Pool Party (2024)

Based on the best-selling novel by Angie Thomas and a maxim of the late Tupac Shakur.

Animation as a medium of storytelling can be thought to be open to all ages and as I hope my reading will reveal, 'Nimona' could be interpreted as a transgender story.

After the untimely death of his brother by way of an ambush in Kandahar, Afghanistan, the protagonist, ‘81’(Alan Ritchson) unsuccessfully makes several attempts to become an Army Ranger. On his last mission to complete the Ranger selection process he and his squad encounter an otherworldly ‘soldier’.

Despite its aggressiveness, the Beef anthology series is about romantic love in all its forms. The final scene of the first season led us to believe that, despite the conflict, drama, and toxic traits, the main characters would end up together and, most likely, live happily ever after. The whole “beef” plot was the prelude to their love story.

The human experience is described through the eyes of a marginalized outsider, neither judgmental nor invested, just an observant donkey.

In order to learn why an arguably outdated fanfic trope was resurfacing in the contact zone of popular culture, I dove into a vibrant trough of character development.