Topics: Emily Deibler

Examine the religious politics of Hellsing Ultimate and how the conflict between the Protestants (The Hellsing Organization) and the Catholics (The Iscariot Organization) impacts the narrative and echoes past and current real life tensions. Possible real life issues to explore are the differences between Protestant and Catholic doctrines and the cultural influence of the Protestant Reformation, especially in England, given that the main setting of Hellsing is London.

Sleepy Hollow is a supernatural show with a black female lead (Abbie) and a white male lead (Ichabod). At times, especially in the second season, Abbie would be sidelined so the narrative could focus more on Ichabod’s love life, and now, as of the season three finale, Abbie has been killed for Ichabod’s sake.

Analyze the intersected representation of both race and gender in Sleepy Hollow. How is Abbie portrayed compared to her white male counterpart? How are other characters, such as Frank and Jenny, treated within the show’s narrative? When it comes to attempts to portray female characters other than Abbie, how are they presented? What is the effect of the characters of color who only appear when their culture is appropriated for story purposes? (Big Ash.)

Recently, Sims 4 received an update that allows players more options to customize their Sims’ gender identities and personal expression. The update includes new choices where the player can decide 1) whether their character’s frame is masculine or feminine, 2) whether the character prefers clothes deemed masculine or feminine, 3) whether the character can become pregnant, and 4) whether the character can use the toilet standing up.

What impact will being more inclusive to gender identities beyond strict binary norms have for players, especially for players who are not cisgender? Are there any games that provide similar options or ways of pushing gender boundaries? Would it be beneficial for more games to adopt similar means of customization? Are there ways the Sims could go even further to explore gender identity?

Dishonored is a stealth game where the main character is an assassin/bodyguard named Corvo Attano. After Corvo is framed for killing the queen, he embarks on a mission to find and rescue her daughter. During this quest, the player can choose to kill several targets (High Chaos) or find other means to incapacitate and evade enemies (Low Chaos). These choices affect the difficulty level and ending of the game; High Chaos causes more guards, rat swarms, and plague victims (zombies) to appear in areas. As well as that, non-hostile NPCs tend to become more openly hostile or nihilistic.

However, many of the merciful quest options include ruthless endings for Corvo’s targets, even when he is ultimately sparing their lives. The targets are often subjected to more suffering, though the result is a less imbalanced world. Analyze how Dishonored explores the concepts of mercy and revenge with its Chaos system. What do the environmental consequences and brutal depictions of mercy say about Dishonored’s world and the notion of vengeance?

Explore how Medieval English literature deals with the theme of death. For real life context, the article could examine the devastating impact of the bubonic plague on not just England, but the whole of Europe. The quick spread and constant recurrences of the Black Death (as well as the high casualties) spurred contemplations about death, mortality, and religion. Examples of works that capture the anxiety of impending death are “Gawain and the Green Knight” (and most tales involving King Arthur’s court), “The York Play of the Crucifixion,” and the morality play “Everyman.”

What do these stories say about how one should spend their time before death? Why is there an emphasis on urgency? In stories where death is personified, what is its true nature?

Examine the social issues Flannery O’Connor explores in her short stories, as well as any potential historical contexts. O’Connor’s short stories primarily take place in the Deep South (O’Connor was Georgian) and create a Southern Gothic atmosphere. They also depict life during the Jim Crow era. Issues to explore could be religion (O’Connor was a staunch Catholic in the heavily Protestant South), Old versus New (post-Civil War, post-Reconstruction) South, race, and class.

Examples:

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”: This short story deals with the conflict between the Old South and the newer generation. The grandmother of the family reminisces on how the Old South was better than modern times and how children now have no appreciation or respect for their own state. Also, when the grandmother encounters a serial killer, she tries to argue about morality and religion to spare her own life.

“The Artificial N*****”: This story, with a racial epithet in its title, deals with a poor white man (Mr. Head) and his grandson going to Atlanta, which contains more black people than the rural area. Class and race intersect as Mr. Head grooms his grandson to have a prejudice against black people, and the grandfather expresses resentment and insecurity at seeing a wealthy black man, as well as when he believes he will not be able to “teach” his grandson racism. The title refers to Jim Crow-era statues that depicted extremely grotesque and demeaning caricatures of black people, which also connects to minstrel shows (performances that depict white people in blackface).

Other potential short stories and issues to explore are 1) xenophobia and the Holocaust in “The Displaced Person” and 2) disability in “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.” (O’Connor suffered from lupus, an autoimmune disease that made her body deteriorate until her death.)

Anne Rice’s The Lives of the Mayfair Witches (1990-1994) is a Gothic horror trilogy that involves the history of a family of witches. Starting with The Witching Hour, the prose goes to great lengths to describe both antebellum and contemporary New Orleans. There are florid descriptions of the heat, the cracked streets, the rotting architecture, and the sprawling flora overtaking the Mayfair manor.

Points of analysis: What impact does the vivid imagery have on establishing the atmosphere and the history of the location? How does this incredibly detailed, setting-focused technique connect to other works of Southern Gothic literature, such as Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird or Flannery O’Connor’s short stories? How do the elaborate descriptions affect the more fantastical or surreal aspects of Gothic horror?

Movies such as The Grudge, The Forest, and The Other Side of the Door take place in countries such as Japan and India. However, rather than the protagonists being people of color, the lead roles tend to go to white American or English actresses such as Sarah Michelle Gellar, Natalie Dormer, and Sarah Wayne Callies. Indeed, white people do exist in these countries, but there is a dearth of leads of color in horror, even when a white person would likely be the setting’s racial minority.

Analyze the potential racial implications. What are the possible reasons for casting predominantly white actors (for example, the often-cited “star power”), and does this suggest anything about the horror genre and its treatment of race? Are there any films that do not adhere to this trend? Going beyond white characters abroad as the premise, the article could possibly unpack horror movies such as Night of the Living Dead (black male protagonist killed by mistaken gunfire) and Candyman (black male antagonist killed by mob for an interracial relationship with a white woman).

Phillip Noyce’s Salt is an action film starring Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer accused of being a Russian spy. Examine both the positive depiction of a female action hero and possible ways the movie could have improved on its gender representation.

Points to possibly explore: The main role was initially conceived as a man. The movie subverts the male gaze in certain sequences, such as the opening torture scene. While the main character is an active woman and her male spouse takes a passive role, the supporting cast is predominantly male with very few positive or meaningful interactions between two women. There is also a scene involving Salt going undercover as a man, which also challenges the heterosexual male cinematic gaze.

Explore the gender dynamics in the Starz original series Spartacus. Possible themes to analyze:

-"Equal opportunity" nudity: While there is a good deal of female nudity in Spartacus, there’s also a fair amount of male nudity. How are bodies used visually? Is there a difference depending on gender, or is it truly equal? The concept of the male gaze could be discussed here, as well as shows criticized for an imbalance skewed toward far more female nudity than male.

-Power Dynamics, Agency, and Sexual Violence: In the show, there are stark power issues between the Roman elite and the enslaved (and later freed) individuals. Power is something that permeates this entire topic, even above when considering how the show treats nudity. Spartacus also contains sexual violence, and attention is given to female rape survivors such as Aurelia and Naevia, but it is also worth mentioning that, in the case of enslaved men such as Spartacus, Crixus, and Varro, they are often shown engaging in intercourse with Roman upperclass women (Lucretia and Ilithyia) or, in Varro’s case, enslaved women for the benefit of entertaining the Romans.

In these circumstances, the enslaved men are stripped of their agency and have no means to refuse these interactions. Because their consent is never taken into account, these acts are rape. Analyzing the difference between how male and female rape survivors are treated, as well as how their abusers and the abuse is framed (such as male-on-female assault in contrast to female-on-male), could be beneficial.

-Marriages and expectations: Spartacus also deals with societal gender expectations. As an example, Batiatus and Lucretia are happily married despite troubles conceiving (an issue Lucretia internalizes as her fault, possibly due to not being younger) and infidelity. Lucretia specifically calls out the double standard of women being shamed for their needs and adultery much more than men. Also, because she does conceive with a man who is not her husband, the blame toward her inability to get pregnant is misplaced, but still something that puts far more pressure on her than Batiatus.

-Tropes such as the warrior woman (most of the freed women) and the Lost Lenore (Sura’s death, which motivates Spartacus to rebel)

Analyze how plays that make the audience interact with the narrative may affect those who attend, perhaps in comparison to "normal" theater experiences (a clear boundary between the stage and seating). An example that could be explored is Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More, an immersive, site-specific play where the audience members are free to roam different rooms to collect pieces of a silent narrative derived from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. For the audience, how does this set-up possibly open up more possibilities when it comes to experiencing play narratives?