‘Damsel’: I was in Distress

On International Women’s Day this year, Netflix graced our screens with a brand-new film ‘Damsel,’ featuring Millie Bobby Brown, ostensibly a film of feminist subversion and empowerment for young women. The movie follows the story of Princess Elodie, set in some suitably vague Ye Olde Kingdom, who is married off to a prince, before the revelation that the marriage is a sham, set up so Elodie can be part of a ritualistic sacrificial pact with a dragon that terrifies the kingdom.

‘Damsel’: I was in Distress

The Heteronyms of Fernando Pessoa

‘Portugal’s four greatest poets from the twentieth century were Fernando Pessoa’, writes Richard Zenith. At first glance this seems absurd and confusing, but Pessoa’s work breaks the boundaries of identity and personhood as he adopts a plethora of personae and writes not only for himself but for hundreds of voices. A man whose very name means ‘person’, Pessoa is anything but. He is an

The Heteronyms of Fernando Pessoa

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Film: A Review

Full disclosure – I write this review as a huge Hunger Games fan. In fact, when I heard a film was being made of the Hunger Games prequel, my Year 8 self practically exploded with excitement. Another disclosure – I am forever and always ‘The Books were better’ – I shall try and refrain from using this exact phrase repeatedly throughout the course of this review, but truthfully, I doubt I will manage more than a sentence.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Film: A Review

This is Not America: A Review

Last week, as part of the Sixth Form’s celebration of Black History Month, I had the pleasure of being able to interview Timowa Owolade about his debut book, ‘This is Not America’ – a study of race relations in Britain and the USA. More specifically, he examines the differences of the two nations, considering whether framing British discussion about relations through an American lens can be useful: his conclusion – they can’t.

This is Not America: A Review

Marvellous Mrs Maisel (in both name and Content)

It’s 1958 New York, and Midge Maisel is the epitome of the perfect 1950s Jewish housewife – married well, two children, and living on the luxurious Upper West Side all while attempting to support her husband’s failing stand-up career. Whether making the perfect beef brisket, or bickering with her mother about her fitness regime, Mrs Maisel seems to be living her best life – until Joel Maisel, her husband, after a spat at the comedy club, reveals that he has been having an affair with his secretary, the unfortunately named Penny Pann. Heartbroken and facing divorce, Midge drunkenly stumbles down to the comedy club and in a fit of rage impulsively performs a stand-up routine – a routine so good it catches the eye of comedy club employee Suzie Meyerson, but also the NYPD, who arrest her for public indecency and obscenity. The rest of the five-season series follows Midge’s attempt to break through as a comedienne in a male-dominated world.

Marvellous Mrs Maisel (in both name and Content)