July 6th to July 12th
Music
Vaudeville Smash, Dancing for the Girl
After enjoying “Zinedine Zidane,” I sought their first album. Love the influences, although it can be a little forgettable at times. “Don’t Say a Word” rises above the rest to be a moody but fluffy break-up song, while “Devil Said” strains for Scissor Sisters. But “Sailor Moon” is the band’s first crack at filk, and it’s marvelous.
Television
Sailor Moon, “Usagi’s Panic: Rei’s First Date”
HE IS IN COLLEGE AND YOU ARE FOURTEEN. CALM DOWN.
Sailor Moon, “A Girl’s Dream: Usagi Becomes a Bride”
There’s a thin line between Sailor Moon focusing on the issues closest to the hearts of preteen girls and accidentally reinforcing stereotypes already tired by the early nineties-specifically, that all girls dream of a wedding, they don’t even care what the groom is like! But Usagi remains her usual, delightful self, declaring that she has such high standards that she has to marry a hot guy and then daydreams about marrying the only two hot guys supposedly on the market (THEY ARE IN COLLEGE CALM DOWN USAGI) at the same time. Dream big, you crazy diamond.
Sailor Moon, “Usagi’s a Model: The Flash of the Monster Camera”
And we have more Usagi shenanigans here, in the first of an odd but refreshing pair of episodes that look at traditional masculinity and sets it down, gently, on the far end of the table without making much eye contact. Here, a preteen boy’s art is compromised by his sudden, sexualized desire to take pictures of any young woman in a swim suit-a desire forced on him by demonic forces, as represented by the butch for the standards of a shoujo anime Nephrite. (His hands are massive.) And then Zoisite, the femmest gentleman we’ve met so far, specifically shows up to mock Nephrite.
Plus, Usagi shows some smarts in the battle against the youma, turning her camera against her.
Sailor Moon, “Shingo’s Love: the Grieving Doll”
And then we have traditional masculinity poisoning the friendship between a little boy and a little girl, because Shingo is so embarrassed at the teasing of his friends that he ends up breaking the doll Mika made for him. But we’ve got Usagi to save the day, by stepping in as a big sister at the behest of Mika’s friends. I love seeing these little moments with Usagi, because the show craps on her a lot-that, on top of being her delightfully lazy self, she’s also kind and sensitive to justice. Plus, we learn that Shingo thinks Sailor Moon is super-cool, which is really sweet. We so rarely see little boys looking up to female superheroes.
(Although that joke about Shingo maybe having a crush on Sailor Moon IS AWFUL.)
Project Progress:
Saturday Night Live: 15.3% (5/39)
Star Trek Televisual Canon: 32.5% (13/40)
This entry was originally posted at http://eralkfang.dreamwidth.org/242805.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Vaudeville Smash, Dancing for the Girl
After enjoying “Zinedine Zidane,” I sought their first album. Love the influences, although it can be a little forgettable at times. “Don’t Say a Word” rises above the rest to be a moody but fluffy break-up song, while “Devil Said” strains for Scissor Sisters. But “Sailor Moon” is the band’s first crack at filk, and it’s marvelous.
Television
Sailor Moon, “Usagi’s Panic: Rei’s First Date”
HE IS IN COLLEGE AND YOU ARE FOURTEEN. CALM DOWN.
Sailor Moon, “A Girl’s Dream: Usagi Becomes a Bride”
There’s a thin line between Sailor Moon focusing on the issues closest to the hearts of preteen girls and accidentally reinforcing stereotypes already tired by the early nineties-specifically, that all girls dream of a wedding, they don’t even care what the groom is like! But Usagi remains her usual, delightful self, declaring that she has such high standards that she has to marry a hot guy and then daydreams about marrying the only two hot guys supposedly on the market (THEY ARE IN COLLEGE CALM DOWN USAGI) at the same time. Dream big, you crazy diamond.
Sailor Moon, “Usagi’s a Model: The Flash of the Monster Camera”
And we have more Usagi shenanigans here, in the first of an odd but refreshing pair of episodes that look at traditional masculinity and sets it down, gently, on the far end of the table without making much eye contact. Here, a preteen boy’s art is compromised by his sudden, sexualized desire to take pictures of any young woman in a swim suit-a desire forced on him by demonic forces, as represented by the butch for the standards of a shoujo anime Nephrite. (His hands are massive.) And then Zoisite, the femmest gentleman we’ve met so far, specifically shows up to mock Nephrite.
Plus, Usagi shows some smarts in the battle against the youma, turning her camera against her.
Sailor Moon, “Shingo’s Love: the Grieving Doll”
And then we have traditional masculinity poisoning the friendship between a little boy and a little girl, because Shingo is so embarrassed at the teasing of his friends that he ends up breaking the doll Mika made for him. But we’ve got Usagi to save the day, by stepping in as a big sister at the behest of Mika’s friends. I love seeing these little moments with Usagi, because the show craps on her a lot-that, on top of being her delightfully lazy self, she’s also kind and sensitive to justice. Plus, we learn that Shingo thinks Sailor Moon is super-cool, which is really sweet. We so rarely see little boys looking up to female superheroes.
(Although that joke about Shingo maybe having a crush on Sailor Moon IS AWFUL.)
Project Progress:
Saturday Night Live: 15.3% (5/39)
Star Trek Televisual Canon: 32.5% (13/40)
This entry was originally posted at http://eralkfang.dreamwidth.org/242805.html. Please comment there using OpenID.