(no subject)

[akilika.livejournal.com]

So, near as I can tell, the new fall season for a lot of shows starts at the end of this month! :D I was wondering which shows you folks were all looking forward to.

Me, I don't have a TV, and don't seem to have the attention span to watch TOO-too much over the web... but there are still two shows I'm looking VERY much forward to seeing start up again!


Once Upon a Time (second season starts September 30): The core concept of this one is a cool one--fairy-tale characters live in this world, utterly oblivious (mostly) to who they are and where they came from. Their one hope against the Evil Queen/Mayor is Emma Swan, a child born of the fairy-tale world but who came to the real world before the curse took effect--and who is destined to break the curse in her time.

It's a good concept, and I figured it'd last them a good while. What I DIDN'T realize was that they would take the whole bleeding concept, turn it on its head in the season one finale, and leave me totally uncertain of what was going to happen in Season 2. And if this doesn't sound like a good thing... IT IS.


What I like best about this show is that, despite flirting with Darker and Edgier, it still has a lot of heart and optimism. People get Killed Off for Real, many of the good guys have done very bad things, and the bad guys (so far) have a distressing tendency to come out on top for a good while...

...but True Love is the most powerful force in the universe. The good guys who did bad things--they're either atoning for it, or suffering for it, or... basically, there is an EXTREMELY clear idea that doing the Right Thing is important, and pays dividends. Even the bad guys, who seem in large part to be very powerful and successful as a result of the bad things they've done--it's clear they're suffering, too, as a direct result of their evil.

The Darker and Edgier, in short, seems to mostly be a way to raise the stakes and make the characters' journeys more strenuous; the concept that the Right Thing is the Right Thing, and the Wrong Thing may gain you temporary benefits but overall doesn't serve you in the least is still right on top.

Despite Everything Changing for Season 2, I have faith that these core concepts and themes will make it through. And frankly, these are some themes I find have been sorely lacking from MOST media for... quite a while. It's refreshing to get rid of the trendy Gray and Gray or Black and Gray morality for a while.


Which brings us to the other show I'm looking forward to...

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (third season starts... TBA, but the rumors have said sometime in August or September.)

This one's a little stranger to try to describe--depending on what episode you're looking at, it can be either an adventure series, where ponies with magical powers defeat the forces of darkness trying to destroy Equestria... or (more usually) a slice-of-life show featuring the characters trying to get through the day-to-day interpersonal struggles of life. I far favor the latter. The characters are honest, consistent, and likeable, the lessons down-to-earth and sincere.

And... okay, this is REALLY not a big part of the show. But I've actually been wanting to make a TRF post about this one for a while because, unlike most television I've seen, this one appears unabashedly pro-commerce.

Seriously! Take Applejack--a farmer with a southern accent who's portrayed as honest, hardworking, and ever-helpful (in other words, extremely positively--imagine that!) She's unabashed about how one of her primary goals is making lots of money, and it's never once demonized, either by the other characters or the universe at large.

In an episode about a land dispute between the ponies and the buffalo (stand-ins for Plains Indians), compromise is eventually reached... on the basis of trade. (This episode is disliked by a lot of fandom, seemingly for this very reason, but I adored it.)

And the farming family and the sales-and-distribution family appears to work very closely together, to the benefit of both. The sales-and-distribution-guy is called Filthy Rich, and has bags of money as his cutie-mark... but he seems to be a good guy. (Although the same can't be said of his spoiled daughter, admittedly.)


Not that it never falls down on the commerce aspect--the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 5000 episode had me banging my head on missing the obvious (much as it's still one of my favorite episodes)--but... much like True Love Conquering All and the Right Thing Being The Best Thing is something I didn't see much of on television before Once, commerce and business and sales Being a Good Thing is nearly absent.

So seeing it celebrated in My Little Pony is something that also makes me smile.



So anyway. That's what I'M looking forward to this season. What are YOU looking forward to?

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it . . .

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

If you get "PARADE" magazine in your newspaper, go look at the cover. If you don't, you can see the photo here. I took one look at it and said, right off, "Michelle Obama in pink frills. Must be an election year."

I live just outside D.C., where we're constantly seeing pictures of Mrs. Obama, and I promise you, pink frills are not her thing. (Actually, most of you probably know that anyway.) You never see her in ruffly pink tops and pleated pink skirts. Never ever ever, as Taylor Swift would say. Either she suddenly developed a strong affection for little-girl Easter dresses, or the Powers-That-Be -- the media, the party, the White House, the Obamas themselves, take your pick -- think that this is what America wants a First Lady to look like.

Which I think is a little sad. If that were really her style, okay, fine. Wear whatever makes you happy. But if it's not, don't pander.