by Alice-Ginevra Micheli, Contributing Writer
We all have that feeling. You know the one: You finish watching a movie and something about it hits you in just the right spot. Whether it was the theme, the story, or even the characters, there was a quality about it that almost makes you want to turn around and go back a second, third, or even fourth time!
Bar the reality of living in the movie theater for the rest of your days, you turn to the rest of pop culture and start to look for other avenues where you can find that same feeling.
Well I’m here to make this plight easier for all. Each month, I take a piece of pop culture that was prevalent in the social consciousness — whether it is a movie, TV show, or something else — and then recommend other forms of media for those who want to stay in that world a little bit longer.
Welcome to your One Stop Pop, internet!
As we’ve seen across this column, I don’t always build recommendations based on what was most popular in the previous month. Instead, sometimes it’s worth looking at what did atrociously, yet still lit up the airwaves with just how bad it was. Ironically, we’ll once again be diving into a Dakota Johnson affair with this exact intention, which is perhaps something to ponder. I am of course speaking about the now infamous, incorrigible, and inflammatory Madame Web.
Let me confirm: This is not a good movie. In fact, it is a very bad movie, so I strongly suggest that if you’re being tempted to watch it, to look below for an option instead to satiate that thirst. Don’t put yourself through it like I did. The movie may have very well stolen years from my life.
But again, I digress. For these recommendations, we’re going to be taking elements of Madame Web that might have worked individually, but together resulted in the chaos that we as an audience have been presented on screen. Let’s get started on this list of inspired, yet much, much better recommendations, shall we…
Book: A Soldier’s Duty by Jean Johnson
To begin, we will look at a novel that focuses on a character with precognition abilities. Even more related, this character is a government employee, who has the reluctant duty of saving the world.
A Soldier’s Duty is a dystopian science fiction novel following Ia, a precog, who constantly sees a future where her home galaxy has been ripped apart by enemies. In order to stop this devastating possibility from coming to pass, Ia decides to enlist in the military and use the force of the Terran United Planets military to become the legendary soldier known as Bloody Mary. Will her gamble pay off?
This book is all about hope, karma, and having an unmatched faith in oneself that is so strong, it has to be the correct way forward, or everything really will fall apart. Ia is one of those characters whose very existence is morally gray. Add to that the constant exploration of the present and perplexity of the military, and you have a rich, and vivid story that begins to unfold.
The first in a five book series, this is an urban fantasy that spans generations, and illustrates how a good story can really affect an entire population in a significant way. The real question is, will it do so positively or negatively?
TV Show: Charmed
Another element we can extrapolate from the disaster that was Madame Web is the idea of women coming together and being more powerful as a result. Nothing is a better example of this original Charmed series. Not the new one (let that fade into obscurity), but the original!
Starring Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, Shannen Doherty, and Rose McGowan, Charmed follows three sisters who are “The Charmed Ones” — the most powerful witches born in generations, and must combat a litany of evil week to week.
This is the epitome of the term “girl power,” and it earns every element of its reputation. This show started 26 years ago, yet it still holds up in terms of its themes, storylines, and most of its special effects.
All of us who grew up on it had our favorite sister (mine was Piper), and if you didn’t, this is a perfect time to delve into a story that will give you the naughties nostalgia. At a time where cozy living and general geopolitical events are seemingly unbearable, escaping into the lives of three young, badass witches who live in a massive house in San Francisco can be exactly the cure.
Album: In the Zone by Britney Spears
In the Zone was Spears’ fourth studio album, and it hosts some absolutely legendary songs such as “Everytime,”“Me Against the Music,”and of course the aforementioned, legendary “Toxic,” which is featured in the film.
This album that came out at the singer’s absolute peak, and hosts collaborations with icons such as Madonna, cementing her as the definitive female artist of the 2000s.
Similar to Charmed, this album will help spiral you through a host of memories and nostalgia, remembering how the music of many of our childhood’s helped define its strange and wacky period.
Video Game: Until Dawn
Let’s move back to the powers and actual central theme of Madame Web: combatting one’s fate. While this story attempts to showcase the characters as fighting against evil, as well as their perceived destiny, you might have walked out of the cinema desperately hoping for more. So let’s combine that desire with intensive fear, and recommend one of the bigger games of its year, Until Dawn.
Developed as an interactive drama horror game, the player assumes the role of multiple characters throughout the story, made up of eight young adults, who, one night, have to survive on Blackwood Mountain until dawn.
Combining American First Nations folklore with one of the most complex morality tales you might ever experience, this is a game that has been created to have multiple possible outcomes and no way of cheating it. That is to say, you actually cannot cheat fate while playing.
From shorter decision-making times, to engineered save mechanics, your decisions could either save you and your characters from a grisly death, or be reason everyone is killed. For example, there’s a part of the game where you have to keep the controller completely still to avoid being caught — and no, putting it on the ground doesn’t work, as the controller will vibrate and you will die.
It’s visceral and shocking, and will certainly create some memorable moments in your gaming history.
Well this was an interesting one, wasn’t it? From nostalgia, to fortune-telling, to scaring the living daylights out of you, there hopefully is something here for anyone who walked out of Madame Web,and cursed the movie gods for allowing you to pay for it. I’ll return soon with one of March’s biggest titles. However, until then, thank you for visiting SiftPop’s One Stop Pop. We hope to see you again soon!
You can read more from Alice-Ginevra Micheli, and follow her on Instagram and Letterboxd