Alex Mell-Taylor
Bio
I write long-form pieces on timely themes inside entertainment, pop culture, video games, gender, sexuality, race and politics. My writing currently reaches a growing audience of over 10,000 people every month across various publications.
Stories (56/0)
Explaining How the George Floyd Uprising Was Quickly Forgotten
I remember when I first heard about George Floyd's death. My partner had asked if I had heard about this new police shooting of a Black man, and I mistakenly thought he was referring to Tony McDade, a Black Trans man who was murdered two days later. I was confused by people suddenly caring about Floyd when I had already seen the videos that year of so many Black men and women killed by the police.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 months ago in The Swamp
The Environmentalist Message at the Heart of Disney's 'Strange World'
Disney's Strange World is about a fantastical land entirely different from our own, filled with fantastic locals and strange creatures. A central throughline in the film, like most Disney properties, is about familial expectations. The explorer Jaeger Clade wants his son Searcher to follow in his footsteps and find a way over the impassable mountain chain surrounding their country of Avalonia. This expectation causes a rift in Jaeger and Searcher's relationship that continues into the present.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 months ago in Geeks
‘Glass Onion’ Shows Us The Power Of Breaking Shit
The sequel to Knives Out is about detective Benoit Blanc tagging along to a rich billionaire’s murder mystery party on a private Grecian island. This game quickly turns quite deadly as murder breaks out. Benoit and a surprise companion must snoop around this Elon Musk/Mark Zuckerberg-inspired estate to find the real culprit.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 months ago in Geeks
Our Obsession with Westeros (and Royalty in General) Is Unhealthy
I am a huge fantasy fan. I have watched all three Lord of the Rings movies back to back with accompanying meals (yes, even elevensies). I am religiously gobbling up fantasy content such as the Rings of Power, Sandman, and, yes, even the new Game of Thrones spinoff, The House of The Dragon (see my take on the latter here).
By Alex Mell-Taylor3 months ago in Geeks
Spoilers Can Be A Moral Good, Actually
I have always been skeptical of spoiler warnings because it seems to be more about preserving an individual's "social capital" (i.e., securing benefits from social relationships and networks) than about art. The fact that many people don't care about spoiling old media or non-plot-related parts like its score or special effects makes this whole concept suspicious. If going into a piece of media "raw" is the best way to view it, why should its age matter? Why even have trailers or promotional material?
By Alex Mell-Taylor3 months ago in Geeks
We Might Be Headed For a Great American Famine
Many Americans are currently hungry. Organizations like the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimate that the number of food-insecure Americans is in the tens of millions. We are a culture comfortable with a large percentage of our population being hungry, with even more on the cusp of that reality.
By Alex Mell-Taylor3 months ago in Earth
The Best Media of 2022
If there's one thing I have, it's opinions. I can sometimes come across as a sourpuss, but there have been a lot of shows, movies, and games that I have loved this year. Whether we were transported to a galaxy far, far away, or a land of magic and dragons, it was a great year to sit on your ass and watch stuff.
By Alex Mell-Taylor3 months ago in Geeks
What Andor Gets Wrong About Saw Gerrera
It's popular in American media, particularly media made and produced by the Disney corporation, to depict political radicals as going “too far” (see Black Panther, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, etc.). They may have good intentions, but their methods are what the narrative often objects to. Political rebellions on TV and the Silver Screen usually strive to walk a narrow line between showing characters who fight against injustice while outwardly rejecting the methods that many real-life political revolutionaries have had to use.
By Alex Mell-Taylor3 months ago in Geeks
Andor Is One of the Few Disney Shows to Get Fascism Right
It’s hard to understate how shocked and happy I am that Andor exists. I have been banging a drum for years that Disney has been putting out programming that often appropriates the aesthetic of social change and revolution while advancing pretty regressive narratives (see my take on Black Panther and She-Hulk as examples).
By Alex Mell-Taylor3 months ago in Geeks
We Should Be Worried About How The Right Talks About Disney
I love Disney. I listen to its musical numbers on repeat on Spotify. I love traveling to Disney World and going on the rides (Magic Kingdom is the best, obviously). I can obnoxiously hold my own amongst the most intense Disney adults.
By Alex Mell-Taylor4 months ago in The Swamp
The Frustrating Indirectness of the Black Panther Series
Black Panther was an iconic moment in pop culture, and that's because white supremacist society is quite racist. Organizations like the Disney company have historically been very regressive in their portrayals of human difference (i.e., anything that goes against white supremacist, colonialist patriarchy). In the words of writer Sydney Paige: "The fact that black people are represented not with stereotypes, but as the smartest, wealthiest, most advanced, and the absolute royalty [of the] most powerful society is groundbreaking and momentous."
By Alex Mell-Taylor4 months ago in Geeks
Is It Possible To Make Conservatism Not So [email protected] Awful?
From Donald Trump to Ted Cruz, modern conservatism is pretty awful, and it’s not just in the US. We could talk about the rise of far-right parties in Israel, India, Italy, and so much more. Conservatives are often trying to defend an awful status quo. We live in a world where these movements are actively harming otherized identities under the guise of protecting historic institutions that are often supremacist in nature.
By Alex Mell-Taylor4 months ago in The Swamp
