Author kennyu4

Batman: Death of the Family Review

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Scott Snyder’s Batman: Death of the Family is one of the most ambitious Batman stories I’ve ever read. It is one that seeks to make a definitive statement about Batman’s relationship with his arch-foe and it succeeds in doing so in a way that was never done before. The attention to detail and the obvious reverence Snyder has for the source material is palpable. The Joker is simultaneously at his most loving and deranged in this horror story as he takes Batman down memory lane and makes a serious effort in emphasizing why their relationship is so important, and why the one he has with his supposed family is the part of Bruce’s life that truly needs to be destroyed. The characterization of the Joker in particular is what proves to be both this story’s greatest strength and weakness.

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“Stealing White Heroes” – The Ridiculous Triple Standard and Why Minority Heroes Matter

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I should probably clear up the fact that, yes, the phrase “triple standards” isn’t a thing; however, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t the best way to describe the situation we find ourselves in with race and casting in Hollywood. Casting the right actors for movies (and superhero ones in particular) is arguably the most important part about making one. Who you cast seriously affects the box-office turnout, the strength of your film, and its critical reception. There is a lot that goes into picking who should star in your movie because that process alone will mean the difference between success and failure. Thanks to the potential for prestige and adoration enjoyed by many prominent actors (and perhaps a genuine passion for the craft), there is a huge number of people aspiring for roles in films; all of which coming from wildly different backgrounds, but the unfortunate reality is that while many of them would like to be movie stars, most will fail miserably. A huge factor in this is the discrepancy between race and representation in Hollywood.

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The Parks and Recreation Finale was Unapologetically Sappy and Spectacular

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The Two and a Half Men finale was fine-crafted to be mean-spirited, obnoxious to people that didn’t watch the show, and insulting to people that did. I mention that finale now, because I feel as though the Parks and Recreation finale was its total opposite – the bizarro Two and a Half Men ending if you will. Where that finale tried very hard to make sure everybody loses, Parks did its damnedest to let us know that everyone became winners in the end. Some would argue however, that the show has gone beyond what could be considered sincerity and straight into cheese-ball territory. Considering the fact that this show began with what was a fairly cynical look at city government, things turning out to be all sunshine and miniature ponies named Sebastian can be seen as a little much. Of course Leslie Knope achieves everything she could ever hope to achieve, of course everyone’s relationships end with them riding into the sunset (and beyond), and of course the finale ends with a speech about the importance of friendship. With its unique flashforward format, this finale still feels like it really needed us to know that these people are going to be fine (hell, they even give us flashforwards for a loud and obnoxious supporting character like Craig).  It’s a very bold move to end this cheerfully, especially now in 2015, but it’s the type of trick that only this show could have pulled off successfully.

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The Two and a Half Men Finale Was a Well Exectuted “Screw You” to the Fans

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The finale’s vanity card explaining why Charlie Sheen didn’t make an appearance.

More accurately, it was an aggressive “Screw You” to anyone watching. It was incredibly meta, with many of the jokes being dedicated to the characters pointing out how the show has long overstayed its welcome, and totally irreverent. Seriously, everything the season was building up to prior to the finale (Walden’s surprisingly heartfelt adoption arc, or Alan’s growing up and proposing to his on-again-off-again love interest Lyndsey) were all tossed to the wayside and mercilessly mocked, almost as if the show was actively trying to make anyone who was even marginally invested feel as terribly as possible. And if it wasn’t obvious from just watching the series, a couple of jokes were even devoted to how painfully unfunny the show has been as a whole for the past 12 years (I told you, it was a really meta finale). Mixed in with all of this were fitting character send-offs, misdirection, and of course the “Return of Charlie”. This is where the show gets really mean-spirited.

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Is ‘Iggy Azalea’ Racist? – A Look at Every Angle

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For the longest time, I’ve always considered the most inflammatory and controversial question one can ask of something is whether or not it is racist. Today, the hot button question for well over a year has been whether or not the hip-hop artist , Iggy Azalea, is racist. I will be discussing the question itself from numerous angles, but to be clear, this isn’t going to focus only on whether or not Iggy Azalea as a person is racist. Despite that being an important discussion in its own right, it really isn’t my place to be making personal accusations like that at her. Behaviour like that is why legitimate grievances against the artist are drowned out by cries of “reverse-racism” (a problematic phrase in itself). What this article will be primarily examining is whether or not the “Iggy Azalea” brand and its success is racist, and what the common reaction to her presence means for us as a supposedly post-racial society.

It has been about a year since the breakout success of her album “The New Classic”, and the public still doesn’t know what to say about Iggy Azalea, so I’ve decided that the best way to go about discussing her is with examples of commonly held sentiments regarding Azalea herself, along with my responses to them.

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So How About That Persona 5 Trailer?

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When you see a trailer to the next installment of a beloved franchise, you always have to go in with the expectation that whoever is making that trailer has no idea what they’re doing. That right there is a really depressing sentiment, but I feel that it has become justified. These days, trailers really, really don’t get it. They either show way too much and ruin the plot, or they show next to nothing at all and end up failing to do the only thing a trailer should be doing in the first place. It’s about the excitement, it’s about building hype and keeping just enough mystery to leave you wanting more. A trailer should bring up just as many questions as answers, but not so many questions that you feel like you just stared at a big question mark for the past two minutes by the end. If you need an example of a good trailer, check out this Persona 5 one.

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The ‘Le Reddit Army’ : A Case Study

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“LE REDDIT ARMY IS HERE”

Ever read that phrase in a Youtube video? Or see an internet caricature along the line of Berta Lovejoy, or some variation of a fedora wearing atheist posting some inane top-rated comment on a video? Well then, you have encountered a member of the greatly despised “Le Reddit Army”, a group of redditors on the internet who band together to post obnoxious messages on youtube and upvote their fellow soldiers. As I mentioned in a previous article, these guys are a relatively recent brand of troll who operate by impersonating internet stereotypes and inspiring rage from people who fall for their act, proud redditors who don’t want to be associated with them, and anyone who just doesn’t like seeing obvious trolls getting top comments. Who are they exactly, what should you be doing in response to them, and what does their presence say about the internet community as a whole? By the end of this article you will at least have some understanding of these internet trouble makers and then you can decide for yourself whether or not they are worth getting worked up about.

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‘Play it Again, Dick’ is Pretty Much the Greatest Thing Ever

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“How do you do it, Dick Casablancas?”

When I first heard of a Dick Casablancas centred Veronica Mars spin-off, I was super excited to see the continued exploration of a world I loved so much; however, I am ashamed to admit I was disappointed upon finding out it was actually a show about Ryan Hansen trying to make a Dick Casablancas show. It’s so odd reviewing this because this is really the first of its kind now that I think about it. Sure there have been other mockumentaries but this show feels like an odd cross between the world of Veronica Mars, the world of a fictionalized Ryan Hansen as he tries create the pilot to his show Private Dick, and some other strange vision of the world of television acting. Before I really delve into this review, I should tell fans of Veronica Mars who have decided against watching it for whatever reason to stop what they’re doing and go see it right now. Seriously, I’d argue that its 8 short episodes are more fulfilling in terms of fanservice than the movie was (which I also loved).

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Pandering: What Does it Mean Now?

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Pandering has become quite the confusing thing these days hasn’t it? The phrase in the context of fandoms refers to when a writer forces something into their story in a hollow attempt to appeal to his or her fanbase. For example, if I’m writing a popular TV series and there is a one-off character that people found tremendously funny, me contriving that character back into the show and going against its natural flow solely to appeal to the fans is an example of pandering. It is compromising the story for the sake of a shallow appeal, but unfortunately that isn’t exactly a rigid definition. What constitutes as “compromising the story”? How much “compromising” is acceptable if the result is something everyone enjoys a great deal? Is there such a thing as good pandering? What exactly is the difference between that and “fanservice”? These questions are all important, and the distinction that pandering deals with something that directly effects a story’s quality is important, because if we were to consider any time a writer including something they think their fans would like pandering, then far too many things would be classified as such. It is in these questions that people find difficulty in answering that we find the main issue with the phrase. Today, the criticism of pandering is thrown around for just about any subplot featuring a fan favourite character, any pairing they don’t support, anything even vaguely alluding to a particular political affiliation, and essentially anything “I don’t like but other people do”. Due to these reasons, the once valid and important criticism of pandering has lost all weight.

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Veronica Mars ‘Got’ Racism

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TV Shows and movies don’t get racism for the most part. They really, really don’t. The most common misstep is the lack of realism in portraying adolescent racism. By now, most recognize that racism in the adult world is institutional and less overt, but with young people writers just love to simplify the hell out of it. Racist people in fiction are generally loud and obnoxious punks who make thinly veiled threats at every person of colour they see. The modern racist does not behave like this at all. Perhaps several years ago that was the case, but in the new millennium that does not even come close. Thankfully we have the Neo-Noir mystery show Veronica Mars that came out in the mid 2000’s to set the record straight. Racist teenagers aren’t loud and angry rednecks, they aren’t only people of low intelligence, and they aren’t super aggressive about their prejudice either. Racism to the teens of the world of Veronica Mars (a world that exists in the fictional town of Neptune) is used as a weapon, a tool of exclusion. For the show’s first two seasons, racial and class tensions are treated with significance, and more importantly, as closely related concepts. As Veronica herself succinctly puts it, “your parents are either millionaires, or your parents work for millionaires” within the class based society she lives in.

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