The Good, the Bad and the Salty

I just got over a really bad flu, well kinda. I'm still feeling a bit off. So I was in an extra-strength Tylenol haze for a better part of the week, and there wasn't much I could do but watch things. And I ended up having some strong opinions of said things. Mostly anger, a pure righteous anger. Though I do have a few that I really enjoyed to balance it out. 

I am mainly sharing this for entertainment purposes, but if I offend anyone I'm sorry these are just my ranty thoughts. And you guys seem to like when I unleash my uncensored thoughts. So it's basically just going to be... 

Oh and I'll probably be spoiling everything, so 

Spoilers!

Buffy Season Six 

 The Bad

So this is really what set me off. I love Buffy, I've been pretty vocal about that. I also used to be a pretty big Whedon fan, and while I still enjoy a lot of the things he created I no longer think highly of him. I used to think he was a feminist. Used to, I now don't think he understands feminism or females in general. 

He comes across as a bit of a prat.  

. My first point of reference for this is how he treats his female characters. He is awful to Buffy, the worst case of this is when her boyfriend cheats on her (More than once, mind you), and after finding out they get into a fight and breakup. Which seems like a very logical response to me. But shortly after Xander confronts Buffy and basically reams her out for ignoring Riley and driving him to cheat on her because she wasn't 'open enough' with him. The whole thing disturbed me, but Buffy immediately runs off to apologize. Not to mention her mother had just died, she's trying to deal with that and take care of Dawn. 

. I hate when women are blamed for men's actions, that is not okay.

. Also every time Buffy sleeps with someone, she gets punished for it in some way. Which is so sexist, just ugh.

Angel turns evil (like What? I like the Angelus arc but I digress)

Parker (he only wanted her as a  one-night stand)

Riley (cheats on her)

Spike (for some reason even though Spike is reformed, it's 'wrong' for her to sleep with him. Because unlike Angel he doesn't have a soul. I understand that she's using him, but I hate that he ruined what could have been a great enemies to lovers dynamic)

. He also has a recurring theme of using sexbots and or having guys trying to turn women into their sex-slaves and it's really not handled in a way that shows how wrong or awful it is, it's more often played for laughs. 

I could do a whole post on just him but I'm going to stop there. 

 The Good

. Spike

. The episodes Once More With Feeling and Tabula Rasa 

Bridgerton

The Bad

I watched this for costumes and Nicola Coughlan. I knew what it was rated so I went in knowing some of what to expect but yikes. 

. The main couple Daphne and Simon's whole relationship or rather lack of one.

. The fact that one of the main plot points is that Daphne doesn't know 'things' and Simon takes advantage of that. (Most pg way of putting it)

. Daphne asking questions and Simon giving her the most cringe-inducing answer

. I was expecting scenes but some were so long, they threw off my skip rhythm and I'm bitter. Most shows even MA ones take like 4-5 skips but one, in particular, took like 10 like calm down. 

. How every old guy was creepy, thanks for the trust issues.

. Daphne was as interesting as stale bread

. The sheer amount of sexual content for a time when it was scandalous to hold hands. 

The Good

. Eloise Bridgerton! I love her

. Chaotic sibling dynamics

. Penelope Feathetington (Nicola is insanely talented)

. The string covers of popular songs (I screamed when Bad Guy played)

. The costumes were stunning

.The sets and aesthetics

. Julia Andrew's voice as Mrs. Whistledown 

. Simon is quite nice to look at I suppose

Casino Royale

 The Good

. It's hard to think of anything actually but I suppose Daniel Craig, I like him

. Cinematography

. Le Chiffre, an iconic villain who weeps blood and has asthma (my favorite part)

. How Bond loses the first game and almost dies ( nice twist)

The Bad

Where to begin *cracks knuckles*

. bad editing made for lots of weird cuts

. Way too long 2:30 mins and it drags

. Vesper gets the poker game mansplained to her like she isn't a bloody accountant 

. starts with not one but two chase scenes that aren't really necessary to the plot

. toxic masculinity to the max

. every girl who comes into contact with Bond falls in love with him

. Falls in love with Vesper for no apparent reason goes as far as to even send a resignation letter for her

. The romance is stilted and lacks chemistry, he has more chemistry with this guy. Take from that what you will.

. The big standoff with the villain has Bond tied naked to a chair whilst umm beating him and the context is a bit weird. Le Chiffre also tells him he has a beautiful body before hitting him, and we don't have time to unpack all this so um moving on.

Quantum of Solace

 The Good

. It's shorter

. Daniel Craig

. M because Judi Dench

. There was probably some nice shots

. Bond was really murderous in this one

 The Bad

. The editing was really weird and choppy

. There's not one but two Bond Girls ( I hate bond girls)

. Forgettable villain 

. He's still sad about Vesper

. The title makes no sense with the movie (It's so pretentious)

. forgettable

. revenge plot where the girl gets to kill her family's killer but then needs rescuing straight after

. toxic masculinity yet again

. I might be wrong on this but Bond used his friend as a human shield then cried over his corpse. (okay)

Or maybe not cried but looked sad

Skyfall

Good

.  Bond shows more emotion here

.  He's aging and I kinda loved him struggling with it

.  His home in Scotland, I want to live there

.  M's "sons" fighting for her approval

.  Some gorgeous shots 

. Q, I hope he's in the next one

. more humor

Bad

. He has three girls in this one (And one I thought was going to be just a friend but no)

. The fake death scene ( So unnecessary) 

. Yet another villain ties Bond to a chair and starts stroking his chest and inner thighs and it's really creepy, wrong, and odd that the villains keep sexualizing him.

. Too long again

I know you're probably wondering why I keep watching these since it's clear I have issues with them. My only defense is I like Daniel Craig and was hoping they would get better as I went along which has been more or less true. I still have 'Spectre' and I'm kinda excited about the new one. 

I went in knowing James Bond movies tend to treat women abysmally and I guess I thought I've seen enough action movies to not be bothered by it but I was. The women are accessories nothing more, even Tom Cruise whose personal life I don't agree with makes movies where females get actual roles.  They need to try harder. 

I did find out that in 'No Time to Die' Ana de Armas who played Marta in 'Knives Out' is going to be the newest Bond Girl and while I was excited she was going to be in it, I can't imagine her in any kind of relationship with Bond, but of course, it has to go that way.

My fix, make Bond bi. It's 2021 and since you refuse to have two-dimensional female characters that have an actual rapport with him. This is what we're left with, it seems all the toxic masculinity had the opposite effect. 

Alice in Borderland

Did not know what to expect with this one. Turned out to be my favorite thing I've watched this year. So good! If you do watch it make sure to watch it subbed and not dubbed. 

 The Good

. friendship dynamics

. Karube ( I don't know why I love him so much... )

. The games are terrible, but super clever and make Hunger Games look kinda basic

. The psychological damage to the characters

. Strong female characters 

. Will break you emotionally 

. Intriguing  

. Twisty

. aesthetic and stunning

. all of the characters are layered and interesting even the antagonists 

. cinematography

. Chishiya, I want to know what his deal is. The man is sus, but I love him

 The Bad

. super violent, doesn't bother me but might bother someone

. has a couple unnecessary scenes ( a bit of nudity)

. an attempted rape scene (And the fact that Tumblr seems to be stanning the character who instigates it ewww)

. the psychological damage to the characters

. episode 3 for making me cry

Sorry for this kind of random post. I just had a lot of thoughts and feministic rage and nowhere else to drop it. Hope it's at least a bit entertaining.

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