Seriously, people! Don’t ruin WandaVision for the rest of us. Don’t go and spoiling all the fun and surprises. Some people have kids and jobs and can’t watch it until tonight, so shut it!
Also, this means I have to stay off social media today as well.
Honestly, let’s all be cool here.
CLEARLY!!! THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS!!!
I have stated many times before that I dislike fanboys. (Oh, you know who I am talking about.) But I would also like to add that I have a new level disgust with a new emerging fanboy; The Middle-Aged Fanboy.
Let me tell you a story.
This past Friday was the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian. My wife works, I take care of the kid, so we don’t watch the episode when it debuts early in the morning. We check it out after the kid goes to bed at night. This means that on Fridays, the wife and I try very hard to stay off social media for even the hint of a spoiler. All was going well this Friday.
Then, a good friend of ours birthday was on this Friday, and his wife organized a huge Zoom group to wish him happy birthday. The group was made up of theatre professionals, and tech people. A strange grouping, but we all get along well, as we are all sci-fi nerds; STAR WARS, Dr WHO, STAR TREK, you name it.
So, as we are chatting, our birthday friend tells us that his wife surprised him with a PS5 as a gift. Then another person, and I won’t call him a friend, then said, “Was it as big a surprise as Luke Skywalker on The Mandalorian?”
The chat exploded into two camps, those that had seen the episode and those that hadn’t, but on the whole, everyone booed that guy.
He spoiled it. He ruined all the fun, and he knew it. That was the point; the make people upset, and miss out on the fun. And that was executed by that annoying middle-aged fanboy. Yes, that guy who’s only argument is that, “It wasn’t as good as the original.” Well, no shit. Nothing is ever going to make you feel like the eight-year-old again, so please stop punishing the rest of us for your sad realization.
Now, the realization that I had after I watched the episode was that so many people working on the production of The Mandalorian did a great job at keeping this secret. Think of all the crew, and editors, and production assistants. They all knew that they had something fun under their hats and they kept it quiet. I appreciate all their hard work on that.
I try really hard not to be a judgmental person, which is all the more funny, as I am about to write a review of a tv show. I like to think of myself as a person that does not prejudge, and goes into situations with an open mind, but when I heard that Apple TV had made a show, Ted Lasso, out of the commercial for NBC broadcasting the English Premier League, it didn’t strike me as a good idea. I do think Jason Sudeikis is a pretty funny guy, but from what I remembered about the commercials, I thought it would be a one note joke about an American not understanding football.
So, that was August of this year, when Ted Lasso debuted, and I never thought about the show.
Then, I started to hear things about it. “It’s not so bad…” “Jason Sudeikis is really funny…” “It’s a good sports show…” “It’s a good workplace comedy…” “The cast is awesome…” and then, “It’s the best comedy on tv…”
I still wasn’t convinced. And then I had a friend say to me that Ted Lasso isn’t the best show on tv, but it’s the only show that makes you feel better for trying to stay positive.
Now, I was intrigued with that assessment.
If you don’t know, Ted Lasso is bout Ted Lasso, a Division II college (America) football coach who just won a championship, who is hired to manage an English football (soccer) Premier League team, AFC Richmond. What Ted doesn’t know is that the team owner, Rebecca Welton, got the team in a divorce, and wants to run it into the ground to spite her ex-husband. Ted and his American assistant coach bring all their America positive attitude and can-do spirit to a jaded and bitter football club.
I am sure you are like me and pretty much see where this is going; Ted’s positive attitude rubs off on everyone, who in the end comes to love Ted, and the team is successful. And you are not too far off. But I found myself binging through the episodes.
First of all, it is funny. The writers and cast swing from word play, to spit takes, to sight gags, and every comedy convention in between, and somehow keep the feeling of realism without spinning out into parody or British silliness. But what kept me locked in was watching each of the characters make huge mistakes, or betrayals, and instead of what a lesser show would do, which is make the character learn a lesson and move on, Ted Lasso, plays on the characters finding reasons to be honest. In most of the cases, it is because they start seeing their co-workers as friends, and as such, they owe their friends honesty, and forgiveness. That building friendships, especially for adults, is very hard, and Ted Lasso is a show that was willing to take it’s time with ten episodes, to allow those relationships develop, in a wonderful and hilarious way.
This is bad folks. Really bad. Such as, I am very nervous that the United States might not survive this election.
It wasn’t just one moment of Trump’s shit show. And there were some really awful moments. The interrupting, the conspiracy theories, the environment forest management thing, the doubting of a fair election. Then Trump told his supporters that they should go to the polls and intimidate voters, and that the Proud Boys should stand by to be called into action. It is just horrifying that. I never thought that an American politician would behave like that, in public.
But taken as a whole, what I was left feeling is that Trump doesn’t care who he has to hurt, or what he has to destroy, to win. For Trump, it’s win or nothing. And even if he does win, I don’t think that will be enough. I think he will go after his political opponents, and try to put them in jail.
I joked after the Republican convention that I left feeling like I was a hunted creature for being liberal. After last night, I think Trump will call on his supporters and white supremacists to go and riot in the streets. That open conflict will follow on November 3rd.
Even if Trump comes to his senses, and agrees to a peaceful transfer, he has already put the thought out there, and you cannot take it back.
Maybe I should talk about Trump’s income taxes? That seems to be a big deal right now.
The debate between Biden and Trump is tonight. I will be watching it alone, as anything that comes out of Trump’s mouth makes my wife very angry, and pretty much puts her in a bad mood for the rest of the night…
And into the morning…
And all the next day…
And for the whole week…
So, I will be watching the debate on my computer with headphones, while also live tweeting (@mlgroff) my reactions to whatever crazy shit that is said. My goal is to make my friends laugh, but it is also to keep my sanity.
I was extremely nervous four years ago when Clinton and Trump met for their debates. Hilary won all the face offs, as Trump come across as disrespectful and unprepared, but we all know that in the end, it didn’t really mean anything.
There is a good chance again, that these debates won’t mean anything. And honestly, I agree with that conclusion. Trump and Biden’s polling numbers really haven’t changed that much in two months, which for me says that most people are locked in on who they are voting for.
But honestly, who is that 3-5% of the voting population that are still undecided? With everything that has happened in this year alone, how has that not influenced you to make a decision?
I need to laugh, and I need to laugh and the big orange bully in the room.
