Just a quick note that I wrote up a blog post for Jim C. Hines’s space, about apps people use to block the internet while they work.
Jim is leaving his day job soon, and a few of us are writing about living the life without other employment. Like a lot of writers, I produced less when I first went “full time” (not that I was ever full time) until I worked out a new system that replaced my rigidly structured days. Check it out.
I haven’t seen the new FF movie and I’m not going to–at least, not until it turns up on Netflix Instant or as a dvd on my library shelves–so I’m not going to comment on the film itself. There’s been some commentary on the film that’s more than fair game, though, because they’re making general statements about storytelling.
For example, this: The ‘Fantastic Four’ Reboot Proves There’s No Way to Make a Good ‘Fantastic Four’ Movie from Screencrush.
I’m going to state right up front that I think this premise is stupid. First, just because something hasn’t been done doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Second, if a film sucks, it’s not because you can’t make a good film with those characters. It’s the people who create the stories who have failed. You can make a great (or at least a solid) story from pretty much any character; it’s all in the execution.
There’s currently an ongoing discussion about a Christian inspirational romance set during a concentration camp during the Holocaust, with many people saying the book is deeply, deeply terrible. But does that mean there’s no way to tell a story about a relationship between a woman in a concentration camp and a high-ranking Nazi officer? Absolutely not. It could be done, but you’d probably not want the “Jewess” drawing so much of her faith from the New Testament.
Execution is important.
Let me quote briefly from that FF review:
He is a man with a metal face obscuring his mouth and rendering him incapable of facial expressions — particularly unfortunate given Toby Kebbell’s incredible acting range. But this is Doctor Doom’s costume, and reimagined or no, his face will always be covered with metal.
Would covering it with plastic have been better? Because Darth Vader was a perfectly excellent villain. Indeed, his mask has become iconic. Lord Humungous from The Road Warrior was as successful, but it would anyone really say he wasn’t an effective villain? I’m sure everyone will be shocked to hear that The Phantom of the Opera sucks, too.
Frankly, yes, the best and cheapest special effect a movie can have is an actor’s face, but masks have been an effective part of performance for centuries. Asserting otherwise is just ignorant.
Next:
Similarly, the powers of the Four are inherently silly — Reed Richards becomes Mr. Fantastic, with Stretch Armstrong-like abilities; Sue Storm becomes the Invisible Woman, able to render herself and other objects invisible and create force fields; Johnny Storm becomes the Human Torch, capable of flaming on and off at will and using his ability to fly very fast; Ben Grimm becomes the Thing, a hulking pile of rocks.
Each of the Fantastic Four films have been unable to avoid how utterly comical these powers are.
First of all, the FF’s powers are based on the four elements: stone, fire, air, water. Sue’s “invisible force fields” are basically barriers made from solid air, and Reed’s body is like a very thick fluid. Compared to most comic book characters, that’s almost thematically coherent.
Second of all, FF is no more absurd than a space viking with a magic hammer or a billionaire who dresses like Dracula and throws sharp pieces of metal at mentally ill people.
Still, there are people who do not respond well to fantasy elements in a story; it’s fairly common and I’m not sure why I should care about their opinions. Yes, a man made out of rocks is absurd. Dog fights in outer space are absurd. Killer ghosts are absurd. Kung fu fighting in a virtual reality world are absurd. All these elements can still be effective cinema.
The real problem here is that the author of the piece can’t think of a way to do it well, therefore she assumes it can’t be done.
Anyway, I’m not even sure why I’m weighing in on this: I’ve never really liked the Fantastic Four. They’re okay, but they’re not the sort of characters I like simply because of the characters. They need a great creative team behind them or the whole thing feels sort of dull and/or annoying.
And you didn’t ask for my advice, but: Set it in the 60’s, skip the origin story, make Dr. Doom a tyrant with his own country, and make them fight a giant monster/Doombot army at the end, to avoid the whole four-against-one thing in the final fight.
1. How many of the “world’s strangest delicacies” would you eat? I consider myself an adventurous eater, but: five-ish, depending on the moment.
2. Video series compares the changes made to the Star Wars movies.
3. The Ten Best Tales of Online Drama from Ten Years of Fandom_Wank.
4) Academics unlock Agatha Christie’s “whodunnit” code.
6) The amazing high technology behind the NYC subway system.
7) A skateboard sidecar for toddlers: Video.
This Time article about how “lady authors” were told to promote their work (“do a workout in a bikini”) reminded me of How to Pose like a Man, in which a female author decided to cross the gender divide in author photos and pose the way male authors do.
Except the way male authors pose is mostly embarrassing.
Not all of them. Many try to come across as basically reasonable people: they’re smiling or thoughtful and posed like they’re at their ease. They’re not trying to come across like MRAs desperate to convince the world that they’re “alphas”.
To be clear, I’m not saying the authors are MRA types, just that they have unfortunate author photos. And author photos are tough. Believe me, I know. When it was time for mine, we took hundreds of pictures trying to find something that wasn’t ridiculous and horrible. So I know how it feels to look at a roll of film and go for the least worst.
Even so, when a camera is pointed at a dude, too many try to look grim and dour, as though they’re the badass action heroes they see in the movies. And I can’t help but wonder “What impression do they think they’re giving with this picture?” Because it’s not “Badass action hero.”
Originally, this post contained a bunch of actual po-faced author photos, but I didn’t like singling anyone out for mockery, even if they’re bestsellers, or if they’d passed away. Instead I’ll just say this, generally, to male authors getting their picture taken:
Don’t be afraid to smile.
Don’t want to smile? Try for “thoughtful” instead.
Don’t try to look like you’re an action hero yourself, even if you write about them.
And finally:
By the way, here’s my author photo: No kidding, this is the least worst, if you can believe it.
When you’ve taken more than 600 photos and hated them all, then said “Fuck it. I’m done.” That’s when you get one almost-acceptable one
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Book 14 in #15in2015.
Beautifully written. Powerful. Regrettably short.
Structured as an open letter to his fifteen-year-old son, Ta-Nehisi Coates has written an extensive personal history explicitly about growing up within the power structures of the U.S., and its effects on the people within it.
This is not a Racism 101 for skeptical white people feeling vaguely miffed about Affirmative Action. This isn’t a book to turn racists into non-racists, if such a book were possible. This is a heartfelt personal account of difficult times in a country that does not want to acknowledge its problems.
It helps to have read Coates’s magazine work. It helps to know the history of race in the U.S. But it’s not necessary, if one keeps an open mind.
Great book. Recommended for everyone.
I’m trying to establish a new schedule: Homeschool every day starting at 8 am, writing after. That means more days of the week w/ writing time in them, but the days won’t be as long.
And of course it all depends on how quickly I can get out the door.
Wish me luck.
You know how you can tell that I like a video game?
I don’t play it any more.
I bought the iPad version of Sentinels of the Multiverse last year, and I loved it so much I pre-purchased all the expansion packs. There’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s good, obsessive fun.
Too much so, in fact, because it was interfering with my life. I found it difficult to resist sitting down to play a quick game, especially when I was tired at the end of the day. One game would turn into two, then three, then it was the ass end of the morning and I knew I’d ruined work for the next day. I knew it was claiming too much of my time, so I deleted it.
But the newest expansion pack has come out: Infernal Relics, the “magic” superheroes characters, and here I am downloading it again. I’ll give it a few weeks, learn some of the tweaks of the new characters, then delete it again. I’m sure I won’t get too obsessed this time. Right?
Update: I missed the date on this. It’s from last November. Thanks to Nick Mamatas for pointing that out. In March, a judge dismissed the charges. Still, that’s a lot of months lost to a prosecutor’s ambition.
Original Post: From San Diego, a local rapper by the name of Brandon Duncan faces life in prison for making and selling a CD of his music. Why?
Duncan is a member of a local gang that has been involved in a series of high-profile shootings, although Duncan himself has not been party to any of it. However, the shootings have raised the profile of the gang, and prosecutors allege that has helped Duncan sell copies of his album.
To be clear, he created a rap album. It has nothing to do with the shootings. He has nothing to do with the shootings, except for his gang affiliation. And yet, he’s in jail on $1 million bail until his December court date and he’s being charged along with 14 others.
Would they have charged him if he’d written a book? Seriously, would they have charged him if he’d written a book about gang life? I doubt it.
Duncan’s new album isn’t available but you can still buy a copy of his older work (as “Tiny Doo”) through iTunes or Amazon, if you like that sort of thing. Maybe that would help him afford bail.
Our judicial system is supposed to be adversarial so the truth can win out in a contest of equals. Sadly, we’ve spent decades changing the rules to benefit the state, and politically ambitious prosecuting attorneys know how well a tough-on-crime reputation plays with the voters. Frankly, I’d like to see government prosecutors receive a lifetime ban from holding another elective office, so they won’t feel the temptation to pad their resumes with the unjustly ruined lives of American citizens.
1. There’s less than 24 hours to take advantage of this Humble Bundle of books funded through Kickstarter. It’s an embarrassment of riches. Don’t miss out.
2. I have a Facebook page, where readers can keep up with my blog posts and other new, and a Facebook account, which is (mostly) for family and friends I know in real life. At this point, the account is utterly moribund. No one comments, no one shares or clicks “like”. As far as I can tell, no one sees what I put there.
That might be because FB is hiding my stuff. It might be that they’ve “hidden” my updates because they’re sick of my bullshit. Hey, half the time I’m sick of my bullshit, too. It doesn’t really matter. I’m going to scale way the hell back on what I post there.
3. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m working on a new book, called One Man. Unfortunately, the writing schedule that has served me so well over the last few years has to be ditched, and I haven’t found a new one that works. In fact, I don’t have any set schedule at all, just random day and hours when I can grab writing time. That’s fine for the short term, but it won’t work for me long term.
It still feels good to be moving forward on something new.