CrankyYank Vol. 3: Star Wars: Nerd-vana | Stop Fat-shaming Leia | ‘Trek’ Before ‘Wars’

Hello Cranker Darlings,

This week’s edition will be an abbreviated one, because I’m on a mini vacay in Florida to see the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (review to follow next week). I’ve had some choice words about Spielberg hand-picking JJ Abrams to reboot a long-dormant franchise. Abrams running both Star Trek and Star Wars is like Coke and Pepsi merging and being managed by a single, mutant-corporate operative.

Still, Abrams *is a talented filmmaker, and has said that CGI will be at a minimum in The Force Awakens. Color me skeptical, especially since Jar Jar Binks nearly ruined the franchise with one babbling, unintelligible, CGI sentence.

Star Wars: TFA has been lauded for its inclusivity and reflecting what today’s society looks like—not just some movie-executive suit’s idea of it.

But what’s been missed by our uncurious media is that Star Trek bridged this cultural divide long before it was fashionable, and during a time when racial awareness and ethnicity acceptance was still in its infancy. Just look at the casting of Let. Uhura and her canoodling other Starfleet members as inter-racial heresy in the late ’60s and early ’70s.

And before producers and directors congratulate themselves about diversity, they should stop fat-shaming Carrie Fisher. From the Variety piece:

 

“My problem is they talk to me like an actress but I hear them like a writer… We treat beauty like an accomplishment and that is insane.”

 

Fisher’s revelation echoes her recent comments to “Force Awakens” co-star and franchise newcomer Daisy Ridley. “You should fight for your outfit,” Fisher said in a conversation with Ridley for Interview Magazine.

 

“Don’t be a slave like I was… I am not a sex symbol, so that’s an opinion of someone. I don’t share that.”

All the time this: “We treat beauty like an accomplishment and that is insane.”

 

Kate McKinnon’s Angela Merkel returned to Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live, and all was right with the world.

 

At its core, the craft of journalism is about news judgment. And consensus media has shown an astonishing level of coverage bias in favor of The Donald. Enter Grasswire, a news outlet I admire… and I have the utmost respect for folks who refuse to feed Donald Trump’s ego:

“Grasswire will not cover incendiary political rhetoric.” yes. Like crying “Fire!” in a crowded theater, spreading dangerous messages makes the media complicit in whatever the fallout is.

 

There’s a reason why I don’t subscribe to any one religion. This experiment in Germany where sidewalk interviewers disguised a bible in a Quran dust jacket is epic and so telling… with a h/t to The Daily Edge on Twitter, have a look:

 

Sen. Ted Cruz, republican candidate for president, recently invoked Flashdance in a Trump tweet bomb.

 

Weird, right? My response to that is…

 

That’s it from me this week, Cranker Darlings. See you right back here next Thursday at 2.

 

---

Will Pollock is a cranky New York City escapee living in Atlanta. He’s a freelance multimedia journalist and author of two books (Pizza for Good & Leaving Triscuit), with more on the way. Sign up for the mailing list, follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram—and check out the book links below.

Don’t forget to comment below. Cranky loves company.