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mauesartetc · 1 year

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Thoughts on Helluva Boss Episode 203 (”Exes and Oohs”)

Pros:

- Crimson’s facial animation is great, especially when Moxxie and Millie first walk through his door, and when he finds out Chaz isn’t rich. His expressions convey a lot of menace through the timing and eye movements alone. It’s subtle, but I hope whoever animated those scenes knows their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.

- I like the concept of Crimson’s trophy wall, which shows he actually keeps mementos of those he’s killed, seeing them as no better than animals for him to hunt. Now if there are actually cops in this version of Hell (which the existence of jail implies), this would look very suspicious if they ever stopped by, like a serial killer displaying the hands, eyeballs, etc of his victims. But I guess he could always press a button and flip them all to the dildo side if he didn’t mind the weird looks he’d inevitably get.

- I actually liked Moxxie’s introduction to Blitzo in the flashback. It showcases his fast-talking, big-thinking personality well. Shame he’d go on to treat Moxxie like shit after this.

- I wasn’t expecting the dildo scene to get a laugh out of me, but goddammit it did. It’s such an absurd overcompensation from an old straight dude who thinks he knows what the gays like that it caught me off guard. It’d be kinda tasteless if Moxxie were the butt of the joke, but clearly he’s the straight man (no pun intended) here. The real source of humor is Crimson’s misguided, ridiculously silly attempt to accommodate his son, which just shows how little he really knows (or cares to learn) about him.

- Fuck YES, Moxxie standing up to his dad. Great, satisfying scene. Now do it to Blitzo, Mox. It’s been a looong time comin’.

- Millie’s climactic fight scene is pretty good. The choreography is fluid, the kills are creative and fun to watch, and the music fits perfectly. There’s just one aspect holding the sequence back from being great, which we’ll get into later.

- Good ending. Shows what became of Chaz and hints that Crimson might try to get revenge on Moxxie in the future. More Crimson is a win in my book.

Cons after the cut.

Cons:

- Dammit, the “Moxxie is fat” jokes were never funny, show. Let ‘em die.

- So Crimson lives in the Greed ring, yeah? Why is everything green? The color traditionally associated with greed as a sin is yellow, while green is reserved for envy. For that matter, you’d think all the sharks here would fit in better in the Envy ring, since it’s ruled by Leviathan, a sea creature. Did they seriously just slap the wrong name on the Envy ring? They used the traditional deep blue for the Lust ring back in “Ozzie’s”, so this is a glaring inconsistency.

- I’ve mentioned before that Viv Medrano likes using the same design elements a bit too much in her characters (bow ties, gold teeth, differently-colored fingertips, etc), and it looks like we can add concentric eye rings to the list. Notice how both Striker and Chaz have these.

The other sharks in the mob have them too, but Striker’s an imp, not a shark (despite looking like he was ripped off from a shark), so it’s not species-related. Does it represent the characters’ personalities or serve any sort of plot function? Fuck if I know.

- Bit of a nitpick, but the black “cross” shape at the tip of Chaz’s nose is wildly inconsistent from scene to scene. Sometimes it’s thin, sometimes it’s thick, sometimes it has pointed tips, sometimes it has rounded ones. More thorough model sheets for the cleanup department would help mitigate this in the future.

- So prison is a thing that exists in Hell, huh? And so are banks, I guess. And they look exactly the same as they do in the human world. See, this isn’t the kind of episode that’d necessarily benefit from worldbuilding, since it’s not relevant to the plot (or not yet, anyway, but we’ll get there). But seeing all these ordinary settings just reminds me of how pointless the entire “Hell” thing is, and how no one could be bothered to invent a new world for the characters to live in. (Seriously, demon characters disguised as humans in the human world. I’m tellin’ ya. Barely anything in the story would change.)

- Guys, ya didn’t have to explain the Titanic reference. Most viewers probably would have caught it even if Blitzo hadn’t pointed it out. I’m sure even the zoomers who hadn’t been born when it came out would at least recognize the meme. Give your audience more credit.

- I’ll level with y’all: The dildo pixellation is distracting as hell. If a show made for network TV had it, fine, I understand. But Helluva Boss is made for the internet, which has much more lenient censorship standards. Hell, BoJack Horseman, a Netflix show, features a sex robot with a couple attached dildos, neither of which are censored. Is this just a Youtube monetization thing I’m not aware of? Because I checked their community guidelines, and while they mention “using sex toys to give viewers sexual gratification”, there’s nothing remotely sexy about their use in this episode. They function only as comedic props, not tools of titillation. All about that context, baby. Not that I’m super gung-ho to see a bunch of multicolored dicks in their full glory; the censorship’s just a little annoying.

- I understand the need to give Moxxie a reason to fear Crimson, but the physical violence is a tad gratuitous. Crimson didn’t really need to hit Moxxie’s mom in the past, or Moxxie in the present, to be intimidating. Abusers don’t have to lay a finger on their victims in order to frighten them.

I’m starting to see a pattern: Stella tried to hit Stolas, too. It’s like these writers think abuse needs to employ some physical element, or else it’s not really abuse. Which... no, that’s not at all how it works. And considering how Moxxie escaped an abuser only to find himself working for another one (oh, but he’s hard on him because he CaREs, guys! Yeah, bullshit), it only makes this sequence harder to watch. Mox deserves so much better.

- Helping his dad drown that guy seems like a traumatic memory for Moxxie, so why is he in a business where all he does is kill people? Hasn’t he ever wanted or tried to be anything else? A musician, maybe? We know he can sing and play guitar, so...

- Holy shit, did we really need that shot of Crimson with the dildos just after the exceedingly dark flashback? Talk about tone whiplash!

- I mentioned earlier that worldbuilding wouldn’t affect this episode’s plot... for the most part. The wedding scene is a case in which it would.

So, really think about this for a second: We’re in Hell. And there’s a wedding that looks like a typical one would in the human world. We’ve got flowers, an aisle, a block of chairs on either side, and...

A priest?!

Seriously, the dude officiating is dressed up like a Christian priest. White robes, hat, the works. Sure, his outfit and book have inverted crosses, but that doesn’t explain why everything else looks so similar to what you might see in a Christian ceremony. It’s like the demons of Hell saw a Christian wedding and were like, “Oh cool let’s do it exactly like that”. Don’t you think Lucifer, the king of Hell in this universe, might have a tiny problem with this??

And for that matter, why is marriage even a thing in Hell? Why do demons feel the need to justify their long-term relationships with human customs? Why can’t they form their own traditions to celebrate their love?

I get that this is all visual shorthand the audience will be familiar with. I get that they’ll take it all in and recognize this event as a wedding in seconds. But in earlier scenes, Crimson already established that a wedding would take place the next day. So with that label in mind, the audience should be able to tell that this ceremony was a wedding, no matter how it looks.

Would a more unorthodox version feel out of place in the very “humanized” culture and surroundings the show has established? Yeah, kinda. But there could be a throwaway line from the priest explaining that he insists on doing things the old way, with the traditions demons once embraced before Hell was overrun with human souls and human practices (”This is how we did it back in my day, before the sinners came.” Then Chaz is like, “Ha! You said came!” or something). This could be a glimpse into a demonic subculture fighting to preserve their heritage, which future episodes could explore further. Think of all the subtext and story potential packed into a single sentence. But, y’know, creating a by-the-numbers world is just easier. So.

- Remember how I said there was one thing holding Millie’s fight scene back from being great? It’s the camera. It zooms in too far and moves around way too much, to the point where it’s hard to see what’s going on at times. Ideally, the animation and frame composition should work in tandem, hitting all the snapshots of action they need to hit for visual clarity, and doing little else. A bit of camera shake here and there is fine, but there’s no need for all this wobbling back and forth. I shouldn’t need Dramamine just to watch a damn web series.

- At one point, Crimson says to his minions, “What the fuck! She’s a dame! She’s a broad! Kill her!”, implying that women should be easy to kill. I don’t know if Horvitz improvised those lines or what, but considering that Crimson’s gang has two female members (one of whom we even saw moving a body earlier), it feels like there’s a disconnect between the dialogue and the art department.

I dunno, man. If women aren’t that tough, maybe don’t use them as soldiers in your crime syndicate?? Inconsistencies aplenty in this episode, sheesh.

In conclusion, running the script by another set of eyes during the writing stage would benefit this show immensely. I know it seems like I had a lot of gripes with this one (what else is new, amirite), but honestly, this is one of the better Helluva Boss episodes. When the series ends (or when the writing gets so bad I can’t watch anymore), I might post my personal ranking of all the installments I’ve seen. For the first time in a long time, I’m actually curious to see what kind of story the next episode will tell. It’s almost like a series with an episodic plot structure can be interesting without the creator’s favorite ship hogging the focus. Funny how that works.

Later!

#helluva boss #hellvua critical #writing #critique #criticism #long post

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onthewaytosomewhere · 5 months

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So, I have had this headcanon for awhile that Henry sometime in his later teens started listening to harder rock music when things were getting too much. He probably started with some very shouty metal and harder rock that he had heard somewhere since it would be far from something the crown would approve of and well a need for something that could be just for him. Like any of us who may have looked for rock music to scream our feelings out realized there were plenty of great rock songs that can help when things might be spiraling out of control. Of course, seeing how the piano has also helped him I like to imagine that he learned to play some of the songs on the piano so he could have his self-help rock right there under everyone's nose without anyone the wiser.

I finally found the time to put a playlist together of some of the songs I think he might have listened to synced up with events in his life that we learned about in the book, including the bonus chapter. Starting with 2015 and the death of his father and ending with well now, 2023, which based on Henry's chapter they came back from a trip at the end of summer to England for some royal duties, and he knows "He doesn't ever want to go back." So, abdication in the works currently, or at least a thought he will be moving on.

This week's RWRB Week seemed like the perfect time to get it finished and share 😊

@rwrbmovie & @rwrbsource's RWRBweek: Day #2 Song(s)

Scars – Papa Roach

Until the world goes cold – Trivium

Face Everything and Rise – Papa Roach

Cut the Cord – Shinedown

Angels Fall – Breaking Benjamin

Help – Papa Roach

Moving On – Asking Alexandria

Sick Like Me – In This Moment

Jekyll & Hyde – Five Finger Death Punch

Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart – Chris Cornell

Follow Me Down – Pretty Reckless

Wash It All Away – Five Finger Death Punch

Scars – I Prevail

I Won’t Give In – Asking Alexandria

Sound of Silence – Disturbed

Save Today – Seether

Still Alive – 3 Doors Down

Daft Pretty Boys – Bad Suns

Help – Papa Roach

Into the Fire – Asking Alexandria

MONSTERS – Shinedown

Bulletproof – Godsmack

The Mountain – Three Days Grace

Ghost – Badflower

Breaking Down – I Prevail

Save Me – Skillet

High Hopes – Panic! At The Disco

Far Away – Breaking Benjamin

Ordinary Man – Ozzy (Featuring Elton John)

They Don’t Want What We Want – Asking Alexandria

Dear Agony – Breaking Benjamin

Atlas Falls – Shinedown

A Little Bit Off – Five Finger Death Punch

Every Time You Leave – I Prevail

Black Eyes Blue – Corey Taylor

King Of Misery – Saul

World on Fire – Daughtry

Not Mad Enough – Smith & Myers

Soak Me In Bleach – Amity Affliction

Unforgettable – Godsmack

Waiting On A War – Foo Fighters

Only Love Can Save Me Now – Pretty Reckless

Lifeline – Bad Wolves

Breathe Again – Pop Evil

Heavy is the Crown – Daughtry

Call Me Little Sunshine – Ghost

Pawns & Kings – Alter Bridge

Daylight – Shinedown

Planet Zero – Shinedown

Rest In Peace – Dorothy

Lifetime – Three Days Grace

Afterlife – Five Finger Death Punch

Riptide – Beartooth

Dead Man Walking – Jelly Roll

Kill the Noise – Papa Roach

No Apologies – Papa Roach

A Symptom of Being Human – Shinedown

Watch The World Burn – Falling in Reverse

Cut the Line – Papa Roach

Numb - Sleep Theory

Might Love Myself – Beartooth

Victorious – Nita Strauss, Dorothy

#rwrbweek #rwrb headcanon #red white and royal blue #henry fox mountchristen windsor #firstprince #music feeds the soul #and maybe keeps you sane #also gives you a great way to stick it to the man - maybe #Spotify

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doyourememberrocknrollradio · 7 months

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youtube

Ozzy Osbourne - Ordinary Man ft. Elton John

#Youtube

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thexnormalxstuff · 3 months

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Ozzy Osborne

2020

#Ozzy Osbourne #Heavy Metal #Godfather Of Heavy Metal #2020s #black and white #ordinary man #ordinary man era

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dwellordream · 1 month

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“Suburban developments sprang up all over the country in the wake of World War II. As developers rushed to meet the postwar demand for housing, banks, government subsidies, and private investors poured funds into new, single-family homes. In 1946, for the first time, a majority of the nation’s families lived in homes they owned. Over the next 15 years, 12 million more families became homeowners. These new houses in expanding suburban areas were built with young nuclear families in mind. Builders and architects assumed that men would be away at work during the day and houses would be occupied by mothers and children. Most houses were designed with open floor plans where children could wander freely and safely.

Kitchens usually opened into family rooms, with windows facing backyards, so that women could do household chores while watching their children. Living rooms featured picture windows, also to make it easy to keep an eye on children. The one-story design gave the home an informal look and was practical for families with small children, since there were no stairs, which could be dangerous. Houses were built with plenty of closet space to hold numerous consumer goods that went along with suburban living. Families did not have to be wealthy to buy houses in suburbs. But they did have to be white. Racial minorities were not allowed to purchase homes in the suburbs, even if they could afford them.

…The home was also the center of family leisure. Postwar Americans spent a good deal of their incomes on items that would make the home comfortable and enjoyable: appliances, automobiles, backyard barbecue sets, and of course, televisions. By the 1950s, televisions were selling at a rate of more than 5 million a year. In their living rooms, ordinary families watched idealized families in enormously popular shows such as “Ozzie and Harriet,” “Leave It To Beaver,” and “Father Knows Best.” These television families all had certain features in common: they were white, they lived in comfortable suburban homes, full-time homemakers had down-home wisdom and patience, and fathers always knew best.

Curiously, although the fathers in these programs were the breadwinners of the family, we rarely if ever saw them at work. They were home, presiding with kindly, fatherly authority, clearly the head of the household. Nevertheless, mothers were the ones in charge of the daily routines, the running of the home, and the supervision of the children. Television shows that featured working-class families were often continuations of radio comedy shows from the pre-TV era. Shows like “The Honeymooners,” starring Jackie Gleason, depicted working-class men with real jobs (usually undesirable ones like bus drivers or sewer workers), wives who tolerated their husbands’ explosive tempers and rolled their eyes at men’s foolishness, and neighbors who shared their struggles.

…The suburban ideal often promised more than it delivered. Obviously, appliances alone would not make a housewife happy. Women in Levittown often complained about feeling trapped and isolated, facing endless chores and tending to children. For them, suburban life was not a life of fun and leisure but exhausting work and loneliness. Time-consuming commuting reduced the amount of time men could spend with their families, and for the suburban women who held jobs outside the home, the burden was even heavier. They faced work on the job, a long commute home, and then all the chores considered to be “woman’s work” in the home.

The struggle to achieve the ideal suburban life took its toll on men as well as women. Since the primary goal of the “breadwinner” was to provide for his family, it was expected that he would work for the best steady pay, regardless of whether he enjoyed the job. The reward was in the quality of life that the man’s income could buy--not the intrinsic satisfactions of the job itself. The woman’s part of the bargain was to keep the home cheerful and clean, and to be content with the homemaker role. If either partner believed that the other was not keeping the bargain, trouble brewed.

…By 1950, 41 percent of all employed black women worked in private homes. Another 19 percent worked in office buildings, restaurants, and hotels as scrubwomen, maids, and housekeepers. Of the remaining 40 percent, many worked in farm labor. In spite of the migration to the North, as late as 1950, 68 percent of African Americans still lived in the South. The lives of southern black women largely resembled that of their female ancestors during slavery: living in shacks, working sun up to sun down, forced to obey local white people or risk severe consequences.

In the North, as whites continued to move to the suburbs, blacks became more concentrated in the cities. By 1960 blacks were more urbanized than whites. North as well as South, black men earned less than half of what white men earned, and black women received less than half the amount that white women earned. Black women continued to face the most dismal prospects for paid employment, but they continued to take whatever jobs they could get. In the postwar years, white women faced pressure to become full-time homemakers, and were often stigmatized if they held jobs. But black women faced no such stigma.

…Suburbs fostered tightly knit nuclear families in loosely knit communities and extended family networks. People moved often, and ties to neighbors were often weak, since the nuclear family was expected to be self-sufficient and self-enclosed. People did come together in a number of associations, most notably in the churches and synagogues that sprang up across the country. The suburban landscape was dotted with religious institutions, as Americans joined congregations in record numbers. People also came together in local civic institutions. Women joined local PTAs, women’s clubs, and charities, and they organized scout troops and other enrichment programs for their children.

These efforts provided women with community ties, and gave them the opportunity to shape social, religious, and educational institutions in their neighborhoods. These were important tasks. But deep sources of mutual support and tight networks based on kinship and friendship were difficult to achieve in the suburbs. People moved in and out too quickly, and many left their relatives and ethnic communities when they moved to the suburbs. The isolation of the nuclear family also inhibited the casual visiting that took place on the stoops of urban apartments or the streets of the cities. Those outside the suburbs were more likely to develop strong ties of support with relatives and friends. It was both more possible, and more necessary, to do so.”

- Elaine Tyler May, “Suburbia: The Homemaker’s Work Place.” in Pushing the Limits: American Women, 1940-1961

#gender #elaine tyler may #1950s #history #20th century #american #class #race #pushing the limits

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