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plush-anon · 3 years

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SCOOB! Stream of Consciousness Review

Here we are folks - I finally review the originally cinematic, fully CGI animated Scooby Doo Movie (one year later... I did not queue this as I thought I had last June - damn you, Tumblr. I’m not changing much here, so enjoy as it was intended).

Created by a team who have professed their affection for this mystery team and their meddling dog too, will this be a lush experience fit to satisfy any Hanna-Barbera fan? Or will it be a hot garbage cash-grab, littered with Easter eggs and references that do nothing to hide a meatless mess of outdated memes and shallow character development?

LET’S

FIND

OUT

Below this cut is my entire stream-of-consciousness review on the SCOOB! Movie, as experienced. SPOILER warning here - I’m digging into everything, no plot points spared.

Here we go~

And we start off with a decent shot of the California coastline (looks like the kids backstory is front and center), some 90s hip-hop synthwave song about California, and OH SWEET JESUS THESE MODELS LOOK TERRIBLE

Ahem

Yeah, this is a problem right off the bat - some of these people in the opening shots look remarkably unfinished - think three shades above “Rapsittie Kids: Believe in Santa” level - and the animation on them is less than stellar.

On the plus side, we do see a fantastic variety of ages, sizes, and races - there’s a brief blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Sikh man on roller skates playing a sitar - but when the designs look rushed in the opening shots, it’s not a fantastic sign. At least they’re brief, but it’s hard to see if this is a lower level of the film’s style due to rushed animation, or if they didn’t care to polish it up as much, given that it’s maybe a 30 second scene.

Still, kudos to actually going for variety in the crowd shots. Minus kudos to making most of the clothes look like Play-doh draped over a Barbie doll. I’m not even kidding on that one, the clothes are super basic and barely have any sign of texture or creasing or even fabric/cut variety. Almost reminds me of the first Toy Story movie’s design for human clothes, yeesh.

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Ahh, our first introduction to Scooby Doo at a Greek gyro food stand. That’s foreshadowing right there folks! 😉

Sadly, he is really weirdly animated in his run sequence - he looks out of proportion as he’s running on his hind legs, and the human animation has really bad consistency - some background characters are really janky, while others actually move really nicely. The characters we immediately focus on seem to be pretty smooth at least, but that’s still very strange.

On a side note: Ruby and Spears Sub Sandwich shop. Nice 😁

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They are reaaaally pushing the super over-the-top dramatic music for a bike cop chasing a dog that stole gyro meat

Why

It’s not even interesting chase music, just generic super-hyped-up chase music

----

And now we finally get to see a young Shaggy, standing next to a tie-dye food stand called Casey’s Confections that… sells meat. Hm. Guess WB hasn’t learned after all these years 🙄

Unfortunately, I’m not a huge fan of the kid they got to play him, Iain Armitage. He’s not a bad voice actor by any means, but he just doesn’t sound right for Shaggy. I know that as a kid he’d be much less likely to have a cracking/squeaky voice, but he sounds… it’s hard to pin down a word, but - precocious? Darling? Either way it doesn’t quite match, especially given how Shaggy sounds when he grows up via Will Forte. Just… no connection there.

I tie it down to the particular vocal twangs and nuances the gang usually has. I’ll touch base on that note later I think, once we hit the teenage versions of the gang, but for now I’m just not feeling it.

----

On the one hand, I empathize deeply with Shaggy and his Spotify’s unsettling ability to pinpoint his insecurities with song choices, and also deeply enjoy that one small gesture where his fingers kind of shake & tighten around his phone while he takes a deep breath to calm himself- it’s a very nice, subtle sign of frustration

On the other hand we just passed two guys with no nipples and an unerring likeness to a Ken doll in those Barbie movies, so I’m distracted by that now

(between this and Fred’s no-nipples in Happy Halloween SD!, is WB just terrified of giving men nipples in animated movies now? what gives?)

Also distracted by the thrifty lesbians who bought those two shirts that come together to make a heart in the middle, on the store’s 2 for 1 day

happy pride y’all!

---

Finally got context for the two sand piles!

Very, very sad context, but still! Progress!

Basically Shaggy’s practicing talking to people in order to learn how to make friends, since he either has no idea how, or has never had a friend before. So he’s trying to learn the right way to do it since his own attempts have failed

And him talking to these sand piles not only counts as practice, but he’s using them so that his mom thinks he’s spending time with friends like he told her

Ow :)

---

So ketchup leather is apparently a thing that exists

I’m learning so much today!

---

Given that Shaggy has no friends at this stage, but he’s still called Shaggy, I’m kind of wondering if that was a mean nickname that everyone called him, but he was just grateful for the interaction/pretended it was from friends, so he kept it 🤔

Actually, take it back, his mother is calling him that. Family nickname, maybe…?

----

Shaggy has Blue Falcon (classic) and Dynomutt funko pops

noice

---

Oof, you can reaaaaally hear the age in Frank Welker’s Scooby voice. Can we get Scott Innes back? He sounds almost identical to his performance 20+ years ago :/

Also talking waaaay too much - even SDMI Scooby wasn’t this wordy, and he NEVER shut the hell up

----

Okay wait

So Shaggy met Scooby on Halloween day - then met the rest of the gang hours later?

Huh. And here I was thinking it would have been a few weeks minimum

Although I have to say there is a lot here to work with, if it paces out how I think it does

Shaggy meets Scooby. Bare hours later, he buys him a collar (instead of his mom? weird) and asks him to stay with him, despite not really knowing him. Then, only a couple hours after that, he finally makes some friends… but only when Scooby is with him.

Given that it looks like the gang are all around the same age in the same neighborhood, there’s a solid chance that they’ve taken classes together at the same school. If none of them met/knew/made friends with Shaggy then, but only did so AFTER Scooby came into the picture, that might lead to the argument we know about later when they split up; afterwards, S&SD go to the bowling alley, then get abducted by the Blue Falcon, plot continues. This could make it seem like they were only friends with him at the start because he had a dog.

And the brief scene earlier with the music device shows that he tries to tamp down on his anger/doesn’t really address it - could lead to something more later

hmmmm 🤔

---

Wait what

These two kid bullies just came out of nowhere, stole Shaggy’s candy… and then started on about how Halloween is only a marketing ploy to get companies to rot your teeth and go to the dentist more, before throwing the bag through a window and telling the two that ‘your blood sugar will thank us for it!’

Are - are these the brainwashed children of a Karen? Is that what I’m seeing?

I mean we could have had a Red Herring cameo, but apparently informing children about candy conspiracy theories is more important :/

----

Daphne: It’s Halloween - no one should go home without their candy

FD&V: *none of them have candy/candy bags*

???????

(Wouldn’t it make more sense if the bullies had stolen their candy too? What the hey man)

----

I do find it neat that we actually get to SEE the wires the ‘ghost’ uses to fly in full effect - that’s actually pretty cool, and not really something we get to see up close in older Scooby shows. Most of those just have the bad guy randomly flying about, and the wires revealed after the fact

---

Actually, given how FD&V react to this ghost almost immediately… have they already been solving mysteries? It seems like it, given how smoothly they move together to capture him

That’s kind of odd in kids. Like, even in PNSD they weren’t perfectly in-sync on stuff

This then leads to the gang solving mysteries together… in spite of the fact that all Shag and Scoob did was hide in the wardrobe that had the stolen goods, while FD&V captured the dude

Granted, they do ask Shag and Scoob if they wanna join in and say yes, but that seems like an strange jump after what could have been a one-time deal

I just find that a touch odd - esp when they could have had a five minute scene or so of them wandering around the house, touching on some old SDWAY traits. Heck, show that they’re SCARED in some way, and don’t immediately move to tackle what looks like a murderous spirit at age 8-9 or so. Even just showing the kids learning about each other would be enough, but what do I know. I’ve only watched Scooby Doo everything since I was 4 🙄

---

Ahhhh, and now for the updated rendition of the theme song

Where they’re all still kids doing everything the teenage gang did in the theme song

It doesn’t look as good as the OG, though - kind of like a computer game simulating the SDWAY intro using the PNSD kids in CGI. It’s honestly strange to see, and a little jarring - especially when we then transition to the older teenage gang right in the middle

Like, we don’t get to see you guys age through the song as you’re chased by/catch different monsters? That could have been pretty neat honestly - shows how long they’ve been doing this

Tho I gotta admit, seeing the Spooky Space Kook with his OG sound effects is pretty awesome, brief as it waoH MY GOD FRED WHY ARE YOU HAVING A ROMANTIC BEACHSIDE DATE WITH THE MYSTERY MACHINE

THAT WASN’T IN THE ORIGINAL AND NO ONE ELSE GETS A CHARACTER INSIGHT SHOT LIKE THIS

WHY

----

Huh, looks like Ruby & Spears gave up their subway sandwich shop for a coffee shop

That apparently the gang goes to in order to eat malt shop food

okay?

----

Ah, and here’s where we finally look at the voice acting of the older teenage gang. Buckle up folks, cause I gotta lot to say

We’ll start with Fred, bc honestly? I think Efron actually fits him pretty dang well. He’s got a different cadence from Welker, true, but as far as an update goes? I think he’s a solid fit. Very much in line with the all-American kid that Fred’s kind of been slated as for the past 50 years or so, but updated more for the modern perspective. I call it solid (and possibly a replacement for whenever Welker decides to retire).

Next? Oof. Velma is, IMHO, the weakest casting. Velma, no matter her voice actress, has ALWAYS had some form of nasal twang to her voice - that’s part of what makes her Velma to begin with, and helps her stand out. Nicole Jaffe, Pat Stevens, BJ Ward, Christina Lange (PNSD), Mindy Cohn, Kate Micucci, Linda Cardellini -heck, even Haley Kiyoko from ‘The Mystery Begins’ and Sarah Gilman from the ‘Daphne and Velma’ movie understood this! They all had that nasal twang to their voice - differing between actresses, of course, but still recognizable as Velma. Gina Rodriguez though? Honestly, it just sounds like she’s acting it straight. Not bad acting at all, by any means - she just doesn’t sound like Velma, and doesn’t seem to be trying to. (Honestly wondering if she was only hired bc she voices Carmen Sandiego in the reboot cartoon for the lolz fun reference! type connection)

Daphne is sort of similar in voices, but hers is more of a pitch her voice hits - Heather North, Mary Kay Bergman, and Grey Delisle Griffin all have that pitch they hit naturally when speaking. Amanda Seyfried? Does not - in fact, her voice is actually deeper than I was expecting - but it’s not quite as big a difference as it is for Velma. It fits her character type okay, and she does well with it overall.

And finally, the most controversial one: Will Forte’s Shaggy.

I’ll go ahead and say this: he’s not Scott Menville levels of bad Shaggy voice acting. If I were to place him on a list, I’d probably put him around Billy West level - kind of sounds similar via vocal tics (voice cracking, likes and zoinks, etc), but his own voice just overtakes the impression he’s seeking to hit. When I hear him speak, I don’t really hear Shaggy; I just hear Will Forte trying to do an impression of Shaggy.

In comparison: when Scott Innes took over for Shaggy, it was like Casey Kasem’s, just a touch more of a twang to his voice and just a dash over-the-top - but it was still Shaggy, and you didn’t doubt that for a minute.

Same thing for Lillard, but maybe moreso - he was pretty much the most perfect casting for a live-action Shaggy there could be at the time Scooby Doo (2002) was made. Him taking over for Kasem from there made perfect sense: he was honestly the best cast Mystery Inc member of the live-actions, and a lot more recognizable to the general public as Shaggy than Scott Innes was. He could also do different emotions with Shaggy that not a lot of the other voice actors had the chance to do (mainly bc script), so for future stuff they have that flexibility, if they wanted to play around a little more.

With any luck Forte will get better over the course of the movie, but honestly the casting could have been so much better with Matt Lillard and Kate Micucci.

----

Shaggy Rogers, evading taxes since 2020

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siMON COWELL??!?

WHAT THE

WHY?!?!?

ALSO HIS CHARACTER DESIGN STYLE IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THE GANG WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON?!!?

IS HE SUPPOSED TO BE THE SD CELEBRITY CAMEO

IF YOU WERE GOING TO DO A CAMEO FROM AMERICAN IDOL WHY NOT RYAN SEACREST

HE TOOK OVER FOR CASEY KASEM ON THE AMERICAN TOP 40 WOULDN’T THAT MAKE MORE SENSE

aaauuuggghhh

---

Also he’s there as a potential investor in Mystery Inc as a detective agency

A music industry professional… is interested in funding a detective agency.

Like… did he miss out on Josie & the Pussycats? Is that why he’s here?

----

Wait a minute

Oh noooooo

I know why he’s here

I remember this spoiler

Shit

-----

And once again, here is your reminder to tell Simon Cowell a great big fcuk you

Only this time it’s for making Shaggy and Scooby feel worthless and saying that friendship is worthless and cannot be counted on for anything worthwhile

Simon Cowell: Professional Dickhead

---

Welp, at least this gives a solid reason why they leave: Simon Cowell was being a professional dickhead, and the gang didn’t really say anything against him or interrupt him on his whole ‘Shag and Scoob are worthless spiel’

Or, well... Daphne stepped up some, but more to say ‘they’re our friends!’ rather than ‘that’s entirely wrong, our friends aren’t worthless!’ Better than nothing, but yeesh

----

Ahhh, Takamoto Bowling - the emptiest bowling alley in the evenings this side of Coolsville

(no seriously, the past few times my dad has taken my sister and me bowling pre-pandemic, no matter the day or time? it’s ALWAYS got more than 6 lanes of people there, what the heck)

Also Scooby wears three bowling shoes, which honestly makes more sense than I thought it would - that pup goes spinning and sliding every which way on a normal floor, bowling alley floors would be like ten times worse

----

here’s a nice little detail - when Scooby sees one of the bowling pins peek out with red eyes and he yells that to Shaggy, Shaggy actually squints and walks closer to see if it actually does have eyes

aww

----

Huh, okay

Panicked Will Forte Shaggy actually sounds more like a good Shaggy voice than normal talking Will Forte Shaggy

I can dig it

---

Still kind of underwhelmed by the Shag and Scoob disguise scene - wouldn’t it make more sense to have them like, dish up hot sauce or something on a plate that nonsensically makes the robots overheat before they discover their ruse?

Idk, maybe they’re off their game after Simon ‘Dickhead’ Cowell

---

Carlton Way - must be named after Fred’s only other voice actor, Carlton Stevens of PNSD

Also Hanna’s Barber Shop is next to Barbera’s Pizza! Cute.

And… Pitstop’s Pink Perfume ad. Wait, who is that? *assorted googling noises*

...ahhh, Penelope Pitstop from Wacky Races! Who, according to Wikipedia, was revealed to have Greek ancestry in the 2016 Wacky Raceland comic book, having been born on the island of Aegina

Now I’m wondering if we’ll see her in this too, given Cerberus...

----

Honestly kind of fascinating to see the gang with a police radio in their van

Also fascinating to see that only main characters are allowed clothing variety and texture/creases/folds

---

it’s actually really sweet to see Fred, upon hearing that Shag and Scoob are likely in danger, immediately makes a 90 degree turn in traffic

---

It looks like they changes Dee Dee’s name a hair - now it’s Dee Dee Skyes, instead of Sykes

It works well for the Falcon aesthetic, so that’s cool

----

Shaggy, after Dee Dee tells them that Dastardly’s trying to kill them: Scoob, someone thinks we’re important enough to *mimes slitting throat*!

Scooby: It’s nice to be wanted.

Excellent! This movie has captured Shag and Scoob’s blasé attitude towards death! Now we’re onto a solid Scooby film :D

Dee Dee: Hmm, I hear that!

And they even have a friend to share in their attitude! Splendid!

----

Christ, I can work photoshop better than Blue Falcon can, and I don’t even know how to use photoshop

I will give major kudos on his costume tho - it maintains the important elements of the OG Falcon, while still updating it with more bird-related aesthetic, like the feathered appearance of parts of his costume, the split cape resembling the tail feathers, and the talon gauntlets & boots. neat!

---

Yooo, Dynomutt, I thought secret identities were still a thing with Superheroes, what the hey are you doing giving it out to a duo you literally just picked up behind a bowling alley

Ngl, I’m kinda hoping we get some scenes where Dynomutt messes up a little like in the OG cartoon - this one feels really serious, which is kind of strange

---

Okay now I want to see older!Blue Falcon come in for a cameo

Mainly bc I’m getting the feeling that this one is a major dumbass, and not in the fun and friendly himbo kind of way 😑

---

Wait, THAT’S our first look at Dastardly? That’s a bit abrupt, isn’t it?

Also his ship must be pumping thousands of gallons of toxins into the air, that smoke cloud looks hideous. Forget logging into his mom’s Netflix account like the trailer said, EPA should probably be hunting him for sport with a laser cannon, jesus fcuking christ

---

Honestly kinda want a plane you can pilot like a motorbike now

---

Welp, it looks like we have a fun, mustache-twirly, puns-aplenty, loves-to-be-bad kind of villain on our hands folks! This is gonna be FUN AS HECK

---

Eurgh, this scene - the super-stiff-but-stretched-out ‘yeeurgh’ faces really squick me for some reason, but I can’t really pinpoint why

---

I have decided I highly dislike the Brian Blue Falcon, or Brian Falcon for short, and would like to see Dastardly tie him to some railroad tracks

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North St for Heather North, and… wait… Funland Carnival? Like where Charlie the Robot hung out?

Apparently that’s in Romania.

A very yellow-greenfilter Romania at that.

Like, I’ve seen blue washes on movies trying to portray evening in the middle of the day so they don’t actually have to shoot at night, but yellow? That’s normally used for deserts and hot days and uhhh

NOT for evenings in a country with landscape like THIS

odd

(I mean I guess they got the mountains and trees right, but still. Yellow filters make a place look arid, which Romania is Not, to my knowledge)

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Dude, Brian Falcon is such an idiot even Shaggy and Scooby, commonly portrayed as the idiots of Mystery Inc, look at him like he’s a moron.

(They are Not Amused.)

Also Brian Falcon is an absolute coward. That’s new. Even Shaggy and Scooby face off against the robots directly in a Whack-a-Mole game and destroy some. Dude, get your head in the fcuking game already, yikes

Woah, Laff-a-Lympics, Wacky Races, Hex Girls, The Banana Splits, Penelope Pitstop, Space Stars, Posse Impossible, and Hong Kong Phooey easter eggs in one shot

Geezus

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Another nice moment: when cornered by Dastardly, Shaggy moves to stand in front of Scooby to protect him

---

Dastardly (to Shaggy): I don’t care about YOU. You’re not REMOTELY important!

*proceeds to shoot Shaggy THROUGH the ceiling and up into the highest car on a Ferris Wheel where Brian Falcon is hiding like a man baby*

Welp, so much for a fun and zany villain. Time for this Plush Anon to kill a bitch *cocks shotgun*

I will, too - kudos to the animators for hurting me so badly with the face Shaggy made right before being shot because

---

Ehehehhehe, yess, the infamous ‘Dick’ scene

Dastardly: No, I’m a DICK. With a D!

You sure are, you sack of dildos with a D!

This scene had to be put in on purpose - if this had been released in theaters, I just know the adults would be dying in laughter 🤣🤣🤣

----

Shaggy: Brian, do something!

Brian Falcon: Like what?

Shaggy: Like, drop some F-Bombs!

love it 😂

---

Is it like movie law now, that if there’s an action scene with a Ferris Wheel in the background, it has to fall off and roll down a mild incline like a wheel? Because it kinda feels like it

---

Aha! Dastardly said his drats! Perfection.

Now to shoot him through a ceiling to make them matter even more :D

---

OOF.

Well that hurt.

Poor Shaggy - basically internalizing now that he’s the worthless one and weak link of the group now that Scooby is considered more important

---

Holy fcuk I’m crying

Shaggy just broke Brian Falcon down to his deepest insecurities without even trying while talking to him

He even used the words ‘imposter syndrome’

Shaggy hon, you’re the best

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Oh hey, Fred, Daphne, and Velma! It’s been a while since we saw you guys again, what are you doing?

Arguing about the metric system and realizing that Shaggy and Scooby reminding them to eat periodically helped them keep a clearer head...

And using the word ‘hangry’.

But then looking through a ridiculously cute photo album of the two and a video the gang took together (the video is honestly really heckin’ cute, 10000/10 would recommend)...

And then getting pulled over so Fred can have a brief ‘oo-la-la’ montage about the pretty blonde cop who honest-to-gods looks like a Barbie doll.

Where Daphne then describes how ugly Dastardly is...

Right before the petite blonde cop who’s maybe like 5’7” at best rips off her outfit to reveal it was Dick Dastardly this entire time, all 7ish feet of him.

And then kidnaps them all along with the Mystery Machine while he makes terribly fun dorky puns

…

...SO BACK TO SCOOBY AND SHAGGY...

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...where Scooby is making kissy faces in the mirror while wearing his Blue Falcon uniform

Hrm, that’s not really better is it

We actually see Shaggy reading (OG) Blue Falcon’s autobiography, and making hurt but snide comments about Scooby’s ego

Which are actually pretty clever tbh

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Cooooooongratulations, Fred Jones! You are now officially a full-on himbo!

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Alas, poor Daphne. While your knowledge of the tropes of your show might have served you well in other places, this was to be a theatrical release once upon a time, and so such knowledge falls to ruin.

----

You know, I just realized - we’re never really told HOW the Cerberus skulls work, both in how each skull can be used to find the others, and, presumably, in releasing Cerberus itself. We’re given a brief glance-over of Scooby’s ancestry (and I mean REALLY damn brief), and a quick mention that these are supposed to be Cerberus’ skulls being stolen, but… that’s it. Nothing else is given.

Now, I read the first few chapters of my SCOOB! Junior Novelization, and it actually went into further detail about the skulls themselves and what Dastardly’s initial plan was early in the book - open the gates of Hades and obtain the seas of treasure therein. It acted as an introduction both to the climatic endgame we’ll face at the end of the movie, and to Dastardly, who uses the same disguise trick he used as the Barbie cop when he stole the first one in South America.

(They actually DID plan to use this as Dastardly’s intro, but cut this… 3 minute scene for time. Yeah. See below video for the details - honestly think they should have kept it in. Saves time later and definitely more show than tell, compared to what we got)

youtube

I feel like that would be a better introduction to him than the one we got - hell, it would have fit in quite neatly after the revamped theme song montage. They could have the scene with Dastardly finding/stealing the first skull as an introduction (as above), then have him answer a call or something. Exposit openly “You found the key! Excellent! Now where are we going next?”

THEN cut to the diner/coffee shop scene we had earlier. We still wouldn’t know exactly what the key was/entailed off the bat, and they could still have FD&V find out on their own - maybe by hacking the little robot instead? IDK.

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The final skull is on Messick Mountain.

Cute.

On a side note, I do love how Dastardly’s ship interior looks - very dieselpunk

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Velma just hacked into Dynomutt… somehow, and I finally get my wacky Dynomutt shenanigans! Hazoo!

...sadly that was really dang brief. Realistic, yes, but still too brief.

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Eyyyy, we finally get the whys of why Scooby is needed! … really dang fast.

Also Fred says Jinkies.

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Hey, Muttley popped up! In a shrine… to his demise… that we find out he reached when Dastardly pushed him forward into the Underworld to steal the treasure of Alexander the Great in a portal he rigged up… only for both of them to find out it was a one-way deal unless they used the key to be able to come back. The key, of course, being Scooby Doo, descendent of Peritas, Alexander’s dog.

Eh, workable enough-ish. It’s interesting to see that Dastardly, despite how much he disliked Muttley in the older cartoons, still cares about him to a certain extent.

---

Pfff, Fred’s a poor man’s Hemsworth XD

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Sweet, we’re in ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ now!

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O W W W

You guys really had to do the ‘me or them’ thing with Shaggy and Scooby… and tHeN hAvE sCoObY cHoOsE tHe FaLcONs?!? Just because they said he was important as “the key” and gave him a spandex costume.

Over at least 7 years of friendship.

Booooooooooooo

---

actually no I’m Not Done Yet

This whole scene is a mess.

Shaggy’s turn was really dang fast… but I can still see how he gets to it. It’s at least a day between Scooby being chosen as a pseudo-sidekick and the island arrival, during which Shaggy’s talk with the main adult (who has taken up the mantle of his favorite superhero) essentially confirms his feelings of worthlessness and leaves him to stew for HOURS on end (on top of another adult, Dastardly, who also calls him “not even REMOTELY important” at the carnival before freaKING SHOOTING HIM THROUGH THE CEILING NO I AM NOT OVER THIS). Tie that to a teenager who also believes his only friends have come to think he’s meaningless baggage, and suddenly his entire support system is vanishing underneath him to one of his former idols without ANY sign of hesitation from Scooby’s part (with the exception of the collar scene, but I don’t think that that means the same to Scooby, given how quickly he bounces back)

Scooby tho… hrm. It could be that he’s clinging to the good feelings Brian Falcon inspires in him (by choosing him as the next possible Dynomutt), as a way to overpower how FD&V hurt him, while also building on how he came to love the duo because SHAGGY loved them so much. But the movie doesn’t frame that up… at all?? At least compared to Shaggy.

Idk, maybe I’m missing something, but this scene is a mess through and through

Boooooo

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Scooby: *tries to leap into Brian Falcon’s arms like he did with Shaggy but falls*

Brian: Uh, what are you doing?

Scooby: Rhaggy never missed.

Damn straight he didn’t

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oh hey, it’s Captain Caveman

I was wondering when we’d see him.

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AAAUUGGHH

It’s that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene from the trailers I sobbed over - the one with Shaggy holding Scooby’s collar

Fun fact it actuALLY FADES INTO THE FLASHBACK

THAT WAS NOT A TRAILER THING THAT’S ACTUALLY HERE IN THE MOVIE

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Oh No

Fred is here, alone, after that whole scene with Dastardly saying he had a use for Fred

...while that’s likely Dastardly in a Fred suit (that sounds creepy just typing it), I’m still going to enjoy this brief but absolutely lovely hug Shaggy and Fred share...

(seriously tho, look at this, it’s a genuinely close, squish-your-lungs-out kind of hug, I love it)

...as well as Shaggy, who's still hurt from his fight with Scooby, immediately gearing up to go help him after hearing Dastardly’s trying to kidnap him.

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Brian Falcon and Scooby Doo now have to take on Captain Caveman in gladiatorial combat in order to claim the final skull of Cerberus

I love cartoons sometimes

----

Captain Caveman just put the smackdown on Brian Falcon and punched him into the ground up to his CHEST

Then smacked him so far into a wall he cracked the stone around him!

GodDAMN is this satisfying 😆 altho minor question here: how did he gain the rank of Captain? Do cavepeople have a naval force?

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He just whirled Scooby around his head, then spun him so fast his costume broke off

I may have to look into some Captain Caveman stuff now, that’s fantastic

---

Shaggy and Fred - sorry, “Fred” - just smashed through to the colosseum in the Mystery Machine

And Dynomutt just fired missiles at Captain Caveman to smash him into an Amigara-shaped hole of himself

I REALLY love cartoons sometimes

---

Oh No

Just as Shaggy starts trying to apologize, “Fred” kicks him in the back, rips off his disguise to normal Dastardly self, and kidnaps Scooby atop the skull, before revealing he destroyed the Falcon Fury jet

New tagline for this movie? Shaggy Rogers and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day

...at least the rest of the gang is back together?

---

Brian Falcon: *Immediately tries to blame Shaggy for inadvertently leading Dastardly to them, while storming up to get in his face*

Fred: *upon realizing BrianF is blaming Shaggy for everything, without a SINGLE moment’s hesitation, immediately leaps in to defend Shaggy and physically push back Brian Falcon several feet*

We stan one Himbo, theydies and gentlethem

Also?

Velma (sneering): What kind of hero blames other people for his problems? *Walks over to comfort Shaggy with Daphne, while Shaggy looks dumbfounded they’re defending him bc he also blames himself for Scooby’s kidnapping*

This. This right here, is the kind of Mystery gang content I wanna see.

I don’t care how the rest of this movie goes now, this scene right here is ambrosia to the Scooby fan’s soul, and therefore makes this entire movie worth it, outdated memes, lingo, and all

---

Cackling rn - Fred and Brian Falcon are in a point-off a la the Spiderman meme 😂

or, more specifically, the post-credits sequence of Spiderverse where they’re arguing about who started pointing first

It gets better when Velma and Daphne try to pull each other off of their pushing fight, and Velma grumbles “Toxic Masculinity” I’m crying

---

WOAH

More super Shaggy stuff here (apart from being flung through a building roof without a scratch) - he pushes apart both groups effortless, and even knocks them back several feet

If we estimate Dynomutt as… we’ll say 450 since he’s made of metal, Falcon at 220, Dee Dee at 160, that’s about 830 lbs on one side

Then Fred, Daphne and Velma on the other (hmm, 180, 150, 130?) would be around 460 lbs

Dang boi

---

Oh honey no, it’s not your fault

But dang if he didn’t get a good message from it, one I’ve done my best to transcribe here:

“I was afraid that... things were gonna change. And they did change. But like, that’s okay! People can grow. But it doesn’t mean that we’re growing apart. Because the one thing that will never change is that Scooby Doo is my best friend! Ten years ago, a little boy made a promise to a stray puppy that he’d never leave him no matter what. And I’m gonna keep that promise! Now it’s time we stopped that mustachioed menace from opening the gates to the {underworld} and letting loose that fearsome {Cerberus}. So what do you say we get out {of here}, and go get my always-snacking, never-lacking, often-napping dog back? Who’s with me?”

Honestly not a bad message for kids. Things will change, people will change, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop being friends. (Obvs real life exceptions apply, but that’s not a bad note honestly)

...shame that that conclusion comes right the FUCK outta nowhere

How, exactly, did he come to this conclusion? WHEN? What inspired him to realize this, what was the impetus for this specific line of thought, that it’s okay for friends to change?

It kinda feels like this should have been either the happy ending speech given after they’ve saved the world, or one at the start of the third act, like if Shaggy arrives when Scooby thinks he’s chased him away and ruined everything, and Shaggy & the gang still save him. And Scooby asks him why he did that - when Scooby tried to change himself to fit what Brian Falcon wanted, instead of treasuring the friend he still had, or maybe why Shaggy reacted the way he did. THEN Shaggy gives the speech we hear, a la:

“I yelled at you because… like, because I was scared. I was scared that... things were gonna change. And they did change. But like, that’s okay! People can grow. But it doesn’t mean that we’re growing apart. Because the one thing that will never change is that YOU’RE my best friend! Ten years ago, a little boy made a promise to a stray puppy that he’d never leave him no matter what. And I mean to keep it!”

At least that would make a little more sense to me. Again, not a bad speech, but a little rearranging would help to really hit home.

---

Okay, now we’re back with Dastardly in Greece, and suddenly the background people all look MILES better than the ones at the start of the movie. Did they just forget to polish the first two minutes of film, what the heck?

Also, Dastardly’s ship is literally the entire length of the Greek ruins presented o_O

---

HOLY SHIT THE SKULLS TURNED BACK TIME AND MADE THE RUINS INTO AN ENTIRELY RESTORED PALACE WITH THE GATES OF THE UNDERWORLD BEFORE THEM

They’re also colored a very atmospheric neon arrangement that’s surprisingly quite tasteful ^.^

----

The Mystery Machine can fly now!!! eeheeheeeheeheeheeheeee

----

And so we finally see Cerberus, a massive, towering figure with sharp teeth and pffffffhahahhahaa why are all three heads wearing Spartan helmets

To its credit, they’re also wearing basic body armor, wrist guards, tail spikes, etc, but the helmets are killing me 🤣 who thought to stick that onto the dog? Did Hades forget to remove the armor after winning the Gods’ Pet Costume Contest, or was it like that horse in the ATV costume - it felt safer so it didn’t let anyone take it off?

Or was this a precaution against Herakles coming back? These are questions - hilarious, hilarious questions 😁

---

Awww. Scooby immediately runs to the battered Mystery Machine to rip the doors open for the gang!

And… wait. THIS is where that wonderful hug was in the trailers? I thought that was at the end of the movie when everyone was safe!

This now does not bode well. But we’ll worry about that later. Time to enjoy this gorgeous wonderful hug of the entire gang, and Shag and Scoob apologizing to each other for fighting 🥰

Yet another scene to make the rest of this movie worth the rest

(halfway wanna frame this shit and put it on the wall, it’s that lovely)

----

Fantastic! Dastardly is now in Hell, where I’ve been wishing him this entire movie! :D

And dang… he actually apologizes to what he believes is a dead Muttley. Who is, naturally, snickering at all of this. The two bicker predictably, but eventually hug and make up, too happy to see each other to resort to old habits. Honestly a nice little scene, all-in-all.

---

Back to the gang and they’re doing the glowy eyes in the dark bit! I actually haven’t seen that in a Scooby movie forever, it’s neat.

Also Fred is now going full Liam Neeson over his van, war paint and all, using the tire cover as a shield and… holy shit.

HOLY SHIT

THE ASCOT IS BAAAnnnnnd it’s gone. Boy, that was… short.

Fred just ran full-tilt at Cerberus, screaming like a mad man, before getting flicked away by its big toe, and losing the ascot and makeshift shield. It punched so hard his facepaint came off

It was fun while it lasted y’all

---

Heyyy, Shag and Scoob just came up with the plan, and it’s actually solid! I’m so proud, and so is the rest of the gang! Also willingly going to distract Cerberus while the rest figure out how to close the gate and stuff Cerberus back in

I love my boys 😊

---

Annnnd there goes Brian Falcon like the coward he is

To… call his dad? And admit he isn’t a hero.

Only for Dynomutt to point out Shaggy and Scooby are taking him on and are terrified.

This then cuts to Shaggy and Scooby running around in a chariot and gladiator wear, running back and forth a la the door gag from Cerberus to the OG SDWAY theme

I think I love this movie

(although they’re hinting at Dynomutt being resentful of OG Blue Falcon essentially abandoning him to his incompetent son, and I really wish it had been touched upon more

that’s actually rather heartbreaking, when you stop to think about it, and there’s a lot that could be done with an additional two minutes of screentime)

---

Huh, another good message for kids: it’s okay to fail and be scared, so long as you keep going and try to do what’s right.

Two good messages for kids in one movie. Not too shabby, on the whole.

---

Brian Falcon just flew in and punched the three-headed dog, then jumped into its mouth as it tried to eat Scooby, resisted the MASSIVE JAW STRENGTH, and got them out of there safe and sound

Finally, something heroic!

I was wondering where Dastardly and Muttley got off to - apparently they’re off to take a money bath.

Aight

---

Shag and Scoob have now convinced the Rotten Robots to turn into bowling balls to knock Cerberus off their feet a la the classic marbles pratfall back into the underworld

That is a sentence I just wrote

----

OH FCUK NO

ABSOLUTELY NOT NO

YOU ARE TELLING US THAT AFTER ALL OF THIS - ALL OF THIS - ONE OF THEM HAS TO STAY IN THE UNDERWORLD TO LOCK THE GATE

THAT OCTOBER LEAKER WAS RIGHT WHAT THE HELL

LITERALLY SO

I mean i know its a kids film specifically Scooby Doo so happy ending but what the literal FUCK

---

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGHHH

SHAGGY NOOOO

“Buddy, back when we were kids, you saved me. Now, it’s my turn.”

and he dOES THIS WHILE HOLDING SCOOBY’S HEAD TENDERLY IN HIS HANDS

AND WHEN EVERYTHING REVERTS IT’S JUST RUBBLE AND RUIN AND SCOOBY’S LEFT SOBBING OPENLY AT NOTHING

AND THE GANG ALL COME TO CLING AT HIM AND CRY OVER THEIR FRIEND WHO THOUGHT HE WAS WORTHLESS MOST OF THE MOVIE AND THOUGH THAT THE GANG THOUGHT THE SAME ABOUT HIM

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH

---

WELP, TIME TO COPE WITH INAPPROPRIATE HUMOR

Shaggy: I yelled at my dog, got him kidnapped, and ended up helping the bad guy to open the gates to Hell. Guess I’ll die.

Dee Dee: Well actually, this is more Dastardly’s fault because -

Shaggy, yelling as he slams his hand against the lock: GUESS I’LL DIE!!!

----

Ah, so the writers wrote themselves into a corner, and the only way out was a Deus Ex Machina (at least, I think I’m using that term correctly…)

Because to get Shaggy back, a giant statue of Alexander the Great and Peritas appears out of nowhere - literally, since it definitely wasn’t there before - with an inscription Scooby has to read to get Shaggy back.

This would have been a lot more effective if we’d seen it when Dastardly arrived in Greece - maybe even as the marker for where the gate to the Underworld was. Have Alexander facing one way, and Peritas facing the other. You open the gate on Alexander’s side, and come home on Peritas’ side. Having this unfold into the gate gives it more purpose than “magically appears right the fcuk outta nowehere” and you could have a pun with the “backdoor” escape. Everybody wins!

And if that’s too good for ya, how about a brief lingering shot by it at some point as Dastardly flies into Greece, behind where the gate materializes, or directly across from it on the plaza? Maybe have one of the gang kick it after Shaggy leaves, and say ‘This is all your fault! Why would you make something like this?’

It’d still be a magical contrivance, but at least it would make some fcuking SENSE.

(Granted it DID lead to this hilariously ominous shot, so maybe I shouldn’t complain:)

---

Velma: I finally figured out what you guys are! You’re the heart of Mystery Inc.

Me: YEAH BABY! *flips over table* I’VE BEEN SAYING THAT SHIT FOR YEARS AND NOW, I’M FCUKING VALIDATED AT LAAAAAAAAST!

----

Shaggy: *rips off Dastardly’s face to reveal…*

ALL: SIMON COWELL??!?

Me, choking on food: I’m sorry WHAT?!?!?

Velma: *takes off mask again to reveal*

ALL: DICK DASTARDLY?!?

Dastardly: Drat! No one ever goes for the double unmasking.

So I was right all along - Simon Cowell truly was a Dick this entire time.

-----

And so we close on the gang unveiling a Mystery Machine paint job on their official detective agency building, Brian Falcon living the good life as the DJ at their party, the Falcon team gifting a sleek new Mystery Machine to the gang (which honestly looks pretty unique - it’s not the classic, but it is something new that isn’t awful, so kudos there), and the gang on their way to another mystery.

So, at the end of the day is this a good Scooby movie?

Meh? *waves hand in meh motion* But it definitely had its moments.

This Scooby film is flawed as heck, no doubt about it - the plot has a MAJOR problem with telling instead of showing, some parts feeling out of order or WAY too short, and of course the deus ex machina ending. I honestly would have loved some more time for their first mystery as kids, where we actually got more character moments/bonding from Fred, Daphne, and Velma as they solved it the more traditional route, as well as not framing FD&V as super duper mystery solvers right off the bat???

The stuff with Blue Falcon isn’t AWFUL, per se, but it is ridiculously satisfying to see him get smacked around. Captain Caveman was honestly one of the funniest bits in the movie, same with Dynomutt.

As far as the character stuff? It all felt fairly natural, progression-wise. Shag and Scoob don’t have this big break-up with the gang - they’re hurt by the literal Dickhead’s comments the gang don’t speak up against, and go to blow off some steam together. Shag and Scoob don’t have this giant blow-up argument - it builds over the film into a hurt spat they both recognize they overreacted to almost immediately. The gang (FDV) go looking for them almost as soon as they leave, and, upon hearing they’re in danger, turn and head towards them to save them, realizing how important the two are to Mystery Inc along the way. They defend each other, help each other, have some of the Best Dang Animated Mystery Inc hugs I ever did see - THIS feels more like the Gang I’ve been waiting for forever to come back to DTV (and in a rough sense, did). While I do wish we’d gotten more screen time of FD&V, what we got wasn’t too bad.

Weirdly enough, at the end of the day, I’ve actually grown more accustomed to Forte’s Shaggy - it feels like it fits this different style a touch more than I originally thought, and holy hell if I didn’t come close to tears at that ending gate scene, he knocked that one out of the park. Velma still doesn’t feel much like Velma, but I did get used to it by the end. I kept cracking up at Efron’s Fred, and no complaints on Seyfried’s Daphne.

Jason Isaacs as Dick Dastardly absolutely killed it. Blue Falcon Crew was okay (excepting Mark “The Racist” Wahlburg - it was just him talking, no real effort. You could recognize Wahlburg right off the bat, acting as a goofy douche) and freaking Captain Caveman was awesome. Apparently they combined both Billy West and Don Messick’s recordings for Muttley (awesome!!!), so this may very well be Don Messick’s final role in a Scooby Doo film.

It got off to a rough start, but ended well enough. The animation was solid, the writing has some unexpectedly clever and funny moments sprinkled throughout, with some pretty fun action sequences on the side. Watching this, I really do believe that the people working on it love Scooby Doo and all things Hanna-Barbera… at least in their own way.

I ended up buying this instead of just renting it ($5 more, why not) and I am honestly glad I did so. Despite its flaws, it has some great moments with the gang as friends, and I have been Craving That Shit for DECADES

And if these writers/directors ever did another Scooby film? I think I’d be up for giving them a chance - at least so long as we got some more absolutely BEAUTIFUL hugs with the gang

I hope you enjoyed this stream-of-consciousness reaction to SCOOB! (2020)... a whole ass year LATER, admittedly (I didn’t switch my Save Post to Queue, curse my hubris), but hopefully y’all’ve been entertained. Good night everybody!

#scoob!#scoob 2020 #scoob #scooby doo #plush reviews: final thoughts #note to self: never use queue for the big posts

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letterboxd · 4 years

Photo

Satisfied?

We examine what Letterboxd reviews of Hamilton reveal about the musical’s cultural currency in 2020.

In this absolutely insane year, when our love of movies feels helpless in the face of pandemic-induced economic collapse, some extremely good decisions are being made on behalf of audiences. Studio Ghibli on streaming platforms. Virtual screenings to support art house cinemas. Free streaming of many important films about Black experience. And: Disney+ releasing the filmed version of Hamilton: An American Musical—recorded at the Richard Rodgers Theater in 2016 with most of its original Broadway cast—a year ahead of schedule, on Independence Day weekend.

“Superlative pop art,” writes Wesley of the filmed musical. “Hamilton wears its influences and themes on its sleeve, and it’s all the better for it. Lin-Manuel Miranda and his team employ an unlikely cocktail of not only hip-hop and showtunes, but also jazz (‘What’d I Miss?’), British-Invasion pop-rock (‘You’ll Be Back’), folk music (‘Dear Theodosia’) and Shakespeare (‘Take a Break’) in service of developing an impressively vast array of themes. This is a testament to the power of writing, an immigrant narrative, a cautionary tale about ambition, a tragic family drama, and a reevaluation of who decides the narrative of history.”

2016 may only be a half-decade ago, but it feels like an eon in American political years. With theaters dark and America’s long record of racism under urgent scrutiny, the complex smash-hit lands back in the spotlight at an interesting time. Is Hamilton “the most offensive cultural artefact of the last decade”, as Lee writes? Or “timeless and wholly of the moment”, as Tom suggests? The answer, according to a deep read of your Letterboxd reviews, is “all of the above”.

First things first: why now?

Sophie has a theory:

“Disney executive: Hey we’re losing a lot of money because our parks are closed. How do we start making money again?

Other Disney executive: It might be nice, it might be nice… to get Hamilton on our side.”

Sure, business. Still, it’s historically unprecedented that a Broadway show of this caliber (a record-setting sixteen Tony nominations, eleven wins, plus a Grammy and a Pulitzer) would be filmed and released to the public while it’s still, in a Covid-free universe, capable of filling theaters every night. Will people stay away when Broadway reopens because they’re all Disney+’d out?

No chance, reckons Erika. “I’d still kill to see Hamilton live with any cast… I get why producers are afraid that these videos might hurt ticket sales, but I’m fucking ready to buy a ticket and fly to NY one day just to see as many shows as I can after watching this.”

Not every musical fan has the resources to travel, often waiting years for a touring version to come near their hometown. And even if you do live in a town with Hamilton, the ticket price is beyond many; a daily lottery the only way some of us get to go. So Holly-Beth speaks for many when she writes: “I entered the Hamilton lottery every day for almost two years but I never got to be in the room where it happens… however, this 4K recording of the original cast will do very nicely for now! Finally getting to see the context and performances after obsessing over the music for years was so, so satisfying.”

“Finally” is a common theme. Sydnie writes, “I love this musical with every fiber of my body and it was an extraordinary experience finally getting to watch it in Australia”. Flogic: “To finally be able to put the intended visuals to a soundtrack that I’ve had on repeat for such a long time: goosebumps for 160 minutes.” Newt Potter: “Now I fully understand people’s love for this masterpiece of a musical!”

I’ve got a small query for you.

Where’s the motherfucking swearing? Unsurprisingly, Disney+ comes with some limitations. For Hamilton, it’s the loss of a perfectly placed F-word.

“I know Disney is ‘too pure’ to let a couple of ‘fucks’ slip by,” writes Fernando, “but come on, it’s kind of distracting having the sound go out completely when they sing the very satisfying ‘Southern Motherfucking Democratic Republicans!’ line.”

Will agrees: “Disney cutting ‘motherfucking’ from ‘Washington on Your Side’ felt like sacrilege akin to Mickey Mouse taking an eyebrow pencil to the Mona Lisa.”

Nevertheless, sings Allison:

“Even tho Disney stripped the story of its f***s, Don’t think for a moment that it sucks.”

(Yes, she has a vegan alert for Hamilton.)

Does it throw away its shot?

The crew filmed two regular shows in front of live audiences, with additional audience-less sessions for a dolly, crane and Steadicam to capture specific numbers. The vast majority of you are satisfied. “It’s the most engaging and expertly crafted life filming I’ve seen since Stop Making Sense,” writes ArtPig. “The film does an incredible job of placing you right in the action. It feels like the best seat you could get in the theater. You can see the sweat and spit.”

“Translates perfectly onto the small screen,” agrees Ollie. “There’s a level of intimacy that feels hard to replicate in any other filmed production. We see those close ups, the passion and gusto behind every actor’s performance.”

“Shockingly cinematic for something filmed on such a small stage,” is Technerd’s succinct summary, while Paul praises director Thomas Kail: “He knows when to back away along with moving nearer when appropriate, and the choices always serve to govern the power and stamina of the performances.”

Though cast members’ voices were recorded on individual audio tracks, Noah had a few quibbles with the sound quality. “Some of the audio capture is off in the recording, sometimes voices being too soft or too loud. It’s not immersion breaking, but it is noticeable enough to irk me a little in pivotal moments. Some of the shot composition doesn’t fully work either. Of course nothing is going to be as good as seeing it in person.”

Robert, recalling another recent cinematic escapade of musical theater, lets his poetry do the talking:

“This will do for now until the true movie’s made, Though if Hooper directs, there’ll be an angry tirade.”

I think your pants look hot.

Hamilton fans have their cast favorites, but something about being able to see Jonathan Groff’s spittle and Leslie Odom Jr’s scowls in 4K has you losing it all over again. Several specific shout-outs we enjoyed:

“Daveed Diggs the Legend! Go watch Blindspotting (2018), it’s one of the best movies ever!” —Kyle

“It’s hard to believe anyone will ever top Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr. I already loved him from the original cast recording, but seeing his full performance in all its glory was just godly.” —Erika

“Thankful that it was made possible for me to view with such clarity the phenomenon that is Renée Elise Goldsberry and spectacular Phillipa Soo.” —Thea

“Daveed Diggs was electrifying and Jonathan Groff was absolutely hilarious. If they interacted together the stage would’ve combusted from the sheer will of their talent.” —Nick

This is not a game.

On one hand, the release of Hamilton is sweet relief for music theater nerds riding out the pandemic. A generation of kids knows every word by heart, rapping (this version of) American history like it’s no thing. On the other, the Obama-era musical already feels behind-the-times, even for many Hamilton lovers, and the filmed version has brought that into sharp focus.

“I listened to the OG cast album about 50 times when it came out, the production is about as good as I’d always hoped,” writes Josh. “Since then however there’s been a very important and broader reckoning with the failures of neoliberalism and the Obama years ([from] which this has to be the most emblematic piece of art) and for me personally a drifting further to the left that has resulted in a very different relationship with the material. So my feelings today are a bit more complicated.”

“Hamilton is extremely non-committal about its politics,” writes Sting. “It doesn’t examine much of what Hamilton dictated besides ‘he wants complete financial control of the country’ (which would sound like a fucking supervillain in any other context, including reality).”

That lack of political commitment, reckons Morgan, is what helped Hamilton as a musical become so popular: “It’s fun. It’s catchy. It interweaves trendy and socially relevant artistic tools to infer a subversive subtext, while simultaneously sanitizing and, at times, flat out fabricating the historical narrative and downplaying the brutality of the true origin story, for the sake of appeasing those in power. Classic Bill Shakespeare stuff.”

History has its eyes on you.

Much criticism lies with the fundamental storytelling decision to make a modern ruckus about America’s Founding Fathers, the men (including Alexander Hamilton) who in the late eighteenth century united the thirteen colonies and co-wrote the Constitution. Undisputed titans of history, they also have blood on their hands, and HoneyRose writes that the musical “glorifies these men, and paints them as self-sacrificing heroes, and honestly normalizes and validates slavery, as well as the behavior of slave owners.”

Stevie, who saw the Broadway production as well as the filmed version, confesses: “I’ve tried (I’ve really tried) to understand what makes people lose their minds over this but I’m still completely baffled by the hype… These were horrible men and a romanticism of them through song and dance just seems entirely misguided.”

Sean is not convinced that Hamilton is a hagiography. “I can’t imagine anyone watching all of this and thinking it paints a portrait of the Founding Fathers as anything other than childish, greedy, venal and self-aggrandizing.” Wesley agrees: “I don’t think Hamilton is trying to be a history lesson, so much as a lesson about how we think about history. It’s a compelling human story told in a revolutionary way.”

That “revolutionary way” is the musical’s central conceit: that of a cast-of-color playing the white founding fathers as they bumble towards independence. Journalist Jamelle Bouie, who regards the musical as “fun, exciting, innovative and, at points, genuinely moving,” wrestles with the “celebratory narrative in which the Framers are men to admire without reservation. Through its casting, it invites audiences of color to take ownership of that narrative, as if they should want to take ownership of a narrative that white-washes the history of the revolution under the guise of inclusion.”

It’s complicated for Matt, too: “It’s widely agreed upon that the show encapsulates the Obama era better than anything, how it coddles white liberals with a post-racial vision of history in a superficial sense, overlooking the insidious and oppressive systems that they benefit from (hearing the audience clap to ‘Immigrants, we get the job done’ unsettled me). Of course hopefully its legacy will be that it opened up more Broadway roles for POC. But I really think that the show doesn’t make Broadway more appealing and accessible to POC, it just makes hip hop more accessible to white people, a launching pad of course to listening to Watsky or something.

“No hate though to anyone that’s completely in love with this, it’s definitely worth seeing despite any hang ups.”

I wanna build something that’s gonna outlive me.

The story doesn’t end, just because the music does. Kai_Kenn has a suggestion: “I have been a part of discussions that dissect the culture that created Hamilton, as well as the culture that Hamilton created, and whether or not Hamilton appropriately addresses the modern issues [that] the cult following proposes it does.

“This is an ongoing discussion that I am trying to be an active listener in and, if you consider yourself to be a conscientious consumer of art, you should too.”

Noah is on board with that: “Reflecting on the past and focusing on the future are not two mutually exclusive actions. Both are a must, regardless of who you are or what you do. A five-star experience in a four-and-a-half-star film. I think that’s just fine.”

Related content

Want to see more of the key cast? Watch Daveed Diggs in ‘Blindspotting’; Renée Elise Goldsberry in ‘Waves’, Jonathan Groff repeat his role as Kristoff in ‘Frozen 2’, Lin-Manuel Miranda in ‘Mary Poppins Returns’, Leslie Odom Jr. in ‘Harriet’, Phillipa Soo in the forthcoming ‘Broken Hearts Gallery’, Christopher Jackson in the forthcoming ‘In The Heights’, Jasmine Cephas Jones in ‘The Photograph’, Okiereriete Onaodowan in ‘A Quiet Place II’ and Anthony Ramos in ‘Monsters and Men’ and ‘A Star is Born’.

Ways to support the Black Lives Matter movement

Official Black Lives Matter’s Resources

Teenagers that have ‘Hamilton’ stuff on their bedroom walls

Films where they mention ‘Hamilton’

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theliberaltony · 4 years

Link

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

cwick (Chadwick Matlin, deputy editor): Clare, Kaleigh and Maggie, thanks for joining me to talk about the president’s medicine cabinet. Yesterday, President Trump revealed that he’s taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial medication, to help prevent him from contracting COVID-19. Trump’s comments were the culmination of his interest in the drug, which he has hyped for months as a way to help fight the pandemic. Let’s talk about what the science says about hydroxychloroquine, what Trump has said about it, and what it says about Trump that he’s taking it.

So, let’s start with the science, which is about the only thing that can ground us in this frenzied moment. Can hydroxychloroquine prevent someone from getting COVID-19?

clare.malone (Clare Malone, senior political writer): (Readers can, on their own time, imagine what else is in the president’s gold-plated medicine cabinet.)

maggie (Maggie Koerth, senior science writer): What we’re basically looking at here is a massive lack of evidence for anything, Chad.

kaleigh (Kaleigh Rogers, science and politics reporter): The results from the few studies that have been done are mixed, at best. Some have found hydroxychloroquine reduced the duration of COVID-19, others have found no difference between using the drug and not, and at least one found there was actually a worse outcome for patients who were on hydroxychloroquine versus those who were not.

maggie: There are ongoing studies of better quality happening — I’m particularly interested in one that’s looking at COVID-19 incidence and outcomes in lupus patients who were already taking hydroxychloroquine for their chronic illness — but we just don’t have evidence to say it does anything.

kaleigh: We do know from past trials of hydroxychloroquine that it can cause abnormal heart rhythms, so the president’s claim that there’s no harm in trying it is not based on evidence. This isn’t like taking vitamin C.

cwick: And are these all studies that test for whether hydroxychloroquine prevents COVID-19? Or are they testing whether it improves treatment of the disease?

kaleigh: Most trials I’ve seen are to treat COVID-19, not to prevent it. (Though there is at least one trial currently testing it out for preventive use.)

cwick: So Trump’s decision to take it preventively complicates things further. We’re in the dearth-iest corner of the dearth of evidence.

maggie: You have the science side of things, which is mostly proceeding as it ought to, and you have the political side, which is full of hype and boom-or-bust demand.

cwick: With that said, Clare, why is Trump doing this? Or maybe the better question: Why is Trump telling us he’s doing it?

clare.malone: On a personal level, Trump is likely taking it because of the recent infections of White House staff and because, well, as we all know, he’s a germaphobe!

But I think it’s a piece of his public response to the outbreak. He attempted, in a quite pitched way at first, to convince the public that things were not as bad as they were made out to be. He promised a non-entity of a disease at first and compared it to the flu. The idea of taking this drug plays into all that, in a more tamped-down way, because he’s offering the public a sort of “cure” or hope. I don’t think it’s a slip of the tongue, but it is a key part of his own thinking about the virus and a key part of how he wants to talk about it in public.

cwick: That’s interesting, Clare. One of the defining characteristics of this disease has been its uncertainty. That’s in part because we haven’t known how to treat those who are sick (let alone make the rest of us immune). Trump seems to be saying: If a medication is good enough to make the president feel safer, it’s good enough to make you feel safer.

maggie: I’m interested, Clare, in whether we’ve seen presidents get so specific in their hope-peddling before. It seems normal for a president to say, “Oh there’s all this research being done and we will have options, let’s fund them.” But it feels to me like Trump has uniquely used the bully pulpit to tout specific products — hydroxychloroquine, that Abbott Laboratories test — when there was more than one option out there. And it’s come back to bite him multiple times. Because when science is moving fast, most of the “good ideas” are going to fail at first. Pinning hope on specific brands and products seems like a real risk he’s taken on.

clare.malone: Right, Chad. The president has gotten A TON of flak for his refusal to wear a mask, but that’s also part of his messaging! It’s certainly odd that he’s taking this drug and not wearing a mask, but he’s a big believer in the sort of traditional displays of “masculine” strength that American politicians have thought the public likes to see. His no-mask thing is the pandemic equivalent of presidential candidates not wearing winter coats while campaigning in Iowa in January.

cwick: This isn’t about promoting promising research, or the latest trial results. He is, in effect, becoming part of the trial himself.

kaleigh: Except it’s not controlled, randomized or blind, so his “trial” is scientifically meaningless. I drink coffee every day and haven’t gotten COVID-19 yet — maybe that’s a prophylactic, too! This is the logic of anecdotal evidence.

maggie: So this reminds me of the study I saw about how men were significantly less likely than women to take non-pharmaceutical preventive measures in a health crisis, like wearing masks, but were more likely than women to take pharmaceutical measures.

kaleigh: His announcement that he’s taking it certainly felt defiant, like he’s doubling down in spite of the evidence. He also spent some time yesterday criticizing a Veterans Affairs study, which found that patients on hydroxychloroquine actually had a higher risk of death.

cwick: Kaleigh, your point about the VA study is super interesting. We’ve seen how the president can dismiss news and findings that run counter to the narrative he wants to promote, and part of his political struggle during this crisis has been knowing when to embrace the science and when to reject it out of hand. By putting his chips in on one drug, the drug itself becomes a cause to rally behind, and news that disputes its power becomes easier for Trump to critique. Essentially, hydroxychloroquine has become part of the White House policy agenda.

clare.malone: Also, if you’ve eschewed a lot of the science in your initial stages of your response, you might as well bet big on a miracle cure, right? Maybe you’ll be right and people will credit with you being early to the party. Americans do love pharmaceutical solutions to their problems.

Shoutout here to former Sen. Bob Dole, the OG American politician-pharmaceuticals spokesman.

kaleigh: It is strange that he got so fixated on this one possible treatment, though. The antiviral drug Remdesivir, by contrast, actually has some promising early results. Why is Trump so interested in hydroxychloroquine? He has scoffed at questions about whether he, say, owns stock in a company that produces the drug, but he also hasn’t provided a lot of explanation about why he’s so fascinated with it.

cwick: Some would have you believe that it might be an issue of cronyism. Here’s the New York Times from April: “Some associates of Mr. Trump’s have financial interests in the issue. Sanofi’s largest shareholders include Fisher Asset Management, the investment company run by Ken Fisher, a major donor to Republicans, including Mr. Trump. A spokesman for Mr. Fisher declined to comment.”

clare.malone: It’s a good question. I’m a bit skeptical of the stock interests answer, since what Trump seems to own is quite negligible. But to Chad’s point, Trump’s personal phone line is always known to be open to friends outside the White House! In the initial stages of the crisis, there’s a sense that he was hesitant to trigger portions of the Defense Production Act because of feedback from the Chamber of Commerce and private industry.

maggie: And meanwhile, his political advocacy has pushed for millions to be spent on it … supplies acquired by the VA and the Strategic National Stockpile.

kaleigh: One thing is clear: When Trump touts a treatment, interest goes up. Not only do Google searches soar, but at least one online prescription service reported a nearly six-fold increase in demand for hydroxychloroquine prescriptions after Trump first mentioned the drug.

maggie: We know there were people from the anti-vaccine movement promoting the so-called ”miracle mineral solution” to him — a pseudoscience “treatment” that basically amounts to industrial bleach — before he spent that one press conference talking about treating yourself with disinfectant.

clare.malone: And we know Trump is susceptible to anti-vaxxers from earlier in his time in public life.

maggie: I can see why the open phone line thing would work in real estate — hot backdoor tips from buddies. But that doesn’t really work in science.

clare.malone: But isn’t it more politics masquerading as science? Which might be the whole problem.

cwick: Right, it seems like we’re all arriving at the same terminus: The president has long demonstrated a contrarian approach to science, so his taking hydroxychloroquine despite iffy science is as much about the political as it is about the personal.

kaleigh: What is the political motivation to fixate on one drug and also continue to tout it against all current evidence?

clare.malone: Momentum. You’ve already been saying it: Why stop saying it?! You’ll just look more fallible.

cwick: Politicians don’t like to be wrong.

maggie: This politician in particular really doesn’t like to be wrong — maybe even more so than others.

clare.malone: It’s the spin zone, y’all! Hop on in. It’s dark, but that’s what it is.

kaleigh: Right, changing your mind based on new and better information is bad in politics, for some reason.

clare.malone: Flip flopping.

cwick: It’s considered bad in broader society, too!

clare.malone: Is it?? That’s actually an interesting question.

cwick: I’d say that I’m reconsidering, but then you’d think I was weak…

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Maggie Koerth #Clare Malone #Chadwick Matlin and K

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lieutenant-pride · 5 years

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i was just thinking about that rant i made about avengers infinity war and how i saw avengers endgame a little while ago, well after it got out of theaters because i wasn’t truly willing to give marvel money for that, and now i just wanna go off the hook about the movie because i can ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i’m not even putting it in a read-more for spoiler purposes so much as putting it in a read-more because it might end up being long, but there are spoilers ahead anyway so for those five people who haven’t seen endgame and do care, be wary

funny thing is, i actually didn’t hate this like i expected to when i heard that time travel was one of its core constructs, but you know what i still don’t think it was worth the hype altogether and here is why

perhaps to make up for the fact that they didn’t kill any of the OG avengers, or for the fact that they probably didn’t need to exist in the first place, the snap apparently killed literally every single member of Hawkeye’s family that is not Clint himself. i guess we need an excuse for him to turn into Ronin, so let’s make his family expendable, why not

this film does us the discourtesy of confirming shuri’s fate as one of the fallen from last movie and the russos will pay dearly for this

the idea of destroying the stones with their own power was already proven a thing in the last movie when wanda did just that with the mind stone (while holding off five other infinity stones and a titan worth of power with one of her hands, by the way) but given the massive shockwave that occurred from THAT stone’s destruction? are you really willing to tell me he snapped again, had half his body disintegrate, and then the glove with all six stones just puffed into smoke?

actually how cool would that have been? that they arrive on the garden planet of whatever and thanos is just a fucking toasty corpse in a crater, and they realize what he had to do for that to happen? now i feel a little cheated

man, i knew from square one when i saw the first few trailers for this film that okoye was gonna get sidelined HARD, and she had maybe one or two spoken lines in the whole film? i get it, there are a lot of characters to go over in this big epic conclusion to the MCU’s biggest property/ies, but they definitely could’ve given the black panther cast a bit more love than this. i think i’m just salty over that bit though

did ronin kill in the comics? was that a thing he did? was he basically clint barton going jason todd for a little while, was that what it was? because please point me in the direction of those books if so

i really, really can’t argue much about the pym particle bits and the quantum realm (was that the one?) because time travel is a lot like nuclear physics when it comes to movies and comics and just works however the writer needs it to work in that situation, whether that refers to the means or the ends. i am glad however that antman gets this much attention as if he’s a legit member of the avengers. you know. like how he was one of the og members in the comics.

you know what i can argue about? how they try to sell their first attempt at time travel anWAIT JUST A MINUTE I FORGOT ABOUT BIG BANNER WHAT IS THIS HOW DID HE EVEN MANAGE THAT SHIT

i guess he had like five years to study and figure out how to make himself hulk on the outside without sacrificing the banner brains, but i’m very curious as to what the purpose is in doing that, since he was having more issues releasing hulk during the previous film and also the fact that he really had zero reason to fuse the two together. like, what threats was banner gonna face? what evildoers did he need hulk work for? if he needed some muscle of his own he could’ve just worked out????

you can also say that was bruce’s character arc during the first film actually, which is fine, but i’d like to note that if it is, then his character arc is resolved completely off-screen

listen, i get it. tony and pepper are a thing that had to happen, according to literally every film before this. i still think pepper deserves better or at least someone who doesn’t cause her as much stress as tony has caused for her. i mean i guess if that boy brings in the money though, do what you gotta ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

we get one scene of ronin at work and i kind of love it? i kinda wish we got to see more of his work, but i get why we don’t. this is like, the best thing that clint has to offer in this film

oh right i almost forgot, that first attempt at time travel with scott “having time moved through him.” cute gag, but this definitely doesn’t fly with scott’s first mingling with time travel and the quantum realm or whatever, and if we’re to assume they mostly repeated what they did during the post-credits scene of antman and the wasp, then why did this even have a risk of happening????

that was a cute gag though, mainly because paul rudd is a treasure

and since i’m discussing the time travel bits: the time travel in this movie is handled fairly well, and it introduces the prospect of timelines diverging rather than just having one singular strand of time flow! great! cool! but this has some bumps here and there in the film for the sake of drama, and this is the first instance:

clint travelling back to see his family for just a split moment of time. this is a moment that toys with rules constructed later, though i think that is a mixed bag and maybe i missed this detail. in every instance after this one, when the cast wants to return to a specific time in the future (their actual timeline and present) they sync up their time gps thing, but in this case? clint has no chance to do that. we don’t cut out a single second of his trip in the past, and i don’t recall him even looking at the time gps ONCE, and yet he can be forcibly pulled back to the present???

this is actually one of the only faults i can think of in the time travel, and they probably actually set that gps ahead of time, so whatever, maybe they actually handled time travel well here???

some o y’all people out here had the audacity to tell me that tony stark was the one who called steve roger’s ass “america’s ass” when it was in fact scott lang, and tony in fact called to question steve’s ass in that scene, and it is YOU i will not forgive for this heinous error

tony actually did nothing wrong in attaining the tesseract; he just got his head smacked in by a surprise hulk coming out of the stairwell

actually this made me remember a thing: couldn’t they have sent someone to grab the tesseract in asgard in case something went wrong in new york? they were right about picking the right year and time to get three infinity stones in new york, but they also managed to pick the right year and time to get two stones in asgard, so why not snatch that up as a failsafe?

thor really fucked over an alternate timeline by grabbing mjolnir from them, huh. cap couldn’t return that shit, after all; they need mjolnir for when we finally get the Mighty Thor. like, good moments between him and his mom, and that whole “i’m still worthy” thing was great, but are we gonna talk about the timeline that got fucked over for that???

so did they not discuss WHY they needed two people going to vormir ahead of time, or what? did nebula not tell them? she totally did, right? like did she not mention WHY gamora didn’t come back with thanos after he got the soul stone? why are they surprised when the mention of a sacrifice comes into play???

apparently only women die in vormir, and usually to advance the character arcs of men. i dunno i wouldn’t be too sore about this hawkeye sacrificing himself

i’ll be honest i don’t care MUCH about black widow but like let’s be real how much was hawkeye giving to the narrative???

also apparently they can’t do anything about getting nat back, which is inherently bullshit by the fact that gamora still exists in the past and you could very easily bring a nat from another timeline without fucking up yours. it’s fine; you had no problem doing that with mjolnir

how did they shrink the entire warship thanos was on exactly, and how long did they take to get that tech right???

what exactly is thanos’ weirdass boomerang blade made of that it can shred a vibranium shield?

anyway so they pay homage to every hero from the past twenty-odd films real quick, and they make the right choice in putting the black panther crew first, but i can’t help but think about how this is all just fanservice

wanda comes in to remind us that thanos ain’t shit without the infinity stones and NEARLY KILLS HIM ON HER OWN so someone explain to me why she doesn’t AFTER she gets back up???? like, can we assume killing thanos would put an end to most of this fight and send the rest of his forces running?

i already mentioned the fanservice level that came with the heroes entering on the scene, right? let’s not forget that the shot of all (minus one) the marvel women coming together is also mostly fanservice with no real meaning and it could’ve been cut from the movie and the narrative would not be too heavily adjusted, just as a reminder that marvel isn’t really treating the women of their properties well on film

thanos got real fucked up after two snaps and banner got fucked up after one snap, and you’re seriously telling me tony - a regular ass human being - lasted long enough to snap at all???

seeing peter and ned reunite with one another (i guess they both got snapped if they’re both still high school students ACTUALLY DID PETER’S WHOLE SCHOOL GET SNAPPED OR WHAT HAPPENED????)

okay but actually, the peter and ned reuniting scene got me much harder than any amount of tony’s death and funeral

seeing the wakanda crew serving up looks during tony’s funeral just reminds me that okoye got maybe two lines in the whole film, t’challa got Maybe One, and shuri got shafted for lines, and that makes me sad

i think Old Cap reuniting with sam on the bench is great and all, and a real good closing to steve’s character, however i have some questions to ask about it, namely how steve ended up in the same timeline after we made ABUNDANTLY CLEAR we were playing by diverging timeline rules, unless what you’re trying to tell me is that there was an Old Steve that just existed in our timeline the whole time and the fact that we never focused on Peggy significantly enough allowed yall to sneak that in

i also have to ask how in god’s name y’all didn’t take note of the man sitting at the bench out by the lake where you were performing your time jumping shenanigans?????

but yeah overall not actually a bad conclusion. tony’s dead, so that’s a plus. we won’t get any more of america’s ass in these films, which is a minus, but it could be worse

#rant #avengers endgame #endgame spoilers #because we still marking those i guess #i dunno i just wanted to rant about it

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nancydrew65 · 5 years

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SKAM Austin Season 2 Episode 2 Thoughts

Thirsty

This scene with the girls on the porch is so cute. They are laughing and teasing each other. Also, I love that they are all making signs for a gun control march because that is a very big issue in the United States right now. I’m glad SKAM Austin included it.

Jo’s sign was probably the best, just saying. Who doesn’t want more cupcakes and less guns in this world?

Ugh, Daniel couldn’t even keep up his lie. He is really just toying with Kelsey now.

Also, Jo, probably not a good idea to come up with excuses for Daniel’s shitty behavior. That just keeps Kelsey thinking he’s a good guy. But the excuses are pretty funny. I kind of want a scene where Daniel gets peed on.

How the hell are group selfies “thirsty”? Also, are we still using the word “thirsty?

Grace is like: “Why do we care what guys think?” And I’m like, yes girl

Tyler’s post is so passive aggressive. Why does he have to be such an asshole to Megan. I really don’t understand.

We Want It

I’m sorry, but are y’all trying to tell me Marlon has the same amount of game that Jonas from OG did? That he made a girl come? Nah.

Megan is trying so hard not TGAF.

It’s kind of sad that most of the girl’s seem uncomfortable and afraid of guys going down on them. They should value their sexual pleasure as high as their partners.

Oh, Megan really wants to get back with Marlon. Nooo, he treated her so badly. I don’t get why she’s so into him.

And Grace shoots a look to Daniel when Megan says “We want it.” Not so subtle.

Legit Scared

Aww, Grace offers Kelsey her burrito. Kelsey’s says she’s allergic to carbs. That is not a thing, just saying.

And Daniel keeps texting Grace about tacos. I have to admit, he has got the puppy eyes down.

I love how the girls are trying to hype Kelsey up. I hope it works.

Oh, Kelsey, honey. Her little speech broke my heart. You are everything!

WTF???? Okay, what was that scene with that Hunter dude? Did he really ask Zoya if she had hair under her hijab?

Zoya’s response was fire. But, then she started giving him eyes and he offered her a seat in Chemistry class. I am so confused. Is that their little inside joke or something? Because after the initial shock, she didn’t really seem angry at him. But if he said something like that to her out of nowhere, then he’s an asshole. I really do not have time for William wannabes.

Zoya’s deadpan “I can only date men who are in ISIS” was so on point.

Lame AF

Grace uses the paper as an excuse to miss the girls’ Friday night party. Girl, just ditch Daniel instead.

MEGAN!!!! I can’t believe she just texted that. It was revealed later, she meant to send it to the other girls, but still. That was really harsh. Grace has been there for you, for over a year. I don’t think any of the other versions of Eva would have ever written this. Honestly, I don’t even know the point of it. Megan knows about Daniel; Grace could have told her about the date deal.

Potential

Kelsey’s speech really resonated with me. In high school, there is so much pressure to do well, take hard classes, do a bunch of extracurriculars or else you will not get into a good college. I really don’t think its a healthy environment for teenagers.

As clueless as it was, I thought Kelsey telling Grace she would support her if she was a lesbian was really sweet.

Oooh, the shot of Grace and Megan joking about lesbians being in love with Megan cutting to Shay was shocking. And very uncomfortable. Shay probably thought they knew about her crush on Megan and were making fun of her. She just slams her locker and runs off. Oh, Shay. I can’t wait until she gets her season.

Not A Date

Eve is like, “you deserve to be taken out and treated well”. Well, yes, but Daniel will obviously not treat her well.

I love that Grace changed into sweatpants and a hoodie and wiped off all her make-up. This is the most a Noora has done to off-put a William.

Daniel telling Grace she looks beautiful was a bit cringey IMO.

Oh, I do think it’s cute he took her out to watch bats, something she clearly likes.

When they were talking about Grace’s article, I was like, “But did he actually read it?” And even if he did, like it does not take much time to read an article.

Lol, Daniel is shocked that women still get paid less than men. Such a shocker. I guess he really is drowning in white male privilege.

Daniel being like “there’s no patriarchy or misogyny out here”. I was about to say, “Yeah, there is. You.” But Grace did it for me, so it was all good.

Okay, but I don't think Grace has been a dick to Daniel. He was such an asshole to Kelsey, that all her responses toward him seem understandable.

Aaaaaaaaaaaah. Hold up. Did Daniel really just say he didn’t force Grace to come on a date with him?

Okay, here would be my response if I were Grace:

“WTF? Okay, maybe you didn’t physically force me to come here, but you did pressure me. Constantly. Also, you manipulated me by using Kelsey until I agreed to go. You have been constantly toying with her feelings. That proves that you don’t respect her, and in turn, that means you don’t respect me. Because Kelsey is my friend and I care about her and her well-being. I didn’t want to tell her about this because she would be hurt that you’ve been texting me. But I realize now that her realizing you are an asshole is more important than her not being hurt. I came here, I spent time with you. Our deal is done. Bye, asshole.”

Seriously, has any version of William been this blatantly hypocritical?

I am glad that Grace got her little speech. I am upset, how both she and Daniel started laughing and the tension diffused after he pointed out she had food in her teeth.

I mean, she literally just told you Kelsey has been starving herself for you, and then you’re just gonna laugh it off because of a piece of kale was in an awkward spot? Daniel.

Then, Daniel gets the phone call and he leaves and the episode is over.

General Thoughts

Daniel is such an asshole in the date scene. I don’t know if I have ever been as pissed off with a version of William as I was when I watched this. The only positive side to the scene was that we didn’t get the whole “One sentence can’t destroy someone’s self-esteem. I really liked that SKAM Austin worked in gun control into the story. I am also very worried about Kelsey.

#skam remakes #skam austin #skam reaction

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antigravitastic · 5 years

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Random The Archer interpretation number 169: this emotional Track 5 is actually a pleading love letter from Taylor to her fans.

This year, Taylor is turning 30 and her career 13 years old. Many of her OG fans now have jobs, families, and busier lives, so it’s natural for some of them to start drifting away. Just like in a personal relationship, the possibility of losing fans frightens Taylor, so she is taking stock of her past and speaking directly to her fans.

Let’s look at the lyrics.

“Combat, I'm ready for combat I say I don't want that, but what if I do? 'Cause cruelty wins in the movies”

She’s ready to fight to keep her fans, even if it means getting down and dirty in public: fighting her court battles, making her political stances known, and so on. Her old self would have preferred to stay more neutral, but maybe she actually enjoys this more aggressive stance?

“I've got a hundred thrown-out speeches I almost said to you”

She’s got a hundred live video sessions she wanted to broadcast: to scream, or cry, or just vent about how frustrating people can be. But she’s a celebrity and can’t break character like that. Even worse: millions of fans look up to her. If she can’t keep it together, how could they?

“Easy they come, easy they go I jump from the train, I ride off alone”

With all the people coming in and out of her life, Taylor had to hop off the hype train and seclude herself. This really visible during the reputation era, when she was rarely seen in public, didn’t do many interviews, didn’t perform much outside of her tour, and just needed some private time.

“I never grew up, it's getting so old Help me hold on to you”

Her fans grew up, but she feels like maybe she didn’t. She’s stuck in her old days and old ways, and fears losing her fans.

“I've been the archer, I've been the prey”

Taylor has seen both sides of her industry. Having the power to influence companies like Apple and Spotify. And also having other people control her life and career, as evidenced by the fiasco with her master recordings.

“Who could ever leave me, darling But who could stay?”

She’s the biggest and best act around - how could fans not adore her? And yet, with all her faults and weaknesses, why should they?

“Dark side, I search for your dark side But what if I'm alright, right, right, right here?”

As a celebrity, it’s easy to be cynical about the real intentions of your fans - do they actually want the best for you, or just battle each other for your attention? The toxic part of Taylor’s fandom is a clear example of this. So it’s easier to retreat into your shell, stay guarded, and not even engage with them.

“And I cut off my nose just to spite my face Then I hate my reflection for years and years”

She knows she tends to act impulsively, in self-destructive ways, and regrets it for years afterward. Look at Taylor’s feud with Katy Perry as an example. The original reasons were pretty trivial, but both sides dug in, fandoms got upset and divided, it carried on for years, and it didn’t make anybody’s life any better. And both side probably lost some fans and goodwill along the way.

“I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost The room is on fire, invisible smoke”

Knowing herself and remembering the last few years of her celebrity life, as perceived by the public, Taylor is understandably anxious, imagining all the worst possible scenarios. Even a celebrity like Taylor can be up all night, imagining the monsters under the bed.

“And all of my heroes die all alone”

So many once-famous stars of film and music - many of them undoubtedly inspirations for Taylor’s career - faded into obscurity, with their fans - and the world in general - just moving on to the next latest and greatest celebrity. They died forgotten, alone, sometimes even penniless. Even though she is barely 30 years old, Taylor still doesn’t want to imagine such a possible future.

“Can you see right through me? They see right through They see right through me I see right through me”

Taylor knows that everyone has a preconceived notion about who they think she really is, deep down underneath. Including herself.

“All the king's horses, all the king's men Couldn't put me together again”

She was betrayed, broken, shattered - and didn’t see it coming.

“'Cause all of my enemies started out friends”

A perfect description of Taylor’s celebrity lifestyle. So many people along the way, who seemed like friends at one point, turned out to be someone else entirely later on. That puts even more pressure on Taylor to make sure she doesn’t lose those who actually care for her.

“Who could stay? You could stay”

Who could possibly keep her company on her continuing journey? Taylor hopes her fans will.

And this is the point in Taylor’s Lover Tour performance when each venue deafeningly erupts in unison:

We stay!

#Taylor Swift #TS7 #Lover #Track 5 #The Archer #Lyrics

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fauzhee10069 · 4 years

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Caato Higashikata, 36 chapters (9 volumes) MIA and still overhyped

“Ah shit, here we go again.”

Sister post: Caato Higashikata, 32 chapters (8 volumes) MIA and still overhyped

Sorry to finally break my promise about not roasting Caato’s hype once again. Despite her total absence, the hype still continues thanks to “the idea of Caato as a rock-woman getting popular once again.”

This also brings me back to my other post about “JoJolion: The Main Villain and The Red Herrings”. Those Caatofags once thought that Jobin was just a red herring, now they also think that Tooru is a red herring as well. They still believe that Caato is behind Damokan Group's shady business (which I am trying to fix by tying her to Rai's past instead).

With her very limited appearance and information (thanks for being 36 chapters MIA), actually the points that resulted in her hype as the main villain have not changed at all. I have also explained those several times in my previous posts until I'm getting tired by them.

”Caato is behind Damokan group.”

Caato’s first appearance was after the end of Damokan Group which led to “Caato as the mastermind behind the cooperation of Higashikata and Damokan group.”

“Caato’s Stand is similar to D4C.”

Caato used her Stand in the form of French playing cards and displayed space manipulation in its ability which led to “Caato’s Stand is D4C 2.0 because the main villains’ ability in SBR verse has space manipulation as a theme in contrast to the OG verse which has time manipulation as the theme.”

Before we talk about Caato’s Stand, let’s focus on this premise first:

because the main villains’ ability in SBR verse has space manipulation as a theme in contrast to the OG verse which has time manipulation as the theme

To be honest, this argument alone, has it been proven?? Let’s review the main villains’ ability in OG verse, from part 1 to part 6:

Dio Brando (part 1): vampirism through the stone mask, Jonathan Joestar countered it using hamon, a technique that is deadly to supernatural beings. This part has nothing to do with time manipulation.

Kars & The Pillar Men (part 2): one of those supernatural and immortal beings, The Pillar Men. They’re above those vampires but susceptible to sunlight, they eat vampires (& humans too). They created the stone masks for that purpose as well. Kars was looking for a way to become immune to the sunlight, he needed Red Stone Aja (which was in Lisa Lisa’s possession atm) to achieve that. He finally became the ultimate being and got a whole ‘nother level of superhuman abilities but time manipulation. Joseph Joestar defeated him using hamon as well plus his wits. This part has nothing to do with time manipulation.

DIO (part 3): entered the Stand era. DIO has his vampirism and 「The World」, a Stand with “time stop” ability. Kujo Jotaro countered it using his Stand: 「Star Platinum」which actually has the same ability (time stop). This is the first part that has something to do with time manipulation.

Kira Yoshikage (part 4): his Stand, 「Killer Queen」did not have “time manipulation” ability, rather it has explosion-based ability until his Stand had evolved and developed new ability: 「Killer Queen: Bites The Dust」with “time loop” ability. This part has something to do with time manipulation only during the climax (later part of the story).

Diavolo (part 5): 「King Crimson」since the beginning has “time skip” ability, with 「Epitaph」as a complement which has the ability of clairvoyance. Besides “time manipulation” (which this part definitely has), this part also has a very deep "fate" theme. Giorno Giovanna countered his villain using his ultra hax 「Gold Experience Requiem」which reset the fate to zero. I personally prefer to say that the major Stands in this part have "fate manipulation" ability: 「King Crimson」, 「Silver Chariot Requiem」, and「Gold Experience Requiem」.

Enrico Pucci (part 6): his Stand is kinda similar to part 4, he started with 「Whitesnake」which has “steal no dignity” ability (memories & Stands), then evolved into 「C-Moon」with “gravity manipulation” ability and then 「Made In Heaven」which finally has “time acceleration” ability. Therefore this part also has something to do with time manipulation only during the climax (later part of the story). However, this part also has “fate/destiny” theme through MIH and its ending as well.

Conclusion: the “time manipulation” in OG verse is only valid from part 3 and 6, and it’s not just as simple as “the main villains have time manipulation Stands” as we can see in the case of Kira (part 4) and Pucci (part 6). Broadly speaking, I actually see the "fate/destiny" theme in each part.

Now let’s review the main villain’s ability in SBR verse (which unfortunately there is only one at the moment), Funny Valentine and his 「D4C」 (part 7):

「D4C」in the beginning has the ability of “dimensional hoop”, it allows different parallel worlds/dimensions to co-exist at the same time and/or in the same place. It also allows its user to visit these parallel worlds/dimensions and interact with them. The condition to go to the other dimensions is by putting himself or sending the others to be caught between two objects.

Caato’s Stand which has similar mechanism with D4C (caught between two objects) is the reason that makes those Caatofags believe that her Stand is D4C 2.0.

Later, Valentine had his Stand evolved into 「D4C: Love Train」, which has “misfortune redirection” ability. Once again, it’s related to “fate/destiny” theme.

I have explained about how Caato’s Stand actually works, not by pure speculation, but with her existing feats. I have also discussed the potential ability it might have without exaggerating it:

Caato’s Stand and its mechanism so far

Here’s what a Caatofag said:

Even they are not sure yet that “space-dimensional manipulation” will be the theme for the main villains in SBR verse. Then, why are they so sure that Caato could be the main villain with her so called “space-dimensional” Stand?

I have also compared her Stand with the Stands mentioned by him/her above: 「Cream」, 「Sticky Fingers」, 「The Hand」, 「Enigma」and「Man in the Mirror」, they also have similar “space-dimensional manipulation” abilities. 「Cream」is the only “space-dimensional” Stand in part 3 and this doesn't mean anything. 「The World」is not the only Stand with “time manipulation” ability because 「Star Platinum」exists yet it is still the Stand of the main villain (DIO). What about 「Bites The Dust」and 「Made In Heaven」when「Star Platinum: The World」 also exists in those parts?

Like I said before, I see the "fate/destiny" theme in every JoJo parts more than the “time” and “space”. Let’s talk about Tooru whom those Caatofags consider him less prominent than her. His Stand 「Wonder of U」 since the beginning has the “misfortune redirection” ability which reminds me of 「D4C: Love Train」.

Wouldn't that make a better parallel than Caato and her D4C 2.0? Let me drop this once again:

In short:

Caato’s Stand has “space-dimensional manipulation” ability: confirmed

The main villains in SBR verse will have “space-dimensional” ability as theme: unconfirmed

Every main villains since part 3 to part 7 have humanoid Stands: confirmed

Caato’s Stand has humanoid form: unconfirmed

”Caato is a female rock-human.”

Which I already explained mostly in my posts:

The Wildest Theories of Caato

Is Caato a Rock-Woman?

That’s why I consider her youthful look to be just a fan-service to us (readers) rather than have any significance to the plot.

Yeah, and I wonder why all of sudden the information we got in chapter 99 related to Caato instead of Tooru whom obviously we saw during the end of the narrative about rock-humans?

Besides, things that are still not answered yet:

Is there any difference from rock-women when they are carrying rock-babies (sired by rock-men) and babies sired by human males?

What kinds of babies result from reproduction between human males and rock-women? A human babies, rock-babies or crossbreeds?

What are the characteristics of the crossbreeds that can distinguish them from carbon-based humans and silicon-based rock-humans?

Because there is still a zero hint about Caato being a rock-woman: we saw her pregnant like any normal human female (irl), we saw that she has affection to her children (like any mother would), her youthful look has no relevance to the plot other than a fan-service to us.

Still, Caatofags move on to the aesthetic point by saying that her hair resembles a wasp abdomen which coincidentally, the wasps were involved in rock-humans’ growth in chapter 99. Caatofags literally said that “Caato’s hair which resembles wasp abdomen has something to do with the growth of the rock-humans.” They even go so far as to argue that the “abdomen” is a part of the body that reflects “motherhood”, the wasps in chapter 99 have played the role of as “surrogate mom” to the rock-babies because their mother had little affection to them and abandoned them. Caato is a mother, this has something to do with her.

Though it sounds very deep after being put together, let me show you how “aesthetic meaning” hardly gives a weight to your theory (than actual narration): click.

Just like in my previous post, Caatofags also linked the allegation of her as a rock-woman with Higashikata's family curse. Thanks to (still a) speculation of Caato as rock-woman, they also suggested that her children: Jobin, Hato, Joshu and Daiya are half rock-humans as well (crossbreeds). What is the proof? Only Jobin who had been affected by the rock-disease in the past? It has long been told that it only affected to the first born (Norisuke IV, Jobin and Tsurugi) and some women (Rina and Holy) whom I guess were the first born as well.

Then Caatofags claim that it is the work of genetic in which children born later acquired fewer genes and become recessive, that’s why Hato, Joshu and Daiya are unaffected. Is this how genetic really works? Why Alexei who was born later was the one who got hemophilia? It has nothing to do with being born sooner or later.

Till their excuse is: “it’s a fiction, just suspend your disbelief!” Even it is a fiction, we still don’t have the basis of how the gene of rock-humans’ crossbreed actually works. How can I suspend my disbelief to a fictional fact that doesn’t even exist?

By the way, I have a feeling that the genetics in rock-disease will probably work more similar to the genetics in Joestar's birthmark.

“The crossbreeding between a rock-human & regular human must have something to do with Higashikata's family curse.”

I also believe in this, but must this also involve Caato? Rock-disease has been a thing ever since little Norisuke IV got it in the past, and perhaps his father too. It's been said that Rina (Johnny’s wife) was affected too, which means that the family curse existed long before Norisuke IV was born. Therefore those Caatofags argue that Norisuke IV is a descendant of rock-human as well. Yeah, I also suspect that Norisuke I's wife, Teru could be a rock-woman. Still, it has nothing to do with Caato.

And if we truly need a full-blooded rock-human to be physically present for the finale, it doesn't have to be Caato, it can be anyone, it can be Tooru.

In short:

Caato has a youthful look like Lisa Lisa: unconfirmed

The rock-disease has been around since the early generation of Higashikata: confirmed by Rina

Jobin, Hato, Joshu and Daiya are half rock-humans: unconfirmed

Norisuke IV is a descendant of rock-human: unconfirmed

”Caato as a rock-human has connection to Locacaca.”

There is still missing link between Caato and the Locacaca, which serves as the main focus in JoJolion. Caatofags also try to make it up using (still) speculations they have created and tied them together.

First, by connecting her to the illicit business conducted by Damokan Group. Where is the hint that Caato is indeed connected with Damokan Group? It’s still Zero. Her “15 years contribution” claim? There is absolutely no indication that her statement could be linked to Damokan Group or even any rock-humans.

I think the main key here is Jobin, he was the one who had been secretly associated with Damokan Group. After that, we see that he's still in touch with Caato (as she contacted Jobin the first time she got released). Jobin is treated by Caatofags like an intermediary between Caato and Damokan Group, is that correct? It’s possible but there is still no proof at all. It's just like Jobin has two acquaintances, his two acquaintances do not necessarily know each other. Think like this:

Big Smoke is associated with the Grove Street Families, he also works with Tenpenny. Does that mean GSF and Tenpenny have mutual relationship? Nope, they were even enemies.

- GTA San Andreas

Note: Big Smoke in this example is Jobin, not Caato.

We still need further hint that Caato does have a relationship with rock-humans gang apart from using Jobin as a sole reason.

By believing Caato to be a rock-woman (which is still unproven), Caatofags are already looking for a reason why she might have used the Locacaca at some point. They make a question of how Caato hid her “hibernation period” which led them to believe that she consumed Locacaca to “stay awake”.

Rock-humans’ hibernation happens at different times depending on the individual and will last anywhere from 30 to 90 days but after waking up, a rock-human won't sleep again for at least two months.

These three premises are also being used as backups for the theory:

Caato was able to perform the penal hard labor for 15 years and became the model prisoner. (chapter 55 and chapter 64)

“If I lose focus for even a moment, my skin becomes hard like rock and I sleep and sleep…” said Aishō (chapter 42)

Yotsuyu was able to cure the dog Iwasuke of the rock-disease by feeding it a piece of a Locacaca. (chapter 32)

Then, he has drawn the conclusion that “Caato used Locacaca so as not to lose focus and break her rock body”, it is the case of “fallacy of exclusive premises” to be honest. Two premises cannot give a logical foundation for a conclusion, as they will invariably be independent statements that cannot be directly related.

Why? Because the fact that Caato became a model prisoner may have nothing to do with the mechanism of rock-humans’ body or her being a rock-woman, every normal humans could be model prisoners like Caato, this statement should have weakened the possibility of her being a rock-woman. Ironically, this conflicting fact is instead being used to create the excuse that as a rock-human (which is still unconfirmed), Caato needs Locacaca to achieve this.

Aishō described the consequences as rock-humans if they ignore the hibernation period, Yotsuyu was able to cure the dog Iwasuke of the rock-disease by feeding it a piece of a Locacaca. These two premises seem to be related in which we can conclude that: "the skin that has become hard like rock can be healed by Locacaca".

However, they missed the story in chapter 42 where Aishō had to leave his then girlfriend for several months because of his hibernation as a rock-human. If Locacaca can restore rock-like hardened skin, why didn't Aishō use it? As a member of Damokan Group, wasn't it very easy for him to get the fruit? Why should he bother being honest with her if he had a big chance of hiding that fact.

It seemed that whoever made this theory had completely failed to understand the abilities of the Locacaca fruit or purposely ignored certain plots.

But Aishō was just a mere underling to the group whereas Caato “might be” the mastermind!? The idea of her as the mastermind itself is still unconfirmed theory. Again, we go in circles.

Also, if she really needed to hide it, it means she had been doing it since she first married to Norisuke IV (at least). That also means that Locacaca had been in her possession since that. She should have known that Locacaca could be used for equivalent exchange.

Little Jobin was affected by his rock-disease, why didn’t Caato used Locacaca? She just used equivalent exchange on Higashikata’s land, just like her mother-in-law, Tomoko in the past. We didn’t see any Locacaca in her possession there. Yeah, Locacaca alone is not effective solution to cure him, but why didn't she try to combine it with the land's equivalent exchange ability?

If she is indeed a rock-woman, shouldn't a rock-human know better of how Locacaca works than any regular human? Because like Urban Guerilla had said that “Locacaca works better to the rock-humans,” isn't Jobin also part of rock-human (as Caatofags would like to believe)? It might work better to him.

Besides, since when did Caato start hiding her identity as a rock-woman? Only 15 years during her incarceration? I don’t think so, because Norisuke IV only found out about rock-humans' existence after his fight with Josuke against Yotsuyu in chapter 32.

Therefore logically Caato had also hidden her status as rock-woman from her family, meaning that she used the Locacaca to fight off her hibernation way before 15 years ago. So logically, Locacaca should had been in Caato's possession since her marriage to Norisuke IV, including during the flashback in chapter 64.

In short, chapter 32, chapter 42 and chapter 64 should contradict this theory instead!

At this point, I feel bad for those Caatofags. Well, let me give them a little hope. Remember my joke post about the growth of Higashikata children?

Childhood in Higashikata, growth problem or possible retcon age?

What if the growth problem of Higashikata children in their childhood was related to their (supposedly) rock-humans’ gene? I was thinking that it was caused by the rock-disease, but why the slow growth also affected little Hato? However, this theory also has a bit little flaw since baby Daiya looked quite normal as human baby (unlike that tiny rock-baby). Unless, you argue again that crossbreed babies work like that (in which again… it’s still unconfirmed).

A Caatofag’s delusion

Yeah, she is clearly opposing her ex-husband (and regarded Josuke as a freeloader), but how can calling Jobin because she was suspecting Norisuke IV turned into “outstanding manipulation” that led up to the most recent event? You credited her too much LOL! She was just calling her son because she noticed her ex-husband’s habit which she knows because she had lived with him for a long time (a less impressive ability compared to Terunosuke’s). She didn't even know what he was hiding. She used her deductive skill that Josuke was about meeting someone because she saw him bringing a phone, it was a smart thing but not that extraordinary.

Her being the mastermind orchestrating anything is still your imagination, because any reason you have that she got in touch with rock-humans & Locacaca through Damo/Jobin… and that she is a rock-woman have not been proven nor hinted at all. Besides, Dolomité and Poor Tom did not care about Jobin’s safety, which contradicts the notion of them being her underlings. Would Caato let Jobin be in danger? What does her backstory in chapter 64 mean to you? Caato called Jobin because she supported him, not because she manipulated him. I think you read her character wrong.

At this point, Tooru more likely indirectly lead The Head Doctor gang than Caato.

It is your opinion that is silly for me. Did you just say that Caato’s 「unnamed French playing cards D4C wannabe Stand」 is superior to 「Wonder of U」?

You brought up 「Cream」, 「Green Day」, 「Underworld」and 「Civil War」… why did you also mention 「C-Moon」? It’s Pucci the main villain’s Stand for God’s sake!

I don’t think 「Cream」 is comparable to 「Wonder of U」because when 「Cream」was menacing to Avdol, Polnareff and Iggy, 「WOU」has affected almost all parties involved in the struggle of Locacaca in JJL. Then, how can we expect 「Cream」 to be main villain Stand? Jotaro's party had been pursuing DIO as their main objective since the beginning, we all know that DIO is the main villain and his Stand is not 「Cream」. Vanilla Ice is not DIO, therefore he is not the main villain.

The same thing also applies to 「Green Day」, part 5 since the beginning is about uncovering the mafia boss’ identity. Cioccolata as GD’s user was clearly not the main villain, since he had been introduced as Unita Speciale’s member and got ordered by The Boss. 「Underworld」 as well, with how Donatello was introduced, of course he wouldn't have a super big role in part 6.

Do you seriously believe that Tooru, who is clearly a rock-human, who has “The Head Doctor Akefu” as his Stand, which said Stand posed as the leader of his gang and also has prominent position in T.G.U Hospital is a mere pawn to Higashikata Caato who still has zero hint that she is connected to the rock-humans and Locacaca?

I am also tired with the "thematically relevance" that you cherish so much. I might as well advise you to study the basic of writing a fiction and how “story progression” works. How is Tooru not thematically tied in the core idea of part 8? He is a rock-human, he wants Locacaca (the center in this part), and it’s heavily implied that he has mother issue (chapter 99).

You got it wrong honey, if Caato is the main villain because of that, may as well have Kira Holy Joestar as the main protagonist instead of Josuke.

And you got it right, kudos for you.

The order of character introductions has nothing to do in determining the main villain, stupid. It is their role, how they’re related to the main story, their motivation, their actions that affect the protagonist, etc.

Again, you used the argument that Caato was in contact with Damo through Jobin, the thing that I have explained so many times how far-fetched the theory is because it still lacks concrete proof.

Jobin worked with Dolomité and Poor Tom, but both ended up betraying him and the later almost killing him for a branch. If Caato was orchestrating this event, why would AGAIN she let Jobin in near death situation? Mind you it was not just Jobin, but his son (her grandson) and his siblings (aka her other children) were affected by Ozon Baby as well.

If you argue that Caato lacks affection to her children because she is a rock-woman, reread her backstory in chapter 64! Why would she be willing to let a child die and go to prison for the sake of Jobin if she doesn't have any love to him?

Besides, the Ozon Baby arc would only make Caato look like an idiot mastermind if she was truly behind it.

At least you treated it as “opinion” rather forced “fact”, I may as well respect your opinion. But I hope your opinion is wrong, because that would really make a bad writing which I pray Araki won’t do.

Why Tooru works better than Caato

It is sad that Caatofags underplay Tooru’s Stand 「Wonder of U」 for the sake of Caato’s unnamed Stand which has only one trait in common with D4C (caught-in-between) and mostly works like 「Enigma」.

A main villain is the source or main threat to a conflict, if we go by that definition the Head Doctor (or Tooru if he's the actual mastermind) could be considered the main antagonist of part 8. It's similar to what Araki did in SBR. There's a main villain (Valentine/HD) and a sorta rival/villain guy (Diego/Jobin).

It is sad that despite Head Doctor Akefu aka 「Wonder of U」has been confirmed as Tooru’s Stand (or at least he has connection to it), despite being confirmed as a rock-human as well, despite his knowledge about the Saint, which makes him closer to be the true mastermind behind Head Doctor gang and the conspiracy of New Locacaca, Caatofags underplay him for the sake of Caato’s still non-existent connection to all of this, just because of being Jobin’s mom, being a call-back to Lisa Lisa (and Jolyne) and being menacing to her ex-husband.

TL;DR Please, Caatofags… just stop! All the hype you've done for Caato at this point has only been damaging her character. The act of over-glorifying her only makes her existing solid role feel worthless. Not only that, you’re also underplaying the other characters’ role & purpose numerous times for the sake of glorifying her.

I'm not saying that the notion of wanting Caato as the main villain is absolutely wrong, but all these assumptions and made up theories, why can’t you just wait until more stuff actually happens to her?!

#jojolion #kaato higashikata #tooru jojo #jobin higashikata #jojo meta #my thoughts #character study #jjba meta #jjba part 8 #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo's bizarre analysis #caato #stfu caatofags

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crystalnet · 7 years

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The Awkward 7th Gen of JRPGs and Mistwalker Games

Ah the seventh generation. The era in which, partly because of the actual state of gaming and partly because of unrelated circumstances, I fell out of love with games. It wasn't until the dust had cleared on the gen that I got back into this past-time and was able to appreciate and re-evaluate the generation by doing a bit of an autopsy on it once this long, strange gen had finally come to a close. The 7th gen seems troubled and problematic from the outset for a variety of reasons, but being a JRPG-centric blog, I'm going to specifically discuss the state of the JRPG during this gen.

To very briefly summarize in a likely unacceptably reductive sense the prior generations in order to contextualize the seventh gen, the prior gen, (gen 6: dreamcast, ps2, gamecube, og xbox in that order) was what I would refer to as the bronze age of JRPGs if we are going to go by a condensed version of the generations of American comic books as a model. JRPGS had fully made the jump to full 3D graphics, began integrating voice-acting and had even feauted some titles that made the first major moves away from traditional turn-based or active-time-battle-esque combat systems, whether that meant leaning closer to the action-RPG genre or using MMO-esque semi-automated combat devoid of random encounters.

That was a slightly awkward, growing-pains-ridden period that had, despite the odds, having some pretty strong titles. Still riding the hype and massive popularity/sales of games like FFVII, this specific genre was still a big deal at that point and hadn't quite begun its quick fade into obscurity which happened later in the first decade of the 21st century. The best JRPGs of this gen built on the success of their prior gen and examples include the solid to great FFX and universally hailed Persona 3 and 4, as well as Dragon Quest 8, just to name a few of the most well known of several strong candidates. These games were about as strong as the best of the previous gen, while enjoying the advantage of much stronger graphical presentation, and potentially deeper systems. The PS1/Saturn generation had some really strong titles in this genre and for some this is easily the peak of the genre, but even if you’re partial to this one the most (which includes the run of FF7-9), you have to admit the graphical limitations led to these games being visually trapped between the more detailed graphics of the next gen and the clean-cut if limited pixel art of the SNES/genesis games (which are the golden age to PS1's silver). Indeed, the Cthonic era of JRPGS (NES/Master Drive and earlier) culminated in an explosion of inventiveness and refinement in games like Final Fantasy 4-6, Phantasy Star 4 and Chronos Trigger, all games that would become the actual gold standard of the genre.

And so without derailing much further, we thus have three straight generations of impressive and semi-consistent JRPGs and development of the genre. This would peter out significantly though, even before the 7th generation began, and the muted reaction to Final Fantasy XII, towards the end of the PS2's life-cycle may have marked a bit of a sea-change. As big, mainstream games like Halo and Call of Duty gained more and more momentum, I think more specialized and more-- for lack of a better term-- Japanese genres and institutions took a bit of a hit around this time. Developers wanted to cater the American and Global market and so big shooters and neu-platform open-worlds like Assassin's Creed had a lot more cache at the beginning of the 7th Gen. I also think that part of the problem was the question of what to do about turn-based combat. As technical possibilities opened up in gaming, the back-and-fourth of true turn-based combat that was previously expected from the genre began to feel more and more archaic. This was partly due to titles like Ocarina of Time or the several strong Action-JRPGs around the time making real-time combat seem like a viable option for deeper role-playing experiences. Alas, there was still a feeling, and for some there still is, that turn-based combat will always be the central tenet of the genre, and that real-time games just don't count.

In fact, JRPG's themselves reflected the feeling that turn-based systems were passe by openly experimenting with it in the 6th gen. Games like FFXII and the Tales game, as well as Level 5's string of Action-RPGs all feature the depth of systems that RPGs of olden always offerered, while also featuring real-time combat or something close to it (Indeed FFXII featured the pseudo real-time of MMO-style combat, which would be the way forward for other franchises going forward. And so in a way the genre could be seen as undoing what it once was in order to adapt.

But where did that leave it by the time the 7th gen was underway? Well, it practically left it in absentia. This was about a decade after the massive and fortuitous success and sales figures of FFVII (which, considering, it was always strange to me that it sold so well in US. Was that evocative cover with the buster sword, and Cloud looking toward Midgar amidst a clean-white backdrop the sole marketing for that game?). Alas the landscape had thoroughly chanced, and this was before Skyrim would drop. There were over 3 years of 7th gen games before that mini game-changer was unleashed on the world, helping to shift any attention on the RPG that existed at that point in a westward direction. But certain sign-of-the-times moments were abound before this even, like the release of FFXIII to initially positive critic reception which quickly faded to very very scathing reception more generally, almost instantly after initial buzz wore off. What used to be the paragon of the genre had reduced said genre to a largely automated, overly-slick walking-and-fighting simulator, sending the reception of the genre down one long, linear hallway of death and despair. Now this specific gamer actually appreciated a lot of what that game did despite the hate, but I can't deny that the game sucked out a lot of the life of the genre in the way exploration, free-will and customization was either limited or entirely absent. The games a giant anime movie with tons and tons of successive fights. If you like the combat system, which imo was a valiant if slightly superficial riff on the active-turn-based systems of old, this might have been okay, but if you didn't-- and many don't-- then the game was nothing but endless cut-scenes and confusing lore. But hey it was gorgeous, and that's what this generation was all about right? Right...

The very Western focus on graphical prowess and polish was something Square Enix seemed to believe was an essential part of Final Fantasy, and so put more focus on that than, oh I don't know, having anything in the way of a single town or basically any exploration in that game. And this focus on graphics was kind of the story of the gen, save for Nintendo who defiantly snubbed their nose to processing power and went the way of innovation instead (innovation that largely did not include all that many JRPGs...). Speaking of Final Fantasy though, the once titan of the genre took another hit around the time this gen was about to begin when Sakaguchi, the OG creator, left Square to form Mistwalker Studios. This would be a hit for Square as far as many fans were concerned, and even a nail-in-the-coffin for some, but it also meant good things for the genre as a whole. Sakaguchi ostensibly left Square Enix in part due to the increased pressure that management was putting on the creatives there during the fall-out from Spirits Within’s financial failure-- their dalliance in Feautre Film- headed by Sakaguchi himself and the project which caused the company to briefly experience financial free-fall as they hemorrhaged money right up until FFX and Kingdom Hearts turned things around for them in a major way. But the damage was done, and projects at the company would be handled differently going forward. It is a bit ironic then, that Sakaguchi would go on to struggle with management at Nintendo while working on Last Story after returning to the company he previously had left along with Square when they refused to adopt CD-technology a decade prior. Last Story-- the game he made for the Wii-- would still come out as a brilliant answer to the dearth of the genre at the time, featuring inventive real-time combat that put a focus on positioning-based strategy.

Indeed some of the more promising games of this genre during the gen were developed by Mistwalker. Not all are perfect, but their third big effort in Last Story is quite good, and is still a unique and novel example of what combat could be in JRPG's going forward. Their first two games, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, both had tried-and-true turn-based style combat, and felt a bit uninspired, if not unwelcome in a very dry stretch of time for the genre, the former's Toriyama-led art-style giving it the feeling of Dragon Quest 8 and Chrono Trigger. It didn't quite live up to those games, but Lost Odyssey is an interesting entry considering it gives us a glimpse into what FFXIII could have been in some alternate universe where Square stayed Square-Soft forever maybe.

And so, weirdly, Sony takes a huge hit from Mistwalker's sheer existence, since all three of these games were released on 360 and Wii--consoles that basically had no JRPGs otherwise-- and to top it off, another one-time Sony loyalist Tetsuya Takahashi, who also having left Square earlier in the decade, went on to work on Xenoblade for the Wii, after previously doing the terrific Xenosaga trilogy on PS2. Alas, Sakaguchi and Takahashi may have singe-handedly kept the genre alive with their games, keeping the promise and magic of the golden age of JRPGs alive, if just barely (indeed, both of these men cut their teeth on classics like Final Fantasy 4 and Chrono Trigger). Meanwhile, Sony holds things down with only a couple big JRPGs, among which is Ni No Kuni, an excellent offering from Level-5 and Ghibli which is super solid and yet skews a bit young (as any Ghibli-related project reasonably should), alongside Nier, from the whacky Yoko Taro who had previously released uneven if cult-status-y JRPGs on previous Sony consoles in the form of the Drakengard games. And while Nier, Ni No Kuni, the Mistwalker games and Xenoblade are all solid to great JRPGs, they’re pretty much the extent of the genre this gen-- five measly games, all of which are spread across the three systems unevenly. Indeed, no single console this gen could stand on its own this gen when it came to this genre, with Sony being the old stand-by failing to deliver on that unless you just happened to really love the entire FFXIII trilogy.

Things we could formerly rely on like Persona, SMT or Dragon Quest were either just straight up no-shows this gen, or were relegated to handhelds. There was Last Remnant on PS3 as well, and I haven't played it, but reception is mixed to negative. All of the other aforementioned games though offer solid experiences, with some sticking to their guns by way of old-school turn-based combat and a few others pushing ahead with new iterations of Active/Semi-Real Time systems (Last Story, Ni No Kuni, Xenoblade), and yet, they are simply too few and far between in number compared to the previous gen. This problem really dogged the entire gen, and was merely symptomatic of the darker turn gaming took around the time, and I'm glad to see things feel like they're headed in a better direction as of late. JRPGs are always the deepest games I play out of the various genres that I fuck with, so my estimation of a console's library is directly related to how many solid JRPGs there are. And while I love the Wii and PS3 overall for what the do offer, they come close to not having enough to offer based solely off their relatively skimpy JRPG offerings. Wii comes out on top for me based only on Xenoblade and Last Story, and sort of Muramasa and Zelda insofar as Vanilla Ware and Zelda games count, but even the freakin 360 might have a stronger offering than PS3, which is a serious problem.

Luckily, I really do think things are on the up-and-up lately though, with smaller, retro-style JRPGs coming into vogue among other things, giving smaller developers wiggle room in terms of acceptable budget, and big franchises like Persona are finally thawing out of deep-freeze after being a no-count dring the previous gen (save for Catherine), while Final Fantasy and Square in general are enjoying a bit of a comeback (Nier Automata, Nioh and I Am Setsuna all in one year). Alas, Persona 5 showed up finally and just in time to universal acclaim, and the fact that it's a successful and truly turn-based JRPG with a decent budget and progressive, forward-thinking mechanics is very impressive in itself. I think Dark Souls was a bit of a beacon of light last gen, in the way that it showed how a Japanese dev could make a deep RPG in a style that was markedly different from more traditional action-JRPG style, while also drawing on western games like Skyrim in its approach. It seemed to bridge the gap between western and eastern-style RPGs and gave people a reason to hype Japanese RPG developers once again at a time when there were less reasons than ever before. I'm not a big Souls guy, but I really appreciate that it brought attention back to a dying genre at a crucial time. So despite this awkward generation's slightly lacking and inconclusive answer to the question: "what should JRPG's this gen be like?", things may finally be settling back into what just might be described as progress for a genre that some may have thought was down for the count. Perhaps it was a necessary awkward period that has allowed developers working in the genre some time to re-calibrate and reassess the landscape,

Now if only devs could figure out how to resuscitate the 3D platformer--Indeed, If JRPGs experienced a drought during last gen, then the 3D platformer went into a near permanent coma and was basically pronounced dead save for the big, mainline console Mario games that come out every 5-10 years. But that's a story for another day, for now, I still need to beat Persona 5 before Xenoblade 2 drops...

#7th generation #gaming #jrpg #last story #mist walker #blue dragon #ps3 #wii #360 #sakaguchi

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a-friend-of-red-jenny · 7 years

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i think an indication of the light (i.e. the talented writers.......) leaving the da series is that like origins is, in a lot of ways, a type of game i’m not usually into. i hate the way everything looks, i hate a lot of the mechanics, i have adhd and the idea of reading all that warden dialogue makes me want to take a nap and usually would really break illusion for me but i loved the game and i got so attached to my surana...i played through it twice with her to explore different options and romance leliana and zevran, and then when i got it on pc i made the same character, because i couldn’t think of playing it without her tbh, and modded the game to romance morrigan like i’d always dreamed of lmao. bioware made me create and live through this character and go through an expirience that for me, always culminated in a dramatic, fitting, emotional sacrifice. i am still touched by the story of my surana, who finally went out into the world and really got to know it and make friends in it for a short time, and then ultimately made the decision to die protecting it. nowadays i dont remember like..anything abt it except for the characters, but thats msotly because it got way overshadowed in my heart by 2

dragon age 2 is a rushed and broken piece of shti with half its story missing. i’ve probably played it all the way through about 9 or 10 times?? i made a bunch of different characters this time because i wanted to explore all the options (in a game where you explore the same caves 800 times and have the same argument through the entire storyline lol). i cared more about that game than i maybe ever have about a game? it made me love the series, somehow, even though i hated so much stuff about the da world bc its boring as hell tbh, because of the life in the characters. i romanced them all at least twice. i did everything i could other than side with the templars, and i like tried, multiple times, but i couldnt. the game made me feel strongly enough about it that i couldn’t bring myself to /pretend/ to agree with a socio-political stance in the game world because it went too strongly against my morals. a lot of the ‘choices’ you make in biowares are illusions of choice that mean nothing, but in da2 i feel like they were the best at both 1)hiding that, and 2)making some choices matter if only because YOU know what YOU did, even if it doesn’t effect anything.

and the kicker is like, this is dorky as hell lol but in my mind’s eye i picture my surana in a relationship with zevran, leliana, and morrigan, because they were all characters i got invested in and stuck with me and i feel they made an impression on the character i created and put into the story to an extent that it would feel wrong picturing that character without any of them. she’s best friends with sten. she wishes her and wynne could get along better, as fellow mages. she...wishes the best for alistair. hawke is the same deal; the four og romances were each affecting and important enough to me that i end up deciding ‘my hawke’ is just dating everyone lol. i like all the characters too much to choose. i’ve thought so so so much about the hawke i finally settled on. about her relationships with her family and their past, things she feels guilty about, how she handles and expresses that guilt, how she feels deep down about every important character and plot point.

when i first got inquisition it was the most hyped i’d ever gotten about something. i would gush at my brother about the lore of the world for literal actual hours at a time in the months before the game came out. i borrowed money to buy it the second it came out. I played through the whole thing, like, 99% completion, the only achievements i was missing were ones that required a second play through or specific story choices i didn’t know about. I freaked out at my friends not to spoil anything because they’d finished the game before I’d gotten to the winter palace. I never finished a second playthrough. I started several other characters but I know on a few of them i never even got to the fight at haven (or past the pride demon, but that was as a mage on expert mode which i’m pretty sure is actually just not possible so rip i guess) I don’t really have a ‘canon’ inquisitor? I don’t really feel anything about the one I finished the game with. Even as excited as I was I spent the whole game annoyed that the inquisitor didn’t seem to have personality at all, let alone the choice of a personality that you could make with your warden or with hawke. I romanced sera.....and I actually felt bad about myself because of how they wrote everyone else to treat her. It actually made me feel unwanted and wrong as a young lesbian. I cried when sera was confirmed pre-release as a for sure, specifically Lesbian love interest. I loved her before the game even came out. It made me feel accepted in a time and place where I very actively was not, and when I was struggling, within finding myself as a Gay Youth in general, with the idea that being a lesbian, specifically, was a bad thing that I should choose not to be in lieu of a better, more progressive form of Gay. Cue a proud and unapologetic lesbian character, the first in the series, that everyone fucking hates and that you can kick out of the game at any time with little consequence. With a romantic story line that seemed like an afterthought, and to have less care and attention put into it than two straight options that actually WERE afterthoughts, because they weren’t even going to be in the game until mid-development. A lesbian with an opening quest for her romance arc that is basically just you running around to every other companion and listening to them list everything they hate about her, at worst telling you you’re making a mistake in associating with her bc shes stupid and disgusting and at best giving an obvious “well....whatever you think is best....hope that works out for you..........OUO;;;.....” That quest, if you keep romancing her, culminates in what is supposed to be both of you deciding “fuck what all of society thinks, we’re all we need” because, lesbians, right? thats the lesbian narrative? except homophobia doesnt exist in this world so we had to make everyone hate sera Herself in order to fit it in and that doesnt have any implications at all. and then you have sex; sera’s very sexual, because,,,,,,,,,,not because men think lesbians are hot umm........its because........uhhh........its empowerment!!! but i digress like i love sera despite bioware lol. and i tried to spend time daydreaming and fleshing out my inquisitor and her and their relationship and lives with each other and shit but all the thinking i did on it was forced. unlike my surana and my hawke, my inquisitor isn’t poly w/ everyone because i couldn’t bare to choose between characters i loved. i didn’t even romance most of them. i don’t even have a specific character in mind as ‘my’ inquisitor. the characters i liked the most, that felt the most well-written and fleshed out, were established characters from pre-existing da content. and the game even fucked up my hawke that i cared about and loved because they wanted to capitalize on how much people love hawke, and love Their hawke, but put in a weird hawke-puppet that had none of Any of the personalities you could give them, and that just said dull bullshit about how theyve seen what the corruption of blood magic can do, etc. etc. etc. like.....................................the magic is gone and their left with good characters they don’t know how to write and i mostly boring world with some interesting aspects they decide never to touch on.

#long #bioware

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dippedanddripped · 4 years

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At the end of 2020, Titi Finlay, social media manager at Laced and Nike Air Max 90 guest-designer, posted a tile on Instagram to her 7,700 followers with a simple message: “We don’t want women’s exclusives. We want inclusive sizing.” In just over 24 hours, the post had been shared over 2,000 times.

Women have fought long and hard to be treated equally in the sneaker industry but being a female sneaker fan continues to be a bittersweet experience. Lack of inclusive sizing is still too common and women’s-exclusive models, like the recent Dunk Disrupt, often miss the mark and are chunky, slimmed down, or fashion-ized versions of a great sneaker that women really just wanted in their own size.

Unsurprisingly, women are fed up, but there is a positive upshot: the female sneaker community is stronger than ever. From designers to collectors, marketers to editors, female sneaker fans are uniting over their shared frustration and taking things into their own hands.

Helen Kirkum, one of the most-watched rising sneaker designers, has worked in the sneaker industry for four years and has witnessed it evolve. “Two amazing things are happening at the moment,” she points out. “One is that many women within the industry are supporting their peers, shouting each other out, which builds an incredibly strong community. Secondly, you can feel that this same network is aware that they have a responsibility to share the knowledge with the younger generation through mentorships, teaching, and inspiration. Showing that we believe that there are so many diverse and powerful female voices to be heard, that we respect and admire each other's work, and that we want to share our experience with a younger generation is a winning combination.”

As Kirkum notes, there is a growing sense of solidarity among the community at a time when action has never felt so urgent. Women are empowering women.

Copenhagen’s women’s sneaker boutique NAKED donated $5,000 to the Malala fund, a non-profit organization that envisions “a world where every girl can learn and lead,” to celebrate the release of the first women’s Dunk High colorway.

Across the community, there has been a surge in women-led platforms, podcasts, and feeds dedicated to connecting and amplifying women's voices in sneaker culture. Steph Hulbert-Thomas, global lifestyle marketing manager for On, started _Womeninsneakers, a podcast to celebrate women in the sneaker industry. She has spoken to an impressive lineup of women including Kirkum, Titi Finlay, Sneaker Freaker’s managing editor Audrey Bugeja, and Footpatrol creative lead Asheeba Charles.

“I started it for several reasons: underrepresentation, sexism, and lack of recognition — not just in my work, but for the amazing women I’ve had the pleasure of working with. _Womeninsneakers was born as a way to give teams behind the scenes a voice,” Hulbert-Thomas explains.

Her words echo those of Damaries Negron, aka @Kickitwitdd. Negron has been buying sneakers for 15 years and, frustrated at the absence of women being represented in the industry, started the Instagram channel @Kickitwitdd365. Her goal is to get 1,000 women to showcase their sneakers — and she’s already halfway there. “Every woman has a story behind why she collects sneakers. I tell women to voice their opinions about the game,” she shares. “Another reason for the project is that I saw the same women used repeatedly, and I got tired of that. I don’t think brands or blogs know how big the women’s sneaker community is and I want to show them the women who are like me.”

The sneaker industry isn’t the niche subculture it used to be, and yet seeing women in these spaces still isn’t normalized to the extent that it should be. Hulbert-Thomas speaks of her personal experience: “Being a Black woman in the industry comes with double the challenges, and I’m not talking about the ‘we have to work twice as hard’ rhetoric that I have definitely felt. It’s more having to validate, and by that I mean companies looking to you to tick the boxes — have we been diverse, are we being ‘cool,’ are we ‘culturally’ relevant? I don’t want women taking up space to become tokenized.”

Being one of the only women at the table is something that every woman sneaker fan can relate to. Award-winning filmmaker and OG sneaker collector Shernay LaTouche was recently invited to join a panel on sneakers by friends she knew from hanging out back in the Crooked Tongues days. She was one of four women in a room of 30. “All these men knew women who were into sneakers and could’ve actively put one more person in. But you don't invite us in the masses, you invite in a very small percentage to then feature in a video that you've created to say, yes, we tick the box. It shouldn't be like that.”

LaTouche is the founder of The Imprint, a collective of female sneaker industry professionals whose goal is to celebrate and share the female experience in the sneaker world. “Our stories are always told through the male gaze and the time is now for women to lead the conversation from the very start by creating their own narrative,” she stresses. “Women need to be in spaces where they can stand amongst one another, that share the same passion without any biases or prejudices.”

LaTouche brings up an important point. Women need to control their own narrative for there to be any hope of undoing the damage that has been done by portraying women through a degrading and patronizing male lens for so long. It’s without question the reason biases continue to permeate the women’s sneaker and streetwear industries. Sexualizing women makes it so much easier for the idea that they aren’t authoritative voices in the culture to propagate.

“I remember searching ‘Women’s Jordan’ in Google and the first thing that came up was a woman wearing nothing but a T-shirt and a pair of men’s Jordans,” Parisian sneaker collector Selma Kaci recalls from when she first started buying sneakers. Growing up in Paris, her access to sneakers in her size was limited, and her aunt used to send her US-exclusives by mail for her birthday.

When she was older, she traveled to sneaker conventions around Europe, meeting other women — “I would always remember who had a US kids size 6 for when we would resell” — and eventually began posting pictures of her cops on Instagram. “At the beginning, I had a lot of guys asking me if I was into sneakers because of my boyfriend, or if he bought them for me,” she shares. “I wasn't even showing my face on Instagram back then. I was trying to avoid being stereotyped, like I was a cute girl into sneakers, that I just bought them because they were ‘hype’ or fashion at the time. I know it shouldn't bother me, but it's hard. I have a great collection and great taste, and I actually like sneakers. And that has nothing to do with my sex.”

Dismantling these stereotypes around women is critical to achieving equality, and as much as we’d like to think that everyone working in the sneaker industry would get it by now, it’s clearly not the case. The only way to encourage authentic change is by having women in decision-making positions where they can pave the way for more women to follow. Thankfully, more companies are reshuffling their senior teams, and high-profile partnerships with women are on the rise. Through them, women are breaking into coveted product spaces that have long been male-only, such as Jordan's collaborations with Vashtie, Aleali May, Olivia Kim, and Melody Ehsani (several of which now resell at four-figure prices), and Yoon Ambush's three-way partnership with Nike and the NBA, made her the first female fashion designer to collaborate on a Nike x NBA collection.

Even though men buy into these collaborations, they are still mainly being marketed as women’s exclusives. As Kirkum points out: “Men have been designing shoes for women forever, but for some reason, there can still be a stigma against women designing shoes or sneakers for men — that makes no sense to me.” The hesitation to let women take the reins on prominent projects for men is groundless and reinforces the fact that they aren’t considered authorities in their field. There is no shortage of skilled women designers — just take Charlotte Lee, designer of the highly-praised New Balance 327, as an example — so to relegate them to less prominent projects and women’s exclusives makes even less sense.

While lack of product, tone-deaf marketing, and dodgy women’s releases are still huge issues, a problem that runs deeper is that women’s voices aren’t being heard — or, even worse, are being ignored. Fortunately, the female community is only getting stronger, and depriving them a place at the table is only fueling their fight. Finlay concludes: “The female community is one close-knit family. We all know each other and we welcome and support new members because we all know what it feels like to be overlooked and not have anyone relatable to talk to about it. We’re all passionate about a common goal — making sneakers equal to everyone.”

The resounding message is clear. Gender shouldn’t affect the legitimacy of a person’s love of sneakers. Women are banding together and holding brands to a higher standard. All we need now is for them to listen.

#Titi Finlay #charlotte lee #sneaker blog #nike sneakers #sneakerheads #sneakercommunity #melody ehsani #selma kaci #olivia kim #adidas originals #adidas sneakers #inclusivity #latouche #the imprint #Helen Kirkum #womeninsneakers #diversity

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