Hyped Out

Well, it's Thanksgiving weekend, and every ad online or on TV is still about Black Friday deals or stupid Cyber Monday. Blegh at how commercialized holidays are. I mean technically it's "Small Business Saturday" but that's just more marketing for shopping. Plus the political fundraising emails clamor all at once, and I don't have the budget for all that.

Frozen 2 is out now, but I haven't seen it yet, wanting to avoid crowds and preferring to get into Knives Out first. Anyway, I haven't seen Frozen 2, but have read a couple of articles debating whether Elsa has a new female love interest. But if you have to debate it, then it's still too ambiguous, isn't it? It's subtext like in Xena, Warrior Princess or it's queer baiting, wanting the cachet of being progressive without actually being brave enough to make it clear and indisputable. I mean, back in the 1990s, I settled for that kind of subtext slash and Joey/Chandler jokes, but it's fucking 2019 now. Do we really have to settle for "if you squint, you can see it" representation? Disney is an entertainment behemoth. If even they aren't brave enough to risk a boycott from China or from anti-gay rightwingers who panic about their kids seeing anything non-hetero, then what hope is there for smaller Hollywood studios to take a leap? I say, either pull the trigger or stop teasing with your stupid "gay moments" and nameless characters in the background. Give us substance, not overblown hype. Surely somewhere in their multiple brands/properties there's room for more diversity and progressive values?

As for TV, the marketing for the big "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover has been nonstop for weeks. The more guest stars they announce, the more I feel they are desperate and stupid and gimmicky throwing in all these Supermen and Batmen. It's probably just going to amount to lots of cameos and maybe even another incomplete story pointing to next year's crossover. I'll watch it for the sake of Batwoman and Black Lightning, but I'm getting tired of this hype.