Essays, Not Rants 145: 2014 in Review

2014 is a few days from being over. So once again it’s time to go through my rants essays from this year and pick out the special ones.

All statistics are based on essaysnotrants.net, since, y'know, I don't wanna count through the views on BZP.

Five Most Popular/Viewed Posts

#5: Relationship Advice from Scott Pilgrim

The thing about Edgar Wright movies is that they work on so many levels. I was… off put the first time I watched Scott Pilgrim vs The World, so I watched it again, realizing what I was in for and loved it. One of the reasons is that despite (or perhaps because of) it creating a video game sort of reality, it tells a very serious story about love and self-respect.

#4: Representation, Big Hero Six, and Me

Representation is something that I care about, in case my running commentary on female protagonists didn’t tip you off. But Big Hero Six is special to me because there’s a kid like me starring in a Disney action movie! And that makes me very happy.

#3: Verified Fiction

The idea for this one had actually been brewing since I saw that TIME article a couple years back. Took a while for it to come together in and now it’s something that’s pretty bloggish and yet still about storytelling.

#2: About That Noah Movie

Look at me being topical. I suppose this was more for me to collect my thoughts and weigh in on the film. Seems that jumping on the train got my a bunch of views, so there’s that.

#1: The LEGO Hero’s Journey Part One and Part Two

I could do two separate entries for these, each of which got three times as many views as the Noah one, but I figure they should go together since they’re interlinked. The LEGO Movie is easily one of the best movies of this year, in no small part because it’s about a very normal boring person undergoing the Hero’s Journey. It was a lot of fun linking up the beats of the movie with the Monomyth, and hey, I guess some other people enjoyed it too.

And there we have the five most viewed posts. As with last year, what follows will be a few posts that I really like, for various reasons. These posts are also posts that aren’t in the afore top five.

Josh’s Pick of Three

#3: Of Ludonarrative Dissonance

I took a class on video game theory this past spring, which probably shows when I use terms like ‘ludnoarrative’ and ‘narrative architecture.’ Video games really warrant a closer look than they’re often given.

#2: The Mustache of Self-Actualization

Okay, so this is a more recent one, but I love when I’m able to use this blog to write a scholarish rant essay on something that isn’t very scholarlish (see a close reading of Pentecost’s speech). Being able to write about Hot Rod like this was a lot of fun and also good practice. So hey.

#1: Nerd Culture, The Big Bang Theory, and Chuck

I know it very much comes down to opinion, but I still love the way nerd culture was portrayed in Chuck and I’m waiting for something to do it as well (though SHIELD is doing alright, with Mack and Fitz bonding over Halo and Bobbi wearing a Star Wars tee). Man, Chuck was a special show.

So there you have it. Nine posts out of the fifty-two that made up 2014. Thank you for reading!

Here’s to 2015.

(And then it’s 2016 and then 2017 and then 2018 AND A CAPTAIN MARVEL MOVIE)