Zombies: American apocalypse
I had a minor epiphany during a disaster movie marathon undertaken between seasons of “The Walking Dead.” I was watching “The Tower,” a big budget South Korean remake of the 1974 classic “Towering Inferno,” when I realized that, with few exceptions, disaster movies are about economic inequality.
Battle in Barbie Land
I really wanted to like the Barbie movie. As a gen-x girly grrl, I had to campaign hard for my hippie mother to even let me play with Barbies. She thought they were a bad influence, for all the reasons you might expect... body image, sexualization, superficiality, appearance-obsession, consumerism, the fashion industry racket, etc. In other words, none of the issues the Barbie movie is concerned with.
Maman Brigitte, Vodou death spirit
Maman Brigitte is a Vodou death spirit, brought to Haiti and Louisiana by Irish indentured servants. She and her husband Baron Samedi guard cemeteries and protect graves marked with crosses. They are irreverent tricksters, mocking authority and carousing, dancing, swearing and drinking hot pepper-infused rum.
In which we dream of starting over
I recently watched the first season of the 2014 mystery series Wayward Pines. The story is fast-paced and keeps the audience guessing with surprising twists, but around episode five I started to notice a common thread it shares with other current shows and films.
Sedna, Inuit goddess of the sea
Today's post is about Sedna, the Inuit goddess of the sea. She's definitely a "badass" goddess, known for her vengeful and violent nature when protecting the sea creatures over which she has dominion and protection rights. But her origin story, as is often the case, is also a tragic one. She could be said to epitomize the #MeToo movement of the icy Northern seas.