Nostalgia and Remakes

by on July 27, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

There is an art to making remakes that honor the original. Fans of the original want to see new stories, often but not always with the same characters. Sometimes they want to see the next generation, while the old characters sit in the background and encourage them. Most importantly, fans want to feel the same way they felt when they experienced the original. The most popular multimedia remakes use modern technology and methods to make better-looking stories that feel the same. Transformers has had dozens of major comics, games, TV, and movie remakes, and in every one, Optimus Prime is the kind and good leader of the Autobots, reluctant warriors who fight only when forced to. The story is different every time, but they are always true to the 1980s “Freedom is the right of all sentient beings” ideal that they were built on. The best parts of the old stories, the ones that make fans feel nostalgic for their younger days, are highlighted again for a new generation. These are popular and profitable reboots that unite fans and encourage companies to make more of them.

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He-Man

by on July 26, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

If you love 80s cartoons, you’ve heard that a new He-Man show was coming out. I saw the previews for it and was amazed. The art is spectacular. The chance to get to see He-Man and the Masters of the Universe fighting to save Eternia again for the first time in decades had me at first sight. Then someone leaked a plot that it wasn’t going to be about He-Man at all, but about Teela, and her search for He-Man after he and the Masters of the Universe are killed or defeated. The show creator went to social media to say that wasn’t true and that it really was about He-Man. And when it finally released, viewers reported that the leak was accurate. The fans had been lied to. They got outraged about the whole affair and complained. Only to be shouted at by new fans saying “how dare you not love this brave new subversion of that old crappy show?” Sigh… Nah Fam… not buying it…

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Confederation of Dixie

by on July 25, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

When the rioters burned down Mobile, it caused a refugee crisis that America had not seen in years. Many citizens visited family in the country, or otherwise found places to run to, but most had no recourse when their homes, neighborhoods, and jobs burned down around them. That left hundreds of thousands of new homeless, with no Federal emergency services left to swoop in and help. It was a humanitarian crisis writ large. The Port of Mobile donated entire shipments of tents and garden sheds, along with tens of thousands of empty international shipping containers to act as temporary housing for the relief effort. The shipping containers in particular would become the standard housing unit in the Mobile area for years to come. Everyone who lived through the Second Great Depression in Mobile spent time in a container house, and that forever changed the nature of housing in the area.

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Confederation of Dixie

by on July 24, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Mobile, Alabama was largely burned down during the riots of the Second Great Depression. Some of the major industrial facilities and the Port of Mobile survived thanks to their corporate security teams, and they provided temporary housing for their workers. Most of that housing was composed of international shipping containers, which the Port of Mobile had in numbers far greater than their needs. Individual containers could be turned into barracks-style housing for single men and women, or family-style housing. The port had recently received a shipment of one-piece sinks and toilets for one of the local prisons, and it was easy to install them in the shipping containers to give their workers all the necessities of home. Not necessarily the comforts thereof, but in times of death and danger, a good roof, a clean bed, and a working sink and toilet are sufficient unto the day.

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Tomorrow War

by on July 23, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Tomorrow War’s third act is the weakest for a science fiction story. Is it a fun monster hunt? Yes. Did I enjoy watching it? Absolutely. Is it filled with more stupid than I can shake a VHS of Independence Day at? Oh yeah. Did Independence Day become a cult classic despite mind-numbing amounts of technical stupid? Yes it did. It is in fact one of my favorite movies of all time. I do not know where Tomorrow War will rate on my final metric. The pure and simple fact to me is that it is NOT a science fiction story. It is a monster hunting adventure movie with very light science fiction elements attached to it. It’s a fun movie. I enjoyed it. And the cast did an enjoyable job showing off their characters. The enjoyment I got out of it is worth the time I spent watching, and the time I’ve spent writing about it since.

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