Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Updates, and What's Ahead

Most of my posts as of late have been more op-ed oriented stuff.  A lot of pop culture criticism, lifestyle pieces, things I think about in my everyday life.  I haven't really talked much about my own life recently so I decided to give a bit of an update and talk about what things will look like from me creatively going forward.

I am still a kissless virgin.  In fact, since my date last spring, I haven't even come close to first base.  Hell, I haven't even managed to ground out to shortstop.  I don't meet many women through my social group and as far as cold approaching goes I am still pretty bad at transitioning from acquaintances to anything more than that.  I joined a few dating sites hoping to maybe get some dates that way but it's really been a tough time.  When my Match membership expires in March I'm canceling it and saving my money.  I'll still probably go on Tinder every once in a while but I have no expectations.

The big progress has been made on the workout front.  I joined a gym in November (as opposed to paying for one day passes or working out at home) and I can honestly say I've seen more strength gains this past couple of months than at any time in my life.  The one downside is I'm having a hard time weening myself off the 3,000 calorie a day bulking diet that I'm on.  I'm not "fat", I just have a bit more flab on my stomach than I'd like.  My arms, shoulders, and chest are very defined and big.  My max bench press is 185 lbs, up from about 115 a little under a year ago.

Professionally, well I'm not doing so well.  Still working part time at a retail job (what you thought this blogging gig pays?) and living with my parents.  I'm sure that doesn't help me with the ladies.  But, at least I have a job, and some money, and my own car.  That helps, right?

So that's where I am right now.

What should you expect from this space in the coming weeks and months?

Well, more of the same.  Some updates from my personal life, and a lot of social commentary.  Maybe a little comedy.  I started a podcast and recorded the first episode I just haven't uploaded it onto blogger.  So I guess I should get around to that.  What would really make this space and the podcast much more interesting is for you, the readers to send me questions.  Questions about anything really.  Anything from what kind of food you should have at your wedding to what you should wear for your first day of college (I'm a guy though so keep that in mind when I answer such questions).  You get the point.

So send me an email (theinexpguy@gmail.com), or hit me up on twitter (@the_inexp_guy) or tumblr (http://theinexperiencedguy.tumblr.com/) and I'll be glad to answer it on the blog or on the podcast.  You can even specify which one if you'd like.  I'm even thinking up a contest I could do with a prize or something for the winner.

So let's hop to it!

Friday, February 21, 2014

Racism and the Movies

Is America racist because some people are upset that a black guy will be playing Johnny Storm?

First of all, who cares?  Secondly, this is only an issue when we're dealing with a relatively known superhero.  Nobody batted an eyelash when Samuel L. Jackson was cast as Nick Furry; a character who is white in the comics.  Why?  Because Nick Furry is not nearly as well known as the Fantastic Four.  Maybe if they tried casting a black guy as Batman there would be some definite backlash.

A few notes about this movie and movies in particular:

For all of you claiming the Fantastic Four are "ruined" by casting Jordan as Johnny Storm, let me let you in on a little secret: nothing could ruin the Fantastic Four franchise any more than the last two movies.  I feel embarrassed that I actually spent money to see the first one in the movie theater.

The only legitimate gripe I could see here is that Sue Storm and Johnny Storm are supposed to be siblings and if one of them is white and the other is black it doesn't really work as well as it could.  You either have to pretend race doesn't exist or explain it by changing the story.  Which brings me to my bigger point.

When you take a form of media (like a book or comic book) and adapt it to another form (like a movie or TV show), it's an interpretation.  Always and every time.  Stuff gets changed, some of it gets cut, or stuff gets added in.  And to be honest, that's great.  It's why I love both the Christopher Nolan Batman movies as well as the Tim Burton ones.

So I don't care if you want to change a character's back story.  Or if you want to make him black instead of white.  Or Asian, or Indian, or anything else.  And I also don't care if you want to keep his racial background the same.  It makes no difference to me.

Just make sure your movie is better than the Fantastic Four movies were.