My experience of film and television versus books is radically different, though I adore all three art forms. Do other people experience the same actor/observer dichotomy I do?
On actors, observers, reading, and viewing
Tag: narratives
What does ‘gritty’ even mean, anyway?
gritty (adj.) 1590s, “resembling or containing sand or grit,” from grit (n.) + -y (2). In sense of “unpleasant” (of literature, etc.), from 1882, in reference to the sensation of eating gritty bread. Meaning “plucky, spirited, courageous and resolute” is from 1847. Related: Grittily; grittiness. The new hotness in adult pop culture right now is […]
What would an ordinary trans narrative look like?
Diversity is the new trend in media and pop culture these days, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though at times it feels like more of a buzzword than an actual commitment. We are, however, starting to see more diverse projects by diverse creators come down the pipeline — and I’m talking about good diverse […]
I Heart Television
I didn’t have television in childhood. We lived in places without electricity, without television service, and then in places where we had no interest in television (and couldn’t have afforded one even if we’d wanted television service). I was exposed to television occasionally in my teens at the homes of friends, where I watched in […]
Man Pain TV
There’s a theme I’ve remarked upon in fiction, especially in literary fiction, that also carries over to television: if the story is about a man, it’s considered a ‘universal’ story, applicable to everyone, while if it’s about a woman, it’s ‘women’s literature.’ Television, that great democratic medium beamed into the houses of millions of viewers, […]
Telling Our Own Stories
Throughout history, members of dominant classes have been telling the stories of marginalised groups, presenting those stories through a dominant lens and tightly controlling the narrative. It’s a system that allows structures of power and oppression to continue, because the people at the bottom of the system have no opportunity to fight those at the […]
Disability’s No Fairytale: Stop Treating Disabled People Like Sleeping Beauty
Life for disabled people is commonly assumed to be a sort of limbo, a search for meaning; if you are disabled, you are waiting around for a cure, hoping that someday, somewhere, someone will figure out how to fix you. Someone will wake up you up with a kiss and suddenly you will be whole […]
Charitable Appeals and the Deserving Poor
During the holiday season in the US, almost every newspaper runs some sort of charitable appeal or highlights community charities in a series of stories. It may keep track of donations from readers in a little box on the front page so people feel good about themselves. It discusses the good works of charities and […]
The Coding of Fatness
When was the last time you encountered a neutral depiction of a fat person? A casual illustration at the side of a news article, say, discussing a topic that has nothing to do with fat, one that perhaps needs people as an illustration, like coverage of people relaxing on the beach to beat the summer […]
Fighting For Crumbs While Bankers Eat Cake
Discussions about hardship and austerity often focus on which vitally needed social programmes should be cut to fund others; how we should juggle money around to meet looming budget gaps and lack of funding in a way that rankles least with injustice. There are vigorous defenses of one program or another as critical. These debates […]