#mass surveillance

[odinsblog]

IN THE FALL OF 2020, GIG WORKERS IN VENEZUELA POSTED A SERIES OF images to online forums where they gathered to talk shop. The photos were mundane, if sometimes intimate, household scenes captured from low angles—including some you really wouldn’t want shared on the Internet.

In one particularly revealing shot, a young woman in a lavender T-shirt sits on the toilet, her shorts pulled down to mid-thigh.

The images were not taken by a person, but by development versions of iRobot’s Roomba J7 series robot vacuum. They were then sent to Scale AI, a startup that contracts workers around the world to label audio, photo, and video data used to train artificial intelligence.

They were the sorts of scenes that internet-connected devices regularly capture and send back to the cloud—though usually with stricter storage and access controls. Yet earlier this year, MIT Technology Review obtained 15 screenshots of these private photos, which had been posted to closed social media groups.

The photos vary in type and in sensitivity. The most intimate image we saw was the series of video stills featuring the young woman on the toilet, her face blocked in the lead image but unobscured in the grainy scroll of shots below. In another image, a boy who appears to be eight or nine years old, and whose face is clearly visible, is sprawled on his stomach across a hallway floor. A triangular flop of hair spills across his forehead as he stares, with apparent amusement, at the object recording him from just below eye level.

iRobot—the world’s largest vendor of robotic vacuums, which Amazon recently acquired for $1.7 billion in a pending deal—confirmed that these images were captured by its Roombas in 2020.

Ultimately, though, this set of images represents something bigger than any one individual company’s actions. They speak to the widespread, and growing, practice of sharing potentially sensitive data to train algorithms, as well as the surprising, globe-spanning journey that a single image can take—in this case, from homes in North America, Europe, and Asia to the servers of Massachusetts-based iRobot, from there to San Francisco–based Scale AI, and finally to Scale’s contracted data workers around the world (including, in this instance, Venezuelan gig workers who posted the images to private groups on Facebook, Discord, and elsewhere).

Together, the images reveal a whole data supply chain—and new points where personal information could leak out—that few consumers are even aware of.

(continue reading)

[enigma2meagain]

RESTRICT Act: The TikTok Ban is a Smokescreen for PATRIOT ACT 2.0. EDIT: KOSA and EARN IT Act are also back.

EDIT: So now we not only have RESTRICT to worry about, but we also have the EARN IT Act and the Kids Online Safety Act to deal with.

See here for my previous post on it. Fuck Blumenthal and Blackburn for trying to bring back two pro-censorship bills on top of the RESTRICT Act.

And Evan provides some insight on it.

EDIT: SO it turns out that Meta IS partly behind this, but it’s also due to Silicon Valley AND the government wanting more power and control. More information in the links provided below.

EDIT: List of Sponsors has been removed for easier reading. You can still find the list in the Link to the bill itself.

EDIT: Meta-related information apparently incorrect. Updated for accuracy.

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Here is a link to the bill:

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This RESTRICT Act is EXTREMELY authoritarian and violating privacy and the 1st Amendment. It’s being disguised as being about banning TikTok, but it’s VASTLY overreaching and basically gives far too much power to the government.

How bad is this bill? Bad enough that pretty much every side of the political spectrum opposes this bill once they took a closer look at it beyond the TikTok smokescreen.

The following points were articulated succinctly by tumblr user @logan-galbraith (used with permission):

This act, while saying it's to insure American's personal information will be safe from foreign powers, it goes much deeper than that.

It will give the United States Government the power to remove and ban ANY online service they deem "a security risk" while making it so they do not need just cause and do not need to clarify or release a public statement.

It allows them the power to gather American's data without our knowledge or consent and even force us to submit documentation for anything they wish.

It protects the government from scrutiny on this, and if you try to speak about it and inform people on what it ACTUALLY allows, they can claim it to be false information and charge you.

It prevents you from using a VPN as it's seen as a breach of information security, thus they can charge you. (Uncertain on accuracy. Crossed out until more concrete information is revealed)

Failure to abide by these "guidelines" can lead to a fine up to ONE MILLION DOLLARS and/or 20 YEARS in prison.

And above all it does NOTHING to prevent AMERICAN companies from collecting and selling your data.

It doesn't matter what political party you're on, because BOTH parties in office want this. This is not about sides. This is about the ENTIRE government stripping our rights away so they can keep lining their own pockets.

And that’s what the TikTok ban really is; a smokescreen for Congress to grab more power. This is the PATRIOT ACT VERSION 2. This has BIPARTISAN support and approval from the Biden Administration.

The scary part is that this bill is being approved under THIS administration...and it’s STILL incredibly bad.

What would end up happening if an openly fascist leader were brought into power? All of sudden, ANYONE and ANYTHING could become a target or considered an adversary under the flimsiest of pretenses.

What should YOU do?

Well, the same thing as past horribly invasive bills like EARN IT and KOSA; we make a LOT of noise, and get the word out.

While there has been increasing amounts of negative press and opposition on this bill, it’s hard to tell how much this has really slowed thing down. As such, getting the word out on how bad this bill is CRUCIAL. Make it EXTREMELY CLEAR that the TikTok ban is just a smokescreen, and that this is nakedly authoritarian and dangerously unconstitutional.

And PLEASE call your Senators.

Find your 2 senators numbers here.

Fax them, email them.

Tell them they MUST oppose this bill. Calmly make it clear to them that if they support this bill, then you will vote for someone else who doesn’t go along with this blatant act of authoritarian intent. CONTACT any major human rights and cybersecurity related organizations and let them know about this bill. Get this out to any local news groups that you can.

There’s some petitions by groups like ACLU: https://go.peoplepower.org/letter/tiktok-ban

They are betting on people being blissfully ignorant of this, that it’s “Just about a Silly App”, so they will not expect you to contact them about this. They are trying to weasel this through in order to give themselves more power, and we won’t be able to do anything about it without the risk of being jailed or censored.

Here’s a part of a rough script if you need one. Add in more based on what is relevant:

"Just to make you aware I do not support the TikTok ban and I do not support the Restrict Act. If this bill is passed I will not support any official who supports that bill. Instead, I will be spending all my time and energy supporting your opponents in the primaries."

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A list of links/citations:

Truthout Article 4/02/2023: Restrict Act Critics Call the Far-Reaching “TikTok Ban” Bill a “Patriot Act 2.0”

Dailydot Article 3/10/2023: “The RESTRICT Act isn’t about banning TikTok—it’s designed to force a sale”

Lawfareblog.com 3/23/2023: “Two New Bills on TikTok and Beyond: The DATA Act and RESTRICT Act”

Reuters Article 3/28/2023: “If TikTok is banned, brace for epic First Amendment fight”

VICE Article 3/29/2023: The 'Insanely Broad' RESTRICT Act Could Ban Much More Than Just TikTok

Reason Article 3/31/2023: The RESTRICT Act Would Restrict a Lot More Than TikTok

ArsTechnica Article 3/31/2023: Meta can’t buy TikTok, so it hired GOP operatives to run a smear campaign

https://twitter.com/evan_greer/status/1642721929013362688?s=46&t=9ilK5pqP73XDblTtTbb4Qg

https://twitter.com/Imani_Barbarin/status/1640527908790837250?t=nTf7qCAcXB1s1RE-fb2Cwg&s=19

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[k-wame]

JACK O'CONNELL as Jack Solomon 2019 • SEBERG • Biography • dir. Benedict Andrews

[lokiinmediasideblog]

FISA 702 HAS PASSED THE HOUSED. WE MUST STOP IT!

Fax your legislators! TELL THEM YOU WON'T VOTE FOR THEM IF THEY VOTE YES ON FISA (Fy-zah) 702!

You can also fax your legislators for FREE at:

From Edward Snowden's Twitter:

If you were mad about your House rep voting to let the government spy on you without a warrant ("FISA 702" - fy-za seven-oh-two), we may have one last shot. CALL YOUR REP @ (202) 224-3121 and say "𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟳𝟬𝟮, 𝗜 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂."

From the article link:

House lawmakers voted on Friday to reauthorize section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or Fisa, including a key measure that allows for warrantless surveillance of Americans. The controversial law allows for far-reaching monitoring of foreign communications, but has also led to the collection of US citizens’ messages and phone calls.

Lawmakers voted 273–147 to approve the law, which the Biden administration has for years backed as an important counterterrorism tool. An amendment that would have required authorities seek a warrant failed, in a tied 212-212 vote across party lines.

Donald Trump opposed the reauthorization of the bill, posting to his Truth Social platform on Wednesday: “KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!”

The law, which gives the government expansive powers to view emails, calls and texts, has long been divisive and resulted in allegations from civil liberties groups that it violates privacy rights. House Republicans were split in the lead-up to vote over whether to reauthorize section 702, the most contentious aspect of the bill, with Mike Johnson, the House speaker, struggling to unify them around a revised version of the pre-existing law.

Republicans shot down a procedural vote on Wednesday that would have allowed Johnson to put the bill to a floor vote, in a further blow to the speaker’s ability to find compromise within his party. Following the defeat, the bill was changed from a five-year extension to a two-year extension of section 702 – an effort to appease far-right Republicans who believe Trump will be president by the time it expires.

Section 702 allows for government agencies such as the National Security Administration to collect data and monitor the communications of foreign citizens outside of US territory without the need for a warrant, with authorities touting it as a key tool in targeting cybercrime, international drug trafficking and terrorist plots. Since the collection of foreign data can also gather communications between people abroad and those in the US, however, the result of section 702 is that federal law enforcement can also monitor American citizens’ communications.

Section 702 has faced opposition before, but it became especially fraught in the past year after court documents revealed that the FBI had improperly used it almost 300,000 times – targeting racial justice protesters, January 6 suspects and others. That overreach emboldened resistance to the law, especially among far-right Republicans who view intelligence services like the FBI as their opponent.

Trump’s all-caps post further weakened Johnson’s position. Trump’s online remarks appeared to refer to an FBI investigation into a former campaign adviser of his, which was unrelated to section 702. Other far-right Republicans such as Matt Gaetz similarly vowed to derail the legislation, putting its passage in peril.

Meanwhile, the Ohio congressman Mike Turner, Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee, told lawmakers on Friday that failing to reauthorize the bill would be a gift to China’s government spying programs, as well as Hamas and Hezbollah.

“We will be blind as they try to recruit people for terrorist attacks in the United States,” Turner said on Friday on the House floor.

The California Democratic representative and former speaker Nancy Pelosi also gave a statement in support of passing section 702 with its warrantless surveillance abilities intact, urging lawmakers to vote against an amendment that would weaken its reach.

“I don’t have the time right now, but if members want to know I’ll tell you how we could have been saved from 9/11 if we didn’t have to have the additional warrants,” Pelosi said.

Debate over Section 702 pitted Republicans who alleged that the law was a tool for spying on American citizens against others in the GOP who sided with intelligence officials and deemed it a necessary measure to stop foreign terrorist groups. One proposed amendment called for requiring authorities to secure a warrant before using section 702 to view US citizens’ communications, an idea that intelligence officials oppose as limiting their ability to act quickly. Another sticking point in the debate was whether law enforcement should be prohibited from buying information on American citizens from data broker firms, which amass and sell personal data on tens of millions of people, including phone numbers and email addresses.

Section 702 dates back to the George W Bush administration, which secretly ran warrantless wiretapping and surveillance programs in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks. In 2008, Congress passed section 702 as part of the Fisa Amendments Act and put foreign surveillance under more formal government oversight. Lawmakers have renewed the law twice since, including in 2018 when they rejected an amendment that would have required authorities to get warrants for US citizens’ data.

Last year Merrick Garland, the attorney general, and Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, sent a letter to congressional leaders telling them to reauthorize section 702. They claimed that intelligence gained from it resulted in numerous plots against the US being foiled, and that it was partly responsible for facilitating the drone strike that killed the al-Qaida leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in 2022.

[news4dzhozhar]

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Meta will soon block some Canadian users of Facebook and Instagram from accessing or posting news content on either platform.

The move, which the social media giant announced in a blog post on Thursday, comes in reaction to the looming passage into law of Bill C-18, the Online News Act.

Facebook has said it will be forced to block news content from its platforms in Canada if the bill becomes law, something that could happen as soon as this month as the bill is currently being considered in the Senate.

Among other stipulations, the bill would require tech giants to pay Canadian media companies for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online.

"As we prepare to comply with the legislation, we are announcing today that we will begin tests on both platforms that will limit some users and publishers from viewing or sharing some news content in Canada," Meta said. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[thoughtportal]

This week, Congressional leaders are again trying to quietly and quickly get Congress to approve unconstitutional, warrantless mass surveillance.1

Rather than allowing debate on major privacy protections, some members are trying to jam an extension of a controversial warrantless surveillance power — Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) — into a “must-pass” defense authorization bill.1

Section 702 has been abused in ways that violate Americans’ fundamental civil liberties and civil rights. FBI agents have used 702 to search through troves of warrantlessly acquired communications for conversations with tens of thousands of protestors, racial justice activists, journalists, donors to a Congressional campaign, and countless others.2

We must fight for privacy protections and stop Congress from sneaking 702’s extension into “must-pass” legislation!

Warrantless government surveillance of Americans under Section 702 is out of control, and particularly hurts marginalized communities. The large number of documented abuses by agencies like the NSA, CIA, and FBI include searches for: 141 racial justice protestors, two men “of Middle Eastern descent” who were handling cleaning supplies, mosques that were intentionally mislabeled to prevent oversight, and a state court judge who reported civil rights violations to the FBI.2

Even though the Fourth Amendment protects our right to keep our information private, the government is collecting troves of our data without a warrant.

Any extension of Section 702 would allow the government to obtain new year-long Section 702 certifications at the beginning of the year — allowing this unaccountable, abusive government spying to continue into 2025.

Congressional leaders know that mass surveillance is unpopular, which is why they want to quietly slip it into the defensive authorization bill. We need to let them know that we’re watching and won’t let it happen.

Sources:

Brennan Center, "Coalition Letter Urges Congressional Leaders to Keep Reauthorization of Section 702 Out of NDAA," November 21, 2023.

Brennan Center, “FISA Section 702: Civil Rights Abuses,” November 27, 2023.

Click here to sign

[smashing-yng-man]

Hackers (1995)

[odinsblog]

Please be careful. Fake, anti-abortion, “pregnancy centers” are disguising themselves as pro-choice abortion clinics, and they are collecting a ton of personal data on desperate people who were tricked into coming to them.

👉🏿 https://time.com/6189528/anti-abortion-pregnancy-centers-collect-data-investigation/

[mypatchworkreflection]

"The authority allows U.S. agencies to spy on non-citizens located outside of the country, but it has been abused extensively by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency to collect the communications of American lawmakers, activists, journalists, and others without a warrant."

"Wyden said during his floor speech Tuesday that some of his colleagues "say they aren't worried about President Biden abusing these authorities."

"In that case, how about [former President Donald] Trump? Imagine these authorities in his hands," said Wyden. "If you're worried about having a president who lives to target vulnerable Americans, to pit Americans against each other, to find every conceivable way to punish perceived enemies, you ought to find this bill terrifying.""

[gwydionmisha]

Do Not Want.

[k-wame]

JACK O'CONNELL as Jack Solomon 2019 • SEBERG • Biography • dir. Benedict Andrews

[cyberfruitt]

[historyhermann]

Nimona Spoiler-Filled Review [part 1]

Nimona is a science fantasy adventure-comedy film. It is based on ND Stevenson's webcomic, and later graphic novel, of the same name. Annapurna Animation, Vertigo Entertainment, DNEG Animation, Blue Sky Studios, and 20th Century Animation produced the film. Nick Bruno and Troy Quane directed it. Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary are producers. This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Nimona, being reviewed here, wouldn't exist. As a warning, there will be discussion of death, murder, depression, suicide, and other distressing topics.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the forty-second article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on July 31, 2023.

The film begins in an almost Disney-like fashion, with the opening of a scroll. Viewers are told about a kingdom where everyone lived in peace with nothing to fear. A "great and terrible evil" is said to be lurking in the shadows. As the narrator states, in this "dark hour", a hero named Gloreth (voiced by Karen Ryan) rose up, banishing the evil. She vowed that her people would never be in such a vulnerable place again, thanks to an elite force of knights. Their descendants were tasked with protecting the kingdom for years to come. Following this, the narrator declares that if you want a happily ever after, you can never let your guard down because the monsters are "always out there". This film takes place 1000 years later.

What follows is one of the film's most important plot points: the beginning of Ballister Boldheart's "villain arc". While he is at the knighting ceremony with his boyfriend Ambrosius Goldenloin (voiced by Eugene Lee Yang), Queen Valerin (voiced by Lorraine Toussaint) declares Ambrosius, who is called Goldenloin in the rest of this review, a knight. However, she only calls him a "hero of the realm". To make matters worse, his sword activates, causing him to stab the Queen, and kill her. Even though it is evident that someone set him up, everyone is against him, and he becomes a fugitive.

Before going further, it is worth noting the amazing cast choices with this film. Apart from Eugene Lee Yang, Lorraine Toussaint, and Karen Ryan, there's Chloë Grace Moretz as Nimona, Riz Ahmed as Ballister, and Frances Conroy as The Director. This is enhanced by RuPaul and Indya Moore as announcers Nate Knight and Alamzapam Davis. Even two Saturday Night Live cast members voice characters: Sarah Sherman as Coriander Cavaverish and Beck Bennett as Sir Thoddeus Sureblade. In addition, Zayaan Kunwar voices a young Ballister, Charlotte Aldrich as young Gloreth, and Cindy Slattery as Syntheya (voice of the kingdom). Lastly, Julio Torres voices Diego the Squire, Sommersill Tarabek an Institute Analyst, and Lylianna Eugene as Patinece. Even ND Stevenson cameos as cereal mascot Kwispy Dragon.

What is interesting about these cast choices is that the voice actors have a lot of range. Moretz previously played Wednesday Addams in the two animated Addams Family films in 2019 and 2021, while Ahmed did the English dubbed voice of Takai in Weathering with You and Amin Nawabi in Flee. Furthermore, Yang voiced Toul in Star Wars: Visions, Toussaint famously voiced Shadow Weaver in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, RuPaul as Mr. X in Amphibia, Moore as Shep in Steven Universe Future and Brooklyn in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, while Conray has provided her voice to characters in We Bare Bears, Summer Camp Island, and many other (mostly live-action) productions since 1976.

Adding to this, Yang is outwardly gay and of South Korean descent. Ahmed is British-Pakistani. Toussaint is a Black woman born in Trinidad and Tobago. RuPaul is a Black gay man (and drag queen). Torres is a gay man born in El Salvador. Eugene is a young Black girl. Moore is a transgender non-binary Black woman with Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Haitian ancestry.

This diversity translates onto the screen. In the original comic, Goldenloin was a White man, but in this film, he is East Asian, like his voice actor. Similarly, Ballister is Asian descent in this film as well. Some online chatter claimed that the Queen Valerin's death was "anti-Black". However, this faulty and wrongheaded claim shows a lack of understanding about the film. For one, Valerin is beloved by everyone in the Kingdom. As such, everyone wants to avenge her death. Secondly, there are two other prominent Black characters, new anchors Alamzapam Davis and Nate Knight.

Furthermore, although Ballister is the one who "killed" Valerin, it is later revealed that this is a set up by The Director of the infamous Institute. Even if Valerin had survived, she would still be heading an oppressive system built on lies and deceit. So, there would have been a confrontation at some point. But, it's hard to know when that would have happened.

There is more to this film than its diversity and cast choices. For one, Nimona has a strong chaotic and "riot grrrl" energy to her. This is clear from her introduction about 10 minutes into the film, when she breaks into Ballister's "secret lair" (an abandoned tower) and "applies" to be his sidekick. Ballister isn't sure about her, but she tells him that "every villain needs a sidekick". After spurning her, he goes off to get arrested (despite his claim he won't be). That whole scene, which is less than three minutes long, begins the great dynamic between Nimona and Ballister. Surely, it is different from what is in the original comic, but that's ok.

Ballister's character development is clear. He goes from being an "innocent" hero who loves the Institute to a "villain" determined to clear his name. He wants to find who is responsible for killing Valerin, no matter what. Nimona helps him along the way. She notes that when the world sees you as a villain, you are one, no matter how hard you try and change that perception. That's an important message, especially when certain groups and individuals are villainized by reactionary individuals (and groups).

I also liked how fluid Nimona is with her forms. She changes into a rhino, a bear, a gorilla, a monkey, an ostrich, a whale, and a cat at different points in the film. Her ability to easily change her form is shown effortlessly in the film. This embodies the power of animation. If this film had been live action, rather than animation, it may have been an unmitigated disaster. Through her transformations, Nimona becomes a more relatable character, despite her desire for destruction. After all, she is excited when there are explosions through the Institute, with fire in her eyes, and saying "metal". Her relatability may be heightened for those who are gender non-conforming, trans, non-binary, or combination of all three.

Goldenloin's leadership of the mission trying to track down Ballister says a lot. It shows how committed someone can be to oppressive systems, even if you love the person being targeted. ND Stevenson noted in one interview that it is convenient for the Institute to cast Ballister as a villain and Goldenloin as the opposite.

This relates to the argument that at times cisgender gay individuals fit into corrupt institutions and systems that the trans community can't. Ballister does this during the film. At the same time, the Institute claims they are taking "every precaution" to keep everyone safe. They even have tests to stop "monster attacks". All these tactics attempt to keep people in a state fear. Similar tactics were employed by Clu and his minions, like Pavel and Tesler, in Tron: Uprising. In that series, those villains attempted to marginalize the Renegade and get everyone to turn against him.

In an undoubted criticism of mass surveillance, the Institute look at their cameras and use facial recognition in an attempt to locate Ballister. Despite this, Nimona and Ballister still escape, with Nimona telling how she ended up becoming a shapeshifter, and even kidnap the squire (voiced by Julio Torres). He reveals that the Director set up Ballister, with the video evidence to prove it, with Nimona later uploading this video. It is implied that Nimona doesn't feel pain. Later, in another relatable moment, Nimona says she feels worse when she doesn't shapeshift, saying it makes her insides feel itchy.

Nimona is not alone in criticism of surveillance. At one point, in the ever-controversial and problematic gen:LOCK, Col. Raquel Marin demands loyalty, belief in the chain of command. She is so paranoid of people criticizing her that she orders covert surveillance on the gen:LOCK team (the show's protagonists). There are many other examples of this in fiction. For instance, Philip K. Dick's The Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly, The Lord of Rings move adaptations (specifically the all-seeing Eye of Sauron), THX 1138 (1971), Brazil (1985), V for Vendetta (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and Snowden (2016) all have commentary which is critical of mass surveillance.

The rest of the film involves attempts to expose the Director for her crimes. In the process, the cruelty of the world is shown. The Institute's Knights try to electrocute her and a little girl declares she is a "monster". The latter breaks her. She comments that she doesn't know if it is scarier that everyone in the Kingdom wants to put a sword through her heart or that sometimes she wants to let them do that. Ballister agrees with her. But he reassures her that no matter what they do, they can't change how people see them. This brings me to one of the best parts of the film: when Nimona shapeshifts into Goldenloin. She does so that the Director will admit her crimes and note that she framed Ballister.

Unsurprisingly, the Director tells Goldenloin she is innocent. In a TV broadcast, she inspires fear in people, declaring that anyone around them can be the "monster". This is meant to increase public support for the Institute. She caps this off by lying, claiming she isn't the one in the video, pointing to the fact that Nimona is a shapeshifter. To make matters worse, Goldenloin causes Ballister to doubt his faith in Nimona and she flees from the Institute's knights, who now know the location of her secret headquarters. As she runs away and hides, she remembers playing, many years prior, with Gloreth, until the village residents pull them apart, surround her. She inadvertently causes a fire and Gloreth sides with ignorant adults of the town, declaring that Nimona needs to go back to "whence she came", back to the shadows.

Nimona then alludes to how depression and anger can lead to suicide. Nimona attacks the walled city, and despite their attempts to stop her, she goes onward. In the process, the Director shows her true colors. She wants to turn the cannons on the city, even though many innocent people will die! The attempt by Nimona to take her own life, to have the statue go through her heart, is stopped by Ballister who tells her she isn't alone and apologizes for her actions. As Stevenson noted in one interview, Ballister isn't a bad person, but doesn't understand everything Nimona is going through, even though he grows through the movie.

The film ends with the Director expressing her commitment to the oppressive system. She claims that Nimona is a threat to their "way of life". Nimona appears to sacrifice herself and transforms into a huge phoenix. As a result, the Director is killed, and a wall is destroyed. However, this isn't the end. There is a time skip. The kingdom has changed, with the former wall-breach becoming a trade road, while Ballister and Nimona are honored as heroes. Ballister is with Goldenloin, in a scene which reminds me of when Troy Sandoval and Benson Mekler run a restaurant side-by-side in the Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts series finale.

When revisiting his old hideout, Ballister remembers his time with Nimona, fixes up the place, and hears something which sounds like her. It is heavily implied that she has resurrected, bringing him great joy. This means that there is the possibility of a sequel or continuation in some form.

There have been many reviews of the film, whether in Variety, Empire, The Hollywood Reporter, Screen Daily, The Guardian, and Associated Press. None mention a criticism I saw online: that the film slimmed Nimona down from her chubby/fat/overweight self in the comic. I remember people claiming the same happened with Steven Universe over the course of that series. Fans had various explanations for that. As for Nimona, Stevenson stated that it was very important to him that Nimona's body type be accurate in the film.

In one interview he noted that Nimona is "chubby...curvy...never sexualized, and...gender-nonconforming". He added that she "has her own unique style...[and] chooses to look this way." In another interview, Stevenson noted that it was "very healing" to draw Nimona's body type because he had an hourglass-teenager body type which he was uncomfortable with. He further explained that Nimona is "not constrained by her body."

The film is different from the comic in many ways. Even so, Nimona is still an "embodiment of that feeling of limitless possibility". The film encourages audience members to question the labels people have assigned them,. It focuses on the ability of people to change and personal identity. As such, it should be no surprise that animators/creators such as Vivienne Medrano, Daron Nefcy, Michael Rianda, and Matt Braly, praised the film, along with many others on social media.

It is almost a miracle the film was made at all. In 2015, 20th Century Fox acquired the animation film rights to Nimona. The scheduled release was February 2020, with Blue Sky Studios doing the animation work. However, this changed when Disney gobbled up 20th Century Fox. As a result, the film was delayed to March 2021 and again to January 2022. To make matters worse, the pandemic caused remote production, adding a strain on the film's crew. The film's future was thrown into question when Disney announced that Blue Sky Studios was being shut down and ended the film's production. While there will continual speculation as to why Disney did this, some argued that Disney cancelled the film because of its LGBTQ representation.

Annapurna Pictures revived the film. DNEG Animation was added as an animation partner. Despite this change, the voice cast was retained. Later, reporting revealed that the film was the first release of Annapurna's new division, Annapurna Animation. The latter may be the division under which Hazbin Hotel is released. It will build upon an oft-watched indie animated pilot. In contrast, this film built upon what Blue Sky Studios completed before Disney closed the studio. This meant that the film wasn't started "from scratch". On a related note, I wish that Nimona would have been an animated series, rather than a film, as they could have explored more of the characters, but the film is strong on its own.

There is no doubt that more films like Nimona need to be in the world. This film comes at the same time that animated films like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Elemental have done well. Others, like Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken have bombed at the box office, or have only been released on streaming platforms. The latter is the case for Justice League X RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen: Part One, with a second part reportedly coming on October 31st. 

Nimona would not be possible without hard work of the writers, animators, storyboarders, and other crew. A largely-circulated spreadsheet in which people anonymously described their conditions in animation studios does not mention Annapurna Pictures or Annapurna Animation. Two reviews on Glassdoor are diametrically opposed. One praises Annapurna and another is very critical. So, the true work conditions are hard to determine. The same spreadsheet includes reviews describing DNEG as having low pay, disorganization, and overwork.

There is no doubt that that each member of the crew worked hard on this film, even though their working conditions may not have been the best. This film aired 59 days after the writer's strike began and 14 days after the actor's strike began.  Those individuals are represented by WGA and SAG-AFTRA. Both strikes are paired together in a Wikipedia page entitled "2023 Hollywood labor disputes". The script and work had been stockpiled. This allowed for the film to be aired. Netflix has become a struck company for striking actors and workers.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

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