👀 Let’s go to the movies?

#31 | Calling all cinephiles

Cinema, for me, is the most potent weapon of mass communication. My fascination with film studies started early enough. And while I didn’t care much about the technologies used in making movies, I just had to understand why a specific technique was used. Like when the audience is made voyeur or how paranoia or impending danger are created on screen. 50 years on, Laura Mulvey’s male gaze is still helping viewers decode visual narratives, and the evolving cultural discourse around effective representation in cinema is adding racial and gender nuance.

If you’re one of those people for whom movies are mere entertainment, you may want to give this one a pass. But if, like me, you have a keen interest in decoding film semiotics, allow me to add a pinch of fun to your quest.

Start with this funny podcast that reviews films with leading actors of colour and analyzes them in the context of race and diversity in Hollywood. Listen to these two discuss their favourite movies through a feminist lens, whilst these two review every Black feature film ever released. Take in perspectives of various minorities in the movies or a view of race and gender in one place. Or if you walk the lighter side, these comics leave you in splits as they discuss women’s representation in films, whilst this not-so-scholarly but hella funny podcast reviews movies and makes random observations.

These podcasts have helped me acquire multiple perspectives with a lot of laughs along the way. Let me know if they expand your horizons too.

Yours,

Nikita
Yabba Dabba Do!