Face the Noyes

The surprise was somewhat dulled by the EU Trademark leak yesterday, but it doesn’t make it any less exciting.  2015 was the year which broke the annual release cycle for mainline games established with Pokemon Platinum (at least internationally; there was a 2-year gap between B/W and B2/W2 in Japan), and I’m hoping that the extra year of development time will make this new generation extra special.

Long story short: As detailed here, the FBI has requested that Apple make a master encryption key which would give them the unprecedented ability to brute-force their way into ANY iPhone.  They plan to use it on "just one phone" (that belonging to one of the San Bernadino shooters), but the entire iOS system would have to be fundamentally altered to allow them to gain access.

Obviously, that's a problem.

The (hypothetical) existence of such a "master key" would not only spit in the face of our Constitutional right to privacy as guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment, but the reasoning behind its creation seems short-sighted at best.  It’s important for the victims and their families to receive some sort of closure, and it’s just as important that anti-terrorist measures are in place to ensure such an attack never happens again.  However, sacrificing the security of millions is not the way to do it, especially in a world where groups like Anonymous revel in revealing private data and organizations like WikiLeaks have vowed to do whatever they can to inform citizens about controversial government procedures.  If these groups, or anyone else with a grudge, were able to get their hands on the code, then the government itself could easily be compromised and put into an incredibly awkward situation.

And who’s to say that groups like WikiLeaks wouldn’t be somewhat (though not entirely) justified if the FBI abused the use of the code to get information on millions of citizens? The NSA debacle that put Snowden and co. on the map proved that the government was willing to spy on billions of people (including several world leaders) without their knowledge or consent, in the name of preventing terrorism - and these actions were retroactively declared as illegal and a blatant violation of the Constitution by the US Federal Court of Appeals. The ability to gain access to every facet of our lives is a modern-day Pandora’s Box - far too dangerous for any one person or organization to wield, for in the wrong hands the end result would be nothing short of devastating.

So... Even though I should be studying for Japanese, I couldn’t help but embark on a quest to find as many easter eggs as possible in the Pokemon Super Bowl ad (which just released today).  It’s probably not all of them, but I’m honestly too lazy to go back and rewatch it for the 5th or 6th time.  Here we go:

The “Learn to Surf” sign is only onscreen for a fraction of a second, but it put a stupidly huge grin on my face.  It’s little inconsequential details like this which make the ad world so convincing and lifelike.

One of the pieces used during the chess battle sequence is a Pokemon - most likely Rhydon or Nidoking.  Personally, I think it’s the former, given that it was the first Pokemon ever created.

During the football game sequence, the team captain’s jersey number is 20. For most non-fans this number is inconsequential, but for dedicated fans it’s obvious what the commercial is celebrating.

Similarly, players 19 and 96 just “happen” to be running next to each other when the team dashes onto the field.

The insignia which the football helmets are adorned with is the Flame Badge from RBY.  It’s actually hilarious that they chose this particular badge, since Blaine is associated with Rapidash, who in turn bears an uncanny resemblance to the Denver Broncos mascot.  Even better is the fact that NO ONE predicted that they’d be able to beat the Pats in the AFC Championship game

I don’t think this one needs any explaining.

The cityscape is dominated by neon signs, including one for MooMoo Milk...

...and one for Rare Candies.

The final shots in the commercial are of a father and son watching a Pokemon battle on television with Pikachu at their side. Is the man Ash (or Red), 20 years after the events of the anime/RBY?  Does this prove once and for all that not all fathers in the Pokeverse are neglectful?  Maybe... or maybe not.

RIP David Bowie.  Your work was always so ubiquitous and chameleonic that half the time I didn’t know that you were the mastermind behind it.  Stuff like “Changes” and “Fame” - it’s all brilliant stuff.  And that’s not even considering everything and everyone you inspired - Yoshitaka Amano, Neil Gaiman, Rocky Horror, countless glam rock groups, Lady Gaga - the list goes on and on.

The biggest impact you had on me, though, was before I was born, when my mom first met (and fell in love with) my dad when he covered many of your songs with his band.  It’s in those little interactions, where music and art are a catalyst for something bigger, that an artist’s legacy is truly felt and measured.

And in that regard, you were nothing short of extraordinary.  Thank you for changing the music world for the better, forever.

There are three protagonists at the heart of The Force Awakens - Rey, Finn, and Poe.  Out of these three, only two were featured prominently in the recent trailer:

Rey (a woman)...

...and Finn, who is black.

Same goes for the poster, where the character of Poe is the least prominent of the three; this is only supported by the fact that he barely appeared in the trailer at all:

What does this mean, you might ask?

It means that for the first time ever in a Star Wars film, the main protagonist (regardless of whether its Rey or Finn) will be of a demographic which is underrepresented in big blockbuster films.  It’s rare to see a film of this scope where the female character isn’t a damsel in distress, eye candy, or an action girl who ends up relinquishing her authority/power to a man, and even rarer to see a person of color who isn’t relegated to a supporting role or two-dimensional comic relief.  Granted, the Star Wars franchise has always featured strong minority characters like Leia, Mace Windu, Ahsoka Tano, and Lando, but this is the first time one is in an undisputedly central role - one which the story revolves around.

Kudos to Disney for giving JJ, Kathleen, and everyone else working on the film the creative freedom to feature people we don’t normally see headlining a film like this due to being “difficult to market”.  The backlash from certain segments of the fandom has sadly proven that they are correct, in a sense: many people  simply aren’t interested in films with minority protagonists when they believe “anyone can fill that role; they’re just catering to a politically correct crowd”.  From a sociological perspective, it’s fascinating to compare and contrast this response with that of fans who boycott films for whitewashing protagonists, like the furor surrounding the casting for Death Note and Ghost in the Shell, but that’s a topic to be discussed for another day.  Regardless, it’s wonderful to see progress; I can only hope that the success of the film inspires more creatives and corporations alike to take risks with their protagonists, which will result in a more interesting, diverse landscape for film as art to prosper.

Pro-choice isn't synonymous with pro-abortion. I support #PlannedParenthood because I support the right to be educated about my options and the right to have control over my own body.