Victor D. Infante's Blog, page 182
February 14, 2011
The Much-Threatened Grammys LiveBlog!!!!
Yep. I'll be LiveBlogging the Grammys. Join in the fun here. Because mockery enjoys company!
February 13, 2011
Live -Blogging the Grammys!
For reasons known only to myself and my God, I'll be liveblogging the Grammys tonight. Please, come join in the fun around 7:30 p.m. Eastern! Because there's absolutely nothing like using serious, journalistic tools to mock pretty people who make way more money than we do!
Forthcoming Publications
I've got a few things being published this year, so far:
The Legendary will be publishing my poems "300,000 Kilometers Per Second," "Soccer at Nuremberg," "Although My Tongue Has Forked No Lightning," "Paris" and "Philophobia."My short story A Fable of Worcester will appear in Britain's Theaker's Quarterly Fiction.My poem My Life as Rosencrantz or Guildenstern will appear in the anthology Knocking at the Door, from a Birch Bench Press, an imprint of Write Bloody Publishing.
Details as they come. Still have a whole lot of submissions floating out there. Fingers-crossed. Now I need to write new stufff ...
The Legendary will be publishing my poems "300,000 Kilometers Per Second," "Soccer at Nuremberg," "Although My Tongue Has Forked No Lightning," "Paris" and "Philophobia."My short story A Fable of Worcester will appear in Britain's Theaker's Quarterly Fiction.My poem My Life as Rosencrantz or Guildenstern will appear in the anthology Knocking at the Door, from a Birch Bench Press, an imprint of Write Bloody Publishing.
Details as they come. Still have a whole lot of submissions floating out there. Fingers-crossed. Now I need to write new stufff ...
"Culture Is Your Operating System"
Ganked the photo above from
![[info]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380442897i/1319734.gif)
warren_ellis
, who writes: " Photo by Tom Taylor. A very Terence McKenna sentiment. Which reminds me: the Psychedelic Salon podcast continues to do a fine job in excavating and archiving old Terence McKenna talks, and they recently re-presented one of my favourites, "Psylocibin And The Sands Of Times." If you can get used to McKenna’s fairly arch and nasal delivery, you’ll find some fascinating stuff in his talks. I’ve been reading and listening to his work for, bloody hell, more than twenty years, and was even on his old mailing list before he died, and I still find new material in there. I liked that he wasn’t completely dogmatic, and was entirely happy to try on and discard new ideas as he roamed. There’s a connection there between McKenna’s intellectual life and the Exegesis of Philip K Dick, who generated and tossed several million words’ worth of ideas to try and explain (to him) the world he thought he was living in. As, I suppose, do we all."Seems to me as good a sentiment as any for the weekend.
For my part, I've been buried in work both the kind I'm paid for and the kind I do in some weird, Quixotic attempt to accomplish ... something. Damned if I know what that thing is any more. Sometimes it's very simple: I'd very much prefer to be making my living making up stories and poems. It would be nice, wouldn't it, not having to divide much of my attention away from what's in all honesty my real work? Other times I'm certain I'd go a little mad without the rigors and structured schedule of a day job. I'm entirely too aware of my tendency to go a little deep into my own head at times, a tendency that played a big part in my decision not to go to grad school or pursue a career in academia. I'm well aware of my need to remain a bit grounded, to stay connected to the world.
Still, I keep myself busy. Not much on my schedule at the moment, save for the workshop I'm teaching next month, but between Radius launching soon and Lea's anthology, Knocking At the Door, being almost out, I can see plenty to keep me occupied in the near future. There's a new short story on the edge of my consciousness, trying to work its way out. Something a good deal more grounded than Baby, Detonate for Me or A Fable of Worcester. Also itching to get back to the "heroes" blog posts, again. Lots of great ideas, including some thoughts on witches, and about life being an illusion. Because ... hey. Why not keep it light?
May have a little side project tomorrow. Will know soon. It involves learning to use new software that I'll need to learn how to use soon, anyway, so I might as well have some fun with it. We'll see ...
February 7, 2011
"This is the Motor City, and this is what we do."
There are a lot of ways to get a glimpse into what's happening in a culture's collective consciousness. In America, the best way is probably to watch TV commercials. The best TV commercials have a way of doing a bit more than selling a product. They speak directly to what people want to hear. Like any art form, most instances are disposable, and most of the rest are just plain off the mark. But when it hits, even a TV commercial can be transcendant.
Chrysler and Eminem pull it off with the new one that aired during the Super Bowl:
Damn. A message about rising above hardship, about finding beauty in poverty, about a place being more than its negative portrayal in the media, and it's all engaging as hell. It's selling a car, yes, but more improtantly, it's selling Detroit, and doing a fine job of it.
Compare that to the cast of Glee's retro rendition of the famous 1950s advertisement, "See The U.S.A. In Your Chevrolet."
Likewise, this is a fantastic advertisement, and it comes at the same concept as the Chrysler commerical from a different direction. While Chrysler appeals to a sort of hardscrabble, working class Americana, Chevy opts for all out nostalgia, harkening straight back to the rose-tinted glasses of an earlier time. If Chrysler's selling Detorit, the cast of Glee here is selling patriotism, and an old-fashioned brand, at that. It's wickedly stylish, both sexy and innocent at the same time, and completely devoid of irony. A completely different tactic than the Eminem bit, but still, you can't miss that the creators have touched on a few hot threads: that audiences really want to look at the future with the eyes that they once did. They want to believe in America.
Perhaps oddly, I don't find either ad cynical or manipulative, because I think the belief they're tapping into is legitimate. And indeed, it's the sort of belief that's neccesary for rising above economic hardship and inane political bickering. On the whole, while both are expertly produced, I'd have to say the Eminem one is a bit better. One asks you to beleive in America, which is all well and good, but the other asks you to believe in people. And that's compelling.
Now if only I could afford a new car ....
Chrysler and Eminem pull it off with the new one that aired during the Super Bowl:
Damn. A message about rising above hardship, about finding beauty in poverty, about a place being more than its negative portrayal in the media, and it's all engaging as hell. It's selling a car, yes, but more improtantly, it's selling Detroit, and doing a fine job of it.
Compare that to the cast of Glee's retro rendition of the famous 1950s advertisement, "See The U.S.A. In Your Chevrolet."
Likewise, this is a fantastic advertisement, and it comes at the same concept as the Chrysler commerical from a different direction. While Chrysler appeals to a sort of hardscrabble, working class Americana, Chevy opts for all out nostalgia, harkening straight back to the rose-tinted glasses of an earlier time. If Chrysler's selling Detorit, the cast of Glee here is selling patriotism, and an old-fashioned brand, at that. It's wickedly stylish, both sexy and innocent at the same time, and completely devoid of irony. A completely different tactic than the Eminem bit, but still, you can't miss that the creators have touched on a few hot threads: that audiences really want to look at the future with the eyes that they once did. They want to believe in America.
Perhaps oddly, I don't find either ad cynical or manipulative, because I think the belief they're tapping into is legitimate. And indeed, it's the sort of belief that's neccesary for rising above economic hardship and inane political bickering. On the whole, while both are expertly produced, I'd have to say the Eminem one is a bit better. One asks you to beleive in America, which is all well and good, but the other asks you to believe in people. And that's compelling.
Now if only I could afford a new car ....
Morning Thoughts: Green Bay Avoidance Edition
Had a nice birthday weekend. Lea and I had dinner Saturday at Baba, which I'd been meaning to go to for ages, and have to agree, it's the best sushi I've had in New England. Hands down. Afterward, we ended up at Nick's Bar & Restaurant, and had drinks with friends. All very pleasant. Sunday, we had dinner with Lea's family, then came home and finished off season three of The Sarah Jane Adventures on DVD, and watched the new episode of Glee. All in all? Not a bad birthday at all.
***
Obviously, the big media news this morning has been AOL's purchase of The Huffington Post, a deal which puts Arianna Huffington in charge of AOL's online content. That puts a lot of eggs in one basket. To put it in perspective, that means Anis Shivani's sometimes brilliant, sometimes frustrating literary criticism; Phil West's excellent pop-culture and politics blog; the popular comic book blog Comics Alliance, and all of the local Patch.com affiliates, including Laguna Beach, CA, (edited by my friend Rich Kane); Grafton, MA, (edited by my friend Sandy Bowles, whose birthday it is today! Happy birthday!); and Milford, MA, (edited by my friend Danielle Horn). Your personal interest may either lie with the big-picture aspect of the content, or with the hyperlocal, but for me, it's the range that's actually interesting.
HuffPo has always been best at presenting opinion and informed commentary from a broad number of perspectives. It does this mostly through unpaid blogging and news aggregation. It makes a profit, but not a whole lot, in the scheme of things, and it survives pretty much on the belief and common cause of its contributors. Patch.com is a professional organization, with full-time trained journalists. The New York Times story intimates that the plan is to integrate Patch and HuffoPo's Seed initiative, which is oriented toward hyperlocal "citizen journalism" (read: unpaid) content.
To say that I'm suspicious of this is an understatement. In fact, I'm actually very dubious that such widely divergent compensation structures can stand for long within one organization, and somewhere along the way, this is going to have to be standardized, especially when the contributors who draw the most numbers are probably among the unpaid. And before someone starts: No, this is a completely different scenario to the unpaid bloggers on Telegram.com. That's an interesting experiment, and valuable, but it's hardly a major thrust of the Telegram's content. Not comparable to HuffPo's major contributors all being unpaid bloggers for what is now, effectively, a profit-driven corporate holding.
So, yes, I'm wary, and as I've intimated, I have friends and colleagues on both sides of that corporate equation, for whom I am concerned. But I know this much: while there's a huge risk of disaster in this odd corporate marriage, there's also a lot of room for brilliance. As always, it depends on how well Huffington pulls off the trick.
**
On a personal note, it appears my short story A Fable of Worcester will be in the March issue of Stephen Theaker's wonderfully offbeat sci-fi and fantasy magazine, Theaker's Quarterly Fiction. Yay!
***
Obviously, the big media news this morning has been AOL's purchase of The Huffington Post, a deal which puts Arianna Huffington in charge of AOL's online content. That puts a lot of eggs in one basket. To put it in perspective, that means Anis Shivani's sometimes brilliant, sometimes frustrating literary criticism; Phil West's excellent pop-culture and politics blog; the popular comic book blog Comics Alliance, and all of the local Patch.com affiliates, including Laguna Beach, CA, (edited by my friend Rich Kane); Grafton, MA, (edited by my friend Sandy Bowles, whose birthday it is today! Happy birthday!); and Milford, MA, (edited by my friend Danielle Horn). Your personal interest may either lie with the big-picture aspect of the content, or with the hyperlocal, but for me, it's the range that's actually interesting.
HuffPo has always been best at presenting opinion and informed commentary from a broad number of perspectives. It does this mostly through unpaid blogging and news aggregation. It makes a profit, but not a whole lot, in the scheme of things, and it survives pretty much on the belief and common cause of its contributors. Patch.com is a professional organization, with full-time trained journalists. The New York Times story intimates that the plan is to integrate Patch and HuffoPo's Seed initiative, which is oriented toward hyperlocal "citizen journalism" (read: unpaid) content.
To say that I'm suspicious of this is an understatement. In fact, I'm actually very dubious that such widely divergent compensation structures can stand for long within one organization, and somewhere along the way, this is going to have to be standardized, especially when the contributors who draw the most numbers are probably among the unpaid. And before someone starts: No, this is a completely different scenario to the unpaid bloggers on Telegram.com. That's an interesting experiment, and valuable, but it's hardly a major thrust of the Telegram's content. Not comparable to HuffPo's major contributors all being unpaid bloggers for what is now, effectively, a profit-driven corporate holding.
So, yes, I'm wary, and as I've intimated, I have friends and colleagues on both sides of that corporate equation, for whom I am concerned. But I know this much: while there's a huge risk of disaster in this odd corporate marriage, there's also a lot of room for brilliance. As always, it depends on how well Huffington pulls off the trick.
**
On a personal note, it appears my short story A Fable of Worcester will be in the March issue of Stephen Theaker's wonderfully offbeat sci-fi and fantasy magazine, Theaker's Quarterly Fiction. Yay!
February 5, 2011
39
Woke up late today to find an avalanche of birthday greetings, mostly on Facebook. Thank you to all for the well-wishes. I'm a little overwhelmed.
It's been a hectic past few weeks, and I've not really had time to think much about the whole birthday thing. No plans, no parties. Nada. That's OK. A peaceful day is usually my idea of heaven. Finishing up my poem for The Encyclopedia Show Providence on Thursday -- so far it's an odd one, and while it's slow writing, I'm happy with it. My topic was "atmosophobia," which I have to agree, suits me quite well:
In other news, I've finished the fourth (fourth!) draft of my short story, Baby, Detonate For Me, and have sent it off to an editor who'd expressed interest in seeing the rewrite. No promises, but fingers crossed. After 20 some odd years in the writing business, I've kind of come to despise the whole hustle and shopping aspect of the game. But I suppose that's nothing new. I have, according to Duotrope, 20-odd (and in some case, I do mean odd) poems and three short stories out on the market right now, and I'm sort of braced for every one of them to come back to me. Oh, they might not, which would be nice, but I find some strange sort of comfort in the idea that this is all sort of a Quixotic endeavor. Also, most everything's at journals or magazines that don't entirely bore me, which means my odds are steeper. Still, who knows? I stopped trying to make any sense of the whole process a long time ago. Things get published when they get published. The rest is pretty much a mugs game.
Mostly, I'm just hunkered down working on Radius, the successor to The November 3rd Club . It's not same animal at all, though, and indeed, I think it will challenge some people's preconceptions. Not really prepared to say any more than that, though. Should be going up at the end of the month (fingers crossed!) and promises to be a slow, steady burn from there. All I can really say is that I'm excited, more excited about any project since City of Insomnia came out.
So ... yeah. Lots to keep me busy, none of it pertaining much to my birthday. Maybe tacos or sushi later. Maybe a run by the comic book store, or a run by Nick's for a birthday Manhattan if anyone's interested (seeing as I've outed my fondness for the drink, recently.) Or maybe I'll do all that on another day. Don't know. Right now, I'm mellow, and that's OK.
It's been a hectic past few weeks, and I've not really had time to think much about the whole birthday thing. No plans, no parties. Nada. That's OK. A peaceful day is usually my idea of heaven. Finishing up my poem for The Encyclopedia Show Providence on Thursday -- so far it's an odd one, and while it's slow writing, I'm happy with it. My topic was "atmosophobia," which I have to agree, suits me quite well:
In other news, I've finished the fourth (fourth!) draft of my short story, Baby, Detonate For Me, and have sent it off to an editor who'd expressed interest in seeing the rewrite. No promises, but fingers crossed. After 20 some odd years in the writing business, I've kind of come to despise the whole hustle and shopping aspect of the game. But I suppose that's nothing new. I have, according to Duotrope, 20-odd (and in some case, I do mean odd) poems and three short stories out on the market right now, and I'm sort of braced for every one of them to come back to me. Oh, they might not, which would be nice, but I find some strange sort of comfort in the idea that this is all sort of a Quixotic endeavor. Also, most everything's at journals or magazines that don't entirely bore me, which means my odds are steeper. Still, who knows? I stopped trying to make any sense of the whole process a long time ago. Things get published when they get published. The rest is pretty much a mugs game.
Mostly, I'm just hunkered down working on Radius, the successor to The November 3rd Club . It's not same animal at all, though, and indeed, I think it will challenge some people's preconceptions. Not really prepared to say any more than that, though. Should be going up at the end of the month (fingers crossed!) and promises to be a slow, steady burn from there. All I can really say is that I'm excited, more excited about any project since City of Insomnia came out.
So ... yeah. Lots to keep me busy, none of it pertaining much to my birthday. Maybe tacos or sushi later. Maybe a run by the comic book store, or a run by Nick's for a birthday Manhattan if anyone's interested (seeing as I've outed my fondness for the drink, recently.) Or maybe I'll do all that on another day. Don't know. Right now, I'm mellow, and that's OK.
January 28, 2011
Odds & Ends ...
Busy, busy, busy. Many, many things in the pipeline right now, and much to talk about as they emerge, but for now, let's stick to the basics:
I'm not terribly fond of my column this week. Honestly, I feel it could have been better. I've been trying to pick at this idea of one form of art -- in this instance, metal and hip-hop -- and trying to come to terms with them as a guy who writes about music when neither is particularly a favorite. Although I was interested that I had to admit that I have much more affection for hip-hop than I realized. I don't know. Personally, I think I only scratched the surface.
***
As mentioned before, I'll be reading Feb. 10 at the Encylopedia Show Providence v.4: EXPLOSIVES! The Encyclopedia Show is held in MacMillan 117 at Brown University on Thursday, February 10th at 8:00 pm. Tickets $6 at the door, $3 for students. All ages. Music, Poetry, visual art and spoken word by me, April Ranger, Jennifer Gigantino, Castle, Ryk McIntyre, Charlie Pope, Melinda Lee, Jason Beckman and Matthew Richards!
I'll also be teaching a poetry workshop for Ballard Street Poetry Journal's "Beginners Poetry Workshop Series" at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, at Forest Grove Middle School in Worcester. The subject will be "Reconciling With the Past Through Poetry." I don't have more info handy, but will pass it along when I do.
***
Int he "things I'm trying to wrap my head around" department, art critic James Panero mentioned me in his blog. More particularly, he mentioned that I commented on him commenting on art critic Jerry Saltz. This has all become too metatextual for words. Strangely, I feel as though I've acomplished something, but I'd be hard-pressed to tell you what.
***
Just finished Charles Yu's excellent and strangely moving novel, How to Survive in a Science Fictional Universe, and enjoyed it immensely. Also just received my copy of Robert Bohm's poetry collection, Closing the Hotel Kitchen, which I'm excited to curl up with. I was lucky enough to read the manuscript on my computer (I have a blurb on the back), but it's never the same as reading an actual book, y'know? Besides,Bohm's work is the sort you need to read a couple times. There are layers and textures there that lend themselves to repeat visits. Will probably also start Graham Moore's novel, The Sherlockian, soon. What was I saying about Sherlock Holmes looming large in the collective consciousness right now?
January 19, 2011
In Between Days: Hiro Nakamura, Veronica Mars, Mal Reynolds, Static
Between the weather and things commanding my attention at home, I find I'm not writing much this week, let alone blogging. Still, after the feverish pace of the preceding few weeks, I think I can forgive myself letting more immediate concerns eat up my attention.
The other day, I made mention of four characters -- Hiro Nakamura (from the late TV show Heroes); Veronica Mars (from the TV show Veronica Mars); Malcolm Reynolds (from the TV show Firefly and the movie Serenity, along with a slew of comic books); and Virgil Ovid Hawkins, aka Static (from Milestone Comics, then later the cartoon Static Shock, and then more-recently DC Comics.
These four characters struck me as good examples of heroes -- and before anyone starts with me, I completely consider Veronica Mars and Mal Reynolds as heroes, despite their frequent ethical greyness -- who have the distinction of being original contemporary characters who, one way or the other, manage to hang on in some corners of the popular consciousness despite cancellations, ratings, etc. These are characters that persist when the corporate metrics that decide the fates of TV shows and comic books tell us their time is done. Never the cultural heavy hitters, like Buffy Summers or Harry Potter, they nonetheless dwell on that odd tier of fictional characters that hold some sway, even when their stories don't replicate the way others' do. The culture's not quite done with them, yet.
This makes puts them in the odd company of characters who flared but never quite disappeared: Will Eisner's The Spirit has a loyal following, to this day, but attempts to replicate and fan that passion in comics and film have never quite worked. Resurrections of the Doom Patrol have been interesting, even enjoyable, but have never quite achieved the vivid brilliance of the original. Diana Rigg walked away from The Avengers TV show for personal reasons, leaving fans of her character, Emma Peel, still wanting more, but replacement character Tara King wasn't as popular, nor was Uma Thurman's portrayal in the more-recent film well-received. But they all have their devotees, even still, and there's always someone who loves them enough to give them another go.
Reynolds and the crew of Serenity, from Firefly, are probably the most enduring of this bunch. The rag-tag pirates-turned-reluctant-heroes had generated enough devotion in a small-but-loyal audience to get a film made, which didn't set the box office on fire. But their adventures still continue, in the form of comic books, mostly overseen by creator Joss Whedon and others of the original writers. And for my part, while I enjoyed a lot about the movie, I felt it tied up loose ends from the beginning of the story, which is not the same thing as finishing the story. Not at all. Mal, particularly, is still at the beginning of his arc: from rebel soldier to petty mercenary to becoming a man worthy of becoming a hero: a man who risks everything to reveal a government's atrocities. "If you can't do something smart," says his crew member, Jayne Cobb, "do something right." Reynolds takes the stand, and wins, at enormous cost, but there's always been a sense that there's more in store for him. Having seen what he becomes, we never really see what that man does. I'm of the opinion that ultimately, he needs to finish the job that he started as a soldier, but there are other opinions. But wherever one sees that story going, there's always a sense that there should be more. The story has a middle, but as of yet, no ending. Not a satisfying one. In that, he's similar to Mars.
Veronica Mars, despite excellent writing and acting, suffered mightily in the ratings, and was canceled in its third season, despite an abortive effort by the show's creators to "fast-forward" the character a few years from college to being a full-fledged FBI agent. Still, the show was something more than merely a critical darling. There was something compelling about the character, between Kristen Bell's performance and Rob Thomas' dialog, and the fact that she was such an unconventional female character -- an obvious descendant of Nancy Drew, yes, but without the obligatory sweetness or innocence. Veronica Mars, the character, was smart, capable and willing to use any means at her disposal -- no matter how ethically dubious -- to achieve her goals, Veronica Mars was a show that had a certain power about it, and like the crew of Serenity, her story seems still somehow unfinished, and that's an itch that scratches a bit, especially when both Thomas and Bell instigate hope for an eventual movie on Twitter, or even when there's talk of a possible comic book. There's still some life left in that story, but Lord only knows when and if there will ever be enough will to push it forward again.
It's possible, though. Stories don't die that easily. For instance, when the DC Comics imprint Milestone Comics -- a collaboration by several African-American artists, most notably Dwayne McDuffy -- went under, McDuffy and DC were able to migrate those characters, including Static, into the DC Universe. Static, who is perhaps most famous for his cartoon, Static Shock, seems irrepressible. Recently, he's been a member of the Teen Titans, and DC seems to be rumbling that he's bound for his own solo title again, soon. In a market which has -- to put it as understatedly as possible -- not been kind to African-American characters, let alone positive, nonstereotypical portrayals, Static's persistence is a positive sign. (But don't get too comfortable, as DC Comics is already delaying new issues of Batwoman, which may spell trouble for other new comics, especially ones with minority protagonists. Cough. Ryan Choi. Cough.)
Perhaps the most tragic out of this quintet of shoulda-been, coulda-been, may-still-yet-be greats is Hiro Nakamura, the perpetually upbeat and sometimes woefully naive teleporter from Heroes. the character, portrayed by Masi Oka, was the immediate standout on a show that burst onto the scene and grabbed the public's consciousness. Only the grim-and-gritty Noah Bennett, portrayed by Jack Coleman, rivaled Hiro for affection, but the difference was always clear: Bennett, for all of his awesomeness, was never a hero, and Hiro very much wanted to be one, and indeed, for all of us comic book world-view, he had about clearest view of right and wrong of anyone on the show. Alas, as the writing on the show began to falter, the character was largely relegated to comic relief, and ceased to be relevant. Which was a shame, because he had so much potential, and for a brief moment, he was something we hadn't really seen on TV before: A non-American character on mainstream TV who was both geeky and lovable, but also brave and determined, who embraced heroism without irony or self-consciousness. It was a breath of air, before it all went wrong. Still, Heroes creator Tim Kring keeps talking about bringing the story back in some form, so who knows? Maybe there's still time to get Nakamura right, before he disappears forever into purgatory.
The other day, I made mention of four characters -- Hiro Nakamura (from the late TV show Heroes); Veronica Mars (from the TV show Veronica Mars); Malcolm Reynolds (from the TV show Firefly and the movie Serenity, along with a slew of comic books); and Virgil Ovid Hawkins, aka Static (from Milestone Comics, then later the cartoon Static Shock, and then more-recently DC Comics.
These four characters struck me as good examples of heroes -- and before anyone starts with me, I completely consider Veronica Mars and Mal Reynolds as heroes, despite their frequent ethical greyness -- who have the distinction of being original contemporary characters who, one way or the other, manage to hang on in some corners of the popular consciousness despite cancellations, ratings, etc. These are characters that persist when the corporate metrics that decide the fates of TV shows and comic books tell us their time is done. Never the cultural heavy hitters, like Buffy Summers or Harry Potter, they nonetheless dwell on that odd tier of fictional characters that hold some sway, even when their stories don't replicate the way others' do. The culture's not quite done with them, yet.
This makes puts them in the odd company of characters who flared but never quite disappeared: Will Eisner's The Spirit has a loyal following, to this day, but attempts to replicate and fan that passion in comics and film have never quite worked. Resurrections of the Doom Patrol have been interesting, even enjoyable, but have never quite achieved the vivid brilliance of the original. Diana Rigg walked away from The Avengers TV show for personal reasons, leaving fans of her character, Emma Peel, still wanting more, but replacement character Tara King wasn't as popular, nor was Uma Thurman's portrayal in the more-recent film well-received. But they all have their devotees, even still, and there's always someone who loves them enough to give them another go.
Reynolds and the crew of Serenity, from Firefly, are probably the most enduring of this bunch. The rag-tag pirates-turned-reluctant-heroes had generated enough devotion in a small-but-loyal audience to get a film made, which didn't set the box office on fire. But their adventures still continue, in the form of comic books, mostly overseen by creator Joss Whedon and others of the original writers. And for my part, while I enjoyed a lot about the movie, I felt it tied up loose ends from the beginning of the story, which is not the same thing as finishing the story. Not at all. Mal, particularly, is still at the beginning of his arc: from rebel soldier to petty mercenary to becoming a man worthy of becoming a hero: a man who risks everything to reveal a government's atrocities. "If you can't do something smart," says his crew member, Jayne Cobb, "do something right." Reynolds takes the stand, and wins, at enormous cost, but there's always been a sense that there's more in store for him. Having seen what he becomes, we never really see what that man does. I'm of the opinion that ultimately, he needs to finish the job that he started as a soldier, but there are other opinions. But wherever one sees that story going, there's always a sense that there should be more. The story has a middle, but as of yet, no ending. Not a satisfying one. In that, he's similar to Mars.
Veronica Mars, despite excellent writing and acting, suffered mightily in the ratings, and was canceled in its third season, despite an abortive effort by the show's creators to "fast-forward" the character a few years from college to being a full-fledged FBI agent. Still, the show was something more than merely a critical darling. There was something compelling about the character, between Kristen Bell's performance and Rob Thomas' dialog, and the fact that she was such an unconventional female character -- an obvious descendant of Nancy Drew, yes, but without the obligatory sweetness or innocence. Veronica Mars, the character, was smart, capable and willing to use any means at her disposal -- no matter how ethically dubious -- to achieve her goals, Veronica Mars was a show that had a certain power about it, and like the crew of Serenity, her story seems still somehow unfinished, and that's an itch that scratches a bit, especially when both Thomas and Bell instigate hope for an eventual movie on Twitter, or even when there's talk of a possible comic book. There's still some life left in that story, but Lord only knows when and if there will ever be enough will to push it forward again.
It's possible, though. Stories don't die that easily. For instance, when the DC Comics imprint Milestone Comics -- a collaboration by several African-American artists, most notably Dwayne McDuffy -- went under, McDuffy and DC were able to migrate those characters, including Static, into the DC Universe. Static, who is perhaps most famous for his cartoon, Static Shock, seems irrepressible. Recently, he's been a member of the Teen Titans, and DC seems to be rumbling that he's bound for his own solo title again, soon. In a market which has -- to put it as understatedly as possible -- not been kind to African-American characters, let alone positive, nonstereotypical portrayals, Static's persistence is a positive sign. (But don't get too comfortable, as DC Comics is already delaying new issues of Batwoman, which may spell trouble for other new comics, especially ones with minority protagonists. Cough. Ryan Choi. Cough.)
Perhaps the most tragic out of this quintet of shoulda-been, coulda-been, may-still-yet-be greats is Hiro Nakamura, the perpetually upbeat and sometimes woefully naive teleporter from Heroes. the character, portrayed by Masi Oka, was the immediate standout on a show that burst onto the scene and grabbed the public's consciousness. Only the grim-and-gritty Noah Bennett, portrayed by Jack Coleman, rivaled Hiro for affection, but the difference was always clear: Bennett, for all of his awesomeness, was never a hero, and Hiro very much wanted to be one, and indeed, for all of us comic book world-view, he had about clearest view of right and wrong of anyone on the show. Alas, as the writing on the show began to falter, the character was largely relegated to comic relief, and ceased to be relevant. Which was a shame, because he had so much potential, and for a brief moment, he was something we hadn't really seen on TV before: A non-American character on mainstream TV who was both geeky and lovable, but also brave and determined, who embraced heroism without irony or self-consciousness. It was a breath of air, before it all went wrong. Still, Heroes creator Tim Kring keeps talking about bringing the story back in some form, so who knows? Maybe there's still time to get Nakamura right, before he disappears forever into purgatory.
January 18, 2011
!!!SNOWPOCALYPSE NOW!!!!
Great time at Ralph's last night seeing Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, Shappy Seasholtz and James Keyes, although it ran late and we couldn't stay until the end. Who won the Iron Poet competition? Because that MATTERS!
Off to go dig the car out and get myself down to the Citadel of Journalism, because snow days don't exist in the news business.
Will be getting back to the heroes stuff shortly, but let me throw out some subjects for discussion:
*Hiro Nakamura
*Veronica Mars
*Malcolm Reynolds
*Virgil Ovid Hawkins (Static)
These are all characters who persist in the culture in ways that seem to outpace their screen time, ratings, apparent audience, et al. Why is that? What other characters seem to have a life that far exceeds their moments in the sun?
Off to go dig the car out and get myself down to the Citadel of Journalism, because snow days don't exist in the news business.
Will be getting back to the heroes stuff shortly, but let me throw out some subjects for discussion:
*Hiro Nakamura
*Veronica Mars
*Malcolm Reynolds
*Virgil Ovid Hawkins (Static)
These are all characters who persist in the culture in ways that seem to outpace their screen time, ratings, apparent audience, et al. Why is that? What other characters seem to have a life that far exceeds their moments in the sun?
