This Week in Pop Culture

All the pop culture things I'm obsessed with this week

My Spring 2012 Jams playlist on Spotify 

From The Hunger Games soundtrack to Fun. to Kelly-Clarkson-does-country, this wide range of music is all I've been listening to prep for finals. (And yes, One Direction is on there. But I feel that this is balanced by The Civil Wars. And Kimbra.)

The Legend of Korra

All right, before you all judge me, I would just like to say that I will not apologize for being psyched about this kickbutt show. It's predecessor, Avatar: The Last Airbender, was shown on Nickelodeon, yes. It was targeted at children mainly, yes. But it also featured some heavily adult themes. Such as genocide. Or the balance between spirituality and physical toughness. Much of one episode pondered if it’s ever acceptable to compromise your ethics and kill a human being, for heaven's sake. It also had some of the best character development on any TV show anywhere, as well as some great one-liners ("That's rough, buddy"). And the animation was gorgeous.

The Legend of Korra is the sequel to the Last Airbender, following the new avatar, Korra, a seventeen-year-old headstrong girl, as she tries to learn airbending and the politics of Republic City. The first and second episodes were great. They were beautifully drawn, funny, and already seem to deal with some serious issues. The main conflict seems to be between "benders vs. normal humans," which I'm excited for, since both sides have their points. Way to not show clear blacks and whites, "children's show." This is why I love you. Also, Mako is hot for an animated character. Just saying.

The Legend of Korra

Not sorry.

Titanic 3D

Can you believe this was the first time I've seen Titanic? My mom never let me see it when I was younger (Kate Winslet's boobs, and all), and I just never got around to watching it. The 3D didn't add much except make the movie seem like it was made yesterday instead of 1990-whenever. And yes, parts of it were extremely cheesy. But I'll always love Leonardo DiCaprio. And I'll admit I teared up. Especially at the end, when I realized that all these people really did die like that. So incredibly sad. Now I need to listen to some Celine Dion. Excuse me.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Once again, I can't believe it's taken me song long to read John Green. I decided to start with his latest book, The Fault in Our Stars, and holy cow was it incredible. I've heard some people argue that Green is this generation's J.D. Salinger, and I'd say that's a pretty apt observation. In order to be a great YA author, you really have to be able to write well-developed characters, which Green does in spades. Yes, it's about teenagers with cancer, and yes, it made me cry, but this book is so much more than that. The characters are real and unlike any other ones I've read before. I loved the heroine, Hazel Grace, and her sick-but-hilarious boyfriend, Augustus Waters. I don't want to give too much away, so just read it. Trust me.

AUDIO-FILES

I mentioned this yesterday, but this is just another show I'm obsessed with. I've loved Imagine Dragons for several years now, and seeing behind-the-scenes info as well as exclusive music content is awesome. Future episodes of AUDIO-FILES include Low, Neon Trees, and Joshua James. Tuesdays at 6:30 on BYUtv. Check it.

ALSO

Brad and Angie are engaged. All is right in the world again...

...At least it was, until I came across this story.