One Person's Trash Is Our Treasure
A podcast about appreciating trashy media.
Rachel and Jen are back just in time for the holiday season! Listen to Jen, a genuine fan of the genre, recount three holiday romance movies she’s watched this year (A Christmas Inheritance, The Holiday Calendar, and Christmas in the Smokies). While Rachel remains in a constant state of horror, they discuss alternative plot points, (un)satisfying romance dynamics, predictable tropes, and Jen’s breakdown over a handsome man.
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Magic 2.0 is a series where I feel at home. It’s one of those things where you’re so familiar with a set of characters and a particular setting that it just makes you happy to immerse yourself in that world. In large part, this is because of the amazing work of Luke Daniels, who narrates the audio versions of the novels, but that’s a post for another day. Continue reading “Making the Filler Episode Work: “Magic 2.0””
This blog post contains spoilers for the first half of the first season of Riverdale.
Full disclosure: I’ve never read an Archie comic in my life.
And, this isn’t a criticism. I love Riverdale. It’s addicting, and I can’t wait to finish the season.
I realize that Riverdale is meant to be an ensemble show. It’s probably the reason the title is Riverdale instead of Archie, after the comics from which it is born. However, it’s interesting to me that the titular character from the comics is (for me, personally) the least compelling character on the show. Continue reading “It’s a Good Thing Riverdale is an Ensemble Show”
It’s pretty common to hear people refer to something as a guilty pleasure. “Oh—yeah, I watch American Idol. It’s a guilty pleasure of mine.” Then they’ll flash you a guilty smile, shrug, and laugh at themselves, as if trying to assure you that they know that they shouldn’t be watching crappy reality TV. It happens every time someone mentions enjoying romance novels, Twilight, horror movies, or lifetime dramas.
Consuming media like this is often considered a shameful indulgence, like eating an entire box of Oreos.
When you ask someone what their favorite movie is, you wouldn’t be surprised to hear titles like Citizen Kane, La La Land, Pulp Fiction, and maybe even Star Wars or The Avengers. But how often do you hear someone openly admit that their favorite movie is, say, Batman vs. Superman or Fifty Shades of Grey? It seems like society as a whole decides what media is okay to like, and what stuff we should keep locked in the closet. However, reality TV, Lifetime movies, romance novels and even teen dramas are all booming industries that continue to bring in large profits to production and publishing companies. Obviously that means lots of people are still consuming them.
Why do people continue to like—and sometimes love—media that’s “bad?” Continue reading “You Can Stop Calling it a Guilty Pleasure”