#MakeThisBattle Feedback - July 7th

Yup, we have finalised the MakeThisBattle feedback! Yay! This time around Lloyd is in the hot seat. (The theme was "Black Lives Matter" so some of the match-ups were selected to fit that theme) Let's see what he thought of some of your ideas... 

Malcolm X vs Sitting Bull [submitted by J-Star]

This is pretty cool. Could be a bad-ass battle for sure. Both really good stories and strong points of view. There's quite a bit of tragedy on both sides which makes the conflict able to go a bit deeper. I wonder only if they would have enough to beef over. I imagine a lot of their beliefs would be very much aligned. That said, I think we could find a ton of fun details and ways to allow them to take killer jabs at one another. I like!

Ronald Reagan vs Eva Perón [submitted by Samwise]

I like both of these characters but I don't think the match-up is right. Outside them being politicians you have the fact they both acted too. But is that enough? Not sure. For me, Reagan is a shoe-in for an election battle someday. Perhaps as some kind of member of a larger group representing the republicans of the good old days. Similarly, I'd kinda rather see Eva matched up against someone less beloved by a nation. Reagan is so jovial and personable which in turn would maybe make Eva have to be the heal and that'd be a shame. I'd rather see her be the hero battling against some other classic historical meanie.

Ulysses S Grant vs Toussaint Louverture [submitted by Mblpns & Samwise]

It just seems to easy and awesome to just do Grant vs Robert E. Lee.  I know it happened already in real life, but that makes it all the more juicy for me. A civil war ERB is maybe the most epic thing ever and we could sketch out the whole history of that war. Toussaint Louverture seems like a cool guy, but I need to do a lot of research and I expect a lot of people would be hearing about him for the first time. That's all fine and good but in this situation, everybody (including me) would be thinking "this should have been Robert E. Lee" and we all would have been right!

Prince vs David Bowie [submitted by Tony Rigatoni, UncleSyrus & Octavian]

Yup. This needs to happen. It's perfect. Thank you. Next.

Salvador Dali vs Frida Kahlo [submitted by Octavian]

This is super dope. Frida is such an interesting person and her life and art was fascinating. I love that she is a strong Latino woman and that she was celebrating while she was still alive.  Putting her up against Dali seems like a great fit. People seem to love artists. Dali was an off the wall looking character and the visuals would be popping. I would even be down if another painter or artist came in at the end, but as I think about it I don't think this match up needs a third party at all.

George Washington Carver vs Charlie Brown [submitted by Tuff McAwesome]

Huh? Ooooooohhh peanuts. Ok, I'm trying to be open-minded here. I guess the historical weight of Washington Carver being matched up against a two dimensional cartoon might lead to some easy jokes on both sides; but it also feels like a slight against Carver just to be compared to a kids cartoon. He'd have to bring that up immediately and he'd need to go off.  Having Charlie able to come back real lighty and/or sad would keep the battle giggly and funny which is always good. Charlie would have to be animated though. No way I'm gonna let us do a real-life Charlie Brown character. If we embraced this as being the first live action vs cartoon battle I think it has some potential.  

Ru Paul vs Coco Chanel [submitted by Mblpns]

This would definitely be the most fabulous battle we have ever done and I kinda love it.  Being able to showcase a hero from the LGBTQ community is awesome. Ru Paul is a perfect fit. She's still relevant and there's a lot of fun things you could do visually with her verses. Coco is just as great. Beautiful yet shrewd. Sharp but elegant. Showcasing a woman who was known for her business as well as her style is where it's at for me. Casting and writing this would be tricky but I love those types of fun challenges. Two thumbs up from me.

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"Peter's Hot Takes" - Pete throws in some thoughts!

I just had to say something about Coco Chanel. I had never had a reason to google her before going over this MTB list. I was very surprised to see "Nazi Collaborator" listed in her opening Wikipedia paragraph. Makes the popularity of her perfume seem really odd to me.... "is that a little hint of burnt book I detect?" I'm not sure about Ru Paul as an opponent, but bravo for the inclusion, I learned something today. I actually learned a few things from this list. Toussaint Louverture was not familiar to me before, now he is! BAMF!!  I also learned that Malcolm X vs Sitting Bull is an amazing suggestion in every way, bravo for that too. As for the funniest MTB suggestion link of all time, I give it to Peanuts. Well done all around, A+ team score.

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"Monk's Hot Takes" - our manager offers a few select thoughts!

If we could nail the casting for Prince then him and Bowie are a dynamite pairing. I think casting aside, it's better on paper than every other musician vs musician match-up that gets kicked around. I also love the idea of Sitting Bull in a battle. I realise there's other potential Native American reps to consider including Crazy Horse & Geronimo; but I think Sitting Bull is my first pick. I am not sure I am feeling Malcolm X is the right opponent though. But, 100% at some point we need Sitting Bull in an ERB. I do also love Salvador Dali. Just his moustached look and mesmerising charm are enough - never mind his amazing art work. Frida Kahlo seems like a solid match for him too - I dig that idea a lot. In terms of Toussaint Louverture I'm gonna disagree with Lloyd as my immediate thought was Louverture is the key ingredient here. I don't personally need to see Robert E Lee vs Ulysses Grant; or the commotion that might cause in the YouTube comments. (But maybe that's cos I'm not American myself) But, Toussaint is exactly the kind of character it'd be great to shed more light on. This quote says it all... "One of the most extraordinary men of a time when so many extraordinary men appeared."

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You know the score by now! We are gonna start a new round of makethisbattle!

The theme this time is... "TV & Movie Characters". It might be your favorite movie star or character. Or a sitcom, anime or cartoon character. And anything in between. We try to keep the themes pretty loose! You can pair them against anyone - fictional or historical. The other character doesn't need to be TV or movie related. 

And... you can always ignore the theme completely if you prefer. When selecting the match-ups for feedback we will pick 2 or more that match the theme. But, some won't be theme orientated. 

Same rules apply. Three suggestions per person. You can post them in the comments below, email them to erbpatreon@gmail.com or post them on the Discord server in the dedicated '#make-this-battle' channel.

Deadline for submissions is... 5pm PT on Saturday 18th July