Empress State Of Mind: Inisia Lewis

Inisia has lived in almost every city, L.A., Chicago, but none as special as New York. As Alicia Keys sings, “These streets make you feel brand new, Big lights will inspire you.” (Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z).  She definitely has an Empress State of Mind.

Inisia was born an only child in the suburbs of New York City, and without brothers and sisters to keep her company, you could say television was her first friend. It was also her first love, and as they say, you never forget your first.  She spent her first post-graduate years searching for ways to share her devotion to all things pop-culture with the world. Majoring in journalism at Northwestern, Inisia thought writing for Poptimal.com was a great way to prove to her parents that she didn’t waste their money.

Though her parents still think of her as that girl they’d sit in front of The New Adventuress of Winnie the Pooh to keep her occupied for hours on end, her tastes have matured a tiny bit. Strangely enough given her love of Pooh Bear, Inisia has many irrational fears, including her fear of people in costumes with big heads that has forever ruined any chance of her ever enjoying Disneyland.

Inisia has just started writing a young adult, fiction novel about teens in a post-apocalyptic world that she realizes will probably take her 20 years to complete at her current pace. Truthfully, her current addiction to television really doesn’t make it any easier.

In those rare instances when she puts the remote down, you can find Inisia reading on her Kindle, singing show tunes or battling it out in the video game X-Men: Ultimate Alliance.

Her favorite movie genres: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror and Musicals

Her favorite TV genres: Dramedies, Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Dramas

Her current coverage: Heroes, So You Think You Can Dance and Special Emmy Coverage

In her own words: — Inisia’s thoughts on . . .

Why the new Batman rocks her world: When I was in high school, I bonded with a group of girls over our joint Christian Bale love. We decided to spend one weekend watching a CB marathon. Okay, I was 15 and had to fight so hard not to fall asleep watching film #1, Empire of the Sun. But once I saw him frolicking in Newsies, there was no turning back. As this was all pre-American Psycho, you could I’m proud I called his “it” status way early. To throw your own CB movie marathon, be sure to see Public Enemies, Terminator Salvation, The Dark Knight, 3:10 to Yuma, The Prestige, Batman Begins, Equilibrium, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Velvet Goldmine, Little Women and Swing Kids.

Movie musicals and their staying power: Don’t act like you haven’t thought about it. How amazing would it be if, just for one day, life was a musical? It would at least make those really slow days at work more bearable, even comical with certain co-workers. Sure, the animated Disney movie musicals have fallen to the wayside, but in its absence, contemporary live musicals have popped up. They’re escapism at its best, and somehow even the edgiest ones like Chicago take us away from an often difficult and dark real world.

On the underrated Kristen Bell: I remember the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and how much I was going to miss the strong, smart and snarky young woman on television. Granted J.J. Abrams had created some shows (Alias, Felicity) that filled that void, but I personally connected most with a high schooler named Veronica Mars. Inspector Gadget was one of my favorite cartoons, and to me, she was the grown up Penny with a cooler dad. To this day, I contend that it was canceled too soon, but what makes me even sadder is that I can’t get my KBell fix on a weekly basis. Now that, Heroes’ Elle is dead, all I have left are her Gossip Girl voiceovers, and that’s just not enough.

Top 10 Favorite Movies of All Time (in no particular order): The Stand, The Little Mermaid, A League of Their Own, American History X, Fight Club, Little Miss Sunshine, Se7en, Memento, Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind and The Matrix.

Summing Up My Favorite Childhood Shows by Decade: I Love Lucy (50s), The Dick Van Dyke Show (60s), The Mary Tyler Moore Show (70s), Growing Pains (80s), Clarissa Explains It All/Blossom (90s).

You can find Inisia’s articles exclusively on Poptimal.com, here.

Learn about our other writers, Jaimie Campos,  Cameron Cubbison, and Paul Secrest.