As the West and Japan grow more enchanted with each other, our cultural landscape is exposed to new and unique interpretations of the female. This three-part series by Marie Davis explores the characterisation of women in shonen anime and manga, and their relationship with their burgeoning Western audience. (Part One and Part Two.) My first…
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As the West and Japan grow more enchanted with each other, our cultural landscape is exposed to new and unique interpretations of the female. This three-part series by Marie Davis explores the characterisation of women in shonen anime and manga, and their relationship with their burgeoning Western audience. Perhaps the most unique reimagining of the…
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Directorial duo Andy and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix, Cloud Atlas) have teamed up with Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski to create a radical new Netflix Original: Sense8. Sense8 tells the story of eight strangers: Will, Riley, Capheus, Sun, Lito, Kala, Wolfgang, and Nomi. In the aftermath of the violent and tragic death of a…
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Anybody keeping up on pop culture news has most likely heard that NBC has cancelled Bryan Fuller’s operatic adaptation of Thomas Harris’ Hannibal series. The series’ third season returned to the aforementioned network on June fourth, to 2.57 million viewers, and saw just 1.6 million the next week’s episode, which aired during an NBA final….
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Full of sex, criminality and queer-dom, it’s little wonder why Orange is the New Black (OITNB) has amassed a devoted following. The show launched in July 2013, and quickly shot to the leader board for Netflix’s most popular shows. Responding to pleas, producers will release the third season late this June. Inane at times, the…
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Earlier this year, Netflix Australia was launched in an effort to reach a larger worldwide audience with its services that continue to replace any need for cable TV for most people. And while the original launch only included 1,500 shows, it’s anticipated that it will continue to release new content as time progresses to bring…
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The current “golden age of television” has brought us a barrage of addictive series begging for a lengthy binge-watch. These shows are marked by their compelling plots and an increasing number of complex, flawed and brilliant female characters (hooray!). Here’s a snapshot of just a few. Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) – Mad Men Peggy Olson…
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YOU BEAUTIFUL, RULE-BREAKING MOTH: The Top 10 Moments of Parks and Recreation After seven seasons of adventures, laughter, and warm-hearted storylines, Parks and Recreation left our television screens last week. The show was, in words of Leslie Knope, a ‘beautiful, rule-breaking moth.’ Not only was Parks and Recreation hilarious, it was unrelentingly positive: driven…
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Agent Carter, Marvel Universe’s first female-led adaptation, offers a break from your regularly scheduled programming. It’s a wonderful mash-up: part espionage thriller, part comic-book adaptation, and part historical drama. There are secret identities, car cashes and fist fights, gadgets and conspiracies, and crime fighting teams (all in the first episode!). Most excitingly this television…
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The Good Wife, as it proved even in its earliest seasons, houses some of television’s best and most complex female characters on television. In the current landscape of television, where women are so often subjected to roles defined by male characters, the show presents dynamic and layered women like Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) and Diane…
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Channel Ten’s new political drama Party Tricks opens with an uncomfortably familiar scenario: a public controversy surrounding comments made about a female politician who doesn’t have children. In this case, though, it wasn’t former Prime Minister Julia Gillard they were talking about— it was Kate Ballard, the fictional Premier of Victoria played by Asher Keddie…
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After revealing that I’m bisexual, I’m often asked three questions: “Do you think it’s a phase?”; “But… who do you prefer?”; and, “Have you and/or will you have a threesome?” (To be fair, this question is usually served with a drink, spilled on my dress.) Regardless of whether they’re asked by drunk strangers or a…
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It’s become something of a cliché to say that television has never been better. Whether that’s just the natural progression of production and arts or a sudden spell of great stories and storytelling (or both) is subjective. I’d argue that what everyone is reacting to are the incremental steps toward diversity, to the voices of…
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Scott & Bailey is like any other good British crime show. It has gripping and often disturbing storylines, workplace banter and plenty of trips to the pub after work. But in one particular way, the show stands out: its two title characters are women, working under the leadership of a female boss in the Manchester…
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