Books: ‘The Mysterious Benedict Society’ Finale

Screenshot of Marta Kessler, Mystic Inscho, Seth Carr, and Emmy DeOliveira in ‘The Mysterious Benedict Society’ on Disney+. Copyright goes to the Walt Disney Company and Trenton Lee Stewart.

Hey! Hallie here!

‘The Mysterious Benedict Society’ has been a favorite of mine for many, many years and while I’m sad to see this season come to a close (Hopefully we get a season 2), there’s a lot I want to talk about. Mainly, the major differences between this series and the book. I covered some of these differences in another post, but there’s even more to talk about now. I also want to talk a bit about my feelings on this series now that it’s come to a close, which I’ll do as I talk about each major change I noticed. With all of that to cover, here’s your warning that there are SPOILERS ahead. Let’s get into this!

Kate: This is probably my most negative opinion of a change the show made. Kate was quite a bit more reckless and helpless than she was in the books. Kate going off on her own to explore the tunnels does happen in the first book, but it’s never an attempt to stop Mr. Curtain by herself. Kate does it to aid the entire group in their mission and she doesn’t get caught. Which means that the hunt for the intruder, who was actually Kate, doesn’t happen this way in the book. There is an expected intruder, though. But an intruder is suspected because all four of the children manage to get Reynie spotted while he’s attempting to spy on the Messengers, though he’s fast enough in retreating that no one is certain he’s the intruder. It’s the fault of all of the kids, not just one. While I don’t have an issue with giving Kate more flaws in the series, I don’t appreciate how little we get of Kate as the level-headed badass I loved as a kid. In the books Kate’s circus days, her bucket, and her confidence make her capable in almost every situation. In some cases she’s even compared to Milligan, which makes a lot of sense considering their familial ties. In the series she gets caught after an excursion, taken to be brainwashed where Constance has to save her, and even more infuriating, doesn’t get to participate nearly at all in her fight against Jackson, Jillson, and their reinforcements. In the books she puts up quite a bit of a fight before Milligan intervenes. In the series Kate is first saved by Milligan, and then by Martina and the tetherball team. I’m alright with Kate being more stubborn and antsy than she was in the books, but the fact that she winds up being far less capable and reasonable in the process diminishes her character for me. I didn’t hate this character. I just miss the Kate I knew from the books.

Martina: Now that I’m done talking about my frustrations with Kate, let’s get to a more positive opinion. Martina is nothing more than a brat in the first book. In the series, she’s so much more than that. She has a large ego and wants to beat everyone at everything, but she reveals to Kate pretty early on that she knows other people don’t like her. It’s pretty obvious that she’s lonely. And Kate, by sticking by Martina in order to try to get information from her, gives Martina the impression that someone finally likes her enough to want to be her friend. I loved this storyline. Not only did it make Martina a complex and likable character, but it put Kate in a really interesting situation. Kate, who spends time with Martina only out of a sense of obligation, starts feeling bad for Martina and even begins to enjoy her company. Which leads to a lot of guilt because Martina doesn’t realize that Kate is basically using her. What’s worse, when Kate is caught, it’s Martina who’s initially framed for the intrusion in Kate’s stead. It’s here that Kate has to balance trying to keep Martina safe while also not revealing to Martina that she is the true intruder. When it all goes wrong in the finale, though, Martina doesn’t stay angry at Kate for long. When she comes face to face with Kate and Kate makes the brave decision to accept blame for the intrusion, Martina realizes that part of her friendship with Kate was real. Later on, she takes the tetherball team to fight alongside Kate. This friendship is adorable and I love the depth it gives to both Martina and Kate. I hope this isn’t the last we see of Martina should the series continue.

Milligan: Not too many changes here except there’s a lot more direct contact between Kate and Milligan surrounding the big reveal. Milligan, rather than turning himself in on behalf of all of the children, only turns himself in on behalf of Kate. And after Kate and Milligan are reunited, we get an extremely emotional scene of just the two of them talking about what they each went through while they were separated. I loved these scenes so much. The reveal that Milligan is Kate’s father was one of my favorite plot twists in any book as a kid, and it’s done justice here. The only thing I missed in this series was the reveal that the name Milligan was actually a clue the entire time. In the book, the last words Milligan remembered being said to him before he lost his memories were “Can we go back to the mill again?”, a question asked by a young Kate in reference to her favorite swimming spot. Still, the series didn’t need this piece of information to make this reveal emotionally satisfying.

Constance: Constance changed a lot in this series and I feel it was all for the better. She does a lot more, like telling hilariously gory jokes and building up her relationship with Kate. I also like that the plot twist from the book, which reveals that Constance was actually two years old the entire time, is absent here. It was a bit of a weird plot twist and I don’t see how it could be adapted to the screen. Instead they reveal that she is psychic, which is much cooler. Constance also rejects being adopted by Mr. Benedict in the series, which makes a lot of sense. In the books Constance is reluctant to accept the adoption, and it’s only through the knowledge that Number 2 and Rhonda were also adopted by Mr. Benedict that she hesitantly agrees to it. In the series, Rhonda and Number 2 aren’t as young as they are in the books and their loyalties to Mr. Benedict have nothing to do with adoption. Without this element, it makes sense that Constance wouldn’t be convinced. And let’s be honest, it’s a miracle Mr. Benedict convinced her to accept the adoption in the books.

Mr. Curtain’s Trigger: In the books, Mr. Curtain’s trigger for his narcolepsy is anger. And he’s an angry man so it’s just as easy to trigger his narcolepsy as it is to trigger Mr. Benedict’s. In the series they make a really interesting mystery out of it. It’s only when Reynie tries to reach Mr. Curtain on a personal level that he suddenly falls asleep. Sticky assumes that anger caused this to happen, which is a nice throwback to the books, but Reynie reveals that his actual trigger is vulnerability. That feels a lot more powerful and really cements this Mr. Curtain as much more complex than the one we see in the books.

Sticky’s Happy Ending: This change starts all the way back in Sticky’s backstory. In the books, it’s Sticky’s parents who use his incredible brain to make themselves wealthy, not his aunt and uncle. But also in the first book, it’s revealed that Sticky misunderstood his parents belief that he was better off on his own. His parents turn up to Mr. Benedict’s at the end of the story to explain that they feel remorseful about what they did to Sticky, and it turns out that they felt Sticky was better off without them because of the way they had treated him. They even used up all their money trying to locate Sticky. So Sticky forgives his parents and moves back in with them. This ending for Sticky always bothered me. After all, his parents used him for money and when he ran away, they tried to convince themselves that it was better if they didn’t go searching for him. Meanwhile, Sticky was homeless and living on the streets. No small apology could absolve parents of this kind of treatment. Well, apparently the series agrees. Not only do they change these characters to his aunt and his uncle, but they also don’t make either character remorseful for their actions. Sticky’s happy ending in the series is Mr. Benedict’s promise to get him into the school he wanted to attend before he was recruited into the society. I like this ending much better for him.

These are the largest changes I noticed in the finale of this series. Overall, I really enjoyed ‘The Mysterious Benedict Society’. The majority of its changes made the story richer and deeper. Constance went from my least favorite character in the books, to my favorite character in the series. The reveal that Milligan is Kate’s father was so much more meaningful to me when there was an entire portion of the show dedicated to the adults. This series definitely wasn’t perfect, but I would love to see a season two. I’m not sure about the creators’ idea to merge the next two books into one season, but we’ll see what happens! After what I saw here, I’m completely willing to see whatever they want to write next for this series!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Superheroes: Peggy Carter’s Erasure

Screenshot of Hayley Atwell in ‘Agent Carter’, Copyright goes to Marvel Entertainment and Disney.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Quite a while ago I made a post about why Steve and Peggy shouldn’t have ended up together at the end of ‘Endgame’. I won’t go too much into that because of my previous post, but I did talk a lot about what this decision might mean for the character of Peggy Carter. My main worry was definitely that it would effectively erase the events of ‘Agent Carter’, which is the most agency Peggy has ever gotten. It was amazing seeing Peggy get her very own story to star in and it was also amazing to see how many issues this show tackled. From sexism to discrimination because of disability. It was also one of the first female-led projects that Marvel ever did. I had a lot of other issues with Peggy and Steve, but that was one of the major ones. My fears that Peggy would be treated poorly were softened a bit when Marvel released the information that they would be proceeding with the character of Captain Carter. An alternative universe where Peggy became the super soldier instead. But it looks like this didn’t quite save Peggy in the way I wished. I’m just going to get right into it!

Legends:

This is where everything happened. On Disney+ there is a Marvel series called ‘Legends’ where each episode focuses on a specific character and basically recaps what happened to them in canon. To everyone’s absolute delight, they recently released the episode for Peggy Carter. But this delight was soon cut short when the episode dedicated to Peggy included no information or even hints towards the content in ‘Agent Carter’. Considering that the past episodes have been pretty descriptive in including all the canonical content for characters; this brought into question whether or not ‘Agent Carter’ was being erased from the main canon by Disney. And for how much Disney has been pushing ‘Agent Carter’ into the background, I wouldn’t be surprised. Though ‘Agent Carter’ is on Disney+, they haven’t advertised it as an addition and barely mentioned it when it was first put on the streaming service. They also have not mentioned ‘Agent Carter’ since the final episode, at least as how it pertains to Peggy.

Time Travel and Alternate Dimensions:

Their excuse for getting rid of Peggy’s arc is completely rooted in time travel. It first featured in ‘Endgame’ which allowed Steve to return to Peggy at the end of the film. Now it’s been used in several other ways, which has also included the possibility of alternate realities. This was discussed in the likes of ‘Doctor Strange’ and ‘Agents of Shield’ before. ‘Agents of Shield’ even paired off their main character, Daisy, at the end of the series with Daniel Sousa, Peggy’s love interest in ‘Agent Carter’, who the crew picked up around the 1950s. ( I will never be ok with their decision to remove his disability.) Now with the addition of ‘WandaVision’ and ‘Loki’ it’s clear that we’ll be dealing with alternate timelines much more than we even saw in ‘Endgame’. But this alternate timeline gives Marvel a lot of freedom, and even more freedom than we probably anticipate. They could re-do franchises like ‘X-Men’ with what they’ve created (Disney has even been in talks with Hugh Jackman over a mystery something). But besides creating new or new-ish things, they also have the power to un-include anything from the current timeline that they want to going forward. So in the interest of keeping Peggy with Steve they could feasibly get rid of ‘Agent Carter’ while explaining that it still exists in some universe. I will admit that the idea of a multiverse scares me, but that’s what exists in the comics and it could open the door to a lot of really great opportunities in the franchise. But I still don’t like this at all when it comes to Peggy.

What ‘Agent Carter’ Offered:

I think everyone knows by now that Peggy was one of the first superhero love interests who turned around and kicked superhero love interest tropes in the teeth. Peggy was influential in that way, and I’m very glad that Marvel hasn’t shied away from that. Even now they’re still using Peggy because of how much people love her and how much people credit her for accomplishing. But we also all deserved to see Peggy being kick-ass without the constant presence of Steve or Howard. And that’s where ‘Agent Carter’ came in. Not only did this give everyone the action that we wanted to see from her, but it also dealt with issues that are far too real that people don’t consider. Like the fact that Peggy was still a woman in that time period and that her involvement with Captain America made it seem like she was being protected or shown favoritism because she was dating a superhero. All of her accomplishments were chalked up to the men in her life because she wasn’t considered to have the ability to do what she did. And ‘Agent Carter’ or not, that still would have happened. Peggy deserved for her own story to be told and for people to stop thinking about her in conjunction with Steve all the time. ‘Agent Carter’ was wonderfully for Peggy only. It let her deal with her own problems. Peggy should not have been required to give up her own story just so that Steve could get the girl in the end. That goes against everything Peggy stood for.

Captain Carter:

Many people say that fans of Peggy shouldn’t be complaining because we’re going to get Peggy with a story of her own. In fact, we’re going to get Peggy with a story where Steve won’t even be the major player. Isn’t that what ‘Agent Carter’ covered? Isn’t that what we wanted anyways? Well, yes and no. Yes, Peggy fans have been begging Marvel for the Captain Carter storyline for ages. And now they’re even talking about the possibility of bringing characters like Captain Carter to the big screen eventually. Can you imagine Hayley Atwell in the uniform and shield? I think I would cry if I saw that in theaters. But the thing is, alternate timeline Peggy does not suddenly make up for the failings in the story of current Peggy. Especially because, as I said, Peggy was, in my eyes, the blueprint for making non-super-powered women in movies badass despite their lack of powers and despite their love interest status. Does that mean I don’t want to see Peggy with powers? Of course not! I definitely want to see that! But this being a great and empowering concept does not make what happened to the original Peggy any less messed up. A new alternate Peggy is not a consolation prize for what they did to the old one. And it also doesn’t erase the fact that Steve kissed his own niece in the current main timeline. Eww.

Going Forward:

I’m going to be really sad saying goodbye to characters like Daniel Sousa and Angie. And, of course, Jarvis is probably the side character that I’ll miss the most. Though I’m glad they gave him a small role in the movies so at least he isn’t entirely erased. But still. This feels unfair to more characters than Peggy. And while Peggy will be moving forward, many of these other characters or adaptations of characters will not. (I am personally really hoping that they will cast James D’Arcy as Jarvis in more films.) Peggy moving forward also will be quite different. From what it looks like, we’ll be leaving the Peggy we know and love with story-erasure at the end of ‘Endgame’ with Steve. The Peggy we will know going forwards is probably not going to be that same Peggy. Trust me, I also wanted to see Peggy with Steve. But the more that’s occurred to me about that decision and the more Marvel tries to do to justify this decision, the more I worry that this was a pretty poor way to leave Peggy Carter. It very much reminds me of Elizabeth Swann being left on the island in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise after having been made Pirate King. All of that badass story just for her end to reduce her to the love interest trope she was fighting against that entire time. Why must this always happen to my favorite fictional female characters?

Anyways, It was probably obvious to long-time readers that I was not going to be pleased with the recent developments involving ‘Legends’. I’m declaring Peggy’s character a giant missed opportunity, just like I did before. But, unlike Elizabeth Swann, at least I’ll get a version of this amazing character that won’t be drowning in that giant mess Disney created. But she just might be drowning in a different giant mess (the multiverse) which still scares me. The only thing I can say right now is, I guess we’ll see what happens.

Update: As I woke up this morning I saw all the controversy around the Captain America Twitter account replacing Sam Wilson with Peggy. While I do believe that this will be temporary, nothing about it is even remotely ok. Peggy is Captain Carter (or Captain Britain) she is NOT Captain America, firstly. Secondly, she doesn’t even exist in the same universe as the other Marvel character specific Twitter accounts. And thirdly, the black man who is now Captain America should not even be hinted at being replaced by a white woman. This is beyond the realm of ridiculous. I already think that Marvel is using Steve too much and is too unwilling to let him go after Sam Wilson rightfully became Captain America. Peggy has been receiving a lot of unwarranted hate for this move that I also do not approve of. But Peggy completely taking over anything Captain America related should not happen. Sam Wilson is Captain America. Peggy is a different character entirely even in the separate universe. Treat them as separate characters, give Peggy the recognition that she deserves without stepping on Sam, and stop using Steve. I swear to you, it isn’t that hard Marvel.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Star Wars: ‘The Bad Batch’ Finale Part 1

Screenshot of Echo, Hunter, and Tech from ‘The Bad Batch’. Copyright goes to the Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm.

Hey! Hallie here!

If you’ve seen my past reviews of episodes of ‘The Bad Batch’, you know that I don’t usually review one episode at a time. Some of the episodes we’ve seen this season have been slow moving and I’ve been vocal about repeating storylines happening from episode to episode. But we’re now at the two part finale for this series and there’s already tons to discuss. For one, we’re getting a season two! While I haven’t been a huge fan of this series so far, I do have some hope for season two. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I’m hoping that the purpose of the next season will be to dive into the individual characters a bit more. As for season one, let’s jump right into the SPOILERS!

The Good:

Omega: Omega is absolutely my favorite character in this series. She’s cute, capable, kind, and so much more complex than she appears. This episode just proves it all over again. At the beginning of the episode we see that Omega is the most outwardly determined to get Hunter back. Which is to be expected after how horrified she was by Hunter’s capture in the last episode. But once the Batch arrives on Kamino, her attitude changes. When the Batch are trying to find a place to land on the planet without getting immediately attacked, Omega instantly leads the group to a landing pad submerged in water. She reveals she knows this area because it’s connected to Nala Se’s secret lab. While they travel through a secret tube system to get to the lab, Omega suddenly seems a lot sadder and a lot wiser. And when we finally enter the lab, Omega notes that not only was she created in this lab, but she was there to see the Batch themselves being created. It’s a heavy reminder that Omega, who ages at a normal pace rather than the rapid pace clones usually age at, is actually older than all of the other characters. No wonder she seems more capable than the rest of the group so often. Omega also gets a few great moments, including activating the droids connected to the training room in order to save the group from Crosshair. And she gets reunited with AZI-3, which was adorable. She ends the episode by looking on in horror as the clone facility, her home for most of her life, is destroyed. Omega went through a lot there, but I can’t say it’s any less traumatic to see it explode. Omega is such an interesting character and I will gladly watch more of this character in the future.

Clone Facility Destruction: There’s never been a canon fate for the facilities on Kamino and it’s left a lot of people to wonder. Especially because the Empire switched over to regular human Storm Troopers instead of clones after the takeover. ‘The Bad Batch’ used its first few episodes to explain why the Empire chose to no longer use clones, so it’s only fitting that the series explains just what happened to the place where the clones started. And it’s kind of tragic to watch. Obviously, even a clone lover such as myself has to admit that the Kaminoans did much more harm than they did good. And the way they treated the clones is the most deplorable of all of their actions. But Rex, Cody, and everyone else was born there. Jengo Fett and Boba Fett’s stories originated from there. It’s sad to see it go in such a brutal fashion. But it’s well earned. The Empire spent the entire season testing the Kaminoans to see if they would be of any use to them anymore. The answer was no. This was the satisfying and horrible outcome.

Crosshair: Crosshair is really interesting in this episode. He’s pretty confident in leading all of his brothers into a trap, but he isn’t after blood anymore. He reveals that he feels betrayed for being left behind. And he definitely has a point. After the episode where the Batch were forced to leave because Crosshair was forced to try to kill the others by his inhibitor chip, I waited for them to go back for him. And kept waiting. And waiting. Evidently, so did Crosshair. When Hunter tries to explain that they didn’t have a choice but to escape Kamino, Crosshair points out that his chip meant he didn’t have a choice either. Whenever Hunter tries to tell Crosshair that their loyalties should be to each other, Crosshair notes that the sentiment is empty after they abandoned him. To be honest, there was nothing Hunter could have said to defend himself. Especially because, while they were speaking, the rest of the Batch were coming into what they knew to be a trap in order to rescue Hunter. Why did they never once, in any of their interactions with Crosshair, attempt a similar operation to get Crosshair back? It’s a good question and I’m glad Crosshair asked it. Crosshair still has an unexplained loyalty to the Empire though, but he takes out the TK Troopers to try to give his brothers a chance to join him. Of course, they don’t accept. It’s the Empire. At which point Crosshair reveals that he removed his own chip and is actually personally loyal to the Empire. That said, this could easily still be the chip talking. Minutes before this Crosshair grabs his head as if he has a headache and after Hunter manages to knock him out, he doesn’t see a scar on the side of his head. We’ll see how everything unfolds in the next episode. At least we got to see an epic reunion fight scene before Crosshair was stunned.

The Bad (Batch):

The Bad Batch: Here I’m talking about Hunter, Tech, Echo, and Wrecker. They get nothing here. Hunter gets a bit more, as usual, because he’s a focus of the episode. But his role in the episode is to sit and react to Crosshair while feeling guilty. There isn’t much personal growth or focus we see for this character. Tech and Wrecker get absolutely nothing. They hardly get lines at all. Echo is very attentive to Omega in Hunter’s absence, which is very sweet. Echo has definitely become my favorite of these characters simply because his small character moments lend to a larger picture given to us by various episodes of ‘The Clone Wars’. But the other characters don’t have that background to give depth to their characters. They’re just there. Once again, I hope season two fixes this.

Underestimating Omega: She’s older than you guys. Obviously don’t throw her into a dangerous situation without backup, but telling her to stay behind or run away for the millionth time? Idiotic. Annoying. Frustrating.

And that’s my review! I haven’t been this hooked by an episode of this series in a while but something about the second-to-last episode got me. It could be the sorely needed, added depth to Crosshair. It could be finally seeing the Batch reunited after so long. It could be the finality of the Kamino storyline. Or it could be the increasing love I have for Omega. In any case, I hope the next episode continues on with this amazing story. And I hope season two uses its time and characters much more wisely.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

International Dramas: A Love So Beautiful

Promotional image of So Jooyeon and Kim Yohan in ‘A Love So Beautiful’. Copyright goes to Kakao TV and Netflix.

Hi! It’s Annie!

This is the last of the reviews for the four K-Dramas that I recently binged. Despite this fact, this is also the first of the four dramas that I watched. Why did I leave it until last? For the simple fact that I just didn’t like this one as much as I liked the other ones. And really, it’s difficult to compare this one at all to the likes of ‘Vincenzo’, ‘Her Private Life’, and ‘Lovestruck in the City’. Those were by far some of my favorite K-Dramas that I’ve ever watched. And that isn’t to say that this one was bad by any means. It was certainly cute! For those of you who don’t know, this K-Drama is actually based off of a C-Drama of the same name. And I actually heard about this drama from a friend who had watched the C-Drama. Because I’m attempting to learn Korean as a language right now, I’m trying to watch only K-Dramas so that I can get more acclimated to the language. So, when I saw that there was a Korean version of the drama she had recommended, I decided to watch it knowing that it wouldn’t be exactly the same but probably similar enough. Unlike some of my ventures into C-Dramas before, I am probably not going to watch the Chinese equivalent. Especially considering that this wasn’t necessarily the best thing I’ve ever watched. But I’ll just get into all that from here! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Short Synopsis: Soli is a high school student who has been in love with her neighbor and classmate, Heon, for as long as she can remember. Despite her constant willingness to be by his side, his cold indifference doesn’t seem to change. Until he realizes that her presence at his side has been a comfort to him all along.

The Good:

The Male Lead- I’ve heard a lot of good things about the actor who played Cha Heon in this. He’s pretty young, but people say he’s really good for being so young and that he has a long career ahead of him. After watching this drama, I completely agree with that. Cha Heon is well acted and a very believable character. From what I understand about the original drama, the male lead is much colder to the female lead. Here he is cold at certain parts, but that warmth is always noticeable simmering under the surface. And when that warmth is at the surface, you can’t help but smile at the adorableness. He goes through a lot but he really does have a heart of gold. When he makes mistakes in the relationship, which he does, he very easily concedes that they’re his fault. Even when they aren’t completely (I’ll get to that in a second). But something that I liked about this character was that he was very obviously flawed but also very obviously learned from his mistakes. He’s also so extremely supportive. While this character is a bit too cold at the beginning, his character development and changes make him an amazing boyfriend by the end of it.

Sub-Plot Romance- Hayeong and Jinhwan were nothing short of adorable. Hayeong was one of my favorite characters for much of the show because she wasn’t what the typical female best friend is. She wasn’t overly quirky or demure. She was a relatable character who was bold and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. Her willingness to tell off Soli’s bullies was always something admirable and made me wish I had a friend like her. She doesn’t originally have a crush on Jinhwan, but after a series of mishaps she starts seeing him differently. And when they are a couple, they just work. They have a mutual respect for each other that goes unmatched in the entire rest of the series. Jinhwan has an illness that he’s initially too fearful to reveal to Hayeong, but she never sees him as weaker for it. And though Hayeong is very conventionally attractive, Jinhwan never has anything but the utmost trust in her. I have seen way too many dramas with overprotective and untrusting boyfriends and I’m glad that this was not one of them.

Character Growth- This series takes place over the course of several years. From high school, to college, and then beyond that. Because of this, all of the characters had plenty of room to grow and change as the series also changed. It became such an in depth look at the characters that they really start feeling like friends to you as you watch the drama.

Friendships- Speaking of which, there is a group of five friends in this drama and they really focus on the bonding between these five. From when Heon wasn’t necessarily a part of the group until Heon was an integral part of the group. The friendships here are so cute and pure and I really do love them so much. This is one of those shows that reels you in with that friend group that you wished you had or were a part of.

The Bad:

The Female Lead- Soli is a character that I had a lot of problems with, simply because the narrative didn’t seem to have a lot of problems with her. What I’m saying here is that she was depicted as being so sweet and adorable that the show overlooked her flaws. They did focus on one flaw, which was that she wasn’t very good at studying. This resulted in her not passing her first attempts at college entrance exams. But this type of flaw doesn’t necessarily affect character development, especially when the show time-jumps and doesn’t only take place while they’re at school. Then, after Soli has a really bad day, which I will get back to, she goes to visit Heon in his place of work. She is already kind of jealous of the nurses at the hospital Heon works at talking about how handsome he is, but this is only amplified when the nurses imply that Heon will be moving away. When she confronts Heon about this, he only says it was something he was considering and hadn’t made a decision yet. This is an example of Heon’s character development that I was talking about before. His coldness and logical thinking can often result in him not communicating properly to the ones he cares about most, and this is something he grows from. But Soli never grows from her rash decision to break up with him right then and there instead of actually talking through their problems. Or the fact that she was very jealous in that situation. In fact, the entire situation is treated like Heon’s fault and Soli’s absolute reluctance to even see him years later because she’s still angry is treated as relatable. Even though it isn’t. Soli failed to do the exact same thing she was angry at Heon for not doing, which was communicate.

The Romance- Obviously, not great. It has some really cute parts. But in the end this couple doesn’t communicate nearly as much as they should. Plus pretty much all the dramatic needless breakups that are possible in dramas are in here too.

Second Lead- Another drama where I didn’t suffer from second lead syndrome! Daesung is a great friend for most of the show, don’t get me wrong. And his swimming storylines and the moment he ran as a teddy bear mascot next to Soli to cheer her on are all cute. But he’s way too obsessed with Soli and also has that mentality that I don’t like where he believes that Soli will eventually come around. He even has this mentality when she’s in a committed relationship during some of the time skips. If a guy friend of mine was not respectful of my relationship, I don’t think I would be friends with him anymore. That’s not a supportive friend anymore. Speaking of which…

They’ll Come Around- This entire drama revolves around the idea that a person who sees you platonically will eventually come around to see you romantically. And while that can be cute in some instances, literally every relationship in this drama revolves around this line of thinking. And I don’t think that it’s completely healthy. Platonic relationships are often just platonic, and I wish there was more of that in this.

Time Jumps- The time jumps in this show are needed. The show aims to cover several different eras of the lives of the characters, which added a lot of development for the characters. But the time jumps aren’t always seamless. And often time jumps also happen within eras, which can lead to some really confusing moments. For example, there’s a kind of dream sequence where Jinhwan comes to school dressed very cool, as he is usually pretty stereotypically nerdy, and asks out Hayeong. The issue is, it seems like they’re on the cusp of dating the next moment. And I’m still confused as to whether or not this scenario even happened. Was it a dream sequence? I feel like I missed something important. And that’s not the only time that happens.

Beyond Uncomfortable- I’m really sick of shows exploiting women’s hardships in order to add some quick drama. This is exactly what happens to Soli on the day she breaks up with Heon. Her bad day is caused because her boss tries to sexually assault her. And that is entirely used as a plot device to lead to their breakup. The assault is never mentioned again and there are no consequences for the actions that happened. This show also deals with several other uncomfortable power dynamics. Hayeong spends much of the show with a crush on her teacher, which is very uncomfortable to watch. From what I understand, South Korea has different laws concerning things like teacher-student relationships. But it’s still disturbing to see any side of that whatsoever and for it to be treated as a regular thing. I have an issue with some boss-employee power dynamics as well, but there are a couple shows (such as ‘Her Private Life’) where they were able to balance it by giving each character a job where they were similarly treated by other employees rather than there being a huge difference in power. And of course mutual respect is also present there. But, even if it’s one-sided, teacher-student relationships are gross no matter how your portray it. This just made me really uncomfortable.

I know I had more in the bad category, but I didn’t actually think that this show was bad! There were some really cute moments in the romance part of it specifically even if it failed in some major areas. The main male lead was so good! And the friendships in this drama are adorable! But there are definitely better things to watch out there. I think I’m going to watch ‘It’s Ok to Not Be Ok’ next because I keep hearing really good things about that one. But it might be a little while because I’m going to be a bit busier than I thought for the next couple weeks. Hopefully I’ll be able to give that one a try soon! And though this drama wasn’t the best, I think I scored with my choices for shows to binge watch this time around.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Theme Parks: Are the Disney Parks Too Expensive?

Promotional concept image of the ‘Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser’ experience coming to Walt Disney World in 2022. Copyright goes to the Walt Disney Company.

Hey! Hallie here!

Before we even get into this post I’m going to answer my own question. Yes. The Disney parks are definitely too expensive. But often times Disney fans, such as myself, have been able to wave away some of the more extreme costs simply because of how much joy Disney brings. The parks are some of the best theme parks you could ever visit and their immersive nature and fun attractions are well worth a high price. But how high of a price is all of that really worth? Because Disney just keeps getting more and more expensive. The most recent news we’ve seen coming out of the Disney parks only seems to prove that. Are the new prices attached to the experiences Disney has introduced a complete deal breaker?

‘Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser’:

Let’s start with the most recent news. When the ‘Star Wars: Galactic Cruiser’ experience was announced, tons of fans were excited. All of the early concept art looked incredible and everyone was ready to see Disney take their immersive skills to the next level. Especially Star Wars fans who have dreamed of being transported to the Star Wars universe for many, many years. LARPers recognized exactly what this type of experience could mean for LARP in the future, as well. Namely, more high-scale and easily accessible LARP experiences. As such, many LARP and D&D fans, or fans of general immersive entertainment, jumped in on the excitement whether they were Star Wars fans or not. And then the price tag was announced. Disney revealed that the two-night experience would cost about $5,000 dollars for only two people. And that’s at its cheapest. What many people didn’t realize about the release of the prices was that these were calculated with the least busy time of the year in mind. Meaning at any given time, this price could be exponentially higher. So what could be worth over $5,000 dollars? Well, with your payment you get valet parking, all meals inside the hotel excluding alcohol, one meal inside the Disney parks, a ticket into only Hollywood Studios in an effort to connect Galaxy’s Edge to the hotel, and the immersive entertainment inside the hotel. Note that none of this includes the costuming that they keep advertising for guests. You could go to all of the Disney parks in Walt Disney World for much cheaper than almost $10,000 dollars for a family of four during regular season. Most people could never afford to take a vacation like that. It seems like the pricing is blocking out the majority of fans. They might as well have slapped a “For Rich People Only” warning on the prices. And while I do know that some fans will save up as much money as they can to attend the experience, part of me hopes it fails. It’s unfair that a rich company like Disney is making experiences like this less and less accessible.

Magic Keys:

Disneyland famously did away with their annual passes during quarantine. With their understandable reliance on a reservation system in order to prevent crowding in the parks during the pandemic, there was a question of whether or not annual passes would ever be available again. Surprisingly, Disney did decide they wanted to bring back the annual pass system. This time under the name Magic Keys. There are far less options for the Magic Keys than there were for annual passes. Also, the reservation system is still in play here. The lowest park pass for California residents is around $400 dollars, which isn’t too bad for a Disney pass. Except you’re only allowed to make two reservations at a time, and as usual, you’re blocked out for the majority of the year. What’s the point of paying for this pass if you can’t go most of the year because of black out dates, and you aren’t guaranteed going at any other point because of reservation limitations? With the price of this key, you seriously risk not getting your moneys worth. As the expenses of the keys go up you see less and less black out dates, which is nice. You also get more reservation slots at a time. But the closer you get to the $1000 dollar mark, the less most are able to afford it despite the benefits of the pass. These rates aren’t as bad as many predicted they would be should this system return, but isn’t that bad in of itself? That Disney has become so expensive that you need to pay nearly $1000 dollars per person just to get a decent annual pass? Most families can’t afford that. And on top of that, the reservation system calls into question whether or not any of the keys will benefit locals. Part of the appeal of annual passes for locals was that you could get in the parks on most days if you found you had a free day. Reservations aren’t a terrible system, but they do eliminate this option. So is the amount locals will even be able to get in the parks worth any of this money? I’m not sure it is.

Disneyland Paris FastPass Prices:

So this is a thing now. Apparently Disneyland Paris decided it was an excellent idea to try out charging for FastPasses. Yeah. This isn’t a new practice in theme parks. Universal Studios does this. But Disneyland is quite a bit pricier than Universal Studios. Universal Studios gives guests the option to buy a package that gets them front-of-the-line access so they have a steady way of making money off of guests separate from the park tickets. Disneyland’s standard prices are so high that this isn’t necessary for their park. They’ll still try it, though, because money.

I’m going to be honest here, I had an annual pass to Disneyland for most of my life. However, for the past few years I’ve switched to a Universal Studios pass. Disneyland passes just aren’t affordable for me and my family anymore. And with Disney adding even more additional pricing and introducing $10,000 dollar experiences, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to attend the parks regularly again. I hate that so many families who found Disneyland as a major form of escape have had to give up going to the parks because of Disney’s cash grabs. I fear that Disney is going to become a playground for only the rich. And when the Disney parks do something, I fully expect their competitors to follow. Disneyland is setting a truly frightening precedent for theme parks in the future. And they can’t even pay their workers a living wage despite the continued price hikes. Make it make sense.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

BTS: ‘Run BTS’ Episode 145

Screenshot of Kim Taehyung (V) from episode 145 of ‘Run BTS’. Copyright goes to BTS and the Hybe Corporation.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Finally ‘Run BTS’ is back! I can’t even describe how much I missed this show, though I was really glad that the boys got a bit of a break. And when ‘Run BTS’ comes back, it always comes back with a bit of a bang. Last time they took a little break, we were treated to the pool episodes where the members were dunked with water. Those were some of my favorite episodes they’ve ever released just because they were so funny! This time we got a continuation of BTS Village, which is one of my favorite game series they have ever done on the show. This storyline started out in the modern day at an indoor mock-city for kids, then continued in an eighties detective style, and now we’re going all the way back to the Joseon Dynasty for the most recent episodes. Of course, this is a storyline that is always several parts long in whatever way they do it, meaning we still don’t know who the spies are. Though most of them seem so genuine this time around, that it’s pretty difficult to tell who it is. This was seriously such a fun episode and I, of course, can’t speak much more about it without MAJOR SPOILERS!!! Be warned if you haven’t seen the episode yet.

Kim Namjoon (RM):

Each member was given a specific role within this village, and Namjoon’s was the district magistrate. This involved going around and finding small rolled up notes of rules for his individual mission. If a member completed their individual mission they gained an ability, which was essentially a clue to aid in attempting to figure out who the spies are. Namjoon ended up not doing super well with his mission considering how many other members picked up his clues, but Namjoon also was super helpful. He spent most of the time walking around with Jimin and helped Jimin just as much with finding his items as he spent trying to find his own. He was always open to giving any member any item that he had found that he knew was part of their mission. He barely kept anything for himself. He even helped Jimin when Jimin was caught by a guard. Because that’s also a thing that can happen in this game. Namjoon was one of the most outspoken and logical at trying to find out who the spy was. Namjoon was a spy last time, and something tells me he won’t be this time. But they always reel me in and then surprise me, so I’m prepared to be wrong.

Kim Seokjin (Jin):

Jin ended up with the role of physiognomist. Which apparently has to do with the psychological study of facial features. Jin didn’t really seem to know exactly what his role was either. But Jin was absolutely hilarious to watch in this particular episode. Though he always is. While other members were out there working hard to complete their individual missions, Jin, Hobi, and Yoongi sat and ate for a while. Jin was the last person to get up and the most unwilling to do so. He didn’t succeed in finding as many puzzle pieces because other members had already found them. And he also tried to get a clue too early without having enough pieces, which he laughed a lot about. As he usually does. Jin mostly spent this episode making the staff laugh a lot and walking around in these really adorable glasses that I can’t get over now. Seriously, he looked so good. While he did seem the most unwilling to complete his mission, that still didn’t make me suspicious. Because he was just being very funny and very Jin. I’m not sure this seemed entirely out of character for him.

Min Yoongi (Suga):

Yoongi always gets the most adorable roles and I love it every single time. The first time he was a florist, next he was a photographer, and now he is the village teacher. So cute. He did spend the beginning of this episode eating with Jin and Hobi, but that was only after being kicked by Jimin for stubbornly refusing to do Jimin’s ‘Run BTS’ calling idea. Why is he always so relatable? Despite the fact that he also took a while to get going, he was much less nonchalant than Jin. He was actually being pretty quiet and strategic about attempting to complete his mission. And, to be honest, he was a little suspicious. Many of the members called him out for being the most suspicious of the bunch this episode. And it really didn’t help that Jungkook got a clue after completing his mission that said that “Many people are likeminded with Suga”, though Namjoon thought that this meant the majority would agree with him which would make him not one of the spies if there were only two spies. Though we don’t actually know how many spies there are. Namjoon could be totally correct; but that suspicion is still getting to me.

Jung Hoseok (J-Hope):

Hobi got the role of secret royal inspector who is also a nobleman. So much power! He definitely walked around with all the swagger of someone in power too. Though he did get a late start eating with Yoongi and Jin. Hobi was one of the major players strategically hiding pieces he got from other members missions. Though his search for completing his own mission was halted when he was found out by the royal guard. Hobi had respectfully taken his shoes off to enter an indoor area, so he ended up running away without time to put his shoes back on. He spent much of the rest of the game trying to dodge the guard and he was also one of the members most accused when they all sat down to talk. Though Hobi defended himself by saying that he couldn’t possibly be a spy considering he ran with such haste to get away from the guard and it made his feet dirty. But I’m not sure, Hobi was also one of the ones most suspicious to me too. He didn’t seem as concerned with the mission as others, which I don’t generally associate with Hobi. Or maybe he was just really into his character.

Park Jimin (Jimin):

Jimin was dressed all in pink and was given the role of charming bachelor. He’s that adorable character you see in a lot of dramas who skips around cutely while simultaneously wooing many potential romantic partners. This is, obviously, perfect for Jimin. Jimin’s mission was also adorable, as he was set to collect a bunch of flowers that he then tucked very cutely into his belt. He walked around a lot with Namjoon; keeping him company while Namjoon found most of his flowers for him. Tae also found several flowers for Jimin that he was very willing to give Jimin in exchange for Jimin ripping his beard off. (I’ll get to that later.) Jimin played the carefree role very well, which didn’t make me all that suspicious. Just like Jin, this didn’t really seem out of character for Jimin. Though many of the members suspected him because Jimin doesn’t have a clear role within the village as the bachelor character is often unemployed. (It’s not his fault that he’s unemployed!) Jimin also set out to break the tension in arguments between members by either skipping around or reminding the other members that being kind was more important than finding the spy. A sweet bean. Though he’s tricked me before so I don’t completely trust him. Jimin was one of the only members to get caught by the guard, but it didn’t last long.

Kim Taehyung (V):

Tae was absolutely hilarious this episode. Tae was given the role of warrior, which he took the most seriously of everyone else. Tae wore a fake mustache and beard for much of the episode to get into character and talked in a deep voice. He also carried around a sword that he couldn’t always cleanly get back in the sheathe again, which made him practically laugh off his mustache several times. Tae even decided this episode that he was going to give his camera staff servant names, Dolsoe and Pandong, and asked them to refer him as master. Oh, Tae. Tae, needless to say, took his individual mission very seriously. He was in character with whoever came up to him, and he originally felt that his character would keep all the items he found for other members. But he was quick to give up the items as soon as he saw those members. Except for Jungkook, who he hid from. When he saw Jimin, his mustache and beard was coming off, so he very in character asked him to take it off. Tae joined the later meeting with members by having his staff announce him before he walked in. And he stormed out in a very drama-like huff that he felt would suit his character when he became one of the centers for suspicion. Though to me it was difficult to figure out whether Tae was suspicious or not because he was acting so in character.

Jeon Jungkook (Jungkook):

Jungkook got a role that suited him very well, which was village painter. His individual goal was to find several different colored scarves that had been tied to trees, and he probably took his individual task the most seriously of everyone. Even though Tae ended up finding half the scarves. His hard work was only proven by the fact that he was one of the only members who got a clue in the episode. The other was Jimin, who Namjoon did most of the work for. Jungkook was also the most willing to share his clues with everyone else. There was a moment where he walked around and goofed off with Jimin that was very cute, but Jungkook tried very hard this episode to figure out who the spies were. Because of his lack of reluctance in sharing everything that he had found out, he was probably one of the least suspected by the members. And he didn’t really come off as suspicious to me either. While many might say that Jungkook was trying very hard and that could be suspicious, I think that was just Jungkook’s natural competitive side. But I haven’t really absolved him of suspicion just yet, either.

I seriously can’t wait for the next episode of ‘Run BTS’. These types of episodes have always been my favorites along with the travel themed and amusement park themed ones. I just love the mystery! And these boys are scary good at making themselves seem not suspicious at all. I have literally felt betrayed when someone ended up being the spy that I wasn’t expecting at all during these games. I just love them so much and I’m so confused as to who the spy is now. Or even how many spies there even are. I bet whoever it ends up being will not be someone I’m expecting.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

BTS: Weverse Magazine Interviews Pt 2

Promotional image of Kim Taehyung (V), Park Jimin, Jeon Jungkook, Min Yoongi (Suga), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Jung Hoseok (J-Hope), and Kim Namjoon (RM). Copyright goes to BTS and the Hybe Corporation

Hey! Hallie here!

A couple days ago I tackled the interviews for Namjoon, Jin, and Yoongi. So it’s only fair that I move on to the next four and talk about their interviews! As usual, these interviews are very deep and thoughtful. Weverse really taps into the creative processes, the daily lives, and the world views of all of the members. The most recent interviews gave us all of these things and more, plus some updates on how each of the members are doing since they last sat down with Weverse Magazine. They talk about a lot in these interviews, so let’s just jump right in!

Hoseok:

Hoseok goes for the casual, looser look a lot and it always works for him. The smiley face on his oversized sweater speaks to his personality and I love the eye-grabbing shine of the fabric on his shorts. My favorite part though, are the intimidating tinted sunglasses. Hoseok started out his interview with a deep thankfulness towards ARMY. He said that the success of “Butter” is both happy and intimidating because he feels such a large responsibility to ARMY for their support. Hoseok also talked about the process of preparing for songs as a group. Now that the members are so in synch with each other, they’ve noted the importance of pacing themselves with practices, taking breaks, and putting lots of thought into what they want to improve before they take action. However, he does feel it’s important to work hard and put in a lot of preparation time. He said he treats his own time in the spotlight as an opportunity to show off what he’s been working on. As for his time in the background, he always wants to make sure that he’s setting the tone of every music video and bringing in some fun to the background shots. Hoseok always gets very technical about the benefits of both hard physical work and more introspective work for each project, and the way he manages to have fun with it all blows me away. When talking about “Permission to Dance”, he expressed that it felt more natural than “Butter”, which is something many of the members agreed on. He also talked about the importance of learning the significance behind the sign language in the choreography. When it comes to his personal growth, he said he tries to be a source of positive energy but sometimes it isn’t always possible. He finds it freeing to express all of the dark feelings he faces at times. As for quarantine, he’s a bit more restless than the other members and is trying to find other ways to spend his time. But overall, he wanted to let ARMY know that he’s proud of us. Because he wanted all of us to cry.

Jimin:

Jimin went with a surprisingly laid back look that’s very sleek on him. The different designs on the distressed denim shorts are eye catching and the belts on his boots give them an interesting shape. Jimin started out his interview by saying that the current successes of BTS doesn’t feel real. However, Jimin said he got a lot of happiness and comfort out of the fan reactions to their songs. Jimin said that he’s especially comforted by the idea that he will see the fans soon and that more interactions with ARMY are on the horizon. Lately, Jimin noted that he’s been focusing less on what he can show off and more about what feelings he wants to express when he comes to each new project. Moving on from this, he was asked about working on both of their new songs, at which point he said that “Butter” was really hard for him to grasp. The power behind the dance took a lot of practice to get right and felt less natural, though he said his wardrobe always helps him get into the theming of a song. Lately, Jimin said that he’s been using ARMY’s expectations of BTS to get him through the harder times. He misses interacting with ARMY and specifically getting their feedback. Going back to “Butter”, Jimin noted that singing the song in English was hard, and especially for that song, he kept trying to find new ways to sing the higher notes so they would sound clean. As for the pandemic, Jimin said that he’s been able to calm his nerves a bit more now by talking to the other members. He also noted that he feels more emotionally stable than he did when BTS began, saying that he used to feel like he had to fake a lot of his emotions to hide how much stress trying to balance success and a personal life caused him. He says now it’s easier to focus on himself and his own needs. Jimin seems to be at peace with himself and more open to exploring his maturity through his music, which is something I deeply appreciate.

Taehyung:

Tae went for some denim and a zipped-up, collared shirt which walked an interesting line between casual and classy. He completed the look with some classic sunglasses that tipped the look further into the classy direction. Tae began his interview with his obsession with Louis Armstrong. Are any of us surprised? He did say, though, that his classic tastes help relax him and think himself through his darker moments. Apparently he took a lot of inspiration from some classic figures for “Butter”. He mentioned Billy Joel, but also said he was inspired by a lot of teen movies and the actors in them for the “Butter” feeling. He said teen movies influenced him for their high energy and bright feel with a bit of something more mature behind them. That darker maturity is something he said is featured more in “Butter”, where “Permission to Dance” is much brighter. He did say “Butter”s high notes were difficult, but he also said he felt they suited him. He credited this change from the “Dynamite” days to a lot of practice on expanding his range. Tae was also asked about “Blue and Grey” and he spoke again about how important he felt it was to share those feelings with ARMY, who could see his emotions and relate to the song. He said these emotions are often his inspiration for songs, so he keeps a diary of the things that emotionally effect him so that he can use them in his work. As for a deeper look at how he’s doing in quarantine, Tae said that he enjoys his busy schedule, though it’s difficult, because it makes him stronger. He also finds it important to be frequently putting out content so he can get closer to the fans and hear their stories. He views ARMYs as important friends who he wishes to make happy. He left the interview with a song recommendation, “No. 1 Party Anthem” by the Arctic Monkeys, and a hope to be able express both the good and the bad in his music. I think ARMY would agree that he’s already succeeding.

Jungkook:

Jungkook also went with denim, though the highlight of his outfit is his textured shirt. The shirt looks like a jersey at the top, but the design is cut off by yet another differently textured fabric on his sleeves, and all of that on top of a white under-layer. Though Jungkook looked relaxed drawing during his photoshoot, his first question betrayed his anxiety. When asked about BTS’s recent successes, Jungkook said that it somewhat feels like a burden despite the fact that it makes him happy. He feels that he can’t always keep up with the effort to be even better with each new release. Jungkook, unlike the other members, said that he felt comfortable with “Butter” because he felt he could express more in that song than he could with “Dynamite”. “Dynamite” frustrated him at times and he felt he could have done better. He did note that part of his frustrations might be how strange it is to sing in English. In all of the songs, though, Jungkook found enjoyment in discovering which styles suited a song best. He talked a lot about how he’s constantly improving his voice and working on his own style. He said he’s still trying to discover what kind of artist he is and he feels he has nothing substantial to show for his efforts as of right now. He even said he feels he might fall behind because of it. In quarantine, Jungkook said that he’s been casually doing what interests him and trying to learn from those around him. Especially with painting. He’s working on his mixtape as well, though it’s difficult, and is trying to express himself as best he can with those songs. Jungkook did talk about how disappointed he is that he can’t get energy from ARMY as much now. (He also did express gratefulness to ARMY for selling out his favorite drink.) Overall, Jungkook talked a lot about his lack of sleep and his frustrations with himself. I hope that Jungkook is easier on himself in the future and sees more value in what he’s doing. I understand his frustrations, but it breaks my heart to see him suffering this way.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Superheroes: Captain Marvel Resurgence

Screenshot of Brie Larson in ‘Avengers: Endgame’. Copyright goes to Marvel Entertainment and Disney.

Hi! It’s Annie!

A while ago I made a post about masculinity in female characters in the media and the way it is being misused. I’m not going to go more into that here since I made a previous post about it, but one of my major examples was the character of Captain Marvel. Really, this entire topic can be difficult to talk about because it’s a difficult line to walk. It isn’t fair to see feminine erasure in female characters or femininity being portrayed as less strong, while at the same time it is also accurate to say that masculinity is present in anyone of any gender. The definitions of femininity and masculinity are rightfully changing. But, the movie ‘Captain Marvel’ has been relentlessly attacked since its release and Brie Larson has also seen her fair share of abuse just for this movie coming out. When it was announced that we would be getting a second movie, there was a giant resurgence of people attacking the movie. Many people said that the sequel shouldn’t come out at all because they insinuated that no one liked the first one. And when anybody tried to voice their support of the first movie or say why they liked it, they were attacked by hundreds of people telling them why they were wrong. And while I admit that the first ‘Captain Marvel’ movie had some issues, I don’t think that attacking it or its fans in this way is productive. People have also been using female criticisms, like the one I wrote above, as excuses to attack people. So, let’s get into why attacking ‘Captain Marvel’ in this way doesn’t make any sense.

‘Captain Marvel’ is Not the Worst Marvel Film:

Can we all just admit to ourselves that ‘Captain Marvel’ is definitely not the worst movie that Marvel has released? In fact, it isn’t even a bad one. Did the movie lack some much needed character development? Yes. But that doesn’t make it bad. The acting in the movie was phenomenal and it provided the MCU with some much needed representation. It was also a fun watch! Between the adorable aliens, badass Nick Fury, the return of Coulson, and actual female friendships, this movie got a lot right. Of course it isn’t perfect. But in the end it was a start. My criticisms of this movie have never come from a place of hating this movie entirely. They come from a place of being frustrated that we aren’t seeing enough of the representation we need yet and wanting things to improve over time. And I will admit that this movie made strides forward in female representation just by having the “I have nothing to prove to you” line. That was the absolute best way they could have handled that main villain in my eyes.

Brie Larson is NOT Your Punching Bag:

I have no idea what happened in the hate of this movie that made people think it was ok to go after Brie Larson. Did she write the movie? No. Then why are you blaming her for all the failings of the movie? People were even zoning in on certain interviews, pointing out meaningless body language of other actors, and claiming that this was proof that nobody liked her. I can’t even put into words how ridiculous it is to frame-by-frame go through interviews to justify to yourself why you don’t like a person. And I can’t put into words how ridiculous it is to decide you don’t like someone because you didn’t like the movie they were in. Brie Larson did not deserve this hate and I think it’s pretty saddening to see the lead of the first Marvel female-led film being treated like this. For virtually no reason. It’s one thing if you dislike the movie, it’s an entirely different thing if you attack the actors over it. Also, why is it that Brie Larson is praised by men when ‘Scott Pilgrim’ comes up but then absolutely spit on by those same men when ‘Captain Marvel’ comes up? Can someone explain this to me, because I am really confused.

Captain Marvel is Not A Horrible Character:

Now, I’m not going to claim here that she’s the best character ever. She’s not. I have a lot of issues with her character and the way the writing restricted her. I think we saw elements of her becoming much better in ‘Endgame’ though. I think ‘Engame’ had some pretty strategic moments where her personality and sense of humor shone through that we didn’t get nearly enough of in her singular movie. And I think her portrayal in ‘Engame’ actually marks what could be a turn in the right direction for this character. But even before, I didn’t think she was awful. I liked some of the elements of her character that we saw, which was the same rebellious, sarcastic, and humorous nature that we saw more of in ‘Endgame’. I just think the movie didn’t take as much time as it should have to focus on that. The movie struggled with developing almost all of its characters, not just Carol Danvers. And things like this can often happen when a movie decides to center on an amnesia plot. If the main character doesn’t know who they are or who anyone around them is, it can be difficult to discern that as an audience member as well. Some movies can balance this confusion and make this kind of plot work and this wasn’t one of those movies. Thankfully, we won’t be dealing with that storyline anymore, so hopefully we’ll see more concise writing for her in the future.

Men Mis-using Arguments:

I have an issue with men taking female concerns and attacking women over liking a specific piece of media by telling them that other women have concerns about it which means they shouldn’t like it either. This happens a lot with Captain Marvel. I have seen so many positive tweets about Carol Danvers made by women, end up trashed by men because they argue that other women didn’t like Captain Marvel either. And that’s ridiculous. We can have concerns over a piece of media and still like the parts of it that succeeded. I especially saw this with the argument I mentioned above about how Carol was written with almost no feminine traits. Women will say that they like her representation and then men tell them that they can’t even count Carol as female representation if women don’t think she was written in a feminine enough way. And that entire thought process has so many things wrong with it that I don’t even have the energy to tackle that entire sentence. Basically, what I’m saying here is that you don’t get to guilt people into having your opinion. Especially when it is not your place to do so.

Leave People Alone:

At the end of the day, we’re talking about a movie. Something that was created to be enjoyed. And this movie isn’t bad in any way nor is it extremely problematic. I don’t understand why there’s such a pushback when it comes to people liking this movie or even bringing it up. If people like it, let them like it. You don’t have to like it. Nobody ever said that you were being forced to like this movie. And there’s no purpose in trying to get all people to universally condemn this movie. It doesn’t make any sense and everyone has different and valid opinions. So, why can’t you just be fine with people liking what they like? You don’t have to tell them that they’re wrong just because you have a different opinion. I’m really tired of people just trying to share wholesome art pieces of Carol or tweets about how much they loved that recent Brie Larson movie and being attacked by people just for doing those things. The exact same thing happens for anyone who says that they like the sequel trilogy movies in ‘Star Wars’. Yes, we get you don’t like it. But not everyone has to share your opinions, Jerry.

I am personally pretty neutral on ‘Captain Marvel’ as a movie (which is the same stance I have on the sequel trilogy). There were good things about it and bad things about it. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. I’ll watch it if other people want to, but it wouldn’t be one of my go-to movies. But there are people out there who love this movie, and their opinion is not more or less valid than my own. There is no reason for ‘Captain Marvel’ to be trending on Twitter every other day due to fan wars just because they announced there would be a second movie. I’m really sick of seeing it, guys. Just leave fans of Carol Danvers alone, ok? They aren’t doing anything wrong. And I want the second ‘Captain Marvel’ movie to come out if only because we’re getting Ms. Marvel and Park Seojoon in a Marvel film. Let me repeat, Park Seojoon of ‘Itaewon Class’ is going to be in a Marvel film. I’m excited!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

BTS: Weverse Magazine Interviews Pt 1

Screenshot of Min Yoongi (Suga), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Jeon Jungkook, Jung Hoseok (J-Hope), Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung (V), and Kim Namjoon(RM) from the “Butter” music video. Copyright goes to BTS and the Hybe Corporation.

Hey! Hallie here!

Weverse Magazine just keeps giving us amazing interviews! This past week we received an interview for each member of BTS released daily. It wasn’t all that long ago that I discussed the last set of Weverse interviews, but I always love talking about them. These interviews always get really deep and the members of BTS always have something interesting to say. The most recent interviews are no different. Even with the last articles being somewhat recent, I felt like each member had updates to everything they discussed last time. These interviews are long so let’s just get into them!

Namjoon:

Namjoon went for more of a dark, sporty look this time around and it adds a lot of intrigue to his photos. The most striking thing about his look here is both the way the dark fabric of his suit lays loosely on him, and his newer short haircut, which suits him incredibly well. He started out the interview talking about his exercise regimen, which he said is something he takes seriously even though his diet doesn’t always help the situation. Relatable, Namjoon. All of that lead into his daily routine. All of the members talked about their daily routine in these interviews. It’s interesting to see how much more rest they’re getting due to quarantine. I can’t help but feel that it’s kind of a good thing. Namjoon specifically talked a lot about how stable and clear his schedule feels. Namjoon also mentioned that his current situation is affecting his inspiration to create. He said he draws a lot off of his experiences and, with his life as slow as it is now, there aren’t as many experiences he can draw off of. But I’ll get back to that later. In the meantime he talked about how much he wanted a Grammy but how insignificant it is in the long run, which is a very mature response to everything that happened. Then he discussed how hard he worked for “Butter” as opposed to how easy “Permission to Dance” felt. He even said he enjoyed singing for a change, which makes me want to hear him sing more. Back to inspiration, though, he discussed how “Bicycle”, his recent release, felt like everything he had to say about his life right now. Especially because he feels most free when he’s in his own thoughts on his bicycle. Still, Namjoon feels as though lyrics are much more difficult to write, which halts his entire starting process of creating a song. The new routine is making him question who he really is. And I feel like everyone can relate to that confusing self discovery we went through or are going through while still dealing with the pandemic, as well as the lack of motivation and inspiration. I hope Namjoon knows he isn’t alone.

Jin:

Jin went for a really laid back feel in his photos. He could be seen lounged on a couch next to a blow-up palm tree. He always looks stunning in white so I have to call attention to his sheer, white, long-sleeve top over his white t-shirt. It adds texture and just looks nice. As for Jin himself, he’s a really laid back guy. Jin actually expressed an appreciation for everything being online right now. Though he said he couldn’t really process “Butter”s success because of the online nature of most of the things they attend, he also said that he feels less pressure because of it. He noted that the pressure he felt over “Dynamite” was something he wound up working through and, as such, is something he feels he can cope with better now. As for his slower daily routine, he said he feels he’s healthier and he gets more sleep. Good. He also talked about “Abyss”. He said he felt relief after releasing the song because he was facing an unknown side of himself and allowing ARMY to see him as a person with natural negative thoughts. He spoke about how high “Butter” is to sing, which was funny considering he wasn’t the only one of the members who discussed this. Similarly “Butter” was difficult to practice but he said he feels he’s improved. He also discussed how the lyrics were difficult to memorize for both “Butter” and “Permission to Dance”. He enjoyed the challenge, though. He also feels he makes up for his poor memorizing skills in other ways. I love how he’s coming to appreciate his own skills. My favorite part about this interview, though, was how much Jin emphasized the importance of rest. He said that sometimes your brain needs to have a day where you aren’t doing much. Those days are productive even if other people tell you that they aren’t. With everyone’s mental health as it is now, this is such an important message. Between that and his obvious care for ARMY, this interview really left an impact on me.

Yoongi:

Yoongi went for a full royalty look for this shoot. And why not? He might as well be. I especially liked that his fully decorated varsity jacket and white shorts contrasted with his elegant crown. Yoongi was asked right away about his progress after his surgery. He said he’s doing well and keeping up with his physical therapy! He also said that he’s been trying to find other things to do outside of work, but it hasn’t worked out. Apparently he’s bad at games so people troll him online. I feel bad for finding that hilarious. As for the success of “Butter” he said it hasn’t sunk in. He was also asked about the message of “Permission to Dance” and I feel he captured the message of this song better than anyone else. He said that the song is a message of hope for everyone who keeps watching this situation get dragged out farther and farther. The song promises that there’s an end to it all. With everyone frustrated by the current situation, I really feel like that message is important. He also pointed out that the pandemic isn’t all negative. He’s been spending a lot of time with his family and feels more emotionally stable. I love that he’s feeling so comfortable. However, unlike Namjoon he didn’t enjoy singing as much in “Permission to Dance”. He feels he needs to practice more, though singing wasn’t as difficult for him as English pronunciation. This is a friendly reminder that the fact that BTS releases English songs in the way that they do is really impressive. Overall, Yoongi said that he likes to make music that he wants to make, but that the public will enjoy as well. He doesn’t want to sacrifice his wants, but he’s open to suggestions and compromise. The most important thing for him, though, is that the artist has a say in what they do so they can have fun doing it. Here he brought up how corrupt companies can be when viewing artists as a product rather than as a creative entity. Someone show this interview to the entire K-Pop industry.

I’m going to stop here for now. As usual, I’ll be analyzing the other interviews in my next post, so look out for that! I really hope these posts help narrow down some of the major points! They’re long interviews and they tend to cover a lot of topics so I hope this helps give anyone of any attention span a good idea of what the members are trying to get across in long pieces like these. I love how deeply thoughtful and emotional the members of BTS are. They each teach me something new in every interview. I can’t remember the last time I’ve found this type of connection in a celebrity interview.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

International Dramas: Vincenzo

Screenshot of Song Joongki in ‘Vincenzo’. Copyright goes to Logos Film, Studio Dragon, and Netflix.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I’ve been trying to space out the reviews for the dramas I recently watched, but some of them were so good that it’s extremely difficult for me to do that. I just want to talk about them all as soon as possible! I think a fair few people have heard about ‘Vincenzo’ even if you haven’t actually watched it. It’s one of the biggest K-Dramas on Netflix right now and focuses on a member of the mafia. Mafia based stories have been seeing a resurgence after a while of not seeing much of them. ‘Vincenzo’ is about a Korean consigliere of the Italian mafia named Vincenzo Cassano, who returns to South Korea after his former boss dies in order to retrieve gold that is hidden under a building that Vincenzo owns. Unfortunately, by the time he gets back, his building has been occupied by some pretty insane tenants. One of them is a lawyer, who he befriends, who seeks to destroy a corrupt company. After a tragic accident, Vincenzo is thrown into the fight against the company and realizes that this company might be even more corrupt than they all originally thought. All the while he tries to keep the gold a secret from the tenants of the building. It sounds like a more complicated plot than it is, and I swear it’s done really well. Once again, I have to say this is one of my favorite dramas I’ve ever watched. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Unlike in my last reviews, this show actually has some pretty insane plot twists. Seriously consider if you want to read my in depth review before you watch it. And trust me, it’s worth the watch.

Bene:

Vincenzo- I have never been a huge fan of the romantic movie portrayal of the mafia. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that everyone who has ever been a part of the mafia is evil, because that’s simply not true. Most people involved with the mafia, or related groups, are people who were born into it who didn’t have much of a choice. But I’m also not going to say that a lot of the acts that are committed in those groups aren’t evil. Because they most certainly are. Really it’s a tough situation to tackle, and most forms of entertainment don’t even cover these topics. But I will say, I am occasionally entertained by some form of mafia media. And this is one of my favorite depictions that I’ve seen. Vincenzo is a badass. There’s nothing disputing this. One of my favorite things about Vincenzo is how much you don’t realize he has control over every situation until later. There are many moments in the show where Vincenzo will tell the villain that the only reason he hasn’t killed him yet is because he’s not enough of a threat to do so. And when Vincenzo finally gets around to wanting to kill him, he describes it as a cat finally eating a mouse after it’s played around with it for a while. Even when you think someone in the show is more powerful than Vincenzo in a situation, you’re wrong. And the urgency is still there, because the show is less about protecting Vincenzo and more about protecting other people. They balance this dynamic well. Vincenzo is also a likable character, if not necessarily moral. When Chayoung asks Vincenzo if he’s ever killed anyone, Vincenzo says no. Which is a lie. And it isn’t to make her feel better, it’s because he wishes that killing was never a part of his life. Vincenzo is a character that consistently feels regret for what he does, and tries to atone by showing simple kindnesses to as many people as he can. By the end of the show he becomes a major protector of those who can’t protect themselves. But he is never a hero or portrayed to be one. This character could have gone so wrong in so many ways, but the writers managed to strike the perfect balance within his character.

Chayoung- The main female character and an amazing one at that. She is never treated differently by anyone because she’s a woman. Especially not Vincenzo. She becomes the main lawyer for the victims of Babel Group after her father dies by their hands. She previously used to work for Wusang Law Firm, who works closely with Babel Group, but changed sides to get revenge for her father. She is not your typical female lead, as she is just as vindictive as Vincenzo at times. And she’s a lot more likely to poke fun at the other side. But she’s also the heart of the group. Her main objective is never killing and she often tries to encourage Vincenzo to find other ways to deal with their situations. She can also hold her own in a fight just by sheer willpower. If Vincenzo isn’t there, she’s resident protector of everyone else and it’s a job that she doesn’t take lightly. She is the wittiest character in the entire show, and her fast dialogue is part of what made this show so entertaining for me.

The Romance- The romance between Vincenzo and Chayoung is definitely a slow burn. And I much prefer that. Because, especially in these kinds of shows, making the main male and female leads a couple can often result in the female lead feeling like nothing more than the love interest. Because they don’t even realize they have romantic feelings for each other until towards the end of the show, this is never an issue. Each character is focused on for the purpose of exploring their characters rather than romance. And when they do get together it’s really cute because it feels like it’s been such a long time coming. They make each other better people, and that’s something that really comes across even before they get together.

The Tenants- The group of people who live in the building are a much needed source of comic relief after some of the more intense moments in the show. And I love how much they care about each other and how much Vincenzo learns to care for them in turn. I especially liked Vincenzo caring for the teenagers, or how cute his relationship was with the undercover cop once he came in. Vincenzo is always there when they need him, and in turn they all learn to be there when Vincenzo needs them. The scenes with them can be extremely wholesome and a much needed break when you need one.

Jang Hanseok- The biggest plot twist in this show that I didn’t see coming. And I felt so betrayed and stupid for not seeing it. When we first meet this character, known at the time as Jang Junwoo, he’s super adorable. He’s the quirky assistant of Chayoung from when she worked at Wusang and he continues to be an informant for her after she leaves. He often speaks in English and is very happy-go-lucky. He has a huge crush on her and very obviously cares about her well-being. And then it’s revealed that he is the true CEO of Babel Group and the main villain of the entire show. And the thing is, he doesn’t suddenly become less fun to watch because he’s evil. He’s one of the few fun villains I’ve seen in dramas. I find that a lot of dramas feature the classic mustache-twirling evil villains with not much of a personality. This is not the case here. This is the type of villain who will capture your attention in every scene. Sometimes he’ll even make you laugh. And then he’ll do something so evil and vile that all you want to do is look away, but you just can’t. He also screams a lot, which I actually found funny. This is the villain I’m looking for in dramas. The one that you can’t help but like when he’s on screen even if you hate his guts. One thing I will say, is that he’s not an understandable villain. But his upbringing is more than enough reason for what you see, even if the outcome is a little out there. I don’t think you always need a super in depth backstory for your villain as long as you have other things to pull from.

Jang Hanseo- The brother of Hanseok who poses as the CEO for Babel Group. He starts out the show as a complete coward and ended the show as one of my favorite characters. At first he has no plans other than trying to keep his brother from killing him. Because his brother will most certainly kill anyone on a whim. But after he decides that he wants to run Babel Group correctly, he decides to ask Vincenzo for help. And Vincenzo initially refuses, but Hanseo uses this as an opportunity to prove himself. He deliberately protects Vincenzo on several occasions and even offers to do menial tasks, like sorting through all of Vincenzo and Chayoung’s filing. There are several times when the show tricks you into thinking that he’ll betray Vincenzo. But never take this character for granted. He’s too pure for that. And then he even asks if he can refer to Vincenzo as a brother, which is something that Vincenzo can’t deny him because it’s so clear that Hanseo wishes he actually had a healthy brotherly relationship. He gets close to Vincenzo, and you realize that this character is just a puppy. And then they kill the puppy. I am not kidding when I say I sobbed. This wasn’t just tearing up or a couple tears. I literally had a pillow clutched to my chest that I was sobbing into. And he goes out by proving that he’s not the coward that he was. He gives up his life for Vincenzo in the ultimate selfless move and I will never get over this. I loved him. I wish he hadn’t died, but his death proved to the audience just how precious this character is. I still wish he hadn’t died and will forever be crying over this.

Seo Miri- The ghostly piano teacher and a tenant of Vincenzo’s building. Unlike the other tenants, she has a bigger part to play in the over-all story. It’s revealed that she is a major hacker and one of the people who was involved with placing the gold under the building to begin with. She becomes more and more involved with schemes as the show goes on. And I’m always game for suddenly revealing that the woman standing in the back has always been the smartest person in the room. I love her.

Inzhagi- I just really liked the fact that Vincenzo essentially had a pet pigeon by the end of this. It was such a weird but cute plot point that actually added some character development to Vincenzo.

Cattiva:

Wusang Law Firm- Both the major characters in Wusang Law Firm were not ones I could ever get behind. Myunghee is the second major villain, and I loved the fact that there was a female villain in this show. But none of the villains, other than Hanseok, are given much in the way of fun character points or backstory. You learn pretty early on that Myunghee resents being told what to do and resents men in power. But she ends up working for one and this is never touched on again. She becomes pretty loyal and nothing more. And then sometimes she screams people down or feels like she’s smart in a situation where she isn’t really, which can get annoying. She’s supposed to be a mind that can combat Vincenzo, but she isn’t. She was never threatening to me or interesting and I wish that hadn’t been the case. And then you have Seunghyuk who is the CEO of Wusang and just a dumb coward. I think the show would have worked just as well with Myunghee being the CEO of Wusang and this character not existing. I know they wanted to show a despicable coward, but so many of the villains had cowardice moments that he often felt like a waste of screen time.

The Tenants- Though I liked seeing the tenants sometimes, I think they might have gotten slightly too much screen time. Especially because the screen time that they did get focused a lot more on being comedic than it focused on actual character development. I never really felt close to any of the characters, I only felt connected to how these characters benefited Vincenzo’s character development. There’s a moment where the show tricks the audience into thinking one of the tenants dies. And, don’t get me wrong, I liked his character. But I didn’t feel connected enough to him to really feel it when it happened. Or maybe that was because that was after Hanseo died and I had cried myself out by then. Because that’s also a possibility. Nevertheless, the tenants are nothing but the clowns in the circus. They’re funny, but they aren’t what you’re here to see. I would have liked the show to spend a bit more of this screen time on other characters or at least trying to develop some of the tenants more.

The Gold- The gold didn’t feel like it had much over-all plot relevance. In the end it was just a plot device that they occasionally had to address because this was what tied Vincenzo to the story. And I think something so important should have been better woven into the main storyline. I would have liked if the villains had some agenda regarding the gold. It probably would have tied in better if they had. But because they didn’t, whenever the show addressed the gold it felt like the show was pulling away from the main story. And considering that the gold was such a major plot device, it was weird that it didn’t connect to more stuff anyways. Vincenzo didn’t even really need the gold for anything. The story would have been so much more concise if there was more of a purpose for that gold.

The Birds- I liked Inzhagi. Don’t get me wrong. But the entire scene where pigeons saved Vincenzo from those Italian mafia guys was a bit ridiculous. I think it was a step too far.

And that’s it! Obviously, I had more compliments for this show than criticisms. Even though most of my criticisms were pretty large all things considered, in the end it didn’t take away from what I liked most about this show. It’s a show with a good amount of action that never gets too serious or bloody. And as someone who does not like anything near horror, this was something that I could easily watch and appreciate. But it’s not soft enough that kids could watch it. Please don’t think this means this is for families. There’s still a lot of violence in this show. But the show has a good balance, some great characters, and more than enough to keep you entertained. This show is popular for a reason and I highly recommend it!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie