📸Sarah Walker / @sarahtakesphotos So excited to announce a play my partner Dylan and I wrote will be part of the June roster for Comedy on the Rocks, a theatre drinking game, along with five other scripted works!
DEATH FOLLOWS PROTOCAL follows the recently deceased and the paperwork that comes with it, starring FedUni alumni Jan-Noel Draper and Daniel Hillman. If you are in Melbourne and have no plans on June the 24th, grab your tickets now before the Motley Bauhaus runs out of room! Submissions are also now open for their July show.
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It is a shame that Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper – a loving web comic and Netflix show – has been swarmed by toxic fans who felt entitled to know the details of the cast’s private lives. In September, Kit Connor – who portrays Nick Nelson – announced he would be deleting Twitter. At the time, a video of him holding hands with his female co-star Maia Reficco for the upcoming film, A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, was circulating online. This led to ‘so-called’ fans accusing him of queerbaiting. Since fans knew that Heartstopper co-star Joe Locke – who plays Charlie Spring and Nelson’s love interest – is openly gay like his character, they demanded to know whether the same was true of Connor. In November, Connor returned to the app to say “i’m bi. congrats for forcing an 18-year-old to out himself. i think some of you missed the point of the show. bye.” It is a bitter irony that, throughout the show, Nelson struggles with his feelings and is afraid to tell people his truth for fear of hurting and losing those he holds close to him. Nelson’s worst fear was to have a traumatic coming out story; the actor embodying him is currently living through that nightmare. Queerbaiting “refers to the practise of implying non-heterosexual relationships or attraction” but never confirms or acknowledges these interactions. Creators utilise this marketing technique to attract viewers who identify as LGBT+ or part of the straight allyship while keeping advertisers and the general public happy with this compromise. Shows like Sherlock, Supernatural and Rizzoli & Isles are prime examples of said tactic. Queerbaiting can also be applied when critiquing businesses who indulge in the practise to recruit LGBT+ customers through consumerism, usually during Pride Month. Unfortunately, the term has become a loaded buzz word, constantly being misapplied to critique real-life celebrities who exhibit ‘signs’ of queerness without publicly disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity. BBC / CW / TNT People seem to forget how dangerous it can be to be queer. As of 2021, 69 countries have upheld outlawing homosexuality – 6 of those countries utilise the death penalty – and while moves are being made to decriminalise these acts, there is still a societal prejudice. The American ‘Lavender Scare’ of the Joseph McCarthy era caused mass removals of suspected gay men and women in government jobs; Stonewall began as a protest; homosexuality was no longer declared a mental illness in 1973 but the existence of conversion camps is still prevalent; transgender rights are constantly and consistently being undermined. Attacks against people’s identity – in conjunction with reach of social media – have also taken on the form of smear campaigns, blackmail, doxing, or – in the case of Kit Connor – a forced outing from people who can keep their anonymity. Only known photography taken of Stonewall by Joseph Ambrosini Harnessing and intimidating people is not a righteous act; it’s bullying. By policing a person’s queerness, we devalue them and the act of interrogating people for evidence of their queerness is problematic, invasive, and just plain rude. This frenzied sense of entitlement hurts the people of the LGBT+ community and its future representation. We risk going back to the days of the ‘Hays Code’ where queer coding was the only form of representation available. This is not to say that straight people pretending to be LGBT+ is okay, but to use the term queerbaiting is incorrect to describe the cultural appropriation of gay culture.
For the bullies, to be ambiguous and private is a sin. They assume everyone must be loud and proud, but there is no pride in the act of coming out when you are forced out. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation have yet to make their 2023 Upfronts presentation but there is already a major shake-up in their lineup.
After more than 50 years, the ABC no longer holds the distribution rights for Doctor Who. This marks the end of the partnership between the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian public broadcaster. Whovians will now need to subscribe to Disney+ for $11.99 per month or $119.99 per year due to the new global deal the BBC have inked with Disney Branded Television. BBC and Disney released a joint statement regarding the deal, detailing that Disney+ is “the exclusive home for new seasons of Doctor Who outside the UK and Ireland” with new episodes set to air in late 2023. At this stage, it is unclear as to whether the back catalogue of the show will also appear on the streaming service. Russell T. Davies, who led the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, will return to the television production as the showrunner under Disney’s partnership. ABC released their own statement on the matter wishing “the Doctor well on their adventures” while also reminding audiences that they can currently “enjoy past seasons...on ABC iView.” The statement also alludes to keeping a door open for a potential broadcasting return which is not surprising given the long and close relationship the show has had with the public broadcaster. In 2014, the then ABC managing director Mark Scott stated that he believes “there has only ever been one program for which we believed the Australian rights must cover all time and space dimensions – and that is the magnificent Doctor Who.” The ABC does not need to adhere to advertisers; the same cannot be said about Disney. The move is without a doubt a financial safety net for the BBC, but it comes at the cost of alienating its audience as it moves behind a paywall. There are also concerns about Doctor Who becoming another product of ‘Disneyfication’ – the sanitation of an established body to become safe and marketable – which are valid. Just look at the Disney princesses and compare them with their corresponding original Brothers Grimm stories. Only time will tell if it is truly greener on the other side. Netflix disappointed us so HBO Max could destroy us. By now, we have all heard about the cancellation of the 90% finished Batgirl film. Initially it seemed like a practical business decision but the events that followed paint a personal and almost sinister picture. As ‘funeral screenings’ of Batgirl were held, HBO Max Original Movies and shows have been removed, purged from any social media existence, and currently 14% of staffers have been laid off from Warner Bros. Discovery with more layoffs on the way as the company seeks US $3 billion in cost savings to circumvent the $50 billion debt the company has acquired post-merger. WBD launched on April 8, 2022 after David Zaslav - current president and CEO - spearheaded the merger between AT&T’s corporate spin-off Warner Media and Discovery. When AT&T made plans to launch their own streaming service built off the network libraries of HBO, Cartoon Network, and Adult Swim, a programming team was hired to include scripted and unscripted projects to focus on the future of HBO Max. The plan changed after the successfully merger and when Netflix’s stock fell on April 20th. Zaslav – who is currently the highest-paid entertainment executive with stock options valued at US $190 million – has severely decimated HBO Max’s catalogue with animated shows in particular taking the bulk of the hit. Shows like Infinity Train and Final Space have essentially been junked with no warning so they can be claimed as tax write-offs, with the finances being used to focus on theatrical projects as WBD plans to “spend dramatically more” in the upcoming years, as reported by Deadline. Ironically the catalogue erasure was not the smartest play; WBD suffered a US $20 billion loss in marketing after the fact and has recently been served a civil lawsuit for ‘embellishing subscriber numbers’. The treatment of the media wipes seems petty and irrational. Cast and crew get paid residuals for the project aired, not by a three-year old tweet promoting said project. It’s a cruel way to treat the department that kept your industry alive during a pandemic. It also serves as a reminder that streaming may be convenient but is not always practical. With rights constantly being disputed and shows moving from one platform to another, it makes one think to re-invest in physical media when they can. Alena Smith, creator of Apple’s Dickinson, “begged” for a physical copy of her show and now retains the only hard copy while the show itself remains exclusive to Apple+.
This is what happens when you view art as content. Corporations – studios and unions alike – have spent billions of money and time to stop the practise of piracy yet it may be our only salvation to preserve art with the discontinuation of DVD sales as companies refuse to endorse the practise and further purging of media. No evidence of the work makes it hard for creators to add it to their resume or portfolios; it's hard enough to get experienced showrunners with a shorter episode order now being the standard. It’s quite dystopian to think that media will just vanish; not lost to time but unavailable as there are no hard copies or torrent links. Zaslav’s tactic sets a dangerous precedent by pulling episodes like they are nothing. While currently these decisions are not illegal, they are wrong. It is essentially an act of fraud to claim financial aid for media that has been forcibly destroyed while simultaneously destroying any future working relationships, with creators and companies alike. For a company that brands itself as "the stuff that dreams are made of," it has become the nightmare for creatives and soon subscribers. Picture it: 2017, Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A modern retelling of the six wives of King Henry VIII is about to be presented by Cambridge University students Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Fast forward to 2022. The 75-minute musical has debuted on and off the West End in London, Broadway, and now Australia with New Zealand to follow. Recordings of the original Off-West End cast and a live album of the original Broadway's opening night have been released, accumulating over 450 million Spotify streams, and two Tony Awards this year for Best Original Score and Best Costume Design in a Musical (big congrats to Gabriella Slade). SIX presents the historical timeline of the Queens together in a girl group akin to the Spice Girls with their separate identities who come together in perfect harmony. They vie for the position of being the lead singer and since their stories are linked by one man, it will be determined that whoever endured the most trauma during their marriage to their common husband wins the role. Enter the leading ladies of the Melbourne cast who inspired the historical mnemonic “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived”: Catherine of Aragon (Phoenix Jackson Mendoza), Anne Boleyn (Kala Grace), Jane Seymour (Loren Hunter), Anna of Cleaves (Kiana Daniele), Katherine Howard (Chelsea Dawson) and Catherine Parr (Vidya Makan). Supporting players are the Ladies in Waiting—the onstage backup band who assume the roles of historically confirmed ladies-in-waiting (Lady Margaret Lee, Elizabeth Blount, Joan Meutas and Maria de Salinas) – and the swing performers that include Chiara Assetta, Karis Oka, Shannen Alyce Quan and Cristina D’Agostino. Assetta also acts as the show’s Dance Captain while D’Agostino is also the Resident Choreographer. James D. Morgan For context, swings act differently to understudies. Understudies are assigned a character within the ensemble if the key player cannot perform. A swing is as the title describes; they are meant to ‘swing in’ at any given time for any given character. In the case of SIX, this means all swings need to know every line, every song and every step for all six queens. This feat is one of the reasons why I want to keep coming back.
The first time I saw the show was with a friend of mine. Oka was in the role of Boleyn and Makan had to step out during the show — before her solo — where Assetta played her role for the remainder of the runtime. Unbeknown to me at the time, both my friend and I were so impressed by everything we were hearing, seeing, and feeling that we were already silently contemplating rewatching the musical. The change of roles mid-performance solidified our decision. The second time we watched it, we recruited two more of our friends to see the show. Gare was in her role of Boleyn and Oka was playing Parr. Since this viewing, both our friends have been replaying the available soundtracks with one of them already booked in to see the show again. SIX acts almost like a deconstructed jukebox musical with the dramatic opening of ‘Ex-Wives’ being sonically reminiscent of ‘Cell Block Tango’ in Chicago. The solos for each queen are written as ideal radio hits showcasing each women’s story, personality and musical influence stemming from the likes of Beyoncé, Avril Lavigne, Adele, Rihanna, Britney Spears, and Alicia Keys for the aforementioned queens. The banter in between the songs highlights how isolated these women felt, how they dealt with the hand they were given, while pointing out that if their lives were not a part of a political game, they could have lived happier lives or even gotten along with one another as some of the their paths did cross. On a personal note, it reminded me how much I miss live theatre but despite how much I miss it, I cannot recall a show that had a grasp on me like SIX seems to do. Maybe it’s the boldness of each queen, the fun I see on the actors faces from the balcony who look so happy to be performing again. Maybe it’s because modern retellings of historical events seem to miss the point of the story that begs the question, “Why did we even bother?” Or it could simply be the fact that these women’s stories are being re-examined like the history of Lucrezia Borgia. Once the snake in the garden, now plays Eve who was manipulated by her family, for her family. These women – as characters and actors – are more than just one thing. They are more than paragraphs in history’s textbook, they are more than their relationships, and they are more than what we perceive them to be. They are divorced, beheaded, live! SIX ends its Melbourne run on the 21st of August at the Comedy Theatre. Pride Month of 2022 has been a wild ride. Lynda Carter confirmed Wonder Woman is a queer and trans icon (duh), a newspaper threatened to out an actress (and then got mad when she made her relationship status public herself) and Kate Bush is currently going through a resurgence (yay). Yet from all the stories that have come out this month – from the beautiful to the ugly – one that left me curious was why the Bechdel test was attracting major attention. The Bechdel test is a criteria list that measures female representation in fiction that first appeared in Alison Bechdel’s comic strip titled Dykes to Watch Out For: The Rule (1985). Two women are discussing seeing a film and one character explains she only watches movies if it meets the following requirements:
Now early on in the month, Fire Island was released via streaming. The synopsis is simple: Noah (Joel Kim Booster) and friends travel to Fire Island Pines for a summer holiday where Noah meets Will (Conrad Ricamora) and the two proceed to engage in an enemies-to-lovers trope. An even simpler synopsis, it’s a modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice.
Reviews for Andrew Anh’s third feature film have been largely positive in regards to paying homage to Jane Austen and building from previous romantic-comedies in addition to displaying and discussing subjects of sexuality, classism, and racism in and outside the queer community. However, trying to appease everybody is rarely ever achieved and for Fire Island the person not happy is writer Hanna Rosin. In a now-deleted tweet, Rosin declared the queer rom-com film failed the Bechdel test writing, “So @Hulu #FireIslandMovie gets an F- on the Bechdel test in a whole new way. Do we just ignore the drab lesbian stereotypes [because] cute gay Asian boys? Is this revenge for all those years of the gay boy best friend?” Cue the uproar. This prompted a response from the originator of the test via Twitter, "Okay, I just added a corollary to the Bechdel test: Two men talking to each other about the female protagonist of an Alice Munro story in a screenplay structured on a Jane Austen novel = pass. #FireIsland #BechdelTest". Rosin retracted her statement and apologised for her words before Bechdel’s response, but it is important to note how Rosin’s quick analysis reveals three major errors in film analysis and criticism:
Since the Bechdel test became part of mainstream film discourse, its influence has been applied to other media formats like television, video games and comic books. It also paved the way for derived tests such as the Vito Russo test (LGBTQ+ representation), the Riz test (Muslim representation) and the DuVernay test (African-American representation). I defy you to find a fictitious piece of work that passes all the aforementioned tests as these tests are not meant to be set-ups for failure but progress towards better depictions of the representation in question. For example, for the past few years Disney have prided themselves on becoming more inclusive with their addition of same-sex kisses seen in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and Lightyear but put them to the Vito Russo test and they fail. If Disney wants to be known as inclusive, they need to do better. As time evolves, so do the tests. In the case of Bechdel, its been amended to include that the two female characters are to be named and that their conversation should last for, at least, over a minute. With these rules in play, executives can simply write a scene about the main male character sitting in a café who is overhearing a group of women in the corner for over 60 seconds, talking about anything that does not relate to men and the film will pass the test. For more accurate evaluations, one may look towards film critic MaryAnn Johanson, who developed the Johanson analysis to calculate the representation of women and girl in fiction that measures basic representation, female agency, power and authority, the male gaze, and gender and sexuality. In regards to female depictions in fiction, Bechdel made the checklist while Johanson turned the theory into practice. In 2017, Riz Ahmed made a speech in the House of Common about diversity on screen, focusing on the representation of Muslin characters. The aftermath of his rousing speech birthed the five criteria test known as ‘the Riz test’ and The British East and Southeast Asian (BESEA) media advocacy group BEATS created a new UK standard to measure on-screen representation, made in the spirit of the Bechdel test. To pass their test, “a project must be able to answer “yes” to the following three questions:
While the test is specific to the United Kingdom, point two can be reworked to apply internationally and it is currently the only test available to apply to films like Crazy Rich Asians (2018) or Fire Island. What started as an off-hand satirical joke became an industry standard. Its influence spread far and wide, bringing attention to marginalised groups who are now being validated on-screen. Granted, the path has not been perfect but we are moving forward from the spot than where we were in the last decade or two. Awareness beyond the designated months is a step forward in the right direction. The CW is cleaning house. It started quietly enough. In April 2022, the DC-centred universe shows Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman were cancelled. A month later, Mark Pedowitz – the current chairman and CEO of The CW network – announced the biggest cancellation spree from a singular network since the 1970s rural purge led by CBS. CBS When interviewed by The Wrap, Pedowitz revealed that the network team suggested to the creative forces behind the shows that they should treat their season finales like series finales “so creators could finish telling the stories on their terms and the fans [who] invested all the time and hopefully satisfied.” From established series to the promising upstarts, the shows that didn’t make the cut are as follows:
For some of the shows listed above, there was justifiable cause. Legacies, when compared to other projects within the The Vampire Diaries universe, was one of the lowest rated shows on the network alongside Dynasty. The remaining shows however typically ranked higher than those that were saved from the chopping block which include The Flash (Season 9), Walker (Season 3) and Riverdale (Season 7). The CW So far, Riverdale is the only show renewed to also confirm that its forthcoming season would be its last. Many have called for the show to cease production – especially from the cast themselves – but its popularity via streaming kept it in operation. As Netflix obtained the rights to broadcast Riverdale hours after the US broadcast – allowing the streaming giant to promote it as a Netflix Original Series – it found international success, notably in Australia where it regularly entered the top 10 most viewed TV shows in the country; its shared universe shows did not share the same level of success. Netflix / The CW Usually cancellations announcements are met with uproar than intrigue but the timing of it all is something to be interested in. The month of May is a chaotic period in the American television industry as Nielsen conducts ‘May sweeps’ to determine which shows are highly watched. This data informs networks on how to best structure their fall or mid-season schedule by presenting new television material and renewals at upfronts for potential investors. To cancel more shows than you renew can be viewed as making room for new content, but it comes after The Wall Street Journal reported on the possible sale of The CW network to Nexstar Media Group in January 2022. If the deal is looking likely to go through, it would explain why The CW is dumping its programs; networks are more appealing to investors without baggage.
The CW debuted in 2006 when The WB and UPN, divisions of Warner Brothers and ViacomCBS respectively, were in decline. Oddly enough, the network has struggled since its launch. It has never been profitable despite its tween-teen audience appeal, being home to popular shows like Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls, and Supernatural, and its added revenue through streaming deals. For all these reasons, it should have been cruising comfortable. It survived through the ventures and surplus made by its joint companies ViacomCBS and Warner Brothers, who own Paramount+ and HBO Max respectively. For those hoping the aforementioned streaming services will continue the axed shows, it won’t happen. The CW focused on obtaining low-cost scripts – a practise that Paramount+ and HBO Max do not subscribe to – and with The CW Network being primed to be sold, it will focus on its new upcoming content like Gotham Knights and The Winchesters. Don’t even bother with getting Netflix involved; we all know how that story goes. My parents have watched The Batman (2022) before I have. I acknowledge that this piece of information is just a simple fact of life but it has me reflecting on a few things. One of those things being that it is quite difficult to factor in time for a three hour film and not have it feeling like a chore. After all, that is not what cinemas were built for. Now, it would be easy to blame the rise of superhero movies for the elongated running times – and don’t get me wrong, I do – but cinematic intermissions themselves have not been a staple in Western culture. At least, not since we could avoid them. Intermissions were first a practical purpose for film technicians to have time to change the reels on the projectors. Starting from 1957, the musical sting Let’s All Go To the Lobby would play before and during screenings to encourage intermission behaviour that included visiting the concession stands. It also catered to Broadway Bladder which is “the alleged need of a Broadway audience to urinate very 75 minutes.” Alas when the technology improved, this behaviour was phased out and theatres fell prey to the demands of packing in more screenings. This puts pressure on the theatre staff to cater to patrons and clean up cinemas within a short turnaround while also putting pressure on patrons to have everything in order before the film starts so as to not miss a thing. Outside of Australia, several countries still maintain intermission rules. India is one of the more popular countries to do so based on the large revenue the interval brings in and Bollywood films tend to run long. When India does screen international films, they will splice in an intermission.
These cinematic intervals are more than just dramatic pauses; they are an opportunity. By allowing a recess to commence during production businesses can boost their revenue with additional confectionery sales, provide patrons the chance to pause their suspension of disbelief and re-align their grasp on reality, and films can save themselves from unnecessary criticism. There have been vocal struggles from critics and fans alike that most films – particularly films from franchises like Marvel, DC or the Lord of the Rings – have become overstuffed with convoluted plot lines and underdeveloped characterisation. The complaint is now all too common. It is difficult to remain comfortable, patient and aware in one spot for more than a two-hour stretch. It is easy to say the solution is to just leave by gauging the best time to do so but the last time I left the cinema for the bathroom was Inception (2010). After that, I vowed to never do that again. I was unable to anchor myself back to the plot from the information I had missed. Additionally, intermissions can help musical-to-film adaptions. Transforming theatre into film is a big task and while there is an inflated budget to bring a larger scope to the world, certain plot lines – whether it be big or small – tend to get sacrificed in the process that can throw off the pacing and meaning of the story. Into The Woods (2014) suffered from this transition as you could feel the point where there typically would have been a theatrical intermission. Yet since it was a film and not live theatre, such privileges were not granted. I can honestly say I would have enjoyed that film much more had there been one. More recently, it has been announced that the upcoming Wicked film adaption will be split into two parts to maintain its story structure. While not a traditional cinematic intermission, this decision follows live theatre protocol that allows for more time to develop story and characters, while maintaining a good relationship with the audience. The lengthy films may continue but consider the words of Jean-François Marmontel, “the interval is a rest for the spectators; not for the action.” Pixar Domee Shi is Pixar’s unsung darling.
Her tenure at Pixar started in 2011 as a storyboard artist who has credits on Inside Out (2015), The Good Dinosaur (2015), and Toy Story 4 (2019). Her first project as a director was the 2018 short film Bao; an allegory about the pains of motherhood. She now follows that up with her first feature film in 2022 titled Turning Red; an allegory about the pains of puberty. According to some, this is where the problem lies. Now, the coming-of-age story itself is nothing new from Pixar’s traditional storytelling. Set in 2002, we follow 13 year-old Chinese-Canadian Meilin “Mei” Lee (Rosalie Chiang) who transforms into a giant, red, fluffy panda when her emotions are heightened either by anger or delight. The significance behind this metamorphic change is not a hidden meaning; it’s about menstruation. From Mei’s mum Ming Lee (Sandra Oh) tentatively asking, “Did the red peony bloom?” to Mei feeling like she is a “gross red monster” is only the beginning. As Ming explains to her daughter, the power of the red panda originated from her ancestor Sun Yee, who asked the Gods to “harness her emotion to transform into a powerful, mythical beast” to protect her family during wartime. What was once a blessing to the Lee family, became a curse passed down to daughters when they came of age. To rid Mei of the curse, they must perform a ritual on the next red moon, which in the film’s timeline is a whole month away. Turning Red is unapologetically candid when it comes to periods and is actually quite educational about period care with Ming entering the bathroom with a cardboard box filled with “ibuprofen, vitamin B, a hot water bottle and pads: regular, overnight, scented, unscented, thin, ultrathin, ultrathin with wings…” and poetically telling her daughter that she is now a woman who is going through a physical and emotional change, reminding her there is “nothing to be embarrassed about...you are now a beautiful, strong flower...who must protect your delicate petals and clean them regularly.” Controversy about the film’s subject has arisen, mainly from parents themselves with comments that I am happy to dispute like:
It is quite difficult to take the outcry seriously when Pixar’s level of appropriateness can be hotly debated by conservative groups. In Ratatouille (2007), the main human character is a grown child born out of wedlock, Inside Out had Riley run away from home and Finding Nemo (2003) opened with murder. It is also not the first Pixar film to discuss puberty. Albeit it is a throwaway bit played for laughs but in Big Hero 6 (2014) - when Hiro first activates Baymax - Baymax diagnoses Hiro with puberty and goes as far as to list mood swings and body hair as things to expect. No one seemed to be offended by that. This controversy also overlooks the bigger picture of Turning Red which focuses on dynamic relationships between family and friends as we mature. In Mei’s opening monologue she states, “Be careful. Honouring your parents sounds great, but if you take it too far, well, you might forget to honour yourself.” Parents have certain ideas when they have children but that does not always come to fruition. Parents also seem to never be ready for their children to grow up, no matter how hard they try. Ming herself was ready for her daughter to have her period but not the arrival of her panda thinking, “...if I watched you like a hawk, I’d see the signs and be able to prepare.” In turn, children themselves seem to be too ready to grow up, particularly when they become teenagers. You think you will be a calm, cool, and collected adult but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s also important to highlight that the film itself feels like a departure of Pixar’s traditional aesthetics and more in lieu with films like The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021) or Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) with its exaggerated expressions, non-realistic character styles and comical editing tricks like differentiating frame rates. The lack of realism within the animation allows the film to embrace its cartoonish nature and focus its energy on the story itself with the assistance of Y2K cringe humour. The only thing that is shameful about Turning Red is the fact that it went straight to Disney+ as opposed to a theatrical release like Encanto before it. Let me paint you a picture. It’s a warm, sunny afternoon. You’ve had a good sleep-in. You are enjoying your lazy Sunday. You decide to check out Netflix and see what’s new. Maybe you’ll whittle down your watch list. Maybe you’ll pick something from your continue watching list. Who knows? You’ll figure it out. It is then and there that you see it. A banner recommendation for Daredevil. It has a notice attached to it that says, “Last day to watch on Netflix: 28 February”. Jeph Loeb A quiet, pretty much non-existent announcement was made that all of the Marvel Netflix projects - Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders and The Punisher - will leave the streaming service on Feb 28. An educated guess points to Disney+ being the new host of these shows considering Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) have been re-introduced in the MCU in Spiderman: No Way Home (2021) and Hawkeye respectively, but this has yet to be confirmed.
Now the reason why this is a big deal for me is because I only just started to watch the Marvel Netflix television series. Don’t I just have excellent timing? For a couple of years now, I’ve been late to hyped-up shows because everything I enjoy gets cancelled. Everything from Sense8 to Santa Clarita Diet to the Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, and that’s just from the streaming service itself. Don’t even get me started on The Borgias (Showtime) or Alphas (Syfy). Obviously this tactic leaves you out of the loop out of many social conversations amongst friends, maybe finding out about a spoiler or two, but I appreciate having the gift of foresight. You know the show won’t continue and it probably ends with a cliffhanger that prioritises shock value over creativity but the middle part will be fantastic, god willing. In recent times however nothing is finite. With reboots and continuations like Dexter and Futurama being put into production, along with multiple stories stemming from the same universe (e.g Star Wars), it seems like we can’t go forward and expand our tastes because we will revert to the shows we know and trust until it ruins our expectations. With these developments in mind, I must accept these facts:
Until then, you will have to excuse me while I finish watching Hot in Cleveland. |