Lil Bites

Welcome back to Lillian Bites. There were tons of thoughtful pieces around the internet this week. Here are some of my faves!

Dani Bethea takes us on a journey of cautious optimism with their look at the upcoming series Them. Rosie Knight explains that bank scene in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as well as the heartbreaking fact that the government owns Redwing. Vulture columnist Kovie Biakolo broke down that, throughout tragedy, hardship and disembodied limbs, Superstore got representation right. Adrienne Shearesbreaks down why that cringe Jimmy Fallon skit is erasure of Black creators for AdWeek. Finally, resident Bewitched expert Emma weighed in on the upcoming reboot.

ICYMI...

• Adam Wingard (Godzilla vs. Kong) is gonna make a Thundercats movie!
• We learned who's in the Obi-Wan Kenobi cast.
• Black Adam has a release date, and Pierce Brosnan is joining the cast (no — he won't be singing).
• Learn more about Marvel's Secret Invasion now that the series has found its villain.
• Emerald Fennell is directing a Zatanna movie for DC!

The Good News Is,

Ok, so this doesn't technically qualify as "good news" but it made me happy. Now you're happy too! THE POWER OF BRANDY COMPELS YOU! (Linked because the tweet imbedded ugly.)

That's not enough? Fine! Here are some other Good Things™

• Lil Nas wrote a letter to his 14-yr-old self.
• Unicorn dog has a new home!
• This 18-year-old collected thousands of coats through self-started charity.

Get Loud

• State Rep. Park Cannon, a Black woman, was arrested and charged with charged with felony obstruction for knocking on Gov. Brian Kemp’s door to witness the signing of the voter suppression bill.
• Arkansas just passed a bill that bans gender-affirming care to trans youth.
• The uptick in virulent anti-Asian hate continues, this time via a hateful letter to an Asian business owner. Please support your Asian friends.

The Baby Step

We've got two this week. Both are important. Both take less than 3 minutes to read:

• Learn about Georgia's vote suppression bill so you can help better educate those around you. This one's a huge deal, and our biggest first line of defense is education.
• Teach yourself about transgender youth, and why the lack of gender-affirming care will literally kill children.

I Want to do More

• Donate to the Trevor Project — they're the leading organization in LGBTQ suicide prevention.
• Grassroots orgs in Georgia didn't just win us the Senate, they helped us take the white house. Fair Fight played a major part in that, and they need our help now more than ever. If you prefer larger organizations, you can also support the ACLU of Georgia to help fight the voter suppression bill.
• Take 15 minutes and sign some of the petitions to Stop Asian Hate. There are also some donation links if you have anything to spare.
• See if there are any AAJC events in your area. Asian Americans Advancing Justice has been fighting anti-Asian hate since 1991.

So Your Parents Don't Want to Get Vaccinated

Hello, eldest/only children (and also everyone else dealing with this)! Are your parents, grandparents, friends, whoever refusing to get vaccinated because they've had a little bit too much of the Fox News machine? That sucks. I've lived it. Here's a quickie story of what worked for me. It only included a little bit of emotional terrorism, I promise. (And also some resources, because they were a part of the emotional terrorism!)

When the vaccine was approved, the first thing my dad said to me was that he wasn't going to get it. We bickered back and forth for a while, but it got to the point where I knew that the conversation wasn't going anywhere. So, my play was simple: I told dad that he wouldn't see me in person until it was done, and I stopped accepting his phone calls/responding to his texts. What I would do is text him periodically with resources to prove the science was sound. Before I continue, here were some of those resources:

• John Hopkins Medical
• The CDC
• Mayo Clinic (myths debunked)
• Bloomberg (answers to pandemic concerns)
• Harvard EDU (side-effects and coincidence explored)

Dad would usually respond — typically to argue — but I wouldn't engage. I just let him talk to himself until he got tired and sent him a new resource a couple days later. Looking for heroes of his taking the vaccine publicly also helped a good deal (thanks, Arnold Schwarzenegger). The links and the silence went on for about a month.

Anyway, his second shot is next week.

Is this fair treatment? Maybe not. Was there a little bit of emotional manipulation there? Yeah. Will my dad die from COVID? No. I'll take the guilt that comes with a little bit of unacceptable treatment.

This method won't work for everyone, but I hope something in there helps you and your family. I'm sorry you're going through it. It's freaking awful. But you're not alone in it.

To the Movies!

Ok, not yet (unless you're fully vaccinated then please, gods, eat extra popcorn for me), but soon! In the meantime, here's some stuff you can watch from the safety of your home.

• Godzilla vs. Kong is reasonably fun! It has some weak points, but it's still very much worth your watch when it hits HBO Max on Wednesday. (Kong: Skull Island > Godzilla vs. Kong > Godzilla: King of Monsters for those wondering.)
• Josie and the Pussycats has a big anniversary coming up. Do yourself a favor! (It's also on HBO Max.)

Binge it.

Or don't. I don't know your life.

• Snowpiercer had it's Season 2 finale this week. This means two things. The first is that you won't have to hear me nag about watching the show for a little while, and the second is that it will be available to stream on HBO Max soon. (You can also stream it on TNT's free app, but you get what you pay for there.)
• Batwoman delivered its best episode yet this season. If you haven't been following along on Ryan Wilder's journey, get on it.
• I'm hearing lovely things about The Irregulars from a bunch of people I trust. Head to Netflix and join them on Baker Street.
• Supergirl's final season kicks off today (Tuesday) on The CW. Watch it!

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