Rachel

Stop motion is great, not only because of the effects and stories, but because of the hours of work behind them. It’s clear that those who work in Stop Motion, do so because that’s what they love. Just the thought of all those hours making everything perfect, and the care that goes into every scene and movement and expression baffles me. It’s refreshing to know that these people- the people who subject themselves to this- are willing to go above and beyond. Of course, Stop Motion and CGI are both great and have their own merits, but combined they keep me at the edge of my seat. Movies like ParaNorman are so outstanding I can’t even begin to fathom that amount of work gone into it. Kudos to those crazy people willing to entertain an audience with Stop Motion productions!

Although Marvel and DC are seemingly beating a dead horse with their plethora of recycled characters, I would have to say,”If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Our generation, the predominant generation that watches these heroes, is a nostalgic bunch. I’m sure we’ve all seen “You’re a 90’s kid if..” posts on social media, and that’s because that generation grew up in a world where everything changed much too quickly. We crave the things that take us back to our childhood; heroes made the list. The reason recycled heroes works so well is because the intended audience clings to them and, as creature of habit, doesn’t want anything to change. New heroes are often shunned because exactly that: they’re new. They’re not the comfortable beloved heroes of our past; they represent a change, a movement, that’s makes us cringe and search for the solidarity of what we know.
Of course, new heroes won’t always be shunned. They may be accepted begrudgingly, and eventually allowed into our world, like a new student entering a high school clique. But it stands to know that the beloved heroes of our past will only grow old when we do. Not only is this recycling effective, but demanded by the audience.

It’s surprising, really, how whitewashing in Hollywood has become such a prevalent part of our society that it can be overlooked at times. I, a big fan of Avatar: the last Airbender, didn’t take a second look at the actor’s race in the movie simply because I am always surrounded by the assertion that white is the default race for anything. Although small attempts are being made at fixing this problem, the fact that the appearance of a different racial group in Hollywood is so exciting, only emphasizes how unaccustomed we are to equal representation.