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judgmental observer · 6d ago

Reconsidering GIRLS

A month ago I participated in a blogathon devoted to the new HBO program Girls. The impetus for the blogathon was a series of discussions I was having with some media studies scholars (primarily Kristen Warner and Jennifer Jones) about the hype leading up to the show’s April 15th premiere. The publi
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judgmental observer · 1M ago

Blogging GIRLS: Reactions to the Pilot

Full disclosure: I am an upper-middle class, highly educated (I have a PhD!), white woman. So when the protagonist of Girls, Hannah (played by the show’s writer/producer/director Lena Dunham), admits to her emotionally distant, sometime-lover Adam (Adam Driver), that her parents have cut her off fin
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judgmental observer · 1M ago

You Always Remember Your First Time

Last weekend I attended the Society for Cinema and Media Studies’ conference in Boston.* SCMS is certainly the largest conference in my field (this year’s conference featured 420 individual sessions across 5 days!) and while quantity rarely implies quality, I do think that some of the most vibrant a
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judgmental observer · 2M ago

THE WONDER YEARS, Involuntary Memory, and Mourning

In 1988 I was 12 years old. I was a 6th grader at the Susquehanna Township Middle School. I lived in the suburbs. I had never kissed a boy. I wore giant Sally Jesse Raphael-style glasses and every day was a bad hair day. In other words, I was a pretty typical 12-year-old kid. Therefore, [...]
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judgmental observer · 2M ago

In 1988 I was 12 years old. I was

In 1988 I was 12 years old. I was a 6th grader at the Susquehanna Township Middle School. Here is what I looked like: Like so many 12 year olds I was incredibly awkward. And like so many 12 year olds, I was watching a show called The Wonder Years. If you are unfamilar with this [...]
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judgmental observer · 3M ago

My Mom’s 2012 Oscar Picks

My parents believed that children who got straight As and attended Ivy league schools had only two possible future professions: doctor or lawyer. That’s what they owed society. So when my parents saw 10 graduate school applications neatly laid out on the diningroom table during the fall of my senior
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judgmental observer · 3M ago

Nota Bene #3: Cruising with Kate Gosselin

This is real, dear readers. Kate Gosselin, former star of Jon & Kate Plus 8, and more recent star of the “Celebrity Plastic Surgery Gone Wrong” section of your favorite tabloid, is partnering with Royal Caribbean to give vacationers the cruise experience of a lifetime! The cheapest cabin on this cru
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judgmental observer · 3M ago

Nota Bene # 2: Brief Notes on THE HELP

Recently I was asked by a colleague who runs East Carolina University’s Ethnic Studies Film Series to provide an introduction to the January 31st screening of The Help (2011, Tate Taylor). I agreed because, having just read the book and watched the film, I wanted to try to come to terms with what it
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judgmental observer · 4M ago

Introducing Nota Bene # 1: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS SERIES FINALE

I have a lot of respect for media studies bloggers who are able to supply a seemingly endless feed of quality content to their blogs. I am also envious of their industriousness. Although I would like to post more frequently to my blog other responsibilities, including: caring for and feeding the pet
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judgmental observer · 5M ago

I Can Haz Nyan Cat?

The other day I was reading an article a friend of mine (Melisser, this is ALL your fault) shared on Facebook. The article, “The 50 Greatest Internet Memes of 2011,” is, as you might imagine, a deep wormhole. Not only is the article long (it covers, in detail, 50 different internet memes), but it in
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