Editor’s Note: Projecting features a selection of great film and television focused writing from around the internet.
Mallory Ortberg presents an ode to The Simpsons’ Ralph Wiggum in all his childish glory, for The Toast:
Ralph is not a rule-follower like Lisa, nor a rule-breaker like Bart; Ralph does not observe the rules because he is almost completely unaware of them. More than any of the other students at Springfield Elementary, Ralph is a child. Bart and Lisa and Milhouse and Nelson and Janey are kids, and therein lies the difference.
Susan King looks back at how an influx of German emigres in the 1930s changed Hollywood, for Los Angeles Times:
Their arrival, said Horak, “changed not just the film industry and the kind of films that were being made, it changed the intellectual life. You have people who are not in the film industry but came here because of the weather and perceived opportunities like [composer]Arnold Schoenberg and [author]Thomas Mann. They changed the intellectual character of Southern California.”
Kevin Carr kills your dreams of finding a fortune in buried treasure, for Film School Rejects:
More importantly, pirates rarely hoarded their treasure, even if they got their hands on it. Remember how rapper MC Hammer was once worth $33m in the early 1990s but ended up filing for bankruptcy in 1996? Pirates made similar business decisions with any wealth they acquired, often spending their money on women, drinking, and gambling. Again, there’s a reason they became pirates instead of bankers.
Alex Suskind travels into the world of movie novelizations to reveal more depth than would be expected, for Vanity Fair:
Novelizations may have made more sense before the advent of home video. Back then, films were released in the theater and often not heard from again. The best way to relive those original memories was to read them in book format (or to use your imagination). So, in an age of DVR and digital outlets, why do people continue to buy these books? It’s the same reason they read 5,000-word TV recaps every week. It’s a way for fans to feel more connected to a story or property they love.
