Carnivale Bibliography anyone?

For those of you contemplating writing your second essay on Carnivale, I have a bibliography of articles and such that may prove helpful (there is not a whole lot of academic research material available on the show specifically). Email me if you would like a copy and I can arrange to leave a copy for you in my mailbox, or leave a few of them outside my office.

Remember, your abstract is due on Thursday! Please bring a copy of it to class. Email me with any questions.

Your third blog post is due Thursday as well, although for those of you who have not done it yet, you may have until Friday...one extra day.

That black and white image at the top of my last post wasn't supposed to be there.

That's Howard Hughes standing atop the Spruce Goose.

It was supposed to be this.

Lost in Space, Old Versus New

In the late nineties, early oughts, we as Americans were subjected to what seemed like an unremitting barrage of terrible sci-fi(The Thirteenth Floor, Batman and Rpbin, and The Avengers) and based on television (Charlie's Angels, 'nuff said) films, but I think it can be argued that by far the worst film of this entire period was Lost in Space, a film that was based on a 60s television show that mercilessly sucked on all eight cylinders. It was painful. It was unwatchable. It was the movie that finally beat Titanic for the top spot on the weekend chart. I will always defend Titanic, even though I can admit its flaws, but seriously, this is the alternative? Lost in Space?

For those of you who might happen to be one of God's favorite's who have not seen the film, let me explain it to you. In the future, a family gets lost in space. That's about it, but to complicate things, they go through time as well as space, and Gary Oldman is with them. Naturally, the hero is Matt LeBlanc, who spends his time shooting at different things he doesn't understand/disagrees with, and has this metal mask that makes it look like the movie is going to be cool for a second, but of course isn't. They even pick up this big-eyed space pet. Sweet Jesus.

But the real accomplishment (in honor of the Pulitzers, which were announced today) is that they were able to make something worse than the original television show. The plot was essentially the same, save that Gary Oldman's character was in fact a mincing pedophile who never had anything better to do on this desolate planet than hang out with Bill Mumy. There was really only one set, which was pretty lousy, and they never get off the planet.

What's the lesson here, though? That when utter crap takes itself seriously and we don't get to see Dr. Zachary Smith preening about and making weird insults at a big robot, the ability to watch it at all goes way down.

To see Jonathan Harris pretend he didn't make the world a worse place, look here.

Everybody hates John Locke.

... no not THAT John Locke...

So I’m in a unique position writing this post because as everyone knows, I have not seen any of the episodes from the new season of “Lost”. I absolutely despise watching shows on television, being forced to sit through commercials and then have to wait a week (at least) to find out what happens. As such, I have seen all the episodes up until this point, but I have watched them on DVD. That being said, I am in a unique position, because I don’t know (nor do I wish to know) what is happening currently on the show.

But getting back on track, from what I gather listening to everyone I know who watches, everybody hates John Locke… everyone but me that is.

I constantly have arguments defending Locke, and while I understand why people hate him, I will qualify my defense of him with the statement that I’m not defending the character, his actions or motivations, I am defending the structure of the character, as a character.

Few people can deny the allure of the villain, and while there are many different types of villains, John Locke is one of the most entertaining types of villains. He is ambiguous, but all knowing. He’s not a mindless brute like a zombie or an “I know what you did last summer” type. He is calculated and mysterious. Just the fact that we had to wait until the third season to find out what the hell happened to his legs meant that we were constantly in a state of wonder, and constantly questioning him. Was it something huge like a train wreck, or perhaps he was paralyzed saving a bunch of drowning orphans from a great white shark. Maybe he was paralyzed drowning a bunch of orphans in a bathtub, or, likelier still, maybe his injury had nothing to do with drowning orphans at all! Like him or not, one couldn’t help but wonder what happened to him.

We also can’t help but wonder generally what his deal is. A great example of his mystery is early on, when he’s walking to the hatch (remember that thing?) with boon (remember that guy?) and he says that it’s going to rain, and then it starts raining immediately. He may be a prick, but it’s hard to deny the fact that he’s in tune with the island somehow.

Benjamin Linus is another great example of a villain in this same vein, and when the two of them get together its villain-tastic.

Admittedly, Locke comes unraveled in the later episodes, but early Locke is a lot of fun to watch. The villains are always the most fun part to watch, even when we look at simple superheroes, the heroes are always defined by their villains, Batman has Joker, Mr. Freeze, Two Face, etc. Spiderman has all of his lame villains, and Superman is just a stupid flying jerk… but I think I’m getting off topic here. Everyone loves villains, just look at this crazy guy’s page about villains, I even found an instructional page on how to become a villain .

John Locke is a great villain because you’re never really sure that he IS a villain, and ambiguous villains are the best. I think it was in the movie “Unbreakable” where Samuel Jackson’s character is talking about two different types of villains, and he says that you always have to look at the eyes, for the most dangerous types, you can see it in the eyes.

You might have to make a metaphorical deal with the devil... and by devil I mean Robot Devil, and by metaphorical I mean get your coat.

So we haven’t really talked about animated shows.

Nor have we talked about one of the finest animated shows ever created… I speak of course of “Futurama”

Amidst the science fiction genre are all manner of supernatural beings and situations. Aliens and robots are standard characters, and we can visit all different kinds of planets and situations that would not normally be possible. The beauty of "Futurama" though, is that all these things are done in a very intelligent way. Listening to the audio commentaries on the DVD, one can see just how much (sometimes unnecessarily complicated) thought goes into a lot of simple decisions. In a first season episode where the characters are on the moon, the animators and directors had long conversations about how to properly depict the moon, what side would be lit, what part of planet earth you would be able to see from the moon, and how the leftover lunar lander would be depicted.

In a later episode involving time travel, the writers and directors deliberately chose situations and events that would be rare, appropriate for the show, and SOMEWHAT plausible for the situation. They made the directorial choice to have time travel be something that could happen, but not happen so much that it could be done whenever the characters wanted.

In addition to the various supernatural characters and events on the show, “Futurama” does what any decent science fiction show does, and it does it very well at that. It comments on present day society. An entire show is dedicated to global warming, for example. Feminism, various prejudices, organized religion, and even issues regarding Native Americans are all fodder for the science fiction institution. Science fiction shows can get away with a lot of things that shows set in the present day cannot. The robot character Bender drinks and smokes cigars and is generally a self centered mischievous troublemaker, but he is a robot, so it’s ok.

“Futurama,” like most shows that were cancelled too early, has a very dedicated fan base that picks apart every episode, discovering all the nerdy in jokes, and techno-speak. There are many of these fan sites, but I stumbled across this one in case anyone was interested.

All in all, “Futurama” was a great show with compelling characters that supported its wonderfully fun vision of the future.

Finally, all I have to say is "I apologize.... for nothing!!"

Postmodernity in TV's "Buffy"

The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word 'postmodern' as "Of or relating to art, architecture, or literature that reacts against earlier modernist principles, as by reintroducing traditional or classical elements of style or by carrying modernist styles or practices to extremes." We can find examples of postmodern cinema dating back into the 60's and 70's, but television was slightly slower to embrace this concept. In fact, most of the postmodern risks that Buffy takes can be traced directly back to another groundbreaking program that we watched in class - Twin Peaks.

Genre blending? Buffy has it. Its main thematic basis lies directly in the world of horror, of course, and the show often takes on the "Monster of the Week" format that The Outer Limits and The X Files, (among other programs) have popularized. Structurally, the show varies throughout the years, often switching back and forth between an almost procedural, detective drama and a soap operaesque coming-of-age dramedy.

Buffy also plays with the idea of the mundane seeming supernatural and the supernatural seeming mundane. Often, Buffy and Willow can have no problem slaying a vampire or banishing a demon, but hit a brick wall when having to deal with a relationship problem. In one famous episode from season 3, The Zeppo, Xander loses his virginity in a manner that feels far more surreal than any of the apocalyptic monsters that Buffy is fighting at the same time. Later on in the series, nostalgia also plays an incredibly large thematic role. In seasons 4 and 5, every character on the show questions their trajectory in life as their tight-knit group from high school begins to dissolve.

The show also deals a lot with cultural references, especially to other forms of media. Buffy, Willow, and Xander call their monster fighting group "the Scooby gang", in reference to the mystery machine crew in the old cartoon show Scooby Doo. They will often make reference to other famous fictional sleuths (The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew) and refer to monsters in relation to monsters they (and we) have seen in the movies. In fact, the entire vernacular that is used by the primary characters on the show is rife with postmodern references and a unique take on language twisting that empowers our young protagonists.

Many of the gothic tropes we saw in Twin Peaks are present here, too. The victim/tormentor dichotomy is seen here (especially in the Buffy/Spike relationship), as well as the presence of doppelgangers. The idea of a locus of evil is present in the Buffyverse with the existence of the hellmouth, and the importance of dreams and nightmares is always clear: there are even a few episodes that take place entirely in the subconscious. While the identity dyads don't permeate quite as far in Buffy as they do in Twin Peaks, they are still present - especially in the characters of Angel and Spike, who constantly fluctuate between their good and bad selves.

Still, there are probably even more instances of postmodernity as well as similarities to Twin Peaks, but how related are the two shows, exactly? Do you think that Whedon borrowed heavily from Lynch, or did the earlier series simply pave the way for 90's television at large? Feel free to comment so we can discuss this further!

Blacks Supernatural Television (BST)

In honor of Black History Month... Wait, that was last month? This month is Women's history month. Well how about I just throw some black chicks in and get two birds with one stone?

Historically Blacks have been underrepresented in the Media. It is only been within the last 30 years that the Black experience has been exhibited on television sets. Shows with largely if not all Blacks casts such as What’s Happening, The Jeffersons, Good Times, In Living Color, and Girlfriends have garnered both critical acclaim and strong viewer support. Blacks have had successful runs in comedy and drama. However, for whatever reason are underrepresented in supernatural genres. So this blogpost will extol those characters from some of our favorite supernatural television shows.

Guinan, played by actress Whoopi Goldberg, was the resident bartender of The Starship Enterprise. She hails from a planet that was killed by the Borg and her civilization can live much longer than humans. As an Alien she has the ability to sense when things are wrong with others, this often comes in handy when her patrons have issues that they need to work out. Actress Whoopi Goldberg was a huge fan of the television show and actually approached the producers to see if they could find a roll for her.

Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge, the other Black crewmember aboard The Starship Enterprise. La Forge was not only Black but disabled. Blind from birth he wore a VISO (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement) that enabled him to see electromagnetic radio waves, infrared, ultraviRolet, but not normal light perception. La Forge is a Human born in the futuristic year of 2335 in the African Confederation of Earth. When he travels back in time he is responsible in helping to create Earth’s first warp-capable vessel and was one of the first to achieve contact with the Vulcan race.

Micah Sanders, one of the youngest heroes on the television hit Heros. Micah is a technopath that has the ability to communicate with machines and electronics. Micah is extremely intelligent but comes from a chaotic household. He has to go on the run with his mother when she fails to repay a debt borrowed from a loan shark. Later on in the show he is kidnapped by his father when he walks in on them having a fierce battle.

Walt Lloyd, the youngest survivor of Oceanic flight 815. Walt is just getting reacquainted with his estranged father Michael, when their plane goes down on the mystical island. Walt exhibits some form of supernatural power that has yet to be explained. He shares a close relationship with fellow survivor, Locke. In the season 3 finale after fleeing the island Walt appears to Locke who has been shot by resident ass hole, Benjamin.

One of my favorite appearances by a Black actor in a supernatural television show would have to be Kendra played by Bianca Lawson in television’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kendra was the vampire slayer who once stated “that was my favorite shirt… That was my only shirt” moments after a vampire from the hellmouth of Sunndale tore the shirt she was wearing. Kendra appeared to be a native of some island in the Caribbean. Although no place of origin was given this could be assumed by her accent. Kendra unfortunately only appeared in three episodes before she was killed making way for morally corrupt vampires slayer, Faith.