Geek In Review #1: 3/16-3/22/14

The best in this week's geek news, LGBT and otherwise:

Truly Outrageous!



Children of the 80's rejoice: a new live-action film adaptation of the classic cartoon JEM has been announced. The cartoon that followed the pink haired rock star JEM and her truly outrageous adventures touched the lives of many in the LGBT community with its camp and allegorical transforming to hide who you are main plot. Director Jon M. Chu (G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never) and producers Jason Blum and Scooter Braun have announced a crowdsourcing campaign for people of all ages, face, and genders to submit for casting. You can find more information on their website and can join in on the conversation by following hashtag #JEMtheMovie

Felica Day takes on racebending in movies

As an artist of color, racebending casting has always been of particular interest to me. I've written about it several times as it occur in the theatre, for better or worse. While in the theatre it's an ongoing conversation, it's a much more polarizing conversation when characters that appear in a form that geeks hold dear get a race makeover when adapted into another medium. It sparked debate a few weeks ago when African American actor Michael B. Jordan was cast as the usually white Human Torch in the forthcoming Fantastic Four reboot. It caused waves when it was announced that the white Rooney Mara would play the Native American Tiger Lilly in the new Peter Pan movie. And while fanboys/girls took to social media to share their support/disapproval on both, it was geek goddess Felicia Day (The Guild, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) who have the definitive statement on her Tumblr page:

"To compare Tiger Lily being cast as a white women to Human Torch or Heimdall being cast as an African-American is not equivalent, because I don't think this issue is about violating or adhereing to 'lore,' I think it's about providing more representation. And that's why I think that the Human Torch being cast as African-American is an awesome thing, because that move evolves Hollywood and storytelling and the Marvel universe.

Read the entire post in it's entirety here.

The Walking Dead: Season 4, Episode 14 ( Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead)

Fans of the series were stunned this past Sunday with the episode "The Grove". One would think that fans of the series whose central focus is a ragtag band of survivors hacking their way through the guts and gore of zombies just to survive would be desensitized this far into the show's fourth season. But the tragic innocence of young Lizzie (who has been cracking since the start of this season) as she stood with the bloody knife she used to flay her little sister sent shockwaves throughout the fanboy/girl community. The moment was so raw, so polarizing, and so true to the event in the comic book it was based on. It illicited an inital gut reaction to all who saw it (my friends and I are still reeling from it and it's been almost a week). The production team was very careful in how the murder was portrayed, never showing the deceased or the action of murder itself. It was just the result of the murder (and the following repercussions) that were shown. It seems so odd, so twisted to say about an event so horrific, but this episode was really an outstanding one. The series continues to push the envelope for its fanbase and I am excited (and terrified) to see how this season closes out.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier



Some lucky fans got an advanced screening of the latest movie from the Avengers franchise this past Thursday, due to open April 4. And I am jealous

This week's pull-list

So between opening Bailiwick Chicago's Dessa Rose (which I assistant directed) and a weekend trip to New York (where I met Cole Horibe of So You Think You Can Dance after one of his performances in Kung Fu at Signature Theatre Company #swoon), I have been WAY behind on my books. What I look forward to catching up on the most are two new series in Marvel's relaunch All-New Marvel Now : Ms. Marvel (where the titular character is Muslim) and Loki: Agent of Asgard (where the titular character is revealed as bisexual).

The first 2014 Geeks OUT event in Chicago is next Friday!

Geeks OUT presents the first 2014 Chicago event with the Bad Wolf Scavenger Hunt. Geronimo into spring at this Doctor Who-themed evening that welcomes geeks from all walks of geekdom. Mix, mingle, and participate in interactive games to earn raffle tickets. Prizes include a weekend pass to C2E2 and gift certificates from our sponsors Chicago Comics, Challengers Comics, Wanderers' Refuge, and Ugly Mug Cafe.



The event is March 28, Spin Nightclub at 7pm. For more info or to RSVP, click here.