Revealing the Essays in Living Rent Free In My Head

In Living Rent Free In My Head, I wrote/rewrote/edited a total of 20 essays. Some of these essays will sound familiar as you might’ve read them previously on the blog. While other essays will be completely brand new to you as they haven’t been read by anyone, other than me and my editor. The essay titles will give you a sneak peek into what the essay collection has to offer.

Who Even Is A Celebrity Anymore?

With the influx of YouTubers, TikTokers, and social media stars, I navigate through who should even be considered a celebrity anymore. Is the title strictly reserved for the Hollywood A-listers or do current-day influencers also deserve the title?

The Line Between Criticizing & Bullying
Celebrities

In the era of “cancel culture”, celebrities are criticized for their actions left and right. Some deservedly, but others…not so much. Sometimes the criticism celebrities receive can border on the line of harassment. In this essay, I decipher when criticizing celebrities can turn into bullying.

Celebrity Couples Breaking Up ≠ Love Is
Dead

Stop me if you heard this one before, “Love is dead!”. The phrase is used in an over-dramatic fashion when celebrity couples break up. At times it’s said for jokes, while other people are dead serious. I explain why celebrity break-ups should have no effect on normal people’s perception of love.

The Ignorance of the White Passing Olivia
Rodrigo Debate

If you’ve been around on the blog, you probably read this essay already. In it, I look at the debate regarding Olivia Rodrigo and whether or not she is white-passing. I explain how neither side of the debate is right and how the debate in general is deeply flawed.

Black-Fishing & The Celebrities Who Have
Done It

Piggybacking off white-passing, I explain the problematic concept of black-fishing and why white people partake in doing. Going one step further, I list multiple celebrities who have done it and emphasize the problem in them doing it.

The Media Owe Female Celebrities An Apology

Aka The Top Ten Female Celebrities That The Media Owes An Apology essay that was published on the blog. I discuss the disgusting treatment female celebrities have endured from the tabloid media. Through several examples, I explain the different ways the media has been downright brutal to female celebrities throughout the years.

The Issue with Centering Men in Female Artists’ Music

I point out how female musicians’ music often gets discredited. With the credit going to their producers, songwriters, band, or the person who inspired the music. I exclusively talk about this by going into depth about two cases of this occurring between Taylor Swift and Lorde.

How Tik Tok Has Changed the Music Industry For Better And Worse

Tik Tok has changed the music industry in its short existence. I explain in what ways the music industry has changed because of Tik Tok, and the pros and cons of the platform for music.

The Imperfect World of BookTok

In the following essay, I talk about BookTok aka the book side of Tik Tok. Similar to the previous essay, I explain why BookTok has been both good and bad for the publishing industry and authors. And why I don’t ever see myself on the platform.

The Morality of True Crime Entertainment

The most recent post on the blog is of course included in Living Rent Free In My Head. This essay explores our true crime obsession and how different types of media are negatively affecting how we consume and talk about it.

Sports Fandom & Stan Culture Are One of The Same

One of my favorite essays from the collection is this particular one where I point out the similarities between sports fans and stans of celebrities. If you never thought the two were similar, think again. Because this essay highlights just how similar they are.

Why Our Favorite Character Is Anyone, But The Main Character

Have you noticed how many of our favorite characters in television and movies are every character, but the main character? Sometimes it’s the villain or the best friend character. Either way, our favorite character usually is any character, but the lead. In this essay, I explain why I think this is. The reasoning may surprise you.

The Lost Art of Filler Episodes

In this essay, I discuss what filler episodes are, my love for them, and why I think they still have a place in the current landscape of television. Even though we are getting fewer and fewer of them as time goes on.

The Problem with Hate-Watching

With more and more viewers participating in Hate-watching, I explain the new way people are watching TV shows and movies that people are taking part in doing. I also explain the negative effects that Hate-watching causes, particularly to the content we consume.

Two Ways To Do A Progressive Reboot Right & One Way To Do It Wrong

The rise in reboots, especially progressive reboots, forced me to evaluate how and why some progressive reboots fail. I explore the reasoning by explaining why two reboots, Sex and The City’s …And Just Like That and Gossip Girl (2021) didn’t work. But also why The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s reboot Bel-Air did.

The Romantic Comedy Renaissance: Why We Still Need Rom-Coms

In this essay, I talk about one of my favorite topics: romantic comedies. I talk about the positives and negatives of the genre. How it almost died and why it looks to be on its way to a comeback.

Jennifer’s Body: How Bad Publicity and Marketing Can Kill

In this essay, I take a look at one of my favorite movies, Jennifer’s Body. The essay is an exploration of how the publicity centered around Megan Fox and the marketing of Jennifer’s Body led to the film’s demise.

Chuck & Blair: The Toxic Relationship Shippers Keep Rooting For

One of the early essays from my blog exposes the darker aspects of the relationship between Chuck and Blair from Gossip Girl and why these issues shouldn’t be ignored. No matter how beloved the couple are by viewers.

The Biggest Failure of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Though Buffy is one of my favorite shows, I speak up in this essay about its biggest shortcoming. Despite its status of being a revolutionary show, it did fall short when addressing one particular issue: sexual assault. I highlight the issues with its depictions and why they were such failures.

Everything We Love Was Created By Terrible People

And the final essay in the collection is none other than the essay dealing with once loved creators being exposed for being problematic for one reason or another. Going one step further, I explain how their ruined reputations affect how people consume the art they created. Can we still enjoy it or is it tainted? You’ll have to read it to find out.

I’m curious what essays intrigue you guys the most. Which essay sounds the most interesting or which one are you looking forward to reading? Let me know.

My book Living Rent Free In My Head: Essays On Pop Culture comes out on August 2, 2022. Pre-order it now for only $3.99 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other vendors.

Originally published at http://fairlyprofessional.com on July 6, 2022.