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#if hollywood ever gets its shit together and pays the writers and the actors and things start up again
navree · 10 months
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i am going to shoot the domina showrunners in the head i have had enough
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bellamysgriffin · 3 years
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oscar best picture ranking
bc i like to pretend that ppl care about my opinions (some hot takes ahead so beware!!) also not that this is not necessarily my ranking based on the film’s quality/merit, but mostly on my personal enjoyment.
1. sound of metal
alright, this one jumped around in my rankings a lot before i finally settled on having it at the top. the best performance i saw all oscar season was delivered by riz ahmed. so much of the movie rests on his back but he killed it. the sound mixing is obviously incredible, but the movie’s merits extend far beyond its technical/acting feats. it’s an incredibly cerebral, intimate film about an extraordinary change in the protagonist’s life. it handles that change with such care and attention and love and fondness that it feels painfully real and authentic. i could write paragraphs and paragraphs about why i think it’s so spectacular, but take my word for it, this is worth a watch. (i also want to note olivia cooke’s incredible performance. there’s a scene with her in this movie that i have not stopped thinking about, and it’s one of my favorite scenes i’ve ever seen)
2. the trial of the chicago 7
i said there would be some hot takes! so, let’s get it out of the way: aaron sorkin wrote this, and he’s a great writer, and one who i particularly enjoy. he’s super witty and the dialogue is fast-paced and compelling and i think the screenplay is great. i think, if you view this movie through a political lens, you’re bound to find a lot to criticize -- i certainly don’t love every change they made. but i truly (controversially) think it wasn’t particularly politically motivated. it’s about a political event, so politics is bound to come into play, but i think the situation is inherently interesting. 7 people who all believe in the same thing but want to achieve it through very different methods forced to work together to save themselves? i’m on board. this also particularly resonated with me because i live in chicago and i am not immune to outrage porn. i also really loved the touch of incorporating found footage of the real event with their re-enactments and i think it should snag the oscar for best editing. 
3. minari
i LOVE a good family drama, and this delivered on everything i like about good family dramas. the grandmother is as lovable as everyone hypes her up to be, and the kid actor does a great job (which i suspect has a lot to do with the directing). steven yeun is super sexy and talented, like we’ve all been saying. however!!! i think the mom did the best job, had the most interesting/difficult part to play, and the fact that that actress was not nominated for her role is a travesty.
4. promising young woman
this movie is SO divisive, but i really enjoyed it. without any spoilers, i understand some of the criticisms, again -- i don’t think this movie is trying to make any bold political or feminist statement. it obviously deals with feminism in a major way, but in general, i think it’s just an interesting character study. not to mention, a super glitzy aesthetic, a knockout performance from carey mulligan and the great inclusion of bo burnham as a romantic lead. please cast him in more rom coms, because i am in full support of that shit!
5. nomadland
for some reason, this didn’t do it for me as much as it did it for other people. i have no criticisms. i think it was lyrical and lovely, good for anyone who likes road movies. a really compelling performance from frances mcdormand who will likely take the oscar. this movie had great visuals and really intricate characters. it was about a subculture that i did not know much about, and it did a good job at getting me invested in how that works. it’s also an interesting look at aging and poverty. i think it’s got a great chance at best picture. 
6. judas and the black messiah
SO GLAD to finally be living in the lakeith stanfield oscar nominee era!!! i was really excited to watch this just for him, because i really love him. this movie had a really great in-depth look at the black panther party, and i also want to shoutout daniel kaluuya who killed it as fred hampton. this is only so low on my list because it’s not really my kind of movie. personally, it was a little too violent for me at times, and that’s not usually my thing. however, i really liked ALL the movies this award season, (EXCEPT FOR ONE), so this being so low is truly just personal taste, but i did really enjoy watching this film. 
7. the father
so olivia coleman killed it once again. i DID like this movie, let’s be clear on that. however, while anthony hopkins did a good job, i was also constantly aware that it was anthony hopkins. truly i think i would have enjoyed this movie much more had i watched it before i watched the documentary the mole agent. that was a chilean documentary nominated this year that deals with similar issues of aging and dementia, but because it’s a documentary it provides heartbreaking authenticity that the father, in some inherent way, lacks. i don’t actually see this as a huge criticism -- the father is a heavily stylized movie, and it’s trying to do something different. i think that’s fine, it’s got a very different goal than the mole agent. but because of how intimate and authentic the mole agent’s take on aging and dementia was, the father rang false for me in ways it might not have had i seen it first. 
8. mank
the worst thing i can say about a movie is that it was boring. and this was very boring. gary oldman gave a very gary oldman performance. the women were the best thing about this film by far. it’s one of those movies in which hollywood is obsessed with itself and assumes the rest of the world is too. usually, it’s not. also, it’s constantly homaging movies from the forties, but their homages were cheesy at best and patronizing at worst. it’s a bad look when the movie clearly finds itself superior to the films that it’s trying to pay tribute to. sorry mank, but you can’t even kiss the floor the philadelphia story walks on.
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emeraldsiren19 · 4 years
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Open letter to Star Wars fandom post-Tros
The insanity of the SW fandom has truly peaked. And people wonder why outsiders don't touch them with a fifty foot pole. 
There are not enough expletives (btw 'kriff' doesn't exist in the GFFA but that's a topic for another day) in the English language for the disgrace, mockery, idiocy and so on that has permeated what could be an otherwise great fandom. I have been a SW fan my whole life and will continue to be forever, but there are hills I will die on.
All of this "JJ ruined SW forever and Terrio is a saint, etc!?!" bullshit combined with "oh don't pick on poor Daisy..no one told her anything about her character" makes the folks who regurgitate the drivel appear to have their hostility set in the wrong place. No one can possibly believe what they are preaching to be fact.
Everything is clearly mapped out as it happened and nothing is cryptic. It would smash you into the pavement like a bus for how blatant it is. Obviously people believe what they want but presenting lies as law does no one any favors.
JJ.didn't.write.shit. Repeat it out loud as many times as necessary. Everyone and their dog in Hollywood knows that. How he and Terrio are not blacklisted for their extensive career bombs when anyone else wouldn't get away with it remains a mystery. Everyone knows he stole writing credit from lots of people. That's just from SW without the rest of his 'filmography'. Don't ever him credit for being *anything* other than having sand for brains. If you think he's the fucking mastermind behind anything, he's got you exactly where he wants you, wrapped around his finger. That's how hacks operate. He is responsible for the shit editing job of TROS where the editing crew was threatened with their jobs if it was not done in a certain way under a certain unrealistic time crunch. That is why TROS was so choppy and nonsensical, not taking into consideration Terrio's very explicit hate for anything in the franchise not related to Luke or Rey. He is responsible for forcing Adam Driver to do ADR dialogue in his own fucking closet out of sheer vindication. 
There is hypocrisy and disrespect to levels that it's impossible to recover from. DLF went out of its way, above and beyond even, with gaslighting and erasure to destroy the entire franchise in one film. In December, people said they were done with SW because DLF had crushed them and they would never recover but they would still love it.
Funny how that took a spin in the opposite direction since people hate it with a white hot passion. Only SW fandom would choose to not abandon something they hate in favor of unhealthy hatred.  'Fans' directing their anger toward boycotting the entire franchise instead of ignoring the bad film as any other franchise does. It is done with such vocal energy that it has become the popular vote and anyone who doesn't agree with the hate is an outcast. Essentially becoming the angry antis that they claim to hate in the same breath.
And don't even start on the utter bullshit of Rey's parentage. The latest conspiracy theory, advocated by DR herself, would have you believe that she has equal sand for brains and doesn't know shit about her own character, and that Rey Nobody of Jakku was nothing more than Resistance propaganda and never existed. That TFA and TLJ are figments of our imagination and the highly respected Rian Johnson is not only a slave driver but a hack who knows nothing. He knows a hell of a lot more than Terrio and JJ combined. If you seriously believe that Daisy knows nothing about her own character when every other actor knows more than the writers, you're equally conned. Daisy didn't pay attention or didn't care because that meant working, which she bitched about she shouldn't have to do. Like JB, she wants to be seen as the poor abused victim. 
When TFA and TLJ were at the forefront, no one had any issues whatsoever with Rey of Jakku being related to no one. Rian even said as much. But he and George Lucas who created the franchise know nothing. Neither does Lawrence Kasdan and his cowriter Michael Arndt. Lucas explicitly said during PT filming that Palpatine had no offspring, and people who aren't even involved in the fandom know that the Dark Side tells you anything you want to hear. Why the bloody fuck anyone with functioning braincells would take anything that TROS claims to be true as gospel fact "because it's onscreen which makes it true". 
It fucking cancelled 9 previous films and people choose to accept with open arms the same literal pile of shit they said destroyed them over the 9 films that have almost no flaws by comparison. Cancel out any love, family, fairytales, hope, because a shit for brains writer (Terrio) chose to annihilate them to become the tale of St Luke and the Virgin Rey. 
Why? What is the logic or purpose behind the Stockholm Syndrome which DLF initiated that TROS is Gospel Law, everything else is heresy and Rey Nobody never existed? 
I can tell you right now without any doubt that Carrie Fisher and Peter Mayhew are both rolling in their graves at the utter hurricane of disrespect and mockery that has swept over the franchise. George Lucas is likely regretting his choice to sell LF to Disney after the atrocity of TROS. Why are people giving the antis/fanboys whom they claim to abhor as much power as they have? 
That's not even touching any widely publicized offscreen drama involving the actors. Adam made the wise decision to cut all ties. DR and Reylos were harassed by JB. They probably don't recall boycotting him as a result. Kelly Tran was harassed by fanboys and thrown under the bus by JB and JJ. In addition, neither JB nor DR can find work after their stunts (she trashed Adam and Rian at a full cast press conference for making her actually work during TLJ). Now he's hoping people will conveniently forget what an ass he was to everyone. Interesting how Adam, Kelly, and the rest of the cast are having zero issues finding work. 
In a nutshell, Rey may not be my favorite character by a long shot. Kylo deserved better. The Force thought they belonged together. But NO ONE (actor or character) deserved the fucking lazy bullshit copout story that was given to them by hack 'writer' Terrio and 'I can't finish any story' director JJ. Carrie was a script doctor and would have beaten the shit out of Terrio. The extent of her revenge on JJ would be haunting him but he isn't even worth that much effort. 
People have forgotten that or they don't care anymore. At which point move on. But that doesn't give someone license to trash an entire fandom with blatant lies out of spite as retribution. Don't create conspiracy theories that experts (the writers of TFA/TLJ and actors) have explicitly said are the opposite. 
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morkhan · 5 years
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Will Byers is Gay: The Evidence So Far
With the release of Stranger Things 3, there has been a lot of discussion kicked up about the character of Will Byers and his sexuality (or lack thereof). I've seen a lot of takes about what "it's not my fault you don't like girls" was intended to mean, many of which seem to take it in isolation, so I wanted to make a post putting it into what I think is its proper context; not an isolated incident, but the latest carriage in veritable train of queer themed language and imagery that has followed Will Byers since episode one of season one, and before that. You ready? Alright, let's go.
Season Zero: the Montauk Files
Before Stranger Things became Stranger Things, it was called Montauk. Like many would-be show makers, the Duffer Bros put together a "show bible" describing the premise, setting, tone, and characters of the show they intended to make. Like many shows, a lot of these ideas changed or were lost on their way to the screen, but it's always worth looking into their original concepts. Here is their description of Will Byers in the Montauk show bible:
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Obviously, the major whammy there is in the first line "sexual identity issues." But there are some other interesting notes, like his "colorful clothes" that you might want to keep a lookout for on your next rewatch. Now, onto...
Season 1
The thing to pay attention to regarding Will in season 1 is in the language used to refer to him when he is not present (which he isn't for most of the season).
Episode 1: the subject of bullying comes up right away in the conversation between Joyce and Hopper. "The kids, they're mean. They laugh at him, laugh at his clothes, call him names." "What's wrong with his clothes?" "I don't know!" This harkens back to the Montauk show bible, but it's arguable, since it's never made clear what about his clothes draws ire.
She also mentions that he is "sensitive," "not like most," and that his dad said he was "queer" and called him a "fag." Hopper asks "is he?" to which she replies "He's missing is what he is!"
Episode 3: Troy says he's not missing, he's dead. "Probably killed by some other queer."
Episode 4: Troy, again "Will's in fairyland, flying around with all the other little fairies, all happy and gay."
Sensitive, queer, fag, fairy, and gay are all used to describe Will in season 1, but perhaps more notable is the fact that they aren't used to describe anyone else. If the show were truly period accurate, let's be real; the whole party would've been called queers on a pretty regular basis, because "queer" doubled as a generic insult back then. But in season 1, these words are only ever used in relation to Will, with one exception; in episode 6, Steve says to Will's brother, "I used to think you were queer." So it's not even an active accusation in that moment; it's used in the negative.
Hell, Troy walked up to Lucas mockingly proposing to Mike and proclaiming his love for him, and he still didn't call them queers. That language is reserved for Will.
Now granted, most of these are used as insults by characters who don't like Will, but still; as a writer, if you want your audience to remember something, repetition is an excellent way to embed it in their minds. There's a reason for the specificity of language surrounding Will, and a reason that language keeps coming up over and over and over again.
Season 2
Season 2 retires much of the homophobic language used to insult Will, replacing it with "Zombie Boy." The only homophobic language used in season 2 is the word "faggot," used by Billy's father to refer to Billy, who expresses a clear interest in women (and an arguable interest in one particular man, but that's the subject of another post).
Still, there is an arguable bit of queer theming in Will's conversation with Jonathan regarding the benefits of being a "freak" and how normal people never accomplish anything. Jonathan even invokes bisexual icon David Bowie to make Will feel better about his "freakishness."
The clearest piece of queer theming for Will in season 2 comes in episode 8, in this beautiful speech from Joyce to Possessed Will:
"When you turned eight, I gave you that huge box of crayons, do you remember that? It was 120 colors. And all your friends got you Star Wars toys, but all you wanted to do was draw with all your new colors. And you drew this big spaceship, but it wasn't from a movie. It was YOUR spaceship; a RAINBOW Ship, that's what you called it. And you, you must have used every color in the box. I took that with me to Melvald's, and I put it up. I told everyone who came in, 'My son drew this.' And you were so embarrassed, but I was so proud. I was so, so proud."
This is one of the most powerful memories of her son that Joyce has, an image so strong and distinct that she uses it to invoke his true identity against the monster that is slowly subsuming him. She notes very specifically that it's not something he copied, but something that came entirely from Will himself, an image that she felt represented him so perfectly that she took it with her to work and proudly touted it as his to everyone she knew. The Rainbow Ship is Joyce's picture of her son's very heart, and surely I don't need to explain to you how powerful a piece of queer imagery the rainbow is.
Some subtextual stuff; in episode 9, when the girl asks Will to dance, he stammers "I... I don't..." and only goes to dance with her when Mike literally pushes him towards her.
During the final montage, the scene cuts to different characters in time with appropriate lines from the song: "every move you make" cuts to Mike and El (as he is teaching her to dance), "every vow you break" cuts to Nancy dancing with Dustin (as she technically cheated on Steve with Jonathan), "I'll be watching you" cuts to Lucas dancing with Max (as she has playfully called him 'stalker' all season). What line cuts to Will? "Every smile you fake," specifically on the word fake, while Will dances with a girl wearing this expression:
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That is not a real smile, that is not a comfortable boy, and that is not an accident; Noah Schnapp is one of the best actors in the entire show, and of the young boys, he is the one the Duffers trust most to do dramatic heavy lifting.
Do you want it to be a little more explicit? Okay, here is that scene in the script:
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I mean, that pretty much speaks for itself. It's less explicit in the actual show, but it's still there, you know?
Season 3
And now, the biggest and most explicit thing to date; The Scene. I mean, you could discuss the obvious subtext in the simple fact that Will is the only male main character who has yet to find a girlfriend or express any interest in girls whatsoever, but that pales in comparison to The Scene.
The setup for The Scene is pretty simple; after declaring "a day free of girls" in order to get his friends to run the D&D campaign he's probably spent a significant amount of time creating, his friends have blown him off to continue bemoaning their girl troubles, so Will has decided to leave. Mike, realizing too late that he has genuinely upset his friend, chases after him to try and get him to come back.
A back-and-forth argument ensues, where Will accuses Mike of ruining the party and abandoning his friends in favor of girls, and Mike, in the heat of the moment, responds with "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" After which, everything stops. There is a full second of silence, and a close up on Noah Schnapp's face so you can take in his reaction.
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There is a lot to unpack here. Now, acting is up to interpretation to a degree, but to me, that expression conveys two primary emotions; shock, and betrayal. That face says "how could you?" Because here's the thing; regardless of what Mike does or doesn't know about Will's sexuality, Mike knows for a fact that Will has been called a queer all his life by everyone from his school bullies to his own fucking dirtbag father. By invoking even the specter of that, Mike has crossed a fucking line, and he knows it. And we know he knows it, because he immediately backtracks and tries to mitigate the damage. But it's too late. The damage has been done.
I also think there is a tinge of fear in that image. Just a moment of soul raking panic that pretty much every closeted queer person knows intimately. It's very brief. But I think it's there, if you look.
This scene sends Will into an emotional tailspin that culminates in him tearing down the literal last bastion of his childhood in a fit of sorrow and rage. His innocence has been destroyed. He cannot regain what he has lost, and he can never go back to the way things were before. This is the emotional climax of his arc for season three. It's a powerful one-- shame it comes in the third of eight episodes, but that's neither here nor there.
And that's pretty much it for now. Any one of these things taken in isolation could be very easily dismissed, but here's the thing; they aren't isolated incidents. They are part of a clear and consistent pattern, one that goes all the way back to the show's inception, before even one minute of footage was filmed. And this pattern points to one very obvious conclusion; the Duffer Brothers have always intended, and continue to intend, for Will Byers to be gay.
Now, for the obvious question; why haven't they made it explicit yet?
The answer is as unfortunate as it is obvious; I don't know.
It's entirely possible that there is some external force that the Duffers have to answer to that is preventing them from actively pursuing this particular storyline. This happens all the time in Hollywood, and it could be anything from Netflix to Noah Schnapp's parents to Noah Schnapp himself just being uncomfortable with it. Many are the creators who dream Big Gay Dreams only to run into the horrors of our Forced Hetero Reality. If the Duffers ultimately submit to these pressures, I hope you won't be too hard on them. This shit is harder than you think to get to the screen sometimes.
But it's also possible that they just aren't ready for it yet. That they have been saving this for a future storyline, that they just want their characters (and the actors) to get a little older before they pursue this particular storyline explicitly, but they've been busily laying groundwork for it so that anyone paying attention will know it's coming.
I don't know. Only time will tell for sure.
For now, I can tell you this; I see a great deal of evidence that the Duffers still intend for Will to be gay, and precisely zero that they have changed their minds.
I hope that holds true.
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There are a lot of rumors about Jensen being gay since his days on Days Of Our Lives. Supposedly he had a thing going with one of his co-stars. Andrew somebody? However, I never watched DOOL (I’m a Y&R fan) so I can’t comment on this. However, some pictures are worth a thousand words. :disdain: [​IMG]​ Jared and Jensen’s sudden engagements/marriages within months of each other raised a lot of eyebrows. Ted C had been hinting for a while that Jared and Jensen are Judas Jack-Off and Dash Dingle Dream (Altho, Ted officially stated the Js are not JJO/DDD BV’s he was alluding too), and that they’re marriages are fake. The fact the Jensen’s frozen-face, attention-seeking wife Danneel Harris felt the need to defend her and Jensen’s relationship just brought more attention to it. Old news, but Back in 2010, Ted C said, "Jared Padalecki and his super-tight Supernatural bud, Jensen Ackles, will sooner marry each other than who they're currently rumored to be getting hitched to. If I'm wrong? I'll get Taryn Ryder(Awful Truth writer) a date with Ryan Gosling." Danneel tweeted back, "Hey Ted, tell Taryn to buy a new dress because its happening baby!" Then Ted tweeted, “@taryder (Taryn) is so excited ur actually getting married! U and Jensen doing newlywed reality show to prove me wrong?” Then Danneel tweeted. “We've been building up our tolerance for liqueur and national scorn 4yrs in hopes that some1 would afford us this opportunity." Then Ted made a post on his blog saying, “Wow. As a jaded-ass gossip crank, I'm duly impressed. Not only does this babe have the balls to banter with some jerk who said her fake marriage would never happen, she's damn smart about sticking up for herself in the process! Maybe this wedding will materialize after all? I want an invite, Danneel! I promise to keep it all off-record and not to kiss the groom, deal?” Then she went on Ted’s show the Awful Truth and promised him she would tweet him pics of Jensen’s V-day surprise for her (which she never did). This shit did not fly over well with Jensen. He had to have gotten on her ass because after the trainwreck she set in motion with Ted C, Danneel didn’t make a single tweet for weeks. She disappeared. Then Jensen was photographed by the paps out and looking pissed off. There were rumors of them having broken up during her twitter hiatus. Jensen is a very private person. He broke up with Joanna Krupa for talking about their personal/sex life in a magazine and on a radio show. But the wedding that Ted C called, nothing but a PR stunt, still took place. Jensen couldn’t have married someone more opposite of himself (or did he?). Before the big mess with Ted C, this hoe would argue back and forth w/ Jensen’s 13 yr old fangirls on twitter. Genevieve Cortese (Jared’s wife) and Danneel do not get along. They are not friends. You would think with the J’s being best buds and how close they are, that their wifey’s would be going shopping together and having girls night out. But.. nope! Danneel wasn’t even invited to Gen and Jared’s wedding, but Jensen was there and was also one of his grooms. In the episode where Dean and Sam go to alternative universe where they are actors named Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki (basically playing themselves on the show) Genevieve comes back, but not as the demon Ruby, she plays herself being married to Jared. But where was Danneel? Danneel is Jensen’s real-life wife, so why wasn’t she in the episode that they played their real lives? I remember someone asked would she ever appear on Supernatural and she said she wouldn’t because she’s so hated there. But she was never asked to be on this special episode of SPN in the first place. She know damn well her ass would jump at the chance to be on Jensen’s show. But they wasn’t having any of that. She is known to be a burden on the crew when she visits the set. Often talking down to people and acting like she is above everyone, barking orders and demands, and she anit even on payroll. Girl walks the red carpet with her hubby for the premiere of a bomb J.Lo movie, that she was only in for like 5 mins, and already thinks she’s A-list. Then she gets a starring a role on a show that was doomed from the get go, Friends With Benefits, and that shit was cancelled after season one (I only watched for Jessica Lucas). She desperately tried to get the role of Megan Fox’s replacement in Transformers 3, but was told she looks her age. She has stated that she didn't pose half-naked or pay her 'dirty dues' just to end up being a no name actress. Because any woman who takes their clothes is destined to be a big, hollywood star, right? The whole 'casting couch' thing must be true when it comes to Danneel. She has proven herself to be a famewhore who would do anything or anyone to help her failing career. She was dating Riley Smith (who was in New York Minute w/ Jared), one of Jensen’s best friend’s for years, and they shared a townhouse. Then she started fucking Jensen when they did that lame ass TIH movie together. I remember when Danneel tweeted about her engagement to Jensen, Riley tweeted one word 'heartbroken’. Riley had brought a ring and was gonna propose to her but came home one day to find all of her stuff moved out. It was his house that she just moved into like she moved in with Jensen right after they got together. And Riley’s mom helped her get started in Hollywood. What a way to show your gratitude. This is another reason why I sometimes question whether Jensen is as nice and down-to-earth like most people says he is. I’m not surprised at Danneel. She’s a bird. But Jensen fucking his best friend’s girl and how that went down doesn’t really sit well with me. Not too mention, her being a bitch to a fan at a con right in front of him. I mean, damn, is she worth it? That pussy must be golden for him to stay with her after all of this. Unless the rumors are true. Beard’s don’t grow on trees, I guess. For those who said J & J aren’t down with the brown. I sorta get that vibe from Jensen too, not so much Jared. Jensen doesn't seem like the type that'd be interested in sista's, unless she's an exxotical. But who knows? One thing is for sure, when it comes to women, Jensen has a type. And that’s slutty white girls. Danneel, Joanna Krupa, Tania Saulnier,etc.
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nyxelestia · 7 years
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You're basically saying that TW stole a bunch of tropes commonly used by Stereks in their romantic Sterek fics, and in the next breath blaming Sterek fans for leaving when it became evident tptb had no intention of exploring their relationship. Viewers have no obligation to continue watching a show they feel no attachment to, and contrary to Posey's statement, I don't think there is any right or wrong reason to watch a show. You also say that the baiting/encouragement by actors, tptb etc 1/-
was benign and innocuous, as they were only doing their job. You say that Stydia and Scallison was hyped as well. Sterek was multitudinously bigger, which was reflected by the hyping of it and the many articles written about it in mainstream media. You then blame Sterek fans for buying into it, which OK, I guess we were all supposed to be savvy enough to realize it was all for funsies. I disagree with the notion that it’s the job of the cast and crew to tease a queer ship that they have no 2/-
make canon, just because fans enjoy it. The honest thing would have been to say something along the line of “we see you dig Sterek, that’s great! It’s not going canon but we support your creativity”. You see basis for Scerek in canon, which awesome. Write all the fics about them. Don’t however discredit the vast number of people who did see canon basis for Sterek. Not everyone has been fooled by corrupted gifsets. As for the clusterfuck that is the bi-baiting of Stiles. That’s just ugly. ¾
They baited and baited his bisexuality, whilst being adamant of not ever explicitly stating it. I think the fact that the writers felt compelled to get Stiles a gf, is the main warning sign of their incompetence. “Erica’s going to be girlfriend material. Gage leaves. Oh shit, we have to bring in another girl. YES, an as of yet completely forgotten Hale girl! Adelaide leaves. Desperation grows. AH, dub-con sex between two mentally ill teens in an institution!”. Sterek fans are not at fault here.
Ever seen that gifset about “when Stiles was being protective of Derek” when Chris was threatening him and Jackson in the last episode of Season 1? Derek was never mentioned in that scene, and Stiles was talking about Scott and Kate. // Just a friendly reminder that Derek was in fact mentioned in that scene. STILES: “Would you prefer I locked him in the basement and burned the whole house down around him?” … “Oh right, Derek said you guys had a code. Guess no one ever breaks it.” -Transcript
Posey has always referred to TW as “his own show” - ex: the cast interview with Cody C. and Dylan Sprayerry in which Posey states that shipping non canon pairing doesn’t make any sense and it’s incredibly offensive and disrespectful towards the writer, the producers and everyone involved in “his show” - and he also became a producer, so… Why did Posey never address what HIS show have done to Arden/Kira? He simply said that “Scott doesn’t need a love interest in order to be interesting” instead
You are picking and choosing from interviews to supplement your agenda.
TPTB aren’t a monolith, either - they are a group of writers, producers, and actors who all have to answer to someone else (MTV), even Jeff Davis. Collectively, have their own agenda, their own plans for the story as a work of narration, and the show as a production. They have to react and take into account the fanbase - but that does not mean that fans get to dictate the show, either. They also regularly disagree with each other, have no idea what the central narrative will be, or sometimes just aren’t in constant communication with each other.
Queerbaiting, generally speaking, is a shitty thing to do. Especially on a show that also, already, has queer characters. On that, we agree. And I don’t know how you got “benign and innocuous” out of “they were doing their jobs”. You are, again, trying to put words into my metaphorical mouth to make a strawman argument.
And you’re right, we are going to disagree on most of the rest.
Such as reasons for watching a show. There is a right reason and a wrong reason for watching a show. It’s not about characters or ships or plot - it’s about watching the show to enjoy the show, vs watching it because you keep waiting for something to enjoy (and then getting mad when something that was never supposed to be there, isn’t there).
There is a world of difference between watching the show for inspiration for Sterek, and watching the show expecting Sterek to happen. There is a world of difference between watching the show because you like a side character, and waiting for that side character to supplant the main character as the star of the show. There is a world of difference between hoping for a ship and expecting a ship.
There is also a world of difference between “listening to fandom” and “bowing down to fandom”. By and large, the producers and actors of the show were listening. They were not obeying, they never had to, and they never should have had to.
As for the actors, there is also a world of difference between “I’d be down to play this” and “this is probably going to happen”. There is a world of difference between “I have some ideas for this dynamic” and “I want these two characters to hook up/end up together”. There is a world of difference between “this could happen (as could many other things)” vs “this probably will happen (as opposed to many other things)”.
It’s that element of picking and choosing again. Take Hoechlin’s idea for how the Darach confrontation in Derek’s loft could’ve gone - his idea was for a platonic interaction between two characters who he refers to as friends and partners in crime. Fandom took it as a shipping scene. This is probably the force that also leads to people seeing so many “Sterek questions” in interviews and panels that they forget - or never see in the first place - things like questions about Stydia, or other ships, or other character arcs unrelated to shipping at all.
I don’t pretend to have seen all the Teen Wolf interviews and such ever, but what I have seen is that along with Sterek, the cast have a lot to say about a lot of ships, hypothetical and otherwise. Of course, if you’re only ever looking for what they say about your own ship - and you only ship one thing - you’ll never see them.
(Which is probably why Posey got accused of being a homophobe. If you only pay attention to what he says about Sterek, then it’s easy to make that accusation, because you’ve never seen or paid attention to him talking about being open to Scott having a boyfriend, and being down to play Sciles or Scisaac.)
Yes, they were pandering to Sterek shippers. They were also pandering to Stydia shippers. They were pandering to Scallison shippers even while building an Allisaac relationship. They were pandering to Sterek and Stydia shippers while also pandering to the former Sterica base with Stora, and then with Stalia.
And I hate to break it to you, but Stiles’ “would you prefer I locked him in a basement?” line was still about Scott, not Derek. The conversation was about Kate, and Stiles didn’t particularly care about Derek in that scene, or in that season as a whole. Mentioning a piece of information provided by Derek was still about Kate.
I also really hate to break this to you, but Posey’s promotion doesn’t actually give him much sway over the decisions made about the show, just how those decisions are carried out. Equating the star of a show referring to said show as “theirs” and equating it with production power is a strawman argument - you are ascribing power and influence that Posey does not have to him, then blaming him for not using it, and for not putting his career on the line to speak more openly about the problems of the show.
It would ultimately achieve nothing and fix nothing - remember, racism isn’t just about individual shows, but also about the broader industry, and bias against WOC is rampant in Hollywood, MTV and otherwise. Look at fucking Hawaii 5-0 - if Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park could not get parity on a show whose ensemble they have been a part of since the very beginning of the show, what was Posey going to accomplish for himself or for Cho?
Especially given that he’s facing some tremendous cuts, himself - as a lot of people have pointed out, Scott practically became a side character on his own show in Season 6 to make room for Stydia, and this is with Posey having a production component in the show that was not there in the earlier seasons.
tl;dr - The show did its job of trying to pander to every ship. Sterek fandom took it personally when their ship wasn’t given even more preferential treatment than it was already getting, just because it also happened to be so big.
I’ve said before that fandom often blames Scott for failing to be omniscient. What you are doing is blaming Posey for failing to be omnnipotent.
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