https://anokayspectrum.blogspot.com/2018/11/trigger-warnings-abuse-gaslighting.html
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Oh, Walking Dead, why did I agree to binge watch you.
Current Episode: Season 3, Episode 3, Halfway through Walk with Me.
This show. This effing show and their weak ass women. And men!
I don't need them because I'm a feminist. I don't need them to be all 'man skills with ladyparts' like they're the best of everyone rolled into one. That isn't what I mean by 'strong'.
I NEED STRONG CHARACTERS.
People have been ranting at me to watch this show for several years and I did. The first season was okay. I got into it. I enjoyed it. Second season was fine too, the first half, there were things that irked me but the more the second season went on the more I found myself scowling at the screen.
There's so much I want to rant on... but let's start with Lori.
Lori: the Walking Dead first Lady.
First- you can be a feminist AND be a housewife, even in a bloody apocalypse. Not everyone's cut out to smash knives through skulls. I fully agree with there being characters who are better at washing clothing, cooking and taking care of the survivors. Having a strong group of characters in a zombie filled world doesn't mean they all need to also know how to smash a stick through an eye socket. (Is that even a possibility? Probably not a fact I really need to research.)
Lori is not a feminist. Or a housewife. Or even helpful. Or even empathic. Someone called her the 'first lady' of the group because Rick is apparently the leader. And this apparently has come across to this character as two full seasons of:
'Oh, my husband is here? Well you're gonna have to stop feeling things for me, new boyfriend, because it's done. Right now. I don't feel anything for you as of ... now.'
'I must keep the women doing women stuff and let the men do the dirty work.'
'I'll let the men protect me. I'll protect the child.'
'Where is my child!'
'My child shouldn't learn how to defend himself! Let the men protect us!'
But if a woman is seen doing men work then she's really just trying to avoid our duties.'
'If this is what my husband thinks is best then I agree. I don't really have any opinions on any group matters or situations. My husband knows best.'
Look, I can kind of see they're trying to go with a loyal wife, maybe someone who's trying to repay her husband for accidentally cheating on him or something, someone trying to protect her child at all times. The 'mother would shield her child with her body and take the damage' instead of 'mother would smash skulls with child behind her' thing.
But for fucks sake. No.
Not only is she awful towards the other women, lecturing them, getting angry at them for not watching her son, but she's absurdly inept with the way she's treating the two men in her life. And her kid.
I can also see that it's hard to keep an eye on a kid that age. I'm kind of weirded out though by how often he seems to slip off and she only discovers this hours later as if she doesn't even think to check on him from time to time. Not even when it gets dark? To say goodnight? I think I might say hi to my goldfish more than she checks on her child.
Also- why the hatred towards a person with lady parts guarding them with a gun? (Although I agree Andrea's a whole other rant.)
TWO men. They could have used this for a real tension because in reality who can just stop feeling something at the sight of their old lover's face? "Oh, you're back from the dead, but I'm feeling this really strongly for your best friend."
Sure. It's cliche and done too much. But it would have been better than the lightning romance round. It would have brought a more organic tension between Rick and Shane, would have made a better reason for Shane to loose his mind (though I suppose after trying to form a family with a woman and her son that you care about ... they switch off... that's going to make anyone go a bit crazy) and might have even, if done right, allowed us to feel a bit sorry for her.
As it is I'm not sure if it was just sexytime for her, if she had feelings but the magical appearnce of her husband's face cured Shane-feelings, or what.
The buildup of tension between Shane and Rick ended up seeming to be more about Shane's increased violence and desire to kill. Which brings up a whole other point.
Rick, the main character, the leader, and the one we're apparently supposed to root for.
Rick's turning into a fucking psychopath.
You know this all started out pretty okay. Yes, I was willing to ignore the 'how the fuck long was Rick out of it and how did he survive/stay drugged if so much time had passed' plot hole. I was willing to assume that being 'near death' was enough to keep him from being noticed by the Zoms.
Rick's the good guy. Almost cheesy, in a way, with that bloody cheesy uniform and that equally cheesy badge. Maybe I feel that way because I'm Australian and it seemed almost Wild West to me to see him obsess over those stars, where as people are still used to them being used today over there, but it seemed pretty clear that he'd be the one we're supposed to root for. You got a redneck racist guy? There's Rick to be the counter-balance. You got a asshole racist redneck to rescue off a rooftop? Rick's gonna do it because he can't live with himself otherwise.
This dynamic continued with Shane who was also a bit of an anti-hero. Shane took an extreme edge. Rick was apparently the good guy who tried to stay good. They contrasted against each other. It was, at least for a while, easy to feel some sympathy for both their positions.
Then Rick went off the deep edge. Did that happen when he put his stars away? I'm not sure about that. Suddenly he's killing some teenager, or going to, calling the shots, acting like a dictator over a group. The whole group's mirroring his near paranoia over strangers.
Now, as of the episode we're up to, in order to keep him appearing the 'good guy' we've got to contrast him with a psychopath half mad prison inmate who tried to murder him twice in a minute. When you need that level of crazy and evil to make your main character look like the good guy... when he's that extreme in his actions already... there's a problem.
And before we even knew this inmate was going to try and murder him we already had Rick talking about wanting to shoot the survivors of the prison. As if every guy in a prison is in there for murder or rape.
So what the hell is wrong with this picture? With the main character deciding to shoot anyone who's a stranger, all men to this point, and shouting orders at 'his' group like he's become King of the Survivors. Like they OWE it to him to let him keep it up.
"I killed my best friend for all of you." He claims, glaring at them, throwing his guilt right into their laps.
I've already ranted about Lori but regardless of how frustrating her character is, Rick is just adding to his 'I am the bad guy' vibe from the way he's talking to her/about her. The woman is pregnant. Apparently about to pop too. Yet he's acting like she's the one overreacting for needing a place to rest. Whatever happened to 'I need to ensure we stay at this ranch because of the baby?' or the anger he showed because she tried to take the abortion pills? Are things different because she didn't react to the death of Shane in the way he hoped?
Whatever it is- Rick is the bad guy right now. I don't care how much he protects the women. I don't like him and I don't see any of the redeeming qualities that made him interesting, relateable or likeable like he was in the beginning. Of course this new world would change him but as the main character I'd have liked to see him at least try to cling to some of his old morals. Let the conflicts be based around THAT. His conflicts with other people, with his family, with the survivors, all of that.
Not play like an episode of the Bodysnatchers where he's suddenly got a new personality and morality code.
Andrea
She's an idiot. I can't fault her for sleeping with Shane and I think her desire to learn to shoot is actually a pretty natural one given the circumstances. Even the desire to defend the survivors, with the men, rather than cook and clean with the women is understandable to me. I can understand the desire to prove herself (despite being told not to shoot) and the anger at her gun being taken away. The desire to kill herself.
I also admire the way she handled dealing with someone who was feeling suicidal.
She did one hell of a job surviving being left behind given the horde on her tail.
So what is going on now?
I don't need to see the creepy actions of the Governer to feel like this new community is off. The whole daylight street scene with all the nice people in their nice clean clothes with the pregnant lady, however nice it was, gave me the heebie jeebies like nothing else. Where's the kids? The couples? And how clean it is? How cheerful everyone looks? You know what? It's the fricken end of the world. Even if you can clean up a town, even if you make things nice and protect it well, the survivors are going to be closer to a District 12 level of poverty and stress. They've lost everyone. No one's going to be interested in recreating the ideal American country town. There's going to be grief, anxiety, stress, even distrust of new strangers.
So it's bloody obvious that it's a staged thing here for the benefit of keeping the two new women in town.
Her new companion Michonne, who is a badass as far as I can tell, clearly isn't comfortable with this. I suspect Michonne was also awake to hear the really sus 'We got two females' line.
All I can think of at this point is of the teen from last season who said he was in a group with heavy guns and who raped those teenage girls. Hello. Group with heavy guns. Women on the inside. Apparently an interest in getting women and being specific about survivor genders.
So why isn't Andrea, who has been with Michonne for so long now, paying attention to her clearly extremely wise and survival-smart companion?
This probably won't end well for anyone.
I'll finish with one last rant.
Survival.
They're clearly mostly new to it. I can forgive that in season one. Season two, they're trying to not get kicked off a safe farm with food and water, so maybe I can forgive that they're trying to keep it a bit low key.
So what's the excuse now?
Do we ever see them as a group discuss survival? I caught a bit about growing food.
This season I'm a bit baffled. We got a prison. That apparently means very little. They're not doing anything much about it so far. Survival is about food and water, yes, but I'd assume there needs to be discussions about people keeping watch for other survivors there to steal things. To do shifts, bringing water and getting the food started. And setting up home camp. The mental state of survivors seems important to me, particularly when theres a baby about to come, and so far no one's bothered to clean up the cell block they're calling home. Maybe other people don't see that as high priority but if I intended on staying some time in one place I'd try and make sure it's comfortable, clean, and safe for the mental health of everyone staying there. It'd be safer, cleaner, and help them recover from 7-8 months on the road. Activity and organization would also give them a purpose and that can help with mental stress.
But nope. There's very little talking or action for survival and home base setting up, but a great deal on shooting people and having bizarre passive-aggressive interactions between characters who've had months to deal with it.
I'm also baffled with this anti-newcomer attitude. I'd expect a 'process' to trust people. Sure. But ... full out 'We should shoot them' with whoever they come across? I wonder what would happen if this had been a woman's prison.
I'm not really sure I want to keep going. It seems like it's going to be a trainwreck all around. But it's only season 3 and I said I'd keep it up to the latest episode so...
Sigh.
Here we go.
This show. This effing show and their weak ass women. And men!
I don't need them because I'm a feminist. I don't need them to be all 'man skills with ladyparts' like they're the best of everyone rolled into one. That isn't what I mean by 'strong'.
I NEED STRONG CHARACTERS.
People have been ranting at me to watch this show for several years and I did. The first season was okay. I got into it. I enjoyed it. Second season was fine too, the first half, there were things that irked me but the more the second season went on the more I found myself scowling at the screen.
There's so much I want to rant on... but let's start with Lori.
Lori: the Walking Dead first Lady.
First- you can be a feminist AND be a housewife, even in a bloody apocalypse. Not everyone's cut out to smash knives through skulls. I fully agree with there being characters who are better at washing clothing, cooking and taking care of the survivors. Having a strong group of characters in a zombie filled world doesn't mean they all need to also know how to smash a stick through an eye socket. (Is that even a possibility? Probably not a fact I really need to research.)
Lori is not a feminist. Or a housewife. Or even helpful. Or even empathic. Someone called her the 'first lady' of the group because Rick is apparently the leader. And this apparently has come across to this character as two full seasons of:
'Oh, my husband is here? Well you're gonna have to stop feeling things for me, new boyfriend, because it's done. Right now. I don't feel anything for you as of ... now.'
'I must keep the women doing women stuff and let the men do the dirty work.'
'I'll let the men protect me. I'll protect the child.'
'Where is my child!'
'My child shouldn't learn how to defend himself! Let the men protect us!'
But if a woman is seen doing men work then she's really just trying to avoid our duties.'
'If this is what my husband thinks is best then I agree. I don't really have any opinions on any group matters or situations. My husband knows best.'
Look, I can kind of see they're trying to go with a loyal wife, maybe someone who's trying to repay her husband for accidentally cheating on him or something, someone trying to protect her child at all times. The 'mother would shield her child with her body and take the damage' instead of 'mother would smash skulls with child behind her' thing.
But for fucks sake. No.
Not only is she awful towards the other women, lecturing them, getting angry at them for not watching her son, but she's absurdly inept with the way she's treating the two men in her life. And her kid.
I can also see that it's hard to keep an eye on a kid that age. I'm kind of weirded out though by how often he seems to slip off and she only discovers this hours later as if she doesn't even think to check on him from time to time. Not even when it gets dark? To say goodnight? I think I might say hi to my goldfish more than she checks on her child.
Also- why the hatred towards a person with lady parts guarding them with a gun? (Although I agree Andrea's a whole other rant.)
TWO men. They could have used this for a real tension because in reality who can just stop feeling something at the sight of their old lover's face? "Oh, you're back from the dead, but I'm feeling this really strongly for your best friend."
Sure. It's cliche and done too much. But it would have been better than the lightning romance round. It would have brought a more organic tension between Rick and Shane, would have made a better reason for Shane to loose his mind (though I suppose after trying to form a family with a woman and her son that you care about ... they switch off... that's going to make anyone go a bit crazy) and might have even, if done right, allowed us to feel a bit sorry for her.
As it is I'm not sure if it was just sexytime for her, if she had feelings but the magical appearnce of her husband's face cured Shane-feelings, or what.
The buildup of tension between Shane and Rick ended up seeming to be more about Shane's increased violence and desire to kill. Which brings up a whole other point.
Rick, the main character, the leader, and the one we're apparently supposed to root for.
Rick's turning into a fucking psychopath.
You know this all started out pretty okay. Yes, I was willing to ignore the 'how the fuck long was Rick out of it and how did he survive/stay drugged if so much time had passed' plot hole. I was willing to assume that being 'near death' was enough to keep him from being noticed by the Zoms.
Rick's the good guy. Almost cheesy, in a way, with that bloody cheesy uniform and that equally cheesy badge. Maybe I feel that way because I'm Australian and it seemed almost Wild West to me to see him obsess over those stars, where as people are still used to them being used today over there, but it seemed pretty clear that he'd be the one we're supposed to root for. You got a redneck racist guy? There's Rick to be the counter-balance. You got a asshole racist redneck to rescue off a rooftop? Rick's gonna do it because he can't live with himself otherwise.
This dynamic continued with Shane who was also a bit of an anti-hero. Shane took an extreme edge. Rick was apparently the good guy who tried to stay good. They contrasted against each other. It was, at least for a while, easy to feel some sympathy for both their positions.
Then Rick went off the deep edge. Did that happen when he put his stars away? I'm not sure about that. Suddenly he's killing some teenager, or going to, calling the shots, acting like a dictator over a group. The whole group's mirroring his near paranoia over strangers.
Now, as of the episode we're up to, in order to keep him appearing the 'good guy' we've got to contrast him with a psychopath half mad prison inmate who tried to murder him twice in a minute. When you need that level of crazy and evil to make your main character look like the good guy... when he's that extreme in his actions already... there's a problem.
And before we even knew this inmate was going to try and murder him we already had Rick talking about wanting to shoot the survivors of the prison. As if every guy in a prison is in there for murder or rape.
So what the hell is wrong with this picture? With the main character deciding to shoot anyone who's a stranger, all men to this point, and shouting orders at 'his' group like he's become King of the Survivors. Like they OWE it to him to let him keep it up.
"I killed my best friend for all of you." He claims, glaring at them, throwing his guilt right into their laps.
I've already ranted about Lori but regardless of how frustrating her character is, Rick is just adding to his 'I am the bad guy' vibe from the way he's talking to her/about her. The woman is pregnant. Apparently about to pop too. Yet he's acting like she's the one overreacting for needing a place to rest. Whatever happened to 'I need to ensure we stay at this ranch because of the baby?' or the anger he showed because she tried to take the abortion pills? Are things different because she didn't react to the death of Shane in the way he hoped?
Whatever it is- Rick is the bad guy right now. I don't care how much he protects the women. I don't like him and I don't see any of the redeeming qualities that made him interesting, relateable or likeable like he was in the beginning. Of course this new world would change him but as the main character I'd have liked to see him at least try to cling to some of his old morals. Let the conflicts be based around THAT. His conflicts with other people, with his family, with the survivors, all of that.
Not play like an episode of the Bodysnatchers where he's suddenly got a new personality and morality code.
Andrea
She's an idiot. I can't fault her for sleeping with Shane and I think her desire to learn to shoot is actually a pretty natural one given the circumstances. Even the desire to defend the survivors, with the men, rather than cook and clean with the women is understandable to me. I can understand the desire to prove herself (despite being told not to shoot) and the anger at her gun being taken away. The desire to kill herself.
I also admire the way she handled dealing with someone who was feeling suicidal.
She did one hell of a job surviving being left behind given the horde on her tail.
So what is going on now?
I don't need to see the creepy actions of the Governer to feel like this new community is off. The whole daylight street scene with all the nice people in their nice clean clothes with the pregnant lady, however nice it was, gave me the heebie jeebies like nothing else. Where's the kids? The couples? And how clean it is? How cheerful everyone looks? You know what? It's the fricken end of the world. Even if you can clean up a town, even if you make things nice and protect it well, the survivors are going to be closer to a District 12 level of poverty and stress. They've lost everyone. No one's going to be interested in recreating the ideal American country town. There's going to be grief, anxiety, stress, even distrust of new strangers.
So it's bloody obvious that it's a staged thing here for the benefit of keeping the two new women in town.
Her new companion Michonne, who is a badass as far as I can tell, clearly isn't comfortable with this. I suspect Michonne was also awake to hear the really sus 'We got two females' line.
All I can think of at this point is of the teen from last season who said he was in a group with heavy guns and who raped those teenage girls. Hello. Group with heavy guns. Women on the inside. Apparently an interest in getting women and being specific about survivor genders.
So why isn't Andrea, who has been with Michonne for so long now, paying attention to her clearly extremely wise and survival-smart companion?
This probably won't end well for anyone.
I'll finish with one last rant.
Survival.
They're clearly mostly new to it. I can forgive that in season one. Season two, they're trying to not get kicked off a safe farm with food and water, so maybe I can forgive that they're trying to keep it a bit low key.
So what's the excuse now?
Do we ever see them as a group discuss survival? I caught a bit about growing food.
This season I'm a bit baffled. We got a prison. That apparently means very little. They're not doing anything much about it so far. Survival is about food and water, yes, but I'd assume there needs to be discussions about people keeping watch for other survivors there to steal things. To do shifts, bringing water and getting the food started. And setting up home camp. The mental state of survivors seems important to me, particularly when theres a baby about to come, and so far no one's bothered to clean up the cell block they're calling home. Maybe other people don't see that as high priority but if I intended on staying some time in one place I'd try and make sure it's comfortable, clean, and safe for the mental health of everyone staying there. It'd be safer, cleaner, and help them recover from 7-8 months on the road. Activity and organization would also give them a purpose and that can help with mental stress.
But nope. There's very little talking or action for survival and home base setting up, but a great deal on shooting people and having bizarre passive-aggressive interactions between characters who've had months to deal with it.
I'm also baffled with this anti-newcomer attitude. I'd expect a 'process' to trust people. Sure. But ... full out 'We should shoot them' with whoever they come across? I wonder what would happen if this had been a woman's prison.
I'm not really sure I want to keep going. It seems like it's going to be a trainwreck all around. But it's only season 3 and I said I'd keep it up to the latest episode so...
Sigh.
Here we go.
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