And off in the distance you hear fireworks...

[rogueslayer452]

++ After seeing the trailer for The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, I am even more excited than I was before. We only had a brief sneak peek last time, but here we get actual footage from the series and I'm incredibly impressed with it. So far from what we see in this trailer, there's a blend of the old school puppetry and use of special effects to enhance the world, and I really like that. And this is only a teaser trailer, which I'm assuming we'll be getting another one between now and before it premieres, but damn. I'm all in. Although I know that Netflix has been very picky about this very thing, I'm just hoping that it'll be released onto DVD/Bluray. Because, what's the point if I can't have the movie and the series together on my DVD shelf? I need a completed collection, dammit.

++ One Day At A Time has been saved by CBS! I was honestly surprised by this news, because based on what was being reported it seemed that Netflix was refusing to budge for anyone to save the show. But it seems like that was only for other streaming services to pick it up, not network television. It's still shitty what Netflix did, and continues to do, with the majority of their programming by cancelling after three seasons (or less) with no warning whatsoever based on a fucked up subscriber algorithm, but I'm happy that at least ODAAT was able to be saved.

++ Very recently, since many videos were popping up in preparation for the release of the Child's Play remake, I went down the rabbit hole of watching Aubrey Plaza videos on YouTube, from compilations to interviews and other segments. I've always loved Aubrey ever since Parks and Rec, but I hadn't watched some of her interviews and things in a while so I just went down that rabbit hole of hunting them down. I love her so much. We kind of share the same sense of humor, and I do like how she's become more comfortable during interviews now, while still maintaining that level of deadpan humor and awkwardness. My favorite recent ones are her episode on Hot Ones and her taking a lie detector test. But really, everything she does is gold. ❤

++ It was announced yesterday that Halle Bailey has been cast as Ariel in the upcoming live-action The Little Mermaid, and naturally all the racists have come out of the woodwork being mad about it because this Ariel is going to be black. This happens every single time, it's quite predictable, and just seeing the mental gymnastics they do to defend their racism and ignorance is just wild. It's not really surprising anymore, just disappointing. Either way, while The Little Mermaid is not my favorite Disney movie, and while these live-action remakes are a huge hit-or-miss for me personally, I have no problems about this casting at all.

Comments

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It's a fantastic movie, which I recommend you watch at some point. If nothing else than to marvel at the amazing puppetry and set designs alone. Jim Henson said it was his best passion projects he ever worked on, and it shows.

My question would be, "why not a black girl?" Because really, it makes no difference to the character. If Brandy can be Cinderella in the very diverse and iconic 1997 version of Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella_(1997_film)), this should also be accepted as well.

[cozycaffe.livejournal.com]

I think my reaction simply goes explained as we're so used to a white redhead but I don't think Arial was ever depicted as white with red hair. I also believe there was a whole thing with Daryl Hannah being blond in Splash and they truly wanted to make a difference between the two. Also, red and green go very well together. In hindsight, I'm okay with an actress of color. i mean, it is about time that we stop white washing all characters.

I mean, I rememvber back when the Harry Potter theater thing came out and Hermione was black. She was never depicted as white. "Brown unruly/curly hair" yes but that's it... basically.

I never saw the Brandy movie. I know Whitney Houston is the fairy godmother in it. That's all.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

She was never depicted as white. "Brown unruly/curly hair" yes but that's it... basically.

That's kind of a tricky area. Did JKR describe Hermione as white? Not explicitly, but all book covers worldwide depicted her as white, the movies cast a white actress, all merchandising features her as white, and the character was pretty much a self-insertion of the author herself, who is white. Plus, JKR clearly does describe characters who aren't white (hence the Blaise Zabini backlash when it was described that he was a black boy and suddenly certain areas of the HP fandom went ballistic for a time). I think when this came up re: the play JKR showed her support of the casting by saying that she didn't describe Hermione in detail outside of her bushy hair and bucked teeth, thereby any interpretation is fine. But I do believe that, when JKR wrote the books, she wrote Hermione to be white, which was reflected in everything outside of the play of her being white.

But that's an inherent problem overall, this notion of "white until proven otherwise" mentality many have, from the general public to mainstream media. It's why whitewashing in general needs to stop.

I never saw the Brandy movie. I know Whitney Houston is the fairy godmother in it. That's all.

Oh, it's very good. I also highly recommend watching it. I've seen other versions of Rodgers and Hammersteins Cinderella, and they're all good, but this one was unique because it features a heavily diverse cast. We have a black Cinderella, an Asian prince whose mother is black and father is white. It's amazing.

[cozycaffe.livejournal.com]

It's why whitewashing in general needs to stop.

Yes, I agree a billion % with that.

going back to my reaction to the casting for Ariel is, I think, mainly based off the fact I'm so used to Ariel being white and red hair that it didn't seem to fit. Splash had a white and blond woman as the mermaid. The mermaids in PotC were all white, I think, too. but yeah, mainly because Ariel is linked to the white girl with red hair but there,s nothing wrong with a black mermaid. It's a fun and nice change.

A lot of things have to change... like killing all gay characters, too. Or having a token black guy in a show or movie that basically does nothing...