The movie about tiny people punches above its philosophical weight — Downsizing is a high-concept movie driven by a technology that allows people to shrink themselves down irreversibly to about five inches and some change. We follow white "everyman" Paul as he weighs the merits of the procedure and ultimately moves to a retirement-esque community called Leisureland. Downsizing is not a…

We seem to find male sexual harassment very funny — The coming-of-age comedy No Hard Feelings is a strange film. Its premise borders on the problematic, as a much older Jennifer Lawrence plays a woman named Maddie secretly hired by the helicopter parents of the character Percy (a recently graduated high school senior, I must emphasize) to have sex with…

The hit game's take on automation and AI — The videogame Baldur's Gate 3 earned accolades the moment it launched, dominating nominations for the 2023 Game Awards and being well-received by gamers and critics alike. The game takes place in the world of Faerûn (a common Dungeons & Dragons setting). The plot involves an invasion of Mindflayer parasites secretly…

The Democratic Party is at a crossroads — I want to preface this by saying that I have a long history of encouraging people to vote. One of my most popular articles is Pop Culture Has Never Understood Politics And Voting, where I break down what, at the time, I argued was a simplistic binary between total optimism…

A Patreon exclusive on abuse, criticism, & repair. — Something that has become apparent to me is that many people in pretty much any environment, whether we are talking about a company or grassroots movement, feel overextended and exhausted. I have written about this before (see Join A Movement That Takes Care of You), and it's a common problem…

Film theory, assimilation, and fringe science conspiracies. — The satire They Cloned Tyrone is an absolute delight. It's essentially about a group of Blaxploitation archetypes (i.e., a portmanteau of Black and exploitation describing films that perpetuate offensive stereotypes about the Black community) as they are brought together in the wake of an unusual murder. …

The pieces of metal that make flesh bags go boom! — Why hello there, traveler, and welcome to the "Apocalypse Tour." This is the tour for all those thrill seekers out there who want to see some things that are downright insane. …

Piracy, political plots, & fictional revolutionaries — The live-action One Piece, based on the manga and anime of the same name, is about a pirate named Monkey D. Luffy and his crew as they search for the infamous treasure, The One Piece, hidden somewhere on the Grand Line. This world is one made of island chains (and…

When harm is overstated to justify even worse harm — The word “defend” originates from a combination of the Latin word de, meaning “from or away,” and fendere, meaning “to strike, hit, or push.” It is a word about resisting attack from others, literally pushing a force away. At some point, the need for defense ends. …