Movie Mentors Inspired Me
NOTE: Dan Brown’s column will now be appearing twice a week on the website of L.A. Mood Comics & Games; on Tuesdays, he’ll write about graphic novels, and on Thursdays he will cover other pop-culture topics.By Dan Brown It’s the movies that made me the mentor I am today. If it wasn’t for motion pictures like To Sir, With Love, The Empire Strikes Back, and Stand and Deliver, I’m not sure I would be one. It was the movie mentors – Sir, Yoda, Jaime Escalante – who showed me how I could inspire young people. Those characters also provided proof of how rewarding mentorship could be not just for the young person, but the mentor, too. Some background: In my day job, I work as the editorial-support manager for the Western Gazette, the student-owned and-run newspaper here in London. What does that mean, exactly? I like to think of it in these terms: Each new academic year, a recent grad serves as editor-in-chief. I, on the other hand, am the paper’s “mentor-in-chief.” (I could, and will, write a column another day about how I love the Gazette’s mentoring culture, every student gets in on helping newsroom newbies.) I’m also a journalism instructor at the same university, so have served as a mentor to students I meet through my classes. But my interest in mentoring started decades ago, long before I got my current position and long before I began teaching at Ontario universities. I was still a student in grade school. The original spark might very well have been when I watched Sidney Poitier’s To Sir, With Love for the first time, likely on afternoon TV in the 1970s one summer. It might have been Channel 10 or Global or even TVOntario that aired it. As you may recall, Poitier plays an engineer who can’t get a role in his own industry, so he turns to teaching as his Plan B, winding up tutoring a bunch of tough kids in 1966 East London. The unruly group of working-class teens initially gets the better of their teacher. In a fit of desperation he decides to throw out the curriculum so he can impose his own structure on the class, which allows him to school the motley crew about the facts of life they will need to survive. Gradually, they warm to his brand of tough love, and just as the students start to fall in love with him, he returns the affection. All that and a heartbreaker of a song by Lulu! It still brings tears to my eyes. Skip ahead a couple years. When The Empire Strikes Back comes out in 1980, George Lucas replaces acclaimed actor Alec Guinness (who played Ben Kenobi in the original Star Wars) with a green muppet as the new spokesman for the Force in Luke’s training scenes on the swamp planet Dagobah. To this day, I still ponder Yoda’s lessons. Is there really only a “do or do not” and no “try”? Isn’t that a tad harsh? When Yoda uttered the word “unlearn” it blew my mind. I knew what learning was, I was doing it at Valleyview Public School, but “unlearning” opened up all kinds of possibilities I had never thought about before. My favourite scene in all of Star Wars comes from that sequence, when Yoda describes the nature of the Force to a maturing Luke and tells him people are “luminous beings,” not just crude flesh and blood. Stirring stuff. As a teen, I would be riveted by Edwards James Olmos’s turn as real-life calculus teacher Jaime Escalante. His determination to help a class of young Latinos in L.A. reach their potential was inspiring. I marveled when he told them the Mayas invented the concept of zero, adding “You burros have math in your blood.” Olmos says he asks only one thing of his students: A desire to learn: “If you don’t have the ganas, I will give it to you because I’m an expert.” Math was never my thing. But I could see how he lit the fires in the eyes of his students.And there were others: Ben Kenobi himself, Joe Clark (as played by Morgan Freeman in Lean on Me), Robin Williams in Dead Poet’s Society (it was the book, not the movie, which introduced me to Miss Jean Brodie when I was a student at a British high school for a year). By the way, it wasn’t apparent to me until years after I became an instructor at Western that what I was doing was mentoring. One day, after helping a student from one of my classes, I got an email that said, “You’re a great mentor.” I had never thought of it in that way before. So that made it official. Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 32 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
The Time is Right for an SNL Network
NOTE: Dan Brown’s column will now be appearing twice a week on the website of L.A. Mood Comics & Games; on Tuesdays, he’ll write about graphic novels, and on Thursdays he will cover other pop-culture topics. The Time is Right for an SNL NetworkBy Dan Brown How much SNL is too much SNL? I know I can’t be the only one who was wondering that a few weeks ago. You may have noticed in February how, over the span of a few days, the U.S. network NBC pulled out all the stops to mark Saturday Night Live’s 50th season on the air. And I mean all the stops. The celebrations included:*A re-broadcast of the comedy show’s first episode from 1975.*A four-hour live anniversary special.*A three-hour concert special featuring former musical guests from SNL history*A three-hour documentary directed by Questlove on SNL’s musical impact*A four-part docu-series called Beyond Saturday Night focused on the show’s cast of comedy performers. The only thing missing was a documentary about all the comedy catchphrases the show has generated, from “You look mahvelous!” to “Isn’t that special?” to “Party on!” I kid. You would have to be an SNL fan of the highest order to make the time to watch all of that programming. I’m not, although I did make it through the re-airing of the inaugural episode, as well as the overlong anniversary broadcast. That’s enough SNL for me. Created by Canada’s own Lorne Michaels, who still serves as executive producer, SNL is as close as it comes to an institution on television – even if the truth is there have been more sketches that were misfires than hits over the last five decades. If SNL was a pro baseball player, it would have a handful of home runs yet a surprisingly low batting average. Legend has it Michaels was turned down by the CBC before he took his idea for a late-night variety show to New York all those years ago. NBC may have gone over the top last month because of the threat now posed by streaming services like Netflix to its bottom line. The hours and hours of content NBC commissioned will also be used to draw eyeballs to Peacock, its own streamer. But instead of feeding the streaming beast, why not just create an old-fashioned specialty network out of all that old content? Yes, I know SNL has a YouTube channel, but it’s mostly there to generate viral videos from current episodes. And I realize I’m not a very subtle thinker, but hear me out. Think of it: The SNL Channel. There are 50 years of programming to draw monologues, comedy sketches and musical interludes from. That’s more than 900 episodes, with each running 90 minutes. There’s 24 hours a day of programming right there. Nor does it take much brain power to imagine how they could supplement all those episodes with other comedic content. For starters, an SNL Channel could also run movies starring characters that were invented on Saturday Night Live. That’s everything from the Blues Brothers to the Wayne’s World movies to Coneheads. You could bolster those with other movies starring SNL cast members playing non-SNL characters – for example, Dan Aykroyd alum did a memorable turn in Driving Miss Daisy that was nominated for an Academy Award.. Or extend the concept to all the other projects Lorne Michaels has also served as executive producer on, which opens up episodes of shows like Kids in the Hall and Late Night With Conan O’Brien. The new network could likewise feature movies starring famous hosts, like 16-timer Steve Martin and 10-time host Tom Hanks. Heck, you could also include last year’s Saturday Night, the Jason Reitman comedy/drama about how the first episode was put together. And that’s not even taking into account new programming that could feature former SNL cast members. There’s enough comedic infrastructure that’s been built up around SNL over the last 50 years to support new productions, and I’m sure there are folks like Kate MacKinnon, Kyle Mooney and Vanessa Bayer who would have ideas for interesting shows. Admit it: This isn’t the worst pitch for a new channel you’ve ever heard! Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 32 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
Forest City Comicon Celebrates a Decade of Nerdiness
By Dan Brown Where will you be this Sunday? I’ll be at London’s Centennial Hall among the many fans who have helped make Forest City Comicon the long-running local success that it is. Such a smash, in fact, that June 16 marks 10 years since the first edition of FCC was held. In that time, it has seen visits by a hobbit, an X-Man, a Ninja Turtle, a vampire, and both Pinky and the Brain. And I’m just talking about the celebrity guests! The real treat for me is savouring the vibe that’s created when the members of different fandoms come together to share the love they feel for a particular comic, movie, TV show, anime or video game. You might think fitting all those many pop-culture enthusiasts into one place would set off sparks, but it’s the opposite. The atmosphere is peaceful and positive. I really dig it. “What I love about comicons is these are people who are passionate about something,” says Ian Tyson, a host and member of the FCC organizing committee. “That passion makes for a good audience member” at panels, adds Tyson, who – as part of the Just Us League, along with Jeremy Bushell and Brad Bushell – has led panels in the past on topics like debating the merits of Superman movies versus Batman films. Tyson says the assembled fandoms have joined to make a community that has lasted a decade and counting. A highlight for Tyson came in 2017 when he made second breakfast live on stage during a question-and-answer session with Billy Boyd, the actor who played the heroic halfling Pippin in the Lord of the Rings movies. “Our goal starting out was to be an alternative to (Toronto’s) Fan Expo, not to replicate it,” explains organizer Carol Vandenberg. “We hoped to define a London version by focusing on local and more accessible talent.” As far as I can see, mission accomplished. This year features a guest lineup that includes a strong Star Trek presence. Both Sara Mitich and Patrick Kwok-Choon have appeared on the just-concluded Discovery while T.J. Storm is known for his motion-capture performances in such movies as Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Deadpool. “Our goal is to make the biggest one-day show we can, bursting with activities, local talent, emerging celebrities and not-forgotten fan favourites,” Vandenberg says. The cosplay contest at FCC is legendary, and there will also be face-painting, panels, two floors of vendors, a Harry Potter photo booth, food trucks, and a Mario Kart competition. Although it’s taken for granted now, no one knew before 2014 if a fan convention of this size would work in London. Fellow organizer Gord Mood says the show mostly draws fans from its namesake community, but also from towns as far as two hours away. “When I think about the first time I did it, it doesn’t feel that long ago,” Mood reflects. “We know what to do (now), but it’s still a lot of work.” And where a big-city show such as Fan Expo can afford to bring in 20 or 30 celebrity guests, Mood and his crew have to be more strategic about their resources. “I think cons have to be diverse enough to appeal to a large fan base rather than a particular type (of fan),” he says. “Early success led us to try out larger venues and weekend-long shows, but we found that really did not work out for us,” Vandenberg says. “COVID allowed us to go back to basics and perfect our original model.” I’ll see you there! Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 31 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group. P.S. Forest City Comicon tickets are still available
Why Didn’t Comics Version of Indiana Jones Set The World On Fire?
By Dan Brown All readers want from comics, I’ve said before, is compelling characters in interesting situations. Well, Indiana Jones – featured in the Dial of Destiny, which is in theatres now – is certainly a compelling character as played by Harrison Ford. And the makers of the Indy films have certainly been able to place him in some interesting (and deadly) situations. So how come the daring archeologist has never been able to sustain a comic title for long? I’m not saying Jones is a total washout as the headliner of a monthly series, but compared to adjacent properties, like Star Wars, he’s only been a blip in the grand sweep of comics history. Inspired by the success of 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, It’s true Marvel Comics did publish more than 30 issues of The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones starting in 1983. Remember, those were the days when there wasn’t a property Marvel didn’t try to plunder. The gang from the bullpen attempted to cash in on every new fad, trend, craze and sensation that came along. How ridiculous did it get? This was the era when even the rock band KISS ended up in the pages of Marvel Comics. That’s right – for a brief moment, Gene Simmons was a Marvel protagonist, along with Spider-Man, the Hulk, Wolverine and the rest. I’m guessing an Indy comic seemed like a no-brainer. As it turned out, that first series would pale beside the Star Wars monthly, which ran 107 issues from 1977 to 1986 and is credited by some with keeping the House of Ideas afloat during lean economic times. And those Star Wars comics were . . . fine. They weren’t the worst stories in the world, although I would argue Russ Manning was doing far more interesting things in the same universe in the pages of daily newspapers with the Star Wars comic strip. And Marvel certainly invested in the venture, attaching talents like Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson and John Byrne to bring Jones to life on the page. Yet the Further Adventures of Indiana Jones fizzled even before the original Indy trilogy wrapped up in 1989 with the Last Crusade. Here’s another comparison: Conan, Robert E. Howard’s pulp barbarian character, was also a Marvel Comics property during roughly the same period, and has been in the hands of one publishing house or another for decades since. Who knows how many Conan comic adaptations there have been to date? It’s also true Dark Horse Comics licenced Indiana Jones and his bullwhip in the 1990s for several more adventures. But those stories are only half-remembered now, if at all. So despite his enduring appeal on the big screen, why was Indy a comparative dud in comics form? I don’t have an all-encompassing answer, but the fact is some properties just don’t translate to other media. Some books don’t make good TV shows. Some movies don’t make good comics. Very few plays make for interesting films. (This is where I should also note that the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, the network version of the character, barely lasted two seasons on ABC, so there may be something about the archeologist that just doesn’t work in other media.) Or perhaps it’s because the Indy films are the end product of pop culture, not the beginning. What I mean is, it was newspaper strips and adventure comics, along with silver-screen serials, that moved George Lucas and Steve Spielberg to come up with Indy in the first place. And maybe it just ends there: Dr. Jones was intended to be a creature of the big screen, so he is doomed never to transcend its limits. Dan Brown has covered pop culture for 30 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
