The Take
This is the Take. It's where you come to understand more about your favorite movies, shows and culture. Our video essays make the story worlds you enter richer and deeper. Think: Endings Explained, Character Studies, Hidden Messages and Symbols Revealed, Actor and Director Profiles, and more.
We want to share our love of visual culture with the world. So here's our Take.
251
Selena Gomez: The Queen of Kindness… And Drama
Selena Gomez: queen of kindness... and controversy? Today we're looking at why, despite her best efforts, Selena keeps finding herself embroiled in controversy after controversy.
8 min
252
Succession’s Shiv - The Real “Woman Problem" in...
Succession does a great job of dealing with not just how the “woman” dynamics realistically play out around Shiv, but also how they’ve shaped her psychologically. Shiv has been molded into an arrogant-yet-insecure Girlboss who not only doesn’t help other women but often weaponizes feminism in service of her family.
13 min
253
Yellowjackets Ending Explained: S1 Character Ar...
Don't miss our Take on the hidden significance behind Yellowjackets season one’s most poignant reveals.
13 min
254
Elvis: What Baz Luhrmann Left Out… and Why
Biopics aren’t always the truth, but they are versions of the truth. With Elvis, we are hearing the King’s story through the voice of a classic unreliable narrator. So, what was left out… and more importantly, why?
10 min
255
The Banshees of Inisherin, Explained - What Tho...
Why do friendships break down – and once a conflict starts, can it ever really be over? The Banshees of Inisherin takes on these questions on both the personal and the political level...
14 min
256
Friends' Rachel & Her Sisters: What’s Really Dr...
Rachel’s sisters on Friends are unimpressive human beings – so what was it about Rachel that let her escape their spoiled, stunted adulthood?
10 min
257
Andrew Tate’s Empire Proves the Toxic Male is T...
Andrew Tate’s rise to fame has been rapid, but how did someone with such openly misogynistic views build up such a devoted following in a short space of time?
12 min
258
Leonardo DiCaprio & The Decline of The ’90s Hea...
Do young women still have a thing for Leonardo DiCaprio? Leo remains forever etched in our collective memory as the archetypal 90s heartthrob. But has our culture largely moved on from that 90s male ideal he’s clinging to?
10 min
259
Why Today’s Content Creators Get So Much Hate
Content creators are some of the most famous, influential, and popular people in our culture… so why don’t they get the same amount of respect as other creatives?
14 min
260
The Stay-at-Home vs Working Mom Binary Has Stop...
The stay-at-home versus the working mom. For too long women have been pigeonholed into these caricature-ish, loaded ideas of identity that prioritize capital and a social order over humanity and nuance.
12 min
261
Austin Butler and Why Women Don't Get to be "Me...
Sure, Austin Butler has been mocked on social media for retaining Elvis' drawl for years after filming wrapped... but he's also still getting awards & puff piece after puff piece. The fact that woman could never get away with this style of method acting exposes a bigger double standard in Hollywood.
15 min
262
How We Fail to Count Women: The Female Informat...
Gender gaps – we see them across the world, in almost every industry and aspect of our lives. But did you know that there’s a gap between men and women in information itself?
10 min
263
Why Sex No Longer Sells in Hollywood
They say that ‘sex sells’, but if that’s true, why has it practically disappeared from modern Hollywood filmmaking?
12 min
264
Why Your Favorite Show is Getting Canceled Soon
The streaming revolution has given audiences immediate access to a larger catalog of shows than ever before, but what good is that if they keep getting canceled midway through narrative arcs?
12 min
265
The Toxic Male: Why We’ll Never Really Escape Him
The era of outrage over toxic masculinity is truly dead – and Hollywood and social media have doubled down to put the toxic male back on top and at the center of our stories.
12 min
266
The “Industry Plant” Problem: Harry Styles is n...
Ever since going solo post-One Direction, Harry has been on a mission to establish himself as a unique, creative voice. But has he done enough to really stand out as an original artist? And how does he fit into the larger conversation of the problem with industry plants and how hard it is for original artistic voices to break through?
10 min
267
Prince Harry’s Spare: What He’s Really Looking ...
Between Prince Harry's book Spare, the Netflix docuseries, and countless interviews, it feels like we finally got an inside look at the Duke of Sussex’s private life... so why does it still feel so unclear what Prince Harry really wants?
10 min
268
You S4, Explained: Everything you need to know....
Don't miss our new video on the first half of You's fourth season, how Joe’s new European surroundings becomes its sharpest-ever critique of class, and how the show keeps getting us to empathize with this serial killer.
10 min
269
Couples Therapy's Growing Problem: Weaponized T...
Couples therapy is on the rise – and that’s mostly a good thing. But is there a darker side of those seemingly good intentions that may be hiding something not-so-good?
8 min
270
Star-Crossed Lovers: Why Their Stories Must End...
Some of the best love stories of all time are tales of star-crossed lovers... is part of the reason we are so drawn to these stories is because there is something cathartic about seeing when things don’t work out?
11 min
271
How Magic Mike Complicated the Male Bombshell |...
Seductive, sensual and scintillating, Channing Tatum’s titular character, Magic Mike, is the epitome of the modern male sex symbol… so what’s the legacy and impact of the Magic Mike trilogy, as it finishes up with Magic Mike’s Last Dance?
10 min
272
Why Young Celebs Look Old and Old Celebs Look Y...
Older celebrities are looking younger, younger celebrities are looking older…it seems like no one wants to actually look their own age. In our heavily filtered, face-tuned world, are we all in danger of trying to reach for some idea of perfection that forces everyone to turn away from their natural looks?
11 min
273
Sex Work Onscreen: Old Tropes & Stigmas That Ar...
Sex work is slowly being de-stigmatized with more nuanced on-screen depictions that show what the reality of the industry is like — and it’s about time.
14 min
274
How Millennials Outgrew These Tired Tropes
Millennials in the real world are full-fledged adults now, so why does millennial representation on screen often feel like a caricature rather than the real thing?
12 min
275
Wakanda Forever: Shuri's Amazing Transformation
In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Shuri's evolution shows us the power of grief as her losses compound, one on top of another, and she’s forced to make a choice between what will feel good and what will be good.
9 min