Culture Clips: Taylor’s Trial’s Inspiring Influence
If you follow pop culture happenings, you likely saw the story this week about singer Taylor Swift testifying at a trial in Denver. The case involved a 2013 meet-‘n’-greet in which then DJ David Mueller allegedly groped the singer’s backside. Mueller lost his job over the incident, and actually sued Swift for $3 million. (Swift […]
Culture Clips: An Expert Asks, ‘Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?’
How are the combined influences of smartphones and social media shaping the lives of children growing up today? In her new article “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” in The Atlantic, author and psychologist Jean M. Twenge (Generation Me, iGen) argues that these technological advancements are having a revolutionary—and mostly negative—impact on young people today. Twenge’s […]
Culture Clips: If You Can’t Beat a Shark, Jump It
Each summer, Discovery Channel faces a unique programming challenge: making its “Shark Week” programming feel fresh. That’s no small challenge, given the fact that this annual ode to dorsal fins and sharp teeth has been airing since 1988. This year, the cable network began teasing one of its sharkiest gambits yet: pitting Olympic swimming legend […]
Dunkirk Triumphs
The British didn’t win the battle of Dunkirk in 1940. But thanks in part to the ingenuity of some regular-but-heroic folks determined to help rescue Allied soldiers trapped on that French beach, most of them survived. Dunkirk, the movie, meanwhile needed no rescuing whatsoever. The latest effort from acclaimed British director Christopher Nolan—perhaps best known […]
Culture Clips: Thrones and Zombies and Doctors, Oh My!
Game of Thrones just roared back for its seventh season. And any way you want to slice it, HBO’s graphic fantasy series (based on George R.R. Martin’s books) is bigger than ever. For starters, this season’s Thrones debut racked up the most viewers ever for the series, a whopping 16.1 million according to HBO (a […]
Being a Superhero Gets Real … Painful
The folks who make superhero movies these days have their craft down to such a science you’d swear that what you’re seeing on the big screen is real. Watching Wonder Woman recently, I found myself wondering, How’d they do that? It looks so realistic! We know, of course, that it’s not real. That’s it’s special […]
Pokémon Go’s Influence a Year Later
Plugged In’s coverage of video games typically leans in a cautionary direction. (As does, frankly, our coverage of other entertainment media as well.) For years, our weekly Culture Clips feature has documented what social scientists have observed about the influence of video games. Though we’ve commented on both positive and negative impacts of games on […]
You May Already Be a Phubber
Maybe you can relate to this scenario: It’s pretty late in the evening. Say, 9:37. (Give or take.) You’ve just put your last child to bed. You’ve been going nonstop since, say, 5:23 this morning, when you inexplicably woke up seven precious minutes before your alarm rang. You plop down on the couch next to […]
Culture Clips: An MTV Writer Critiques Christian Movies
Many, if not most, Christian filmmakers long to reach out to those beyond the faithful fold with their films. It’s a laudable goal. And a biblical one. I’m sure that most of those earnest Christian directors could tell stories about how their movies have impacted viewers, likely leading some to embrace Jesus for the first […]
Wonder Woman: The Hero We Didn’t Even Know We Were Waiting For
In our fractured cultural moment, the new movie Wonder Woman has accomplished something remarkable: It’s given us a story that resonates with viewers across the ideological, philosophical and spiritual spectrum. Perhaps not since Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy has a superhero movie generated so many think-piece articles about critical issues such as the nature of […]