The Amazing Spider-Man (Film Review)

Was it necessary? No. Was it fun? Definitely yes. Minus one or two complaints, this turned out to be a delightful popcorn movie, which learned from its predecessor(s) by (re)using the good, by and large avoiding the annoying and coming up with elements of its own.

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Grr, argh

So I checked out various reviews of the current Breaking Bad season among the main stream media, and the reviews themselves are fine, but the comments, ugh, the comments. The Skyler hate is incredibly disturbing. Mind you, I’m no longer surprised by this; I’ve been in fandom for too long to be surprised by hate for a female character who makes the male character frequently look uncool. But it’s still very upsetting to read people wishing Skyler dead or calling her names. Even more so since Skyler, like Gwen Cooper in Torchwood, proved to be one of those characters who snuck up on me when I wasn’t looking, whom I started out indifferent towards, started to like in their respective second seasons and now love. In fact, you could say that Skyler has become my favourite character, though it’s a neck to neck race as the ensemble quality proved so good. Anyway, this is why Skyler hate makes me a sad panda even more than it would on general principle.

In this new interview with Anna Gunn, she’s even asked about this by the interviewer and says:

Sometimes . . . [pauses] I’ve been told particularly, how do you say . . . non-flattering or just really vicious – you could use the word vitriolic – angry stuff about Skyler, or about other female characters on other shows. The hatred and the vitriol and the venom and the nastiness and the attacks are so personal sometimes that it feels like, "Oh gosh, OK, I get that you don’t like Skyler, you like Walt, you’re on his side, but it just feels different." I don’t feel like that stuff would be written about a male character. Honestly, Skyler is sometimes the biggest impediment to Walt doing whatever he wants. For the people who love Heisenberg, who love the badass Walt, when Skyler says, "No, you shouldn’t do that," they’re like, "What is her deal!? What’s wrong with her?" [Laughs] I can understand that. I can. But having looked at articles that cite other female characters being attacked like this, I find it disturbing just in terms of a cultural phenomenon. I'm not saying everyone who's into the show and has an opinion is like that, but I feel there's an element of that in there, and it's an interesting gender issue. I'm glad that people are talking about it.

It’s a great interview in general, which also contains this paragraph about the Skyler and Marie relationship:

Despite the humorous side of their relationship – well, humorous to the audience – where Marie nitpicks and pokes at her sister all the time, I don't think Marie means to do that. They both really love each other. Betsy [Brandt] and Vince [Gilligan] and I have discussed this: "Where's their family?" You never hear about the rest of the family, the mom and dad, at all. We made the assumption that we did not have a particularly happy or easy childhood, and that led to the two of us sticking together, because they're very close. For actors, you've gotta sometimes fill in your backstory. At least that's what I did, very specifically – that I needed Marie, and I love her, and I know she doesn't mean ill.

And now I’m even more upset with Walt for doing what he did in the last episode re: Marie and Skyler, but that’s the good kind of upset, because the story means me to be. *glares in the direction of Skyler haters*

Thirty Days of Borgias: Day Twenty Four

Day 24 ~ Favourite quote about the Borgias.

There can be only one, as the fellow said.

(And Orson Welles even played Cesare in another film.)

( The rest of the days )