Beware: Spoilers Recently, Netflix released a 10-episode series known as The Haunting of Hill House, inspired by the original novel by Shirley Jackson. The show doesn’t center around much of the original plot, however. Rather, it centers around the Crain family (making them the center focus rather than a distant detail), and their troubles in an…
How Science Fiction Works Better in TV
I began watching Westworld recently to celebrate turning in my essay, and quickly got invested in it. The world, character arcs, and dynamism of the hosts intrigues me, especially as more of how the whole thing works slowly gets more developed and explained. Seeing how the show introduced its dynamics got me thinking about other sci-fi TV…
Aladdin, the One Live Action Remake I’m Excited For
A few days ago, Disney released the teaser trailer for the live-action remake of 2019’s Aladdin. Although the teaser trailer mostly displayed the grandeur of their CGI backgrounds, it hinted at some of the story with the overlay of a revamped “Friend Like Me”. In all honesty, it made me kind of excited. I had always…
The Problem of Shane Dawson’s “The Mind of Jake Paul”
The Internet roared when Shane Dawson announced that he would make an eight-part documentary series on the controversial Youtube star Jake Paul. Dawson had been known for making “DocuYoutube” series on other controversial figures (including Tana Mongeau and Jeffree Star), but this person, known for several strings of awful behavior, was a step too far….
Returning to the World I Knew Before
I don’t know if I’ve indicated before, but I have a long history of being a huge nerd. Or rather, a geek (yes, there is a difference). I wasn’t the techy “build your own computer and digs math” type, which would have classified me as a nerd (by stereotypical standards). No, I have always preferred…
You Can’t Rely on Old Media for Depictions of the West
Recently, Rockstar has announced that Red Dead Redemption 2, the sequel to its instant classic of Red Dead Redemption, will add black cowboys, portraying a more realistic perspective of how the Wild West would have been. However, like all things with time period games, there are those who dissent to having these characters added. Fortunately, it’s not…
Most Horror Movies Suck
Most horror movies suck. This isn’t a result of a new phenomenon, where an over-reliance on jump scares and cheap tricks has lowered the quality of horror movies. No, this is something that has existed since the dawn of the horror genre in film. Now, you might be saying, “There’s plenty of classic horror movies”,…
The Downfall of Telltale Games
Now, I am a few days late to this whole drama, but that has let me get a glimpse of a little extra content. Last week, Telltale games declared that it was going to be shutting down, laying off most of its staff (who were expecting an eventual closure, but not so sudden). Official reports…
The Saturation Complex of Geek Culture
I had mentioned in a post earlier that there is a prevailing idea that misconstrues how geek culture came to be. I can’t really say where this came about, although I strongly suspect that films and TV shows of the 1970s and 1980s paired with gendered conceptions surrounding geek culture are to blame. Whatever the…
Comic Books Have Always Been Political
With the releases of Wonder Woman and Black Panther, I couldn’t help but notice quite a few people mentioning that they didn’t like the fact that these movies were “adding” politics to comics. This always bothered me, because anyone who knows anything about comic books (unless they choose to ignore this) knows about how politics have always been…
How Fandoms Go from Fab to Drab
Fandoms, which are a subculture centered around supporting or following a certain piece of media, are everywhere in Geek culture. Just about every TV show, movie, book series, and more has a fandom, some small, some tremendously big, and many in-between. If something extremely popular is released, usually its fandom explodes for a few months,…
The Differences Between LA Theme Parks
There is an industry in Los Angeles that goes mostly unacknowledged, but still draws millions of tourists every year. That industry is theme parks. Now, you might be wondering how that goes unacknowledged. LA is the home of Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Six Flags Magic Mountain, all of which are major amusement parks. Millions of…
How I Can’t let some Books go
I read a lot of books. More so when I was younger, and had a lot more time to read around school, but that doesn’t stop me from buying potential books to read. As a result I’ve invested my time and energy into many books, both good and bad, and even some okay. The good…
The Shows of my Childhood
A few days ago, I sat down and watched Will you be my Neighbor? with some family members. I was hit with a massive wave of nostalgia while doing so, old memories that I had nearly forgotten suddenly coming back up. Which got me thinking about other shows I’ve watched as a kid. I thought I…
How Aggretsuko and Gudetama Took the World
Hello Kitty has long been the star of the Japanese company Sanrio, since stepping onto the scene in 1964. Since then, numerous characters have been released through the decades, with characters such as Cinnamroll, Bad Badtz-Maru, and Chococat gaining some popularity and recognition. However, there are two Sanrio characters, both of which are two of…
