Fake Geek Girls - A Critical Look at Pop Culture

What were we up to fully a month ago? Not that much, surprisingly—but we still managed to get an hour and change out of talking about it! Content Warning: Discussions of intimate partner violence and suicide in the section of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching Grand Designs No Reservations Fargo (the movie and two episodes of the show) Dirk Gently’s Hol...

We’re taking a closer look at Alasdair Gray and Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things! Join us as we discuss socialism, the novel’s ties to Scottish history, and how something can be a great piece of art but a poor adaptation. Some Sources You Might Find Interesting: “Making up for Lost Time”: Scotland, Stories, and the Self in Alasdair Gray’s “Poor Things”...

Merri learns about wrestling, Missy accidentally talks about something she didn’t like, and we both praise The People’s Joker. Here’s what we’ve been up to! What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching Anyone But You Lisa Frankenstein Illinoise The People’s Joker Delicious in Dungeon The End of the Fucking World Reading Conflict is not Abuse by Sarah Schulman What Merri&#8...

We’re back, for real! This time, we’re talking about Maniac, a Netflix miniseries about mental illness, reality, and experiencing the world. We’re talking about mad studies, feeling versus understanding, and more! Some Sources You Might Find Interesting: All of the Allegations Against Director Cary Fukunaga  by Mia Mercado and Danielle Cohen Sharing our story in solidarity w...

After a longer-than-expected hiatus, we’re back (Merri included!) to catch you up on what we’ve been doing! Mistakes (?): We are genuinely sorry about all the baby noises. Missy did her best to edit them out but babies simply don’t care about when people are talking. What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching Poor Things Interview With the Vampire Season Two Hit Man Playing Baldur&#...

Join Missy and Nola Pfau to discuss X-Men: From the Ashes, a mid-80s X-Men story featuring Scott’s new girlfriend who looks a lot like Jean Grey, Storm’s punk transformation, and more. We’re talking about Chris Claremont’s iconic writing, the representation of gender, and whether a superhero comic can be truly subversive. Mistakes: We unfortunately had some audio issues whi...

Missy is back again with Kat Overland to discuss even more about Scott Pilgrim! What’s up with the “red flag” association? Is Ramona a manic pixie dream girl? What are all these pop culture references accomplishing? Let’s get into it! Notes: We continued to have a lot to say, so, uh, Missy’s going to try to cut down on the outline length for future episodes. Enjoy thi...

Time for our first guest-hosted episode—Scott Pilgrim, featuring editor, copyeditor, and critic Kat Overland! We ended up having too much to say solely on the topic of genre, so we’ll be splitting this one into two episodes. Join us as we chat about growing up and alongside a single piece of media, why Scott Pilgrim is shonen battle manga, and more! Some Sources You Might Find Interesting: T...

Join us for Merri’s last WWBUT before maternity leave! We’re talking about cults, labyrinths, romance, and more. Mistakes: At some point, Missy heard someone pronounce Borges as “BOR-hays” and assumed that they were right. They were not, but she didn’t thinking to look it up until afterward. Sorry for calling him HOR-hay BOR-hays. What Missy’s Been Up To: Readin...

He’s just Ken… but what does it mean to be ‘just’ anything? Join us as we take an even closer look at 2023’s Barbie movie, focusing on patriarchy, domination, existentialism, and the goals of feminism. Some Sources You Might Find Interesting: I Regret To Inform You That “Barbie” Is A Children’s Movie by Jude Ellison S. Doyle The Will to Change by bell hooks Did femini...

Vampires, werewolves, necromancers, some guy, and our favorite teenage dingdongs.  What Missy’s Been Up To: Reading Harrow the Ninth and Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Watching Only Lovers Left Alive Playing The Quarry What Merri’s Been Up To: Watching Saw X Expendables 4 North by Northwest Selling Sunset Sex Education Our Website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  ...

Come on Barbie, let’s go take a potentially controversial look at 2023’s biggest summer blockbuster! We’re talking about Mattel’s dubious history, what Barbieland is, and how the film does and does not tackle the truth and diversity of girlhood and womanhood. S o m e S o u r c e s Y o u M i g h t F i n d I n t e r e s t i n g : Barbie: A Subversive Review by Carefree Wander...

In this week’s WWBUT, we’re talking about revisiting books, being skeptical about nice characters, and Big Vape. What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching Hyo-ri’s Bed and Breakfast Sex Education Season 4 Reading Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Abundance of Kindness by ARG What Merri’s Been Up To: Watching Big Vape Joy Ride Heat Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Fla...

We’re deep diving into Jaws (that’s an ocean pun!), taking a look at film history, genre, class, and a whole lot of masculinity. M i s t a k e s : Missy apologizes for her pronunciation of Stephen E. Bowles, which now that she’s looking at it again is… probably not said the way she said it. S o m e S o u r c e s Y o u M i g h t F i n d I n t e r e s t i n g : Relocating the...

After our long absence, we’re back with a supersized WWBUT to catch you up on everything we’ve been doing in the last couple of months.  What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching Little Women E.T. Tar What Lies Beneath Jungle Cruise Interstellar American Psycho It Happened One Night Paddington Reading Fight Like Hell by Kim Kelly Let’s Talk About Death! by Cait Zellers A Deadl...

We’re back after an unexpected hiatus to talk about God, AI, and human relationships. That’s right—we’re discussing Mrs. Davis, the bonkers 2023 show from Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof about a nun versus AI, maybe God, and her own mother.  Some Sources You Might Find Interesting: How ‘Mrs. Davis’ Creators Used AI in the Writers Room | SXSW 2023 by The Hollywood Reporter...

Important news: we’ve seen Barbie, and we’re here to talk about it. We’re also taking a look at Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer (and getting extremely mad about book banning), Transformers, and more. What Missy’s Been Up To: Reading Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed Watching Barbie Titanic What Merri’s Been Up To: Watching Drag...

We thought we might have been over vampire media, but we were wrong. Join us as we discuss Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire and its adaptations, as well as morality, the origins and meanings of vampire fiction, and what ‘bad’ representation means. Warnings: This episode contains non-specific discussion of abuse and incest in relation to Interview With the Vampire. Some Sour...

We’ve journeyed Across the Spider-Verse, back into Hälsingland, and into the murky world of reboots in this week’s WWBUT. W h a t M i s s y ‘ s B e e n U p T o : R e a d i n g A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin Lilies Vol. 4: Spider Lily ed. by Schnekk and Appleatti W a t c h i n g Charlie’s Angels (2019) Across the Spider-Verse Midsommar W h a t M e r r i ‘ s...

We’re time-traveling back to the 90s to explore the Spice Girls and peak girl power! Join us as we discuss authenticity, the tricky balance of real-world social issues with capitalism, and, naturally, which spice we’d be if we were a spice.  Some Sources You Might Find Interesting: Interrogating Girl Power: Girlhood, Popular Media, and Postfeminism by Michelle S. Bae Too Much Of S...

We’ve got some thoughts on men, cults, songfic, and action scenes on this week’s WWBUT! Warning: The conversation about Waco contains some discussion of childhood sexual abuse and sexual assault. W h a t M i s s y ‘ s B e e n U p T o : R e a d i n g The Will to Change by bell hooks W a t c h i n g King of Staten Island W h a t M e r r i ‘ s B e e n U p T o : W a t c h i n g...

Put ‘Pony’ on the stereo and get your dollar bills out, because it’s time to talk about Magic Mike XXL. We’re discussing the Hero’s Journey, subversion, gaze and visual pleasure, and the relationship between art and work. Seriously.  Some Sources You Might Find Interesting: Magic Mike XXL Is Basically “The Odyssey,” But With Butts by Helena Fitzgerald Magic Mike...

We’re back to talk about Missy’s completely intentional misinterpretation of Renfield, Merri’s Scream apologia, and more. W a r n i n g : The discussion on Keeping Two contains some conversation about violence, including sexual violence, against women. It is not graphic, but it is an important part of the conversation, so please skip that section if it would be distressing for yo...

Join us on our journey down further and further rungs of truth as we take a look at The Amber Spyglass, the third book in the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman and its corresponding season of the TV show.  Warnings: There is a brief, non-specific discussion of sexual assault and rape in the section about how people read the temptation scene between Lyra and Will as sex. It contains...

We’re back from ECCC and ready to talk about it! We’ve also got some remarkably hot takes for a WWBUT, including a discussion of How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell, and Missy repeatedly apologizing for finding Our Flag Means Death to be merely a good show. What Missy’s Been Up To: Reading How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell Ultrasound by Conor Stechschulte Watching Poker Face Our Flag...