Editorials
2022 Emmys Predictions: Our Best Guesses As to Who Will Win Big This Year
Like all awards ceremonies, every year the Emmys recognize a wide range of inspiring, hilarious, complex, and/or heartbreaking shows and performances in its nominations, and like all awards ceremonies, the actual winners sometimes feel a little disappointing, if only because the winner was the predictable choice. So, in that spirit, here is a humble effort to try to guess what and who the TV Academy will choose to recognize this Monday, when the 74th annual Emmy Awards are handed out. One word to describe the predictions below? Pragmatic is probably the most politically correct term to use. For, sometimes the Emmys can be truly exciting and innovative in their winners, but other times, the awards basically go to the same three shows. Advertisement These picks aren’t as single-minded as tha...
Why We Need a Fifth (and Final) Season of Westworld
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 4 finale of Westworld, “Que Será, Será.”] The 2022 television landscape feels, sometimes, a little bit like the Wild West, as the chaos being experienced by the rest of the world trickles into the business decisions being made by men in Patagonia vests. This is why it’ll be exceptionally ironic if, after consistently keeping viewers on their toes for four seasons, Westworld never gets a chance to bring its cyberpunk Western story to its planned conclusion. The twisty mindfuck of a show, a riff on the 1973 Michael Crichton film created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, wrapped its fourth season this month by literally ending the world — or, at the very least, the end of humanity. Advertisement Season 4 began with most of human...
How Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal Affirms My Experience with Autism
In a 2017 Rolling Stone profile, comedian Nathan Fielder discussed researching Asperger’s syndrome to shape his character on the popular Comedy Central program Nathan For You. Although Fielder did not disclose that he personally identifies on the autism spectrum, his latest project — HBO’s fascinating and deceptively moving docu-comedy The Rehearsal — reflects an experience that many autistic individuals such as myself have dealt with: masking, a survival mechanism in which autistic individuals suppress their neurodivergent traits in order to adapt to their surroundings. The Rehearsal initially follows Fielder helping people practice difficult conversations and momentous life events by designing intricate simulations for them. To do this, he hires actors to inhabit these sets, and crafts d...
How Whitney Houston and Brandy’s Cinderella Changed the Way We Think About Movie Musicals
In 1997, Whitney Houston materialized on our television screens in a shimmering, golden gown fitting for the peerless superstar and told us all something very important: “It’s possible.” For many millennials, members of Gen Z, and parents of both, Wonderful World of Disney‘s spectacular interpretation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella quickly became a staple. The telecast aired in 60 million households, making it the most-watched television musical in decades, and earned a second life on home video when it became the highest-selling home video release of any made-for-television film to date. In the 25 years since Cinderella, the project, which was co-produced by Houston, has taken on an almost mythic quality. Many things about the production felt revolutionary: The first ...
Olivia Newton-John Was a Classic Hollywood Star Born at the Wrong Time
The passing of Olivia Newton-John on August 8th at the age of 73 after a long battle with cancer, inspired a rare moment of social media unity in her memory. While the Australian singer, actress, and activist had a decades-long career that resulted in her being one of the best-selling music artists from the second half of the 20th century, she is forever iconic thanks to her performance as Sandy in Grease. A major hit in the ‘70s and a nostalgic beacon during its ‘90s revival, Grease was a knowing pastiche of ‘50s teen comedies that loved the genre it mocked so mercilessly. Populated by a cast of tax-paying adults playing high-school kids who sing about sex and yearning, it’s a giddy mess that has stuck around long after the fads it parodied. What holds it together, amid the dirty gags and...
Fan Chant: ENHYPEN Interview, ATEEZ EP Breakdown, and More
Hello and welcome to Fan Chant, a new weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. Each week, I’ll be rolling out interviews, lists, and all kinds of content to keep you in the loop on the latest and greatest from our friends in Seoul and beyond. I’m a Contributing Editor here at Consequence, and while I have the joy of getting to write about so many things — pop and indie music, festivals, and even film and TV — one of my most favorite parts of my job is getting to write about K-pop. I love how passionate K-pop fans are; it’s genuinely rewarding as a writer to get to share my work with people who pay attention to every word choice and turn of phrase in a piece. The first piece of writing I ever had published here at Consequence was about BTS (way back in 2020, in the “Dynamite”...
Ask Dr. Mike: Embracing Our Authentic Mental Health
Spinning out of the Going There with Dr. Mike podcast presented by Consequence and Sound Mind Live, the monthly “Ask Dr. Mike” column is here to answer listeners’ questions. As we wrap up BIPOC Mental Health Month, Dr. Mike discusses how we can improve our mental health by embracing our authentic selves. Sometimes it can feel like we are trapped in a mental health paradox. On the one hand, there is so much happening in the world that can cause us to suffer emotionally: pandemic, climate change, political strife, economic suffering and inflation. Some who had never experienced depression or anxiety have begun feeling an overwhelming sense of loneliness and dread, while those already grappling with mental half have found their struggles exacerbated. On the other hand, whe...
With Jack in the Box, j-hope Isn’t Afraid to Embrace the Darkness
“It was Hope that was kept in the innermost nook of the box. It trailed behind the miasma of darkness, assuaging the ill effects on humankind. Hope gave people the will to keep on living amidst the pain and strife.” The introduction of j-hope’s full-length debut solo album, Jack in the Box, is a female voice recounting the myth of Pandora’s Box; it’s a story j-hope, who was born Jung Hoseok, has long gravitated towards, and a partial source of his stage name. For nearly a decade now as part of BTS, j-hope has more than lived up to the name. He’s embodied it — epitomized it, even — by developing a reputation as the ray of sunshine in the global, record-smashing group. His energy onstage is astounding; anyone who is lucky enough to have seen BTS in concert inevitably walks away amazed by the...
A League of Their Own: The Mysterious Identity of the Black Woman Who Throws Back the Ball
UPDATED: This is the story of a mystery. Unlike a good Agatha Christie page-turner, it’s not that dramatic. But it is a sad one — though maybe, just maybe, the ending hasn’t been written yet. Thirty years ago, one of the greatest sports movies ever made was released in theaters. Based on the true story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, founded during World War II when most able-bodied men (including ball players) were fighting overseas, A League of Their Own featured two fictional sisters (Geena Davis and Lori Petty) battling over their own issues during the inaugural season of women’s professional baseball. The film became a modern classic for so many reasons: the powerful direction by Penny Marshall, an all-star cast that also includes Tom Hanks, Rosie O’Donnell, Ma...
Ask Dr. Mike: Coping with the Mental Health Effects of Anti-LGBTQ+ Discrimination
Spinning out of the Going There with Dr. Mike podcast presented by Consequence and Sound Mind Live, the monthly “Ask Dr. Mike” column is here to answer listeners’ questions. As we wrap up Pride Month, Dr. Mike is here to guide us through the mental health effects of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. Over the last month of Pride, members of the queer community and allies alike have celebrated how wonderful and life-affirming it can be when people can freely explore, embrace, and express their authentic sexuality and gender identity. Being able to live openly as an LGBTQ+ person can radically bolster an individual’s sense of mental health and well-being. The spirit of Pride is to build a world in which everyone can live in a free and open way to embrace who they are and love wh...
Why Viktor Hargreeves’ Experience in The Umbrella Academy Was Always a Trans Allegory
[Editor’s note: The following contains mild spoilers for The Umbrella Academy Season 3.] Cliffhangers rule The Umbrella Academy. Every season, including the just-premiered third, of Netflix’s adaptation of Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s comic book series has ended with the status quo being shaken up more than it already has. And Season 2 ended with a particularly intriguing move: The Hargreeves, a dysfunctional family of adopted super-siblings, returned to the present from 1960s Dallas, only to find their home is no longer their home. Instead, Reginald Hargreeves adopted a different group of children with special powers (including original Umbrella Ben) for what’s now known as “The Sparrow Academy.” But a different sort of lingering question about the show’s direction arose between the second...
Elvis’ Cultural Cachet Has Gone Up and Down Over the Years, But He’s Still Way More Relevant Than You Think
Go ahead: Google “Beatles are irrelevant” and “Rolling Stones are irrelevant.” The former will net you about half a million results — the latter, a hair under two million. Now, Google “Elvis is irrelevant.” You’ll get more than twice the results of both those queries — combined. At first thought, this is understandable. The Stones remain a titanic concert draw despite losing a key member. The Beatles’ Get Back didn’t just lift us out of Turkey Day doldrums; it bestowed on us a rare case of almost universal common ground. Recent deluxe editions of both beloved bands’ classic albums do gangbusters on Spotify. Speaking of: at press time, the Beatles command 26 million monthly listeners; the Stones, 21 mil. Elvis Presley? A paltry 13. Granted, there are many potential reasons for the above — a...
