Daisy Ridley's cleavage dictates her career

For those of you who may not know who Daisy Ridley is. She played Rey in the latest Star Wars movie "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens", and did a fantastic job of portraying a likable girl/woman that female viewers can relate to and appreciate, and many male viewers can enjoy as a breath of fresh air thanks to her role being defined by her skills and ability rather than her looks.

Because of the critical and commercial success of the latest Star Wars, Daisy Ridley's career has taken off and has most recently lead her to be in consideration for the role of Tomb Raider, in the upcoming reboot of the series. A role I personally think she would be perfect for and can see her as the younger Tomb Raider that has appeared in the two latest games of the series.

However, not everyone is as happy about this as I am and Daisy Ridley's place in the role of Lara Croft has been met with... well let's say a mixed reception. But why? is her acting not up to par? is she not a good role model for other women?... well no, basically she's just not got a big enough cleavage to fit the role.

Released in 1996 for the PS1

Let me start by saying that I believe in equal rights for EVERYONE, and as such I do not agree with fundamentalist feminism or extremist groups of any sort (general feminism I'm fine with, but there's always a few members that take it too far). So I am not going to go off on a rant at the industry and modern society for its portrayal of certain genders, races, or minorities. I am specifically talking about this example. With that being said. What on Earth are people smoking to think that Daisy Ridley is not good enough for the role because of her body shape?!

In 1996 the first Tomb Raider game was released and obviously didn't help the stereotype of gamer's being basement dwellers obsessed with this image of the 'ideal woman' (AKA fictional), However, that was TWENTY YEARS AGO and Gaming in general has moved on from the niche hobby it once was to a multi-billion dollar industry that not only tapped into the mainstream market, but became the mainstream market. As such, the games industry in general has evolved and opened up to a much wider demographic. from appealing primarily to males between 10 - 30, to targeting every age and every gender, sexuality, race, etc... In short, The world moved forward and games did too. 

Unfortunately, many people are stuck in the past and seem to think that gaming belongs to them and them alone, and in turn, think that their opinions deserve to be heard and respected, no matter how stupid they may be. Except all this does is reveal the ignorance of the few and paints the rest of us with the same tarred brush. 

As a Male myself, it irritates me to see other Boys/Men spurt their ignorant opinions on Women based solely on their appearances and seeming to ignore any other aspect about them. this is further solidified by the fact that Lara Croft has recently been remade to better resemble a Real physical appearance of a girl/woman rather than the disproportionate pixel-mess of years passed.

Then and Now
(Credit to showbizgeek for the image)

So what are some of the opinions on Daisy's portrayal of Lara Croft that have annoyed me so? Well from the comments section of the U.K's Daily Mail online we can view some of these comments together (www.dailymail.co.uk):

Credit: Daily Mail

Chimmy Changa States: "Insufficient Boobage"

Roisin17 States: "Angelina actually has a lot of sex appeal. Daisy doesn't. It wont work and will just look bad for her"

JUDI HENCH States: "Her Face is very forgettable"

Yellow Spiderbite States: "Angelina was perfect for Lara back in the day. She looked so strong, healthy, and sexy. It's a shame she has taken 'skinny' a bit too far nowadays."

BabaBooey States: "No lips, no curves... I guess she has the accent right tho..."

Vproject States: "She hasn't quite quite got the erm....front that one associates with the Lara Croft character. Angelina Jolie certainly did. But hey."

And the list just goes on from there. Now to be fair. There are some supporters of Daisy in the Role and other link-minded thinkers that are annoyed at the level of sexism that is being expressed here. So let's give those commentators their credit:

Paul_Xavier_Green States: "For crying out loud! Stop discussing Daisy Ridley's body shape like she's a piece of meat! This is sexist beyond belief! She was brilliant in Star Wars, and would be equally brilliant in a remake of Tomb Raider. All actors grow and develop with time. So will she."

Lash LaRue States: "The rebooted Tomb Raider has little emphasis on her sensuality so people assuming Daisy needs massive breasts for the role have outdated views. I think she's a good choice because she's genuinely British and has a slight masculinity about her."

and that's about it. 

It does nothing but show the out of touch nature of some people when they say these kinds of negative things, but more importantly than that. It paints men in general with such a wide brush and further enforces the stereotype that men are only interested in looks. A stereotype that many of us are trying to bring down and show people that there are decent, forward-thinking men in the world that are just as disgusted by the sexualization of women in media as women are. and to those people who do believe that the Daisy Ridley's career should be limited to the roles she looks most suited for, honestly, shame on you for trying to knock someone down without knowing anything else about them aside from how they look. 

In my opinion - any many other men's out there - Daisy Ridley nailed the role of Rey in Star Wars and would make for a fantastic Lara Croft.

Cardfight Vanguard Unboxing

My latest video is up and ready to be viewed. Just a relatively small unboxing of my first Cardfight Vanguard packs.

Thanks for watching and there'll be a new video up for you guys soon. 

Batman v Superman Supercut!

I've been wanting to see the released footage of the upcoming Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, compiled into supercut video, and luckily, YouTube user M1llion has done the job and uploaded the below video showing pretty much everything you'd need to claim you've seen the film.

This leads me onto another side topic, that being that the amount of footage released for upcoming movies is getting too much and the trailers are spoiling the film. 

Throughout the production of Batman Vs. Superman, Director Zack Snyder has done the rounds and released multiple videos and pictures of the film, but a problem soon arose when footage was shown of Doomsday making his debut in the DC Cinematic universe and fans basically predicted the entire premise and outcome of the movie. Then, rather than try and keep as much footage hidden from the public as possible, Snyder tweeted and revealed further pictures and clips of the upcoming movie. The result of his reveals has done a good job of promoting the movie, but has it been at the expense of spoiling the overall experience of the movie? Personally I think it does.

But it isn't just Batman Vs. Superman's trailers revealing too much of the movie to audiences, as the upcoming Captain America: Civil War has recently made the rounds by revealing pretty much every twist and turn to audiences that haven't even seen the film yet, and I wouldn't be too shocked to see future images revealing the rumored death that is apparently occurring within the latest Marvel movie (for people who haven't read the Marvel Civil War comic story arc, Captain America dies at the end of the story... but don't worry he came back) 

In my personal opinion, a trailer for a film should consist of no more than 20 seconds of film footage, but mainly feature a cast member or the director talking about the film and convincing viewers that their film is worth paying the Box Office fee. It would be such a refreshing break from the norm and would leave so much of the story of the movie hidden from the general public. 

PLEASE NOTE: This is not my video.
The above video was uploaded by YouTube User: M1llion

Star Wars Character Encyclopedia (DK)

Another day, another book, and today's book is the upcoming Star Wars Character Encyclopedia, which will be released by DK on April 1st 2016. 

I'd like to start this review by stating that this book is purely a character profile book and doesn't include any story or spoilers, So if you're not interested in the characters then this isn't the book for you... Although why wouldn't you be interested in a roster of characters from the globally known to the utterly obscure?

The Star Wars Character Encyclopedia (SWCE) is the latest in DK's long-line of character-related books with completely official licensing which means that all information provided within is in direct connection with the Canon of the series. I would also highly recommend checking out some of the other books by DK as there's no doubt a book of characters from your favorite series' on their site (www.dk.com).

From front to back, the SWCE is filled with virtually every character that has been featured within the main film series as well as the Clone Wars animated T.V series. As such there'll be plenty of characters you've probably never heard of, but are all given the same degree of detailed attention. The only character I've not found in the book is Supreme Leader Snoke - due to the mystery still surrounding him in the films - which really teases the upcoming films in a nice subtle way, but it would've been nice to see some very limited info on him, even if it just pointed out his physical features.

In terms of content, the SWCE provides the general summary for each character, with minor details highlighting the character's role in the plot, as well as a few trivial facts. However some details are left out that would've been a nice inclusion, for instance, it would have been nice to find out what those buttons on Vader's chest plate actually do. Still it's not that much of a loss. 

The SWCE is a pretty small book for DK, being smaller than the previous DK books I've discussed on this blog, but that doesn't make a difference to anything and for the reduced price when compared to some of DK's other books, it's welcomed. the SWCE also only comes in Hardback. All in all, for what the books is, it is perfectly serviceable and is an easy to pick up book for newcomers to the Saga so far, and at less than £10 you can't go wrong.

The Star Wars Character Encyclopedia gets a Witless Reviews Rating of: PERFECT

NAME: Star Wars Character Encylopedia
RELEASE DATE: 1st April, 2016
PRICE: £9.99
BUY FROM: Waterstones - Click here to view

DK Captain America Ultimate Guide Review

Hello and Welcome to my latest Blog Review for the upcoming book by DK, Captain America: The Ultimate Guide To The First Avenger.

DK's latest Marvel release gives an entire history to the American Hero, and includes a wealth of additional information including variant costumes, trivia and even the various characters that have taken up the mantle as Captain America. In short the Ultimate guide has everything that newcomers and veteran fans could want to know. Which leads me smoothly into my next point, the purpose of these books.

DK have released various superhero books for many years and have provided detailed information with gorgeous artwork to appeal to anyone with an interest in comic book heroes. Primarily the DK books are aimed at introducing people to specific heroes or teams, while also providing long term fans with a great reference guide to keep up to date with their favorite heroes. These books do not include new stories or plots and don't actually change things for the characters, as stated on the cover. These books are solely guides. And great ones at that.

The included artwork within the books are always top notch by DK (whom have official rights to the Marvel line-up of characters) and Captain America is no different. From the inclusion of classic golden age artwork straight from the comics, to double-page spreads of larger pieces such as the latest Secret Wars event, The book is great for people who may not even care too much for the story specifics but just appreciate great comic art.

The Captain America book - like the previously released Avengers Guide also by DK – provides bullet-point timeline of events in chronological order. Which, is vital for fans of Marvel to keep up-to-date as Marvel famously kept their stories ongoing up until their Marvel NOW! Release a few years ago, where the Marvel Universe was basically reset to allow for new readers to dive straight into comics (A good idea that was met with a mixed response). So to be given a general history of Captain America's greatest moments is a nice addition.

If you watched my video review of the Captain America guide, then you'll know that my point for improvement would be for DK to release an entire series of Marvel's main characters in the same style as the Captain America guide, which I think would look lovely sitting on a shelf, as a matching set. One slightly odd thing is that DK tend to release many books with a cardboard sleeve that helps to protect the books and look nice on the shelves. However just lately, some of the books haven't had these sleeves. I'm guessing it's an economical decision for some of the cheaper books released, which is perfectly understandable.

All in all, The Captain America Ultimate guide is a nice stand-alone book for Marvel's most famous superhero and provides all the information a person could want to get to know more about the titular character. Here's hoping we see a matched series of HULK, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and more to get a complete set.

Captain America: The Ultimate Guide To The First Avenger, gets a Witless Rating of: GOOD*

*conditional rating, Becomes 'Perfect' if a series is released

NAME: Captain America, The Ultimate Guide To The First Avenger

RELEASE DATE: 1^st April, 2016

PRICE: £17.99
BUY FROM: Waterstones Upon release