Luckylyn

I have started Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs. Anna and Charles from the Alpha and Omega Series are investigating the disappearance of a town’s entire population. So far I am very intrigued by this modern Roanoke type mystery.

It’s sad so many actresses were fired for just for getting pregnant. There are creative ways to work around a pregnancy.

I remember hearing years ago that Mel Gibson tried to buy the rights to In Death and cast himself as Rourke. I am very happy that failed.

I will definitely be reading more Erik Larson nonfiction because In The Garden of Beasts was very engrossing. I feel like there are parallels to modern times in that people have become so casual about their bigotry. I am starting a romance called Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews. It’s a romance about a two men a pop star and pilot who end up stuck on an island after a plane crash. I am in the mood for that guaranteed happy ending that makes romance one of my favorite genres.

I could see Carrie becoming an influencer. Writing never seemed like a passion for her.

I have mentioned before the problematic issue of casting in Hollywood defaulting to white in situations where the character has not been described as a particular ethnicity. I just watched this video about how the default to white bias being such an issue that even in situations where the characters were described in a way that shows they were intended to be a person of color there are people who still default to white. She specifically focuses on the racist reaction to the casting for the character Rue in Hunger Games. I only saw the movies but my sister read the books was confused about why people were surprised Rue was black because she felt the book made it clear. Part of the problem is Hollywood’s horrible pattern of casting white actors in roles that were originally written to be a person of color. The Day Rue “Became” Black

Dear Evan Hansen

Crossroads 1986 2002

I remember Anne Rice aggressively being anti fan fiction to the point of her lawyers threatening to out people to their employers.

The Dad really was horrible. Having him be nice for two seconds towards the end didn’t make him being so hateful before forgivable at all.

I thought Sweet Carolina was okay. I hated the Dad and how she was treated badly because she lived in New York for her career. I hate that trope so much. Moving away from home doesn’t make someone a terrible person. I get family obligations so I am fine with her moving home to raise the kids. I like that it was not city awful/small town good but simply her wanting to take care of the kids. Also I think it’s totally unrealistic to make someone your kids guardian without discussing it with them first. Yet that trope shows up in movies all the time. I thought it was awful that her mother called her in the middle a work day to give her the bad news. When my Aunt died my mother didn’t inform me until I finished work that day because she knew I would be upset.

I love the coat porn for Queen Latifah on The Equalizer. Seriously her character seems to own a hundred coats, and I am okay with that, lol. I love her look in general. She looks comfortable but not frumpy. There’s a sliver evening dress she wore in an episode that I love but can’t find the picture.

This conversation makes me think of that horrible moment on the MTV movie awards where Chris Isaak kissed Cameron Diaz against her will. She’s clearly upset and he keeps invading her personal space.

I am starting In The Garden Of Beasts by Erik Larson about the rise of Hitler focusing on an American family living in Germany. I have always heard good things about Larson’s non fiction books.

I love the soundtrack for Grease 2 and I have a major soft spot for Caufield. Pfifer is wonderful. But overall I think it’s a bad movie. There are pieces that work but overall together it doesn’t quite work despite the potential the cast provided. You could tell the script was being rewritten as they go by stuff like Frenchy disappearing from the story with no explanation. I don’t like how the T-Birds were portrayed. There’s something particularly silly about them. They were comedic in the first film, but I found them more ridiculous in the second.

That article surprised me. I had heard the stories of Barrowman exposing himself but not about him touching people with it. The flashing is bad enough but doing stuff like placing your penis on an actress as she sits in the makeup chair is too much. The stuff about things improving after Tennant joined the show I guess means Barrowman didn’t expose himself on set in the episodes he guest stared in during the Tennant era. But what exactly was happening on Torchwood because it happened there too. I don’t buy he was reprimanded because it was ongoing apparently even when he moved on to Torchwood. But the behavior did stop eventually so maybe after a long while something was said to him. I am fond of Barrowman but so disappointed too.

I remember Pratt talking about it on Graham Norton. He mentioned getting a letter from the network making it clear he wasn’t allowed to do it again. He seemed more amused than chastised by it. At least the people in charge set a clear boundary. People won’t do inappropriate things on set if the people in charge make it clear it’s not okay. The people in power have to set the standard and enforce it. But when people are permitted to do whatever they want without consequences from the boss it’s a recipe for a toxic environment.

The John Barrowman situation makes me understand why people can have blindspots in this situation because I find I am such a fan that I struggle to think badly of him. I have enjoyed him so much over the years and hear all these lovely stories of him being wonderful with fans. When stories about Micheal Weatherly’s behavior on set including taking down his pants happened it didn’t even occur to me to compare that to John Barrowman flashing people on the set of Doctor Who and Torchwood. It’s an old commonly known story that been told as jokes for years by members of the cast and even is mentioned in a parody song. Now I can look back and see this was problematic. Freema Agyeman’s story off being startled to see Barrowman walk around set with his penis out and how everyone behaved matter of fact like it was a normal part of the day was interesting. She didn’t see it as funny. Did the whole group really think it was hilarious or did they feel they had to act okay with it? Does it matter that he hasn’t repeated this behavior in several years and apologized years ago? If people felt harmed but didn’t feel comfortable speaking up an apology doesn’t fix that. Still can people change and be redeemable. But harm done even if unintentional is still harm. Barrowman isn’t the only issue but the people in charge on set that allowed it also need to be discussed. I am really curious how Barrowman responses. I follow him on Facebook. He normally posts daily but he’s gone silent. He hasn’t posted in several days. I don’t know if he’s just sitting quietly hoping the controversy will pass or if a statement is coming. This video captures my mixed up feelings about Barrowman and also references the Noel Clarke allegations.

I feel like some characters have an expiration date and that it can hurt a show for the character to keep coming back. I felt that way about Sylar on Heroes. I was pissed he survived after season 1. I felt the character worked in a limited capacity and keeping him around damaged the show. When a villian lingers too long it diminishes the stakes in the conflict because it’s just lather, rinse, repeat until the show’s series finale. Then there’s the villian who ends up “redeemed”. Sometimes that works but I hate unearned villian redemptions. Dan Scott from One Tree Hill getting escorted to heaven by the ghost of the brother he murdered will never fail to piss me off.

One thing I found fascinating/horrifying is how willful blind the production was to how bad Weatherly’s behavior was. They submitted to court behind the scenes footage that showed that Eliza cursed on set as if that was somehow worse than sexual harassment. This evidence that they assumed would damage Eliza’s case just ended up providing the judge with footage of her harassment and the toxic environment on set. Somehow the people in charge of the didn’t see the harassment even when looking at their own footage. It’s so hard to come forward when the people you are dealing with refuse the see the problem right in front of them. In the end, the person who points out whats wrong is treated as the problem while the people causing the hostile work environment are protected. So Eliza gets fired for pointing out there’s an issue, but Weatherly continues without consequences. It’s like you see a person burning down a house and you report it but everyone is mad at you for pointing out the fire instead of being mad at the person who set it. It’s so unfair. And people have the nerve to wonder why victims have a hard time coming forward.

I really loved this analysis of the fashion of Fran Fine on The Nanny My favorites:

Death has been handled inconsistently in the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Some were permanent and others were worked around like your example of a character continuing in the series as a ghost. So I guess there’s a possibility that the character I mentioned could return but the way things were handled made it seem this was a permanent one. But who knows. Almost anything is possible in this series.

I just started Lover Unveiled by JR Ward. I really enjoy the Black Dagger Brotherhood books but am feeling a little weary. The last book in the series killed off a character I had assumed was going to get featured in their own book at some point. I thought there was some potential for a story for them. So I was kinda disappointed. Still the world of the series is getting bigger and bigger and many new characters added so it makes sense that some characters aren’t going to get their own story and will either remain a side character or leave the narrative in one way or another.

I enjoyed when a YouTuber referred to Falcon and the Winter Soldier as a romantic comedy with explosions. I thought after Civil War that Sam/Bucky had the potential to be an epic Snark to Love romance but didn’t think Disney would got through with it. Instead they are more like bickering brothers than sparring lovers. I was disappointed that they didn’t go with a romantic storyline with Sam/Bucky. Still I am on board for Bucky/Sarah despite their minuscule screen time. There’s a spark there and it’s sweet how they smile around each other. And Bucky with Sarah’s kids is so appealing. Seeing Bucky so relaxed and at home is lovely. I feel like he really needed a home and that he has that now. He has people to return to when he isn’t fighting regardless of whether or not he ends up romancing one of the Wilson siblings. As for Sharon and Sam, she was definitely checking him out when he had his shirt off. So I wondered where that might go but now they’ve taken Sharon in a direction that makes a romance unlikely. One thing though is

He just looks so content and at home with the Wilson family as a whole. Plus I really like Sarah. She’s a civilian who gets the job that Sam and Bucky do.