and then they proceeded to be the worst at their jobs for the next 20 years
No no, you don’t get it. Jesse and James are the absolute best there is at their jobs, but they have no idea what their jobs are.
They think that they’re thieves, agents of an elite criminal group led by Giovanni, stealing rare pokemon and advanced technology and such. And there might have been a time this actually was their jobs. In the first season or two, they frequently get angry phone calls about how they’ve fucked everything up, or get their expense account cut off because they have literally never turned a profit on their criminal enterprises and constantly procure and then lose/destroy expensive and elaborate devices.
But then the world came within a hair’s breadth of being destroyed, several times, and Jesse, James, and their weird cat rescued everybody. As terrible as they’ve always been at criminal endeavors of any kind, when the apocalypse approaches and they’re forced to step up, they’re really fucking good at saving the day.
And Giovanni is over here like… if the planet is destroyed, or time/space becomes unrecognizable, or civilization collapses, there’s no way for me to run a profitable criminal enterprise anymore. I need this planet, because it’s where I keep all my stuff. And I don’t pretend to understand the why of it, but these couple of bumbling nutcases that I should have fired years ago seem to be an important component of that? Somehow? So you gotta stop thinking about them in terms of acquisitions and start considering them… loss prevention. As in, even if you waste a million dollars a month on giant cat-faced robots and a vast array of fancy ball gowns and they never turn a profit, they are preventing all of your assets from going away at the same time because of something you can’t do anything about.
And that’s the great secret behind Team Rocket. These guys aren’t thieves, they’re professional superheroes (sponsored by organized crime). Of course, nobody ever bothered to tell them that.
“To protect the world from devastation…”
Plus, as is frequently pointed out: Jesse and James are good at every other job EXCEPT Team Rocket. They’re actually smart businesspeople and run successful food and merchandise stands and are great salespeople.
Hell, even in Team Rocket situations where they’re not chasing after Pikachu they’ve done better.
It’s just their Achilles Heel is one damn OP rodent.
While #AlfonsoRibeiro has always expressed gratitude for the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s success, the 49-year-old has also been vocal about how being typecast as a character like Carlton has been made him feel ostracized from the Black community at large.
“It still happens almost every day, unfortunately,” Ribeiro told the Atlanta Black Star about having his Blackness challenged. “I am in a mixed relationship. And I get things and looks and comments constantly. And I find it very interesting because you see a lot of things on social media where people say things and people have positions and perspectives. And it’s not easy to make that choice, because you’re not at home in any home. I’m never going to be white and I’m never going to be fully supported in the Black house.”
Ribeiro married writer Angela Unkrich — who is white — in 2012, which he said has contributed to his feeling like the Black community doesn’t accept him.
“I’m in my own little world with support from almost no one, to be in love with someone I’ve fallen in love with. How does that make sense? It doesn’t,” he said. “We all want to live in a world where everyone is accepted for being and loving and living the way they choose to live. I will support any person that wants to live in a world that they want to live in.”
“I live in a mixed world. I love in a mixed world. I live in a Black world, and I love in that world. I feel everyone should be supported,” he continued.
He implied that these perceptions have led to the BET Awards neglecting to invite him, despite being so well known for The Fresh Prince.
“I laugh at the fact that I am a mainstream television host, been in the game forever and I could purchase tickets to go to the BET Awards. So it is what it is. I’m not going to purchase the ticket…But at the end of the day, if that’s the view they take, then that’s the view they take. I can’t change their mind. All I can do is live my life and be me and be the best version of me. And continue to love everybody equally, and let it fall where it falls.”
Some of you saw me post about this in the past but it’s worth talking about again.
I know this pain all too well. Nothing hurt my heart more than being made to feel like I wasn’t black enough for my own people. Even as an adult I still feel like an outsider. And every time I wanna have some kind of connection I keep seeing scene after scene of black people tearing down other black people over some bullshit purity test that makes me want to wall myself up even further.
All of it just makes me relive the hell of my younger years over and over again.
I was black on black bullied brutally for not acting black enough. But no matter what I did or did not do I was still accused of trying to act white even when I was trying to act black enough for them. I had textbooks Thrown at me. I was kicked downstairs. I was even stopped in the street in front of some off duty cops. The bullying got so bad I came 2 blocks short of bringing a gun to school. And why was me being different worth making my life a living hell? Oh yeah all the trendy stuff black wanna gatekeep as their own. Oh being a blerd it’s cool now but not too long ago black nerds were punished by other black people for trying to act white.
How the fuck do you get mad a black kids for having good grades or Speaking proper English or reading. We were hated, harassed and bullied for trying to do anything positive and constructive. But now our community wants to pretend it was always in support of the same hobbies and interests we got punished for having.
BUT GOD FORBID I SPEAK UP ABOUT WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH BECAUSE ADDRESSING THE FUCKED UP SHIT BLACK PEOPLE HAVE DONE TO OTHER BLACK PEOPLE MAKE YOU A TRAITOR.
First I’ve heard about his ordeals continuing.
He’s a good dude. Makes me sad he’s had to deal with the same shit for so long. I hope one day the lessons his character taught are taken to heart by all. It’s sad that those lessons are still needed.
So this scene was based on his actual experience? Wow.
I knew some of the big scenes in this show were based on the actor’s real life experiences. I didn’t know this one was too.
It hits all the more harder after finding out it still happens, to him no less. So many years later, humanity hasn’t really advanced all that much.
This has incredible “if you’re so scared of unaccountable police violence, don’t break the law” energy.
The people who are scared aren’t the people who need to control themselves. No one is scared they might lose control and harass someone. They’re scared of unfalsifiable accusations with no presumption of innocence or due process. They’re scared of bad actors, and it’s creepy and disingenuous to imply that people who don’t want to make themselves vulnerable to harm must have something wrong with them or some moral failing.
How is it is supposed to work: your emotions are a response to your situation and surroundings. It is OK to feel the emotion. Now take that emotion and use your logical brain to decide which parts of the emotion fit the facts of the situation and which do not and why, and how you’re going to respond to said emotions (which is what tweet said, and what therapists say)
How people seem to interpret it: any emotional reaction is perfectly fine and I am not responsible for what I do out of emotion.
As my last therapist said: Your feelings are VALID. They are not always ACCURATE.
