TV

Romeo and Juliet, the Joker and Harley Quinn, Lizzie and Mr. Darcy…there have been many couples throughout pop culture that audiences have loved to watch fall in love. While every relationship is different, I think that Gomez and Morticia epitomize what a healthy relationship is like. They don't try to change the other, and embrace their weirdness. They are deeply devoted to each other and their family. They're not only not ashamed of who they are and what they have, but they're proud of it.

Releasing a series that covers a multitude of controversial themes, steered by one that is often disregarded due its explicit nature was bound to provoke skewed, conflicting responses as such. I can't help but muffle a chuckle as I reflect on the handful of reviews that brutally slam down the themes raised, deeming the content to be offensive to individuals facing psychological battles alone, no camera, supporting actors or stage makeup to falsify the cruel reality of their circumstances.

I imagine the majority of the demographic falling into this category would not vary significantly. I can't help but consider the likelihood that an intolerance towards portraying mental illness is intrinsically linked with the shared beliefs, attitudes and ideologies that were 'normal' of your era. This theory has been proven with time, as I've witnessed the relentless modifications and amendments to my fathers' psychological state. I've reached a point of maturity where I have come to terms that I can not help this anxious little man, as he is not willing to help himself. As malicious or spiteful as this may come across, once accepting this fate I decided to exploit this opportunity and probe at the possible causations. The blockage in his right cerebrum (that impedes his aptitude to absorb information that is current, and makes it painfully unbearable to listen to an option that differs to an insignificant degree) I find personally offensive. A sombre afternoon (I don't recall how these events unfolded), my father and I just happened to be sharing a couch. The silence was eventually broken by the theme song of 13 reasons why. The sense of gratification I received by predicting his exact response was sickening. I cannot stress enough that neither opinion is wrong neither inapplicable when tackling such a grey theme.

The circumstantial nature means that every individual's journey will differ from the next – it is impossible to hypothesise a collective response or be assured that your opinion is correct. Depending on the experience of mental illness, this series could offer comfort, relief, understanding, self-assurance, or perhaps, the complete opposite. In my opinion, it is imperative that we strive to break down the barriers that reinforce false misconceptions. I believe shining light on the prevalence of this issue on a public media platform will lead to increased discussion, in aim to remove the elephant in the room that has become mental illness.

Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Sherlock: Three very popular shows that have formed into one fandom because one is rarely watched without eventually being dragged into the other two universes. But what makes these three, very different shows, so appealing to viewers? Why this combination of Sci-Fi, Crime Drama, and Horror? The appeal could come from the witty dialogue, the action based plot lines, or maybe the great many ship-able characters that fans fall in love with.

Barry is a "dramedy" television series following the life of Barry Block (his stage name), a man who is a former marine turned hit man that aspires to become an actor in Hollywood due to his hatred for having to murder people (who are often innocent). Barry feels the need to go to extreme measures in order to pursue his career in acting which results in the murder of several people whom he considers friends or colleagues. Is it appropriate to empathize with a character who performs such immoral actions?

To quote drag queen, Jasmine Master's infamous, "I have something to say, RuPaul's Drag Race has fucked up drag,' meme, this thought-provoking opinion is something that I find myself returning to every time a new drag queen expresses the validation they feel from being chosen to be on the show. Furthermore, when this validation seems only rewarded when winning, it becomes a rather toxic outlook towards drag in drag race. While I don't look down upon queens who have this belief, I do believe to an extent that it is exhausting to watch a queen dilute their talent to only being validated through RuPaul's 'stamp of approval.' Drag is a form of self-expression and the idea that for some drag queens, their admission to drag race and running time on drag race is validation saddens me, because I think drag is such a beautiful art form and the variety of nuances that it's performed in is what makes it most interesting to me. I sometimes feel like RuPaul's Drag Race, as a competition, tends to affect that with its challenges that are fine tuned to specific areas. Sure some queens are more well-versed in different areas, and the show is meant to show case the variety of talents that walk through that work room, but I notice the pressures of a competition like drag race affecting queens nevertheless. I'd like to hear other's thought on this.

With the second season of The Handmaid's Tale expanding on where the book finished, the ante is continually upped in terms of violence and horror. To keep the tension building, the torture and suffering the women in The Handmaid's Tale keeps getting worse and worse. Is this feminist tv show crossing the line with how much suffering is shown?

I'm not sure about others, but I was pleasantly surprised by the new TV series, based on the comic series, 'Runaways'. What I enjoyed was that the show made a strong nod to the comics, including a few throwaway lines and in-jokes, maintained aspects of the narrative that were iconic and important, but ultimately told a new story.

There has been much discussion on this site, and online in general, concerning the act of adapting from comics. I think 'Runaways' would be a good one to critic. Now although I enjoyed this immensely, there are also problematic issues in the alteration of the narrative, which deviates hugely from the original. In a similar way that 'Riverdale' reinvented itself for TV, 'Runaways' presents not quite a reinvention, but a reimagination.

Is this the way to compromise for comic adaptions?

Shows like 13 Reasons Why and Girl, Interrupted romanticize mental illness and the experience of depressed individual. Gender often plays into these narratives, and the specific roles that are romanticized-the depressed, their hero/protector, and the idolization of their struggle.