Social Media and Behind the Scenes: AKA Everything Else Not "News and Media"

[dtissagirl]

I have a weird problem with how KC talks about Black Canary that has nothing do with her, it's my problem. I wish someone more in tune with feminism, and portrayals of women in media, and the gigantic problem of sexism in comics and the industry was playing a character that is one of my fictional feminist icons. And KC is not at all tuned into that, and it makes me sad that they could have found someone like, say -- Hayley Atwell, who constantly amazes me when talking about the importance of a character like Peggy Carter -- and instead I got KC talking about her biceps. Unfair to her? Totally, I'm not even gonna pretend it's not. Still bugs me.

Edited July 12, 2015 by dancingnancy

[EmeraldArcher]

It's stuff like this that makes Oliver's "I fell in love" comment getting such a huge positive response in Hall H last night warm the deepest cockles of my heart.

Here's the video for that. Does anybody else see the WWE influence on SA's delivery of this intro? I can't un-hear it now.

http://youtu.be/hP3pi_unmf0

[Guest]

Hee, I do what I can. <3

 

I actually have a couple of solutions for them, if they want it. Free of charge hate strategy:

 

1. find around ten thousand people who hate Felicity, pick a leader to create the anti- Smoak&Arrow Tumblr and Twitter accounts, and lead those ten thousand folks into all sorts of fun fandom activities, except with hatred in their hearts.

 

2. Get Craig to stop with the "I'm not biased" hilarity, and make him turn GATV into *the* place that loathes Felicity and Oliver/Felicity for realsies, and then gather the ten thousand people and lead them in hatred.

 

LOL. You shouldn't put that out into the universe. We have stalkers here. Beware. It'll turn up on imdb forums later. Haha.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Guest

[Sakura12]

I'm still mad about Laurel being around because, I feel that Cassidy doesn't get the character she's playing. Yeah, I get that she's excited to wear the BC costume. But there is more to the character than that. She only seems to think of the character on a superficial level. She brings no depth the character, no emotion. Even in interviews she doesn't really talk about anything else. I can't connect to a character if the actor isn't going to put any work into portraying that character. 

 

If you listen to SA, EBR, DR, CL and even JB talk about their characters, you can tell they put a thought into their character and can talk about what they think the character is thinking and feeling. They talk about the character like it's part of them. Bringing up Hayley Atwell she talks about how Peggy inspires her in her everyday life. I knows she's lucked out in being written by people that know how to write female characters. But she like many tv actors talk about their character like it's an extension of them. They like they that they can kick ass, but they know their character is so much more than that. KC doesn't seem to get that or just doesn't care about anything else.  She may not get the deep questions, but that doesn't mean she can't talk about her character more. That is what the most the questions are about. I can't really blame the interviewers, it's been 3 years and they always get the same generic answers from her. I don't think they expect more so they don't ask more. 

[AyChihuahua]

It's chicken-egg again. Just like I think the writing for LL was so inconsistent largely (but not entirely) bc KC couldn't pull it off so they kept trying other things, I think the questions are superficial bc her answers are usually superficial.

[Chaser]

A big thing for me is not understanding audience perception. I think she thought Laurel was unpopular because she didn't have a mask or Oliver. Everything in her interviews was tailored to that, so she never adjusted her approach. It's not a bad thing to say, I understand where the audience is coming from, here is my headspace and let me tell you where I would like to see the character go. It's a way to separate yourself from your character and become their advocate. Instead, I'm left just as confused about KC as I am about LL.

[tangerine95]

And even when the questions are deeper she finds a way to make it about Lauriver being soulmates.I think she's just not a good actress who has no desire to look deeper into her character.In season 1 Laurel was an angelic do gooder now she's a kickass warrior and that's all there is to her.

[Tangerine]

All right, I'm back on the boards from a mini hiatus just in time for an Unpopular Opinion! I don't totally hate the new costume. I mean, the sleeveless is totally impractical, but if they are trying to inch closer to what the comic book look is this does scream more traditional superhero.

 

That being said, there was an earlier discussion about this seeming divide between staying loyal to the comics. The thing is, TV is a totally different medium. I'm a big fan of the comics, but there are just certain things that won't work on TV. I think as long as you're respecting the spirit of what the characters are all about, then it doesn't matter if certain relationships or names might be a tad different. Which is why I am more pissed at what happened with Superman's character in Man of Steel more than anything Arrow has ever done to any of their comic counterparts. CL's Black Canary captured exactly what comic BC was all about (she will always be the one and only BC to me in the DCTV verse, I don't care what the show tries to tell me.) The thing is, in the latest Black Canary/Green Arrow comic book run...

 

(Spoiler tagged for comic spoilers)

They don't even know each other. The latest BC is "D.D.", Dinah Drake, which is technically Dinah Laurel Lance's mother. Issue #1 alludes that DD was previously married, but we don't know much beyond that. Plus, this BC is all about protecting women...sound familiar?

 

Thought all the ladies looked lovely! EBR looks amazing in the figure skating dress, but I do agree it does seem like an odd choice for an event like this.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Tangerine

[BkWurm1]

But consider that she was a non-entity at Comic-Con. They didn't even tease a storyline for her (they at least did that for her last year). KC did in the press room, but not on the panel or in the EP interviews. Something in all their data, tells them she isn't a selling point on the largest fan stage.

 

 

I just haven't gotten this kind of vibe - that she was a non entity or that she's had a bad comic con.  I don' t even think that the applause levels were markedly less for her than for SA (and I was looking for it to be lesser)  I would say that DR got the most applause, followed by EBR and that more than anything, people were getting tired of applauding by the time they got even to SA.

 

It's true that her story line hasn't been discussed but likely either she doesn't have a big presence outside of action stuff in the first couple episodes or that her storyline is kind of hush hush since it's tangled up with Sara.  As someone said in one of her interviews, this is the first Comic-con where she is fully wearing the mask so that is her big topic of discussion and frankly, that was her selling point in season 3.  I did not like that journey to get there or find it legitimate but that's why I had issues listening to her in interviews.  Still, it's what she believes so that's what it is. 

 

I think KC might be a rather literal person which makes it hard for her to do off the cuff commentary.  I think she prepares a few answers  and then says a variation of those because that is her comfort level.  When she tries to be playful, like with the Doliver comment, it is hit or miss.  It did take the conversation to Oliver and Diggle's estrangement and people were interested in that so it wasn't exactly a fail, just awkward.  It's not the most relaxed style but I don't think I should read anything new into it.  It's the same old same old. 

 

Hee, I do what I can. <3

 

I actually have a couple of solutions for them, if they want it. Free of charge hate strategy:

 

1. find around ten thousand people who hate Felicity, pick a leader to create the anti- Smoak&Arrow Tumblr and Twitter accounts, and lead those ten thousand folks into all sorts of fun fandom activities, except with hatred in their hearts.

 

2. Get Craig to stop with the "I'm not biased" hilarity, and make him turn GATV into *the* place that loathes Felicity and Oliver/Felicity for realsies, and then gather the ten thousand people and lead them in hatred.

I'd say the numbers are more like ten than ten thousand but otherwise whose to say number two on the list hasn't already been accomplished. 

 

Edited to clarify, I don't think Craig is trying to lead people in hate, he just has his own preferences and he doesn't hide them nearly as much as he thinks he does. 

Edited July 12, 2015 by BkWurm1

[Sunshine]

Well nothing really she just interjected herself talking about another ship name right after or during I can't exactly remember when. But she started taking about another ship when Emily and Stephen were done thanking the fans. It just turned awkward a little bit to me.

I just watched the panel.  She mentioned Doliver when they were discussing Diggle's costume and David was joking about "Black Driver".

[dtissagirl]

EBR says it way better than me:

[Delphi]

I actually thought Katie seemed very nice all through her interviews. Her smile seemed very genuine and it looked like her and Emily and Willa seemed to have a lot of fun together.

I would also agree that Katie doesn't really get asked a lot of deeper questions during these interviews. It's all "you have a costume" not "how Is Laurel fount to handle Sara's resurrection". That's not Katie's fault.

[quarks]

I wasn't online during the first season, so I'm completely clueless about what happened during the early months. Was there really negativity regarding Laurel? I always thought it was more apathy than negativity (which, I guess, is worse).

 

Yes. Fans were calling for her removal from the show as early as the second episode on a number of internet boards. That got steadily worse through seasons one and two.  It's somewhat died down now.

 

@Foreverevolving - Absolutely, Supergirl was a terrible movie, and season seven of Smallville had far bigger problems than Supergirl's introduction, but from a network point of view, it's hard to say, "Hey, so, the first time we tried this, we lost about $16 million dollars, and the second time we tried this, the show lost viewers even though we don't think that had anything to do with Supergirl, so, want to throw us more money?  Please?" Right now, with the increasing calls for superhero movies/television shows starring women, it makes sense to do Supergirl (maybe not on CBS, but as an overall idea) but I can understand why networks didn't leap at the chance to do Supergirl before this. 

[apinknightmare]

 

I would also agree that Katie doesn't really get asked a lot of deeper questions during these interviews. It's all "you have a costume" not "how Is Laurel fount to handle Sara's resurrection". That's not Katie's fault.

 

It's not her fault that she gets asked surface-level questions, but Willa got asked the same question Katie did about the costume and provided a very well thought out, poignant response. I think Katie just doesn't think about Laurel beyond random talking points that she works out before hand. She's trained, so she's a kick ass fighter. She's been through stuff, so she earned the mask. 

 

She does seem nice and excited about having the moniker now, but there's just not a lot going on there if you're an interviewer looking for some insight into Laurel Lance.

Edited July 12, 2015 by apinknightmare

[Morrigan2575]

EBR says it way better than me:

That's just perfect

[tangerine95]

I love what EBR said,she just gets Felicity.She handled the questions about FS not being a hero or wanting a mask really well.

[Guest]

I think maybe there's not much they could spoil for KC because it sounds very much like her story will be wrapped up in Sara and I understand the set up for LoT really comes into play with the crossovers? Did I read that right? I know there will be some set up beforehand but I think the meat of the story will be in episode 8, of both Arrow and Flash. They haven't read episode 8 yet. I doubt they've even written it. So it's hardly surprising there wasn't much to talk about. Still, they maybe should have given her fans something. I know I was kind of annoyed when I wasn't hearing anything about Felicity outside of love interest last year. So I do understand.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Guest

[Happy Harpy]

I wasn't online during the first season, so I'm completely clueless about what happened during the early months. Was there really negativity regarding Laurel? I always thought it was more apathy than negativity (which, I guess, is worse).

 

Yes there was, on TWOP at least. Aside from the usual alpha and beta LL (ot KC die hard?) fans, many people complained about O/L, the lack of chemistry, and Laurel already confusing -to say the least- characterization. And on the very early days, actually, it seemed like people were shipping Thea/Oliver more than O/L. Personal -then biased- memory again, but  I remember that a certain number of people (including me, and I never shipped Oliver/Thea) resented the fact that he went to Laurel after Thea's plea to open up to "someone", for example.

There was a lot of love for Diggle and Felicity from their respective first scene on ("Keep the bodyguard!" "Loved the IT girl!" kind of thing) but I don't think that 99% of those who loved Felicity's first scene ever imagined she'd go farther than a secondary recurring role. And certainly never thought that she would ever be allowed to be a love interest for Oliver, least is One and Only. So, there was an overlap in Felicity love/Laurel dislike but the two were independent from each other imo. People didn't dislike Laurel because they loved Felicity (the reverse? Imo, isn't false in many cases)  since the characters were at the time on other planets re:canon/expectations.

That's kind of why I roll my eyes whenever I feel that some people resent Felicity for Laurel's "downfall" as Oliver's  LI and as a leading lady. When, on a show not titled Game of Thrones,  people prefer an incestuous relationship to the heavily anvilicious OTP, you have to blame the failure of the  intended OTP and not characters that accidentaly fits the show better; imo

 

The only thing I'll ever criticize KC for his her acting and possibly, when it shows onscreen, a glaringly unprofessional attitude that spreads to the official show material  (re: Jacket smile, but even there I blame the director and whoever else had the final cut more than her because it was their call). She's an actress. Not a rocket scientist, not an activist and not a PR specialist. She's between a rock and a hard place since her character is polarizing and she can't but know that she's been knocked off the leading lady and LI's place.

[wonderwall]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (I'm on my phone so hopefully this shows up)

 

  

 

It's growing on me the more I see it little by little

[foreverevolving]

It's not her fault that she gets asked surface-level questions, but Willa got asked the same question Katie did about the costume and provided a very well thought out, poignant response. I think Katie just doesn't think about Laurel beyond random talking points that she works out before hand. She's trained, so she's a kick ass fighter. She's been through stuff, so she earned the mask. 

 

She does seem nice and excited about having the moniker now, but there's just not a lot going on there if you're an interviewer looking for some insight into Laurel Lance.

I agree.. these questions are not new, the talking points are not new. if she's bad at off the cuff answers, than why isn't she learning anything from previous questions? alot of the questions she gets ask are a variation of something she's been asked before. as they say: fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on you. which in terms of KC and her interview skills will mean that by the second time she got asked the same topic questions she should have been better prepared.

IMO-it has nothing to do with questions, and nothing to do with how KC suck at off the cuff answering. if she would have had any proper understanding of her characters she would have been able to give a strong answer; that is the true problem.

You know what? i suck as off the cuff answers too, especially if I don't know the topic, I can bullshit it a bit if I have some knowledge and can connect it to other stuff, and boy can i win it if I am well versed in the topic.

 

KC is simply not well versed in who Laurel Lance really is and what makes her tick, therefore she answers shitty answers. it's as simple as that, let's not beautify it people.

 

 

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (I'm on my phone so hopefully this shows up)

 

  

 

It's growing on me the more I see it little by little

 

 

It's not a bad costume per-say, it's just the sleeplessness of it that is stupid, once the temps will start to drop in VA SA is going to regret this outfit. I predict an outfit change before the end of the season, and it will have sleeves again.. (please let me be right).

 

 

Edited July 12, 2015 by foreverevolving

[Sakura12]

She has been asked deeper questions, like about Laurel's relationship with Sara. Which she would just start talking about the fact that she has sisters. Or she'd say she's happy to have Caity back. So just more talking talking points.

I think interviewers know she'll just say the same thing so they don't bother to ask anymore. And just go with the standard costume question with KC.

[foreverevolving]

You know I'm wondering what Laurel Brown questions were.. she tends to ask deep questions of most of the cast, I wonder how if she did the same with KC.

[Guest]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (I'm on my phone so hopefully this shows up)

 

  

 

It's growing on me the more I see it little by little

 

 

Yeah, it's growing on me too. I don't think I'll ever really like the sleeveless but whatever. The only thing that's bugging me is the new hood because that definitely looks like a new hood to me. And yeah, I know, he's supposed to be leaving things in the past and starting anew but IMO that hood wasn't about living in the past but more about respecting it. That's why Felicity wouldn't let Cisco change the hood on the costume because she knew it was important to him.

[catrox14]

OMG that intro by Stephen was SOOOO WWE. That was hilarious. 

[wonderwall]

Yeah, it's growing on me too. I don't think I'll ever really like the sleeveless but whatever. The only thing that's bugging me is the new hood because that definitely looks like a new hood to me. And yeah, I know, he's supposed to be leaving things in the past and starting anew but IMO that hood wasn't about living in the past but more about respecting it. That's why Felicity wouldn't let Cisco change the hood on the costume because she knew it was important to him.

 

Yeah but he doesn't have access to the hood anymore because the SCPD confiscated it :/

[dtissagirl]

I need a gigantic hi-res of that suit so I can do comparisons to the Smallville one, of which I actually have about seventeen billion hi-res images saved.

For the science of how is it that they section leather into a six pack in different shades of green.

And hey, the time Smallville Ollie went into the Arctic to look for Clark, he had a suit with sleeves, so maybe Arrow Oliver calls the same taylor or something.

[EmeraldArcher]

That's what I thought, too!

SA admitted it on Facebook today when a poster said that was the most WWE intro he'd ever done!

SA: "On purpose."

ETA: Forgot to quote cartrox14

Edited July 13, 2015 by EmeraldArcher

[Ruby25]

Just think, if they hadn't decided to have BC on the first season at all, they could have just done the BC story in Season 2 the way it happened, and gone ahead and named CL's character either Dinah OR Laurel if they wanted, and then no one would ever have had any problems with the whole convoluted way they did it. I'm convinced that changing some simple names around to match up at least enough with the comics would have satisfied everyone in the long run. But I see people who still don't like the fact that a person named "Sara Lance" as the one true Black Canary just doesn't exist in the comics at all. If only her name could have been Dinah, after their mom. Or hell, they could have gone the full nine yards and made her Laurel's half sister from another father and she could have even been Dinah Drake!

Edited July 13, 2015 by Ruby25

[AyChihuahua]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (I'm on my phone so hopefully this shows up)

 

  

 

It's growing on me the more I see it little by little

Nothing to do with the guy wearing it, right? (Teasing.) I hate the sleeves and shoulders, and don't like the rivets for the same reason I hate the buckles...not helpful for sneaking around in the dark. I like that it's more armored, because it's idiotic that he didn't have kevlar right from the beginning. He was a billionaire, he could have afforded kevlar. Overall, other than the sleeves/shoulders, I'm fine with it. I agree the shoulder pads are very weirdly turtle-y.

"And hey, the time Smallville Ollie went into the Arctic to look for Clark, he had a suit with sleeves, so maybe Arrow Oliver calls the same taylor or something."

Hee, summer closet and winter closet!

Edited July 13, 2015 by AyChihuahua

[Chaser]

Maybe Felicity has him on a budget...

[wonderwall]

Nothing to do with the guy wearing it, right? (Teasing.)

 

It has EVERYTHING to do with the guy wearing it ;) And the biceps lol

[Guest]

Yeah but he doesn't have access to the hood anymore because the SCPD confiscated it :/

 

Sigh. Yeah, I know. I just liked the meaning behind that hood. :(

[Ruby25]

 

Edited July 13, 2015 by Ruby25

[catrox14]

It has EVERYTHING to do with the guy wearing it ;) And the biceps lol

 

And the...umm...gluteal region

[lemotomato]

I do like that the body of the suit is more fitted, and I'm assuming the pants are too. The new suit emphasizes Oliver's physique better than the old one. Which is important, for um, plot reasons, I'm sure.

[Delphi]

Yeah but he doesn't have access to the hood anymore because the SCPD confiscated it :/

Malcolm stole Roy's costume. ..but was like "hmm nah they can keep a Oliver's. He's good off that. "

Such an ass.

[wonderwall]

Malcolm stole Roy's costume. ..but was like "hmm nah they can keep a Oliver's. He's good off that. "

Such an ass.

 

MGs response to this would probably be: Well he IS evil

[EmeraldArcher]

Such an ass.

Are you talking about Malcolm or Oliver? Your statement applies to either, but for entirely different reasons.

Hubba Hubba!

[AyChihuahua]

And the...umm...gluteal region

He does have a mighty fine backside. I ain't embarrassed to say it. Actually, between his and EBR's also mighty fine backside, Oliver's and Felicity's children would pretty much have the Platonic ideal of asses.

[Delphi]

Are you talking about Malcolm or Oliver? Your statement applies to either, but for entirely different reasons.

Hubba Hubba!

Hmm then both. Malcolm figuratively. And as for Stephen...Damn what an ass.

[Morena]

https://twitter.com/SchwartzApprovd/status/620395971663376384

Edited July 13, 2015 by Morena

[lemotomato]

https://twitter.com/SchwartzApprovd/status/620395971663376384

She can order them! https://buy.shareacoke.com/coke.html

[BkWurm1]

It's not a bad costume per-say, it's just the sleevlessness of it that is stupid, once the temps will start to drop in VA SA is going to regret this outfit. I predict an outfit change before the end of the season, and it will have sleeves again.. (please let me be right).

 

Looking at it I can't help but think that the straps holding the shoulder pads down will chafe and cut into his arms when he moves. 

[bethy]

Looking at it I can't help but think that the straps holding the shoulder pads down will chafe and cut into his arms when he moves.

That was my first thought as well. It seems really uncomfortable to me.

[jay741982]

He does have a mighty fine backside. I ain't embarrassed to say it. Actually, between his and EBR's also mighty fine backside, Oliver's and Felicity's children would pretty much have the Platonic ideal of asses.

Oh yeah they would though I confess I only look at EBR's beautiful Ass. And her arms and her legs

[calliope1975]

Looking at it I can't help but think that the straps holding the shoulder pads down will chafe and cut into his arms when he moves. 

 

It's growing on me, but it is the shoulder pads that I'm not feeling. As I said, I love Hawkeye's sleeveless look so I wasn't quite sure why I didn't like this at first. (Other than my brain having contradictory opinions about basically the same thing.) And I'm all for more arm porn. The gauntlets do look like superhero opera gloves, though. 

[wonderwall]

The gauntlets do look like superhero opera gloves, though. 

 

He's trying to keep it classy, okay :p

[statsgirl]

Okay, I'll say it -- I hate the new costume from what I can see on the clip. The straps for the should pad are the equivalent of BC's many buckles, something that looks like it will hinder fighting. But mostly I can't get beyond the bare arms because hello?  bullets and arrows and other projectiles, not to mention knives and other pointy objects.  Wouldn't a smart crime fighter say to hell with the comics and make sure his priority is that he doesn't get injured in a fight?

[apinknightmare]

A smart lawyer wouldn't do her illegal crimefighting wearing fingerless gloves, either, so it seems like practicality isn't high on the costume designer's list, haha.

[AnalyzeAndCritique]

A smart lawyer wouldn't do her illegal crimefighting wearing fingerless gloves, either, so it seems like practicality isn't high on the costume designer's list, haha.

Practicality and attractiveness didn't crack the top 10. 

 

This isn't quite Buckles level of atrocious, but if you take the man out of the costume its level of appeal dramatically drops. At least Oliver won't have to worry about changing his nail polish and lipstick. 

Edited July 13, 2015 by AnalyzeAndCritique