deerstalker

https://blacknerdproblems.com/musings-of-an-aging-nerd/

I can’t deny the whiplash general surrealness I feel when I attend conventions now. From childhood to adulthood, dragging my feet into my thirties, being a nerd has remained one of my consistent characteristics. How I molded my nerdiness is thanks in part to being introduced to anime conventions when I was in elementary school. Over the last several years, it has become painfully obvious to me how out of the loop I am with current favorites and trends. I no longer recognize popular cosplays or the names of newly dropped games. I often feel like a stranger wandering the halls of an active convention; barely recognizing things that used to fill me with joy. I acknowledge that getting older is a privilege. I am blessed. However, it’s not without its fair share of setbacks, most of which I notice when I’m enjoying pastimes: Nostalgia anime and gaming.

I started getting back into Final Fantasy (specifically VII), and it brought up memories of what it was like finding nerdom in my youth and what it means to me now. My experience is not different from any other nerd, I’m sure. Video games and anime portaled me into different realities at a crucial time of emotional and moral development. Nerddom allowed me to escape. It allowed me to travel within infinite amounts of worlds. It exposed me to new cultures, new romances, new feelings. Nerdoms challenged me. Nerdy media made me think, rethink, and debate beliefs and demanded I examine what my own personal code was. I remain grateful for the time I had playing Final Fantasy games, reading Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction, and buying WAY too many prints in every Artist Alley I strolled into. All these things remind me of the life I’ve lived and what I’ve learned from the time spent with fellow nerds in these carefully cultivated safe havens.

As I’ve aged, the nerd community has evolved parallel to me. Twitch streams, TikTok stars, e-girlies, etc. have all impacted the nerd community, changing the landscape from a purely innocuous hobby to a money-making machine. It also invites folks to make life-long friends and to be in-community with those that share similar passions. This evolution can be scary; there’s a rise of questioning the moral landscape of consumer-based fandoms/corporate run conventions. By the fans, for the fans seems a motto of the past. A long-dead relic. When Ubisoft can pay your mortgage, who can blame them? “Selling out” means stability when facing an unstable economic future.

Yaya Han and Jessica Nigri, both indisputably the most recognizable and popular icons of the cosplay world share the global stage with newcomers. Artists like Cutiepiesensei and Jahara Jayde have been steadily climbing, being frequent staples of the TL and being invited to guest at several conventions across the nation. 

Check out Cutiepiesensei’s Instagram here

Check out Jahara Jayde’s Instagram here & Check out our interview with Jahara Jayde here

I wanted to get different perspectives of the changing landscape, so I reached out to star creators, Pros and Cons Cosplay. They are well-known on the convention circuit for their gorgeous hand-made cosplays. These twins from the Midwest have been invited to numerous cons as guests, judges, panelists, and have competed on an international level as cosplayers. I was so honored to have been able to ask them some questions, so please enjoy!

1. How many years have you been going to conventions? What was your first convention?

We’ve been going to conventions since 2005, and that has only increased in events per year. Our first convention was Naka-Kon, Japanese Culture Convention, now hosted at the Overland Park Convention Center. It’s such an excellent show! I highly recommend anyone and everyone to check it out. It’s an affordable show and great for all ages. It was also the first place we experienced cosplay, so it is where we have our roots. 

2. What’s the biggest change you’ve witnessed in the last decade?

Pro: I’d say it’s the popularity! Conventions, even before I started, used to be these small, niche little events you and your weird friends could attend. The size of attendance has grown exponentially over the years, which means new genres of content, new programs, and new experiences! For me, what once used to be wandering around a dealer hall, staring at manga and figurines and spending the rest of the day sitting in the hallway sharing dealer hall spoils with friends, now there’s so much more to see and do. There’s everything from hands-on workshops to street parades to fandom-centered church sermons!

Con: Similar to Pro, I think it is the number of conventions out there. There are so many conventions, that it creates both a need for a show to stand out as being unique, and it also creates more opportunities to just be a nerd. There are multiple conventions every single weekend, so you could (if you could afford it, hah!) go to a show every weekend of the year and still not hit all of them. There are so many conventions, both domestic and abroad, of so many shapes and sizes, it can be a bit difficult to keep up. I think in that regard it is important for conventions to figure out what makes them special, unique, and interesting, otherwise what show A is doing could be a rinse and repeat of show B. 

3. What do you wish you could’ve told your younger self?

Pro: When I was younger, I never thought my interests could take me anywhere. I figured convention-going and cosplay would be a simple hobby that would end after I turned 25, and then I’d just spend all of my other time working. Now that I’m much older, I’ve not only found a way to continue interacting with the fandoms and cosplay I love, and I can also earn everything from financial to experiential compensation!

Con: I would tell myself you only have one life, do what makes you happy, and what makes you happy isn’t always going to be something conventional. I spent a lot of time being sad that I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do with my professional life that could fit into a regular day-to-day setting. Much later (a couple of years ago, in fact), I realized that you don’t have to stick to just one thing, one interest, or one way of making ends meet. You can do a bunch of things if you do a bit of planning and are responsible about it. Life doesn’t have to begin and end with one singular plan! Cosplay and attending events has really taught me that sometimes opportunity is in the weirdest places and that it is okay to do things you enjoy. 

4. What do you want to tell your older self?

Pro: Older me is still probably trying to get the hang of “chilling out,” so I’d tell older me that it’s okay that you’re still struggling with the concept of relaxing, it’s the attempt that’s important! Also, I hope future me is still going to conventions!

Con: Probably “Stop eating so much cheese,” but on top of that, I need to stop and smell the roses more and look at the day-to-day wins. I am a fairly ambitious person and that makes me forget the small wins along the way. I hope I learn to do that more as I get older. 

5. What are your hopes for the future? What do you want to see?

Pro: As always, we have a long, long way to go to make nerdy spaces inclusive to everyone. We can’t just passively say “this is inclusive.” There needs to be introspective and intentional work to make sure that spaces truly are inclusive of marginalized communities. Cultural sensitivity in language and mission, gender neutral bathrooms, venues equipped with universal design, and more. I think there is interest in getting there, but I’d like to see nerd spaces truly achieve this.

Con: Similar to what Pro said, I really want people to be able to bring their full selves to convention spaces, especially cosplay contests. I’m very passionate about having contests that are inclusive of marginalized identities. I also believe we need judges and other stakeholders in the cosplay contest scene to meet those same expectations, to encourage more participation. I’d love to see a wider variety of the types of people we see in those spaces, and that means doing a lot more work to make sure events are accessible, inclusive, and make a commitment to stick to those goals. 

6. Favorite nostalgic anime and video game:

Pro: For me, I love Gundam anime. I have several favorites but Gundam Wing was my first favorite and it continues to be iconic. Nostalgic video game: N64 Pokémon Stadium. Say what you will about the gym battles, but everyone knows the real sweating and stress is with the mini games. It’s so fun!

Con: Cowboy Bebop! It’s just an incredibly cool anime. Not too long, not too complicated, an excellent soundtrack–it’s just storytelling and animation at its finest. For video games, Pokémon Puzzle League for the Nintendo 64. There are few things in this life I will say I am VERY GOOD at, but I am a Pokémon Puzzle League Master.

Check out Pro and Con at their social media links here: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Website

I want to remember what it was like experiencing Otakon and Katsucon (my home cons) for the first time. It felt like Pokémon after school, ripping open trading cards, and writing bad fanfiction. It felt like a window into my childhood; it was comfortable, familiar, and exciting. Conventions today still hold that truth close. It still feels like home but only briefly. A momentary gift amid a sea of faces I no longer recognize. I can’t tell if it hurts or not…this shift. However, I remain grateful for these experiences and memories either way.

Cover image via comicbook.com

Want to get Black Nerd Problems updates sent directly to you? Sign up here! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram!

The post Musings of an Aging Nerd appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

https://nerdist.com/article/white-lotus-actor-tom-hollander-once-got-tom-holland-avengers-paycheck-by-mistake/

Tom Hollander is a well-known working actor, famous for roles in things like Pirates of the Caribbean and White Lotus. What he is not, however, is Tom Holland, a.k.a. Spider-Man. But we’ve learned via Variety that he almost got paid some Spidey-level money once, entirely by accident. And when we say Spidey-level, we’re talking millions. Because Tom Hollander was once mistakenly sent a bonus check for an Avengers film meant for Tom Holland. He told Seth Meyers the story while promoting his role as Truman Capote in the upcoming Feud: Capote vs. the Swans on FX/Hulu. You can watch the clip below:

Hollander recounted to Seth Myers that it was his agency that mixed him up with the similarly named Holland via an email. That is how he got his very fat check by mistake. We’re not sure which Avengers movie it was, since Tom Holland was in two of them. Honestly, we can see how something like this could happen. Luckily, Mr. Hollander is a man of good moral character, and didn’t just take the money and run. We guess that’s the Spider-Man thing to do. Now we wonder if Child’s Play and Fright Night director Tom Holland has ever accidentally received some Marvel money by mistake himself.

We don’t know how much Tom Holland’s check was for, but apparently, it left Tom Hollander’s jaw on the floor. He said “It was an astonishing amount of money. It was not his salary. It was his first box-office bonus. Not the whole box-office bonus, the first one. And it was more money than I’d ever [seen]. It was a seven-figure sum.” If you’re wondering why so many of these actors, like Hugh Jackman and others, keep returning to their superhero roles for sequel after sequel? There’s your answer. There ain’t no money like Marvel money. But we bet Tom Hollander is ready to sign up for the MCU right about now. Someone’s got to play the Beyonder in Secret Wars, right?

The post WHITE LOTUS Actor Tom Hollander Once Got Tom Holland’s AVENGERS Paycheck By Mistake appeared first on Nerdist.

https://blacknerdproblems.com/still-obsessing-over-the-newly-unified-karate-kid-cinematic-universe/

The original story broke about two months ago, and I still haven’t stopped thinking about it. Ralph Macchio, the original Karate Kid, Daniel-San. Jackie Chan, an iconic martial artist and actor, who played Mr. Han in a Karate Kid remake, sure, but I remember how his likeness was used in one of the best Saturday morning cartoons ever in Jackie Chan Adventures. When you think of martial arts in the 80s and 90s media, those two are easily in the top five alongside the late great, Pat Morita. And Sony Pictures has decided that since they own the Karate Kid IP, not to do a simple remake. No, this is going to be a sequel that unifies the original trilogy and the 2010 movie.

And I’m still going “what” aggressively at my computer screen because I have so many questions and absolutely no information to work with.

If somehow you’ve managed to avoid the last five or six-ish years of extended Karate Kid content, the story behind the original trilogy has in fact been going strong. Thanks to Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg we have actually a very detailed understanding of what an older Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence look like. We have five (soon to be six) seasons of Cobra Kai that delve into the long legacies of both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai, the psychological scars that bad mentors can create, a look at the evolution of bullying in the modern era, and what happens when rivalries are constructive and healthy. I could go on and on about this series. I have in fact gone on and on about this series.

Cobra Kai is one of the few shows that I’ve constantly advocated for with a consistency that alarms me. I tried to get people to get YouTubeRed because I was utterly enthralled by the unexpected sequel. When it dropped on Netflix, I petitioned even harder. Cobra Kai did the impossible and manage to create a sequel series several decades later that was just nostalgia bait, but a well-thought, well-directed, and well-choreographed sequel that used the original trilogy as a solid foundation to tell a new story.

When the season 1 finale, “Mercy,” dropped I watched that episode on repeat for days. Seeing a new All Valley Tournament had me unreasonably hyped and ever since, when I get the date for the next season, I watched everything from the beginning and then binge the new stuff the moment I get access.

Heald, Hurwitz, and Schlossberg had announced many months ago that the sixth season of Cobra Kai would be its last. While I’m sadden, it makes perfect sense given the trajectory which I will not spoil because if you haven’t watched, I hoped I’ve sidetracked enough that you’ve been convinced to watch. While yes, this particular chapter ending is timely and reasonable, all that means is that… I. Still. Have. So. Many. Questions.

This new Karate Kid project starring Macchio and Chan is supposedly not directly connected to the Cobra Kai. But this does not mean, it’s not not connected. Ralph Macchio’s been playing an older Daniel LaRusso for almost six years. As much as I love the franchise, part of that love is also predicate on seeing this older LaRusso make amends with long-term rival Johnny Lawrence. Will there be references to this character development? Will his family be featured? Will any of the Cobra Kai cast make an appearance? The Cobra Kai’s creators, again, not involved, but they have been consulted. And again, we haven’t even gotten to the fact that the 2010 Karate Kid movie is in the mix, so let’s talk about that for a second.

The 2010 Karate Kid was a remake of the series that remixed the original premise and kept the title because of recognition, but also very much probably should have been called the Kung Fu Kid, but that’s neither here nor there at this point. Jackie Chan played Mr. Han as the spiritual successor to Mr. Miyaga well and there is nothing that precludes the events of Karate Kid (2010) from existing within the greater Karate Kid universe.

But also, Mr. Miyagi was a *Japanese* martial artist (whose family in lore developed this particular branch of karate to defend against invaders, fun fact established by one of my favorite scenes of the series), and Daniel LaRusso has been shown to have a great reverence for Japanese culture having essentially been raised by Mr. Miyagi.

So, I guess the first and foremost question that I probably should have asked several hundred words ago, is how do these two cross paths? This is of course partially answered by the fact that there was a worldline casting call for the next Karate Kid, and as such as we have a vague synopsis that this new “Karate Kid” would be named Li Fong who is “smart, scrappy, and a skilled martial artist” off jump. Which at least explains how Mr. Han is tangentially involved in all of this, but I’m still entirely unsure where Daniel LaRusso fits into the picture.

I’m also generically curious how Hilary Swank feels being the one Karate Kid universe alum who doesn’t seem to be involved in any of these future projects, but that’s like the tenth question I don’t have a set answer for.

The framework of the Karate Kid is as textbook as sports and martial arts drama come. The coming-of-age story of learning what it takes to fight and what it means to fight. The reason the story keeps getting retold and reinvented is because it is in fact a worthwhile story. However, Sony Pictures attempt to unify the two universes while also not directly acknowledging that they had a very successful television series is confusing to say the least.

That said, I will give props to Sony for having a Chinese/Chinese-American as the main character. I adore Xolo Mariduena, Tanner Buchanan, Jacob Pertrand, Petyon List, and Mouser, but out of those five names of principle characters, there’s only one person of color there.

I love these characters (well, at least the ones firmly in the pre-retconned unification. The 2010 movie was fine. I remember enjoying it. I remember not feeling like I ever needed to rewatch this movie) and more than anything else, I’m so very curious to see how this weird fever dream of a pitch is going to come together. And I mostly hope that whatever happens doesn’t somehow invalidate the canon of what is one of my favorite television series of the last two decades.

Want to get Black Nerd Problems updates sent directly to you? Sign up here! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram!

The post Still Obsessing Over the Newly Unified ‘Karate Kid’ Cinematic Universe appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

https://blackgirlnerds.com/sundance-2024-review-johan-grimonprezs-essayistic-documentary-soundtrack-to-a-coup-detat-explores-link-between-jazz-and-politics/

Writer and director Johan Grimonprez, known for impressionistic documentaries like Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade and Double Take, returns to the Sundance Film Festival with his latest documentary Soundtrack to a Coup D’etat.

First announced in 2021, the Belgian-born filmmaker sheds light on the overthrow and assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, the dark history of the United Nations weaponizing jazz artists and their music, and so much more. It opens with drums to establish a rhythm of bebop, rumba, and jazz music that continues to flow throughout the film as it does throughout these events in history.

The decolonization of the Congo and the subsequent violence are seemingly at the center of this kaleidoscopic 150-minute-long exploration. However, there are many points of focus and multiple protagonists, including the huge part music itself plays. Grimonprez told Variety, “Music is an actor of this global story. Louis Armstrong was there for the first months of Congolese independence, while Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln took inspiration from the independence movement in Africa.”

Grimonprez presents a collage of diverse perspectives from activists, politicians, musicians, and leaders, told through images, archival footage, and various excerpts from Andrée Blouin’s memoir “My Country, Africa” (narrated by Belgian-Congolese musician Marie Daulne aka Zap Mama), In Koli Jean Bofane’s “Congo Inc.,” Conor Cruise O’Brien’s “To Katanga and Back” (narrated by his son Patrick), and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s audio memoirs. Other important figures featured include musicians Dizzy Gillespie, Nina Simone, Duke Ellington, Melba Liston, and activist Malcolm X. 

The long-overlooked Blouin acted as an advisor to post-colonial leaders in Africa, including becoming chief of protocol for Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected prime minister for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Grimonprez explained that “because she was a woman, she was actually written out of history.” Both were labeled communists because of their influential advocacy for the Pan-African movement, which posed a threat to colonial power. 

King Baudouin of Belgium and the Eisenhower administration agreed that Lumumba needed to go in order for them to remain in control of the majority vote of the Global South. The CIA led a coup to overthrow Lumumba in September 1960. In an effort to improve the image of the United States, jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong was deployed to the Congo in October. Of course, the legendary musician was completely unaware he was being used as a smokescreen.

Lumumba was executed in Katanga in January 1961, and on February 15, 1961, writer Maya Angelou, singer Abbey Lincoln, and drummer Max Roach, protested his murder at a UN Security Council meeting, along with about sixty other shouting demonstrators. Excerpts from Angelou’s The Heart of a Woman appear on screen: “On Friday, our women are going to the United Nations.” Set to the sounds of Roach’s furious drumming (part of Max Roach’s “Freedom Now” suite, which opened the film), we see the chaotic, chilling scene unfold with emboldened text of the protestors’ declarations. 

As someone who wasn’t previously familiar with the coup or Lumumba’s murder, Soundtrack is eye-opening and intrigued me enough to do my own research to better understand the full scope. Grimonprez’s ability to craft a film using extensive research, archival footage, and first-hand experiences is an impressive feat, not to mention the vibrant aesthetic. 

However, the film holds an overwhelming amount of information to digest — the importance of the West’s access to mine uranium in Congo (notably used for the atomic bomb), the Cold War, Nikita Khrushchev infamously banging his shoe on a table at the General Assembly, nationalist movements, and the continued exploitation of present-day Congo. Between its nonlinear structure and the several historical events and important figures entwined, it’s easy to get lost in it all, even with the bold lettering of quotes and excerpts.

Soundtrack to a Coup D’etat is a visually engaging, dizzying lesson in the history of global politics and its fascinating connection to jazz. Without conventional omniscient narration, it can be hard to follow what unfolds on screen, especially if you’re not even vaguely familiar with the subject matter. There’s a lot of story to tell, which could’ve been easier to absorb as a three-part docuseries. Even with its high energy, this stylish, almost avant-garde documentary essay’s 150-minute runtime will likely feel a little too long for some audiences’ attention spans. 

Soundtrack to a Coup D’etat had its World Premiere on January 22 as part of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Documentary Competition.