Lovecraft Country might just be the neatest deconstruction of Lovecraft there is, though.
Lovecraft had a deep, deep fear of anything different or unusual. His stories touted the horrors of, among other things, air conditioning, colors outside the visible spectrum, and non-euclidean geometry. But one that he kept coming back to was race. His view of race and the importance of racial purity was intense even for his time, and the idea that he might have “impure” (read:Welsh) blood in his family was the inspiration for Shadow over Innsmouth. Racism was the order through which Lovecraft made his world and its dissolution his bane, and while he make some progress later in life (thanks in part to less radical friends and his Jewish wife who persistently challenged his views of her people), the idea of race as the ultimate order permeates his stories. People of color either worship his eldritch abominations or are eldritch themselves. The worst montrosity is the idea of these people interacting with good, white folks (and he had a much narrower definition of white than we have today), or even worse, having relationships with them. Merely bumping into a black guy is certain doom. And so on, and so forth.
Lovecraft Country, on the other hand, persistently shows the reality of racism, and it is thus: racism is the ultimate disorder. No law, no rule, no norm is exempt from it. Sheriff Hunt breaks his own laws to get at the black protagonists, making a mockery of his own profession to pursue them. Samuel Braithwaite breaks his own order’s rules when they appear to favor Atticus, a black man. Not even white people are safe from the cancer of racism: take Ms. Lydia, killed for running an equal diner in a non-segregated state. The idea that a person’s moral character or personal worth can be judged based on physical characteristics is a profound disconnect from the reality of humanity, and the effort to maintain the illusion simply causes that rot to spread into the foundation of society itself. Even the most monstrous creatures in the series follow rules, follow order: shoggoths dislike light, the ritual can be disrupted, ghosts may be appeased. Racism doesn’t. It comes from disorder and creates disorder. Lovecraft’s privilege kept him insulated from it, but the truth is that the thing he saw as the ultimate order was the source of chaos beyond his imagining, and Lovecraft Country hammers that in at every turn, from the white supremacist secret society to the eerily Innsmouth-like behavior of white towns who feel their turf has been infringed on.
And quite frankly? That’s a more thought-provoking, insightful, and interesting take on Lovecraft’s stories than any McCthulhu ripoff could ever be.
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See here's the thing.
When other Power Rangers villains show up and face off the rangers you're always like "oh no they're gonna try and do evil shit, destroy the zords, take the morphin grid, and take over the world ;-;"
When VENJIX shows up, however, you're like "oh fuck, he's gonna fucking murder them."
Other Power Rangers villains could NEVER.
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shadamygirl commented:
Wait there was actually a series to that? Oh my… I used to love watching this movie way early before school each morning, you’ve made my day
There is! Many current Astro Boy fans were introduced to Astro Boy through the 2009 movie in fact.
There are multiple versions and adaptations of Astro Boy:
Ambassador Atom (also known as Captain Atom) ~ April 1951 - March 1952
The first appearance of Astro Boy! Atom was not the main character in this manga, but he became very popular through this manga. It was because of Atom’s appearance in this manga that we got the Astro Boy manga! This was authored by Osamu Tezuka.
Astro Boy ~ April 3, 1952 - March 12, 1968
The manga for Astro Boy, and where the Atom we know and love came to be! This was authored by Osamu Tezuka.
Mighty Atom (tokusatsu series) ~ March 7, 1959 - May 28, 1960
The first television adaptation of Astro Boy! It is a live-action version of the manga.
Astro Boy (1963 series) ~ January 1, 1963 - December 31, 1966
The first animated television adaptation of Astro Boy! It’s a long series: 193 episodes!
This was the first regularly running half-hour anime ever produced! It was also the first widely popular Japanese animated series ever. Without the 1963 Astro Boy series, anime as we know it would likely not exist.
It was produced with direct involvement by Osamu Tezuka and his company, Mushi Production (he later went on to form Tezuka Productions).
Astro Boy (1980 series) ~ October 1, 1980 - December 23, 1981
The second animated television adaptation of Astro Boy! This was the second and final TV anime of Astro Boy produced with direct involvement by Osamu Tezuka. It was produced by Tezuka Productions and is a much shorter anime: 52 episodes.
Astro Boy (2003 series) ~ April 6, 2003 - March 28, 2004
The third Astro Boy anime! It was the first Astro Boy anime produced after Osamu Tezuka’s passing and one of the last anime to use cel animation. It was produced by Tezuka Productions, has 50 episodes, and is a very popular adaptation of Astro Boy!
Pluto ~ September 9, 2003 - April 5, 2009
A manga adaptation of one of the popular arcs from the Astro Boy manga. It was authored by Naoki Urasawa.
Astro Boy (2009 film) ~ October 8, 2009 (Hong Kong premiere), October 23, 2009 (United States premiere)
The widely released feature length 3D animated film for Astro Boy! I’m sure you’re very familiar with this. It was produced by Hong Kong based Imagi Animation Studios.
Little Astro Boy ~ March 22, 2014 - April 26, 2014
The first Astro Boy animated adaptation produced not mainly by Tezuka Productions! While it was produced by Tezuka Productions, it was also produced by Yomiuri TV Enterprises in partnership with Nigerian broadcaster Channels TV. It debuted first in Nigeria in 2014, before being released in Japan on a DVD set on November 3, 2015.
It is geared towards preschoolers. It is a short series, running for only 8 eleven minute episodes. It can be watched in full in only about 90 minutes!
Atom: The Beginning ~ Manga: December 1, 2014 - present; Anime: April 15, 2017 - July 8, 2017
A prequel series to Astro Boy, authored by Tetsuro Kasahara! A 12 episode anime adaptation was made by OLM, Production I.G, and Signal.MD in 2017.
Go Astro Boy Go! ~ August 2, 2019 (first worldwide premiere in China), October 3, 2019 - October 1, 2020 (Japan airing)
The most recent Astro Boy series! It is the second Astro Boy series produced not mainly by Tezuka Productions. In fact, it was almost entirely produced by Planet Nemo Animation and Play Big + Something Big; Tezuka Productions did assist with the series.
Like Little Astro Boy, it is geared towards young kids. It has 52 episodes which run about 13 minutes each. 51 episodes aired in Japan.
Future series ~ Release dates to be determined
There is even more Astro Boy coming out! A third Astro Boy overseas adaptation was announced on June 8, 2014 by Shibuya Productions called Astro Boy Reboot, and an anime adaptation was announced for the Pluto manga on June 13, 2017. Release dates for them have yet to be determined, but they are still being made!
There are many adaptations of Astro Boy! There even a few other ones that I didn’t mention here, but these are the main ones. Choose one, dive in, and enjoy. :)
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