Oreos & Peanut Butter

Netflix Shows: Which Season of ‘Stranger Things’ You Should Binge Before Halloween

Screenshot of Maya Hawke, Joe Keery, and Gaten Matarazzo from Season 3 of ‘Stranger Things’. Copyright goes to 21 Laps Entertainment and Monkey Massacre.

Hey! Hallie here!

‘Stranger Things’ is one of the best shows to watch to get into the Halloween spirit. No matter which season you watch, you’re always in for a nice spooky aesthetic and a good amount of satisfying scares. Even viewers who don’t like Horror, such as myself, can enjoy ‘Stranger Things’ without having to run screaming from the screen. But it’s hard to watch all three Stranger Things seasons before October is over, especially with the list of essential Halloween movies to watch on top of all that. So which season should you narrow it down to? Before I get into this, I’ll be talking in depth about character arcs and the scariest parts of the series, so SPOILERS up ahead. With that out of the way, let’s look deeper into each season of ‘Stranger Things’ and see which one is best to watch for the Halloween season.

Season 1: This one is the most classic option. It serves as an introduction to the characters and the supernatural elements of the show. This season follows three of the characters Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, as they try to find their missing friend, Will. Meanwhile, Eleven has escaped from a government facility that has been experimenting with things they really shouldn’t be. Namely tapping into an alternate universe the characters call the Upside Down, which has opened the way for the Demogorgon to terrorize Hawkins, Indiana. This season uses fear of the unknown as it’s tactic to scare the audience. You don’t really see the Demogorgon until later in the season, but in the meantime you get Barb getting dragged screaming into the Upside Down and something reaching through the wall towards Joyce after she attempts to communicate with Will. When you do see the Demogorgon, the show has built up the creature enough for you to be properly terrified by its appearance. Plus, you never get a great look at it because lights tend to flash on and off whenever it’s nearby. Otherwise, the story is a mostly wholesome one of found family, and though Eleven sacrifices herself to get rid of the Demogorgon, you know she isn’t gone forever. It’s the most feel-good watch on this list, with a fair amount of scary that won’t leave you hiding behind your couch in fear. This season plays it mostly safe, but the fear of the unknown, plus the classic feel of the story, makes it a good spooky watch.

Season 2: Season 2 has one major advantage in this comparison. It takes place during Halloween. The series starts out with the group we got to know last season going trick-or-treating as Ghostbusters. This season advertised it’s main monster as the giant Mind Flayer, but the Mind Flayer isn’t much more than a large, dark, shape. The scariest thing it does is possess Will, which is more frustrating than it is frightening. The most frightening creatures the characters face in this season are the Demodogs. Initially the Demodogs don’t seem like much. After all, Dustin takes in D’Artagnan, or Dart for short, when he’s still a baby. Dart isn’t the prettiest, but he isn’t intimidating either. Until Dart eats Dustin’s cat, that is. The Demodogs aren’t scary, but they are brutal. Bob Newby’s death is probably the hardest one to watch in the entire series. That’s where most of the scare factor comes in for Season 2. It’s not necessarily the most gruesome season, but it is the most brutal. As for the story, it’s the most disjointed of all the seasons. This doesn’t make it bad, but it means it’s dealing with a lot of different story elements that often find the show pushing it’s main conflict, and thus it’s scarier elements, to the background. Instead we get Eleven finding her mother, hunting down her siblings, and attempting to come to terms with Hopper as her father. We get Mike moping over Eleven while everyone tries to figure out what’s wrong with Will. And we get Steve Harrington being the best babysitter ever. It’s good character development, but maybe not so strong on it’s Upside Down contributions. Still, it has that Halloween aesthetic you won’t get watching the other seasons.

Season 3: This season promised to be the scariest one yet, and it delivered. The Mind Flayer reached it’s full potential by finally showing off it’s true power and possessing multiple people at once. Of course, the main vessel the Mind Flayer used was Billy. Instead of Billy’s possession being treated as an obstacle, Billy, as the Mind Flayer, was a villain all on his own. He was a frightening one too. He could easily overpower any of the main characters and his human appearance made it easy for him to lull victims into a sense of security. This is where the major fear factor comes in for this season. This season was mostly frightening for being disturbingly gruesome. The Mind Flayer used Billy to help it possess others because they, once melted into a gross, pink paste, could help the Mind Flayer regain it’s original form. This resulted in many, many, scenes of rats, and then humans, exploding and melting. When the Mind Flayer finally arrives, it looks, predictably, disgusting. Billy sacrifices himself to get rid of the Mind Flayer, and to add insult to injury, Hopper looks as though he dies after trying to close the gate to the Upside Down. (Let’s not forget poor, adorable, Alexei dies too.) This season ends up with an ending quite a bit darker than the others. The story for this season took things that audiences liked about the past seasons, and it made them stronger. It let Dustin spend most of his time with Steve. To join them they introduced one of the best characters Stranger Things has to offer, Robin, and expanded on the hilarious sister of Lucas, Erica. They explored Hopper being a father and they brought Murray into the spotlight. They let Eleven and Max spend time together and they tackled the hardships of working in a sexist workplace with Nancy. This season balances its frightening elements and it’s character development the best of the seasons.

So what’s the verdict? There’s pros and cons to each. If you’re looking for something a little more suspenseful and a little less scary, choose the first season. You’ll get a more wholesome story with some creepy vibes that won’t be too upsetting. If you’re looking for that Halloween aesthetic, choose Season 2. With some darker sets and Fall as the general background, you’ll definitely feel like it belongs alongside the other essential Halloween content. If you’re looking for something scarier with some interesting character arcs, choose the third season. The sight of the Mind Flayer alone should satisfy any desire for something disturbingly chilling this Halloween. As for my personal opinion, Season 3 balances the storylines I love in ‘Stranger Things’ the most skillfully. Regardless of what you pick, you’re in for an enjoyable Halloween.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Halloween: Judge Claude Frollo

Screenshot of Claude Frollo from Disney’s ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’. Copyright goes to Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Pictures.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Claude Frollo has always been one of the most terrifying Disney villains to me; but now that I’ve consumed different versions of ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’, he’s definitely one of the most terrifying fictional villains in general. What has always been the most scary is the fact that he’s always in some sort of position of power, no matter what version of ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ you read or watch. He’s this person who is supposed to be widely trusted, but is easily corrupted by power and his own selfishness. I am of the opinion that the scariest villains are the ones that are the most realistic. The ones that feel they are in the right and they are, therefore, the heroes. Judge Claude Frollo definitely, and unfortunately, falls under this description. So what exactly makes him so scary?

WARNING: This article will have possibly triggering mentions of sexual assault and attempted rape.

The Novel:

Frollo is not a Judge in the original novel, but rather an archdeacon. Definitely a lower position with less power and money to his name. Frollo also is not depicted as being purposefully evil, but instead is depicted as a man who falls into madness because of his own selfishness. His act before the novel of willingly adopting Quasimodo and teaching him sign language are the markings of a good person. But, those are possibly the only times he succeeds at being anything even resembling good. Frollo has an irrational fear of women (possibly due to his celibacy) and falls in love with Esmerelda at first sight. He sends Quasimodo to kidnap her for him, and Quasimodo is caught by Pheobus and other guards. The plan backfires on Frollo when Esmerelda immediately falls in love with her savior. He is so caught up in this that he doesn’t vouch for Quasimodo when he is almost killed by townspeople. His lust for Esmerelda drives him throughout the entire novel, causing him to stab himself, stab Pheobus, and sexually assault Esmerelda several times. Esmerelda is blamed for the stabbing of Pheobus and, by this point, Frollo has decided that, because she won’t be his, she should just die. He leaves Paris thinking that she has been killed for his crime and is at peace with that, not knowing that Quasimodo granted her sanctuary. When he comes back he tries his luck with Esmerelda again after finding her alive, this time attempting to rape her, but she is saved once again by Quasimodo. In a rage he turns her over to the guards and laughs as she is hanged. His laughter sends Quasimodo into a frenzy and he throws Frollo off the tallest tower of Notre Dame and to his death. You’re probably thinking that this is the most pathetic and disgusting fictional character you’ve ever read about, and I don’t blame you. Because he probably is. He does good actions before the novel starts, but you discover throughout the novel that his reasoning for doing good was so that he could call himself a good person. His actions when he is faced with his own selfishness are horrific and unforgivable. They also prove his true character. He never truly cared about Quasimodo or he wouldn’t have forced him to do his own dirty work and then left him to die. If he was a good person he would have left Esmerelda alone and if he truly loved her he never would have tried to hurt her or laughed while she died. He truly believes that he is good because of his status as a priest, but he reveals himself to be an irredeemable person. Not one person is sad when he dies; not the characters in the book and certainly not the audience reading it.

The Disney Movie:

While the original novel depicts Frollo as scary because priests are supposed to be people you trust, Disney goes a little farther with this. Disney makes him Judge Claude Frollo rather than archdeacon Claude Frollo. He has more power and is more corrupt because of it. However, unlike the novel, Frollo is very obviously supposed to be evil. He does not take Quasimodo in of his own volition nor does he care if whether or not what he’s doing is right. But he does still think that because he worships God he must always be in the right. Frollo follows much of the same arc in the movie as the novel in that his character is mostly informed by his lust over Esmerelda. But this is a Disney movie so this aspect is also toned down. That doesn’t mean he’s not intimidating or awful in the Disney movie though. Disney replaces several sexual assault scenes with brutal killings instead; such as setting half of Paris on fire and killing Quasimodo’s parents at the beginning of the film. Also, it’s really difficult for a villain to not be intimidating when they are voiced by Tony Jay (a former actor of the Royal Shakespeare Company who was known for his baritone voice) or when they have ‘Hellfire’ as their villain song. The instrumental version of ‘Hellfire’ has since been used in several different shows at Disney parks even when Frollo doesn’t appear because it’s such a great, terrifying, piece of music. I get chills every time I hear it. If you haven’t listened to anything instrumental from this movie, at least look up “Sanctuary”. I promise you, you won’t regret it. Even though Frollo is greatly changed from the novel, there’s no arguing against the fact that he’s one of the scariest Disney villains. But this time he’s slightly more enjoyable to watch because of his general villainous nature. It’s still difficult though, because he’s still such a disgusting person. At least Esmerelda is able to escape him and her death in this version.

The Musical:

This is a slightly more recent musical that Disney created. The fact that Disney created this musical is a bit surprising to me. I was able to see this musical early last year, and it was absolutely amazing. The thing is, it ascribes a lot more to the novel than the Disney movie despite this being a Disney creation. In other words, don’t bring your kids to see this one. Just because it’s Disney does not mean that it’s safe for kids. The musical demotes Frollo back to archdeacon and puts back in the attempted rape scene as well as Esmerelda’s death from the novel. Frollo is back to his regular pathetic and disgusting self. The musical gives him a bit more of a backstory with his brother and a Romani woman to try and explain to the audience a bit more where he’s coming from. Though it doesn’t, and isn’t supposed to, excuse his actions in any way or make what he does understandable. This version of Frollo is scary in another way. Rather than depicting Frollo as a madman like in the novel or straight up evil like in the Disney film; this version tries its best to depict Frollo as a man that was once good and could still have been good. He is corrupted so much by power, lust, and selfishness that he becomes the absolute opposite of what he was. You see his complete turn from a good man into an evil one. It’s the most human of transformations I’ve seen for Frollo and, because of that, it’s also the scariest. I just don’t understand why they stayed closer to the book for Frollo, but still decided to keep with the questionable decision of making Pheobus a love interest for Esmerelda. Pheobus has always been awful, and is even a villain in the original novel, so I have no idea why they continue thinking portraying him this way is ok.

Frollo is awful and disgusting, but he’s also realistic, causing him to remain one of the scariest villains of all time after all these years. In whatever version of the story that you watch or read, he always seems to be all the evil of humanity stuffed into one character. ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ is a great book, but it’s also a depressing read because the goal of the novel is to show it’s audience what we shouldn’t be, and what we should work and fight against. The only truly innocent person in the novel is Esmerelda and she is killed by corrupt people in power she was told she could trust. This novel was written to be a love letter to Paris, but this is a letter that instead of praising Paris, tells it that there’s still so much to fight for and still so much that could be better. It’s a reminder that we all have the capacity for evil. Frollo is supposed to be everything that we shouldn’t be; a mistake to be learned from. Though he’s not the most fun of villains to watch because he’s so awful, it’s still important to have villains like this to learn from. He’s awful, but he’s also a reminder to be kind and compassionate.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Disney: Ranking the Official Disney Villains

Screenshots of The Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil, Ursula, Captain Hook, and Jafar from their respective movies. Copyright goes to the Walt Disney Company.

Hey! Hallie here!

What Halloween is complete without this line up of villains? These characters usually take over the Disney parks during the Halloween season and have been the center of many of Disney’s Halloween ventures. Obviously, I won’t be able to talk about the entire list of villains that Disney has created over the years. Because of that, I will only be focusing on the list of ‘official’ members of the Disney Villains franchise. The Disney Villains franchise tends to be the focus for most of the villains Halloween events, so this ensures I’m sticking to the members that show up the most during Halloween. I will only be adding one additional villain to the list, but I’ll explain that when it comes up. Anyways, this is a long list, so let’s get started.

The Evil Queen. At the bottom of the list we have The Evil Queen from ‘Snow White’. I don’t dislike the character. She’s absolutely intimidating and you’re lying if you say you aren’t scared of her old woman form. The reason why she’s stuck down here is because she’s the least explored of all the villains. This is partly a result of her movie being the first Disney feature length film. ‘Snow White’ is one of Disney’s shorter films, and more time was, rightfully, spent on Snow White and the dwarves. The lack of focus on her leaves her with very little personality to speak of by the end of the movie. Plus, she doesn’t really have a reason for treating Snow White the way she does. She’s just jealous of Snow White being prettier than her. That’s shallow, even for a villain.

Jafar. Jafar as a snake was pretty cool. Let’s be honest, there’s a reason why Jafar isn’t one of the more popular villains. For one, he’s missing an epic villain song. He sings the reprise of “Prince Ali”, but it isn’t long enough to be satisfying. It’s not that he’s the only villain on the list without a song, there are plenty missing songs, but most Disney movies coming out during this period had villain songs that were stand outs. He’s also one of the more generic villains. He wants to be the Sultan for no other reason than wanting more power than he already has. I mean, he’s already the royal advisor. It isn’t like he isn’t rich and powerful when the movie starts out. He also tries to force Jasmine to marry him. Gross.

Captain Hook. Captain Hook is probably the least intimidating villain on this list. He’s overdramatic and a bit of a baby. We even start out the movie with Captain Hook having already been bested by Peter Pan. Several times. This does give him good reason to go after Peter Pan, though, as well as a set up for several enjoyable sequences with Tick-Tock, the crocodile. Captain Hook is mostly there for audiences to laugh at. Which is why, when he almost succeeds in killing both Peter Pan and Tinkerbell later in the movie, it comes off as so much of a shock. He also has two different songs about his crew of pirates. He only sings in one, but both serve as excellent villain songs. Overall, Captain Hook is fun to watch but not very frightening.

Gaston. Gaston is one of those villains you’ve come across in real life. He’s a misogynistic jock who cares about his image more than he cares about other people. I met at least three of those guys in my college alone. Gaston isn’t all that scary of a guy. He’s more unintelligent than anything. It’s only at the end of the movie, when you see him start to really enjoy hunting the Beast, that he becomes intimating. But throughout the rest of the movie he’s complained about books with no pictures in them, pouted when Belle turned down his insulting proposal, and bragged about eating far too many eggs. Gaston gets all his frightening points for illustrating the danger of a misogynist with too much influence. The time it took for him to create a violent mob and lock up Belle in the process is both too scary and too realistic.

Cruella De Vil. This list is already getting close. If this list was a ranking of villain songs, she would undoubtedly be higher. Cruella De Vil is an excellent villain. Her concept is simple, but effective. She’s rich and she likes fur coats. She likes them far too much. So when she sees some cute puppies who just so happen to have spots she’d like to wear on a fur coat, she doesn’t hesitate. Cruella is truly evil. That’s the only explanation for her wanting to make a fur coat out of puppies. Cruella is also absolutely terrifying. If you haven’t seen that crazed look in her eye during the car chase scene at the end of the movie, you don’t know the true meaning of fear. The only reason she isn’t farther up on the list is because she’s evil for the sake of being evil. And really, what backstory could justify killing puppies?

Oogie Boogie. This is my only addition to the list. You can’t really have a Halloween ranking of the Disney Villains without the main villain of Halloween. Oogie Boogie is talked about quite a bit before his appearance in the movie, and his first appearance lives up to the expectation. He’s introduced with one of the best songs in the entire movie, which is saying something because ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ soundtrack is a masterpiece. His evil laugh is one of the best you’ll hear in any Disney movie. He doesn’t give much of reason for doing what he does other than that he’s kind of hungry, but he’s undoubtedly an intimidating presence. Who wouldn’t find a sack full of bugs terrifying? He ultimately isn’t really the main villain of the film, Jack takes the title of both hero and villain for this movie, but Oogie gives the other characters serious reason to fear for their lives.

Maleficent. Okay, put away your pitchforks and torches. There was no way the Mistress of Evil wasn’t going to make the top five, but, once again, she’s the villain of one of Disney’s earlier movies. Maleficent’s motivation for cursing Aurora to die an untimely death was simply not being invited to the celebration held for Aurora’s birth. Sure, historically that might not be the most outrageous reason to kill someone. But it still isn’t much of a backstory. Maleficent has been expanded on since, but the animated version is left simply to be frightening. And she succeeds. Maleficent is terrifying, especially in dragon form. You really have to wonder how brave King Stefan had to be to decide to skip giving her an invitation to the celebration. Maleficent also steals every scene she’s in. She carries the biggest presence out of everyone in the movie. You can’t tear your eyes off of her, and she prefers it that way.

Dr. Facilier. “Friends on the Other Side” is one of the best villain songs of all time. Dr. Facilier is extremely entertaining to watch on screen. He’s a natural smooth talker and very effective conman. He let’s other people do his dirty work for most of the movie, and nearly succeeds. You also understand a bit of why he wants to do what he does. He’s a very poor man who’s business is shoved in a back corner of New Orleans. He wants money and power because he’s never had any. It’s not the most relatable thing ever, but in the very least he isn’t Jafar. Dr. Facilier is frightening not because of his own appearance, but because of his “friends”. You get the feeling from the very beginning of the movie that he’s messing with a power he can’t control. His death is an unsettling reminder of that when he’s dragged screaming into a grave.

Scar. Scar comes off as a bit pitiful at the beginning of the movie. He’s barely tolerated by his pride and, while he would fight back against Mufasa if he could, he literally doesn’t have the strength. He dislikes his family and how much they blatantly dislike his presence in return, but he doesn’t really have a means of putting a stop to it. That is, until he teams up with the hyenas. After that he kills his brother in what is one of the most chilling scenes in any Disney movie. No one will ever forgive him for that scene where Simba tries to wake up Mufasa. Scar ends up being one of the only Disney Villains that succeeds. He leads the pride to ruin, but he wins. Until he’s dethroned by Simba and eaten by hyenas, that is. Scar seems pitiful at first, but he quickly proves himself to be worth paying attention to. “Be Prepared” is also my favorite Disney Villain song of all time, so Scar gets extra points for that.

Ursula. Ursula’s one of the most sassy and self-aware villains Disney has created. She knows she’s not the best person, and she genuinely enjoys that fact. She does feel that King Triton has wronged her for banishing her from the kingdom, so of course she jumps on the opportunity to trick Ariel into helping her overthrow Triton. She’s actually very convincing, to Ariel at least, and her powers are really given the opportunity to shine here. Not only does she turn Ariel human and take away her voice, but she also turns herself human and hypnotizes Eric. She’s very hands on and it’s effective. She’s also terrifying. Who hasn’t had nightmares of the scene where Ursula crawls toward Ariel and drags her into the sea? Or the scene where giant Ursula emerges from the sea with an equally giant trident in hand? But Ursula gets the most points for “Poor Unfortunate Souls”, obviously.

Hades. My favorite aspect of a villain is how much I enjoy their presence when they’re on screen. Hades wins that category hands down. Hades is frightening, especially when he’s angry, but he’s also hilarious. He’s the king of sarcasm. He’s the kind of person you’d want to be friends with if he wasn’t so evil. He gives Meg some good advice about men, his jokes are perfect, and he’s naturally charismatic. But he is evil. He tries to kill Hercules as a baby. He manipulated Meg into deceiving Hercules throughout their entire relationship, which he reveals to Hercules before Meg can, effectively emotionally destroying both of them. And if you know anything about the Titans in Greek mythology, you know why using the Titans to kill his brother is particularly messed up. Hades isn’t the most accurate adaptation of the character from Greek mythology, and he doesn’t have a song, but that doesn’t take away from just how often he steals the movie away from the other characters.

That’s my list! Each of these villains are so excellent, it was hard for me to rank them. I also had a hard time leaving a few of the lesser used Disney Villains from this list. Yzma and Claude Frollo in particular are villains I wish would be used more often. (If I had put Yzma on this list she would be at the top.) Hopefully Disney can find a way to use the Disney Villains this Halloween. These characters can’t be seen in the parks this year, but Halloween isn’t really the same without all of the villains coming together to create some mischief.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

C-Dramas: Gank Your Heart

Promotional shot from ‘Gank Your Heart’ (2019) starring Wang Yibo and Wang Zixuan. Copyright goes to Mango TV and Grand Media.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Continuing on with my own apparent theming of couples for fall, this is another drama that I’ve been wanting to talk about for a while. After watching ‘The Untamed’ on Netflix I was absolutely in awe of Wang Yibo’s acting skills; so, naturally, when I found out he was in a romance drama playing a wildly different character I had to see it for myself. ‘Gank Your Heart’ is a romance drama that focuses on e-sports, so if you have any interest in that, this might be a good one to watch. Even if you don’t, it made me interested in learning more about the sport. But mostly, it features Wang Yibo in another featured role and it’s pretty much worth watching just for that. But that does not mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that this drama is all good.

LIGHT SPOILER WARNING: I would recommend watching this one if you’re bored, just for more Wang Yibo. But keep in mind that if you are using this as a review, I will cover things that are lightly spoiler-y.

The Good:

Wang Yibo (and his character). Obviously, this one was coming. Wang Yibo has a charm about him no matter what character he’s playing, and this show was no different. Wang Yibo’s character is delightfully intelligent and smart-mouthed. One of my favorite types of characters in fiction is the type of character that feels very sarcastic but very warm at the same time. That’s this character. Ji Xiang Kong is the type of character that you can’t help but like; and fortunately, that’s not because of a serious lack of flaws. He has a cruel and dismissive side to him that you see pretty early on in the series. But he’s also the type of character that makes you feel an immediate sense of comfort when they’re on screen. He wasn’t too over the top towards other characters, namely the main female lead, but he wasn’t at all detached either. This is the character you watch the show for. (Though I should mention here that there is an arguably non-consensual kiss that is caused by this character, which obviously, needs to stop happening in dramas.)

One of the sub-plot romances. This is another drama that features two sub-plot romances, and I’m glad that one of them was cute. Two mentors of Ji Xiang Kong have a pretty lengthy history and one of them begins the series attempting to stay away from the other. As the series progresses and everything begins to fall apart, they realize their mistakes in attempting to distance themselves. I legitimately cheered when they got together toward the end of the series. One of the best parts of this couple is that they get together a ways before the end, so you actually get to see a bit of them catching up from where they left off and being cute together. This is my favorite couple in the series hands down.

The friendships of the gamers. The unbreakable bonds that are portrayed between the old gamers and then the new gamers later in the series is absolutely incredible. It feels real and like a family. It’s so strong that it sucks the audience into it as well and makes you feel like you’re part of the family too. The lengths that these boys go to for each other is adorable and it’s heartwarming to see them cheer for each other throughout the series.

Pei Xi. I didn’t know what to call this category other than his name. He is an incredible character that I was expecting not to like. When he’s introduced he’s a bit of a jerk and the show tricks the audience into thinking that he’s another love interest for the main female character. As it goes on you realize that he was more interested in…another character entirely. And though you feel sorry for him initially, his chemistry with a character who only becomes a regular mid-way through the series is really cute. As the series progresses, his character changes the most and absolutely for the better. I loved his character development.

The Bad:

The main female character. Qiu Ying was annoying to me. It doesn’t help that when we meet her, she’s basically the bad and invasive type of paparazzi. She continuously tricks several members of Ji Xiang Kong’s sports team in order to get a story and then films several members talking privately without their knowing. Her plight is made even worse as, even though she does experience a job switch, she becomes worse as the relationship goes on. A lot of her horribleness is directed towards her little brother, who she dislikes just on principle because he’s not the son of her mother. All her little brother wants is to make her proud and she causes so much pain for him throughout the series that it’s unbelievable. They want to portray her as sweet and hard-working, but she just comes off as annoying and vindictive. I loved her wardrobe though!

The lack of trust. This is my other problem with Qiu Ying as none of this comes from Ji Xiang Kong. This is one of those dramas that uses the ‘famous ex-girlfriend’ card that I hate so much. She does not communicate to him about anything regarding her (or really, much of anything). She assumes the worst and leaves, getting irrationally angry with him in the process. He even introduces Qiu Ying as his girlfriend the first time they meet his ex, and Qiu Ying still thinks that there’s something going on. Later when they get past this, something pretty traumatic happens that Ji Xiang Kong blames himself for. Even though Ji Xiang Kong helped Qiu Ying through a similar experience earlier in the series, she decides that this is proof that they shouldn’t be together and abandons him to deal with it himself. They’ve been dating for so long at this point that Ji Xiang Kong has to deal with grieving over his breakup now on top of all the other things that have fallen into his lap at that point. She’s incredibly unsupportive and untrusting as a girlfriend and it’s frustrating to watch.

The other sub-plot romance. This occurs between the best friends of the main characters, as most sub-plot romances in romance dramas do. The issue is, I liked almost every character in this show other than these two best friend characters. I will give Ji Xiang Kong’s best friend a little more credit for being likeable, I just got tired of Qiu Ying’s friend’s constant skepticism of everyone. These characters didn’t have a lot of chemistry and every time they were on screen I was anxious to get back to the rest of the plot.

Love triangle. You thought we escaped this with Pei Xi? Sorry, but nope! The character that this happens with is unexpected and honestly disturbing. Definitely an uncomfortable power dynamic. Not to mention the fact that I absolutely hate love triangles; but that’s a personal preference.

Shanghai Disneyland. Ok, I would be remiss if I did a post about this show and didn’t mention this. Don’t get me wrong, I like Disneyland (though I hate their business practices). I grew up going to the Disneyland in California. I thought I would like this episode, even if it was just a giant advertisement. I have never cringed that much through an episode of anything. It was so bad! They pulled out all the cringe-y scenarios for this episode including; standing in front of the roller coaster to talk for a solid five minutes about how fast it was, buying a bunch of balloons at the beginning of the day, and the main character getting sad and Mickey suddenly showing up. Also, why were they yelling at each other through the firework show? I get that fireworks are loud, but not loud enough that you have to yell to be heard when you’re standing right next to each other.

The E-sports. I loved watching them practice and seeing them play. It really does put you on the edge of your seat (and the finale made me cry because of it), but I just wish they would have explained the game to the audience. I feel like I barely know any more about the sport after having watched an entire drama about it. The lack of explanation is what made me want to look up actual e-sports, but I wish that I would have been able to understand better while watching the drama.

I know I put more in the bad section of this than the good; but I promise I did really like this show! It isn’t the most beautiful or profound show that you’ll watch, but it’s a cute show. You’ll fall in love with a fair few of the characters and by the end you’ll really feel like you know them. It’s hard leaving this drama after you’ve finished watching it because it feels like you’re leaving behind friends. It’s definitely worth a watch, even if not everything about it is necessarily great.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Twins in Media: Flora and Fauna

Screenshot of Maureen Sue Levin as Flora Amor and Darleen Levin as Fauna Amor in 1991’s ‘The Addams Family’. Copyright goes to Orion Pictures and Paramount Pictures

Hey! Hallie here!

To continue our first group of Halloween twin posts, let’s talk about these conjoined twins from ‘The Addams Family’! These two aren’t in much of the movie, but they become a major focus of the Mamushka that occurs later on in the movie. Conjoined twins are always a difficult subject to tackle and almost never done correctly by writers. They are the types of twins most likely to be written as some sort of circus act or oddity. Given the fact that this is an Addams Family movie, I think you can tell this one might not go so well. We don’t have much screen time to work with when it comes to these two, but there’s plenty to dive into from what we are given. So let’s see how ‘The Addams Family’ fairs when it comes to accuracy.

The Good:

Two different actresses. These twins were played by actual twins. Not conjoined twins, but still twins. Maureen Sue Levin and Darleen Levin allow for differences to come through with Flora and Fauna, simply because they’re two different actresses with different skills. It’s also nice to be able to see the differences when you look between them. Twins may look similar, but there are always differences. As a twin who can spot differences between twins pretty easily, it feels much more like I’m being represented when I can tell there are two different people on screen rather than just one. Also, they have my respect for being able to move so well during the dance scene while being stuck in the same dress.

The Bad:

The same person. There are so many jokes made about this throughout their small time in the movie, and it kind of sucks. Sure they argue, and yes, they get offended when someone mixes them up. But those events are all used for laughs. The joke that stands out the most is said by Morticia: “You’re twice the woman I am”. This seems like a pretty light joke, but it’s exactly what twins want to stop seeing in media. Most twins you have ever, or will ever, come in contact with, have been told at some point that they’re basically the same person. Comments like these come from people who find it fun to see twins walking around and otherwise have no interest in knowing the large differences between the siblings. Twins are very different people who happen to look alike. There are no exceptions to this rule. Even when twins have similar interests, or are even conjoined, there are still major differences between them. Even if these jokes were only focused on the fact that these two are conjoined, it still isn’t acceptable. All twins deserve to be acknowledged as different people.

Circus act. This is the most frequent representation of conjoined twins we see in media. Conjoined twins are even more of a rarity than twins are, so the media has taken to treat them as an oddity. This is exactly what ‘The Addams Family’ does. While they might not be directly connected to a circus, Flora and Fauna are present at the Mamushka because they’re such an oddity, which works well for the Addams. Pointing to any person as an oddity tends to normalize separating them from the rest of society. Conjoined twins should not be treated the same as a man who is basically just a small mass of hair, or an animate hand. While two of those things are completely fictional, conjoined twins do exist and deserve to be treated as human beings. Not as some form of entertainment for others to gawk at.

The same lives. Yes, I know they’re conjoined twins. That leaves them with very little options. Still, as everyone does, they have different relationships with the people they come in contact with. Flora and Fauna, subsequently, should be allowed differing opinions on people they encounter and what they want to accomplish in their lives. They aren’t allowed either of these things. Instead, they act the same way around all of the characters and flirt with the same people. Sometimes they’ll get jealous of each other, but in the end their jealousy is brushed off as a joke. After all, both are still interested in Fester and have no problem when he shows affection to both of them. They also both went with Gomez to prom as his date. For regular twins this would lend itself to the fetishization of twins, but here it’s used for more comedy. ‘Why would anyone be interested in these two? They’re conjoined!’ Conjoined twins are no less beautiful or desirable than any other human. Conjoined twins also, as all twins do, have different interests when it comes to romance. It’s not likely at all that two twins, conjoined or not, would be interested in the same men.

So are Flora and Fauna a good example of twin representation? Why am I even asking this question? You know the answer. It’s no. They’re awful. They do more to make twins look like abnormal entertainment than regular people who deserve respect. To be fair, everyone in an Addams Family movie is portrayed as abnormal. But that’s usually because they have an abnormality that helps them fit into the theming. Like a mother who allows her daughter to brutally electrocute her son for fun. Flora and Fauna are only present because they’re conjoined twins. Not for any other reason. The writers needed to come up with something more creative if they wanted to use these two in ‘The Addams Family’, because conjoined twins aren’t abnormalities that exist for fun, gothic, entertainment.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Twins in Media: Yubaba and Zeniba

Screenshot from ‘Spirited Away’ (2001). Copyright goes to Studio Ghibli and Toho.

Hi! It’s Annie!

For the last couple weeks of twins in media in October, we actually have Halloween themed twin characters! ‘Spirited Away’ is definitely one of my favorite animated films and I absolutely love Haku and Chihiro. I’m just a sucker for those two characters. But so many of the characters in this movie are so adorable! Unfortunately, this description doesn’t really fit either Yubaba or her sister Zeniba. Yubaba is made to look kind of creepy, and they made Zeniba to look exactly like her. You actually spend most of the movie completely unaware that Yubaba even has a sister. In the end, neither of these characters are necessarily fan favorites from this movie, but nevertheless, they were presented to the audience as twins so they’re fair game.

The Good:

Different lives. Yubaba and Zeniba have different personalities and live very different lives. While this movie probably takes that too far (I’ll get back to that later), it’s still very noticeable that they act differently and have different relationships with the other characters in the movie.

The Bad:

Long-lost twin. Now you might argue that Yubaba knows that Zeniba exists; but I would argue that this trope still applies when the audience doesn’t know the other character has a twin sibling until most of the way through the movie. Yubaba doesn’t even mention Zeniba for most of the movie, to the point that I thought Zeniba appearing came out of absolutely nowhere. What’s more, Zeniba doesn’t truly have a whole lot of bearing on the over-all plot. She’s more used as a nice presence to help guide the main character, kind of like a good fairy though she’s more like a witch. The long-lost twin trope is only ever used to add drama into a situation. It is never presented as natural and feeds into this idea that twins are weird, unnatural, and dramatic occurrences. This is the more extreme version of separated at birth, and it’s never used for realistic purposes. These large twists of drama in shows or movies have never been my favorite, and they definitely aren’t good for the portrayal of twins in media.

Evil twin. I don’t think we’ve covered this one yet, and I’ve been DYING to talk about this trope. I don’t think I’d be able to count how many times my sister and I have been asked which one of us is the evil twin. Both not seriously and…actually seriously. There’s this immense love of supernatural twins in the media, probably because we’re born on the same day but I’m honestly not sure how this got so big. A lot of supernatural views on twins insist that one twin must be a lot of one thing and the other a lot of the other (or at least not a lot of the first thing). Again, this is a more dramatic version of the opposites trope. In this case, one of the twins got all the goodness leaving the other to be completely evil. Obviously, this does not exist. We’re not weird experimental humans. Twins are all regular human beings with equal capacity for good or evil. Me being nice to you and getting along with you doesn’t mean my sister will hate your guts. (In the same vein, just because I like you doesn’t mean my sister will.) As much as everyone really wants to see my sister and I (and all twins) as a Yin and Yang situation; that’s not realistic. We are both complicated human beings. We have similarities and differences and we aren’t two sides of the same coin or two halves of a whole. We are each our own whole person.

Sibling dislike. This isn’t necessarily indicative of twins completely, but it’s still something I want to point out. How many shows have the storyline of one sibling being a good guy and having to put a stop to the actions of their other sibling? Sometimes it feels like there are very few wholesome depictions of siblings in the media between the sibling-that-needs-to-be-stopped trope and the constantly-fighting trope. I mentioned this a little bit in my post on Dipper and Mabel, but I really want to see more depictions of siblings that are actually supportive of each other.

Exact Same Appearance. This didn’t have to happen. In some live action portrayals of twins they’ll use the exact same person. While I’d prefer these to actually use twins or even just use two actors that aren’t related, it makes sense here that the twins would look the exact same. This is an animation. They could have drawn them to look different and they could have cast two different people to voice the characters. Because, yep, in every version Yubaba and Zeniba have the same voice actress. Even little differences would have been nice, but there is purposefully no difference in their appearances or voices. I guess this is to emphasize their twin-ness? Which makes no sense considering, like I’ve mentioned before, my sister and I aren’t the same at all. We look different, our voices sound different, we like a lot of different things. If you spent time with us in real life it probably wouldn’t take you long to be able to tell us apart. I really wish the media wouldn’t teach audiences to treat twins like a weird hybrid creature. We’re regular siblings that just happened to be born on the same day.

So, is this a good example of twin representation in media?

Definitely not. I will admit that these two have very different personalities that aren’t exactly opposites, which is good. But that doesn’t erase the fact that they are a great example of the evil twin trope. There are many other representations of twins that did the evil twin trope in a way that was so much worse, but this one hits home for me because I love this movie so much. My main comfort with these two comes from the fact that them being twins is kind of pushed into the background. It isn’t focused on, so the massive flaws remain hidden through most of the movie and don’t take away from the enjoyment I get watching this movie. But, it’s still there and I always dislike seeing it. When the best thing I can say about a pair of twin characters is that I’m just glad they were pushed into the background; it isn’t great. It doesn’t feel great. Really, I would like to see twin characters that are a focus but are actually treated like other human beings and regular siblings. For a movie that I have begun using as a comfort film, it’s disappointing to have such a bad depiction of twins in it.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: How BTS is Constantly Disrespected

Promotional image from the set of the “IDOL” music video. (From left) Jung Hoseok (J-Hope), Min Yoongi (Suga), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Jeon Jungkook (Jungkook), Kim Namjoon (RM), and Park Jimin (Jimin). All rights go to BTS’s social media and ‘Big Hit Entertainment’.

Hey! Hallie here!

I’m going to take a small break from the Fall posts to talk about BTS. Mainly because recent events have highlighted how little respect they receive. Let’s start with the elephant in the room: Jason Derulo. Jason Derulo has a history of using various artists for their work without giving them the recognition they deserve. Even before the release of the original version of the song “Savage Love”, he was questioned for not crediting Jawsh 685. Jawsh 685 was the teen behind the beat of the song and the initial sound that went viral on TikTok. Jason Derulo hadn’t even secured an agreement with him when he decided to take the sound for his new song. Now Derulo is back at it, this time forgetting to credit either Jawsh 685 or BTS for getting the song to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. There are reasons to be angry on behalf of both parties, but the BTS situation is an entirely different beast on its own. Jason Derulo recently went on ‘The Ellen Show’ and admitted that he didn’t know who BTS were when he met them, but decided to collaborate with them when he saw how large their fanbase was. This is, unfortunately, common in the Western music industry. Many artists and shows have been using BTS for the numbers ARMY will give them, rather than for their skills and talents. If you’re unsure exactly why this harms BTS, let’s hop right into this issue. There’s definitely a lot to unpack.

Jason Derulo vs MAX: You’ll see a lot of members of ARMY comparing these two right now. Jason Derulo obviously didn’t know much about BTS when the “Savage Love” cover was created. He agreed to the partnership because of the popularity ARMY could potentially give him with BTS attached to the project. Which is exactly what happened. Jason Derulo didn’t respect BTS, nor did he make any effort to get to know them or their work. He saw a group with a lot of fame and took advantage of them. MAX’s song “Blueberry Eyes” is a different story. MAX collaborated with Min Yoongi, or Suga, for the project. Both artists were familiar with each others work when they decided to work together. MAX had such a large respect for Yoongi that he took him to a professional basketball game after hearing the name Suga means “shooting guard”. MAX initially sent a song that wasn’t “Blueberry Eyes” for Yoongi to work with, but when Yoongi expressed that, while he liked the song, he couldn’t see himself rapping for it, MAX sent the entire rest of his album for Yoongi to choose from. When MAX speaks about ARMY, he speaks of them as a powerful and protective force that can detect dishonesty. He publicly stated that he was lucky that such a careful fanbase accepted him with open arms. The respect Suga, and subsequently BTS, received from MAX is sorely needed, and sadly, rare. BTS is currently, reluctantly, being almost-accepted by Western media. Western media has been showing an inability to fathom that a foreign group that sings mostly in Korean could be a global sensation. Because of that, the media has normalized downplaying their successes. BTS have lost out on major awards to American acts that have seen far less success, simply because they’re foreign. Artists they work with that continue to take credit for their work, like Jason Derulo taking credit for the success of BTS’s cover of “Savage Love”, further allow BTS to be ignored and ostracized.

‘Billboard Music Awards’ vs ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’: For this I’m going to be comparing how BTS’s performances were treated by each show. I know both shows have very different setups, but it’s important to acknowledge how each show used their setup to either use or promote BTS. The ‘Billboard Music Awards’ and other shows like it have been known to push BTS towards the end of the show. This so that the show can get the massive group that is ARMY to wait through the entire show until BTS shows up to perform. These shows take advantage of not announcing which artists are performing when, preventing fans from only tuning in when their favorite artist is performing. This isn’t new information about award shows, but it comes as a slap in the face when BTS have hardly been nominated for any awards within the show. ‘The Tonight Show’, on the other hand, works hard to make BTS feel welcome. Jimmy Fallon has BTS on his show pretty frequently, and mentions them even when they aren’t present. He recently had an entire week of BTS performances to help promote their virtual concert. The nature of his show allows BTS to goof around and show the audience who they are before they even perform. It’s also important to point out that talk shows are a lot more open about when guests will appear than award shows are. All in all, Jimmy Fallon acknowledges BTS’s popularity without taking advantage of it. Meanwhile the ‘Billboard Music Awards’ pushed their performance toward the end of the three hour show, without showing respect to the artists that were both one and two on the Hot 100 list when the award show aired.

‘Ellen’ vs ‘James Corden’: Talk shows are in the business of keeping relevance by inviting the biggest celebrity names onto their shows for interviews. Ellen didn’t even try to hide that she was only using them for increased viewership. She was shocked when Namjoon began to speak English, despite the fact that he’s openly fluent and the spokesperson for BTS. She asked them if they had ever hooked up with a fan, and when Namjoon recognized the question was disrespectful and attempted to translate it into something more innocent, she tried to pressure him into translating her original question. She obviously hadn’t done any research into the group or the more conservative culture in Korea. James Corden invited BTS onto Carpool Karaoke, where he asked them basic questions about their life. He asked them who fought the most between them or what their fan-given nicknames were. He was respectful and not invasive, which allowed for such a relaxed environment that his title of Papa Mochi stuck for both BTS and ARMY. And, of course, he did research into their work to the extent that he could sing along to their songs during the segment. That Carpool Karaoke episode is still bringing people into ARMY because it highlights BTS’s skills and personal charms. The Ellen interview does more to showcase how pushy Ellen is than it does to showcase anything about BTS.

These comparisons should give you a little bit more of an idea on how BTS is mistreated in others search for popularity. While most forms of media are dependent on the hottest trends and the most popular celebrities, so many people, in America especially, don’t respect BTS. Instead, they use them to try to get ARMY’s numbers while brushing BTS off as foreigners. Acts other than those that come from the US or the UK deserve just as much worldwide recognition. We see so many American and British artists being well treated by Western media, but it seems as if those who don’t sing in English get ignored until they’re useful. I hope that the amount of people having this conversation about BTS will open the way for more diverse acts to be noticed and appreciated. I hope that we can stop treating artists from other countries as if they’re lesser. We evidently have a long way to go.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Boys Over Flowers

Screenshot from ‘Boys Over Flowers’ starring (from left) Lee Min-ho, Ku Hye-sun, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Bum, and Kim Joon. Copyright goes to Group 8 and KBS.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I apologize for going back and forth between Halloween season and posting couple-y romantic things; but the fall season makes me think about fall things to do as a couple. So, as a single person, I am finding solace through this. You probably are wondering why I am choosing now to talk about ‘Boys Over Flowers’ considering it could be argued that this is the most popular K-drama of all time. This is because I just sat down and watched it in the past week. I know, I know, it’s insane that I got that far into K-drama without watching this one; but I actually had watched the first episode pretty early into my venture through K-drama….and I didn’t like it. I’M SORRY! It was just a lot of cheese and made me cringe a lot. But I kept hearing more and more about this and I felt I couldn’t go any longer without actually watching the series, so here are my thoughts. Just a warning; I don’t completely trash it, but you might not be too happy with my thoughts on it over-all. I like it! But I don’t think it’s as good as everyone made it out to be. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Good:

Yoon Ji-hu. I REALLY liked his character from the beginning. When the rest of F4 seemed like awful bullies, he stood out as being kind hearted. Even if he did come off as kind of cold. It’s hard to not notice how much of a soft boy he becomes as the series goes on, and really you feel bad for him. He loses his first love, then is forced several times to give up his second. When the main characters are being stupid, he goes out of his way to get them back together even though he really likes Geum Jan-di. This is the most selfless character in this series, and it’s absolutely heartbreaking to watch. They try and play off his ending as being happy, but it doesn’t really feel that way. You just can’t help but feel that he deserves better than everything he’s gotten. His ending feels a little bit like a cheat and you just want to hug him.

The sub-plot romance. You might recall me saying not too long ago that one of the only sub-plot romances in dramas like these that I like is the one in ‘Crash Landing Into You’. (Note: Please do not watch it if you don’t want to cry because it absolutely broke my heart and I’m still kind of inconsolable.) This drama can be added onto the small list of sub-plot romances that I like. In fact, this may be blasphemy, but I liked the sub-plot romance here better than I liked the main plot romance. At the beginning you aren’t really expecting So Yi-jung and Chu Ga-eul to get together. They are on the absolute opposite sides of the personality spectrum and So Yi-jung is a complete womanizer. But when he sees her crying and offers to help her make her ex-boyfriend jealous, things escalate from there. What’s even better about this is while the main plot deals with dramatic plot points tearing their couple apart, this deals with more realistic things like mental state and not being able to let go. To be honest, I would have rather seen a series about this romance than the main one. Both actors are phenomenal in their roles as these two, whose past attempts to tear apart their future together. There’s one particular scene where So Yi-jung is sobbing on top of a rooftop and Ga-eul is trying to comfort him. It is an absolutely heartbreaking scene and the acting is amazing. In the end Ga-eul is still convinced that So Yi-jung doesn’t really want a relationship with her, and the casual way in which he convinces her that he does want her feels realistic, is warm, and is romantic. There’s not large gestures, just seeking for mutual understanding. The look on So Yi-jung’s face when he comes back and realizes that Ga-eul has still been calling him her boyfriend after all this time is the cutest.

F4. Even if one of them or more than one of them is being annoying at some point in time; the group as a whole definitely works. Their friendships are well established and feel real. The group of actors have excellent chemistry together. I especially like how they developed the relationship between every single member of F4 and Geum Jan-di. She really felt like she became part of the group, rather than being pushed into being the awkward girlfriend around all her boyfriend’s friends. When Gu Jun-pyo tries to give up Geum Jan-di for various different reasons throughout the series, the boys are always standing up for her and making sure their friend knows that they are not happy with his decisions. It’s really cute how close they all are with her.

The Bad:

The main plot romance. I’m really sorry, but I just didn’t completely buy it. And no, it’s not because I ship Geum Jan-di with Yoon Ji-hu. As cute as those wedding pictures were, I think Yoon Ji-hu deserves someone who would only want to be with him. It could have been because of some of the absurd plot points that I didn’t like. There was way too much drama with Gu Jun-pyo’s mother for me and the weird revenge plot storyline and I don’t tend to like amnesia storylines. (Even though I will admit that Gu Jun-pyo regaining his memories because she fell into the water was cute.) But I honestly think it might be because I never was able to get over the very beginnings of this relationship. It is very clear at the beginning of their relationship that Gu Jun-pyo has unreciprocated feelings for Geum Jan-di, and he at first attempts to buy her love. He tries to bribe her into being his girlfriend a few times, and the way they actually start dating is him announcing that she’s his girlfriend so that people stop bullying her at school. But that’s not my main issue here. My issue is all of the times at the beginning of their relationship that Gu Jun-pyo reacted rashly because he was jealous of Geum Jan-di’s relationship with Yoon Ji-hu. I mean, she shouldn’t have had all those moments where she was essentially leading them both on. She seems to do that a lot throughout the series. But absolutely nothing justifies his actions. Especially when he tries to forcibly kiss her because of his jealousy while she struggles against him. That scene was horrifying to watch, and nothing throughout the rest of the series was able to make me forget that.

The treatment of women. The women in this show are often treated as damsels in distress and are often victims of rash decisions their boyfriends make. I touched on the main plot romance above, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the club date scene with the sub-plot couple. Also horrifying. She sits there while he treats her horribly that entire night, including flirting with several other women at once in front of her face. He later jokingly offers her to his father. In no world is any of this ok. Even if he did mean this as a joke. I will admit that, unlike the main plot couple, this couple features a character going through severe depression. He also makes it up to her, again, unlike the main plot couple. But that still doesn’t make his behavior any better. I understand that this show is kind of old, but that knowledge doesn’t make these scenes any easier to watch.

The main characters. I don’t know what it was, but I just wasn’t drawn in by the main characters in this. If you read my post about ‘The King: Eternal Monarch’, you’ll know that I really like Lee Min-ho as an actor. He’s able to bring charm into any character he’s playing and he’s always fun to watch. I just don’t think this character learns enough by the end. Yes, he’s much less of a spoiled brat and much more responsible and I respect that. But he’s still really possessive and rash. The main female character is presented as capable, but when you actually look at it she doesn’t feel capable. You can’t just tell your audience that your main character is independent and capable and then keep putting her in situations where she has to be saved. I mean, everyone has a moment where they need to be saved or helped at some point, but not all the time. It begins to feel like almost every episode with Geum Jan-di and it was kind of disappointing for a character they were constantly trying to convince us was strong.

To be honest, I’m pretty neutral on this drama. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen, but it wasn’t the worst ever. It was a cute and entertaining watch. Looking back, I’m actually really glad that neither couple ends up together immediately at the end of the show. I don’t think either couple was quite ready for a relationship and probably needed that time gap. (Even though I was a little sad when So Yi-jung told Ga-eul he was leaving for Sweden for two years.) It makes sense for the story and where they were in their relationships. The immaturity of the relationships could be really difficult to watch at times. Maybe I would have liked this drama better if I hadn’t gone in with such high expectations after hearing so much about it. But over-all I liked it and if somebody wanted to watch it I’d definitely watch it with them! And, whether you like this show or not, we all have to admit that ‘Making a Lover’ by SS501 is a bop.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Disney: What Phantom Manor Does Better Than Haunted Mansion

Poster art of Phantom Manor used in Disneyland Paris. Copyright goes to the Walt Disney Company.

Hey! Hallie here!

I can already tell this post is going to be slightly controversial. I love The Haunted Mansion. It’s one of my favorite rides in all of the Disney parks. I’m definitely not alone in this opinion, either. The Haunted Mansion has one of the largest fan followings of any ride in the parks. But as much as we all love the ride, It’s kind of a mess. The Imagineers couldn’t really decide on what direction to go with the ride, let alone a complete story, and it shows. Phantom Manor doesn’t really have this issue. It has a clear direction and the storyline has only strengthened over the years. With that in mind, let’s go over exactly what makes Phantom Manor a little less messy and a little more interesting than The Haunted Mansion.

The Characters. While both Haunted Mansion and Phantom Manor share some characters, like Madame Leota, Phantom Manor has two specific characters that pull all of the haunts together into one story. These characters are Melanie Ravenswood and her father, Henry Ravenswood. Henry Ravenswood is better known by park guests as The Phantom. Henry Ravenswood, who gained the manor by striking gold in Big Thunder Mountain, began to become protective of Melanie once she began to attract suitors. Mysteriously, all of those suitors met grisly ends after expressing any sort of desire to marry Melanie. Eventually, Melanie became engaged to a man who planned to take her away from the small area where she had lived for her entire life. Before Henry could stop this wedding from happening, he died in an earthquake. Unfortunately, dying didn’t stop Henry, now The Phantom, from luring Melanie’s fiancé to the attic and hanging him from the rafters. On Melanie’s wedding day. Melanie is seen still waiting in her wedding dress for her fiancé when guests come to visit. The Phantom has also taken over the manor since Melanie lost her mind, inviting his ghostly friends to an eternal celebration. These two characters have an interesting storyline that involves the entire ride. Their existence prevents the ride from feeling like a mess of different ideas by giving guests one complete idea they can immerse themselves in.

2. Ride execution. A good backstory is fine, but the ride needs to stick to the idea if anyone’s going to come out of the ride knowing what the story was. Phantom Manor leaves none of the backstory out of the ride. In fact, a recent update to the ride added more obvious references to the story of Henry and Melanie Ravenswood. While some of the updates are better than others, it can’t be denied that Phantom Manor does an excellent job of communicating it’s story. Guests now get an entire segment with a portrait of Henry and Melanie first looking somber and worn, before the portrait turns to an older but much happier picture of the pair. Instead of the hanged man in the Stretching Room that can be seen in most variations of The Haunted Mansion, The Phantom can be seen hovering above guests with a noose in hand. (Before this the hanged man was implied to be the hanged groom, so this change confuses me.) When boarding, guests walk up to the main stairway where Melanie can be seen gazing out the window, waiting for her fiancé. Throughout the ride we can see Melanie mourning in her wedding dress while The Phantom lurks behind. Regular haunts we usually see in The Haunted Mansion prepare for a wedding celebration. At the end of the ride all of the coffins holding Melanie’s suitors can be seen. One singular skeleton hand reaches out of one of the coffins holding a wedding ring. Many of these are new additions to the ride, but even before these The Phantom was lurking behind Melanie as she mourned in her wedding dress, a much older woman than she appeared in photos guests could see of her in line.

3. The Ghost Host. I mentioned the lack of story for the Ghost Host in my last post. He’s been mistaken for Master Gracey but he has also been confirmed not to be. He seems to be in charge but all of the comics portray Madame Leota as being in charge. In Phantom Manor the identity of the Ghost Host is simple. The Phantom is the Ghost Host. He says many of the same lines, but considering The Phantom is trying to steal your soul throughout the entire ride, It ends up being a bit more menacing. The voice of The Phantom also changes a lot about the Ghost Host. The voice is Vincent Price. THAT Vincent Price. It’s impossible not to be intimidated by Vincent Price. The Ghost Host’s voice in Haunted Mansion is still very good, don’t get me wrong, but there’s something that feels much more chilling and personal about how The Phantom is interacting with guests in Phantom Manor.

4. The Earthquake of 1860. Remember the earthquake Henry Ravenwood died in? That earthquake is insanely important to Phantom Manor. All of the haunts that inhabit the manor were casualties of the earthquake. Not only does this give a reason for all the haunts to be there, but it adds a disturbing explanation for the last portion of the ride. The last part of the ride, like The Haunted Mansion, takes you out of the building and into the grounds outside of the manor. Except this area looks like a once inhabited town that has been completely destroyed. It’s here that the haunts The Phantom invited are having their celebration. While there are bright colors and very joyful looking ghosts, the setting won’t let you forget the dark reason for their appearance.

I love The Haunted Mansion, and I can’t say I like Phantom Manor more than one of my favorite rides since I was a kid. I haven’t even visited Disneyland Paris. But it’s hard not to wish that The Haunted Mansion was a little bit less of a mess when a huge story like Phantom Manor’s exists. Plus, the music for Phantom Manor is gorgeous. If you’ve ridden Haunted Mansion Holiday you’ve heard the music before. The music box piece that plays in the line for Haunted Mansion during the holiday seasons is from the Phantom Manor soundtrack. I will evidently take any opportunity I can to gush about this music. Anyway. There’s something hauntingly beautiful about the depth of Phantom Manor’s story. Maybe one day Haunted Mansion will be able to reach a similar depth.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Halloween: Emily or Victoria?

Screenshot from Tim Burton’s ‘The Corpse Bride’ starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Copyright goes to Tim Burton Productions and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Hi! It’s Annie!

My favorite movie to watch around Halloween is Tim Burton’s ‘The Corpse Bride’. Not only is this movie absolutely gorgeous in a creepy way, as most of Tim Burton’s films are, but the story is also carefully crafted. For the few of you who haven’t seen this movie, it follows Victor, a young man who finds himself in an arranged marriage and discovers that he is very much in love with the woman he’s supposed to marry. After messing up his vows in rehearsals, he practices them again in the forest where he places a wedding ring on a branch that suspiciously looks like a human hand. He only realizes his mistake when a corpse bride rises from the ground, now believing herself to be married to him. If this sounds interesting to you in the least bit, please go watch it now because this post will have SPOILERS. It’s definitely worth a watch. It’s also another one of those movies that you can easily watch if you’re like me and hate horror movies, but still like watching something spooky around Halloween. Go watch it before it’s too late! They gone? Ok. The large fandom surrounding this movie has, for a very long time, debated the question of whether or not Victor should have ended up with Victoria at the end of this movie. After all, the movie spends a lot more time with Emily, the corpse bride, who is so endearing that I have not met a single person who’s favorite character in the movie wasn’t her. So who was really right for Victor? These are only my opinions, so feel free to disagree!

Victoria:

Pros. You have to give Victoria that she doesn’t sit idly by in the movie. When she finds out that Victor is in trouble, she goes to great lengths to attempt to ensure his safety. Even if her attempts end in everyone believing that she’s insane. She, sadly, isn’t able to do so much for Victor in his predicament. I may prefer Emily to Victoria as a character, but Victoria is still a very loveable character. How can you not love her when she stands up for herself against Lord Barkis at the end of the film? Victoria may be more traditional and reserved than Emily, but she’s got an incredibly big heart. Victoria is probably most worried about not liking Victor despite their engagement. Yet she still falls for him over his piano skills. Their meeting is very sweet. It’s clear that Victoria falls for Victor very fast. And why wouldn’t she? The only person in her family that truly cares about her is the elderly maid that has taken care of her since she was small, and this woman won’t stand up for Victoria when she doesn’t want an arranged marriage or when Victoria is accused of being either mentally insane or possessed by demons. Victor is a presence that Victoria sorely needs in her life, as he’s the only person who attempts to understand her or truly be there for her.

Cons. The fact that Victoria and Victor are arranged to be married definitely raises eyebrows. Because there is no world in which the practice of arranged marriages should be seen as a good thing. Even though both Victor and Victoria express apprehension about being forced to marry at the beginning of the movie, their complaints about the system drop as soon as they discover they like each other. After this the subject is barely touched again until Victoria is arranged to be married again, this time to Lord Barkis in Victor’s absence. But this time the danger lies in the fact that Lord Barkis is a bad person, so now the arranged marriage is wrong. If you tiptoe around that slightly messy situation, you’ll also notice that Victor and Victoria spend very little time together over the course of this movie. Victor spends much more time navigating the world of the dead than he spends in the land of the living. He gets a couple of moments with Victoria at the beginning of this movie, a scene in the middle when Emily discovers he tricked her to see Victoria and becomes angry, and a moment at the very end of the movie. They know just as little about each other at the end of this movie as they do at the beginning, because this movie isn’t about Victoria or Victor’s relationship with Victoria. This movie is called ‘The Corpse Bride’ for a reason.

Emily:

Pros. Simply stated, Emily is the most interesting character in this movie. When she rises from the grave at the beginning of the film and chases after a terrified Victor creepily declaring “I do”, she’s already the most frightening character. It’s only when you get to the land of the dead after Victor passes out from fear that you get Emily’s true personality. She’s a gentle and kind young woman who was murdered when she tried to elope with her love. We later find out that this love was Lord Barkis, who murdered her for her money. All Emily wants throughout this movie is to find peace, which she strongly believes she will find by feeling again the love that she lost. She also falls very hard for Victor very fast and feels helpless when she finds that Victor is afraid of her. She spends much of the movie trying to make him happy, even giving him his dead dog and letting him go back to the land of the living when he insists he wants to introduce her to his parents. She feels immense sadness when she realizes Victor is pining after Victoria, and laments that her heart is no longer beating. It is she that we spend the entire movie getting to know, and Victor also spends the entire movie getting to know her. Victor and Emily grow together. Once they get past their differences and get to know each other, Victor discovers that he does care for Emily and agrees to get married to her, this time actually meaning his vows. He even agrees to this after learning he’ll have to die to truly marry her, a fact that makes Emily hesitate with going through with the marriage.

Cons. Emily is dead. That’s a pretty big one. Victor still has his entire life to live and Emily had hers cruelly taken from her. Despite Emily being weirdly wonderful, her actions are not always understood by Victor either. How beautiful was the scene where Emily was dancing around in the moonlight? And Victor didn’t even care, he was just trying to get away from her. I mean, Emily does have maggots and an eye that keeps falling out, but still! Emily is great! Really, what’s not to like about Emily? Maybe she shouldn’t have automatically assumed she and Victor were married at the beginning of this movie, because there are several obvious problems with that. It was clear that Victor didn’t mean to put that ring on her finger, and really, he didn’t even say “I do”. But considering Victoria and Lord Barkis’s wedding, I’m not quite sure these weddings need an “I do” to be valid. There’s not much to say here.

The Verdict:

So, who do I think Victor should have ended up with? Easy. Victoria. If that doesn’t make sense to you after what I just wrote, I don’t blame you. To be honest, this is a painful decision for me because I love the pairing of Victor and Emily. But the reason I think Victor shouldn’t have ended up with Emily doesn’t really have to do with Victor’s happiness and entirely has to do with Emily’s happiness. The ending of this movie is really important for Emily as she realizes during the wedding that, even though her life was taken from her, she can’t steal a life of love from Victoria. When Lord Barkis enters she realizes that the man she loved in her past life was the same man who took her life. This is one of the best parts of the movie in my opinion, because it gives Emily some of the best character development in the film. She’s the only person in the situation who can stand up to Lord Barkis, and it’s her anger that makes him nervous and leads him to cause his own death by drinking the wine of ages meant for Victor. This final scene gives Emily all the peace that she wanted. Her murder is solved and she realizes that Victor gave her the love that she needed, even if she now has to give him up. Emily is able to finally leave the land of the dead and ascend to someplace else. This is the natural end to her story. Though it would have been cute to see Victor and Emily living happily together in the land of the dead, it wouldn’t really have been a happy ending. Victoria would have been stuck with a family that doesn’t care about her, Victor would have had to give up his life, and Emily never would have gotten the peace she needed. It’s also good to remember that, even though Victor did develop some feelings for Emily, he loved Victoria for the entire movie. And Victoria loved him too. That’s really what matters.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie