Time went on. The OI-2016 is upon us – I just watched
the opening, very dramatic and colorful. Watching it, one can forget that in
reality, the Olympic Games are on the downswing – they are growing more
dramatic and colorful, and less relevant for the rest of the world…in the
positive meaning of the word ‘relevant’.
In the negative meaning… ever since the winter
Olympics of the late 1990s, the Russians have been at odds with the Americans
and Canadians, and that alone had almost ruined every Olympics ever since. It
is a good thing that they did come to Rio in August 2016 – otherwise, the diplomatic
damage between RF and ‘the West’ would have become even worse. As it is, just
look/search online for former Olympic towns/stadiums/etc. It is not an
optimistic picture.
(Mind you, what is currently going on in the U.S.
politics in general is already bad enough, but I have no interest to discuss
it. Period.)
In other news, the ‘Harry Potter’ play has come into
the light. What can be said about it? It is a play, a theatrical performance,
and it is its’ actors that give it meaning and life. So far, they are all
preforming wonderfully, so ‘HPACC’ is a hit. Curiously, however, there is
little discussion about it so far, especially among the fans – possibly, because
they are pissed at Rowling and co. about their latest stance with Hermione?
No, it is not just
about the racial matter – at least not how a member of a Trump rally would go
at it. The catch is that Noma Dumezweni just does not look like a Hermione, no
more than Paul Thornley looks like a Ron: if they’d been cast as some ‘apocryphal’
wizarding couple, who got caught in a Potter-Malfoy-Weasley-Granger mess, they
would’ve accomplished that, no problem; as it was, the promotional photos had
to explain that they were Ron and Hermy, and not someone else.
Moreover, as for the racial matters? Cherrelle Skeete
was a much better Hermione than Noma, and I am not just talking about age, but
about attitude and general Hermione-ss. If she had been playing Hermy in the
movies instead of Emma Stone, (hypothetically), then the fans would not have
had so many issues accepting Noma as Hermione and Cherrelle as Rose, for
example.
Yes, the issue of political correctness was present
there, back when Noma and Cherrelle were cast in the first place. Yes, J.R.
showed that she was willing to screw her canon to get on top – there is a good
reason why her Mary-Sue/self-insert is Rita Skeeter, one of the less pleasant
characters of HP world. However, you know what? Rita is not in ‘HPACC’, so let
us just move forth.
‘HPACC’ gives some closure to the Malfoys and the
Golden Trio (Scorpius is a Malfoy, sophisticated and clever; Albus-Severus is a
Potter, brave and straightforward; and Rose is both a Granger and a Weasley,
she’s Hermione with Ron’s values), but again, they all are just characters; if
the scriptwriters had wanted, they could’ve shipped Scorpius with Polly Chapman,
for example, by the end of the play, and no one would’ve been the wiser – of course
this is what fanfic is for, but for the moment ‘HPACC’ isn’t given any personal
fanfics, not yet.
Finally, Delphi. Apparently, she is the daughter of
You-Know-Who and Bellatrix. Can she be any more cliché? Fans were discussing
the possibility of the abovementioned pair having a child (or several) for a
while, and they had been shipping Bellatrix and Voldemort even longer. Delphi
is the ‘easy’ way out, a fanservice for the HP fans, which was accepted, or
rejected, depending on the fan.
And yes, Rowling’s heyday is past – at least until the
first ‘Magical Beasts…’ film gets aired. Yes, because she alone did not write ‘HPACC’,
it is a fan-fiction as much as anything, albeit officially sanctioned/allowed
by Rowling herself. Yes, there is a fan-level closure for Scorpius and Rose,
for Harry and his youngest son – so what? The reviews are good, the ratings are
good and the HP fans are generally enjoying it – good for them. Of course, the fans
are also enjoying DC’s ‘Suicide Squad’ – good for them! It is the first DC
movie that is not ripping off the plot of a Marvel movie. Maybe there is hope
for DC yet, though judging by the trailers of ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Justice League’,
the bad guys might need to save the day more literally than anyone would intend
them to do so.
(And yeah, apparently Diana Prince/Wonder Woman is
fighting in WWI rather than in WWII, as Cap has done. Good for her!)
Moreover, speaking of Marvel, AoS (the show) got a new
director: Coulson got demoted! Jason O’Mara will be playing the new director.
Judging by his filmography, (and speaking of DC), the last few films were animated,
straight-to-video films of Batman (Bruce Wayne) as he interacted with Damian
(his son by Talia al-Ghul). For Jason to be playing live a new character just
might be a big break for him, so let us wish him good luck!
In addition, as for the in-show dynamics between the
characters? Judging by the first half of S3, (especially by the first episode
of the season), Lincoln and Daisy were supposed to be made and to defeat their
enemies (including Hive?) together. However, Luke (who played Lincoln on AoS)
decided that he would rather work with the cast of ‘Blindspot’ so Lincoln got
killed and Coulson (Clarke Gregg) had to be saved, because Joey, (well, the
actor who plays him), just doesn’t have the same oomph.
I feel sorry for that actor. It is even more possible
that it was his character (Joey) who was supposed to die and save the rest of
the team, including Lincoln. However, because Luke left, saving Lincoln
suddenly became unnecessary, so the scriptwriters tied up a loose end – and probably
messed up S4 for the audiences, the cast, etc. S3 was a mess-up of S2,
especially in the second part; there were some references to the greater MCU,
that did nothing; and the opening episode just does not work with the rest of
S3 anymore…
So. The ‘Harry Potter’ fandom is slowing down, but not
very much; the DC movie fandom is coming together at last; and the general Marvel
fandom is still dealing with the mess that is AoS. They should have kept ‘Agent
Carter’ as their representative TV series instead.
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