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shadowkat[Finally got the windows somewhat winterized - it's not perfect, but drafts are at a minimum -- so neither freezing nor boiling. Also figured out how to make a rather yummy butternut squash soup. And found a way to light my closets. All around a productive Sat. Today am vegging in front of the telly. Have the flicks "Boyhood" and "How to Train Your Dragon 2" on my tv stand, waiting to be viewed. Just finished watching "Empire" and "Agent Carter".]
1. Agent Carter - this is a seven part mini-series that is a spin-off of the Captain America film and Marvel Agents of Shield. And it's amongst those rare instances in which the spin-off is actually head and shoulders better than the source material. Or at least has more to say.
The character spun off is Captain America's girlfriend, Agent Maggie Carter. She's been regulated to perfunctory secretarial tasks by the male leadership of SHIELD, and considered the token gal Friday. Anyone who has watched or studied the 1940s and early 50s or Post WWII Noir film genre and spy genre, which sort of went hand-in-hand, will note how the writers are lightly mocking various sexist stereotypes of the genre. It is a sexist genre. And the series is having a blast subverting the stereotypes and making fun of them. It's also have a bit of fun mocking the 1940s cliffhangers.
Without giving away any major plot spoilers. The story focuses on the travails of Agent Maggie Carter in 1946, right after the War ended and she lost the love of her life, Steve Rodgers, aka Captain America. Much like her female counterparts during this period, once the war ends, she's expected to go back to being "support" staff and doing the "traditional" female roles. Serving coffee, being seen but rarely heard, filing, typing, answering phones...etc. And her friends are struggling waitresses, actresses, and tour guides.
Meanwhile, along comes a major case. Stark, the industrialist and playboy (aka the father of Tony Stark/Iron Man) is under government investigation for selling some of his rather nasty inventions on the black market. He professes to know nothing about it. But on the side, approaches Agent Carter, his old friend from the War days - they'd worked closely together with Captain America, to clear his name. So, Maggie Carter must become a spy in her own organization in order to stay one step ahead.
The series does a great job of demonstrating how one's own deeply ingrained prejudices, in this case sexism, can work against you. The guys inability to see Maggie Carter as anything other than a pretty gal who fetches their coffee, enables her to jump two-five steps ahead. It's a device that Joss Whedon used to similar effect in the Buffy series, but here in some respects is far more effective. It's not that the guys are dumb, just that they are blinded by their own prejudicial thinking.
One of the better, not to mention entertaining comic book offerings to date, and by far one of the more innovative ones.
2. Empire - this is the musical drama written by Danny Strong (Mockingjay Part 1, The Butler, and Game Change) and Lee Daniels (The Butler). Strong also portrayed the character of Jonathan in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It stars Terence Howard and Tanij P. Henderson (who were in Hustle and Flow, amongst other films). All black cast, except for maybe two people in supporting roles, one's a girl-friend (white) of one of the brother's, the other (a hispanic) is the boyfriend of one of the brothers.
This distinguishes it from a lot of dramas on network television.
In some respects it reminds me of Nashville -- it's about the music industry, the musical aspects are performances in that industry, and it centers on the personal and business lives of the players. Also, like Nashville it has a strong female character and a gay male character. That's where the comparisons end.For one thing, it's far less soapy than Nashville, which is interesting considering Daniels was going for a Dynasty vibe and the writers of Nashville really weren't.
Empire is also a wee bit more focused than Nashville - it centers on one family. Also unlike Nashville, it's male centric, centering on the male performers, and male power players. The only big female role is Tanij P. Henderson's Cookie, the ex-wife of Lucius, the King of Empire Records. (Who is admittedly the star of the series and outshines just about everyone. The writers cast her first, then with her aid, the rest of the cast.) Cookie went to prison 17 years ago for a drug deal gone wrong. He used the money that she made and went to prison for - to finance their record label, which went on to make millions. She's come back to get a piece of it - which he patiently explains is not possible, since there are share-holders and the company is going "public". Meanwhile, Lucius has just informed his three sons, the eldest (Adrian) is a businessman who is currently co-running Empire's financial and business development, the next (Jamal) is a homosexual R&B musician, and the youngest is a rapper with a blend of hip-hop - similar to his father's music style. The father is grooming the youngest to take over - even though the youngest could care less and is more interested in sex, booze and fun. The mother is grooming Jamal to take over - in part to get back at the father, who has rejected his son - because he can't quite understand or deal with his homosexuality. He keeps telling him that he can choose and to choose women. It's a rather good depiction of homophobia in the black music world - which is a topic close to Lee Daniels heart and he is interested in exploring. Both the Country Music World and the r&B/Hip Hop/Rap music worlds have issues with homosexuality. It's more accepted in pop, rock and folk. NASHVILLE also explores the theme of homophobia in the music world, but not nearly as effectively or with quite as much compassion to the topic. Interracial marriage is also explored - the mother, Cookie, has problems with her eldest son marrying a white woman.
The drug trade is also part of the world - and the criminal element, which Lucius is still unfortunately embroiled - since that was how he climbed the ladder. Music saved him and his business is about music, but he can't quite get away from how it all started. The musical numbers are deftly interwoven, much like Nashville's. And are shown in a real world context. Also, some are rather good - depends on how much you like R&B, Hip-Hop and rap.
It's an interesting series, because I don't believe I've seen anything quite like it done on broadcast/network television. Sure we've done music industry series - like Nashville, with one or two token black characters who seem to disappear after several episodes or are there for "political commentary", but Empire is doing the exact opposite, here the white characters serve as political commentary and are "token".
It's a breath of fresh air...because ten years ago? This series wouldn't be on.
1. Agent Carter - this is a seven part mini-series that is a spin-off of the Captain America film and Marvel Agents of Shield. And it's amongst those rare instances in which the spin-off is actually head and shoulders better than the source material. Or at least has more to say.
The character spun off is Captain America's girlfriend, Agent Maggie Carter. She's been regulated to perfunctory secretarial tasks by the male leadership of SHIELD, and considered the token gal Friday. Anyone who has watched or studied the 1940s and early 50s or Post WWII Noir film genre and spy genre, which sort of went hand-in-hand, will note how the writers are lightly mocking various sexist stereotypes of the genre. It is a sexist genre. And the series is having a blast subverting the stereotypes and making fun of them. It's also have a bit of fun mocking the 1940s cliffhangers.
Without giving away any major plot spoilers. The story focuses on the travails of Agent Maggie Carter in 1946, right after the War ended and she lost the love of her life, Steve Rodgers, aka Captain America. Much like her female counterparts during this period, once the war ends, she's expected to go back to being "support" staff and doing the "traditional" female roles. Serving coffee, being seen but rarely heard, filing, typing, answering phones...etc. And her friends are struggling waitresses, actresses, and tour guides.
Meanwhile, along comes a major case. Stark, the industrialist and playboy (aka the father of Tony Stark/Iron Man) is under government investigation for selling some of his rather nasty inventions on the black market. He professes to know nothing about it. But on the side, approaches Agent Carter, his old friend from the War days - they'd worked closely together with Captain America, to clear his name. So, Maggie Carter must become a spy in her own organization in order to stay one step ahead.
The series does a great job of demonstrating how one's own deeply ingrained prejudices, in this case sexism, can work against you. The guys inability to see Maggie Carter as anything other than a pretty gal who fetches their coffee, enables her to jump two-five steps ahead. It's a device that Joss Whedon used to similar effect in the Buffy series, but here in some respects is far more effective. It's not that the guys are dumb, just that they are blinded by their own prejudicial thinking.
One of the better, not to mention entertaining comic book offerings to date, and by far one of the more innovative ones.
2. Empire - this is the musical drama written by Danny Strong (Mockingjay Part 1, The Butler, and Game Change) and Lee Daniels (The Butler). Strong also portrayed the character of Jonathan in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It stars Terence Howard and Tanij P. Henderson (who were in Hustle and Flow, amongst other films). All black cast, except for maybe two people in supporting roles, one's a girl-friend (white) of one of the brother's, the other (a hispanic) is the boyfriend of one of the brothers.
This distinguishes it from a lot of dramas on network television.
In some respects it reminds me of Nashville -- it's about the music industry, the musical aspects are performances in that industry, and it centers on the personal and business lives of the players. Also, like Nashville it has a strong female character and a gay male character. That's where the comparisons end.For one thing, it's far less soapy than Nashville, which is interesting considering Daniels was going for a Dynasty vibe and the writers of Nashville really weren't.
Empire is also a wee bit more focused than Nashville - it centers on one family. Also unlike Nashville, it's male centric, centering on the male performers, and male power players. The only big female role is Tanij P. Henderson's Cookie, the ex-wife of Lucius, the King of Empire Records. (Who is admittedly the star of the series and outshines just about everyone. The writers cast her first, then with her aid, the rest of the cast.) Cookie went to prison 17 years ago for a drug deal gone wrong. He used the money that she made and went to prison for - to finance their record label, which went on to make millions. She's come back to get a piece of it - which he patiently explains is not possible, since there are share-holders and the company is going "public". Meanwhile, Lucius has just informed his three sons, the eldest (Adrian) is a businessman who is currently co-running Empire's financial and business development, the next (Jamal) is a homosexual R&B musician, and the youngest is a rapper with a blend of hip-hop - similar to his father's music style. The father is grooming the youngest to take over - even though the youngest could care less and is more interested in sex, booze and fun. The mother is grooming Jamal to take over - in part to get back at the father, who has rejected his son - because he can't quite understand or deal with his homosexuality. He keeps telling him that he can choose and to choose women. It's a rather good depiction of homophobia in the black music world - which is a topic close to Lee Daniels heart and he is interested in exploring. Both the Country Music World and the r&B/Hip Hop/Rap music worlds have issues with homosexuality. It's more accepted in pop, rock and folk. NASHVILLE also explores the theme of homophobia in the music world, but not nearly as effectively or with quite as much compassion to the topic. Interracial marriage is also explored - the mother, Cookie, has problems with her eldest son marrying a white woman.
The drug trade is also part of the world - and the criminal element, which Lucius is still unfortunately embroiled - since that was how he climbed the ladder. Music saved him and his business is about music, but he can't quite get away from how it all started. The musical numbers are deftly interwoven, much like Nashville's. And are shown in a real world context. Also, some are rather good - depends on how much you like R&B, Hip-Hop and rap.
It's an interesting series, because I don't believe I've seen anything quite like it done on broadcast/network television. Sure we've done music industry series - like Nashville, with one or two token black characters who seem to disappear after several episodes or are there for "political commentary", but Empire is doing the exact opposite, here the white characters serve as political commentary and are "token".
It's a breath of fresh air...because ten years ago? This series wouldn't be on.