Possible spoilers for Torchwood: COE
I started to watch Torchwood: Children of Earth last night.
Um, when did this show actually get weighty, toothy, and actually watchable? I admit to making it a sport of mocking Torchwood due to the fact that I think John Barrowman's acting on the show generally veers between wooden and campy (and sometimes both) and because I think Ianto has about as much charisma as truckful of diamictite.
But last night? I couldn't stop watching. Yes, it was flawed and heavy-handed at times, and it stole shamelessly from Childhood's End and Village of the Damned, but it was downright chilling.
SPOILERS:
Also, Jack is a complete bastard. But we knew this. Really, trying to snatch your own grandson and use him like a thing puts you in "irredeemable" territory. But I'm only 2.5 episodes in, so even though I don't see Jack being very conflicted about this or emoting much, I'm waiting to see what happens next.
It was also nice to see Gwen laying down the law and come at the Evil Government Agents with both barrels firing.
In other news:
ARTESIA IS COMING BACK FUCK YES FUCK YES. That takes you to an interview with Mark Smylie where the glorious news that the mini Artesia Besieged is coming off hiatus and will be completed.
If you've never read the fantasy epic of warrior queen Artesia and her lethal levels of pwnage, trust me, it's the kind of storytelling that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It's indescribably good, and it's one of the few fantasy epics to feature a woman of color as the lead character.
And, like Tars Tarkas, she comes with her own Army of Awesome™. Artesia will sex you up, cut you down, and make you have to redraw your maps.
The beautiful art in the series only helps:
ARTESIA FUCK YEAH!
So I assume that most of you in fandom have seen p_a_sabrina's post over in racebending with some great visuals demonstrating why Aaang ain't white. By any stretch of the imagination. It's a thoughtful essay backed up with facts and examples, and it's a must read for anyone still of the opinion that Avatar is full of honkies.
This nicely segues into what I next want to post: Willow has written (or rather, provided extended commentary) one of the absolute comments that I've yet seen about WHY so many people don't get that Avatar is set in a world constructed of a melange of tribes and cultures that AREN'T WHITE.
This in particular I wanted to quote:
Glockgal's statement made me think about Racefail and how much general white people just don't know. It reminds me of something my father said, which was, that I was expecting Americans to know something about post colonial theory, when post colonial to them likely meant after 1775-1783 and the end of the American Revolutionary War. Granted the hubris isn't just held by White Americans. Though I've admitted in this blog before my surprise at how quickly Britain has forgotten basic geography of places that were once their colonies. Still they, in general, can be said to know of these places. Whereas in towns in the middle of this large land of America, People of Colour were purposefully run out; chased out of town and off their land so white people could move in and collect/acquire assets (yes, the history as happened to the First Nation tribes was made to repeat itself). There's a reason that there are towns in the US without any black folk, where people grow up only seeing People of Colour on television.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (the animated show), has Inuit and Japanese and Chinese and Korean and South Asian (East Indian) culture, big and bold in dress, food, language, martial arts and architecture. But if you're ignorant of those cultures, of that food, of that language of that architecture, if you've only ever seen it depicted as a fantasy land (ghetto) where white characters run around and save the day - then how would you ever know it was REAL?
How would you, theoretical white person, know that armor design, that sword move, that parka (that atiqik) is real How would you know that hairstyle, that blade, those shoes, are real? How would you know the artwork reflected something real? The art style of the show itself, reflected something real?
If you're the theoretical white person who lives in a town filled with other white people and you've only ever seen People of Colour on tv - how could you begin to understand that Aang doesn't need to be yellow toned, with slanted eyes in order to be read as Asian? How do you know your own ignorance? Your utter and absolute ignorance?
Yes, I stood up and cheered when I read glockgal's brilliant comments along the same lines:
Over the course of this protest, I really have underestimated how insular a LOT of Americans are, especially when you get into towns that don't have a lot of multiculturalism, like. It's just plain ignorance.
For people who've never learned/seen/been exposed to anything Asian beyond fortune cookies and sweet-and-sour chicken balls, I suddenly understand that when they watched the cartoon, all they see is 'fantasy'. All the architecture, clothing, food, writing, names, movements - EVERYTHING that is so plainly and clearly Asian to us? Is just to them....a fantasy. It's all made-up. They don't know that so much of the world is based on real cultures, they don't get how much attention to detail and research the creators put into the cartoon, because they've NEVER SEEN THESE CULTURES, IRL.
They simply don't know. And they've never HAD to learn. Gyah, it's so crazy and sad to realize that people have lived such insular lives.
Well said.
I guess now it's timely to mention that the imminent war against the human species by the Crabs of Terror has a sinister new development? Carnivorous squid have joined the alliance. The Humboldt squid ain't playin', apparently, because one attacked a diver and pulled her tank off. HOLY SHIT. It's ON now, my children.
I realize that it's a bad sign that I've subsumed my Tuesday and Wednesday nights into watching America's Got Talent, but godammit, it's restoring my faith in the American people:
A 9-year-old shreds on guitar:
Destined 2 Be poppin', lockin', and putting everyone else to shame:
I love their eighties-style skinny jeans and bright colors - it gives them almost an old school punk aesthetic. AWESOME. I want these guys to appear in my bedroom every morning and roust me out of bed.
In other news that's amusing: there's an anonymous Marvel kink meme over here. I only mention this because some of the writing is appallingly and hilariously bad, and though I'm not usually given to mocking kink memes, I recognize the styles of a few of the anons posting their drabbles, and I've been LOLing to the point of choking all morning whilst reading it. But hey, if Daken/Wolverine father/son incest or Carol/Jessica Drew dubcon is your thing, go for it, although this prompt KILLED me: "Lorna/Wanda and a large packet of ball-bearings." EXCELLENT! Oh, fandom.
Um, when did this show actually get weighty, toothy, and actually watchable? I admit to making it a sport of mocking Torchwood due to the fact that I think John Barrowman's acting on the show generally veers between wooden and campy (and sometimes both) and because I think Ianto has about as much charisma as truckful of diamictite.
But last night? I couldn't stop watching. Yes, it was flawed and heavy-handed at times, and it stole shamelessly from Childhood's End and Village of the Damned, but it was downright chilling.
SPOILERS:
Also, Jack is a complete bastard. But we knew this. Really, trying to snatch your own grandson and use him like a thing puts you in "irredeemable" territory. But I'm only 2.5 episodes in, so even though I don't see Jack being very conflicted about this or emoting much, I'm waiting to see what happens next.
It was also nice to see Gwen laying down the law and come at the Evil Government Agents with both barrels firing.
In other news:
ARTESIA IS COMING BACK FUCK YES FUCK YES. That takes you to an interview with Mark Smylie where the glorious news that the mini Artesia Besieged is coming off hiatus and will be completed.
If you've never read the fantasy epic of warrior queen Artesia and her lethal levels of pwnage, trust me, it's the kind of storytelling that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It's indescribably good, and it's one of the few fantasy epics to feature a woman of color as the lead character.
And, like Tars Tarkas, she comes with her own Army of Awesome™. Artesia will sex you up, cut you down, and make you have to redraw your maps.
The beautiful art in the series only helps:
ARTESIA FUCK YEAH!
So I assume that most of you in fandom have seen p_a_sabrina's post over in racebending with some great visuals demonstrating why Aaang ain't white. By any stretch of the imagination. It's a thoughtful essay backed up with facts and examples, and it's a must read for anyone still of the opinion that Avatar is full of honkies.
This nicely segues into what I next want to post: Willow has written (or rather, provided extended commentary) one of the absolute comments that I've yet seen about WHY so many people don't get that Avatar is set in a world constructed of a melange of tribes and cultures that AREN'T WHITE.
This in particular I wanted to quote:
Glockgal's statement made me think about Racefail and how much general white people just don't know. It reminds me of something my father said, which was, that I was expecting Americans to know something about post colonial theory, when post colonial to them likely meant after 1775-1783 and the end of the American Revolutionary War. Granted the hubris isn't just held by White Americans. Though I've admitted in this blog before my surprise at how quickly Britain has forgotten basic geography of places that were once their colonies. Still they, in general, can be said to know of these places. Whereas in towns in the middle of this large land of America, People of Colour were purposefully run out; chased out of town and off their land so white people could move in and collect/acquire assets (yes, the history as happened to the First Nation tribes was made to repeat itself). There's a reason that there are towns in the US without any black folk, where people grow up only seeing People of Colour on television.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (the animated show), has Inuit and Japanese and Chinese and Korean and South Asian (East Indian) culture, big and bold in dress, food, language, martial arts and architecture. But if you're ignorant of those cultures, of that food, of that language of that architecture, if you've only ever seen it depicted as a fantasy land (ghetto) where white characters run around and save the day - then how would you ever know it was REAL?
How would you, theoretical white person, know that armor design, that sword move, that parka (that atiqik) is real How would you know that hairstyle, that blade, those shoes, are real? How would you know the artwork reflected something real? The art style of the show itself, reflected something real?
If you're the theoretical white person who lives in a town filled with other white people and you've only ever seen People of Colour on tv - how could you begin to understand that Aang doesn't need to be yellow toned, with slanted eyes in order to be read as Asian? How do you know your own ignorance? Your utter and absolute ignorance?
Yes, I stood up and cheered when I read glockgal's brilliant comments along the same lines:
Over the course of this protest, I really have underestimated how insular a LOT of Americans are, especially when you get into towns that don't have a lot of multiculturalism, like. It's just plain ignorance.
For people who've never learned/seen/been exposed to anything Asian beyond fortune cookies and sweet-and-sour chicken balls, I suddenly understand that when they watched the cartoon, all they see is 'fantasy'. All the architecture, clothing, food, writing, names, movements - EVERYTHING that is so plainly and clearly Asian to us? Is just to them....a fantasy. It's all made-up. They don't know that so much of the world is based on real cultures, they don't get how much attention to detail and research the creators put into the cartoon, because they've NEVER SEEN THESE CULTURES, IRL.
They simply don't know. And they've never HAD to learn. Gyah, it's so crazy and sad to realize that people have lived such insular lives.
Well said.
I guess now it's timely to mention that the imminent war against the human species by the Crabs of Terror has a sinister new development? Carnivorous squid have joined the alliance. The Humboldt squid ain't playin', apparently, because one attacked a diver and pulled her tank off. HOLY SHIT. It's ON now, my children.
I realize that it's a bad sign that I've subsumed my Tuesday and Wednesday nights into watching America's Got Talent, but godammit, it's restoring my faith in the American people:
A 9-year-old shreds on guitar:
Destined 2 Be poppin', lockin', and putting everyone else to shame:
I love their eighties-style skinny jeans and bright colors - it gives them almost an old school punk aesthetic. AWESOME. I want these guys to appear in my bedroom every morning and roust me out of bed.
In other news that's amusing: there's an anonymous Marvel kink meme over here. I only mention this because some of the writing is appallingly and hilariously bad, and though I'm not usually given to mocking kink memes, I recognize the styles of a few of the anons posting their drabbles, and I've been LOLing to the point of choking all morning whilst reading it. But hey, if Daken/Wolverine father/son incest or Carol/Jessica Drew dubcon is your thing, go for it, although this prompt KILLED me: "Lorna/Wanda and a large packet of ball-bearings." EXCELLENT! Oh, fandom.