Culture
Greymantle’s culture coverage examines the subcultures, ideological shifts, and long-term social changes reshaping the Anglosphere and other major cultural regions. From the decline of shared social rituals to the cultural politics of Hollywood, our analysis connects fringe trends to mainstream consequences.
Recent coverage: The Sinisterian Impulse – Why America Stopped Dancing – Understanding Wokism – Film & Popular Culture
Beating A Dead Horse: How Hollywood’s IP Obsession Got Out of Hand
Since the early 2000s, sequels and franchises have dominated the U.S. box office, squeezing out original content and stories not grounded in pre-existing intellectual property, or "IP" as it is commonly referred to in the film industry. In this week's article, producer and comedy writer Gideon Evans analyzes why and "How Hollywood's IP Obsession Got Out of Hand".
Love and Doom in Westeros
Some readers of last weekend's post complained about its length. To answer those criticisms and better serve our readers, we here revisit the topic of love and doom in Westeros. At just over 1,200 words, it's a 7-minute read. Enjoy!
Mainstreaming Paranoia: How the Film Industry Feeds the Conspiracism Beast
Why do so many Americans believe their government is controlled by hidden cabals? One possible answer: it's what Hollywood has conditioned them to believe by producing TV shows like Blindspot, Mr. Robot, and The Blacklist. Learn how the unexpected success of The X-Files in the 1990s turbocharged three decades of 'paranoid entertainment'.
The Monster Mash: ‘Stranger Things’ and the Pleasures of Being Scared Together
There is something faintly strange—and genuinely wonderful—about the fact that in a decade as anxious, polarized, and often joyless as the 2020s, a large and culturally diverse audience could rally around a television series so unapologetically steeped in pop-culture excess. Stranger Things is cinematic realization of the 1960s pop ditty 'The Monster Mash' -- a wild ride through American genre films with monsters as fellow passengers.
Del Toro’s Frankenstein, AI and the West’s “Religious Moment”
Guillermo del Toro's film adaptation of 'Frankenstein' succeeds by sticking to the original novel's metaphysical concerns, even as it audaciously revises a number of key plot points. By simultaneously reaching back to the West's religious past and forward into a future impacted by artificial intelligence, Del Toro manages to be both faithful to - and to transcend - Mary Shelley's famed horror novel.
Why America Stopped Dancing: The Four Critical Forces that Killed Social Ritual
Dancing, particularly among young people, has been a dying social form since at least the 1970s. But the slow death of dance in America is not the result of changing musical tastes – though those have also played a role -- but a more profound indicator of cultural disintegration. In this week's post we explore why America stopped dancing: The Four Critical Forces that Killed Social Ritual.
Gambling Without Shame: How Legalized Gambling Captured America
American society has become more tolerant of individuals' personal foibles and failures, in stark contrast to the private and public shaming that was common in the last century. The softening of societal attitudes toward shame has led to some positive developments, but there are areas in life where shame can serve to deter risky behavior. Gambling is one such area. This week's post highlights the impact of gambling without shame, and how legalized gambling captured America.
The Sinisterian Impulse: The Infiltration of Occult Aesthetics into Popular Culture
Over the past four decades, Satanic aesthetics and occult-infused posturing have crept steadily from the margins of Western subcultures into the mainstream of fashion, music, film, and avant-garde performance.Today, one can see an ornate Baphomet choker in the front row at Paris Fashion Week, or a Luciferian ode embedded in a high-budget pop video.This isn't just shock for commerce's sake. Beneath the spectacle lies a sensibility with deeper cultural roots and emerging ideological heft.We have dubbed this phenomenon 'The Sinisterian Impulse'.
The Diet of Illusion and the Rule of Fantasy
An innate human hunger for fancy and diversion is generating vast quantities of digital entertainment and real-world imitation focused on the the trivial, the strange and the fantastic. From online avatars to cosplay, a diet of illusion marked by consumption of opinion over facts, fantasy over reality-based narratives and images over words provides mental and emotional sustenance for millions of Americans.
Conservative Dissenters and the New Social Majority
The ground has shifted under American social conservatives since 2000, with support for gay marriage and drug legalization rising. Who are they now? And where do they go from here?