Paradox of The Force III Rogue Redemption Edwardo Pérez Why do we need to be redeemed? What’s the point of redemption, atonement, or salvation? Why do things need to be made right? And, is one act enough to redeem a lifetime of doing wrong? Most religions incorporate redemption into the precepts of their respective faiths…
Hair and Hedonism, Trolls the Movie By Andrea Zanin Originally cave-dwelling cretins roaming the annals of Scandinavian folklore, trolls – dense in constitution as well as intellect, unchristian and dangerous – were ripped from their mythological home by Thomas Dam in 1959 and ejected into the Danish town of Gjøl. Too poor to afford a…
Choosing Humanity in The 100 Edwardo Pérez How do we define humanity? Borrowing from feminist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir (who suggested that women are made, not born), we might ask: are we born with our humanity or is it something that society creates for us? If it’s the former, why is it so difficult to…
The Paradox of The Force II The Quest for Revenge in Star Wars Edwardo Pérez What if Obi-Wan had saved Anakin? Wouldn’t that have been the Jedi thing to do? It seemed cruel (un-Jedi-like) for Obi-Wan to leave Anakin as he lay on the ground in flames, struggling to cling to whatever life was left…
The Unworthy Thor Humility and Worthiness By Armond Boudreaux ***Major Spoilers follow for The Unworthy Thor.*** “I’ll bet the Hulk could lift Thor’s hammer.” My oldest son said this several years ago when I first introduced him to superheroes. (It’s a fairly common mistake, thinking that Mjolnir is so heavy that only the very…
Miss Martian and This Sex Which is Not One By Matthew William Brake Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti’s Young Justice series, previously written about here and recently renewed for a third season due to a Netflix binge (we did it guys!), has been praised for making its cast of characters diverse in terms of gender…
The Life and Death of Angry Birds Edwardo Pérez Angry Birds is an interesting cultural phenomenon. What started out as a simple game for smartphones back in 2009 has evolved into eighteen different versions of the game, three different cartoon series, a feature film, and a plethora of merchandise (from plush dolls to Legos). It’s…
The Aesthetics of Survival in The 100 Edwardo Pérez About five minutes into “We Will Rise,” the sixth episode of The 100’s fourth season that aired on March 15th, we see Clarke sitting on the edge of her bed gazing at a drawing she made of Lexa. When the camera pans out, we see several…
The Paradox of The Force The Quest for Balance in Star Wars Edwardo Pérez There is a disturbance in The Force. For Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope, it’s the destruction of Alderaan. For the Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back, it’s the emergence of Luke Skywalker as a Jedi. In Revenge of the Sith,…
A Day Without The 100’s Women Edwardo Pérez Those of us who expected a new episode of The 100 on March 8th were more than disappointed when we realized that we were going to have to wait another week. It’s unknown if this “one week hiatus” was designed to coincide with the international “A Day…
The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series 