Phaserblast

I am enjoying this documentary. But Netflix and the writers are misrepresenting history in order to shoehorn racial diversity into the documentary. The section I take issue with is with Jerry Lawson, a black man who is stated to be the "inventor" of the game cartridge. The documentary states that before Lawson became involved, it had "never been done before." This is just flat out wrong. The swappable ROM cartridge concept was invented by Wallace Kirschner and Lawrence Haskel. Lawson worked on the Channel F game console, the first of its type, but swappable game cartridges had already been invented before he came along. So while it's certain he played a role in the development of an actual marketable, sellable product that used cartridges, it was not his invention, and unfair to the actual inventors to deprive them of their credit. While I have no problem with Netflix very obviously choosing diverse individuals (transgender, black etc) to fit their well-known diversity mandates, it is NOT cool to twist the facts just to make the narrative work.

First, let me compliment the show by saying it's actually pretty good. I like the tone, which is very much horror-esque. But the actors all have Brit accents, which is really, really stupid. This isn't Downton Abbey in Ukraine. All the other reenactments done about Chernobyl (some done by the BBC) all use Russian actors with subtitles. I'm not saying the actors need to speak Russian, but for FS they should at least speak with Russian accents! Who OK'd this terrible idea?

So if you're 14 or whatever and want to know what the 80s was like, watch this movie. Everything--and I mean EVERYTHING, is spot on. The costumes are amazing. The production design in amazing. The colors of those opening titles--woah! And the best thing? The music! The person that picked the songs really earned their paycheck, because the selections are really authentic to that 80s club culture. These aren't the same, worn out and cliché 80s songs you always hear when the 80s is involved but proper, underground stuff typically only played in clubs and in radio stations in Miami, New York and LA.

And you know what? The story is actually really fun! It takes place over the course of one night, which I really like (think After Hours by Scorsese). The character arcs are fun to witness, and the acting is enjoyable to watch (although don't expect ultra-realism).

Oh, and I am in lust with 80s Daphne Zuniga. Man. When my time machine is complete, she had better watch out.