M K Keane

Contributing writer for The Artifice.

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Latest Articles

Latest Topics

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The appeal of an anti-hero and should they be idolized?

Is it because they're more human than the traditional hero (see: Captain America, Superman, any character who is Inherently Good and Morally Right). There are studies that have shown that people like to watch/read about characters who are on good moral high ground, that they feel elevated by this. So then, why are characters like Deadpool, Loki, Severus Snape, Robin Hood–even Jack Sparrow–so popular? Are they easier to relate to? Should they be idolized, as may be seen with the more traditional heroes?

  • in many ways the anti-hero is often idolized for their ability to make their own rules. opposing the traditional hero, who is bound by moral imperatives set by society which may often weaken them or cause them mental/emotional anguish, the anti-hero is often shown as disregarding the social/moral law in favor of their own rules. Friedrich Nietzsche and Plato write about this phenomena quite a bit, their work may provide a nice starting point for anyone who chooses this topic. – ees 7 years ago
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  • There's too many 'superheros' these days, who wouldn't want to be a villain or anti hero, they can sometimes be more relatable. Even though we all love a good hero as they can depict the good in the world, even hero's have their problems and anti heros or villains more or less are truthful about those demons which in my opinion is more entertaining I have recently started to watch Gotham and the young Joker character played by Cameron Monaghan is so inspiring to be, as a hopeful writer and lover of film and television, he is a villain and evil but he has such profound emotions and the actor makes you feel like his feelings are real even though he is portraying a character – ambermakx 6 years ago
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Reboots, Remakes and Reunions: is there any original content left or are we forced to try to remake the past

In the wake of Halloween (2018)'s trailer (which looked pretty cool), I can't help but wonder why we're rebooting and remaking so many stories. I'm reminded of when Andrew Garfield was cast as the "new" Spiderman. And then, Tom Holland. The uproar. The hate. It (2017). The Star Trek reboots. Top Gun's getting a sequel. Older sitcoms are getting reunions. We're revisiting these old universes, these old characters, these old stories. Some of it is nostalgic for the older generations. Some of it is outrageous and insulting. I'm left wondering what will be remade from my youth, fearing who will be the next Iron Man (and crying about it). What's with the demand for these reunions. Who's deciding to remake these movies? Are we so scared of the new, we revert back to the old, or are we out of new? Is that well all dried up?

  • This is a great topic and one that's being discussed a lot lately. I'd recommend checking out Lindsey Ellis's video essay on the 30 year cycle. I think it's also worth mentioning that a lot of the most revered achievements in cinematic history are based on books (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Nosferatu), folk stories (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and most everything else in Disney's repertoire), plays (The Jazz Singer, Casablanca, the vast majority of mid-century movie musicals such as West Side Story-- which, in turn, is based on Romeo and Juliet-- which is based on Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe, incidentally), and historical events (The Titanic via the sinking of the titular ship, Texas Chainsaw Massacre via the Ed Gein case, Amadeus via the life of Mozart). Adaptation seems to be a fact of art one way or another, but there is something different of films directly adapting and spinning off other important films, as the marketing and viewership is fueled specifically by nostalgia and fandom more than anything else. On an unrelated note, you may want a snappier title for this; what you have currently is a bit of a mouthful, and the phrasing is a little awkward. Maybe limit it to 5-7 words? – TheCropsey 6 years ago
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  • Very interesting topic, but I would like to put the comic book movies in a different category. Since they are based on characters that pretty much do not age in the original medium (generally speaking, yes, there is Kingdom Come, Batman Beyond etc), they have to be rebooted, i.e. recast, in order to keep on going. You cannot have Superman, who is supposed to not age, being played by the same actor for 20 years. Also, please distinguish between reboot and sequel. The line can be blurry sometimes, but there are distinctions. Battlestar Galactica 2003 was a reboot/re-imagining of the original series, not a sequel. Scream 4 was a sequel, not necessarily a reboot etc. – tanaod 6 years ago
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  • This is definitely an interesting topic. A lot of things that were cool at one point, tend to disappear, and then come back to attract an audience that's nostalgic for that property. Movies are getting more expensive, so past properties with an established audience pose a lesser risk than creating a new idea from the ground up. – cbo1094 6 years ago
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Latest Comments

Absolutely. And after all these years, it still kinda breaks my heart.

Disney's Failed Science-Fiction Era

Treasure Planet was a lot of fun. And I get what you’re saying: works of science fiction can definitely transcend the genre, but both Treasure Planet and Atlantis were referred to as science fiction movies by their creators, audience members and critics alike. If you want to get specific, Atlantis was called a “science fantasy action adventure”, but even then, it was considered the first science fiction film in the Animated Canon.

Disney's Failed Science-Fiction Era

I will definitely take this into consideration. Thanks.

Disney's Failed Science-Fiction Era

I think you’re right: it totally depends on what we’re looking at in this hypothetical future. But, I think I know which books I would wanna bring for myself Horns by Joe Hill, Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and Dare Me by Megan Abbott.

Rebuilding The Future: What book would you bring?

What an interesting article! I feel like I got schooled with a history lesson. I didn’t realize same sex marriage wasn’t legal in Japan yet. This seems odd to me–maybe just because of their vibrant culture. Or, seemingly vibrant. Tokyo is really my basis for saying this.
The series that came to mind when I saw the title of this article was Junjou Romantica (basically an MLM series), and while I didn’t fully realize it when I was younger, two of the three couples had a very predatory element to them. Now that I’m more aware of the history of queer representation in anime, I’m definitely going to be looking everywhere for it.

Queer Representation in Anime

Well put! Audiobooks–storytelling. I have yet to fully jump on the audiobook train because I listen to a lot of, like, background noise through a lot of my day, but that hardly means I’m focused and I like to focus on a story, but this article has definitely tugged at my intrigue. I tend to favor the idea of reading a book more so than listening to a book (or, following along with the narration while actually looking at the text) because, I guess, I like to be visually stimulated and /see/ what the author did. But, listening to a good story sounds nice in theory. I may give it a try with one of your recommendations.

Audiobooks: Do they Enhance or Diminish the Enjoyment of a Story?

Thank you for saying this! You articulately stated why it was wrong to continue casting abusers/awarding abusers. Why the #MeToo movement isn’t something to scoff at/ignore. A lot of women I know argue that the people receiving end of the abuse knew what they were getting into/are just seeking revenge because they didn’t get as famous as they wanted. Having the power to start someone career, holding it over someone’s head in return for sex–or thinking you’re invincible and can violate those around you because of your namesake . . . I mean, it’s just wrong, isn’t it? I don’t care that that’s how Hollywood has operated for years and years. It’s shit. The whole world needs an attitude adjustment, idk. I’m exhausted.

Stop Rewarding Abusers In Hollywood

This article has very much sold me on seeing this movie. When I first saw the trailer a couple months ago, I thought it was creepy looking (the dogs aren’t as cute as you want dogs to be, idk, I guess that was really it) AND! I was put off that there were Japanese characters and a predominately all white cast. When I saw the trailer a second time, I paid closer attention to the plot line and I was begrudgingly intrigued, but still annoyed about the white-washing thing. But, now I see that it’s less about representing Japanese culture exclusively and more about representing humanity. Awesome. Can’t wait to watch it.

Isle of Dogs: Humanity in the Inhuman