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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Across The Pond And Beyond - Sailor Moon

Is it just me, or do female superheroes get overshadowed by their male counterparts?

It seems that for every female superhero there is about twenty-five male superheroes, waging the war against crime, putting evil-doers to justice, and saving the world from total destruction over and over again.

Or, so I hear, as I never really got into the whole superhero craze where I had to own every Batman comic book, or watch every Superman movie, or collect every DVD of every cartoon that featured a superhero.

Well, unless you count the 1960s Spiderman cartoon. 1960S Spiderman rocked.

But I can't really recall there being a lot of female superheroes that girls could look up to. I mean, yeah, girls had Wonder Woman, and back in the day when she was popular, I imagine that lots of girls dressed up as her for Halloween. Some of the X-Men characters (both heroines and antagonists) were female. Heck, one could argue that Disney's Kim Possible, and the pink and yellow Power Rangers represented female empowerment as well.

Other than that, in North America, you may struggle to come up with a definitive list of female superheroes.

(In fact, I'm going to offer this up as a challenge. How many female superheroes can you name? Maybe there's more out there than I even thought!)

But that's in North America. You take a trip across the Pacific Ocean to the country of Japan, and you'll find dozens upon dozens of anime cartoons which feature female protagonists.

As it so happens, today's blog post is all about one of these anime cartoons. It's about a teenage girl who discovers that she has special powers that she is supposed to use to save the world and the universe from being taken over by the forces of evil. The whole series details the growth of this young woman from naïve, ditzy, scatterbrained teenager to being a more mature version who is determined to use her powers for good.



Today's blog subject is the Japanese anime series, Sailor Moon.



Now, this is a topic that I really had to do my research on thoroughly, as I don't even remember watching the show when it first arrived in North America. I may have maybe seen one episode at the most. But because I strive to make this blog suitable for both genders (and who knows, maybe some guys are huge Sailor Moon fans too), I figure I'd give it a whirl for this week's Across The Pond and Beyond topic.



All right, so Sailor Moon debuted in Japan on March 7, 1992. The original name of the series, loosely translated into English from Japanese was “Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon”. Over the years, the show would be known under four other titles and incarnations, but just for the sake of argument, we'll just focus on the first season of the series.

Though the series began in 1992, it wasn't until years later that the show would develop a following in the United States and Canada. And on September 11, 1995, the first English dubbed episode of Sailor Moon was broadcast.



In Canada, the show ran well into the year 2000, and was a mainstay on the television network YTV for many years. In the United States, it aired on the Cartoon Network, and on some NBC affiliates.

But what's interesting is that when the show was dubbed into English from Japanese, some scenes were left on the cutting room floor. In fact, a total of five episodes were eliminated from the show's Japanese line-up, and two episodes were actually spliced together into one episode.

But why was this the case? Inappropriate conduct.

You see...the original Japanese version was a lot more...shall we say...adult in nature? Take a look at this clip from one of the later Japanese shows to illustrate what I mean. Don't worry...there's subtitles.



And since Sailor Moon was designed to air in markets that catered to children't programming, it was decided it was best to just leave those scenes out, and just work around the episodes they could use. Minor editing was done to street signs in the cartoon to change them to English, and some scenes where people were slapped or spit on were edited out. At the end of each English show was a segment called Sailor Says, which taught a life lesson and moral based on the theme of the episode. Here's an example of this below.



Now, many anime purists hated the edits and changes, and made no secret about broadcasting their disdain, but when you have a culture that has a different set of broadcasting standards as another country, there's not a whole lot one can do...unless of course you learn Japanese and import the Japanese episodes...

Anyway, getting back to the show, the main character of the show is a 14-year-old girl named Usagi Tsukino (who was called Serena in the English translation). She's a typical teenage girl who loves music, loves the arts, loves hanging around the video arcade so she can throw herself at the boys who play the video games at said arcade. And she has a super humongous sweet tooth! Seriously. In any episodes that I watched to research today's entry, Serena's almost always gobbling down some sort of sweet.

It's a wonder that she still has all her teeth!



Anyway, the show kicks off with Serena coming across a black cat named Luna. In a lot of cases, some people believe that a black cat crossing your path is doomed to bring one bad luck. But not so here.

Turns out that Luna and Serena had a bit of a connection that was literally out of this world.

Thousands of years ago, a magical kingdom existed. The official name of the kingdom was the Silver Millennium, but in the English dub, it was more or less referred to as the Moon Kingdom. The inhabitants of the Silver Millennium enjoyed a long lifespan, and each inhabitant only had two duties. One was to protect the Silver Crystal, which was a powerful stone. The crystal had the power to revive an entire world that was in ruin...at the cost of the user's life. Basically, it's a crystal that if it ever fell into the wrong hands, it could be very, very costly. The second duty for the people within the kingdom was to watch over the evolution of Earth and protect it from any negative influence.

Oh, did I mention that during this time, there was a prohibition on any sort of romantic relationships between an Earth person and a Moon person?

Try telling that to the crown prince of Earth at the time, one Endymion and his four guardians (Jadeite, Zoisite, Nephrite, and Kunzite). Like a classic Romeo and Juliet style romance, Endymion fell in love with Princess Serenity of the Moon, and despite the fact that it was unacceptable, it seemed as though nothing could break the two up.

That is, until a peasant woman named Beryl let her jealousy overcome her, and became evil. Under the influence of the evil Queen Metalia, Beryl riled up the citizens of Earth to do battle with those of the Moon. Long story short, both the Earth and Moon kingdoms were completely destroyed, and the evolution of life had to start all over again.

Flash forward to the 1990s, in modern-day Tokyo. As a result of the warfare, everyone in the kingdoms was doomed to death. The Queen of the Silver Millennium knew that she was about to die, and she wanted to make sure that her daughter, Princess Serenity, could be reborn again when the need arose. With the last of her power, the queen sent Serenity, Endymion, and a group of young soldiers known as the Sailor Senshi (or Sailor Scouts in the English translation) to Earth so that they may be reborn during the 20th century.

The Sailor Scouts are reborn as four typical girls. Endymion is reborn as Mamoru Chiba (otherwise known as Darien Shields in the English version), and Princess Serenity becomes Serena Tsukino.

Wow...Serenity becomes Serena. Who would have ever guessed?

So that's the basic plot of the Sailor Moon series. Serena comes to terms with the fact that she has special powers that she can use to save the world. Of course, when she first hears of this destiny from Luna, she doesn't quite believe it. As a side effect of being resurrected, her previous memory of who she was a thousand years ago was wiped clean. She eventually gets it back over time though.

But Serena didn't want the responsibility. She just wanted to be a normal kid. This proved to be a source of much conflict and much comedy as Serena tried to balance her personal life with her quest to protect the Earth from Queen Beryl and her servants (who ended up being the former guardians of Endymion, who ended up turning to the forces of evil). But over time, Serena managed to find her inner courage, and proved to be a formidable fighter, whether it be retrieving the seven rainbow coloured crystals that formed the legendary Silver Crystal, or stopping monsters from draining the life energy out of the citizens of Earth, Serena embraced her Sailor Moon persona and did her best to be the bravest one possible in some rather tight jams.



Of course, Serena isn't completely alone in this fight. Her cat Luna proves to be a valuable mentor to her, even if Serena can be a bit stubborn and refuses to listen to her. And she has a love-hate relationship with Darien (who unbeknownst to either of them were love interests many moons ago). They make up, break up, she insults him, he calls her Meatball Head...yeah. Stuff like that.

But the relationship between Serena and Darien is definitely one of the recurring themes of the show, and Darien actually has an alter-ego who goes by the name of Tuxedo Mask. Appropriately enough, in many battles that Sailor Moon has, the enemy is ultimately defeated when Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon join forces.

Imagine that.

And then there are the Sailor Scouts. In the first series of the show, we meet four of them, but there are reportedly a total of ten, with each one named after a part of the solar system. Serena has her own relationship with each of them, both in regular kid and in Sailor Scout form, and each one has their own set of powers.



Sailor Mercury, for instance, is the first Sailor Scout introduced in the series. Her human form is that of 14-year-old school brainiac Ami Mizuno. Ami is very intelligent, with a reported IQ in the 300s (which may or may not be a possibility...don't ask me...mine isn't THAT high), and is very quiet and studious. Basically the anti-Serena. Though she and Serena are very close, and in many ways, Ami is probably Serena's closest ally out of all the Sailor Scouts. She's the most practical of the group, and she wants to become a doctor like her mother. But she also has a secret love of pop culture and romance novels, which embarrasses her greatly if this fact were pointed out. In battle, Sailor Mercury uses the magical power of water and ice to freeze her enemies cold. Her colour is blue.



There's Sailor Mars, the next one to join the group. Her human identity is that of 14-year-old, Rei Hino. She is a shrine maiden of a temple that her grandfather is the head priest of. Like Ami, Rei is very serious minded, though not with her schoolwork. Rei has a very short-fuse, and she is very passionate about what she believes in. She also seems to have a very short fuse with Serena, and more often than not, Serena and Rei end up at each other's throats at least once per episode. Deep down inside though, Rei cares a lot for Serena, and whenever Serena is indecisive about something, Rei will often make the decision for her, for Serena's best interests. With Sailor Mars mastering any magic involving fire, the enemies of the Sailor Scouts are sure to get burned. Her colour is red.



Sailor Jupiter is the next featured scout. Her human name is Makoto Kino, but on the English version, she goes by the name Lita. Lita is kind of like the Peppermint Patty of the group. Very tomboyish, very tall, very loud and boisterous. At fourteen, Lita's had a rough go in life. Her parents were killed in a plane crash years earlier, and she now struggles to take care of herself. For being just a teenager, Lita's resourcefulness shows clear through, and she probably has the most inner strength of all of the scouts. She's close to all the Sailor Scouts, and when she has to go into battle as Sailor Jupiter, she uses the power of lightning. I wonder how well she got along with Sailor Mercury. Her colour is green.



Last, but certainly not least, we have Minako “Mina” Aino...otherwise known as Sailor Venus. She's a different sort of character. At the age of fourteen, Mina had a career as an actress, playing the role of the beloved 'Sailor V' for various television programs and films. Like Serena, she has a pet cat named Artemis, who happens to share a connection with Luna, surprisingly enough. On the show, she has a dream of being a famous singer, as she feels that she would be loved and respected if she were. She's kind of similar to Serena, as she gets a bit dopey at times, especially when a man is involved. However, as Sailor Venus, she has a huge role. She's the leader of Sailor Moon's four inner guardians, and she uses the power of love and beauty to make the enemies very unpretty indeed. Her colour is orange.



Together, they make up the Sailor Scouts, and together, they fight to rid the world of Beryl and the dark kingdom.

And really, that's all I have to say in regards to Sailor Moon. But, I will say that there are some rather emotional scenes in the cartoon series, and I can maybe see why some people got really into it back in the day. I'll leave you with one of these scenes.




Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Taking The Tiaras Away From The Toddlers - A Rant

Anyone who has checked into this blog at least a few times since I began writing it knows that for the most part, the entries are mostly positive in nature. That's not to say that all of them are lighthearted and goofy in nature. In fact, there are probably some that have had some very serious topics of discussion, and some that have had a darker tone than other entries. And, there's a few entries that I have done on subjects that I have either A) never seen before, or B) am not the biggest fan of, and yet, I've found that I can still find at least one positive to bring out of it.

So it is here that I offer this disclaimer. I doubt that this will be one of those pieces that will have a whole lot of positivity within it. In fact, I reckon that I will likely find myself getting quite angry within certain parts of this entry today. I'll still mind my P's and Q's though, as I really dislike profanity, and only really use it when I end up injuring myself. But, if you're looking for a light and fluffy piece with sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows, this isn't the place to find it. Maybe when I choose Lesley Gore as the subject, it will have all those things, but not today.

In fact, the more and more I think about today's subject, the more and more disgusted I feel.

Today's blog topic is about a particular television show that currently airs on the TLC network. At one point, TLC was once a reputable channel, where TLC stood for 'The Learning Channel', but lately, I find myself asking what the heck that channel is supposed to be teaching us these days.

Seriously. Most of those shows are horrible. Take a look at the show 18, 19, 20, whatever number of child the Duggar family happens to be producing now. I mean, really? There was once a show that aired years ago called Eight Is Enough, and I can't help but wonder if they ever watched that show. Heck, as far as I'm concerned, even eight is too much!

You hearing me, Kate Gosselin? Eight is too much!

Even shows that actually do teach you something on that channel can be filled with some questionable moments. I mean, yeah, Stacy and Clinton have been teaching women all across America what not to wear for the better part of a decade, but I caught a couple of episodes where they were trashing their old wardrobes, and let's just say that some of their comments were just mean-spirited and unnecessary. They could have been a lot more diplomatic towards them with their comments, but I suppose that even they have to be mean for the cameras to get the ratings.

But that's not even scratching the surface of this once proud network.

There is one show that the network airs that is currently in its fourth season. A show that has been the subject of much criticism, verbal backlash, and is accused of exploiting its very subjects.

And, I proudly admit to being one of those people who have and will criticize the show for however long it airs.



The subject for today's blog is the TLC reality show program 'Toddlers & Tiaras', a program that I make no secret in openly despising with all of my heart and soul. But why that is the case, well...that's coming up later.

Toddlers & Tiaras debuted on TLC in January 2009, and the show is basically a behind the scenes look at child beauty pageants. I have my own opinions about child beauty pageants, and for the most part, I really don't like them all that much. Maybe it was the tragic 1996 unsolved murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey that may have shaped my view of them that did it. Or, maybe it's the fact that I'm not typically a fan of beauty pageants to begin with, as I think there's more to a person than whether they have a perfect complexion, perfect smile, or perfect anything else that is semi-important at best.

But you know, child beauty pageants, whether I like them or not, are here to stay. And, I digress that there are circumstances in which I guess they could be a good thing. Some prizes that are offered are savings bonds and college scholarships, which given the economy can be worth their weight in gold. And I suppose if the people participating in the pageants really want to do them, and find great joy in it, then that's fine.

But I take a lot of issue with this program. A lot.

I think I've probably only seen about two and a half episodes of the program in total, and that was likely two episodes too many. Because the little that I have seen of the show was enough to completely sicken me from it forever, and never watch it again.

And yet, I have to show video clips to prove my point. Oh, the quandary!!!



The biggest problem that I have with this show is the fact that some of these pageant moms are willing to do whatever it takes to help their little darlings win prize after prize.

Whatever it takes.

Regardless of whether it hurts their child or not.

Ah, look...here's a perfect example right here.



Okay, let's dissect this, shall we? This mother has decided to give her child an edge by putting a swimsuit on her, shoving her into a spray-tan booth and colour her a shade of brown that's similar to that of Snooki from Jersey Shore, all the while she's crying because she doesn't like having this spray-tan done.

And, I mean, how old is this girl anyway? She can't be much older than five or six! When I was five, I didn't even know what spray tanning was! I don't even know if spray tanning existed back in 1987! But, that's not the point. The point is that when you're artificially tanning your child, and she's obviously uncomfortable with it to the point where she is crying and not liking it very much, isn't that the cue for you to STOP IT?

Oh, and she makes her child wear fake teeth. Not because she has a terrible smile...heck, the mom goes on and on about how beautiful her teeth is. She just wants to make her child's smile a little MORE beautiful. And, hey, if it helps the child win more pageants, it has to be good, right?

Yeah, perfect example to show your kid...that one has to change how they look about themselves to be declared beautiful by a bunch of people who they probably don't even know. Yeah, great life lesson there, Mom.

Oh, but this next mother doesn't even need fake teeth to impress the pageant crowd. No way! Because according to her, fake teeth is the equivalent of altering what God gave them. So, why use fake teeth when you can just bleach the ones that the girl already has! They love it! The mom says they do, so it has to be true, right?

Judge for yourself.



Now, you ask me...do YOU think that Alaska liked the process of bleaching her teeth as white as...well...Alaskan snow? All signs point to probably not. Even Dad was shocked at the admission that Mom coats her children's teeth with some teeth whitening solution, but by the end of the clip was magically okay with it.

Which leads me to wonder whether the teeth were the only body parts that sustained bleaching.

Sometimes I wonder if maybe the thrill of competing in these pageants causes some parents to become addicted to them, as the case of this mother below.



Okay...first off...she spent fifteen to twenty THOUSAND dollars on pageants? Seriously? I mean, yeah, there's the chance that you could win cash prizes by winning a pageant, but what if she came in second, or third, or eighty-fourth? Wouldn't that $20,000 be better used for something else instead? And going to pageants every weekend? Did you see those sashes on that girl's wall? Does she even have a life outside of school and pageants? Do I even want to know the answer? Probably not, because it could make me even angrier than I am now.

And what happens when the child doesn't end up winning? I would think that in a lot of events (whether it be sporting events, getting the lead in a play, or yes, even pageantry), the parents would be very supportive, and would end up doing their best to tell their child that they still did a great job, and that they are still proud of them regardless of whether they win a trophy or not, right? Well, watch this.



Hmmm...okay, so let's look at this. This kid was expecting to be named the best of the show, and her parents were counting on her winning a high title. Despite the fact that she had won the title of Queen and several other smaller prizes, the girl still isn't happy, and actually kind of acts bratty by not wanting to wear the crown she received. Kind of makes one wonder where she got that attitude from, doesn't it?

The show's recently caused a lot of controversy in recent weeks. Does everyone remember the 1990 movie Pretty Woman? The movie starring Julia Roberts? The movie where Julia Roberts plays a prostitute wearing a rather revealing outfit in the first few minutes?



Whatever would possess this mom to even THINK of dressing her child in an outfit like that? Like, seriously...just what the hell was she thinking? Did she not even watch the movie? Did she just act on impulse not realizing that she was dressing her toddler like a fictional prostitute? I mean, HELLO?!?

And you wonder why I'm reacting like this to a television show.  But, then again, with gossipy shows like Entertainment Tonight (another show on my do not watch list) reporting about the controversy as if it was the most important event going on in the world, is it any wonder why the program is one of TLC's most watched?  Not by me, but by others.

My honest assessment of the show is such that I find it absolutely deplorable to put these children through all that just to win a stupid trophy and a crown bedazzled with fake gems.

I don't know about any of you, but when I was six or seven, the girls who went to my school were NOT involved in pageants at all. I think the only pageants that were available for children to enter was the one that was held at our summer festival in town, and not even those participants were THAT glammed up...or, so I've heard, as I never bothered with them much.

Back in those days, girls looked like girls. In fact, I think most of the girls at my school were kind of the tomboy type during grade school. They liked playing sports, or running around the schoolyard, and other things like that. The only time they ever really dressed up was for school picture day. I don't think most girls really started caring about fashion and makeup until the middle school years, which to me was quite common.

So, to see these parents basically turning their children into toddler size Barbie dolls...I don't know. Am I wrong in feeling that this is making children grow up way too fast? Am I wrong in being disgusted by parents who force their children to do things that most adults don't even need to do to look beautiful? Am I wrong for feeling the way I feel about Toddlers & Tiaras?

Hell no. And I bet a lot of you reading this note will agree with me. There's some of you who won't, and that's fine.

Why are these moms and dads so intent on making their children into little junior sized adults?

Why does a toddler need a tiara to feel special when all they really need is the chance to be a regular kid?

Okay, now that my rant about Toddlers & Tiaras is over, I can breathe again, and I get to retreat into my cocoon of tranquility once more. And I can finally stop watching clips of this dreadful show for research purposes, as the process really made me want to vomit. But sometimes you just have to talk about something you hate to prove a point, and in this case, this was one of those times.

In fact, let's see what else happens to be on television...maybe I can get a show that DOESN'T have shrieking harpy mothers whining about what they feel is best for their child when they really don't have a clue.

Oh, here's an interesting show called Dance Moms...

...hey...waitaminute...

Monday, November 14, 2011

Monday Matinee - Double Jeopardy

Have you ever heard of the phrase 'Double Jeopardy'?



I imagine for most of you, the Jeopardy theme song is playing through your heads right now as you think about the answer to this question.

Of course, one of the possible answers to this question is that it is the second round in a standard episode of the long-running game show, Jeopardy. But, no, the quiz show Jeopardy is not the subject for today's blog.

Now, if one was on Jeopardy, which is a show where you're given the answer, and have to come up with the accompanying question to go with the answer to win money, this term might end up appearing in the law category.

If one were to select Law for, say, $400, the answer would be this.

A procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same or similar charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction.

That's the basic definition of the phrase 'double jeopardy' in law terms.

If the claim of double jeopardy is raised in court, evidence will be provided for the judge to consider, and if this is proven to be a fact, the trial will cease. In many countries, the guarantee against 'double jeopardy' is a constitutional right, and some of the countries that take this as a constitutional right include the United States, Mexico, and India. Other countries, such as Australia, Canada, and Germany have their own policies regarding double jeopardy, but are tweaked a bit depending on the laws of the country.

So, here's the question for all of you. Given that you now know what the phrase 'double jeopardy' is, I pose this question. If you were accused of doing a crime, and were either found guilty or non-guilty, would you tempt the double jeopardy gods and commit a second crime, or commit the crime that you were accused of doing with the knowledge that you could not be tried for the same offense?

Well, okay, according to some law professors, this isn't truly double jeopardy. A law professor from Harvard University named Alan Dershowitz believes that the above situation that I described is a bit of a misrepresentation of the phrase double jeopardy. It would be committing two separate incidents. He says that someone who was wrongly convicted of a crime and went to jail for it could end up suing the courts, or getting some sort of compensation for it. But if they plan to commit an entirely different crime the second time around, which would lead to getting charged for the very thing that they were convicted for, it would be two separate crimes, and according to Dershowitz, there would be no justification for playing the double jeopardy card.

And that was one of the main criticisms for a movie that was released about this very subject.

Now, let's go back to our pretend Jeopardy game, and decide to choose '90s Movies for $600. And it is appropriately enough a Daily Double. And you wager it all and get this answer.

A 1999 movie starring Ashley Judd, who decides to kill her husband after going to jail for his supposed murder six years ago, with a law term that is sure to 'double' the stakes.



If you guessed that the answer was 'Double Jeopardy', you've successfully doubled your score!



Yes, Double Jeopardy was raked over the coals by critics everywhere, and currently only holds about a 25% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website. Dershowitz claimed the movie to be an inaccurate representation of 'double jeopardy', and one clear sign of a movie not doing critically well is the fact that it is played about seven times a month on cable television every few months or so.

(Seriously, I think I've seen this movie like 25 times on cable television.)

It's actually kind of a shame that the movie didn't perform better. The movie's director was Bruce Beresford, who directed the Academy Award winning film 'Driving Miss Daisy', and the cast was made up of Judd, Tommy Lee Jones, Annabeth Gish, and Bruce Greenwood. It was a talented cast, with great direction. It really should have done much better.

But the film did make a little more than double the film's budget, so I suppose it couldn't have been all that bad.



The film begins at Whidbey Island. A wealthy couple, Nick and Elizabeth Parsons (Greenwood and Judd) decide to go on a boating excursion, borrowing a friend's yacht, and going on a weekend excursion. Elizabeth (who prefers to go by the name Libby) has never been happier. With a loving husband, a best friend named Angela (Gish), and a fantastic life filled with anything and everything money could buy, it seemed like nothing would knock her down.

The weekend on a yacht with the love of her life was supposed to have been one of those perfect days for Libby...but it didn't end up that way.

After waking up the next morning after having a passionate night with Nick, she finds Nick completely vanished without a trace. Even more disturbingly, she finds herself, as well as the floor of the boat stained with blood. Libby, in absolute shock, searches the yacht, trying to make sense of what has happened. She happens to pick up a bloody knife lying on a deck nearby...where she is conveniently discovered by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Whoops.

Long story short, Libby is arrested, completely torn apart in the media, tried, convicted of murdering her husband, and sent to prison.

Now, if that were the end of the movie, admittedly, it would be one of the most depressing movies of all time. But, there's more to this story.

Such as the fact that Libby's beloved husband isn't really dead...and isn't really the nice, charming guy Libby fell in love with.



Turns out that she finds the truth after a phone conversation with her friend, Angela, who ultimately was never really a friend to her in the first place. The reason Libby was speaking with Angela was to check up on her son, Matty, as the prison sentence Libby was given would have prevented her from looking after him. Angela promised to look after Matty in Libby's absence. Angela lets Matty talk to Libby on the phone, and Libby is overjoyed to hear his voice. But then Libby hears a door opening in the background, and is absolutely stunned to hear Matty react to the noise by screaming the word “Daddy!”

So, you know how it goes. Libby was framed for murder, leaving the path clear for Nick to make his son the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policy (as people who are convicted for murder cannot make a claim on insurance policies). From there, Nick could start up an affair with Angela, and then Nick and Angela would start a new life together with Matty, leaving Libby rotting away in prison.

That bastard.

So, now that Libby realizes that she is being set up, and that her loving husband isn't so loving after all, she wants revenge. Problem is, she's stuck in prison until her parole hearing, and behind bars, there wasn't much one could do.

All Libby can do is serve her time, act on her best behaviour, and do whatever chores she was assigned in hopes of getting an early release. But something else fuels her desire to get out of prison. One of the other inmates in the prison she is in tells her about the double jeopardy clause, and that if she does happen to get paroled for good behaviour, she could then go out, kill her husband for real, and not have to get convicted a second time. The wheels in Libby's brain start to turn, and she is realizing that if she ever wanted a chance to get her son (and her life for that matter) back, the double jeopardy clause could be her ticket.



Approximately six years pass (or approximately 35 minutes in movie time) before Libby gets paroled, and she immediately begins searching for Nick and Matty. Of course, she finds that road to be difficult, as part of her parole conditions states that she has to live in a halfway house where she is supervised by her parole officer Travis Lehman (Jones). So, needless to say, Libby really has to plan her moves very carefully, as she is under a forced curfew, and is under Travis' strict supervision.

One night, Libby comes to the conclusion that since her ex-best friend Angela was shacking up with Nick, she should try to find out where Angela was located.  Having known that Angela was a schoolteacher at a school on Whidbey Island, Libby decides to break into the school in order to check her personal records for a possible address. She is caught breaking in, and security is immediately beefed up as Travis literally handcuffs himself to Libby so that she doesn't try escaping again.

But, she does.



That's only a portion of the clip, because clips for this movie are surprisingly enough quite hard to find. But basically, she ends up breaking free from her handcuffs by driving the car containing both her and Travis into the water, and during the struggle out of the sinking car, Libby separates from Travis, and is able to continue her search. Of course, Travis still manages to follow her closely, because you can bet that he won't let her get away so easily.



At any rate, Libby soon discovers that Angela was killed in a car accident in the state of Colorado, so the theory of Angela being able to lead her to Nick and Matty was a dead end. Literally. But, she also discovers a piece of art in a photo taken for a newspaper article as one that Nick had owned while they were still married. After tracing the piece of artwork through a art dealer database on a computer, she discovers that it belongs to an art dealer named Jonathan Devereaux, based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. But, Jonathan Devereaux was a fake name.

His real name? Nicholas Parsons.

And that was all the evidence Libby needed to head down to New Orleans in order to get her child back. She manages to find him at a bachelor auction where all the proceeds raised went for charity, and she manages to bid ten thousand dollars for a date with him as an excuse to confront her estranged husband once and for all. Libby only had one thing on her mind. She wanted her son, and she told Nick that she would keep quiet about his real identity if he relinquished his parental rights to Matty. Nick, realizing that his back was up against the wall, agreed to bring Matty down to a cemetery where the reunion between mother and child would take place.

But Libby really should have known better than to actually trust her husband again. For when she arrived at the cemetery, Nick had hired an eleven-year-old decoy to play their son, paid him off, and when Libby got close, he attacks her, knocks her out cold, and traps her inside a casket in an out of the way mausoleum.

So, we have our climax. At this point, Travis is starting to believe that Libby may be telling the truth about not killing her husband, and after doing some research of his own, he now wants to find Libby and team up with her to stop Nick's reign of terror once and for all. But with Libby trapped inside a casket where the air quality is poor, will Travis make it in time?

Well, all I can do is tell you to watch the movie's ending to find out for yourself. Just be warned, the movie has a few plot holes, and some parts of the film are somewhat on the unbelievable side. Still, it's an okay movie, and despite the inaccuracies and the wild plot, it's worth checking out at least once.

And given that it airs on cable dozens of times a year, you probably have and may not know it!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Sunday Jukebox - Do The Bartman

In the world of music, have you noticed that certain dance crazes can start up in the blink of an eye?

The Hustle. The Moonwalk. The Macarena. All three of these dances were once the cream of the pop culture crop, and at some point, everyone was trying to learn the dance steps.

Certainly, the Hustle was very popular during the disco-heavy culture of the mid-1970s. Michael Jackson aced the Moonwalk during a 1983 performance which later became his signature move. And I already talked about how the Macarena was the dance craze of 1996.

I'm sure many of you over the years have hustled, moonwalked, and did the Macarena with the best of them?



But, can any of you do the Bartman?

No, I mean, really. Can you?

I am sure that for quite a few of you reading this blog entry, the answer would probably be no. Or, maybe you do know how to do it, and are just too embarrassed to admit it. Or, maybe you've completely forgotten how to do it.



That's okay though. I admit that I never learned how to do the Bartman either. Of course, my dancing skills in general are not exactly what I would call great. Picture a monkey who just downed an entire pitcher of beer trying to go up a down escalator, and you've pretty much seen a perfect dramatization of how well I do on a dance floor.

Oh, I suck. I really do suck. That guy who keeps crashing those auditions for 'So You Think You Can Dance' who goes by the stage name of 'Sex' is probably a better dancer than I am. And, if you've ever seen him in action, that's a pretty bold statement. In fact, here's proof below.



Ah, what can I say? At least the guy refuses to give up on his dream, even though his dream might be somewhat misguided. And besides, I just gave him a compliment as he can dance better than I can!

I used to always hate going to school dances, and whenever possible, I would just skip out on them entirely. Whether it was a typical grade eight dance, or a Muchmusic video dance party, or even my high school prom (which I proudly admit to skipping), I would never make an appearance. And for the few dances that I did attend, unless I was doing a slow dance (the one and only dance I KNOW I can do), I usually warmed one of the benches in the school gym.

I just didn't have any rhythm. There's plenty of us out there. In fact, I hate to admit this, but the only way that I can probably get out on a dance floor is if I down a couple of alcoholic beverages!

Needless to say, the 'liquid courage' comes in handy now. But before I turned 19 (which in Canada is the legal drinking age), all I had was chocolate milk and soda pop...and needless to say, neither of those worked.



I guess in a way, I kind of admire Bart Simpson for being the loud, boisterous, not afraid of anything 10-year-old boy that I knew I wasn't. Sure, he got in a lot of trouble for his actions, but he was fearless. And deep down, I think we all want to be regarded as such when we were kids.

By 1990, the Simpsons had been on the air for one full season and were getting ready to shoot season number two. Around this time, David Geffen, the founder of Geffen Records, had the idea to further capitalize on the popularity of the Simpsons. What if they recorded an album, just in time for the 1990 holiday season?



That's how the album The Simpsons Sing The Blues first came into production. The album, which was recorded just two weeks before the start of the second season was reportedly chaotic, and difficult to produce, but the end result was worth all the hard work. The album was released in stores on December 4, 1990, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Sales.

And it was decided that the lead-off single from the album would be 'Do The Bartman'.



ARTIST: Bart Simpson (as voiced by Nancy Cartwright)
SONG: Do The Bartman
ALBUM: The Simpsons Sing The Blues
RELEASE DATE: November 20, 1990
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: N/A

You may notice that this isn't the real music video up above. It's because I couldn't find a decent copy to post directly on the blog itself. But, I did some digging around, and if you click HERE, you can watch the animated video that debuted on December 6, 1990, after the airing of the Simpsons episode “Bart The Daredevil”.

Secondly, you may notice that there is no chart info present for how well the song did on the charts. That's because it was never released as a single in the United States (which probably was a key factor in why the album did so well in sales throughout late 1990 and 1991). However, the song was released as a single in other countries, and ended up being a being a number one hit in the UK, Australia, Norway, New Zealand, and Ireland!

It's hard to deny what popularity the song had. Millions of albums were sold, and the video for 'Do The Bartman' became one of MTV's most requested songs of early 1991. The success of the album also prompted other record companies to put a rush with making albums for other animated characters, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Barbie, and others to...well...lesser success. But the album also prompted the release of the Little Mermaid soundtrack, and this began Disney's success with soundtrack albums based off of their animated movies. Whether you think that it was a good thing or a bad thing, the song did change the face of the music industry, even if for a little while.



The origins of 'Do The Bartman' had an interesting story in itself really. Did you know that Michael Jackson co-wrote the song for the album?

Only, it was meant to have been a surprise, and it would have been if Simpsons creator Matt Groening had his way.

The rumours began circulating about Jackson's involvement with the single right around the time that the announcement of the album was released. The rumours were that Michael Jackson was to write a song specifically for the Bart Simpson character, and that the song 'Do The Bartman' was that song. The producers did attempt to do some damage control though, and long standing producer, James L. Brooks issued a press release in September 1990 stating that the song was actually written by one of Jackson's friends, a songwriter by the name of Bryan Loren.

The truth was eventually released almost a decade later by Groening himself at the World Animation Celebration convention of 1998. He admitted that, yes, Jackson did co-write and co-produce 'Do The Bartman'. The reason why he couldn't get credit for it was because he was already under contract with a competing record label, and it would have caused a conflict of interest if the truth were revealed at that point in time.

Turns out, Michael Jackson was a huge fan of The Simpsons, and that his favourite character was Bart Simpson. He actually called the producers of the show to make a pitch for writing a number one single for Bart, and to appear as a guest voice for an episode. That's how 'Do The Bartman' ended up coming to be.

And during season three, Michael Jackson did get his wish to be a guest voice on The Simpsons, although he was credited as John Jay Smith in the closing credits. If you watch the episode 'Stark Raving Dad', you can see Jackson playing the role of Leon Kompowsky, the fat, bald, guy who is locked up in a mental institution because he thinks he's Michael Jackson. Great episode, you should really check it out.

So there you have it. The story behind 'Do The Bartman'. As well as my own admission that I can't dance to save my life!  

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Saturday Morning: Punky Brewster

This is an entry that begins in the present day, and it starts off with a rather interesting story.

I would think that it would be a fair assessment to say that I do not like cyberbullying at all. I think it's a really cheap way to try and insult someone else's feelings online, and in some cases, a bit cowardly. Especially if one hides behind a screenname, as most of us online tend to do.

I believe that there is a major difference between constructive criticism, and simply being mean because you want to get glee from ruining someone else's day. The first one, I can handle. The second option, not so much.

I'm going to talk about an instance in which cyberbullying kind of lead to a personal story, which looking back on now, I find kind of silly that it even spawned such foolishness. And the only reason why I bring this up is because it is linked to today's Saturday topic.

About a year ago, I was on an internet forum which, like this blog, was a forum where people could talk about all things pop culture. I would like to say that we were mostly a tight knit group, and as we reminisced about things while walking down memory lane, there were times in which we sometimes clashed, or had differing opinions of a certain topic than someone else did. But, that was fine. What kind of boring world would it be if we all looked, acted, and liked the same things every hour of every day? Pretty dull.

The key thing is that for the most part, we hashed out our differences as maturely as we could, and most of the time, the resolution was met in a calm and rational manner. I mean, nine out of ten of us were all over the age of eighteen, so it should be a fair assumption that all of us would handle conflict resolution in a timely and practical manner.

Until one day when a member posted this picture.



I know what some of you are thinking. Some of you might not even know who this is. Well, this picture happens to be of actress Soleil Moon Frye, current age, 35. This was a picture that she snapped and posted online in a Punky Brewster outfit, the character that she played on television. The caption read 'Punky Brewster All Grown Up'.

Now, my personal opinion was that I thought it was awesome that she had done this. In a world where so many established actors and actresses act as though their past work was beneath them, and are almost embarrassed to admit where they got their big breaks, Soleil wasn't that sort of person. No, she may not be as well-known as A-list actresses like Julia Roberts, or Jennifer Aniston, or Cameron Diaz, but at least she's not afraid to revisit her past. Soleil really seemed to embrace her past as Punky, and I applaud her for it. I'm sure that any fan of Punky Brewster probably appreciates the fact that Soleil Moon Frye could be a great sport about dressing up as Punky once again, and probably got a kick out of it.

Now, here's where the cyberbullying aspect comes in. And, yeah, I'll readily admit that I may have got the ball rolling in some manner, but one thing that I won't apologize for is standing up for something that I believe in.

For the most part, the comments in the picture were harmless, and most people commented on it politely. There were a few jeers and thumbs down comments mixed in, but hardly anything worth getting stressed out about.

But then one person from the site crossed the line a bit. It was bad enough that she had claimed that Punky had aged like an old bag, but at this point, it wasn't like Punky was a member of the site anyways, so it was doubtful that she could see it. But then when other members stood up and tried to defend the actress and the photo she took, and tried to explain that she looked better at 35 than they did, for some reason, she started to take it somewhat on the personal side, and started to personally insult them right out in plain view.

And that caused me to tell her to politely knock it off.

Which then caused her to call me every nasty name in the book. Some which were so disgusting that it really wouldn't be very nice to post in public...well, unless of course, I made this blog rated NC-17...which will NEVER happen. :D

I mean, it was just ridiculous how it snowballed out of control. It seemed like the more we reasoned with her, the more personal she took it until she got so angry she decided to leave the site and not come back. But the fact that she had to resort to bullying someone else online instead of trying to talk it out calmly was just plain unnecessary.

And for what? A photo of a 1980s child actress all grown up? Sheesh. Even the problems that Miss Penelope Brewster had to go through in her rough and tumble, but highly fictional upbringing seemed more dire and frightening, and yet she handled her own problems with much more strength and courage than...well...our anti-Punky rebel.



And I think that's why I chose to do my blog entry on Punky Brewster this Saturday.

Now, before I go on, I think I know what you're going to say. Wasn't yesterday the sitcom day? Shouldn't this have been talked about yesterday? True enough, this entry probably could have fit in a TGIF day. But what some don't know is that the show was later developed into a cartoon series called 'It's Punky Brewster'. Here's the opening below.



I will say that I do remember the cartoon quite well, and one of the perks that the cartoon had going for it was the fact that the actors who were in the live-action version of the program did the voices for their respective characters on the cartoon show. But, I didn't quite understand why they had to add that fuzzy Glomer character in the cartoon, and while it was a cute cartoon, I didn't like it as well as the live-action show.

So, I'll be mostly talking about the live-action program in this entry, but just wanted to briefly bring up the cartoon so I could justify talking about Punky Brewster on a Saturday.



The show Punky Brewster was like a lot of shows that aired during the 1980s. It originally aired on a major network, was cancelled due to low ratings, and brought back in syndication. From its debut in 1984 to 1986, it aired on NBC every Sunday night paired up with Silver Spoons. Problem was that it aired directly opposite 60 Minutes on CBS, and and NBC made the decision to cancel both shows, feeling that neither one could compete. But both Silver Spoons and Punky Brewster managed to find new life in syndication, and in the case of Punky Brewster, managed to continue airing until the spring of 1988.

As I eluded to earlier, the title character of Punky Brewster had one of those hard knock lives that Annie sang about back in 1982. Actually, I would bet that Punky's life was a little more hard knock than Annie's could ever be. By the time Punky was eight years old, she was basically abandoned by her parents. Her father walked out on the family when she was a baby, and then her mother left her alone at a Chicago shopping center along with her puppy, Brandon (who was actually named after then president of NBC Brandon Tartikoff, who developed the Punky Brewster sitcom).

I can't even imagine being eight years old and basically living on the streets by myself. Looking back on how I was at the age of eight, I probably wouldn't have lasted an hour. Yet, Punky seemed to be amazingly resourceful at her young age, and soon found herself stowing away inside a vacant apartment inside a Chicago building.



Punky quickly became friends with a young girl named Cherie (played by actress Cherie Johnson), who lived upstairs from where Punky was staying with her grandmother, Betty (Susie Garrett). But Punky is also discovered by the manager of the apartment building, the grouchy, cantankerous, 60-year-old Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes). Henry takes pity on Punky, and invites her and Brandon to his apartment across the hall for dinner, where Punky fills Henry in on what happened to her, and how Cherie and Betty took her food for her to share with Brandon. Henry takes Punky to his photography studio where he takes pictures of her with Betty and Cherie, and he starts to lose his grouchy exterior the closer he and Punky got.

At some point, Punky decides that she wants Henry to look after her as a foster father, and Henry is eager to make it happen. But the fact that Henry is in his sixties causes shadows of doubt for the social workers involved in the case, as they don't feel that he can handle the responsibility of taking care of an eight-year-old girl. But Punky is desperate to convince them that Henry is the best person to raise her, even escaping from the group home she was placed in to prove it. Eventually, Henry became Punky's foster father, and after a crisis in which Henry's photography studio burns down and Punky is temporarily taken away again, Henry legally adopts Punky as his own.



Of course, having Punky as a child could be a handful for Henry, as Punky's well-intentioned ideas usually ended with her getting herself and Henry by association into trouble. Still, I think we could all argue that Punky was better off having a caring, kind father figure like Henry Warnimont in her life.

Actually, for a show that was aimed at a younger demographic, Punky Brewster dealt with some very huge subject matter back in the day. Punky Brewster was one of the first examples on a sitcom that I can recollect in which they talked about the issue of peer pressure, and how kids believed that they needed to do drugs in order to be popular. Punky and Cherie wanted to join a club known as the Chicklets, and Punky even offered up the use of her treehouse for the club to have their meetings. But when Punky discovered that the Chicklets all did drugs and were pressuring Punky to use them too, Punky decided that the Chicklets weren't worth it anymore, and she started up the 'Just Say No' club with Cherie and a Chicklet who defected from the group. Watch a clip of this episode below.



That last part of the clip was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia at a Just Say No march, in which Soleil-Moon Frye took part in.

The show also tackled the subject of learning CPR to save a life, the danger of abusing prescription drugs, and even had an episode where Henry had to buy Punky her first bra!

And in a tragic case of life imitating art, a very special episode was filmed in 1986. The episode was called 'Accidents Happen', and if you click on the links in this paragraph you can watch it. The episode started off innocently enough, as Punky was telling the class all about how when she grew up, she wanted to be an astronaut, and as a special treat, her teacher, knowing about an upcoming space shuttle launch, had arranged for the class to watch it live on television.

That space shuttle launch ended up being that of the Challenger, which as you all know exploded during its take-off on January 28, 1986, killing everyone on board, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. The episode was obviously based on the tragedy, and the episode dealt with Punky coming to terms with watching the whole thing unfold right in front of her eyes. It really was a great episode to watch, and honestly, I could go on about how much of an impact that it had, especially since it aired just a few weeks after the event happened. But, really, I think you guys should watch it instead to form your own opinion.

The point is that Punky Brewster was very much appreciated growing up. At a time now where many shows try to dumb things down for children, I really liked the fact that Punky Brewster didn't try to do that. In fact, I think it remains a great show for kids to watch because of how they handled such matters. I know if I have kids, I'll probably let them watch it.

Who knows? Soleil Moon Frye is now a mother of two herself, and she very well could let her children watch her as Punky. She had a lot of fans who enjoyed what she did, and I know that she was very much appreciative of every fan. That's why she decided to don the Punky costume once more as an adult. She wanted to have fun with it, but she also sent the message that she wasn't ashamed of her child actor past. Rather, she embraced it.

And I think that's awesome...no matter what random internet pot-stirrers say otherwise.