Category: pop culture

  • Watching the Birth of a Fandom

    Watching the Birth of a Fandom

    Header image description: A promotional photo for the FX on Hulu series The Bear. Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) is in the foreground, with Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson), Marcus (Lionel Boyce), Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri), and Richard “Richie” Jeremovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) in the background. All characters are standing except Richie, who…

  • The Illusion of Black Patriotism

    The Illusion of Black Patriotism

    Header image description: Olivia Pope, the main character and anti-heroine of the ABC show Scandal, stands in the Oval Office. She wears a red and black shawl and black pants and has her arms crossed over her chest. To her right there is a navy blue flag bearing the seal of the United States, and…

  • Git Back, Git Back, Git Back: The Nonexistent Racial Politics of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy

    Git Back, Git Back, Git Back: The Nonexistent Racial Politics of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy

    Header image description: A promotional photo for season 2 of The Umbrella Academy, which shows the seven adopted Hargreeves siblings standing in front of a black background with a white vortex. They each wear sunglasses that reflect an image of what they’re dealing with that season. Allison, the lone Black sibling, stands on the far…

  • Bridgerton Isn’t “Colorblind” At All, Actually

    Bridgerton Isn’t “Colorblind” At All, Actually

    Header image description: A banner showing the main characters of Bridgerton in a garden. Two of the characters are Black, while the rest are white. They all wear the dress of the 19th century British elite, indicating their elevated socioeconomic status. Image credit: Netflix If you’ve been on Twitter since Christmas, you’ve definitely heard about…

  • “Cringeworthy” Is the Least of It: White Hamilton Fans Are Racist as F*ck

    “Cringeworthy” Is the Least of It: White Hamilton Fans Are Racist as F*ck

    [Header Image description: the original Broadway cast of Hamilton: an American Musical getting ready to take their bow at the end of a performance. Source: Tampa Bay Times] This piece contains a CW/TW for a discussions of racist violence, structural anti-Blackness, cyberbullying, and brief mentions of sexual assault (particularly against Black women). Last Friday, the…

  • 6 Movies to Watch for the Race War (and What Not to Watch, Too)

    6 Movies to Watch for the Race War (and What Not to Watch, Too)

    Header image description: A large, off-white banner held aloft on a city street, which reads “BLACK LIVES MATTER” in all-caps, black bold text. So, the race war is finally poppin off. In moments like this, people turn to pop culture to understand what’s going on. Twitter has noted that The Help is trending on Netflix…

  • Violent Delights Have Violent Ends

    Violent Delights Have Violent Ends

    From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. Romeo and Juliet, Prologue Racism and racial tension are the undeniable issues at hand in Spike Lee’s seminal feature Do the Right Thing, which culminates in a race riot between Black residents of a Bed-Stuy block and a white business owner…