This is just a little blog I add bits and bobs to from time to time, as an aspiring writer its just a means of practicing, so yeah enjoy those who are actually reading this.
Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Hot Girls Wanted A.K.A sex is awful
German aristocrat Otto Von Bismarck once said 'Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made' - The implication being that if you see behind the scenes of every day things that form part of our lives you will form differing opinions of it. If you see how a sausage is packed with god knows how many different types of meat you wont want to eat it.
Now admittedly the law part of that quote is probably a much less disgusting metaphor, however I think having watched the documentary Hot Girls Wanted I feel like its appropriate.
Sorry, just a little segway here, that intro was clever wasn't it, I mean I used metaphor, I quoted a historical German politician and I feel like I made a pretty apt comparison. Just sit back in awe at my insight.
Done? OK I'll get on with talking about the documentary.
The film itself came out in early 2015 so I am probably a little late to the party, but I didn't actually know it existed until a couple of days ago when someone I know spoke about it.
The actual content of the documentary is fairly straightforward. It follows the lives of some new female porn stars, specifically teenagers between 18 and 19 years old. All of these girls are found through Craigslist by a guy called Riley who simply advertises for 'Hot Girls' - hence the title - by offering them a free flight and a promise of lots of money and good sex. Many of these girls arrive from small town America to pursue a career in something known as pro - amateur porn, which is what it sounds like, professional porn, made to look like it stars amateurs.
Now, to get away from the actual content of the documentary briefly, I will say that I have watched porn before, I am not a prude who thinks its should all be banned and that all these women are being exploited. However returning to my metaphor, after watching this and seeing what these young girls go through, it has managed to make sex look like the most unappealing thing imaginable.
A lot of the girls featured in the documentary were very attractive, they seemed fairly happy with the life they had chosen and they weren't the stereotypical dumb girl that you would probably expect to see.
There is a lot of talk about female empowerment and liberation in the documentary, which is an argument often seen in porn. Its a fair one in my opinion, a persons choice is their own and if a woman - or anybody for that matter - chooses to do porn then fair enough, however I felt myself being really challenged by this documentary because despite these girls choosing what they do, it really really reallllllllllllly seemed like pure exploitation. For example, according to the various facts presented in the film, a large part of the porn market is something ill paraphrase as 'abusive porn'. These are films in which a girl is maybe tied down and fucked, or forced to give a guy a blowjob until she vomits and then has to lick it up afterwards.... So yeah, I've honestly never seen something like that, but what the fuck! I mean, in the documentary the girls defend this type of porn by simply saying its acting and if someone wants to pay them for a short amount of discomfort then more fool them. One girl even said, she would rather someone watch her acting as if she is getting assaulted then have them go out and really hurt someone. Again that's a good point I suppose, but I just cannot suspend myself from the fact that these girls are being abused, acting or not. In fact, one girl was speaking after a forced blowjob scene and she comments on how did she didn't vomit because she didn't eat breakfast and so nothing came up. Now, I just cant see how that scenario is OK ever? Seriously, whether the guy really intends to hurt her is surely irrelevant? I don't know, I just found it really fucked up, and this girl was only 18 if I remember right. At 26 I don't think I am old enough to really judge a young person, as I haven't really 'lived' enough, but I felt genuinely concerned for her well being.
That to me is the main aim of the documentary and I am full of praise for the way Jim Bauer and Ronna Gradus (the directors) handle it. The film is never gratuitous, if people who haven't seen it are expecting some free nudity, then you will be disappointed. The focus really is on the girls and their struggle to justify what they do, and I am not talking from a 'moral - all porn is bad' sort of way, but more in the sense that the girls seem to struggle with the fact that they have a 'shelf life'. By the end of the film, 2 of the girls who feature have left the industry after less than a few months of being porn stars, and its indicated throughout that this isn't unusual. Porn really does seem to have a revolving door policy when it comes to women especially and then the girls are just discarded. Fortunately for the girls who leave there is some hope and the audience isn't left completely dejected, but still.
Overall I think Hot Girls Wanted should be seen because if anything it exposes more about these women than any porn scene possibly could. I realise I probably sound like a pretentious twat and maybe it comes across that I am trying to tell women what they should be doing with their bodies, but honestly that couldn't be further from the truth. Like I said, I appreciate that some people will make choices that I or others cant understand, but I don't think that means I am not allowed to talk about those choices if they seem detrimental to seemingly good people.
Anyway, sorry this blog is so long, I could have gone on and on (that probably shows, considering how sloppily this is written) But I just think this is an important documentary on a divisive subject that approaches its material objectively and with care for its participants.
Byesey bye!
Sunday, 17 January 2016
The Revenant A.K.A Leo Di Caprio's Christmas adventure.
Leo's face when Fassbender gets the Oscar for playing a rich asshole.
So! Here we go, my first movie review in about 5 years or so. I bet you are excited aren't you? Yes you are, but please take your hands out of your trousers until the end at least you disgusting person.
Oh, and by the way, SPOILERS ahead.
Set in the United States during the period where it was like Australia today (crazy temperatures, every animal looking to kill you) the story focuses predominantly on Hugh Glass (Leo Di Caprio) a fur trapper with a half native American son. Almost immediately Glass and the rest of the expedition he is part of are attacked by a tribe of Arikara Native Americans who want to steal the fur for themselves. Outnumbered Glass and a few of the party escape, amongst them is John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) who is much more concerned with getting the furs back to wherever they need to go.
Once they are safely away from the hostiles the group decides to stash some of their payload to return at a later date, much to the annoyance of Fitzgerald who insists that they are wasting time and basically attempts to undermine the authority of everyone he can, including the Captain of the expedition Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson).
Things take a turn for the worst as Glass is mauled by a bear and left close to death. Once it is realised that it is too hazardous to carry an injured man, Henry asks for volunteers to stay behind with Glass and give him a proper burial when the time comes. Fitzgerald as well as Jim Bridger (Will Poulter) and Glass's son Hawk (Forest Goodluck) remain with Glass. Fitzgerald though decides it would best to kill Glass and get it over with, only to be stopped by Hawk who gets stabbed to death for his efforts. With Hawk dead, Fitzgerald persuades Bridger to leave and Glass is left for dead, only to survive and eventually seek his revenge.
All in all I would have to say that this movie lived up to the hype surrounding it. When I first saw the trailer I did wonder if this was your typical Oscar bait, and there probably is an element of that, however not enough that it distracts from the actual film itself.
Innaritu is quickly establishing himself as one of the worlds most notable directors and from this film its quite easy to see why. The direction is smooth and sensitive to the subject material and the use of natural lighting adds to the immersion and sympathy for Glass's struggle. Innaritu doesn't seem afraid to go all out for a scene to get the best reaction from his actors and by proxy the audience. I am thinking in particular of the scene where Glass sleeps inside a dead horse for warmth.
In terms of the acting its fair to say that this is probably Di Caprio's best performance for a while. He is never bad, but I think this film probably will earn him his Oscar once and for all. If not I really feel worried for the guys health, I mean he ate an actual bison liver for goodness sake! Just let him have the statue!
Other than that the rest of the cast do a great job too. Tom Hardy really excels at playing the villain in general and this is no exception. He is mean and relentless in his douchebaggery he really gives Di Caprio a run for his money, I wouldn't be surprised if he got the Oscar nod as well.
If there were any criticisms they would be minor ones like the films run time which stands at 2 hours and 36 minutes. I just felt that it really didn't need to be that long, I was never bored by it, but it felt as if it was only that long to justify the scale of the movie rather than because it had a complicated story to tell.
There were also some problems with the sound, though this may have just been a problem with the cinema I saw it in, but often when the Native Americans spoke the dialogue didnt match up with their mouths.
In conclusion then I would definitely recommend this film, its perhaps not for the squeamish, but everyone else is safe.
Oh and p.s. How many yacths must Domhnall Gleeson's agent have now. That's Ex Machina, Brooklyn, Star Wars and now The Revenant in the last year or so!
Bye now
So! Here we go, my first movie review in about 5 years or so. I bet you are excited aren't you? Yes you are, but please take your hands out of your trousers until the end at least you disgusting person.
Oh, and by the way, SPOILERS ahead.
Set in the United States during the period where it was like Australia today (crazy temperatures, every animal looking to kill you) the story focuses predominantly on Hugh Glass (Leo Di Caprio) a fur trapper with a half native American son. Almost immediately Glass and the rest of the expedition he is part of are attacked by a tribe of Arikara Native Americans who want to steal the fur for themselves. Outnumbered Glass and a few of the party escape, amongst them is John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) who is much more concerned with getting the furs back to wherever they need to go.
Once they are safely away from the hostiles the group decides to stash some of their payload to return at a later date, much to the annoyance of Fitzgerald who insists that they are wasting time and basically attempts to undermine the authority of everyone he can, including the Captain of the expedition Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson).
Things take a turn for the worst as Glass is mauled by a bear and left close to death. Once it is realised that it is too hazardous to carry an injured man, Henry asks for volunteers to stay behind with Glass and give him a proper burial when the time comes. Fitzgerald as well as Jim Bridger (Will Poulter) and Glass's son Hawk (Forest Goodluck) remain with Glass. Fitzgerald though decides it would best to kill Glass and get it over with, only to be stopped by Hawk who gets stabbed to death for his efforts. With Hawk dead, Fitzgerald persuades Bridger to leave and Glass is left for dead, only to survive and eventually seek his revenge.
All in all I would have to say that this movie lived up to the hype surrounding it. When I first saw the trailer I did wonder if this was your typical Oscar bait, and there probably is an element of that, however not enough that it distracts from the actual film itself.
Innaritu is quickly establishing himself as one of the worlds most notable directors and from this film its quite easy to see why. The direction is smooth and sensitive to the subject material and the use of natural lighting adds to the immersion and sympathy for Glass's struggle. Innaritu doesn't seem afraid to go all out for a scene to get the best reaction from his actors and by proxy the audience. I am thinking in particular of the scene where Glass sleeps inside a dead horse for warmth.
In terms of the acting its fair to say that this is probably Di Caprio's best performance for a while. He is never bad, but I think this film probably will earn him his Oscar once and for all. If not I really feel worried for the guys health, I mean he ate an actual bison liver for goodness sake! Just let him have the statue!
Other than that the rest of the cast do a great job too. Tom Hardy really excels at playing the villain in general and this is no exception. He is mean and relentless in his douchebaggery he really gives Di Caprio a run for his money, I wouldn't be surprised if he got the Oscar nod as well.
If there were any criticisms they would be minor ones like the films run time which stands at 2 hours and 36 minutes. I just felt that it really didn't need to be that long, I was never bored by it, but it felt as if it was only that long to justify the scale of the movie rather than because it had a complicated story to tell.
There were also some problems with the sound, though this may have just been a problem with the cinema I saw it in, but often when the Native Americans spoke the dialogue didnt match up with their mouths.
In conclusion then I would definitely recommend this film, its perhaps not for the squeamish, but everyone else is safe.
Oh and p.s. How many yacths must Domhnall Gleeson's agent have now. That's Ex Machina, Brooklyn, Star Wars and now The Revenant in the last year or so!
Bye now
Wednesday, 13 January 2016
Foreign Cinema!
Hey there!
So, I like foreign films, now, when I say foreign I am talking about films that are made and produced in a language other than English. So despite the United States technically being a foreign country for me the films I am referring to are the ones that require subtitles to understand the dialogue and despite what this lady above says I have plenty of time fo dat.
Why do I love foreign films? Well for one it makes me better than you, I would much rather watch a Swedish horror film about a child vampire than watch Chris Evans and his massive breasts CGI punch a load of villains I don't care about in a Captain America movie. I am being facetious of course, but only a tad.
To be honest I think the main reason people avoid subtitles is the view that I just jokingly adhered to above. There is a general attachment of pretension to films that use subtitles. People feel as if the filmmakers are trying to separate the less intellectual audience members by making them read instead of sitting through, oh I don't know, a Michael Bay movie about watches that explode (not the best example, but there is a watch on my desk). Anyway, this is what puts people off I am sure of it. My love for foreign cinema has seen the phrase arty farty thrown my way, always in jest, but yet I think this is what foreign cinema has to deal with in terms of a wider audience response.
Then again, maybe people feel like they cant experience the necessary escapism because they are being forced to concentrate harder than perhaps they normally would. Though my response would be that surely the heightened concentration helps you to become even more immersed because you are forced to enter into a cinematic space where there are no distractions to stop you reading the dialogue. This for me is one of the most appealing things about subtitled films. Admittedly I used to avoid them because I couldn't be bothered. Much like a puppy I can have a rather short attention span, often when watching an English language film, regardless of whether I am enjoying it or not I will drift off onto my phone and take my eyes away from the screen. I can still hear whats going on so I probably wont miss much, but at the same time I get annoyed at myself for not paying more attention.
However contrast this with foreign film and I am a totally different spectator. When there are subtitles to be read drifting off is not an option because one missed sentence can really take you out of the film and leave you wondering whats happening. By concentrating harder I feel like I get more out of the film. I can better understand the nuances and motivations of the characters and appreciate the themes and importance of the plot.
Crucially it has also led to a much better appreciation for language itself. Despite not speaking a second language, watching foreign films has really helped me see just how amazing human language is. It might not seem true, but there really is a difference between hearing something said in English and hearing it said in French. Even the stereotypically harsher languages such as Russian or German become poetic when used the right way.
Above all else, foreign cinema has given me a much better understanding of film as a whole, it has taken away some of the restrictions that I once had about the types of films that I saw and opened up a whole new cinematic world to me, and I would implore others to explore films worldwide for that very reason.
I thought here I would add a short list of foreign films that I have enjoyed that are well worth a watch:
13 Minutes AKA - Elser – Er hätte die Welt verändert - German
The Raid 1&2 - Indonesian
Let the right one In - Swedish
Ju - On AKA The Grudge - Japanese
Tsotsi - South African
City of God - Brazilian
Breathless AKA A bout de souffle - French
Oldboy - Korean
Y Tu Mama Tambien - Mexican
L'Aventura - Italian
Taxi - Jafar Panahi's Taxi - Iranian - Haven't actually seen this yet, but its supposed to be amazing.
There are more, but I think that's a good list to get you going.
Adios!
Monday, 11 January 2016
Uh oh, here we go again
Guess who? (don’t just read my name or personal description, it ruins the game)
I’m back, of course this was hotly anticipated, probably, someone must have wondered where I went, or at least I like to think so. Fact is I have been pursuing other interests…. For four years. I got my masters in film, went on holiday, played a lot of XBOX, but most importantly I watched A LOT of movies and having decided that I want to get paid to do that, or at least have someone other than myself read my reviews, I am starting up my blog again. I can’t promise how regular the updates will be because unfortunately in those 4 years I was unable to perfect my future telling device. At the moment it just makes toast, don’t ask me how, like I said I couldn’t perfect it. Any who, at various points I’ll try and add things for people to read, or to see the link on Facebook, like it and then not read (hey I don’t judge) and maybe just maybe my stupid writing will get someone’s attention and they will literally run through fire to hear me impart my *wisdom*
Cheers Andrew
(I am saying cheers from me here by the way, I am not just thanking myself)
*Wisdom not guaranteed*
I’m back, of course this was hotly anticipated, probably, someone must have wondered where I went, or at least I like to think so. Fact is I have been pursuing other interests…. For four years. I got my masters in film, went on holiday, played a lot of XBOX, but most importantly I watched A LOT of movies and having decided that I want to get paid to do that, or at least have someone other than myself read my reviews, I am starting up my blog again. I can’t promise how regular the updates will be because unfortunately in those 4 years I was unable to perfect my future telling device. At the moment it just makes toast, don’t ask me how, like I said I couldn’t perfect it. Any who, at various points I’ll try and add things for people to read, or to see the link on Facebook, like it and then not read (hey I don’t judge) and maybe just maybe my stupid writing will get someone’s attention and they will literally run through fire to hear me impart my *wisdom*
Cheers Andrew
(I am saying cheers from me here by the way, I am not just thanking myself)
*Wisdom not guaranteed*
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
The long awaited Amanda blog
So hello avid readers and people who have accidentally
stumbled across my blog and are just reading the first sentence to see what its
about, you can go now.
Some of you may remember that I wrote a blog about a year
ago about friendship, in it I described the difficulty I had had in making
friends whilst still at school and how I had made some new ones once I started
university. The problem with that is that I kinda sorta forgot to mention
someone, this someone happens to be one of my closest friends and I literally
cant believe that I forgot about her. The only excuse I can I can offer is that
I wrote the last blog in about ten minutes and It was mainly about people who I
had seen that day, I am sticking to that excuse Amanda so please don’t hurt me.
Anywayyyys as I said the person I am talking about is called
Amanda and I have literally known her forever, like seriously man. Our parents
were friends before we were both born and so we technically knew each other
from when we were babies, though I can’t quite remember that because I have
pushed most of the childhood memories out of my brain and replaced them with
funny cat videos. What I do remember however is that I always liked Amanda,
however I will admit this now, I was always a little bit scared of her because
she was a girl, there I said it! I was always really shy around girls when I
was younger and so spending any extended amount of time with them which I often
did with Amanda wasn't easy. However as I have got older it turns out that I
much prefer hanging out with women anyway, though not in a gay way, sorry boys…
I also remember the many times we would spend around each
other’s houses, normally on New Year’s Eve, it became sort of a tradition and
it always made the New Year that bit more special J
Amanda is literally one of the easiest people to get along
with that I know, first things first she appreciates my geekiness and that fact
that I am not really that cool, which is just perfect for me because honestly I
am kind a nerd, not that I mind that though because nerds will inherit the
earth one day. She also for some reason finds me funny, now I don’t know if she
takes ecstasy every time she talks to me, or she is just fake laughing but
either way I certainly appreciate the sentiment, I am a bit like Chandler from
friends and its important for me to be funny even though I'm not actually that
funny, its kind of a vicious circle really. So Amanda I love the fact that you
laugh for me and you must keep it up.
Oh also recently I learned that I can drink you under the
table, after four glasses of wine you were pretty drunk, whereas I reckon I
could have driven and operated heavy machinery if I wanted to.
I'm sure I have forgotten some things, but my memory isn't what it used to be, and I am sure you will remind me of them and make me
recognise my shame for not remembering, such as the time I didn't invite you to
see Lee Evans which wasn't by choice, but lets not get into that again. There
can always be an Amanda blog part 2 anyway, maybe even 3 or 4 even 5, the
numbers are endless...
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Saturday, 6 October 2012
'Battle Born' I don't have a pun
Hello everyone, I thought I might do a lickle album review
for you is that OK with you? Oh good that’s excellent, right well I better
bloody get on with it then. I thought I would review the new Killers album ‘Battle
Born’ because that seems like the sort of album that the cool kids are
listening to these days, at least I that’s what I think they were saying as I eavesdropped
on them at the bus stop, but I digress let’s get on with it.
I won’t bother comparing this to their previous albums
because (A. I don’t really see the point of doing that and (B. I haven’t listened
to any of their other albums in a while and I can’t remember them that well off
the top of my head and I am also too lazy to listen to them all again. None of
this should matter however as I simply want to review the album as a standalone
record.
First off there is the album cover, it’s what I would
consider a pretty bog standard rock album cover, a car driving down a highway
following a horse. Despite it being rather cliché I do quite like it and to be
honest I never notice stuff like that so it must be pretty good.
Now on with the music, the first noticeable thing is that
this is definitely a Killers album, by which I mean there is enough of their
signature sound to make it instantly recognisable as being made by them, so
those fans expecting a drastic departure or a hip hop album or something you
will be quite disappointed. However despite this I think there is enough in the
songs for fans of the band to appreciate. I get the sense that they are trying
to cultivate a more stadium rock type image, though not the Coldplay Mylo Xyloto
douche bag type.[1]
The albums lead single ‘Runaways’ would probably be the best example of this
opinion. Despite a friend of mine describing it as simply ‘noise’ I really like
the song. My first thought upon hearing it was that it sounds a lot like Queen
and as a relative newcomer to Queen[2]
I was pleased by this. I have always considered the Killers to be relatively
soft rock but ‘Runaways’ is a lot louder and punchier. Unfortunately in my
opinion this is the only track that can be described as such as the album slots
back into the more established Killers sound, i.e. softer more ballady type
rock, possibly with the exception of the fifth track ‘A Matter of Time’ which doesn't quite reach the same level but it is still a strong track.
Even though I seem to be lamenting the fact that the album
seems to abandon the louder rockier approach I don’t consider this to be a weak
album at all. There are certainly enough tracks to draw fans of the band in,
though in my opinion I still think it will split fans due to the fact that the
album itself is rather split. What I mean by that is that half of it is louder
and pacier, whilst the other half is slower and more composed. This I think
will mean that some fans will like one half and the rest will like the other
half, but of course I could be totally wrong about that. The best example of
this would be track eight ‘The Rising of the Tide’ which isn't exactly a quiet
acoustic ballad whilst track eleven ‘Be Still’ sounds almost like a gospel song
at points. It see’s Brandon Flowers really stretching his vocal muscles, something
which is actually evident throughout the album. There is even an example of the
split in one song, the albums closer and title track ‘Battle Born’ which is a
mixture of acoustic rock and full on epicness.[3]
In summary then this is a good album in my opinion, it won’t
stand out as one of the greatest albums ever but given the Killer reputation I
think it will do well amongst their fans and may even win a few new people over
thanks to the rockier tracks. It is nice to see them back after 4 years and
Brandon Flowers seems to still have the voice for this type of music, though I
have to admit there are a few points where he can’t quite reach some of the
notes, but overall he has still got it. The rest of the band have done well
also with the music itself pretty much flawless. I would therefore recommend this,
if you can’t afford it just listen on spotify, it’s definitely worth a listen
even if you don’t agree with my opinion, which you probably won’t because I am
normally wrong about everything.
Never mind
Byezeee bye
Sunday, 16 September 2012
TV Character = Horrible People number 3 The final dum dum dum!
Hello there, I would like to begin this blog with an apology
to my loyal subjects. The recent topless photos of me taken at my friend’s
house have brought shame upon my family. It was never my intention to expose my
nether regions to the cameraman situated around half a mile away from my
location with a telescopic lens. I realise that I was wrong to assume that it
would be permissible to be in a state of undress on private property. As for
those who published the photographs, I accept your reasoning behind printing
them. Of course me being topless is just the same as all those other beautiful
people who are topless on beaches across France and you are not in fact a cretinous
dogs anus who should be put in stocks whilst Piers Morgan reads his autobiography
titled ‘my life as the world’s most insufferable cunt’ aloud 400 times. I never
considered that my privacy was nothing more than a joke and that every part of
my life should be eagerly read about by the dregs of our society and for this I
sincerely thank you.
That’s that sorted, now we can get on with the actual
content of the blog and my number 1 TV show where the characters aren’t very
nice people, excited? No? Well I have to finish it so just suck it up and pay
attention.
I shall get straight into it then; I offer my obligatory
apology for fussiness and yadi yadi yada etc. The show I have picked this week
is the oldest of the three in my list and actually managed to launch the acting
career of one of the world’s biggest stars. That’s right I am talking about Will
Smith and his show The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
Look at him tickling imaginary balls awwww.
For those of you who don’t know the show, it’s about a young
kid born and raised in West Philadelphia. Most of his days are spent out on the
playground just chilling, max relaxing and playing basketball outside of the
local school. However one day a couple of guys show up and start causing
trouble in the neighbourhood and the young kid (Will Smith) gets into a fight,
the consequence being that his mother sends him to live with his aunt and uncle
in Bel Air. Will gets in a cab, and soon he is off to his new home.[1]
The series itself focuses on Will’s[2]
attempts to fit in with the different environment of Bel Air. Of course he was
born and raised on the streets[3]
and he is rather different to his cousins who have been raised in far more comfortable
surroundings. Will dresses funny and uses lots of street slang which contrast
entirely with his more well to do extended family.
Once again it would seem that I don’t have any particular
problems with this show. You are half right, I do enjoy the show, it is funny
and Will Smith is just so damn lovable that he gets away with a lot of shit.
However being the middle aged man trapped in a 23 year olds body that I am, I
was easily able to find subjects of annoyance in amongst all of the fun. There
are a few bad people on the show but for now I’ll just stick to the Banks
family.
I was going to write about the parents Aunt Vivian and Uncle
Phil first, but to be honest they aren’t that bad. They are very bossy, but
they are sitcom parents and they kind of have to be. They can both be very
arrogant though and the money that they have certainly affects the type of people
they are. Phil is often embarrassed by the way Will looks and speaks because it
reflects badly on his image. However he does genuinely care for Will so I will
let that slide, As for Aunt Viv, well she is kind of a non-character for me,
when they changed the actress after the first season she suddenly became more
peripheral in the show and I can’t remember her doing much to warrant my
hellish wrath. Well done you two, have a cookie, not you Uncle Phil you have to
have a fat free one because you are so very fat ha ha ha chortle chortle gosh
clinical obesity sure is a hoot.[4]
Unfortunately that is where the niceties end; for you see
the rest of the characters I want to highlight really are quite bothersome don’t
you know. Let us start with Ashley (Tatyana Ali) the youngest of the children[5].
Ashley is the sweet unassuming one, she looks up to her older siblings and very
rarely displays her nasty side. However when she attained brief fame as a pop singer
all of that changed and suddenly she became a complete diva[6],
she neglected her family, she acted like she was the Queen of the fucking
universe and walked around using her brother as a man servant. It seems that a
regular topic of the show is how the characters completely change when money
and good fortune is involved, even sweet little Ashley is corrupted by money
and to think Will was sent to Bel Air to have a better upbringing. Sure he has
more money at his disposal, but to be honest I’d rather be poor and nice than
rich and arrogant.
Speaking of rich and arrogant we have Carlton (Alfonso
Riberio) who is easily one of the worst people not only on this list, but on
the overall series of these blogs. This is a man completely obsessed with
money, now some might say he is just ambitious, but that simply isn’t true.
Carlton refuses to even acknowledge those with less money most of the time and
when he does he is such a total and utter dick that you want to strangle him
with his stupid sweater vest. The guy is so tear inducingly arrogant you wonder
if the show’s writers actually like the character. That’s not even the worst
thing however; Carlton is constantly worried about his inheritance, that’s right
he is not so bothered if he father dies as long as he gets a sizeable chunk of
his money. I suspect a lot of people would at least let this cross their mind, it’s
only natural to think about what might get left to you but it’s not natural to
bring it up again and again and to constantly fret that your actions might cause
you to lose it. Never mind though we always have the funny Carlton dance to
distract us from his master prickery.
If you thought Carlton was a prick however just wait until
you meet his sister Hilary (Karyn Parsons). Hilary is your typical valley girl type;
she speaks with that ridiculous upward inflection all the time and it appears
that instead of a brain she simply had a balloon filled with the stupidest air
available stuffed into her head. Like many of the other characters she is
incredibly arrogant and obsessed with money with a tendency to spit on those
beneath her. However unlike Carlton who despite his flaws is likeable most of
the time, I really can’t remember any instance of this happening with Hilary.
She is incredibly lazy and expects the Butler Geoffrey to do absolutely
everything for her and when he is unable she complains like a child. She is the
epitome of a spoiled brat, in fact in a flashback sequence showing her
character as a child she was already on her way to being megabitch 5000, but
she was a child so it’s forgivable. However when you reach your 20’s and 30’s
it just isn’t. One of the main running jokes on the show centres around Hilary
constantly asking her father for money to go shopping, yet she doesn’t contribute
around the house financially whatsoever even when she becomes a television
presenter which would likely earn her a sizable pay check. Seriously Hilary I
think we need to have a talk because your behaviour has become unacceptable and
this makes my sad little life a bit less tolerable.
I have saved the best for last it seems. Now this wasn’t meant
to be in any particular order and to be honest I think Hilary and Carlton are
worse than Will’s character, but because he is the focal point of the show I
thought it was best for him to the final discussion topic. Unlike the others
Will was raised in poverty and so he sees through the whole arrogance because
of money schitck. Unfortunately his character is arrogant in a different way,
his vanity centres around the ladies. Now in real life Will Smith is considered
attractive and so on and that’s fine, however in the show there is nobody that
fancies Will more than the man himself. He constantly brings up just how great
looking he is, just how good he is with the ladies and so forth. However Will
is kinda totally sexist, his chat up lines centre around how he is going to
screw the particular woman and if you skip to about 1.02 in this YouTube clip
below his method of seduction is a tad rapey[7]
Remember when I mentioned making fun of Uncle Phil’s
obesity? Well Will is the king of that, he constantly calls his Uncle, the man
who has taken into his home and put him through school fat and can be pretty
darn cruel about it. Of course it is all done in good humour for the show, but
just imagine something like that in real life, his lack of respect would not go
down so well in other cases. Add to that the constant piss taking of his cousin
Carlton for not being a very good black man which is actually quite racist when
you come to think about it. As you see that Will can sometimes be a bit of a
penis or as he would call it a big willy, shame on you, you dirty boy.
Well well well, there we have it, all done and dusted it’s
about time for me to hit the old dusty trail. One does hope that these blogs weren’t
overly ranty[8]
and I don’t come across as a cynical dick muncher.[9]
You must not forget that I like all these shows and the horrible things these
characters do actually make me laugh and I don’t just sit there getting madder
and madder at them, which I will save until I am at least 40 and the world has
long since passed me by.
Bye kids!
[1]
That concept would make a good theme song don’t you think?
[2]
Will Smith is the actor and the characters name because come on its Will freaking
Smith.
[3]
See theme song.
[4]
More on that hilarious topic later.
[5]
Well technically Nicky is the youngest, but I won’t pick on him because he is
like 4 years old and everyone knows children that age are purely evil anyway, let’s
take that as read.
[6] That’s
music industry speak for total and utter bitchface
[7]
Sure Jordan from Scrubs looks as if she is enjoy it, but she could just be
afraid that the man humping her leg might murder her if she tells him to go
away.
[8]
Though they totally were.
[9]
Which I totally do.
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