Matters of RepresentationSizzle This: Does Mindy Kaling Really Have a White Boy Problem in Her Shows? In ‘Sizzle This,’ The Swaddle team adds to the noise around the pop culture moment of the week. This week: Mindy Kaling's White love interest trope. By The Swaddle Team
Idolizing Predators‘The Idol’ Is Proof of Hollywood’s Anti‑MeToo Backslide The HBO show relishes in dismantling what it sees as the moral puritanism of MeToo, and framing exploitation as an exercise of agency. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Roy Can'tTed Lasso’s New Season Drives Home Our Disillusionment With Work Culture Today The first episode of season three highlights how work culture interferes with love and loss. By Amlan Sarkar
Laugh at the RichIn an ‘Eat the Rich’ Era of Discourse, ‘The White Lotus’ Delivered TV and movies -- including season 1 of The White Lotus -- have been grappling with the destructive callousness of the 1%. Season 2 looks beyond. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Mom I'd Like to Laugh WithHow Jennifer Coolidge Redefined the ‘MILF’ Character as Someone to Root For The archetype is laden with dehumanizing cliches, but Coolidge's persona lent it an air of intelligent comedy. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Game of Bores‘House of the Dragon’ Could Either Redeem or Repeat Fantasy Genre’s Girlboss Heroine Problem The series premier ruminates on the meaning of power as it relates to gender -- and offers hints of a promise that GoT failed to live up to. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
More Than Killer ClownsWhat Pop Culture Misunderstands About Serial Killers Whether it is homophobia or misogyny -- serial killing is rooted in cultural anxieties that society brushes under the carpet, which eventually manifest in horrific forms. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Rerunning With the TimesWhy We Derive Comfort From Rewatching Familiar Things Experts say that exposure to familiar stimuli can have a restorative effect on the brain, especially in times of high stress. By Rohitha Naraharisetty