#like this is the same problem as hollywood has with the oscars etc but there's still some kind of pretense that they care about 'art'

[sanstropfremir]

honestly i also think that groups arent going to award's shows anymore is also because its not only rigged but you also already know whos gonna win. like if they have 10 awards you already know b'ts is gonna get at least 3 whether they deserve it or not because otherwise fans will eat them alive, thats 7 awards left then you have male and female rookie which, well it excludes anyone who isnt a rookie, 1 award for best male (excludes women) 1 award for best female (excludes men), an award for solo artists, and then like performance of the year or something. so you basically have 50 groups sitting there ineligible for half the awards and not being able to get the other half because the same 5 groups always get them so like..... why even go at that point

yea i agree, awards shows across genre have been losing their sway for a couple of years. i think kpop ones are a particularly acute microcosm bc there are not very many types of awards, and there are really stark differences between the 'top tier' of groups and the rest of the ones that make up the majority of the industry, despite the industry being relatively small. even though there's numerically less groups debuting in the last twoish years (i did a quick survey of the wikipedia list of debuts by year to check numbers and it was about 30ish per year in the 2010s but so far it's been about 20ish for the 2020s. however this does include subunits and project groups so it's not a totally accurate figure), all those numbers compound on each other since there aren't the same amount leaving the industry as entering. so overall, these awards shows continue to be stacked towards the groups with the biggest companies and fanbases, even though there's better art that deserves that recognition being made by increasingly more and more groups that go completely unnoticed and have no chances of being noticed.

[destinyc1020]

Success can be viewed in different ways. Just tell me a successful Tom project that is a critical/audience/box office success other than Spider-Man? There is no such project yet. Also, the general public only knows him for his role as Spider-Man and that's the problem. When Tom himself talked about the reviews for TCR, he can say that it’s not so important (which is true to some extent), but the dude literally played one of the most difficult roles for an actor, it affected him psychologically and then he gets such reviews. He deserves better. You can say that critics don't matter, but they actually matter, it's stupid to deny that. Especially when this is not the first time this has happened.

And at the same time, Tom has successful projects; the same Uncharted, with a budget of 120 million dollars, collected 400 million. I still believe that this is Tom's merit, the film itself was in a disastrous development, it seems the directors changed several times, and the fans of the game themselves still hate and boycotted this film and the actors in these roles. And projects of this genre should collect good box office. And it’s cool that this happened) For example, the recent film The Fall Guy, with a budget of $130 million and positive reviews from critics, with a cast that was literally nominated for an Oscar this year, earned $66 million.

I’m not saying that Tom’s career is terrible, everything will be fine with him, I’m sure that in the future we will see many interesting roles and projects. But it’s also normal to think about it, reason and also analyze what Tom/fans want or how Tom himself and his team work.

Re: "The Fall Guy"

I wouldn't compare "The Fall Guy" (which is an original film) to say smthg like the movie "Uncharted", which had a lot of ppl wanting to hate on the film, but is ALSO a huge IP, with already built-in fans of the game.

Even if you have never played the game in your life, you've more than likely at least heard of the game.

So, I'm not sure I'd compare those two films together tbh. "The Fall Guy" was risky. Why do you think Hollywood usually puts out nostalgic films, or films that are connected to big IP's? It's typically because they know those films are going to usually be an automatic hit at the box office, even if the film itself isn't all that great. 🤷🏾‍♀️ Just the recognizable title alone helps.

Plus, Tom's fandom is more than likely bigger than Ryan and Emily's fandoms combined. Yes, a large part of that is due to the Spiderman and Marvel films just in general, but I think it's also just due in part to how charming and vlikeable Tom is as well! 😊

Anyway....

You mentioned the bad reviews that "he" got for TCR. But if you recall, Tom himself wasn't getting most of the negative reviews. It was the WRITING and the pacing of the series that most critics had issues with.

In fact, I'd say that most of the time, it's usually never Tom's ACTING that is being harshly criticized in these negative film critic reviews. It's usually the writing, the directing, etc.

So those reviews (while I'm sure they didn't feel all that great) weren't a slight to Tom the actor. Sometimes, even good actors are just in crappy projects! 🤷🏾‍♀️

I personally enjoyed TCR and didn't find it crappy at all. I just think the series treated us like we were dumb, when they could have gotten to the point quicker (imo) and given us more character development of some of the other side characters and more court scenes.

But overall? TCR was one of the BEST Hollywood made projects on DID disorder, and handled it in such a well-done way. I've seen quite a few, and I'd say that TCR handles that delicate mental health issue the best. 😊

Anyway, if you think that Tom's career is fine overall, and that he'll win Oscars in the future, and be just fine, why are you complaining then lol? 😅 Is it coz Twitter told you to?

[anhed-nia]

I finally watched ISHTAR because Criterion was perverse enough to put it on their Channel, and I suspected I might feel this way but now I really believe that both the people who claim it's The Worst Movie of All Time, and the people who say it's a treasure only geniuses understand, are both exaggerating just to mess with each other. It's surprisingly entertaining for about a half hour or something, then it runs out of gas just like many other things that hinge on the idea of being trapped in the desert forever. It's also racist in kind of a dull way, and speaking of racism it is affected by that principle...is there a name for this? that's like, "If you 'jokingly' make racist comments often enough, it stops being a joke and you're just being racist." In the case of ISHTAR the problem is that most of the jokes are about shitty entertainers, which is funny for a little while, but at a certain point you've just been subjected to so much shitty entertainment that it's no longer a joke, etc. Also I don't know whose idea it was to cast Isabelle Adjani in a comedy. It's like putting Klaus Kinski in AIRPLANE!...which maybe would be awesome, I dunno, but I would be scared to do a long unfunny gag where I'm constantly juggling Isabelle Adjani's tits, I'd be seriously afraid of what she might do to me. But anyway ISHTAR is not remarkable in the history of bad movies; it's really middling actually, and if it were made by unknowns you'd never have heard of it--it isn't like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, which was perceived as so radically bad that it made unknowns into household names. The only obviously remarkable thing about ISHTAR is its proportion of star power to box office failure, and this is actually the entire point of the Golden Raspberry.

I think many of the people who don't like the Razzies just don't understand that they're not about punching down on underdogs who just wanted to make a nice movie, which is an extremely hard thing to do in any case. They're practically never about the ACTUAL worst movie made in a certain year, which will be something most people never even hear of; they're about movies that are startlingly bad in spite of the fact that you've heard of them anyway, due to the stars involved and the money machine behind them. The Razzies are about Hollywood and the Oscars. At best a Razzie award actually draws attention and controversy to movies that would otherwise be swept away by the sands of time. Razzies are also a helpful way to thumb our collective noses at movies that are made by people with way too much money and power, with way too little respect for the ticket-buying public. Sure, sometimes they're dead wrong, or even mean, like I don't know if *a child* should really be nominated for a Razzie...however, at the same time, I have to admit that I found that really funny. I mean I acknowledge the problem, that a child usually does not have a well-enough developed sense of irony to participate in its own roast the way Halle Berry did with her CATWOMAN "win". But the Razzies should be a playful attack on how precious the mainstream film industry is about itself, and the more precious something is, the more vulnerable it should be to criticism.

[Incidentally I just watched The Year of the Rabbit and while it's far from my favorite Matt Berry show, I think it might be the first thing to just mercilessly roast the Elephant Man--one of the few things most of humanity has been squeamish enough to lay off of. I'd like to think that Joseph Merrick is looking down from heaven or wherever thinking, Yes, FINALLY someone is doing jokes about me! It's about time for people to lighten the fuck up already, I wanna have fun too!]

Anyway, whatever side of history you're on re: ISHTAR, the best thing about it is probably this piece of trivia about Gary Larson, which bears repeating. Apparently there's a documentary about this movie from not too long ago, I should check it out.

[majorbaby]

Stephanie Hsu was great in EEAAO but her performance was (IMHO) the weakest of the cast, and for an actress of her age, who has probably been denied opportunities to grow her craft because of her race, I think that is completely fair. I'm wary of the expectations placed on racialized women to always perform at an extremely high level in comparison to their white peers. And the pressure was really on Hsu to do that, in spite of all the barriers she faces.

With that said, the hackademy also gave 22 y/o Jennifer Lawrence the oscar for best actress for Silver Linings Playbook 10 years ago.

it's the racism, it's the bias, moreso than it's a nod to Jamie Lee Curtis' performance and that's to say very little of the snub to Angela Bassett, who in my not so humble opinion, deserved to win. It's the idea that Hsu can be told to wait for a turn that may never happen and she's expected to accept her lot in life and the film industry without complaint. This is what racialized girls and women are told every day of their lives.

"JLC only won because she's white" comes from a tradition of awarding white mediocrity and the denial of racialized women's right to exist in varied ways. It doesn't actually matter whether JLC gave the best or the worst performance of her life because merit isn't the only factor at play. That's overwhelmingly clear to me and it's true of other selection processes: the casting process, all hiring processes, academic acceptances processes, dating 'preferences', etc - these things are all affected by traits that people possess, whether they are mutable or not, and denying that just ensures we can never address it meaningfully.

JLC has had and likely will have ample opportunities to win future awards. Whereas, in a way that actually speaks directly to the themes of EEAAO and in addition to the blood, sweat and tears shed by whole generations of asian Artists (and the ongoing work of black artists who paved the way for racialized people to take up space in hollywood) the stars had to align just so for this to be a world where a movie by and for Asian people could win the highest honours offered by the film industry. We don't know if EEAAO is a replicable experiment.

When Lupita Nyong'o won best supporting actress for 12 Years a Slave, (saying in her acceptance speech, "No matter where you are from, your dreams are valid" - echoed by both Quan and Yeoh last night, retaining Nyong'o's meaning), amidst all the fanfare, her co-star Alfre Woodward said all too knowingly, "You know when we’ll know that things have changed? You know that brilliant, stunningly beautiful, and poised Lupita Nyong’o? 12 Years a Slave is an incredible launch of a career … ... We’ll see the trajectory of her path and what she’s offered after that. Then we’ll know whether things have changed or if Lupita is consigned to playing second banana."

I'd say the same of Hsu. We'll see how it goes.

Meanwhile, Angela Bassett is already being crucified for her reaction to her loss. Thus she is reliably cast in the role of the angry black woman as much in the real world as she and women who look like her are frequently cast in film. A win for her wouldn't even begin to put a dent in the problem, but at least it wouldn't double down on the same tired narrative for the billionth time.

There was a lot riding on how EEAAO performed at the Oscars last night, and it's important to keep the pressure on, because it's not really about the award, it's about taking up space in the collective consciousness and fighting unconscious bias. I'm sure there are racialized people who'd disagree with me on this, but I think this is worth noting.

For all my cynicism about Award Shows and the film industry, there's a reason why EEAAO makes such waves amongst Asian people and why, regardless of how you feel about the technical prowess of that movie and all the performances in it, it touches us. The movie, the people who made it, and the award acknowledges the asian experience and by extension, our existence.

[bisluthq]

Thank you for clarifying the producer credit thing. Most people (G*ylors) think he was sound mixing / editing songs, but in Hollywood getting a producer credit can be surprisingly simple. I think she thought exile would win a Grammy for them both and was sad when it didn’t win. She obviously gamed the system, but a LOT of musicians have done worse for the sake of a Grammy.

Right exactly. It’s definitely shady and she definitely cheated and she definitely knows this. What I find ugly about it is that she did it sneakily and retroactively and her team worked to hush it up (having the news released at the same time as the Oscars so it’s drowned out in the noise etc). But this idea that he “couldn’t” have production credits is silly. He absolutely could have a credit on all those songs and again I’m 100% sure there is footage of him saying shit on other songs as far back as Rep and as recently as RED TV, which would make him eligible for production credits on both 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ it’d be stupid since saying “I like this but maybe add a bit more backing vocals idk??” isn’t reaaaally production but it’d be perfectly “legal”.

My issue is the sneakiness and the shadiness from someone who has always shouted about transparency tbh especially in crediting. Them acting - and him seemingly actively thinking - the Grammy is for songwriting highkey makes it worse for me. I wouldn’t have a problem with her sticking Baby Boy’s name on every song he sat in the room for buuuuut like 💀💀💀 she should do it right away not to cheat him a Grammy and they should then like idk say Baby Boy is her producer lol Jack Antonoff for who???

[logicalstansadvice]

And I'm sorry but his role in P&T didn't really stand out to me so I don't quite get the hype. Tommy isn't that interesting. He's a fucking literal douche and it frankly says a lot about Seb that he's all buddy buddy with him. /////

Dear Anon 5, we don’t give a shit about your opinion on his performance, critics, experts and the general public, as well as people who know tommy lee definitely know better than anon number 5….no one is holding their breath waiting for your critical acclaim lol and tommy doesn’t have to be interesting or a good person to be portrayed in a show or a movie many people less interesting were portrayed in hollywood its about the art, they saw good material for an actor to play with and ran with it….also it doesn’t matter if its a fucking serial killer you played in a movie, if its a real person, you would want to meet them, you would want to know their opinion of your portrayal, you would want to compare your version with the real them. And lets assume its tommy who asked sebastian to go out for dinner? Do you expect sebastian to say no when he literally just profited off of this mans life? That would be shitty as hell even if tommy is not a good person…the same treatment was extended to tonya harding and no one gave a shit because it was margot robbie but lets not talk about the double standard. yall are so narrow minded its insane.

Anon 2: //////// Anon your existential problems reek of privilege. If this is what you complain about considering what's currently happening in the world, than to me it's clear what kind of person YOU are 🗑️

Anon 3: Dear "gross" anon: Adults have dinner with people who we're not buddy buddy with all the time. It's called a Work Obligation.

Anon 4: The Tommy Lee haters need to get over it. Pam has. Not saying they have to like him, because let's be real, he's an ass...but treating him like he needs to be shunned by everyone forever when Pam has been getting along with him for years is ridiculous.

Anon 5: And I’m sorry but his role in P&T didn’t really stand out to me so I don’t quite get the hype. / Who cares. For a lot of people, Sebastian stood out in that role, so your opinion is insignificant. You are not that important to make a difference.

Anon 6: I can’t deal with people calling seb a supporter of domestic abuse for having dinner with Tommy when people have Literally overlooked his other actions lol. Like at this point you seem as human or you still have him on a pedestal and will cancel him for every mistake. They might as well leave him behind then don’t know why they still hold on to him if they’re so done with him

Anon 7: Why are these anons more upset at Seb than they are at Tommy, you know the actual abuser? Could it be that TL/Crue fans will either ignore them or tell them to go F’ themselves and there’s no social media clout in that? Crue is getting ready to tour, go trash Tommy’s career if you hate him that much.

Anon 8: I’m just tired of people dragging this on. Like either accept seb is human who makes shitty choices or just move on and find someone new to stan? Idk why ppl keep following him if they’re so disappointed seems like a waste of time to me

Anon 9: Tommy isn’t that interesting. He’s a fucking literal douche>> These are the best characters!! Douchebags are great characters, they are challenging, especially for an actor who wants to show acting skills. From the way you say it, you don't watch many movies. List of actors who won Oscars playing douchebags: Denzel, Joaquin Phoenix, Jack Nicholson, Daniel Day Lewis, Christian Bale, etc. You must be a Disney girl Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Anon 10: And I'm sorry but his role in P&T didn't really stand out to me so I don't quite get the hype. Tommy isn't that interesting.

/// That's because you're projecting your resentment for the character towards the actor playing it. Seb did an awesome job portraying all of Tommy’s douchiness. You simply don't see because you don't want to see it. You're part of the gang who wants him to play only fantasy characters, preferably just one, forever and ever, so that your smut fanfics don't get ruined.

Anon 11: will side with him despite any shit he does for PR that he doesn't need at the moment, especially one like this one.>> Yikes PR anon, but if I worked for Disney and they said to do PR for their show, I wouldn't say no to the biggest studio in Hollywood. This is career murder. But that's what you want, Seb without a career, depending on the cons ie you fangirls.

Anon 12: When it comes to the whole Sebastian and Tommy dining controversy. The thing is I feel everybody is benefitting off of The Show and not just Seb, Tommy and Lily. Because even Pamela Anderson is doing Chicago right now and apparently is getting good reviews for it. And while I am genuinely happy for Pamela. Still the timing of Her doing Chicago just 2 Months after Pam & Tommy Debut is definitely eyebrow raising🤨 to me.

Anon 13: they are deaf >> The women of this blog are woc, deaf is what they are not, but they have a life unlike you who do activism for likes or feel good. Every time this blog is attacked because these women don't act the way you want them to. There's one thing, respect people's choices, if they don't want to do something, leave it, walk away, or say why you and other minions don't really like the mods here.

We keep saying it and we will keep repeating it: if anyone feels they are over Seb, his career choices, his choice of friends/girlfriends, they are absolutely free to leave the fandom. No need to announce their departure or disappointment, because we *absolutely* do not care.

Be a grown up and move on all by yourself, or choose to scream into the void. We shall remain unbothered.

💄

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Ep 21 - Gone with the Wind's relation to BLM.

K: Ok, this is Dir en grey's Kaoru, starting this episode of The Freedom of Expression. Joe san, Tasai san. Welcome. Well, um..you know, Dir en grey...we've cancelled our Pia Arena concerts.

J: Ahh, thats right.

K: Its a bit...

T: Its a shame.

K: Well..it is a shame..it was kind of a build up of different things. We did search for ways which we could make it happen. We went to the venue in person, and tried to come up with ideas about how it could work, incuding our staff in the discussion, but...in the end it was quite difficult.

J: Ahh, really?

K: I had thought if we started to be a bit active things might begin to change. I really wanted to get moving, but...well..there would be people who wouldn't be able to go...

J: Well, yes.

K: So when we thought about whether we should do it...hmm..yeh.

J: Well, we want to let everyone know that you went as far as going to the venue to try to figure out what to do, and it does not mean that the band will disappear..

K: Yes

J: And in this sense, its a matter of waiting for the right time.

K: Yeah.

J: Right?

K: When will that be though, right?

J: Ah, well, the number of infections in Tokyo is in a state of increase at the moment, in particular, the night time entertainment sector is being blamed, so it seems as if live houses, or so called places of entertainment may be facing tough times for a little while yet.

K: Well, the numbers...if you decreased the number of customers..there are some places starting to operate again in that way, right?

J: There are, yes.

K: But packed standing areas are probably still a bit far off.

J: Yeah. When I think of a Dir en grey live show...I think of Shinkiba etc, I mean, thats what comes up in my mind. One way to see that type of place is like the three C's woven together (Cramped and poorly ventilated, crowded with people, close contact setting).

K: Yeh.

J: So it is really painful not being able to do that. But while it may take a while until we can, in the meantime we can find different ways or hybrid ways of doing it.

K: Yeah, we have to keep looking in a foward direction. Well...but on the days that we ought to have been performing, the 24th and 25th of  this month, we are planning to stream the intended setlist live on Youtube, so if people can, I'd love them to watch that.

Kami: Um....um...

J: Ah, Kami is here.

Kami: Have you considered playing live wearing face guards or something?

K, J: Face guards?

K: No, we didn't consider that, hahaha

J, T, K: Hahaha

J: This wouldn't fit with Dir en grey.

K: No, we actually talked about it, jokingly. Like how about it?

*laughing*

J: No, if you actually did, it would be like you were making fun of it or something like that. Hahaha.

Kami: Have you thought about ventilating the venue during the show or something?

K: Hmm, yeh, we'd have to make an interval in the middle and doing something like that.

T: I see

J: Well, its difficult isn't it? You'd have to deal with a lot of things. But just like you want to do it, people want to see it too, we are all the same.

Kami: Watching a Dir en grey show with interval breaks would be quite hard, right?

K: Hm, yeah it would probably break the tension.

T: Yeah.

K: Kinda.

Kami: What do you think about doing that?

K: Doing that...well..

Kami: Raising the tension, they saying  Ok, ventilation time!

K: We'd have to make it kinda like smoothly seperated waves.

J: Like leading into something when there is a break?

K: Leading into something. For example, like something sanwiched between the different sections, like showing a piece of film or something.

J: Ahh, its difficult! The people making the rules, have probably never been to live cocerts, because they don't imagine this type of thing at all. We'll have to think about all these small details at the time of performing from now on.

K: Ok, well, today...Joe san, can you please go ahead.

J: Ok, I'd like to go ahead with today's news. This is the news of how Gone with the Wind relates to the Black Lives Matter movement.

With the ongoing anti-racism Black Lives Matter movement, the expanding movement fighting for the lives of black people to be valued, the American streaming service HBO Max who halted the broadcasting of the Hollywood movie Gone with the Wind, have decided to start streaming the movie again, this time with a disclaimer attached....I'm sure you all know it...a movie which is set during the era of the American civil war, in which the system of slavery existed. This was announced by the American entertainment site TMZ. The same service had stopped streaming the movie earlier this month, after Oscar winning screen writer, John Ridley had pointed out that it includes affirmative portrayals of the system of slavery. Ridley won an Oscar for his work on the movie 12 Years A Slave, which depicts the experiences of slaves who were brought to America during the 19th century. According to TMZ, Jaqueline Stewart, a professor know for her research into the history of black people in cinema, has prepared a video containg some historical background to accompany the movie, in which she asks why we need to appreciate this 1939 movie in its original form, and says how it is  important to discuss our interpretations of it. Furthermore, a video of a panel discussion about this movie which took place in April last year will also be shown at the same time. Gone with the Wind is a movie based on the story by Margret Mitchell, featuring top star of the time, Clark Gable, and English actress, Vivian Leigh.

Soo, Gone with the Wind...the news that streaming was stopped once, but has been restarted with a disclaimer attached. What do you think about this, Kaoru?

K: This type of stuff has been said for a long time, right?

J: Yes.

K: And there are a lot of movies like this aren't there?

J: There are. When looking back now, some parts seem problematic. Well, even so, its a difficult issue, but I don't really think there was any need to halt streaming it in the first place. When watching a movie with such a background as this, people will have various feelings about it, so I don't really...but of course including these extras..the American Black Lives Matter movement has grown huge in a way no one imagined, so in order to prevent adding fuel to the fire, these extra videos are being screened too. But, in the first place, I think its important for people to watch works like this, and think about it for themselves. If you are always telling people how it should be, the nuance or message contained in these movies might be lost. Its quite difficult.

T: Well, if it is lost, we'll end up forgetting how that generation used to see the world.

J: Yeah

K: But we won't lose it, right? Just from this..???1* So, well..it was a problem which couldn't be stopped at that time, it was a growing problem. You can sense that meaning, but its like, how you put it across.

J: Yeh, thats right. Well, this isn't about this movie, but for example, as for books, the publication of Hitler's Mein Kampf was halted for 70 years after the war in Germany. There was the idea that it would be bad to let people read Hilter's autobiography, after what he did. But a few years ago it started to be permitted to be published again, based on the idea that banning it also isn't a good idea. And people do actually want to read it, it is selling. So what do you do? Its a very difficult issue. If the works are by people who have done very bad things, like, a if they are written by a very bad person, should we ban it....Like some of Dir en grey's videos are also quite...when you majored, weren't some of them withdrawn or denied release?

K: With that ????2*

J: Ahh, I see. Some bits were ok, and some weren't? Well, with corona changing the world now, this problem will...

K: Well, this type of thing has an influence on a lot of stuff.

J: It does, yes.

K: Like Japanese anime.

T: Also, people are questioning this idea of 'whitening' beauty products.

J, K: Ahh, yeah.

T: That type of thing has come out recently. But even if you say 'whitening' in the context of beauty, what does it mean? Does it mean, white people are beautiful, or does it mean your skin is ???*3 That has become a talking point.

K: Now that you mention it, you are not allowed to tell someone they're short are you?

J: Right.

K: The same for if they are tall, right.

J: Yeah, if you worry too much, you'll end up trying to censor words. Especially with younger people, like sometimes  you have to express things in abbreviated forms, and if they jump on this and say, 'you can't say that!', then the amount of expressions we have will shrink. Well, it is difficult.

K: Well, I mean there are lots of ???*4 with that type of person.

J: Well, its difficult  to know where to draw the line with this type of thing. But with regards to Black Lives Matter, it doesn't appear to have a lot to do with this country, but Black Lives Matter has been closed in on the event where a policeman kneeled on the neck of a black man and killed him. However, if you look at the broader scene, one of the policemen standing by and watching is thought to be a man of Asian descent. And the store that reported the black man who died was run by middle eastern descended people, so its certainly not an issue unrelated to Asia. Its often said that its an issue of only whites against blacks, but actually there are clearly people of Asian descent involved in this situation. On a global scale, there are a lot of issues which you cant simply separate into white against black. So i think we should get our imaginations working a bit more, and think about all the parties involved. It might be a bit hard to imagine living in this country, but we need to realise these are not just other peoples' affairs.

T: Its really imoprtant to try to imagine yourself in someone else's situation, isn't it?

J: I think it is really important. ...Kami?

Kami: Yes yes yes. Were you talking about Gone with the Wind?

J: Ah, you want to return to the topic of Gone with the Wind?

Kami: No, I just thought this was about Gone with the Wind. I have no interest in the movie Gone with the Wind, just the title puts me off. I wasn't really listening this time.

K: He hates this type of movie, right?

J: Yes, he hates it, haha. You don't like this type of thing much?

K: What type of movies do you like?

Kami: Anything, even banned movies.

T: Kami sometimes...

J: He's like Chabudai gaeshi!

T: He appears at times like this.

K: Well, Kami probably likes action movies or that type of thing.

J: Oh you like that type of thing? You don't care  if streaming of Gone with the Wind is stopped?

Kami: Yeh, if a big fuss is made when its stopped, then people will wonder what its all about and try to watch it won't they?

T: Ahh, I see.

J: Ah, on the other hand, yeh.

Kami: I won't watch it though.

K: He's really pressing that point. He won't let us forget.

J: Ahh, so thats that. It doesn't meet Kami's expectations.

K: Okay, well, lets end here. Please subscribe. Thank you very much.

J, T: Thank you.

*1, 2, 3, 4 Couldn't figure out these bits.

[burritodetodo]

Burrito’s Guide To Survive Coronavirus Quarantine

We got to keep social distance (1 or 2 meters each other) or stay home during coronavirus outbreak so I thought I can share with y’all some things I’m gonna watch or do doing quarantine (this is a very long post, REBLOGS ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!).

BUT FIRST SOME RULES:

Wash your hands: do it for 20 seconds or a while, but ALWAYS do it. It prevents the virus from spreading. If you don’t have sanitizer, water and soap! The cheapest and best ally against the disease.

Buy everything you need: if you can, try to buy stuff so you can stay some days at home. If the place is crowded, go back home and come later when it’s more empty. Same as medicine.

You can go for a walk: stay at home all day can be overwhelming for your mental health, but unless the goverment puts a curfew or gets strict about it you can go walk outside for a while always respecting the 1 or 2 meters from other people and without making contact (chatting) with other people. This ain’t my rule, a CDC professional says. DON’T go visit your friends or to crowded places such as bars, restaurants, shoppings, etc. If you want to buy something, ask for delivery or take away.

If you have coronavirus sympthoms (high fever, diarrhea, cough, feeling tired, breath difficulties) DON’T GO TO THE HOSPITAL YET, CALL TO YOUR PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANISATION OR WHATEVER YOU GOT AND THEY’LL TREAT YOU.

(credits to whoever made this meme)

SO YOUR LIFE IS ON QUARANTINE

Let’s say your boss or your school told you can stay at home. Okay then, you gotta prepare for some days inside *Isolation by John Lennon plays in the distance*. The first thing you think is you have to prepare a batch of series and movies to watch in order to kill some time. I’m gonna recommend you some you can find on VOD or cable, if you don’t have it don’t worry because I got you covered!

Infinity Train: a yet two seasons saga about people who got to face their problems aboard an endless train. The protagonists are joined by creatures who have different nature and help them, or not, to acknowledge their issues and leave the train. It’s on CN, it will continue on HBO Max.

The Owl House: a teen girl who daydream a lot was going to be sent to a down-to-earth camp but then she crosses a portal to the Boiling Isles, a magical world where she is taken care by a powerful Owl witch/saleswoman and her adorable demon. Lots of fantasy, some action scenes and many many puns. It’s on Disney Channel, it’ll be on Disney+ in some weeks.

Primal: Genndy Tartakovsky delighted us with the alliance of a caveman and a dinosaur, two rivals in a wild world who ally after facing a devastating event. It IS brutal and beatiful, has no dialogue and keeps you watching closely. Five final episodes are set to premiere this year. It’s on Adult Swim, maybe on HBO Max.

Tuca and Bertie: for the critics, one of 2019 best shows. For Netflix, a show that had to be cut off because the studio unionized. Two friends in their late 20s face changes in their lives: from living with a boyfriend and plan a life to look a way to stay sober and get a job. Deals with trauma, ptsd, anxiety and more harsh moments very well. In fact, the creator is a vital part of Bojack Horseman! It’s on Netflix.

Aggretsuko: red pandas are cute eh? But what about a antopomorphic red panda who releases her anger and frustrations by singing at a karaoke? This awesome comedy by Sanrio & Netflix is one of anime’s big hits lately. Like T&B, has a good handle of adult problems but not going too deep just to not break the comedy. You can watch it on Netflix.

Regular Show: yeah-uuuuhhhh! Eight seasons, a movie, five Halloween specials and some others. The adventures of a racoon and a blue jay with their co-workers/friends that relies on psychadellia and 80s and 90s nostalgia. It begins good, gets better, then lowers the quality (they were producing the movie at the same time tho, give some credit) and with and after the movie ends awesome. It’s on CN web, dunno if on Hulu (US only) and proably on HBO Max.

Evangelion: it’s a classic at this point, but addictive to me because I end rewatching the series or the final movie many times. A post apocalyptic future where the world has to deal with strange creatures known as the Angels and a boy with lots of traumas has to get on a mecha to save the humankind. All the characters have traumas and issues, the interaction between them or the action makes it worth. The End of Evangelion is a movie that ends the unfinished series. Warning: at some point it becomes very twisted and there are scenes which are too much violent. Viewer disclosure etc. It’s on Netflix worldwide.

Steven Universe & SU Future: this is the tale of the gem boy who ends a galactical tyranny and brings democracy to the universe. A acclaimed show that broke through many topics like gender, identity, ptsd, relationships and many more. Besides it’s got the best scores of the Milky Way and beyond thanks to the talent of Rebecca Sugar, Aivi Tran and Surasshu. And the actors and acrtresses! I don’t forget the movie, a musical that is an introduction to the epilogue: Shippuden Future. The show is available on CN and will be on HBO Max. Worldwide? No news.

Adventure Time: something that began as an innocent boy and a magical dog having adventures in a post apocalyptic world turns into the journey of Finn Metens from childhood to almost adulthood. There is a lot of fantasy and comedy you enjoy, but there are dark moments and serious ones through S6 that find a balance with early seasons form S7 to the finale. It also has great music, memorable moments and colaborations. And guess what? There is going to be a special set to premiere on HBO Max in some weeks! You got plenty of time to catch up or rewatch before that on CN or only (!!) S5 on Netflix.

Final Space: a dude tries to save the universe with their friends, where we can find his love interest, a cat-man and his kitten son, a intersexual alien, an AI then robot that is the best of them, two particular siblings and an annoying bot that prevents insanity that makes you insane. Crazy adventures in space, lots of situations, sadness, an evil smol bean who is a space emperor, a dude who looks for revenge, space deities that can destroy the universe. Is this a lot or info? It is not, because there is more and you can watch it on TBS, Adult Swim and Netflix (the world except US).

Rick and Morty: the most powerful, smartest human in the universe has adventures with his grandson. It’s awesome, but has a very toxic fanbase. Anyway, you can enjoy it on Adult Swim or Netflix (which is up to date!) and the rest of S4 is set someday.

Bojack Horseman: a Hollywood satire about human relationships, fame, traumas with a pour of comedy. Alongside the previous series, the best adult animation of the decade. Sadly cut by Netflix because the studio unionized (see T&B), said by both the creator and Aaron Paul. You can watch the six amazing seasons on that platform.

I’m not an animated movies guy, but here are three I really like and you can watch:

Porco Rosso: a handsome Italian combat aviator turned magically to a pig has a face off with an American pilot hired by pirates to get rid of him before WWII in Fascist Italy. It’s entertaining and, like every Ghibli movie, nice to watch. It’s on Netflix and will be on HBO Max for US.

Lego Batman Movie: Batman is depressed and has to get over it. It’s wacky and has lots of comedy. Plus Will Arnett is top 3 Batman. On Netflix (Latinamerica).

Spiderverse: Oscar winner movie about your friendly neighbour Peter Parker Miles Morales. Miles sees Spiderman die and feels bad after being transfered to a private school. Then a radioactive spider from a Fisk compound bites Miles and he’s Spiderman... among other dimensions’ Spiderpeople: Gwen, Peni, Peter Parker, Noir and Peter Porker. It’s visually amazing. On US it’s on Netflix (I guess), on Latinamerica on HBO.

Some interesting live actions I watched lately

Atlanta: Donald Glover is Earn, a dude who struggles to find a job for her baby girld and sees an opportunity when his cousin, Paper Boi, has a hit and uses him to make his cos famous. Sometimes a comedy, sometimes a social satire with touches of drama. And all protagonists are now big shots, like Zazie Beetz, Brian Tyree Henry or Lakeith Stanfield. There are two seasons and two seasons set for 2021 (2022 possible beacuse of coronavirus). It’s on FX, Hulu (US) and Netflix (world)

Avenue 5: this is brand new. On 2060 space cruises are a thing, and one cruise (the Avenue 5) has an accident that leaves the crew and passangers stranded for years. The captain (Hugh Laurie) has to solve this shit with a bunch of incompetent crew, bosses like Judd (Josh Gad), except one female engeneer who is very smart. Lots of crazy things happen in this series from the creator behind Veep. It’s on HBO (it’s free in the US!).

Peaky Blinders: it has some years but damn it’s epic. A gang from Birmingham makes their way to the top during the late 1910s after the Great War and extends through the 1920s. S5 is right in the ascension of fascism in Britain. ALL THE CAST acts spectacular, names like Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Anna Taylor-Joy and a long etc. But my fave is Paul Anderson, that ultra violent junkie Arthur Shelby is splendid, then is Tommy and aunt Pol, the baddest badass woman in Britain. Blinders is going to have seven seasons, there are two left. You can watch it on BBC or Netflix.

Sex Education: speaking of Britain, excellent teen comedy. Horny, doubtful teenagers going through those hard years. Stories of sex (duh!), abuse situations, abortion, there are gay relationships either, Gillian Anderson! It’s on Netflix, go go go!

Watchmen: despite not having Alan Moore on board, Damien Lindeloff did a tremendous job with the comic. Way better and less misleading than Zack Snyder’s 2009 film, Watchmen is again at the gates of the world’s end (like today) and handles the problem of racism and white supremacy quite well. Just 9 episodes, but worth to watch. On HBO.

CAOS: Sabrina the Teenage Witch is over. Warner and Netflix made a revival of the Archie Comics character and brought her to XXI Century. But gorier, hornier, dark and magical than the nice 90s sitcom. Sabrina Spellman goes from a doubtful teen who has to decide if she has to be a witch or a powerless woman to rule Hell. How she does it? Find out on Netflix! Note: S1 and 2 take some episodes to start properly. Don’t get bored too easy.

There are A LOT MORE to recommend and I make a list: Harley Quinn (DC Universe), OK KO (Hulu -US only-), House MD, Young Justice (DC Universe/Netflix), Ken Burns’ documentaries (Netflix), Titans (DCU), Over The Garden Wall (CN), Seis Manos (Netflix), Thundercats Roar (CN), Easy (Netflix), GLOW (Netflix), Star Trek Discovery (CBS, Netflix) and Picard (CBS, Amazon Prime), etc.

- You named cool shows, but I’m not from the United States or I don’t have a subscription to (insert VOD here) because I can’t afford it

- Glad you asked, I have the answer here

Introducing Stremio. It’s an open source platform where you can watch shows, movies or even live TV on Windows, Linux, Apple or Android. You create an account, install some addons and start looking for what you want to watch.

Stremio is based on torrents, you should install addons from many known torrent sites. So maybe you find an old show, but there aren’t many seeds to watch. And it could be frustraiting, so make sure there are people sharing so you can watch it.

You can download Stremio here and check the FAQs which is very clear.

NOTE: Stremio is note quite “clean” way to watch, but if you do please support the shows you watch by posting, commenting about them, making memes, thanking the creators and crew for their work, buying merchandise if you can. They put a lot to make the shows we love, let’s give ‘em back that love and effort.

You’re tired of the same music, the same movies or need to leave something to make company? There is Vaughn Live, a streaming page where are lots of channels with movies and series on strem (not VOD). For example, there is a channel that streams Adventure Time, other Regular Show, other Sci-Fi shows, another with DBZ and so on. Take in count that if the channel has +70 viewers, the free access is cut and if you want to watch it you have to pay.

En Vaughn también hay canales en español, como Simpsonmanía, Dragon Ball, Futurama, dibujos viejos y muchísimo más. Anyway, go to https://vaughn.live/ and enjoy yourselves!

Y hablando de canales en español, pueden ir a SeriesLan donde está el mayor reservorio conocido de series animadas de entre 1960 a 2010 en español latino. Pueden encontrar tesoros desde Don Gato, los Halcones Galácticos o Street Sharks a Flapjack y Mechas XLR. Otra alternativa para que pasen el rato.

Some interesting facts:

Epic Games releases a free game per week in their store. This week will be two games. You can check in https://www.epicgames.com

Steam has good prices on games and some free ones. There even is the latest Football Manager for free until March 25th. Check on https://store.steampowered.com/

If you’re interested,

I got this playlist I made on Spotify

with songs I liked in more than one year. More than 1200 songs.

And that’s pretty much it! You got resources for a lot of days, 14 initially since that’s the quarantine time in my country. Remember: obey the indications of the Health authorities, this is no time to play the “fuck the goverment” game. We will overcome this pandemy together, helping and caring for each other. That’s why I did this guide, to keep your minds busy in these tough times! Wash your hands, keep social distance, stay at home, go outside if necessary and have some patience please. This has been a PSA.

Stay strong!

Burrito

[oneshortdamnfuse]

To be completely fair to Mena Massoud, there are a lot of disparities in Arab representation in Hollywood. It will take a lot of work to fix that. Rami Malek has come under fire before for playing “ethnically ambiguous” roles, instead of being explicitly Middle Eastern / North African on screen.

But.

Rami Malek also spent 15+ years struggling to get to this point. He has played roles that were explicitly Middle Eastern / North African. He talks about his Arab identity any time he can, including in his Oscar speeches. He is normalizing his identity by embracing it and playing multifaceted roles as an Arab / Copt.

Rami Malek is multilingual, but he can’t speak Arabic as fluently as others. This is a direct result of being othered growing up. He expressed feeling like he had to change himself to be accepted. Nowadays, he embraces his identity and he has talked about wanting to learn to speak more Arabic.

Rami Malek works with Sam Esmail to create work that is inclusive of Middle Eastern / North African people. He is one of the few MENA actors to say no to terrorist roles and other negative stereotypical roles while maintaining a healthy acting career. That is opening the door for other people to do the same.

I think there’s a tendency to shift the blame for an entire group’s lack of opportunity onto a person within that group who has made it. Suddenly, they’re asked to bear the burden of everything that is wrong in the industry and/or they’re not “progressive” enough.

The problems in Hollywood are systematic. Rami Malek acknowledges his own “shortcomings” (He’s not ‘ethnic enough’, He’s not fluent in Arabic, He grew up outside of Egypt, etc.), but at the same time he’s expressed a lot of real grief about the lack of opportunities he experienced in his early career.

Not once did he say or suggest that Arab actors that came before him didn’t work hard enough. They have all been chipping away at the issues in Hollywood for over several decades. Rami Malek has expressed a strong desire to open doors for people like him, and he’s been doing that. Actively.

So, while it’s completely fair for someone like Mena Massoud to talk about the disparities in Hollywood... we all need to put the context of Rami Malek’s career into perspective before we criticize him for the lack of opportunity for Middle Eastern / North African people on screen. 

[myhauntedsalem]

The Birdman of Alcatraz

Robert Stroud’s life story was first told in a book in 1955 and then in a movie starring Burt Lancaster in 1962 both entitled “Birdman of Alcatraz.” Both portrayed his life story while he served time for murder first at Leavenworth and then later at Alcatraz. Both portrayed him as a ‘kindly’ reformed prisoner who spent years studying bird diseases and how to cure them. But as usual this Hollywood glossy version reflected only small parts of the real truth.

Robert Stroud was far from a ‘model’ prisoner.

In 1909 Stroud shot and killed a man in Juneau, Alaska. Stroud pimped for a prostitute who was cheated by a “john”. This “john” had paid her $2.00 instead of the expected $10.00. Stroud angry, because he didn’t get his usual cut, went to this man’s residence and shot him five times and then took his wallet. He was tried and convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to serve twelve years at McNeil Island prison in Washington State.

Two years later at McNeil Island he stabbed a fellow inmate for being a ‘snitch’. He was tried for assault and six months were tacked on to his sentence. During this time he also viciously attacked a prison hospital orderly. This man had reported him for using intimidation and threats in an attempt to procure narcotics. In 1912 he was transferred to the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas—due partially to his ceaseless threats to other inmates.

At Leavenworth, in the spring of 1916 Stroud refused to give a guard his “number’’ which was a minor infraction. The next day a long awaited visit with his brother was cancelled because of this infraction. Stroud during the noon meal that same day in the prison mess hall asked this guard if he had reported him. When the guard refused to respond, Stroud pulled out a concealed knife and stabbed and killed him in front of hundreds of other inmates.

For this crime, he was convicted of first-degree murder. He was to be hanged in 1918. But his mother who had moved to Kansas to be close to him, desperately pleaded for his life. In 1920 President Woodrow Wilson commuted his death sentence to life in prison. The Leavenworth warden because of Stroud’s unpredictable and violent outbursts ordered that he be permanently placed in a segregation unit.

Stroud was an enigma because he had an IQ of 134, but he ate with his fingers, hunched over like an animal. His horrible personal hygiene presented a problem for fellow inmates and prison officials alike. It wasn’t until 1934 that he was formally diagnosed as a psychopath.

While at Leavenworth, he found an injured sparrow in the yard; he took it back to his cell and nursed it back to health. This started his interest in birds. This interest was his one and only redeeming feature.

The warden at Leavenworth used Stroud’s interest in birds to present a model of “progressive rehabilitation” to the public. Shroud played along because he had found a way to raise some money for his mother who was fighting for his release.

Over the next years he raised over 300 canaries, which he sold to visitors at the prison. Stroud’s scientific observations of the canaries he kept did later benefit the research on the canary species. He wrote two books on this subject. He also made a contribution to avian pathology. All of this endeared him to people in the field.

In contrast to this he allowed his birds to fly freely in his cell, which resulted in quite a mess, which he never cleaned up. The massive correspondence he began to receive also became a burden for the prison for each letter coming in and going out had to be screened—a full-time secretary had to be hired just for this purpose.

Prison officials finally fed up with Stroud’s bird business tried to shut him down. He had Delle Mae Jones, a bird researcher in Indiana, which he had corresponded with alert the newspapers and start a petition drive. A 50,000-signature petition was sent to the President. This worked for the prison even gave Stroud an adjourning cell for his birds and his research.

Jones became so close to Stroud; she moved to Kansas and formed a business in 1931 with him where they sold his bird medicines under the name “Stroud’s Specific.” It was widely debated at the time if these remedies were actually effective.

In 1933 Stroud discovered that there were plans to move him to Alcatraz, he knew he would no longer be permitted to keep birds. Stroud however discovered a Kansas law that forbade the transfer of prisoners if they were married in Kansas. He arranged to marry Delle Mae Jones by proxy, which infuriated the prison officials, who would not let him correspond with his new wife.

The first irony here was Stroud was a violent prisoner —this is one reason that the prison officials kept him from the general prison population.

The second irony was Stroud lost his business and birds when it was discovered that some of the equipment he had requested for his lab he had actually used to build a homemade alcohol still.

The third irony is his mother didn’t like Delle—she believed all women were bad for her son. Where once she had been a strong advocate for him, helping with legal battles etc., she now argued against her son’s application for parole, in fact, she became a major obstacle in his attempts to be released. She moved away from Leavenworth and had no further contact with him.

Stroud was transferred to Alcatraz in December of 1942. When he was transferred this note was placed upon the warden’s notebook page with his mug shot. Reason for transfer:

“In view of this man’s homicidal traits and impulsivity dangerous tendencies, he cannot be released in the general population…they feel that it would be possible to confine this man safely at Alcatraz…also wishes to call attention to need for eliminating the insanitary condition…from this man’s bird breeding activities here…Recommend transfer to Alcatraz.”

At Alcatraz, Stroud spent six years in segregation where he did have some contact with other prisoners, but as things worsened he was placed in solitary confinement in an isolated area of the hospital wing for the last eleven years he was at Alcatraz.

This double cell had no toilet so Stroud used a bedpan. One priest who visited the prison stated he went out of his way to avoid being seen as he passed Stroud’s prison door—even going as far as to duck down. He stated if Stroud spotted him he would endlessly babble on and on.

Stroud having access to the prison library began studying law. He petitioned the government stating that his long prison term amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment”.

Another contrast—Stroud was a fan of child pornography. He received many letters from people who were fans of his bird knowledge. Some of these fans were children. Prison officials confiscated a few letters from Stroud in response to these children that contained suggestive remarks.

In 1959, Stroud in poor health was transferred to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. In 1963 he died at the age of 73, the day before John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

To this day Alcatraz, a very haunted place, has one cell that is more active than all the rest—this is the double cell that Stroud lived in for eleven years in solitary confinement. Full-body apparitions are spotted in this area.

So Robert Stroud was a cold-blooded killer, but the general public because of the book and film “Birdman of Alcatraz” had a totally different picture of him. I remember seeing this film as a child myself and thinking how cruel it was they never released him. The public in general felt the same because after the release of this film, which Burt Lancaster won an Oscar for best actor, many people protested for the release of Robert Stroud.

One fellow prison inmate who heard about the public outcry for Stroud’s release stated: “They want Burt Lancaster to be set free not Robert Stroud.”

[angcliics]

(    cherry  chapstick  coated  lips  inhaling  from  a  dab  pen  ,  oversized  flannels  hanging  off  of  bare  shoulders  ,  an  easy  laugh  over  a  constant  hum  of  music    )     *    ╱    hey  ,  was  that    andrea “andi” cahill    i  just  saw    ?    yeah  ,  i  heard  they’re  a    twenty - two    year  old  and  studying     political  science    and  that  they  live  in    hermes   . you  might  be  able  to  recognise  them  by  their   cartier  love  necklace   ,  but  people  around  campus  describe  them  as    generous    but  also    impatient    ,  which  i  guess  makes  sense  since  their  mbti  test  showed  up  as    infj   .  their  reputation  would  be  completely  ruined  if  people  found  out  that    she’s  struggled  with  drug  addiction    ,  but  let’s  keep  that  between  you  and  me  …  for  now  .   +  zendaya  ,  cisfemale  ,  she/her  ,  junior  .  

hi, hello, ur trash ari checking in with my trash baby, andi. let’s get right into the viDeO !!

i tend to ramble so i’m gonna try to keep it short...ish.. and sweet...ish. hehe 

the WINDHAM-CAHILL family

andi was born to a bit of a tumultuous household. her mother is a renowned actress from the windham family-- think a dash of kennedy and a hint of the roberts, with old money going back generations on the east coast and a few well-known hollywood elites with accolades out west. 

her mother had developed a bit of a substance abuse problem, and was inconsistently present in her daugher’s life, always choosing to travel or hand andi off to the nanny or her father instead. when she was around, she was often interested in material things and shallow aspects of her daughter’s life– her clothes, her looks, her popularity– and was hardly satisfied with andi, always reminding her of where she came from and what she needed to be. 

her father, a wealthy self-made financier, is kind and well meaning, but unequipped to handle his wife’s issues oftentimes. the pair got into shouting matches and fights over her substance abuse issues and  and frequent absences often enough. regardless, andi is very devoted to her father, fiercely defensive of him in any family argument, and close with him, seeing him as a rock amidst the instability of her mother. 

she’s the eldest of three, with two younger brothers. she’s very protective of them as well, but as the only daughter, andi usually took the brunt of her mother’s nitpicking, perfectionistic projections and arguments. although easygoing, when continually faced with conflict, andi would at times fight back with her mother. part of her despises her mother, part of her still desperately wants to be good enough to finally get that mark of approval and hear “i’m proud of you.”

on the surface of course everything looked lovely: the beautiful, shining oscar-winning elizabeth windham, the american dream success story andrew cahill, and three children with talent and poise. andrew himself attended bellecotte for undergrad, and andi is proud to follow in his footsteps, although her father was a member of the house of zeus. 

personal HISTORY

feeling the pressure from her mother and the increased attention due to her family name and fame, andi always felt like she was the kind of student that had to “do it all” in high school. so she tried. she took the AP classes, sat on student council, went to football games and every party and was even prom queen. 

she has ADHD, so using adderall was first nature to her and doesn’t affect her the way it affects others, but after long days of going, going, going and feeling stress and pressure and having to do it all on all sides, she started using xanax and smoking weed often to chill out and deal with it all, and on the weekends you could find her drinking straight liquor straight-faced in between puffs off her pipe at house parties. 

still, she managed to keep it together enough to get into bellecotte, where she’s kept up much the same-- her struggles with xanax and other benzos in particular ebbing and flowing with how stressed and anxious and burnt out she is, and whatever she’s going through. she doesn’t hide her frequent marijuana use really-- always taking hits off of her dab pen, she’s quite a functional high after so many years.

studying political science because it interests her, and because she knows she’s ultimately lucky enough to have opportunities presented to her because of her parents’ careers, and wants to learn how to create and advocate for a more equitable system for those less fortunate. her father, as he’s self made, often took her back to his hometown and showed her how he grew up, so she knows it doesn’t all just come for free. unsure what exactly she wants to do post grad, whether that’s politics, film, writing, business-- but she’s interested in a lot of things. 

PERSONALITY

the GOOD: creative, determined, altruistic, passionate, insightful, protective 

the BAD: reticent, moody/sensitive at heart, prone to burn-out, possessive

has a tendency to hold grudges when hurt, desperately wants to be enough for someone to stay, really wants to be needed and loved for who she is instead of what she does or her name or anything else. 

an introvert that’s very good at extroverting, although it can exhaust her and by the end of the party she’s always found somewhere quiet to smoke and sneak off to. 

is the kind to be casually smoking a joint and then make a point about how the misconceptions of the aztec empire upon the arrival of white settlers were overblown and eventually grew into contributing to the general ethnocentric/westernized perspective of native american peoples being savages and uncivilized, right? god. and then laugh and go back to watching whatever’s on tv

a Flirt. u know it now. has always had lots of Boy things happening and tends to get herself into lots of messy shit in that arena. hookups, exes, boyfriends, fwbs, etc– handles it and talks about it with self depricating humor. part of it goes back to that kind of low self value she has deep down since she’s afraid she’s not enough for who she is, just good for the relationships she has and what she can give other people and such. 

tends to keep her sensitivity/insecurities to herself. copes with them by forcing herself to extrovert  harder and going out more and keeping herself busy. like i mentioned, she’s struggled with substance abuse to some extent since high school– drinking, smoking, dipping into some prescription pills to help with her grades, or her anxiety, or any number of things. you might suspect it if you’re very observant, but probably not- it’s usually hidden by a shimmering smile, the glint of a cartier love necklace, and a tight outfit with a warm “CHEEERS.” 

this is one thing she’ll get defensive about and deflect from, btw. she doesn’t want to acknowledge it because acknowledging it means she has another problem to deal with and it feels like she’s been dealing with this shit forever.

sarcastic, but not mean unless she’s comfortable with someone, in which case it’s a teasing-kind of sarcasm-mean. laid back– just as comfortable wandering around target for two hours, kind of high, as she is at a night club with a crowd of friends and expensive bottle service. definitely more adventurous when she’s a little drunk or high. very typical to find her on the roof watching the sunset and smoking a joint while writing or listening to music or just being there with someone. 

can be self-sacrificing, self-deprecating, will martyr herself, burn herself out, and become possessive and demanding at times in stress. she’s an enneagram type 2 if that helps u understand hehe. 

wanted CONNECTIONS

i have a tag, but generically, i’d love and am always down for ride or die, best friends, skinny love??, longtime friends, childhood friends, housemates, sibling like relationship, exes, ex one night stand/fwb, current fwb, enemies-ish, crushes (unrequited either way or mutual), maybe a roommate??, neighbors??  all of it ok *sharpay vc* i want it all !!

and this got long ofc even though i tried JESUS i hate me ok anyways hmu here or on discord for plots?? i love u all?? i’m so sorry??

[if-only-angels-could-prevail]

hey, about your straight actors playing gay characters post—i was wondering, what do you think about women playing male characters? i’m currently playing a gay dude, partly because it’s small-town theatre and there weren’t many other auditioners. i feel a liiiittle weird about it, but on the other hand, i’ve done my research for the part, and it could be considered as not any different than a girl playing hamlet or romeo.

soooo i really don’t know how to answer this. the thing is, i’m not a barometer of morality, i have little qualification or interest in deeming what’s problematic vs what’s not problematic in a specific sense. i just think it’s good to always consider the positive effects of a story and its representation vs its negative effects, and also take into consideration the process of its creation and its intended audience! 

so in that post you’re referring to, i’m NOT saying “there’s no problem with straight people playing gay people in hollywood”, because clearly there is a problem when 90% of gay characters are played by straight actors, and gay actors are still forced to stay in the closet for their career. but IDEALLY, ignoring that structural disadvantage created specifically for gay actors, i don’t see an inherent moral problem with a straight actor playing a gay character, on an individual level.

i might go as far to say that, were we living in a utopia, all manner of voices should be able to tell all manner of stories with complete freedom. but we live so, so far away from that utopia that it becomes necessary to consider our role as storytellers with specific regard to our gender, race, and sexuality, and what we specifically have to offer the world with such background, and how we can do so without infringing on the work being created by other artists, how we can use the privileges we’ve been allotted to lift up other voices, and when to let them be, etc etc etc.

i sound like i’m just spewing nonsense but there’s just so much to consider and nothing is as simple as it seems. and i’m NOT saying “it’s ok if ______ plays _______!” (insert whatever you want), i’m just saying the REASON that “problematic casting” as a concept exists in the first place is because each individual problematic casting decision is a symptom of a larger problem that affects a specific community in a concretely negative way.

let’s talk about oscar hammerstein musicals. just two of many examples i could use: show boat is problematic because of its outdated racial stereotypes, and carousel is problematic because of the way it depicts abuse. when contemporary audiences watch these old pieces, it’s pretty obvious how outdated they are! but for the time, they were revolutionary. a popular musical had never touched the subject of abuse in a serious way before carousel (as far as i’m aware–at least, no musical that addressed abuse had the same cultural impact). and show boat had an integrated cast with a strong message of acceptance and anti-racism back in 1927! those are two pieces of Problematic Media that nonetheless shifted the tide in a positive way, and made audience members at the time see the world with more insight and more empathy.

so, back to your original point. 

casting a girl as a gay guy strikes me as pretty bizarre. and although i don’t know the play or your approach to the role, i can entertain the possibility that it’s problematic in a sense (could a woman playing a gay man negatively affect the way a small-town audience perceives gay men? it’s certainly possibly, for a multitude of reasons). but like!!! nothing is so black and white!!! perhaps the fact that a gay man is being portrayed AT ALL is a good thing for a small town audience!!! and the fact that the actor portraying the role is conscious of the moral responsibility she has in representing gayness is a good sign.

that was a long-winded and incredibly messy way of saying i don’t have answers. everything is complicated. break a leg!!!

[itsclydebitches]

Whats your solution then? Does it have to be a 50/50 divide with genders at all times in all franchises or it's problematical? Will you not be satisfied until that happens? Franchises can be male or female dominated, but that doesn't mean the other gender isn't part of the intended audience. I don't think women being side characters is anymore a problem then a story where men are side characters. It's fine either way so I don't see the problem.

No, it doesn’t have to be an exact 50/50 split. It’s just a matter of incorporating women and giving their characters the same sort of attention you’d give to the men, especially when your story proposes to be sampling objectively from the population. Meaning, a story about an all boys school is obviously going to feature mostly guys. That makes sense. A story about heroes across the multiverse? People rightfully want to know why the majority of the heroes across the cosmos are men. Why the few women we get aren’t nearly as fleshed out. Why, when it’s clear that there are so many women Marvel fans out there and they’re clamoring for some rep---just look at the years-long call for our Black Widow movie---and the franchise isn’t thrilled to deliver? You ask why that is and it sends a message. 

We’re getting better. Each year Hollywood has more women in lead roles, more diversity casting, more minorities behind the scenes, but that sort of change only happens because people challenge the status quo in the first place. They point out where our media can continue to grow. RWBY arguably has a lot of the sort of equality we’re looking for, in that although our four main protagonists are all women, the series still spends a lot of time fleshing out Jaune, Qrow, Oz, Oscar, Ren, Ironwood, Roman, Sun, Adam, in a way that the MCU hasn’t done for most of its women. I can write you up a whole character study on Jaune, everything from his history to his interests to his personal goals; I can give you a basic fact-list for characters like Nat, Gamora, or Wanda. I do love DBZ, HxH, BNHA, etc. but that’s also a very important conversation to have: asking why so much action-centric anime follow men’s stories. There’s a reason why Buffy, RWBY, She-Ra, and other female led adventure stories still feel new to us. It’s still a refreshing surprise when we see them heading the fight. Just because I haven’t written those other shows off or produced scathing metas on their (mostly non-Western) gender issues doesn’t mean those issues don’t exist. As said, you can like something while also being critical of it and if I refused to watch things that were male dominated I’d be eliminating a LOT of my options, especially when it comes to action-adventure and science fiction. Which is precisely the point. 

Gender in the MCU felt like something worth mentioning because gender in the MCU is currently very relevant. It’s the end of a cinematic era, this movie is impacting popular culture in a way few films ever will, and a lot of people aren’t happy with how that film treated its women. A lot of people are happy, but just because some are ignorant of or don’t care about those issues doesn’t mean they cease to exist. And if I spoke about every single issue in every piece of media I consumed... I’d need a whole lot more time on my hands lol. 

[buzzycohen]

Incredible how I’ve seen people (mostly on twitter) immediately vilify Amandla Stenberg for her part in that new Nazi movie and not have a thing to say about anyone else. Am I aware that someone should have stepped in and talked to the writer/director and told her that what she wrote was IGNORANT? Yes. Do I think Amandla would have been the person to do that? Considering that she would have gotten the script when she was sixteen/seventeen, NO I DONT THINK SHE WOULD HAVE.

First- you’re completely ignoring Amandla’s history with feminism and activism. You’re completely ignoring her devotion to black representation on television/film, you’re ignoring that she co-wrote the first nationally distributed comic book with a black girl as the protagonist (written by and illustrated by black people!!), you’re ignoring her time devoted to the recognition of lgbt + women’s rights IN ADDITION TO her intense support for Black Lives Matter and other race-centric activist groups. So don’t go out and say shit about how she’s ignorant. She’s intensely intelligent and it’s literally insane to think that she would retreat on her political stances to do a small movie like this and destroy her career. Some people are making a meme out of her which is rude enough but other people just think she’s OVER, they want her OUT for doing this movie. So when I say destroy her career, yeah, I’m sure some people are calling for her career to not exist anymore.

Second (kind of)- Amma Asante did a fine job with A United Kingdom, she got Gugu Mbathaw-Raw in Belle, she had a good track record- y’all are actually blaming a 17 year old for deciding she would be in good hands with a black writer and director (who specializes in interracial couples, who specializes in period pieces, who seemed to be on a good track). It is conveniently ignored that everyone around her was significantly older than her (her love interest was 24 when they started filming C’mon! ) and nobody said a THING. Adults didn’t say anything. Why would the 17 year old be the one to jump the director and say the movie needs a rewrite? She couldn’t even ride on the coattails of anyone else because no one else said anything. And you blame the ignorance on a black teenager? Don’t come at me with any of that.

I’ve heard black actors say it and I’ve heard this fear: when there is no one [black] out there leading movies, if you have the PRIVILEGE to do that, you have to be careful. One false step, you’re over.

Will Smith is supposed to kiss another guy? He calls Denzel, worried about repurcussions, and he’s WARNED “if you do that, your career is dead”. Bam! And Denzel’s right too! When he told Will Smith in 1993 not to do that, HE WAS RIGHT! First, a “legitimate” gayness (I say that as in~ easy for straight people to digest/a universal experience open to the public eye) wasn’t brought to the screen until Philadelphia. Even though Denzel was literally in that! In 1993! He knew that if he was the one playing Tom Hanks character, the gay one, It’s not the same movie. Second, there’s a web of forgiveness with white people. You’re homophobic and you saw Philadelphia? You probably forgave Tom Hanks. If it was Denzel- he would’ve been out of there. Will Smith would have been out of there. Kicked to the curb or at least reputation would have been mauled.

Not to compare Nazism to queerness because OBVIOUSLY one of these has horrible implications (to be clear bc I will NOT have neos on my blog- it’s the Nazism with dreadful connotation) but WHAT I AM SAYING is that black actors and actresses are held to a different standard. It’s all about being “exceptional”. None of what I’m about to say is meant to diminish the work that black people have done over the years. But that’s why you had your Sidney Poitier and the roles he had (sweet, friendly, handsome, perfect guy roles) and then your blaxploitation, and now that’s why you’ve got such a select group of the same black directors/actors/writers getting recognition: because white ppl in the industry know they can garner success! They won’t let more people in, it’s a whole system! Cutting Amandla out so quick despite her success is literally contributing to decreasing the amount of recognition black people get in media and I am NOT HERE FOR IT!! I’ve seen criticism about Amandla and Zendaya being the only two people Hollywood seems to think can play black teen girls and I get why that sucks, I get how that is frustrating, I do. But if you get rid of Amandla? Guess what. No one is coming to replace her any time soon.

As a white person, I can DEFINITELY see how difficult it is to get back a career when you’ve been blacklisted. Literally look at any black actors who won best supporting roles at the golden globes/oscars/etc. If they’re not in the game anymore, that is NOT by choice. Monique anyone??? There aren’t those patterns with white people. Especially men (*ahem* Casey Affleck, Johnny Depp, Woody Fucking Allen). I see how it only takes one mistake for people to snap on black actors and actresses and try to destroy/cancel their careers. This system against people of color has made it incredibly easy to vilify them. DO NOT DO THAT TO AMANDLA. Fix this problem starting with analyzing your own prejudice! If you seemingly hate this movie enough to cancel her, why not hold the same sentiments to anyone else in the film? Why not drag George McKay? Oh, would the issue happen to lie, not with Amandla Stenberg, but instead with your own racial prejudice? No one gives a fuck about Nazis being humanized but when a young impressionable black actress takes a job, you want to destroy her career??? Hmmm okay

[twiddlebirdlet]

It's funny how Hemsworth's Marvel co-stars go out of their way to praise him. He definitely works a lot, but his non-Marvel projects haven't been critical or commercial hits. His Marvel era will end in April with A: Endgame. He's not up there in the hierarchy with real A-listers like Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep etc. Margot Robbie-another Australian-has been working in Hollywood the same time as him and has had more success by mixing blockbuster with prestige and is an Oscar nominee.

Hemsworth is always busy, but I don’t think not getting an Oscar nomination has been a problem for him so far. There are a lot of actors that have had great careers even though they’ve not been known for being an actor’s actor. I like what he does, but it will be interesting to see where his career goes in the future. Perhaps he’ll turn to producing content, since he recently opened his own production company. We shall see.

[seenashwrite]

juppschmitz replied to your post “julia-sets reblogged your post and added: ...”

@seenashwrite No worries, I'd already seen it :) btw, do you think Dabb got the message when his SECOND attempt at a spin-off wasn't picked up?

@juppschmitz - Oh, but no. I cannot speak to the man’s ability to be introspective, but I do believe the evidence has shown that “critical thinking” is not in his tool kit, as it were.

Thing is.... it was a better pilot than I expected. And not just comparatively to the agonizing trope garbage that was wrapped in sexism then coated with bad plot batter before being deep-fried in month-old oil from the studio commissary. Somebody actually put some thought into it, and even though I found it predictable and it had some weird choices in dialogue and character (like, I don’t know why they nerfed Jody’s badassitude, but here we are; am glad they punched up Alex, to be sure) but I thought it was a decent “back door” effort. Now, the real pilot would have to be much better, but they had a good lead-in with the Kaia angle, so I thought it had a chance.

Also - just a weird decision on the studio’s part. Built-in fanbase, pretty low overhead, cast/crew who are fully aware of what they’re signing up for, etc.. At least for a season or two, it’d be free money. It’s as close to a sure thing as Hollywood has, and.... they passed. They passed on little risk, and took on (from what I’ve heard, somebody check me) BIG risks - especially in light of losing a real ratings horse soon with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend closing up shop - with remakes of Roswell and Charmed. Loyal fans of those are still around, and don’t typically go for do-overs of beloved properties. So business-wise? This was.... odd.

Which brings me to one of my suspicions as to a possible (maybe even probable) element in this equation.....

....with regard to negotiations possibly breaking down, maybe why it took so long for the studio to pull the trigger either way even though the ratings were respectable, and that suspicion of mine has to do with:

So here’s my thing: 

(1) her agent/management/whoever are geniuses on some level I cannot fathom, because this chick - seemingly bright and witty and conversational and whatnot from what I’ve seen around here via snippets of interviews and behind the scenes and such - is such a dull bulb on camera, so flat across the board in her expressions and delivery, I just don’t get it.

And LOOK at that LIST - two of those movies were Oscar noms/winners, and the mini-series was all over the Golden Globes/Emmys. Halt and Catch Fire was a critically lauded show. The reviews I’ve seen of the PBS adaptation of Little Women have been glowing. 

(2) On the other hand, maybe I do get it - now, I haven’t seen Lady Bird, nor have I seen but snippets of Halt & Catch Fire, so maybe somebody can chime in about the characters she played in those, but I *have* seen Big Little Lies and Three Billboards, and I know the character of Amy March well - spoiler to anybody reading this who doesn’t know, Amy is the self-absorbed oblivious superficial sister of the March gals. 

Including the character of Claire, they are all bratty teens on some level or another who are excruciating to have to watch, and I understand the reason for the characters in these stories, but that’s not my point - my point is, she’s a one-trick pony overall. So maybe that’s it, casting people believe she’s a sure thing for stuff like that. Problem is, she does it poorly. I don’t need the characters to be “likable”, they aren’t supposed to be likable, but I don’t see her putting any depth into them, and even bitches or sullen people or “mean girls” or whatever you want to label them have depth.

I’ve seen plenty of stuff with headstrong teens in them, where actors play them with more nuance even when they do bend bratty, and these folks aren’t painful to watch; for me, this gal is grating to watch. I dread her scenes in SPN, dreaded them in BLL, and in the limited time she was in 3 BB, it was.... it was bad. It was embarrassingly bad, watching her trying to hold her own with Frances McDormand. And I’d say “Well, she has to follow the director’s advisement”, except it’s Claire. She was Claire in BLL and in 3 BB and I betcha she’ll play Amy March the same way.

(3) I say all that to say, if this is her trajectory? Those kinds of projects, with those kinds of directors and co-stars (I ain’t gonna list them here, but y’all have a look-see, it is *insane* the people this kid has gotten to work with in her short career)? I have to wonder if one of two things - or both - happened:

(A) Her team wanted a firm commitment of at least two seasons, with her in a starring role on par with Kim and Brianna, first billing with them, being in all the eps, etc., with a banging salary to go along with it, and/or (B) something in her contract that allowed her to come-and-go as she pleased in order to do these other roles. Which, if I’m them (the execs/producers/etc.), I’d have probably been cool with the billing thing and certain amount of episodes thing, but the rest would be a nightmare to deal with on a brand new show/a weekly show.

Like I say above, lots of elements go into picking up or not picking up a show, I mean, of course there’s more than one reason the show isn’t going to happen. I would just be surprised if her involvement in the project - and I don’t fault her, not at all, you go get you some, girl - was part of the issue. And as for my thoughts on that element, assuming I’m correct.... well, I tweeted this:

Nobody asked for this. I apparently am having a ramble sort of day.