SOPHIE THATCHER As IRIS Companion (2025) Dir. Drew Hancock

SOPHIE THATCHER as IRIS Companion (2025) Dir. Drew Hancock

The TikTok Ban: Everything We Know

Highlights

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would require Beijing-based company ByteDance to sell TikTok or it will lose access to app stores in the United States.

The bill will now go on to the Senate.

The CEO denies its users’ data is in danger.

ByteDance will have six months to sell the app if the bill is passed.

TikTok is one of the most influential social media apps to hit the market. The app has over 100 million active users in the US, which is why a lot of Americans can’t help but feel invested in this new situation. For those of you living under a rock, the House of Representatives has just signed a bill to ban TikTok in the US. Why? Because it is owned by ByteDance, a company based in Beijing, China, which is a problem according to US officials.

The concern is that TikTok could give the data of American users to the Chinese government, or possibly influence US citizens through the algorithm. This isn’t the first time lawmakers have tried to shut down the app, which is why TikTok adopted an initiative called Project Texas in 2022, to safeguard American users' data on servers in the US. Despite this, TikTok would have to give their users’ data to the Chinese government if they so demanded.

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said, “The Chinese Communists are weaponizing information that they are constantly, surreptitiously collecting from 170 million Americans and potentially aiming that information, using it through algorithms at the core of American democracy.”

(Sen. Richard Blumenthal)

Many are displeased. Many TikTok users are arguing that this is a violation of the First Amendment, and since there is a lot of chatter on TikTok about the situation in Gaza, many are saying it is a way for the government to silence negative talk about Israel. This is not an unjustified concern, as Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton said that TikTok has a “clear skew in pro-Hamas propaganda on TikTok versus other social media apps.”

So, what does it mean if this bill gets passed? ByteDance will have six months to sell the app. If they do not, it will be removed from app stores in the US, and its website will become inaccessible. Now, there is no way to make the app disappear from everyone’s phones, but since the app will be removed from the app store, this means you can no longer download updates, meaning that over time the app will become glitchy and borderline unusable. You could still access the app through a VPN, though this will be illegal.

How is TikTok responding? Well, they are not taking this lying down. In the past, they have challenged similar moves in court and they've confirmed that they will challenge this one as well, and they have also confirmed that they have no plans to sell the app. Shou Zi Chew, CEO of the company, has also made several statements voicing his displeasure at the recent events and doing his best to assure Americans that their data is safe.

(TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew)

So, what happens next? The bill will be reviewed by the Senate, where it will have a long fight before it can be passed. President Biden has already confirmed he will sign the bill if it is given to him. Though many TikTokers in the US are concerned, there is still a lot that will have to happen for TikTok to be banned in the US.

Rick Stepp (calebstepp23@gmail.com)

Sources available upon request.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is Off to a Great Start, but Who Asked for This?

*No spoilers*

I stayed up to watch the premiere of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (3am on the east coast) and things are off to an interesting start, but I have to ask, who wanted this show? When it was announced, the series was meant to tell Spider-Man’s origin story in the MCU, but as production went on, the producers realized how boxed in they were, so they decided to make it a multiverse story. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man takes place in a universe similar to the sacred timeline, but instead of Tony Stark recruiting Peter, it’s Norman Osborn.

I understand why this show isn’t in the MCU, and while I admit that the series is taking the character in a different direction, I’m tired of seeing Peter Parker in high school and most fans seem to agree. I love a good superhero/average teen combo, which we see in this series. Peter misses class and skips parties to fight bad guys, and I love that dynamic. I love that Peter can’t tell his teachers why he wasn’t there for the test, or tell his friends why he missed their play, or birthday party. I enjoy that dynamic every time I see it, but it’s not anything that The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008-09), Ultimate Spider-Man (2012-17), or Spider-Man (2017-20) didn’t do. The live-action films also take on these scenarios, and they execute them well for the most part.

I don’t mean to be a pessimist, because this is a good show, but I can’t write down my thoughts and opinions about it without also expressing my exhaustion at how many times we’ve seen this play out. Marvel Animation should’ve placed Peter in college for this series. It would’ve been way more interesting, especially if they framed it for adults specifically, like Invincible (2021-) or Creature Commandos (2024-). My idea isn’t for them to make Spider-Man unnaturally dark, brooding, or edgy, but it would’ve brought more fans to the table in my opinion.

Some people say this show should’ve been about Miles Morales and I don’t agree. To me, the Miles-shaped hole in my heart is being filled by the Spider-Verse movies, and if they do a Miles Morales animated series, I believe it should wait until the Spider-Verse movies are over because the Spider-Verse movies are animated I believe the producers would have their work cut out for them trying to create another animated universe that rivals the Spider-Verse films, and because of this I believe that the show would suffer critically for it because everyone would compare it to the Sony rendition.

But let’s talk about this show and why it’s good, sans spoilers, of course.

The first thing you notice about this series is the animation and it’s just splendid. The fight scenes look immaculate, the shots of Spider-man swinging around the city are so well done. Episode 2 in particular had some really sweet shots. The voice acting was okay. I can’t decide if Hudson Thames is a good Peter Parker. At times he sounds good, but then it sounds like he’s got phlegm and didn’t bother to clear his voice before recording. The opening title was superb. The music and art together were just perfect. The callbacks to Civil War were also pretty cool. The suit Peter wears feels homemade, more so than the MCU edition and I liked that. I like that he uses some propane-type thing to power his webshooters.

Peter Parker feels like Peter Parker in this series. He’s stumbling around, chronically late, and missing the bus, it’s all very Peter-coded. On top of that, he’s very empathetic to criminals, something I think was lost in some of the films. The characters have got good chemistry. I like the dynamic between Peter and his friends. There was a certain character whose name I recognized from the comics, but he looked so different and there were some scenes with him that I didn’t fully understand, so I’m curious how his future in the show will play out. I can’t decide if Norman Osborn will be a villain or not. I always got the vibe that he has something going on under the surface, but that could be an intentional choice to make us suspect misdeeds from him. This show wants to subvert our expectations, similar to how the MCU films did. There were more names I recognized and I’m excited to see where they go from here, especially since the series was renewed for a second and third season.

I like that Marvel Studios is putting effort into this show. There have been plenty of Spider-man shows in recent years, but you could tell they were for children. This series has more attention to detail, it’s an animated superhero show that can be enjoyed by adults, and as I get older that’s something I value more and more. I love to rewatch shows like The Spectacular Spider-Man (2009-09) but something gets lost there as you get older. You can’t enjoy the story as much because it’s written for children, but today’s animators seem to understand the need adults have for these shows.

I just said that I’m tired of seeing Spider-Man in high school, but this series makes me nostalgic in all the best ways. Watching shows like this makes me feel like a kid again, and in recent times I value that experience so much. Listening to the awesome music selection as Spidey swings through the city oddly reminds me of walking to class in the morning, blasting music, and worrying about the math test I had later that day.

Overall, I’m excited to see where this show goes.

Final grade: B+

Rick Stepp (irresponsibleink@gmail.com)

Companion (2025) is a Great Critique of 'Nice Guy' Culture

1/31/25

Companion (2025) directed by Drew Hancock

*No Spoilers*

If I had to choose my favorite media trope, it would be the Relatable Robot. This trope has been used countless times, with later examples such as Terminator 2 and recent examples like Alien Romulus. Companion adds to this growing list, contributing a rogue sexbot that’s framed for murder, and despite being one month in, this might be one of my favorite movies of the year.

Companion opens with Josh (Jack Quaid) and his girlfriend, Iris (Sophie Thatcher), who are going to a remote cabin to spend some time with Josh’s friends, Kat (Megan Suri), Eli (Harvey Guillén), Patrick (Lukas Cage), and Sergey (Rupert Friend). Iris feels off about the trip and bares a suspicion that Josh’s friends don’t like her. The truth is far more unsettling. After an unfortunate series of events, Iris discovers she’s a Companion, a robot made for subservience and intimacy. As she comes to terms with this truth, she must fight to stay alive and get home before her boyfriend and his friends murder her.

All the actors were amazing, but the standouts were Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid. Thatcher’s character, Iris, must accept some terrible truths while also doing whatever it takes to survive, and Thatcher does a great job making us feel for a supposed machine. I liked her the moment she insisted Josh say 'thank you' to the Alexa in their car. From bright and earnest, to badass and scary, her range knows no bounds. Iris’s one goal is to make Josh happy, but we can sense that deep down Iris is unsatisfied with the circumstances. Quaid’s character, Josh, is a difficult one to portray, because for the story to work, he needs to present as a harmless nice guy, who actually has something nasty and depraved lurking beneath, and Quaid did a great job. You can tell through Jack Quaid’s intentional choices and actions, Josh truly believes that he is the good guy, even when his actions are deplorable.

This movie’s true antagonist is the ‘Nice Guy.’ Josh believes he is owed something for how ‘nice’ he is. He believes the world is rigged against him, and Iris isn’t enough for him because he ‘deserves someone real.’ He’s controlling with robots and he’s controlling with humans, and his arrogance and self-entitlement lead to everything spiraling out of control. I related to Iris’s character because I think we’ve all tried to find worth in someone else, and that’s what I felt when watching this movie. Iris believes that she’ll be happy if Josh is happy, she believes she’ll feel complete, and you can feel how desperate she is to really be loved and accepted by Josh. The power dynamic in the movie shifts when Iris begins to accept herself. This movie draws on themes such as consent and personal choice, and the ending brings everything together nicely.

Final Grade: A+

Rick Stepp (irresponsibleink@gmail.com)