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Emily St. James

Emily St. James

Los Angeles
Emily St. James is a writer and critic whose work has appeared in Vox, The A.V. Club, and the New York Times. She is the co-creator of the podcast Arden and a writer on the TV series Yellowjackets.
Feb
07
Barbie, beautiful and blonde and dressed in pink, looks into a mirror that doesn't have glass in it.

Forever 2014

What we get mad about when we get mad about Barbie's Oscar snubs
18 min read
Feb
02
A girl talks to a man. They're both dressed in formalwear. The man leans on an upside-down photo of a couple.

How Edward Yang's Yi Yi helps you keep track of over a dozen major characters

6 min read
Jan
28
Cassian and Kino Loy stand at attention, hands behind their heads, in the hallway of the prison.

Andor Fridays: Episode 9, "Nobody's Listening"

7 min read
Jan
24
Steve Carell plays Michael Scott in The Office. He's sitting at his desk!

How I create (hopefully) memorable characters

Hint: It involves more than one character.
6 min read
Jan
19
The player and the mayor stand in front of the broken down community center in Stardew Valley.

January mailbag!

6 min read
Jan
17
Sheldon (an egg with two chicken legs sticking out) and his chick brother Booker in the cartoon Garfield and Friends.

Toward a definition of "Egg Cinema"

How movies made by seeming cis people sometimes end up super trans.
10 min read
Jan
12
Cassian puts his hands behind his head as he takes in the work floor of the prison he's in.

Andor Fridays: Episode 8, "Narkina 5"

7 min read
Jan
10
The people of Springfield gather to sing joyfully of their new monorail.

The Simpsons and our long 1990s hangover

"Marge Vs. the Monorail" is maybe the best TV episode ever made... and a paean to neoliberalism.
6 min read
Jan
05
The test pattern broadcast stations used for most of the black-and-white era.

Episodes in 2024

Here's what's coming in the new year!
3 min read
Dec
25
George Bailey stands on a bridge, dusted with snow, contemplating jumping off it. His eyes are wide.

It's a Wonderful Life and PTSD

When you are in the throes of a traumatic flashback, trauma therapists recommend a practice called "grounding." In
13 min read