The IT spot: Uno, Dos

So, filming is about to begin for part 2 of IT. It's also been confirmed that the story will progress in a linear fashion, like the 1990s mini-series, since the director is afraid audiences would be confused.

"Me too stupid to understand flashbacks!"

I'm not happy about the decision, but I can understand it. It's obvious the kids live to adulthood, so there's no surprise element lost there, but the juxtaposition of events in the past and present is part of the brilliance of the novel.

I admit it; I'm biased. IT is my favorite book. I still have my original copy, sans the cover (repeated reading wore it off). I'm possessive of it.

It's almost impossible that the interpretation could be worse than the 1990's miniseries. It wasn't a great series, but the acting was good from the kids, John Ritter, and of course...

"Wah-HA! Wah-HA! Wah-HA"

I'm no fan of the new costume, but I can't judge the new Pennywise until at least a trailer drops. I'll hold onto my cautious optimism for now.

Coming home to roost

Last year I watched one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. One so disturbing that neither I, nor my watching companion Grizz, will be watching again soon, if ever.

The Babadook.

Spoilers will be in effect, so if you haven't seen this film and still intend to, stop reading. I'll have another blog soon.

The Babadook is, on it's face, a story about a strange entity haunting an odd little boy, and his emotionally distant mother. Once you dig in, it's the story of how grief and depression will never truly leave you, how you can let it make you into a monster, and how it may be tameable, but never beatable.

This movie handled those complex topics so well, I don't know if the monster was real or not, AND I DO NOT CARE.

Caring about if a monster is real or not is sort of my thing.

There are plenty of horror movies with roots buried in societal fears; zombie movies are 'us vs. them', as is Pod People, and any other number of flicks. Argument are made about horror movies encouraging virginity, abstinence, and female empowerment with the use of idyllic Survivor Girls. Freddy Kruger is adult fear that that cannot protect their children, fear of coming out of the closet, or any other number of things. But the subtex is just that' subtext. The Babadook screams its message along with it's croak of "Ba ba dook...dook...doooook!"

Which brings me to Get Out.

I'm seeing this film tonight with friends. Jordan Peele, the write and director, and half of one of my favorite comedy teams, has said his film is about liberal white racism, and that he hopes to make a slew of 'social demon' horror movies.

The reviews and box office have both been positive for Get Out, and I'm excited to see it. Overt social commentary handled skilfully could be the next big thing for horror, and if The Babadook is its herald, I'm all for it. The industry needs a shot in the arm, and the slew of tired remakes we've been subjected to hasn't helped.

Presented without comment.

I'll post a proper review of Get Out when I'm able, but for now I'm prepping for a night of scares and thought. Excited these are going hand in hand once more.

Meanwhile

In better news, I finished watching Breaking Bad and begun Stranger Things.

I know, I know.

I'm only a few episodes into Stranger Things, and just as I was told, I'm really loving it. Aside from great acting and an intriguing story, it's chock-full of references to pop-culture. Posters of Jaws, The Evil Dead, AND John Carpenter's The Thing? Perfect!

It's nice to have an idea of what's going on without being too confused, or able to call every single thing that's about to happen. I'm looking at you respectively, LOST and Friday the 13th part VI Jason Lives.

It's right in the title!

I've heard season two will have Ghostbusters references.

I've also finished Puella Magi Madoka Magica...

Fuck this thing

Begun the post-Moore Swamp Thing run...

Don't fuck this thing.

And the so-so FNAF; The Silver Eyes.

Spoilers; it's full of teens who sound like they're twenty-five.

Even with my limited free time (AD for 12 Angry Jurors eats up a bit), I'm finally catching up on a lot of books, shows, and movies I've missed out on. I've still got 70+ books to be read, but at least I'm making a dent!

Now, if I could get caught up on my comic books...

Broken News 2.0

In the few hours that have passed since my last blog, Trump suggested that Jews themselves are making the bomb threats.

A spokeperson already's covering for Trump, stating "He means (he) was referring to protesters."

Steven Goldstein has said it better than I can:  “If the reports are true, President Trump has gone over the Anti-Semitic deep end,” Steven Goldstein, the executive director of the Anne Frank Center, said in a statement.” "Mr. President, have you no decency? To cast doubt on the authenticity of Anti-Semitic hate crimes in America constitutes Anti-Semitism in itself, and that's something none of us ever dreamed would disgrace our nation from the White House,” Goldstein added. “If the reports are true, you owe the American Jewish community an apology."

People are going to die, and this MONSTER is blaming the victims. Classic abuser move.

Broken News

Hey, so I haven't made a depressing blog about antisemitism yet.

It's still going on. Headstones wasn't even the beginning; there's been a spike in antisemitism, with 67 bomb threats in 27 states. Yes, that includes the mitten.

After months of threats and desecration, Trump stated it was "horrible" and vowed to take unspecific action. He also refused to call these hate crimes antisemitism. Much like he refused to address that Jews died in the Holocaust. Maybe that's because President Bannon is a not-so-closeted white supremacist.

The Anne Frank Center has decried Trump's inaction several times. Today they stated Trump is at least partly to blame. Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center, said: "Mr. President, it doesn't matter whether you think you are personally responsible for the continued acts of hate against Jews, including today's latest bomb threats. Rightly or wrongly, the most vicious antisemites in America are looking at you and your administration as a nationalistic movement granting them permission to attack Jews, Jewish institutions, and sacred Jewish sites. Mr. President, you cannot just say this is not your fault. Slow and inadequate responses can make it partly your fault. You must do more than belatedly condemn antisemitism. You must act to prevent it as if all our families were at stake."

Trump has Jewish grand-kids, remember. He can't even muster up the courage to condemn something that DIRECTLY AFFECTS HIS FAMILY.

The Anne Frank Center has condemned Trump and his reactions (and lack thereof) before. They're saying what I've been saying; Trump's (in)action is NOT ENOUGH.

We've seen what happens when these sorts of acts are unaddressed, or half-heartedly condemned.

Maybe there's too much going on for him to address this, you say?



Yeah.

Trump's silence isn't just on this issue. There's been no word from the White House about the fatal terror attack on a Kansas man. Instead he whines about FAKE NEWS, the NY Times, and his cowardice about the White House Correspondence Dinner. And he has the gall to say the media doesn't report terror attacks?

I'm getting off topic.

There's two ways this ends; someone actually kills a Jewish person, or the threats stop and nobody gets hurt. I'll pray for the latter.

I'm prepping for the former.

Ugh

I'm recovering from a cold. I'm working an extra long-shift, which starts a lot later than my old one. My new diet and exercise routine has failed to produce results. Still over a month until my vacation. I haven't worked on the book, or even my fan-work. I'm still mired in taxes, and may actually OWE for the first time in my life. I lost a birthday check, any my keys.

This is not a great Monday.

Getting ready...

My Way

“And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain.”

These are the words that Trump chose to ring in hispresidency. I could never make that up in a million years. As one of my favorite reviewers once said “I’m sad that I lack the talent to make that up!”

I’ve written letters and made calls to my government reps to block Trumps nominees, proposals, and general ideology. I’ve made funny memes, I’ve made fervent pleas. I’ve watched hate explode with civilians and politicians claiming that they're now free to do these things.

 A man who hates Jewish people (among other things) has power in the white house.  Wednesday, Jewish community centers across America (including one in my backyard) were evacuated due to bomb threats.

He's coming after my hobby, my safety, and my future. "The Heritage plan calls for cutting things like the Department of Justice's Violence Against Women Grants and reducing its Civil Rights and Environment and Natural Resources programs. It also outlines cuts in funding to programs within the Department of Energy that focus on renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions. Additionally, the Heritage blueprint suggests gutting funding for the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the UN's panel on climate change."

 I still have my bully pulpit. I'll still sign and sing and snap and scour the news for ways to block the next four years of insanity.

"For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels, and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way."

It's not your way, Trump. We will not kneel. We will not fall before your blows. We will keep speaking. We will do it our way.

Moana, or, witty title about colonialism here.

I saw Moana this week. I really enjoyed it. I liked the songs, the animation, the characters, the story, everything. It has vast critical praise. My friends like it. All is well.

Then I found out that some (if not all) the people who it represents are offended. There's a  FB page detailing grievances, from the costume incident to failures to properly portray characters, whitewashing, brownwashing, and everything in between.


This essay  is dense. I read it, but I'm confused. The author demands the native consultants on the film step up and explain Disney's motives, or at least reveal their names. They accuse Disney of  Brownwashing the perspective, and painting the time before colonialism as too idyllic.

I felt guilt while watching the film. 'Gee, this place seems nice. Of course white people fucked it up.'

People are mad because Maui is fat. I thought Maui looked muscular, buff. No other person in the film was even a little rounder, either muscular or fat. People claim it's fat-shaming, and steryotypical to show a native that way. Am I allowed to point out that Maui is heroic, strong, smart, and does things no other character could? Maybe providing a role model for rounder people? Or is that racist? I'm not being passive aggressive, I'm honestly very confused.


My knowledge of that area is limited; there was a post-movie fight where Bahamute had to explain to me that Polynesia covers far more than Hawaii, all the way down to New Zeland. That the Maori are part of it. I was ignorant and wrong, I admitted it.

Then somebody said the coconuts in the film are offensive, as Coconut is a slur, and they do a Maori dance. I don't remember any dancing in the movie by those things. I had no idea Coconut was a slur. I've learned more about racism towards Polynesian people in the last ten minutes than the rest of my life.

Why should I feel guilt for things done hundreds of years before I was born?

Why shouldn't I carry the weight of what people like me did to people who looked different?

Who am I to say what's racist?

Who am I to deny how much I loved that film?

What can I do? How should I feel? This isn't my fight; if I try and make it so am I just taking a stance away from someone it actually effects?

There's racism and oppression at Standing Rock right now; why am I worried about this, where nobody's been physically hurt or arrested?

What do I do? How should I feel?

I think it's too late for me not to like Moana. I've seen it. The attachment is done. Do I just feel guilty for that and move on? Am I blowing this out of proportion? Aside from educating myself, do I have a responsibility to this idea, these people, this fight?

I feel ill.

Beauty

When I was four years old I'd probably already been to the old Cinemark I II III theater many times. My father took me on this particular trip. It was a Disney movie. I don't remember if I saw any trailers or commercials or even know what was happening.

Then the lights dimmed and I saw this:

The golden light slanted across the screen as piano tinkled in the background. I sat still, in shock. I had a singe thought:

'This is beautiful.'

It's my earliest memory of understanding beauty. Not cuteness, not something merely pleasing to the eye; what I saw was beautiful. What I heard was beautiful. And both those things worked together to produce something even better than the sum of its parts.

Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie. It goes beyond the basic visual beauty, of course; a bookish brunette on the outs from her peers? That was much of my childhood. I still own my VHS copy (along with the special edition DVD and Blu Ray; what can I say, they all have different special features). I'm participating in my second run of the musical at my local theater. I know the lines, I know the words, I even know the dances (despite my general malaise towards choreography).

And now we have the live action remake.

I've spoken out against remakes and reboots.  Disney seems determined to make live action alternate universes for their properties, and my whinging won't stop them. But I'm actually for this version. Great care seems to be in place with the casting. Alan Menken returned to do new musical numbers. There is great respect for the original, not just the desire for a quick buck (I hope).

I cried when I saw Belle touch the bell jar in the teaser. I admit it. I'm tearing up just thinking of the music. This movie has impacted me in so many ways. And yes, I'm excited for the remake. There are things that bother me (why is Babette named Plumette? Why is she a bird? Why does Lumiere-McGregor look like that?) but I'm still very excited. Many of my fellow cast mates are dubious about Emma Watson as Belle, but I've enjoyed her as Hermione, and see nothing thus far that's bothered me about her Belle.

The Beast looks and sounds great. I've never liked the Beast on the Broadway soundtrack (sorry Javert!). The deep resonance of Robby Benson (HA) has been my standard, and Dan Stevens is doing a fine job with it. A far cry from 'That Guy who did pretty well in Night at the Museum 3'.

We won't be getting the Broadway songs, but Menken has penned new numbers that I'm sure will be perfect. He's Alan Freaking Menken for God's sake. 

Gushing aside (and I could go on about my pleasure over Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Josh Gad as LeFou, etc), I'm overall excited for the new take on the tale as old as time.

The world could use a story of daring sword fights, magic spells, and princes in disguise right about now. We need something to take us away from all this, if only for a little while. Let us forget who we...WHAT we have to face as a nation. For those few hours let us peer into the world of the Beast, and understand that those different from us are still human. We can't let what we don't understand scare us. 

We need to remember that Beauty is found within.