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So, this has been going on for a while now and I felt it should be shared with everyone here.

Internet reviewer Lindsey Ellis (formerly known as the Nostalgia Chick, a moniker she has since dropped years ago) of Chez Apocalypse has created a video series providing an in-depth analysis of film studies using the Transformers live action films as a base from which to cover the various subjects and and aspects of film studies, while also providing analytical evaluations of these aspects as they are presented in the Transformers films.

This is not, I repeat, NOT a series of videos that serve to just bash the TF movies and say what's "wrong" with them or how/why they "suck". No, this presents a look at what went into these movies from an educated perspective and discusses how/why many of the decisions that were made by these films were made in the ways that they were in regards to the many facets of film studies.

The Whole Plate: Film Studies through a Lens of Transformers

Episode 1 - Transformers and Film Studies


Episode 2 - Auteur Theory vs. Michael Bay


Episode 3 - Why is it So Hard to Remember What Happens in Transformers?


Episode 4 - Genre


Episode 5 - The Problem of Lady Robots: Feminist Theory Part 1


Episode 6 - The Male Gaze vs. The Men (Feminist Theory Part 2)
Linking to this one instead of embedding, for reasons

Episode 7 - Framing Megan Fox - Feminist Theory Part 3


Episode 8 - Queering Michael Bay
Linking to this one, too, for similar reasons

Episode 9 - Marxism!

I shared a couple of these on the podcast and in podcast threads, but good to see them elsewhere.

I really like her team's research, and her format and delivery, and she makes some very very good points.

This is a test.

Seibertron wrote:This is a test.

This thread is working now. Whatever you did, thank you.

EDIT: Now there's a new oddity. See the "Seibertron.com Problem Reporting Thread" for more details.

Va'al wrote:I shared a couple of these on the podcast and in podcast threads, but good to see them elsewhere.

I really like her team's research, and her format and delivery, and she makes some very very good points.

Indeed. I especially like the following closing point she made in the auteur theory video:

"In the intersection between the Bay politique and Transformers lies the answer both to why the films have been so successful, and why many fans of the franchise find the films so noxious. Bay politique appeals to a main stream, but it does not line up with the sincere honorship of nostalgia. The message in Michael Bay's Transformers about Transformers is not 'Let's leave these wonderful creations in the innocent world of children where they belong,' it's more along the lines of 'Why would you wanna play with plastic toys when you can play with titties, you *bleep*in' losers?' So when people say 'Michael Bay raped my childhood,' ...what they really mean is Michael Bay added politique to something innocent. Michael Bay took this memory of a property that I hold fondly and robbed it of its magical, nostalgic value by dragging it into this idea of things that 'really' matter like the military, titties, and cars, which are all shown as vastly superior to the childlike quality of the franchise itself. It isn't really even about political affiliation or world views so much as its reverence for the source material, of which Michael Bay has none, which is why people who have a vague memory of the Transformers franchise (i.e. - most people) tend to respond more positively to these movies than people with a more intense knowledge and affinity for the franchise."

Aha! It's awake again!


The latest one is particularly good too, I really do recommend it!

I'm late getting around to watching these, but they are really quite interesting.

Oh, wow! I'd forgotten all about this thread because it was all glitchy and broken back when I first made it.

Now that it seems to be working, I've gone and added Episode 7 to the first post, since Lindsey had posted it since my first making this thread, but I hadn't gotten around to adding it.

As for the lingering status of this series (since Lindsey hasn't updated it since last September), it's currently on hiatus until Lindsey can get back to working on it properly.

Out of the blue, we've finally got a new installment in this series. Episode 8 is up!

Episode 9 is up.