Month: February 2016

Move over Bond, there’s a new tough guy in town

Tony Thompson, 2 Comments

Idris Elba has a lot of fans and many of them would love to see him play the iconic superspy, James Bond. Of course there is vehement opposition to that idea, bc many people are wedded to the idea of their beloved fictional character remaining white bc reasons that I’ve yet to see elucidated. Never fear though. Come April 22, if you like the idea of Elba playing a superspy, you might want to check out “Bastille Day” where Elba plays an ex-CIA agent attempting to thwart a terrorist plot aimed at Bastille Day protesters.

(h/t Black Nerd Problems)

Move over Bond, there’s a new tough guy in town
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Argumentum ad dictionary, may you die a quick death

Tony Thompson, ,

A friend on Facebook reposted this Tumblr meme today. As I read it, I nodded along, thinking “yup, pretty much”. Racism and sexism in the United States are systems of oppression that discriminate against and marginalize People of Color and women.  There’s nothing controversial there. A group of individuals holding prejudiced or bigoted beliefs who have the ability and resources to see their beliefs preserved in the cultural fabric, leading to the oppression of specific social groups at all levels of society-that’s what makes something a system of oppression. It is that system that makes racism and sexism so awful. A no-brainer, eh? To *some* of us it is. To others, all of that is highly controversial.

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Argumentum ad dictionary, may you die a quick death

I’m not seeing anything fabulous here

Tony Thompson, , 3 Comments

I hope my gay card doesn’t get revoked, but I know nothing about Absolutely Fabulous, other than the fact that it’s a highly regarded television series in the gay community. When I heard of this trailer, I thought I’d check it out. Having done so, I’m thoroughly underwhelmed. This trailer contained absolutely nothing that makes me want to see the movie. Meh. Maybe it’s not for me. Heeeeeeey, maybe we gay people don’t share the same tastes and aren’t interchangeable after all!

I’m not seeing anything fabulous here

It’s 2016 and we’re still being treated as less than human

Tony Thompson, 3 Comments

There was a time not long ago, we had to hide the ways

we showed our love for one another, cuz people hated the gays.

Hounded by police we were, all across the nation,

told by leaders of the church–“you’re an abomination”.

Cast out by our families, and forced onto the street,

to lives of drugs and violence, to disease that can’t be beat.

Discrimination and bigotry, we had to face it all,

told by haters we would cause this great country’s fall.

As the years went by however, things began to change.

people started knowing us, and we became less strange.

On the big screen and the small, we began to be accepted,

by our friends and family, we were less rejected.

Now here we are in 2016, and everything is great,

free to marry, free to love, we’ve said goodbye to hate.

Right?

Mmmmmm, no. Some folks (::ahem:: Manny Pacquiao ::ahem::) are keeping the hate alive:

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It’s 2016 and we’re still being treated as less than human

I am over the requests for civility in the wake of Scalia’s death

Tony Thompson, , 2 Comments

For those in the United States, you had to be living under a rock to have missed out on the news that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia recently passed away. The 79-year-old judge was found dead at a West Texas hunting lodge (and apparently his death is part of a ::snicker:: liberal conspiracy by President Obama). Over the weekend, I read a great many comments regarding his death, from those who expressed sorrow at his passing to those who were glad that he died. I also read quite a few comments and articles from people lambasting those who expressed joy over his passing and arguing that people ought not “speak ill of the dead”. I have to say, at first I found it disconcerting that people were basically cheering that a man died. But I read what people were saying and realized people had legitimate grievances with the man. These grievances include:

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I am over the requests for civility in the wake of Scalia’s death

A different look at Africa

Tony Thompson, 1 Comment

To hear people in the West tell it, Africa is the home of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. In the United States, media coverage of the world’s second-largest continent has fueled the perception that Africa is a land of AIDS, famine, and terrorism.  While this negative coverage does showcase aspects of Africa, it is far from the full story. Unfortunately, there is not enough coverage of the complex cultures found throughout Africa. This can be problematic for parents who wish to educate their children on African culture. In 2012, Adamu Naziri, a Nigerian animator, fed up with the limited (and negative) coverage of Africa, decided to create an educational cartoon to teach children about African culture. Enter: Bino and Pino.

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A different look at Africa

The week in racism 2.12.16

Tony Thompson,

Graphic_Stop_Racism
Racial inequality has existed in the United States since the founding of this country. The institution of slavery had a profound and lasting effect on anti-black racism-an effect that produced ripples that continue to affect our country in the twenty-first century (and affect other racial/ethnic groups, not just African-Americans). From individual examples of race-based bigotry that occur between people to policies within corporations that deny equitable treatment to People of Color to initiatives within law enforcement that have a disproportionately negative impact upon People of Color to so much more, racism in the United States, contrary to the beliefs of some people, continues to exist. As with other posts of a similar nature (Police Behaving Badly, Irresponsible Gun Owners of America), I’ll be using this space to post stories and articles relating to the issue of race in the United States.

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The week in racism 2.12.16

Icelandic markets to demographics other than heterosexual men

Tony Thompson, 2 Comments

It’s no secret that all across society, sex is used to sell products and services. Drive down the highway. Power up the computer. Turn on the television. From overt images that mimic sexual acts to sell food or vehicles to seemingly innocuous images used to sell body enhancement products, our society is permeated with suggestive or provocative images of sex.  What continues to strike me in our culture though, is that so often, sexual imagery in advertising is tailored to the heterosexual male gaze. Where is the marketing for people *other* than hetero men?

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Icelandic markets to demographics other than heterosexual men

A pathetic attempt at historical revisionism

Tony Thompson, , , 2 Comments

A pro-Confederate flag group on Facebook put up this deeply ridiculous meme recently. There are a few problems I can see with the it. First off…oh, you know what, let’s be fair here. I don’t want to be so overly critical of the meme maker that I neglect to offer them praise. I mean they totally deserve a slow clap or two for their ability to Google ‘how many people died in the Civil War‘ and come up with 620,000. That level of talent just boggles the mind.  So yeah, let’s take a moment to congratulate the meme maker here for the ability to find a number related to the Civil War. Now, about those problems with the meme.

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A pathetic attempt at historical revisionism

Excitement level: Tepid

Tony Thompson, , , 2 Comments

My love of superheroes extends beyond comic books and trade paperbacks. I like playing superhero video games (my favorite is  Spider-Man: Web of Shadows), watching superhero television shows (CW’s The Flash is arguably my favorite), and of course, watching superhero movies. I love me some superhero movies. For the longest time, my favorite was Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 (yes, I’m a fan of Tobey-as-Spider-Man although Andrew Garfield did a good job too), but it was supplanted by the first Avengers movie, which hit *all* the notes I was looking for in a superhero movie (it didn’t hurt that my favorite comic book has been the Avengers for the last several decades). IMO, it was damn near perfect (it could have used another woman or two on the team, and at least one PoC). Aside from Avengers, there have been multiple superhero movies I consider among my all-time favorites, such as The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, and X-Men: First Class. I really wanted to add Man of Steel to that list but I can’t. And I’m worried that I won’t be able to add Batman vs Superman to that list either bc based on Zack Snyder’s work on Man of Steel, my excitement level is lukewarm.

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Excitement level: Tepid