ZOMBIE INVASION MEME!: Team Claire

I got asked this IRL today and I couldn't help but write about it.

Okay, here is the hypothetical situation:

The zombie apocalypse is nigh! But all is not lost! You have the power to save the world! You are given the ability by the forces that be to summon 5 fictional characters to help you save the world! Who do you call to help save mankind from the flesh eating zombies and why?

Here's the Team Claire lineup:

1. Q (Star Trek: The Next Generation): Why? He's the next closest thing to God. An Omnipotent being with amazing cosmic powers...the only problem would be trying to convince him that saving humanity would be fun and exciting.

2. Darkstar (Ben 10 Alien Force) Why? He's pretty good at knocking people out. He's also got vast financial resources. If War of the Worlds is any indication, he's a pretty capable fighter...and it did take FOUR super powered people and a swarm of DNAliens to take him down. Sounds like an ideal super powered zombie fighter. Plus...if you need someone to go on a covert supply run...Darkles is the way to go. Also...he sounds like Wil Wheaton <3.

3. Dr. Victor Von Doom (Fantastic Four) Why? He's a tenacious super-genius with an entire country's defense budget at his disposal. Someone with a superiority complex like Doom isn't about to let a little something like a zombie invasion get him down. Plus...his armor shields him from zombie bites.

4. Wolverine (X-Men) Why? He's an unkillable, healing factor powered mutant with an Adamantium laced skeleton...which means he can slice, dice, and come back for more. Sounds like another good recruit for Team Claire!

5. Mutant Kevin 11 (Ben 10) Why? He's got eleven different kinds of super powers...yeah, I know, he only uses ten of them...but I'm not gonna short change him on that. He's some much needed muscle and a lot of rage. Just tell him the zombies made fun of him when he wasn't listening and watch what happens. Awesomeness...that's what happens.

So tell me...in the event of a zombie attack...who is on your team?

I’m Officially Rooting For Skynet: Revisiting Terminator Salvation

I’m Officially Rooting For Skynet: Revisiting Terminator Salvation

A few weeks ago, Terminator Salvation opened to a mixed bag of fandom hate and general acceptance. By now, we’ve all heard about how ludicrous the ending is, how stiff Christian Bale’s acting was, and how Helena Bonham Carter is a strange addition to the mythology. All of these elements have been addressed in previous reviews..however, there is one particularly disturbing element which has not been discussed and I feel it needs to.
First, let me present a hypothetical situation.
You’ve been living in the desert for over a year after a nuclear apocalypse with three or four members of the same sex. Suddenly, a dashing member of the opposite sex appears with meager supplies of food and antibiotics (both of which have been in short supply since the aforementioned nuclear holocaust) that they are willing to share. Is your first thought “Let’s rape them!”?
For those of you who don’t know, this scene actually takes place in Terminator Salvation when Human Resistance soldier Blair is accosted by evil rednecks who decide to gang rape the first woman they’ve seen in a long time. Luckily for Blair, Marcus, a Terminator who doesn’t know it, comes to her rescue.
Okay....I am now officially rooting for Skynet and its never ending army of Terminators and Hunter-Killers. If humanity is that close to extinction and the first thing they think of is rape, there’s no hope for the species. Really, I hope the Terminator series ends with humanity being destroyed by the machines. It is scenes like this that really are disheartening to see. Really disheartening. So...why was I wanting humanity to survive again? Thanks, random raping rednecks, for letting me see the light.
I want Skynet to win.
I want it to totally eliminate the human race because if we’re that close to biting the big one and the first thing on men’s minds is “RAPE IT!,” then there’s no hope for the species and I’m saddened by how impossible Star Trek is.
I want John Connor to go completely insane. He has to be halfway there. I mean, he’s spent the last thirty years listening to cassettes his mother recorded in the nineteen eighties...about how he is the son of a future soldier and how he is destined to save humanity from the oncoming onslaught by a race of cold, heartless machines. You can’t tell me that kind of thing doesn’t do something to your head after a few decades. I’m tired of watching him listen to tapes and tote that stupid eighties-tastic picture of his pregnant mom and her German Shepherd everywhere. I know it gets burned up in a Resistance tunnel at some point, but seriously, enough is enough with that Polaroid, okay?
So yes, I want him to go crazy and die, realizing that he isn’t the Messiah...that his backstory is all bullshit....that his mother was a hallucinating schizophrenic and that his life is a sham. There is no point in saving the humanity of the Terminator universe.
He might be halfway there...after all, he does think it is a good idea for his wife (who used to be a vetrenarian) to give him open heart surgery in the desert...and to take the heart of Marcus, whose tissue Connor doesn’t know is compatible with his own...and that is their only actually useful soldier. Nothing in Terminator Salvation could have been done without Marcus (the Terminator who doesn’t know he is one...also more human than humans because he doesn’t think rape is very gentlemanly). So, in effect, John Connor is literally killing humanity’s chance at survival. Thanks, John. Skynet salutes you.
I want Skynet to win by decimating humanity...then, I want the series to end with T-800s gardening and taking care of squirrels and butterflies like the killer robots from Laputa: Castle in the Sky, proving that killer cyborgs are actually more environmentally and socially conscientious than our primitive race of meat bags ever could be.
That ending to the franchise would utterly infuriate its whiny boy fanbase, but would be so utterly brilliant that words can’t describe it.
Ah...it would be beautiful way to end the franchise, indeed...and completely unexpected!

ROTFLOL For The Ben 10 Alien Force Complete Guide

Ah...I love the smell of ancillary products in the...afternoon.

Which is when the UPS Guy showed up with a box of books for me.

This is where you smile and nod in agreement with the awesome.

Actually, he brought two books...the first was the new Sookie Stackhouse mystery (Ultra <3 for the books, major HATE for the show) and...the...the Alien Force Complete Guide.

Yeah, I know it is for six year olds, but hey, it is pretty comprehensive for something that could be UBER LAME. Plus, it has entries for Mike, Darkstar, AND Albedo...nice to get a little bad guy representation...AM I RIGHT, Bandai?

Anyway...a lot of people are probably wondering what's in it...well...a lot...and surprisingly few examples of ENGRISH. I'm happy and sad at the same time. Sad that that significantly lowers the amount of LOL! worthy content the book has, but happy that children reading it won't proclaim that Helen is Pierce's brother or what Kevin "gave up the wrong week to fight with monsters." It is up to date as far as Season 2 goes...and hints at other things...mostly things we already knew...like Vilgax returns (at least in a video game) and that Darkstar will show up again.

First of all...wow...check out Page 50....THAT IS SO NOT! TYLER!
Either that...or that twenty-six year old ages way faster than anyone else ALIVE. LOL.

Page 48 answers an fandom age old qustion:

It is spelled "Magister Prior Gilhil."

Surprisningly enough, Vilgax is in it (Page 74) and gives something spoilery away...something about Ben fighting him with a broken Omnitrix...and winning...again. LOL! The artwork for Villie is clip art from the first show.

There is a nice glossary section, "Best of" section, and if you were a bad guy for more than three minutes on the show...you get a spotlight page...if you are lucky (like Darkles) you get two. If you were a good guy who appeared in one or more episodes...you get a spotlight (Lu has a page...remember Lu? He was in "Birds of a Feather" and Tiny gets one too...I love her alien baby cuteness ^_^)

Darkles also has a reason to hate on the heroes again...his info page says he "came through...(by saving the world)- but he disappeared before he could be sent back to the Null Void."

Darkstar: Asshats.

Is it worth six bucks?

I would like to think so...but that's me....and I'm probably not a great judge for stuff like. I mean, I did spend the same amount of money on turning a Ken doll into a Mike Morningstar doll. I love having something like this book in my Ben 10 collection. I mean, the original show didn't get a complete guide, but Alien Force did.

The mind kind of boggles on that one, but ah well...it is fun in its own way.

It entertained me for at least and hour...*snicker*...It even has alien personality quizzes.

Apparently, I most resemble Goop (a sentient puddle of green goo) and Big Chill (an ice powered moth man) XD.

Film Review: Up Soars

Up.

Just Wow.

This movie is breathtaking.

It truly is.

It is, in my humble opinion, the most human Pixar movie yet.
Yeah, we've had "human" stories before...like The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and the Gels of Wall-E, but never anything like this. Honestly, I could never identify with the characters in The Incredibles (except for Edna...she's the best thing in that movie)...and Luigi was a prop for Remy...and the Gels were...well, just really lazy people who had forgotten what it was to be human.

Up reveals that Pixar knows how to tell a human story.

Put simply, Up is a story about ordinary people who do extraordinary things...and I'm not talking about building translator collars for dogs or flying a house with balloons...though those things are extraordinary in their own right. Up is about real people. They have real lives, jobs, and development that is completely believable. Carl Fredrickson is a retired balloon salesman who has been living in the same house for many years and refuses to sell it to the suits who are tearing down his neighborhood and building, well, new buildings. They offer him an enormous (unnamed) sum, but he always refuses. The reason why he doesn't want to sell his house is heartbreaking and touching. Russel, the adorable Wilderness Explorer, has his own reasons for wanting to earn his "Assisting the Elderly" badge.

There is also a really great message about society and the elderly present here that is really important and I'm glad Pixar addressed it. Carl isn't taken seriously by many people who should respect him. Even those who are supposed to take care of him (nursing home attendants who come to pick him up via a court order) are disrespectful and condescending. Russel keeps trying, with the best intentions, to assist him in absolutely everything. There are lessons about death, dying, living, and life all sprinkled throughout the movie and it really deserves to be scene. For instance, we get to see positive forms of passion, Carl and his wife Ellie love adventure...they want to visit Paradise Falls in South America, but their savings end up going to other things they need. Instead, they spend their lives working at the South American exhibit at their local zoo. Russel wants to become a senior Wilderness Explorer and aims to earn all the badges(he's only missing one!). There is also a negative portrayal of obsession epitomized by Muntz, a once famous explorer, is obsessed with finding a rare species of bird. He's driven to madness through this single minded goal-unable to take pleasure from the events that take place around him.

There are a lot of great things about this movie that make it another amazing entry into the Pixar canon.

I currently find myself loving Dug The Dog. He talks like I'd imagine a real dog would if they could, simple, and good natured. He's the nerd dog of the alpha pack. While the other dogs are loud and harsh like their master, Dug is sweet and easily swayed over to the good guys' side. He has a number of adorable quotes which include "I was hiding under your porch because I love you" and "I have just met you and I love you"-all the while wagging his fluffy tail and being adorable.

Let's not leave out Kevin, the giant rainbow bird who likes chocolate and sitting on Carl's roof. They're all in for a surprise when they realize that Kevin's...well, a girl. XD

All that said, it is a tearjerker.
It is possibly the most sad animated film in existence. Strangely enough, it isn't depressing at all, just sad because it feels so real. I myself cried at least three different times during this movie, yet I immediately wanted to see it again.

Don't let the fact that you'll probably cry your eyes out multiple times in this movie stop you from seeing it. Up is another Pixar movie that celebrates the everyday as the amazing,, which makes is a must see...just bring tissues.

Disrupted Balance: How Paramount Alienated the Avatar The Last Airbender Fan base

Disrupted Balance:
How Paramount Alienated the Avatar: The Last Airbender fan base


By Claire Gill



The relationship between media companies and online participatory fandoms is difficult to define, categorize, or even understand from an outside source. While media producers create television programs, music, and movies that people all over the world view and enjoy, there is a select group of people among these who are part of online subcultures devoted to the various texts that are produced. These fans are often brand loyal and have been embraced by some of the most long lived franchises in both film and television.


In recent times, most particularly through the rise of the Internet as both an advertising forum and a social networking medium. This has increased the amount of media that companies expose to potential consumers, including fandoms. Said media is then analyzed and adapted by fans, who become very protective and loyal to texts they form attachments with. Fans engage with one another on message boards, in role playing forums. They create fan art and construct elaborate costumes that emulate their favorite characters. In short, they provide a lot of free advertising for media companies, as well as form a loyal fan base which “supports” its property of choice by purchasing it, as well as other ancillary products that have the property brand. With this “support” often comes a feeling of partial ownership on the part of the fans, which can result in a clash between them and the companies that hold the intellectual copyrights to the fandom’s chosen text.


The latest outcry of fandom against a cinematic appropriation of a text is in the case of M. Night Shymalan’s next film, The Last Airbender, based on the Nickelodeon cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender. The series was an epic that spanned three seasons and was set in an alternate world where elemental “bending,” a sort of inner magic that allows certain people known as benders to manipulate the elements of their world depending on their heritage, is central to the balance of humanity and the natural world.


What has angered the fans is the disloyalty of the planned movie to the original text. Avatar The Last Airbender as a television show was primarily based on ancient Asian culture and spiritual ideas. The costumes, traditions, and appearances of characters in the series are almost all Asian in appearance and theme with the exception of the Water Tribe, which is heavily influenced by Inuit culture. Likewise, the series’ characters were designed to look Asian and Native American. However, when the casting for the live action adaptation was released, it was revealed that the four main characters would be played by white actors. In the original series, these characters were depicted as having either an Asian (Aang and Zuko) or Native American (Sokka and Katara) appearance.

Screenshot: Katara, Aang, and Sokka from Season 1.

To many fans, the casting of white actors in the roles of nonwhite characters has caused a rift between them and the owners of the original text. In this case, Paramount/Nickelodeon is viewed, by fans, as being out of touch with not only the fans, but also the original text. The comments of the casting director regarding erroneous ethnic costuming caused a further stir online fan backlash that deemed the company which controlled the rights to Avatar to be unfamiliar not only with the fan base, but also with its own text.


As of this writing, there is a general consensus among the online fandom of Avatar, who sometimes refer to themselves as Avatards to indicate a high level of textual loyalty and online fan participation, that the upcoming film is not a recreation of the original text, but rather a “whitewashed,” mainstream re-imagining. Many fans, upon hearing of the casting decisions for the main four characters, have decided to not support the movie. What this means in terms of participatory fandom is that the fandom will not buy movie tickets or ancillary products, or encourage anyone else to. This is a drastic step for the Avatar fan base, as they have previously been extremely active in terms of the generation of fan media and the purchasing of branded merchandise. Losing the faith of such a dedicated fandom could prove troublesome for Paramount. While the film will undoubtedly make at least some money, the separation of a fan community and the long awaited feature film could have a financial backlash

This shows the lack of understanding of the property, which is peculiar on the part of Paramount, the owners of the perennial Star Trek franchise. Paramount embraces the Trekkies and has learned the benefits that a long term participatory fandom community can offer.


This is not the first instance of the Avatar fandom feeling alienated by Paramount, merely the latest and most extreme. Since 2005, several events have caused growing rifts between the fandom and the parent company that owns Avatar. One of the first events that caused some disconnect between the parent company and the fandom was an action figure licensing deal with toy giant, Mattel. When the figures reached stores, none of the series’ strong female characters were included in the assortment. Actually, no female characters were included in the assortment. This caused an immediate backlash with fans of the series who felt that the show presented positive, strong female characters. The absence of Katara, the respnsible, hopeful Waterbender, as well as Toph, the blind, spunky Earthbending prodigy caused a letter writing campaign that pleaded with Mattel to release figures of these fan favorite characters. Many of these petitions and letters remain open, despite the disappearance of toys from store shelves as the line ended (http://www.oafe.net/articulation/0707.php).


Further fan alienation occurred when Nickelodeon aired Season 3 in two parts, with more than six months between airing the first half of the season and the second half of the season, despite the fact that the episodes were completed. The original airdate was pushed from late spring to midsummer, causing a scheduling conflict with the release of a novelized adaptation of the series finale, which was released in the Spring of 2008 to coincide with the original scheduled air date. As such, many fans bought the book and read the end of the series rather than wait an additional two months to find out what happened.


When M. Night Shymalan was announced as the director of a trilogy of films based off the series, fans were skeptical, but hopeful. Now in the wake of a “whitewashing” of a predominantly Asian and Inuit culture influenced series, as well as the following culturally ignorant statements on the part of Deedee Rickets, the film’s casting director in reference to the open casting call for extras:

“”We want you to dress in traditional cultural ethnic attire," she said. "If you're Korean, wear a kimono. If you're from Belgium, wear lederhosen."(http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2009/01/23/News/Try-Out.For.A.Role.For.M.Night.Shyamalan-3594896.shtml)



With the release of that statement, many fans have withdrawn complete interest from the film, feeling that their text is in the hands of people who are unfamiliar with it and don’t care enough about it to familiarize themselves with it or with the participatory fandom participants who hold it dear. Others have written letters expressing their concern over casting decisions to Paramount. There is currently a schism between the Avatar> fandom and the legal owners of the text as to what the film should be, one that only time and possibly recasting will be able to heal, if Paramount wants it healed, that is.





Links/Information of Interest:
A LiveJournal Community regarding the whitewashing of the Avatar movie has been created and has initiated a well spoken letter writing campaign to change the cast to a more ethnically diverse and series accurate cast:
http://aang-aint-white.livejournal.com/646.html
An excellent fan blog entry on this topic can be found here:
http://derekkirkkim.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-day-in-politics-same-old-racist.html

If you would like to address this subject, letters should be directed to:
Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall
Kennedy/Marshall Company
619 Arizona Avenue, Fl. 2
Santa Monica, California 90401

1000 Words Instantly

More fun with Dinosaurs

They're your friends and a whole lot more.


For those of you who just missed that reference, Google "Denver The Last Dinosaur"

What I love about this image, another random find on the glorious interweb, is that is is both nonsensical and intelligent. Why would a carnosaur be interested in either Hamlet or Terminator sequels?
I have no idea.
This particular Tyranosaurus Rex is also fluent in English.
Ponder that, why don't you?

What we also see here is the removal of several things from their original contexts. First, there is the dinosaur. While in its own time period, it was a feared predator, here, it is an anthropomorphized and very green film critic.
Next, there is the proposition that Hamlet, obviously a classic work of English Literature, is a Terminator sequel.

Oddly, the dinosaur is correct here in that Hamlet is okay (in its original context), but disappoints at every conceivable level as a Terminator sequel. This is also accurate. Hamlet does not feature time traveling cyborgs, dystopian futures, or anything that a person coming to a Terminator text would expect. Therefore, it is highly probable that if someone were to hypothetically approach Hamlet as a Terminator sequel, they could consider it an "okay" story that has nothing in common with previous canonical texts.
Of course, Hamlet has existed after dinosaurs, but well before Terminator sequels (one great, one passable, and a television show I can't pass judgement on because I haven't seen), but since we're dealing with a series (Temrinator) whose canon contains time travel, anything is possible.

Film Review: Ratatouille

“Not everyone can be a great artist...but a great artist can come from anywhere”
-Anton Ego, Ratatouille
Ratatouille, the latest entry into the Brad Bird canon, is a salute to all things bold and individual. As in the director’s previous films (The Iron Giant and The Incredibles), the unique is celebrated and embraced...once it has been given the chance to prove itself. This is not accomplished overnight, but through a series of character building trials in which the hero risks life and limb. These problems can be extremely problematic when you’re, well, a rat.
Remy (Patton Oswalt) is a country rat with a passion for cooking, a hobby which borders on obsession that frequently leads the lovable rodent into situations that seemingly ruin his life. In the first instance, his amazing sense of smell goes from saving his fathers to making him into his family’s “poison checker”. When Remy tries to teach his dim, but loving brother, Emile (Peter Sohn) the finer aspects of taste, they end up being struck by lightning, causing the discovery and subsequent destruction of their gargantuan nest. The family is separated in the ensuing evacuation and Remy finds himself alone for the first time. When he rises from the baptismal waters of the sewer, the young rat realizes he has been under the streets of Paris, more specifically, the restaurant of his cooking idol, Gusteau (Brad Garrett). It is there that Remy’s gift finally begins to shine. After befriending Linguini (Lou Romano), a talentless, but somehow charming plongeur, the two team up to fulfill their dreams.
Bird's work is exceptional here. I found myself liking Ratatouille much more than his previous Pixar installment, The Incredibles. While clever and entertaining, I found it simply had too much going on to really identify with any of its wonderfully colorful characters. Ratatouille feels much closer to The Iron Giant in terms of character development and life lessons garnered (the size differences in the protagonists of each not withstanding). Both films are about coming to terms with yourself and choosing who you are. In this day and age, where everyone seems to be clamoring over the same designer handbags and Abercrombie couture, it is refreshing to experience a film that blatantly celebrates not only individualism, but its acceptance by the one most likely to denounce it...a critic. Thus, Ratatouille is a morality fable for the artist’s soul and visual eye candy for the viewer. While not everyone can make a great film, this one solidifies my own personal belief that good films come from Pixar.

FIRST POST: Happiest Dinosaur Ever

POSTMODERNISM: IT IS WHAT'S MUNDANE *!

Also this.

I have no idea where this image originated. I found it on my hard drive without explanation or grouped with a like-file.

I guess that's alright...I mean, this image floating in cyberspace is probably a lot more interesting than any explanation I could have for it...except for maybe aliens.

*Please note that postmodernism is anything but mundane in the traditional sense. "Mundane" here refers to the real world, the unplugged, non blogging, not 56K Modem world. The one without the pop up ads and the RP forums...though it has plenty of instances of ROTFLOL...or at the very least LOL.