New Comments Policy 9/17/2018

Unlike some established, busy bloggers like John Scalzi I try not to rule this site with an iron fist. Apart from demanding civility and intelligent thought, I haven’t really set any hard rules on commenting or anything else related to the blog.

I’ve always loved how intelligent and professional the blogosphere is compared to social media. The level of comments and content that WordPress offers blows Facebook and Twitter out of the water. There are obviously long-standard ways of commenting on FB (emojis, memes, GIFs, and what not) that differ greatly from actual sentences. Lately, I’ve started noticing a couple of newcomers to the blog attempting to comment with emojis or smileys.

I don’t mean to be harsh, but my blog is not an iMessage or Facebook. Smiley faces and emojis have no place in my comment feed, because they do not accurately have anything to do with what I’m trying to say in my posts. For example, sending me a bunch of party emojis followed by a little ghost when I wrote my Ghostbusters post yesterday does nothing to expand the conversation, and truthfully I deleted the comment as being irrelevant.

I know it might sound like a dick move, but I use this blog to temporarily escape from the lunacy of other sites, ones that are filled with smileys and all other sorts of wordless responses. I don’t want that to follow me here. Any all-emoji or all-smiley comments on my blog will NOT be approved and will be deleted. I want this to be more adult and professional, please.

Thanks for reading.

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My Response to Paul Fieg’s “Ghostbusters” Comments

I was just reading on Facebook that director Paul Fieg, who was responsible for the poor performance of the 2016 “Ghostbusters” reboot, blames the movie’s failure on the same “vortex” that plagued Hillary Clinton during her presidential run. “Ghostbusters,” if you recall, featured a female-heavy cast.

That sounds like a crybaby tactic to me, Paul. I mean, seriously? I know you went in thinking that you could make over $500 million worldwide when it came out and that you were on the fast-track to success by doing your own take on the classic franchise. But now that it’s blown up in your face and lost money, you want to blame it on sexism and maybe even racism (on account of some hate that Leslie Jones has received).

I think that your biggest problem is not that people are against an all-female Ghostbusters movie, but because we as moviegoers are getting fed up with shoddy remakes. Tell me honestly, when was the last time a remake or a reboot was successful?

When a good movie is made, people fall in love with it. It’s actors are remembered for their roles, and it all becomes iconic and memorable. Fast forward twenty or thirty years later and some relatively-unknown director tries redoing it their own way, and it’s an insult to what has come before. It is damn near-impossible to do better than what so many have come to love and enjoy over the course of YEARS, that the newer attempt ends up failing. I mean, seriously. Reboots suck. Remakes suck. They always have. Just because your movie sucked doesn’t mean it’s because people out there hate women. Its far more plausible that they just don’t like the idea of you trampling all over a great franchise that’s been around for a long time. And with all the criticism these days about political correctness, that might also have something to do with it’s not-very-impressive box office results, but that’s for another article.

Grow up, Fieg. Stick to original movies and leave the classics alone. And while you’re at it, share my advice with other directors and the studios. They will make far more money doing new things than trying to tackle films that have already been made and that have been successful.

It’s Not Racist to Want a White Superman

(Warning: This is going to be more of a rant than a cohesive essay, but hopefully I can get it to flow good enough.)

This morning I woke to see a huge rumor that Henry Cavill was out as DC’s Superman and that in his place Warner Brothers was eyeballing Michael B. Jordan to take his place. I resisted the urge to enter the extremely heated argument going around online about it, and retreated instead to the relative safety of my blog.

Where do I even begin? I’m sure there is some alternate reality in the DC Universe where Superman is African American. I don’t follow those comics enough to know one way or the other. However, in every single reality I know of Clark Kent (or his various foreign personas) is a white male who doubles as the Man of Steel. Cavill has been highly praised for his role in the franchise, and anticipation has been high for his return in potential future DCEU movies.

Political correctness has no place when it comes to casting classic characters. Hollywood and the media seems to be hell bent on diversifying every aspect of entertainment that they possibly can, to the point where they care more about political agendas nowadays than they do creativity and originality. Why on Earth would they want to replace Henry Cavill with a black actor like Jordan? Do they not remember what happened the last time he played the role of an iconic, traditionally-Caucasian character? Mind you, there was plenty more wrong with the latest Fantastic Four than just a black Human Torch, but still. That was one of the fiercest criticisms the movie had, and the film was the worst superhero movie in modern times on so many levels. Does Hollywood not have the brains to learn from its mistakes?

There is an international image of what Superman is and what he looks like, an image that has remained untouched for nearly a hundred years. Michael B. Jordan is just about the furthest away from the character that you can get without making him as large as Fat Albert. Especially if his character is a replacement to Cavill’s exact same character in the films? How can you even begin to explain that drastic change?

A lot of hardcore liberals will cry out and say that I’m being “racist” because I have issues with a black man playing Superman. I beg to differ. Even the thought of casting Michael B. Jordan as Superman is racism in Hollywood and Warner Brothers’ part. Why change an iconic character like that? Politics. Catering to one sect of people over another. Racial favoritism, that’s what that is. Superman needs to stay white. I guarantee you there would be an outrage if Black Panther ever got rebooted with a white actor in the role. This is no different. If they want diversity, make the cast diverse. But don’t change a character that doesn’t need to be changed. That will NOT bode well. At all.

Week 3 of College

I really wish I could afford to take more than one class this semester. I’ve said it here multiple times before, but making decision to go back to school is a decision I think is one of the best I’ve made in YEARS.

So far the only grade in the online grade book is a quiz (that I aced). The first short writing assignment is due tonight, so I’m sure she will get to checking them out sometime this week. I’ve been getting my stuff done way ahead of schedule so as to get my move back to Michigan all sorted out. Plus, it shows the instructor how dedicated the only English major in the class is.

This week so far I’ve already got my DB written. I’ll check back online tomorrow or Wednesday to see if any classmates have posted so I can get started on my responses. I have a short work due next Monday night (which I will most likely write and submit tomorrow) and then…my first paper! I’ve already begun working on the rough draft, mainly because I don’t have the luxury of bringing it to the writing lab until after I move back, so the sooner I write it the more I have a chance to tear it up and make it how it needs to be.

Shooting for a solid A this time around…so far, so good!

The Best Way to Combat Injustice

Any guess as to what I have in mind? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not kneeling for the National Anthem.

Give up?

Isn’t it obvious? The best way to tackle injustice is to actually go out and combat it. What the hell is kneeling going to do? Absolutely nothing. Kneeling during a football game will do nothing to the poor soul in jail on a false accusation. It will do nothing for the unarmed man gunned down by police, or the great parent whose child was taken away and given to a parent who by all rights should never have been a parent to begin with.

Kneeling will not end racism. Kneeling will not end sexism. Kneeling certainly won’t end police brutality. You know what kneeling does?

Makes people notice you. That’s all it does. It makes you an attention seeker. Gives you a teeny bit more fame. The only reason Colin Kaepernick is famous is because he knelt first. But how much has he actually done to fight injustice?

Nothing.

So for those of you who condone their actions, how about spending your time actually going out and challenging the many injustices that are being committed on a daily basis in this country? Donate to legal funds, go on strike. Bring awareness to certain issues and cases. Be productive! Kneeling isn’t going to change but taking direct action will. Kaepernick is no hero, but I tell you what. YOU have a chance to be one. Because YOU can actually go out there and try making a difference. Colin can’t, he’s too busy making money from Nike and being a figurehead if whatever bullshit he’s involved with these days.

Be the hero these rich-boy athletes think THEY ARE being. THAT is how you fight injustice.

Check Out My Best Friend’s Blog!

To start, I want to apologize to my bestie, Sara. She started this blog last week and I promised her I’d cover it here on CrapPile after the first post, but as usual I forgot. Sorry!

She’s been going through a lot in life, and as most of us know blogging is a great way for us to express our thoughts and be able to open up about things that otherwise would be hard for us to do. She is a very romantic person and knows a lot about love, dating, and relationships. She’s certainly been there for me whenever I needed someone the most.

So here’s her blog. If you like mine then you’re bound to enjoy hers. Different topics and different styles of writing, but we both come from the same place and write from the heart so…enjoy hers!

https://saraaras1992.wixsite.com/website

Becoming a Playwright

I think I mentioned this before, but I’m in beginning talks with the English Department advisor at GRCC to become an editor for the college literary magazine, The Display. At this point I’m not sure which editorial section I will be part of (there’s even a chance since I served as an editor in the past that I could be slotted for the vaunted Editor-in-Chief position) but I decided that I also want to submit to the magazine, too.

My genre of choice? One-act plays.

I know I’ve talked a bit before about how easy dialogue is for me, and that I’ve decided that I want to try my hand at playwriting. Well, since the Display accepts one-acts and I keep putting off my creative writing again and again and again, I figured there is no better time than the present to start trying my hand at this new craft.

Since I’ve never written plays before I’m spending a lot of the day in between job applications studying proper script formatting for Word and thinking about what my first drama might be about.

Comedy, serious drama, tragedy? Contemporary, genre, classical? So many questions to ponder as I get started. The Display allows for two play submissions per student, so as long as my editorial responsibilities preclude me from contributing then I plan on having two separate one-acts ready to go come November.

I’m excited.