After last summer’s horrible display, I fully intended to live the rest of my life without seeing another episode. I’ve almost managed to do that- my awareness of this season’s cast came mostly from a relative I’m very fond of (despite her questionable taste in television) who’s addicted to it, until I clicked on a thread by mistake at an online forum and the first post I saw brought some truly appalling behavior to my attention. Now ‘misogynist’ is a … READ MORE

**MAJOR spoilers, horror film gore, and discussion of rape behind the jump**

28 Days Later is usually classified as a zombie film despite having only minor commonalities with the traditional movie zombies. The movie shows the destruction of most of the UK population after a rescue attempt on an animal research facility releases chimpanzees that are infected with Rage: a blood and saliva-bourne virus that almost immediately transforms everyone infected into uncontrollable killing machines. Due to the ease of transmission … READ MORE

You know, I should probably just stop watching commercials considering how they manage to piss me off on such a regular basis. The latest culprit? This commercial for Red Bull energy drink.

The commercial starts with a costumed superhero snoozing in an armchair, when he’s woken by a woman’s screams for help through the open window. He heads over to the refrigerator to find a can of Red Bull™ so he can fly off to the rescue, only to find that … READ MORE

When I started watching Uptown Girls I’ll admit that I wasn’t expecting any deep thoughts. Molly (Brittany Murphy) is the daughter of a late rock star who, after her inheritance is embezzled, winds up becoming the nanny to Ray (Dakota Fanning) a rather difficult child with some very set ideas. At first glance, it’s a fairly fluffy opposites-forced-together comedy and it doesn’t pretend to be much more than that. But for the first half or so, it managed … READ MORE

I was flipping channels the other day, and happened to spot a new Kmart commercial that managed to be both blandly unremarkable (I feel like I’ve seen it more than once, but I’m not sure) and unexpectedly offensive and annoying. Quite an achievement, that.

The ad in question is for a high definition television set, and features their new mascot, a talking blue light bulb, trying to convince a woman that she should buy one. No, wait: it’s actually trying to … READ MORE

Occasionally there are things that I see on television, and it takes me a while to figure out exactly what it is about it that I find disturbing in some way. This  Nair commercial is one of those things.

So what is it exactly that I find troubling here? I’ve been kicking this around for over a week, uncertain of how exactly to proceed but unable to delete the bookmark. You could start with the fact that the women in the … READ MORE

As a child, my first fictional hero was She-Ra. She was both strong and kind, never compromised her values, protected her friends and the people of Etheria, and had spiffy accessories (including a flying/talking unicorn and a kickass sword). What more could a 4 year old want?

The show was developed as a spin off to the popular He-Man series by producers who thought that perhaps little girls would like to be able see themselves as the hero. I know that … READ MORE

The Amazing Race is kind of unique among reality shows in that the vast majority of the contestants seem fairly normal and sane, or at the very least usually free of major personality disorders. The show involves 11 two-person teams going on a race around the world; the last team to arrive at each episode’s designated pit stop is usually eliminated from the race. The racers complete various tasks - ‘Roadblocks’ which every team has to do, and ‘Detours’ where … READ MORE

(Continued from Part 1)

The first time we saw Tyra afterwards was in the next episode when Landry went to check on her after she wasn’t in school for two days. She hasn’t told anyone what happened, her mother is away caring for a sick aunt (although her mother probably wouldn’t be of much help anyway) and she doesn’t plan to and orders him not to either. I’ll admit that I don’t know if there’s a clear answer here- … READ MORE

I’ve been debating how to write this piece for a couple of weeks now. After the many, many occasions when this site has criticized fictional portrayals of sexual assault (most of which I’ve agreed with) I wasn’t entirely sure how to address the idea that a show had done so in a way I felt was actually done well. I’m still not positive I’ve managed it, but I think it’s worth a shot. Yes, it’s another post … READ MORE