Master of The Love Letter

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

Let’s take a break from my discussions of software and Project Management to talk about the 2026 Masters of the Universe film and why it has artistic legitimacy. There, that’s not what you expected, was it?

So the film had it’s challenges. It had sort of OK reviews. It didn’t seem to quite make the money it needs. It had Jared Leto, which is inadvisable on all occasions. But also I had friends who saw it and quite enjoyed it. What’s my take?

The film is actually quite enjoyable. It’s breezy, it looks good (though some CGI seems to have been added quickly), the cast is absolutely on, it’s very colorful and fun. Honestly it was a popcorn movie without the sense of getting tossed into a huge extended universe, even if some elements hint at such ambition.

What really stood out to me was how it was an absolutely love letter to the original series – one I am ironically familiar with due to cultural impact and remakes as the original came after my time. It looks cartoony. It’s loaded with sincere weirdness. Skeletor is overdramatic, a theater kid with dark occult power. It even has a kind of early 80’s vibe to the music and the credits. There’s no way this could be made without people who cared and did their research.

It’s also filled with plenty of extrapolations and little details. The goofy names of the heroic Masters are not their actually names – they’re what a young Prince Adam nicknamed them (before he got stranded on Earth). Refugee Adam, stuck on earth, grows up to be an HR professional – leveraging his genial and kind nature. There are deep cut highly obscure characters – you may not care about someone called Goat-Man but he looks like a badass Gwar extra.

The movie is first and foremost a love letter to the original – and I think that’s where it has artistic legitimacy.

The movie takes a toy marketing commercial with a plot and brings it to life. It has a feel of someone playing with their action figures, with wild action and silly and fun twists. It doesn’t shy away from any of the strangeness it embraces it. Wrapping the plot around a young Adam, who remembers this fantastical world but seems crazy for telling people about it adds a kind of longing to the whole affair.

Did it need to go to theaters? No. Did it need to be an attempt to launch more films? No. Did it need Jared Leto? No, he’s a creep. I think it could have been done for streaming services and be done with it.

But watching it, feeling that love and affection, feeling that sincerity? There was something artistically worthy here. Even if it’s based on a “toyetic cartoon” there was something there.

I think now I have to consider the “Love Letter” it’s own meta-genre. And I may need to rethinking other shows and films and books.

Steven Savage

The Speed/Efficiency Paradox

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

A little more “Steve rants about software and process” time here as I contemplate issues of efficiency, distraction, and how faster isn’t always better.

It’s easy to argue that faster is good. The more things we do faster the more we can do! The more we get done. However, let us take a warning from real life that a love of speed breaks down, say, on the highway with some of your less inhibited fellow drivers. Speed burns fuel, leads to accidents, leads to citations, disrupts others, and pisses people off.

Speed, like anything has side effects. And am I going to compare idiot drivers to idiot software that takes “Gotta Go Fast” as a motto? Yes I am.

Previously I had critiqued an emphasis on speed as efficient software also adds more work, so somehow we get slower by going faster. But let’s take a look at how speed in our software, our culture, our business process, backfires.

First and foremost I’d note that speed can be wasteful. You have the latest software, the latest graphic card, the latest AI. Great, how much did that cost? How much does it cost to power? How much effort do people have to put in to keep up? Having the latest cool technical stuff or business process might be fast, but is it worth the cost? Assuming speed always pays off is not a great idea.

Secondly, when it comes to that fast software or new workflow, going faster also may mean it’s harder to check on what you’re doing. Sure, you streamlined that billing process, now how about those lawsuits that are coming in because something got missed. Sometimes slow is there to make sure you don’t screw up – and if you’ve been in IT any length of time you know.

Third, so you got that fast new process for disposing of waste or sending out paychecks – until it screws up because it’s so fast. Not only have you done all sorts of financially and ethically dumb things, now you’re getting investigated, regulated, etc. Admittedly, I wish we saw more of this in the world, but still there’s some impact on companies, business, and people. For now.

(Working in medicine and medical tech, which is rightfully regulated and contains people very serious about doing things right, I want more regulation and policy like that.)

Fourth, speed can be disruptive, and not in the fun Silicon Valley disruptor way. Actually, forget that “disruption” thing period because we’ve had a lot disrupted and it turned out to be awful. Going faster does mean you break things, distract people, derail processes, and so on and that has an impact. The love of disruption misses that maybe some things shouldn’t be disrupted and we miss that as speed, as disruption is a virtue above the results.

Fifth and finally, past a point, speed can just piss people off just like that driver racing by you at 95 MPH in a school zone. People need time to process information, input, signals, forms, and what have you. Someone racing around doing things fast even if good can still derail human interaction. Sometimes the point is to talk to people, take time, and be considerate of what happens to them.

(I’ve used this as a Project Manager, where just a checklist and a half hour meeting gets far more done than any kind of software process.)

So no, I’m not a fan of speed for speed’s sake. It has it’s time and it’s place. I’d love to figure out Faster Than Light travel, for instance. But let’s not assume it’s the best thing ever. It can often create more problems than it solves if it solves any problem.

Steven Savage

Why I Keep Writing

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

So after a short break from writing, I’m back at my kind-of-weekly column. I’ve been doing this in one form or another for over two decades. I have columns logged back years. I even have some experimental compendiums of my past writings. I’ve written a lot just blogging and journaling.

Of course I’ve taken breaks, or I’ve done light stuff. I’ve changed my plans and focuses. In fact, as of this writing I’m still thinking of my next steps. There are always next steps, always changes, but I keep writing.

And here’s an interesting question – why? Why do I keep writing. I can trace this back to my pre-teens. I just keep writing.

I know some people understand. I know you may understand. Some of us keep writing.

But it’s not much different from other driven creations, is it? There are people who draw and just draw even if they make money for it. There are collageists. There are actors who will take any role and did, and it seems well beyond any financial needs. There are musicians who just keep doing it.

And the truth is creativity and communication are parts of being human. It’s what we do. Writers are obvious as they create product. Artists are obvious because they make highly visiible creations. But we all do it.

There’s no difference between that friend that keeps doing improv, the friend writing fanfic, and the other friend who is first to do the PowerPoint presentations at work. They’re all creative, all expressive. The motivations may differ, but we all know people who want to get out there and say something.

Again, that’s almost certainly you. There is probably a way you express yourself and connect even if you don’t realize or appreciate it.

So I write because, well, that’s what I do. That’s my art (along with collage art). That’s what this is, my not-quite monthly posts. Whatever form they take in the future, it’ll be the same motivation, even if it manifests differently.

So there might be delays or changes, but I’ll be here, writing away.

Steven Savage