I write: code, poetry, prose, and tweets.
Another episode down and the Bold Type continues to dazzle me! I know, I know – I’m late to the show and late to recaps. But better late than never, right?
All the girls are dealing with shared drama, everyone continues to look gorgeous even exhausted and stressed out, and Kadena gave me all the feels last night. Can I just say how smitten I am with this show? Positively smitten!
Continue reading “The Bold Type S.1 E.8: The End of the Beginning (Spoilers!)”
I waited to share my thoughts because I let them stew and I was distracted by a ton of nicely done fanfiction (fanfic writers, I love you all for your beautiful artwork and writing and I just appreciate the fuck out of you).
Anyway, so Power Rangers happened last week, have you heard? Have you also heard that the cast of awesome misfits is beautifully diverse even if we still have our “irrelevant white male leader”? Then you may have also heard that Trini Kwan is Latina. And not just Latina, but also potentially queer. The girl doesn’t like labels at the moment, and as a queer Latinx myself I totally understand that for teens and others who are discovering themselves: labels can be a bitch to figure out. So here’s to the label-less Latinx Yellow Ranger giving this next generation of Latinx youth another superhero representative to look up to (shout out to America Chavez whose debut comic recently came out)! Here’s to the questioning youth of all ethnicities and races who can see someone struggle to put a name to who they are and realize they are not alone in the unknown. It takes a lot of guts to admit you don’t know who you are.
Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey have brought a true masterpiece to the OWN family with Queen Sugar. From the phenomenal casting of talented and gorgeous Black actors to the compelling stories we are introduced to in just the first episode, this is a show that has delivered from the very first moment the trailer was released. And it can only go up from here!
Following three Louisiana-borne siblings after tragedy strikes their family, the opening pilot introduces us to Nova, Charley, and Ralph Angel Bordelon. Nova is an activist who seems to dabble in some blessed magick, Charley is a manager for her basketball star husband, and Ralph Angel is a single father just recently out of prison. The nuances between the siblings, their father and other family members creates a beautiful narrative of the complexities of family, love, and conflict. The addition of the beautiful Southern backdrop with stunning wide frame landscapes gives the well-paced tale a fantastic setting. Queen Sugar has delivered the perfect first course to whet our appetite on what is sure to be a fine visual dining experience of Black Excellence in both in front of the camera and behind it.
I was so prepared to begin my first review with one of my current television obsessions. But from that chosen show crossing lines that I could no longer ignore for my own sanity to a short bit of writer’s block, my fingers began to itch even before the first five minutes of Beyonce’s ode to Black women that is Lemonade. From Reggae and Hip Hop to Rock & Roll and Country, Queen Bey eschewed her love and devotion to Black women across the nation and the globe through a musical amalgamation with guest appearances that ranged from Serena Williams to Amandla Steinberg, as well as powerful cameos from Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin; Lesley McSpadden, mother of Michael Brown; and Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, who all posed with pictures of their sons.
Lemonade praised Black women’s sexuality and strength, inundated the viewer with stunning visuals of Black culture both present and past all the while presenting Beyonce’s gift of raising the bar from previous performances and albums. She leaves no subject untouched: love, religion, family, relationships, death, and more. Perhaps it is best to say that not only has she raised the bar for herself, but for musicians everywhere. I am not one to so quickly jump on a bandwagon, but this is one instance where I am more than willing to lead said wagon around for others to follow.
Fabulous job, Beyonce. How will you blow our minds next?
Erisel Cruz 