Jon Rios

I just finished rewatching the series a couple of weeks ago (this was my third time watching it). I haven’t come up with my own top 10 list yet, but Through the Looking Glass is definitely up there. Season 3 is easily the weakest season in my opinion, but that episode is phenomenal. The flashforward reveal was genius. I would also probably put The End in my top 10. As devisive as the finale is, it completely worked for me. The explanation of the flash-sideways was completely unique and confirmed for me that the show was ultimately about the characters and how they’ve grown together. And the closing scene, bookending the entire series was beautiful.

I was thinking about that while I was reading this. There aren’t many Disney movies centered around actual men (rather than anthropomorphized male animals). Aladdin is the biggest one, but I’m not sure how I feel about that as a representation of masculinity. There’s Tarzan, but his is more of a story about human vs animal nature. The only other ones I can think of are Atlantis and Treasure Planet, which, admittedly, I haven’t seen in a long time and which don’t get much recognition. And that’s a shame because when I was a kid I connected with Milo from Atlantis as the “nerdy” intellectual. Most of the other Disney men act as the object of the woman’s desire (a la Charming and the other princes) or as the antagonist (Gaston). There are plenty of young boys out there who like Disney movies (I was one of them) and who deserve a positive male representation, but I feel like they aren’t being targeted enough.

The only issue I had with the female Thor announcement was simply in calling her “Thor.” Thor isn’t a mantle like Captain America or Spider-Man but literally the character’s name, so it’s odd for someone else, male or female, to just take his name. I have no problems with allowing her to wield Mjolnir and “possess the power of Thor,” as the inscription says. (Yes, it also says “if HE be worthy,” but that’s just semantics.)