Showing posts with label Fandom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fandom. Show all posts

Monday, December 16, 2013

My Nerd Wishes for 2014

7:17 PM — Unknown — 0 comments — Labels: ,

I had a lot of fun putting my list together last year, and a lot of them actually came true! Or at least half true- S.H.I.E.L.D. was picked up, but is neither awesome nor Whedony, at least not yet, and while Community did return, it was a soulless mockery of itself. But that's ok because!

10) Dan Harmon's return will put an end to the Darkest Timeline. This is not so much a wish as it is a dearly held belief.

9) S.H.I.E.L.D. to get better. There's so much potential, but so far it's lacking that essential spark and I just don't care about anyone other than Coulson most of the time.

8) The chance to go back to NYCC. I went this year and it was amazing and even better than last time (Sleepy Hollow cast! Spirited feminist debates! Hugs and love from John Barrowman!). Here's hoping the third time is the best so far.

7) To not say appallingly stupid things to the Supernatural cast at the con I'm going to in September. Or to swoon during my photo op with "Sam" and "Dean."

6) This is pretty vague, but more movies that say "feh" to traditional gender roles and romantic tropes. Pacific Rim was a really fun surprise, partially for this reason, and everything I've heard about Frozen is encouraging.

5)  For the Daughter of Smoke and Bone film adaptation that's in the works to do the book justice. I would say it's not that hard, but it kind of is, which is why I'm not even cautiously excited that there's going to be a movie in the first place. Just, could we not? Thanks.

4) More Simon Pegg and Nick Frost collaborations, ideally with Edgar Wright.

3) For Sleepy Hollow to continue being the breakneck whirlwind of supernatural cheese, ethnic diversity, pair bonding and gleeful insanity that we've come to know and love. With Orlando Jones with his finger on the fandom pulse, I think we're in safe hands.

2) A live-action miniseries with the Eighth Doctor. I don't want to hear your reasonable excuses. He was back for The Night of the Doctor and people loved it so la la la la la.....

And finally:

1) A female-led comic book movie because COME THE HELL ON ALREADY. Marvel please, I don't trust DC with this.


What's on your nerdy wish list this year?

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Sleepy Hollow

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Any regular or even occasional reader of this blog could probably come up with some of my favorite shows (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, Community), but aside from the odd name drop or reference, I've never reviewed a show on here.

Until now. *dramatic music*



Why now, you ask? Because now there is a little show called Sleepy Hollow and it is INSANE and I can't stop talking about it. Here are some reasons why.

The Plot
Well, ok, actually the plot is the thing that made me initially want to stay far, far away from Sleepy Hollow. Time-travelling Ichabod Crane solving crimes in the 21st century? Puh-lease. Actually though, it's shaping up to be a pretty great supernatural series, with some "freak of the week" monsters, as well as season/series long arcs. The horror parts are actually kind of terrifying, and even the ridiculous elements are so fun you'll probably just enjoy the ride.

The Setting
Small historic city with loads of colonial buildings, twisty rivers, and misty woods? Um, yeah, I'm there.

The Characters
Like the better Supernatural (see what I did there?) shows, this isn't all about wacky hijinks and mysterious beasties. It's about the relationships between the characters. Lieutenant Abbie Mills is a skeptic, and not just because there needs to be one on a show like this. She's a skeptic because she and her sister witnessed something as kids that caused massive fallout for them that they are both still struggling with. Ichabod Crane doesn't just have to cope with automatic doors and a 10% levy on baked goods ("insane!"). He's been awakened in a time not his own, one in which his wife has been dead for 200+ years and he has no one to turn to. The chemistry that these two have is amazing, which brings me to... 

The Cast
I love this cast. Even when the show is at its craziest, the actors do an amazing job of injecting gravitas, emotion and humor. Watching them interact is one of the best things about the show, and while it's not overdone, watching Mills try to translate modern quirks for Ichabod is so fun.


A lot has been made of the diversity of the cast, and rightly so. There are several main characters who happen to be POC, and guests stars of various backgrounds have been introduced as well (with mixed results, the Native American episode was a little off). Orlando Jones, who plays Mills' commanding officer (police chief? detective inspector? no hang on...) has promised more and better to come, so here's hoping this trend will continue.

Tom Mison. Tall. Dark. British. His voice nearly knocked me off my chair the first time I heard it, and he's forever doing things that, having been brought up on a steady diet of English costume dramas, make me swoon. He shoots with his arm behind his back. He dashes about in an excellent (if worse for wear) coat. He pronounces "Lieutenant" "Leftenant" and makes use of their extreme and wonderful height difference to hold up police tape for his partner. Also he speaks Middle English and has the best bitchface this side of the Winchesters. Move over Hornblower, I've got a new 18th century man.

The Fandom
This is the first time I've been part of a fandom from the start and it is a blast. Thanks to tumblr, I can see other fans reactions to episodes, share gif sets, art and fic from moments that happened hours before, and geek out about Tom Mison's overly expressive eyebrows to my heart's content. And it's not only the fans. The creators and cast are in on it too, especially the amazingly lovely Orlando Jones. He live tweets episodes, refers to fans lovingly as Sleepy Heads, shares fan art, teases future episodes, acknowledges and praises fan participation with the show, and ships IchAbbie as much as any of us- with the occasional nod to IchaTrina. Be still my nerd heart.

Speaking of shippers... Ship wars can often be the worst part of a fandom, as people take sites, bitterly defend their own OTPs, and lash out at other pairings and shippers. I haven't seen any of that in the Sleepy Hollow fandom yet, which may only be because the fandom is so new, but I like to think it's because we have learned from past mistakes (the Hannibal fandom also seems pretty much free of ship wars, so hopefully this is becoming the norm). 

The Surprise
Honestly, I still can't believe how much I love this show. If you had told me 6 months ago that I would be more excited by this hunk of supernatural cheese than by the new Joss Whedon (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) show, I would have scoffed until I hurt something.



Now? I hate to say it, but other than the always charming and perfect Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is leaving me cold. It's making me flashback to when Dollhouse was on. I watched that religiously, afraid that if I missed one episode it would be cancelled out from under me and I would have no right to complain (obviously, this happened anyway). People would ask me if it was good, and I would pause, trying to find the will to gush, and then mumble something about the cool tech and gorgeous set pieces. But I didn't love it, and that bummed me out more than I can reasonably say. Since then I've come to appreciate Dollhouse more, and to genuinely enjoy it. Unless S.H.I.E.L.D. has a whole arsenal of surprises, though, I don't see that happening here. I want to love it, I took it for granted that I would love it, but the characters are missing some essential spark, and the Bus just looks like Serenity in ways that hurt my still broken Browncoat heart.

But Sleepy Hollow!! I don't know what else to say other than that I love it, unreservedly. The first 5 episodes are on Hulu so there is plenty of time to catch up. I hope you like it.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

In Defense of Strong Female Characters- And Their Fans

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“I want [female characters] to be allowed to be weak and strong and happy and sad – human, basically. The fallacy in Hollywood is that if you’re making a ‘feminist’ story, the woman kicks ass and wins. That’s not feminist, that’s macho. A movie about a weak, vulnerable woman can be feminist if it shows a real person that we can empathize with.” — Natalie Portman

I hate Strong Female Characters.
 
Sherlock Holmes gets to be brilliant, solitary, abrasive, Bohemian, whimsical, brave, sad, manipulative, neurotic, vain, untidy, fastidious, artistic, courteous, rude, a polymath genius. Female characters get to be Strong. - Sophia McDougall

Don't let my title confuse you, I wholeheartedly agree with both statements. If you haven't read McDougall's article, check it out now from the hyperlink. Teen media especially is suffering from an overabundance of "Strong" but simple and dull female protagonists. Even authors I like have put out books where it seems like they are far too concerned with having a strong female lead, rather than a believable, sympathetic, or realistic one. I'm all for girls kicking ass and copping 'tude, but a gun and some snark do not add up to a personality. (For an instance where this does work because the author has added other layers, check out Paranormalcy's Evie, who rocks her job as a paranormal investigator while toting a sparkly pink taser and worrying about missing her favorite teen dramas). In the name of Joss, yes, bring on the complex women, strength be damned.

HOWEVER. I heard something really interesting at the Kill or Be Killed: Crafting a Powerful Female Protagonist panel at NYCC this weekend. A fan asked the authors how they go about crafting a strong female character. This resulted in a discussion about strength, and how it doesn't have to be physical, it can be moral, emotional, etc. The moderator, Thea James, referenced McDougall's article, and some time was spent discussing the variety of women we have on TV these days (one author professed her love for Breaking Bad's Lydia). Finally, Lauren Oliver, author of the Delirium series, spoke up to defend the idea of strong women. Put simply, it is still extremely empowering for girls and women to see characters like Ripley from Alien or Sarah Connor from Terminator 2 kicking ass and taking names. 

Ideally we'd live in a world where we didn't need to be conscious of specific female empowerment- everyone would already be equal. Until we get there though, we shouldn't be writing off these characters, just mindful that variety and complexity are also needed.

Happily there are works with great balances of gender roles, and with racial diversity as well (Sleepy Hollow and Lieutenant Abbie Mills for the win). I haven't watched Person of Interest, but after seeing their panel I will definitely be checking it out. They opened with a video sequence in which one of their police officer characters, who happens to be both female and black, took down a crooked cop to thunderous applause from the audience. I don't know about the entire cast, but just on the panel were two other prominent female actors, including Amy Acker who plays an offbeat computer scientist. Check out my video of Taraji P. Henson answering a fan question about the diverse roles for women on the show:

  Please pardon the low quality

While we're on the subject, I attended panels from both Marvel and DC comics, and at both panelists were asked about the roles of women in their franchises. At the Marvel panel, a fan asked (pleasantly, but seriously) where our female-led movie was already. The panelists smiled coyly, and asked if she planned to see The Winter Soldier. While that is a Captain America movie, it also stars Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. The fan quite rightly pointed out that this wasn't a lead role, and the panel advised her to wait and see. The whole tone seemed to point to a high likelihood of a female-led movie, maybe spun off of The Winter Soldier- or perhaps the end credits will tell us more? Either way they seemed comfortable with the question and had encouraging things to say about it.

 DC..... was another matter. Many of the same fans attended this panel, and the questions were tougher. Where are the strong women in the movies? What happened with Batwoman? Where did Wonder Woman's pants go? (there was a Wonder Woman redesign a few years back that gave the Amazon a jacket and trousers, but this has been undone). Unlike Marvel, several panelists and especially the moderator looked uncomfortable or downright annoyed by these questions. An artist who works on the Wonder Woman comic said that from a purely artistic standpoint, that costume was harder to draw action for, and it was hard to differentiate Wonder Woman's black pants from her black boots. Excuse me? Then why aren't the men in short shorts and go-go boots?
    
To the panelists credit, they were being put on the spot, but tough. These are fair questions that need to be asked, and judging from the applause and cheers following each question, these fans were not alone in their opinions. The one woman on the panel did say that she has never had an issue as a woman in the comic book world, which was good to hear, but if absolutely nothing else plenty of people perceive there to be gender bias in that realm and discussions clearly need to happen. And ok, grumpy moderator, it is a fair point that female fans should buy titles that contain themes and characterization they're looking for, but perhaps your company needs to make more of an effort to be inclusive in the first place. One fan asked if DC has considered reviewing their hiring practices to include more women and minorities. The response? The artists aren't there. It's mostly men anyway, so, feh. I seriously, seriously doubt that. Just look at the world of fan art. Squillions of those artists are female, and before anyone rolls their eyes, the creative team behind Avatar: The Legend of Korra also attended NYCC, and stated that they have already hired three artists based on fan art. 

There was a great deal of talk at the con about the role of women in geekdom as a whole, most of it positive and enlightening. So it was doubly jarring to attend a panel where I felt that these important questions were met with annoyance and dismissal from a moderator. Still. Keep asking questions, fans, support the things you like, and make even more noise about the things you don't. Also, keep up the gender-swapped cosplay because I can't tell you how delighted I was by all the female Sherlocks, Castiels, and Malcolm Reynolds(es) I saw, in addition to some truly tremendous Kaylees, Korras, and Katnisses.

EDIT: One of my very favorite blogs has posted an article about the Marvel and DC panels here. Go check it out!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

TV Love

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Hi, my name is Emily, and I'm a television addict (hi, Emily)

Really though, I love TV. And now that damn near all my shows are over, cancelled, or on summer hiatus, I'm going a little batty. What a perfect time to catch up on some critical essays!

Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly edited by Jane Espenson

Oh Firefly. Nothing will ever fill the broken, rusty hole you left in my heart. Luckily I'm not alone, as proven by this collection brought to your grabby Browncoat hands by contributors including crew members, fans, and even the best mechanic in the verse, Kaylee actress Jewel Staite. *hums theme song. You can't take the sky from meeeeee*

(remember what I said about going a bit batty? Yeah, Space Madness has definitely set in)

Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Television Show edited by Glen Yeffeth

Speaking of our Lord and Savior His Great And Mighty Whedonness- Buffy! Not all of these anthologies are so big on the analysis, but this one is, which is very welcome as this series is so full of ideas, tropes, development and symbolism to be mined. Before launching into a rewatch, check this out. It's kind of like taking a Buffy-centered media studies course, and who among us wouldn't have rocked that elective in college?



In the Hunt: Unauthorized Essays on Supernatural edited by Leah Wilson and Supernatural TV

This anthology is great- diverse, entertaining, and scholarly, while still being a celebration of the show. Have you ever noticed that Dean is kind of a soccer mom? Why do people write so much fanfiction, anyway? Read multiple essays on how awesome the Impala is, and trace the magnificently constructed arcs of the first 5 seasons. Decide how much of a crap father John was (my answer: very much, but maybe he did the best he could...?), and contemplate the differences between Sam and Dean. A great way to stave off hiatus angst (do we really have to wait until November??)

Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O'Shea

Chicks Dig Time Lords is, as the title implies, more a celebration of fandom than a book of insightful analyses about the show. The entries are short, and occasionally personal to the point of being of more interest to the authors than the readers. But still, many will resonate with fans from diverse backgrounds who all have different experiences with the show. I enjoyed the mix- long-time viewers, new converts, women who grew up watching the show who were then able to introduce it to their daughters, writers/readers of fic, costumers, congoers, authors and even an actress (India Fisher!!!). It's worth picking up solely for Carol Barrowman's (yes, THAT Barrowman) entry. There are two sequels: Chicks Unravel Time, which might fulfill my yen for more in-depth critiques, and Queers Dig Time Lords, an exploration of LGBT characters & themes in the show, and fans of all stripes who love it.

Serenity Found: More Unathorized Essays on Joss Whedon's Firefly Universe edited by Jane Espenson

One might think that this, being the second anthology about the Firefly 'verse, might be a little thin. Fear not! It was written after Serenity skewered us all in the gut premiered, so contributors have plenty of material to explore. There are some fantastic pieces from great contributors, all intelligent and insightful, which illuminated several ideas and themes in the series- and yet all I can think of right now is Nathan Fillion's entry, which pretty much proves that he is (a better adjusted) Captain Malcom Reynolds.


Reading these didn't just give me more insight into some of my favorite shows. Sure, they were often fun and funny, and I loved learning more about fans, creators, characters, sets and stories, but I also got to flex the part of my brain that has been languishing since I left my last English lit course. Watching tv is all well and good, but I'm not (just) in it for the pretty people, compelling baddies, striking sets and costumes. I'm in it for the stories, the connections, and I love finding out more about genre, the process of media production, and how tv can legitimately be called literature.

If any of that sounds interesting, or if you're looking for something tv-related to do in the long haul until the fall season, check out one of these books and let me know what you think!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd

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Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci

Acclaimed authors Holly Black (Ironside) and Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof) have united in geekdom to edit short stories from some of the best selling and most promising geeks in young adult literature: M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, John Green, Tracy Lynn, Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass, Garth Nix, Scott Westerfield, Lisa Yee, and Sara Zarr.

With illustrated interstitials from comic book artists Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley, Geektastic covers all things geeky, from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction, theater geeks, and cosplayers. Whether you're a former, current, or future geek, or if you just want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic will help you get your geek on! -Plot summary borrowed from Goodreads

This was a fun, fairly quick read that did touch on most aspects of fandom (cosplaying, cons, fic, online communities, bonding with people over weirdly specific things, etc), as well as mentioning most of the big geek touchstones (Star Trek, Buffy, Doctor Who, Star Wars, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and so forth).  None of the stories were AMAZING, but they were mostly at least entertaining, and some stood out. I really enjoyed the Klingon/Jedi love story, and the one about a Buffy fan defending Dawn (no she's not my favorite either, but is she really deserving of so much hate, especially after Season Seven? I think not.) If you want to enjoy some geek nostalgia, or learn what some of your favorite writers fangirl about, this is the place to do it.


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