on screen in seasons one and two would be treated in the story. It appears that the character has also come out as transgender since the writers changed the name of the character from Vanya to Victor. Hopefully, Victor won’t try to destroy the world again as they did in the first two seasons. See how new this is. This is something that so different from what we’re used to that I don’t even know how to talk about a fictional character. How do I talk about Vanya? Is it deadnaming to talk about her since the new character is named Victor? And is it okay because she’s fictional? Somebody help!
She Hulk
I was a huge fan of the Jim Byrne run of the She-Hulk comic series, and I love what they’re doing here with the character. They seem to have perfectly captured the sensibility and mood of the books and now I’m looking forward to this. It looks fun and funny. I love how they made her a sexual being with appetites who makes it clear that she wants what she wants. The comic book version was often sexy and sassy, with a lot of snark and attitude, and yeah, Bruce Banner is indeed her cousin.
All that aside, I do hate the CGI. It looks awful and cheap and simply not up to Disney standards. The face is just wrong, especially in her Hulked-out state, and her body looks too thin, and not very muscular, which is a real problem I have with female characters who are supposed to have super strength but whose arms look like twigs. I hope they correct all this by the time the series airs. (Note: Jane Thor and King Valkyrie have just the right amount of muscle for such characters).
Note: I read that the CGI has been upgraded to look a bit better, so I checked it out, and the trailer was improved a bit. She looks more muscular than before, but her face still looks a little bit off to me. It’s not as bad as in the original trailer though.
Sandman
I have not read the Neil Gaiman comic books on which this series is based, something I plan to correct before the series airs in August. Since I am only passingly familiar with The Endless, I don’t know enough to be really excited about this, but so far, I like what I see, and I’m looking forward to reading the books, and watching the show.
But, whether or not I watch this also depends greatly on what else will be out at the time. Sometimes I have every intention of watching some show or movie, and then I don’t, or only watch some of it, not because it’s bad or anything, not because I’m bored, but because it’s sometimes hard for me to keep up the momentum, which has been stolen by another series. But even if I don’t watch the series, I intend to refresh myself with the books, which I haven’t even glanced at since I was a young’un.
New Thor 2 Trailer
Well, I already had plans to see this. Yeah, I’m an MCU fan and no shame in that, because I go to the movies to have fun and adventures, and MCU films deliver every single time. If I’m gonna spend that much money to be entertained I want it to be worth it. (Yeah, I’m not going to pay the cost of birthing a child in the US to watch a movie about pain and tragedy, unless it’s by Martin Scorcese.)
One of the primary reasons I love Taika Waititi (the director) is his ability, almost his compulsion, to take famous characters, sometimes famously evil ones, and deconstruct them, making them human and relatable, while never denying they’re not actually good people. He did this with vampires, Hitler, pirates, and superheroes, and he’s done the same thing for Thor, and I find it a really interesting habit. I’m gonna have to talk about that some more in another post.
So, yeah I’m looking forward to his interpretation of Jane Thor, King Valkyrie, and this new villain, Ghorr the Godslayer, who is played by Christian Bale.
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning
Okay, these actors are starting to get up there in years, (except for Rebecca Ferguson, who I believe might be a vampire), but I don’t care. The Mission Impossible franchise consistently hits it out of the park in the Action genre, and you have the usual required scenes of Tom Cruise jumping onto something while clenching a woman, and running really fast somewhere. I’m probably not going to see this in the theater because it’s simply not on my list of movies to watch this Summer. My mom used to throw my whole watchlist into disarray every year, but fortunately, I can dictate to my sister’s kids, and they kinda have to go along with my tastes if they wanna eat free popcorn.
I don’t actually have much to say about this trailer except the Action doesn’t look as wild and crazy as it has in previous films, but maybe they’re just holding back on those images, and when you’re sitting in the theater you’ll get that familiar sensation of your stomach dropping down to your knees, and you’ll clench the arms of your seat in terror, and paying five thousand dollars to see it will have been worth it.
Willow
I don’t normally engage in a whole lot of nostalgia, but for this movie, I will make an exception! The original movie was released in the 80s, and when it was available for TV, I remember watching it multiple times. It’s been thirty+ years and we have a sequel television series. As soon as I heard there was a trailer for this, my mind started playing the John Williams theme from the original. Yep, I still fondly remember that.
The reason the movie was so special to me was because of Warwick Davis. He was my first exposure to a dwarf actor, and I thought he was very handsome and very charming. In the movie, he is tasked with the care of a tiny baby girl that is the “chosen one”, But the movie isn’t about her, because she’s, like, one year old and has no speaking parts, so much as the hero’s journey of Davis’ character, Willow. It’s a little bit of a remix of Snow White, and surprisingly progressive for its time, with a woman warrior character and an evil Queen.
This sequel happens many years later and the “baby” is an adult, and Willow and some companions have been called to save their world again. The original was also my first real exposure to High Fantasy that I actually liked, as I was mostly indifferent to these types of books and movies, and most of them made no impression on me. But Willow snuck in and got to me, and I’m obviously going to have to do a deep dive before this series release!
I’m looking forward to it because it looks like a lot of fun and the nostalgia factor really kicked my ass while watching this!
Resident Evil
Despite that I’ve watched almost none of the movies, I do love a good horror series with lots of monsters, so I’m looking forward to this series. I’m not enthusiastic exactly, but anytime I’m watching a trailer, and I am sitting on the edge of my seat or just nope the fuck out (the giant spider scene), it’s definitely worth checking it out. so zombies, spiders, chainsaws, Black women being included in the story? I’m in!
I am glad to see more Black girls and women being involved in fantasy and horror movies and series. For the longest time, at least since the seventies, the existence of Black women as an audience that could be pandered to was not a thing. There’s nothing wrong with being pandered to in a narrative, despite the fact that straight white male audiences want to turn it into a dirty word, which is really ironic since for the past seventy years they have been the ones being pandered to by every form of entertainment media that existed.
Creators, almost all of whom were white men, literally didn’t think about other groups of people, in fact making it expressly clear that white men, between the ages of 15 and 35, was the ideal audience they were chasing after, and there is a contingent of online assholery that actually wants to go back to a time when we were considered nothing but maids, slaves, and servants to be abused in whatever stories we were in (hence the current online trolling of Black actresses who happen to find work in these genres). I’m glad to see these creators and writers remembering that WoC watch shit too, recognize that we also have money and choices, are willing to chase after PoC for their money, and that we want to see ourselves in these narratives as heroes and villains. Putting that message out into the world is one of the primary reasons I started this blog.
So yeah, I’m excited to see a Black girl in this series who is apparently being a total bad ass.
Strange World
I am a really huge fan of Lost World type movies, and my personal favorite is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. I just love watching movies about goopy aliens, monsters, and weird environments and this looks like hella fun, plus it’s got this retro-vibe that I find aesthetically appealing. I don’t normally watch a lot of the kid’s stuff on Disney, and I don’t go to those type of movies anymore (cuz I don’t have that kind of money), but I would pay money to go see this. I think it’s just going to be on the Disney+ app though which has more than shown it’s worth in the series Wandavision, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, and a bunch of movies and documentaries.
I’m not sure how I feel about the characters, because as I said many times, it’s not just a plot or some imagery that pulls me into something. It’s got to have at least one or two characters I’m drawn to, although the characters do look really cute! I didn’t see much of their personalities in this trailer so I don’t know what to think of them yet, (and although the pilot looks appealing, it doesn’t mean I will like her) but the trailer looks like weird goopy fun, which is enough of an attraction for me, I guess. It’ll get a look-see.
The Menu
And finally there’s this gem, starring Ralph, Fiennes, and one of my favorite new actresses, who I hope will be around for a good long while, Anya Taylor-Joy! I have the feeling this movie is about one of my favorite topics, cannibalism, and I’m always up for a good humans eating humans movie, especially if it’s an “eat the rich” story. I only just heard of this movie, so I don’t have a lot of knowledge beyond the visuals, but I will probably watch this when it streams.
A couple of weeks ago saw the debut of the new HBO series, Lovecraft Country, based on the book of the same name by Matt Ruff. In the book, a young black man named Atticus goes on a road trip through the Jim Crow South, with his uncle, and childhood friend, to find his father, who has mysteriously gone missing up North. They stumble across racist cops, sundown towns, Lovecraftian monsters, and occultism, in their travels.
I watched the first two episodes of this series. Normally I would not have watched any show that’s based in the Jim Crow South because that’s just a particularly triggering time period, but the writers and producers are black, so I was willing to give it a chance. Its still a very nerve-wracking show, but in a kind of good way, because its also surprisingly cathartic, entertaining, and not wholly based on Black pain and suffering. The characters are very likable, and there are other, more personal issues they deal with besides racism.
I can honestly say I enjoyed this episode. I know that sounds weird, considering how I’ve complained about no longer being interested in shows that are based on black pain and suffering, in different eras, but this show, along with the Watchman series, was very entertaining. For one thing, the plot isn’t necessarily based in suffering. the Jim Crow era in which the story takes place is simply the backdrop, and the way the story is written, the racism of the white characters is just one of the primary obstacles that the protagonists have to navigate, occasionally in the form of harrowing car chases.
It doesn’t hurt that the three main characters, Atticus, the very fine looking lead character, his uncle George, played by the incredible Courtney B. Vance, and the gorgeous Leticia, Atticus childhood friend, played by Journee Smollet, who you may remember as Black Canary, from the Harley Quinn/Birds of Prey movie, released earlier this year, are all immensely likable, and reasonably smart.
Outside of the mystery itself, the series presents a lot of ideas about black people that don’t often get seen in popular culture, which are merely glimpses into the lives of regular black people, in the midst of horrific circumstances, because that too is as important to our representation, as seeing ourselves be heroic, hearing our own stories, or seeing ourselves existing as a culture in the future. We get loving black couples, black people who love books, clothes, and superheroes, ordinary disputes between family members and black people snatching little moments of joy, even in the darkest times.
The episode begins with Atticus on his way home from the Korean War. Its 1954, and that particular war (the one depicted in the MASH series) ended around 1953. He’s dreaming of a mashup of all the scifi he’s ever read, Cthulhu, John Carter of Mars, and an ass kicking cameo from #42 himself, Jackie Robinson.
When the bus he’s riding breaks down, he and the only other black passenger, rather than being allowed to hitch a ride with a local farmer, have to walk several miles to the next town. During their walk is when we get Atticus broad opinions on fantasy stories with racist characters, or written by racist writers, like Robert E. Howard, or Lovecraft himself. Genre fiction, whether movies, books, or TV, has always been problematic for black people. Most of it was not written with us in mind, and what was, often had negative connotations.
When Atticus gets home, he finds the neighborhood is preparing to have a block party. This is something that really resonated with me, because I remember attending quite a few of these, during my childhood. My family is/was huge, so most of the block party consisted of me, my little brothers, and a seemingly vast number of cousins, uncles, and aunties! Anyway Atticus finds out from his uncle George that his father has gone missing but left a note saying he could be found in a place called Ardham. That’s right, not Arkham, but Ardham House. He, and George are joined by Leticia, a young woman that Atticus knew when they were children, because Letty was the only girl in his Science fiction book club, but who is now a traveling photographer.
Uncle George offers to come along because he is the publisher of the Chicago based green book. His wife, Hippolyta, offers to come, but George says no, out of a sense of protection. He knows how dangerous it would be for her to do such a thing., considering that he once had both his knees broken, by some racists, while on a previous trip for his travel books.
The travel books, that George writes, (based on the real life Negro Motorist’s Green Book), aided black people in navigating through the Jim Crow South, listing problem areas, like eating and sleeping places that were safe, but most especially, listed all the Sundown Towns, in both the North and South. At that time, these were all white towns, in which black people would be either run out, or murdered, if they were found within the town limits, after sundown.
Welcome to the world’s only registry of sundown towns. A sundown town is not just a place where something racist happened. It is an entire community (or even county) that for decades was “all white” on purpose. “All white” is in quotes because some towns allowed one black family to remain when they drove out the rest. Also, institutionalized persons (in prisons, hospitals, colleges, etc.), live-in servants (in white households), and black or interracial children (in white households) do not violate the taboo.
“On purpose” does not require a formal ordinance. If, for example, if a black family tried to move in, encountered considerable hostility, and left, that would qualify the town as “sundown.” Note that some sundown towns kept out Chinese Americans, Jews, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, even Mormons.
One of the most hair raising, but exhilarating, chase sequences occurs when George mistakenly takes them to a cafe that does not serve black people, and the local firefighters chase them out of town. They are saved by Letty’s well honed survival instincts, her ability to drive like a maniac, and a little bit of hoodoo, from a mysterious benefactor.
This same benefactor comes to their aid at the end of the episode, after they get stopped in a sundown county by the local sheriff, who challenges them to get out of the county 8 minutes before sundown, but without speeding. This is very probably the slowest, most nerve wracking car chase in television history, and does a spectacular job of showing how frustrating, and enraging it was to live during the Jim Crow era, in which those who held authority, (yes, the police, but regular citizens were encouraged to get in on the fun), could terrorize black people on a whim, or simply for their own pleasure.
They do follow the cops rules and manage to barely make it out of town, only to be stopped by the police in the neighboring county, who were lying in wait for them. This is an especially relevant point, because it speaks to the arbitrary nature of the rules. It ultimately doesn’t mean anything that Atticus and the others followed the rules. They’ll be killed anyway, because a group of people determined that they should, and no amount of rule following would’ve saved them. However, the three of them are inadvertently saved by monsters.
*I want to point out some of the images used in the show, which is rich with detail. This particular image here was based off some famous photographs by Gordon Parks.
And here is another, which can also seen in the episode:
*There’s also a famous interview from James Baldwin, which is used in voiceover, before the trio’s second encounter with the police.
*Hippolyta (George’s wife) is also the name of Wonder Woman’s mother, and George has a daughter named Diana.
*******************
The cops take the three of them into the woods to execute them. This is an especially chilling scene when you think about how many black people might have been murdered in this fashion, who were never missed, or whose bodies were never discovered. In fact there are a host of activities that black people don’t do today, not just because we were discouraged from participating in everyday American life, but because, even today, we are still recovering from the trauma of the constant terrorizing and policing of our actions, which lasted some sixty to seventy years. Activities like road trips, camping, swimming, walking on the sidewalks, or just out enjoying nature, could (and did) get us murdered.
Until the seventies, many state parks were off limits to black people and earlier this Summer a young black man posted videos where he was threatened with lynching, by a white mob that assaulted him in a park. The bottom line is that many of the nature activities that white people took for granted, were enduring traumas for PoC, but especially black people. So when you hear us joking about not going into the woods, or never going hiking, keep this in mind, as one of the factors.
“When I’m walking to work with park rangers or with other campers and hikers who treat me in some sort of way that make me feel unwelcome, that make me feel unsafe, that is startling,” Tariq said. “And that goes unchecked because there’s, there’s just no channel for us to be able to challenge that in such remote places.”
As much as white people claim to be afraid of black people because…..crime, or something, I don’t think many of them have ever thought about what it must be like to live one’s life in constant fear of stepping on white people’s toes, at work, or the store, in a park, or just out of doors. Always having to watch what you say, how you look, dress, act, and carefully structure one’s facial expressions, lest you set one of them off, as if they were unexploded ordinance.
*********************
The police take them into the woods to execute them, but before that can happen, they are all attacked by what viewers are calling Shuggoths, but what the characters in the show are calling vampires. They are covered with eyes, shun the light, and can move extremely fast, so they manage to take out the five or six cops rather easily. Letty and Atticus escape to an abandoned cabin, along with two of the cops, one of whom had their arm bitten off. After George joins them in the cabin, they make a plan to get more light from the cars parked at the edge of the woods. Atticus wants to go, but is prevented from doing so by the cops who 1) don’t trust him, and on top of that 2) aren’t very bright, because why would he leave his friends behind just to spite the police? The cops nominate Letty to run to the vehicles.
Okay, I’m going to have to stop here for another aside. These are the same type of white men who will happily kill a black man for breathing too hard in a white woman’s direction but are perfectly happy to sacrificing a black woman to save their skins. In their minds, black women are not worth protecting. So even though they are armed and can take care of themselves, they insist that this black woman attempt to outrun the monsters, to save their skins. To calm everyone down, Letty does make a case that she is faster than Atticus, having run track as a girl, and off she goes.
And this is the way that people should be running in a Horror movie. Letty is seriously hauling ass! I wonder how many times Journee had to do that scene, because this is not a stunt double, and she is seriously working out! There’s none of that glancing behind, or tripping and falling shit in your typical generic horror movie. This is also probably the reason black people don’t get to star in too many of them, because they would be boringly short films.
Letty makes it to the car, and heads back to the cabin, where the two cops are so busy concentrating on holding those two scary black men in check, that they don’t notice that one of them is turning into a one of the creatures that attacked them, but that’s not what’s interesting . What’s fascinating is even though the cop next to him is turning into a nightmare that’s going to eat him, he is hesitant to shoot him, despite Attticus’ and George’s warnings, instead choosing to keep his weapon aimed at the two unarmed black men in front of him. See ,this is one of the reasons I don’t trust white people, (no, not even my white friends), with my safety. After decades of fear-mongering propaganda, the majority of them simply do not have good judgment when it comes to what’s actually dangerous, and what isn’t.
The cop turns into a monster and eats the other cop, which is a nice conflation of the idea that there are other types of monsters in the world, but the human ones are the scariest. Letty arrives with the car just as the monster turns its attention to Atticus and George, but they still need to hold the monsters off until daylight, or fight them, and that’s when the mysterious benefactor arrives and calls them off using, what else…a dog whistle!
We next see the three travelers arriving at Ardham house, exhausted, and covered in blood, where they are welcomed and expected by their happy blond host, and yes, I’m immediately suspicious.
So that’s my first impression of the show. I have, since the posting of this review, watched a couple more episodes, and the show manages to keep that same energy for each episode, which is more like a connected anthology than a serialistic show. The second episode finishes out the first story arc at Ardham House, and the third focuses on Leticia buying a haunted house. Both episodes continue with the same wealth of detail, racist white men, and historical asides, including references to the Garden of Eden, and a chilling cameo from Emmet Till!
There are so many layers to this show, but its also just entertaining, even if you don’t get, or see, all the socio-historical references. The show is fun to watch, with a lot of exciting moments, because its well written, and the characters and plot are compelling.
The DCEU just had this thing online in August, that was sort of like ComicCon, but only for DC and its properties, called the FanDome. Basically they showcased all their shows, movies, and trailers online, for a week. So here are the relevant trailers, and a couple of random trailers, and videos, I threw into the mix, just because I liked them!
Enola Holmes
This is a new series on Netflix, based on the Enola Holmes Mystery books, which I have heard about, but never read. Enola is Sherlock and Mycroft’s little sister, and Since I like her brothers, and I like this actress, I’m looking forward to the first episode, which looks like lighthearted fun.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League
For the record, I cared not one whit for the Zack Snyder cut to be released, let alone that it even existed. I’m also not exactly a Zack Snyder fan, even though I’ve probably seen all his films. Its more that Zack Snyder keeps directing movies that have actors in it that I like, and so I end up seeing his movies.
All that said, I actually am looking forward to this and will definitely watch this mini-series, which I understand will take place over four days. Frankly, that’s how it should’ve been approached in the first place, rather than a 2+ hour movie, that seemed to displease everyone.
The Suicide Squad
Now, I must state up front, that I am a fan of the first Suicide Squad, which is differentiated from this one by not having the word ‘The” in front. I know people hate that first movie, but I found a lot of things to like about it, (as well as hate), and it’s more likely that I was looking at that film through a very different lens, than the white fanboys who hated it, and one day I’m going to have to write about why that is.
Anywho, I am a big fan of James Gunn, whose career got canceled briefly, but who has since been reinstated, in his role as the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, which I personally love. Those are two of my absolute favorite MCU films ,so I’m very much looking forward to his version of the Suicide Squad.
The Batman
This movie actually looks okay. Yeah, I was more than a little dubious about Robert Pattinson playing this role, but I never liked Ben Affleck, and I’ve since watched Pattinson in other roles, and I feel confident that he is gonna bring it as The Batman.
Now this is a much younger Batman than we’re used to. I’d say year one or two, in his role as Gotham’s protector, and you can see that he is not as controlled in his manner, as we’ve seen the older Batmans, and that there is a little more hand to hand combat, rather than the reliance on gadgets, that a lot of the movies fall into. Hopefully, this movie will also focus on Batman being a detective, because that was the part of his role that made him interesting in the comic books, and which hasn’t really been depicted onscreen yet.
The Stand
You guys all know I’m a dedicated Stephen King fan despite some of my issues with some of his characters, but I will admit that I disliked the original mini-series of this book intensely, because the acting was so spotty, and it was trying just a little too hard to be faithful to the book, without actually being faithful to the book. But I’m kind of looking forward to this version. For one thing, it stars much better actors ,and it looks like its going to remain faithful to the spirit in which the book was written, and it happens to be timely.
Now, I don’t know how many of you want to sign on to see a pandemic destroy the Earth, considering what we’re all going through. I tried reading the book back in May, and just couldn’t get through it, and I also believe the money spent on this would have been better served filming The Talisman, but I’m gonna watch this in December, even though it ain’t got nan but two black people in it, and let you guys know what I think.
Thriller Haka
Taika Waititi continues to be comedy gold! I just love this man’s humor ,and of course the Thriller dance would be a Haka!
Raised by Wolves
Not sure what to think about this one, but I’m going to check it out because its SciFi, and based on my blog name, I am required by law to watch this, I think.
Tenet
I am definitely going to watch this, and then we’re going to talk about my love of Christopher Nolan films
Alone
I think this is an American remake of the French movie, The Night Eats The World, a zombie type movie, in which people act insane, but are not actually zombies, right? It stars that guy from Teen Wolf. There’s also a bunch of other movies out right now called Alone, but with 0009949443528
a different type of horror, so try not to get confused. This looks intriguing, but I’m not sure I want to binge on too many end of the world flicks right now, because I’m just not feeling it.
*Hopefully, my review of Lovecraft Country’s first episode, will be ready by this Friday!
Okay, I was initially just going to post only those shows I was invested in watching, but decided to add at least a couple of shows that, while I might not be especially enthused about them, I’m sure someone reading this, is.
So, here’s a thoroughly incomplete list of new Fall shows that someone, who is not necessarily me, might be interested in watching in October.
Walking Dead: World Beyond
This is one of the shows I’m not terribly enthused about, because I’m not really in much of a mood for apocalyptic fiction, right now, it’s based off The Walking Dead series, which is now in its 1,000th season, and I refuse to get attached to any of the characters I see here, just in case they die horribly in the first two episodes.
Pretty much the only thing I got out of The Walking Dead, was not to care about any of the characters, because they’re all just gonna be horribly killed at some point, and since characters are how I get invested in a show, well…
On the other hand, it does look intriguing, because it answers some questions about those helicopter people who approached Rick that one time, and what happened to Rick after his supposed death.
One theme in zombie fiction, that I am seriously tired of, is the travelogue narrative ,where, as soon as the world goes into lockdown mode, someone decides to take a road trip to find some lost loved ones, sometimes with neighbors, or a dog in tow, and they have harrowing adventures, and this seems like more of that. *Sigh*
Utopia
I want to like this but I’m just not feeling it. I will look at the pilot though, and maybe I will want to see more of it. yeah, I have no idea what it’s actually about ,and I don’t even care, which is how I know I probably won’t be jumping on this.
Lovecraft Country
I have mixed feelings about this show. On the one hand it is directed by a Black woman, and I’m just now coming off The Old Guard, which was also directed by a Black woman, and I’m feeling confident. Its also produced by Jordan Peele, and the original story was written by Matt Ruff, and I read and liked the book okay. It also has monsters in it, and I like to think the racistly racist Lovecraft is rolling over in his grave at having his universe adapted to serve Black characters. Its about a Black family that take a road trip and encounter a mystery and some Lovecraft style monsters.
But…I’m not at all in the mood to watch any more oppression narratives that are rooted in Black pain and trauma. I don’t want to watch any more shows, or movies, set in the Slave era, or Jim Crow South, where we get to watch the characters suffer, and I’m strongly inclined to pretend this doesn’t exist, and will not exist any time in the future.
Project Power
Unlike a lot of other whiners on Youtube (and other media), I’m not yet tired of the superhero genre, especially if they keep putting interesting versions of it onscreen, but then, I’m a person who much more carefully chooses these movies and shows, rather than rushing to watch every single thing with a superhero in it, and I also tend to like non-superhero, superhero movies like Unbreakable, The Old Guard, and this vehicle here.
I really like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Jamie Foxx ,and I’ve never seen the two of them in a movie together, and it looks like fun, I guess. I think I read a book that had something of the same premise waaay back in the 90s, and I think there’s been a least a couple of comic book stories, where gaining superpowers through drugs, was an idea.
Truth Seekers
I really like Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. Ive seen most of their movies together, and I loathe the paranormal investigation reality show genre, so I’m actually looking forward to this parody.
The Good Lord Bird
That thing I said about Slave era narratives is still true, but I find myself greatly intrigued by this movie, because its a comedy that stars Orlando Jones, an actor I love, and Ethan Hawke, who, as John Brown, looks unrecognizable in this movie, and who was great in The Magnificent Seven remake, and Daveed Diggs, who plays Frederick Douglas. I also like it because it is a comedy where the plot isn’t rooted in the consumption of Black trauma.
It actually looks really, really, funny ,and the young girl we see in the trailer is actually a young boy who has disguised himself as a young girl because he found his life easier that way, and he sort of accidentally falls under Brown’s care.
You guys have got to read the book on which this movie is based, because Brown is a real hoot. Brown himself is a trigger happy abolitionist, who guns down any slave owners, and slave patrols he happens to encounter, making no effort to protect himself from harm, because he believes he is doing God’s will and that he is already protected.
Star Trek: Lower Decks
I’m not sure this is the best use of the money we gave these people for those last couple of Star Trek movies, so I’m just gonna leave this here.
I mean, I’m not opposed to an animated version of Star Trek, but I am opposed to an animated version of Star Trek. Heck, I didn’t even watch the original animated Trek, from the 70s. But you know what, I’m not gonna act like one of those fanboy purists who refuse to watch something just because its radically different from whatever came before, and I loved that Spiderverse movie. Not that this is, in any way, Spiderverse level entertainment, but I might be surprised.
An American Pickle
At first glance, this doesn’t seem much like something I’d watch, but I Seth Rogan okay, I like time travel movies, it looks funny, and I like the initial setting of Victorian New York.
Okay, maybe its not all sweetness and light, but I find Youtube amusing and interesting, as I carefully curate the things on my dashboard, to minimize bullshit. Here’s a list of ridiculousness that I stumbled across, and a short list of Youtubers I subscribe to. This is maybe half of them, but its a pretty good snapshot of the subjects that most interest me.
Tony Baker Voiceovers
From now on, I’m going to use the word “The Skibbity Pap”, every time I love smack one of my nieces or nephews on the back of the head. These Tony Baker videos have been around for years, but they’re new to me, and I just love them. Whenever I need a quick pick me up, I just put on one of these, and I’m soon crying for a completely different reason!
Also “skibbity pap” just sounds like the kind of thing that cats would call those love smacks they enjoy giving to anyone, or anything, that wanders into their orbit.
Two things that are deeply funny to me, are how the animals love to sing R&B songs to themselves, when they’re alone, and continuing adventures of Rudy, and his dogs.
The Patriot Act
ASMR: signifies the subjective experience of “low-grade euphoria” characterized by “a combination of positive feelings and a distinct static-like tingling sensation on the skin”. It is most commonly triggered by specific auditory or visual stimuli, and less commonly by intentional attention control.
This is one of the weirdest/funniest videos on Youtube, as Hasan Minhaj, from Patriot Act, gets in on that whole ASMR experience, by helping you relax while you’re doing your taxes. Watch the whole thing!
Beau of the Fifth Column
The first time I stumbled across one of Beau’s videos, I did what maybe a lot of people did, and skipped past it, because I really didn’t want to be bothered by yet another opinion video, from a straight white guy, about social issues that didn’t affect him. I’ve had my absolute fill of white men, “objectively” playing devil’s advocate on social issues.
But his videos kept being recommended to me, so I gave one a try, and was pleasantly surprised by how open and level headed he is. I don’t always agree with the things he says, but he always clearly, and honestly explains what, and why, he believes it, in a way that doesn’t talk down to the viewer, or occlude the issues with erasure and lies.
The titles of the videos are often misleading, but once you start watching, you realize that he is someone who thinks very differently from most people (even me) about a thing.
CinemaWins
I am more than a little tired of this idea, that more than a few people deeply believe, that criticism must be negative. I keep trying to tell people that any opinion, whether its positive or negative, is actually a critique of whatever you just consumed, because that’s what “criticize” means. Yes, loving something, and stating why, is a perfectly valid critique.
This critic says he originally started this channel as a rebuke to the Cinema Sins Channel, (which I hate). I chose this particular video because I love this movie as much as he does, and for all the same reasons.
Jesse Dollamore
I knew what I was getting into when I stumbled across Dollamore’s videos, because I started watching him back in the days when he was taking down the low hanging fruit that is Tomimo Laurencias stupid ass. At least part of the reason I like his videos are the incredible insults he levels at trump and his cronies, because they’re almost poetic. Feckless moron, and googly-eyed nitiwt, are what come to mind. I love a good, and well delivered, insult.
La Guardia Cross
Papa La Guardia says:
New Father Chronicles began in November of 2014 when my daughter Amalah was 1-week-old. I had no idea what I was doing, so I decided to chronicle my journey on YouTube and make fun of myself along the way. Our 2nd daughter, Nayely, was born in April of 2017.
My channel is filled with the silly adventures I have with my girls, infant and toddler interviews, my interpretations of their babble, silly skits, and the things I’ve learned or unlearned as a parent. Sometimes Leah and I mix it up a bit and share some pretty personal moments as well. Why? Well, we’re far from perfect and we’ve learned a lot from our mistakes.
This was one of the first videos I ever saw, and its at least a couple of years old as his baby girls are about three and five now, and I’m not sure where I heard of it, or what I’d watched, that this was recommended to me.
Renegade Cut
Okay, these are just really good reviews, and the critic makes an effort to make his critiques relevant to real world events, like this one about how Black peopel have always been talking about police brutality, which has permeated almost all of our tele-visual arts.
Sir Stevo Timothy
I’m not sure how this video got recommended to me. I thought it was funny, but still wasn’t quite sure what to think, when I saw the first one, so I did a little research to figure out who the hell this guy was. it turns out that this character is a parody of a certain type of racist, loud, old, ignorant, Irish uncle. He manages to make the things he says so stupidly ridiculous that you cannot possible take his opinions seriously, and even manages to slip in some progressive thoughts, if you pay attention.
This video is one of my favorites because no matter how hard he tries, he is simply incapable of ignoring that his passenger is a Black man (from Dublin).
I’m probably not supposed to laugh this damn hard at these videos.
The Fish Locker
This video doesn’t seem like it fits anything else on this list, but its surprisingly soothing to watch this guy combing the rocky beaches of Scotland for seafood, with his wife and son.
This is like ASMR beach combing.
Tkviper
And here are the real ASMR videos of Tkviper just walking the many different streets of Japan, while its raining different types of rain.
Aeon Flux
Does anybody remember these cartons from MTV’s Liquid Television, in the 9os? I remember watching hte hell out of these at the time. I think I still have the full DVD set.
Geeking Out about It 