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“Black-washing”: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Halle Bailey as Ariel from Disney’s *The Little Mermaid*

White-washing. I’m sure everyone has heard this word once or twice. Simply put, it’s a word used to describe when Hollywood casts White people or lighter people to play everyone, especially characters that were originally people of color. It has been seen as another term to describe “Blackface” in the modern era. White-washing has existed since the beginning of cinema, even when Black people were “allowed” to act in Hollywood. In fact, Whitewashing existed frequently up until as recently as 2017. It was around this time, in 2017, when Hollywood started to realize that casting White actors to play various ethnicities doesn’t always pay pockets in a modern society (Ghost in the Shell, 2017), even if the actor is well known and loved. They even recognized that it could be a career-killer for movie studios and actors alike.

After complaints about the Oscars’ selection of nominees appearing as “White” as possible, the Oscars began to set new diversity standards of eligibility for Movie Academy Awards in 2020. The rules were as follows:

At least one actor from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group must be cast in a significant role.
The story must center on women, L.G.T.B.Q. people, a racial or ethnic group or the disabled.
At least 30 percent of the cast must be actors from at least two of those four underrepresented categories.

This caused Hollywood to go through a frenzy of hiring people of color anywhere they could. One way they have implemented this change is by casting Black people to play characters that were originally White, either by suddenly presenting them as Black…or actually calling them “White” (Hamilton-style) despite their race, with the audience having to suspend a bit of reality. This has been called in recent years “Black-washing”.

Just like with White-washing, Black-washing has also had its share of controversy. Some people find it to be hypocritical that “Black-washing” is allowed culturally when White-washing often gets met with disdain and backlash. Others don’t like “Black-washing” because it makes everything feel less authentic or unrecognizable as the cast doesn’t match the character in the source or most familiar material.

On the other hand, many like this type of casting choice because they feel it finally gives Black people and other people of color more representation. Some have even argued that blackwashing as an ideology doesn’t exist and that casting black people in these types of roles is simply another form of reparations for the mistreatment and erasure of Black people from media during the Golden Age Of Hollywood and during the days of the Hay’s Code (a time when Hollywood restricted what could be seen in cinema).

What I aim to do is give a nuanced perspective about “Black-washing”. Regardless of whether I think the theory holds any merit, as a Black person myself, I want to discuss the good that could come with this idea or concept, the bad that could come with this idea or concept, and the ugly that can often surround this idea or concept. Let’s break it all down.

The Good: More Opportunities For Black People

We are beginning to see a rise in Black characters in every source of media. According to Diversity Inc, roles for black actors in a variety of tv series have increased post pandemic in which 65.8% of TV series featured a Black actor pre-pandemic and 70.5% featured at least one black person post-pandemic. Roles for Black actors in films particularly have increased overall from 56.1% to 58.7%.

What this means is that Black-washing gives Black people an opportunity to be even more represented. That is a major feat, believe it or not. I actually remember a time when I went to Backstage.com to find auditions and many of the auditions would say “White-preferred”. As someone who used to be an aspiring actor, it was discouraging to say the least. This was in the early 2010s, not too long ago.

Make no mistake. Almost every lead character is still white, but at least more of them are starting to be people of color. I no longer feel like I would automatically be rejected from an opportunity just because of the color of my skin. I feel like I can finally be recognized for my talent, the talents I’ve had since high school, if I choose acting as a career choice again.

In a sense, this makes Black-washing different from White-washing. White people have never actually been barred from playing any roles in cinema. They have had plenty of opportunities; doors have been open to them from around the world and the doors still are open. Therefore, the effects of White-washing are actually a lot more harmful to Black people than Black-washing is to White people. Black-washing doesn’t bar White people from getting opportunities. Rather, it “evens” the playing field. Don’t misunderstand, I do see a lot of pitfalls that can come from “Black-washing” (which I will get into later in this article), but some of the arguments that many people make against “Black-washing” are usually based on misconceptions, bias, or racial prejudice.

Here is a common argument for example:

“Black people only make up 19% of the population in America. White people are the majority so why should black people get an increase in roles?”

There are two problems with this statement. One problem is that there is a sense of American-centrism, basically Americans acting as if the entire world demographic begins and ends with America. In the entire world, there are more people of color then White people across continents. To be frank, many actors hired in Hollywood are not exactly from the USA. Many of them are from other countries. So this argument that having more Black people in Hollywood is somehow inaccurate or inauthentic is strange.

Second, these kinds of arguments seem to assume that White people will not relate to characters that are of a different race, so by making more characters of color it will somehow push White people away from watching movies. However, people of color have had to relate to characters of various backgrounds for decades, due to the dominance of White actors in media, and are constantly told that it shouldn’t matter what color they are. So shouldn’t the same apply to White people? Furthermore, why is it that viewers must relate to what they see personally? Isn’t it great to learn about something new and imagine what that would be like? I don’t relate to Harry Potter as a wizard, but I like learning and imagining what it would be like to have wizarding powers. Why doesn’t this logic apply to movies featuring Black culture?

To add, many of the characters that are accused of being “Black-washed” in a movie or a show are often played by mixed or biracial people. This makes the outrage a little more complex. We often have a tendency to see every mixed person that has a drop of black as ONLY black. I don’t think this is fair, especially if the actor in question is mixed with White ancestry and understands White culture. If they can act as Black characters, why shouldn’t someone of mixed ancestry be able to act as a White character? Sure, we can talk about how often times the mixed person doesn’t, in any way, resemble the character they are meant to portray. I think in some ways this is a valid criticism. But are you really mad just because they don’t look as you envisioned the part, or are you mad just because the person cast has a little bit of Black in them?

Here is another common argument against Black-washing:

“It is culturally inauthentic to have Black mermaids, elves, fairies, black aristocracy, etc. These things are based in White culture.”

To counter this, Folklore and other tales have existed all over the world. Stories surrounding fantasy-like creatures didn’t start with the European diaspora. Furthermore, Black people have existed in all classes of European society due to colonialism. For example, many were upset that a Black man was cast to play Porthos in BBC’s The Musketeers. But did anyone know that the original writer of The Three Musketeers novel, Alexander Dumas, was of Black heritage himself, as well as a General in Napoleon’s army? I’m sure he wouldn’t have minded such a casting choice.

Finally, here is another common argument against Black-washing:

“It is unfair because the actor is being given a role just for the sake of diversity or “woke points”, not because they actually can do the job.”

I can understand this frustration. Even as Black people, we don’t just want to be chosen because we’re Black, becoming the “token” actor. We want our talents to be respected. However, it is a broad assumption to assume that every Black person that was chosen for these roles were simply chosen because they are Black.

Furthermore, various people of a variety of racial backgrounds, especially White people, were and still are simply preferred because of their White features, not their talents, compared to talents across other racial backgrounds. Therefore, this is not exclusively a Black-washing issue. If anything, White-washing occurred as a result of this “White” preference in Hollywood; Black-washing is simply another way of giving Black people the same treatment Hollywood has been giving White people for many years.

On the other hand, whether Black-washing exists or not, Black-washing as a strategy for diversity does have some major issues that I think needs to be discussed.

The Bad: Race-baiting, Whiteface, and Blackface

Blackface is when a white person puts on dark make-up to mock Black people, particularly for comedic purposes. This form of entertainment has been popular for many years. White-washing was often compared to Blackface because many times Hollywood would cast White or lighter actors to play Black people or other people of color, which to many felt disrespectful and conflicted with the experiences of people of color.

So what about “Black-washing”? We can see it as synonymous with Whiteface. Whiteface is a type of performance in which a person wears theatrical makeup in order to make themselves look like a White person. While it doesn’t have the same racist history as Blackface (nor does it have the same level of power or influence over how White people are seen overall), it is meant to represent a caricature of Whiteness and White people’s way of being. Whenever I watch movies that have a Black-washed cast, I can’t help but feel like the Black actors are playing a caricature of White people. There are certain mannerisms and ways of being that sometimes seem more in line with the way white people navigate society and respond to it. Although skin color doesn’t necessarily come with a set of personality traits, there are certain cultural differences between those across the Afro-diaspora and those within the Euro-diaspora, and that makes “Black-washing” so obvious to those who are viewing it.

Another part of the issue comes with the demand for the Black actors to live up to the expectations of the public’s perception of Whiteness. When a Black person acts as a character that was once white, many people expect the Black actor to capture the White character from head to toe, and so Black actors are often forced to portray themselves EXACTLY as the White character would even without the nuance of the Black experience. They have to speak as a White person would (this is not necessarily about articulation but rather for environmental responses), behave as White people would in certain situations, and often times the nuances of being Black within the story is not mentioned because technically they are playing a White person. It’s as if they live in a post-racist world where they are celebrated. In theory, this is great news and not all stories featuring Black people should be about “the black experience”. Some people may even argue that’s the point of acting; to challenge yourself to behave as someone else.

But it doesn’t come without feeling that this new-found celebration of Blackness in Hollywood is less about colorblindness and more about Black people playing the roles White people are comfortable with. It creates a Hollywood form of cultural assimilation. For example, when we think of a Black princess, what exactly comes to mind? To the eyes of Hollywood, a movie about princesses should include a person acting, dressing, and adorning their hair as a European-inspired princess would because that is what Hollywood’s perception of a princess is: White and/or European.

I wouldn’t see a handful of Black girls in a lead role in cinema until my teens and early 20s. To make a comparison of the two movies I saw as a teen and young adult, one was Akeelah And The Bee (2006); the other was Annie (2014). Akeelah and the Bee was a story about a young girl who discovers she has a knack for spelling. She beats the odds of her underprivileged background to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. In Annie, the movie follows the story of its predecessors where an orphan girl gets lucky enough to be chosen to live with the wealthy Daddy Warbucks, winning the hearts of many. Both actresses did a great job as far as acting goes, and both movies were mildly entertaining for me. When I watched Annie I admit I was excited to see a Black girl on screen as the lead (which I hadn’t seen since Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella). However, while watching Annie I couldn’t help but compare it to the original movie adaptation, Annie (1982), and all of the other Annie versions before it. While I understand it was meant to be a modern Annie, the only thing this movie had to offer was a “Black face”.

I already had an Annie movie version that I had grown to love long before this new adaptation and I became more critical of the newer movie as a result.

Whereas with Akeelah And The Bee, there was nothing compared to it. It was a one-of-a kind movie and, more importantly, it was an original Black story. You could feel the authenticity based on how it tied in Black culture in such a nuanced way and, yet, gave Akeelah her own personality and interests as an individual. People could watch it and enjoy it for what it was without making a comparison to anything else. Whereas with Annie (2014), if felt as if the Black actors were telling the story of a White girl who happens to have a Black face.

I also wonder: What more does Black-washing offer to Black audiences outside of the skin color of the actors? What more does it showcase to audiences outside of our community about Black people? In the end, most people are going to end up sticking to the more popular “White” versions while the “Black” version of the movie will be wiped from memory as the “knock-off”. Even as I enjoyed “Black-washed” movies like Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997) or The Wiz (1978), let’s be honest here, these movies are mostly remembered by the Black audience that tuned in to watch in their respective time periods during eras where Black people were a lot less visible than today in movies.

To make multibillion dollar industries and bring in the big box office money, which would help continue Black Hollywood, we have to have something to offer others besides a Black face. Contrary to popular belief, we do not have to do it by imitating White people. Most people in the modern world are looking for new and original story-telling; with an interest in diversity, why are we not taking advantage of this to hop on new ideas and introduce our culture to the world in a fresh, new way?

To add, while “Black-washing” makes some of us feel seen in the moment, will it have the same long-lasting cultural impact, especially in regards to how we see ourselves?

Of course, we can forgive Hollywood executives when they cast Black people as fictional characters, right? These type of characters are usually imagined and so changing their skin color is a matter of taking creative liberties to be more inclusive. This motive is not something I would scorn and sometimes the intentions are good.

However, Black-washing gets murkier when we start to see White historical figures being Black-washed as well. I’m going to examine a good example of this sort of Black-washing: the stage production Hamilton (2015). The Hamilton cast is filled with extremely talented black actors that capture the characters in quite an entertaining and charming way. I admit that I enjoyed watching it on stage and the talent was inspirational to say the least. To be honest, I even have forgotten that the characters they were portraying were White historical figures.

And that is sort of the problem. These White people, while they shaped he USA in many ways, were also slave owners and they could care less about Black people in their lifetime. So while the cast does a celebratory job of playing these roles, they still are playing White slave owners and colonists. Putting a Black face on these kinds of figures makes us sympathize with them more, I suppose. Yet, it makes us ignore what the actual person did because we see a Black face. We begin to fictionalize the real person because the stage production presented them as Black (even if what they did to Black people was questionable). So the question is, who gets to be celebrated in history, and should Black people be celebrated only when they are acting as white people, especially white people that participated in our oppression?

Understandably, I do believe that there has been a good reason historically for Black-washing. After all, as mentioned before, Black people were excluded from Hollywood after years of racism, and so we would often create movies or spaces that were made to mimic that of White entertainment just to be seen or represented. This was probably the only way Black people could gain visibility back in the past.

However, we are living in the 21st century. I think it is time we progressed past the need for Black-washing. We are one of the most visible minorities on-screen to date. Why do we still hold on to this old idea that the only way to have Black representation is by casting ourselves as White?

In my honest opinion, while I’m always happy to see Black people like myself on screen, I think Black-washing is lazy. It is a lazy way to give people “diversity” without actually giving them a unique story to call their own. There is a perception in Hollywood that black people cannot carry a movie by themselves without the help of White people. There is also the perception that people won’t go see Black-led movies unless the story is already familiar (or in other words Eurocentric). Whiteness is often treated as the “default” and therefore more acceptable and digestible.

Black Panther (2018) was one of the movies to challenge these ideas. Black Panther, while known by most fans of the Marvel comics, was not as well-known among casual movie goers. In this movie, we see an African king of Wakanda and a true Black superhero who protects his own people, without the need of White intervention or European involvement. In this sense, the movie adaptation introduced an all-new story because it was the first adaptation of its kind. This made a bigger difference in the legacy of Black entertainment when we compare it to the White “knock-offs” that Black-washing had to offer. To add, what we also see from Black Panther is culture. Black culture.

The Ugly: The Absence Of Black Culture

There are different ways to Black-wash. Black-washing can come in the form of a Black reimagination of an established property. What I do like about some movies with this approach is that it gives an opportunity to tell a similar story but with a unique “Black” point-of-view, inculcating the rich culture, music, and fashion that comes from the Black community. Take Disney’s The Princess And The Frog (2009), for example. While it can be seen as a “Black-washed” version of its predecessor (a fairy tale of European origin), it has its own way of telling the story that makes it feel unique from the batch of fairy tale movies. It also caters to the sentiments and experiences of Black people. Just for understanding, this is not to say the movie is perfect (there are various flaws with the movie, starting with the creative decision to showcase the Black princess as a frog for most of the movie). However, you can tell that the creators took an interest in Black culture and wanted to inculcate some of our rich heritage into the movie. Unlike Hamilton, this movie celebrates Blackness rather than Whiteness, even if inspired from a European tale. I feel the same way with The Wiz (1978), the Black adaptation of The Wizard Of Oz, where Oz is designed to resemble that of Black urban neighborhoods, music, and culture. In a sense, we as Black people can both relate to it and see ourselves being represented more authentically.

Unfortunately, many movies today are missing the nuances of our culture in them because they are simply casting Black people to play White people. Movies that Black-wash without the nuances of our culture often feel hollow. They give me nothing to look back and be proud of except the fact that the person playing in the role is Black. Trust me, there will be plenty more feats where the “first Black actor” is playing the “first Black something”. This will get old really soon.

Furthermore, when are we going to start embracing stories from Black communities and culture? I want more movies like The Black Panther (2018). I want to see our culture celebrated, our kings or queens honored, our “fairy-tales” or folk tales visible. When are we going to get an Anansi The Spider movie? What about Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters? There’s so many more Black stories that we need only Google search to find them.

I think about the show Bridgerton (2020-Present). It is a great show with a very diverse cast of characters. However, while the show is progressive in its approach, having as many diverse faces as possible, the styles and attitudes are meant to mimic that of the Regency era in White European society. While this story is based on historical facts (albeit controversially), and it is being produced through a Black-owned entertainment company (even if the writers of the show are mostly white), that doesn’t take away the fact that the inspiration of this show and most shows and movies are always focused on Europe. Why so Eurocentric? Many of these actors will be praised only when they are acting in roles that reflect European culture or aristocracy while movies that reflect other cultures are often criticized as being somehow “stereotypical” or less “universal” to audiences.

Ultimately, it feels as if we are more eager to praise this form of cultural assimilation rather than embrace cultural diversity and liberation. In a story like Bridgerton, we can pretend that people of color were equal to that of White people in those societies. We can ignore the racist history behind people of color at court, how they had to cut off family ties to be seen as more “White” in society, and dismiss their culture to assimilate to a European way of life. We can more easily see Black people in power when the backdrop is European because Whiteness and European values represent power in our minds. We can even ignore the atrocities that occur even within the story of Bridgerton towards people of color, such as when Daphne (a white woman) decides to force Simon, a black man, to have intercourse with her to get what she wants and gets away with it, especially in the book, which the series adaptation is based on. Amongst the beautiful scenery and European-style costumes, we can pretend that this is what true diversity looks like.

Hollywood champions diversity when it comes to casting, but many of the White producers and directors there don’t actually have enough interest in diversity to delve into a culture that is not their own. No, they should not be able to use the excuse that they don’t know enough about other cultures because the opportunity is there to hire advisors or even have some of the actors give advice. Yet, Black-washing gives them the easiest way out because they believe that black people are desperate and accepting of their scraps. The truth is that many of the major producers in Hollywood are not interested in expanding their interest. Black-washing is simply another way for them to brush the issue under the rug, with very little effort to include diversity, especially when many of them are reluctant to recruit creative thinkers from even a small number of people from underrepresented groups behind the scenes.

Despite a major increase of Black people in media, what has been staggering is the amount of Black showrunners. Black screenwriters and directors are also very few. In 2017 alone, only 5.1% of showrunners were reported to be Black. Many of the Black people that are on-set sometimes don’t even honestly get a say in how the characters are created, not even when it comes to the creation of Black people in fiction.

As Cord Jefferson, writer of The Good Place (2016-2020), put it: “Something that happens a lot when it comes to diversity in Hollywood ― and everywhere else ― is that people will just populate the room with people of color or queer people or women but not really respect those people’s voices or pay attention to what they’re saying. It feels like you’re diversity decoration a little bit, as opposed to a valuable member of the team.”

Executives mistakenly believe that simply having a “racial-neutral” cast or staff is the best way to add more diversity. As we can see, that only addresses the problem of diversity superficially. When I see a movie that Black-washes in this sort of “color-blind” way, I become very skeptical of the intentions. I do recognize that some producers or casting directors simply want to show talent without discrimination, but this method makes it seem as if they do not actually care who they cast in the role. This is why we get diverse-looking characters, but an absence of diverse story-telling.

Abbott Elementary, a TV series that focuses on a predominately Black school and its teachers, manages to highlight Black characters in a way Black people, especially educators, can relate because of its authenticity. To date, Abbott Elementary has the best comedy ratings on ABC since Modern Family, even in a time when streaming services dominate traditional cable TV. What makes the show fantastic is that it is not “color-blind”. It is an original story with the intent of showcasing what it is like to work with Black children in a low-income area. Despite the fact that the show does not focus on White people (even with a handful of White people in the show), it still manages to relate to people of various backgrounds. The show didn’t have to be a Black version of an established “White” series nor did the show have to focus on White culture’s influence on Black people.

Instead, what makes this show appealing is that it is an authentic Black story, and because the cast is predominately Black, we don’t have to rely on “token” Black voices to get a full picture of what being Black is like. Through the characters of this show, we can see a variety of attitudes and feelings that can relate to anyone who is a teacher or has ever taught in a low-income school. The show also doesn’t have to shy away from Black culture in order to avoid stereotyping. Instead, it approaches stereotypes in a nuanced way, allowing for Black audiences to recognize themselves while relating to a variety of characters who approach these topics differently. While the show draws inspiration from the other mocumentary-style comedies before it, viewers can feel the intention was to tell a Black story. The best part is it is written by a Black person (Quinta Brunson).

This is what I’m hoping will happen in the future when companies are dealing with Black movies and shows. I don’t think there is anything wrong with being inspired from European stories nor do I think it is wrong to cast more people of color. However, I think we need to do better when it comes to recognizing Black people outside of the face alone, taking on the opportunity to also show respect for where we come from and exploring that experience to make more authentic Black content.

As far as acting as historical figures, we don’t have to be honored in White history in order to prove that we are a part of history. Believe it or not, Black people have our own history outside of the White European diaspora. We have had kingdoms. We have had Gods. We have had heroes and villains. But how will other generations know or understand this if all they have to see is a White interpretation of Blackness or culturally assimilated Blackness? Black-washing in Hollywood might give us temporary excitement and representation, but will it give us something to look back on that will make us proud to be who we are for a lifetime? I honestly do not think so.

I want to know what you all think. Do you think “Black-washing” is beneficial or is the concept regressive? Do you think it actually exists or is it just all in our heads?

Sincerely,

Guest Writer VenusLove

Tags: Abbott Elementary, Blackwashing, Bridgerton, Disney, entertainment, movies, The Little Mermaid

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Categories African Americans, Black people, Culture, Disney, media, Movies, movies, Social & Political, television, Uncategorized

The All-New Babysitters Club Netflix Series Hit and Missed Me

27 Sep

Greetings, Gen Next here!

As most of my readers know, I’m a huge fan of the Baby-sitters Club books. I grew up with the books in the 1990s, and became a huge fan around 2002.

Though the books were first published in 1986, it continued to be relevant and modern to me. They never once felt timed-out.

The books always focused on friendship, family, romantic relationships, and, most of all, the young lead characters owning and running their own baby-sitting business.

What was so empowering and mesmerizing about the books for me was their organization and drive to start a business at such young ages. I was fascinated with Kristy’s “big ideas” (see that pun there?). From organizing how they would be contacted, to creating meeting times, to adding Kid Kits so kids could have toys to play with, the business was booming in a fictional sense.

Was I the only one who tried to organize my own club just like it? I’m sure all of us fans have tried it, only to fail. If any of you readers have been successful, please share your story in the comments ‘ section below!

With the release of American Girl’s Courtney Moore, a gamer from the 1980’s, Stranger Things, and now the Netflix version of Baby-sitters Club, it appears everyone is attached to the 1980s at the present.

I’ll be honest. I didn’t expect much from the new Netflix series. I didn’t watch the trailer, but I heard that there were attempts to diverse the case. I didn’t know if I was ready for that. I am an African American femme, but that doesn’t mean I expect every character to be changed into a different race just to appeal to me. For me, changes have to be made within reason, and they have to make sense.

Often times, I really find myself wishing a production would actually adapt books, shows, dolls, or any other form of media or entertainment accurately. It doesn’t happen too often. I enjoy watching books come to life on screen, but there’s no point if they change so much to the point it doesn’t feel like the books anymore. I have little interest in token black and Latinx characters. I care more that their personalities relate to me on a personal level, that the “diverse” characters are nuanced and detailed, and that they are well-integrated into the story.

Mary-Anne and Dawn were “diversified”, and I was afraid that Mary-Anne and Dawn would be those “token” characters that they force into the series for the sake of diversity, forgoing all of their original personalities and interests just to tell us they thought about “diversity”.

I am pleased to say that’s not the case with the Baby-sitters Club series. While, yes, Mary-Anne is no longer Kristy Thomas’s twin (as was often pointed out in the books), it’s actually a good change, for casting purposes. I never understood why two characters had to look the same anyway. It was the same issue I ran into with Dawn and Stacy. Why do we need both blonde Stacy and Dawn? Back in the day, the introduction of Dawn seemed like a way to bring in another blonde in the event they needed to replace Stacy’s character (who had many unlikeable traits).

Having two blondes always made Dawn’s physical appearance less interesting to me. I know appearances aren’t everything, but the appearances of the characters helped to distinguish the characters as I was trying to find my favorite books by cover, without having to read the titles.

However, the change for Mary-Anne and Dawn turned out to be pleasantly refreshing, and allowed them to distinguish themselves from their “twins” Kristy and Stacy.

Despite this, there was some significance to the Baby-sitters Club members’ appearances, which became lost as a result of the change. This is often the problem I find with “color-blind” casting. For starters, Mary-Anne’s new biracial (Black and White) presence drowns out Jessi’s purpose and significance in the story, and the show distances itself from the reason why Mary-Anne was interpreted to look so identical to Kristy in the first place. By placing characters of color in “White” roles, it gives the impression that you can “Black-face” a white character without considering any cultural or racial nuances. To me, that requires discussion. Mary-Anne can’t suddenly become “Black” because her clear written experiences were truly “White”. Wouldn’t it have been better to add a new member that was Black, with a nuanced and clearly defined Black experience written for her?

Then, with the new casting, a light-skinned girl got cast for the role of Jessi, which was the same problem in the 1990 TV series. The 1995 movie made sure they cast Jessi correctly. The new character doesn’t appear any different from Mary-Anne, which to me is a colorism issue.

That aside, there were other significant changes as well. A transgirl named Bailey Delvecchio was introduced. In this Netflix series, she makes an appearance in “Mary-Anne Saves The Day”, a re-telling of the book Mary-Anne Saves The Day. Though she replaces the original little girl in the story, Jenny, Bailey’s inclusion, especially the development of her trans backstory, makes her an even more important character than she was in the books, as well as makes Mary-Anne’s courageous moment in the story even more distinct and relevant to today.

However, again, I think that the scene also takes away the context of the original story and what it was meant to teach girls left in charge of small children. That lesson was “What to do during an emergency?” I still think that also should have been highlighted in the episode. In fact, they probably should have referenced the “Dear Reader” section of the books within all of the episodes…

Overall, the changes left me with mixed feelings.

There were a few other changes to the story-telling as well, which would normally make my peevish self squirm. I’m still a little put-off by Dawn’s father “coming out” as gay and that causing her mother to have to go to “therapy”. That didn’t quite put LGBTQ+ relationships in a positive light (since so many of us are seen as home-wreckers). And where was her younger brother Jeff in all of this?

I also didn’t like that they had to over-explain how “witches” were greatly “misunderstood” through now Dawn’s aunt Esme (originally “Morbidda Destiny” or Tabitha Porter in the original novels). What’s the fun in that? I felt the original story better highlighted Dawn’s “spooky” side. This new Dawn just took the fun out of it for me.

Yet, despite all of these changes, I could still watch it and enjoy it as a modern take on my favorite series.

The producers stated they wanted to make the new series more relevant to today. From what I watched, they did a perfect job of modernizing the story without taking away what makes the series so iconic.

The characters still sit around a landline phone, despite finding the phone to be “vintage”. The first few episodes are more true to the first few books than the 1995 movie or even the 1990’s HBO series have been. The characters actually look their age, too (which is between 12 and 13 years old). I found myself recalling the events as the episodes continued, with very slight and meaningful changes. I have to say that I look forward to more; yet I’m also apprehensive about getting any further into this, fearing a complete change heading my way. I hope they don’t change things too much.

The one thing I hope this show actually produces is the 8th member, Abby Stevenson. I know a lot of fans don’t remember or know her, and possibly disliked her presence in the original series. But I loved her. She was dorky, an identical twin, like myself, and Jewish. Very seldom do books tackle alternative religions, so it would be nice to have a character provide that perspective.

I also hope the stories continue to flesh out Jessi’s and Mallory’s characters. In the original series, Jessi was known as the “token Black” girl, but she was important when it came to talking about racism. Her experiences with being told to “go back to Africa” wouldn’t be as relevant with Mary-Anne being a biracial girl, so I wonder how they will tackle Jessi’s experiences in the modern world. It’s a curiosity of mine, and it makes me excited (and a bit nervous) for the future of the series.

Mallory was always the one being baby-sat, and struggled to be taken seriously as a member. I would like to see an episode focusing on Mallory’s struggles with not only being a younger member, but the struggle to move from charge to sitter.

If I can name one other con of this series, it would be Logan Bruno’s appearance and accent. Logan was known for having a very “attractive” Southern accent and blonde hair. Now, he’s just a boring brunette and blends in with all the other love interests (who are all ironically bland brunette characters).

Overall, though, and this is shocking, I don’t have too many negative things to say. I recommend all fans of the original series give this a chance. Just don’t expect what you got from the 1980s.

Leave me a comment and let me know if you’ve watched the series! Did you enjoy it as much as I did, or did it disappoint you? Let’s get a discussion going! Ciao and Peace!

Tags: 1980's, 1990's, babysitters club, babysitters club netflix

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Categories Books, Internet Entertainment, Movies, Uncategorized

Movie Week: ‘The “Charming” Christopher Robin’ and The Very True ‘Crazy Rich Asians’

15 Aug

Christopher Robin

I took too long to see Christopher Robin. Listening to critics and family members who no longer appreciate movies that aren’t action-packed, I waited off on seeing this movie, feeling it wasn’t pressing. After seeing it today, I fully regret not contributing to its box office weekend count.

The story follows Christopher Robin from the Winnie the Pooh series as he transitions from child to adult. As he traverses through his adulthood, he slowly loses his boy-like wonder and playfulness, overwhelmed by the daily struggles of trying to make sure he keeps a stable family life. Eventually though, he manages to run back into Winnie the Pooh, the lovable bear he grew up with, as Pooh looks to Christopher to help him find his lost friends. This encounter allows him to get in touch with his childhood once again.

Question for all you adult viewers: Did you ever find an old toy or drawing you had as child? Did it make you feel excited? Did it make you laugh and smile? If you have, then you can relate to this story focused on renewing your childhood.

Though the story is kind of predictable, it’s predictable in a good sort of way. It isn’t more than I would expect it to be, and that’s what makes it so charming. Some people were taken aback by how gloomy and ruddy most of the scenes were because their original memories of the animated Winnie the Pooh were so colorful. But actually, I felt that this appearance felt more true to the original book series and felt more authentic. Some people also felt that seeing the characters from Winnie the Pooh enter London made them smaller than life rather than big important characters as some perceived they were in the animated series and movies and such.

But I guess I’ve been playing Kingdom Hearts enough to get used to the characters feeling rather small…

In any case, I never should’ve listened to the naysayers. At the same time, it was the naysayers that lowered my expectations so that I could come into the movie with a fresh mind.

A little backstory on the movie: It was said that Christopher Robin the movie was based off of the author’s son Christopher Robin Milne. In fact, Christopher Robin in the Winnie the Pooh series itself was based off of the real son of the author. But the author’s son had an estranged relationship with his father, similarly to the Christopher Robin in the movie. He hated that his father used him for the books. I don’t think he liked the fame and attention. The real Christopher Robin’s life was also very similar, if not almost exact, to the story developed for the movie. With, of course, a happier ending.

According to Wikipedia:

Christopher Robin Milne was born at 11 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, at 8 am on 21 August 1920, to author Alan Alexander Milneand Dorothy (née de Sélincourt) Milne. Milne speculates that he was an only child because “he had been a long time coming.” From an early age Milne was cared for by his nanny, Olive Brockwell, for over 8 years until May 1930, when he entered boarding school. Milne called her “Nou”, and stated “Apart from her fortnight‘s holiday every September we had not been out of each other’s sight for more than a few hours at a time”, and “we lived together in a large nursery on the top floor.”^[1]^{:19,21,55,97,104}

Milne’s father explained that Rosemary was the intended name for their first born, if a girl. Realizing it was to be a boy, A.A. decided upon Billy, without the intention of christening him William. Instead, each parent chose a name, hence Christopher Robin, his formal name until 1928. Yet, from 1925 onwards, he was referred to within the family as Moon, which was Christopher Milne’s pronunciation of Milne. From 1929 onwards, he was referred to simply as Christopher, and as he states, it was “The only name I feel to be really mine.”

The real stuffed toys owned by Christopher Robin Milne and featured in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. They have been on display in the New York Public Library in New York City since 1987. According to the New York Public Library’s web site, the items have been on display in the Children’s Center at 42d Street, in the “main branch” of the library (the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street) since early 2009.

At his first birthday, Milne received an Alpha Farnell teddy bear, which he later named Edward. This bear, along with a real Canadian bear named “Winnipeg” that Milne saw at London Zoo,^[3]^[4] eventually became the inspiration for the Winnie-the-Pooh character.

Milne spoke self-deprecatingly of his own intellect, “I may have been on the dim side”, or “not very bright.” He also described himself as being “good with his hands”, and possessing a Meccano set. His self descriptions included “girlish”, since he had long hair and wore “girlish clothes”, and being “very shy and “un-self-possessed.”

An early childhood friend was Anne Darlington, also an only child, who as Milne described it, was for his parents “the Rosemary that I wasn’t.” In fact Milne’s mother hoped they would marry one day, hopes she abandoned when Milne turned 25.

In 1925, Milne’s father bought Cotchford Farm, near Ashdown Forest in East Sussex. Though still living in London, the family would spend weekends, Easter and summer holidays there. As Milne described it, “So there we were in 1925 with a cottage, a little bit of garden, a lot of jungle, two fields, a river and then all the green, hilly countryside beyond, meadows and woods, waiting to be explored.” The place became the inspiration for fiction, with Milne stating “Gill’s Lap that inspired Galleon’s Lap, the group of pine trees on the other side of the main road that became the Six Pine Trees, the bridge over the river at Posingford that became Pooh-sticks Bridge,” and a nearby “ancient walnut tree” became Pooh’s House. His toys, Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, plus two invented characters, Owl and Rabbit, came to life through Milne and his mother, to the point where his father could write stories about them. Kanga and Tigger were later presents from his parents.

Of this time, Milne states, “I loved my Nanny, I loved Cotchford. I also quite liked being Christopher Robin and being famous.”

When his nanny departed when he was aged nine, Milne’s relationship with his father grew. As he put it, “For nearly ten years I had clung to Nanny. For nearly ten more years I was to cling to him, adoring him as I had adored Nanny, so that he too became almost a part of me…”

When Milne eventually wrote his memoirs, he dedicated them to Olive Brockwell, “Alice to millions, but Nou to me”.

Of his time at boarding school, Milne says, “For it was now that began that love-hate relationship with my fictional namesake that has continued to this day.”

In 1941, during World War II, Milne left his studies to join the army, but initially failed the medical examination. His father used his influence to help get Milne a position as a sapper in the Royal Engineers. After the war, he returned to Cambridge and completed a degree in English literature.^[5]^{:13–21,104,116–118}

On 11 April 1948, Milne became engaged to Lesley de Sélincourt, a cousin on his mother’s side, and they married on 24 July 1948. In 1951, he and his wife moved to Dartmouth and started the Harbour Bookshop on 25 August. This turned out to be a success, although his mother had thought the decision odd, as Milne did not seem to like “business”, and as a bookseller he would regularly have to meet Pooh fans.^[1]^:167–168^[5]^{:107,129–133,147}

Milne occasionally visited his father when the elder Milne became ill. After his father died, Milne never returned to Cotchford Farm. His mother eventually sold the farm and moved back to London, after disposing of his father’s personal possessions. Milne, who, didn’t want any part of his father’s royalties, decided to write a book about his childhood. As Milne describes it, that book, The Enchanted Places, “…combined to lift me from under the shadow of my father and of Christopher Robin, and to my surprise and pleasure I found myself standing beside them in the sunshine able to look them both in the eye.”^[5]

Following her husband’s death, Dorothy Milne had little further contact with her son, did not see him during the last 15 years of her life, and refused to see him on her deathbed.^[6]^[7]

A few months after his father’s death in 1956, Milne’s daughter Clare was born and diagnosed with severe cerebral palsy.

Milne gave the original stuffed animals that inspired the Pooh characters to the books’ editor, who in turn donated them to the New York Public Library; Marjorie Taylor (in her book Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them) recounts how many were disappointed at this, and Milne had to explain that he preferred to concentrate on the things that currently interested him.^[8] He disliked the idea of Winnie-the-Pooh being commercialised.

Despite the fact that many people felt the movie was a much dimmer or bleaker view of the Pooh series, the original story was far more grim and didn’t have quite the same feel-good ending. I think they kept as close to the original Christopher as they could and changed some things to make it relate well to the audience. It ended the way most of us would’ve wanted the real Christopher’s life to end.

Initially, I was going to write this story off as a Hook-alike, but it’s so much deeper than a re-telling of a classic. It’s really an awakening. This story had substance, stuck to its source, and inspired me to peer closer into the Pooh series and appreciate it. It made me do more research about the characters and story. Really, it made me deeply fall in love with the old classic. It was simply charming and heartwarming.

Besides, I can’t resist British films or films located in foreign countries, teddy bears, Disney movies, and sprinklets of history. I might be the only one who appreciates family tales like this anymore. I give this a 10/10. This movie might not be for everyone. It’s family-friendly, but it has a slower-paced story than the action-thriller movies most people are accustomed to seeing nowadays.

If you like this movie, I also recommend Paddington Bear.

Crazy Rich Asians

Finally, a movie with an all-Asian cast that doesn’t follow a Kung Fu, Taekwondo, or Karate story-line. Finally, a hot Asian man plays the lead character (though he’s been said to be mixed…).

There are so many reasons I’m grateful for this movie. We hardly get any Hollywood movies portraying Asian-Americans in any other roles but lame dorks or fighting masters.

On the story side, if you’re accustomed to watching Asian dramas, this movie might be a little predictable. Really, if you’re used to movies about fancy rich guys marrying down their class, you’ll find this movie to move along exactly the way you expect it too.

On the other hand, as much as the concept is common, they pull it off in such a stylish way and sprinkle it with different surprises, it feels a little different. Maybe it’s the Asian cultural pieces that make this movie stand out. It certainly makes itself distinct from just being any old movie about “rich people”. They are rich “ASIANS”.

This isn’t to say I don’t have my criticisms. There were many things left out of the movie that I felt would’ve added to the story (but then maybe it would’ve made the movie feel too cluttered…). Perhaps those things will come in a sequel (if this movie does well enough to get the “green light” for a sequel).

I also felt that one of the final scenes with the lead female and the lead male’s mother was actually unnecessary by the time it occurred and should’ve occurred much sooner. But I understand it was needed to show us (the viewers) the character’s resolve. It was a scene that was basically showing the character’s new-found strengths and courage.

Still, it seems like the writer was trying to depict the character in the scene as the one taking the “high moral ground”, but because of the timing, the scene just felt like a manipulative attempt to make the lead male character’s mother change her mind…

It would’ve been different if she’d have told the audience in some way that she had a clever idea to change his mother’s mind. Instead, it felt more like she was trying to preach to his mother about how bad she’d been acting, but chose a time when it didn’t really matter…until the end. Her actions felt a little more manipulative than “brave”. I felt the scene would’ve made more of an impact much sooner. By the time the scene occurred, it gave a “Are you happy now?” sort of feeling. Kind of like she was playing a psychological game with the lead character’s mother but told none of us about it in her behavior or attitude.

Other than that, this movie was fun, stylish, and romantic. I haven’t seen a romantic movie in theaters in such a long time, so it was sort of nice to watch a different sort of genre.

The biggest draw to me about this movie is that it aims to tell the truth about Asian families, especially Asians from respected families. I use the term “respected” because these incidences don’t just happen commonly among the wealthy Asians. I’ve heard many, many scary stories about men and women meeting their partner’s Asian parents and not feeling like they measure up.

Unfortunately, it appears the things that happened in this movie aren’t just dramatic tellings of the Asian parent-meeting experience. The issues found in this movie happen to REAL couples who are trying to bridge gaps between themselves and one or more Asian parents. This is especially common with Asian parents who aren’t from a western country.

The average person who watches this movie may think this is just an Asian cliche story (or rather a cliche period), but it really goes down like this in some families. Knowing that, all the drama in the movie made even more of an impact on my viewing experience. I’m not even Asian American. But if I were, how would I deal?

Overall, I think this was a good entertaining watch. I recommend it. I give it a 9/10.

Tags: Asian dramas, chinese dramas, Christopher Robin, Crazy Rich Asians, Disney, Disney movies, Winnie the Pooh

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Categories Movies

Weekend Movie High: Black Panther Movie Review

18 Feb

I waited to give this review until after the weekend, so everyone can watch it without having to be inundated with spoilers.

*The following article may contain a few spoilers.

Black Panther brought together many elements to the cinema experience this weekend, elements both familiar to the current cinema experience and new experiences. The movie combines Marvel’s larger-than-life heroism and story-telling, the movie magic and money-making design of Marvel Studios and Disney, the perfect team: Ryan Coogler, Kevin Feige, and Kendrick Lamar, and messages that fit with today’s social climate and rings closely with Black History Month—all combined to make a perfectly successful movie.

Breaking down everything I witnessed in this film, I have mostly positive things to say. I do have some minor critiques (which I’m certain I’ll get eaten alive for), but it’s not something that takes away from the film overall.

Usually, I’m not the type to be all over a movie just because of the hype. I support black representation in cinema, but I care more that the movies being produced actually PROPERLY represent black people.

I can tell you right now that this African American woman loved every moment of this film, for what it was worth.

Let’s break down what made this movie so fantastic.

Sense of Heroism

Even when the movie began, I could feel that this movie was leading us into the Marvel universe, a universe that focuses on drama, tragedy, strength, and ultimately victories. It was a superhero flick at heart. Yes, the very distinct fact being the superhero was black. But truly, it was a super hero movie. And because of that, I got there were many things one could expect in this movie. Don’t get me wrong, there were many plot twists to keep me interested. Yet, we knew who was going to win in the end and we knew how: through an epic showdown. Of course, this movie did break some Marvel traditions that usually come with the epic showdowns, but all in all, it did it in standard Marvel flavor.

Overall, it’s the traditional storytelling that works…and always will. Why? Because we all hope things work out in the end. No one wants to leave a movie sad and depressed, feeling as if there was no closure or feeling the movie was all for nothing. Some justice has to be served. So movies with this formula will always be successful. This formula is what keeps super hero movies breaking the Box Office. Despite any heavy themes or messages, the fact that the hero is always there to protect others and save the day inspires hope in people and brings them a sense of courage, making this a positive movie for the family overall. This is why having a black super hero is important for black youth. Having someone in cinema inspire the type of hope and courage no other figure can makes all the difference in shaping the mind. This is the power the cinema can have. But it’s important than the inspiration comes from a character that is generally deemed good overall, moral in character and just.

Marvel Heroism and the Black Panther

That sense of heroism is a staple of Marvel. Marvel brought about a black character who would fight honorably, without resorting to killing his brothers, something rare in films with black men as leads. The main character cares about people, is reasonable enough to admit his failures and where he went wrong, and is loyal enough to his culture, land, and tradition to defend it against all odds. This character is both tough and sensitive, making him an ideal figure for audiences. After all, heroes are expected to be ideal. They must live up to all expectations.

That weight was carried well by Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa). He was able to beautifully deliver the hero of heroes (as is common with Marvel). He conveyed inner strength more than brute strength, a sense of purpose, a clever mind, and the ability to reason and forgive. Marvel’s characters often have that effect. The characters always inspire their audience with heroic qualities combined with a sense of earthiness.

The best thing about the Disney/Marvel dynamic movie-making teamwork is that they can focus more on characters, not the stars who play them. With that in mind, we are not watching a film because “this famous actor is in it”. We are watching the film because this film has a great character and story, and these “stars” were the best fit to bring the story to life. That is the ingredient that creates great films.

A lot of news articles are saying that this movie broke Box Office expectations. I can’t see how the success of this was surprising or how anyone expected this movie to be unsuccessful. There really hasn’t been a movie about black super heroes from a major brand to even know how they would do at the Box Office. I suppose it’s the fact that Hollywood assumed black culture and people don’t sell well to people overseas, who have been European-washed and have come to see black people as “inferiors”. I suppose they assume that’s why the other movies didn’t sell very well. From my experience, it’s mostly been because the movies starring black people weren’t neutral in their content or were just bad overall. Other than that, I can’t see how anyone would think this would flop when Disney is in charge, the Marvel brand is lending a great character, and social media has the tools to promote any message and agenda it wants to.

Disney did mention they didn’t think a movie with a character that isn’t so familiar in the Avengers universe would sell in a stand alone movie, which is a reasonable doubt. However, I think having a stand-alone movie first is what made it better. After all, Spider Man, Iron Man, and Hulk all got that treatment, which was why we all were able to attach ourselves to the characters and their stories long before Avengers played on the screen.

A hero flick has the makings for success, especially when the production team and modern equipment are in place. How can the success of this movie be shocking? If Hollywood wasn’t full of old farts, they wouldn’t have been shocked. They would’ve been more in tune with today’s social climate and trends. They would’ve realized what was in demand. A black hero from the 21st Century has been in demand for a long time. Marvel is still in demand.

Girl Power

While we’re on the subject of Marvel and its sense of heroism, we can’t miss talking about the leading fierce ladies in this movie. Cinema really doesn’t have many black female heroes. And that became apparent when I saw how gracefully the women shined in this movie. Particularly, three ladies stood out the most.

Okoye (played by Danai Gurira) was definitely a stand-out character. A warrior and leader of her own group of female warriors, she was strong, fierce, and no-nonsense. She showed many different layers, though. She wasn’t just your one-dimensional “strong” female character. She could be humorous when she wanted to be, she could be sensitive, and then she could be loyal and graceful at the same time. Her strong loyalty to Wakanda and tradition was evident in her character. Still, she broke our very normal traditions, especially when it comes to her appearance. She was unashamed of the way she chose to wear her hair (really all of the women had the hair of their choice). Thankfully, she chose to wear her hair in a style honored by many African tribes.

Nakia (played by Lupita Nyong’o) served as the “reasonable one”, connecting Wakanda to the rest of the world. This character was a spy for Wakanda. She was also strong, but she had a sense of inner strength. She was loyal to her country, but she saw more of the world than other people in her kingdom and wasn’t afraid to present ideas that deviated from tradition. She had a lot of street sense. Her sense of compassion, her cleverness, and her diplomacy really helped save the day.

And then there’s Shuri (played by Letitia Wright). She is, by far, my favorite among the leading ladies. Shuri loved technology. Her lab was her playground. Yes, I’m happy that there were women in this movie doing many different things, from being warriors, lovely spies, to operating technology with powerful resources. This character was cool, easy-going, funny, and intelligent. She brought in the humor and made the experience less intense. The actress herself is an example of how representation is important. She said that after seeing Akeelah and the Bee, she knew she wanted to be an actress. And look at her now! You never know how one person can inspire another person.

My only critique of this is one scene where all of the ladies, while climbing a mountain to escape, were trying to figure out who would take the herb to become the Black Panther (when they thought T’Challa was dead). I couldn’t understand for the life of me why none of those women stood up to take the responsibility, as strong and as powerful as they were. Nakia’s excuse was that she didn’t have an army…neither did T’Challa anymore! And yet, he still suited up and took down the kingdom. He dug into his courage. I felt Nakia showed a weaker spirit in that moment.

I’m not surprised Shuri didn’t step up. Shuri was obviously younger and weaker physically (no offense) and wasn’t a warrior. Nakia WAS a warrior. It would’ve made sense for her to take the herb.

Aside from that one bit, I fully connected with these ladies and actually would like to see more of them front-and-center.

The Movie’s Team and Magic

<> at Chivas House on May 18, 2013 in Cannes, France.

Everyone in the background who worked to make this movie a success has to be honored.

Director and writer Ryan Coogler delivered in really bringing this story full circle. He helped in properly portraying black people with a story that relates to black people. And based on the Box Office success, possibly a lot of other people too! I think we all can relate to the themes in this movie. Many people understand the damage of colonization, many understand the fight between holding on to tradition and becoming modern, and many more people understand the challenge of trying to overcome the damage done by one’s ancestors-something that can’t be undone so easily. Ryan seems to have a good sense of his own history as well as the people he is delivering his messages to.

Kendrick Lamar was the curator over the music. I was skeptical at first because…to be honest, I wasn’t all over “All the Stars” when I first heard it. But after seeing the movie, the song grew on me and I saw the relation. It sounded really good with the movie. The rest of the soundtrack though! My goodness. Kendrick really made this a film that fit with black culture overall. I really liked Erik Killmonger’s theme. It suited his wannabe-tough image and style.

The music gave us the feeling of this movie from the beginning. We knew it was going to be honoring the great black cultural aspects the audience was about to experience onscreen.

And I will give a nod to Kevin Feige. At first, I wasn’t sure what he added to this movie. Basically, he just funded it, as far as I was concerned. I had to research what a producer does to really get a good idea of what he contributed (to all the Marvel movies really). Time magazine says that a producer is someone who “finds the literary property (a novel, play or original script), shapes the idea into a viable film, raises the money, hires the director, chooses the cast, oversees production and post production, masterminds the marketing, negotiates the worldwide rights — be a movie’s begetter and first, demanding viewer.” With that being said, I would like to thank Kevin for seeing the value in this story enough to actually push it through. While other Hollywood producers have been sleeping on supporting proper representation, and haven’t had the guts to dive into a story with a black person as the lead, this producer decided to take a chance. And while it even took him too long to realize how needed this character was, the fact is he helped in funding this project and brought it to life.

I also want to give him a thumbs up on the casting. Everyone mostly delivered. I’m glad he realized a majority-black cast was needed to make this film a success, and he chose the right people for the job. I’m sure he worked closely with Ryan to make sure everything went smoothly.

Finally, the cast. These people really delivered their roles! Without them, this movie wouldn’t have been anything. Angela Basset was even a glorious goddess in her role, in the few scenes she was shown in. Everyone brought such fire and passion, humor and love, weakness and vulnerability, it really made the movie a gem. I was a little skeptical about Michael B. Jordan’s portrayal of Erik Killmonger at first. I liked his character, because I do believe many young black Americans have picked up that behavior, but later he was able to come out and show more depth.

The settings were awesome. Beautiful scenery in Wakanda. And then a trip to the modern city of Busan, South Korea, which is right on trend right now as a great destination spot. It definitely helped make this appealing to the Eastern movie market (which I’m thankful, because we know how they feel about darker skinned people over there…). It turns out this movie did really well in South Korea.

Message

Finally, one of the biggest gems of this movie is the messages it sends. It sends these messages in so elegantly and naturally, that one may overlook how powerful they truly are.

This movie was great because it wasn’t just a superhero flick. It was a super hero flick that meant something and said something important to many of the viewers who watched it, whether intended or not.

Representation

This movie has shown us why representation is so important. In other movies, usually, there are a handful of black characters in them. With so few black characters, the movie isn’t able to show a diverse range of people, with various interests, feelings, ideas, and abilities and gifts. In this movie, we see men of different backgrounds, feeling differently about life, offering many different versions of the black male experience. We also see women from various backgrounds, having different abilities and offering their own special gifts to their motherland. Having these different people represent black people around the world can be the start of people having a different view of black people (if the people of the world give this movie a chance).

Even while watching, I found myself relating to so many characters, and it got me thinking how I haven’t seen so many black people with as much diversity in a long time.

Keeping that in mind, the success of the mind comes from the fact that it appeals to the core Marvel fanbase while it draws in an outside audience that just appreciates the cultural aspect associated with it.

Themes of Colonialism, Motherland

Obviously, this movie would have this theme. It’s well-known that Africa’s resources have fallen into others’ hands when Europeans arrived on the continent and took the resources for themselves. But overall, many African nations allowed this open trade, which proved to be their undoing. Wakanda, on the other hand, isolated themselves from the rest of the world, so they were able to maintain their wealth and technology. They never experienced colonialism or oppression. This serves as a central plot point between the main character and the villain. Because the villain’s story resonates so closely with the African American experience, it left most American audiences caught between the hero and villain. But more importantly, it made us ponder the greater effects of colonialism and how it has changed African Americans’ relationship with their own motherland.

Even though most African Americans are proud to acknowledge their African roots, most don’t know what those roots are. Even if they did, they would be disconnected from it. Erik Killmonger echoes that in the movie. His whole purpose was to get to Wakanda, the land of his father, but when he arrived in the kingdom, he almost seemed lost in a foreign country. The “challenge ceremony” that happened in the movie seemed to confuse Erik, and he hardly showed respect for the actual culture and tradition of a land he wanted to rule. This was a very sad, but real fact. And this mirrors the damage colonialism and the African Slave Trade brought upon African Americans.

The Complexities Between African Americans and Africans

Bouncing off from what I said, the movie brought to the fore a very complex issue among African Americans and Africans. Because African Americans have African roots and are black people living in a colonial society, they long to attach themselves to a rich culture and they are constantly searching to connect more with Africa. And yet, they are American, raised in a Europeanized society with Europeanized values. This almost puts them at odds with their roots and other people of Africa.

This creates a sort of divide between real African cultures and African American cultures. African Americans have adopted other cultures from England, France, Spain, and the various Central and South American countries. This makes their experience with life more complex.

The title character in Black Panther has a rich culture and history. He can be proud of himself and his resources. He can feel “diplomatic”. He has something to protect and fight for. Erik Killmonger has nothing to fight for or protect. He knows little about where he comes from, but he knows how his people are living now in the USA. This drives him to find Wakanda. This gives him purpose.

I am wrestling with Eric being written as a “villain”. Truly, is he a villain? It’s hard to say. I would say the way he went about getting what he wanted was bad for others, as was written, but his intentions (to share some of the resources with fellow black people around the world who lacked in resources and manpower, to avenge his father who was murdered) wasn’t really so bad. Of course, he was just a victim of a broken system. That complexity made his role as a villain very interesting. It challenged the viewers’ thought process.

Because I question Erik as the villain, I question T’Challa as a hero. Yes, he was kind and good and cared about his people. But why does he have to show more honor and normalcy than a black American? Yes, colonialism has done a number on black youth, but we aren’t all damaged goods. We still carry a sense of pride and honor, even if we don’t live on the continent of Africa.

At the same time, the way Erik was written, I find him mirroring some of the attitudes found in much of the rap out there. Erik does reflect a very real attitude in black communities, even if it isn’t a reflection of everyone. Erik himself, as a character, was ruthless in getting what he wanted, and that shouldn’t be honor. T’Challa sought to make up for his mistakes. As a character, he is just and the right fit.

But in reality, it’s not that simple. Africans overall aren’t truly more honorable than African Americans. African Americans aren’t as damaged as believed. If anything, they are most aware of the evils of the world, which makes them stronger and wiser. Both groups have their strengths.

But with this character, he was damaged. Just clearing the air here.

Homogeneity and Isolationism V.S. Multiculturalism and Open Trade

Finally, I want to talk about this complex message. This is actually a popular topic in today’s social climate as well, with so many fighting for ethno-states and so many others fighting to maintain cultural and racial homogeneity.

The theme brought up some pretty controversial messages regarding it, and it’s hard to know which path is right.

Wakanda isolated themselves for years, which helped them maintain their homogeneous society. While this helped them maintain their beautiful land and culture, as well as their wealth and technology and resources, they continued to neglect the horrors of the world, even horrors being done to their own people. They withheld their knowledge, knowledge that could’ve helped many people around the world. The extent that even T’Challa’s father went to protect his kingdom, just because he didn’t want anyone to know about Wakanda, showed how fighting to keep a society free from the influence of the world can prove more disastrous than giving in and sharing what one has.

On the other hand, if Wakanda had been as open, they would’ve been like all the other countries, filled with racial tensions, cultural destruction, and a lack of resources. They would’ve been overpowered and oppressed.

Which is right? Can a balance be achieved? I certainly think sharing medical knowledge and some technologies wouldn’t harm the Wakanda kingdom. But they should find a way to protect and hide their manpower. They shouldn’t completely give up all of their resources and power. They could allow some people to enter and live in Wakanda, provided the individual assimilates to the culture and accepts the traditions of the land. At the same time, the process should be difficult. The visitor should prove their loyalty to the kingdom.

But this brings up a greater topic about immigration overall. What do you readers think?

In conclusion, the movie brought honor to the Black Panther comic and the Marvel brand overall. It hyped up comic book fans and tickled the ears and eyes of the inner African and African American soul. It left an impression, that’s for sure. It also poked a giant hole through that tired saying inserted with any minority “Well, [insert minority] just doesn’t sell well at the Box Office”. This movie has grossed $192 Million at the Box Office to date. It surprised people, people who thought this movie wouldn’t sell overseas, especially in Asia.

This movie proves that you don’t need a popular Hollywood star to drive a movie to worldwide success. All that’s needed is a good story line, themes people can relate to, action and excitement, and a popular brand. All that’s needed is a focus on characters and stories, not star power. If only producers and directors had been smart enough to understand this sooner. Maybe Ghost in the Shell and Gods of Egypt might have been saved, or at least would’ve been without backlash. If only they would’ve been more in tune with the social climate and trends they might have had a few more viewers.

Hopefully, we continue to see movies that depict characters as written, envisioned, and as they way they are meant to be presented. After all, Black Panther shouldn’t be looked at as the last good movie with a black-lead and majority-black cast. It isn’t the first, and it shouldn’t be the last. In fact, it is only the beginning of a new era in Black cinema.

Tags: Angela Bassett, Black History Month, Black Panther 2018, Black Panther movie, Chadwick Boseman, Claue, Danai Gurira, Disney, Erik Killmonger, Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Feige, Latitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Marvel, Michael B. Jordan, Nakia, Okoya, Ryan Coogler, Shuri, T'Challa, The Black Panther

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Categories Movies

‘Wonder Woman’ (Quick Movie Review)

13 Jun

Last weekend, I had a movie day. I saw two long movies in one day at the movie theater. Spending money on movies isn’t normally my thing, but I needed someplace to cool down from the heat.

‘Wonder Woman’ was one I’ve been wanting to see for awhile.

I have grown up with the DC universe more than I have the Marvel universe. I watched the Batman cartoons on Cartoon Network as a kid, read Superman‘s comics, and was obsessed with Teen Titans. I know that’s not saying much in comparison to the serious fans, but it made Wonder Woman an attractive movie for me. Also, as a woman, why wouldn’t I support a female super hero movie?

That being said, let me sum up my feelings on Wonder Woman in one sentence: Your typical super hero movie.

Wonder Woman is getting quite a bit of praise from crowds. I can see why. It has the bells and whistles: Flashy lights, explosions, a moral center, and an attractive lead female character. Oh yes, and did I mention a lead female character?

Of course the feminists were going to eat this up. First off, it passes the “Bechdel test”, the test that requires a movie to have two or more women in a movie, discussing something other than men. With a look into the island of Amazons kicking this movie off, we are introduced to a warrior tribe of empowering women.

I was quite interested in this island. In fact, I found some of the other female Amazons on the island to be better representations of feminism than the leading goddess and would’ve liked to see more development for them. But no good movie can keep going without an idiot. Yes, the lead character has to be the “fool” otherwise this story wouldn’t have existed.

Yes, I said it. Wonder Woman played “the fool” in this movie. She was all brawn and no brains. I’ll give some spoiler examples…

When Wonder Woman, real name Diana, was trying to help the “strange American man” named Steve back to his home so she could “save the world”, there was this awkward scene with her speaking to him about the Amazons’ view of men, with her trying to understand why he won’t sleep next to her, and then her ultimately convincing him that this is okay. I couldn’t help thinking to myself that she probably shouldn’t have been running away from all of her studies as a child. I’m sure the Amazons wouldn’t have just taught her how to wield a sword, but I’m sure they were adamant about teaching her the details of life. That is, if she had actually stayed in one of her classrooms. But because she focused so much attention on being strong, no one was able to teach her to be observant. If she had been observant, she would’ve been able to maneuver in the “world of man”. When the American man refused to sleep next to her, a shrewd warrior would’ve quickly caught on to the custom of man and kept a healthy distance.

When Diana first arrived in the world of man, she walked around sporting a sword and shield. A truly observant warrior would’ve observed the people around her and realized, “Hey, no one else walks around with their weapons drawn. I should keep a low profile until the time is right.” Without the careful shrewdness of a real warrior, I couldn’t take this Amazon princess seriously. Then again, I’ve never been able to take most super hero stories seriously, and I suppose this moment was to give us light humor and add flaws to her almost-perfect package, even if it didn’t exactly make her the “feminist” ideal. Furthermore, she wasn’t considered a real warrior. She clearly lacked experience.

I applaud the female director Patty Jenkins for bringing a female superhero to the screen, though. And she is exactly what all the other heroes onscreen have been: balls of power with dim wit. Very few heroes are depicted as intelligent creatures. She was treated equally, and that’s all we can ask for.

If there was one area Wonder Woman delivered on, it was on the battlefield. Sure, she’s stupid. But she’s not afraid to charge head-first into bullets and bombs. She shows no restraint or hesitation when she slices her sword through a man she assumed to be Ares (the villain she believes is responsible for causing WWI).

Still, her whole voyage was lead by her naivety.

I also wasn’t too convinced of her romance with American spy Steve. To me, from the first encounter, the romance seemed to be developing, which made it feel forced. It was bettered developed than the romances in other super hero flicks, but that doesn’t mean it was the best. I’m not one for romantic flicks much anyway, but the few that I’ve gotten into seemed to develop slower over time and moved about unexpectedly. I’ll take the Hermoine and Ron coupling for example (though I’m still team Harry x Hermoine). Hermoine and Ron’s relationship developed over the course of the series. Yes, it took several sequels to build them up, but for me, that’s how long it should take. In that sense, the romance didn’t have to stand in the way of the main plot and story. I can’t jump on the bandwagon of a love-at-first encounter match nor can I side with a story where romance becomes the center (or even a secondary plot) without the proper time.

Despite the hang-ups, Wonder Woman was still an enjoyable time. I particularly liked the scene where Diana (aka Wonder Woman) hopped out of the trenches, sword and shield in, and faced the guns firing at her, repelling bullets with her wrist guards along the way, too. Even though this part was in the trailer, something about this scene on the big screen brought out the best of the character: her determination and her strength.

Throughout it all, Wonder Woman also showed remarkable compassion for humankind, even when they showed more flaws than she expected. She was outspoken and spunky in her own way. She doesn’t have the slut-shaming mentality, so she doesn’t care if her skirts are above her knees, which made us all seem small-minded in comparison. She truly had a broader view of the world, even if the world wasn’t as idealistic as she’d assumed throughout the story.

Still, as “compassionate” as she was, she was blind to who her real enemies were and failed to truly investigate the situation around her. For example, I wish she could’ve talked to her indigenous friend a little more. So captured by her boyfriend-to-be Steve, it’s almost as if she ignored her comrades’ words regarding how Steve’s people wiped out tribes of other people. Once I’d heard of that, as a warrior, I would’ve immediately questioned Steve about it and that would’ve lead me to truly question the honesty and integrity of humankind as a whole. It could’ve opened a gate to more knowledge about humans and brought deeper truths to the screen.

But I forgot, Diana is stupid. And they obviously wanted us to continue to see Steve as tender and handsome. So, I guess some issues will just have to be tossed to the back.

And then her “compassion” did not compel her to spare a General’s life, even after she was repeatedly told that individual might not be who she thought he was. Heck, she failed to truly understand Ares, the God she was seeking. Her whole moral character seemed to sit only on the surface.

If you want to turn your brain off to real history, but you enjoy a slice of it with some mythological tales, lots of explosions, action scenes, and a strong female kicking butt, you’ll love Wonder Woman. If super hero movies are your taste, you’re in for a treat. It was a good movie, but for me, it could’ve been better.

I give this an 8/10.

Tags: Chris Pine, DC comics, feminist, Gal Gadot, Justice League, Patty Jenkins, super hero, Wonder Woman

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Categories DC, Movies

American Girl’s Movie “Melody 1963: Love Has To Win” Was A Disappointment

29 Dec

I know. This movie was released two months ago in October 2016, and I am just now giving my review on it. I have my reasons.

For those who don’t know, American Girl is a widely popular doll brand that is known for its historical line of dolls and books, contemporary lines of dolls and books, and baby dolls for toddlers. The historical line is the oldest line in the brand. It has been around since the mid-1980s and it continues to impress upon the minds of little girls even to this day. Parents also love the dolls for their educational value.

Prior to Melody’s movie, four other historical American Girl characters have had movie adaptations produced by WB, HBO Films, and New Line Cinema. The original four movies (made for Samantha, Felicity, Molly, and Kit) were full-length, feature films. Melody’s movie and Maryellen’s movie are short films.

I loved the original four movies a lot. They really brought the characters to life. Of course, American Girl no longer has the budget for those kinds of films anymore, especially since they began focusing more on making new dolls (which is good enough for me).

Now, their movies are made by Amazon and are mostly released through Amazon Prime.

Set in Detroit during the Civil Rights Movement, “An American Girl Story – Melody 1963: Love Has to Win” examines the joyful life and troubled times of an irrepressible 10-year-old African-American girl whose vivid imagination and creativity reinforce her optimism. When shocking national events threaten her sense of security, Melody must find inner strength to restore her hope for a better world.

Director:

Tina Mabry

Writer:

Alison McDonald

Before I begin, I just want to inform new readers that I’ve always been a HUGE American Girl fan since the 1990s. I love toys and I love history. Combine the two, and you have one of my favorite doll franchises. I also want to remind readers that, as an African American, I am very happy that Melody was released. I loved her book series and the doll with her accessories…Just amazing.

But because I’m an American Girl fan and an African American at the same time, I can honestly say….I couldn’t really LOVE this movie. I don’t hate the movie, I just…don’t love it like I was expecting to.

Go ahead and chew me up. Call me self-hating, coon, liar, whatever. But before you decide to stop reading right here, just read me out.

One of the reasons I took so long to write this review was because I honestly wanted people to decide for themselves what they think of Melody’s movie. It was American Girl’s first movie dedicated to an American Girl doll of “color”, and I wanted people to mostly think positively. I didn’t want to shatter any dreams or feelings with my thoughts. I want Melody to be as successful as possible because I hope American Girl will continue to make more dolls of color in the future. I bought the movie on Prime because I wanted to encourage American Girl to make more movies with girls of color in lead roles.

I also waited to write this review because I saw how many people actually liked the movie (mostly people who never read Melody’s book series) and I knew they would just chew me up and spit me out for saying anything negative about this movie.

Last, I just really couldn’t find the right words to express how I was feeling. I tried to love this movie. I tried to force it, just because she was a girl of color and because I related to the message. But the American Girl fan in me just couldn’t attach themselves to it.

The only reason I decided to share my opinion was because a fan emailed me and asked me.

*The following article may contain some spoilers.

It’s not that this movie was garbage. Far beyond that. In fact, it had its pros. Let me just run down the list of pros I saw.

PROS

The Message

Out of most of the other American Girl movies, Melody’s movie was one of the few that actually talked about a serious issue. The only other American Girls that presented issues that relate to our modern world were Kit (we were in the midst of the Great Recession at the time) and Chrissa (bullying is still very serious). And Melody’s story was much deeper than all of those stories combined because real events were intertwined in the movie (particularly the Birmingham Church Bombing).

Melody’s movie was designed to relate to issues young Black children are facing today, particularly hate crimes and racism, and honestly, without the 1960s period outfits and references, I could see her being a girl in 2016/2017.

As an African American, I was happy that African American history was being presented by this movie, an American Girl movie at that. American Girl is a popular brand and it means a lot for such a brand to bring attention to girls of color and their struggles for equality.

The movie downsized the events that happened in the books, making the message clearer or more direct.

Marsai Martin

Marsai Martin was the actress that played Melody. She brought a lot of fire to Melody’s character (fire that wasn’t really felt in the books). Marsai is an intelligent and bright child herself, and I think she really shined in the movie. She had all the attitude, strength, and intelligence that I loved and that I feel all girls of color share. She had spunk.

Promotional Value

Melody’s movie has brought a lot of attention to the doll itself. Even though Melody has been out since August, a lot of people didn’t hear about her until after the release of the movie. There were many people on Facebook inquiring about Melody after this movie was released. Hopefully, this will help Melody sell better than Black dolls prior. If Melody sells well at the end of this year and in 2017, American Girl may consider making more Black dolls in the future. This will shut the mouths of all the people who claim “Black dolls don’t sell”.

Educational Value

The movie was educational for all races. For Black children, it helped them connect today’s events to past events. This helps them see history as something that’s interesting and a major part of their modern lives.

Children of other races could learn to understand Black people better through this story, through a beloved American Girl character (presumably).

CONS

Unfortunately, there were quite a few things that disturbed me about this movie. Please, don’t take offense. It’s just my opinion. I really felt there were things that would’ve made the movie better, but you readers are welcome to disagree.

The Cast

I felt everyone did a pretty good job with their acting. My problem was the lack of key characters from Melody’s stories.

Without Melody’s real family (and not that small butchered family in the movie), her life felt empty. In comparison to older American Girl movies, her cast was the most butchered and horribly downsized. This made Melody’s family life seem lonely rather than bustling and close-knit, like in her books.

To add, by getting rid of most of the IMPORTANT characters, they left out potential Black actors and actresses. Instead, more than half of the cast was WHITE. Not only was this totally opposite Melody’s story (which could’ve boasted an all-Black cast), it was completely disappointing that Black people still couldn’t get a chance to shine in this movie, a movie that’s supposed to tackle RACISM. There are few Black actors and actresses getting screen time as it is. It’s especially rare in children’s films. The lack of a large Black cast sort of betrays the message of the film.

Maybe they added different races because they wanted to relate to more races of people, but I felt that using Melody’s real story would’ve related to more people. Melody’s life was similar to how most people lived in the 1960s and all of the 1960s references from the book would’ve been more appealing. Why switch it up so much in the movie adaptation?

They probably wanted to highlight the racism experienced in the 1960s, which was rightfully highlighted, sure. But I feel that racism was tackled well enough in Melody’s story, from an authentic and realistic perspective, and with mostly Black people involved.

I’m not saying it’s bad to have White people in the movie, and maybe I should be grateful the lead characters were Black. But wouldn’t it have been amazing if most of the cast was Black? With Melody’s real family highlighted? Maybe that’s just my opinion.

Lately, it’s all about pushing agendas and less about telling the story.

Yes, I know that in American Girl movies prior, some characters were removed from the story, but the key characters were always present or at least mentioned. In movies prior, the family life from the books could be “felt”. Melody’s family in this movie just didn’t feel like her family.

Characters

This is something that really bothered me. As an American Girl fan, and not just an African American, this bothered me a lot.

NONE, and I mean NONE, of the characters really seemed like they came from Melody’s stories. In fact, they all felt like totally new characters from a completely different story. Even Melody really wasn’t Melody.

In the older American Girl movies, most of the characters, especially the main characters, had the same personalities and interests as the characters in the books. It truly seemed like they brought the characters to life. The movies just weren’t teaching history; they were also telling a story.

Melody in the movie was NOTHING like the girl I grew to know and love in the books. Some people may have liked her better in the movie, but I didn’t. It’s not that Marsai didn’t do a good job with what she was handed, the problem was what she was handed.

Melody has been described as a sweet and hopeful girl. In the books, she was sweet, thoughtful, and caring. In this movie, however, she seemed feistier. In the movie, she was a bit of a know-it-all. Melody wasn’t really a know-it-all kind of character in the books. I think they combined Melody with her sister Lila (who was in the STEM program in the book series, loved to read, and was super intelligent).

Melody was interested in singing (which they got right), but, in the books, she also loved gardening. In fact, she was gifted with planting. In the movie, they made her more interested in sewing and space (giving her 1950’s American Girl Maryellen’s interests). Gardening was a key part of her character, more than singing in the church choir, and they completely removed it. This was the first time I hardly recognized an American Girl in her own movie. The only thing “Melody” about the character was her outfits. I guess that’s all the doll company cared about when they allowed this movie to be produced.

Another thing that bothered me was the omission of Melody’s siblings. Having Melody’s siblings would’ve taught kids more about the 1960s through their experiences. I understand that this was a short film, but somehow, in Maryellen’s short film (a movie for the strawberry blonde character from the 1950s) they managed to bring most of Maryellen’s siblings into her story. Why not in Melody’s? The Baby Boom was still in full swing in the 1960s. It would’ve made sense for Melody to have more siblings.

Dwayne and Yvonne did much more to add to Melody’s life than did Maryellen’s siblings, and yet Melody’s family was omitted.

I felt cheated because I played this “quiz” on Americangirl.com that told me songs from the book would be in the movie. These songs were “written” and “composed” by Melody’s brother in the book series, so I thought he would be in the movie. I didn’t really hear all of his songs in the movie, but even if I had, I would’ve been more upset. Dwayne influenced Melody’s music interests so much, it just didn’t feel right to keep him out. He would’ve showed the new generation how black people influenced modern-day music through his affiliations with Motown. He could have represented that part of history that is unknown to the new generation, but a part of history that influences them even today.

Yvonne was a particularly empowering young woman. Her role in the book series was really interesting. First off, she was the first in her family to wear her hair all-natural (an afro). She was a real civil rights activist (not just a participant). She went to college, she risked her life to educate people in the south about voting, and she marched on Washington with thousands of people just to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. give his most famous speech. I was torn to bits when there wasn’t anyone in the movie to represent her.

Yes, I know American Girl is on a budget. They can’t make their movies too long, with too many people, like they used to. But I would’ve rather had Yvonne than any of those brats in Melody’s (fake) classroom. Again, how was Maryellen able to get away with having most of her siblings, but Melody’s movie had to succumb to the budget?

Finally, I want to talk about Melody’s mom. I’m happy that she was a hard-working African American woman and that her role revealed the struggles African Americans experienced in the USA. However, I found Melody’s mother to be more empowering and more authentic in the book series than in the movie. In the book series, Melody’s mother wasn’t a struggling seamstress working for racist White people. She was an educated, Black teacher, teaching at an all-Black school. Melody’s mother graduated from Tuskegee. The movie sort of combined American Girl’s 1860s Civil War character Addy’s mom with Melody’s (maybe to make up for the fact that American Girl, LLC has overlooked Addy’s story as potential for a good movie all of these years). I was not pleased with this.

I feel that Melody’s mother was over-dramatized in the movie. The book series was more authentic. Maybe it felt more authentic because the panel that worked on the books lived and understood that time period. Maybe it felt more authentic because my own grandmother and her friends had gone to school and became teachers in the 1960s. When I read it in Melody’s stories, I immediately connected with Melody’s mother. But the movie was dramatically trying to show us a racist society. While they did that, they took away Mrs. Ellison’s strengths and sense of realism. Even though the 1960s was a harsh time for African Americans, many were educated by then, many were successful, and many lived comfortably, especially in the North. Racism was often experienced as micro-aggressions, not as overt, especially in the Northern parts of the USA, similar to how it’s experienced now. I believe this movie would have really taught what racism is like if they’d approached Melody’s movie the way it was intended.

Personally, if they had stuck to the source material, we would have seen many Black-owned businesses mentioned, showing just how much potential Black people had, if only they hadn’t been stunted by racism. I would’ve liked to see Cousin Tish’s salon brought in the movie and I’m still crossing my fingers for the playset in the future.

I also wanted to see Big Momma, one of the most important figures in Melody’s life. She is the one that taught Melody how to sing!

Melody’s friends barely appeared in the movie, and when they did, they were mean little brats. They weren’t supportive like they were in the books.

So much was missing from the movie because the key characters that shaped Melody’s life in the books were not there. Therefore, she developed into a completely different character.

The Story

In the older American Girl movies, much of the stories were flipped, butchered, and changed around. Some scenes were added and some scenes were taken out. However, the heart and inspiration were clearly evident. Key important events were not taken out.

For example, 1940s American Girl Molly’s struggle with her hair was taken out of Molly: An American Girl on the Homefront. However, Molly getting the role as Miss Victory, the most important part of her Changes for Molly book, was in the movie.

There are more examples I could name, but the point is most of the older movies brought the important events from the book series to life.

The new Melody movie was so focused on pushing agendas and highlighting modern-day issues, it failed to actually tell Melody’s story. Melody was used as a tool to tell an entirely different story unrelated to the released American Girl. And that’s fine. But I watched the movie looking for one of my favorite characters to come to life on-screen. I was disappointed when I found I was being introduced to a completely different story with a completely different character in Melody’s wardrobe.

First issue, none, not one, of the events in the movie happened in the book. Melody never went to an all-white school in the book series. She attended an all-Black school. In the books, her school provided encouragement and support to the students, especially when it came to combating racism. In the books, when the church bombing happened, her teacher talked to the students to console them. Melody’s friends were there for her when she was frightened by the events.

The movie’s “Melody” has a different reaction than the book’s “Melody” to the same Birmingham Church Bombing event. In the movie, she was angry and bold. She posted clippings about the event in her all-White school. In the book series, it hit her much deeper. It struck fear in her. It made her afraid to walk in her own church. That felt more realistic, considering she was 9-years-old. These different reactions revealed that the two girls were actually TWO DIFFERENT characters. They didn’t react the same to situations; they didn’t have the same personalities. To me, they are two different “Melodys”.

I know the new story is supposed to relate better to modern Black girls, but that is also suggesting that Black girls are a monolith. Why do we all have to be interpreted as the “sassy” and “feisty” one? Aren’t some of us sweet and mild-tempered, too? Do we not harbor normal feelings, like fear and anxiety?

I feel that whoever made this movie cheated Melody, and these producers invested less in her movie than other producers invested in American Girl movies prior and after. I feel that her stories were butchered the most out of any of the other American Girl characters, and because of that, I don’t feel Melody’s story was really told.

Authenticity and Realism

While some modern-day African Americans may find the movie to be more realistic, especially in relation to today’s events and the way media has played up some major occurrences in the past, I found the book series to tackle the Civil Rights Era in a more authentic and realistic fashion overall.

Considering the book series was meant to be told from the perspective of the average 9-year-old living in Detroit in the NORTH during the 1960s, the book series relates more to the real African American story. In the book series, there were many cases of racism in stores, when trying to buy property, or when trying to fix up Black neighborhoods. But most Black people lived in all-black neighborhoods in nice brick houses. Most children attended all-Black schools.

Yet, racism permeated in ways unimaginable and unseen sometimes. The book showcased that. For example, though Black people lived in nice brick houses, they were also barred from living in certain communities, especially ones that were predominantly white, as what happened with Melody’s cousins who tried to buy a home in an all-White neighborhood after moving from the overt racist South to the covert racist North. Even though there were all-Black schools, they were heavily underfunded, and, in the book, Melody’s mother talked about how her school was being cut to “half-days”, cutting her paycheck. Racism was shown to be a “systemic” problem, not just something a mean old White person performs on Black people.

From a historical point-of-view, as mentioned before, it would have been more realistic for Melody’s family to be huge. Families were large in the 1960s because of the Baby Boom.

The book series had a naturalness to it that felt more authentic.

The movie was definitely what happens when “Hollywood” gets hold of something. With Hollywood taking hold of Melody’s story, everything became more dramatic. Racism and oppression became key themes, but strength, optimism, community, and hope were not added as themes as they were in the books. Especially not the community involvement. In the books, Melody rallies some kids and adults in her community to help clean up a neighborhood park that had been neglected. That was unfortunately left out of the movie.

I wish that theme had been brought out because I don’t feel enough African Americans are encouraged to get involved in their own communities. Some have given up hope that they can do anything to make a difference. I really hoped that there would be emphasis on community involvement and I was let down there.

Maybe these things don’t bother most viewers and American Girl fans, and I wouldn’t say it made me hate the movie. But I definitely felt disappointed and didn’t really have the same overwhelming happy feeling so many other people had after watching it. It was decent for a kids’ movie, but it just didn’t live up to former American Girl movies.

After this, I barely wanted to watch Maryellen’s movie. I was afraid it would also be butchered, and if it wasn’t, I would be mad that Maryellen’s movie was closer to her true series and Melody’s wasn’t. So far, I’m not a fan of the move to Amazon Prime. The movies are short, I don’t like paying for Prime just to watch these movies, and I would rather have a hard copy, like I did with other American Girl movies.

Anyway, sorry to be negative about this. I still love Melody and I still support American Girl bringing attention to dolls of color in the future. I’m just not a huge fan of this movie. I don’t think this movie really catered to the fan base and mostly catered to newcomers to the brand.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about the movie. Do you think I’m being too petty about it? I am one of those people that can’t read the book series and fully enjoy loose adaptations. XD Do you agree with me? Are there any points you appreciated about the movie? Anything you disliked? Please share.

If you haven’t read the books and don’t plan on reading them, I think this movie would be good to watch. If you’ve already read Melody’s series, tread with caution and remember that this movie is a pretty loose adaptation.

Tags: Amazon, Amazon movies, Amazon Prime, Amazon short films, American Girl 1960s doll, American Girl Beforever, American Girl historical characters, American Girl Melody, American Girl Melody movie, American Girl movies, An American Girl story Melody 1963 Love has to win, Beforever, Beforever Melody, Blackish, Marsai Martin, Melody 1963, Melody Ellison, Melody Love has to win, Melody movie

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Categories American Girl, dolls, entertainment, Internet Entertainment, Movies, Toys

Cardcaptor Sakura: Sakura and Syaoran’s Natal Profiles

19 Dec

Ever since I heard about the Cardcaptor Sakura sequel, the Clear Card arc, I’ve been binge watching the Cardcaptor Sakura anime and re-reading the original manga to refresh my memory while I tackle the new Chapter in Sakura’s life.

As I’ve been going through the manga and anime, I’ve been interested in the birthday profiles of Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li. Their relationships with other characters (as well as with one another) have always been of interest to me (especially after reading Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and xxxHolic), but after analyzing their birthdays, I’ve come to realize even more details about these two characters and their relationships with others.

This is an astrological reading. To learn about their planets and signs, I had to retrieve a natal chart or birth chart. To learn more: How Can I Learn More About Zodiac Signs and Aspects?

How did I deduce the year they were born? Well, I started with Toya Kinomoto, Sakura’s older brother, as I’ve seen many fans online do to calculate the year. He is said to have been born on a leap year day: February 29. The only way it would be possible to have been born on a leap year day, and still be in his late teens in the 1990s, he would have to have been born in 1980. Sakura is 6 years younger than him, being age 10 at the start of the series; her year must be 1986. It is implied that Syaoran is a few months younger than Sakura; his year must be 1986 as well.

Keeping this in mind, it makes perfect sense why certain events unfolded the way they did.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a birth time for either character. But a rectification isn’t totally impossible, considering there are plenty of events to analyze. Still, rectifications are less accurate. I will be updating this article as more information is revealed. * So far, what I have are their birthdates and years, which is enough to interpret planets in signs and aspects.

The following interpretations may contain spoilers. Most of the interpretations will make sense only to CCS fans anyway.

Dark Pixie, Astrologyclub, I nsightful astrology, Completehoroscope, and AlwaysAstrology are the sources where I got the information. Check out their websites for more info!

Sun-vitality, life, ego, creativity, expression, identity, self, main concerns, the father, consciousness, the will, power, masculine yang, the basic drive for significance, psychic and physical energy, stamina, rulers and authority figures, integrity, individuality

Moon-emotions, intuition, moods, mothers, children, instincts, the unconscious, material substance, female yin, receptivity, heredity, past, nurture, family, domestic life, wife, change, habits, feelings of belonging or alienation, the masses, containment

Mercury-intellect, logic, perception, thinking, communication, mentality, siblings, travel, reason, the rational mind, language, writing, memory, creating associations, symbolization, skills, movement, transportation, versatility

Venus-love, beauty, art, romance, partnership, values, women, pleasure, femininity, relatedness, social urges, creation, attraction, luck, personal magnetism, money, nurturing mother love, sensuality, bonding energy, harmony and merging

Mars-aggression, drive, power, instincts, masculinity, sexuality, men, brothers, desire, action, ego, individuality, survival, yang, passion, courage, competition, sports, war, stamina, independent in relationships, conflict, force, vigor, mechanical ability

Jupiter-expansion, optimism, abundance, wisdom, vision, convictions, space, growth, luck, higher learning, travel, religion, philosophy, material abundance vs waste and extravagance, understanding vs wanderer and dilettante, integration into society

Saturn-structure, restrictions, time, authority, discipline, limitations, challenge, concentration, pessimism, fear, karma, consolidation, delays but not denial, the father, old age, tests, collective law/reality, school, teachers, contraction, responsibility, obligation, ambition

Uranus-rebellion, eccentricity, upheaval, originality, renewal, revolution, individualism, humanitarianism, science, inventions, unpredictable change, intuition, genius, independence, freedom, social reform, rebels, electricity, joining the collective consciousness and the group mind

Neptune-dreams, illusion, delusion, spirituality, oneness, addictions, transcendence, suffering, imagination, sensitivity, psychic and mystical capability, deception, drugs, alcohol, obligation, bondage, fog

Pluto-power, transformation, obsession, alchemy, healing, life, death, humiliation, underworld, sex, the breakdown of psychological blocks preventing evolutionary growth, regeneration, phoenix

Aries –adventurous, energetic, pioneering, courageous, selfish, quick tempered, impulsive, impatient, brave, independent, assertive, hates to be restricted. I am

Taurus-patient, reliable, warmhearted, loving, jealous, possessive, resentful, inflexible, good taste, sensual, down to earth, pleasure-seeking, stubborn. I have

Gemini-adaptable, versatile, communicative, witty, nervous, tense, superficial, inconsistent, dynamic, many talents, likes games, two faced, mischievous. I think

Cancer-emotional, loving, intuitive, imaginative, changeable, moody, over emotional, touchy, sensitive, friend-oriented, practical, hates to argue, forgives but doesn’t forget. I feel

Leo-generous, warm hearted, creative, enthusiastic, pompous, patronizing, bossy, interfering, popular, faithful, dominating, too much pride. I will

Virgo-modest, shy, meticulous, reliable, fussy, worrier, overcritical, harsh, successful, creative, likes to please, clever, can lead others on. I analyze

Libra-diplomatic, urbane, romantic, charming, indecisive, changeable, gullible, easily influenced, irresistible, adventurous, lavish, complicated love life. I balance

Scorpio-determined, forceful, emotional, intuitive, jealous, resentful, compulsive, obsessive, self-reliant, powerful, wise, dominant, secretive. I desire

Sagittarius-optimistic, freedom-loving, jovial, good-humored, blindly optimistic, careless, irresponsible, superficial, open-minded, achiever, loving, insensitive, cold. I see

Capricorn-practical, prudent, ambitious, disciplined, pessimistic, fatalistic, miserly, grudging, hard-working, straightforward, loyal, stubborn, uncontent until at the top. I use

Aquarius-friendly, humanitarian, honest, loyal, intractable, contrary, perverse, unpredictable, sets trends, innovative, admired, distant, eccentric. I know

Pisces-imaginative, sensitive, compassionate, kind, escapist, idealistic, secretive, vague, alluring, free, sensual, sensitive, can’t function alone. I believe

When a planet is exalted, it is an “honored guest” within the sign, bringing benefits easily from the planetary energy to the person, but only if they work hard and take full advantage of their opportunities, not taking any of it for granted. The planet receives strength and energy when in the sign of its exaltation. This often creates an exaggerated expression. (Example: When someone has Venus in Pisces, Venus is exalted. The person has a naturally charming, sweet, and loving personality, so they easily draw admirers and lovers to them. They have to work hard to maintain a stable relationship and figure out who is “the right one” among all their suitors. Pisces’s sweet and dreamy nature makes these individuals the ultimate romantics and appreciators of beauty. This gives Venus strength. These individuals have a natural quiet spirit, which creates the peace that Venus wants, and their ability to go with the flow allows them to enjoy pleasures without limit. There are enough resources for Venus to borrow from.)

When a planet is in domicile, it is at home. It is in its strongest and safest position here. The person can fully utilize the planetary power, easily expressing and understanding the nature of the planetary energy without hesitation or question. They must be cautious when using their power. They must never overuse or abuse this power. (Example: When someone has Venus in Libra, Venus is at home. That person will fully understand the mental power of love and know how to use their own charms to get what they desire. They never hesitate to express love and fully understand their own feelings without being told by someone else how they feel. They also understand others’ feelings of love. If they want to, they can abuse this power by being deceitful and manipulative. They must be careful not to do this. When Venus is in Libra, Venus is safe enough to express love freely. Libra is a partner oriented, peace-loving, and sensual sign. Venus has plenty of resources to borrow from. If these individuals want to, they can easily tap into these energies. They have no problem or shame feeling like they need a lover in their lives, lazing around with nothing better to do, and accommodating to others.)

When a planet is in a falling state, the people with this often have a hard time getting what they want from the planet in usual terms. They often have to work harder than most to overcome fear and insecurity to get what they want. The planet loses its strength and influence in the sign of its fall. This is often looked at as the planet entering a “foreign country”. (Example: When Venus is in Virgo, Venus is in a falling state. The people with this placement have a hard time finding the right lovers to appease their exacting taste. They do not easily fall in love. This sets the standards high for others, but it also means Venus in Virgo people will have to put in overtime if they ever expect to find someone suitable. They must overcome a simple distrust with love. Virgo’s exacting and practical nature takes away Venus’s strength and influence. There aren’t enough resources in Virgo, a critical and analytical sign, for Venus to spread love and pleasure. Venus has to make it work. The individuals with this placement have to set aside their “critical” thoughts, and tap into their natural earthy senses a little more. They may need help from others so that they can just relax and take it easy.)

When a planet is in a detrimental state, the people with this position have to find unique ways to harness the planetary energy. They often have a unique point of view regarding the planetary energy, bringing new strengths but plenty of challenges in their lives because their expression doesn’t align with convention and makes others uncomfortable. They are often misunderstood. This is often looked at as the planet being in an “enemy’s” home. (Example: Venus is in detriment in Aries. When someone has this placement, they don’t see love the same way most people do. In fact, they often can’t separate love, passion, admiration, and lust from one another. Thus, they seem to fall in love with the first nice and attractive figure in their lives. These people have learned to get along without a whole lot of love in their lives, thus they are quite independent. Merging with another is a very challenging task for them and settling down may be the scariest thing for them to do. They often worry so much about being liked they don’t consider their partner’s feelings. Their feelings are often misunderstood as a result. Aries is ruled by Mars, Venus’s natural opposite. Venus is the planet of peace; Mars is the planet of war. Venus is a feminine planet; Mars is a masculine planet. Venus is sensual and lazy; Mars is rough and active. They don’t mix easily. There are few resources Venus can use to spread love and pleasure when in the sign of detriment. The individuals with this placement have to fight to remain committed in relationships, to accommodate to others, and to keep the peace at all costs without letting selfishness or impatience get in the way.)

Conjunct aspect is powerful. It is usually when two planets blend. They are usually in the same sign because it means the two planets are near one another on a natal chart.

Trine aspect is usually when two planets flow easily together. They are usually two planets in signs of the same element (fire, earth, water, air) because they usually form an exact “triangle” on a natal chart.

Sextile aspect is usually when one planet mildly supports the other. They are usually two planets in signs that share the same energy (introverted/extroverted, yin/yang, feminine/masculine, etc) but are NOT in opposite signs on the natal wheel. Earth and Water signs share the same energy, and fire and air signs share the same energy. The sextile planets are normally two houses apart on the natal chart (Houses are something I can’t introduce just yet, without a birth time).

Square aspect is usually when when planet produces conflict for another and vice versa. They are usually two planets in signs of the same mode (cardinal, fixed, mutable) but have opposite energies (earth and water (yin) have opposite energies from fire and air (yang)). In this case, they may have a similar style of achieving goals, but their goals differ. On a natal chart, when two planets form the aspect, it usually shows the beginning of a square. If all four signs of the same mode form this aspect, it will make the shape of a solid red square on the natal chart.

Opposition is powerful. It is usually when two planets are in opposite signs on the natal wheel (or very close to it). One planet is pulling the individual away from the other. Opposite signs are normally the same mode (cardinal, fixed, mutable), with the same energy (Yin/Yang), but opposite elements (fire and air are opposite elements, earth and water are opposite elements). In this case, they are just alike in behavior, but have different goals. On the natal chart, one line forms from one end of the natal chart directly to the other (North to south, east to west).

Sakura Kinomoto

Sun in Aries (Exalted)

Your entourage (Note: Sakura’s entourage is none other than Tomoyo, Kero, and Syaoran. 😛 ) is amazed by your energy, your courage and your boldness. Your reactions are quick, even instantaneous. Your enthusiasm prompts you to follow your natural impulses, even though you are not aware of all the consequences of your actions. Above all, you want to live each moment intensely, without fearing the future. Your enterprising spirit is supported by an acute sense of confrontation. Present! This is Aries answering the call. Any call, provided that there is some degree of new-ness or some challenge. If Aries’ dynamism and enterprising spirit are underlined, it is because the sign is more inclined to commit itself in the present and to start from scratch. This ability to take action on the spot in response to any stimulation also applies to the area of your relationships: you say out loud what you deem necessary to say, even if it means foolishly upsetting several persons. It is black or white, yes or no… often without balance! Beginning and undertaking are situations where you feel that you are in your element. Your qualities can also be expressed when you are bogged down in inextricable and complicated relationships: you know how to simplify things but you should beware not to do so in a caricatured manner.

AlwaysAstrology

Aries, you’re the first sign in the zodiac, the astrological newborn. As the first sign, you don’t have any of the baggage that the other signs carry, allowing you to approach everything in life with enthusiasm. You’re attracted to anything new, and you’re constantly pursuing things, always excited about whatever new trail you’re blazing, and you bring your enthusiasm with you. Not jaded like the other signs can be, your positive outlook keeps your from getting stuck in any bad moods for very long. You love to smile, laugh, and enjoy yourself, and you value your independence. You don’t want to rely on anyone else to get things done or make you happy. You’re perfectly capable of doing that on your own, and you want to. Once you decide to do something, you get to it quickly without much thought or planning, and since you really only like the adrenaline rush of the beginning, you get bored easily, becoming impatient when things don’t happen the way you want right away, and you have trouble seeing things through. You’re the type who starts a million projects but never finishes any of them. If you could learn a little discipline, it would take you far. You have plenty of energy to do whatever you want to do, so you don’t have to worry about that, but if you don’t have enough to do, you get restless, agitated, and prone to accidents, so it’s important for you to be physically active and keep a busy schedule. Most others might suffer a total collapse from the kind of schedule you need, but they don’t have the abundant energy that you have. Harness your energy so it’s not all over the place with no direction. When it has something to focus on, you’ll be able to do incredible things. You’re the pioneer of the zodiac, Aries, the one who can go where no one else has gone before, and you do so with a smile on your face and excitement in your soul that’s hard to match, squash, or not be in awe of.

Dark Pixie

Aries Sun (Dominant Parental Figures in Life-Father, Older Siblings, Guidance Counselors, Teachers, Female Leaders of Family, etc):If your Sun is in Aries, then your Sun parent (could also be the female head of the household) may have appeared to be in constant motion to you. He/she most likely enjoyed sports and could even have coached you in Little League or soccer if you showed an interest and aptitude in these activities. He/she probably seemed to be more interested in an active relationship than in long discussions on the origins of man. He/she might have been impatient with you and sometimes a little short-tempered. Tagging along with him/her on errands or bike rides would probably have been the best way of getting his/her attention. If you have the sun in Aries, your relation to your Sun parent is active and impatient. It’s probably mutual. You may not talk much, but you enjoy doing things together – and challenging each other. When you talk, it’s often in an argument, but you rarely stay angry with each other for long.

Sakura is mostly described as cheerful and energetic, very descriptive of her Sun Sign energy. Sun in Aries are also known to be active and athletic. They are outgoing, enthusiastic, positive people. Sakura fits the bill. The Sun is exalted in Aries because the star is able to shine in a positive way in the fiery sign. This is probably why Sakura’s personal power is that of the “stars”. Even though it’s a faint light at first (and she has to work hard to grow her strength), she is able to be most effective with the power of the stars. She is a good leader, courageous, and somewhat impulsive (which is why she’s clumsy).

Unfortunately, Sakura can be a little preoccupied with herself and often forgets to analyze the feelings and thoughts of those around her. This is usual of someone with Sun in Aries.

With Sun in Aries, males are usually the most dominant figure in the child’s life (Mars, the ruler of Aries, being the other masculine planet). It’s not surprising that Sakura lives in a house full of males. It’s also not surprising that Sakura gets her athletic abilities from her father. All of the males in her household are athletic.

With your natal Sun trine Saturn

It is easy and natural for those born under a harmonious aspect between the Sun and Saturn to accept responsibilities, to lead a rather ordered life, and to apply caution in their financial and business dealings. They rarely jump to conclusions or take uneducated risks. They have a certain amount of patience and enough self-discipline to slowly but surely achieve what they set out to do. Although somewhat undemonstrative, they are generally loyal and responsible people to those they care about.

These are not the quickest-moving people around-they take their time and generally use a step-by-step approach to most projects–but they steadily reach their goals. Sun sextile and trine Saturn people are naturally trustworthy, and they don’t have much patience for those who don’t show respect for others, who take foolish risks, and who lead disorganized lives. With the trine, all of these traits come naturally. With the sextile, these traits are available when they are needed.

Because Sakura’s father is often working, and because she doesn’t have a mother figure, either, Sakura has had to take on more responsibilities in her home. Her friends often acknowledge how she’s good at cooking, can sew, and is often left to take care of household chores. Sakura has an allowance that she has to use to buy things, and she has to consider how to make purchases with it.

Despite being a Sun in Aries, Sakura quickly new that being a Cardcaptor would be difficult, and was initially hesitant to take the risk. On the other hand, her strong sense of responsibility was why she decided to help capture the cards, especially since she was the one who released them in the first place.

Those people born under a challenging aspect between the Sun and Neptune (Sun Square Neptune in this case) often struggle with a desire to be something special or to experience something more than the ordinary. They are day-dreamers and idealists. It is easy for these people to trust others, even (and perhaps especially) people who might seem from the outside looking in as unsavory types. They are looking to identify with something beyond what is normally expected of people.

Most have in common a childhood that didn’t help the natives direct or define their lives. Perhaps the early family life was lacking in supervision or clearly defined rules. A father figure may have been absent or distant and ineffective.

Many people with these aspects have a glorified image of their fathers. Whether the image is very positive or very negative (or if it swings between these extremes), the image is not very clear or rational. Whatever the case may be, these people struggle with defining who they are. They might gravitate towards the “wrong people”, or get in with the “wrong crowd” in an attempt to define who they are. They might be susceptible to being taken advantage of by others, especially by men or authority figures. They can be easily led astray by peculiar desires or self-destructive habits.

In order to add a greater-than-ordinary dimension of experience to their lives that helps them to feel special and important, they might be attracted to Neptune-ruled behaviors, such as secret affairs, drugs, or other escapist behaviors. In some way, these people feel a strong urge to glamorize their role in the world. In extreme cases, the natives are completely deluded.

However, in most cases, there is simply some confusion about the past (such as remembering childhood experiences in ways that are far removed from reality), and a tendency to daydream about being someone more “important” than they assume they are. They may struggle with early conditioning that made them feel tossed aside or neglected in some way, and certainly not directed and supported.

These people are very sensitive, especially with regards to any real or imagined blows to their ego. If the natal chart shows a strong sense of reality and a robust mind (Mercury and Saturn well-placed, for example), the negative interpretations of this aspect are less extreme.

Still, the natives are likely to recognize at some point in their lives that they have a tendency to engage in escapist and self-destructive fantasies and/or habits. It is useful to be able to connect these behaviors with their probable source, which is likely to be a weakly-defined ego and identity in childhood.

It’s very apparent that Sakura easily trusts people just based on how kind they seem. She’s been fooled many times. First, she didn’t suspect Mizuki Sensei (her teacher) of being anything but kind. She also didn’t suspect anything from Eriol. Both individuals turned out to be involved with the strange happenings in her life. Though neither were really malicious, if she had noticed their intentions much sooner, they wouldn’t have been able to string her along as long as they did.

Sakura’s father is pretty distant. He seems almost clueless about Sakura’s second life as a Cardcaptor. Though he tries to spend as much time with Sakura as he can, it’s obvious he works a lot, leaving Sakura and Touya alone to take care of themselves. There aren’t much rules in the home, and her father doesn’t reveal himself to be protective in any way (except the one time Sakura didn’t come home at night).

Rather than having destructive fantasies, Sakura seems to have rather destructive dreams that leave her perplexed and often in literal danger. This position is also why Sakura doesn’t always trust spirits, like ghosts.

Analyzing Mars’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Sun in Aries is energetic and enthusiastic (and often athletic)

Moon in Capricorn (Detriment)

With your Moon in Capricorn, you always seem to have it all together, not matter what’s happening behind closed doors. When things are falling apart at the seams and everyone’s freaking out, you’re calm, cool, and collected. If there’s ever an emergency, [everyone] is looking for a Capricorn Moon!

You don’t let your emotions get the better of you, but at times you can take this to the extreme and be distant and cold. Allow yourself to feel sometimes; it may be messy, and usually is because you hold in too much, but everything can’t be perfect.

If you learn to let yourself express your feelings and get in touch with them more often, then you’ll be less likely to have any major meltdowns. Let loved ones in on it too, otherwise they may feel that you don’t care about them because you’re shutting them out.

You need to feel like you have a great path in life, and that people look up to you. You likely aren’t a big risk taker (unless you have a lot of fire), though you may be ambitious.

Planning for the long haul is usually something you’ll do without realizing it, and this makes you seem even more stable.

Dark Pixie

Nurturing Parental Figures in Life (Mother, Female Influences, Teachers, Guidance Counselors, Father, Grandparents, Older Siblings):

Your Moon parent is a hard-working individual. Family and financial security are driving forces, with the focus on personal effort to attain high goals. It may seem there is little time for you in this personal process because career interests are so important to him or her, this parent is likely to push you to achieve as much as you can, and to pursue a career that holds the promise of financial and social success.

This parent may soften with age. Once you enter adulthood, your parent may become more of a friend or mentor, or even your personal cheerleader. This parent may enjoy life more after age sixty. This happens because career issues are no longer the main concern. Family matters assume a larger share of the attention, and he or she becomes more patient, especially with grand children and other young people.

From this parent you learn to assess realities and cultivate a practical, goal-oriented approach to life.

This position explains a lot as to why Sakura has an estranged relationship with her mother’s side of the family. Her great-grandfather didn’t approve of her father (showing that the Sun in Aries is different from the Moon in Capricorn, normally two squaring signs). Because of this, Sakura really doesn’t know much about her mother or her mother’s side of the family. Her father had to take on the nurturing role, as well as her brother, and both of them work a lot, leaving her to take care of herself.

Sakura doesn’t have many female role models. The ones that are around (Mizuki-Sensei and Sonomi-kun) are career women rather than nurturing, wifey types. Even her own mother worked as a model and maintained a career while having children. Sakura is more than likely to grow up to be more of a career woman than a stay-at-home wife herself. In the series, she’s hardly seen in the series nurturing children or animals. When children and animals are left in her care, she doesn’t always pay attention to their feelings right away. However, there is a sense of duty and responsibility she has toward Kero and the Cards, and she takes caring for them seriously.

Sakura seems to often feel that it would burden her family to express her true feelings with them, since they seem to have so much going on in their lives. Even when Sakura was sick, she tried to pretend everything was okay so she wouldn’t burden anyone.

With others, Sakura tries to maintain her cheerfulness so as not to worry those around her. She felt so bad about crying to Syaoran when Yukito rejected her, that she knit him a scarf. Every time she expresses her feelings, she often feels she has to apologize for worrying others, which is a sign of this position.

Everyone around Sakura always feel like they will be alright because she’s there. This is because they trust Sakura to get the job done. Even if she is really freaking out internally, she tries to do what she can so everyone else is safe.

This position is considered to be in detriment because it’s difficult for them to express how they really feel. In Sakura’s case, it was hard for her to really know how she truly felt, as evident when she didn’t really initially know how she felt about Syaoran. It wasn’t until she was going to lose him that she was able to discover how she really felt about him.

With your natal Moon conjunct Mars,

The emotional life is animated and excited with this aspect. People with Moon conjunct Mars in their natal charts can actually feel warm. They’re hot-blooded, passionate people. Most have considerable energy and initiative at their disposal. They are brave and spontaneous.

There is an inherent pressure to perform and to prove oneself on a personal level, which sometimes spills into the professional arena, but taken alone, it points to a defensive nature that doesn’t easily relax.

There is a bluntness and straightforwardness to these people that is unmistakable. Although they are completely ready to defend and protect their loved ones, they are not especially sympathetic on a more personal level. They’ll most definitely defend the “weak”, but they are too emotionally excitable, self-absorbed, and brusque to be considered gentle and sympathetic folk! They’re brave and they value personal freedom. Routine bores them, and they are inclined to seek out excitement in some form.

Spontaneous to a fault, these people react quickly to stimuli. They are usually physically resilient. Their temper is quick, but it can disappear just as rapidly. Theirs is a raw passion.

Sakura has shown that she has quite a bit of emotional excitability, despite trying to remain calm. She also often seems to want to prove herself, especially when Syaoran initially arrived and commented about her struggles with capturing the Clow Cards. There may be many people that doubt her, so she may feel she has to step up.

Sakura’s brother sees this hot-blooded nature more often. When he calls her a “monster”, she’s quick to get angry and defensive, revealing emotions she would normally hide. Overall, she’s a very honest person, and everyone can tell how she’s feeling. She doesn’t have much of a poker face, even when she tries to have one.

With Moon conjunct Neptune,

There’s no shortage of imagination when the Moon is in conjunction to Neptune in the natal chart. How this quality is used depends greatly on the other aspects to this conjunction and the natives’ level of maturity. In a difficult chart, over-sensitivity, dependency, self-pity, irresponsibility, escapism, and irrational fears are possible. However, most people with this aspect do not display all or even most of these traits for prolonged periods.

There is a powerful need for a creative outlet for their imaginations. Intuitive and dreamy, these people “feed” on inspiration. They want to connect to something higher than themselves–to rise above the mundane. The idealism of this position is tremendous, but it also opens them up to some serious let-downs. These people grab onto some fantasy, feeling, or inspiration and it takes them so very high, that when reality hits, they fall down hard.

Sensitive to a fault, they live in the world of feelings. They just as easily feel ecstatic as they do pained by life, although these processes are very much private matters that are not usually apparent on the surface of things. They want to believe that people are honest, kind, refined, and good-hearted, and they will pick up any small indication that this could be true. In other words, they find the good in people as much as possible. They are very accepting, and generally make those close to them feel quite free. However, the closer you are to these people, the more you will realize that it can be very easy to burst their bubbles. Emotionally, they can be hard to pin down. They rarely categorize people, and they have a hard time making definite statements or commitments. They do most anything to avoid hurting a loved one’s feelings.

People with this aspect generally need a fair amount of “down time”, as they are very sensitive to all of the mixed energies of any given milieu. Stress is not something they handle well, and their usual response to difficult situations is escapism.

Emotional nourishment is constantly sought, and these people find it difficult to satisfy their emotional longings. The expression “divine discontent” applies here. Creative outlets help tremendously.

It is also beneficial for you to periodically withdraw for renewal. Going on spiritual retreats or visiting sanctuaries, even just being out in the wilderness, are quite necessary for you at times. You have a pronounced desire to escape or leave the world.

It is as if you remember a much more beautiful, idyllic, and peaceful world (the womb/home) and a part of you always longs to return. Meditation and contemplative practices can satisfy this urge to reconnect; the use of drugs, alcohol, or indulging in other escapist strategies could be a negative (or at least ineffective) way to try to achieve the same peace or bliss.

Sakura is very sensitive to everything in her life, which is associated with her magic. This magic often leads her into paranormal experiences, and she ends up draining her life using this magic. She’s very sensitive to spirits and people with magic around her, usually called “sensing” in the series. Yet, she ignores these senses often, trying to think good of people she even senses powerful magic from.

Though she’s often right to think good of people, gaining allies, her bubble has been burst quite often. She was shocked when she found out Eriol was responsible for all of the strange occurrences in Tomoeda (her home town). It left her devastated. Even more so, when she confessed her feelings for Yukito, she was devastated when he didn’t return those feelings, though she tried not to cry about it.

Sakura enjoys fantasy. She loves reading Alice in Wonderland, getting caught in her daydreams while in class (usually thinking of her actual dreams), and liking big European castles and mansions.

With Moon sextile Pluto, seemingly afraid of nothing, you tackle problems with confidence, and intuitively accept that life is demanding. In fact, you prefer life to be at least gently challenging, as you feel alive and vital when you are experiencing deep emotions, sharing intimacy, and digging deep for answers. You come across as powerful and intense, and usually this earns you respect from others, although some might feel vaguely intimidated by you. You can be quite matter of fact and you expect the same kind of honesty, respect, and candor from others that you express. In fact, you can be quite baffled by, and impatient with, others who are not forthright. You are a sensual and emotional lover, as well as a deep, perceptive, and insightful friend. Your daily habits get restructured periodically. This happens because you feel the need for change and respond to this feeling enthusiastically. You are deeply driven and have a powerful need for a wide variety of life experiences within a chosen area or field.

Sakura is naturally one of the most powerful individuals in the series. This is why so many people are drawn to her; yet, many are also intimidated. Even though Sakura can be dense, there are things she notices around her, such as Syaoran really being a kind person and Rika being very mature, making her surprisingly perceptive at times. She tries to remember to care for those around her, and is often trying to do something thoughtful for the people she loves.

Though Sakura may not admit it, being a Cardcaptor adds some spice to her life. She’s met so many new friends and has had many new experiences, thanks to the Cards. Though it may be scary, for Sakura, it may be meaningful.

Analyzing Saturn’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Card Captor Sakura #69 & #70 | Cindy's Anime/Manga Reviews

Mercury in Pisces (Fall and Detriment)

In your chart, Mercury is in Pisces. You are connected to the world through your intuition. Contacts are established, and broken up, according to your sensitivity (Note: Yeah, like how she dreams about everyone before she meets them…). Your perceptiveness is amazing. You soak into your environment in order to grasp its subtle games and you feel that you know things without learning them. You assimilate them unconsciously and you very sharply pick up hints and unformulated thoughts. Some sort of sixth sense.

With your natal Mercury in Pisces, you’re more of a listener than a talker. You don’t mind having a conversation with someone, but it all depends on whether you’re in the mood for it or not. You can be a people pleaser and say what you think people want you to say. You have an active imagination, and love to daydream. You take in information from the world around you through feelings and emotions. This allows you to see things in a way that’s different from everyone else. You’re open, and listen to your gut, but can have a hard time expressing yourself directly. You need to learn to not worry about what other people want to hear so much.

Mercury in Pisces is revealing that Sakura will have many moments dreaming. Many of these dreams are premonitions that tell of the future. Unfortunately, Mercury is falling and in detriment in Pisces. This means that she can’t always share her visions and intuitions with everyone. Most of it hardly makes sense, even to herself. And most of the times, it will make her appear ditzy and cloudy. But she’s probably much more aware than others think. She is aware of things others’ can’t see (like Clow cards, spirits, ghosts, magic, etc). On the other hand, as a result of being so in touch with the spiritual world, she misses what’s going on around her in the everyday world (Syaoran’s feelings, her baton practice, classroom literature, etc)

Mercury in Pisces makes the mind cloudy. It’s hard for them to process information in a logical fashion and then express it to others. This is because they can’t always explain how they know something; they just do (such as her instant love of Mizuki Sensei). Their way of gathering information is not always just from reading books, but from experiencing and observing the world around them. Sure, this makes them appear like they’re not paying attention, but they are paying attention, just to the information that isn’t before them.

This cloudiness is also the reason Sakura isn’t so good at math. Math is a logical subject. You would have to pay close attention to remember the steps. Most times, there is one concrete answer. Mercury in Pisces have a hard time paying attention to each step, and they don’t like subjects that aren’t abstract, that don’t offer many different answers for all questions. Being a Mercury in Pisces is probably why her other favorite subject is music (even if she’s not good with instruments). Mercury in Pisces learn best with music and art, tapping into their imagination.

With Mercury Square Uranus, you possess a quick mind, you are very intuitive, and you require a great deal of mental stimulation to keep from feeling bored. Preferring to be self-directed, you don’t always take advice easily. There is a part of you that loves to shock, challenge, and instigate with the things you say; however, this may not be a conscious process.

Your mental energy and output is extremely variable–one day you might be capable of enormous effort and interest in a project, and the next day the opposite. This is largely due to the fact that you feel a strong need to be true to your instincts and intuition, and if you are not absolutely inspired, you don’t feel right working on a project–you might feel that you are “faking” it, and this doesn’t sit well for you.

The problem is that in life there are always going to be routine tasks to complete, things we have to do that don’t entirely suit our interests, and so forth. School years may be challenging as a result of your disdain for a linear approach to learning, routine tasks, and subjects that don’t inspire you, not because of any lack of mental ability. In fact, you can have real flashes of genius and your ideas and perspectives are often very original. At times you can be very dogmatic.

You have a tendency to be, or to appear to be, scatterbrained. Your attention span can be short, and as a result, you might often leave projects unfinished. At times you can have an irritable temper and need to channel some of your nervous energy into constructive pursuits. Take time to reflect on what you truly believe in, because many times you are too busy challenging established thought, or playing devil’s advocate, to get in touch with your own opinions and feelings. This way, your intelligence, integrity, and ingenuity can come shining through.

This position also explains why Sakura struggles with Math and English. This also explains why some days she seems prepared, waking up early and ready, while other days rushing to get started with her day. Sometimes, she might get distracted while doing a task, forgetting what she was supposed to be doing, or she may change her mind frequently about a project she agreed to do. When she was at the art museum, she initially agreed to stay inside and draw with Tomoyo. But she quickly lost interest, and decided to visit with her other friends outside of the museum.

Analyzing Jupiter’s and Neptune’s signs would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Mercury in Pisces often listens to their gut and rely on their perceptive sense to get through life.

Venus in Aries (Detriment)

With your natal Venus in Aries, you don’t take love too seriously. You have a child-like approach to love and relationships, an innocence about you, and you need for things to be exciting or you get bored. Something has to always be happening, and you don’t mind if it’s daring or spontaneous. You’re honest with your love, and you expect the same in return. You like to chase rather than be chased, so it can be hard to keep you tied down for long, and especially in your younger years, you may go from one relationship to the next quickly. You can be impatient with your loves, and have a hard time with the responsibilities that come along with a relationship. You can also be almost selfish in love, wanting to get all of the attention and not being considerate of the other person.

Sakura’s best friend Tomoyo explained it best to Syaoran “Sakura isn’t the type to know what he’s feeling if he doesn’t tell her”. Venus in Aries natives focus on the object of their initial affections, but they struggle to pay attention to those that may be romantically interested in them.

This position also explains why she fell in love with her rival, and why her rival fell in love with her. With Venus in Aries, love comes with conflict, and out of conflict, comes love. There is a challenge between Sakura and Syaoran, too: They both come from different countries and have two different cultures. Syaoran constantly challenges Sakura, which sparks her interest in him (even if she doesn’t initially realize it).

When Sakura is in love, she’s enthusiastic and energetic, and pours a lot of herself into her relationships. She might miss the true feelings of the people she’s interested in, simply because she gets caught up in her own feelings. This happened when she had a crush on Yukito.

In the Clear Card arc, Sakura is typically the one to initiate dates or outings with her and Syaoran. She takes the lead, which works well with the shyer Syaoran. Sometimes, she gets caught up in her feelings, forgets herself, and ends up hugging Syaoran in a culture where public displays of affection are uncommon.

Sakura maintains independence and strength, even when in a relationship. Luckily, she found a partner that appreciates that she’s more powerful than even he is, and he doesn’t seem to want to tie her down to him.

For women and girls, this is usually the female alter-ego, how women see themselves in a social sense. Having Venus in Aries, this is why Sakura is the lead hero of her story, playing a role often written for boys. It also explains her tomboyish streak. Venus rules over femininity, and Sakura swings between hyper-femininity and boyishness, which her brother often points out. She looks very cute and feminine in all of her outfits, but she’s full of energy, can be loud, and is super athletic, which aren’t typically deemed feminine traits.

Natives with this position tend to have cute faces, and reddish hair. They tend to their hair often, too, and are known to decorate the head for special events. Her most attractive quality is her confidence, bravery, and energetic spirit. Socially, Sakura is outgoing, and draws in new friends all the time.

This position can also mean she doesn’t have many female influences in her life. The ones that are tend to be just as spirited and energetic as she is.

With your natal Venus sextile or trine natal Neptune, Romantic, creative, gentle, and adaptable, people born with Venus sextile Neptune or Venus trine Neptune naturally express the finer qualities of mysterious and dreamy Neptune in their love relationships. Their imaginations are rich and their fantasy worlds well-developed. They are turned off by rudeness and crudeness, and are drawn to beauty in its many forms. They are very giving and generous, but may be a little on the submissive side, or sometimes downright lazy, failing to take the initiative when situations call for it.

Your romantic nature is enhanced through the influence of Venus in trine aspect to Neptune. When you’re in love, you create an atmosphere of magical possibilities which transport you into another dimension. Love can be a purely transcendent experience for you, since you are capable of opening your heart to a true feeling of compassion. Your gentility, creativity and artistry can be especially attractive, and when you’re involved in a loving relationship, you are comfortable sharing the secrets of your heart. Allowing love to flow as you follow its course is quite natural for you, and you will be happiest in relationships which support your sense of divine harmony. Forgiveness and acceptance keep the energy of love flowing freely.

This position makes an inspirational musician. It gives a fertile imagination and deep emotions, a nature that is pure and chaste, hence occasionally it leads to platonic unions and companionship of the most ecstatic nature.

Your receptive nature allows you to gather information from your surroundings through psychic osmosis. Study situations to get past the shallow mystical veneer.

I think it’s clear that Sakura creates an atmosphere of magical possibilities, and love transcends so many levels in Sakura’s story. Love in all forms is treated the same: friendships, romantic, love of items, food, and more are regarded with the same passion (in Aries) as one another. For Sakura, she loves many people deeply, making it hard for her to decipher the differences in her love (whether she likes someone as a father figure or romantic partner, as Yukito pointed out).

She is happiest with someone who supports her sense of “divine harmony”. This person is someone who holds magic like her, Syaoran. Only he would be able to understand what goes on behind the scenes in her very magical and spiritual existence, especially because he sees all the same things she does. He is involved in her adventures directly, making him the perfect partner for her.

Sakura is definitely forgiving. Despite the fact that she and Syaoran had a rough start, she forgave him for it all, never once bringing it up. Sakura accepts people for who they are, and doesn’t try to change them. She even accepts feelings of rejection from Yukito, even though it hurt her. She knew his happiness was most important.

Analyzing her Mars sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Venus in Aries won’t know you like them unless you tell them directly; There is love in rivalry, and rivalry in love

Mars in Capricorn (exalted)

With your natal Mars in Capricorn, you have control over your energy and focus. You come up with long-term goals and you stick to them easily. You like working hard, and you want to feel as though you’re achieving something in life. Your drive is towards success, and you’ll do whatever it takes to get there. You can hold in too much when you get riled up, and over time, that bottling up of emotion (especially anger) can lead to all sorts of problems. On the surface, you can seem like you’re as cold as stone, despite how grounded you are. You have great self-discipline, and you won’t waste any time on anything that you shouldn’t. You demand the best of yourself, sometimes expecting too much, and dedicate yourself to work even more when you’re upset.

Sakura is really good at channeling her energy into her daily tasks. When she agreed to be the Cardcaptor, no matter how difficult, she stuck to it. She works really hard to capture all of the cards. She wants to be successful. Even when she becomes the master, she’s always focused on being an even better master. While she hesitates to take on new tasks, she’s in it to win it once she does.

Sometimes, while she was focusing on turning the Clow Cards into Sakura cards, she wouldn’t really listen to the feelings of her cards. Eriol had to remind her to appreciate “the elements and nature” around her. Only then did she remember to get a Christmas present for her Cards and not focus so much on the goal. This Mars position probably teams up with her Moon in Capricorn to create this expression.

When Sakura is upset, as Kero and Syaoran learned when Sakura lost the watch Yukito got her, she focuses her mind even more. Eriol knew this of her, too, which was why he challenged her without telling her why. He knew that if she didn’t know why strange things were occurring, Sakura would be able to give her best.

When Sakura found out Syaoran’s feelings for her, she took them seriously. She takes commitment seriously, and thought long and hard about how she felt before agreeing to be with him.

Sakura is considered to be a powerful magician, but this didn’t come about without a lot of hard work and persistence. In a woman’s chart, if the relationship is heterosexual, it normally reveals the kind of men she’d be attracted to. It’s likely she was initially attracted to Yukito because he was older and more mature. However, she found Syaoran to be attractive because he worked hard, was serious, and kept reminding her to stay calm and focused. Those are very masculine qualities to her.

Analyzing Saturn’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Mars in Taurus never give up once they get started

Mars in Capricorn never gives up once they get started

Jupiter in Pisces (domicile)

Jupiter in Pisces increases your natural generosity and your dedication capacity. Your empathy is strong and you are inclined to offer your strength and your enthusiasm to the most deprived people and to give unlimited assistance to others. Your imagination is powerful and your feelings may flare up easily: with your sensitivity on the alert and your unbridled affectivity, you belong to the category of people who intuitively detect other people’s sufferings and most valuable qualities of the heart, as if you were a human radar.

With your natal Jupiter in Pisces, you’re a compassionate person, and through your compassion, you can accomplish a lot. Help those who can’t help themselves, and be kind to everyone. You have a strong spiritual side, and just want everyone to get along, believing very much in the mantra, make love not war. Let your imagination soar.

Sakura gives herself constantly to protect the world, particularly her home town Tomoeda, from harm. She is known to give strength to those around her, which Tomoyo points out in a choir song in dedication to Sakura. She’s always there to lend a hand and help someone, even while going through so much herself. She hates to see people suffering. Part of the reason Syaoran struggled to express his feelings for Sakura was because he knew she knew how it felt to be rejected, and would be concerned for him.

Sakura can tell how people are really feeling, despite what they say. Quite often, she’s surprisingly pointed out how someone was feeling, even if they said the opposite. She knew Syaoran was happier with Wei in Japan, even if everyone else may have thought he was behaving the same.

Sakura definitely believes in everyone getting along. Even when Yue and Eriol made it tough for her in the final chapters, attacking her, she continued to try to make friends with them and tried not to harm them.

This position also gives Sakura strong spiritual and magical abilities, making her much more powerful in these areas.

With Jupiter square Saturn, you suffer because you remember your failures more than your successes and consequently have a hard time developing a picture of yourself as a winner. In this sense you were born old. However, this same quality engenders a childish quality in you that tends to look for the “quick fix”. Hard work and consistency of effort brings success for you just like it does for everyone else. Yes, you need some luck or some breaks, but these come from perspective, vision or aim in life. Work to see yourself as deserving good things in life, then be willing to put forth honest effort.

Jupiter square Saturn: *You have an inner conflict between idealism, hope, and faith in the future versus doubt and oppression by limitations and practical realities. You need to develop discipline and patience in order to achieve your aspirations. You will grow by learning to accept frustration and to persevere in spite of obstacles.

Sakura is often constantly remembering how weak she is. She’s quite sensitive to others’ opinions of her strength as well. At one point, she was even jealous of Clow Reed, the powerful magician that made the Clow Cards and her guardians, because he seemed to be able to handle it all with ease. Magic was fun for him as a result. She felt like she could never compare to him. While fighting Yue, she couldn’t defeat him on her own, and had to have some help from Mizuki Sensei. But when she worked hard and extended her kindness and compassion towards Yue, she realized she was just as deserving as being the master as anyone around her. No, she didn’t come from a family of trained magicians, and no, she didn’t start off as the most powerful magician in the world. However, she was always kind and worked hard to make everyone happy, which earned the approval of everyone around her.

With Jupiter forming a sextile to Neptune in your birth chart, you are gracious and compassionate, and you appreciate subtleties. You have a spiritual side and intuitive, natural understanding. This aspect alone does not give discipline so that we would have to see signs of pragmatism elsewhere in the chart to see whether you only feel these things or you also take action on these feelings.

You’re inclined to believe in karma, and you generally try to do what you feel is right. Your ideas of right and wrong are not rigid, however, as you believe that there is a backstory to every person and situation. This aspect is one indication of protection, sometimes at the last minute!

You are usually quite flexible and understanding, as well as noble in your ideas. Your empathy is well developed, you look out for the underdog, and you possess a distinct generosity of spirit. Open-mindedness is a gift and can assist you greatly in your life. Your faithful approach to the world tends to earn you the confidence of others. You are trusting but also within reason so that you don’t frequently lose your sense of proportion. You’re quite talented at turning difficult situations around. You can be a mystic, and to what degree this is the case depends much on the rest of your chart.

This influence often suggests good fortune in businesses or circumstances related to the psychic arts, psychology, social work, education, cruises, travel, and the sea. Performing helpful services can be rewarding, but you should watch for selling yourself short. This aspect is one indication of reduced interest in the practical and material side of things such that if you don’t have other more grounding influences in your chart, you might benefit from getting help with money management.

Even in the Clear Card story arc, Sakura may see that Kaito D has a backstory worthy of understanding. Even if his intentions are malicious, Sakura has the ability to understand someone’s actions and why they are doing it, allowing her to be even more forgiving. Sakura was also able to understand the “Void” card in the Sealed Card movie, despite all of the damage it did. Because Sakura attempts to open her mind to all walks of life, she is able to bring more allies to her side than enemies. She definitely has good fortune in the psychic arts, which normally deal with magic. Everything always turns out right for her there.

Jupiter trine Pluto natal increases your power and influence over your life and is a sign of success. It gives an interest in the big issues which affect many people such as politics and religion, and you can have a powerful influence over other people’s lives. Morality and ethics are important to you, but this does not necessarily mean you are strictly moral or ethical. Though they have a fairly good sense of what is right and wrong.

This aspect gives great opportunities to accomplish things on a grand scale, and your enterprising spirit and drive can lead to prominence and wealth. Another natural talent is the ability to transform on a large scale. This involves continual personal development and a reforming influence in your area of interest for the benefit of friends and family, community, and even country.

Sakura has gained many opportunities from her experience as a Cardcaptor. She’s met many new people, many of them wealthy. She has impacted many people with her bravery and courage, and is successful as the master of the Cards. She has a good sense of right and wrong, always seeking to do right by people.

Analyzing Neptune’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card - Part 1 Review • Anime UK News

Jupiter in Pisces natives are kind, compassionate, and magical.

Saturn in Sagittarius

Saturn in Sagittarius limits your taste for exoticism and for rebellion. On the other hand, he strengthens your sense of responsibilities and your authority. You focus on what is concrete and real and you avoid venturing into unknown territories.

With your natal Saturn in Sagittarius, you take your beliefs seriously. You believe in them strongly, and can have a hard time being open-minded and accepting of other views, yet you try hard to appear to be open. You may have had a hard time with school early in life, and had to teach yourself.

Sakura is a little more open than her friends when it comes to foreigners. However, noticeably, she rarely travels outside of her own country. Saturn in Sagittarius, in the sign of expansion, often places a limitation there. She only was shown traveling in the Cardcaptor Sakura movie. However, she never traveled in the manga. There’s a certain limitation when it comes to her venturing outside of her usual territory. And when she does, she is often met with obstacles (like in the movie).

Most of her peers may experience this barrier and limitation. As they grow older and wiser, they will seek to experience more of the world.

Saturn rules the elderly. It can describe our grandparents or other wise relatives, as well as teachers and authority figures. Sakura’s great-grandfather is described by Saturn in Sagittarius. Sagittarius is the sign of expansion and can often represent foreign relations. Sakura’s great-grandfather is of foreign descent.

Saturn also rules over the father and Saturn in Sagittarius says something about Sakura’s dad. His archaeological interests seem to be influenced by this. Saturn is the planet of time and limitation. His travels probably consume much of his time. Jupiter is the ruler of Sagittarius, and it represents the higher mind. This could mean higher education, like college or university education, where people can study one specific study thoroughly. Saturn in Sagittarius can represent a father who is interested in philosophy or someone who is a scholar and has connections with a university. Sakura’s father is also a university professor. Saturn makes everything “important”, so I’m certain Sakura’s father makes sure Sakura learns the importance of a higher education.

Analyzing Jupiter’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Saturn in Sagittarius take their beliefs seriously.

Generational Influences

Uranus in Sagittarius

Uranus in Sagittarius gives you the taste for feats and extraordinary adventures: as you are caught in the desire to discover, at any cost, you may become a hero, a conqueror, an explorer or, on the symbolic plane, a pioneer in such matters as philosophy, politics, economy or spirituality.

With your natal Uranus in Sagittarius, you’re an intuitive person and drawn to alternative beliefs. You want to help people, but you may not be reliable. You can be brutally honest at times, and don’t care if it gets you in trouble. You want to push through boundaries, are unconventional, and independent.

Sakura has experienced adventure after adventure and seems fascinated with them, too (considering her interest in Alice in Wonderland). Thus, she becomes the hero of the story.

She has become a pioneer in spirituality, creating her own “Sakura cards” and giving birth to “Star power”.

Analyzing Jupiter’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Uranus in Sagittarius is a pioneer when it comes to philosophy and spirituality.

Neptune in Capricorn

Neptune in Capricorn brings a touch of humanity and emotion into your ambition made of cold and calculated vision. Or, on the contrary, it may disrupt your precise and clear vision of your professional future.

With your natal Neptune in Capricorn, you want to achieve something in your life, and can be practical with your creative ideas. When it comes to your beliefs, you can go for traditional views, or find inspiration through the arts. You may wish life was more fair and rewarded hard work more than it does, and have to learn to accept life as it is.

I do feel that the future of Sakura’s life seems cloudy. What are her ambitions for the future? And honestly, it’s hard to tell what any of the characters in the same generation plan on doing in the future. Neptune is definitely disrupting their clear visions for the future. It all seems unpredictable.

At the same time, Sakura approaches her current vocation (Cardcaptor and Master) with compassion. She treats the cards well and all those involved with it.

With your natal Neptune sextile or trine your natal Pluto in Scorpio, you have an active imagination, and are an intuitive person. You can follow your dreams and make them real, and it happens more smoothly.

Analyzing Saturn’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Neptune in Capricorn wants everyone to get rewards for working hard.

Pluto in Scorpio

Pluto in Scorpio is in his own sign, and according to the Tradition, he is most potent and at his best; fantasies, powerful instincts, strong domineering tendencies, outbursts of passions…

With your natal Pluto in Scorpio, you can be intense, but you fight hard for what you believe is right. You’re determined and can deal with your inner issues. You don’t care for the rules, are willful, and desire intense experiences.

This generation is a powerful one. There are probably many early anime characters from this generation because there was a burst of magical girls and martial arts animes throughout the 1990s (XD). Their intense will, their transformative power, and fixed passions have helped them succeed in areas unheard of. When Sakura and all of her comrades focus this will, they are all unbeatable. It is not shocking that Sakura’s power continued to increase throughout the series. Pluto in Scorpio individuals mostly want the power to control their own lives and they will do whatever it takes to achieve that.

Analyzing Mars’s and Pluto’s signs would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Pluto in Scorpio is passionate and powerful.

Syaoran Li

Sun in Cancer

Your nature is impressionable. Your sensitivity is very developed and allows you to feel the influences of your environment and to draw your sensations and your feelings from surrounding ambiances. You are very receptive to your family roots, to your past and sometimes, to history. Your imagination is the refuge where you enjoy diving, on your own. The subtleness of your emotions is difficult to render. It is impossible for a cell – family, social, professional – to function by itself without homogenous references, without a “family likeness”(Note: The Li Clan is his life). You are able to convince your close friends to digest their differences and their specificities and to create an intimate relationship in which you can happily show your worth. Should an agent for cohesion be missing, and should everything seem too diverse or scattered, you are probably the most capable to unify the whole group: one after the other, you digest your surrounding characteristics and, as time goes by, you turn into the most perfect representative of your environment. You may need to handle hostility without shutting down the lines of dialogue. You must also learn to develop the fighting spirit that your sign lacks, so that your receptivity can be fully expressed.

Cancer, you are the fourth sign in the zodiac, and are a sensitive and emotional sign. You feel everything deeply, and are easily wounded as a result. When you get wounded, you hide in your shell, not wanting anyone to have the chance to hurt you again. You need to work on developing thicker skin so you don’t keep yourself locked away from people so much. Opening up emotionally would be good for you because it’ll help you have more closer relationships with people that will support you, and you need plenty of support if you’re going to feel safe in this dangerous world. You like to be comfortable, which tends to make your home your most favorite place on Earth. You’ll make it a cozy, inviting place that everyone loves, and it’s a good place for you to relax. Because you can relax at home, you tend to come across differently there, more like your true self, so if you come across as loud and flashy, you’ll be quiet and shy at home, and vice versa. At times, you can be quite ambitious, whether it’s with your work or your personal life, and you want to have some success in your life to create stability. You’re not someone who goes against tradition, and you prefer to go with conventional methods. Being daring or adventurous usually isn’t something you strive for, and you don’t understand why people can’t be happy with the way things have always been. It could be good for you to open up your mind though. You tend to experience life through your emotions, and you neglect your mind and body to a degree. If you want to gain more control over your emotions, you should try to form stronger connections to your mind and body. If you can do that, there wouldn’t be much that you couldn’t do, and you’d always feel secure, safe, and comfortable, no matter where you are.

Cancer Sun (Dominant Parental Figures in Life-Father, Older Siblings, Guidance Counselors, Teachers, Female Leaders of Family, etc ): If your Sun is in Cancer, then your Sun parents probably appeared to you to be very nurturing. Your earliest memories might be of your Sun parent reading you a story and tucking you in at night. If you had a boo-boo, the sun parent would clean it, put a band-aid on and seal it with a kiss (even if it were an imaginary cut). Going to the zoo, grocery shopping, or even cooking a meal together was always fun with your sun parent! If you have the sun in Cancer, your relation to your sun parent is one of deep affection, where both of you feel very committed to each other. You are also both quite protective, sometimes in ways that lead to frustration, because you both feel that you know what’s best for the other. Still, your bonds are unlikely to ever break, and you cherish each other’s company, without the need to either speak or do anything in particular.

His Sun is clearly evident from the beginning. Sun in Cancer individuals have a strong tie to their family history and lineage. In fact, they are proud of where they come from. From the beginning, Syaoran has shown pride in his family, the Li Clan, and the fact that he is a descendant of the all-powerful sorcerer Clow Reed. The fact that he wears his robes in almost every combat scene shows that he’s not afraid to wear his pride on his sleeve. Syaoran has also shown that he’s generally interested in all history, especially when Sakura’s dad (an archeologist and university professor) visited their school.

Cancer is ruled by the Moon, and interestingly enough, Syaoran’s power source is The Moon. He greatly respects Yukito (Yue) and is even drawn to him because he’s a Moon-like figure. Being a Sun in Cancer, he is likely to admire and be attracted to male figures that are associated with the Moon and Moon qualities.

The Sun even shows what makes us confident and happy. Syaoran may have been a little grumpy throughout the story because he had to leave his loved ones behind in Hong Kong. Sun in Cancer denotes an individual who is happy when surrounded by people they care about. In the anime, Sakura noted that Syaoran seemed “happier” when Wei (his Butler and martial arts trainer) moved to Japan to live with him.

He’s moody (Cancer being influenced by the tides of the moon) and often lets his emotions get the best of him (regarding Yukito and Sakura). But his sensitivity also hides a caring and compassionate side.

Can I also add that he’s domestic? Sun in Cancer men know how to take care of themselves fully, being both businessmen and great cooks and cleaners at the same time. Syaoran has shown several times that he is capable of performing tasks that are deemed more domestic, like cooking and sewing.

There is one thing that is super common among Sun in Cancer males: Their mother and sisters rule the roost in some fashion. It’s not uncommon to find Sun in Cancers in single parent homes where mother is both father and mother to the children. Older sisters and grandmothers may live in the home as well. Cancer’s ruling planet is associated with “mothers” and “women” in general, and often this means her influence is dominant in the child’s life, for better or worse. Syaoran’s mother is a single parent and is in charge of their family. In this case, Syaoran will often have to submit to women in his life if he expects to be respected. This even happened in his relationship with Sakura.

Still, Syaoran isn’t an extremely dominant person anyway unless he feels he needs to protect something. In his case, he was determined to make sure the Clow Cards, a precious family heirloom, got into the right hands. That is mostly when he exercises his will. For most males, the Sun’s energy is very important and usually defines their manhood.

Sun in Cancers normally have keen intuition. Syaoran’s senses are sharp and he recognizes the importance of listening to his gut instincts.

With your natal Sun sextile or trine your natal Jupiter in Pisces, you don’t stay down for very long about things. Good things tend to come your way more easily, and you try to remain positive and generous no matter what you’re going through. You’re easy to get along with, and have a good heart. You have a good sense of humor and love to laugh.

Being an introverted sign, this aspect will probably come out more when he’s alone, at home, with close friends, or in intimate settings, rather than with a group of associates. But Syaoran definitely doesn’t stay down for long. Despite his initial harsh nature, he seemed to quickly get over the Final Judgment with the Clow cards (unless of course you count the WB dub).

With your natal Sun square or opposite your natal Mars in Capricorn, your energy is abundant and it’s hard to control, especially in your younger years. You were the kid bouncing off of the walls and always getting injured. You need to learn how to focus your energy into something productive, have an outlet for it, otherwise it drives you mad. You have the drive to get things done, and can act impulsively. Your temper can get the better of you at times. You’re not someone who avoids problems, but rather goes right at them, so you can get through difficulties and use the experience to your advantage.

With his Mars, his focus is better than the average person with this aspect. However, Sun in Cancer has knocked his focus out of whack, especially when he felt strong feelings of love. Eriol has had to constantly remind him to calm down and focus better.

Syaoran definitely has quite the temper, but he tackles problems head on. He never hesitates to go after Clow Cards when he first senses them.

Analyzing the Moon’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Sun in Cancer is very receptive to their family roots, to their past, and to history.

Moon in Vir* (Moon is near Libra)

On the day and at the time of your birth, the Moon was in the sign of Virgo. You have a strong need for security and your constant concern is to keep your intimate environment under control. You treasure and you protect all the things that make you feel comfortable. You have no exaggerated ambitions, no grandiose and boundless dreams. You only strive to organize all the elements of your everyday life, to find a place for each thing and to improve yourself. You can relax only if your habits are not disturbed by external events. You are selective in your intimate sphere and with your attachments, you are perfectly organized and in line with the self-set rules you establish as time goes by. For you, life is a puzzle composed of human pieces, a chessboard where you move according to an obvious logic. Daily landmarks and well-known items are important to you. You have the soul of a collector.

A master of the details, that’s Virgo Moons. You like having things to do and feeling like you’re needed, and don’t mind doing the kinds of things most of us find boring if people show you proper appreciation for it. Depending on other factors, you might be more than happy just living a normal life, which other people may not understand (since most of us are pretty unrealistic!). You like structure and organization, and you might be one of those people who cleans when they’re stressed out. Others may think you’re too predictable, but you’re likely okay with that (unless you’re an Aquarius!), and you’re pretty dependable. When you’re unhappy or stressed, you’re probably a nag and can whine with the best of them. You can be overly analytical and have problems with your nerves. You need to learn how to relax and let yourself just be. You can be too hard on yourself sometimes, and if not handled well, an excessive perfectionist (Note: It must have sucked when he lost the Clow Cards to Sakura… ). Hey, we all have flaws, it’s okay! If you’ve got a good sense of humor, then you’re probably self-deprecating (in a good-natured way). In relationships, you’re usually not one for grand gestures, but do a lot of little, everyday things. You like being of service to people and feel you have a purpose.

Nurturing Parental Figures in Life (Mother, Female Influences, Teachers, Guidance Counselors, Father, Grandparents, Older Siblings): Your Virgo Moon parent is mentally thorough and methodical. You get the sense that he or she has given substantial thought to any project before ever making the first move. When you ask a question, this parent doesn’t just toss back an instant response. Instead, you may hear several questions to clarify and explore the situation. In the process, you often come to your own conclusion. This parent teaches you how to approach problem solving by helping you to develop choices and make decisions. Sometimes it seems like this parent misses good opportunities by holding back a bit too long. You may want to jump in, metaphorically speaking, whereas your parent explores the depth and temperature of the water first. Generally you discover that your parent has been ahead of the curve all along. He or she has held back to allow a situation to play out before committing to a specific course of action, not because of hesitation, but because foresight suggests that shifts will occur in the playing field. While this approach may not work for you, this parent pulls it off time and time again. You sometimes feel that this parent is super critical of your behavior. You may feel that your schoolwork brings nothing but criticism, or your appearance is scrutinized constantly. Even your feeling life is open to criticism. Unfortunately, this kind of criticism is remembered long after any praise is forgotten. Your Virgo Moon parent has the capacity to study any subject deeply. If you share an interest, expect to delve deeply into the subject. Years later, your parent may continue to come up with adaptations or considerations relating to the subject. From this person you learn how to get a broad overview and then gather data to flesh out every area of the subject. You probably saw your moon parent as a bit critical and nagging at times. Proper and conservative, with a strong desire to care for the family, she may have gone unnoticed as one of the most devoted mothers. It would have been ok with her; her satisfaction comes from knowing she raised her children right.

The Moon is in Virgo, ruler of his Sun sign. This is partially why Syaoran is so good at domestic things. Virgo is clean, tidy, and useful at all times. It’s no wonder he was able to live by himself (in the manga only) and fully take care of himself!

The Moon in Virgo is also why he treasures the Clow Cards and seeks to collect them.

Moon in Virgos work hard. They need to work at something, especially at improving themselves. Syaoran, even after the Final Judgment, continued to train and increase his power just to be of use. In fact, he wanted to collect the Clow Cards to increase his power, to improve his power.

Sure, Syaoran can be very critical. But he’s critical because he cares. The Clow Cards were very important to him and he wanted to make sure they were handled efficiently.

Moon in Virgos can be perfectionists. When Syaoran didn’t do well on the flute test, he continued to practice after it was all over. He also dedicates himself to learning Japanese and actually spoke fluently throughout the story.

Moon in Virgos don’t get close to others easily, but when they do they treasure every moment with them. Syaoran didn’t get close to people easily, but to the ones he considered friends, he protected and cared for them.

The Moon rules the mother or nurturing figures. It’s clearly evident that Syaoran’s mother is very hard on him (as we can tell from the movie). She also has high expectations of him, which is why she sent him to help Sakura capture the Clow Cards. It’s probably one of the reasons Syaoran works so hard. He really seeks his mother’s approval.

With your natal Moon square or opposite natal Jupiter in Pisces, you want to help people, but can go too far and hurt yourself in the process, or try to give far more than you’re capable of. You can forgive people too easily when you shouldn’t. Your emotions can go too high or too low at times, and you have to learn to rein yourself in and deal with reality. You can be lazy and indulgent, expecting everyone to do everything for you. Conversely, you can do too much for others.

Analyzing Mercury’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Moon in Virgos are happy with the simple things, just living a normal life.

Moon in Virgo is happy with the simple things, just living a normal life.

Mercury in Leo (Some Consider Falling)

In your chart, Mercury is in Leo. You want to explain and to control complex situations. You express yourself straightforwardly and directly, at the risk of hurting your entourage. Communication means to figure out the character and the specificity of each individual; you need to understand and to define the personality of your interlocutor so as to clarify the relationship. On the human plane, you are sensitive to power struggles and to the power exerted.

With your natal Mercury in Leo, you talk with flair, and you command people’s attention. You express yourself with warmth and this gets people on your side. You’re strongly connected to your beliefs, stubbornly so at times, and can be a little proud. You need to express yourself, and may be a creative person. You can be a great speaker, with passion and flair. You need to watch for believing that your thoughts, opinions, and ideas are better than everyone else’s, and be more open to what other people have to contribute (This was felt at the beginning of the story). If you have a proper outlet for expression, this can be curbed, so make sure you’re not holding anything in and are properly expressing yourself.

This position normally produces a person whose intelligence is connected with their identity and pride. Syaoran learns because he doesn’t want to appear stupid or uneducated. There’s hardly anything he won’t put his mind to learning so he can appear competent and important. Sometimes, he could be a bit of a know-it-all.

In fact, Syaoran thought he knew so much about the Clow Cards, he overlooked the thoughts and opinions of the Guardian Beast of the Seal! This is partially why some people think Mercury is falling in Leo. Their pride is often so connected with their thinking, and sometimes they overlook facts and logic to save their dignity.

Fortunately, Mercury in Leos do know what they are talking about. They often try to learn all they can to become intelligent beings. Most of the time, they have room to be proud of what they know and what they believe.

When Syaoran turned his speaking abilities towards comforting others, he was just as effective.

With your natal Mercury square or opposite your natal Pluto in Scorpio, you can become obsessed easily. It’s difficult to pull yourself back once you get into something. Trusting people is a problem because you always think they have malicious intent, and you’ll keep digging until you find something that proves you’re right, at least in your own head. You can use your determined mind to your advantage through your work, if you can corral it.

With your natal Mercury sextile or trine your natal Saturn, you have mental discipline and can focus when you need to. You’re honest and expect the same in return. You’re a reliable person, someone who’ll always do what they say they will. You’re good at making plans and sticking with them.

Mercury in Leo normally picks and chooses what they want to focus on, but with Saturn easily working with his Mercury, he is able to focus on any subject, even his least favorite subjects. His mental focus is probably why math is his favorite subject. Saturn makes him a good student.

Analyzing the Sun’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Mercury in Leo command people's attention.

Mercury in Leo commands people’s attention.

Venus in Virgo (Falling)

Venus describes your affective life. On the day of your birth, she is found in Virgo. The control of your emotions is essential to you. You need to understand all the aspects of your sentimental life. Therefore, you do not commit your affectivity in tortuous or hazardous paths. This attitude may be interpreted as a form of reserve, of modesty or of shyness (Note: Blush alert 😛 ). You complicate your amorous relationships for fun… Moderation in all things, even and particularly in love! Appearances are misleading: your behaviour may seem cautious, even shy or timid, however, your affectivity is strong… Your heart is discreet and its impulses are controlled and moderate. You do not want your relationship to run out of your control. Your soul is loyal, you are helpful when necessary and you avoid crises, clashes and tragedies in order to not endanger your couple. You are keen to maintain the balance of your unions. But, as you strive too relentlessly to keep your happiness intact, you may lose it. You do not dare to play the games of passion and of love at first sight. You fear burning feelings. In these conditions, it is important that you do not smother your emotions and you take the risk of experiencing a passionate love. Feelings cannot be calculated and they obey very few laws.

With your natal Venus in Virgo, you take a practical approach to love. You may not be the most romantic of people, but you’re incredibly dedicated, and you show how much you care by doing lots of little things for your partner and paying attention to all of the little details of their personality and life. At times, you can point out what they’re doing wrong too much, but in your mind, you’re just trying to help them be the best they can be. You don’t want someone who is too clingy or dishonest. You’re also not fans of people who seem too flashy and want to be the center of attention (Note: Meilin ahem). You don’t need to be in a relationship, and can be a bit insecure in love, so this keeps you from being in many of them, and you take your time getting to know someone first. (Note: Sakura and Syaoran have opposite Venus signs XD)

Syaoran’s Venus is in the falling sign of Virgo. He’s not the most romantic guy around, and it’s hard for him to warm up to people, too. He’s very much a loner. In the anime, Meilin mentioned how he stayed to himself and hardly mingled with others.

Venus in Virgos are really just shy. They also are particular about who they choose for company because they are so shy. Once he’s devoted his life to someone, he’s sweet, caring, and there for those he loves when they need him. Venus in Virgos do subtle things for the ones they love, things people don’t often notice (like he made the teddy bear and hid it for the longest time).

Unlike Sakura, with the extroverted Venus, it was hard for others to warm up to him because he was super honest (or critical if you prefer to use that word). But when he does love someone, his feelings are sincere and real. In fact, he criticizes those he likes! Venus in Virgos like those who are efficient and perfect, but they always end up falling in love with the “imperfect” ones, those who need them. Tomoyo pointed out in the Sealed Card movie that Syaoran fell in love with the “unsophisticated” part of Sakura. That sums up Venus in Virgo. Many times, no matter how critical they are, they love to be around imperfect people because it helps them insert themselves in their loved ones’ lives.

One thing I always notice about Venus in Virgos is that they never want love to interfere with real life. Yes, many don’t see love as a practical part of life. And they think some people tend to act their most absent-minded when in love, too. They don’t want to be those kind of people. They don’t feel comfortable “losing their mind” just because they are in love. And feelings of love can release all kinds of emotions that can cloud the mind. They see it more as something they should invest in when they have the time. They try to control their feelings even more when they work alongside someone they love. Syaoran had this problem often. He found that the real solution to having better focus was to release his feelings so that they wouldn’t be a burden to him when he needed to be of use.

Meilin has to constantly remind Syaoran to “take the lead” and not be too shy around Sakura. In fact, even Tomoyo encouraged him to have more confidence when he didn’t feel good enough to express his feelings for Sakura. Syaoran isn’t the type to be direct. He shows he loves someone by always being there for them, there to lend a hand, and doing anything his loved one asks of him. He wants to be useful to the person he’s in love with. If he weren’t to feel useful, he would feel like a burden, even to the one he loves. He would literally set aside his own feelings for the sake of his partner’s, though he secretly craves appreciation.

With your natal Venus square or opposite your natal Saturn in Sagittarius, you can have a hard time expressing the love you have for someone. Something stands in the way, and you have to confront whatever it is first before you can open yourself up. You may have a better time managing this aspect as you get older, and you learn to lighten up a little.

With your natal Venus sextile or trine your natal Neptune in Capricorn, you have a gentleness to you, are charming, and can express yourself creatively. You have an active imagination and want everything in the world to be beautiful. You’re a generous person, though you may give too much at times.

With your natal Venus sextile or trine natal Pluto in Scorpio, you can see right through people and situations. You know how to use resources well, and gravitate towards relationships that allow you to transform yourself. You’re passionate without being overwhelming, and know how to sway people to your side.

Analyzing Mercury’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Venus in Virgo individuals’ appearances are misleading: their behaviour may seem cautious, even shy or timid, however, their affectivity is strong

Mars in Capricorn (Exalted)

The planet Mars indicates how you react to life’s concrete stimulations. It also describes your fighting spirit, your abilities to stand for yourself and to take action. With Mars in Capricorn, your fortitude is quite exceptional. You strive to control your passions and your instincts and to keep a cool-head under all circumstances (Note: I’m sure his Sun in Cancer, the opposite sign, makes this very difficult). This is probably the reason of your strength. You show firmness with others and with yourself. In the course of an action, you are able to make sustainable, strong and well-structured efforts. You may be criticized for your lack of adaptability. Your first reaction is to immutably remain your true self. This propensity to stability, although it may slow down your initiatives, is very valuable, in many circumstances: your reactions are in line with your own values and you are not destabilized by prevailing trends and fleeting fashions… and by advice given to you!

With your natal Mars in Capricorn, you have control over your energy and focus. You come up with long-term goals and you stick to them easily. You like working hard, and you want to feel as though you’re achieving something in life. Your drive is towards success, and you’ll do whatever it takes to get there. You can hold in too much when you get riled up, and over time, that bottling up of emotion (especially anger) can lead to all sorts of problems. On the surface, you can seem like you’re as cold as stone, despite how grounded you are. You have great self-discipline, and you won’t waste any time on anything that you shouldn’t. You demand the best of yourself, sometimes expecting too much, and dedicate yourself to work even more when you’re upset.

Mars is considered the other masculine planet, and Syaoran’s is exalted. Mars is normally passionate, but impulsive and without control. With his Mars in Capricorn, he has the passion, but the mental focus and drive to put his energy somewhere.

Syaoran is focused and hard-working. He will do all it takes to succeed, letting nothing stop him. Sure, he may come across cold on his climb to success (aspects can alter this), but he will make sure the job gets done. The only thing that takes him off-guard at times is his own emotions (because of his Sun sign and the opposition aspect). But most times he tries to stay in control.

If Sakura hadn’t had loads of support, this boy definitely would’ve become the new master in a heartbeat. His determination to prove his worth was unbeatable and even Kero had to acknowledge (in the anime) when Syaoran deserved a Clow Card. He put a tremendous amount of energy into helping Sakura collect and transform the Clow Cards, even sacrificing his own magic and body in the confrontation against Eriol. This same drive brought him all the way from his hometown, Hong Kong, to Japan so he could work on his mission. He sacrificed the comforts of home and the familiarity of family and friends to accomplish his goal. Since the Sun is what makes us happy, he even sacrificed his own happiness (being around his loved ones) just to collect the cards. That is some serious ambition.

Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, planet of time and wisdom. Most people with this placement handle their energy in a mature fashion. Syaoran was hard on Sakura, but he was also good motivation and a good coach. He made full use of his energy at all times and was always prepared.

With your natal Mars sextile or trine your natal Jupiter in Pisces, you believe in yourself, and this allows you to do more than most. You can embark on new projects and adventures with enthusiasm and drive. You’re a positive person and try not to be too serious. You’re always trying to see just how much more you can do.

Analyzing Saturn’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Mars in Capricorn wants to be successful and will do whatever it takes to get there.

Jupiter in Pisces (Domicile)

Jupiter in Pisces increases your natural generosity and your dedication capacity. Your empathy is strong and you are inclined to offer your strength and your enthusiasm to the most deprived people and to give unlimited assistance to others. Your imagination is powerful and your feelings may flare up easily: with your sensitivity on the alert and your unbridled affectivity, you belong to the category of people who intuitively detect other people’s sufferings and most valuable qualities of the heart, as if you were a human radar.

With your natal Jupiter in Pisces, you’re a compassionate person, and through your compassion, you can accomplish a lot. Help those who can’t help themselves, and be kind to everyone. You have a strong spiritual side, and just want everyone to get along, believing very much in the mantra, make love not war. Let your imagination soar.

Having Jupiter in the traditional domicile, one of the original homes of Jupiter, Syaoran’s faith is powerful. Syaoran understands the full meaning of faith, understanding that through good and bad times, that someone or something will get you through the worst of times.

This is why, in the end, Syaoran was there to remind Sakura of her invincible spell when she almost gave out. Deep down, Syaoran is kind, as Sakura and Tomoyo often point out about him. And when he performs acts of kindness, he will gain more benefits than he can imagine.

Jupiter in Pisces gives a strong spiritual leaning. This touch with the spiritual world was why he was able to master his own magic before he got hold of the Clow Cards and why he was able to channel this energy so well. He understands the nature of things others do not understand. Syaoran is like a “human radar”. He can immediately detect power and intentions. He also knows when someone is suffering and jumps to the rescue. Many times, he does so without acknowledgement (like when dealing with the Power Card).

Jupiter also rules the higher mind and higher learning, particularly with one field of interest in mind. With Jupiter in Pisces, it’s easy to see that Syaoran’s particular field of interest would be something magical, spiritual, or metaphysical.

Analyzing Neptune’s sign would give more clarity to this interpretation.

Jupiter in Pisces’s empathy is strong; they can intuitively detect others’ suffering.