Tumgik
#people were talking about infinity war for MONTHS before release. like IN DEPTH talk. big major hype.
marklikely · 2 years
Text
i really do wonder if we'll see the end of the mcu soon though cause the quality of the movies has undeniably been getting worse, and ive noticed a lot of casual fans (which is what most people i know are, including myself, at least a few years ago when i would have actually considered myself a fan at all) are completely uninvested in phase 4 and havent really liked any of the movies lately. plus with how fast theyre pushing them out, overexposure could lead to a huge backlash soon
#when i say soon i mean like within 10 years because the disney project plans stretch out so far into the future#i mean idk we might get a big collapse that cancels a ton of future projects like with star wars but i doubt it#avpost#but idk i think mcu backlash is definitely a lot more common now than it was five or six years ago#but then again i think of how like all they had to do was get people from the raimi trilogy to stand on screen#and that was enough to get a ton of people to consider nwh to be great even though it sucks#not that thats necessarily proof that the movies are gonna survive either since a lot of people also didnt like nwh#i dont know it just feels like every release is either middling reviews or extremely mixed reviews. only those two options#plus they all get like almost no hype and excitement and then they leave the conversation so fast#people were talking about infinity war for MONTHS before release. like IN DEPTH talk. big major hype.#and then after it came out people were speculating and writing theories the ENTIRE time until endgame#nobody is talking about doctor strange 2 anymore and that was like two months ago#in two weeks or less nobody will be talking about love and thunder anymore im sure#nobody even noticed eternals. nobody talks about shang chi or black widow.#even the shows like the only one that left any sort of impact was wandavision.#the rest just like. air. and i dont ever see them come up in conversation or online after like the first couple episodes#(keeping in mind that im sure the most hardcore of fans are invested but im talking abt the general population)#(which is like. probably more important cause you cant keep a project this big alive on a specific fanbase alone)
15 notes · View notes
Text
Please Don't Leave Me
Characters: Tom Hiddleston x Reader, minor characters
Word Count: 2,269
Warnings: Angst with a drop of fluff at the end, panic attack
Summary: You have a terrible fear of crowds and your boyfriend, Tom, doesn’t know of this. When you two encounter a college rave in the middle of the Central Park, your worst fear comes to life.
Square Filled: Demophobia
Author’s Note: This is for @marvelangstbingo and the definition of Demophobia is the fear of crowds of people or mobs.
If you have any requests, please send them in! I would love to hear what you have! This is unbeta’d and any and all mistakes are all on me.
Feedback the glue that holds my writing together
Tags at the bottom
Tumblr media
“I’m glad you were able to come out here and visit.” You said to your new boyfriend, Tom Hiddleston. You say “new” but you’ve been dating for 6 months and it’s been a good 6 months. You met when he was in New York to do some interviews and it’s been history since that point forward. He was a complete sweetheart to you and such a gentleman in every aspect of the word.
You couldn’t find anyone else better than him. You saw yourself being with him for a very long time. However, there was still so much you didn't know about him and him about you. You knew he lived in London most of the time which is why he was visiting you in New York.
Sometimes, you would visit him but he had a lot of money and would come visit you most of the time. You couldn’t wait to get to know more about him, what he did in London, where he liked to go for fun, what he liked to do. Most of that stuff you knew already but not the in-depth things.
And if he was going to open up to you, then you would have to do the same. You were worried about that because you had a ton of problems he didn’t know about. He met your parents which you weren’t worried about. You knew they would love him and him, them. It was your psychological problems you were scared of releasing.
You had terrible anxiety and took medicine for it. You tried not to let it show in front of Tom because you didn't want to worry him but you got really bad panic attacks. Tom, on some level, knew you must have anxiety because you worried a lot. You got nervous a to but you tried to tone it down when you were around him. You two were still in a new relationship and you didn't want him to worry about you and feel like you can’t take care of yourself or worse--leave you.
So, instead, you buried that demon deep down, hoping that it wouldn’t come out. So far, it’s been easy with the medicine you take but you recently ran out of it and haven’t had the time to go to the doctor to get a refill. And right now, you were very nervous. You also had social anxiety on top of your panic attacks but when you were with Tom, that went away. He was a really easy person to talk to which made life ten times easier.
“Of course, darling. I missed you.” He smiled, kissing the top of your head. Your heart fluttered as you walked with him, your hand interlocked with his.
“I’m lucky that you’re on a break from filming, otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to do things like this.” You said truthfully. You knew that before you two even met, he was filming for Infinity Wars and had been away for so long. He only came to New York because his agent booked an interview before filming ever started and he wanted to honor his promise of showing up. That’s when you met him.
Then, after you started going out, he’d been away to finish the film and only recently, has he been granted a break from it all.
“Believe it or not, I actually miss doing things like this. Lately, I’ve been so busy I can’t even breathe without it being monitored.” Tom chuckled.
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that for the next 2 weeks because you’ll be here with me and all we’ll do is relax.” You promised him.
“That sounds lovely.” He smiled. You two walked hand-in-hand through central park, enjoying the weather and the sounds of nature. It was early enough that there weren’t a lot of people around to bother you two. You knew you would have to get out soon because then people would surround you--Tom--and ask for pictures. If you get caught in that, you were never leaving.
“So, I was thinking maybe after this we can go back to my apartment and we can do one of two things. We can either spend the whole day watching movies or… what is going on there?” You rounded a corner and saw people set up what looks to be an outside concert. A lot of college-looking people were outside, getting hype for what was about to come.
“I think it’s a rave,” Tom said, not really minding the crowd but you did. You needed to get to the other side of the park but this crowd was so huge, you knew you’d have to pass through it instead of around it.
“Why don’t we go back the way we came?” You tried but Tom kept walking towards the crowd that was growing larger by the minute.
“It’s alright, darling. It’s not that big. We’ll just pass through and we’ll be home in no time. I don’t know what your other option was, but I do like the sound of movies all day.” Tom smiled. You gulped silently and walked to the crowd, your grip on his hand tightening.
“Alright, but please, don’t leave my side okay?” You asked, walking closer to him.
“Afraid of a little group of people, are we?” Tom chuckled. You knew he wasn’t afraid of crowds since all he did was be around people. It was in his nature, this was such an easy task for him but not to you. You saw this as one huge wall filled with demons, ready to break you down to prevent you from getting to the other side. You knew these people wouldn’t hurt you but the demons would and you were scared of what they could do to you if you let them in.
“Something like that,” you chuckled nervously.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be right here,” Tom assured you, walking into the crowd. Your breathing picked up slightly but you tried to get it under control. The only thing you stared at was Tom’s shoes. You couldn’t bear to look the demons right in the eye. Eyes were the windows to the soul and if you so much as cracked those windows open to them, they would swarm in and drown you.
“Excuse me, pardon me. Sorry,” Tom said as he pushed through the people. The concert wasn’t starting yet since they were still getting set up but that didn’t stop people from crowding around the stage.
“Is that Tom Hiddleston?” You heard some people say from behind you. No, please don’t ask for pictures. I just want to get out of here. You made the mistake of looking up and saw a group of girls approach your boyfriend with smiles on their faces.
“Hi, can we have some pictures?” One of the girls shyly asked.
“Yeah, we’re big fans of you. I love Loki.” Another girl said.
“You said Thor was your favorite.” A third girl butt in.
“Yeah, but I love Loki.” The second girl blushed and pushed the third girl away.
“Sure, I can do pictures.” Tom chuckled before letting go of your hand.
“No, but…” You trailed off, not wanting to be away from him. Things could get worse if you weren’t near him.
“It’s okay, darling, I’ll only be gone a second. Just a few pictures and we can be on our way.” He said before moving away from you to take pictures with the girls. You bit your lip and watched as the girls crowded around Tom for a group photo and then they wanted to take some individual ones which Tom didn’t seem to mind doing.
You looked around at the demons that seemed to be getting closer to you. No, I won’t let you in. Leave me alone. You don’t get to control me. More people started showing up to this event which made the crowd get closer together. Your breathing picked up and your anxiety levels spiked. Your eyes watered from the fear of being swallowed whole and you looked around for your boyfriend but didn’t see him.
“Tom?” You called out but everyone was talking and you knew he couldn’t hear you. Your heart started beating faster, trying to get the blood rushing faster and the adrenaline going to calm you down but it wasn’t working.
You tried to take in a deep breath but you couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen in your lungs. Instead of taking long, deep breaths, you were taking quick, short ones which were really bad for you. You would start hyperventilating and you could pass out if you didn’t get away from these people.
You tried pushing past people but there were so many of them, that the end goal seemed impossible for you at this point. You tried finding a way out of this maze but it wasn’t working. Black spots started crowding your vision which made it difficult to find the one person you wanted to be near. How long does a fucking picture take?
Your breathing was getting worse by the second and if people would just quiet down, then they would notice something is wrong. You tried to walk but ended up bumping into someone.
“Hey, watch it.” They said without looking at you.
“Sorry,” you tried to say. Tears streamed down your face as you pushed through people. Your lungs started burning from the lack of oxygen but no matter what, it seemed like you couldn’t get enough of it in.
You stumbled when you missed your footing and ran into someone’s back. They turned around to speak to you but you shook your head.
“Sorry…” You gasped and looked up to see none other than Tom.
“Whoa, Y/N, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” Tom tried to see if there were any injuries and you shook your head.
“Can’t… breathe… people…” You took in short breaths, your head hurting from the lack of oxygen.
“Is she okay?” One of the girls who approached you and Tom earlier asked.
“No, I need you to get back. Give her some space, please.” Tom instructed. They all nodded and told everyone else to get back and soon enough, there was at least a ten-foot radius around you.
“You can’t breathe?” Tom asked.
“Panic… Attack…” You gasped and grasped onto his shirt tightly, staring into his eyes. You let your own fall and that seemed to give Tom all the incentive he needed to help you.
“Alright, you need to start breathing with me, darling. Take a deep breath in.” Tom said, showing you how to do it. You tried but you couldn’t and you shook your head.
“I can’t. Tom, I can’t.” You panicked, looking around to see hundreds of black demons, ready to devour you any minute.
“Yes, you can, darling. Just breathe with me.” Tom said taking your hand and putting it on his chest. The longer he kept it there, the more the demons went away. Whatever he was doing, it was working.
“Look at me,” Tom said and you snapped your head so you were staring into his eyes. You watched the rise and fall of his shoulders and you tried to do the same. It took a while but soon, your breathing matched his and all those black demons weren’t near you anymore. They were safely tucked away behind a stone wall.
“You’re okay. I’m right here.” Tom whispered before wiping your tears away for you.
“I’m okay.” You whispered and nodded.
“Come on,” Tom helped you up and led you away from the group of people. You were glad they created a path for you to go through because you couldn’t go through that again. Tom led you to a bench away from everyone else and you sat on it, not looking at him in the eyes.
“I’m sorry.” You sniffled.
“Why are you sorry? For having a panic attack?”
“For not telling you. I just hate crowds. I get very bad attacks when I’m in them and when you went away, I couldn’t find you and it happened. I’m just sorry.” You sighed and hung your head low. Tom sighed and he put two fingers under your chin and lifted it so that you were staring into his eyes.
“You don’t have to apologize to me. I should have known you were scared of crowds. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made you go through it. I don’t want you to feel pressured to tell me everything about you right now but I don’t want you to hide this from me. You scared me for a minute there. I was really worried.” Tom stroked your cheek with his thumb gently.
“Okay, I won’t hide this from you.” You cracked a smile. Tom looked up and he smiled before looking back into your eyes.
“Now, why don’t we end this crazy event with some movies all night?” You looked up and saw your apartment building right in front of you. You made it through it all. You came out of the end, winning that battle.
“Can we watch The Dark World?” You asked, looking back at him. He just smiled and nodded.
“Of course.” He got up and took your hand, walking to your building.
“What about the first Thor?”
“Sure, darling.”
“And the first Avengers?”
“You just want to watch me, don’t you?” Tom asked with a smile, looking down at you.
“Yeah. Loki is my favorite character.” You admitted. He laughed and pulled you close, kissing your head.
“We can watch all of it, my love.”
If you want to be tagged, add yourself to this document!
@dragonrider10 @007zada @likiyoshi-lijie @lonelycaffeinateddreamer @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo @until-theend-oftheline @tricksterdean @team-free-gallagher @2dreamcatcher8 @thisismysecrethappyplace @theoneanna @paintballkid711 @gh0stgurl
75 notes · View notes
hermanwatts · 5 years
Text
Sensor Sweep: D&D Cartoon, Tim Kirk, Lin Carter, Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers
Animated Cartoons (CBR.com): When CBS ordered a series based on the latest trend, fantasy role-playing games, perhaps they didn’t know what awaited them. Debuting on Sept 17, 1983, Dungeons & Dragons (inspired by the game created by
Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and published by TSR) came to air already surrounded by controversy. The game’s use of occult imagery wasn’t the only factor disturbing parents groups. Some even declared it a literal danger to young people.
      Art (Black Gate): Tim Kirk, another artist who has had a major professional career, was nominated for Best Fan Writer 8 times in the between 1969 and 1977, winning the Hugo in 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1976. It would be fair to say that for me, coming into contact with fandom in this period, my image of “fan art” was formed by Tim Kirk’s work, along with two more artists who won for their 1970s work, William Rotsler and Alexis A. Gilliland. (Not to slight the excellent Phil Foglio, but for whatever reason his art didn’t enter my consciousness until later. And Alicia Austin, four-time nominee and 1971 winner, was and is a favorite artist of mine, but for her professional work.)
        Fiction Release (DMR Books): DMR Books is proud to present our next release: the picaresque fantasy novel The Road to Infinity by Gael DeRoane. It will be available in digital and trade paperback editions very soon (within the next few days), and the classic size edition (6.5” x 4.25”) should be released before the end of June. Read on for more:
Poised on the brink of manhood, young Aran Dyfar makes a rash and momentous decision that will either elevate him to glory or seal his doom.
  History (Barbarian Book Club): “No silver, no Swiss,” commented Gian Trivulzio, a Milanese Condottiero during the Italian Wars. He was talking about the Swiss Mercenaries that served in the armies of the Italian City States. They were expensive and often sieges and sacks depended on the city’s ability to pay foreign soldiers.
A more recent quote “Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics,” quoted to Gen. Robert H. Barrow, Commandant of the USMC.
  Fiction (Uproxx.com): Martin is no casual fan of Lovecraft. He regularly cites the writer as one of his earliest reading obsessions. He’s visited
Lovecraft’s grave in Rhode Island, and even wrote some elaborate fan fiction back in 2011 pitting Jaime Lannister against Cthulu in a deathmatch. When George sat down to speak with Stephen King, their conversation kept leading back to Lovecraft’s influence on both of their writing.
  Fiction (DMR Books): When I was eleven years old, I preferred Lin Carter’s Jandar of Callisto series to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ books about Mars. Sacrilege I know, and that’s not the case today, but as a kid, I liked that the Callisto books were written in modern language, and the events described not only took place within my lifetime, they were still occurring now, in the 1970s when I was reading them. I could almost believe they were true.
  Gaming (Player One): What happens when you have a cyberpunk futuristic world and put in the themes of H.P. Lovecraft? You get the latest offering from Stormling Studios, Transient. Aside from this announcement, Stormling Studios also released a reveal trailer. So what is the game all about? It begins in a distant and post-apocalyptic future. Whatever remains of mankind are now living in the Domed City Providence, an enclosed citadel that was created in order for humans to survive the harsh environment. Amidst all of this, the story focuses on Randolph Carter, a member of ODIN, a hacker-for-hire group.
  Robert E. Howard (John C. Wright): The Devil in Iron was published in the August 1934 issue of Weird Tales, several months after the previous story, Queen of the Black Coast. It is the eleventh published story in the Conan canon. We have reached the halfway mark of the published Conan stories completed by Robert E. Howard.
Howard here recycles elements of his own previous stories – there is a magic blade as in Phoenix on the Sword, the sole bane of an otherwise invulnerable eldritch monster, who is a resurrected necromancer as in The Black Colossus. 
          Comic Books (Paint Monk): Our tale begins as Conan, Bêlit, and Zula battle Stygian warriors in the catacombs of Luxor. As the fight progresses, the trio finds a secret passage that allows them to descend further into the depths beneath the city.
Zula shows some empathy toward the Stygian soldier’s fate – Conan and company are killing them simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bêlit declares she will kill any Stygian, because they were the people who helped her Uncle overthrow and kill her Father.
  History (Real Crusade History): Henry was born May 3, 1217, the third child but the first son of King Hugh I of Cyprus and his queen Alice de Champagne. (Alice was the daughter of Isabella I of Jerusalem and her third husband Henri de Champagne.) When Henry was just eight months old, his father died suddenly, while absent from the kingdom on the Fifth Crusade. According to the constitution of the kingdom, a minor king’s regent was his nearest relative resident in the Latin East, in this case, Henry’s mother Alice de Champagne. However, Alice showed remarkably little interest in wielding political power.
  Fiction (Eldritch Paths): I  was reading The King Beyond the Gate, the second book in David Gemmell’s Drenai Saga. I really enjoyed the larger-than-life heroes in Gemmell’s first book, Legend. Druss the Legend was an awesome character, taking on scores of baddies and coming up on top. Even the leader of the enemy invasion force respected the strength and sheer force of will that was Druss. I was expecting, no, wanting more of the same from the second book. Most of this second book seemed to deliver.
  RPG (Pulp Rev): Designing for games is vastly different from designing for stories.
Readers engage a prose story through the plot, characters, and prose. The writer guides them on a journey in the mind, directing the story from start to finish.
Gamers engage a game through its mechanics. By playing as their avatar, they create their own experience.
Readers and gamers have different ways of approaching their chosen media. The requirements of these media lead to different design choices.
  Writing (Mad Genius Club): Write the soldier as he (or she) is, not as you wish to caricature them, not as your narrative demands.  Haven’t served in the military? Start looking through your list of friends for somebody who has. Sit down and ask them questions (bring drinks), listen and be respectful.  See, contrary to popular belief, we will talk. If you show yourself to be trustworthy, we’ll tell you the unvarnished truth about life in the service. What hurt, what sucked, what made us laugh, made us cry, made us mad, made us happy, what made it home for us.
  RPG (Brain Leakage): About three or four sessions into my current campaign, I noticed that my players didn’t really like the abstract nature of D&D combat. No matter how much narration and dramatizing I did, combat just felt too passive to them. Specifically, they wanted to do something besides stand there and take it while the enemy rolled against their AC. Now, one thing I’ll say in favor of D&D combat RAW. It’s streamlined. And if the players are happy enough to fill in the blanks by imagining feints, dodges, and other maneuvers happening in between declared actions and combat rolls, then it’s fine.
  T.V. (Pulpfest): Rod Serling’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE ran on CBS from 1959 to 1964. It remains in syndication to this very day. A new version of the series — narrated by filmmaker Jordan Peele — premiered on CBS All Access on April 1, 2019. Sixty years after its original debut, Rod Serling’s remarkable creation is still very much embedded in the public consciousness.
The creator of THE TWILIGHT ZONE was born on December 25, 1924 in Syracuse, New York. His brother, the late novelist and aviation writer Robert Serling, said: “We were fairly close as kids and we played together a hell of a lot, despite the seven-year difference. The two of us used to read AMAZING STORIES, ASTOUNDING STORIES, WEIRD TALES — all of the pulps. If we saw a movie together, we’d come home and act it out, just for the two of us.”
  Lit Crit (George Kelley): Just by chance, I stumbled across this 1976 Arkham House edition of L. Sprague de Camp’s wonderful Literary Swordsman and Socerers at my local public library. I immediately took it out and read it. De Camp’s informational essays on these fantasy writers made me want to drop everything and reread some of the great books by these authors. I’m a big fan of Lord Dunsany, but I haven’t read more than a fraction of his oeuvre. I’ve read most of Lovecraft, but I can always pick up one of his collections and find delight in its pages.
        Sensor Sweep: D&D Cartoon, Tim Kirk, Lin Carter, Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/
0 notes
viralhottopics · 7 years
Text
Scarlett Johansson, charismatic queen of science fiction
With her role as a cyborg in Ghost in the Shell, the actress has sealed her position as our favourite space invader
Hollywood quickly made room on its red carpets for the young Scarlett Johansson in 2003, when she first created a stir in Sofia Coppolas film, Lost in Translation. It seemed clear that this blonde bombshell from New York, who was so ably sharing the screen with a dyspeptic Bill Murray, would go on to deliver popcorn buckets-full of mainstream audience appeal. Beautiful, mysterious and charismatic: she was already an aspirational trophy for any traditional leading man.
Yet, 14 years on, Johansson is established instead as a rather different sort of screen idol. Following a succession of high-octane blockbusters and off-beat critical hits, the actress is now enshrined as perhaps the leading sci-fi action star of her generation. Where once her sardonic smirks and sultry looks spoke of old-school movie glamour, she is now more likely to grab the limelight by kickboxing than by smouldering.
From this Friday, Johansson, 32, will be seen fighting her way to further futuristic box office glory from the midst of a vast, glassy pool of water. Ghost in the Shell, her new cyborg film, is based on Japanese anime characters and features a key combat scene set in a dystopian urban lake. It is a watery sequence clearly designed to become a totemic bit of modern cinema, like that horizontal tussle in The Matrix or the folding streetscape in Inception.
Johansson as Major in Ghost in the Shell Photograph: Paramount Pictures
Whether or not the British director Rupert Sanderss new film achieves the status of a sci-fi classic, it is clear that Johansson, who earned a rumoured 12.4m, has increasingly steered her career towards unexpectedly violent and often unnerving roles. While it is true that she has tackled a few family-oriented outings over the years, such as Cameron Crowes We Bought a Zoo in 2011, it is her more aggressive work in zip-up Lycra that has earned her a place up among the Hollywood A-listers.
This adventurous side of Johansson was most apparent in 2013, when she took the part of the alien in Under the Skin. A horror film directed by Brit Jonathan Glazer, it was a big risk for the star, not just because she would be playing a carnivorous, marauding visitor from another planet, nor because the film had been notoriously hard to make, but because she had to work on location in Glasgow, driving around in a Transit van and interacting with real people, many of whom had no idea they were taking part in the film.
The risk paid off in style. Many critics agreed with the Guardians Peter Bradshaw in finding Under the Skin visually stunning and deeply disturbing: very freaky, very scary and very erotic.
At the same time as Glazers weird thriller came out, a voice-role that Johansson had recorded for director Spike Jonze was to underline the actresss move towards sci-fi. She played Samantha, a captivating computer operating system in his film, Her.
By then, the star had also taken up the screen persona that was to project her right into the heart of a global superhero franchise. Since 2012, she has played Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow of the Marvel Avengers series. First donning her black Neoprene jumpsuit for Avengers Assemble, the actress has already reprised the Black Widow role three times and is currently filming Avengers: Infinity War.
Johansson in Under The Skin, 2013 Photograph: REX
In last years Marvel extravaganza, Captain America: Civil War, the star flashed across the screen in a bewildering swirl of special effects. Ghost in the Shell, by contrast, promises to be a slightly more sedate piece of crowd-pleasing entertainment. Sanders, with whom Johansson has been romantically linked since her separation from her French husband, Romain Dauriac, has aimed, he has said, for a Victorian theatre sense of depth and has avoided thrashing the camera around like crazy.
Its quite restrained and anime-like, the director has said. I loved the idea of this world inhabited by figures, objects and typography that would be different for everyone who saw them. The biggest thing for me was to honour and respect what had come before and to open it to a wider audience, but try to make an original film.
Based on the Kodansha Comics manga series of the same name, the Ghost in the Shell script was developed using screenshots from the original anime movie adaptation and from its sequel, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, as well as the television series Stand Alone Complex. The central character, the Major, is multi-layered and this is what drew in Johansson. Shes living a unique experience as somebody who has an idea of who she thinks she was, and then who she is now, and the person that she feels she is, this sort of gnawing feeling she has in her ghost, the star has explained. Being able to play those three sides: the ego, the superego and the id … That was pretty enticing.
Whether Johansson has permanently left behind her cinematic reputation as a costume drama actress in favour of robotic antics and superheroes is not yet clear. In 2003, she made a big impression as the moody Girl with a Pearl Earring, and again later as Natalie Portmans co-star in Justin Chadwicks adaptation of the Tudor saga, The Other Boleyn Girl.
Johansson in Woody Allens Vicky Cristina Barcelona, 2008 Photograph: REX
It does look, however, as if the actress will keep honing her comedic skills. Although she was briefly a fully signed-up Woody Allen muse in the mid 2000s, she was never allowed much comic range in either Match Point, Scoop or her highly acclaimed final outing with the director in 2008s Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She managed to be very funny, though, in last years Coen Brothers Hollywood period piece, Hail, Caesar!. Her brassy portrayal of an Esther Williams-style swimming star was a highlight of the film.
Most recently, Johansson has appeared on Americas leading satirical television show Saturday Night Live, building up a close friendship with one of its regular stars, Kate Mckinnon. A sketch earlier this month had her playing a scientist who is disturbed to discover her dog is a Trump supporter.
Always political, Johansson has been outspoken on several fronts. In 2014, she alienated some fans when, as a performer from a Jewish background, she agreed to promote the Israeli company, SodaStream, explaining she did not hold with boycotts and had researched the company ethos. Oxfam was not impressed, all the same, and promptly asked her to stand down from her eight-year role as a goodwill ambassador.
The star also spoke out a year ago on the gender pay gap facing working women. Her response to the problem was nicely nuanced. She remained reluctant to be drawn into the row personally, she said, because her own situation, as one of the highest paid actors in the world, was so impossible for most women to relate to.
Ghost in the Shell: trailer for Scarlett Johansson anime adaptation
Theres something icky about me having that conversation unless it applies to a greater whole, she said. I am very fortunate, I make a really good living, and Im proud to be an actress whos making as much as many of my male peers at this stage. For me to talk about my own personal experience with it feels a little obnoxious. Its part of a larger conversation about feminism in general.
Growing up in New York with her Danish father Karsten, an architect, and her mother Melanie, a film producer, she has recounted watching presidential elections with her family, including her twin brother, Hunter, and her actress sister, Vanessa.
We just naturally became politically active. It was just understood that it was important, that it was our responsibility, she once said. I never tell people who to vote for. Im not telling people where to give money, but if there is to be a spotlight shed on me, then Id like to direct that spotlight on to causes I think are worthy or on to interesting, progressive figures.
The fierce spotlight that has focused on her professionally and personally ever since the end of her first marriage to the actor Ryan Reynolds is unlikely to move away soon. So it seems possible that, for Johansson, simply slipping into the disguise of a superhero, an alien, and now a powerful cyborg, feels like a pretty good way out.
JOHANSSON CV
Born 22 November, 1984. Manhattan, New York.
On screen Established her place on the Hollywood A-list in 2003 with Lost in Translation and Girl With a Pearl Earring. Since then, she has starred in Woody Allens Match Point (2005) and Scoop (2006), and later in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Hes Just Not That Into You (2009) and Her (2013). She has also played the Marvel Comics character Black Widow. As a singer, she has released two albums.
Read more: http://ift.tt/2n3JdM3
from Scarlett Johansson, charismatic queen of science fiction
0 notes