Calling All Cars! Calling All Cars!

Be on the lookout for a gang of directors! Disney Department of Law Enforcement are issuing warrants for the arrest of one Francis Ford Coppola a.k.a. “The Godfather” for the crime of calling the Marvel Cinematic Universe: “despicable”.

His gang consists of:

Martin Scorsese, a.k.a “The Taxi Driver”, wanted for the crime of calling Marvel movies “theme park rides“.

James Cameron, a.k.a. “The Terminator” wanted for suggesting that there are other stories to tell besides “hyper-gonadal males without families doing death-defying things for two hours and wrecking cities in the process.”

John Landis, a.k.a. “The American Werewolf”, wanted for the crime of being “bored sh*less” with the MCU for “being interchangeable” and the same destruction of cities over and over again.

Ken Loach, a.k.a. “Riff-Raff”, wanted for the crime of comparing Marvel films to hamburgers.

Lucrecia Martel, a.k.a. “The Holy Girl”, wanted for the crime of calling Marvel films “painful” to watch.

Jennifer Aniston, a.k.a. “The One From Friends”, wanted for the crime of complaining that Marvel is “diminishing” movies.

These free-thinking people are dangerous and a threat to the Disney empire. They are armed, award-worthy and opinionated. If you ever come across these individuals, do the following:

Stop, drop and throw a tantrum.

As much as I respect Scorsese and Coppola, the next time someone rants about Marvel films being despicable or uninspiring, just think how many kids ask for a murderous mobster hitman to come visit them in the hospital. #MCU #MarvelStudios #FrancisFordCoppola #MartinScorsese pic.twitter.com/GwkbB4mQg5

— Joseph Preston Garber (@josephgarberIII) October 21, 2019

(That’s right, drag out the kids. Does this guy know that DC Superheroes, Disney Princesses and Star Wars characters also visit kids in hospitals? And that Scorsese and Coppola made other types of movies?)

Run to the nearest glass house and start throwing stones.

the icing on the cake of francis ford coppola calling marvel movies "despicable" while funding the career of victor salva, a convicted pedophile filmmaker, is that james gunn (a marvel director) risked his career by openly refusing to work with the same guy pic.twitter.com/sMd828BH1V

— Jack Saint (INACTIVE, SOCIALS IN BIO) (@lackingsaint) October 21, 2019

(Marvel fans: “Coppola produced the work of a pedophile! Also Marvel fans: “So what if James Gunn made sexist/homophobic/pedophile jokes, they’re just jokes!)

Tell them their old and senile.

https://twitter.com/johncampea/status/1186084029604364288

Remind them of how they haven’t made a (good) movie in years.

If you think Francis Ford Coppola is on on “the cinematic Mt. Rushmore,” you need to watch see more movies. Preferably ones not made by white American dudes.

FOH with this Coppola beatification. Dude hasn’t made a meaningful film in literally 40 years. https://t.co/v9yfJoabUH

— Evan 💀 (@TachyonEvan) October 20, 2019

Remind them of the ONE bad movie they made.

https://twitter.com/NastyChinHipstr/status/1186059147445440512

Remind them of how Marvel movies have made more money.

If you have any information, please contact the Mouse Authorities.

(Note: It appears that our gang was on to something.)

If this doesn’t make your blood boil… https://t.co/A4WERjtuX1 pic.twitter.com/yRMWq5whHG

— Vikram Murthi (@fauxbeatpoet) October 24, 2019

https://twitter.com/bloodoftheland/status/1187434290939863040

Honestly, it’s pathetic that in 2019 the most controversial thing to say is anything against Marvel or Disney.

Ugh, Just Stop It Already!

Reading this USA TODAY article (via Yahoo) by Morinsola Keshinro made me so sick to my stomach I had to type this post in response.

“Captain Marvel” Introduces a Powerful Female Lead. Young Girls Should See That.

My enjoyment of Thor led me to “Black Panther” and then “Avengers: Infinity War,” which encouraged me to understand the world of Marvel. And now, here we are days away from the “Captain Marvel” movie, and I’m excited to see Marvel introduce us to a powerful female character.

Now that I’m a person in the Marvel world, it feels different. Different in that in these stories that have existed with powerful and strong male leading characters, that the most powerful superhero in the Marvel cinematic universe is a woman and is Marvel’s first female-led film. What a time. What an opportunity.

Judging by the reverence of this article, you’d think Captain Marvel was the first female superhero film ever made. Makes you wonder.

After 20 male led superhero movies, after the sudden cancellation of Agent Carter and after Kevin Feige’s lame excuses for no Black Widow movie, it’s aggravating that (some) people are giving Marvel a free pass for it’s long standing sexism.

Unlike many female characters, the women of “Captain Marvel” don’t rely on romance and other typical woman character arcs. There are multiple female characters in the film that enforce diversity of women in race, careers and talents. The film is co-directed by Anna Boden and scored by Pinar Toprak. Plus, the film releases on International Women’s Day during Women’s History Month. Talk about girl power.

This is why the #CaptainMarvelChallenge, an effort to have young girls go see this movie, is so important. The opportunity to see and support women and girls being strong, smart and bold is something to get behind. Something I want to be a part of.

This makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs, lift a tank over my head and hurl it at the media. HELLO! WHERE WERE YOU TWO YEARS AGO? DID YOU FORGET ABOUT A CERTAIN LITTLE FILM CALLED WONDER WOMAN? THE FILM THAT HAD AN ISLAND FULL OF AMAZONS OF ALL COLORS? THE ONE DIRECTED (NOT CO-DIRECTED THANK YOU VERY MUCH) BY PATTY JENKINS WHICH WENT ON TO BECOME THE HIGHEST-GROSSING FILM DIRECTED BY A WOMAN? THE ONE CO-PRODUCED BY DEBORAH SNYDER? THE ONE WITH COSTUMES MADE BY LINDY HEMMING? THE FILM THAT PROVED THAT FEMALE SUPERHERO MOVIES CAN MAKE A PROFIT? REMEMBER WHEN ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE WANTED TO HOST FEMALE-ONLY SCREENINGS OF THE FILM? REMEMBER WHEN LYNDA CARTER COULDN’T STOP GUSHING ABOUT THIS MOVIE AND WAS JUST AS PISSED AS I WAS THAT IT DIDN’T GET AN OSCAR NOMINATION? REMEMBER THAT, MS. KESHINRO? REMEMBER?

(If you think I’m overreacting, look at the comments section and you’ll find the same reaction from readers.)

Also are you also aware that one of the most popular films at the moment is Aelita: Battle Angel which currently has a 7.6 rating at IMDB.com (Take that Mark Ruffalo!)?

I’m looking forward to the conversations to be had around this film. Everything from how it made people feel to how people see the work done in the film as part of the overall storyline. Also, how in our current social and political climate it will live in the discourse, and — what I may not hear until many years later — what it meant to people in this period of time.

In meantime Ms. Keshinro, take a gander at these conversations around Wonder Woman and how the film changed their lives:

Starting with this:

To that point, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, shared a tweet of an amazing list of kids’ responses to seeing the film: “My producer just sent me this… ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! This makes every hard day worth it. Thank you to whomever wrote it!!”

“I work at a kindergarten and this is a collection of cute Wonder Woman related things that happened within a week of the movie being released.

• On Monday, a boy who was obsessed with Iron Man, told me he had asked his parents for a new Wonder Woman lunchbox.
• A little girl said ‘When I grow up I want to speak hundreds of languages like Diana’
• This girl had her parents revamp her Beauty and the Beast birthday party in THREE DAYS because she simply had to have a Wonder Woman party.
• Seven girls playing together during recess on Tuesday, saying that since they all wanted to be Wonder Woman they had agreed to be Amazons and not fight but work together to defeat evil.
• There is this one girl that refuses to listen to you unless you address her as Wonder Woman.
• Another girl very seriously asked the teacher if she could ditch her uniform for the Wonder Woman armor because she ‘wanted to be ready if she needed to save the world.’ The teacher laughed and said it was okay, and the next day the girl came dressed as Wonder Woman and not a single kid batted an eye.
• They are making a wrap-up dance show, and they asked the teacher if they could come as superheroes, they are going to sing a song about bunnies.
• This kid got angry and threw a plastic car over his head and a girl gasped ‘LIKE IN THE MOVIE’
• A boy threw his candy wrapping in the floor and a 5-year-old girl screamed ‘DON’T POLLUTE YOU IDIOT, THAT IS WHY THERE ARE NO MEN IN THEMYSCIRA’
• On Wednesday, a girl came with a printed list of every single female superhero and her powers, to avoid any trouble when deciding roles at recess.
• I was talking to one of the girls that hadn’t seen the movie, and the next day she came and very seriously told me ‘you were right, Wonder Woman was way better than Frozen.’

Consider this your friendly reminder that if this movie completely changed the way these girls and boys thought about themselves and the world in a week, imagine what the next generation will achieve if we give them more movies like Wonder Woman.”

Then there’s this:

note: the top image is from 2015, the bottom image is from 2017 (gif courtesy of wonderswoman.tumblr.com). What difference a film makes.

Here’s the video. The conversation starts at 21:54 and ends at 23:24.

Read about this little boy and his quest to own the epic WW costume.

And here’s my personal experience: When I was selling books at the flea market, a father and his family bought a DC Superhero Girls comic from me. He told me his daughter loves the show. The daughter held up her doll and said in the cutest voice, “look I have a Wonder Woman doll!” Of course I had to recommend Hero of the Year – which I own.

I’m sure Captain Marvel will make money. Marvel can show us two hours of the Avengers flushing a toilet and the studio will still make money. If you like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel, more power to you. But let’s stop pretending that CM is the biggest thing since Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in that famous tennis match. Will this movie finds its rightful place in women’s cinema? Only time will tell.

Now I’ll leave you with a really funny snippet from Kyle Smith’s negative review of Captain Marvel:

Two years ago, Wonder Woman proved a female-led superhero movie could reach the highest levels of the genre, with Gal Gadot proving robust and redoubtable, yet also charming and feminine. I spent Captain Marvel waiting for Gadot.

Heh, heh.

To Sir, With Love

Dear Mr. Stan Lee,

Just recently I discovered that you had died at 95 years of age and I couldn’t be any sadder despite the fact that I was never a fan of your work.

However I’ve always liked you as a person. You seemed so friendly, warm and approachable, and if there had ever been an opportunity to meet you, I would’ve jumped at the chance. When I saw you host Cocktails With Stan, I had wished that I could’ve guest starred even though I’m not a celebrity (though I’m a heck of a lot more interesting than most celebrities) and I don’t drink cocktails. When you said that Spider-Man was more relatable than Superman, I begged to differ, not in hostility, but in friendly conversation. We could’ve had lots of interesting conversations.

I was also upset when I heard about your financial and personal troubles. No one, least of all legend like you, should be treated that way! I’m grateful you don’t have to deal with that anymore.

I wish I had more to say but all I can say is this: rest in peace Mr. Lee, you’ll be missed by all comic book fans, be they Marvel, DC, both, or neither.

In Grateful Memory of Stan Lee (1922-2018)

With Love,

The Lady From Planet X

Thoughts On The Captain Marvel Teaser Trailer…

After 20 films of dudes saving the world/galaxy/dimension you would think Marvel would finally listen to fans and give them that Black Widow movie they always wanted. Instead Marvel gives fans a character that had no introduction in the previous films and unless you’ve read the comics – particularly the ones written by Kelly Sue DeConnick – you know nothing about her personality or her beliefs. Yes, she doesn’t crack one smile throughout the trailer. That’s not my concern, though after seeing Larson’s meme, it explains why the MCU is so boring (can’t Captain America look happy just for once?)

What made this trailer unimpressive is Carol Danver’s lack of agency. We are introduced to her crashing through the roof of Blockbuster Video for no reason. In fact she’s on her back a lot: from a swing, at a baseball game, in military training, even on a spaceship. Now there’s nothing wrong with action girls taking a spill once and awhile but when the only fighting she does in the whole trailer is punch a suspicious “old lady”, something’s wrong.

But what really makes me suspicious is the fact that she isn’t even providing the voice over narration! That honor goes to Nick Fury. I’m guessing it’s because he’s part of S.H.I.E.L.D. and it’s his job to investigate alien/paranormal activity. And speaking of aliens, Google “Captain Marvel” and the synopsis explains that Carol is “caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races”. Again, no agency.

Now compare that to the trailer for season 1 of Agent Carter and you see a major difference:

Peggy is throwing punches, jumping onto cars (in skirts and heels!), scaling buildings, walking with confidence. And, most importantly, she’s providing her own narration. She even converses with other female characters. Even though the trailer starts and ends with a hokey Captain America radio show, it doesn’t dominate the whole trailer. Also audiences got a proper introduction to Peggy via Captain America: The First Avenger and the Agent Carter One Shot.

Now some of you will point out that this is only a teaser, that there will be a final trailer. Yes, but the SDCC teaser for Wonder Woman got me excited and speculating. The promos for Agent Carter peaked my interest. This teaser just left me cold. But no matter, like its predecessors it will get a high score on Rotten Tomaotes. It will make money at the box office. It will have defenders telling me to stop being a troll, turn off my mind and be entertained by it all (or just hurl misogynistic, “DC fan” insults at me). I will be called a bigot for not falling under its spell. And it’ll probably get an Oscar nomination. The Future isn’t female, it’s Marvel.

I’m Not Surprised About James Gunn Getting Fired From Marvel

In fact, I had to smirk. It was a long time coming.

But it’s disgusting how all these celebs and fans are coming to the “disgraced” director’s defense with these lame excuses. Let’s look at some of them.

1. He was only joking, he wasn’t engaging in pedophilia.

Those tweets are no joke to the victims of childhood sexual abuse. In fact Gunn’s nasty humor is an example of “pedophilia culture”, when society normalizes, enables and celebrates sexual behavior involving children or teenagers. This includes movies, TV shows, music videos and porn. It also includes fashion and beauty ads that promote the ideal female (and sometimes male) body as prepubescent. And tasteless tweets like the ones Gunn posted.

2. Disney is no better, just look at Song of the South.

Song of the South is a 1946 animated/live action film about a white little boy who seeks advise from Uncle Remus, a black sharecropper who uses stories about “Br’er Rabbit”, “Br’er Fox” and “Br’er Bear” to help the little boy with his problems. Gunn’s supporters are comparing this 72 year old film made during a time when racism was common, to some 10 year old tweets, a 40 something Gunn made. That’s a pretty big age gap and not only that, Disney has announced over and over again, that SOTS is an old shame they will keep in their vaults and never release to the public.

3. Gunn was a different person 10 years ago, he’s changed!

I can expect this kind of behavior from a school age boy, but not a man in his 40s. What grown man makes such disgusting jokes publicly? Did you make pedophilia jokes 10 years ago?

James Gunn hasn’t changed. Never did, never will.

Long before Gunn was hired to direct Guardians of the Galaxy, girl geeks unearthed a list he typed of female superheroes he’d like to bed. It isn’t pretty. (Not surprisingly, the writer of the post asked readers to write to Disney to fire Gunn from GOTG.) Of course Gunn took down the post and issued an apology. However, when GOTG was released in 2014, it appeared that Gunn didn’t learn his lesson. The same old sexism was there, as pointed out by some critics.

Lady Geek Girl and Friends:

For one thing, it literally started with a lady getting fridged. Peter’s mom dies to give him angst throughout the rest of the movie, and then Drax brings our “fridged for your manpain” death count up to three with his wife and daughter. Women are also used as props: for example, shortly after escaping from the planet where he found the orb, Peter realizes his hookup from the night before is still on board his ship. Her presence and the tired “what was your name again” repartee are there entirely to establish Peter’s playboy status. I was surprised and pleased, though, that the scene in the trailer which seemed to imply that Gamora and Peter hooked up mid-movie was not actually included in the film.

But the fact that there was a hookup scene to begin with is still bothersome.

Andrea Morgan:

Melia Kreiling portrays Bereet, a vaguely-alien humanoid whose key scene involves Quill shamelessly admitting to forgetting her existence even though they’d recently had sex. In the next scene, she speaks broken English and is servile to Quill; it struck me as an extraterrestrial variation of the Asian girlfriend trope. This was one of the few moments in the film where I actually didn’t like Pratt’s character. Unfortunately, this a-girl-in-every-spaceport sexism is leaned on for laughs throughout the film. Pratt is still playing a heterosexual white male lead, and Gunn won’t let you forget it.

 There is a female character credited only as Tortured Pink Girl (Laura Ortiz). For some reason, Benicio Del Toro plays the sadistic Collector (kind of an older, huskier Ziggy Stardust), with whom Quill seeks to do business. We see that the Collector has enslaved at least two women; both are displayed in pigtails and pink jumpers. One is forced to wash the glass cage of the other. The woman in the cage is on her knees, bound and gagged with electric ropes, a clear look of pain and fear in her eyes.

Quill and crew are less concerned with the fate of the women than with money and exposition. When the uncaged woman, Carina (Ophelia Lovibond), desperately attempts to use the power of an ancient artifact to free herself, she’s immolated instead. We’re left to assume that the other captive woman is also killed in the subsequent cataclysm.

Things didn’t get any better in the 2017 sequel. Clara Mae had this to say about the character assassination of Mantis:

Whereas in the comics Mantis is a celestial goddess, in GOTG2 she’s simply a servant to a celestial god, Ego, Peter Quill’s father. Stripped of her powers and physical strength, we are explicitly told that Mantis is only an empath, and that she travels with Ego to “help him sleep.” Just sit with that for a second: in the comics, Mantis is a young Asian woman who’s trained from birth as a skilled fighter, becomes an Avenger, and eventually transforms into a goddess. In the film, Mantis is an infantile, wide-eyed Asian woman who is introduced as the servant to an old white man who she calls master. The white man raises her and keeps her by his side so she can use her skills to put him to sleep. She’s clearly afraid of him, and it’s revealed that she’s never interacted with anyone outside of her master. This relationship has horrendous connotations, and it’s a wonder why Gunn completely rewrote Mantis’ backstory to include this. It’s the exact kind of demeaning Asian woman trope that comics Mantis herself avoided, so why is it in GOTG2?

 

Mantis exhibits all the signs of a woman who is being mistreated, but rather than save her immediately, the Guardians simply ignore it. Excited to finally meet his father, Peter is never bothered to acknowledge Mantis or her plight in any tangible way, a marked difference from the comics where Peter goes out of his way to recruit Mantis and has a positive relationship with her. As for the rest of the Guardians, they actively participate in Mantis’ abuse: not only are their insults and violence against Mantis normalized, they’re even used for comedic effect. Each of the Guardians’ actions help to enforce an idea that film Mantis has already internalized: she is worthless.

We see this a lot in Mantis’ troubling relationship with Drax, who is the only one of the Guardians who even remotely attempts to interact with Mantis, but half of those interactions involve Drax insulting Mantis’ appearance. Later, when Mantis rushes to his room in a panic to warn him about Ego’s evil plan, he automatically assumes Mantis is there for sex, to which he exaggeratedly makes retching noises about.

And then there’s the physical violence that Mantis suffers. When she meets Rocket Raccoon, Drax leads her to believe he’s his pet. When she reaches out to touch him, Raccoon snaps around and bites into her hand; she cries out, terrified, as Drax roars with laughter. Later, when Mantis reaches out to Gamora to demonstrate her empath powers, she’s immediately grabbed by the wrists and told, “Touch me, and the only thing you’re going to feel is a broken jaw.” When Gamora finally finds out the truth about Ego’s plans, she runs up to Mantis, grabs her by the throat, slams her against the wall, and tries to choke her. Gamora never apologizes for this, and we never see any follow-up to assure us that Gamora and Mantis will have any relationship beyond these moments of animosity.

“But what about Gamora?” you may ask. “She’s a strong female character. She’s the most dangerous woman in the universe.” Is she? Not according to Dylan Dembrow:

When they’re planning their prison break, Rocket proposes that Gamora use her body to make a trade with the male guards to aid in their escape. Later, Drax the Destroyer flat out refers to Gamora as a “green wh**e.” This makes little sense considering that Drax is a literalist, and he’s had no reason to believe Gamora has worked in this capacity in the past.

The Gamora we often get in the MCU is more bark than bite. She certainly comes across as an intimidating force thanks to Zoe Saldana’s powerful performance, but when she’s actually engaged in battle with an enemy, Gamora often ends up on the losing side.

Outside of engaging in combat, doing a bit of heavy lifting, and being able to jump really far in a pinch, Gamora powers seem diminished to nothing more than some boosted strength. What’s more, is that her strength and fighting skills haven’t been all that impressive to date, with even Peter getting the better of her during a skirmish.

So much for being one of the most dangerous women in existence.

Or Hugh Armitage:

The MCU’s Gamora has been too much defined by the men in her life, minimising her own narrative for the sake of Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and later, Thanos (Josh Brolin).

Gamora’s main narrative in the Guardians films was about Peter Quill seducing her. The film falls into all the old, well-worn clichés, reducing Gamora to a damsel in distress dying in space so that Peter can save her. How much more interesting it would have been for her to save him for a change, and it would have made more sense considering that she is manifestly tougher and more reliable than our designated hero.

Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 continues the theme, with Peter convincing her to like his music and dance with him. Maybe it’s just not her thing – leave her alone, you creep.

Yet despite these criticisms – or maybe because of them – Guardians of the Galaxy became the highest grossing film of 2014 and Volume 2 got an Oscar nomination for… something, thus proving that if you’re not not disgusted, you’re not paying attention.

Firing James Gunn from Guardians 3 will not doom the franchise. They can always rehire Nicole Perlman (who wrote the script for the 1st movie, only for it to get rewritten) to write the script. There are other qualified directors to hire (like Taika Waititi or even a woman director). Critics are so enamored of the MCU (or at least bribed to like it), they’ll give GOTG 3 a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

While Karma continues its rampage.

 

 

10 Things Every Woke Geek Girl Should Ask On a First Date

Disclaimer: this is a parody. It was inspired by this article at Feminist Current which in turn is a parody of this ridiculous article at Everyday Feminism. After reading both, I decided to have a little fun and write one of my own. Don’t worry readers. I’m not drunk, I haven’t been abducted by aliens and I’m not turning into a Social Justice Armchair Warrior.

Enjoy.

As a woke geek girl, I keep close relationships with geeks and nerds of all sizes. They’re true accomplices in the fight against the average jock, stoner and hipster. If you’re not going to support science fiction, then we can’t be friends, let alone date. The fantastical is political.

Beyond the words, happiness and support that we receive from imaginary characters (which are, in all honesty, soul-feeding and essential), geek girls also date! But there are questions we have to ask before we get close to someone.

The following list of questions is applicable to all relationships – and certainly not just between Trekkies and Whovians.

1. Do You Believe Jedi Lives Matter?

Yes? Wonderful. Let’s start here. There are three categories that are non-negotiable to me: Jedi, Padawans and Masters. Not everyone understands how you can sit on the council and not be given the rank of Master, but anyone who doesn’t take the time to learn how the Jedi Order works isn’t going to care about how the Force affects me or people who have a higher midi-chlorean count than I do.

I don’t want to have to have laborious discussions where I have to prove to someone that Force sensitivity or Force immunity exists. If they are willing to learn and listen and make the space to decenter their Force immunity (if they have a low midi-chlorean count) that’s a good place to start.

2. What Are Your Thoughts on Hard Sci-Fi and Soft Sci-Fi?

The Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness is a tiny box and I wish it didn’t exist but it does. I wouldn’t want to be with anyone who is hard on soft sci-fi. One of the many elements to dismantling the Mohs scale is to abolish the limited understanding that we have about hard and soft science fiction. As a woke geek girl, it would be a betrayal of what I stand for.

3. How Do You Work to Dismantle the Rivalry Between Marvel and DC?

I’ve met Marvel fans (Marvfa) who hate DC fans. They say they love DC fans, but that love is conditional on not having their cinematic universe threatened in any way. And they love us as an Infinity Gauntlet, they love what DC fans have to offer, whether it is sex, food, love, free comics or money to spend on collectibles: they love us for what we can do for them, not because of who we are for ourselves. It is crucial for Marvfa men to learn how to decenter their love of Marvel in order for them to understand the DC Multiverse.

Beyond the New 52, does the person you are with understand Earths 1, 2 or 23? Are they willing to learn if they don’t? Walk away from anyone who thinks that Barry Allen is the only Flash.

4. What Are Your Thoughts on Cosplay?

You may scratch your head at this one but being pro-cosplayer is a necessary pillar of sticking it to the cool kids. I don’t mean pro-cosplayer in the sense where non-cosplayers reblog pictures of cosplayers on Tumblr or Instagram.

I mean the kind where we pass the mic to cosplayers because they know their experiences better than anyone who hasn’t ever engaged in cosplay, where you understand the labor of cosplayers, especially cosplayers who dress as Steampunks because their experience and knowledge is crucial to understanding geek fashion sense.

5. Are You a Supporter of the Metric System?

The metric system stands for meters of all sorts: centimeters, milimeters, kilometers and so on. I grew up with the standard (non-metric) system in the U.S. Before even understanding how to measure by inches and pounds, I understood that the U.S. was way behind the rest of the world in its approach to measuring things.

Eventually, I began to understand the terror, trauma and stress of having to convert inches to centimeters, simply because one nation refuses to step in line with the rest of the world. Being pro-metric system is not the same as being anti-standard system. I shouldn’t even have to express that, but being pro-metric and standard is one step closer to world peace and understanding.

6. What is Your Understanding of Cryptozoology?

Your date thinks Mothman is a hoax or a relic of the past? NO THANKS. A key part of X-Files fandom is having a complete understanding of how historical and current sightings of Mothman effected the lives of thousands of people, regardless of skeptics and naysayers refusing to believe.

7. Do You Think We Should Clone Dinosaurs?

Should we clone only the plant eaters to be safe? Should we also clone meat-eaters because they look cool? If we exclude one class of dinosaurs will that make us carn-exclusionary? How would that make other extinct/prehistoric animals feel if we only clone dinosaurs? These are important questions to ask yourself if you want to continue to date a woke geek girl.

8. Can Any Alien Be Illegal?

We live on a tiny planet, with land and water within a galaxy surrounded by a universe with an inconceivable number of other galaxies and planets. Yet here we dictate where we are and who is allowed to be where we are. It’s mind-boggling that planets are even a thing, so to call visitors from other planets “aliens” or “UFOs” is so inhumane and despicable.

Earthlings stole this planet, populated this planet, polluted this planet, pushed out, killed and domesticated animals and somehow they have the audacity to claim this planet is theirs and that green and grey non-Earthlings are the abductors? Miss me with that baloney.

9. Do You Support Klingons?

I can’t think of any other race of humanoids which has been vilified and lied about more than Klingons. I am not a Klingon, so I will stay in my space-lane, but I cannot imagine for a second claiming to be a woke geek girl if I didn’t stand in solidarity with my Klingon friends and family – especially after Star Trek Discovery.

Don’t waste your time and energy on dating someone who thinks Klingons are crafty and violent. Instead read the works of Kahless the Unforgettable, you baktag!

10. Does Your Allyship Include the Fair Folk?

As a human woman, again, I will stay on my garden path, but geek/nerd culture has to include a solid platform for the Fair Folk – and not just the ones with wings. If you have fairy/faery family or friends, please make the effort to listen and learn about their lives and experiences. Fairy folk are subject to traps and disbelief because humans lack empathy and just plain suck. Be mindful of others who mock fairies; that kind of cruelty is inexcusable.

On a date with someone who doesn’t believe in fairies? Walk away clapping your hands vigorously.

 

 

Do As Peggy Says: Support “Agent Carter”

So the inevitable happened: ABC cancelled Agent Carter. Why? Because of “low ratings”. How were the ratings for Agent Carter were any lower than the ratings for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a show that (according to some fans) has indecisive storylines and started off weak, yet got stronger (depending on who you ask) as seasons went on? Was it because it was given a chance? Agent Carter, on the other hand, started off with critical acclaim, broke ground and won the hearts of nerd girls (and guys) everywhere. Even the second season, which divided fans, still had much to offer and left us with a juicy cliffhanger. If the show had such low ratings then why were there two online petitions to save the show? Maybe ABC aired the show in an inconvenient time slot (Tuesdays at 9 PM are iffy for me. I often had to use Hulu to catch up). Maybe ABC didn’t promote the show enough. Haley Atwell signed on to do a different show. Have you seen the trailer yet? Ugh. Just, ugh (barf).

But let’s not just sit around and mope. We are geeks and nerds! We have the brains and the imaginations to show and spread our love for our favorite secret agent so she will never be forgotten.

1. Sign Dat Petition

You’ve heard on the internet about that petition on Change.org to continue the show on Netflix. Sign that thing.  Think that won’t be enough? Go to abc.go.com, scroll to the bottom of the page, click on contact and a new window will appear (“feedback”). Select the box that says: “Select Your Issue”. Click on “abc programming feedback”. Give them your first and last name, email address, state and zip code. Select “Marvel’s Agent Carter” for “Select Show or Category”. Then select “I like this show because” and give your reasons. Even persuade them to move the show to Netflix. Then submit. If you feel that’s not enough, write to Marvel comics and Disney and complain (I’d provide contact info but I can’t find any. If you can provide info, it would be appreciated).

2. Buycott Peggy

Her Universe has four Agent Carter t-shirts. Here they are:

 

                

  

Teepublic.com also has some great shirts. Collect them all.

There’s also this FunkoPop! Peggy figure:

You can buy one from Hot Topic or your local comics shop if they carry one.

Season 1 is available on DVD at Amazon.

3. Make Your Own Peggy Stuff

Do you have any hobbies? Can you sew? Knit? Make jewelry? Paint? Sculpt? Then put your talents to good use and make some Peggy-themed stuff to show off to your friends, family and fellow fans. If you want to take your Peggy love a step further, sell some of your stuff online, or at your local convention so that others will join you in celebrating the awesomeness that is Agent Carter.  I make jewelry so I plan to make some Peggy pendants using pictures printed from the internet, bezels and magic gloss (aka resins). I will display the final results on Tumblr.

So now it’s your turn. How will you express your love for Peggy and the gang? Sound off in the comments. I’d love to hear your ideas.