Mass Effect: Romance X Morality

November 24, 2019

I’ve found it’s hard for even seasoned pundits to predict future trends in games, whether it’s an overestimation of Shadow of Mordor’s Nemesis system or dialogue wheels, the latter of which did persist through the odd (and odd) title for some time but has at least shifted function in the modern RPG space, with its loot shooting and open worlds. I have a feeling this is also the case with Bioware’s signature morality system. … More Mass Effect: Romance X Morality

The Ghost in the Shell Committee

November 24, 2019

The second episode was not supposed to take that long. And it wasn’t gonna be this, either, but I’m glad it was. Ghost in the Shell is something I can talk about endlessly, on command, so if you ever see me guarding some valuable relic in, say, an Indiana Jones or National Treasure kind of situation, remember I can be easily distracted by phrases like: “Ghost in the Shell’s legacy doesn’t extend beyond The Matrix” or “I kind of liked the American remake.” … More The Ghost in the Shell Committee

Media Criticism: Definitive Snapshots

November 24, 2019

Recently, I was watching a review of a new movie when I heard something odd. This was, let’s say, a citizen critic YouTube channel guy, which is a label earned exclusively by his sudden insistence on “critical objectivity” in the year of our Lord 2018. Apparently, the gamers of 2005 are old men, and a new generation is taking their place, enjoying zero institutional memory. This old line is stereotypically trotted out in response to others’ disagreeable opinions, that if you, professional critic, didn’t like the movie I liked, you need to be more objective. … More Media Criticism: Definitive Snapshots

Notes on Instagram

November 24, 2019

I posted my first photo to Instagram late last night, after having used the platform unfortunately for years: let’s not apply scientific rigor, but I posit my following 50 people (mostly women) and never posting anything is the creepiest thing I do. Or, did, now. Blank page on creepiness. But it’s the first time I’ve thought about Instagram, on top of why I’d never uploaded anything. That’s twofold, that I don’t actually do anything to take pictures of, and plus, it’s a girl thing. … More Notes on Instagram

Knowing When to Not: Discretion is the Better Part of Opinions

November 24, 2019

I went into Mad Max: Fury Road a little bit too strong. Looking back now, it was 100% a nerd territorial thing. In 2015, I loved the idea of Mad Max, despite that I’d only truthfully enjoyed about five-twelfths of the existing films: let’s say half of Mad Max, three-quarters of The Road Warrior, and zero of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. But along with John Carpenter movies and the Verhoeven scifi trilogy, it was part of the canon of the science-fiction cinema I loved dutifully. So much so that I excused the rape scene in The Road Warrior, simply because it was part of my identity to have said “this movie is important to me,” like others did. … More Knowing When to Not: Discretion is the Better Part of Opinions

Chasing Endgame: “Star Wars” Between the Legends

November 24, 2019

Despite its roughly two hour runtime, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is in fact a three-year long film — experienced before, during, and after. In this time, not only do fan theories rise and bake like clay, but the founts for these theories are arguably overinterpreted to suit them. Supreme Leader Snoke is overestimated because he is, again, three years in existence, despite actually existing for a few minutes. It’s unfortunate, but the similarly overblown “fan backlash” is essential to the metanarrative of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, now, and is mentioned here because an attempt to psychoanalyze the fans in question raises an issue about modern storytelling: the point. … More Chasing Endgame: “Star Wars” Between the Legends

Equal Opportunity Badassery

November 24, 2019

When I was a small child, I saw enough of action movies and thought enough of action movies (a lot and a little, respectively) to codify with an emotional association the ubiquitous signage of real life, that toughness and even violence were the language of an ideal human. Not only did these movies center-stage their violent hero, they gave them an oversized task: the ultimate actualization in the context of their world. These fucking great guys could do anything, unlike the other, less heteronormative bit players around them (though usually racially homogeneous, it was about gender, body type, or archetype). I know I’m not alone in this, as we were all small children once, and many continue to be. The wild thing was, I didn’t know just how much those movies had impacted my thinking until after I graduated college, and how much that thinking needed to change. … More Equal Opportunity Badassery

Male Metamorphosis: Becoming Post-2017

November 24, 2019

It’s a generalization to say that all men sexually assault women, but it is also true that a rapist doesn’t weigh victimization heavily enough to not sexually assault, eschewing a level of empathy requisite to choosing differently, and that’s a level which rises and falls as we sweep across the breadth of men, rapist or not, if we begin with the generalization that one cannot fully know the experience of another. It’s not just that the capacity for rape exists in all of us, it’s that we don’t understand that capacity. And while eliminating sexual assault isn’t the sole component of our more equal future, it is, as we close the year 2017, an urgent rallying point. … More Male Metamorphosis: Becoming Post-2017