Category: Topic / Theme
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Saint Maud & The Madness of Fanaticism
TW: Sexual Assault, Mental Illness, Body Horror // Minor Spoilers Below Rose Glass’ directorial debut, Saint Maud, explores the term “god complex” to an extreme. The film follows Maud, a young nurse who has recently been “saved” by God (through Catholicism) and believes she has a bigger purpose for it. She tries to implement her…
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Millennial Woes Done Right
A messy millennial in an on-and-off relationship with liminal job prospects has been a saturated archetype since Lena Dunham stretched it to its limit for 5 years in her series Girls. It has been haphazardly recreated in many character study-esque television series and tries to worm its way in as b-plots in coming-of-age films. Occasionally…
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Violation & The Misused Shock-Horror of Sexual Assault
TW: Sexual Assault, Body Horror, Animal Violence // Spoilers below There is no more delicate a topic to portray than sexual assault and, because of its heaviness, it seldom gets the attention and discussion it deserves. However, when it is represented in some capacity, it is usually in an explicit and exploitative way that is…
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Cartoon Saloon: An Irish Animation Studio that Needs More Attention
Cartoon Saloon is an animation studio that should be appreciated more. They tell unique stories with unique animation, proving that 2D animation is still alive and well.
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Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971): Black cinema defying conventional Hollywood genre cinema
SPOILERS AHEAD. Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song distinguished itself from Hollywood films of its time by introducing New Wave cinema storytelling methods into Black cinema.
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Validating Bimbos & Erin Brockovich
Unless you’re on the wrong side of Tik Tok, aka Straight Tik Tok, you definitely have seen the growing popularity and comeback of the Bimbo trend - now extending to the gender-inclusive Himbo, Bimbo, and Thembo. It has been reclaimed as a feminist concept, as a way to praise femininity, subvert the male gaze, and…
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“Fat Girl” and The Dangerous Expectations of Girls in Society
Spoiler Warning and Trigger Warning for Sexual Violence Ahead Fat Girl (À Ma Soeur, or To My Sister in its original French title)is a 2001 film directed by Catherine Breillat, a woman known for often-controversial films that usually revolve around themes of sex and identity. The movie follows Anaïs, an overweight 12 year old, and…
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Representation Matters: Diverse Characters and Voices in “The Amazing World of Gumball” and “The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants”
While there is no doubt about the importance of teaching children — especially White children — about racism and tolerance, it can sometimes be a tricky road to navigate. On the one hand, you’ve got the direct approach, mostly aimed at younger children. On the other hand, there’s…doing nothing at all, which is absolutely unacceptable.…
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10 Black Supporting Characters Who Need a Spinoff
Storm (X-Men Franchise) Having to juggle multiple characters, the minds behind the X-Men film series seemed to consistently fail to give the Storm the attention she deserved as a character. Between casting two light-skinned actresses to play the famously dark-skinned heroine, downplaying her weather manipulation abilities, and skipping over her regal backstory, neither incarnation of…
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Straight Actors Playing Queer Characters: This is Exhausting
It’s 2021 and what few LGBTQ+ films that are produced by major film studios continue to star cisgender heterosexual actors, rather than actual LGBTQ+ people.