Category Archives: Utilitarian Review

Utilitarian Review 3/15/14

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We’re thinking of doing a J.M. DeMatteis roundtable, probably sometime in summer. Let me know if you want to participate, either in comments or by emailing me.

There’s also been some discussion of doing a Spielberg roundtable…people still interested in that?

EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, since we’re doing DeMatteis in the summer, and just did Bloom County, maybe it would be a good thing to do a roundtable that’s not quite so darn white and male.

So…anyone have any ideas? I’d be interested in doing an Octavia Butler roundtable; I’ve been toying with the idea of reading more of her. A romance roundtable might be fun, though perhaps would need to narrow that down. Black cinema? Or comics and fashion was something I’d been thinking about too. Maybe we could do some brainstorming in comments?
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On HU

Featured Archive Post: Shaenon Garrity with an illustration of Wallace Stevens’ Emperor of Ice Cream.

Eric Berlatsky on Alan Moore/Kevin O’Neill’s Black Dossier, feminism, and utopia (part of our Gay Utopia reprint project.)

We had a long thread about underrated and overrated SF. (I said Asimov was overrated, Gwyneth Jones and John Christopher underrated.)

Kristian Williams on Daredevil: Love and War, Sin City, and Frank Miller as accidental feminist.

Samantha Meier on the pioneering women’s underground sex comic Tits & Clits.

Chris Gavaler on Oliver Cromwell as Superman.

Qiana Whitted thinks about non-fiction comics that use fantasy elements (for PPP).

I wrote about Young Avengers, and how laudably diverse doesn’t necessarily mean good.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Atlantic I talked about:

— breast-feeding, drinking while pregnant, and how folks should just leave mothers alone already.

— Desktop Dungeons and how making non-sexist/non-racist art is hard work.

— the word “bossy,”feminism, and abusive assholes in power.

At Salon I had a list of songs that are almost Beatles covers.

At Splice Today:

— I argue that conservatism is a fandom. (Prompting this response from Jonathan Bernstein, one of my favorite bloggers.)

— I talk about the awesome gender-swapping manga Ranma 1/2, out in a new edition from Viz.

— I review the gallery show Teen Paranormal Romance, and talk about appropriating lesser humans.
 
Other Links

Melissa Gira Grant’s book Playing the Whore, about sex work and work, is now available. Y’all should buy it.

Sarah Boxer on Peter Bagge’s comic about Margaret Sanger.

Shaenon Garrity on Irish cow-battle web comics (yes, there are more than one.)

Amanda Hess on how Ezra Klein looks like the old boss.

Stoya on pseudonyms in porn and online.
 

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Utilitarian Review 3/8/14

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On HU

Featured Archive Post: Ng Suat Tong on comics adaptations of Lovecraft.

Bert Stabler on the art show “Shojo Manga! Girl Power!” (reprinted from the Gay Utopia; I’m hoping to move posts over from there to here weekly.)

What’s the most underrated band/musical act? Votes for everyone from Sly Stone to Gang of Four to Terence Trent D’Arby.

Alex Buchet lists the original sources for Marvel’s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy.

Patrick Carland wishes Disney wouldn’t de-evilfy Meleficent.

Chris Gavaler on V for Vendetta, the superhero Alan Moore hates.

Frank Bramlett thinks about representing song and speech in comics for PencilPanelPage.

Me on Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds and fascists fighting fascism.

Jacob Canfield has updated his review of the Graphic Textbook with extra bonus hate.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Atlantic I argue that Lupita Nyong’o is a fashion icon because she decided to be, not because she’s been fetishized.

At Salon I did a list of 10 songs for Hobbits.

At the Dissolve I reviewed:

—Bethlehem, a film about espionage in the Palestinian territories which is the best thing I’ve seen so far this year;

—u want me to kill him?, which is a piece of offensive exploitation dreck.

At Splice Today:

— I watched Nightjohn, which is okay but not the masterpiece all the film snobs say it is.

—I argued that decentralization is not a moral good in itself.

And the study guide for the Bourned Identity which I worked on is up at Shmoop.
 
Other Links

Always good to see someone hating Andrew Jackson.

Simon During on how we should stop defending the humanities.

Some idiot opines on why black people like Instagram.

Dahlia Lithwick points out that civil rights attorneys are now disqualified from being confirmed for executive positions.

Mary McCarthy provides blogging advice.
 

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Utilitarian Review 3/1/14

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On HU

Featured Archive Post: Me on whether you have a right to privacy.

We finished up our Bloom County Rountable with posts by:

—my 10 year old with Bloom Couty fan art

—the commentariat weighing in on the most underrated and overrated comics strips

—Shaenon Garrity on Bloom County and the Simpsons.

—Jason Thompson on reading Bloom County then and now.

—Jacob Canfield on what he learned from Bloom County.

Roy T. Cook on transforming into hypersexual superheroines.

Chris Gavaler on the Confederate superheroes of America.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

I was on HuffPost Live talking about Michael B. Jordan’s casting as Johnny Storm. Other guests ere Conseula Francis, Julian Chambliss, and W. Kamau Bell.

At Salon:

— I listed 18 songs about alien invasion

—I talked about the gender imbalance in literary reviews and what that has to do with romance novels.

—I argued that the Dead Poets Society is kind of fascist. As well as being a vomitous pile of bilge.

— I explained the one secret of writing success.

At Splice Today I wrote about:

—how kids should get to vote.

—the Duke freshman who works in porn and feminist arguments about empowerment.

—the Flying Lizards great New Wave pop novelty high art weirdness 1980 self-titled album.
 
Other Links

Alyssa Rosenberg on Lupita Nyong’o, beauty standards, and blackness.

I happened to read this post by Wendy Lyon on the Nordic model of prostitution and how there’s little evidence it reduces violence.

Russ Smith wishes the newspaper editorial would die already.

Richard Cooper on twitter feminism.
 

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Utilitarian Review 2/21/14

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On HU

Featured Archive Post: Russ Maheras on Gene Simmons and comic book andom.

I review Alan Wolfe’s book Political Evil.

U2, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Dylan: who’s the most overrated musician ever.

Michael Arthur interviews Tommy Bruce about documenting furry as art and obsession.

Chris Gavaler on assembling a modern novel course list vs. assembling a superhero team.

We started our Bloom County roundtable:

Bert Stabler on Bloom County as the last great realist comic strip.

Me on how Bloom County is better than Calvin and Hobbes.

Kailyn Kent on Opus as plush toy and Opus as icon.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

I wrote the Afterword for The Big Feminist But anthology, which is going to be available shortly.

At the Atlantic:

— I interviewed Melissa Gira Grant about sex work as work and her new book Playing the Whore

—I wrote about the stupidity of the racist backlash against Michael B. Jordan being cast as Johnny Storm. This appears to be the most popular thing I’ve ever written by a lot.

— I wrote about 3 days to Kill, which thinks dad’s raising kids is funny. Because Hollywood sucks.

At Splice Today:

— I wrote about how issues don’t matter in politics, and how Obama is kind of despicable.

—I wrote about my wife being harassed on the train, reverse racism, and segregation in Chicago.

—I wrote about pure music and Akkord erasing the earth.

At Salon I did a music list for President’s Day. (Even a song for James Buchanan.)
 
Other Links

Melissa Gira Grant on targeting sex workers at the superbowl.

Great piece by Tina Vasquez on feminism’s history of failing trans women.

A student at Duke talks about being stigmatized for working in the porn industry.
 

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Utilitarian Review 2/15/14

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On HU

Featured Archive Post: William Leung with the second part of his explanation of why Before Watchmen is horrible.

Chris Gavaler on Judex and a wish for weirder superhero movies.

We had a thread where folks talked about what they thought was the most underrated movie and most over-rated movie ever.

Emily Thomas on new trends in text adventure games.

Brannon Costello on fascism and Howard Chaykin’s Power & Glory.

Me on Mu’Chi’s triptych and enlightenment.

Adrielle Mitchell on time and comics for PPP.

Me on C.S. Friedman’s “In Conquest Born” and liberal fascism.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Atlantic I wrote about:

— how Darwin was inspired by intelligent design

— why the accusations against Woody Allen belong in the public sphere

—why kids need to learn to quit

—Billy Wilder’s Kiss Me, Stupid and the therapeutic value of infidelity

At the Center for Digtial Ethics I have a piece about twitter, feminism, and power.

At the Dissolve I reviewed The New Black, a really good doc about the campaign for marriage equality in Maryland.

At Salon

— I have a list of

— and a list of country kiss off songs for Valentine’s Day.

At the Chicago Reader I reviewed a nifty show of Ghanian Salon advertisements.
 
Other Links

Darryl Ayo interview on Inkstuds.

Noah Feeney on Katy B. and how the album isn’t dead yet.

C.T. May on his favorite right-wing shill.

Bill Cosby has been accused of rape and harassment by multiple women.

Nice piece about solidarity with sex workers.

Alyssa Rosenberg on how to get into writing.
 

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Utilitarian Review 2/8/14

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On HU

Featured Archive Post: creators who haunt their creations, from John Cleland to Yuichi Yokoyama.

A positive review of negative book reviews.

Schindler’s List, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and other nominations for the Worst Movie Ever.

Michael Carson on Tim O’Brien and how a true war story does have a moral.

Brannon Costello on Christopher Priest’s Black Panther vs. Jack Kirby’s Black Panther.

Samantha Meier on Trina Robbins and the beginning of feminist women’s underground comix.

Ng Suat Tong lists the Best Comics Criticism of 2013.

Michael A. Johnson on the medieveal danse macabre.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At Salon, I

— listed 30 great Beatles covers.

— wrote about writing all the time.

At the Atlantic I wrote about:

— how women don’t get to have friends in that awkward moment.

— how arguing about less or more violence in films is not especially helpful

At Splice Today I write about:

— not knowing who won the superbowl or who Phillip Seymour Hoffman is.

— how Miranda Lambert’s crappy nostalgia makes me nostalgic for Dolly Parton.

At the Dissolve I review the surprisingly not-awful Jean-Claude Van Damme comedy Welcome to the Jungle.

I have a poem/rant/story/thing about Utopia in this LJ issue of the Book of Imaginary Beasts.

I asked political scientist Jonathan Bernstein about whether voters ever pay attention to issues. (Short answer: not really.)
 
Other Links

David Brothers interviews Qiana Whitted over at the inkstuds podcast.

A short documentary on Edie Fake,

Zoe Zolbrod explains why it’s very unlikely that Dylan Farrow’s accusations are based on false memories.

Interesting piece on copyright law and revenge porn.

C.T. May on yoga and P.C.

Tressie McMillan Cottom on yoga and how black women don’t necessarily want to be white women.
 

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Utilitarian Review 1/11/14

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News

So we’re getting a good bit more spam since I turned off the captcha requirement. Is this annoying people? Or is it worth not having to struggle with the captcha? Let me know if people are happy as is or if I should try to bring the captcha back.

On HU

Featured Archive Post: a report on a panel on gender and cartooning in Chicago.

I review the mediocre mockumentary Troll Hunting.

A list of the best essays I wrote in 2013.

Ilana Gershon on firing teachers for what they say on social media.

Chris Gavaler on the superhero pilgrimage to Tibet.

Richard Cook got engaged! To celebrate, he provides a history of marriage in comic book covers.

Adrielle Mitchell for PencilPanelPage kicks Moon and Ba’s Daytripper.

Isaac Butler on the labor practices of the theater The Flea and whether people should be paid for acting. (This is I think our biggest single day post since the Victorian Wire in terms of traffic.)
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Atlantic

—I argue that Britney belongs in Vegas.

—I celebrate Sherlock Holmes’ freedom from copyright.

At Salon I have a list of winter songs.

At the Dissolve I am unimpressed with The Rocket, a feel-good Laotian drama with spunky kids.

At Splice Today I write about

the upsides of hypocritical homophobia.

Chris Christie losing my vote.
 
Other Links

NPR’s Code Switch did a big segment on Orion Martin’s HU piece asking What if the X-Men Were Black?

Calum Marsh on why every war movie is a pro-war movie.

Jonathan Bernstein has started his new politics blog at Bloomberg.

Andreas Stoehr has a brutal short review of Saving Mr. Banks.

Jill Filopovic on online harassment of women.
 

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