Jul 4, 2022“Stranger Things” and the Art of DyingThe final two episodes of season four are the show at its best. Major spoilers ahead. It’s not easy to write a show that lives up to the hype, has every character serve a clear purpose, and connects every plotline from the pilot on. Just ask David Benioff and D.B…Stranger Things5 min readStranger Things5 min read
Jan 4, 2022In Defense of “Don’t Look Up”Adam McKay’s disaster-comedy has been targeted by critics for its uneven pace and predictable ending. It’s good anyway. While working late at the Subaru telescope and listening to Wu-Tang Clan, Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) spots a comet that no one else has seen. She, understandably, is overjoyed. Later on, when…Dont Look Up6 min readDont Look Up6 min read
Dec 12, 2021Bruce Springsteen, the Divine FeminineThe Boss’s representation of American masculinity is only made possible by his vulnerability. — On a humid June night in Paris in 1985, Bruce Springsteen stood on stage under a single red light while the E Street Band played the long interlude for his next song. The music that was playing was ethereal, and you get the feeling that everyone is holding their breath…Bruce Springsteen8 min readBruce Springsteen8 min read
Nov 18, 2021“The Culture of Narcissism”, 2021Unfortunately for all of us, Christopher Lasch’s 1979 evaluation of American society has held up well in the post-truth age. — The myth of Narcissus has permeated our cultural consciousness since its Greek origin, and its later retelling in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, written in 8 AD. It’s not a feel-good tale: Narcissus falls so in love with his reflection that it ends up killing him, preventing him from eating and sleeping. He…Donald Trump6 min readDonald Trump6 min read
Nov 13, 2021Sex Positivity Hasn’t Liberated AnyoneThe movement has potential. It hasn’t lived up to it. — Over the past twenty years, there has been an explosion of sex positive media: HBO’s revolutionary Sex and the City, Girls, Sex Education, even Disney-owned ABC’s The Bachelorette had its first sex positive leading lady. Sex positivity, the idea that consensual sex should be pleasurable and judgement-free, sounds great. …Sex5 min readSex5 min read
Oct 29, 2021“The Social Network” was MetaDavid Fincher’s biographical drama knew what the social media giant was capable of before anyone else. — In the opening scene of David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010), Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) breaks up with Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), after which he runs back to his dorm and drunkenly blogs about her, knowing full well that she will see what he posts (“The Internet’s not written in…Facebook5 min readFacebook5 min read
Oct 22, 2021Are We Too Into True Crime?America’s obsession with true crime risks romanticizing serial killers and glorifying violence. — In the summer of 2018, I read former FBI Agent John Douglas’s Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit. If you haven’t heard of it or watched David Fincher’s Netflix adaptation, it’s about Douglas’s work of establishing a psychological profile of “serial killers”. …Crime5 min readCrime5 min read
Oct 15, 2021How “Succession” Made Us Empathize With The Worst People On TelevisionThe Roys are criminals in their own right. And yet, we can’t help but find ourselves feeling for them. — Spoilers for Succession seasons one and two ahead. Succession season three premiered on HBO on October 17th. As Kendall Roy made his way back to his sister Siobhan’s wedding, hiding from his family and the celebration itself, I felt a wave of anxiety wash over me. …Succession7 min readSuccession7 min read
Oct 12, 2021The TikTok Resurgence of the Irish Republican ArmyOver twenty years after the end of the Troubles in Ireland, the IRA has become a meme for Gen Z TikTokers. — This story was originally published on the Peacock Plume. On the anniversary of Margaret Thatcher’s death, a TikTok appeared on my “for you” page. “Happy Maggie d3ath day,” the person recording the TikTok wrote, as she moved out of frame. She spelled “death” like “d3ath” to avoid being taken down…Gen Z6 min readGen Z6 min read
Oct 1, 2021What Television Owes “Moonlighting”Canceled before it could be syndicated, ABC’s 1980s romantic-comedy-disguised-as-a-detective-show “Moonlighting” paved the way for television that followed. It should not be forgotten. In fact, it should be thanked. — The first time I had heard of Moonlighting was while watching CNN’s docuseries The Eighties. They only showed a brief clip: David Addison (Bruce Willis, pre-Die Hard) bickering with Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd, post-Taxi Driver), both of them yelling at each other at a speed that rivals His Girl Friday…Bruce Willis6 min readBruce Willis6 min read
