Q&A With Alpha's Malik Yoba

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Renee Martin with fangsforthefantasy.com. Please proceed with your question. 

Renee Martin: Hi Malik. Thanks so much for doing this.

Malik Yoba: Thank you. Thanks for the fantasy.

Renee Martin:  I just wanted to say before I ask my question that, "You're a large part of the reason I watch Alphas."

Malik Yoba: Okay, thank you. Ego, stroke, stroke, ego, stroke, stroke. I'll take it.

Renee Martin:  Science fiction has a tendency to erase people of color, and when they are included, they're usually token roles.

 So one of the things that caught my attention right away was that Bill was actually the leader of the group and he wasn't a token and he wasn't overtaken by Cameron. I'm wondering how - if you feel that by taking part in this that you're sort of moving things forward in the genre where we'll begin to see more inclusive roles for marginalized people? 

Malik Yoba:  Well the good thing is we shoot the show in Canada. So you mentioned Cameron right? Warren Christie is a Canadian, and we shoot with a Canadian crew. And so it's interesting even just dealing with the whole race politic question shooting in Canada, which - because it doesn't come up.

I am often the only black dude on set, but I don't think about it, I don't feel it, we don't talk - you know it's - and not out of like no one's aware but - we are but, what I like is that were professionals and people who care about a particular product and project. And so we work really well collaboratively to make the best show possible where that really never comes up, so that's interesting in and of itself.

Second part for me is I've been in this game for 20 years as a professional and I've been doing it since I was in elementary school. And for me it was just - you - my father always said, "Build your own generator so when they turn off the power you still have light."

 So throughout my career I've had other things that I initiate on my own as a man, but I happen to be a black man. So I say all that to say that conversation about being groundbreaking or, you know, the opportunities or lack of opportunities, at the end of the day this is a really, really hard business no matter what - who you are.

And I say all that to say, like we just have to continue to have the conversation about doing our own shit, like I write, I direct, I produce, I'm working on my own film right now. In fact I'm shooting a trailer for my film, What's on the Hearts of Men, which is going to be a very diverse audience because I also understand international distribution doesn't just look like black people and I understand the challenges of selling us internationally.

But while I'm shooting a series I'm directing my own piece and no one else in the cast is doing that because one, that's just not where their head is. But that's my determination, you know, I'm pushing to direct the third season of Alphas and I have full support of production, you know, in this endeavor of my entrepreneurial pursuits, so that really is the question. And the answer for me is like, "We can't keep talking about the opportunities we don't have if we don't work really hard to create our own luck."

And if I - and having some perspective, you know, when I was a kid I gave my teacher my autograph when I was 13 and told them I was going to be famous. And I was in the Drama Club from elementary school to high school performing arts programs, and worked at the Negro Ensemble Company as a 16 year old and did all that and have all that kind of perspective.

 And at the end of the day the thing that I feel has contributed to my ability to continue to work in this business, and I feel like my career has largely about hitting singles, right, if this is a game, and by staying in the game I still hit 300.

And I think the biggest part is because I don't think about what is impossible, you know. And that's one of the things I love about Tyler Perry, you know, having worked with Tyler, having known Tyler before he did he first films. Knowing him from the play game. That's an example of - he - there's one thing about him, is that it doesn't matter what he doesn't know, it doesn't matter that he didn't go to film school, it doesn't matter that he didn't get a degree in writing from some place.

For everything he doesn't know how to do from a film making perspective, he just does it anyway. And he wins. And that - and people support that. And I think that's how we shift this whole conversation about what we have or don't have. Because here's somebody who wasn't even in the game that changed the game.

Renee Martin:  Okay. And if I could just ask one last question. I know that you also sing, so I was wondering, are we at some point going to see a softer side of Bill where...

Malik Yoba:  I hope so, I was hoping to actually...

Renee Martin:  Will the writers will incorporate that?

Malik Yoba: But no, I definitely - actually recently go some music placed on the show, but not my actual music, just some artists that I'm working with. But that, I definitely plan to do more of that, so thank you.

I, you know what, since you said it, I'm going to have to think of - we're not done filming yet, so I'm going to work it in somehow girl. Work it into this last episode.

Renee Martin: Thank you, I'd appreciate that.

Well thank you for your time.

Malik Yoba:  Yes, thank you. 


Erin Willard: Hi, thanks so much for being on the call today.

Malik Yoba:  Thank you.

Erin Willard:  And congratulations on a terrific season premiere. I really liked it a lot.

Malik Yoba:  You enjoy that?

Erin Willard: Absolutely, yes. It was (unintelligible)...
 
Malik Yoba: All the action?

Erin Willard: ...action and - absolutely. It was neat. And that's actually kind of what I wanted to ask you about. It seemed - I know it's the season premiere and that's always a little bit different, but it seemed like there was a lot more intensity, a lot more action in the season premiere. Is that going to carry out throughout the season?

Malik Yoba:  Not necessarily. I think that - and you know, the writers probably could speak more to it, and the director of that. But I think that the goal was to try to start it with a bang, literally.

So and it still, even to us like you know, Season 2 is a bit almost like, you know, doing a mini-pilot again, you know, you have to kind of set up who's who, where we are. And obviously we were a little disjointed so there was the process of creating a team all over again but.

Yes, there's some good action coming up though. I get beat up quite a few times, which I don't really appreciate but you know. The good thing is I can always - I just look at the production manager and go, "Please schedule a massage for tomorrow."

Erin Willard:  Nice. So will we be seeing a Bill-centric episode or story arc this season?

Malik Yoba:  Not - yes, I don't know why I was saying no. We're on 13 right now so it's been a while. But yes, I think the season actually kind of opens with Bill-centric, at least certainly for the first couple episodes, I think that the Bill storyline, we kind of get right into where Bill's at, where we left him and where he is now and how - you know, what state he's in.

Without giving away too much, I was definitely like, "What, really? All right," that kind of thing. But yes, it's been good. It's been good though.

Erin Willard:  Great. And you're - are you done shooting now for the season or it's still on?

Malik Yoba:  No, we're on 13 right now.

Erin Willard:  All right. Well thanks so much and I will...

Malik Yoba:  Okay, cool.

Erin Willard:  I'll make room for somebody else.

Malik Yoba: Okay.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jamie Ruby with scifivision.com. Please proceed with your question.

Jamie Ruby:  Hi, thanks so much for talking to us today. Can you talk about what the most challenging part of your role is?

Malik Yoba:  Not looking like I did when I was 26. You laugh with me. Actually you know, the fact that we started the season off with a lot of action and a lot of physical stuff, for me.

I had an experience that I never had before on set where I turned to Warren Christie's character one day - not his character, but to Warren, we were shooting the episode that I think is Number 3, where Bill goes into a fight club. And I had like 3 fight scenes in a week, more in 2 days or something like that, during a week of shooting. It was very, very physical and I remember, and I was really tired and I turned Warren and I was like, "Dude, I think I'm going to cry right now."

So like there was a literal physical challenge for me. But it's great because I am 45 and you know, I work hard to stay fit. And so the physical challenges are there. I think that's probably it.

And I think sometimes, you know, just making sure that you know collectively, meaning writers, directors, all the actors, everyone is working to keep one vision when you have so many moving pieces, you know? And with so many characters I think we're still in a place where, you know, sometimes we have to just - that presents its own like creative challenges.

But those are good because I think that as a result of it, everybody contributes to making the moments the best that they can be, first when they're on the page, and then when you're on set and you're in a moment.

And you know, you might have something that, you know, you were actually challenged by in that moment like, "Okay, how are we going to make this work? Where's the logic here? Who should do what? How do we," you know.

And I think that's the part - or at least for me, that I really, really love, you know. Because out of that comes the thing that people enjoy. So whatever the challenges are, it's always good because we meet them and then I think we have some level of success.

Jamie Ruby: Okay great. And how are you most like and most different your character?

Malik Yoba:  I think Bill is shorter and I think the fact that Bill is a former agent and comes to the group as a person with a certain expertise in, you know, law enforcement and you know, protocol and procedure and all that kind of stuff, I think you know, I had a scene with the three women in the show the other day and I was like, "This is like Daddy mode," and I am a dad so you know, how I was talking to them was how I'd talk to my kids.

 So I think there are those times when just as a man and an authoritative figure, you have to sort of take a position that could feel very, very familiar. But I try in this particular case, you know, I definitely don't feel that I'm often times like tapping into like Malik stuff to play Bill, if that makes sense, other than like...

Jamie Ruby: Yes. All right, thank you so much.

Malik Yoba: Well I was going to say other than humor. I think that humor is a really important element of our show. And so just I always try to also work from that place of, "Wouldn't this be funny if..."

Sinbad, Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot

 

Sinbad and his brother, Jamil are in Basra and making a living while up to no good. Sinbad pretends to lose in a fist fight, so his brother can get excellent odds , then suddenly turn the fight around to fleece a bookie. A simple con – but it doesn’t end simply as his opponent bangs his head at the end of the fight. He seems to recover, Sinbad and Jamil leave, but then (under the menacing gaze of the sorceress Taryn) he slumps and died.

In the market, they indulge in some pickpocketing with the help of a friendly corrupt guard, stealing a case from Nala and her father (wealthy visitors to the city) – though inside the case there is only an odd, hairy totem.

Of course, since Sinbad is a hero, he has been indulging his crooked ways for good purpose – to support his elderly grandmother and his catatonic mother –because you can’t have a hero who is a thief through greed or even to save himself – he has to be stealing for other people to make him a redeemable character. Bonus points if the people he’s stealing for are elderly, children or helpless.

But it catches up with him – first with his grandmother having a vision from the coins that the money is blood money – money earned through killing (which is a surprise to Sinbad who didn’t know he’d killed his opponent). And then by the guards battering down their door, chasing them across the city and eventually capturing them.

Lord Akbari, the father of Sinbad’s dead opponent, is grieving for his son, being supported and comforted by his brother, the Emir, making a him powerful man one does not want to annoy. Lurking around is also the Sorceress Taryn (she who cast her magic eyes on the fight) who laments that they don’t have the magic to bring the dead back any more, since the Emir is encouraging science instead of magic.

He wanders down to the cells to tell Sinbad that his opponent in the fist fight is dead, and surprise, he was Lord Akbari’s son! And the Emir has very kindly let Lord Akbari decide how justice will be done in this case, how very nice.  Realising how well and truly screwed he is, Sinbad begs for his brother’s life – accepting his fate. So Lord Akabari… has Jamil killed and makes Sinbad watch; killing Sinbad’s loved one to make up for Sinbad killing his.

Sinbad isn’t without his tricks and, during the night, he manages to overcome one of the guards and escape home – where his grandmother watches over his brother’s dead body. His grandmother is grieving – and blames Sinbad for his brother’s death. Through tears she curses Sinbad to drift so he cannot spend more than a day on land – so he can learn and find atonement. She binds the curse in a locket around his neck, just as his friend the guard shows up to help him leave the city.

The Almighty Johnsons Season Two, Episode One: And She Will Come to You

 

Zeb and Mike are sitting on a beach drinking beer and Zeb says, "among all the other weird things, somewhere there's a woman for you." He reminds Axl that Frigg is out there and that he will find her, or his name isn't Frekki.  Apparently, Zeb has decided to take that name after he discovered that Frekki, is Odin's lone wolf.  Zeb promises to be there for him, unlike his brothers, who are useless for Gods.  Axl defends his brothers saying that they're busy and Anders is just useless.

We flash to a scene with Axl asking Anders for help, but he says that he is on a quest and it is on a need to know basis.  Anders says he is going away somewhere cold and has grown a horrible beard.  When Axl says he needs him, Anders says he takes his good advice and spoons it.

We get a flash to Ty who is busy moving.  When Axl tries to remind him that if he dies they die, Ty says, "trust me Axl, you'll out live me."  Eva grabs Ty by the arm saying that she wants to christen their new home.  Stacey asks what they were doing last night, and Eva yells, "that was the kitchen." Zeb asks if their house warming party will turn into a God orgy.

Zeb feels that Mike has been the most disappointing because he has been to busy hustling people.  Axl says that they can find frigg without the help of his useless brothers.

At Axl's, some angry man knocks on his door and it turns out he lost his girlfriend in a bet to Mike.  Axl points out that Mike is bringing danger into his house and Zeb points out that he used a woman in a bet he knew he couldn't lose. I really like that Zeb pointed this out to him because it wasn't that long ago that Mike was critical of Anders for using his powers to take advantage of women.  Zeb tells him that as God of the Frigg hunt that he is off the team because every time they look for Frigg, they always end up in a bar. Mike says that he needs a scent, a starting point

At Anders office, Dawn answers the phone, and it is Anders saying that he is at the airport and that he needs her to feed his fish.  It turns out that Anders is headed to Norway.  Anders asks her to tell Ty that he won't be at his house warming party and when Dawn refuses, he points out that she has been stalking him.  Anders asks her to stay at his apartment and then hangs up claiming that the plane is about to board. Would it really kill Anders to treat Dawn like she is a person of note considering how dependent is upon her?

Eva and Colin are bickering about the ownership of the house.  Colin asks that Ty knock her up so that the hormones will calm her down.  I get that Loki is an ass but really, did he have to use sexism?  It is however a switch to suggest that pregnancy hormones would level someone out, rather than make them go insane as it were. When Colin hands over the paperwork, Eva looks it over and Colin asks if she trusts him. 

Alpha's Sneak Peak!

Tempest's Fury by Nicole Peeler: Book 5 in the Jane True Series

Very rarely do I stay up late to finish reading a book, but that is exactly what I did for Nicole Peeler's Tempest's Fury.  In the interest of full disclosure, I am going to tell you right now, the woman has made a fanpoodle out of me.

At the ending of Eye of the Tempest, Jane and Anyan were finally getting some much needed alone time when Blondie burst in with yet another supernatural emergency.  I found the ending frustrating because I had long been rooting for Anyan and Jane as a couple; however, that feeling of frustration could not possibly compare to how I felt at the end of this book. Oh Ms. Peeler, you are a cruel, cruel woman.

Given a special ax by the creature, it is time for Jane to fulfill her role as champion.  Though so much has changed, in many ways, Jane still sees herself as the small town girl who at the end of the day wants to lead a simple life, surrounded by the people she loves.  Not only does Jane now have to deal with the fact that she is essentially the chosen one, she is responsible for stopping creatures who cannot be killed and dealing with a political structure that is filled with factions. 

As serious as the issues are in Tempest's Fury, Ms. Peeler as we have become accustomed in this series, still takes time to add a little fun. When we first met Jane she had never been outside of her small town. This is her first time in Europe and though the fate of the world hangs in the balance, Jane still wants to take the time to be a bit of a tourist.  Cheese and particularly a good Stilton, is high on her list of experiences and a few dates with Anyan if she she an fit it in while trying not to be killed.

Another source of tension is Jane's budding relationship with Anyan.  It seems that every time they have a moment alone together, something gets in the way of consummating their relationship. This builds a sexual tension throughout the story, which leaves the reader ready to chant, just let them do it already. It also encourages the reader to root for them as a couple, which is part of what makes the ending so damn devastating.  I won't spoil the ending for you, but suffice it to say, I almost threw my e reader.

Review: Waiting for Daybreak by Amanda McNeil

Freida had a difficult life. Living with mental disabilities, she had a hard time negotiating the world and, especially, the people within it. It certainly seemed she’d hit one of her low points after a particularly awful date sent her into disassociation, self-harming and depression.

Of course, if she hadn’t been in that low, she’d have been outside when the zombie apocalypse began, rather than in bed reeling from depression. She would have been like the rest of Boston – perhaps the world – roaming around seeking brains to feast upon.

In the greatest irony, she almost seems to be thriving far more in this new, bleak world than ever she did before – just her, her cat – and even a love interest who doesn’t seem nearly as awful as her last real date. Perhaps they can carve their own life in world of zombies, despite every day being a battle to survive under constant threat from the Afflicted

When I picked up this book, I had reservations. It’s a very short book, especially for something not part of an ongoing series. It seemed too short to be a self-contained story in and of itself.

So I was wonderfully surprised by the masterful pacing that made this book and this story exactly as long as it needed to be. We had plenty of flash backs of Freida’s life to have a greater idea of her as a character and her history of mental illness. We learned enough about her to flesh her out as a person, to get an idea of the outbreak and what happened to her and how she survived – but not so much that it was extraneous, padding or unnecessary fluff.

Similarly when she met Mike and had a relationship, we had enough information and scenes to see the shape of it, but not so many that we were drowned in excess detail that bogged the story down and turned it into a romance. We didn’t learn much about Mike, we didn’t need to know much about Mike. The story was a extremely well done balance –neither too much nor too little.

Which covers most of everything in the book – the action scenes were exciting, lasted long enough that you didn’t blink and miss them but not so long that you were tempted to skip forwards; they were well described enough to get a sense of what was happening, without being so over-described that it felt like the fighters were actually taking notes. This whole book just hits the sweet spot – that perfect balance between too fast and too slow, too much description and just enough, too much world building and backstory, and not enough

Women in Science Fiction Week: The Problem with Female Representation in Science Fiction on Television

This piece was originally published at Bitch Flicks

Falling Skies' Margaret

The wonderful thing about science fiction is that the writers have the opportunity to create a world, which while based on ours, can be markedly different. This means that there should be a place for strong female characters who are not restricted by sexism or forced into a situation in which they must perform femininity on a daily basis to be accepted as 'woman.' Despite the freedom of this genre; however, nothing is born outside of discourse, which means of course that we end up with the same sexist tropes repeatedly. 

 

Even in shows which readily lend themselves to recurring scenes of violence, because women have historically been framed as delicate and passive, men end up in the leadership roles. This also means that when the action does finally happen, women are placed into nurturing roles like doctors and nurses to aid the wounded men. While some may see this exchange as complementary, it in fact sets up a serious gender divide that is reductive. 

 

We actually see this most strongly and most blatantly in dystopias. In Falling Skies, humanity is locked into a battle for survival against an alien threat. Humanity is nearly extinct, the group is excited at the prospect of a capital that has managed to scrape together 2,000 survivors. The 2nd Massachusetts itself is reduced to a mere 150 people, meaning it has lost nearly half of its already low numbers since the series began. Clearly, this is a series about desperation - every man must be ready to fight, desperately, to survive.

 

And I said “man” purposefully there. Because, while there are plenty of women in the crowd scenes and even in most of the fight scenes we will find one token, nameless female fighter in a large number of men, the vast majority of the fighters are male. In fact, there’s only ever one named female fighter at a time (Karen, who gets replaced by Maggie after she is captured. She also inherited Karen’s love interest - which did rather make the two women seem interchangeable).

 

Remember how desperate humanity is here. For most of the show, Jimmy, a 13 year old boy was drafted to fight. As they get more desperate, Matt, a 6 year old boy, starts carrying a gun around and taking part in military action. Where are the women? It’s clearly not a matter of military background with both children and school teachers on the battlefield, why do we only see one or two women standing side by side with their men to hold the line against the alien threat?

 

By contrast, the most prominent female characters we do see except for the interchangeable-Hal-Love-Interest are, of course, caregivers. Dr. Ann Glass and Lourdes, the medical team for the 2nd Massachusetts. It’s the 21st century, humanity is nearly destroyed, every day is a struggle to survive - I think we can move past men holding guns while women roll bandages.

 

We can see a similar pervasive female passivity in Alphas, reinforced and ingrained by the special abilities the characters have. Two of the characters, Cameron and Bill, have abilities that make them dangerous in a fight. Their physical capabilities make them the team muscle - contrast that with the two women. Well, they have super senses and limited mind control respectively. The women are inherently placed in support roles and set up as support from the very beginning. And I know that someone will say “well, they don’t have combat powers!” true - but why was it written that way? Why couldn’t Nina have the super-strength? Why did the writers choose the women and the disabled character to have the less active, support powers? And that’s not to say their powers aren’t powerful or useful - far from it - but then, so is rolling bandages.

Changeling (Otherworld Series #2) by Yasmine Galenorn

The sisters ongoing battle against the demons continues as Shadow Wing’s forces look for the spirit seals, a way for them to break through to Earth and, from there, break through to Otherworld as well. The fate of both world rests in the balance and the D’Artigo sisters make a thin line of defence.

They have only a little support from the Queen of the Elves, because Otherworld has it’s own turmoil. The fairy queen, Lathanasar, has become more erratic and cruel, her increasingly failed rule has now lead to outright civil war, dragging in the other forces of Otherworld and destroying or occupying the agencies that should be helping against the demons.

Into this we follow Delilah, the middle sister, cat shapeshifter and private detective (her cover job, at least). She’s approached for a case – a local werepuma pride is under attack by an unknown murderer and her and her sister’s skills are needed to track it down – becoming all the more urgent as the bodies pile up and there’s a clear link to Shadow Wing’s campaign. Along the way she has to make some deals with some terrifying entities, Elemental lords of extreme power that untap some long dormant power within her.

And she loses some more of her innocence, some more of her naivety and is faced with more of the cruel, stark reality that faces them in this war – to say nothing of the complications in her love life, with her polyamorous nature clashing with her human boyfriend

This world is huge – with 3 realms of beings, a million kind of fae, shapeshifters, demons, vampires and many variations of each, it’s a world with near infinite diversity. I could spend hours just pouring through the world building alone. Part of this is because each element seems to have some weight, there’s not just werepumas, they have their own society and customs and it differs depending on whether they’re Earthside or Otherworld. The vampires aren’t just vampires, they have their own meetings and difficulties. The kingdoms of the fae and the elves have their own cultures and depths. There’s a weight behind the world building that suggests a lot of work and preparation has gone into it beyond just names and labels.

And that full, rich world with all its possibilities and magic feeds directly into the story. We have epic forces and a thousand options and a constant idea that anything can raise its head. I do think the action scenes were a little truncated and could have been less anti-climactic, but following to them is interesting as we learn more. It’s not the most novel concept – find the bad guys, save the world – but the path there is original because it wends through so many different characters and so many fantastical diversions. It isn’t a mystery – there’s no questions and little investigation, it’s more a hunt, a battle and an exploration and they become ever more deeply involved in a much wider and larger meta-plot.