While Ancient Greek tragedies loved to have divine characters speaking on the stage, modern movies seem to hesitate a lot. In the movie Troy (directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by David Benioff,) no deity appears on the battlefield despite the exciting descriptions of their fight in Homer’s epic. Similar things happen in other movies based on mythology. For instance, Aphrodite never appears in the Argonaut movies, although she is quite important in the epic.
What might be the reason for this phenomenon?

The Metaphysicals refer to a loose collective of poets such as John Donne, George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, Abraham Cowley, Richard Crashaw and Henry Vaughan, who represent some of the highest achievements of the 17th-century English literature. A most conspicuous feature of their style can be described as using images concrete and tangible, richly appealing to human senses and emotions. The label, “Metaphysical,” was attached to them by later generations. “Metaphysical,” as a style label, refers to the so-called “figures of thought” marked by the use of conceits, witticism and paradoxes. But the term still fails to capture the ‘physical’ side of the Metaphysicals – that is, the corporeality, even fleshiness, in their using concrete images and metaphors on the one hand, and expressing sensational feelings and emotions on the other. How, then, do the ‘physical’ and the ‘metaphysical’ meet in 17th century Renaissance poetry? What makes the Metaphysicals ‘metaphysical’? This topic can be explored either by studies of common characteristics of these poets’ works or by close criticism of individual poets.

This topic is concerned with the representation of non-human primates, especially great apes, in television, cinema, music, and more. This topic isn’t necessarily concerned with the quantity of primate representation as much as it is the quality; how they are represented in relation to humans, in relation to their endangerment, habitat loss, mistreatment, evolution, intelligence…etc. Some examples of primate media representation one might consider are: The chimp in Jordan Peele’s "Nope," The Planet of the Apes franchise, meme culture…etc.
Writers in this topic would be exploring how the current attitudes towards our closest taxonomic relatives is embedded either blatantly or within the subtext of modern media, or how these attitudes have changed overtime. In the Planet of the Apes example, one might write about humanity’s ability to share our planet, or even consider sharing our planet, and what qualities of life are required in a species for us to even begin to consider sharing resources. Just about any example will require writers to discuss the prevalence, or the rare absences, of speciesism in our culture.

Many Star Wars fans consider Anakin Skywalker effectively a different character from Darth Vader. However, analyzing Anakin’s character progression from Jedi to Sith can be very interesting, especially depending on viewing order. For fans of the original trilogy, the prequels’ portrayal of Anakin may have been startling. On the other hand, a chronological viewing, especially one that includes the Clone Wars series, may depict a slow but steady character arc for young Skywalker with a tragic but inevitable conclusion.

Compare and contrast the two characters. What traits of Anakin’s remain in Darth Vader, and how are they portrayed differently? Where do we see traits of Darth Vader peeking through in Anakin during the prequel era? Does this change how we see other heroes and villains, like Luke Skywalker or Kylo Ren, and even characters from other franchises?

This topic invites writers to reflect on the first decade anniversary of BTS, one of the most influential K-pop groups globally. Explore and celebrate their journey, from debut to global stardom, and analyze the key milestones and achievements that have defined their success. Delve into BTS’s impact on the music industry, cultural landscape, and fandom culture worldwide. Examine their advocacy work, including social and mental health issues, and discuss how BTS has transcended traditional K-pop boundaries. Reflect on their unique approach to music, storytelling, and the use of social media, and explore the ways in which they have redefined the dynamics of fan engagement. Additionally, consider the challenges faced by BTS and how they have navigated the complexities of fame and global influence over the past ten years.

Following the departure of the creator of channels The Game Theorists, Film Theorists, Food Theorists, and Style Theorists, MatPat, from YouTube, there has been discussion about the changes of YouTube’s platform and if viewers of the platform are going to see other long-standing YouTubers leave. In MatPat’s goodbye video, he references other YouTubers who have decided to leave the platform and notes that "the platform is changing". We have also seen the trend of short-style videos in the vein of TikTok rise in popularity. The topic taker should address what changes they see taking place, possibly using the host of recent goodbye videos as a jumping off point, for the web-video platforms and analyze what those trends might mean for others looking to get into the content creation space.

The topic taker is free to include the psychological impact of content creation, especially with the constant stream of short-form videos, has on a person. In addition, the topic taker can compare and contrast the platforms of YouTube and TikTok on multiple levels, such as monetization strategies and algorithms if they wish in order to predict where the trends might be going and indicate what those trends suggest for viewers and creators alike.

MatPat’s Farwell: (link)

As we’ve seen in ‘Star Wars’ and, more recently, ‘The Lord of the Rings’, television adaptations are entering an age in which a story and its characters can be explored ad nauseam without the input of the original author/creator (whether the creator died or sold rights, or whether copyright expired). We can conceivably imagine, then, ‘Star Wars’ films coming out years, even decades from now, even though the mind of George Lucas is no longer involved. I guess I have a number of questions:
What are the pros and cons of such "content-creation" (i.e. franchises maintained by a company — whose primary goal is profit) versus "art" (or, the subjective, personal production of one or a small group of individuals, limited by their time commitments and lifespan). Is there an argument to be made that ‘Star Wars’ should finally be "completed", and left alone like a painting? Or is content the new art, for better or for worse?

Superhero stories are filled with fantasy tropes: wizards, knights in shining armor, dragons and other monsters, gods of various mythologies, and so on. Meanwhile, many superhero and supervillain origin stories seem like science fiction premises (mutated DNA, aliens, and so on). Most superpowers, even the ones that are supposedly based on science, defy science to the point where they would be indistinguishable from magic in a fantasy setting.
Consider the characteristics that differentiate the Fantasy Genre from the Science Fiction Genre. Then consider the central characteristics of superhero stories – Marvel, DC Comics, Invincible, pick your favorite – and analyze whether they fall more on one side or the other. If some superheroes belong to one genre and some belong to another, what happens when those superheroes team up with each other?
What are the implications of which genre superheroes "belong to"? Does this affect the future of superhero stories?