The radical notion that women like good movies
DVD cover for Elizabethtown This is a guest review by Amanda Civitello. When she was ten, my little sister pronounced herself a “Young Feminist in Training” and authored an editorial for a school newspaper entitled, “Sarah Palin: Feminist? No!” I was surprised, then, when she said last week that she wanted to watch Elizabethtown for … Continue reading “‘Elizabethtown’ After the Manic Pixie Dream Girl”
Fill The Void film poster. Written by Janyce Denise Glasper In this summer alone, film wise, I’ve been cordially invited to three weddings– Joss Whedon’s Shakespearean, black and white Much Ado About Nothing, Susanne Bier’s Italian scenic Love Is All You Need, and Rama Burshtein’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish Fill The Void. Fill The Void was an entirely … Continue reading “‘Fill The Void’ Beautifully Opens Doors To The Ultra-Orthodox World”
Lee Daniels’ The Butler Written by Erin Tatum. My experience going to see Lee Daniels’ The Butler made an impression on me even before the film started playing. I don’t think I have ever been to a movie where every single preview featured a protagonist of color. It reminded me just how whitewashed Hollywood is. … Continue reading “Black Masculinity in ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler’”
Breaking Bad promotional still. Written by Leigh KolbWarning: Spoilers Ahead Joseph Campbell immortalized the concept of the monomyth–or hero’s journey–in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which is required reading for students of literature and film. Campbell mapped out the archetypical hero, who has traversed centuries of myths, stories, films and now, television shows. With the rise … Continue reading “A Modern Antihero’s Journey: The Goddess and Temptress in ‘Breaking Bad’”
Ruth Wilson as Alice Morgan and Indris Elba as John Luther in BBC’s Luther This guest post by Lauren C. Byrd previously appeared at her Web site and is cross-posted with permission. With all of the summer tent pole movies premiering, there’s been outcry from audiences (and critics) for the studios to make superhero … Continue reading “Alice Morgan and the Luther Effect: More Female Villains, Please”
Filmmaker Spike Lee Written by Robin Hitchcock Any list of the “greatest” “essential” “best” “definitive” films (or books/tv shows/albums/Got Milk? ads/insert your pop cultural poison) is going to have its detractors. The controversy that inevitably follows these lists is a big part of the reason we make them in the first place. Dissecting a … Continue reading “Spike Lee’s "Essential Films": More Annoying Than Your Average List”
Glee poster, Season 3 This is a guest review by Erin Tatum. It’s no secret that Glee is offensive to pretty much anyone who isn’t an able white male. While Glee has justifiably received a lot of flak for its treatment of certain communities – notable examples include Brittany breaking up with Santana only to … Continue reading “Disabilities Week: ‘Glee’s Not So Gleeful Representation of Disabled Women”
Written by Robin Hitchcock Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, and a billion other dudes in White House Down. I swear there are chicks, though. Even though I’m running into the risk of painting myself into a month of themed posts about the women in dumb-but-entertaining movies about ‘MERICA, I have to write about the few, the … Continue reading “The Women of ‘White House Down’”
Movie posters for Sixteen Candles Written by Stephanie Rogers (but not in time for Wedding Week). Holy fuck this movie. I started watching it like OH YEAH MY CHILDHOOD MOLLY RINGWALD ADOLESCENCE IS SO HARD and after two scenes, I put that shit on pause like, WHEN DID SOMEONE WRITE ALL THESE RACIST HOMOPHOBIC SEXIST … Continue reading “‘Sixteen Candles,’ Rape Culture, and the Anti-Woman Politics of 2013”
This is a guest post by Molly McCaffrey. Before Midnight movie poster There are numerous reasons why Before Midnight—the third film in the Richard Linklater Before Sunrise/Before Sunset trilogy—is an important film. Jesse and Celine in Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight It’s an important film first and foremost because it’s a film about … Continue reading “The Flattening of Celine: How ‘Before Midnight’ Reduces a Feminist Icon”
Movie poster for Bridesmaids This guest post by Molly McCaffrey previously appeared at her blog I Will Not Diet and is cross-posted with permission. I keep hearing people say they aren’t going to watch Bridesmaids because it’s a rom-com or a chick flick, and since this is really an important movie for women, I want … Continue reading “Wedding Week: Why We All Need to See ‘Bridesmaids’”
Written by Myrna Waldron. Maleficent appears at King Stefan’s castle Last year I wrote a fairly well-received piece defending the Disney Princesses from a feminist perspective, “You Say Princess Like It’s A Bad Thing.” It was always my plan to write a sequel/companion piece to it. I like Belle and Ariel, but I admit that … Continue reading “You Say Evil Like It’s A Bad Thing”
