SXSW 2022: On Trauma and Masculinity in Comedy/Drama ‘Emergency’
Director Carey Williams and writer Kristen Dávila talk about channeling their racial experiences and observations into comedic social commentary, Emergency.
satire
SUNDANCE 2022: ‘Emergency’ Is a Frenetic Satire About Deadly Consequences
Emergency is an unconventional love story about two friends with divergent views on what it means to be a young Black man in America.
Sundance 2022: Sci-fi ‘Dual’ Is Uncompromising Black Satire
Riley Stearns’ ‘Dual’ is an uncomfortable black comedy that asks the painful question: Are being loved and being true to yourself mutually exclusive?
Ousmane Sembène’s Vibrant Political Satire ‘Mandabi’ Pokes at Imperial Conquest
Ousmane Sembène’s Mandabi (1968) unravels Senegal’s post-colonial entanglements and centers African people, places, and experiences at every frustrating step.
The Return of George A. Romero’s ‘The Amusement Park’ Provokes Sympathy for the Nearly Dead
George A. Romero’s The Amusement Park (1973), showing at Salem Horror Fest, terrifies with what the future brings to all who dare to live.
What’s So Funny About Tragic Things?
Scepanski’s Tragedy Plus Time takes a serious look at how comedy and satire in American media make light of dark matters.
Silent Classic ‘The City Without Jews’ Wavers Between Satire and Grim Prophecy
It's the privilege of satire to apply one's opponents' "logic" towards a reductio ad absurdum, as we see in The City without Jews.
Randy Newman’s ‘Born Again’ Is His Best Critique of Toxic Masculinity
Randy Newman's satirical narrators lack self-reflection. This makes Newman the ideal songwriter to dismantle what would come to be called toxic masculinity.
Nazis, Nostalgia, and Critique in Taika Waititi’s ‘Jojo Rabbit’
Arriving amidst the exhaustion of the past (21st century cultural stagnation), Waititi locates a new potential object for the nostalgic gaze with Jojo Rabbit: unpleasant and traumatic events themselves.