Arrested Development’s otherwise largely fun fourth season was marred by transphobia, in yet another reminder of cultural opinions about the transgender community.
Seriously with the trans jokes, Arrested Development?
Category: television
Are TV doctors empowering real patients?
Medical television shows are some of the oldest around — especially soapy productions like E.R. and General Hospital. Whether it’s comedy (Scrubs) or drama (Grey’s Anatomy), we eat up medical shows in every way, shape, or form, and we mourn them when they’re tragically dropped from the broadcast schedule. Some of us grow up watching them and want to […]
The only place to see disabled people on TV: Reality shows
Evaluating the representation of disabled people in media is frustrating, primarily because there are so few of us in books, films, television, and other arts that it’s nearly impossible to make concrete comments — we’re holding single characters up against a standard that they can’t hope to meet. (Imagine, for example, if only two percent […]
The Transparent Transmisogyny of Transparent
When I first heard about Amazon Instant’s Transparent, I was rather excited. Web-exclusive series are definitely the new face of television, and as established in Orange is the New Black, they’re becoming a place for trans talent to shine, and a career incubator for actors who might otherwise struggle to break into Hollywood and the popular consciousness. They’re […]
Why is Joss Whedon still treated like an authority on women in film and television?
Joss Whedon temporarily set the internet aflutter yet again this year with commentary on sexism in Hollywood, as though he’s the ultimate authority on such subjects. First he called the industry “intractibly sexist” and then he took back his words in another interview, claiming that the industry had improved since the original commentary. Fair enough […]
What’s With Dimly-Lit Television?
Dearest directors of photography, lighting designers, producers, directors, and the whole lot of you. We need to have a talk. I’m going to request that you turn on a few bloody lamps so you can actually see my face during this conversation, though I imagine it will pain you immensely — and that you may […]
Why All the Sansa Hate?
‘I’m a stupid little girl with stupid dreams who never learns,’ Sansa Stark says in anguish at one point, describing everything that has happened to her and what she found when she reached King’s Landing. Not, it turned out, a fantasy city filled with texture, light, and colour, fantastic food and fascinating things, but instead […]
Do I Entertain You? Prison As Amusement and Orange is the New Black
When Netflix came out with the new season of Orange is the New Black in June, I watched progressives eagerly marathon it and produce a slew of thinkpieces about the show and how original and funny and sharp and insightful it is — and how progressive it is, to include a trans woman in the cast, to […]
In-Group Laughs, Punching Up, and Disability Humour on TV
When television dares to deal with disability, it often takes on an extremely hesitant, worried approach — disability is there to provide a very special lesson, or to offer inspiration to other characters on the show, not to offer a character a chance to exist and be a part of the drama in her own […]
The Fabulousness of Tyrion Lannister
I’m a late adopter to Game of Thrones, but I’ve brought all my game to the yard; I find this show utterly fascinating and compelling, even as it’s ripe with material to analyse. At the same time that the scope of the world is amazing and the worldbuilding is immense, epic, and beautiful, it’s also misogynistic, rapey, […]