Screen
Girl Watchers: The Uneasy Female Gaze of “Black Conflux” and “The Other Lamb”
Two new films challenge sexist coming-of-age tales where teen girls are master manipulators.
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Transmitting Culture: A New Slate of Films Serve as Love Letters to Korean American Mothers
Always Be My Maybe, Searching, and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before depict Asian American mothers as worthy of the same care, sympathy, and compassion that they bestow on their children, family, and friends.
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In “Batwoman,” Lesbians and Queer Women Are Complicated—and Brave
A lesbian superhero who saves the city and her girl stands out considering that pop culture is still learning how to stop killing off lesbians onscreen.
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“Big Mouth” Endlessly Explores Sexuality, but Still Stumbles on Queerness
It’s not that I’m surprised a television show failed to accurately represent bisexuality and pansexuality. It’s that I’m surprised Big Mouth was one of those shows.
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Cord Jefferson Finds a (Good) Place for Pop Culture Optimism
In 2016, Michael Schur’s The Good Place started as another quirky NBC comedy that then blossomed into a bona fide cultural phenomenon.
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Not Quite “Grown-Ish”: Power Dynamics Complicate Onscreen Lesbian Student-Teacher Relationships
Despite our excitement and enthusiasm about seeing brilliant lesbian professors represented onscreen, they aren’t immune to critique.
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“Hustlers” Explodes the Damaging Stereotype of Sex Workers as Thieves
The prevalent trope feeds the idea that sex workers are criminals instead of professionals who deserve to be compensated for their labor.
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Beyond Tabloid Crime: The Slow, Methodical Evolution of Sexual Assault on “Law & Order: SVU”
Though SVU has largely steered clear of the gore and intense luridness of other prime-time procedurals, it has still played into the idea that violence against women isn’t about the woman’s experience but rather about the remains of her body.
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30 Years Ago, “The Golden Girls” Treated Sick Women like We Matter
Three decades later, “Sick and Tired” remains a cultural touchstone for people with chronic illnesses.
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The Necessary Escapism of “Law & Order: SVU”
In Dick Wolf’s formulaic world, victims are always believed, cops are dedicated to catching bad guys, and justice is always served, no matter how long it takes.
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