Glee, Season 3 Re-Do, How It Should Have Gone Down: Props
I watch too much TV…
ducko replied to your post: Glee prepares for Nationals…and then goes to Nationals!
do you watch and review other shows? :)
Let’s see…I LOVE Community. It’s such an amazing show, both comically and emotionally, and it doesn’t get enough credit. Community is actually a lot like Glee, and it makes me sad that Glee cannot reach or even come close to the levels of character depth that Community has.
(Fun fact: Don’t try to get someone into Community by saying it’s a lot like Glee, but better - they’ll think you’re talking about Glee’s inconsistencies when in fact Community is a hell of a lot more consistent than Glee -_-).
I also watch and like How I Met Your Mother. Same combination of comedy and emotionally poignant moments here (although I’d argue that Community does it better), but I still enjoy it.
Smash is a show that I really liked in the beginning, but it’s gone in a terrible direction. The best parts of the show are about the Marilyn musical and its numbers, and the worst parts are the outside drama, yet the show insists on focusing wayyyy too much time on the latter. -_- So disappointing that Smash could be so much better…
Also on my list: Castle, Psych, and House. These are kind of “fluff” shows I guess, in the sense that I don’t necessarily view them with the same critical lens that I do Glee/Community/Smash (I guess I let my mind take a break for HIMYM too, lol.) Psych is just funny/for the mystery, Castle is also funny/veers into drama and will they/won’t they (finally going somewhere in the Season 4 finale), and House I guess I just begrudgingly stick with even though it used to be so much better.
Oh, and Once Upon a Time. Which frustrates me because of its slow-moving plot (which is also, finally going somewhere now, in its Season 1 finale.)
I also stream episodes of Yugioh Zexal. >_>
Looking at this list, it’s surprisingly long…I think I spend too much time watching TV. -_- Which is odd because I used to barely watch TV at all…I guess the internet changed that. :P I try to balance it by not immediately keeping up on all of them. Glee/HIMYM/Community are episodes I try to watch the day of (Prucha, what am I going to do without you as my TV buddy next year ;~;). Smash I would like to watch the day of but I can see it getting pushed to later in the week. Castle tends to get pushed later into the week (too many shows on Mondays), as does Once Upon a Time. Psych and House I’m often several episodes behind on.
I’ve had a ton of recommendations for Game of Thrones, so I guess I might add that to the list…now that it’s summer I can finally start watching it without killing my finals studying. -_-
Anyway, the Glee reviews came about mainly because I read too many reviews on AV Club, and I eventually came to watch the show under that critical lens as well. And perhaps I shouldn’t, lol. I know a lot of people watch Glee for the fun musical numbers as opposed to actual plot, but the show had/has so much potential to be narratively fulfilling that it’s hard to ignore that.
Oftentimes I agreed with what AV Club or Monkeys as Critics or Cultural Learnings or TV Surveillance, but sometimes I didn’t, or I felt like there was something important that these review(s) left out - hence I started writing my own. I’ve taken to writing up these reviews before reading any of the other sites so that I remain unbiased. I suppose I could write up reviews on other shows, but (1) it would take forever, and (2) I’ve never really had as much to say that the review(s) didn’t already say/I didn’t feel super strongly about it said additional things. I suppose if I would review any other show, it would be Community, because that’s the only one I care about enough.
Wow, that was really long. o_o
Glee prepares for Nationals…and then goes to Nationals!
Hey the Glee club has finally learned their lesson! Instead of preparing for Nationals the week OF Nationals, they’re instead preparing…the week BEFORE nationals!… Aren’t we so smart? -_-
More after the break, but I DO have good things to say, I swear.
Glee Club goes to Prom - yay… -_-
……yeah, I really don’t know what to say, so let’s just get on with this.
Words to live by, especially on a Monday. (Although you may want to wait until after lunch.)
Not sure if cookies are the best cramming-for-finals food, but sure. :P
Glee Addresses Domestic Violence (Among Other Things…)
This week on Glee: a domestic violence PSA, NYADA auditions, and Puck trying to pass his European Geography test. Oh Glee, always rushing through storylines at an alarming place. Did these plots stick their landings?
Glee does another Theme Week - Whitney Houston
Another theme week? That’s two in a row (last week was disco). So much for Ryan Murphy cutting back on theme episodes this season…
But wait, this was actually a GOOD theme episode! (And so was last week’s disco episode, according to critics, so that makes two in a row @__@). More on that after the break. *SPOILERS*
HUGE GIVEAWAY!
If you win, you will recieve:
All of the pokemon figures shown- none are damaged and mewtwo is slightly white.
1 game of your choice. All include booklets and games are not damaged in any way. You will recieve on this game: One shiny starter of your choice (level 5) and also one shiny pokemon of your choice (level 100).
You will get Pokemon Link and Pokemon Dash also with these games- same description as above)
A full eevee family. Brand-new. Includes: Eevee, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon and Glaceon.
A Starly plush. This calls when wing is pressed.
A Buneary plush. This calls when its ear is pressed.
A Pachirisu plush. This calls when its tail is pressed.
A Charmander plush.
A Jigglypuff plush.
A Pokemon Black and White Walkthrough Guide. This is new.
I post free to anywhere.
PLEASE NOTE: You do not have to be following me however I will enter your name another time if you are following me. You can reblog this post as many times as you like. Likes do not count and I will post the winner on the 28th of April.
Good Luck!
Glee does…Saturday Night Fever? What?
Oh it’s a themed episode. Glee’s themed episodes have been hit and miss - Rumors was a good one because it used the theme to propel the kids forward, kind of like Community does with their theme episodes. Others like Rocky Horror are a flop.
So this…well… (spoilers after the break)
Big Brother is Watching…
Glee returns from a hiatus…(as do I.) How does it fare?
Actually I guess I didn’t end up writing about the other episodes oops.
Anyway, I’ll try to make this short because I have kanji to study for and Stats homework to do -_-
SPOILER WARNING => Spoilers after the break.
Kony 2012 and the (Terrifying) Impact of Social Media
The Kony 2012 video scares me.
No, this is not a post about Invisible Children’s questionable use of donor funds, nor is this a post criticizing the effectiveness of their proposed solution (military intervention) to Ugandan struggles, nor is this a post about how Invisible Children’s propagandist tactics dehumanizes the Ugandan people while promoting “white savior”-ness. You can find plenty of that here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. They’re all great reads, and I recommend you read them (I even reblogged some of them.)
Rather, this is a post about social media’s pervasive impact on society. Invisible Children set out to make a viral video and encourage the masses to “take action” (through the dubious method of spreading awareness). Given the huge uproar on Facebook and elsewhere..they succeeded.
And to be honest, that scares me. A lot. I don’t understand how this video created such a public outcry, and yet it did…
My thoughts on the Kony 2012 video, and why its effectiveness scares me:
1. The video is incredibly self-centered and self-serving. The start of the video is all about the NARRATOR, Jason Russel and how he “discovered” the Ugandan people. This is about “ME” and what “I” did, and what Invisible Children, “MY organization” is doing. For a “charity” organization to focus more on their own organization than on the actual struggles of the Ugandan people comes across as both incredibly disingenuous and insulting. Spending so much time on this comes at the expense of educating us about the struggles of the Ugandan people, and therefore…
2. The “educational” portion of the video is extremely superficial. “Joseph Kony kidnaps Ugandan children and uses them as child soldiers. We MUST stop him at all costs!” That’s it. That’s the extent of the educational message I get from the video. It paints broad strokes about the conflict in Uganda without explaining anything about why Kony is in power, why the LRA exists, how the Ugandan government is involved, etc. At the “end” of the video (more like the middle, because that’s when the video ceases to talk about Uganda directly), I am left wanting to know more about Uganda because the video DID NOT TELL ME ANYTHING SUBSTANTIAL.
Now yes, leaving the audience wanting to know more isn’t a bad thing, but (a) the video had THIRTY minutes to educate me and failed to do an even half decent job at it, and, (b) because the video nor the Kony 2012 campaign makes no effort to direct me to where I can find more information about this.
Essentially, for what little time the video devotes to the actual struggles of the Ugandan people, it goes for quick emotional punches instead of creating any sort of informative foundation. Which means ultimately…
3. The final call to action is empty. Hollow. Meaningless. The last third (half?) of the video is devoted towards encouraging youth to join the awareness factory. “Kony 2012! We will not stop! Using our action kits is the way to go!” Not only is it also incredibly self-serving (see point 1), but it’s emotionally cheap. It’s like Glee, which too often jumps to an unearned payoff. Up until this point, the video has spent more time tooting its own horn then educating me about Uganda, and the little time that is actually devoted to Uganda is extremely superficial. Even if I agreed with Invisible Children’s solution of military intervention (which I don’t), or their preference for mass blind awareness everywhere over education (which I don’t either), the video did not inspire me to act.
The last part of the video could have been plucked out and put into any other Public Service Announcement. AIDS in Africa! Sex Trafficking! Child Labor! Earthquake in Japan/Haiti! Poverty in US slums! Hate crimes against Vincent Chin/Danny Chen! You could literally substitute any other world problem and stick the last part of their video at the end of it. There was no connection to Uganda, and there was not even a foundation for it to stand on (informational/educational or otherwise). It was hollow and reeked of propaganda.
And that is why the public outcry on Facebook and other social networking sites leaves me utterly perplexed. “This is a must-see!” people say. “PLEASE spend just 30 minutes of your time watching this important video!” they plead, with such urgency. “We must cover the night on April 20th!” “It was so inspiring and powerful!”
After watching the video, I didn’t understand the reaction at all. I don’t understand how people could be so moved by this video. It confuses the hell out of me. Do people just not question things as much as I thought they did? Was this questionable video “all” that was needed to raise people attention and get them up in arms?
Now yes, this video, at its core, supports a “good” cause. The way that they go about portraying this cause is disgustingly superficial and dehumanizing, and their solution is questionable at best, but no one is denying Kony’s crimes.
However, what is the video had a different topic? “Al-Qaeda is bad! We must stop their members at all costs…by interrogating/torturing and deporting all Arab/Muslim/Middle-Eastern-Americans!” “Gay people are bad! We need to outlaw gay marriage in all states!” As I said before, you could literally substitute the last 10-15 minute call to action and put it after any other “issue,” “problem,” or otherwise.
It’s an incredibly dangerous power, to be able to influence the masses so easily. The fact that Invisible Children was able to do so with such a shoddy video is frightening. The next “Kony 2012” -esque viral video that pops up could have even more disastrous consequences than this one.
Think about that for a second.
People ask me sometimes why I’m such a devil’s advocate. This is why. Because we can never stop questioning. We can’t just take things at face value. We should always strive to educate ourselves about each issue to the fullest. Only then can we truly assess and understand what is best for both ourselves and others.
