The “Transformers is utter shite and I REFUSE to spend $10 to acquire an elevated blood pressure” edition.
So previously, based on nothing but a nice trailer with cool music, I made a commitment to see Transformers. I am now being warned that that commitment might be a bad idea, due to my recently reached decision to sharply decrease toleration of gender and race and sexual orientation shenanigans in my entertainment. I find that many reviews of Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen are interesting in their own right, with the added bonus of NOT costing me $10 a pop. So…presented for your intellectual appetite (and the stimulation of your funny bone from time to time), here be four reviews. (Because there is apparently so much wrong that not many people managed to get it all in one review) WARE SPOILERS…
Soem Came Running focuses on Why action movies should do away with comic relief. Racialicious inquires Why is it so hard for white writers to write three dimensional characters of colour? And why oh why do they hate women of all colours?. Lj user nihilistic kid informs us:Uh film makers? You all seem to have forgotten the plot. And RogerEbert: In sum, EVERYTHING sucks!. The bottomline, of course, is that it has made a pile of cash. That phenomenon says a great, great deal about us as a society.
While we are still on the subject of the media, visit with me by way of the LJ comm Racebending, an interview with the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender circa 2005. Compare this with M. Night Shyamalan latest interview about his adaptation (named The Last Airbender to avoid conflict with the James Cameron property Avatar) Bear in mind precisely what he and his producers and Paramount have done with the characters of the film. Combine with a bit on the History of Yellow face in Hollywood. Are we going to let Paramount get away with this? Will we make this into another Transformers?
The Anxious Black Woman offers some cutting edge commentary, on race, gender, sexual orientation and pop culture. Have a taste:
From Chamber Maid to Princess: The Story is Always More Complicated
Someone’s go to tell it like it is: James Baldwin in San Francisco
The Corporate Takeover of Youtube: Why its no longer Fun
Homophobia [on American Idol]? Blame the Show, not the Voters
Reappropriate gives us an interview with Secret Identities: Parry Shen Unmasked. Mr. Shen, if you will recall, is one of the contributors to the absoultely awesome comic book anthology Secret Identities, featuring Asian Americans. She also links us to the first ever Asian American ComiCon happening on July 11 in New York. Why oh WHY does New York and California ALWAYS get the pretties??? *pouts* (Yes, I’m exaggerating. No, I don’t care.) *pouts*
And in terms of Recs: I recommend two bits of reading material today. From Girlchild press: Just Like A Girl: A Manifesta Awesome, awesome AWESOME anthology that I was just rereading today. It is so WORTH the money. Teh cover alone makes me smile! Buy a copy for yourself and any female and (male) relatives that you might have. It is THAT awesome.
I have just gotten into the world of zines. And I highly highly HIGHLY rec:Shotgun Seamstress 1, 2 and 3 from Paper Trail Distro. (Go to bottom of website. Hit “zine catalogue. Hit “Q-S”. Scroll down.) Just look at Osa (the writer’s) motto:
osa writes that her zine is “by & for black punks, queers, misfits, feminists, artists & musicians, weirdos, & the people who support us. this zine is meant to support black people who exist within predominately white subcultures, & to encourage the creation of our own.”
People? It is awesome. In fact, one of her articles got picked up by Colorlines Magazine!
Have yourselves a lovely independence weekend!
Good links! Thanks especially for the one about the newest Disney “princess” — I’d heard some of the flap about her early incarnation, but nothing about the revision. Good grief, they just can’t get it right, can they?
Anyway, I knew Transformers 2 wasn’t getting any of my money after the reeking pile of offense that was T1. And that’s sad, because I was a raving fan of the cartoon as a kid, and all the filmmakers had to do was not be racist and they’d have had my money. Just that. I would’ve even tolerated Ms. Hoochiemama prancing all over the screen — it’s a movie about cars, there have to be seminaked women around or the men will die or something. The movie could’ve been bad on every other level, and I still would’ve gone to see it, if only to pull an MST3K.
I’m going to the Asian American Comic Con next week — the Racebending folks are trying to get the word out about a Last Airbender boycott. So I’ll let you know how that goes. =)
You definitely do not want to see Transformers. I downloaded the bootleg and I couldn’t get through the entire thing. And it wasn’t because of quality of the bootleg….which was poor :-(
idk, personally i hated the movie. i thought it was a complete and utter waste of my time. the audience on the other hand, well they stood up and gave the friggin screen a standing ovation – ridiculous.
i thought maybe it was just me. wish i had read your post first.
A kindred soul! Shelley and I ranted about these issues. This is why we have been shedding our blood, sweat, and tears bringing ‘strange frame’ to fruition (began production in 2005 -out in 2010 with LucasFilm’s Skywalker Sound on board!).
As Shelley said- “How fortunate are those who can frame the beauty of the strange”.
From our rant that became part of our wikipedia entry:
Shelley and GB “agreed that some of the protagonists had to be gay, bisexual, transsexual and omnisexual. All had to be of color because they believed that not too long from now everyone would be of color. Theirs would be without the standard white guy lead whose name starts with “J” (James T. Kirk, John Crichton, John Sheridan (Babylon 5), Jeffrey Sinclair, Jonathan Archer, Jack O’Neill (Stargate), John Sheppard (Stargate), J. Koenig, J. Robinson, Jean-Luc Picard, Jeremiah (series)). They also were clear that the issue of race and sex would be non-issues in the setting of the 29th century.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_frame
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=86085840444
Hope to see you on our journey.
Not sure whether or not to pay a buddy of mine back…
He nabbed a ticket for me earlier enough before they were sold out for the midnight matinee premiere. Came outta that theater rather perturbed. Garbage!
@nojojojo: I hate the concept of princesses anyway, and Disney gets on my damn nerves, but if we have to have them, cant they ever do it properly? Commons sense says that if you dont offend people, you end up making more money. At least for the economic incentive?
@blackyoda: LOL at the bootleg! The fact that it is so bad not even getting it free can save it…Wow
@Sasha: Standing ovation? Really? WOW!
@GB Hajim: Hmm. That looks interesting. Will follow up!
@Juan:Weeeellllll. I mean. I see your point. I suppose though, that he had no idea how badly it would suck?