Wonder Woman, Schopenhauer, and Compassion It’s not about What They Deserve Jacob M. Held “It’s not about what they deserve. It’s about what you believe.” Exactly! It is difficult to be a “yes-sayer” in a world of war, refugees, famine, murder, and so much human, all too human ugliness. But amidst all the pain and…
The Epistemology of “Pretty Little Liars” by Victoria Lavorerio Pretty Little Liars has been crowned the most-tweeted show on television, and its general presence in social media is impressive. If you’ve never seen the show, you may think that these feats are probably due to its mostly millennial audience. But if you have watched at…
Captain Underpants and The Philosophy of Humor! Edwardo Pérez One of the best scenes in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas is when Joe Pesci’s Tommy berates Ray Liotta’s Henry after Henry told Tommy “You’re really funny.” As Tommy repeatedly asks Henry: “How am I funny?” What’s great about the scene is that as funny as Pesci’s Tommy…
Finding The Better Angels Of Our Nature in The 100 Edwardo Pérez There are two things we need to survive: pain and fear. When they work right, they motivate us to preserve ourselves. But, if we let pain and fear overtake us, then the opposite happens and instead of fighting to live we convince ourselves…
Unnatural Selection in The 100 Edwardo Pérez Death is a fate we all share. And yet, we do whatever we can to give ourselves and our children an advantage over death, anything to increase the odds of survival to cheat death and prolong life, because most of us aren’t willing to accept its inevitability.…
The Gift of Death in The 100 Edwardo Pérez How do we want to die? It’s not a question most of us want to contemplate. We don’t want to think about the end of our lives much less plan them. End-of-life planning is something we put off or don’t do (or we buy stock in…
Choosing Smurfette Edwardo Pérez What’s a Smurfette? That’s the question that frames the narrative of the Smurfs: The Lost Village movie. In the film’s backstory (rooted in the Smurf mythology from the comic books and the 80’s television show), Smurfette – the only girl Smurf we’ve ever known (and in Lost Village, she’s voiced by…
Why Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Ghost In The Shell’ Remake Is Such A Failure “After the opening weekend, ‘Ghost in the Shell’ is a significant failure for everyone involved: actress, studio, and the Japanese anime genre. It’s not just a financial, but an artistic and imaginative failure.” Read more here.
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…
Learning from David Bowie “It was his life’s work to show us that we are unknown to ourselves, and that being thrown into question by this alien dimension of ourselves is really a message, as if from on high, that there is freedom and joy and perhaps even peace to be found in being otherwise…
The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series 