Terminator: Sarah Connor’s Legacy
The face of the Terminator franchise has been Arnold Schwarzenegger, and I get it. Arnie is one of the big charismatic icons of Hollywood and the Terminator role was one of his best. However, after watching Terminator: Dark Fate, and after seeing Sarah Conner again, I couldn’t help but think that Linda Hamilton is the real face of Terminator.
“The Procedure” by Douglas A. Burton
From a fortified “hot morg,” a reclusive embalmer must deliver a vaccine to an undead victim.
Why I’m Lifting My Boycott of Star Wars
But I’m holding out some optimism. I’m going because I believe that Star Wars, like Lord of the Rings, the Avengers, or the Dark Knight trilogy, is meant to be shared with friends and family. We’re supposed to talk about these heroines and heroes and consider what they teach us, what they stand for, and how they did it. There’s real power in great stories, and the fans always have the final say, never the critics.
The Heroine’s Labyrinth – An Alternative to the Hero’s Journey
Great heroines have a long tradition that you may or may not know about. There have been various periods in history where the heroine has taken center stage in our cultural stories, and I believe we’re in one of the most dynamic periods right now.
Women are Changing the Way We Tell Stories
For the first time in history, we’re getting a glimpse of a heroine-centric world view in our cultural stories. In the long history of humanity, the vast majority of literary storytellers and historians have been men. But I believe there is a historic shift occurring and the art of storytelling, itself, may be changing.
Empress Theodora and the Origin of Women’s Rights
Women's rights are said to be a modern movement, requiring the representation of women through a codified legal system. But if so, then Empress Theodora set the no-nonsense tone more than fifteen hundred years ago. She brought an unapologetic notion of equal rights...
30 Years Later – Clarice Starling Still a Top Heroine
In 1991, when Silence of the Lambs dominated the Oscars, I was a 15-year old boy just starting high school. By that time, all my big boyhood heroes were firmly entrenched, from Luke Skywalker to Ferris Bueller. I had plenty of male role models in fiction. Today, we behold the age of the heroine. It’s an epic cultural shift, and I believe one heroine quietly led the way. Looking back, I see that Clarice Starling forever changed my views on heroic figures in general and heroic women in particular.
Post-Endgame: All Marvel Movies Ranked
Three phases, eleven years, and 23 movies later, it’s time to take a second look at all the Marvel movies. Knowing what we know now, did the conclusion to the Infinity Series change how we feel about the previous films? I recently rewatched and reconsidered each...
Why The Byzantines?
For 25 years I’ve read about the Byzantine Empire. Now that I’m writing this journal, I realize that very few people have ever asked me why, and how I became so passionately intrigued by the Byzantines. Only a few of my closest friends and family members know about my...
Liminal Space
For storytelling, Liminal Space is a powerful setting. It is the “space” between two different destinations, but it’s secretly also a place between two different realities for your characters. The most common usage of Liminal Space is when the Heroic Figure leaves...