8 minute read
The TV Shows of Our Childhood
The Lone Ranger (2013) Jacob Hando
Back when Disney was daring with its live action project, the company pumped an enormous budget into what would become a gigantic box office flop: The Lone Ranger. Unfairly hammered by critics, this blockbuster Western deserves a lot more love. Pairing up Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinski together for the fifth time, The Lone Ranger has all the smooth camera work, narrative propulsion and ridiculous humour that made Pirates of the Caribbean such a hit. It is a mighty 150 minutes in length and is not without any flaws, but what critics missed was the palpable sense of fun that everyone involved was having. Quentin Tarantino is one of the few authorities who has praised it, in particular its bombastic climax which, set to the Hans Zimmer’s refining of the William Tell Overture, stages one of the most impressive trainorientated action sequences ever. It’s a shame bad publicity around the film’s budget led to audiences turning away, and it is an even mightier shame that critics forgot to have some fun at the cinema. Perhaps Disney’s stale slate of current live action films is due to the backfired risk of making this splendidly enjoyable and different film.
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Within some of our favourite films, there will undoubtedly be a personal favourite that we consider as under-appreciated by fellow critics and moviegoers. As our new magazine celebrates guilty pleasures, our writers pick their favourite films that have been under-appreciated and are worth defending.
After Earth (2013) Reece Buckett
M.Night Shyamalan has received more than his fair share of criticism as a director, and After Earth might be his most hated film alongside The Last Airbender. The vitriol towards After Earth has always been a little confusing - both stars Will and Jaden Smith seem to be magnets for criticism, just as Shyamalan has been since 2000’s Unbreakable - but in the last few years, it seems that a growing number of moviegoers are starting to come around to After Earth a little more. It’s undoubtedly an odd awry piece of sci-fi, but there is something genuinely elegant at its core which overtakes the film’s flaws completely. The tagline “Fear is a choice” emphasises the story’s focus on overcoming anxiety and although it might strike as insensitive, the way how Shyamalan articulates it visually is genuinely beautiful and arguably reminiscent of Werner Herzog’s war epic Rescue Dawn. Although typical in Shyamalan’s work, After Earth handles it in a unique manner that actually uses its action to navigate the steps towards recovery. It’s not a perfect film but it’s far, far better than many have allowed.
The TV Shows of Our Childhood
Ben 10 Jacob Hando
Take an everyday item of clothing (a watch), turn it into a shape shifting device for ten different alien skins and watch kids go berserk over it. That is the nature of Ben 10, Cartoon Network’s triumphant first series between 2005-2008. This was the show I dashed home from school for: to see Grandpa Max and his Rust bucket, Kevin Levin and Vilgax, Four Arms and Diamondhead. With a highly memorable theme song and a host of terrific creature designs that generated fabulous merchandise, this show of a ten-year-old saving the galaxy is still a joy to return to. The episodes were undeniably formulaic, but the novelty comes from seeing which creature Ben would slap into his wrist and if any new ones would be added (Cannonbolt is the greatest). The later series, Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, were solid enough continuations of the characters as they grew older, but it’s pre-pubescent Ben and the classic aesthetic of the creatures that still sticks in my mind. And Ghost Freak still haunts me.
Disney Channel Games Emily Dennis
Imagine it. The summer of 2007. You switch on the television and what do you see? Miley Cyrus singing ‘Life’s What You Make It’ to groups of Disney Channel stars wearing four different coloured shirts. There’s Dylan Sprouse! Corbin Bleu! Emily Osment! Welcome to the Disney Channel Games, an unforgettable and unmissable event for the hottest months of ‘06-’08. The competition was hosted by The Suite Life’s Mr. Moseby and caretaker Arwin, and had four teams compete to win £25,000 for their respective charities. There were inflatable obstacle courses, dunk tanks, and a bunch of jealousy emitting from the other side of the screen. It was competitive and exciting. What was so special is how real it made people that usually felt so far away from us. 2006’s event had Zac Efron, for crying out loud! Troy Bolton is a real person, just like me? It was a very special thing for any child to watch, and still holds a little bubble in the back of my mind.
House of Anubis Katie Evans
I’m guilty of watching House of Anubis a few too many times, but the teenage-aimed show that aired back when I was a mere high schooler was just that good. It combined the teenage drama of the classic childhood programme yet its British roots allowed it to be both quirky and experimental; blending romance with science fiction with crime and cults, and much more! Nickelodeon’s House of Anubis featured a diverse ensemble cast which was brilliant to fulfil that need to identify with a specific character - as it had a *lot* of characters. From the smart Nina (Nathalia Ramos) to the confident Patricia (Jade Ramsey) all the way to the cheeky Jerome (Eugene Simon), the show explored a range of issues that targeted teenage struggles through a gripping narrative involving a creepy school and a cult of God-fearing teachers.
My Experience: Fandom Culture
Alice Fortt
Yes, I will admit it, despite the innate shame I feel: I was a part of fandom tumblr back in the day. No, not only a part of it; I LIVED and BREATHED fandom culture, spending near excessive amounts of time on the internet talking about my favourite fan theories, ships, and characters, watching fan-edits and reading fan-fiction (and occasionally writing it too; don’t ask). And yes, just to make it extra Tumblr-stereotypical, I was obsessed with Superwholock Tumblr. I ran a Supernatural themed blog, with an equally cringey username, and spent my days trawling through endless Destiel (if you know you know) edits and fancanons, even creating a few myself. Forums would explode following every episode, flooding my creaking laptop with excited jargon regarding what could happen next, ‘omg did you see the way they looked at each other??? THEY’RE IN LOVE’, and other general fandom lingo. It wasn’t only Supernatural for me either; Sherlock, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Hannibal (I still stand by this show as the best thing ever), LOTR, Dragon Age, Marvel... the list goes on. Even saying these once internet-ruling names makes me feel like a relic.
As much as I cringe at it now, I actually look back at my Tumblr days with a bit of fondness, too. Don’t get me wrong, fandom culture can be incredibly toxic; don’t even get me started on the arguments that would crop up over the tiniest of things, like deciding on a character’s certain eye colour in an episode. But in my obsession with this questionable TV show, I found a community of people who enjoyed (and actually wanted to talk about) all these little things that, in a wider picture, seem meaningless. I’d chat for hours on group chats and forums about fan theories, would read my online friends fanfics, reblog their artworks, and listen to their character playlists; it felt like a safe space I could retreat into. It’s also safe to say that, despite looking back on it now it was definitely a questionable place to gather info and find that kind of community, I, amongst other Tumblr kids, learned a lot about sexual identity as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community who didn’t really know where else to look. There’s an inside joke that Tumblr back in the day was just the place that all the gay or gayquestioning kids flocked to, and to be honest, that rings true in my personal experience. It wasn’t a weird thing to talk about there, and even though fandoms definitely weren’t the best place to learn this information, I didn’t really have anywhere else to turn to, and I’m thankful I was given that space to learn and grow. This felt almost like an exposé and a confession of my Tumblr days, but honestly, it is a period of my life that, albeit still feeling a bit embarrassing, I do find almost endearing. I made some really great friends online that helped me a lot through my formative teenage years, and still have great memories. Live watch-parties and the explosions following a new episode or the excitement that oftentimes would crash Tumblr following a new trailer or TV spot (looking at you Marvel). Tumblr might have fallen out of fashion now, but fandom culture lives on in new spaces, in the form of stan Twitter and stan Instagram; I think fandom culture will always prevail. Communities form out of a shared love of something and want to share that love with others, and this is exactly what fandoms epitomise; I find that kind of beautiful, in a way.