Review: Big Little Lies Series Premiere
The newly premiered HBO series, Big Little Lies, centers around the lives of three mothers of first grade students. Although most of the parents are rich and have money, power, and status, no one’s life is perfect. The audience sees what really goes on behind closed doors. We see the struggles that each of these individuals face as mothers and as human beings.
At the beginning of the series, it is revealed that a significant member of the community, and the school that the children attend, has died at the fundraiser. However, a sense of mystery still remains, as the victim’s identity is not yet known.
There are moments throughout the episode that expose, or hint, the truth to the audience; the truth which is that these women’s lives aren’t perfect. This world that the adults of these children lead involve dark concepts, such as: murder, jealous, sex, abuse, alcohol. All of these ideals are in direct opposition to the morals children learn through there parents and teachers; this child-like innocence is paralleled by the outside world of the audience, who don’t see the real life complications that these women deal with in their own lives.
This world of the parents within their children’s elementary school community is depicted as “a vicious world of who can prove they have the most money.”
Madeline Martha MacKenzie, one of the lead characters played by Reese Witherspoon, is portrayed as preppy, pushy, and is in everyone’s business. Yet, despite having her nose in everyone’s business, she appears to have her head in the clouds. She doesn't seem to think before she speaks, or recognize the ramifications of certain actions; such as using the "f-bomb" in a children's play, or stating that emotional trauma and physical trauma are separate and don't coincide with one another.
However, Madeline recognizes that her children are slipping away from her; Madeline feels that she is loosing her children to her ex-huband and his new wife. Yet Madeline's actions show that she has her daughters best interests in mind. She tries to warn her oldest daughter, Abigail, about being a strong independent woman. She tells Abigail to use her opportunity to attend college, to be self-sufficient and not have to rely on others; an opportunity Madeline didn't have when she was a new, young mother. Abigail pushes her mother away at first, both physically and emotionally. Yet Abigail and Madeline have a moment that shows how they care for each other and that their mother-daughter bond can’t be broken. This struggle Madeline has with her children growing up shows her difficulty with the future.
Jane Chapman, portrayed by Shailene Woodley, is young, down to earth, and the mother of a boy in the first grade. Towards the beginning of the episode on the first day of school, Jane’s son Ziggy is accused of choking a little girl, Renata’s daughter Amabella. “That boy picked the wrong little girl to strangle,” one of the parents interviewed stated. This dialogue foreshadows how this event lead to a domino effect in the murder that eventually consumes the school. However, Jane believes that her son Ziggy didn’t hurt the little girl. She has faith and trust in her child. However, Jane may be hiding a secret of her own. The last clip shows Jane sleeping with a gun under her pillow. This image hints at the idea that Jane has a past, possible with her ex, Ziggy’s dad.
Celeste Wright, portrayed by Nicole Kidman, has two sons and a seemingly loving and passionate relationship with her younger husband. Yet, not all is as it appears to be. Celeste's husband is abusive, grabbing onto Celeste during an argument when she repeatedly tells him to let go; she pushes back and gets defensive during the altercation, as if this has happened before. Indications of abuse are also present during the beginning of the episode, when Celeste shares a moment with Jane. Jane depicts how in that moment, Jane is physically there, but mentally she is having an out of body experience. Jane’s reflection seems to resonate with Celeste, as she appears to be physically present but is seemingly mentally absent in certain scenes. Celeste’s current struggle takes place in the present.
Now that we have discussed the three main characters of the series, lets talk about the series as a whole.
In the first episode, there seems to be a bit of a separation between the story line and the characters. It almost appears as if these individuals and their stories are more significant than the overall story at hand. Yet, this separation also shows the split between the character’s lives that they lead outside of being a mom. This sense of disconnection highlights the real, raw emotions and conflicts that they each face in their lives.
Additionally, there is a theme of violence that runs throughout the first episode. From the abuse towards the little first grade girl Amabella to Celeste’s abusive husband, from Jane’s need to carry a gun to protect herself against someone, and most importantly, the murder. All of these potentially threatening physical situations lead to the murder, and provide support as to why the murder occurred.
Although all the pieces of the story seem separated, they all make perfect sense in the context of the story. We, the audience, can see the direction of the story’s trajectory in future episodes. The murder provides a strong tether to all the other pieces of the story, in addition to the character’s witness statements. All of these segments show how the story will come together and connect the characters and the story.
React Presents announces Mamby Plunge
Chicago based promotion company React Presents is taking an extra step in helping to reduce Chicago crime.
React Presents this week announced their “React To Violence” campaign. React is the company behind mega-festivals Spring Awakening, North Coast, Summer Set and also Mamby on the Beach.
The “React To Violence” is the company’s campaign to improve Chicago. In a statement along with the campaign React stated, “After a record setting year of violence in Chicago, it has been nearly impossible to ignore the struggle within our beloved Windy City. That’s why React Presents is launching a “React to Violence” campaign in an effort to improve our city and ultimately, the world around us.”
React Resents and Mamby On The Beach have teamed up for a winter campaign fundraiser, the “Mamby Plunge”.
The campaign has pledged to give all proceeds from Mamby Plunge to the nonprofit origination Bright Star Community Outreach. Staff members have also pleaded to take a plunge into Lake Michigan, if $10,000 or more is donated. The deadline for the $10,000 goal is by Saturday, March 11.
Mamby staff members Martin Godinez (Marketing Manager/Talent Buyer), Alan Brant (Social Media Manager), Zach Partin (Talent Buyer), Pat Grumley (Marketing Director), Dom Brown (Festival Marketing/Experiential), Ashley Egly (Festival Director) and Yolie Carrera (Yoga Instructor) have all agreed to take the Mamby Plunge.
The Mamby Plunge will also be held at the same location of Mamby on the Beach, at Oakwood Beach. The plunge into the lake will be on Saturday, March 11 at 2 p.m. The Mamby Plunge is open to the public.
The plunge will be able to watch on Mamby On The Beach’s Facebook page here.
Those who donate will also be entered into a raffle for VIP passes to this year's Mamby On The Beach.
You can donate to the Mamby Plunge here!
Review: Future Gives Us Trap & Blues with HNDRXX
It's been a busy and buzzing week in hip-hop, but Future delivered HNDRXX as promised. HNDRXX is Future's 2nd album in a literal 7 days. In case we needed more confirmation of his label woes, I think this timeline of releases proves what's true and what's false. Future's HNDRXX album is a far cry away from the self titled album that dropped previously. HNDRXX is solidifying the sub-genre "Trap & Blues" and how only Future can open and close the door on it.
This album is definitely the one that lines up with Future's Instagram post. Two things I thought of while listening to this album. Future really wants us all to know Ciara is not as "bad" or as good as we think or see she is. And Larsa Pippen has to have some of the best box Future has ever had in his life. The HNDRXX album is literally his mind on both of these women for at least 45 minutes of this album. The joy and the pain. The willing and the sacrifice. Track for track he puts it all out there and we the listeners just hope to connect the dots correctly.
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Songs like "Use Me" "New Illuminati" and "Incredible" highlight his new love and how good he feels about it. It also confirms that Future be in Chicago on his "Russell Wilson" so he definitely needs to fall back on his slander towards the Star QB.
While songs like "Damage" "Turn On Me" "Testify" and "Fresh Air" lets you know Future isn't quite settled on his previous relationships financially or emotionally. He also implies Ciara got a lot of game from him, got turned out and fell for a Lame. I'm just telling you what I interpreted through the music. Jodeci should be contacted to do the "Never Missa Lost" remix. It's only right.
Future takes a shot at reaching the crossover world with collaborations with The Weeknd ["Coming Out Strong"] and a literally singing duet with Rihanna ["Selfish"]. These joints are for the new fans. I'll say Rihanna and Future singing together is exactly what you think it sounds like.
The history books have already listed Future as the creator of "Trap & Blues" and the HNDRXX album confirms that. It's kind of rap and it has an R&B vibe on some tracks. The subject matter isn't that deep, but that's not why Future excels in music. The musical depth on this project is unexpected and refreshing. This range of passionate emotions on soulful and somber beats will be praise by Future fans everywhere.
Review: Is Jidenna The New Chief In Hip-Hop?
It's literally been years since "Classic Man" hit the airwaves, creating buzz for a well-dressed emcee named Jidenna. He brought an alternate sound, and a few slick bars, that the ladies and the fellas could rock to. It's now 2017 and The Chief album is officially here. But, will hip-hop put Jidenna in charge?
The Chief has a good balance of rap and "Highlife". I had to look up Highlife 'cause I honestly couldn't put my finger on the sound. It was melodic, but not traditional throwback soul. I'll admit, I'm not crazy about all the highlife moments on the album ["Adaroa", "Little Bit More", "Bambi"]. What I can say is, these will be the songs that ring off in car commercials and mixed clubs in the U.S and internationally. It's what many people call "world music". It sounds good, I'm just not into it.
"Trampoline" is a song that will make the most sophisticated, classy woman want to thot for that special somebody. "Some Kind of Way" is a cheerful "f**k a hater" song that everyone will love. Both are great compliments to this album.
Jidenna has flow and bars. My favorite song on this album is "Long Live The Chief". A year later and this still goes!
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There is an official music video on his YouTube. "2 Points" & "A Bull's Tale" are great displays of rapping. "White Ni**s" shows Jidenna's socially aware lyricism. Jidenna can really rap, he's just not rapping about the typical rap things. I don't think the words "Bitch" or "Hoe" surface anywhere on the entire album. For a rap album with dope rap moments, that's rare.
Jidenna's The Chief is an album that is crafted to reach the masses. Much like Janelle Monae's music, you can't put this album in a box and promote it to a specific target audience. Anyone who is a fan of music and wants to break away from today's overbearing wave will thoroughly enjoy it.
Jidenna has the musical ability to be Drake, Flo Rida or Pitbull with a Justin Bieber affect. The choice is all his. Jidenna probably won't be recognized for being a dope emcee first, it's unlikely he won't be one of the biggest national artist if he stays focused. Definitely listen to Jidenna's album, The Chief. You, your girl and everybody y'all know will love a song, or 4, off the album.
Check out another review here.
Review: How Bright Is Future's "Future"?
Future has done so much in and out of the music industry that people are still catching up on his Summer 16 lawsuit with Rocko, which has officially settled. We can't forget about the ongoing saga with Ciara, which has also settled. Then, you have Future albums and mixtapes dropping quarterly. Future's self titled album is here. The Future album was lightweight presented as an album to reveal more, show more emotion and possibly be inflammatory to get the internet going nuts.
What we really get is a lot of the same old Future, with spurts of lyrical clues and a slight switch up in the production as the album plays.
In traditional Future fashion. The first song is hard! I like "Rent Money" and it's an expected standard from Future. "POA" is obviously Future recognizing the jam he is in financially and his plans to go down swinging. "Scrape" is going to get played for all the aspiring dope boys that want VIP in the club. The most "revealing" track on the album is "Might As Well". Future mentions how Child Support is hitting him hard and how he was selling crack when Snoop dropped Gin and Juice. The "When I Was Broke" hook is going to be on thousands of IG captions this year. Just wait on it.
The big plus on the Future album is the switch up in production. It's not the standard turn all the up, head bussing bass every track. Future's got some tracks on here that you could honestly ride to just the instrumentals. The subject matter doesn't broaden, but the sound will be easier to digest. Especially for those who are not Future fans.
At the end of the day everybody loves Future, and Drake helped his national appeal. I wasn't expecting something lyrically savvy and ground breaking. I expected Future to solidify the wave he created, again. He did that. We're at the point where either you like Future or you don't. You're opinion won't change with the Future album. Sex, Money, Drugs and Draco's. Where you really expecting something else?
Check out another review here.
TV Review - Riverdale Premier
The series premiere of Riverdale, based off the 1940s comic book series Archie's Comics, features high school students and their day-to-day lives in the small community of Riverdale. However, just because the town of Riverdale is a confined neighborhood, doesn't mean that it's quiet.
The narrator in the series Riverdale presents the town as originally "wholesome and decent.”. However, deeper investigation into Riverdale shows that Jason Blossom’s death tainted that purity, and that with it the town changed. However, even before Jason’s death, Riverdale and it’s residents were filled with secrets. This world is much different than the people that make up Riverdale in the original comics, Archie’s comics. Archie Comics was established in 1939 by founders Maurice Coyne, John L Goldwater, and Louis Silberkleit.
The leading characters that appear in Archie’s comics are Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge, Kevin Keller, Cheryl.
The series premiere of Riverdale starts with a dark beginning, the death of Cheryl Blossom’s twin, Jason Blossom. This grim twist presents dismal mood from the very beginning of the series. This tone is very different for Archie's comics fans, who may be comfortably familiar with the happy, up-beat tempo of Archie Comics and the characters within Riverdale.
With the tone completely altered, changes in the characters, and their personas and relationships with others also appear different from the comics.
Archie’s passion for writing music presents him as a 3 dimensional character who has passion and drive in his life. Archie is not just the typical teenage boy who is stuck between two girls, as he is viewed in Archie Comics.
Jughead Jones, who is depicted as Archie’s best friend in the comics, is the narrator. His grave, serious tone alter from the eating machine and “everybody’s pal” persona that Jughead’s character takes on in the comics. He is smart, and analytical, although Jughead Jones possesses certain analytical characteristics/qualities in the comics. Jughead is only heard, but rarely seen in the first episode. He’s a loner, unlike his persona in Archie’s comics where his role is as Archie’s best friend. Instead, Archie’s best friend in the series is Betty. Towards the end of the episode, they reveal that Jughead and Archie used to be best friends, but aren’t anymore; and that communication, or Archie’s lack of communication, lends a hand the demise of Archie and Jughead’s friendship.
Veronica arrives new to the town of Riverdale in the first episode, where no one really knows her. This, again, presents a difference from the already established persona Veronica takes on as the popular, rich girl at Riverdale high school.
Instead, depth is given to the character of Veronica in the Riverdale series. She is elegant and intelligent, even making a Truman Capote reference/joke to Archie when they first meet. Veronica breaks outside of the two dimensional character renders in Archie comics. In the comics, Veronica is simply a girl who loves to shopping and uses her wealth to get whatever she wants, including Archie.
Betty is intelligent, active and strong, similar to her portrayal in Archies comics. Many even deem her to be "perfect" in the series Riverdale. However, she has her weaknesses, namely her sister Polly and her lack of confidence in confronting others, namely Archie and Cheryl.
Betty and Archie aren’t together in the first episode; Archie's attraction to Veronica is immediately and powerful, barely even noticing Betty in the same way. This dissolves the love triangle concept between Betty, Archie, and Veronica in the comics. It also shows that strong women like Betty and Veronica wouldn't stand to be in a love triangle and fighting over Archie, or at least to the extend within the comics.
Betty’s mother plays a major role in the Riverdale story, all the parents do in some way. The parents all have a stake and a role in Riverdale, before their children’s stories. Namely, the parents feature Alice Cooper, Betty’s mother, Hermoine Lodge, Veronica’s mother, and Fred Andrews, Archie’s father. Even Hermoine’s husband/Veronica’s father and his reputation plays a role in Riverdale. Fred and Hermoine even have a past as “friends.”
Alice Cooper, Betty’s mother, portrays the obsessive and controlling parent. She continues to hate Jason Blossom even after his death. Alice continuously accuses and blames Jason for destroying her daughter Polly’s future and her subsequential mental breakdown and placement into a group home. However, although Jason hurt Polly, Betty states that it was their mother who broke Polly by disowning her. Similarly, Alice puts an extreme amount of pressure on Betty as a sophomore, scrutinizing her choices in academics and after school activities. Betty has a prescription for Adderall for her ADHD, which her mother refills for her. Although the audeince may perceive this action as Alice’s overbearing and dominating actions over her daughter, there is something deeper at work. Showing Betty’s ADHD medication adds depth to her character, that she isn’t as perfect as other people expect of her.
Cheryl Blossom, who faces the tragic loss of her brother’s death, feeds off of chaos, fear and intimidating others. Cheryl’s character takes a darker twist on her simple need for attention within the comics. She not only craves attention, she craves destruction.
Additionally, the character Josie also presents depth through diversity, in relation to the comics. Josie is black, along with the other members of Josie and the Pussycats. These racial and cultural elements, which differs from the comics, adds dimension to the series.
However, Kevin’s role is lacking in the series, compared to the comic books. He plyas the role of Betty’s gay best friend in Riverdale; where as in the comic books, Kevin has his own likes, and dislikes and his own persona as a character that stands out in Archie’s comics. This general characterization overview is also seen in Moose’s character, as well as Reggie’s character. In fact, Reggie plays Archie’s friend in Riverdale; this characterization of Reggie is very much the opposite, as he serves as an arch enemy of sorts in the comics, with Reggie's constant teasing and self obsession.
The language and demeanor of these characters is very typical of modern day high school and their roles. They are classified as popular, gay best friend, jock, musician, geek/scholar. Yet, they all have complexities within their individual characteristics that make them people, not categories in a high school’s social system.
Some of the biggest complexities presented in these characters are their confidence, character development, or their need to take action.
Archie’s sexual relationship with his teacher, Geraldine Grundy very different from the tone of Riverdale in the comics. It begs the questions, is it his relationship with his music teacher that drives Archie to music? The relationship between Archie and Geraldine fell out. Yet, they are still and forever bound by the sound of the gunshots that they witnessed on Fourth of July weekend, when Jason Blossom was found dead. Archie wants to come clean about what they heard. However, Ms. Grundy doesn’t want to face the backlash of reporting the shooting and jeopardizing her life as a teacher by admitting to having had relations with a students. This complex, darkened plot is VERY different from the comics.
Veronica shows her loyalty and stands up for Betty, who isn’t confident when face by Cheryl. Betty’s lack of confidence is in opposition to her portrayal in the comics, as strong and confident women. But in the real world, everyone has their weaknesses. Veronica’s speech about reckoning and that wealth doesn’t last originates from her personal experience. Veronica’s father’s demise lead to Veronica’s own reckoning, and the subsequent realization that she was like Cheryl. It also led her to the path of becoming a better person. Veronica states that she wants to use Riverdale as an opportunity to become “a better version" of herself. Veronica’s character development allows her to stand up for herself, as well as others for what is right. This progression comes after realizing her faults and the wrongs she has done to others in her past.
Veronica, again, stands up for Betty, using her confidence to give Betty what she is too scared to seek out; for example, becoming a cheerleader or asking Archie to the dance.
Betty, in turn, stands up for herself and stands up for Veronica as her friend. Betty tells her mother that she is always doing everything for everyone else. She's trying to obtain this perfect persona(s) for those who set her to an impossible standard. Now, it’s her turn to break away from her role of this “perfect” person in all aspects of her life. She finally takes the opportunity to act on what she wants.
This series presents complex qualities, such as: strength, confidence, maturity, growth and passion and desires that each characters have. These features add three dimensional characterizations to characters; rather than keeping them at bay with the one/two dimensional traits that the characters possessed as somewhat average teenagers in Archies comics.
Jason’s body washes up on the shore, with a bullet hole mark left on his forehead.
“Riverdale wasn’t the same town as before, it was a town of shadows and secrets now,” Jughead states at the end.
The series Riverdale presents the question: is this version of a dark Riverdale the aftermath of what Archie’s comics used to be? Is this town of secrets the result of what can happen when people’s desires complicate and change the dynamic? Or has Riverdale always been tainted with private affairs that are tucked away behind closed doors, even from Fred Andrews, Hermoine Lodge, and Alice Cooper’s era in Riverdale. Does the cycle simply repeat itself?