Why I Love Ulquiorra from “Bleach”

There’s so much I should be doing with my life right now and writing this is not something I should be doing.

Honestly, anime isn’t really my cup of tea. Granted, I’ve only watched two in their entirety, but generally it’s not something that’s appealed to me. I’m really not fond of the way a lot of the (drawn out, never ending) fight scenes play out. I hate when a character goes “Ah, you seem surprised that your shininosuma attack fire x-z did not damage me. It is due to this, my shield protect fiyazuma, a result of my years of training and hey why don’t you break out some tea and let’s sit down and I will explain every detail of my fighting style and how I will use it to beat you.” What is this. I don’t know want an encyclopedia. Just stab the motherfucker already, don’t stand around talking about it!

But if they did that then they’d have to come up with some new way to fill up time, and it’d probably involve objectifying women’s bodies. OH WAIT THEY ALREADY DO THAT. Yeah I don’t know what they’d do then.

Regardless, I’ve watched 200 some episodes of Bleach. I haven’t seen any of the new ones from the past few months, but even though Bleach definitely falls into that “I will explain everything while fighitng” annoyance of mine (what anime doesn’t, though) it’s got an intriguing plot and some really awesome characters running around that make it great.

There’s quite a few characters I grew to like while (somewhat forcibly) watching the series, but I, like almost every other person in the world who’s watched Bleach, was really interested in Ulquiorra. And no I still can’t say that fucker’s name.

Ulquiorra is one of the ten Espada that guard super-evil-main-antagonist Aizen. It’s been a while since I watched the series, but the Espada are basically hollows (evil...heartless? things) that have gotten so crazy powerful they have regained humanoid forms. Because now this lets us draw them with expressions and pointy colorful hair!

But, essentially, the Espada are all evil guys. And each Espada is meant to embody death in some way, based on their own view about life (what). Ulquiorra’s is something like super depression. I don’t quite recall.

I think Ulquiorra is interesting because he is one of those tragic evil fellows, but not in the sense that he’s like “oh lament me I had no choice!” He never really seems to question his tasks, motives, the harm and death he causes. He doesn’t seem hung up, he doesn’t appear to have a conscience or any moral hang ups about the generally terrible things he does. And yet, it’s much easier to pity him rather than hate him.

I can’t place my finger on why. I think part of it is that you can see the way he just doesn’t understand. He literally has no concept of love. That’s painful to watch, to see someone who is strong and resolute for a damaging cause, and for no real reason. He’s just so empty, you have to feel sorry for that.

What really makes it worse, I think, is the fact that he remains a bad guy to the end, but you can see in his very last dying moment the potential for something else. That’s what makes him truly tragic for me. The way he seems to just grasp the concept of caring at the very end of his life, like three seconds before he dies.

Damn! It makes you want him to come back, it makes you want him to not be dead. It makes you really miss this soulless dude who was determined to kill the protagonist of the series.

Probably one of my favorite fictional villains, all in all. That’s one of the trickiest things, I think, to create a villain who is sympathetic, or maybe even likable, on some level, who is actually mourned when he dies, while keeping him an antagonist.  

PLUS LET'S BE HONEST HE LOOKS LIKE A BADASS

Chola: Lady Gaga and “Born This Way”

Don’t be a drag, just be a queen
Whether you’re broke or evergreen
You’re black, white, beige, Chola descent
You’re Lebanese, you’re Orient
Whether life’s disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
‘Cause baby you were born this way

- Lady Gaga, "Born This Way"

Let's talk about this.

So Lady Gaga’s smashing, self-empowering single “Born This Way” came out a while ago, accompanied by a whatthefucktastic music video that involved boatloads of metaphors and tributes, more imagery than you’ll find being discussed in an English graduate student’s thesis, and more of Gaga running around in shiny faux leather bras and panties (how cutting edge and original).

The single has come under some scrutiny, however, because of its use of the words ‘chola’ and ‘orient’ (among other things). I’m really more concerned with the usage of the word chola, in terms of the fact that is coupled with the idea you should be proud to be of “chola descent,” because to me, that makes chola a type of race, as opposed to a label/lifestyle, which then equates all of the female hispanic community to being of “chola descent,” perhaps then implying they are all cholas.

But wait! Because before we can even go into that argument, we need to figure out what Lady Gaga is talking about. Stupid me, when I heard ‘chola,’ I thought if it in the urban-slang sense that is most commonly used today and the way my people I know use it. Let’s turn to the ever so dainty Urban dictionary to proffer up some definitions:

1. A chola is a firme hyna (latina) that wears a lot of makeup: thick eyeliner, liquid eyeliner on top going out of your eye dark brown or red lipstick and eyebrows drawn on or really thin. We mostly have permed hair with hella gel or straight and arched on top. We kick it with people in our own barrio and not really claiming a color mainly your raza. (Brown Pride) or (Barrio)and wear baggy or tight cloths with nike cortez shoes. 

2. hardcore latina gangbangers. They usually have thin, arched, angry looking tattooed-on or penciled-on eyebrows, brown or dark red lip liner, 'Monroe', eyebrow and nose piercings, tats, Converse or Nikes, flannel shirts, lots of gold jewlrey (with their name and crosses), crunchy gelled or moussed hair either down or gelled in a high perfect ponytail either straight back or gelled in a design, and they go out with cholos.

So basically, a Latina with strong gang associations. This more often than not the way ‘chola’ is used today.

But, perhaps, not how Lady Gaga used it!

Says one person on a Lady Gaga message board, in response to all those silly people who are such tightasses as to get offended by the use of chola, “I hope you realize she is alluding to the Chola Dynasty of Southern India.” As obvious proof, they offer up a link to a wikipedia article on the Chola Dynasty.

First of all, that’s not proof of the fact that Lady Gaga intended to refer to those who have descended from an empire that, according to the convenient wikipedia article, ended its reign in 13 AD. Proof would be Lady Gaga explicly stating, “When I use the term ‘Chola Descent’ I mean those people who are descended from or have cultural roots in a South Indian dynasty.” That’s proof, sir. Otherwise I could go around proving beer is not an alcoholic drink because it comes in the same bottle as root beer.

OH WHAT’S THAT YOU SAY THAT WOULDN’T WORK?

No shit.

But let’s operate under the assumption, for a second, that Lady Gaga is actually quite the history buff and has a certain level of appreciation for a history of Indian dynasties. And she really might.

That being said - is it still right for her to use the term ‘Chola,’ even if it is being used with the intent to instill cultural pride and a feeling of self-empowerment for Indians, when in present day the word is more strongly associated with the Latina gang banger image (and even then, that’s really an image more specific to certain areas of the United States; in other Latin-American countries, the term is read as even more offensive)?

Are we censoring her by telling her ‘you can’t say that’? Well, what if she said the N-word? And I’m not equating chola to the word ‘nigger’ which is a way more charged and offensive term, which is why I’m using it to make this point. What if she said ‘Nigger descent’? And then claimed, oh, I was using it in the 18th century sense, when everyone just tossed the word around and it was no big deal. But you can’t do that, we might say, because the word means a different thing today.

Of course, that isn’t entirely applicable to the case of ‘chola,’ because we’re talking about two different definitions as opposed to one changing definition as in the case of nigger. But Lady Gaga is a huge pop cultural icon and should understand that in pop culture, chola exists, not in relation to the Chola Dynasty of 13 AD, but as a way to label Latina women in what is generally a negative way.

But here’s what I think is the real issue of the case - looking at the people who are defending Gaga in her use of these words:

“What a load of BULL...IT IS BLOODY OBVIOUS SHE'S NOT MAKING RACIAL DIGS! SERIOUSLY, WHY WOULD LADY GAGA MAKE A SONG HAVING A GO AT A BUNCH OF RANDOM GIRLS! I DON'T GET WHY PEOPLE READ INTO STUFF SO MUCH! SHE'S TRYING TO SING ABOUT A NICE SUBJECT LIKE WE ARE ALL BORN THIS WAY AND SHOULD BE TREATED EQUAL NO MATTER WHAT YET EVERYTHING HAS TO BE BLOODY TWISTED!”

“Why don't you stop commenting on everything! How are they easy to make a rhyme? she took time writing and producing this song! Making sure that everyone could feel included in it. You're obviously going overboard. Orient and Chola are only derogatory if you use them that way. She obviously wasn't! You must be a Britney fan. Right?”

“If you just took your hater shades off (I don't know what else to call it), along with all those other people against gaga, and SEE how this woman talks about her fans, and see the LOVE she has for her little monsters, then you would understand.”

“why are people getting so worked up over those lyrics she just telling you that no matter any race you can overcome anything. jesus christ people grow the eff up”

This is the problem. This is why racism exists today. I’m not calling Lady Gaga racist and I’m not calling her supporters racist, but I think someone could make an argument that did so. Here’s what I have to say. Fuck everyone who says "stop making a big deal guys focus on the love of the message it's not racist or offensive" Because people like that, with those view points, are the reasons that acts of less-visible but still very harmful racism are existent in places like our own government. The fact is words like chola have existence beyond whatever your intended meaning is. There are certain connotations and social images associated with a word like chola. Lady Gaga can’t be excused for ‘not meaning it that way’ because then anyone can get away with acts of racism by saying ‘oh it’s a joke’ or ‘oh I didn’t mean it to be offensive.’ What you mean as opposed to what someone interprets are two very different things that are both equally important; you cannot just dismiss those people who do not agree with your vision. ‘Those people don’t see that it’s really about love! Their opinion is not valid!’ That’s where the real silencing comes in.

I don’t care how much love Lady Gaga has for her fans. That is irrelevant to the point, other than that the blind worship people have for her encourages them to disregard the possible racist connotations her song presents. Intentions and meaning only go so far. Art is risky in that once you produce it, it’s no longer yours. It’s free to interpretation, even if that means it is interpreted in such a way as you may have never planned.

And the Lady Gaga fans win. Because either you’re on their side, or you just don’t have any side at all - if you find this song to be racist, then you just don’t understand and need to “grow the eff up.” You have no side because your opinion is not valid.

People need to realize racism is not just old prejudiced white men in bed sheets burning down the houses of black men and women. Those acts of racism are easy to define, and so it’s easy to compare all racist acts to such an archetype, so that we almost have a scale by which to evaluate what’s racist and to what degree. But the really frightening racism is the type that exists in a more coded way, the type that does not blatantly scream ‘I hate these people.’ It’s sneakier and uses different issues and different language to talk about the same thing, and it’s very dangerous. Because that’s the type that seeps into our government.

I’m not saying Lady Gaga hates hispanic people. I think she does try to keep an open mind. But the fact that she would think it acceptable to use the phrase ‘chola descent’ is indicative of a racial, prejudiced society, one in which the racism is so seeped within our society that we’ve internalized certain doctrines that we take to be normal and inoffensive when, on the contrary, they can be quite offensive. So that even Lady Gaga, ‘mother monster’ and torch-bearer of all things that had their lunch money swiped from them in grade school, would not stop to question the true, underlying meaning of what certain words mean in our society today.


Comments were taken from these websites:
http://www.mylatinovoice.com/music-and-arts/13-music/2637-lady-gaga-a-racist-born-this-way-stirs-controversy.html
http://www.ladygaga.com/forum/default.aspx?tid=476787&cid=454

Bobby Flay

Let's talk about someone I hate

BOBBY FLAY

WHAT A DOUCHE AMIRITE

No seriously

AUUGGHHH

IT BURNSSS SO HIDEOUS

Garlic is to Vampires as Bobby Flay is to Me
Kryptonite is to Superman as Bobby Flay is to Me
Quality Programming is to ABC Family as Bobby Flay is to Me

Look at his little douche hipster chef scarf that he's half-assedly wearing in that picture. Over a suit and tie!? What is that even.

Jesus he looks the child of a chipmunk and a burnt omelet. 

There was a time in my life when I didn't have this terrible burning rage for Bobby Flay.

I just thought he was one of the many douchebags that are always floating around. You find them on television a lot, actually.

But goddamn! Have you seen Throwdown with Bobby Flay? Talk about the most conceited show ever.

"HELLO YES MY NAME IS BOBBY FLAY CERTAINLY YOU HAVE HEARD OF IT I AM QUITE FAMOUS. BUT HM MAYBE NOT ENOUGH YET PEOPLE KNOW WHO I AM. I SHOULD ADD A TWENTIETH SHOW TO MY ROSTER. PERHAPS I WILL DO ONE WHERE I FIND HOMEGROWN AMERICANS, YES, PERHAPS PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED, RESTAURANT-RUNNING CHEFS (IT IS SAD THAT PEOPLE LIKE THAT EXIST), PEOPLE WHO HAVE ONLY ONE SMALL CLAIM TO FAME - A FAMILY RECIPE, PERHAPS, OR THAT ONE DISH THAT THEY HAVE PERFECTED AND THAT BRINGS THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER. YES I WILL FIND THESE PEOPLE AND THEN I WILL CRUSH THEM. I MEAN CHALLENGE THEM. JUST A WHOLESOME FOOD CHALLENGE. TO SHOW THAT BOBBY FLAY IS THE BEST THAT EVERYONE IS GOOD AT SOMETHING. but not as good as me."

God.

When will the mothership claim him.

Full Length

Gather round, and listen to the story of The Friday Night I Visited Home and The Shennanigans that Pursued.

It was a regular Friday night, glorious by the virtue of the fact that it was Friday and all the shit of that week had been properly waded through and we had successfully popped out the other end, with the beginning of a joyous weekend to look forwards to. 

My family and I were sitting in the living room, engaging in a popular American past time traditionally referred to as "sitting around and eating while watching TV." It was then that fate raised its delicate hand and prodded my younger brother to move with it.

My brother is a ninth grader named Michael and is almost mostly all of what you'd expect from a ninth grade boy.

Michael, imbued with fate, rose from the couch and began to cross the room.

It was then that my mother, previously the perfect picture of calm with her cup of tea and relaxed in the rocking chair, suddenly grabbed Michael by the shoulders. Her eyes grew to the size of Olympic discuses, and her mouth became wider than that of a hula hoop specially designed for the world's fattest man. She exclaimed, "What is THAT?"

My brother, in response to this sudden confrontation, doubled up with immediate laughter. My father and I exchanged looks, as lost in the conversation as the Pope in an Alaskan recycling plant.

Michael remained doubled over as my mother reached over and peeled a sticker from my brother's lovely generic red shirt, and held it up with an expression of half-bemusement, half "how in the world did this thing I did birth think this would ever be an intelligent act" so that my dad and I could see what all the hulabaloo was about.

What she held was a transparent, rectangular clothing sticker that had "FULL LENGTH" printed on it in bold typeface. It had been, apparently, originally on my brother's pants and Michael, ever the opportunist, thought it an ingenious action to transfer the sticker from his pants to his shirt.

Oh, the hilarity! The implications! The innuendo!

I thought it was pretty funny. Mom had other opinions. Judging from the way dad rolled his eyes, I figured he might be in agreement.

The subject was dropped when Michael continued his quest to the kitchen in search of pie, and we resumed our American TV watching traditions.

But as commercial break rolled around, the subject resurfaced like a dead body carelessly tossed in a lake with all the future ramifications of equalizing density carelessly forgotten about.

My mom was back on it. "Don't tell me any girls noticed it!" Always a top concern with the mother.

"Eh," replies my brother with all the enthusiasm of a salted slug.

The conversation continues. My mom asks who saw it. My brother informs her a scholarly peer of his, Morgana, inquired as to what the sticker's purpose was. Alas, poor innocent Morgana, completely at the mercy of my brother and his perverted ninth grade intentions. My mother empathizes.

"NO!" She practically roars, again with the half bemusement, half horror. I felt a chill as the demons of hell that powered my mother's outraged cries flew forth from her vocal chords and passed by me. "I HOPE YOU DIDN'T TELL HER IT WAS ABOUT YOUR PENIS BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE DISGUSTING!"

Ah! My mother has done it, and mentioned the dreaded P-WORD. The subtlety shattered like stained glass in a church. My dad rolled his eyes.

"OH MICHAEL," continues my mother, "YOU ARE GOING TO BECOME WEIRD TO GIRLS!"

I can't help but notice the subtle implication that he is not yet weird to girls.

"I can't believe it Michael, oh my gosh." My mother goes through Stages of Michael. They are similar to Stages of Grief, but deal with the stages she passes through upon learning that my brother has done something wonderfully stupid. She is approaching the Acceptance stage, which ironically enough is marked with phrases of "I can't believe it Michael, I can't believe it."

"It's okay, she knows me!" replies Michael.

My mother, quite rightfully, responds, "Oh God. I don't know if that means good or bad."

"Fine mom." The battle is almost done. Michael is conceding ground. "I promise not to make anymore penis jokes in front of girls."

*For the record my mother would kill me if I made any association between her and demons from hell.

Sidekicks

I will always prefer the tunes of those who play second fiddle.

OH LOL WAS THAT CORNY AS HELL OR WHAT. Cornier than an Iowa farm!

No no, in honesty though. This is something I've come to realize a lot. I was making a list one day of characters who I fell in love with from books and TV shows and the like to gain inspiration for characters of my own to write about, and I came up with a list something like this:

1. Nightcrawler (X-Men comics)
2. Tobias (Sweeney Todd, musical)
3. Samneric (Lord of the Flies)
4. Ron Weasley (Harry Potter)
5. Tweek (South Park)
6. Merry and Pippin (Lord of the Rings, movie)
7. Flycatcher (Fables)
8. Jasper (Twilight) (Go ahead and judge me I can take it)

And it went on and on, and continues to go on and on. Like right now I'd add Evra from the Cirque Du Freak series for sure because I love that guy.

But I'm realizing a trend, and when I was talking to my friend about one of these characters once he commented how I never go for the heroes. I always fall in love with their side kicks or the comic relief bits. I was wondering about that (also you could argue that some characters I listed are a mix of main and sidekick types - like Nightcrawler, but don't get me started on that).

I think it's because in the formula for your book, a lot of the good stories have the plot riding on the main character. The hero needs to be someone who can drive the plot forwards, and in a lot of the books or movies or shows I've read/watched and overall enjoyed, this has often required a certain kind of character. The hero needs to have certain qualities, like bravery or acceptance or something of the like, in order to be the hero. A lot of the characters I like can't really hold a story on their own. But that's why I like them. I think the main characters get imbued with certain traits, which means all the fun quirks and interesting character designs and flaws get gifted to the extra characters, the ones who don't have to worry about the weight of the world (so to speak) and are there for relief, to add to the backdrop or aid/hurt the hero.

Even with my villains  I tend to veer like that. I won't go all into it, but in terms of Batman I'm more a Scarecrow than Joker type. Scarecrow's big in his own name, but amongst the rogue gallery he could do with a little more respect.

I find this crops up in my writing a lot. My main characters are either more sidekick types who follow a "hero" character, but keep the focus of the story on themselves, or I use the blandest most stereotypical type A hero to simply drive the story along, while putting all my creative energies into the cast of characters that surround this hero. It's interesting to see this and realize how I need to adjust the balance.

There's not much of a point to this. I guess I'm curious as to how many other people might feel like this. Obviously, I'm a huge sidekick fan. For me, they're like the toppings on a pizza; you could have it with just cheese, but how lame would that be?*

*I recognize the fail value of this metaphor. Made doubly fail by the fact that I actually love cheese pizza. Whatever.

Why I Love issue 1 of "Young Avengers Presents: Patriot"

 The Young Avengers is a fictional superhero team based in the Marvel Universe, consisting of seven teenage heroes who each pattern themselves after a certain member of the legit Avengers team (go check wikipedia on this because I'm not aboutta go into all this history). It's one of the freaking best series of comics out there, and there aren't even that many issues of this gang out there, making it a really easy series to catch up and understand. I'd invest.

"Young Avengers Presents" was a six series mini in which each issue focused on a certain Young Avenger (or two, in the case of Billy and Tommy's issue). The first one focused on Patriot, the leader of the Young Avengers, and his struggle as a young black man, calling himself "Patriot" in a time when he's finding it hard to scrape together anything to love about his country.

For those of you too uninterested in clicking the wikipedia link I so thoughtfully placed within this post, let me give you a brief breakdown on Patriot. Patriot's grandpa, Isaiah Bradley, is the unofficial original Captain America; before the first Super Soldier Serum was given to the skinny philanthropist Steve Rogers,  Marvel history writes that a preliminary serum was tested on African-American soldiers. Of course, the serum had devastating effects (read: death) on its subjects, and all the test soldiers died except Isaiah, who went AWOL to stop the Germans from creating their own Super Soldiers. Of course, instead of being rewarded for his hard work, in typical American style, the white leaders freak out and try to cover the whole thing up and Isaiah is court-martialed and locked away. He emerges from the experience a changed man and rarely talks.

Okay, fast-forward some number of years later. His grandson, Eli Bradley (Patriot) is in an accident and gets a blood transfusion from his grandpa, inheriting his grandpa's super powers.

That's all the context for now. Let's get into why I love this issue by kicking it off with an extremely long exceprt!

Oh wait  I lied here comes some more context. The beginning of this issue kicks off with Eli giving a presentation about the Tuskegee experiment. In response to his (rightly) critical presentation of race and America, his (white) classmates tease him, shouting things such as "You're racist! Everything's about race to you!"

Hence Eli's struggle as a black teenage superhero calling himself Patriot when America sucks ass.

The issue ends with one of the greatest pieces of dialogue I've ever read, between Eli and Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier (way too much history for me to cover there so, once again, check out the thoughtfully placed link right there).

OH GOD MORE CONTEXT WAIT - this issue was fairly recent, taking place after the Civil War (aka the death of Captain America), but before his return. Hence why they are depressed and talking about his death and all that fun stuff OKAY.

Patriot: Um...so why were you at my place today? Talking to my Grandpa.
 

Winter Soldier: I wanted to pay my respects, I suppose. And talk to someone who wore the uniform...your granddad's a real hero. I think Steve would've liked him a lot, if they'd met back then.
 

P: Yeah, I think so, too...I guess.
 

WS: What's on your mind Eli?
 

P: I don't know...a bunch'a stuff...I mean...You know about my Grandpa, and what they did to him...and you know how this country has treated black people, like...a lot. And, I don't know...I guess I set out to honor my grandpa. And then after I met Cap...your Cap...I stopped being angry so much.
 

WS: But now?
 

P: Now that he's dead, and with the whole registration thing and all...I don't know what it means anymore. To be a black kid calling myself "Patriot," y'know? 'Cause I don't really feel like I love this country a lot of the time
 

WS: I know what you mean...but...man, this was way more Steve's territory than mine...But I think you have to realize that America is bigger than its politics or its problems. Steven would say, America is an idea. But I'm not sure i really know what that means, sometimes.
 

P: Yeah, me either.
 

WS: See, Steve always tried to see the best in everyone, and I'm not like that. But I'm trying to be, you know? I think, just like most people, America isn't just one thing. It's not just slavery and what happened to the Indians. It's not just what happened to your Granddad. It's also the New Deal, and the Civil Rights Movement, and democracy...
 

P: And Martin Luther King.
 

WS: Yeah. But really, if I were you, I'd be having a hard time carrying that name, too. The difference is, I knew the first man to carry [the name of Patriot]...Jeff Mace. And I think Jeff would be proud to have someone as smart and brave as you keeping the name alive. Just like he kept Cap's name alive for a time. Awhile back, during that whole Super Hero Civil War, I remember reading some editorial...someone saying Cap was in the wrong, out of step with the public....that he needed to "find America again," or some nonsense.
 

P: Yeah, I remember that, too.
 

WS: And all I could think was, No...America needs to find him. Because if there were more people here like him, or like your Granddad...then maybe it'd be easier for a kid like you to call yourself a Patriot. I know, just like you, Steve hated a lot of things this country has done. But somehow, he still managed to see the dream. The idea that made this place great to begin with. So, maybe that's what it means for you now. It means trying to live up to that legacy.
 

P: Huhn...Yeah. Maybe. I think I get you.
 

WS: Good, 'cause I have no idea what my point is.
 

P: Sure you do. You just miss him.

This conversation is what really makes the issue for me. Reading this, I get that same feeling when I'm listening to a song and I think "Oh god, it's like this song is written for me!" The issue of what patriotism is, of how you can love your country when there just seems to be so much wrong with it, is something that resonates strongly within me. We've come a long way, but America is still a mess in plenty of places with plenty of obvious spots for critique. Afghanistan, Iraq War, the obvious racism and sexism that is still existent in politics, the media, the societies we live in - hell, take a look at just our politics. The stupidity of certain politicians (or ex-politicians) and all the media attention they garner, in spite of their idiocy or irrelevance, drives me insane.

And it's obvious I'm not the only one that feels this way. The recent Colbert/Stewart rally seems a large reminder of the fact that despite what the newsreels play, Americans are not cut and dry as overtly liberal Democrats or staunchly conservative Republicans, and most of them don't want you to forget that. Bucky himself touches on this in his talk.

In fact, Bucky touches on a lot of things, and my heart melted a little bit with almost every single point he made. In particular, when tells Eli, "But I think you have to realize that America is bigger than its politics or its problems. Steve would say, America is an idea. But I'm not sure i really know what that means, sometimes."

I love that. Because I realized, that is really something you have to do. And it seems so obvious, but truly, it's not. My best friends are Americans. My home and family exist in a neighborhood in a state in America. My favorite little family-run deli with the absolute best calzones and meatball subs I have ever tasted in my life is a little deli that exists in this country. I'm an American. The teachers and people I've met who make me push my boundaries, re-evaluate what I've always known, urge me to keep my mind open and be critical of everything are people who teach in this country, as both people who were born and raised in it and others who immigrated to it. America is bigger than its politics or its problems.

It really is easy to get caught up in the politics, to think how embarrassing we must look to the rest of the country. I've been there, on the online forums or gaming sites where you have UK players shouting "America sux!1!!!1!!" and actually feeling myself agreeing with these illiterate internet trolls. If only I was as literate and strong minded as the Winter Soldier.

Patriotism isn't something to be ashamed of, though it is something to be careful of and carefully defined. It's interesting how the first scene in the issue presents a history class, and how the class calls Eli unpatriotic and implies his hate towards America, simply because he chose to report on one of the darker sides of America (and I stress, one of, since this country has plenty of darker sides to it). Too much cynicism, as Eli seems to grapple with, isn't a great thing, but neither is the opposite - overt, naive patriotism, as is represented by his classmates.

I actually just finished reading an article on this by Thomas J. Schlereth, where he argues the six fallacies of history. The overarching theme of the article (chapter, actually, from his book I believe) is the way historical texts and museums (including living museums, such as Colonial Williamsburg) easily distort history and how this knowledge feeds into the public and alters their perception of America's history. One large distortion is the focus of representation on the good parts of America, the focus on our victories and less so on our defeats or the many, many errors our country has made. People don't realize how much life in the past actually sucked, how hard it was, how much people had to fight and how many people were downtrodden and forgotten about in the textbooks written by the victors, who were more often than not white males. Our history is often given a limited view, one we look at through those nice rose-tinted glasses we so often hear about.

American history is a tricky, multifaceted thing, but it's important to understanding the present, and, I'd say, to respecting it as well. As Bucky says, America, like its people, isn't just one thing, and in understanding that, only then do we really become close to truly understanding America - as an ideal, as a person, as an ideology, as a belief - as a country. 

All images and dialogue (c) Marvel.

Hollywood's Hotties and Heros

I find the use of hot, Hollywood sexpots in Superhero roles interesting.


Generally, I'm thinking of Halle Berry, Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Boobface when I'm talking on this matter.

What I mean is, when you look at comic book culture, the first thing that pops into most people is the archetypal nerd. The 35-year-old man in the XXXL T-Shirt, probably sporting some wacky internet reference that only the people in his WoW guild would understand, lives in his mom's basement, and can name all 50,000 current pokemon types but can't list more than one date he's been on. Now you take this guy, the (stereotypical) representative of ultra-lameness, and then on the opposite end of the scale, on the ultra-coolness side, we have it being represented by the lovely starlettes and success types such as the aforementioned Hollywood Hotties.

Obviously, a lot wrong with that idea. The comic book culture is not soley defined by such couch potato luggabouts. I'm a big comic book fan and I will guarantee you I do not fit that mold, and I actually don't know any other comic fans that do fit it (I can see some as that guy in a couple years, but at the moment, not a chance). But let's pretend we're not trying to be politically correct, and the point I'm making is that generally hot chicks + comic books = nerd's dream fantasty aka not realistic.

And so now here we have the super hero movie, which has been enjoying a successful run recently, and we see that it's employed its fair share of eye candy, and here I'm talking of the variety possessing breasts (not that there aren't breastless ones; I will not argue that Ryan Reynolds is something to be ignored - but I digress). And to me, it sometimes feels like a betrayal of the genre, of the story - and lemme tell ya, comics can really have story. Comics can be deep, thoughtful, provoking. It is not all men with rippling biceps and off-the-charts testosterone levels or women with astronomical tit-sizes that threaten to break free of their sexy spandex costumes that must be super glued to their body.

But anyway, I'm having some trouble staying on track, so here's an example. Halle Berry in the X-Men franchise (one of my personal favorites). Now, in my opinion, she does a less that stellar performance in this series. In fact, I'm going to go so far as to say she does a relatively shittastic job, actually. The character she plays, Storm, is one of the most quintessential X-Men characters, and, in addition to being strong as a major player in the X-Men universe, she's played a powerful role as being one of the first strong, black, female leads in the Marvel comic world. Her character in itself is generally one to be admired; Storm is driven by a heavy moral compass, seeks to protect the weak from the bullish strong, is powerful but not corrupt, and has been party to saving the world any number of times. Halle Berry's Storm? Yeah, she throws around some cool CGI weather effects, gets a haircut between X2 and X-Men 3 and probably stops traffic in her leathertight outfit, but other than that she's nothing. You could put some legs on a plastic waterbottle and have it act out Storm and I'd be more interested.

Not to say attractive woman can't play superhero roles. Because look at Katie Holmes and Gwyneth Paltrow; they play excellent roles. But there's the thing! Surely Hollywood can find some attractive ladies (since you can't be in Hollywood without being attractive in most cases, it seems) that also have talent, instead of thinking "I know! We'll really hook the nerds by getting the chick with the biggest rack we can find to act out this role!" I mean, Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow. I'm sure there were plenty of Natasha fans getting hot and pleasantly bothered at the news when it first came out. But when I watched her in Iron Man 2 (which had a couple of flaws in itself but ANYWAY) I was mostly disappointed. I mean come on, didn't even get a Russian accent from her. And that's all I really wanted.

I think what this boils down to is: Attractive people who can't act for shit generally make me an unhappy camper, and when they are in a movie that is otherwise excellent, they make me an even unhappier camper, like one who's stuck in the rain and a bear came and ate my food and is in my tent looking for more and so I'm stuck up a tree and accidentally sat on a pinecone so now I've got this terribly uncomfortable thing shoved up my ass and it's just an all around bad situation. Superhero movies are great! I love them. I think a lot of them have done a lot to really expose the genre for what it can be, which is more than what people may think it is at the moment. But falling back on the idea that all people really want to see is hotties in spandex takes away from it. Not to say it isn't present in hundreds of genres of films, but it's the superhero genre I'm talking about here.

This has been a wandering post, and that's because my mind tends to wander on the issue. I can't really pinpoint what it is that really bothers me about this. Maybe it's that you cast someone who is so obviously so removed from their role, who is so opposite of the culture they're mostly appealing to, who doesn't have talent and can just walk into a storyline as a character that maybe I happen to care deeply about, and then just stomp all over it in their killer four-inch-heels.


*Check the inconsistent capitalization of Superhero throughout this post that I was too lazy to change.