Category: TV/Film

If You Want to Write, Watch as Well

5/1/2025

by Ethan Gross

If you want to write, read a lot. It’s good advice, generally speaking, and very common. If you’ve ever taken a writing course or looked up writing advice online, you’ve almost certainly been given this tidbit. Most of my peers come from writing and literature backgrounds; they’re the kind of people who read all the time. Having come from a background studying film and TV, I had only read every so often, and even then it was usually for high school English class. As time went on, I focused more and more on creative writing, and I found myself being given this same piece of advice over and over again.

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The Disappearance Of Disability: Why Do We Lose Representation From Book To Film?

10/1/2024

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by Allison D'Arienzo

Photo by Eric TERRADE on Unsplash

We’ve all heard the phrase “the book was better than the movie,” and in many cases that rings true. Numerous book-to-film adaptations seem to fall short of the expectations of readers who have diligently followed a series from paper to the screen. Countless times I have found myself watching the credits roll after a movie, still fuming because my favorite scene from the book was cut, or the main character’s hair was longer than I had imagined. But what happens when a film adaptation’s cuts and changes become harmful to the communities the book is representing?

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Hey Hollywood, Publishing Is Actually Harder Than You Think

9/1/2024

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by Chloe Joy

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

One of my guilty pleasures is bad romance movies. Bonus points if they are Christmas-themed or feature a person from a big city forced to travel to a small town and fall in love with a local. If both tropes are used? Immediately my favorite movie of the year. I love them so much because they’re not meant to be taken seriously nor reflect our real lives, so I often let my suspension of disbelief hang. The main leads say “I love you” after knowing each other for a few days? Sure! One big speech at the end can wash away the trauma one character brought upon another? I’m eating it up!

However, nothing gets under my skin more than the inaccurate portrayals of the publishing industry in these movies. Many romance movies have a B plot that focuses around the publishing industry (because publishing and struggling writers are just so sexy), and they almost always end with a fairy tale dream success story. I’m tired of this dominant, false narrative prevailing through the media, making publishing look easy, because if you’re a writer or aspiring editor like me, you know it’s anything but easy.

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Queerbaiting: Victim or Villain?

6/1/2024

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by Emily Langford

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

As a queer, “elder millennial” who watched as personal computers suddenly took root in our homes, I experienced the rise of online fandom firsthand. Prior to the internet, my experience with fandom was a solo one, I didn’t know anyone who had the same obsessive passion for stories and characters like I had. I was the annoying kid who would, unprompted, spew out tidbits and theories about books and movies, the weirdo who was off in her own little world where all her characters existed at my day-dreamy little whims. I was tolerated at best and I eventually learned to keep my fervor to myself. I remember the first time I entered the titles of my favorite obsessions into the search bar. Suddenly, I was very much not alone. Each of my hyperfixations had a dedicated chat room or message board with other people who understood, who shared my passions. I finally found a place of acceptance.

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I Saw A Black Man Holding A Gun: An Evaluation Of Black People In Writing

2/1/2024

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by Qwayonna Josephs

At nine years old, I participated in my school’s reading program. We’d get a medal for every hundred books we’d read. Being the overachiever I still am, I read everything in sight, trying to be the student wearing the most medals. This program introduced me to The Bluford Series, which consists of many black-led stories. My school had the entire collection available in the reading section of my third-grade class. All the books I read from the series had the same elements, single mothers, troubled teens, violence, incarceration, and Ebonics.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Looking back now, it’s crazy to think that my introduction to Black-led stories was a book with a Black man on the cover, holding a gun, a book that was distributed to schools from Scholastic and praised as honest portrayals of inner city kids. Yet, every one of those books I read came from the mind of Paul Langan, a white man who claims in an interview that his intention behind the idea was sparked by minority students wanting to see themselves in print. I’m sure that drew lots of students to the books, seeing someone who looked like them on the cover―it definitely drew me in―but, with maturity and clarity, I now understand the harmfulness of these stories and characters. While trying to show our “experiences,” the books highlight negative stereotypes, slap on a problematic cover, and end up in the hands of impressionable elementary, middle, and high school kids that are desperate to see themselves in a story.

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<<Previous

If You Want to Write, Watch as Well

The Disappearance Of Disability: Why Do We Lose Representation From Book To Film?

Hey Hollywood, Publishing Is Actually Harder Than You Think

Queerbaiting: Victim or Villain?

I Saw A Black Man Holding A Gun: An Evaluation Of Black People In Writing

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