So it’s April 27 and I’m about to watch the 5th episode of the first season of Moon Knight. That got me to thinking about how I need to put down in writing some of my random entertainment thoughts.
The thing to know about Jacob Schoeneberger and his relationship to entertainment is this: it’s complicated. I love Marvel and Star Wars, but I also like artistic films. That’s not to say comic book movies can’t be art. I totally disagree with David Lynch and Martin Scorsese. I think the past decade or so has absolutely raised the level of comic book movies to art.
If you think Nolan’s The Dark Knight isn’t a work of fine art, then you’re just blind. And I’m sorry but the cathartic moment for the audience when Thanos snapped in Infinity War was nothing short of breathtaking; I heard people in the theater gasp and sob. Only art gets a reaction like that.
I’ve stopped even having the conversation about what’s art and what isn’t. If I likes it, I watches it. And reads it. Now I’ve decided to start writing about my random entertainment thoughts. So without further ado…
Random Jacob Schoeneberger Thoughts on Moon Knight
This will contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched the show yet.
I love everything in the MCU; I honestly don’t think it’s had a single misstep yet. Some weren’t wild about The Eternals, but I loved every second.
But I have to admit Moon Knight has had me confused. Up to this point, I keep finding myself asking why? What’s it all for? What do the Egyptian gods do? Are they watching over us? What’s their deal? Until we know more about that, it’s kind of hard to understand what’s even at stake in this adventure.
Right so people will die if the alligator god is freed. I get that. But can’t the other gods keep the alligator in check as they have for millennia? If not, why not?
I also realize that the show is trying to show some real mental disorders, and I respect that. But now it’s taken a turn down the unreliable narrator path and that just makes the adventure these characters are on seem even more hard to fully understand and appreciate.
The discombobulated hippo was what really threw me for a loop. It became like watching several different storylines and not knowing which was real. And what’s worse, not being sure I cared which one was.
Then came the harrowing flashbacks of the little brother dying, the mother’s resentment and subsequent mental illness and abuse… it started to feel brutal and heavy and almost cruel. (Although I did appreciate the Ned Flanders joke.) All culminating in Steven’s death, I found myself wondering if something of this weight belongs in the MCU.
I’ll reserve full judgment on the series until I’ve watched the last episode, but for now I’ll say it’s really well-acted. And Isaac definitely does the best British accent since Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. But overall I’m having trouble rooting for the characters, other than Leyla and Steven and their lovely rapport.
This Installment’s Edition of Jacob Schoeneberger Has Been Living Under a Rock Features: Downton Abbey
I know the show has been around for a while but I’m finally getting around to watching Downton Abbey. I’m on the final episode of the fourth season.
This will contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched the show yet.
My initial impressions on this show are that it’s very well-crafted and well-acted, but to be honest I think it takes the easy way out sometimes from a storytelling point of view. That might sound crazy to people who love the show, of which there are many, but here’s why I think that.
I’m obviously not done with the show, so my opinions may change, but over the first four seasons it sure seems like the show is taking the easy way out with its scandals. It’s like the writers thought up all the possible scandals from that time then baked them into the show. I can almost hear them in the writers’ room.
Scandal 1: So it would be a huge deal if one of them had sex before marriage. Yeah, let’s have Mary do that!
Scandal 2: It’s so scandalous if like one of them married one of the staff. Right, let’s have Sybil do that!
Scandal 3: It’s crazy scandalous to get pregnant before marriage. Oh yeah, it’s Edith’s turn, let’s make her get pregnant!
Scandal 4: Oh how scandalous would it be if one of them got romantically involved with (gasp!) a black person? Definitely, Rose must do that!
Sorry, but these hackneyed scandals, and the ways each character has wriggled out of each, are starting to get old. (Not that literally any of these “scandals” are actually a bad thing, I’m absolutely not saying that at all. Just that they were perceived that way back then.) I like the characters, I’m rooting for them, but I do roll my eyes a bit every time a silly new “scandal” surfaces.
And what’s with killing off the Matthew character? This show was built on the foundation of Mary and Matthew, it has felt empty since he died. Was it shock value? Because if so, I’m more shocked by the fact that I’m actually having to work to like one of Mary’s new suitors instead of fighting the instinct to just stop watching the show.
I’m not a fan of shows killing off the main character. I know it’s all the rage since Game of Thrones killed Ned and everyone was like, “No way, the main guy died!” But that was because that world had to establish the fact that in the game of thrones you either win or you die. It was a harsh way to establish that the stakes are real in that world, and it worked.
But in Downton Abbey? Really? Were they trying to boost ratings? Is that why Miss O’Brien gets replaced by a younger, sexier actor? Why William is replaced by Jimmy? Why cousin Rose has to come live with them? I’m all for new characters but this seems transparent to me.
I’ll continue watching the show and see if I have any other thoughts about it. It is entertaining, I certainly won’t deny that! But without Matthew my heart just isn’t in it like it once was.
The Jacob Schoeneberger Random Entertainment Thought of the Day
If Chris Rock didn’t want to get slapped, then he shouldn’t have made a funny joke.