Fake Geek Girls - A Critical Look at Pop Culture

Welcome to the first installment of Merri’s book club, where Missy reads the books Merri read a month ago because Merri bought them for her. Also: survival tips and complaining about a lack of Mileena in Mortal Kombat. Warning: Contains spoilers for Mortal Kombat, The Falcon and Winter Soldier, Tenet, and John Constantine: Hellblazer. What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching School Ties San A...

The Lighthouse, or: two bros, chillin’ in a lighthouse, trying to kill each other ’cause they’re not gay. We’re kidding, mostly. Let’s talk about Freud, Jung, and myth, and see how many times we can say “phallus” in 1.5 hours! Mistakes: When Missy says she wants to see an “indulgent, weird, complex, creepy horror movie,” but that Robert Eggers...

Grammar tips and spicy monster opinions: that’s the WWBUT way! What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching Space Jam WandaVision Promising Young Woman Reading The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White John Constantine: Hellblazer by Simon Spurrier, Matias Bergara, Aaron Campbell, Jordie Bellaire, and Aditya Bidikar What Merri’s Been Up To: Reading Crooked Kingdom by Leigh...

Join us as we take a look at Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, along with season one of His Dark Materials! We’re talking a little about Milton, a little (a lot) about religion, a dash of Deleuze, and a whole lot about the process of learning, discovery, and knowledge.  Some Sources You Might Find Interesting: The Dark Side of Narnia by Philip Pullman (Annotated by John Gough)...

Missy watches a bad movie, Merri reads good books, and we are both baffled by the college admissions scandal. What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching Sleepaway Camp Krampus Reading Hackers by Steven Levy Playing Spiritfarer What Merri’s Been Up To: Watching Lucky Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal Falcon and the Winter Soldier Reading Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennife...

If you’ve ever wanted to run away to fairyland, this one’s for you! We’re talking about the Borderlands series, a shared-world fantasy series about art, magic, and building the world you want to see. Naturally, we’re talking about the history of Celtic fairy stories, heterotopias, and the roots of urban fantasy. Some Sources You Might Find Interesting: Dreaming Into Being:...

Missy watches some garbage, Merri does not. That’s the WWBUT way. Warning : Despite the title, this warning is actually for discussions of sexual content, particularly in the section on Spring Breakers. What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching The Karate Kid But I’m a Cheerleader Kill List Short Term 12 Spring Breakers How to Talk to Girls at Parties What Merri’s Been Up To: Watching Wa...

Star Wars! You know what that means: time for more unpopular opinions. We’re talking about Rebels’ function in the larger Star Wars franchise, how this series was the proving ground for some of the Disney era’s best elements, and why, despite its best attempts, Rebels did not convince Missy that Star Wars is for her.  Some Sources You Might Find Interesting: Transmedia Spectacle...

Anti-rom-coms, terrible video game rip-offs, and a discussion about how people respond to female characters in fantasy fiction—which is to say, exactly what you expect from us here at Fake Geek Girls. What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching My Best Friend’s Wedding 500 Days of Summer The Man from UNCLE Reading I Know What I Am: The Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi by Gina Siciliano Th...

Who doesn’t love summer vacation in the sunshine? Maybe the strange commune you’re staying with gets a little murder-y when you sneak a peek at their sacred text, but who doesn’t? Nothing to worry about here! We’re talking about Midsommar, the 2019 film about trauma, Swedish folk traditions, and the horrors of white supremacy! Warnings: This discussion contains mentions of...

We’ve got witches. We’ve got cowboys. We’ve got a lengthy discussion of what it means to be famous. It’s time for WWBUT 47! Warning: The section on Indignation includes mentions of sex, though not in any detail.  What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching Indignation Hagazussa The Ballad of Buster Scruggs John Wick Listening To Dames and Dragons – Court of Spears Ph...

Join us on a journey through the Underworld. Or rather, journeys. Like, a bunch of them, because we’re talking about Hades, the latest Supergiant game following the adventures of the Prince of Hades in his attempt to escape his father/his father’s realm. We’re talking about the harmony of story and mechanics, the usefulness of deliberately sexy character designs, and whether bein...

Sometimes we watch things that are good. Sometimes we watch things that are okay. And sometimes we watch things that are utterly baffling but that we enjoy anyway. This one’s got a bit of all three! What Missy’s Been Up To: Reading My Love Does Not Deserve Me by Claire Napier, Ten Van Winkle, and Anastasia Longoria Watching Scream 2 About Time Singin’ in the Rain The Big Short Wh...

Do you love gothic, blood-soaked romance? How about queer theory? How about aestheticism and lustfully eating birds with the man you’d like to kiss/kill? Then do we have a show for you. We’re talking about NBC’s Hannibal! Warnings: Naturally, this episode has a warning for discussions of violence and abuse, as well as gaslighting, suicidal ideation, and mental health struggles. M...

What a delight it is to be recording a normal-sized episode with a normal amount of things in it. So what have we been up to? Some Links You Might Find Interesting: Hopi-less: How Kachina Became Donut County by John Walker Pepe the Frog: To Sleep, Perchance to Meme by Matt Furie What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure Out of the Past Reading Call Down the H...

Let’s talk about Robert Eggers’ film The Witch, following the torment of a Puritan family by a group of malevolent witches! Or maybe it’s just really that they’re tormenting themselves. We’re talking about the history of Calvinism, the appeal of witches, and whether the film’s ending is empowering or not! Some Sources You Might Find Interesting: “Folk Horror: Ho...

Welcome to 2021, an arbitrary flipping of the calendar that we nonetheless hope will bring us more joy than the dumpster fire we just experienced. Since we took the month off, this is a supersized edition of what we've been up to!

Bring it On brought us many iconic, quotable lines. It also brought us a surprisingly nuanced example of cultural appropriation and the problems of white guilt. Also, Jesse Bradford and Eliza Dushku. Let’s get into it! Warning : This one contains cursing. There’s also a brief discussion of sexual assault based on the events of the film.  Some Links You Might Find Interesting: Mode...

Our lists this week are a good reminder of why we don’t usually take much time off. Buckle in, it’s a long one! Note : Here are some impractical socks . Enjoy. There’s also a brief discussion of disordered eating in the section on The Crown, and some mention of inappropriate content (though nothing graphic) in the section on Yes, God, Yes. What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching...

A boarding school for witch orphans, a bunch of imposters, and a griffin named Klartch—it’s time for part two of our dive into Diana Wynne Jones’ Chronicles of Chrestomanci! Some Links You Might Find Interesting: Power Plays: Paradigms of Power in “The Pinhoe Egg” and “The Merlin Conspiracy” by Martha P. Hixon Children’s Literature Association Quarterly by...

It’s once again time to judge Missy and Merri’s eclectic taste, featuring lots of horror, a long explanation of The 100, and judging the heck out of Leonardo Dicaprio. Warning: There’s no swearing above PG-13 in this episode, but because much of what we discuss is adult-oriented, this one probably isn’t great for children. We’ve marked it explicit out of an abundance...

Missy has lucked out once again, as Fake Geek Girls is taking a look at one of her favorite childhood book series: Diana Wynne Jones’ Chronicles of Chrestomanci! We’re talking about Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, multiverses, orientalism, and why children’s literature is good, actually. Some Links You Might Find Interesting: “Why don’t you be a tiger?...

What have we been up to? Merri’s seeing a LOT of Dakota Johnson, and Missy is watching Oscar bait and utter trash.  Warning: Once we start talking about 50 Shades of Gray, the conversation is NSFW. Prior to this, in the discussion about Ginger Snaps 2, there are mentions of sexual assault.  What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching The Post Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter Waitress Reading Wi...

Nicholas Cage steals the Declaration of Independence…and our hearts? (No.) Join us as we talk about nationalism, the adventure film genre, Riley’s goatee, and being egregiously ahistorical. Note : We didn’t realize until we were about 20 minutes in that our recording program was using the wrong microphone for Merri. We stopped and fixed it, but the first chunk of the episode will...

There is no uniting theme to this week’s episode, other than that quite a lot of people die in the things we were up to. What Missy’s Been Up To: Watching: The Wedding Singer The Invisible Man Dead Poets Society Matchstick Men What We Do in the Shadows Season 2 Reading: Black Heart, Ivory Bones ed. by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow What MerrI’s Been Up To: Watching: Ever After J...