Author: Matthew Dwyer
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The Kardashian’s ‘Pick Me’ Brand of Empowerment on New Hulu Show
On their new show, The Kardashians, the famous family continues to use their personal lives as advertisements for thier billion-dollar businesses.
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Avatar: The Last Airbender Both Protests and Embodies Colonialism
Avatar: The Last Airbender’s success fifteen years after its premiere proves the enduring power of its storytelling. But it’s more than just a quality show.
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The Crown Assuages White Guilt
Americans love the British monarchy. This may seem confusing because only a few short hundred years ago they were our worst enemies, and every year we celebrate our independence from them. The Crown humanizes the monarchy, which might explain its popularity.
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Dead Poets Society Steals a Queer Story
Dead Poets Society relies on patriarchal tropes such as overbearing fathers, contrived brotherhood, and faux-individuality in order to portray its straight white male characters as oppressed.
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Outer Banks Ignores Its Racial Context
Outer Banks (2020-) knows its audience: young adults in a country that can’t stop romanticizing good ole’ treasure hunts. Add a little of Riverdale’s (2017-) sex appeal, and no one can look away. Forty years after The Goonies (1985) America’s consciousness hasn’t strayed from the same tropes: treasure hunts, a vulnerable white male lead, and the whitewashing…
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Dog Day Afternoon’s Flawed But Progressive Message
Sidney Lumit’s Dog Day Afternoon (1975), based on a true story, opens with several wholesome shots of urban America à la A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), but fifty years later. After seeing a boy play baseball, a dog rifle through trash, and a boat pull up to a loading dock, you might think you’re…