In preparation for getting her braces on, my 13-year-old sister Noa recently met with her orthodontist for a consultation. The two agreed that she would have her braces on for about three years, that her elastics would be a neutral white instead of the bright pink and green for which[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric
A response to RuPaul’s transphobic, sexist comments, and his empty apology
In an interview with the Guardian on March 3, RuPaul made it obvious that he does not want to let trans and cis women compete on Drag Race anytime soon. Rupaul’s Drag Race, which has been airing for nearly a decade, is a reality TV competition in which drag queens compete to[Read More…]
The Academy still hates women
There was a moving moment during the 90th Academy Awards where Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek, and Annabella Sciorra stood onstage to deliver a message. Their connection? All have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct. In a year of watershed moments for transparency and accountability, the #MeToo and #TIMESUP movements have[Read More…]
Pop Dialectic: Is Mother! An inscrutable masterpiece? or regurgitated sexist hobgob?
mother! (2017) is a slamming punch to the face—a descent from taut, domestic psychodrama to full-throttle hermeneutic madness. In director Darren Aronofsky’s words, it is “a fever dream,” dabbling in feminism, filmmaking, and biblical allegory. While all of this could make for a truly impactful film, mother! instead flounders in a sea of[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: Selling horror
Three weekends into its theatre run, Andrés Muschietti’s It continued to lead the box-office with an impressive $29.8 million three-day total. Simultaneously, Darren Aronofsky’s mother! kept collecting dust with a meek $3.3 million in its second weekend despite strong TIFF word-of-mouth and Jennifer Lawrence’s star power. Both films are critically-acclaimed,[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: Taylor Swift is her own hot take
As soon as Taylor Swift deleted her Instagram account, her fans (known as “Swifties”) predictably anticipated a new album, which recently was revealed to be entitled Reputation, scheduled for release Nov. 10. Using social media stunts as teasers is commonplace among pop stars and cultural icons, but Swift’s release of[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: OKNOTOK is not what rock and roll needs right now
For all their talk about being so vehemently anti-capitalist, and–by proxy–true to their art, Radiohead loves a good gimmick. It was around this time last year, for example, just days before the release of their first album in seven years, that the British rock band effectively erased themselves from the[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: Youtube star JonTron’s unfortunate foray into alt-right politics
Millions of fans around the world love Jon Jafari—the creator of the JonTronShow and former Game Grumps host. For six years, his videos have brought tears of laughter to anyone fortunate enough to have discovered his channel—yet, with his recent foray into the alt-right and white supremacist political spheres, his[Read More…]
Pop Dialectic: Film Reboots
End the Reboot Hollywood and content creators of all kinds have always been influenced by those that have come before them. Some of the greatest films of all time are based on previous works: The Godfather, To Kill a Mockingbird, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to name a[Read More…]
Hollywood awards itself
When the Golden Globes kickstarted the awards show season on Jan. 8, the normally easy-going ceremony was set with an unusually tense energy. Award shows are a time for the entertainment industry to pat itself on the back for its accomplishments in film and television. This year, celebrities went even[Read More…]
