"Group Hug": Slayage and Community

Last week, I attended the 5th Biennial Slayage Conference on the Whedonverses. The conference is exactly what the title would have you believe - plus so much more. It is a gathering of academics and fans, coming together to celebrate, discuss, and analyze the works of writer/director Joss Whedon. It is also a community that I feel blessed and thrilled to have become a part of.

This year's conference was held at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, which only added to my desire to attend after a paper proposal I submitted was accepted back in February. I had recently received my first real publication credit as a contributor to Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion, and the fact that my opportunity to attend Slayage grew out of something that amazing to begin with still boggles my mind a little (OK, a lot).

Like any first-time attendee of a conference, I didn't really know what to expect. Not only was this my first ever academic conference - I had also flown literally coast-to-coast for it, I didn't know a single person there, and I was at turns terrified and overwhelmed by pretty much everything around me. Not to mention how nervous I was about having to present a paper in front of who knew how many people. The litany in my head went something like this: You're going to miss a flight and be stuck in Toronto Your presentation is going to go badly You won't be dressed well enough Your paper isn't very good and everyone is going to know it but maybe they'll be too nice to say so Oh and whatever you do, don't keep any apples in your bag when you go through customs because apparently bringing apples to Vancouver is illegal. 

True story, folks.

Then the first day of the conference came around, people actually started showing up, and everything I was worried about just kind of...stopped mattering. I was early for registration, and I sat there expecting to see lots of academics with expensive suits and at least a monocle or two in the mix. What I got instead was a crowd of friendly people wearing jeans and t-shirts that celebrated Firefly, Serenity, Buffy, and Doctor Horrible, among others. Everyone was so happy to be there, and it didn't matter if you were at your fifth Slayage or your first - the one thing made abundantly clear by and for all was that you were welcome here.

Over the next four days, a few of my friends from home texted me to see how things were going. I jokingly texted back to them "These are my people, I belong among them." But after thinking about it a bit, I realized just how true that silly phrase turned out to be.

See, I've always been a geek in one way or another. Granted, 21 years isn't all that long to be anything, but still. As terribly hipster as it sounds, I was a film and comic book geek before it was 'cool'. I was in high school when people almost always laughed at geeks and nerds, not with them like they (sometimes) do now thanks to shows like The Big Bang Theory. I'm the kid who read books on the playground and dreamed about wearing a cape like Superman when I grew up (I don't know who I'm kidding - I still do that). Movies like Back To The Future (the greatest movie of all time as far as I'm concerned), Christopher Reeve's Superman, and Star Wars thrill me to the core even when most of the people I know don't really understand why. I have never been embarrassed to call myself a geek or a comics nerd - but man, sometimes it can feel lonely, at least to this small-town kid from rural Maine.

I guess that's why I (and people like me) look to characters like The Doctor from Doctor Who, or Superman, or The Avengers, or any of a hundred thousand others like them out there in the fictional world. They're alone, more often than not, and they choose to rise above and thrive both in spite of and because of this. They're all the inspiration we think we need.

But I'll do you one better. Because if there's one thing this summer has been teaching me, it is that we don't need to look just to fictional characters to find inspiration. We have each other. I only started realizing this earlier this summer, and Slayage was really the defining moment in helping me form an understanding about how true it really is. Over the last few months, I've met new friends and gotten back in touch with old ones, and I found out that they're a lot like me. I'm not the only one who is just as happy spending his day inside watching a movie, reading or scrolling the internet than going outside and do something involving crowds of other people and sunlight.And there's nothing wrong with that. It doesn't mean I'm antisocial and strange. It just means I enjoy different things than other people.

Slayage took things a step further. There I found not only people who love the same shows and things that I do, but who love them enough to take them seriously as creative efforts and truly believe that shows like Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Sherlock, and Supernatural  have things to teach us, that they are more than just shiny things to look at for an hour one night a week (or for hours at a time on DVD). Plus we had puppets. Puppets are cool.

At Slayage, I felt like I really belonged entirely, for the first time in a very long time. It wasn't just me and my few friends, lurking in a corner and talking about things that made people who overheard us ask "Are you speaking English?" (Also a true story.)

Most people who know me know that I'm an introvert, and it's often really difficult for me to get up the nerve to get involved in conversations with other people. At Slayage, you couldn't shut me up. I was treated as being among equals (despite my lack of any sort of academic degree), and I never once felt that I was looked down upon or that people were just putting up with me until I went away. I made friends at Slayage, ones I hope to keep for a long time to come. I saw other people express what I already felt for myself - that these movies and shows I grew up on and continue to watch are more than just teenage escapism. They matter, almost as much as the people who watch them matter to each other.


What Slayage did was give me a chance to experience the dynamic I have with my friends at home happening on a much larger scale with a wider range of people, letting the same things bring us all together. For someone like me, belonging is one of the most important feelings in the world, and Slayage gave me that. So to everyone from the conference who might be reading this, thank you. Sincerely. You probably didn't know it at the time, but everything you all did made a huge difference to me - a difference I didn't realize was possible. You all helped me feel a sense of confidence in myself that I wasn't even sure was there. So thank you. 

To anyone reading this who hasn't had the chance to experience what I did in Vancouver: go out and find your own version of Slayage. Maybe it's a Magic or Dungeons and Dragons game on Thursday night with some friends. Maybe it's a Doctor Who marathon. Maybe its as simple as going to a crowded theater to watch a movie. Maybe it is one of a hundred other possibilities. All I'm saying is, don't be afraid to find out which one is yours.

 Never be ashamed to be where you belong. Embrace it. 

Nolan "Rises"

Fear not, citizens of Gotham. This review is simple, straightforward, and SPOILER-FREE. 


So. The Dark Knight Rises. One of the most anticipated movies of not only the summer, but of the year. I had the chance to see a midnight screening, as part of a 3-movie Batman marathon featuring both Begins and  Dark Knight, capped off with Rises. This absolutely influenced my feelings on the film, especially since so many elements from Begins arose again in Rises. Seeing Nolan's ducks lined up in a row helps discern the heart of the story he's telling, and how he's been planning to finish telling it since the beginning.


There's an awful lot going on in The Dark Knight Rises. Enough, even, that it seems the story well could have played out successfully over 2 films - or should have been trimmed down a bit to fit comfortably in the confines of a single film. The story overflows with characters new and old, from Bane (Tom Hardy) to Catwoman (Anne Hathaway), as well as Batman staples like Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Alfred Pennyworth (Sir Michael Caine). None of them feel shoehorned in just for the sake of having them there, nor do any of them get the shaft in terms of screentime. Much like Marvel's The Avengers, Rises does a great job of balancing a large and complex cast along with its story. 

This movie is not perfect. What it is, though, is the culmination of a clear vision on the part of director and writer Christopher Nolan. It may not be what we either expect to see or want to see, but it is unquestionably Nolan's story. This is Nolan's Batman. He's telling his version of the story the way he wants to tell it, and he's doing it well. I have an immense amount of respect for that kind of creative vision and storytelling integrity.


Nolan uses his story to grab hold of you and never lets go, something that's not easy to do in a nearly 3-hour movie. Both the scale and stakes of the movie are bigger this time around, and Nolan handles the necessary shift in storytelling perspective extremely well. I'm looking forward to seeing this film again, hopefully in IMAX, as I'm told the visuals that Nolan puts onscreen are even more spectacular in that format. Here's hoping we get more films of this caliber on our screens soon. 

Rise.

By now, most of you know the story.

12 people died last night, and at least another 50 (possibly as many as 70) were hurt. These people were at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Colorado when a gunman burst in and opened fire without a word.

There is no adequate way to respond to a tragedy like this one. Words cannot encapsulate the pain and sorrow that the victims families and friends must be feeling right now. I can't pretend to be able to make sense of what happened. All I can do is share my sympathies and prayers with those victimized by this terrible incident.

The knee-jerk reaction to tragedies like this one is to attempt to eradicate any chance of it happening again. To that end, the NYPD has assigned officers to every theater in the 5 Boroughs showing Rises, and AMC Theaters has banned the wearing of costumes and masks in their theaters - both decisions that should be applauded.

But beyond that, rumors have begun to swirl regarding the possibility that Rises might be pulled from theaters. No official word has come down on this yet, but Hollywood.com's Paul Dergarabedian said he would be "shocked if that happened, but it's such an unprecendented situation." I put my money on Rises staying right where it is, in theaters. But that doesn't make the possibility that it might be pulled any more acceptable to me. Here's why.


I went to a Rises midnight screening as well, with my two best friends. Like the people in that theater in Colorado, I went because I was too excited to wait until morning. More importantly, I went because going to the movies (at midnight or not) presents me with an opportunity to be part of a community experience unlike any other. Being in a room full of people who are there to celebrate the awesome power of film and storytelling together is an entirely unique and awesome experience. Having that sense of belonging is an all-too-rare, and thus crucial, opportunity. The movies continue to teach me about storytelling, about friendship and magic and life in general. I wouldn't give them up or ignore what they've taught me for the world. As Christopher Nolan put it in his statement on the tragedy:


"The movie theatre is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me." 

In the days and weeks to come, many people will be looking to place blame for this horrible incident, and without a doubt, some will try to lay that blame at the feet of directors like Christoper Nolan, who directed Rises. When that happens, let's all try to remember what Joss Whedon said about the nature of creative work like Rises or his own The Avengers. 


"All wor­thy work is open to inter­pre­ta­tions the author did not intend. Art isn’t your pet, it’s your kid. It grows up and talks back to you." Basically, once it's out there, it's out there, and there's nothing you can do about how people respond to it. 


Holding filmmakers and artists like Christopher Nolan and his team accountable for the actions of a man who clearly was deranged accomplishes nothing. Not to mention that in this case, the shooter hadn't even seen the movie, so the point is really moot anyway, no matter what some people might say. 


Things like this have happened before, and the miserable truth is that they will probably happen again.
But if films (especially superhero films like Rises and The Avengers) are meant to show us anything, its this:
We can rise above tragedy. We are not helpless or without hope.

So please, don't let what happened in Colorado stop you from seeing a movie with your friends and family this weekend or any other time. If anything, let it encourage you to go even more. On one level, movies are an escape, and we all know it. But in helping us 'escape', the movies also unite us all. Now is not the time to separate ourselves from one another in fear.

It is a time to come together. Maybe even in front of a movie screen.

"Spider-Man" really is "Amazing" [Spoiler-Free]

I'll admit it: I wasn't all that jazzed for this reboot of the Spider-Man film franchise. I was never a huge Spidey guy to begin with, and after the virtual trainwreck of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 about 5 years ago, I was still experiencing some arachnid fatigue. Until tonight. The Amazing Spider-Man really is "Amazing", and not for the reasons you might expect. 

First things first. If, like me, you were hesitant to see this new Spider-Man because of the recent Tobey Maguire/ Sam Raimi trilogy, you can put those reservations to rest right now. Grab them, bundle them up, and toss them out the window - this is a new Spidey story, and when you see it, the last thing you're going to be thinking about is any other iteration of the webslinger onscreen. 

Like I said, I've never been a Spider-Man aficionado. I know nothing but the basic "with great power comes great responsibility" deal about the original story arc of Peter Parker in the comic books, so if it's a comparison between page and screen you want, this isn't the place to get it. What I can tell you about is the fantastic story I saw play out on the screen in front of me.

Amazing Spider-Man is a different kind of superhero movie. The approach taken by screenwriters Alvin Sargent, Steve Kloves, and James Vanderbilt produces an incredibly well-crafted, perfectly proportioned origin story that director Marc Webb works wonders with. I wouldn't go so far as to call the film a character study, but I will say that its greatest strength is the heart its characters bring to it. 

Andrew Garfield is absolutely spectacular as Peter Parker, and the chemistry he shares with Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy makes their scenes together smolder with the kind of sexual tension you can only find in high school hallways - that reckless attraction you can't ignore, but couldn't define to save your life either. What's also wonderful to see here is that Gwen Stacy is far, far more than just the pretty girl who's around for Peter to conveniently save so she can fall for him. Gwen is smart - just as smart as Peter - and they fall for each other long before Peter puts on the mask. The hero side of things just adds a new (albeit huge) dimension to their blossoming relationship. 

Also worth noting: Martin Sheen and Sally Field are far more than simple trophy names to throw up on the poster here. Their story arc with Peter and his (absent) parents is at turns heart-wrenching and truly sweet. 

The greatest challenge for many origin stories lies in the fact that they have to incorporate two elements: first, the origin of the character, and then, the presence of the first major villain the hero must face before the film ends. Where so many stories fall short, then, is in the attempted mashing-together of these two threads. Take, for example, the first Iron Man movie, purely from a story standpoint. It gave a great origin to Tony Stark as Iron Man, but on the other end of the scale, the villain of the piece felt tacked-on and less than threatening to the hero.

Here, the two threads are intertwined from the beginning, which is what makes the story work so well. Peter Parker faces the Lizard not because he fancies himself a hero who needs a villain to defeat, but because through his emergence as Spider-Man, he is responsible for the origin of The Lizard as well. In this film, everything is personal, and that's what makes it resonate. Make no mistake - as the movie goes on, the stakes for Peter Parker get ever higher, and this hits us, the audience, right in the heart. Peter Parker is not invincible, and neither is Spider-Man. He gets hurt. He bleeds. He cries. And all this just makes us root for him more, makes us see just how amazing this scrawny science geek in a mask really is.