More Than Cute
More Than Cute
Secret identity of a father raising two super-heroic young girls
Tonight, despite great personal aversion, I will be watching as little of Monday Night Football as possible while waiting for the debut of the first Last Jedi trailer.
We’re guessing that halftime will be about about 7 pm PST / 10 pm EST.
Two years ago,music video director turned comic-book writer Dennis Liu made a bit of a splash by directing a trailer for his self-published comic Raising Dion. The trailer focused on the exploits of a single black mother trying to raise her 7-year-old son after learning he has superpowers.
The trailer was exceptionally well-made, and the comic got picked up for the creator-owned athology IF. Now Netflix has announced a 10-episode series based on the comic has been ordered straight to production vial Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society Productions.
The series follows the story of a woman named Nicole Reese, who raises her son Dion after the death of her husband Mark (Jordan). The normal dramas of raising a son as a single mom are amplified when Dion starts to manifest several magical, superhero-like abilities. Nicole must now keep her son’s gifts secret with the help of Mark’s best friend Pat, and protect Dion from antagonists out to exploit him while figuring out the origin of his abilities. The ten-episode series will premiere on Netflix in more than 190 countries around the world.
By using the idea of “superheroes” as a setting rather than a genre and moving the point of view to Nicole, Liu was able to turn the traditional tropes and narratives on their head and gave us a story that was refreshing and honest. The series also smartly sidestepped a series of stale tropes. Nicole is not superwoman, keeping up with Dion is clearly taking a toll. On the other hand, she is not to be pitied — downtrodden and crushed by the world.
The challenges that single mother Nicole faces as she struggles to keep her son safe from harm and make sure he becomes a good and moral person are the same struggle that every single mother faces.
“I started this project many years ago because I wanted to see more diverse representation on film and television,” said Liu. “More than ever, we need more stories told from different points of view and my hope with Raising Dion is to create a cinematic experience for all families that will lift your spirits and make you laugh and cry.”
No release date has been set yet, but late 2018/early 2019 seems likely. The original comic, which explores Nicole’s relationship with Dion’s father is available for free download on Liu’s website.
We’ve been pretty bummed as the fantastic Black Panther stories written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Roxanne Gay have come to an end this year, but Marvel is determined not to give us too long of a mourning period. According to the Nerdist, Marvel has hired World Fantasy-, Hugo- and Nebula Award-winning novelist Nnedi Okorafor to write a new series, Black Panther: Hail to the King.
With art and colors by Andre Araujo and Chris O’Halloran Black Panther: Long Live the King will be a biweekly comiXology exclusive, released in December on comiXology and Kindle as part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive digital content, which is also available to members through the popular comiXology Unlimited. This story will take place in the expansive world of Wakanda that Coates has built up in his ongoing series, and will follow T’Challa as he desperately tries to defend his home from a terrifying new threat.
Okorafor got her comics try out in last month’s Edge of the Venomverse: War Stories #1, where she introduced Ngozi, a paralyzed teenaged Nigerian “Chibok Girl” who comes into contact with a Venom symbiote and discovers she can walk again.The Chibok girls were 220 schoolgirls abducted by the militant group Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria in 2014.
Right before a select few people get to see the sneak preview of the pilot at New York Comic Con, Hulu has released the first teaser trailer for their upcoming adaptation of Marvel’s Runaways.
Like the comic book before it, the television series will focus on the six kids who discover that their parents are supervillains plotting to destroy the world. Stealing powerful items that unlock their hidden powers and abilities, the kids go on the run seeking to stop their parents’ evil schemes.
Marvel’s Runaways premieres on November 21s on Hulu.
Marvel hosted a retailer’s-only panel at New York Comic Con yesterday. The panel was part of the Diamond Distributors’ breakfast event, and it started harmlessly enough with Marvel’s panel — consisting of Tom Brevoort, Nick Lowe, Christina Hanigan and Charles Soule — making a series of announcements regarding upcoming titles an events. But when it came time to take questions from the crowd, the event turned ugly.
After answering questions regarding issue numbering, their ability to put out a weekly comic on time and making the Marvel Universe feel more interconnected; the event went off the rails.
Bleeding Cool gives us the play-by-play:
Then one retailer got lots of applause for objecting to the ordering process for the Marvel Lenticular covers, and got lots of applause, Bleeding Cool has covered repeatedly objections to the way Marvel Comics have handled this.
But he kept going with his objections and soon he was bringing up the fact that Marvel now had female versions of characters instead of the males, with echoing shouts from the crowd of retailers about not changing all the characters all at once – which is something I have also heard Marvel executives themselves echo. But things were getting tense.
Two older retailers started raising their voices arguing about diversity and how it does not work. The words “black”, “homo” and “freaking females” were used multiple times, at which point other retailers started to boo those retailers and the room started to turn on itself. Marvel editor Nick Lowe tried to get calm by saying that Marvel try and they tell stories for everyone, that the old heroes are not going anywhere, neither are the new ones, there is room for them both.
Marvel ended the event amid the chaos and cleared the room, but angry retailers confronted editors and executives in the hallway, continuing the argument.
While analysts have pointed to a number of causes for Marvel’s sales slump (too many “events,” the constant cancellation and resolicitation of books with a new #1), the idea that “diversity” is what has caused a sales slump at Marvel has been a staple among the “angry white male” demographic for a while — but it’s almost always prefaced with the caveat that they just “really respect the original characters,” and that they aren’t “sexist or racist or anything.”
We’ll be sure to let the “blacks,” “homos” and “freaking females” know.
Gal Gadot is hosting the grand-daddy of all sketch comedy shows, Saturday Night Live, with musical guest Sam Smith. The first promo for the show featured Gadot bursting through a wall like Wonder Woman while cast member Leslie Jones consistently mispronounces her name. A second series of short spots feature Gadot, Smith and cast member Kenan Thompson.
It’s Gadot’s first time hosting the show, but we are willing to make a few predictions:
The episode airs on Saturday, October 7. Check your local listings for times.
Director James Cameron made headlines earlier this summer when he targeted the movie Wonder Woman for criticism, calling the film “a step backwards” for women in Hollywood, and compared the character unfavorably to Terminator‘s Sarah Connor.
“Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit,” Cameron said. In contrast, he insinuated that Wonder Woman was “an objectified icon.”
Wonder Woman director Patti Jenkins hit back at Cameron’s slighting of everyone’s favorite Amazon. “If women have to always be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we aren’t free to be multidimensional or celebrate an icon of women everywhere because she is attractive and loving, then we haven’t come very far have we?”
Thursday, Lynda Carter, the original Wonder Woman, had her say.
To James Cameron -STOP dissing WW: You poor soul. Perhaps you do not understand the character. I most certainly do. Like all women–we are more than the sum of our parts. Your thuggish jabs at a brilliant director, Patty Jenkins, are ill advised. This movie was spot on. Gal Gadot was great. I know, Mr. Cameron–because I have embodied this character for more than 40 years. So–STOP IT.
Even though she hung up her tights 40 years ago, Lynda Carter is still showing us what it means to be a hero every day.
From the United States to the Democratic Republic of Congo, girls around the world are taught that they are weak, vulnerable and that their bodies and physical appearance are their most important asset, according to It Begins at Ten: How Gender Expectations Shape Early Adolescence Around the World, a new report by the Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS). GEAS is an ongoing collaboration between John Hopkins University and the World Health Organization.
“We found children at a very early age—from the most conservative to the most liberal societies—quickly internalize this myth that girls are vulnerable and boys are strong and independent,” said Robert Blum, director of the Global Early Adolescent Study based at Johns Hopkins University. “And this message is being constantly reinforced at almost every turn, by siblings, classmates, teachers, parents, guardians, relatives, clergy and coaches.”
For example, the researchers found boys in both New Delhi and Shanghai talked about being encouraged to spend time outside of the home in unsupervised exploration of their environment, while girls said they were advised to stay home and do chores. Shaming and beatings for those who sought to cross the divide was reported by girls and boys in both cities.
In every city but one, (Edinburgh, Scotland) both boys and girls were certain that it was boys who must take the initiative in starting a relationship, and that girls’ role was to look pretty to attract their attention. This focus on physical appearance and body was consistent across all cultures, even if it expressed itself in different ways.
“In New Delhi, the girls talked about their bodies as a big risk that needs to be covered up, while in Baltimore girls told us their primary asset was their bodies and that they need to look appealing—but not too appealing,” Kristin Mmari, DrPH, associate professor and lead researcher for the qualitative research at GEAS said.
Boys were also portrayed as “predators” in all cultures. Girls were instructed to avoid spending time with boys. These rules are enforced, through societal pressure, shaming and even physical coercion.
Under the guise of protecting them, girls find their freedom greatly curtailed. Every society has rules on how girls should behave in order to protect them from “predatory males.” “Don’t sit like that.” “Don’t dress that way.” “Cover your hair.”They were often not allowed to play outside or take trips on their own. This reinforces the narrative that girls are vulnerable while boys are strong and “independent” and denies girls the opportunity to explore the world around them.
The full study is available on the Internet.
According to an article by Deadline, ABC has given a “put pilot*” commitment to a reboot of early-’80s cult-classic The Greatest American Hero. Rachna Fruchbom and Nahnatchka Khan’s Fierce Baby Productions will produce the pilot, based on a script written by Fruchbom. Fruchbom previously worked on NBC’s Parks and Recreation and is currently a writer-producer on ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat which was created and executive produced by Khan.
(*A “put pilot” means that the network is committed to put the pilot on air as a special, even in the unlikely case the series is not picked up. -Ed.)
The original Greatest American Hero was created by legendary television producer Stephen J. Cannell (The A-Team, 21 Jump Street) and starred William Katt (House, Carrie) as substitute teacher Ralph Hinkley who is chosen by aliens to defend the word. He is given a superhero suit that grants its user amazing powers … and promptly loses the instruction manual, leaving him to discover his abilities through trial and error. (In a running gag, he learns to fly — but never masters landing.)
He is aided by an FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp) and attorney Pam Davidson (Connie Sellecca). The show is perhaps best known for its theme song, “Believe It or Not,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Pop Charts.
The reboot is being written by Fruchbom and centers on “Meera, a 30-year-old Indian-American woman from Cleveland whose talents include tequila drinking, karaoke and not much else. Then some aliens entrust her with a super suit to protect the planet, and the world has never been in more unreliable hands.”
Mindi Kaling’s name was immediately bandied about in the press, but we would like to suggest up-and-comer Sunita Mani (GLOW, Mr. Robot) as another excellent choice.
Fruchbom executive produces the reboot with Fierce Baby’s Khan and Mandy Summers, as well as Cannell’s daughter, television director Tawnia McKiernan.
This is the fourth attempt at a reboot of the series. After the series ended, Cannell actually filmed a pilot for The Greatest American Heroine where Hinkley’s secret identity is compromised, and the aliens instruct him to give the suit to a successor. Over Maxwell’s objections, he chooses a woman, Holly Hathaway. The network passed, although the pilot was folded into the original series for syndication.
In more recent times, the show was attempted twice — in 2015 and 2016 — by producers Phil Lord & Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie, 21 Jump Street) and McKiernan, but neither version made it to air.
In a study that has a number of disturbing implications, researchers found that computers become sexist when exposed to too much of our media. University of Virginia computer science professor Vicente Ordóñez noticed a pattern in how the image-recognition software he had developed interpreted photos. “It would see a picture of a kitchen and more often than not associate it with women, not men,” he told Wired.
That made Ordóñez wonder if researchers were injecting their own biases into the computer’s thought processes. So he found some collaborators and decided to test industry standard the photosets provided by Microsoft and Facebook to “train” image-recognition software.
They found that both data sets reinforced gender stereotypes in their depiction of activities such as cooking and sports. Pictures of shopping and washing were correlated to women, for example, while coaching and shooting were linked to men.
More worrying, image-recognition software trained with these datasets did not just reflect those biases — they magnified them. If a photo set associated women with cleaning, software trained with that photo set created an even stronger link between women and cleaning.
For instance, the research paper shows a photo of a man at a stove that image-recognition software consistently labelled as “woman.”
As these types of intelligent machine-learning programs are getting ready to explode in number and in importance. If we can’t get a handle on how to combat this problem, they could magnify the worst stereotypes society has about race and gender.
This is already happening. In 2015, Google’s automated photo service embarrassingly tagged black people as “gorillas.”
As learning computers become more sophisticated, this problem could have dramatic real-world consequences. Mark Yatskar, a a researcher at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, imagines a personal assistant robot in the future that is trying to guess what a human is doing in the kitchen. It might give a man a beer while offering to help a woman clean.
Last year, researchers from Boston University and Microsoft demonstrated that software that learned from text provided by Google News had acquired sexist biases as well. When asked complete the statement “Man is to computer programmer as woman is to X,” it replied, “homemaker.”
Eric Horvitz, director of Microsoft Research, notes that the materials we give to children often reflect an idealized world — where men and women are equally likely to be firefighters or homemakers. He suggests that a similar approach might be necessary for learning machines. “It’s a really important question–when should we change reality to make our systems perform in an aspirational way?” he asked..
Other experts worry that providing a distorted version of reality to computers will hamper their effectiveness because the data no longer reflects the real world. Aylin Caliskan, a researcher at Princeton, says it’s important for the computer to know that there are more male construction workers in the world so that it can analyze data more effectively. She recommends identifying and correcting bias afterwards rather than providing “bad data” to the machines at the outset.. “We risk losing essential information,” she says. “The datasets need to reflect the real statistics in the world.”
There may not be a clear-cut answer, but it is clear that the issue needs to be addressed before these types of learning systems become even more prevalent.
One final thought. If these stereotypes are present in media that is suppose to be curated against racial and gender biases and computers pick up on them and amplify them — what do you suppose is happening to our most important “learning machines” — the brains of our children — when they are constantly exposed to the unfiltered text and imagery that makes up much of modern society?
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