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 (87/0)
American Society Wants The Sick And Tired To Die
I am sick a lot. Simple colds will knock me out for days or weeks, forcing me to pick up the pieces afterward. I have gotten into the habit of expecting gaps of fatigue and illness. I have had trouble being a "productive" member of society for years, and truthfully only exist right now because I have a robust support system.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 years ago in The Swamp
We Shouldn't Care If Someone's "Faking" Being Queer For Attention
There is this odd narrative that gay, bi, and trans people are just being queer for attention. For the past couple of years, there has been a lot of discourse around the concept of "transtrenders" (i.e., people who allegedly aren't "real" trans individuals and are just identifying as such for attention). Before this, countless straight people claimed this same thing for gay and bi people. We were "just being dramatic" or "going through a phase."
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 years ago in Pride
Exploring Toxic Motherhood In "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness"
The second Doctor Strange movie, the Multiverse of Madness (MoM), tackles a lot of elements. It serves as not only a vehicle to expand on the multiverse (a real, theoretical concept, if you believe it) where the MCU is now connected to an infinite amount of parallel universes, but an informal introduction to mutants, as well as a sequel to the first Doctor Strange movie and the TV show WandaVision. That's a lot to cover here, but the MCU has always weaved countless threads at once: that's kind of its whole point.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 years ago in Geeks
'Teaching A Robot To Love:' The Anti-Capitalist Musical For Our Times
By the time a mainstream musical passes the many eyes and hands it takes to write, film, produce, and circulate it, chances are that the moderating influence of "those on top" have taken out a lot of its bite. It's hard (though not impossible) to make a work that criticizes traditional, mainstream institutions when those benefiting from said institutions are cofinancing your art.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 years ago in Geeks
The Best Reality TV Shows Are Happening On Dropout TV
Comedy has not had the best luck on the Internet over the last few years. The comedy streaming service Seeso shut down in 2017. Cracked fired much of its video staff the following year, causing them to spread to the Internet winds (see Maggie Mae Fish, Cody Johnston, etc.). College Humor went with these creators in 2020 after its parent company InterActive Corp. dropped the brand, allegedly forcing the CEO Sam Reich to lay off over a hundred staff to buy CH Media, the company that owned the rights to College Humor.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 years ago in Geeks
Chapter One: Mateo In The Woods
Mateo made his way through the unmarked forest. Even after all this time, he still loved exploring the ever-shifting topography of the woods. Life be praised, he loved his job. There was no better thrill as a scout than experiencing a place for the first time, untouched by the many hands of his herd. He basked in the divine experience of being immersed in this sea of green, surrounded by the scraggly pitch pines and black and white oaks that protected the Cod Archipelago from further erosion.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 years ago in Fiction
Cancel Culture Isn't About Winning An Argument
I have recently done a 180 on "Cancel Culture," or what I call "the politics of shame." I was once an avid supporter of the idea that you shouldn't shame others as a tenant of political organizing (see Unpacking the Deadly Politics of Shame), but recently I have changed my mind. Shame can sometimes have excellent results in the realm of politics (see Historically, Shame Has (Sometimes) Been A Good Thing), and we do ourselves a disserve in disavowing it.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 years ago in The Swamp
The Problem With ‘Moon Knight’ & Mental Health
Moon Knight is a show about a person (Oscar Isaac) given superpowers by the Egyptian God of the Moon Khonshu. This vigilante's goal is to fight wrongdoers. He is pitted against Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), the servant of Ammit, who wants to judge wrongdoers before they commit their crimes. Along the way, we get a story about magical powers, kooky hijinks, and most surprisingly of all, a perspective on mental illness that although mixed, is not as harmful as the works that came before it.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 years ago in Geeks
Horizon Forbidden West Rightfully Depicts The Rich As Villains
The Horizon series is a fun romp set in the distant future. It's ultimately about a lot of things: a post-apocalyptic adventure where you slay robot dinosaurs with bows and arrows, a narrative about the nature of humanity and AI; a feminist tale about a kickass warrior named Aloy (voiced by Ashly Burch) that goes against over a half a century of misogynistic video game tropes.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 years ago in Gamers
The Startling Reasons Why Job Hunting Can Be Sociopathic
The majority of people have had to apply for a job, yet it's probably not the most enjoyable thing you've done. Most people routinely cite dissatisfaction, not just with their jobs, but in the job application process, especially for online applications where it is seen as very opaque. To quote a rant on Reddit: "Applying for jobs is actual hell. I hate this. [I'm] sick of the constant anxiety, nearly being successful and getting excited - but then turned down at the last minute, being ghosted... it's just horrific isn't it?"
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 years ago in Journal
Hadestown Is Thee Musical To Listen To For Climate Anxiety
Climate Change is terrifying. Even following the news around it is exhausting. Every day reveals new horrors about rising seas, vanishing resources, and diminishing crop yields. Our political leaders have not responded to this threat appropriately, and this negligence has left a lot of us with anxiety about the future.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 years ago in Geeks
You Don’t Need To See The Documentary “What is a Woman?”
Recently the trailer for the film “What is a Woman?” has been going around. The “documentary” (a word I use loosely) is from the mind of conservative transphobe Matt Welsh (I think that’s his name, I can’t be bothered to look it up), a man who has made a history of trolling LGBTQ+ people. The documentary is not very good, and its points have been debunked thoroughly. It was also made in a very duplicitous manner, where a fake trans organization was set up to lure activists and medical professionals into interviews.
By Alex Mell-Taylor2 years ago in Pride