The Exoticized Gaze in Lawrence Durrell’s ‘The Alexandra Quartet’
Durrell’s unquestioned assumption of superior European culture paradoxically allows him to be keenly responsive to Alexandria’s multinational mix.
racism
Between the Pages of Contemporary Asian American Literature
There’s an evolution in contemporary Asian American literature from the usual immigrant story to something more nuanced and varied, something that’s more reflective of the varieties of “Asian Americaness”.
‘Test Pattern’ Director Shatara Michelle Ford Wonders if Dissonance Is Exploding Your Brain, Too
‘Test Pattern’ director Shatara Michelle Ford talks with PopMatters about putting everyday fear into film.
‘The Green Book’-Inspired ‘A Parallel Road’ and American Apartheid
Amani Willett's A parallel Road shows how controlling people's right to travel is central to the racist mindset.
Smoking Saved My Life: A Skinny Jewish Kid Comes of Age in the Haze of American Violence
As cool as Marlon Brando, James Dean, Jack Kerouac or Dalton Trumbo, rebel Max "Flaco" Greenbaum grows up in Watts Riots-Vietnam-draft-era L.A. Too smart (and smart-mouthed) for school, the violence of this world is drawn in deep and lingers like the long, slow, life-saving drag of a cigarette.
‘A Peculiar Indifference’ Takes on Violence in Black America
Pulitzer Prize finalist Elliott Currie's scrupulous investigation of the impacts of violence on Black Americans, A Peculiar Indifference, shows the damaging effect of widespread suffering and identifies an achievable solution.
How ‘Watchmen’ and ‘The Boys’ Deconstruct American Fascism
Superhero media has a history of critiquing the dark side of power, hero worship, and vigilantism, but none have done so as radically as Watchmen and The Boys.
Filmmaker Marlon Riggs Knew That Silence = Death
In turning the camera on himself, even in his most vulnerable moments as a sick and dying man, filmmaker and activist Marlon Riggs demonstrated the futility of divorcing the personal from the political. These films are available now on OVID TV.
What Old-School Hip-Hop Has to Say About Our Political Moment
Beyond NWA and Public Enemy: rappers have been sounding the alarm about police brutality since the birth of hip-hop. It’s time we listened to old-school hip-hop.
The Superficial Approach to Chicano and Pachuco Culture in ‘Penny Dreadful: City of Angels’
The story of how structural inequalities have shaped Los Angeles can be found in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels but it needs to be in the forefront of season two.
Why I Did Not Watch ‘Hamilton’ on Disney+
Just as Disney's Frozen appeared to deliver a message of 21st century girl power, Hamilton hypnotizes audiences with its rhyming hymn to American exceptionalism.
‘Conjure Women’ Brings Forth Racism and Reproductive Rights
It is Afia Atakora's reiteration of the current calls for racial justice that positions Conjure Women as an unadulterated masterpiece.