Illegal Interns

Illegal Interns

It’s time we ditched the term “internship.” The word’s greatest value to employers resides in its vagueness. Take, for example, the production of the film Black Swan, for which I worked as an accounting clerk and a post-production assistant,...
Politics, Perpetrators, and the Plight of Women

Politics, Perpetrators, and the Plight of Women

Angelina Jolie’s writing and directorial debut “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” snubbed by the Oscars and screened in very few U.S. theaters, isn’t generating the blockbuster actress’s usual buzz. It deserves better. “Blood and...
Those Bad Old Days Are Still with Us

Those Bad Old Days Are Still with Us

The Oscar-nominated film “The Help” has already earned armfuls of awards. But I’m not a fan. The sentimental film reminds me how far the United States, and Hollywood in particular, has to go. When Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American...

Fatherless Children

You know things aren’t going well when your life story turns into romantic comedies. I guess it beats tragedies, but still… Two of this summer’s hottest films, “The Kids Are Alright” and “The Switch,” involve women who use...