Noah Berlatsky

Art without politics actually results in a sweeping Puritanism. For art to have power, it needs to engage with power, with politics.

Illicit passions aren't less enjoyable because they're illicit. Quite the contrary.

Conservative fetishization of the past is myopic, simplistic, and mean-spirited—but progressives can be too quick to cede tradition.

Genre boundaries are conscious of race—and, in the case of rock, conscious of gender too.

Sex and bodies don't clarify gender; they confuse the issue.

Did the classic Adam West Batman show strike a blow (Kerwhap!) for feminism?

Critics say call-out culture is mean-spirited and bullying. Not so fast.

Action movies don't usually bother much with romance. The trailer for The Transporter: Refueled certainly doesn't. The hero is cool — sexy women, plural, throw themselves at him, or at least stand near him and things blow up; there are fights and revenge and high production values. Romance is, at best, a secondary concern.

Female masturbation is sexy in part because it flirts with lesbianism. For male masturbation, it's a different story.

Fans of Batgirl are fans of Batgirl. They buy her comic to see her being heroic, not to see her being a slasher movie victim.