THE GOOD
Lethal Weapon
Since nothing new has shown up on my radar as a “good” thing this past week, I’ll talk about a show that started this past fall TV season and had all the trappings of big-wig executive producer with no ideas cash-in. I’m talking about FOX’s Lethal Weapon TV series, based on the classic 80s/90s action films of the same name starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as Riggs and Murtaugh (who’s too old for this shit).
If you’re thinking to yourself “This doesn’t need a TV show remake” I don’t disagree with you. But surprisingly enough it actually turned out pretty good.
In the TV show version, Clayne Crawford (aka the guy that plays the scummy hick in that one TV show) plays Riggs and Damon Wayans (aka the successful Wayans brother who wasn’t a part of White Chicks or Scary Movie or…) plays Murtaugh. Most of the fun of the show comes from these two lead’s chemistry – they play off each other really well and it only takes a few episodes for them to completely slide into buddy cop territory. Crawford is great at being unhinged and manic as Riggs, and Wayans (who has obviously already established his comedy chops) does a good job at being his restrained, straight-laced foil.
It doesn’t hesitate to be over-the-top with the action either. In the climax of one episode, Riggs chases down the bad guy who is attempting to run over the Attractive Female of the Week. While driving, Riggs leans out the window and with both hands on his gun, shoots out the tires of the bad guy’s SUV, causing it to crash and flip over the AFW (who has tripped and fallen helplessly, of course) and land on its roof behind her, allowing Riggs to stop, pick up her, and walk away from the subsequent explosion in slow-mo.
Yeah, okay, the show isn’t going to win any progressive awards. It’s pure popcorn entertainment, sprinkled with some family values (I thoroughly enjoy that they kept the wholesome Murtaugh family aspect from the movies, as it’s fun to watch Wayans-as-Murtaugh juggle a suicidal partner along with a son who is expecting a car for his birthday) and some honest emotional moments (Crawford does amazing work showing Riggs’ emotion grieving over his dead wife).
And while I’ve focused on the main duo, the supporting cast is pretty great as well. Jordana Brewster plays the department psychologist in a much more pivotal role than the movies where the psychologist was just a punchline for Riggs’ antics. Kevin Rahm does great as the Captain who has to drag Riggs and Murtaugh into his office every week thanks to what mayhem they’ve caused on any particular case. And Keesha Sharp gives a great performance as Trish, Murtaugh’s wife. (There’s also an episode where Thomas Lennon guest stars as Leo Getz, and while he can’t replicate Joe Pesci’s sleazeball exactly he still does a wonderful job as Riggs and Murtaugh’s third wheel.)
All in all, if you’re looking to turn off your brain and watch some fun entertainment, you could do a lot worse than Lethal Weapon. The first season just wrapped up and it’s been renewed for a second, so I expect it to pop up on Netflix or Hulu or one of those places in the near future. Give it a watch if you like action comedy. I think you’ll enjoy it.
THE BAD
YouTube Celebrities Are Celebrities
Do you know who PewDiePie and Jontron are? If you don’t, I’ll give you a crash course: PewDiePie is a YouTube star who makes gaming videos and has over 50 million subscribers to his channel – he’s the richest and most subscribed to YouTube personality. Jontron is another YouTube personality, formerly of Game Grumps and now kind of his own thing (and has around 3 million subscribers on his channel).
Both recently have kicked up a shitstorm in different ways. PewDiePie made headlines last month because he pulled a “practical joke” when he made two Indian men hold up a sign that said “Death to All Jews.” His explanation was that it was a joke and he did it to highlight absurd services you could pay for online. Disney immediately ended their partnership with him, unsurprisingly, after this “joke.”
Jontron more recently – as in last week – also decided to be racist and defended Steve King’s abominable tweets (you know the one: “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.”). He then went further and double-downed on his racism during a streamed interview with another streamer. One of the finer talking point he brought up was that the richest black man is still more likely to be a criminal than the poorest white man. You know, standard racist shitbag stuff.
Both of these guys have millions of followers on YouTube. More importantly, a lot of their followers are impressionable kids. And their attitude after making these “jokes” and remarks has kind of been “Why do people care? Aren’t there more important things to do than harp on me for some little thing I did?” Remember when Michael Richards went on a racist rant doing comedy and his career basically died? Remember when Mel Gibson espoused Anti-Semitism and he’s still struggling to claw his way back into the accepted ranks of Hollywood?
Back when reality TV was booming, people would distinguish between “real celebrities” and “reality TV celebrities.” This distinction has continued to the YouTube generation where there are “real celebrities” and “YouTube celebrities.” The thing is…these YouTube stars are still reaching millions of people with what they say and do and the videos they post. They’re still celebrities. And the problem is because they exist and make their celebrity from the internet, it’s very hard to hold them accountable because for every article that pops up denouncing him, there are far more who subscribe because they think that joke is fine.
As YouTube (and other internet-based) celebrities grow, as a whole we need to stop treating them with kid gloves. Jim Sterling (one of my personal favorite YouTube personalities) wrote a good article on it today – better than I could ever write – so I highly recommend reading that. Here’s a quote from it: “YouTube has seen more individuals than I can count skyrocket to fame without managers, without marketing departments, without agents, without people telling them when to stop or how what they say and do could impact the world as well as themselves. I do truly believe that some of them don’t understand how important they actually are, and that their surprise right now is genuine. But this is the reality of the situation. You are celebrities now, and that doesn’t mean you get to say and do whatever you please.”
More importantly, we’re in this middle-ground where parents don’t really pay attention to what their kids watch on the internet (as long as it isn’t porn). Sure, you can keep them from watching an R-rated movie or listening to Eminem’s latest album where he talks about killing his wife again, but do most parents nowadays have time to go through YouTube videos themselves and filter out who they’re allowed to watch?
Hold people accountable for what they say. Don’t let racist shitwads get away with being racist shitwads, and don’t encourage them either.
THE WEIRD
What WHAT In The Butt?
I’m not gonna link to this because I’m sure you can find it yourself if you really want to know more about it, but apparently a matador got a bull’s horn up his butt in Spain recently.
That’s right, the horn went up his butt.
Ow.
Also ew.
Ew and ow and ow and ow and ow.
Warning! Opinions Ahead 