Criticism - Fansplaining

Personal Essays

What Spider-Man Can’t Save

In which our hero contemplates a career writing about superheroes and pop culture—and imagines an ending.

Production still featuring Lestat performing on a stage, his arm stretched upwards.

Recaps

The Vampire Lestat: The Long Table

In episode 7, “The Failures,” Louis has a gruesome reunion with Armand, while Lestat faces judgment from specters of his past.

Production still featuring Lestat and Louis sitting together on a bench, gazing into each others' eyes.

Recaps

The Vampire Lestat: Sparing the Ambiguity

In episode 6, “Montreal,” Louis and Lestat share a tumultuous night ahead of Lestat’s farewell show.

Production still of Lestat playing the violin for Akasha who is lying on her slab.

Recaps

The Vampire Lestat: The Queen of the Damned

In episode 5, “New York,” Lestat strips back his rock-star facade and confronts his memories of Akasha.

Image of Pasha the pirate captain, falling into a swirling sea.

Criticism

Be Gay, Do (Sea) Crimes: Pirate Tropes and Queer Resistance

As Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote, pirate stories thrive on “all the old romance, retold exactly in the ancient way.”

Production still featuring Lestat posing for selfies surrounded by a crowd of fans with their phones out.

Recaps

The Vampire Lestat: Hurtling Towards End Times

In episode 4, “The Devil’s Road,” Lestat’s reality begins to fracture as Armand returns with portents of doom.

Still from the episode featuring a line drawing of Lestat in a gilded frame, set on a table with a glass of wine and three burning candle

Recaps

The Vampire Lestat: You Have to Ask for It

In episode 3, “Toronto,” the show takes bold creative swings as Lestat tries (and fails) to rewrite his own sexual trauma.

Production still featuring Sam Reid as Lestat and Jennifer Ehle as Gabriella, both sitting at a piano, Gabriella smoking a cigarette and resting her head on Lestat's shoulder.

Recaps

The Vampire Lestat: The Oedipiphany

In episode 2, “Toledo,” Gabriella stars in a Freudian trip down memory lane, pairing flashbacks to Lestat’s youth with a sleazy mother/son date in Ohio.

A collage of the three covers of Drake's triple-album release

Criticism

Drake and His Fans vs the World

The chart-topping album Iceman has broken records—and done little to quell ongoing criticisms of the artist. Where does that leave his fandom?

Production still from The Vampire Lestat featuring Lestat onstage with his band (Larry, TC, Salamander visible behind him), holding a violin and singing into the mic.

Recaps

The Vampire Lestat: Sex, Drugs, and Unstable Narrators

In episode 1, “Detroit,” Sam Reid reintroduces Lestat as a messy, self-destructive rock star—and proves he was born to play this role.

Thai GL stars Orm Kornnaphat and Lingling Sirilak Kwong, aka LingOrm strikpose with foreheads touching and eyes closed in a gauzy promotional poster for the upcoming series In Love Forever.

Criticism

The Limits of Fan Service in Thailand’s Vibrant GL Genre

Thai “Girls Love” thrives on real-life star pairings—for better and for worse.

Image of Carl lying on the floor and Harper standing looking down at him. Orange carpet and conference table behind them. TV screen on the wood-paneled wall reads "Hypergnosis".

Criticism

Too Big To Fail (On Television)

TV’s structure was perfect for tech’s failure narratives—but as Silicon Valley embraces a post-failure mindset, will audiences still tune in?