#you can ask for explanations or for a different character unmentioned

[sashimiyas]

off the top of my head, the gender of their firstborn are:

osamu: boy

atsumu: girl

iwaizumi: girl

ushijima: boy

oikawa: boy

kita: triplets. two girls and a boy. and that’s how you guys end up having a massive family. he was content with three kids but he only got to go through the newborn phase once :/ so please? again?

sakusa: girl

suna: boy. he loves his boy sm but he wanted a girl so bad. he wants to keep trying if you’ll let him

hirugami: twins! one girl and one boy

bokuto: boy

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Marvel What If’s Women Problem

Welcome back to the feminist rant!

I really didn’t intend to spend three weeks in a row writing about the Marvel animated series What If…? But I wanted to see this through.

Last week we talked about this show’s abundant use of the “fridged woman” trope. However, a show doesn’t need to kill its female characters in order to fail them.

Remember that time I made up a feminist movie test? I call it the “Want Test.” You can read the full explanation here, but here’s the summary:

This test requires that a film (or, in this case, an episode of a TV show) has at least one named female character. After watching the show, ask, “Does what the named female character want matter to the plot?” Then, score the movie based on the answer to this question.

If the answer is “Yes, what the named female character wants matters to the plot,” then give the movie a checkmark!”

If the answer is “Yes, AND this is true of multiple named female characters,” then the movie gets a check-plus. If these characters help each other get what they want, the movie gets a check-double-plus!

If the answer is “Yes, BUT her wants are an obstacle to a male character’s goal,” then the movie gets a check-minus. The woman may matter to the plot, but her importance is centered on her relationship to a male character and how much he matters to the plot. Often movies with a check-minus involve a male protagonist actively trying to stop a female character from getting what she wants; while she has an impact on the world around her, the movie isn’t rooting for the woman.

If the answer is “No, what she wants doesn’t matter,” then the movie fails the test. Give it a minus.

Okay, now let’s talk about Marvel What If. Once again, there are spoilers for the first seven episodes of this show below the cut, and some discussion of the plot points in the movies these episodes are based on.

When I compare the first seven episodes of What If to the Want Test, they each barely scrape their way to a check-minus (though after my rant last week, I’m tempted to edit my test so that a show that fridges a female character automatically fails). In summary, it does not matter what most of the named female characters want. Each episode has a single woman whose wants do affect the plot, but what she wants is always some kind of obstacle to a male character’s goal. Even when the women of What If survive the episode, the male characters’ feelings are the primary engine of the show.

As I neared the end of Episode Six, “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?” I said to myself, “Well, at least Pepper and Shuri aren’t dead.” But then, in the last minute of the episode, Shuri and Pepper meet and state their intent to take down Killmonger. And I said to myself, “Okay, so why didn’t we get THAT episode?”

Sure, it’s cool to see two smart girls teaming up, but they don’t get to do anything! This episode repeatedly puts Pepper and Shuri down. Every time they express suspicion of Killmonger, someone contradicts them. What they want does not matter. They are obstacles to the men, and they are easily pushed aside, and so all they can do is stand in the background and watch while the boys run around and play war games.

If your named female characters only matter in the last scene of the show, then they don’t really matter. This episode wasn’t about the women at all. It was about the men killing each other and making each other sad.

*

I really don’t want to say much about the seventh episode, “What If… Thor Were an Only Child?”

What I will say is, “Why, why, WHY is Dr. Jane Foster more concerned about hurting the hot guy’s feelings than she is about how the hot guy is about to cause the end of the world?”

And I will also say, “Why does Captain Marvel need to be nice to Thor at the end of the episode after he spent the entire episode being a jackass to her?”

And I will end this section of the blog post by saying, “Frigga deserves so much better than any man in her family has ever given her.”

*

The second episode of this show, “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?” might be my favorite episode. Mainly because it’s the only one I genuinely liked while I was watching it. It was fun, and I was happy to hear Chadwick Boseman’s voice one more time. Overall, it’s a lovely tribute to both the actor and his character.

But, for me, liking this episode required ignoring a big problem: Nebula and Thanos’s relationship.

We don’t know exactly when in this timeline T’Challa met Thanos and convinced him to give up on the “murder half the universe” plan. But we do know that even before Thanos collected the Infinity Stones, he was roaming the universe slaughtering millions. We know he committed genocide against Gamora’s people the day he “adopted” her, and it’s safe to assume he did the same to Nebula’s. We know that he raised Gamora and Nebula to fight each other, and every time Nebula lost a fight, he replaced a part of her body with cybernetics, constantly torturing her.

What If never tells us that that Thanos did not abuse his daughters. It never tells us that he did not slaughter millions, including his daughters’ birth families. But it does tell us that Thanos is Nebula’s father. And he wouldn’t be her father if he hadn’t been roaming the universe killing people.

In this episode, we see an adult Nebula who seems to think her dad is annoying, but any feelings she might have about how genuinely terrible he is – feelings she was freely willing to admit in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies – go completely unmentioned.

Thanos and Nebula’s relationship is played for laughs, like they just need to get over their past and hug it out. That bothers me a lot. It’s like the show is saying that Nebula’s pain doesn’t matter. What matters is that Thanos is sad she doesn’t want to hang out with him.

I should also point out that in Avengers: Infinity War, Gamora gets fridged. Her feelings are unimportant to the plot; her stated desire to die before she can be used as a part of Thanos’s plot is mocked and discarded. When she is murdered, the moment of her death is all about how it would hurt Thanos to kill her. Gamora’s death also serves as motivation for Peter Quill to sabotage the other heroes’ efforts to stop Thanos.

Gamora is nowhere to be seen in this episode of What If. The women that Thanos abused really don’t matter here at all.

*

I’ve been putting off talking about this show’s pilot episode, “What If… Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?” This episode was… You know, it was fun, in a very similar way to how the Star Lord T’Challa episode was fun. I can’t lie and say I didn’t like seeing super buff Peggy Carter beat the crap out of Nazis. That was a lot of fun.

But the thing I couldn’t stop thinking while watching was, “This isn’t Peggy’s story. It’s Steve’s!”

Peggy Carter may have gotten the super serum in this reality, but Steve Rogers is still the main driving force of the plot. Peggy goes to Germany to save Steve’s best friend. She works with Steve’s allies, the Howling Commandoes, instead of finding her own. Steve’s issues and emotions are central to everything Peggy does; she may say in dialogue that she wants to end the war, but what we see is that Steve is her motivation. In fact, he’s everyone’s motivation – in the scene where Peggy, Bucky, Howard, and the Howling Commandoes decide to go take down Red Skull, they all go around the table and say that they’re doing it “for Steve.” Not because ending the war is the right thing to do, not because they care about the millions of people murdered and tortured by the Nazis – but because they care about Steve.

When I first heard about this show, I thought that Steve was going to die, and that would be why Captain Carter would exist. The interesting/ironic thing here is that the episode pokes at the idea of fridging Steve, but it doesn’t quite have the guts to go through with it. Everyone thinks that Steve died on the train, but then they find him in Red Skull’s castle, and he’s totally fine! Killing off Captain America would have been an interesting, powerful new direction to take the story. But this episode doesn’t seem interested in taking new directions. It seems more interested in showing how things would stay the same even if Steve didn’t get the serum, even if Peggy switched careers from secret agent to superhero, even if Bucky never became the Winter Soldier, even if Red Skull decided to open a portal to tentacle hell. Things just stay the same.

And I don’t get the point of presenting us with a show where there are “endless possibilities” if things are just going to stay the same. If Peggy Carter will still be a side character in Steve Roger’s story. If Hank Pym’s grief still matters more than Janet and Hope Van Dyne’s lives. If Thanos will still never be held accountable for abusing Gamora and Nebula. If Doctor Strange is still an arrogant jackass. If the only realities we see are ones where men get to act and feel, and women get to be plot devices.

The truth is that the Watcher just isn’t interested in showing us realities where women live and thrive in their own right. For all its emphasis on how different decisions can cause dramatic changes to reality, the creators of What If have no real investment in making different decisions in how they portray female characters. It’s just more of the same.

I’m done thinking about this show. Let’s talk about something else next week, okay?

Be good to yourself, be kind to each other, and you’ll hear from me again soon!

[grailbot143]

Welcome Back Everyone!

Thank @daiskken for this week's artwork! I really love the style of this picture.

As I was not the biggest fan of last week’s episode and had every intention of wiping it entirely from my memory, this week, we are going to do something a little different. Instead of a recap of last week, we are going to focus on:

Briefcap Beach Party

Consolidated lingering Questions The Steven Universe World Characters Places Things Likes and Dislikes So Far Briefcap from Steven Universe: Beach Party (S1:Ep18)

Beach Party opens with the Gems fighting a Blowfish. Steven throws his boogie board to try to distract it for Garnet. Garnet gets blown into town where she destroys the front of the pizzeria. Amethyst turns into a baseball bat and hits the blowfish out to the ocean. The Gems argue with each other. Mr. Pizza gets upset about the pizzeria. The Gems go home. Kofi tells Steven the Gems are banned. He goes home to tell them because he's so sad.

Steven sets up a really boring beach party to bring the Pizzas and Gems together. The Gems dress appropriately at Steven's behest. He pairs up the Gems with Pizzas for a volleyball game that dwindles into a cheating match. . . . I told some jokes.

The blowfish returns and Nanafua directs everybody through a really ridiculous fight and the blowfish is defeated. Kofi wraps up the episode faster than Dumbledore wrapped up the Sorcerer's Stone and about as haphazardly.

AND . . . Episode Over (thank goodness)

Episode Random Noticings

Fish Stew Pizza never got fixed.

Fish Stew Pizza still sounds disgusting.

Nanafua is commanding and the Gems are oddly compliant.

Consolidated lingering Questions

The Gems:

Where do they come from? How is power derived from them? Are all the gems the same, but act differently according to… something? How is magic embued into the gems? Who is chosen to wear them and why? Why is a pearl considered a gem? What about the gemmed enemies? How do they get gems? Or are they created out of gems? Assumption: each has unique powers, i.e., Amethyst can’t project a plan from her gem_ If the above assumption is correct, what exactly is Garnet’s superpower? What are Steven's powers? s Amethyst's strange relationship with gravity a po Who all can fu?se?w old are each of them? It’s suggested that they're centuries old. Amethyst acts a bit like a teenager. Is she that much younger than Pearl? Where does Garnet fall? Why is Steven the only boy? How many boy gems are there everywhere? Why is Garnet the boss? Is it because she's older and wiser?

The World:

The Lunar Sea Spire was known as the Oasis for Gems on Earth, so I know it’s Earth, but… Is it in the same Earth that we are in, but hidden from us, or some sort of alternate universe Are the gems ONLY on Earth? This would make the nomenclature Oasis for Gems on Earth redundant, so probably notar, everything seems to be happening in this town… are there other Gems in other towns? Like every town has a team of Crystal Gems protecting it? Or is this town some center for universal negativity, so the Gems are focused here? Why do people in anime scream out the names of their attacks? Where did Lion take Steven and Connie for training? Is that place, or a similar one, available to all gems? Do you need a familiar to take you there?

The House on the Beach:

This is more a curiosity, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the fight that took off that statues hands What is up with the living temple inside the house? Beating hearts, waterfalls, a pool for getting rid of evil spirits. Need much more history and understanding here. BTW, it's been more than 10 episodes and none of these have been answered. Why not? The Steven Universe World This is just a quick list of things that make this place unique… no explanations.

Townies:

What's up with Onion and his dad? Are they from some other place? Why would you make a place called Fish Stew Pizza? What is the name of the fry place?

Rose Quartz:

Why does Rose have to die to give Steven his superpowers? Is Rose even dead?? I don’t remember that explicitly being stated What would make her choose that? a prophesy? desire to give Greg a kid? gonna die anyway? Did she give up her gem to HAVE a kid or to EMBUE a kid with the gem? Did she get to KNOW Steven?

Lion:

What all does Lion know? How did he get his powers?

Characters

The Crystal Gems

Pearl Garnet Amethyst (dead?) Rose Quartz Steven

The Townsfolk

Sadie Lars FryMan PeeDee Fryman Rinaldo Fryman Greg Mailman Barb (not seen) Nanafua Pizza Kofi Pizza Jenny Pizza Kiki Pizza Sour Cream Buck Dewey Onion Onion's Dad Guy that runs the Arcade Suitcase Sam? Mayor Dewey

Monsters/Creatures

Centipeedles and their mother Red Eye (offscreen) A giant bird with a giant polka-dot egg The Spirit from the painting that possessed Together Breakfast The Crystal Shrimp (deceased) Frybo Steven with Cats The Eel that liked shiny stuff Lion Starfish Drills and their MOM? Giant Bird from Giant Woman The Geode Beetles from Heaven and Earth The carnivorous moss that turns into beautiful flowers Holo-Pearl Training Robot from the cavern Blow/Pufferfish Blood Polyp (offscreen)

Places

Around Town

Big Donut the fry shop the arcade the boardwalk Fish Stew Pizza Greg’s van the car wash the storage facility the Crystal Gem’s house on the beach Suitcase Sam's T-Shirt store Amusement Park Dock Wrestling Arena Movie Theatre (in town?) Pearl's favorite tree (deceased) Under the Ocean

Mystical

The Temple with a beating heart the storage unit? Greg said it was magical (destroyed) The Lunar Sea Spire the teleporter thing in Steven’s living room The Training Cavern Upside Pyramid in the Strawberry Fields Sand Castles that the Dessert Glass built The cave in Arcade Mania The Sky Spire The Lava place where Garnet retrieved the Geode Beetle of Earth Deadman's Mouth The cloud/Pillar place in Steven The Sword Fighter

Things

Gems

Rose Quartz 2 Garnets Amethyst (not a gem) Pearl Centipeedles’ Mothers gem (pants animating) Gem Shards (maybe? pretty sure) The Lunar Goddess Statue Eel's Gem Gem from Upside Down Pyramid Dessert Glass Starfish Mother Gem The ROC in Giant Woman Blowfish Gem

Mystical Items

Summoned Weapons Laser Light Cannon Red Eye? Lunar Goddess Statue Cursed Painting Replicator Wand (destroyed) Button in the Cavern (and all that stuff)

Food (as it’s seemingly important to our little hero)

(discontinued) Cookie Cats Fry Bits (Cat Fingers enjoy this too) Together Breakfast (offscreen) Pizza (unmentioned) Cupcakes in jars (not food) Cheeseburger backpack Donuts Fish Stew Pizza Giant Strawberries Margarine to slick hair back Sodas that he threw all over the place in Tiger Millionaire Coconuts Sandwich Cereal (Arcade Mania) Steven (for the bird in Giant Woman) Cake Aqua Mexico Burrito Cream Pies (more a prop than food) Bag of Chips Burger for Onion's Dad Seagull's banana peel and pizza Cheeseburger Backpack full of snacks for the movie Popcorn Hot Dogs Burgers (with a ridiculous amount of buns, lettuce, and silverware)

Likes and Dislikes Far

Dislikes

Not a fan of the important role junk food plays in the show I don’t relate to Steven much. He mostly annoys me. Why is there not a main antagonist? Are we going to be playing monster of the week forever? Surely we’ll get one antagonist we can loath… (this is still an issue 18 episodes in. . . ) Season 1: Episode 5 Frybo Season 1: Episode 18 Beach Party

Likes

I like that all the answers to everything are not conveniently packaged in an episode I like Garnet… and sometimes Amethyst… and I often relate to Pearl I like Greg and his super awesome van I like that it seemed like we landed in the middle of a life, rather than the beginning of a story. . . this continues to be true through every episode. I like the most of the townspeople and their relationships with Steven I appreciate that though there are some references a kid wouldn’t understand completely, there is so far no blatantly adult humor or sexuality even in undertones - still true after 18 episodes. . . I like the whole living temple thing - but it is frustrating that we have only explored it once and so many questions remain. I like Connie alot. She is funny and smart and a perfect non-super for the story. I like the random swords sticking up in multiple places. I like arcade games. . . I like that there are so many details in the background like everywhere . . . and it's obvious the creators are nerds I like Sour Cream

I just want to remind everyone, I write these recaps after having only seen the episode once, a week ago, and often interrupted by my whole blogging thing. I mainly do it for myself to refresh my memory for the next episode, but since I post it, I thought I should ask your forgiveness if it isn’t exactly perfect (or even close). Don't forget if you have a submission for artwork for today's episode, submit before Friday using the link above, and I'll pick one to use as the cover art.

[imperialsea-a]

Canonical Relationships: Defaults.

     ♛   It goes without saying, if you roleplay these characters you are in no way expected to adhere to all what's written, though some details CANNOT be overlooked (i.e., Elizabeth being aware of Yuuki living with her father, and knowing of the Kiryuu family slaughter & Zero's subsequent vampirism). More or less a 'default overview' on Elizabeth's thoughts & relationships to specific characters in the story, this can hopefully be used as a guide to help with plotting / pre-est. relationships and things can be tweaked as needed if we can make it work out!

Yuuki Cross / Kuran Awkward adopted (??) sister . . . ish, and someone she doesn't particularly care for at first glance.

     Living overseas, Elizabeth was aware of Yuuki's adoption by her father at a young age and has felt a sense of rejection over it ever since. Through no fault of her own, Yuuki is not viewed favorably by Elizabeth when she arrives at the academy; as she sees things, Yuuki is the perfect daughter her father had actually wanted instead of her-- and she's a little bitter about it. To Elizabeth's credit, she's usually careful enough to avoid giving her a hard time, knowing the ill-feelings toward Yuuki are frankly childish and misplaced. Instead, she opts to avoid the prefect when possible to spare them both the tension-- but if Yuuki is nice to Elizabeth once or twice, the ice melts pretty quickly; she's too sweet a girl to be mean to.

     Upon Yuuki's awakening as a Pureblood vampire, depending on interactions her opinions don't change heavily: either she's grown to like Yuuki and doesn't discriminate against her for her vampirism, or she remains cool and indifferent with a dash of pity for her newfound state and the burdens to come with it.

Zero Kiryuu Acquaintances, co-workers.

     Vampire or no, Elizabeth views Zero as a fellow hunter and will treat him as her equal (assuming he doesn't disrespect her immediately). Of course, she doesn't turn a blind eye to his vampirism and will keep her sights trained on his condition. While noting his superior endurance, she's aware his time is ticking and has no qualms over ending his life should she deem it the proper course. That doesn't mean she's unsympathetic towards Zero's circumstances; it's quite the opposite, actually, as she sees the life her mother would have led if she were still with her-- but as it stands she can't pretend he isn't a potential threat, public safety being her main priority.

     Post-Academy, Elizabeth doesn't dispute his claim to the presidency as long as he remains in control of himself.

Kaname Kuran Quiet respect, but otherwise indifference.

     He may be the son of Juri Kuran, 'the other woman' tangled in events that severed her parents' marriage, but Elizabeth doesn't make that a personal issue against Kaname. Rather, it's their stations that separate them the most blatantly; Elizabeth's not eager to recreate her father's public scandal by becoming overly friendly with a Pureblood. She can respect Kaname's stride for peace and recognizes the Night Class' accomplishments in research-- that's about it; she feels next to nothing for him as they carry on with their vastly different lifestyles.

     At the very least, he doesn't come off as an an enemy to her. When Kaname attempts to neutralize Sara Shirabuki, she's more than comfortable to assist and will defy Kaien to do so.

Toga Yagari Respect by way of seniority, work acquaintances.

     Named the best hunter of his generation, Elizabeth honors Toga as her superior. She certainly didn't expect to see Toga maintain his previous friendship to her father, however, and that choice is almost enough to make her doubt his judgements. Much to her relief, that relationship doesn't seem to hinder Toga's decision making as he gives Kaien no mercy when it matters most-- and he doesn't let his personal attachment to Zero slow him down either. She knows of the tragedy that took his eye and regards him all the more highly for his resolve to do what's right.

Takuma Ichijou Healthily skeptical, but not hostile.

     As Elizabeth's history is woven deeply into the Association, it's no wonder she's well-familiar with the ins-and-outs of the Senate's. She knows Takuma is set to inherit the Senate from his grandfather and isn't quite sure what to make of him personally. Tensions between hunters and vampires are high-- she won't eagerly socialize with Takuma outside of designated locations like soirées and risk upsetting the wrong people.

Ichiru Kiryuu Enemies.

     When Ichiru reappeared as an unabashed traitor to hunters, Elizabeth's mind was made up quickly: he should have died on the night he turned on his parents. Were it not for Zero's sake .  .  .  and laws condemning murder as a crime, she'd execute him on the spot like in the hunters’ glory days.

Sayori Wakaba Acquaintances.

     As Elizabeth makes frequent stops at the academy throughout the school year, she's bumped into Sayori more than once. She doesn't mind Sayori at all, finding her a rare example of a tolerable person in the Day Class. After the academy falls, she's informed that Sayori opted to keep her memories and is more willing to converse with her now that the pretenses are dropped.

Kaito Takamiya Indifference, co-workers.

     Like many hunters, Kaito has a tragic backstory, and as anyone with a shred of decency does, Elizabeth doesn't bring it up in what rare times they speak. She doesn't like or dislike him, really, viewing him in a neutral light.

Sara Shirabuki Incredibly skeptical, ultimately enemies.

     It takes one to know one: Elizabeth senses someone who can lie without batting an eye. On the night Sara's fiance Ouri was killed, an innocent hunter was also slain-- something Elizabeth didn't accept the explanation for. Working on Yuuki's testimony of blood-scent lingering to Sara she became the first logical suspect, but with no concrete evidence pointing to her, Elizabeth is left to play nicely until it's her turn to play her hand.

     When Sara throws herself at the hunters' doorstep, Elizabeth is fiercely against letting her inside and is willing to join forces with Kaname to be rid of her, now certain of her duplicity.

Unmentioned Night Class Members A little distance never hurt anyone.

     It's the Night Class. It's easier for Elizabeth to assume they don't like her for her hunter status, so she steers clear of them to avoid any conflict, only interacting with them when the situation demands it. At the battle for Cross Academy, she'll defend them against her own people and Rido Kuran's hordes, unable to justify the Association’s actions.

Unmentioned Day Class Members They should be thankful she’s not a prefect.

     Noisy, invasive, and naive, Elizabeth wants nothing to do with the Day Class students. If she's on campus she'll help if one feels brave enough to ask her for a favor, but it's little more than that. They are, at the end of the day, only teenagers, and they are people she's sworn to protect. True to her word, she also defends them at the battle for Cross Academy.

[graftonway]

we shall fight

It’s been hours since the movie ended and I’ve taken the train home and listened to music and washed up and eaten grapes and scrolled through tumblr and still all I hear is this:

tickticktickticktickticktickticktick

You hear it throughout the film. It stays with you, seeping into your brain until you’re conditioned to it, until everything ticks and continues to, until you’re hyper-aware of rhythm and even phone notifications blinking, your typing, remind you of it. A friend described it perfectly as taking a long breath and not being able to breathe while holding it. The feeling that’s dropped to the bottom of my stomach hasn’t left yet; I’m still waiting for something to happen. I don’t even know what, but it’s stifling, tense, overwhelming. And that is all of Dunkirk in a nutshell.

This isn’t, strictly speaking, a war movie. Frankly I’m not even sure it’s a movie. It seems to be - or at least pretend towards being - everything: horror, thriller, documentary, symphony, cinematography, emotion, art. Much like the way it spans all three branches of the armed forces (land, sea, air), it tries to be everything at once. Perhaps in the hands of a lesser director this would have ended a disaster, but - and forgive me if I’m being crass with this comparison - Nolan, like Dynamo, plucks salvation from what could have been absolute catastrophe.

The first thing that you take away from Dunkirk is the sheer scale. Of course, as a history student, I’ve seen the photos of the beaches before, long unyielding lines that stretch as far as there is beach. Nolan does it slightly differently. Instead of one snaking, scattered queue there are multiple short ones, cinematic as anything and yet still overwhelming in number. It makes for a great introduction to the film, sets the stage for what’s to come. The aesthetic beauty that war sometimes begets versus the horrific reality it encompasses. The constant push and pull between the patience of the body of waiting men, never heard once to complain, and lack of time that’s played out again and again. Tiny, moving human parts and the weight of the unmentioned German war machine.

Nolan’s movies are always clever, though here the cleverness isn’t as immediately obvious as something like Inception. It’s a layer that you peel back and revel in as you watch. It’s something that builds up, in all its scattered parts and broken pieces, pieces that you collect and store until they come together and make sense. Take the premise of time here, for instance. Words on screen that are always meant to provide context do the opposite here: ‘the mole / one week’, ‘the sea / one day’, ‘the air / one hour’ make no sense to the viewer as they settle in. But all it takes is for one shot - Cillian Murphy’s face in the dark on a boat, straight after his appearance in the bright sunshine on a different vessel - to realise what it means: the action is all taking place in a different time scale. And that moment hits you like a punch in the gut, even though it’s the most simple of revelations. A perfectly positioned callback. Without even knowing why you begin to watch the film differently, all because of the buildup that explodes with one miniscule yet incredibly powerful detail.

It’s this same kind of buildup that squeezes itself into the music. The movie lurches between sound from the get go - the quiet of walking down the street to the startling pops of gunfire, the brief moment before the torpedo hits to the jarring explosion. War sets in here without a single line of expository dialogue, the way it can weigh down other films (the “war is hell, boys” trope that even Hacksaw Ridge was guilty of). Instead all we get is the constant, jarring soundtrack, so loud and in your face that you are drawn into all of the violence and spectacular chaos (something that the multiple timelines also lend themselves to). This builds and builds until it ends, abruptly, twice: firstly, when the Little Ships come into view, and secondly, on the train that Tommy and Alex crumple into. The suddenness of the way it ends is as jarring as any explosion or loud dramatic orchestral note, all the more sharp for its absence. We get sweeping, nostalgic strings over the view of the flotilla, and pure silence (combined with the same sweeping music later) when Tommy falls into the seat.

Which is why so much weight comes to rest upon just these two scenes - the ships and the ending - and why I want to talk about those in particular. It will come as no surprise that they’re the two I cried at; as a kid I read about the Dunkirk spirit and the Churchill speech, and they both have special meaning for me. Add to that me just being a complete and utter sap for nostalgia, sentiment, painfully obvious emotional manipulation.

There’s enough emotional impact in the story of the Little Ships themselves that any film could pull it off with suitable heroic payoff, but it’s just done so very well here. The ticking of the pressure cooker and the fear of death instantly vanishes, replaced by the heartwarming, exceedingly British orchestra. For there is some measure of nationalism (I hesitate to say propaganda, but) with this, as with all war movies; it’s an unavoidable trope, yet one handled so well here. It’s muted - the only flag is the one in the small corner of a larger blue flag, blurred in the background of Mr. Dawson’s boat. Bolton (a place name in and of itself) calls out to some of them, asking where they’re from. And in the end the boats go by an approximation of Dover. But the real focus is on the humanity of the people who came to save the troops. No dialogues or stars in these scenes: just civilians, just ‘home’. Some reviews were critical about the lack of character names and the like, but I think that was done intentionally for this reason, to demonstrate how humanity is about being and not knowing. With the lack of the tickticktick in the background Dunkirk’s first message is, ironically, hammered through: in a movie so packed with tension, it isn’t actually the tension that’s important, but how we escape it. Only later do you get introduced to some of the characters’ personal lives - Dawson is so determined because his son died - but that doesn’t matter, because the heroism is already there. If the movie is a breath you’ve been holding then the Little Ships are the moment you breathe out.

Character development is hardly present in the movie, which makes it all the more impressive that we still manage to feel for and care for every single one of them; I think this is one of the greatest achievements of the film, in that Nolan somehow gets to the heart of war and the rawest of our emotions. Too many war movies get bogged down in character development, the false belief that you need to know the character in order to feel for them shifting the focus away from showing actual war itself. But Nolan understands this, and makes the choice not to identify his characters. The three Mole soldiers look the same; the French soldier’s real name is never given; and Tommy’s name is a generic epithet for all British soldiers. They have no personal characteristics at all. And yet, when Gibson is drowning inside the boat, your heart seizes; you want him, desperately, to get out. Here Dunkirk takes on the shape of the great war novels, like the nameless French soldier in All Quiet On The Western Front. This is the horror of war - that everyone dies - and the real way to experience it is being frightened of death itself, not just fleshed-out characters you have come to feel for dying.

In fact there’s barely any dialogue in the movie, either, except for necessary communication; Bolton is the most heavy-handed in exposition, but otherwise words are limited to observations about the tide, speculation on target practice, explanation for locking the door. Which is why everything that isn’t technical carries so much weight. Collins’s breezy ‘afternoon’ regardless of his near-death experience might be played for laughs but it’s also a conscious remarking on the stereotypical British spirit. One that struck me deeply is Peter’s ‘he’s fine’ to the Shivering Soldier (or something to that effect) - in just one phrase the dilemma of shell shock, the question of blame, and the soldier’s innocence are perfectly captured. But my favourite, of course, as someone weaned on Churchill, is the speech.

As a twelve, thirteen year old I memorised that speech, word for word, all the way till the end. I’ve listened to it many times. And I can’t even begin to explain how emotional I got when Tommy began to read it out and all the cuts from each time period began to intersect with each other. If ever the movie was disparate (and I don’t think it was, and I don’t agree with people who did) it came together at the end, each thread drawn together by possibly the most iconic, recognisable historical device. The sense of unity, of destiny, of a swelling, growing belief in the job left. The two last images of the film - the burning spitfire and Tommy’s face - cleave so perfectly into each other; I don’t think I’ve felt that kind of breathtaking momentousness from an ending for a very, very long time. Farrier gets captured but he’s also arguably the biggest hero of the film, saving countless numbers of people on the beach that hour. He ends up captured and his plane ends up burning, but the Germans didn’t burn it - he did, and in doing so it becomes a symbol of defiance in the face of defeat. We are always reminded that this is a defeat. But that doesn’t signal futility and devastation.

One of the reasons I say that this isn’t a war movie is because the enemy is never really there. Besides the last scene, where Farrier is captured, you don’t see any German soldiers (and even those are blurred out). That gives you the impression that this isn’t about triumph, in any way, but about survival, as the old man in the end so neatly put it. All we did was survive. That’s enough. Many horrors of war are depicted here. Drowning in the locked hull of a torpedoed ship, waiting patiently on a packed bridge for Messerschmits to strafe you. Violence, while not graphic, is never shied away from. Tension and impending doom is built masterfully, whether through Collins’ helplessness watching Farrier or Bolton closing his eyes to wait for death. But while you get the feeling that it is inescapable, you never get the feeling that it is insurmountable, and that is what Dunkirk is about, really. My major qualm with the movie before I watched it was how they were going to turn it into a triumphant, gun-waving kind of thing when it was a defeat. But it’s not about defeating the Germans, because as Churchill said wars are not won by evacuation. Not even about the end of a battle given the continuous references to what is yet to come. It’s about what matters most to us, what the ‘Dunkirk’ used in modern British parlance now refers to: human spirit and endeavor. Battling on.

Dunkirk is probably not the greatest war movie I’ve ever watched (although that is a topic for another time). It has, of course, its problems. I’m not sure how much credence the lack of poc claim has as I haven’t had the time to go look it up yet, but other tiny things niggle here and there. Yet one of the major criticisms I’ve heard about this movie is that it’s too intense and action focused and, of all things, I think that that’s the least concerned anyone should be about it. You can’t capture all of war in a single movie. You can barely capture certain experiences. If other movies are allowed to develop other aspects, like character and the mundanity of war, why shouldn’t Dunkirk be allowed to dig deep into the terrifying tension and uncertainty that is so fundamentally a part of it (being shelled while in foxholes is another example that comes to mind)? There is emotion in intensity, and humanity is found everywhere. Even in the most painful, most terrible of times. 

There’s a trope in Waiting For Godot about the weary, fallible hero, the human struggling to create meaning and stay alive in the most downtrodden noble sense. It’s a trope I’ve always thought applies to the way the British view themselves and certainly something that applies here, weary soldiers and civilians alike picking themselves up with the haunted promise in Tommy’s face. Youthful and yet tattered, dark and hollow yet with a measure of steel that lends backbone to that famous line: we shall go on to the end.

[polarisrrose]

Beauty and the Beast 2017 Review

So I was very hesitant going into this for multiple reasons (almost entirely to do with Watson) after initially being excited. The more they revealed, the more I questioned their decisions until finally I decided I wasn't going to see the movie. And I wasn't... until I finally decided that I liked the original too much to not give it a chance so I did and it was good. Definitely worth a rewatch but it also had it's problems.

5/7 stars

The cinematography was wonderful and the acting was amazing but the pacing seemed very rushed and part of this I think was because the village scene was too long. It was nice but it took up more time than necessary of the movie; time that would have been better spent with Belle and Beast.

The music was wonderful though I do think that Evermore is just a touch too sappy for my taste. I would have preferred the original roar for that scene like the animated film did but it's a good song over all. I especially love Celine Dion's How Does A Moment Last Forever. Though I would have preferred a shorter rendition of the village song (which in it's entirety, including the reprise lasts 6 and a half minutes not including the regular talking scenes.(the name escapes me, is it Belle?) Also completely getting rid of Days In The Sun and the two reprise of HDAMLF. Days in the Sun was the only song I didn't like, Emma Thompson's singing voice didn't really grow on me either. None the less that's a matter of personal preference.

The plot was great and answered some of the questions about the original movie but it also opened up new ones. As can be expected, there were changes and a new subplot was added in--that of her mothers and spoiler alert (a new scene with Gaston, Lefou, and Maurice.) A lot of the changes were done respectfully and despite the rushed pacing, which was felt most of all during the time when Belle and Beast were supposed to be getting to know each other unfortunately, everything did intertwine nicely. I definitely would have enjoyed more time getting to know them seeing as how this movie had the time limit to do it-- I just think it was spent on other scenes. There one or two bits that I felt could have been cut and not noticed at all that would have allowed for more room like, spoiler alert for example (the scene with Belle's washing machine invention). In fact, Watson's addition of Belle being an inventor really had very little impact on the story and only took up time better spent. I personally would have preferred that they had dropped that. They do mention that this is set in France which throws a wrench in things because this is supposed to be Disney's fairytale world. Also Beast is not 11 when he was turned which begs the question, if they spent years under the curse, who ruled the country, why are the older villagers still the same age, how was Belle not affected by the curse if she lived in that village all her life, and is Beast a crown prince or just a prince by blood? Another thing is that it is mentioned that 5 days have gone by since Maurice came back to the village so the movie takes place in 6 days which differs from any other variation of BATB I've ever seen or heard.

One thing I wanted to mention was that Gaston and Lefou talk about a war that has ended and in the live action Cinderella, there is also a past war mentioned. Could this be the same war? Were they allies, or enemies? I definitely think it happened during the curse time period. I also like to believe that this takes place in an alternate universe France with all the other Disney kingdoms like Corona, Agrabah, Arendale, The Southern Isles, etc.

One of the unanswered questions however was how much time Prince Adam spent as a beast unfortunately because of the changes. More than likely it was a small oversight by the script writer, which is forgivable because you're not really thinking about that during the movie until the end.

I do want to mention Lefou because going in, I was hesitant, I'll admit it. In the original, he was a bumbling villainous comedic character; he actually tries to melt Lumiere in the original version. Although Josh Gad does a wonderful job, Lefou is still the same bumbling comedic relief that he was in the original, except now they have the fact that he's gay to interweve (? is that the proper word?) in the tale. To be honest, for all everyone boasts, it's not some groundbreaking, stereotype smashing roll for a gay character because that's not who Lefou was and still is. Josh Gad does do a respectful portrayal with the material given and it intertwines with this version almost seamlessly. Lefou is an enjoyable character. There is a twist though which has nothing to do with him being gay. (Spoiler alert, he goes from 'This is sketchy but I'm on your side cause we besties' to 'yo, not cool I'm with them now' for reasons better explained during the mob scene.) Put your reservations and prejudices aside and go see the movie if you're a fan of BATB. (Now please don't take my initial hesitation out of context.)

Now on to what I thought of the other characters. To be honest I don't like Emma Watson at all and still don't. I think there were better choices but to be fair she did do a decent job acting, just not singing. I just don't like any of the choices she made regarding Belle just to make her more of a feminist icon, as if she already wasn't. The only dress of hers I really liked was the dress at the final ballroom scene, the white one with the flowers, which I thought was really beautiful.

Beast was wonderful and Dan Stevens was a great choice for the role even though he didn't get much face time as a human. I really enjoyed the beginning and how be portrayed Adam beautifully cruel. He really highlighted how awful he could be and why he was a beast. His wardrobe, alongside everyone elses, was phenomenal. Some of the faces he would make were just too cute or funny. I really enjoyed the scene where he wallops Belle with a huge snow ball, like 'no, honey, you don't laugh first, you ask if she's okay' lol. And can we talk about that snarl at the end when Belle said the thing about the beard? Don't even get me started. I do wish that the Beast had looked a bit more like how he does in the animated version though; it's just a bit cuter.

All the other characters were done nicely and I do like that Plumette wasn't white in this version because I never pictured her so even with the small snipit of her at the end of the animated version.

To conclude, this movie is very enjoyable despite the negative aspects (No Lefou is not a negative aspect). I do think it could have been way better, like the pacing, and proper explanations regarding certain unmentioned themes, but it was one worth a rewatch with many cute moments (like the snowball scene and the part where she's nursing him back to health). I may be listing mostly negative things but that is because I wanted to mention them in the midst of all these gushing reviews over looking it's flaws. If you look through the tags there are plenty of reviews that list all the positive aspect should you want to read those. Again don't be intimidated, suspend disbelief for the plot holes and go enjoy the movie. Oh, also the end credits are beautiful, if you get the chance, sit through the whole thing, there's no after credits scene but it's worth it.

Now the next live action I want to be announced is Sleeping Beauty because Maleficent does not count.