Pragmatism, Compassion and Love in The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature (2017)

3 Dimensions of Expanding Humans’ Relation to Animals   Abstract: This articles explores the depths of mass-media representation of non-human entities living in the natural habitat and their reactions to humans’ interventions in the animation movie The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature (2017): while it does not appear on the background of ideological resistance, […]

The Hours (2002)

A Philosophical Investigation into Love, Romance and Gender   Introduction The 2002 movie The Hours, directed by Stephen Daldry and accompanied by the evocative score of Philip Glass, is an intricate tapestry of interconnected stories spanning different time periods: a cinematic masterpiece which immerses deeply into the lives of three women across different time periods, […]

The World of I, Robot (1950).

Isaac Asimov’s Vision of Human-Robot Co-Existence and Its Implication.   Introduction Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, first published in 1950, is a seminal collection of short stories in the realm of science fiction, exploring the intricate dynamics between humans and robots. The cycle of short stories presents a future where robots, governed by the Three Laws […]

Pragmatic Love and Wholesome Hope: 3 Lessons from Blade Runner (1982)

  Abstract: The current analysis centers on the concept of “pragmatic love” and its three core characteristics – compassion, courage, commitment – as encompassed in Blade Runner (1982, director Ridley Scott). The analytical protocol pursues a two-step procedure: the definition of each of the three dimensions and its subsequent integration within the mediatic phenomenological experience. […]

The Flight of Change. How to Train Your Dragon.

Exploring Themes of Self-Growth and Determination in How to Train Your Dragon (2010)   Released in 2010 and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, How to Train Your Dragon quickly became a beloved animated film, captivating audiences with its breathtaking visuals, compelling characters, and resonant themes. Based on Cressida Cowell’s eponymous book series, the […]

The Angry Birds Movie (2016)

Detachment and Isolationism or On The Collective Delusion of Optimal Community   The year 2016 saw the release of two animation works, which seemed to challenge the status-quo on the volatile and highly competitive entertainment market: Zootopia, the story of an utopian universe in which mammals, both preys and predators, co-exist in peace and harmony, […]

Pragmatic Love and Posthumanist Transcendentalism: 3 Lessons from Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

  Abstract: The current analysis centers on the concept of “pragmatic love” and its three core characteristics – compassion, courage, commitment – as encompassed in Blade Runner 2049 (2017, director Denis Villeneuve). The analytical protocol pursues a two-step procedure: the definition of each of the three dimensions and its subsequent integration within the mediatic phenomenological […]

Rōjin Z: 5 Lessons on Cool Aging from 1991

Popular culture as ideological manifest, aging as social contemplation It is common knowledge, by now, that the anime‘s (Japanese animation) breakthrough in the West took place after the release of the anime film Akira (1988, director: Ōtomo Katsuhiro) – in Japan, however, registered as an absolute flop at the box-office due to the distorsion of […]

Baymax: Big Hero 6 (2014)

The “Enlightened Masculinity” of Kindness and the Power of Love   The ineffable stress ratio between what has been referred to so far as “empowered femininity” and “enlightened masculinity” is emphasized by the amount of courage, steady effort and compassion in the mix leading to victory, as partially outlined by Shonen Jump (the leading magazine […]