Every once in a great while an unprecedented unpredictable pop culture moment organically happens and takes the world by storm. This was the cast last week when, after an incredibly lack luster summer blockbuster season at the box office, two films Barbie and Oppenheimer dropped on the same day. We’ve known this was coming for…
Category: Sex and Gender
e274. Indiana Jones and the Legacy of Pulp
Last week the fifth (and supposedly final) Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, finally hit theaters to substantially mixed reviews and audience reaction. Some have complained that it isn’t really giving them the vibe they were looking for out of an Indiana Jones movie while others have said it was a…
Call for Comments: Indiana Jones and the Limits of the Adventure Fiction
From Hannah: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premiered in theaters this past weekend to, shall we say, mixed results both critically and commercially. (And, in fact, from what I can gather some of this podcast’s hosts have differing opinions on this film. But isn’t that the starting point for some of our best…
e268. Fasterer and Furiouserer
Two years ago, when Monica first joined the show, we celebrated the release of the ninth Fast & Furious movie by devoting a whole episode to discussing the the cultural appeal of the Fast franchise and explaining how it made an important cultural statement about the breakdown of the distinction of high and low culture.…
e263. We Gotta Talk About MILF Manor! We Just Do…
Every once in a while a TV Show comes along that is just so bizarre that we feel like it deserves a deep dive examination just in and of itself. That was the case with MILF Manor! If you’ve not heard of MILF Manor, it is a reality dating show on TLC, The Learning Channel,…
Call For Comments: So have you seen MILF Manor?
From Mav: Every once in a while the universe just smiles upon me and grants down upon me a gift of content that is just… just for me. Like… regular readers know that unironically like Riverdale, Cop Rock, Manimal, The Circle and Showgirls. So if you know that about me… and you are somehow aware…
e261. PCA2023 After Dark!
After two years being held virtually, and a cancelled conference in 2020, the Popular Culture Association returned to in person conferences for PCA2023. There were some good notes (Mav won a major award for his doctoral dissertation) and some bad notes (Mav ended up catching COVID during the trip) but along the way there was…
e260. Why Do We ♥ Stories Where Old People Still ƒµ¢&?
The thing with Hollywood is that it’s a young people’s game. Or at least that’s what we say. And it’s true, the majority of big budget starring roles are for actors in their 20s and 30s. And the more you age out of that demographic, certainly the less marketably you seem to be. Sadly, this…
Call For Comments: on “Old People Still ƒµ¢&!” movies
From Mav: A few weeks ago, Wayne in passing mentioned the last year’s movie Good Luck to You, Leo Grande — a film starring 63yo Emma Thompson having an affair with a 30yo Daryl McCormack. Among other things, the film is trying to present an image of elder woman who still has sexual needs and…