What is it about self-destruction that is so compelling? It feels terrible on all the obvious levels, sure, but on some deep, barren, emotional plane where the wind howls endlessly through the stunted trees, it’s also terribly satisfying. Somehow it feels right, even when it clearly looks wrong. […]
The Gutter is in the middle of a transition to a new site and host and Comics Editor Carol is right there with it. She’ll be back next month with a new piece. In the meantime, enjoy her thoughts on Superman. ~~~ I’ve been thinking about Superman. Actually, […]
Some years ago, a trio of colorful, contemplative, and sometimes a little bit absurd science fiction films from East German studio DEFA found their way onto home video in the United States. Of them, The Silent Star was the most beloved thanks to its combination of serious speculation […]
For those of us who did not grow up watching Bollywood films (and maybe even for those of you who did, depending on how closely an adult monitored what you were watching when or after this film came out), there is a particular threshold that each of us […]
This essay has some plot details and some swears in it. Proceed accordingly, my friends. ~~~ “I don’t know what I should have done. I never had to save the world before.” ~ Rita Farr Somewhere in west central Ohio, Black drag diva Maura Lee Karupt (Alan Mingo, […]
In November of 1989, The Berlin Wall — the second-most potent symbol of the Cold War after Ivan Drago — became a speed bump as the physical, social, and political barriers separating West and East Germany collapsed. As Germans began streaming back and forth across the once imposing […]
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The Cultural Gutter 