Let It Be: How Yesterday Fails to Change History

What would our world look like if the Beatles had never existed?

That’s the question the movie Yesterday (2019) promises to explore; and I think we can all agree, it’s a fascinating one. By the end of the movie, though, this promise falls flat, when the film’s answer to “what would the world look like without the Beatles?” turns out to be, “basically… the same?”

Allow me to explain.

The Forgotten Sister: Anne Brontë

“But he that dares not grasp the thorn, should never crave the rose.”—Anne Brontë

The other Brontë. The forgotten Brontë. The quiet, religious, boring younger Brontë sister. Such are the descriptions used regarding Anne Brontë, the baby sister of Charlotte and Emily, the queens of Gothic romance. For decades, Anne was a footnote in her sister’s lives, rarely mentioned and never appreciated for her genius until recently. Despite early attempts by Charlotte to stifle its popularity, we now hail her second novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as one of the first feminist novels. However, Anne published an earlier novel called Agnes Grey. It is the tale of a poor, plain governess who finds love and fulfills her dreams. She wrote it before her sister wrote Jane Eyre. It closely paralleled Anne’s experiences, except it has a happy ending.

The House that Wharton Built

An individual’s preferences in entertainment, be it films, television, books, or music, are obviously deeply personal and varied. Everyone brings unique experiences to bear on how they receive a particular story. There are also times when a book or film can come along and capture you even though one or more elements of it are not what typically pleases you the most. Such was my experience with The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Despite a lead character who differs greatly from me and its tragic ending, The House of Mirth still impressed me as an excellent, impactful narrative.

Persistence and Patience: Jane Austen’s Persuasion

When I was seventeen, my parents gave me a set of four Jane Austen paperbacks in a little slipcover case for my birthday or Christmas, I forget which. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and Persuasion. I’d seen movie versions of the first three by then, but not of Persuasion. I read the other three first I think—it’s a hard to remember, twenty years later. Persuasion was the only one of Austen’s books my mom hadn’t read before, so she couldn’t tell me much about it either. I had to go into it not knowing anything but the blurb on the back cover.

The Motifs of Pan’s Labyrinth

Previously, I’ve written articles about another of del Toro’s films, The Shape of Water, and touched on his adaptations of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy series. But I’ve never written about my favorite Guillermo del Toro story, Pan’s Labyrinth. I believe it’s the perfect combination of del Toro’s stylistic and literary motifs. Massively inspired by fairy tales and myths, Pan’s Labyrinth follows the story of Ofelia, a girl who moves to a remote military outpost with her pregnant mother to join her new army captain stepfather. Soon after her arrival, Ofelia discovers a secret about herself and so begins her adventure.

Middle Earth on the Big Screen—A Master Class in Fantasy Storytelling

Though I started my journey into the world of Tolkien as brought to life by Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh late in the game (2016), I am now obsessed. In this article, I will expound on a few of the reasons why.

The Gothic Stories of Angela Carter

 Anticipation is the greater part of pleasure

The Bloody Chamber (or The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories) is a collection of short Gothic novels by English writer Angela Carter. She bases the stories on fairy tales, especially the folk tales of French collector Charles Perrault, whose prose Carter translated beforehand. Carter rewrites the plots of famous fairy tales in a unique style. This article contains a few spoilers.

Fear, Chaos and Pain: The Rise of a Hero

Considered as one of the greatest trilogies of all time by many, The Dark Knight Trilogy by Christopher Nolan chronicles Bruce Wayne’s journey from vengeance into heroism. Each installment carries a theme that pervades the lives of all its characters.

“I See Dead People”: Viewing The Sixth Sense

Aside from the comedy, there is only one film genre determined by the response it intends to elicit from the audience: the scary movie. These films terrify the viewer while not placing them in any real danger. They can be more suspenseful than gory when the story involves ghosts, and The Sixth Sense is a prime example. It achieves a thrilling effect on the audience through expected genre tropes and unexpected storytelling details.

Heart vs Stomach in Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House

 Based on Shirley Jackson’s novel of the same name, Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House uses seven main characters to tell the story of how a house haunts the lives of the Craine family to keep itself standing. This article contains spoilers for all its twists, so read at your own discretion.