Sexual freedom still maintains gender bias


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On Aug. 13, Helen Gurley Brown — legendary editor of the so-called women’s bible Cosmopolitan Magazine — died at the age of 90. To be honest, I had never heard of Mrs. Brown — and I’m sure that many people are in the same boat. But it’s almost impossible to ignore the impact that she […]

Studios should produce quality, innovative animated films


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The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, Toy Story: These are the animated films that have captured our hearts, wowed critics and defined our generation. These films catalyzed the new age of animation, kick-starting a rich and fresh visual style and incorporating new and interesting conceits — animated animation, if you will. Today, however, these […]

Fisher garden sheds light on censorship


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With controversial films like The Master and Savages hitting theaters and dominating box office profits, it’s easy to take creative liberty for granted. We live in a time where if you want to take your vision and bring it to a big screen or canvas, no one can really stop you. Decades ago, however, that […]

Non-Greeks can still maintain a social life


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Going Greek remains a part of the college cliché: Join a house, get wasted every weekend, schlep your way through classes and make lifelong friends — essentially, Animal House but in real life. Last week, an article from a website called Betches Love This highlighted USC as a top national school, worthy of the “betchiest […]

Eighties film remakes rely on pre-existing fanbases


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There’s nothing inherently wrong with retelling an old story. Shakespeare did it all the time — even in famous plays like Hamlet and King Lear — and he rarely gets dismissed for a lack of originality. Sure, it might be tempting to call the Bard an exception to the rule, but the truth is that […]

Couples reflect racial tolerance


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When my father was born in 1941 Oklahoma, African-Americans could not share water fountains or school pencils with Caucasians, let alone date them. My, how times have changed. Though it comes with its own set of problems, interracial dating has become less of a dangerous endeavor and more of — dare I say it? — […]

Film and TV should be treated separately


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With the 64th annual primetime Emmys hitting the small screen this Sunday, it seems as though all anyone can talk about these days is television: Will three-time winner Bryan Cranston claim a fourth Emmy for his flawless performance as Walter White in Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad? Will freshman series Homeland take down the reigning champion, […]

“Art fare” explores gallery secrets


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Among the chatter of a lively crowd, heels click and glasses clink. A well-dressed man stands in front of a piece, analyzing it with wine in hand. A gallery worker moves past him holding a clipboard and takes a small red dot sticker, placing it on a work. That artwork now belongs to one of […]

Rockstar ups the ante with online funding, networking


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This April saw the launch of one of the most successful campaigns in the history of online crowd funding. The goal of the project — recording and releasing a music album — certainly wasn’t anything new to those familiar with Kickstarter, save for one crucial difference. This wasn’t an indie musician trying to pay for […]

‘Friendly’ relations prove complex


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The movies make it look so easy: Girl meets boy, girl and boy become friends, girl and boy begin hooking up, then girl and boy confess their love for each other. As if life could ever be that simple. No matter what films like Friends with Benefits and No Strings Attached will try and sell […]