Currently Browsing: Opinion/POV

‘You Are So Not Invited…’ is a Loving Portrayal of Judaism

I did not have a big bat mitzvah. Like Bree and Danny Friedman of Netflix’s recent You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (played by Idina Menzel and Adam Sandler respectively), my parents were not fans of big b’nei mitzvah parties. “When I got bar mitzvahed, we had a party in Grandma’s basement” wasn’t something my dad ever said, but I lost track of how many times I heard “It’s not about the party” during the process.read more.

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Applause for Jacqueline Durran’s Costume Designs for ‘Barbie’

It’s the third act of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023), and the Kens are embracing their newfound patriarchy, brainwashing the Barbies into being their maids, interrupting Barbie Land’s perfect pink palette with their horse prints and faux minks. Enter Kate McKinnon’s “Weird Barbie,” her puffy pink paint-splattered dress traded in for cargo pants and a bedazzled bomber jacket, and her choppy locks smoothed into a half-buzzed side-swept hairdo.… read more.

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Podcasting: New Female Frontier? Or Misogynist Breeding Ground?

A confession: I listen to a podcast every night before I fall asleep. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t float out of consciousness with some voice cooing in my ear, dissecting the plot to a book I haven’t read or teaching me about a minor historical event. When I was in high school, my brother’s nightly routine included shutting off whatever Spotify show was spouting from my phone before he went to bed.read more.

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Casey McQuiston Proves Fiction Can Be Fun

In anticipation of Friday’s release of the film adaptation of Red, White, & Royal Blue on Prime Video, today I will be reviewing Casey McQuiston’s 2019 novel—a romance which continues to fly off the shelves four years after its initial release.

The story of Red, White, & Royal Blue follows the secret relationship which blooms between the son of the President of the United States and the Prince of England.read more.

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This Barbie’s Not Buying It: On Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’

Fair warning: this is a critique of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Do you want to get swept up in the eye candy of pure-color sets and Chanel costumes, hypnotized by the scrumptious choreographed dances, moved to tears by Barbie’s (Margot Robbie) meaning-making? If so, you may want to come back and read this after you’ve watched the movie.… read more.

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