Category: The Atlantic

• October 29, 2016

  A Feminist Guide to Horror Movies, Part 10: Torture Porn TV

  WARNING: This review spoils everything. When what film critic David Edelstein called “torture porn” became a trend in 2004 and 2005, its relationship to the growing awareness that the US had become a country that tortures was clear. On screen representations of people being tortured by evil but human monsters served as a means of […]
• December 3, 2013

  What Really Makes a Film Feminist?

    Originally published by The Atlantic Last week, Swedish movie theaters created a media foofaraw when they announced that they would begin providing a rating based on the Bechdel test for the films they screen. The test, created by comic artist Alison Bechdel in 1985, asks whether a film has at least two female characters […]
• September 27, 2013

  The Pervading Influence of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in Pop Culture

  Originally published by The Atlantic Miley Cyrus probably hasn’t studied much theater history. She was most likely completely unaware of the legacy of minstrelsy that influenced her performance at MTV’s Video Music Awards. She has nevertheless been heavily criticized for appropriating black music and dance while demeaning her black backup dancers. A few people have […]