tv — 1 comment
28
Oct 10
No, Finn, I don't get it either.
This week’s Glee cemented an increasingly obvious fact: Will Schuester is the single worst thing about Glee. Somewhere along the line, Will has morphed from a flawed but well-meaning teacher to such a complete jackass that he needs Sue Sylvester– Sue Motherfucking Sylvester!– to act as his moral compass. I’ve begun to feel about Will the way Sue does: disgusted. And that is a problem, because the show does not seem to realize that one of its central protagonists has become the show’s nastiest villain. (Spoilers follow.)
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tv — No comments
27
Oct 10
Do not mess with this chick.
Whenever the old “Are Judd Apatow’s movies sexist” debate gets dusted off again, someone inevitably trots out Freaks & Geeks’ Lindsay Weir as proof that Apatow and his roving band of merry potheads might not be completely allergic to decent female characters. Lindsay’s strong and smart, but has her flaws. She’s not just another generic girlfriend or sister type, but the three-dimensional protagonist of her own show. She’s a girl so many of us were (or felt like) in high school, but rarely see reflected onscreen. And for all those things, Lindsay deserves her place among Daria Morgendorffer, Veronica Mars, and Angela Chase in the pantheon of great female teen characters from the turn of the century. Bravo, Judd Apatow, Paul Feig, affiliated writers, actors, and assorted crew members!
But we’re not here to talk about her today.
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movies — 1 comment
13
Oct 10
- Talking about sexism in pop culture is our idea of a good time, too!
I’m of two minds on the ongoing “Is The Social Network sexist?” debate. Seeing as how it’s based on a true story, and misogyny is one of Movie Mark Zuckerberg’s traits (I cannot speak to Real Mark Zuckerberg, and henceforth “Zuckerberg” will refer to the cinematic version unless otherwise noted), I’m not going to argue that the movie should’ve been stuffed with awesome female characters. Much as I love to complain about the dearth of interesting female roles in mainstream American cinema, even I don’t believe that a story must necessarily include strong women or else be condemned as sexist. At the same time, there’s little to love about the way females are depicted when they do appear in the film, and it’s not always clear that it’s just the characters who are sexist. (Spoilers for The Social Network follow, although considering it’s based on a well-known true story I’m not sure how much I could really ruin…) Continue reading →
tv — 1 comment
21
Sep 10
Why are a bunch of high schoolers in a cubicle? Who cares? The important thing is that they look good.
Loving Glee has been a singularly frustrating experience. When it’s good, it’s brilliant, poignant, hilarious, and like nothing else on television. When it’s bad, it’s so cringe-inducingly awful that it’s embarrassing to admit you’re actually following this show. I keep watching because so far the good has outweighed the bad, and because despite the occasionally horrendous writing, I’ve come to like and care about the characters. But hot damn, this show needs to pull it together.
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books / movies — 16 comments
19
Aug 10
Scott and the gang wonder how this is gonna go down.
As you may or may not have read, I love the Scott Pilgrim series– I think they’re lovable, smart, and funny works. I don’t love the movie on the same level, but I nevertheless think it’s a breathtakingly original work of pop art, and a perfect summer movie to boot. So the last thing I want to think about are the ways in which Scott Pilgrim may be a tad problematic in its portrayal of people-who-aren’t-straight-white-men, but what kind of obnoxious humorless feminist would I be if I just let that go? Here we go with another battle: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Three Evil -Isms.
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