Horizon Zero Dawn - Video Games As Art

Murrain- Cult TV Review

October 6, 2020

It's no secret that I’m a big fan of Nigel Kneale, writer of such works as ‘Quatermass’, ‘The Stone Tapes’ and ‘Beasts’ (a series I am currently watching). I've been working my way through his works over the past several years and it was whilst falling down the YouTube rabbit hole I discovered an hour long short film called ‘Murrain’, which he wrote for ITV when he had a falling out with the BBC over something (what, I don’t know).

It’s a lesser known Kneale work and formed part of the 'Against the Crowd' series which were short anthology collections that were all the rage in the 70 and early 80s after the success of the ‘Play For the Day’ and ‘Armchair Theatre’ series. The anthology is not well regarded as it was pretty lacklustre apparently but this is one of the standout pieces.

The story is quite simple, a vet visits a small town which is blighted by a mysterious disease that is killing their livestock. The locals blame old lady Clemson who lives in a ramshackle cottage, accusing her of being a witch. The rational ‘man of science’ vet visits the old lady and sees that she is living in terrible conditions and endeavours to help her. However, when the mob get angry they attack the cottage with dreadful results.

The production is very cheap and there is very little cinematographic flair on show, it is all very bread and butter but then it's a simple story where special effects don’t matter as they are not needed- the story is king. Over the course of the hour, I had a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach as I feared for the old lady and thought it wasn’t going to end well. The conclusion is ambiguous but that's all part of the charm that’ll have you thinking about the story long after the viewing. Director John Cooper does a great job creating an effective atmosphere with obviously limited resources, there is an unsettling claustrophobic, insular feeling to proceedings.

The actors themselves are solid with no-one I recognise apart from M from James Bond (Bernard Lee) who has a key role as the landed gentry leading the witch hunt, whilst Una Brandon-Jones (someone I’m unfamiliar with but who is quite well known apparently) is riveting as the accused witch.

Murrain is no ‘Quatermass’ or ‘Stone Tapes’ but for a short 60 minute films with a tiny budget it is simple, effective and worth your time.

LINK- Children of the Dogstar: Cult TV Series Review

LINK- The Secret Garden (BBC 1975 Review)

LINK- Children of the Stones Review

By Night- Complete Comic Series Review

October 3, 2020

I’m a huge fan of John Allison’s ‘Giant Days’ and have all the graphic novels in the series. I eagerly await each new arrival like an old friend, which is kind of what it is about, the power of friendship in university. ‘Giant Days’ has a very likable trip of quippy young women and a couple of easily identifiable male characters too. The interplay between the ensemble is dynamite and it was their endearing personalities that made them so wonderful. So, I'd hoped to see similar bantery Whedon-esque wordplay and British-isms on show in Allison’s 'By Night' a new limited series comprised of 3 graphic novels, but this is a very different beast indeed.

It’s only 3 graphic novels long but the comic is strangely too long yet not long enough…

The story is quite simple; two friends in their late teens/ early 20s friends find an inter-dimensional portal to a fantastical world with trolls, goblins and a creepy mountain with one eye… What to do? Why make a documentary about the place, of course! However, plans go awry and there is a larger conspiracy involving an old industrialist, a conglomerate and the rust belt town.

There is potential here but having read the complete series it’s all really ... bland and lacking something. I think a big part of that is that the characters are a bit meh, there are no real character quirks or individuality that makes you root for the characters, in fact, some are just plain annoying and unlikable. Also, the issue of a decaying town in thrall to its industrial past has been covered extremely well in video game 'Night in the Woods' and the fantastical alternate world has done extremely well across media, especially cartoon series like 'Adventure Time', 'She- Ra' and 'Over The Garden Wall' but what's on show in this comic series is so generic that I felt disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, the artwork by Christine Larsen is solid overall but again, there is nothing really standout to rave about. The town is presented in hue of blacks, greys and oranges so there isn't much potential for flourish or embellishment. The Otherworld is a little more creative but nothing to write home about.

So, overall 'By Night' is an okay read but I'm disappointed with the whole thing as it had potential. The conclusion is not very conclusive and it felt like a rushed ending. Much like this review!

LINK- Comics in the Classroom (article)

LINK- What Comics Have Taught Me

LINK- The 13 Best ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark’ Episodes

LINK- The Secret Garden (BBC 1975 Review)

LINK- Children of the Stones Review

LINK- Children of the Dogstar: Cult TV Series Review

Creeped Out- Complete Season 1 Review

October 1, 2020

As the darkness settled in, I wanted to get into the Halloween spirit and watch some spoopy stuff. Now, it's been a pretty bleak year all round so I didn't fancy watching anything too scary or anything to contemplate the feeling of ennui- the fact that Lovecraft's cosmicism states that man is insignificance in a vast endless and uncaring expanse with forces beyond our understanding wishing to do us ill- so I decided to watch all of ‘Creeped Out’ instead.

It's a 13 part series of spooky takes created for an all ages bracket, so think more 'Goosebumps' or 'Are You Afraid Of The Dark' rather than 'It' or 'Saw'. The tales all start in the same way, a preamble about The Curious, a slight teen figure in a creepy mask who likes to collect tales of dread whilst whistling an unsettling melody. There are a mixture of American and British stories and as such, the cast is quite diverse.

The episodes are a veritable smorgasbord of horror tropes including classics like weird fun fair attraction, dodgy creepy neighbours etc but are identifiable with themes from classic cinema like 'Rear Window' and ‘Big' and more recent pretty decent fare like 'It Follows'.
The stories all have a monkeys paw ending of 'be careful what you wish for' but one of most interesting thing to note is that no matter the episode the power of the storytelling and kitchen sink creepy atmosphere made them all worthwhile watching, which is particularly impressive when you consider each episode had a tiny budget of like a fiver.

The episodes include :

Slapstick
After a puppet grants a young girl the power to control her embarrassing parents, the girl realises the true value of family. It features a creepy puppet so you know it's a bit scary.

Cat Food
When a young boy fakes being ill to stay home from school he gets more than he bargained for from his unusual cat-lady neighbour.

Trolled
When a cocky troll belittles and ridicules his private school mates online, there is a price to pay when he brings forth an ancient curse.

Marti
An unpopular girl gets a new smart phone and its AI goes crazy as it starts to take over her life.

A Boy Called Red
A boy visits his father's childhood home where a well leads to a different dimension.

The Call
An adopted teen who was found on a beach finds out that she isn't who she thinks she is and there is more to her heritage than meets her eye.

Bravery Badge
A reluctant girl scout has an interesting time away as a zombie infection turns her friends into creepy humming zombies... Why do they always hum lullabies in creepy voices and super slow?

Spaceman
When a kid leaves the city for the sticks he's worried it'll be too quiet and boring. Then he discovers an alien spacecraft and an alien creature and all bets are off.

Kindlesticks
A terrible baby sitter who scares the kids in her care to bed with terrible tales suffers a fate of her own making.

Shed No Fear
A couple of high school friends tackle a mysterious creature that lives in a shed. The creature fears light so they go about thinking about a way to jerry-rig a system to tackle it.

The Traveller
When two troublesome teens, who don't respond well to authority, are given powers to freeze time and use the power for ill there is a heavy price to pay.

Side Show Part 1 and 2
The two-parter ends the series with the story of an orphan, who is part of circus, who is looking for his real family. The 1950s Americana setting is well done and the mystery is very intriguing. The season ends on a high with this one.

Overall, tales are not scary with no real jump scares or violence but they are simply told tales told pretty well nonetheless. The stories are a little heavy handed though and lack nuance, the acting is a little hammy on occasion and the morals are obvious but it's a show for a younger audience so there you go. The strict age rating means that there is an economy of design with the creatures and powers are rarely seen. There's very little subtlety on show as the themes are covered in broad strokes but this is a beginners guide to the horror genre and is very much baby's first horror show.

My favourite 3 episodes from this series were Slapstick, Trolled and Side Show and if you've got a spare hour or so I'd definitely check these ones out. Go in knowing it's for tweens and you'll be fine, it ain't gonna win any Oscars but it's harmless slightly spooky fun.

LINK- The 13 Best ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark’ Episodes

LINK- The Secret Garden (BBC 1975 Review)

LINK- Children of the Stones Review

LINK- Children of the Dogstar: Cult TV Series Review

To The Moon- Video Games As Art

September 29, 2020

I’m a sucker for a story told well in video games but very few games have compelling or emotionally resonant narratives. Often, if there is a story it’s ripped apart by the cognitive dissonance of being all emotive one second then blasting a random person in the face in the next (any FPS to be honest), or killing lots of people while being a chirpy, quippy guy (Nathan Drake, Lara Croft etc) It’s an issue that games are trying to work through but whilst they are there are the occasional gems that come out that just nail the narrative and ‘To The Moon’ is one of them. I won’t spoil it but it had me near tears at its end. The game is beautiful to look at too so check out some of the screen captures I took from my play through.

Streets of Rage 4- Video Games As Art

September 26, 2020

I have a lot of affection for the Streets of Rage series. Punching people and laying the smack on ruffians, hoodlums and street rats reminds me of my youth and seemingly simpler times. I played the first two games to completion many times with my best friend at the time. We loved the amazing soundtrack which chimed with our interest in trance, dance and garage music from the mid-to- late 90s.

It was with bated breath that I waited for Streets of Rage 4 and I was not disappointed, the game is stunning, the soundtrack pumping but most importantly the fighting just feels right. Check out screenshots from my first play through.

LINK: Streets of Rage Soundtrack on Vinyl

LINK- Streets of Rage 2 Soundtrack on Vinyl

LINK- Streets of Rage 3 Soundtrack on Vinyl

LINK: Digging the Carts (Video Game Music Documentary)

LINK- Inspector Gadget Retro Soundtrack Review

LINK- Ulysses 31 Retro Soundtrack Review

LINK- The Mysterious Cities of Gold Retro Soundtrack Review

LINK- Akira Soundtrack Vinyl Review

The End Of An Era As Squirrel Girl.. errr, Ends

September 25, 2020

Comics are amazing as they can open our minds to a whole world of imagination. There are many comics and graphic novels which are based on real life and tell us about a wide variety of historical and biographical events but I have also enjoyed comics which talk about the human condition and humanity but may not be based on real life.

I had a comic area in my book corner and Squirrel Girl comics were available for students to enjoy.

I've been reading comics since I was 7 and I'm always open to reading new stuff and supporting new creative teams and one collection that I've loved with all my heart has been ‘The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl’ by Ryan North and Erica Henderson.

Squirrel Girl was a bit-part Easter egg character from an old Iron Man comic but North and Henderson turned her into a truly awesome heroine and a role model, something seemingly impossible to achieve when your hero has the power of squirrels and likes to 'Eat nuts and kick butts'. However, amongst the gritty and dark comics this series (alongside Ms. Marvel, Howard the Duck and Dan Slott's run on Silver Surfer) has really stood out due to the excellent humour peppered throughout but also the positivity, compassion and heart of protagonist Doreen Green aka Squirrel Girl. Doreen is a Computer Science student who has to deal with the usual nonsense from super villains but she does so in a fresh way, usually without violence but through talking and befriending said foes.

By surrounding her with a lovable cast of characters such as Koi Boi, Chipmunk Hunk, Nancy and Brain/ Brian Drain we get to see the social dynamic between this motley crew as they grow and evolve. Appearances by Iron Man, Spiderman, She-Hulk and also pretty much every big bad in the Marvel Universe always kept the series on its toes and made it pivot from Savage Land adventures to escape room escapades but it avoided all the crossover event nonsense that blight and derail a lot of comics from time to time.

A particular highlight for me was the redemptive arc of Kraven the Hunter. Doreen and Kraven met in the very first episode and became fast friends over the course of the run but the 'Last Hunt For Kraven' arc actually had me tear up as Doreen made Kraven a better man; she saw his insecurities and the ugliness of his past yet demanded more of him and made him a better human. Very few comics build that kind of relationship so organically and affectionately. The evolution and chemistry between Kraven and Doreen grows in the 58 comic (and 2 original graphic novels) arc as Kraven turns from the perpetual hunter into a superhero and it feels true to the character.

There is a deep understanding of Marvel lore in Squirrel Girl but it is given a fun unpretentious twist which is welcoming to new and younger readers as well as the slightly older guard like me. I only hope that this character progression is kept up in the following Marvel comics where Kraven shows up as the ‘Untamable Kraven’ has a nice ring to it.

Squirrel Girl truly stood alone as a heroine, she was the heroine that sat and talked about Galactus’s ennui and eating problem (in that he consumes entire planets), used computer programming logic to defeat dino-Ultron and took a nihilistic Russian philosophy quoting brain in a jar and made him a BFF.

Over the past few years I have eagerly awaited each graphic novel collection and have not been disappointed. There have been no dips in quality and even when Henderson left, when it could have gone all Pete Tong, the series kept up the fun and clever jokes, the intriguing storyline and great artwork whilst remaining true.I'm sad to see the series finish but we have been lucky to have Squirrel Girl in our lives for so long, she is a gift and she should be cherished.

LINK- Comics in the Classroom

LINK- Silver Surfer by Slott and Alldred Complete Graphic Novel Series Review

LINK- Hilda (Complete Graphic Novel Series Review)

LINK- Hilda- Complete Series 1 Netflix Review

LINK- What Comics Have Taught Me

LINK- Disenchantment- Complete Series 1 Review

LINK- Gravity Falls Complete Series Review

LINK- Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated Complete Series 1 Review

LINK- Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated Series 2 Review

God of War- Video Games As Art

September 18, 2020

God of War is a stunning game which puts you in the shoes of Kratos, an angry dad who has to take the ashes of his dead wife up a mountain in order to give her a good sendoff. But, he has to take his sullen teen son along for the ride and so we have a crazy ‘Plane, Trains and Automobiles’ style- romp through Norse mythology. Okay, so I’ve kinda tszujed it up but this is very much the ‘middle-aged angry dad looking after a kid’ trope but this is an amazing one. The story is compelling, the voice acting top notch and the graphics are stunning.

Check out my screenshots from the playthrough as this is one of the most gorgeous looking games I've ever played.

LINK- Monument Valley- Video Games As Art

LINK- Mario Odyssey- Video Games As Art

LINK- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice- Video Games As Art

A Child's Voice- Cult TV Review

September 16, 2020

Whilst falling into the YouTube rabbit hole looking for new old things to watch, I came across 'A Child's Voice,' a half hour spooky ghost story that seemed interesting so I gave it a whirl.

The story is about a mystery thriller writer and radio broadcaster, who nightly chills millions with his tales of horror, only to become the victim of one of his own macabre plots.

Having watched the production I can say that it shares a lot of DNA with the BBC's ‘Ghost Stories For Christmas’ series but I found out that it was a one-off production and was not part of an anthology series. It was shown on BBC 2 on 12th December 1982 over the Christmas period and I believe it may have inspired Mark Gatiss, who may have used it as inspiration for his 'The Dead Room' short film which shares a lot of the same story beats.

For its age and production it's an effective half hour of television, nothing mind blowing and not comparable to the best work of M. R. James but effective nonetheless. As the dark nights start to draw in and the weather gets a bit colder, this low budget but effective production might be just what the doctor ordered.

LINK- Children of the Dogstar: Cult TV Series Review

LINK- Children of the Stones

This Island Earth- Cult Film Review

September 10, 2020

I first heard of 'This Island Earth' when I read the book 'The Woman from the Black Lagoon', about the classic Universal monster movie 'The Creature From the Black Lagoon'. In the book, the film was stated as being a good old Technicolor sci-fi film from the 50s. This virus had given me time to explore new avenues of media and try out apparent classics, so with this spirit of exploration I thought why not give it a try!

The story for 'This Island Earth' is quite simple; an atomic scientist is given mysterious instructions to create a machine and once completed is invited to a secret lab. However things are not as they seem as many preeminent scientists are also there to apparently solve a problem that will create world peace. But things are not as they seem..

The films plot is quite simple and not in any way hard sci-fi or high concept but it is an intriguing central premise. Jeff Morrow plays the quirky Exeter with verve and the two leads, Rex Reason and Faith Domergue play well off him.

What stands out on this production is the sheer artistry on display. The matt color backgrounds are spectacular, the models creative and the 'alien' technology inventive and unusual without resorting to the usual silver space suits. The film pops in Technicolor and is a joy to watch, clocking in at around 80 minutes.

It's not the best sci-fi film around but it does enough to warrant a viewing. ‘This Island Earth’ is an unusual sci-fi film as it does feature a creature, lasers and other tropes of the genre but the story is different from what was around in much of the 50s and 60s.

LINK- The Lady From The Black Lagoon- Book Review

LINK- Children of the Stones: Cult TV Series Review

LINK- What Comics Have Taught Me

LINK- Nintendo: My One Constant in My Gaming Life

Man of Medan- Video Games As Art

September 7, 2020

Supermassive Games impressed me a few years ago with its narrative driven horror tropes game, Until Dawn. So when I heard that they’d started work on an anthology series and the first part, Man of Medan, was out I was interested.

You play as a group of friends who are kidnapped by pirates but escape onto a seemingly haunted World War II ship. Over the course of 3 to 4 hours you investigate the spooky goings on. It’s alright overall but falls short of its previous work as the characters aren’t very likable or relatable but that’s alright.

I played the game solo as I couldn’t find a pal to play on networked play but I don’t think it hindered the appeal of the game as an awkward game is an awkward game, but I do like the idea and hope they iterate on it for their next work, Little Hope. In the meantime, here’s screenshots from my playthrough.

LINK- Video Games As Art Series on YouTube

The Wonder of Walking Simulators

September 3, 2020

The term 'walking simulator' is used to describe a genre of games where a person is asked to explore a setting but there are little to no action buttons to press. As a result many gamers speak of 'Walking Simulators' in a derogatory way claiming that they are not in fact ‘games.’ It may seem like semantics but how we label the genre implies that all you do is walk from one side to the other in a guided tour fashion. However there is more to these types of games than belies the title assigned to them.

Walking simulators have gone through a bit of a journey themselves, gaining prominence with Dear Esther and Proteus, which initiated the debate on whether they were games or not. The games did well, but some people asked for a refund from Steam, an online gaming marketplace, claiming there was nothing to do and that these were not ‘real’ games. Since then, games like Firewatch, Edith Finch, Gone Home and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter have raised the profile and respectability of the genre amongst many ‘hardcore’ gamers but there is still a stigma attached to this genre for many.

In these games, the story is told by journeying through the world and finding elements within the world rather than through traditional storytelling narrative and the players input is often minimal. However I find that they are incredible experiences that reward exploration and discovery to understand the bigger narrative. Often by finding diary entries, audio files and environmental clues you get to understand the mystery box structure of the narrative, told slowly and carefully throughout the game.

This genres provides immersive worlds to engage and interact with. In the same way that art has many different forms so do computer games. I recently played through Control, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and Call of Cthulhu and whilst I loved those games sometimes it is great to try something more calm, cerebral and emotional.

During the first few weeks of Covid lockdown I recently revisited The Chinese Room’s ‘Everybody's Gone To The Rapture’ and it struck me again how wonderful and immersive this ‘walking simulator’ is yet also prescient. I won't spoil it for people who haven't played it but the game sets you in an English village where some catastrophe has occurred and you are the lone survivor. You spend the 4 or so hours of the game exploring the silent and empty village finding orbs of light that relay events which occurred in the village, like some voyeur. It feels almost like survivor’s remorse in that you hear peoples pains, anguish and worries. There are some profound moments in the game that will stick with me forever, more deeply embedded than some forms of media because I was the active agent that made these things occur. The way the narrative is presented eschews the typical linear chronological route and instead you have to piece things together, almost like a David Mitchell or Haruki Murakami novel, which is quite an achievement.

During the weirdness that is Covid, the sight of an isolated empty English village took on a bigger significance as I had experienced it virtually first. The connection between myself and the game were even more deeply bound than when i played the game initially as I had the ludonarrative connection… something similar was happening around me. Okay, not the rapture but lockdown when streets were empty, shops were shut and people were just not around. This game, and many others like it, are examples of how an interactive narrative can deliver an emotional pay-off like no other medium.

'Walking simulators' are a wonderful genre of video games and they encourage us to immerse ourselves in new worlds and scenarios. They are rather passive and sometimes that is what I look for in gaming, it’s a bit of a change from the norm. Along with much of the world I was inside but with video games I went on some incredible journeys.

LINK- From Bedrooms to Billions

High Score- Series Review

August 21, 2020

High Score is a recently released 6 part series on Netflix looking at the origins and evolution of the video games industry. It's a great idea and a subject that definitely needed to be covered, especially as it is the most profitable entertainment industry in the world. So, is High Score a worthy series to discuss the cultural impact of video games whilst looking through its history?

Well, the first thing to note is that it is not a blow by blow chronological history of the medium and as such doesn't go into granular detail. In fact, it leaves the true origins of video games like the mainframe systems that networked universities and led to the creation of text based games like Colossal Cave Adventure and Space War until later episodes. I think they thought it would be a bit dry for the first episode so they went for the headline acts- Space Invaders and Pacman. So don't go into this expecting a detailed history of the medium. It is no Sagan's Cosmos, BBC Civilisations (or like any detailed BBC documentary series) but that's okay. What you have is baby's first video game documentary but that's not a slight against it, it's just very informal and relaxed in the way it decides to share its research but it's not as dismissive or as annoying as 'Enter the Anime', which treated that subject matter with arrogance and contempt.

High Score is a 6-part series on Netflix looking at the history and evolution of video games.

The series episodes can be broken down into the following:

Episode 1- Space Invaders, Missile Command, Pacman, Atari, ET and the Video Game Crash of '83.

Episode 2- Nintendo, Donkey Kong, the NES, Video Game Composer Tanaka, Mario, Gameboy, Tetris, Nintendo Game Counselors, Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo vs. Universal, Kirby, Nintendo World Championship 1990, Nintendo Power,

Episode 3- Adventure Games, Roberta and Ken Williams (Founders of Sierra, creators of King's Quest, Richard Garriot (Creator of Ultima), Dungeons and Dragons, Yoshitaka Amano, Final Fantasy and Gayblade.

Episode 4- Sega vs. Nintendo console war, Sonic the Hedgehog, Trip Hawkins and EA, John Madden (American) Football, Sega's Rock the Rock Tournament and the 'SEGA does what Nintendon't advertising campaign'

Episode 5- Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, Video game violence, Night Trap, the Street Fighter 2 Turbo Tournament in Japan, esports,

Episode 6- Doom, Super FX chip, Star Fox, Wolfenstein 3D and Online multi-player.

Let’s starts with the positives; the whole production of the show is impressive as in places the cinematography is stunning, like when they are showing the neon-lit streets of Tokyo or the sun bleached beaches of California, or video game system porn where there are slow-mos of the systems spinning and slowly coming into focus.

The music is all 80s synth but more new wave 'Stranger Things' rather than OMD or Eurythmics, which is no bad thing as it compliments the feel of the series.

The footage of old adverts, vox pop and city scrapes offered a glimpse into the past which seems quaint in this pandemic ridden world of ours. The communal aspect of game tournaments is great as it offers a personal story about the impact the games have had on these players. The interviews with the creators is informative but not anything new for anyone who's even done some cursory reading or watching of any shows.

Whilst enjoying the series I thought that some areas needed development; in places it came across as heavy- handed and cringy, especially with the roleplaying with the older luminary figures portraying themselves as they were in the past. I know it was played for humour but it’s like when a dodgy uncle tells an inappropriate joke, you kinda die a little inside. Also, the content, whilst good, is very Japan and America-centric. It's all '1983 games crash' rather than thriving micro computer market in much of Europe where the game crash just wasn't a thing or in countries like USSR and Brazil where modding existing hardware and software and piracy were huge. I know it isn’t the focus of the series but I thought they missed a trick here.

Lastly, the overly dynamic constantly moving cameras, extraneous CGI and dramatic music drops all comes across as very ADHD. It’s as if the programme is scared to calm down, but maybe that's my age as I am someone who prefers calmer rather than bombastic documentaries. But having said that, I loved the pixel art interstitials as they were obviously made with love and added a riot of colour to break things up.

As an introduction to video gaming origins and history, this documentary series is great. For many older fans, who know a lot of the information through listening to retro gaming podcasts, reading gaming magazines for most of their lives or watching other shows or YouTube videos, nothing here is really revelatory but it's a nice addition which adds to video gaming's role as an art form.

LINK- Get Lamp Review

The Sandman Vol. 1- Audible Review

August 18, 2020

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman is a critically acclaimed original comic series which ran for 75 issues from 1989 to 1996. Over the years the DC Vertigo won 26 Eisner Awards, topped various ‘Best Comic Series’ lists and has been called the 'Shakespeare of comics,' due to its lyric wordplay, sophisticated storytelling arcs and dramatic characterizations (including, funnily enough Shakespeare himself)-not due to its love of iambic pentameter. Guess who studied Shakespeare in Secondary... this guy.

There have been many spin-offs, side projects and divergent series since the original run but rumours of a Sandman movie or TV series have been swirling since time immemorial without success. That is, until now. Audible have released The Sandman series as audio books, however this is not a simple retelling of the comics but a more complex affair with full orchestration, a complete cast and narration by Gaiman himself.

The first part of the audio book released mid-July 2020 and over the course of a few days I have been listening to it intently. The audio drama covers the first three volumes of the graphic novel collections- Preludes and Nocturnes, The Dolls House and Dream Country and is very faithful to this source material, with just a few tweaks and additions to help the flow in the audio format.

The epic saga begins with Morpheus, Lord of Dreams, captured by occultists and kept imprisoned for many years. When he breaks free he realises that his objects of power have been taken and he journeys across different realms to reclaim them. Along the way he meets various characters from the DC universe including Batman, The Martian Manhunter, John Constantine and more niche characters.

The next story arc concerns the Dream Vortex and a young lady called Rose Walker, who threatens the very existence of the Dreaming, the 'land' where Morpheus' kingdom exists.

The Audible ends with the anthology tales from Dream Country. There are 4 different stories including a really uncomfortable tale about the muse Calliope being imprisoned by a writer. This is followed by the award winning single comic story of Shakespeare creating a play for an extraordinary audience, unlike any he has met before. I remember reading this about 20 years ago and thinking how this graphic novel was peculiar as there wasn't a single story arc but rather, characters and themes that would pervade the rest of the series.

The whole Audible experience is expertly crafted as the cast, including including James McAvoy (playing as Morpheus), Michael Sheen (Lucifer) , Taron Egerton (a haunted John Constantine here but also excellent as Moomin Troll in the brilliant Moominvalley), Kat Dennings (Death) and Riz Ahmed (The Corinthian) all bring their A-game to lend proceedings an air of authenticity and gravitas. The music is suitably brooding but there are moments of crescendo, where the organs go full throttle, the choirs voice rises and the trumpets blare, it's moody and unsettling stuff which adds weight to the whole affair.

The Sandman stories themselves are intriguing and soulful, with a particular favorite of mine being chapter 8 when Dream travels with Death as she does her work. It is very philosophical yet also deeply sad. I also loved chapter 10, in which Dream meets at the same inn every 100 years with Hob Gadling, who Death has granted an extention to his life, to see how he fares through the centuries. The music and sounds of the times brings the centuries to life.

I disliked '24 hours' in which Dream tracks down rogue dreams and horrific nightmares created by John Dee, a psychopath who has escaped from Arkham Asylum. The story is an interesting one of depravity and uncontrolled desire let loose but it all made for uncomfortable listening and the grotesque sounds made me uneasy, and I'm no shrinking violet.

Overall, when I read these stories in comic form years ago, I was taken with them but hearing them performed aloud added further depth. The Sandman is a masterclass in audio storytelling and is well worth the 10 + hours of engagement required. It isn't always easy listening with some vividly voice-acted scenes of horror and terror but then, that's what The Sandman does best... haunt your dreams.

LINK- Children of the Dogstar: Cult TV Series Review

LINK- Comics in the Classroom

The Woman In Black (BBC 1989)- Cult TV Review

August 14, 2020

I recently watched the 1989 BBC production of The Woman on Black as it has only just been released on blu-ray by Network after many years. I loved the theater production in London and watched it twice, once with some East End youth from the centre I worked at who acted with bravado but became scared, and once with a couple of friends over Christmas. I was terrified both times. I thought a TV production wouldn't be able to reproduce the ambience and effect of the live performance, but then when I heard that one of my favorite screenwriters, Nigel Kneale (of Quatermass, The Stone Tapes and errr Halloween III: Season of the Witch fame) had worked on it I knew it would be in a safe pair of hands.

So, how is it and is it worth a watch?

The tale is the quintessential English ghost story; a young solicitor, from 1920s London, is sent to a rural coastal community to settle the estate of a recently deceased old widow, who lived in a large, isolated house. Whilst there he experiences unnatural goings on which builds up in a crescendo of scares. The story keeps building and ratcheting up the tension until it reaches nerve shredding.

The way the story is structured is intelligent as it starts with a busy London, busy market town of Crythin Gifford and then moves slowly to Eel Marsh House where things are isolated, desolate and bleak. The juxtaposition of busy city life with isolated manor is marked and it creates a tension which is palpable. The location shoots are impressive and, with the BBC being no stranger to costume drama, the attention to detail regarding clothes, transportation and other paraphernalia from the period are all top notch.

I watched the more modern 2012 remake, made by Hammer films who came out of hibernation to produce it, and I have to say that I prefer this adaptation to the more recent Daniel Radcliffe affair. Don't get me wrong, the newer version was good but I found that the economy of design and budgetary constraints added a slightly unsettling feel to the older production. That's not to say that it is a cheap production in any way but it's not a big budget Hollywood production with all the sheen and polish that implies. Adrian Rawlings in his role as Arthur Kipps oozes conviction as a man slowly unraveling with all the supernatural elements swirling around him. The standout shock moment, if you know you’ll know the bit I mean, positively pops in this stunning Blu-ray transfer.

The Woman in Black is essential viewing and in my opinion this is the best on-screen version of the story I have seen. It is beautifully shot, wonderfully acted and the script is tight and tense without relying on jump scares or other common tropes. Check it out, it’s a *sigh* scream… I’ll get me coat…

LINK- Children of the Dogstar: Cult TV Series Review

The Returned Season 1 and 2- Complete Series Review

August 5, 2020

‘The Returned’ is a 2 season French television series with a deceptively simple premise; a coach load of children and several adults die during an accident when their bus falls off a cliff. 4 years later, some of the dead start to return, not aging a day and also not having any recollection of what has occurred in the time since the fatal crash. This rocks the community who are unsure as to whether this is a blessing or a curse.

Over the course of season 1 we start to gain insight into each of the families and how the return of their loved ones (and sometimes unloved) affects their life and mental wellbeing. The first season garnered much praise upon its 2012 release and won many awards.

Season 2, followed 3 years later and had a 6 months time jump after the cliffhanger of season. A pregnant woman gives birth to her baby which she had with her returned ex-fiancee, but is the baby totally human? Also, some more people from the bus accident and from further back in time start to return at a faster rate but no-one is quite sure why. They live in an abandoned estate and are swelling in number but what is the endgame?

Both seasons are gorgeously shot with neutral colors and shades of grey, white, blue and blackness. The scenery is spectacular and the cinematography is gorgeous with lots of shots of the woods and mountains. It's all very moody and eerie but it's more than a pretty show, it throws up lots of existential questions like:

What would be the reaction if the dead did return?

What happens after we die?

Is a chance to speak to the deceased a good or a bad thing?

The feel of the show is slow and meditative. It is purposely slow paced so you invest in the characters. It is a complex show which has a lot going on but it slowly reveals itself, it truly is French in that there is a slow burn pace that it languishes in; it revels in the story and atmosphere, where the rush?

The Returned is a beautifully shot show.

It makes me uneasy and uncomfortable and there is a sense of dread permeating the whole show. There is no humour and there are no jokes, the dialogue and acting is played straight and is all the more gripping for it. In places, the show has a feel of ‘Twin Peaks’ as the mythology is the central mystery, however rather than a white or black lodge strangeness, ‘The Returned’ is more character focussed and we get an intense look at each of the people who have returned. The haunting music by Mogwai compliments the mood and intensity of the show and gets under your skin.

‘The Returned’ runs at 16 episodes and is well worth the time investment if you like slow, meditative shows.

Control- Video Games As Art

August 1, 2020

Control is an intriguing game in which you play as the Director of a secretive New York agency tasked with keeping a supernatural force at bay. So far so videogamey, but what seperates this game from others is the strange dynamic Old House, the building that changes, grows and moves. This makes the play space intriguing and constantly in a state of flux, adding to the sense of confusion. It reminded me of Mark. Z. Danielewski’s stunning ‘House of Leaves’ with hints of ‘Twin Peaks’. The game is stunning and on my playthrough I took some great shots.

LINK- Monument Valley- Video Games As Art

LINK- Mario Odyssey- Video Games As Art

LINK- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice- Video Games As Art

LINK- Why I No Longer Talk To White People About Race- Book Review

On, And On And Colston (or, 'How We Learned To Talk About The Legacy Of Colonialism In GB')

July 27, 2020

*This is an almost stream of consciousness blog post about the ‘state of the world’. I worked on it over a few days, editing bits over a few weeks with the changing situation as I wanted to create an opportunity for dialogue. If you disagree with some, all or none of what I say, that’s fine as we are all entitled to our opinions. Let’s be civil and not resort to any uncouth comments, fisticuffs or other such hijinks- Thanks go out to Liz Barrett, Cassius Kingsley, Firoza Choudhury and Frances for their advice and feedback*

In the words of the great Tintin cartoon from the 90s….’It all started…’ with a text message:

"They've thrown old Edward Colston in the river.”

I didn't know who he was and had images of some poor bloke being dunked into a river before my friend clarified in another text message, "His statue is in the River Avon.”

Somewhat relieved that no-one had been assaulted, I started to Google on my phone who this Edward Colston was and what he has done to warrant such an unceremonious knocking off his pedestal. Bristolian merchant, businessman, philanthropist, wow this guy seemed like a right renaissance man, and then.... slave trader. Hmmm, so there's the rub and what a rub indeed! Over the course of 16 years, it was estimated that the man had shipped over 80,000 Africans to America during the trans-Atlantic slave trade and of those 20,000 slaves had been thrown overboard as they either died or were declared too ill during the dreadful journey. It seemed almost symbolically fitting for Colston, to be thrown into the water too.

The Colston plinth- sans plinth. Photo credit: Eiizabeth Barrett

I’d no doubt the 24 our news cycle would be in a frenzy about this incident and that evening, when I settled down with my wife, it was all over Channel 4 News. There were the vox pop section of the news where a variety of reactions were shared. Many thought that having a statue of a slaver with a pandering message; “Erected by citizens of Bristol as a memorial of one of the most virtuous and wise sons of their city” was insensitive to many people within a city that prided itself on its multi-cultural credentials. However, many thought that the removal of the statue was sacrilege as it erased the history--even if it wasn't always illustrious or glorious.

Looking at the talking heads on the news I empathised with both sides of the argument. Those who eloquently spoke about why the Colston statue had to go said how it was an open sore in the city of Bristol; one which successive council leaderships had declined to amend or address. On the other side of this argument some stated that, ‘You can't judge people from the past based on today's moral code’ and that by removing the statue you ‘erased the history.’

Hmm, I was in a moral quandary. I wasn't sure that throwing the statue into the river was right but then again, leaving the fawning message tantamount to declaring him to be the ‘first son of the city’ was a bit much as it white-washed his horrible behavior, at least on the plaque. However, was this really ‘erasing history’ as some claimed?

When it was stated that numerous council applications for the removal of the statue to a museum or proposals for amendments to be added to the plaque to provide a more balanced account of Colston’s history had been declined, I could understand why so many people were frustrated and angry. However throwing the statue into the river wouldn’t get you very far in my opinion as it would anger those in the middle of the political spectrum who were looking for a more nuanced and balanced conversation but hey, life is complex and maybe this was a bit of a wake-up call to those in authority that things needed to change. However, during a pandemic, where the civic duty of staying at home to protect each other was at the forefront of most people’s mind, I waited to see what the general reaction would be.

It seemed to me that Britain was having a bit of an existential crisis of sorts and with the toxic Brexit campaign, with the ridiculous canvassing and nasty politics by the left and right, and the killing of George Floyd in America it all acted as catalysts for what we were seeing occurring here.

The Times, They Are A-Changin’

The prevailing thought in Britain has been that we are further along the road that the US as concern race, and in many ways we are, but there are many who believe that the type of racism here is more subtle and is ingrained in our systems and institutions. Those who aren’t even open to this suggestion think that the Black Lives Matter movement is just an excuse for people to loot and cause damage to property, even though the vast majority of the marches and demonstrations have been peaceful. However, looking at data (supplied by the BBC) tells a different story:

If you’re black in the UK you’re twice as likely to die in police custody compared to someone who’s white
You’re 9 times more likely to be stopped and searched compare to someone who’s white,
You’re 3 times more likely to be arrested compared to someone who’s white,
If you’re BAME you’re more likely to die from Covid-19, not due to the color of your skin but because of social inequality around jobs, housing, health and wealth,
If your black and aged 16-24 the unemployment rate is 26% compared to 11% for white,
The Rowntree Foundations research into poverty level found 26% for white, 48% for Black and 60% for Bangladeshi
1.5% of Britain’s top bosses are Black. (Source: BBC Radio 5)

This data is shocking but it does show some of the deep level of inequality that exists in the current system in the UK. Now there’s a lot of data and fake news bandied around so I went to the original source of data at gov.uk website and did some research about the crime stats for England (from 2017) and it made for some pretty sober reading:

Black people had the highest stop and search rates in every police force area for which there was data,
the 3 Black ethnic groups had the highest rates of stop and search out of all 16 individual ethnic groups
there were 51 stop and searches for every 1,000 Black people in London, compared with 19 per 1,000 Black people in the rest of England and Wales
between April 2018 and March 2019, there were 4 stop and searches for every 1,000 white people, compared with 38 for every 1,000 Black people,
Black people had the highest arrest rates per 1,000 people in every police force area for which there was data
In 2017, the conviction ratios for Black and Mixed ethnic groups were lowest at 78.7% and 79% whilst the conviction ratio was highest for defendants in the white ethnic group, at 85.3%
The conviction ratio for the white ethnic group was highest in all age groups in 2017
In 2017, the Black and Mixed ethnic groups had the lowest conviction ratios for male defendants ( at 79.2% and 79.3%), and the Black and Asian ethnic group had the lowest for female defendants (at 74% and 73.8% respectively)
Behind this data lies real world implications which informs life choices and life chances. More Black people were stopped and searched and arrested, however the conviction rate for Black people was lower than for white people. The part I found very interesting was when the gov.uk report stated:

differences in the rate of arrests in England and Wales are likely, in part, to reflect population differences in those areas (with many more people from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups living in London than in North Wales, for example)

Based on this, why is so much of the media making it seem like there was a black criminality problem across the country? The report stated:

the Black African, Black Caribbean and Other Black groups consistently had the highest rates section 60 stop and searches involved Black people, the highest number out of all ethnic groups for this legislation with 4,858 (compared to 1,827 for Asians)
I didn’t understand why this would be but maybe it is due to the fact that the news often focusses on ‘high-profile’ crimes or picks on a trend like in 2019 when knife crime hit London. More often than not, knife crime is blamed on Black youth but in England and Wales 38% of knife possession offenders under 25s were non-white in 2017. This rose to two thirds in London but, as the report states, this is likely due to population differences across the country. The murder victim and suspect figures are more or less proportionate to the makeup of the population. Up until very recently, the stabbing capital of Britain was Glasgow, which has a 95% white population so why wasn’t knife crime seen as a ‘white problem?’ The fact is that crime is most prevalent in poorer areas and since most Black people are disproportionately poor, they are the ones that are disproportionately affected as victims and perpetrators. In fact, Akala brought up this very point on ‘Good Morning Britain’ with Piers Morgan.

So, this is a class issue and not one of race or culture so why the heightened fear of Black youth? Maybe it due to the ‘Blue Dot Effect’; this is the experiment where people were asked to identify blue dots amongst groups of a range of colors, this was then moved onto aggressive and non aggressive faces. What researchers found was that, after being made highly suggestible for a while, people identified purple dots and blue and, more worryingly for the real world, neutral faces as ‘threatening’.

Maybe the identifier of Black youths and knife crime in London has been extrapolated to across the country?

Reading through all this data and information it may seem surprising and even shocking yet there are many who say, ”I don't see color”, which is great but the systems and institutions that rule our lives often do see colour and these have real world impact and implications. That's what people are saying with Black Lives Matter; they don't matter more than any other lives but they are worthy of recognition because often it is these communities that are victimized and marginalized and the data supports this. This has been highlighted particularly in America where abuses against the Black community have been going on for many years (and is referred to as ‘Black Witnessing’) but the access of cameras on mobiles has meant that only now are incidences being recorded and shared. So where does this profiling come from, because that is what this is?

A Personal Journey

I studied history for GCSE and A-Levels and from what I remember we covered the Roman, the War of the Roses, the Tudors, the Industrial Revolution and World War 1 and 2. I may be misremembering or forgetting a unit here or there, as it was nearly 25 years ago, but these units were definitely covered with a British idyllic sheen. I remember at the time thinking how jingoistic and jolly hockey stick the content was, ‘plucky Britain surviving and thriving against the odds’, ‘Britain the island fortress’ etc etc etc. Acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson wrote in his book ‘Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World’, that the Empire created the first global economy through a process of 'Anglobalisation'. He then praises how, having disseminated the benefits of the free market and parliamentary democracy, it then discreetly faded away. This glorification of the British Empire as a sort of a benign master has been what has been taught to us for many years and this has been the prevailing thoughts amongst educationalists and much of the British population, however even in secondary school in the late 90s, I remember thinking, "Why haven't we looked at the cost and legacy of Empire on the lands that were conquered and taken?"

My parents are second generation British-Pakistanis and I remember being told of the various atrocities and crimes committed by the British Empire to India during the rule there but also through partition. Being an arrogant teen, I remember of numerous occasions telling them to calm down as without Britain we wouldn't have trains, an efficient bureaucratic system, fish and chips etc; they were too old, too entrenched in their old views from Pakistan... Weren't they?

It was only when I studied Anthropology at University that I started to find books and lectures critical of colonialism and imperialism. Since then, when the issue of race has come up and I’ve thrown some interesting and accurate facts about some lesser known aspects of empire, imperialism and colonialism which challenge the popular narrative, I’ve heard the following:

Why can't you get over it? It's all in the past.
If we don't talk about it (racism) it will go away.
Stop playing the race card.
You have a chip on your shoulder.
Why don't you just go back to where you came from?
You should be grateful that you have free speech.
You just hate Britain, you are anti-British.
But what about (insert any injustice here)
You are trying to blame me for what my ancestors did.
You just blame the West for all of the world's problems.
I don't see colour.
It's not about race.

I wonder if people would say these same arguments to me if I were white? I honestly don't know. Maybe if I were white I'd be accused of being a 'woke libtard' or something of the like. We live in a very weirdly stratified society, where even though we are more connected more than ever before in many ways, we also seem to be separated.

Whatever the case, there does seem to be a cognitive dissonance between the history that is taught and celebrated and what actually happened. Our values are narratives that are constructed by our experiences, either personal, shared or learned. The British Empire narrative we've been told for years are that it was amazing and contributed much positively to the world. Our British identities are built on this narrative and thus, people are protective of it. However, in this case when the positive colonialism narrative has been challenged, many people have reacted in extreme ways, not understanding why so many BAME people are so angry at the lionisation of people who did pretty reprehensible things in their time. Whenever the history and legacy of the British Empire has presented in England, it has usually been through the rose tinted lens of innovation, commerce and industry. This imbalance needs be redressed through educational reform and updating the curriculum as I believe that only by educating people can we learn from the past and move forward with clarity.

The excuse of, "It was years ago" doesn't fly as after hundreds of years of rule where the societies were upended, controlled through hierarchical systems and subjugated according to these systems, to resolve all these in the short time span is a ridiculous expectation. However, it behooves us to clean up the mess left and assist in bettering the lives of those our empire has negatively impacted as until then, lots of legacy issues will remain unresolved; like the recent unresolved border issues between China and India, the ongoing Kashmir and Israel-Palestine question and the myriad of other borders which were hastily drawn up with no real forethought given after World War 2 and the crumbling empire. These have led to ongoing tension in those regions. In Africa, the line drawing meant tribes and ancestral lands were ignored and so much of the current fighting there is the legacy of this. There are plentiful more examples I could give but for those who are interested in understanding the past there are lots of good books and resources available to do this. The problem is finding reputable sources as in this age there is a lot of fake news and alt-left or alt-right agenda driven media so choose your poison carefully. A good rule of thumb is that when shape-shifting lizards, 5G or Bill Gates are mentioned you may need to back away and look again.

Of course a country would want to celebrate its glorious past and paper over the less than fabulous bits but to say in 2020, during the Black Lives Matter movement, that the past had no or little repercussions on the current status quo and that ‘All Lives Matter’ is either to gaslight millions of people who are actually living with the legacy of empire or to be naive in the extreme. We must own the fact that things that occurred in the past still have an effect today, and as Brits today we must understand that the legacy of Empire wasn’t always a positive one for many.

White Privilege and ‘White Lives Matter’

White people often don't like talking about ‘white privilege’ as many believe it’s reductive and apportions blame for simply being white. However, white privilege is different from that in that it states that systems and structures are in place that hinder Black lives, and as such not every white person is racist, but they do need to recognize that the systems in place are set for the norm to be ‘white’.

This concept of 'white privilege' is a contentious one as people who are white don't see it but people who are BAME see it and experience it all the time. It's difficult to explain as unless you walk in someone else's shoes for a while you may not ever see the micro-aggressions or normalized racism that happens daily. You could always do black face like Justin Trudeau did 20 years ago but boy do people *not* like that. When 'white privilege' comes up some people will frequently cite poor white working class people and say, "Look, they are white and they don't get special treatment" except they do without even realizing it. White working class people have a lot of the same issues as their Black working class counterparts but are less likely to suffer from issues surrounding the hostile environment policy, the policing of Stop and Search or being blamed (alongside whichever peoples are The Mails ‘bogeymen of the week’- Romanians, Poles, Lithuanians etc) for the wage stagnation and a ‘race to the bottom’ whenever there is an economic downturn

A vey popular video that went viral last year was of the ‘racist soap dispenser’ where the machine dispensed soap for the white person but not the Black person. The machine itself obviously wasn’t racist, it’s just that the technician who programmed it maybe didn’t think of a different skin tone, and this is just an example of how the norm for the world is often ‘white’, often subconsciously.

White privilege does exist but blaming all white people does not help. In the same way that we wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) blame all Jews for the Israel/ Palestine conflict, all Muslims for the 9/11 terror attacks, or all white people for the white supremacist shootings that have occurred in America and other places. We shouldn’t assume all white people are aware of this bias that exists, why would they? After all, the last 600 years of history have been predominantly written by the victor's and as a result this is the legacy of empire that exists and the impact still reverberates in the world to this very day.

We are family

Now I can't look down from my BAME tower and smugly act holier than thou. If white privilege is a tough pill to swallow for many, being southern Asian in heritage doesn’t mean that I can stand on the moral high-ground either as sometimes my community does help perpetuate the system too. People often lump the BAME together but we are not one homogenous amorphous blob, there are real differences within this group.

I don't claim to speak for all south Asians in East London as these are my personal experiences but I've seen how some of my community speak about the Black community, it's often racist and dehumanizing. Sometimes, the community even do it without realizing, like when a kid is born one of the first questions asked after gender is, "Is it fair?" If the kid is light-skinned, it's considered beautiful, if it's dark skinned it's often considered less desirable and joked about, later bantered as 'Kaalu' (A pejorative term meaning ‘dark skinned’ but in much less polite terms)

Recently, I got annoyed when I saw Bollywood stars backing the movement after shilling whitening creams for years. It is a common trope in the industry that the comedic bit-part 'character' actors are usually played by the darker skinned actors. There has been a caste system that's been around for millennia and the British Empire leant heavily into this as it justified many heinous acts as people of color were 'lesser' through the tripartite system where there were Whites, Colored and Blacks- carried through with dreadful consequences in South Africa and much of colonial Africa.

Casual racism exists, typically in the older Asian community but amongst the younger generation too. I've been to family and friends’ houses where people have spoken about ‘kaales’ and Jamicki’s (Jamaicans) lumping them all together. Now, it could be grandfathered in, saying “Well, they’re old so maybe they have some old-fashioned view” but it has happened with my peers too, people of the same age as me. I met an old Indian school friend I hadn’t seen in about 15 years in Barking a few years ago and he said, “Barking’s changing man, these kaale are coming here, taking our jobs and houses, stealing and robbing. The areas going downhill” It's all nonsense but this truthiness gets a lot of people's anxieties going and people make silly choices or poorer decisions when they are emotional. My old friend didn’t see the irony behind this, nor did he realize that many people would have said similar things about our parents when they moved into the country in the 60s and 70s.

Whilst it's true, post-Olympics Barking has changed quite a bit as it has turned into a commuter town this is to be expected when one looks at the cost of housing in East London post 2012. I worked in the youth services as a youth worker for 10 years, from 2000 to 2010 and that was in predominantly BAME communities in Beckton and East Ham in East London. I saw the changes that were occurring in the area and it was exciting and a chance for regeneration but the 2008 economic crisis affected the area hugely and the social, economic and health disparities started to rise again, bringing class tensions to the fore which some groups sought to change into racial tension; a tale as old as time. When the situation goes south, look for someone to blame and usually it is those lowest in the pecking order.

Fear of Change and Changing the Narrative

Lecturer, Jane Elliot spoke about how people were complicit in the subjugation of Blacks in America by asking an audience, “Who would be happy to be treated as this society in general treats our Black citizens?”

If we were all being honest we know that being Black affects life choices and chances in many ways and the anger felt is palpable, which is why there has been so many protests and calls for change. We know that civil disobedience (like the many marches of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and the women of Liberia), getting Marcus Rashford (or any other sport star or celebrity) to call out the government or changes to the educational system have great results but often they take a looooong time to have an effect, often with the issues being kicked into the long-grass. However, taking matters into your own hands seems to be a recurring theme throughout history, sometimes radical protest- like the suffragette movement, which eventually resorted to violence to get attention, led to real change. I’m not advocating for violence and destruction but it's just what happens when people feel that they are continually being ignored or people in authority and power are too slow to take note.

The anger felt by this community is real and probably justified but I am not one for cancel culture. Let’s not knock down statues or shout down any dissenter as racist but rather have a callout culture. If things are no longer appropriate then by all means call it out, calmly and sensibly, and ask for change.

In my opinion, cancel culture can be toxic as it doesn’t allow people to learn and grow and there are no teachable moments, however callout culture requires you to point out mistakes and get people to think about their actions or mistakes and ask them to do better. Learning and growing sometimes means that you simply read, listen and be open to different opinions and viewpoints with respect and maturity.

Make no mistake, even though I’m talking about a wider malaise this post is primary about Black Lives Matter as it is this community which is being victimized, marginalized and killed at an alarming rate by the police, institutions and systems that supposedly exist to protect them in America. Yes, ‘All Lives Matter’ but we can’t just stand by and let more Black people die on our watch, and we may not have the sheer numbers or shocking video footage in Britain but a lot of the issues that Black people face in America are also felt here by the Black community and we need to make things better.

I hope that as we move forward there is an appetite for real change to occur and things aren’t just kicked into the long grass.

More people seem to be realizing that the world has been built on a flimsy foundation of sand; the 2008 financial crash and the Covid-19 pandemic has shown the inequalities that exists in our system. Many people are starting to see that they have nothing left to lose and are driven in creating a New World Order (no, not the Illuminati one) but one where equity exists for all. So what to do, well you could:

Read up on history and consider what the effects and legacy of empire, colonialism and imperialism has been,
Push for a more honest and accurate account of history. This is starting already starting to happen with the curriculum being adapted in Bristol to look at Colston’s actions, both positive and negative. It will hopefully lead to more reflective conversations about how the state of the world currently may have something to do with what occurred before,
Listen to people when they tell you what they are experiencing. You may not see it or understand it but listening is important,
Be reflective and consider our role as part of the system. Are we building people up, tearing them down or, most probably, perpetuating a system because ‘it’s always been like that’ and it suits us just fine? It may be difficult to speak to your own communities and challenge perceived wisdoms but only by doing this can we move the conversation forward,
Consider the reasons why some people may not be pleased with having certain figures from the colonial past praised and exalted. When applications for altering plaques to be more honest and requests for removal to a museum come, don’t think of it as erasing history but rather re-contextualising and providing a more nuanced look at history. Don’t worry, no-one is going to remove Churchill’s statue, he is a war hero and even though he made some dubious policy decisions (including one that led to millions of Bengal Indian losing their lives due to a famine as a consequence of his policies) and had some morally questionable opinions (he had some interesting views on the hierarchy of race) he deserves his place in the pantheon of British legend,
If you are in a position of power, influence or privilege use that position to amplify the voices of the Black Lives Matter movement,
Join movements, organisation and protests that you feel best share your vision and help out. Being seen and heard does have real-life consequences, no-matter what the naysayers may claim. It was only after Colston’s statue fell that the conversation around education and telling the more nuanced ‘truth’ about history came into focus, however this is not to say that breaking stuff will help carry your argument forward as often it will only alienate people from you and may confuse your message.

I'm a kitchen sink thinker in that I'm not the most educated, profound, insightful or deepest guy out there but I'm willing to reflect on my background and privileges I've had to consider my position in the world today. I'm just doing the best I can given my circumstances and hope to provide for my daughters and give them a better world than the one I emerged in. I believe the Black Lives Matter movement is a part of that and irrespective of a few groups trying to derail it through violence, the central message is of peace, growth and transcendence. I believe that people of all colours must come together as there is an intersectionality where the betterment of the state of the world is for the benefit of everyone and not just the few. Boomers, Gen X, Millenials, Gen Z or however people choose to classify themselves (or are labelled) need to come together to push for real-world change. Gen Z are vocal but may not necessarily be in positions of power, Gen X and Millennials have struggled with some tough anchor points but need to put into practice all the forwarding and thumbs-upping they do on Facebook and Boomers may be in positions where they can actualise real change but need to get on with it. Only by working as a societal Voltron can things get better in my opinion, so let’s all form to create something awesome and build a better future.

LINK- ‘Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire’

LINK: Let’s All Create a ‘New Normal’.

LINK- Ms Marvel Can Change the World

Breathing Machine: A Memoir of Computers- Book Review

July 23, 2020

I have been a fan of Leigh Alexander's work for quite some time. I discovered her writing in a variety of video game magazines and on websites like Kotaku and often found her think pieces about diversity, LGBTQ rights and representation refreshing against the often toxic bro video gamer commentators online.

The book is slight in size but very personal and informative.

’Breathing Machine’ is a slim memoir/ state of the online nation discourse and follows the evolution of video games through the lens of Alexander's own life. For those not interested in gaming, the book also looks at the evolution of the internet as it is a candid look at 'growing up internet'. It is an honest and remarkably frank look back at how this disruptive technology affected the formative years of Alexander but also, in the wider context, the world. It had me searching my memories for this period of my life and I found myself having some nostalgic recollections of these halcyon simpler times. The myriad of search engines, horribly pixelated images, annoying propriety video plug-ins, poorly created websites with badly optimised wallpaper and the sound of the dial-up-modem still haunt my dreams, but were a very real part of my youth.

I like how Alexander talks about the onset of the internet as a mystery box, full of wonder and seemingly secret content that just seemed out of reach. Her recollection about typing in hell.com and finding an abstract art installation is wonderful as I'm sure we all have a few moments like that that we can recount where we came across a website that was at once unsettling yet intriguing. The ‘Donnie Darko’ website was my version of this and even now, the mystery of how to access all its contents still remains in memory.

Alexander also looks at the negative side of this digital revolution, where often the ignored and under-appreciated nerds from school grew up to be worse than the jocks that often bullied them. The geeks shall indeed inherit the earth. This is a broad sweep but I definitely recognise this in some people I still know from my time at Secondary school. Even now, though they have grown up and have jobs, families etc they still command a presence in the online world but not always in a conducive or practical way. I know Alexander has faced much vitriol and criticism for her work and nearly all of it is unwarranted in my opinion. In the shadow of #Gamergate, we know that there is a small contingent who are angry at multiculturalism, representation and anything else that challenges their homogenous world view. Indeed, Alexander was ahead of the curve when she wrote this book in 2014, seeming almost prescient on her view of how this toxic online marketplace would lead to wider social issues.

This book is a must read for those seeking to look back at the formative years of the internet in the 90s and early 2000s, and for those interested in how Alexander grew up surrounded by video games.

For further reading I'd also like suggest offworld.com or the hardback book, ‘The Offworld Collection’ which was co-authored by Alexander. It is required reading for anyone who wants to have a deeper and more meaningful understanding on what video games can mean. It is a fine anthology book and the variety and depth of essays is remarkable. It looks at how games can deliver ethical social and political commentary.

Alexander understands that many game makers are acutely aware that in these increasingly complex times games have the power to open a new world to us, to introduce us to new ideas, cultures and experiences that we would maybe never otherwise encountered.

LINK: My One True Gaming Constant in My Life- Nintendo

LINK: The Offworld Collection- Book Review