This week, movie trailers lost their way when someone advocated boycotting Star Wars VII because they believe the trailer advocated white genocide. Why? Because a black man, a woman and a Latino were prominently featured in the trailer to the detriment of you guessed it, white men. What does this say about the level of diversity in science fiction fans?
In that same trailer you may have glimpsed Carrie Fisher in the arms of Harrison Ford -- Princess Leia and Hans Solo, together again. In that flash of a second, trailer lovers contemplate the weighty question of Hollywood's readiness to finally let women age and still be seen.
Movie trailers used to be a short teaser to the main event until they became the main event. At some point, we started getting caught up in the independent and elaborately expensive statement in the trailer, and treating the film like an unnecessary diversion. When did they become so important and why? Likely, it has something to do with making money.
Next, Schadenfreude is alive and well. It's been a season of literary takedowns of our most cherished icons including against Alice Munro, Franz Kafka, and now, Henry David Thoreau. Like movie trailers, these salvos create divisions within the public that serve partly to increase readership of the magazines in which they appear. They raise emotions in ways literary topics can't. On the other hand, literary criticism forces readers stretch their beliefs and assumptions and think about why they believe as they do. But why do we need our idols to be either pure or bad?
"Bridge of Spies" is Steven Spielberg's latest effort as an artist with an eye toward widespread appeal. Our Nose panel shares some of their favorites fromhis long and distinguished list of 29 films.
GUESTS:
- James Hanley - Co-founder, Cinestudioat Trinity College
- Irene Papoulis - Lecturer in the Allan K. Smith Center for Writing and Rhetoric at Trinity College
- Carolyn Paine - Actress/comedian, dancer, and founder, choreographer, and director of CONNetic Dance
Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.
Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
