Other Media Reviews
It occurs to me that while I’m getting caught up in my book reviews, I haven’t given any plugs for the other types of media I’m into. So let me briefly say what I’ve been digging lately in TV, comics, and video games.
TV: The shows that I like enough to stay up past the kids’ bedtime for are all on hiatus right now: Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Orphan Black. I also liked Vikings and The Walking Dead, or as I like to call it, “The Michonne and Darryl Show.”
Comics: Believe it or not, Hawkeye is really excellent right now. I’m also reading Batgirl, The Movement, and Red Sonja, because those are all Gail Simone titles currently. I follow B.P.R.D. in the trades. I’ve heard Saga is great and I keep meaning to check it out.
Games: I enjoyed the heck out of Shadowrun Returns. Also, A Dark Room.
I’m also still checking in every day with Animal Crossing: New Leaf, but I have a habit of leaving my gal on a tropical island, getting distracted, and picking the game up again five hours later. As a result, she’s tanned to the darkest possible skin color, which reads less as “tan” and more as “south Asian or maybe mixed race.” It’s adorable, don’t get me wrong, and I’ve had a great time getting her a purple-haired pixie cut and picking out cute little outfits that look great on her.
The thing that bothers me is, it’ll go away. When winter comes, her skin will pale-ify again, and there’s no option for creating a nonwhite character in this game. I think that’s wrong. Animal Crossing is a kind of non-game, a game where there are no specific goals, except to exist in the most adorable manner possible. You are a cute little person in a cute little town and you do cute things in the company of cute animals and it’s all exceptionally soothing and nice. I find it very relaxing.
But I’m sad that my swashbuckling little brown girl isn’t going to stay brown. I’m sad that the whole game is based on a default pale skin color and doesn’t allow for a more inclusive spectrum. There’s something very…not cute about that.
