(no subject)

[seekingferret]

Title: I Walk Alone
Song: "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Violet Orlandi
Fandom: Carmen Sandiego (Netflix)
Length:3:16
responsible for the lack of consistency in title block from vid to vid: seekingferret
content notes: None
Thanks to: starlady for betaing.
Summary: Carmen vs. the World
Premiered at: Vidukon 2019

"I Walk Alone [Carmen Sandiego fanvid]" (Watch on YouTube)

I wrote before about my general reactions to the new Carmen Sandiego on Netflix, which happened to come out right as Festivids had ignited a new flurry of personal Carmen feels for me. So immediately after I made two vids of the 1990s cartoon that I grew up with for Festivids, I made a vid about the new antihero Carmen. It just premiered at Vidukon, which I am told also showed both of my old!Carmen vids. The inspiration was simple- I heard "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" on the radio, it struck chords of Carmen's complex dance with friendship and betrayal, and I went searching for a female cover. Upon finding one, this vid poured out, fairly quickly. It was also a test run for using my new laptop to vid- I have since mostly gone back to vidding on my desktop, but it's nice to have a laptop I can vid on again.

I don't really have deep thoughts about this vid. I didn't love the Netflix Carmen, because I was frustrated with its refusal to really commit to the possibilities of an anti-colonialist Carmen, but I liked Gina Rodriguez's performance, which darted so skillfully between childish innocence and ruthless cunning. This vid tries to focus on the parts of Carmen I do like and ignore the parts I don't, so it is not a particularly complicated narrative. With the exception of her alliance with Player to take down VILE, and the occasional clumsy support of Zack and Ivy, Carmen Walks Alone. She is a fucking badass. The end. :P

If I wanted to think a little more deeply about the vid, I think I'd add that there's probably some intentionality behind choosing a Green Day song, of all things. I think there's a level at which the vid uses Carmen to interrogate some ideas about masculinity, about what kinds of emotional responses are permitted for men and not for women, and vice versa. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is a song inspired by James Dean walking alone, raincoat billowing behind him in the wind, the icon of glorified male angst. My vid tries to celebrate the fact that Carmen could only take on performing some of those gendered responses in the '90s because she was written as a villain, but in 2019, she can inhabit them while being, at least, the hero of her own story. Maybe?

Comments

[bookherd]

I've put in a lot of hours playing the original game, but haven't seen any of the shows. Still, I really enjoyed this! And I think it's hilarious there's a character known as Player (though admittedly a little unhappy that it's a white dude).

[seekingferret]

In the 90s cartoon, Player is a live action character, always seen from behind, who appears at the beginning and end of episodes actually playing the computer game, and taunting and being taunted by Carmen. Player is played by a variety of actors of multiple genders.

In the Netflix cartoon, Player is a white hat hacker who hacks into VILE's servers and meets Carmen, and ultimately helps Carmen escape from VILE and provides Guy On Computer support on her subsequent capers.

[(Anonymous)]

Being unfamiliar with the source I hugely enjoyed the vid and appreciated it's easy accessibility. This flows really well and the song version is a real bonus creating a nice tension between the familiarity of the lyrics/melody and the very diffrent interpretation and voice. I did not know the song was about James Dean.

[seekingferret]

Thanks!