Michael Gibson 10/30/22 Michael Gibson 10/30/22

Fantasy TV Burnout -Or- Why Am I So “Meh” about Rings of Power/House of the Dragon?

No matter how old I get, part of me will always be like Bastian, that kid who lived in a land of make believe w/their head in the clouds. Kind of a “no shit” statement considering what I do/write for a living. So when the Sci-fi & Fantasy (SFF) media revolution began in the late 90’s/early 00’s, you can imagine how I, along with the rest of the nerds of the world, rejoiced. Like the Goonies, this was OUR TIME. And over the last two decades, SFF remained the dominant entertainment media.

And I’m—I’m kind of getting tired of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I still consume SFF as much as the next nerd. But the sheer volume of pop culture saturation has me just kinda . . . burned out? Desensitized and apathetic. Maybe it’s like a porn thing, you know? The adage that the more you consume the more you become numb to the medium, thus forcing deeper searches for either the truly excellent or the truly bizarre to pique your interest. Eh, who knows? Anyway, when the media heralded the coming of Rings of Power and House of the Dragon, I just kinda shrugged. So with that burnout filter in mind, here are my quick reviews of the latest entries of prestige fantasy drama. (If you don’t want to hear a middle-aged dude rant, then skip to the end where I try to redeem myself by listing shows I really like/recommend)

House of the Dragon (HoT-D!!)

So right out of the gate, this show is obviously going to be compared to its predecessor. Impossible to separate them due to nerd zeitgeist. But considering how GoT ended, metaphorically like a stinking, loud wet fart after what had been some great sex, all the show had to be was better than that. And as such, my overall opinion was . . . it was safe. New actors doing and saying the same old thing in the old same places we’ve already seen. “Oh . . . look, it’s King’s Landing, the Red Keep, the Iron Throne, the Small Council, the Hand of the King, Maesters, family/house names we know, and . . . oh boy, white-haired Targaryen women with dragons wanting to be queen . . . again.”

And this is just me talking, but once you’ve seen Tyrion, Tywin, Littlefinger, Varys, Queen of Thorns plotting and sniping, or the sheer self-serving malevolent insanity of a Geoffrey, then the best HOT-D had to offer was little league at best by comparison.

Without a looming threat like the White Walkers or a legitimate external threat to give the internal strife context, and the fantasy elements just being “hey look, a dragon . . . neat,” then the show boiled down to elite 1%’ers fucking and fucking each other over. The Real Housewives of Westeros if you will. I know that’s reductive, but it’s my opinion.

Then there were the time jumps, where whole sections of the cast were changed, leaving them without enough screen time to care about, let alone giving a damn when they have “a shocking death.” You want me to feel something for brown-hair generic son #2’s grisly dragon-back demise? Seriously?! Please, I was cheering for his death. When Ned Stark died it had an impact because we spent an entire season (1st book) with him (seemingly) as the main protagonist. Subsequent deaths in the OG GoT show followed the same formula: spend copious amounts of time with them, get to know their multi-faceted character, then kill them. Brown-hair generic son #2 (not gonna bother looking up the name) may have been cool in the book, dunno, didn’t read it. But on screen, he and most of the kids were as captivating as room-temperature water paired with unsalted crackers. And when the king died it was a goddamn blessing as we watched him literally fall apart for most of the season.

Now all that being said, I still gave this show 4 out of 5 dragons. For my gripes, I can’t deny the production and the acting skills of Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Rhys Ifan, Olivia Cook, or Milly Alcock. Each of them played their respective characters with gravitas as they wove a The Crown-like level of royal storytelling strife. So, I’ll watch season 2, but man I hope they give us something new. Again for the record, no I did not read the book . . . books? Are there more than one? I don’t know and I’m not gonna bother looking that up either. Mainly because if a show is going to be a show, you shouldn’t need a companion guide. Speaking of which . . .

Rings of Power (RoP)

Oh dear lord, where do I start? Do I need to have read outside the Hobbit and Lord of The Rings proper to know what’s going on? Because I didn’t and I don’t know or care what a Silmaril is. I do care about how the show constantly cherry-picks lines and rather specific turns of phrases from the LoR. And man does it ever feel, what’s the word I’m looking for . . . cloying? A saccharine, excessively sweet play on nostalgia that filled the screen with Peter Jackson ‘member-berries instead of crafting a world of their own. Well, that’s not true is it? According to Screenrant, Amazon has the rights to adapt The Hobbit and the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, but not The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. So the showrunners made their choices on how they want to tell their tale which came off to me as mostly piss-poor character archetypes that border on stereotypes, plot contrivances, and boredom.

So. Much. Boredom.

So let’s address the elephant in the room. Galadriel. To me, she’s an asshole. Maybe in 3000 years, she’ll be the Cate Blanchette version, but here in the 2nd age, she’s kind of a prick. They might have been going for strong and stalwart, but somewhere between the writing and the acting, they ended up with prick. I mean, if you’re gonna milk archetypes, then go for Steve Rodgers from MCU. A constant, dedicated, and capable character sure. But most importantly self-aware vice self-righteous. Humility, even a touch of self-depreciation, endears an audience. Now with all that said, Yes, Galadriel was a driven, capable warrior. And yup, she was 100% right that Sauron had survived and was out there despite everyone telling her no. And boy I’m so glad the plot let her realize who Sauron was at the very end for . . . like, no discernible reason, considering she was thirsting for him hard for most of the show.

This version of Galadriel is a villain pretending to be a protagonist. Aside from leaving troops to die (to which I don’t blame said troops for their mutiny one bit,) remember when she performed a soliloquy to a captured Adar? The one where she will keep him alive just so she can kill every orc in middle-earth, only to then tell him that all his children are dead and then kill him? Yeah, that’s called genocide.

Man, wasn’t there an internet movement a while back about Tolkien and D&D, where certain “monster” races, which were considered “evil,” being coded as basically non-white people in fantasy? And here we have Galadriel talking about exterminating them all? I’m not one to whip up an angry twitter mob or anything, but umm . . . like, you know? Moving on.

As for the rest of the characters, I honestly didn’t care about them. Not the Scottish dwarves, the Irish Hobbits (Harfoots?), the Stranger who is clearly Gandalf (too soon arriving in middle earth I hear? Maybe its actually Saruman?), the discount Aragon/Sauron, and not this version of Elrond who looked like Neil Patrick Harris’s inbred cousin. Oh, and the one healer lady/single mom who led the southland humans, you know how I knew she’d be the leader of that group? Not because she was brave, fearless, or whatever they were trying to convey, but because she was the only person in the village not covered in mud, had all her teeth, and spoke like she went to an Oxford finishing school. In fact the only characters I liked were: Ismael Cruz Cordova’s Arondir, Sophia Nomvete’s Princess Disa, and Joseph Mawle’s Adar. Their respective tales and POVs I actually found myself enjoying.

images from Den of Geek, British GQ, and Epicstream respectively

But like the above review, I have to give credit where it’s due. It’s clear Amazon sunk a buncha money into RoP. The show looked mostly great and yes, there were some actual cool moments. I don’t care if that’s how volcanoes are made, that whole ep was pretty solid. And like HoT-D, I didn’t hate RoP. I was . . . whelmed. Not over or under, just whelmed. But by the end, for me it was sadly just another generic fantasy show without an identity of it’s own. Middling writing with fancy production to hide the lack of actual multi-dimensional characters. A very weak 3 out of 5 Balrogs for me. And I’m not alone. Check out The Guardian’s review HERE.

So yeah, maybe it’s me. Maybe these are amazing shows and I’m just burned out. But I have a feeling I’m not the only one feeling the SFF burnout. No shade being tossed to Top Gun: Maverick, as it’s been dominating the box office. But I have a sneaking suspicion that if that flick had come out even 5 years prior during peak MCU, Star Wars, etc, I think it would have been a blip. But as it stands now, folks are raving about this movie. My guess is that folks are hungry for something else. Something simple with as many practical effects as possible. Wonder why?

Recommendations

NOW, so I’m not a total asshole, here are some “recent” shows (SFF and standard fiction) I’ve greatly enjoyed for their writing, character work, and having a unique identity. Arcane being the current gold standard of where storytelling and visuals meets solid AF character work.

Images from their respective parent sites.

As always, feel free to leave a comment of message me directly on Facebook or Twitter to tell if I’m right, wrong, or somewhere in the middle.

Live long and strong

~Gibby

Michael Gibson 4/3/21 Michael Gibson 4/3/21

When White Women Explode -Or- Questioning Sci-Fi Fantasy Standards

We marvel at the moments when women in sci-Fi/fantasy explode into incredible power because they’re freaking awesome to behold. Super powerful, super cool, and plain old badass. But, are they inherently sexist, or even a touch racist?

There she is. A heroine of a sci-fi/fantasy show or movie. Beaten. Pushed to the edge. Her enemies bearing down on her. A lifetime of being told that she had to repress her incredible power. To be subservient. To be meek. Weak. In control. No more. Not now. When these forces of Hell come at her, she throws her arms wide, throws back her head, and releases all the cosmic, reality-altering power that they never wanted her to have. Boom.

Pretty cool, right? Or . . . is it sexist? Or even racist?

Lemme preface this with: I have no conclusions, hot takes, or hard-line stances with this mini-essay. Just something I’ve been thinking about and wanted to jot down.

In my latest Hammer of Witches novel, She Wakes in Water, I wrote a scene when my protagonist, Aggy Grae, is pushed to her breaking point. For Aggy, it was a place no person should ever be forced to reach. But that’s what writers do . . . treat their characters like red-headed stepchildren. So anyway, when Aggy reaches this moment in the book, she *spoilers* explodes in a moment of fiery power that I had been building towards. It is an intense, heartbreaking scene. But when I step back and look at what I wrote, and what was subsequently published, I wonder if I did right by the character. But I’ll get back to that in a moment.

Watching a lot of movies/TV, and being a writer (note: I never said a good writer), one can’t help picking apart the plot, acts, characters, motivations, etc. It’s a sickness. Like your one musician friend who tears apart band/artists you like because that’s “not real music.” Aren’t they always kind of a prick? Stop bringing your guitar to parties!

Anyway, in addition to story structure, certain repeating themes and elements become visible when you consume a lot of media. This brings me to the point. After watching WandaVision, I thought, “Wow, Wanda is so damn cool! I love her. But man . . . white women really like to explode with power in sci-fi and fantasy, don’t they?” I then ran down a quick mental checklist.

The Scarlet Witch? Check. Explodes with grief/power in WandaVision and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Jean Grey? Oh yeah. Whether it’s Famke Janssen or Sophie Turner, the X-verse loves to ape the Dark Phoenix and all the destructive, cataclysmic power that character can unleash.
Captain Marvel? Yup yup. The entire shtick of that flick was about holding her down and repressing her power.
Wonder Woman? Well, kinda. In the first one after Captain America dies in the plane … oops, I mean when Steve Trevor bites it in a totally unique death scene, ol’ Gal G. goes into a blind CGI roid rage, smashing everything around her.
The White Violin? Well, yeah. Vanya in The Umbrella Academy season 1 has that moment when she kinda kills the world with her display of cosmic-like power when she breaks the moon. *Please note that I am fully aware of who Elliot Page is, and refer only to the female character he played at the time.*
Oh, how about Bloom from Fate A Winx Saga? Oh my. She goes so super saiyan that she actually grows fairy fire wings while scorching the baddies with her untapped potential.
Princess Ciri in The Witcher? What? I can’t hear you over that kid’s landscape-leveling murder scream!

Images from Netflix, MCU/Disney, FOX/Disney, WB/DC

We marvel at these moments because, well, they’re freaking awesome to behold. Enough anime and animation have taught us that “going into your final form” is super powerful, super cool, and plain old badass. But these examples of female power displays got me thinking . . . are they inherently sexist? I’m not saying that they are, but follow me on this for a second.

The setup isn’t always the same, but typically, a patriarchal, oppressive authority figure seeks to control these women for the sake of innocents, normally suppressing either power or knowledge. Said authority figure postulates that, under the guise of public safety, the potential power these women hold is too great for their fragile psyches and thus must be controlled, curtailed, and diminished. See the exploits of Professor X (Stewart and McAvoy), Sir Reginald Hargreeves, Tony Stark, or Yon-Rogg for examples.

But as all the stories go, these characters inevitably break free and cut loose, normally because of emotional stress/torture, or simply being sick of putting up with people’s shit. These moments are framed to be a “breaking free of control” moment, and why shouldn’t they be? But do they actually (or accidentally) reinforce the historically negative stereotype of female hysteria/hysterical behavior they are meant to overturn? In some of these instances, people do get hurt, and not just the bad guys. In Wanda’s case, just ask the oppressed and mentally tortured people of Westview, New Jersey. And you don’t think that there were innocents on those ships Captain Marvel destroyed? #JusticeforKreeCafeteriaWorkers

Or, is this a chicken-egg scenario, where said females cut loose only because people sought to repress or control them? But said people also saw what they were capable of and repressed them in order to prevent collateral damage. But, then--oh fuck it, my head hurts now.

Setting that debate aside for the moment, I next wondered: why are only the white women exploding? Are female superheroes/powerful protagonists of color not allowed to go big badda-boom? Maybe there are and I’m forgetting, but I honestly don’t recall women of color going nuclear in the triple-A movies/shows.

Will Monica Rambeau release a wave of power as Spectrum/Photon that flattens friend and foe alike? Is Valkyrie authorized to let loose a 30-megaton blast of Asgardian whoop-ass? Will Allison “Rumor” Hargreeves yell so loud that her power dominates a state? Or maybe we’ll see Aisha cast her fairy water magic at tsunami-like levels. Hell, even Storm in the X-Men flicks, who is basically a walking goddess, only unleashes her fury in controlled, measured bursts. Speaking of X-Men, when Disney MCU finally gives us mutants, will we see beloved mallrat and Asian sensation Jubilee go thermonuclear when her back’s up against the wall? I mean, the closest I can think of is when The Witcher’s Yennefer of Vengerberg, played by Indian actress Anya Chalotra, unleashed an inferno on those ugly-armored Nilfgaardian troops. But then again, even she only did so because she was prompted by her mentor Tissaia. Meanwhile, pale-as-powdered milk Ciri gets to scream whenever she wants to and unleash devastation.

Images from Netflix, MCU/Disney, Fox/Disney

Why? Why can’t these women “explode”? Is it racist that they don’t get to do it as often as their white counterparts? Is it because creative minds fear painting the already marginalized minorities as erratic and potentially dangerous? And if that’s the case, then why do it for white women? Because like I’ve pointed out, not every phoenix moment is a good one. Sometimes innocents get hurt.

Outside of Thor in Thor: Ragnarok, I couldn’t really think of a male hero in recent memory that exploded like that. And even when Thor did, he didn’t beat Hela. He barely scratched her. His explosion of electrical was backed up by Led Zepplin’s Immigrant’s Song, and we gave it thunderous applause. Superman and Hulk do a lot of collateral damage, but no one really questions them the same way, do they?

When I wrote my female-led, urban fantasy/paranormal Hammer of Witches novels, I did it because I liked a tertiary character from my Technomancer books so much, I wanted to tell her backstory. Aside from the magic and monsters, I wanted to tell a story about a woman who, due to her height, build, and mixed ethnicity, never felt like she fit in. I based Aggy Grae, physically, on several women I served with while in the Air Force who, despite feeling like pariahs, persisted, persevered, and excelled. They had great strength, and I wanted to shine a spotlight on that strength while peppering in human issues that transcend gender. And like I said earlier, in the second book, she has an explosion moment, one that I felt that the character, and the story, earned.

And frankly, I like seeing women cut loose as much as any typical male character. For me, if a character, regardless of gender identity, is well-written and propels the drama, and a display of power makes sense for the story, then go for it!

I guess I’ve written all this word-vomit because I question myself. Am I okay with these moments because that’s what I believe, or what I was inadvertently taught? In this modern age, it seems like everything is questioned, and maybe it should be. I’ve always believed in self-reflection in order to reassess core values as well as day-to-day outlooks. So, should a guy like me even touch subjects like these in his works, or should every creator work hard on trying to tell a good story while simply being conscious of the choices?

Anyway, as I said in the beginning, there is no conclusion to this rambling think-piece. Just something I’ve noticed and spent some time pondering. What are your thoughts?

As always, Live Long and Strong (and explode as necessary!)

~Gibby