FX’s Mayans M.C. is a drama series showcasing a world of guns and drugs around a biker gang in SoCal, right at the US-Mexican border. Can a setting riddled with stereotypes present a backdrop for desirable representation with its principally Mexican American (Chicano) characters? Let’s look beyond the basic premise and find out how Mayans M.C., for all its machismo, tells tales full of life seldom featured, off- as well as on-screen.
Everybody hates Cars 2 – and I just don’t understand why. First of all, let me make a confession: I’m 25 years old and a Disney nerd. I love watching animated movies – as long as they’re well made. And Cars 2, even after more than ten years, is still my all-time feel-good movie.
It has everything you could wish for: Uplifting words, funny jokes, and a world you can lose yourself in. There’s barely anything that’s hateful or triggering, and I love joining the characters on their journey. Yet, most critics have characterized Cars 2 as violent and illogical, calling it the worst Pixar movie ever – and I just can’t wrap my head around it. How could I feel so differently from everyone else?
Once upon a time, there was a young woman named Cinderella (Camila Cabello). In the 2021 film, she loves to design dresses and wants to make a business out of it. When the prince (Nicholas Galitzine) announces a ball, her stepmother Vivian (Idina Menzel), wanting to protect her from the patriarchal world outside, destroys Cinderella’s dress to keep her from potentially marrying a man she’d just met. The prince, however, is in love with his best friend (Jenet Le Lacheur) but can’t really admit it – not even to himself. Also, he’s not qualified to rule the kingdom. The patriarchy, however, wants him to become king and will never agree to his smart sister (Tallulah Greive) becoming queen.
When Cinderella’s fairy god person (Billy Porter) arrives, they not only turn one of her designs into reality, but they also throw a party at Cinderella’s place. When the prince and his best friend arrive, the presence of the fairy god person gives them the strength to admit their feelings for each other. The prince’s sister becomes heir to the throne, and Cinderella finds a queen with whom to travel around the world and sell her designs. And they all live happily ever after.
Only that’s not what happens.
Blue Valentine: A Love Story (2011). That’s what it says on the movie poster. But is this what the movie is really about? A romantic, sustained, and profound lifelong bond between two people? Well, maybe it isn’t.
The present: Dean (Ryan Gosling) is an overall likeable, easygoing slacker. His job, painting houses, allows him the ‘luxury’ of drinking beer in the morning. He’s not a radiant source of bliss but being married to Cindy (Michelle Williams) and getting goofy with their little daughter Frankie (Faith Wladyka) is what he calls “his dream.” However, Cindy, a nurse, has higher aspirations. To her, Dean’s “dream” is nothing but an endlessly depressing nightmare.
The past: Charming high school dropout Dean works as a furniture mover and meets med student Cindy. To him, it’s love at first sight. To her, it’s so-so. He makes jokes, she laughs; he sings and plays the ukulele, she tap dances to the tunes. Her father hates him, but that’s not an issue because love conquers all – right?
