#jesse and walt were both in it for the drama | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ot3 · 3 years

Note

wait wait wait can you explain more how to be funny and what makes humor work preferably a la essay form if you’re up to it. I’m reading a comic and the jokes aren’t sticking so I’d love to be able to properly be able to figure out what makes some joeks works but others not so I articulate what I hate about it

This response got kinda long so i’m sticking it under a readmore. TL;DR: I don’t think I can tell you how to be funny and what makes comedy work, I don’t think anyone can tell you that. However, I can give you a bunch of advice and guiding questions on how to go about figuring out these answers for yourself

Honestly I don’t think that’s something I’m capable of doing this in any sort of reasonable amount of time. It’d either have to be something really short and really general like what I wrote in the rvb0 post or it’d have to be incredibly long and incredibly specific where I pick specific good and bad examples of comedy and break down what I think works and what I think doesn’t. It’d take a lot of slow and meticulous work I don’t really have the time for, and I’m also not sure how helpful it would be, because once again, comedy is super super subjective and I don’t want to risk overemphasizing my own tastes/general observations as any sort of gospel.

the best advice i can give you would be to try and properly figure out for yourself why these jokes aren’t sticking! because processing something as Funny is much more of an innate reaction than, like, engaging Cerebrally with Narrative Developments it can be much harder to actually realize why something works or doesn’t. I’m going to start by sticking in what I said in my original RVB0 post here in case anyone is reading this without context.

A rule of thumb I personally hold for comedy is that, when push comes to shove, more specific is always going to be more funny. The example I gave when trying to explain this was this:

saying two characters had awkward sex in a movie theater: funny

saying two characters had an awkward handjob in a cinemark: even funnier

saying two characters spent 54 minutes of 11:14's 1:26 runtime trying out some uncomfortably-angled hand stuff in the back of a dilapidated cinemark that lost funding halfway through retrofitting into a dinner theater: the funniest

The more specific a joke is, the more it relies on an in-depth understanding of the characters and world you’re dealing with and the more ‘realistic’ it feels within the context of your media. Especially with this kind of humor. When you’re joking with your friends, you don’t go for stock-humor that could be pulled out of a joke book, you go for the specific. You aim for the weak spots. If a set of jokes could be blindly transplanted into another world, onto another cast of characters, then it’s far too generic to be truly funny or memorable. I don’t think there’s a single joke in RVB0 where the humor of it hinged upon the characters or the setting.

Then there’s the issue of situational comedy and physical comedy. This is really where the humor being ‘tacked on’ shows the most. Once again, part of what makes actually solid comedy land properly is it feeling like a natural result of the world you have established. Real life is absurd and comical situations can be found even in the midst of some pretty grim context, and that’s why black comedy is successful, and why comedy shows are allowed to dip into heavier subject matter from time to time, or why dramas often search for levity in humor. It’s a natural part of being human to find humor in almost any situation. The key thing, though, once again, is finding it in the situation. Many of RVB0’s attempts at humor, once again, feel like they would be the exact same jokes when stripped from their context, and that’s almost never good. A pretty fundamental concept in both storytelling in general but particularly comedy writing is ‘setup and payoff’. No joke in RVB0 is a reward for a seemingly innocuous event in an earlier scene or for an overlooked piece of environmental design. The jokes pop in when there’s time for them in between all the exposition and fighting, and are gone as soon as they’re done. There’s no long term, underlying comedic throughline to give any sense of coherence or intent to the sense of humor the show is trying to establish. Every joke is an isolated one-off quip or one-liner, and it fails to engage the audience in a meaningful way.

When you see a joke that doesn’t land - try mentally rewriting it. Is there anything you could do to make it funny? Can you bring to mind any similar jokes from other pieces of media that you did like? How does the joke effect the pace of the story - is it an awkward and unnatural pause within the flow of events/dialogue? Is the joke well implemented - that is to say, regardless of how ‘objectively’ funny or unfunny the actual meat of the thing is, is it coming from the right source and directed at the right target? Does it add to your understanding of events/characters/setting, do nothing in this department, or does it detract from/contradict them? Is it immersion-breaking (and if so, is this intentional or meaningful?) or does it pull you deeper into the world you’re being shown?

Once you start asking these questions of both media you like and media you dislike you’ll start to recognize patterns in what lands and what doesn’t, and I don’t think they’re questions anyone else can really answer for you.

I think it also is a question of whether comedy is the intended final destination of a piece of media or just a step along the way. Media that exists solely as a vehicle for jokes is going to have comedy that looks very different than the comedy present in media that exists for heavy narrative purposes but includes moments of levity.

Here are two examples of shows I think are really good and are also about as different in concept, execution, and intent as humanly possible: phineas and ferb and breaking bad.

Breaking bad is probably the most emotionally taxing television experience I’ve had in my life. I mean this as a compliment. breaking bad is supposed to be grueling to watch. It also has jokes in it. the scenes that are funny server to really meaningfully increase the immersion, not break it, and they do this by bringing a very realistic sense of human interaction that grounds the high-stakes melodrama into something that looks a hell of a lot more like reality. There’s one scene in particular i think does just such a great job of exemplifying this. here we’ve got jesse having dinner with walt and his wife while they are, as always, fighting with each other viciously and creating such a horrible and suffocating miasma of tension over the entire narrative, and jesse is trying to break some of this tension very poorly.

youtube

Then, in literally the complete opposite vein, you’ve got the phineas and ferb episode ‘lets take a quiz’ which i consider incredibly formative in the development of my sense of humor. The entire Bit of literally this whole episode is that they’re doing this terrible quiz with no rules that makes no sense and candace is trying to win but nobody knows how to play this game.

youtube

Phineas and ferb is an episodic children’s cartoon that deals almost exclusively in unreality and the absurd, and so this kind of bit works here.

Saying ‘whats good comedy’ is really hard because it’s just like saying ‘whats good narrative’. There’s no one set of criteria; it boils down to what is the intention of your comedy, and how successfully were you able to act on these intentions?

This really got away from me sorry I am working on extremely little sleep i hope this helped even a little bit. My final piece of advice is: go watch hot fuzz. seriously. go watch hot fuzz (2007) dir. edgar wright and look at how the jokes in that movie are because theyre perfect and i love hot fuzz and it’s fucking funny

#long post #Anonymous

12 notes · View notes

bettsfic · 4 years

Note

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on breaking bad if you feel like sharing!! You're done with it, right?

oh my god thank you for asking. you have no idea how much i want to talk about this show but i’m running in a decade late with starbucks and feel weird just cold posting about it. i just finished the whole series and i watched el camino twice, and i’ve also been catching up on bts stuff and digging through a bit of the meta commentary of the time. i haven’t started BCS but i plan to soon.

first off, when i started watching the show, i realized i actually had seen a bit of it. it turns out i saw the first 3 seasons back in 2011, but it was shortly after my dad had died of cancer, and my boyfriend insisted on watching it. i remember telling him that it made me uncomfortable because it was too close to home. my dad had cancer for 4 years, and mom was going through bankruptcy because of all the medical bills. my boyfriend didn’t care. he made me keep watching, and i guess we broke up before we got to s4. or maybe there were only 3 seasons out at the time. either way, i set it down in 2011 and vowed not to watch it.

then a month or so ago, i finished westworld 3, got obsessed with aaron paul, and decided to give brba another go.

(this gets personal. so putting the rest under a cut!)

so s1 and 2 are solidly okay. the show seemed like it was finding its feet and didn’t know what it wanted to be, a comedy or a tragedy, but i know that feeling and sometimes i really like when stories toe that divide, so i didn’t mind. s1 and 2, i was mostly marveling over how utterly beautiful aaron paul is. my god.

s3 has some major pacing issues (monologues! so many monologues!!), but the show starts to really come into itself and figure out What It Is. i skipped over a lot of stuff after reading wiki summaries, mostly that just seemed like suffer porn and which i knew would dwell a lot in discomfort. then we get to the episode where jesse monologues at walt about how walt ruined his life, and i was just sobbing. i don’t think a tv show has ever made me cry like that. i was ruined.

even if the writing of those seasons isn’t the best, the direction and performances are some of the best i’ve ever seen in television. aaron paul and bryan cranston could read a phonebook at each other and make it compelling.

the entire time, i just wanted jesse and walt to get on each other’s sides and work together. i was in it for the loyalty kink. i had no idea there would be so much angst, and i was veering toward the point of giving up. but i was assured repeatedly by friends that it would get better.

and it did. walt saves jesse. walt fights for jesse. jesse fights for walt. THEY WORK TOGETHER. and more importantly, their relationship starts to get so fucked up, so codependent, so toxic. and not in the way shows usually portray fucked-up relationships, like totally oblivious to its own toxicity. this show leans in. it seems to know the entire time exactly the psychological connotations its evoking, and it does it intentionally. and i really value it for that.

s4 is where the show went from “pretty good” to “holy shit.” i’ve never seen a more accurate and clear portrayal of a narcissist. my triggers are many, varied, and wildly inconsistent, but i was in a state of being mildly triggered for days, and i really appreciated that feeling, that a story could push me that far and make me reflect as deeply as it did. i tend to go wild over anything that can make me feel something, even if it’s bad. most stuff i read and watch just kind of numbs and distracts me. this show wasn’t an escape so much as an assault. and i loved it for that.

my dad was a narcissist, and every interaction between jesse and walt or skyler and walt brought up a thousand memories of things my dad said and did. at one point, when walt is really at his worst, i think around skyler telling him she’s waiting for his cancer to come back, i remember thinking, “if walt were a little bit meaner, he would be just like my dad.”

and oh boy, that thought fucked me up. my dad was worse than the most believably evil character in the history of television. i got diagnosed with ptsd in 2017 and have spent these past 3 years more or less fighting that diagnosis, thinking, “it wasn’t that bad!” because my dad wasn’t physically violent. at least not frequently. and i’ve never been able to articulate what exactly my dad did that was so bad, or how insidious his behavior was. he didn’t cook meth obviously, but he had that false disenfranchisement attitude, that resentfulness that walt has toward his family for taking his greatness from him, that regret at not being more than he was.

but seeing my dad’s behavior playing out on screen, not just accurately but calling it out for exactly as fucked up and toxic as it was -- and how it affects, destroys, all the other characters -- it may have been hard to watch, but i’ve never felt so validated. i finally feel like i’m not faking it anymore or making it up or being dramatic. or, as my dad liked to say, “too sensitive.” i’ve only ever been able to write about my dad in sections, put pieces of him in different characters, because to put him fully into anything, fiction or non, feels like it would completely eject a reader from the story. brba showed me there’s a way to do it, and now i feel inspired to maybe tell that story finally.

so i’m intensely grateful to vince gilligan for making a believable, empathetic (not sympathetic) narcissist, and writing his long and steady decline into evil. on a storytelling level, it was extremely satisfying to watch, because most writers don’t have the patience to stick with evil characters, or really get into their psychology. on a personal level, i feel like i’ve worked through a lot of stuff while watching it, and i feel like a major weight has been lifted.

a lot of mass media is made by people who are just taking jobs and don’t really care about what they’re doing. it’s clear that everyone involved is just looking for a paycheck. but i got the sense the entire time i was watching brba that everyone really loved and believed in what they were doing. there was a carefulness to the story and a sensitivity in it that kept me glued the entire time.

and i won’t even get started with el camino because that’s a whole different rant, involving how in absolute awe i am of aaron paul, but i loved it so so much, and i’m 10k into a post-EC fic that i’m hoping to post in a week or so. (unrelated but i just watched a table reading of a s5 brba episode and aaron paul just WRECKS himself during it. everyone else is kind of panning their lines, but he’s just sitting there SOBBING. i’m glad he won the emmys he deserved for his performance. if anyone wants to come talk to me about aaron paul, i am HERE)

we’ll see how i feel in a year, but as of right now, brba in my top 5 favorite (drama) shows of all time. it’s really rare that i both 1) think show/book/movie is extremely good and 2) get obsessed enough to write fic about it. usually i only write fic about stuff that has unmet potential, and i feel compelled to fix it or use the characters for something else. but in the case of brba, i’m more interested in expansion and homage.

anyway i’m probably going to watch el camino again tonight. happy to take more asks about brba!

#abuse cw #death cw #brba #my meta #Anonymous

28 notes · View notes

blackkudos · 4 years

Text

Yolanda King

Yolanda Denise King (November 17, 1955 – May 15, 2007) was an African American activist and first-born child of civil rights leaders Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. She was also known for her artistic and entertainment endeavors and public speaking. Her childhood experience was greatly influenced by her father's highly public and influential activism.

She was born two weeks before Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat on a public transit bus in Montgomery, Alabama, she occasionally experienced threats to her life, designed to intimidate her parents, and became a secondary caregiver to her younger siblings and was bullied at school. When her father was assassinated on April 4, 1968, the 12-year-old Yolanda King was noted for her composure during the highly public funeral and mourning events. She joined her mother and siblings in marches, and she was lauded by such noted figures as Harry Belafonte, who established a trust fund for her and her siblings.

In her teenage years, she became an effective leader of her class in high school and was given attention by the magazines Jet and Ebony. Her teenage years were filled with even more tragedies, specifically the sudden death of her uncle Alfred Daniel Williams King and the murder of her grandmother, Alberta Williams King. While in high school, she gained lifelong friends. It was the first and only institution where King was not harassed or mistreated because of who her father was. However, she was still misjudged and mistrusted because of her skin color, based on perceptions founded solely upon her relationship with her father. Despite this, King managed to keep up her grades and was actively involved in high school politics, serving as class president for two years. King aroused controversy in high school for her role in a play. She was credited with having her father's sense of humor.

In the 1990s, she supported a retrial of James Earl Ray and publicly stated that she did not hate him. That decade saw King's acting career take off as she appeared in ten separate projects, including Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Our Friend, Martin (1999) and Selma, Lord, Selma (1999). By the time she was an adult, she had grown to become an active supporter for gay rights and an ally to the LGBT community, as was her mother. She was involved in a sibling feud that pitted her and her brother Dexter against their brother Martin Luther King III and sister Bernice King for the sale of the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia. King served as a spokesperson for her mother during the illness that would eventually lead to her death. King outlived her mother by only 16 months, succumbing to complications related to a chronic heart condition on May 15, 2007.

Early life

Early childhood: 1955–1963

Born in Montgomery, Alabama to Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King, Jr., she was only two weeks old when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus. Even in her infancy, Yolanda was faced with the threats her father was given when they extended to his family. In 1956, a number of white supremacists bombed the King household. Yolanda and her mother were not harmed. She and her mother, at the time of the bomb's detonation, were in the rear section of their home. Despite this, the front porch was damaged and glass broke in the home. She kept her father busy when walking on their home's floors. While her mother liked her name, her father had reservations about naming her "Yolanda" due to the possibility the name would be mispronounced. During the course of her lifetime, King's name was mispronounced to the point that it bothered her. King's father eventually was satisfied with the nickname "Yoki," and wished that if they had a second daughter, they would name her something simpler. The Kings would have another daughter almost eight years later named Bernice (born 1963). King recalled that her mother had been the main parent and dominant figure in their home, while her father was away often. Decision-making towards what school she would attend in first grade was done primarily by her mother, since her father expressed disinterest to her early in the decision making.

Martin Luther King III described his role as the second-born of their family as having made Yolanda jealous, and that she was always overcommitted but "still found time to get to the things that were most important to her". Her mother referred to her as being a confidant during the time following her husband's assassination. She complimented her mother on her achievements and her mother spoke of her in a positive light, as well. When asked by a young boy what she remembered most about her father, she admitted that her father was not able to spend much time with her and the rest of her family. When he did, she would play and swim with him. King cried when she found out her father had been imprisoned. Her father admitted that he had never adjusted to bringing up children under "inexplicable conditions". When she was 6 years old, she was saddened by classmates' remarks that her father was a "jailbird". An important early memory was that she wanted to go to Funtown, a local amusement park, with the rest of her class, but was barred from doing so due to her race. She did not understand, and asked her mother Coretta why she was not able to go. When she replied "Your father is going to jail so that you can go to Funtown." after numerous attempts to explain the issue to her, Yolanda finally understood. After having not seen her father for five weeks while he was in jail, she finally was able to meet with him alongside both of her brothers for less than half an hour.Her father also addressed the issue himself. He told her that there were many whites who were not racist and wanted her to go but there were many who were and did not want her to go. However, her father reassured her as she began to cry that she was "just as good" as anyone who went to Funtown and that one day in the "not too distant future" she was going to be able to go to "any town" along with "all of God's children".

Assassination of John F. Kennedy and Nobel Peace Prize: 1963–1964

On November 22, 1963, when U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, she learned of his death at school. When she returned home, she rushed to confront her mother about his death and even ignored her grandfather, Martin Luther King, Sr., to tell her mother what she had heard and that they would not get their "freedom now." Her mother tried to debunk this, insisting that they would still get it. She predicted at that time that all of the "Negro leaders" would be killed and the non-leading African-Americans would agree to segregation. Her mother started to realize that Yolanda had become more aware of the possibility that her father could be killed as well. For Christmas 1963, King and her siblings accepted a sacrificial Christmas as appealed by their parents and only received a single gift. King and her brother Martin III bragged about their selflessness at school. In 1964, upon learning her father would receive the Nobel Peace Prize, she asked her mother what her father was going to do with the money he was receiving in addition to the award. After she suggested that he would most likely give it all away, King laughed with her mother.

Enrollment at Spring Street Elementary School and last years with father: 1965–1967

King and her brother Martin Luther King III were enrolled in the fall of 1965 to Spring Street Elementary School. In 1966, she listened to a speech her father gave when he was addressing a rally. At the age of eight after writing her first play, she enrolled in the only integrated drama school of that time. The head of the school was Walt Roberts, father of the actress Julia Roberts. She began speaking at the age of ten and even filled in for her parents on occasion. Her memories of her father prompted her to state that he "believed we were all divine. I have chosen to continue to promote 'we're one, the oneness of us, and shine the spotlight,' as my father did." Coretta King wrote in her memoirs, My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr., that "Martin always said that Yoki came at a time in his life when he needed something to take his mind off the tremendous pressures that bore down upon him."

Father's death: 1968

On the evening of April 4, 1968, when she was 12, Yolanda returned with her mother from Easter-dress shopping when Jesse Jackson called the family and reported that her father had been shot. Soon after, she heard of the event when a news bulletin popped up while she was washing dishes. While her siblings were trying to find out what it meant, Yolanda already knew.She ran out of the room, screamed "I don't want to hear it," and prayed that he would not die. She asked her mother at this time, if she should hate the man who killed her father. Her mother told her not to, since her father would not want that. King complimented her mother as a "brave and strong lady," leading to a hug between them. Four days later, she and her brothers accompanied their mother to Memphis City Hall on her own terms, as she and her brothers had wanted to come. King flew to Memphis, Tennessee with her brothers and mother and participated in leading a march in Memphis with sanitation workers and civil rights leaders.

King was visited by Mrs. Kennedy before her father's funeral. After the funeral, she was visited by classmates from Spring Street Middle School with flowers and cards. At that time, she was also called by Andrea Young, whose own father had insisted that she should. The two were the same age. Bill Cosby flew to Atlanta after the funeral and entertained King and her siblings. King and her siblings were assured an education thanks to the help of Harry Belafonte, who set up a trust fund for them years prior to their father's death.

In regards to the possibility that her father could have been saved, King said she doubted that her father could have lived much longer given all the stress he had during his tenure as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. She did admit that, had he lived or he been listened to more, "we would be in a far better place." King openly stated years later that she did not hate James Earl Ray.

Teenage years and high school: 1968–1972

At Grady High School, King was president of her sophomore and junior class, and vice president of her senior class. She ranked in the top 10 percent of her class. She was active in student government and drama. She made lifelong friends while in the institution that would collectively be called the "Grady Girls". She was also on the student council. At that time, King still did not know what she wanted to do with her life, but acknowledged that many wanted her to be a preacher. Her inclinations were driven to be artistic, which did not suit the political aspects of her father's life. Of the King children, Yolanda was the only one to attend Grady High School, as her siblings would go to different high schools following her graduation.

During the family's interview with Mike Wallace in December 1968, Yolanda was introduced by her mother and revealed her role in keeping the family together. Being the oldest, she had to watch her three younger siblings; Martin Luther King III, Dexter King and Bernice King and referred to the three as independent when she watched them whenever their mother went out of town. Sometime after Martin Luther King's assassination, King told her mother "Mom, I'm not going to cry because my dad is not dead. He may be dead physically, and one day I am going to see him again".

On July 21, 1969, King's uncle and father's brother Alfred Daniel Williams King was found dead in the swimming pool of his home. His youngest two children, Esther and Vernon, were vacationing with King and her family in Jamaica when they heard of his death. On April 4, 1970, the second anniversary of her father's death, she and her sister Bernice attended their grandfather Martin Luther King, Sr.'s silent prayer for their father at his gravesite. The practice of going to her father's grave on the anniversary of either his birth or assassination became an annual ritual for the King family to mourn his death.

In her teenage years, King preferred to go by her nickname "Yoki." As she said during an interview, "I prefer Yoki. Maybe when I'm older I won't be able to stand Yoki, but Yolanda sounds so formal!" She felt teenagers were confused and were using drugs as a method to escape their problems.

At 15 she was subject to controversy when she appeared in the play "The Owl and the Pussycat" with a white male lead. Though her mother kept her naïve to the controversies so she could "fulfill [her] objective, which was to do the play", that did not stop her from learning of the negativity implemented from her role years later. Her grandfather Martin Luther King, Sr. initially was not going to go to her performance due to opposition by locals, but changed his mind afterward. During a Sunday visit to Church, King was forced to stand before the congregation and explain her actions. In response to her role in the play and her own response to the role, a man wrote to Jet predicting that she would marry a white person before she was eighteen. Despite statements such as these, King did not become aware of the public discomfort with her role until years later, citing her mother's involvement in her knowledge of the criticism.

When King was 16 she received attention in Jet in 1972, where she talked about what her father's famous name was doing for her life. In the interview with the magazine, She related how people expected her to be "stuck up" and referred to it as one of the "handicaps" of being Martin Luther King's child. She recalled having met a friend that was scared of being acquainted with her, because of her father's identity and expressed her thoughts in the colleges she wished to attend. King would ultimately attend Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts after graduating from high school.

King called her father's name and having to live up to it a "challenge" and recalled a friend when she first met a friend of hers, who believed she could not say anything to King but after beginning to know her, realized that she was "no worse than my other friends" and she "could say anything" to her. King also voiced her dislike of the assumption that she would behave just like her mother and father, and the difficulty of being perceived as not being someone others could talk to. When asked what kind of world she would like to live in, King said she wished "people could love everybody". Despite this wish, she acknowledged that this was of no ease and expressed happiness that her father had changed many things, and even made some people gain self-esteem.Positive reception came to this interview, and Yolanda was even called the "leader of the 16-year-olds" for her "calmness, her concern," and "her vision".

Early adulthood

College: 1972–1976

After graduating from high school, she went to Smith College. She took classes taught by Manning Marable and Johnnella Butler, and became satisfied with her choice of a college. But after finishing her sophomore year and returning home so she could work over the summer, her grandmother Alberta Williams King was killed on June 30, 1974. With her death, the only remaining members of King's father's immediate family were her grandfather Martin Luther King, Sr. and aunt Christine King Ferris. She was also subject to some harassment by her classmates, describing it as the "era when students were making demands and many black students were closer to the teachings of Malcolm X, or what they thought were his teachings." The children referred to her father as an "Uncle Tom" and she was scared that he would go down in history as such. She reflected "I had never read his works. I was just someone who loved someone, and I knew he had done great things and now people didn't appreciate it." She proceeded to read his books, and started to believe that her father had been correct all along.

When asked about what pressures emerged from being a daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., King stated that "as soon as people heard me speak, they would compare me to my father ... My siblings had the same kind of pressure. There was such a need, like they were looking for a miracle." At the time of her turmoil in college, King recalled having not known Malcolm X and "didn't understand daddy, so here I was trying to defend something I thought I knew about but really didn't." On April 4, 1975, King joined her family in placing azaleas over her father's crypt, marking the seventh anniversary of his assassination.

Immediate life after Smith College: 1976–1978

An alumna of Smith College after graduating in 1976, she was the subject of an essay among the "remarkable women" during a celebration during the college's one hundred and twenty-fifth year and she was a member of the Board of Directors of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc. (the official national memorial to her father) and was founding Director of the King Center's Cultural Affairs Program. King became a human rights activist and actress. She stated in 2000 to USA Today, that her acting "allowed me to find an expression and outlet for the pain and anger I felt about losing my father,". Her mother's support helped in starting her acting career. Despite some early opposition to acting that she received during her controversial play in high school, King still tried to get roles and actively tried performing.

She served on the Partnership Council of Habitat for Humanity, was the first national Ambassador for the American Stroke Association's "Power to End Stroke" Campaign, a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a sponsor of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Human Rights Campaign, and held a lifetime membership in the NAACP. King received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, a master's degree in theater from New York University, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Marywood University. In 1978 she starred as Rosa Parks in the TV miniseries King (based on her father's life and released on DVD in 2005).

Meeting Attallah Shabazz: 1979

In 1979, Yolanda met Attallah Shabazz, the eldest daughter of Malcolm X, after arrangements had been made by Ebony Magazine to take a photograph of the two women together. Both were worried that they would not like each other due to their fathers' legacies. Instead, the two quickly found common ground in their activism and in their positive outlook towards the future of African-Americans. The two were young adults at the time and had a mutual friend who noticed they were both studying theater in New York and arranged for them to meet. A few months after King and Shabazz met, the pair decided to collaborate on a theatrical work, resulting in Stepping into Tomorrow. The play was directed towards teens and focused on the 10th year reunion of six high school friends. Stepping into Tomorrow led to the formation of Nucleus in the 1980s, a theater company which King and Shabazz founded. The theater company was based in New York City and Los Angeles and focused on addressing the issues that their fathers, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, spoke of in their lifetimes.The pair performed in around 50 cities a year and did lectures together, typically in school settings.

Adult life

King holiday, arrests, and return to Smith College: 1980–1989

When presenting herself in 1980 to the GSA staff members, she stated: "Jim Crow [segregation] is dead, but his sophisticated cousin James Crow, Esq., is very much alive. We must cease our premature celebration [about civil rights already achieved] and get back to the struggle. We cannot be satisfied with a few black faces in high places when millions of our people have been locked out." She received a standing ovation afterwards, alongside a thunderous applause. In February 1982, King was a speaker during the centennial of Anne Spencer's birth. In 1984, she was arrested in the view of her mother for having protested in front of the South African Embassy, in support of anti-apartheid views. It was the first time she had ever been arrested. On January 7, 1986, Yolanda, her brother Martin Luther King III and her sister Bernice were arrested for "disorderly conduct" by officers responding to a call from a Winn Dixie market, of which had an ongoing protest against it since September of the previous year.

She showed dissatisfaction with her "generation" on January 20, 1985, and referred to them as being "laid-back and unconcerned", and "forgetting the sacrifices that allowed them to get away with being so laid-back". That same year, she presented the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Public Service to Chicago Mayor Harold Washington during the fifth annual Ebony American Black Achievement Awards.

She celebrated her father's holiday on January 16, 1986 and attended a breakfast in Chicago with Mayor Harold Washington. She stated that her father had a "magnificent dream", but admitted that "it still is only a dream." King started Black History Month of 1986 by giving a speech in Santa Ana, which called for the study of African-American history to not "relegated to the shortest and coldest month of the year."After having been a public speaker for over twenty years, Yolanda recalled her talents having "happened very naturally growing up in a house like mine". She also found "great irony" in President Ronald Reagan having signed a bill to make Martin Luther King, Jr. Day a national holiday.

She kicked off Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by starting a weeklong celebration on January 12, 1987 and talked to students about opportunities that they had at that point which their parents and grandparents did not have.On April 8, 1988, King and Shabazz were honored by Los Angeles County supervisors for their "unifying" performance and message on stage at the Los Angeles Theater Center the previous night. Their play Stepping into Tomorrow was praised by supervisors as being "entertaining and enlightening." At the time of the honor, King said that their production company had been approached by organizations seeking to arrange special staging of the play for gang members before May 1, when the show's run would end. Supervisor Kenneth Hahn said to King that he "sensed I was in the presence of a great man when I met your father."She returned to Smith College on January 26, 1989. There, she gave a speech and made references to her past difficult experiences when first coming to the college. King made it clear that while she had not been "endeared" to the institution, she was still "grateful" for her experience. She called for Americans to memorialize those who gave their lives for "the struggle for peace and justice." At this point in her life, King also served as director of cultural affairs for the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change and was tasked with raising and directing funds for all artistic events.

Arizona boycott and James Earl Ray retrial: 1990–1999

On December 9, 1990, she canceled a planned appearance in a play in Tucson, Arizona and ignored a boycott going on at the time by civil rights groups and other activists for Arizona voters rejecting the proposal of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day being celebrated there. King and Shabazz had planned the play months before the voters of the state rejecting the holiday, and King prepared a statement which solidified her reasons for supporting the boycott. Despite this, Shabazz still appeared in the state and performed in the play. On January 17, 1991, Yolanda spoke before a crowd of students at Edmonds Community College, around 200 in number. She debunked complacency in having any role in progression of her father's dream. She joined her mother in placing a wreath around her father's crypt. King stressed in 1992 that love would help people make their mark on the world. That same year, she also spoke at Indiana University. In October, King gave support for a Cabrini-Green family that wants to escape the violence, and a fundraiser for their cause.

25 years after her father's assassination, she went to his gravesite. There, she joined hands with her siblings and mother along with other civil rights activists, singing We Shall Overcome. During July 1993, she agreed to speak at the Coral Springs City Centre for airfare and a fee in January 1994. She originally wanted $8,000, but was negotiated down to $6,500. During said speech, she mentioned that the fact that the poverty line in America among children had nearly tripled and urged people to "reach out" and "do what you can". In October, she uttered her belief that her father's dream of integration was not understood fully.

On February 1, 1994 King attempted to speak before a diverse class of students at North Central College. She stated, "It is entirely appropriate that you would choose to focus on multiculturalism as the opening activity of Black History Month. The only reason why Black History Month was created and still exists is because America is still struggling and trying to come to grips, come to terms with the diversity of its people." In July 1994, after seeing some photographs of her father prior to his death, Yolanda lamented that "this [had] brought back a lot of memories. It's often hard for young people to understand the fear and terror so many people felt and how bold they were to get involved in the marches. But walking through the first part of the exhibit I felt that terror." She honored her father in 1995 by performing in the Chicago Sinfonietta in the play "A Lincoln Portrait", in which she was the narrator. The "commitment" to diverse members in the audience and the play itself, was what represented the opportunities for which King fought.

In the fall of 1995, at age 39, she joined Ilyasah Shabazz and Reena Evers in saluting their mothers as they chaired an attempt at registering one million African-American women to vote in the presidential election of 1996. King joined the rest of her family in February 1997, in supporting a retrial for James Earl Ray, the man convicted of her father's murder, having realized that "without our direct involvement, the truth will never come out." In an interview with People magazine in 1999, she recalled when she first learned of her father's death and stated that "to this day, [her] heart skips a beat every time [she] hear one of those special bulletins." King appeared in the film Selma, Lord, Selma, based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches as Miss Bright. Prior to the film's release, King expressed belief in children of the time only knowing "Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, but when it is time to talk about the facts and the history, there is not a lot of knowledge. They look at me when I'm talking as if this is science fiction."

Final years: 2000–2007

King attended and spoke at the Human Rights Campaign Detroit Gala Dinner of 2000. In a twenty-four-minute-long speech, she brought up the presidential election of that year, and also quoted the words of Bobby Kennedy by recalling his line which he took from George Bernard Shaw, that of "Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say why not?". During a presentation in May 2000, King was asked if the human race would ever become "color blind". In response, she pushed for "the goal" to be "color acceptance." Following the September 11 attacks, King spoke in North Chicago in 2002 and related that her father's wisdom during the crisis would have been of great aid to her. She mentioned the possibility that the event could have been a calling for Americans to put their loyalty towards "their race, tribe and nation", as her father once said. She, her brother Martin Luther King III and Al Sharpton sang We Shall Overcome in front of "The Sphere", which stood atop the World Trade Center prior to the September 11 attacks.

In honor of her father, King promoted a show in Los Angeles entitled "Achieving the Dream" in 2001. During the play, she changed costume numerous times and adjusted her voice and body language when changing roles. King and Elodia Tate co-edited the book Open My Eyes, Open My Soul: Celebrating Our Common Humanity, published by McGraw-Hill in 2003. In January 2004, King referred to her father as a king, but not as one who "sat on a throne, but one who sat in a dark Birmingham jail." While in Dallas in March 2004, King related; "It's only in the past half-dozen years or so that I have felt comfortable in my own skin. I don't have to try and prove anything to anyone anymore." "I struggled with a lot of the legacy for a long time, probably actually into my 30s before I really made peace with it," Yolanda stated in 2005 on "Western Skies", a public radio show based in Colorado. During the fall of 2004 she played Mama in "A Raisin in the Sun" at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts at Cornell University.

Mother's death, sibling dispute and final months: 2006–2007

Coretta Scott King began to decline in health after suffering a stroke in August 2005. She also was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The four children of the civil rights activist noticed "something was happening". King was having a conversation with her mother in her home when she stopped talking. Coretta Scott King had a blood clot move from her heart and lodge in an artery in her brain. She was hospitalized on August 16, 2005, and was set to come home as well. Alongside the physician that took care of her mother, Dr. Maggie Mermin and her sister, Yolanda told the press that her mother was making progress on a daily basis and was expected to make a full recovery. She became a spokesman for the American Heart Association after her mother's stroke, promoting a campaign to raise awareness about strokes.

That year, she and her brother Dexter came to oppose their other brother and sister, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, on the matter of selling the King Center. King and Dexter were in favor of sale, but their other siblings were not. After Coretta Scott King died on January 30 of the next year, Yolanda, like her siblings, attended her funeral. When asked about how she was faring following the death of her mother, Yolanda responded: "I connected with her spirit so strongly. I am in direct contact with her spirit, and that has given me so much peace and so much strength." She found her mother's personal papers in her home.

She preached in January 2007 to an audience in Ebenezer Baptist Church to be an oasis for peace and love, as well as to use her father's holiday as starting ground for their own interpretations of prejudice. She spoke on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2007 to attendants at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and stated: "We must keep reaching across the table and, in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, feed each other,". After her hour-long presentation, she joined her sister and her aunt, Christine King Farris, in signing books. On May 12, 2007, days before her death, she spoke at St. Mary Medical Center, on the part of the American Stroke Association. It would be the last time she would speak on behalf of the association.

Death

On May 15, 2007, King stated to her brother Dexter that she was tired, though he thought nothing of it due to her "hectic" schedule. Around an hour later, King collapsed in the Santa Monica, California home of Philip Madison Jones, her brother Dexter King's best friend, and could not be revived. Her death came a year after her mother died. Her family has speculated that her death was caused by a heart condition. In the early hours of May 19, 2007, King's body was brought to Atlanta, Georgia by private plane belonging to Bishop Eddie Long. A public memorial for Yolanda King was held on May 24, 2007, at Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary in Atlanta, Georgia. Many in attendance did not know her, but came out of respect for the King family's history of non-violence and social justice. King was cremated, in accordance with her wishes. She was 51. All three of her siblings lit a candle in her memory.

Bernice King said it was "very difficult standing here blessed as her one and only sister. Yolanda, from your one and only, I thank you for being a sister and for being a friend." Martin Luther King III uttered that "Yolanda is still in business. She just moved upstairs." Maya Angelou wrote a tribute to her, which was read during the memorial service. She wrote "Yolanda proved daily that it was possible to smile while wreathed in sadness. In fact, she proved that the smile was more powerful and sweeter because it had to press itself through mournfulness to be seen, force itself through cruelty to show that the light of survival shines for us all." Many former classmates of both Grady High School and Smith College attended to remember her. Raphael Warnock stated; "She dealt with the difficulty of personal pain and public responsibility and yet ... she emerged from it all victorious. Thank you for her voice."

Ideas, influence, and political stances

To the time of her death, King continued to express denial in her father's dreams and ideals being fulfilled during her lifetime. In 1993, she debunked any thought that her father's "dream" had been anything but a dream, and was quoted as saying "It's easier to build monuments than to make a better world. It seems we've stood still and in many ways gone backward since Martin Luther King Jr. was alive.", during a celebration that marked what would have been her father's sixty-fourth birthday.

Despite this, she was quoted in January 2003 of saying that she was "a 100 percent, dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying believer in 'The Dream'. It's a dream about freedom—freedom from oppression, from exploitation, from poverty ... the dream of a nation and a world where each and every child will have the opportunity to simply be the very best that they can be." The statement was made while she was in the presence of 800 people who gathered to honor her father at the Everett Theatre. She made it clear that month that she was not trying to fill her father's footsteps, noting jokingly that "They're too big" and that she would "fall and break [her] neck". She also advocated for her father's holiday to be used as a day for helping others, and also expressed dissatisfaction on the basis of people relaxing on his day. On January 15, 1997, she spoke at Florida Memorial College and expressed what she believed her father would feel if "he knew that people were taking a day off in his memory to do nothing". She disliked cliches used to define her father and expressed this to Attallah Shabazz, and recalled having seen a play where her father was a "wimp" and carried The Bible with him everywhere.

King was an ardent activist for gay rights, as was her mother, Coretta. King protested many times over gay rights. She was among 187 people arrested during a demonstration by lesbian and gay rights activists. She stated at the Chicago's Out and Equal Workplace Summit in 2006 "If you are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, you do not have the same rights as other Americans, you cannot marry, ... you still face discrimination in the workplace, and in our armed forces. For a nation that prides itself on liberty, justice and equality for all, this is totally unacceptable. Like her parents and siblings, King did not outright go and make any affiliation with a political party publicly. Despite this, she did voice opposition to President Ronald Reagan in his reluctance to sign Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, her father's national holiday.

Legacy

Dexter King said of his sister, "She gave me permission. She allowed me to give myself permission to be me." Jesse Jackson stated that King "lived with a lot of the trauma of our struggle. The movement was in her DNA." Joseph Lowery stated; "She was a princess and she walked and carried herself like a princess. She was a reserved and quiet person who loved acting." January 2008's issue of Ebony, her relationship with Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook was highlighted in an article written by the minister, as she dubbed her deceased longtime friend a "queen whose name was King". On May 25, 2008, her brother Martin Luther III and his wife, Arndrea, became the parents of a baby girl and named her Yolanda Renee King, after his late sister. During a 2009 reunion at her alma mater Smith College, a walk was done in her memory by fellow alumni.

Portrayals in film

Yolanda has mostly been portrayed in films that revolve around her parents.

Felecia Hunter, in the 1978 television miniseries King.

Melina Nzeza as a child and Ronda Louis-Jeune as an adult, in the 2013 television movie Betty and Coretta.

Filmography

King (1978, TV Mini-Series) as Rosa Parks

Hopscotch (1980) as Coffee Shop Manager

Death of a Prophet (1981, TV Movie) as Betty Shabazz

No Big Deal (1983, TV Movie) as Miss Karnisian's Class

Talkin' Dirty After Dark (1991) as Woman #2

America's Dream (1996, TV Series)

Fluke (1996, TV Movie) as Mrs. Crawford (segment "The Boy Who Painted Christ Black")

Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) as Reena Evers

Drive by: A Love Story (1997, Short) as Dee

Our Friend, Martin (1999, Video) as Christine King (voice)

Selma, Lord, Selma (1999, TV Series) as Miss Bright

Funny Valentines (1999) as Usher Lady #2

The Secret Path (1999, TV Movie) as Ms. Evelyn

Odessa (2000, Short) as Odessa

JAG (2000, TV Series) as Federal Judge Esther Green

Any Day Now (2001, TV Series) as Marilyn Scott

Liberty's Kids (2002, TV Series) as Elizabeth Freeman (voice)

The Still Life (2006) as Herself / Art Buyer

#11/17 #05/15

8 notes · View notes

sserpicko · 5 years

Text

Announcing Winners WGA Awards 2019: ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?,’ ‘Eighth Grade’

In a pair of upsets, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” has won the Writers Guild of America’s adapted screenplay award for Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty and Bo Burnham has won the original screenplay award for “Eighth Grade.”

The major television trophies went to “The Americans,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Homeland” and “Barry” for the 71st Writers Guild Awards, held at dual ceremonies at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., and the Edison Ballroom in New York City. It was the last major awards show before the Feb. 24 Academy Awards.

“Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” based on the memoir of the late Lee Israel, topped the screenplays for “Black Panther,” “If Beale Street Could Talk” “A Star Is Born”; and “BlacKkKlansman.” Though the script for the comedy-drama — the story of how Israel discovered her talent for forgery — has received an Oscar nomination, “Beale Street” and “BlacKkKlansman” were regarded as the front-runners. It appears that the tale of the travails and redemption of a professional writer clearly resonated with Hollywood writers.

“I want to thank Lee,” Holofcener said in her acceptance. “She’d probably be sitting in the room judging all of us. She though she was the smartest person in the room and she probably was.”

A stunned Burnham credited star Elsie Fisher for his winning the WGA award. Burnham won over Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma”; Adam McKay’s “Vice”; Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, and John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place”; and Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga, and Brian Currie’s “Green Book.” “Roma,” “Vice” and “Green Book” are all nominated for Academy Awards along with “The Favourite” and “First Reformed” while “Eight Grade” did not receive an Oscar nod.

“Eighth Grade,” which stars Fisher as an awkward teen dealing with the final week of eighth grade, also won the first-time Directors Guild of America Award for Burnham on Feb. 2. The film is also up for four Spirit Awards on Feb. 23.

“To the other nominees in the category — Have fun at the Oscars, losers!” Burnham joked in his acceptance. “No, I prepared nothing. This all belongs to Elsie Fisher who performed the script. No one would care about the script if she hadn’t done it.”

“Eighth Grade” is the first film to win the WGA Original Screenplay award without being nominated for an Academy since Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine” in 2003.

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won the comedy series award for Kate Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Jen Kirkman, Sheila Lawrence, Daniel Palladino and Amy Sherman Palladino. Starring Rachel Brosnahan, “Mrs. Maisel” won the Emmy for best comedy series last year.

The final season of “The Americans” took the drama series award for Peter Ackerman, Hilary Bettis, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Sarah Nolen, Stephen Schiff, Justin Weinberger, Joe Weisberg and Tracey Scott Wilson.

Bill Hader and Alec Berg won the episodic comedy award for the opening segment of HBO’s “Barry,” “Chapter One: Make Your Mark” (“Barry”). They also won the new series award.

Stephanie Gillis won the animated award for the “Bart’s Not Dead” episode of “The Simpsons” — which was just renewed for its 31st and 32nd seasons by Fox — and showrunner Alex Gansa took the episodic drama award for the “Paean To The People” segment of “Homeland.” “Bathtubs Over Broadway” took the documentary award and “God of War” won the videogame trophy.

Hulu’s “Castle Rock” won the long-form original award and “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” took the adapted long-form trophy. “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” won the comedy-variety series cagtegory.

Chelsea Peretti hosted the West Coast ceremonies while Roy Wood Jr. was the emcee in New York. “All the glitz and glamor of the Oscars without the pressure of public interest,” Peretti said in her intro.

Jordan Peele’s horror-comedy “Get Out” won the WGA Award for original screenplay and James Ivory’s coming-of-age drama “Call Me by Your Name” won for adapted screenplay last year. Both went on to win the Oscar.

The WGA awards are mixed indicator of Oscar sentiment. Six of the last 10 WGA winners have gone on to win Academy awards over the past five years. The awards are decided in voting by the 17,000 members of the WGA.

The West Coast ceremonies included plenty of political commentary. Adam McKay, on receiving the WGA’s Paul Selvin Award for “Vice,” asked for a “beat of silence” for the million people who died during the invasion of Iraq.

Jenji Kohan, recipient of the Paddy Chayefsky Award, was unable to attend due to having to shoot the final episode of “Orange Is the New Black.” She said in a taped message: “I’ve been incredibly lucky to work with enormously funny and kind people. I love the people I work with. Life is too short to work with a******s, by the way. That’s my Public Service Announcement.”

Here are the nominees with the winners in boldface:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“Eighth Grade,” Written by Bo Burnham; A24 (WINNER)

“Green Book,” Written by Nick Vallelonga & Brian Currie & Peter Farrelly; Universal Pictures

“A Quiet Place,” Screenplay by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck and John Krasinski, Story by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck; Paramount Pictures

“Roma,” Written by Alfonso Cuarón; Netflix

“Vice,” Written by Adam McKay; Annapurna Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“BlacKkKlansman,” Written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee, Based on the book by Ron Stallworth; Focus Features

“Black Panther,” Written by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole, Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

“Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Based on the book by Lee Israel; Fox Searchlight (WINNER)

“If Beale Street Could Talk,” Screenplay by Barry Jenkins, Based on the novel by James Baldwin; Annapurna Pictures

“A Star is Born,” Screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters, Based on the 1954 screenplay by Moss Hart and the 1976 screenplay by John Gregory Dunne & Joan Didion and Frank Pierson, Based on a story by William Wellman and Robert Carson; Warner Bros.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

“Bathtubs Over Broadway,” Written by Ozzy Inguanzo & Dava Whisenant; Focus Features (WINNER)

“Fahrenheit 11/9,” Written by Michael Moore; Briarcliff Entertainment

“Generation Wealth,” Written by Lauren Greenfield; Amazon Studios

“In Search of Greatness,” Written by Gabe Polsky; Art of Sport

VIDEO GAME WRITING

“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey,” Associate Narrative Directors Matthew Zagurak, Joel Janisse, James Richard Mittag; Narrative Director Melissa MacCoubrey; Story by Jonathan Dumont, Melissa MacCoubrey, Hugo Giard; Scriptwriters Madeleine Hart, Betty Robertson, Jesse Scoble, Diana Sherman, Kelly Bender, Jojo Chia, Ian Fun, Zachary M. Parris, Ken Williamson, Daniel Bingham, Jordan Lemos, Simon Mackenzie, Katelyn MacMullin, Susan Patrick, Alissa Ralph, Stephen Rhodes; Team Lead Writer Sam Gill; AI Writers Jonathan Flieger, Kimberly Ann Sparks; Ubisoft Quebec

“Batman: The Enemy Within,” Episode 5-Same Stitch, Lead Writer James Windeler; Written by Meghan Thornton, Ross Beeley, Lauren Mee; Story by Meghan Thornton, Michael Kirkbride; Telltale Games

“God of War,” Written by Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert, Cory Barlog; Story and Narrative Design Lead Matt Sophos; Story and Narrative Design Richard Zangrande Gaubert; Narrative Design Orion Walker, Adam Dolin; Sony Interactive Entertainment (WINNER)

“Marvel’s Spider-Man,” Story Lead Jon Paquette; Writers Benjamin Arfmann, Kelsey Beachum; Co-Written by Christos Gage; Additional Story Contributions by Dan Slott; Insomniac Games & Sony Interactive Entertainment

“Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire,” Narrative Designers Alex Scokel, Eric Fenstermaker, Kate Dollarhyde, Megan Starks, Olivia Veras, Paul Kirsch; Additional Writing Tony Evans, John Schmautz, Casey Hollingshead, Nitai Poddar; Narrative Design Leads Carrie Patel, Josh Sawyer; Obsidian Entertainment

DRAMA SERIES “The Americans,” Written by Peter Ackerman, Hilary Bettis, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Sarah Nolen, Stephen Schiff, Justin Weinberger, Joe Weisberg, Tracey Scott Wilson; FX Networks (WINNER)

“Better Call Saul,” Written by Ann Cherkis, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Heather Marion, Bob Odenkirk, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock; AMC

“The Crown,” Written by Tom Edge, Amy Jenkins, Peter Morgan; Netflix

“The Handmaid’s Tale,” Written by Yahlin Chang, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, John Herrera, Lynn Renee Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Eric Tuchman; Hulu

“Succession,” Written by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Anna Jordan, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Susan Soon He Stanton, Daniel Zelman; HBO

COMEDY SERIES “Atlanta,” Written by Ibra Ake, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Taofik Kolade, Jamal Olori, Stefani Robinson, Paul Simms; FX Networks

“Barry,” Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Liz Sarnoff, Ben Smith, Sarah Solemani; HBO

“GLOW,” Written by Liz Flahive, Tara Herrmann, Nick Jones, Jenji Kohan, Carly Mensch, Marquita Robinson, Kim Rosenstock, Sascha Rothchild, Rachel Shukert; Netflix

“The Good Place,” Written by Megan Amram, Christopher Encell, Kate Gersten, Cord Jefferson, Andrew Law, Joe Mande, Kassia Miller, Dylan Morgan, Matt Murray, Rae Sanni, Daniel Schofield, Michael Schur, Josh Siegal, Jen Statsky, Tyler Staessle; NBC

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Written by Kate Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Jen Kirkman, Sheila Lawrence, Daniel Palladino, Amy Sherman Palladino; Prime Video (WINNER)

NEW SERIES “Barry,” Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Liz Sarnoff, Ben Smith, Sarah Solemani; HBO (WINNER)

“The Haunting of Hill House,” Written by Meredith Averill, Charise Castro Smith, Mike Flanagan, Jeff Howard, Rebecca Leigh Klingel, Scott Kosar, Liz Phang; Netflix

“Homecoming,” Written by Micah Bloomberg, Cami Delavigne, Eli Horowitz, Shannon Houston, Eric Simonson, David Wiener; Prime Video

“Pose,” Written by Steven Canals, Brad Falchuk, Todd Kubrak, Janet Mock, Ryan Murphy, Our Lady J; FX Networks

“Succession,” Written by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Anna Jordan, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Susan Soon He Stanton, Daniel Zelman; HBO

LONG FORM ORIGINAL “Castle Rock,” Writers: Marc Bernardin, Scott Brown, Lila Byock, Mark Lafferty, Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason, Gina Welch, Vinnie Wilhelm; Hulu (WINNER)

“My Dinner with Hervé,” Teleplay by Sacha Gervasi, Story by Sacha Gervasi & Sean Macaulay; HBO

“Paterno,” Written by Debora Cahn and John C. Richards; HBO

LONG FORM ADAPTED “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” Writers: Maggie Cohn, Tom Rob Smith, Based on the book Vulgar Favors by Maureen Orth; FX Networks (WINNER)

“The Looming Tower,” Writers: Bash Doran, Dan Futterman, Alex Gibney, Shannon Houston, Adam Rapp, Ali Selim, Lawrence Wright, Based on the book The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright; Hulu

“Maniac,” Writers: Nick Cuse, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Amelia Gray, Danielle Henderson, Mauricio Katz, Patrick Somerville, Caroline Williams, Based on the Norwegian television series Maniac by Espen PA Lervaag, Håakon Bast Mossige, Kjetil Indregard and Ole Marius Araldsen; Netflix

“Sharp Objects,” Writers: Ariella Blejer, Scott Brown, Vince Calandra, Gillian Flynn, Dawn Kamoche, Alex Metcalf, Marti Noxon, Based upon the book written by Gillian Flynn; HBO

SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA ORIGINAL “After Forever,” Written by Michael Slade & Kevin Spirtas; Vimeo.com

“Class of Lies,” Written by Tessa Leigh Williams; Snapchat (WINNER)

“Love Daily,” Written by: Lauren Ciaravalli, Andrew Eisen, Aaron Eisenberg, Will Eisenberg, Alexis Jacknow, Nathaniel Katzman, Yulin Kuang, Nathan Larkin-Connolly, Alexis Roblan, Bennet D. Silverman, Ryan Wood; Go90.com

“West 40s,” Written by Mark Sam Rosenthal & Brian Sloan; West40s.com

SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA ADAPTED “The Walking Dead: Red Machete,” Written by Nick Bernardone; AMC.com

ANIMATION “Bart’s Not Dead” (The Simpsons), Written by Stephanie Gillis; Fox (WINNER)

“Boywatch” (Bob’s Burgers), Written by Rich Rinaldi; Fox

“Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now” (Bob’s Burgers), Written by Lizzie Molyneux & Wendy Molyneux; Fox

“Krusty the Clown” (The Simpsons), Written by Ryan Koh; Fox

“Mo Mommy Mo Problems” (Bob’s Burgers), Written by Steven Davis; Fox

“Send in Stewie, Please” (Family Guy), Written by Gary Janetti; Fox

EPISODIC DRAMA “Camelot” (“Narcos: Mexico”), Written by Eric Newman & Clayton Trussell; Netflix

“The Car” (“This Is Us”), Written by Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger; NBC

“Episode 407” (“The Affair”), Teleplay by Lydia Diamond and Sarah Sutherland, Story by Jaquen Tee Castellanos and Sarah Sutherland; Showtime

“First Blood” (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), Written by Eric Tuchman; Hulu

“Paean To The People” (“Homeland”), Written by Alex Gansa; Showtime (WINNER)

“The Precious Blood of Jesus” (“Ozark”), Written by David Manson; Netflix

EPISODIC COMEDY “Another Place” (“Forever”), Teleplay by Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard, Story by Aniz Adam Ansari; Prime Video

“Chapter One: Make Your Mark” (“Barry”), Written by Alec Berg & Bill Hader; HBO (WINNER)

“Halibut!” (“Santa Clarita Diet”), Written by Victor Fresco; Netflix

“Kimmy and the Beest!” (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), Written by Robert Carlock; Netflix

“Pilot” (“The Kids Are Alright”), Written by Tim Doyle; ABC

“Who Knows Better Than I” (“Orange Is the New Black”), Written by Jenji Kohan; Netflix

COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee,” Writers: Kristen Bartlett, Samantha Bee, Ashley Nicole Black, Pat Cassels, Mike Drucker, Eric Drysdale, Mathan Erhardt, Joe Grossman, Miles Kahn, Nicole Silverberg, Melinda Taub; TBS

“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver;” Writers: Tim Carvell, Raquel D’Apice, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Daniel O’Brien, John Oliver, Brian Parise, Owen Parsons, Ben Silva, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Seena Vali, Juli Weiner; HBO (WINNER)

“Late Night with Seth Meyers;” Supervising Writers: Sal Gentile, Seth Reiss; Writers: Jermaine Affonso, Alex Baze, Bryan Donaldson, Matt Goldich, Dina Gusovsky, Jenny Hagel, Allison Hord, Mike Karnell, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Ian Morgan, Amber Ruffin, Mike Shoemaker; NBC Universal

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Head Writers: Jay Katsir, Opus Moreschi; Writers: Emmy Blotnick, Michael Brumm, Aaron Cohen, Stephen T. Colbert, Cullen Crawford, Paul Dinello, Ariel Dumas, Glenn Eichler, Django Gold, Gabe Gronli, Greg Iwinski, Barry Julien, Daniel Kibblesmith, Matt Lappin, Michael Pielocik, Kate Sidley, Jen Spyra, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux; CBS

COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES “At Home with Amy Sedaris,” Writers: Cindy Caponera, Paul Dinello, Jodi Lennon, Meredith Scardino, Amy Sedaris; truTV

“I Love You, America,” Head Writer: Dave Ferguson; Writers: Glenn Boozan, Leann Bowen, Raj Desai, Kyle Dunnigan, John Haskell, Tim Kalpakis, Opeyemi Olagbaju, Gavin Purcell, Diona Reasonover, Jocelyn Richard, Christopher J. Romano, Sarah Silverman, Beth Stelling, Dan Sterling, Nick Wiger; Hulu

“Nathan For You,” Writers: Leo Allen, Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Michael Koman, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola; Comedy Central (WINNER)

“Portlandia,” Writers: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Jonathan Krisel, Karey Dornetto, Megan Neuringer, Phoebe Robinson, Graham Wagner; IFC

“Saturday Night Live,” Head Writers: Michael Che, Colin Jost, Kent Sublette, Bryan Tucker; Supervising Writers: Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Streeter Seidell; Writers: James Anderson, Kristen Bartlett, Megan Callahan, Steven Castillo, Andrew Dismukes, Anna Drezen, Claire Friedman, Alison Gates, Steve Higgins, Sam Jay, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, Nick Kocher, Michael Koman, Alan Linic, Eli Coyote Mandel, Erik Marino, Dave McCary, Brian McElhaney, Dennis McNicholas, Lorne Michaels, Nimesh Patel, Josh Patten, Katie Rich, Simon Rich, Gary Richardson, Marika Sawyer, Pete Schultz, Mitch Silpa, Will Stephen, Julio Torres, Bowen Yang; NBC Universal

COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS 2018 Rose Parade Hosted by Cord & Tish, Written by Will Ferrell, Jake Fogelnest, Andrew Steele; Prime Video

Drew Michael Stand-Up Special, Written by Drew Michael; HBO

The Fake News with Ted Nelms, Written by John Aboud, Andrew Blitz, Michael Colton, Ed Helms, Elliott Kalan, Joseph Randazzo, Sara Schaefer; Comedy Central (WINNER)

The Oscars 2018, Written by Dave Boone, Carol Leifer, Jon Macks; Special Material Written by Megan Amram, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Gonzalo Cordova, Adam Carolla, Devin Field, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Sal Iacono, Eric Immerman, Jesse Joyce, Bess Kalb, Jimmy Kimmel, Molly McNearney, Danny Ricker, Joe Strazzullo; ABC

QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION “Hollywood Game Night,” Head Writers: Ann Slichter, Grant Taylor; Writers: Michael Agbabian, Alexandra Kokesh, Dwight D. Smith; NBC

“Jeopardy!,” Written by Matthew Caruso, John Duarte, Harry Friedman, Mark Gaberman, Deborah Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Steve D. Tamerius, Billy Wisse; ABC

“Paid Off with Michael Torpey,” Head Writer: Ethan Berlin; Writers: John Chaneski, Rosemarie DiSalvo, Leigh Hampton, Katie Hartman, Amanda Melson, Larry Owens, Jennie Sutton, Michael Torpey, Jeremy Weiner; truTV

“Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,” Head Writer: Stephen A. Melcher, Jr.; Writers: Kyle Beakley, Tom Cohen, Patricia A. Cotter, Ryan Hopak, Gary Lucy, James Rowley, Ann Slichter, Dylan Snowden; Disney/ABC Syndication (WINNER)

DAYTIME DRAMA “Days of Our Lives,” Head Writer: Ron Carlivati; Writers: Sheri Anderson, Lorraine Broderick, David Cherrill, Joanna Cohen, Lisa Connor, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, Cydney Kelley, David Kreizman, David A. Levinson, Rebecca McCarty, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Katherine Schock, Elizabeth Snyder, Tyler Topits; NBC

“General Hospital,” Head Writers: Shelly Altman, Christopher Van Etten; Writers: Barbara Bloom, Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Donny Sheldon, Scott Sickles; ABC (WINNER)

CHILDREN’S EPISODIC AND SPECIALS “Carnivorous Carnival: Part One” (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Teleplay by Joe Tracz; Netflix

“The Ersatz Elevator: Part One” (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Teleplay by Daniel Handler; Netflix (WINNER)

“For The Last Time” (Andi Mack), Written by Jonathan S. Hurwitz; Disney Channel

“Picture Day” (Alexa & Katie), Written by Ray Lancon; Netflix

“Warehouse Towel Fight” fka “Emil Strikes Back” (Prince of Peoria), Written by Marty Donovan; Netflix

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS “Black Hole Apocalypse” (Nova), Written by Rushmore DeNooyer; PBS

“Blackout in Puerto Rico” (Frontline), Written by Rick Young; PBS

“The Gang Crackdown” (Frontline), Written by Marcela Gaviria; PBS

“Trump’s Takeover” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS (WINNER)

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS “Bitter Rivals: Iran and Saudi Arabia – Part 1” (Frontline), Written by David Fanning & Linda Hirsch & Martin Smith; PBS

“The Circus, Part One” (American Experience), Written by Sharon Grimberg; PBS

“The Eugenics Crusade” (American Experience), Written by Michelle Ferrari; PBS (WINNER)

“Into The Amazon” (American Experience), Written by John Maggio; PBS

NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT “Catastrophe” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News

“Las Vegas Massacre” (CBS Evening News with Anthony Mason), Written by Jerry Cipriano and Joe Clines; CBS News

“The Spotted Pig” (60 Minutes), Written by Anderson Cooper and Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News

NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY “100,000 Women” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley and Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News

“On Broadway: Rodgers and Hammerstein” (CBS Sunday Morning), Written by Mo Rocca and Kay M. Lim; CBS News

“War Crime” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News

“Wounds of War” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News

DIGITAL NEWS “D.C.’s Biggest Homeless Shelter Is About to Close. Will Amazon Take Its Place?,” Written by Emma Roller; Splinter

“How To Not Die In America,” Written by Molly Osberg; Splinter

“Inside The Culture Of Sexism At Riot Games,” Written by Cecilia D’Anastasio; Kotaku.com (WINNER)

RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY “2017 Year in Review,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio

“RFK: 50 Years After Shots Rang Out at The Ambassador Hotel,” Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio (WINNER)

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT—REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT “5pm CBS News Radio Glor Newscast,” Written by James Hutton; CBS News Radio

“ABC News 6p Hourly 9-27-2018,” Written by Stephanie Pawlowski; ABC News Radio

“Remembering The Good, The Bad and the Brilliant,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio (WINNER)

“World News This Week 9-21-2018,” Written by Joan B. Harris; ABC News Radio

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY “John McCain: A Life of Service,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio (WINNER)

“A Tribute to Le Grand Orange,” Written by Thomas A. Sabella; CBS Radio News

ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION) “FBI 2018 Promo Reel,” Written by Ralph Buado; CBS

“Tribute to Star Trek for the 2019 Creative Arts Emmys,” Written by Sean Brogan; CBS (WINNER)

“Westworld: Season 2 Promo (Super Bowl spot),” Written by Jonathan Nolan; HBO

Source: variety

By DAVE MCNARY

2 notes · View notes

outfitandtrend · 2 years

Text

[ad_1] Breaking Bad is considered one of the greatest television series of all time. And for good reason. The iconic crime drama followed Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston, as he went from a nervous and meek high school chemistry teacher to a merciless and fierce methamphetamine manufacturer. But despite how critically acclaimed Breaking Bad is, the series did have a few minor plot holes or loose ends that weren’t tied up by the series finale. While none of these inconsistencies ever detracted majorly from the show, die-hard fans who were left wanting more when Breaking Bad ended in 2013, are now getting answers. Case in point: in Season 4 of Breaking Bad, during the episode Thirty-Eight Snub, Walt drives to Gus Fring’s house intent on killing him. However, Walt receives a phone call from Tyrus, who simply tells him to “Go home, Walter”. You can watch the scene below:While the scene is thrilling, it was never made clear how Tyrus knew that Walt was at Fring’s house – was he following Walt? Well, a recent episode of Better Call Saul – a prequel to Breaking Bad – have given us the answer. Fring’s house is somewhat of a decoy. His nice suburban home – where several scenes of Breaking Bad took place – actually has a secret tunnel that leads to the house next door and is completely fitted out with security cameras, surveillance equipment and armed men. This explains how Tyrus knew that Walt was sitting outside Fring’s house; Walt would’ve shown up on the surveillance footage. You can watch the awesome reveal from Better Call Saul below:Both Walt and Jesse are yet to appear in Better Call Saul but both Cranston and Aaron Paul who play the respective Breaking Bad characters have confirmed they’ll appear in the current (and last) season of the prequel series. Hopefully, they’ll make an appearance in the next episode of Better Call Saul, which is released on Stan next Tuesday – the 17th of May – at 6pm. Read Next [ad_2] Source link

#FASHIONFORMEN

0 notes

vince-thrilligan · 6 years

Photo

USA Today:

'Breaking Bad' turns 10: Stars reminisce about the final day, with exclusive on-set photos

If you step onto a set with Bryan Cranston, you'd best tread lightly. On April 3, 2013, the six-time Emmy winner clocked his last day of work on AMC's Breaking Bad, which premiered 10 years ago this week, and cemented his status as one of TV's greatest anti-heroes with his portrayal of chemistry-teacher-turned-drug-kingpin Walter White. Creator Vince Gilligan wanted the last day of shooting in Albuquerque to be special, so he decided to end with a flashback scene* of Walt and his protégé Jesse Pinkman's (Aaron Paul) first meth cookout in a makeshift RV lab.The scene, a callback to the pilot episode, was re-created for "Ozymandias," the third-to-last of the series. Dressed in Walt's iconic apron and tighty-whities, Cranston saw how emotional Paul was on set that day and wanted to cheer him up. So, as they were shooting one of their final takes, he jokingly dropped his underpants and exposed his butt. "We kind of went out the same way we went in: having fun, keeping it light," Cranston recalls. "I would often try to crack him up throughout the show. He was really dreading that last day, and it was nice to see him have a good moment." Adds Paul: "I thought, 'Wow, I am going to miss this show and all of these beautiful people.' I miss his (butt) every single day."

Ceding directing duties for "Ozymandias" to The Last Jedi's Rian Johnson, Gilligan was free to wander around the remote desert set and shoot behind-the-scenes photos, which he shared exclusively with USA TODAY.

"It was a very emotional day, but a perfect last day, because we ended up where we started off," Gilligan says. "We were re-creating a time and place that existed in the pilot, 62 episodes prior, and everyone was in a really good mood, but bittersweet as well."

Cranston prepared for the occasion by inviting Paul over for dinner to read their final script. "It marked a completion of a journey," Cranston says. But "ironically, I don't miss playing that character. I was so satisfied with the whole journey that, while it remains the most rewarding experience of my career, I don't really miss playing Walter White — I think because it was so complete." The actors commemorated their time together by hiring a tattoo artist for the wrap party, where both got inked: Paul with the words "No half measures" (a line from the show by Jonathan Banks' Mike Ehrmantraut) on his bicep; and Cranston with the show's logo (the periodic table symbols of "Br" and "Ba") inside his right-hand ring finger. "I hadn't thought about (the design) until I was driving to the party and realized the finality of the situation," Cranston says. "I look at it often, and it makes me smile every time I see it." The actor, previously best known for playing Jerry's dentist on Seinfeld and a bumbling dad on Malcolm in the Middle, credits the show's popularity to Netflix. Spurred in part by critical raves and 16 Emmy wins, new fans caught up with the drama throughout its run and led modest ratings to spike in its final seasons. "We were very fortunate to be that first binge-able show," Cranston says. "And once you give the audience a shot of Breaking Bad, they become addicted and had to see it through." Bad's format lent itself to life beyond a typical network run, Gilligan says. "Breaking Bad was such a hyper-serialized show that on a typical network schedule, having that be the only way the show got out there, it might've failed. But in a world where people were able to catch up and consume episodes like potato chips, suddenly a show like this was able to work." As for anything he might've done differently in retrospect, Gilligan has only one regret. "I was watching an old episode the other night, and it really does irk me: Jesse's teeth were too perfect," he says, laughing. "Aaron Paul has an absolutely perfect pair of choppers in real life, and we never gunked them up or made him look like he had missing teeth. I don't know how you get beaten to a pulp that many times and smoke that much meth and not have your teeth look worse for wear."

#vince gilligan #breaking bad #BrBa #moira walley-beckett #moira walley beckett #ozymandias #BrBa 10 year anniversary #VINCE *cough jenn carroll cough* IS TAKING OVER BCS's instagram in like an hour btw!!!#*i think we know vince ''decided'' on ozymandias' teaser last bc of cranston's facial hair and hair-hair... not just for nostalgia rt?#rian johnson #cranston #aaron paul #usa today

6 notes · View notes

whatmattered · 5 years

Text

Breaking Bad Season: Main characters and recap

"Breaking Bad" (2008-2013) is an incredible series that keeps on being prevalent with fans both old and new. Breaking Bad is an American neo-Western crime drama TV series made and created by Vince Gilligan. The show initially circulated on AMC for five seasons. Breaking Bad season is one of the best TV series ever, a stunning activity in plotting and character improvement which highlighted the absolute best photography and acting to ever effortlessness the little screen. Every one of its five seasons were tonally particular. the series never droop or presented even a solitary trashy scene.

About the season

The series tells the tale of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a battling and discouraged secondary school chemistry teacher who is determined to have organize 3 lung cancer. Together with his previous understudy Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), White goes to an existence of crime by creating and selling crystallized methamphetamine to verify his family's financial future before he dies, while exploring the dangers of the criminal underworld. The title originates from the Southern expression "breaking bad" which intends to "raise hell" or go to an existence of crime. Gilligan described the arrangement as indicating Walter's change from a calm Mr. Chips into Scarface. Among the show's co-stars are Anna Gunn and RJ Mitte as Walter's wife Skyler and child Walter, Jr., and Betsy Brandt and Dean Norris as Skyler's sister Marie Schrader and her husband Hank, a DEA specialist.

Main Characters of season

Walter White Skyler White Jesse Pinkman Hank Schrader Marie Schrader Walter White Jr. Gustavo Fring Saul Goodman Mike Ehrmantraut Lydia Rodarte-Quayle Todd Alquist

Breaking Bad Seasons recap

Jesse Pinkman

Season 1

Determined to have terminal lung cancer, chemistry teacher Walter White collaborates with his previous understudy, Jesse Pinkman, to cook and sell precious stone meth. After their first medication arrangement turns out badly, Walt and Jesse are compelled to manage a body and a detainee. Walt and Jesse tidy up after the bathtub episode. Walt enlightens the remainder of his family regarding his disease. Jesse attempts his best to make Walt's meth, with the assistance of an old companion. With the reactions and cost of his treatment mounting, Walt requests that Jesse finds a distributer to purchase their medications, which grounds him in a difficult situation. Walt and Jesse attempt to up their game by making a greater amount of the crystal each week for Tuco.

Season 2

Walt and Jesse acknowledge how desperate their circumstances are. Walt's vanishing is met with examination by both his wife and Hank, as Tuco Salamanca plans to leave town with his grabbed cooks. Skyler keeps bafflingly leaving without conversing with Walt. Jesse's folks toss him out of his own home. Hank attempts to get a hold of himself after his experience with Tuco. Gossip is spreading that Jesse executed the man that ripped Skinny Pete off. Walt's cancer has enormously improved. Walt's falsehoods have pushed Skyler as far as possible. She leaves with the children. In the interim, Jesse blames himself for Jane's death and goes into recovery.

Breaking Bad Season 3

Skyler proceeds with her arrangements to separate Walt. Jesse completes recovery. Walter, Jr. is having an unpleasant time tolerating his folks' partition. Walt has moved once more into the house without Skyler's consent. Gus attempts to get Walt back in the business. Heisenberg's sorted out and practical assistant Gale extraordinarily helps his work in Gus' lab. There is a fly in the lab. Walt and Jesse must do whatever they can to kill it before it debases the meth. Jesse has vanished and Walt is in a difficult situation with Gus.

Breaking Bad Season 4

Walt and Jesse are held hostage for Gus. While Walt stresses over Gus' impedance and Jesse's inexorably delicate perspective, Skyler steps up the strain to get what she needs. Jesse backs up Mike on a dangerous run of pickups, inciting Walt to stress that his accomplice is over to be murdered. While Walt attempts to subvert Hank's test into the Albuquerque meth scene, a destructive admonition powers Gus to think about an arrangement with the cartel. Jesse is brought to the FBI for questioning on his insight into ricin. In a last effort to murder Gus, Walt must request help from an old foe.

Breaking Bad Season 5

Since Gus is dead, Walt, Jesse, and Mike work to cover their tracks. Skyler alarms when Ted Beneke awakens. Walt and Jesse search out a far-fetched partner for another business adventure. The folks put a business plan strategy vigorously; Walt admits to Marie. It's Walt's 51st birthday. Mike and Jesse are out. Presently Walt needs to deal with things all alone. Hank at long last finds a rat in Mike's posse. Walt grows his business abroad, and the cash is pouring in. Jesse and Hank think of a plan to bring Walt down. Walt enlists Todd's uncle to execute Jesse. Walter White makes one final endeavor to verify his family's future, while additionally visiting some old foes, during his last come back to Albuquerque.

Conclusion

The show wasn't initially expected to be filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, yet there were financial motivations to do as such. "Breaking Bad" wound up helping Albuquerque became very popular and it helped support the city's economy and the travel industry business. Another of the show's most memorable, science-based scenes that isn't precise is the scandalous bath scene. Here are some more good reads abour famous TV shows and movies.

About TV show Lucifer, plot, main characters, recap

Read more here... Read the full article

#breakingbad #tvshows #whatmattered

0 notes

directedbystefano-blog · 7 years

Text

Film Analysis Leader Presentation

Understanding Bazin’s Language, Mise-en-Scène, and the Immigration Influence in Film

For this presentation, I will be discussing how André Bazin’s “The evolution of the Language of Cinema” provides a basis for argument that relates to the immigration factor in Gurinder Chadha’s film Bend it Like Beckham, and Chris Buck and Kevin Lima’s film Tarzan (1999 Walt Disney).

André Bazin explains the concept of focus and how one must focus on the faith in reality, focus on the faith in image, or simply have a deep focus that allows for a true consideration of what is happening in the scene. He explains that the images and flow of a film tell a story that captures the audience and makes them part of the lifestyle in which the characters live in. The positioning of objects, the incorporation of different frames, and the reality of visuals in frame could add to this faith in reality. Both films I will be discussing use this focus on objects and the lifestyle situations in which our main characters find themselves to show the struggles of life and how overcoming adversity is something that immigrants face when entering a new world or having other enter their world.

Since the determining technical factors were practically eliminated, we must look elsewhere for the signs and principles of the evolution of film language, that is to say by challenging the subject matter and as a consequence the styles necessary for its expression. - André Bazin

Bend it Like Beckham

(2002) Director: Gurinder Chadha

“No one imagined that the movie was going to be so huge” - Gurinder Chadha

Bend it Like Beckham is a fusion of genres that introduces the cultural clash between a traditional Indian family and modernizing England. This film fits into the drama, romance, sports, and comedy genres. It is a perfect movie for a family night and portrays a deep meaning for people of all cultures.

The film follows Jessminder “Jess” Kaur Bhamra and her passion for the beautiful game (football, soccer, fútbol). Being a woman in a traditional Indian household, Jess is destined to be married to a proper suitor, learn how to be a household wife, and stay within the cultural boundaries. Her passion which is influenced by fellow Englishman and footy legend David Beckham, is her drive to pursue her dream of playing pro. When she was seen by semi-pro club player Jules, she feels that her love for the game is truly more than just pick-up games in the park.

Jess is forced to face her family, her friend, her culture, and herself. She escapes from her house multiple times to make it to practice and games. Her blind love for her coach puts her relationship with Jules in jeopardy and ruins her cultural boundaries. When faced with the decision of attending her sister’s wedding or the Championship game, Jess is faced with the ultimate struggle of deciding her future as a traditional Indian woman or a modernized, more lenient, and independent Indian/English woman.

This film tackles the immigration issue of acceptance of different cultures. It also opens the conversation of sexual orientation. In multiple instances we see characters struggle with the issue of sexual acceptance and this adds a different twist to the film. We also see an approach to gender equality and how woman can play professionally and how they can be more than just house wives.

Chadha is brilliant with this film and she herself is amazed with how much she accomplished with this simple film. The film really puts to use the background of the scenes. There are always objects in the scene that are not the main focus but provide support to the idea of cultural differences being a struggle for immigrants.

youtube

Tarzan

(1999) Directors: Chris Buck, Kevin Lima

Tarzan is a childhood classic. This is my favorite Disney movie and it happens to be the first movie I saw in theaters as well. As I have grown older, I have become more aware of a deeper meaning in this film. I may be overthinking it but following Bazin’s rules and understandings I have come up with certain arguments of my own. Some of my arguments support this idea of immigration. Contrary to Bend it Like Beckham, Tarzan is not a film about a family moving to a new country, instead it presents this idea of people coming to a new world. The “normality” is with the newcomers instead of being with those that reside already. It is the complete opposite to Chadha’s film but still reaches the same meaning about how immigration comes alongside with struggle. Immigration isn’t a wrong thing its just something that presents a difficulty to either the immigrants or to the inhabitants.

We all know the story line to this film because its a classic. However, have you taken a moment to fully analyze the small details that make Tarzan so unique? The moment he discovers the truth of his real family is probably the biggest part of the movie and the start to the climax of the film. A man raised by apes discovers he is not an ape but truly one of the new guys on the island, must decide whether to abandon his lifestyle to become part of this “correct” lifestyle for man. Disney adds in magic to make the film for children and to make it fantastical, but according to Bazin, its those special scenes that can make an audience have faith in a film with complete disregard to whether it is 100% CGI or 100% real.

Below are some of those important scenes in Tarzan that are of great importance. Pay close attention to the camera angles, and the insane amount o eye contact. The change in facial expressions also reveals the emotions the characters are going through.

youtube

Discussion Questions

What are some other films that deal with immigration? What are some of the scenes in those films that create a faith in reality according to Bazin?

Besides traditional clothing and language differences, what are some other examples of cultural differences you have noticed in films? (Could be any film)

The topic of cultural difference and immigration is sensitive at times which makes it a difficult subject to make a movie about. In your opinion, which genre facilitates the task of presenting a difficult topic to film?

Deleted Scenes

https://youtu.be/xuK6m5-wW7A

http://mentalfloss.com/article/76972/18-winning-facts-about-bend-it-beckham

4. What is your favorite Disney movie? (If not Tarzan, please provide reasoning)

#DiscussionLeader SwampFilmAnalysis

3 notes · View notes

cake-by-thepound · 7 years

Note

Ash, I was trying to think of TV shows, past or present that hold up to the writing quality of Breaking Bad. West Wing? ER? Six Feet Under? The Wire? GoT? House of Cards? I was floored by the quality and depth of storytelling I'm Breaking Bad, and can't remember feeling that way about a drama. BTW, both Walt and Rick Grimes are some of the most interesting character transformations over time on TV. That's why I believe Andy deserved an Emmy nod, especially in earlier seasons.

Damn, you just named a bunch of shows that I’ve never seen, lmao. Like I mentioned in the last anon, I missed some of the greats when I was younger, so I never watched Six Feet Under, The West Wing, The Shield, which I’ve heard were really great. I recently watched The Sopranos and The Wire, and I can see why they’re so highly regarded as the start of “the Golden Age of television.” But I think Breaking Bad and Mad Men had the privilege of learning from those shows and improving upon them. So it doesn’t get much better than that for me.

I do think there are a lot more shows out now that can kind of scratch that itch for great writing. For instance, I think Better Call Saul is pulling off a similarly interesting Walter White-esque transformation with Jimmy to Saul, but it’s much subtler, the stakes are much lower, so on the face of it, it doesn’t seem as interesting as Breaking Bad. But I think the writing is just as great. The thing about BB is that it had the trifecta of amazing writing, acting, and action, which is why it has such a broad appeal. I tend to be more into character-driven stuff, but I’ll never forget how thrilling it was to watch a lot of those episodes for the first time. Game of Thrones is kind of like that too, but that’s because they established a culture where “anyone” can die at any moment. I never thought Walt would die before the end, but they still had me on the edge of my seat every week. And also emotional stakes, especially with Walt and Jesse. There really is nothing like it.

And I totally agree with you about Andy as Rick. The fact that he’s never gotten a nomination is criminal. Like, I always think about episode 5x15, as much as I hate Rick in that part of the season, but the scene when Michonne has to knock him out is phenomenal. He’s an all out villain there, very much like when Walt morphs into Heisenberg, and I wish someone had taken notice. Even in 7x01, seven seasons into this shitshow (I kid), he is giving everything. We don’t deserve Andrew Lincoln, honestly.

#whew shit that was long #but i could probably talk about tv all day #and now i'm thinking about how i miss my shows #i can't wait for fall

10 notes · View notes

donheisenberg · 7 years

Text

Some Thoughts on Veep and Silicon Valley:

Sunday night saw the season finale of HBO’s premiere comedies, Veep and Silicon Valley. Now normally I would not write too extensively about straight-up sitcoms, not because they are somehow inferior it is just that 99% of the time there is less to say about the best comedies versus the best dramas. The recent seasons of Silicon Valley and Veep interested me though. I think the finales of the previous seasons left both shows in new places and the results of these ventures were often fascinating but also mixed.

Veep season 5 ended with Selina losing the presidency and season 3 of Silicon Valley ended with the season 1-3 version of Pied Piper imploding, leaving Richard and co to start from scratch. Both shows ripped-up there premises and while in the case of Silicon Valley you could argue that the struggles of Pied Piper were ostensibly the same as in the first three seasons, these were very different seasons of both shows.

Let’s start with Veep. From its beginning the show has had a very clear trajectory. By the end of its second season Selina new she would be president, by the end of its third season she was president and in its forth she had to fight an election, which she drew and the fifth saw her contest that result, ultimately to no avail as she lost the presidency.

At this point the trajectory of her character arc becomes far less certain. Season 6 exists in this uncertainty, reflecting Selina’s seemingly purposeless existence. Having said this the best episodes of season 6 Georgia and Blurb have the feel of all of Veep’s finest half hours, even if the season as a whole doesn’t. The inherent ambiguity and listlessness of season 6 should in theory have opened up new avenues for the show and for most of the season it sort of does, but the finale sees the show resort back to type.

Selina announces that she will be running for president again. Not only does this take a bit of a suspension of disbelief (there are any number of reasons that the previous 9 episodes made clear that would mean she could not really run) but it just lacks imagination. Yet at the same time it is true to Selina. In one of the episode’s flashbacks we see a drugged up Selina describe the poison and the sickness that exists in Washington, in another we see her walk in on her husband having an affair and use it to her political advantage and in the present we see her have to break up with her boyfriend, eliciting a rare moment of humanity from Selina as she cries her way out the building. All of which is to say that the tragedy of Selina is that the only thing that matters to her is the same thing that has made her life so empty and miserable.

In some ways it is tough to overly sympathize with Selina. Even by Veep standards season 6 underlined just what an unrepentant asshole she is. Continually she uses and abuses those who truly care about her, Gary and Catherine, because she does not really care about them, or at least there feelings are low on her priorities.

If Veep was not so funny it would be unwatchable at this point. There are characters here who are not hate-able but when it comes to the likes of Selina, Dan and Jonah humanity comes in short supply (for Jonah his friendship with Richard Splett makes him feel ever so slightly human and the constant abuse he suffer would also make you sympathize with him if he was not such a prick in his own right).

Talking of Jonah he became the unofficial co-lead in this massive cast. His run for president promises to be more interesting because for all of his many flaws Jonah has this knack for failing upwards and in many ways he became the perfect satire for Trump, without ever making a point of it. Having said that while the show negotiated the Trump size elephant in the room well this season, it will be tougher next year if they have Clinton-like Selina against Trump-like Jonah, but we’ll get there when we get there.

Earlier I described these two shows as straight-up comedies (distinguishing them from the many sad-coms that are coming to define peak TV currently) but what separates them from your standard sitcoms is the level of plot they each have. Sitcoms rely on formula and are in general immutable, on an episode to episode basis the dynamic never really changes. Silicon Valley and Veep both buck this trend and only to then abide by it.

Like Veep, the Silicon Valley finale sees things return to some stasis. The smart-fridge reveal is somewhat of a deus ex-machina moment but is so very brilliantly Silicon Valley in its clever vulgarity that it almost works, but it also goes to return the show back to somewhere more familiar. The arc of season four was about a Walter White like transformation for Richard Hendricks, but in the end the show knows it can only go so far with that.

If Selina Meyer has always been an asshole and only upped it by a couple notches this season, Richard is character who lost his conscience (only when all was seemingly lost he was able to regain it). Jared (to keep up the Breaking Bad analogy) the Jesse to Richard’s Walt, tries to be Richard’s conscience for most of the season but toward the end concedes that Richard has gone too far. By the end they are able to make up, but Richard still has plenty of atoning to do.

You could ague that both shows, in pressing the reset button, lacked the courage of their convictions. Veep threatened a life post-politics for Selina and Silicon Valley threatened a darker version of itself with a morally corrupt Richard but after a season both shows find a way back to somewhere far more familiar. Maybe the versions of the show just outlined would be awful or could only last a season but particularly in the case of Silicon Valley the show seems scared of becoming something other than what it has been for its first four seasons.

Having said all this both shows are still great joke machines. The absence of TJ Miller in future will hurt Silicon Valley laugh a minute ratio but it can still be a great comedy and Veep is simply one of the best written shows on TV. Its profanity/insults feel so imaginative and have this lyrical quality that regardless of character and narrative I’m always happy to watch it, its just that after so many seasons these show feel the threat of becoming stale more than ever before.

#silicon valley #veep #selina meyer #julia louis dreyfus #richard grayson #tj miller

2 notes · View notes

whitewolfofwinterfell · 7 years

Note

I don't know how many tv shows you've watched that has ended? But what's your top 3 best vs worst series finales?

The answer to your first question is a lot, haha. I’m always so terrible at answering my top faves or least faves, because I’m so indecisive but I will try my best.

Best series finales:

LOST - I can’t understand how anyone could not like this finale. It was so perfect. It felt like everything that had happened had been building to that finale. Every single one of them found exactly what they needed and they were happy. The idea of them finding each other in purgatory and reuniting in the afterlife was so beautiful, because it was perfectly fitting to the entire theme of the show of this idea of destiny and fate. All of the characters were connected, they were supposed to be together because they needed each other. As Jacob said, they were all broken, all searching for something and although it was different for all of them, I think that one overruling desire they all had was one of just belonging. Of having loyal friends and family, of loving someone and being loved in return and they all found that. It was such a poetic and lovely ending to the journey and I will always love it for everything it represents.

Friends - This show was consistent from beginning to end - uplifting, sweet, funny, touching and warm. It ended at just the right time and didn’t drag too long, we got closure for all of the characters. We knew enough to know they had “made it” in the sense of they all had careers they loved, Monica and Chandler finally had the children they’d always wanted, Rachel and Ross were back together, Phoebe was married. All of them were there together at the end, they said goodbye to that chapter of their lives that we’d followed for 10 years. Seeing the apartment empty and them saying goodbye to it felt like closure for us as a viewer. Then that final line of, “Shall we go get some coffee?” and Chandler says, “Where?” It’s just so simple but so funny and heartwarming. The only criticism I’d really have is that in comparison Joey didn’t get the closure the others did, but the reason for that is because they did a spin-off with him called ‘Joey’, so I think it was deliberately left open for that purpose.

Breaking Bad - How could I not pick Breaking Bad? Similarly to why I chose LOST and Friends, it was just well-rounded ending to what was a brilliant show from the beginning. There was drama, emotion and again, closure for all of the characters in some way. We got to see that conversation between Walt and Skyler where he finally admitted that he did it for him because it made him feel alive. That felt like such a well deserved moment that we’d all been waiting to see after having to listen to him claim over and over that he did it for his family. Walt was still a badass right until the very end and that stunt with the machine gun was just legendary. The fact that even after everything the bond he had with Jesse was enough for him to dive on him to save him was so beautiful. That relationship was really at the heart of the show and I think that it ended in a very beautiful yet tragic way. At the end they were standing there together, staring at each other, both of them completely different men than they were when they first decided to be partners and Walt has just saved Jesse’s life and asks him to kill him, but Jesse just won’t do it. Everything about it is poetic. That final scene with Jesse where he’s driving off and crying and hitting the steering wheel completely overcome with emotion and elation that after everything he was free…it was such a weirdly happy moment. Unlike Walt, Jesse was never a bad person, he didn’t enjoy the lifestyle and he was the one out of the two that always felt more moral to me and all I wanted was to see him get a chance to live, so the fact that he got that was so satisfying. As for Walt, he got the ending he deserved and wanted too. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer in the very first episode and from that moment on he was essentially a walking corpse, constantly suffering. He fell into the criminal life, because it was the only thing that made him feel alive, but ultimately all it did was bring him even more suffering and by the time we reached the end he was just done. He’d said goodbye to his wife, he’d gave her the explanation she deserved, he’d rescued Jesse and it was his time. That smile on his face as it zooms out on him at the end shows just how relieved he was that he was finally going to be at peace. It was such a great ending.

Worst series finales: True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and Dexter.

True Blood - To be honest, this show went down the shitter long before the finale, but even still it was so disappointing. I was never a big fan of the Bill and Sookie relationship anyway, I just found it so gross and after everything they went through I just felt like they should’ve ended a long time ago. Yet for some bizarre reason the writers still couldn’t let go of their relationship and brought them together again at the end. And to have Sookie sit in a grave and kill him at the end…I just didn’t get it. The idea was supposed to be that Bill is finally getting peace, but I didn’t even feel like he deserved it. I loved Hoyt and Jessica, but their wedding was completely forced. Hoyt didn’t even have any memories of her for Christ sakes. Did Hoyt even find out that the reason Jessica glamoured him was because she’d cheated on him with his best friend? Again the whole stunt was all for Bill, to give him the chance to walk Jess down the aisle before he died. But why should they have had to do that? The only good part of the finale was that Pam and Eric were endgame and the flash forward at the end that showed them all being happy and normal (which is what I expected from TVD tbh but we didn’t get that). That’s all that mattered to be to be honest. Everything else was a hot mess.

The Vampire Diaries - I’ve tried so hard to see the positives of it, but no matter what it doesn’t change the fact that it was such a poor finale. Poor acting from Nina, OOC Katherine and Elena, complete lack of chemistry between the endgame couple, pointless and unnecessary death of the main protagonist, unsatisfying and pitiful ending for Bonnie, fanserviced letter from Klaus that was completely disrespectful to Stefan/Steroline, Katherine as the big bad was a flop and completely anti-climatic and although the final scenes with Elena and her family and Defan were sweet it really didn’t fit into what the show had been about for the last 8 years. It was essentially a complete rip off of the LOST finale but poorly executed and completely irrelevant to the theme of the show. Like I said, above LOST was always about the idea of fate and destiny of soul mates and people that are supposed to be together. All of the characters were brought together on the island by fate, but we learned they were all connected before, that they’d all met or had some connection through people they knew and so for them to end up together in the afterlife…it made complete sense and it was in keeping with what the entire show was about. TVD, on the other hand, it was never really about that. In fact, for a supernatural show there was never any real exploration of the idea of an afterlife besides “The Other Side” which was essentially a limbo for supernatural creatures and “peace”. I understand that peace was the overall message for the end, but it felt so forced and almost a cop out. A show such as TVD could never have a happy ending really. The fact that we’re supposed to believe Delena just magically had this happily ever after is stupid. They were hunted everyday of their life by some villain or enemy and suddenly overnight all of that disappeared and didn’t matter? How? That ending just didn’t match up to what the show had been about up until then and there were so many loose ends that weren’t tied up. You could just feel how rushed it was.

Dexter - Once again, this is a finale I’ve always tried to be positive about because I never liked how much hatred it got from the fandom, because it really wasn’t that bad. The only reason it’s on this list is because Dexter is one of my favourite shows and the ending was pretty weak in comparison to what the rest of the show had been. I think it just wasn’t the epic ending I was expecting considering how great the writing was in previous seasons. Season 2 was amazing and I think the final season we should’ve got, whereby Miami Metro were finally putting the pieces together and starting to hunt Dexter down. As much as I love Deb, I think her death made sense because it was Dexter’s ultimate punishment, but the way it happened was pretty shitty and underwhelming. I wish Saxon wasn’t the final villain Dexter went up against, because who really cares about him? I hated that poor, sweet Harrison ended up with Hannah McKay of all bloody people and that Astor and Cody weren’t part of the finale. And the lumberjack ending which is so famous…it did just feel kind of blah. It was basically just an all round underwhelming and unsatisfying ending to what was a brilliant show.

It was interesting thinking about this so thank you for asking!

#answered #my meta

2 notes · View notes

blackkudos · 7 years

Text

Yolanda King

Yolanda Denise King (November 17, 1955 – May 15, 2007) was an American activist and first-born child of civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. She was known also for her artistic and entertainment endeavors and public speaking. Her childhood experience was greatly influenced by her father's highly public and influential activism.

Born two weeks before Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat on a public transit bus in Montgomery, Alabama, she occasionally experienced threats to her life, designed to intimidate her parents, and became a secondary caregiver to her younger siblings and was bullied at school. When her father was assassinated April 4, 1968, King, then only twelve years of age, was noted for her composure during the highly public funeral and mourning events. She joined her mother and siblings in marches, and she was lauded by such noted figures as Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte, the latter establishing a trust fund for her and her siblings.

In her teenage years, she became an effective leader of her class in high school and was given attention by the magazines Jet and Ebony. Her teenage years were filled with more tragedies, specifically that of her uncle Alfred Daniel Williams King and the murder of her grandmother, Alberta Williams King. While in high school, she gained lifelong friends. It was the first and only institution where King was not harassed or mistreated because of who her father was. However, she was still misjudged and mistrusted, based on perceptions founded solely upon her relationship with her father. Despite this, King managed to keep up her grades and was actively involved in high school politics, serving as class president for two years. King aroused controversy in high school for her role in a play. She was credited with having her father's sense of humor.

In the 1990s, She supported a retrial of James Earl Ray and publicly stated that she did not hate him. That decade saw King's acting career take off as she appeared in ten separate projects, including Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Our Friend, Martin (1999) and Selma, Lord, Selma (1999). By the time she was an adult, she had grown to become an active supporter for gay rights and an ally to the LGBT community, as was her mother. She was involved in a sibling feud that pitted her and her brother Dexter against their brother Martin Luther King III and sister Bernice King for the sale of the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia. King served as a spokesperson for her mother during the illness that would eventually lead to her death. King outlived her mother by only 16 months, succumbing to complications related to a chronic heart condition on May 15, 2007.

Early life

Early childhood: 1955–1963

Born in Montgomery, Alabama to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, she was only two weeks old when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus. Even in her infancy, Yolanda was faced with the threats her father was given when they extended to his family. In 1956, a number of white supremacists bombed the King household there. Yolanda and her mother were not harmed. She and her mother, at the time of the bomb's detonation, were in the rear section of their home. Despite this, the front porch was damaged and glass broke in the home. She kept her father busy when walking on their home's floors. While her mother liked her name, her father had reservations about naming her "Yolanda" due to the possibility the name would be mispronounced. During the course of her lifetime, King's name was mispronounced to the point where it bothered her. King's father eventually was satisfied with the nickname "Yoki," and wished that if they had a second daughter, they would name her something simpler. The Kings would have another daughter almost eight years later named Bernice (born 1963). King recalled that her mother had been the main parent and dominant figure in their home, while her father was away often. Decision-making towards what school she would attend in first grade was done primarily by her mother, since her father expressed disinterest to her early in the decision making.

Martin Luther King III described his role as the second-born of their family as having made Yolanda jealous, and that she was always overcommitted but "still found time to get to the things that were most important to her". Her mother referred to her as being a confidant during the time following her husband's assassination. She complimented her mother on her achievements and her mother spoke of her in a positive light, as well. When asked by a young boy what she remembered most about her father, she admitted that her father was not able to spend much time with her and the rest of her family. When he did, she would play and swim with him. King cried when she found out her father had been imprisoned. Her father admitted that he had never adjusted to bringing up children under "inexplicable conditions". When she was 6 years old, she was saddened by classmates' remarks that her father was a "jailbird". An important early memory was that she wanted to go to Funtown, a local amusement park, with the rest of her class, but was barred from doing so due to her race. She did not understand, and asked her mother Coretta why she was not able to go. When she replied "Your father is going to jail so that you can go to Funtown." after numerous attempts to explain the issue to her, Yolanda finally understood. After having not seen her father for five weeks while he was in jail, she finally was able to meet with him alongside both of her brothers for less than half an hour. Her father also addressed the issue himself. He told her that there were many whites who were not racist and wanted her to go but there were many who were and did not want her to go. However, her father reassured her as she began to cry that she was "just as good" as anyone who went to Funtown and that one day in the "not too distant future" she was going to be able to go to "any town" along with "all of God's children".

Assassination of John F. Kennedy and Nobel Peace Prize: 1963–1964

Enrollment at Spring Street Elementary School and last years with father: 1965–1967

Father's death: 1968

On the evening of April 4, 1968, when she was 12, Yolanda returned with her mother from Easter-dress shopping when Jesse Jackson called the family and reported that her father had been shot. Soon after, she heard of the event when a news bulletin popped up while she was washing dishes. While her siblings were trying to find out what it meant, Yolanda already knew. She ran out of the room, screamed "I don't want to hear it," and prayed that he would not die. She asked her mother at this time, if she should hate the man who killed her father. Her mother told her not to, since her father would not want that. King complimented her mother as a "brave and strong lady," leading to a hug between them. Four days later, she and her brothers accompanied their mother to Memphis City Hall on her own terms, as she and her brothers had wanted to come. King flew to Memphis, Tennessee with her brothers and mother and participated in leading a march in Memphis with sanitation workers and civil rights leaders.

King was visited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis before her father's funeral. After the funeral, she was visited by classmates from Spring Street Middle School visited her with flowers and cards. At that time, she was also called by Andrea Young, whose own father had insisted that she should. The two were the same age. Bill Cosby flew to Atlanta after the funeral and entertained King and her siblings. King and her siblings were assured an education thanks to the help of Harry Belafonte, who set up a trust fund for them years prior to their father's death.

Teenage years and high school: 1968–1972

At age 15, she was subject to controversy when she appeared in the play "The Owl and the Pussycat" because she was costarring a white male lead. Though her mother kept her naïve to the controversies so she could "fulfill [her] objective, which was to do the play", that did not stop her from learning of the negativity implemented from her role years later. Her grandfather Martin Luther King, Sr. initially was not going to go to her performance due to opposition by locals, but changed his mind afterward. During a Sunday visit to Church, King was forced to stand before the congregation and explain her actions. In response to her role in the play and her own response to the role, a man wrote to Jet predicting that she would marry a white person before she was eighteen. Despite statements such as these, King did not become aware of the public discomfort with her role until years later, citing her mother's involvement in her knowledge of the criticism.

When King was sixteen she received attention in Jet in 1972, where she talked about what her father's famous name was doing for her life. In the interview with the magazine, She related how people expected her to be "stuck up" and referred to it as one of the "handicaps" of being Martin Luther King's child. She recalled having met a friend that was scared of being acquainted with her, because of her father's identity and expressed her thoughts in the colleges she wished to attend. King would ultimately attend Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts after graduating from high school.

King called her father's name and having to live up to it a "challenge" and recalled a friend when she first met a friend of hers, who believed she could not say anything to King but after beginning to know her, realized that she was "no worse than my other friends" and she "could say anything" to her. King also voiced her dislike of the assumption that she would behave just like her mother and father, and the difficulty of being perceived as not being someone others could talk to. When asked what kind of world she would like to live in, King said she wished "people could love everybody". Despite this wish, she acknowledged that this was of no ease and expressed happiness that her father had changed many things, and even made some people gain self-esteem. Positive reception came to this interview, and Yolanda was even called the "leader of the 16-year-olds" for her "calmness, her concern," and "her vision".

Early adulthood

College: 1972–1976

After graduating from high school, she went to Smith College. She took classes taught by Manning Marable and Johnnella Butler, and became satisfied with her choice of a college. But after finishing her sophomore year and returning home so she could work over the summer, her grandmother Alberta Williams King was killed on June 30, 1974. With her death, the only remaining members of King's father's immediate family were her grandfather Martin Luther King, Sr. and aunt Christine King Ferris. She was also subject to some harassment by her classmates, describing it as the "era when students were making demands and many black students were closer to the teachings of Malcolm X, or what they thought were his teachings." The children referred to her father as an "Uncle Tom" and was scared that he would go down in history as such. She reflected "I had never read his works. I was just someone who loved someone, and I knew he had done great things and now people didn't appreciate it." She proceeded to read his books, and started to believe that her father had been correct all along.

Immediate life after Smith College: 1976–1978

Meeting Attallah Shabazz: 1979

In 1979, Yolanda met Attallah Shabazz, the eldest daughter of Malcolm X, after arrangements had been made by Ebony Magazine to take a photograph of the two women together. Both were worried that they would not like each other due to their fathers' legacies. Instead, the two quickly found common ground in their activism and in their positive outlook towards the future of African-Americans. The two were young adults at the time and had a mutual friend who noticed they were both studying theater in New York and arranged for them to meet. A few months after King and Shabazz met, the pair decided to collaborate on a theatrical work, resulting in Stepping into Tomorrow. The play was directed towards teens and focused on the 10th year reunion of six high school friends. Stepping into Tomorrow led to the formation of Nucleus in the 1980s, a theater company which King and Shabazz founded. The theater company was based in New York City and Los Angeles and focused on addressing the issues that their fathers, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, spoke of in their lifetimes. The pair performed in around 50 cites a year and did lectures together, typically in school settings.

Adult life

King holiday, arrests and return to Smith College: 1980–1989

She celebrated her father's holiday in January 16, 1986 and attended a breakfast in Chicago with Mayor Harold Washington. She stated that her father had a "magnificent dream", but admitted that "it still is only a dream." King started Black History Month of 1986 by giving a speech in Santa Ana, which called for the study of African-American history to not "relegated to the shortest and coldest month of the year." After having been a public speaker for over twenty years, Yolanda recalled her talents having "happened very naturally growing up in a house like mine". She also found "great irony" in President Ronald Reagan having signed a bill to make Martin Luther King, Jr. Day a national holiday.

She kicked off Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by starting a weeklong celebration on January 12, 1987 and talked to students about opportunities that they had at that point which their parents and grandparents did not have. On April 8, 1988, King and Shabazz were honored by Los Angeles County supervisors for their "unifying" performance and message on stage at the Los Angeles Theater Center the previous night. Their play Stepping into Tomorrow was praised by supervisors as being "entertaining and enlightening." At the time of the honor, King said that their production company had been approached by organizations seeking to arrange special staging of the play for gang members before May 1, when the show's run would end. Supervisor Kenneth Hahn said to King that he "sensed I was in the presence of a great man when I met your father." She returned to Smith College on January 26, 1989. There, she gave a speech and made references to her past difficult experiences when first coming to the college. King made it clear that while she had not been "endeared" to the institution, she was still "grateful" for her experience. She called for Americans to memorialize those who gave their lives for "the struggle for peace and justice." At this point in her life, King also served as director of cultural affairs for the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change and was tasked with raising and directing funds for all artistic events.

Arizona boycott and James Earl Ray retrial: 1990–1999

Twenty-five years after her father's assassination, she went to his gravesite. There, she joined hands with her siblings and mother along with other civil rights activists, singing We Shall Overcome. During July 1993, she agreed to speak at the Coral Springs City Centre for airfare and a fee in January 1994. She originally wanted $8,000, but was negotiated down to $6,500. During said speech, she mentioned that the fact that the poverty line in America among children had nearly tripled and urged people to "reach out" and "do what you can". In October, she uttered her belief that her father's dream of integration was not understood fully.

On February 1, 1994 King attempted to speak before a diverse class of students at North Central College. She stated, "It is entirely appropriate that you would choose to focus on multiculturalism as the opening activity of Black History Month. The only reason why Black History Month was created and still exists is because America is still struggling and trying to come to grips, come to terms with the diversity of its people." In July 1994, after seeing some photographs of her father prior to his death, Yolanda lamented that "this [had] brought back a lot of memories. It's often hard for young people to understand the fear and terror so many people felt and how bold they were to get involved in the marches. But walking through the first part of the exhibit I felt that terror." She honored her father in 1995, by performing in the Chicago Sinfonietta in the play "A Lincoln Portrait", in which she was the narrator. The "commitment" to diverse members in the audience and the play itself, was what represented the opportunities for which King fought.

In the fall of 1995, at the age of 39, she joined Ilyasah Shabazz and Reena Evers in saluting their mothers as they chaired an attempt at registering one million African-American women to vote in the presidential election of 1996. King joined the rest of her family in February 1997, in supporting a retrial for James Earl Ray, the man convicted of her father's murder, having realized that "without our direct involvement, the truth will never come out." In an interview with People magazine in 1999, she recalled when she first learned of her father's death and stated that "to this day, [her] heart skips a beat every time [she] hear one of those special bulletins." King appeared in the film Selma, Lord, Selma, based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches as Miss Bright. Prior to the film's release, King expressed belief in children of the time only knowing "Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, but when it is time to talk about the facts and the history, there is not a lot of knowledge. They look at me when I'm talking as if this is science fiction."

Final years: 2000–2005

In honor of her father King promoted a show in Los Angeles entitled "Achieving the Dream" in 2001. During the play, she changed costume numerous times and adjusted her voice and body language when changing roles. King and Elodia Tate co-edited the book Open My Eyes, Open My Soul: Celebrating Our Common Humanity, published by McGraw-Hill in 2003. In January 2004, King referred to her father as a king, but not as one who "sat on a throne, but one who sat in a dark Birmingham jail." While in Dallas in March 2004, King related; "It's only in the past half-dozen years or so that I have felt comfortable in my own skin. I don't have to try and prove anything to anyone anymore." "I struggled with a lot of the legacy for a long time, probably actually into my 30s before I really made peace with it," Yolanda stated in 2005 on "Western Skies", a public radio show based in Colorado. During the fall of 2014 she played Mama in "A Raisin in the Sun" at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts at Cornell University.

Mother's death, sibling dispute and final months: 2006–2007

Her mother Coretta, began to decline in health after suffering a stroke in August 2005. She also was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The four children of the civil rights activist noticed "something was happening". King was having a conversation with her mother in her home when she stopped talking. Coretta Scott King had a blood clot move from her heart and lodge in an artery in her brain. She was hospitalized on August 16, 2005, and was set to come home as well. Alongside the physician that took care of her mother, Dr. Maggie Mermin and her sister, Yolanda told the press that her mother was making progress on a daily basis and was expected to make a full recovery. She became a spokesman for the American Heart Association after her mother's stroke, promoting a campaign to raise awareness about strokes.

That same year, she and her brother Dexter came to oppose their other brother and sister, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, on the matter of selling the King Center. King and Dexter were in favor of sale, but their other siblings were not. After Coretta Scott King died on January 30 of the next year, Yolanda, like her siblings, attended her funeral. When asked about how she was faring following the death of her mother, Yolanda responded: "I connected with her spirit so strongly. I am in direct contact with her spirit, and that has given me so much peace and so much strength." She found her mother's personal papers in her home.

She preached in January 2007 to an audience in Ebenezer Baptist Church to be an oasis for peace and love, as well as to use her father's holiday as starting ground for their own interpretations of prejudice. She spoke on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2007 to attendants at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and stated: "We must keep reaching across the table and, in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, feed each other,". After her hour-long presentation, she joined her sister and her aunt, Christine King Ferris, in signing books. On May 12, 2007, days before her death, she spoke at St. Mary Medical Center, on the part of the American Stroke Association. It would be the last time she would speak on behalf of the association.

Death

On May 15, 2007, King spoke to her brother Dexter and stated that she was tired, though he thought nothing of it due to her "hectic" schedule. Around an hour later, King collapsed in the Santa Monica, California home of Philip Madison Jones, her brother Dexter King's best friend, and could not be revived. Her death came a year after her mother. Her family has speculated that her death was caused by a heart condition. In the early hours of May 19, 2007, King's body was brought to Atlanta, Georgia by private plane. Bishop Eddie Long said he offered his plane to collect her remains. A public memorial for Yolanda King was held on May 24, 2007, at Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary in Atlanta, Georgia. Many in attendance did not know her, but came out of respect for the King family's history of non-violence and social justice. King was cremated, as according to her wishes. She was 51. All three of her siblings lit a candle in her memory.

Ideas, influence and political stances

Legacy

Dexter King said of his sister, "She gave me permission. She allowed me to give myself permission to be me." Jesse Jackson stated that King "lived with a lot of the trauma of our struggle. The movement was in her DNA." Joseph Lowery stated; "She was a princess and she walked and carried herself like a princess. She was a reserved and quiet person who loved acting." January 2008's issue of Ebony, her relationship with Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook was highlighted in an article written by the minister, as she dubbed her deceased longtime friend a "queen whose name was King". On May 25, 2008, her brother Martin Luther III and his wife, Andrea, became the parents of a baby girl and named her Yolanda, after his late sister. During a 2009 reunion at her alma mater Smith College, a walk was done in her memory by fellow alumni.

Portrayals in film

Yolanda has mostly been portrayed in films that revolve around her parents.

Felecia Hunter, in the 1978 television miniseries King.

Melina Nzeza as a kid and Ronda Louis-Jeune as an adult, in the 2013 television movie Betty and Coretta.

Filmography

King (1978) (mini)

Hopscotch (1980)

Death of a Prophet (1981)

No Big Deal (1983) (TV)

Talkin' Dirty After Dark (1991)

Fluke (1995)

America's Dream (1996) (TV)

Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)

Drive by: A Love Story (1997)

Our Friend, Martin (1999) (V)

Selma, Lord, Selma (1999) (TV)

Funny Valentines (1999) (TV)

The Secret Path (1999)

Chasing Secrets (1999)

Odessa (film) (2000)

JAG

Still My Little Soldier (2001)

Liberty's Kids (2002)

Wikipedia

#Yolanda King #11-17 #05-15

44 notes · View notes