The Living Dead Embody Our Worst Fears
Zombie movies are scary fun, but they also help us examine our anxieties about contagious disease and unstoppable chaos.
Batman: A Hero or a New ‘Mr. Hyde’?
The parallels between Bruce Wayne/Batman and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde are examined through the lenses of Gothic literature and psychological symbolism.
How Film Ads Were Part of the Fight Against Segregation
In the Jim Crow era, Black film theaters were left out of the "first-run" distribution channels. Theater owners used creativity to attract their audiences.
We All “Scream” for the Metatextual
Do you like scary movies? How about movies that scare you while satirizing and paying homage to their genre?
Trinity: Real Hero of The Matrix?
While Neo may be the One, he’s not the character who gets the action going in the first film—that’s Trinity.
Why James Bond Villains Prefer Post-Soviet Architecture
In No Time to Die, Bond blows up the villain’s post-Soviet missile silo—just as he does every other modernist building he encounters.
Is Star Wars Cultural Appropriation?
Orientalism is alive and well in the wildly popular franchise, argues one scholar.
The Very Human Appeal of American Horror Story
The late author Joanna Russ had insights about why horror speaks to ordinary experiences and emotions.
QAnon as Neo-Noir
The popular conspiracy theory has intriguing parallels with classic noir by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.