Writing about culture requires more than a take. It calls for nerve, verve, a feel for sentences, and an instinct for what deserves scrutiny and what’s better left alone. It’s easy to skim culture, to riff, to slot things into trend pieces. It’s harder to look closely, think carefully, and say something illuminating. To name what hasn’t been named yet. To craft lines that echo in people’s heads, or get under their skin. To make judgments, yes, but also to make meaning. At their best, critics don’t just take the culture’s pulse. They quicken it.