fact or fiction

Is it a fact or is it merely fiction? Fact or Fiction explores the lesser known truths in the geek universe.

I Was Paid $40 a Night to Play the Villain in a ‘Love Companion’ Game. What I Saw Made Me Quit.
She bounced up off the floor. The back of her head had just hit the ground. Thud. Crisp as snapping a celery stalk. Three seconds earlier, she'd been cradling her dead lover in her arms, sobbing herself hoarse. Then she collapsed backward. I thought I was about to call an ambulance. But she opened her eyes, twisted her head toward a corner of the room I hadn't noticed anyone in, and asked:
By Jin12 days ago in Geeks
Netflix's 'Obsession' Is the Worst Erotic Thriller You'll Ever Watch
Netflix's four-part miniseries Obsession is adapted from Josephine Hart's 1991 novel Damage , which was previously filmed by Louis Malle under the same title. The source material tells the story of a surgeon's uncontrollable passion for his son's fiancée, culminating in death and disintegration. The premise contains everything a psychological thriller should offer: the undercurrents beneath bourgeois respectability, the variegated shapes of midlife crisis, and the self-destruction of the traumatised. Yet Netflix's adaptation floats upward at every point where it should have sunk deeper. What puzzles most is not the darkness of the story itself, but the fact that it never clarifies the one question at its core: why these two people, and why with such totality.
By Jin14 days ago in Geeks
This Halloween, Indigenous Cultures Are Not Costumes: Why It’s Time to Leave Pocahontas Alone
Content Warning: This article contains potentially triggering material. The text discusses colonialism, cultural appropriation, harmful stereotypes, the history of indigenous subjugation, massacres of Indigenous people, sexual exploitation, and violence against indigenous women. Matoaka/Pocahontas is presented as a mythological figure in popular culture. The reader is warned that the article may contain upsetting information.
By Jenna Deedy14 days ago in Geeks
The Tragic Truth About Why 3D Movies Died
I. A Turning Point Triggered by Public Outcry In August 2016, Jason Bourne was released in China. The film was known for its handheld camerawork and rapid editing; the North American version was shown in 2D. The Chinese distributor, however, converted it into a 3D release – a routine move for "China‑exclusive 3D" conversions at the time. But this time, the reaction was different.
By Jin14 days ago in Geeks
Dear HBO: Please Don’t Just Make the Harry Potter Films Again
I am excited about the new Harry Potter television series. I am also slightly terrified of it. Because if we are going to do this again — seven books, seven years at Hogwarts, another Harry, another Ron, another Hermione, another Dumbledore — then there needs to be a reason for it beyond giving the Great Hall a new coat of paint.
By Millie Hardy-Sims17 days ago in Geeks
The Untold Reason Stephen Chow Keeps Casting Zhang Mei'e
1. A Face Hengdian, 2011. Stephen Chow was looking for four “extremely ugly women.” For Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons , he needed four attendants for the character played by Show Luo. His instruction to the casting assistant was blunt: as ugly as possible—ugly enough that the audience would remember them after a single glance.
By Jin19 days ago in Geeks
She Sold 77 Million Records. He Drives a Swamp Boat.
There is a smell that hangs over the Louisiana bayou. Rotting vegetation mixed with wet earth, baked by the sun until it rises as a thin haze. The water is dark, almost black, and the cypress trees stand with their knees poking through the surface like old men waiting for something that never comes.
By Jin24 days ago in Geeks
The Goldfish Trap
A screenshot circulated online a few days ago. It showed that Tom Holland is set to earn over $100 million for the new Spider‑Man film. The top comment beneath it was not a congratulation but a dry, almost cruel joke:
By Jin27 days ago in Geeks
The Trojan Horse Wasn't a War Crime. It Was Population Control.
Christopher Nolan wants you to feel guilty about the Trojan Horse. In his new film The Odyssey , the wooden horse isn't a stroke of genius. It's a moral collapse. Odysseus isn't a hero. He's a traumatized war criminal who weaponized trust itself. The Greeks hid murder inside a "peace offering," exploiting the Trojans' sacred belief in hospitality—the so-called "Law of Zeus."
By Jin28 days ago in Geeks
Sony Just Broke a 17-Year Rule for a Chinese Game—And Now I Know Why
Sony Gave It 20 Minutes. At 10 a.m. on August 18, the Sony State of Play stream ran a 20-minute segment. No Chinese game had ever gotten that slot. State of Play is Sony's regular showcase for first-party announcements and major third-party titles—normally they pack five or six games into one show, each getting three or four minutes. This time, the entire broadcast was one title: Phantom Blade Zero from S-GAME.
By Jin28 days ago in Geeks
The Eight Steps Hayden Panettiere Never Took
At four, she couldn't reach the makeup table. The prop master gave her an apple crate. She climbed up, toes gripping the wooden edge, took the script. She couldn't read all the words yet. When the director said "cry," she cried. On the set of One Life to Live , there was no child-sized trailer. She napped on a folding chair with a blanket from home, its edges frayed.
By Jinabout a month ago in Geeks
Li Zongsheng Isn’t the Problem — We Are
Li Zongsheng’s Reputation Hasn’t Declined. What’s Changed Is This Era’s “Frame of Reference” When the coordinate system we use to judge a person is collectively replaced, what we see is no longer the person himself, but the projection of our own preconceptions.
By Jinabout a month ago in Geeks