Toxic Party Poops
Moving Day
I've moved Are You Not Entertained? and H.G. Wells War of the Worlds to Buttondown.
Substack doesn't support the integrations I need as an indie author, and I don't have the time to manage multiple platforms or the money to pay someone to do it for me. It's been 15 months since I started AYNE, and Substack still a closed system. That's fine for author's focused on building a newsletter on Substack, but not for someone using a newsletter as part of a larger strategy, such as building an audience for writing that appears anywhere else. I'll be launching stories on Ream in the next few months (cover reveal coming soon) and have already announced the presale of Shadows of the Past
Buttondown also lets me work in Markdown, which makes life a lot easier.
I'd be lying if I said that the recent unpleasantness didn't help in this decision. But, not the way you might think. Substack's (evolving) response to the debate reinforced my belief that there are no plans to enable authors to integrate with other platforms. They seem themselves as an independent, self-sufficient, social media site and plan on staying that way.
That's fine, assuming that's what you want.
If you want to keep reading, you don't have to do anything. I've moved your address to the new platform.
If this change bothers you, you can unsubscribe below. You can also post a comment or reply to this email with any questions, rants, or complaints. (You can comment or reply with compliments.)
Can We Just Have Fun?
The Marvels is now available online. Normally, I would have seen it in the theater, but our local cinema closed a few months ago, and the film was gone before I made it to the other options.
It was a lot of fun. I don't understand why it generates so much hate.
Well, actually I do. But first, a digression.
Every Monday I check YouTube for Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update. I don't have cable or whatever streaming service it appears on, so I check the web for clips of Michael Che and Colin Jost trying to crack each other up.
Their spin on the news is funny, and the humor helps me deal with the deeply messed up condition the world is in. But what makes it really enjoyable is seeing how much fun they're having.
Watching people do something they enjoy is fun.
In The Marvels, Iman Vellani reprises her role of Kamala Khan from the Disney+ Ms. Marvel series. Vellani is a huge fan of the comics and movies, hosted a fan podcast, and has written a few comics since starring in the role of Ms. Marvel. It's obvious she's having a blast in the movie, just like she did in the TV show. Watching her play a Ms. Marvel fangirl is fun, probably because she's a fangirl in real life.
Watching people do something they enjoy is fun.
But, some critics cited her inclusion in the film as a liability. According to them, seeing a movie with a character that's appeared somewhere else before "feels like homework." Now, the people that made the movie knew how to reintroduce an existing character; they've been doing it since 2010. Everything you need to know about Kamala Khan is presented within minutes of her first appearance. The Marvels wasn't Disney's first rodeo.
If it was "homework," it was "extra credit."
In addition to Vellani's fun performance, the movie has a lot more going for it. There's a very creative musical scene that I'm surprised I hadn't heard about before. It featured an inventive use of the fan-favorite flerkens (space cats), along with some very funny scenes with Kamala's family and Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury.
It was fun.
But I guess the critics have a point about that "homework." After all, franchises like Harry Potter, The Fast and The Furious, and most famously, the first eleven years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe failed spectacularly because no one wanted homework! Who the hell wants to see a film that build on existing characters? Ugh!
If I seem little rant-y about this topic, it's because there are many great stories that the standard two hour movie can't do justice. Think about all the movie adaptations that failed because the story was butchered to fit in. Then consider The Lord of the Rings. Look at the new Dune films. We're finally getting a decent attempt at Frank Herbert's story because Villaneuve is getting two movies to do it. That's not a coincidence. It's because the empty suits are letting the talent tell longer stories.
Tying movies into streaming series is the next step, and it's a good idea that can work for many genres, not just superheroes. But if the takeaway from The Marvels for the empty suits is that people don't like "homework," it's not going to happen.
But I think there's something else going on with The Marvels. There's another reason why people can't just kick back and enjoy a fun film.
Online Star Wars fandom is famously toxic and Marvel fandom is headed the same way, if it's not already there. The Marvels starred three women, two of whom are of color and one of whom is Brie Larson (who terrifies many men for some reason.) It was also the first superhero movie directed by a black woman. It's not a stretch to say that a certain segment of fandom decided to hate this movie in advance.
Give The Marvels a chance if you haven't already. If you like it, try Ms. Marvel, too. They were both a lot of fun.
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Eric Goebelbecker
Trick of the Tale LLC
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Bergenfield, NJ 07621-9998