Girls

Adam Driver: A Force to Be Reckoned With

Ben Friedman

Driver’s success is predicated on his ability and willingness to portray emotionally vulnerable men. His career choices indicate his enjoyment of exploring the psychosis of flawed individuals. Take, for example, his Oscar-nominated performances in BlackkKlansman and Marriage Story. Spike Lee’s BlackkKlansman showcased Driver’s deadpan comedic timing, as well as his ability to subtly bring to life the character’s internal conflicts about racism. His character’s body language shifts from that of indifference to that of frustration as he witnesses racism and injustice.

Lena Dunham, Amy Poehler and the Modern Feminist Discourse

Melinda Parks

And so it seems appropriate that Lena Dunham and Amy Poehler, influential female actors and writers in their respected realms of comedy, would choose this year to publish memoirs detailing their experiences as women in entertainment. Dunham’s Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s Learned, released in September, and Poehler’s Yes Please, published a month later, build on the now well-established trend of intimate autobiographies penned by female entertainers. In fact, in her preface, Poehler cites the memoirs of comedians like Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Silverman, and Rachel Dratch as inspiration for her own writing. 

Deadpan Humor, Acerbic Wit Are Main Themes of Quirky Rom-Com ‘Appropriate Behavior’

Angelo Franco

In her screenwriting and directorial debut, Desiree Akhavan’s Appropriate Behavior is engrossing, provocative, and entirely inappropriate. Laced with Akhavan’s unquestionable flare for frames and motion (or lack thereof), the film explores the depths of sexuality within a cultural context, posing realities that are heartbreakingly honest and widely unexplored, often at the same time.  

Why Have Feminists Remained Silent on the Lena Dunham Controversy?

Stephanie Stark

When a powerhouse for good is exposed for extreme deviance, supporting institutions turn their heads and trivialize grave accusations in order to protect their interests. In the cases of the Catholic Church, the Ray Rice scandal, and now the accusations against Lena Dunham, abuse is treated as a pithy mishap, a bad apple, a misleading vignette of an otherwise exemplary institution. The feminist world is abandoning its values just because we love her. It’s choosing to do PR for Lena instead of journalism.

How Popular Media is Helping to End the Stigma of Mental Illness

Gabrielle Acierno

Whether your understanding of mental illness is limited to what you’ve seen on the silver screen, or as intimate as a firsthand struggle, the topic has occupied a continual space in our national discussion, eliciting controversy and fascination. Today, there are nearly 60 million Americans who suffer from a mental illness, and it continues to present a quality of life, household and community issue. 

‘The Bourne Legacy,’ ‘Ted’ Arrive on DVD, Blu-ray

Forrest Hartman

The three Jason Bourne films starring Matt Damon are exciting espionage efforts that have a near-ideal balance of plot and action. “The Bourne Legacy” is a sequel to those movies and, although it does a fine job with the stunts, the plotting isn’t nearly as inspiring, in large part because it’s redundant. This time, the focus shifts from Jason Bourne to a U.S. intelligence operative named Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner). 

Why HBO’s Controversial ‘Girls’ Strikes a Nerve

Loren DiBlasi

For something to be great-- truly great-- does it have to actually be good? Not always, it seems. Before it even premiered on April 15, HBO’s “Girls” was making headlines across the country. Created by 26-year-old Lena Dunham and produced by Judd Apatow, “Girls” is a comedy that was supposed to change the way that women in their early 20s are portrayed on television, from their love lives to their bank accounts. The only problem was, not everyone thought that the change was for the better.

Subscribe to RSS - Girls