Spontaneous Musings

So, I've been reading comparisons of Justice League movies, and more and more tempted to do my own. Mainly because they aren't satisfying me. I do however agree with one of the reviews/comparisons - from Slate who states that doing a back to back comparison of the Whedon Cut and Snyder Cut is akin to attending a 6 hour film class. And they should teach it in film courses. (Although Scalzi does make a good point that there are better films to do this with - such as The Magnificient Ambersons - which was a film yanked from Orson Wells, and then he did his director's cut of it. My only issue with that - is I find Wells films deathly dull. Talk about dark films, where the director is obsessively self-indulgent, and more into visual metaphors than story. I'm not a fan of Wells style of movie making, but white male film geeks adore him for some reason that I've never understood. I've debated this with so many white male film geeks over the years. Female film geeks tend to prefer people like Jane Campion. Film geeks like all geeks are a rowdy argumentative bunch that rarely agree on anything - but art is subjective.)

I've always been fascinated with subjective vs. the objective elements of the art form, and the degree to which it can validly be reviewed or critiqued. Much like a fictional novel, a painting, or any other form of art for that matter.

Film also as an art form - fascinates me. I am a frustrated film major. My favorite courses in undergrad often focused on the analysis of films, television shows, or visual medium. And I spent a lot of time as a child watching old movies on television, or going to the movies. I love movies.
I like to lose myself in them - in someone else's head for a bit.
( rather long, although not that spoilery except for links to videos, etc. )

Oh, almost forgot - the ironic thing about all of this is way back in the 1990s, Whedon got upset with how the Kuzie's ruined Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He'd sold his script to them, and they directed it, and rewrote his script - actually Donald Sutherland, Rutgher Hauer, and Paul Stuben all had a hand in it, improvising lines. Whedon was furious and incredibly upset with how they ruined his movie.

Cue about thirty years later? Whedon does the same thing to Zack Snyder's Justice League, and except the actors and Director are furious with him, along with Christopher Nolan.

So, I'm on a Face Book Group that is an extension of the "Whedon Studies Association". (Note I am not a member of the Whedon Studies Association - since I'm not an academic, but I've written a shit-load of meta on Whedon over the years. You can find it all HERE.)

Anyhow, one of the people in the group - posted this with the following statement: "One big takeaway from the article is that the Trachtenberg rule was as a result of a verbal exchange and not anything physical, as I had been telling people (until I was warned it wasn't safe for me to discuss this online, I hope it's safe here). I'm disappointed in Trachtenberg for making it sound like it was physical as that was what brought up fan anger. We've all had dick bosses."

Then of course people on the FB page kicked the poor woman. I was annoyed enough by it to come to her defense. Fandom? You can be a judgemental holier-than-thou self-righteous asshole, sometimes, just saying.

Anyhow...here's the article :

Inside Joss Whedon's Cutting and Toxic World of Buffy and Angel

( excerpts are provided below )

My takeaways -

1. Whedon sounds a lot like the boss I've had for the last fourteen years, and similar to others I've had in the past. There was no sexual abuse. It was all verbal, and mainly manipulative. He played people against each other, and had his favorites. You were either in or you were out, and the actors had no input. And he was very good at managing above him. Below? He had his pets, everyone else he treated like crap. Seen that in so many workplaces, I've lost count. I see it in my current one. My current boss is just like Joss Whedon. He's a black man, not white. Attractive. And can be exceedingly kind. We call him Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

2. Most of the sources did not want to be named, and everyone else declined to comment. I see legal issues at play. It's VERY hard to prove this type of bullying. I know I've because I've been on the receiving end of it - and in those work places. This is so typical of hostile work environments. I remember being asked why I wasn't reporting it to HR, and a colleague and I had the same response - we didn't want to lose our jobs and feared retribution. And we were in a union. I told a female co-worker, who is white, and felt our boss was discriminating against us because he had issues with White Women, not to say anything - after he threw files at her - heavy files and screamed at her to clean her stuff out of one of the cubicles. Without warning. I told her - she'd be dismissed out of hand, and we couldn't prove it. More than once - she's come to me, after I was left a shaking, trembling wreck by him - about the possibility of filing a claim. But I talked to a lawyer in our group - and he strongly advised against it.
And I knew from my own research there was nothing we could do. When I tried to do something - and confronted him on it, he gave me less work and delayed my promotion.

3. For the fans out there who want to hunt through old stuff to see instances of it?

* Interviews with the cast members and writers,
* Q&A's at cons - posted on Youtube,
* fan reports from the Cons,
* commentary on DVD's, and outtakes.
* Footage of various scenes released on the internet
* Bronze Beta/Whedonesque discussions with the writers
* Things the writers said on the Angel's Soul Board
* Fans who knew cast members and crew members personally

It's out there. And not hard for you to find.

Where you won't find it : in any of the television series, films, comics.
Whedon never wrote things by himself - all of his art was collaborative. Comics, television, and film are all without exception collaborative art forms. You can't really tell a director/writer is an ass merely by watching or reading their work. Even people who create work by themselves - you can't tell.

Anymore than you can tell that your boss is abusive by the products you create or from their behavior towards you. And from your perspective? Your boss could be lovely, and you adore them, but your coworkers may be going home each night in tears - and you are oblivious. Are you enabling it? I don't know. I've asked myself that question so many times. I don't think so. It's not Alyson Hannigan's or Amy Acker's fault that Whedon loved her and treated others abysmally. Any more than it is Chidi's fault that our boss loves him. Like I said above, I have a boss now, who some people love to pieces, and others despise. He's like two different people. My father called him Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

****

How can you stop this behavior in the work place? Well, you don't do it by deciding that you hate Buffy/Angel and all things Whedon now, and boycott it and bully anyone who loves it into submission - that's kind of counter-productive and it doesn't help any of us who have survived toxic work environments or are still surviving them. (Actually Buffy got me through a toxic work environment. The Buffy fandom helped me survive it - ironic, but true.)

First, open your eyes to it. See it for what it is and try to stand up to it. Which is really hard. But if you aren't the target and the boss likes you - than it is imperative that you be the one to try to do something about it. What would have happened if someone had done that with Whedon? If one of his friends pulled him aside and said, you know, Joss, you are a great guy, but this is inappropriate - and you are hurting this person - could we maybe not do that?

It is why we have unions and it is important to support unions - as frustrating as they can be, they do protect people from evil bosses. ( Read more... )

It's also important to understand that it goes across industries. And is not relegated to just one.

I had a boss who told me once that I was didn't stroke his ego enough and make him feel good about himself. This was in 2001, shortly after 9/11, about two months later.
( my personal story of a toxic work environment in the library reference publishing industry )
I tell you this story to try to get across how prevalent this is. Joss Whedon, unfortunately, is not the exception, he's the rule. And he was created by the toxic society he lives in. A society, that like it or not, we are all responsible for creating and contributing to.

The job he had prior to show-running Buffy was Roseanne, which was considered at that time openly toxic. Roseanne fired writers every week. And it's not just show business. It is every single work environment in our world. It's every government. Every ruling body.

I am learning to hate the behavior not the people. The best thing about stories - is they show us how to do that and why. It's so easy to hate the people - requires less work. Hating the behavior requires more work, I think. It requires us to see past the behavior to the person inside. Most people are like Whedon and current Boss - they are in a way Dr. Jekyll's and Mr Hyde's. Capable of wonderful things and horrible ones, often at the same time.

Finally... A partial defense of Joss Whedon and Harmful Creators

I have issues with social media - because it weaponizes things. But with no real proof. And a lot of vagueness. When requested for more clarity or information - they refuse to provide it.

People on Whedonesque call it blaming the victim, but I don't see any of these people as victims. They are all wealthy, they are not sick with COVID, they are not in the hospital, and they are employed.

And what happened - happened twenty years ago. They didn't report it.
Until now - when it helped Ray Fisher.

So, do I believe there was a toxic work environment? Yes. But, I don't think how they handled it is any better. We need to stop using social media to destroy people. And, he makes some good points.

1. ( And once again people are bashing Woody Allen films because of Allen's own nasty actions... )

As an aside?

Ricky Gervais recently nailed twitter -

Gervais on Twitter

2. This article is an interesting read - The True Story Behind the Zack Snyder Cut - its interesting from a pure film-making perspective. Depicting how something can go blatantly wrong - when the distributors and financiers lose faith in the artist's vision at the last possible minute.
( excerpts )

( toxic fandom - excerpt from the article )

[As an aside? The comics and daytime soap opera fandoms are notoriously crazy. Actually all fandoms have crazy people. But the superhero comic fandom and sci-fantasy fandom are notorious. There's a reason I've stayed away from them.]

( the artist now has carte blanche to do whatever he likes without answering to anyone )

Interesting take on how art was gutted, then the original artist gets to fix it and show his vision without any studio edits or input.

Although, I am suspicious of how much of Fisher's allegations against Whedon were true - due to the fact that Fisher was heavily invested in Snyder's version. As was Gail Gadot and others. They loved Snyder apparently.

Also the article feels a bit like a love letter to Synder, and I'm always skeptical of that. (I've seen a lot Synder's films...almost all of them, so can personally attest to the violence. And I've seen Whedon's Justice League - which I found jarring but not quite as horrible as the article indicates. I'm skeptical of the article here and there. I see marketing hands behind it.)

That's actually my difficulty with a lot of celebrity gossip and back-stage gossip - it's hard to know what is true. So much of the entertainment industry is carefully packaged. With marketing hands in every pot. Spin-doctoring things.

3. [I'm annoyed with the neighbor who lives across the hall from me. He never wears a mask, no one visiting him does. And he slams his door, shaking the entire building. I think he's divorced with a kid - since I only see him and occasionally his kid. It's a tiny apartment, I can't imagine more than two in it, if that. I can't wait for him to move - no one stays in that apartment for very long.]

4. Boredom Economy.

And some groups of people are more likely to experience boredom than others. People who live alone, for instance, are more likely to be bored, said Daniel Hamermesh, an economist at Barnard College who has studied loneliness during the pandemic lockdowns.

“The real burden’s going to be on people who are single, who are by themselves,” he said. “The boredom-loneliness nexus has got to be pretty close, I would think.”

I danced to Fiona Apple's Relay again today, which I find insanely comforting.

Read recently that a lot of the celebrity gossip and interest in the gossip is falling by the wayside. It'd mostly due to the pandemic. People don't want to watch wealthy folks be bored on the internet. Or do podcasts from their luxurious homes. I can't find the article though - but it detailed how the sing-a-long lead by Gail Gadot completely backfired (I never saw it) but it was apparently a bunch of celebrities who can't sing - singing Imagine.
And how the divorce/separation of Kim Kardashian and Kayne West sparked no interest whatsoever. (My twitter page was more interested in Woody Allen and Texas.)

5. Per the Governor's email tonight on the Corona Virus..

Thanks to the hard work of all New Yorkers, our infection rate is now the lowest we've seen in three months, and accordingly, we are now in a position to reopen more recreational activities across the state. Movie theaters in New York City, along with any other areas of the state where they have been closed, are permitted to reopen March 5 at 25 percent capacity, with no more than 50 people per screen at a time. Other safety protocols, including assigned seating and social distancing, will be in place. We must continue to collectively work hard to ensure our numbers keep going in the right direction, which will allow us to safely reopen as much as possible as safely as possible.

Well that is interesting, considering the last time I saw a movie in a movie theater was Emma on March 7. It's also the weekend before my birthday. I don't know if I could sit through a movie in a movie theater right now without fidgeting. I'm having issues re-entering my workplace.

*. ( By the numbers - we're still at 4.3%, with 6,146 cases, but hey the deaths got down to 89...so progress. )

* ( the numbers on the vaccine...we've vaccinated roughly 2.2 million with first dose, and 1.1 million second dose - which is..less than 1% of the NY population, but hey progress! )

* ( my zip code is not listed, but hey they are trying to vaccinate everyone in Brooklyn...I'm not sure what it means exactly that my zip code isn't listed. I live in diverse neighborhood. )

* ( that's what you get for going after the Governor on the nursing homes, more rules and regulations on when you can visit them )

*( all the people holding off for their big weddings can now have up to 150 people present...why you'd want that many or more than that is beyond me..but than I don't understand wanting more than 20 or 30 people )

How humanity has decided to handle this pandemic is fascinating and at times mind-boggling.

6.Not to be outdone by New York, England has chosen to lift its lock down restrictions slowly..

( Read more... )

7. ( Meanwhile a grocery store chain is saving Texans, even while authorities continue to answer for their stupidity )

8. ( And Nasa released new videos from Mars, whil Hayley Arceneaux, 29, cancer survivor, Physician Assistant at St. Jude's Childrens Research Hospital will be one of the four people on a SpaceX rocket to circle earth later this year )

We're definitely stuck in a Philip K Dick novel. Albeit possibly not as grim?

9. ( An animated flying cat with a Pop-Tart body sold for almost $600,000. )

10. ( okay, this pairing I'd never have guessed...Former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen are co-hosting podcasts...entitled Renegades Born in the USA )

Remember when everyone hated Springsteen in the late 80s/90s for alleged domestic violence against his then-wife, and for appearing to support Regan?
Just me then. See? Some people can revitalize their image.

[Edited multiple times - because I suck at coding and my eyes are starting to blur - had to switch reading glasses.]

I'll do the daily update later, I think.

1. I read an interesting interview with Harry Lennix regarding Joss Whedon and Justice League the other day - that haunts me. I feel as if the universe is poking me again? So I'm going to poke you, because this reminded me of something - I can be a self-righteous idiot sometimes. Can't we all? I don't get much comfort from that.

Harry Lennix - you most likely know as Boyd from Dollhouse. He is a 6'4 tall black man from the South Side of Chicago, in his fifties. And played the Martian Manhunter in Justice League - most of his role was scrapped when Whedon took over.

The reason there’s a Snyder Cut is because Zack was replaced by Joss Whedon on the movie. As you know, Ray Fisher has alleged that Joss engaged in misconduct during the shoot. You worked with Joss on two seasons of “Dollhouse,” so I wanted to ask if you had any thoughts on the matter?

I wasn’t there during the time in question. I am sorry that anybody had to experience what it was that was described. Obviously, there’s one side of the story that we’ve heard. I don’t know that Joss has made any comments. As you point out, I worked with Joss fairly closely for a couple of years there. I didn’t see that behavior, and at the same time, as an actor, my heart goes out to anybody that had to endure that kind of treatment. We get treated as a second-class citizens frequently. But I did not see it, and I would be curious as to what [Joss’s] response to this has been.

I just hope everybody can move on with their lives, to be honest with you. As a former seminarian, and as somebody who has made mistakes, I’ve been on either side of that equation.

Directors sometimes are insensitive to the needs or the feelings of actors, and sometimes actors are needy, and sometimes they are oversensitive. I know I can be. So that said, I hope whatever it was that happened, that people could move on, and — outside of some unforgivable thing — that people can forgive, not just each other, but forgive themselves. To say, “Look, I may have made this mistake in the past, now I know better, and I’m going to do better.” This was a different time. What was tolerable, five years ago, a year ago, is no longer, and we have to adapt to that. I think there’s some of that going on, that this is generational in some way. I know that Ray has it in himself to be better because of this, to be stronger, to have survived it. And I also hope that Joss can, too, that he can survive it, be the writer and creator that that he is and we can all be better because of it.

You’re looking at this with more empathy than I would say many observers have in light of what Ray has alleged, and what actors on “Angel” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” alleged about Joss on Wednesday. Were you experiences with Joss purely professional?

Yes. Utterly professional. I didn’t see any of that kind of behavior that I’m hearing about. But I’m in a different place. That kind of thing is not likely to happen to me, just cause I’m a big Black guy from the South Side of Chicago, that people are a little more circumspect in however they might think about treating me or talking to me. I think maybe we should give [Joss] another chance to respond, to see what his side of the story is. Not minimizing anybody’s story, not minimizing the experiences others had in any way. But I believe that we must learn to reconcile. And we must learn to move on.

We wouldn’t be able to take this into a court, per se, not really. What I’ve learned over the years is that two people could be telling the absolute truth from their point of view, and disagree on what those salient points are.

Whatever those salient points are, I think that everything that I have heard so far — and that’s not everything — is recoverable. And so to the extent that it’s recoverable, let’s recover from it and keep moving.Joss hasn’t commented, Ray hasn’t gone public with almost any details about what he says happened on “Justice League,” and WarnerMedia hasn’t revealed what the company learned in its investigation. So figuring out how to move forward is complicated in the absence of detail.

I agree, 100%. What I’ve been able to glean from the stories and the back and forth, such as it is — mostly the forth — is that nasty things were said, mean, insensitive things were said, that made certain people uncomfortable. That’s certainly something I’m familiar with actors having to endure. Indeed, that’s part of the process. People say “no” to us for any number of reasons, or tell us to lose weight or gain it or get taller or shorter or younger. That’s just the nature of the business — it’s a personal business. I am of the opinion that this is entirely fixable, and that really what needs to happen is a dialogue. I mean, the old standard in American jurisprudence is you have a right to face your accuser and to respond. I think that people have the right to present both sides of the case. In fact, it’s not just a right, I think it’s an obligation. I wonder what’s going to happen.

( spontaneous musing on the above, thoughts only, subject to change at any time )

2. I got annoyed - I realized that the four hour movie I was gearing myself up to watch and even looking forward to - isn't premiering until March 18. For some reason I kept reading 3/18/21 as 2/18/21.

3. Finished Illona Andrews self-published best-seller Blood Heir - a spin-off from her Kate Daniels verse. I read thirteen chapters of the draft version on her blog over the summer. I liked, in some respects, those chapters better. This feels paired down and exposition/back story heavy, also alot of action. I find action scenes kind of boring to read. They are like sex scenes - hard to right.

Also she gets preachy in the middle - feeling the need to have the lead preach about a new and better political system, which is based on a kind of magical/militaristic power dynamic. It's a problem that I have with Andrews novels - they each have a very strong power/militaristic base or thematic to them that I personally find off-putting, and have to constantly handwave to get to the bits I like.

It's a problem with the urban fantasy genre, to be honest. It has a heavy anti-hero/noir feel to it - and a kind of uneven power dynamic. Progressive this genre isn't. Yet, I love aspects of it - enough to hand wave the bits I don't. Also it helps me to understand the other mindset a little. Not that Andrews are conservative - they aren't. They were anti-Trump, and seemed fairly progressive actually. And unlike the Dresden Novels and others in the genre, they have bisexual, and homosexual characters in their books.

I can love things I am critical of. Also, I'm well aware that people are more than one thing. I went to law school in Kansas, with people who adored Rush Limbaugh in the 1990s. And I work with a woman, who is a colleague, and I've known for over 13 years, whose cousin works for Scean Hannity. My ability to ignore the politics has served me well.

4. Working my way through Promised Land by Barack Obama. It's very good. He's currently talking about Benghazi and what happened. It is a fascinating and insightful take on the politics of that region, and the conflicting and messy issues surrounding it. There are no good answers.

The problem with being in a leadership role - is often you have to make decisions that are unpopular to benefit the greater good. As Lando once state - you can't please everyone, someone is always going to despise you.
Obama kind of demonstrates that in his book, and show has complicated and dicey some of these decisions actually were.

It's informative and insightful reading and explains quite a bit of what happened, and how Trumpism came about. He seems to eerily foreshadow the rise of the authoritarian movements...while at the same time predicting their eventual demise.

5. WandaVision - haven't seen the latest episode but for the folks who are wondering if they have to see the MCU films to follow it? No, you really don't. In fact it might work better if you haven't - but hard to know.

If you feel an overwhelming urge to get back story?

*. Avengers: Age of Ultron - is the origin tale of The Vision and Wanda. The Vision is basically a combination of Tony Stark (Iron Man) Jarvis - and the Mind Stone. Tony Stark creates the Vision in that film to fight his other creation - Ultron. Wanda - is the reason that Stark creates Ultron - she provides him with a vision of the future that scares the shit out of him. Wanda is the villain in the story who becomes a good guy.

*. Captain America - Winter Solider ( Read more... )

*. Captain America - Civil War -( Read more... )

*. Captain Marvel - provides the debute of Monica Rambeau (the pilot and co-star of WandaVision). ( Read more... )

*. Infinity War - which is kind of hard to watch without seeing Endgame. Since it ends on a tragic note and Endgame is Chapter 2.
( Read more... )

Endgame - ( Read more... )

[Note - Infinity War and Engame are focused primarily on: Tony Stark, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. You don't get much more than cameos from the others. Although Thanos, his daughters, Star Lord, Spiderman, Doctor Strange, Ant-man, Wanda, and the Vision all get something to do. But the emphasis is on the others. If you don't like or care about Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, or Black Widow - I'd pass. If you hate Iron Man - really pass. I adore Iron Man - so adored the movies. I'd watch Downy Jr read the phone book.]

For Buffy Fans, Another Reckoning with the Show's Creator

By Maria Cramer

Feb. 15, 2021, 9:54 a.m. ET

The Whedon Studies Association, a society of academics devoted to studying the works of Joss Whedon, is debating whether to change its name. Fans who grew up with his signature show, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and were planning to introduce it to their children are grappling with what to do.

Some said they are regretting tattoos inspired by “Buffy” and other shows Mr. Whedon created.
( Read more... )

Although I did get everything I needed to get done today, done. So there's that at least. Food order finally came and got unpacked, and they gave me carrots for some reason. (I'm not found of carrots. Although I suppose I could put them in a soup at some point.) Every time I get the food order - they put stuff in that I didn't order - it's very odd. I like Foodkick slightly better, they don't do that. But, they are also much more expensive.

Weather is kind of cold and dreary, with another storm on the way. I've been trying to ignore the Impeachment Hearings, but I keep checking twitter - which is talking about it as it happens, and of course I discussed it briefly with mother. Mother tells me things that piss me off - such as : "If people want to or choose to believe the Republican's spin on this and decide to ignore the rest, they kind of can."

Me: We can choose what to believe in this world. True. But our choices speak to our central character and who we are. If we choose to believe someone like Trump or his lawyers, all evidence to the contrary, and after what they've done. Than that speaks to our central character.

[My difficulty is I know she's right - people will believe whatever suits them. Not often what is true, but what suits their world-view or agenda.]

My mother is liberal. But she lives in South Carolina, and it's not.

Meanwhile I'm kind of lurking on twitter - regarding the whole "Whedon" melt down. It's kind of like watching a boulder roll down hill and pick up stuff as it goes. Let's see how many folks jump on board. To date - half the Buffy cast and now three of the writers (Mere Smith - Angel, Marti Noxon - Buffy, and Jose Molina - Firefly).

Marsters recently posted his support, only to have three annoying fans bring up the song he wrote back in 2003 about Trachenberg. ( rant - it was just a frigging song get over your self-righteous ass-hole selves )

I'm trying to be kind, but people keep pissing me off. I restrained myself from responding to these idiots - he doesn't need me to defend him, he can defend himself, and just liked the person who defended him - post instead.
Twitter is kind of social media on speed. Moves fast and people pile on.

Nick Brendan hasn't posted anything - because his partner has taken over his account after he fell on some ice and seriously injured his back. He can't sit up.

Marti Noxon just tweeted her support of the women who spoke up.

NOX NOX WHO’S WEARING A MASK? -martinoxon
I would like to validate what the women of Buffy are saying
and support them in telling their story. They deserve to be heard.

I understand where allcharisma
, Amber, Michelle and all
the women who have spoken out are coming from.

Kater Gordon and I 1/2

And... How the The TV Industry Can Better Protect Writers From the Next Toxic Showrunner

Oh and...we now have Firefly...

Jose Molina -josemolinatv
"Casually cruel" is a perfect way of describing Joss. He thought being mean was funny. Making female writers cry during a notes session was especially hysterical. He actually liked to boast about the time he made one writer cry twice in one meeting.

The Whedon Studies Association is struggling to rebrand itself. And the Whedonverse has now become the Buffyverse and Beyond.

I was talking to mother today about this, and why it was distracting me so much. ( Read more... )

What also hits me today - is I am oddly glad that my friend embers_log is no longer alive to see this. She loved Joss Whedon. She met him in person and had a photo taken with him. She was a fan. This would have broken her heart. She died in 2010 or thereabouts...of colitis. She was about 62. We'd parted ways - over a fannish disagreement. I was being a tad too critical of Whedon at the time, and she got annoyed with me.

Behind all of this, is ...Free Britney Spears
( the documentary about the singer who has been a victim of a toxic male culture of misogyny and abuse for years )

We seem to have misogyny and racism converging with Fisher, Spears, and others. What's interesting though is Fisher is getting buried beneath the white women voices supporting his.

And behind all of that, the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump lurking insidiously in the background. We all know the Republicans will do the wrong thing. It's become predictable now. Trump is the epitome of misogyny and racism and casual cruelty. The King of the Insult, the King of the Mean. The child of internet cruelty and negative marketing pizazz. He's the worst impulses of everyone wrapped inside one neat little package. A bloated white man, old, and nasty. Spewing hate and vitriol wherever he goes.

In Promised Land, Chapter 25, I think, Barack Obama talks about preparations the US is making in the event one of our allies is overtaken by a populist movement and their government is overthrown - much like the Arab Spring. "It's unlikely to happen," he opines. "But just in case - we've put emergency procedures in place." I can't help but wonder if while reading this aloud as an audio book - he picked up on the irony of those words? It wasn't our allies who were vulnerable but ourselves.

They can't quite convict Trump, because to do so - they convict themselves. And there's the heart of it...I think. To what degree are we to be held accountable for laughing at a madman?

And once again, I find myself assessing my own dry wit and biting sense of humor. But all humor is cruel - even it only directed at oneself. I try to apply it to situations and myself, and not to others. It's easy to forget, I think. But, then again laughing in pain, works as a great anesthetic.

***



It's a wintry day, and I miss my graveyard. The calm I feel walking through it. So quiet with just the birds tweeting and the breeze. The cars are almost too far away to hear clearly. Occasional ambient conversation - equally blurred by distance. The graveyard gives me peace. It shows me how temporary this all is. That humans are...well temporary things. Here and then gone. With plaques in the ground to commemorate their passing. And for reasons, I cannot quite explain - I find that somehow comforting? All this will end soon enough.

Relationships are temporary too - and constantly changing. Work. Life. Friendship. Family. It is never constant.

I'm told character doesn't change but personalities do. That's true enough - I've seen that with my Dad who has dementia. Or myself. Or mother. Or my brother who mellows with time.

COVID seems to be on the decline, more and more people on my FB page are posting that they got the vaccine. I still am waiting to get mine. I'm thinking March or April? I may try to get an appointment through the State's site next week or the week thereafter. I'd like to get it before I have to do a site tour of substations.

I think I've rambled enough tonight. Thank you for reading, if you've made it this far or even if you haven't.

I watched Zoey's Playlist - which is sweet and message oriented, with nice songs. Floating in one ear and out the other. And I ate one too many cupcakes at lunch - two again. But two...was more than I should.

1. Well this an interesting development...

HBO's the Nevers has an airdate, a trailer, and a new show-runner.



HBO is preparing to introduce The Nevers to viewers.

The premium cable outlet has set an April premiere date and released a first trailer for the series, created by Joss Whedon. HBO ordered The Nevers straight to series in July 2018; Whedon exited the show in late November, and Philippa Goslett (Mary Magdalene, How to Talk to Girls at Parties) was hired last week to take over as showrunner.

"While developing and producing The Nevers has been a joyful experience, I realize that the level of commitment required moving forward, combined with the physical challenges of making such a huge show during a global pandemic, is more than I can handle without the work beginning to suffer," Whedon said in announcing his departure.

The six episodes HBO will debut in the spring were filmed before Whedon's departure. The remainder of the first season, under Goslett, will follow at a later time; those episodes, delayed because of COVID-19, are in preproduction.

The Nevers is set in Victorian-era London and centers on a group of people, mostly women, known as the Touched, who suddenly manifest abnormal abilities. Among them are Amalia True (Laura Donnelly), a mysterious and quick-fisted widow, and her best friend Penance Adair (Ann Skelly), a brilliant inventor. They are the champions of this new underclass who set out to make a home for the Touched and make room for those for whom history as we know it has no place.

The trailer showcases several characters' abilities as well as some steampunk-style gadgets and the powers that be who are aligned against the Touched.

People at Whedonesque Studies on FB and Twitter, were trying to determine whether the Nevers counted as among Whedon's body of work or corpses?

I don't know. Not sure I care. Whedon is reminding me an awful lot of Brian Fuller, to be honest. Speaking of? Pushing Daisies reruns are on HBO Max now. And Hannibal is on Netflix (I think). I can't watch it right now. I'm not sure I can watch Prodigal Son at the moment.

The new show-runner looks interesting, in particular because she's a woman. And a progressive at that in regards to her previous films.

Philippa Goslette - British Screenwriter - apparently she was just hired, so I don't think she worked under Whedon. (No, she's a new addition - came after.) Another interesting writer is transgender British feminist writer Laurie Penny, who is among the writers and apparently, also began on LJ as a Buffy fanfic writer in the Buffy fandom way back in the early 00s.

These are the writers listed in Wiki for the first ten episodes before Whedon left: "Executive producers include Bernadette Caulfield, Jane Espenson, and Doug Petrie. Espenson and Petrie, who worked with Whedon on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, will also serve as writers. Laurie Penny is also part of the series' writing staff. Gemma Jackson serves as production designer."

Laurie Penny wrote this in Wired:
( excerpt about being called to write for The Nevers by Whedon )

Laurie Penny Journal in Wired

So, the Nevers suddenly got interesting. We have Whedon setting it up and creating it, Espenson and Petrie along for the ride, Penny writing for the first season at least, and then Gosselet taking over.

A teaser trailer and more information on cast, synopsis, writers, etc can be found HERE.

It's not a 10 episode season any longer - only six episodes. It got truncated by COVID and Whedon left. Five apparently had been filmed prior to COVID. Whedon left for personal reasons - and also left Twitter in November, along with the internet. There's nothing about Whedon post November 2020 to be found - or I couldn't find it. I didn't really look that hard, to be honest. Kind of paralyzed with not caring all that much.

2. The Golden Globes Nominations

* Why are we having them? Show must go on, yaddah yaddah yaddah. And well, as the NY Times pointed out - lots of money. NBC is paying the Globes 18 million for the broadcast rights over a six year period.
* The nominations are weird. They have people nominated, films and shows nominated that I couldn't get through or watch and are frankly bewildered by, while they've let out people that I'd have nominated instead - proving how subjective this is - and what huge divide there is between my interests and the foreign press.
* Also one can't help but wonder why we do this? It seems to be yet another list by someone else. And why do they give awards? This feels like a colossal waste of time this is, and how irrelevant awards shows truly are in the scheme of things.

We do waste money on dumb things, don't we?

Anyhow...here's the list of nominations.

Globe Nominations

The one's I agree with? Queen's Gambit, Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and Soul. I haven't seen One Night in Miami yet.

Schitt's Creek (the appeal is lost on me), The Crown (I gave up on), Emma (I didn't like and I'd have nominated the actress for Queen's Gambit instead),
Why is Jane Levy nominated for Zoey?, WTF on The Prom and James Cordon being nominated???

What the heck is Music? And why is Hamilton in there - it's not really a film, but a staged musical that is filmed. There's no real cinematography there - Utopia would have made more sense.

Apparently I'm not the only one bewildered... Professional Critics responses on the snubs

And... Lack of Diversity in the Globe Television Show Nominations - note they didn't say movies, there's plenty of diversity in the film side. Which may be way the Globes thought they could slide by on the television end of the fence?

1. Meme I found on Scans Daily, but am leery of answering there...(some of the posters on scans daily scare me.)

This is kind of via Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-men.

What were your formulative television and cartoons of childhood?

( Mine )

2. Per Twitter notifications, and londonkds... So Many of Us Who Have Been Target and Manipulated by the Author Warren Ellis

Ellis is the latest to get blasted in a long, and seemingly endless list of male assholes in the comic book and film industries. I can't say I liked him that much - I didn't. I found him unreadable to be honest. I kept trying. A friend, who has since passed, rec'd his stuff to me and even sent me some of his comics, and I just couldn't read them. I found him to be a bit strident, and chauvinistic, bordering on misogynistic.

It should be noted that the entertainment, comic book and publishing industry is kind of known by most women for its rampant sexism and sexual harassment. I heard stories in the 80s. Particularly comic books. Let's face it - there's a reason I didn't tell folks I read them for years.

3. Which leads me to the Great Cancel Culture Debate...which I have mixed feelings about.

From the NY Times Breifing this morning:

IDEA OF THE DAY: CANCEL CULTURE

“What is this cancel culture thing, anyway?” Ross Douthat asks in his latest Times column. He proceeds to offer 10 answers, including:

Cancellation, properly understood, refers to the loss of employment and reputation on the basis of opinions or actions that are publicized and criticized by a large and diffuse or small and determined group of critics.
All cultures cancel; the question is for what, how widely and through what means.

The right and the left both cancel; it’s just that today’s right is too weak to do it effectively."

For more go HERE.

For a different view: Charles Blow, another Times Opinion columnist, has argued that there is no such thing as cancel culture. As he tweeted: “There is free speech. You can say and do as you pls, and others can choose never to deal this you, your company or your products EVER again. The rich and powerful are just upset that the masses can now organize their dissent.”

I don't know. I've discovered people are very hypocritical about these sorts of things. If it's regarding someone they despise - yay team, if it's someone they love? No, don't, bad! And if it is them? "You are evil, this is so wrong".

In short, no it's not kind. And if you don't want someone to do that to you, you shouldn't celebrate it happening to someone else. But the problem with hypocrisy is no one seems aware of the fact that they are being hypocritical. I discovered this in the 6th Grade actually. Also, self-righteous, judgemental and hypocrisy all tend to go hand in hand.

So my take? I don't think it's necessarily always a good idea? None of us are perfect. We all say and do dumb things.

4. All of the stuff coming out on Joss Whedon at the moment is old news. And some of it...questionable considering the sources. That said, Whedon came from a specific group of writers - who were taught show-running by "bullying" - he was one of the writers on Roseanne, which was Whedon's first job. And David Greenwalt - from what I heard from folks at the time, was kind of abusive as well. Also if you listen to the actor Q&A's on Youtube via various cons over the years, you'll pick up on a few things...Brendon reports that Whedon would make them re-film for missing the word "the" in a sentence. And would come up and correct them. Whedon allowed Boreanze to wander about the set with no pants on - and thought it was funny. Whedon lead Gellar to believe she wasn't getting the role during auditions. Etc.

But alas, it does go back to a statement I made in another post, how do we deal with cognitive dissonance? Where we love a writer's work but have issues with some of the writer's behavior? And do we demonize the writer or the behavior?

Can we separate the work from the writer? Or artist?

That said? It's interesting that Whedon was obsessed with stories about toxicity of power, and abuses of power. Particularly male power and how to undermine it. I think his works are a commentary and critique of himself.
Which is kind of ironic.

1. New tv and console have turned out to be a great success. It's sort of like having my own personal movie screen. The Avenger's Age of Ultron looked amazing on it.

What did I get? ( Read more... ). Feeling very grateful for everything that I have in my life at the moment. (And no that's not just the tv. I'm being general here.)

2. Re-watched Iron Man, The Avengers and The Avenger's Age of Ultron today -- I'd recorded them last weekend. (They look like they are on the movie screen on new tv.). Upon re-watch, I realized something -- the Avengers - Age of Ultron is weirdly the better film. Not great action sequences, but far better character moments and plot structure -- also I appreciated it more after seeing everything that came after it.

Of the three films, Iron Man is by far the best -- mostly due to Jon Favreu's direction, which is clean, and well-paced. It also works well as a stand-a-lone, and it's focal point is very different that most superhero flicks up to that point. Prior to Iron Man -- superheros had secret identities, and were sort of doing it as a hobby or as vigilante's. They also had a clear romance and family focus. And the main struggle was trying to keep their normal life and hobby separate.

Iron Man sort of changed all that. ( spoilers for Iron Man and Age of Ultron )

How one views movies or anything really tends to change with time, or so I've discovered. I know not everyone loves these films, but considering I don't love all the films and television shows out there...I mean come on, I despised some of the flicks that were nominated for awards. Mileage it varies. (shrugs) Although I'm not sure people want to hear that or care. I get it. I do. But it's still terribly annoying when people don't love what I love --and feel the need to inform me of it, which they do. I get that. I do the same.

Whenever they do though, I feel the oddest desire to smack them on the nose, and say, "wake up you fool, can't you see this is really good and that, whatever it is you are squeeing about at the moment which I don't happen to like or be interested, is utter crap. I mean come on. You know I'm right about this. Get with the frigging program!"

But alas, the world would be incredibly boring if we all had the same taste. Also, it's not possible to be right about taste. Or wrong for that matter. There's no such thing as good or bad in regards to taste. Also taste doesn't define who we are since it's not really a stagnant thing anyhow -- or say that much about us really in the scheme of things except what is interesting us at the moment -- for whatever reason, known only to us, and sometimes not even that.

Sometimes I think taste is just well that taste. I'm never going to like brussle sprouts...and am always going to love chocolate apparently. (Well at least I think so.) That really says nothing about me one way or the other, except that I currently despise Brussel Sprouts and Love Chocolate.

1. Fan Reaction to the Buffy Reboot (or whatever it is) Is pretty much as I predicted. Split. With a lot of people threatening to boycott. The female fans are more upset over it than the male fans..which is interesting. And they are also fighting over whether it is a "remake" or a "continuation", mainly because no one knows what "new iteration" or "reboot" actually means.

This is the original announcement, which I posted in my previous post.

This the fan reactions:
( links and reactions )
All of this is PROOF, assuming you needed any, that what I said was true -- we have an entrenched passionate fandom that is a wee bit twitchy in regards to Whedon. They love Buffy, they just are not too sure what to make of Whedon. LOL!

I find the whole thing equal parts hilarious and fascinating.

Oh here's Twitter Thread Trying to Figure Out if It is a Reboot, a Continuation or what


2. I figured out how to work the PowerBall3 Wireless Ear Phones. They just make it possible to listen to music on my phone without being inserted in the phone, so when and if I decide to upgrade to an Iphone 8, I don't have to worry about the earphone jack.

3. Cleaned the bathroom, picked up a package with new sandals. Bought two new pairs of leisure sandals that can get wet and are comfortable from Ryka. Also been watching S2 of Wyonna Earp, which is a lot better than S1. S3 is being recorded for later viewing via SyFy.

Wyonna Earp is basically Buffy meets the Wild West. Wyonna is charged via a curse to shoot demons with her father's old peacemaker rifle. She's aided by the opportunistic Doc Holliday, who was cursed with immortality by a Witch, her sister Waverly, a FBI Black Ops agent who is part demon, and
a lesbian cop who has a thing for her sister, who is also a lesbian. It's good mindless fun.

4. And this morning an old Russian lady with a suitcase tried to enter my apartment thinking it was her hotel room.

I answer the door.

Old Russian Lady who doesn't speak English or very little tries to enter.
Me: Eh, no. This my apartment, I don't know you.
Russian Lady: This is 3M?
Me: Yes. But it is also my apt, go away.
Russian Lady: I come here - see 3M.
Me: No, you have the wrong address.
Russian Lady (looks confused): Uhm, sorry. (checks her phone). Hmmm..

I shut the door and lock it. And finally she disappears.