What do the films Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have in common? They were all based on comic books co-created and written by Alan Moore, yet you won’t see his name anywhere on any of them.
Because, publicly and loudly, he hated them.
OTOH, The Show, a short film written by Mr. PickyPicky and directed by Mitch Jenkins seems, at least so far, to have Moore’s approval. Hell, he must like it – he’s in the thing.
Are TV writers paying attention to the problems, issues, and needs of indigenous people (including indigenous writers)? Misha Green certainly seems to be, although she’s not exactly pleased with her own results. What do you think?
Misha Green is taking responsibility for what she believes is one of the biggest failures of “Lovecraft Country” so far: the storyline of the Indigenous Two-Spirit character Yahima (Monique Candalaria). The “Lovecraft Country” showrunner took to social media this week after the airing of the first season’s penultimate episode to admit she failed the character by killing them off shortly after introducing them.
“I wanted to show the uncomfortable truth that oppressed folks can also be oppressors,” Green wrote in response to a fan asking her about the portrayal of Yahima. “But I didn’t examine or unpack the moment/portrayal of Yahima as thoroughly as I should have. It’s a story point worth making, but I failed in the way I chose to make it.”
Simon Rich, who has collaborated with some names you may know – like Seth Rogan and Lorne Michaels – has more than a few words to say about staying productive during these %!$#ing times. Take it away, Simon!
Writer Simon Rich, who counts Seth Rogen (for “An American Pickle”) and Lorne Michaels (for “Miracle Workers” and “Man Seeking Woman”) among his collaborators and Seth Meyers and John Mulaney among his friends, hasn’t had trouble staying productive during the pandemic.
“It’s much easier to be a fiction writer than a feature director right now,” he observes.
Press agentry or public concern? We’re going with the latter and bringing you this message from actors Emma Thompson and Gael Garcia Bernal, as well as the animated short we believe is well worth watching.
Don’t get us wrong: we believe in the cautionary power of dystopian stories. As actors, we have both brought to life worlds ravaged by uncontrollable disease, lethal weather, and mad kings. This form of art has a long and rich tradition: it acts as a warning of what is to come if society does not change course. But in times like ours, we’ve been feeling the urge to experiment in something a little more challenging: utopian art. After all, you don’t need much imagination for dystopia these days.
Yesterday we posted a letter from the membership of the WGAW’s Committee Native American and Indigenous Writers’ Committee. We don’t know if the article below, which also appeared on the web yesterday, is intended to be a response.
We offer it here to help you decide for yourself whether you think current diversity initiatives are enough to instigate the change the television industry and U.S. culture in general must make for the good of, well, of all of us, goddammit.
