My Own Experience: “Sherlock Holmes”

Welcome to Tea ‘n History, with your hostess, Felicia Angel.

I might not mention this a lot, or I might mention it a great deal, that I was in the Navy. I joined when I was 18 for a variety of reasons, one of which being that I’d had an experience similar to college life and knew I needed to grow up, as well as a wish to see the world. While I will admit (and I’m sure some of my superiors will agree) that I was not the best sailor and sometimes did cut corners, I also knew I wasn’t going to re-enlist when I joined, but I did enjoy my time in the military, for all the good or ill there was.

When I left the Navy, I took up reading again, and one of the first books I got was The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Vol. I. I knew of Sherlock Holmes – when I was young the local PBS channel had “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” with Jeremy Brett as Holmes, and loved “The Great Mouse Detective” (not really Holmes but close).

So I read through the introduction, which spoke about Holmes’ often-overlooked companion, Doctor Watson.

Who was a wounded Afghanistan veteran.

When I learned of this, I started to research and became a bit of a fan of the 19th century, as well as of history. The main point of it came from the descriptions of Watson’s time away from the military before he met Holmes. He mentions that his “nerves were shot” and he was spending money a bit too freely, which I’ve seen a great deal of not just in my fellow veterans but also in myself. Having a steady paycheck, home, food, and free medical (for what the medical is worth) does tend to make things harder when attempting to find a job or making a new budget to take all of these things into account.

The first part, his “nerves shot”, meant that he was suffering from what could be PTSD. So a wounded Afghanistan veteran who had PTSD and dealt with it by helping someone solve crimes, as well as by writing his experience.

I have a hard time writing about myself. I understand many of the heroes who come home to get Purple Hearts and the like, and hearing their stories, as well as hearing them point out that it’s what they train for, is understandable to me. We train a great deal to be ready to put out fires, shoot attackers, and help our shipmates because often we’re not somewhere that we can call for help. So it’s hard for me, especially on Veteran’s Day, when I’m thanked for my service. How do you reply to someone thanking  you for doing your job?

So when I was reading the stories, I enjoyed them a great deal. Some of them weren’t that good, but some were wonderful and I could see why characters like Sherlock Holmes and John Watson would be brought up for a long while, from the basic Holmes and Watson stories to shows like “House”, “Monk”, and others.

So recently I offered up the new show, “Sherlock”, which moved Holmes and Watson to the 21st century, to someone who also was a veteran. Watson as a veteran, especially one of Afghanistan both then and now, is a character that I love a great deal and who does get a bit of the short end of the stick, as he’s the narrator so all of the action is seen through his eyes, leaving him with little to do or say. Because of that, he’s sometimes played as an idiot, but recently he’s taken to being cast, especially as portrayed by Jude Law and Martin Freeman, as a more competent character.

So for Veteran’s day, I offer up John Watson, a wounded Afghanistan veteran who has a lot of the same problems we all do, and who also can’t write about himself. Happy belated Veteran’s/Armistice/Remembrance Day.

Mandatory Theme Month October: “Grimm”

Welcome to Tea ‘n History with your hostess, Felicia Angel.

 

So recently, a show was started called “Grimm”, dealing with the idea that the stories of old, especially those associated with the Brothers Grimm, are real and a part of the real world, even today. Those who fight against the evil beings are known as Grimms, which are as much the bogeyman in the world of monsters as they are to us. The show itself is interesting, for having only the pilot, and offers enough suspense and fear to work.

 

The story behind the Brothers and their work is just as interesting as the show. During their lives, the influence of the Napoleonic era created a movement known as Romanticism. Yes, I know, considering the tales the two brothers found, things don’t seem that romantic, but the movement itself was one that comes up during the pendulum that history is. Because the Napoleonic Era and much of the various revolutions at the time were based on reason and science, the push back was to invoke emotions and symbolism into the new area, and the rise of Nationalism after the expansion of France into areas like Italy, Spain, and Germany that we have today and that wasn’t really around during this time.

The idea of nationalism rose at the time from a shared history or language, but was often fought by others, including a Pope, who felt threatened in some way or by those who didn’t want to give up the rule over various people. However, the push by Napoleon into the regions and his men’s talk of French Nationalism, which was to mean those nations who were “free” of kings and queens and like France, often had a different reaction, especially among the German and Spanish, who bonded of shared languages and the “us vs. them” mentality.

So with the fall of Napoleon and the rise of what is called the Age of Metternich, romanticism built and the idea of nationalism also came up. One, Gottfried von Herder, built up the idea of German nationalism, feeling that each nation had a patter of growth as well as specific cultural markers and artifacts that made up the nation. He also didn’t feel this was only in Germany – every nation had their own set of these and to create a nation, one needed to understand the shared culture or to create “modern artifacts”.

So why is von Herder important in the tale of the Brothers Grimm? Well, mostly that his idea was to send out his students to gather the tales, ballads, stories and folklore of their people, and the two Grimms were his most famous students.

Granted, even they “Disneyfied” their story, as the first-edition version of Rapunzel has a very different way of the witch learned about the Prince then the second-edition (hint: first edition involves PREGNANCY as a way of finding out the prince was in with Rapunzel). But beyond that, they were able to save and record a great deal of stories and folktales that have been passed on from generation to generation and which are…well, the old version of “Red Riding Hood” is a bit freakier then even the newer, cleaner, safe version we tell our kids.

So for Halloween, pull out the original text (if you can find it) and scare the kids and perhaps yourself with original tales of horror and morals from the Brothers Grimm.

Game Review: “Back to the Future – The Game”

Welcome to Tea ‘n History, with your hostess Felicia Angel.

One of the hallmarks of my chidhood was watching a young Michael J. Fox in some movies, as I found him extremely cute and fun.

He just had one of those looks, ok?

Of course, if you watch anything with MJF, you have to see “Back to the Future”, and possibly the sequels (creatively only numbered instead of named, but hey, the original idea called for Marty to travel back in time via refrigerator), and considering how fun the movie is, as well as the sequels keeping the energy (arguments on Back to the Future III only somewhat count, what I’ve seen of it I liked).

So, of course, a movie-licensed game was made of the original “Back to the Future” for the NES…which wasn’t good.

At all. It lives in infamy as one of the worst games EVER.

Which, sadly, most movie-franchise games do. the combined threat of time-constraints and what little they can do within the confines of making it based off the movie or what the movie has often leaves it with a great deal of issues. If you haven’t, go look up the Angry Video Game Nerd and Angry Joe. Both have done movie licensed games, with AVGN doing the various “Back to the Future” games and Angry Joe just finishing up his run of current movie-licensed games.

It’s not pretty.

So then some group named Telltale Games said they’d be doing a “Back to the Future” game, and there was some curiosity about what would happen. After all, Telltale Games had gained the rights to the Sam and Max games, as well doing Tales of Monkey Island and starting to do off-title games to practice or try out new techniques, such as the Poker game they created or the Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent games (which is like Professor Layton…only with the FBI).

So in late December, I was able to try it out on my boyfriend’s Steam account. When I could, I got my own version and played through, as well as getting the other four as they came out.

It’s a good game. Great, really. It keeps the spirit and charm of the original movies, along with much of the mystery that could come with time-travel, as well as creating wonderful ares to explore as well as keeping some of the game logic only to be found in some point and click adventure games (not always, some of it made sense…not all of it, but most of it did). The wait between episodes were similar to having a four-part cliffhanger, which is cool in the same way a season cliffhanger can be cool – most of which being that you have to wait those weeks to see what happens. While the actual gameplay is linear and starightforward to some degree, you can deviate from the path and look around, which makes the game fun and shows off a lot of the sights of the area that you can look into and play with.

As the ending, like any good Back to the Future ending, promised us more to come, I have to only hope the next installment will be as fun and entertaining (as well as curse-breaking) as the first! Now, I’m off to play the sequel to the Puzzle Agent game!

….yes, I’m a mild Telltale Fangirl. They’re doing good, and deserve it. So, until later!

Anime Comparison: Dragonball Z and Sailor Moon

Hello and welcome to Tea and History, with your hostess, Felicia Angel.

Many people talk about certain shows they grew up on, mostly the cartoons of each generation and if they are still relevant or if they sucked badly or not. During the late eighties and early nineties, a new genre of animation was brought over from Japan, that of Anime, and specifically, Anime geared towards children instead of young adults or…um…hentai.

It had to be said!

Now, for those who have grown up with anime as a staple, understand that before anime came about, cartoons were often broken up into some categories, mostly Disney, Looney Toons, and Others, but they were, in general, very Western. If you watch something like the old G.I. Joe cartoon, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and others, you get a different sense of how animation was as compared to today, and not just because they didn’t have computers or digital media to work with.

So into this mess of Tail Spin, My Little Pony, and some imported from Europe shows like Smurfs, we also get anime, which has a very Japanese bent. What really sets the stage, though, are two in particular who are often credited, along with Pokémon, to be the start of the anime invasion.

Shonen – Dragonball Z

Created by Akira Tokiyama for Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, the original Dragonball comic was supposed to be a lose retelling of Journey to the West, and by the time Dragonball Z came around, it was pretty much…not close to the story at all, save for some of the names and powers, but not that much.

However, both Dragonball and the very long list of predecessor (Dragonball Z, GT, and the remake called Kai) gave most ‘fight’ Shonen stories, such as the new powerhouses of Bleach and Naruto, the ability to do one thing – drag out a fight for five or more episodes and a major good guy vs bad guy fight that can be stretched out to maybe 20 or more episodes due to ‘evolutions’ of powers, bringing out old somewhat unused ‘uberpowers’ and using sudden ‘super special’ abilities or power that allow the good guy to win.

Still, this is one of the most popular animes among all demographics, and perhaps one of the many that is just edited to all hell from the Japanese run to the English run. Yes, is this also one of those that, when it was released ‘unedited’, a bunch of fans gave a collective WTF for some of the decisions, and you can check out most of the changes on the internet.

But as far as getting anime to young boys, and some young girls, DBZ did the job and then some. The story had some interesting twists and in general was fun to watch…if you didn’t get into it halfway through a major battle, like I did. Trust me, when you come in halfway through the second of five major battles with a final boss and you have no idea who the people are, why they aren’t focusing on the actual FIGHT, and why said fight hasn’t even started until the next EPISODE…you tend to go watch something else.

The story tends to be…not that complex, but has a lot of the current shonen fight show characters and basic outline of plot. You have a character who is cooler/powerful/has the potential to be powerful. Said character has a fight and either is beaten or shows off to be exceptionally strong/talented. He gains friends/teammates/allies and soon they face their first very big fight/rescue/enemy. They come out either barely or completely, only to learn there is a bigger threat/enemy to face against. So they begin heading out, training/fighting-as-training along the way. Soon it’s down to the main guy vs. the big badass, and it’s the fight we’ve all been waiting for, where the main guy finally pulls out the Kamehameha/Rasenga/Bankai/uberattack that helps him win, or at least cause some damage. If the evil badass survives because he’s far too badass, the group goes through more training to unlock more power so they can finally fight the badass and kill him off.

Then another guy comes up.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat until you just get to the point where some who don’t follow the show will begin to wonder, or at least avoid it, or you run out of evil characters or ideas and finally just end the story. Bleach and Naruto also face up with this problem, as both have been glared at for being too long or having the similar type of storyline as DBZ, or spending too much time on every character, rather than our main one (Naruto), or for taking far too long, even after what should be the end (Bleach).

Still, if you get into the story and are either waiting for the end or at least enjoy the characters, getting into them is fun and watching them is also just as fun. Naruto’s manga and anime tends to explain how and why someone has certain powers or abilities, which is fun to read through, and Bleach has good fights, if drawn out, and has an interesting mythology behind it. Other anime and manga, like Yu Yu Hakusho and some other fight mangas have similar fights, or tournaments, and in general, even if you’re not a DBZ fan, you’ll become a fan of one of these.

Now, onto the girly stuff!

Shojou – Sailor Moon

Created by Naoko Takeuchi after another manga of hers, Sailor V, Sailor Moon helped bring in girls to anime, showing that it wasn’t just stuff like the odd movies brought in during the late 80s/early 90s or something with a huge level of testosterone and girls who were either only partly powerful or only there because they were brought over from the last series, like ChiChi and Bulma. Seriously, despite her technological power (and giving birth to Trunks), what did Bulma do?

Wait…don’t answer that…(yes, I’m looking at you, fangirlintraining)

Sailor Moon, as an answer, had high levels of estrogen and boys who were either partly powerful, turned into girls to gain power, or were just cheerleaders.

I’m a fan of Sailor Moon, and even I look at Tuxedo Mask and Helios and point out how often they have to get their happy asses saved by the power of love, friendship, and…pink.

Sailor Moon is the majou shojou, or magic girl, show. It usually goes that a normal girl, or an almost-normal girl, finds out she’s the heir to some power/has ability for power/is just special like that. She soon begins to fight evil beings attempting to gain the Magical McGuffin or attempting to have the world under darkness or something similar to that. Magical girl, with the help of friends/allies/other magical girls fights off the baddies, either turning some to their side or destroying them, and finally facing off against the final baddie and unleash all their power to the point of becoming a holy figure of undying love and light, which either kills them for them to be resurrected later, or really, really tires them out. Also, they find their true love, and by the end of the series, there is marriage/engagement/they are a couple now.

Like I said, growing up I enjoyed this show a great deal more than DBZ, mostly because I kept running into the first third of a 20 episode fight. However, the seasons and episodes are often very similar as well: during the first part, you have one person learning of magical powers from their mentor (or magical pet) and facing against baddie who unleashes evil monster/creates monster to try and steal energy/random mystical item/search RMI for something. Girl comes up, transforms, gets pushed around somewhat comically, is inspired to fight back, uses the ending attack, and all is good and a lesson of some sort is learned/a person’s life is better/etc. At one point, add another friend who is originally thought to be the Enemy but then turns out to be a friend, and they start fighting the enemy together.

Later, Rinse, Repeat until everyone’s had at least one episode devoted to character growth, your grouping of girls (three or more) and others are here, and they finally go up against the big boss, usually in a two-part or more episode where they fight, people are killed off, or they attempt to rescue someone and then others are brought back to life.

Of course, like DBZ, the original uncut version was released and the time period on Sailor Moon between one season and the next was much larger than the one for most multi-season shows that are translated, and I can give you one good reason.

Well, two: Tenou Haruka and Kaiou Michiru. They were Sailor Soldiers in the next season to come up, Sailor Moon S.

They are also lesbians.

When the translation was finally done, they were changed to “cousins”.

It’s a joke, one that I happily will keep repeating because the official translation of Sailor Moon as done by DIC is HORRIBLE. When I was able to get the uncut, original version of Sailor Moon, I was amazed both with how much I had originally missed which I would have liked to see, as well as the fact that some of the cuts or translations were just…silly or off-topic.

And the Rest

Both shows have been around for ages, and as such, the botched translations or odd cuts are not the only thing bad about it. Ok, so for Sailor Moon, that part is pretty much the major bad part of the show, the fact that the only translation available for English is one made by DIC and one that is, for the most part, really hard to listen to because of some of the voicework. SMA (Sailor Moon Abridged) makes a point of really showcasing the problems of this, and I suggest you check it out if you were a fan of Sailor Moon and are rediscovering it. Dragonball had a semi-similar translation problem, but only because it and Sailor Moon fell into the era when translations of anime were mostly westernized, so some of the names are changed to fit a western viewpoint and some of the foods are also changed to be something they’re not.

If Sailor Moon’s bad point was the westernization and dumbing down of the storyline, the same thing happened to poor Dragonball, as the live-action big-budget Hollywood movie version was…

…look, I’ve seen it and was confused. I went with a friend (who is a fan of DBZ) and her main response was just ‘meh’, even with the addition of the “Kamehameshoruken” and having Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a bad guy that I recalled was somewhat a good guy and fell into the “redeemed a-holes” category.

But a lot of the bigger fans hated that movie with a passion, and some casual fans hated it because it was either trying too hard to be a high-school drama or didn’t do any Japanese actors a service by letting them play a young kid who is supposed to turn into a galactic space-monkey when the full moon comes out on a planet and who’s race was exterminated by a…thing…that no one is sure if it’s a boy or a girl, only that it’s evil and scary and had an odd voice (and I only heard LittleKuriboh’s version…hold on *to the internet!*)

……Ok, I see the reason for wondering and pants-wetting fear (and that was 16 SECONDS of this clip)

But beyond that, if Akira and it’s like were the beginning of young adults finding animations that could be watched and enjoyed, DBZ and Sailor Moon brought in the younger audience, and more importantly, brought in both boys and girls. With the success of both during the mid and early 90s, it allowed the break-in of Pokémon in 1998 and is still an important part of the anime culture. As well, both are going through a sort of second recovery period – with the release of Dragonball Z Kai, a reboot of the classic series, and with Funimation apparently owning the rights to Sailor Moon now and saying it might re-release and re-dub the WHOLE series, not just up to Sailor Moon SuperS, fans have something to look forward to for the future, and show that the original action shonen and pretty majou shojo are here to stay.

A Bit Overrun with Symbolism: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

Welcome to Tea ‘n History, with your hostess, Felicia Angel

 

Recently out for play is a game by American McGee titled “Alice: The Madness Returns”, a sequel to the original game of “American McGee’s Alice”. The stories in both are based after Alice’s original adventures in Wonderland, where a fire has destroyed Alice’s house and, sadly, her sanity. She is called into Wonderland to save it, and thus save herself. The new one is very much rinse-repeat with new types of levels and, in general, if you want a good look at the two games (along with decent commentary and somewhat annoying lack of sense of direction), find the various Let’s Play by Lotus Prince (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/blogs/latest/blogger/listings/lotus-prince), as he does a wonderful job and many of his games are on the dark side but also very fun to watch.

Granted, I get a bit tired of him looking at all the shiny stuff and things, but he does an alright job and does try to read off some of the stuff about some of the enemies or if something is based of one thing or another.

The original story by Lewis Carroll appears to be cause of a long line of things about Alice to be used in various areas, be it for talking about dreams, imaginary numbers, drugs, or worlds as little children view them.

Originally published in 1865, with many of the characters being caricatures of either the writer or others that he knew (or disliked in politics) the original manuscript was written up after the author, a colleague, and three daughters of another colleague, Henry Liddell (none were over the age of 13, one was named Alice, and your mind needs to get out of the gutter NOW) went on a boat ride and he entertained the children by telling them a story about a bored girl named Alice. Another trip added to the manuscripts, and soon two books were published, one with references to card games (the Queen of Hearts is only in one book – in the other, a similar woman is known as the Red Queen) and the second dealing with chess (which is why there was a Red Queen). Much of the symbolism in the books is based on the college and church nearby (Oxford and Christ, respectively of course) and Carroll’s own background in mathematics. At the time, the idea of imaginary numbers was coming up, and…well, read the books and think of it along the lines of math instead of just a kid’s book or someone taking drugs. Seriously.

In general, whenever movies or games (or references) to Alice are done, they usually have a mix of both the original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the second Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. Much of it includes parody and nonsense poems, two of which that remain with us for a good while being The Walrus and the Carpenter and The Jabberwocky. An example is the use of Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum (second book), calling the Red Queen and Queen of Hearts the same thing, adding in anything about the Walrus and the Carpenter or the Jabberwocky, and such.

Alice in popular culture is either a curious child or a lot of various things, including mad, imaginative, or having had something she shouldn’t have. A few times when it’s referenced is for the huge cry of SYMBOLISM but in general it also has to do with uncovering secrets or dealing with a dream world, where familiar faces can appear in very different settings. As everyone sees the characters differently, it can easily take on any part that someone wants or can be used to help drive any of the characters, though naming someone Alice and putting them in such a place is a bit cliche (Resident Evil movies).

The long list of those influenced or having some connection to the story is long, and many are worth looking into, just as the original books are. Alice has worked her way into our imaginations and we still are happy to follow her down that rabbit hole, no matter what lies beyond.

Ending an Era: Harry Potter

Because everyone else is doing it…mostly because it is the end of a very long era…

Welcome to Tea n’ History with your blogging hostess, Felicia Angel. About ten years ago, I decided to see what all the talk was about a newish series that had recently come out and was making huge headway with parents and children alike. The books, written by a single welfare mom in England, centered around a young boy who learned he was a wizard and who followed the whole Hero with a Thousand Faces motif – which is to say that most stories in the history of storytelling have the same general way of doing things, so anyone saying it was *insert fantasy/adventure hero here* with *insert quest here* was right because all of them were like that.

I went into the first Harry Potter not thinking I would like it. I was a junior in high school, and really, all I had to do is read ONE, just one, to disprove all the hype. By this time, the books were only up to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (or Book 3), so I decided to get number 1 from the library…which meant going into the children’s section (horrors) and I took it out.

About two days later, I went back in, returned the book, and got book 2 and 3 to find out what was going on and see what else was going to happened. Then I bought the three, and had to hold out for the fourth to be in paperback, and caved to preordering 5, 6, and 7.

I had the money for them in hardback, so I got them then to find out what was going on.

As the series progressed and the fame reached levels even Rowling herself didn’t imagine, the next logical choice was to make movies out of it.

Let’s back up and take a few notes here. Rowling herself said it would be 7 books, she knew how it would end, and that was it. if you were going to make a movie, it would have to somehow encompass seven books that hadn’t been written yet. By the time the first movie came out, we were barely getting Voldemort into the actual story without him being attached to a book or someone’s head or any of the other things that just made him more EVIL. So saying you’re going to have a movie of a young boy means you’ll have a young kid who will probably have no life until he’s nearly twenty. Well, not just one kid, but a BUNCH of kids. This is about a school, even if it’s just focused on the one kid, but he has his friends and enemies and the others who’s story you have to go into. So deciding to make movies means you’re in it for seven movies. The only thing with that many movies under their belt are horror movies, and usually they get horrible by the third one.

So after being tossed around and finally dropped in the lap of someone who was willing to hire just about every British actor they could, as well as getting a few child-actors who had appeared in maybe one movie each (the actor who plays Draco Malfoy was in two movies, The Borrowers and Anna and the King, as well as three TV movies/shows before he joined the cast), and the first movie was released in 2001.

Yes, it’s been ten years. Over which, on a generally regular basis, at least one Harry Potter movie has come out.

Wow.

This Friday came out the final part of the whole story, the second part of the last movie which some might think as just attempting to finish cashing in, while I honestly can’t go along with (if you’ve read the book, you’ll know that’s a TON of backstory that they would have to cram into one movie, and even Lord of the Rings didn’t try that) but which, I think, helped to ease people into the final chapter of the series. Rowling isn’t going to do more stories, and apart from fanfiction and whatever else Rowling puts out that’s official. Though considering how much money she makes on the books, the merchandise, the movies, the movie merchandise…she’s pretty much set for life.

What Harry Potter, as as book series, did was really open up that kids were ready to read and invest in something that would take seven years, were extremely willing to read about someone their age (or younger) who was found out to be special, and who grew up and experienced loss, love, and being a teenager (book 3-6 was his teenage ANGST years, as well as being some of the toughest for what he was supposed to symbolize). The movies showed that families were willing to sit through showed with this movie and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings both being huge hits, and helping to open the way for movies like the three current Chronicles of Narnia movies (there are also seven Narnia books) and, sadly, the whole Twilight saga of books. In it’s own way, Harry Potter revived the idea of having a series of movies based on whatever book series you had, and that it could easily work for whatever you choose so long as it’s done right and doesn’t alienate fans or newcomers alike.

 

Harry has gone on and is living his own life, with only our imaginations and a ton of fanfiction to help him through. Ten years of watching the young boy grow up and change, along with his friends and enemies, is over. It was a good run, and the story itself is still there for us to read or watch when we want to believe in the magical world it gave us.

 

That’s Not My Mythology: Comparison of “Clash of the Titans” (1981 vs 2010)

Hello and welcome to Tea ‘n History, with your hostess, Felicia Angel.

Now, I’m a major Greek mythology geek. I got into it when I was in 2nd grade and it’s never really left me. The stories are interesting, the gods are fairly cool and recognizable if you grew up in any of Western Civilization, and some of it is romantic while the rest is…well, you need a flow-chart to figure some of the lineages out.

One of my favorite movies to watch when I was younger was Clash of the Titans, a 1981 movie with creatures done by Ray Harryhausen and fairly good effects. It was one of two that he did with Greek Myths, the other being Jason and the Argonauts, and both being well-received and still having a good fanbase.

So in 2010, when I learned a remake of Clash of the Titans was going to be made, I was happy. The fact that I”m also a Liam Neeson fangirl also helped. Him as Zeus and Aslan? WIN!

Then I saw the movie.

At which point I disowned it.

Then burned it.

Then threw it into the deepest part of the Underworld and hoped it stayed there.

However, having rediscovered my love for all things Harryhausen (and a $5 Walmart bin version of Clash of the Titans -1981), I felt it was my duty to point out the good and bad parts of them…not completely a la the Nostalgia Critic’s “Old vs. New”, but in my own way.

…which mostly includes destroy the new one after…rewatching…it…

This may hurt a bit.

So, first, backstory:

Both films have a (general) idea of the history of Perseus, a demi-god who goes to find Medusa and cut off her head. Reasons for it, in the original, mostly are given as “I don’t have anything to give my mom on her wedding day and the douche who’s marrying her said he wanted it”. With that, and because as the son of Zeus he instantly gets cheat codes, Perseus is given Hades’ helm (a cap of invisibility), a very reflective shield, Hermes’ sandals (fly anywhere) and a sword made out of something that sounds like the metal that went into Wolverine’s claws. He’s told to go find the Graece, sisters of the Gorgons (there is more then one) to find out where they’re hiding, and to kill the only mortal one, Medusa. He does so, and on the way back, spots a princess about to be sacrificed because her mother said something about her being as pretty as goddess of the sea, which pissed off the sea god enough he’s going to cause them problems and demand the daughter, Andromeda, be sacrificed to a sea-monster, Cetus.

As Medusa’s head gives Perseus enough to be in God Cheat Mode, he kills the monster, frees Andromeda, and heads home to free his mother as well. He also, at one point or earlier, learned that he was fathered by Zeus due to his mother being locked into a tower after his grandfather, the king of Argos, found out that if his daughter gave birth, he wasn’t long for this world. So, lock her in a tall tower were only the gods, who are known for changing forms and shapes and randomly seducing/raping/sexing up women, can see her.

…Brilliant idea.

Zeus comes down in a beam of golden light and, 9 months later, Perseus is born. At which point the king of Argos shows how much in common with a Bond villain he has by locking Perseus and his mother in a box and dumping it into the ocean.

As the first few paragraphs detailed Perseus and his mother being alive, that worked out really well, didn’t it?

Now, the movies:

Both movies take…liberties…with the original story of Perseus, but that’s to be expected as what I gave you also demands a lot of backstory for some parts, like who certain gods are in relation to Perseus (half-siblings, mostly, or uncles/aunts), Medusa (angry at her for doing another god in their temple), and some of the mythological beasts that appear. However, the 2010 version does it’s best to not only not tell the stories well, but to really mess it up as far as motivations go.

The original Clash of the Titans had Perseus growing up on an idyllic island with his mother, her dying before the film begins, and generally not being messed with until the goddess Thetis, angry at her son’s deformity after he’d done a few too many things to piss off Zeus, sets him down in Jota, the kingdom where her son is currently tormenting his old fiancee, Andromeda. Perseus is given special items by the goddesses Aphrodite, Thetis (she’s not really playing one side or the other, just hoping her son does what he can to redeem himself), Hera, and Athena, which mostly have a magical helmet of invisibility (except for footprints), a sword, and a shield, as well as told where to find Pegasus, the last winged horse, for his steed. He figures out how to free Andromeda from Thetis’ son, then has to defeat the Kraken because…well, Andromeda’s mother is a bit of an idiot and went around saying her daughter was prettier then the patron goddess.

In front of said patron goddess’ statue.

So to save his beloved, Perseus travels to the Stygian witches (evil version of the Graece) and then to near the underworld to defeat Medusa and bring back her head so he can defeat the Kraken. He does so, and the two live happily ever after and are put in the stars.

Yays happy endings!

 

The remake Clash of the Titans has Perseus growing up doubting who he is because he was found with a dead mother in a box out at sea. His family is somewhat divided on if thanking or cursing the gods is in order for failed harvest of fish, and end up dying when Hades attacks some men for being dicks and throwing down a statue dedicated to Zeus. Hades, still pissed for his lot after helping win the war against the Titans, decides to play both sides by having men start to doubt the gods, as well as having the gods kill the humans. Perseus, as a demi-god, is not easily killed and, with Andromeda’s mother saying something stupid (because it’s her lot in the story, though in this one the father joins in as well), Perseus must head out to kill Medusa and save the kingdom from the evil Kraken…after being beaten up because he has god-blood in him (seriously, what the hell?). Along the way, he is offered up a winged horse, and all the other cool things by his dad, Zeus, but says ‘no’ to them because he is a man and can do it himself.

He also meet Io who has nothing to do with the story but to show how much of a player and a dick Zeus can be while hiding his affairs from a very vengeful wife.

Finally accepting that he’s part god and deserves a winged horse, Perseus rides back and saves both Olympus from Hades’ schemes and Andromeda from being eaten. Then thinks about running off from being a king to find adventures with his love-forever, Io.

….yays?

 

You see the problem. The story itself doesn’t really have a ‘bad guy’ but both try to create one: the original created Calibos, Thetis son who is punished and becomes vengeful, but that you feel a bit for (just a tiny, tiny bit) when he speaks to Andromeda’s spirit. Afterwards, his actions are just that of a straight-up villain who wants things his way and the story doesn’t really suffer him being in the story or not, save for the times he makes things go from dull to action.

Hades as the antagonist is…well, seriously, I’ve never seen him as an antagonist. The two movies I’ve known of him as the major antagonist (Disney’s Hercules and this remake) just make him come off as a very one-dimensional and jealous character, as well as not that much of a threat. Kingdom Hearts makes him a better antagonist!

In both movies, Perseus’ lineage becomes important to his ultimate purpose. In the original, it’s because he’s the son of Zeus and getting some special-treatment that Thetis sends him to Jota, and later it’s what earns him a mechanical all-knowing owl, special equipment, and in general added special treatment, but it’s never quite hand-holding either. He’s put in situations where he has to figure things out for himself or have someone with him help figure it out, but he’s ready to ask for help and take what’s given to him, or to do what seems impossible so he can get things done. He’s a bit optimistic but not to the point of being annoying, and in general is also likable. In the remake, Perseus has a good reason for disliking a god, but not all of them, and is obviously not one who wants to get into trouble, despite the fact that his lineage demands it, though the people of Argos are a bit…annoying when it comes to treatment of one person who might be able to save them (believing himself to be a demi-god or not). Perseus’ backstory is also a mix of his and that of Hercules (which makes a better story, I guess, then “Zeus went to sex up a lady in a tower because she was alone and pretty”) along with a continued line of “men challenging the gods and the gods saying ‘really?'”. Io is also given a story that isn’t her own (she didn’t deny the love to a god and become cursed with everlasting life…she went with a god and was turned into a cow to be hidden from a jealous goddess), and in general the only person in this movie that I even like a bit is Andromeda, and only because she at least shows SENSE. Perseus attempting to be Kratos doesn’t quite work, them being all “we can do this for we are men…right up until those particular monsters, then we’re screwed” doesn’t quite work, and Perseus isn’t really a good example for a hero or even someone I’d follow in the story.

 

The base comparison is: the newer Clash of the Titans isn’t that good of a movie. It attempts to have some parts of the old and show it off, but in general is a worst movie for being the ‘gritty revisit’. 300 and the God of War games have more in common with Greek mythology then this does, and in God of War, you spend most of it killing the gods. The addition of Io as the ‘wise woman’ and love-interest for sake of a triangle doesn’t help, and neither does Perseus’ stigma for being a demi-god to a group of people who just had most of their men killed except that guy and he wasn’t even fighting. If you have someone who’s purpose in life is to actually be able to defeat or become a god, you take their help and don’t torture them. Even Hercules: The Legendary Journey got this right!

Originally I thought it was nostalgia creeping up and telling me that this wasn’t that good of a movie compared to the old one, bathed in the light of childhood and Greek Mythology geekdom, but after rewatching the two, I must say that I know where my annoyance lies. There are good points to the new one – the way they make the Gods, Neeson not seeming to be there and phoning in a few lines like Sir Lawrence Olivier was doing, slightly better special effects (which is probably the worst thing to think of…they’re only slightly better after nearly 30 years? FAIL), but as far as telling the story and having characters that, even with little backstory you care about, the 1981 version is far superior.

So is Percy Jackson and the Olympians. So is God of War…and Hercules: The Legendary Journey.

Because even they didn’t give up winged horses.

Historically, We’re Not that Nice – Zoot Suit

Hello and welcome to Tea ‘n History with your host, Felicia Angel. As it’s the Fourth of July Weekend, I decided to go through Netflix for a movie my mom had introduced me to, and one that I both loved because of the acting and music, but also helped remind me that, no matter how far we think we’ve gotten, we still have a history of problems.

Based on the “Sleepy Lagoon” murder, the Broadway musical Zoot Suit was later turned into a movie in 1981, bringing much if not all of the cast to filming. The story followed a fictionalized version of the characters, as the murder itself saw the wrongful arrest and imprisonment of 21 young Latinos for murder and was considered a major precursor to the Zoot Suit Riots, as they were called, of 1943. As this was during not only the Second World War but also during the Japanese-American Interment, racial tensions in Los Angeles were high, and the death lead to the media calling for an investigation of the so-called “Mexican Crime Wave”.

The story itself shows much of what lead up to the arrest and trial, with Edward James Olmos staring as the omnipresent El Pachuco, an idealized Zoot Suiter and one who sings most of the songs as well as acts at times as the protagonist’s, Henry Reyna, consciousness.

The movie shows much of what is going on and some of the trials that the defendants faced, as well as the prejudice shown to them by the courts at the time. Olmos’ Pachuco in general shows disdain for the whole thing, often acting contrary to the judge’s orders, complaining of the injustice because of Henry’s race, or simply not caring about it. Hints of the riots that followed, breaking out between white Sailors and Marines and the Latino zoot suiters, are also shown. In all, the film feels like it’s a stage play, and the whole effect is quite nice.

While the movie and play end with everyone speaking their idea of how Reyna will live after getting out of jail (in real life, the work of activists in the community and an appeal lead to a reversal in 1944), it speaks of many of the opinions held both by the people of the day and in general, as Henry is given endings that differ wildly depending on who is spoken to.

So for those who are wondering, what is a Zoot Suit?

Created by a culture of Mexican-American youths, Zoot Suits are described as a suit with a “high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_suit), which during the 1930s and 1940s became worn widely by many minorities such as Mexican-Americans, Italian-Americans and African-Americans, and which were not well-liked by some due to a few reasons, mostly that there was a ration for everything during the 1940s, especially for cloth, and thus the zoot suits were seen as not only being a luxury, but an act of rebelliousness.

With the imprisonment and round-up of various Mexican-American youths, as well as the way the trial for the Sleepy Lagoon murder was handled, what was to be known as the Zoot Suit Riots broke out in LA between servicemembers who saw the suits as unpatriotic and extravagant in a time of war, most of them minorities, the vast majority being of Hispanic origin and with much of the violence done by the servicemembers and later applauded by the newspapers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_Suit_Riots)

The riots themselves are still major backsettings for crime and drama during that era: while Zoot Suit is only loosely based on the events of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial and the Zoot Suit Riots, others such as movies like Black Dahlia and in various TV shows, books, and even in the game L.A. Noire (which, if it didn’t mention that I might wonder…), as well as popular songs from that era and during Swing Revival, most notably by the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies’ hit song and album (both named Zoot Suit Riot).

American History has a long list of good and bad events, with the ones inspiring Zoot Suit to not be the best of us but one that we need to remember. For all our good, we still have black marks, and to forget that is to forget who we are and what does make us great: the fact that we do what we must to correct our mistakes, and keep going to work for a better tomorrow and ensure the riots of 1944 don’t happen again.

Happy Fourth of July from Tea ‘n History.

Kung-Fu Fighting: Enter the Dragon

Due to the fact that I just met Jim Kelly, one of the stars of the movie, I felt it was important to explain a few things about how it came to be that kung fu movies and television shows, along with faster camera rates, came to be.

If you don’t already know, then you’re a bit out of touch with pop culture.

 

In 1966, a television series based off a radio drama called “The Green Hornet” was launched. While it only lasted a year, one of the main characters stood out: that of the butler Kato, played by Bruce Lee. While the character would live on through the music (used in Kill Bill Vol. 1 and with the Crazy 88’s mostly wearing the same type of masks Kato did), what also made the one-season series memorable was Lee’s unique fighting ability. Considering that some of his students were big Hollywood actors (including James Corburn), and that he soon was getting guest starring roles in television series, he also began to have more roles in films, even helping to choreograph fight scenes that involved Chuck Norris.

Which means that whole list of things Chuck Norris can do? You have to add “Because Bruce Lee taught him how to do it”.

However, Lee’s luck panned out as far as getting another show (his own idea was handed over to David Carradine and titled Kung Fu), so instead he headed over to Hong Kong. It turned out, he had a fanbase there, and two of the movies he made, along with one where he was fighting Chuck Norris in a colosseum-style that is still famous today, lead to Warner Brothers and the movie production he was then with, Golden Harvest, joining to create Enter the Dragon.

Enter the Dragon was one of the first martial-arts movies I saw after Jackie Chan began doing movies in America and showing off the bloopers at the end of his movies, which was mostly the “Why I am not allowed near insurance” parts. The story is basic and fairly cliched as far as action-movies go, and even as far as Asian action movies go: the hero is a kind-hearted person who can kill you with his pinkie and doesn’t want to, but learns that said evil baddies are responsible for his sister’s suicide due to them thinking with certain parts of their anatomy and not understanding the word “NO”. He gets into a TOURNAMENT OF DEATH held by the main baddie who had nothing to do with her death but is a bad person and probably would’ve used her anyway, and fighting begins.

Along with helping to kick-start the fad of kung-fu movies and the import of (sometimes horribly) dubbed Chinese and other movies, Enter the Dragon had a huge impact, as did the unfinished and very poor Game of Death that Lee had been working on before his untimely death in 1973. Due to his speed and knowledge, Lee had to either slow down his movements or get a faster camera speed. Also, if you watch and you’re up on the famous fighters, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung are both in it as henchmen or throw-away beat-ups, and both were later brought up by Golden Harvest films. As well, at least one or more iconic fights are in the movie, including the infamous “mirror” fight. The yellow track suit, as shown in Kill Bill Vol. 1, was in Game of Death.

Enter the Dragon was one of Lee’s highest grossing movies, though sadly he died shortly before the release. It’s range of influence is huge, from helping to spark interest in the Kung Fu show to the song “Kung Fu Fighting” that was so popular. It also helped launch the careers of others in the movie, including Jim Kelly as well as the aforementioned Jackie and Sammo, and really helped add the mainstream nieche for fighting films in the US. In Hong Kong, it created the rise of “Brucesploitation”, where actors named “Bruce Li”  or “Bruce Le”, or even the horrible “The Clones of Bruce Lee” films were created. Most fighting games, especially the Tekken series, has one character similar to Bruce Lee and often with an unlockable outfit that’s similar to his from The Game of Death. In Anime, shows like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo (ok, both are by the same creator so it’s probably that…but there has to be more, I just can’t think of them) are similar to Lee or have some similar style (Spike from Bebop fights using Jeet Kun Do, Lee’s fighting style, and in one episode of Champloo, one character had a similar scratch and sound to Lee from Enter the Dragon).

Enter the Dragon is part of the culture that helped cement the fighting genre of movies, as well as showed Lee as a capable actor and fighter. The story is low on thought but high in action and great to watch or rewatch, as well as being a wonderful place to start for anyone getting into fighting movies or similar. Lee’s impact on movies, music, and culture is far-reaching, and not one to cover in just one article. Still, more to come for him, and I shall see you on another Tea n’ History!

Gaming Retrospective: Myst and Riven

Welcome once again to Tea and History.

I’m what you might call a casual gamer, someone who doesn’t often play games and who, as a result, often plays games on easy to ‘please don’t kill me’. While many of my generation who grew up during the first home console generation often speak of original games like Mario and Zelda, I was mostly a PC Gamer.

Which means I had a PC and when I wasn’t doing homework on it, I was playing MYST.

So I am even more of a casual gamer then you original thought.

 

MYST was one game that, until the Sims came out, was often bought for PCs and Macs and for the person who didn’t want to deal with shooting things or having twenty buttons to press. It was point and click, but required a lot of notes or the walkthrough to get by. Still, it was a fun game to play and I played the HELL out of it, so much so that I finally figured out the shortest way to end the game before going off adventuring on my own.

MYST itself was created by Robyn and Rand Miller and developed by Cyan. It put the player, called “the Stranger” instead of “add your name here”, in the position of finding a book and landing on an island to figure out what happened and where everyone went. There were three or four possible endings and afterwards, you could continue to explore the various places you’d visited. It was a good way to waste a few hours and often held a great deal of information and hints for the player to find.

At one point, realMYST was released, with the world instead having realistic features and the point-and-click replaced with movement before you clicked. I didn’t play it when it came out (I didn’t have the allowance for it) but it’s on Steam now, so if you want some nostalgia or haven’t tried it, I suggest it. The game was one of the many that helped show what PC gaming could do as well as having some influence to the games that require puzzles now that are PC-only (or, if you got that Sherlock Holmes game on Xbox, that one). The hints and information needed to get to areas or to figure out how to return are all there and the worlds are beautifully rendered and created, now with ‘days’ passing in the areas and water not just being a water-texture.

The world-building itself is interesting and, if you’re a fan or just want another push for more world-building, I suggest playing the game through.

 

Riven, the sequel, was by and large more successful and full of richer, beautiful environments. It also required, at the time, five CDs to play through, so powerful but fun. Explaining the plot would spoil some of Myst, and I’d rather not, but the basics are you are put on another island and must find someone missing from the last game.

Riven was full of puzzles and, if you want to play things the whole way through to find everything you need, you often have to go through EVERY SINGLE PLACE and hope you didn’t miss anything. Usually you don’t, but that doesn’t mean you won’t. Backstory is heavy in this story, but it’s beautiful and still fun to play…I’m almost done playing it through again (thank you, Steam, for starting me up on my childhood obsession again).

Riven sadly ended the run with Cyan studios, as later games in the Myst series were given over to Ubisoft and only Rand Miller really stayed with the projects. However, playing just both games would be enough, and the games themselves have more then a few fans.

I know I said I’d cite for some of my article, but this is mostly a trip down nostalgia lane for me. Finding Myst and Riven on Steam was a happy point for me because I grew up playing those games and loved them, even today and without my walkthroughs (I’ve grown so much!). My parents knew of the various gaming platforms, and the only one we had was a computer and our imaginations – I didn’t get anything vaguely Nintendo until I had my own disposable income, and currently the only console I own is a PS3, and only because I can play DVDs and Blu-ray on it, which is what I usually play instead of the FIVE titles I have. Most of my gaming and some of my favorite games are on PC or PS3, and honestly I’m glad about that. Myst and Riven were fun to play because you could explore so much of them and simply figure things out, and even playing through once was wonderful as you explored and looked around the beautiful worlds that had been created.

 

Between Myst and Riven came out three books known as the “Myst Reader”. The Book of Atrus, The Book of Ti’ana were prequels to the Myst series, telling the story of Atrus and his grandmother, respectively, as well as about the odd race that Atrus belonged to, the D’ni. The final title, The Book of D’ni, took place after the events in Riven and is far more action-oriented to a degree, but still keeps with the ideas of exploration, as well as continuing Atrus’ story. All three are available as one big book and, if you’re a fan of the game, I suggest reading them.

Well, the trip down memory lane is done, so I’m going to go finish up the game and hopefully see you back for more tea and history.