When I was a little girl, my mother didn’t buy me clothes with white people on them. It was her way of making sure I didn't idolize the litany of white characters on television and in books. I never really noticed until I was older when I was shopping for my niece and was reluctant to the do the same (I literally made her Gryffindor gear with my bare hands. She raised a proper blerd, don't worry). As long as I had my Michael Jackson t-shirt or Care Bears nightgown, I was happy.
As I watched Black Lightning from the new CW superhero series and electrocute racist cops that told him to “get his black ass on the ground” and his daughters hold their own against their own personal villain, I felt my inner eight-year-old giggle with glee in a way she rarely had. Because I saw myself eagerly saving my allowance to buy a Black Lightning shirt instead of my Michael Jackson cards. Is this why kids love comic books? Because they get to see themselves and their stories reflected back and heightened by imagination and fantasy? Because it's so easy to envision themselves as the savior?
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From black women owning entertainment to the hellscape that is American politics, 2017 has been a year of polarizing change and picking the right side or wrong side of history. Unfortunately, even fictional characters weren't spared from the dumpster fire tendencies of this year.
Whether unlucky in love, saddled with a shark-jumping plot or unspeakable tragedy, here are are 8 characters that deserve better in 2018.
In entertainment, there are some opinions that are universally accepted: Milo Ventimiglia is everything. Queen Sugar is wildly underappreciated. Fox was so colossally stupid to cancel its baseball drama, Pitch.
However, this critic holds in a lot of opinions that go against the fandom grain. I have enough personal baggage, so I'm unburdening that of the fangirl variety. Unpopular Opinion: Supernatural is destroying Dean Winchester at the expense of Sam. Every fall, I always make a valiant attempt to watch at least one episode of every new series. Even with DVR, I usually tap out before mid-October. While very few pilots piqued by interest this season, even a failed tradition is a tradition. And since I’m stubborn enough not to learn anything from the past, I’ve also decided to write as many reviews of those shows as possible.
There are far too many TV shows and so little time, so here are 6 reviews of new shows in 200 words or less...
You have probably done or at least pretended to do some spring cleaning. You know that torturous
de-cluttering that happens when the world is thawing out from its winter sluggishness. The only thing more cruel than spring cleaning is Fall Cleaning. This isn't packing away all of your shorts and capris in exchange for your winter sweaters. Adulting is hard enough without all that nonsense. I'm talking about cleaning out your DVR to make room for the 2017-18 TV shows that are airing now!
Right now, my DVR is clogged with reruns of Friends and soap operas, brainless TV shows I toss on while I'm writing. They gotta go, and for the hardest part: I have to re-evaluate my season passes.
I'm sure I'm somewhere on the hoarding spectrum, that's true for clothes, junk and television shows. I will watch an aging show with the same ferocity that I'll cling to that rainbow tye-dyed shirt from 1997 because my high school crush thought it was cute and because Phoebe wore it in the early seasons of Friends. Unfortunately, like that door in Titanic, there's only so much room, so some shows needs to sacrificed to the icy waters of oblivion. Here are four shows that I won't be watching regularly this season...
There are extraordinary hours of television that stick with you because they effect and reflect the very turmoil stirring in your own soul. The second season of Queen Sugar explored the intricately complex subject of police brutality in the black community by following baby-faced Micah West (Nicholas L. Ashe) unlawful arrest and violent mistreatment by a racist police officer.
The plot unspooled in a gut-wrenching study of tragedy, trauma, and catharsis for viewers who are concerned with far more dire things than the amount of their traffic ticket when they are stopped by police. It was far more powerful than broadcast cable's attempts (*side-eyes Chicago PD, Bluebloods and Law & Order: SUV*) because Queen Sugar’s primarily black writers and cast inherently understand the nuance, shame, and fear of existing in a country build on institutionalized racism. It was a beautiful and intensely haunting reflection of the age-old reflection of the rule to write what you know. And sadly, this is the direct opposite of showrunner Marc Guggenheim's desire to wedge a Black Lives Matter "topical episode" into season 6 of his white-boy-vigilante superhero drama, Arrow.
September 13 marks SSG's second birthday, and while my mom gives no credence to The Terrible Twos, I just might.
The second year of maintaining this site was far harder than the first. The newness had worn off, and while I still love television with the passion of a thousand stans, there was never enough time in the day or snark in my brain to write all that I've wanted to write. It didn't help that Toupee Fiasco became president on my ACTUAL birthday, and because of his reign, it feels like lightyears of anxiety, fear and anger has past in the months since. Working through that and trying to reconcile how much the world has changed (or how much has much has been revealed how it truly is) has been a major challenge in itself. Did I mention I also got a challenging new job? That only begins to explain the updates every two weeks. #SorryNotSorry Though it took a while, SSG has also also helped to sustain and possibly grow my passion for all things pop culture, and what I'm doing here. Entertainment and the blerds, geeks, small screen girls/boys/people and shippers that obsess over it are more important than ever. It is escape and catharsis and resistance. A television show or song or movie is a dream realized for the person that makes it and a journey of excitement, intrigue, grief and passion for the people who consume it. It is the great connector. Realizing this, I have found myself more excited for SSG's second birthday and what's to come. Not only will I be blogging here, I will be guest-writing for WeSoNerdy.com AND writing my second (and hopefully publishable) book this winter. I want to thank anyone and everyone who has visited the site, left comments and shared my articles. It means so much to me that you've joined me on this journey. I'm proud of my little corner of the internet, and I really want to make it as fly as possible! How do you like the new digs? As always, if there is any content you'd love to see more of, please let me know! And since my actual birthday was totally overshadowed by a evil cheeto stain, I will be having all of the freakin' donuts and birthday wishes I want. Here are some of my biggest wishes for the upcoming television season, movies and more! What does a visionary and uber-producer who has generated over $2 billion in profit after creating game-changing shows like Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and more do? Any damn things she wants. This week Shonda Rhimes, the world's greatest television producers, did just that by announcing that she is parting ways with ABC and to exclusively create new content for digital streamer, Netlfix, Variety.com reports.
The groundbreaking move from broadcast television to the streaming giant offers "unique creative freedom and instantaneous global reach," Rhimes said in a statement. While I'm wondering how Ms. Rhimes will pack up her infinity pool of fans' tears and rollercoasters of feels, I'm also doing my happy dance! Rhimes essentially has a blank slate at Netflix, which makes her the hottest ticket in Hollywood. A fangirl's mind reels at the binging possibilities. However, fantastic shows need fabulous actors, so here are some wonderful actors and one show I've love to see make a pilgrimage to Shondaland... When I first saw the trailer for The Bold Type, I could not contain the socket-spraining eyeroll. For the post-The Sex And The City and The Devil Wears Prada generation, television shows and movies about chic twenty-somethings who move the The Big Apple in search of fabulousness and love at a fashion magazine are about as common as its Tuesday airdate and just as realistic as an airbrushed photo of a supermodel.
I braced myself for faux feminism, the lone minority (Sweet/Vicious' Aisha Dee) to have scraps of a storyline, and lots of pseudo-glam outfits. And I have never been more happy to be wrong about everything, including the fashion. Freeform's The Bold Type is the splashy summer show that lives up to its titular promise by pairing painfully relatable drama with the provocative shot of real female empowerment. Fans have successfully willed into existence a chance for another Supernatural spin-off starring fan favorite Kim Rhodes as sheriff and hunter Jody Mills.
The aptly titled Wayward Sisters will kick-off as a backdoor pilot slated to air during Supernatural's 13th season, Deadline.com reports. The show, hemmed by Supernatural EPs Andrew Dabb and Robert Singer, will follow the monster-hunting adventures of Jody Mills' foster family, which will presumably include Claire Novak (Kathryn Newton) and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen). Unlike the Rihanna-Nyong'o movie, which was inspired by a tweet and fans' passion, the primarily female fans of Supernatural have been championing for Wayward Sisters for several years, starting Twitter and t-shirt campaigns that even caught the attention of Rhodes and other guest stars like Briana Buckmaster. Admittedly, it'll be great to see the Supernatural mythology wielded by a mostly female cast, but the show has attempted this before with disastrous results. Do y'all remember their disastrous first attempt called Supernatural: Bloodlines? I do. It was scary in all the wrong ways. In order for the second time to be a charm, Wayward Sisters should follow these simple steps: |
Small Screen GirlI am an unabashed pop culture and TV-aholic with no plans to ever seek treatment. Explore this blog and see just how deep my obsession goes. Categories
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