When reviewing the popular television show, American Horror Story, it becomes apparent that the female characters play stronger roles than women in typical horror films. Rather than playing the "damsel in distress" who falls victim to the villain, women in American Horror Story act as the strong heroin-or bloodthirsty killer. Explore the roles of female actoresses throughout the seasons of American Horror Story and compare them to female roles of horror films. Analyze the ways that American Horror Story challenges gendered social norms. It is also important to observe the role of transwomen in American Horror Story: Hotel. Select a specific season of American Horror Story and discuss the differing viewpoints of women and transwomen compared to what a male viewpoint might have been.
I believe you meant "actresses" in the third sentence, right? Make sure you fix that if possible. – Diego Santoyo8 years ago
Yes, "actresses" is correct. Thank you so much, I must have looked over that typo. Do you happen to know how I can edit the topic and fix the mistake? – Pyper Brown8 years ago
4th sentence - you mean "heroine," right? The strong heroine..... – pfurnish8 years ago
I think this would be a neat topic to explore. Lady Gaga's character in the last two seasons would be a very interesting road to go down, just because of her extreme blood thirst in both season 5 and 6. – Charlee Ownby8 years ago
In analyzing Breaking Bad I noticed some themes starting to develop throughout. Walter White is anti-welfare, anti-immigrant, and anti-government in nature. I understand that Vince Gilligan has claimed he aimed not to make a political statement with Breaking Bad, but given today's context we can extrapolate our own meaning out of Walter's actions. Tell us what you think of Walter White. Is he a far right extremist?
Rod Serling's classic anthology series can still be recognized by many people over 50 years later. This series about the strange, supernatural, and the macabre had a huge impact on the way we create television shows and how to tell them. With anthology series making a come back I think its important to look back at the creation of the show, its many setbacks and revivals, and what the future is for Twilight Zones and shows it inspired.
A couple of similar shows to consider would be The Outer Limits and Black Mirror. The Outer Limits being a show that premiered shortly after the Twilight Zone and Black Mirror being a contemporary show on Netflix having just recently released its third season exemplify the huge reach and influence The Twilight Zone has had over the years. It would be really interesting to see just how many Twilight Zone-inspired shows there have been over the past 50+ years and when they were most prevalent. – JustinBakie8 years ago
This has become a popular trope in television. Shows like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead are in many ways based on the suspension created by killing off starring characters on a regular basis. Why has this become so common, and why does it appeal to audiences? Is this a positive or negative thing?
It may also be intriguing to investigate this from a show-runner's perspective. Are there advantages when writing stories to killing off characters? I'm thinking of things like story cohesion and budget concerns, but I'm sure that there are more reasons than just those. – Matt Sautman8 years ago
The killing of beloved or popular characters is a trope that has developed in recent years as a response to years of "invincible" characters typical of shonens or a lot of Western television or movies. It seems that there is little in the way of struggle, because it always seems evident that the main characters will triumph in the plot. Even so-called failures in these mediums are boring because the character will always regain confidence. Deaths of characters are far more permanent and damage the characters far more, leaving interesting shifts in tone, characterization, and plot far more open-ended. – shadedfall658 years ago
I don't really think it is necessarily a trope, in fact its strength when charcters don't have plot armor. In a show like Game of Thrones, which is still largely based on books Martin started writing 25+ years ago. It's also fair to point out that the worlds of TWD or GoT are very dangerous and crazy universes and it would be silly if characters didn't die often. – ivanly8 years ago
I think it is also interesting to look at when characters are killed off. Are they killed in the middle of the season? Are they killed in a cliffhanger at the end? Are they killed to create suspense for next year? To hook readers into a new season? The timing of deaths in T.V. is very important to the effect it will have on the audience. – SeanGadus8 years ago
It's interesting that one show in particular, Orphan Black, has been hesitant to do this (major spoilers ahead). On the one hand, the fact that Tatiana Maslany plays almost every major character on the show makes this sensible--Orphan Black simply doesn't have to deal with turnover of actors like other shows do. On the other hand, though, it would be easy to kill one of the clones, because Maslany would still have a job and all of the other ones would survive. In some ways, the fact that no major clone on Orphan Black has died yet could be a strike against the show, because the stakes are arguably lower than they are on a show that makes a habit of killing off characters--even when Sarah or Cosima or whoever seems to be in trouble, viewers can assume that they'll make it through fine because there's no precedent for a clone dying. Then again, the first time that a clone does die (should that happen), it will likely be even more shocking and devastating because it was put off for so long. – mrgawlik8 years ago
I believe that what made The Walking Dead so powerful it's first 3 Seasons was the grounded human element of the show. It was a show about mere mortals in a crazy world. Character deaths on The Walking Dead used to be a regular occurrence, and weren't dwelled on for too long because of the fact that in a world with so much death going on, the characters would have to learn to deal with such heartbreak quickly. I feel as though recently it's become every other show out there. They've made a big deal about random characters we barely even know dying. They've made marketing campaigns out of deaths. It's annoying how loud and obnoxious the show has become. I remember when the dialog sounded unrehearsed, and natural. I remember when characters died, a small funeral happened, and they moved on. I remember when I could name the amount of characters alive on the show. They need to scale the show down in my opinion. Make it simple again. – FamousWolf8 years ago
This is one of my favorite topics because there's so much going on around the world and television has been such a great entertainment for individuals and families for so many years. From reality shows to scripted no matter how busy I am I love the fact that I'm able to DVR my favorites and go back and enjoy them alone and with my family. – PrettyBigDeal38 years ago
A show like Walking Dead shows how unpredictable the apocalypse can be, so obviously people are going to die sooner or later. One of the most important aspects of a character death is the aftermath; what are the repercussions? How does it affect the other characters going forward? This is a rather significant part of Walking Dead, especially after that Season 7 premiere. If you have your audience outraged and heartbroken over the death of a fictional character, then that means you've done something right. Death, when done the right way, can be a positive thing for TV shows that call for it. – joegonzo9138 years ago
Since their first appearance on the "Blink" episode of Doctor Who, the alien species known as the Weeping Angels have garnered a large popularity amongst the fanbase that rivals that of series mainstays like the Daleks and the Cyber Men. Instead of asking why the Weeping Angels have managed to acquire such popularity, this topic asks the writer to investigate the symbolism encoded into Weeping Angels. How can a viewer interpret these creatures? What can these interpretations reveal about the viewer's reality? In a sense the topic centers around two key concepts. What are at least some of the possible interpretations and how do these interpretations comment upon the viewers' reality?
Most of the time, Asians are portrayed as one of the four: Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Korean. This leads to inevitably neglecting other Asian nationalities as those from Southeast Asia (i.e. people from Thailand, Malaysia, and/or Philippines look very different from the first four nationalities cited, and are somehow unrepresented/do not have enough representation)
Yes! This is an important topic. I think Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Korean are the main four because of popular culture (e.g. Bollywood, anime, kpop). Other Asians should also be represented equally. You could possibly talk about how beauty standards of the four main Asian nationalities differ compared to other Asian nationalities. For example, from personal experience some Koreans taunt Filipinos because they tend to have darker skin (there's colorism within Korean beauty standards). – seouljustice8 years ago
Put this under the TV section because I think there are more TV show examples that can be used. One specific show that came to mind is The 100, which is a dystopian show that supposedly features all nations that survived the end of times as one group - the people of 'The Ark'. But you can only ever find Chinese people as representatives of Asians. There are quite a lot of shows that can be used. Basically, just pick a show that has an Asian character and more likely they will be any of the most common four I've mentioned. – Ruth8 years ago
This is an important topic! I agree with Ruth, I would put it in the TV sections. There are so many examples of misrepresentation of Asians in western culture in television.
-Lindsey – lindseyjane8 years ago
If you intend to look at writing/literature, especially Shakespeare, it would be worth exploring Jerry Brotton's book: This Orient Isle: Elizabethan England and The Islamic World (Milton Keynes: Penguin Random House, 2016) Concerning the representation of the East in Shakespeare's work. May spur some interesting thoughts for you?! – AngelicaHill8 years ago
Thank you, AngelicaHill! Should be really helpful. – Ruth8 years ago
It's also worth noting that Emily Kuroda and Keiko Agena, who played Mrs. Kim and Lane Kim (respectively) on "Gilmore Girls," are both Japanese, yet they were cast to play Koreans, and their Korean-ness was emphasized repeatedly throughout the series. Why, then, would you cast Japanese women (as great as Emily and Keiko both are)? Something to think about. – KKillian8 years ago
Yes! That is a very good point. Thank you, KKillian. – Ruth8 years ago
Critique the Presidential Debates like an episode of House of Cards. Additional areas to explore: plot, writing, review of characters, suggested improvements to next seasons…
This is almost too close to home! I've heard that in fiction, only trouble is interesting, so if you approach the election like it's a TV show, won't that make you root for disaster? (And is one of the main candidates already the star of a TV show...?) I think you could make the case that "winning" the TV show of the election by being the most entertaining is essentially the opposite strategy for winning the actual election. – tmatteson8 years ago
This is a wonderful suggestion! I have little to add beside that it could be worthwhile to critique the 'cinematographic' aspects of the show. How has it been staged? How have camera angles been used to emphasise certain aspects of the show? How have ads been parallels of tv show trailers? I really like this. – IsidoreIsou8 years ago
This sounds like it could be incredibly entertaining. I'd love to see plot suggestions. Writer could also mention the candidates' followers as opposing sides of fandom. There are a ton of ways they could take this and I love it. – Emily Schiemann8 years ago
Having done some 250-300 appearances as a political analyst on local TV stations (but addressing primarily Presidential and Congressional elections), I have come to approach the issue of TV media coverage as, perhaps, much like old computers where there was no hard drive (Tandy TRS-80), so programs had to be reloaded every time the computer was turned back on. It is not really possible to build upon foundation information and then develop more complicated ways of looking at political or public policy issues. To talk about a significant Supreme Court case (McCulloch v Maryland from 1819) and explain the importance of one word (expressly) that existed in the Articles of Confederation but was left out of the US Constitution and how the Opinion written by then Chief Justice John Marshall matters to Constitutional interpretation in the present, cannot be easily addressed on TV news. As a result, simplicity dominates where it is believed by, perhaps, too many viewers that there is some truth to the notion that Conservatives are strictly adhering to the Constitution, while Liberals are broadly interpreting it. In real terms, both sides are practicing Constitutional interpretation and there are some ways to understanding a conservative approach (or approaches) to Constitutional interpretation versus more liberal ones. TV news by not bringing this complexity to the small screen fosters, unfortunately, a reality TV show approach to liberal versus conservative, which ends up not helping a broad based public understand complex policy issues. Shows like PBS's Frontline or listening to a lengthy dialogue on CSPAN, can show a contrast with the more popular cable TV news shows, but TV news shows need to generate a profit so hope for improvement (enlightenment?) is debatable. – Joseph Cernik6 years ago
I'll admit that Glee could be a fairly problematic show, but why do people (especially those who talk about LGBTQ representation) seem happy to forget about the major steps that Glee took in this area. Why is the message of being yourself, embracing what makes you stand out, and finding family in what you love always forgotten about, even when Glee is mentioned?
I didn't watch the show, but many people I know said that they didn't like the show after the first season due to homophobic, sexist, and racist shows. Even though Glee does communicate an important theme, like you said, viewers were still frustrated with how the show handled LGBTQIA and other types of representation. If a show has LGBTQIA characters, they should at least attempt to represent them properly. Having a diverse range of characters meets the minimum standard. People expect better than a problematic representation of their communities. – seouljustice8 years ago
