Weekend Reads: Babylon 5, R. Kelly, Instagram for Kids, YouTube vs. Anti-Vaxxers
Recommended weekend reading material for October 2, 2021.
Every week, I compile a list of interesting and thought-provoking articles to offer you some enjoyable weekend reading material.
In a series of tweets, J. Michael Straczynski announced that his celebrated sci-fi series Babylon 5 was being rebooted on the CW. For a certain sector of sci-fi nerds, this is extraordinary news. It’s easy to poke fun at the series’ dated visual effects and ‘90s sense of style, but I still appreciate Babylon 5’s colorful characters, epic sense of drama, and a singular storyline that spanned five seasons (which was quite different from the episodic nature of, say, Star Trek at the time).
Suffice to say, I hope the Babylon 5 reboot is a massive success. We can always use more heartfelt, thought-provoking, “space opera” sci-fi on TV.
The number one title on Netflix right now is a Hunger Games-esque thriller from South Korea titled Squid Game (and it’s on track to become Netflix’s most popular series ever). Korean pop culture has been taking America by storm in recent years (see also the popularity of Korean boy band BTS, and before that, “Gangnam Style”). According to at least one analyst, this is proof that South Korea could pose “a serious competitive threat” to Hollywood studios.
Via Morning Brew.
Even as The Simpsons enter their 33rd(!) season, some fans are envisioning new ways to tell stories about America’s most well-known TV family.
The one thing that the show refuses to compromise on is aging up any of its characters, and so the timeline keeps sliding forward: In season 33, Homer and Marge are millennials. But what if the Simpsons actually aged? Each Simpson has been through so many iterations and timelines that they can be imagined anywhere (or anywhen). Webcomic fan artists are exploring these questions and more, while paying homage to The Simpsons’ classic years.
Of the various examples given in the article, I found “Couples Therapy” — which depicts Bart Simpson and Chris Griffin (from Family Guy) going to counseling and dealing with their fathers’ abusive behavior — surprisingly affecting.
Back in July, Scarlett Johansson sued Disney for releasing Black Widow on Disney+ and in theaters, claiming the joint release breached her contract and affected her compensation. The lawsuit has now been settled, though the terms weren’t released.
The settlement brings to a close a back-and-forth PR battle that pitted the CAA-repped star against Disney and was poised to have dramatic implications for all of Hollywood’s major studios. Johansson’s cause received support in the industry, with talent and executives — including Jamie Lee Curtis, Marvel’s WandaVision star Elizabeth Olsen and mogul Jason Blum — speaking out on her behalf.
As the article points out, though, other celebrities may consider filing similar suits as the pandemic continues to up-end the movie business.
On the one hand, it’s hard to feel sorry for A-listers who might stand to make only a few million dollars from their movies rather than the bajillion dollars they feel they’re entitled to. On the other hand, you want to cheer on any efforts that seek to hold Hollywood studios accountable.
Garrett Martin lists the 20 best indie rock albums of 1995, which he calls “a pivotal year for American underground rock ‘n’ roll.”
After a brief period where the distinction between major labels and indie labels blurred, the value and significance of independent music became clear again. Indie labels gave both musicians and fans a legitimate alternative to the bland, cookie-cutter rock music that had taken over MTV programming and alternative radio station playlists by the start of 1995. That freedom resulted in an unusually fruitful year in 1995, with some of the best bands of the era releasing some of their best music.
Via Frosted Echoes.
Confession time: I don’t think I listened to any of the albums on Martin’s list back in ‘95 aside from maybe a single or two on a CMJ sampler CD, and there are several albums that I still haven’t heard. But at the time, I had just discovered shoegaze via Brendon Macaraeg’s Dreampop webzine (RIP) and was diving headfirst into the sounds of Slowdive, Ride, et al. That was also around the time I discovered mail order companies like Soleilmoon and Forced Exposure and began exploring the catalogs of Projekt, Staalplaat, World Serpent, and other “fringe” labels.
In any case, it was definitely a heady time of musical exploration made possible by the still-burgeoning World Wide Web.
NPR’s Rachel Martin and Nate Chinen discuss one of the most unlikely musical partnerships in recent history: Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.
As she told me at the time, Lady Gaga was seeking a certain validation as a singer — and having the Bennett benediction, so to speak, really put her in a different light. There’s nowhere to hide, musically, when you’re singing in this style. And as for Tony Bennett: he was 88 when Cheek to Cheek topped the charts in 2014, which made him the oldest artist ever to score a No. 1 album. According to Guinness, that's a record he still holds.
R. Kelly has been found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking, and could face up to life in prison.
The singer was first indicted in July 2019, and he pleaded not guilty to the charges last year. His trial began on August 18, with the prosecution presenting testimony from 45 witnesses over a span of nearly three weeks. The jury, which consisted of seven men and five women, began deliberating on September 24.
Once hailed as the “the King of R&B,” Kelly still faces federal charges of child pornography as well as various other charges related to sexual misconduct. Kelly still maintains his innocence in spite of multiple accusations of abuse.
Related: Back in 2019, Vox’s Constance Grady interviewed Chicago journalist Jim DeRogatis about his years-long investigation into Kelly’s crimes.
2024 will mark the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, and the game’s developers have something big in mind to celebrate.
Although not officially confirmed as a complete follow-up to the tabletop RPG’s current fifth edition — in other words, there’s no guarantee of a D&D 6E just yet — the upcoming release will include new versions of Dungeons & Dragons’ core rulebooks, such as the Dungeon Master’s Guide and Player’s Handbook, and will be the “next evolution” of the game, executive producer Ray Winninger said.
In addition, the venerable RPG will revisit some classic settings in the preceding years. Could this mean the official return of Dark Sun or Spelljammer?
Zhao Wei is one of China’s wealthiest and most popular actresses, having starred in blockbusters like Shaolin Soccer and Red Cliff. But she’s disappeared from public life and all of her movies and TV shows have been taken down by the Chinese government — and she might not be the last Chinese celebrity to experience such treatment.
“Zhao Wei is like a poster child for what the Communist Party sees as what’s wrong with celebrity culture in China,” Stanley Rosen, a professor at the University of Southern California specializing in Chinese films and politics, tells Variety. “Going after her without offering a smoking-gun explanation as to why they did it will certainly make other celebrities extremely cautious and proactive in embracing regime goals. It’s a demonstration that no one, no matter how wealthy or popular, is too big to pursue.”
Related: In last week’s newsletter, I shared this article detailing China’s crackdown on Hong Kong’s film industry, which includes censoring even previously released films.
Facebook has announced that they’re pausing development of a kids-focused version of Instagram.
Pausing development of the app comes after The Wall Street Journal published a series of damning reports into Facebook last week. These included a story revealing how Instagram’s own internal research suggested that the app made body issues worse for teenage girls. Facebook says these reports mischaracterized the company’s studies, but it has so far refused to release its data firsthand for critics and supporters alike to analyze.
Facebook executives are currently testifying before the Senate concerning Facebook’s influence on younger users — and it’s not going well for them.
YouTube is now banning all videos that include vaccine misinformation.
YouTube pulled ads from anti-vaccination content in 2019, and said in October 2020 that it would remove videos that pushed misinformation around COVID-19 vaccines. The new policy expands to block misinformation around other vaccines, including the flu shot, the HPV vaccine, and the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Videos that inaccurately claim that the MMR vaccine causes autism or that the flu shot causes infertility, for example, will not be allowed under the new policy.
YouTube is also shutting down the channels of prominent anti-vaxxers like Joseph Mercola and the Children’s Health Defense Fund. Some will no doubt see YouTube’s decision as further evidence that “Big Tech” has run amok and is stifling free speech while others will see it as a necessary step in shutting down lies and misinformation that cause real world harm.
Related: Back in September, I chronicled my failed attempts to get my church’s Facebook page reinstated, which led to some further introspection on “Big Tech” and deplatforming. As I wrote, “it’s possible to cheer when someone gets banned or suspended for spreading and promoting lies and harmful messages and still feel disconcerted by a) the manner in which any such deplatforming occurs and b) the lack of transparency and consistency surrounding the deplatforming.”
From the Blog
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Eureka Video recently released Ching Siu-tung’s Duel to the Death on Blu-ray. (It’s a “Region B” release, meaning you’ll need a region-free player to watch it.) Duel to the Death is one of my favorite martial arts films of all time, and it’s completely bonkers in all of the best possible ways. From my 2001 review of the film:
I swear that you could stare at a different square inch of the screen each time you watch this movie, and see something new. The fight scenes are a visual riot; blades slice and blur through the air, fists and feet fly with abandon, and bodies careen and bounce around the screen so much it makes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon seem tame. Forget about the laws of physics, people. I’m not sure, but I think the ability to use your sword as a springboard to jump higher while flying in midair violates at least one of Newton’s laws. But screw all that nonsense; things like that just make for a darn fine swordfight.
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