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jewelridersarchive · 5 years

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Why do we love seeing new versions of the same thing? Is it simple nostalgia? Is it the desire to engage with some sort of content that once moved us in a new and different way? Is it new creators wanting to stamp something they loved from their own childhood with their mark? Or is it all of the above?

I’m not immune to loving reboots. I devoured the new DuckTales on Disney XD, I’m reading the new Rainbow Brite comics from Dynamite, I’m watching the new iteration of Will & Grace, and continue to watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Reboots are fun; they not only allow fans who loved something to have a nostalgia party, but also allow potential new fans entry points into what sometimes appears to be never-ending streams of content (I’m looking at you, Transformers). But things seem out of hand when even ReBoot, the mid-90s CGI cartoon, has a reboot on Netflix (ReBoot: The Guardian Code). Have reboots become the “safe,” risk-averse way companies can cash in on portfolio properties that already have known fanbases? It’s the equivalent of an artist only drawing fanart because they know it will get thousands of likes versus hundreds on original content.

And I fully admit some level of fatigue with franchises that just keep chugging along, seemingly forever. Every movie that comes out seems to want to be a tentpole franchise builder. Or a reboot of an existing franchise, or a soft reboot that only takes some elements going forward, or an alternate universe or…well, you get the idea.

I love original content. One of the best shows I watched this year was Alex Hirsch’s Gravity Falls (yes, I know I’m rather late to the game). It was a bright spot of originality, something new and not tied to any other content or previous iteration. Many of the anime I watch and enjoy are either original or straight adaptations of an existing manga. I think original content and ideas are important in entertainment. They allow a generation to experience a piece of entertainment in its prime, and have something uniquely “theirs.” Kids of the 60s had Star Trek, kids of the 70s had Star Wars, kids of 80s will always be the original audience for Jem & the Holograms and He-Man/She-Ra, kids of the 90s will always have X-Men TAS and Sailor Moon. (And PGJR, of course haha). No matter if they are rebooted down the road or not, that original experience belongs to the original viewers.

Which is why it’s always hilarious to me when people who hate on the new version of something say “It’s ruining my childhood!” Your childhood is whatever it was, frozen in time. Those original cartoons obviously still exist, and if you have the desire you can watch most of them. A reboot doesn’t destroy the original, no matter how many changes it makes to the original idea. The best reboots can often give us (as adults) what we thought we were watching as children. And often, the reboot can drive traffic back to seek out the original, as adults want to share with children the version they loved at that age.

Which brings us to She-Ra. I didn’t watch any He-Man or She-Ra as a child, for whatever reason. I found He-Man & the Masters of the Universe through the 2002 anime-influenced incarnation (also a great reboot IMO), then went back and watched the 1983 cartoon, followed by the 1985 She-Ra: Princess of Power. I loved it all. Sure, sometimes it was goofy, and there was lots of animation reuse in the older versions, but the core concepts were really strong. They are classic good vs evil, freedom vs tyranny stories, told with engaging casts and crazy creative worlds.

I powered through all 93 episodes of She-Ra during the summer of 2010 while I studied for my board exams. It holds the special place of being the series I turned to to relieve the stress of studying. I love the 80s fantasy girl designs, the color schemes, the powers, the sheer kookiness of the side characters. She-Ra was the OG American magical girl, and I finally understood what all the fuss over this franchise was about. She-Ra feels iconic in the way that characters like Wonder Woman and Sailor Moon do. Yes, she starts out as a spin-off of the successful He-Man franchise, but he makes very few appearances in She-Ra’s cartoon.

But after her initial run, She-Ra remained a virtually dormant property for the next 30 years. He-Man had two different reboots in 1991 and 2002, but She-Ra was stuck in limbo. Only once the Masters of the Universe Classics collectible figure from Mattel released in 2010 did She-Ra finally see the light of day again. Story-wise, the bios on the back of the toy packages gave us a little info about She-Ra’s further adventures, but it wasn’t until the 2012/2013 Masters of the Universe comic from DC that She-Ra comes back, this time in the guise of the villainous Despara. It’s a dark but interesting take on the characters; an exploration of what being raised by the Evil Horde would really do to a person.

Interestingly, this seems to be the jumping-off point for the new “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power” animated series from Dreamworks and Netflix. This show takes as its central theme the relationship between Adora and Catra. When Adora finds the sword that lets her turn into She-Ra, she leaves the Horde – an organization to which she has devoted her life. Almost more importantly, she leaves behind Catra, her best friend. It’s this broken relationship that informs the emotional tone of the rest of the show.

Unlike the 80s version, this time around the Rebellion knows Adora’s identity as She-Ra. It’s an interesting change – shows of the 80s were obsessed with secret identities, and sometimes it could get ridiculous making up excuses for what happened to the other identity of the character every time. Thankfully, that is avoided here, and instead of angst over whether or not you can let people know the real you, we are treated to relationships that ask whether we can accept someone who we know has wronged us before.

Much has been made over this update’s reworking of the body types and ethnicities of the main princesses. While I confess not loving all the updated designs and missing the 80s fairytale warrior goddesses of the original, I understand and fully support the change. Reboots are about viewing something old through the lens of today, and audiences of today want to see themselves in the media they watch or read. We can’t (and shouldn’t) go back to mostly-white casts. The world is a rainbow of colors, and the show feels richer for including them.

Speaking of rainbows, I have to mention the new show’s decidedly queer bent. The relationship between Adora and Catra is somewhere between ex-best-friends and ex-girlfriends in tone. Netossa and Spinerella, long shipped by the fandom, are finally outed in a true relationship this time around. Other characters like Scorpia, Bow, and Entrapta all tap into queer mannerisms and norms as well. The end result is unlike anything else I’ve ever seen in children’s entertainment, and I couldn’t be happier. I wish I’d had something similar as a child, but I’m grateful today’s queer kids have their own heroes.

When we talk about a successful reboot, what are we looking for? Here’s what I think a good reboot need to accomplish.

Bring the characters and concepts of the original property up to date for current audiences.

Explore the characters or world in new and different ways.

Add depth to the original concept.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power does all of these in spades. I think it’s the nicest treatment an 80s female-driven property has gotten in a reboot. The show is full of strong characters with interesting dynamics, great writing, and interesting world building. Yes, some of the episodes can be a bit predictable and the designs are not always my favorite, but everything works together toward a greater whole. I won’t spoil the story for you, because seriously if you haven’t watched this, get thee to Netflix and enjoy!

For the Honor of Grayskull!

Chris

P.S. Can you imagine getting a ✨Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders✨ reboot that brought all this to the table? I’d die!

Read the complete blog at The Jewel Riders Archive! http://www.jewelridersarchive.com/posts/she-ra-the-princesses-of-power-and-reboot-culture/

#jewel riders #princess gwenevere and the jewel riders #princess gwenevere #unicorn #unicorns #animation #mattel #She-ra #she ra #princess of power #heman #he man #he-man #masters of the universe

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doomonfilm · 6 years

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Thoughts : Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

There was a short window of time in the mid-2000s that made it seem like independent films and directors were having a renaissance in terms of popular culture. Lots of 1990s underground heroes were starting to get into positions of power in the industry, some of the previous indie-darlings were becoming household names, and an entirely new crop of creators was getting exposure thanks to a proliferation of studio involvement. During this time, MTv had resurfaced as a player in the film game, and one of their best offerings was the delightful and memorable Napoleon Dynamite.

The Dynamite family, members of the Preston, Idaho community, are an odd bunch. Brothers Napoleon (Jon Heder) and Kip (Aaron Ruell) live with their grandmother Carlinda (Sandy Martin), an older woman with a very active social life, especially in comparison to that of Napoleon (a loner with an active imagination) and Kip (a thirty-something who spends all of his free time in online chats). When Carlinda suffers a quad-cycle accident at the sand dunes with her friends, Uncle Rico Dynamite (Jon Gries), a former high-school athlete and self-proclaimed ladies’ man, moves in to head the household, much to the dismay of Napoleon. While Kip and Rico attempt to move forward with a door-to-door sales routine in hopes of making extra money, Napoleon befriends two students at his school : the shy Deb (Tina Majorino), and the quiet but confident transfer student Pedro (Efren Ramirez). Due to their outcast labels, the three band together in friendship and attempt to turn the social hierarchy of their school upside-down, including setting targets on the school election and talent show specifically. Rico, however, is managing to throw monkey-wrenches into Napoleon’s adventures via his exploits with the parents of Napoleon’s fellow students. With Kip exploring a budding relationship, Rico continuing blindly in his selfish ways, and Napoleon attempting to raise the profile of himself and his friends, things come to a head in a myriad of unexpected and hilarious ways.

Napoleon Dynamite’s created universe, and the characters that inhabit it, seem to fall somewhere on a spectrum between Charles Schulz and John Hughes. There are essentially only two general personality types : quirky and dominating. Everyone on the quirky side has unique elements that make them fall under that label, while the handful of dominating characters essentially use only that trait, whether it be through intimidating force or putting out signals of attraction. Each character has a specific ‘tick’ that is a signature for them, and over the course of the film, the main characters grow to embrace that unique thing about them, apply it in a surprising way, and gain confidence from it. It’s a simple formula, but it is executed very well here.

As far as the characters go, their unique looks and understated (but hilarious) performances work well in tandem. Kip and Rico play much younger than their age, while Napoleon, Pedro and Deb play true to their age. Everyone comes off like a living, breathing cartoon or comic strip, with the exposition and events that take place happening in a seemingly episodic nature. Hints of depth are given for each character in very subtle ways, be it Deb’s business ingenuity and artistic eye, Pedro’s love of his culture and assured nature, or Napoleon’s alpha-male characteristics he hides behind his shyness. The dynamic between Kip and Napoleon is hard to put a finger on, as Kip seems to be the younger brother in many ways until his romantic chats manifest as a genuine and loving relationship.

Of all the transformations and moments in this film to embrace, the shining moment has to be Napoleon’s triumphant dance at the student elections. Jamiroquai’s Canned Heat and Napoleon’s dance moves not only instantly put a smile on viewer’s face, it is a sincerely cathartic release of a movie-full (if not a theoretical lifetime) of bullying and being made fun of, like a glorious phoenix rising from the ashes that are high school social hierarchies. The confluence of random events, from the discovery of the dance instructional video, to LaFawnduh’s gifting of the mixtape, to the fact that the student election has a talent portion, all magically lineup like a runway guiding Napoleon towards a takeoff, and a deserved one at that, as every other main character had found some sort of redemption by that moment.

Jon Heder’s iconic performance in the titular role was so good that it overshadowed him for quite a while, as the Napoleon character gained fame beyond that of its creators. Similarly, Efren Ramirez and his incredibly laid back charismatic confidence also reached cult levels of popularity, with Vote for Pedro taking on a life of its own. Tina Majorino is charming and equally as shy as Napoleon is at the onset, which makes their combination work extremely well. Aaron Ruell turns in what is probably my favorite performance, with his demure presence masking some incredible sass that is unlocked courtesy of LaFawnduh’s arrival. Jon Gries is equal parts lovable and annoying, as his inability to move past a time he regrets has literally stunted his intellectual and emotional growth, making him as endearing as he is frustrating. Brief (but memorable) appearances by Shondrella Avery, Haylie Duff, Emily Kennard, Diedrich Bader, and Sandy Martin round out the strong cast.

Napoleon Dynamite is a movie that not only gives me guaranteed laughs with each watch, it also provides me discovery of moments I’d previously overlooked. Like a fine, absurdist wine, this film just gets better as the years go by.

#ChiefDoomsday #DOOMonFILM #JaredHess #NapoleonDynamite #JonHeder #EfrenRamirez #TinaMajorino #AaronRuell #JonGries #HaylieDuff #EmilyKennard #ShondrellaAvery #SandyMartin #DiedrichBader #TrevorSnarr #EllenDubin

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nicemango-feed · 7 years

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Islam & Creativity: Lamenting the Loss of Art that Could have been...

As a person of Pakistani Muslim background who dabbles in... art stuff, I’ve long been aware of the limitations imposed upon visual artists and creative types of every sort, in my motherland.

I see the precautions and risks Pakistani film-makers take, just to film documentaries, especially if they touch on religion and extremism.

Actors in Pakistan, once had to make sure their clothing passed ridiculous modesty standards before they could appear on TV.

During the reign of religio-maniac dictator Zia ul Haq, women on TV were required to have headscarves on at all times, and if there was a death scene, or drowning scene, their heads simply wouldn’t be shown, to avoid the immodest picture of a woman without her headscarf.

Unacceptable… even in death.

Things are better now, TV wardrobe-wise, but the underlying sentiment of curtailing the imagination has not changed.

This leashing of creativity spans the Muslim world, in varying intensities, but its everywhere in it’s uniquely oppressive, Islamic way.

I grew up in Saudi, art was pretty much non existent there…aside from a few painters in the malls who were always painting landscapes, fruit arrangements or a picture of The King.

From Getty images, painting by Ralph Cowan

Things started to change as I grew older, and the world grew smaller through tech. With smart phones, the internet and satellite TV it was harder to control what people read, what shows they watched (words related to “royal” “prince” “king” were often muted even in cartoons when I was younger), or what music they listened to (words were commonly erased or blacked out from album covers, female singers were covered in black marker).

Image from http://ift.tt/2iFnCar

In my last year there, I attended an “art” exhibit somewhere…something incredibly novel at the time for Saudi life. Of course all the artists being showcased were male.

There were no figures, only geometric shapes, landscapes and Arabic calligraphy.

“It’s a start" I thought.

There was a time when simply having a camera out in the open in Saudi was taboo. I remember my dad having to get out of the car and hurriedly, covertly take some photos for my class project on buildings in the old part of town.

The contradictions were so many, taking photos in the open was taboo, but there were photo developing places on every corner. Drawing figures was frowned upon as it was considered “idolatry” but the men hired to stand in malls and paint The King, over and over, were considered ok…nay, they demanded a form of idolatry from the 'loyal subjects'.. in that regard.

It was utterly bizarre for a young questioning mind to grow up around this. I don’t regret it though, the strangeness of Saudi Arabian life has made me who I am today. I have a mixed loathing and affection for it, which i’ve discussed before, some warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia when I hear Arabic, and also feelings of terror as I remember the morality police screaming at me.

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My Pakistani relatives who lived in Pakistan always looked down on life in Saudi...in terms of ‘freedom of expression’. Yes, there is no morality police there (other than the public itself), yes there are women allowed on TV without Burqas (but the burqa is revered and glorified), Yes some creativity is allowed (with many restrictions)...

But who are we kidding here? 'Freedom' is not a thing associated with the Muslim identity, unless you are lying to yourself. The more staunchly Muslim you get, the less freedom you have. Yes, this could be said about any religion...but the orthodoxy Islam commands in the average adherent is unmatched today.

from www.kiblat.net

It is a religion more recent than the other big ones…so, it had the opportunity to plagiarize build upon already established frameworks of oppression. Coming later, gave it the chance to be more nit-picky, more controlling and more hateful than some already pretty hateful ideologies.

***

Last year In Pakistan we saw Qandeel Baloch, a rising youtube celebrity, who simply didn’t abide by modesty codes of any sort…She was just a young person having fun, something most of us wouldn’t think twice about in the west.

Her life was was taken, brutally, in an honour killing by her own brother.

Before that, in 2014, we saw an iconic, elite, Pakistani popstar-turned-mullah Junaid Jamshed, be accused of blasphemy himself… for having a casual tone and 'poking fun at Ayesha', the prophet Mohammed's wife (in an albeit sexist manner, but the sexism is not what pissed the stauncher mullahs off).

The irony... of someone who's a critic of secularism himself, a proponent of hardline Islam, being accused of blasphemy.

It just goes to show that this blasphemy-beast isn’t satisfied, no matter how religious you are. It is flawed in its humaneness obviously, and strategically...in the sense that it can be turned around and used against anyone -even those who favour and defend it.

There will always be someone more religious to look down upon you.

Sadly, Junaid Jamshed died late 2016 in a plane crash…and even the way Pakistanis wanted to remember him was judged, monitored and Islamized.

Request to TV channels- Pl don't show Junaid Jamshed's music life that he had left many years ago. Remember him as a preacher of Islam.

— Ansar Abbasi (@AnsarAAbbasi) December 7, 2016

He was a huge 80s pop icon once.

youtube

Yes, we lost his creative mind to religion later in his life, but he was just one more, silenced.

Preacher later in life or not, this was no reason to control how people remembered him.

To demand their memories of him as a singer be wiped clean, and he be remembered only as a 'holy man' not as a ‘disgraceful entertainer’ is absurd.

He died as a preacher. But shameless pak media will try to portray him a music star@AnsarAAbbasi

— Mazhar Khan (@shanglians) December 7, 2016

The depths religion wants to get its claws into is frightening. They even want to rewrite history, to satisfy the faith, and they have the media power to do so.

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Taher Shah, unintentionally hilarious Pakistani singer, was also forced to leave the country because of threats. I'm not sure how he's even controversial. He's like one of those singers you see in the auditions of America's got Talent, that don’t make it through… but they’re so bad….it’s good.

The Mullahs, they won't even let us have cringeworthy stuff.

youtube

Art-policing transcends geographical borders too, it has affected many religious communities…

But none quite like the muslim community.

Salman Rushdie, Charlie Hebdo, and countless other examples...The most recent of which is anger and offense directed towards 'The Real Housewives of ISIS'

…a comedy bit specifically mocking *terrorist group* ISIS, is seen to be offensive to Muslims by many. It's sad, really.

youtube

This type of reaction over something like the mockery of ISIS is disheartening and depressing. What kind of place are we in if people of Muslim background cannot partake in and enjoy skewering extremists, especially in the political climate of today, where Muslims are under scrutiny, where they are at times unfairly generalized as extremists…why would you want to blur those lines further…?

http://ift.tt/2jw68hK

Its time for us…specifically people of Muslim background to laugh..to ridicule the parts that need to be ridiculed. It is our voices that will hold more weight than any other…it will be our voices that can change the narrative, convince children of tomorrow not to go down that path.

***

Maybe someday, we can have our own Book of Mormon - and hopefully everyone will get to keep their heads afterwards!

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A special thanks to Vladimir, Ritchie, Rob, David, Charlie, Peter, Sean & Ruthless.

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jewelridersarchive · 5 years

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She-ra & Reboot Culture

When we talk about a successful reboot, what are we looking for? Here’s what I think a good reboot need to accomplish.

Bring the characters and concepts of the original property up to date for current audiences.

Explore the characters or world in new and different ways.

Add depth to the original concept.

For the Honor of Grayskull!

Chris

P.S. Can you imagine getting a ✨Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders✨ reboot that brought all this to the table? I’d die!

Read the complete blog at The Jewel Riders Archive! http://www.jewelridersarchive.com/posts/she-ra-the-princesses-of-power-and-reboot-culture/

#jewel riders #princess gwenevere and the jewel riders #princess gwenevere #unicorn #unicorns #animation #kenner #doll #dolls #mattel #She-ra #she ra #princess of power #motu #masters of the universe

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