pop culture
Modern popular culture topics in the geek sphere.
What Twilight can teach us about teenage girls
Twilight is already old enough that it’s entirely possible that it has some fans who don’t remember the media hype around the franchise when it was at its peak popularity, namely when the first movie came out in 2008. It. Was. Huge. The hype was routinely compared to Beatlemania it was so big, and while other demographics did enjoy Twilight, they were a small enough portion of the fanbase that they often made their own separate groups and communities surrounding the series. The general understanding was that Twilight mainly appealed to teenage girls. And, like anything that appeals to teen girls, it was subject to weirdly personal hatred from grown men everywhere. I have this ridiculous memory of walking into a Hastings bookstore in my hometown, maybe two years into the Twilight era, and I see a local author all set up at a little table with his books. At the time I’m a teen girl who loves to read and wants to be published one day, so I go over and start talking to him about it. The book looked to be in line with my tastes at the time, the cover had like a skinny, pale goth chick on it, and the title was blood red. It was a vampire book, and I asked the author, y’know, what made you want to write this? And he told me “Well y’know, I read those Twilight books, and they were just so bad, y’know? I was sure I could do better!”
By Natale Felix4 years ago in Geeks
The Guilty - A Netflix Movie Review
Broken people save broken people. Be ready for your next case. The Guilty was released to Netflix in 2021. A 9-1-1 operator issues a call from a panicked woman. Tracing down her whereabouts, Joe is persistent to get her out of this situation.
By Marielle Sabbag4 years ago in Geeks
4 Reasons Why MCU Fans Get So Defensive When their films are criticized.
One of the most recent phenomena is the reaction toward fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or "MCU") for being defensive toward the criticism it has received from directors like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. It is common for people to lambast these fans for "being dramatic" or "taking things too personally." However when we look at things from an empathic lens, its easy to understand where this resentment comes from. Here are 4 (possible) reasons why MCU fans become so defensive when their films are criticized.
By Humphrey Kaye4 years ago in Geeks
Doctor Who: Tension, Stakes and Bad Aim
In the most recent episode of Doctor Who, Eve of the Daleks, it would be an understatement to say that the Daleks were not shooting straight, and fans across the internet definitely noticed. However, this was met with pushback with others claiming that this criticism of the episode was just nitpicking. While this may seem to be an aesthetic or surface level criticism it actually has significant impact on the enjoyment of the story for a very fundemental story telling reason - the establishment of stakes and tension.
By Oliver Weeks4 years ago in Geeks
I’ve Watched Over 200 Movies This Year: Here’s How They’ve Rewired My Brain
It all started when I realized how despite calling myself an avid movie watcher, I haven’t come close to sniffing the glorious number of 1,000 films to my viewing credit. I know more about movies as a concept than as an experience. Most of my knowledge comes from books and the goddamn internet. A similar realization about music last year resulted on an exploration of the many music genres I listened to. The results were a newfound appreciation on the art and its history, and it was with the success of this in mind that I decided to embark on this visual journey of what the auteurs call cinema. The goal is to watch 1,000 films by the end of the year; with 200 already on the board, I can either continue this aggressive focus or mellow down a little for what will amount to a big push come Summer. Can’t say I’ve decided what to do yet, but the clock is always ticking. I figured that in the meantime I can take a moment to reflect on the endeavor.
By Ezra I. James4 years ago in Geeks
Why Harry Potter is my Favorite Harry Potter Character
Let me preface this by saying that I am talking about the books and the books only. As an OG (and pretty hardcore) fan of the books, the movies have never been my favorite. After the first four, watching any of the movies with me is basically a test of my friends’ patience as I systematically and passionately critique every inconsistency and change in detail when compared to the flawless brilliance of the books (in my opinion of course, and keeping any JK Rowling controversies aside). But I digress; my love for the series is a whole other article, maybe even multiple ones. This one is all about the most underrated protagonist, and why he will always remain my favorite character from the books.
By Maahi Trivedi4 years ago in Geeks
Dance with the Devil: The Joker in Cinema. Top Story - February 2022.
Every few decades, something very unique happens: An audience sits down in a movie theater, the movie screen illuminates and the audience is swept away. The energy of the auditorium changes and everyone realizes they are watching something special. This happened when audiences were introduced to Darth Vader. It happened again two decades later when Clarice Starling walked into that dungeon, down the corridor, and was greeted by Dr. Hannibal Lecter. And it happened in 2008 when this masked figure robbed a bank in Gotham City. The Joker arrived. He’d been in live-action movies before but this time something was different; something we could not articulate. Cinema had changed.
By George A. Velez4 years ago in Geeks
Eternals vs GotG 2
So I watched and was disappointed by the Eternals and to be quite honest all I was thinking about through a good portion of that movie was “Guardians of the galaxy did this so much better” because like it or not we’ve already been introduced to the concept of eternals and we’ve already seen a family like dynamic when they all have different motivations and moral compasses. We’ve already seen relationships within a family like a unit develop and play out and we’ve seen it sone so much better then the underdeveloped mess that the eternals gave us.
By Alexandrea Callaghan4 years ago in Geeks
How a Girl Growing up in Mississippi in the 1980’s Became a Nerd
A radioactive spider bit Peter Parker. Melvin Junko fell into a barrel of toxic waste. Gollum found a ring. All great stories start with the origin of the hero, villain, or anti-hero. So how does a girl growing up in Mississippi during the 1980s become a nerd? I will revisit the things I enjoyed in the past to try to answer that question. Spoiler alert: there is no radioactivity involved, though my cousin and I did try to dig a hole in a hill for shelter to protect us from the Cold War.
By The Nerd Habit4 years ago in Geeks
