Topics

I had to do some research to refresh my memory of this literature before starting this topic. I think children's books are a very important part of the literature world. A writer has the ability to teach a child an important lesson while also entertaining them.

One important author who transformed the way children were perceived in their respected genre was Beverly Cleary. She wrote long-standing series such as Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby. Throughout her series, where each character was under the age of 10, Cleary wrote about relatively mature conversations such a parent losing their job.

With this topic, I think it would be interesting to take a look at some fictional childhood role models and speak about their significance. Perhaps we can even broaden this to reach countries other than the United States.

With the hype surrounding Marvel's latest film Black Panther, there is a lot of focus from word of mouth and marketing that this is the first black superhero on the big screen. That is not true however as many have been shown in tv and films before such as Blade and Luke Cage. Yet Black Panther's role for POC representation in film is much more culturally significant than the other african-american superheroes that appeared on the big screen before the King of Wakanda. By comparing how the others were represented in comparison to Black Panther today.

This is a fairly personal topic I'd like to write myself, but will leave to more experienced Potterheads.

I was ten when the first Harry Potter book came out. I grew up in a moderate, but still observant Christian family who considered it too much of a risk to expose me and my then-six-year-old brother to a series that contained any form of witchcraft. I didn't read the books then and later, got too busy with other books. Besides, I didn't want to be labeled childish for carrying around HP paperbacks in, say, high school.

As an adult, I've finally gotten around to opening my Hogwarts letter and starting the series, and it's been a lot of fun. However, I can't escape this fact: I'm a thirty-something woman. I have a different HP experience than the average 11-year-old.

And so I'm curious to see an analysis of this phenomenon. Does age matter when you're discovering HP for the first or two hundredth time? How do children and adults view the series differently? Are there less or more "mature" ways to interact with it? Or, as I suspect, has Harry Potter bridged age gaps in a way other book series can only dream about doing? If yes, how did J.K. and Harry do it?

In Star Trek's newest installation Star Trek: Discovery, we are introduced to a character named Ash Tyler, potrayed by Shazad Latif. Ash was a prisoner of war in a Klingon ship, was tortured and ultimately raped by one of his Klingon captors. You see Ash dealing with symptoms of PTSD that progress through the show. Ash's mental state causes flashbacks, which ultimately lead to violence and even death of those In his way. How does the sympathy of Ash's place as a male rape victim clash with the violent nature he takes on when having episodes? Is he less sympathetic or moreso because of these violence inducing flashbacks caused by the torture he recieved?

In anime there are many stereotypes which deviate from Western views. For instance, the boy in school with glasses and straight A's may be worshipped in Japan but oppressed in Western nations. I would love it if someone could research the value of these stereotypes in different cultures!

I recently re-watched Tod Brownings 1931 adaptation of Dracula, along with the Spanish language reshoot made the same year. Later, I watched an analysis of both films that was arguing the english language version was superior due to the technical proficiency of the camera operator. They compared the number of tracking shots, pushes, and dolly shots, then judged the quality of the film based off those numbers.

Personally, I find this to be somewhat of a silly way of judging a film's quality, but I couldn't help that agree with the author of the video that the English version looks much better than the Spanish one. Should the technical execution of a film, especially classic film, play a role in our subjective judgement of it?

In this day and age the arts are one of the most freeing career paths a person can choose, from drawing and painting to animation and sculpture the field is vast and full of potential. Discuss why people devlue the art of learning these subjects, often expect work to be done for free, and then celebrate the art as beloved. Do we value the work and undervalue the artist? Is this ideal changing? Discuss how this mindset and belief that art is not of valur affects the "little" guy while allowing large main stream corporations to become highly monetarily successful.

An analysis of the newest addition to the Star Trek franchise. Does the 2017 update to beloved 80/90s spin-offs like DS9 and Voyager really pack the same punch? Or is possible that older TV shows and their newer instalments are want to be affected by nostalgia and fans, as much as they are by new script and plot?

In America, the commonly known 'American Dream' ideal exists where if you put in hard work and with a little "bit o' luck" you can accomplish anything. Discuss the socio-economic and political barriers to this ideal. Examine social issues such as racism, sexism, and white-privilege, noting how their effects promote or dampen the possibility of this ideal becoming a reality. Use examples from media, books and film in order to argue your point.

Book Suggestions: Of Mice and Men, McTeague, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, Passing (Nella Larsen).

Movie Suggestions: Citizen Kane, Pretty Woman, La La Land, Good Will Hunting

Does the success of the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy speak more about the power of nostalgia or the appetite for platformers in a market dominated by sports games, shooters and RPGs?

What Tree of Life by Terrence Malick and Melancholia by Lars Von Trier have in common is that they are two films that are poetic in their imagery and dialogue. With nuanced characters, each film seeks to explore the human experience and provide its own answer to question of life's ultimate meaning. Analyze each film in depth. Discuss differences and similarities between the characters of each film, and how each affirms the films central themes. Also examine the differences and the possible similarities in the messages of both films.

Write about "The Marvelous Mrs.Maisel", why its good, and why it should be watched. A relatively simple story, featuring a woman going against what was expected of her at that time, how she struggles against the norms and how she is trying to be independent at a time when women were expected to be accessories to their husbands.

You know you've done it, we all have, who hasn't?
What I'm talking about is the act of "grinding" in games, meaning the repetition of crafting, farming, playing level one fights for bonuses – the simple act of repeating a step over and over and over again for seemingly inconsequential gains. Now in real life none of us would often willingly engage in this (generalisation I know), but really people seem to go out of their way to engage in innovative, unique, interesting jobs – no one wants to do the same task ad nauseam. So why do we choose to do this in our down time when gaming? What really is the appeal of grinding?

Spoilers for the end of Critical Role – Vox Machina.

Is the success of Critical Role purely due to the story of the PCs in the world created by the DM, or as I would suggest, is part of the attraction getting a glimpse into the relationships of a group of charismatic individuals?

By no means am I suggesting that watching these individuals play D&D for 4 hours a week provides any real insight into the reality of their lives. However, I do think there are glimpses into the people behind the characters that at times is as entertaining as the show itself.

The best example I can think of is the final fight of the first campaign between the PCs and Vecna. The game story was awesome, but as some commentators have pointed out, watching the visceral reaction of Sam Riegel when he chose to stop the BBEG instead of his friend was just as, if not more, engrossing.

Incest is a fundamental taboo in society. We recognise this for many reasons.

Yet for some odd reason it has begun to rear its ugly head within television, and it does not seem to be demonised as much as one would expect. The perfect example of this is the relationship between the siblings, Jamie and Cirsei Lannister, in 'Game of Thrones.' This is ridiculed within the narrative and by other characters, yet it is shown in somewhat graphic detail in the first episode. They are both very attractive actors and the act, without context is an attractive bit of television soft-porn. How are we meant to interpret this? There are a myriad of other inferences by other characters, often used to symbolise the unhealthiness or negative representation of a character, yet this seems largely undermined by the treatment then of the characters within the narrative as redeemable heroes (somewhat). A recent episode of 'Rick and Morty', already known for its dark humour, but on the pulse cultural reflection, a "Morty" made a wish that "incest porn was more mainstream" – it was a line used to punctuate the scene with humour before one of the "Morty's" leapt to his death. However, this is still an open discussion of incest in a somewhat positive manner.

Obviously, this is a highly contentious discussion and one that needs to be handled carefully. However, akin to the inclusion of "rape fantasies" in much of paranormal romance, it is a concerning trend that should be discussed.

Discuss the roll toxic masculinity (the psychological term describing traditional male behavior norms that cause harm to society) plays in the 2017 film Phantom Thread. How do the relationships in the film display toxic masculinity, how do the relationships break down this problem? How do themes or tropes in the film distort or alter this. Discuss how this affects the film as a piece.

A fanfiction is defined as a fiction written by a fan of, and featuring particular characters of, a particular TV series, film etc. When a novel series graduates to the big screen or a popular franchise gets rebooted, the series is arguably getting a re-work by someone who is presumably a fan of the original work. A contemporary example could include David Benioff and D. B. Weiss adapting "A Song of Ice and Fire" as a TV series, eventually pursuing beyond the source material. Another might be Christopher Nolan's re-envisioning of the classic Batman character through the Dark Knight trilogy. Taking into account the degree of deviation from the original work, could these series' be considered fanfiction? At what point can a professionally produced piece of film be considered a simple interpretation of fiction by a fan?

Analyze whether or not blogging is truly effective in the endeavors of self-published authors to promote their books. Does blogging actually help, or are self-publishers just wasting their time? Is it possible to stand out in the blogging world when so many people blog?

With the rise of remake films with all female casts being on an upward trajectory, what are some of the pros and cons for doing this? Does this have an effect on how the viewer rates and discusses the movie? If so, how, why? If not, why not?

A discussion of how a character's perspective on time influences their identity.

Some films to consider: Mr. Nobody (time and memory woven and re-runable), The Time Traveler's Wife (time as uncontrollable), Kate and Leopold (does ones place in time impact their identity?), Age of Adeline (the effect of aging differently), About Time (how does taking control of time impact the Characters?), and In time (Time as a limited commodity). For fun a whimsical look at the new Alice Through the Looking Glass could also be interesting.