Parks & Recreation: April Ludgate, The Secretly Optimistic Cynic

Go to http://uncommongoods.com/thetake for 15% off! The Summer I Turned Pretty has become one of the biggest teen dramas of our current era, and one of the most contentious aspects of the show has actually ended up being the girl at the center of it all: Belly Conklin. She is quite the polarizing figure; while many find her to be relatable, others have had a very hard time connecting with her at all (and some have even come to see her as the villain of the show.) Belly’s story digs into the true messiness of growing up and trying to figure out who you are in a world that doesn’t always seem to make sense. She’s cringe, messy, indecisive, a little (okay, maybe a lot…) selfish – but not necessarily unrealistic. So let’s take a closer look at Belly and her story to uncover why her flaws are integral to her growth journey (even if they make us want to yell at the TV sometimes…) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanks to Storyblocks for sponsoring this video! Get 2 extra months free with annual plans for a limited-time only: http://storyblocks.com/TheTake K-Dramas have been growing in popularity across the world for decades now, but they’ve seen a particularly huge growth in interest in the 2020s. While some might just chalk this up to the success of Netflix’s Squid Game, it’s actually a lot deeper and wider ranging than that. So what is it about K-Dramas that make them so beloved, and so addicting? The world of K-Dramas is vast and constantly expanding and evolving, so there’s no way we could cover everything in one video – but we want to begin with this quick dive into K-Dramas and what we love about them! So whether you’ve been hearing about them for a while but still haven’t taken the leap to begin watching or have been loving them for years, let’s dive in! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get 50% off your first year at http://monarchmoney.com and use code THETAKE Parks and Recreation’s April Ludgate is known for her cynical, sarcastic demeanor. But, underneath that moody exterior, she was actually a surprisingly positive thinker – it’s just that optimism looks a little different on April. Though it might not seem like it at first, April provides a really relatable example of how to figure out your sense of self and build your own life without giving up all of the things that make you you. So, how did she do it? Let’s take a closer look… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Go to http://www.groundnews.com/take to make sure you're getting the full picture of every story. Subscribe through our link to get 40% off unlimited world wide coverage for less than the cost of a single movie ticket per month! Everything from faking dating profiles to Netflix's Unknown Number: The High School Catfish and beyond has us questioning how we can *ever* really be sure who to trust online at this point... So let’s take a deeper look at this problem from a few different angles, from digital tweaking to AI profiles to Catfish to parents catfishing their own kids and beyond to get a better understanding of what’s propelling this issue – and why it’s only getting scarier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Go to http://greenechef.com/50thetake and use code 50THETAKE to get fifty percent off your first month, then twenty percent off for two months with free shipping. Abbott Elementary’s Principal Ava Coleman is many things: outlandish, vain, selfish, hilarious. Ava’s narcissistic nature has caused many problems over the course of the show, for herself and others (mostly others…) But as time has gone on, we’ve also gotten to see how, when she uses her powers for good, this side of herself allows Ava to do great things and make the world around her a better place. She may not always be the perfect principal, but she does actually have a great lesson to teach us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get 50% off your first year at http://monarchmoney.com and use code THETAKE Smash hit KPop Demon Hunters has surprised people in more ways than one. It’s an original story that manages to walk the line between fun and depth, hitting on real, relatable emotions without ever losing its edge or humor. The movie has become a mega hit for Netflix – not only is it now the streamer’s most watched film of all time, it’s also dominating the box office and making waves on the music charts. So what is it that has allowed Kpop Demon Hunters to so totally capture the hearts and minds of audiences? To find out, let’s dig into the film and its symbolism! Then we’ll unpack the deeper meaning of the story’s ending. And finally we’ll put it all together to analyze the true reasons this movie has become such a major success – and the important lessons Hollywood should learn from it if it wants a chance to repeat it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sex and the City actually had the chance to make something really engaging and fresh with its reboot And Just Like That, but the show ended up being anything but... The lack of Samantha Jones was a big problem for fans from the jump, but her absence also highlights everything that the show was narratively and creatively lacking that kept it from recreating Sex and the City's magic. Now that it’s over, we can’t help but wonder… what would the show have been like if Samantha had been around? Could she have saved And Just Like That? Let's take a closer look at how having Samantha in AJLT would have made everything better for Carrie Bradshaw, Charlotte York, Miranda Hobbes and *us*! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We might one day soon have the option to live forever, but… is that even a good thing? And what would it really look like in practice? Let’s take a look at some examples from on screen, like Upload, Pantheon, The X-Files & more, and in real life to get a deeper understanding of the issue. Humans have always had fantastical ideas about what might happen to us after we shuffle off of this mortal coil. In our modern era, technology seems to be on its way to giving us the option to bring these wild ideas into reality: from preservation to maybe never truly dying at all. This is, on the one hand, exciting to a lot of people. But on the other hand, it also opens up a whole lot of questions around technological capabilities and ethics... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She’s brash, emotional, inconsiderate, and a little intense – she just "too much." Or, at least, that’s what everyone else tells her. From Too Much's Jessica and Girls' Hannah to The Office's Kelly Kapoor and Weeds' Nancy and beyond, "too much" women can't seem to escape their problems. Their inability to look at the big picture causes a lot of problems for them (and everyone else around them...) But there's also something so relatable about them that keeps drawing us back in. So what’s really going on with the “too much” woman trope? And why can’t we stop watching her, even when she drives us a little crazy? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And Just Like That... after 3 seasons, the Sex and the City reboot has come to an end. So now that it’s officially over, where did the show leave these beloved characters in what may be their final ever run on screen? Let’s unpack where Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbes, Charlotte York, Samantha Jones and more ended up in the two part finale, and then we’ll dig into all of the reasons why the show’s ending was such a disappointment and ended up receiving so much backlash. #AndJustLikeThat #SexAndTheCity #AJLT #SATC #AJLTEnding #Ending #EndingExplained Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices