Women in Film and TV

Fear, Privilege and the Illusion of Safety in ‘Only Murders in the Building’

PUBLISHED 11/7/2025 by

As Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building unfolds, safety begins to look less like locked doors and more like open conversation.

The friendship among Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) is where this transformation starts. Mabel—young, Latina and less financially secure—doesn’t fit the Arconia’s image of who belongs. But through her, Charles and Oliver begin to question the false comfort of wealth and privacy. Together, they build a kind of safety grounded in trust and shared vulnerability.

By its later seasons, Only Murders has redefined what security means. It’s no longer about who can afford to keep others out—it’s about who’s willing to let others in. The show suggests that real safety comes not from walls, locks or property values, but from empathy, care and connection.

Activating Art for Women’s Rights and Democracy: Tiffany Shlain’s Feminist Monument Makes it to the Midwest in Advance of Pivotal Elections

PUBLISHED 10/29/2025 by

For three years running, artist and activist Tiffany Shlain has created calls to action around her feminist history tree ring sculpture in advance of U.S. elections where women’s voting rights, reproductive rights and long held democratic principles face historic setbacks. The milestones and tribulations of women’s history seared onto its surface are particularly resonant now, as many records of women’s presence and accomplishments are disappearing from public view.  

Would Charlie Kirk Be Mourned the Same if He Were Single and Childless?

PUBLISHED 10/10/2025 by

After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, many mourners grieved the untimely death of a “father and husband.” Opinions of his rhetoric aside, the unintended implication is that he would be less worthy of being mourned if he were single and childless.

As a 47-year-old male who’s never been married and has little to no interest in dating, you’d better believe I’ve been asked questions like, “When are you gonna settle down?” and “why are you still single?” But this isn’t about me venting. It’s about what’s behind these questions: the core assumption that not having a partner is lacking.

Embattled, Yet Empowering: ‘One Battle After Another’ Smashes Centuries-Old Paradigm of Black Victimhood

PUBLISHED 10/10/2025 by

Paul Thomas Anderson is not the first to subvert one Black femme stereotype after another. He’s just the whitest. However, the director’s latest film, One Battle After Another, serves to hold up a mirror to 2025 America.

Some critics have accused Anderson of writing Black women who are too sexualized, stereotypical or sidelined. However, recent interviews reveal that actors were often encouraged to go off script in order to add more authenticity to their roles. So it’s likely that many of the shades of gray used to paint these Black women as imperfect yet inspiring insurgents are derived from the Black women with whom PTA collaborates and cohabitates.

For me, the results defied history with humor and humanity.

What Do Women Really Want? HBO Max’s ‘Hacks’ Has Some Ideas (and Nine Emmy Nominations)

PUBLISHED 8/20/2025 by | UPDATED 9/15/2025 at 1:09 P.M. PT

For creatives and studio executives looking to reach new and more diverse audiences—especially in a time when cultural divisions often push networks to oversimplify or water down content—Hacks offers a roadmap: Respect women viewers. Tell stories that reflect the complexity of their work, relationships and daily realities. And above all, recognize that validation and understanding aren’t side notes to entertainment—they’re at the core of what makes it resonate.

White Femininity Is Still the Poster Girl for American Capitalism

PUBLISHED 8/13/2025 by

In July, American Eagle released a jeans campaign with Euphoria actor Sydney Sweeney, and there’s a lot to unpack. The ad is her clad in a Canadian tuxedo, whilst her gestures and mannerisms indicate a level of seduction.

When marketing to the male gaze sex sells, and it is used as a persuasive attempt to influence consumerism, but it does not stop there. Her blonde hair and blue eyes being the selling point and the center of this advertisement with the punchline, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.” This (not so) subtle play on words becomes explicit when she describes how genes are passed down by “offspring,” affecting things like eye color that make her “jeans blue.”

FX’s ‘The Bear’ Season 4 Embraces Feminist Leadership, Challenging Aggressive Masculinity and Reimagining the Workplace

PUBLISHED 8/12/2025 by

The renowned show’s newest season is carving a new, feminist path for recognition of women-led workplaces, in spite of a history of white, male dominance.

Cultural depictions of feminist leadership, even when fictional, can help us both imagine and demand better. We need not settle for egotistical, unpredictable, manipulative leaders who focus on personal gains and grievances.

Now Streaming: New Film ‘Lilly’ Tells Transformative Story of Equal-Pay Hero Lilly Ledbetter

PUBLISHED 7/18/2025 by

It’s tempting these dark days to dismiss the idea that any one person can make a difference. And yet, every day ordinary people fight injustice. And some days, those people persist long enough, resist long enough, that their fights rise to national prominence.

One such fight is chronicled in the new film Lilly, released in theaters this May and now available for rent. The brainchild of director Rachel Feldman, Lilly tells the story of Lilly Ledbetter, “an ordinary woman who became extraordinary,” in the words of Patricia Clarkson, who portrays her in the film.

From Private Island to Personal Hell: ‘Blink Twice’ Shows the Power of Survivors Working Together

PUBLISHED 6/27/2025 by

Blink Twice, now streaming, reminds it audience that not all women are allies and not all men are predators. But some get away with acts of sexual violence akin to murder.

And when survivors band together, we’re going to do more than just dance on your table. In the blink of an eye—we’ll turn your private island into your personal hell.