I was afraid those editorial annotations would get me in trouble with my neutral stance...
"Pop culture critic" is in quotes, as that is how the author describes herself in the kickstarter video. I italicized "video games" to emphasize the triviality of what is being studied, not to trivialize the actual study (Though you could argue that's still what I'm doing).
Art colors how we see the world and ourselves. The video game industry is bigger than the motion picture industry. I don't see how it's at all trivial.
"Pop culture critic" is in quotes, as that is how the author describes herself in the kickstarter video. I italicized "video games" to emphasize the triviality of what is being studied, not to trivialize the actual study (Though you could argue that's still what I'm doing).