Disney: The Princesses Who Deserve The Hate And The Ones That Don’t

Screenshot from Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ (1989). Copyright of Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Hi! It’s Annie!

As some of the older Disney movies are looked at again, and with some of them being questionably remade, the Disney princesses have been specifically scrutinized. This isn’t without reason; many people have been looking back at them to see which princesses are actually good female representation. Even though there are definitely some characters who aren’t as great looking back, there are a few who, at least I feel, are completely misunderstood and very undeserving of the hate. Let’s look at which princesses have been accused rightly and which ones, I believe, have a bit more to them than what people are saying.

Deserved:

Sleeping Beauty- Aurora has an absolutely beautiful singing voice and I love her dress. But that movie was not about Aurora even if it was named for her. She barely has any screen time at all, and much of that screen time is her asleep. Specifically, she is on screen for only eighteen minutes of the movie and only has eighteen lines of dialogue. She is given absolutely no personality and is the definition of a damsel in distress. I actually watched this movie again after figuring out how little she was in it and was really surprised at what I hadn’t remembered was the actual content of the movie. Philip is barely in it either. The movie is centered around Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather and it is them who get most of the work done throughout the course of the film. Maleficent never would have died if the fairies hadn’t enchanted Phillip’s sword. Even though this movie is essentially female centered, Aurora still spends the movie without much of any personality traits other than she’s sleepy and likes to sing.

Snow White- Snow White deserves some credit for being the first of Disney’s animated films and creating the plethora of beloved films that we know today. But Snow White isn’t a good character. She spends the movie falling in love at first sight, passing out in the forest from fear, cleaning the Dwarves’ house, and being tricked into eating a poisoned apple by an obviously shady old woman. The fact that the Dwarves initially protect her because they find her a useful housekeeper is pretty questionable considering the gender roles of the time period the movie came out in. Most people now also point out that her voice is extremely annoying. Which, it is. She is again exempt from the action at the end of the movie because she is not conscious and the Dwarves end up solving all of her problems. Then she leaves them all behind for some guy she’s barely met even though they were all standing around her coffin crying. Pretty ungrateful if you ask me.

Pocahontas- I am not an Indigenous person, so I can’t speak on this issue with absolute knowledge on the situation. However, it’s not difficult to see that this movie is pretty racist. The song ‘Savages’ is meant to show how equally morally wrong both groups are, but if you look at the history it was definitely the colonists that were in the wrong. I think it’s pretty stupid to also claim that the First Nation people were doing any sort of wrong when all they were doing was defending their land. It’s also completely ridiculous to make John Smith the love interest for Pocahontas. That’s really gross. The character of Pocahontas does have personality, but her portrayal is skewed by the very white way the writers decided to adapt this situation. If they wanted to adapt this, there should have been Native Americans in the writing room. But there should be more POC behind the scenes in Hollywood in general.

Undeserved:

Ariel- Ariel has been getting a lot of flack for a while now and it took me a minute to figure out why. Eventually I realized it was because people were saying that Ariel left everything behind for a man and ‘The Little Mermaid’ teaches little girls to do the same. I personally think this is missing the point. Firstly, ‘Part of Your World’ is actually sung before Ariel even sees Eric or knows he exists. This seems to be the biggest point of confusion in the argument against Ariel. Ariel wants to go to the human world from the beginning of the film and Eric is sort of the icing on the cake of it all. He did not place an idea in her head that wasn’t already there. When Ariel decides to stay it’s because she finally feels like she has found where she belongs. Ariel is admittedly a little bratty throughout the movie, but it’s something she grows out of. It’s actually nice to see a Disney princess who is purposely flawed after the classic princesses. Ariel is also not a damsel at the end of this movie; she’s the one who kills Flotsam and Jetsam. Ariel is a really strong character.

Mulan- This one might be a surprising addition to this list and I completely understand why. Most people love Mulan. But after the supremely bad remake, there have been people pointing fingers back at the original Mulan for not passing the Bechdel Test. The Bechdel Test states that if a movie does not feature two or more named female characters, who speak with each other, about something other than men or children, it does not have ideal female representation. Though this test is great in most cases and I really believe in it, I don’t think this test really applies to the original Mulan movie. The new Mulan movie doesn’t pass the test even though it meant to, which is definitely an issue. They created an entirely new character for Mulan to talk to only for them to talk only about how men are treating her. They also give all of the credit for Mulan being a badass to a supernatural power, so that movie wasn’t great for female representation anyways. The story of Mulan is supposed to be about Mulan being the only woman there and subverting expectations. The original Mulan works because it shows that women are just as strong and smart as men are. And she does it all without supernatural powers. The original Mulan should not be blamed for what the new movie failed to do.

Belle- I have made an entire post on how this movie is not an example of Stockholm Syndrome if you want to check that out. Because it’s really not. But there are other things Belle has been accused of since. For example, she sings about wanting adventure but she stays with Beast at the end and there’s also the movie’s obvious viewing of Belle as “not like other girls” complete with villainizing the Bimbettes. Of all things, they really had to call them the Bimbettes? While I can’t excuse the movie for the villainization of all of the other women in the village, I can say that Belle doesn’t exactly fit the trope of “not like other girls”. Though her song seems to be about that specifically, we later learn that part of the reason the town views her that way is because of the reputation of her father. It isn’t only because she reads. We also don’t know what Belle did after the events of the movie, but she sort of found her own adventure in the castle anyways. Belle proves herself time and time again to not be the kind of person who sacrifices all of her life decisions for a guy. She goes toe to toe with the Beast several times. I think she probably would have travelled afterwards whether the Beast liked it or not.

There are other Disney princess who receive a lot of flack, but these are the ones that were currently on my radar. I also have to admit that the Disney princesses get better over time. The original princesses ( such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White) were not active in their own stories. They sort of just had things happen to them. The Renaissance princesses (such as Ariel and Belle) had dreams that they went after. The recent Disney princesses (like Merida and Moana) have specific goals and actually explored flaws. They are completely dynamic characters. But there are still complete badasses from other eras (like Mulan and Jasmine) who have more unique stories and take stances that will always be viewed as modern. Such as Jasmine refusing to be married off because she’s not a prize to be won and Mulan proving that women are strong and very intelligent. I only hope that Raya of Disney’s upcoming movie ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ will be just as badass as some of her predecessors.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Books: Harry Potter Characters That Deserve More Recognition Than Draco Malfoy

Screenshot of Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part2’. Copyright goes to Warner Bros. Pictures and Heyday Films.

Hey! Hallie here!

There’s been a lot of talk amongst Harry Potter fans about which characters are much worse than the books seem to think they are. Among these characters are Albus Dumbledore, who left Harry in an abusive home, Severus Snape, who bullied children as a grown adult, and of course, Draco Malfoy. Even after Snape and Dumbledore fans admitted these characters were problematic, Draco Malfoy fans have still been advocating for a redemption arc. Obviously, I don’t support this idea. Draco Malfoy is the Wizarding World’s equivalent of a racist, and while he wasn’t trying to kill anyone, he was only ever out for himself during his entire character arc. A lot of POC Harry Potter fans have laid out all the reasons why Draco doesn’t deserve a character redemption arc, so I’d recommend looking for some of them if you’re really looking for reasons not to support a Draco Malfoy redemption. Regardless, I think there are several characters that deserve the fandoms attention far more than Draco. So let’s look at the characters who deserved more than they were given!

Sirius Black:

Rowling herself threw Sirius under the bus in interviews. In several interviews she mentioned how Sirius was irresponsible in the way he treated Harry because he viewed Harry as a second James rather than as his godson. This even wound up coming up in the fifth movie, where a line was thrown in that wasn’t in the books. “Nice one James!” Despite writing plenty of problematic characters Rowling always seemed ready to point to Sirius Black as the problematic father-figure for Harry. However, as he’s written in the books, this is absolutely untrue. Sirius is a doting Godfather who constantly checks up on Harry. He worries about him, gives him advice, and answers every letter Harry sends. He puts his own life at risk on some occasions, but never Harry’s. He constantly warns Harry to be cautious and, in one book, even stays in a cave near Hogsmeade, living off of rats, so he can stay closer to Hogwarts and watch over Harry.

Molly Weasley does once accuse Sirius of treating Harry like James, but Sirius is right that Harry deserves to know about the fight against Voldemort. Molly is also especially cruel to Sirius on several occasions. In the same argument, Molly rubs in Sirius’ face that he couldn’t be there for Harry because he was locked in Azkaban. A situation that wasn’t his fault. I don’t think Molly’s critiques of Sirius should stand considering all of her attempts to prevent Sirius from taking any sort of parental position in Harry’s life. Despite the fact that Sirius was made Harry’s Godfather by his deceased parents. Sirius also gets flack for treating Kreacher badly, but Kreacher was a racist and a painful reminder of his abusive mother. Who would be happy with that situation? In other words, Sirius doesn’t deserve to be seen as an irresponsible parental figure. He was reckless because of his own seclusion (Once again understandable considering he was never allowed to leave his childhood home to fight the guy who killed his best friends). However, he was never reckless about the way he treated Harry. A lot of people mention Sirius’ support of Harry forming Dumbledore’s Army as a bad move, but it wasn’t one. Dumbledore’s Army was important, especially with Umbridge as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Sirius tries his best, even after being stuck in Azkaban for twelve years despite the fact that Dumbledore knew full well that he was an innocent man. Once again, I hate Dumbledore. Sirius Black deserves justice.

Regulus Black:

A lot of people talk about how Regulus Black is the character Draco Malfoy fans are really looking for when they talk about a redemption arc. I can’t help but agree. Regulus Black was all for his family’s Pure-Blood supremacy thing at first. Unlike Sirius, he was praised by his family for his traditional ideals. He was even a Death Eater at one point. But when he realized that Voldemort’s plan involved mass murder, proven to Regulus when Voldemort nearly killed Kreacher while testing the defenses around the locket horcrux, Regulus didn’t hide behind his parents. Regulus decided to sacrifice his life to destroy the horcrux. He even left a fake horcrux in it’s place to confuse Voldemort, and eventually reveal to him who had been responsible for the missing horcrux. Unfortunately, Regulus died in the attempt to destroy the real horcrux and Kreacher was left unable to destroy it. Regulus was still racist and a lot of that is waved away in favor of his kindness towards Kreacher. But Regulus wasn’t selfish like Draco is. He was willing to die to destroy only one horcrux. That deserves at least some attention.

Lavender Brown:

Lavender Brown’s only crime was being too feminine and liking to make out with her boyfriend. Lavender was among the group of girls who acted “girly” in Hogwarts, which was somehow seen as an obnoxious trait. In the sixth movie she wears lots of pink and a few more bracelets than any of the other characters to further this obnoxious persona, as if wearing feminine things suddenly makes a character annoying. While I think her ideas about relationships were skewed, so were Ron’s. Lavender was genuinely worried about Ron when he was poisoned and Ron decided to pretend to sleep every time she visited. Lavender Brown wasn’t just some airhead, either. She joined Dumbledore’s Army in her fifth year and she was among those who fought in the battle of Hogwarts. But she’s only ever portrayed as an unlikable nuisance and her death is barely glossed over in the last movie. Lavender Brown suffers from a lot of tropes you wouldn’t expect to come from a woman, but I’m not surprised they came from Rowling.

That’s my list! As you can see, I’m really passionate about the hate Sirius Black receives. I could see some of the critiques against Sirius if he had actually talked Harry into doing something dangerous with him. But the most dangerous thing Sirius does with Harry is walk around as Fluffy on rare occasions. And if it’s a redemption arc you’re looking for, stop looking at Draco when Regulus already exists. Regulus proved himself far more than Draco ever did. As for Lavender, the way Rowling looks down on Lavender at every point for simply being a teenage girl is more obnoxious than Lavender ever was. These three deserve so much more. Draco Malfoy doesn’t deserve any sympathy from the fandom.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Dreamcatcher

Photoshoot still of (from left) Lee Ga Hyeon (Gahyeon), Lee Si Yeon (Siyeon), Kim Bo Ra (SuA), Lee Yu Bin (Dami), Kim Yoo Hyeon (Yoohyeon), and Kim Min Ji (JiU) of ‘Dreamcatcher’. Han Dong (Handong) not pictured. Copyright of HappyFace Entertainment (now Dreamcatcher company).

Hi! It’s Annie!

After watching a popular K-pop covers video that featured this band and noticing that all of the comments were about them, I knew I had to check them out. Meet one of my new favorite K-pop girl groups! I am not saying they are better than any other girl group, but they are extremely good. If you haven’t guessed, this is my newest recommendation. I should preface this by saying that I grew up with rock music. It was something that both of my parents liked and I eventually ended up going with them to quite a few rock concerts because of it. My taste in music is eclectic, so I really like all types of music. Obviously, my current favorite band is BTS which does not fall under the genre of rock. But rock is one of those genres that I definitely have a soft spot for because it was such a big part of my childhood. When I looked up ‘Dreamcatcher’ I was not expecting to find a band with rock influences. I just saw them covering other girl groups music because of the nature of the video I was watching and comments telling others about how much they were all sleeping on this group. ‘Odd Eye’ came out a few days ago, so that was the first music video I clicked on. I was absolutely delighted when I heard the electric guitar and, after hearing a couple of their other songs, I figured out that this was their sound. They are a glorious mix of pop sounds in K-pop that you love and rock influences.

The Members:

JiU: Meet the eldest, one of the main vocalists, and the leader of ‘Dreamcatcher’. She probably has the most traditional K-pop sounding voice of the vocalists, which is definitely not a bad thing! One thing to note about this group right away is that they all are amazing vocalists. There is not a member of this band that feels misused or out of place. JiU can be slightly chaotic but she’s definitely very caring. She also feels almost intimidatingly elegant. Instead of colors each member of the band represents a fear in order to help conquer it; hers is the fear of being chased.

SuA: One of the other main vocalists. She’s also one of the most chaotic members of the band. She’s freaking hilarious. For one Halloween she dressed up as Hell Boy complete with a fake six pack. She danced to many of their songs like that and it made it hard to take her too seriously in an absolutely delightful way. Her fear is the fear of restraint.

Siyeon: One of the lead vocalists of the band. She has a powerful voice that packs a punch. When I watched the music videos I found her incredibly intimating, probably the most out of everyone. So it’s really funny when you see her outside of that and she’s making the others laugh while making baby noises. Her fear is claustrophobia or the fear of tight spaces.

Handong: She is the only person not to be pictured above and that is because she was absent from the band for about a year. Unfortunately, that year she was gone was when the band really seemed to start gaining traction and she just got back, so newer fans like me are just starting to get to know her. She seems really nice if not a little shy and her lower register voice is beautiful. Her fear is scopophobia or the fear of being stared at.

Yoohyeon: The other lead vocalist of the group. Her voice absolutely slays me. It’s distinctive and one of the most powerful voices I’ve ever heard in my life. Her voice was the first thing I noticed about the band. Hearing her call down thunder in ‘Boca’ changed my life. She’s also the biggest puppy in the group and another hilarious chaotic mess. She’s a very romantic and bright person with a badass stage presence. The band has a lot of funny members and I love them all for being so hilarious. Her fear is mazeophobia or the fear of being lost.

Dami: The other member that intimidated me. She’s the lead rapper in the group and she knows what she’s doing. Her rap verses are some of the best I’ve heard in anything and it’s difficult to not fall in love with her. She barely sings, but she has a beautiful voice. She also has a really chill personality that just makes you want to hang out with her. I will warn you right now that it’s really difficult to not have her as your bias, especially after her rap in ‘Boca’. She’s the member where if she isn’t your bias she’s probably your bias wrecker. She also absolutely hates horror which makes her appearance in this band both comforting and hilarious. Her fear is agliophobia or the fear of pain or scars. She’s my sister’s bias.

Gahyeon: She is a sub vocalist, a sub rapper, and the maknae of the group. She does it all and she’s really good at it all. She generally gets a handful of the rap verses along with some singing lines for herself per song. She also has the cutest and brightest persona in the band. Seeing her rap while cutting to scenes of her in a pastel pink dress was badass in ‘Boca’. Sometimes the dark aesthetics of a band can tip my mood nowadays, but she always has an aesthetic that is bright enough to get me to enjoy the music fully again. Just like a typical maknae, she is cute and sweet but she can also be hilariously sassy. Her fear is basophobia or the fear of falling. My bias.

I just love that despite the dark aesthetics of the band, they are all so hilarious and so bright when you see them interact. They are all the kind of people that you just want to be friends with. How much they care about each other is tangible, and it makes that much more fun to watch them interact.

Their History:

They started out as a group called MINX without Handong and Gahyeon and they were a fairly typical K-Pop girl group. They didn’t have any of their rock influences, they just debuted as a regular girl group. They were pretty quickly buried by the competition, but the company thought all of the girls were really good and instead of getting rid of them, they decided to rebrand with the addition of the two new members. The idea behind ‘Dreamcatcher’ was to do something that wasn’t expected in the K-Pop community. It took a while, but they gained some footing with a cult following and now more and more people are becoming aware of their unique sound that doesn’t necessarily match with what the rest of the industry is doing. So if you’ve been looking for something different, this is exactly what you’ve been waiting for. Their fanbase is growing now more than it ever was before, so you aren’t alone!

My Recommendations:

The songs that really sold me on them were ‘Scream’, ‘Boca’, and, of course, ‘Odd Eye’. Those would be my main recommendations for them, but they have plenty of other good music that sounds different from their traditional rock sound. For example, I would also really recommend listening to ‘Jazz Bar’. It’s a slower, jazzier, tune that’s also something you don’t hear often in K-pop but is really well done even though they took a step outside of their usual genre. These girls have absolutely mastered the idea of “different”.

Controversies:

I would be remiss if I sent you to check this band out without being up front about some of their controversies. They have had a few that I know of, none of which was the fault of the girls. One was that on a variety show the company put on, one of the girls was forced to wear a dreadlock wig as a punishment for losing a game. The company quickly apologized for this. Most companies have had to apologize for something like this and this is definitely another sign that the industry needs to learn about cultural appropriation really quickly. This leads me into the next controversy, which is the company’s decision to brand this group as ‘Dreamcatcher’ and using Native American appropriation when first advertising this group. They haven’t used that connection since, but that doesn’t change the name of the group. The group has also used some satanic imagery in their music videos, but their songs are not about the devil and none of the girls chose this or are devil worshippers (which should be obvious). I’m not quite sure why that was an issue. The next two are potential TRIGGER WARNINGS. I find a lot of bands in the rock genre do stupid things to be edgy. What they have done is fairly tame compared to other groups, but it’s still wrong. They released a puzzle video that features a bridge known for people committing suicide off of it in South Korea, they quickly took the video down again and now it is not accessible. They also, in one song, had a dance move featuring scarfs where they do an apparent hanging motion. Whether this was intended to be this way is not clear. Either way, I think referring to suicide in any way that isn’t meant to talk about mental health in a helpful way just should not be done at all, but that’s my opinion.

Again, it should be said that none of these controversies have to do with the girls or the music that they make. They had no say in this, most (if not all) of these were, as usual, company flubs. The girls are complete sweethearts who promote self love and have even shown disapproval towards extreme dieting. Which is a huge thing for South Korean artists. They also promote getting over one’s fears, which is something I really respect. The company has made several mistakes, but is also known to be one of the K-pop companies who treats their trainees and employees the best and is quick to address issues and take down videos, so I have mixed feelings on them.

Anyways, there you have it! A brief introduction to one of my new favorite bands! I really hope you enjoy their music and I really hope their fanbase continues to grow!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Marvel: ‘WandaVision’ Episode 4 Review

Screenshot of Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Randall Park as Jimmy Woo from episode 4 of ‘WandaVision’. Copyright goes to Marvel Studios and Disney+.

Hey! Hallie here!

I don’t think any episode has been quite as eventful as this one was. We basically got all the answers we’ve been looking for during the last three episodes. Everything from who’s doing this to what the different SWORD appearances really were. Plus, we got a look into all of the characters involved with SWORD (Yay Darcy!). This episode was really crazy and there’s plenty to talk about, so I’m going to jump right into what I liked, and didn’t like, about this episode. SPOILERS ahead.

The Good:

Monica Rambeau. The first half of this episode belonged entirely to Monica Rambeau. As someone who really wanted the show to pull Monica to the forefront as quickly as possible, I loved seeing more of her story. We started out with Monica returning after the “Blip” or the period of time that occurred after Thanos’ snap. Monica disappeared along with half of the population, and the moment she returns she wakes up to the chaos of various people reforming from dust pieces. Three years earlier she had been waiting for her mother to get out of surgery related to cancer, but now that she’s been gone for three years she finds that her mother is deceased. Still, Monica returns immediately to SWORD, an intelligence agency that her mother created seemingly to replace SHIELD. Monica is instantly given a mission to check out a town that, according to local residents, doesn’t exist. Quickly she’s sucked into the energy field around the town, and as the viewers we know where she went. She doesn’t appear for much of the remaining episode because she’s stuck in the reality Wanda created. However, the moments we do get only make her character more interesting. I’m excited to see her take on a larger role soon!

Darcy Lewis. I forgot how much I loved Darcy, and then her first scene was her making light of being taken to an unknown location for an unknown purpose by making fun of the awkward scientists around her. Once Monica disappears, Darcy seems to be the only person who can actually get things done. She very quickly realizes what’s wrong with the town of Westview, manages to tune into ‘WandaVision’, becomes just as invested as all of us are, and is able to help Jimmy Woo contact Wanda. It’s even revealed that the hand on the notebook in the first episode belonged to Darcy! Darcy’s wit is one of the major things that carries this episode. I hope this is only the start of more Darcy appearances in the MCU.

SWORD. In general we get to see more of SWORD’s operations in this episode. We are told that the toy helicopter that appeared in episode 2 was actually a SWORD drone that was turned into a helicopter once it passed the threshold of Wanda’s reality. The beekeeper was a SWORD agent in a hazmat suit who was attempting to discover what happened to Monica, but his suit was changed once he entered Wanda’s reality (What happened to that guy, anyway?). We also know that SWORD has been making a list of reported missing people that appear in ‘WandaVision’. SWORD isn’t a mysterious logo anymore. We now know who they actually are.

Wanda. There are so many interesting reveals in this episode about Wanda. For one, we get to see what really happened between Wanda and Monica when Wanda lost her temper last episode. Wanda unleashed her full abilities. Not the fun, cute version we’ve seen in every episode so far. The red energy we’ve seen since her first MCU appearance. Wanda accuses Monica of trespassing and forces her through several walls until Monica lands outside of the barrier around the town. Once Monica comes back in contact with SWORD, she immediately tells them that Wanda is responsible for everything. Not only that, but when Wanda greets Vision when he comes back inside, her perception of him temporarily alters. She sees a gray, lifeless Vision with empty eyes and a crushed forehead. The way he was when Thanos killed him. She’s obviously shocked by the imagery and quickly shakes it from her mind. All of this confirms that Wanda is completely aware of what she’s doing and that Vision is dead, but she created this reality to live out the happy ending she wanted. Considering the fact that Wanda’s effectively keeping hostages in order to live her fantasy, I doubt SWORD will leave her to her fake life.

The Bad:

Too Much Too Fast. All of our questions were answered. All of them. Which leaves me to question, are the last five episodes going to simply show SWORD vs Wanda, or is there more to explore? I almost wish the mystery would have gone on a bit longer. This is a small gripe, though, because I don’t think we know everything yet. There’s still five episodes, after all. It could be that Wanda isn’t the only one pulling the strings here. There are plenty of people who could either be helping her or manipulating her. Still, I have no theories about what’s coming next because all of the mystery has been, as of now, solved. I hope this show catches me off-guard!

Overall I really enjoyed this episode. I know a lot of people who weren’t enjoying the sitcom aspects of the show consider this to be the best episode so far. I’ll say it’s a satisfying episode for sure, but I don’t think it’s the best. I definitely think there’s a lot to enjoy in the happy sitcom formula laced with a darker mystery. I look forward to seeing both the real world and the world Wanda created, collide. Now that we know what SWORD is really trying to accomplish, the scenes from the trailers that imply Wanda and Vision will fight to protect their town are far more frightening. Especially with how powerful Wanda is. I’ve expressed how much I want them to be respectful over the mental challenges Wanda is facing, so I’m holding out hope that she won’t be completely villainized by the end of all this.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-pop and K-dramas: Line Distribution and Favoritism

Screenshot of Mia (Han Eunji) from the ‘Dun Dun’ music video. Copyright goes to YeHua Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Line distribution has always been a difficult topic to cover because many fans get too angry about it while others try to pretend that it isn’t there. The first thing I want to say before jumping into all of this is that, line distribution is very rarely the fault of the artist and has always been more of the company’s decision. The second thing I want to say here is that line distribution being uneven is nothing new. Yes, it’s upsetting but just because it happens in a group doesn’t make it immoral to support said group. It happens to almost every single group and this is something that should be more of an industry change than it should be a change made in one particular band. With that out of the way, let’s talk about company favoritism and the way fans react to it.

Mia from Everglow:

My sister touched on this one not too long ago, but let me fill you in on this situation if you’re unfamiliar. When Everglow first debuted in 2019, the line distribution wasn’t great but it wasn’t all that bad either. It was clear that Mia was getting more lines than some of the other girls, but it felt like it was by a small margin. Especially if you compared the amount of lines Mia was getting to the other main vocalist, Sihyeon. It was obvious that Onda and Yiren were getting very few lines, but because Mia only was ahead by a slight margin she wasn’t necessarily viewed with much contempt yet. Cut to when ‘Dun Dun’ comes out. Mia takes up one third of that song. It wasn’t the first time Mia had gotten preferential treatment, but it was definitely the most noticeable. Especially with how huge that song blew up. Massive amounts of hate were directed towards Mia because of this song. People began to boycott her fancams, send her threatening messages, and even petition the company to force her out of the group. All of this is completely ridiculous. I should state here that Mia is actually my bias in Everglow, and it isn’t because she gets so much screen time. I was very impressed by how well she was able to command a stage and I thought she seemed like a really sweet person after watching things like ‘Everglow Land’, a variety show starring the group. There was an episode of that where each girl was given a mission and Mia was pretty sure she would fail hers early on. So while the other girls were trying to sabotage each other (except for poor Aisha who just wanted to cook), Mia went around and helped everyone else complete their mission. Mia does not deserve any of the hate she gets. Especially when you think about how much pressure this uneven line distribution is being put on her as a rookie. Should the other girls be getting an even amount of lines? Yes. Is one third of a song too much? Absolutely. But that’s not Mia’s fault. Mia doesn’t sit there with the song lyrics and pass out lines. She’s not in charge of that. Mia has quickly become one of the most hated members of Everglow, which sucks when you consider how hard she works. The company seems to have an issue with Yiren and Onda’s vocals right now and are trying to work on them. I honestly think that the company should play to their strengths more and give them more dancing. Really, the dancing solo at the end of ‘Dun Dun’ should have gone to Onda in my opinion. But again, stop attacking Mia because none of that is her fault. She’s a talented girl with a great voice and she deserves to be supported just as much as the others.

Jin from BTS:

Now that I’ve gone over someone with most of the lines, I’ll go over an artist with some of the least. We’ve also touched on this one before. Jin has always had a smaller amount of lines in comparison to the other members, to the point that Jin has even joked about it himself. BTS is in the unique situation where they actually are part of being in charge of line distribution for the most part. Most K-pop bands don’t write their own stuff and BTS is one of the few exceptions. But I should point out that this means that Jin does have a say in line distribution. Most of the time Jin and everyone else are just trying to do what they believe will benefit the song most. This doesn’t mean Jin has been mistreated. He has several of his own solo songs and there are other songs where the line distribution is pretty even. But I don’t think anyone had as much of a problem with any other song as they did ‘Dynamite’. It was pretty clear that he had been sidelined, which hit home for many as this was one of the few songs not written by BTS. It was written by Americans. Every member in this song gets their own moment to shine except for Jin who just sings the chorus with everyone else. This was even more prominent in the music video where every member of the band gets a solo shot but Jin. The backlash after this was loud, but apparently not loud enough to reach the ears of big-time American companies who started forgetting to add Jin’s picture on BTS posters for events. Eventually the backlash reached the ears of these companies who immediately corrected their mistakes, but to the eyes of many the damage was already done. The hashtag “BTS is 7” circulated for weeks, as it should have. I was personally disappointed to see that American shows didn’t do research on the acts that they invited, but that’s not a-typical of them unfortunately. I don’t think I need to say that Jin is just as important to the band as everyone else. I don’t know where I would be without his contagious laugh and bad jokes. Also, have you heard his vocals in ‘Don’t Leave Me’? The best thing to do here is to start watching Jin’s fancams and make sure that the hyung line is getting the media views that they deserve.

Jennie and Jisoo from BlackPink:

I should start off here by saying that I’m not as much of a BlackPink fan as I am of the groups above, so I don’t have as much information on this topic. But it is a topic that I can’t ignore when I’m talking about this stuff. Jennie has recently gotten herself the nickname “YG’s Princess” after she got some solo songs to herself on top of the slightly uneven line distribution in BlackPink songs. If you actually look at the line distribution over-all in this group, it’s pretty even. But the promotion of Jennie by the company also included posting her photos more than the others and centering her in promotion more than the others. This got to the point where people started saying that “Korea loves Jennie” as a compliment rather than including the other members of the band in this. On the other hand, Jisoo was suffering in line distribution and with company coverage. It only made it worse when Jisoo was receiving very little popularity overseas in comparison to the other members because she’s the only member to not speak fluent English. Which was overlooked eventually when it came to BTS because most of them couldn’t, but apparently it’s more noticeable if one person is the odd one out. Really American shows should be more respectful of cultures and other languages in general, but I digress. Jennie did receive some hate, but she’s at the point in her career where it doesn’t make much of a dent. While Mia from Everglow has fallen all the way to the bottom because their fanbase is so new, Jennie isn’t having that problem. But still, just like Everglow, this is something that needs to change and is mostly the company’s fault. While BlackPink does not write their own songs, they do have a say in them. But it seems like line distribution isn’t as much of a problem here as general promotion is.

I hate to say it, but a lot of the problems here probably come from marketing. The companies try to bring in new fans with the most recognizable members. For BTS that’s Jungkook, for BlackPink that’s Jennie, and for Everglow that’s Mia. BTS isn’t too bad with marketing by themselves or line distribution in general, it’s mainly the news and talk shows that have been centering Jungkook. Everglow has the excuse of giving Mia more lines because they are a new group and the company isn’t confident in the vocals of the others yet. YeHua actually doesn’t center Mia in interviews or in promotional photos, which is a good thing. At least not yet. BlackPink seems to have the biggest overall issue here, even though they do have the best line distribution. But also, everyone talking about the unfairness of the line distribution or media coverage means that people are talking about these groups more than they generally would. People who aren’t familiar with these groups get curious and go to check them out. The best thing to do here is to watch fancams and view promotional photos of the perceived neglected members more. My bias in BTS is Jimin and my bias wrecker is Namjoon, so I generally try to watch more Namjoon fancams. I do it because I know that the hyung line needs more views than the maknae line, so I don’t often watch as many Jimin fancams. Lately I’ve also been trying to watch more Jin fancams. Attempting to even out the views is the best way to send a message to these companies on what you want to see. But things like this have been happening in so many groups for so long, it’s going to take a long time for any of this to change. But please, once again, remember that the company’s apparent favorite artist has nothing to do with any of the decisions the company or other companies make about their own promotion.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-pop and K-dramas: Choosing a Bias

Kim Taehyung, or V, from the “Idol” music video. Copyright goes to Big Hit Entertainment and BTS.

Hey! Hallie here!

I’m going to start this out by saying that this post is focused on BTS, but in general I hope this gives anyone deciding their bias in any K-Pop group something to help them out. Every member of BTS is extremely talented. Which is why it’s so incredibly difficult to decide which member is your bias. Since last year, when I joined ARMY, I’ve switched between two biases and three bias wreckers. If you’re new to the K-pop community, a bias is your favorite member of a group. A bias wrecker, on the other hand, is your second favorite member, or the member that makes you question whether or not your bias is really your bias. A lot of BTS fans have claimed OT7 as their bias, which is a way of saying they like all of the members too much to choose between them. And, in a way, I’m the same. But as someone who likes to pinpoint my favorite things so that I can write about them, I’ve found that I’m pretty passionate about deciding which members fit the bias and bias wrecker positions. So with the hope of making anyone struggling with the same problem feel a bit better, here’s how I’ve been dealing with this situation so far.

Bias:

I consider my bias to be the member that I have the deepest attachment to. I find all the members both attractive and talented, which doesn’t exactly help me decide which one is my bias. Instead of deciding my bias based on which members I think are better, I tend to look at three different things. Who inspires me most, who makes me happiest, and who I find myself listening to the most often. My first bias in BTS was Kim Namjoon. His wisdom and intelligence was the reason I got into BTS in the first place. He easily inspired me with his speeches about self love, as well as the work he’s put into writing lyrics for the group. I also sought out his work first and fell in love with his meaningful songs. However, I now consider Jung Hoseok to be my bias. J-Hope inspires me with his energy and happiness, but he also inspires me with his professionalism. He contributes to the songs BTS releases and takes responsibility for a lot of BTS’s choreography. His contagious smile, and determination to cheer on both ARMY and BTS, make me happy. His unique sound brings me back to his music frequently. He’s unapologetically himself, even about the pressure he faces, which makes me want to explore more of myself, too. J-Hope is the member of BTS I need most right now, but that might not always be the case. Often times life changes will make you feel like you need another member or that you relate to someone else more. That’s fine too. I see a lot of people boast about how long a member has been their bias, which isn’t an issue, but don’t let it make you feel like you aren’t a real fan if you change your bias. While I don’t think Hobi will be leaving the bias position for me anytime soon, I know that there will be moments where other members will say or create something that I connect with, as well.

Bias Wrecker:

Bias wreckers tend to have a bit of a different connotation. A lot of people describe bias wreckers as the member who looks so attractive, or has such a compelling stage presence, that they turn your head while you’re trying to pay attention to your bias. Once again, I’ve struggled a lot with this position because I find every member of BTS attractive and talented. J-Hope was my first bias wrecker, but he wasn’t my bias wrecker for very long. I quickly realized he was someone who I could relate to and look up to more than Namjoon. So Namjoon became my bias wrecker by default. Namjoon has been my bias wrecker for a while. Every interview I’ve watched with him in it has given me at least one new quote to think about or a new outlook to inspire me. But recently, Taehyung became my bias wrecker. For one, if we’re judging bias wreckers based off of stage presence, Taehyung is an incredible performer. I was chatting with my sister while watching BTS concert footage about a month ago, and I suddenly fell completely silent once Taehyung started performing “Singularity”. It was so mesmerizing that I hadn’t even noticed I had gone quiet. More recently Taehyung has just resonated with me more. His descriptions of his growth in recent years remind me a lot of myself. His humor and temperament are relatable to me. Match that with my long-time love of all of his music and my recent obsession with “Blue and Grey”, and he’s become my new bias wrecker. I don’t love Namjoon any less, but he doesn’t quite fit the same position as Taehyung does currently. And once again, that’s okay.

How Should You Decide Who to Pick?:

I’ve given you examples of what’s made me decide who my bias and bias wrecker is so far, but that doesn’t mean you have to decide who yours are based on my criteria. Recently a lot of people, especially in ARMY, have been saying that your bias is who you relate to and your bias wrecker is who you’re most attracted to. Obviously, I relate to both J-Hope and Taehyung and I find all the members of BTS to be pretty good looking guys. Pick the members who you connect to most, whether that’s because you like one of their aesthetics or because you can’t sleep without listening to one member’s song. Don’t feel bad for changing your bias, either. You won’t be betraying Jimin if you suddenly decide Jin is your bias, and no one should make you feel guilty for doing so either. Make your own criteria. And if you don’t want to decide, don’t. I openly admitted that I’m nearly an OT7 bias at the beginning of this post. The only thing you shouldn’t do when choosing a bias is hate on members who aren’t your bias. Every member deserves love and ARMY should be supporting all of them.

I hope this helped some new ARMY’s grasp the idea of choosing a bias a bit better. It’s really difficult, especially when every member is so loveable. I know to a lot of baby ARMY’s it seems like you can’t be part of the fandom until you choose your bias. To some there’s the assumption that ARMY’s will judge you based on who your bias is. But none of that is true. No matter who your bias is, BTS is all about loving each other, and ourselves, for our own personalities rather than which member we like best. As long as you spread that kindness, you’re an ARMY regardless of which bias you choose.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Twins in Media: (Round 2) Hallie and Annie vs. Hikaru and Kaoru

Screenshot of Lindsay Lohan as both Hallie and Annie from ‘The Parent Trap’ (1998). Copyright goes to Walt Disney Pictures.

Hi! It’s Annie!

We’re in round two and finally starting to get into the twin representations that are actually pretty good! The first two are pitted together simply because they both fall deep into the mischievous twins trope; but both have been pretty consistently good up until this point. Really, it’s going to be difficult just because neither of these depictions of twins are really too bad at all. I’ve been known to absolutely roast any twin depiction that I don’t like on this blog, but I’m not sure so much of that will happen here (Editor’s Note: I lied). But that doesn’t mean that these depictions are great either. Obviously, the namesake of this blog is presented in this round and I solemnly swear that I will not let bias get in the way. Without further ado, let’s get into round two!

Audience Perspective:

Hallie and Annie: Plot wise, Hallie and Annie have it all. I mean, the movie is about them in the first place. We follow them from when they leave for camp at the beginning of the movie to finding out that they are sisters to them getting their parents back together. There’s no unevenness. We also get a good amount of them both together and separate within their own storylines. They do not have to exist as a single entity for the movie, so that makes each of them more well rounded characters over-all. Their character development is completed both individually and as a built up sisterly relationship. Hallie becomes very attached to her mother and wonders if she would love her if she knew that she wasn’t Annie. Annie must deal with Meredith and the upcoming unwanted marriage of her father. They also work through their differences at the beginning of the film and then come back towards the end of it to learn how to work as a team. This twin representation has also blown up in the media, which has been both a good thing and a bad thing. Many people do think of ‘The Parent Trap’ when you mention twins. Though some assume that twins look exactly the same because of this movie, they also understand that twins have different personalities. I really can’t say if this being a popular representation of twins is a good thing or a bad thing.

Hikaru and Kaoru: These two get a lot less when it comes to plot as they are both side characters. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t get anything whatsoever. Hikaru and Kaoru are mostly seen as a unit and mostly work as a unit throughout the series. Many of their plot lines are together. But there are some exceptions from this, especially when it comes to character development. The pivotal moment of each of their character developments happens in a completely different place in the plot for completely different reasons. Hikaru has to learn to let other people in, something that he learns when he develops a crush on Haruhi. Kaoru, thankfully, does not also have a crush on Haruhi. That would be really weird and kind of disturbing despite what the media would tell you about twins. Kaoru becomes more mature while looking after his brother and realizes that their situation will have to change if either of them want to get anywhere in life. Definitely a more practical approach to the situation. But this does not take away from the fact that they are almost always together in the plot and their individual storylines generally still somehow include each other. Also, can we get twins in media to stop saying things at the same time? Because it is absolutely not realistic. Thanks. Over-all, I hate to say it, but Hikaru and Kaoru have made a pretty bad name for twins in media. So much so that I expected to really dislike them on first watch of ‘Ouran Highschool Host Club’. Twincest is never and never will be ok to depict. I know that this anime acknowledges that it’s all an act, unlike some other media, but they still depict it. Twincest has led to much of the mass fetishization of twins, and I really want to punch in the face whichever writer came up with it. It’s based off the idea that twins have an unnaturally close bond. Give me a second while I go and throw up. This image has only been perpetuated by the fans who ship the brothers in masses. The media image of this portrayal of twins has been overall pretty harmful.

Winner: Definitely Hallie and Annie. They have much more individual storylines that don’t have to do with the other and their media image is much better for twins as a whole. Even though I am neutral about their media image. If I was to look at their separate images as though choosing which one I would be more okay with being compared to, I would NEVER want to be compared to Hikaru and Kaoru. I would probably be really grossed out. Annie and Hallie aren’t perfect, but at least I can see where you’re coming from there. I mean, we even compared ourselves to them for this blog. (As an aside, you don’t always have to compare twins to whatever pair of twins you’ve seen in media. It’s ok sometimes, just don’t do it all the time.) I also cannot express how important it is to show your twin characters apart sometimes. They don’t and shouldn’t always be together. My sister is my best friend so we are together often, but definitely not all of the time.

Twin Perspective:

Hallie and Annie: Hallie and Annie are definitely victims of the separated at birth trope and the mischievous twins trope. I know both my sister and I have talked about this a lot, but your twins don’t have to be separated at birth to have different personalities. Many writers treat twins this way, and I’m really not quite sure why. We’re pretty much regular siblings who are close in age. We aren’t clones. Most twins, obviously, are not separated at birth, so that automatically makes this portrayal of twins less realistic. Twins have also gotten the reputation in media for playing pranks. This is a reputation that has affected my sister and I several times in real life. We’ve never switched places, but we’ve had many people tell us that we should or that we’re missing out if we don’t. Even though my sister and I just wanted people to tell us apart so that they would start viewing us as individuals. We even had a couple occasions in middle school and high school where we were accused by acquaintances of switching places, even though we hadn’t. It’s a real pain trying to convince someone of the truth when they’re dead set on believing that you’ve tricked them. That comes even more into play here because the main mischievous thing that Hallie and Annie do in this movie is switch places. I also have to add here that they are both played by the same actress, which further promotes the idea that we’re basically clones. My sister and I don’t look exactly alike. I will grant you that we are fraternal rather than identical twins, but I have met plenty of identical twins that also do not look completely alike. Hallie and Annie do have separate relationships with other characters, which is great! I’m really peeved that the parents aren’t able to tell them apart, but I blame that on bad parenting. My parents have always been able to tell my sister and I apart. They can even recognize us by our voices. Over-all though, I really like this portrayal of female twins because they aren’t sexualized, they promote understanding of each twin as an individual, and they show twin siblings who are similar enough to be best friends without being exactly the same. Also, thank god that they barely ever speak at the same time or finish each other’s sentences.

Hikaru and Kaoru: They also fall under the mischievous twins trope, which I have covered above so I will not make you read any more on the subject. They fall under the synchronized twins trope too. This means that they are often saying the same things at the same time or finishing each other’s sentences. It’s almost as if they share some sort of weird hive mind. My sister and I will occasionally accidentally say something at the same time. It is generally a word or two and not a full sentence. Finishing each other’s sentences is even less likely to happen. We do not share a brain and we do not have a supernatural connection. None of that exists. With that out of the way, now I’m going to have to bring up the twincest thing again. It’s awful and one of my least favorite tropes for twins ever created. Every time I think that major media has finally stopped using this trope, something will pop back up like an absolutely awful game of Whack-A-Mole. (I’m looking at you Game of Thrones.) I’m absolutely done with seeing it. If you think it’s gross if someone implies that about regular siblings, then guess what? It’s absolutely disgusting for us too! Just stop! Also, Hikaru and Kaoru don’t have many different relationships except for with Haruhi. Hikaru has a crush on her while Kaoru doesn’t. Kaoru also seems to have a more mature mind that gets along better with Kyoya. But that doesn’t come up until the end and is only shown in some scenes. This portrayal of twins is definitely overly sexualized and only sometimes promotes understanding of the twins as individuals, but does still have twin characters who are similar but still different. I also really appreciated the episode where it referenced how wrong it is to have a crush on both twins, especially without bothering to get to know either of them. They portrayed the girls who did that to Hikaru and Kaoru as being mean. I cried while watching that episode because it was something I had gone through so much. People think that they can choose between us without there being a substantial difference instead of viewing us as individuals. I hate it so much.

Winner: I have to barely give this to Hikaru and Kaoru simply for having specific episodes that address twin problems that are generally not addressed in media. Hallie and Annie are pretty good, but I really want everyone to see those episodes before they decide how to start treating twins. It also hurts to watch Hallie and Annie’s parents struggle to tell them apart. At least Chessy and Marvin could tell them apart. They are the true MVP’s of that movie.

Result:

I could have given this to either of them as they both won a round. But I have to give this to the over-all winners, who are Hallie and Annie. Especially for being one of the only actually decent portrayals of female characters who are twins. They, in general, give a more realistic view of how twins are and how we interact with each other in general. Though Hikaru and Kaoru have taught some lessons that are pretty important, those moments were small compared to how the show generally portrayed them as side characters. Which was as a unit and barely anything else. Hallie and Annie are individuals and also best friends, which is the best way I can think of to simply describe my relationship with my sister. Hallie and Annie win the first battle of the second round!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Marvel: Avengers vs X-Men Part 2

Screenshot of Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’. Copyright goes to Marvel Studios and Disney.

Hey! Hallie here!

I have recently come to the realization that there are way more connections I can make between the Avengers and X-Men characters. Because of that, I’m back with another post in this series! In this series I put characters from the X-Men and Avengers films up against each other based on their similarities. The winner is decided by which character is written better in their respective film series. Depending on which characters win, I will declare either the Avengers or the X-Men the winner by the end of the post. With that explanation out of the way, let’s look at today’s competitors.

Quicksilver vs Quicksilver: These two have been paired together for very obvious reasons. They’re the same character just portrayed in very different ways. They even have different names, Pietro Maximoff and Peter Maximoff. Despite the fact that these two are the same character, each studio went to great lengths to make their variation stand out.

Let’s look at Pietro first. Pietro doesn’t get much characterization. There’s one scene that didn’t make it into the final movie that demonstrates how mischievous Pietro is, as well as how he’s a bit of a ladies man, but the scene doesn’t really make much of a difference in the long run. Pietro is the older sibling but Wanda’s a bit bossier and more strategic. As such, he usually follows her lead in most things. He likes messing with people, as seen in his constant teasing of Clint Barton, and he’s much more carefree than Wanda. When Wanda silently urges those in Sokovia to evacuate before their fight with Ultron, Pietro realizes a simple warning doesn’t really cut it and ends up telling people to get off their asses. When fighting Thor he attempts to steal Mjolnir simply because he thinks it looks cool. Aside from that, Pietro shows a deep love for his sister and a respect for Clint Barton. These ties are the reason the audience cares about his death. His obvious closeness to Wanda makes his death heartbreaking, and the fact that he sacrifices himself for Clint is telling in how much their relationship progressed. But his own characterization isn’t really the reason you care that he’s gone.

Peter Maximoff is a completely different story. Firstly, the demonstration of how his powers work is far more interesting here and does more for his character. In both versions of Quicksilver, there’s a feeling that he is annoyed by how slowly everyone else is living their lives. However, the running scenes in X-Men demonstrate this much better. While Pietro can cross a room in a second and catch something while it’s flying in midair, Peter is fast enough that most things don’t look like they’re moving at all. He can change the trajectory of a bullet while it’s inches from someone’s face. He can run several people out of the same room individually without even a second having passed. While this might seem like praise of the movie itself more than the character, it actually does effect Peter’s character. The audience can understand why he speaks so fast and why he’s so easily frustrated by other people. Peter is a pretty good guy, overall. While he does show indifference to some characters, he does care about almost everyone and tends to have a more optimistic outlook when it comes to the people he meets. He also has a really interesting dynamic with his powers, which is that despite his quickness, he is always too late. This is especially true of his relationship with his father, Magneto. He’s slow to figure out Magneto is his father after he meets him, and by the time he realizes, Magneto is already gone. When he goes back to the institute to speak to Magneto, he misses him by a few seconds. It’s a really interesting dynamic and it adds a lot to his character.

Winner: Peter Maximoff. Not only is he a more likable character, he stands on his own without relying on a sibling dynamic. He does have a younger sister who is hinted at being a version of Scarlet Witch, and he does care for her, but she’s much younger and gets very few scenes. Peter is one of the most entertaining characters in the X-Men series. He also gives the audience a much better look at what it would be like to have powers like his.

Scarlet Witch vs Jean Grey: These two are pretty easy to pair up. Both have stints as evil characters, and at least one of those occasions for each of them is attributed to their insane amount of power. Both are incredibly intelligent but don’t know exactly the extent of what they can do. These two have character arcs that rely on the fact that they can be extremely caring and extremely dangerous, often at the same time.

Once again, let’s go for our Avengers candidate first. Wanda is paired off with her brother in Age of Ultron, but her character is given a much bigger spotlight than his. At first her main goal is to make Tony Stark regret inadvertently killing her parents, which involves creating a lot of bleak visions to torture everyone on the Avengers (except for Clint), and, at one point, causing the Hulk to go insane. However, once she uses similar mind manipulation powers to see the plans of destruction Ultron is putting into his new body, she instantly switches sides. Afterwards, she admits that the entire situation is terrifying to her, but she chooses to join the Avengers. Even after her brother dies she develops a good relationship with a few of the people on the team, especially Vision, and decides to stay with them as a permanent member. She gets quite a bit of characterization at this point. At first she accidentally causes a deadly explosion with her powers and has to grapple with her own fear of herself. Then she falls in love with Vision and rediscovers what it feels like to want to protect someone. And then Vision dies and she has to grapple with anger and grief. If ‘WandaVision’ is our frame of reference for how she’s coping with that, she’s not doing too good. Wanda, from the beginning, is empathetic and emotional. She connects with others very easily and has a desire to help everyone as best she can. But she doesn’t quite know how to deal with her emotions, especially because they’re so interconnected with her powers.

Moving on to Jean Grey, she doesn’t start out with the same villainous connotations. From the beginning she’s shown to be a really thoughtful and kind person. She’s also Charles Xavier’s favorite student. He favors her because her powers are connected to her mind, like his, which makes him feel partially responsible for her and eventually, causes him to think of her as his daughter. Unfortunately, Jean Grey’s entire character is reliant on a love triangle plot line in the first X-Men films. She’s not a useless character, but she doesn’t serve much of narrative purpose other than to make Logan soft and also to make him jealous of Cyclops. She also forfeits her personality entirely when the last of the X-Men movies gives her a villainous role with the only explanation being that her powers changed her entirely. When she returns in the later movies, now as a younger character, her kindness and intelligence is back. She also is allowed to be her own character without any major romance plots hindering her genuinely interesting personality. However, even then Jean’s character is focused more on her abilities than on her emotional and intellectual reactions to her abilities, unlike Wanda. In ‘Dark Phoenix’ we see her grapple with her powers a bit more, but the movie does so many other things wrong with her character that it doesn’t even matter.

Winner: Scarlet Witch. Despite the fact that Vision does become a major part of her story, her character isn’t reliant on that romance plot. She also gets a lot of time to grapple with her powers and her own emotions without sacrificing other aspects of her character to do so.

This post is a tie. While X-Men obviously win the Quicksilver competition, they didn’t do so well with a lot of their female representation, especially early on. The MCU doesn’t have a ton of good female representation either, but Wanda is one of their rare well-written female characters. Aside from her costuming, she doesn’t suffer from the male gaze issue, and she’s allowed to be feminine while still being one of the most badass characters in all of Marvel. Jean could have done the same if she hadn’t been there exclusively for Logan half the time.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Comfort Movies: Jim Henson’s ‘Labyrinth’

Screenshot of Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie in ‘Labyrinth’ (1986). Copyright goes to the Jim Henson company and Lucas Films.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Given the current circumstances, I’m kind of surprised that I didn’t come up with this category earlier. But I was particularly reminded of this one because it has been rainy and snowy where I’m at, and I love to watch comfort fantasy movies when the weather is bad. Especially Jim Henson’s ‘Labyrinth’. This is, actually, my favorite movie of all time and it’s a shame that I haven’t talked about it earlier. If you’ve ever wanted to go on an adventure through a beautiful fantasy world filled with Jim Henson puppets and ruled by David Bowie in too-tight pants; then this is for you. I would just tell you all to go watch it because you are absolutely insane if you answered ‘no’ to the above statement; but I’m here to sell you on this movie. So this is why you are missing out if you haven’t seen this masterpiece.

Jareth:

The number one reason to watch this movie. When Sarah wishes away her baby brother to the realm of the goblins, she is immediately greeted by David Bowie standing in her windowsill with glitter clouding around him. What an entrance, huh? This movie would not be nearly as good without David Bowie playing Jareth the Goblin King. Firstly, he can transform into an owl. How cool is that? But on top of that, David Bowie just kills it in this role. Any other big name celebrity who could have taken this role would have thought the project was insane; I mean, it’s Jim Henson who was best known for creating the Muppets. But David Bowie has always embraced weird. That’s probably why he is the only actor who could have done this, taken it seriously, and went all the way for this role. This was something that could have been so easily phoned in and David Bowie didn’t do that. He delivers the sarcastic lines with impressive dry wit, sings his heart out, and looks like he’s having the time of his life while doing it all. Even if those pants were probably uncomfortable. He also had a say in the script writing because he was involved in the process so early on. I thank him every day for this because the original script involved a kiss between Jareth and Sarah, which David Bowie outright refused to go through with. That would have been really weird to put it lightly. But if I haven’t sold you on David Bowie alone, I’m not quite sure I understand you.

Sarah:

She is the main character of this film played by an absolutely gorgeous young Jennifer Connelly. Sarah is a bit dramatic, but she has a love of theatre so it’s honestly understandable. She is very resourceful and brave; she was definitely a role model for me growing up. She also passes the ‘sexy lamp test’ which most eighties movies do not. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that, the sexy lamp test basically says that if you can replace a female character with a sexy lamp and the plot doesn’t change, then your movie doesn’t pass. And obviously that also means your movie has very poor female representation as a whole. Sarah creates and drives the plot. It is her friendship with other characters, her drive, and her demeanor that saves the day. Jareth attempts to win her over several times and she always faces him without being tempted. In the end, he has no power of her. Pun intended. She’s kind of like Alice from Alice in Wonderland if she was braver and a better overall character. Jennifer Connelly has always been an excellent actress, and this movie is no exception. As an aside, you should look up behind the scenes pictures and videos of David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. It’s so adorable and you won’t regret it.

The Puppets:

What’s a Jim Henson movie without the puppets? Jim Henson is well known for his puppets, and the puppetry never fails to disappoint. Whether it’s the orange and yellow Fireys that have removable heads, or the goblins which all look completely different, or Ludo who is a giant furry and adorable monster. They all look amazing. The puppetry skills also come through in other places too. At one point of the movie, Sarah falls into a pit of helping hands. The hands come together to form faces, all of which are completely different. Ludo is my personal favorite of the puppets in this film. He’s just the type of large adorable creature that you want to run up to and hug. Jim Henson is a genius and it’s hard to not love any single one of his or his company’s creations.

Jim Henson:

This was Jim Henson’s passion project. Unfortunately, it didn’t do well in the box office initially; but it was something that he loved and poured a lot of himself into. His heart is in every element of this movie to the point where it just feels like a movie made with love. I’m glad that it’s been getting more recognition as the years have gone on.

The Labyrinth:

The labyrinth itself is one of my favorite fantasy places in anything ever. As every good fantasy world should be, the labyrinth feels like a character in itself. It is both fun and vast. You get the feeling that the movie is not able to show you just how many places actually exist in this labyrinth. Jareth’s castle is probably my favorite of all of the places that exist in this world, especially with the M.C. Escher concept that comes in later in the movie. On top of this, the movie uses mostly practical effects for this fantasy world. Including a track that flipped one of David Bowie’s stunt doubles right side up after having been upside down. This is the type of fantasy world that you could get lost in forever and wish you could actually visit. ‘Labyrinth’ theme park anyone? I wish! However, there is a place in Los Angeles that holds a Labyrinth themed ball every year, but I’ve never been.

The Ballroom Scene:

That it. That’s all. It’s a gorgeous sequence and one of my favorites that I’ve seen in anything ever. Also, a gorgeous David Bowie song is playing in the background of it. What more could you ask for?

The Soundtrack:

The pieces are beautiful, especially ‘Sarah’ which is the theme song for the main character. It’s absolutely transportive and one of those soundtrack pieces that I find myself listening to just for fun. The soundtrack also features several original David Bowie songs created specifically for this film. All of them are great and some of my favorite songs to ever exist. My favorites are probably ‘As the World Falls Down’ and ‘Within You’, but they’re all winners. I listen to this entire soundtrack very often with my family. Fun fact; during ‘Magic Dance’ it is David Bowie who is making those baby noises on the soundtrack.

If you’ve watched this movie I hope some of the facts here were something that you hadn’t heard before. If you haven’t, I really hope you’ll give this movie a try! It is a gorgeous and fun film and deserves international recognition. Maybe this is a movie that can bring you as much comfort as it brings me. This movie is seriously the equivalent of having a bowl of mac n cheese to me. It’s one of those movies. Happy watching on rainy days!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Marvel: ‘WandaVision’ Episode 3 Review

Promotional image for ‘WandaVision’ starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany. Copyright goes to Marvel Studios and Disney.

Hey! Hallie here!

I know this is a day late, but so much happened in the third episode of ‘WandaVision’ that I absolutely have to talk about it. As I said in my last post, for the future I was hoping that we’d get to see both Wanda and Vision outside of their television show personas, and I was hoping the plot would pick up fairly quickly considering the small number of episodes. Episode three did both of these and did them well. We still haven’t seen Vision and Wanda act completely themselves, but parts of them absolutely peaked through in this episode. This is particularly true for Wanda, who needs to act herself in order for the exploration of her mental health to be well handled. With those desires met, let’s look at what the episode did as a whole.

The Good:

Wanda. Wanda was a huge part of this episode’s mystery. Everything she did demonstrated just how much control she has over this reality. Wanda progressed her own pregnancy so that it ended after only a few days. When Vision noticed something was very wrong about her pregnancy and began to seriously question her, Wanda rewound the conversation to before he had made the discovery. This is extremely similar to what occurred when Wanda and Vision noticed the beekeeper in episode two. This time, however, there was no rewinding effect to accompany the reset of the scene. The conversation simply restarted as if nothing happened. Later on, once her twin boys were born, Wanda began a conversation with Geraldine. We already know that Geraldine is actually Monica Rambeau, another superhero from the comics who takes on the Captain Marvel title at some point. As of this episode, we now know Monica has been attempting to help Wanda leave the reality she’s in. However, Monica takes it a step too far when she mentions Pietro. Wanda is initially dazed by the mention of Pietro. She begins to reminisce and sings a song in her native tongue to her children. But when Monica mentions that Ultron killed Pietro, Wanda becomes both more herself and extremely angry. She instantly notices that Monica has a sword necklace around her neck. The same emblem that was on the beekeeper suit and the red toy plane, which seems to appear anytime someone attempts to snap Wanda out of it. Unfortunately, Wanda isn’t too happy to see the emblem and forces Monica out of her reality and into the outside world. She’s completely aware of what she did too, and she lies to Vision about what happened. Whether or not Wanda is fully responsible for everything that’s happening, she absolutely plays a hand in it. She’s determined to protect this reality, which will create problems later.

Monica Rambeu. Monica has a lot of time in this episode. She’s extremely likable as Geraldine, but her role as Monica is interesting. We know she’s part of SWORD now, and the way that she’s forced out of Wanda’s reality does give us a bigger glimpse into SWORD. When she’s forced out she’s instantly surrounded by cars and people, likely from SWORD. Monica is listed for all the remaining episodes, so it will be interesting to see what she does now that she’s outside of Wanda’s reality. This is only the start of her character.

The Neighbors. In this episode the neighbors are also acting stranger than normal. At the beginning of the episode Vision catches Herb carving into his wall while he’s tending to his plants, as if he’s glitching. The doctor Vision gets to see to Wanda’s pregnancy is also set to leave for vacation, but he doesn’t seem able to leave. Later on Vision sees Agnes and Herb having a conversation. When Vision joins the conversation the audience discovers that both Herb and Agnes are aware that they’re trapped. Agnes implies that Geraldine is different from the other neighbors and Herb attempts to explain to Vision exactly what’s happening. Agnes stops Herb from saying anything, but she does convey some urgency to Vision when she realizes Wanda is speaking to Geraldine alone. As the audience we know that Agnes is actually the witch Agatha Harkness from the comics, who mentors Wanda in her abilities and is killed by Wanda at one point. What role Agatha plays in this scenario is yet to be discovered, but I’m excited to see what will happen with her character next.

Vision. Vision seems to be more under Wanda’s control than the other neighbors in this reality. While the other neighbors seem to know what’s happening, at least to an extent, Wanda erases Vision’s memory whenever he discovers something so that he will continue believing the dream life she created for them. However, while Wanda does erase one of Vision’s discoveries from his memory in this episode, she isn’t present when he starts to notice their neighbors acting strangely. When he finally has a conversation with Herb and Agnes he becomes extremely concerned by the situation. He even rushes into the house when Agnes conveys to him that Geraldine shouldn’t be alone with Wanda. When he finds that Geraldine disappeared he’s somewhat frightened, and Wanda’s lie about her whereabouts doesn’t seem to convince him. I sincerely hope that Vision continues to put pieces together as the series goes on. While Wanda’s control over him is interesting, his new awareness is too good not to explore.

Bad:

The 70’s-Themed Episode. This isn’t to say I didn’t like the 70’s theming. The introduction was hilarious and everything from the costuming to the new interior for the house was perfect. The issue is that the more comedic format felt more out of place this episode. The reason behind this is it’s lack of commitment to the format. While there were fun parts, the only thing the episode wanted to focus on was the mysterious elements. The 70’s comedy was left to a smaller amount of scenes, which made most of them feel odd after the darker themes of other scenes. This isn’t a huge gripe, but I do think the show could strike a better balance between the sitcom aspects and the mystery of the show.

Those were my thoughts on episode three! This episode delivered exactly what I wanted. I definitely look forward to Wanda going back to the character I know and love, but for now I’m content with the small moments we’ve been given. And I’m more intrigued than ever to know what’s going on. I’m genuinely frustrated that I can’t binge the entire series at once. For now I’ll have to be patient and come back to this again when episode four is released.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie