I am adoring all of these polls and gif sets and just being fed so many hot vintage people. As someone who really hasn’t watched very many classics, are there any movies you’d recommend for someone just starting to dip their toes in older media but unsure where to start?

Sure! I don't want to sway any voting, but I'll put an incomplete list of favorites that involve hot men not still in the bracket below the cut.

Something to note that applies to most of these old movies—older movies have different pacing than modern movies, so some of these might seem really slow or weird to start. There are also different ways of framing gender and agency, for better and for worse. I've italicized the ones that I think are the best for starting with, but go with whatever genre/aesthetic sounds best.

The Court Jester (Danny Kaye, Basil Rathbone)—a circus performer working for a quasi-Robin Hood infiltrates the royal court. Fun comedy that's incredibly accessible and still so light on its feet. Swordfighting, glamorous medieval costumes, court intrigues, and silly accents.

Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly)—fun polyamorous musical comedy. The dancing is incredible, but so is the sense of joy and camaraderie between Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds. Genuinely captures the feeling of hanging out with your best friends. 1920s Hollywood, big movie studios, backstage drama, goofy hijinks.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone)—classic swashbuckler/romance. It could read a little slow to modern tastes but the action scenes are absolutely killer, as is the sentiment of seeing little guys pull down big capitalists evil monarchs. Swashbuckling, labor activists merry men hanging out in the woods, hot men in tights, social commentary swords, a Maid Marian who really holds her own and falls in love with the socialist

Charade (Cary Grant)—thriller/romantic comedy. Audrey Hepburn's husband dies and leaves her a hidden inheritance, and she's racing some skeevy characters to find it. A little bit scary but mostly charming and gorgeous, and you can find it high quality virtually anywhere because they fucked up the copyright trademark in the opening credits. Romance, murders, Paris, 1960s fashion, chases in the night.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Dick Van Dyke)—this movie is divisive for some reason—I personally like peace, love, and joy, so it makes the list. This is a James Bond movie if James Bond had two kids, lived in a windmill in the south of England, and was into cottagecore inventions more than martinis and racism. This is very much a kids' movie so go in with that expectation, but enjoy the gorgeous production design, the wonderfully silly performances, and Lionel Jeffries pulling out every stop as an insane old man. Dick Van Dyke has excellent DILF energy. Magical cars, big musical vibes, fun inventions, and romantic fantasy.

To Be Or Not To Be (Jack Benny)—comedy/drama. A ragtag Warsaw theatre troupe stands off against the Gestapo after the invasion of Poland. TW for Nazis, obviously, but overall this is a comedy with some heft, and kind of shocking to be this ballsy about fucking hating Hitler's guts in the 1940s. Hambone actors, Shakespeare, spies, 1930s gowns. It's been a minute since I watched it so I don't think there are any TWs here, but go forth with caution.

Witness for the Prosecution (Tyrone Power)—mystery/legal drama based off an Agatha Christie story. The performances are campy fun and the twist would be at home in something like Knives Out. Big dramatics, hambones, lots of talking, a bit of a mindbender.

The Lady Vanishes (Michael Redgrave)—mystery/suspense/romantic comedy. It's a little slow to start but roll with it—once the action moves to the train the pacing really picks up. This gets slotted as a thriller sometimes but it's much funnier and gentler than that. There's some period-typical snarkiness directed at anyone Foreign™ by some of the British characters; the British characters are also made fun of. Trains, British people, international shenanigans, mystery, and humor.

All About Eve (absolutely none of these hot men, lots of hot women though)—a legendary actress fights for her life against the rising star who supplants her. Big drama, big performances, lots of gasp! and dahling! and vicious little quips. New York, theatre pronounced theahhtah, drama queens and plotting.

The Philadelphia Story (James Stewart, Cary Grant)—talk-heavy comedy, lots of quick banter and period transatlantic accent fun. It's a bit shouty and conflict-heavy at times, but I don't think James or Cary have ever been hotter, and Katherine Hepburn is just wow. Very funny dialogue, relatable characters, incredibly hot across the board. There is one instance of a racial slur (not directed at anyone but still there) and one shove. Some people won't like the discussion of Hepburn's character's choices as a daughter and a wife. With all of these movies you'll see a a range of how female characters are presented and treated, and while some period movies fall hard for sexist tropes, I personally think the performances, direction, and subtext of many of these films actually prioritizes the experiences of the female characters and shows them as living, breathing people, even if they're not framed the way they would be today.

Greek mythology media (1)

To begin this overview of Greek mythology in media, I originally wanted to start with some of the most famous American pieces of fiction - those that shaped, for the better and for the worse, the "Americanized" perception of Greek mythology... Including Disney's Hercules.

However after some thought, I think I need to cover something else beforehand... What I like to call the "Hercules saga".

(Picture courtesy of greekgodsparadise.com)

Have you ever wondered why Disney made a movie about Herakles and yet named him "Hercules"? Why would Disney commit such a blatant mistake, using the Roman name of the hero despite everything else being (vaguely) Greek-inspired? Because Roman mythology is better known than the Greek (see my Medusa posts)? Not exclusively...

The reason why Disney made a movie named "Hercules" instead of "Herakles" was because their animated piece was very obviously a follow-up of an entire GENERATION of movies based on the figure of Herakles, but being sold, publicized and shared with the name "Hercules". Beyond this "mistake of Disney" is actually an entire generation of cinema history that people today completely forgot about, and that explansi why, of all the Greek myths, the one of Herakles is supposedly the one with the most movies attached to it...

I/ The beginning of it all

To start this deep dive we need to begin with the movie that started it all. The 1958 "Hercules" movie - at least it was its English title. Its original title was "The Labors/Trials of Hercules", "Le fatiche di Ercole". For yes, this movie was an Italian production (with some Spanish and French collaborations).

This movie's story is... quite more confusing than you would expect. Yes, the title is correct: Hercules is the main hero of the story. This being an Italian production, all the names were taken from Roman mythology rather than Greek - Hercules, Jupiter, Venus... And this is precisely why the name Hercules would go on to become so famous, but that's for later. However, despite what the title hints, this story isn't about the Twelve Labors of Herakles. Two of these trials appear in the first third of the story: the Nemean Lion and the Cretan Bull. However, the actual literary work of Antiquity this movie is based on is... the Argonautica of Apollonios of Rhodes. Yes, this movie is also about Jason, and the Argonauts, and the quest for the Golden Fleece, but with Jason being only a secondary character. In fact, most of the Argonauts's adventures aren't even told since the actual quest for the Golden fleece is massively reduced, with a good quarter of the movie entirely dedicated to the Argonauts' stay on the island of the Amazons... So this movie is a bit of everything. A bit of Herakles but not too much, a bit of Argonauts but not too much - though there's a LOT of the Amazons...

Fun fact: the lighting and the special effects were done by Mario Bava, who would later become of the iconic names of horror in Italy.

The movie being in public domain, you can find it pretty easily online, and having watched it, what is my opinion? Well... On one side the movie definitively aged badly. Many elements of it at now laughable today. The main love interest's costume is to the toga what the bikini-chainmail is to an armor, and her obviously modern makeup is very distracting. The fights of Hercules with the Nemean Lion and the Cretan Bull very obviously involve him punching fluffy puppets. Somehow a very modern fountain sitting by an ancient Greece palace... Ominous storm clouds are just a mud-stain on the camera's lense in an otherwise clear blue sky. Of course when the Amazons arrive the camera focuses twice on their naked legs ; and their cemetery is properly hilarious. The adorable Nemean Lion forgets he is supposed to play dead and shouldn't blink one he is "strangled". Oh yes, and there is also a VERY racist moment during the arrival in Colchides, where our heroes are faced with what is supposed to be primitive, savage, cavemen-like people... But who are in effect just black men wearing furs, a few prosthetics, and making monkey sounds. Very racist.

One of the things with this movie is that there is also several versions of it going around. We are lucky to have the cinematic, clean and properly-dubbed version on Youtube for free - right here ; but you will also find around the Internet versions of a much poorer quality which were designed for television airing, and which have a different English dub. Such a version can be found here for example. And then you apparently have yet a third version somewhere with yet a third dub that makes pretty big flaws (such as changing Hercules' entire rant to the oracle/sybil about immortality into a rant about "strength" which changes the entire idea of the movie). That's one of the evils of the public domain: re-dubs are everywhere.

Now all that being said... While this movie has definitively aged, I can still see why it became one of the classics of mid-20th century cinema, and why it caused such a big reaction upon its release.

Some of the ideas and concepts brought up are very interesting - for example weaving an entire motif of "revenge is not the answer" in a story where both Hercules has to bent to the unfair treatment of a king, and Jason has to find the murderer of his father. The treatment of the characters can also be interesting - from an Hercules who actually seeks humanity instead of immortality, and has to live in a world where his divine powers are actually freaking out people and shunning him as a monster ; to a king Pelias that is not actually actively evil or cartoonishly malevolent, but rather a fearful, suspicious and worn-out man who still does evil things out of anger, cowardice and bad advice, but who has been exhausted and burdened by guilt and regret to the point he enters the story only wishing to give up the throne and die... There is also a fascinating angle where the movie insists on the fact that Hercules is just as much intelligence as strength - for example with a wonderful scene of him proving even an average human person can shoot incredibly well arrows without a divine strength, but just good advice and observation of the environment and a well-formed technique... that ends with the big twist that those excellent bow-lessons he gave to the "random boy" he selected where given to ULYSSES out of all people. Yep, we have a movie where Herakles was Odysseus' mentor...

Mind you, while there are great ideas and concepts which make the movie stand on its own, in terms of mythological adaptation it is very poor, because as I said it mixes together edulcorated and scrawny versions of the myth. You've got two of the 12 labors done in a very different context. You've got a brand new Hercules characterization that doesn't touch upon his actual legends. You've got a Jason and the Argonauts story without sirens, Medea or giant ship-crushing rocks, and where Jason is just a background character. This "mixed" nature extends to the very tone and focus of the movie. It is a rich movie, no doubt, that blends and mixes the genres - but while it is precisely its charm (you are never bored with it), it is also what causes it to feel a bit unfocused. It starts with the naive and cliche romance between Hercules and a princess, leading to the angsty "I don't want to be immortal" scene of Hercules... It continues in what is basically a Gothic story about a strange and dysfunctional family burdened by the dark mystery shrouding a past crime that still haunts the present, and who lives in a half-abandoned palace where a ghostly murderer and treacherous whisperer haunts the shadows... We then cut to what is basically a PSA for athletism and sports, and then we delve into your typica adventure-movie alternating comic book humor with fights against monsters ; and then we have an entire mini-movie inside the movie at the Amazons island which unfolds as a romantic tragedy... This movie has everything, and perhaps a bit too much of everything, and feels like four different movies crammed together in one.

The other big "good point" of this movie is DEFINITIVELY the visuals. This movie allows me touch upon what was one of the big qualities of the good mythological movies of the mid 20th century: they truly knew how to make visual delights. The opening visual of a sheperd playing a Pan's flute while being listened to by his goats? The oracle all shrouded in a black veil suddenly revealing a blood-red dress? The three royal children going to the throne room - only for the two actual innocents one to be fascinated by the Golden Fleece while the brat immediately sits on the throne? Hercules climbing a shadowy mountain towards the red-lit temple of the gods? The visual of the Golden Fleece hanging from its tree, above a mount of dead leaves that turn out to be the asleep dragon? There are so many parts of these movies that just speak so much with just the sights. And it isn't just the sights, but some details in this movie are particularly head-turning. Ranging from the subtle - Hercules and the oracle locking gaze upon first meeting, and not saying anything but clearly showing a link because they are two beings of the world of the gods recognizing each other, and are thus set apart from the other humans in the room... To the more obvious: this movie had the genius idea to decide that the dragons of Ancient Greece were actually just FRIGGIN DINOSAURS that the gods somehow protected from extinction X)

II/ Omphale comes on stage

1958's Hercules was a HUGE success in Italy - and by extension in most of Europe. It was such a huge success that its director, Pietro Francisci, released the VERY NEXT YEAR the sequel, known in English as "Hercules Unchained". A quite silly title given the "unchained" part refers to a segment of the original 1958 movie. The actual title of this movie is "Ercole e la regina di Lidia", "Hercules and the queen of Lydia". For this movie, Francisci took the same team: Mario Bava for the special effects, Steve Reeves to play Hercules (he had been selected for the first movie because he had freshly won the title of Mister Universe - in fact, people did note that due to lacking an acting background he was quite stiff and unnatural in the first movie).

Many people at the time - including Howard Hughues himself - considered that this movie was a better one than the original, with enhanced acting, a much more "punchy" writing, more convincing action scenes, as well as very impressive baroque sets (which, fun fact, had been heavily inspired by the art of Flash Gordon). But the same audiences and critics of the time recognized a structural flaw in the piece, saying the various elements and tones were unbaIanced and that the movie felt as if it continued dozens of minutes after its plot actually ended. I... kind of disagree?

Just like the original movie mixed together the legends of Herakles' labors with the Argonauts' journey, this movie tries to tie together Herakles' time at Omphale's palace and the "Seven against Thebes" events, aka the battle between Eteocles and Polynices for the throne of Oedipus their father. I have to say I much prefer the first movie somehow, perhaps because it was a bit simpler? This piece is even less faithful to the Greek mythology material (which wasn't hard given the first movie was already a very loose adaptation), and in fact here we really feel the "sword and sandal" flavor. As in, this movie bears more common points with your typical sword-and-sorcery or heroic-fantasy short story/novella than with Ancient Greek epics or theater plays. Though the latter point is to be nuanced, because this movie is VERY theatrical. It is very staged, very visual, very dramatic - and perhaps too much because in many scenes the dramatic overcomes just basic logic or common sense (Hercules' repeated "arms up while invoking the gods" scenes do get ridiculous), and while some scenes are impressive, they do feel like someone filmed a stage-play rather than a movie. Let's not talk of an even greater fantasmagoria when it comes to the setting (the usurper of Thebes has Roman "pit of tigers"-type of gladiator plays, while the queen of Lydia who works with Egyptians and has an Egyptian-decored lair, organizes "Arabian Nights"-like dances and wears definitively 20th century fashion dresses... My last grief would be that this movie is actually repeating its predecessor (Omphale's palace being the island of the Amazons, the final fight being identical to the one of the previous movie), though it does bring to the table some new elements that are quite charming (Ulysses grows on me here as we see him growing into his trickster self, while being a plucky, comical young clever sidekick ; and the fountain of the "Water of Oblivion", aka a non-trademarked Lethe, is a great set piece).

But no matter what I may think of it, this movie was still an even bigger success than its predecessor, to the point it made its producing company, the studio Galatea, one of the biggest movie companies of all of Italy. Unfortunately, it also was the end of the "original" Hercules movie series. The producer of the two first pieces, Lionello Santi, part of the Galatea studio, decided at the surprise of everyone to abandon the newborn ad successful franchise. He entrusted it to a certain Achille Piazzi, who decided to name as a new director for the third Hercules movie Vittorio Coffatavi, pushing Pietro Francisci away. Since Steve Reeves only wanted to work for Francisci and no one else, the actor of Hercules was also replaced, by Lou Degni - better known by his stage name, Mark Forest. And finally, "Hercules Unchained" marked the end of the Francisci-Bava collaboration. For you see, Mario Bava did even more work and poured even more effort (or so he claims) into "Hercules Unchained" than into the original "Hercules" , to the point he asked to be designated as a co-director in the movie's credits. But Francisci refused, claiming Bava hadn't done so much work as he claimed: Francisci insisted "Hercules Unchained" was his piece before all things, and that Bava just wanted to take credit for his work, and refused to change Bava's function in the official rolling credits. This battle led up to the two of them not working together anymore.

III/ Hercules becomes... Goliath?

The result of all these changes was a third Hercules movie release in 1960, called... "Goliath and the Dragon"?

This third movie's actual title is "Hercules' Revenge", "La vendetta di Ercole". However, the American distributors changed it to "Goliath and the Dragon" because they needed to make this movie a sequel to an earlier success, the Franco-Italian movie "Goliath and the Barbarians". Which... isn't even a movie about Goliath, but rather a historical movie about a guy named Emiliano in the 6th century... Ah those wacky American distributors, back at their hijinks...

New director, new actor, new team... But also new scenario! Indeed, with this movie we have a fresh start, and a return to a more accurate depiction of Greek mythology... Well kind of. They kept numerous elements of the old movies, but brought in many more from the old Greek legends - the Twelve Labours for example (that Hercules finishes at the beginning of the movie with the taming of Cerberus), or his wife Dejanira. The story in itself, while trying to be more "Greek myth-flavored", is still a unique story mixing elements from various other tales. Hercules' son (turned into Goliath's brother in the American dub) is in love with Thea, who is unfortunately the daughter of a wicked king that wants to take the control of Thebes, Hercules' city. At first it seems the story will be just about the various manipulations and schemes of the wicked king and his allies to try to get rid of Hercules (for example making his son believe he wants to take Thea for his own, and using treacherous messengers to try to convince the poor boy to poison his father without realizing what he is doing) ; but then the third/fourth act of the movie completely takes us into a different direction, as now a prophecy by the gods overlaps with the conflict against the wicked king and... Its a bit convoluted.

I kind of skimmed through the movie because by now the "sequelitis" had started to really kick in. I will admit two good points for this piece: one they attempt to return to more mythologically faithful material, and even though they tell a new story they try to keep Greek elements in it (impossible love triangle between a son and a father, betrayals and tragic deaths within a same family, a hero going up against a wicked usurper king, prophecies the hero will try to fight against...). These efforts are unfortunately completely ruined by the American dub which changes the nature of everything. The second positive point would be the final part of the movie - when we leave the simple "romantic drama and political treacheries and other Shakespearian schemes" to enter the "let's fight a prophecy" domain. Hercules receives a prophecy that his son will take over the throne of the wicked king... in exchange for the life of "the woman who loves Hercules" (interpreted as his wife, Dejanira). As a result, the entire family of Hercules will struggle against this prophecy and try to avoid it - from Hercules becoming obsessively protective of his wife, to his son growing suicidal to protect his mother ; and here we really go into a much more emotional and human side of the story. We even have Hercules turning against the gods for this prophecy - despite having just finally cleared up his curse and made peace with them after his Labours, he still can't accept having his family doomed like that - going for the help of an oracle only for her to get KILLED when she disobeys the gods to bring him aid ; and it comes to Hercules being forced to make a heroic sacrifice, destroying his life to save others... There's really something more unique and touching in all that, that also reasonates well with Greek myths.

All that being said: the bad points. The Hercules movie of the era grew by the 70s and 80s to be synonymous with "hilarious kitsch comedy". Nobody could take them seriously anymore - and this movie really shows why. The first two Hercules pieces have laughable elements - but many were intended as light-hearted comedy, and the others still leave room for the seriousness of the piece. But here? Nah. On one side you have the special effects that aged very, very badly - resulting in the goofiest dragon and most ridiculous Cerberus battle you will ever see and the cheapest lightning effect ever made. And if the bad special effects weren't enough, you also have the American dub that changes the whole stories and tries its harder to rewrite the Greek myth into a more generic-fantasy things (while also fitting to a previous unrelated movie), resulting in a plotline even MORE convoluted than what it already was... This movie can be fun to watch just to see how ridiculous it all got, and unfortunately the most serious and interesting parts only come to us after bunch and bunch of cliches, convoluted writing, very bad dialogues (like REALLY bad) and papier-mache monsters.

[As a quick note here, this movie was also a step-up in the genre when it comes to the supernatural. You see, the first two movies actually had a more... let's say "realistic" approach to the magical elements of mythology. The gods and the supernatural was definitively real, but the movies made sure to frame it in a quite "realistic" light. The gods themselves never appear, and only speak through oracles or manifest through sudden changes in the weather. The monsters our hero fights are all just regular animals (a lion, a bull - well a bison they try to pass off as a bull), and even the "strange land of Colchides filled with wonders" is framed realistically as a sort of patch of land where prehistoric times continued on untouched (with the "monsters" there being just cavemen/Prehistoric men ; and the "dragon" being a dinosaur). And from the realm of the divine we have people with clearly supernatural abilities (Hercules with his immense strength, the oracles able to predict the future), but they still look like ordinary people... This all served the purpose of conveying the fantasy of the myths while working within limitations of budget and special effects.

This movie decided to actually bring the fantasy to screen by having actual monsters, and having the oracle fade in and out like a ghost, and a centaur turning into a satyr, and having the gods speak directly to the heroes or shooting lightning bolts at those they dislike... But as I said those special effects aged very, very poorly, and it is precisely by trying to do a "big show" that they actually ruined this strange worldbuilding-charm that worked so fine for the first two movies. "Showing less does more", as they say.]

IV/ Hercules against... vampires?

While Francisci and Bava never worked together again, both returned to the making of Hercules movies later on, each on their own.

Francisci released in 1963 a movie called "Hercules, Samson and Ulysses" (in its original title "Ercola sfida Sansone"), taking back the duo of Hercules and his sidekick Ulysses from the original movies, and having them confront the Biblical Samson... But given we are entering mythological crossovers, I will not be looking at this movie in any more details.

As for Mario Bava, in 1961 he released a movie co-made with Francesco Prosperi (and with Western Germany), "Ercole al centro della terra" - Hercules at the center of the earth. In America it was released as "Hercules in the Haunted World", but in many European countries, includng France, this piece's title was... "Hercules against the vampires". Why? Simply put: because the main villain is played by none other than Christopher Lee, and he plays a character with similarities to Dracula... As a result advertisers decided putting a big "vampire" stamp on this movie would work, despite it having no actual vampire.

The story is simple: Hercules returns to his home in Italy (remember we are still in a Greco-Roman mythology setting) after a war, only to discover his fiancée Dejanira (or Deianira as you English people like to call her) has fallen into an unexplained state of madness... An oracle tells Hercules the only way to save her is a magical stone from the realm of Hades. Hercules and his friend Theseus descend into the Underworld, unaware that Dejanira' caring uncle (Christopher Lee) is actually the one who caused her madness, and an evil sorcerer conspiring with the forces of evil to conquer the world...

Unlike the previous movie, "Hercules in the Haunted World/Hercules at the Center of the Earth" is much more of a "must watch" - or rather of a far better quality than its predecessors. We return to the charm and power of the earlier Hercules movie, but are then taken into a completely different direction thanks to Bava being able to truly make a movie of his own, with all the experience he gathered since the first Hercules. While the story veer into a much more... "fantasy" tone and plot, it is still a definitively "Greek mythology-inspired" type of fantasy, as elements of the legends of both Herakles and Theseus abond (descending into the Underworld, Deianira, the Hesperides and their golden apple, Procrustes and other of the bandits/threats Theseus had to face during his journeys...). Mind you, it is not because the Greek mythology elements and influence are everywhere that this movie is faithful to the legends, oh no, great liberties are taken here... Medea is now an oracle for the gods, Pluto becomes an evil god, you have references to Dante's Inferno while travelling through Hades, the Hesperides become daughters of Helios cursed by Pluto and entrapped in a land of endless midnight... This is definitively not a class about Greek mythology.

But the real strength of this movie, its real greatness (beyond Christopher Lee's presence, because come on, every Christopher Lee scene is great), is its visuals. This movie is a visual delight. Bava really used all of his tricks as a lighting and special effects guy - despite the movie having a not so big budget, Bava managed to created a gigantic fantasmagoria and epic sets and deeply oniric scenes simply through the use of colors, ciaroscuro, optical illusions, set design, and the power of not doing too much. In many ways this movie is the complete reverse of "Goliath and the Dragon": the "Goliath" movie tried to have these big impressive special effects but just became a cheesy, badly-aged kitsch piece ; while the Mario Bava movie is deeply otherwordly and haunting despite a quite limited budget and not doing "too much". (Mind you, not all things aged well, for example Procrustes' costume aged a lot, but the scene of Hercules climbing the giant tree of the Hesperides for example is wonderful).

Another slight flaw I would point out is that they have a very annoying "comical relief sidekick character" that... literaly serves no real purpose and I don't know why he is here, and he kind of ruins the mood (except for maybe one good joke). But this is definitively a movie to WATCH (not obviously appreciate, but just watch) - and it is disponible freely on Youtube in HD if you ever want to watch it. This movie, in fact, caused a brief wave of "creepy peplum" movies, a sort of... sub-genre crossing the "sword and sandal" with elements of horror movies (the "trio" of these morbid peplum movies tend to include Riccardo Fera's "Maciste in Hell" (The Witch's Curse, by American title), and Corbucci & Gentilomo "Maciste against the ghost/Goliath and the vampires/Maciste contro il vampiro".

What else to say... This Hercules was played by Reg Park, who would become the mentor of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who himself would later play Hercules. And oh yes, as a side note here: I haven't talked about this before in detail, but a departure from the Greek mythology is that in all those movies, and it is a common link between all of them, the character of Hercules is not a mortal who after death becomes a god, but the reverse. A great deal and great stress is placed on the fact that Hercules is an immortal among mortals, and a "god among men", and many times you will see or hear Hercules deciding to renounce his immortality or use his immortality as a bargaining chip... This builds an entirely different character, and a sort of meta-continuity for the cinematic incarnation of Hercules that neatly separates him from his mythical counterpart.

V/ The importance of the Hercules saga, and why it shaped Disney's Hercules

So... four movies (plus one mentioned). I said that the 1958 Hercules movie had been a huge success not just in Italy but in Europe as a whole. What I however did not say, because I wanted to keep it more of a surprise, is that this movie was an ENORMOUS success in the USA. Probably much bigger than you think.

The first two movies, "Hercules" and "Hercules Unchained" as they were named in English, were bought, translated and transported to the USA by Joseph E. Levine. Levine poured a LOT of money into a very aggressive and intense advertisement campaign to promote those movies, which not only were everywhere in theaters, but also aired on television. And this all resulted in a massive success, which gave Levine an entryway to build a big career in the movie industry, and the Hercules movies a lasting fame up until the 70s. By the mid-70s their fame and success slowly died out, from the tastes changing (making these pieces look ridiculous by modern audiences) to the television-copies of the movies being of very poor quality and badly preserved. By the 80s, these movies were a laughingstock, and the original duo of "Hercules" and "Hercules Unchained" even got a full-on parody in 1997. The two movies were recut into one, a whole new comical dub was made, and this resulted in "Hercules Recycled", about a TV exercise show-host who battles dinosaurs, fast-food obsessed mutants and insurance salesmen to save Earth by retrieving a secret formula inscribed onto a golden bath-mat...

But another one of the reasons the "Hercules" movies ended up being rejected and mocked mercilessly was oversaturation.

When people saw that "Hercules" and "Hercules Unchained" were HUGE successes both in Europe and America... The hunt was open, and it was free market for all. Everybody tried to recreate the movies, everybody tried making sequels of the movies, everybody did blatant rip-offs of the movies... In Italy at least, which was where the whole craze took place. It was the era of the "mythological peplum", of the "sword-and-sandal", of the "muscle-opera". During the 60s, around TWO HUNDRED movies based on the same principles, cliches and formulas were made for European and American audiences: movies taking place in a vague and unclear Antiquty, inspired by Greco-Roman mythology or Biblical stories, with a very muscular, oily, barely-dressed bodybuilder playing the hero, and him punching his way through soldiers and bandits and monsters, while trying to win the heart of a beautiful princess (or avoiding the deadly charm of wicked queens and enchantresses) - and with sometimes a plucky sidekick or comical relief by his side. Many were the protagonists of these tales, but ultimately they were all avatars of the same archetype: Hercules, Samson, Goliath, Ursus, Maciste were all replacable with each other.

Such an intense and fast mass-production of course brought the early death of the genre, that became "out" just as fast as it was "in"... Before it was replaced by the new cinematic craze coming from Italy and imported to the USA: the "western spaghetti", star of the 70s.

But this era left a deep mark onto America (and Europe too). In America, they were the reasons why the name "Hercules" became more famous than "Herakles". These movies were a prolongation of the bodybuilding trend, and of the athletic culture and body-worship and sport craze that had been started by the Mister Universe contest and the Charles Atlas celebrity. And - more interestingly perhaps for this website - these movies were also very influential and appreciated by homosexual communities of the 60s and 70s... I mean you literaly had muscular hunks bare-chested, oily and sometimes almost entirely naked, wrestling constantly with other half-dressed men, and surrounded by pretty girls and erotic sex-icons and pin-ups, who wore the toga-equivalent of the "chainmail bikini" of Conan fantasies... These movies were bound to attract gays and lesbians of their time.

There is a LOT of those Italian Hercules movies in the 60s, like a LOT. I can't possibly cover them all, but I will leave here the titles of some I will definitively not talk about (due to not being "Greek mythology" enough for my taste): 1961's "Sansone"/"Samson against Hercules" ; 1962's "La furie di Ercole" (The fury of Hercules) ; 1963 "Ercole contro Moloch" (Hercules against Moloch), 1964's "Ercole contro Roma" (Hercules against Rome), 1964's "Il trionfo di Ercole" (Hercules' Triumph), 1964's "Hercules against the sons of the sun", 1964's "Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Ursus gli invincibili", 1964's "Hercules against the tyrants of Babylon"...

And even by leaving out those eight movies, with the five others I described before, I have still left, in the span of the Italian 60s, SIX more movies I could possibly talk about... As I said, we know around 200 movies were released during this decade in Italy - though hopefully for us, all the lesser and cheap ones faded into obscurity...

It’s also crazy the amount of people who are offended that people have brought up the fact that they love to preach paying artists or workers in general for work & that no one should be overworked/exploited but are simultaneously scoffing or upset at the amount of people employed at Watcher & suddenly want Watcher to downsize aka fire people literally only so that the audience isn’t asked to pay to watch(consume).

This is also the same group of people who love to say they believe people should be paid fairly & trust me when i say paying properly for the skills it takes to make a single production let alone multiple throughout the year is very very expensive. So like which is it??? The amount of labor that has to go into writing, designing, shooting, & editing most of the things seen in media everyday is not small. It’s ignorant & exploitative-minded to expect, let alone borderline demand that only a few people are hired (& also paid bc those are absolutely not always the same thing) to make those things. The amount of unpaid internships (that yall allegedly hate so much) people accept to get their start in production is immense but yall are mad that an independent company is providing paid positions to “too many” workers to do things you have no concept as to the involvement level of to be speaking on it let alone complaining about how many people it takes???? It can’t be both ways, & when it is somebody isn’t being paid so which one do yall want? Whichever one you can be mad at in the moment.

The amount of work/people it takes to make things, especially at a certain production value level, isn’t supposed to magically reduce from the standard or be less compensationable just because you don’t want to have to help contribute to the cost it takes to make the thing you are consuming. That is not how transactions work. That is not how product consumption works. Everything is not supposed to be free. Suddenly when you’re asked, not required, to put a coin in the piggy bank for the thing you apparently over consume (to be this upset), it’s “over-produced” & you “never asked for it.” But when it was all receive & no give you didn’t have a problem with it being the way it is or it even being made at all. Gtfoh

How do I find protests/picketers in my area (if there are any)? I feel like just Googling it won't get me much because, at least based on other protest info, that kind of info doesn't get casually posted because that's how cops find you. How different is this from an event like that? I want to help out tangibly because I don't use social media

Thank you for reaching out about this topic! Long post ahead because there's a lot of info to cover. Tl;dr the answer depends on your location, because the film/TV industry is so geographically specialized. But please know, on the legal side, that picketing is completely legal. It's an organized labor action protected by law! You can't be arrested for a peaceful picket (...even if the studios would love to see writers arrested for striking for fair pay.)

-If you are planning to go picket, please read this thread on how to picket first, then continue reading this post! Includes info on basic etiquette & picketing while disabled—for instance, Amazon, Disney and Warner Bros. studios are the most wheelchair accessible LA locations!

-For Los Angeles and New York City (the major picketing sites; that's where the writers and studios are), the WGA West and East post the striking schedule on their website, and often it's shared on Twitter. Join in on any publicly posted strike! At the location, find your local strike captains, the WGA members who volunteer to organize the picketing, to get instructions and pre-made picket signs.

-There are many LA locations—try to get out to the less-popular ones if you can, because they still need numbers! (Just FYI, Netflix is probably the most popular, and Universal has been sending out calls for additional people recently! Go where you're needed.)

-For LA and NY, plenty of non-industry people are picketing—fans, friends, other union members, and people who just want to support. Please be sure to follow good etiquette: listen to the strike captains, clean up any trash, and don't harass actors/writers who are public figures! Also, please wear sunscreen, hydrate, and eat. Despite the viral photos of abundant food supplies on the picket lines, there are SO MANY strike locations at so many studios, and unfortunately not every location gets well-supplied with food, water, and other essentials.

-(On an aside: it's also possible to get plugged into food & water donations if you aren't located near a picket location. Our Flag Means Death fandom, Lord of the Rings fandom, and more are getting food directly to writers via organized campaigns. It's a super effective morale boost to offer free tacos and La Croix to hungry writers who are walking 10 miles in the sun around studios every day—who knew?) (If none of the already-organized fandoms are your thing, there are plenty of other general fundraisers linked in this fantastic Twitter thread. OR you could start your own fandom-specific fundraiser—reach out for tips and templates!)

-Many fandoms are organizing LA/NY pickets with local groups, like Star Trek and Our Flag Means Death fans. The best way to find people to picket with might be through your fandoms first (Twitter might be the better medium rather than Tumblr fo that, because that's where more people are following the strike in real-time. Definitely consider creating a Twitter account if you don't have one just to follow the WGA and its strike captains for the duration of the strike.) Or if you don't have fandom buddies in the area, just bring a friend or two—the more the merrier! Non-industry people are definitely welcome as long as you can listen to your strike captain and work respectfully with the WGA people :)

-Outside of the major hubs, there are going to be pickets where studio films and shows are being filmed in order to shut down production. (Detect a studio film/TV shoot in your location that's trying to be secretive? Report it to the WGA to get in on the sweet, sweet pro-WGA direct action! Please note that this doesn't apply to films not from a struck company—i.e., don't shut down an independent student film, but DO shut down Netflix, Disney, Sony, Warner Bros., Universal, Apple TV, and Amazon.)

-There are relatively few pickets scheduled in advance at non-LA/NY locations. It's very dependent on 1) a scheduled event far in advance, such as the Chicago pickets at the downtown studios, or 2) discovering a studio production being secretly filmed. In the second case, it's super essential that the WGA has sufficient people to form a picket line at the very last minute, and at odd hours, so please offer your support in those cities if possible!

-Philadelphia people should follow WGA strike captain Warren Leight on Twitter to get plugged in with their ultra-cool guerilla tactics to shut down production in that area (...via reconnaissance missions to find out where people are secretly filming! It's kind of epic.)

-Chicago people should follow WGA strike captain Zayd Dohrn on Twitter. There have been a handful of organized pickets downtown, but they're not every day. (A certain fans4wga mod might be in town and attending a handful of Chicago pickets if they're still happening in June, so on the downlow, feel free to message if you're a Chicago-area fans4wga person who wants to form a fan picketing group and make some cool signs!)

-Atlanta has just this week started organized picketing through the WGA East. No official news yet, but we'll add more info when we get it; it'll probably show up on the WGA's official schedule too.

-And this is neat international solidarity: board members of the Deutscher Drehbuchverband (Screenwriters Guild of Germany) recently picketed at the European Headquarters of the MPPA in Brussels, alongside people from the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE) and the Federation of European Screen Directors (FERA), in solidarity with the US writers' guild. There might be activity wherever you are in the world—look up local guilds and see what they're doing!

Please feel free to reach out with any clarifying questions, location-specific questions, or other strike captains to follow on Twitter! If the info's out there, we'll find it :)

ok now i do wanna talk about that dumb tweet saying the writers' guild shouldn't strike because of viewers' "mental health." it's stupid for many reasons (what about the writers' health???) but it reminds me of spring 2020 when suddenly everyone in lockdown was like "oh artists (read: film/tv writers & actors) r so important because they hold up our mental health!" which is just a strange way to frame it. (ironically, i think then this rhetoric was being used to drum up support for the iatse strike). since when is a tv show supposed to stand in for therapy?? are people hearing themselves??? who the hell came up with this crap?

i can think of two main possible routes to this logic. the first is that as a new generation of writers & viewers matures, people think this is the first time "mental health" has come up in media. millennials are seeing portrayals of anxiety and depression (let's be honest it's never anything else) that personally resonate with them. which is all well and good but that just means that you personally like the show and think it did a good job exploring certain themes. sometimes it's therapeutic for the people involved to make emotional art too but that doesn't mean that, like, the purpose of all film and television is to reflect your self-image back to you?? i'm broaching art theory territory here but come on. first of all in this field all creative impulses are subordinate to making money but anyways i don't think people are just freaking out over ted lasso and the like.

i think the more common logic here is "i watch lots of tv/movies because my mental health is bad" -> "tv/movies holds up my mental health (see also: "comfort show")" -> "anyone who interferes with tv/movies is making my mental health worse." so ANY tv show(or movie, just assume i'm saying both from now on) someone likes is an emotional support tv show for them, which in turn means any interruption or criticism is a disruption of their therapy. so here's my stab at a counterargument: deciding to watch lots of tv instead of a different hobby like video games or knitting or getting really pretentious about prog rock--that's YOUR decision. YOU'RE the one who decides what you do in your free time (i'm saying this as someone who also chooses to watch a shit ton of tv in my free time). it's not the fault of the prog rock band that someone's decided to stake their personality on liking the album, nor is it the responsibility of the knitting book publisher to put out new patterns because someone has decided that making scarves and doilies is their new reason to live. so why the hell would this be the case for tv shows?? is current tv marketing specifically just really effective at convincing people they're dependent on it or something??

i think most people would agree it's pretty idiotic to say your personal connection to a product or work of art should be the primary factor considered when discussing fair labor conditions for thousands of people. (especially if you have NO IDEA how the industry works and go around saying the workers don't need better conditions...) it's like saying nike has to continue sweatshop labor because you love collecting shoes so much that you can't stand it if the newest cherry ice cream jordan 5674s are delayed. but that's basically what's going on, where people think their personal feelings about a tv show/movie now suddenly defines the social, artistic, and economic purpose of a medium that's been around for over a century (as in, no one said it had a primarily pyschotherapeutic function until recently, thus this cannot be an innate property of the medium), or possibly the purpose of storytelling itself (i see this point with video games a lot, which is a similar conversation). and i'm just wondering how we got here???

The Art of Denim Marketing: Weaving Authenticity with Style

In the fashion industry, denim is more than just a fabric; it's a statement, a lifestyle, and a timeless piece that embodies versatility. But how do brands ensure that their denim stands out in a crowded market? The key lies in effective denim marketing, a strategy that brings brands and consumers together with a shared love of this iconic fabric.

Understanding the Denim Appeal

At its core, denim marketing is about tapping into why people love their jeans and jackets. Is it the durability, the classic look, or the way denim seems to capture so many stories in its threads? Successful brands know it's all these things and more. They market denim as an extension of personality, an everyday luxury that's accessible and essential.

Crafting a Story

Denim marketing thrives on narrative. Each pair of jeans carries its journey, from the cotton fields to the fashion boutiques. Transparency about sourcing and manufacturing processes can bond customers to brands, knowing their favorite jeans are created with care and consideration.

Brands that excel in denim marketing don't just sell a product; they sell a piece of history, a swath of comfort, and a dash of rebellion. They understand that denim isn't just a garment; it's an heirloom in the making.

Engaging Denim Lovers

Integration of social media has been a game-changer in how we approach denim marketing. Shareable content is vital. It's about showing off those perfect denim looks in the wild, on real people who love what they wear. User-generated content, such as style challenges or hashtags, encourage engagement and create conversations around the products.

Sustainability: A New Denim Narrative

In an age where consumers are increasingly conscious of the ecological footprint of their purchases, denim marketing has had to pivot towards sustainability. More than ever, it's crucial to highlight eco-friendly practices, from water conservation to ethical labor. Marketing strategies that spotlight these efforts resonate with a customer base eager to make responsible choices.

The Influencer Impact

No discussion of denim marketing would be complete without acknowledging the power of influencers. Pairing the right personalities with your brand can be a potent tool in your denim marketing arsenal. These collaborations can reflect authenticity and build trust as influencers share their genuine experiences and stylings with their followers.

Denim marketing is not just about showcasing a product; it's about crafting a lifestyle around that product and inviting consumers to be a part of it. When done right, it transforms customers into brand advocates.

Tailoring to Trends

While denim is a staple that never goes out of style, the cuts, washes, and details do change. Effective denim marketing monitors these trends and responds accordingly, always staying a step ahead. Campaigns should capitalize on the latest frenzy, such as the return of the 'mom' jeans or the rise of raw denim, and connect with consumers who want to stay on trend.

The Unisex Appeal

One of denim's unique features is its unisex appeal. Denim marketing has acknowledged this by promoting inclusivity, appealing to a broad audience. Campaigns show how denim transcends gender norms and can be a unifying fabric that everyone feels comfortable in.

Celebrate Diversity

Denim marketing also embraces diversity. Campaigns often feature people of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds to reflect the universality of denim. This diverse representation helps customers to see themselves in the brand, fostering a deeper connection.

Revolutionizing Retail

As online shopping continues to grow, denim marketing strategies must take into account the digital retail space. Virtual try-on technology, size guides, and flexible return policies make the online denim buying experience more user-friendly. A brand's online presence needs to be as tactile and inviting as their physical stores.

Word-of-Mouth: The Timeless Marketing Tool

Even in the digital age, the word-of-mouth strategy remains potent, especially when it comes to denim marketing. There's a powerful trust factor when a recommendation comes from a friend or a family member. Brands encourage this by creating products that people can't help but talk about.

The Denim Marketing Wrap

In the end, the essence of denim marketing hinges on creating an emotional connection with the fabric that goes beyond the product itself. It fosters community, durability, and style. Companies that understand this can weave these elements into their marketing narrative, ensuring that their message resonates with denim enthusiasts far and wide.

Whether through creative collaborations, storytelling, or championing sustainability, denim marketing is the thread that connects a brand with the heartbeats of its customers. It's not about convincing someone to buy a pair of jeans—it's about inviting them into a world where denim is an indispensable part of life's fabric.

Social Media Marketing Campaign Tips For SuccessI doubt you need to be told, but any time you launch a business, online or off, you are going to need some form of solid business plan ready to guide you along the right path. One of the best ways to market your new business is using social media. Not only is it free marketing, it is a booming trend on the Internet that needs to be utilized. Use the tips in this article to help you get started on your social media marketing plan for your new business.<br/><br/>Relax, it is just an online conversation. Email used to scare the pants off of companies who did not understand the good, the bad, and the ugly of the whole thing. Now it is the go-to communication channel. Social media is the new channel, and all you need to do is sit down and talk to your customers. It is what they want and what you need.<br/><br/>Make sure there are plenty of links to the social media pages you have created on everything you do; you can also have an RSS feed that details your latest activity, too. These links should be included in forum and email signatures, blog posts and on every page of your website. From each social network profile, link to your various other profiles to allow customers to find you everywhere.<br/><br/>Try playing games on Facebook. It is fairly simple to develop a game that is tailored specifically to your products or your industry as a whole. Some brands have found a lot of success by using Facebook's games. These have become rapidly spreading on the web. You may consider it money well spent to hire a professional game design company to help you with game development.<br/><br/>For large companies, social media marketing can be a labor intensive, complicated, and non-standardized task where efficiency can be elusive. Many ad agencies and social media agencies are still trying to understand how to effectively market to the masses and are making it up as they go. So be careful where you spend your money and make sure you are getting measurable results from your marketing campaign.<br/><br/>Adjust your Twitter profile settings to ensure that all of your business posts are automatically tweeted. You can even post links to updates from a few affiliates' high-quality blogs. They will love the free publicity, and your customers will appreciate that you are pointing them to quality content.<br/><br/>When running a social media marketing campaign, brag about how many followers you have from time to time. If someone sees that 1500 people are following you, they may join up too just so they do not get left out of what their friends already know about. The desire to stay in the know and be trendy can be your friend.<br/><br/>Before beginning a social media marketing campaign you should consider purchasing guides to lead you in the right direction. A guide includes information about the leading social media sites. It will give you all that you need to know from the basics of setting up a page to strategies to increasing traffic.<br/><br/>Make sure you make your profiles public. <a href="http://pumlf.com">ปั้มไลค์</a> and Facebook both have privacy settings you can customize: remember that you are creating these profiles to advertise your products, and that you want as many people as possible to see your pages. You can block individual users if you are having issues.<br/><br/>You should always remember that people who follow you on social media sites want you to pay attention to what they have to say. If just one person has one suggestion, many others do, too. Let them know you are paying attention to what they are telling you.<br/><br/>Try hosting question/answer sessions online to boost interest about your services and products via social media. This is a good way to get people to know the most about your products and services. Allowing your customers to ask you questions directly, helps to create a more personal relationship between you, and your potential customers.<br/><br/>Follow a successful strategy with well defined step and boundaries when launching your social media marketing operation. It will take some time and effort on your part, but you can succeed.

What Does Your Wardrobe Say About You?

Who can resist the allure of a trendy outfit for a fraction of the cost?

The way we approach fashion, from careful planning to spontaneous purchases, reflects our consumption behavior and its impact on ourselves and the world around us. So forget about fast fashion. Slow fashion isn't just about buying less; it's about embracing conscious consumption, ethical practices and timeless style. According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), “Fast Fashion” is the second largest consumer of water and is responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions. Given the above losses, it's important to invest in pieces you'll love and wear for years, support brands with sustainable practices, and understand the true cost of your clothing choices.

FOMO Fashion: How Social Media Makes Us Double Tap & Dash

Gen Z or me as a part of it usually does not have a high preference for using sustainable clothing. At least you and I sometimes get lost in the diversity and speed of the new fashion trends. The most part of this transition comes about from social media and also the pressure to appear very beautiful and trendy. The truth remains that today, the fashion market is evolving at an incredible speed, and brand companies have no option but to refresh and remodel their strategies as frequently as possible to retain consumers.direction. This creates a great problem for brands, as they should continuously provide innovative products in order to attract the target customers. "Fast fashion", that is, the trend of fast fashion, is spreading in our society day by day. The social network is one of the primary reasons behind the wide acceptance of this music genre. Consequently, "xiaohongshu" (a version of Pinterest combined with Shopee that is mostly famous in China) is the most loved application for young Vietnamese women nowadays. Through that application we can find all the things that we are curious about. If you have questions or concerns, just search "xiaohongshu", and the answer will be displayed very quickly. Also, another impacting circumstance is celebrity endorsement. Who can resist this emotional state when they see their favorite star donning a specific item? Oh, what? It is already sold out. For an instance, it was in November 2015, at Incheon International Airport, GOT7 came for the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) Obviously, Yugyeom, wearing sky blue scarf, was the main focus of fans. In fact, it was this particular scarf that later acquired the nickname "the Yugyeom scarf," which encouraged many people to buy the Apitherapy winter accessory offline or online. Consequently, the exact same color of this scarf rapidly disappeared on the shelves (esspee 2019).

Sustainability

The traditional fashion industry, with its "fast fashion" model, is facing many harsh criticisms for its negative impact on the environment and society. Every year, millions of tons of clothing and accessories are released into the environment from major commodity-producing countries. These products are often made from non-biodegradable materials, causing waste pollution and increasing pressure on waste disposal areas. Therefore, slow fashion is a "perfect" solution. Slow fashion helps the environment by promoting eco-friendly practices like using locally-sourced materials, minimizing waste generation, and supporting fair labor conditions. Slow fashion is chosen for examination as a developing alternative fashion sector because it incorporates the entire gamut of ''sustainable,'' ''eco,'' ''green,'' and ''ethical fashion movements. (​​Ozdamar Ertekin , Z & Atik, D 2015). Unlike fast fashion, which produces a lot of clothing quickly, slow fashion focuses on quality, durability, and timeless style. By choosing slow fashion, we reduce carbon emissions, support sustainable materials, and decrease the amount of clothing that ends up in landfills. Plus, we ensure that workers are treated ethically and receive fair wages. Overall, slow fashion offers a more mindful and sustainable approach to clothing that benefits both people and the planet.

#SheinMustPay

Fast fashion fuels a global industry that thrives on vulnerable workers, often young women like "her", forced to endure harsh conditions for low wages to amazement. While we consume fast fashion, the human cost behind it remains hidden, overshadowed by the rapid evolution of styles and the lure of affordability. Many women, often young and immigrants with limited options, work grueling 18-hour days, seven days a week, with little rest and wages that are barely enough to get by. basic needs (‌Jackson 2022). This non-stop schedule exhausts them physically and mentally, robbing them of their health, happiness and dignity. But the "#SheinMustPay" movement has helped expose worker exploitation at a major fast fashion retailer, illustrating this growing resistance.

Bridging the Gap

However, to reach the majority of consumers, slow fashion needs a strong "push", and social networks and influencers are the key to this. Thanks to their influence and media reach, slow fashion is widely spread to the online community. Influencers often share personal experiences, give instructions on how to dress beautifully, and introduce slow fashion brands. In this way, they not only help raise awareness about the benefits of slow fashion but also encourage consumers to join a sustainable fashion community. This makes slow fashion popular and attracts increasing attention from people.

Reference lists:

Earth.org, Earth.org, viewed 25 February 2024, <https://earth.org/fast-fashions-detrimental-effect-on-the-environment/>.

‌Jackson, S 2022, Shein factory employees work 18-hour shifts, make 4 cents per garment: report, Business Insider, Insider, viewed 25 February 2024, <https://www.businessinsider.com/shein-factory-workers-18-hour-shifts-paid-low-wages-report-2022-10>.

‌​​Ozdamar Ertekin, Z & Atik, D 2015, “Sustainable Markets: Motivating Factors, Barriers, and Remedies for Mobilization of Slow Fashion,” Journal of macromarketing, vol. 35, no. 1, SAGE Publications, Los Angeles, CA, pp. 53–69.

Rashmila Maiti 2024, Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact in 2024 | Earth.org, 

esspee 2019, Idols Who Proved Their Influence By Unintentionally Causing Items To Sell Out, Soompi, Soompi, viewed 19 March 2024, <https://www.soompi.com/article/1300139wpp/idols-who-proved-their-influence-by-unintentionally-causing-items-to-sell-out>.

‌

Honestly in regard to last post, this is why I'm sometimes like "Don't even pirate it" even if I'm pro-piracy. I only save piracy for media that's literally difficult to find or not even available in my native language (especially talking about older anime before it went mainstream or 30-year-old games for the PS1 or SNES that have never been ported or translated), or is heavily censored (particularly the dumb shit they used to do with 4kids shows or with spongebob skipping episodes and scenes for overdone reasons), or is difficult to watch in one place (such as the Pokemon series, which is spread out across too many platforms to count, or, better yet, if you want to watch it subbed).

This is also why I want to tell people to not even pirate things made by nasty ideals such as being anti-Palestine, transphobic, antisemitic, anti-Black, and what have you. Or if you actually want to strike against the shows due to workplace abuse, anti-consumer-friendliness, or use of AI.

Because at the end of the day, these large platforms and their shows still win in away by taking your time away from smaller producers who may benefit from you watching their show instead of something heavily advertised by Netflix, even if you're still doing it for free. These companies care just as much about making money as much as they are trying to leave a cultural footprint. And pirating the most recent season of Stranger Things or the latest superhero movie, and then talking about it might as well be free advertising to them, in regards to others who don't know how to pirate, don't want to risk pirating, or already have a Netflix they don't care about cancelling. Even if these companies can and will stop pirates of their favorite shows and shit on their fans.

Even if you aren't paying these disgusting corporations with your money, you're still paying with your time.

So instead consider choosing to watch an obscure movie or TV show made by or featuring minorities vs a more popular one featuring or made by cishet, abled, white bigots or push tired tropes in regard to minorities.

Or choosing an obscure show or video game that's obviously a labor of love by a very small group of people vs a more popular, overfunded one that was either the product of crunch or AI to cut corners.

Or choosing a more obscure show and movie on youtube or game on Itchio that's free, if not consumer-friendly, to begin with vs more popular, overfunded media where you're only getting it for free by pirating it.

(1) During the pandemic, lives were lost and new lives were born. With the whole world being invaded by an invisible enemy, people can only stay at home to not be infected with the virus.

META's pandemic advertisement "Born in Quarantine" was based on a real life story of an old woman born during the influenza virus. Women who are with child are the ones that can relate to this ad since they also experience the same scenario as seen in the ad. The ad showed positive message to women that gave birth during the pandemic and inspired them to continue on to nourish their children and ended with the words "and you just take care of that little soul.

No forms of media manipulation were associated with the ad, the ad's intention is to inspire women who are in child labor to carry on to take care and to protect their child no matter what may happen. The advertisement encourages women to become stronger especially in times of crisis, to show how strong women are and that they can also win battles even in struggle. As I further analyze the ad of META, I have observed that the ad is all about bravery and determination of women who are with child. We can all agree that the pandemic has made all lives hard. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, way back in March 2022, at least 2, 514, 000 people lost their jobs due to their employers closing of businesses since the virus was very dangerous. Imagine having a child labor during the pandemic, with all of the hospitals being occupied due to many people being infected by the virus. It literally is a miracle that bringing a child during the pandemic is a beauty in disguise, as the child represents hope and the struggle of the mother of the child being the symbol of bravery.

References:

Meta [@meta]. (2020). Born in Quarantine.

Bls.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2023, from

https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/2-5-million-unable-to-work-in-march-2022-because-employer-closed-or-lost-business-due-to-covid-19.htm

(2) The life we had way back since the outbreak of the pandemic was very tiring, having to take precautions when going out to buy some food for the family, and avoiding other people since it has been regulated by the government. Lots of lives were lost, people being forced to stay at home so that the virus will not spread, people having a hard time to earn money since other workplaces have closed.

The advertisement made by Facebook, titled "We're never lost if we can find each other." It showcased how hard it is to keep contact with people since it has been banned to have a face to face confrontation with friends and family to stop the spreading of the virus. All people can relate to this since we all have experienced the cruelty of the pandemic, having no one to talk to since the lockdown and avoiding contact with the people you know and love. This is why Facebook has utilized to showcase the strength of social media, to connect people, to have another way of communicating with one another. Facebook showed that all people can still be with their friends and loved ones, even when far away, distanced by the virus. However, Facebook has intended to manipulate the current situation of people during the pandemic and took the chance to further advertise their product which is the social media itself "Facebook."

Having to connect with people you know who you cannot see face to face with the use of social media like Facebook has become very helpful especially those who were alone during the pandemic, just like the people who were in isolation due to them being infected with the virus. According to the American Psychological Association, loneliness can augment depression and anxiety. But with the help of the Facebook app, people are united online and can communicate with one another since people were never meant to be alone. The title of the ad was also very significant to main subject of the ad. "We're never lost if we can find each other" means that no matter how many problems keeps people apart, as long as they can have a way to communicate and catch up with each other, everything will be alright.

References:

Facebook [@facebookapp]. (2020). We're never lost if we can find each other. Youtube.

Apa.org. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2023, from

Social Media Marketing Campaign Tips For Success

I doubt you need to be told, but any time you launch a business, online or off, you are going to need some form of solid business plan ready to guide you along the right path. One of the best ways to market your new business is using social media. Not only is it free marketing, it is a booming trend on the Internet that needs to be utilized. Use the tips in this article to help you get started on your social media marketing plan for your new business. Relax, smm panel is just an online conversation. Email used to scare the pants off of companies who did not understand the good, the bad, and the ugly of the whole thing. Now it is the go-to communication channel. Social media is the new channel, and all you need to do is sit down and talk to your customers. It is what they want and what you need. Make sure there are plenty of links to the social media pages you have created on everything you do; you can also have an RSS feed that details your latest activity, too. These links should be included in forum and email signatures, blog posts and on every page of your website. From each social network profile, link to your various other profiles to allow customers to find you everywhere. Try playing games on Facebook. It is fairly simple to develop a game that is tailored specifically to your products or your industry as a whole. Some brands have found a lot of success by using Facebook's games. These have become rapidly spreading on the web. You may consider it money well spent to hire a professional game design company to help you with game development. For large companies, social media marketing can be a labor intensive, complicated, and non-standardized task where efficiency can be elusive. Many ad agencies and social media agencies are still trying to understand how to effectively market to the masses and are making it up as they go. So be careful where you spend your money and make sure you are getting measurable results from your marketing campaign. Adjust your Twitter profile settings to ensure that all of your business posts are automatically tweeted. You can even post links to updates from a few affiliates' high-quality blogs. They will love the free publicity, and your customers will appreciate that you are pointing them to quality content. When running a social media marketing campaign, brag about how many followers you have from time to time. If someone sees that 1500 people are following you, they may join up too just so they do not get left out of what their friends already know about. The desire to stay in the know and be trendy can be your friend. Before beginning a social media marketing campaign you should consider purchasing guides to lead you in the right direction. A guide includes information about the leading social media sites. It will give you all that you need to know from the basics of setting up a page to strategies to increasing traffic. Make sure you make your profiles public. LinkedIn and Facebook both have privacy settings you can customize: remember that you are creating these profiles to advertise your products, and that you want as many people as possible to see your pages. You can block individual users if you are having issues. You should always remember that people who follow you on social media sites want you to pay attention to what they have to say. If just one person has one suggestion, many others do, too. Let them know you are paying attention to what they are telling you. Try hosting question/answer sessions online to boost interest about your services and products via social media. This is a good way to get people to know the most about your products and services. Allowing your customers to ask you questions directly, helps to create a more personal relationship between you, and your potential customers. Follow a successful strategy with well defined step and boundaries when launching your social media marketing operation. It will take some time and effort on your part, but you can succeed.

Jars by dani

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Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Get the inside scoop on jobs, salaries, top office locations, and CEO insights. Join Facebook to connect with JARS by Dani and others you may know. Jars by Dani's's review score also factors in its popularity, which is in the mid-range compared to competing. Find out what works well at Jars by Dani from the people who know best. Jars by Dani offers 0 total features such as, and.

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Based on these factors and 11 Jars by Dani reviews, Jars by Dani earns an overall score of 4.0 out of 5.0 points. Free Shipping and Free Returns available, or buy online and pick up in store Labor Day Sale: Take an extra 30 off items labeled EXTRA 30 OFF for a total savings of 5065. Layers of decadent desserts delivered in a simple fashion: a Mason jar. If you’re in NYC, JARS are also available at the following locations. 8,841 likes 4 talking about this 204 were here.

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Use code ‘FIBER’ at checkout for 10 off your first order. Knoji reviews and ranks and other desserts & pastry stores based on how many features each offers and based on a 5-star rating scale. JARS are available for purchase via JARS by Dani. Knoji editors and the Knoji shopper community have reviewed Jars by Dani and compared it against 0 top brands, reviewing Jars by Dani based on product and store features such as domestic production policy, and. Knoji has 11 Jars by Dani reviews and ratings as of September 20, 2022. JARS is taking over social media with the hundreds of eye-catching pictures posted on Instagram of the jars that look just as good as they taste, an impressive accomplishment seeing as the jars are literally the best tasting food you will ever put in your mouth.Are each store products made in the USA? Does each store manufacture their products in the United States? Layers of decadent desserts delivered in a simple fashion: a Mason jar. Order delivery or pickup from JARS by Dani in Phoenixville View JARS by Danis August 2022 deals and menus. Saying that JARS by Dani uses social media to promote the business is an understatement. 8851 likes 3 talking about this 203 were here. You can now order jars online from anywhere in the country, a fact that brings tears of joy to my eyes. Jars by Dani are colorful and fun desserts in jars layered in heavenly flavors of cake, frosting, chocolate. On a mission to pursue her passion for baking, Dani's brilliance shone through when she combined mason jars with all our favorite flavors-a discovery my taste buds are forever thankful for.īefore JARS took off on social media, Dani hand delivered every order of jars to each customer in Manhattan-talk about a workout. Taste the rainbow officially has a new definition. A photo posted by The dani in JARSbydani™ 💃 on at 5:40am PSTĭani Beckerman, founder of JARS by Dani, is a successful businesswoman who has graduated college, culinary school, and created this delicious new way of giving us the desserts we love.

MORBIZ Predicts Consumers will Continue to Support Small Businesses if they are Transparent

As prices for everything from milk to gas skyrocket, there is some good news for small business owners; surveys show that 70 percent of consumers plan to continue supporting their favorite local companies amid record inflation. While the silver lining may be thin, it is certainly an important statistic, especially as we crawl out of the devastating pandemic era. The sad reality is that many communities lost mom and pop shops of every industry in the last two years, so it’s vital that we band together to keep those that did survive afloat during the current economic crisis. While businesses and consumers alike face rising prices, many business owners also find themselves dealing with supply chain issues and labor shortages across virtually every sector. While these issues are slowly on the mend, the truth is that prices are high and will likely remain high for quite some time. If you run a small business, it may be a difficult decision to hike up costs, but it's likely a must to survive. When the time comes to do so, many consumers are asking for just one thing: be transparent. Since raising prices is nearly inevitable, it is important to be upfront with your customers about doing such. It can be a shock to many when they return to a business for a product or service and are charged a higher cost than they’re used to without any warning. In fact, surveys show that 90 percent of consumers say that simply being honest about rising prices will keep them coming through the door or ordering online. How can you let your customers know about inflated prices? Use all your channels. Add pricing information to your website, write a blog, share social media posts and put up signage in your business that lets people know that prices are on the rise. Your honesty will prevent sticker shock from setting in when the bill comes, in turn keeping your customers happy and ensuring they return to you time and time again. It has never been more important to support small businesses. At MORBiZ, we’ve made it our mission to help them thrive by enhancing their online reputation and building out beautiful, responsive websites. If you’d like to learn more about the services provided by our professional web marketers, please call us at 855-266-7249 or use our online contact form. Our team loves being able to help small businesses thrive and we’ll do everything we can to support yours.

In the wake of the Nurture tour I was going back to some Porter Robinson stuff and I noticed something about the Look at the Sky music video that I never really noticed before. Since it was released during the pandemic, I had instinctively associated the empty walls and phantoms as representing the isolation of lockdown. But there is another interpretation that struck me today.

At the very beginning of the video, in the course of just a few seconds, you can see the phantom characters performing key elements from the history of technology: mining, chopping wood, fashioning tools, doing basic chemistry, and finally advanced manufacturing and electronics, which ultimately enables Robinson to begin playing his music.

He begins to sing as they silently watch him, a constant presence that is mute but ultimately dominates his space.

The fact that they are dressed as literal ghosts suggests that they represent the people of history, who have shaped the environment that he lives in and have created the tools and structure to facilitate his own forms of expression. They also play music with him, showcasing how the music that exists in the current day is not only a modern production, but has grown from and is being perpetually informed by all the music that has come from the past.

These ideas are even further reinforced when the camera pans down to show a collection of buried ghosts literally holding up the surface of the world:

At the very end of the video, the camera moves away from Robinson, and when it returns, he is also shrouded, one of the many phantoms on our screen. He has become one of them - inevitably incorporated like everyone else into the cultural infrastructure of art and history and labor that the future will be built on.

It’s possible I’m just being late to the game and I should have been reading it this way from the first place, but it was a lovely thing to discover about a piece of media that I thought I already knew and understood. Porter Robinson’s work never fails to delight me.

Some Holidays in Japan that you might be able to incorportate in your gameplay in Mt Komorebi

I love learning about different cultures and i love that Snowy Escape is giving us a new culture I love japan and their culture so I’ve been doing some deep research and I have found some Japanese Holidays that you could add to your seasons calendar to add to your gameplay there a loads more and feel free to look them up. I just picked a few I’d like to incorporate in my game and ones i could see being done with the current traditions and hopefully new traditions coming in the game. When I play i like my families to have lots of things to do as the year progresses. 

New Year’s Day (1st of January) ( In Japan, the largest holiday is the New Year’s celebration. This national holiday was established in 1948, as a day to celebrate the new year. New Year's Day marks the beginning of Japan's most important holiday season, the New Year season (正月, Shōgatsu), which generally refers to the first one, three or seven days of the year. Although not prescribed by law, many workplaces are closed from December 29 to January 3. )  

Greenery Day (4th of May) ( This national holiday is celebrated as a day to commune with nature and be grateful for its blessings.)

Children’s Day (5th of May) ( Children's Day is a Japanese national holiday which takes place annually on May 5 and is the final celebration in Golden Week. It is a day set aside to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness. It was designated a national holiday by the Japanese government in 1948.)

Respect for the Aged Day (3rd Monday of September) ( Respect for the Aged Day is a Japanese designated public holiday celebrated annually to honor elderly citizens. It started in 1966 as a national holiday and was held on every September 15. Since 2003, Respect for the Aged Day is held on the third Monday of September due to the Happy Monday System. On this holiday, people return home to visit and pay respect to the elders. Some people volunteer in neighborhoods by making and distributing free lunch boxes to older citizens. Entertainments are sometimes provided by teenagers and children with various keirokai performances. Special television programs are also featured by Japanese media on this holiday.)    

Sports Day (2nd Monday of October) ( is a national holiday in Japan held annually on the second Monday in October. It commemorates the opening of the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, and exists to promote sports and an active lifestyle. Sports play a significant role in Japanese culture. Sumo, judo and karate are traditional Japanese sports and baseball, soccer and rugby have been adopted from other cultures. - according to this source Baseball is the most watched sport in Japan) 

Labor Thanksgiving Day (23rd of November) ( This national holiday was established in 1948 as an occasion for praising labor, celebrating production and giving one other thanks.