The Dotted Logline

I may not be the biggest Superman fan around (I routinely refer to him as a putz), but I really wanted to be blown away by Superman Returns. Bryan Singer did such a fantastic job with the X-Men movies, Kevin Spacey was an amazing choice for Lex Luthor, Brandon Routh really looks the part, the effects look amazing… well, everyone has seen the commercials by now.

And while all those things held true, the movie just didn’t shine. Even for a comic book movie, there were some unbearably large plot holes that could have been patched with minimal effort. The movie felt too long. Did we really need a half hour of closeups of shocked Parker Posey (who looks far more like Lois Lane than Kate Bosworth) to clue us into the fact that she just might follow in the long, proud tradition of the defecting henchwench? I don’t remember Bryan Singer treating his audience like they needed everything spelled out in his other films. I wonder if the fault lies in the fact that this was a movie based around a single protagonist, while many of his others (The Usual Suspect and the X-Men films) were ensemble pieces with much more to focus on.

Kevin Spacey really stole the show. You could see his Lex Luthor working Very Bad Things out in his head, but he still played it straight. James Marsden made the classic odd man out character both likeable and functional (and you have to feel bad for him, competing against first Wolverine and now Superman for the girl.) I don’t feel like I can comment on Brandon Routh fairly at this point, as I would just end up comparing him to Christopher Reeve. Suffice it to say, I found him to be a fairly fitting choice, and I liked that the contacts and heavy makeup gave him a subtle too-perfect, non-human look.

Overall, not a bad movie, but when you find the retro opening credits to be the most exciting part, it’s not a great movie, either.

Tonight I pulled out my Batman Begins DVD. Now THAT is a great movie. Although oddly enough, I find myself wanting to see a crime movie featuring Lex Luthor and Kaiser Soze…

Last night was the LA screening for Can’t Stop The Serenity. This was only the third time I’ve seen Serenity, but it was definitely the best. The first time, opening day, was the same day I moved to LA, and I had been awake for well over 24 hours straight. The second time was at home on DVD, which always involves me multitasking, and thus “listening” more often then “watching.” This time I was really able to connect with it. And of course, being in a theater full of fans who laughed, cheered, and were deadly silent at the right points was as fun as always.

I ended up winning TWO raffle prizes… a SoCalBrowncoats postcard signed by Joss Whedon (sort of a random thing for him to sign, which I find amusing) and a Firefly soundtrack signed by the composer (his “signature” is print rather than cursive, which I also find a little amusing because all my handwriting is printed, though I do sign my name in cursive.) I think that autographs aren’t as cool when they aren’t personal/obtained in person (though the items I won do have some nice memories to go along with them.) There were two movie props and a pass to Flanvention II raffled off, as well as some smaller items.

Can’t Stop The Serenity is estimated to have raised over $38k so far for Equality Now, and many screenings haven’t submitted final totals yet. I’m still amazed by the whole thing. Can you imagine a better birthday present than a demonstration of how you have inspired so many people to try to make a positive difference in the world? Better than chocolate (but not by much.)

The Browncoats are quite a contrast to the Harry Potter fandom “biography” that a friend linked me to today. Quite a long read, but a really interesting look at what happens when a manipulative and apparently rather disturbed individual takes advantage of the volatility in a fandom, using it to propel herself the heights of popularity by creating a number of “sockpuppet” identities to both attack and support her in the various dramas she instigates over the course of several years.

Of course, the fact that any fandom would have subgroups that dislike or even despise each other based entirely on what “ships” each group favors disturbs me just a bit. I’ve never been a shipper myself (Bruce/Selina 4EVA!) because I am willing to accept almost any relationship that is well conceived and explained, canon or not. (Conversely, poorly justified relationships, canon or not, annoy me. Anakin/Padme anyone?) I don’t read a lot of fanfiction anymore (pretty much only fics that friends point out to me as “must reads”) but it always amused me to read fics with conflicting ships in a row.

So what’s the point of this rather long, rambling post? Simply put: as a writer, I would prefer to inspire people to join together and fight the good fight in the real world, rather than tear each other apart over an imaginary one.

Brickgirl & Oscar was linked on Whedonesque.com due to the current strip. While most people seemed to dig it, a small number think it’s horribly mean. Quoteth one critic, “It’s even worse that its creator is so proud of it as to post it on the internet.”

Unfortunately, Whedonesque.com has a closed membership. While I’m eligible to request a membership because a work of mine is being discussed, I haven’t heard anything back as of yet, so I figured that for now, I would write up a response here and link it to the comic’s News page:

Brickgirl & Oscar isn’t meant to be taken very seriously (at least at this point.) But since some readers have raised an issue that I feel somewhat strongly about, I’ll give a serious answer.

Yes, Oscar the Brick can be quite mean. Like all good characters, he has his flaws. And, like all good characters, both he and Alice will grow and change over the course of the comic. It’s easy to look at a character who is cruel and take it as a sign that the writer herself approves of such behavior, but as someone who was bullied herself as a child (due to her shape and size and appearance), there’s no way I would write a comic that was no more than a long-running insultfest at a poorly drawn little girl. And if I did, I would probably refrain from referencing Joss Whedon, as that is just a little too close to the type of thing he’s working against in the real world.

It isn’t a coincidence that Oscar quotes Cordelia (Graduation Day Part 2) in the last panel of this week’s strip. Much like Cordelia from BtVS and Angel, Oscar can’t be judged as a person (or brick) based only on his behavior in the first couple of episodes. Unlike Cordelia, however, Oscar is unlikely to fall in love with Broody McBrood or give birth to a glowing Gina Torres.

Plus, I thought the tagline “A webcomic about unlikely friends” indicated that Alice and Oscar might eventually become, you know, unlikely friends.

(And yes, there was a terrible typo in the comic. I woke up at 5:30 AM, upset by a rather Alanis-like use of the word “ironic,” rewrote the third panel, uploaded it while still mostly asleep, and didn’t look at it at all later in the day. In my defense, my regular copy editor didn’t catch it either. I’d fire him, but he’s my dad and he works for free.)

So Brickgirl & Oscar has its first pop culture reference today, in the form of a Joss Whedon themed strip. Purely by coincidence (and it really is… I wrote this strip about two months ago), this Friday is Joss’ birthday. And the only reason I know that is because the Browncoats, the legion of fans devoted to Firefly and Serenity have organized a little event called Can’t Stop The Serenity, which consists of charity screenings of Serenity across the USA and the world to raise money for Equality Now, Joss’ favorite charity.

I’ve never been one to really get involved very deeply in any particular fandom. Most likely it’s because most of my experience with hardcore fans has come from attending anime conventions. So to me, fandom equals pasty people not really dressed in tiny scraps of fur and spandex and underaged fangirls making voice actors very uncomfortable by demanding kisses/gropes/marriage proposals/impregnation.

But fans like the Browncoats give me hope. Because just as celebrities can use their place in the public spotlight to further the causes they believe in, groups of fans can do amazing things when they turn their devotion towards real world issues.

For more information on Can’t Stop The Serenity, including a list of screening locations, visit the official website. And to see Joss Whedon’s very moving speech at an Equality Now even in May, click here.

My webcomic, Brickgirl & Oscar, is now being hosted on its own domain, brickgirlandoscar.com! Brand new site design as well. Though I have worked with CSS before, this is the first time I did a fairly complex stylesheet from scratch. Big pain in the ass, especially the footers. But I’m very happy with the end result. I wanted a site that would flow well with the comic itself, and I think I got it.

Writing Project Status

Brickgirl & Oscar: Plugging along well. Four strips posted, ten completed, and I don’t even know how many more scripted. Readership is still fairly low, but then again, I haven’t done a lot of promotion. I have gotten a very positive response from readers thus far. I considered increasing to two new strips a week, but going to hold off on that for now, as I don’t want to neglect all my other projects…

Chimera (TV pilot spec): First draft done, working on revisions.

Goodbye Dolly (Feature spec adaptation): First draft done. It’s craptastic, but it’s done.

Untitled Stage Play Project: Minimal progress since I started about 18 months ago, but stuff is still a brewin’ in the ole noggin.

Other writing news: Spoke with Baker’s Plays about Goodbye Dolly (the stage play version) which they’ve had for 19 months now. Seems that last year, they replaced the entire editorial staff, and the consideration for publication process had to be restarted for everything. My play has been cleared by at least one reader, though, and I should hear something back by late summer.

Had a bit of an incident with a literary manager about a month ago, but unfortunatly, it was not really legit.

Job Status

Starting next Wednesday, I’ll be working as a content writer for a search engine optimization firm. It’s not creative, persay, but it is writing. More important, it isn’t taking photos of faucets in a dingy warehouse with no windows in downtown LA where the temperature has been hitting 90 degrees in the afternoons even with two AC units running.

Other Creative Stuff

I will be performing with an as of yet unnamed, possibly all-female improv group in coming months. I’ve always loved improv, but never considered myself to be exceptional at it. Better learn fast… we’re looking at six rehearsals before the first performance.