Yearly Archives: 2016

Book Reviews, Non Fiction

Book Review – Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey

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If you want to read ghost stories, read something besides this book. Certainly, Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places contains ghost stories, but if you’re looking for titillating tales of terror for an autumn evening, you won’t find it here. Colin Dickey’s Ghostland isn’t about scaring its readers; rather, it’s a smartly eclectic work of history that looks to examine the whole ghost story phenomenon. Why do we tell ghost stories? Whose stories get told? What do these stories tell us about the places and people with which they’re associated? What do these stories say about the ways in which we, as a society, interact with death and with history? How do ghost stories help us connect with our past—and in what ways do they help us disconnect from aspects of the past that are unpleasant? If Dickey isn’t entirely successful in answering all these questions, he’s nonetheless crafted an engaging work of popular history that does a great job of introducing these ideas to the reader and encouraging further inquiry.

Ghostland is at its strongest early on, and Dickey’s exploration of the Winchester house in San Jose, California remains my favorite part of the book. Born and raised in Ohio, myself, I’d only heard the sensationalized story of the house and its unusual history, so it was wonderful to read such a thorough and well-researched counterpoint to the more mystical narrative. I appreciate the more feminist interpretation of Sarah Winchester’s life, although I must admit that I sometimes think Dickey’s conclusions about her motives are a bit of a stretch. Even if this is the case, however, the story and the way that it’s been embroidered and exploited over the years still serves as a perfect illustration of the points Dickey is trying to make about the way that female eccentricity is peculiarly pathologized. I tweeted early on while reading the book that the read would be worth it for this chapter alone, which is still true, but the whole book is packed full of these sorts of fresh looks at old stories.

Dickey’s thoughtful analysis touches on issues of gender but also includes issues of race and delves into some of the uglier episodes of U.S. history. Some of his chapters, such as those dealing with the slave trade and plantation culture of the South could easily be developed into whole books on their own, and I sincerely hope to see someone take these ideas and run with them. Ditto for Dickey’s look at some of the legends and ghost stories surrounding Native Americans. Throughout Ghostland, I often felt as if there was an enormous body of material and research that this book, ambitious as it is, was only capable of skimming the surface of. It would be great to see some of Dickey’s bigger ideas—especially about the ways in which ghost stories serve to erase and whitewash history—given more space to breathe. Here, the treatment of these concepts is necessarily brief (this isn’t that long a book) and sometimes shallow, and there are sometimes jarring shifts in tone and subject between chapters, particularly in the back half of the book.

Also evident in Ghostland is the author’s love of architecture and literature, and both of these things figure largely in Dickey’s historical analysis. Sadly, there are no photos in the book, which would have been a great addition to the stories it contains. Dickey dwells often on unusual architecture as being sort of inherently predisposed to being perceived as “haunted,” and it would have been nice to see some illustrative examples. Similarly, while the book is meticulously footnoted, it could have benefited from a bibliography or other section with suggestions for further reading or even just a list of literary works mentioned in the text. These lacks wouldn’t be felt so keenly in a more focused book, but in a history so wide-ranging, offering so many glimpses into little-known and lesser understood topics, some further guidance on where to look for more of the same would be much appreciated. That said, if you don’t mind digging through the notes at the back of the book, there are a wealth of resources, just not organized in the most useful possible way.

Ghostland is, on the whole, an excellent primer for the subjects that it covers. It’s full of interesting and entertaining information, and Dickey puts forward a lot of thought-provoking ideas that make this book a perfect reference for writers as well as readers. The questions that Dickey sets out to answer here are worthy ones, and there’s a lot to think about regarding the way we produce and consume ghost stories. With genre conversations often focused these days on issues of diversity and representation, Ghostland is a potentially very valuable conversation starter. I only hope that it is treated as the beginning of the conversation and not the end of it.

Buy the Book:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Further Reading:

 

Film, Television

Fox’s Rocky Horror remake is dull, sexless and even more problematic than the original

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rocky-horror-press-fox-2016-billboard-1548Remakes of old movies are probably never necessary, but they can often be redeemed if they can breathe new life into old stories and present the audience with a fresh perspective on dated material. Sadly, Fox’s clunkily titled The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again does neither of these things. Instead, it somehow manages to sanitize and straighten a classic piece of queer theater and highlight all of the problematic aspects of the original film at the same time.

First things first, though. There are a few things to like about this new production. Laverne Cox (while in my opinion miscast—more on that later) sparkles in the role of Frank, and a couple of her songs are truly excellent. Annaleigh Ashford’s Columbia is pitch perfect, and she does the best job of anyone on the cast to make this role her own. It’s good to see a production that is so diverse in its casting in general, and this is especially apparent in the crowd scenes. Finally, the costumes are pretty great.

So, this new Rocky Horror isn’t a complete disaster. Still, it’s not good, either.

From pure craft standpoint, this reimagining of Rocky Horror is a bit of a mess. The framing device of the theater and the choice to include some of the audience participation that is common at the still-ongoing midnight showings of the original film sounded interesting when the show was in development and suggested a sincere attempt to introduce a new generation of young people to Rocky Horror. The execution of this concept was terrible, though, from beginning to end. Even decisions that in theory work really well to set this production apart from the 1975 movie—for example, the choice to cast the Usherette for the show’s opening number—fail to hit their mark.

Ivy Levan’s soulless rendition of “Science Fiction Double Feature” is illustrated with her empty-eyed vamping around an old-timey movie theater with no coherent sense of tone or meaning. Like, I literally don’t know what they’re going for here. Similarly, while Reeve Carney’s performance as Riff Raff is overall workmanlike, his introductory solo (in “There’s a Light (Over at the Frankenstein Place) is characterized by absurd overproduction and a truly bizarre set of incomprehensible facial expressions. It’s genuinely weird and not in a good way. This kind of emotional disconnect is (with a few exceptions) a consistent thread throughout the show, as if everyone learned the words of their songs but had no idea how to bring any of the characters to life. Lowlights include the worst version of “The Sword of Damocles” I’ve ever seen and a “Planet Schmanet Janet” that wildly misses its mark, tone-wise.

The whole show would likely have benefited from live performances, which might have felt more organic. Instead, everything kind of ranges from somewhat to ridiculously overproduced, which gives the whole thing a slightly sterile feel that is enhanced by the too-clean cast and pristine (if nice-to-look-at) costumes. There’s an affectation of high camp here, but it’s too self-conscious and purposeful to have the disheveled charm of the original. Probably the perfect example of what I mean comes when we get to the floor show. Frank has Columbia, Rocky, Brad and Janet decked out in gold costumes with gold makeup, but the makeup doesn’t run when they move to the water. The original Rocky Horror had a messiness, a sort of homemade quality, that made its weird world feel real and lived in, and this remake doesn’t have that.

Perhaps the greatest sin of this Rocky Horror, however, is the sheer sexlessness of it all. There’s very little chemistry between any of the characters. Brad and Janet seem not just innocent and unworldly, but practically childlike. The connection between Columbia and Eddie feels real enough, but it’s such a small, fast-moving section of the film—and with the dinner party scene missing its cannibalistic implications—that it isn’t actually very impactful. Laverne Cox is stunningly beautiful and oozes sex appeal, but all of Frank’s interactions with other characters have been toned down so much that it’s never actually clear if any sex happens at all. Instead, everything comes off as just slightly saucy play. This is also true of Janet’s big song, “Touch-a Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me,” throughout which she and Rocky gambol around a bed like a couple of thirteen-year-olds having a sleepover—I don’t think he even touches a boob. Meanwhile, Columbia and Magenta are very specifically non-sexual in their interactions. Even the climactic orgy in the pool is stripped of most of its sensuality. Lips barely even touch, and none of the ones that do belong to two women.

Even stripping most of the sex out of the show and making what remains almost aggressively heterosexual doesn’t allow the show to completely avoid the problematic messaging of the original. In fact, it almost highlights these things even more, and the casting of a trans woman as Frank actually deepens some of the more unfortunate implications of Frank’s predatory behavior. The toning down of Frank’s “seduction” of Brad and Janet here accentuates rather than mitigates that this is rape. While there’s less actual sexual content to the encounters, the coercion is exaggerated and then highlighted by the absence of any sense that Brad or Janet are overcome by either passion or pleasure. Instead, their decisions to give in to Frank’s advances feel both more calculated and less earned.

Rocky Horror has never been a paragon of sense-making cinema, but this production turns absurdity into straight up gibberish. It does nothing to address the problem of the damaging and dated depraved queer trope, and even adds a new dimension to it by inserting a trans woman into the role of Frank—which feels especially irresponsible in a time when public fears of trans women continue to incite violence and are motivating anti-trans legislation all over the place. Sure, the ultimate “message” of Rocky Horror is still about sexual freedom, but what was significantly transgressive forty years ago is positively tame by modern standards and made more so by the determined effort to sanitize and straighten the production so it could be aired in an 8:00pm Thursday timeslot.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

  • It’s bittersweet to see Tim Curry as the Criminologist.
  • Christina Milian is a fine Magenta, but her wigs are godawful. That bright magenta is too on the nose, and the wigs are so monochromatic they look cheap.
  • I know I said I liked the costumes, but I hated Rocky’s gold boxers with a passion. They’re hideous and incredibly unsexy.
  • The conventioneers weren’t terrible, but they did all kind of blur together into a kind of indistinct countercultural blob of attractive bodies.
  • I wish Ben Vereen had gotten a little more screentime to stand out. His scenes felt rushed and a waste of his talent. Great legs, though.
  • Seriously, though, Laverne Cox’s version of “I’m Going Home” is incredible. Like, she’s so good that it almost redeems this whole shitshow.
  • Last thing: Richard O’Brien’s recent garbage statements about trans women have honestly kind of soured me on Rocky Horror altogether.
Television

Lucifer: The best part of “Lady Parts” is said lady parts

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lady-partsAfter a couple of weeks off writing due to some extremely inconvenient life stuff, I’m back now and catching up with Lucifer. As is often the case with this show, “Lady Parts” is a bit of a mixed bag. Following a good season opener that successfully rebooted the series and a couple of solid episodes that further established a new normal, this one could be generously described as set-up for things down the road but perhaps more accurately described as filler, with every character and plot spinning their wheels until the last few minutes of the hour.

The episode starts positively enough, with an interesting body discovery (though we never seen these guys again) and Lucifer back in therapy with Doctor Linda. I’ve been happy to see the show back off a little on his therapy sessions in general, but this is a good one. Lucifer’s philosophy of distraction and Linda’s deep sigh at the end of the scene are perfectly delivered. Unfortunately, this is one of the episode’s few highlights. Nothing else in the next forty-five minutes works quite so well as this exchange, mostly because Lucifer’s obsession with distraction quickly becomes farcical as he spends all his time this week pushing his new philosophy of deflection and conflict avoidance on his friends and family.

Chloe is not doing well following Dan’s request for a divorce last week, and she’s rather predictably throwing herself into her work and bottling up her feelings. The thing is, this isn’t all that interesting or dramatic. Chloe has always been a Serious Person, with a straight up hall monitor kind of personality, so her current funk doesn’t actually change her behavior. Poor Lauren German has been subjected to some of the worst writing of any actor on this show, and I feel like she does what she can with what she’s given, but Chloe’s best moments are always when she lets loose a little and that never quite happens here. A girls’ night out with Maze, Ella, and Linda has a ton of potential, but it’s ultimately a missed opportunity. It’s not without a couple of funny moments, but we don’t learn anything new about Chloe, she never really opens up, and in the end she’s unable to set her work aside and have fun.

It also doesn’t help that the whole girls’ night out thing is basically a set-up by Lucifer, who has wagered with Maze that she won’t get Chloe to relax. There’s an attempt to tie this to the case of the week, but it’s a tenuous connection at best and Chloe’s outrage at the betrayal of female friendship doesn’t ring quite true in the same episode in which she bemoaned her own lifelong lack of female friendship. That said, I am pleased by the development, late as it is, of a real friendship between Chloe and Maze, and I’m looking forward to seeing that odd couple sharing a living space. And for all that Chloe complains that she hasn’t had female friends, she does seem to genuinely like other women, which is nice. It’s refreshing to see a character whose lack of female friends is pretty explicitly about lack of time and opportunity rather than due to internalized misogyny or some kind of “not like other girls” syndrome. I just wish this Chloe-needs-friends plot was given more time to breath, and I hope (though I don’t expect) that it gets some consistent development going forward.

The biggest thing that isn’t working right now, however, is Lucifer’s mom. Last week, she was sentenced by Lucifer to a life as a human, she’s taken over the life of the woman, Charlotte, whose body she is inhabiting. This week, Maze drops by to visit, and as much as I love Tricia Helfer—and she’s game—there’s basically nothing about this that isn’t terrible, and I don’t know how the show can make it okay.

First, this is another woman’s life. Charlotte was, so far as we know, not the world’s best person, but still. That’s her house, her kids, her husband. For one thing, wouldn’t someone notice the change? For another, even if no one notices and the switch is pulled off with no one getting suspicious, it’s still deeply unethical. It’s particularly cruel to the aforementioned husband—who apparently is now being sexually manipulated—and children. That the show plays this essentially for laughs is kind of gross. It’s not funny, and I genuinely don’t see any way for this to be turned around into something positive.

Still, secrets on Lucifer have a way of coming out. With any luck, this one won’t last long. I only hope that when it breaks, the show takes the time to deal with the consequences in a reasonable fashion. I said to start with that this episode feels like it was mostly set-up. Here’s hoping that they’re setting up something good.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

  • I’m frankly surprised that the “Dammit, Leroy” guy isn’t an internet celebrity after that performance.
  • Ella used to steal cars, which is moderately intriguing.
  • And Linda worked her way through college as a phone sex operator. I never liked Linda’s sexual relationship with Lucifer, and it had seemed as if the show was distancing itself from that characterization of her as a sort of sexpot, but I guess they aren’t really.
  • “Cosmos are yummy.” I mean, I disagree, but D.B. Woodside’s delivery of this line was amazing.
  • Maze and Chloe are going to be roommates!
Books, Film, Television

What to Read and Watch While Leaves Are Falling

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Sure, I already published a fall reading list that should keep me very busy until 2017, but this is my favorite time of year. I just had a birthday (Thirty-four, eek!), the leaves are changing, the nights are getting slightly chilly (at least here in southwest Ohio), and I’m in the mood for comfort reading and watching some fall favorites. For me, that mostly means witches, obviously, though there are a few other things on here that are just more generally fall-feeling.

What are you reading and watching as the weather changes?

Stories to Pair With Pumpkin Spice Everything (Don’t Judge Me):

Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell
I read this little gem when it came out last September, and I fell in love with it. It’s a nice, seasonally appropriate read, and Cornell has a sequel–the more wintry The Lost Child of Lychford–coming out November 1 from Tor.com. If you haven’t read Witches, now is a perfect time to enjoy it. If you have read it, it’s a perfect time to refamiliarize yourself with it ahead of its sequel.

Of Sorrow and Such by Angela Slatter
This is another of the 2015 Tor.com novellas; it’s another witch story; and it’s another great read. While you’re at it, check out her recent short story at Tor.com, “Finnegan’s Field,” which is a good, creepy changeling tale. I haven’t gotten around to reading Slatter’s couple of short story collections, yet, but her 2016 novel, Vigil, is definitely on my to-read list.

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
This is a book that I also read last September and really wished that I’d saved it for another month or so. It’s dark and funny and just a little scary, a great book if you’re like me and don’t usually like straight up horror but still want to get into the spirit of Halloween.

Monstrous Little Voices: New Tales from Shakespeare’s Fantasy World by Jonathan Barnes, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Emma Newman, Kate Heartfield, and Foz Meadows
It’s still the year of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, and this collection of novellas is a perfect way to celebrate. Foz Meadows’ Coral Bones is probably my favorite, and it can be read alone, but I enjoyed reading all five tales together. Highly recommended for reading outdoors with a cup of tea on a crisp fall evening.

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
Hogarth has been celebrating Shakespeare differently–by having well-known authors re-envision the Bard’s plays in novel form. Obviously, you should read everything by Margaret Atwood, always, but her retelling of The Tempest is a really exceptional examination of its themes of prison, grief, vengeance, and the transformative value of literature.

Nightmare Magazine‘s Destroy Horror! Special Issues
This year we’ve got People of Colo(u)r Destroy Horror! which is well worth checking out. If you only read one story in the issue, make sure it’s Terence Taylor’s “Wet Pain.” It’s also not too late to pick up last year’s Queers Destroy Horror! and 2014’s Women Destroy Horror! This project just gets better and better, you guys.

The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe
This book is brand new (literally–it’s got a 10/18 pub date), but it might be my most anticipated anthology of the year. It’s got an absolutely to-die-for table of contents–with stories by ton of my favorite authors–and a gorgeous cover. I almost never get hardcover books unless I find them at the used bookstore, but this one is a must-have for my shelf.

The Lady and Her Monsters: A Tale of Dissections, Real-Life Dr. Frankensteins, and the Creation of Mary Shelley’s Masterpiece by Roseanne Montillo
Sometimes, reality is even better than fiction, and this 2013 examination of the genesis of Frankenstein is well-researched and highly readable. Even if you haven’t read the novel, The Lady and Her Monsters offers a fascinating glimpse into the life of Mary Shelley and how she came to write a classic of horrific science fiction.

Films and Television to Watch While Curled Up Under a Blanket:

Practical Magic (1998)
I cannot go a single October without watching Practical Magic at least once. I just watched it the other night with my thirteen-year-old daughter (her first time), and was struck again by how much I love it. It’s by no means a very good movie–there’s nothing like a critical watching of it to make one aware of every absurdity and plot hole–but I will always want to watch movies about women saving each other.

Hocus Pocus (1993)
Hocus Pocus is a Halloween classic that I’ve been watching for over twenty years now, and I can’t imagine stopping anytime soon.

Sleepy Hollow (1999), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Corpse Bride (2005)
This trio of Tim Burton flicks are seasonal must-watches.

Ghostbusters (2016)
I loved the new Ghostbusters, and I cannot wait to rewatch it in the lead-up to Halloween. I remember enjoying the original movies as a kid, but this reboot is more fun that those ever were.

Ash vs. Evil Dead (2015-now)
This show is definitely a problematic fave, but if you like artfully splattered gore, Bruce Campbell, and Lucy Lawless, Ash vs. Evil Dead is a ton of fun.

Lost Girl (2010-2016)
This show is basically Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s more diverse, sexier, more Canadian descendant. It definitely starts to fall apart a bit in later seasons, but the first three or four seasons are pretty solid.

Gilmore Girls (2000-2007, 2016)
With a Netflix revival of Gilmore Girls coming out on Thanksgiving, now is the perfect time to binge watch the show in preparation.

Uncategorized

Blog/Life Update: October 16, 2016

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So, yikes. It’s been a while, and (as always) there’s a somewhat good excuse for my absence and lack of updates (although I’ve been somewhat active on Twitter, even when not putting out anything longer here).

Here’s the deal: fucking bedbugs. We found a few in my daughter’s room last week, and a couple more in several other places in the apartment. Apparently, even if you just have a few, you have to treat it it like a full-blown infestation, and this is expensive, time-consuming, and just–generally–extremely disruptive to one’s life. There’s no way of knowing where they came from (I would guess one of my daughter’s friends’ houses, but they could have come from a restaurant, theater, hotel, grocery store or literally anywhere according to the exterminator), and everything about having them (and it really is just a few of them–fortunately, we caught them early, even though not as early as I originally thought/hoped). In any case, everything about this situation is an absolute nightmare–from the bugs themselves, to my daughter’s reaction to them, to the smell of pesticide, the constant psychosomatic itching, the non-stop cleaning and laundering and vacuuming, and so on–and I have been unable to accomplish much of anything creative or writing-related for two straight weeks.

So, basically, everything is terrible.

The good news, such as it is, is that there is–sort of–hopefully–an end in sight for this mess. We’ve already had an exterminator here once, and he’s coming back this week for a second treatment that will hopefully take care of things. With any luck, we’ll be able to put all our stuff away soon and life can start going back to normal. This week, I’ve got a couple of things planned already, and I’m hoping to start getting caught up on some backlog of work I’ve been meaning to do. Most significantly, I’m planning to get caught up with writing about some of the shows I’m watching this season, so watch for that. I’ve got a couple of book reviews almost finished and several more to do, and I’m hoping to make some progress there as well. That said, I still have no idea when the exterminator is actually going to be here this week, and there’s always the outside chance that he’s going to have more bad news for me when he does show up. So, no promises. I figure if I keep my productivity goals very low, I’m less likely to be disappointed and self-hating at the end of the week.

Self care.
Self care.

This whole situation, combined with other life stresses (this fucking year, you guys) and this hot garbage fire of a U.S. election season, has caused me to plunge into, well, maybe not an actual depression but certainly a decided funk after a couple of years of relatively robust mental health, so I’ve been, frankly, trying to focus on self-care in order to head off any potential mental health crisis. There’s good news on this front, as well. A combination of good books, enjoying the nice weather, and judicious application of alcohol seems to working to help me keep my head above water, bad brain chemicals-wise. It’s not perfect, but it beats the abject misery of a straight-up bout of can’t-get-out-of-bed-or-enjoy-anything depression, which is something I’ve felt precariously close to for months.

TLDR: I have been away from blogging for life reasons, which sucks, but I’m trying my best to get back on track and have some hope that I will be successful in doing so soon-ish.

Books

The SF Bluestocking Fall Reading List

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I didn’t make it through my entire Summer Reading List, though I did better than I thought I would and even ended up reading a few things (albeit mostly comics) that weren’t on there. There’s not as much coming out over the next few months that I’m excited about, but I figure that just means more time to read some of what I missed this summer. Here’s what I have on my list:

fall2016tornovellsTor.com Novellas
I always read all of these when they come out, and I cannot recommend them enough. I love that they’re such a variety of stories, which helps me to read outside my normal genres and preferences pretty regularly (it’s good to try new things!), and the $2.99 price tag means I can buy one almost every week without breaking the bank. The only one slated to come out this fall that I may skip is Andy Remic’s The Iron Beast. I’ve read the first two books in that series and haven’t enjoyed either of them, so I think I could spend my time better elsewhere.

  • Cold-Forged Flame by Marie Brennan – September 13
  • The Warren by Brian Evenson – September 20
  • Impersonations by Walter Jon Williams – October 4
  • Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw – October 11
  • Everything Belongs to the Future by Laurie Penny – October 18
  • A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson – October 25
  • The Lost Child of Lychford by Paul Cornell – November 1
  • The Burning Light by Bradley P. Beaulieu and Rob Ziegler – November 1
  • The Iron Beast by Andy Remic – November 8, if you’re interested.

fall2016magsMagazines
I backed the Kickstarter earlier this year for Lightspeed‘s POC Destroy SF project, and POC Destroy Horror and POC Destroy Fantasy will be coming out in October and December, respectively. I also backed Uncanny Magazine‘s Year Three, and I’m looking forward to that in addition to a couple of issues I haven’t gotten around to yet from Year Two. I also bought a subscription to Fantasy & Science Fiction because it’s been on sale for $5, so I will surely be reading some issues of that as well.

Must-Read (Fiction) Books

  • Everfair by Nisi Shawl (already finished, actually)
  • The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin (halfway through)
  • Death’s End by Cixin Liu
  • Cloudbound by Fran Wilde
  • Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
  • Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
  • A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
  • Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu
  • Goldenhand by Garth Nix
  • Infomocracy by Malka Older

fall2016books

Nice-to-Read-If-I-Have-Time (Fiction) Books

  • Borderline by Mishell Baker
  • Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter
  • Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
  • Black Wolves by Kate Elliot
  • Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older
  • Midnight Taxi Tango by Daniel José Older
  • Prudence by Gail Carriger
  • Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee
  • Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn

fall2016books2

Nonfiction That I Have No Idea How I’m Going to Fit in But That I Really Want to Read Before the End of the Year

  • How to Suppress Women’s Writing by Joanna Russ
  • Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fiction by André M. Carrington
  • Green Planets: Ecology and Science Fiction edited by Gerry Canavan and Kim Stanley Robinson
  • My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem
  • Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

What are you reading this fall? Is there anything I’ve missed that I simply must check out?

Television

The Good Place: Off to a good-but-not-great start

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I wasn’t at all sold on The Good Place based upon the previews, but it looked just weird and whimsical enough that I felt like I had to check it out anyway. I’m glad I did, because The Good Place is genuinely good, with the potential to be great if it continues to play upon its strengths and gives up on a couple of it’s more irritating quirks and doesn’t avoid delving into some of its darker themes.

Kristen Bell stars as Eleanor Shellstrop, an asshole who dies (tragicomically, of course) and is mistakenly sent to The Good Place because she shares a name with a woman who works as a lawyer rescuing inmates from death row. Hijinks ensue as Eleanor is introduced to—and promptly confesses the clerical error to—her soulmate, Chidi (William Jackson Harper), a professor of ethics who is now faced with a major ethical dilemma. Ted Danson is Michael, the neurotic architect of the theoretically-perfectly-designed afterlife town in which they find themselves residing, and Jameela Jamil and Manny Jacinto are Tahani and Jianyu, the next-door neighbors. D’Arcy Carden rounds out the main cast as Janet, a sort of magical Google whose perfect discretion seems to have her slated to be Eleanor’s sometime-accomplice as Eleanor tries to ensure that she gets to stay in The Good Place. It’s a decent cast, and Danson and Bell both do a good job of performing without overshadowing the relative newcomers they share scenes with.

The pilot episode is largely dedicated to exposition, starting with Eleanor’s death and launching right into a tour of the neighborhood, the introduction of her soulmate, and a hilariously informative orientation video that details some of the point system by which souls are judged. It’s a lot to take in, and it does at times feel a little info-dumpy, but it’s a worthwhile use of time that gets a lot of the important exposition out of the way right up front, hopefully keeping it from getting in the way of storytelling later on. It’s also very, very funny, with the exception of the running joke about Eleanor not being able to curse, which wasn’t even very funny the first time.

In addition to giving us the outlines of the show’s high concept, the pilot also introduces its big idea, which is a simple question: What does it mean to be Good? It’s obvious from the start that the show intends for us to understand goodness as something far more complex and nuanced than any numerical score can really calculate, but it remains to be seen if they’ll be able to keep examining and reexamining such a simple idea in interesting ways week after week. Eleanor’s road to redemption as she works to earn her place in paradise promises to be a rocky one, with plenty of laughs along the way, but I’m not entirely certain it merits a television series.

Secondary ideas like the concept of “soulmates” have been introduced as well, and the exploration of that idea could be fascinating. Bell and Harper have an easy, if somewhat sexless, chemistry, and it’s obvious that Eleanor stimulates Chidi on an intellectual level; I loved the scene where he is gleefully planning out a curriculum for Eleanor’s ethical education. Even more interesting is the relationship between Tahani and Jianyu, both of whom seem to be completely miserable in their assigned partnership. They’re obviously mismatched, and Tahani in particular has a sort of subdued desperation when it comes to her interactions with her soulmate that is at odds with her otherwise garrulous personality. I’d love to see that looked at in more depth, in no small part because it would rescue Tahani from being little more than a caricature of clueless philanthropic posturing.

Honestly, my biggest concern with this show is that I don’t know if the half-hour sitcom format is going to give these characters and themes the time they need to grow in the depth they’ll need to keep being interesting. There’s not a whole lot going on here, which is fine—I like a show that knows what it wants to be and sticks to it—but is twenty-ish minutes going to be enough for it to be successful? The jokes are funny, but barely enough for a half hour. However, the themes have enough potential that they could easily drive an hour-long dramedy.

Also of concern is the sheer derivativeness of every aspect of the show so far. Charitably, I could call it a mash up of a lot of beloved tropes and aesthetics. Uncharitably, I’d say it relies far too much on its similarities to other shows in order to build good will with the audience. There are shades of Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies, and every other death-related show or movie of the last fifteen years. The kitsch of the setting is fun, but it doesn’t do enough so far to set itself apart visually from either common conceptions of heaven or bucolic television small towns like Star’s Hollow. It’s fine, if you like that sort of thing (and I do), but it’s certainly not winning any awards for originality.

Still, I’m cautiously optimistic about this show’s prospects. I don’t think we’ve got a hit on our hands, but I do think it’s going to be a few hours of fun that probably won’t make its audience think too hard (although perhaps it ought to). There are some amazing comedic moments in these first two episodes, and the capable cast seems to be having fun, which is infectious and endearing. So far, The Good Place is likeable enough for me to want to watch more, even if it doesn’t have me terribly excited.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

  • That orientation video begs for frame-by-frame analysis.
  • I really hope the show continues to let Tahani’s rather desperate unhappiness peek out from time to time.
  • I feel like The Good Place is obviously a dystopia, and I hope that this is proven out over the next few episodes. The sort of enforced cheer of the place’s residents needs to be looked at.
  • Ted Danson kicking that dog into the sun was genuinely surprising and probably the biggest laugh of the first two episodes for me.
  • I like that Chidi is blunt with Eleanor about her terribleness, but I do worry a little that this sort of cheerily calling out of racism understates the issue. I’d like to hear what POC think about the way Eleanor’s racist behavior was handled, so if you have an opinion or have seen an opinion, let me know.
Television

Lucifer: Everything really is coming up Lucifer in the season two opener

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ep01Spoilers ahoy.

So, it looks like Lucifer has made the somewhat dubious decision to practically reboot the series in its sophomore season. Sure, a lot of things are still the same, but after a full season of working through all that Palmetto nonsense and building up to the revelation of what Chloe actually witnessed, I rather expected that the effects of all those events would be more deeply felt going into this season. Instead, that whole story seems to be being dropped in favor of exploring some of the show’s more promising elements.

Instead of picking up with dealing with the ramifications of the season one finale, “Everything’s Coming Up Lucifer” opens with Lucifer and Amenadiel well into their search for their mother and then segues straight into a completely ordinary case of the week. Even Dan’s suspension is quickly explained away as the department wanting to sweep things under the rug and move on—as clear a case of lampshading as I’ve seen in a good while. The funny thing is, I think it works. The Palmetto storyline was always as dull as it was fraught, and it was a millstone around the show’s neck all last season when there were obviously more interesting things they could have been exploring. As moderately irritating as it is when a show does something as nonsensical as just absurdly wrapping up a major storyline without actually dealing with it, this season premiere more than makes up for that in pretty much every other area by focusing on what made the first season good and showing a real (and smart) responsiveness to fan criticism.

Starting the season off with Lucifer and Amenadiel together was a wise choice, and Tom Ellis and D.B. Woodside continue to have a comfortable, believable chemistry that really helps to sell their dysfunctional family dynamic. While they’re working together in the first minutes of the episode, it soon becomes clear that their relationship is still troubled. Lucifer continues to harbor resentment towards his brother for taking sides in the fight between their parents, and Amenadiel is (probably sensibly) concerned about Lucifer’s attempts to reveal his divinity to Chloe. I always feel as if the relationship between Lucifer and Chloe is meant to be the central one of the show, but Lucifer’s relationship with his brother continues to be far more compelling, and I was happy to see it given a correspondingly larger share of screen time this week.

Chloe doesn’t have a whole lot to do this week, but that may be for the best to avoid overstuffing the episode. I’m having a hard time caring much about Chloe’s relationship with the newly-demoted Dan, and it seems Chloe is as well. She spends the episode keeping her distance from her estranged husband as she works the case of the week. More importantly, she’s also grappling with trying to figure out what to think about Lucifer. She has a sample of his blood from when he was shot, and she starts the episode threatening to have it tested so she can find out what he is. When Amenadiel offers a more ordinary explanation for Lucifer’s seemingly supernatural capabilities, Chloe doesn’t buy it, but the end of the hour sees her nonetheless throwing away the blood sample untested. Chloe’s skepticism and how she understands Lucifer was never properly explored last season, and I would love to see some real movement on that front soon, but I’m not sure if this uncharacteristic decision of Chloe’s to ignore the evidence that is available to her bodes well for that hope.

Lucifer is still in therapy, but his sessions with Dr. Linda have changed in tone. This episode finds Linda wondering if their sessions are doing any good at all, as Lucifer seems incapable of taking any responsibility for, well, anything. It’s not certain yet if Linda will ultimately carry through on her threat to break up with Lucifer, but it’s obvious that Lucifer needs to commit himself to the therapy process with a bit more seriousness if he wants to continue. In the meantime, we find out that Linda has been harboring the confused Maze for the last few days, and their friendship seems to be flourishing, though we don’t get to actually see much of it this week. This general redefinition of Linda’s role in the show can only be a positive development at this point. Her sexual relationship with Lucifer last season was too unethical and one-note to work, and it was never quite clear exactly what her place was in the broader narrative. Establishing her as a friend to Maze—who certainly could use one—and creating a more normative patient/therapist relationship with Lucifer fixes some of last season’s issues and builds a much better foundation for the character going forward. It also, along with the arrival of a new character and potential friend for Chloe, Ella, addresses one of my own biggest issues with the first season of the show—its lack of female friendships.

All in all, “Everything’s Coming Up Lucifer” is a solid season opener that shows a real commitment on the part of the show’s writers to improving the show based on common criticisms of it and by focusing on the things that were praised in season one. It’s a fresh start and shows a new confidence in the show’s success that I don’t think existed in the first season, which was inconsistently written and seemed uncertain what it wanted to be. Where this episode falters in delivering on what ought to have been the natural consequences of the season one finale, it excels at offering a new vision of a stronger show that refuses to be weighed down by past missteps.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

  • I missed Trixie this week.
  • Best line of the episode: “My name is Lucifer Morningstar, and I LOVE DRUGS.”
  • Maze’s character development might be the most interesting thing happening on the show. I hope there is some substantial time dedicated to exploring it this season.
  • Uh oh. Amenadiel is also having some issues with his angelic powers.
  • I never get enough of Tom Ellis playing the piano and singing, but this rendition of “All Along the Watchtower” was a little overproduced.
  • That said, OF COURSE it’s “All Along the Watchtower.”
  • Ending the episode with the arrival of Lucifer’s mom (Tricia Helfer) was expected, but also perfectly executed.
Weekend Links

Weekend Links: September 18, 2016

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After basically a full week of having the cold from hell (brought into the house by my daughter; thanks, kid), I’m finally on the mend, though by no means well. I did accomplish a couple of things this week, mostly some short reviews on Goodreads of some of the things I read over the summer, though I did also put together a list of most of what I’m planning on watching this fall, even if I haven’t decided what shows I’ll be covering in-depth. My guess is that I’ll definitely be writing about Lucifer–there’s no way that the arrival of Lucifer’s mom won’t give me plenty of material for feminist analysis–and Supergirl. Probably I’ll keep writing about Ash vs. Evil Dead, although I’m not really terribly excited about the new season, and I’m hoping to tackle Westworld. Sadly, the shows that I’m most excited for (The Expanse, iZombie, American Gods, Star Trek: Discovery) are all ones that I have to wait for til next year.

This week, my plan is to wrap up whatever reviews of my summer reading I can get done between Monday and Friday, and then I’m giving myself permission to just give them a star-rating on Goodreads and move on. I got so behind on things the last few months with so much travel and stress, and I think it’s gotten to the point that being overwhelmed by the backlog is itself a barrier to productivity. So this gives me an end in sight to all the negativity and anxiety of the summer and a clean slate as we move into the new season. I will also, by the end of the week, be posting my fall reading list, which should get me through the end of 2016. I expect the coming week to be a relatively busy one, but with the goal of making things easier going forward.

Because I’ve been so sick, I’ve not been doing a ton of internet reading this week (although I did help a lonely murloc find love in World of Warcraft), but I did read a few interesting things.

I’ve only been sort of peripherally aware of the discourse surrounding this Lionel Shriver nonsense–I mean, my goodness, it seems as if some entitled pseudointellectual white author publicly humiliates themselves on a weekly basis these days, but this one is a doozy. This weekend, however, I’ve made a point of reading up on it, at least a little bit. Judging by the perenniality of these events, I figure those of us with any privilege whatsoever can never learn enough about cultural appropriation and identity.

Margaret Atwood did a Q&A at io9.

Foz Meadows’ “How to Suppress Female Characters” is probably my favorite thing I’ve read this week.

McSweeney’s covers “The Implicit Existential Drama in No Man’s Sky Reviews” and it’s glorious.

Book Riot lists some of the coolest-looking feminist coloring and activity books I’ve seen in one place.

Television

The SF Bluestocking 2016 Fall Watchlist

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After a summer of not watching much at all–though I did finally check out Stranger Things–I feel like September has really just crept up on me. I realized yesterday that I’d been unaware of the premiere date for Son of Zorn, one of the few new shows that I’m even moderately interested in this year, and that’s when I sat down to work out what I’m going to be watching this fall. Sadly, some of my favorite shows (notably The Expanse and iZombie) won’t be back until 2017, and the same goes for the new shows (American Gods, Powerless, Star Trek: Discovery) that I’m most excited to see. So, this fall definitely is a season of slim pickings. Still there are a few things I’ll be following.

Son of Zorn
September 11 on Fox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPnlQTi8heM

I don’t have super high hopes for this show (in fact, I’m somewhat confused about how this one got greenlit in the first place), but it’s got several people involved in it who I really like. The pilot was watchable and moderately amusing, but it was dedicated almost entirely to basic character introductions and setting up its frankly silly premise. Tim Meadows pulls his weight, but Artemis Pebdani is the real highlight of the pilot as Zorn’s new boss, Linda. The rest of the cast is fine, and I really love Jason Sudeikis, but I’m just not sure this show is going to work. I’m here for it, though, at least for a few more episodes. I expect this one to either sink or swim quickly.

Lucifer Season 2
September 19 on Fox

Lucifer is one of my favorite problematic faves, and I’m very much looking forward to its second season. Adding Tricia Helfer to the cast can’t hurt, and D.B. Woodside and Lesley-Ann Brandt killed it last season. My biggest hope for it is that it gets some better, or at least more consistent writing instead of simply relying on Tom Ellis’s considerable (possibly infinite) charisma to save the show from mediocrity. Also, more Trixie, please.

The Good Place
September 19 on NBC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMf24rEsMOs

I like Kristen Bell, and the show claims to be from the same creator as Brooklyn 99 and Parks and Recreation, two of my favorite comedies in recent years. However, the trailer for this one isn’t great, and it seems like it could be taking its concept to a place that is a little more cartoonish than I normally find funny. Still, I’ll check it out for an episode or two at least.

The Exorcist
September 23 on Fox

I’m not that into horror, as a general rule, because I don’t like things that are actually scary, but I’ll watch this for Geena Davis.

MacGyver
September 23 on CBS

MacGyver is the most profoundly stupid-looking and completely inexplicable reboot of the year, and there is no universe in which I don’t check out at least a couple of episodes of this train wreck.

Luke Cage
September 30 on Netflix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytkjQvSk2VA

Full disclosure: I still haven’t watched the last couple episodes of the first season of Daredevil, but I absolutely loved Jessica Jones, so I’m not sure when I’ll get around to watching Luke Cage. I’m not sure that I’ll like it, since I’m not really that into super heroes, and I was turned off of this show a little by an early trailer (the SDCC one maybe?) in which not a single female character was even visible. However, it’s on my list.

Ash vs. Evil Dead Season 2
October 2 on Starz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzeJTAwqEJ4

The greatest virtue of season one of Ash vs. Evil Dead may have been that it was only a half hour show, so it never overstayed its welcome. It certainly made some missteps, most notably in the treatment of its female characters, but it was nevertheless a fun watch, enough that I’ll be tuning in for a second season, anyway. I’m sure it’ll be worth watching just for the artfully spraying gore, if that’s a thing you like watching (and I do).

Westworld
October 2 on HBO

So, Westworld, is apparently a television adaptation of a 1973 film by the same title that I’ve never seen, but that some people are outraged is being rebooted because that’s how these things go. It’s HBO, so I expect it to have high production values and good writing, but I also expect it to have problematic elements and a similar tone deafness to certain issues that characterizes other HBO shows. That said, it looks good, and I’m always happy to see more serious sci-fi being made even if I do wish we could get more original content–or at least shows based on material written in this century.

Conviction
October 3 on ABC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJqg6J4JeLg

I’m not sure the world needs another hard-living anti-hero lawyer show, but if it really must be done I guess casting Haley Atwell is a good direction to go.

Supergirl Season 2
October 10 on CW

I really liked the first season of Supergirl, but it’s a show that was bogged down time and again by poor writing. Sadly, I don’t expect this to improve with its move from CBS to the CW and the correspondingly smaller budget that comes with that. Calista Flockhart has already been downgraded to guest star, which is disappointing as Cat Grant’s relationship with Supergirl/Kara was for me one of the best parts of the show. We’ll see, though. Maybe the smaller budgets will bring a new back-to-basics mentality to the writers’ room, and we’ll see some more coherent storytelling. Melissa Benoist is an amazing Supergirl, and it would be nice to see her get the type of writing she deserves.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again
October 20 on Fox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3TDwa2cDOc

I am unabashedly excited for this.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 2
October 21 on CW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihLa2vlv8TY

I almost never watched this show because I hated the title so much. I still hate the title, but the show itself is amazing, and I cannot wait for season two.

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
November 25 on Netflix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTnU5MG5Edw

I mean, obviously.