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.
201
And Just Like That: Season 2 Finale, Samantha’s...
Here’s our take on And Just Like That’s season two finale, what worked and what missed the mark, and that Samantha Jones cameo.
15 min
202
The Suits Resurgence: Analyzing Meghan Markle’s...
Suits has become the surprise hit of the summer, so we're taking a deep dive into one of the characters that make the show so bingeable: Rachel Zane!
12 min
203
The Blind Side v. Reality: How the Film Twisted...
Michael Oher's recent revelation that the family he thought had adopted him actually placed him under a conservatorship has ignited a number of important conversations. Here's our rundown of the case & how it fits into the larger conversations about guardianships.
14 min
204
And Just Like That's 'New Samantha' - Why It Do...
SATC reboot And Just Like That has been struggling to replicate Samantha Jones' special spark. So here are the characters that come the closest to filling her stilettos and the one that might actually have a chance at bringing the sparkle back to the show.
12 min
205
Rihanna’s Hybrid Working Mom Model: New Era, Ne...
Is Rihanna the ultimate example of the changing face of modern motherhood? She can surprisingly teach us a lot about what it means to create your own path as a working mom today.
10 min
206
Depp v Heard, Today: How Opinions Majorly Shift...
Despite recent wins for women in high-profile court cases, the new Netflix Depp v. Heard trial Netflix documentary makes it clear that society hasn’t totally moved on from treating the case as one-sided tabloid fodder. Here’s our take on the aftermath of the media circus, the myth of the “perfect” victim, and how more recent cases are paving a way forward for victims.
11 min
207
Mickey’s Zany History & Disney’s Crucial Copyri...
Today we're taking a look at cultural icon Mickey Mouse's weird & fascinating history, his lasting legacy, & the truth about his rumored entry into the public domain & retirement.
10 min
208
The Wizard of Oz’s Bizarre History & Crazy Adap...
The Wizard of Oz's Dorothy and her friends journeying to the Land of Oz has been adapted into countless sequels, spinoffs, stage musicals, animated specials, and tv series. So what is it about this story that continues to capture the public imagnation?
12 min
209
Dead Reckoning: Why Beating Sequel Fatigue Was ...
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning has made over $500 million at the box office... and yet is still considered a major *underperformer*. So what went wrong? And what does this film getting outpaced by Barbenheimer mean for Hollywood going forward?
10 min
210
The B**** Incognito Trope: Mean Girls Who Fake ...
She’s beautiful, charming, and sweet as pie… or, at least, that’s what she wants you to think. Whether she’s a Queen Bee we love to hate, a comedic obstacle, or a full on villain, there’s just something about her that keeps movies and shows coming back to the trope.
12 min
211
Did Friends Ever Jump The Shark? - Most Controv...
Friends is a cultural icon, but even its most ardent fans can agree that along with all of the great moments, the show has also had some duds... but did it ever truly Jump the Shark?
11 min
212
And Just Like That Finally Understands What It ...
And Just Like That has been a disappointment to Sex and the City fans since the beginning, but as it nears a second finale… is the show finally starting to get its magic back?!
11 min
213
Online Generations: How When We First Logged On...
In all of the discourse about the difference between generations, people have kind of let out the effect of 'online generations' - that is, the era in which you became a regular user of the internet. Today we're taking a quick look at how *when* we hopped online also had a huge part in shaping us.
13 min
214
How The Graduate’s Quarter-Life Crisis Lasted D...
The Graduate didn’t invent the quarter-life crisis, but it might have been the first movie to really dramatize it. It also laid the groundwork for some of our favorite more recent quarterlife crisis films!
15 min
215
Barbie's Hidden Easter Eggs & Margot Robbie's B...
Barbie had so many great easter eggs and references, both in the film itself *and* the press tour before hand! So today we're taking a look at all of the best Barbie references.
9 min
216
Bromances Are Back On Top: Behind The Trope's R...
Bromance movies exploded in the early 2000s, and then kind of disappeared for a while... Today we're looking at the evolution of male friendships onscreen, and why it’s so valuable for men to feel secure in their bromances!
10 min
217
The Amnesia Trope: When Hollywood Gets It Right...
Amnesia is often used as a plot device on screen, but memory loss in real life often looks quite different from what we see in movies & shows. So what are the real thematic reasons filmmakers keep returning to their Hollywood vision of amnesia?
13 min
218
The Snow White Controversy, Explained: How Holl...
This is the true scoop on the Snow White debacle. Plus, how can Hollywood toe the tumultuous cultural line without overcorrecting in either direction?
13 min
219
Barbie: How Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie & Co. S...
Barbie is the Blockbuster of the summer, and everyone's loving it! But the creative team did run into one obstacle when trying to make the movie of their dreams - so what *really* caused the problem, & how did they do their best to overcome it?
16 min
220
Oppenheimer, Explained: The Devastating Ending ...
Christopher Nolan’s three-hour epic Oppenheimer has managed to turn what would normally just be cinema-lover Oscar-bait into a huge summer blockbuster. But how much of the film is actually true, and what did that ending really mean?
15 min
221
Jayne Mansfield’s True Story: More Than Just a ...
Jayne Mansfield might be best known as Hollywood’s attempt at a Marilyn Monroe replacement, who also met a tragic end – but there’s a lot more to her story! So here are some interesting things you might not have known about Hollywood icon Jayne Mansfield.
12 min
222
Policing Women’s Clothing Needs To Stop | FEMINISM
Have we really made it to a place where women are free to wear whatever they want, whenever they want? Don't miss our take on the history of fashion shaming, the strides women have made to escape it, and how we’re finally starting to see the light on the other side.
13 min
223
The Idol’s Original Version We Never Got To See
We've already covered everything that went wrong with The Idol, so today we're diving into what the show could have been (and how it could maybe turn things around in the 2nd season...)
13 min
224
How "And Just Like That" Lost Sex and the City'...
Season one of And Just Like That proved to be… pretty lackluster. And now it seems that even the second season won’t be able to recapture the magic of the original series. So why has the reboot been so unable to reproduce what we all loved so much about the original show?
10 min
225
Stranger Things' Queer Themes: Chosen Family, C...
Stranger Things has been immensely popular ever since its debut, its themes have especially resonated with queer audiences. Today we're taking a look at all of the underlying queer elements at play within the show.
11 min