Spontaneous Musings

1. The Pitfall of Being a Fan of a Series of Books or of a writer, only to realize they are a complete asshole.

* I've spent more time this week than I wanted to ...thinking about JKR and the Harry Potter Fandom.

Wales stumbled onto JKR on Twitter via the NY Times. There was a fight with NY Times, who for reasons...had decided to JKR. This erupted into a fight on Twitter. Wales, not reading the article, dove in and said they should pick their battles and defend women's reproductive rights, and well when I tried to explain, she clarified that this including women who no longer had access to their reproductive organs. To which, I had to clarify further.
( explaining why JKR is a transphobic bitch to someone who is unfamiliar with her work and the fandom )

* Penguin Puffin is apparently publishing the works of Roald Dahl, who as you may or may not already know is an anti-semitic asshole or was one. ( Read more... )

* And..I found out Twitter that..Scott Adams the cartoonist/creator of Dilbert is a racist Trump Supporter - and 80 newspapers pulled his cartoon due to racist content.

[ETC: To clarify? He was dropped from newspapers because of a racist rant on Youtube, not because of his satirical cartoon. The racist rant kind of changed how everyone perceived the satire in his cartoon.

Adams rant can be found HERE - if you wish to see it for yourselves.

The majority of newspaper publishers (with the possible exception of the right wing publications) considered it a racist rant and kicked Adams to the curb. Newspapers have dropped dilbert comic strip after a racist rant by its creator.]

Sigh. Remember when Dilbert was cool and innocuous? I've admittedly not been following it since well the early 00s if that. I stopped reading the Sunday funnies sometime around 2008. [ ETC: Not because I disliked Dilbert - I just no longer read print newspapers. I get a digital version of the NY Times. I'm not reading any Sunday comics at the moment - haven't for the last IDK, ten years? ]

2. The Pitfalls of Being in a Long-Running Fandom - Star Wars

Star Wars has always been a dicey fandom to participate in, but that is most likely true of all fandoms? It was even dicey in the 1980s when it more or less began. (The first film came out in 1977, so technically 1977.)

Got into a lengthy discussion/debate on a friend's journal posting about Andor, which I enjoyed. But isn't for everyone. Unlike most of the Star Wars stuff - it's geared towards the over-twenty-five group. ( Read more... )

Star Wars is a long-running fandom. Roughly doing the math? It's about forty years old? (Let's see I saw it at 11 or 12, I'm fifty-five now, so about forty.) And like most long-running fandoms, there's disagreement over well everything. And so much of it has to do with when you entered the fandom (if you ever truly did?), and the degree to which you invested, why, etc. Also what you watched, what is canon, what is good, what isn't good, what works, what doesn't, what makes a true fan, etc. And people are fannish in different ways - which I keep trying to explain to folks.

Not everyone likes to interact with other fans, some people are private about it. (I know I am.) Nor do you have to see everything or read everything to be a fan of a series. People can pick and choose. Not everyone feels the need to be a completist.

There's this view in fandom that if you're not "fanatical" - you aren't a fan. Not true. There are degrees. For example, you can be a fan of Star Wars and dislike the films. There's enough content out there now, that you could just be a fan of the comic books and be fine.
( Read more... )

Comparing other long-running fandoms to Star Wars

The Buffy fandom had two problems, one is an asshole creator. At least George Lucas to date isn't an asshole. Although give it time, he's human, and from what I saw in the Industrial Light and Magic Documentary - could be a beast to work with. It took about twenty some years for all the dirt about Whedon to come out.

The other, like Star Wars, Buffy had content across multiple mediums. While lovely, it does pose issues with a fandom. The fandom fights over what is canon to the fandom - whenever you have multiple mediums. ( Read more... )

Doctor Who in Comparison to Star Wars

If Star Wars and Buffy are bad in this regard. Try Doctor Who. This is a 60 year old series. Worse, it's a 60 year series with large gaps between content, and different actors playing the lead role, different creators, different writers, and different companions. ( Read more... )

General Hospital - A Day-Time Soap Opera that is Celebrating it's 60th Anniversary next month, has the same problem.

60 years of a soap opera isn't going to be seen by everyone. It's impossible. Some fans may have seen all of it. Most will have seen sections. ( Read more... )

***

I can go on and on with examples. Star Trek has this problem, as does Battle Star Galatica (it has two competing versions), as does the Marvel Universe - the films vs the animation vs the comics canons. I am not a fan of the animated canon - the X-men, irritated me. I prefer the comics. But there are those who only saw the animated versions. Or only the movies.
Or only the television shows.

It makes navigating these fandoms dicey at best. And is among the many reasons I've often been leery of joining them.

It's late. Off to bed. [Sorry for the typos and leaving you with a rough draft of this post. I edited, so should be better now.]

Well, today's accomplishments included getting my two robot vacuums to work. So, I now have a black and white robot vacuum - I got the white I-Life one - because I was having issues with the black one. But once it arrived the black one was working again. Then today, couldn't get either to work.

One apparently needed the bin to be cleaned and re-inserted. The other? I just needed to turn on. I went to youtube and discovered it had an on/off switch.

I've named Spike and Buffy. They get along pretty well considering.

Other accomplishments?

As I've been promising for the last two months, I finally set up my little art space/studio in my apartment. Basically, I converted my remote from home work station to an art/painting station, since I can't work remotely any longer. I'd actually bought the desk for artwork - so I'm happy about that. And now I have an easel set up, which can store my paints.

See picture below:



Even started on the sunflower. It's not great. But if you consider that the last time I painted or drew anything at all was approximately eight years ago? It was sometime in 2014 or 2015? I can't remember. In short, I'm a tad rusty. Drawing and painting are like any skill - practice makes perfect.
Although it is in some results a trained mental muscle.

I've always been good at art or so I've been told by various art teachers (I've taken a lot of courses on art throughout school and post school, also outside school). One in college told me that she wished she'd gotten me earlier. (I waited until my senior year to take an art course, while my freshman roommate majored in art - she became a financial advisor and has self-published three books now, one on finances, and two that are a series of historical novellas.) I'm an intuitive artist. Not a commercial artist. Freshman roommate was more of a commercial artist.

I don't like commercial art - never have. Also don't like commercial writing - tends to bore me. I don't do paint or write on demand or by numbers well. Never could color within the lines. It's not how I think. Nothing wrong with it - just not how I think is all.

The rusty bit - also a result of the fact that I couldn't get my hands to stop shaking today. I don't know why. Tremor was just worse today than usual.

The other accomplishment?

I made a low-carb/low-sugar gluten-free chocolate mousse pie. The only sweetner is a teaspoon of maple syrup, and fruit. Maybe a little sugar in the semi-sweet chocolate chips that I melted and the gluten free graham craker crust.

Ingredients:
( Read more... )
See picture below:



The difficulty is that blood sugar is still higher than I'd like it to be. ( health crap )

***

Still watching Peaky Blinders - which evolves as the seasons progress. The characters change, as does the setting, attire, and problems.
It does a good job of getting across the time period from 1919 to 1930 in Britain. Also, focuses on the lesser known Birmingham, and Northern England. Along with the issues with Ireland, Belfast, and the IRA conflict during that period.

It is an anti-hero series. And it's violent, albeit not as violent as Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, or House of Dragon. More in lines with The Sopranoes and The Godfather. People get shot, people get beaten up.
Sexual violence is implied not shown, and there's not much of it.

I like the fact that it doesn't romanticize the anti-heroes. You know they are anti-heroes. There's no question about that.

It's well-written. I find myself re-winding a lot for the dialogue. I got the close-captioning on. Also, the acting is top notch. Not a weak link in the bunch.

I'm on S5, which is a bit bleaker than the previous seasons, possibly because it starts with the stock market crash. S4 is possibly the least bleak or the most satisfying.

***

Stumbled across an announcement that James Marsters attended the premier of Sarah Michelle Gellar's Wolf Pack in support of the actress, and walked the red carpet with her, along with her husband and co-stars.

The announcement also mentioned the toxic work environment on Buffy. I'm fascinated by stories of toxic work environments, because I've been in so many myself and am in one now. Misery loves company and all that.

From what I've been able to piece together from Gellar's interviews which all reference it now - is that Gellar doesn't much like talking about it. And kind of talks around it. Understandable - it's difficult to prove that sort of thing even when its going on. People are terrified to speak up, and the bullies have a tendency to be kind and nice to people who either aren't working directly for them, or that they like. So there's also quite a bit of gaslighting. And enabling. Go into any hostile work environment, and I guarantee you'll find folks defending the bullies, and telling you that the employee is to blame. Or it's in their head. They are also very good at finding scapegoats. Fighting these assholes is close to impossible in our society. Like it or not - we live in a society that enables and rewards bullies.

But when pressed does mention it - kind of vaguely. She's tough, and has been accused of bad behavior herself - so, that's part of the reason. What she has said is that - she felt it was important to put 100 percent of herself into it, and didn't understand why others didn't feel the same way. And discovered later that may have been a mistake - since she got burned out, early on. Also that, she got into trouble for standing up for the cast and crew - and shutting things down after 15 hours. "We promised 13, it's been 15 hours, we're done for the day. I'm going home." Having watched the out-takes, I believe that. They went way beyond what other series do in regards to takes. Most do five takes per scene, maybe ten. Buffy did thirty. I got bored watching it. I mean they literally redid each line about fifteen to twenty times. Until everything was perfect lighting, camera, etc. That's brutal. I'm surprised they got away with it. Fox, WB and UPN clearly was letting Whedon do whatever he damn well pleased.

According to the Hollywood Reporter - Gellar's husband is less vague, as is Seth Green, and others.
( Read more... )

This does clarify a few misrepresentations in the press at the time the show was airing. During 1997-2003, Gellar was portrayed as the Diva on Buffy, and the main problem. Whedon loosely stated that he was used to it - he had to deal with Roseanne. And Hannigan had alluded to it. As had others. She was blamed for Buffy ending in S7. Whedon was praised in the fandom, and Gellar got a lot of backlash. Typical bully behavior - as a friend told me recently, when I describing bullying behavior at work - they want to control the narrative. Whedon worked hard to control the narrative.
And people tend to see and believe what they want to see and believe.

But there were always signs. There always are. If you look closely enough.

However, I like how Gellar chose to deal with it now. Which is to state, "this happened in the past. I learned from it. Dwelling on it - gains me nothing. Talking about it - solves nothing. I'm proud of the work I did, the work the cast did, and the show we created. We can be proud of that, without condoning the toxic work environment that produced it. And I've moved on, incorporating the lessons I learned from that time period and ensuring it doesn't happen again on my watch."

What's interesting, albeit not surprising, is that both Gellar and Marsters have stated separately that they can't re-watch most of S6 and S7. ( Read more... )

I give her a lot of credit for all of that. (And I wouldn't call myself a fan of Gellar's by any stretch of the imagination.) But what she's doing isn't easy in that business. It means turning down certain jobs, and not getting others. Also, it's easier said than done. I will state, I'm doing the same thing - I'm incorporating the lessons learned from previous experiences. And not staying silent when bullied. And supporting others who are bullied in the work force.

***

Anyhow, off to bed. Hope your Saturday or what's left of it was uneventful and peaceful.

Well, I got laundry done today, after being thwarted on Monday. Feel rather accomplished actually. I managed to do the equivalent of seven loads between 6am - 8:30 am. I clocked into work at 7:55 am. (Working remotely today). I was able to finally wash my duvet, duvet cover, throw blanket, pillows, sheets, towels, and assorted clothing. It was actually kind of peaceful and easy doing it at 6 am on a Wednesday morning, no one was done there. This most likely would not have been the case on a Saturday or Sunday. Evenings are often good as well. The trick to doing laundry in an apartment complex is to pick a time no one else wants to do it.

Also went grocery shopping at the health food store after work, and scored gluten free ravoli via Cappelli's made with almond flour. I wanted the Beecher's World's Best gluten-free mac and cheese - but this was by far the healthier option. Apparently they can't have both in at the same time.

My entire immediate family, that isn't in Britain, ordered free At Home COVID Tests from the Federal Government. The one in Britain doesn't need them - the British are ahead of us on this one, and she's well stocked.
She apparently had her first in-person class last week. I wish I was studying Critical Race Theory and Global Economics in London. Well, okay, maybe not - I hated school. But I loved London. Theater in London is far better than theater in NY, granted they are different, but London theater is more affordable and accessible, also there's a greater emphasis on the classics. Helped by the fact that Britain has various State sponsored theaters - such as the National Theater, and the Royal Shakespeare Theater. And a greater wealth of talent. The best theater actors often pop up from Britain. I miss London Theater. Not that I'd be partaking, I'm not exactly partaking in NY. But I've gone a very long time without seeing live theater - the longest I've ever gone. Up until 2020, I was seeing at least one to two shows a year. I was even scheduled to see Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf with a friend when Broadway shut down.

I miss live theater. I truly love it more than any other brand of cultural entertainment.

COVID took my theater away from me. Let's hope it's temporary.

**

Anyhow, worked from home today and will work from home tomorrow, then back in the office. Work was somewhat productive. We'll see if it becomes more so tomorrow. I sometimes feel as if I'm pushing a piece of paper up a cliff at work. They keep adding layers of bureaucracy. It's ironic, but the bureaucracy was added by the private company consultants, not the folks in government.

Out of boredom more than anything else, okay, curiosity, I checked to see the responses to the Whedon article on Twitter - which was vocal but not quite as expected. Also FB on it - far more active, since they made it into the article.

Re-sharing this insightful interview with Claudia Black:

Claudia Black on the Nevers and Breaking Cycles of Trauma

There's also an interesting thread on Twitter...that pointed out things that had never occurred to me or not in that way, before...regarding Buffy:
It's by a young woman who imprinted on Buffy as a teen and is dissecting how she related to the series.

Constance Grady
constancegrady
·
Jan 17
I often think of Buffy in relation to the Atwood quote, "You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur.” Part of the reason it worked extraordinarily well for me as a kid was that it seemed as though the show understood that … and that, for instance, Angel's morning-after speech to Buffy was so painful because it was exactly what the enemy in her mind was going to say.

Anyway. It's interesting to see these blindspots play out in real life.



This never really occurred to me, but it makes sense. The ingrained misogyny in women is that male voice inside our heads. Whedon doesn't appear to realize the guy inside his head is inside the women's heads too, the poster notes. I find that fascinating.
( more of the thread )

Sorry for all of the Whedon crap. I'm just fascinated by it for some reason or other.

***

It's late, must go to bed. Another early wakeup call tomorrow.

It is supposed to snow tomorrow. It's quiet now, and warmer today. So we shall see.

Random Photo of the Night..

Done nothing to celebrate it. It's been a drab, gloomy day, and all attempts to do laundry were thwarted. (Ah, what I wouldn't give some days for my own washer/dryer. When and if I retire - I'm retiring to a place where I have them or at the very least a reliable service.)

Slept poorly, and I've been fending off the January uglies - which seem to be a combination of depression/anxiety or general malaise. Not helped by hot flashes.

Anyhow, bought/ordered KN95 masks for mother. About 50 of them, for about $83 via Amazon. Two boxes worth. I swear - I think I've spent close to $500 on masks in the last two years if not more. I also have lots of the cheap and free useless ones in my desk at work and at home.

Mercury is in retrograde, or so I'm told, so it may be best to take a social media hiatus. (Of course I'm ignoring that advice.) Instead I wandered about in Twitter, and found this...interesting, if mildly disturbing and slightly unsettling one about Joss Whedon, whereupon he responds to the allegations against him by playing the victim. For once, it would be nice for someone to take accountability for it.

Joss Whedon Breaks his Silence on the Allegations Against Him

It's worth reading if you are interested in the history of the Buffy fandom, Whedon's perspective on it, and interacted with it online. Since it delves into that history - and that surprised me. Starts out talking about the Whedon Studies Association - almost as if the writer is making fandom somewhat complicit in Whedon's rise and downfall, and perhaps fandom is? I don't know any longer.

( Excerpt 1 - about the scholarly fans and Whedon.. )

There's a bit of a disconnect in these stories...because what you have is a very wealthy, privileged family, who has never had to worry about money. Who lives in splendor. And got work easily. And you have a show that many identified with - but their perception of it wasn't what was inside the creator's head completely. Also there's a kind of disconnect between how fans viewed the cast and crew and creator's relationships on and off screen, and what it actually was.

( excerpt 2 - early days of internet fan culture )

I've become increasingly aware of this disconnect between what we want to be real and what actually is. Reality is far more complicated than what most perceive, and yet also far simpler. I think having a father who seems to be slipping in and out of various realities inside his head has made me more aware of this - of how reality in of itself can be little more than a construct of our own minds and perceptions of things.

There's new a game out entitled Wordl. Perhaps you've heard of it? It's all over social media. I tried it. I suck at it. I suck at word games, my father does too - even though we are both wordsmiths. But that's not a requirement of this sort of game. It's a spacial counting game with letter and word configurations. Plays havoc on anyone with dyslexia or spatial issues. I kept getting the number of letters I needed in each word wrong, and the squares confused me, as did the letter set up. Also I kept flipping everything around.

But the internet assumes anyone can do it, and everyone loves it, and it is the game we "all" need right now - emphasis on all. Why do we do this? Assume that what works for a few people or even several hundred, works for everyone? What's up with that?

I think sometimes this is the flaw in all of it. This assumption that we live in a one-size fits all world, and I've become increasingly aware that we don't. We can't be completely communal, no matter how much we may want to be, we are unique organisms, with unique gifts, perceptions, and ways of thinking - we cannot be treated the same.

**

I'm tired. And in a kind of malaise. Mercury is in retrograde or so they say. It's Martin Luther King Day - and depending on your perspective, we've either come a long way towards the kind of world King envisioned or hardly moved at all. Hard to know how King himself would view it. When he died, the world appeared to be in chaos, and yet it is also in chaos now. Is it better or worse than it was in 1968? I honestly do not know. I was one years old and have no memory of it.

I know in some ways we've advanced further than I thought possible, but others, we still seem to be hopelessly stalled. There are too many bigoted fools in the world and I dearly wish there were less - either culled from the population by a virus and natural means, or having changed their minds.
But alas, neither seems to be happening - and that frustrates me. But I'm also not surrounded by them - or near them or really know many, so maybe, I'm wrong about that.

Unlike Whedon, in the excerpts above, the sun is very much my friend. And I wish I could be sitting in his sun drenched house, just a few blocks from the beach. Without him or his artist girlfriend. Just trade abodes for a few minutes. Or hours. Or days. Or weeks. Or months. Where he can work looking out on a gray, drab, colorless world or a cubicle wall in a office with no windows...going to and from work in the dark, with the days slowly getting longer, but no where fast enough, and the sun seems at times to have taken an interminable holiday. And I can work in sun-drenched splendor, in an airy home.

I don't want anything else from his life though, just the home so briefly described in the article. I want the sun. I want to bath in it daily as I did in Hilton Head, for the sun is the enemy of the virus and all that comes with it. But then, I am not a vampire.

Random Photo of the Night...

1. Claudia Black on Film Set Safety - So, I started following Claudia Black on Twitter recently. Anyhow, she's been posting these amazing threads about how to handle life on a film set.

The link above is to the latest thread.

"If you’re an aspiring actor, and as my advice was good enough for a young Mcavoy I pray you’ll listen now.

When we were filming Pitch Black a producer came to give me a choice. They had a problem and needed to do a reshoot with me and a stuntie. The shoot thus far had been rough he crew was exhausted. 6 day weeks are unsustainable. Mistakes happen when crews are tired and often on the 6th day. The crew couldn’t say “no” to another Saturday but I could. I asked when they needed a decision & went to speak with some crew. I made sure that they themselves were choosing —rest vs an overtime paycheck— I would not presume to know their needs and priorities. They chose safety and rest. “Safety First,” is after all, an oft heard refrain on any decent set with its priorities in check. I returned to the producer and told him I was too tired and didn’t want to work the Saturday. He looked at me for a few seconds. I was a good actor and a bad liar. He went to say something, nodded instead and rescheduled. We do a lot of things on sets that would otherwise be illegal. It can be thrilling. It’s a privilege."

This was in response to the tragic shooting of a film photographer on a film set by Alec Baldwin. The shooting is being investigated, but so far appears to have been accidental and unintentional. AP NEWS COVERAGE of ON-Set misfiring of a gun that killed director of photography on the set of Rust

BTW there is a lot on this on Twitter - enough to demonstrate to me at least that Baldwin and his fellow producers cut some corners, and did not follow safety protocols on set, nor did they take measures to ensure their film crew was safe and well rested. There's one thread where a crew member is complaining about how crew members couldn't find a place to sleep that was close by, and that the producers refused to find one or pay for rooms, outside of a motel that was doubling as a homeless shelter. (This thread horrified Claudia Black.) Another thread made it clear that the Assistant Director wasn't attending safety meetings and pooh-poohing them as a waste of time. And wasn't taking the fire arm safety seriously. And another thread makes it clear how odd this was, and out of the norm - meaning normally strict safety protocols are followed and there's no way this would have happened if those safety protocols had been followed.

I'm in an industry where we have to take a four-hour safety training course each year in order to be near or on the tracks. And I'm inundated with safety protocols. We have Safety Meetings once a month. So I can well imagine what a film set that utilizes stunts and fire arms would require or should. Also recently the union representing television, theater, and film crews went on strike in part due to the lack of appropriate safety measures on film and television sets.

Days before the actor fatally shot Halyna Hutchins, a cinematographer on the set of “Rust,” a gun used in the production inadvertently went off at least two times, ex-crew members said. The incidents prompted a complaint to a supervisor about the safety practices on the set, which was outside Santa Fe. The crew members were among several workers who quit just hours before the fatal shooting over complaints about working conditions and unpaid work.

According to an affidavit, Baldwin was told that the gun was safe before he fired it, and an assistant director “did not know live rounds were in the prop-gun” when he gave it to him.

According to Twitter feeds, the assistant director didn't know because he didn't attend the safety course. The Fire Arm specialist, put the guns on the prop table. The AD picked up one and handed it to the actor, who then fired it, killing Hutchins and wounding the director.

Per the Times:

( here's what they know and don't know about the fatal shooting - and it kind of syncs with the twitter feeds )

[Right now various folks in the entertainment industry are petitioning that firearms be banned from film and television sets in the future, and they rely on special effects. I can't blame them. And why not? Also, it does make me wonder about the violence in our films and television series - and how easy it is for stuff to go wrong.}

2. There's two intriguing new comic series coming from BOOM! - involving the Angel and Buffy verses.

* Angel Goes Hollywood with New Comic
( New Angel Comics - Angel is in a television series by day and fights monsters by night )

Shame they can't reboot that as a television series. Honestly that's the one version of the old vampire as detective they haven't done. I'd watch it. They don't have to make it Angel. Or they could and recast with a hotter actor?

* Buffy The Last Slayer - has a 50 something Buffy fighting vampires in a dystopian future, with Spike, and a sword wielding gray-haired Xander.
( 50 year old Buffy the Vampire Slayer )

I wish they'd do that as a television series too - on Netflix. They could hire Claudia Black to play a 50 something Buffy, with Marsters as Spike, and recast Ben Browder as Xander.

BOOM! Studios - snatched the rights to Buffy, Angel, and Firefly from Dark Horse and IDW. And have rebooted the stories in new directions. I stopped with the reboots. But the above two takes look intriguing. And I may go back and sample some of the reboots.

[Note - Whedon may have been an asshole to work with, but I still like what he created with various other writers and actors. It's a universe I still enjoy. Also Stephen DeKnight, Marti Noxon and Jane Espenson along with Tim Minear - were all good writers. As were the actors involved, and crew.]

3. ( RIP Semi-Famous Folks who died of Cancer this week )

4. I wasn't going to talk about COVID, but alas...got email from my union. (I'm in an international union.) Anyhow - it is supporting the mandate for vaccines at least.
( union's stance and we've lost 48 members to the virus )

( From the Times Briefing )

[I don't tend to supply links to the articles, because most of them are under paywalls.]

I'm starting to rethink the Whedon thing.

There's some interesting tid-bits that I didn't realize on Feb 10 when CC posted her tweet to social media. Nor did I make the connection on November 22, 2017 when Kai Cole's allegations came out.

Here's the Time Line.

* June 2016: After Avengers Age of Ultron fares poorly - Whedon Exits Marvel in June 2016

* March 22, 2017-Whedon to Direct Batgirl on March 22, 2017

* May 22, 2017: On May 22, 2017 - it's announced that Zack Snyder had to depart Justice League

* June 17, 2017 - Whedon's Wonder Woman Script is Leaked on June 17, 2017 (Zack Snyder and Patty Jenkins release Zack's scripted Wonder Woman was released on June 2, 2017.)

November 13, 2017 - Joss Whedon's reshoot of Justice League was released. Everyone at the comic con praises Whedon's efforts. (But behind the scenes - it's not so rosy. And the cast hates the film, so too do Christopher Nolan and Snyder's wife and producing partner. )

November 22, 2017 On November 22, 2017 - Kai Cole comes out with her allegations about Whedon.

January 2018 Justice League tanks at the box office and is overtaken by Infinity War in 2018.

On June 2018 Whedon Exits Batgirl

Ray Fisher supports Zack Snyder's Justice League Charity on December 2, 2019

Sept 5, 2019 Zack Snyder's Fans Bring Release the Snyder Cut to the San Diego Comic Con

On May 20, 2020 Zack Snyder's 20 Million Plus Justice League Cut Plans Revealed

June 10, 2020 June 10th Fisher retracted his statements at comic con in 2017, stating Whedon was in fact abusive.

July 1, 2020 While Whedon is filming HBO Max's The Nevers in England, and planning on doing a promotional Zoom Q&A at comic con in July - and simultaneously Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder and company, with his friend Chris Nolan backing him, are trying to get Snyder's version of Justice League funded and put on HBO Max - Ray Fisher's Allegations Against Whedon on July 1. Whedon leaves the Q&A on Zoom.

July 20, 2020 July 22, 2020 Ray Fisher Reveals Change He Requested from Zack Snyder for Justice League and is revealed as one of the biggest and most fervent supporters of the Snyder Cut

September 23, 2020 Zack Snyder Filming New Justice League Scenes for the Snyder Cut in October

October 22, 2020 - HBO Max releases information Zack Snyder's Justice League

October 29, 2020 Ray Fisher Gets Specific With Allegations of Racism during Whedon's Re-shoot of Justice League on October 29, 2020

Joss Whedon denies Ray Fisher's Claims that he altered a Justice League Member's skin tone

November 25, 2020 The Real Reason Joss Whedon Leaves the Nevers on November 25, 2020 (He also left Twitter completely.)

December 11, 202 . December 11, 2020 - Justice League Investigation Concludes with Remedial Action Following Ray Fisher Claims

January 1, 2021 Ray Fisher is removed from the Flash...latest in Justice League Allegations - Jan 1, 2021

January 2, 2021 Ray Fisher Supports Restore the Snydervers on January 2, 2021

January 14, 2021 Ray Fisher Slams Studio Regarding Removal From the Flash Amid Justice League Allegations

February 10, 2021 Charisma Carpenter Supports Ray Fishers Allegations Against Whedon in I Stand with Ray Fisher Post

February 11, 2021 Buffy Alums Support Charisma Carpenters Allegations Against Whedon

February 14, 2021 Snyder Cut Trailer Is Dropped

February 15 Julie Benze and more Buffy and Angel Alums stand with Charisma on Whedon Allegations

February 16 David Boreanze and James Marsters show support

February 23, 2021 The True History of Zack Snyder's Justice League Cut

And finally..

The True Story of the Justice League Snyder Cut - Revealing how Whedon gutted nice guy Zack Snyder's film, and Snyder fought to get his version released for no pay, proceeds going to a charity in his adoptive daughter's name.

A couple of interesting takeaways: Ray Fisher had a bigger and more prominent role in Zack Snyder's film, Whedon cut out most of his part. Fisher has been a proponent of Snyder's version being released since roughly 2019, if not prior. Director Christopher Nolan despised Whedon's version and told his friend Zack Snyder never to see it.

Whedon for his part was given an impossible assignment - while working on Batgirl - WB told him to fix Snyder's film and deliver them a movie like The Avengers. He had less than six months to do it, and the movie shouldn't be much more than two and half hours if that in length. The individual who pushed for this - is now fired from WB for allegations of sexual harassment and couldn't be reached for comment. To do this - he'd have shave Snyder's film which was really two films, rewrite the script and re-shot all within four to five months, keeping to the release date of November 2017.

Whedon from all reports doesn't handle this type of stress well. And gets easily frustrated with actors. In addition he was diagnosed around 2018 with ADHD ( according to his Twitter account.)

The cast did not welcome him and fought him tooth and nail. Cavill was busy filming Mission Impossible at the same time. They had already shot the movie and loved Snyder's version. While the cast loved Zack Snyder, and Momoa, Gail Gadot and Fisher all praised Snyder for discovering them and saving their careers.

The allegations by the Buffy and Angel alums are vague, with the exception of Charisma's. Also over 20 years old. Kai Cole's allegations are also vague and to an extent old and weirdly timed.

The allegations by Fisher are also vague - and over four years old.

And..and..Zack Snyder's Cut of Justice League - does not happen in this industry. Having another filmmaker or writer take over a film? That happens all the time. That's kind of the nature of the business. What doesn't happen is an expensive movie ($300 Million) is released, tanks, and the studio pays $70 more million to undo everything the last guy did. WB payed $70 million for Snyder to undo Whedon's cut to his film, and restore his original version. Which is a 190 degree change from Whedon's - Snyder used film and square screen for Imax, Whedon used Digital and 3D stock, in rectangle. That's a lot of money. And you have to get people interested somehow - with a March 18 release date.

So...this begs the question, why did it all come out now? And more to the point, why not speak about it before now?

I'll let you all draw your own conclusions.