All posts by Bree Brouwer

Bree Brouwer is a copywriter and content marketing writer who specializes in the online video industry.
THE INTERWEBS

Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Get Your Austen On

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Here at Grizzly Bomb, we know that many of our readers are men. Most of you are not married, don’t have kids, and are under age 35. Based on all these criteria, I’m going to take a wild guess and say many of you don’t read. Those of you who do read probably grab the latest Tom Clancy novel or at the very least a comic book.

I highly doubt any of you have or want to read Jane Austen.

In some sense, I don’t disagree with you. I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time in my life last month and there were times I wished I didn’t have to keep flipping back to the chapter notes to figure out what that word meant in Austen’s time. However, in the end, I felt like I had not wasted any time and felt deeply satisfied, even rewarded, with finishing a classic story.

I don’t blame you for wanting to watch her.

But how often do your mothers or sisters reference Austen, and they brush you aside as illiterate because you don’t know what they’re talking about? What about your girlfriend who keeps nagging you to watch the 5-hour BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but you’d rather prefer watching Keira Knightley if you had to watch a version at all? Don’t worry; I know how to save you from further situations like these.

Now I’m not here to argue that you must sit down and read Pride and Prejudice (though it really wouldn’t hurt); what I am proposing is you give at least the basic Austen storyline a chance by watching the Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube.

The Lizzie Bennett Diaries takes the characters, concept, and plot of Austen’s much-beloved classic and converts it into modern-day, relevant videos. That’s right – you won’t need to read about how the word engaged actually means busy because the Diaries use updated language to explain the same themes of Pride and Prejudice. In fact, the web series is written in the form of vlogs, where Lizzie reports on the goings-about of her life, just like we’re used to seeing with people like iJustine.

Lizzie can’t help if her sister Lydia jumps in on her vlog to high-five the audience sometimes.

Here are some other perks to watching the Lizzie Bennett Diaries:

1. There are attractive actresses playing the roles of the three sisters, Lizzie, Jane, and Lydia.  Not to mention they are just plain good actresses, too.

2. The videos are short, around five minutes long at maximum, which is way easier time to commit than a whole 5-hour sitting.

3. Like the modern-day language used, references are made to popular culture to help make the series even more relevant.  For example, in episode 45, George Wickham calls himself Batman.  You can’t get much more relevant than that.

4. If you’re on Twitter, the show creators have set up Twitter accounts for the characters, who regularly interact with each other outside of the show to make the experience more realistic.  Yes, you can tweet to Lizzie if you want to.

5. And as already mentioned, of course, you’ll have gained knowledge so you can get your female friends and family off your back.

Sure, there is some drama involved because when it’s a young woman’s vlog based on Austen it’s pretty hard to leave out her hatred of Mr. Darcy or her little sister’s boisterous, sometimes obnoxious, party attitude. However, each show does tend to cover only what is necessary to follow the storyline, and each episode tends to leave you with a “what will happen next?” moment.

Now it’s time for you to go watch the Lizzie Bennett Diaries instead of just reading about them. The worst that can happen is that you feel that you wasted five minutes of your life. The best that can happen is that you can get some personal satisfaction knowing you can now beguile women with your Austen smarts (or, like I said before, just get them off your back).

POP CULTURE

Kanye Contemplates B$#*% Word, Suddenly Becomes Less Douchey

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Recently, rapper Kanye West decided to express his love for current girlfriend Kim Kardashian by writing a song about her called “Perfect Bitch.” Kardashian said she was not offended at all, and in fact was honored to be called West’s perfect bitch. But many fans and critics have not felt the same way. After all, is it really appropriate to call your girlfriend a bitch?

West divulged his thoughts on Twitter about the use of the word bitch, its connotations, and how who says it affects its meaning. He tweeted, “I usually never tweet questions but I struggle with this so here goes… Is the word BITCH acceptable?  To be more specific, is it acceptable for a man to call a woman a bitch even if it’s endearing?  Has hip hop conditioned us to accept this word?” He went on to say how it’s usually unacceptable for a white person to call a black person a nigger, but that from black to black it’s an endearment, and he wondered if bitch could be the same way: “Perhaps the words BITCH and NI**A are now neither positive or negative.  They are just potent and it depends on how [they] are used and by whom? #FREETHOUGHT” [Huffington Post].

However, West then asked if people would consider it appropriate to call their mothers bitches or their fathers niggers. He said that when asked about the swearing in his songs, he was initially offended that someone would question his art, but the situation sparked him to think seriously about the topic. He revealed that he tries to “use profanity as a tool and not a crutch. I’m not tweeting to say what we need and what we don’t… I just wanted to think out loud with you guys today…” [Huffington Post].

Katy Perry and Kanye West in
I couldn’t find a picture of him grabbing his crotch, but watch the video. You’ll see it.

Now I will admit I know nothing about Kanye West other than many of his songs seem vulgar and overly sexual. Case in point: he makes my blood boil when he ruins (yes, ruins) Katy Perry’s otherwise captivating and funky “E.T.” music video by floating around in a space ship while grabbing his crotch. I also know he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV VMAs in 2009 because he thought Beyoncé deserved to win instead, an act which may be causing him to be tied to his seat this year, literally. There may be positives to West, but since the media tends to prefer spreading scandalous news as opposed to beneficial, I haven’t heard much else about him.

However, the news of West’s monologue with himself over Twitter actually caused me to also stop and ponder not only his ability to think deeply beyond the typical lyrics of a hip-hop song, but the use of swear words in my own life. I would have to agree with West that hip-hop has indeed made many more vulgar words acceptable in everyday language, but I also believe he’s sniffing the right trail when he says that it entirely depends on the intention behind the person using the word.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian
They’re actually pretty cute together. (courtesy of thehollywoodgossip.com)

For example, when I was in England, I became familiar and comfortable with hearing the f-bomb because its use is roughly equivalent to an American saying damn. Also, I heard the word shit a lot from my extended family and from farmers I knew — it wasn’t a heated, crass expletive, but merely a regular old word used every day to accurately describe the state of affairs. I’d also much rather hear a happily married couple say they want to screw each other than hear a philandering, non-committal man say the same about a random girl in a bar.

Unlike West, though, I feel we do need restrictions. We definitely don’t need lots of rules; we only need one, and that is to consider others’ feelings and preferences above your own. If you are in the room with your grandmother and she does not put up with even the smallest of swear words, just don’t swear. It’s simply not worth the risk of her berating you for hours, and it’s certainly not worth ruining a relationship over. On the contrary, if your friend likes when you call her a devious little bitch, and no one else around would be offended, go right ahead.

According to my rule, I think West should have saved the name-calling only for moments between himself and Kardashian. If they feel comfortable with him calling her a bitch, that’s their decision, but they can’t expect everyone in the world not to be upset. However, I appreciate his honesty in trying analyze the linguistic significance behind the word’s usage, or any cursing in music, for that matter. Not many popular artists tend to show such insight, so my hat’s tipped to West.

GAMING

What Modern Marriages Could Learn from Master Chief and Cortana

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Once upon a time, a man and woman met and started dating.  It was nothing less than bliss.  After feeling their hearts jump in glee at the sight of each other for several months, they decided to take the next step and a few more months down the road they were married.  But now it’s been a year and they don’t feel bliss or hearts jumping anymore.  Now this person they’re married to has faults and issues, and they want out.

Master Chief and Cortana by MikkeSWE
Courtesy of MikkeSWE on deviantART

This probably sounds very familiar, as divorce is rampant in our society.  There are many psychological and sociological reasons behind this phenomenon, such as how modern entertainment, media, and the consumer market create products that continually push the limits on human focus and create in us shorter and shorter attention spans.  However, I’m not here to explain the factors leading to divorce.  I’m here to explain how one of the most-loved video games of all time could benefit the one you most love.

When Bungie created the Halo universe, they obviously paid close attention to developing the relationship between Master Chief and the AI Cortana.  Their relationship is so close that gamers have speculated as to its true nature; are Master Chief and Cortana somehow in love, or are they just an incredible team? Fans have even made art of, well, a sexual nature between the Spartan and AI.  Despite that impossibility, the relationship of these two characters exudes beneficial principles that we regular humans would do well to apply to our own real-life marriages.

First of all, I’d dare anyone to challenge the trust between Master Chief and Cortana.  She gives him directions on where to go and what needs to get done, and he rarely questions her.  When he does question her, it’s usually because he is not able to comprehend everything her computer brain has access to and can process, like when she told him to go stop Captain Keyes in Halo: Combat Evolved.

Ultimately, though when Lord Hood questions if Master Chief trusts in Cortana in Halo 3, Chief responds definitively, “Sir. Yes, sir.”  No hesitation whatsoever.  Trust is a difficult feature to develop in a relationship, but the only thing that ever helps it is more trust, never doubts.  I can only recall one instance of doubt between Chief and Cortana, and that’s where she expresses her surprise at him coming back to save her from the tortures of the Gravemind.

Speaking of Cortana’s torture, this situation presented a more particular angle of the duo’s relationship that we could apply to our marriages today, and that is the virtues of dedication and loyalty.  Master Chief could have left Cortana behind entirely, letting her rot away her final years as a digital being at the whims of the Gravemind.  However, he explicitly made a promise to her that he would find her, and he followed through on that promise:

Remember those wedding vows you took?  Now think about seriously holding to them like Master Chief did when he kept his promise to Cortana, risking his life to save her.

Finally, notice that Cortana warns of her brokenness after being tortured by the Gravemind.  She says, “So much of me is wrong – out of place.  It may be too late.”  Her mental issues (or broken coding?) don’t put off Master Chief in the slightest.  Instead, he says, “You know me.”  He again demonstrates his willingness to stay by her side and help her no matter what state of mind and body she is in.  How many divorces in this world could be diverted if we were just as willing to overlook the faults of our spouses, or aid them in getting past these faults as much as possible to become better people, and ultimately, a better couple?  All of us are broken in some way or another, and if we stopped expecting perfection, maybe we’d see more of the support shown by Master Chief to Cortana in our marriages, as well.

I’m sure that you could pull more positive examples from this Spartan and his AI the more you dig into their interactions.  Despite their relationship in the video games being on a more platonic level than a marriage calls for, this does not mean they do not give us a wonderful example to follow in the areas they succeed in, such as trust, loyalty, and support.  Maybe if we followed Master Chief and Cortana’s principles, we’d see a lot more couples stay together for far longer than Halo games have been in existence.

Cortana in Master Chief's hand

Movie News & Opinions

Bane’s Costume: Will We Find Out More Later?

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One of the best parts about movies is, in my opinion, the costuming.  Just think how important costumes are – would Daniel Radcliffe be Harry Potter without his glasses on, or would we even believe that Scarlett O’Hara was a selfish, upper-class Southern girl if she wore maid’s clothes?  Heck, costumes are so important that they even have their own award at the Oscars.

First attempt to costume Bane…

That’s why when I saw The Dark Knight Rises in the theatres I actually spent a second or two investigating each new costume that appeared on the screen.  I adored Selina Kyle’s classy, Audrey Hepburn-style dresses and accessories, that is when she wasn’t kicking ass in her (thankfully) full-coverage Catwoman disguise.  However, what really piqued my interest was Bane’s entire ensemble and how much it horrifically reminded me of soldiers’ uniforms from central and eastern Europe during World War II.

Apparently, I was not too far in my thinking.  In a recent interview with GQ, The Dark Knight Rises‘s costume designer, Lindy Hemming, said that the costuming department specifically looked for the type of military coats that people would wear in Eastern Europe or Northern Pakistan, “where  [mercenaries] find military surplus and wear it” (GQ).  Hemming also said that Christopher Nolan asked for Bane’s outfit to be a bit reminiscent of the French Revolution, so she tried to envision and create a coat that had a high collar which then bends back down.  Finish Bane off with pants tucked into army boots and some heavy knee pads and you’ve got one scary-looking son of a bitch.

But what about Bane’s funky-looking belt and gas mask?  That’s a good question. One that was apparently answered during the filming of the movie, and yet, all of those scenes were excluded from the final cut.  Hemming expressed her disappointment in this decision and said that there was originally a lot more backstory for Bane.

In regards to his belt, she pointed out that it was a combination belt and back brace for whatever injury happened to his back to cause the scars we see.  She said, “One of the fundamental things about his costume is that he has this scar from the back injury. Even if he hasn’t got the bulletproof vest on, he still has to wear the waist belt and the braces. In that scene in the prison, where he’s learning to fight the same way Batman learned to fight, he’s wearing an early version of his waist belt. It’s showing support, but it’s not the finished one he eventually wears” (GQ).

As for Bane’s gas mask, Hemming explained that one scene shot for the film clearly showed Bane being beaten by people while he was wearing an early version of his mask.  She also said that there was an entire other scene to help clarify where the mask even came from, and why he has to wear it.

I believe it’s a shame that these scenes were not included in the final cut of the film because the clothes really do make the man.  Without the information about why Bane wears a gas mask or a brace belt for his scars and back, he suddenly becomes a little less intimidating, and also a little less goal-oriented.  Is what he’s doing in TDKR affected by more than the little bit of his past that was revealed to us?  We don’t know and can’t know yet, but hopefully the producers will realize this aspect of Bane’s character is necessary for developing the overall story and legend of the Batman legacy and include these cut scenes as special features in the DVD release.

TV

American Idol: A First-Hand Look at the Nitty-Gritty World of TV Production

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You know how when you watch your favorite TV show you only see the actors, celebrities, or contestants’ faces the entire time and you can usually rattle off their names without a sweat?  Now try watching all of the credits and recognizing any of those names.  Can you do it?  Probably not.

For many TV viewers, terms like “boom operator” and “gaffer” are foreign lingo (and when I say “gaffer,” I don’t mean Samwise Gamgee’s papa in The Lord of the Rings).  Usually, the people’s names that show up next to these titles receive the same treatment, automatically being disregarded as unimportant and too obscure to be worthy of note.  However, it’s people just like boom operators and gaffers that make your favorite shows possible.

This weekend I had the opportunity of being a production assistant for season 12 of American Idol, and I can now officially say I know what it’s like to be one of those workers whose name will not be remembered by anyone watching the show, yet the bus crew who stopped to audition local talent would not have been able to get through the weekend without me.  And that is literally the most humble way I can explain the importance of mere “no-namers” in TV production and all that they do.

American Idol Tour Bus
This thing had marble counter tops. For realz.

For example, the first thing I did on Friday was chauffeur several of the Idol crew to the audition location so we could scout out the best areas to park the tour bus and set up the audition tents and tables.  I also was in charge of driving the crew back to their hotel every day, toting them around town to run errands, and picking up meals.  Normally, driving does not seem like a large task; anyone could do that, right?  Wrong.

When you’re an assistant, you are not always just driving yourself.  You drive any crew members around and suddenly their lives are in your hands.  This is a particularly scary thought at 5 a.m. the next morning when it’s still dark out and you’ve had four hours of sleep and are hopped up on coffee.  You pray to the Lord that you won’t drift across lanes, hit a deer, or, worse yet, fall asleep at the wheel.  Suddenly I realized why they’d asked for a copy of my official driving record!

Also, can you picture Ryan Seacrest or Simon Cowell running out to get their own lunches when they also have to be getting to hair and makeup in preparation for filming in the evening?  Don’t try to picture it because it rarely — if ever — happens.  The same situation was true with the tour crew, as well.  They were more directly involved with the food selection than they might have been in-studio, but I was the one who ultimately went and picked up the food, paid the restaurant with production money, and made sure to get a receipt so the production manager could claim it as a company expense.  You simply can’t have a hungry, grouchy crew or cast on your hands if you hope to get anything filmed every day.

Coffee is very important on location!
Coffee is very important on location! And, no, this is not me. (photo copyright Paragon Videography)

Though most people don’t want to deal with paperwork, this is one of the final and most important elements that goes on behind-the-scenes of TV shows.  Thousands of sheets of paper for employees are processed so that they can get paid properly, yet you never see any of these sheets.  That’s because it’s the job of assistants, the legal department, and human resources.  I, too, had to take care of making sure all the paperwork was properly signed by the other temporary production assistants hired to work this past weekend.  Had I not done so, one of my friends would have missed a good chunk of money due him because he did not sign in three different, required places.  Imagine how many other people in the industry miss signing and how some worker in the TV company has to catch each error, yet you may never know his or her name.

Auditioners wait in line
Line control is seriously important, guys.

I haven’t even covered the jobs the other production assistants did, like line control and monitoring, registration table, paperwork for the “winner’s circle,” and more.  What you need to remember is anyone who works behind the scenes of a TV show clearly has a purpose, no matter how insignificant it may seem.  So the next time your favorite show is on, do the boom operators and gaffers a favor by acknowledging first their existence and second their efforts.  Should you ever have an opportunity like mine or theirs, I can assure you that you will appreciate all the positive attention and “thank you’s” that you get.

* All pictures in this story are copyright Woman Friday (Bree Brouwer), with the exception of the header and one indicated photo which are owned by Paragon Videography.

Movie News & Opinions

Joss Whedon Delivers ‘Much Ado’ and Good Deeds; World Swoons

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Oh.  My.  Word.

As if Joss Whedon wasn’t fantastic enough, he decided to go and make an interpretation of a Shakespeare classic.  Still seeking distribution and ready for festivals, Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing was filmed entirely on his own property and brings back long-time collaborators and acting talent of Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Fran Kranz, Jillian Morgese, Sean Maher, Clark Gregg, Tom Lenk, and Reed Diamond.  The official press release says it’s going to be in black-and-white and that the original Shakespearean dialogue is “as fresh and as intoxicating as any being written.”

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