The OWU English Department Blog
When I first sought to play the game Death Stranding, I did so from a place of curiosity. It had been three years since the release of the game by legendary video game creator Hideo Kojima, which had received mixed reviews and sparked heated online discourse. In the past, Kojima was celebrated for his continued championing of the Metal Gear series since its inception in 1987 with the original Metal Gear to its contemporary titles like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.…
Did you know Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) has a rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes? Let’s dive into what makes this film highly liked by individuals. I believe it represents the Black community well, and I aim to evaluate why it is a good source of representation. The Spider-Verse series utilizes visual presentation, themes of identity, and emotional impact to enhance a story of Black representation.…
âThe Sopranosâ was released to the public via HBO on Jan. 8, 1999, and has been revered as one of the greatest television shows ever. In 2024, the show reached its anniversary of 25 years, sparking new fan interest. Airing from 1999 through 2007, the show follows Tony Soprano as he works his way up the ranks from capo (made man/captain) to boss of the New Jersey-based DiMeo crime family.…
Star Warsâ The Acolyte was an exciting prospect for Disney Plusâ collection of limited television series for the franchise. This 8-episode show took a chance by branching out in the Star Wars universe. Set about 100 years before the first chronological Star Wars Film, The Phantom Menace, the show would detail the secret rise of the Sith, the main antagonistic force of Star Wars.…
This piece contains spoilers for Bones and All and The Lighthouse.
Bones and All and The Lighthouse are two very unique horror films that travel back in time to bend reality, and to speak on common aspects of humanity that are always present in life. I am not the biggest lover of horror films, and I actually tend to avoid them, especially if they are excessively gory.…
A malformed, masked entity lurks in the shadows of a Parisian Opera house. His presence had only haunted the house until an aspiring opera singer, Christine DaaĂ©, stepped onto the stage. However, then the so-called âPhantomâ develops a desire to help Christine in her career and become the lead performer–but at what cost?…
âAre people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?â A line from the opening song that cements a popular theme that drives the narrative of âWickedâ throughout the film. The line itself is sung by Glinda (or rather Galinda), the Good Witch of the North, which is in reference to the Wicked Witch of the West, otherwise known as Elphaba.…
The life of the former Queen of England, Lady Jane Grey, was anything but a comedy. Her life was certainly not a story most would make the center of a historical, fantastical, romantic comedy. But a 2016 novel, My Lady Jane, by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows did just that â and eight years later the Amazon Prime television show My Lady Jane was born.…
The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen was originally titled An Intimation of Things Distant. It consists of five fiction stories by Nella Larsen that were written in the 1920s during the Harlem Renaissance, which was a movement to foster Black culture and pride through literature, art, and music. The pieces in her collection discussed tensions and hardships of the Black middle class in Harlem during the 1920s: restlessness, isolation, searching for belonging, psychology, marriage, race, and the complexities of having mixed-race heritage.…
(Note: This review is not spoiler-free)
In times of political unease, it is important to remember the value of books, the lessons and the values that they contain. Given the current political climate, one of the greatest examples of a book with such values and lessons is the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel âThe Roadâ by Cormac McCarthy, first published in 2006. …