fickle: (ergo proxy: cogito ergo proxy)
Fickle ([personal profile] fickle) wrote2007-07-23 12:17 pm

TV & Media.

First of all, click this to get a scary look at exactly how much photos are tampered with before they're put on the covers of magazines. It's an animated gif, I don't recognize the woman in the photo but gods, they've changed her a ton.

Secondly, being at home without Internet has resulted in me watching more TV along with my sewing projects, and I've yet again managed to get myself hooked on stuff that hardly anyone else watches!

1. Help! I'm A Teenage Outlaw!

This airs at 11:30PM on Nick and features a twelve-year-old who found out that his mother was a highwaywoman before she dies, and now needs to carry on the family tradition. It's set in 1643, and his sidekicks are Lady Devereux (a name I've always loved) disguised as a fellow peasant called Deedee and Moses, a ten-year-old inventing genius. Deedee is actually the smartest of the lot, and although there's only one season of this show, it's funny and easy enough to follow. Kinda like Big Wolf on Campus, except cuter.

2. Boston Legal

I've only seen one ep of this show but in that one ep, there were two heterosexual men that have sleepovers, a kickass African female lawyer, an old kickass woman lawyer that's the boss of an incompetent African laywer and white lawyer, and a female judge. Talk about diversity and a good way to yank in Fans of Color (FoC).

3. Monk

Okay, this I got into last night, because of Numa. She sat down and watched two and a half eps with me, and the best way to get me into a show, any show at all, is to watch it with me. If you can explain it to me and be there to chat to, then I'm more likely to pay atttention to the show. In this case, it was funny enough that I think it's worth watching some more of. I know that someone else on my flist also mentioned it to me once, but I can't think whom, unfortunately.

The mention of Fans of Color made me think about the music I liked -- I've attended three concerts in Boston so far (Flogging Molly, Placebo and Placebo again) and both times, I was the only South Asian there. Not just the only South Asian girl, but the only South Asian, full stop. Sum 41 has a South Asian guy on drums, I think, and Damage has a Sri Lankan lead singer but apart from that, the music scene that I'm aware of seems to be split mostly between white and black, with J-Pop and J-Rock also starting to creep in. I mean, punk is angry lower middle class or upper-middle-class-pretending-to-be-lower, punk rock and pop punk are mostly the same. Hip-hop, rap and R'n'B tend to be black-dominated, and I have no idea about hardcore but from what I've seen from what Savior's shown me, that's white-dominated.

Good thing I ID myself more by my gender than by my race, huh?

Oh, and I found out what AS/S stands for. *dies*

[identity profile] fickle-goddess.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 02:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Damn, doesn't seem to work from here. What's your Google account, if you can get into it?

Yeah, the page is SHORT. House, on the other hand, is way long. And Boston Legal's page was long enough to make me realize how much I'd hate the main characters' views on women. As for that speech, I wouldn't call it romantic but very overblown. I'd be interested in seeing how any actors could make it work. (Hah! Ophelia complex in a guy would just about serve the universe right).

Ahhhh. Hey, wait, I've heard No Doubt! I think. And Kathy likes Bush, though I think it's the modern Bush. I haven't seen anyone South Asian looking in No Doubt, though, but that's because Gwen hogs the camera.

Well, what about Goth and that sort of genre, where you're meant to be angry instead of pretty and being pretty takes away from your cred? And I like the name Killswitch Engage, but I've only heard one of their songs and I can't remember that one, alas. But no, that wouldn't be a fair way of marketing and, well, at least emo bands demand a degree of prettiness. I think that does count as diversity because even if it's still guys, it's showing that there are more ways of being a guy than just being angry-shouty or tough-jockish -- it's okay to be feminine or to be pretty. Like the bit from Cement Garden that was in the Madonna song that I loved.

*dies* I was talking about the guys in the mosh spit. I don't think that anyone from the band actually spit AT the audience, else there's no way that I would have been willing to be in the front rows for any concerts after that.

[identity profile] fairly-grimm.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 02:25 pm (UTC)(link)
...I will tell you when I investigate and find it.

The page is short and has shitty quotes. Or else I just like the scenes in Oz that no one else does, or something. I can't quote better scenes off the top of my head but most of those scenes were pretty nothing-to-write-home-about and the fact that the dialogue was out of context made it even less interesting. House, of course, has almost every piece of dialogue spoken on the show quoted. I use "romantic" in ways it wasn't intended, I think. But yes. Beecher's frequently overdramatic, but his actor can handle it. Keller's more of a sexual predator. Both characters where straight dialogue doesn't convey what it does in context at all.

The guy from No Doubt's called Tony Kanal and he's the boyfriend-in-the-band that "Don't Speak" was written about, he plays bass guitar & keyboard, he bleaches his hair blonde, and here's a picture he's actually in (http://www.nodoubtweb.com/disco/hellagood/hellagood3.jpg). His wikipedia photo I wouldn't have made him for Indian, but there I can buy it.

I don't think being pretty at all takes away from your cred in goth-type genres. I mean, Emilie Autumn, Amanda Palmer, the chick from Jack Off Jill. All very pretty. They may use screamy vocals at times, but Emilie Autumn especially is exactly the poster girl I'd reference, all prettiness. It may be "dark" and "edgy" and it may have actual musical talent behind it, but if you can't tell her apart from an "alternative" model then it's still a kind of pretty. I would be amazed if you could pull out a chick singer from a band you consider "goth" who wasn't "pretty."

But there've been straight-white-males who wore makeup and dresses since what, the seventies? It's not a new idea and it's not an earthshattering concept, and it's not bringing any new perspective. Forty years later, if we're still talking about the same straight white middle class male? He may be glib or angsty or angry or trying to act hard or in love with his flat-iron, but he's still dominating the genre, and there's still no equivalent representation for any other group. Gasp shock horror, a guy wears a dress, that's only been done how many times since the history of the earth -- still not the same as giving other people a voice.

It happens, depending on the band whether it's hecklers or their fans just like being spit on.

[identity profile] fickle-goddess.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 02:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Good hunting!

Why don't you add some quotations, then? It sounds like a good thing to do next time you get bored. Personally, I'm pouting at the lack of a page for Help! I'm A Teenage Outlaw, especially when it has snicker-worthy passages between Giles and his father like:

Giles: Hey, big boy!
Sir John: ...Are you flirting with me?
Giles: That depends, darling. *winks*
Sir John: Well, don't. It's creepy.

Setting is that Giles just came back from a flirting lesson. And he's a blond pretty teen.

And huh, I meant more like heavy goth/metal/rock types. Emilie Autumn is pretty, yeah, Jack Off Jill isn't necessarily pretty to my eye but they are striking and no clue who Amanda Palmer is.


And hm, lead singer of The Gossip (http://www.flickr.com/photos/justinevans/293298765/)? She's a chick, and not conventionally pretty. Not sure if The Gossip counts as goth, though, they're more along alternative.

And it's not new but it's still not common. And girls can wear male clothing anywhere they like, including in public, without being ridiculed -- unless you live in Iran or something, admittedly -- so there's something there, at least, even if the chicks on stage, even if the supposed revolution models are still pretty. Guys in dresses are still odd to me, though I'm accepting of their right to wear whatever they want. It's just something I haven't become blase about yet, because it is unusual from where I'm standing. Which is in the UN, at the moment. XD

...Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

[identity profile] fairly-grimm.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 02:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Because I'm lazy and I don't know what I'd add? Oz is so much about delivery, they did a reasonably good job (barring Hill, the narrator) of not giving people too many lines that were over-intelligent or complex. Like Keller's quoted "Fuck you, ya fuck!" scene. It's exactly that level of dialogue that's appropriate for characters and setting, and that's where it stays. Beecher kind of gets a free pass on dialogue for being a Very Sensitive alcoholic lawyer from some Ivy League school. And then there's Said, who heads up the Muslims for a while, who also has some pretty stilted and pretentious lines, but he's a self-declared political prisoner trying to be the next Malcolm X so another free pass. It makes more sense then it sounds like it does.

I don't find Autumn or JOJ attractive, but they are pretty, or definitely trying (http://www.sarahsplanet.cwc.net/img27.jpg) if not. Amanda Palmer is on the left (http://sherihausey.com/dresdendolls/orpheum_06/dd_orpheum_2006_dual.jpg), she's the chick from the Dresden Dolls (if the mime paint didn't make it obvious).

I think I've vaguely heard of them but I could be making it up. I kind of like her for looking so not like Avril Lavigne. I don't know about your definition of common, though.

Ewwwwwwwwwww what?

[identity profile] fickle-goddess.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 03:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Ahhh. Okay, then. And it seems a little excessive to have Beecher locked up in such a scary prison if all he did was accidentally run over some kids. *somewhat intrigued by this show but still unsure about the male nudity* Is it full-frontal and lingering or just kind of flashes?

I think JoJ is pretty and oh, okay, Dresden Dolls I know. I wouldn't call her pretty, but yeah, trying for it and definitely striking, again.

I only found out about them yesterday, from Numa, but the lead singer's a lesbian who's friends with Kate Moss. And common means that I've never seen it IRL. Only in Velvet Goldmine, Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire, Billy Elliot and that's it, I think.

Ewwwww at the idea of being spit on!

[identity profile] fairly-grimm.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 03:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, and that's a plot-point later on (his judge comes back to him in tears to apologize for giving him an overharsh sentence, given he's been raped, tortured, had all his limbs broken, survived a riot, gotten hooked on heroin, killed people, etc. etc. etc. etc. all for just driving drunk and managing to hit a girl on a bike) but that's his first season character concept; weak and emotional AA lawyer from Important Family gets chucked into maximum security with crazy Nazis and it's completely out of depth. I'm rewatching the pilot now to see how early into the show the nudity shows up and how frequent. People get thrown in the hole naked at least once an episode, but most of those aren't full-frontal shots and with the exception of Keller (who doesn't show up for a season anyway, coinciding with the increase in floppy full-frontal shots) they're not typically long shots either.

They're too stereotypically goth. And what a shot for your resume. "I'm a lesbian who's friends with Kate Moss." I'm talking in reference to the music scene; effeminate guys in a band? Whoa, stunner! It's so typical and socially acceptable (within the scene itself if not elsewhere) that I can't see it as progressive almost half a century after the fact.

Never go see GWAR. For many reasons, but not wanting to be soaked in bodily fluids, artificial and otherwise, is a big one.

[identity profile] fickle-goddess.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 03:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh good, at least they address it (...omg what the fuck?!). Hm. Floppies. They're a little scarring. Really. Sian went around going 'FLOPPY' at me just to watch me wince at the concept. Occasional glimpses shouldn't have much more than a keyboard flailing reaction from me, I'd guess.

Awwww. They're the first alternative band I ever listened to, I think. And the Kate Moss thing is important because the lead singer is actually a bit stupid -- she spoke out very strongly against supermodels but then was friends with Kate Moss and all, "She's not bisexual, she married a guy and had kids, a bisexual wouldn't do that" and "yeah, supermodels are bad but she's not like them, Kate's special". Ouch. And oh, okay. My early music exposure was Elvis, golden oldies and then boy bands and none of them wore dresses, weirdly enough. Alt music is fairly recent for me, maybe only five years-ish or so since music isn't my fandom and crossdressers are still rare in my corner of it.

I have no idea what GWAR is, but I'll avoid it. Definitely.

[identity profile] fairly-grimm.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 03:47 pm (UTC)(link)
(Omg at which part!) and yeah, I was happy it was eventually...noticed that it was amazingly stupid to put a guy like that in with all the gangbangers and lifers. And yeah, if we finish House and watch Oz or something, we should have a five second delay where I click early and can go "FICKLE AVERT THINE EYNE" five seconds before the flopping starts.

...She is kind of stupid. And your exposure timeline is hilarious.

[identity profile] fickle-goddess.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 03:52 pm (UTC)(link)
(OMG at the 'raped, tortured, had all his limbs broken' bit, mostly). It seemed weird to me when I was reading the summary of the show, but I thought that it had to be explained at SOME POINT. And we're still at Season 3 of House, right? I got my mother to watch an ep with me the other day and she liked it, though it was a repeat on my grounds. And there's a fantastic 'I feel pretty' music video on YouTube for Wilson and Chase that makesme crack up and yes, good plan, you can be my safety-screener for Oz when we start watching it.

She is definitely stupid, which is sad. And hey, I LOVED Elvis. I still have his entire discography. And multiple CDs! Lilo made me empathize with her SO MUCH because of her love for Elvis!

*runs out the door to eye doctor now*

[identity profile] fairly-grimm.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 03:57 pm (UTC)(link)
(That was cringe-worthy. Happens the first episode so quick your head spins. The limb-breaking, second season, but Beecher's whole career in Oz is an epic disaster.) And yes! I think. I don't know. Did anyone keep track? We should find out at some point. Like before the fourth season starts.

[identity profile] fickle-goddess.livejournal.com 2007-07-24 07:42 am (UTC)(link)
(Let's not ignore the part where he ends up in love with a sociopath that kills himself. I think that has to be included in the category of 'epic disaster'. But oh man, okay, I'll bear that in mind.) Hm. I think that we just sort of kept track as we went along, because we were usually watching laaaate at night. I can check which titles seem familiar today at work -- if people in my dorm are still doing group watchings of House as it airs, I could probably take my laptop down with me and chat with you even while watching the fourth season (yay for wireless!) unless it airs during my evening class.

[identity profile] fairly-grimm.livejournal.com 2007-07-24 08:12 am (UTC)(link)
(Comparatively being locked into a co-dependent relationship with a sociopathic serial killer who kills people as make-up gifts isn't all that bad. Keeping in mind that in his first 48 hours in Oz he gets a swatiska burnt into his ass. I think what happens to Beecher's kid is the ultimate in epic disasters, though, if you skim past the limb-crunching scene.) Yes. I have nothing coherent to add. House. Four in the morning.

[identity profile] fickle-goddess.livejournal.com 2007-07-24 08:21 am (UTC)(link)
(...Ohmygod, SWASTIKA? If Oz is meant to stop people from drunk driving, they sound like they're going to succeed. I mean, this is making me glad that I don't drive at all! And, uh, eye staring on top of everything else sounds like it could be the killer straw.) Okay, checked it on Wiki. Last ep we watched was Lines In The Sand, aka episode three of season three. Still plenty to go through.

[identity profile] fairly-grimm.livejournal.com 2007-07-24 08:44 am (UTC)(link)
(Swastika! It's the first episode. Image search pulled up only one (http://www.durfee.net/oz/images/beecher/beecher2a.jpg) picture of it, stunningly. But yes, Oz is the single greatest Don't Drink And Drive campaign on the face of the earth. "If you drink, you'll be raped, mutilated, tortured, branded by crazy Nazis, your marriage will fall apart because of your new ass swastika, you'll be stalked by sociopaths, all your limbs will be shattered on multiple occasions, your now ex!wife will commit suicide in front of your small children, you'll be shot and shanked more times than you can count, you'll spend months pretending to be Ophelia, your facial hair will be the worst on the show hands down, your boyfriend will chuck himself off a balcony with the expressed purpose of making sure you have to live with it the rest of your life, and Aryans will viciously murder your family in the night." </first couple seasons>) We should start watching it again sometime.

[identity profile] fickle-goddess.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 03:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Uh. I mean that crossdressing guys AREN'T common in the sense that I've never personally seen anyone do it. XD