In sickness... We trust. Ghosts we bust.

So this is a bit late.

My bad.

I got some form of bug in the system.

But that is neither here nor there at this point. Lets get on with the show.

So i finally got around to seeing the new Ghostbusters movie. And while i respect that people have a differing opinion. It is a good movie, it is stupid and goofy and all i really want from a popcorn flick. Especially as i never really considered the original one to be anything beyond a good comedy. Maybe it is this freedom from the shackles of nostalgia that seem to have afflicted so many people online, that gave the opportunity to just see it for what it is. 

The idea that something have to surpass it´s source in every way. That is a dangerous one. Because it leads to either building way to much hype or becoming a eternal cynic. Of course in this day and age there is good biz to getting the hate-train. In fact i daily find new channels and blogs that thread that path as their sole and only thread. This is not new but it becomes so visible when your entire front page on You Tube is plastered with it. Not to mention how quick people are to ump down the throat of anyone not getting on the train. I have talked before on how the pure naked rage seen online these days is kind of disturbing. I know that most people are like me, people who can look at an issue and say "well i do not agree" without calling for someones head. 

For an example, let me use the example of Anita Sarkeesian, I far from agree with all she says. In fact i could argue some points until my head falls off. But not only does i see that someone had to take those lumps, stick their neck out and have it more or less chopped off. Because being polite and conforming would not have worked. So i simply shrug my shoulders, build some more or less logical arguments for the points i disagree and then go on my merry way. Should i ever end up in a conversation with her i know what to do. No way along the way is that to make threats or send someone actual shit in the mail. 

I feel this very much apply to the new Ghostbusters movie. Some people more or less competed to be the biggest arsehole on the internet. Of course this did have little impact on the movies numbers and i honestly think that SONY was happy about all the free marking they got. Not only was the movie constantly in the limelight but due to the angry people on the internet. Everybody had to have an opinion. I also hpope they stick to their guns and push the sequel because the universe is actually a good one. Heck in some ways i think it surpass the original. 

It is only a bit sad that it´s legacy will always be tainted by the toxic sludge it spawned. 

anyway... Enough rambling. Now i am going to down some cold pills and sleep. 

Stay safe, be kind and play fair. 

First Ghostbuster numbers are in and i have started to watch NCIS:LA

Let me start off with that the early reviews of the new Ghostbusters movie are looking good, sure it seems that it went the road of Star Wars and played it a bit too safe. But to be fair the movie is 30 years old and never had the pop-culture presence that Star Wars had. Now I have stayed away from plot reviews and you can bet your arse on me doing a full review once I go see it. But for now things are looking good and I can´t help but feel a tiny bit smug. 

And now back to your regular scheduled programming.

So having some free time I decided to finally dive in to NCIS: Los Angeles. Having been a fan of the earlier seasons if NCIS and that this series dropped any pretense on being based in reality, it pretty much fixed all the things that annoyed me with the original one. Now the show itself is pretty much what you expect from a crime drama/action show. But what makes me appreciate it is how well it deals with humor, especially the character of Hetty. Hetty is the operational manager (aka big boss) and is played by the amazing Linda Hunt. Now Linda Hunt is a short woman and the series use this to the max by not only playing with our established idea of power and the attributes tied in to it. The writers also elegantly weave jokes about the fact that she is short in to the story in such a way that it empowers and even humanize the character. This is sadly an uncommon occurrence in modern day TV. Way to often I see writers lean on broad stereotypes and go for the simple laughs. As an overweight person myself, I belong to a group that way too often see this treatment. In general overweight males end up in one of three groups. The creep, the looser or most often… the punchline.

 

So to see a show that actually use a none normative character, putting a female with a look and stature that would normally exclude her from playing powerful roles as not only a strong lead but also write her as someone who has seen it all and have favors to call in from pretty much everyone. It is refreshing. Now I am only in season two (of eight) at this point so it might change but if so, at least they did it. We need more thinking like that. Breaking down the typical image of how things are “supposed” to be. Because stagnation is not good for anything. 

This is perhaps the biggest responsibility we have as a generation. We are now moving in to power and society has never been more open. We hold the keys to forming a new order of things. Don´t believe the knuckledraggers who try to paint equality and acceptance as something negative and dangerous. Don´t buy in to the idea that the goal is precis and absolute balance and thus an impossible goal.  It is about giving everybody the same basic chance and not provide a fast lane just because the person have dick. There will always be way to buy in to a fast lane, sail a gravy boat up the river privilege. But how about we try to widen that lane.

Also for the fucking love of all that is holy…..

STOP… HURTING… PEOPLE… JUST… BECAUSE… YOU… DO… NOT… AGREE… WITH… THEIR… LIFE… AND… CHOICE.

Who someone is and what they do should not be a concern of you as long as they are not hurting anyone. I know it is easy to fall back on threats and false bravado when faced with something that if different. Heck I do it myself sometimes, for an example I have at points wished bodily harm on people like the core of Westborough Baptist church and other right wing conservatives. But then I remind myself that abuse is the only language they speak and it would have no effect. Violence does not solve anything, not really.

Ok that became a bit political… but hey fuck it… this is my blog and if you do not like it you can write a comment and tell me so. We do after all live in a free world.