GRAPHIC: Graphic shows browser windows with different media selected for November 2020's edition of "Alyssa Curates the Internet." Images courtesy of respective media companies and the creative commons. Graphic by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell. — From an argumentative TEDx series to the FXX animated short "WALT", here are some cool things I found online. Images courtesy of respective media companies and the creative commons. Graphic by The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

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BLOG: Revisiting the past and envisioning the future through media

By Alyssa Shotwell, Online Editor Last updated Nov 24, 2020 326 0

Here are some music, movies, books and more from across the internet that I found or recently rediscovered that are worth your time.

Music:

ART: Album features SZA sitting in the grass and in front of many broken, old computers. Art courtesy of Top Dawg/RCA, and Roberto Reyes/Vlad Sepetov. SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ctrl_(SZA_album)#/media/File:SZA_-_Ctrl_cover.png — R&B is a genre I associate with the music of my childhood, so finding SZA’s music is important to me as a way to include the genre as a cultivation of my own music tastes into adulthood. I look forward to seeing if her sophomore album officially inducts her into my “coolest weirdo Black artist queens” list. Art courtesy of Top Dawg/RCA, and Roberto Reyes/Vlad Sepetov.

“Ctrl” by SZA – Despite my love for the “Ctrl” album art, until recently, SZA was an artist I avoided because I saw rap paired with her name often and a lot of her songs with the explicit label. During a descent into the reaction videos corner of YouTube I came across a reaction to one of her songs and loved it. I did a quick ctrl-f and found all but two tracks are n-word free. I downloaded most of the album on Apple Music and have not turned back since.

Her style blends neo-soul with elements from across many genres. SZA’s take on the story telling through the (primarily) Neo-soul and R&B is refreshing to me because I have not experienced the genres speak to love beyond lust, pining and regret. My favorite tracks are “20 Something” and “Normal Girl.”

“Me Gusta” by Anitta with Cardi B and Myke Towers – I came for Cardi but stayed for the Afro-Latinx beats and beautiful celebratory visuals. While the chorus is nothing special, the shifts between Spanish, Spanglish and English are smooth like a rainbow’s gradients. Speaking of color, the video is full of it and a cast of colorfully clad Brazilian women representing the diversity in sexuality, size and complexion of the country.

Must Watch:

“Lovecraft Country” (HBO) – Where do I begin? “Lovecraft County” is an HBO show developed by Misha Green in which a Korean war veteran (Johnathan Majors), a skilled photography friend from high school (Jurnee Smollett) and Atticus’ family search through 1950s Jim Crow America for his missing father. This show is an adaption of the novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, which is a reimagining of the world building done by the unbelievably-more-racist-than-you-could-ever-imagine H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft was openly bigoted in every sense, explicitly embedding his fears of non-Aryan people into his work and writings. Like the book, this show doesn’t shy away from the white supremacist themes but instead confronts them head-on while being a wildly entertaining adventure story that blends occult horror, science fiction and American history.

POSTER: Castmates Johnathan Majors and Jurnee Smollett stand in front of the text 'Lovecraft Country.' Poster courtesy of HBO. SOURCE: https://www.hbo.com/lovecraft-country — This show got a lot of buzz initially because Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams were involved in the production. While they held executive producer roles, it is Green who adapted the series, had a major hand in casting and directed episode eight. Poster courtesy of HBO.

I would be remiss to not highlight that this show had some serious missteps, primarily in how it handled a two-spirit storyline and a Korean storyline. Also, the last 20 minutes of the season fell very flat. Despite these significant shortcomings, the work is ambitious. It has once again shown that stories by and adapted by artists of color are filled with untapped talent and limitless narrative capabilities.

“The Laundromat” (Netflix) – Ever get stuck in the loop of going to Netflix and never wanting to watch what is recommended or on your watchlist? Go into another profile’s home screen and see what is recommended to them to find something new. This is how I found this bizarre, hilarious and star-studded movie.

The dark-comedy follows a recently widowed woman (Meryl Streep) tracing insurance money owed to her to an international fraud scandal led by two men (Antonio Banderas and Gary Oldman). Not much more can be said without spoilers, and while the trailer is linked, I suggest watching the film sans trailer. Once you finish the movie, go to Youtube and check out news clips of the real breaking story.

“Walt” (FXX) – Another must-watch that I found almost by chance is the mini-series “Walt.” “Walt” is part of the new half-hour, late-night comedy series “Cake on FX.” Walt is this hapless blue creature who makes situations worse in a way that seems influenced by “Robot Chicken” and reminiscent of “Happy Tree Friends.” The second episode of “Walt” is available to view on Youtube if anyone needs a five-minute palate cleanser between Zoom meetings and Zoom University. In 30 minutes, the entire first season can be binged on Hulu.

Must Reads:

“Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box” by Evette Dionne – Written by the Editor-in-chief of my favorite feminist pop culture magazine, “BITCH,” and the owner of one of my favorite Twitter accounts, this short non-fiction book is a history of Black women’s suffrage. This means it is really about the United States suffrage history, period since we were among the last to get the right to vote. With the 2020 election coming to a close this January after the Georgia run-offs and the national relief for Black women organizers, this is a must-read, so we understand how we got here. While it was written with middle school students in mind, it is a must for all and a great starting point. People should not have to wait until Black History Month to read this.

COVER: Text is author's name over the text "Fledgling: A Novel" with blood splatter or microscopic cells. Cover courtesy of Octavia E. Butler. — While writing this blog, I found that this book came out one month before the first Twilight. While I am glad that Twilight gave many performers their start, I cannot help but dream of the diverse talent that would have come from an adaption of this novel instead. Even if it meant less cash since it is a stand-alone novel. Cover courtesy of Octavia E. Butler.

“Fledgling” by Octavia E. Butler – Writing works like “Kindred,” “Parable of the Sower” and “Wild Seed,” Butler is one of those authors that can be really intimidating to start reading. It can be overwhelming to make the simple choice of where to even begin with an author who won two Hugos, two Nebulas and became the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.

Because October was spooky-season, I took a leap of faith and read “Fledgling.” Most who have read at least one contemporary vampire novel know that fledgling is a term for a young vampire. This story follows a young, Black fledgling that wakes up to a world with no knowledge of who she is, where or what her home is. She wakes only with the instinct to feed. The story is her finding out who she was and establishing who she will become in the wake of discovering the events preceding her blackout. While I chose to read this book in October for its horror themes, it exudes Afrofuturism elements by putting technology and race center stage thematically. The story definitely leaves your skin crawling on many levels, from the graphic violence and trauma to the implications on how she was created.

More Ya Know:

“History on Trial” – The TEDEx YouTube channel is known mostly for its viral speaker series videos in which an expert in one things talks broadly about a subject. However buried in this channel are many animated gems and series like “History on Trial.”

This series puts famous and controversial individuals in so-called Western history on trial to determine if they were a good or bad person. These figures include those you would expect like Che Guevara, Napoleon and Lenin as well as less controversial (to most people), but very-much well-known figures such as Cleopatra, Genghis Khan and Henry VIII.

“Unboxing” with Dylan Marron – In The Signal’s Hispanic Heritage Month content, we put together a staff picks of our favorite Hispanic and Latinx creators on Youtube. In narrowing down my top two picks, I ended up rewatching the entirety of Marron’s “Unboxing” series on the Seriously TV YouTube channel. This series combines the platform’s boom of unboxing videos with his charm as a satirist. Some topics include identity politics, liberal elitism, the mistreatment of Native Americans, transphobia and police brutality.