Movies &; TV Reading Rainbow Butterfly in the Sky Will Make You Fall in Love With Reading‚ and Reading Rainbow‚ All Over Again You should actually take my word for it By Leah Schnelbach | Published on April 18‚ 2024 Image: Sidestilt Films Comment 0 Share New Share Image: Sidestilt Films The only man I’ve ever wanted to marry is LeVar Burton. And yeah‚ for the obvious reason: He had all the books. At least‚ six-year-old me assumed those were all his books that they read on the show. He was the one recommending them before his army of adorable Outer Boroughs Children gave their picks‚ so you didn’t have to take his word for it‚ so clearly they were his‚ right&;#63; As tiny tiny child‚ I organized my whole day around that half hour with Reading Rainbow. The show‚ its theme song‚ the little instrumental cue that preceded the kids with their book recs—those are probably the biggest Proustian madeleines I’ve got‚ and while it was my mom who taught me to read‚ my crush on LeVar certainly sped the process up. You can understand that I went into the Butterfly in the Sky with a certain amount of trepidation. What if it was… bad&;#63; What if‚ somehow‚ the documentary didn’t live up to the rush of emotions I have when I think about that show&;#63; I’m so happy and relieved to say that if anything‚ it exceeded my expectations. Even when it upset me‚ it wasn’t the documentary that did it—it was learning about how rough things got at the end of the show’s run‚ as funding was cut‚ culture wars intensified‚ and Reading Rainbow was finally cancelled. But that’s also one of the film’s strengths: It really does tell the whole story of Reading Rainbow—the struggles to prove that kids would watch the show‚ the tug-of-war that occasionally happened over LeVar Burton’s fashion choices (Mr. Burton always‚ correctly‚ stood his ground)‚ the way the show tried to incorporate heavy topics like mourning and racism into its runtime‚ the way it dealt with the aftermath of 9/11. And what comes through is that Burton and the producers‚ Twila Liggett‚ Cecily Truett Lancit‚ and Larry Lancit always operated from a place of respect for children’s intelligence. The other important thread is that this show wasn’t intended to teach children how to read‚ it was intended to help them love reading. Reading Rainbow was a show for book nerds. Image: Sidestilt Films The documentary opens with a montage of those kids and their mini book reviews. We see the children as they were in the ‘80s and ‘90s (at my screening this was met with peals of affectionate laughter) with cuts to some of them as adults talking about their experience on the show. The filmmakers check in with them a few times and we get to hear about the adult lives they’ve created since their appearances. Butterfly in the Sky follows the usual documentary shape‚ where the filmmakers check in with producers and writers working through the development of the show‚ and cut between people with conflicting memories to gradually build the story of the show. This section culminates in LeVar Burton being hired (but I’ll come back to that in a second)‚ shows us the plateau of the show’s success‚ and then gets a little elegiac as it talks about the show’s end. But unlike its most obvious pairing‚ Won’t You Be My Neighbor‚ Butterfly doesn’t have to end on a sigh for a lost era. It’s able to carry us into the future by giving space to the adult lives of those former book recommenders‚ to Jason Reynolds‚ a childhood fan who grew up to be a celebrated author (and the Library of Congress’ 2020-2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature&;#33;)‚ and to Mr. Burton and the show’s producers to talk about their lives after the show.   At one point we get an extended sequence of Steve Horelick‚ the composer of Reading Rainbow’s theme song‚ walking us through how he built the theme song. I can’t quite describe what this made me feel. That song is my Low‚ my “Warszawa”‚ the song that made me hear new possibilities in music before I even got to kindergarten—watching him recreate its genesis… okay‚ if Proust had choked on that madeleine&;#63; That’s how I felt for a minute there. There’s also the usual fun reminiscences of adventures on location‚ trying to get footage in a cave full of bats (and their subsequent toxic guano)‚ a shoot at an erupting volcano‚ the iconic set visit to Mr. Burton’s other gig‚ Star Trek: The Next Generation. The doc included the scene where the effect supervisor showed the kids at home how the “beaming up” effect was created‚ and I got to hear a theater full of adults “ooooh” in unison. Also: this is apparently the episode that most people bring up when they meet Mr. Burton‚ and indeed‚ it’s the one I brought up when I met Mr. Burton. He was very nice about it. But let me talk about LeVar Burton for a moment. Again‚ the obvious comparison for Butterfly in the Sky is the (excellent) documentary about Fred Rogers‚ Won’t You Be My Neighbor&;#63;‚ which tells the straight-ahead story of how Mr. Rogers pioneered a new kind of television show for children—a slow‚ thoughtful show that treated children’s emotional lives with great seriousness‚ but which still‚ in a way‚ reinforced a certain kind of top-down structure. Mr. Rogers was an older man‚ in sensible clothes‚ talking directly into the camera as an adult speaking to children. He was an authority figure‚ and when he wanted to tap further into identification with children‚ he spoke through puppets. He was also a white man inviting kids into his respectable‚ neat‚ quiet suburban home. He’s the kind of person USian society has always told us is supposed to be in charge—as much as Mr. Rogers himself subverted that expectation by performing a different type of masculinity and adulthood than was usually seen on TV. Even so‚ Reading Rainbow is a different beast‚ and Butterfly in the Sky becomes strongest when it digs into that difference‚ especially the importance of LeVar Burton. For the first seven-ish years of my life‚ I was in rural Pennsylvania. Extremely rural Pennsylvania‚ in the woods. I lived in a very white‚ very straight‚ very conformist world. While my own parents were always pretty iconoclastic‚ the world outside my house was full of rigid structures and mockery for anything “different” or “weird”. And literature‚ history‚ social studies—all of it was blindingly white. Moby white‚ Poe gazing at an ice shelf in Antarctica white. Image: Sidestilt Films Mr. Burton showed me a different world. A Black man with a gold hoop earring‚ who wore bright colors‚ not a suit (or even a fetching slacks-and-cardigan combo like Mr. Rogers)‚ and who wore his facial hair in different ways in different episodes. A man who traveled all over the place‚ but who seemed to make his home in New York City‚ and was enthusiastic about the kind of hectic‚ LOUD life a person could live there. An adult who was enthusiastic and game to try anything—who interacted with the world like a kid‚ but like a kid who would want to go on an adventure with you‚ not mock you for being a freak. Now‚ obviously‚ I would never claim the level of identification that‚ for instance‚ Jason Reynolds does in his segments. I can’t know what it meant for Black kids to see Mr. Burton on TV in a landscape that was overwhelmingly white—I would imagine it was incredibly powerful‚ but I can’t tell those stories. I can say that he showed me a different road into adulthood. A version of adulthood that didn’t mean crushing myself down into what my society seemed to expect. He was an adult‚ but he wasn’t an elderly Mr. Rogers or one of the middle-aged-adult-ish-feeling humans of Sesame Street. He went to all-night diners‚ and midnight radio shows‚ and rooftop tar beaches. I could be him‚ to a certain extent‚ if I could just get to a city and trick people into thinking I was cool. But again‚ one of the strengths of Butterfly is showing me the ways I couldn’t be him. The filmmakers remind us‚ again and again‚ that Mr. Burton became famous as the star of Roots. It reminds us that a lot of the arguments over his appearance were based in him being Black‚ and celebrating that‚ and not wanting to sand himself down for the white gaze. We’re shown footage of Mr. Burton on chat shows‚ talking about how his opportunities as an actor‚ even after the record-shattering success of Roots‚ were never up to par with those of his white peers. Again and again the filmmakers check in with Black fans of the show‚ people like Whoopi Goldberg (a co-producer on the doc‚ who was one of Mr. Burton’s co-stars on Next Gen) and Jason Reynolds‚ who speaks at length to the impact Mr. Burton had on him as a child. It was thrilling to watch how often the filmmakers‚ and Mr. Burton himself‚ stressed these differences. Where Won’t You Be My Neighbor&;#63; was able to mostly paint a positive arc for Fred Rogers‚ with only the slight frustration at how the world has become louder‚ faster‚ more complicated‚ and how it would be better if we could all be more like Daniel Tiger (which‚ fair)‚ Butterfly hammers home the idea that Reading Rainbow was made in the face of glaring prejudice from a society that hasn’t changed enough—because we haven’t changed it. Because I’ve lived an in interesting life‚ and been far luckier than I understand (or deserve‚ if I’m being honest)‚ I got to meet Mr. Burton at a literary event a few years ago. I managed to remain coherent‚ I didn’t propose we run away together‚ I didn’t cry. He held one of my hands in both of his‚ and looked me in the eyes‚ and told me that he was glad to meet me. He seemed to mean it&;#63; He seemed to be genuinely happy to meet the whole lot of us at the event‚ a roomful of competent professionals turned into heart-eyed children when he walked into the room. He talked about his mother‚ and how she taught him to read‚ and her passion for books and literacy and imagination. Since then‚ he’s started the LeVar Burton Book Club‚ the LeVar Burton Reads podcast (the fact that adults still want him to read to them is touched on in Butterfly)‚ he judged a short story contest on this very website‚ and he recently hosted the National Book Awards and made a point of calling out some particularly irritating pro-censorship windbags to raucous applause. He is still my hero‚ and still the only man I’d ever consider marrying. (I have my own books now‚ though‚ it’s cool.) My theater filled with enthusiastic applause as the documentary ended‚ and I tried to take stock of the mood as I left. A group of people stayed in their seats talking excitedly about Butterfly and their own reading lives. A few people who didn’t seem to know each other coming in were now talking to each other. Two theater workers were standing in the doorway‚ having an impassioned conversation with a member of the audience about this movie’s distribution schedule. And as I left‚ the kids behind the counter—who were almost certainly not even born when Reading Rainbow went off the air—were singing the theme song.[end-mark] The post &;lt;i&;gt;Butterfly in the Sky&;lt;/i&;gt; Will Make You Fall in Love With Reading‚ and &;lt;i&;gt;Reading Rainbow&;lt;/i&;gt;‚ All Over Again appeared first on Reactor.

News Transformers One Transformers One is the Robot Origin Story No One Asked For And it’s from the director of Toy Story 4‚ no less By Molly Templeton | Published on April 18‚ 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share For years‚ now—years and years and years—the people have been crying out‚ not for more origin stories‚ but for them to stop. We have been origined half to death out here. And if—if&;#33;—for some reason another origin story were necessary‚ you know what it wouldn’t be necessary for&;#63; Robots from the last century. Robots that are more than meets the eye. Robots that are going to say that tagline out loud in the trailer for the animated origin story Transformers One. Hey‚ did you know Optimus Prime and Megatron were buds once&;#63; (What is this‚ the X-Men&;#63;) Did you know that they didn’t always know how to transform&;#63; Did you need to know that they were once lowly worker bots just like everyone else&;#63; Well. Someone thinks you ought to find out. If your humble writer’s frustration with this inane commercial for robot toys seems a touch outsized‚ please consider this: The makers of this film saw fit to spend some unspecified but obviously quite large amount of money to shoot this movie trailer into space. Remember when space exploration meant something&;#63; Remember when we were curious about what was out there&;#63; You know what’s out there now&;#63; Transformers junk. The actors providing the voices for this commercial film include Chris Hemsworth‚ Brian Tyree Henry‚ Scarlett Johansson‚ Keegan-Michael Key‚ Steve Buscemi‚ Laurence Fishburne‚ and Jon Hamm. Yes‚ despite the fact that we’re no longer in the ’80s‚ there is one token woman. Love that. Love that for all of us. Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) directs. For some reason‚ this movie is in theaters on September 20th.[end-mark] The post &;lt;em&;gt;Transformers One&;lt;/em&;gt; is the Robot Origin Story No One Asked For appeared first on Reactor.

Book Recommendations Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels  Fix-up novels can sometimes feel a little clunky…but sometimes they succeed beyond all measure&;#33; Here are five classic examples… By James Davis Nicoll | Published on April 18‚ 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Suppose for the moment that you were a hard-working speculative fiction author with a lengthy backlist of short fiction. Further suppose that you wanted to package some of that short fiction into a collection that readers might buy. Imagine your consternation on discovering that collections weren’t selling well and that no publisher wanted to gamble on your work. What is a hard-working author to do&;#63; One solution to a temporary shortage of funds is to don a garish costume‚ adopt a memorable nom de crime‚ and launch a series of unnecessarily complex schemes to rob banks. But there is an even easier solution&;#33; Simply take those unsellable short works‚ apply narrative spackle‚ and transform them into what A. E. Van Vogt called a “fix-up” novel. Readers will barely notice the seams as they enjoy your latest novel1. You will enjoy extra income. Everyone wins—especially your bank manager. While Van Vogt’s own fix-ups were (to put it charitably) of variable quality‚ the form has produced legitimate classics that are well worth readers’ time and money. Herewith‚ five truly glorious fix-ups you might want to read. Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller‚ Jr. (1959) Miller’s only novel published during his lifetime‚ Canticle details the efforts of the pious brothers of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz to preserve scientific knowledge following the Flame Deluge and subsequent Simplification. The results are mixed at best‚ but the brothers’ hearts were pure. The novel Canticle began as “A Canticle for Leibowitz‚” “And the Light is Risen‚” and “The Last Canticle‚” all published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction between 1955 and 1957. Each was substantially reworked before appearing as the fix-up Canticle for Leibowitz in 1959. The result was an instant‚ Hugo Award-winning classic. In fact‚ Canticle was so successful that it eclipsed Miller’s other work; I have encountered people who are entirely unaware Miller wrote other stories. Pavane by Keith Roberts (1968) Following Queen Elizabeth I’s assassination‚ the Reformation is crushed. Spain remains ascendant. The Catholic Church remains the Church and technological and social innovation is discouraged. The consequences (and ultimately‚ the true cause) of this historical alteration are detailed over generations from the perspective of England’s Dorset region. The novelettes that became Pavane began as “The Signaller‚” “The Lady Anne‚” “Brother John‚” “Lords and Ladies‚” “Corfe Gate‚” and “The White Boat‚” all published in 1966‚ all of which save “The White Boat” were first published in Impulse. “The White Boat” first appeared in New Worlds. As with Canticle‚ the result was an instant classic. While Pavane did not win a Hugo‚ it was featured in the first Ace SF Specials and is still in print over half a century later. In the Red Lord’s Reach by Phyllis Eisenstein (1989) Alaric the Minstrel (bard and teleporter) gains employment in the Red Lord’s court. The mysterious screams heard from the Red Lord’s tower lead Alaric to question the prudence of working for the lord. A man who can teleport need not worry overmuch about imprisonment…but is Alaric the sort of man who will simply walk away from injustice&;#63; Red Lord began as “The Land of Sorrow‚” “The Mountain Fastness‚” and “Beyond the Red Lord’s Reach‚” all of which first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction between 1977 and 1988. Annoyingly‚ despite Eisenstein’s talent as a writer‚ both this volume and 1978’s Born to Exile are long out of print2. Alaric-curious readers can seek out Eisenstein’s more recent Alaric tale‚ 2014’s “The Caravan to Nowhere‚” which may be found in the Rogues anthology edited by Gardner Dozois and George R.R. Martin. Mirabile by Janet Kagan (1991) A mishap en route to an exoplanet cost the hopeful pioneers the index that was key to a cutting-edge biotechnological tool. Lack of index did not prevent genetically-engineered animals and plants from occasionally producing dissimilar‚ sometimes dangerous‚ offspring. It falls to Annie Jason “Mama Jason” Masmajean to deal with the resulting “Dragon’s Teeth.” Mirabile’s composite parts—“The Loch Moose Monster‚” “The Return of the Kangaroo Rex‚” “The Flowering Inferno‚” “Getting the Bugs Out‚” “Raising Cane‚” and “Frankenswine”) first appeared in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine between 1989 and 1991. As fix-ups go‚ the efforts to transform the original short pieces into a novel are perfunctory to the point that for years I thought it was a collection. Nevertheless‚ the result entertains. It’s too bad that Mirabile is currently out of print. Perhaps a letter-writing campaign to Mirabile’s publisher Tor could change that&;#33; Accelerando by Charles Stross (2005) As was foretold by techno-optimistic futurists‚ the Singularity utterly transforms the world. A trifling side effect barely worth mentioning is that intellectually out-classed humans are swiftly reduced from Earth’s dominant thinkers to cognitive archaea. As detailed over generations‚ the post-Singularity era is an exciting time to be alive…or to be consumed by ruthless‚ super-intelligent AIs. Accelerando’s component chapters (“Lobsters‚” “Troubadour‚” “Tourist‚” “Halo‚” “Router‚” “Nightfall‚” “Curator‚” “Elector‚” and “Survivor”) were all first published in in Asimov’s Science Fiction between 2001 and 2004. Accelerando was very well received; I don’t have the spare word count to list every award nomination that the fix-up and its parts earned. One wonders how Stross finds the mantlepiece space for all the awards. Accelerando can be downloaded here. Try not to burn out the servers. Fix-ups are a venerable‚ respectable approach to writing and publishing speculative fiction. The five examples above are only a very small sample of a very large body of work3 [3]. No doubt I’ve missed some very notable examples. Feel free to lambast me for my omissions and correct my oversights in comments below.[end-mark] Seams are less obvious in fix-ups that were planned to become fix-ups from the beginning. One thinks of the many Victorian novels that were serialized and later collected into books. ︎As far as I can tell‚ anthologized stories aside‚ Eisenstein is completely out of print. I am astonished there hasn’t been A Complete Alaric‚ at least. The world found space to keep They’d Rather Be Right in print. Why not Eisenstein’s far superior books&;#63; ︎I seriously considered mentioning a certain fix-up first serialized in Analog way back in 1963 and 1965. However‚ the resulting fix-up was so unappealing to SF publishers that the author eventually settled for a publisher specializing in automotive repair manuals (an acquisition for which the purchasing editor was subsequently fired). Ultimately‚ I reluctantly deleted my discussion of that fix-up. After all‚ would 21st-century readers have even heard of Dune&;#63; ︎The post Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels  appeared first on Reactor.

What does it take for a federal court to reach the outcome it wants—instead of the outcome that the law demands&;#63; Apparently‚ just some creative judicial gymnastics. That’s what happened Tuesday with a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit when it overturned a lower court decision and struck down West Virginia’s Save Women’s Sports Act‚ a law that keeps scholastic sports in the state separated by biological sex. The appeals court’s rationale&;#63; Biological girls and transgender “girls” (biological males) are exactly the same.   In BPJ v. West Virginia Board of Education‚ Judge Toby Heytens‚ a Biden appointee‚ was joined by Judge Pamela Harris‚ an Obama appointee‚ in determining that the state school board had violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. That’s the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in all federally funded education programs. The appeals court also held that the West Virginia law likely violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause‚ which guarantees all individuals equal treatment under the laws of the United States.   Significant to the litigation history is the fact that BPJ—a boy in middle school—beat female competitors in over 100 track events more than 280 times while he was on puberty blockers‚ busting the myth that boys on hormones have no athletic advantage over biological females. The case also prompted an op-ed by a girl athlete at a West Virginia middle school‚ who wrote that “if boys get to play on girls’ teams‚ the team that I love so much would go away. We would end up with two boys’ teams: one of boys who call themselves boys‚ and one of boys who identify as girls but dominate and control the girls’ team.” Classifications based on sex require intermediate scrutiny review under the Constitution’s equal protection clause. Specifically‚ the law at issue must serve an important government interest and be substantially related to achieving that purpose. Writing for the court‚ Heytens emphastated that the effect of West Virginia’s law was to “exclude transgender girls from the definition of ‘female’ and thus to exclude them from participation on girls sports teams.” “That is a facial classification based on gender identity‚” the judge wrote. “And‚ under this court’s binding precedent‚ such classifications trigger intermediate scrutiny.” But Heytens simply ignored the fact that the Supreme Court never has held transgender individuals to be a “suspect” or “quasi-suspect” class for whom the Constitution demands heightened‚ intermediate scrutiny review. Nor has the Supreme Court ever held that transgender “girls” are the same as biological girls. Nor has it ever held that sex is the same as gender identity. Not even in Bostock v. Clayton County did the Supreme Court make such a determination. In fact‚ Justice Neil Gorsuch began his opinion in that case by saying that “we proceed on the assumption that ‘sex’ signified what the employers suggest‚ referring only to biological distinctions between male and female.” None of this mattered to the 4th Circuit‚ though. Heytens wrote that West Virginia had failed to demonstrate that its goals of “participant safety and competitive fairness” were substantially related to their decision to exclude BPJ—again‚ a biological boy on puberty-blocking hormones—from girls’ athletics. This was especially so‚ he wrote‚ because BPJ “presented evidence that transgender girls with her background and characteristics possess no inherent‚ biologically-based competitive advantages over cisgender girls when participating in sports.” I think more than 100 middle school girls in West Virginia would beg to differ. As for BPJ’s secondary challenge to the Save Women’s Sports Act‚ the appeals court found that the state law violated Title IX by treating BPJ worse than similarly situated people‚ depriving “her” of any meaningful athletic opportunities on the basis of “sex.” Heytens determined that the “stigma of being unable to participate on a team with one’s friends and peers” (citing the court’s own opinion in Grimm v. Gloucester County) was harm sufficient enough to prove a violation of Title IX. The court vacated the lower court’s decision in part‚ reversed it in part‚ and remanded the case with instructions both to enter summary judgment for BPJ on the Title IX claims and to develop an additional factual record regarding BPJ’s argument that the school’s actions violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. In a scathing dissent‚ Judge G. Steven Agee (a George W. Bush appointee) wrote that the majority “inappropriately expands the scope of the Equal Protection Clause and upends the essence of Title IX.” Noting that BPJ “dominated” girls track meets‚ Agee stressed that the majority erroneously concluded that biological boys are similarly situated to biological girls‚ ignoring the fact that biology is relevant in sports. He wrote that it was irrelevant that BPJ identified as a girl because “gender identity‚ simply put‚ has nothing to do with sports.” BPJ was being treated the same as all the other biological male athletes in West Virginia schools and so there had been no discrimination. In fact‚ PBJ’s participation in girls track did exactly what West Virginia was trying to prevent: taking opportunities away from biological girls. In addressing the majority’s Title IX determination‚ Agee noted that the court effectively had reversed the “monumental work Title IX has done to promote girls’ sports from its inception.” He pointed out that Title IX regulations expressly permit schools to separate sports teams by biological sex. What’s more‚ to reach its desired outcome‚ the majority had to contort its reasoning to conclude that “sex” unambiguously meant “gender identity.” It defies logic‚ Agee wrote‚ to say that when Title IX was enacted in 1972‚ everyone implicitly understood that sex also meant gender identity. “If Congress so intended‚” Judge Agee wrote‚ “it should have explicitly said so. It did not.”   “Women and young girls deserve to compete on a level playing field‚”  Rachel Rouleau‚ a senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom who was one of the attorneys representing the West Virginia Board of Education‚ said in response to the decision. “The court’s decision undermines equal opportunities and contradicts both biological reality and common sense. Title IX was designed to provide women with fair competition‚ and West Virginia’s women’s sports law does the same.” Alliance Defending Freedom is mulling an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here’s hoping that West Virginia—and the girls displaced by BPJ—are vindicated eventually. And that a bad decision‚ relying on a foundation of bad legal interpretation‚ doesn’t stand for long.    The post Striking Down Women’s Sports Law‚ Federal Appeals Court Rules Men Can Be Women appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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