Category / National / The Politics of Pop Culture
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From Hollywood, with Money
BY ARYEH MELLMAN One hundred and fifty of the biggest stars on the planet crowded onto the basketball court in George Clooney’s backyard. Actors, comedians, and even some former royalty were in attendance. Heck, a couple of super heroes even stopped by: Robert Downey Jr. and Tobey Maguire. In the midst of so much star…
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The Wire’s Angry Dissent
BY GABRIEL RUBIN “It’s good for froth,” David Simon says of the internet. But froth also spills from television sets, with hundreds of shows repackaging a successful formula of cheap laughs, sex, violence, and punctuating music. Simon, creator of HBO’s The Wire (among other masterpieces), has eschewed not only conventional television writing wisdom but media…
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Moments & Movements: LGBTQIA Issues in Popular Culture & Politics
BY VINITA CHAUDHRY I cannot possibly count the number of times I have been asked if I watch Modern Family, The New Normal, or even Glee; people are generally not asking me for the sake of striking up conversation about good television shows, but rather because they are looking for my opinion on various depictions…
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The Egyptian Jon Stewart
BY RAZI SAFI Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have been our generation’s major source of intellectual humor and cheap laughs. For many, they have even been an occasional news source. While widely different in style, their satirical comedic method allows their viewers to evaluate the political stories of the day and ridicule ideas that, while…
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Bougie Dictatorship: The Strange Case of Leftist Hip-Hop
BY ANDREW RIDKER Hey, remember that weird video from Game 5 of the NBA finals? Where Jay-Z just like, talked for three minutes, and superproducers/visual name-drops Pharrell, Timbaland, and Rick Rubin were all nodding along as if to say, ‘yeah Jay, totally’? And then at the very end, the screen went black and said SAMSUNG,…
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From Seneca Falls to JJ’s Diner: Parks and Recreation, a Feminist Manifesto
BY MOIRA MOYNIHAN Parks and Recreation is the greatest show on television. I say this for many reasons. It’s not hard to see that Li’l Sebastian is an heroic mascot for our nation, that Ron Swanson is a god among men, and that I wish I could have celebrated my 21st at the Snake Hole…
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An Unscientific Perspective on Facebook, the Liberal Bully Pulpit, and the Flow of Misinformation
BY MICHAEL COHEN The white “equals” sign on red background is good – and the hooded Skittles-wielding figures, even better. These are statements of sponsorship for important attitudes of our times. They’re simple yet elegant and, at worst, they cause no serious harm. But beyond profile picture advocacy, Facebook political discussion does more harm than…