Star Wars: Unpopular Star Wars Opinions

Promotional shot of Daisy Ridley as Rey for ‘The Force Awakens’. Copyright goes to Walt Disney Studios and Lucas Films.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I’ve thought about doing this post for a while but was definitely way too nervous to. The Star Wars fandom is not only a beast, but a toxic place a lot of the time. Discussing your opinions on Star Wars in a public place can often lead to some form of argument. Even though I like this franchise, I’ve just stopped mentioning it in public for these reasons. I’ll talk about it with my family and I still enjoy it, but I generally don’t tell people that I like Star Wars unless directly asked because I’m afraid of being asked about my opinions on it. But there are things I seriously want to talk about and also, I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that this fandom has made people afraid to talk about it. I implore you to have different opinions than I do. Different interpretations is part of what makes media so interesting. So I ask you, if you see something that angers you, don’t crucify me. I’m not writing to insult anyone. Anyways, here we go!

Rey Isn’t That Bad:

A controversial topic right off the bat, I know. But when it comes to Star Wars it’s difficult to have any opinion that isn’t controversial. Yes, Rey was quick to know how to do things, but this wasn’t without any explanation. Luke also had some things come easily to him at first. That’s a normal issue in any story that portrays a hero’s journey. I’ve seen a lot of people call Rey a Mary Sue because of that thought, and I’m not about that. First of all, Mary Sue is kind of sexist. People combatted that by saying that there is such thing as Gary Stu’s, the male version, but the issue with that argument is hardly anyone uses that term and that term was created off of the idea of the Mary Sue. I don’t want to go through the entire history of the term Mary Sue here; but I’ll just say that it was a Star Trek fanfiction thing that men used to legitimize their claims that women didn’t need to be featured in the series. The fanfiction was admittedly very bad, but it wasn’t like women-kind came together as a whole to write said fanfiction. The entire situation was ridiculous. If you want to say that things came to Rey too easily, be my guest. Just please stop using Mary Sue as a descriptor. That’s all I ask. All that aside, Rey isn’t the best character to ever come out of Star Wars; but that doesn’t mean she’s bad. She has some great moments and Daisy Ridley did a brilliant job in her acting for this role. She’s a badass, she isn’t over sexualized, and she’s given some real emotional moments.

Ryan Johnson Didn’t Ruin the Sequel Trilogy:

Yes, Ryan Johnson acted like a complete three year old throwing a temper tantrum when people didn’t like his movie. I’m not here to dispute that. But I was watching ‘Knives Out’, Ryan Johnson’s passion project, and marveling at the amazing writing while wondering what went wrong with the sequel trilogy. And then it hit me that this wasn’t completely his fault. The issue was that they wrote each story as it was coming out rather than creating a full story arc. Even worse, both J.J. Abrams and Ryan Johnson were so stubborn with their singular views of what the trilogy should look like that they pettily scrapped the other’s ideas to return to their original plan instead of respecting what the last director did. It was a children’s fight. Either of them could have come up with a decent trilogy on their own, but that wasn’t what happened. And just because Ryan Johnson did it first doesn’t mean J.J. Abrams is exempt from the blame. And Ryan Johnson had some good ideas! Showing Kylo Ren’s journey to becoming Supreme Leader was actually kind of badass, especially after that lightsaber battle after he killed Snoke. Snoke didn’t have to be there. As you’ll find out, I’m not a huge fan of the completely evil, all-powerful, villains in Star Wars. They aren’t as interesting to me, so I personally think killing off Snoke was a good idea and brought a necessary shock and splendor to the scene. It wasn’t a very well done bait and switch, but I didn’t feel like it was too bad either. I also really liked that Rey didn’t come from anywhere and how powerful the message of “anyone can be a Jedi” was. Possibly even more controversially, I like Poe Dameron’s arc in that movie. I thought it was a good move to show the characters as flawed. We don’t see enough flawed characters in movies like this. Seeing Poe become flawed after he was so perfect in the first movie made him my favorite character in this trilogy. Ryan Johnson also actually gave Finn time and more character while J.J. threw his character aside in the last movie. Over-all, I thought Ryan Johnson treated the characters better.

Rose Isn’t a Bad Character:

The kiss at the end of the movie was not good, but Rose had some good moments! She could have been great if we had some more time with her but, just like Finn, J.J. also tossed her to the side instead of attempting to run with what he had. Also, the treatment of Kelly Marie Tran was absolutely atrocious. She is a great actress and a sweet person! I have never been so ashamed of this fandom and I pretty much removed myself from it because of this.

Han Solo is Not the Best Thing in Star Wars:

I’ve seen so many people swear up and down the wall that Han Solo is by far the best character in Star Wars, and I definitely don’t agree with this. Both Leia and Luke were characters that are just as good and don’t deserve to be snubbed. Leia is one of the most badass female characters to ever exist. Yes, Han Solo is a fun character. But that doesn’t make him the best. There doesn’t have to be a best character in Star Wars.

The Clone Wars is the Best Written Star Wars Content:

The Clone Wars is absolutely amazing if you haven’t seen it. It boasts Ahsoka Tano, my favorite Star Wars character, and the first fully fleshed out female Jedi ever focused on. It also has Rex and all of the clones which become one of the most interesting storylines in all of Star Wars. Anakin is actually a likeable character in this! I just love the Clone Wars and how complex the stories have been throughout the years. It really isn’t given enough credit for everything it did for this franchise.

Palpatine Has Never Been a Good Character:

Don’t get me wrong, I love all the Palpatine memes. I quote him all the time. But he was never an interesting villain to me. He always seemed like a plot device or a cop out to ensure Vader’s full redemption arc. But I never felt that he was completely needed. I liked just having Darth Vader there and I didn’t feel that Vader needed someone to make his redemption more believable. Palpatine only got worse as the movies went on with his hilarious electrocution moment in the fight against Mace Windu. Also, who could forget about Darth Plagueis the wise? But making Rey a Palpatine and including him in the sequels is just the icing on the cake for his character. No one wanted to see him there. I literally laughed out loud in the theater when Rey shot that ship with lightning. It was just too ridiculous. But Palpatine has always been too ridiculous. If you want a good mastermind villain, Palpatine has never been that. Grand Admiral Thrawn is quite possibly the smartest character in Star Wars canonically and is my favorite villain. He’s everything I wish Palpatine was.

There you have it! Those are just a few of my unpopular Star Wars opinions, but I have plenty more. I may continue this or I may not, but hopefully some of these arguments made sense to you. I still feel weird writing this, but I’m not sure I want to be afraid of the Star Wars fandom. That in itself sounds a bit ridiculous.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-pop and K-dramas: Everglow

Promotional image of Everglow for their song “Dun Dun”. From left to right: E:U (Park Jiwon), Kim Sihyeon, Mia (Han Eunji), Aisha (Heo Yoorim), Onda (Jo Serim), and Wang Yiren. Copyright goes to Yuehua Entertainment.

Hey! Hallie here!

I’ve been a huge fan of BTS for a while now, and while it’s been amazing, it’s also taken up all my time. I’ve only introduced myself to a handful of other groups because I’ve found BTS’s music so addicting. So this week I finally decided to explore more K-pop groups and diversify the K-pop I listen to. I was especially interested in looking at girl groups to see more of what women are doing in the industry. Before this, the only girl group I was absolutely familiar with was BLACKPINK, and they’re the most popular girl group out there. But now that I’ve made myself familiar with a much larger amount of K-pop groups and hit songs, I’ve made a realization. I REALLY like Everglow. Everglow is the perfect mix of beautiful melodies, talented members, and powerful messages. And they only started in 2019. Every major song I’ve heard from them has been empowering and badass. Most of their B-tracks are too good to pass up. They definitely have some problems, which I’ll talk about later, but I can’t say I’m not blown away that all but one of them is younger than me. I’m going to go through all of the members so I can gush about each of them.

E:U

E:U (Meaning ‘Especially for U’), or Park Jiwon, is the leader of Everglow. She’s the main rapper for the group and also serves as one of the front dancers. E:U is the only member as of now to contribute lyrics to a few songs, namely “Moon” and “LA DI DA”. E:U’s energy is infectious, and despite the fact that she’s the group’s oldest member, she seems to be one of the main troublemakers. But she’s also an extremely talented rapper. Every verse she has is a stand out and every MV appearance makes her seem intimidating. E:U doesn’t sing much, so the only moments fans get to hear her in songs are her rap verses and the inevitable “Everglow” heard in every song. This is where we run into a problem. As I said, this group is new and the company still needs to figure out a few things. For E:U, they need to give her more rap verses. While rap verses are evident in every song, there is both one other rapper in the group, and a vocalist who seems to get occasional rap lines for no reason. E:U is amazing at what she does and she should get more time to show it off!

Sihyeon

Park Sihyeon is one of the lead vocalists for Everglow, as well as one of their two main visuals. Sihyeon is well known for cracking jokes and often being the voice of reason amongst the group. Her voice is one of the most noticeable features of any Everglow song. It’s light and crisp, which often earns her some of the most singing portions in each song. However, she often doesn’t get enough to sing. Sihyeon balances a lot of singing lines with Mia, who I’ll talk about in a second. Mia, however, gets the majority of these lines despite Sihyeon’s amazing vocals. It baffles me because I often find Sihyeon’s voice fits each song just as much as Mia’s. Because she’s used so often she doesn’t face as many problems as some of the other members, but hopefully Sihyeon will be given an even share in the future.

Mia

Han Eunji, or Mia, is the main vocalist and one of the main dancers of Everglow. She is cited as being in charge of their girl-crush image, which is an image that promotes female empowerment. The other members of Everglow have said that she appeared rude to them initially, but that she is ultimately helpful and kind. Mia has a slightly richer voice than Sihyeon and can be heard the most in any given song out of any of the other members. Once again, this is where the group needs some fixing. Mia gets the most lines out of any member of Everglow by a fairly large margin. In “DUN DUN” she’s even given a dance break to herself when the other members are given no such treatment. A lot of fans have used this as a means to attack her, which is absolutely ridiculous. These problems aren’t her fault and she most definitely has the talent to keep up with the amount of work she’s been given. The company simply needs to give some of her lines to the other members, including the rap lines she confusingly has in some songs.

Onda

Jo Serim, or Onda, is one of the main dancers, a sub vocalist, and another visual of the group. Onda is easily spotted by her brightly-colored style and she has a bubbly personality to back it up. Unfortunately, she doesn’t bring much else to the group other than her style and the independent personality the other members boast of. Her voice is extremely good, but according to some, not as developed as some of the other members. Because of this, she doesn’t get much to sing in each song. She also doesn’t get pulled to the front of the dance line as often as the other main dancers. Which is a shame because Onda is definitely one of the best dancers of the group. Onda is a great singer who could definitely use more content to show off her talents, but even more than that, she needs to be brought forward to the main dancing position. Even amongst a group her dancing talents are eye-catching and it’s a shame the company doesn’t seem to have noticed it yet.

Aisha

Heo Yoorim, or Aisha, is the other main rapper and a sub-vocalist for Everglow. She is easily spotted by her tallness compared to the other members of the group. Aisha’s known for her calmness and patience amongst the adorable chaos the Everglow members can be. She can be recognized in each song by her lower register. Aisha is used pretty frequently for both rap and vocals. Because of the unique sound of her voice, she’s brought forward for many pre-chorus lines. Aisha’s treatment is about as problematic as Sihyeon’s. She could use some more time to show off her talents, similar to many of the other members, but the balance of vocals and rap she’s given eliminates some of the issues other members have had. Still, she’s my bias and I’d love to hear more from her!

Yiren

Wang Yiren is another of the main dancers of Everglow and another sub-vocalist. She’s the other main visual of Everglow, and, like Sihyeon, is considered one of the two faces of the group. Yiren is Everglow’s maknae and their only Chinese member. Just like most people imagine a maknae would be, she’s very energetic and sweet. She’s also a trained dancer which is the reason why she’s often brought forward in the dance line. The issue is she’s trained in Chinese traditional dance, and while she’s shown she’s very talented, she is definitely pushed forward too much. Especially as opposed to members like Onda, who should be given more time to shine amongst the dance line. She’s another member who’s vocals are often pushed to the background because she isn’t considered to be as polished as some of the other vocalists, but her voice is beautiful and deserves more time!

Those are the members of Everglow. As I said above, all of them are extremely talented. I see a lot of people “complimenting” this group by saying that they’re good for rookies but not anywhere near the talent of BLACKPINK. Everglow is good for any K-pop group, but they still have a long way to go. There’s a lot the company needs to work out and there’s definitely more each girl, aside from Mia, could be doing. As for Mia, I appreciate her many talents and I don’t blame her for getting the majority of the attention. I simply hope that the group achieves a more even balance in the near future. However, this entire scenario isn’t a reason to disregard the group entirely. Not only are they still new, but K-pop has had this issue for a while. Jin from BTS is a famous example of a member of a group not getting as much attention as the others. And Jennie of BLACKPINK is another famous example of a member of a group getting too much attention as opposed to the others. Everglow simply joins them, and hopefully, like these groups, everything will even out.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Kpop and Kdramas: Jungkook Appreciation

Photo of Jeon Jungkook of BTS in a photoshoot for the ‘Be’ album. Copyright goes to BigHit Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I noticed that I missed Jungkook’s birthday when we first started this blog. I am so so sorry, but honestly I didn’t think I was going to be doing these birthday posts until it became a thing for me later. Obviously, I love Jungkook so much more than I can say. He’s a consistent contender for my bias wrecker and a constant comfort to me. There’s also a lot of things I want to cover about Jungkook, so this isn’t going to be as concise or organized as many of my other posts are. I’ll talk about some of his music singularly, but there’s no denying that Jungkook gets a lot of hate that I hope people will stop, so I’m going to address that too. Without further ado, let’s get into some of this!

‘Still With You’:

Jungkook did not release this song too long ago. I am listening to it as I type because it’s one of the most beautiful pieces I’ve ever listened to. I have used those hour loops for this song before because I really just can’t get enough of it. Fun (or not so fun) fact about this song, it wasn’t released super officially because Jungkook wasn’t confident in it. I do not care what your opinions on BTS or K-pop are; everyone needs this song in their life. I’m not just saying that, this makes me want to cry at the same time it’s great for calming down my anxiety. There’s my advertisement, now go listen to it.

‘My Time’ and ‘Begin’:

I put these in the same category because it’s important that we give Jungkook credit for how much he’s given for this band. Jungkook was extremely young when he started training with BTS, a topic that is covered by ‘My Time’. This band is where he grew up and what his roots are. He often says, as all of them do, that he can’t imagine his life without BTS. Considering he was so young, that’s so much more real for him. BTS has been much of his life. Because of that he also credits the other members of BTS for raising him. This was the idea that brought about ‘Begin’. According to the other members of BTS, when he was explaining to them the idea of ‘Begin’ he cried. That song is about how the other members of the band raised him and helped him find himself. Not only are both of these songs beautiful; they are also raw and so incredibly personal that I can only be grateful he shared all of this with us.

His Perspectives on Growing Up:

As someone who is also in my early twenties and struggling with finding myself, I often find comfort in Jungkook talking about going through the exact same things. I have often wondered whether I am always being truly genuine or whether or not I truly know myself. We all know that this is the time in your life for finding yourself, but sometimes it’s difficult to see that. Jungkook has talked about worrying that he’s not being genuine when talking with other people and worrying that he hasn’t bridged all of the gaps between himself and the understanding of himself. Something that he says a lot is that he is constantly searching for himself. When I realized that he put words to what I was feeling, I just couldn’t let go of those words. It’s amazing to see him become more and more of a warm and open person and realize that I’m growing right along with him. When he first joined the band he was shy and very reserved and now he laughs freely. It’s inspiring.

Jungkook Hate:

The maknae line gets a lot of hate, probably because they are all so popular. All three of them are constantly battling it out in polls for international popularity. Jungkook receives hate for how many lines he gets in comparison to other members or for just being him. I should just say here that the entire maknae line gets hate for having more lines than Jin as they make up the rest of the vocal line. There are a couple of other things that people more recently jumped on him for. For instance, going to a bar at the very beginning of quarantine which was actually much safer when he did it. The area he went to had no cases yet and it was right after quarantine hit. Not that it was right, but he apologized profusely and never did it again which is more than I can say for a variety of other celebrities. He also got into a minor fender bender which caused several people to proclaim that he was drunk when it happened even though that wasn’t true. Not only that, but the very minor crash wasn’t even entirely his fault. What I’m saying here is that, if you are looking for a reason to hate any celebrity, just be honest with yourself and stop. There is no reasonable excuse here. That’s an issue with you; leave them alone.

His tattoos:

This is what I’ve seen fans complain about most recently. I know that tattoos are more accepted in places like California than they are in South Korea, but I still have no idea what the big fuss is about. It’s not like he’s getting anything crude tattooed on him. In fact, I love seeing this way of him expressing himself! Especially when he began this so reluctantly to do so. I personally like his tattoos, but even if you don’t that doesn’t mean you should be telling him what to do. I saw so many people asking “what did he do to himself?” and it just made me a little sick. It’s his body, he can do what he wants with it. It’s not affecting his health. Once again, all he’s trying to do is express himself. I love it.

His hair:

It feels impossible to talk about Jungkook and not mention his hair right now. Firstly, I think we can all agree that Jungkook rocks long hair. But on top of that, he’s also bleached it blonde. Yes, this will go down in history as one of his best looks.

There you have it! My ramblings on Jungkook! Obviously, I love him so much. He’s so inspiring to me. I was going through a pretty rough time when Yoongi wasn’t there because of personal reasons, and I have to say Jungkook was one of my main distractions then. I’ll always have a soft spot for him and hopefully people can learn to accept him for the amazing person I know he is and will become. Tattoos and all.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Twins In Media: Twin Battles Moving on to Round 2!

Screenshot of Hikaru and Kaoru from ‘Ouran Highschool Host Club’. Copyright goes to Funimation and Nippon Television.

Hey! Hallie here!

If you’ve been keeping up with our Twins in Media posts, you know that we’ve been putting twins from famous media head to head in order to determine which fictional twins represent real twins the best. And, as of now, the first round is over! However, we did leave out a few sets of twins we had originally intended to include in the battles. So let’s go over which twins are moving on and which ones aren’t competing at all. For this post I won’t be including explanations for why the winners were chosen, so be sure to go back to our other posts to see what the battle was like! Along with that, round 2 is going to look a bit different than round 1, so if you want to know what these guys need to do to win for the next round, I’ll explain it in a moment.

Winners (Bolded):

Hikaru and Kaoru vs. Fred and George

Sharon and Susie (‘Parent Trap’ 1961) vs. Hallie and Annie (‘Parent Trap’ 1998)

Janice and Jessica vs. Sumire and Kasumi

Wanda and Pietro Maximoff vs. Luke and Leia

Dipper and Mabel vs. Poppet and Widget

Jacob and Evie Frye vs. Robert and Rosalind Lutece

The Tweedles vs. Thing 1 and Thing 2

Liv and Maddie vs Zack and Cody

Twitches vs. Annalise and Erika

Who Won’t be Competing:

Firstly, you’ll notice one of our groups above has no winners. That’s because both Janice and Jessica (‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’) and Sumire and Kasumi (‘Persona 5 Royal’) are absolutely awful representation. Sumire and Kasumi were declared winners by a slight margin, but with the caveat that they would lose against anyone we put them up against. To keep the competition more interesting, we decided to eliminate them altogether. Also, we previously considered Phoebe Buffay and her sister Ursula from ‘Friends’ to compete, as well as Yubaba and Zeniba from ‘Spirited Away’, Flora and Fauna from ‘The Addams Family’, and The Grady Twins from ‘The Shining’. We made posts about all of these sets of twins individually if you want to see our reviews of these characters. The main issue with these four is that they are very minor characters compared to all of the characters listed above. They are also all bad representations of twins. Phoebe and Ursula, as well as Yubaba and Zeniba, all fall under the Evil Twin trope which will never be good representation. Flora and Fauna are simply an offensive attempt at making conjoined twins seem both unsettling and overly similar. And The Grady Twins, along with getting nearly no screen time, started the Creepy Twins trope. In order to avoid another battle like Janice and Jessica vs. Sumire and Kasumi, we have disqualified these groups.

New Battle Rules:

For round 2 we’re simplifying things. Instead of the four previous categories, we’re going for two. These categories will be Audience Perspective and Twin Perspective. In the Audience Perspective category twin characters will be judged based off of character development, storylines, and anything essential to any character in media. The Twin Perspective category will judge twin characters based off of tropes, realistic characteristics, and anything that counts toward or against twin representation. This way we get to judge characters based on everything we notice as fans and as twins without having to stick to four specific categories.

We’ll be back next week with the next round of battles, so make sure to check back to see if your favorite twin representation makes it through to the end. We’re quickly approaching a declaration of a winner. Even I don’t know who’s going to win at this point. I do know that there are several twin characters I’ve loved for a long time on the list of twins moving on to our next round, so this will definitely be interesting.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-pop and K-dramas: Bands to Check Out That Aren’t BTS

Photo of Blackpink from a photoshoot featuring (from left) Lisa, Jisoo, Jennie, and Rose`. Copyright goes to YG Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I know we talk a lot about BTS on this blog. We’re proud ARMY. There’s really nothing for it. But, obviously, there are so many more talented artists in the K-pop industry. BTS may be the most popular, but they are not all that there is. They are also not all that I listen to. I am still learning so I’m definitely not the be-all end-all of K-pop knowledge. I really do apologize if your favorite band isn’t on this list and I promise I’ll try to get to as many as I can eventually! But I do notice that a lot of people are nervous getting into K-pop because it’s such a large world in music now. I know I was definitely one of those people. So hopefully, if you are one of those people and you haven’t broadened your horizons too much yet, this will give you at least a few recommendations that you might enjoy. Both new and old (but none of it is really all that old).

Blackpink:

I think this is an obvious one. Blackpink is probably the band just behind BTS in terms of popularity and it isn’t difficult to see why. Firstly, when it comes to overseas fans they have some of the most English content because three of the four of them can very fluently speak English. While I don’t think this should be the criteria for liking a band, I can’t deny that it seems to help. But mostly, their music is amazing. They have now surpassed many American artists with their quality of music. You don’t hear many rappers like Jennie or Lisa or many singers like Rose` or Jisoo anywhere else. They also now have a documentary on Netflix that I keep meaning to get around to watching. If you’re looking for a starter song, I would probably recommend ‘Ddu-ddu-ddu-ddu’. This was the song that solidified their popularity and introduced me to them and I love it.

Shinee:

Most of the popular stuff from this band came out a while back, but that doesn’t make it any less good. I was obsessed with this group before I even really knew what K-pop was. Shinee immediately drew attention when they began to make the most-watched page on Youtube, specifically with their success from their song ‘Sherlock’. That was also the song that introduced me to them. The vocals in this band are amazing and it’s difficult to find any artist that even mildly sounds like any of them. My recommendation for this band is actually ‘Lucifer’. Though I really love ‘Sherlock’ and I would recommend you check out that one as well, ‘Lucifer’ is what stole my heart.

BIGBANG:

It is really difficult to get into the K-pop world and not hear the name of this group. They are not only a classic, but also music that is still listened to on repeat. If you look at interviews for many of the more up and coming K-pop acts, many of them will list G-Dragon as an influence. There is no better word to describe their songs than ‘fun’. They are fun as hell. These are the type of songs that will get stuck in your head all day and will refuse to go away. My recommendation song here is probably the obvious; ‘Fantastic Baby’. It’s one of those songs that makes me smile very time I listen to it.

ATEEZ:

I was introduced to them when they covered ‘Blood, Sweat, and Tears’ among many other songs at an event where BTS was present. The boys’ reactions to hearing a cover of their own song was beyond adorable. But putting that aside, what I liked most about that performance was the beginning and the chorus. None of the videos that I watched really explained what the music they were using was, and the piece was a medley, so I ended up scouring the internet to try and find what song they covered for those parts of it. Only to find out that it’s their own song. I am now absolutely obsessed with ‘Wonderland’ and yes, this is your song recommendation from them. They are a younger band, and they are already killing it.

Apink:

Yay! Another girl group! Apink is quite possibly the most aesthetically pleasing group I have seen in my entire life. The pastels that fill their music videos and fashion are always a delight. Their most recent stuff is definitely my favorite, but what really drew me to them was how good and unique the vocals from this group is. I really do like sweeter voices, but I do find that finding richer voices in K-pop can be a little bit of a struggle. Hayeong has a deeper, richer, voice that I just love listening to. And that’s just one of them; they all sound fantastic. My recommendation for this group is ‘Dumdurum’. And I highly recommend watching the music video when you listen to it for the first time, it’s just so eye-catching.

TWICE:

Another popular girl group that there is no escaping from in the K-pop world. They are mostly known for their songs being upbeat and pretty adorable on top of that. This is one of those groups to listen to if you need cheering up, because may of their songs are known for being lighthearted and cute. The members of this band also equally feel cute and approachable. If you want a song guaranteed to put a smile on your face, I would try looking at them. My recommendation here would, again, be the obvious ‘Fancy’ but I have also been listening to ‘Yes or Yes’ so much lately that it’s hard to not put that one here too.

EVERGLOW:

This is another girl group that more recently gained a sudden mass of recognition overseas. Even if you don’t think you have heard them, you have most definitely heard them if you own a TikTok account. Their popularity spurned most recently from their song ‘Dun Dun’ making it’s rounds on the app. They are really really new, so it’s absolutely insane that they’ve gotten so much popularity this fast. So far it seems as though their aesthetic is a bit darker than other girl groups; think black and leather. But who knows what will happen since we haven’t seen too much of them yet! All but one of them is younger than me, which is insane to think about. But anyways, my recommendation here is ‘La Di Da’. I like the other ones, but this song is the one that gets stuck in my head almost every day.

There you go! Hopefully some of these recommendations will pan out in showing you some music you might be interested in. There are so many other groups out there to explore as well that I didn’t get to, many of which I wanted to include here. A few months ago I know I would have included Mamamoo, but there’s a lot of controversy there over black face that I haven’t gotten into as much yet. But I also didn’t want to overwhelm anyone who’s newer to all of this. I’m still pretty much a newbie too, so if you are, I know how you feel. But as you are testing the uncertain waters, make sure that you aren’t just listening to one band. I know that’s tempting. I have over a hundred songs from BTS on my phone now. But there’s an entire world to explore here! Just remember to take your time.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Marvel: Avengers vs X-Men

Screenshot of Hugh Jackman from ‘X-Men'(2000). Copyright goes to 20th Century Studios and Walt Disney Studios.

Hey! Hallie here!

The Marvel fandom has often debated which Marvel team is better considering the success of both the X-Men and Avengers movie universes. There are other major teams in Marvel, like the Fantastic Four, but none have made anywhere near as big of an impression as these two did. And with the biggest MCU plotline now closed, a lot of people are looking back on both series to compare them. I’m not going to compare the entire series because that is a lot to unpack. Especially when it comes to the many, many, movies in the MCU. However, I will compare some of the characters and their development. This is going to be a series because there are too many characters I want to tackle and because my schedule prevents me from making this post as long as I want it to be. For this post I’m going to take the most popular characters from each team and put them against each other based off of their characteristics. The character with the best writing wins. Let’s go!

Wolverine vs. Iron Man: I paired these two together because they technically both hold the main character status. They both started out their franchises with their story, both with personalities that made it difficult to initially work well with a team, and both end the series with their death. Essentially their respective cinematic universes gave each of them the fullest character arc.

First let’s look at Tony Stark. Tony Stark begins the series as a conceited, rich, playboy without much compassion. Throughout the first movie he drops only one of these things. He develops compassion through the guilt he feels over hurting others, and through his growing feelings for Pepper. But even then he is still known for hitting on other women, Natasha Romanoff being a prime example, and for being extremely self-absorbed. He thinks he knows best, which is proved when he creates Ultron. Even after Ultron is destroyed Tony seems to believe he knows the best way to atone for his mistakes rather than realizing that he should listen to others. By the time he dies he’s still rich and privileged. He’s still conceited. The major difference is that his experiences with Peter Parker and his own kid, as well as the brief time he spent living quiet life with Pepper, has made him realize there are other people in his life who are both probably better than he is and worth protecting.

Logan is a different kind of unapproachable at the beginning of X-Men. He doesn’t really like or trust anyone and because of that he’s really only looking out for himself. And can you blame him after he spent years being tortured and experimented on? However, Logan has the benefit of this changing for him right at the beginning of the first movie. He meets Rogue, a young girl who’s very alone and very afraid, and ends up worrying about her well-being. His near-immediate interest in her situation is almost parent-like, and he ends up joining the X-Men as a means of protecting her. As the series goes on he becomes involved in the well being of all of the students, to the point that he acknowledges that they have become his purpose in life. He treats the entire X-Men like family, learns to look after many more people than just himself, and ends up using his abilities to look after Charles Xavier well into the future. He dies having embraced another orphaned girl like a daughter and having devoted the majority of his life to family.

Winner: The clear winner between these two is Logan. Logan is not self-centered and feels like he grew much more than Tony. In fact, Tony could have done with some more character growth, and he had more movies.

Captain America vs. Professor X: This might be a weird mash-up, but hear me out. I put these two together because, despite not holding the main character status, they both hold the leader status. They also serve as the moral compass of their team and hit some surprisingly similar character beats.

Once again I’m going to start out with the MCU character, Steve Rogers. Steve is a pretty good guy when we first meet him. He’s pretty scrawny and weak but he has the immense desire to protect people who have been badly treated, much like he has. This determination ends up putting him in the position of Captain America, where he gets to discover how difficult the line of work he’s been hoping to join truly is. He becomes partly dependent on his relationships with Bucky and Peggy in order to keep himself level headed and his motivations clear. And then he loses both of them. Afterwards his character arc becomes about his reluctance to trust those from a time period he knows nothing about. On top of that, he has to grapple with his entire belief system being torn down when he realizes Hydra is behind the government operations he’s believed are his best path to helping people. He quickly shifts his mistrust into a general mistrust of anything that is not his own, often correct, sense of right and wrong. When Bucky comes along his trust in others extends to himself, Bucky, and Sam Wilson. By the end of the series he cares for the other people in his team, but he decides to return to Peggy. The only people he trusts to continue his legacy are Bucky and Sam, whom he has seen prove time and time again to have a strong sense of right and wrong.

Charles Xavier is another character who starts out with a pretty strong moral compass. He also has an extreme desire to help mutants overcome their oppressors, which is something that remains true for the entire series. This desire is one of the major things that brings him very close to Erik Lehnsherr, because it’s something the both of them have in common. He eventually begins to view Erik as an essential piece to achieving his goals. Except he realizes too late that Erik’s moral compass is much more twisted than his own. By the end of it he loses his ability to walk. He loses faith in his belief that he can make any sort of difference once he becomes disabled. He abandons the school he barely started and sacrifices his mutant abilities in order to regain the ability to walk. He also becomes a raging alcoholic. However, his faith is slowly restored when tragedy causes him to become essential in the protection of mutants. His compassion for both mutants and humans makes him realize that while he cares for Erik, he can’t depend on him. However, his love of helping mutants inspires him to teach well into his later years, acting as a father figure for the majority of mutants who come through his school. In his final years his health issues cause him to be dangerous to everyone but Logan, who watches over him like a son until Xavier’s tragically killed.

Winner: This one is actually a tie for me. Both characters hit similar beats in their stories. They have honorable goals they tie to specific loved ones, only to end up losing their loved ones in one way or another. They each have a major moment where they lose their faith and have to rearrange their beliefs. Steve ends up finding that Bucky is one of the only people he can trust while Xavier realizes Erik is one of the only people he believes doesn’t deserve his trust. It’s certainly an interesting parallel, and the part of me that likes happy endings appreciates Xavier’s ability to open himself up more after his trust is broken. But Steve is often right when he decides to air on the side of caution, and it’s no wonder he decides to go off on his own by the end of it all.

For this post I’m calling it for the X-Men. I didn’t realize how much there was to unpack with Charles and Steve, but both are really excellent characters that explore what happens when a good man has his belief system challenged. However, Logan and Tony’s storylines can be summed up with much simpler ideas. Both are unapproachable and self-obsessed when the audience meets them. Tony, however, never realizes that he isn’t the most important person in the room 100% of the time, despite the fact that he does learn to care for people. The point of X-Men is found family. Logan learns that he can’t view himself as the only important person in a familial environment early on in the series, and he becomes a better character for it. The family dynamic of the X-Men simply proves to be a better character motivator than the colleague-to-colleague relationships the Avengers have.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

C-dramas: Can we all just agree to leave Wang Yibo alone?

Image of Wang Yibo from a photoshoot. Copyright of YeHua Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Many of you will recognize the man above and many of you won’t, which is completely fine! That is Wang Yibo, an actor who is becoming more and more popular mostly for his portrayal of the character Lan Wangji in ‘The Untamed’. If you’ve read some of my other posts, you might also recognize him from my review of the Chinese e-sports drama ‘Gank Your Heart’. Wherever you’ve seen him before, we need to talk about some of the things that have happened to him and why we need to stop stuff like this from happening to him and literally any celebrity ever again. Wang Yibo has been known for being treated poorly by fans and haters alike. Many of his fans feel that they are exempted from human boundaries while haters feel that he’s entitled because of how sassy he is in interviews. I don’t know the guy in real life. I’m not going to assume what he’s like. But even if he was a not-so-great person; nothing, and I mean nothing, gives you the right to do any of these things.

The Car Incident:

Wang Yibo was sleeping in a car when he was found by fans and his vehicle was immediately surrounded. Many of the people around the car were doing more than screaming and were instead attempting to break the windows and get to him. That sounds absolutely insane and beyond scary. He’s not like BTS where he travels around with masses of security. Especially at the time of this happening, which was before his popularity blew up to quite where it is now. It grieves me to think that this isn’t common sense and that I have to say this; but you are not entitled to the privacy of a celebrity. If you see a celebrity who doesn’t look like they want to be bothered, especially if they are sleeping, absolutely stay away. Obviously, attempting to break into that person’s private property is even worse. Wang Yibo as well as other idols are constantly busy. He probably really needed that sleep you just ruined. Also, if you want to make a good impression on your favorite idol, making them fear for their lives is probably not such a good strategy.

The Fanfiction Incident:

Now, this affected Xiao Zhan more than it effected Wang Yibo; but it still did harm to them both. After starring opposite each other in ‘The Untamed’, many people started shipping the two stars in real life. I’m just going to say right now, I have never understood and probably never will understand shipping real people together. Not only can you strain a relationship by doing this, but those are real people, not fictional characters. It is not your business to try and find proof that they’re dating who you want. But anyways, a fairly explicit fanfiction of the two blew up in China causing them both to lose fans and people to boycott their products. Gay relationships and fanfiction are definitely not as tolerated in China as they are in the United States, which sucks. The incident got pinned on Xiao Zhan’s fans, which is why he took the fall for what happened. But if you were one of those people boycotting them for something that they didn’t even do, leave them alone! They didn’t do anything and shouldn’t be held responsible for every single one of their fans. That’s just ridiuclous.

The Phone Number Incident:

Somehow someone got a hold of Wang Yibo’s phone number and started selling it to fans. Wang Yibo began receiving dozens of phone calls a day, much of which he answered in the hopes of convincing fans that buying his number was wrong. This invasion of privacy only continued to the point where Wang Yibo had to switch his personal phone number and his company, YeHua Entertainment, issued a statement that they might take legal action against any fan who called him. Once again, there will never be a good reason for you to possess the number of a celebrity unless they are a close personal friend. That is, once again, an invasion of their privacy. Do some research about boundaries and then get back to me.

The Crime Incident:

This is the most recent thing that Wang Yibo went through and is essentially the problem that prompted me to write this. An anonymous person called the police and reported Wang Yibo for a crime that must have been serious as he was thoroughly investigated because of this prank. Eventually they realized that, as I said before, it was a false prank on Yibo. This guy has really been through too much at this point. Getting reported for a crime you didn’t commit would be absolutely horrifying. I do not understand this constant targeting of Yibo, but all I want is for people to just leave him alone.

Wang Yibo is a talented actor, and whether or not he’s a good person, he does not deserve this constant breach of his safety and privacy. Yibo has been targeted more recently than most. Somebody choosing for their career path to be in the public eye is not an invitation for you to do whatever you want to this person. I’ve heard a lot of people say that if a celebrity didn’t want a breach of privacy than they shouldn’t have become a celebrity. As if it comes with the job. First of all, that seems to put becoming a celebrity in a light that makes it sound easy. Or always predictable. Which it is never either of those things. Secondly, if you think that anything will ever entitle you to any person’s privacy I would ask that you re-evaluate. Yes, they are actors and many of them are rich but that doesn’t make them cardboard cutouts. They are real people with real emotions who can experience real fear. Stay out of their business and leave them alone.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Marvel: ‘WandaVision’ Review

Screenshot of Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany in ‘Wandavision’. Copyright goes to Marvel Studios and Disney,

Hey! Hallie here!

‘WandaVision’s finally here! I’ve talked a bit about the female representation in Marvel before, but I’ve never quite gotten to speak about how much I love Wanda Maximoff. She has definitely been one of the bright points in Marvel’s messy on-screen female representation history. She’s the most powerful superhero they’ve introduced so far, and she’s allowed to be without sacrificing her emotions or overall personality. Wanda is a confused woman who struggles a lot with self love and depression, but all she really wants is to do some good and live her life. When Vision dies, the life she was setting up for herself after her brother and hometown were ripped away from her, once again gets pulled out from under her. And while she’s able to show how powerful she really is against Thanos in an act of retaliation, that in no way fixes the problem. She’s in a pretty dark place when we leave her. Which is what makes the premise of ‘WandaVision’ so interesting. Somehow Vision is back and they’re living a married life in a completely different timeline that is obviously not real. This show balances sitcoms from various timelines with the mystery behind who created the entire reality and why Wanda is stuck in it. Let’s go over what it does best so far. SPOILERS ahead.

The Good:

The Sitcom. The first episode mimics a 50’s black-and-white sitcom with a pretty basic storyline. Vision and Wanda see a heart on their calendar but can’t remember what it is. After talking with a neighbor Wanda thinks that it likely marks the couple’s anniversary, but at work Vision realizes its marks the night his boss, Mr. Hart, is coming over for dinner. The story has been done many times, but Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany make it fun. Both of them are having a lot of fun with all of the old fashioned elements and it’s infectious. Both of their acting choices perfectly mimic the acting in shows from that time period. They also have a lot of on-screen chemistry which often saves moments that could be more boring with the cute romance between Wanda and Vision. When they move on to the 60’s in an episode that very clearly uses ‘Bewitched’ as it’s main inspiration, everything is tweaked perfectly. They move from wide shots and a live studio audience to more closeups and different camera angles to give it a new feel. This episode, Wanda and Vision are tasked with putting on a magic show for their community, but Vision accidentally eats some gum. Seeing Paul Bettany act Vision as basically a drunk was hilarious and this episode gave a lot more of the side cast a larger spotlight. Once again it’s a pretty simple premise, but it leaves room for the actors to shine and the mysterious moments to seem more out of place.

The Mystery. There’s a lot of intrigue in this show and it’s the perfect amount of chilling. In the very first episode Wanda and Vision are pretty clearly confused about nearly everything. It’s not simply that there’s a mark on their calendar they don’t remember. While talking with her neighbor, Wanda realizes she doesn’t have a wedding ring, the couple don’t have a song, and they also don’t have an anniversary. Vision doesn’t know what the company he works for even does or why he’s working there. All of these strange gaps in memory come to a head when Wanda and Vision finally sit down for dinner with Mr. Hart and his wife. Mr. Hart asks Wanda and Vision what their story is, becoming more loud and angry that the pair don’t even remember when they moved in. Then he starts choking to death at the table. Wanda becomes both dazed and horrified, which only increases when Mrs. Hart begins to say “Stop it” over and over, partly as if she’s joking and partly as if she’s pleading. Wanda eventually tells Vision to save Mr. Hart, having lost the light tone she’d been talking in for the entire episode, and then the laugh track comes in as if nothing happened. The episode also ends with someone watching the show through a screen with a notebook with a mysterious sword emblem on it.

The second episode begins with a strange banging noise that startles both Vision and Wanda, but they find nothing but trees when they open their window. Later on, Wanda finds a toy plane with the same sword emblem as earlier, and it’s red despite the black-and-white look of the episode. Then Wanda attends a community meeting with the rest of the women of the neighborhood. When she stays to help the group leader clean up, the radio begins to pick up a feed of a man asking Wanda who has done “this” to her. The group leader suddenly becomes frightened and asks Wanda who she is, becoming so agitated that she breaks the glass in her hand and draws red blood. When Wanda finally snaps out of her horror to clean the wound, the woman acts as if nothing happened. As if that wasn’t enough, when the episode is about to end and Wanda suddenly finds herself pregnant, Vision and Wanda hear the same banging as earlier in the episode. They rush outside to find a man in bee-keeping gear, sporting the sword emblem, climbing out of a manhole. Wanda sees him and says “No”, which rewinds the episode to before she and Vision heard the sound so it can end happily. So far the hints are pretty light, but they definitely leave an impression.

The Bad:

The Pacing. While I appreciate the show’s slow unveiling of hints, there are only seven episodes of this series left. With episodes that are only ranging from thirty to forty minutes long, I definitely think the amount of hints, and overall pacing, has to speed up very quickly for the final climax to make any sort of sense. I’ve already read plenty of reviews from Marvel fans who didn’t like the show because they thought there wasn’t enough intrigue, and while several of them did miss major puzzle pieces, I do understand the frustration of not receiving more in the first two episodes of a nine episode long show.

The Characters. While it’s nice to see Wanda and Vision again, they aren’t really themselves. While that does serve the story, for now at least, it’s important that we get glimpses of who they are in the future. Especially with this show tackling Wanda’s mental health. This show seems to imply that Wanda’s reality altering powers are in effect, which leads many to believe that the writers are going to at least create a variation of the ‘House of M’ storyline from the comics. This storyline hinges on Wanda’s mental health and it was very obviously taken much too far in the comics. Instead of dealing with her problems, the comics basically called her crazy and left it at that. Wanda has struggled with her mental health in the MCU, and regardless of what the writers choose to do, they’re headed towards another scenario where Wanda’s mental health is a major focus. Wanda needs to be able to deal with it realistically. They can’t do that if they leave the characters to simply be sitcom parodies the whole way through.

Obviously, I like the show so far. I think it’s both cute and interesting. Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen have done an incredible job with it so far. I love the direction the show is heading in and I’m excited to see more. Most of my gripes are contingent on whether or not the show is going to continue with the same pace and caricatures as the first two episodes. Because if this show is going to reach it’s full potential, it needs to get to a point where Wanda can be Wanda before we even reach episode nine.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Disney: The Descendants Characters

Promotional image for Disney Channel’s ‘Descendants’ starring (from left) Cameron Boyce, Sofia Carson, Dove Cameron, and Booboo Stewart taken at Disney World. Copyright goes to Disney Parks and the Disney Company.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Because I have absolutely nothing better to do, I recently returned to the ‘Descendants’ series. When this came out it immediately interested me due to the connection with other Disney stories without attempting to force a retell onto audiences. Instead it focused on the lives of four kids who have the misfortune of having villains for parents; Evie the daughter of the Evil Queen, Carlos the son of Creulla DeVille, Mal the daughter of Maleficent, and Jay the son of Jafar. Though I watched the first one and did somewhat enjoy it, I was also getting pretty tired of Disney Channel and didn’t watch any of the other movies. Despite this, I had people from my college talking about how good these movies were, even if they are made for kids. Now that I actually had time to go back, I definitely wanted to share some of my thoughts, especially when it comes to characterization. There are so many characters that they did well, and others that I thought they did pretty badly. Overall, I enjoyed this series more than I thought I would, but I want to go over which characters I fell in love with and the ones that need a little more work. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Happily Ever After:

Evie: I loved Evie from the beginning, especially with the lesson they attempted to teach through her during the first movie. Evie has been told her entire life by her mother that the most important thing for a woman to be is pretty. When she gets to Auradon, that’s what we see from her. She tries to find a prince because her mother has told her that she needs a guy to be happy and she pretends to be dumb. In the end, she comes to the realization that she would much rather be smart than be purely focused on her looks. In a world where women are often reduced to being love interests or objects due to their looks, Evie tackles the subject of what women can be and are single-handedly. In the following movies, Evie was one of the only people actually campaigning for the other Villain Kids from the Isle of the Lost to be given the same chance she and her friends now had. Evie is consistently shown to be smart and incredibly kind. Also, the arc of realizing that beauty isn’t all there is being given to the child of the Evil Queen really was clever. Her relationship with Doug is beyond adorable as well.

Carlos: Not only is he an absolute expert at dancing, he’s also one of the characters that you feel for the most. From what Carlos talks about when it comes to his mother, it is obvious that he’s been the most abused of the core four. He is afraid of a lot of things, but dogs and his mother are on the top of the list. When Carlos goes over to Auradon he realizes that he has a love for dogs and uses that to get over his fear of his mother. In other words; she doesn’t scare him and no evil thing will. It’s cheesy, but it’s another clever arc to put the child of Cruella through. Though Carlos is often sidelined in other movies, he always is a comforting and supportive presence for the other characters. He even stands up to Evie and Mal by declaring that he wants to also be a part of girl talk. His character is nothing short of adorable and the sarcasm to go along with it absolutely makes it. I think we all can agree when I say we all miss Cameron Boyce every day.

Uma: Uma almost feels like a plot point that we needed in the first film. She has been abandoned on the Isle, but instead of having a promising life on the Isle before she came over; she has always felt like a prisoner. In the first movie we barely get anything of Mal talking to Ben about what it’s actually like to be trapped on the Isle. Ben and Uma actually get that conversation in the second installment of this franchise. Uma eventually becomes one of the most sarcastic and relatable characters in the cast. Not only that, but her pirate crew is nothing short of badass. In the second movie I was always having the most fun when the pirates were on screen. Uma having a very real reaction to what being trapped on a prison island is like, is something we needed from the beginning. She added a much needed element to the story.

Harry: So, he doesn’t get too much time in until the third movie. He works for Uma and that’s the most of what he does. But he is such a fun character to watch. Harry is a loyal friend for Uma, but he’s also unsettling and always has so much fun playing with his prey. When he’s on screen it’s really difficult to tear your eyes away. He looks absolutely insane but in the best way. Every scene with him in it is interesting.

Doug: Dopey’s son and Evie’s love interest. Doug is one of the only people that believes in Evie from the beginning. Their relationship ends up being one of the cutest and healthiest relationships I’ve seen in anything like this. There’s very little drama here, just pure acceptance. By the third movie it is clear that he and Evie have become best friends as well as true loves, and that’s always my favorite type of depiction of any couple. He also gets a bit of his own arc where he learns to be braver and more confident during the movies, which is a cute arc for Dopey’s son.

Rotten:

Mal: I know people are not going to like me at all for saying this, but Mal is only good in the first movie and even then she needs work. Mal learns what love is in the first film, which is a good arc for her character. The end of her arc has another quick love fix, much like Elsa in ‘Frozen’, so that isn’t that great. But Mal’s character never really expands beyond herself. After the first movie, the other characters end up with arcs that expand to helping other characters. Mal remains focused only on herself and her relationship with Ben. She makes several selfish decisions and is only ever convinced to do the right thing when she realizes her friends are disappointed in her. Because Mal only ever is given arcs that focus on herself, she comes out of the entire series looking incredibly selfish.

Jay: Jay has very little time and personality in comparison to the other core four. While the other three get arcs in the first movie that have to do with their lives back in the Isle and who their parents were, Jay gets virtually nothing. He goes from stealing to liking sports and that’s about it. It doesn’t really have anything to do with Jafar and doesn’t show us a lot of his personality as a character. In the next two movies he is very sidelined. I will say that in the second movie he gets some great moments where he makes Lonnie, Mulan’s daughter, the captain of the fencing team. That entire storyline was amazing simply for tackling the issue of women not being allowed in men’s sports. He also, in a sweet moment, tells Mal that he will drive her back to the Isle himself is she is still unhappy. We just don’t get enough of this. We don’t get enough of him. I feel like, by the end of the series, we barely got to know him.

Ben: Every single time he came on the screen I couldn’t help but cringe. This actor isn’t exactly the best by any means, but what Ben is given is just as bad. Though Ben is often one of the only people other than Evie to campaign for the freedom of the VKs, he always feels very out of place. He is kind but has some of the worst dialogue and it’s really confusing that he’s being crowned King at the age of sixteen. He also has very little in personality outside of being a nice guy. The best I’ve seen of Ben was when he felt guilty after his talk with Uma.

Audrey: She’s just not that great. She doesn’t appear at all in the second film and in the first film she’s written to be a generic mean popular girl. There’s really not a whole lot that’s special about her. In the third movie they attempt to give her characterization, but she’s not an intimidating villain. In the first few films there was a sense of urgency because the other villains were trying to take down the barrier. She just feels like a nuisance. Which is the way her character feels in all the movies.

Jane: None of Jane’s arcs ever feel really deserved except for when she grabs the wand in the first movie. Her and Carlos never have any chemistry before they force the romance between them. She just doesn’t seem like she has much of a character beyond being insecure. I almost wish Disney would have done what fans were calling them to do, which was make Carlos and Jay gay. Jane did not deserve the arcs that she was given.

Lonnie: I just want more of her! Just like Jay, we didn’t get enough time with her and she wasn’t very good in the first movie. There was nothing in her personality that ever even hinted at her being the daughter of Mulan and she acted just like every other girl. In the second movie they actually gave her something. She kicked ass and became the captain of the guys team. But I just wish they had shown her more like that and had given her more.

I actually liked ‘Descendants’ more than I thought I would! It’s really well done for being a Disney Channel movie and the acting as a whole was better than I thought. If you are interested in this storyline but don’t want to watch it because it was made for kids; go watch it anyways! It’s not perfect, but you’re bound to get some enjoyment out of it!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Disney: Top 5 Male Love Interests

Screenshot of David and Nani from ‘Lilo and Stitch’. Copyright goes to Walt Disney Pictures.

Hey! Hallie here!

I grew up with Disney movies and fell for most of the Disney princes. I’ve been a romantic ever since I was a kid and I could appreciate most of them for the love and devotion they showed the female leads. Going back to some of these movies, though, there are a lot of love interests I gave too much credit. Many of them lack a personality or show more devotion than they do actual support. Similarly, there are so many love interests I completely ignored as a kid that deserve so much more love. This list is a mix of characters I loved from the first time I saw the movie and characters I needed to be a bit older to truly appreciate. I’m also keeping this list to male characters who aren’t the main character. Considering the fact that women are often portrayed as love interests rather than the main character, I definitely think it’s more important to call to attention the Disney movies that flip the script. Let’s get into it!

5. Flynn Rider. Or Eugene Fitzherbert depending on which you prefer. Eugene is at the top of most people’s lists, so allow me to defend why I put him at the bottom of this list. Eugene doesn’t really get the time to demonstrate what kind of significant other he will be to Rapunzel by the end of the movie. When the movie ends we never really get to see whether or not Eugene is supportive of Rapunzel. Him “supporting” her dream is an obligation for most of the movie that only changes when the adventure is already almost over. That doesn’t ultimately change much that he had said he would do in the first place except he also buys her a few souvenirs. We know he cares about her. He did surprise her with her own lantern which I guess could be a sign of support if you read into the symbolism of that. But that isn’t enough to put him higher on the list. What I will say is that his character arc does put him leagues above many of Disney’s other princes. He goes from caring only about himself to giving his life to protect someone he loves. Even before he dies for Rapunzel, he refuses to take the crown she’s been using as leverage over him to show her that he no longer cares for only himself. There are also cute moments where he pushes her hair away from her face while he’s talking to her, the opposite of Mother Gothel who strokes Rapunzel’s hair as an indication that it’s all she truly cares about. Their relationship is continued in the television series, but let’s be honest, Eugene isn’t exactly the same character in that series.

4. Li Shang. Here’s another enemies to lovers relationship. There are actually quite a lot on this list. The issue with this format is it often devotes too much time to the first stage of the characters relationship which often ends in their romance being explored a bit less than it could have been. Li Shang has one major benefit in this area, though. He knows Mulan for much longer than a few days before he decides to pursue a relationship with her. He’s been training with the Chinese army for months before the climax of the movie. Similar to Eugene, he initially shows support to Mulan because of outside forces rather than because he wants to help her. He’s a General and it’s his job to train all of the soldiers, including Mulan. He does become invested, however, when she begins to prove herself more capable than he expected the entire army to be. Afterwards, he very obviously develops feelings for Mulan. When he still thinks she’s a man. I am absolutely part of the team of people who believe Li Shang is a Bisexual. Anyway. Li Shang feels betrayed when it’s revealed Mulan’s a woman, but her gender doesn’t change his feelings for her. And though he refuses to listen to her at first, once he realizes she is no longer attempting to trick him he is extremely helpful and supportive during her entire plan to protect the emperor. Not only that, but their relationship isn’t forced. He goes after Mulan when she returns home, and the movie ends with her asking him to dinner. Nothing about their relationship is rushed and there’s a very obvious healthy foundation for their relationship in the future.

3. Prince Naveen. Naveen, not unlike most of the other people on this list, doesn’t get along with Tiana at first. He flirts with her as soon as he meets her, but his version of flirting happens to be talking about how great he is. Which isn’t necessarily attractive, especially as a frog. The movie brings up how much of a ladies man he is pretty frequently in the first half of the movie. He talks about how he doesn’t want to settle down because he enjoys partying and leaving broken hearts in his wake. In other words, he isn’t ready for a relationship. At all. That is, until Tiana doesn’t return his affections. He’s willing to brush it off at first, but it actually begins to frustrate him. He starts to pick fights with her for not being his idea of fun, and she immediately retorts with how lazy and careless he can be. Naveen meets his match, and over time he begins to respect Tiana. That respect turns to love when Mama Odie points out how important Tiana is to him. Immediately he decides he can’t marry for money despite the fact that he’s broke. He also decides that he’s going to get a job, or two, or three, to support Tiana’s dream of owning her own restaurant. And then ultimately decides against all of it to get Tiana the money she needs in time for her to afford her restaurant location, essentially dooming himself to a loveless marriage. Naveen goes through a similar character arc as Eugene. He goes from caring only about himself to realizing how important other people can be. But Naveen gets more of a chance to prove that he cares about Tiana’s ambitions just as much as he cares about her well-being, and that is an important distinction.

2. Kristoff. This one is surprising for me because I didn’t like ‘Frozen’ for a long time and I didn’t really enjoy ‘Frozen 2’ when I watched it recently. But I underestimated Kristoff. Kristoff is there to be the cynical voice of reason for the first half of ‘Frozen’. He doesn’t approve of most of Anna’s decisions because he thinks she’s very naïve. He helps her because it’s beneficial to himself just as much as it is to her. However, he forms a genuine friendship with her over time and is concerned for her when her hair begins to turn white. Obviously, everyone can tell that he has feelings for Anna by the time he delivers her to the trolls in the hope that they’ll have a cure for her frozen heart (I won’t mention the song that happened here because it’s not good). But when he hears that her cure is an act of true love, he delivers her to Hans. Despite the fact that he has feelings for Anna. Despite the fact that he doesn’t believe she and Hans can truly be in love because they’ve known each other for a day. He does it because Anna wants him to and he supports her decision. And, once again, their relationship isn’t rushed. While he does rush back to help Anna when he begins to have a bad feeling about the entire situation, she ends up saving herself as an act of sisterly love. Afterwards, they start a slow relationship where they share a very bashful first kiss only at the very end of the movie. Even in ‘Frozen 2’, when Kristoff keeps messing up his proposal and worries that Anna doesn’t care about him anymore, he always offers her his help when she needs it. When she provokes the earth elementals into chasing her he asks what she needs him to do without even knowing what’s going on. He would be in first if there wasn’t a more perfect character here.

1. David. David’s grown in popularity recently and it’s because he deserves it. He’s very obviously interested in Nani from the first scene we see him in. He’s known her for a long time and has been close friends with her, but he’s also very obviously been trying to set up a date with her. However, she’s incredibly busy and over-stressed. She’s only nineteen and she just lost her parents, but she has very little time to worry about that when she’s currently trying to keep custody of Lilo. She’s thrown into a very adult position where she has to find a stable job, do housework, and parent Lilo. Which only becomes a bigger problem when Stitch comes along. David isn’t offended when Nani turns him down. He understand that she’s busy, and he remains encouraged that Nani likes his butt and fancy hair thanks to Lilo. He doesn’t pressure Nani to date him at any point in the movie. He takes Nani and Lilo surfing when he sees that they’re sad and goes to save Stitch’s life despite the fact that he’s barely been acquainted with him. He continues to job search for Nani when she loses her job and eventually finds her one that can help fix her situation. He’s also very good at looking after Lilo. He’s the perfect support for Nani at such a stressful point of her life and he doesn’t expect anything in return. He’s the perfect guy.

That’s my list! As you can see, I definitely favor the guys who care about the female leads dreams and desires just as much as they care about their well being. It’s easy to have a hero who’s willing to put someone’s life above his own. But the guys who focus on a woman’s thoughts and beliefs are absolutely the most impressive to me. I’m definitely looking into doing another list with my least favorite male Disney love interests soon. There are so many bad ones. But, for now, let’s enjoy looking at these good ones and wishing they were real.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie