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Recently, Sims 4 received an update that allows players more options to customize their Sims' gender identities and personal expression. The update includes new choices where the player can decide 1) whether their character's frame is masculine or feminine, 2) whether the character prefers clothes deemed masculine or feminine, 3) whether the character can become pregnant, and 4) whether the character can use the toilet standing up.

What impact will being more inclusive to gender identities beyond strict binary norms have for players, especially for players who are not cisgender? Are there any games that provide similar options or ways of pushing gender boundaries? Would it be beneficial for more games to adopt similar means of customization? Are there ways the Sims could go even further to explore gender identity?

Artists are more and more turning to the computer as a tool in the studio process. Many artists use digital tools as mere processes in the creation of traditional work, while many other artists now produce the entire artwork on the computer. These digital artists are are left with one method of making their art creation into a physical product. This is the use of pigment-based printing technology, which prints out their work as as a digital print. This is sometimes called, Giclee, or Digital Pigment Printing. For these artists, this is a legitimate way of constructing artwork. But, there is a massive prejudice against digital prints by the art gallery community. Many talented artists who use digital technology are excluded from showing with these galleries. In a vast number of open exhibition calls, the requirements specifically exclude digital artists and their work. How can the growing body of artists who produce digital work gain a sense of legitimacy from both their audiences and the galleries who control the purchasing public?

Analyse the dynamic between Russell Crowe's character and Ryan Gosling's character in the new movie, The Nice Guys. I find that this dynamic is a new take on noire films. Perhaps a new era of this genre that involves two unlikely characters that find themselves in a particular situation; considered to each as the "big dirty." For once, it doesn't seem to involve the cops. . . and has sense of humor.

Dishonored is a stealth game where the main character is an assassin/bodyguard named Corvo Attano. After Corvo is framed for killing the queen, he embarks on a mission to find and rescue her daughter. During this quest, the player can choose to kill several targets (High Chaos) or find other means to incapacitate and evade enemies (Low Chaos). These choices affect the difficulty level and ending of the game; High Chaos causes more guards, rat swarms, and plague victims (zombies) to appear in areas. As well as that, non-hostile NPCs tend to become more openly hostile or nihilistic.

However, many of the merciful quest options include ruthless endings for Corvo’s targets, even when he is ultimately sparing their lives. The targets are often subjected to more suffering, though the result is a less imbalanced world. Analyze how Dishonored explores the concepts of mercy and revenge with its Chaos system. What do the environmental consequences and brutal depictions of mercy say about Dishonored’s world and the notion of vengeance?

As anime matures over the years, so do the characters. There is always that so called "villain," and the protagonist. However, one character that seems to always be changing is the collection of females. They are becoming more flamboyant, more showy, more lude. Though, there remains stereotypes between them; lolitas, the brutes, the fake red heads, the petite, quiet ones, etc. What do these character creations, that are seemingly apparent in most animes nowadays, say about our society and the way we are evolving as people?

Debate surrounding the possibility of Idris Elba and, more recently, Gillian Anderson succeeding Daniel Craig as Bond raises questions about identity politics in franchise casting. Should racial and gender minorities strive to make inroads into existing franchises, or should they reject the homogenizing culture of the franchise in favor of more independent and original work? How do these questions relate to the concept of fan culture, and its potentially racist and sexist undertones?

As a teacher, I often hear about the diverse ways that people learn. I.e. some people are better at learning by listening, while others need to see the lesson in writing or experience it on a more kinetic level. In what ways do we engage with a story differently when it is in audiobook form vs. paper format?

The death of popular characters on TV shows often leads to the fandom being outraged by their death and many fans claiming they're going to quit watching the show now that the character has died. But many don't actually leave. Does their behavior, in staying even after characters are killed, encourage the showrunners?

Evaluate the frequency in which older actors and actresses play the roles of younger characters (ex. high school students, college students, etc.) Is there any evidence that proves that impressionable adolescents model their expectations on the appearance of these actors and actresses? Could the maturation of teenager's styles and preferences be linked to this trend? An example of movie that is guilty of this is 'Mean Girls'.

With the recent unveiling of a teaser along with the name of the latest installment in the Transformers franchise (The Last Knight), it could be stated that enough is enough for these chronicles of the "robots in disguise." But with numerous sequels already written and in the works and well-over $3 billion raked in despite increasingly poor reviews, when does it become undeniably apparent the a film series needs to end? Should it always come down to the bottom line and fans voting with their dollars, or should studios recognize when a story has stopped evolving.

Question for the Millennials: is this TV show a reflection of the Generation X ? As the seasons unfold the girls become awful, selfish, narcissistic and manipulative. Is this a reflection of this generation? How realistic are these characters or are they overtop for dramatic and comic effect?

It seems that in the last ten years films and tv shows have started talking about race and sexuality in a more progressive way. Gay and lesbian couples are appearing in tv shows, colored women are lead characters, and these themes are discussed in an open and unbiased manner. Has this depiction in media helped transform society as a place where sexuality can be discussed in an open manner?

For a long time documenting as an art form has been left to photographers and filmmakers, whatever happened to history painting? Is documentary only to be created in two-dimensional art forms or could a document appear as sculpture, installation or performance art?

Dystopias are often used in science fiction films to explore the worst possible outcome of the ideals of the present. How has the depiction of the bleak future changed over time, and what themes, if any, emerge from era to era?

In “Sex and the City” food and restaurants not only provide a space of community in which to strengthen social, predominantly female, bonds but also come to mirror the ladies own sexual “appetites”. The four main characters gather at restaurants to discuss their problems, heartaches, successes, and their careers etc. At the heart of each episode are these scenes; no matter what the characters are doing, they will always find time to come together over a meal. For all New York divides, in terms of neighbourhoods, space, etc. “Sex and the City” argues that it is through sharing food that female solidarity can be achieved. Finally, the show’s obsession with food and restaurants extends to the main thesis of the show: that women can have sexual desires the same as men – thus, subverting this cultural idea that women have to curb or control their sexual "appetites" to be proper women. The show also subverts the typical discourse the market where women are consumed by men, and instead constructs men as commodities as well.

Analyse how recent trends in Young Adult fiction, such as Vampires narratives, Dystopias, etc have both contributed to a more feminist dialogue within these worlds (for example the Hunger Games) but on the other hand also supported older, patriarchal systems (such as Twilight). How can writers address these issues when writing young adult fiction?

I'm not a person of colour so this topic isn't for me, but it would be interesting to see someone write an article on how ingrained the symbolism of white and black is in Western society. Like things as white are coded as "good, pure, holy" ect where black is coded as "evil, impure, associated with death" ect. and how that's kind of built into a lot of popular imagery and maybe how reversing those codes can be seen as an act of political subversion like having white represent coldness, antiseptic, emptiness and using the colour black to symbolize something like warmth and comfort ect. Anyways these things are just super pervasive and it would be interesting to see some one really analyze how that kind of symbolism plays into and reinforces racism in media

In the past few years, we've seen a shift in popularity from written media criticism to video criticism. It's becoming more and more difficult to just be a writer, as you're now demanded to a do a video or record a podcast alongside it. In this new landscape, have there been people left by the wayside? Is it still possible to become established solely through writing?

A movie is incomplete without a good soundtrack. With that said, some soundtracks surpass the original film and often are considered as being so significant in their presentation, they are considered on their own independent of the movie. This has been the case with Conan the Barbarian (1982) when the score by the late Basil Poedouris can best be considered standalone.

Which is where the questions for this topic come in:

1) In which films have soundtracks been underrated due to the movie itself not standing out or being underrated?
2) Can renditions be counted as a part of a soundtrack of films? This question is made relevant when one considers some movies which have different presentations and interpretations of originals, such as the Laura Del Ray version of "Once Upon a Dream", or "Singing in the Rain" as used by Malcolm McDowell in "A Clockwork Orange".

Guidelines are open for this topic.

Maybe a better title, but an article that explores whether or not TV shows give us a false idea of reality and whether or not they are realistic or not. Suggest whether the false reality it presents is a good way to escape or somewhat ordinary lives or if it is giving us false hope. Is the unrealistic plots of shows hindering our views and perception of the world, are they brainwashing us to think that this is what life should be like? or is it just a harmless way to get out of our own heads? maybe use examples from popular shows.