The opening scenes of Hanna and Jane Eyre, both eponymous female-driven films currently in wide release, couldn’t be more different. Hanna, played by Saoirse Ronan, is calm and in control. She stalks a deer in a sun bathed and snow covered forest. Jane, played by Mia Wasikowska, is upset but driven as she flees the [...]

It’s been nearly two years since Planned Parenthood of Indiana entered a storm of heated controversy and economic hardship that hasn’t quite settled. The organization was accused of harboring sexual predators in 2008 after undercover videos surfaced showing clinicians allegedly ignoring instances of statutory rape. Less than a year after the videos, the organization lost [...]

When I remind myself of the fact that there is more than enough food to feed everyone, it just doesn’t seem possible that a world could exist with so much blinding inequality. In an effort to see this crisis on a smaller scale, I have decided to spend my day devoted to examining hunger in Asia focused on one country in particular: Cambodia.

The problem with chronic hunger is it is growing around the world, but it is especially severe in Latin American and the Caribbean where 53 million people face food insecurity and 40 percent of the region’s population lives in poverty. Latin America faces the largest wealth inequality in the world and has experienced some of the worst effects of neo-liberal restructuring and the insistent destruction of ‘free’-trade globalization. Through actions that Naomi Klein refers to as ‘shock therapy’, Latin America has seen its democratically elected leaders undermined or overthrown, its social policies eviscerated, and its economies plunged into a tailspin of instability.

  The collaboration of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp is nothing new. They’ve been together a total of nine times, and they’ve brought in some good money from the theaters. However, when Burton works with Depp, he has a tendency to remake a text, such as “Alice in Wonderland”, which is currently in theaters. At [...]

Day 17 of 21 Days for World Hunger, and I’m hanging in there.  With only four days remaining on this virtual tour of hunger in the world, I’m trying to stay focused. Today I take a look at Southeast Asia, which has had its share of issues from political unrest to corrupt governments to natural [...]

  Ever wanted an artificial limb or organ? They’re fairly expensive, but if you answered yes, you should hope you have good health insurance. Repo Men (in theaters now) approaches the subject of artificial transplantation by creating a dystopian world where a single private company, The Union, controls the market of artificial survival. The inability [...]

Oh, love.  Though last night’s episode of Lost, “The Package,” was, overall, rather dull and uneventful, it did continue this season’s trend of nostalgically re-examining the themes brought up in previous seasons.  The “alternate timeline” setup of this season provides the perfect landscape for doing this, as it can convey the depth of individual characters [...]

In March, women made film histor: Kathryn Bigelow landed an Oscar for best director after 30 years in the business. In its 82 year history, the Oscars had never voted a woman as best director and have only nominated four (Sofia Coppola, Jane Campion, Lina Wertmuller and Ms. Bigelow). She also took home the Director’s [...]

Are men losing their masculinity? The advertising world appears to thinks so.

The original Battlestar Galactica series was created in the late 1970s as a TV version of immensely popular Star Wars movie. A story about space-faring ancestors of mankind began successfully but quickly plummeted in its ratings that led to the series’ cancellation. So when in 2003 SciFi Channel announced its remake led by producers Ronald [...]

Text “HAITI” to “90999,” and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

Despite its premiere late in the 2009, James Cameron’s Avatar just might turn out to be the one of the biggest movies of this year. Followers of SF – speculative fiction – have their own reasons to be satisfied with Cameron’s new movie… Or perhaps not, as the case may be.

The comparisons between North America’s First People and the Na’vi is direct in James Cameron’s Avatar, a film that surpasses the hype and draws you in literally with its 3D technology so real you feel like you can reach out and touch it. I walked out of the theater wanting to be a Na’vi who [...]

By Abigal Napp As we conscientiously fashion our identities and market our livelihoods online, who will decide what information is truthful and how it should be ordered? Who will regulate the congestion and misinformation? At this point in time, “We, the people” must take that responsibility, especially the bloggers, so that we are not manipulated [...]

Watch Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s interview on The Colbert Report from February 26, 2008. Stephen Colbert speaks with the prominent African American scholar about his work and the philosophy behind his webzine theroot.com.

Under the belief that her daughter’s life was in imminent danger, Mai Thi Kim sent seven year old Heidi to America along with over 2,000 other Amerasian children as part of what became known as Operation Babylift. Over twenty years later, PBS documentary Daughter from Danang follows their heartbreaking journey. Related Articles The Narrative of [...]

Watch PBS Independent Lens documentary about the 1977 National Women’s Conference where 20,000 people attended. The delegates adopted the National Plan of Action, a list of 26 resolutions to promote equal rights and end discrimination against women. Many of the delegates were major figures in feminism’s second wave. PBS writes: Twenty thousand people from across [...]