The “Social Distance” between Africa and African-Americans
American popular culture inhibits a close relationship between African-Americans and the African continent.
How Teenage Girls Invented Fandom
They were mocked for their obsession with movies. But the fan culture they constructed help build Hollywood.
Hollywood Goes to Its First Lesbian Bar and Can’t Stop Staring
The Killing of Sister George was the first Hollywood movie to depict a lesbian bar. Director Robert Aldrich was obsessed with its authenticity.
The Private Life of a Cat
Maya Deren was a fringe filmmaker who existed far outside the Hollywood machine, but she often borrowed its tactics to promote herself and her movies.
You, Too, Can Screen an Experimental Film
In the 1960s and '70s, where and how a film was shown was often as important as the work itself.
The D-I-Y Origins of Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead’s production story reads like a means to an end: a rag-tag group of creatives makes a movie on nothing to get noticed.
Fake News: A Media Literacy Reading List
Compiled by graduate students in a 2016 course on “Activism and Digital Culture,” at University of Southern California.
Doris Day Changed Us Forever
What did women coming of age in the 1950s think of Doris Day in Calamity Jane? Does her filmography have the same meaning now?
Why Cupid Rules Valentine’s Day
The rascally cherub has been part of Valentine's Day lore since Chaucer’s time.
McCarthyism at the Oscars
As José Ferrer was being handed his Oscar—making him the first Latino actor to win—he was being investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee.