Feb 16, 2022Member-onlyThe Unbearable Weight of Fantasy, Tolkien, and Race (or, Eh, Black Elves Are Fine)The Internet is abuzz about the one fantasy author to rule them all, J.R.R. Tolkien. Over Superbowl weekend, Amazon released the first trailer for their new Tolkien adaptation, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. As with any highly-anticipated media property, the trailer (and the still shots released…Fantasy11 min readFantasy11 min read
Feb 13, 2022Member-onlyNot-So-Cancelled (or, Hey, We’re Still Talking About the Wrong Things)In a semi-recent piece for The Nation, David Klion discussed what is by now no longer the “latest” bit of Internet “free speech” theater in response to the cancellation of a collection of Norman Mailer’s essays. I shouldn’t say “cancelled,” really. The publisher passed on publishing the book, which means…Politics6 min readPolitics6 min read
Jul 4, 2021Member-onlyHow to Make Twitter Suck LessTwitter is one of those places that people hate and use at the same time. Millions upon millions of users log in every day to share photos and quick thoughts, talk to friends and random folks around the globe, and stream the feed looking for interesting articles, news, images, videos…Twitter10 min readTwitter10 min read
Published in TheJoyFactory·Jun 11, 2021Member-only10 Caribbean Books You Should Read At Least OnceAs a fan of Caribbean literature who has spent quite a lot of his life reading and thinking about it, it seemed appropriate to finally do one of those “hey, these are the books you should read” lists. …Books10 min readBooks10 min read
Published in TheJoyFactory·Feb 13, 2021Member-onlyBrokeback Mountain (2005) and the Unbearable Violence of Gay LoveIn 2005, the United States found itself in a renewed culture war over the place of homosexuality in society. Just two years prior, the Supreme Court overruled Bowers v. Hardwick to establish sodomy laws as unconstitutional. None of this was new to civil rights activists, of course. Gay rights had…Movies6 min readMovies6 min read
Published in TheJoyFactory·Jan 28, 2021Member-onlySo Much For Rules: The Zany Sports Massacre of Space Jam (1996)In 1996, a young 13-year-old me didn’t so much drag my family to see as convince them by osmosis that this would be the most important film of our lives. In retrospect, I was wrong, but that doesn’t change the fact that of the animated films for kids in the…Movies6 min readMovies6 min read
Jan 22, 2021Announcement: The Joy Factory is on Medium!For those who follow me here, you’ll be pleased to know that I’ve put together a space for The Joy Factory content in the form of a Medium Publication. This will create a central designed space for all of the joyful content! It also means that following me there will…Announcements1 min readAnnouncements1 min read
Published in TheJoyFactory·Jan 17, 2021Member-onlyMusicals Made 2020 Bearable; Long Live the MusicalsIf you’d asked me in 2019 whether musicals were “my thing,” I might have said something like “well, I do enjoy musicals from time to time, but I wouldn’t say I go out of my way to watch them.” If you’d asked me the same question by July 2020, the…Musicals4 min readMusicals4 min read
Published in TheJoyFactory·Jan 16, 2021Member-onlyApe Lincoln: The Beauty and Terror of Planet of the Apes (2001)As Palpatine would say: long have I waited to discuss this film! A film reviled for its infamously confusing ending, its gleeful presentation of punk apes and other humanistic ape-eries, and its attempt to convince us that Mark Wahlberg earned his way onto an expensive Air Force ape research space…Movies7 min readMovies7 min read
Published in TheJoyFactory·Dec 31, 2020Member-onlyHoliday Miracles (or, How I Tried Something New and Learned to Enjoy Christmas Novels)I’ve never read a Christmas novel for adults before. In fact, I never considered reading one until I got bored in my local Target and decided to give one a try for the hell of it. And then I spent about a week reading and livetweeting the experience. If you…Books5 min readBooks5 min read