Category: Pop Culture
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We Need More Hope-Filled Media
Whenever anyone asks me what kinds of movies and shows I like, I tend to just give the vague umbrella answer of “fun and feel-good,” occasionally followed up with, “if I wanted to be depressed, I’d just watch the news.” This usually returns a mixed bag of recommendations, since of course different things make different…
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What Happened to Competence Porn?
In 2009, Leverage writer John Rogers wrote in a blog post about how viewers enjoyed “watching competent people banter and plan,” something his team had come to refer to as “competence porn.” This phenomenon, now named, has loosely cropped up throughout all forms of media over the years, from Odysseus escaping the Cyclops to Sherlock…
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Get Off Your High Horse, the Book Is Not Always Better Than the Movie
It is common knowledge among book readers that the movie version will almost always be inferior to the book it’s based off of. It’s a popular refrain by moviegoers, dinner guests and librarians everywhere. And to some degree this belief is well justified. There are a lot of bad or utterly forgettable book adaptations out…
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How Spirited Away Is About Unflinchingly Accepting Adolescence
Miyazaki’s masterful storytelling and fine-tuned artistic vision is apparent in many if not all of the Studio Ghibli films, especially in one of the most iconic, Spirited Away. I remember watching Spirited Away for the first time in middle school. I had to ask my mom to buy it off the cable’s pay-per-view, patiently waiting…
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How to Pick Your ‘Final Fantasy XIV’ Class Based on Your Hogwarts House
If you’ve never played Final Fantasy XIV before, you should start now! With the expansion Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers on the horizon (out on July 2, 2019), it’s the perfect time to join this merry adventure. But where to begin? First let’s talk about the Final Fantasy series and compare it to Final Fantasy XIV.…
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The Difference Between INTJ and INTP
Myers-Briggs has become a popular way to categorize people, to generalize and maybe even understand them. Thanks to an overabundance of internet tests and opinionated bloggers, there’s a lot of information floating around out there, much of it misleading or inaccurate. As an imperfect (and often discredited) form of psychology, it’s nearly impossible to have…
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The Beginner’s Guide to Anime: The Art of Respect
My very first anime was not Pokémon, Sailor Moon, or Dragonball Z. It was Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. Look it up. It was preciously beautiful (and terrifying, thanks to the Nightmare King), but as I grew from Pokémon dweeb to Moonie to anime club official, I’ve learned a few things. First off, anime is…
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‘Fantastic Beasts’ Is Better Than ‘Harry Potter.’ Duel Me.
Spoilers included for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald received a lot of backlash, especially on social media, after its release in theaters. Whether fans were confused by the plot, angry with J.K. Rowling for adding in a not-so-surprising twist, or wondering why Dumbledore is wearing suits instead of…
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Your Enjoyment of ‘The Little Mermaid’ Can Determine Your Outlook on Life
There are two types of millennials in the world: those who love The Little Mermaid and those who think Ariel is the entitled embodiment of bad decision making. Whether or not you’ve actually seen the movie is irrelevant. Even if you just have a passing knowledge of the story and have heard Jodi Benson crooning…
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Three Things a ‘Nutcracker’ Retelling Seriously Needs
It’s Nutcracker season again, and with it comes Nutcracker retellings. With The Nutcracker and the Four Realms already out in theaters, we have another rehash of the classic short story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” and its musical counterpart. I’m glad. I haven’t seen it yet, but whether the movie is popcorn-stuffing enticing or can’t-bear-it…
The Lit Nerds 