#i think actor/creator affirmation is all i need during trying times like these | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

midnightmah07 · 7 months

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Okay, so, u r welcome viuna shippers.

What Jack and Vil mostly have in common is the idea of being tired of routine. Jack is tired that he only gets to play his part as the pumpkin king, annoyed to be stuck in a part and not being able to try other things. For the record, Vil is kinda the same, the difference is that in the actor world he is constantly put in the "villain role" and as for being a model he is always in second place or behind; making difficult for him to overcome and do other parts that aren't his "signature ones" according to the media (yk? like that person who plays themselves in a movie, they always gets the SAME character model, noah centineo or rafael portugal as an example-) AT THE END, both Jack and Vil want something different than the old scheme, driving for new things.

That is even more noticeable in "Jack's lament", but anyway let me highlight the things most match Vil's perspective in my opinion-

"There are few who'd deny, at what I do I am the best, for my talents are renowned far and wide"

"Yet year after year, it's the same routine […] Have grown so tired of the same old thing"

"Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bones an emptiness began to grow. There's something out there, far from my home a longing that I've never known."

"But who here would ever understand, that the Pumpkin King with the skeleton grin would tire of his crown, if they only understood, he'd give it all up if he only could."

Also, I'd like to add that Jack is very "passionate" on learning about Christmas and wanting to get to the bottom of things. I see that in Vil, somehow, he is passionate for what he does. So, I see the resemblance as well.

ANND, Jack gets his attention on Sally because she was always on his side he observes Sally's unwavering determination to support him. Demonstrating that love is intrinsic to his being, he affectionately refers to Sally as his "Dearest Friend," affirming that their union is destined. Embracing both his future with her and Sally herself, he wholeheartedly embraces the journey ahead. SIMILAR (my new fav word) TO VIL POINT OF VIEW FOR YUUNA- She supports him during ALL Book 5 and in Book 6 SHE STILL IS IN HIS SIDE EVEN WITH THE FACT HE IS OLD. At the end of the day, jack and vil are found into sally and yuuna because their situations are similar but different at the same time.

This of Jack saying "we are simply meant to be" for Sally in Viuna's case is slightly funny since Yuuna is well mirrors and Vil is Vil, ig it makes sense-

ANYWAY, as for Sally and Yuuna (movie character analysis basically)

Sally and Jack are not that different from each other, she is also tired of the same old routine, making have an admiration for him, in the end of jack's lament, Sally says "Oh Jack, I know how you feel". Quite similar to why Yuuna ends up liking Vil so much, Yuuna was used to the same routine back home and once she gots to Twisted Wonderland IS THE SAME THING! IT HAS A ROUTINE. AGAIN!

Kinda not for Sally, but will say it for Yuuna- Yuuna HAS problems of not knowing her true personality so she ends up having conflicts into copying people's personas (basically). BUT WITH VIL, HE HAS SIMILAR ISSUES TO HER- So, she gets confused like "what do you mean I am not mirroring him?? I just have similar issues to him????" that somehow draws herself to him, because she can relate to his pain and agony at a certain level, yk?

Sally learns she should patient, since she is kinda not allowed to leave her home as she has to take care of her "creator"; similar to Yuuna again, she is quite not allowed to leave too much, she needs to take care of her brother- And now, she has to take care of teenage boys who are throwing tantrums and fists (everyone thanks crowley).

NOW FOR SALLY'S SONG- Of course, I need to give what lyrics match Yuuna, so here it goes:

"And though I'd like to stand by him, can't shake this feeling that I have"

"And does he notice my feelings for him and will he see how much he means to me I think it's not to be"

"What will become of my dear friend, where will his actions lead us then. Although I'd like to join the crowd in their enthusiastic cloud"

"And will we ever end up together? No, I think not, it's never to become, for I am not the one."

I think this is specifically because Yuuna notices something is nOT quite right with the apple drink, Vil intends to give Neige... Yuuna's gut feeling is quite as good as Adeline's tbh

MOVING ON (yes, I am not finished), talking about the book "Long live pumpkin queen", KINDA spoiler free-

(I didn't do one book analysis for Vil and Jack since most of the time Jack is under a sleep curse in the book- So, uhm, he doesn't have too much to analyze)

In the book, Jack and Sally marry, so now Sally is the Queen... You see where I am going? BUT SHE IS DEF NOT READY- Like she was a no one just yesterday, now out of nowhere people know her and like her??? WHO ELSE HAD THAT PROBLEM??? YUUNA. Yuuna had out of NOWHERE all attention to her, bc, NOW she dates a famous person. BUT NOW, she feels like she is back to mirroring him, instead of being herself around him- THAT FREAKS HER OUT- Similar to Sally, who is not used to so much pressure.

ALSO THEY BOTH have now to basically save everyone after some shit happen... *cof cof*

But what is my biggest "THIS IS WHY" in this whole ramble, is the fact that Sally and Yuuna are TERRIFIED to be alone again, Yuuna lost her sibling and her parents were never around and Sally is just alone all the time since Doctor Finklestein never lets her leave home.

so sally and yuuna are TERRIFIED to loose their partners (quite normal) but mostly because they made them feel understood. yk? sally and yuuna thanks to their partners finally didn't felt alone.

. . . .

ANYWAY, I GUESS I AM DONE :DD

sorry i know it's long-

i just like

had the reason to talk about VIUNA AND THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS????? I saw the opportunity. probably will do it for the hercules AU as well later on

TEEHEE I LOVE THISSS IT'S SO FUN AND DON'T APOLOGIZE FOR IT BEING LONG I LIKE READING STUFF LIKE THIS

Viuna... Truly the ship ever, the couple to ever exist, them ✨ they do have a lot of similarities! It's funny how I never noticed :O but to be fair, I'm not really a huge fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas (the animation creeps me out, not in the sense of it being scary but because it makes me uncomfortable), I still like the story, just not that into it, so tbh it makes sense I wouldn't linked the dots

This is so fun... Ramble more about them I love Viuna with my whole heart, and I love seeing u excited 🥺💙

#💙! mah's answers #💙! barbs<3

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hlupdate · 4 years

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Variety’s Grammy-nominated Hitmaker of the Year goes deep on the music industry, the great pause and finding his own muses.

“We’ll dance again,” Harry Styles coos, the Los Angeles sunshine peeking through his pandemic-shaggy hair just so. The singer, songwriter and actor — beloved and critically acclaimed thanks to his life-affirming year-old album, “Fine Line” — is lamenting that his Variety Hitmaker of the Year cover conversation has to be conducted over Zoom rather than in person. Even via videoconference, the Brit is effortlessly charming, as anyone who’s come within earshot of him would attest, but it quickly becomes clear that beneath that genial smile is a well-honed media strategy.

To wit: In an interview that appears a few days later announcing his investment in a new arena in his native Manchester (more on that in a bit), he repeats the refrain — “There will be a time we dance again”— referencing a much-needed return to live music and the promise of some 4,000 jobs for residents.

None of which is to suggest that Styles, 26, phones it in for interviews. Quite the opposite: He does very few, conceivably to give more of himself and not cheapen what is out there and also to use the publicity opportunity to indulge his other interests, like fashion. (Last month Styles became the first male to grace the cover of Vogue solo.) Still, it stings a little that a waltz with the former One Direction member may not come to pass on this album cycle — curse you, coronavirus.

Styles’ isolation has coincided with his maturation as an artist, a thespian and a person. With “Fine Line,” he’s proved himself a skilled lyricist with a tremendous ear for harmony and melody. In preparing for his role in Olivia Wilde’s period thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” which is shooting outside Palm Springs, he found an outlet for expression in interpreting words on a page. And for the first time, he’s using his megaphone to speak out about social justice — inspired by the outpouring of support for Black people around the world following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.

Styles has spent much of the past nine months at home in London, where life has slowed considerably. The time has allowed him to ponder such heady issues as his purpose on the earth. “It’s been a pause that I don’t know if I would have otherwise taken,” says Styles. “I think it’s been pretty good for me to have a kind of stop, to look and think about what it actually means to be an artist, what it means to do what we do and why we do it. I lean into moments like this — moments of uncertainty.”

In truth, while Styles has largely been keeping a low profile — his Love On Tour, due to kick off on April 15, was postponed in late March and is now scheduled to launch in February 2021 (whether it actually will remains to be seen) — his music has not. This is especially true in the U.S., where he’s notched two hit singles, “Adore You,” the second-most-played song at radio in 2020, and “Watermelon Sugar” (No. 22 on Variety’s year-end Hitmakers chart), with a third, “Golden,” already cresting the top 20 on the pop format. The massive cross-platform success of these songs means Styles has finally and decisively broken into the American market, maneuvering its web of gatekeepers to accumulate 6.2 million consumption units and rising.

Why do these particular songs resonate in 2020? Styles doesn’t have the faintest idea. While he acknowledges a “nursery rhyme” feel to “Watermelon Sugar” with its earwormy loop of a chorus, that’s about as much insight as he can offer. His longtime collaborator and friend Tom Hull, also known as the producer Kid Harpoon, offers this take: “There’s a lot of amazing things about that song, but what really stands out is the lyric. It’s not trying to hide or be clever. The simplicity of watermelon … there’s such a joy in it, [which] is a massive part of that song’s success.” Also, his kids love it. “I’ve never had a song connect with children in this way,” says Hull, whose credits include tunes by Shawn Mendes, Florence and the Machine and Calvin Harris. “I get sent videos all the time from friends of their kids singing. I have a 3-year-old and an 8-year-old, and they listen to it.”

Styles is quick to note that he doesn’t chase pop appeal when crafting songs. In fact, the times when he pondered or approved a purposeful tweak, like on his self-titled 2017 debut, still gnaw at him. “I love that album so much because it represents such a time in my life, but when I listen to it — sonically and lyrically, especially — I can hear places where I was playing it safe,” he says. “I was scared to get it wrong.”

Contemporary effects and on-trend beats hardly factor into Styles’ decision-making. He likes to focus on feelings — his own and his followers’ — and see himself on the other side of the velvet rope, an important distinction in his view. “People within [the industry] feel like they operate on a higher level of listening, and I like to make music from the point of being a fan of music,” Styles says. “Fans are the best A&R.”

This from someone who’s had free rein to pursue every musical whim, and hand in the album of his dreams in the form of “Fine Line.” Chart success makes it all the sweeter, but Styles insists that writing “for the right reasons” supersedes any commercial considerations. “There’s no part that feels, eh, icky — like it was made in the lab,” he says.

Styles has experience in this realm. As a graduate of the U.K. competition series “The X Factor,” where he and four other auditionees — Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson — were singled out by show creator and star judge Simon Cowell to conjoin as One Direction, he’s seen how the prefab pop machine works up close. The One Direction oeuvre, which counts some 42 million albums sold worldwide, includes songs written with such established hitmakers as Ryan Tedder, Savan Kotecha and Teddy Geiger. Being a studious, insatiable observer, Styles took it all in.

“I learned so much,” he says of the experience. “When we were in the band, I used to try and write with as many different people as I could. I wanted to practice — and I wrote a lot of bad shit.”

His bandmates also benefited from the pop star boot camp. The proof is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members — Payne, Malik and Horan in addition to Styles — each of whom has landed hit singles on charts in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond.

This departs from the typical trajectories of boy bands including New Kids on the Block and ’N Sync, which have all pro ered a star frontman. The thinking for decades was that a record company would be lucky to have one breakout solo career among the bunch.

Styles has plainly thought about this.

“When you look at the history of people coming out of bands and starting solo careers, they feel this need to apologize for being in the band. ‘Don’t worry, everyone, that wasn’t me! Now I get to do what I really want to do.’ But we loved being in the band,” he says. “I think there’s a wont to pit people against each other. And I think it’s never been about that for us. It’s about a next step in evolution. The fact that we’ve all achieved different things outside of the band says a lot about how hard we worked in it.”

Indeed, during the five-ish years that One Direction existed, Styles’ schedule involved the sort of nonstop international jet-setting that few get to see in a lifetime, never mind their teenage years. Between 2011 and 2015, One Direction’s tours pulled in north of $631 million in gross ticket sales, according to concert trade Pollstar, and the band was selling out stadiums worldwide by the time it entered its extended hiatus. Styles, too, had built up to playing arenas as a solo artist, engaging audiences with his colorful stage wear and banter and left-of-center choices for opening acts (a pre-Grammy-haul Kacey Musgraves in 2018; indie darlings King Princess and Jenny Lewis for his rescheduled 2021 run).

Stages of all sizes feel like home to Styles. He grew up in a suburb of Manchester, ground zero for some of the biggest British acts of the 1980s and ’90s, including Joy Division, New Order, the Smiths and Oasis, the latter of which broke the same year Styles was born. His parents were also music lovers. Styles’ father fed him a balanced diet of the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and Queen, while Mum was a fan of Shania Twain, Norah Jones and Savage Garden. “They’re all great melody writers,” says Styles of the acts’ musical throughline.

Stevie Nicks, who in the past has described “Fine Line” as Styles’ “Rumours,” referencing the Fleetwood Mac 1977 classic, sees him as a kindred spirit. “Harry writes and sings his songs about real experiences that seemingly happened yesterday,” she tells Variety. “He taps into real life. He doesn’t make up stories. He tells the truth, and that is what I do. ‘Fine Line’ has been my favorite record since it came out. It is his ‘Rumours.’ I told him that in a note on December 13, 2019 before he went on stage to play the ‘Fine Line’ album at the Forum. We cried. He sang those songs like he had sung them a thousand times. That’s a great songwriter and a great performer.”

“Harry’s playing and writing is instinctual,” adds Jonathan Wilson, a friend and peer who’s advised Styles on backing and session musicians. “He understands history and where to take the torch. You can see the thread of great British performers — from Bolan to Bowie — in his music.”

Also shaping his musical DNA was Manchester itself, the site of a 23,500-seat arena, dubbed Co-op Live, for which Styles is an investor and adviser. Oak View Group, a company specializing in live entertainment and global sports that was founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015 (Jeffrey Azoff, Irving’s son, represents Styles at Full Stop Management), is leading the effort to construct the venue. The project gained planning approval in September and is set to open in 2023, with its arrival representing a £350 million ($455 million) investment in the city. (Worth noting: Manchester is already home to an arena — the site of a 2017 bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert — and a football stadium, where One Love Manchester, an all-star benefit show to raise money for victims of the terrorist attack, took place.)

“I went to my first shows in Manchester,” Styles says of concerts paid for with money earned delivering newspapers for a supermarket called the Co-op. “My friends and I would go in on weekends. There’s so many amazing small venues, and music is such a massive part of the city. I think Manchester deserves it. It feels like a full-circle, coming-home thing to be doing this and to be able to give any kind of input. I’m incredibly proud. Hopefully they’ll let me play there at some point.”

Though Styles has owned properties in Los Angeles, his base for the foreseeable future is London. “I feel like my relationship with L.A. has changed a lot,” he explains. “I’ve kind of accepted that I don’t have to live here anymore; for a while I felt like I was supposed to. Like it meant things were going well. This happened, then you move to L.A.! But I don’t really want to.”

Is it any wonder? Between COVID and the turmoil in the U.S. spurred by the presidential election, Styles, like some 79 million American voters, is recovering from sticker shock over the bill of goods sold to them by the concept of democracy. “In general, as people, there’s a lack of empathy,” he observes. “We found this place that’s so divisive. We just don’t listen to each other anymore. And that’s quite scary.”

That belief prompted Styles to speak out publicly in the wake of George Floyd’s death. As protests in support of Black Lives Matter took to streets all over the world, for Styles, it triggered a period of introspection, as marked by an Instagram message (liked by 2.7 million users and counting) in which he declared: “I do things every day without fear, because I am privileged, and I am privileged every day because I am white. … Being not racist is not enough, we must be anti racist. Social change is enacted when a society mobilizes. I stand in solidarity with all of those protesting. I’m donating to help post bail for arrested organizers. Look inwards, educate yourself and others. LISTEN, READ, SHARE, DONATE and VOTE. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

“Talking about race can be really uncomfortable for everyone,” Styles elaborates. “I had a realization that my own comfort in the conversation has nothing to do with the problem — like that’s not enough of a reason to not have a conversation. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve been outspoken enough in the past. Using that feeling has pushed me forward to being open and ready to learn. … How can I ensure from my side that in 20 years, the right things are still being done and the right people are getting the right opportunities? That it’s not a passing thing?”

His own record company — and corporate parent Sony Music Group, whose chairman, Rob Stringer, signed Styles in 2016 — has been grappling with these same questions as the industry has faced its own reckoning with race. At issue: inequality among the upper ranks (an oft-cited statistic: popular music is 80% Black, but the music business is 80% white); contracts rooted in a decades-old system that many say is set up to take advantage of artists, Black artists more unfairly than white; and the call for a return of master rights, an ownership model that is at the core of the business.

Styles acknowledges the fundamental imbalance in how a major label deal is structured — the record company takes on the financial risk while the artist is made to recoup money spent on the project before the act is considered profitable and earning royalties (typically at a 15% to 18% rate for the artist, while the label keeps and disburses the rest). “Historically, I can’t think of any industry that’s benefited more off of Black culture than music,” he says. “There are discussions that need to happen about this long history of not being paid fairly. It’s a time for listening, and hopefully, people will come out humbled, educated and willing to learn and change.”

By all accounts, Styles is a voracious reader, a movie lover and an aesthete. He stays in shape by adhering to a strict daily exercise routine. “I tried to keep up but didn’t last more than two weeks,” says Hull, Styles’ producer, with a laugh. “The discipline is terrifying.”

Of course, with the fashion world beckoning — Styles recently appeared in a film series for Gucci’s new collection that was co-directed by the fashion house’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, and Oscar winner Gus Van Sant — and a movie that’s set in the 1950s, maintaining that physique is part of the job. And he’s no stranger to visual continuity after appearing in Christopher Nolan’s epic “Dunkirk” and having to return to set for reshoots; his hair, which needed to be cut back to its circa 1940 form, is a constant topic of conversation among fans. This time, it’s the ink that poses a challenge. By Styles’ tally, he’s up to 60 tattoos, which require an hour in the makeup chair to cover up. “It’s the only time I really regret getting tattooed,” he says.

He shows no regret, however, when it comes to stylistic choices overall, and takes pride in his gender-agnostic portfolio, which includes wearing a Gucci dress on that Vogue cover— an image that incited conservative pundit Candace Owens to plead publicly to “bring back manly men.” In Styles’ view: “To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes. And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.”

But acclaim, if you can believe it, is not top of mind for Styles. As far as the Grammys are concerned, Styles shrugs, “It’s never why I do anything.” His team and longtime label, however, had their hearts set on a showing at the Jan. 31 ceremony. Their investment in Styles has been substantial — not just monetarily but in carefully crafting his career in the wake of such icons as David Bowie, who released his final albums with the label. Hope at the company and in many fans’ hearts that Styles would receive an album of the year nomination did not come to pass. However, he was recognized in three categories, including best pop vocal album.

“It’s always nice to know that people like what you’re doing, but ultimately — and especially working in a subjective field — I don’t put too much weight on that stuff,” Styles says. “I think it’s important when making any kind of art to remove the ego from it.” Citing the painter Matisse, he adds: “It’s about the work that you do when you’re not expecting any applause.”

#harry styles #variety #021220

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hldailyupdate · 4 years

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This Charming Man: Why We’re Wild About Harry Styles

Variety’s Grammy-nominated Hitmaker of the Year goes deep on the music industry, the great pause and finding his own muses.

Styles has plainly thought about this.

Harry for Variety. (2 December 2020)

#harry styles #harry update #article #variety #hldaily #December 2020

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getoutofmyjaneway · 5 years

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What We Left Behind: A Review

First off, I need to tell you that this is a such a charming documentary. The visuals were gorgeous, visually stimulating, never a dull moment on screen. The HD remastering of some of the scenes from Deep Space Nine, especially the spacebattles, made it worth the wait for this documentary. If only we could one day be able to experience all of Deep Space Nine in HD

With that being said, this is a documentary meant for hardcore fans. I took two of my friends would casually watch the show one time through and both of them seemed disappointed with movie. They told me they were looking to see more behind-the-scenes stuff and drama. As an avid fan who has been following the show for number of years now, who has been devlving deep into the fan base, I found this documentary to be a very enjoyable experience.

I was very pleased with the information that was discussed during the documentary. They stuck to the usual larger conversation topics, obviously pointing out things that have historically been talked about when talking about Deep Space Nine such as Terry Farrell leaving or the impact that Sisko had on African American representation on television.

There were additional segments during the documentary where they rotate possible 8th season episode hypothetically. As a person who has read some of the books, this kind of continuation always makes me nervous because I do like to imagine the books are canon in my head. That being said, sing this what could be situation was nostalgic in a way. One very amusing thing was that the writers continue to toy with the "O'Brien Must Die Trope" although ultimately settling on another character who has already endured enough suffering as is.

The best thing this documentary did, however, was discuss Deep Space Nine is triumphs and flaws. They read aloud some of the early criticisms made of Deep Space Nine. They talked about how Deep Space Nine's storyline of the Dominion War conflicted with Gene Roddenberry's vision of Star Trek. One very notable thing which I think was very admirable for Ira to bring up was a discussion about LGBT characters and how even though they did show an LGBT relationship one time in the show, that did not justify the lack of LGBT representation within Deep Space Nine. The additional affirmation of Garrick as a gay character was a long time coming. I now consider Andrew Robinsons quote that's during Garak and Bashir first conversation, Garrick was trying to sleep with Bashir as canon.

What we left behind is a very good piece for hardcore Star Trek Deep Space Nine fan. This deeper look within the series, the beautiful remastering, and the interviews with series actors, creators, and production workers is a joy to watch. I can not wait to see it again after it comes out on dvd later this year.

Bonus: Allamaraine is the best part of Deep Space Nine because Nana said so.

#deep space nine #star trek deep space nine #ds9 #what we left behind

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ruwithmeguys · 6 years

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Arrow Season 7 wishlist

I had a season 6 wish-list: about half of them came true.. Sadly, the rest didn’t and there were some really juicy ones.

In no particular order... (I’ll add to this as I go and please be assured; anything I say about characters relates in no way to the actors who portray them)

1) One of he NTA needs to go...

Okay, so this is a dark thought; especially to start off with. But they did this. The writers/creators/producers/executives; they screwed with characters many of us were warming to or flat out loved and forgot how loyal we are to OTA regardless. They FORGOT. I mean, I was very sure they were more attune to their audience than that and we were clearly wrong.

But not in every way. They got a lot right. I’m not holding a grudge; there’s no point. I... have no interest in Rene beyond Zoe, I do NOT like Curtis and Dinah... she shows potential.

But they can’t come back from the clusterfuck of the civil war arc. They can only push forwards. I’m doing the same.

The problem is that, until the majority of us see serious growth, something to keep us/me interested, we’re going to stay in the ‘I don’t give a crap’ squad, which tells me that maybe - just maybe - something huge is going to occur in the first or second episode to make us all spit out our food/drink during the airing of 7.01.

Unfortunately I couldn’t care less that Curtis has a boyfriend or that he’s working with Felicity. People who act likes dicks tend to get the good things in life. Granted he’s suffered: I understood Paul’s reason for divorcing him but his genuine desire to NOT fight for his marriage confused me. This and the fact that he seemed to just exist for a full season (5) made me feel reluctantly sympathetic. Especially when part of his literal reason for existence was to reunite Olicity who didn’t need his help but... that was his thing.

Now? Sympathetic? Not so much. He’s become a massive juvenile, callous and selfish hypocrite that makes us all question his existence on the show. Even his fans.

However, as the sole homosexual character on the show with a love interest, they won’t kill him off. He has zero SL. He very literally has to be joined to Felicity’s, each time. The boyfriend is the only difference. I can’t ‘like’ this person. The man needs to learn humility. He’s become unnecessary enough that he wasn’t even present in the trailer: the ONLY character who wasn’t in it. That’s a bold neon light on the truth right there. Being a judgemental ass is a bad look.

I don’t have blind faith in Beth but I very much love everything she’s said about S7 so far. I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt THROUGHOUT the season. She’s already proven a better spokeswoman. It’s all good.

Dinah... there’s potential here. Now that she’s finally stepped off her high horse, I’m hoping Oliver’s incarceration will make her question her own horrible choices and what it REALLY means to be a masked vigilante, because she clearly didn’t know in S6. Thankfully, shes actually mentioned this. I don’t need a LI for her this season; that fell flat. Right now, I need her to find purpose that doesn’t make her a hypocritical ‘insert expletive’.

(I’m a huge fan of love interests occurring when we least expect it: two people that shouldn't fit but do, which is part of the essence of Olicity)

Leaving the civil war arc behind, I still kind of like her. I WANT to like her again.

Oliver went to prison for them all; surely that should change them all?

She, Rene, Curtis; they have no idea what true heroism means. They’re only in their second/third seasons and they still haven’t been through anything to close to one year of Oliver Queen’s life.

I’d like to see her find this. And I’d like to see her change and accept responsibility for who she’s chosen to be. It would provide a nice mirror to BS’s viewpoint and actions in season 6.

But Rene... this one is dicey. While he made more headway than the other two, I felt it was partly undeserved. If he wasn’t obnoxious, he was confusing. When eh apologised, he managed to add in a few insults. That kind of, you know... nullifies the apology. But he got away with it. His ‘Hoss’ and ‘Blondie’ have gone dry. Over-dry. His zero care about going against Oliver on trial made his defence fall flat, even when Oliver showed distrust. The only time I liked him, was when he was with Zoe.

If any of them get killed, it will be Rene. I’m not saying it will happen; but IF it does, it’ll be Rene.

So either... kill Rene or change all of them, because honestly at this point, most of us aren’t here for them.

2) If Felicity isn’t allowed friends, can we get a couple of scenes between her and Dinah or Lyla or both that aren’t all based on their night lives. Give me a few heartfelt moments. Give me something real to believe. Friendship is built; it doesn’t just exist because the writers tell us it does. Show not tell. A mistake made with LL in season 4.

3) Reunion sex for Oliver and Felicity because, damn if they’ve been deprived. And, why not? I mean, chuck in some hot argument sex, some poignant love affirming sex, some flirty flirt sex, some nude shower scene sex, some epic love reaffirmations; go for it!

They've been put through shit; some of it because of friends. If even ONE friend cock-blocks them, this includes Diggle, they’re on my shit-list.

4) Give Oliver the agency he needs during this prison arc; let us see the process of him falling back into that dark place he started in, S1. Let us see him crawl back upwards without Felicity’s help.

We know, thanks to Stephen, that Oliver has - in the 5 months since has incarceration - realised his choice was a ‘fucking bad choice’ in terms of what it’s done to Felicity and William. In fact I’d go out on the limb and say he knew that immediately when he got in the cell judging by the dead look in his eyes.

So let’s see him escape prison because this is BEGGING for a break out, and let us see him go to his family, because you know part of the reason he breaks out will be because of THEM. Because he HAS to. Because he’s needed.

Let’s see him and Felicity heal this forced separation, which was, at part, due to him. It was selfless, because he didn’t WANT to. He did it because he thought it was the right thing to do. He’s going to regret it and it’ll hurt to watch in all the best ways.

5) I’d enjoy a scene between Diggle and Felicity which focuses on him being there for her and mentioning that he wasn’t last season.

I’m sorry. I love Dig. But if he’d been there, Oliver might not have gone off on his own.

6) Given that this is a season about redemption, then can all characters be included?

Why? Well...

The theme redemption doesn’t just mean characters finding it, it means characters failing to reach it. People who may realise that it isn’t for them, like BS possibly. Or people who try really hard but can’t and are left devoid.

It involves characters who don’t need redeeming: people like Felicity who, this time, is done with reacting and is going to be proactive. Who deserves nothing but the happiness that has been robbed from her as a woman and as a wife.

It means understanding that redemption isn’t always clear cut and can mean unusual realities occurring.

It means the city, who need to open their eyes to what one man, his wife and his best friend did for their city all these years.

7) Focusing.

I won’t lie: I’m biased, BUT. I’m not wrong when I say Olicity need to be focused on this season. I’m not talking A full season: and there will be plenty of focus apart before they’re together.

I’m talking time to focus on them as a couple. Separate from them as parents and them as parents, them as friends to others.

This is a normal thing: for a show to focus on a couple that has been put through the mill. I’m guaranteeing it won’t be a lot.

I do think it will be more than you expect.

I’m highlighting this for a reason. A lot the fandom are under the impression that they get sidelined: Olicity are given quite a bit more screen-time than we think. But some of us notice the lack of other things happening so, those people, rely on more Olicity in order to forget that. Episodes 6.13 - 6.15 come to mind.

Like it or not, they were focused on in season 6. I know Felicity had little story and Oliver was sidelined several times but, sometimes that happens (it happens quite a bit in Felicity’s case). Doesn’t mean we won’r get what Oliver and Felicity NEED in season 7 and onward.

8) Felicity

I never needed Smoak Tech.

I just want her to be INVOLVED.

The fact that she’s a) in protective custody living under a different name and looking after William and b) in contact and in actual scenes with Watson, getting more and more INVOLVED (I like this word) with the law whilst committing crime like the ultimate paragon for getting shit done and for being the backbone of (Oliver) heroism in the city and a paradox (a very good person doing the right things by being a cyber badass and vigilante hacker) makes me feel like I’m going to enjoy season 7 already.

Then we’ll get a prison breakout. Olicity reuniting. Olicity re-acquainting Themistocles with each other through touch, words, sex etc. Re-finding what it means to be a vigilante in eyes of the public will be just as much her mission as Oliver’s.

9) Paying homage

Let’s have tribute to everything Oliver, Felicity and Diggle have done for the past 6 seasons. We’ve had focus on Tommy, on Robert, Moira and LL. They died: none of them needed to.

Robert died to save his son.

Tommy died to save the woman he loved.

Moira died to save her children.

Laurel died because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and it was reaffirmed in season 6, that it was partly due to her lack of skill and experience, her incredible stubbornness to listen to anyone else’s logic, and her need to reach that high.

They all died, except LL, for love. And all of them had tribute paid to them, some more than others.

But now that’s over so can due attention be given to what these three have sacrificed over the years? Can we have people see how much Oliver has given to the city, what Felicity has both lost and gone through, the time and effort and heart John has spent on their mission of three?

You don’t have to die to have people recognise the amazing good you’ve done. This isn’t the time of the Renaissance artist: let’s have a little respect paid to the OTA as separate people and as a team of three amazing heroes and as people who have loved each other in many different ways: team mates, partners, friends, family... lovers. Married soul mates. Brothers/comrades in arms.

Let’s have that moment that makes us all glad we’ve been watching for years, where the city, Rene/Dinah/Curtis and the law recognise them.

I’ll probably add to this list.

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Celebrating The Sopranos Review: Three Part Doc Doesn’t Stop Believin’

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The whole idea of big Sunday dinners in Italian homes may seem like a cliché, but someone’s pouring tomato sauce on top of onions and garlic fried in olive oil on stovetops every weekend. The Sopranos, both the series and the two families at the center of it, brought just desserts every Sunday night to homes across America. Although, Carmela (Edie Falco) had been known to show up at neighbors’ homes mid-week, unannounced, with ricotta pie. It is only fitting that the main setting of Celebrating The Sopranos are fine dining establishments.

Consisting of three separate films, Celebrating The Sopranos is a series of conversations held by critics Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall, and cast members Federico Castelluccio (Furio Guinta), Arthur J. Nascarella (Carlo Gervasi), Vincent Pastore (Salvatore “Big Pussy’ Bonpensiero), and Vincent Curatola (Johnny ‘Sack’ Sacramoni), in restaurants that meant something to the show. For dessert, they serve up an interview with the creator, David Chase, but he only drinks coffee. This is doubly sweet because Chase doesn’t grant many interviews.

The conversations are cordial, which doesn’t add to the mythology or provide new insight. Even casual fans of the series have spotted the actors working together in some form or another in earlier works. We’re not surprised by the respect they show for Edie Falco, who does not have a seat at the table. But things heat up when the actors break omerta. That’s one of the things you have to love about actors who play gangsters: they break the vow of silence as easily as they break off the ass of a loaf of semolina bread to scoop up a stray sausage.

Revenge is a dish best served cold, according to the old Sicilian proverb. But the cast dishes out old grudges warmly. They name names and wink at the camera. They offhandedly drop who James Gandolfini, who led the “glorified” Jersey crime crew as Tony Soprano, thought was a pain in the ass. They mention people who never should have been on the set in the first place, and how you’d be lucky to catch Joey Pants (Joe Pantoliano) wearing pants off camera. The actors talk about who got paid by HBO, and who went without pay to make sure everybody got to wet their beaks.

Vincent Pastore breaks down during questioning giving us some insight into the actors relationship with HBO. His character, Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero, was a rat and a lesson to every character and actor on the show. He was the first major character to get killed off. Big Pussy’s execution taught the audience not to get too close to any of the characters. Look how close Bonpensiero was to Tony. It broke Paulie’s heart. Silvio was beside himself. But Big Pussy had to go.

It became a trend on HBO. They started killing off characters left and right. The Red Wedding sequence in Game of Thrones is nothing if not a major character culling. Nobody’s safe on HBO, characters or actors, and Pastore jokes about getting around that. He carries around a contract at all times, just in case.

Actually, the contract turns out to be a call sheet to an HBO show, and one of the highlights of the documentary is Vincent Curatola, who played New York mob boss Johnny “Sack” Sacramoni, demanding he do a nude scene. It’s an imperative. I don’t know if Pastore will wind up shooting one but, like Curatola, it is something I now need to see. The chemistry between the actors offscreen is no less tangible, and no less dangerous. They’re not out for blood, that’s a terrible expense. But one false word and they are all over each other. They don’t miss a trick.

Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall didn’t miss a trick either. They’ve been reviewing The Sopranos since the show first began airing, and they were doing it for Tony Soprano’s hometown paper, The Newark Star-Ledger. They went on to co-author the book The Sopranos Sessions. The feature length interview, My Dinner with Alan: A Sopranos Session, finds them trying the onion rings at Holsten’s in Bloomfield, N.J., where the last scene of the series cuts to black. Besides hassling the waitresses over cholesterol, “Session 1: The Critics” lets them nitpick the series, the role of psychiatry in mob entertainment, and the origin of Taylor Ham.

“Session 2: The Cast” is served as a four-course meal at Il Cortile at 125 Mulberry Street in downtown New York City. It is also called “The Last Supper” because that Little Italy restaurant was where the cast would take actors after their characters were killed off on the show.

Federico Castelluccio, who played Furio Guinta on the series, occasionally seems like he’s surprised to be at the adult table. He looks visibly shocked at some of the revelations pouring out the mouths of his co-stars. Like a good soldier, he immediately closes rank in solidarity, but it is very revealing just how much he missed while acting. He, like Pastore, is an artist, who is now also directing, but still learning about the politics of TV programming. It was completely refreshing.

But not as much as almost every word which comes out of Arthur J. Nascarella, who played caporegime Carlo Gervasi on the series. He is not the biggest name at the table. He admits his character barely made a blip on the audience, but he’s also got nothing to lose. He says he used to tag along with Pastore to auditions and con his way in. When he told his father he got his first part, his dad went out and got headshots. When Curatola dismisses some of the writers’ choices and asks who made them God, Gervasi says he was happy for every line he got.

This comes in response to one of the new facts we get about the behind-the-scenes doing on The Sopranos. Iconic actor Burt Young put in an unforgettable performance in his one appearance as Bobby Baccalieri Sr. But the series casting people originally wanted Curatola’s father for the part. Another revelation is that none of the cast of The Sopranos will be seen in the prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark, which has been postponed from March to September.

The best part of the documentary is the last segment. David Chase: A Sopranos Session lets Matt and Alan pick Chase’s brain for any memories he hasn’t suppressed. He is very open about how some of the actors blame him for ruining their lives, and gives a lot of credit to James Gandolfini. The star transformed the show, Chase says. He’d originally envisioned it as something like a live-action gangster comedy resembling The Simpsons. But when Gandolfini grabbed Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) by the collar for talking about a screenplay, the entire dynamic changed.

Chase is interesting to watch. He doesn’t discount anything. He is a musician and thinks like one. Whether something was intended or not, he immediately is able to affirm an interpretation. While the actors may have bitched about the specifics of scripting, Chase seems like he appreciates happy accidents.

The Sopranos debuted on January 10, 1999, and changed TV. Filmed by Kristian Fraga and the team from Sirk Productions, this three-part feature film documenting the phenomenon is an enjoyable viewing for fans wanting to catch up with old friends. It’s a no-frills affair, there are no action sequences. The most dangerous weapon isn’t even the steak knife, it’s Curatola’s side glances.

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Celebrating The Sopranos is slated to hit theaters after its U.K. premiere in December, but is available online for a limited time until March 29. The special International VOD presentation is sponsored by Frankie & Benny’s, who is offering customers 50 percent off movie tickets.

The post Celebrating The Sopranos Review: Three Part Doc Doesn’t Stop Believin’ appeared first on Den of Geek.

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smokeybrandreviews · 6 years

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Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Just a Girl

So i saw Captain Marvel opening day. I was part of that rush, yes. Cap was one of my most anticipated films of the year for me. She’s actually my fifth favorite Marvel character, second favorite female character. When i heard she was getting a film, i was apprehensive. No one knows who Cap is. They don’t know how powerful she is. Hell, how would that power-set translate to the MCU? When they announced Brie Larson was going to play Carol, i was concerned. Not because Brie is a feminist or man-hater as the less intelligent parts of the internet would like to focus on, but more she didn’t fit the bill for an MCU hero. Larson is an excellent actress, one of my favorite working today. What she ain’t, is charismatic. There’s a different type of energy you need to carry an MCU film and Marvel has done an excellent job of finding people who capture that spirit. Brie has never demonstrated, in any of her roles, an ability to do that. I was super on the fence about this entire situation. I want this film to succeed. I want it to be good. I want Captain Marvel to get he shine she deserves. My fingers were crossed this would be good. And then the less intelligent parts of the internet got to it.

I wrote about this at length in my Captain Controversy post. The thing about Captain Marvel, the thing that i love about her, is the small moments. When she interacts with other characters, she's super on point. In a team dynamic, Carol is amazing. On her own? Not so much. This stems from the fact that the origins of her character are from that whole women lib movement of the 70s. She's a rule 63 of the original Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell. She-Hulk kind of has the same issues but, given proper writing and development, they both shine. Carol, however, has not had the same luck in that department as Jessica and it shows. Throughout the years, as a comic entity, Carol's had, like, three stories that have been dope - all of them occurring in the late 00s until now. Bendis has done a great service in developing Carol into her own, independent, personality and the recent revelations in her new origin, The Life of Captain Marvel, have gone a long way to establishing a future where Captain Marvel can be great. She has a ton of potential to be excellent and I think, as a creator, I am drawn to that aspect of her. Plus, she has had some really dope costumes over the years. Now, I said three good stories because the bulk of Captain Marvel in modern Marvel comics, has, more or less, become a poster child for gender politics and THAT sh*t is whack! That sh*t is why none of the fanboys want to have anything to do with this character. And casting Brie Larson, a very vocal feminist, does not help in any capacity. All of that White Male Outrage has review bombed the f*ck out of this film and I don't think it deserves any of it. I think, removed from all of the butt-hurt Menisists and fragile male egos, there are very real issues with this film. Issues that hinder but never detract. This is why I took so much time before writing this review. I actually wanted to digest what I saw on the screen and try to distance myself from my admitted bias and this weird, sad, unwarranted hate, this flick has been getting. So, with a properly digested understanding of what I saw, here is what I thought about Captain Marvel.

The Good

They changed the opening Marvel title card from MCU events, to all of Stan Lee's cameos and that sh*t hurt, man. They ended it with “Thank You, Stan.” The entire theater lost it. It's been a few months, but that loss still hurts, man. Marvel Comics means a lot to me and Stan is one of the principal architects. Say what you will about the quality of his character, the strength of his work will stand the test of time.

Speaking of Stan Lee cameos, this is easily his second best after the one he had in Spider-Verse. If you're a 90s kid, or someone who grew up during the 90s, you'll know why. It's f*cking brilliant and I loved it. I bet Kevin Smith did, too.

Sam Jackson knocks it out of the park as usual. His Nick Fury has been the linchpin of the MCU since way back in the Iron Man stinger. You see a lot of who he was before all of the responsibility and SHIELD clout, which was mad refreshing. If we loose RDJ, I think we'll be alright if we can keep Sam around for the occasional pop-in.

I think Brie Larson did fantastic in her first stint as Carol. I mean, with the exception of RDJ and Tom Holland, who f*cking knocked it out of the park as Pete, every other MCU hero needed time to grow and figure out HOW to be those characters. We had, what? Three different Hulks before they hit that sweet spot with Ruffalo? It took Hemsworth four movies before he cracked Thor? Hell, Cummerbund had to have two films and an end credits stinger to get Strange right. What I'm saying is, a lot of what cats are dinging Larson for, will work itself out over time. Especially when she gets into the think of it with everyone else in Endgame. Also, a better script and director would go a long way to helping that growth, as well.

The chemistry between Carol and Nick was wonderful. His movie is a buddy cop flick more so than any other in the MCU so far. I think Carol needs that to play off and, in the comics, she usually has Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman, to do a lot of that with. Considering it looks like the MCU is going in another direction with that, which is a shame because that dynamic would be awesome to see onscreen, what we got with Fury and Danvers was great.

This guy Ben Medelshon? How great of an actor is he? Dude is almost always the best part of any film he's in, even if they're trash. Like, he was the best thing but Ready Player One and that movie was a right clusterf*ck. Mendelsohn in this, is just as brilliant as he was in that, pulling off what no other villain in the MCU forced to wear such heavy face make-up has been able to do; Act. Mendelsohn's Talos, even caked with an inch of green paint, was never not charismatic and human. Dude was amazing and it kind of paints the MCU into a corner as to how to make these cats terrorists later which is messed up. I was kind of looking forward to Veranke...

The soundtrack for this thing s probably the best since Black Panther. Personally, being of negro descent, I think THAT soundtrack is the best of the MCU. Kendrick created a goddamn masterpiece, man. But I would imagine the more accessible Awesome Mix vol 1 is more the masses speed and, I agree. That sh*t is awesome. I haven't heard all of Vol 2 so I can't comment on that one but, what we got in Captain Marvel, was absolutely wonderful. There's a scene where No Doubt's Just a girl starts playing and it made me smile. It's a little on the nose but still, a great time.

Goose was awesome. I kind of hate that they changed her name from Chewie to Goose, but I get why. Air Force. Top Gun. Danger Zone. Clever. Flerkens and Feminism, man.

Speaking of, the message this movie sends for little girls is amazing. Wonder Woman had kind of the same effect but I think Captain Marvel is the superior film, overall. That and Carol is literally the nuclear deterrent of the MCU. She is, by far, the most powerful hero on the Avengers roster. For it to be a woman? Fantastic! I've seen so many positive affirmations and uplifting testimonials from women about how this movie made them feel. That sh*t is important, man. I'm all about representation in media so to have such a monumental moment being taken in like it should, in spite of such... immature hostility, was great. When I was walking out of the theater, I saw a little girl absolutely gushing about how cool Captain Marvel was and that sh*t legit made me smile. She's a fan for life and might grow up to be the next great creator who makes some pretty cool stuff because she went to see a movie, about a girl who can do some pretty cool stuff. If that sh*t doesn't make you feel good, you're an asshole and need to get off my page, post-haste.

This movie is f*cking gorgeous. Cap's powers translated to the screen brilliantly and even her Binary mode was something to behold. Like, if we ever get a proper, live action, DBZ, they should take note because watching her go super saiyan was f*cking amazing. It kind of sucks she had no one to go super saiyan against. I'd loved to have seen her go up against Ronan and his hammer but nope. Maybe next time? Even more than that, the de-aging effect of Fury was kind of miraculous. Sam Jackson looked younger than his stint as Jules in Pulp Fiction, which is suppose to be out around that time in the film. I was shocked.

The Meh

The supporting cast in this was a little flaccid. They felt more like meat targets than viable characters in this flick. Everyone touted Gemma Chan's Min'Erva as someone to watch but, nope. She didn't do much but sit on a rock/platform and shoot things from distance. The return of Son of Coal? Nope. Like, 4 minutes of Clark Gregg, which sucked. Annette Bening? One of the greatest actresses to ever grace Hollywood? Pulling double duty as a gender swapped Mar-Vell and The Great Intelligence? Nope. She literally just stood or laid around in every one of her scenes. Lee Pace? Man, this didn't even bother giving Ronan the face makeup. Jude Law was Yon-Rogg was completely underused. I think, though, that everyone except Jackson and Brie were underused.

Kind of in that same vein, the overall character development In this was... underwhelming? You never get a feel for who Carol is. Even when she commits to one personae over another, you don't really care. She's dope, overall, but that's more because of her interactions with Fury than any semblance of self realization on her part. Essentially, the weakest part of this film stems from how the writing let the main character down. This thing doesn't look like there was a lot of Marvel Films edicts to bog it down so there should have be a wealth of free range to develop this character. We did not get any of that. Maybe in future films but this one? Nah.

This thing has no idea what it wants to be, where it wants to go, or how it wants to get there. The tonal whiplash in this movie is crazy jarring. The performances and effects do a great job of distracting you from most of that but, if you're paying attention to the structure of this film, you can see it clearly. There was no path, no consensus, on how to introduce this character and her story. In that regard, this is one of the weakest of the MCU films, for sure.

There are hints of a grander scope in this flick. We saw a bit of Hala. We saw a bit of the Accusers. We learned a bit more about the Kree. The Starforce interactions were awesome. The second we get to earth? All of that out the window. That could be forgiven if what we witnessed on earth was more fleshed-out, more organic, but this was kind of a paint-by-numbers tale. I think that has a lot to do with the direction. Speaking of which...

The Bad

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were the wrong people to make this movie. You needed someone with the vision to deliver a massive space opera but focus in on the character struggle and inner conflict of Carol Danvers. You had a great actress to help pull of that vision but the ones trying to guide that performance were out of their depth I think. The pair do a lot of low budget, character driven, indie flicks, and that's fine. Those films have a very specific tone, a very specific line of execution. That type of storytelling does not lend itself to a tent pole MCU film. Sure, Marvel has been great as finding diamonds in the rough to make masterworks out of the mundane (The Russos, James Gunn, Ryan Coogler) but they have also had a lot of misses. Whoever did the first two Thor films, letting Edgar Wright go over creative differences, and now these two cats. I'm not saying they are bad directors but, for this type of film? Horrible choice, I think.

Kind of in that same discussion has to be the mediocrity of the overall writing. The dialogue in some of these interactions was outright awful. Like, anytime Ronan was on screen, I kind of groaned. Anytime Bening had airtime, I rolled my eyes. These excellent actors that I've seen give much better performances in other flicks, had next to nothing to work with in this flick. That can be said about everyone in this movie. I feel like there should have been much more care given to this script considering it's going to be Carol who carries the next Phase of Marvel films.

While I loves the Grrrl power message laced throughout this flick, the way it was delivered seems a little heavy handed at times. That scene where Just A Girl playing? I love that sh*t. But, at the same time, I can see how it could alienate a vast swath of fans. It's ill to me because why shouldn't we celebrate a powerful woman coming into her own? I, personally, don't see anything wrong with it but I'd be considered a cuck by men less than myself and that's who will have an issue with this. Unfortunately, they make up a massive portion of the fanbase who see capeflicks. That being said, even with all of the tirades, tantrums, and review bombs, Cap might break 100 mil, which is great for the franchise and the MCU overall.

There is a real lack of imagination in this movie and I think it goes back to the the choice in directors. I touched on it a little before, but, I mean, you have a galactic space opera, taking place on two planets, with a ludicrously OP, female, protagonist who has amnesia so is an absolute clean slate, and the best you can do is a sun-of-the-mill, fish out of water tale? F*cking really? There are little moments of brilliance here and there but overall, this was underwhelming for 9ne of the most powerful character in Marvel comics.

The Verdict

I really enjoyed Captain Marvel. I thought it was a decent introduction to a character that had, up until very recently, no direction in the lore of the Marvel mythos. This movie has it's issues, for sure, but I think these things can be fixed with a different director, a better script, and much, much, more imagination. I think the biggest issue with this thing is the utter lack of Marvel. It doesn't feel like a Marvel film. It feels like a Marvel film by way of Fox or Sony. This is, more or less, because the character of Captain Marvel is also so wayward. There are a lot of good ideas here and I am convinced Brie Larson can develop into something special, but it's going to take a while. It's going to take someone with a clear vision for spectacle and respect for character. Thor took a while and Taika Waititi to be great. Strange took a while and the Russos to feel organic. Lang took a while but, I mean, Paul Rudd was awesome from the get. He just shines much. Much better when alongside others. I think going forward, if Feige can find that right balance of creativity and vision in the creatives behind the camera, Captain Marvel will be great. As she is now, just like this movie, she's fun but hollow. Marvel hasn't cracked Captain Marvel just yet but when they do, she'll be absolutely Marvelous. Ultimately, I'd say check it out. It's beautiful, entertaining, and Sam Jackson is always awesome. For a weekend distraction, you can do much worse.

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smokeybrand · 6 years

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Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Just a Girl

The Good

Goose was awesome. I kind of hate that they changed her name from Chewie to Goose, but I get why. Air Force. Top Gun. Danger Zone. Clever. Flerkens and Feminism, man.

The Meh

The Bad

The Verdict

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profgandalf · 7 years

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Can Humor Be Holy?

A few years ago I was disturbed by an idea presented in Milan Kundera’s Book of Laughter and Forgetting. "Laughter” he writes “belongs to the devil because laughter happens when the meaning of things is subverted." Now I, as a Christian, want to believe--in contrast to this--that laughter is firmly in the domain of Heaven because “all good things come from Him” (James 1: 17). (Also I love to laugh although my enjoyment of something is hardly a measure of its healthfulness. I love coffee but doubt it will be in Heaven.) Still. if you’ve read my article about “Hallowing Halloween,” you know that my central argument is that Halloween should be used by Christian to mock the claims of supernatural power claimed by Satan and his followers.

Kundera has a Point:

That all being said, I must admit Kundera’s point. Humor functions to undermine, to tear down, to prick someone’s bubble, to reveal the weakness of a position or stance. That’s what it does: it points to the absurd and holds it up for ridicule. “All comedy,” according to John Cleese, “is critical.” (For an excellent exposition on this see this short video in which he is featured.) This, however, may make many of us uncomfortable. First off we know that humor has been used to destroy or at least devalue what many of us thought of as being sacrosanct. Sexual purity, love of country, the role of the father within the family are all concepts which have been held up for ridicule in contemporary comic media. It should be noted that these ideas do not lose support because they are intrinsically weak but because there are so many who espoused them who were less than successful. Their foolishness gave the humor a recognition of truth. Ralph Kramden, Fred Flintstone or Peter Griffin when bellowing that he is the head of the house is all the more absurd since each represents a class of men who may claim that without fulfilling it. Furthermore in argument the rhetorical tool of mockery is recognized as profoundly effective even when there reason provides little to advance a cause.

”Senator, Your No Jack Kennedy”

Witness the famous line “"Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." This put-down was a remark made during the 1988 United States vice-presidential debate by Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Lloyd Bentsen to Republican vice-presidential candidate Sen. Dan Quayle. It was devastating and yet in no way met the actual observations Quayle was making.

Still as noted by Wikipedia “Bentsen's comment was played and replayed by the Democrats in their subsequent television ads as an announcer intoned: "Quayle: just a heartbeat away." It proved sure-laugh fodder for comedians, and more and more editorial cartoons depicted Quayle as a child (Saturday Night Live actually used a child actor to portray Quayle in several sketches.” (”Senator, Your No Jack Kennedy”)

Isn’t it Just Mean?

Many people of faith also wonder if tearing things down fits into the life-style consecrated to holiness a life-style supposedly epitomized by love, a goal that all serious believers are supposed to be aspiring towards. Isn’t laughter, they wonder “by its very critical nature mean?” The reader may recall Buzz Lightyear’s suspicious confusion in Toystory, when facing Woody’s laughter over him not realizing he’s not a Space Ranger, not living in a world where aliens exist. “Your mocking me aren’t you?” He doesn’t lie it and I for one felt a little bad for him.

(Side Note: My family finds this scene especially hysterical, pointing at me since apparently I periodically miss the ludicrousness I am revealing in my own behavior.)

“Clueless Buzz” as the creators of the Toystory series call him does have his world crash down upon him and it is traumatic. But the fact is that the befuddlement depicted is that of anyone who does not realize that he or she is being absurd. He is guilt of affectation not from hypocrisy but from ignorance.

Henry Fielding says that humor should be used to mock individuals out of affectation so that they will be better people. But that means that the motivation of the comic must be wholesome. What may be of some concern Buzz’s case is that the humor is not being used to improve him, but is instead being used by Woody to bring him down. Oh sure he’s delusional and one can argue that having a true understanding of one’s self is vital for effective living (“You ARE a toy!”) But what is the real final intent of the mockery? To put him in his place.

Keep in mind that in this scene Woody is using humor as a weapon against the toy who has replaced him in his high post in Andy’s affections as well as his room. So does Buzz deserves this treatment because of his arrogance and self delusion? It is interesting to note that in the film Woody finds himself cast out of Andy’s room because his own dark agenda is revealed. And this “weaponization” is perhaps the point.

Humor is a Weapon

Weapons are not always evil. As a gun owner I affirm this. But they are always weapons. If gun can be used to stop evil perhaps wholesome humor, exists because some ideas deserve to be shown to be the absurdities they are. As I said in my article of Halloween, Satan’s Rebellion is a doomed farce and he knows it. But the struggle against evil requires weapons. So, like it or not, humor is a weapon and perhaps a necessary one.

But when or how does one use a weapon? Potentially a consciousness comedian might be like a consciousness objector. The later asks “Can one use deadly force to do good?” The first should wonder “Is it suitable to hold up others or things up for scorn?” Humor, it must be remembered, is a kind of force, a potentially dangerous one. It has recognized as such since ancient times. However I affirm that it can be used in this way and still be Holy. Others may feel differently just as good people disagree with me about guns.

Weapons Must Be Used with Care

In the Stanford online Encyclopedia of Philosophy John Morreall in his article on the “Philosophy of Humor” reminds readers that while “Aristotle considered wit a valuable part of conversation (Nicomachean Ethics 4, 8), he [also] agreed with Plato that laughter expresses scorn.

Wit, he says in the Rhetoric (2, 12), is educated insolence. In the Nicomachean Ethics (4, 8) he warns that ‘Most people enjoy amusement and jesting more than they should … a jest is a kind of mockery, and lawgivers forbid some kinds of mockery—perhaps they ought to have forbidden some kinds of jesting.’ Morreall goes on to say “These objections to laughter and humor influenced early Christian thinkers, and through them later European culture” (”The Philosophy of Humor--Humor’s Bad Reputation.)

This may explain why a blogger when posting an analysis of the concept of the laughing Jesus completely admits that the whole concept of a laughing Jesus is actually a “newish” concept (Check out Happy Jesus, Part 1: ) He even goes on to quote G.K. Chesterton

“There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth.” -G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (1908)

Did Jesus laugh as the above opening painting suggest? But at what? Would he find anyone falling on a banana peel funny or would his empathy always make him go “aww” when a disciple missteped on the rocky Roman roads of the Holy Land? Did he think that watching Peter bubbling in the water as he sank under his own doubt hysterical? I do, but did He? What about the look of incredulity of his disciples’ faces when he revealed himself as alive after stopping from the road to Emmaus? And do you find the images of a teethy Christ which I found when looking for this article’s main painting, a bit creepy? I confess I did.

This brings up another aspect of humor separate from the recognition of it as a powerful weapon.

Humor is Often at Odds with Cultural Norms and Culture Shapes How We See It

Part of our discomfort of Holy Humor (and Jesus finding us funny) is that laughter has very little to do with how we traditionally view Christ. Cultural expectations are powerful. And understanding culture is a vital when talking about humor.

The aforementioned Kundera, for example, started life under the repressive regime of Communist Czechoslovakia, a nation at the time ruled by a system in which the authorities claimed to be good but crushed any who apposed it. Any humorous criticism of the state would be branded as evil, a stance he personally embraced. Thus, he is by inclination wanting to side with the rebellious.

Orthodoxy maintenance never has a sense of humor. (In another novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Kundera presents a character named Sabina who admits to her distaste for parades, explains her feelings as being because in her Communist past children were forced to parade. This stands in contrast to her all her western friends who love parades both official and for causes.) In The Book of Laughter and Forgetting Kundera sees the forces of Heaven as not being specifically always supporting the good but as powers which are concerned with maintaining God’s creation. Thus, they are always by nature preserving never tearing down. Heaven keeps rules, Hell breaks them. The trouble for us here on Earth is that we know that there are some rules which need to be broken.This is not an especially new idea

Kundera, in some ways, is articulating the ideas of the 17th century British poet William Blake who saw the active, dynamic poet organically as being rebellious in contrast to those in culture who are submissive and sedative as being Godly. Specifically he was trying to explain why for many readers Milton in Paradise Lost is so compelling but somehow is less so in Paradise Regained:

The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & God, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil's party without knowing it. (The Marriage of Heaven and Hell ca. 1790–93)

The trouble then comes down to the basic assumption that goodness is supposed to be non-aggressiveness, submissive, and un-confrontational, but does any of that actually describe Christ? The answer is a resounding no.

Humor a Weapon in A Holy War

I will concede that humor, like any weapon, can be misused. I have seen it done so. I will also admit that humor has been an effective tool to make me laugh at what I should not. Sexual promiscuity is destructive and making jokes about the break down of a family’s moral structure should not be funny. However none of that takes away from the profoundly healthful and important role holy humor has in our world. It is a weapon against darkness.

Henry Fielding began his ground-breaking work (today called “a novel”) on a belief in the moral value of humor. In his Preface to Joseph Andrews, part of his first great comic novel, Fielding argues for the moral importance of humor--tying it in to what he as a neo-Augustine would have considered the height of art, the classics, He describes his work as the “Comic Epic in Prose.” He makes it clear that for him there is only one worthy target for humor, that of human folly in affectation:

The only source of the true Ridiculous (as it appears to me) is affectation. But tho’ it arises from one spring only, when we consider the infinite streams into which this one branches, we shall presently cease to admire at the copious field it affords to an observer. Now affectation proceeds from one of these two causes; vanity, or hypocrisy: for as vanity puts us on affecting false characters, in order to purchase applause; so hypocrisy sets us on an endeavour to avoid censure by concealing our vices under an appearance of their opposite virtues. and tho’ these two causes are often confounded, (for they require some distinguishing;) yet, as they proceed from very different motives, so they are as clearly distinct in their operations: for indeed, the affectation which arises from vanity is nearer to truth than the other; as it hath not that violent repugnancy of nature to struggle with, which that of the hypocrite hath.

And so Fielding perhaps best calls the best of what Holy Humor is. It is a weapon that should be aimed at the folly we all carry within us. Cleese in the above cited video mentions what he calls the most inclusive of jokes; “How Does one make God laugh? Answer: Tell him your iron clad plans.” CS Lewis in his epistolary novel The Screwtape Letters (which Cleese actually performed in the audio book version of) indented his “book as a fairly humorous work, Lewis's goals included both reflections on the nature of evil and an effort to create a different portrayal of the Devil than the sort normally seen in pop culture. Screwtape has practically No Sense of Humor himself, and comes across as a sort of cranky cosmic killjoy” (TV Tropes “Screwtape letters”) Humor is a great weapon which is especially dramatized as Screwtape in a rage at being a source of entertainment to the patient’s love interest (the kind of woman who would find ME funny) turns himself into a worm.. In Christ’s hands and in ours humor should be used to laugh us out of our own folly and the diabolical forces who attempt to use it.

#holiness #humor

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melindarowens · 7 years

Text

2017: Right Splits over Civil Disobedience, Left Splits over Political Violence

This week’s biggest political controversies exposed fault lines within the country’s major political factions, with the right fighting about civil disobedience while the left fought over the attempted murder of a Republican Congressman.

Shakespeare in the Park

On Friday night, two conservatives disrupted a New York performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar that escalates the left’s campaign of imagery designed to cathartically depict the death or murder of President Donald Trump. TheRebel.tv’s Laura Loomer was arrested for running onstage during the Shakespeare in the Park production, while activist Jack Posobiec taped her demonstration and shouted at the crowd: “The blood of Steve Scalise is on your hands!”

“Old Right”

Several authors at anti-Trump conservative publications condemned Loomer and Posobiec, arguing that the two infringed on the free speech of Shakespeare in the Park and their tactics were too close to the Occupy of Black Lives Matter movement.

Pro-Trump conservatives labeled this faction the “old right,” stating that there is no moral equivalence between this disruption and the violence of left-wing protesters in dozens of recent incidents.

The old right losers who are upset about what Laura did don’t realize that unlike them, we fight – and that’s why our guy won. #FreeLaura

— Cassandra Fairbanks (@CassandraRules) June 17, 2017

Which is appropriate

She broke the law.

To fight an injustice

Just like #RosaParks https://t.co/VubPBkRbuH

— Google “CNN,175,Sue” (@NolteNC) June 17, 2017

They’re literally shooting at us and you want to play Marquis of Queensbury.

Cowardice.

Fight the enemy or fuck you.

— Google “CNN,175,Sue” (@NolteNC) June 17, 2017

Oh yeah, leftist students threatening conservatives with violence is the exact same as a 1 minute interruption of Shakespeare in the Park https://t.co/5oMTc5YIV0

— Scott Greer (@ScottMGreer) June 17, 2017

This is the mentality that has sat, patted itself on the back, and watched for decades as America has gone further and further Left https://t.co/pcEf3YbZ2C

— DanRiehl (@DanRiehl) June 17, 2017

We went to one play and accomplished more for the message than the millions donated to think tanks and handed to K Street. Let that sink in

— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) June 17, 2017

Schlichter vs. Podhoretz

One archetypical exchange in the aftermath of the Julius Caesar demonstration saw Tablet editor and “Never Trump”-er John Podhoretz facing off with lawyer and author Kurt Schlichter.

I’d say I just learned tonight you’re a drooling, immoral, melodramatic idiot, but alas, I learned that long ago. https://t.co/2WuZPvp0Ux

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) June 17, 2017

you want affirmative action for being a moron because you wore our country’s uniform? Happy to oblige.

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) June 17, 2017

Cernovich vs. Shapiro

Even more heated was the war of words between independent author and White House reporter Mike Cernovich, responding to criticism from former Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large and “Never Trump”-er Ben Shapiro.

This obnoxious stupid snowflake crap is no better than the protesters who try to block college speeches. https://t.co/mDyOL6fO7J

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 17, 2017

He doesn’t matter. None of those guys matter anymore. They don’t break news or make news. Controlled opposition for media to abuse. https://t.co/NXMhrqtt2m

— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) June 17, 2017

This is total, complete horse crap. She invaded a public performance to obstruct it. She has no right to the stage. https://t.co/YgcpKQrvPf

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 17, 2017

This is what a coward looks like. #FreeLaura https://t.co/EyiGZnR1a3

— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) June 17, 2017

After trading a few intense personal insults, both men reiterated their arguments — but no longer directly to each other.

They took stage for 1 minute.

The left pulls fire alarms, uses pepper spray, hits people with bike locks.

It’s not even close.

— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) June 17, 2017

Use free speech in ways that irritate the left. Do not impede other people’s freedom of speech. This is not difficult.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 18, 2017

At the same time, the left was infighting over a much more high-stakes topic: targeted political violence.

Steve Scalise

On Wednesday, a 66-year-old Illinois man opened fire on Republican lawmakers practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game, wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and putting him in critical condition through the weekend. The attacker — James Hodgkinson, who was killed by police returning fire — also shot Two Capitol Police officers, a congressional staffer, and a lobbyist. The Daily Caller has reported that investigators found a list of GOP lawmakers’ names on Hodgkinson’s body.

Instead of universal condemnation, Hodgkinson’s attack has brought about a tone-policing feud between the establishment left and the social justice left.

Impulse Control

Over the weekend, several Verified progressives of varying prominence — an L.A. Times blogger, the creator of #OscarsSoWhite, a rapper with 250 YouTube subscribers, an Uproxx editor, and TV actor George Takei — argued that sympathy for Rep. Scalise should not outweigh his sinful acts as a lawmaker. In most cases, more traditional liberals scolded their more radical peers for generating bad optics.

When will it be time to move Scalise’s opposition to gun control from the last graf of a story to the first? https://t.co/D3ZkHjFr2w

— Michael Hiltzik (@hiltzikm) June 18, 2017

You can despise Scalise’s politics and also despise the fact someone thought gun violence would somehow change his or anyone’s mind.

— John Haltiwanger (@jchaltiwanger) June 16, 2017

Wounded Congressman Scalise, who the GOP are so sad about, voted TWICE to not recognize the #MLK holiday. https://t.co/LKhFbJtIn9

— Iskandrah (@iskandrah) June 18, 2017

I ask you simply to look at Rep. Scalise’s record. Do you have sympathy for other white supremacists?

— Iskandrah (@iskandrah) June 15, 2017

Was Scalise a “human” when he voted against Marriage Equality and spoke at a white supremacy function? Or do only Dems need to be “human?” https://t.co/5lzMbfnKk0

— April (@ReignOfApril) June 16, 2017

and don’t tell me the man has a family and allat shit, because so do folk with their premiums traveling on a rocket to Mars

— SUPER SIZE (@GrandeMarshall) June 14, 2017

Made the mistake of looking up Steve Scalise voting record on women and LGBT rights. Time to break out Milkshake Duck.

— Donna Dickens (@MildlyAmused) June 14, 2017

I don’t have any tolerance for caveats on condemning political violence right now. You’re opening the door a crack. It needs to stay shut.

— jessicashortall (@jessicashortall) June 16, 2017

Cool – I guess enough time has passed since Scalise got shot that we can go back to attacking him as a homophobic bigot. Stay classy, Sulu. https://t.co/Pjkiai4yIN

— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) June 17, 2017

Why do we have to list Philando’s accolades? How come the headlines aren’t, “Steve Scalise, a bigot who is trying to kill you, got shot”?

— Brandi Geography B. (@ItsTheBrandi) June 17, 2017

Josh Barro, an editor at Business Insider, wrote a thread on how the dehumanization of the left’s political opponents is “bad for society.” Dozens of progressives rebuked Barro in the responses, calling him misguided, “insincere,” and “white boy.”

This feels like the wrong week to do an analysis of whether Steve Scalise is a good congressman.

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) June 18, 2017

On the other side of the argument, New Jersey Democratic strategist James Devine urged progressives to “hunt Republican Congressmen.”

Scarborough vs. Reid

On Saturday, MSNBC host Joy Reid called the situation “delicate” because, while “everybody is wishing the congressman well and hoping that he recovers” from an apparent assassination attempt, Reid lamented that “Scalise has a history that we’ve all been forced to sort of ignore on race.”

Joe Scarborough, one of Reid’s colleagues, appeared to attack this segment — without naming his target. CNN anchor Jake Tapper co-signed the condemnation.

Rep. #Scalise was shot by a white man with a violent background, and saved by a black lesbian police officer, and yet… #AMJoy pic.twitter.com/Qm96T90c6Y

— AM Joy w/Joy Reid (@amjoyshow) June 17, 2017

If you are attacking Steve Scalise’s voting record right now, do yourself a favor and just stop now. I can’t even believe what I’m seeing.

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) June 17, 2017

Who would even think for one second that it is appropriate to attack a man who is fighting for his life after an assassination attempt?

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) June 17, 2017

Agreed. Unfathomable. https://t.co/nh4BbDH4OM

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 17, 2017

Pelosi vs. Pelosi

Septuagenarian Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi’s conflicting reactions to the Scalise shooting provided the clearest example of progressive id vs. progressive super-ego.

On the day of the shooting, she said — in direct contradiction to virtually every other statement she has made about President Trump and Republicans — that she prayed for unity in the wake of the attack.

On days like today, there are no Democrats or Republicans, only Americans united in our thoughts for the wounded. https://t.co/HcsiRCcFiP

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) June 14, 2017

Yet the very next day, in a seemingly unscripted moment, she returned to her default position of partisan blame:

Somewhere in the 1990s, Republicans decided on the politics of personal destruction as they went after the Clintons and that is the provenance of it and is what has continued. Again, I feel as if we’re having a family moment that is very, very serious and we’re talking about things that we can say, the discussion—save the discussion for another day. When you have a president that says, “I can shoot somebody on 5th Avenue and nobody would care,” when you have people saying, “beat them up and I’ll pay their legal fees,” when you have all the assaults that are made on Hillary Clinton, for them to be so sanctimonious is something.

The New Political Landscape

Two parties — Republicans and Democrats — still essentially rule American politics, but their constituencies are becoming more tribal and divided, even against their electoral allies. Trump voters hate Republican lawmakers, such as Sens. John McCain and Ben Sasse, for publicly attacking the president and his agenda during and after the 2016 election. Democrats are still picking up the pieces from a contentious DNC leadership race, where establishment-friendly Obama ally Evan Perez narrowly defeated far-left Rep. Keith Ellison.

These same divisions play out in cultural institutions, such as the social justice warriors purging classical liberal professor Bret Weinstein from the Evergreen State College campus or Fox News’ internal fight over the future of its programming style.

The arguments taking place now are over what are appropriate means to victory over the other side: for the right, whether to be polite or ruthless — and for the left, whether to be ruthless or violent.

Source link

source http://capitalisthq.com/2017-right-splits-over-civil-disobedience-left-splits-over-political-violence/ from CapitalistHQ http://capitalisthq.blogspot.com/2017/06/2017-right-splits-over-civil.html

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everettwilkinson · 7 years

Text

2017: Right Splits over Civil Disobedience, Left Splits over Political Violence

Shakespeare in the Park

“Old Right”

The old right losers who are upset about what Laura did don’t realize that unlike them, we fight – and that’s why our guy won. #FreeLaura

— Cassandra Fairbanks (@CassandraRules) June 17, 2017

Which is appropriate

She broke the law.

To fight an injustice

Just like #RosaParks https://t.co/VubPBkRbuH

— Google “CNN,175,Sue” (@NolteNC) June 17, 2017

They’re literally shooting at us and you want to play Marquis of Queensbury.

Cowardice.

Fight the enemy or fuck you.

— Google “CNN,175,Sue” (@NolteNC) June 17, 2017

Oh yeah, leftist students threatening conservatives with violence is the exact same as a 1 minute interruption of Shakespeare in the Park https://t.co/5oMTc5YIV0

— Scott Greer (@ScottMGreer) June 17, 2017

This is the mentality that has sat, patted itself on the back, and watched for decades as America has gone further and further Left https://t.co/pcEf3YbZ2C

— DanRiehl (@DanRiehl) June 17, 2017

We went to one play and accomplished more for the message than the millions donated to think tanks and handed to K Street. Let that sink in

— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) June 17, 2017

Schlichter vs. Podhoretz

One archetypical exchange in the aftermath of the Julius Caesar demonstration saw Tablet editor and “Never Trump”-er John Podhoretz facing off with lawyer and author Kurt Schlichter.

I’d say I just learned tonight you’re a drooling, immoral, melodramatic idiot, but alas, I learned that long ago. https://t.co/2WuZPvp0Ux

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) June 17, 2017

you want affirmative action for being a moron because you wore our country’s uniform? Happy to oblige.

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) June 17, 2017

Cernovich vs. Shapiro

This obnoxious stupid snowflake crap is no better than the protesters who try to block college speeches. https://t.co/mDyOL6fO7J

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 17, 2017

He doesn’t matter. None of those guys matter anymore. They don’t break news or make news. Controlled opposition for media to abuse. https://t.co/NXMhrqtt2m

— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) June 17, 2017

This is total, complete horse crap. She invaded a public performance to obstruct it. She has no right to the stage. https://t.co/YgcpKQrvPf

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 17, 2017

This is what a coward looks like. #FreeLaura https://t.co/EyiGZnR1a3

— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) June 17, 2017

After trading a few intense personal insults, both men reiterated their arguments — but no longer directly to each other.

They took stage for 1 minute.

The left pulls fire alarms, uses pepper spray, hits people with bike locks.

It’s not even close.

— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) June 17, 2017

Use free speech in ways that irritate the left. Do not impede other people’s freedom of speech. This is not difficult.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 18, 2017

At the same time, the left was infighting over a much more high-stakes topic: targeted political violence.

Steve Scalise

Instead of universal condemnation, Hodgkinson’s attack has brought about a tone-policing feud between the establishment left and the social justice left.

Impulse Control

When will it be time to move Scalise’s opposition to gun control from the last graf of a story to the first? https://t.co/D3ZkHjFr2w

— Michael Hiltzik (@hiltzikm) June 18, 2017

You can despise Scalise’s politics and also despise the fact someone thought gun violence would somehow change his or anyone’s mind.

— John Haltiwanger (@jchaltiwanger) June 16, 2017

Wounded Congressman Scalise, who the GOP are so sad about, voted TWICE to not recognize the #MLK holiday. https://t.co/LKhFbJtIn9

— Iskandrah (@iskandrah) June 18, 2017

I ask you simply to look at Rep. Scalise’s record. Do you have sympathy for other white supremacists?

— Iskandrah (@iskandrah) June 15, 2017

Was Scalise a “human” when he voted against Marriage Equality and spoke at a white supremacy function? Or do only Dems need to be “human?” https://t.co/5lzMbfnKk0

— April (@ReignOfApril) June 16, 2017

and don’t tell me the man has a family and allat shit, because so do folk with their premiums traveling on a rocket to Mars

— SUPER SIZE (@GrandeMarshall) June 14, 2017

Made the mistake of looking up Steve Scalise voting record on women and LGBT rights. Time to break out Milkshake Duck.

— Donna Dickens (@MildlyAmused) June 14, 2017

I don’t have any tolerance for caveats on condemning political violence right now. You’re opening the door a crack. It needs to stay shut.

— jessicashortall (@jessicashortall) June 16, 2017

Cool – I guess enough time has passed since Scalise got shot that we can go back to attacking him as a homophobic bigot. Stay classy, Sulu. https://t.co/Pjkiai4yIN

— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) June 17, 2017

Why do we have to list Philando’s accolades? How come the headlines aren’t, “Steve Scalise, a bigot who is trying to kill you, got shot”?

— Brandi Geography B. (@ItsTheBrandi) June 17, 2017

This feels like the wrong week to do an analysis of whether Steve Scalise is a good congressman.

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) June 18, 2017

On the other side of the argument, New Jersey Democratic strategist James Devine urged progressives to “hunt Republican Congressmen.”

Scarborough vs. Reid

Joe Scarborough, one of Reid’s colleagues, appeared to attack this segment — without naming his target. CNN anchor Jake Tapper co-signed the condemnation.

Rep. #Scalise was shot by a white man with a violent background, and saved by a black lesbian police officer, and yet… #AMJoy pic.twitter.com/Qm96T90c6Y

— AM Joy w/Joy Reid (@amjoyshow) June 17, 2017

If you are attacking Steve Scalise’s voting record right now, do yourself a favor and just stop now. I can’t even believe what I’m seeing.

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) June 17, 2017

Who would even think for one second that it is appropriate to attack a man who is fighting for his life after an assassination attempt?

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) June 17, 2017

Agreed. Unfathomable. https://t.co/nh4BbDH4OM

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 17, 2017

Pelosi vs. Pelosi

Septuagenarian Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi’s conflicting reactions to the Scalise shooting provided the clearest example of progressive id vs. progressive super-ego.

On days like today, there are no Democrats or Republicans, only Americans united in our thoughts for the wounded. https://t.co/HcsiRCcFiP

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) June 14, 2017

Yet the very next day, in a seemingly unscripted moment, she returned to her default position of partisan blame:

The New Political Landscape

Source link

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#TrumpNews #CapitalistHQ.com

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pat78701 · 7 years

Text

44 Leaders, Legislators And Artists Sum Up Trump's First 100 Days

In October 2016, before Donald Trump defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, he outlined a plan of all the things he hoped to accomplish during his first 100 days in office.

But in the wake of failure and unfulfilled promises as his 100th day approaches, the president has changed his tune. Last week, he criticized “the ridiculous standard” of the first 100 days, slamming the deadline in one sentence.

No matter how much I accomplish during the ridiculous standard of the first 100 days, & it has been a lot (including S.C.), media will kill!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2017

To mark the milestone, HuffPost asked lawmakers, activists, lobbyists and influencers to offer their own (roughly) one-sentence takes on Trump’s first 100 days.

Here are the responses, which have been lightly edited for clarity and style:

Khizr Khan, Gold Star father

“Every action and word of Trump has [a] foul stench of political expediency and self-aggrandizing, total lack of moral compass and leadership.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.)

“President Trump has spent his first 100 days lying to the American people about issues both great and small, refusing to disclose his tax returns or address fears about his campaign’s ties to Russia, struggling to advance a coherent foreign policy strategy and failing to guarantee affordable health coverage for all Americans ... #sad!”

Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter

“45 has proven to be one of the most dangerous human beings on the planet; we must resist his regime and build a movement in the millions.”

Cathy Heller, one of the women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct

“[The first 100 days] are as bad as I thought they’d be. I am a bit relieved that some of his efforts — the travel ban, his health care bill — have been stymied so far, but those fights are not over.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

“Evolving.”

Philip Ellender, president of government and public affairs at Koch Industries

“We’re encouraged by the administration’s work to rein in burdensome and unnecessary regulatory overreach that has stifled innovation and has added unnecessary costs to goods and services that Americans rely on every day.”

Michael Mann, climate scientist

“Back in October, I wrote that Donald Trump is a threat to the planet, and what we have seen in his first 100 days of office — denying the threat of climate change, hiring climate deniers and fossil fuel industry lobbyists to fill key administrative roles, and issuing executive orders aimed at dismantling the progress of the past eight years — reaffirms that.”

Aasif Mandvi, actor

“It’s been 100 days. I can’t believe it’s only been 100 days. I thought he was going to take a year to start showing signs of demagoguery.”

Fr. James Martin, editor-at-large of America magazine and consultant to the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication

“I hope that the president might consider the needs of those he used to call ‘losers’ ― in this case, those who have lost out at the hands of the economy: the poor, the homeless, the unemployed, the sick and the uninsured.”

Sheryl Crow, singer-songwriter

“There’s been an arc of betrayal, chaos, manipulation and ignorance.”

Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center

“President Trump has proven in his first 100 days that the economic populism of his campaign was fake, but that the racism and xenophobia were very real. His support for the health care bill showed his indifference to the fate of those trying to make ends meet. At the same time, he’s pressed a far-right agenda targeting immigrants, Muslims, the LGBT community and others who are vulnerable.”

Tom Perriello, Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia

“It is hard to decide whether his supporters, whom I meet with often on the trail, are more disheartened by President Trump’s sheer incompetence, his ties to Russia, or his failure to focus on jobs, but this toxic trifecta means about the most positive review I hear is, ‘Give him a bit more time.’”

April Reign, activist who created #OscarsSoWhite

“Trump’s first 100 days have been harrowing and bear witness that we must challenge him and his administration at every turn by continuing to fight for justice and equity for all marginalized communities.”

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.)

“About as bad as could be expected from a team of misogynist, climate-change denying, anti-immigration, billionaire civil rights opponents, but we better be ready for even worse to come.”

Ben Cohen, activist and co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s

“It’s clear now that ‘Drain the Swamp’ really meant ‘Suck up all the morally bankrupt billionaires, Wall Street executives, and special-interest pond scum, and then pump them into the White House with a fire hose.’”

Raed Saleh, leader of Syrian rescue group the White Helmets

“After President Obama failed to uphold his ‘red line’ and let [Syrian President Bashar Assad] put Syria into a six-year spiral of horror and destruction, Syrians have found hope in President Trump’s resolve to reassert the international community’s intolerance towards the use of chemical weapons. We now wait to see if he will lead the international effort to help protect Syrians from other brutal regime tactics, and to help build a democratic alternative to the brutality and extremism of both Assad and ISIS.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)

“Promises to working families: either broken or unfulfilled.”

Former Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), executive director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

“To date, President Trump’s nuclear policy can only be described as consistently inconsistent. After 100 days with the nuclear codes, it’s still not clear that the president understands the complexity of the nuclear threats facing the United States or that these threats cannot be mitigated through tweeting.”

Kathy Griffin, comedian

“During the first 100 days, there’s been never a better time to be a standup comic and never a scarier time to be a human on the planet of Earth.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

“President Trump’s first 100 days have been a disastrous parade of broken promises to working people, handouts to wealthy special interests, and deep damage to the health and economic security of America’s families.”

Rob Delaney, comedian and co-creator of Amazon’s “Catastrophe”

“Seen from space, Trump’s first 100 days has been a muddled but steady effort to lay the groundwork to redistribute the nation’s wealth from the bottom 99 percent to the top 1 percent, with him and his grotesque family astride the foul summit (with a side order of bigotry).”

Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, director of external relations for the National Center for Transgender Equality

“The Trump administration has taken malicious and harmful actions against several minority groups over the last 100 days, including attacking one of the nation’s most vulnerable populations by rescinding Title IX guidance that clarified how to create safe and affirming environments for transgender children.”

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)

“Bad for children, mothers, workers, immigrants, women’s health, LGBTQ rights and national security, just to name a few.”

Peter Neffenger, former administrator of the Transportation Security Administration

“Although a new administrator has not yet been nominated, I’m glad to see that the transformative changes we began continue to move forward, particularly with respect to partnering with the private sector to develop and deploy new security technologies through the TSA Innovation Task Force, coupled with continued focus and coordination on public area security.”

Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers Local 1999

“Donald Trump’s delusional.”

Al Madrigal, comedian and former correspondent on “The Daily Show”

“It’s been a shockingly horrible disaster ― he’s gone back on so many promises that I can’t believe the people in his base that put him in office can continue to support him, considering that he hasn’t done a thing that he’s promised to do. But what do I know? I’m just some idiot comedian.”

Jonathan Gruber, economics professor at MIT

“Trump’s first 100 days showed that democracy still functions as long as there are truth-telling organizations out there like the CBO ― and highlighted the key dependence of our government on those institutions.”

Richard Carmona, U.S. surgeon general from 2002-2006

“A perception of unpredictable entropy, chaos, confusion and alternate facts have so far infected the beltway. America is better than this, let’s show the world who we really are!”

Tamika Mallory, national co-chair of the Women’s March on Washington

“We need to continue to use our voices to push back on the harmful policies and rhetoric of this administration, because the imminent threat that communities are up against is something too great to ignore.”

Andy Slavitt, former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Barack Obama

“Trump’s relationship to the presidency so far seems like my relationship with dieting ― he wants the results without doing the hard work.”

Melissa Etheridge, singer-songwriter

“It has solidified and brought to the surface even more the importance of diversity and how diversity is challenging and fearful to some. Being on the other side of diversity — being the diverse part of diversity — that means it is my job to take that freedom, to take that responsibility and to respect and love myself and to stand in my truth with it and show that the only way to get out of this mess is by understanding and believing that diversity is what makes us stronger.”

Tom Colicchio, “Top Chef” host and co-founder of FoodPolicyAction.org

“The first hundred days of any presidency comes with a steep learning curve … unfortunately, this instance has been a classic example of ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.’”

Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods

“I think it’s making things more urgent. I don’t know if we’re getting better art, I don’t know if we’re getting more art. But the art we are getting feels more urgent.”

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD

“100 days of Trump translates into 100 days of erasure for the LGBTQ community ― from the census exclusion, to rescinding Obama’s guidance for trans youth in schools, and lack of any LGBTQ mentions on the White House website, he has spent the early days of his administration trying to remove us from the very fabric of this country, and we must resist.”

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

“Major issue: Supreme Court nominee is approved. It’s one of the reasons why he got elected.”

Tom Toro, New Yorker cartoonist

“Despite countless pathetic failures during his first 100 days in office, Trump can point to one great accomplishment: He has inspired a record number of people to become politically engaged artists. The spontaneous creativity of the Resistance, led by ordinary citizens expressing themselves with extraordinary imagination, has grown day by day to become the most powerful cultural force of the century, and it ― not Trump’s vacuous, vain avarice ― will shape the future of our nation.”

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.)

“With regards to marijuana policy, we need the Trump administration to stop sending mixed messages filled with backtracks and flat out flip-flops. We need to take the marijuana sector out of a grey zone and into a legitimate one.”

Kelly Garvy, founder of Protecting Progress in Durham

“Trump lies and embarrasses himself and the country on a daily basis, but for the past 100 days, I have forged new relationships and friendships with wonderful people in my community ― and we are ready for 2018.”

María Teresa Kumar, founding president and CEO of Voto Latino

“From immigration to health care, the president’s agenda is the antithesis of a forward-looking nation, with the potential to take us back to our country’s darkest days.”

Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.)

“Two words: Neil Gorsuch.”

Joycelyn Elders, U.S. surgeon general from 1993 to 1994

“While the POTUS may be a genius, he would greatly benefit by listening to the informed ideas of authorities in health care, education and human rights in order to bring motivation and hope to all.”

Ian Kerner, relationship counselor and sex therapist

“Whereas in the Obama era, ‘sexual cliteracy’ was on the rise and the ‘orgasm gap’ between men and women had been closing, I am now seeing a rise in sexual complaints from women about men who are woefully ill-cliterate. Sadly, the ‘Viva La Vulva’ years are over.”

Heems, rapper

“It’s been really rough. I can say from a community perspective a lot of South Asians are much more worried about their reality.”

Lewis Black, comedian

“It feels like two and a half years. Two and a half years is what it feels like.”

Multiple HuffPost reporters contributed to this story.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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stormdoors78476 · 7 years

Text

44 Leaders, Legislators And Artists Sum Up Trump's First 100 Days

In October 2016, before Donald Trump defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, he outlined a plan of all the things he hoped to accomplish during his first 100 days in office.

No matter how much I accomplish during the ridiculous standard of the first 100 days, & it has been a lot (including S.C.), media will kill!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2017

To mark the milestone, HuffPost asked lawmakers, activists, lobbyists and influencers to offer their own (roughly) one-sentence takes on Trump’s first 100 days.

Here are the responses, which have been lightly edited for clarity and style:

Khizr Khan, Gold Star father

“Every action and word of Trump has [a] foul stench of political expediency and self-aggrandizing, total lack of moral compass and leadership.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.)

Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter

“45 has proven to be one of the most dangerous human beings on the planet; we must resist his regime and build a movement in the millions.”

Cathy Heller, one of the women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

“Evolving.”

Philip Ellender, president of government and public affairs at Koch Industries

Michael Mann, climate scientist

Aasif Mandvi, actor

“It’s been 100 days. I can’t believe it’s only been 100 days. I thought he was going to take a year to start showing signs of demagoguery.”

Fr. James Martin, editor-at-large of America magazine and consultant to the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication

Sheryl Crow, singer-songwriter

“There’s been an arc of betrayal, chaos, manipulation and ignorance.”

Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center

Tom Perriello, Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia

April Reign, activist who created #OscarsSoWhite

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.)

“About as bad as could be expected from a team of misogynist, climate-change denying, anti-immigration, billionaire civil rights opponents, but we better be ready for even worse to come.”

Ben Cohen, activist and co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s

Raed Saleh, leader of Syrian rescue group the White Helmets

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)

“Promises to working families: either broken or unfulfilled.”

Former Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), executive director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Kathy Griffin, comedian

“During the first 100 days, there’s been never a better time to be a standup comic and never a scarier time to be a human on the planet of Earth.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

Rob Delaney, comedian and co-creator of Amazon’s “Catastrophe”

Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, director of external relations for the National Center for Transgender Equality

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)

“Bad for children, mothers, workers, immigrants, women’s health, LGBTQ rights and national security, just to name a few.”

Peter Neffenger, former administrator of the Transportation Security Administration

Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers Local 1999

“Donald Trump’s delusional.”

Al Madrigal, comedian and former correspondent on “The Daily Show”

Jonathan Gruber, economics professor at MIT

Richard Carmona, U.S. surgeon general from 2002-2006

“A perception of unpredictable entropy, chaos, confusion and alternate facts have so far infected the beltway. America is better than this, let’s show the world who we really are!”

Tamika Mallory, national co-chair of the Women’s March on Washington

Andy Slavitt, former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Barack Obama

“Trump’s relationship to the presidency so far seems like my relationship with dieting ― he wants the results without doing the hard work.”

Melissa Etheridge, singer-songwriter

Tom Colicchio, “Top Chef” host and co-founder of FoodPolicyAction.org

“The first hundred days of any presidency comes with a steep learning curve … unfortunately, this instance has been a classic example of ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.’”

Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods

“I think it’s making things more urgent. I don’t know if we’re getting better art, I don’t know if we’re getting more art. But the art we are getting feels more urgent.”

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

“Major issue: Supreme Court nominee is approved. It’s one of the reasons why he got elected.”

Tom Toro, New Yorker cartoonist

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.)

Kelly Garvy, founder of Protecting Progress in Durham

María Teresa Kumar, founding president and CEO of Voto Latino

“From immigration to health care, the president’s agenda is the antithesis of a forward-looking nation, with the potential to take us back to our country’s darkest days.”

Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.)

“Two words: Neil Gorsuch.”

Joycelyn Elders, U.S. surgeon general from 1993 to 1994

Ian Kerner, relationship counselor and sex therapist

Heems, rapper

“It’s been really rough. I can say from a community perspective a lot of South Asians are much more worried about their reality.”

Lewis Black, comedian

“It feels like two and a half years. Two and a half years is what it feels like.”

Multiple HuffPost reporters contributed to this story.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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#DIYS

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repwinpril9y0a1 · 7 years

Text

44 Leaders, Legislators And Artists Sum Up Trump's First 100 Days

In October 2016, before Donald Trump defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, he outlined a plan of all the things he hoped to accomplish during his first 100 days in office.

No matter how much I accomplish during the ridiculous standard of the first 100 days, & it has been a lot (including S.C.), media will kill!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2017

To mark the milestone, HuffPost asked lawmakers, activists, lobbyists and influencers to offer their own (roughly) one-sentence takes on Trump’s first 100 days.

Here are the responses, which have been lightly edited for clarity and style:

Khizr Khan, Gold Star father

“Every action and word of Trump has [a] foul stench of political expediency and self-aggrandizing, total lack of moral compass and leadership.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.)

Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter

“45 has proven to be one of the most dangerous human beings on the planet; we must resist his regime and build a movement in the millions.”

Cathy Heller, one of the women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

“Evolving.”

Philip Ellender, president of government and public affairs at Koch Industries

Michael Mann, climate scientist

Aasif Mandvi, actor

“It’s been 100 days. I can’t believe it’s only been 100 days. I thought he was going to take a year to start showing signs of demagoguery.”

Fr. James Martin, editor-at-large of America magazine and consultant to the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication

Sheryl Crow, singer-songwriter

“There’s been an arc of betrayal, chaos, manipulation and ignorance.”

Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center

Tom Perriello, Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia

April Reign, activist who created #OscarsSoWhite

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.)

“About as bad as could be expected from a team of misogynist, climate-change denying, anti-immigration, billionaire civil rights opponents, but we better be ready for even worse to come.”

Ben Cohen, activist and co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s

Raed Saleh, leader of Syrian rescue group the White Helmets

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)

“Promises to working families: either broken or unfulfilled.”

Former Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), executive director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Kathy Griffin, comedian

“During the first 100 days, there’s been never a better time to be a standup comic and never a scarier time to be a human on the planet of Earth.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

Rob Delaney, comedian and co-creator of Amazon’s “Catastrophe”

Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, director of external relations for the National Center for Transgender Equality

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)

“Bad for children, mothers, workers, immigrants, women’s health, LGBTQ rights and national security, just to name a few.”

Peter Neffenger, former administrator of the Transportation Security Administration

Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers Local 1999

“Donald Trump’s delusional.”

Al Madrigal, comedian and former correspondent on “The Daily Show”

Jonathan Gruber, economics professor at MIT

Richard Carmona, U.S. surgeon general from 2002-2006

“A perception of unpredictable entropy, chaos, confusion and alternate facts have so far infected the beltway. America is better than this, let’s show the world who we really are!”

Tamika Mallory, national co-chair of the Women’s March on Washington

Andy Slavitt, former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Barack Obama

“Trump’s relationship to the presidency so far seems like my relationship with dieting ― he wants the results without doing the hard work.”

Melissa Etheridge, singer-songwriter

Tom Colicchio, “Top Chef” host and co-founder of FoodPolicyAction.org

“The first hundred days of any presidency comes with a steep learning curve … unfortunately, this instance has been a classic example of ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.’”

Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods

“I think it’s making things more urgent. I don’t know if we’re getting better art, I don’t know if we’re getting more art. But the art we are getting feels more urgent.”

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

“Major issue: Supreme Court nominee is approved. It’s one of the reasons why he got elected.”

Tom Toro, New Yorker cartoonist

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.)

Kelly Garvy, founder of Protecting Progress in Durham

María Teresa Kumar, founding president and CEO of Voto Latino

“From immigration to health care, the president’s agenda is the antithesis of a forward-looking nation, with the potential to take us back to our country’s darkest days.”

Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.)

“Two words: Neil Gorsuch.”

Joycelyn Elders, U.S. surgeon general from 1993 to 1994

Ian Kerner, relationship counselor and sex therapist

Heems, rapper

“It’s been really rough. I can say from a community perspective a lot of South Asians are much more worried about their reality.”

Lewis Black, comedian

“It feels like two and a half years. Two and a half years is what it feels like.”

Multiple HuffPost reporters contributed to this story.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2qpI5EE

#DIYS

0 notes

grgedoors02142 · 7 years

Text

44 Leaders, Legislators And Artists Sum Up Trump's First 100 Days

In October 2016, before Donald Trump defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, he outlined a plan of all the things he hoped to accomplish during his first 100 days in office.

No matter how much I accomplish during the ridiculous standard of the first 100 days, & it has been a lot (including S.C.), media will kill!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2017

To mark the milestone, HuffPost asked lawmakers, activists, lobbyists and influencers to offer their own (roughly) one-sentence takes on Trump’s first 100 days.

Here are the responses, which have been lightly edited for clarity and style:

Khizr Khan, Gold Star father

“Every action and word of Trump has [a] foul stench of political expediency and self-aggrandizing, total lack of moral compass and leadership.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.)

Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter

“45 has proven to be one of the most dangerous human beings on the planet; we must resist his regime and build a movement in the millions.”

Cathy Heller, one of the women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

“Evolving.”

Philip Ellender, president of government and public affairs at Koch Industries

Michael Mann, climate scientist

Aasif Mandvi, actor

“It’s been 100 days. I can’t believe it’s only been 100 days. I thought he was going to take a year to start showing signs of demagoguery.”

Fr. James Martin, editor-at-large of America magazine and consultant to the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication

Sheryl Crow, singer-songwriter

“There’s been an arc of betrayal, chaos, manipulation and ignorance.”

Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center

Tom Perriello, Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia

April Reign, activist who created #OscarsSoWhite

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.)

“About as bad as could be expected from a team of misogynist, climate-change denying, anti-immigration, billionaire civil rights opponents, but we better be ready for even worse to come.”

Ben Cohen, activist and co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s

Raed Saleh, leader of Syrian rescue group the White Helmets

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)

“Promises to working families: either broken or unfulfilled.”

Former Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), executive director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Kathy Griffin, comedian

“During the first 100 days, there’s been never a better time to be a standup comic and never a scarier time to be a human on the planet of Earth.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

Rob Delaney, comedian and co-creator of Amazon’s “Catastrophe”

Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, director of external relations for the National Center for Transgender Equality

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)

“Bad for children, mothers, workers, immigrants, women’s health, LGBTQ rights and national security, just to name a few.”

Peter Neffenger, former administrator of the Transportation Security Administration

Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers Local 1999

“Donald Trump’s delusional.”

Al Madrigal, comedian and former correspondent on “The Daily Show”

Jonathan Gruber, economics professor at MIT

Richard Carmona, U.S. surgeon general from 2002-2006

“A perception of unpredictable entropy, chaos, confusion and alternate facts have so far infected the beltway. America is better than this, let’s show the world who we really are!”

Tamika Mallory, national co-chair of the Women’s March on Washington

Andy Slavitt, former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Barack Obama

“Trump’s relationship to the presidency so far seems like my relationship with dieting ― he wants the results without doing the hard work.”

Melissa Etheridge, singer-songwriter

Tom Colicchio, “Top Chef” host and co-founder of FoodPolicyAction.org

“The first hundred days of any presidency comes with a steep learning curve … unfortunately, this instance has been a classic example of ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.’”

Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods

“I think it’s making things more urgent. I don’t know if we’re getting better art, I don’t know if we’re getting more art. But the art we are getting feels more urgent.”

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

“Major issue: Supreme Court nominee is approved. It’s one of the reasons why he got elected.”

Tom Toro, New Yorker cartoonist

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.)

Kelly Garvy, founder of Protecting Progress in Durham

María Teresa Kumar, founding president and CEO of Voto Latino

“From immigration to health care, the president’s agenda is the antithesis of a forward-looking nation, with the potential to take us back to our country’s darkest days.”

Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.)

“Two words: Neil Gorsuch.”

Joycelyn Elders, U.S. surgeon general from 1993 to 1994

Ian Kerner, relationship counselor and sex therapist

Heems, rapper

“It’s been really rough. I can say from a community perspective a lot of South Asians are much more worried about their reality.”

Lewis Black, comedian

“It feels like two and a half years. Two and a half years is what it feels like.”

Multiple HuffPost reporters contributed to this story.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2qpI5EE

#DIYS

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