I understand what you’re saying, but I think “problematic” is the worst word ever coined when it comes to film criticism. There’s an inherent subjectivity to all criticism, sure. But the idea that we should discuss movies through conversation which boils down to “Yes, but did it agree with my politics” rather than…

Can I ask a serious question? This didn’t bother me quite as much in this review as your others in this column (because Shaw’s politics match your own) but why is it so important that we analyze the politics of older movies to see how they’re deficient compared to our progressive politics from today? It’s so…

If you want to make a case about innocent people of color railroaded by the justice system, the “Central Park 5" are a really poor test case. They didn’t rape Ms. Meili, but they committed (and confessed to) crimes that night.

Do remember that Ms. DuVernay is fine altering history to suit her purposes before you bring…

I definitely take your point with Twilight. But I found (and this is anecdotal as hell but I think true) that a lot of that criticism also came from women who felt it was bad for feminism that impressionable girls were reading such regressive tripe. Still, with that said, I was amazed when I saw the movie at how…

IMDB ratings are (of course :D) flawed, but I use them with the same grain of salt I use RT ratings. It’s nice to have some sense of what people think, even if it’s only a subset of them.

I agree with your take on the mid-2000s view on romcoms, but a similar same thing happened vis-a-vis the horror genre in the 1990s.…

Which isn’t true, of course. Good romantic comedies have high RottenTomatoes ratings and high marks on IMDB from both women and men. Bad romantic comedies have low RT ratings and low marks on IMDB from both women and men.

“While it’s neat to see a genre reclaim its own conventions from gendered criticism”

What does that mean?  

Too focused on being woke? 

Well that seems a little strong

Uh, no? Did you not do your research? Delaware County is one of the richer counties in America. My point is that there are nice small town areas in Ohio

No I didn’t hear someone say “Lots of small towns in this country are experiencing problems with their infrastructure and lack of new business”

I hear someone say “From the Rust Belt to the Bible Belt, small-town America in 2019 is defined by its abandoned shopping centers, crumbling facades, and garish casinos, where…

Of course it has problems, but that doesn’t “define urban America in 2019"

Actually I am a normal person, but saying that “small town America is defined by X” is a blanket statement which opens itself up to criticism like mine for the very reason that it is so silly on its face. As I said elsewhere in the thread:

Indeed.  Further underscoring the point that America’s small towns are not irredeemable shitholes 

Move to Delaware County

Of course I am, because both sides have a tendency to do the behavior I described specifically. If one side is protesting and the other drives a car through the protestors, then it is wrong to say “well both sides...” because it erroneously levels the playing field. One side committed murder, the other did not. That’s…

One thing I absolutely hate about discourse today is that people find it acceptable to make gross dismissive generalizations about the stuff they don’t like, but really offensive when people say the same about stuff they do like. So, for instance, Republicans have no problem intimating that a certain religion are all…

Sure, industries die in both small towns and major cities. But new industries also thrive in both small towns and major cities. Pittsburgh embraces medical technology, 21st century growth in tourism enhances numerous small towns, etc. I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make, I like both American cities and…

“According to the 2015 American Community Survey, median household income for rural households was $52,386, about 4.0 percent lower than the median for urban households, $54,296. About 13.3 percent of people in rural areas lived in families with incomes below the official poverty thresholds. The poverty rate for…

Come on, man.  You don’t have to be “that person” to be rankled that something as broad as small town America is defined in such an absurd way.  In fact, if the way she described it doesn’t bother you, I’d suggest you travel more around our country