Creator of The Wire issues heartfelt critique of the “war on drugs” from Feministing
Last week, actress Felicia Pearson, who plays “Snoop” on The Wire, was arrested as part of a major drug raid that included 30 people. While this is certainly disappointing news, because I think a lot of people are rooting for her success after her involvement with the show, I was particularly struck by the reaction of David Simon, creator and executive producer of The Wire and Pearson’s colleague.
A History of (Firsts) for Women and Film from The Film Experience
First woman to receive an honorary regular-sized Oscar: Greta Garbo in 1954. Yep, after 20 or so men had been given one. After another 15 or so men were given non-competitive statues the next woman was Onna White for choreographing Oliver! (1968).
The ratio continues this way: 1970s men: 14; women: 3; 1980s men: 8; women: 1; 1990s men: 9;women: 3; 2000s men 12: women: 1; This year men: 3; women: 0; What the hell is AMPAS’s problem with women, exactly?
Interview with Sherry Hormann, Director of Desert Flower from Women and Hollywood
Desert Flower opens this Friday in NY and LA. It stars Liya Kebede as Waris Dirie, a woman who escaped from Somalia and became a top fashion model and UN spokeswoman against female genital mutilation. Director Sherry Hormann answered some questions about the film.
I Love Lucy: Radical Feminist Propaganda? from Against All Evidence
Ricky: All people in the world are divided into two groups… men and women.
Lucy: [sarcastically] I know. It’s a wonderful arrangement.
Ricky: Now. Men have short hair, and women have long hair. That’s the difference between them.
Lucy: Oh?
Icons of Black Female Empowerment from The Root
From Diana Ross to Lena Horne to Queen Latifah, black women in pop culture have defied the odds, inspired and awed their fans. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’ve put together a list of some of the icons of black female empowerment.
March Movies I Won’t Be Seeing (And One I Might) from The Funny Feminist
First up is Sucker Punch, starring a bunch of life-sized Bratz dolls:
Summary: A group of girls escape from an insane asylum where they have been imprisoned against their will, kicking ass and taking names on the way! They also happen to be wearing next to nothing while they do this, but I’m sure that’s just a coincidence, right?
The Feministing Five: Anita Sarkeesian from Feministing
Anita Sarkeesian is the founder of the fabulous blog and video series Feminist Frequency, where she analyzes depictions of gender in pop culture in an accessible, entertaining way. Sarkeesian believes that popular culture is a powerful force, one that can shape how we think about the world, and that it even though it can seem silly, it deserves serious analysis: she wrote her master’s thesis on representations on strong women in scifi and fantasy television.
Why I Am a Male Feminist from The Root
The word turns off a lot of men (insert snarky comment about man-hating feminazis here) — and women. But here’s why black men should be embracing the “f” word.
Leave links to what you’ve read and written this week about women and film!
I was inspired by a little Twitter feed about women filmmakers, from a horror panel at sxsw, and by eighteen year old filmmaker Emily Hagins who has made THREE features already! http://wellywoodwoman.blogspot.com/2011/03/horror-stories.html