Archives For tv drama / tv series / miniseries

Here’s another confession for the LGBT Blogathon~

What was once changed through literature, shaping individuals through writing, is now — kinda sadly — shaped through what we watch from television (and movies) because nobody reads anymore.

And so the medium of television becomes the ever important outlet for LGBT themes.

Television is free — though some people beg to differ — it reaches millions and millions of people through different channels around the world in many languages. Unlike film — you know, the one you pay for to enter a theater or catch at your local film festival — a lot more people watch television, and through it, sometimes watch film — see, television is so powerful even if you don’t watch it.

It is now, in our day and age (without counting the interwebs), that television plays a strong role into shaping the minds of the future generation of adults — that’s counting me, by the way… I’m not that old — who will hopefully grow into people who just won’t care whether you’re gay or straight or bi or transsexual. A generation that will ask about the need to add a “LGBT” genre tag when… it’s all normal!

Pride Bunting

This is my case. I came to know about LGBT issues because of television, which later prompted me to search online and then my world exploded with LGBT entertainment.

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Hmm… not really in the mood of talking (or ranting) now.

I don’t need to say that nothing on The L Word is really “safe for work” right? It’s not like you see much in here, but just to be safe, knowing you won’t get caught watching something… even if just a fanvid, that may look to some people like something else~

I re-watched sporadically the 3 first seasons of the show, and I just got sort of nostalgic about Shane and Carmen. You know I like Shane a lot, I liked Shane with Molly a lot too because of how fluffy their development was. It was different for the character, they had somewhere to go… but they never made it there. Meh, oh well~

So re-watching Shane and Carmen, I had almost forgotten how intense they were. Partly in a good way, but as the end of the third season came upon… it became more and more destructive.

You know that bit when Carmen dreams that Shane is giving Cherie Jaffe their tattoo, and then Carmen reveals she also cheated on her after Shane slept with Cherie? That bit when Shane’s all mad but nonchalant, looks at her and asks her whether she feels better now that they’re even. It was awful in a really good way.

So I guess Coldplay is their perfect fit. LOL

I have been ruined by Jdrama xD

Can you believe it’s been three years since?

It’s probably the longest fictitious relationship I’ve ever had with anything. LOL

You can read all about it on YAM Magazine.

Re-pimping this old list~ xD

It’s always been tough to be a working actress on the big screen, as you turn a little older, offers often seem to be linked to “being someone else’s mother,” but cable television seems to be becoming more and more attractive to not only writers – because they get to write more challenging stories and skip censors – but also to women who were movie actresses and have found new complex roles to take on.

you can read the whole thing on YAM Magazine~

I told you there were a few posts…

Anyway, did any of you watched Ryomaden last season? I did try to watch it at the beginning but wasn’t that into it, so it was really troublesome to gather the energy to find a subtitled version of it. Plus, there weren’t any small files, and I didn’t feel like download HD versions.

So I watched on TV with no subs.

Until the very last episode that Yu was on… and then till the very last of the year.

I remember that when I saw the preview of episode 44 with Yu’s character Omoto saying goodbye, I thought to myself — well, what bad number of episode to leave the show xD and it ended up being her 13th guest appearance — pretty sure about that.

Anyway, for those who didn’t watch the show — Yu played Omoto, a geisha who’s a closeted Christian (oh, the irony!). She plays the shamisen, does some traditional dancing and performing, and has some non-explored sexual tension with Ryoma. She was good in it, but I understand that Taiga dramas are a long-term commitment.

Here’s the capture of the interview with photos for those of you who won’t touch a Taiga with a stick xD

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I have another confession to make.

As you may have already figured out, I grew up in a time when there was barely any stability. When things settled down, we had about 4 or 5 networks, usually broadcasting local productions.

But there was also syndication.

American television loves syndication, they ensure making a living with it. What’s a better example of syndication than… Baywatch. Yup, that’s my confession. I grew up with Baywatch. Especially the first season and the second… maybe the third. They re-ran those seasons a lot those years, so I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them more than once.

So when I was like 5 or 6, we would all watch the show — most likely for different reasons LOL — since we kids liked going to the beach, we would always joke that our local lifeguards looked like they had floatability devices inside them. We would laugh, and move on.

Then there was Shauni. Before there was Stephanie Holden… Shauni was the only girl in the cast — pretty sure, I could be wrong. I was Team Shauni! As a kid, I don’t know why I thought she was awesome. She seemed nice, no problems — I’m seeing a pattern here — and she had Eddie xD

I just realized I’m a crazy shipper… almost since I was born. LOL

Anyway, time passed. Country got better, we got cable. Sony had just launched their signal, and were re-running Baywatch. Browsing channels, there was this episode – or was it a movie? – of Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood. Ha! I didn’t know what a bordello was at the time. I didn’t speak any English, all I remember saying was “Hey! That’s Shauni!” And I watched it. The memory of it — me watching that — is hilarious.

So yeah, I like Erika Eleniak.

Very much like on the other tales, I was browsing channels and ended up on Sony. What a surprise it was to see Erika Eleniak on the latest season of Desperate Housewives. Color me surprise. Even if I have stopped watching the show, I… for a split second or more, considered watching the show again. Then I didn’t when I found out it was a one-ep gig.

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There’s been a recent item talking about Gou’s lowering ratings, and mostly pointing out Juri Ueno’s miscasting or her lacking experience in period dramas.

Of course, I cannot form an opinion on whether Juri’s use of Japanese is appropriate for the era or not, and neither are most of us. However, I do understand why it would turn people off.

I cannot for the life of me, however, understand why would people say they don’t understand Juri Ueno playing a 10-year-old version of Gou, when for the past few Taiga dramas it’s been used. I just began watching Taiga dramas just a few years ago, and I do understand why it would throw people off. It’s weird to you, I get it.

You cannot say Ueno is miscast as a 10-year old when Masaharu Fukuyama played a much MUCH younger version of Ryomaden at the beginning of the show, Satoshi Tsumabuki played a much younger version of his character in Tenchijin, Hideaki Takizawa (Tackey from Tackey & Tsubasa) played pre-teen Yoshitsune when he was 20-something…

and obviously, Aoi Miyazaki (and Eita) played little kids early on Atsuhime, as well as playing them as 40 or 50-ish year-old people.

Also, I want to admit it. I don’t feel passionate enough about Gou. I love Juri, Asami Mizukawa and Rie Miyazawa, I do. But I’m not feeling the story. The three sisters, though they married very important people, feel like simple pawns in the story instead of being the players.

It felt different in Atsuhime.

They made Atsuhime interested in history, learning, and go strategics. She was constantly sent to places, and did things on her own to change her purpose in there. In the show, she was sent to be able to control the Shogun, to disintegrate the Ooku… yet, when she marries into the family, she sets to protect her new family. It’s conflictive.

It was engaging. It was good.

And this is me telling you I like Juri Ueno more than Aoi Miyazaki.

Plus, you don’t need to be a kid to play a kid convincingly.

So says the girl that wrote an essay on Numerology and a certain Harry Potter subject. *cough* LOL Anyway… moving on! You know I’ve got fandoms… I’ve gotten into shipping fandoms, but never got as “bad” as those HP days.

I was browsing the web, and ended up in LiveJournal — the place where all fandoms seem to end — and I found Rachel/Quinn shippers? How did that happen? Well, you need not to wonder. They will explain to you episode by episode… in a rather very detailed and impressive way.

I’m even a little converted. Though, I attribute many of those moments to Diana Agron letting go off Quinn’s bitchiness in a musical number — some may call those character inconsistencies — but they work in a very ironic kind of way.

I love love love Ryan Murphy with all my heart because of Popular, but he’s really not the King of Subtleties… if you must know. How can you not know that? It must have hit you in the face by now that Murphy likes it big and loud. Those Quinn/Rachel moments are too subtle to be meant to. Attribute those to happy accidents.

But they work. My gawd, Quinn/Dianna stares a lot at Rachel/Lea. And it had never crossed my mind that all of Quinn’s musical numbers, real or in her imagination, have her surrounded by females. Plus, the number with the cheerleaders in football uniforms.

If slowly developed, I can totally buy it.

The dedication of that post, however, is what made me write this post. I miss that crazy passion that fandom can create. I don’t know if that crazy passion should come with the crazy disappointment, though. I don’t think I can take another fandom heartbreak.

Ahh fandom… NSFW fandom.

Shane and Molly have Asian fans! It figures~ I wonder if some pairings are more popular in each region just because of cultural preferences. The fact that Shane wanted to become a better person… more studious, more knowledgeable for Molly is what sold me on the pairing. I also think it’s a very Asian thing xD

Plus, they’re hot… but Shane and Carmen was hot– but too much drama.

I liked they used a song by a Taiwanese singer called Joanna Wang. She reminds me of the style of those easy listening tracks by Kendal Payne, or those tracks used so often in Grey’s Anatomy xD And the ending of the video, so sad.

I really meant to post this sooner.

Remember that Glee episode in which we have a flashback of Kurt as a kid with his dad? That was amazing casting, and just to test my theory, I screencapped some bits and showed them to my mother. Her verdict? She thought it was really Chris Colfer as a kid!

So kudos with the casting on this one:
Eric Dawson, Carol Kritzer & Robert J. Ulrich ~~~

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