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kindred-is-obsessed · 5 years

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Reasons you should be watching Craig of the Creek

Not enough people are watching this wonderful show, so I thought I’d do my best to introduce people to it. It’s made by former Steven Universe crew Ben Levin and Matt Burnett, so if you’re missing Steven Universe while it’s on hiatus this is a great way to keep away the hiatus blues, or if you just enjoy in cartoons. It’s great for a whole list of reasons, which broadly fall into the two categories of great representation and great storytelling:

Canonical queer representation

- The witches premiere in the episode The Curse. If you aren’t sure if you want to watch this whole show definitely watch this one at least! It’s my absolute favourite not least of all because it’s about teen goth girls in love. It has a sequel The Last Kid in The Creek which is also wonderful, and the witches cameo throughout the series. I don’t want to spoil too much but The Curse is essentially about the two not wanting to be separated and struggling to admit their feelings for each other. (Spoilers: they do and walk off alone, blushing, staring at each other lovingly, while the kids aww at them)

- Bernard and his girlfriend watch a cooking show hosted by a gay couple.

- Other cameos, hints and coded queer kids such as JP’s sister (who has fancy dinner reservations with Kat, a woman with a shaved head who compliments Kelsey’s fake sword). There’s also Raj and Shaun (two very close friends), as well as several very boyish tomboys, including Handlebarb and Turner.

- All public bathrooms I’ve spotted in the show have gender neutral signs on them which is nice.

POC representation

- Craig, the main character, is black and has a loving family explored in depth, including an activist grandmother working for the council, a wise and fun grandfather, a supportive fun dad who loves his amazing wife, an adorable assertive little sister, and an angsty overachieving older brother who just wants to be a good grownup who loves his family and girlfriend.

- There are MANY characters of colour. There are black and brown characters, Raj is Indian, Stacks is Hispanic (and it’s implied she is an immigrant), there are several Asian characters, Kelsey is Hungarian and Jewish, a persistent background character wears a hijab (I’m pretty sure she was named at some point but I can’t find her name anywhere. She definitely has lines at one point). I’m sure there are others I have missed. No one is a stereotype as far as I am aware.

Subtle neurodivergent representation

- JP is possibly on the autism spectrum. I’d love neurodivergent people’s opinions on this, but while the representation isn’t canonical or obvious I think it’s good that while JP is represented as having different thought processes from his friends, he isn’t made fun of for it, at least not by them. It’s noteworthy I think that he’s the eldest of the core trio, probably because he finds it easier to relate to younger people who still share his imagination and care less about his unique way of thinking. His neurodivergence is explored most explicitly in the episode Jextra Perrestrial, so if you’re interested in this kind of representation definitely check that episode out.

Non-nuclear family representation

- While the main character is a member of the typical nuclear family you see on TV (except black, and actually interesting) most of the other families we see are not.

- JP is raised by his mother and older sister. His father is never mentioned and their house is definitely in worse condition than the others we see. His family works hard to take care of each other. His sister is a nurse and both her and her mother are away a lot of the time, but they both love JP very much. JP’s sister also happens to be really openly body positive. I love them a lot.

- Kelsey’s father is an only parent. There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding how Kelsey’s mother passed away. It’s a very subtle but important part of Kelsey’s character and comes through in really bittersweet adorable ways (not limited to Kelsey using her “half-orphan”ness to guilt trip a man into giving her money)

- Other kinds of families are scattered throughout the show, including families that move around a lot, a home-school kid with a strict mother, and more.

Unique approach to fantasy and sci-fi

- You know how most kids show will take a kid’s fantasy and bring it to reality? Well Craig of the Creek keeps the fantastical and nostalgic element of that line of thinking but never confirms or denies whether the kids fantasies are real or in their heads. And not in a Scooby Doo way where the fantastical elements are explained away, but are hinted as a possibility right at the very end. Instead, two perspectives (the fantastical perspective and the realistic perspective) are woven into every episode.

- This means there are two ways to interpret every episode. You can view the witches as real witches, or as goth teenagers. You can view Helen as a kid from another dimension, or a home-school kid who is never at the creek at the same time as the other kids. You can view Deltron as a cyborg from the future, or as an imaginative kid from a big city.

- This is super unique and fun to watch. They come up with so many new ideas and its always fun to figure out what’s actually happening, while still getting to relive childhood fantastical nostalgia.

- Almost all of these episodes use this to talk about an issue, but these issues can get quite complex and are definitely not shoved down your throat.

Overarching mystery plot about a colonialist kingdom / cult

- Love the slow burn storytelling of Steven Universe’s Diamond Authority? Love putting together the mysteries of Gravity Falls? Then you’ll love this plot about colonialism, classism, bullying, peer pressure and more and its mysterious build up including cryptic graffiti art and flower symbolism.

- Even before this arc properly begins, Craig of The Creek primarily centers around the microcosm of the Creek. Many of the episodes have a lot of commentary on society, politics and how different factions of people form and interact.

- The show is over 50 episodes in and this arc is only just starting to kick off so now is the time to catch up and watch.

- Fun complex villain(s)

Complex relatable characters

- Want commentary and nostalgia about horse girls, children’s tea parties, weird kids, angsty teens, young weebs, dweebs and more!? Every childhood obsession is represented in this show.

- Adults! All the parents and older teens in this show are just as rich and complex as the kids. They are all so interesting and fun.

- Want characters with arcs, aims, fun relationships and complexity!? Look no further! Redemption arcs! Revelations! Found family! It’s all here!

Great art and soundtrack

- Cute background and character designs that make you nostalgic as hell and are also beautiful and well thought out.

- Sometimes the art design is changed up for a particular episode to portray a certain fantastical / sci fi element. It’s very fun and engaging.

- An opening song that’s fun to sing along to, bittersweet ending song that makes me want to cry, a couple of musical episodes including a super fun rap musical episode, and a great OST

Queer headcanons

- There are tons of ways to interpret the show but here’s some of my head canons just to get an idea.

- (Note that despite my headcanons I use the pronouns for the kids that they use in the show cause I’m not certain about any of it and they’re kids who haven’t come out yet and also for clarity and consistency’s sake – I’m not saying trans people are not their genders. Don’t worry I’m nonbinary)

- I headcanon that all the main trio grow up to realise they are queer. They strike me as that weird group of friends that doesn’t fit in with the other kids and aren’t quite sure how they all came to be friends, only to later realise they all showed early signs of breaking gender roles and that’s why they stuck together.

- Craig definitely grows up to realise he’s gay, bisexual or queer. His admiration for characters like Deltron and Green Poncho are definitely crushes that he mistakes for a strong sudden and eager desire for friendship.

- Kelsey probably grows up to realise she is nonbinary, a trans boy or a WLW. I mostly headcanon this because I relate to her a lot and I’m nonbinary and queer so I said so. She reminds me a lot of myself as a kid. She throws herself into books, mostly fantasy for escapism. She fantasises and writes a lot for the same reasons. She dresses like a tomboy (She always wears her hair up in the same bun which strongly reminds me of my own childhood hair dysphoria) and she hangs out solely with male friends.

- JP gives me strong trans lesbian vibes, or to a lesser extent nonbinary vibes. (I know his sister is WLW coded but take it from me there can be more than one queer in a family). He is interested in girls, specifically Maney the horse girl (he even joined the horse girls for one episode). He wears a long V-neck shirt that is essentially a dress ALL the time. He’s aware that he’s different and while self conscious sometimes, mostly just wants to express himself the way he wants to. He also chooses to go by initials JP over his very gendered name Johnathan Paul (In a recent episode he names a ship after himself, calling it “The SS Johnathon Paulina”).

- (Sidenote if you do start watching this show and I see any nasty shipping of these characters in non puppy-love fashion so help me god)

Other reasons

- The show is at times very intertextual and references Princess Mononoke, Super Smash Brothers, Sailor Moon, Lord of the Rings, and a billion other things. It also has some fun cameos, including background images of the Tres Horny Boys from The Adventure Zone, a TARDIS from Doctor Who, and a Cookie Cat from Steven Universe.

- Honestly, this post hasn’t done the best job explaining why I love this show so much. You honestly just have to watch an episode to understand fully what I’m talking about, so give it a go! Watch The Curse at least, it only goes for 10 minutes.

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shenmeizhuang-blog · 7 years

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q series: life plan a and b -- final thoughts

SYNOPSIS: When Zheng Ruwei (Rainie Yang)’s boyfriend’s father suffers a severe injury from a car accident, she goes down two vastly different paths -- remaining in Taiwan and marrying her boyfriend to take care of her father-in-law, “forgotten” as a busy housewife, and accepting her job promotion in Shanghai, where she becomes an extremely wealthy and successful, yet lonely businesswoman.

Life Plan A And B was a show that I left on the back-burner for the longest time, but rather unexpectedly, I managed to find time to sit down and complete this. It’s a considerably solid show, with a fairly strong, albeit occasionally over-dramatic, script, yet frankly I’m largely relieved that I’ve finally completed this.

It’s quite rare for me to watch Taiwanese dramas (and it was initially difficult for me to find an HD version of the show; I ended up viewing this on DramaFever), but as a fan of Rainie Yang, who praised the script immensely, I decided to give it a shot. Though “only 6 episodes”, each episode is a whopping 1.5 hours long -- so technically the equivalent of either 12 or 18 c-drama episodes. While having watched the first three episodes sometime in January, and the latter three this week (latter part of May, indicating how much I might’ve procrastinated on writing this), it was considerably easy to immerse myself back into protagonist Zheng Ruwei’s two alternate lifetimes. However, riddled with tragedy, melodrama, and even dragging lethargy, I found it difficult to truly enjoy the ride.

As the title suggests, Life Plan A And B contrasts two vastly differing lifestyles, exploring themes such as wealth, aspirations, superficiality, loneliness, marriage, and misogyny through not just protagonist Zheng Ruwei’s increasingly contrasting image and personas, yet also the many reactions and life choices of other re-occurring characters, including her boyfriend Tang You Yan (Yan Yulin), You Yan’s father, Gao Mei Yu, as well as supportive static characters such as Ruwei’s good friend Zhang Jie. Parallels drawn throughout both lifetimes -- an abruptly “solved” abortion juxtaposed with a sudden pregnancy resulting in Ruwei’s marriage and ultimate loss of her own source of income, or Gao Mei Yu’s affections for You Yan consistently presented in both lifetimes -- further emphasized the contrast between the two different paths that Ruwei walked down.

Plan A, though riddled with more dramatic elements such as birth secrets, embezzlement, and even death (and yet this is a slice-of-life), was by far the easier arc to watch. On a shallow note, Ruwei the rich and successful businesswoman, wore gorgeous, fashionable outfits (that shade of lipstick was A++) that I could literally spend hours ogling over (and no, the above poster does not do it justice).

However, perhaps representative of the overall theme, the arc itself felt largely empty. For one, even though I never particularly liked You Yan, I could never come to terms with the “hot” “General Manager” as a viable love interest -- Rong Yichao (Johnny Lu)’s racism went unaddressed, and his overall “mysterious” personality, including inviting women over to his apartment (wtf), was at best off-putting. Oh, and not to mention how he wasn’t drunk at all during him and Ruwei’s one-night stand, which is something I tried (?) to ignore. When tragedy fell upon him I didn’t mind all that much. (As for the ending, I like the idea behind it, but the way it was executed felt very abrupt, and I was all, “Okay then.”)

In stark contrast, I absolutely adored Zhao Hui’s earnestness, yet as consistent with the entire arc of Plan A, everything felt empty and lacking. Though the show indicated that the tragedy was a result of Ruwei’s selfish nature, it seemed that the moment anything meaningful would finally form, and Ruwei would completely move on, tragedy would suddenly strike -- as if Life simply disallowed Ruwei to live happily while rich and successful, or a punishment of sorts for being “selfish” and “willful”.

Plan B was what left me constantly feeling lethargic and frustrated, and the 1.5 hour episode length certainly did not help. In contrast to Ruwei’s (arguable) selfishness (read: ambition), resulting in decisions that built up equal financial success and loneliness, Ruwei constantly had to sacrifice and compromise. Initially, as Plan B was all about, it was just her salary raise and promotion to Shanghai, but eventually she was “forced” to marry You Yan, forced to lose her job due to pregnancy complications, and remained dependent on the family’s salary. Therefore, even buying a cheap gift for her mother-in-law resulted in severe reprimands.

As the family’s demands and lack of gratitude (from her perspective) wore her down bit by bit, she felt that she became less and less desirable, even automatically making certain assumptions. (I still cringe whenever I think of how the family dealt with Ruwei going into labor.) Meanwhile, Plan B managed to flesh out You Yan as a character far more, unveiling his own struggles, and, as a parallel to the entire show, him ultimately sacrificing his passions for a stable, high-earning job. Overall, the way the sequence of events weren’t in chronological order allowed for maximum effect in terms of ultimate reveals, displaying how life decisions are made in that split second when misunderstandings and assumptions occur.

Unfortunately, despite my understanding that all these elements were purposefully incorporated, it was still difficult for me to watch, and many times throughout the show I was actually largely grateful for DramaFever’s ad breaks -- these episodes are simply not things I can watch in a single sitting.

Ultimately, both lifetimes led to a somewhat peaceful and fulfilling “resolution”. Rather than going down two extreme roads, both versions of herself learned to gain some middle ground, balancing out both priorities, before finding true fulfillment. “Both plans won.”

But audiences are still left with the question -- which choice is worth it? Is it better not to question what happened before? Because the pain and suffering that Ruwei felt -- perhaps more muted in Plan A, as well as exaggerated in Plan B -- actually translated to lethargy for the audience. While I think I learned a lot through watching this -- be it about the concept of sacrifice and decision-making, or the melodramatic and misogynistic view of housewives in traditional Taiwanese culture -- it’s ultimately something that I can’t say I completely enjoy.

Miscellaneous:

The titular track of Rainie Yang’s most recent studio album, 年轮说, or Traces of Time in Love, is also this drama’s opening theme song. (I also happen to really like this song -- listen to it!)

“Traces of Time in Love” was nominated for “Song of the Year” in the 2017 Golden Melody Awards (that being said, GMA’s presence in Mandopop has significantly lowered).

相爱的方法 “The Lessons of Love” and 单 “Being Single”, both tracks from 年轮说, also make up the OSTs for this show.

The show is mostly in standard Mandarin, but occasionally characters, especially older-generation parents, tended to suddenly break into the traditional (Taiwanese) Hakka dialect, so I ultimately did rely on DramaFever’s subs.

I may or may not have forgotten to comment on the acting in this show. Everyone delivered. Rainie was rather impressive. Johnny Lu managed to make his (IMO) unlikable and off-putting character somehow charismatic.

Overall rating: 7.7/10

#life plan a and b #q series: life plan a and b #twdrama #rainie yang #杨丞琳 #commentary #long post #my commentary

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