Recently, DC Comics VP Dan DiDio did an interview with the New York Times and stated that the character of Batwoman would be making a return to the DC Universe this summer. The woman donning the cape and cowl is called Kate Kane (an homage to the original Batwoman from the 60's version Kathy Kane) and the big news is that she will be portrayed as a closeted "lipstick lesbian". Whoopdeedoo. All lesbians on TV, in movies and in comics are basically lipstick lesbians. Show me a big bull dyke and I'll be much more impressed that you're edgy. And no, Bea Arthur on the Golden Girls doesn't count.
The history and continuity of comics can be very complicated and convoluted (damn, that was some nice alliteration if I do say so myself). There was a former BatGIRL that was more mainstream and the alter ego was named Barbara Gordon. She was shot by the Joker during a storyline back in the late 80's and rendered unable to walk. Confined to a wheelchair, she became the data gathering Oracle and acts as pretty much the CIA of the DC Universe.
Ever since the story in the times, a lot of fans have been outraged that DC is not putting Gordon back into the suit and healing her ailment. One fan even wrote, "Oracle is a much more important character to the overall universe, but I just think it would be cool to have Barbara back in the suit."
I don't envy writers. This is the type of second guessing they have to put up with on a daily basis. A lot of the die hard fanboys (be it wrestling, comics, sci-fi, movies...at al) do a lot of vocalizing and comdemning on just that fact..."well I think it would be much cooler".
But once you do that, then what?
It's called "hotshotting". You write something because it would be cool or totally unexpected...but then where do you go from there? Sure, it would be cool to have something happen with Barbara that magically restores her ability to walk and allows her to take the mantle back, but what happens next? You lose a very important character in Oracle and now you're stuck with Batgirl, who the fans that demanded her return will get tired of in a few months.
I prefer slow, logical builds to stories as opposed to hotshotting. It's much more satisfying to have a story weave and twist to a more logical, yet surprising conclusion. Characters that act in character and make moves and decisions that make sense. And then when there is a point to it, those surprises can be all the more exciting.
I had wanted to make a few posts last week, but time got away from me as time has a way of doing and I didn't get to it.
The week started off pretty regularly as I had a commercial audition that was pretty fun on Tuesday. I think it was actually more of an infomercial, to be honest. The product was "Magic Bullet to Go" which frightened me as I thought it might be for a feminine product. I was relieved to find that it was merely a portable blender.
On Wednesday morning I got a call that I had an audition that day for the lead in the film adaptation of James Sherman's play BEAU JEST. It's a pretty famous play (unbeknownst to me) that is about a Jewish woman with an Anglo boyfriend who has to hire an actor/escort (that's the part I read for) to play her Jewish boyfriend when meeting her parents. It's a really fun, well written script and the part was totally "me" (I guess I really am "specifically Jewish" after all!)
Just getting called in was a shocker as they were pretty adamant on only wanting names for the part. My manager really fought to get them to take a look at me and it ended up paying off.
The audition was one of the most fun times I've had doing a read and the casting director was really digging it. He was laughing and seemed to enjoy reading with me. My manager called for feedback and it was confirmed that he did indeed really enjoy my work.
I'm not sure if they have to go with a name for the part, but that's something that's out of my hands. I did my job and just have to let go the rest of it. With the author of the play also writing/directing the film, it does lend some hope that he might go for performance over name...but that's not always up to the filmmaker. So at the very least, I should get more calls from this agency (one of the bigger ones in town) in the future. As I had mentioned in a previous post, besides booking the gig, that's what you look to accomplish.
Congrats to Vinnie Chase and Ari Gold on their recent success (picture credited to Defamer.com)
This was printed in this morning's Variety For fans of Entourage, it's pretty funny. For others it's "when the hell did they make an Aquaman movie and who the hell is Vinnie Chase?"
As anyone who reads this blog or who knows me can tell you, I watch pro wrestling. I've been into it ever since I was a fat, little kid with not too many friends. I remember going to Cape Cod to visit my grandparents and we'd stop by the comic book store and drug store where I could pick up a batch of comics and a few wrestling magazines and I'd be set. Holed up in their motor home (they used to spend the summers down there at a campground...my grandparents didn't actually live in a trailer park...just to clarify) I would spend hours reading them.
When my parents got divorced my Dad would take my sister and I to the Boston Garden to see the matches. We'd stay over his house and then go downtown. We'd park in his special parking spot at one of the MBTA substations and head to the Garden. He always got us seats right at the front of the balcony, hanging over the ring. They'd announce next month's matches and my sister and I would get so excited and beg him to take us next month. He'd always say "we'll see" and then the next day head over to the Garden box office and pick up next month's tickets. It was a little ritual. Lather, rinse, repeat.
In the early 90's I was kind of losing interest in it as it had clearly become about merchandising cartoonish characters to little kids. I enjoyed the matches, the athleticism, the interviews but I couldn't really buy into Hulkamania and the Bushwackers. Even the beloved NWA and my personal favorites Roddy Piper and Ric Flair were falling by the wayside.
It was then that this little group that promoted shows out of a Bingo Hall in South Philly started gaining attention on the internet and in the "dirt sheets" (slang for the newsletters that printed the "truth" about pro wrestling and treated it like a business...that it wasn't a legit contest and finishes were predetermined...a truth fiercely guarded for years but now is just accepted as is). The group was Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and they were doing things unheard of. They were adult, had kick ass theme music for the wrestlers (The Sandman came out to Enter Sandman, Raven came out to Offspring...etc), they were violent and had storylines unlike anything I'd ever seen. They had amazing athletic wrestling as well, showcasing workers that the bigger companies wouldn't touch because they couldn't be stuck in a high concept gimmick to sell tickets. They called out the bigger companies, insulted them. And then there were the fans...it was like Rocky Horror Picture Show with chairshots. You felt part of something.
I made one of my best friendships in life through this group. I was reading about this company and hoping they would take the show to Boston and I posted something on a newsboard. My friend Rich answered and said that he was originally from Philly and got the tapes of the show from his family back home. We traded tapes and got together for pay per views and it's a friendship I treasure and still hold onto today (we just spoke on the phone two days ago).
That's why I was excited and concerned that WWE was "relaunching" the ECW brand under their umbrella. ECW went out of business in 2000 and WWE bought the video library and rights. Paul Heyman, the creative force behind the original company, was still involved but it had Vince McMahon's fingerprints all over it. They held a ppv on Sunday night and it was a lot of fun, but even then you could see where it might be headed and that place didn't look too good.
This Tuesday the brand relaunch debuted on the Sci Fi Channel and it just wasn't good. Not good at all. It had nothing that seemed to build to the future and stripped away and watered down everything that was cool in the past.
Have you seen the pictures of The Chosen One yet? No, I don't mean that Jesus has returned and the Rapture is upon us...I'm taking about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's new child Shiloh (which translates to mean "Chosen One).
I didn't understand why people were so hyped to see the kid. I looked at the People Exclusive Photos (tm) and Shiloh looks exactly like what she is...a baby. Show me the kid when she's 18 and then I'll be interested if these two beautiful people can create the perfect gorgeous child.
One of the pictures has Brad holding his tiny, newborn daughter close to his chest as his head rests softly on hers...eyes closed in bliss. I'm sure I've heard reports of women passing out at the mere sight of this visage. This picture is the visual representation of Spanish Fly.
Thanks a-freakin' lot Brad!!!!
How the hell am I gonna compete with that!?!
The one thing guys have going for us is that women love it when we are holding babies. "Awww, look at you...you look so natural holding her". Now Brad has released a picture of him holding his child, and not any child...it's the Chosen One! No regular guy stands a chance as that will be the picture embedded in women's brains as the everlasting, ultimate picture of fatherhood. Sure, you look cute holding that kid...but did you see that picture of Brad Pitt?
Is it not enough that you are Brad Pitt? You're considered one of the hottest guys in the country, you're rich, you've been with Jennifer Aniston and Angelina...can't I just have this??! Now I have to live up to that image??? Talk about overkill!!
It is a dark day everywhere for young average looking men hoping to use the "you look hot holding that baby" angle to get a date.
Sorry for the lack of posting this week. There's been some server troubles on this end and hopefully it will all be resolved by Monday.
I'll try to get back on a regular 3 post week schedule then. Until that time, have a good weekend and check out some of the past posts that you might have missed.
Over the past year or so I've become a big fan of Ultimate Fighting Championship. I started checking it out after catching a few episodes of The Ultimate Fighter series on Spike. It's basically a reality show masked as a fighting show and I fell for it. They spend the episode building up a few guys and then at the end two guys fight in the Octagon and the winner continues while the loser packs his bags and heads on home.
The show has been a huge boon to the image and perception of UFC. For it's earlier years, UFC was called "human cockfights" and it was based around tournaments featuring a boxer vs. a karate guy. A judo master vs. an amateur wrestler. As the sport has evolved, it's much more than that now. No longer are guys specialized in one discipline as "The UFC Style" has become it's own art form. A fighter has to be skilled in striking, takedowns, grappling and submissions. If he's not, he's in big trouble.
I think that's what happened to Royce Gracie this past weekend when he got soundly defeated by Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes. Gracie won the very first UFC tournament and was undefeated in the sport. He worked a Brazillian Ju-Jitsu style that had never been seen before and worked a very defensive pace that waited for his opponent to make a mistake so he could slip in one of his devestating submission holds.
The key phrase there was "style that had never been seen before..."
Cut to 2006 and Gracie makes his return against, arguably the best fighter in the world, Matt Hughes. The sport has evolved and now you have to learn all styles and be aware of all possibilities in order to compete at that level. Hughes pounded Gracie and handed him his first UFC loss. It was sad to see Gracie lose, but it was a definite passing of the torch. The new generation is here and the sport has changed. Evolve or get out of the way.
That can be said for a lot of aspects of sports and/or entertainment. Evolve, grow, take risks and learn something new. If you're not doing that then why are you in it in the first place?
