Category: Essay

Essay

The Plight of Q Is Something Artists Who Keep Going Despite No Positive Reinforcement (Critically or Financially) Can Relate To

In the first episode of Julio Torres’ HBO series, Fantasmas, one of the many digressions in the “A” (letter pun intended) plotline arrives in the form of Julio’s alphabet story. Specifically, a story about Q. He explains to Chester (Tomas Matos), his “Chester” driver (instead of Uber), Amina (Eudora Peterson), a teacher riding in the Chester cab, and Vanesja (Martine), a performance artist performing as … Continue reading The Plight of Q Is Something Artists Who Keep Going Despite No Positive Reinforcement (Critically or Financially) Can Relate To

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Essay

Language Matters: “Grandpa’s Glass” Could (And Should) Just As Easily Be Grandma’s

As anticipation for Lana Del Rey’s tenth album, Lasso, continues to build, it was only appropriate that the singer began to tease a new song a few months back. Specifically, a collaboration with Quavo that was hinted at as early as February of this year, when the two were seen leaving The Fleur Room together after the Pre-Grammy Gala hosted by Clive Davis. Being that, … Continue reading Language Matters: “Grandpa’s Glass” Could (And Should) Just As Easily Be Grandma’s

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Essay

A Serious Actor By Any Other Name: On the (Perhaps Erstwhile) Power of Language and the Branding of the Brat Pack in a Pre-Branding World

It’s almost impossible to fathom, in the current “content mill,” clickbait-centric climate, a magazine writer’s words having the kind of impact on the cultural lexicon that could span across decades and continue to endure. And yet, that’s precisely what David Blum managed to do in June of 1985 when arbitrarily coining the phrase “Brat Pack” on the cover of New York magazine. From the moment … Continue reading A Serious Actor By Any Other Name: On the (Perhaps Erstwhile) Power of Language and the Branding of the Brat Pack in a Pre-Branding World

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Essay

The Biggest Scandal of All in Bridgerton Season 3? A Woman Who Writes.

While many lovers of “high literature” will not accept Bridgerton into their lives—whether in book or screen form—there can be no denying the power of the story as it continues to ingratiate itself into popular consciousness. With season three, the frenzy around Julia Quinn’s alternate version of Regency-era society life in London has only amplified, primarily thanks to the dynamic of “Polin.” Also known as: … Continue reading The Biggest Scandal of All in Bridgerton Season 3? A Woman Who Writes.

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Essay

Patricia Highsmith and the Romance of Being A Man/Man of Leisure in The Talented Mr. Ripley

Out of all her works, it is in The Talented Mr. Ripley that Patricia Highsmith makes it glaringly apparent that, to her, the most liberating thing of all is to be a man. For it means the ability to muck about as one pleases. And not as a housewife, which was the only way a woman could loll around back in the day…even though enforced … Continue reading Patricia Highsmith and the Romance of Being A Man/Man of Leisure in The Talented Mr. Ripley

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Essay

Faux Erudition and The Taylor Swift TTPD Bump When It Comes to an Interest in Literature

Among the many glowing reviews that Taylor Swift’s eleventh album, The Tortured Poets Department, has received, a line from one in particular sought to further position the work as genuine poetry—high-brow prose. To be more specific, The Times’ review deemed the songs on the album to be “as rich and concise as a short story collection.” Even if no truly rich and concise short story … Continue reading Faux Erudition and The Taylor Swift TTPD Bump When It Comes to an Interest in Literature

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Essay

What People Really Mean When They Say You Shouldn’t Run A Lit Mag If It’s Not “Profitable”

*The following is likely to offend primarily because everything that doesn’t have a vegetative state-level of conviction offends. But I am not here to soothe easily ruffled feathers with dulcet tones and false assurances.* In the “modern age,” it’s widely accepted that the artist can no longer be just that. They have to be everything. Their own one-man self-promoter—a barker in this carnival of horrors … Continue reading What People Really Mean When They Say You Shouldn’t Run A Lit Mag If It’s Not “Profitable”

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Essay

The Horse and the Rhino: A Fatal Normality by Anton Bonnici

“The Normal is the good smile in a child’s eye—all right. It is also the dead stare in a million adults. It both sustains and kills—like a God.” -from Peter Shaffer’s Equus The first play that made me aware of the power of the stage was Peter Shaffer’s Equus. I must have been fourteen or fifteen years old when my father gave me his copy … Continue reading The Horse and the Rhino: A Fatal Normality by Anton Bonnici

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Criticism, Essay

Coraline’s Underlying Warning to the Unborn: Don’t End Up With Writers for Parents

There are a number of key messages to take away from Coraline. At the top of the list is the old platitude, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” (Until it isn’t.) Or, as Ovid once put it, “The harvest is always richer in another man’s field.” However one chooses to phrase it, the point is that everything else seems … Continue reading Coraline’s Underlying Warning to the Unborn: Don’t End Up With Writers for Parents

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Criticism, Essay

What Should You Do When You’re Accused of Plagiarizing But Don’t Really Feel That You Have Based on Your Own Set of Values?, Or: I Can’t Believe Plagiarism Is Incontrovertibly, Inarguably Objective!

Everyone always wants to speak from the outraged and victimized perspective of a person who has been plagiarized, never taking into account the perspective of the one accused. The following is coming from the latter standpoint. The people who believe what they believe (i.e., “plagiarism fundamentalists”) will not be convinced otherwise long enough to open their mind even a single iota about this. But still, … Continue reading What Should You Do When You’re Accused of Plagiarizing But Don’t Really Feel That You Have Based on Your Own Set of Values?, Or: I Can’t Believe Plagiarism Is Incontrovertibly, Inarguably Objective!

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