History Creator / LindsayEllis

** Discussed in "Into the Omegaverse" and especially her follow-up video "Addison Cain's lawyer e-mailed me," where Lindsay discusses how A/B/O erotica author Addison Cain never sent [=DMCA=] Takedown Notices again men (particularly male podcasters who outright called her things like "profiteering shithead"), but she has repeatedly taken legal action against several different women (including Lindsay) for far lesser offenses, like stating an opinion she didn't like on twitter.

* NonIndicativeName: She notes in her Omegaverse video that much of the confusion surrounding it was that the lawyers, unfamiliar with the term, seemed to think the "verse" part of the name meant that it was an actual fictional universe, making "Omegaverse" stories fanfiction by nature. In reality, A/B/O is just a set of worldbuilding rules that can be applied to any setting (well, if you ignore the InSpiteOfANail issues, anyway), including fully original fiction, making it more comparable to a subgenre than a copyrighted fictional universe.

* DepravedBisexual: She dislikes Maureen from ''Theatre/{{RENT}}'' as an emotional abuser who gaslights all her partners and will sleep with AnythingThatMoves, "because bi."

* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: In "Everyone Loves Guy Fieri (Now)", Lindsay decides to do some field work and visits Guy Fieri's restaurant in Las Vegas. But since the vast majority of the dishes served at the place are with meat, and Lindsay herself is a vegetarian, she decides that bringing along some volunteers to try to the meals would aid in getting a more complete impression. Said volunteers are her assissant Elisa (who is also known as the host of ''WebVideo/VampireReviews'' on [=YouTube=]), her (former) business manager David (who hosts a AnalysisChannel on the works of Creator/StephenKing on [=YouTube=]), and finally "this guy we found on the street" (actually Todd of ''WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows'', in a rare unmasked appearence) who is introduced with the caption text "probably also a Youtuber idk".

* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: In "Everyone Loves Guy Fieri (Now)", Lindsay decides to do some field work and visits Guy Fieri's restaurant in Las Vegas. But since the vast majority of the dishes served at the place are with meat, and Lindsay herself is a vegetarian, she decides that bringing along some volunteers to try to the meals would aid getting a more complete impression. Said volunteers are her assissant Elisa (who is also known as the host of ''WebVideo/VampireReviews'' on [=YouTube=]), her (former) business manager David (who hosts a AnalysisChannel on the works of Creator/StephenKing on [=YouTube=]), and finally "this guy we found on the street" (actually Todd of ''WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows'', in a rare unmasked appearence) who is introduced with the caption text "probably also a Youtuber idk".

** In "Mask Off," Lindsay briefly mentions that the alt-right, who generally sides with mainstream conservatives on protecting victims of so-called "cancel culture," were doing nothing but laughing at Lindsay getting "cancelled" by her own supporters, since they appear to like it when "the own eats their own." There's also glimpses at Lindsay's "anti-SJW" critics whose comments were basically "You deserve it," and at least once insisted she should have been "cancelled" earlier for her "Rape Rap" video.

* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: In "Everyone Loves Guy Fieri (Now)", Lindsay decides to do some field work and visits Guy Fieri's restaurant in Las Vegas. But since the vast majority of the dishes served at the place are with meat, and Lindsay herself is a vegetarian, she decides that bringing along some volunteers to try to the meals would aid getting a more complete impression. Said volunteers are her assissant Elisa (who is also known as the host of ''WebVideo/VampireReviews'' on [=YouTube=]), her (former) business manager David (who hosts a AnalysisChannel on the works of Creator/StephenKing on [=YouTube=]), and finally "this guy we found on the street" (actually Todd of ''WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows'', in a rare unmasked appearences) who is introduced with the caption text "probably also a Youtuber idk".

* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: In "Everyone Loves Guy Fieri (Now)", Lindsay decides to do some field work and visits Guy Fieri's restaurant in Las Vegas. But since the vast majority of the dishes served at the place are with meat, and Lindsay herself is a vegitarian, she decides that bringing along some volunteers to try to the meals would aid getting a more complete impression. Said volunteers are her assissant Elisa (who is also known as the host of ''WebVideo/VampireReviews'' on [=YouTube=]), her (former) business manager David (who hosts a AnalysisChannel on the works of Creator/StephenKing on [=YouTube=]), and finally "this guy we found on the street" (actually Todd of ''WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows'', in a rare unmasked appearences) who is introduced with the caption text "probably also a Youtuber idk".

* FemaleMisogynist: {{Invoked}}, and discussed quite a bit in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O06tMbIKh0 "Dear Stephenie Meyer"]] video where she points out that a large portion of ''Film/{{Twilight}}'''s detractors were other young women and how society and culture (and the GirlShowGhetto) play into it, and moreover, a "strong female character" that's written to be as "un-girly" as possible can be just as sexist as a DistressedDamsel.

-->[[AcceptableTargets [As a] culture, we kinda hate teenage girls.]] We hate their music [=*=]''shows a Music/OneDirection music video''[=*=], we hate their insipid backstabbing, we hate their vanity, we hate their selfie sticks, we hate their make-up, we hate their stupid books and the stupid sexy actors they made famous and their stupid sparkly vampires, and then we wonder why so many girls are eager to distance themselves from being objects of societal contempt.

* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: In "Everyone Loves Guy Fieri (Now)", Lindsay decides to do some field work and visits Guy Fieri's restaurant in Las Vegas. But since the vast majority of the dishes served at the place are with meat, and Lindsay herself is a vegitarian, she decides that bringing along some volunteers to try to the meals would aid getting a more complete impression. Said volunteers are her assissant Elisa (who is also known being the host of ''WebVideo/VampireReviews'' on [=YouTube=]), her (former) business manager David (who hosts a AnalysisChannel on the works of Creator/StephenKing on [=YouTube=]), and finally "this guy we found on the street" (actually Todd of ''WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows'', in a rare unmasked appearences) who is introduced with the caption text "probably also a Youtuber idk".

* FemaleMisogynist: {{Invoked}}, and discussed quite a bit in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O06tMbIKh0 "Dear Stephenie Meyer"]] video where she points out that a large portion of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'''s detractors were other young women and how society and culture (and the GirlShowGhetto) play into it, and moreover, a "strong female character" that's written to be as "un-girly" as possible can be just as sexist as a DistressedDamsel.

** Brought up in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O06tMbIKh0 Dear Stephenie Meyer]]", a look at the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' series with the benefit of hindsight, noting that a lot of the bashing directed at the books and movies is based in this line of thinking.

** Lindsay's also repeatedly mentioned ''Manga/TheAncientMagusBride'' as a guilty pleasure. While comparing it to ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O06tMbIKh0 "Dear Stephenie Meyer"]], she captions:

--->'''Lindsay:''' Megatron accidentally etching coordinates to the {{MacGuffin}} inside ''another'' {{MacGuffin}} I'll buy, a magical glowcube that's the progenitor for all the alien robots that turn into Camaroes I'll buy, [[ArbitrarySkepticism but that one of them displays]] [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics female secondary sex characteristics]] [[PinkMeansFeminine and is pink]]? [[SarcasmMode Hmmm... I dunnoooooo, man... I'm going to have to absorb more of]] [[DoubleStandard Optimus' robo-pecs and enjoy]] [[RatedMForManly his deep, manly voice]] [[SarcasmMode while I smoke on this for a little while]].

** "Is WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast about StockholmSyndrome?" says it all, really. Downplayed as ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' ''is'' a beloved movie, though Lindsay posits that not only does Belle ''not'' have StockholmSyndrome (she shows none of the symptoms), but focusing on whether or not she does causes most people to miss out on the film's other great themes and messages. Like how decent people are often Othered by a shallow society that doesn't reward and often doesn't see the goodness in them, how bullies are often rewarded because they possess a set of traits that society does find value (usually [[RatedMForManly masculinity]], [[ItsAllAboutMe arrogance]], and [[BeautyEqualsGoodness good looks]]), how Beast and Gaston serve as great {{foil}}s who start out both wanting to possess and control Belle, but [[LoveRedeems one learns his lesson and is redeemed]] and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard the other doesn't and dies]]. And all of this gets ignored in favor of, "Does Belle have StockholmSyndrome?" She also argues that the "Stockholm Syndrome" debate overshadows the actually-valid feminist critiques of the film, such as Belle's passivity in the plot and lack of significant development in favor of centering the narrative on the Beast's growth.

* TheScapegoat: In "Tracing the Roots of Pop Culture Transphobia," Lindsay discusses how the media archetype of the CreepyCrossdresser Serial Killer (most notably [[Film/{{Psycho}} Norman Bates]] and [[Film/SilenceOfTheLambs Buffalo Bill]]) sprang from newspapers blaming Ed Gein's real-life serial killing of women on "unnatural" feminine inclinations like [[GreenEyedMonster wishing to be a woman]], even though Ed Gein was a heterosexual cisgender man who showed ''no'' signs of having ''ever'' crossdressed. (Although his FemaleMisogynist mother didn't help.) Lindsay discusses how most real-life serial killers [[HeManWomanHater "resent women"]] ([[{{Understatement}} at best]]), yet acknowledging violent misogyny as a byproduct of Western society teaching people to [[RatedMForManly revere "strength" and cruelty as masculinity]] and to [[HeManWomanHater despise women and femininity]] would [[SocietyIsToBlame force society to question its values and how it teaches men to view women]]... So it's just easier to blame women and femininity for their own violent misogyny by implying that only [[EffeminateMisogynisticGuy men with "unnatural" feminity]] (whether trans women or just men InTouchWithHisFeminineSide) are violent toward women due to [[GreenEyedMonster envying]] or [[IJustWantToBeYou wanting to replace them]].

* The ''Literature/ViridianSaga'', a parody of ''{{Literature/Twilight}}'' about [[DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu romancing Cthulhu]]. So far, only the first book ''Awoken'' has been released, [[PenName ostensibly written by]] JustForFun/SerraElinsen[[note]]Whose name is a portmanteau of the names of Lindsay and co-authors Antonella Inserra and [[WebVideo/VampireReviews Elisa Hansen]][[/note]].

* ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick'', which ran from 2008 to 2015.

On December 27, 2021, Ellis announced her departure and retirement from [=YouTube=] and content creation as a whole on [[https://archive.ph/S71c7 her Patreon]], though she maintained that she was keeping the door open for a potential comeback in the future. In 2022, that comeback came to fruition, this time on a creator streaming service called Nebula. Her first episode, "How They Adapted Lord of the Rings (The Good One)", can be viewed [[https://nebula.tv/videos/lindsayellis-how-they-adapted-lord-of-the-rings here]] Her entire back catalogue and other lost episodes, such as an episode on ''Film/TropicThunder'' and another one on ''Film/BlazingSaddles'', can also be viewed via her [[https://nebula.tv/lindsayellis profile]].

** In "The Revisionist World of Creator/{{Disney}}: Film/MaryPoppins, Creator/WaltDisney and Film/SavingMrBanks," Lindsay posits that ''Film/SavingMrBanks'' is an artistically good movie in its own right that discusses a lot of interesting themes, like: Who owns ideas once they're out in the public consciousness? Is it ethical to pressure the owner of an intellectual property to sell you the rights to their creation and then make changes they don't like? Is it better to hold firm to your [[DoingItForTheArt artistic integrity]] or "SellOut" for the greater good of mass consumption and commodification? It's also one of the few movies that explores a troubled relationship between a father and daughter, where the daughter's moment of self-actualization ''isn't'' through marriage. But unfortunately, the only thing most people really remember about this movie that it's pro-Creator/{{Disney}} propaganda that "selling out is good!" and sanitizes its own history of how Walt ground Travers down into letting him change her beloved work by implying she grew to love it, when she didn't.

* AuthorAppeal: The UsefulNotes/DisneyRenaissance. Lindsay discusses this ''a lot'' in her videos, especially [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation the years leading up to it]], its rise in popularity, its decline (which she attributes to ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}''), and [[GenreKiller its downfall]]. She consistently posits that it started out strong but, due to being StrictlyFormula, audiences quickly got tired of seeing the same movie over and over in favor of the more unique Creator/{{Pixar}} stories and subversive Creator/DreamWorksAnimation.

* StupidStatementDanceMix: The episode intro theme to ''The Whole Plate'', using the namesake line from ''Film/{{Transformers}}''.

->''"Critical studies is not here to shame you for what you like -- much as it apparently feels that way to some people -- but rather to help give us the tools to question the media we consume and what it says about the culture that created it."''
-->-- '''Lindsay''' in "The Whole Plate: The Problem of Lady Bots"

Lindsay Ellis (born November 24, 1984) is a producer of {{web original}} content on [=YouTube=] who specializes in making video essays surrounding film theory and academia.

* AlienInvasion: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KioF1sTQFtE Independence Day vs. War of the Worlds]]" goes into the origins and development of the genre, as well as exploring the various ways in which they can be depicted, specifically pulling ''Film/IndependenceDay'' and ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds'' as examples.

** [[AuthorsSavingThrow Clarifies some misunderstandings fans have had regarding her use of this trope]] in her "Film/IndependenceDay vs Film/WarOfTheWorlds" review. When she says "an alien is never just an alien," that does not mean the alien is a direct one-to-one correlation either. Stories where the alien functions as an amorphous symbol for general cultural anxieties, attitudes, phenomena, etc can resonate long after the work is released because the meaning audiences draw from the aliens can change with the times. Meanwhile, creators that go out of their way to make an alien into a direct one-to-one correlation not only limit the storytelling, but can make the work an UnintentionalPeriodPiece - like how Creator/StevenSpielberg went out of his way to depict the aliens as an {{allegory}} for terrorists, and his movie quickly became a dated Post911TerrorismMovie.[[invoked]]

** ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds'': Ray's culminating character moment is presented to be when he learns to let his son go to fight the aliens, but Lindsay argues this moment "came out of nowhere" since Ray is established to be an inadequate, neglectful father, and his son consistently shown to be a wrong-headed TooDumbToLive JerkAss who needed [[ComingOfAgeStory proper guidance on how to be a proper man]]. So when the alien invasion hits, the film seems to be leading the audience to believe Ray will step up and "be a goddamn dad for once," and the son will learn not to be so blindly vengeful toward the aliens. Instead, the dad learns to "let his kid go" and his kid promptly (seemingly) dies seconds after. She compares it to ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'', where Marlin ''is'' overbearing and overprotective, so learning to let go makes sense. Whereas with ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds'', it contradicts all prior character set-up, and has an emotionally unsatisfying pay-off.

** While she still generally likes the film, Lindsay also finds this a significant problem with ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds''. She finds that it begins strong as an examination of how in light of an apocalypse HumansAreBastards, but didn't have a satisfying resolution in mind, suddenly going into a "TheApocalypseBringsOutTheBestInPeople" scenario apropos of nothing by the ending.

** Also discussed again in her video on ''Film/IndependenceDay'' and ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds'' (the latter of which she had described in her ''Loose Canon'' video "the most successful 9/11 movie"), finding the event to have singlehandedly changed how AlienInvasion fiction is made. Gone are the days of invasion narratives being campy spectacles [[EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion with happy endings]] whose [[MonumentalDamage only casualties are monumental]], as thanks to an ''actual'' invasion that claimed the lives of thousands, audiences have a much harder time accepting such stories anymore.

* ''Literature/AxiomsEnd'', a novel about FirstContact set in [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2007]], described by Lindsay as being "Creator/MichaelBay's ''{{Film/Arrival}}''", and book 1 of ''The Noumena Series''. Released in 2020, with the sequel, ''Truth of the Divine'', released in 2021, and a second sequel planned for 2022.

* ThisLoserIsYou: Analyzes it a bit in ''The Whole Plate'', comparing ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' to ''Film/{{Transformers}}'': both have a crude, jerkish, perverted, entitled manchild as their lead character and the presumed audience-identification character. However, what makes Peter Quill work where Sam Witwicky doesn't is that ''Guardians'' makes an effort to treat Quill's character flaws as, well, flaws, and has him genuinely go through hell or develop because of them. Meanwhile, Sam's flaws are treated as just wacky comedic stuff that's meant to make him relatable, and he's never really challenged or forced to change by this (if anything, he gets worse). Notably, she points out that Peter Quill DidNotGetTheGirl, while Sam gets multiple girls. This makes Quill actually have a character arc and impresses a genuine moral upon the audience, whereas Sam impresses upon the audience that being an asshole is perfectly fine and comes across as static and unlikable.

** She argues this in her discussion of ''Film/{{Cats}}'', claiming that a lot of issues with the final product were present in director Creator/TomHooper's much more successful adaptation of ''Film/LesMiserables'', but weren't as evident to the general public at the time:

* MasterOfNone: One of her chief arguments in her ''Phantom of the Opera'' video (which recurs in ''Cats'') is that the most successful modern musicals can fit into two categories: deeply realistic ones that avoid the classic approach through non-diegetic framing or the presence of actual stage performances (i.e. ''Film/{{Chicago}}'' or ''Film/{{Cabaret}}''), and unrealistic ones with an offbeat and romanticized tone where the audience can just go along with the ride (''Film/MoulinRouge'', ''Film/MammaMia'', most Disney animated films). She argues that the reason films like ''Phantom'', ''Cats'', and Hooper's ''Film/LesMiserables'' don't work is that they end up in the middle: they're too realistic for the audience to accept that the characters act this way, but they don't go far enough in the realism and maintain the classical musical framing, creating an experience where the framing screams "grim and gritty", but the characters still break out into song for no reason. She compared it to "trying to combine a glitter-sprinkled cupcake with filet mignon."

* PostNineElevenTerrorismMovie:

** [[AuthorsSavingThrow Clarifies some misunderstandings fans have had regarding her use of this trope]] in her "Film/IndependenceDay vs Film/WarOfTheWorlds" review. When she says "an alien is never just an alien," that does not mean the alien is a direct one-to-one correlation either. Stories where the alien functions as an amorphous symbol for general cultural anxieties, attitudes, phenomena, etc can resonate long after the work is released because the meaning audiences draw from the aliens can change with the times. Meanwhile, creators that go out of their way to make an alien into a direct one-to-one correlation not only limit the storytelling, but can make the work an UnintentionalPeriodPiece - like how Creator/StevenSpielberg went out of his way to depict the aliens as an {{allegory}} for terrorists, and his movie quickly became a dated PostNineElevenTerrorismMovie.[[invoked]]