Sidney Blaylock Jr.'s Blog, page 8

The Problem With Slant: Kotaku vs Eurogamer

Image Source: https://slideplayer.com/slide/9672675/

Do you ever wonder why so few people have any trust in “mainstream” media outlets outside of the ones that conform to their own “Reality Bubble?” There’s a little term that is little known outside of the journalism community known as “Slant.” Slant, simply put, is the journalist’s “spin” on the story, when they have a point of view and write to conform to the viewpoint. See, unlike journalism of the past, right around the mid 80s, just as 24 hour News Networks were coming into their own due to the rise of cable subscriptions and the increasing popularity of Creative Non-Fiction, slant began to be introduced as an important journalistic tool. Simply reporting the news, as done by stalwart journalists like Walter Cronkite, was considered 1) passé (old news, if you’ll pardon the pun), and 2) not what brings in the money, because even though news had been supported by advertising in the past, this was the era of new, bigger, more, and now the news departments were expected to generate revenue where they may not have had to do so in the past.

I say all of this, not because I’m a “mainstream news” skeptic, but to set the stage for my topic today. While nominally about the video game industry, this isn’t actually a “video game” post, but a post about writing, ethics, and journalistic standards. When is it okay to “fudge the facts” in order to have a good (negative) story that you know will generate controversy versus when should you tell the truth (or in this case, truthfully report on the story?)

“Slant” and “Click-Bait”

So, for those that don’t know, Kotaku is a video game “news” site. I put the “air quotes” around “news” because I find their level of reporting to be closer to opinion/blog territory than an actual news site. Almost every post that I have the misfortune to click on seems to have some sort of opinion peppered throughout the article. I rarely visit them because, even though they are popular, they have a fairly low reputation among gamers, now even more so as their shining star of investigative reporting, Jason Schrierer, has moved on to a new site. While definitely not the only ones that engage in slant-based journalism, they are, in my opinion, one of the more obvious ones.

Take this particularly egregious example of “news,” for instance: “Nobody Played Godfall On PS5, So It’s Coming To PS4.” This little “gem” of a piece manages to be snide and wrong, pretty much all at the same time. Well, that’s what so insidious about the way slant works–the writer isn’t wrong about the actual news piece that Godfall is coming to the PS4–I watched the same developer showcase as the writer of this article–and Gearbox, the publishers of the game, made that announcement. What I take issue with is the interpretation of that announcement.

The author goes out of his/her way (hey, I’ve already done my due diligence by looking at the author’s previous stories for Kotaku to get an idea of what they’ve already written) to be as snide as possible in the headline. Not only does the author cast the game in an unfavorable light, but the author does so without providing any sales data to back up his/her aspersions. Yes, in the gamer community, it is generally inferred that Godfall didn’t do well, but if you’re reporting something to me, the reader, you should report it and keep your opinions/editorial content out of it (unless you make it clear that it is an OPINION–which, by the way, the site has a section for and this article is NOT in that section). Not to bring academics into this, but the first rule of English 102: Research and Argumentation is that if you make a claim or assertion, you need to back it up.

Which is what I’m going to now with my assertion that the writer is engaged in using slant for “clickbait” purposes. Here’s my evidence:

EuroGamer Says . . .

So, here is what a Eurogamer article from 6 November 2020 (that’s November 6, 2020 for my American brethren) says:

Godfall is a six-month timed PS5 console exclusive, Sony has confirmed.

Godfall’s PS5 launch trailer was published overnight, and at the end it reveals the particle effect-heavy looter RPG will remain a PS5 console exclusive until 21st May 2021.

Wesley Yin-Poole, Editor (Eurogamer)

This quote is from an article on Eurogamer titled simply: “Godfall is a six-month timed PS5 console exclusive, Sony confirms.” While the article does dip into a bit of speculation, it is a reasonable one (that it might appear on Xbox someday) given that it is only a timed exclusive. Now, I remember reading this during the run-up to the release of the two consoles. While obviously, there’s not going to be any data on a pre-released game (at that point), the author of this article on speculates on the possible systems based on the information, but not on the chances that the game will be a hit or miss in terms of money or sales.

Being Snide Doesn’t Help Credibility

Actually, unless you are a “commentator,” being paid for your opinions, very little in the way of emotions helps if you are a journalist. I see this in so many areas now, especially since the rise of social media, and the blending of news, facts, and opinions.

I saw the Eurogamer article, read it, processed it, and then promptly forgot it (hey, I’m working on a dissertation, there’s only so much that I can keep in my brain at any one time), but when I saw the Kotaku article, something in my mind said, “that doesn’t seem right.” I’m pretty sure the game wasn’t the highest selling game of the launch window, but something in the back of my mind said, “wasn’t it always supposed to be a limited time exclusive?” I did a quick google search–literally, I keyed in “Godfall timed exclusivity” and up popped the Eurogamer article (less than 5 seconds from wondering if I was right to knowing I was right).

As I close, I have to note that this isn’t just a Kotaku issue (even though they’re one of the most egregious at the moment). I’ve seen it in multiple outlets and sites covering everything from sports to entertainment, and yes, to video games. While I don’t want to call out tons and tons of outlets, I feel compelled to mention that I can tell that there are a few outlets that have a clear Xbox/Microsoft focus that bleeds through their reporting–and these are major, reputable sites, who I no longer visit because the slant of their stories clearly reveals their biases (they would prefer nothing more than a future where GamePass was the defacto standard for all games no matter the question of longterm viability for the video game industry–basically, if the site is always yammering on with the benefits of GamePass while at the same time dogging Sony for everything it does–i.e., Spider-Man exclusivity in various games, for example, it’s a pretty good bet that their biases are firmly in Xbox-Land).

I implore writers and journalists on the web: Just report the story and trust that I’m smart enough to draw my own conclusions about what you report. And if you’re going to make a statement, please be ready to back it up with data/evidence.

Otherwise, it’s only an opinion that you are masquerading as fact.

Sidney

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Sony State of Play 2021: Horizon Forbidden West

Image Source: https://games.mxdwn.com/news/game-director-mathijs-jonge-provides-new-insight-into-horizon-forbidden-west-set-to-release-in-2021/

So, as I’m writing this, Ubisoft is presenting their Ubisoft Forward conference highlighting their upcoming games for this fiscal year (and upcoming projects for the future. However, about two weeks ago, Sony released some information on a couple of their key games for this year that they announced with the introduction of the Playstation 5. While I will probably talk about both of them, I wanted to start with Horizon Forbidden West.

I’m actually playing the first game, Horizon Zero Dawn, now (although I’m taking a short break from it). I’m pretty deep into it, but I’ve not yet finished it. I estimate that I’m 60% -70% through. I’ve wracked up kills on all but the biggest “machines” in the game. I hope to finish the first game before this one comes out, but even if I don’t, this one is definitely on my radar.

Aloy is Back and Better Than Ever

Aloy Is the back! And as a a new Sony protagonist, I’m really interested to see her continue her journey. I’m also interested in her new abilities. It looks like that she has received an upgrade in both abilities and equipment. While the shield wing that she uses to float looks really cool, I’m more interested in her other gadgets such as her grapple tether. It also looks like her combat abilities have gotten a new upgrade along with her Valor Charges which do lots of damage.

I also like the fact that one of the newest female protagonists is back and that we are continuing her story. I like a diversity of characters and protagonists and I’m glad that we don’t have to play the same “square jawed” male heroes over and over again. Aloy has her own strengths as a character and it looks like her upgrades will make her fun to play.

[image error]New Land, New Story

I can’t talk too much about the new story as I’ve not yet finished the first story and don’t want to include spoilers (nor do I want to look too deeply so as to spoil myself on the story), so I’ll keep this section fairly general and brief. I like the fact that we are headed to the Americas (specifically, San Fransisco–the Golden Gate Bridge is referenced in the trailer). The land was was amazing to look at and hauntingly beautiful.

I was especially impressed by the underwater segments, but I’m just a little concerned at the potential for “stealth” mechanics as there is a segment where Aloy must hide to avoid a “Snap-Maw” (a machine alligator/crocodile) and unfortunately, in my time with Shadow of the Tomb Raider where you had to “hide” from piranhas, I’m not so sure that this mechanic is going to be to my liking. However, I’ll keep an open mind as I really like what this game series and this developer is trying to with world-building, protagonists, setting, etc.

Still Working on Horizon Zero Dawn (1st Game in the series)

So, Horizon Zero Dawn (HZD) is one that I’ve started and stopped multiple times. I really like the game, but I enjoy the bow combat and spear combat above all. However, I’ve realized in my last play though session before I stopped that, in order to be effective against all the creatures, you really have to master all of the weapons and utilize them in tandem with each other. In fact, to take down the biggest creatures, you really want to master the technique of fracture the weapons of the biggest beasts off and utilizing their own weapons against them. While you can win in other ways, this is by far the most effective strategy and one that I’m not really good at doing.

This is a game that I need to get back and finish before I start working on this 2nd game launches, so hopefully, sometime soon, I’ll find my way back to HZD and finish it off finally (I’d estimate I’m approximately 60% – 70% finished, not including the Frozen Waste DLC.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

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Commodore 64 (C64) Nostalgia Review: Karateka

Insert: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karateka_(video_game) (You’ll also notice the “Westernized” protagonist and his love interest in an Asian themed game for the box art)

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, but based on the analytics, these are far more popular than I thought they would be. It seems there’s a lot of love for the C64 (as the Commodore 64 is affectionately known) and there are a lot of people in other countries that find these interesting at least, so I’ll continue doing them. Eventually, they will run out because I got all my C64 stuff via birthdays and holidays as the software was far too expensive for me to purchase with my own allowance as a child. Luckily, the C64 era spanned most of my tween and teen age years, so I have a fair amount of it that is pretty cool.

I actually want to talk about one of the ones that I enjoyed playing the most and a game that definitely inspired me as a child growing up in the 70s and 80s: a game called Karateka.

Karateka

So, Karateka was made by Jordan Mechner who also made a video game called Prince of Persia (PoP), which is now a currently dormant, but major, franchise owned by Ubisoft. At the time, however, I didn’t know about PoP, but as I was in to all things Martial Arts as a child, somehow I discovered this title and I thought it was absolutely awesome.

The gist of the game is that an evil warlord (Akuma) has kidnapped your one true love (Princess Mariko)and you had to fight through various warriors in the evil warlord’s palace to get her back. Yes, the damsel in distress trope was common in the games of the era. However, was was unique was the range of moves and motions that your character, the Karateka (which means, practitioner of karate as far as I’m aware), had available to him. Remember, this is years before a game like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Games were lucky if there protagonist remotely resembled a person (I’m looking at you, the “cursor character from Adventure), so to get a human character who could punch, kick, and move away realistically was absolutely fantastic!

Action, Adventure, and a Little Chess-like Strategy

The game starts with you pulling yourself up onto a rocky crag where the evil warlord’s palace begins and you fight your first enemy. Your enemy is basically a “white belt” beginner and the challenge increases in terms of timing, moves, and belts as you delve deeper and deeper into the warlord’s palace. Along the way, there are eagles that you have to defeat with a well placed kick, otherwise they will attack and take valuable life away from you–life you’ll need to get through the ever-increasingly difficult fighters that lie in wait.

The game very much relied a timing system. It took your character a set time to throw a punch or a kick and it took the enemy a set time as well. However, as the enemies became more difficult, I remember their timing becoming slightly faster, although that could have been just memory–if I’m misremembering that, my apologies. One thing I know for sure, however, is that the enemies’ life increased dramatically as you went on. As you only had one life (yep, this was the era of one life games), this made it incredibly tense and super important not to get hit and squander one of your valuable life arrows (which went down in increments, if I remember correctly–no, I think it could go down in increments or if you caught a powerful punch/kick it could go down a full life arrow).

I found the instruction insert to the game and here are some of the strategies/story given:

“You can withstand only a limited number hits. The rows of arrows across the bottom left of the screen tells you how many. Every time you get hit, you lose one arrow. If your last arrow disappears, you die . . . As long as you avoid getting hit, your arrow supply will be replenished. Every guard has a different headgear and fighting style. As a rule, the guards get tougher as you advance into the palace. When you kill a guard, take advantage of the opportunity and run forward. Watch for danger when you’re standing or running. In these positions you’re vulnerable to attack — one well-aimed blow could kill you!”

Karateka Getting Started Insert

You Think the “SoulsBorn” Games are Hard?

It was incredibly difficult to go through the entire game. There are a couple of “traps” that you had to watch out along the way. I remember getting to one of the traps, a gate, and being stymied for literal months as to how to get through. It was only by happenstance one day where I was running and remembered the gate at the last minute and I “decoyed” the trap (yes, I don’t want to spoil this even though it is nigh on 30 years old at this point and no modern machine outside of emulators can even run this game properly). From there, I knew it could be done, but it was figuring out the parameters of the gate and its timing. I got to where I could pass it reliably, but it was still months before I would see the end of the game, after getting by another “trap” as well. This second one, I didn’t think was fair, and it also broke the internal logic of the game to me, as if it was “true,” it made no sense to me as to why/how the Princess could have been captured. This was a classic twist, that while surprising, didn’t really work with the fiction of the narrative and probably my first time figuring out that games functioned differently than other novels. There was a narrative/narrative rhetoric in what the story was doing, but there was also a procedural rhetoric (although I wouldn’t know the term until studying my PhD here at MTSU) in what the code was doing.

While the code/coding didn’t break the game and was entirely consistent with the concepts of “gameplay,” it most certainly broke the narrative, and showed the duality behind the game. You can have narrative structure and/or gameplay, but they aren’t at all the same and can be, at times, at odds with each other.

Favorite Game?

This was one of my favorite games as child, easily within my top 5. Was it my favorite game of all time? That I can’t say, but it was one that I finished as a child, and for a game this difficult, this was no small feat. It is also a game in which I was dedicated, I used problem-solving, and had a little bit of luck to see the gate’s “pattern/trick.” If this wasn’t my favorite game as a child, it was certainly close. I still remember the sweaty palms as I made my way into the inner sanctum of the palace with only a handful of life arrows remaining. Would I have enough skill or would my journey end at the hands of a combatant with way too many life arrows?

Karateka was an absolutely perfect game for my childhood. It had everything that I wanted in a game, compelling story, cool martial arts, and a new and unique (for the time) setting. It also had everything I needed as it was a well crafted game that rewarded patience over rushing in and a measured, tactical approach to combat so as to help one to utilize problem solving skills and timing.

I think this is probably one of the games that I consider formative to both me as a person and me as a gamer. Without Karateka, I don’t know that my love of games that require strategy and patience, like the original Tomb Raider games would have developed and blossomed as it has, so hat’s off to Jordan Mechner. We always talk about art inspiring and moving people, and I can definitely say that Karateka had an effect on me as a human being. For those who say video games aren’t art, well, you’re welcome to your own opinion, but essentially, you’re only looking at one dimension of games–the procedural one. Computer code is 1s and 0s, but just as novels are more than the words written on the page, so too, this game is much more, to me, than the sum of its parts.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

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Raya and the Last Dragon Mini-Review

Image Source: https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2564916/raya-and-last-dragon-make-money-disney-data-suggests-streaming-mulan

So, this blog is late, and yes, there’s a reason for it. One of the reasons is that I am going to eventually get around to drafting these entries on the weekend and then release them during the week. That is going to happen . . . eventually. There’s no question of it. Eventually.

However, it doesn’t help when WordPress goes and changes the way the blogging editor works for no good reason. I like my titles as they were clearly defined from the rest of the content. WP has changed this and now the title works differently as I draft these entires. I’m going to stop here as the rest of this entry would likely be a “grip session” at WP, but please allow me the option to choose what I prefer in order to write the blogs rather than making the choice for me. Thank you!

Back to regularly scheduled blog entry now.

Raya and the Last Dragon

So, I’ve been out of the “movie watching” habit. On Saturday nights, as a reward for getting through the week, I treat myself to a movie that I’ve not seen before. Before school, I would buy a DVD/Blu-Ray that I’d not watched before, but after going to school (and being a student again–read, poor), I started streaming movies through Netflix (although I did subscribe to their DVD/Blu-ray Disc option for a time). However, even back in 2016/2017/2018, I could see where streaming would be the “future” of the industry (if I’d had any money for stocks, I definitely would have invested in Netflix and other streaming ventures–though I’d probably lost money as streaming didn’t really become viable until late 2019 with Disney+ entering the market and kicking off the current streaming wars, and the pandemic of 2020 really forcing people to reevaluate the streaming vs cable cost paradigm).

However, I’ve been trying to get back into the movie watching habit, so I’d thought last Saturday,–yes, it’s late, but I’ll go ahead and watch a movie. After not being able to decide, I saw that Raya and the Last Dragon was available on Disney+ and since I’d really liked the trailer, I decided to give it a shot.

Not Bad

This is going to sound like “damning with faint praise,” but I liked it and thought that it wasn’t bad. It isn’t my favorite Disney animated movie, but I still think that it is a strong movie and a fun watch. Unfortunately, it just didn’t hit the heights of other Disney animated movies. Still, at the moment, a middle of the pack Disney movie is still better than the majority of live action movies out there.

I really liked the characterization and the story. The setting seemed a little too “on-the-nose” for my tastes as the way the land and water are visualized in a map depicted in the story makes it seem like a “dragon.” There isn’t a villain, per se, unless you count the faceless monsters in the story, but there are antagonists. However, they make the antagonists wanting to do good, but acting out of “fear” and trying to make their lives better at the expense of others. However, fundamentally, the story argues that all people are good and that coming together is better than being separate.

Moana Does It Better

However, the message, which is so central to most Disney animated movies, seems a bit too forced in this one. Maybe it is that “on-the-nose” quality that I mentioned earlier, but from the way they bring the characters together, to the way the faceless villains are depicted and motivated, to the resolution of the story, all seem to be more geared to a more child-like, less experienced audience, where a movie like Moana, at least to me, still speaks to me as an adult. I can glean a message from Moana while enjoying the story, but for Raya, it felt like the message was the story. As a writer, I can intuit that, for Raya, the theme is central to the story, but for Moana, the story and characterization are central and the theme emerges naturally from the story.

This isn’t to say that Raya is bad or “preachy,” but for me (and probably for most adults), the story is better when I’m allowed to take what lessons I can from a story due to the characterization, plot, and setting, even if there is a “preferred” idea that is strongly hinted at/encouraged by the film. Raya gives you only one (To Trust is Divine). Yes, there are others, like “better together” or “come together in order to defeat a greater evil,” but realistically, the movie is exploration of the idea/theme of trust (who do you trust, when, how, why, etc.). That’s a little two-dimensional for me as a writer, storyteller, and audience member. Moana’s focus on her heritage and what it means to be the person that she was always meant to be adds that third dimension that I think Raya is lacking. I think that if they could have combined their characters and plot in a different way and utilized the “faceless creatures” in a different way–then Raya could have truly been a truly great movie on the level of Moana.

Overall Rating: B (85 Above Average)

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Even though it seems like I mostly focused on the negative, I still had an enjoyable experience with this movie. In the late 80s, there was an ad for a comic/graphic novel that I desperately wanted called The Last Dragon by Chuck Dixon. Unfortunately, when I finally found it and read it years later, it was a bit of a disappointment because it was more along the lines of a period piece and a biography of one of Dixon’s forebears (as I remember it–I could be wrong on this as this was YEARS ago, so YMMV). Raya is much closer to what I hoped that graphic novel would have been (although it still doesn’t quite match what I have in my imagination, so maybe . . . one day, I’ll write what I envisioned). The fight sequences were excellent and the characters, while not laugh out loud funny, still made me chuckle or smile, so it is an enjoyable film. It just, in my estimation, misses the mark of greatness for various reasons, but the biggest reason is that it lets the theme dominate the characters/plot, rather than letting the theme grow organically from the characters/plot.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric SpecPurchase  HawkeMoon  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindleCurrently Working On (June 2021):Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
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Falcon and the Winter Soldier Season 1 Review

Image Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9208876/

So, I’m going back in time and review the two Marvel shows that premiered earlier this year and that I watched. While WandaVision premiered first, Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the one that I most recently watched and is the fresher of the two in my memory, so I’m going to review it first. I’m going to try to avoid major spoilers, but be aware that it is almost impossible to create a review of these Marvel TV shows without getting into some details (unlike a movie, these shows have quite a bit of plot that happens, so it is much harder for me to talk about generalities here than it is for my movie reviews. However, I will try to keep everything as spoiler-free as possible.

One thing I’d like to note: Disney has said that these will not be required to understand upcoming Marvel movies. While I mostly agree with that assessment, I’d also note that these series are almost like the Post-Credit scenes that Marvel has made famous with its movies–while not required, per se, if you are at all a “passing” Marvel fan or higher, then I’d suggest watching these at some point before the new movies arise. At the time of writing, Disney+ allows for up to 4 active streams on one account, so if you have a friend, roommate, family member, etc., I’d highly suggest communicating with them to see if you can use their account for a limited time (perhaps making your own profile so as not to mess up their shows/viewing recommendations), just to view these shows.

Sequel to Avengers Endgame: The Cap Storyline

Falcon and the Winter Soldier (F&WS) is a continuation of the Captain America storyline from Avengers: Endgame. I won’t be specific here in case anyone reading hasn’t watched Endgame (both parts) yet (what are you doing? Go watch it NOW as it is one of the most relevant “Popular Culture” events in recent memory). However, this show acts as a sequel to that storyline and presumably sets up what will be an upcoming storyline at some point in the future movies.

This show is an Action show. As I understand it, this show was supposed to debut first, but the Pandemic got in the way. You can tell it from the action sequences as the budget is high and the action is intense. While not as consistently inventive in terms of set pieces as a movie might have been, the action is still the high quality and is at least on par with a lot of action shoes, and actually goes beyond what many other action shoes can do because of their budget and their mythos. This show has a least one or two very good sequences in it every episode.

They “Went” There

The show actually does try to inject some fairly realistic discussions about race into a superhero action drama, just as Lethal Weapon 2 made a fairly incisive comments about South Africa and its (former) system of apartheid. They actually discuss the legacy of the Shield as relates to a symbol of America and the way that America’s ideals have not always fairly represented All of its Citizens. The show doesn’t belabor the point, but there are definitely scenes that bring this to fore in order to try to get viewers to see the hypocrisy behind some of America’s grander ideals and statements, especially in regards to the notion of racial equity and systemic structures/institutions that value certain groups over others.

This show actually “goes there” and asks you to think about it–and for people who only want to believe that system is perfect, then this may not be the show for you. For those who are willing to engage with complex ideas where people aren’t always right even as they struggle to be “good,” then this might be up your alley. It asks the audience take a different point of view than one might normally be accustomed to and view the central problem–“who is worthy of the Shield”–through the ideas of some is actually worthy versus someone who looks like they are worthy. It is an embodiment of Erskine’s ideas from Captain America The First Avenger that a hero is one with a good “heart,” not an impressive military background or the “traditional” American look.

And yes, I know there are a fair amount of haters online — which I’ll address at a later date. However, to those haters I would say this: Tom Cruise is a fine actor (& who I love in the Mission Impossible franchise), but even he can’t be (& shouldn’t be) the “hero” of every movie (as his portrayal in Mummy can attest). Neither should any one race, nationality, culture, etc. always be the “star” of every media property. To those haters out there who might stumble across this blog entry, I humbly submit that the problem isn’t with the show, but with you.

The Shield

Captain America’s Shield is a complex tool. It represents many things to many people, both in the fictional Marvel world and outside, in the real world. There are too many things to list here, but one of the most important images is that it symbolizes the American “Ideal” as imagined by the Constitution, where we are the “best part of ourselves” able to freely choose and determine ones actions and the ability to do the “right” thing as opposed to the “expedient” thing. Without spoilers, this was exactly the argument articulated in Captain America Civil War.

However, as with anything that has to with people, who are by nature, fallible, we see that the “promise” doesn’t always match up with the actuality. Parts of America, even with its Constitution and high-mindedness, once owned slaves. In World War 2, America asked its African American soldiers to fight for “their” country and then when the war was won and over, stuffed them right back into the “Jim Crow” segregation and discrimination of the era.

The Shield, while intending to represent the best of us, can actually represent the worst of us as well. There is an episode that deals with this iconography and really puts into context how a symbol can function and change the way a country, an ideology, or a belief is seen across the world with one stark image. This episode changes the entire story and really lets you see that the creators really want you, the audience, to think about the power of a symbol, in general, and the Shield, in particular.

Overall Rating: A (100)

Rating: 5 out of 5.

This series is something that I think Marvel should make sure to build upon in the future. While I don’t want to see a homogenized Marvel TV show (as I like the way WandaVision came together and I suspect that I’ll like Loki), but I really like the way Falcon and the Winter Soldier takes a “real world” approach to its story and that it doesn’t shy away from a “hard” topic, even though there are a small segment of vocal people who can’t seem to stand anyone else who doesn’t “look” like they do being the hero of a mainstream property. However, this isn’t just a cultural oddity, but is a major storyline in the MCU and while not required to know what’s going on in the movies (as Disney has stated), you’re doing yourself a real disservice if you haven’t watched it yet and you’re a Marvel fan. It was the highlight of my week when it was on!

Great work to the creators for this show!

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric SpecPurchase  HawkeMoon  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindleCurrently Working On (May 2021):Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
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Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric SpecPurchase  HawkeMoon  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindleCurrently Working On (May 2021):Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
2021 Revision: Completed; Out to MarketStarlight, Starbright (Science Fiction Story)
2021 Revision: Completed; Out to Market.The Independent (Science Fiction Story)
2021 Revision: In ProgressTo Dance the Sea of Storms (Fantasy Story)
Prewrite: Completed, Plan & Outline: Completed, Write a first draft: Completed, Revision: In Progress

Movie Review: The Darkest Hour

Image Source: https://chud.com/173929/doomsday-reels-the-darkest-hour/

I wanted to watch a movie on Netflix called Singularity as I had it on my list and it was scheduled to leave the service on May 31st. However, as I started the movie, I found that it was really low budget, the acting wasn’t very good, and, worse yet, the script was poor. I struggled to get through the first 10 minutes of the movie and when I looked at the running time (over 2 hrs), I decided to watch something else as I knew that I wasn’t going to enjoy the movie on any level (which is sad as one of the stars listed is John Cusack, whose work I normally enjoy–if you want to see a good John Cusack movie, please check out Numbers Station instead).

So, as I was scanning Netflix to see what else was available, I discovered a movie that I’d wanted to see for a while: The Darkest Hour. I’d come across a description of it a while back and I wanted to see it, but wasn’t willing to pay for the DVD/Blu-Ray for an untested movie, so I waited and when I saw it on Netflix, I chose to watch it this weekend instead.

The Good

The movie is basically a Russian version of the “alien invasion” movie. The special effects of this movie are really fairly well done. They don’t overuse the effect of how the aliens kill humans (although the actual design of the aliens once they are revealed in the last 3rd of the movie doesn’t look very well at all). I really enjoyed the way they show the aliens attacking and how the aliens interact with the world–which adds tension to the movie.

At the risk of giving away my review, this isn’t a great movie, but it is short. Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. It is a much better movie in the first 10 minutes than Singularity (in terms of craft and story), but I felt like it was something that wouldn’t be torture to sit through and watch, unlike Singularity, which promised to be a slog every minute of the way to the end. While watching The Darkest Hour, not only was I surprised at the hour mark that I had made it that far, I saw that I only had an half an hour to go and I powered through it instead of stopping and potentially not coming back to finish watching it. The short time frame is a real bonus here.

The Bad

The script. There are other issues, one of which I’ll talk about in the next section, but primarily the problem rests in the script. I called this a “Russian alien invasion movie,” but really, it is much closer to a “Russian version of Independence Day.” The characterization and plot elements are very reminiscent of that movie, while the actual style is much closer to the Russian movies such as Nightwatch and Daywatch. There’s a real horror vibe to the way the aliens kill humans that creates a fair amount of tension and is one of the best elements of the movie. However, the script undercuts these elements with dialogue that isn’t realistic, with poor characterizations, with predictable scenarios and with some really cheesy moments.

The Ugly

While I’m not usually critical of actors, I have to say that the lead protagonist seemed miscast in the role (or the acting choices that he made didn’t work for me). While he’s portrayed to look like the typical American, that’s not how it comes across to the audience (or to me, at least). He very much has a “Jack Black” look going on and while many of his lines are delivered earnestly, there’s a mischievous look/quality that undercuts most of what he says. In any other movie, he would have been the “troublemaker” character (that goes to someone else in this movie) and he would always be fighting for his own survival. I almost never bought the main character and this consistently took me out of the movie. There are other issues with character choices, but I chalk those up the script.

Also, whenever the aliens aren’t on screen, this movie is much worse. The first 15 minutes, before the aliens show up, are rough, but I could get through it, knowing that they were trying to set up the characters to make you care about them, so that you would feel concerned for what happened to them for the rest of the narrative. However, the last 10 minutes of the movie, the anti-climax of the movie, after the aliens are off the screen, are some of the cheesiest that I’ve ever seen. When you have a supporting character roll their eyes, that should give you pause as a director/screenwriter, to perhaps change/modify that section. The supporting character who rolls their eyes acts as a surrogate for the audience as the ending seems BEYOND forced, having not been earned throughout the narrative.

Grade: 72 (C-)

Rating: 3 out of 5.

This is a very specific grade for me. The movie is below average, no question. However, the first 40-50 minutes of the movie are average/above average due to the tension that the movie is able to create with the way in which the aliens kill. However, it falls down in so many other areas, that I felt that those areas really dragged this movie down. Add to that the questionable casting of the main protagonist and the cheesiness of the first 15 minutes/last 10 minutes of the movie and you have a movie that is definitely below the average movie. The fact that it is very short and that the middle moves at a good clip really redeems this story and lifts it up just enough to be enough of an enjoyable watch and not a waste of time (unlike Singularity promised to be).

What I learned from this movie: that you want to create characters that the reader/viewer/audience cares about before the “strange things” happen. World War Z does this much better and in much less time. That movie is able to humanize the main character in less than 5 minutes of movie time when the narrative “proper” kicks off. It does in 5 minutes, what this movie couldn’t do at all (for me), and now I have a good example and a bad example of how to humanize the main character so that the audience cares about the protagonist.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

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Self-Censorship is VERY Real

[image error] Image Source: https://source.wustl.edu/2020/08/free-speech-nearly-half-of-americans-self-censor-study-finds/

The Spring semester ended about a week ago for me. I thought that I would knock out blog post after blog post and really try to catch up with the blog, but several factors have happened that have kept me from writing (blog or creative writing). While some factors are external, such as issues with my house that I’m struggling to figure out how to fix, or the fact that my eyesight is blurrier than it used to be after an eye infection that appears to be gone now, some of them are internal and that’s what I want to talk about in this post.

PhDs, the “Job Market,” and the Blog

So, even though I am still in the beginning stages of writing my dissertation (currently working on the Introduction), I found out that I should be working on my “job materials” (CV, Teaching Philosophy, basic Cover Letter, etc.) over the summer and that I should probably start sending things out to prospect schools and job listings in the fall. While this is, obviously, another set of “things” to do even while trying to writing the dissertation (including reading for the dissertation, creative writing, trying to write and craft a conference presentation, etc.), there’s one more thing that I should be worried about as well: the Blog.

Not a “Professional” Blog

I know that this blog isn’t professional–i.e., I don’t generally deal with rhetorical ideas/concepts here nor do I apply those theories to popular culture (such as TV shows, movies, or games, although I could). I don’t do the same for film criticism, or any number of academic topics such as critical thinking, interdisciplinary disciplines, or multiculturalism, even though all of these are topics which are, if not specific foci for me, are areas where my academic work/studies have at least touched on over the years. However, because the Blog is considered “social media,” it now lies in that uncomfortable area that makes it something that prospective jobs/search committees might use to qualify/disqualify me for the job.

This is a “Personal” Blog

I’m not really sure how I feel about that. Actually, I do know how I feel . . . I’m just too polite to say it. This Blog is simply a way for me to get better at writing by actually writing. When I started OtherWorlds, blogs had come and gone as a social media tool–the new “hotness” was Facebook and Twitter (without going into politics, we Americans now see that these two platforms–while greatly increasing connectedness among far-flung friends/family/acquaintances also carries some serious downsides). While originally being a simple report on my semi-pro writing career as it developed, it has become a sounding board for me on various topics, most notably popular culture topics that are of interest to me: science fiction, fantasy, and video games.

The Cost of Self-Censoring

As this is a personal blog, there are things that I do here that I probably wouldn’t do in a more professional setting. First off, I don’t generally “edit” (other than a cursory pass before I hit post). I value timeliness over “correctness” with this blog. As such, small grammatical errors (usually homophones) often slip through. Normally, I would obsess over the small details and make sure that errors are at the minimum, but I’d rather work on the blog for an hour or so, make sure there are no major glaring errors, and then hit “publish.”

Secondly, there are topics that I find myself not covering because the whole “self-censorship” issue. For example, to write this blog entry, I stopped working on another post that was half-way finished on Social Media and Critical Thinking (or the lack thereof). I have 26 drafts in my Drafts folder here on WordPress, as noted before, which are in various states of completion that will either be finished or deleted, but they haven’t been worked on because of self-censorship.

Blogging Through the Summer

So, what does all this mean for the Blog? Basically, nothing. I don’t really think that it is fair that my future “professional” job chances will be based on a “personal” blog. I’m using my blog to do what we ask our students to do: to write about writing. While I do other things here besides writing, I’m still using the written word to reflect, to investigate, and to think critically about subjects that are interesting and important to me. I shouldn’t be required to go through 600+ blog posts to make them “perfect” just because someone might see a misuse of they’re/their/there (which I do frequently, not because I don’t know the rules, but because my time is limited and in the heat of drafting, I might make the mistake, but not have enough time to really do a detailed examination of the text to find it and fix it).

One of the issues that affects me is trying to split writing a post over multiple days. This post, which is at 1.5 hours in drafting form, is going to be finished today and posted in about 15 minutes from the time I’m writing these very words. So, finish in about 5 minutes, spend 5-10 minutes finding an image and putting in the Signature, and then a cursory look over of the text, and then post this blog. That is my plan for the summer–to just write and complete blog entries. Some will be longer, some will be shorter, depending on time. Some will do traditional topics (writing, popular culture and the like), but there are going to be other topics that I feel need to be discussed (like Microsoft and the American culture that enables the company’s most egregious tendencies–upcoming blog post).

When I joined the Chattanooga Public Library, I wasn’t writing a Blog, but I was writing creatively and I asked the Assistant Director at the time about their policies on creative writing and I’m going to paraphrase his answer: “your writing is your own.” To all potential job search committee members and others who have hiring power, I challenge you to take his response into account if you look over this Blog to get a sense of who I am (the gracious response) or to see if I’m a trouble-maker who indiscriminately posts things for everyone to see (the non-gracious response).

I’m a writer and a writer writes, so that’s what I’m doing here: writing. This is who I am and what I want to do and is consistent with someone who loves the written word.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

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Academic Writing: Rewriting My CV and Creating a Cover Letter

Image Source: https://wordvice.com/sample-graduate-cv-for-academic-and-research-positions/

So, I’d intended to write a blog post for Wednesday of last week, but I ran out of time. I was working on academic writing for an opportunity that came up that I wanted to try out for. However, that meant getting my Curriculum Vitae (CV) and Cover Letter in shape. In doing so, I learned a little bit about myself as a writer.

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

So, a CV is an essential tool in the academic community. It functions much like a Resume in that it is the primary tool that jobs, search committees, and the like use to vet potential applicants. Like a resume, the CV is supposed to make a good impression and allow you to stand out, but at the same time, follow all the conventions of the genre. However, a Resume isn’t limited to the 1 or 2 pages that a resume is limited to in that it isn’t supposed to be a “brief” listing of previous jobs, but rather a fairly comprehensive “record” of your life on paper. One should be able to get a glimpse at who you are through your CV.

However, in working on my CV, I seemed to have taken this idea of a “record of one’s life” far too literally. A lot of the information on my CV needed to be jettisoned as either redundant or too much about areas of my life that don’t have a purely “academic” focus. I had to really trim it down and focus on one or two key areas under each item rather than giving a huge description and going into a lot of detail about each item on the CV. I have something that I rather like, but it was difficult. I’m thankful that I had a professor who was willing to look over the draft multiple times and help me with it.

Cover Letter

Like the CV, I thought I knew how to write a good cover letter. I’ve always been taught to keep the cover letter at around 1 page. That meant 3 solid paragraphs: one detailing the position and how/where I’d heard about it and why I thought I might be a good candidate for it, a second detailing my relevant experience and my educational achievements (esp. in academia) that made me a good fit for the position (or at the very least, showed why I felt I was able to apply for the position), and third, a final paragraph wrapping everything up and indicating my overall interest in the position. By the time you had the address, salutation, and closing, along with the signature, that was pretty much all there was room for on one page.

However, when I received the feedback, I realized that I needed more–much more–and that I needed to give specifics where I’d written generalities. In other words, the 1 page limit doesn’t hold anymore (at least not in academia). So, I wrote more, but where my professor’s example was a page and a half, mine had ballooned out to 2 pages. When the professor gave me feedback, I saw where she suggested that I eliminate some of the extra that I’d added in. In the end, the draft ended up at about the same one and a half pages that my professor’s example was.

Lessons Learned

So, from this experience, I’ve learned that I tend to “over-write,” especially when I’m trying to give specifics. I’m a person who likes to know exactly what happened and in what context. When I talk to people, I often close my eyes, not because I’m lying to them or have something to hide, but because I want to visualize the scene and recreate it as exactly as possible from memory.

I’m willing to bet that some of my issues in terms of creative writing stem from simply “over-writing.” I’ve been told by an editor or two that the beginning of the story is “slow” which I’m only now coming to understand and parse as probably too much detail (especially at the beginning). However, it is my desire to set the scene and have the reader understand exactly what’s happening. When I don’t do this, I get editors who say my setting is too sketchily rendered and they don’t know where something is happening (this happened on Unhallowed recently). Like the cover letter, I either end up with too little detail or too much. I need to find a “happy medium” or a “Goldilock Zone” for my writing where I can give enough information so that it is relevant, but not so much information that I bore the editors reading the story.

This is something I’m going to work on going forward–trying to find one or two salient details to include in a story for verisimilitude and then hoping those details are strong enough while I continue on with the story itself. I’m also going to watch out for this in my academic writing as well–I’m stuck on the “Introduction” of my dissertation because I can’t seem to find the right “path.” However, I think the right path is already there–my dissertation proposal. I need to use it as my springboard/outline and push forward so that I can make progress on the dissertation.

Somehow, someway, I’ve got to learn to resist the temptation of the “dark side” and falling into the trap of over-writing (which I’m doing now, by the way, on this blog entry). I’ve made the point and now it is time for me to stop writing.

Stop writing, Sidney.

Stop.

Put down the keyboard!

Finis.

End.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric SpecPurchase  HawkeMoon  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindleCurrently Working On (May 2021):Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
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Quick Update

Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyOtpAR3_qo

Sorry for not posting most of the week–I may try to post more next week. This is the last week of classes here at MTSU and Finals Week starts today.

I was sick with a sinus infection last weekend (Thursday night – Sunday night), so I’ve been trying to catch up on grading, setting due dates for the final two assignments, and emailing students to let them know that this is the “home stretch”/last chance to get work to me, so I’ve not had the time to do any blog work.

This post is just a quick note to let people know that the blog should return next week, but this week is pretty much a “wash” for entries. I’m not even going to take the time to put in a “Signature” line for this post, as I’d like to get as much done as possible before having to do a Finals Week “stint” at the Writing Center (remotely) later today. With luck, the posts will resume next week (possibly 1 over the weekend, but more likely, next week). Thanks!

Have a good weekend!

Sidney

Expanse (ReReview) Seasons 1-3

Image Source (be careful–full of *spoilers* for these 3 seasons ): https://www.space.com/the-expanse-seasons-1-3-recap.html

Unlike the multitude of “influencers” on YouTube, I can admit when I’m wrong (there’s a whole blog post on the horizon about that coming soon, don’t worry), and I was wrong when I reviewed the first season. There are many reasons for this, but the number one reason was that it was most often called, “Game of Thrones in space” and I’m not a fan of anything that is even remotely related to that series (books or TV), no matter how good it might be, so that prejudiced my attitude going in, and made me look upon each episode with “dread” before watching it and “disdain” after viewing them. Unlike most folks, I can be upfront about my biases, and to tell me that it is the “Game of Thrones of something” is an immediate turn-off for me no matter how WELL the show is actually presented.

Season 1

Now, to be fair, that’s not the only problem that The Expanse had for me going into it. I know the first season is rough for a lot of shows–many shows don’t even make it past a first or second season these days. However, the first season alone has several issues that kept me at a distance: 1) it does the whole “puzzle box” thing that J. J. Abrams is known for by making the first season essentially a season long mystery where you only have a clue as to what is happening in the last 3 episodes of the season, 2) it has a LOT of arbitrary character deaths in the first season, something I feel is often unnecessary and a cheap way of raising tension/character jeopardy, and 3) unlikable characters as many of the characters are so unlikable that it was hard . . . no, nigh impossible to find a character to root for and to really make me want to become invested in the show. No disrespect to the actor who plays Amos Burton as I’ve seen him on YouTube and who seems to a wonderful person, but the character of Amos was written particularly “poorly” (in my mind) in that first season. Even the “Miller” storyline wasn’t interesting to me because, as someone who saw Bladerunner when it first released back in the 80s, Miller seemed much like a “low-rent” TV version of Deckard from Bladerunner and I much preferred BR’s noir aesthetics to the semi-noir of Ceres Station on the show. It was only in the last 3 episodes did I even remotely begin to enjoy the show and I’m not sure that I even saw the last two episodes of Season 1 on my first pass of Season 1.

Season 2

Like Season 1, I had to watch it two times before I finally began to figure out how the show worked, find characters that I could identify with, and move to some sort of compromise with the show. Again, the hold-up was the way that the character of Amos was portrayed in the early episodes. However, on the second viewing, I was able to get through the first two episodes and from episode 3 on (but especially 4 and 5), I found that the “plot” complications and events really were so interesting that it helped me to overcome my ambivalence to the characters. While later episodes in the season weren’t as tension filled, they gave enough context, background, and some tension for me to keep going with the series. It also introduced the concept that really got me hooked: The Rocinante. The Rocinante (or “Roci” which is the affectionate nickname given to it on the show and by fans) is a spaceship that the characters “obtain” at the end of Season 1. In essence, the show goes from being a part sci-fi, part noir cop tv show to a “spaceship” show (one of my favorite genres). Also, they introduce new characters for the story and one of those characters, Prax, really helped to humanize Amos’s character for me and began a “redemption” arc for the character to me. While not my favorite season, Season 2 really began to move the show into territories that I like a lot more. Both Holden and Naomi began to be characters that I wanted to root for and who I wanted to see succeed in this series. It also introduced Bobbi, a Martian marine, whose character, like Amos was unlikable at the beginning of the Season, but was someone who I really began to like by the end of the season. Her storyline, along with the characters associated in that storyline, were extremely compelling as well.

Season 3

Yes, I know there are 5 seasons currently with a final 6th season coming later, but in the interests of time, I’m going to stop with Season 3 and do a ReReview of Seasons 4 and 5 in a later post.

Season 3 is perhaps my favorite season so far! It had EVERYTHING that I wanted in a show in this season. The characters (ALL of them) really came into their own here and I found myself rooting for all of them, Amos included, which is a far cry from my thought process about Season 1. I wanted them ALL to succeed and to stay with the Rocinante. The first half of the season is a continuation from the last half of Season 2 and continues/concludes that particular storyline. I enjoyed that part of the season quite a bit, and I thought that the series couldn’t get any better. Boy, was I wrong. Sy-Fy, the original airing channel, had canceled the series and the creators had to struggle to give the show some sort of “wrap-up” to the season and compressed the storyline of the books into the final half of the season. I’ve read/seen an interview where the creators said that this was extremely hard/stressful for them, but I think they did they’re finest work on the show with this last half of the season. Everything just worked for this–setting, characterization, plot with tension and complications, theme, everything. This last half of the season is what I hope to achieve when I “grow up” as a writer–it was magnificent. Each episode, I intended to stop watching, and for each episode, I got to the cliffhanger ending and just had to see the next episode to find out what happened! To say that this is where I truly changed my opinion on the show and became a fan of The Expanse would not be inaccurate/wrong. I realized just how good the show was with this season in general with this last half of the season in particular. I can’t give enough superlatives to this season, so I’ll just say it again, I was wrong about The Expanse! With Season 3, it became one of the best sci-fi shows out there and one of my favorite “spaceship” shows that I dropped everything to watch when Amazon Prime TV picked up the show starting with Season 4.

If you want a more in-depth explanation of the show, you can find it here (be careful–this is full of *spoilers*–and is meant to get people caught up for Season 4 of the show): https://www.space.com/the-expanse-seasons-1-3-recap.html

Well, that’s all I have time for today–more on this show in a future post, so look out for it, if you liked this post! Have a great weekend!

Sidney

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