2022 Disclaimers

As is my now-yearly tradition, I have 12 old blog posts to which I want to add addendums/disclaimers, recognition of problematic casting practices, involvement by sexual harassers/predators, or just general bad takes.

Doctor Who: "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" (10/09/16) - Okay, so I did talk about the Orientalism and the yellowface in this review… at the very end. And I wrote some equivocating bullshit about how lots of shows still include Orientalist crap today. That wasn’t cool. No matter how much I love Leela in this serial, no matter how delightful Jago and Litefoot are, and no matter how much of a kick I get out of Four playing Sherlock Holmes, that doesn’t give me the right to make anything even close to a handwavy remark about the Orientalism. The crappy handling of the Asian storyline and the yellowface are bad, indisputably, and I should’ve been more forceful about that in my review.

Alien: Resurrection (04/05/19) - Two points to disclaim here. First is the whole Joss Whedon of it all – while none of the allegations against him so far get into the type of sexual harassment/assault alleged against creeps like, say, Harvey Weinstein or Bryan Singer, the allegations at the very least paint a picture of a toxic guy who’s created incredibly-hostile environments on assorted sets of his, especially for women. Second, the film is yet another to feature an able-bodied actor (in this case, Dominique Pinon) playing a character with a disability.

On the Basis of Sex (01/27/19) - Frickin’ Armie Hammer. I hate that the guy who played such a wonderful, feminist, non-toxic man backing up such a fierce woman turned out to be an alleged predator. It’s not fair to this movie that his creepiness polluted it.

Doctor Who: "The Aztecs" (07/17/16) - While my review gets into some of the race/imperialist issues going on here, I wasn’t as forceful with it as I should’ve been. I think a lot of us have a tendency to go easy on our problematic faves, but it’s okay to love something and recognize where it can be better. “The Aztecs” has definite issues with racism and imperialist attitudes. Also? Brownface. “It was the ‘60s” can be an explanation, but that doesn’t make it an excuse.

Character Highlight: Mickey Smith (Doctor Who) (04/19/15) - Ugh, I hate it when predators/abusers are in stuff I love. Hearing the sexual harassment allegations against Noel Clarke was gutting – I feel for all the women that he hurt, and it makes me mad that I can no longer just enjoy Mickey as an ancillary companion

Bulletproof (11/04/20) - Bulletproof was always a show I was wanting to like more than I did, because the copaganda elements were cranked up to 11, but I was rooting for it for the sake of Noel Clarke and Ashley Walters creating their own opportunities as Black actors in British television. After the allegations against Noel Clarke came out, he made some noise about his work to bring greater diversity to the industry, and that’s very true. He did that. But he also created a lot of toxic set environments for women and sexually harassed numerous colleagues over the years, and working to champion diversity doesn’t “negate” being a predator. As someone who’s a talented actor and who has advocated so much for better roles for BIPOC, it was really disappointing to find out that Clarke has used those very opportunities he’s created for himself to harass women.

Favorite Characters: Captain Jack Harkness (Doctor Who / Torchwood) (06/14/15) - Shortly after the Noel Clarke allegations were coming out, stories were reemerging about John Barrowman. I remember reading about some of them back when I was first getting into Doctor Who and Torchwood and, unfortunately, my reaction was the same as a lot of fans’: not exactly, “Oh John, that lovable prankster!” but not properly upset. While these allegations are obviously different than the ones against Clarke and seem to stem from a very different motivation, they still fall on the spectrum of unacceptable behavior/language/attitudes that fuel the wider landscape of rape culture. That’s not something that people should ever have to deal with in their workplace.

Call Me By Your Name (02/01/18) - While I wasn’t as taken with this movie as I was with On the Basis of Sex, I still enjoyed Armie Hammer’s performance in it, alongside Timothée Chalamet and the rest of the talented cast. As always, it pisses me off when a project is retroactively tainted by the news that one of the actors in it is a predator. Between the beautifully-feminist Marty supporting Ruth in On the Basis of Sex and Oliver thoughtfully securing Elio’s consent before initiating intimacy in this film, Hammer evidently didn’t learn anything from these characters.

A Few Notes on Cisgender Actors Playing Transgender Characters (10/06/15) - My thoughts on this subject have definitely evolved from what they were when I wrote this. Honestly, these days, I just don’t have any interest in seeing cis actors in trans roles. Whenever I hear about a trans role being played by a cis actor that I like, it bums me out – not because I wish I could see it but “can’t” out of moral principle, but just because it’s a disappointment that they’re doing it. I don’t want to see cis actors “disappear” into a trans role, and it doesn’t really matter how much a fan I otherwise am of their work. My gut reaction is usually just, “Ugh, pass.” Luckily, TV is becoming more inclusive in casting authentically on this front, and trans actors are starting to make (very) tiny inroads onto the big screen, offering better alternatives to check out.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (07/07/18) - Fixed Thandiwe Newton’s name.

News Satire Roundup: April 15th-April 19th (04/20/18) - Fixed Thandiwe Newton’s name.

Hawking (4/13/14) - While I make a nod in this review to the discomfort of an ablebodied actor playing a character with a disability, I don’t say it forcefully enough. I have a bad habit of going easier on actors I like when they make problematic choices, and as great as Benedict Cumberbatch is, this wasn’t really an appropriate role for him.