Pasadena Playhouse’s production of Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day, opened on September 10. The Tony Award-winning play follows a group of PTA parents at a private elementary school in Berkeley, CA, in the Fall of 2018, as they attempt to navigate a mumps outbreak at the school.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘Eureka Day’ at Pasadena Playhouse”
Nickelodeon is set to release a new live-action Dora film — Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado — tonight on Paramount+. It stars Samantha Lorraine as Dora and Jacob Rodriguez as Diego, who take over the live action roles from Isabela Merced and Jeff Wahlberg, respectively.
Continue reading “Lighthearted ‘Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado’ Ultimately Fails to be Inclusive”
Disney’s Lilo & Stitch didn’t have the best track record when the animation first premiered in 2002. White actress Daveigh Chase portrayed the titular Native Hawaiian character, Lilo. With the announcement of the live-action version, many fans were excited for Disney to rectify that mistake by casting Pacific Islander actors for the lead roles.
Continue reading “‘Lilo & Stitch’ Director and Producer on Authenticity and the Colorism Debate”
We discuss episodes 1-2 of the new MCU Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, starring Iman Vellani!
Ms. Marvel is here! We discuss the first two episodes of the series, discussing how wonderful Iman Vellani is in the main role, how well the series does at portraying Kamala and her family and friends, how well it does on portraying Islam, the change to her powers, and where it can do better in certain fronts.
Continue reading “The Middle Geeks Episode 39: ‘Ms. Marvel’ Episodes 1-2 Review”
I once heard the great political philosopher and activist Angela Davis argue that Americans are so obsessed with race as an identifying feature that when we meet racially ambiguous people, we are anxious until we know on which side of the color line they fall. Upon hearing this, I was relieved by the articulation of something I had suspected was at the heart of my experience. It was like experiencing great art, that rush of adrenaline that comes with recognizing what we’ve known all along presented as fantastically new.
Continue reading “The ‘Heights’ of Anxiety and the Color Line: Racial Ambiguity in a Culture of Absolutes”
With Disney’s live action remake of Aladdin about to hit theaters worldwide, Keith is joined by Swara Salih and Mae Abdulbaki to discuss the film’s issues with representation and announce The Middle Geeks their new podcast on the Hard NOC Media network!
Jake Choi is heating up our television screens as the lovable single dad on ABC’s Single Parents and will be steaming up on the big screen in this week’s release of The Sun is Also a Star.
When the new ABC’s hit series Single Parents was picked up for a full season last year, actor Jake Choi could only think of one word to describe it: surreal.
Continue reading “Jake Choi Proves that He’s the Ultimate ‘Bae’”
Aladdin is one of my favorite films of all time. It gave me, as a brown Middle Eastern kid, heroic representation that’s always stayed with me. I’ve already written at length for about my overall very complicated feelings on the live action remake. While the new trailer is solid, it’s also given more insight into the problematic trends this live action movie seems to perpetuate. Overall, I have little to no confidence that this film will improve upon the problematic aspects of the original (besides the welcome addition of having people of color play the main roles), and in fact will double down on more troubling aspects.
Continue reading “The Live Action ‘Aladdin’ Doubles Down on Orientalist and Colorist Trends”
