Pop DNA

We're wrapping up 2023 with a look at the beloved 1939 classic musical fantasy film The Wizard of Oz, and its 1900 source novel by L. Frank Baum.

This week we give you a wizard's-eye view of the topics we plan to dig into deeper in the next couple episodes. We'll look at the popular theory of the original novel as an allegory for U.S. politics and economics at the turn of the 20th century, as well as the significance of the song "Over the Rainbow" for Americans during the Great Depression. We'll also talk about Judy Garland's experience making the film and in Hollywood in general, as well as both the movie and book's long-lasting and far-reaching impact on American culture as we know it.

If we appeared in your Spotify Wrapped this year, we'd like to say thank you, thank you, thank you, sincerely, for all your support. We hope you're having as much fun as we are.

Follow us on Instagram for occasional memes, book recs, and cat pics.

Following up on our conversation from last time, this installment in our discussion of The Hunger Games looks at the vulnerability of children in both Panem and the ongoing attacks on Palestine, the troubling parallel between the Capitol citizens of Panem and we in the privileged Western world in our parasocial relationships with those respective children, and how these traumatic events will affect the human psyche and our ways of dealing with vulnerabilities.

This is another hard discussion, so again, listen with that in mind, and please continue to call your elected leaders, protest, share and post, and take care of yourselves.

Further Reading:

Intro to the Palestinian journalists in Gaza

More about parentification and vulnerability cycles

Helpful guide to calling your members of Congress

With a new installment of The Hunger Games film franchise hitting theaters this month, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to revisit the series, and we brought a friend!

Jac Frost (known as @jacfrostisreal on TikTok) joins us for an intro to the deep-dive discussions we're planning on the books by Suzanne Collins and their film adaptations.

Our conversation focuses on the ways our current world is reflective of Panem, from the ever-growing class and economic divides in our society, to the level of surveillance and control the state already has access to into our everyday lives, to the happening-as-we-speak genocide of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli government and military. This does get pretty heavy, so if you're not in a place to hear it, please take care of yourself, but also contact your elected officials to call for a ceasefire.

Find Jac on TikTok and Pop DNA on Instagram.

Happy Halloween!

As a coda to our Wednesday series, we decided to watch an iconic movie from our childhoods and talk over it!

Tangents include the research Rhonda did about the house in Practical Magic before we visited the town where it was filmed for Galentine's Day, the summer camp Erin worked at one summer that reminded her of Wednesday's summer camp in really uncomfortable ways, and the prolific career of Joan Cusack, among other things.

The commentary starts at around 8:50.

We've been making this show for five years now and we're so grateful to everyone who has tuned in!

We wrap up our Wednesday series with a deep dive into the character's emotional landscape. The therapy sessions that Wednesday is compelled to attend are not a healthy depiction of mental health care, so let's talk about that! Let's also talk about whether or not romance was really necessary to Wednesday's story (it wasn't), and whether romance storylines in media in general are underappreciated (they are).

Come back next week for a spooky Addams Family-themed bonus episode!

Further reading:

Busting some therapy myths perpetuated by media

Therapist reacts to Wednesday's therapist (video)

Actors on Actors: Jenna Ortega and Elle Fanning transcript and video

Everyone is Beautiful and No One is Horny

Follow on Instagram for extra content and memes

This week we're talking about the ways the titular Wednesday explores her identity throughout the series, from finding other weird kids at Nevermore Academy, to differentiating from the Addams Family ethos.

Further Reading:

Nevermore Academy website

Nevermore filming locations

The All Ghouls School on TV Tropes

Children's author Chris Priestly on the appeal of the special school in fiction

Introduction to Bowen Theory in family therapy

Check our Instagram for images we discuss, extra content, memes, and occasional cat photos

Wednesday is both a piece of Addams Family media and a Tim Burton work, so we're looking at the intersection of those two origins.

We take a trip down memory lane to look at how Wednesday and the rest of her family have been portrayed in various media over the decades, from the original 1930s comics by Charles Addams, all the way up to its current iteration in the Wednesday Netflix series.

Then we talk about Tim Burton's aesthetic influences, distinct style of storytelling, and how he brought those things to Wednesday.

Further Reading:

The Smithsonian Mag's Cultural History of the Addams Family (from 2019, so pre-Wednesday)

More about the Addams Family Musical

Vox piece on Tim Burton's distinct visual style and influences

Hollywood Reporter article on Tim Burton's bringing his vision to Wednesday

Find images we discussed, plus the occasional meme, on Instagram

It's full-on Spooky Season at Pop DNA and we're celebrating with a discussion of our favorite spooky teen, Wednesday Addams!

In part 1 of this series, we talk about some of our initial thoughts on the Netflix show Wednesday, our relationships with the Addams Family franchise, and how we feel Wednesday fits into this 85-year legacy.

We also take the quiz to find out which character we are, which you can take here, and then get into a quick overview of other topics we're planning to deep-dive this month.

We'll look at previous iterations of the Addams characters, from the original comic strips, to the 1960s TV series, to the 1990s movies we Millennials grew up watching. We'll also discuss Wednesday as a Tim Burton work, framing the show as a whole through his signature aesthetic and directorial style. Plus much more!

Follow on Instagram for supplementary content, memes, and cat photos.

We wrap up our series on Abbott Elementary with some thoughts on how the show pays homage and stands out from older network sitcoms, Quinta Brunson's inspirations for the series, and a more lighthearted look at teaching and the veteran teachers who have shaped all of our lives.

Further Reading:

Abbott's "Revitalization" of the network sitcom

Quinta Brunson on Abbott's "cool factor"

The real teachers that inspired Abbott

Report on penalties for teachers who break contracts

Study on why teachers leave, and why they stay

Mr. Reed music video - "Welcome to the 4th Grade"

Come back next week for part 1 of our series on the Netflix show Wednesday!

This week we're digging into some of our favorite characters on Abbott Elementary!

We take a look at our favorite terrible boss Ava, with a psychological analysis of supervisor-employee relationship patterns, and how Ava's management style stacks up to other fictional bosses like Michael Scott or Don Draper.

Then we explore Janine and Barbara's unique found family mother-daughter dynamic, a type of relationship we don't often see in media, despite the many "reluctant father figure/teen girl daughter figure" duos that seem to be everywhere in pop culture.

Further Reading:

10 Terrible Bosses from Movies and TV

Psychologist breaks down boss-employee relationships in media

The dubious Milgram Shock Experiment

The equally sus Stanford Prison Experiment

7 Times Barbara was a Mom to Janine