Representation Matters

I read on a Lego blog (based in Australia) that Lego released a special Chinese New Year set, but only in the Asia-Pacific region. So none of us in the rest of the world can buy it, and when I checked the Lego website all they had was some stupid, ugly Blockhead thing. This is so unfair! Not just China, but many Asian countries celebrate Lunar New Year, because they are on the Lunar Calendar. This set could have sold to many immigrant communities in America, Europe, etc. but Lego completely missed this opportunity.

This reminds me of how Mattel made a big deal out of announcing 16 or so inspiring women Barbies for Women's Day, but only 3 of those dolls were ever offered for sale. What was the point of making all those diverse dolls like Chloe Kim, if you're not going to sell them to the Asian parents craving dolls to give to their daughters?

Anyway, on Black Lightning, they finally killed off Khalil after teasing several last-minute efforts to save him. I guess they finished their redemption arc on him, but I'm so relieved that the show's pace picked up with Henderson meeting Gambi, Grace reuniting with Annissa, and Tobias finally assembling a new team of henchmen. After his sister died and then Syonide died, all Tobias ever did was blame Khalil and terrorize him, expecting him to fill all roles including that of Lala who had also died. Everything slowed to a crawl, and the repetition of his bullying got old fast. Finally Tobias is moving forward with his evil plans and though he's still cruel, he's got more people now to spread his evil around. With Jennifer using her powers more, hopefully the show will be more watchable and less bleak. They've gotta find something to do with Lynn, though.

Shows

We're finally getting some forward movement on Supergirl's Red Daughter plot and Nia Nal becoming a hero. Thankfully the Children of Liberty had a small part of the plot, but it looks like we're back to the shitty Agent Liberty next episode. I'm so sick of him. Meanwhile, Black Lightning ended the runaway plot by having Jennifer return home and Khalil turn himself into police. Then Tobias's assassin captures him and Tobias rips out the cybernetic spine out of him. So brutal, but still, it makes we wonder why Tobias was always threatening to kill Khalil and hired Cutter if he wanted him still alive. I'm still sick of Tobias, but at least his new lackey Todd broke into the suitcase.

The Good Place's season finale finally brought back Simone, and I was so excited, but then Chidi wanted to do another mind-wipe. I hope next season won't be so much about love triangles. I want Jason/Janet and a real shot at Eleanor/Tahani even if it's just on the rebound, to cope with her grief without Chidi. I am glad that Judge Gen finally got to scold everybody and try to impose punishment on the outlaws. They were having consequence-free adventures for too long.

At the movies, I watched The Kid Who Would be King, an update on King Arthur starring teens and Patrick Stewart as Merlin some of the time. It was slow in some parts and incredibly earnest about its message of equality, honesty, and justice. Making a new Camelot by turning enemies into allies. Merlin also said that legends about chosen ones having special parents are not actually accurate, that Excalibur chose the person whose heart was worthy, not because of his royal bloodline. The younger actor who also played Merlin was pretty good, and his weird magical gestures seemed to make adults obey him instantly. There was some mumbo jumbo too about why all the adults disappeared at night each time Morgana's evil knights attacked. I liked how Stonehenge became a portal connected to other stone circles in Britain. The movie was often cute and funny.

More Victorian Detectives

After I finished reading Loveday Brooks, I read both the Hilda Wade and Dorcas Dene books. Though she's not available in ebooks and I had to buy a paper copy, Dorcas Dene was better by far. She is a former actress who marries an artist, but after he goes blind from an illness and cannot work any longer, Dorcas needs to support their family. She takes up detective work through a recommendation from a neighbor and friend; eventually she inherits the whole detective agency from him, becoming famous and working with police and private clients alike. Dorcas's adventures are narrated by Mr. Saxon, a playwright and former employer from Dorcas's days as an actress. He runs into her one day, is fascinated by her new career, and eventually becomes her informal "assistant" on cases. He'll drop by, or Dorcas will send for him, and he'll get to listen to or sometimes participate in a mystery with her. It's nice that he doesn't mind obeying her orders and that there's no love triangle with her husband Paul. They're just mature adults, all happy to be friends with each other with no jealousy or rivalry. I do wish sometimes that Saxon wouldn't blank out certain people's names, in typically Victorian style, because it makes some tales hard to follow. If you don't want to name Prince ___ of ____ and his former wife the Countess, then make up a fake name and fake country, please! Otherwise the tales are entertaining mysteries.

Hilda Wade on the other hand was a huge disappointment. I thought she might be fun, being a nurse, and that she'd be like Judith Lee, who had a regular job teaching deaf people but did her detection on the side. But no, Hilda Wade's book was maybe 40% mysteries then devolved into travel/adventure/revenge plot. It was a lame revenge plot to boot, not clever at all. SPOILERS below.

Moving On

Well the new year has begun, with the new Congress sworn in, and Pelosi back as Speaker of the House. I hope they can end the government shutdown soon, and get all their new legislative priorities accomplished, such as climate change, voting integrity, gun control, and the shitty child detention camps. So much to get done, along with all the investigations into the administration's endless corruption. Still waiting for Mueller's results too.

Meanwhile that Oscars controversy flared up again. I don't understand why Ellen is trying to get Kevin Hart reinstated. No more than I understand Elton John's misguided reaching out to Eminem years ago. Use your good karma for more important things. I don't see what's the point of even having a host at all, when they disappear very quickly from the show, and it's all just award presenters and montages and such. The whole award season is such a snooze.

Netflix still hasn't announced the release date of the final Arrested Development episodes. Why the fuck are they holding onto the back half of season 5 so long? Just get it over with for the few of us who still care about resolving the cliffhangers. Haven't we subscribers been loyal enough to get our niche viewing habits catered to? Just dump it already and let any controversy be buried among all the other shows/movies you got coming out. Mitch, if you're still doing last-minute tinkering to add Trump jokes or whatever, stop it! For fuck's sake, you owe us an ending after all these years.

Loveday Brooke

Lately I've been reading the detective stories of Catherine Louisa Pirkis. Loveday Brooke is one of several fictional female detectives created in the Victorian era, long before real women were hired as police detectives. I don't like Miss Brooke as much as I liked Judith Lee, but she's an interesting character all the same. I wonder if the unusual name "Loveday" was supposed to indicate a Cornish ancestry or if it was just to echo Sherlock's unusual first name.

Anyway, she seems to work for a private detective agency owned by Mr. Dyer, but from the first story, she feels free to argue spiritedly with Mr. Dyer, and he never scolds her in sexist terms. He admits that she's a great detective, and his praise for her reminds me of how Allan Pinkerton often praised Kate Warne in his accounts of the cases they worked together. I do notice that the stories don't always give the clues that you need to solve them. For example, the narration will say that Brooke spent 15 minutes closely examining a room, but not tell you any of the clues she found there, until the end of the story when she explains her solution to Dyer. Then you'll suddenly find out "I found long blond locks in the fireplace, meaning somebody cut their hair and burned it to disguise themselves." So that's not entirely fair to the reader trying to figure out the mystery.

Also, I noticed in one of the tales the phenomenon of Church vs. Chapel. (I also came across this in one of the Daisy Dalyrmple mysteries.) Not being Christian myself, I thought the main religious divisions were between Catholics and various Protestant denominations. But it seems that, in England at least, religious people also make the distinction between High Anglican Church and the so-called "low" dissenters from the Church of England, who nevertheless are still Protestants sneering at the "papists". The so-called nonconformists call themselves "chapel" or by the specific name of their sect, such as the Wesleyans. It's a weird quirk for someone like me who doesn't know that there's any difference between church and chapel. Weird how religious people are so insistent on their tiny differences in doctrine. Oh, and the Loveday Brooke mystery features end-of-the-world cultists known as millenarians. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Holmes & Watson

I finally got to see this movie today after trying to avoid all spoilers and reviews. I liked it as a silly spoof, and I would rate it 2.5 out of 5 stars. I don't know how on earth it got 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. One reviewer complained about the actors' bad English accents. They were bad on purpose. That's part of the parody. Do you not get that? It's supposed to be broad and outrageous like a Mel Brooks movie or a Blackadder farce. You can love the original characters in the books, without taking them so seriously that you can't enjoy an irreverent romp like Without a Clue.

The story starts out with young Holmes being bullied at school, to the point where he "uncries" a tear and decides to be an emotionless automaton devoted to solving crimes (initially for revenge). He also meets young John Watson, a "janitor's son" and deduces that he will become a doctor one day. The movie then skips through years of Holmes's growing fame as a detective and Watson's admiration in his writings. I mean, it's not canon, but this revisionism about their first meeting isn't any more outlandish than the backstory shown in Young Sherlock Holmes.

I laughed at many jokes, and I loved Rebecca Hall as Dr Grace Hart. She became the love interest to Dr Watson while her sidekick character had a much shallower courtship with Holmes. And though the movie makes both Holmes and Watson heterosexual, their friendship becomes an important element in the movie. Grace encourages Watson to ask to be "co-detective" with Holmes, as a sign of real respect and trust between them. So we actually get Watson being a little less adoring and showing some spine, and Holmes eventually learns to value Watson in a heartfelt musical number, similar to a rom-com. I've seen far worse depictions of their friendship, reducing Watson to a servile and stupid puppy taking all the abuse of his callous master. In this film, Holmes is just dismissive and emotionally dumb about Watson, but when he gets better, it's nice. There are some points when the Moriarty plot gets a little frustrating and Holmes's ego becomes unbearable, but it's not long enough to make it unwatchable.

Yes there's low-brow potty humor, but also other kinds of satire. The movie spoofs Guy Ritchie's Holmes movies, Victorian medical quackery, American love for guns, Trumpian politics, and even the Titanic, for this exists in an anachronistic world where Victoria is still alive for the Titanic's maiden voyage. (I worried that Dr Hart wasn't going to survive the voyage, but then we get a brief glimpse of a newspaper headline saying "Lady Doctor saves 700" which I think is a good sign.) If you're willing to suspend your disbelief for improbable antics like Mycroft and Sherlock being able to have a telepathic conversation with each other at Diogenes, then this movie will be to your taste.