Screen
Backlash in Action: The Supposedly Feminist Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown’s a feminist show, right? I know it seems pretty old hat by now, but featuring a successful single mother and criticizing the Vice President is big stuff—for a sitcom, that is. Sometimes we have to take whatever we can get.
Murphy even identifies as feminist. None of that ridiculous I... Read more »
Looking for Girls in All the Boys' Places: An Unlikely Feminist Film Fest
Wish there were more kick-ass female characters in the movies? Enough with The Piano-esqe mute-is-powerful bullshit. Sometimes you can find feminism in the most unlikely places, like action movies and Freaky Friday-like comedies.
Batman II
Why isn’t this movie called Catwoman?In a classic... Read more »
Talkshows: TV's Culture of Categorization
Talk shows are the scariest thing on the planet today. You think I’m exaggerating, don’t you? Think about it: not only are they the lowest common denominator of American pop culture, but they’re also—because they’re in the form of “real” people talking about their “real”... Read more »
Whee! #2: Some Cockle-Warming Tidbits
Here's to Roseanne's succinct feminist history lesson...
Seventeen is actually giving good advice these days. Question: "I masturbate often. Am I normal?" Answer: "Completely normal...
3rd Rock from the Sun may be a wholly silly show that underuses the comic talents of Jane Curtin... Read more »
Amazon Women on the Moon: Images of Femininity in the Video Age
Like some grizzled old-timer sitting on the porch of the homestead talking about the good old days, I think back to the first time I saw MTV and pity the prepubescents of today who didn’t have the luck to see, as I did, the wonder of MTV when it first aired. I was eight years old, alone in my... Read more »
Are You Ready for the Sex, Girls?: The Mixed Messages of Kids
Kids has been hailed as a film that breaks the teen-movie mold and shows a long-hidden side of young life. But, while it may be more graphic and harsh than other movies, it basically covers the same ground: voracious young male sexuality. The only innovative element of the movie—an honest portrayal... Read more »
"Subversion on a Massive Level": Gender as Constructed Spectacle
When I rented Sleep With Me, I was expecting a silly angst-ridden Gen-X romantic comedy. I’d read the back of the box, so I knew that Joe and Sarah were married but that Frank, Joe’s best friend, was in love with her. Instead of an entertaining but benign and forgettable 90 minutes, I... Read more »
Whee! #1: Some Cockle-Warming Tidbits
We love Claire from 90210. She's so brainy; she's so hot. She never plays dumb for the boys and she gets to fuck them anyway...
Yay for the recent changes in Ms. Not that we didn't adore it before, but now we're foaming at the mouth with love...
Good for NBC for making visible the... Read more »