#i went for it

[eddis-not-eeddis]

Bad things don't happen to me when I stay inside and eat cake. :'(

[captain-grammar]

Netflix cancelling a BUNCH of their shows featuring diverse casts and WLW characters reminded me of a rant I had earlier in the year on Twitter with regards to The Old Guard but didn't share here. So, here it is.

I've seen tweet after tweet on yonder Twitter from people who were unaware that there's going to be a sequel to The Old Guard so if you'll indulge me, I'm about to don a tin-foil hat and speculate wildly as to why it's slipping in under the radar and what might be the reasons for that.

Within the first week if The Old Guard being released in July 2020, it was already in the top 10 most streamed movies on the platform at reached around 72 million households in a month. Incredible viewing figures. It was well-reviewed by critics and a runaway smash hit with viewers - "certified fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes - and gained an active, passionate fanbase online the instant it was released (hello, welcome to Tumblr) due in part to the fresh take the movie had on the dull, formulaic action-movie genre.

Netflix had momentum. They had the stats to work with and a fanbase to back them up. They could have announced their intention to make a sequel back when interest was fresh (as they did with the likes of The Gray Man) and gotten everyone excited while it was being talked about. Because it was being talked about. A sequel was in the works fairly early on with the cast and crew pretty much confirming as much on social media. But in this fast-paced, binge-consume world, Netflix seemed to wait until all the hype had died down before making it official.

WHY? Why take a big-hitting, genre-bending, record-smashing movie that you KNEW had proven to be a success and KNEW had a follow-up in the pipeline and let it die? A hugely sceptical part of me has a theory that it was down to just how genre-bending it was.

From my experience online, the vast majority of those who enjoyed it reflect the characters of the movie and the team behind it - diverse, LGBTQ+ individuals who rarely see themselves on screen without it feeling like a kind of tokenism. The movie was directed by the amazing Gina Prince-Bythewood - a black woman. The cast was lead by two strong females who were neither sexualised or portrayed as damsels in distress. Two of the men were unashamedly in love with each other. All of the main male cast were allowed to be emotional and even cry. In the action genre, these things are all but unheard of. Male characters are rarely given emotional complexity beyond revenge and women are usually relegated to the role of side-kick, love interest or doe-eyed ingenue learning from the "best".

Because the genre tends to lean towards a stereotypical male audience.

A part of me wonders whether that's why Netflix didn't give it much promo and kudos and have let the pot come off the boil in terms of hyping The Old Guard's return. The service has a history of platforming voices that are anti-LGBTQ and cutting diversity within its ranks. And now they're at it again, axing a slew of shows after only one or two seasons that all seem to feature wlw relationships fairly prominently.

If you're not a straight, cis, white male then they're not interested in catering for you. If you're a minority, too bad. The fact that The Old Guard was a hit with the very communities they seem to be actively oppressing is a hurt that Netflix seemingly refuses to live with.

I'm just sick of "was the movie/show popular among straight white men?" being the metric against which a piece of media's success is measured. As if that demographic is the Holy Grail and if your fans aren't 28 year-old cis dudes, you've somehow failed.

I thank Netflix for bringing some truly great stories to life but at this point, I cannot trust them to keep them safe any more.

[marichanmari]

I threw watermelon, sugar, lemon juice and tequila into the blender and this shit slaps 😛

[unxpctedlygreat]

This cost me an arm but!!!!!!!!!! Got my hands on Houses's collector edition I'm so!!!!!! ☺💕

[robo-dino-puppy]

arrow breaker

hfw face(paint)s 22/?

[wcrpbubble]

[cartoonsinthemorning]

Since you guys liked Marcille as Kermit that much, it seems fitting to thank you for my 12k milestone with MORE Kercille. And this time, Miss Falin is also here.

Thank you so much again everybody! MWAH 💗

[dsmsix]

thought I was muted and just had this exchange with a coworker on a zoom call

[mias-back-from-the-dead]

tbh i think the funniest phenomena that's been happening in the last couple years is "youtuber, having gone too deep into the research hole, has been made an investigative journalist against their will"

[glfry]

Hi guys

[atalana]

the curse of adhd:

i will remember with absolute clarity, when the thought strikes me that i have a text to send someone, that this is the fourth time in three days i've attempted to send this specific text

i will forget, in the time it takes me to pick up my phone, that i picked it up intending to send a text

[idoodlestuffsometimes]

I need to share how the IT guy at work greeted my department on CrowdStrike Blue Screen Friday. Never have I seen a man so shocked by the sight of perfectly functional computers

(They were off during the update)

[dishwasherfish]

I think we should bring back that thing everyone did in 2014 where you badly photoshop two characters from entirely different media together to look like they’re in love. This is my proposal for doc ock x glados please consider

[a-drama-addict]

not caring too much about a fandom’s favourite guy is the worst. you’ll think “oh i’ll look into the tag see if anything new and cool’s there” and it’s just that fucking guy again

[mybreadsmybutters]

when i was a kid i wanted to be a famous youtuber like dan and phil so that people would gay ship me with my irl best friend and we would be sooo weirded out by it and laugh and make videos joking about it but secretly it would make her realize her repressed gay crush on me and i'd help her through her gay crisis and then we would have a sickeningly sweet sappy romance and read fanfiction about ourselves together... anyways just found out she's married to a guy in the mafia now so i probably don't have a chance

[virtualplushy]

healing is when you have an intrusive thought and instead of having a meltdown you go “girl what?? shut up” and move on