Author: moralesk

By Karina Morales-Pineda

Satoru Gojo – ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’

In this blog post, I am using Megan Thee Stallion’s use of anime superhero cosplay/inspiration as an example of “Fluxability”, and how it serves her as both “Megan Thee Stallion” vs. Megan Jovon Ruth Pete. With the cosplay and imagery of anime superheroes in and out of her artistry, Megan is able to bend between genders and adopt the qualities of the superheroes, such as strength and confidence. My thoughts are in conversation with “From American Marvels to the Mutant Generation: Reinventing the Superhero” by Ramzi Fawaz.

(***I do not know anything about the anime characters Megan cosplays… but as a heavy consumer and fan of her music as a queer rap artist from Houston,  I think this is an extension of how“fluxability” can be interpreted as.)

“Rather than performing flexibility, I argue, the monstrous powers and bodies of postwar superheroes exhibited a form of fluxability, a state of material and psychic becoming characterized by constant transition or change that consequently orients one toward cultivating skills for negotiating (rather than exploiting) multiple, contradictory identities and affiliations.” (11)

Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words – Official Trailer (2:12)

In her 2024 documentary, Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words, Megan speaks about overcoming the trauma of being ridiculed, blamed, and not believed in after being shot by artist Tory Lanez, and grieving the loss of her mother, all while navigating both success and hate in her career. She uses an animation of herself switching between Megan Pete and her alter-ego superhero/rap character, Megan Thee Stallion. In this preview for the documentary, a clip of her fictional superhero character follows with the words, “HER POWER, HER STORY”, using superheroes to create a queer, confident and powerful persona, to inspire confidence is a common theme among her artistry. ‘“I’m half anime character, half rapper,’ says Megan Thee Stallion.” (Crunchyroll Interview)

Shoto Todoroki – ‘My Hero Academia’

Megan has a unique, aggressive, deep South style of rap, one that requires confidence and even cockiness in every delivery. When she speaks about loving her figure, being queer, and healing from her trauma, she has to embody a constant high level of confidence that is not realistic for anyone outside of her music and character. Her documentary breaks down what her cosplays and character, Megan Thee Stallion, can sometimes hide. Megan showcases both emotional vulnerability and cocky confidence, as well as resilience, qualities that often contradict each other and are traditionally associated with femininity and masculinity. However, Megan can switch between these characters to protect and process her personal life.

Boa Hancock – ‘One Piece’

By Karina Morales-Pineda

In this blog post, I am reacting to a viral moment and the reactions following congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, calling Governor Greg Abbott “Governor Hot Wheels,” and the contradictions of Abott holding both anti-DEI and anti-LGBTQ policies. My thoughts are in conversation with the introduction to Crip Theory: Cultural Signs of Queerness and Disability by Robert McRuer. Representative Crockett received much backlash and controversy following her comment.

However, this viral moment highlighted how this comment caused more outrage among some voters than the contradictory policies of Governor Abbott. 

Tweets reacting to Greg Abbott, a disabled governor, dismantling DEI efforts, while accessibility and combating discrimination due to ableism is part of DEI. Governor Abbott is allowing and facilitating discrimination against queer and trans bodies by dictating what is conforming and what is non-conforming. Compulsory able-bodiedness, also allows able-bodiedness to the standard/default/conforming and valued bodies in a capitalist society.

Disabilities and death from COVID, and Greg Abbott’s dismissal of mask and vaccine mandates, is another example of compulsory able-bodiedness. Curfews and adjustments to the pandemic economically impacted Texas, yet there was no hesitation to return to the demands of capitalism at the expense of fatalities and disabled bodies. McRuer connects the demands of capitalism and globalism to how disabled bodies are valued, taken advantage of, and created. 

Close Textual Analysis of a Scene & Employing an Intersectional Analytic

By Karina Morales-Pineda 

Music Video: Nice to Have – 070 Shake (4.42)

“It’s nice to have someone to hold you

Tell you they chose you

Someone you can’t fool ’cause they know you

Nice to have someone to love you

Come to your bed in the night when you’re alone

It’s nice to have someone to love you (Mmm, mmm)

Ayy, it’s nice to have someone to love you” 

For my short analysis, I chose the music video for “Nice to Have” by 070 Shake (Danielle Balbuena, she/her), one of my favorite experimental and alternative R&B artists, for her unique sound and cinematic production. The song is about missing and yearning for a particular kind of love and appreciating it when you finally find it. Although 070 Shake has never defined her sexuality with labels, she has publically dated women and uses “she/her” pronouns in her lyrics.

Short Description: 

The music video begins with a slowed-down and paused-in-time traffic jam caused by an accident far ahead, inside a busy tunnel. There are brief, slowed shots of the people inside every car. Inside, the people varied randomly by race and age: an older couple, families with only one parent, a younger couple fighting, a group of teenagers running around, a woman holding a baby she just birthed in the car, a lesbian couple making out on the roof of the car, kids singing, an older couple kissing in the public transport, a couple fighting while holding a gun with a “just married sign” on their car, someone eating in there car alone.

Dannielle is seen alone in all her shots, between the shots of other couples. Two dogs in her backseat once accompany her; another shot shows her alone on public transport, and one shows her alone driving and singing. These shots continue up the traffic and eventually to the accident site.

In the accident, Dannielle is bloodied and across the hood of a car that has crashed into a pickup truck full of flowers; a third wall is dropped at this point, and the camera is turned to the set workers of cameras, lights and sounds. The sound is slowed and reverbed in a chopped-and-screwed style, showcasing snippets of Danielle and immediately returning to the familiar faces of the couples, cars, and families, this time only highlighting the happy moments.

Short Analysis:  

Age was the most noticeable diversity in the shots of the random people/couples/family. There was a mix of joy and chaos across all ages, from the newborn child crying to the old couple kissing. There were a few queer couples scattered around, exhibiting different types of physical affection. However, most of the couples were heteronormative, with a  mix of female and male-presenting pairs. There was not anything hypersexual or objectifying about the scenes of kissing in public. Gender was always questioned at the beginning of her career; for her androgynous style, I did not find this fluidity explored in this music video, apart from Danielle herself. I would not change much from the shots of the random subjects, in and out of love. Showing Danielle injured and alone felt like the song came with the urgency of carpe diem. Each shot gave each family or couple the entire screen for some moments at a time, and even returned to the same characters at the end. This made each one feel like an important subject, especially the older couples showing affection. Because Danielle is private about her sexuality, I understand why she was not one of the subjects in and out of love. This music video is from 2019, and this is no longer the case, as Danielle has since showcased her queer relationship with Lily-Rose Depp in a newer music video, making her relationship the subject of her love songs. The portrayal of some same-sex affection as something normal and insignificant by an artist who writes about loving women without defining her sexuality is very queer to me as a consumer, even if Danielle does not define herself that way.