Pop culture mockery of the week: Bad Sinetrons

Let’s note that Sinetrons, aka Sinema Elektronik, are soap operas from Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country. 

No matter how strong or weak they are, like any other sinetron studio, MD entertainment seems to churn out sinetrons not just to appease and please its execs and shareholders, but also to snag merchandising deals and shill for the most profitable of product placements. 

While there are sinetrons for rural youths who mostly haven’t read a globally popular (but mainly Eurocentric) book series in their lives (as a result, these Sinetrons are in a sub-genre known as ‘Sinetron Remaja’), rural women are the main viewers of these super pervasive shows. 

One of the increasingly blatant problems with Sinetrons, as with any other incredibly dysfunctional creative industry worldwide, is the horrendous mistreatment of effects artists, especially visual effects artists without a consistent deadline, which partially explains the misuse in lots of these Indonesian soaps. 

Disney’s Tarzan reboot: cast of characters

The Disney Tarzan reboot universe’s cast of characters

The gorillas 

Dungy’s family - Zugor and his friend Gerla, Matt and his mate Carla, their son Durk and his mate Marcie, his cousin Terk and her mate Flynt

Utor’s bachelor gang - Kagor and his friend Utor 

The Mangani Civilians

Kroog’s Family - Kellan, his son Thag and his brother Kroog

Thorag’s Family - Thorag and his mate Ndosi, their daughter Teeb 

Zelgor’s family - Zelgor and his son Yokar 

Cheechak’s family - Gufta and her daughter Cheechak

Torik’s family - Torik and his mate Iris, her parents Torglat and Gortak, her siblings Muggy and Zeeta

Zukora’s family - Jax and his mate Zukora

The Mangani Rogues - Etienne and Coralie

The other beasts 

Tantor’s family - Tantor Senior and his mate Christina, their daughter Torda and her mate Cassius, their son Tantor himself

Keela’s family - Keela and her sister Neeka 

Matadi’s family - Matadi and his sister Bunji  

Morok’s family - Metara and her mate Kublat, her son Morok and his mate Gortak, their son Tarchak

Kurok’s family - Kurok and his brother Throg, their sister Chema 

Manu’s family - Cristobal and his mate Mimi, their son Manuel ‘Manu’  

Kembo’s family - Manoka and her brother Kembo 

Horta’s family - Horta and her kids Pum and Prek 

The Jungle Caracals - Muskree and her brother Buskree 

The Sea Monsters - Histah and her gang 

The Westerners

The Harts - Carol Hart 

The Miller-Hauser family - Michael Hauser and his wife Rosanna Miller, their daughter Patricia Hauser

The Diaz family - Ruana Diaz and her son Christopher Diaz

The Kentons - Miranda Kenton  

The Pierce-Rosses - Wayne Ross and his wife Sharon Kane Ross, his daughter Sheila Ross Pierce and her husband Daniel Pierce, their daughter Brenda Pierce

The Rosses - Trevor Ross and his wife Gail Manning Ross, their son Joe Ross 

The Doyles - Robin Doyle and her husband Jack Doyle, their daughter Liz Doyle

The Walthams - Baron Frederick Waltham, his wife Lana Lancer-Waltham, their son Herbert Waltham

The Brookses - Mary Brooks and her husband Eric Brooks, their daughter Meghan Brooks 

The La Ronde family - Philippe La Ronde and his wife Anais La Ronde, their children Cecil La Ronde and his wife Sandra Gardel La Ronde

The Parkers - James Parker and his wife Lisa Parker

The Extended Parkers - Ray Parker and his wife Ashley Brennan Parker, their daughter Vera Jane Parker Shiels and her husband Roland Shiels, their son Kenneth Shiels and his wife Calla Kerrigan Shiels 

The Holts - Hieronymus Holt and his wife Sarah Lyle Holt, their son Lucas Holt and his wife Emily Simmons Holt, their daughter Janna Holt and her brother Edgar Holt

The Hauser family of Merchants - Gina Allwine, her son in law Michael Hauser and his wife Lilian Allwine, their son Barnaby Allwine Hauser 

The Lancers - Thomas Lancer and Lidia Lancer, his nephew Richard Lancer and Russi Lancer, his son Austin Lancer and Gwen Byron Lancer, his grandson Sidney Lancer

The Burke-Lancers - Lisa Burke and her husband Bertrand Lancer, his older son Ronald Lancer, his granddaughter Julie Lancer and her brother Jasper Lancer

The Hauser-Durhams - Colin Durham and his wife Gwendolyn Durham, their daughter Margaret Durham and her husband Hans Hauser, their son Malcom Hauser 

The Eskers - Max Esker and his wife Lynn Beach Esker, their daughter Countess Connie Beach Esker 

The Wrightson family - Wesley Wrightson and his wife Mary Jane Wrightson, their son the Gorilla Tarzan (aka Peter Wrightson) and his wife Eleanor Gillis

Bayliss and Co - Bruce Bayliss

The Links - Lucille Link and Isobel Link

The Carne family - Minnie Carne, her son Derrick Carne and his wife Kathleen Carne, their daughter Nicole Carne 

The Gabon Congo Brazzaville Locals 

Locals from Kouilou Niari Area - Benjamin, Cyrique, Yenge, Reynard, Amaya, Kakengo, Mankaka and Kasongo  

Locals from Gabon - Emerine, Yesa and Akoma 

The Resident Jungle Backwaters 

The Core - The Main Tarzan (aka Dennis Cave) and his mate Jane Pinkerton, his son Korak (aka Anthony Cave) and his adoptive son Dombie (aka Dominic Cave)

Team Vanga - Kaia Kaia, Shira, Gatare and Vanga 

Team Kisha - Kisha, Sulli and Mengo

Naranee’s family - Naranee and Yohro 

Team AKO - Kadjia, Obugha and Achinga 

The Makaia Kingdom - Lualla 

Disney’s Tarzan casting candidates (past and present)

Here are the potential casting candidates for the cyberpunk reboot to Disney’s version of Tarzan. 

The Present - Human Heroes and Anti Villains

Daniel Frogson as the main Tarzan (aka Dennis Cave) - The main Tarzan’s story began when he, his mum and dad, departing from Bristol (via various places), shipwrecked into the heart of the Mayombe rainforest following a terrible boat crash. Sadly, the baby lost her and him to the Mangani raids but was rescued by a shellshocked Mangani, who adopted him instead. 

Ava Marilyn as Jane Pallas Porter - Tarzan's American girlfriend and ultimately wife.

Jade Jordan as Robin Doyle - After days of sailing through dangerous seas, Robin got shipwrecked into the Mayombe rainforest with her young daughter Liz. 

Lara McDonnell as Liz Doyle - A castaway named Liz Doyle got shipwrecked into the Mayombe jungle along with her mum Robin. 

Samuel Joslin as Hieronymus Holt - A sly real estate agent, Hieronymus and his twin sister Sarah Holt deal with semi-seedy outlets. 

Darci Shaw as Sarah Lyle Holt - 

Paul Mescal as Roland Shiels - Roland is Vera Parker’s moody main childhood friend (and later husband), growing up with a gang of apes after his shipwrecked parents, themselves family friends of Ray Parker and Ashley Brennan, were killed by loggers when he was just a toddler. 

Pádraic Delaney as James Parker - the wild man uncle of Vera Parker. 

Hazel Doupe as Vera Jane Parker - Along with a childhood friend who lost his parents to loggers, she lives with her uncle James near the bustling town of Conkouati. 

Landon Liboiron as Derrick Carne - Derrick Carne is Hieronymus Holt’s best friend alongside his own wife Kathleen Carne.

Lucas Neff as Bruce Bayliss - 

The Present - Tarzan’s animal friends and rivals

Shelby Simmons as the voice of Tork (aka Torkina, Tarzan’s tomboy gorilla friend) - Tork is Mumka’s daughter.  

Brandon T. Jackson as the voice of Dungy (Tarzan’s male gorilla friend) - Dungy is Matt and Carla’s surviving younger son, whose dead older brother was Kelvin. 

Buddy Lewis as the voice of Muyo - A vagrant gorilla stranger.

Katt Williams as the voice of Matt - Matt is Dungy’s stern dad and Carla’s unhelpful silverback mate. 

Octavia Spencer as the voice of Carla - Carla is Matt’s erstwhile mate, the main Tarzan’s calm mentor and Mungo’s mum. 

Matt Cornett as the voice of Tantor - Tantor is a forest elephant with a fear not of almost anything including germs but, rather more understandably, of serial loggers, because both of his estranged parents got shot by them when he was a preteen. In order to make his life around, he does save the day in some situations. He’s also one of the main Tarzan’s regular male animal friends, besides Manu and Flynt. 

Sarah Paulson as the voice of Mumka - Terk’s mother. 

Jacob Batalon as the voice of Flynt - Dungy’s vagrant best friend and Torkina’s boyfriend (later mate), who is also one of Tarzan’s fellow regular male friends, besides Manu the mandrill and Tantor the forest elephant. 

Tony Revolori as the voice of Manuel ‘Manu’ - Manu the mandrill is one of Tarzan’s main animal friends, who is a part of a large mandrill crowd led by his maternal grandpa Francisco. 

The Present - Human Villains 

Sam McCarthy as Eric Brooks - Eric Brooks is a power-hungry villain working against the well-intentioned wishes of Hieronymus Holt and his twin sister Sarah Lyle. This is in contrast to his partner in crime, Mary Brooks, who often works more actively outside the Elpido Manufacturing Inc. headquarters. 

Kailey Albus as Mary Brooks - Mary Brooks is a dauntingly adventurous spy.

The Past - Human Heroes 

Dylan Moran as Ray Parker - Ashley’s husband, James’ younger brother and Vera’s father. 

Rainbow Sun Francks as Wesley Wrightson - Peter’s birth dad, who was a nerd, who’d long been trekking for quite a long while. Knowing that he and his wife were on their last legs, they had enough time to realise that their bereaving baby son was to be nursed for a couple of years by gorillas rather than just starving to death. 

Kate Walsh as Mary Jane Wrightson - Mary Jane Simmons was the Gorilla Tarzan’s birth mum.

Sharon Horgan as Ashley Brennan Parker - Vera Parker’s auburn-haired mum, who died sick after they got shipwrecked into somewhere near the city of Pointe Noire. 

The Past - Tarzan’s animal friends and rivals 

Oliver Alexander as the voice of Manu (youth) 

Brock Brenner as the voice of Flynt (Tork’s boyfriend, youth) 

Jeremy Maguire as the voice of Tantor (youth) 

D.L. Hughley as the voice of Zugor - Carla’s estranged dad and Matt’s father in law. 

Julio Cedillo as the voice of Francisco - Manu’s head scratching sick maternal grandpa. 

The hunt for some of the best Kamishibai compilations ever made

Although a couple of Kamishibai history books are rather old, that doesn’t mean they’re easy to find outside of Japan. The one that I borrowed from TAFE is a valuable (although feebly translated and overtly favouring the best known stories) memoir from New York Times bestselling author Eric P. Nash. 

The most popular pre-90s Kamishibai history book in Japan is a retrospective memoir made by the late Kamishibai megastar Kōji Kata; who defined the art style of Golden Bat for nearly 3 decades. First published in 1971, it has two more editions, an updated reprint made in 1979 and (after its author’s untimely death at 79-80 in 1998) a posthumously revised one made in 2004. 

Perhaps the hardest to find of them all was a huge, compiled encyclopaedia of surviving Kamishibai works mostly from the post war Showa period. Although it might’ve bombed so badly in terms of book sales, the really elusive 14 volume set is still quite popular with Japanese academics to this day. Its first seven volumes were made in 1994, while the other seven were made in 1995. 

Sheena: the plot line

Subplots 

Judi’s backstory: Judi and her husband Lucius lived through decades of relative strife (still bad but not as extreme as the situation that Koba’s parents were in), as they were longtime soldiers surviving the deaths of many a relative. As a result, Judi is a wisecracker with rather agitating mental health issues, who’s also unfairly outcasted by her more religiously extremist kin. Her husband is not only pretty distant, but also a hikikomori. 

Kiro’s backstory: Kiro was abandoned by her dad, just days before he destroyed her senile mum’s life. As a youth, she temporarily lived with gorillas, lions and other animals. In a brutal world where dangerous animals tend to eat each other and chomp on plants, she’d been bitten by cryptids a lot and slowly grew immune to their absurd powers by the time she turned eighteen, thus she uses them to survive by frequently killing the most heinous of people with her own frigging hands. 

Matt’s backstory: Matt and his two brothers were born the products of a military woman’s marital violation on her husband. The mum battered and concussed them to high heaven while her husband also suffered drastically as a result. Their relationship is still so screwed up that, after Matt being gently fired by the CIA, he moved to Tigora to start Cutter Enterprises. 

Shirley’s backstory: Shirley arrived into Tigora with her parents, who were geologists digging for dead plants. The last time that they lived together was only a few days before the latter two committed suicide due to incredibly horrible treatment from their boss, thus kicks the main plot.