Will Smith and Chris Rock may have stolen the media’s attention from this year’s Oscars, but don’t let that distract you from the list of achievements from stars in marginalized communities. Award shows are known for their history of being white-washed and male dominant. Insider lists some scary statistics, including the fact that 89% of […]
Read More Inclusion & The OscarsLast week, my class SMAD 462: Documentary in Film and TV participated in the Reel Change Film Festival at Court Square Theater. The purpose of this festival was to expose issues relevant to JMU and the greater Harrisonburg community in order to educate, engage, and impact audiences while also celebrating the documentary medium as a […]
Read More Us Kids: the power of youth activism in the fight against gun violenceMOVIE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE GIRLS: Bridesmaids, Legally Blonde, The Devil Wears Prada, Confessions of a Shopaholic, or any movie that has a majority female cast! And remember, NO BOYS ALLOWED! Men LOVE to fantasize about what they imagine to be a girls night in: red wine, silk pajamas, pillow fights, and, of course, chick flicks. […]
Read More Real men watch chick flicksOne show that has all the fixings for a great but silly story…BUT, there’s a big elephant in the room we need to talk about.
Read More Bridgerton, Great Show…But ProblematicEver heard of the Bechdel test? It’s a test that measures the representation of women in films by asking three simple questions.
Read More Let’s Talk About the Bechdel TestListen Linda, we need to talk. (this is the punchline, everything after this sentence is ridiculously serious.) Initially, I was ecstatic hearing about an all Asian cast for the best selling movie, Crazy Rich Asians. When I watched it the first time, I cried because I felt like I could relate. Women like Constance Wu […]
Read More “Yellow Fever”: Crazy Rich AsiansHow many UPB-chosen movies pass the Bechdel test?
Read More Is UPB Bringing Gender Inclusive Movies to JMU?The 2019 Oscar nominees are in, and I was quite pleasantly surprised by the inclusivity, especially in the Best Picture category. Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Roma, and Green Book are beautiful stories about race (and after #OscarsSoWhite, we deserve some color). What stuck out to me was that five of the films nominated for Best Picture […]
Read More Should Straight Actors Play Queer Roles?Let’s face it. Everything you see is filtered by the media. And especially issues that are ‘controversial’ are especially filtered. And it’s hard to figure out your own viewpoint by all the forms of information that are vying for attention from every side. In the era of fake news, how do we discern what’s real […]
Read More Feminism & the Media**TW: Mentions of sexual assault/abuse and suicide** For fans of the popular YA novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, March 31st was an exciting day. Netflix released the much awaited televised adaptation of the book. At first, viewer response was overwhelmingly positive. The storylines and characters are complicated and complex, making it difficult to truly— in the […]
Read More Press Play: A Critical Analysis of ’13 Reasons Why’
ShoutOut! James Madison University 