The radical notion that women like good movies
Contains spoilers for Buffy and Angel. Not the comic books, though. Those never happened. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was famously asking the question: what if, in a typical horror-movie monster-chases-girl scenario, the girl turned around and kicked the monster’s ass? But it’s also, perhaps less wittingly, asking the question: what happens when an atheist – … Continue reading “Buffy Week: The Incoherent Metaphysics of the Buffyverse”
Wolverines! In Hollywood action flicks, hypermasculinity is a key tool for survival. The folks who have zombie-apocalypse bunkers and piles of military-grade weapons last longer – if they never cry. It’s reinforced in Red Dawn, the 1984 movie starring Patrick Swayze and directed by John Milius. Milius’s Red Dawn adoringly plays with the premise of … Continue reading “‘Red Dawn’: How Not Crying Will Defeat Communism”
The director David Lynch likes playing with dichotomies. His director’s fetish is portraying opposite worlds that coexist. He carries us from happy-go-lucky settings to dark depths with embarrassingly sincere dialogue, awkward props and too-blunt-to-be-ignored sound design. When writing about Lynch one must incorporate phrases like “seedy underbelly” and “seemingly pleasant.” While a world of starkly … Continue reading “David Lynch’s "Good" Guy vs. Bad Guy in ‘Blue Velvet’”
Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope When I was a young girl, Star Wars was my favorite movie. I’ve watched it more times than any other film. Premiering in 1977, the same year I was born, the epic sci-fi space opera irrevocably changed the movie industry. Beyond … Continue reading “Women in Science Fiction Week: Princess Leia: Feminist Icon or Sexist Trope?”
Guest post written by Carissa Harwood. In the past, the act of writing science fiction has been a traditionally male dominated genre. Women have sought to create their own meanings in the books they read that don’t often include their perspectives and experiences. In recent decades, though, women writers have searched for and taken control … Continue reading “Women in Science Fiction Week: Examining Stereotypes with Ursula K. Le Guin”
The cast of Battlestar Galactica This guest post written by Leigh Kolb originally appeared at Bitch Flicks on April 23, 2012. “All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again.” The opening credits of each episode of Battlestar Galactica, which aired from 2004 – 2009, set the premise for the plot: … Continue reading “Women in Science Fiction Week: Procreation at the End of Civilization: Reproductive Rights on ‘Battlestar Galactica’”
Kirsten Dunst as Mary Svevo in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Guest post written by Amanda Civitello. Warning: spoilers ahead!! Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is precisely the kind of science fiction movie I like: a film in which the futuristic, scientific aspects are so well integrated into the plot that there is … Continue reading “Women in Science Fiction Week: Mary Svevo: ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’s Other Strong Female Character”
Guest post written by Elizabeth Tiller previously appeared at Bitch Flicks on February 26, 2010 and originally appeared on the Stilwell Film blog, cross-posted with permission. Admittedly, Avatar isn’t my thing, I’m not big on James Cameron or any alien films (not only his), I’ve never been interested in Star Wars or Star Trek (though … Continue reading “Women in Science Fiction Week: ‘Avatar’”
Daniel Tosh Serious Trigger Warning for discussions of rape, rape culture, and sexual assault. ———- Last Thursday, Megan wrote a piece about the recent Daniel Tosh clusterfuck–“Dear Daniel Tosh: You Know What’s Even Less Funny Than Rape Jokes? Rape Threats“–in which she discusses “his misogynistic douchebaggery as he verbally attacked a female audience member.” She … Continue reading “Daniel Tosh and Rape Culture: The Roundup”
Sailor Moon characters Guest post written by Myrna Waldron. Cross-posted from Soapboxing Geek with permission. This has been a post I’ve been meaning to write for a long time. I’m an absolutely die-hard fan of Sailor Moon, and part of that is because it served as my childhood introduction to feminism. That might be a … Continue reading “Guest Writer Wednesday: The Feminism of Sailor Moon”
This is a guest review by Amanda Civitello. Daphne: The Secret Life of Daphne du Maurier. Dir. Clare Beavan. BBC/Warner Borthers, 2007. Film. N.B.: Throughout this piece, when quoting or discussing characterization, I’ve used last names to denote the real people, and first names to indicate the characters in the movie, so as to differentiate … Continue reading “LGBTQI Week: "A Boy in a Box": Reading Bisexuality in ‘Daphne: The Secret Life of Daphne du Maurier’”
Bully (2011) This piece by Monthly Guest Contributor Carrie Nelson previously appeared at Bitch Flicks on May 7, 2012. Growing up, I was never one of the “cool” kids. Far from it – I had a few close friends, but I also spent a lot of time by myself, reading and writing and daydreaming about … Continue reading “LGBTQI Week: Bully”
