By Jessica Melusine
Even in this age where the geeks seem to rule the earth, where pop culture analysis has jumped out of its academic setting to blogs and Wikipedia, where suddenly everyone now gets a red shirt joke, there are taste police. Even in a culture that is supposed to be tolerant there are issues about how one is supposed to watch, consume, or behave in fan culture.
I call this trend Nonconsensual Fandom.
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By Christian Lipski
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I do not like Avril Lavigne’s corporate persona. It may have had a grain of truth to it six years ago when she released her first CD at the age of 17, but it’s gotten increasingly hollow as she has grown up. For fans of the Venture Bros., she’s the Master Billy Quizboy of the music world. For the rest of you, she’s the mom who insists on wearing belly shirts and toe rings even though she’s 50. The discrepancy between her character and her actual age is growing with every passing day, but as long as it attracts buyers, the label will still insist on it. And as long as the label has a contract, Avril’s gonna do it.
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By Nicole V.
Sometimes it’s hard to explain to people why you love a silly band that you technically should hate. Maybe it’s easier to tell the band.
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By Nicole V.
We all know music award shows are boring. They’re too long and too formal, and even though the awards most people don’t care about are presented in the non-televised portion, it still feels like a lot of filler. Still, I always watch portions of both the Grammys and the Canadian version, the Junos, every year.
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By Michelle Patterson
Ron Howard is a gem of a human being. And when I use the word “gem” I’m referring to his acting and voiceover work. The Andy Griffith Show was many things: charming, sickeningly sweet, funny, and surprisingly open-minded about parenting habits and the courtship of a widower. Most of all, though, it allowed the opportunity for children of the time (and even today for those kids who, like me, were prone to dabbling in Nick-At-Nite’s lineup) to project themselves into the role of Opie Taylor.
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By Christian Lipski
These two don’t look
like they feel guilty at all.
The “pleasure” part of a guilty pleasure is easy enough to pin down—you’re doing something that pleases you. That doesn’t mean that it makes you feel happy, as sad things can be pleasurable; it’s just that you enjoy the experience. The “guilty” aspect is harder to define, as the guilt involved is subjective. In general, a guilty pleasure can be thought of as habitual indulgence in something that you feel has no redeeming qualities but still pleases you. I include “habitual” because there seems to be a need for the person to return to the experience more often than would be assumed based on the “value” of the object. For example, chocolate has little nutritional value, but it tastes good. Having chocolate once in a while as dessert wouldn’t necessarily represent a guilty pleasure, but having a candy bar or two every day from a secret stash might.
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By Queen Spajina
It’s hard to believe I have gone my entire life believing that Casablanca and Gone with the Wind are two of the most Romantic movies ever made. After seeing both of these movies last year I was sickened and enraged at the idea that either one of these films are anyone’s favorite “most romantic movie ever.”
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