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Native American Women are Contesting Their Misrepresentation in Film

It's a sight not uncommon on the streets of Los Angeles. A red carpet is rolled out in front of a theater, while cameramen hurriedly set up their equipment.  Lights flash as actors smile and walk the length of carpet, the sun setting behind them. It is the 23rd year of the Red Nation International Film Festival, an event founded and developed by Jonelle Romero, a Native American filmmaker and actress of Cheyenne, Dine, and Apache descent. Though it features the usual trappings of a film festival, this two-week program is a statement. It features Native American-centric movies and actors, with more than 20 films directed and produced by Native American women. "This year, we had 22 films directed by Native women, and had the same number last year, too," Romero said. "No other film festival is doing that, bringing in those numbers."...
FILM & TVINTERVIEWS

“Shrill” is as shrill as can be — and that’s comforting

Positioned high over the La Brea Avenue stoplight, a billboard advertising Hulu’s dramedy Shrill, featuring the SNL’s endlessly lovable Aidy Bryant, stops traffic cold. In her magenta bathing suit, knocking knees together, Bryant is a sick-thoughted modern take on Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus.  But if her character, Annie, is Shrill’s Venus and goddess of love and beauty, then who is the show’s Adonis, her doomed mortal lover? It turns out he is Ryan. And Ryan sucks. Immature, inconsiderate and incompetent, Ryan is the kind of guy who sends our heroine one-word texts reading “Fuck?” and expects her to leave through the back door when they’re finished so as to not annoy his roommates.  He’s a bona fide schlub, the definition of the emotionally stunted bare minimum with no discernible ambitions, and yet Annie keeps going back as he dangles commitment over her head. ...
FILM & TVREVIEWS

‘River Crab’ and ‘Grass Mud Horse’: Ai Weiwei’s “Windows”

Chinese lanterns, raised middle fingers, a surveillance camera and Chinese passport -- images of written Mandarin characters made of bamboo and silk cast shadows on the Marciano Art Foundation’s walls in the crammed lower level gallery dedicated to Ai Wei Wei’s installation Windows (2015). What would my mother think? Whereas I see coded messages and Ai’s subterfuge, I imagined my mother, who lived most of her adult life in Beijing -- where I was born as well, living there until I was seven before moving to Vancouver, Canada — taking these shadowed objects for exactly what they depict: lantern, hand, and texts....
CULTUREVISUAL ART

Nostalgia Wrap

After an intense basketball game (well, as intense as a bunch of ten-year-olds running up and down a court gets) my reward was a pita sandwich. It did not matter whether we won or lost; my father would always drive my younger sister and me to Tarzana Armenian Deli (TAD) to grab a bite. I’d enthusiastically skip into the shop while my sister and father would lag behind.  The employees greet me with a familiar smile. My father orders three turkey sandwiches while my sister and I run to the chip rack to choose our favorite salty treat. “WAIT,” a lightbulb would go off in my mind. “Mom wants us to get Armenian string cheese!” I run towards the white, braided cheese with sprinkles of black sesame dispersed throughout. As we collect our treats and groceries, my father walks to the coolers in the back of the shop to grab tan, a yogurt-based drink popular in the Middle East. Once our sandwiches are ready, I take my bright red tray to the small white table near the windows....
CULTUREFood

Nipsey Hussle Was Our L.A.

When push came to shove for Nipsey Hussle, he decided to fight. He bought back his block one store at a time, showing black and brown people the key to keeping our city in our hands. It started with The Marathon Store, but it was so much more than that. When I saw the video of the 33-year-old artist, community activist, father, and  mogul lying bloodied and dying in front of his own place of business, I felt a part of our city dying along with it....
ESSAYSMUSIC

This is Us: A Case for Cathartic Television

When “This is Us” won for Best TV Drama Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards this past January, the reactions from its cast were priceless. Each member emanated joy and humility: Chrissy Metz threw her hands up, incredulous; Sterling K. Brown performed an epic handshake with his beaming wife; Mandy Moore reached the microphone first, and warned with breathless delight, “It’s going to be a minute, there are quite a few of us!” As the actors filed onto the stage, their diversity – in terms of race, gender, and age – was apparent, a reminder of the varied voices that frame the show. There seemed to be a genuine sense of closeness amongst the cast, too—a warmth that was palpable....
CULTUREFILM & TVREVIEWS