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So often we are drawn to the darker side of life, a quick purview of most films coming out in the last 5 years tends to support this. Yet why is this?

Why are we so drawn to the dark, to the evil, to the bad?

Is it a desire to engage safely with taboos? Does this appeal to our baser natures that desire an interaction with danger and amoral ideas? Or simply do we want to watch safely from our seats the downfall of others?

There are obvious genre appeal in watching horror or thriller films, an aspect of the viewing is the narrative structure and the expectation of the horror themes. But what about drama or action or even romance films that are also engaging with these darker tones? Why is there a trend towards the macabre, the sinister and the frightening?
Consider 'Coco' a Pixar animation in the land of the dead, or 'Three Billboards' about the lack of progression in the investigation of the murder of a young girl, or even 'I, Tonya' with its brutal depiction of domestic violence, even the romance 'The Shape of Water' features a rather horrific villain.

Emerald City is a TV series that ran for one season before being cancelled. Its premise was a darker, grittier vision of the Wizard of Oz mythos – something like Gregory Maguire's Wicked, but turned up even further. The original Wizard of Oz books and movies had much less heavy themes and a much less grim worldview, so why were these changes made? Are they merely trying to piggyback on the popularity of Game of Thrones, or is this more related to the shift in cultural expectations over the past twenty years? Or perhaps there is a deeper reason? The essay could speculate on what such changes add to the Oz mythos or tell us about it, and could also branch off into similar evolutions seen in other series, perhaps even in other genres like video games.

Explain and analyse why it is necessary to have modern young adult novels. In other words, authors should now include modern technology (e.g., social media) into their character's lives and how it may affect their decision-making.

Analyse how videos games released around the 1900s-2010s were better suited for youth than today's modern ones.

Steve McQueen's Widows is an excellent film but the film that was advertised in trailers is not the film that audiences received. How did this deception, and the deceptive marketing strategies of other now-beloved films (think Shyamalan's The Village), affect Widow's box office gains (or lack thereof) and critical reception?

"The Romanoffs," an anthology series found on PrimeVideo follows the lives of self-proclaimed descendants of the Russian Romanov dynasty. Episode One, "The Violet Hour," depicts an elderly woman, Anastasia, living in Paris in need of a new caregiver, Hajar. A topic of interest is the treatment of Hajar, a nursing student and Muslim. Various interactions between Anastasia, Anastasia's family, and Hajar reopen the topic of Western Imperialism/Post Colonialism and the Middle East. One particular scene involves Hajar confessing to Anastasia's nephew that their one-nightstand (where Greg pursues a hesitant Hajar) produced a pregnancy, where Hajar's family demands a restitution of sorts at the symbolic invasion of their daughter. (I immediately thought of the symbolic rape of the Nile with the occupation and construction of the Suez Canal by Britain.) Greg responds with "I should be mad, but I'm not…" This also introduces the age-old notion of women bearing the responsibility of unplanned pregnancies.

Last week it was announced that the development of Metroid Prime 4 for Nintendo Switch would be completely scrapped due to quality concerns and restarted with Metroid Prime Trilogy developer Retro Studios. The game joins a long line of games have that went through multiple versions and studio changes. This includes monumental failures like Duke Nukem Forever (moving game studios and engines multiple times), or the acclaimed Fall Out 3 (move to Bethesday Studios and completely overhauled). This article could examine the successes and failures of these drastic moves and the merits of changing studios/starting over from scratch.

Now that Glass has finally been released, analyzing the themes, film style, and dramatic elements of the series might be interesting to movie fans.

EA is one of the biggest, if the biggest video game company in the world. The company has an exclusive 10 year deal with Disney to make AAA Star Wars video games. Their run has been marred with controversy and critical disappointment. The 1st Battlefront game was launched with a limited amount of content, which drew negative attention from many critics and fans. Battlefront 2 was mired with an enormous loot box/micro transaction controversy, which contributed to disappointing sales (compared to EA's expectations). EA also cancelled and closed Visceral Studios and its Single Player Action and Adventure Star Wars Game, an idea many fans were excited about. There is now a rumor that another Star Wars project has been cancelled. Why can't EA make Star Wars, one of the most profitable brands in the world, reach the massive heights that many expected in terms of sales, game output, and critical reception?

The Internet is rife with communities encompassing various topics and mediums, ranging from niche comic-book properties to history buffs. Animation has spawned different communities within the realms of anime, western animation, online independent animation, etc. The most known, or vocal at least, seem to be on Newgrounds and YouTube, in which the latter consists of YouTubers reviewing cartoons. What are the aspects of these communities who dedicate themselves to discussing cartoons? What types of people are involved, and how do they view and treat the subject matter they name themselves after?

With the release of Spiderman, I keep hearing comments on how brilliant the narrative is. Do you think the back story of a narrative video game has to be compelling to play it? How much does it affect your enjoyment?

Analyze the ways in which sexual expression has evolved with the Playboy publications. How has the content of the magazines shaped the critique of sexuality, for example, raising youth to believe nudity as something to be ashamed of. Give your take on how Playboy has helped influence the revolution in sex and sexuality. Use established authors, artists and models of the magazine to highlight Playboy as a tool towards progression to debunk the scrutiny of nudity.

Is the verve or is it the persona? How much of an influence does the performer's name have on the crowd? Would Johnny Cash, Eddie Money, Tom Cruise, River Phoenix, Chris Rock, Paris Hilton be any less fascinating in physical presence alone? Explore the notoriety or the appeal of the name behind the spectacle. Does being a Barrymore, Sheen, Fonda, Howard, or Coppola make something out of nothing? Does Hollywood provide the grit or does the audience induce the alchemy?

Take a deep dive into the hive mind of galleries influence, art exchange, reproductions, and the notion that art… has value outside of the original artists intent.

With the release of Aquaman, viewers are torn on its impact on DC's popularity and current direction. Examining some of the reactions, as well as what DC needs to do to close the ever-growing gap with Marvel (In terms of popularity and revenue) may be interesting.

The new original content that is available on DC's streaming service are Titans and S3 of Young Justice. Both are matured interpretations of DC's "younger" teams and both have Dick Grayson as the primary character. What is the appeal of making shows about younger heroes. How do they differ from prior interpretations (Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go!, S1&2 Young Justice, etc.)

Much has been debated over what fuels producers, screenwriters, directors, and actors in their quest to deliver the finest storytelling. Yet, one need only to look back a few decades to notice how audience appetite was satisfied with outer space dilemmas or even common, mundane concerns. Clint Eastwood, Michael Douglas, Arnold Schwarzenegger are names that come to mind when retreating back to determine what drove legions of viewers to the silver screen or the television screen. Eastwood and Douglas both acted as the cop on the beat (Dirty Harry and Streets of San Francisco) and eventually starred in roles on the complete opposite side of the law (Escape from Alcatraz and Wall Street), respectively. Schwarzenegger initially capitalized on villainy (Terminator, Conan the Barbarian) and then showed a softer side in Kindergarten Cop as well as other comedic jaunts. Explore the impulse for this effective formula of screenplay, whether at home, abroad, or any distant time or place. On what basis does the actor make the decision to reverse his posture throughout his career or, as is most often the case, venture onto the director chair or embark on political agendas (Ronald Reagan, Shirley Temple)?

What are we saying when we claim the book we are reading is a "guilty pleasure"? Why do we assume we should feel ashamed for our choice of literature? Are we presuming that all literature can be qualitatively measured? Why should we, even with a tongue-in-cheek intent, associate reading with guilt of any kind? It can be argued that when applied to food there can be at least metrics for what define "good" and "bad" (even if it amounts to the same thing: unnecessary and self-inflicted shame). Who are we assuming judges us for books that we think we should not be reading?

Characters facing conflicts make for an interesting story, and we know characters may experience different types of conflicts with other characters or even the world they exist in. How, then, do ideologies fit into this? Many people have a set of beliefs to follow, but what happens when one of their beliefs contradict another belief they have? Just an example of many, but consider Simba from The Lion King and how he has to choose between leaving home to achieve freedom or return home to fulfill his role as heir to the throne (obviously there are more examples of other characters facing competing ideologies, this is just the first that came to mind).
How do ideologies add interest to the story and how do competing ideologies perhaps enhance the story altogether?

What is more important when writing:
The Creative Process?
or
The perfection of structure, language usage, and grammar?