Massive credit to the social network crew over at Archie Comics for attempting to invoke the Streisand effect. They had people engaging with the tweet and the YouTube channel, other people trying to explain to them that they were causing damage to themselves, and geek blogs covering them. It’s a very simple thing, but not everyone can get it right. The problem is sustaining it. If you click on the link above, you’ll see that they turned it into a promo code not good for subscriptions, portraits, or bundles. I have a feeling it’s already petered out. In other words, Archie bungled it again.
Mad Men takes responsibility for blackface episode
The key takeaway for me about Mad Men‘s global sale to various entities is that the blackface episode will not be edited out, unlike other shows. There will be a notification on screen that says that show is merely depicted an era in which such racism was commonplace. They feel it’s appropriate to do that because it’s a period series. Shame that the owners, producers, and actors on other recent series don’t have the same integrity to provide a very similar disclaimer themselves. The series may have been aired only in the past two decades, but it’s nonetheless true that such racism was still commonplace.
I’m learning along with everyone else that combatting racism isn’t about erasure. It’s about facing and admitting to the injustices that even you have committed. That’s antiracism. When series try to dodge the issue by pulling away, it’s failing being a good ally by not taking responsibility. I haven’t read the book bearing this title, but I’m pretty sure this is what white fragility is.
Jodie, the Daria spin-off, overshadowed by a rebooted Beavis and Butt-Head
It was maybe a year or so ago when it was announced that an MTV’s Daria spin-off was in the works, then called Daria and Jodie, that would focus on the adult versions of those characters from the show. At the time the response often was, “Who’s Jodie? Wasn’t her best friend Jane?” Jodie was the token Black female character on the show, who was the overachiever that occasionally mentioned that she had to work much harder because of her race. By occasionally I mean really occasionally, as Daria focused on the life of disaffected teens who didn’t quite fit in but tried to avoid anything too controversial.
Because race is political, for some reason.
Continue reading “Jodie, the Daria spin-off, overshadowed by a rebooted Beavis and Butt-Head”On letters, cancellations, and what everyone seems to get wrong
There will be no burying the lede here. People can’t cancel people; businesses cancel people. As it has always been and how I expect it to remain in my lifetime, those in power are the ones who truly determine the amplification of a voice or the silencing that may occur when it is determined that the person’s voice is of no value anymore. It’s cold and true. Blaming a supposed mob for using their own voices, especially when the grouping of people is largely composed of those who have historically been marginalized, is ultimately another exertion of dominance.
Continue reading “On letters, cancellations, and what everyone seems to get wrong”An Argument for Why Distasteful 30 Rock, Scrubs, and W/ Bob & David Blackface Episodes Should Remain
In the most current of decades (and decades) of social justice movements based on the realization that Black people are regarded quite differently than other Americans, creators and platforms in entertainment have decided that they should also have a reckoning. Last week it was announced that an episode of W/ Bob & David would be removed from Netflix because a sketch featured a character in blackface. This week show creators Tina Fey and Bill Lawrence requested that platforms remove episodes of their respective shows, 30 Rock and Scrubs, for also featuring scenes of characters in blackface. Now that these entire episodes are gone there are no longer issues, right?
Except the problem is those episodes did exist and all they’re trying to do is say they’re owning the problem by saying they don’t exist anymore. That’s not a solution.
Continue reading “An Argument for Why Distasteful 30 Rock, Scrubs, and W/ Bob & David Blackface Episodes Should Remain”Star Trek remains hopeful to those who recognize that hope is active, not passive
This blog has been quiet, and I take full responsibility for that. It’s been a rough past few weeks for me as a man of color in America. It didn’t seem appropriate to focus on entertainment news, and much of what was being shared – because nothing new is being produced – was about shortcomings in the industry pertaining to black people and how white people didn’t stand up for it. Or had no power to. Like Josh Trank with trying to cast a black woman as Susan Storm in Fantastic Four. They’re all just disappointing stories, really. But that’s reality.
Today I came across something else that I’ve been mentally chewing on. This ScreenRant article on how Star Trek lost something great. In summary, Gene Roddenberry’s original series was full of optimism and the stories of today are lacking in that view of the future. Thomas Bacon isn’t wrong in the slightest. Star Trek has become more jaded and pessimistic. But I don’t think that makes it any less great. It’s inspiring.
Continue reading “Star Trek remains hopeful to those who recognize that hope is active, not passive”Censorship and Visibility in the Age of Trump
The executive order regarding social media is in part meant to serve as a flex at social media companies. It paves the way for legal recourse against any action perceived as negative toward conservatives – or the ruling party, really. Given that the president likes the ease with which he can communicate with his constituents over a service like Twitter as well as the following her commands on Facebook, nothing lethal will occur to either service. The threat is there, though. And money is the blood shed in a capitalist culture.
There’s a second meaning to the order, though.
Continue reading “Censorship and Visibility in the Age of Trump”Why ‘Batwoman’ Star Ruby Rose Left the CW Series – Variety
https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/batwoman-ruby-rose-exit-1234612077/
So apparently the mystery of the fleeing Batwoman is resolved. It surprisingly has nothing to do with injury – which would be reason enough – and everything to do with working hours she found disagreeable. Considering she did crossovers with people already working those hours, it’s baffling that she may not have known what she was getting into.
I call shenanigans. While it’s believable that a show and its star can soon part, I’d be surprised if this were it considering it’s not coming from official sources. Someone’s either looking for attention (you got it) or trying to make her look bad. Thing is, it doesn’t matter why things happened unless it involved incredibly foul behavior. Otherwise the important thing is what everyone does next. How does the show move on? How does Ruby Rose move on?
Batwoman exits Batwoman – Ruby Rose calls it quits
One does not need to be a viewer of the Batwoman show on the CW to be shocked by the news that the lead performer, Ruby Rose, is exiting the show after one season. It’s not like this never happens, but this rarely happens. It’s not something one often sees of a show in which the lead character’s name (or pseudonym) is the show’s title. How do you recover from that?
Continue reading “Batwoman exits Batwoman – Ruby Rose calls it quits”Will Miyazaki live to see How Do You Live?
I recently read about the new film bring worked in by Hayao Miyazaki called How Do You Live? He wants the animation to be so detailed that his 60 animators are only able to accomplish 1 minute of animation a month! At this pace, the film can be expected to have its animation completed in another 6 to 9 years, assuming a 90 minute to 2 hour film line Miyazaki’s other work. The man is 79 years old. My fear is that the film will either not be finished or he won’t live to see its release. If it’s as beautifully animated as the process suggests, what a note to go out on.
Our Multimedia Culture 