i need something to sing about

First, let me be clear and call out all of the Charlie haters out there. This is not a laundry list of reasons why Charlie is “the worst thing about Revolution” or “why Revolution sucks” because she is not the reason for the show’s problematic story execution and she is arguably the character with the strongest potential to really improve Revolution’s plot so if you are here to lavish unfair hate, move along. What this is, is simply an analysis of the disconnect between concept and reality by the Revolution production machine.

Revolution is a gritty concept. Post-apocalyptic world where nothing works the way it’s supposed to and the strongest to emerge are those with the skills deemed otherwise irrelevant in today’s society. Fencing, archery, farming and holistic medicine can mean the difference between life and death; the difference between living and merely surviving. So maybe someone can explain to me how, in a world rife with dire consequences and the very real possibility of dying from cholera or an asthma attack, Charlie manages to have hair that looks beautifully tousled for a jungle themed L’Oreal shampoo commercial?

It’s completely absurd to assume that Charlie would be wearing her hair down in the first place but if you’re going to go with that as a character choice, it should look tangled and wild or merely brushed and straight. This insistence on making Charlie have aesthetically pleasing, mussed hair demonstrates a lack of commitment to the show’s premise. It says, “Yes! We are gritty and edgy and want to confront serious questions about ethics and humanity’s concept of morality but we don’t want it to look ugly” which is offensive to your audience. In the attempt to please an expected ideal of feminine beauty you are revealing a complete lack of faith in your audience’s intelligence and willingness to commit to your premise. If the world has gone to shit, then arguably your characters should look like they’ve gone through shit and learned how to deal with it.

I want to commend whoever is doing the hair for Rachel Matheson because the wild, unkempt curls that Elizabeth Mitchell has been sporting the last few episodes are believable and still nice to look at. It’s probably the same hair stylist who does Charlie’s hair so you need to realize the criticism of Charlie’s hair is not directed at the hair and make-up department because they would not be styling her hair that way if anyone higher up from the powers that be asked why it was so well coifed. Instead it’s more of a reflection of the fact that Rachel Matheson is the strongest character Revolution has turned out. She strides through the execution of the production clinging to the premise that this life is hard and painful and costly. Her stride is that of an individual who has learned if you bend, you break, and as such refuses to share her burden with anyone. So when she broke down over Danny’s death it was emotionally riveting and devastating. The sheer amount of pain she was feeling over losing her son overwhelmed all of her carefully constructed defenses and confronted the audience with raw, messy anguish. And her hair matched that performance. Raw, intense, a little crazy are all apt descriptors for the curls cascading around Rachel’s face through those episodes and it works.

The wishy-washy approach to everyone else’s hair and character development needs to be addressed if you want your audience to fully commit to Revolution as a concept and as a must watch show because your premise only holds the attention for so long before the execution starts to overwhelm all good intentions. The Walking Dead is riveting not because it’s a show about people struggling to live in a zombie’s world but because those people look like they are barely surviving through a zombie apocalypse. It’s ugly and harsh and brutal.

And yes, I know The Walking Dead is on cable and Revolution is a network broadcast show and maybe I’d expect shiny, glossed over approaches to hair and make up from ABC or dated, formulaic production values from CBS because they are aimed at (and achieve huge audience numbers) but Revolution is on NBC and NBC is the niche broadcast network. They produce such passionately loved genre television programs as Parks and Rec, Community and Grimm. Sure, they aren’t blockbusters in the ratings but that’s the nature of the beast. Make something great and the people who watch it will love it to the end. Make something mediocre for an audience that doesn’t watch your network in the first place and you won’t have an audience. So fix Charlie’s hair and by extension commit to your gritty concept of high drama in a desperate, dangerous world and you’ll have one of the best shows on television.

Catherine Tate needs to host Never Mind the Buzzcocks EVERY WEEK!!

I saw Charlie St. Cloud on Sunday with Christina. I had no expectations and finally decided to admit I was willing to pay money to see it because Amanda Crew is the female lead and I've enjoyed all the Zac Efron performances I've seen. I have to say I was seriously impressed by how much I love this little film. So naturally I did what any normal individual would do when they can't find a movie online, I took my mom to see it tonight. ;)

( Vague Spoilers in this Review )

So here's A Very Potter Sequel in iPod friendly format. Each Act is separated into two parts due to overall file size.
Downloading Info:
Rename extension to .rar
password to extract: hellomistermalfoy

Act 1 Part One - hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=KS4LKJAR
Act 1 Part Two - hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=YVH5W01I
Act 2 Part One - hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=EXLV2NV0
Act 2 Part Two - hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=R81RVJ92

And it's not remotely fandom related. That's a new one for me. ;)

So I sort of disappeared. My sister is getting married in five days and it's crunch time. In other really fantastic news Heather is in Orlando at Infinitus 2010 right now and she got to see A Very Potter Sequel yesterday and had the fabulous fortune of sitting next to Team Starkid during the showing. AND SHE GOT ME A PERSONALIZED DRACO/LAUREN LOPEZ AUTOGRAPH!

I've watched all but three games that have been played in the World Cup so far. Sometimes I really love my job.

aka the episode of Doctor Who that was so beautiful I wanted to cry. Seriously guys, so much love for this episode. It's rather overwhelming.

Patrick Stewart was knighted today! I knew this was happening but it's so much cooler to see the picture of it.
"The 69-year-old actor discovered the theater as a child, and said "my heroes were Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Alec Guinness." Being "in that company is the grandest thing that has professionally happened to me."