They Didn't Fuck Up Arya!

Hallelujah! They didn't fuck it up! All that BS drama of making it look like Arya was going to kill Sansa got thrown out the window! The season ends with Arya, Sansa & Bran teaming up to take down Littlefinger and kill the son of a bitch! That-is-Stark-loyalty-bitches!

Now this doesn't clean things up 100%, the choice to go for a dramatic reveal means we never see how or why the two sisters come to terms, nor how long this charade has been going on. It also doesn't change the fact that the prior scenes of the two fighting still feel out of character. Nevertheless, I'm just thankful that they were able to fix things before they hit the point of no return.

So...yeah. That's it, just a quick update on the fact that they didn't fuck up Arya like I expected them too.

Oh, and the rest of the finale was good too.

-Danny

What The Fuck Is Happening To Arya?

Arya is my favourite character in Game of Thrones, and this latest season we got to see something we've been waiting to see for years. Arya coming home to Winterfell. She's reunited with her family and is back where she belongs, it was a long and dangerous journey, but she's back...She's also kind of a bitch. In the latest episode at the time of this post (Episode 6) she has lied to, argued with, and threatened her sister Sansa Stark. Saying she's going to reveal awful things about her that will make the lords of Winterfell lose trust in them, and in the final episode even threatens to kill Sansa.

What-the everlasting-Fuck is going on!? You wanna know why Arya is my favourite character? Because in a series where everyone is manipulative, corrupt, selfish, violent or is horrible in someway, Arya was always clear with her intentions. She wanted to be home, with her family, she wanted them to be safe, to be together, to be happy. She went on this huge journey where she learnt to fight so she could get revenge for the family she lost, and protect the ones she still has. Everyone else has ulterior motives or sought money & power, she never did, and that's what made her stand out to me in a series like this.

So now that she's back in Winterfell, the writers have apparently forgot about all of that? Her entire motivation, one of the biggest traits of her character, and not just her, but the Starks in general. I understand that you have to have conflict, but that conflict does not need to be internalised within the Starks. They still have tons of enemies, even some within their own walls, Littlefinger being a great example. He's someone that neither Stark girls trust or like, but they still need him for his armies. Now all of a sudden in one episode Arya is threatening Sansa, so in return Sansa is turning to Littlefinger for help!? No! This is such contrived bullshit, and I can only hope that they can somehow turn things around by the final episode of season because I really don't want them to ruin my favourite character from one of my favourite shows.

-Danny

Ducktales Reboot - First Impressions

Ducktales is a series that was a little before my time, I've seen maybe a dozen episodes over the years as well as the movie, but I'm hardly an expert. That being said, I have very much been looking forward to the brand new reboot series as everything from the production and marketing has been incredibly strong. It was clearly made by people who not only love the original series, but also the multitude of comic books that the series was based on in the first place. So, with the hour long pilot finally airing, was it everything I expected it to be? Yes...But I reference that in both good and bad ways.

Starting off with the characters, this is already an instant improvement over the original series, even the most hard core of fans will admit that the three main leads Huey, Dewey & Louie were never the strongest characters. They were fairly bland, generic kids with nothing to distinguish one from another apart from the colour of their shirt. This series has instantly fixed that. Huey is the goody two-shoes boy scout, Dewey is the impulsive adventurer and Louie is the laid back schemer. Even more so is Webby (Who I'll talk more about later) and Mrs Beakley, again going from generic good hearted people into energetic action stars. The only two that haven't been altered that much is Scrooge McDuck and Launchpad, but that's also because they clearly had the most personality out of the original line-up, and not much needed changing. One big new change is the inclusion of Donald Duck as a main character, which excites me for multiple reasons. One: It's just nice to have one of the main Disney Trio get the spotlight again, because despite Mickey, Donald & Goofy being the face of Disney, they really haven't been in that many stories these days-outside of Kingdom Hearts per se. Not only does Tony Anselmo return-the voice of Donald for over 30 years now-but he's still his easily agitated, always screwed over duck that we love. But more than that he's...adorable?? Yeah, the biggest take away I got from this episode was Donald being a loving uncle to the triplets, worrying for their safety, showing co-workers pictures of them as babies, it was actually quite precious.

The animation is also a major positive going towards the show. One of my biggest gripes with the animation style most cartoons use these days is everything looks so goddamn flat! Even in shows I like such as Gravity Falls, Rick & Morty, Bob's Burgers, there's no dimension to anything! Every shot, every angle, every background here had dimension. On top of that, the style of the series is very reminiscent of the older comic books, similar to how Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes would use "Ditko Bubbles" in reference to their source material, this show has done the same thing, letting audiences know where the main inspiration comes from, and that this isn't just going to be a retread of the original series.

Not being around during the Disney Afternoon era meant there were a lot of references made in this episode that I didn't get, mostly relating to Darkwing Duck, Talespin and Goof Troop. All of which make sense, Darkwing Duck is already confirmed to appear in the show eventually, Talespin being a series about a pilot means I could see him being an old friend of Launchpad for a future crossover. Then with Goof Troop being a series about Goofy raising his son Max, I could definitely see Goofy & Donald raising their kids together and that thought just makes me already happy for when that episode comes. Also there was a reference to Lupin III for some reason...I'm not upset about that, in fact that makes me quite happy, just a random reference to put in.

However, as I said, I had expectations going into this show both bad and good, and this show lived up to all of them. What were the bad? Gravity Falls. Yeah, I'm not the first one to make this comparison, but this series is very clearly taking a lot from Gravity Falls. Most notably through Webby being just like Mabel. She's easily excitable, loud, adventurous, even has a damn grappling hook, and Kate Micucci-though a very funny actress-sounds like she's doing a Kristen Schaal impression. I could also say the idea of kids born on the same day going to live with their grumpy uncle and go on supernatural adventures is...something the original series did anyway, so the comparisons aren't fair there. The introduction of a mystery involving a missing member of the family however! Heck, it's even the same company 'Toon Boom Animation' animating the series. Now to be fair, if there was ever a show to take inspiration from, Gravity Falls is a very good choice, and one of Disney's biggest hits in recent years, so it makes sense that they'd want to try and hook that audience as well as the nostalgia crowd.

So, overall, this was a strong pilot, in many ways, it's stronger that the original Ducktales, in other ways it's just as good as the original series, and most importantly, I can see pretty much everyone enjoying it, whether they be full grown adults coming for the nostalgia, or little kids being introduced to the franchise for the first time.

-Danny

When Harry Forgot About Gay People...

I've stated before that When Harry Met Sally is my all time favourite romantic comedy. I've watched it a dozen times within the past year alone, but there is something about the film that has bugged me since my first watch. If you've never seen the film, the principal question that the film addresses is "Can men and women just be friends?" as the character of Harry initially believes that they can't be because eventually one of them will want to have sex with the other. You can probably already figure out what stuck out to me from this point...what about gay people? Yeah this was the 80s so gay representation wasn't exactly a common topic of discussion in entertainment. So how does the rule work then? Or is it just transferable so a gay man can't be friends with another man? Or does that friend have to specifically be gay also? Even more so I'm bisexual so does that mean I can't be friends with anyone? Because I've had plenty of friends who are men and women, some I've wanted to sleep with, some I haven't, but I'm still friends with them, and even if the friendships did fizzle out, it wasn't related to any kind of attraction.

What bugs me even more is how vague Harry is on how exactly the friendship is ruined. So you have one sexual thought over someone and it's done? Because very early on in the film Harry acknowledges that Sally is incredibly attractive, yet for some reason this doesn't count? Especially when he makes the point that it doesn't matter if you think your friend is attractive or not, you still want to sleep with them. Furthermore is what happens after the concept of sex has been thrown out there. Does the relationship become just too awkward to maintain? For this being the main theme of the film, very little detail is actually given to how it works.

Not to say any of this ruins the film mind you, it's just an observation that does bug me at first every time I watch it, that the entire concept that the film is based on is so flimsy, it's amazing that the rest of the film stands so strong.

-Danny

Comics Don't Have A "Political Problem"

Why do people do this? Why do people complain about superhero comics "shoving their political agendas" down their throats? Are these people really that narrow minded? Superhero comics have always been political, have always had stories that tackle social issues, and have complex themes and characters that reflect real life events. Superman, a character who was from a foreign land but was raised in the United States was created by two Jewish children of immigrants, a man meant to represent the ideals of the American way while also criticising the system when it lead to people suffering. Exact same thing could be said about Captain America, a character who's most popular image is still him punching Adolf Hitler in the face, a comic that was published before America was even part of the war. Sure, reflecting on it now it might not seem like a big deal (Well, actually, there are some morons who think it's wrong to punch Nazis for some reason), but it's still a political statement. The X-Men are a metaphor for discriminated groups, most notably people who are LGBT. The Hulk is a character created to show the dangers of nuclear weapons, as well as a representation of psychological issues. Green Arrow was a commentary on the unbalanced economic nature of supposedly developed countries, where the 1% do very little to help those in need.

Comic books have always been political. They've always represented progressive ideas, even when that wasn't the popular opinion, similar to what they do now. Ms Marvel tackles the very real issues of discrimination against immigrants and Muslim citizens, Green Lanterns deals with a superhero suffering from agoraphobia, and Harley & Joker have always been a representation on abusive relationships. Not just in the comics but in adaptations as well, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a commentary on the US Government's invasion of privacy, as well as drone attacks. Supergirl Season 2 featured villains who were very similar to Donald Trump. This is what superhero stories do, they're not just about punching the big alien bad guy, they take real world issues and villains and turn their stories into people challenging those villains, representing an idea of progression, decency and freedom. Yet people who have been reading comics for decades and have somehow never picked up on that, claiming companies like Marvel and DC are just giving into the "SJW propaganda" as if characters like Superman or Spider-Man wouldn't identify as SJWs is baffling to me that these people can actually call themselves fans of a genre that they so clearly don't understand.

-Danny