TV

It's very hard to find a book about two men falling in love. Most of the time, if there are lesbians in TV or a movie, it is mostly to appeal the male audience. Females are used as sexual items. But, for the past few years, there have been breakthroughs. TV shows such as Faking It on MTV, or shows like Orange is the New Black really do show lesbian relationships and struggles. Are homosexual relationships finally becoming more common?

Generally, a discussion on what Netflix-exclusive shows do differently than their network counterparts.

You have shows like Senses8, Orange is the New Black, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Master of None, Bojack Horseman and etc.

What do these shows prove differently than shows that are on network television like How to get Away with Murder and Scandal, even Grey's Anatomy. Shows that show the grittiness just like Netflix shows, but in what ways do they differ in what type of grit you can use on network television shows compared to Netflix where creativity is the producer and directors own.

Analyze how Shonda Rhimes incorporates events that are happening in America today, such as black lives matter movement, gay rights, women rights, etc. in the tv show Scandal.

Some weeks ago, there was an episode of the Walking Dead that appeared to serve as a commentary on real world events. It was a story of one group of people, reduced to an almost primitive cult-like state, driven to attack another segment of society that endeavored to hold on to current notions of civilized existence. This group that faced attack was comprised of survivors living in a kind of gated community somewhat untouched by the horrific realities of the outside world.

This one episode could easily be seen as a commentary on our fears of the other, about the encroachment of medieval fundamentalism and our relationship to modernity (as a sometimes violent counterforce). The attackers in this episode had a religious zeal for delivering death as way of providing an answer for the "civilians" ills. Those that survived the onslaught wielded modern weaponry (in contrast to the attackers who were armed only with sharp or blunt instruments, painted faces and madness). Those who lived within the city limits (as it were) and imagined a safe life of homemaking simplicity were cut down while the people trained in the art of killing (even those who first tried to use non-lethal methods) survived.

Obviously, the tradition for the Zombie film as a symbolic experience was set by Romero with Night of The Living Dead (Vietnam) and his follow-up Dawn of THe Dead (consumerism). With The Walking Dead we appear to be in The Age of Terrorism.

The Monster is alive and well, and, as always, is us.

This new show appears right after AMC's hit show The Walking Dead and tells the story of a Clipper (assassin) named Sunny and his role in the dystopian world called The Badlands. What makes this show so interesting and unique is the variety of different genres it could possibly fall into. It has elements of a classic Kung-Fu movie, bringing us back to the great days of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, but it also incorporates elements of magic and other-worldliness that can only be described as fantasy. This show can also be labeled as a dystopia because the setting is very similar to our world and is supposedly set post-apocalypse. This series has the potential to reach a variety age groups: those who are older and appreciate the classic nature of a great Kung-Fu film and those who are younger and enjoy the current phenomena of the dystopia and fantasy genres. Could this menagerie of genres be the television of the future or is this simply an appeal to a wide variety of popular genre fads? How does this show use the varying genres to separate itself from more popular dystopias/post-apocalyptic stories like The Hunger Games, Divergent, and others? Is this a way of creating something unique out of the dystopian genre or is it simply another body in an already over-crowded genre?

It seems like television shows always end the seasons with cliffhangers. But why? It's been a long time since JR was shot and it had people talking for months to try to figure out who was responsible. Do cliffhangers matters anymore? Shows like Misfits managed to have satisfying endings with minor cliffhangers and were able to come back the next season with new stories. What purpose do cliffhangers serve especially in our constantly fractured TV landscape in America it's become common to break seasons in half just to have a winter finale and then a end of the show season finale. Wouldn't no cliffhangers better serve shows like the recently cancelled The Whispers or The Event both of which ended in cliffhangers that will never be resolved. Contrast to show that didnt end in cliffhangers like the miniseries turned full TV show The 4400 which was originally a miniseries that had a satisfying ending. And when it turned into a full series to my recollection ended with a cliffhanger.

How does the HBO series Game of Thrones subvert the typical depictions (or lack thereof) of non-white characters in fantasy epics?

To the untrained eye, the cartoon series Animaniacs may seem like a bunch of base toilet humor (literally). However, this was a highly sophisticated series with everything from pop culture to political references, musical theatre parodies, lessons in American history, and even some more serious shorts. Explore this series as well-crafted children's entertainment.