(Re)Generation Who Convention 2018

I'm way late getting around to writing this post, but alas, here it is....

(Re)Generation Who Con-Year 3. I love this convention. I really do. It is one weekend a year that we frivolously drop Jonas off with a family member and we head down to Baltimore with some of our best friends in the world. The ride down is always energetic, fun, and full of anticipation. I love checking into our rooms, dropping off our stuff, and heading down to see the earliest happenings at the convention. I have a lot of interests that inspire great Fandoms, but Doctor Who fans are some of the most inclusive and kind human beings there are. Attending (Re)Generation Who takes me out of my own head about the things that fuel my depression and anxiety and reminds me that solidarity exists and I can be myself. Sometimes my best self.

Here are some highlights from Who Con 2018:

• Rachel Talalay! I attended all of her panels and just love her. I became a fan of hers years ago when I saw the movie she directed, 'Tank Girl'. Since then she's done a lot of amazing work on shows I love, i.e. Sherlock, Doctor Who. During one of my favorite panels, Rachel showed a directors cut scene of Peter Capaldi's regeneration (God, I love his monologues) into the first female Doctor of the series, Jodie Whitaker. Her insight on women, equality, and the rise of the #MeToo movement was inspiring and thought provoking. In addition to that, Rachel was also advocating for gun reform and was raising money for that cause. I was thrilled that I got the opportunity to meet her, shake her hand, and tell her how much I admired her work. She was very kind.  
  
• Peter Capaldi and Michelle Gomez-I was really surprised that Peter Capaldi came to the convention so soon after his run on the show but was thrilled with the opportunity to see him in person. Our budget couldn't justify the cost for a photo-op but I still got  to see him up close and attend his panel. Later on after the meet and greet area was closed, I went and sat in Peter's chair and may have accidentally sniffed his chair...don't ask.  Michelle Gomez is fun, hysterical, and NUTS! I probably had the most fun listening to her tell stories on her panel so I was quite excited to hear her spoil that she would be working with Big Finish in the near future.
  
• The Classic representation-I enjoy the Classic Who panels very much. Over the last year Jer and I have been doing decades worth of binge watching with no dent in episodes in sight. Many times I like a companion or a particular Doctor much more after enjoying their panels at the Who Con. I was disappointed that Sylvester McCoy wasn't at the Con this year...while (so far that I've seen) he isn't necessarily my favorite Classic Doctor, I find his energy, humor, and panel conversations, to be wildly entertaining. 
  
• Standing with Whos Against Gun Violence. Sadly this convention was dampened by a school shooting that killed 17 human beings in Florida in February 2018. Gun violence is an epidemic in America with mass shootings being common news these days. The ease of gaining weapons designed for war and not personal protection, is alarming. AR-15s really have no business in our society. It is a complex debate with strong points on either side of the argument. With that being said I stood with the protesters (along with my friend in Weeping Angel Cosplay) as a representative of their message...Gun violence needs to end. We deserve to feel safe when sending our children to school, attending concerts, going to a museums, etc without the concern of being shot to death in the back of our minds. 
  
• Karaoke-We ran into a guy that lived a couple of streets away from me in my hometown. We went to the same high school though he was older than me and I didn't know him. Talk about coincidence! Anyway, he played the game Heads Up with us for a while before letting us know he had a portable karaoke machine in this tiny bag he was carrying around. We had a blast. Jer still melts my heart with his rendition of Frank Sinatra's New York, New York. 
• The usual stuff-Who Dance Party, having drinks and conversation in our hotel rooms, going to sample the Baltimore food choices, walking around the vendor rooms, checking out the panels, and spending time with Jeremiah and our like-minded friends.

  

  Me and Jeremiah (as Matt Smith) causing trouble at Who Con

 I'm already looking forward to next year and everything (Re)Generation Who has to offer.

Black Panther: A Very Spoilery Review

Black Panther is the superhero movie I have been waiting for. It isn't perfect but don't get me wrong, I loved it. The animated sequence in the beginning sets us up with the cultural traditions of the Wakanda people, the rise of the Black Panther as protector of his people, and how a meteor filled with the alien element Vibranium, led to Wakanda becoming one of the most secretly advanced technology hubs in the world.

What I loved:
1. The Afrofuturism. While still maintaining the ancient rituals and tribal vibe, Wakanda is an advanced civilization with the technology and resources to change the world. (see bottom of post for reading recs)
2. The beautiful, powerful, Black WOMEN! Dunai Gurira as Okoye is amazing and I already love her as Michonne on Walking Dead. Her character in Black Panther is strong, conflicted, and tested. Shuri, T'Challa's sister played by Letitia Wright, is brilliant, savvy, tough, and just adorably delivers the best one liners of the movie. Pepper in actors such as Angela Bassett as the Queen Mother (who can forget her incredible portrayal of Tina Turner?) and Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia (won an Oscar for "12 Years a Slave", watch at your own risk, it's HARD) and you have a pretty formidable cast of remarkable female actors!
3. Wakanda. The one thing I liked about Thor (and I mean the one thing because Thor is an asshole), was the representation of Asgard. Wakanda is beautifully represented but also has a great story. It is steeped with mythology, is rich with culture, and is visually stunning on the big screen. Send the vibranium train...I want to go to Wakanda!
4. Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) as the sympathetic and simultaneously reprehensible villain. George R.R. Martin loves to write these kinds of villains too and they are my favorite kind to engage with. 

What I didn't love:
1. W'Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya). His acting was good. He's a great actor and I loved him in the Black Mirror episode "15 Million Credits". His character in Black Panther just fell really short for me. He was underdeveloped and too easily influenced. I was more moved by his lover Okoye's, resolve to kill him if it meant saving Wakanda. He does surrender to her with his best line, "You would kill me, my love?" To which Okoye replies, "For Wakanda? Without question."
2. The waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy extended, over the top action sequences that always involve gratuitous collateral damage and too much car surfing at impossible speeds. (YAWN)
3. The conflicted characters were brilliant. The political message was strong and important. Yet it felt like there were only two choices in philosophy offered: over-idealism and over-radicalism. Granted, while these choices sometimes seemed trite, it also brought me back into the reality of the Marvel Universe. It resolved itself with T'Challa's decision to engage in arming youths with diplomacy and education as a means of empowerment so perhaps this minor complaint is due to my impatience.

Wasn't this just the best line?

Extended Plot Summary: 
Disguised as a Third World Country, Wakanda boasts it's isolationism has kept them from being infiltrated by foreign invaders...until recently. We are set up for T'Challa's (Chadwick Boseman) reign in Wakunda in Captain America: Civil War when his father T'Chaka is killed in an explosion meant to frame Bucky Barnes (Bucky, Captain America's best bud, was brainwashed to become the lethal Winter Soldier and now being treated secretly in Wakanda by Shuri. She is working to heal his wounds and reverse the affects of his brainwashing).

We have enough backstory to bring us to Oakland California 1992 (side fact: also where the activist party, the Black Panthers rose up). King T'Chaka makes a special trip there to confront his brother, Prince N'Jobo for his betrayal of Wakanda and it's people. N'Jobo had begun to question his King brother's decision to keep Wakanda and vibranium a secret when it could help liberate others. This conflict begins the debate over two different philosophies, both wielding incredibly heavy consequences no matter what side you choose (insert Professor X vs. Magneto).

The end result is a radicalized N'Jobo betrays Wakanda because he feels that his people have a duty to do more to help people of African descent who are still living in a reality full of racial tension, crimes against humanity, and social injustices. He wants to arm the oppressed with Wakandan-style weapons so they can defend themselves against their oppressors. On the surface it is difficult NOT to enlist in his revolution...after all, history often candy-coats the hard-to-swallow pill of white America's starring role in slavery and segregation. Couple that with the fact that we are not even remotely far enough away from the continued impact of  racial disparity and segregation to deny that racism is systematically perpetuated. Even now. As a white girl who has done a lot of soul searching to find and obliterate my own societal prejudices in exchange for understanding, I might've read N'Jobo's recruitment brochure and found his cause attractive and justified (as long I didn't read the fine print).

But alas, in the superhero world of good guys and bad guys, it is not in the "why" but in the "how". Why N'Jobo betrayed his country becomes irrelevant because how he did it was despicable. He sent a black market arms dealer, Klaue, into Wakanda to steal Vibranium which resulted in many lives lost and a very valuable and dangerous element in the hands of the a real bad guy. King T'Chaka kills his brother to protect his informant after N'Jobo attacks him. They cover up their part in N'Jobo's death by agreeing to not speak of it. They leave N'Jobo's young son behind to live in the aftermath of discovering his father's body and cope with his death.

And now all of the nuts and bolts are in place for the rise of a patient villain who will devote his whole life to becoming a warrior, intelligent enough to challenge and overthrow the Royal family he hated. Enter Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, an MIT graduate and currently a black-ops soldier, his body is branded in a tribal-style, each scar representing a person he killed. He is sympathetic but while his plight is understandable, it is again, not the "why" but the "how".  Killing has become far too easy for Erik and in his hate-driven desire for vengeance, he has lost his ability to fully embrace the humanity in fulfilling his father's legacy to liberate people. It becomes clear that this he is too far gone. It's personal.

T'Challa is having a rough first week as the new King. He fails to capture/kill Klaue (despite his promise to W'Kabi) in favor of saving his CIA friend, Agent Ross (Martin Freeman) and he finds that some of his old Wakandan friends are a bit fickle in their allegiances. I'm talking to you, W'Kabi! Erik Killmonger dumps a dead Klaue (after rescuing him to kill him and killing his own girlfriend when Klaue used her as a shield) at Wakanda's doorstep and challenges T'Challa's throne in an ancient fighting ritual. T'Challa is a bit distracted in the fight after learning his father was responsible for murdering his own brother (Erik's father) and struggling with his ideals of his father vs. his father's dark secret that brought Killmonger knocking.

Of all the advanced vibranium-infused action scenes throughout the movie, the fighting ritual to claim the throne was my favorite. It was beautiful, taking place at the edge of a waterfall. It was primitive and stripped down. The drums beat for momentum, and the speared warrior women refereeing the battle were pretty bad-ass. T'Challa is thrown over the waterfall by Killmonger and a new, short reign of terror begins. T'Challa is found and saved by a nearby tribe chief and he rises again to take down Killmonger. In a finite and tragic reconciliation that was filled with regret and understanding (T'Challa) but still lacked remorse (Erik), Killmonger chooses death over being saved when T'Challa offers him the choice.  His final monologue about enslavement and dying a free man is vulnerable and raw. T'Challa carries the dying man, his cousin, to the perfect place to watch a Wakandan sunset and I'm a bit unhinged.



T'Challa rejects the old way of Wakandan rule and chooses diplomacy and transparency over secrecy and isolation. He is balanced out by his awesome sister Shuri (who is just fantastic) and by his love interest Nakia, a humanitarian who always believed Wakandan rulers should do more to protect the outside world and oppressed people living around them. The conclusion  of the movie with T'Challa buying the building where his father killed his Uncle, in order to turn it into a place to educate others and promote science and diplomacy, was a perfect set up for a sequel, a refreshing new start for Wakanda's position in the world, and a touching homage to his fallen cousin, Erik.

LONG LIVE KING T'CHALLA! WAKANDA FOREVER!!

Recommended Watching: Black Mirror-both Daniel Kaluuya ("15 Million Credits") and Letitia Wright ("Black Museum") have great episodes (side fact: both have also appeared in Doctor Who), Captain America: Civil War
(If you like or want to know more about Afrofuturism) Recommended reading: "Black to the Future" essay by Mark Dery and "Binti" Hugo-winning novella by Nnedi Okorafor, (For an alternative to the rave reviews and an insightful, well-written race perspective) Recommended article: "Black Panther is Not the Movie We Deserve". Christopher Lebron offers a rebuttal to the critical acclaim the movie has received and calls the movie out on a variety issues.