Tag Veronica Mars

‘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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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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The Thing About Love Triangles

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Veronica Mars actors supporting their opposing factions by wearing the “wrong” T-Shirts.

Love triangles are essentially double-no, triple edged swords. They are tricky to begin, even harder to keep interesting, yet are incredibly easy engage the audience with. So many of these love triangles fall flat, but writers keep turning to them every chance they get. I have yet to see a single love triangle that didn’t do at least one thing wrong, but at the same time, I have yet to see a single repeated trope that gets as much as a response as these do. As terrible as they often are, people love love triangles. Everything about them just draws you in. They involve characters you care about, they incite dangerous shipping instincts in all of us, and they are so damn divisive. There is nothing in this world that unites us more than an enemy, and love triangles create them in spades. This is why when love triangles are introduced, people tend to classify their preferred choice for the fought over party with teams (Ex: Team Peeta vs Team Gale). Its that adversarial aspect that initially draws people in, but its also the ways people can relate to them in real life that strikes such a cord. Not everyone will be locked in a three-way love or death struggle, but whether you like it or not, someone’s going to end up on the wrong side of a choice between two suitors. However, even with our natural desire to be invested in romantic entanglements, they still tend to fall apart a lot for a few big reasons.

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