Go Girl, Please Destroy Go Girl
May 20There’s a radio commercial running right now that makes my brain and guts wilt every single time it airs. It features a focus group-y type gathering of ladies sitting around and discussing the sheer awesomeness of a new energy drink “for women” called Go Girl, which apparently boasts the following desirable attributes:
1) It’s sugar free
2) It only has a few calories
3) It comes in a bright pink can!
No, really. At the end, they make a point of saying “look for it in the BRIGHT PINK CAN!” The whole thing sounds dated and dumb and like someone put together a simplified-to-the-point-of-mental-impairment matrix for “how to sell stuff to girls.”
Anyway, after my brain and guts have somehow righted themselves a tiny bit, I always wonder what Trina Robbins would think. Because, if you’ll recall, she penned a comic that bears the same name. I never completely fell in love with this series (I did fall a little in love with Go Girl’s kicky mod outfit, but that’s probably a discussion we should have some other time), but it seemed like something that might appeal to younger readers, particularly girl readers, and I’m all grossed out that this dumb-ass product decided to name itself that as well. (And by the way? There might not be any sugar, but there’s apparently as much caffeine as there is in a cup of coffee, so I guess the goal is to hype you the fuck up without, you know, making you fat. Yay?)
I would like to request that Go Girl — the real Go Girl, not the pink drink — maybe team up with U-Go Girl and take this shit DOWN. Or at least make them stop airing the commercials.
JMS=Oscar Bait?!
May 20I’m just sorta stunned at the buzz that J. Michael Straczynski’s upcoming flick The Changeling is drumming up. He wrote the screenplay, based on a true story…and Clint Eastwood is directing it, with Angelina Jolie starring.
I like JMS’ writing well enough, often enough, but still–this is the Babylon 5 guy we’re talking about, right? The One More Day writer?
It’s like finding out Alex Ross will be exhibiting his paintings in the Louvre.
Four-Color Critiques #4: Love and Death
May 16Who is the greatest Marvel character?
(That’s a rhetorical question.)
Sorta depends on how you define “greatest.” Is it the character with the most appearances in print, or the best stories told about him/her? Is it the one who’s made the deepest penetration into the popular culture at large? Is it the character with the coolest powers, or the most interesting personality, or the strongest supporting cast?
For me, the greatest Marvel character is the one who best epitomizes exactly what the Marvel style of storytelling and characterization is all about. That character is Thanos.
That’s right–Thanos.
Play-Doh for everyone!
May 14
I’ll tell you a little secret – I love packaging. Even shipping boxes, like these Play-Doh cartons, that have a certain amount of design… I just love it. Just the thought of a box, or maybe thousands of boxes of mint toys and products and my brain is happy.
Play-Doh, Cincinnati
Originally uploaded by bayswater97.
No Need for Speed
May 14I’ve done this before and you probably have, too. When someone professes to dislike a piece of entertainment that you happen to enjoy quite muchly, you come up for some excuse specific to the disliker that explains their dislike. For example, I’ve heard that I do not like The Phantom Menace not because it’s shitty, but because it’s “a kids’ movie.” Similarly, when a friend and I professed our general hatred for Into the Wild, we were told by various people that we did not enjoy it because 1) we’re too young! and 2) we’re girls and 3) we hate camping.
I’m having kind of a similar thing with Speed Racer. A lot of folks in the geekscape have come out heavily for this movie, rallying against the mean ol’ critics who didn’t get it.
Dudes, dudettes, fellow geekly brothers and sisters, I’m sorry, but Speed Racer was SO FUCKING BORING.
And here are a few rationales folks might offer for me not liking it.
