Bend It Like Beckham Could Have Been Queerer, But It Still Aged Well
Much like the bunches of dhaniya (coriander) that Mrs Bhamra asks her daughters to buy, Bend It Like Beckham is a cultural staple for my...
The Parallels of Existence
As I sit here at home in Brixton, South London, living in a council estate which I am privately renting; I am thinking about my childhood...
Unruly Bodies
UNRULY /ʌnˈruːli/ adjective disorderly and disruptive and not amenable to discipline or control. Our bodies are all unique and perhaps in...
I'll See You in Cuba
The story that informs my obsession with the Cuban moving image is deeply personal, though it’s certainly not private. If anything, it is...
Visualising Blackness: Handsworth Songs and Documents of Police Brutality
“The question today is not so much can the subaltern speak, for the new global networks of technicity have solved this problem with...
This is England
by Rene Matić I am obsessed with Shane Meadows 2006 film ‘This is England’ because of its portrayal of the duality of the Skinhead...
Water Lilies: Sexuality, Unrequited Love and the Importance of Friendship
Céline Sciamma’s impressive debut film, Water Lilies, paints a realistic portrait of adolescent lust which tackles subjects of body...
WORKERS / SISTERS
Sisters! opens in a way that many films end. On a visitor sign-in sheet a group of individuals write their name, time of arrival,...
How (Not) To Save The World
When I was small, having played the illustrious if questionably-costumed Planet Earth in a school play (let’s just say I’d made...
CONSTRUCTING TEEN IDENTITY ON-SCREEN: THIRTEEN
In 2003, Catherine Hardwicke’s directorial debut had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Thirteen revels in the giddy highs...
CONSTRUCTING TEEN IDENTITY ON-SCREEN: ALL THIS PANIC
‘I was at the Metropolitan Museum with all my friends […] we all went into the temple of Dendrur and looked at all the hieroglyphics and...
FEMINISM AND THE CITY: CLEO FROM 5 TO 7
As an urban geographer my research and teaching is oriented around relationships between gender, sexualities and cities. My research...
The winter without men: a review of Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite (2019)
“Some people just take the room they need, elbowing out intruders to take possession of a space. [...] The magic of authority, money,...
There's No Crying In Baseball
Well, actually, there is. Evelyn Garner (Betty Schram) comes off the field having made a mistake to then receive a tirade of abuse from...
“Does it suit me?” Doctor Who, Fandom, & Jodie Whittaker as the First Female Doctor
For the first time in the 55-year history of the British sci-fi show, “Dr. Who” is a woman. For the uninitiated, the show’s titular...