Have you ever had a favorite movie, that you’ve loved since childhood and then all of a sudden as an adult you discover that other people don’t like that movie? In fact, it seems MOST people don’t like that movie. And then you question yourself. Is the movie any good? Have you been deluding yourself…
Category: Race and Class
e231. So, You Should Be Watching A League of Their Own
Way too often, when we talk about “pop culture” in 2022, we focus on superheroes, space cowboys with laser swords, and maybe a couple fantasy epics. And in fact, if you were to look at the top of the streaming charts this month, those are sort of the biggest things on the pop culture horizon…
e220. Obi-Wan Kenobi & the Star Wars Legacy
This week saw the end of the Disney+ Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi, a show devoted to… actually it’s really hard to talk about. Arguably, one of the biggest problems with the Kenobi tv show is that it is arguably impossible to talk about without spoilers. But it’s over now… so we’re going to spoil…
CFC: Bechdel Tests, Fire Island, and the lack of nuance in pop culture criticism
From Mav: So I hate the Bechdel Test. I think it’s stupid. See what I’m doing here is saying something kind of outrageous to start an article and then going into a more nuanced discussion where I try to make a larger point but that will be ignored by a lot of people who just…
e208. What Time Is It? It’s Bridgerton Time! (Again)
Last year, we (like many people) were so overcome with the Netflix show Bridgerton that we recorded not one but two episodes about it. We weren’t the only ones. It was a runaway sensation. Well, it’s been a year and Bridgerton time has returned with slightly more fixed fanfare. Even this week’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has…
Call For Comments: Why do we fill out Oscar ballots?
Dune, West Side Story, The Power of the Dog, and Belfast are all nominees for the 2022 Academy Award for Best Picture From Monica: The 2022 Oscars are upcoming on March 27th, so we’re doing a good old-fashioned predictions episode. But as I sat down to fill out my ballot, I also found myself in…
e205. Why Do We Love Batman?
If you’re a regular listener of this show then you no doubt are aware that the Batman was released in cinemas last week. At the current moment, it is in fact the number one movie at the box office worldwide. And of course, that was to be expected. Everyone knew that it would be a…
e203. Consumption, Capitalism, and the Culture of Luxury Fashion
Can you tell the difference between Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Gucci, and Versace? What about Michael Kors, Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen and Jimmy Choo? Do you even know who these people are? In all likelihood you read that list and knew that those are some of the biggest brands in luxury fashion. Or, if you…
Call for Comments: Hey, Are Y’all Talking About Batman?
From Hannah: How have we gone over two hundred episodes without dedicating an episode to talking about Batman? (Indeed, the Eternals of all superheroes got their own episode before we decided to focus on Batman.) From Mav: I mean, we didn’t. Episode 54 was totally all talking about Batman! Just none of you were on…
e202. To Kill a Mockingbird… and a Maus — Censorship & Book Banning
Every once in a while the world of weekly pop culture and the world of literary academia collide so totally that the world notices even outside of our show. Last week was one of those weeks. A school board in Tennessee voted to remove Maus, the critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize winning Holocaust memoir graphic novel,…