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Sunday, October 09, 2011

Sunday Jukebox: Who Says by Selena Gomez & The Scene

Today marks the conclusion of Wizards and Witches week, and admittedly, I had a bit of a struggle in choosing an appropriate topic for today. Being that it is the Sunday Jukebox, I thought it would be easy to come up with a song that best fit this week.

Turns out that it was a lot harder than I anticipated that it would be.

There aren't really a whole lot of songs out there that make references to wizards and witches.

There are a few of them, but for some reason, I couldn't find a way to write a deep, meaningful blog posting in response. I mean, yes, one song could be “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead”, but I already talked about the Wizard of Oz.

Another possibility could have been 'Witch Doctor' by Ross Bagdasarian (under the name of David Seville), but that song doesn't really talk about witches. Santana's Black Magic Woman was another possibility, but truth be told, it isn't really one of my favourite Santana songs. There are others that I love even more.

So, you can imagine my frustrations over making the conclusion of Wizards and Witches week end on a high note.

I then took a break from writing for a while, and thought of a different way of looking at it. What if instead of being so literal with the whole idea of having a song that was about witches or wizards, I instead featured a song that was sung by a wizard?

Or, at the very least a singer who plays a wizard on television.



Enter Selena Gomez. Born in Texas on July 22, 1992, she is probably best known to many kids who regularly watch the Disney Channel as Alex Russo on this show.



Wizards Of Waverly Place premiered on the Disney Channel in 2007. The show was set in the heart of New York City, and featured a young girl and her two brothers (all having wizard powers). They were born to Theresa (a non-wizard mother), and Jerry (a former wizard who lost his powers after losing the Wizard Competition). The show is slated to air its final episode in late October 2011.



The show is a lot like other shows involving people who have magical powers. What makes this one different from the others is the Wizard Competition angle. It was explained in the show that Jerry and his two siblings were all wizards who could perform magic by reading spells and aiming magic wands when all three were in their teens. During their training, they competed against each other in the competition to see which one had the best skills because a family could only have one wizard per family (of course, I don't know why this is the case, as I've only maybe seen one or two episodes of the show tops, so maybe others could help me out by posting what they know in the comments section). Whatever the case, Jerry lost his powers when his brother Kelbo won the contest, and he settled into his mortal life by running a sandwich shop called 'The Sub Station'. Now, history is repeating itself as his three children, Alex (Gomez), Justin (David Henrie) and Max (Jake T. Austin) are currently competing to see which next generation would become the family wizard.

Along the way, each of the Russo kids get into little mishaps along the way with trying to keep their magic a secret from the human race, and dating adventures, and blah, blah, blah, you heard all this before.

This isn't going to be a blog entry on Wizards Of Waverly Place. Instead, it's going to be about Selena Gomez...specifically about her singing career, and one song that really stuck with me, and several other people, I'm sure.

Selena Gomez' recording career actually began approximately one year after the debut of Wizards Of Waverly Place, in 2008. She recorded a cover of the song Cruella De Vil for the DisneyMania 6 compilation album, and recorded another three songs for the Another Cinderella Story soundtrack, of which Gomez herself had a role on. She also recorded some songs for the Wizards of Waverly Place soundtrack, of which her cover of Pilot's 'Magic' had made an impression on the charts, peaking at #61. Not exactly the most promising start to a music career, but that was only the beginning.

In 2009, Selena Gomez formed the act Selena Gomez & The Scene. The band featured Gomez on lead vocals, Ethan Roberts on guitar, Joey Clement on bass, Greg Garman on drums, and Dane Forrest on keyboards. That same year, the band released their debut album, Kiss & Tell, which hit gold status in March 2010. The album had some minor hits, such as 'Falling Down' and 'Naturally', and a second album, A Year Without Rain, was released in late 2010.

But it wasn't until the band's third album (When The Sun Goes Down) that Selena Gomez's star power in the music industry really began to rise.

Although this single had barely managed to surpass the Top 20 (peaking at #21), it is the band's highest charting single, and I think a part of it is a combination of the song's message, as well as a shift in tone from the band's earlier efforts.



ARTIST: Selena Gomez & The Scene
SONG: Who Says
ALBUM: When The Sun Goes Down
DATE RELEASED: March 4, 2011
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #21

When Selena Gomez & The Scene released 'A Year Without Rain' just one year after their debut disc, Selena had wanted to take a break from releasing another album, saying that she was in no rush to do so. That was until she heard the song 'Who Says'. She credited the song as an inspiration, and said that it presented a positive message, and said that every time she sang the song, she felt a sense of empowerment, and always felt great after singing it during concert performances.

And why wouldn't she feel that way? If you watch the video, and listen closely to the lyrics, it's a great message. The song basically asks the question 'who says you're not perfect, who says you're not worth it?'

The answer is...nobody. If you don't allow them to, that is.

The song is a wonderful example of finding the self-esteem and self-worth that lies deep inside of us. In some cases, that self-esteem can be easy to bring out. In other cases, that self-esteem can be buried beneath walls ten feet thick.

Trust me. I don't need to go on about how my life was negatively affected by people who made it a mission to make other people feel badly about themselves. Been there, done that, wrote the numerous blog entries to detail it.

It's bad enough that high school is already tough enough with homework assignments, class projects, and time management. Having to undergo constant harassment by your classmates is just added frustration that nobody should have to experience. As Selena has said in interviews about the single, she said that in high school 'you're already trying to figure out who you are, and it doesn't help when people are constantly trying to tear you down.”

Wise words from a girl who happens to have been born eleven years after me.

What some may not realize is that the song 'Who Says' could actually be considered somewhat autobiographical for Selena Gomez herself, which makes the song even more powerful.

The song was recorded in late 2010/early 2011, and by the time it was released in March 2011, Selena found herself the victim of cyberbullying through Facebook, Twitter, and other websites. Many people took to the sites, completely trashing Selena at every angle. Criticizing her music abilities, trashing the way she looked, calling her all sorts of nasty names, some of which are so disgusting that I can't repeat them in this blog.



After the word got out that Selena Gomez had gotten into a relationship with current teen idol, Justin Bieber, the vitriol and poison increased, with some people attacking the couple, and even uttering death threats against Gomez. I imagine that some of them were a bit envious over Bieber getting involved with Gomez, but I wonder if maybe some just went along with the crowd in an effort to seem cool to the naysayers. I'm not exactly saying that this was the case, just that it wouldn't surprise me if that's what it was.

At any rate, with Selena going through cyberbullying by people whom she didn't know, the song 'Who Says' suddenly became a bit more personal. With all of these people saying that she wasn't pretty, and that she was all of these horrible things, I can't imagine that it was easy for her.

When she was promoting the single on Ryan Seacrest's radio show, she said this about the criticism on social networking sites;

Twitter and Facebook are really negative for me...within that world is such easy access to people's feelings. You can get a thousand wonderful comments but just one will throw you off, and that's how it is with me. Basically it's to the haters – the people trying to bring you down.”

You know, going on social networking sites, I see this sort of thing all the time. One person makes a comment that doesn't quite agree with what others are saying, and they are immediately mobbed by dissenters who call this person every name in the book, and spreading malicious lies about them online. In all honesty, I find that very sort of thing to be the ultimate act in cowardice and immaturity, and all I can do is try to make this blog not go down that road.

(And, to any readers here, if you do see me walking that line in any of my blog entries, please let me know!)

The thing that a lot of these cyberbullies don't seem to understand is exactly how much power they can possess just through hitting buttons on their keyboards or mobile phones. They aren't aware of the kind of impact their words can have on someone because they are not there to witness their reaction. I often hear people telling other people to just ignore any internet comment that is derogatory in nature to someone else, because as far as they are concerned, they are just words on a screen”.

Well, guess what? They are words on a screen. And those words are just as capable of shattering someone to the core as they would if they were said face to face.

A few years ago, when I was in high school, the Internet wasn't nearly as sophisticated as it is now. Back in 1997, most websites were done in basic HTML, and the only search engines that existed were Alta Vista and Yahoo. E-mail was fairly new back in those days, and the technology for e-mail was very limited.

Yet in 1997, I was the victim of cyberbullying when a thoughtless and cruel classmates sent me an e-mail, telling me that the school would be a better place if I killed myself. Nice, huh?

Fortunately, because of the basic technology that we had, the e-mail address could easily be traced, and the perpetrators were suspended from school. But that message really hurt me, and it left me shaken.

It wasn't really until some time passed that I realized just how insecure the senders of that message must have really been. They were the ones who had done something wrong, not me. I certainly didn't feel as though I was deserving of such thoughtless criticism, and in the end, they were the ones who looked bad.

And as far as Selena Gomez goes, she's the one with television success, three successful albums, and a lifestyle that most 19-year-old girls could only dream of. I guess her story is one example of how 'living well is the best revenge'.

'Who Says' was a simple song with a powerful message, and it came out at a time when other female artists released their own empowerment anthems. In 2011 alone, we saw anti-bullying and self-esteem messages in song releases from Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, and Pink. It could have been easy for Selena's song to become buried in the crowd.

But I think it stands out for a couple of reasons.

The song is actually Selena's first real ballad song. Her previous efforts were driven by electronic beats and rock guitars, and were more fast-paced. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but sometimes the message of the songs can get lost in translation or drowned out if the beats are too heavy. With Who Says, the tempo of the song is just right for the real message to come out.

Secondly, the message that Selena sings about is all about acceptance of who you are, and not what other people want to believe about you. In the song, she stands up to everyone who ever criticized her, and in the video stands in front of a billboard that states that she has been 'beautiful since '92', and really, as long as she feels that way about herself, then everyone else may as well just keep their nasty opinions to themselves. She isn't interested in hearing them.

Just as I'm not interested in taking any more abuse. From anyone.

There's a difference between constructive criticism, and criticism that is designed solely to hurt the other person, and make them think that they are not worthy of getting any positive attention. It took me a while, but I have a good idea of distinguishing between the two.

And, you know, I think Selena Gomez does too.




Saturday, October 08, 2011

Saturday Morning: Sabrina The Teenage Witch

It only recently dawned on me that there happens to be a lot of witches in the world of pop culture.

And that a lot of these witches have characteristics that interchange with each other.

Take the subject of the blog entry we talked about yesterday. On Bewitched, the main character was named Samantha, had blonde hair, and could perform magic tricks with the wiggle of a nose. Sometimes, her magic could get her into trouble, especially with mortals.

As it turns out, another witch has almost the same description. She had a name that began with the letter 'S', she also happened to have blonde hair, and often could conjure up spells without ease. And just like Samantha from Bewitched, this witch could often get into a lot of trouble with her spells...especially around her boyfriend, and her classmates.

So it's interesting to note that today's subject was created two years before the television show Bewitched hit the airwaves.



Meet Sabrina Spellman, otherwise known as Sabrina The Teen-Age Witch. A teen witch that celebrates her fiftieth birthday next year, but a teen witch nonetheless. Originally meant to be a one-note character in a forgotten Archie Comics title, her popularity has spawned at least five different incarnations of her own comic book series, a television cartoon, a live-action television program, and several novelizations of that live-action series.

But, first, let's find out how Sabrina came to be, and what lessons she can teach us along the way.



Sabrina was created by longtime Archie artist Dan DeCarlo, and longtime Archie writer George Gladir. Her first appearance in comic book form was in Archie's Mad House #22, appropriately enough with a cover date of October 1962. You can see the image of the cover above this paragraph.

Archie's Mad House was a rather unique title in the world of Archie Comics. The serial was quite popular throughout the 1960s, and spurned a digest format in the late 1970s. Each story in the title dealt with monsters, magicians, mad scientists, space aliens. Consider it a comic book form of all of those B-movies that were popular at drive-in movie theaters at the time. In issue #22, the kick-off story was Sabrina's first appearance. For those of you who want to read it, the story appears in full in 'The Best Of Archie Comics' anthology, which was released earlier this year.

The story was a simple introductory episode that set the stage for establishing the main character, and her main problem. Sabrina's a teenage witch who lives in a town just outside of Riverdale (as several stories have Sabrina mingling with Archie and the gang). In the first story, she tells us about all the magic powers she has in her possession, and how she tries her best to keep humans from discovering them. We also meet Sabrina's pet cat, Salem (who depending on when the story was made could vary in colour from black to gold), and Della, the head witch, who gets annoyed when Sabrina uses her powers for good instead of evil.



As Sabrina stories continued to be presented, we met more characters. We were introduced to her two aunts. Hilda, the red-haired aunt, who at the age of over three hundred looks every bit of her years on earth. She also tends to be the more selfish and sarcastic of the two, but loves Sabrina with all her heart. There's also Zelda (with hair the colour of seaweed), whose plump physique hides a heart of gold, and is generally more easy-going than Hilda. We're also introduced to Cousin Ambrose, a warlock who isn't as high strung as Sabrina's aunts, but has lots of storylines where he's looking for love, and not being successful. Sabrina has another cousin, Esmeralda, who looks and acts like a twelve year old brat who loves to cause trouble. Finally, we meet Harvey Kinkle, Sabrina's boyfriend, who is completely unaware of Sabrina's magical background, and is often surprised and shocked when he sees Sabrina performing witchcraft around him.

Those are really all the basics that you need to know, at least for now. We'll continue on with the timeline.



After her first appearance in Archie's Mad House, Sabrina made regular appearances in the title Archie's TV Laugh-Out, which ran from 1969-1985, and this decision was a move that co-creator George Gladir seemed surprised at. In an interview from 2007, Gladir said this about the origins of Sabrina, as well as the success that followed.

I think we (DeCarlo and Gladir) envisioned it as a one-shot and were surprised when fans asked for more. We continued to do Sabrina stories on and off in Mad House until 1969 when we were flabbergasted to hear it was to become an animated (television series). When it came to naming Sabrina, I decided to name her after a woman I recalled from my junior high school days who was very active in school affairs, and who assigned a number of us to interview prominent people in the media. In addition, the name had a New England ring to it. Some years later, I recalled the woman's name was not Sabrina, but actually Sabra Holbrook.”

Somehow I think the name Sabrina Spellman had a better ring to it.



As George Gladir stated in his interview, the comic proved successful enough to spawn an animated television series. In 1970, the animation company Filmation developed the cartoon, which showed Sabrina in cartoon shorts along with the Groovie Goolies (which ended up getting their own animated series a year later). It aired on CBS and ran until 1974.



A year after the animated series debuted on television, Sabrina ended up getting her own title that initially lasted for twelve years. In 1983, the title began to be published annually in the Archie Giant Series Magazine for a few years afterwards. By 1987, Sabrina comic books were only put out sporadically. During the early 1990s, Sabrina and her aunts left the Riverdale area to a spooky town known as Gravestone Heights. There, Sabrina ended up making some rather unusual friends, including an invisible girl named Cleara, and a woman named Eyeda, whose entire face was taken over by a gigantic eyeball.

It wasn't until 1996 that Sabrina would get a second wind. That year, a made for television movie debuted on ABC, which had the role of Sabrina being played by former Clarissa Explains It All actress Melissa Joan Hart. The movie was successful enough for a live-action series to be produced. On September 27, 1996, the live-action television series debuted on ABC.



With the live-action series, we ended up learning a lot more about Sabrina. We finally found out that her last name was Spellman (for 34 years, we were not given any sort of surname for Sabrina), and that she was actually only one-half witch (her warlock father had married a mortal mother). She lives with her two aunts, Hilda and Zelda (played by Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick respectively), dates Harvey Kinkle (Nate Richert), has to deal with her mean girl bully Libby (Jenna Leigh Green), and has to deal with her talking cat, Salem (voiced by Nick Bakay). The early episodes of the television series were almost similar to the plots in the comics. In many cases, Sabrina was shown trying to get used to her powers, and the mishaps that occurred along the way (in the first episode, she turned Libby into a pineapple, for instance).



As the show progressed, the show switched networks (from ABC to the now defunct UPN network) in the fourth season, and despite a complete changeover in cast managed to run until early 2003.



The television show spurned yet another version of the Sabrina comic book, this time featuring Sabrina looking more like the Melissa Joan Hart version than her classic 1960s look. Many of the early comic covers of the Sabrina reboot actually featured Melissa Joan Hart on the cover itself. The television series also spawned dozens of novels, and you can see a picture of one of these novels below.



As a result of this new comic adaptation, the comic made a few appearance changes to some of the characters. Salem changed colour from orange to black, and he actually could talk to Sabrina and the others. Salem's backstory was also fleshed out more, revealing that Salem was actually a human warlock who had a curse put on him, transforming him into a black cat. Hilda and Zelda's frumpy appearances were changed as well, to look more contemporary and modern, to fit with the theme of the television series. Some fans appreciated the changes, while some complained that the comic series was being changed too much.

I'll admit to liking classic Sabrina the best myself, but I did appreciate the company for attempting to bring back Sabrina, because she really was a one-of-a-kind character.



With the success of the live-action series came a second cartoon series, where we could see Sabrina as a thirteen year old girl (who was voiced by the younger sister of Melissa Joan Hart, Emily), and the animated series aired during the early 2000s. The comic book was temporarily switched over to the adventures of the 13-year-old Sabrina during the original airing of the cartoon. In 2004, the Sabrina comic serial was given another revamp, courtesy of artist Tania Del Rio, who gave the comic a manga-style appearance, beginning with Sabrina #58. The change would last until issue #100, when the last original Sabrina comic book was released.



At this point, it's unclear as to whether Sabrina will once again get her own title, but her stories continue to be reprinted in the six current double digest titles that Archie Comics releases.

So, what sorts of things can Sabrina teach us?

Well, for one lesson, we can look at the people who created the character. Both Dan DeCarlo and George Gladir expected Sabrina to be a one-off character, but what neither one of them expected to see was the sheer success that the character had. So, in that sense, I guess one lesson we can learn is not to dismiss an idea so quickly. If both of them had, maybe Sabrina would have fallen through the cracks just as other Mad House characters had.

But, I guess another lesson we can learn is that sometimes if a character is charismatic and well-developed, they can survive almost any change of scenery. I mean, Sabrina is the perfect example. She's been a comic book star, an animated cartoon, a live-action sitcom, and even appeared in anime form, and yet, in all of these adaptations, she's stayed true to who she really is...a teenage witch with good intentions that while they may not work to her advantage, does demonstrate that underneath that witchy exterior lies a heart of gold.


Friday, October 07, 2011

TGIF: Bewitched

It's absolutely amazing how some shows tend to 'borrow' ideas from other shows. I mean, we see it all the time in movies. In the last few years alone, we've seen remakes of dozens of movies including The Bad News Bears, The Longest Yard, Psycho, Arthur, and coming soon, Dirty Dancing and Footloose will be remade for a 21st century audience.

Can someone explain to me why this is the case? I mean, has Hollywood completely run out of original ideas lately?

Even on television shows, we see new television shows being made that seem suspiciously familiar to other shows that have aired on television. Saved By The Bell, Hang Time, and City Guys had the same production team, so it wasn't uncommon to see those shows sharing the exact same recycled scripts. It was like they crossed out Zack Morris' name and substituted Sly Winkle's. That's how similar the scripts were. I've heard people say that Hannah Montana is a poorly imitated live-action version of Jem and the Holograms. And, don't even get me started on the revamped versions of Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210.

The worst is when television shows are remade into motion picture form, because more often than not, they turn out to be a huge disaster. Okay, sure, both The Simpsons Movie and South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut were quite successful at the box office. And, I'll admit to liking the 1991 Addams Family movie very much. But, then you had remakes of The Brady Bunch, Starsky & Hutch, and The Dukes Of Hazzard, and honestly, I'm just left scratching my head. I even hear that they're supposed to be remaking Baywatch in motion picture form.

I wouldn't mind this so much if this practice was used sparingly, and if the movies did the shows that they were based on justice. I singled out The Addams Family movie because I grew up watching reruns of the television show, and thought that the movie was well-written and brilliantly cast. I still think that Anjelica Huston was a fantastic Morticia. And, you know, later on in this blog, expect to see an Addams Family entry.

It just won't be today.

No, I'm going to talk about a television show that was actually made into a movie in the year 2005. The movie adaptation starred both Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. Two people with obvious star power who have both had dozens of movies to their credit. And I honestly do believe that both actors tried their best with the material they were given to work with. But, sadly, the movie based on the television show bombed at the box office, with critics saying that it was a terrible idea from the beginning, and only holds a 24% approval rating on the movie review site, Rotten Tomatoes. That's not a great rating.

Of course, the movie wasn't all that great to begin with. At the very least, they didn't entirely remake the show. Rather, they sort of made the plot about a remake of the show, which in hindsight sounded just as bad. But, fear not. We will not be discussing the film, which the New York Times called 'an unmitigated disaster'.

No, we'll talk about the television show instead.



Continuing on with the spirit of Witches and Wizards week, today's topic is the classic television show, Bewitched, which debuted on ABC in September 1964. The show starred Elizabeth Montgomery as the main character of the show, Samantha, who happened to be a witch. Although having the appearance of a beautiful young woman in her twenties, she very well could have been hundreds of years old, being that witches generally lived a lot longer than that of mortals.

It's actually quite interesting to note that the show Bewitched was a bit ahead of its time. Certainly in the year 2011, people dating people of different races, religious backgrounds, and economic backgrounds is nothing unusual. Back in the 1960s, however, things were much more conservative in nature.

Bewitched kind of tackled the subject of 'mixed marriage' as best as they could in the 1960s, and although there was only so much that television could get away with back in those days, they handled it quite well.



As anyone who has seen the show knows, one of the main conflicts involved Samantha's marriage to Darrin Stephens (played by two different actors, but we'll get to that a little later). Darrin was a mortal who worked at an advertising agency, and Samantha was a witch. When the two fell in love and got married, Samantha made a pledge to forsake her witchcraft to become a suburban housewife. Samantha's family strongly disapproves of the 'mixed marriage' between mortal and witch, and like those nagging in-laws that will not go away, they interfere in the marriage of Darrin and Samantha in more ways than one. Considering that the show ran until July 1, 1972, that's eight seasons of meddling!

Despite Samantha's pledge that she made, Samantha is often seen performing magic. Unlike most other witches who use magic wands and cauldrons, Samantha managed to cast spells with just a twitch of her nose.



And in a lot of cases, the episodes of Bewitched usually had Samantha's magic powers causing a whole lot of problems. It mostly dealt with Samantha struggling to keep her powers from being discovered by other mortals that were not Darrin, but sometimes Darrin himself would find himself the unwilling guinea pig to some of Samantha's spells.

As I explained earlier, Samantha's family is largely opposed to her marriage to Darrin, but the one member of the family who seems to be the most opposed was Samantha's mother, Endora (played by Agnes Moorehead). Endora reportedly hated Darrin so much that she very rarely ever so much as referred to him by his real name. She would call him 'Dum-Dum', 'Darwin', or just plain 'Whatsisname'. She would frequently cast spells on Darrin (though not malicious enough to actually destroy him) in every effort to break up the marriage of Darrin and Samantha, but their love wins out every time. Other relatives who have interfered in the marriage have included Samantha's cousin Serena (in a dual role played by Montgomery), who frequently tries to seek attention from Darrin, as well as Darrin's boss. There's also Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde), who plays pranks quite often, but isn't nearly as cold to Darrin as some of Samantha's other family members. Aunt Clara (Marion Lorne) is also a relative that seems to treat Darrin fondly, but because of her klutzy, absent-minded behaviour, her spells usually end up going wrong on some level.



During the course of the series, Samantha and Darrin ended up having two children together. They have a daughter, Tabitha, in the second season of the series, and towards the end of the show have a son, Adam. Both children seem to have supernatural powers, and in 1977, Tabitha was given a spin-off, showing her as a young woman (who was played by Knots Landing actress and singer Lisa Hartman).



The show was also known for having several cast changes. Certainly, Tabitha was recast at least four times. By 1966, the role was assumed by twins Diane and Erin Murphy, but two years later, Erin became the sole Tabitha, as Diane and Erin began to look a little less identical (though Diane did fill in for Erin on a couple of episodes when she was ill.

Other roles that were recast on the show included neighbour Gladys Kravitz (the original actress passed away from cancer in March 1966), Louise Tate (the actress reportedly left to take care of an ailing husband), and Frank Stephens.



Of course, the most memorable recast on the show was that of Darrin Stephens. It was very rare for a show to recast one of the main players of a television sitcom, especially back in those days, but in the case of Bewitched, the producers really did have no choice.

When Dick York was first cast as Darrin Stephens, he had a problem with his back. Five years before Bewitched debuted, he was involved in a serious accident while he was filming scenes for the 1959 movie They Came To Cordura. The accident left York with a severely damaged back. For the first four seasons of the show, York managed to work around his chronic back condition, but by season five, the damage had caught up to him. He frequently suffered from back spasms on set, and many of his scenes had to be rewritten so that Darrin didn't have to move around set much (mostly his scenes were shot in bed or on the sofa. By the beginning of 1969, the pain proved to be too great for York, and after an incident where he passed out from the pain and was rushed to the hospital for treatment, York had no choice but to leave the program following the conclusion of filming for the show's fifth season.

His replacement came at the beginning of season six, and Dick Sargent played the role until the show's cancellation in the summer of 1972. Of course, the replacement of Darrin proved to get tongues wagging over which Darrin was considered to be the better Darrin. Almost 40 years after Bewitched aired its last episode, the debate still rages on today. I really have no opinion, as I thought both Dick S. and Dick Y. did a wonderful job in the role, but I guarantee you that there are some people who would get into flame wars over this very subject.

On a sad note, it is hard to believe that most of the cast of Bewitched is no longer alive. Bernard Fox (who played Dr. Bombay) is still alive, and of course, you can find Erin Murphy making guest appearances at events put on by TV Land. But most of the other ones passed away. Dick York ended up developing an addiction to painkillers as a result of his back injury, and succumbed to emphysema in February 1992. Dick Sargent passed away from prostate cancer on July 8, 1994. And Elizabeth Montgomery lost her battle with colorectal cancer just eight weeks after being diagnosed, on May 18, 1995.



Although, you can't help but wonder what all three of them would think of the dismal remake of their high-rated show if all three of them were still alive today. For all I know, they may very well have given their blessing. In fact, it's all possible that they may have liked it.

But no remake could ever replace the magic that the original show had.



Thursday, October 06, 2011

Wizards And Witches Week Continues...But First, A Dedication...

Before I go ahead with today's post, I'd like to briefly talk about something.  While the subject matter of today's blog really has absolutely nothing to do with this opening paragraph (which is why this is in Italics), it is something that given recent events, I have to speak about.

Yesterday, the former CEO of Apple Computers, Steve Jobs, passed away at the age of 56 after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.  Jobs was responsible for many of the directions that Apple embarked in over the last few years.  Without him, we wouldn't have the iPhone, iPad, iTunes, and various other technological devices that millions of people use each day.  The contributions that he and his company made were nothing short of remarkable, and I am sure that his name will live on for many, many years.  I am sure that his replacement will keep the Apple name in business for many years to come, but Steve Jobs will never be forgotten.  As a little tribute to him, here's a commencement address he made a few years back to the Stanford graduating class of 2005.  I could go on about all the things he accomplished, but I think it would be better if we heard it from him...



Steven Paul Jobs
1955 - 2011

And, now, on with today's blog post.

_____________________________________________________________________

There are billions of people living in this world, each one looking at the world through different sets of eyes. Each one seeing the world quite differently from that of someone else.

Some people are optimistic types, who look at everything in a positive manner, choosing to live their lives without letting anything bring them down. Others, are a little less positive, choosing to be grouchy and pessimistic about things, and seeing a need to bring others down to their level. Some people overanalyze things to the point of obsession, while others seem to miss simple signs and signals.

It's really a fascinating study, watching what makes people tick, and why people react the way they do.

One type of personality that always seems to get me to take notice are people who see things through child-like innocence. I guess I can understand those people more than other people can because in some ways, I kind of exhibit some of those traits. I don't really know how to quite explain it, but it always seemed to me as though I always saw things differently than some other people. That I could see things in a manner that they couldn't. In the past, I was accused of being naïve, or being ignorant because I couldn't see things the way that others did. But, that wasn't my fault...that was just the way I was. Maybe I attribute that to the rather sheltered upbringing that I had that caused it. Who can say?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I really do appreciate people who look at things through those child-like eyes. Eager to learn about everything in the world, asking questions about how things work, acting as if they're seeing the world for the very first time. I admit there's something endearing about a personality like that, because it's been my experience that people with that sort of personality is quite rare.

The reason why I wanted to bring this point up is because it fits in well with the character that I want to feature in this edition of Thursday Night at the Arcade. And, fitting in perfectly with the theme of Witches and Wizards week, the subject of this entry features a wizard with massive magical powers, combined with a child-like innocence, essentially learning about the world through the adventures that he had during the course of the video game.



The person I want to talk about is Vivi Ornitier, black mage from Final Fantasy IX, released in 2000 for the PlayStation console. The game was very successful both in Japan and North America, and sold millions of copies worldwide, and some hard core fans of the Final Fantasy series would likely tell you that the ninth installment of the series was one of the last great ones in the whole series. I would disagree with that, as I found Final Fantasy X to be fantastic as well, but that's just the minor RPG playing nerd in me just waiting to come out.

Anyways, the plot of Final Fantasy IX is almost exactly the same as the previous eight before it. You have to save the world from being destroyed by evil, rescue some people along the way, solve puzzles that will unlock weapons, and restore peace to war-torn communities. There are some differences though.

For one, the main villain constantly changes. It changes to the point where you aren't exactly sure who you may be fighting. Originally, the main villain is supposed to be Queen Brahne of Alexandria, but we find out that she's being manipulated by a man named Kuja. Then, Brahne sends her best knight, Beatrix, out to steal precious gems from various towns and kingdoms in the world, and ordering her to kill off your party, and later on Beatrix joins your side. Then there's Kuja, who as it turns out is being manipulated by Necron, who takes on the form of a gigantic tree known as the Iifa Tree, and by the end of it, you're completely lost on who is on your side, and who is against. But, in my opinion, that's what made the game great.

Secondly, the motley crew of people you have in your party comes from all sorts of backgrounds and races, even. Your main character is Zidane, who looks mostly human, but for some reason has the tail of a monkey. Other characters include a bumbling knight (Steiner), the princess of Alexandria (Garnet), a flame-haired criminal (Amarant), a six-year-old summoner (Eiko), a gigantic creature in a chef outfit that can swallow monsters whole (Quina), and a female soldier of Burmecia who happens to be a rat (Freya).



And then there's Vivi.

And when the game begins, Vivi is actually one of the first people we meet. He's small in stature, but extremely powerful magic wise. He even almost sort of looks like the part of a wizard with his pointy hat and flashy clothing. The only thing is that you can never really see what he looks like because his face is almost completely covered. All you see are two bright yellow eyes blinking back at you. It's almost kind of eerie in a sense.

Oh, but don't let this deter you from getting to know him. He really does have a heart of gold.



When we're first introduced to Vivi, it is in the kingdom of Alexandria, where he ends up getting mixed up with theater group Tantalus, from nearby Lindblum. All Vivi wanted to do was see a performance of their play 'I Want To Be Your Canary', but somehow, he ended up stumbling right into the theater group and their plot to kidnap Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII. When the theater ship that Tantalus boards is shot down and crashes into the Evil Forest, Vivi gets to know both Zidane and Steiner quite well, and they encourage him to embrace his magic powers so they can search for the missing princess inside Evil Forest.

Eventually, the group find Garnet, and after barely escaping Evil Forest, and traversing through a cavern made of solid ice, they end up in the backwater village of Dali, which upon first glance looks like a standard farming community. Little did the group know that this village would end up causing Vivi to question everything about his existence.

Sometime during the group's stay in Dali, Vivi ends up being kidnapped, and taken to an underground factory beneath the village. When Zidane and Garnet find their way through the factory in order to rescue Vivi, they stumble across something rather shocking.



So here's the situation. Apparently this factory is making dozens and dozens of what appear to be life-sized black mage dolls that seem to have their own minds and thoughts, yet barely say a word. They look a lot like Vivi, only taller, and with purple cloaks instead of the blue one Vivi is wearing. Naturally, Vivi is completely gobsmacked over this revelation. In many ways, these black mages are almost exactly like Vivi. They look like him, they cast magic spells like him, and yet, Vivi seems to be much different from them. He actually had a personality and feelings, while these copies didn't seem to have either.

Despite all this, Vivi seemed to feel some sort of bond with the Black Mage creatures, and tried to get them to open up to him, wanting to know where they came from in hopes that he too would understand where he came from. As part of the plot of the game, the group decides to leave Dali by stowing away on an airship en route to Lindblum, which also happens to have several of these black mages on board. During the flight, the group is attacked by one of Queen Brahne's Black Waltzes (one of three souped-up versions of the black mages being manufactured in Dali), and this scene happens.



For some reason, although the black mages that are destroyed in the attack didn't really do much in terms of communication, Vivi was still horrified at the sight. It broke his heart to see them get destroyed. It almost felt like he was losing a part of himself in the process. The attack on the black mages caused Vivi to develop the courage to take on the Black Waltz, and with help from Zidane and Steiner, the Black Waltz was defeated.



Still, having discovered the black mage factory, it really caused Vivi to question everything about himself. About what his origins were. About who his family were. When the group arrived at Lindblum and were filled in about the real purpose of the black mages, Vivi grew even more alarmed. Apparently, the black mages were being manufactured in Dali by Kuja, who in turn supplies them to Queen Brahne, who uses them as mindless soldiers in her quest to take over the entire Mist Continent. The mist from the Mist Continent is one of the essential ingredients needed to keep manufacturing the black mages, and the more mist is produced, the more black mages will be produced as well.

Of course, once Vivi discovers that the black mages are being used as nothing more than weapons, he wonders if maybe the sole purpose for his being alive was to become a weapon of mass destruction like the other black mage counterparts. Of course, Zidane, Garnet, and everyone else try to tell Vivi that this is ridiculous thinking. However, when Lindblum is later attacked by Brahne's army of black mages, the citizens of town seem to want to kill every black mage that crosses their path, leaving Vivi to hide out of sight for some time.

For much of the first part of the game, these questions seem to linger on in Vivi's mind. It almost seems as though he really is a lost child out in a huge world that he absolutely has no way of understanding. A lot of the ways of the world of Final Fantasy IX are complicated enough for adults to figure out, but imagine being someone like Vivi who grew up away from most of the conflict between kingdoms and settlements. Is it any wonder why Vivi was so confused and asked everyone a lot of questions? I mean, yes, Zidane and company tried to help Vivi out as they could, and Vivi did learn a lot about the world from the guidance and love his new friendships showed him. But something was missing.

It wasn't until they left the Mist Continent shortly after the attack on Lindblum that Vivi got the answers that he was looking for.

In the middle of a huge forest on the Outer Continent sits a hidden village. If someone can make their way through the maze-like forest, they'll find that they will enter a location that is surprisingly run by black mages.

No wonder the village is known as the Black Mage Village.

And unlike the black mages that were destroyed by the Black Waltz, the black mages here walk, talk, communicate, sell items, and take care of animals. Something that makes Vivi want to learn more.

Unlike Vivi, most of the black mages in the village are not named, but go by the number that they were given at the factory in Dali. It's unexplained as to how the black mages ended up there, but at some point became self-aware of who they were, built a town, and elected to live a life of peace until the day they 'stopped'.



Of course, Vivi had not heard the term 'when they stopped' before, and he went to investigate. He ended up befriending one of the mages, who went by the number 288, and he explained to Vivi that over time, the black mages stop working, and when this happens, they bury them in the ground. Some of the mage villagers seem to believe that they will come back up out of the ground, but what none of the villagers seem to understand (Vivi included) was that this was the way they showed death.

Like everything in the world, nobody had an infinite life span in the world. Black Mage No. 288 explained that after about one year, they would eventually stop (the black mage word for death). What's interesting is that when the stopped black mages were buried, they were given little memorials that resembled tombstones and memorial plaques. It was as if the black mages knew what death was, but didn't know how to explain it. Vivi is left confused by this though. If most black mages stopped after one year, why did Vivi (who supposedly is nine years old ) not encounter that same fate? It was explained by No. 288 that Vivi was perhaps one of the prototypes for the black mages, and was designed to live much longer than the ones produced after him.

This theory does make sense when you consider how Vivi originally grew up. Prior to Vivi arriving in Alexandria, he somehow ended up in a cliffside area known as Quan's Dwelling. Presumably, he fell off of a cargo ship en route to Alexandria, and ended up there. He was raised by Quan, a strange creature with an appetite stronger than that of Homer Simpson and Jughead Jones combined. Certainly, Quan showed him all about all the gourmet foods of the world, but he also taught Vivi the importance of setting out on his own to find his own destiny. When Quan passed away, Vivi set off on his own journey, presumably to Alexandria, where the game first begins.

This is interesting because we now understand why Vivi became so different from the other black mages, and why he has such a child-like way of viewing the world. It's because he grew up in a secluded place from all of the violence and war between the nations. That could explain why he seemed like he was so confused as to how the rest of the world was, and why he found everything and everyone to be so fascinating (in both good and bad ways).

But, I think it also explained why Vivi turned out so differently from the other mages. When the black mages were manufactured, they weren't given much in the way of nurturing. They served one purpose, and once that purpose was reached, they were rendered useless. But with Vivi growing up with Quan who cared for him and nurtured him (though admittedly Quan initially wanted to eat him when Vivi first came into his life), Vivi developed the necessary emotions and communication skills needed to fit into Zidane's group almost seamlessly.

When Kuja tried to mislead the black mages of the village into eternal life if they joined forces with him, Vivi immediately lead the charge towards making them see the truth. Once that was resolved, Vivi made a promise to the residents of the Black Mage Village that he would return after they dealt with Kuja to teach the residents of the village everything he learned from the outside world, both from Quan and his new friends. After all, the residents of the Black Mage Village had some skills that got them through the basics, but they were still very much the naïve, confused people that Vivi was at the beginning of the game.

By the game's ending, the fate of Vivi is somewhat undetermined. There are five black mages that look like Vivi that appear in the ending, but none of them are the real one. It is likely that Vivi himself 'stopped' some time after the end of the game, and that the five Vivi-lookalikes were his children (though it's never explained in the game how black mages were able to procreate).

But, for Vivi to grow into the person he eventually became...it was really nice to see. And it certainly makes one rethink the way they treat people who may not be like everyone else, for in the case of Vivi, they ended up becoming one of the best role models of all.

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Across The Pond and Beyond (Part 2) - Deconstructing Hermione Granger

Of all of the characters in the Harry Potter series that have appeared in the seven volume set of novels (and believe me, there are quite a few of them), there is one that I seem to identify with more than any other character.

So, without hesitation, let's get right to it.



This is Hermione Granger, as played by British actress Emma Watson in the various movies that have been made in correspondence with the books, and as you can see, this character has a lot of qualities and layers to her. She's mostly filled with positive qualities, but she also has some flaws to her, as most people do. As I said before, there are a lot of things that I have in common with Hermione Granger, and I'll touch on these points as I come across them.

I already did an entry on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but in that entry, I mostly dealt with a blog entry that was plot driven. In this edition, I wanted to make this a character driven entry, because I firmly believe that in order to tell a fantastic story, you have to have fantastic characters. Hermione Granger happens to be one of those characters that have helped make the Harry Potter series a huge success.

So, let's get the basics out of the way first, and with these basics, it would seem as though we have nothing in common right off the bat. Hermione is female. I am male. Hermione is a wizard. I am not. Hermione attends a school for wizardry known as Hogwarts. I attended a high school filled with people who used to tease me and bully me.

You know something, Hogwarts doesn't sound too bad right about now.

Of course, if we were to look at Hermione through the shallow end of the pool, it wouldn't exactly be an accurate characterization. No, in order to find the real similarities between Hermione Granger and myself, we're gonna have to dig a little deeper.



When Hermione was born, she was not born into a wizard family. Her parents were non-magic using dentists (otherwise known as Muggles), and while they appeared not to understand the gift that Hermione had, still loved her all the same. And, right off the bat, we have our very first comparison towards Hermione and I. No, I certainly don't know how to use magic, but I did feel as though sometimes my family didn't understand me as well as they could have. That being said, I know that they were as supportive as they could be in regards me, and while not exactly ideal, I could accept it.

When Hermione Granger was created for the Harry Potter series, the concepts stemmed quite heavily from the personal experiences of the author, J.K. Rowling. While it wasn't initially her own intention to make Hermione a character that was just like her, the end result ended up being more like the author than she even realized, albeit an exaggeration. When Rowling was younger, she recalled that she was a little bit of a know-it-all in her youth, but that beneath it all, there was always that little hint of insecurity and fear of failure.



In many ways, Hermione Granger is the exact same way. In lessons at Hogwarts, she always seems to be the first one to hold her hand up in class, and she always seems to know all the answers. She was always the one who could come up with logical solutions to any sort of problems, and her brain power has helped her get out of tricky situations along with her friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.

Yet, Hermione was also quite insecure about herself. In the first movie, until she befriended Harry and Ron, it wasn't all that uncommon for her to be wandering around Hogwarts alone. She tried to make out as if it didn't bother her, and instead acted as though she knew everything about anything as sort of a defense mechanism to show everyone that she had everything together. Instead, it sort of made Hermione a lonely sort, who really wanted friends, but didn't know what to do to get them. She also was somewhat a bit on the jealous and insecure side whenever someone else did better on a test or a task than she did, because for the longest time, she was under the impression that her brain power was all that she had.

And you know something...that sounds really familiar. Because I was the same way.

There were a couple of labels that were assigned to me when I was in elementary school. As much as I despise labels, and what they stand for, I need to talk about them in order to express my point.

One label that I was given was that of the weird kid, and well, I can't really confirm or deny that label because everyone has their own definition of what weird is. The other label that I was given was that of the 'smart kid'.

I can remember when I was younger, kids would crowd around my desk to ask me how to spell certain words, and how to solve basic math problems like what 7+3 equaled. It was okay at first, except that I spent so much time 'helping' my classmates that my own schoolwork kind of suffered in expense. But, I remember not caring because when they needed help with homework, they acted kind and treated me like an equal. Of course, on the playground, the reaction was quite different.

I also remember being just like Hermione (and to a lesser extent, J.K. Rowling herself) because I was always the first person to raise my hand, and who knew the answers. I'm sorry to say that at times, I could be quite obnoxious with my answering abilities in my elementary school classes (which could explain why some people didn't like me in those days, but such is life, I guess).

I can understand why people found Hermione to be ignored by her peers. She did kind of act as if they were beneath her. Looking back on my elementary school days, I could probably see myself doing just that, but again, as an eleven year old boy, sometimes you aren't even aware that you're doing it until someone points it out. But just like Hermione, I think I sort of used that as a defense mechanism in a way. Because I noted that when I was helping my classmates with schoolwork it was the only time I wasn't picked on, I sort of made every effort to try and use that to my advantage because I thought it was the only way that the teasing would stop. It was a futile effort, but I thought it was worth trying.

I think in Hermione's case, she too used her brain power and her superiority complex as a defense mechanism to prevent people from finding reasons to intimidate and hurt her. Some of the more snobbish students of Hogwarts (Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, and well, pretty much anyone sorted into Slytherin house, really) had rather misguided and closed-minded thoughts about wizards born into 'muggle' families, and they even went so far as to call them the rather offensive name of 'mudblood'. And as much as Hermione tried to put on a brave face, you could tell that label really bothered her. I could be totally wrong in my assessment, but I'd like to believe that Hermione gave off the impression that she was, at least, more book smart than that of her peers as a way to protect herself from being hurt.

The only thing is that by doing this, she really was hurting herself. Kind of like I was hurting myself by being the same way. Though I would also like to think that both of us learned that lesson as we grew older.

And, this nicely ties into the next thing that Hermione Granger and I both have in common.



You see, Hermione Granger really let comments made by other people really get her down. Between Draco Malfoy insulting Hermione by calling her mudblood at every given opportunity and having most of her classmates mocking her, Hermione showed that she wasn't as strong as she let on. In the first book, she was deeply hurt by the comments, and ran into a washroom to have a good cry. It was there that she was cornered by a troll who wanted to attack her. Had it not been for Ron and Harry coming by to fight off the troll at that moment, who knows what might have happened to Hermione?

After that incident, Hermione began to see Ron and Harry in a new light. Grateful that they risked their own lives to save hers, Hermione immediately developed a friendship with both boys, and in turn, Ron and Harry apologized to her for the way they treated her.



As a result of this, Hermione shows extreme loyalty to both Harry and Ron throughout the entire book series. And I am more or less the same way. As someone who had difficulty finding sincere friendships growing up, when I do find them, believe me when I say that I am extremely loyal to those friendships. That's not to say that we don't get into little disagreements every now and then. We do. I could list the number of disagreements and scuffles that Hermione got into with Harry and Ron (especially Ron), but I would need a whole blog posting for that one. Hermione is very protective and loyal towards her friends, and would do almost anything for them. Of course, it helps that Harry and Ron both treated Hermione with respect and kindness (although in Ron's case, it took a while to develop).



Though there are some minor differences in the personalities of Hermione and myself. I personally hated having to do homework, and would purposely try to get all my assignments done in class so I didn't have to work on it at home (for reasons that are way too deep to get into in this blog entry). Hermione, on the other hand, loved homework to the point where she was the only one visibly upset when Dumbledore canceled all final exams after the events in the book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Although Hermione did manage to give Harry and Ron the information needed to slay the Basilisk before she became petrified by the beast (she later recovered).

Hermione's brain power and intelligence has greatly helped Harry and Ron immensely. It really all came together in the third book of the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. With Hermione's Time-Turner device, she managed to save the life of a mystical creature known as a hippogriff, whom Hagrid affectionately called Buckbeak. She also managed to clear Sirius Black's name by exposing Peter Pettigrew as the man who tipped Voldemort off about the location of Harry's parents, who were slayed by the evil wizard.

For a teenage girl, Hermione certainly did a lot, didn't she?

By the fourth book of the series, we can launch right into another comparison. When Hermione discovered that the house elves were being treated cruelly by some of their owners, she founds a group known as the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (or S.P.E.W.) to gain basic rights for the elves. In a way, I've sort of done the same thing by wanting to try to stop bullying in schools, just because of the experiences that I went through in school, and because I don't want anyone else to have to experience that. I am very much into wanting respect for every individual regardless of skin colour, economic status, sexual orientation, and size, because to me, those things don't define a person. In the case of Hermione Granger, I know she feels exactly the same way.

There's one final comparison between Hermione and I that I kind of want to talk about in conclusion to this particular entry. We're both alike in this way to a point.
During the events of the fourth book of the series, Hogwarts has been chosen as the location of the Triwizard Tournament, and as a result, wizards from all over the world have been chosen to compete in the tournament. Of course, Harry Potter happens to be one of those wizards competing, but another person who happens to be in the tournament is Viktor Krum, a Quidditch prodigy from Bulgaria. Almost instantly, Viktor is attracted to Hermione, and it appears as though the feelings are mutual. He even agrees to be her date for the Hogwarts Yule Ball. It's actually interesting to see that Viktor and Hermione kind of act uncomfortable with each other at first, not because they don't like each other, but because both of them are so incredibly shy. I get the impression that both of them really liked each other, but for whatever reason couldn't admit that they did. In some ways, I can relate to this, because I always had crushes, but never once acted on them for fear of rejection. Let's just say that my self-esteem wasn't all that positive back in those days.

Once Hermione got over those butterflies and got to know Viktor (and vice versa), they found that they had more in common than they thought. Viktor was so smitten by Hermione that he even asked her to go away with him to Bulgaria. Of course, Hermione politely declined the offer, as she wanted to finish up her schooling at Hogwarts, and in hindsight, it was probably a good choice for her, as she ended up falling for someone else...someone she ended up fighting with at the Yule Ball...



And, well, I guess that's all I have to say about Hermione Granger, who ended up being a lot more like me than I thought.

No wonder she was always my favourite character in the serial.  Well-rounded, intelligent, and surprisingly headstrong.  Qualities anyone would be lucky to have, really.