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froggi-mushroom · 2 years

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I saw your post on how much you hate the reign (XD) and wanted to ask what is a show you feel intensely about and why? 👀

Thank you for the ask!

I’ll be honest, I kinda play up my hatred for shows like Bridgerton and Reign because in reality I know they’re fantasy and not supposed to be historical (my only real gripe with them is that they use real historical figures but eh, that’s more of a nitpick though I do have some legitimate criticisms for bridgerton but I won’t get into those)

I suppose if there’s anything that I intensely dislike, it’s not really one particular show but a whole genre, I think I’ve mentioned it before, it’s those series’s that claim to be telling the real stories of women from history but miss the mark entirely and make them a caricature of an empowering woman (not to use a bit of a meme word here but I think the word ‘girlbossify’ is very appropriate here)

This is particularly noticeable with Tudor dramas (like any adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s works like The Spanish Princess, The White Queen, The White Princess, The Other Boleyn Girl, etc. which are already bad for this I’d like to mention, the recent channel 5 Anne Boleyn miniseries, the recent(ish) Mary, Queen of Scots movie, and a few more I’m probably missing) but I have seen it with other time periods as well

I could talk at length about how reducing an actual human woman to a caricature is not the win for feminism directors think it is, but why would I do that when I can aptly summarise my issue with a quote from one of my favourite history youtubers The Laughing Cavalier where he described one of these characters as ‘Joan of Arc on steroids’ 🙃

#ask #needcake #froggi rambles #i could honestly go on and on about why I dislike these shows #but I won’t cuz this is already enough #a lot of these are from starz which is pretty funny tbh #it’s also why I’m really reluctant to watch the new Elizabeth drama because that’s also by starz #honestly I’m more so pissed off cuz we haven’t had many decent Tudor dramas since the 70s which is pathetic #the only one I can think of is wolf hall which is amazing btw #The Tudors is good for history shit for costumes and everything else #Elizabeth the golden age isn’t bad it’s enjoyable #but it doesn’t hold a candle to Elizabeth R #i don’t think we’ve ever had a good Mary queen of Scots adaptation and we’re probably never going to #the Spanish Princess especially annoys me because for once. we actually have someone who somewhat looks like how Catherine probably did #for once we haven’t got the stereotypical Spanish looking woman ever playing her #and yet they fucked up everywhere else

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dingoes8myrp · 5 years

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Alien Franchise Thoughts

This weekend I happened to catch and rewatch Alien: Covenant. Right after that I caught and rewatched Aliens. This was sheerly through channel surfing luck that I watched these movies in this order. But, in doing so I connected some dots and had some realizations that gave me a new appreciation for the prequel series.

A Bit of Background

I can’t remember if I saw Alien or The Terminator first, so Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor get equal billing for being “the first” female action heroes I ever encountered. Prior to them I’d seen Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis watching action films with my dad. So seeing not Tom Skerrit’s Captain Dallas or John Hurt’s Kane but Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley take on the role of Action Hero was essential to my development as an eleven-year-old girl. I’m not even exaggerating for the sake of drama. Watching Ripley in Alien was one of the first examples I saw in media of a woman in a role I’d only seen taken on by male characters before. For this reason alone, the original Alien holds a special place in my heart.

The Original Series

I have mixed feelings about the franchise as a whole. I loved Alien and Aliens to me was just as good and is one of the few sequels that measures up to the original. It lost me at Alien 3 when they killed off Newt and Hicks in the opening crash land. Forcing Ripley into the “sole survivor” role becomes formulaic here and… honestly I’ve had no desire to rewatch Alien 3 and completely forget the entire plot other than the fact that it takes place in a prison setting and Ripley had to shave her head. And they killed off Ripley! I remember being very upset all around at Alien 3 and I think I mentally disowned it.

Alien: Resurrection brought me back around because Ripley was back! And there was Winona Ryder! However, Ripley wasn’t the same Ripley we remembered. She was some clone or hybrid or… I don’t really know what they were going for there. But, I looked at this film as a standalone almost AU installment and I’m actually very okay with it. Not my favorite by a longshot, but a slight redemption from Alien 3’s mess.

Alien vs. Predator

No. Just no. Denied. Why? What even? WHY?!

I’ve seen a few of these movies and if you’re a fan of big monsters fighting one another with a bunch of random humans caught in the middle, these movies might be your jam. If you’re a Predator or an Alien fan, though, it kind of doesn’t fit in with either in my opinion.

The Prequels

When I watched Prometheus I hadn’t done any research on it at all, so I had no idea it had anything to do with the Alien franchise. I saw a space-themed action-horror film with Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Noomi Rapace, and Michael Fassbender involved and I was IN, man. Honorable mention to Logan Marshall-Green, who is also awesome but I didn't catch in the trailers. So he was a nice surprise.

The opening scene was unworldly and gorgeous, much like the opening of The Mists of Avalon, which is a weird comparison, I know. But I was enchanted by this opening scene much like I was as I watched Morgaine Le Fey float through the mist that served as a doorway to a magical world. We see an unknown being on an alien planet perform a mysterious ritual and then plummet into the water. The first clue was the title card, which even then I thought “Oh, cool! They did the Alien thing!” but hadn’t connected it as directly related. I’d just thought it was a subtle nod because of the Ridley Scott connection.

I loved Prometheus as a film. I had a very similar reaction to it that I had to the original Alien movie. We had an ensemble of characters, all with their own personalities and enough development to make us care. Noomi Rapace became the reluctant hero as opposed to the expected Charlize Theron, who had been in the Ripley role (“He’s not coming on my ship.”). As the Alien clues dropped, I picked them up and quickly (excitedly) realized the film was somehow connected – it had to be. For me, that was just the cherry on top of a fantastic film.

Alien: Covenant made me feel much like Alien 3 did. The ending of Prometheus had been hopeful, echoing both the endings of Alien and Aliens. Our hero Elizabeth Shaw had survived and would bring android David along to find the Engineers and get her answers. Ridley Scott himself spoke about a possible sequel involving Elizabeth and David trying to do just that.

And then we got Alien: Covenant. Elizabeth and David were nowhere to be found and instead we were (hastily) introduced to an entire new crew of characters whose development was severely lacking in the film. We don’t even know everyone’s paired up in romantic couples until people start dying. When David did finally appear to rescue everyone I was excited. Yes! Finally, a tie-in to Prometheus. And then we learn Elizabeth died suspiciously and the franchise is turned over to David. To say I was infuriated would be an understatement.

I was more excited about the project Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn spoke about at a comic-con panel that would’ve followed Alien and Aliens (and maybe retconned some stuff) than I was about whatever Ridley Scott did next (I still kind of am, if I’m honest). Why would someone take a franchise helmed by a powerhouse female action hero and then make its lead an insane android and his pet virus? Why would I want to follow this asshole instead of Shaw, Daniels, or even Vickers?

Final Analysis

Watching Aliens right on the heels of Alien: Covenant made it easier for me to make some connections and parallels. In Aliens, a group of marines attempts to travel to a space colony that lost contact to see what’s going on. Ripley is brought along (with Burke, that shit) as a consultant “just in case” (even though everyone treats her like she has a case of the vapors when she tells them about the xenomorphs). The premise makes little sense on the outset. However, when we later learn Burke’s true motivation it makes perfect sense. Burke believes Ripley, although he makes a show of the opposite. And he wants to bag an alien to bring home and sell to the highest bidder. When the soldiers start stomping carelessly around blowing holes in things with there big dumb weapons, it’s infuriating to the audience, knowing what we know. However, it’s also infuriating to Ripley and we’re reminded why she’s there. These are soldiers who, of course, have no idea what to do with an alien species and probably aren’t used to exploring alien environments.

This is very similar to what’s going on in Alien: Covenant. Not made clear in the film due to the character development scenes (such as “the last supper” prologue) being cut, this crew are explorers and colonists. They’re not astronauts or scientists. A few of the characters appear to be military escorts or officers. Of course they’re tromping around without a care in the world. They don’t know any better. Their captain, Jake Bronson, dies mid-journey and his second-in-command, Billy Crudup’s Oram, is super insecure about his new position. This is frequently shown in his interactions with Katherine Waterson’s No First Name Daniels, who was also Bronson’s wife. Daniels has a comradery and respect with the crew not present with Oram. So, when Oram has to start making decisions he’s acting more on his insecurity and his need to Do Something and be taken seriously than acting on the information and advice he’s given. Also, once we know the relationships between characters everyone’s bizarre anti-survival behavior makes a ton of sense. After a certain point in the film, everyone has lost a spouse and/or a ton of friends. Everyone is grieving, scared, and not at all trained to be doing what they’re doing, and they don’t have a Ripley on board to help guide them. “Game over, man! Game over!”

Yeah, Alien: Covenant is what happens when you make every character a Hudson.

Watching Ripley’s reaction to Bishop in Aliens reminded me how iffy Ash the A.I. was in Alien. You know, he got all murdery and everything.

Then I remembered – oh, yeah – Alien: Covenant is a prequel. This means David is an A.I. precursor of some kind to Ash… which means he’s a faulty A.I. Also, Ripley encountered creatures and situations no one had discovered before to our knowledge (due to everyone’s reaction to Ripley’s story in Aliens). This ultimately means no one can make it out of these prequels alive or it compromises Ripley’s established story.

David is a faulty A.I., which hasn’t yet been experienced by anyone living who has encountered androids in space exploration if we go by the example of Ash in Alien. Failsafes haven’t been given to androids yet to limit their emotional depths or put rules in place to prevent them from harming humans. He’s creating creatures that are new. No one knows they exist, so no one is prepared for them (just like the crew of the Nostromo wasn’t prepared for the xenomorphs in Alien). Even heavily trained soldiers, scientists, and astronauts will be encountering deadly things they don’t know are out there: a highly intelligent rogue A.I. capable of experiencing emotion and evolution, mutated weaponized creatures unlike anything they’ve ever seen before, and an alien virus that mutates its host and is undetectably ingested.

Guys, ain’t nobody emerging as the lone heroic survivor of anything in this franchise (except the fucking xenomorph).

Having digested and accepted that information, I am grimly awaiting what happens next, and I really hope with all my giddy little heart that theorized Aliens sequel Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn teased is going to happen. I’ll even take a video game version.

Hicks and Newt deserved better and I stand by that.

#alien #aliens #alien covenant #dingometa

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lair-of-books · 5 years

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How are we already in August?!? 😱 I guess what they say is true, time flies when you’re having fun 🙌🏽 admittedly this means my reading took a hit cause I’ve been really enjoying life & having some amazing experiences I’ll never forget 💓 As we approach the end of Summer, the itch to pick up my books has struck & I’m sOoO ready to give in! 🤗 I was recently blessed by the Book Gods to gain access to some EPIC 2019/2020 ARCS so it’s looking like I have my reading cut out for me. That being said, I’m still going to mood read my little heart away cause it really has made me a much happier bookworm. I have fallen a bit behind with reviews 🙈😂 but I’m working on choosing one day of the week where I focus solely on drafting reviews. In the month of July I found myself reading more than any other month this year thanks to audiobooks. Yes audiobooks count & I will die on that cross! they’ve helped me get into a more steady workout routine (LIVIN MY BEST LIFE🔥), now I tell myself one more lap = one more chapter ✔️ They’re also amazing when I’m in the kitchen learning new dishes to make for my two tiny humans 🤗

A Princess In Theory (Reluctant Royals #1) by Alyssa Cole ✨5 STARS✨Both Naledi & Prince Thabiso stole my heart. with their hate to love romance set in NYC. This book featured a strong, intelligent, sexy black female in the STEM field who you is very relatable. Ledi has an internship, side jobs, and student loans to manage all the while giving the sexy Thabiso major side eye for his more than obvious interest in her haha! LOVED this so much! RTC

Wicked Fox by Kat Cho ✨5 STARS✨I can see now why bookworms have linked this while K-Dramas, this was ABSOLUTELY ADDICTIVE! Miyoung is a Gumiho who feeds on the souls of evil men in order to continue living a immortal life. This all changes of course when she saves Jihoon from a Goblin (there are other supernatural creatures in this world) & then starts to fall in love. LOVED the Mythology & got deeply invested in these characters lives, HIGHLY anticipating the sequel 🤗 RTC

With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo ✨5 STARS✨(BOTM) My FAVE read of the month! I listened to this audiobook in one whole day as worked from home, cooked, and then worked out for about an hour. I could NOT stop listening to Elizabeth Acevedo’s raw authentic narration of Emoni’s story as she navigates school as a teenage mom with a natural born talent for cooking. I was sucked into Emoni’s story from the very first page where she remixes ingredients from recipes her aunt emails her. HIGHLY recommend! 💜 (My Review)

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager ✨3.5 STARS✨(BOTM) although I do own a physical copy from BOTM, after my Twin Soul ChicNerdReads raved about the audiobook performance, I knew that was the way to go. The performance itself was ON POINT! Gothic vibes in NYC, I listened to this one in a day. Very entertaining & it may just be because I don’t read very many thrillers but It did keep me guessing till the very end. However, there were parts that dragged throwing off the pacing and making me lose interest here & there. I’ve heard from others who have read Riley Sager’s other books that this was their least favorite. I will definitely be giving the other books a chance since I do already own copies 🤷🏻‍♀️😂 #noregrets

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo ✨3 STARS✨ I had the privilege of reading this ARC a few weeks ago thanks to an awesome friend. I was 100% aware that this is a adult paranormal book with some hard hitting themes (*Content Warning: Drugs, mention of overdose, statutory rape, graphic violence, kidnapping, physical abuse, death of a loved one, fear of abandonement, use of a magical drug for date rape). It took me about a month to get through this book & it wasn’t because I was triggered, it was very much based on scattered pacing. The first half is very info dumpy & the last 200 pages are where all the action takes place and you finally get hooked in the story. This is the first book in a series & LOL! I’ll be honest & say I wasn’t planning on continuing but I might just give the next book a shot. RTC.

The Lion King is tied for 1st place as my favorite Disney movie of all time with Aladdin. However, unlike the AMAZING Aladdin remake we got earlier this summer…I wasn’t over the moon in love with this remake & that breaks my heart. It’s a STUNNING movie, a real feast for the eyes but it did lack the emotion we got in the original. I’ve watched the original dozens of times & still cried each & every time but that just wasn’t the case here. What I loved? The voice actors did a FANTASTIC job & the soundtrack is truly beautiful! 😍

I hope you’re all enjoying your Summer! I’ve been truly maximizing on the great weather to travel more, reconnect with friends both near & far as well as just enjoying life 😍 my Netflix Queue is out of control (shhh! don’t spoil ssn.3 Stranger Things) & my apartment has felt neglected 😂 but I hope to make time soon for a little time-out where I just snuggle up with books, Netflix, and tea 😍

🖤FOLLOW LAIR OF BOOKS🖤

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July 2019 Wrap Up How are we already in August?!? 😱 I guess what they say is true, time flies when you're having fun 🙌🏽 admittedly this means my reading took a hit cause I've been really enjoying life & having some amazing experiences I'll never forget 💓 As we approach the end of Summer, the itch to pick up my books has struck & I'm sOoO ready to give in!

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