Things We Saw Today: Instance #592 of New Zealand Being Really Into This Hobbit Movie

Apparently New Zealand’s official passport stamps invite travelers to Middle Earth. I cannot even act like I’m surprised. (The Huffington Post)

• You might have heard about the coat-wearing monkey who was found wandering around a Toronto Ikea parking lot. If you haven’t, head to The Frisky and be prepared to laugh. If you already have, I’d click over and look at the picture again anyway. Treat yourself.
• New York Times film critic A.O. Scott has proclaimed 2012 the “Year of Heroine Worship” in a thoughtful piece on the abundance of female-starring movies from the last 12 months. New York magazine blog The Cut offers a rebuttal with “Hollywood Having Worst ‘Year of the Woman’ Ever.” (Thanks, tipster Stephanie!)

Black Milk’s new Star Wars dresses include this Stormtrooper frock. I’d wear it. (Geeks Are Sexy)

• Yesterday Gail Simone was dropped from Batgirl. Today we learn that Ray Fawkes (@RayFawkes) will be replacing her as a “guest writer.” As Comics Beat implores, “Don’t kill him, internet.“
• In a piece entitled “Feminism Isn’t the Problem; The Word Is,” FemPop founder Alex Cranz relates how removing the word “feminist” from her site’s tagline drastically cut the site’s “bounce” rate, or the number of people who leave a site right after arriving. Not changing the content. Not redesigning the site. Just taking out “feminist.”

Can you forgive M. Night Shyamalan for The Last Airbender for the amount of time it takes to watch the trailer for his new sci-fi flick, After Earth? If not, no big. Can’t I say blame you. (via /Film)

• Via io9, Female Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Still Encouraged to Use Male Pseudonyms.
• Veteran Chinese actor Wang Xuequi has been cast as Dr. Wu (??) in Iron Man 3, which begins shooting Beijing this week. (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Comic Book Resources spoke with actor and gay rights advocate George Takei about his appearance in a recent issue of Kevin Keller, where he provided some encouragement to Archie Comics’ first gay teen.

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