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.
476
Bridesmaids: Why Helen Has No Friends
Helen is that woman you hate -- but also want to be. What's the problem of the Bridesmaids antagonist? Why is she incapable of getting what she really wants: friends?
20 min
477
The Matrix 4, Ending Explained - "Fixing" Trini...
The Matrix Resurrections is an interrogation of the original film and its legacy, asking whether anything has improved as a result of the Matrix’s message to free your mind, or if the mind-control in our actual world has just gotten worse.
22 min
478
The Pick Me Girl - Reflecting Our Insecurities ...
Today's "Pick Me Girl" often manifests like the traditional "Good Girl Wifey” who judges single women. She can can even be an antifeminist who disavows women’s rights. But she is truly defined by her lack of time or respect for other women.
21 min
479
Janet Jackson, Taking Back Control
Janet Jackson's early music tackled the body insecurities she’d dealt with throughout her early life as a child performer. Now, she's taking back control once again with her own 2022 documentary. So let's celebrate her legacy of centering female bodily agency in pop.
15 min
480
The Girlboss Villain Is Everywhere - It's Enoug...
The Girlboss Villain is everywhere -- but are these stories about toxic female bosses incisive capitalist critiques, or are they actually kind of misogynistic, suggesting their desire for power is unwomanly or unnatural?
21 min
481
Grey’s Anatomy - Why McDreamy Isn’t That Dreamy
The less dreamy traits of Grey's Anatomy's Derek Shepherd have been the topic of discussion since the seemingly charming doctor was written out of the show. So what can we learn from his lack of growth?
17 min
482
Why We Need Classic Movies (And How To Save Them)
Classic cinema is rapidly declining in popularity, largely because streaming services prioritize only the newest content. As a result, viewers are actually losing the ability to engage with the language of older movies. So how can we save dying classic cinema?
23 min
483
How Phoebe and Mike Redefined "Settling"
Friends’ Phoebe Buffay is quirky, unique, and has lived an interesting life, while by comparison, Mike Hannigan is... kind of bland. So did Phoebe actually settle or did they find the key to happy ever after?
17 min
484
Succession Season 3 - The Secret to Winning ‘th...
The Season 3 finale of Succession leaves us with some key takeaways about the nature of power: so much of it stems from others believing you have it, and that it’s not just about winning the stated game, but setting the terms of winning -- making up the rules and defining what power itself even is.
23 min
485
And Just Like That - How Sex and the City Changed
In the premiere episodes of revival series And Just Like That, Sex and the City catches up with its characters to show us what it's like for women to grow older, though it remains to be seen if ladies can resurrect the seemingly joyless, sexless city that was once theirs.
14 min
486
The Office - In Defense of Toby
Since The Office ended, theories on Toby have proliferated, with many even finding a bunch of clues that he’s the true Scranton Strangler. But Toby doesn’t deserve the hate, so why is he such a punching bag?
19 min
487
Legally Blonde and the History of the “Dumb Blo...
A key mission of Legally Blonde's Elle Woods is fighting the bias against blondes -- in particular, the "dumb blonde" stereotype. But where does this stereotype come from? Let's all dig into the roots of the assumptions about blondes and find out what's really behind them.
17 min
488
Forrest Gump: The Myth of America
The story of Forrest Gump is a myth of 20th-century America. Like any good myth, it filters historical facts through allegory, creating a symbolic journey that helps us make sense of a complicated era. So, what does Forrest Gump has to say about us -- and our national identity?
24 min
489
The Good Girl Trope - Why Women Can't Win
The good girl of film and tv plays by the rules. She's nice, polite, and probably a straight A student. Yet this perfect-seeming facade can mask her darker struggles, even from herself.
19 min
490
Pete Davidson, Heartthrob - Why the “Hotness Ga...
Media coverage of Pete Davidson suggests a society that’s still as obsessed as ever with conventional female beauty and a “hotness gap” between the men and women in celebrity couples. But Pete's attractiveness is actually pretty obvious, and the coverage of his relationships needs to calm down and catch up with the times.
14 min
491
The "Mean Girl" Trio - Three Types of Bad Femal...
Variations on the terrible trio, like The Plastics and the Unholy Trinity, have long dominated cinema’s and TV’s fictional high school hallways. So what is it about this rule of three and these particular recurring character types that add up to the perfect recipe for high-school popularity and oppression?
16 min
492
The Dragon Lady Trope - Reclaiming Her Power
East Asian women onscreen have long been haunted by the figure of the Dragon Lady: a violent seductress who will do anything to achieve her goals. At the same time, the dragon lady is unapologetically driven, ultra-assertive, and has agency.
21 min
493
The Weird Girl Trope, Explained
She's a Weird Girl, the black sheep of all female character tropes. Why do people misunderstand her, or are even scared of her? What secret powers does the weird girl have?
20 min
494
The Office's Andy - Privilege Can't Buy Happiness
Privileged and miserably insecure Andy Bernard is The Office's cautionary tale about the limits of what wealth can (or rather can't) do for you. Many Office fans found Andy’s arc disappointing, but his choices eventually proved how many who grow up in toxic, status-obsessed environments often don’t transcend their learned behaviors.
18 min
495
The Housewife Onscreen, Start Valuing Her More
In capitalist terms, housewives as a group are highly influential, shaping everything from department-store stock to global politics. But whether she’s framed as an object of envy or pity, the housewife figure is routinely disrespected in our culture.
22 min
496
How I Met Your Mother's Controversial Ending, E...
How I Met Your Mother's ending has never sat right with fans. Why is this conclusion regarded with such infamy? Should Ted and Robin have gotten together? Did the Mother live up to your expectations? Let's take a look at what doesn't work about the How I Met Your Mother series finale.
17 min
497
All the Metaphors in The Matrix, Explained
The evolving discussion over symbolism in The Matrix is a testament to how much meaning the film holds for audiences. So which interpretations offer the most insight, and what does the Matrix teach us about the fundamental nature of art?
22 min
498
Stop Talking About If Female Characters Are “Li...
Why are we still talking about whether or not female characters are likable? Historically, female characters have been over-defined by how much a male viewpoint character likes, or indeed, doesn’t like them -- creating a gendered bias of likability.
22 min
499
The “Victim” Onscreen and How She’s Been Misrep...
The female victim-survivor binary of film & tv has produced both hapless "victim" characters and unrealistic "survivor" heroes -- so it's time we truly listen as the person who lived through hell tells her complicated story herself.
21 min
500
The Nice Guy Trope, Explained
He's not like the other guys. He's a NICE guy -- but wait, is he really that nice? What's behind his sweet, romantic act? In this episode, we take on the Nice Guy archetype and figure out what he represents in our world today.
22 min