Category Archives: Pop Culture

The Skyler White Effect and the Much Maligned Mothers of TV

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Hello Nerdlings! Breaking Bad is back for the conclusion of its final season, and in fact, your own AngryNerdGirl is recapping it over on TrashTalkTv (formerly TvGasm). As excited as I have been for the show to come back on the air, I’ve also been dreading the inevitable Skyler White bashing. How one of the few characters on the show who has never sold drugs, killed anyone, stolen anything, or even been arrested has come to be one of the most hated characters on television is beyond me.

Skyler White bitch

The vitriol coming Skyler White’s way may be more intense than with other tv characters, but it is by no means new. Antiheros have been populating American television more and more in the past decade, and no one is riper for hatred than their wives. Betty Draper. Megan Draper. Catelyn Stark. Lori Grimes. Carmela Soprano*. Why do we hate them? The easy answer: because they’re annoying. Maybe they cheated on their husband. Maybe they’re a bad mother. Maybe the viewers are just misogynists. The real reason, however, is because they dared to get in the protagonist’s way. Continue reading →

Star Trek, Stephen Moffat, and Women in Sci-Fi

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Sometimes, being a nerd girl is stressful.  Yesterday, I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness and there was so much I loved.  I wanted to write a stellar review of it and post it here, but something was stopping me.  In writing down my notes, I realized that there was also a lot that was upsetting me about the movie.  As you may have noticed, when I get upset, I dwell.  I research.  This time, it took me from Star Trek to Sherlock via Benedict Cumberbatch, and from there to Doctor Who, via Stephen Moffat.  What do these fun and fantastic things all have in common besides my love?  Unfortunately, a horrifying treatment of women and prime examples of a misogynist male gaze in tv/film.

If you haven’t seen STID, Doctor Who, or Sherlock, be aware that this entire article contains SPOILERS.

Continue reading →

In the Meantime…

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Hello Nerdlings!

I just wanted to let you know that your trusty AngryNerdGirl hasn’t abandoned you.  There has been a LOT going on the past few weeks regarding agency, women’s rights over their own bodies, and feminism in general.  I have so much to say, but have had so little time to write!  Just a quick update: I’m currently a little over halfway through training to be a medical advocate at Rape Victim Advocates (check them out, they’re amazing.)  Also, I’ve been recapping Scandal over at tvgasm and took a little trip out of town.  I have been a very busy lady!  Hopefully, I will get my thoughts out in a coherent order tomorrow and post something brilliant for you all.  In the meantime, however, I’ve been reading a lot about Disney’s newest feminist scandal regarding fellow curly-haired feminist Merida.  Being who I am, after getting over my initial outrage, I started to realize that Merida is extremely similar to another pop-culture hero.  Then I made pictures to prove it.  Guess who?  Nope, not Katniss Everdeen!

Hint: They share a love of badassery and a hatred of fancy dresses. Continue reading →

The Fashion Industry: So You Want to Be a Model?

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Ok, kittens.  Let’s talk Fashion.

I’ve wanted to write about the harmful effects of the fashion industry for some time now, but it seemed so obvious.  What is there to write about that people don’t already know?  Well, I sat down and made a list of seriously messed up things that I wanted to address, and it was long.  I hope you’re sitting somewhere comfortable, because there’s going to be a lot here.  Before we start, I do want to say that I love fashion.  I love the idea of expressing yourself in a fluid way through clothing, hair, makeup, and everything else.  You can dress a certain way and feel temporarily like a different person (note: Hollywood often portrays this horribly wrong, showing women needing to change in order to get the popular guy).  This is about the completely screwed up advertising complex known as the Fashion Industry. Continue reading →

Shameless Self-Promotion

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Update:  Thank you so much everyone for voting!  I won, and am now tvgasm’s newest recapper!  I’ll send you a link when my first one is up.  Thank you again so very much.  😀

I’ve made it to the final rounds of auditions to be a tvgasm recapper, and now it’s up for a vote. If you could vote for Fighter #2, it would mean a lot to me! I made it through three rounds of recapping terrible hilarious tv, and I’d like to keep getting to do it. Something got glitchy with the spacing on my recap, which is the only thing the comments are talking about.  Please see past that and vote for me!  Once again, that’s Fighter #2.

Love to you all!  Thank you for reading!  I’ll be watching Game of Thrones tonight and will give you my thoughts tomorrow!