William Goldman and the Mystery of Screenwriting
Authorship of Hollywood screenplays is often a complicated matter. But William Goldman was truly a writer in Hollywood.
100 Years of Fox News
When it began as Fox-Movietone News, the company was known for appealing to viewer's tastes by leaving out upsetting news, including the rise of fascism.
The “Queer Innocence” of the Brady Bunch
The squeaky-clean Brady Bunch family symbolized the avoidance of the sexual revolution, feminism, and other social forces that were coming to the fore.
Did A Star is Born Make Judy Garland a Gay Icon?
One scholar argues that Judy Garland's role in A Star is Born was so pivotal because it involved both gender impersonation and “racial drag."
How a Beloved Musical Became a Cold War Weapon
The 1962 film The Music Man was seen as so all-American that some hoped it would help win the Cold War by transmitting American values abroad.
Why Sex and The City is Still in Style
Sex and the City was on television from 1998-2004, and still holds cultural cachet today. But does the actual programming still hold up?
What Smoke Signals Means 20 Years Later
This groundbreaking film was the first movie to be written, directed, co-produced, and acted by Native Americans.
3 Questions to Ask About Online Fandom (and Teen Fans)
The internet has played a large role in fostering intense fan communities. But are these high-octane, super-specific interests healthy? Or...interesting?
Hollywood’s Asian American Heroes
Asian American detectives played by actors Anna May Wong and Keye Luke had a minor but notable place in 1930s and 40s Hollywood.
The Last Silent Film Star
The silent film star once known as Baby Peggy reminisces about how, decades before #TimesUp, children and women were exploited by Hollywood.