My Review: Wonder Woman TV Pilot

So I finally saw the Wonder Woman pilot... Yeah, I saw this pilot. There is a lot I can say about this 'attempt', but I will keep it short and with pictures.

WW as Diana Prince

•  Wonder Woman is doing a bit much. She's running a business (which is not defined) and acting as a vigilante in Los Angeles. She also quite mean; there's not compassion in her at all.
• The 3 identities don't make sense in this pilot. She's only Diana to escape her responsibilities; which is weird, because in an earlier scene she realized that her duty is to protect and serve (kinda).
• We learn the reason why she has a costume is to match the look of her action figure. Really? It makes her likeable to the public. 
• Her lasso is used more as a whip, like Catwoman.

Her Company

• The company deals more with her image. In fact in one scene, there was a meeting about her doll and how the doll's breast were too big.
• The shareholders treated her more as a model than a superhero. I found that very disheartening. 

Her Press Conference

•  Diana came off more like a Bruce Wayne or a Tony Stark (Iron Man). She was too cocky and not likable. It seemed that her business side dominated her hero side.
• The Amazon decor looked cheap and purposely placed just to show she's a mythical character. 

Diana's villain Veronica Cale

• Veronica Cale was more of a 'OC' or a Soap Opera villain than a real threat. She was almost a forgettable side character.
• There was no real threat about Veronica. She just acted like a Real Housewife ready to throw wine at Wonder Woman.
• One of the weirdest part of their first meeting was Diana threatening to kill Veronica. That's not Diana's way. In fact, that's not a hero's way to handle business.

•  We do see the jet, but it's not invisible.
• Her fighting skills were okay; I was hoping to see more of an Amazon battle tactic.
• She does the classic leaping over tall objects. (just like the original TV show)
• She also deflects bullets in a cute way. I thought this was good.

• The big gut punch was watching her kill people. She crushed two goons with vaults and she threw a pipe at a guard, striking him in the throat (see above)

• The Steve Trevor scene were worthless. They never really explored why they broke up and his acting was weak.
• I didn't care for his character and of course, he would have moved on with another woman (engagement ring scene)
• This scene weaken Diana, making her more like Ally Mc Beal.

I'm so lonely

• At the end of day, she cries about being lonely. It's like she had no idea her life was hard. She a freaking Amazon for Hera's sake!

Over all, this was okay to bad pilot. Diana acted more like Batwoman or a Catwoman. There were not enough characteristics of the Wonder Woman many of us know. She was cold, mean and not likeable. However on the acting point, Adrianne Palicki did a great job with this script. I just couldn't feel for her. This person acted more like Orana (for the serious fans) or Artemis, not Princess Diana.

Also this story was not a good intro to Wonder Woman. This pilot was a later tale about her or alternative version (Elseworlds) of WW. I wished the writer thought about who Diana is and what makes her a hero. This pilot did not give us a good view of the Amazing Amazon. So yes, this was a FAIL and I understand why this pilot failed to make the NBC line up.

So, hopefully this will inspire other writers to do a better job. WW deserves better.

Trying to make sense of Obama, Taxes and the rest of the Madness

Last week was an interesting week for me and my view of politics. Usually, I'm very clear with my stance and opinions, but after the Tax Cuts drama, I'm seeing a lot of stuff that makes sense and don't at the same time.

Quick recap:

This began with Obama's "Framework" for the Tax Cuts. Just a reminder, this was an idea. This was never a done deal and at best, it was a skeleton plan. Obama presented the framework with the dreaded 2 years of the tax cuts for the rich. He placed that in the plan as a compromise to protect the unemployed and programs set up to support the middle class. Once it came out, the ideal plan was met with much hate. I mean hate that made folks completely give up on Obama and pray for a primary candidate against him in 2012. He later defended it, but also reminded folks that this deal could change if a better deal could be made.

Then came the rants and news coverage. Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow threw in their swings and the progressive blogs had a field day. However, there were some who supported the ideal plan or at least recognized the corner Obama was in.

The Chris Matthews segment was a great counterpoint to the drama. Fast forward a few days and you had Bill Clinton supporting the ideal plan and Sen. Bernie Sanders putting the truth out there for us to understand. But are we there yet? I don't know. I think we are caught in the middle of this mess.

So here are my quick views about all of this tax cuts melodrama.

•  Am I mad at Obama? No, he's trying to make a cake out of Baking Soda. It's not going to taste good, but he is trying.
• I want him to fight, but I get that he's trying to save 156 million folks from losing their unemployment benefits before that's lost in congress seat change. It's a compromise, I get that, but I still hope he fights.
• Is there a better plan? I think so, Obama said this weekend he's open to changes to the plan. I hope the Dems are ready with ideas and details.
• This talk of a primary challenger to Obama, ain't going to happen. Nobody is willing to toss their political career to the waste side. So, that's a no-go. Also, the reality is Obama's true base hasn't left him and they were the homebringers of his presidency, the youth and minorities.
• This ideal plan does suck, but it could be the best way to show how ruthless the GOP really is. If they fight this tooth and nail, they will lose clout and hopefully the public will see this.
• Obama has to be open to other ideas, I wish he and Bernie can work something out.
• I'm concerned that most folks are not understanding the entire story. Knowing this culture, most folks don't. 
• It's hard being a realist.
• The GOP wanted another 10 years of Tax Cuts for the rich, Obama knocked it down to 2 years.
• Bernie's plan could work, hopefully it won't take 8.5 hours to explain to Obama and the Dems.
• With Bill standing on Obama's side, I think it's safe to say that the "If Hillary was in Office" mess is officially dead.
• The extended unemployment benefits should be extended to the 99ers, but the reality is... It's expensive. Obama and Dems will need to tax the rich more to cover that charge.
• The Tea Party should be upset more at the GOP for wanting this, but I'm sure they are not aware or care.
• I want Obama to be tougher.
• I also want us to be more tougher and more realistic. These unreal expectations most folks have is ridic. It's going to take more than 2 years to fix this country.

I'm wishing for next week to turn last week into a bad day dream. If a deal is made, I hope it is the best deal. And I want to see more Bernie is this "better tax plan" ordeal.

Somebody ELSE please get up on the screen and Speak for Us!

Just watch

Having him as our "spokesperson" is like having Gaius Baltar speak on what's best for the 12 Colonies.

Or Lursa and B'Etor speaking about peace to the Federation.

Frankie says Let Go, Let Flow

Frank Rich wrote an opinion piece about the Secret "Rick Warren" Invasion. In all, he wants us to move on and fight for another day.

He said...

Since he’s not about to rescind the invitation, what happens next? For perspective, I asked Timothy McCarthy, a historian who teaches at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and an unabashed Obama enthusiast who served on his campaign’s National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Leadership Council. He responded via e-mail on Christmas Eve.

After noting that Warren’s role at the inauguration is, in the end, symbolic, McCarthy concluded that “it’s now time to move from symbol to substance.” This means Warren should “recant his previous statements about gays and lesbians, and start acting like a Christian.”

McCarthy added that it’s also time “for President-elect Obama to start acting on the promises he made to the LGBT community during his campaign so that he doesn’t go down in history as another Bill Clinton, a sweet-talking swindler who would throw us under the bus for the sake of political expediency.” And “for LGBT folks to choose their battles wisely, to judge Obama on the content of his policy-making, not on the character of his ministers.”

I agree, we need to judge him on more than Ricky's mess. We are wasting too much ammo on him and leaving nothing for the bigger battles ahead. Let's skip fighting The Toad and Mastermind and move on to Magneto. I had to throw in a X-Men reference in there.

More of Frank's opinion piece is here.

Interesting Quote: Prince

"But there's the problem of interpretation, and you've got some churches, some people, basically doing things and saying it comes from here, but it doesn't. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum you've got blue, you've got the Democrats, and they're, like, 'You can do whatever you want.' Gay marriage, whatever. But neither of them is right." "God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, 'Enough.' "

Have we lost one of our biggest innovators? Say it ain't so...however, he is entitled to his opinion (sigh).

UPDATE: Prince said that he was misquoted and did not say that God was against us.

Source

Thinking about Jasmyne A. Cannick's article

I just read Jasmyne A. Cannick's article about Prop 8 and the Black response. I have to say that I usually agree with Jasmyne on certain things, but on this topic I disagree with some points. There were some parts that I see differently and can't completely follow.

For example she said: I don't see why the right to marry should be a priority for me or other black people. Gay marriage? Please. At a time when blacks are still more likely than whites to be pulled over for no reason, more likely to be unemployed than whites, more likely to live at or below the poverty line, I was too busy trying to get black people registered to vote, period; I wasn't about to focus my attention on what couldn't help but feel like a secondary issue.

The way I see it, the white gay community is banging its head against the glass ceiling of a room called equality, believing that a breakthrough on marriage will bestow on it parity with heterosexuals. But the right to marry does nothing to address the problems faced by both black gays and black straights. Does someone who is homeless or suffering from HIV but has no healthcare, or newly out of prison and unemployed, really benefit from the right to marry someone of the same sex?

No, it doesn't address those issues, but does that mean I shouldn't talk about it or address it? I understand that our struggles is different, however the conversations could be paramount to change. I don't want to get into a place where we are saying that your issue isn't my issue so screw you. We should look at the problems and figure out how each step can be taken.

Yes, I do agree that more could've been done to inform the minority masses about Prop 8. But this "give something to get something" game is not the best way to go about it. If the X-Men only dealt with mutant issues and not the issues facing the world or the universe, they wouldn't be the X-Men. And if they took the approach of: until you address the mutant problem, we won't help the world, they wouldn't be heroes.

I'm still feeling this article out, so I may come back to this at a later time.