Counter-Protest against fascism and far-right group SDL (Scottish Defence League) in Perth, 10th September 2017
the minibus used by the SDL on the second picture was forced to leave the train station where it was parked due to hundreds of counter-protesters.
Bagpipe guy was playing Bella Ciao, and woman in headscarf was shouting “I love you people!” as people were cheering and applauding the both of them walking by
I just got an unconditional acceptance from the university. All being well I’m going to be studying fim and television production, starting September. Doing my part to tell stories for queer people by queer people 🙂
I remembered this – hope you’re off to a good start at uni, @liminalsmith.
I’d no idea there was so much measuring involved when building a custom bicycle.
Now where’s the AU with Elyza Lex the custom bike builder in the post-apocalypse?
Vulture reports on why Colin Trevorrow left Episode IX – per “speculation from a ranking Hollywood movie insider with direct knowledge of the productions on both The Book of Henry and Jurassic World” – that the director’s ego might have gotten in the way. Basically – do not mess with Kathleen Kennedy.
“When the reviews for Book of Henry came out, there was immediately conjecture that Kathy was going to dump him because they weren’t thrilled with working with him anyway,” the executive continues. “He’s a difficult guy. He’s really, really, really confident. Let’s call it that.”
Previous reports claimed script issues were at the source of the split.
Something that’s fascinated me about the whole “why can’t Kathleen Kennedy keep a man [director]???” discourse is how few people seem to realize that Kennedy’s behavior is, in fact, something we should see more of, not less. Because what she is reacting to is a widespread problem that has, until now, gone unchecked: the problem of asshole directors.
Kennedy is in an unprecedented position in Hollywood for a woman. She is in control of the entirety of the Star Wars franchise—what movies are made, what stories are told, what merchandise is sold—and she is the final authority. Disney will no doubt replace her the minute the franchise stumbles, but the past two movies have gotten good reviews and staggering box office numbers and The Last Jedi looks to be just as successful, so she is, for now, in one of the safest spots in Hollywood. The last female executive with that kind of power was probably Lucille Ball.
Which means that if you are part of the franchise, you answer to Kennedy and moreover you have to play by her rules. The stories have to get her buy-in, the actors have to get her approval, and the directors have to behave the way she expects them to. And it’s very apparent that Gareth Edwards, Josh, Trank, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and now Colin Treverrow have all fallen short of those expectations in one way or another. (You may say to yourself “wait a minute, Gareth Edwards wasn’t fired!” To which I will reply, “lol.”)
Now, nothing hugely out of the ordinary has been reported in re: Edwards or Trank or Lord & Miller or Trevorrow’s antics — mostly it’s been stuff like “ego” or unprofessional behavior or whatnot. But that’s exactly my point: white male directors are, for the first time, being fired over things that they should have been getting fired for years ago.
Hollywood is far too enamored of the genius auteur trope (and Kennedy is no exception, hence why she hired these dudes in the first place) and indulges the most horrifying behavior from the men it deems “visionary.” Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Mel Gibson, Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, David O. Russell: men with long and ugly histories are venerated without a second thought, so much so that the ones who are merely outrageous don’t even ping the radar. Rupert Sanders has an affair with Kristen Stewart and gets her booted out of the sequel to “Snow White” (when Stewart played the title character); Jennifer Lawrence tears her diaphragm hyperventilating while filming Darren Aronofsky’s latest whatever-the-fuck thing “mother” is gonna turn out to be; Lars Von Trier…continues to be himself. None of it raises an eyebrow (with the exception of the Sanders/Stewart fling, but that’s because people blamed Stewart, who was 21, for seducing Sanders, who was 40) and all of those men have very successful careers. Being an asshole is perfectly acceptable — everywhere else but Star Wars.
On Star Wars, Kennedy is holding the directors she hires to a very basic standard of professionalism and none of them are able to handle it; and for the first time in their lives, they’re actually suffering the consequences. Bad scripts are thrown out and writers replaced; bad dailies and reports of cast unhappiness get directors the boot. It’s astonishing — but it shouldn’t be. There’s no indication that Kennedy is too demanding or that her standards are too high; but there’s every indication that these dudes have been getting away with absolute murder on their other sets.
The real question then, the one that nobody’s asked yet and probably never will, isn’t “why is Kathleen Kennedy firing these guys,” but rather, “Why do any of these guys have a career in the first place?”
For consideration: Ang Lee. Julie Taymor. Barry Jenkins (his film ‘Moonlight’ won the Best Picture Oscar this year). Ava DuVernay. Amma Asante.
Gina Prince-Bythewood. The Wachowskis. Rachel Talalay.
So I mentioned to a friend that I was confused and a little weirded out that a recent fic I’d posted had more bookmarks than comments. I thought it was odd and sad.
Her response was that she had actually had that experience with most of her recent fics, that it seemed like it was the new norm.
So what gives, guys? Why are people becoming so adverse to commenting that they will to literally everything else other than do that?
My impression is that fan fiction has become just another type of media to consume. YouTube videos, web series, self-publishing, Instagram celebrities, viral marketing, etc. have made it clear that the quality of the end product isn’t the line between professional and amateur. Most people neither know nor care how the creators of what they consume are paid (or not). Ball it all up, and when someone finds a nice fic on AO3, they compliment themselves on the find and note it for later as if it was a niche series on Netflix.
I also find people are leaving comments on the bookmarks, like “note to self this is really good”, “read again when sad”, or “fave fic!”.
But they don’t leave an actual comment or sometimes even kudos, so I don’t know if my work is being enjoyed so I’ve just kind of given up? I mean I gave up for other reasons (theft primarily– always fun finding you work on iTunes for less than a dollar!) But the lack of communication is one of the main reasons fanfic no longer feels worth my time in terms of engaging with my fandoms. And it’s not even so much about wanting praise as just…simple interaction. Fanfic was how you engaged with others in your fandom and got hyped and just…talk to people in the comments? I dunno, I feel I’m shaking my walking cane at my lawn. I just know that while it’s flattering people want to save my work to read again later, it’d be nice if they also said something or at the very least, hit the kudos button.
I try to leave comments on fics I enjoyed, and always when I bookmark them, but sometimes I just dont know what to say. It’s kind of awkward when you can only say a generic “I loved this”
Okay but that ‘awkward’ “I loved this”? Totally not awkward and actually very amazing to receive on a fic. Sometimes, rarely, I will get a comment that says “this comment is extra kudos”, and that’s great too! It shows you are engaging and enjoying the work, even if you don’t know what to say. Cause I mean, I get that. Sometimes you just enjoy things but have nothing specific to say about it, it was nice, it was fun but nothing struck you in a major way, it didn’t make you pause or re-evaluate your life. But you can still say “I enjoyed this!” and the author who gets the email notification will perk up and smile and maybe feel motivated to write more.
Anyone who says they hate “simple” comments (and I have seen a few) that declare enjoyment of their work, are conceited, asinine fools who don’t appreciate what they have.
The end result – these writers and stories will disappear.
I can’t think of how many great Xena stories I read in the day that are now gone for good – and there was no AO3 back then or much of a comment/kudo system, either – and I hate seeing good writing disappear today. Too many just lose confidence when there is nothing returned in exchange. It is wearing – and no way to build community.
The Doctor Is Out 