All posts tagged: fictional

Individuals with dark traits have a heightened connection to certain types of fictional characters

Individuals with dark traits have a heightened connection to certain types of fictional characters

A new study published in Psychology of Popular Media sheds light on why some people are drawn to morally ambiguous fictional characters, such as villains and antiheroes. The research suggests that antagonistic personality traits like Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and everyday sadism—collectively known as Dark Tetrad traits—are associated with admiring and identifying with these types of characters. This association appears to reflect how individuals view their own values, motivations, and personalities in relation to these fictional figures. Fictional heroes, antiheroes, and villains play a central role in popular media, captivating audiences with their moral clarity, ambiguity, or outright malice. Previous studies have established that people are often drawn to characters who share traits with themselves, but much of this research has focused narrowly on single types of characters or excluded key personality traits like everyday sadism. This study sought to expand on that foundation. “Fiction is a big part of a lot of people’s lives, and a lot of people have pretty personal relationships with their favorite fictional characters. What draws certain individuals to certain characters?” …

How we make theological decisions for fictional scenes in ‘The Chosen’

How we make theological decisions for fictional scenes in ‘The Chosen’

(RNS) — When providing a theological assessment for “The Chosen,” it is essential to keep in mind what the show is and what it is not. The show is not Scripture. This is why the first episode begins with a disclaimer, reminding the audience of this distinction and encouraging them to read the Gospels. Additionally, it is important to know what sort of show “The Chosen” aims to be. It is not a historical documentary but a historical drama. Its primary purpose is not to educate, but to entertain and engage the audience while remaining true to the source material. “The Chosen” has accumulated hundreds of millions of views across various platforms and has had an enthusiastic fan base since its release in 2017. I serve the creators of the show along with my colleagues by reviewing the content for theological accuracy. Both the subject matter and the source material for the show are held sacred by all of the experts who provide consultation for “The Chosen,” myself included. No one wants to see Jesus, …

The Fictional Brand Archives: Explore a Growing Collection of Iconic But Fake Brands Found in Movies & TV

The Fictional Brand Archives: Explore a Growing Collection of Iconic But Fake Brands Found in Movies & TV

Los Pol­los Her­manos, Madri­gal Elec­tro­mo­tive, Mesa Verde Bank and Trust, Davis & Main: Attor­neys at Law—all of these brands come from the Break­ing Bad/Bet­ter Call Saul uni­verse. They also appear in the Fic­tion­al Brands Archive, a web­site ded­i­cat­ed to “fic­tion­al brands found in films, series and video games.” Tak­ing the brands seri­ous­ly as brands, the site draws on research from a new book writ­ten by Loren­zo Berni­ni enti­tled Fic­tion­al Brand Design. And, with its many entries, the site pro­vides a “com­pre­hen­sive view of each fic­tion­al brand, fram­ing them in their own fic­tion­al con­text and doc­u­ment­ing their use and exe­cu­tion in source work.” Oth­er notable brands include Acme (Looney Tunes), ATN News (Suc­ces­sion), Dun­der Mif­flin (The Office), Fed­er­al Motor Cor­po­ra­tion (Fight Club), both Grand Budapest Hotel and Mendl’s (Grand Budapest Hotel), and Nakato­mi Cor­po­ra­tion (Die Hard). Enter the Fic­tion­al Brands Archive here. via Messy­Nessy Relat­ed Con­tent  A Free Dig­i­tal Archive of Graph­ic Design: A Curat­ed Col­lec­tion of Design Trea­sures from the Inter­net Archive The Let­ter­form Archive Launch­es a New Online Archive of Graph­ic Design, Fea­tur­ing 9,000 …

Exploring J.R.R Tolkien’s Fictional Universe in LOTR

Exploring J.R.R Tolkien’s Fictional Universe in LOTR

What is this Middle-earth you may have heard so much about? It’s the fictional universe dreamed up by J.R.R. Tolkien for his epic fantasy tales like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Since being unleashed on the world in the mid-20th century, Middle-earth has become one of the most beloved fantasy worlds ever conceived. Tolkien wove together heroic quests, magic, ancient prophecies, and an age-old battle between good and evil into some seriously captivating stories. This rich fantasy realm has enthralled readers across generations and culturals. In this expansive guide, we’ll delve deep into the incredible depths of Middle-earth – its landscapes, histories, cultures, creatures, and wizardly magic – to understand just what makes this fictional place so uniquely spellbinding. Where is Middle-earth? Middle-earth is located on the fictional continent of Endor within the greater world of Arda. Arda itself exists within the undefined prehistoric past of Tolkien’s sub-creation. Middle-earth translates to “Middle realm of the earth” in Tolkien’s constructed Elvish language and spans from the Misty Mountains in the north of Endor …

Imagining Jane Austen As a Fictional Character

Imagining Jane Austen As a Fictional Character

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is one of literature’s most revered authors, her dazzlingly witty social satires and richly drawn romantic protagonists having captivated generations of readers across centuries. We know Jane Austen as the author behind literary masterpieces like “Pride and Prejudice” and “Emma,” her keen wit and brilliant character work cementing her as one of the most celebrated writers of all time. But what if we flipped the script entirely? Instead of Jane Austen creating captivating fictional worlds, imagine if she herself was a character sprung from another author’s imagination. Exploring Jane Austen as a fictional character offers us a unique chance to examine her work, the societal constraints she faced, and her timeless appeal through an entirely fresh lens. What Kind of Story Would She Inhabit? When picturing Jane Austen as a fictional character, one intriguing possibility is inserting her into her own brand of Regency-era social satire. We could envision Austen as a witty supporting player in a novel exploring the landed gentry’s foibles and romantic entanglements. Her …

An Anniversary View of Fictional Brain Injury

An Anniversary View of Fictional Brain Injury

Source: Shireen Anne Jeejeebhoy As I approached the incomprehensible 24th anniversary of my brain injury on January 15, I finished reading Left Neglected by Lisa Genova, a fictional account of an intelligent, driven, Type-A woman thrust into the unwanted life of brain injury. I borrowed Left Neglected reluctantly a decade ago. The lender brushed aside my trouble reading and my doubt about when I’d read it, and pushed it into my hands. So much reminded them of me and my travails. I had read and watched inspiring accounts of people with brain injury gaining back their lives within a year or three, accounts that ignored that they hadn’t regained the kind of independence healthy people take for granted. For some reason, I thought Left Neglected was this kind of non-fiction, too. I moved this novel from bookshelf to table and back again every time I had rare energy to dust my bookshelves. It stared back passively, reminding me of what I couldn’t do anymore because one driver needed to tailgate down a highway hill and …

Bill Ackman Is a Brilliant Fictional Character

Bill Ackman Is a Brilliant Fictional Character

Before last month I knew next to nothing about Bill Ackman. I probably would have recognized his name. I guess I knew he was a hedge-fund billionaire, and his reputation as kind of a jerk. “He has been straddling that line of public recognition for some 20 years now,” a New York writer explained last week, with a “formula for notoriety” based on “making big controversial calls” as an investor “and picking messy, high-profile fights.” My interest was piqued when I learned that he was part of the group publicly attempting to purge Harvard’s first Black president. Ackman attended Harvard roughly a decade after I did, and he has donated roughly $50 million more to the university than I have. Claudine Gay had just started the job last July, but he was angry because he thought she hadn’t condemned (or disciplined) Harvard’s anti-Israel, pro-Palestine, Hamas-apologist protesters quickly enough or strongly enough. That gambit failed to convince Harvard’s governing board, even after Gay’s very inept congressional testimony about free speech and the advocacy of genocide. But …

Sara Ramírez on And Just Like That’s Che Diaz: ‘I am not the fictional characters I have played’ | And Just Like That

As the second season of Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That draws to a close this week, actor Sara Ramírez has hit back at people conflating them with the polarising character they play, comedian Che Diaz. In a statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday, Ramírez took particular issue with a profile published in lifestyle outlet the Cut in June, which questions whether they are “in on the joke”. “I am not the fictional characters I have played, nor am I responsible for the things that are written for them to say,” Ramírez wrote. “I am a human being, an artist, an actor,” the Grey’s Anatomy alum continued. “And we are living in a world that has become increasingly hostile toward anyone who dares to free themselves from the gender binary, or disrupt the mainstream.” The show, a sequel to Sex and the City which was renewed for a third season on Wednesday, introduced Diaz as a new character: a non-binary comedian who co-hosts a podcast with Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), then …

Netflix launches website based on the fictional streaming service from ‘Black Mirror’

Netflix launches website based on the fictional streaming service from ‘Black Mirror’

After the first episode of “Black Mirror” Season 6 went viral for poking fun at Netflix, the streamer is now joining in on the joke. Netflix launched two websites based on “Streamberry,” the fake streaming service from the satirical anthology series. Netflix created Streamberry.tv, an exact copy of the fictional platform that features characters from the show. The streaming giant also launched youareawful.com, where users can upload their own photos to become the subject of a Streamberry show. Streamberry was featured in the first episode of “Black Mirror,” where Joan, a jaded employee at a tech company, discovers her life is being replicated in a new TV show called “Joan is Awful,” starring Salma Hayek. The parody streaming service looks exactly like Netflix, including the same user interface and the classic “Tudum” intro noise. (This TechCrunch story contains spoilers.) The new promotional website, streamberry.tv, allows users to envision the streaming service, which has title cards featuring characters from previous seasons, such as pop star Ashley O (played by Miley Cyrus) and singing competition contestant Bing (Daniel …

Superchat’s new AI chatbot lets you message historical and fictional characters via ChatGPT

Superchat’s new AI chatbot lets you message historical and fictional characters via ChatGPT

The company behind the popular iPhone customization app Brass, sticker maker StickerHub and others is out today with a new AI chat app called SuperChat, which allows iOS users to chat with virtual characters powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. However, what makes the app different from the default ChatGPT experience or the dozens of generic AI chat apps now available are the characters offered which you can use to engage with SuperChat’s AI features. The characters include notable historical figures like Shakespeare, Albert Einstein, Cleopatra or Neil Armstrong, plus those from public domain works, classic stories, or fairy tales, like Snow White or Medusa or Sherlock Holmes, as well as those that represent different professions, like gardeners, chefs, or therapists. Image Credits: Gorilla Technologies The company, Gorilla Technologies, has also created its own characters, like its standard ChatGPT assistant named Aria. This chatbot can aid users with everyday tasks, like email writing or marketing expertise, for example. “The goal is to make AI technology accessible to everyone, not just people who know how to write great …