Original: For Travis (2012)

I wrote this a few years ago as a gift for my older brother.  Geek on!

*          *          *

For Travis

This is for all the wardrobe explorers,

The brown-coat-clad defiers,

And the single-bound tall-building leapers,

For the what-the-frak swearers,

The ruby-slipper heel-clickers,

And the Millennium-Falcon-model assemblers;

Listen, you Shire leavers,

Fourteen-foot-scarf knitters,

And don’t-tell-me-it’s-futile resisters,

You sing-along bloggers,

Robotics-law abiders,

And great-responsibility great-power bearers;

To the red-pill takers,

The don’t-panic hitchhikers,

And the midnight-showing lightning-scar wearers,

To the vampire slayers,

The god-of-thunder hammer-lifters,

And the impossible-things-before-breakfast believers;

This is my message to you: 

Pay the skeptics no mind.

Life is as big, and wild,

And magic, and star-blazing

As you let it be.

News Satire Roundup: April 24th-28th

Sunday, April 24 – The show kicked off with a pair of Obama’s foreign visits – Saudia Arabia (where the king dissed him at the airport) and the UK (where he and Prince George went viral,) followed by a piece on Norway’s less-than-sterling record with migrants, including an apparent belief that Jesus’s call to help the less fortunate doesn’t apply to Norway.  The main story was on Puerto Rico’s debt crisis and the many legal loopholes that contributed to its situation.  It was appalling to hear how the island has been treated like a tax haven for businessmen instead of a US territory whose people are American citizens. Early in the story, John showed Lin-Manuel Miranda speaking to Congress about the crisis and declared, “We owe Puerto Rico for that man!”  Miranda appeared on the show as well, coming out at the end to deliver an amazing rap urging Congress to step in and give Puerto Rico to chance to restructure its debt repayments.

Monday, April 25 – I liked the story on the frenzy of Beyoncé’s latest album drop, especially the remarks on how everyone has latched onto the potential gossip instead of the artistry or social commentary.  There was a story on Cruz and Kasich teaming up to keep Trump’s his delegate numbers below 1,237; my favorite part was the montage of Trump whining about how badly he feels the RNC treats him.  Terrific field piece by Hasan on Sikhs who’ve dealt with Islamaphobia despite not being Muslim.  The piece was informative about Sikhism, displayed the ignorance many have about it, and highlighted some great people who refuse to deflect the Islamaphobia because they’re not going to throw another religion under the bus.  The guest was Danielle Brooks, promoting The Color Purple.  She was great – no surprise – and I loved her story about seeing the original Broadway cast as a teenager, which spurred her to go in acting herself.

Tuesday, April 26 – Excellent story on Virginia’s move to return voting rights to ex-felons.  The show covered it all – racial bias (the sharp increase in laws denying suffrage to ex-cons immediately after abolition was so damning,) a vindictive need to keep punishing people who’ve already served their time, and the unnecessary politicizing of an issue that shouldn’t be about politics.  Guests Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele joined in on the action playing a pair of ex-cons.  Trevor talked with Michelle about New York dropping its tampon tax.  The story wasn’t quite as good as I wanted it to be, but I liked the commentary on people euphemizing and talking around menstruation, especially Michelle’s joke about putting menstruation in witness protection.  Key and Peele discussed their new movie Keanu, demonstrated their power over the audience, and talked code-switching.  Do I have to bother telling you that they rocked?

Wednesday, April 27 – More on the Cruz-Kasich team-up, mainly how they’re not exactly following through and Trump isn’t feeling all that threatened.  The show also discussed Trump’s latest classy move, accusing Clinton of “playing the woman's card” and then doubling down on the sexism when Clinton shot back.  It’s so weird for him to fixate on her shouting – at a political rally, the horror! – as if it’s some huge offense, and the show’s dubbed version of Clinton’s whisper rally was great.  So-so “Back in Black” segment on the teeth-gnashing over Michael Strahan leaving Live with Kelly and Michael.  Mainly, it coasted on the inherent absurdity of picturing Lewis as a huge Kelly Ripa fan.  I enjoyed the guest, Buzzfeed writer McKay Coppins.  He discussed the election (of course!) and dished with Trevor about his firsthand Trump experience.

Thursday, April 28 – Nice coverage of the unholy union between Cruz and Fiorina, including the bizarreness of why Cruz did this now and Fiorina’s super-creepy singing (why?!)  I especially liked the crack about Fiorina’s business acumen not knowing where jobs “come from,” only where they “go.”  After a quick demonstration of what Trump thinks “being presidential” constitutes, we were treated to an excellent piece riffing on the idea that a lot of Trump’s quotes sound like rap lyrics.  Featuring Roy as Trump, we got a hilarious rap video full of actual Trump quotes bragging about his wealth, airing his beefs with other politicians, and being casually misogynistic.  It was absolutely perfect.  I wasn’t really feeling the interview with Ricky Gervais – too much nonsense comedy that veered too frequently into awkwardness for it to work for me.

Dear Hollywood Whitewashers: The Hunger Games

It makes me sad to send The Hunger Games a Dear Hollywood Whitewashers, because I love Jennifer Lawrence and I love Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, but this was not a role I think she should have been given (this post equally applies to Gale, Haymitch, and other Seam residents, but Katniss is definitely the eye of this particular storm.)  I’m not calling out any one specific person here.  Troubles began when Katniss’s original casting call was only open to Caucasian actresses and were exacerbated when director Gary Ross and author Suzanne Collins both dismissed whitewashing concerns as nothing a little hair dye or makeup couldn’t fix.  A seal of approval from the series’s writer might negate this argument for some, but I’m sticking with it.

The quote we’re examining today isn’t one of these justifications or dismissals.  Instead, these words are from Katniss, the description she gives of herself and other Seam folk in the first book:

“He could be my brother.  Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes.  But we’re not related, at least not closely.  Most of the families who work the mines resemble one another this way.  That’s why my mother and Prim, with their light hair and blue eyes, always look out of place.  They are.  My mother’s parents were part of the small merchant class…”

Now, I get that “olive” doesn’t absolutely, no-question mean someone is non-white.  It could arguably suggest a more typically Mediterranean complexion, and Google Imaging “olive skin” provides results as racially varied as Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez, and Aishwarya Rai – including, yes, a small number of white people.  However, in my experience, white authors don’t use the word “olive” to describe a white person’s skin tone.  They might use words like “pasty” or “tan,” but in all honesty, they’re more likely not to mention their skin color at all.  Characters of color are far more likely to have their skin tone specified, while white characters much more frequently only have their hair or eye color described – “white” isn’t considered a necessary detail to give, since it’s generally the default assumption for white readers (In the quote above, notice that Katniss’s mom and Prim aren’t specifically noted as having light-colored skin.  Give them light hair and blue eyes, and we fill in the rest.)

What’s more, The Hunger Games gives us two class-based subsets of District 12, both of whom whom have colorings distinct enough that residents can be easily identified as “Seam” or “merchant class.”  It seems strangely coincidental if the (relatively) better-off merchants are all noticeably lighter than the impoverished coal miners – given the below-ground profession of most of the population, the “Seam look” can’t simply be blamed on them getting more sun – and it’s not meant to highlight a racial disparity.

To be fair, I’m not specifically saying that Katniss is Native American.  Or Asian.  Or Latina.  Or Black.  The impression I get is that, due to years of racial mixing, Panem has races that present-day America doesn’t.  If I was casting Katniss, Gale, and Haymitch, I’d have probably looked for mixed actors who couldn’t be immediately labeled as “[insert race here!]”  So, I can’t say what Katniss “is,” but I strongly feel that she is not white.  Casting her as such, in my opinion, stripped the films of a lot of potential richness and of course denied an actress of color the rocket to mega-stardom from playing this extraordinary role.

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006, PG-13)

 

*Update: Fixed an actor's name.*

 

Ah, the time-honored genre film/show trap of going “too big.”  Obviously, fans love flash and exciting moments, but they also love compelling stories and strong character development.  This movie trades too heavily in the former at the expense of the latter (premise spoilers.)

Two main plots here.  In the world at large, society has been rocked by news of a medical breakthrough, a “mutant cure.”  Opinion is divided as to whether the cure is a gift to make mutants “normal” and end their oppression, or a threat to their right to exist as unique, powered individuals.  Meanwhile, on a more personal note, Professor X introduces Wolverine to a long-buried blast from the past.  Jean’s tremendously powerful, highly unstable alter personality from adolescence, Phoenix, has reemerged and is leaving a trail of destruction in her wake.  The X-Men have a duty to stop her, but at what cost?  (If you’re wondering how these two storylines come together, it involves a certain silver-haired mutant supremacist who can manipulate metal.)

In essence, there’s a lot thrown in the pot here that doesn’t get much time to actually develop.  The mutant cure idea is an interesting one, but the main characters are so busy dealing with Phoenix that we see little of the issue from their perspectives.  Speaking of Phoenix – I don’t know what she’s like in the comics, but here, she feels like a lazy depiction of a suped-up “evil” twin/split personality, complete with stone-cold sociopathy and increased sexual aggressiveness (seriously, guys?)  Most of this story is from Wolverine’s viewpoint.  We don’t get much of a glimpse into the mind of Phoenix herself (or Jean, who’s still in there,) and due to plot developments, we also don’t get much of her with Professor X, whose history with the character has potential. 

Characters are similarly wasted.  Some are discarded in service of the plot, and others don’t get the chance to resolve the stories set up for them in the last film.  And that’s just the characters we already know.  A large part of the film’s “too bigness” is the ridiculous number of new mutants it introduces apropos of mostly nothing.  There are huge swathes of new characters brought in, but for the most part, we don’t get to know any of them.  They’re cool mutant powers that can walk and talk, but they’re not really people.  Movies with comic-book craziness going on need grounding moments, and we’re short on those here. 

Plenty of new cast members, a number of whom are good for “hey, look!” moments (though, for many, it’s less “hey, it’s that guy!” and more “hey, they were in X-Men before they did _____________?”)  Most prominently, we have Kelsey Grammer in a nice turn as Beast, and Elliot Page appears as Kitty, even getting a new moments of actual cool.  Minor roles are filled, variously, by Ben Foster (Russell from Six Feet Under,)Vinnie Jones (Gareth from Galavant,) Dania Ramirez (Maya from Heroes,) and Ken Leung (Miles from Lost – love him!)

Warnings

Comic book violence, language, and sexual content (including naked Mystique.)