Of Snakes and Mongooses: “Heart of Parkness” review

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One of the biggest concerns I had when I started watching Littlest Pet Shop involved the character of Sunil.

Sunil, for those who forget, is a mongoose. And mongooses, specifically the Indian gray mongoose, which might come in a blue variety, are well-known for their ability to kill snakes, particularly cobras. This is because of their immunity to most snake venoms, their agility, and their thick coats.

However, in the wild, they don’t generally go after cobras. Snakes are a part of their diet, but not specifically cobras. It is a common misconception however, so the fact that Sunil hates cobras is fine by me in that respect.

That being said, this plot point always bothered me because it kinda feels a bit racist in this context. In a world where all animals are sentient, having one animal hate an entire species is problematic. Would they ever portray this on-screen?

Would they ever feature an episode where a friendly cobra ends up in the day camp, and everyone likes him, but Sunil is a racist jackass?

Well this week, they did have the opportunity to bring it up, but danced around it a bit, and seemed to have avoided this issue without anyone acknowledging it as an issue. Continue reading →

Eight Arms to Spoil The Movie: “Eight Arms to Hold You” review

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I don’t like marketing departments. They tend to fuck things up.

It’s an odd phenomena I find, where crucial plot points, that are supposed to remain surprising or shocking, end up being part of a show’s marketing.

Case in point: the second Lord of the Rings film: The Two Towers.

I was never much of a fan of the series, I would say. The films were good, but I never felt the need to obsess over them.

However, I remember something interesting happening just before the second film came out. My friend Melanie was a proto big Lord of the Rings fan, by that I mean she was just starting out. And she mentioned that she was reading the books at that time.

Anyway, if you saw the first film, or read the first book, you would know one of the iconic scenes featured Gandalf facing off against meta-satan, screaming “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!” and then falling down a pit, presumably dying.

Incredible scene, and everyone thought he was dead. We all thought that was the last we saw of Ian McKellen in those films.

Then the marketing for the Two Towers started up, and these kinds of things are unavoidable, particularly if you don’t live in a cave. And especially back then, when people still watched television. But, in the TV spots, we saw Gandalf… the White… not dead.

Wow…

It’s made all the stupider by the actual scene in the film, where our heroes are wondering through the forest, thinking Saruman (the bad wizard) is following them. Yet we all know it’s Gandalf, because it’s the same forest and characters that were in the TV spot! And he’s wearing Saruman’s clothes in the ad too!

And it pissed Mel off because she still didn’t know Gandalf survived. She hadn’t read that far into the book. She learned one of The Two Tower’s most dramatic plot twists from a TV ad. Not the book as you’re supposed to get it.

I know some people think others overreact regarding spoilers. But come the fuck on! When you set up a mystery, even a tiny mystery like that, and give the solution in the marketing, it makes the whole scene meaningless, and the mystery pointless.

Take The Island, a film I never saw, but already know the ending to. You see the film’s mid-point twist was revealed in the ads promoting it. So for the first half of the film, you’re watching it, screaming at the screen yelling: “You’re all clones! You idiots!”

Basically, the film goes: Oh, I wonder what’s really going on, I’ll bet you’re never gonna guess! Meanwhile they already told us in the advertising campaign.

It’s like an episode of C.S.I. being promoed by an ad saying, “In the next episode, this guy kills someone!”

I even remember seeing Roger Ebert bitching about this kinda thing back in the day, while reviewing The Island. That’s right! Roger Ebert agrees with me! I don’t need more of an argument than that!

And this brings me to the latest Littlest Pet Shop. WHERE THE SAME FUCKING THING HAPPENED!!! Continue reading →

Fashion Follies: “Missing Blythe,” and “The Nest Hats Craze!” review

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Well, it’s been an interesting few months, hasn’t it?

I, myself, have pretty much restarted my life. I’ve gone back to college, for the second time, and am taking computer programming. It’s the first step to becoming a real IT professional.

That’s not to say I’m leaving my writing behind, far from it. I’ve just found something to add to my life, not take over; and I think it’s an important thing to consider: You should never let anything take over your life. That’d be horrid. We all need balance in what we do.

I, for instance, need a bit of writing, and a bit of schooling. I like the occasional video game, and various television shows. Nothing takes over my life completely. I may be learning to program the things, but I don’t obsess over computers, they’re just a useful tool. They’re just another part of my life. But, I got other things going on.

Which brings me to the season premiere of Littlest Pet Shop, my favourite show that hasn’t been cancelled yet. Continue reading →

The Stanford Prison Disaster

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It’s hard to believe that good people can do bad things. But it does happen.

We all know about the horrors of Nazi Germany. How millions of people were rounded up and slaughtered en masse, merely for being foreign, or gay, or disabled, or not white.

It’s horrific, to put it lightly. But in the aftermath of World War II, after the fall of Adolf Hitler’s regime, many of those who participated in the brutal activities feigned ignorance. Some even declared that they were just following orders.

Were they good people, who were just led astray? Or were they brutal sadists, who revelled in the suffering of others?

Well, no one can know for certain, it’s impossible. But it does raise some interesting questions regarding the minds of all humanity. Can we be that easily manipulated. Can a good person be convinced to do some extremely horrible things?

Perhaps, if they’re not alone. Because the collection of those millions were not done by any single individual, but by virtual armies, working together.

Could it be that if you’re surrounded by dozens of people doing the exact same thing you are, you feel less inclined to object?

In a way, this is exactly what psychology professor Philip Zimbardo attempted to examine when he conducted the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment, back in 1971.

I say ‘infamous’ for several reasons, which I will get to. But first, I think it’s important to explain what the experiment actually was. Continue reading →

Equestria Rising: “Equestria Girls” review

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It’s been hard to remain excited about My Little Pony.

Since the third season wrapped up, which was over six months ago by the way, I haven’t really had much enthusiasm about the franchise. That last season made me think of a dying whale, screaming out its final cries as it struggled to stay alive, while being sucked down into the whirlpool of irrelevance.

Not that I’m happy about it, far from it. Seeing my favourite show go down the drain does not give me pleasure, in any way. It makes me sad. It makes me depressed. It makes me cling to the pun-laden cringe-inducing SheZow; and the highly superior, but less exciting, Littlest Pet Shop.

I love the show, and I hate to see it fall apart. But this was bound to happen. Eventually, all programs, with the possible exception of Seinfeld, run out of ideas. The writing staff starts to come up dry, and have to resort to reading off the list of ideas they previously thought were too shit to bother writing.

And that’s exactly how season three felt, even though it was only thirteen episodes long. It actually felt more like they were taking cues from fan fiction. Even the final episode felt like a shitty fan story, rather than a well-thought-out, professionally made script.

It’s the same complaint I levelled at one of the final Animorphs books, back in the day. I was a huge fan of that series, but the way they saved Marco’s mother felt so contrived, and so forced, it actually made me sick. I don’t know what else to say about it. And don’t get me started on the actual ending.

But I digress. Now thankfully, during season three, there were a few episodes I liked. Wonderbolts Academy was pretty good, despite Spitfire’s apparent recharacterization. And Magic Duel, and Just for Sidekicks rank among my favourite episodes of all time, even if Peewee went walkabout.

But sadly, I found the rest of the season to be lacking, and Magical Mystery Cure was the first episode that I actually hated. Which is a tall order, you have to admit.

So it should come as no surprise to anyone that, when I first heard of Equestria Girls, I was a bit skeptical. I didn’t want to be. I wanted to be ready to jump in with both feet, excited for the latest release; their theatrical debut. But I wasn’t. Instead, I was scared. I was afraid it would be exactly as terrible as I expected, and make me give up my bronydom, and all that comes with it.

Sad Fluttershy

I’m so glad to be proven wrong. Continue reading →

Our Awesome Avengers

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Sometimes, you have to know what you’re doing. Where you’re going. What your purpose is.

I never quite understood this until recently.

A matter of days ago, while writing the next chapter of Sibling Rivalry, I came to a startling realization: Knowing what I know now, I could have structured the story a lot better by rewriting everything after chapter three, delaying the actual romance between Spike and Sweetie Belle, and have his affection for her form a bit more gradually as a consequence of their budding friendship, as he teaches her magic. It would allow the story to focus on the romance, rather than the bullshit deception.

So I’m an idiot. I think I might go back and rewrite the whole story with that in mind. Or I could just say ‘fuck it’ and move on at this stage.

I don’t know.

I think the problem is, I didn’t think the story through well enough. I didn’t think it through deeply enough. I should’ve seen the plot holes before they came. But it really goes to show just how important preparation is. How important it is to plan a story out well in advance. As a writer, you might find it frustrating, not getting to the good bits. But overall, it’ll mean the story you write will be better, and much more coherent.

Which might be the reason Marvel made it work. They thought it through, and planned it all out from day one. They didn’t just make one film left open for sequels. They designed the whole thing to fit together as one giant franchise.

I am of course referring to the epic and sublime Avengers film franchise. Five films: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: the First Avenger. All tying together and referencing each other, with the purpose of reaching the ultimate crescendo, with film six, The Avengers.

The Avengers

By the way, in case you couldn’t tell, I love this film. Continue reading →

Magic and Nazis and Gods, wait-what!?

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The Marvel Universe is weird.

We have advanced technology, genetic engineering, genetic mutations, magic, cosmic beings, supernatural phenomena, gods, parallel universes, aliens, and Samuel L. Jackson, all coexisting in the same world. It doesn’t make sense.

With the exception of Samuel L. Jackson, none of these things exist here, in reality, so it can really strain credulity to have them all coexist in the same world.

Yet somehow, it works. Somehow, all these things can come together. And somehow, it makes sense.

Advanced technology can coexist, and even work with, magic. It can be used to spur genetic mutations, and travel to parallel universes. It can even make Samuel L. Jackson more of a badass!

But how? With interesting and relatable characters, compelling plotlines, and a consistently goofy tone, we can overlook the tiny contrivances and inconsistencies, because overall, it makes a better story.

Which brings us to the second half of the Avengers franchise, or as I call it: clusterfuck heaven. Continue reading →

Friendship is Smash!

Posted by BlackWidower on

It’s hard to pin down exactly why I like My Little Pony.

Could it be the characters? The setting? The plot? The overall cheery tone? The comedy?

More than likely, it’s a bit of everything. But more recently, I found another reason to love the show: The message.

I don’t just mean the friendship message, I mean something more than that.

Too many shows are about one person, one hero, saving the world. Perhaps assisted by a sidekick who does bugger all, and is only there to look up to our hero, and maybe help during some contrived plot point.

This is a staple of every action film in existence. It’s always about one person, and I’m sorry, but I’m not buying it. One person is the most useless thing in existence. If you want to make a real impact on the world, or save the world, you’re not going to do it alone.

It’s a fantasy. The idea that a solitary protagonist can save the day is just something we like, because we can latch onto it, and think; if Bruce Willis can do it, perhaps we could as well. After all, he’s not really an action star… or at least he wasn’t when he made Die Hard, he was a goddamn comedian. I would argue, he still is. But I digress.

A story that stars a team is much better, especially if the individual elements could manage to hold their own. Which is especially true of the ponies. We have Rarity using psychological warfare against the Diamond Dogs; Fluttershy shaming the cockatrice; and Applejack facing off against the Timberwolves. But bring them together, they wield the most powerful weapon in Equestria: The Elements of Harmony!

It reminds me of Left 4 Dead. A great game where you play a single survivor of the zombie apocalypse, who could probably take out a horde with a few swings of your katana. But you’ll eventually get overwhelmed, and will need the help of your friends to make it to the end!

Apparently Pacific Rim does the same thing. I haven’t seen it yet, but from what I hear, the film’s all about how it takes a team to save the world from giant rampaging Godzilla-sized monsters.

This formula works even better if it’s a ragtag group. All having different backgrounds, different personalities, and different points of view. Like in My Little Pony. A team of six different heroes, from all walks of life, and with very different backgrounds, and conflicting personalities, who come together to fight a great threat, and become great friends.

Which brings me so eloquently to Marvel’s The Avengers. It’s My Little Pony with duller tones. Continue reading →