Dead Parents

HuffPost Review: Away We Go, by Marshall Fine. Emphasis mine.

You're a couple in your mid-30s, expecting a baby, suddenly shorn of the anchor tethering you to a hometown you're not that crazy about. Now what?

That's the conundrum confronting Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) in Sam Mendes' Away We Go, from a script by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. Burt and Verona are only a couple months away from parenthood, when Burt's parents (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) announce that they're moving to Europe for two years -- before the baby is born.

Since being close to Burt's parents (Verona's are dead) is the only reason they've stayed in Connecticut, Burt and Verona decide to hit the road, visiting friends, siblings and relatives around the country, auditioning potential new places to relocate.

That's what happened in Flashdance, too: ethnically ambiguous characters in movies often get no family because you would have to admit that they aren't white, as I have mentioned before. The most egregious rendering of this in my recollection was on One Tree Hill when Haley's parents, sister, and son all ended up being white people, even though Haley is clearly not a white person.

In conclusion, I will probably see the movie anyway. Also, John Krasinski: what is up with that beard?

.

It's okay, he was 21.

I am currently crushing on Matthew Broderick in WarGames. He was a computer dork who liked hacking into undersecured mainframes; what's not to love? I watched part of the movie this morning, but I didn't get to finish it. Barry Corbin was a lot nicer in One Tree Hill, and Ally Sheedy was a lot more interesting in The Breakfast Club. Well, she was until Molly Ringwald turned her into a Soc for Emilio Estevez. Is Emilio still working? Oh. The things you do for family.

.

Seriously, CW?

The CW's New Shows Are Lacking In Color, Jezebel via Racialicious.

'Privileged': The kids are all white, and kind of shallow, too, USA Today.

Bring it on...It's already been broughton!, Stephanie's Soap Box.

The first two links are self-explanatory. In the third one, Stephanie laments that she didn't see the murder of "Q" (the troublemaker with a heart of gold) coming on One Tree Hill. Coincidentally, Q is one of the only nonwhite people on One Tree Hill. I haven't watched an entire episode since Season Two, but I think Skills is still there. So now there is one left.

What can I say that I haven't said before? Oh yes. As I think back to the old 90210, glaringly white though it may have been, in retrospect, the original series looks inspired compared to this latest rip-off of The OC.

.