‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ and the Politics of Genre
In genre-busting sci-fi Everything Everywhere All At Once, the multiverse is not a genre but a metaphor that invites audiences to think about the complexities and politics of genres.
race and racism
‘Art Rebels’ Squeezes Miles Davis and Martin Scorsese into the Same Box
Paul Lopes's Art Rebels is a study that tries (and only partly succeeds) to fit two great artists -- Miles Davis and Martin Scorsese -- into clearly defined categories.
There’s No Comfort, No Smooth Summer Breeze in ‘The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty’
There are a great deal of positive and memorable passages to be found in Eudora Welty's stories set during the pre-Civil Rights United States -- for those willing to swim through the problematic waters.
‘The Nickel Boys’ Continues Colson Whitehead’s Inquiry into American Racism
Colson Whiteheads' The Nickle Boys fictionalizes the true story of a Florida prison for boys in the 1960s, further exploring America's furtive legacy of racist violence.
A Black Ariel? Must Be a Whole New (Disney) World
Rob Marshall's upcoming The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey in the traditionally white character role of Ariel, sure has stirred things up in the sea of social media. Disney-glittered little girls, it seems, see it differently.
The Cost of Comfort: Racial Hierarchies in ‘King of the Hill’
At its best, animation comedy show King of the Hill asks, Why are"race" issues in America always about white people?
Jess Row’s ‘White Flights’ Examines Avoidant Rituals of Race in American Literature
"White flights" for Jess Row denotes the "postures of avoidance and denial" about whiteness — as a privilege, a cultural norm, and a burden — adopted by white authors, academics, and critics.
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Sense and Sensibility at the World Cup
I've sworn, after learning about the latest kleptocrat billionaire to buy a club, or scrambling from the clash between hooligans and riot police, or hearing a homophobic chant rise up from the stands, I would give up on the game. Anyone with sense would.
Make America Bleed Again: The Violent Geography of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ’Oklahoma!’
Originally produced as fascism spread throughout Europe and nativism spread in the US, Oklahoma!'s exploration of belonging was a conspicuously political one.
Will Hope Rise from the Dead in Joyce Carol Oates’ ‘My Life As a Rat?
If happiness usually proves duplicitous, and melancholy a dependable constant, then the journey of an epic Joyce Carol Oates novel is always going to be a trip worth experiencing, as with My Life As a Rat.