BLOG: Finding ‘Spirit,’ truth and happy little trees

Here are some things across the internet that I found or recently rediscovered that are really freaking cool and interesting.

Music:

“Spirit” from Disney’s “The Lion King” – Many, including myself, had our fingers crossed hoping Beyoncé would be involved in the music with the film in addition to lending her voice as Nala. This came in the form of her curating a companion album, “The Lion King: The Gift,” and singing on many of those tracks! The beautiful single “Spirit” dropped July 10, with the rest of the album July 19 and the second single “Brown Skin Girl” July 23. The best description I have heard of this album comes from Knowles-Carter herself – a “love letter to Africa.” Though this feels like just that, it does bother me that yet another recent Disney property, the first being Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “All in Stars” from “Black Panther,” appears to have taken heavy, unaccredited visual inspiration from other from Black artists.

Must Watch: 

“Rodgers & Hammerstein’s ‘Cinderella’” – The best retorts to the people angry about Halle Bailey being cast as Ariel in the upcoming “Little Mermaid” film is a reminder than she isn’t the first black actress cast into a traditionally white princess role.

In 1997, actress and R&B singer Brandy (who I always refer to as Moesha) was cast to play Cinderella in a Roger & Hammerstein production of the musical. The made for TV musical produced through The Wonderful World of Disney and by Whitney Houston was mostly colorblind casted and as a result was fire.

Everyone’s performance was so fantastic and memorable it is easy to find yourself singing the songs after for days. I rewatched it and had that same joy you get when you rediscover a childhood favorite and it holds up. Unless you have Direct TV, the streams are really blurry so if “it’s possible” check your local library or buy it online. It is worth it.

“The Strange History of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” – Repealed in 2010, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was a U.S. law that allowed LGBTQ+ service members to serve in the military, as long as they weren’t openly gay or suspected to be. Yes, that last bit can get as stupid and problematic as it sounds. This HBO documentary covers the relatively recent ban of LGBTQ+ enlistment in the military through the compromise that was the original law in the 90s. The 2011 documentary’s graphics are a little corny, but the content and stories around it are important to civil rights, LGBTQ+ and military histories.

”Stranger Things” Season 3 – This wouldn’t be a true to life curation of internet goodness unless the latest season of this Netflix original was mentioned. The story continues with new villains, adorkable new cast members and more fleshed out minor characters like Erika, Lucas’ younger sister. Personally, a favorite change to the season was that for a show that started pretty male-dominated definitely, females had center stage exponentially more without letting the women fall into catty fights of the last season.  

The only major complaint of the season was the excessive amounts of product placements this season – which did get a little heavy at the end there to the point it where a brand, the “new” Coke,  was literally being framed and argued about. Most of the other examples didn’t bother me as much because 1.) the affluence of 80s mall culture and consumerism backdrop the story very well and 2.) this was an expensive show that Netflix has to pay for in a changing streaming landscape. 

Must Reads: 

“Dread Nation” by Justina Ireland – The story is set a few years after the civil war – a war that ended in a truce. This truce was called after fallen soldiers rose up and the undead from both sides started killing indiscriminately.

Racism doesn’t end with this new threat but still stays institutionalized by requiring young children of color, around age ten, to attend combat and etiquette schools. Then, they assimilate into society by working for a white family.

Slavery is technically illegal, but this is an attempt at reconstruction in a time when the undead poses the greatest threat. Elements of real history, especially the treatment of black bodies, make work of speculative fiction seem so plausible if these circumstances were to have occurred. 

“Boy Erased” by Garrard Conley – This memoir is about Conley’s time at the poorly named “Love in Action” (now rebranded as Restoration Path), a so-called gay conversion therapy camp, a discredited practice. This book is a tough, emotional read from the start when we find the circumstances in which he was outed as gay. In the last chapter, he discusses the events following his time at the camp as he is about to publish this book. His survival, like other moments where people experience pain and suffering, doesn’t leave him unscathed, but this book can serve as a wake-up call to many about discredited so-called conversion camps and modern-day religious fundamentalism. 

More Ya Know: 

Poke Fusion generator – The #PokeFusion trend on Twitter shows you dozens of “new” pixelated Pokemon made up by combining two of the first 151 Pokemon in a Poke Fusion generator. One of the best things about this trend (other than the more lewd, scandalous mashups) is the creativity it has sparked. Artists have created illustrations of these new Pokémon, with some even fleshing out the creatures’ evolution stages. Alex Onsager, the creator, published this generator back in 2013 and has shared how he created this project on his personal website too. 

“Where Are All the Boss Ross Paintings? We Found Them” by The New York Times – This 10-minute video piece done by journalists at The New York Times investigates where the hundreds of Bob Ross originals are located and why they are there. Those that know who the famous pop culture artist is, know that he created lots of art – but each painting that exists in an episode is one of three. Just like “The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross”, the public broadcast show that made him famous, this is the feel-good content we need.

Beyoncé’s assistant for a day by Twitter user @CORNYASSBITCH – Outside of Twitch and Youtube, Choose Your Own Adventure games are a rare occurrence on massive social sites. Even though there are games sponsored by popular content creators like Markaplier or companies like Netflix, but those are still rare. In June, Twitter blew up around a fan-made game in which you play as Beyoncé’s assistant for the day. It sounds harder than it is because it requires a fair amount of Queen Bee knowledge, careful reading and logic. I played it a few times and couldn’t win – but there are ways to success. If you inevitably lose, just go back to the main tweet to start again.