NEPA NERD: Stop treating fake trends like #BoycottStarWarsVII like real news
You know that feeling when one of your Facebook friends shares a fake or completely inaccurate article, along with their very real reaction, and you question why you’re even friends with this gullible dope in the first place? As a journalist, that feeling is a million times worse, especially when those articles are written by […]
NEPA NERD: Pharma CEO Martin Shkreli is a real-life supervillain
In fiction, it’s usually pretty easy to spot the villain. Even if he’s not wearing black or sneering behind a nasty scar across his face, he’s almost always found on the direct opposite side of the protagonist, the physical embodiment of whatever evil our hero is fighting against. At his most cliché, he’s arrogant, cunning, […]
NEPA NERD: ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ didn’t earn its killer ratings
In almost every zombie apocalypse story I’ve watched or read, we follow a main character or two who meets up with other survivors during his or her travels. They learn to trust each other and work together as best they can, and the story focuses on this new “family,” even as they lose members here […]
NEPA NERD: Is Pennsylvania, greed, or pessimism responsible for hitchBOT’s demise? It’s complicated
Philadelphia has been treated as poorly as its infamous reputation by the media for the unfortunate death of hitchBOT, a social experiment with the kind of outcome that science fiction has warned us about time and again. By association, all of the United States has been criticized as well for being too violent, cold, and […]
NEPA NERD: X-Man coming out as gay is character development, not a continuity crisis
“Have you tried not being a mutant?” This was one of the best lines in the 2003 film “X2: X-Men United,” making the general metaphor even more obvious in the “X-Men” sequel. Bobby Drake is “coming out” to his parents about being a mutant when his mother poses this question, serving as both a nod […]
NEPA NERD: ‘Daredevil’ is the superhero TV series with nothing to fear
A few weeks ago, I was going to write a column about how “The Flash” is currently the best superhero show on television, but I hesitated because “Daredevil” was set to premiere on Friday, April 10 on Netflix. By Saturday, the Man without Fear had beaten the Scarlet Speedster for that title – and Barry […]
NEPA NERD: Dear superhero films, embrace the spandex – it worked for Deadpool
In the original “X-Men” film, Wolverine questions the uniforms they’ve donned to fight Magneto and the Brotherhood just before their final confrontation. In response, Cyclops quips, “What would you prefer? Yellow spandex?” Actually, yes. Yes, I would. That was 15 years ago, which seems like a lifetime ago now, and for some young fans, it […]
NEPA NERD: Cosplayers won’t be banned from conventions, but sexist commentary should be
Every once in a while, an article from some random website gets shared around social media that may not contain the most reliable information, but its headline is salacious enough to get clicks and stir up controversy – or, in many cases, manufacture controversy. Such is the case with “Booth Babes And Sexy Cosplayers Are […]
NEPA NERD: The Mars One suicide mission isn’t just unrealistic – it’s counterproductive
“We’re all going to die, but it’s important what you do before you die.” I agree with this statement in and of itself. I cannot agree with its context, however. Alison Rigby is a 35-year-old woman from East London. She said this to CNN after she was selected as one of 100 possible candidates narrowed […]
NEPA NERD: ‘Fifty Shades’ of abuse – the gray area of Christian Grey’s behavior
Like many men who are writing about “Fifty Shades of Grey,” either the book or the movie adaptation that was released this past weekend, I have not experienced this phenomenon personally – I’m simply an observer attempting to make sense of something popular that I have no connection to or interest in whatsoever. Why write […]
