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Tag: representations

28 May, 201713 April, 2017

No more ‘product of its time,’ please

An alarm clock.
Posted in pop culture by s.e. smith

Content with terrible themes is often defended as a ‘product of its time,’ but this argument holds no water with me.

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27 May, 201713 April, 2017

Do we really need to see graphic violence to ‘understand’?

A fenceline casting dramatic shadows on the grass.
Posted in pop culture by s.e. smith

Creators sometimes justify graphic, troubling scenes with the claim that we need to see to ‘understand.’ Well, do we?

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13 May, 201724 March, 2017

In storytelling, context matters

People walking through a crowded transit station.
Posted in pop culture by s.e. smith

Criticising representations and challenging embedded attitudes in text is common, but what happens with authorial context is introduced?

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22 April, 20177 March, 2017

Diverse experiences are about more than hardship

Two young children lying on a couch with a book.
Posted in pop culture by s.e. smith

With an increase in diverse fiction, can we finally get some representations that are about something other than hardship?

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18 March, 201725 January, 2017

Even in pop culture, the oppressed can become the oppressor

Two people at the Berlin Trans*March holding up a sign saying I WON'T CHANGE TO GET ACCEPTED.
Posted in pop culture by s.e. smith

It’s time to bust the myth that it’s impossible to depict a marginalised group poorly when you’re a member of that group or understand marginalisation from a different perspective.

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3 December, 20164 October, 2016

‘Before’ shots aren’t an excuse for nondisabled actors

Two wheelchair users playing tennis.
Posted in disability, pop culture by s.e. smith

Disabled people are often told that cross-casting is necessary for disabled characters because people need to see them ‘before.’ Here’s why this argument doesn’t hold water.

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15 October, 201628 July, 2016

Is streaming the best place for mentally ill characters?

A still of BoJack Horseman talking to a baby seahorse.
Posted in disability, pop culture by s.e. smith

Streaming media has some of the sharpest, most thoughtful, most realistic depictions of mental illness in pop culture. Is streaming the new hope for diversity in television?

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24 September, 201620 September, 2016

If Jeffrey Tambor cares so much about trans talent, he’d give back that Emmy

Actor Jeffrey Tambor at an event.
Posted in gender, pop culture by s.e. smith

Jeffrey Tambor just won his second Emmy for Leading Actor in a Transphobic Role, and he claims to care a ton about trans talent, but not enough to give up that golden statuette.

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13 August, 201631 May, 2016

Why treat disability as a failure on television?

Surgeons performing a kidney transplant.
Posted in disability, pop culture by s.e. smith

In medical dramas, disability is always represented as a failed outcome. What if we changed that framing?

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6 August, 201621 May, 2016

Love in the time of pop culture

Two Latinas snuggling at a Pride parade.
Posted in pop culture, Sexuality by s.e. smith

Pop culture is reframing our understanding of love, and not always in good ways.

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