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After recently watching Mad Max Fury Road for the first time (I know, I'm late!) I was astonished and kind of amazed by the movie's representation and empowerment of it's female characters. The primary cast is made up of heavily pregnant slave brides escaping from their tyrannical homicidal maniac warlord of a "husband" as Mad Max and the excellently-done female character: Furiosa. Watching all the intense action scenes where the pregnant women actually play a huge role in helping fight off the antagonists was really something new, and showed how the femininity of these women empowered them in this cruel desolate world. Their bodies belonged to them, and a huge reason for their desire to escape is to protect their unborn children from the abusive husband who treats wives and children like slaves and possessions. This inherently feminine anti-patriarchal rebellion is honestly the last thing I expected from the Mad Max series – which usually features a lot of exploding cars. That said, there were still a fair few exploding cars…

So what does everyone else think? Does Mad Max successfully empower it's female characters through these horrible situations, or is it perhaps wrong of the movie to even put these girls in these dangerous and horrible life situations?

I feel like there's a reasonable argument for either side, honestly.

I just finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic, and I thought that her positive disposition towards writing admirable. While it is obviously fluffy, and Gilbert's magnum opus is the fluff piece Eat, Pray, Love, I just wanted to read something on writing and mental health state of writers (e.g. Edgar Allan Poe=seminal Gothic author=also alcoholic, incredibly erratic life, Ernest Hemingway=PTSD sufferer, alcoholic, etc.= recognized for writing style… etc., Virginia Woolf = well known modernist authors = depression and suicide). Do you think the tragic plot of the author's life made them more famous? Did the torture of the soul make for beautiful writing? This can be too big, so feel free to trim this down. It can also extend to other artistic medium (think Van Gogh= cut off his ear… )

Is there fine line where spiritual beliefs and the observable natural world can meet? Both are part of humanity and helps shape the world. There is an effect and many do not agree to have both combined or integrated. Religion may be in peoples blood and culture, based on the life that is build upon. It helps find meaning that people are not just organisms that evolve from an insect or a grain of sand. The science part of it brings the engineers of the physical world. Science helps people to learn about the world. Discovering that which can be observed and also build peoples lives by learning about every degree and inch of the universe. A higher power may have fine tuned the universe for human being to live here. After readings and studying there are scientists like Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawkins, Nicola Copernicus that after they reach the limit of their studies, they believe of a higher intelligent mind. At a religious belief some say it is within people, God. Research shows that humans naturally want to know everything, that's is why people question the world. There is a fine line where most people question a higher power. The world is a beautiful place and people are part of it. The belief of a greater power keeps many people grounded. Many scientists wish to fly within the clouds searching for something that is staring right back. Others are humble even within their intelligent minds to believe that someone or something is guiding the world. This is an important topic that sustains a mind to go within the parameters of people's existence. The universe is an amazing puzzle and people are the chess of the world.

Dungeons and Dragons has been a long established franchise that has experienced noticeable rise and falls of popularity structured around changing cultural interests. With the mainstream appeal of fantasy films and "soft fantasy" programming on television there has been a slow interest arising around the old RPG paper and pen games. However, it was not until the occurrence of the show 'Critical Role' by Geek & Sundry, as streamed by Twitch, that a noticeable and traceable resurgence has occurred. The popularity of a show about watching voice actors play DnD live has lead to a release of new manuals, gaming equipment and surge of fan material. Is this the start of the mainstreaming of DnD?

Frida Kahlo and many other female artists in history have been overshadowed by men- often men close to them that could easily socially overpower them. During her life, Kahlo was the lesser known artist between her and her husband- Diego Rivera far overshadowed her until after her death, and during her life she only had one solo exhibition of her work in her home country. Who are some of the female figures in the arts, specifically visual arts but also literature and other mediums, who have been made to stand in others' shadows? Could be an interesting topic to help bring awareness to lesser-known female artists, or show a different perspective for artists that are now well known after their deaths.

Who are some fictional detectives from literature, television, or cinema who don't get enough attention and adaptations? Why do they deserve more recognition? This obviously excludes Sherlock Holmes and Sam Spade.

I wrote an Artifice article called "Can You Really Fall in Love with a Fictional Character?" (That's not shameless self-promotion, that's context for this topic). I got a comment about what the topic looks like in the context of fan fiction.

Based on comments I’ve seen, many people express their love for a fictional character by writing “self-insert” fan fiction in which they have a relationship with that character.
Fan fiction could also be used to express agape, non-personal interest in the well-being of the character. A fan can rewrite the ending of a story so it is happier for a particular character. This is often called “fix-it” fiction.

I'm not sure if there is enough subject matter here for a full article, but then again, I am not enough of a subject matter expert on fan fiction to write it myself. If you know more about fan fiction, perhaps you could flesh it out more?

Animation has always amazed me. Everything from the artist who created the objects to the story blows my mind. For this specific topic, I think it would be interesting to examine how the absence of human actors changes the way a story or theme is perceived. For example, Zootopia is told from the point of view of animated animals. Yet, the film discusses heavy themes of preconceived judgment against specific groups. Most animated films are geared towards children. Why is this? What about those that are meant for adults?
How does animation affect a film's narrative?

We've been hearing a lot of the end of the angry male protagonist in modern-day television. Breaking Bad and Mad Men are over, plus other TV shows with those similar main character tropes. What does this say about masculinity? Are we seeing more diverse male characters? Does this allow for better representation of what a man is?

For every The Office, Friends, and Scrubs, you will find a Cavemen, Dads, or Clerks (not the movie, the TV spinoff). This is not to be divisive to those who who enjoyed the latter shows. These shows were rejected by both audiences and critics. Community was loved by critics but ignored my most audiences. The Big Bang Theory has had a strong audience for years but is critically reviled. How do you find the sweet spot that is technically good, and fan-pleasing enough to keep you from getting cancelled?

Parents, well some of them, read to their children nightly as they were growing up. The inspiration each of those parents had was probably the same: To instill in their children a desire to read but, more important, a desire to succeed in life. Did those parents know, in advance, what they want to read, or do they just develop. what to read along the along the way? Maybe there are no specific books that transcend a parental era or generation, all that matters is anything that holds a child’s imagination. Parents simply want to see their children attentive and that motivates them to look forward to that next night of reading.

Coraline, IT, Stranger Things, Pan's Labyrinth, The Babadook…the Gothic and horror genres appear to have a fascination with children. Does it stem from our primal instinct to protect our offspring from threat? Does it illustrate how our childish fears never really leave us? Also, are these texts really geared towards children, or to the adults watching with their children? Or both? So many questions with some possibly fascinating answers.

With the recent release of The Shape of Water, we have been reminded of our love of monsters. But when it comes to them, they are so often male. While female monsters exist, they tend to be either human-coded (think recent vampires) or sexy (think mermaids). But where are the truly terrifying females? The closest I can personally come up with is the Other Mother from Coraline. You may explore the significance of what a female monster would bring to the table.

Monsters have greatly evolved in popularity throughout time. From the vampires of Dracula's era to the witches of the 1990s to the zombies of the 2010s, we have seen certain monsters grow in popularity to reflect the social and political anxieties of their time. Create an outline of the recent history of monsters, and predict what types of monsters the current era will rely on for social critique and escapism.

I would love to see an article detailing how to properly analyze a work for themes, symbols, motifs, and meaning. What is the piece of work trying to say, and how do you effectively look for, discover, understand, and interpret the ideas woven into the piece? This could be anything from a step by step guide to specifically analyzing using certain techniques.

Analyze the growing trend of digital and internet streaming regarding all forms of Television Media. For example, In 2017 the NFL saw a drop in their television audience, is this due to the increase in digital streaming and the elephant in the room: Pirate streams?

From the Camdens of 7th Heaven to the O'Neals of The Real O'Neals, there are plenty of fictional Christians populating our TV shows. Those portrayals are refreshingly diverse and imperfect, but one wonders if they are all accurate or the best representations of Christianity.

Choose a couple of shows, such as 7th Heaven vs. The Real O'Neals, and compare and contrast their approach to Christianity. What do the shows make look attractive about this religion? Off-putting? Which one is the best representation of modern Christianity? What do these shows say about Christianity in general, particularly to audience members who aren't followers?

I think it would be interesting to explore how much or how little Megyn Kelly has changed since moving to MSNBC. I think it was signalled by her and by the channel that she was or would be different to her Fox News persona but it doesn’t seem to have been true. Maybe people think that’s good or maybe they think it’s bad. Either side I think it’s an interesting topic.

It is a fairly well accepted concept that many artists and authors have used the animals around them as inspiration. For some it comes from the animal beside the heath, the pet that enriches the household. Others, such as Beatrix Potter, are known for embracing the wildness and the animals that inhabit the land. In some cases the animals involved are even considered to be humanising influences – an animal connection that keeps them grounded.

The suggestion for this article would be a look at the influence of animals on art and literature. This could be taken further to include the symbolic and allegorical role of animals, or it could focus on the anthropomorphic inclusions in their art. Or it could simply be a broader follow on from 'The truth about cats and artists.'

When Death Wish starring Charles Bronson came out it was a blockbuster. The movie has a scene where police discuss an internal report that crime in New York City was down, no doubt as a result of Bronson’s character walking the streets at night dishing out his own form of justice (the new version of the movie does not carry that scene). Two years after the original movie was released, Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor introduced legislation which would become copied across the country, leading to concealed gun laws in states. The re-make of Death Wish starring Bruce Willis, has elements of the original but does not carry the same community spirit in the movie that supports this vigilante walking the streets of Chicago. Instead, the movie has a radio show, for example, presenting Willis’s character in a way where some can support him and some cannot. The original movie was received with often applause in movie theaters when a bad guy was shot, not so with the re-make. How the newer version is received is, perhaps, different than the original and can lead to a discussion of guns, violence, and attitudes toward addressing crime.