Interview: Alexander Zalben, Managing Editor of Decider.com

These days there's more pop culture than ever before -- more movies, more TV shows, more music, more celebrity gossip and cultural trends, that's it's impossible to keep track of it. Thankfully, Alexander Zalben is here to help us make sense of it all!

A professional pop culture junkie and commentator, Alex runs Decider.com, a website that helps all of us fans out there figure out what and what kind of pop culture we want to consume and what shows we want to stream. He's worked at MTV, TV Guide, AMC, and he appears often on TV and radio, as well as at numerous conventions, to give fans the latest news as well as provide commentary about their favorite shows.

Alex was kind enough to tell Mr NYC about how he came upon this very cool, very unlikely career as well as what pop culture means in 2018 (the Trump effect, #MeToo, etc.) as well as his love for the show Riverdale. 

Tell us briefly about your background and how you managed to forge a career as a professional pop culture junkie/critic/commentator? 

I kind of fell into it by accident! I was working as the Artistic Director of a comedy theater, and started doing a weekly, live talk show about comic books called Comic Book Club, which I still host/produce every week. That led to some comics critic and writing gigs, which led to a full time gig writing for MTV, which is now my whole life! Career paths are weird, man! 

What's Decider.com, the website that you're the Managing Editor for?

Decider is an entertainment journalism outlet focused on TV, and streaming TV in particular. So Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video... But also you can stream anything nowadays, so it's all fair game.

Quickly, what are some of your favorite movies, TV shows, and bands?

Oh boy. I've been into Game of Thrones and Walking Dead for a long time, but recently have fallen in love with Riverdale and The Good Place. My favorite movies are pretty basic, too: Star Wars, Marvel movies, and I had a birthday party screening of Labyrinth last year, so that probably counts. What are these bands of which you speak?

In the "Golden Age of Television" and streaming shows, has TV become more cultural relevant or dominant than movies? Has TV become equal or more prestigious than movies in the pop culture hierarchy?

I'd say they're different. TV definitely had the volume at the moment, but there's still a cachet to doing a movie in a movie theater. The line is eroding - peak TV shows are often encroaching movie length every week anyway. But you can't match the experience of being in a theater with hundreds of people experiencing the same thing. That said, as movies get more expensive, there's more of a "coin" to watching TV... Not everyone has seen every movie, but the availability of Netflix and others means that everyone can easily watch Maniac "opening weekend," for example, where if that sort of thing was in theaters, it would be seen by a fraction of the audience. Short answer, for the time being they're different... But I definitely watch exponentially more TV, than movies. 

In your opinion, how has the Trump presidency affected pop culture? Does pop culture have a role in keeping people sane during an insane time? 

Well these are two opposing questions, in a way. Trump has absolutely affected pop culture, for better or worse. It's frustrating to watch nearly every TV show make the same "fake news" joke, even if it ostensibly takes place in a world different from ours. But that said, I do think people retreat into pop culture regardless of references and thematic ties, because it offers a brief respite. I was talking to a colleague earlier today about Riverdale, arguably the craziest show on television. But what I like about it is that it's a crazy that's enjoyable, that's manageable, and ultimately one that impacts the characters but is thrilling for the viewers. The reality show we're currently stuck in is the opposite of that: it's crazy, but it'll ultimately impact you in the real world, whether you like it or not. I'd prefer to live in Riverdale, all things considered.

Has the politicization of everything made pop culture better, worse -- or just weird? Is it possible to simply enjoy something because it's funny or well-done or does it feel like there's this dark cloud over everything in the culture today?

I don't think there's a dark cloud over everything. There's a need to feel relevant, but that varies by show, and some do it better than others. Don't just do an episode about #MeToo because you think you should... Do it because it fits the context of the show, the tone, the feel. For example, not TV, but a recent X-Men comic tackled border separation, in a shockingly timely and powerful manner. It worked because the X-Men have always been a metaphor for the "other," whatever that other may be. Or on TV, something like The Good Fight that's inherently a political show can dive right into that. But seeing say, Sofia The First's take on international trade would be a weird fit. It's the responsibility of art to mirror the world we live it, and to shine a light on injustice. But it's not the responsibility of everyone to do it, or in the same way. 

Where does pop culture go after Trump? Can it ever be just fun again? 

I'm having a blast, man! Ha ha, just kidding, I'm depressed every day. But there are those pockets of hope that keep us going. I recently watched The Flash premiere, and it was full of fun and good people being good to each other. Or something like Game Night, that has nothing to do with politics and is just a delightful break from the outside world. There's a lot happening, and I think it's okay to take a break for an hour or two and decompress. Going forward, the world will be different, and entertainment will be changed; but ultimately there are fun things that are fun, there are things that are not fun, and there will always be variations between the two. 

Any other thoughts you'd like to share? Is there anything about pop culture in 2018 that most people don't understand?

I don't think people should feel bad about using pop culture as metaphors. Yes, it's a simplification, and not everything can be broken into Harry Potter vs Voldemort. But that's how people process overwhelming emotions and events, through things they do understand. I love fans. I love that people love things, more than anything else in the world. I am a fan of fans! And there's this mass misunderstanding that people can't like what they like. That's what leads to toxic fandoms, versus the understanding that there can be more than one thing, of a thing. Star Wars can be for girls, and boys, y'all! Sometimes even at the same time! That's okay! The world is a burning hellfire and we have maybe 10 years before the climate collapses. Let people enjoy what makes their heart soar, and as long as they're not hurting someone else it's a-okay. They'll let you like the thing you like, too. 

Thanks Alex!