The Netflix One Piece Adaptation Has Its Cast Revealed

On November 11, 2021November 11, 2021 By Noah Furcht-HeafitzIn Netflix, TwitterLeave a comment

Welcome to Netflix Straw Hats! @InakiGodoy, @mackenyu1116, @emilysteaparty, @itsbookofjacob and Taz Skylar. pic.twitter.com/sLwsJlO37P
— ONE PIECE(ワンピース) Netflix (@onepiecenetflix) November 9, 2021

https://twitter.com/i/status/1458192148642234371, Offical One Piece Netflix Twitter account

Netflix has announced who will be playing the main characters in their upcoming live-action adaptation of One Piece. Iñaki Godoy of Who Killed Sara? fame will be playing the main protagonist Monkey D. Luffy. Playing Nami, Ussop, Sangi, and Roronoa Zoro respectively are Emily Rudd (Fear Street), Jacob Romero Gibson (All Rise), Taz Skylar (Boiling Point), and Mackenyu.The 10- episode series comes courtesy of One Piece’s publisher Shueisha and Tomorrow Studios. Tomorrow studios is also notably behind Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop adaptation. One piece is the story of the above-mentioned characters as they sail around the sea in search of the ultimate treasure “One Piece”. Steven Maeda of Lost and The X-Files fame is on as the series’s writer, executive producer and showrunner. Matt Owens, best known for his work on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Luke Cage is also on as a writer and executive producer. Becky Clements and Marty Adelstein are executives producing this project alongside series creator Eiichiro Oda. Regarding the casting choices Eiichiro Oda was quoted as saying:

“We’ve been working with Netflix and Tomorrow Studios on the massive project that is the Hollywood live action series adaptation of ONE PIECE! How many years has it been since it was announced, right? I know, I know! But rest assured we’ve been making steady progress all along! It’s not easy when you’re working with people from different cultures! But it’s precisely that process that can yield something special! For now, we’re able to announce the main cast! Rather, we need to hurry and announce it or else it’ll be leaked, apparently! Hilarious, lol. Their face, the size of their mouths and hands, their aura, the way they carry themselves, their voice, their acting skills, their height, the balance amongst the Straw Hat Crew, etc…! We decided on this cast after numerous discussions involving people around the world! These are the people who will be our Straw Hat Pirates! It’ll take a bit more time to get this show done, but we’ll continue to do our best to deliver a show that we’re confident will be enjoyed by everyone around the world! Look forward to more updates in the future!”

Maeda and Owens added to this by themselves stating:

“We are so excited to set sail with this amazing and talented cast! Finding the right people to pull off the looks, emotions, and actions of the iconic Straw Hats was a long and challenging (and fun!) process. Much like the search for the One Piece itself. But we have finally found the perfect fits! They have already begun working very hard to bring these characters to life. You will come to know and love them just as much as their manga counterparts. All of us can’t wait to show you what we’ve come up with! Onward to adventure!”

This article interests me because I’m personally unreasonably excited for this show to be released. As a fan of the source material I’m very satisfied with the appearance of all of the actors that have been chosen so far. Also, all of the promotional material the actors have put out since having been announced reflects the fact that they have done research regarding their roles which is good to see.

Rosario, Alexandra Del. “’One Piece’: Iñaki Godoy to Star as Monkey D. Luffy in Netflix Live-Action Series; Mackenyu, Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero Gibson & Taz Skylar Board Cast.” Deadline, Deadline, 9 Nov. 2021, https://deadline.com/2021/11/one-piece-netflix-cast-live-action-series-inaki-godoy-mackenyu-emily-rudd-jacob-romero-gibson-taz-skylar-1234870853/.

Elon Musk’s New Cryptic Tweet

On November 3, 2021 By Noah Furcht-HeafitzIn China, Twitter, WeiboLeave a comment

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1455327010302087173?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1455327010302087173%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2021%2F11%2F02%2Felon-musk-goes-viral-on-chinese-social-media-with-ancient-poem-post.html, Elon Musk

Last Tuesday Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted an ancient Chinese poem to Twitter and Weibo. Chinese netizens began simultaneously debating what the posts might mean as well as praising Musk for his knowing of and understanding of the text. Musk has become known for posting similarly cryptic messages to Twitter in the past. In This specific post Musk wrote “Humankind” followed by an abridged version of “The Seven Steps Verse” in its traditional Chinese. The poem in question is highly allegorical and describes the relationship of two brothers from a royal family during China’s warring Three Kingdoms period. This poem is notable for its being taught as part of the standard curriculum in China’s primary schools. The poem is meant to convey the importance of getting along. Discussions centering around the deeper meaning of this post trended on Weibo last Tuesday the initial post receiving 100 million views.

A popular interpretation states that the post was alluding to the rival dog-themed cryptocurrencies, doge coin and Shiba Inu. This because Musk is known for sending waves through the cryptocurrency sphere and he’d been posting about those two coins recently. This all despite the fact that cryptocurrency trading is band in China.

The state-run publication news agency Reference News put forward a different interpretation. They posited that the post might be alluding to a heated exchange Musk recently had with the United Nations Food Program’s executive director this past monday regarding donations.

Musk’s posting the Chinese poem represents a departure from what he typically posts about on Weibo. Musk’s 1.9 million followers on Weibo are instead accustomed to his praising the Chinese space program and China’s economic growth over the past three decades.

Musk has remained a popular figure in China despite worsening U.S-Chinese relations. This as well as regulatory criticisms of Musk’s company Tesla which operates a factory in Shanghai. Tesla did not jump to address the Chinese poem controversy when asked to comment.

This article interested me for two main reasons. For one, I think it’s interesting that figures like Elon Musk are so regularly posting cryptic tweets to be decoded by those who follow them. This trend is made more significant when it’s taken into account that most of the time these cryptic messages pertain to major economic movements in cryptocurrency and the stock market. Secondly, this article interest me because of its casually stating that Elon Musk got the attention of 1/14th of the entire Chinese population. This shows not just how powerful today’s elite class is but also how quickly cryptocurrency has come into the mainstream.

CNBC. “Elon Musk Goes Viral on Chinese Social Media with Ancient Poem Post.” CNBC, CNBC, 2 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/02/elon-musk-goes-viral-on-chinese-social-media-with-ancient-poem-post.html.

‘Why Little Mix’s Jesy Nelson Is Accused of Being a Culture Vulture’

On October 17, 2021 By troypittman13In Consumer behavior, Journalism, Music, Music, Social Issue(s), Social Media, Streaming, Twitter, YouTubeLeave a comment

Let’s dive right into this topic of “culture vultures” and why certain celebrities are getting called out for being one. Today’s person of focus is Jesy Nelson, a member of the British girl group Little Mix. Jesy and her group members ( Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Ann Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall) were discovered on the popular competition show The X Factor in 2011. Their music style is primarily pop, R&B, mainstream dance-pop, with occasional influences of Latin and electronic music. Little Mix’s rise to fame is due to their musical theme of female empowerment, body positivity, and LGBTQ+ rights. And because the members of the group represent different ethnicities, their audience can identify with and appreciate them this way.

In December 2020, Jesy left the group in pursuit of her solo career. Since then she’s been pushing her career as a solo artist. Unfortunately, people are paying much more attention to recent allegations rather than her music. The discussion of her “culture vulture” behavior has been a continuous one as ‘Little Mix’s style evolved. Jesy’s white British identity gives insight to why people were upset at her use of “artistic expression”.

On occasion Jesy is seen wearing grills on her teeth, oversized clothing, colorful wigs, etc. Not to mention, there is a clear difference in skin tone compared to when Nelson first joined ‘Little Mix’ to now.

Recently, rapper Nicki Minaj collaborated on a song with Jesy called ‘Boyz’. In this music video Jesy is seen wearing oversized jewelry, hair accessories, hair scarves, oversized clothes and timberland boots. Which is typically associated with Black culture. Black artists and black people created this style of fashion and are almost never credited for it.

‘Boyz’ ft. Nicki Minaj is an adaptation of P. Diddy’s ‘Bad Boy For Life’ single in 2001.

But what doesn’t sit right with a few Little Mix members and fans is the slow changing of skin color, to seem more “exotic” looking. These aspects about the music industry are problematic because artist of color who identify and showcase their identity aren’t embraced the same way. They are dismissed as “over the top”, “ghetto”, or ignored as a whole. While artist like Jesy are embraced and celebrated for it.

Hoop earrings, exotic looking nails, Timberland boots, and colorful wigs go deeper than video shoots. There’s a historical pattern of Black people and people of color being robbed of their culture, while other races are able to capitalize from it. Nicki Minaj openly defended Jesy against ‘Little Mix’ member Leigh-Anne Pinnock for accusing Jesy of “Blackfishing”. Which surprised many fans as this is a tactic white artists use to appeal to the “urban” audience. Leigh-Anne Pinnock, who identifies as African-Caribbean, expressed her frustration over her experience with Jesy in the group. She witnessed different variations of her culture appropriating behavior and in opposition of this, she spoke out publicly.

Netflix’s One Piece Adaptation Has its Logo Revealed

On September 7, 2021September 7, 2021 By Noah Furcht-HeafitzIn Brand, Comics, Netflix, TwitterLeave a comment

https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/series/netflix-unveils-logo-one-piece-live-action-adaptation

Last Friday the NetflixGeeked Twitter account posted twice pertaining to the upcoming live-action adaptation of the One Piece property. The former of the two posts revealing the official logo of the series and the latter being a picture of the front page of the first episode’s script. The official logo’s post was captioned “no matter how hard or how impossible it is, never lose sight of your goal”, a quote attributed to the series’s protagonist Monkey D. Luffy. The logo itself is a slightly altered reimagining of the manga’s logo. The key difference in said logo being that, where Luffy’s silhouette is the “i” in the manga’s logo in this one he instead assumes his iconic stance in the nose cavity of the skull present. Meanwhile, the script reveals the first episode’s working title to be “Romance Dawn”; this being a name it shares with both the first chapter/story arc of the manga as well as One Piece author Eiichiro Oda’s previous one-shot project that later itself became One Piece. One Piece is significant for being the best selling manga of all time, running for nearly 25 years, and having an excess of 950 anime episodes based on it. With this context it becomes obvious why Netflix would want to approach Oda to create a live-action adaptation. This adaptation was announced in 2020 and little has come out about it since. Fans are nothing if not skeptical seeing as the history of manga to live-action adaptations has been disastrous. Train wrecks the likes of Dragon Ball Evolution, Netflix’s Death Note adaptation, and the live-action attempt at a Full Metal Alchemist film have left fans of manga feeling hopeless. The fact that Eiichiro Oda is on as an executive producer for this project, fans hope, signals that this time will be different.

This article interests me because I’m a big fan of the One Piece manga. One Piece being a surreal dystopian super power-driven sci-fi fantasy epic I’m excited to see how the crew behind it is going to spend the purported 9-10 million dollar per episode budget. One Piece has already enraptured the world’s populous to such an extent that despite being a single creator run series it has more circulating copies than there are for Batman comics. If this adaptation takes off and launches One Piece into the American mainstream it could have game-changing implications for the future of media comparable to what the first Iron Man film did back in 2008.

Bulten, Izak. “Netflix Unveils Logo for Its Upcoming One Piece Series.” Game Rant, 7 Sept. 2021, gamerant.com/netflix-logo-one-piece-series/.

Valentine, Evan. “One Piece Sales Might Have Just OVERTAKEN Batman at Last.” Anime, Comicbook.com, 21 July 2021, comicbook.com/anime/news/one-piece-sales-overtake-batman-dc-comics/.

Tseros, Peter. “One Piece’s LIVE-ACTION Tv Show Will Cost a Lot of Money.” Anime, Comicbook.com, 5 Sept. 2017, comicbook.com/anime/news/-one-pieces-live-action-tv-show-will-cost-a-lot-of-money/.

GameStop Won’t Stop:The Stock Market Enigma with a Reddit Based Cult Following

On September 5, 2021September 6, 2021 By Noah Furcht-HeafitzIn Brand, Reddit, Stock Market, TwitterLeave a comment

Cohen, R. (2021, July 20). Pg-13 pic.twitter.com/b2hraf1yfr. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ryancohen/status/1417315406272864258.

u/shadowman48ped. (2021, June 25). r/Superstonk – just a reminder for apes going into Monday after a crazy weekend. reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/omy6t7/just_a_reminder_for_apes_going_into_monday_after/.

The original “Meme Stock” GameStop (NYSE: GME) has been experiencing price fluctuations since early 2021 that have consistently baffled experts. Hot off the heels of having increased a slight excess of 30% in price on August 23rd 1.59 million dollars worth of GameStop calls were purchased in expectation for its price going even higher. GameStop’s price movement is attributed to the massive following the stock has gained as a short squeeze target on social media platforms such as Reddit. This attention has notably been welcomed by GameStop’s new Chairmen Ryan Cohen who has consistently tweeted out cryptic pictures, gifs, and videos that correlate with GameStop’s positive price progression, each of which has received hundreds to thousands of likes. As of late May, short-sellers had lost 6.7 billion dollars because of their betting against GameStop. Despite GameStop’s current apparent price ceiling at 300 dollars, it’s not unreasonable to assume that it could permanently blast past it before year’s end. Still, some are waiting for GameStop to plummet back to earth sighting the fact that they don’t believe the company’s stock price should be at 200 dollars given its negative per-share earnings profile. However, people with this stance have not done well historically and it is generally advised not to bet against GameStop right now.

I’ve been following what has come to be known as the “GameStop Saga” since mid-April through the multiple GameStop related subreddits including SuperStonk, DDintoGME, and GMEjungle. As of writing this the most prominent subreddit, Superstonk has 599,402 individual users a relatively small number of whom post “dd” or “due diligence” regarding progression to an event called the “Moass” or “Mother of All Short Squeezes”. During the Moass it is believed within these circles that the price of GameStop’s stock will rise to previously unthinkable highs driven by a myriad of factors that have yet to be acknowledged in the mainstream. The belief in the Moass has notably been spurred on by Ryan Cohen in his aforementioned cryptic tweets. These tweets being promptly decoded by the Reddit community immediately after their being posted. Linked below is a brief overview of the circumstances that are leading people to believe the Moass is inevitable. I have to note that none of this is financial advice.

September 1, 2021 David Moadel, et al. “It’s Time to Face the Truth — Gamestop Stock Is Unstoppable.” InvestorPlace, 1 Sept. 2021, investorplace.com/2021/09/time-to-face-the-truth-gme-stock-is-unstoppable-gamestop

Why the "Dumb Money" is still betting on GameStop from Superstonk

u/Doom_Douche. (2021, April 27). r/Superstonk – why the “dumb money” is still betting on GameStop. reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/nkqai5/why_the_dumb_money_is_still_betting_on_gamestop/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf.

Ofcom and Protecting UK Content

On February 12, 2020 By David SonIn Artificial Intelligence, Censorship, Content Restriction, facebook, Google, Instagram, Social Issue(s), Social Media, Technology, Twitter, YouTubeLeave a comment

Ofcom, a British media regulator has been appointed by the government to legally regulate harmful content over media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration has targeted content such as child-abuse, terrorism, and self-harm as key areas to be regulated. Especially in a time when media usage has skyrocketed, media content needs to be scrutinized on all platforms.

Last year, the British government thought to create a branch of the government to directly enforce content regulations. Instead, the government has decided to fund Ofcom to protect the internet from harmful content. They even held a conference with over 2,400 companies to see which company would be the best fit for the job.

According to the British government, Ofcom will have the power to give out fines, warnings, and block off internet service providers. Ofcom can also make the senior management of social media companies responsible. The government also has to make sure that the enforcement powers are to be used fairly.

There have been critics of this new proposal, because content creators are concerned this could backfire. Ofcom could use their powers to censor too much content, restricting freedom of speech and free content creation. In response to this, the government ensured it would use this power only to censor malicious and harmful content. They ensured their will be a code of violation that will be strictly enforced, but not to overdue their own powers.

The idea of content restrictions are welcomed all over the World. Giant tech companies such as Facebook welcome the idea of the government intervening to provide safe web browsing. However, other companies such as IBM, Google, and Microsoft suggest using artificial intelligence to weed out harmful content.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/12/uk-watchdog-ofcom-to-impose-duty-of-care-on-social-media-firms.html

Cancel Culture–Harmful or Effective in Holding Our Fellow Celebrities Accountable?

On February 10, 2020February 10, 2020 By Kirsten BeachIn Brand, Commercials, Diversity, Instagram, Media Covergence, Music, News Media, Social Media, Television, Twitter, Uncategorized, YouTubeLeave a comment

For those who aren’t as familiar with what cancel culture is, canceling and cancel culture have to do with the removal of support for public figures in response to their objectionable behavior or opinions (which can include boycotts or refusal to promote their work.)

In late 2018, comedian Kevin Hart publicly stated he would be hosting the 2019 Oscars; an announcement that triggered intense public scrutiny regarding homophobic jokes and tweets he had previously put forth. While the backlash against Hart came from many different directions, a majority derived from the social media platform, Twitter. Although ‘cancel culture’ is not a new phenomenon, it is evident that it was brought to the forefront of American pop culture after Hart’s “canceling,” and has continued since.

With this idea of “canceling” in mind, the question many have is whether or not canceling is harmful or effective in holding these celebrities and public figures accountable.

Last night during the Oscars, Joaquin Phoenix gave a discursive speech in which he both criticized “cancel” culture and advocated for social justice while accepting the Oscar for best actor for his performance in “The Joker.” In his speech he said,

“I have been a scoundrel all my life, I’ve been selfish. I’ve been cruel at times, hard to work with, and I’m grateful that so many of you in this room have given me a second chance,” Phoenix said. “I think that’s when we’re at our best: when we support each other. Not when we cancel each other out for our past mistakes, but when we help each other to grow. When we educate each other; when we guide each other to redemption.”

Like Joaquin, many believe that cancel culture is merely harmful to society and those individuals being “canceled,” but, according to the article on Daily Toreador, many also feel that it’s unfair that celebrities can seemingly “get away” with hurting other people or making damaging and harmful statements, even after being canceled for a little while. At the same time, however, it is both concerning and detrimental that as a society, we perpetuate a culture of simply canceling someone instead of encouraging them to be better and holding them accountable in a constructive way (similar to what Joaquin said.)

I think we can all agree that public outrage against celebrities is expected and sometimes even justified in some cases, but is it possible that sometimes cancel culture can go too far? What do you think?

Sources:

http://www.dailytoreador.com/opinion/opinion-what-another-hostless-oscars-says-about-cancel-culture/article_b66c13f6-4ba0-11ea-ae0d-9fe86d0364ea.html

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/joaquin-phoenix-criticizes-cancel-culture-in-oscars-acceptance-speech/

To Be First or to Be Accurate? The Social Media Catastrophe Following the Death of Kobe Bryant

On January 29, 2020January 29, 2020 By Danielle SalvatoIn Social Issue(s), Social Media, Sports, Twitter, UncategorizedLeave a comment

When the death of retired NBA star Kobe Bryant broke the news, TMZ was the first to report it. Despite having only the information that he was involved in a helicopter crash on Saturday in Calabasas, TMZ is now receiving backlash for their reporting. LA County Sheriff tore into the news outlet saying that Bryant’s family should have been informed with a full police report before TMZ had published anything. TMZ had been so early to report it that social media had even questioned its accuracy. As news of the helicopter crash started to catch wind, more and more social media rumors began to spread. These rumors caused much inaccuracy in other news outlet’s reports as well as celebrities and political figures, such as President Donald Trump, to send their condolences out into the cyber world despite being false. ABC News had falsely reported that all of Bryant’s children “were believed to be” killed in the accident, while the LA Times has send out on their social media that they have heard the news regarding Bryant, but are waiting for actual confirmation and police reports in order to report the news accurately.

The events following the TMZ report were nothing short of an absolute mess. News organizations today are more concerned with being the first to break a story rather than getting all of the facts and waiting to publish an accurate report. There is even the lack of empathy from outlets like TMZ who didn’t have the decency to wait until the families of the departed had been notified. Instead, the people closest to Bryant had to find out about his death like the rest of us, through social media. Is this type of reporting something that we should just expect with the evolution of how quick media is, or should there be an unwritten rule to wait until the families of those killed are made aware before you start reporting? Nonetheless, today many journalists would rather be first than be accurate.

TWITTER SUSPENDS PLAN TO DELETE INACTIVE ACCOUNTS AFTER UPSET USERS REQUEST TO KEEP THOSE OF THE DECEASED

On December 10, 2019 By Alexa SouthardIn Data, TwitterLeave a comment

https://adage.com/article/digital/twitter-suspends-plan-delete-inactive-accounts-after-upset-users-request-keep-those-deceased/2219226

Twitter recently released a statement that they would be taking down inactive accounts in effort to enforce their inactive account policy. However, this upset many users, who had accounts of deceased loved ones in mind. There was an uproar of rebuttal from these users, who want to memorialize the inactive twitter accounts of the deceased, much like Facebook has the ability to do. Twitter responded to the backlash promising they too will come up with a compromise to memorialize said accounts, and they are currently working on a resolution to the problem.

They clarified the reason why they need to enforce their inactive account policy, and that it would be starting in the EU due to local privacy policies Twitter must follow. The Global Data Protection Regulation is the driving force behind the enforcement of this policy, to delete any data they are not using. By cleaning up inactive accounts, Twitter analytics will be able to provide more accurate, credible information derived from data.

Current Issues In Media Management

Category: Twitter

GameStop Won’t Stop:The Stock Market Enigma with a Reddit Based Cult Following

TWITTER SUSPENDS PLAN TO DELETE INACTIVE ACCOUNTS AFTER UPSET USERS REQUEST TO KEEP THOSE OF THE DECEASED