The first two episodes of The Legend of Korra were uploaded onto an official Nickelodeon website last night. If you're in the United States, you will be able to access them at KorraNation.com. If you're not, then just do some poking around on the Internet.
Wow. I am so impressed with this show, especially the second episode. The animation is utterly gorgeous; they must have had a huge budget, because everything is drawn at feature film quality. The music is also beautiful, equal parts traditional Chinese instruments and 20s-inspired jazz. The pacing was a little off in the first episode, "Welcome to Republic City," but it improved dramatically in the second, "A Leaf in the Wind." The storytelling is great, and it's clear the creators have a firm idea of where they're taking things.
SPOILER ALERT!
Showing posts with label Bechdel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bechdel. Show all posts
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Saturday, October 1, 2011
In Which I Have Finished My Study Abroad Application
Yes, indeed. As of 11 AM this morning, all my paperwork was turned in to the International Studies Office. Decision day is this upcoming Wednesday, October 5, but from everything I've heard about study abroad, I'm basically guaranteed to get in. I'm very excited and very nervous. The scariest thing is that the application was probably the easiest part; I'll have to apply for scholarships and start preparing my visa now. Actually, I don't really want to think about how much I still have to do on top of everything else this semester. It's nice to bask in the afterglow for a while.
I will (hopefully) be studying in Lille, which is in northern France, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. It is an hour from Paris, half an hour from Brussels, and an hour and a half from London. Here are some maps for certain people (coughcoughJackiecoughcough) who have a little trouble with geography:
The region in red is Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Lille is very close to the Belgian border.
This is Nord-Pas-de-Calais, which as you can see is right next to the English Channel. Lille is about an hour inland.
This is a bakery (or boulangerie) in Lille that came up on Google Image Search when I was looking for maps. It doesn't really have anything to do with geography, but everything looks delicious, so it's going in this post. French pastries, om nom nom.
Anyway, I'll let you know when I get official confirmation from ISO. I'm so thrilled/terrified!
Today I also went to a screening of a new documentary, Miss Representation, with Pooja. It was an interesting and rather infuriating look at the media's portrayal of women, and just how sexist it still is. I didn't agree with everything (for example, I don't feel obligated to vote for women that don't represent my views. I wasn't old enough to vote in the Democratic primaries in 2008, but I supported Barack Obama from the minute he announced his candidacy in February of 2007, and I stand by that decision. Not supporting Hillary Clinton's campaign didn't make me any less of a feminist), but it was an excellent piece of filmmaking and should be widely watched by men and women alike. Especially men, really.
All in all, not a bad day. Farmer's Market and Avatar: The Last Airbender marathon this weekend, and then next weekend is Fall Break. Yay!
I will (hopefully) be studying in Lille, which is in northern France, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. It is an hour from Paris, half an hour from Brussels, and an hour and a half from London. Here are some maps for certain people (coughcoughJackiecoughcough) who have a little trouble with geography:
The region in red is Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Lille is very close to the Belgian border.
This is Nord-Pas-de-Calais, which as you can see is right next to the English Channel. Lille is about an hour inland.
This is a bakery (or boulangerie) in Lille that came up on Google Image Search when I was looking for maps. It doesn't really have anything to do with geography, but everything looks delicious, so it's going in this post. French pastries, om nom nom.
Anyway, I'll let you know when I get official confirmation from ISO. I'm so thrilled/terrified!
Today I also went to a screening of a new documentary, Miss Representation, with Pooja. It was an interesting and rather infuriating look at the media's portrayal of women, and just how sexist it still is. I didn't agree with everything (for example, I don't feel obligated to vote for women that don't represent my views. I wasn't old enough to vote in the Democratic primaries in 2008, but I supported Barack Obama from the minute he announced his candidacy in February of 2007, and I stand by that decision. Not supporting Hillary Clinton's campaign didn't make me any less of a feminist), but it was an excellent piece of filmmaking and should be widely watched by men and women alike. Especially men, really.
All in all, not a bad day. Farmer's Market and Avatar: The Last Airbender marathon this weekend, and then next weekend is Fall Break. Yay!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Applying the Bechdel Test to Sports Night [SPOILERS]
TV Tropes defines the Bechdel Test as "a sort of litmus test for female presence in movies and TV; in order to pass, the fictional work must show at least two women having at least one conversation about something other than a man or men." While it is not necessarily indicative of the overall level of feminism, it is nonetheless an important indicator of how society perceives women in relation to men.
Lately I've been applying Bechdel to everything I read and watch. It's been a fascinating and illuminating experience. With Sports Night, it can be downright infuriating. I want so much to love it, because it's an Aaron Sorkin show and The West Wing is my all-time favorite. But most Sports Night episodes fail the Bechdel Test so hard. In some ways, the odds are stacked against it from the beginning. Only two of the regulars are women, and it's a show about a sports show, which is definitely a male-dominated field. It's just really annoying, though, when you realize that you can practically count on one hand the number of conversations Dana and Natalie have that aren't about men. Goodness gracious.
I'm also find the attitudes most of the men on the show have toward women to be very grating. I really do like Sorkin as a writer, but so many of his male characters are incredibly patronizing to women, even women they supposedly respect enough to want to date. Apparently his idea of romantic is to have a man ask a woman out repeatedly, only for her to be ~charmed~ by his persistence and graciously accept his offer at the end. Excuse me, no. This approach rubbed me the wrong way when Sorkin used it with Bradley Whitford's character on Studio 60, and it's annoying me now with Dan and Rebecca on Sports Night. Then there's the current drama, in which Casey, who is supposedly in love with Dana, sleeps with a woman she hates, Sally, and then later finds out that Dana's fiance is also sleeping with this woman. Casey then calls Dana's fiance out on his behavior but doesn't bother to tell Dana about the affair, because that would mean admitting he's seeing Sally. I'm not finished with the season yet, so maybe I'm just getting peeved off for nothing, but as it is I get the impression that Sorkin wants to present Casey's actions as commendable. That is such a ridiculous double standard to me. I want to like the characters, I really do. For the most part, I do like Jeremy, Natalie, and Isaac. I just wish they would stop perpetuating stupid, sexist attitudes.
I should note, however, that while Sorkin's portrayal of women can be flawed, he has created some genuinely awesome and feminist female characters. C.J. Cregg and Abbey Bartlet are both amazing role models. I also love Donna Moss, although I will admit her role is a bit more problematic. I'm a big fan of the Josh/Donna relationship, for example, but at least for the first five seasons Donna's position is inherently dependent on and subservient to Josh's. She's younger, and a college drop-out. Josh is clearly presented as the superior in almost all aspects. While I think I would have enjoyed seeing them get together during the Sorkin years, I'm glad that when they finally did hook up in season seven, Donna was no longer Josh's assistant, and she actually made sure that when she got a job in the new administration, she wasn't working directly for Josh. Anyway, C.J. and Abbey are great characters and I commend Sorkin for doing a relatively good job with them.
I'll continue to apply the Bechdel Test as I work through the show. Hopefully things improve; I really do want to see more from Natalie and Dana, who have the potential to be awesome when they aren't so hung up on relationships.
Lately I've been applying Bechdel to everything I read and watch. It's been a fascinating and illuminating experience. With Sports Night, it can be downright infuriating. I want so much to love it, because it's an Aaron Sorkin show and The West Wing is my all-time favorite. But most Sports Night episodes fail the Bechdel Test so hard. In some ways, the odds are stacked against it from the beginning. Only two of the regulars are women, and it's a show about a sports show, which is definitely a male-dominated field. It's just really annoying, though, when you realize that you can practically count on one hand the number of conversations Dana and Natalie have that aren't about men. Goodness gracious.
I'm also find the attitudes most of the men on the show have toward women to be very grating. I really do like Sorkin as a writer, but so many of his male characters are incredibly patronizing to women, even women they supposedly respect enough to want to date. Apparently his idea of romantic is to have a man ask a woman out repeatedly, only for her to be ~charmed~ by his persistence and graciously accept his offer at the end. Excuse me, no. This approach rubbed me the wrong way when Sorkin used it with Bradley Whitford's character on Studio 60, and it's annoying me now with Dan and Rebecca on Sports Night. Then there's the current drama, in which Casey, who is supposedly in love with Dana, sleeps with a woman she hates, Sally, and then later finds out that Dana's fiance is also sleeping with this woman. Casey then calls Dana's fiance out on his behavior but doesn't bother to tell Dana about the affair, because that would mean admitting he's seeing Sally. I'm not finished with the season yet, so maybe I'm just getting peeved off for nothing, but as it is I get the impression that Sorkin wants to present Casey's actions as commendable. That is such a ridiculous double standard to me. I want to like the characters, I really do. For the most part, I do like Jeremy, Natalie, and Isaac. I just wish they would stop perpetuating stupid, sexist attitudes.
I should note, however, that while Sorkin's portrayal of women can be flawed, he has created some genuinely awesome and feminist female characters. C.J. Cregg and Abbey Bartlet are both amazing role models. I also love Donna Moss, although I will admit her role is a bit more problematic. I'm a big fan of the Josh/Donna relationship, for example, but at least for the first five seasons Donna's position is inherently dependent on and subservient to Josh's. She's younger, and a college drop-out. Josh is clearly presented as the superior in almost all aspects. While I think I would have enjoyed seeing them get together during the Sorkin years, I'm glad that when they finally did hook up in season seven, Donna was no longer Josh's assistant, and she actually made sure that when she got a job in the new administration, she wasn't working directly for Josh. Anyway, C.J. and Abbey are great characters and I commend Sorkin for doing a relatively good job with them.
I'll continue to apply the Bechdel Test as I work through the show. Hopefully things improve; I really do want to see more from Natalie and Dana, who have the potential to be awesome when they aren't so hung up on relationships.
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