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R. and A. tried to go get a look at the comet; they were thwarted by clouds.
I got three walks: one by myself (on the phone with M. — delightful!), one with M., and one with A.
A. and I watched _Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure_. It aged _much_ better than _Spaceballs_ and _Airplane_.
There are _many_ problems with Bill and Ted. I think the single biggest problematic moment — the one that made me go, oh, baaaaad, is when Bill and Ted are joyously reunited after thinking one of them was dead. They embrace, then back away, say the f word which is a derogatory term for gay, and then continue about their ebullient friendship without touching. It is not a conspicuous not touching after the initial moment — just reset to their normal state of being. It is clear that this is not intentional homophobia — this was an all too common way for people to protect themselves from attack, and I am so happy that we just do not see it any more. It was distressing to see, altho my daughter missed it entirely.
The history teacher is a Black man. He is delightful in many ways, mostly because he is low-key doing a fantastic job while the students are being ... students. One of the history presentations (by a super adorable young Black actress who I have so far been unable to identify) was about Marie Antoinette, inequality, and included a great line about how Marie Antoinette might say, “Let them eat fast food.” I loved it. Clarence Clemons is a central figure in the future world based on Bill and Ted’s ... whatever. This is not _awesome_ representation, but it is equally not awful.
Things are not so great for representation of Asian-Americans. The whole Genghis Khan character presentation is ... worrisome. Lots of exoticism, and a huge helping of ha ha stupid during the chores sequence. Napoleon does not do a whole lot better, but, still.
Women in the movie are actually there doing their own things. Missy / Mom presents all kinds of problems, but is generally helpful and given the premise (mom is out of the picture, dad has remarried someone who is about 3 years older than Bill & Ted and who they went to high school with) could have been _much_ worse. She is by turns reminiscent of Mrs Bundy (Married ... with Children) and Mrs Cleaver (not before you do your chores! Here is a little snack), with a large helping of Oh Watch Men Stop Thinking Around the Hot Cheerleader. She drives the boys places they need to go, and does not balk at being a getaway driver. I already mentioned one of the student presenters who was awesome and who is a young woman. There are the Princesses in the medieval times, who mostly function as hot, age appropriate young women to be delivered by George Carlin right before they are going to be married off to Old Guys, to Bill and Ted to become part of the band that then starts the fabulous era of the future.
Joan of Arc, honestly, is probably the coolest woman in the whole movie. Watching Miss of Arc do aerobics is fantastic. Roughly of an age with Bill and Ted, they treat her with basic respect and very little sexual interest. Not sure what any of that does or does not mean, but on the whole it seems fine. Good news, tho: women are important in the future!
While they do rendition Billy the Kid, and there is a Hilarious Barroom Brawl (oh, more working women! *sigh*), if there were negative stereotypical Native Americans in that sequence, I completely missed them. I am not sure if that is a good thing (whew) or a bad thing (erasure).
Comedies which have a solid emotional core age better than comedies which are a string of gags or which have a reprehensible emotional core. The biggest problem with Airplane! Is that it is a “love” story / relationship story that is incredibly toxic and depicts stalking as a Good Thing. The biggest problem with Spaceballs is that it is entirely about Marrying Off the Young Woman to a Prince. The wonderful thing about Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is that it is about a couple of good-hearted, genial doofuses actually putting their best effort into a history report and learning a bunch of things along the way.
I will be rewatching Bogus Journey soon.
I got three walks: one by myself (on the phone with M. — delightful!), one with M., and one with A.
A. and I watched _Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure_. It aged _much_ better than _Spaceballs_ and _Airplane_.
There are _many_ problems with Bill and Ted. I think the single biggest problematic moment — the one that made me go, oh, baaaaad, is when Bill and Ted are joyously reunited after thinking one of them was dead. They embrace, then back away, say the f word which is a derogatory term for gay, and then continue about their ebullient friendship without touching. It is not a conspicuous not touching after the initial moment — just reset to their normal state of being. It is clear that this is not intentional homophobia — this was an all too common way for people to protect themselves from attack, and I am so happy that we just do not see it any more. It was distressing to see, altho my daughter missed it entirely.
The history teacher is a Black man. He is delightful in many ways, mostly because he is low-key doing a fantastic job while the students are being ... students. One of the history presentations (by a super adorable young Black actress who I have so far been unable to identify) was about Marie Antoinette, inequality, and included a great line about how Marie Antoinette might say, “Let them eat fast food.” I loved it. Clarence Clemons is a central figure in the future world based on Bill and Ted’s ... whatever. This is not _awesome_ representation, but it is equally not awful.
Things are not so great for representation of Asian-Americans. The whole Genghis Khan character presentation is ... worrisome. Lots of exoticism, and a huge helping of ha ha stupid during the chores sequence. Napoleon does not do a whole lot better, but, still.
Women in the movie are actually there doing their own things. Missy / Mom presents all kinds of problems, but is generally helpful and given the premise (mom is out of the picture, dad has remarried someone who is about 3 years older than Bill & Ted and who they went to high school with) could have been _much_ worse. She is by turns reminiscent of Mrs Bundy (Married ... with Children) and Mrs Cleaver (not before you do your chores! Here is a little snack), with a large helping of Oh Watch Men Stop Thinking Around the Hot Cheerleader. She drives the boys places they need to go, and does not balk at being a getaway driver. I already mentioned one of the student presenters who was awesome and who is a young woman. There are the Princesses in the medieval times, who mostly function as hot, age appropriate young women to be delivered by George Carlin right before they are going to be married off to Old Guys, to Bill and Ted to become part of the band that then starts the fabulous era of the future.
Joan of Arc, honestly, is probably the coolest woman in the whole movie. Watching Miss of Arc do aerobics is fantastic. Roughly of an age with Bill and Ted, they treat her with basic respect and very little sexual interest. Not sure what any of that does or does not mean, but on the whole it seems fine. Good news, tho: women are important in the future!
While they do rendition Billy the Kid, and there is a Hilarious Barroom Brawl (oh, more working women! *sigh*), if there were negative stereotypical Native Americans in that sequence, I completely missed them. I am not sure if that is a good thing (whew) or a bad thing (erasure).
Comedies which have a solid emotional core age better than comedies which are a string of gags or which have a reprehensible emotional core. The biggest problem with Airplane! Is that it is a “love” story / relationship story that is incredibly toxic and depicts stalking as a Good Thing. The biggest problem with Spaceballs is that it is entirely about Marrying Off the Young Woman to a Prince. The wonderful thing about Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is that it is about a couple of good-hearted, genial doofuses actually putting their best effort into a history report and learning a bunch of things along the way.
I will be rewatching Bogus Journey soon.