Pop DNA

It's Rhonda's Birthday Bonus, and we are talking Superheroes, Sorceresses, Space Wizards, and other powerful women in fantasy media!  We explore the relationship between power (like literal superpower/magic/the Force/etc.) and femininity in the narratives of some of our favorite fantasy and sci-fi heroines, from Alina in Shadow and Bone, to Katniss in The Hunger Games, to Diana in the Wonder...

Our New Girl series wraps up with a look at the show's predecessors and contemporaries in women-centered sitcoms. We look at favorites from I Love Lucy, to Murphy Brown, to The Mindy Project, to Insecure, and how each of these shares common threads with New Girl.  We also discuss the "quirky" persona of Zooey Deschanel that prevailed in the late 2000s/early 2010s. We talk about how this publi...

Theory: New Girl is actually a show about breakups.  This week we dive in to all the relationships, breakups, and make-ups that the storylines of New Girl were often built around. We mostly focus on Jess + Nick and Cece + Schmidt, plus the other relationships of all four characters, and Erin pulls out her marriage and family therapist education to look at these relationships from a psychologi...

This week we're talking teachers and tech startups. We look at the other work of New Girl series creator Elizabeth Meriwether, including the the romcom No Strings Attached and the critically-acclaimed Hulu series The Dropout. We also discuss the character archetype of the teacher as seen in media, from Ms. Frizzle to Jess Day to our new favorite, Ms. Teagues on Abbott Elementary. What common threa...

The month of April we are talking all things New Girl! This week we start out mixing things up a little by taking the "Which Character Are You?" quiz first (one of us got a surprising result, the other not so much), and then give an overview of the topics we're planning to dive into this month. New Girl gives us plenty of material to explore in terms of DNA, from women as sitcom protagonists throu...

You didn't think we'd end our Matrix discussion without talking about a little movie called Jupiter Ascending, did you?  We wrap up this month with a look at the Matrix films in interaction with the science fiction genre, from classics like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the 1927 film Metropolis, to sci-fi blockbusters like Blade Runner, The Terminator, and Star Wars.  We also look at s...

This week our discussion of The Matrix veers into those topics you're not supposed to discuss at a dinner party: politics, as explored through the films' connections with Erin's current anime obsessions; and religion, specifically Rhonda's experiences watching The Matrix at her church youth group in 2004.  Read more about The Animatrix here, and about the 1980s anime that influenced The Matri...

Our in-depth explorations of The Matrix begin with Ancient Greece, in particular with Plato and his Allegory of the Cave, and the Greco-Roman god of dreams, Morpheus.  We also spontaneously draw parallels between The Matrix and Shakespeare's Macbeth, dip just a little bit into political readings of the films, and as is our tendency, reference The Office far more than necessary. Read a free co...

We are taking the Red Pill and entering the Matrix... or wait... was it the other way around?  This week we give you a birds' eye view of the topics and themes we plan to explore this month as we dive into this iconoclastic science fiction film series. (Our friend Anna helped us write this description, and you might be able to hear her voice on part of the episode!) We'll cover Plato's Allego...

We wrap up our Bridgerton series with a look at how the show has impacted pop culture, tourism, fashion, and social media! From the filming locations turning into tourist attractions, to #RegencyCore trending on TikTok, to Regency Romance-inspired dating shows like The Courtship, Bridgerton has inspired a cultural moment, and we are loving it! This article highlights several of Bridgerton's filmin...

This week we’re joined by Sanjana (@baskinsuns on TikTok) to discuss the Bridgerton books and TV series in the context of historical and Regency Romance!  We look at how the genre was influenced by the works of Jane Austen, and how the Bridgerton show explores the conventions of historical romance and issues like gender, race, and social class. We also got Sanjana to take the “Which Bridgerto...

This week we are joined by longtime friend of the show Nicole to discuss her favorite moments on the Bridgerton show, insights into the books, and give her best Regency Romance recs! We also dip into the real-life gossip and scandal of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, find out who may have been the historical inspiration for Lady Whistledown, and even work in references to the TV show Frien...

To kick off our Bridgerton series for the month of February, we dive into the Shondaland oeuvre, from her first big TV hit Grey’s Anatomy to now, and discuss the throughlines we see in all of her work.  We also talk about our favorite moments and characters from Bridgerton season 1, some thoughts on the Bridgerton books by Julia Quinn, and historical romance in general (which we will get into...

We wrap up our discussion of The Devil Wears Prada this week with a deep dive into the real-life inspiration for Miranda Priestly, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, and her influence on the fashion industry. We also talk about the real villain of the story--or perhaps just another nuanced character?--Andy's boyfriend Nate.  We also decide to fan cast three new adaptations of the novel (only...

This week we're looking at how The Devil Wears Prada fits within the context of fiction that takes place in New York City and the branding of NYC. We also look at the novel's place in the late 1990s/early 2000s literary phenomenon known as "Chick Lit." Check out this Observer article about the "I heart New York" t-shirts and the branding of the city. Read this Library Journal article on Chick Lit,...

We finally decided to tackle this iconic sleepover staple from our teen years!  We kick off the series with an only slightly rambly overview of our initial experiences (with the novel and the film), some connections to other fashion-focused media (like Emily in Paris and The Bold Type), and our rapid-fire thoughts on The Devil Wears Prada's impact in the cultural zeitgeist.  Obviously, w...

Happy New Year to all! We decided to kick off this year with a long, rambling discussion of our favorite TV, movies, and books of 2021.  Erin's List: Arcane Kevin Can Eff Himself The Wheel of Time Abbot Elementary The Grand Crew The French Dispatch Breaking News in Yuba County Nine Perfect Strangers The Chair Rhonda's List: Station Eleven WandaVision  For the Wolf The Green Knight The Love Hypothe...

In this our third and final episode on A Wrinkle in Time, we ask the question, Who is this for? Because many people apparently need a reminder! We look at how children's literature can explore scary topics in a way that's approachable and healthy for kids, and we also talk about those negative reviews of the 2018 film that seemed to miss the point entirely. We also, of course, share our results of...

This week we ask a very important question: what genre is A Wrinkle in Time? Science fiction, fantasy, or something else? Erin lays out some evidence with an exploration of the different alien creatures we meet and planets we visit, and the concept of a tesseract as seen in real-life theoretical physics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then Rhonda dives into what exactly defines these genres any...

In part 1 of our Wrinkle series, we lay a foundation for discussing this classic work and its 2018 film adaptation. Turns out the book had a HUGE impact on both of us in our childhoods! We also look a bit into the culture and society of the late 1950s and early 1960s, and Madeleine L'Engle's unconventional Christian faith, both of which informed her writing in A Wrinkle in Time. The mid-20th centu...

We're wrapping up our Knives Out series with some of our favorite rich and/or dysfunctional families in fiction that could give the Thrombeys a run for their (significant amount of) money, from the Bluths to the Roys to the Tenenbaums.  The mysterious Thrombey house that's described as "living in a CLUE board" also leads us to explore some of our real favorite creepy old homes, like the Winch...

It's Part 3 so that means this one's a little heavy! We talk about the psychology of lying as relates to Marta's inability to fib without dropping the cookies, and the lie the Thrombeys are all living in, aka the American Dream. Article on the science of lying, and Fast Company article about all the class commentary movies from 2019. We are on Twitter and Instagram , where we often post supplement...

Part 2 of our Knives Out discussion dives into the legacy of detective fiction and detective fact!  We look at the literary genre of the Whodunnit, as pioneered by the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, and how this tradition inspired Rian Johnson when writing Knives Out. We also look at a few real-life detectives from the 19th and early 20th centuries whose footprints can be se...

New month means new series! For all of November we're breaking down the Pop DNA of Knives Out.  This week we propose several possible titles for the sequel (that's hopefully coming next year!), plus talk about our hopes and predictions for said sequel, our favorite characters and performances in the first film, and how this movie played with the tropes and expectations of the mystery genre wh...

Happy Spooky Season, friends! This special Halloween bonus episode is all about fairies, scaries, and the frightening mythical figures found in folklore all over the world--from Baba Yaga, to the Luz Mala of Argentina, to the Turkish vampires known as the Mhachkay. We also pretend to be Aaron Mehnke for a bit, dig into the dark history of the lore surrounding fairies, and explore the common themes...