A quick rant completely unrelated to the topic at hand

So I was on Facebook. I know, I know, stop doing that. Anyway, I was reading the comment section of this post. It was a post about the absurdity that women's breasts are sexualized and criminalized while men's chests aren't. A lot of people pointed out that post-op trans men can be topless and cis men with "man boobs" are also allowed that luxury. Anyway, there was one comment about the misogynistic nature of our society and I read the replies and there was a lot of back and forth about a "not all men" comment. One person was trying to explain (and not doing a very good job) why the phrase "not all men" is problematic. To me it's the same as the "not all white people" comment. The reason it exists is that the privileged want a way to pretend to be allies without having to actually acknowledge the problem. They want it both ways. They don't want to be hated, but they don't want to fix a system that rewards them just for existing. The problem with that is, when you say "not all men" or "not all white people" you're not helping. Misogyny and racism still exist and the oppressed group is still being oppressed whether allies exist or not. Only by acknowledging the problem can the privileged help and change it. So, by saying "not all men" or "not all white people" you are insulting those who suffer at the hands of an unjust system. It is, in effect rubbing your privilege in their faces. That is why the comments are met with disdain. It is not because we believe that there are no male allies (or white allies for people of color), it is because whether those allies exist or not, the oppression continues and refusal to acknowledge it just perpetuates it. 

Okay, rant over. Thank you for indulging me. See you next week probably for another episode of Supernatural (maybe sooner if I feel like doing one this weekend).

"Hook Man" Supernatural S1: ep:7

Okay this episode is rife with that Dean Winchester lechery I hate so much. Not much in the way of character growth for our main duo, although Sam is presented with a conflict of sorts. The side characters in this one are a little interesting, but there is still the whole "damsel in distress" trope that seems to pop up quite often in this show. So here's the DL.

The show opens with a girl (Lori) getting ready for a date. She starts out in a very conservative outfit, which her party girl roommate (who just happens to be black, seems a tad like a racial stereotype) thinks is too stuffy and of course she lends her something a little more revealing to wear. Lori and her date park on a deserted road because he insists they can't show up early. She knows he's up to something and doesn't seem to mind at first. Then he tries to slip his hand inside her shirt, she tells him no, he tells her it's okay (seem a bit rapey to you? It did to me too). He tries again, but they begin hearing some kind of metal scraping against another metal. The guy goes out to investigate and the car is scratched by an invisible hook and the tires slashed. The guy disappears and the girl, frightened out of her mind, locks the door and rolls up the window. Then she hears scratching on the roof. Eventually, she decides to make a run for it and that's when she sees the mutilated corpse of her date hanging above the car. The horror element here is pretty high. With the hook scraping and only getting glimpses of the killer, the ambiance of the lonely deserted road also plays into this well. After seeing the body, she does the characteristic "damsel in distress" scream. I guess that's a common trope in horror too.

We cut to Sam and Dean. Sam is still trying to find their father. Dean reminds him that "Dad probably doesn't want to be found" then redirects his brother's attention to a news story from a nearby town about a college girl who witnessed a murder by an invisible assailant. The boys decide to investigate. This time they pose as new fraternity brothers as they investigate the murder. A frat boy is painting himself purple and asks for help which Dean defers to Sam while giving a kind of disgusted look (seems a bit homophobic). He tells them about the guy that was murdered and how he was taking out a hot sorority girl named Lori who is also a preacher's daughter the way he says this is dripping with innuendo (what did you expect from a show centered on frat boys and sorority girls?).

Sam and Dean go to Lori's dad's church as he's giving a sermon about the tragic death of one who has only begun to live and to my very pleasant surprise I recognize the actor. It is Bob Bulldog Briscoe from Frasier. Although I hated his character in the show Frasier, it is cool to see him playing an altogether different and much more nuanced character (albeit a short lived one) in this show. The boys talk to Lori to get a feel for what happened. Sam believes her, so they hit the books. They are looking through old arrest records and they find one that seems to fit the bill. A preacher about 200 years ago butchered a bunch of prostitutes and he used a hook, not to mention the red light district where he committed the crime is in the same vicinity as the attack. The boys think they're on to something and go to find the ghost, carrying a shotgun filled with salt. Meanwhile, daddy dearest tells Lori he doesn't think she should go back to the sorority, and that he knows what goes on in that type of place and what kind of a person her roommate is.

Lori gets in and the lights are off. She sees that her roommate is already asleep so she doesn't turn them on. She cuddles into bed. Cut to the boys off to fight the ghost only to run into a sheriff who's patrolling the area. Sam, who's holding the shotgun is in a lot of trouble. The next day, Lori awakens to find blood dripping from her roommate's bed. Her eyes roam up to find a mutilated corpse and the words "aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light" along with a symbol carved into the wall above the bed. Lori screams her "damsel in distress" scream one more time. The scene then changes to the Winchesters who are leaving the sheriff's office. Dean has somehow convinced the sheriff that Sam was just being hazed into the fraternity by being forced to "hunt ghosts" because salt repels them. I should mention that Dean makes several remarks about sorority girls during their time in this town especially once they find out that a murder was committed in a sorority house. The boys break in, which isn't hard because the small town police security is pretty bad, and see the message. Sam recognizes the symbol and they check it out. It matches a symbol they saw on the poster about the murderous reverend 200 years ago. So they have their hookman. Now all they need to do is salt and burn the bones. Too bad the guy was buried in an unmarked grave.

The boys attend a party (who knows why because all they do while there is talk about the murder and the likelihood that the ghost has attached itself to the reverend Bob Briscoe [sorry I couldn't resist]) and Dean agrees reluctantly to find the spirit's grave and get rid of the bones while Sam keeps an eye on Lori. Sam is sitting outside of Lori's house and witnesses her fighting with her dad about some relationship he's in. Dean, digging to unearth the bones after he sees the same symbol on a gravestone, laments that he didn't get to watch the "cute" girl's house. Lori comes out of the house to where Sam is. She tells him how her father is having an affair with a married woman and how she thinks that when people do immoral things they should be punished. Then she tries to kiss Sam but he tells her no. She guesses correctly that the person he lost was his lover. Then her father is attacked by the hookman, but Sam is able to chase it off with the salt packed shotgun. At the hospital the next day Sam asks Dean why he didn't burn the bones and Dean says he did. They decide the ghost is attached to the hook so they need to find it. Going over the execution record tells them it was given to the church and going over the church record says it was re-forged. The boys need to find whatever object the silver hook was repurposed into and melt it in a salty fire. They also realize that the ghost is not attached to the reverend at all, but to his daughter Lori.

The mystery element in this is pretty high because it surrounds not exactly who the spirit is, or why he's vengeful (obviously he's a self-righteous prick who wants to kill anyone he deems unworthy) but whose emotions he has attached to and what is keeping him tethered to this world. Lori comes back to the church to pray as the Winchester boys are burning everything silver they can find. Sam hears her and goes to investigate. Lori tells him she thinks the murders are her fault and that she deserves to be punished at which point the hookman makes his appearance. Sam fend him off, but gets hurt. Dean comes up after melting all the silver then they realize that the necklace Lori is wearing is silver. It was a church keepsake that her father gave her. Dean leaves Sam with the shotgun while he runs to throw the necklace in the fire. The necklace melts and just as Sam and Lori are about to be hacked to pieces, the hook begins to melt and hookman burns away.

The sheriff doesn't seem to believe Deans story about the hookman which they all saw but who got away, but he doesn't act like he thinks he can do anything about it. He gives Dean a warning but Dean tells him not to worry, they're leaving town. Sam is at the back of the ambulance just having gotten his arm bandaged from the hook's gash. Lori thanks Sam but he leaves her and it shows her in the rearview as they drive away. Dean tells Sam they can stay, but Sam shakes his head not quite ready to move on from Jess.

I didn't mind certain elements of this show, but others were extremely distasteful to me. Here's my rating: For horror this one gets a solid 9/10, mystery suspense is also pretty high at 8/10, the misogyny is there and undeniable so I have to take -3 points off this for that, not a lot of character growth for our main duo I give that part a 5/10 for showing just a bit of Sam frustrated about not being able to find their dad and his hesitation to move on from Jess. The side characters were pretty interesting, especially reverend Briscoe (lol, you can't stop me from calling him that). Lori was interesting in her own right, but not quite as nuanced. I give the side characters a solid 8/10 for this episode. Overall this episode nets a 6.75/10.

"Skin" Supernatural S:1 Ep:6

This was a really good episode story wise. It had some really vomit inducing effects though and that is because the monster is a shapeshifter (someone who can change shape to look like someone else) and the way that he shapeshifts is he sheds and it really shows a lot more than it has to. I'm going to rate this one a little lower on the horror scale even though it has really good special effects because there's more of a slasher feel to this one. I also don't really like gore horror as much. It feels a little cheaper I think to just show revolting things to elicit a reaction. Mystery element is not so high either. It's pretty obvious what the monster is pretty early on and it's just a matter of catching it. Interestingly enough, the girl they're helping doesn't end up really being a damsel in distress, instead it is Sam who needs rescuing in this one. For that reason I'm not going to take points away for misogyny even though Dean does spend a little time ogling the main girl (Becky).

The show actually opens up with a swat team zeroing in on a crime in progress. They find the victim who is being tortured tied to a chair and she directs them to the perpetrator who is about to escape out the window. We get a good look at the guy's face and it is Dean. Then the scene cuts to a week earlier. Even though it isn't obviously a shapeshifter at first, the mystery element doesn't last long because Sam and Dean go to help Becky with her brother Zack who was charged with his (wife/girlfriend)'s murder. Becky insists that Zack was with her at the time of the murder and he'd have to have been in two places at once, but police have him on surveillance entering the apartment before the murder.

First let me talk about how this is such a good episode for Dean's character. At the start he's telling Sam he needs to cut ties because the stuff they do isn't conducive to maintaining friendships. Sam says he'd rather not be a loner like Dean. Then they backtrack 400 miles to help one of Sam's college friends. Sam lies to Becky and tells her that Dean is a policeman so that she will let them look at the crime scene. When Sam's lie comes out later, Dean tells him that's why he should cut ties. Then the shapeshifter takes Dean's body and seems to take his memories as well. Then we start getting some of the emotional turmoil Dean has been holding inside in the form of what the shapeshifter says while he is Dean. 

Before becoming Dean, the shapeshifter attacks another woman as her husband but the husband comes home and catches him. Well, not catches him so much as finds his wife tied to a chair bloody and gagged and when he tries to release her she begs him not to hurt her anymore. Then the shapeshifter jumps out and knocks the guy out and we see him being hauled off while Sam and Dean hunt for clues in the Zack murder case. They decide they're looking for a shapeshifter after hearing the story the man told police of coming home to find himself attacking his wife. They also figure out how the shapeshifter is disappearing and that he sheds his skin when he changes because they find piles of human flesh in the sewer (I know, pretty gross).

After chasing it through the sewer, it gets away. Then Sam and Dean get separated and that is the first time it appears as Dean. Sam catches on pretty quick but still hesitates to shoot which results in him getting captured and hauled to the shifter's lair. While at the lair the shifter comments on how messed up Sam and Dean's lives are and talks to Sam about how Dean resents the fact that he got to go off to college and how Dean is afraid that everyone will leave him and he'll end up alone. The shifter then announces that he's going to pay a visit to Becky.

He knocks on her door as Dean and uses the old lady charmer trait to worm his way into her good graces. He tells her that they think it is a shapeshifter and says he identifies with the shifter. He talks about how lonely it must be, and how everyone else must think it's a freak. He then comes on to Becky and Becky turns him down. Then he whispers something in her ear and she calls him a freak. He then attacks. He tells him it's too bad, that he kind of liked her and he proceeds to begin her torture. Meanwhile, Sam and Dean who are tied up in the shifter's lair escape and call the police who are able to get there before Becky is killed, but who now think Dean is the attacker. The shifter does not get caught by police and escapes to the sewers where it sheds (the whole thing is super gross, I recommend fast forwarding if you're at all squeamish). They go to get their car, but there are police so Dean has to make himself scarce. Sam makes him promise not to go to the sewers alone, but Dean is Dean and he goes anyway. Sam is going to see Becky because the shifter didn't finish the job so he thinks she might be still be in danger.

Dean, however, finds Becky in the sewer. She has been bound and gagged. She tells Dean she wouldn't have believed it until she saw the shifter transform into her. Meanwhile, "Becky" is talking to Sam and he's completely off his guard when it attacks. It then transforms into Dean so it can kill Sam as him. Apparently this thing gets off on having family attack family. Of course, Dean is on time to rescue Sam and put down the shifter (who doesn't stop looking like him when it dies). The story concludes with Becky sending the boys off still in disbelief that this is what they do for a living. Dean asks about Zack Sam says that they're pinning it all on Dean Winchester because they found Zack's (girlfriend/wife)'s DNA or blood or something on Dean's clothing and so the police now think the tape has been tampered with. They expect Zack to be exonerated. On this note, the boys drive off. Dean laments that he didn't stay because "how many times am I going to have the chance to attend my own funeral".

So this episode is rated 7/10 for horror, 6/10 for mystery/suspense, (no points deducted for misogyny), side character development is very minimal. Becky's character isn't really explored a whole lot and she's really the only side character we see so I give it a 6/10 for that but another 10/10 for Dean's character development. Overall a solid 7.25/10. It would have been higher if the mystery element had been better or if the horror element wasn't mostly gore. I really liked the Dean character development in this episode, as I've said and I hope we get another good Sam episode soon as well. (Although I know there are some really interesting developments with his character as the show progresses).

Thanks for sticking with me through this review. If you liked it, check out my other reviews. Stay tuned for more (I'll try to get this season finished by the year's end but we'll see how it goes).

Ending of "Maid", Start of "Feel Good"

 I want to talk about the end of maid, but I'd also like to talk about this new show I just started watching called Feel Good. Actually, I watched the first episode a while back, and I liked it, but I waited a little while before I watched any more and I watched the second episode tonight. 

So, the end of Maid. I felt that, although it ended well (a little bittersweet), it wasn't as realistic an ending as the rest of the show has been. That is because in the end Shawn did the right thing, realized what he was and what he'd been doing, and decided that he didn't want his daughter to grow up with that. I don't feel like that's realistic. The really infuriating part was the guy with the beard whose name I don't even remember, although he is in half the show, because... well he's the typical "nice guy" isn't he? He has that mentality that ultimately he's expecting something from Alex and she knows it, she can feel it, that's why she's so standoffish to him. If he were a really nice guy he would have understood what had happened to her. He comes into her life (after her breakup with Shawn anyway) as she's sleeping on the floor of the ferry station with her daughter. That had to raise some bells. Then there's the insistence that she can't go back to Shawn no matter what. The need to keep working even though she's barely staying afloat. All of these were context clues that she'd been in an abusive relationship, and the kicker is that she's not ready to move on and that she turns to her abuser when something really bad happens. Because that's what they do. That's how they control, by being there for you at your lowest point so you let them back in. And that bearded asshole did exactly what Shawn needed him to do to get her back under his thumb and I'll never forgive his asshole of a character. But then again, perhaps Alex needed to go back so that she could leave and leave for good and end up with the happy ending (although it's not realistic that it went down like that).

Now for Feel Good. The show is about a lesbian Mae who is a comedian, an ex drug-addict, and who (in the first episode) starts a whirlwind romance with a girl who has been coming to her shows (George). Mae and George are a good couple, in private. But George isn't open about her sexuality. While hanging out with her friends, George pretends to be dating a guy to keep a creepy jerk at arms length. Mae repeatedly asks George about meeting her friends and George keeps making excuses and then lying to her friends. Then, last episode she went to a family member's wedding and told Mae that she wasn't allowed a plus one then lied to her family about why she didn't bring a plus one.

Of course, George didn't find out about Mae's past with drugs until Mae was talking to her acerbic mother on skype, so there's a little bit of dishonesty on both sides. I'm liking the show so far. It is realistic about how addicts will replace one addiction with another, especially if the new addiction is something that also brings them shame. Mae's new addiction is George, and although being with George doesn't bring her shame, she's ashamed of being too clingy and thinks she might be driving George away. Meanwhile, George is in head over heals but too ashamed of being gay to openly admit it to family and friends. I look forward to continuing this series to see where it goes. I also really like the roommate. He's a fun character.

Maid: Ongoing thoughts

 So I'm up to episode 6 in the series and it tackles some very tough issues, like income inequality and co-parenting, in very realistic ways. One of the episodes handles problems like the inhabitable living conditions some lower-income landlords expect you to live with. Alex notices mold and her landlord suggests that she open the window to air the place out, but Maddie (Alex's daughter) is sick and she isn't getting better. They end up having to move and temporarily stay with Alex's bio dad until Alex figures out that he used to beat her mom because she has flashbacks to her childhood while cleaning the estate of a mother who has recently passed away and noticing the evidence around the house that this woman was extremely abusive (locks on the kid's bedroom door, a small crawlspace with a lock on it where there are child's drawings, etc). Naturally after dredging up the repressed memory, Alex doesn't want to be anywhere near her father, so she moves in with her mom who had gone awol for a bit but is back and married to the guy who seems to be fleecing her. (Alex notices several things that lead her to this conclusion, and there is little evidence that the guy has any real feelings for her mom).

It also explores online dating, moving on from a relationship, and co-parenting, all in realistic ways. Alex keeps falling into places where she needs help because government assistance is just not enough and in order to qualify she has to limit the hours she works so it's basically a catch-22. This is an extremely good representation of income inequality. And there are social pressures on her from her former friends (who are Sean's friends), from her mom (who doesn't understand that emotional abuse is still abuse) and from her own feelings for Sean (which are portrayed beautifully when she goes out and finds him and gives him a ride home after he's been gone 2 days on a bender). Alex finds little help from the rich people around her, most of whom see her kind of like a tool for them to use rather than an actual person.

I find myself getting more and more invested in these characters, hoping against hope that she doesn't go back to Sean, because that would be bad, and maybe seeing a bit of my own struggles with raising kids and financial troubles at the very least. I remember when the kids were young enough to require daycare it was so expensive that it was almost a day's wages just to pay half. If I'd had to foot the entire thing, I don't think I could have done it. And not having a family she can fall back on (even her mom is flighty and unpredictable) is something I also relate to, as is feeling isolated by the people you thought were your friends because it turns out they were only friends with you because of the person you were with. It doesn't help that the only person who is remotely willing and able to help seems to have ulterior motives (in that he's attracted to her). The show hits home and I like it. I might write one more review when I finish it just to let you know what I thought of the ending (or how it left off if it seems likely to continue beyond one season).

Thank You

 I just wanted to take some time and thank each and every person who reads my blog (yes that includes you mom) for taking the time to read my posts. Much thanks to those of you who also jumped through the hurdles and actually left a comment. I hope you like what I've been doing with the reviews. I'll get back on that soon. I've been reading a fair amount recently, which means I've also been writing more, and I've also been working an inordinate amount of time. I will try and get back on the Supernatural reviews soon. I will definitely be reviewing at least the first five seasons, as I said in a previous post. Anyway, thank you so much. Please feel free to leave feedback, I do moderate my comments which means it may take longer for your comment to be posted, but don't let that stop you. I am still watching Maid, and it's getting better. I recommend it to anyone who'd like to check it out.

A Side Note

 Sometimes I get bummed. I guess that's putting it mildly. But when I get like this it's hard to find the motivation to write and I get in a space where I'm not doing the thing I love most and that just makes me more bummed because I'm not really working towards anything I actually want to do, I'm just wasting time on stuff I don't like. So I recently watched an anime called "Remake Our Life" it's a time-leap anime where the protagonist (a man in his late 20's) time leaps to a point in his life where he made a decision that effected his whole life and he goes down a different path. I'm not going to spoil anything for those of you who might want to watch the show, but at one point he runs across an artist who has no motivation to draw. She says: "There's just not anything I want to draw anymore" and I get that feeling, because when I'm bummed that's exactly how I feel about writing. I think "everything has been done, and done better than I could ever do" or "there's just not anything I feel like writing" and so I put it off just like the character in the story. However, one of the ways he is able to help her is to remind her what inspired her to draw in the first place. I have been reading more recently and I just started realizing that when I read things that perk up my imagination and pull me in, even if it's not remotely in the same genre that I am writing, it makes me want to write. So, if you're a writer and you're struggling for inspiration, maybe start reading some new stuff that awakens your imagination. That is all, thank you, and see you with my next review.