Colin McMahon's Blog, page 2

Beware of Second-hand Opinions

I know this may sound strange coming from what is essentially an online editorial, but people like me should not replace your consumption of new media and new opinions – like ever. Much talk has been made of opinions, some of which I disagree with (namely I don’t hold to the ridiculous notion that opinions are all equal).  That said, there has been a rising industry that deals in opinions, editorials, and other subjective viewpoints, some of which pose as objective fact. 

To help promote stronge...

Godzilla vs. J.K. Rowling

Recently, you (like me) may have been surprised and saddened by how much once-beloved rags-to-riches Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has been attacking trans people through uninformed and often hateful rhetoric on the internet. Now I don’t know if it’s a case of she can’t communicate well online (not like Twitter is a platform of incredible social discourse) or if she’s just a bigot and frankly I don’t care. Her actions are emboldening hateful people and she’s causing damage to an already oppre...

The Devolution of Journal Writing

If you’re like me, you’ve been doing a bit of reading during this pandemic. Not that I needed a global virus to force me to read (I read pretty much every night, thank you very much) but I won’t say it hasn’t affected what I want to read. Escapism is in right now, very in. With that in mind, I turned to the latest from author Max Brooks (World War Z) to see what supernatural awesomeness he had for me this time.

Devolution follows a group of people trapped in what I think was very rural Seattle. ...

What White Privilege Means

I grew up in Abington, Massachusetts during the 1990s. My family home was not the standard. I didn’t really have neighbors. Yeah, there was a house semi-close to us but it only held an elderly couple – nice people but not the best playmates. On the other side of my house? A graveyard…quiet neighbors, really.

So I spent a lot of time in the woods, which surrounded most everything else. It was a great back then, the deer population hadn’t quite blown up yet so deer ticks were still few and far bet...

How to Write Redemption

Everyone loves a good redemption story. It is one of the aspects that I believe helped make the original Star Wars trilogy so endearing: Watching Darth Vader rise from darkness to save his son. Redemption is also a hopeful message. Not only does it assure us that anyone can become the good guy, it gives a feeling of control. If these characters are so in charge of their destiny, than maybe we can be too.

Today’s post looks at some ways to write a successful redemption arc. This is by no means a ...

I was Wrong about She-Ra

Back in 2018 I wrote down my thoughts on season one of Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. To sum it up: I enjoyed the premiere but felt it had a lot of issues involving world-building, character growth, and (a lack of) explicit LGBTQ representation.

Within the last week, I decided to revisit the show – in part because people were saying really good things about the ending. I am glad I did. My initial comments on She-Ra (I’m not writing out the full title every time) were overly critic...

Exploring the Surprisingly Good World-Building in Predator 2

Predator 2 has it rough. At 29% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is the lowest reviewed of the Predator series (still higher than the two Alien vs. Predator movies though, so theres that). For the record, I think its a little underrated. Yeah, its far from a great movie but its enjoyable popcorn once you get past the mundane first act. One thing I think Predator 2 does really well is world-building. In fact, Id say that, of all the Predator sequels, Predator 2 expands and builds on the series mythology...

Character Analysis: Why Did Luke Skywalker Fall?

Recently I was watching this video from Overly Sarcastic Productions:

In general, I love this video channel. Its a great tool for writers and storytellers who would to dive a little deeper into elements of storytelling and literary analysis all in the guise of pop culture commentary. Theyre great and I recommend checking them out.

That said, there was one thing I took umbrage with during the above video, namely this line: And Luke actually has it worse! Apparently Mr. Paragon hero savior of...

The Mummy: Universal’s Misfit

Continuing my Universal Classic Monsters marathon and exposing my wife to movies she probably would have been fine never watching, I turned to The original Mummy series, which ran for six films from 1932 to 1955. As I believe I have mentioned previously, Ive always been a huge fan of Universal Classic Monsters. As a kid, I begged my parents for the DVD set and before that I was collecting VHS tapes during the 90s (which had amazing box art by the way).

[image error]Im trying to think if I ever owned this...

Hopeful DLC for Predator: Hunting Grounds

So this past Friday I was finally able to play Predator: Hunting Grounds, a game I have been looking forward to for months. Created by developer IllFonic, Predator: Hunting Grounds is an asymmetric multiplayer game where four people play as human commandos and one person plays as the ultimate alien hunter, the Predator.

During gameplay, the human players will attempt to complete objectives against an AI opponent (the rebels from the first film), while the Predator wants to hunt down and kill...