The Power of Alternative History in Barry Jenkins’ Series’ ‘The Underground Railroad’
Barry Jenkins’ beautiful and brutal adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s alternative history, ‘The Underground Railroad’, indulges in compelling retro Afrofuturism.
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‘Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In’ Still Socks It to Us
Watch Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in and you will receive a sound education in America’s politics and pop culture of the late ’60s / early ’70s.
WandaVision’s Grief Is America’s Grief
To cope with her grief WandaVision‘s Wanda reverts to a comforting but false alternate reality set in idealized 1950s America. Sound familiar?
NBC Comedy ‘Superstore’ Tackles Capitalism with Humor and Pathos
Superstore consistently depicts with humor and pathos how corporate America keeps working-class people in a perpetual state of precarity.
Nurse Ratched vs. Nurse Ratched
Each portrayal of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’s infamous Nurse Ratched reflects what has changed in American society’s attitudes toward women — and what has not.
‘Firefly Lane’ Betrays the Golden Rule of Chekhov’s Gun
Netflix's Firefly Lane put the gun on the stage. Creator Maggie Friedman had the characters pick it up and play with it.
‘City So Real’ and the Politics of a Modern Metropolis
One of the crowning achievements of City So Real is that it shows that the fight for racial justice in Chicago became adopted by people of all identities thanks to the tireless work of organizers.
Steve McQueen’s ‘Small Axe’ and Emerging Institutions of Black Power
In contrast to the pervasive attitude of cynicism that declares the world fixed and existing power structures unbeatable, Small Axe narrates how Black Power has been and remains a viable force that shapes British and world history.
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.
‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Nudges Out Conscience in Our Time of Crises
Avatar shows us that to fight for only the people we know, for simply the things that affect us personally, is neither brave nor heroic, nor particularly useful.
HBO’s ‘Lovecraft Country’ Is Heady, Poetic, and Mangled
Laying the everyday experience of Black life in 1950s America against Cthulhuian nightmares, Misha Green and Jordan Peele's Lovecraft Country suggests intriguing parallels that are often lost in its narrative dead-ends.