Video Games: Games to Play During Halloween if You Aren’t a Horror Fan

Screenshot of Elizabeth Comstock from ‘Bioshock: Infinite’. Copyright goes to Irrational Games and 2K Games.

Hey! Hallie here!

As someone who loves replaying my favorite video games, I always like to play favorites that get me in the spooky mood around October. The issue with finding spooky games I want to play is that I’m not a horror fan. At all. Most games advertised for the spooky season are in the horror genre though, which means I’ve had to get creative with my game picks. So, if you’re like me, hopefully this list of games will help you find something fun and not-too scary to play. This list will range from not scary at all to scary on occasion, so keep that in mind while going through this list. I will also be pointing out which games have jump-scares in case you want to look them up first before you play, so no surprises here! Let’s get started!

‘Bioshock: Infinite’: This game is part of the Bioshock series, which is well known for it’s horror/adventure games. This game, however, decided to lean more heavily into the adventure side of things. While there is definitely some blood and dark themes in this game, you’ll be spending most of your time in the bright and beautiful Columbia. Columbia is a city in the clouds known for it’s heavily religious population and the blissful lives the population leads. Or so it may seem. Columbia holds many dark secrets ranging from racism to human experimentation. Fun. These dark secrets, however, don’t have too much bearing on gameplay. The game manages to be creepy through use of steampunk animatronics and many, many, ravens without constantly attempting to scare the player. There’s one level that’s played in the dark and dingy Comstock House, complete with lunatics for you to fight. Here you’ll find this game’s only jump-scare, which I would recommend watching online so you aren’t caught off guard when it comes up. Explaining it simply: The game takes advantage of the players lack of peripheral vision by putting a very loud enemy behind you after you turn to look at something. However, this level encourages the player not to fight, but simply to sneak around. Also, even if you do get caught by the enemies in the area, there isn’t anything particularly frightening about them. If you play the game and find yourself wanting something scarier, the DLC ‘Burial at Sea’ will give you gameplay closer to the first two Bioshock games. As for this one, there isn’t too much to worry about here.

‘Undertale’: I’ve talked about how much I love this game on this blog before, but allow me to gush further. This game takes place in the underground realm of monsters. There’s all kinds of monsters for you to encounter, including skeletons, ghosts, and a sexy robot. Besides the monster theme, it’s hard not to get in the spooky mood when Sans the skeleton is constantly hitting you with bad skeleton puns. The game can also be creepy. Flowey the flower becomes very unsettling very quickly, and once you get to his final boss battle he’ll get even more frightening. Aside from that, there’s an entire level in a dark laboratory that includes inanimate objects shaking on their own and ghost-like enemies. None of these things are overly scary, however. ‘Undertale’ is probably the most family-friendly game on this list. You won’t find any gore or jump-scares here. If you want something slightly spookier and you’re familiar with the game, you can also try the genocide route. The genocide route is full of much darker themes than any of the regular routes. The issue is being able to live with yourself once you’re done. Also, Sans will completely pulverize you.

‘The Last of Us’: Ok, so this one is absolutely a horror game. It isn’t particularly scary, though. It’s more…depressing. This game is about the zombie apocalypse. You play as Joel, a man who’s become capable of navigating the post-apocalyptic world after losing everything he’s ever cared about. Joel gets roped into escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, to a research base. Ellie is immune to the disease that’s turning everyone into zombies and if she can reach the base, it’s possible a vaccine could be made. This game gives you a minimal amount of supplies, which means you’re forced to sneak around and avoid fighting at many points. There are a few moments in the game that could be considered jump-scares, but most of them you can see coming. As a jumpy person, I only ever jumped when I accidentally got myself killed. (The death animations for Joel are kind of gruesome.) I will tell you that Ellie is a major reason why it isn’t easy to get scared in the game. She’s a very bright and comforting presence. That’s why the hotel level is the worst part of the entire game. The hotel level is infamous for separating the player from Ellie and trapping them in a small area with a few different zombies, a few of which are very high level. However, there are really easy ways to just completely run through that section of the game without having to fight at all. I recommend looking those up when you get to that section. Otherwise, you should play this game. Its characters and story are focused on far more than the zombies, and it shouldn’t be skipped over.

‘Ghostbusters: The Video Game’: ‘Ghostbusters’ is one of my favorite movies to watch around Halloween. It has just the right amount of frightening moments and comedy. If you’re also a fan of the movies, you can’t skip out on this game. It was written by Dan Aykroyd and the late, great, Harold Ramis. That means it was written by the original writers of ‘Ghostbusters’ as well as the actors that played Ray Stanz and Egon Spengler, respectively. It also includes all of the original Ghostbusters, plus Janine, reprising their roles. It feels like the third ‘Ghostbusters’ movie we should have had. There’s also plenty of scary moments. I would specifically like to point out the second Sedgewick Hotel level that leaves you walking around with Egon in the dark. As you explore the hotel you learn about one of it’s previous occupants, The Spider Witch, and her past killings. Unfortunately for those of us who hate spiders, the Spider Witch is indeed, a large spider. The level is chilling, but Egon is there with a good one-liner for whenever you’re feeling a little too on edge. The game walks that fine line, never quite breaking into the horror genre but still remaining satisfyingly spooky. Also, no jump scares!

That’s my list! There’s something on this list for everyone at any stage of horror-adverse. I’m at a different stage depending on the day, so I understand the people who’d rather stick with a cute game like ‘Undertale’ just as much as I understand the people who consider ‘The Last of Us’ light horror. Some of these games are classics, but some of these games might be new to you. I know that a lot of people missed out on the ‘Ghostbusters’ remaster when it came out, so here’s your reminder that it’s not expensive and also very fun. Regardless of what game you decide to go for this October, I hope this list helps you find something to suit your Halloween needs!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: The King: Eternal Monarch

Screenshot from ‘The King: Eternal Monarch’ starring (left) Lee Min-ho and (right) Kim Go-eun. Copyright goes to Hwa&Dam Pictures, Studio Dragon, SBS, and Netflix.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I apologize profusely from taking away from Halloween posts, but I finished this K-drama a while ago and the more I think about it the more I just need to talk about it. For those of you who aren’t aware, Netflix has a large collection of K-dramas to drown yourself in over quarantine. It has been, at least for me, a welcome distraction and you should definitely check out some of them if you have the time. Which, let’s be honest, who doesn’t have the time right now? ‘The King: Eternal Monarch’ was not my favorite of the dramas that I ended up watching, but it was definitely the one that left me with the most…thoughts. As always: LIGHT SPOILER WARNING! I’m going to try and go at this with mentioning the least amount of spoilers possible, there will be a few semi-major spoilers I’ll go over, but I’ll announce it before I go over it. I’ll mainly go over basic plot points.

The Good:

  • The lead female character: The series primarily follows Jung Tae-eul, a cop in modern South Korea who is part of a fairly small homicide division of the local police. What’s nice about her is that she’s an actual badass. She carries the weight of all of the other cop characters in this show on her back and immediately strikes the audience as being fiercely intelligent. She is not the typical romance drama lead. Saving everyone else’s asses is one of the things that she does best, and it’s really great to watch.
  • The lead male character: I’m not generally a huge fan of the ‘fish-out-of-water’ plot when it comes to main characters. I often find that writers fall back on it for comedy too much. For some reason, I felt it worked here. In fact, it worked so well sometimes I forgot they were even using it. Lee Gon is a King from an alternate dimension and you can tell. But not in a bad way. I attribute this mostly to the actor, because the writing seemed like it could have been really cheesy on paper. In the end it was Lee Min-ho who sold me on this character by just being so endearing. Also, no perfect boyfriend syndrome here! He’s an actual character with actual flaws!
  • The skepticism: With a lot of dramas or television shows, this can get annoying. One character has some supernatural element to their story and, originally, the other main character doesn’t believe them. I mean, it’s always realistic for the other person to not believe at first; but a lot of times I feel like shows go too far with this. The skepticism in this show from Jung Tae-eul after Lee Gon tells her that he is a King is the best I’ve seen in a show. It isn’t over-dramatized or too focused on, it feels like something more in the background. It’s still present, but not violently so. They also get rid of this pretty early on by finding a way to prove to her the truth, which was also a relief. I’m glad they didn’t focus on this as much as they could have.
  • The side characters: This is one thing I’m finding about all of the K-dramas I’ve watched so far. The side characters are focused on more which makes them more likeable. This show’s main plot deals with alternate realities, so what’s more impressive is all of the side characters in each plot line are played by basically the same actors. Serious hats off to Woo Do-hwan who plays two characters so completely different that he is absolutely unrecognizable in each role. He played the characters who were probably my favorite in the entire show. The side characters are completely fleshed out and so many of them have secrets from the main characters that you start to wonder which of the side characters you can actually trust. And that breaks your heart because the side characters are all so incredibly likeable.
  • The romance: The romantic moments in this show are incredibly sweet and definitely make single people feel lonely. You get everything from this show. You get the cheesy romance moments as well as the constant saving each other amidst bloodshed. Best of all, they aren’t weirdly unrealistic. Even after they get together they are constantly teasing each other and making fun of each other. There’s one specific scene in a hospital that just felt so natural that you couldn’t help but smile. You really buy their chemistry.
  • The deaths: I won’t tell you who dies, but keep in mind that there is somewhat of an ongoing war, so people do die. When they die it is sudden and heartbreaking. You get so attached to so many characters that you care automatically about them and when they die it’s awful. These aren’t unfeeling deaths, which I massively appreciate.

The Bad: (All of the MAJOR SPOILERS are here, so read with CAUTION.)

  • The romance: Why is the romance in both the good and the bad? Because it was both very good and very bad. Moments of their romance are adorable; but the romance happens far too fast. I don’t mean just the dating to falling in love bit, I mean every single part of it. Lee Gon is immediately romantically interested in Jung Tae-eul, but it isn’t clear why he is. She is somewhat of a comforting presence for him without her knowing, but it’s honestly kind of weird that he viewed her romantically considering he’s known about her existence since he was a child. And he only ever knew about her existence as she was as an adult. I know that sounds confusing and I’ll get into that a bit later, but it’s kind of odd. They fall for each other pretty suddenly without a whole lot of build up and then are constantly finding ways to declare their love even though they just got together (mostly him). It is WAY too rushed.
  • The sub-plot romances- The only sub-plot romance I have ever seen in a drama like this that I loved was in ‘Crash Landing Into You’ and that one made me CRY. Really, it’s difficult to find anything that I like after that one; but this one was still disappointing because I wanted to see it happen. They were constantly hinting at Jo Yeong and Seung-ah as well as their counterparts, but you didn’t get to see any of this in either reality. It never went beyond constant hinting and ended up being kind of disappointing in the end. If you count it, they also addressed the one-sided crush Kang Shin-jae has on Jung Tae-eul, but it was difficult to feel sorry for him when the characters really felt like brother and sister.
  • The time travel: They start with alternate dimension jumping, which the show revolves around so it makes sense within the context of the show. They never explain it too well, but it’s not really to the point where you feel like they have to explain it. Then you get to the time travel that comes out of nowhere. They kind of hint at the time travel at the very beginning with Jung Tae-eul’s ID card, but looking back none of that had to be there. It just made the plot so much more confusing and the time travel was just weird in general. There were little to no rules explained and they threw in this weird little world where time didn’t pass that didn’t seem to serve any purpose at all. There’s only so much you can put into a show without explaining it to the audience first. They could have stuck with defeating the villain in the alternate dimension and skipped the time travel from the beginning onward. Honestly, the romance would have felt more natural if Lee Gon didn’t have the ID card.
  • The villain: This villain has no substance. He’s a pretty typical mustache-twirling villain. He murders for almost no reason, he’s given very little in the backstory department, and it’s honestly just boring when he’s on screen. He also didn’t have super clear goals or paths to these goals. He did a few things that you knew were him working towards getting the throne, but it wasn’t always entirely clear why those things would help him. He created some interesting scenarios for the main characters, but really anyone could have done that. He was not an impressive villain.
  • The ending: The ending was depressing and you can tell that they were trying desperately to not make it depressing; but they kind of wrote themselves into a corner. I’m not going to say exactly what happens, but for almost no reason they wrote that both of the main characters were too stubborn to be happy. It was disappointing and frustrating after everything literally everyone did to help them be together.
  • Luna: The alternate version of the leading female character. She didn’t have to be in here at all and I just try to erase her existence from my brain. There’s not much to say other than that.

The Verdict:

I would say this drama was ok. There was a lot of good and a lot of bad, so it really has to end up somewhere in the middle. The good in this drama really makes you wish it was better! It would have been better if they hadn’t tried to over-complicate the plot and kept with something a bit simpler. Alternate dimensions and time traveling can be really difficult to keep simple to the audience, and really they could have just taken out the time travel and they wouldn’t have had to deal with the plot becoming such a mess towards the end of the show. There are definitely better K-dramas to watch on Netflix, but this one is still cute if you need a distraction. Thank you for tolerating my K-drama ramblings during spooky season!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Studio Ghibli: The Best Studio Ghibli Film to Watch During October

Screenshot from ‘Spirited Away’. Copyright goes to Studio Ghibli.

Hey! Hallie here!

Studio Ghibli has a large amount of films that are good watches for Halloween. ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ follows an actual witch, one who’s primary transportation is a broom, and her black cat Jiji. ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ follows several wizards and witches, and also includes Calcifer, a fire demon. There’s one movie that stands out as the best Halloween watch from the studio, however. That’s none other than ‘Spirited Away’. While ‘Spirited Away’ absolutely includes the adorable style of all the other films, there’s a lot that’s creepy and unnerving to enjoy in this movie. Between witches, spirits, and genuinely chilling scenes, this movie isn’t out of place among the other must-watches during this season. So if you’re unconvinced, or even if you haven’t seen this movie yet, here’s all the things that make this movie so perfect for you to watch this Halloween.

No-Face: This character is probably the most recognized character from this movie. Even if you haven’t seen this movie before, you’ve probably seen No-Face around. He’s recognized by his strikingly creepy mask-like face and the black nothingness that makes up the rest of his body. While the mask on his face appears to be smiling regularly, it often only adds to how unnerving the character can be. For one, the smile on his face doesn’t actually represent where his mask is. You discover this when he begins to eat the other spirits. It’s actually quite a disturbing scene, and while all of the spirits aren’t harmed by the experience, there’s nothing that can erase the giant No-Face going on a hungry rampage from my mind. No-Face is an endearing character despite how off-putting he can be. He really only wants a friend, which causes him to make some misguided decisions to get the attention of our main character, Chihiro. When he finally is able to befriend her, he’s kind and quiet. No-Face may appear scary, but you can’t help but love him by the end of the movie.

The Witches: Studio Ghibli seems to like the concept of witches. This is also true of this movie. The first witch you see, and the most prominent one, is Yubaba. Yubaba is the owner of the bathhouse for spirits that Chihiro finds herself working at. There’s nothing about Yubaba that isn’t unnerving. She can fly with very little effort, can transform others into pigs, and can move things without touching them. She has a very large head that becomes more terrifying when you see it attached to her pet bird. She has three disembodied heads, the Kashira, that stay in her office and do her bidding. She also has a giant baby named Boh. As the main antagonist, you can’t help but fear the amount of power she possesses as opposed to Chihiro, who is just a normal girl. She isn’t the only witch in ‘Spirited Away’. Yubaba is actually a twin (Watch out for that because we may revisit them). Zeniba is her twin sister. Zeniba is a much kinder witch, though she is no stranger to creating mischief. Zeniba is also shown to be dangerous. She nearly kills Haku for stealing from her. Still, she is quick to forgive and quick to give Chihiro advice when she asks for it. Both witches are delightfully spooky additions to the film.

The Bathhouse: This is the main setting of the film. The film begins with Chihiro’s parents being turned into pigs and Chihiro becoming stranded in the spirit world. In order to hide until she can find a way to escape with her parents, she manages to get a job at Yubaba’s bathhouse. The bathhouse is exclusive to spirits and Chihiro is quick to discover how different a life among spirits is. Many spirits are much larger than her, have many more appendages, and care very little for her well being. She’s tasked with learning how to help clean spirits while trying to figure out how to turn her parents back into humans so she can escape the spirit world. The entire experience makes her a more responsible and capable person. The regularly demanding and frightening spirits bother her less and less while she begins to prioritize her family and friends more. While the atmosphere of the bathhouse never becomes less scary, the main character becomes less effected by it as the film goes on. The unnerving bathhouse plays a major role in showing the audience how far Chihiro has come by the end of the movie.

The Animation: I don’t really have to tell you this about a Studio Ghibli movie, but I’m going to anyway. This movie is gorgeous. I find it especially important to gush about the animation in ‘Spirited Away’ because the movie wouldn’t be nearly as unsettling as it is without the animation. Yubaba is scary because you can see every single wrinkle on her overlarge face. No-Face is frightening because he can appear either cute or terrifying depending on his body language alone. Every spirit in the movie is unique and just off enough to convince you that they shouldn’t exist in the real world. The colors of the spirit world are vibrant and pretty. They’re so beautiful, in fact, that you don’t question it at all when the human characters are so drawn to it that they become trapped. The movie lulls you into a sense of comfort with it’s breathtaking animation. It makes the frightening moments in this movie even more surprising when they occur.

‘Spirited Away’ is one of my favorite Studio Ghibli films, but that isn’t why I’m recommending it for the Halloween season. It has plenty of qualities that many value in their regular family-friendly Halloween movies. It has spirits, witches, frightening transformations, and a strong female lead. Still, I don’t see anyone mention it around spooky season. So I’m mentioning it to you, instead. Watch this movie this October. Whether you’ve been looking for an excuse to re-watch this movie or you genuinely want another movie to add to your list of Halloween movies, ‘Spirited Away’ is worth a watch this month. Maybe if enough people make this movie part of their Halloween traditions, we can get No-Face the recognition he deserves for managing to terrify me while I’m in my twenties.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Disney: The Sanderson Sisters

Screenshot from ‘Hocus Pocus’ (1993) starring (from left) Kathy Najimy, Bette Midler, and Sarah Jessica Parker. Copyright goes to Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Pictures.

Hi! It’s Annie!

It’s really difficult to not bring up the Sanderson sisters once October rolls around. They are staples of Halloween and it’s really hard to imagine a reality where they wouldn’t be some of the most iconic Halloween characters. What’s weird about them is that I wasn’t too familiar with these Salem witches until a couple years ago. I wasn’t one of those kids who grew up watching ‘Hocus Pocus’, but I had heard of the Sanderson sisters. Before actually watching the movie I had seen pictures of them around, but I hadn’t watched anything of them specifically. I went into the movie knowing almost nothing about the Sanderson sisters and I came out loving them…but not a whole lot else. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked ‘Hocus Pocus’! But it wasn’t what I thought it would be after hearing all of the hype. The main female and male leads (besides Dani!) weren’t that great and I thought the plot was a little too simple. Some of the side characters, like Billy and Thackery, were great, but they weren’t given enough time. But I still came out of the movie convinced that I would watch it again. Why? Because you don’t watch this movie for the main characters or the plot. This is one of those movies that you only watch for the amusing villains. The Sanderson sisters perfectly capture the spirit of Halloween while being some of the most fun characters you will watch in anything. It was clear just by watching them that Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy had the time of their lives as these characters. And this has actually been confirmed by them in interviews. Bette Midler has even said that Winifred was her favorite character that she ever played. Now that we’ve had rumors of a ‘Hocus Pocus 2′, the characters’ popularity has only seemed to grow. So what makes each singular sister so great?

Mary Sanderson:

Mary Sanderson is probably the most overlooked and least popular Sanderson sister; but that by no means makes her bad or any less important than the other two. Mary talks out of the side of her mouth for the entire movie and definitely is the most submissive when listening to Winifred, but she is a much needed presence. Though everyone loves a little chaos; can you imagine if it was just Winnifred and Sarah? I can guarantee you that Winifred probably would have strangled Sarah by now. Though she isn’t sharp enough to be a voice of reason, that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t serve as a calming presence for each of her sisters. Often she is the one to calm everyone down and provides Winifred with someone to listen to her constant ramblings. Mary strikes you as the one who was possibly, or even probably, led astray by her other sisters. You can imagine that, without her sisters, she’d be living her life as a nice old woman knitting by a fireplace, which makes her placement in this group all the more hilarious.

Sarah Sanderson:

It is very difficult to not like Sarah. She is my personal favorite of the sisters, and it just makes me so happy watching her. You can often find Sarah jumping up and down or being distracted by something shiny. Or a spider that she just straight up eats. Either way, it is clear that Winifred is the only brain of this group of witches. Sarah has this innocence to her that definitely makes it feel like both sisters might have unwittingly joined their sister. But Sarah does have an ulterior motive that Mary doesn’t have. She is absolutely insane for boys and wants to be pretty for them. Becoming young again to her means being an object of affection for boys. Billy the zombie being a former boyfriend of Sarah is even a plot point. But the beauty of this is that it never becomes her entire character. Sarah’s main plot remains with her witchy-ness and her sisters. She is never seen as less of a villain for being boy crazy and her charm even gives her the ability to sing to attract prey to her and her sisters. It’s so easy to make characters you describe as ‘dumb’ and ‘boy crazy’ weak, but she has just as much strength as her sisters.

Winifred Sanderson:

Ah, Winifred. The only real brains in the group and the true villain of the story. Winifred is equal parts hilariously endearing and intimidating. If you fear for the kids in this movie, it’s because Winifred had that malicious glint in her eyes. Bette Midler is entirely unrecognizable and acts her ass off in this role. It’s weird to say that about a role that’s so light-hearted; but it’s true. You can tell she had so much fun that she put her all into Winnifred. If this character wasn’t there it’s doubtful her sisters would be witches and, even if they were, there is absolutely nothing that they would have ever gotten done. They would have died long before the hanging at the beginning of this movie and never would have reincarnated to come back and create chaos. Also, can we talk about Winifred singing ‘I Put a Spell On You’? It’s one of the best scenes in any Halloween movie ever. It even manages to make the character more endearing just by showing her singing randomly in the middle of the movie.

The Sanderson sisters have, rightfully, gone beyond ‘Hocus Pocus’. If you haven’t watched a video of their Halloween show at Disney World’s ‘Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party’, I highly recommend it. There’s a reason why these three have become staples of Halloween, and it has nothing to do with the plot of ‘Hocus Pocus’. All of the credit here goes to the writers and the incredible acting that went into these three. Halloween will never again be complete without a mention of these witches. I also appreciate them because I am not a horror movie person, but I absolutely love the spooky season. Having another movie to add to the list of spooky movies that don’t scare the pants off of me is very welcome during Halloween time! So you know where I’ll be one of these nights during October. Cuddled up in my ‘Hocus Pocus’ hoodie dress, eating chocolate, and watching Sarah jump up and down and yell “Amuck, amuck, amuck!”

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Disney: ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ is the Perfect Halloween Movie

Screenshot from Henry Selick’s ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. Copyright goes to Touchstone Pictures, Skellington Productions, and Walt Disney Productions.

Hey! Hallie here!

We’re finally into spooky season and, of course, that means I’m going to talk about my favorite movie of all time. ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ is a masterpiece that is absolutely essential to both the Halloween and Christmas holidays. I’ll probably make a post closer to December about why you should be watching this movie around Christmas time, but today I’m going to cover why this should be on your “must watch” list of Halloween movies. On top of that, I’m not just going to keep this post focused on it’s obvious Halloween themes. There are some things I’ve come to appreciate about this film that really can be enjoyed at any part of the year. So let’s get into why this “kids” movie deserves to be up there with all the rest of the best Halloween movies.

The Animation: Stop motion animation is very rarely used in animated movies. That’s because it takes a very, very, very, long time to complete a film of this nature. Between creating actual sets and moveable figures, and then moving all of these things a miniscule amount before having to immediately rearrange a scene, it isn’t difficult to imagine how long and painstaking a process like this is. The thing is, it pays off. This film is gorgeous and the stop motion quality adds a creepy effect to the way the characters move. It’s almost unbelievable that a place like Spiral Hill was actually hand made, but there’s also a realness to it that other animated films lack. The audience really feels like they could travel to Halloweentown. The careful detail that goes into everything, even something as small as the fabrics in Sally’s dress, transport the audience. This especially works for the little creepy details in Halloweentown, like all of the bat or spider bowties worn by some of the characters. This animation never fails to bring me to a spooky place every time I watch it.

The Music: Danny Elfman is a musical genius. He’s known for composing all kinds of movie soundtracks. That being said, he is by far best known for his spooky soundtracks. He was the front man for the creepy band Oingo Boingo as well as the main composer for most of Tim Burton’s films. It really is a joy to hear both his music and his singing throughout the entire film. While it would have been nice if he had been allowed to do the speaking voice of Jack, it’s still nice to hear him when Jack is singing (He IS the singing and speaking voice of Barrel, however). And let’s be honest, no Halloween playlist is complete without “This is Halloween”. Ok, no Halloween playlist is complete without this movie’s entire soundtrack. It’s the perfect amount of creepy and fun with some incredibly heartfelt moments thrown in there. There’s no way you can listen to any one of the songs in this movie without having a good time.

The Main Character: Jack is a skeleton. What more can you want? The Pumpkin King is both creepy and relatable. He has everything in his life that could possibly make him happy and yet, he isn’t. He still struggles with thoughts that what he’s doing isn’t enough. He also desires a difference from the general monotony of his life, which, with all of us in quarantine, who hasn’t experienced this? The thing that makes Jack Skellington truly special, however, is the fact that he is his own villain. Oogie Boogie is definitely a threatening presence, but he doesn’t create any of the major problems in the film. Jack does. Jack’s desire for more turns into a single-minded obsession that ends up harming more people than it ends up helping. While Sally tries to help him avoid the inevitable catastrophe he creates, she’s only one voice in a sea of supporters. He truly believes what he’s doing is right. By the end he discovers his wrong-doings and rights them. But he also notes that his mistakes caused him to learn how to love himself. Jack is both able to acknowledge his mistakes and love himself for them, regardless. It’s an important lesson many of us still need to learn.

It’s a Halloween Movie: There’s a lot of debate on whether or not this movie is a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie. As someone who likes to watch this movie as many times as possible throughout the year without being judged, I’m in the camp that says it’s both. But if we’re looking at this from a storytelling standpoint, the movie spends most of it’s time in Halloweentown. All of it’s main characters are Halloween themed with Santa being the only exception. The movie opens with the characters celebrating Halloween, and while we experience Christmas as well in the movie, Jack’s creation of his own Christmas happens in Halloweentown. The final battle and end of the movie takes Jack back to Halloweentown. So it should definitely be pointed out that the story spends most of it’s time celebrating the Halloween characters and locations. I have an equally valid explanation for why this is a Christmas movie, but you’ll have to wait for December to hear that one.

I appreciate all of you who are still with me at the end of this post. I honestly would have gotten so excited to watch this movie I would have left halfway through. But now that you’re finished reading this: What are you waiting for? Don’t just leave this movie for October 31st. It’s a great movie to help you get into the spooky mood. And you can, and should, revisit it on Halloween night. There’s no better movie to celebrate Halloween! So let’s all thank the lovely Henry Selick for this amazing movie, because we all know he doesn’t get nearly enough recognition for this movie, and enjoy this movie as it should be enjoyed. With something pumpkin flavored to eat and loud, obnoxious singing.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Twins in Media: Dipper and Mabel Pines

Screenshot of Dipper and Mabel from ‘Gravity Falls’ portrayed by Jason Ritter and Kristen Schaal. Copyright goes to ‘Disney Television Animation’ and ‘Disney Channel’.

Hi! It’s Annie!

TWINS! To those of you who just got that reference; thank you and I’m sorry that it was kind of cheap, but I had to go for it. Back to twins in media and this time I’m going for one of the most popular portrayals of twins recently. They also kind of fit with the Halloween season as we get into October! Dipper and Mabel Pines first came to my attention because of the unlikeliness of anything good coming out of Disney Channel for the past few years. When I first started watching some episodes of ‘Gravity Falls’, I was immediately shocked by the fact that the show was actually portraying twins. It wasn’t something I noticed at the beginning, I simply just thought of them as siblings. This having to be pointed out to me is one of the reasons I like these two so much. There are still a few concerning things (that may or may not actually have to do with the show), so let’s see how these two hold up in their portrayal of twins.

The Good:

  • Different personalities: They are not exactly the same, nor are they opposites. Mabel is adorable, loves all things adorable, and is very pleasantly insane. Dipper is more of a voice of reason, someone who is very inside his head, and is a bit quieter. Just different. They work well together but not in a way that is pointed out to have something to do with the fact that they are twins. They are just two different people.
  • Different lives: Mabel and Dipper have a lot of the same friends; which makes perfect sense. They spend a lot of their time hanging around the same people, so it would make sense that many of their friends would be the same. The important part here is that they each have different relationships with those people. Mabel and Dipper’s reactions to, Wendy for example, are extremely different. And in turn Wendy treats them both differently.
  • Realistic siblings: They don’t always get along or always fight. There is no example of the evil twin here. They fight sometimes, they get along at other times. They act like any siblings would. Which is just how twins act. We have similarities and differences and we react to each other based on those. They get along a lot of the time, but not all of the time. They also aren’t the opposite and all over each other either (like a certain superhero duo I talked about last week). They are somewhere in the middle, as most siblings actually are.
  • Best Friends: When you spend so much time around someone for almost all of your life, you’re going to have a close relationship with them. Dipper and Mabel are basically best friends, and it’s something I love to see. My sister is my best friend and it’s difficult when people tell me that I have to distance myself from my best friend in order to be seen as a different person. I shouldn’t have to. Just because we’re best friends, doesn’t mean we’re exactly the same. You don’t have to portray twins as being opposites in order for them to like each other. It feels rare anyways to see such a positive relationship for siblings. There are many siblings out there, not just twins, who are close in age and have become best friends in a way because they grew up with that person. You don’t see many depictions of that in media. It is definitely refreshing to see a pair of siblings who are just wholesome together and truly are also best friends. They care for each other, they’re able to have conversations without one of them getting annoyed very dramatically, and in the end they will always have each other’s backs. I will never be ashamed or embarrassed to call my sister my best friend, even with the idea that some people have that because I’m a twin it somehow means we are a one-minded entity. I would just really really like to be able to call her my best friend without anyone actually thinking that.
  • Twin representation: You want to know why the portrayal of twins is so accurate in this show compared to others? Because the creator of ‘Gravity Falls’, Alex Hirsch, is actually a twin. The series is written based on the childhood of himself and his twin sister Ariel. We have an actual twin writing twin characters, so of course this going to be more accurate than the average portrayal! Alex and Ariel have done several interviews talking about themselves and the show, which I highly recommend watching. It’s just incredibly wholesome to watch them both talk about their childhoods and you definitely see the similarities between them and their characters.

The Bad:

  • The Fandom: I’m not trying to attack everyone in this fandom, but there are a few groups in this fandom that concern me just a little bit. Of course, this has nothing to do with the show and shouldn’t be pinned on the show whatsoever, but it is still something that should be addressed. This fandom happens to have one of the biggest twincest ships I have ever seen in my life; and that’s with me being familiar with ‘Ouran Highschool Host Club’. No, it is not innocent to ship Dipper and Mabel together. It’s not in any way acceptable to ship any siblings together ever. If you are part of the group of people who ship these two, I would like to please ask you to reconsider. It’s sick and I’m really tired of seeing it. I’m pretty sure the vast majority of twins are really tired of seeing it. I have no idea why it is somehow more socially acceptable to ship twins together than regular siblings; but it shouldn’t be. The fact that it is, is another great example of twin fetishization. I’m sorry, but if you support any twincest you are a part of the problem here.

So, are Dipper and Mabel a good representation of twins in media or not?

Going exactly against what happened in my post last week, I am very glad and relieved to say that the answer is; yes, absolutely. Dipper and Mabel are some of the most realistic siblings I have ever seen in media, never mind twins. They are supportive of each other without being clingy, best friends without being exactly the same, and understanding of each other consistently throughout the series. The traditional twin tropes have been rightfully thrown out the window. There are basically none to be found here. That was probably clear by the fact that I didn’t even mention the show when I talked about the bad in this post. They are regular siblings who also happen to be best friends because they grew up having a close relationship. And growing up close doesn’t mean that they are the same. The word ‘twin’ for these two is a descriptor, it isn’t who they are as people. And that is how every single twin in the world is. It’s incredibly comforting to know that these two have secured themselves among some of the most popular twins to be featured in media. This is, without a doubt in my mind, the best portrayal of twins I have ever seen in my life. I hope more twins in the future will be written like these two.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Twins in Media: Robert and Rosalind Lutece

Screenshot of Robert and Rosalind Lutece from ‘Bioshock: Infinite’. Copyright goes to Irrational Games and 2K Games.

Hey! Hallie here!

We’re starting out this weeks ‘Twins in Media’ with some video game representation! Finally! If you know anything about the Lutece twins, you know this conversation might get a bit confusing. For one, they aren’t actually twins. I’ll get to that whole thing in a second because there’s a lot to talk about. Regardless of the technicality, the plot treats them as twins. Rosalind and Robert refer to each other as brother and sister, and they are officially referred to as the Lutece twins. So I am going to treat them as such in this analysis. As for spoilers, I probably won’t be referring much to the main plot, but I will be using everything and anything of the Lutece’s story at my disposal to decide whether or not they are a good representation of twins in media. So this is somewhat of a SPOILER warning for ‘Bioshock: Infinite’. With that out of the way, lets look at this odd pair!

The Bad:

  • The same person: Literally. I’m not even kidding. This is what I was talking about when I said they aren’t technically twins. Robert and Rosalind Lutece are the same person, just from different realities. This is also what I meant when I said this might get confusing. Rosalind Lutece is a well known scientist within the universe the player is in for the majority of the game. She’s known mostly for her discovery of parallel universes, caused by her desire to have a sister. Since she was a young girl she imagined befriending a girl, like herself but slightly different, so that she wouldn’t be so alone. When she finally found a way to communicate across parallel universes she found a brother instead, or rather, what she would have been if she had been born male. Fortunately, she found this discovery just as satisfying as if she had found a sister. But this right here is the biggest problem with the Lutece twins. There is already a common misconception that twins are basically the same person. Rosalind and Robert further promote this theory by their portrayal as twins. They didn’t have to be twins. They didn’t have to do the whole ‘Rosalind wanted a sibling’ storyline. The writers could have simply made them what they are; the same person but from different universes. But they didn’t. Instead of avoiding this trope altogether or, heaven forbid, actually writing twin characters, they stuck the twin title on them to make them seem more weird and mysterious. I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but, SURPRISE, twins are normal people. There’s nothing weird or mysterious about the fact that we have some physical similarities.
  • Finishing each others sentences: This is ALL of their dialogue. That isn’t an exaggeration. Once again to emphasize their weird and mysterious characters, the writers use a common twin trope. Rosalind and Robert never have a singular thought of their own, or at least they appear not to. That’s because every time you go up to talk to them all they do is communicate the same idea, just while switching off who says what. Not only is this unrealistic, but it happens so often that the player becomes pretty convinced they don’t have anything original to say singularly. As someone who constantly experiences having my opinion ignored because someone assumes my opinion is the same as my sister’s, it’s annoying to see this promoted so blatantly with these two. I can have similar thoughts as my sister. But I can also have completely different thoughts as my sister. Because we’re different people. And we most definitely aren’t on the same page enough to constantly finish each others sentences. I’ve talked about how unlikely it is for my sister and I to say something at the same time before. Well, it’s even less likely for us to finish each others sentences.

The Good:

  • Different opinions: After bashing them for having basically the same brain, I bet you’re wondering why I put this here. Well, if you put in the work to collect all of Rosalind’s Voxophones, which record her scientific discoveries and life overall, you get a bit more information. The reason why I didn’t mention this above is because you can’t collect all of them, especially not the most interesting ones, without unlocking their house within a minigame included with the game. So it isn’t in the main game. In the main game the most you get to hint at their differing opinions is small bickering. “Heads or tails?” or “The bird or the cage?”. That tells you nothing about them as individuals. I’d also like to point out that they’re finishing each others sentences when they ask you these questions. Ok, I’ll move on. Anyway, when you collect all of Rosalind’s Voxophones you learn about their biggest dispute. Robert and Rosalind helped the main villain do something that changed Booker, the player character, for the rest of his life. While Booker doesn’t remember any of it, Robert becomes guilty and decides to use his knowledge of parallel universes to help Booker. Rosalind doesn’t care. She mentions several times in her recordings that she has only ever cared about herself and Robert. Robert, however, is a very empathetic person. The dispute ends when Robert threatens to leave Rosalind forever, making her lonely once again, if she doesn’t help him with his plan. This is the entire reason why the Lutece twins help the player throughout the entire game. It’s also the only major example of their different personalities and it’s a major one at that. If only it wasn’t just a fun Easter egg.

So are the Lutece twins a good representation of twins in media? You probably know the answer to this one. No. In no universe are they a good representation of twins. The main issue here is that the writers stuck the label of ‘twins’ on characters that weren’t twins. By doing that they turned something that could have been innocently odd into something that perpetuated harmful stereotypes. But does this mean you have to hate these two, or even ‘Bioshock: Infinite’? Of course not! Even hating all of these tropes I found these two one of the best parts of the game. They always had a delightfully weird riddle to tell and I could never determine when they were going to randomly pop up. I found enjoyment in hearing them heckle me every time I died in the DLC. I just wish, very very much, that the writers hadn’t decided to ingrain some of the worst twin tropes media has to offer in their writing.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: BTS and the Teenage Girl Argument

Shot from a BTS photoshoot. (From left) Park Jimin (Jimin), Kim Taehyung (V), Jeon Jungkook (Jungkook), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Kim Namjoon (RM), Min Yoongi (Suga), and Jung Hoseok (J-Hope). All rights go to BTS’s Instagram and social media as well as ‘Big Hit Entertainment’.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Sick of BTS yet? Unlikely. Recently I’ve been expanding my collection of BTS merch and I came across a magazine that made me want to address this topic even more than I already wanted to. It has become increasingly clear that we have to have this conversation, and what better way than through BTS? Because they are the newest example of a group being looked down on by a certain group of people for specific things that really don’t make any sense whatsoever. Specifically, I’m talking here about the teenage girl argument. This phenomenon seems to occur largely around what society has labeled ‘boy bands’, but can sometimes also occur surrounding fiction like ‘Twilight’. So why does being associated with teenage girls cause a specific piece of media to be looked down on? And what exactly does this have to do with BTS?

Society’s Punching Bags:

If you haven’t heard the phrase “Teenage girls are society’s punching bags”, I’ll give you a brief explanation of what that means right now. Do you remember the ‘Twilight’ or Justin Bieber fiascos? It’s unlikely that you don’t. People were ruthlessly bullied in middle schools and high schools alike for liking either one of these things, and god forbid you like them both. Yes, they both had their problems. Sometimes a lot of problems. But that wasn’t what initially drew the ire of the public. People were taught to look down on these things specifically because tween and teenage girls liked them. I remember this so clearly because I was a part of this. Though I never shared these opinions to anyone who had a true love of either of these things, I possessed an irrational hatred for them both. I cringed at the name of either and I blanched at the thought of reading or listening to these things. I called them stupid along with everyone else. Why was this so different from things that I just deemed as ‘not really my thing’? Because teenage girls are society’s punching bags. Teenage girls have always been intensely scrutinized in comparison to teenage boys. Why are you wearing make-up? Why aren’t you wearing make-up? Why do you have a boyfriend? Why don’t you have a boyfriend? Society has set up a system where a teenage girl cannot do well for herself because there is no right choice. Every choice you will ever make as a teenage girl will probably be seen as wrong by society. Society has deemed that teenage girls are too “stupid” and “emotional” to have taste; so if something has a massive fan base that is made up of teenage girls, even if it isn’t just teenage girls, it somehow becomes without taste or class.

Boy Bands:

This has become it’s own genre in America, and simply belonging to that genre can change the public’s outlook on an artist or band. For example, when One Direction was a boy band, liking Harry Styles was a teenage girl thing. As soon as he made a solo career for himself he was socially acceptable to be liked by everyone. Why? Harry Styles is around the same age as all of the men in BTS, isn’t he? Because boy bands are a teenage girl thing. Not all boy bands are created to be for this purpose exactly, but many boy bands have in recent years been cultivated to appeal to teenage girls. And it works, every time. This is because we still live in a society where we teach girls that they have to be careful about the way they treat boys but we teach boys that they don’t have to be careful about the way that they treat girls. With boy bands, companies will sometimes attempt to give female audiences something they’ve been lacking. Boy bands often carry with them the feeling of being the best a woman may ever be treated by a man in her entire life. Often, they are just that. This leaves companies to again turn their backs on teenage girls for falling for such a trick as believing they could actually be treated well in a relationship.

Media Labeling:

I’m going to say this once; BTS isn’t a boy band. One of the things about the magazine that I mentioned before that angered me was all of the comparisons to European boy bands. Especially The Beatles. South Korea is half way around the world from where we are and America really needs to stop taking music from other countries and forcing it under labels that Americans find comfortable. BTS isn’t a boy band like the Beatles. BTS is BTS. Artists should not be pinned down because we think they belong under a specific genre. Many artists actually explore multiple genres, which makes it absolutely nonsensical to label all of their music under one. Just because a large part of their fanbase consists of teenage girls, doesn’t mean you can label them a boy band. What you are failing to understand is that BTS is quite possibly the most popular band in the world. Their fanbase can’t only be teenage girls. In fact, as this band grows the fan base has become more diverse; now growing to include thousands of men and just as many adults as teenagers. BTS is their own thing and neither them or their fanbase should be judged because of America’s media labeling system that has been problematic for years.

Racism:

The other reason why this band is looked down on by many popular people in the media and thus shoved onto teenage girls. You thought BTS was exempt from racism because they’re so popular? I really hope you didn’t. Several journalists have faced backlash for racist comments made against BTS. Everything from making fun of them for being able to speak on the behalf of youth at the UN Assembly in Korean instead of English to joking that this wasn’t the type of Korean news they were expecting to “blow up” in America. Despite the fact that North and South Korea are very different places who do not get along. These comments are beyond disgusting and a great example of just how unequal and unfair America can still be. Especially when it comes to media. And somehow these people are also able to throw sexism into the mix by shrugging their shoulders and using “teenage girls like them” as some sort of excuse for their behavior and racism.

In no way am I trying to say that you’re wrong or bad for not liking BTS. It isn’t everyone’s thing, and that’s perfectly fine! What I’m saying is; don’t shame other people for liking BTS. And especially don’t shame them for the absolutely nonsensical reasons that the media already does. Unless someone likes something really harmful and problematic, we should all be supportive of each other’s preferences. We need to be mindful of the fact that we still live with many people in entertainment media that train the public into buying their products while still trying to keep their thumb on societal perceptions. The issues any minority group is having with getting representation in movies, television shows, music, etc. is proof of this. Everyone should be free to like what they like without the fear of being judged. Frankly, neither BTS or ARMY should be getting anything near this reaction. BTS puts more hard work into their songs and performances than many ever will in their entire lives and ARMY supports the work of these men as artists. They should be seen as the artists and people they are rather than just another ‘boy band’. If anything, I hope this has changed your perception on how much American media still needs to change.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Disney: The Only Live Action Remake That Should Be Made

Screenshot from ‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’. Copyright goes to Walt Disney Pictures.

Hey! Hallie here!

Coming right out of the disaster that was the ‘Mulan’ remake, I happened to revisit one of my favorite underrated Disney films also available on Disney+. Of course I mean ‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’. Between it’s hilarious side-characters, it’s underdog hero, it’s awesome female lead, and it’s amazing visuals, there’s not much not to love in this movie. There’s also one glaringly obvious thing many notice when they watch the movie. Much of it already feels like a live action film. The action within the movie feels much more like a modern action movie than a Disney animated feature, and the characters are written more like real people than most of the movies Disney came out with during this time. So what’s stopping them from actually making this a live action film? I honestly don’t know. Rumors that Disney has been working on a live action adaptation have been floating around for years. Sometimes the creatives behind ‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’ have gotten involved in the conversation, some hopeful and others…not so much. Regardless, this movie could really use a remake. Let’s go through the reasons why.

Kida: I’m not just putting Kida up here because she’s amazing. She is, but there’s something that a remake of this movie really could do for her. It could give her more of a personality. Don’t get me wrong, I love Kida. However, if I’m being honest here, we don’t get a whole lot of her throughout the movie. At the beginning of the movie we see her as a small child while Atlantis is being attacked. Then she appears again half-way through to meet Milo. She goes with Milo to figure out a few things about her past, the two of them get caught by the main villains, and then Kida basically becomes the Heart of Atlantis. For the entire rest of the movie she is a silent blue deity. She’s powerful, sure, but none of her personality comes through. By the time the movie ends, Kida has spent half of her time on screen as an object for the heroes and villains to play keep-away with. Not to mention, she was only in about half of the movie to begin with. What we do see of Kida’s personality is engaging and we need more of it. A live-action remake could provide that. The longer screen time a live action remake provides gives the audience more than enough time to get to know Kida a whole lot more than we did in the original.

The Side Characters: ‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’ has a really entertaining cast of side characters. The movie wouldn’t be nearly as good without Sweet, Audrey, Vinny, Mole, Wilhelmina, and Cookie. On top of that, a lot of these characters are POC representation we could desperately use in live action movies right now. All of these characters are briefly explored to an extent, especially Audrey, Vinny, and Sweet, who at one point explain why they took the job to go to Atlantis in the first place. I would love to learn more about these characters, although Sweet might warn against trying to learn about Mole’s past. Still, I laughed the loudest and enjoyed myself the most when these characters were on screen. It was unfortunate the original movie didn’t have enough time to focus on these characters more. The live action remake would have more time to do just that.

Helga: Helga had all the makings of an amazing Disney villain. She was intimidating, intelligent, and absolutely untrustworthy. So why she didn’t completely turn on Rourke earlier in the movie is absolutely beyond me. She puts up a good fight against him when he inevitably turns on her, but she ultimately dies. Although she does make sure it won’t be long before he follows by shooting down his blimp with her last breath. Still, her character promised much more than what the movie actually gave us. A live action movie could make Helga the villain she deserves to be. Who needs the stereotypical greedy, old man when you can have a much more capable woman betraying him and proving herself the bigger threat? Let’s be honest, we’ve all seen a thousand villains like Rourke. Even when the movie was made he wasn’t intimidating anymore. Helga is a completely different story.

Atlantis: The world of Atlantis is beautiful. A lot of it was also animated with CG effects. With improved visual effects, especially when it comes to live action movies, a redo of Atlantis with newer technology would be absolutely stunning. There’s much of the world that could be more practical, such as the more foresty or rocky areas. Also, there’s an entire village we only briefly see Kida and Milo exploring that could absolutely be made into a colorful practical set. But when it comes to the water effects and the glowing blue ruins, todays visual effects could turn the movie into something breathtaking. I also really want to see the final conflict redone. Blimps, flying fish vehicles, and the Heart of Atlantis all inside a dormant volcano? That sounds like the most fun I’d have in the theater for the next decade.

This movie is really excellent, but there’s so much more to explore in the world of ‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’. This movie is still criminally underrated. Even with the accessibility Disney+ gave it, the movie still flies under the radar. Everyone has seen ‘Mulan’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’. The amount of people that have seen ‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’ or ‘Treasure Planet’ is significantly slimmer. Instead of redoing beloved movies that are already as close to perfection as you can get, Disney needs to take some of these movies, the ones that weren’t as well received when they were released, and make them better. Find what went wrong and grow a new audience around a previously failed franchise. Both Disney fans and people who are frankly tired of all the remakes will thank you.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Superheroes: How Harley Quinn is Changing the Game

Screenshot of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in ‘Suicide Squad’ (2016). Copyright goes to ‘DC Films’ and ‘Warner Bros. Pictures’.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I have never been the type to participate in those ‘Star Trek’ vs ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Marvel’ vs ‘DC’ debates. I always felt that, though the franchises are comparable, they are still different and there really is no reason to compare them. I will admit that, despite this, I definitely preferred Marvel simply because I liked the movies. Though I still think that they have been a bit better at movies, I have to do the unlikely, and give my favorite superhero title to none other than Harley Quinn. Because why wouldn’t I? Not only is she a badass as a character, but she has completely changed superhero movies for the better when it comes to female portrayals in action films. It’s been a long process, so let’s take a look at how Harley Quinn was able to shove her foot in the door of best superhero characters despite the fact that the title is incredibly male dominated.

Batman: The Animated Series:

For those of you who don’t know, the popularity of Harley Quinn was completely an accident. Harley Quinn was created to be a one-off character in a random episode of this series as a quirky side-kick to the Joker. The creators were not expecting the reaction they got from the fans. It wasn’t long after the episode aired that fans began to complain whenever she wasn’t present. It was instant love between the fans and the red and black jester, and the creators actually listened. Harley Quinn ascended quickly in the show, eventually becoming something equivalent of a main character among the main cast. When the series ended, Harley Quinn had already become one of the most popular characters in all of ‘Batman’ despite the fact that she had never before been in a comic book. This portrayal allowed for her to be featured as a major villain in countless ‘Batman’ games and even inspired DC to give her her own comic book series. Her popularity and relationship with the Joker even started a conversation about domestic abuse against women in media, causing her writers to actually write her dealing with her trauma into the comics. Harley Quinn is quite possibly one of the most popular accidents to ever exist, and it gives me joy to think that any adaptation of Harley Quinn would probably love that description of her.

Suicide Squad:

Harley Quinn was already more than popular when this movie decided to take on the beloved character, so it was only natural that the decision to adapt her was met with both skepticism and excitement from fans. Let’s be honest with ourselves, this movie wasn’t great. The plot was all over the place and it just felt like you were watching a mess. But almost everyone who saw that movie could at least agree on one point. Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn was absolutely perfect. Even if you thought her costume was way too much or way too little, you couldn’t deny that the acting for this character was absolutely spot on. Margot Robbie did what few others have ever done for the superhero character they portray. She breathed life into Harley Quinn so much that she was Harley Quinn; nobody could imagine anyone else playing that role. Some actors are great in their superhero roles, but others own their roles. Like RDJ as Iron Man. She did that. It was the best thing that could have happened to the character of Harley Quinn and one of the best things that could have happened for female superhero characters.

How Deadpool Helped:

If ‘Deadpool’ starring Ryan Reynolds hadn’t come out, this progression of Harley Quinn might have stopped. Superhero movies for a long time were seen as family movies only. ‘Deadpool’ absolutely destroyed this stigma. It proved that a superhero movies don’t have to be a genre by themselves, but they can be a subject that falls into multiple genres. When ‘Deadpool’ finally got his rightful time to shine without being censored, many Harley Quinn fans began pointing out that she held a similar role for the uncensored ridiculous in DC comics. Margot Robbie immediately took this idea and ran with it. Why couldn’t a female character also be a badass while being uncensored? Hollywood generally tries to stick women into this overly innocent box, but that’s not what’s realistic or what female audiences want to see anymore. If DC wanted to compete with Marvel, ‘Deadpool’ made it so that their only option was to use Harley Quinn to do so.

Birds of Prey:

It doesn’t matter whether or not you liked this movie, you have to admit that it was important. We got a superhero ensemble film where the entire ensemble was made up of women. There is only one main male character to be seen in this film in contrast to the five female characters. Not to mention, that the female characters in this film aren’t really intimidated by the male villain, meaning that very few of their conversations are them even mentioning men. Add on the Asian female director, Cathy Yan, and you’ve got even more for this movie to be proud of. Harley Quinn in this movie isn’t a tomboy. None of the girls are. They are all realistic women with different personalities. At no point are any of the women in this movie devalued for acting feminine. They are. That in itself is badass. Not only that, but it proved that just the name Harley Quinn could garner so much of a frenzy around a movie that even her presence could get a sizable audience to watch it. It was clear after this movie that Harley Quinn might just be the most popular DC character of this generation. This would have never been expected of a female character a few years ago. Everything about ‘Birds of Prey’ was important for female representation in Hollywood, and we’ve had a surge of female ensemble films since it came out.

Margot Robbie Herself:

There is really no other person that could have been cast in this role. Truly. Margot Robbie fell so much in love with this role, that she’s begun taking on a producer role for many of the movies she plays Harley Quinn in. She was one of the driving forces behind the existence of ‘Birds of Prey’. She has a say in much of how Harley Quinn is portrayed, which is why it has only been getting better. As long as she’s pushing for Harley Quinn to be portrayed authentically, we have an iconic female character in Hollywood movies.

The Merchandising:

The year ‘Suicide Squad’ came out, the amount of people who bought costumes to be Harley Quinn for Halloween skyrocketed to the point where it was the most popular costume that year. Unfortunately, this brought out all the male, gate-keeping, comic book fans. Women were almost instantly shamed for wearing this costume for years after; which prompted a different response than these men were probably used to. More women started dressing up as Harley Quinn and those that didn’t fought for those who did. The Harley Quinn costume fiasco brought a shining spotlight to the conversation on how women have always been questioned and scrutinized for liking absolutely anything from a young age. When the ‘Joker’ movie came out and men began buying Joker costumes in mass for Halloween, they were met with instant backlash because of their hypocrisy. This is ongoing, but this was one of the major events that led to this conversation being re-opened permanently.

What exactly is she changing?:

Absolutely everything. We’ve all known about the popularity of characters such as Batman, Superman, Iron Man, and Spider-Man. They are some of the most popular characters to ever be created. Sometimes Wonder Woman was thrown into that mix, but it felt for a long time as though no female comic book character would ever be able to permanently join that list. Harley Quinn is one of the main examples that has proven that idea wrong. She has become an icon in her own right. Superhero movies have always been a pinnacle of the action genre, and it feels like women are finally breaking into that world led by such legendary characters as Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn. I can feel badass wearing my pink pastels and bows knowing that Harley Quinn is wearing them in her own television shows and movies and is still massively respected for that femininity. Because femininity has never been and will never be bad or worthy of less respect.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie