The Fantasy Gender Problem (Part I)
Even today, many male fantasy authors are blithely willing to include female characters only as subjects for male characters’ heroics and sexual conquests, but even among the better authors, the […]
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Hegemony and Flaws
When Argo was nominated for Best Picture, it set off a wave of criticism surrounding Affleck’s casting of himself–a white actor–in the lead role of Tony Mendez, who is Latino […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (Part VI)
We’re at the end of our readthrough of Save the Pearls: Revealing Eden. Our “heroes” are living with a bunch of tribespeople who are totally in touch with nature, and […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (Part V)
As we approach the end of Save the Pearls: Revealing Eden, today Cliff rewrites everything. Me: Was it even possible for two people to truly see each other in a […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (Part IV)
Today in our readthrough of Save the Pearls, the good news is that the pretty white girl who thinks she’s ugly and the black animal-man leave the world where black […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (Part III)
Continuing our readthrough of Save the Pearls, our lead guy is a black beast-man. No, literally. Also, some villains do some stuff, I think, and we have a competition for […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (Part II)
Last time, I shared our comments about the book’s background and promotional materials. Today, we jump right in with the book itself. It begins in The Combs, a dystopian underground […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (Part I)
Today we begin our readthrough of the extremely wrongheaded YA novel Save the Pearls, which purports to be an anti-racist parable but ends up being offensive to just about everyone. We […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (The Background)
I participated in a readthrough of Save the Pearls: Revealing Eden. I am now planning on presenting it here. For background, Save the Pearls would have been just another mediocre […]
Review: Les Misérables (Part II)
Last time, I discussed the new film version of Les Misérables and its context in the history of the novel, the musical, and the proliferation of other adaptations. This time, […]