Twilight is getting dim...

Heroes isn't the only fandom I am having issues with lately.

BTW - If you are crazy in love with Twilight please stop reading now. I know that people have different reactions to things and this is mine.

Lemme preface by saying I do not hate Twilight, but nor do I love it. Meyer has a more accomplished style of writing than some authors but she is nowhere near as clever, innovative and sophisticated a storyteller as J.K. Rowling. Of course, that is my opinion. However, I am not interested in writing a comparison of the books. My issues is with the last Twilight novel, Breaking Dawn.

Again, if you know me, you know that I am resistant to anything too new. I do not trust the judgement of the masses so it takes me rather a long time to catch up with the popular trends. (They have to prove themselves so to speak.) However, at everyone's instance I went ahead and read Twilight after the first film came out.

The books are cute enough as far as teenage vampire romance novels go. Like I said, not brilliant but thoroughly enjoyable. As of the fourth book however I have noticed a trend in Meyer's writing that really irritates me, the dreaded deus ex machina.

Bella is confronted with the tough choices in life that, in a less dramatic way, we all have to make. The author builds and builds and builds these events up and then suddenly, everything is cleared up by circumstances outside of Bella's control. More and more I see Bella not having to make those tough choices.

SPOILERS - You Have Been Warned

To name a few...

• Bella is worried about becoming a vampire and missing out on human experiences, i.e. pregnancy. Well, along come the god machine and Bella is magically pregnant with a baby on fast forward.
• Bella is worried about having to become a vampire because she'll have to leave her human life behind. Well once again deus ex machine to the rescue. She gets so destroyed by the baby that they have to make her a vampire to save her life. Cop out!
• Bella is worried because she'll have to tell her father she's marrying Edward. Her dad passes the responsibility to her mom who magically accepts the one things she has always warned Bella against because it seemed right. WTF...
• Bella is worried about having to spend a year of her life as a mindless newborn vampire but somehow she is magically immune.
• Bella is worried that her chosing Edward over Jacob is going to destroy their friendship (which she seems to hold dear.) However, as soon as she becomes a vampire Jacob suddenly falls out of love with her because he imprints on Bella's daughter. Seriously Meyer, what a let down. We spent two, if not three books, angsting about this romance only to have it magically erased? Very disappointing. Bella has made her choice. She chose Edward. She should have to live with that knowing what it will do to Jacob.

I found the fourth book filled with these escapes. Bella isn't having to make those tough choices and it really leave me unfulfilled as a reader.

Aside from that, I also feel that Bella!Vampire is a very unlikable character. As a vampire, Bella loses everything that made her charming, her clumsiness, her insecurities, her worries. Even her personality changes. She starts referring to Jacob as a "mutt" or "dog" and other derogatory terms. The only facet that remains of her original personality is her love for Edward and frankly, that isn't enough. Her love seems more like an obsessive attachment now than a true longing. It's becoming a cliche of itself.

At any rate, I have half the book. I really hope it wraps up cleanly or I will not be buying anymore books from Stephenie Meyer.

Heroes: Season 4 The Plot Holes Have Spring a Leak

This new season of Heroes is starting to worry me a bit.

I have two major areas of concern:
They are spending too much time on Claire, there is not enough character development and the series is not focused enough.

Three! I have three major areas of concern.

BTW - If you didn't get that, stop reading this and go watch Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition sketch, now.

Spoiler Warning

Concern 1: They are spending too much unnecessary time with Claire. The entire restaurant scene last night was a perfect example. What did we learn? Only that Claire wants to take control of her life and not have her dad helping her. Don't tell me, show me. All this extra time with Claire feels tacked on and lessens the importance of her characters. I love Claire and I find myself saying, "ugh another stupid Claire scene. Who cares?"

Concern 2: There is not enough character development lately. Again, last night during Matt Parkman's dialogue with Sylar the topic of love came up and Daphne wasn't even mentioned. That really lessened the reality of the character for me. It's very hard for me to exist in that world for that hour, so to speak, when they actions of the characters feels contrived. Like a plot point just to illustrate another facet. Did Matt really love her? Show me that. All I see is him flipping through women every time his circumstances change. And not just Greg's character. It seems circumstances change for all of them but they never seem to change. It feels like every season takes place in parallel dimension.

Concern 3: Because of issue one and two the series is starting to feel loose. The longer the series runs the more the plot holes start to leak. The characters are not as strong as they once were because the story doesn't give them a chance to grow, to learn, to change and the unnecessary concentration on nothing just emphasizes this. I love Heroes but unless they run a tighter ship this show is going to sink.

Disney might recast the role of Jack Sparrow

You can read more about this tragedy here on Screen Crave.

I can't image who they could cast to be Captain Jack? Who can play this role like J.D. can? I really hope Johnny changes his mind about this. I assume that he must have held Cook in high esteem but for fans of the PoTC trilogy his departure doesn't directly affect us, yet if JD doesn't play Jack or they just don't make the films the fans will be deprived. As selfish as it is to say, I really wish Johnny would take the role and do the best he can. It might not be as much fun as before but acting is his job, he shouldn't prioritized fun. After all, in the end, the fans are what make people famous.

Then again, it's easy to make judgements when I don't know the circumstances. From what I have ever read about JD, he doesn't seem the type to be affected by the actions of a lesser person. If Depp is this upset over Cook departure then Cook must have been a good man, and if this good man suddenly leaves Disney under mysterious circumstances then it makes Disney look really shady. In all honestly, I have had reservations about Disney every since that rat Isner took over. It just lost something.

But still, I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in JD. As much as he cared for Cook and as much as his departure reflects badly on Disney, it is ultimately the fans of the series who are going to lose out.

If anyone can get JD's ear, please remind him that millions of fans are anxiously waiting. Faithful fans will support his decision mo matter what, but I'm sure, like me, they can't help but feel let down.

Claire the lesbian...

Oh my gosh I hope this isn't true. If it is I will be so dissapointed.

Before I even begin let me say that I have nothing against lesbians. Some of my favorite characters of all time Utena and Haruka are gay. Putting aside the whole, "why don't they do this with male characters," feminest issue, what I am upset about is the fact that the writers (but I am looking at you Kring) seem to just be throwing this in because it's 'sexy.'

Gimme a break. Claire is not gay. She can't be making out with West in season three and then start exploring lesbians feelings with Gretchen a scant season later. She's never even had a serious boyfriend, how can she know she doesn't want that?

Claire is a seriously headstrong character but in this new season she's acting really wishy washy. I know she said she wanted to re-invent herself but this is not Claire. It's just plain OOC. Again, let me re-iterate. I am not against lesbians. If they wrote something OOC for any character I would be upset. I dont' see Claire being gay anymore than I can see HRG falling in love with Sylar. It just feels like a desperate, stupid move on the part of the writers to make the series more edgy.

This scenario is right up there with the last book of the Vampire Chronicles where Lestat discovers Jesus and reads the Bible. *ff look* Really people, get real. You can't go that far left from the original idea and expect fans to swallow it. I mean, at least Lestat had hundreds of years to change. Claire has just started university.

Still, nothing is absolute yet. In the preview for the next episode all we saw was Claire and Gretchen fighting so maybe the writers will get smart and completely drop this insulting plot line.

Little Prince Q

Does anyone else think that The Little Prince is actually a Q?

The Master Sword

My friend just sent me this picture. According to him, some guy commissioned a blacksmith in Scotland to make the Master Sword for him. It took one year and cost $3000. You can read more about it here.

I want a Legend of Zelda sword. I wouldn't mind a blond elf hanging around my house either.

Johnny Depp is re-thinking the 4th PoTC film

You can read more about this here and about Dick Cook himself here.

Wow, I hope JD doesn't leave the project because of this. He seems disappointed but I think if Ted and Terry have a solid script he should be okay.

Vacation in Destin

I am so tired.


My family and I got up at 3:00 this
morning to fly to Destin. We
rented a beach house for a week. Tomorrow will be great but today I was so tired I didn't even enjoy the lovely view.

Anyway, the first picture was the view from the plane as we descended to Florida. the lower one is a restaurant called Goatfeathers. The food was all right but the waitress was so harsh! Sher barked the orders and questioned what we ordered. I got some Perrier to drink and she asked me in the loud voice, "what?" Then, when she brought the water, she said here is your Perrier. Only she said Perrier with the worst French accent you have ever heard. Unbelievable. How can she be so insecure? I only ordered water was heaven's sake. Funny thing is her name is Amelia, which means "sweet."


The pictures above are the view from the patio. If I'm not too tired I'll try to take some pictures of the house tomorrow.

ZQ as L3

Does anyone else think that Zachary Quinto looks just like Lupin 3rd in this picture?

That man is so versatile. He just looks like everyone.

PoTC 4th Film Title Announced

The fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie will supposedly be called "On Stranger Tides." You can read more about the story on Slash Film. You can also see a snippet of Johnny Depp's appearence (as Captain Jack) at Disney's D23 Expo.

.

It's just disgusting how awesome Johnny Depp is. Truely.

Live Action Yu-Gi-Oh!

Wow, live action Yu-Gi-Oh could either be really awesome or really, really awful (think Dragon Ball.)

Get the full story on ANN.

Powerful Women are Bitchy Men

Watching the first season of Project Runway and I gotta say Wendy's behavior on the show really annoys me. Whether her over-the-top actions were faked or not is a matter of debate but what upsets me is that she feels she needs to be a bitch to get ahead.

I don't understand why women feel that they need to act either like bitches or men to get ahead. Why should a woman have to sacrifice her feminine traits to be accepted as a professional? It makes women who have more of the classically associated feminine traits, soft spoken, emotional driven, caring, etc. feel as if they can't compete in the "real world."

I realize, of course, that not all women behave like bitches or men, but no one can deny that there is a stigma out there that they should. You gotta be tough to make it big but you don't see men turning into vicious bastards or manufacturing false personalities to get ahead.

Selfish Selflessness

I wrote about this the other day on Twitter.

Can any act truly be selfless? (I define selfless as an act that does not benefit the person performing it.) Let's take the ultimate act of selflessness, self sacrifice. I'll use an example from the show Supernatural.

(BTW, if you haven't seen the show but intend to, I suggest you stop reading so you don't spoil anything.)

When Daddy Winchester gives up his soul to a demon in exchange for saving his dying son, most people would find that a completely selfless act. But for Winchester senior, the thought of living without his son is more painful than being tortured in hell. In other words, he would rather burn in hell forever than live a full human life without his kid. He has made a choice that benefits him as well.

Same thing applies when Dean gives up his soul to bring his brother back from the dead. Dean would prefer to give up his soul and go to hell rather than live without his little sib. He chose the alternative he can more easily live with.

Of course none of this really matters in the real world. Whether an act of selflessness was completely altruistic is irrelevant. The act is so grand that the motives are seldom questioned. However, when you are talking about the psychology of non-human entities, i.e. mazoku, it comes into play.

Mazoku are a race of supernatural beings usually found in Japanese legends. In this example I will use Xelloss from the anime Slayers.)

Mazoku are are similar in nature to sociopaths (you can read more about the comparison on my live journal entry Mazoku as Sociopaths.) They can feel only a limited range of emotions, more specifically only selflish ones. Mazoku are absolutely incapable of performing a selfless act because it will destroy them. (I still have my doubts on this. Why then did Xelloss save Phyria when the cave was collapsing?) But if they can justify to themselves that any and every act is, in essence, selfish then they will be free to feel the entire range of human emotions. (In theory anyway.)

Then again perhaps a mazoku can only experience those emotions that always benefit them more than others. This is getting kit picky but you get the idea.

Interesting, yes, no?

Random Thought: Heroes & Morality

Most of my thoughts tend to come out at night, more specifically about five minute after I shut my eyes. I don't know why it is that my neurons start firing after I've officially declared myself dead to the world. Maybe God has a very dry sense of humor.

At any rate I was thinking about the NBC show Heroes. If the law of the land says you must help a person in danger as long as you don't harm yourself (the good Samaritan law) then would that make someone like Claire, who can never get injured, responsible for all the lives she physically reach in time? Or if Hiro can teleport anyplace in the world is he responsible for the lives of starving people in Africa? (My apologises Africa. I realize people on other continents are starving as well but you still sound the most cliche.) If you can save someone but chose not too are you accountable for their life? Let's say that Nathan ignores an obviously distressed person stuck on a roof in New Orleans because he has to get to a meeting. If that person dies, does that make him responsible? Should he be held to the good Samaritan standard just because of his abilities?

It's tricky, yes, no?

Welcome to Random Fandom

My name is ZZ and I am writing this blog, Random Fandom, mainly for myself. If I amuse you feel free to follow me on Twitter, LiveJournal, FACEBOOK or check out my Web site (currently under construction.)

Okay check out my Web site later.

Anyway, I probably won't have much up at the moment because I am running around like crazy looking for an apartment and a job in L.A. Moving (hopefully) at the end of October.

Wish me luck!