The Week in Geek 11/17/15

This Week In Superhero Television....Jessica Jones premiered this Friday as part of the Netflix division of Marvel's Cinematic Universe. Of course, I haven't finished the series because it's 13 episodes and my geek devotion only goes so far in one day, but thus far, it rates as "pretty damn good." There have been attempts at recapturing the feminist narrative feel we got from Buffy (some of them, unsurprisingly, from Joss Whedon), but few have actually succeeded. Now, I'm not saying that Jessica Jones completely succeeds. It's not quite a perfect show and it definitely does not surpass Daredevil (because Daredevil didn't have too much of the burden of selling other possible properties), but if I had to make a list of shows that rate alongside JJ, it would probably rate in the top 5 above maybe Agent Carter. The ways the series differs from the Alias comic series are basically either minor or necessary for television, but they create so many layers for modern day gender politics and themes. From Jeri Hogarth being the catalyst for a toxic relationship or Jessica Jones herself being victimized in an abusive one, modern day womanism is alive and well in this show.

I mean, who better to play Killgrave, a somewhat charming man who is driven by his need to control everything and ends up remorselessly hurting everyone he allegedly cares about....than David Tennant, the guy who played the Tenth Doctor, a somewhat charming man who is driven by his need to control (or fix, as it were) everything and ends up hurting people he cares about.

Also, the whole thing's got me excited to see Luke Cage's show. Mike Colter is playing a very layered version of Cage. The whole hardened "Shaft with superpowers" deal works well with the version Brian Bendis established in the comics back in 2000, but it's nice (necessary, in fact) to see characters of color with multiple dimensions, who are taken out of their comfort zones while still not compromising their principles. And Luke Cage is nothing, if not a man of principle.

All in all, this makes for an excellent piece of standalone superhero noir as well as a fantastic addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Plenty of replay value.

My review for the week on The Mighty Thor is available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing enjoyment. And don't forget about my weekly webcomic with Katie Coats, Neverland: The Untold, which updates weekly. Feel free to like, comment, share and spread the word as you see fit.

The Week In Geek: 11/4/15

This Week In Bad Journalism....Complex Magazine just established themselves as the most irrelevant rag in hip hop right now. Recently, Complex just dropped an article basically slandering Kendrick Lamar's latest album To Pimp A Butterfly in a roundabout fashion. In response, the internet lost its shit as it tends to do. Granted, social media is a breeding ground for kneejerk reactions, but it hasn't even been a year yet and we already have think pieces looking back on an album that dropped a little more than six months ago, dissecting it the way Vulture examines The Karate Kid or The Breakfast Club. 

It's reflective of the overall problem with hip hop journalism. Even if you're just reporting on the bullshit like how Rapper A was seen at a club with Rapper B's girlfriend, journalism is meant to inform. Now, YES, I clearly understand (as is evident by this blog) the allure in the human element of op-ed writing. After all, information is only so useful without context. But when you're trashing an album that your own publication JUST GAVE 4.5 STARS OUT OF FIVE, it's blatantly disingenuous. I'm not going to go through and redline the whole article but this one passage sums up the overall problem pretty well.

"Why, in 2015, would a recently platinum-selling rapper make a jazz album with Lalah Hathaway, Ron Isley, and George Clinton?" 

I've read enough of Complex to know that they're not stupid, that they know their roots. They knew how powerful it was to have such greats as George Clinton and Lalah Hathaway on an album tailor made for an African American Studies course in college. So, why throw such "old fogey" shade? The answer is simple: somewhere along the way, Complex found it to be more profitable to become the inexperienced 19 year olds they're supposed to be informing. They might have had more credibility if this weren't an album they'd previously lauded for its chaotic sound, but then, this was clearly an attempt to be contrary for contrary's sake to fuel the fire of a conversation that isn't really happening. As much as we hate comment sections on the internet, we are bizarrely drawn to them at the same time. They're the new "train wreck". Gawker does opinion pieces about poignant exchanges within them all the time. The human equivalent of a comment section is not only running for President, but blue shelling his counterparts in the polls. So, it's only natural that, in the interest of selling clicks, there will be some organizations that become the Lowest Common Denominator and invoke a comment section mentality. But then, this is the way of hip hop publications. The Source handed out 5 mic ratings like free samples until they glad handed themselves right out of relevance. As hip hop evolves, the people chronicling it should evolve as well. Otherwise, you have old fogeys sitting on the mountaintop, preaching about a culture they're not actively trying to understand in its present form.

My review for the week on The Invincible Iron Man is available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing enjoyment. As always, feel free to read, view, comment and share at your leisure. And don't forget about my ongoing webcomic, Neverland: The Untold.