Defining Age Appropriateness in Television and Films For Your Geekling

DEFINING AGE-APPROPRIATENESS IN TELEVISION AND FILMS FOR YOUR GEEKLINGS

Most people are familiar with the Canadian rating system of G, PG, 14A, 18A and R, if only from knowing which movie theatre rooms they’d be permitted to enter as teenagers. What kids watch on television though is for the most part only regulated by parental supervision. Being as how geeks deeply love their particular brand of pop culture, it’s natural to want to share everything with your geeklings. I’m here to tell you what you should and shouldn’t let your children watch.

Just kidding; to each their own. I would like to share some related experiences though, and also promote the bejesus out of an insightful website called Common Sense Media.

WHAT DO BATMAN AND STACY HAMILTON HAVE IN COMMON?

There are two instances as a kid that I knew I was watching something I shouldn’t be. The first was Tim Burton’s Batman, rated PG-13. I was six or seven and watched only parts of the film with some older cousins. The storyline was lost on me and, well, I ended up terrified of Batman, like afraid to fall asleep at night because Batman. Batman was sulky, serious, overpowering and hid behind a mask while Jack Nicholson as the Joker just looked goofy. Sometime afterwards YTV aired reruns of the 1960s Batman series and that was an instant cure the my Batmanaphobia. 

The other time I knew I was watching something I shouldn’t be I was 11 or 12 and it was Amy Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High, rated R. The location where I watched it and the sequence made the experience memorable. It was a Christmas party at my aunt’s house with my Portuguese family (comparable to Toula Portokalosk’s family in My Big Fat Greek Wedding). My Christmas wish list that year included Fast Times because I was eagerly awaiting the release of Clueless and thought to check out the only other film directed by Sterling in the meantime. My parents bought it for me and I brought it to watch at the gathering. I watched it in the living room side of an open concept dining area - I picked up on the mature subject matter and swearing but no one seemed to notice so I kept watching. The moment 15 year old Stacy’s breasts appeared on the screen in her devirginization scene I knew I was in trouble. I froze and watched as 20 Portuguese adults went from talking over each other at deafening volumes (their normal) and children running around playing with toys all fell into a stunned still silence all heads turned to the television set. My mom got up, nervously fidgeted with the VCR (the scene was over by then), yelled at me, and confiscated the movie for a few weeks while my dad reviewed it (in retrospect, yes, that is weird).

These experiences didn’t cause me to overly helicopter what my children watch. I still take max flexibility on the rating system when determining what I allow my kids to watch. They did however emphasize the importance of talking about storylines during or after a viewing, emphasize positive messages, and try to either watch or read up on films before the kids watch them. My main grievances as a parent usually relate to content that reinforces stereotypes and misogyny, and the inclusion of product placement, factors that amazingly are considered in ratings by Common Sense Media.

COMMON SENSE MEDIA

Common Sense Media is a non-profit organization that takes seemingly everything under consideration to review television shows (among other media). They individually rate a show’s educational value, positive messages, positive role models, violence/scariness, sexy stuff, language, consumerism, and drinking/drugs/smoking on a scale of one to five. Age appropriateness is colour coded, with green meaning age-appropriate, yellow meaning it depends on the kid, and red meaning there are serious issues to consider. The reviews themselves involve a one paragraph synopsis of the rating and elaboration of four straightforward categories: “what’s the story?”, “is it any good?”, “families can talk about…” and “movie details”. In addition, user reviews include a most appropriate age so everyone has a chance to make a pitch for a younger/older audience. 

Let’s have a look at the high-level details of some geeky favourites to see how they fare.

Kiki’s Delivery Service, a Hayao Miyazaki classic that makes a great introduction to anime, gets a fairly positive review. Common Sense Media judges the minimum age for which the content is relevant as 5.

The synopsis for the original Ghostbusters on the other hand may cause some parents to think twice, or at least click on the green factors for more information. A lot of popular 80s films score surprisingly high in sex, language, consumerism, and drinking/drugs/smoking (see also: The Goonies, Indiana Jones, and Short Circuit). 

I watched Michael Bay’s Transformers with my son when he was five and it was a great disappointment. I was excited to introduce him to the world of Autobots and Decepticons and while I expected violence I was caught off guard with the racism, stereotypes and explicit swearing.

I appreciate the insights provided by Common Sense Media but in the end think it comes down to knowing your kids and what value/harm viewing something will have on them. As part of that, we need to respect other parents’ decisions as well when their kids are over. We used to host an annual Halloween-themed night for my daughter’s entire class and as a part of it they watched Arachnophobia in grade 6 and Poltergeist in grade 7. The films were noted on the invitation and their rating and genre were mentioned to parents when they dropped off their kids. We piled the tweens in the basement for the viewing and the ensuing screams and hugs really were...fun (kids who didn’t want to watch hung around the snacks upstairs). They still talk about it to this day and to my knowledge no chronic nightmares ensued.

WATCH BUFFY WITH YOUR TEENAGERS FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A HIGH FIVE FROM JAMES MARSTERS

Last Sunday my 14 year old daughter and I rushed to Pop Expo to get James Marsters’ autograph, who to us is none other than Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and to our fangirl delight he was pretty chatty with us (!). He talked about be genuinely angry during the photoshoot in which the photograph we were having signed was taken. Marsters recalled that the photographer had asked him to twirl in order to lift his cape, and he replied that if he’d heard of the character he was shooting he’d know that he sucks people’s blood and kills them, and wasn’t about to dance or twirl. Marsters planned to reject all photos taken that day, but when he saw his genuinely pissed off face in the proofs it turned out to be his all-time favourite Spike photo.

{TRIGGER WARNING} My daughter had been in Marsters’ Q&A the previous day and thanked him for the way he handled the bathroom scene question from the episode Seeing Red of season 6. The scene deals with attempted rape and at the time that it aired was the only episode in the series to have to air at a later time of night on YTV. This led into me sharing with Marsters having first watched Buffy starting in high school and the experience of watching it last year with my daughter, despite a few uneasy moments in the storyline like the bathroom scene, and really appreciating him having spoken to it. Marsters LOVED that I shared the show with her. He high fived me for it and told my kid that his parents have never watched a single episode of Buffy as it isn’t their genre (gasp!). He was all smiles and said Buffy makes a great show to grow up with because it conveys the message that you can do anything. He grew up watching Planet of the Apes which preached humanity being doomed and hopeless, and so how amazing it would be to grow up on such a positive message. 

Marsters also told us about how he’s only ever met one person who confessed to not liking Buffy, and giving Sarah Michelle Gellar’s size as the reason, saying it just isn’t believable that a small framed girl would be that strong. Marsters said he put that guy in his place, stating he’s worked with similarly sized female stunt devils that are triple black belts and they can kick anyone’s butt. But also didn’t he catch the part about the Chosen One’s super strength?? We told him about how when we started kickboxing we pretended we were Slayers and that our instructor was our Watcher. We were quite giddy by this point at how personable he was being and as a result started talking too much.

Overall the conversation brought home to me how much series can change over time, and how this era of marathon series watching means kids don’t grow older at the same pace as the characters do. Season 1 of Buffy was okay for say, a 10 year old, but seasons 6 and 7 not so much, and that 10 year old isn’t 17 by the end of the series but still only 10. It’s just one more thing to consider when judging when to share our favourite fandoms with our geeklings. 

Angela is a 30-something year old mom of three kids - a baby, a school-aged kid and a teenager – and a furbaby, living in Orleans with her geek soul mate husband. She studied English Literature and Social Work but took an unexpected turn somewhere and ended up working as a policy analyst for the feds. Hobbies include reading, playing boardgames and Magic: the Gathering, cooking healthy foods, blogging, and discussing favourite tv shows and movies. She is the proud organizer of the Ottawa Geek Social Club, which strives to provide meetup opportunities that reflect the many facets of geekdom and beyond! www.ogsc.ca.

John Barrowman Live at Ottawa Pop Expo

JOHN BARROWMAN LIVE AT OTTAWA POP EXPO

Source: Ottawa Pop Expo facebook
Credit:Petra Hudakova

There are three things you can expect from every John Barrowman panel: insanity, innuendo and inspiration.  It was no different this past Saturday when he took the stage in Hall 4 at Ottawa Pop Expo as this year’s Guest of Honour.  After shooing away the moderator and making sure he had plenty of room to wander around the stage, the Scottish-born actor best known as Captain Jack Harkness from Doctor Who and Torchwood, led the crowd in a Q&A that touched all aspects of his career on stage, screen and page. 

Starting with his current role as principled villain Malcolm Merlyn on The CW’s Arrow, John expressed his gratitude for “whatever you put in the water up here” that resulted in Stephen Amell.  While Amell has often stated that he asks Barrowman for advice on how to be the leading man on a popular TV show, he may be picking up some of John’s bad habits as well.  During the previous week’s filming, he explained that Stephen began to use a comedic limp  when the camera was strictly on John in an effort to make him crack up.  He also explained that if you are in the make-up trailer when Amell is getting Oliver’s extensive scarring and tattoos applied, the special chair he has to sit in leaves little to the imagination- and he’s not complaining. 

When asked about what he thought of both Captain Jack’s immortality and his future as The Face of Boe, Barrowman told a charming pair of stories that both involved John not reading his scripts soon or carefully enough.  When he received the scripts for the end of series one of Doctor Who, he was so devastated at Jack’s death that he didn’t bother finishing reading the episode. It wasn’t until the table read that he finished the script and was elated to find out the good Captain didn’t stay dead. By series three, he left poor David Tennant  practically bursting to tell him about the Face of Boe when the good Doctor finished reading the script two days ahead of John.  Both stories were accompanied by impersonations and theatrics that had the audience howling with laughter. John said he loves that omni-sexual Jack had inspired people and made them comfortable in their own skin. He said he didn’t know if being open about his own sexuality had lost him any roles or garnered any negative feedback, and that if it had he really didn’t care. 

Source: Ottawa Pop Expo facebook
Credit:Petra Hudakova

As for whether he would be back on Doctor Who anytime soon John answered that he honestly didn’t know. He would love to return but it was in the hands of the current show runners. In the meantime, on top of his work with Arrow, John and his sister Carole Barrowman have been commissioned to continue their popular children’s fantasy series Hollow Earth. The next series will take place several years after the end of Book of Beasts and be more grown up to accommodate the aged characters.  

After running over time to make sure that several children who had patiently waited in line got to ask their questions, John thanked the crowd for not only their attention during the panel, but for their ongoing love and support which provides him with the life he always dreamed of.  He then went back to his autographs booth for an impromptu signing session just because he was having too much fun. 

Courtney Lockhart lives in the west end of Ottawa with her husband and step-cat.  She is polishing her skills to pursue one of her dream careers as either a costume drama character, Torchwood operative or executive assistant to a billionaire vigilante. You can follow her daily mission to DFTBA on Twitter @corastacy.

Remembering Robin Williams

We here at Capital Geek Girls  were greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Robin Williams. A few of the writers were able to put that sadness into words to share.

Credit: Eva Rinaldi 

MARIE VICTORIA ROBERTSON

A good friend of mine posted a very apropos quote when the news broke about Robin Williams’ passing:

“A clown needn’t be the same out of the ring as he has to be when he’s in it. If you look at photographs of clowns when they’re just being ordinary men, they’ve got quite sad faces.” –Enid Blyton, Five Go Off in a Caravan

I think that sums up exactly why this death is such a shock. My favourite Robin Williams movies were always the funny (or at least, light-hearted) ones—Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, etc. While I was never a huge fan of his stand-up, I know so many people who just loved his manic onstage energy and I can see why. 

He was funny, and he made so, so many people happy. There is something incredibly sad about a comedy icon fighting such severe depression that he felt suicide was his only way to find peace. How could someone who so easily brightened everyone’s lives be feeling so much darkness himself?

We can only hope he finally found his peace. His memory and his movies will always be with us.

LEE A FARRUGA

I had just spent an enjoyable evening with my girls and husband watching mindless television. I decided to check my computer for emails and updates. What I found was the news about Robin Williams – and I cried – a lot.

I grew up with his comedy and his quick wit. He made me laugh so very much. Mork and Mindy was one of my absolute favorite shows growing up. I was 13 years old. It had a huge impact on me. I have always stuck to his comedic roles likes Mrs. Doubtfire and The Birdcage. I have never been able to watch any of his serious work. Why? Because I knew he battled demons that I didn't want to see in his serious face.

Because I see it every time my husband has a dark day due to the same demon or my youngest has a down time because she's inherited her dad's depression. I know the constant fight that's involved. I know Robin Williams fought the good fight for all his 63 years. I cried because he lost the fight. Depression won.

 

I don't generally swear but... Fuck Depression!

COURTNEY LOCKHART

In her official statement, Susan Schneider asked that we not focus on her late husband’s death. Instead, we should focus on “the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions.” 

So here goes: 

When I was a kid, It was Aladdin sing-a-longs in the car, Hook screenings with my cousins, and learning the Batty Rap at recess with my best friend- I still remember most of the words to all of these to this day.

When I was a teenager, It was watching Live on Broadway for the 23rd time in my buddy’s basement. We threatened to hold an intervention to get him to watch something else, but never did.

When I was in school it was watching Awakenings to discuss ethics, What Dreams May Come in philosophy class and Flubber on the field trip coach bus. 

As an adult, it was listening to him discuss his humanity, flaws and struggles on various podcasts and talk shows, then watching my young nieces and nephew discover the magic of his movies for the first time. 

Unlike most artists that I have mourned, Robin Williams didn’t represent a singular phase of my life. His talent and brilliance were a constant. The idea that he is gone is difficult to process and it just doesn’t seem fair. 

EMILY PLUNKETT

This one hurts.

Beyond the fact that it’s Robin Williams that passed – like, THE Robin Williams who has made us piss our pants laughing for the past 40 odd years – I cannot get over the fact that we lost another soul to depression. 

As much as we didn’t know him personally, we knew his work.  For children of the ‘90’s and beyond, he is Mrs. Doubtfire, Alan Parrish, Peter Banning and the Genie. Mork, Adrian Cronauer, Patch, Sean Maguire to fans of his generation and his plethora of critically acclaimed awards.  When an artist encompasses so much of our pop culture spectrum, we feel the loss.  The world is crying right now.  I know this because my social media feeds have exploded with tributes from fans and personal friends of the actor.  

What I noticed immediately is that all the posts I’ve read are filled with reminders that we should never take depression for granted.  And I couldn’t agree more.  I’ve been there.  I know that pain and have come back from the brink; and now the whole world is reminded on such a deeply personal level that the pain of depression is so powerful and encompassing.  Williams probably knew what he had as a husband and a loving father, whose last post to Instagram was a photo of himself and his daughter as a child.  But when you’re in that much pain, it all flies out the window, and internal lies of depression takes over. 

It’s so real for so many of us, and yet it takes the death of an international superstar for us to have this conversation. 

Let us hope that this heartbreak will lead to more who suffer from mental illness and depression to seek help and for the discussion of suicide to break free of its taboo so that we don’t have to lose another beautiful spirit.  After all, the next spirit the world loses won’t be famous, but someone will have loved it as much as the world loved Robin Williams; and the cycle of heartbreak will repeat

THEA NIKOLIC

I am deeply saddened by this loss of a great talent. He was a man a tremendous abilities that the world will sorely miss.

If you, or someone you know, are battling depression or anxiety you can call the Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region at 613-238-3311.

Stargate SG-1 Reunion at Ottawa Comiccon

STARGATE SG-1 Q &A AT OTTAWA COMICCON 2014 

by Marla Desat

The award-winning series Stargate SG-1 is close to the hearts of many Canadians, having been filmed in and around Vancouver. Amanda Tapping, who played Samantha Carter, and Chris Judge, who played the alien Teal'c, joined Stargate SG-1 director Martin Wood to talk about the series at Ottawa Comiccon. The trio spoke to a packed crowd on Sunday, May 11.

Credit: Marla Desat

One of the most beloved episodes of Stargate SG-1 is "Window of Opportunity", wherein Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill, played by Richard Dean Anderson, are caught in a Groundhog Day-like loop, reliving the same day over and over again. A fan asked Tapping what she would do if she was caught in a similar loop. "Samantha Carter would probably get it on with Colonel O'Neill," said Tapping, to giddy cheers from the crowd.

Tapping spoke about her charity work with Sanctuary For Kids, a charity she founded with Damian Kindler and Jill Bodie in 2009. Sanctuary For Kids helps children in crisis around the world. The charity has now raised over $650,000 through auctions, donations, and other fundraising drives. Tapping's charity has worked with organizations all over the globe, providing medical care, food, and even bus passes to homeless youth. One of the organizations that Tapping has worked with helps teens get off the streets. "One of the things they struggle with is providing transportation," said Tapping, so bus passes are a way to support these teens and help them access education and employment. 

Another fan favourite episode is "200", a parody episode where crew members pitch science fiction films about wormhole travel, as part of a Pentagon plan to cover up the Stargate program with fictional films. The episode pays homage to Star Trek, Farscape, The Wizard of Oz, Thunderbirds, and classic noir. "Farscape was the most fun for me," said Tapping. "I liked all of them, but for a whole different reason," said Judge, grinning. "I always thought Teal'c should have a codpiece. So, if you look in each of the vignettes, Teal'c has these ridiculous codpieces."

Credit: Marla Desat

Asked about their clumsiest moments on set, Tapping answered, "I got blown up!" She related a story from the first season, where a mortar was set to go off after three of the SG-1 crew passed by a mark. Unfortunately, a steady cam operator was running backward through the scene, and the special effects operator counted the camera operator as the first of the three people to pass through the scene. So, when Tapping hit the mark, the fourth person through the woods, the mortar went off and sent her sprawling. Thankfully, Tapping escaped with only minor injuries. Judge shared a story about an uncomfortable spacesuit. At the end of season four, Teal'c was supposed to perform a spacewalk. "That thing was painful!" said Judge about the spacesuit. Judge refused to wear the suit, so director Martin Wood ended up in it. Wood, shaking his head, told the audience, "When you see Teal'c floating out there, it's not Chris, it's a tiny man who should be directing!" 

Stargate SG-1 wrapped in 2007, but you can still experience the award-winning series in its entirety on DVD or through Netflix. 

Marla Desat is a recent University of Waterloo grad living and working in Ottawa. When she isn't playing the latest video games, she's geeking out over comic books, board games, tabletop roleplaying games and science. Marla also writes for The Escapist as a freelance news writer. You can follow her on Twitter @mrdesat. 

The Real McCoy: Karl Urban at Ottawa Comiccon

KARL URBAN SPEAKS TO PACKED HOUSE AT OTTAWA COMICCON

By Christina Marie

It was the moment I had been looking forward to all weekend, Karl Urban.  I arrived early enough to get a front row seat just to the right of the stage.  I had a perfect view of Mr. Urban as he sat atop the stage answering questions from many elated fans.  Many whom just his presence made them speechless and star struck.  Karl Urban is from New Zeland and has performed in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Dredd, Bpurne Supremacy and of course, as Dr. McCoy in the relaunched Star Trek series.

One of the first questions to be asked was what it was like working with Leonard Nimoy and which Spock he liked better.  Urban emphasized the presence Leonard Nimoy brings.  The second Leonard Nimoy puts on his Vulcan ears, the other actors were all in absolute awe as they realized they were in the presence of an icon.

When he was asked what kind of life advice, other than staying in school, could he give to younger people who look up to him the answer came quickly.   Without skipping a beat he replied, “If a child says they want to be an actor, you need to say, sorry son, you pronounced it wrong, it’s doctor”.  After a thought, he stressed that the power of positive thinking will get you where you want to go.  “Even if you don’t make it all the way, three quarters of the way is better than never having tried.  Any drop of negativity spread ripples that go out and interfere with positive thinking.  Always think positive.”

Aside from having great advice, Karl Urban is an exciting and entertaining story teller. He recalled being on the set of The Lord of the Rings, shooting the scene where the horsemen are heading to Gondor to fight.  He glanced to the left to see a hobbit stunt double flying by him on his pony real fast and thought “Wow, he’s really keen to get to Gondor!” then he realized the stunt double was out of control and it became a situation of shock and horror as they were travelling on a very rocky terrain.  The hobbit stunt double eventually bailed and rolled to safety.  Now that it has past and he was safe, it had once again become funny remembering a tiny little hobbit rolling like a ball.

Many of those asking questions became tongue-tied and flustered, but there’s no question, Karl Urban has a big fan base and loyal followers.  Fans wanted to know if there was a Dredd sequel coming, and who they could petition to get one started.  Many were saddened by the recent announcement of the cancellation of Almost Human and although it was thought to be a touchy subject for Mr. Urban, he seems to have some projects all lined up.  In the new year, he will begin filming the next movie in the Star Trek series, and currently the search for a director is underway.

I know I am looking forward to anything that Karl Urban will be acting in and have re-watched the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Doom, Ghost Ship and Star Trek since ComicCon.

Christina Marie is a student at Carleton University, working on her Bachelor of Computer Science. She has a background in web development and programming and her extra time is spent on being a single mommy to little geeklings, playing sports and gaming, with her current favorites being Warcraft, DayZ, CoD and CS:GO.  She enjoys blogging and tweeting gaming and tech updates @Xtina_Marie04.

Skyping Spock: Leonard Nimoy at Ottawa Comiccon

LEONARD NEMOY Q&A AT OTTAWA COMICCON

by Marla Desat

In a rare convention appearance, Leonard Nimoy spoke to a packed crowd at Ottawa Comiccon via Skype. The renowned actor, best known for his role as Mr. Spock on Star Trek, no longer travels to conventions as he suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Despite quitting smoking forty years ago, Nimoy developed the chronic condition, and he warned fans, "If you don't smoke, don't start. If you do, stop!"

Some technical issues troubled the start of the Q&A, but after a dropped call Nimoy reconnected and began jovially answering fan questions. Nimoy made light of the difficulties, saying "Is there anything we can do to help this connection? This connection is treacherous, I think the Klingons have been messing with it."

The first question was how it felt to pass the torch to Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the J. J. Abrams reboot of the franchise. "Zachary is a very good friend of mine," said Nimoy. "He's a wonderful actor and very talented. He did a great job as the new Spock, and I am glad to see the Spock character live on with such a great actor."

Karl Urban, who plays the role of Dr. McCoy in the reboot, surprised both fans and Nimoy himself when he appeared at the Q&A. Urban asked Nimoy, "Of all the actors you worked with on the new Star Trek movie, who was your favourite to work with?" Urban implied that naming Quinto might smack of nepotism. Grinning, Nimoy said, "No one's better than you, Karl!" As Urban left the stage, Nimoy added, "He's done a wonderful job as Dr. McCoy, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart."

A fan asked what inspired Gene Roddenberry to create a character like Spock. "Up until the early '60s, most of the aliens in science fiction were portrayed as something dangerous, something to be afraid of," said Nimoy. Spock was a much different character from these stock aliens, a character that actively worked with humans to overcome problems, and coexisted peacefully with humanity. "That was the most important thing for Gene, to present an alien character who was helpful and could work with the human characters."

Asked about his funniest memory shooting Star Trek, Nimoy told a story about a prank that William Shatner once pulled on the late DeForest Kelley. Kelley had a habit of going to the food services table on set every morning and putting a muffin in the toaster. While it toasted, Kelley would go get a coffee, leaving the muffin unattended. Learning this, Shatner waited one morning for Kelley to leave his muffin, and promptly popped it out of the toaster and ate it. When Kelley returned to get his muffin, he was understandably confused. Kelley put a new muffin in the toaster, and Shatner got another cast member on set to distract him. Shatner popped the second muffin out of the toaster and ate it, too. Now realizing the prank, Kelley became quite angry. "I said, De, don't worry about it. You stand the two of you side by side, it's easy to see who's been eating the muffins."

The Ottawa Comiccon crowd closed out the Q&A with a standing ovation. Nimoy plans to connect with more fans at other conventions via Skype in the future, and I for one hope the trend will live long and prosper!

Marla Desat is a recent University of Waterloo grad living and working in Ottawa. When she isn't playing the latest video games, she's geeking out over comic books, board games, tabletop roleplaying games and science. Marla also writes for The Escapist as a freelance news writer. You can follow her on Twitter @mrdesat. 

Summer Glau at Ottawa Comiccon

SHE DIDN'T KILL US WITH HER BRAIN: SUMMER GLAU'S Q & A
by Angela Hartwick

What better way for me to start off a day at Comic Con than to attend a Q&A session with one of my favourite actresses. Summer Glau is best known for her roles in Firefly/Serenity, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Arrow but I also loved her in Dollhouse and The 4400. Summer walked onto the stage with her ballerina figure, casual attire, friendly smile, and jumped right into taking questions.

FEMALE CHARACTERS IN SCI-FI/ FANTASY ARE "COMPLEX, CHALLENGING AND INSPIRING"

Summer confessed that as an actress she initially wanted to be Emma Thompson and credits Joss Whedon for the sci-fi/fantasy genre becoming her niche stating he was the first person to believe in her. Before Whedon cast her in an episode of Angel, Summer says her resume was “pretty much made up” and even when she would nail auditions, she would be told to return when she had more experience. Summer shared that what she loves most about sci-fi/fantasy roles are the complex, challenging and inspiring way in which female characters are written. 

"IT FEELS GOOD TO BE BAD"

When asked how, as such a seemingly nice person, she is able to channel her inner evil to play villain Isabel Rochev on Arrow, Summer laughed and admitted it feels good to be bad. The hardest part of playing Isabel, she revealed, was finding a wardrobe of high heels and jewels, and learning to express power in a different way than fighting. 

EXPLORING LIFE AS A ROBOT WAS "A REWARDING EXPERIENCE" 

Summer shared that she’d planned to skip out on her audition for Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles but happened to call her mom that morning who convinced her to follow through. I probably wasn’t the only fan in the audience scratching my head when she commented on feeling intimidated at the tall beautiful actresses auditioning (minions: get this lady a mirror!). She joked about being a very awkward runner and how she tried to convince every director that Cameron didn’t run but rather walked ominously. She also joked at her own expense about Sarah Connor Chronicles being the longest series she was a part of (even though it, like several other series she’s been in, was canceled).

IF SHE COULD ONLY PICK ONE ROLE: RIVER TAM

I wondered if the slew of questions related to Firefly/Serenity would be to Summer what a chart topping song is to a long standing band; they’re glad it was successful but tired of having it requested at concerts. It was quite the opposite, which was good news to all the browncoats in the room. When Summer was asked which role she would choose if she could have just played just one, she replied that of River Tam. Summer said the cast of Firefly provided her with a safe place to make mistakes. She also expressed a connection with the character of River, at that point in her life especially, as she could relate to having difficulty expressing herself and trying to make sense of new surroundings.

Summer is currently working on a show for Crackle, Sony TV’s free streaming channel, called Sequestered.

Angela is a 30-something year old mom of three kids - a baby, a school-aged kid and a teenager – and a furbaby, living in Orleans with her geek soul mate husband. She studied English Literature and Social Work but took an unexpected turn somewhere and ended up working as a policy analyst for the feds. Hobbies include reading, playing boardgames and Magic: the Gathering, cooking healthy foo

ds, blogging, and discussing favourite tv shows and movies. She is the proud organizer of the Ottawa Geek Social Club, which strives to provide meetup opportunities that reflect the many facets of geekdom and beyond! www.ogsc.ca.

Charisma Carpenter chats up Ottawa Comiccon

CHARISMA CARPENTER Q&A REVIEW

By Christina Marie

After the last minute cancellation of Eliza Dushku, Charisma Carpenter filled the spot with short notice.  The Comiccon crowd wasn’t disappointed as a long line outside formed and the room was filled.  Many of us know Charisma from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Personally I still associate Charisma with Cordelia, even though I’ve watched her act in Supernatural, alongside James Marsters, in the Expendables (1 and 2) and a few other sitcoms.  I was quite impressed with her sense of humour, wit and ease with the crowd.  She was very entertaining and kept the room laughing and enjoying every minute.

After a few sound issues, people lined up to get a chance to ask her various questions.  When asked how she deals with playing “bad” characters, she replied that she’s never bad, she just has a different point of view from everyone else.  

Her lighter side was evident when she was asked how she felt when her character Cordelia was killed off of Angel.  “Like Shit” she replied and after a few she added “Thanks for bringing it up!” and pretended to get up like she was going to walk away.  Her sense of humour and wit kept the crowd laughing and hoping that the session was even longer.

She was very sincere when a little girl came up to ask if she had ever met anyone with the real name Cordelia and discovered the little girl was named after her character in Buffy.  She took the time to come to the edge of the stage to chat off mic with Cordelia. It was a very touching to see her take the time to talk this little girl.

It is amazing how much you can learn about an actor by attending one of these Q&A sessions.  It brings so much light on how they are in everyday life, just like us, non-actors.  Charisma enjoys playing roles where she can be constantly busy.  The most scenes she can be in, the more she enjoys acting.  Although she was nervous about making the move from Buffy to Angel, having more screen time and responsibilities was something she really enjoyed.  

She liked that her character, Cordelia, grew as a person from start of Buffy to the end of her time on Angel.  She told us about the time in the episode “Prom” from Buffy, that she picked up a spatula in the cabin to use against the demons and was really annoyed.  She thought, she’s not that dumb, after being on the Hell Mouth for three years, she would know better to pick up a spatula!  She approached Joss and David as she was also offended that her character was slutty and after 3 years on the Hell Mouth would know better than to use a spatula!  Joss’ response was, “really Charimsa, that’s why America loves you!” Oh, Ok.

 Soon she will be hosting a true survival series called “Surviving Evil”, based on people who have faced evil and survived. The first episode will be of her facing a serial rapist police officer when she was in her early 20’s.  She will also be in a couple other projects, Griddle House and a Christmas Promise.

I, along with the others in the audience will be looking forward to seeing her in future roles and there is a hope that perhaps being a Whedon graduate, maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see her in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Christina Marie is a student at Carleton University, working on her Bachelor of Computer Science. She has a background in web development and programming and her extra time is spent on being a single mommy to little geeklings, playing sports and gaming, with her current favorites being Warcraft, DayZ, CoD and CS:GO.  She enjoys blogging and tweeting gaming and tech updates @Xtina_Marie04.

Short Cut to Criticism: Felicia Day's Haircut

TREND OR TRAVESTY? THE TALE OF FELICIA DAY'S HAIR 
By Emily Towsley

Felicia Day, the popular vlogger, and creator of the Geek & Sundry, cut her hair off. Did you know? Or better yet, did you care?

The male blogging world was set ablaze with the news that the geek-girl extraordinaire had chopped off her long ginger locks. “Love your videos, will be back when you grow your hair out” became a hurtful refrain that Day has finally decided to speak out against. 

Though Ms. Day is on the record as stating that “We are gamers first, and female incidentally.” The attacks she was facing over her recent hairstyle choice got her to take a stand for feminism, and against misogynistic trolls.  

In the vein of the blog post “Why Patriarchy fears the Scissors”, Felicia Day posted on her tumblr

her thoughts and opinions on being a woman with a newly chopped coif. 

“My hair doesn’t affect what words come out of my mouth dude? But he can’t see me as anything else I guess. Guys like him tune in because I’m attractive to them. Without long hair, I’m no longer attractive to them. Ergo…goodbye.” 

However Day doesn’t mourn for the loss of these particular fans, “It makes me sad for THEM actually…they might be missing out on meeting an awesome girl/woman for themselves” 

For as Felicia points out, we are still living in a society that treats women as inhuman dolls, whose only real purpose is to be attractive to men. 

This idea that women must be attractive to men, and that long hair is the only attractive option, categorizes women with short hair as destroying their femininity to 'punish' men. To distil the argument even further, “men like long hair, and what sane woman would ever want to do anything that decreases her capacity to please men?” 

When the argument is brought down to its brass tacks like that, it’s easy to understand why criticising women for cutting their hair is uncomfortable, and inherently misogynistic. 

To take it one step further the manosphere decided to protest her new chopped ‘do by placing before and after pictures of Felicia Day side by side, with captions like “What boyfriend allowed this type of self-harm?”  

The kicker? The before picture was not even a picture of Ms. Day. These fans had reduced her traits to her hair, and did not even know what her face looked like behind the ginger locks. 

Felicia’s conclusion; “Think I’ll be keeping my hair short for a long time”

I think we can look forward to witty and on-point contributions from Felicia Day in the future, no matter the length of her hair. 

Emily Towsley, can be found either teasing her cat, or philosophizing with a customer over coffee in her second-life as a barista. Messages of support regarding her addiction to Netflix, and news of vintage teacup sales can be left on her twitter.  Her spare time is spent reading copious amounts of books,  or working on her latest blog. 

Farewell, Harold Ramis

by Emily Plunkett

WHO ARE WE GONNA CALL NOW? 

As the comedy world remembers him for his unparalleled contributions to film, Harold Ramis’ small, but crucial role in geek culture is something we as geeks must take a moment to celebrate. 

Born in Chicago, IL, on Nov. 21, 1944, Ramis’ began writing while he was attending college in St. Louis, MI.  He landed freelance positions with the Chicago Daily News, which lead to a position with Playboy as a joke editor; all the while, he auditioned for Chicago’s famed Second City, where he would meet John Belushi.  Through Belushi, Ramis would meet the likes of Joe Flarherty, whom he would later star and write alongside with on the legendary Canadian sketch comedy show, SCTV, and Bill Murray, who would become a frequent collaborator within movies such as Caddyshack and Groundhog Day.  His name would also become associated with National Lampoon, when he contributed to The National Lampoon Radio Hour, wrote the 1978 smash National Lampoon’s Animal House and directed 1983’s National Lampoon’s Vacation. 

Although this resume of comedy classics is enough to make any film buff stop at the news of his passing, it was his co-creation with Dan Aykroyd that plastered Facebook front pages upon the news of his death on Feb. 24 due to complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis.  Ramis co-wrote and stared as the deadpan and seriously nerdy portrayal of Dr. Egon “Don’t cross the streams” Spengler in 1984’s Ghostbusters and its 1991 sequel, Ghostbusters II. 

In the 30 years since its release, Ghostbusters has become a cornerstone multimedia franchise that has included the films, animated television shows, comic books and video games.  There have been strong rumours and frequent updates from Dad Aykroyd teasing of a third film that would see a new generation of Ghostbusters enter the official canon.  Clubs such as the Ontario Ghostbusters are as dedicated as the Capital City Garrison 501^st Legion Stormtroopers in giving back to the greater community through their dedication to Ghostbusters cosplay.  The entire idea of a franchise that celebrates both science fiction and comedy was the doorway this author needed to become a geek in her own right. 

So, alongside the ‘80’s movie buffs and the sci-fi geeks, I remember Harold Ramis and celebrate my love for Ghostbusters.  Because no matter the time of year or the situation, it’s his movies and creations I call when I need a good laugh.

Emily Plunkett is a recent graduate of the journalism diploma program at Algonquin College. As a freelancer, she’s written for the Ottawa Star and the Sarnia Observer. Notorious for being a Beatlemaniac, a record collector and something nobody can really put a finger on, she enjoys a good Sunday afternoon with CBC Radio chatting away, her knitting in hand and her cat, Levon, snoozing at the end of the bed.