“And thus I clothe my naked villainy”: Sympathizing With Devils

At the end of the first act in Shakespeare’s Richard III, the titular king, in true villainous fashion, monologues his sinister plan to capture the hearts of his unsuspecting friends and associates so’s he can see the end of his dastardly plot. The play invites the audience to sympathise, even admire, Richard while they freely admonish … Continue reading “And thus I clothe my naked villainy”: Sympathizing With Devils

Bloodborne and Back Pain

[This piece was written as a part of Critical Distance‘s March 2016 Blogs of the Round Table feature] In the last week or so my background viewing over meals and housework has been a Let’s Play of FromSoftware’s Bloodborne, a gothic horror fantasy spiritually succeeding the same developer’s infamously difficult Souls series. I’m not likely … Continue reading Bloodborne and Back Pain

Hit Him Again: For the Sadists in the Audience

[Warning for discussions of violence and genocide] What the hell kind of political dynamics are at work in Star Wars: The Force Awakens? This kind of question normally annoys me but sometimes there is such a failure to suspend disbelief that it just can’t be ignored. Spoilers or whatever. In The Force Awakens, the First Order (the villainous organization … Continue reading Hit Him Again: For the Sadists in the Audience