Why did images of white, nuclear families dominate television in the 1950s? Why has it taken nearly 70 years for images of a diverse America—featuring people of color, immigrants, women as independent social beings—to appear on prime time television? Challenging the longstanding belief that what appeared on television screens in the 1950s and after resulted from some social consensus, The Broadcast 41 addresses these and other questions by telling two intersecting stories. The first story documents the heterogeneous perspectives of a generation of progressive women who had been…
A nice (and short!) profile of filmmaker Nicole London, whose beautiful documentary about performer and activist Hazel Scott is in post-production. This is a long overdue film about Scott's impact, influence, and art.
Turns out that film noir classic Laura, written by blacklisted screenwriter and novelist Vera Caspary, has a perfect 100 on Rotten Tomatoes. In a recent article, Kelcie Mattson (who coincidentally graduated from Stephens College, where blacklisted actor Jean Muir once taught acting) describes the film as depicting "the ways realistic women move within stifling conditions, and how men react when women breach patriarchal expectations." As such, she adds, "Laura stands tall as a minor miracle."
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