I know. Given the title, I never should have bothered. And I certainly shouldn’t’ve expected, let alone hoped, for anything remotely alternative (the series is billed as ‘alternative history’). Alternative to the male dominance, the white male dominance, the relentlessly juvenile competition and all the rest of disgusting masculinity (when the Soviets landed on the …
Category: tv
Aug 24 2018
13 Reasons Why: How to Make a Movie (and maybe Write a Novel *) without acknowledging the Elephant in the Room
So I’ve just finished watching 13 Reasons Why (Netflix) and am struck by the completely unacknowledged elephant in the room. Not one character acknowledges that almost all of the problems leading to Hannah’s suicide stem from sexism and its many tumours – misogyny, male entitlement, male privilege, hypersexualization, objectification, the rape culture, etc., etc., etc. …
Jul 18 2018
Men’s and Women’s Sports
One good thing about television stations’ mega-coverage of the Olympics is that women’s events are shown a lot. Often within close temporal proximity to men’s events. Comparison is inevitable. And interesting. Consider volleyball. Now the women, when they dive for the ball, they do this really neat shoulder roll: it’s smooth, efficient, and really cool …
Apr 25 2018
Canterbury’s Law
When the pilot episode of Canterbury’s Law aired, I was really annoyed. The main character was an intelligent, powerful woman (a lawyer). Good. Who is shown obsessing over her appearance, albeit grudgingly, wondering whether the color of her suit brings out her eyes. Within the first hour, we also see her going to her husband …
Apr 08 2018
13 Reasons Why: How to Make a Movie (and maybe Write a Novel *) without acknowledging the Elephant in the Room
So I’ve just finished watching 13 Reasons Why (Netflix) and am struck by the completely unacknowledged elephant in the room. Not one character acknowledges that almost all of the problems leading to Hannah’s suicide stem from sexism and its many tumours – misogyny, male entitlement, male privilege, hypersexualization, objectification, the rape culture, etc., etc., etc. …
Mar 01 2018
The Academy Awards
Why is the acting category of the Academy Awards sex-segregated (Best Actor in a Lead/Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Leading/Supporting Role)? We don’t have separate awards for male and female directors. Or screenwriters, cinematographers, costume designers, film editors, soundtrack composers, or make up persons. Is one’s sex really relevant to one’s acting ability? In …
Feb 28 2018
Trust – the movie
Trust – the movie I’m so bloody sick and tired of men who assume center stage is for them. The way the movie ends, and most of the way it plays out, it’s about the dad, about how he can’t deal with his failure to protect his daughter. Mom’s not quite so important, apparently, …
Jan 17 2018
Mainstream and Alternative – misnomers!
So I was browsing the movie collection at my online DVD rental site and feeling so very tired and bored with movies by men, about men, for men. My request list had dwindled to almost zero, and I wasn’t finding anything I was interested in. So I decided to check out the “Alternative” section for …
Jan 10 2018
Grey’s Anatomy, Flashpoint, and Who knows how many others
[a little old…guess who finally got to be Chief of Surgery!] Why didn’t Bailey get the Chief of Surgery position? For the same reason Ed jokingly says to Greg, when he questions his rank, “Should I get you a dress?”—and they both laugh. Because in 2012 being a woman is (still) (STILL!) (STILL!) (STILL!) …
Dec 22 2017
The Last Man on Earth explains everything
The Last Man on Earth explains everything. But he’s too stupid, too infantile, and too self-centered, to know it. Which is exactly why he explains everything. 1. He enjoys knocking things over, breaking things, destroying things. He rams his grocery cart into a pyramid of cans. He rolls bowling balls into a row of …
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fiction
