Film Corner: Journey Quest (Season 1)

[Trigger Warning: Rape Threats, Whorephobic Language]

Amazon has reminded me that Journey Quest exists, so I'm gonna try to watch that next. But here's the thing, ok. Here's the thing.

(Holy shit, I was gonna tag this #AnaWatches and it autofilled to #AnaWatchesShittyAmazonStuff?)

But ok. I LOVE Gamers 2: The Dorkness Rising. I couldn't buy Journey Quest fast enough. One click order back in the day. And it just.......was not the same. I didn't love it. I felt feelings. So we're gonna see if I still have those feelings. And because those feelings are gonna be Snotty Feminist feelings, everyone may hate me after, SORRY, but hey at least you can mute the hashtag??

So we start off with a cute plucky bard interviewing three orcs and I like this!! Until one of them is like "the elfmaid was totally into our shaman but he resisted her whorish advances". *deeeeeeep breath* (Dorkness 2 used that word too, but it was an over-the-table cutesy insult between two male friends and that doesn't make it OKAY but it bothered me........less??)

We join our party with the wizard attempting to escape his own party, which is a funny idea that fails to land because it ends up being creepy in a consent way. And then the wizard tries to flirt with the elf ranger who is VERY NOT INTERESTED. The thing I liked about Dorkness was that the main romance plot was super consensual? The DM and the new player were both genuinely into each other, so it didn't have any Nice Guy tones?

I do like whatever they did to Cass to make him a Sexy Cleric for this one, which is why it's CRIMINAL that they turn him (unsexy) undead in a couple episodes.

Cleric is down!

There's kinda an interesting disability thing where the wizard can't read-cast under stress and he's dyslexic maybe? Which would be SO COOL (me too!!) except I think it's just a Chosen One plot later? It's been awhile, I'll keep you posted!!

So, pros: The wizard gains a sarcastic sword that has some funny lines! Cons: The sword has more lines which are misogynistic and homophobic and questioning the masculinity of men who don't conform to toxic masculinity. Which is a shame, because I love the IDEA of a sarcastic sword!

[TW] Oh. I...forgot there's a threatened rape scene. I...ok then that explains why I didn't feel great about this season. AND IT'S USED TO THREATEN THE NICE GUY FOR INTERVENING. BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT IS IMPORTANT HERE, RIGHT.

I'M GOING TO TAKE A NAP.

Actually, no, I'm gonna add a thing because I know people are gonna be like "oh you can't handle realism?" One of my favorite Amazon fantasy movies is Curse of The Dragon Slayer, and it has a sexualized violence threat. BUT. BUT. It's a serious grimdark world. It's not a light hearted comedy that WHOOPS suddenly has rape in it. I don't want that in my comedy movie!"

So when it does show up in a comedy it's just a little reminder that the trauma I live with is just, like, shits and giggles to the writers. Which is profoundly alienating. More so, to me, than a similar threat in a "serious" setting where I'm expecting bad things.

I'd like to do more Journey Quest commentary but I don't know if anyone else wants that.

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