Film & TV – Page 5 of 13

17Jan

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Silent Until Now

Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault Rape is despicable. That is a statement that can’t ever be disputed. In the wake of allegations against such high-profile people like Harvey Wienstein, Louis C.K and Kevin Spacey and the widely-popular #metoo campaign, there are more people than ever who are able to speak up about what has happened to them. Unfortunately, despite the progressive and welcoming atmosphere we find ourselves in, men who have been sexually assaulted continue to be silenced and are treated poorly by charities and police. With a new documentary from BBC Three, men are openly speaking up about their sexual assault experiences in order to help lift the stigma from such a prominent issue in society. The documentary is called Male Rape: Breaking the Silence, an homage to those th...

16Dec

By Karolina SchallerNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

The two extremes of tolerance

Some ideas and controversial social concepts are treated rather unevenly today with them being either completely ignored or actively imposed upon the people. Covering all of these issues and their controversial treatment will definitely take more than one article, so I would like to focus your attention on one of the most versatile and sensitive of them all – on tolerance. Before we begin, let us look at that term with a little more depth. Theoretically saying that tolerance means to be patient about something or someone different would be right. But would it socially? Would you love to live in a society built on bare patience that can run out any minute? That definitely makes you feel less stable than a society where everyone respects each other, so let us stick to that: tolerance is...

12Dec

By George WhiteNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

The Strangest Thing about Season Two

*Mild Spoilers ahead* Unless you live your life as a certified hermit crab, you’ve likely heard at least whispers of the latest phenomenon of popular culture, Stranger Things. The greatly anticipated second season of the Netflix Original was released on 27 October, to both critical and commercial acclaim. This season certainly lives up to the formidable legacy left by the first, possibly even surpassing it in terms of quality. And while the narrative of this season feels completely fresh, the lasting effects of last season’s trauma are still very much present. The captivating opening scene to the series broadens the immersive universe of the show, yet there is a lasting impression that this season only scratches the surface of the immense backstory of the ST universe. This scene, acc...

14Nov

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Overshadowed

In the previous issue of Orbital Magazine, I wrote an article condemning the issues with Netflix’ portrayal of anorexia in To The Bone. I disagreed with how it glorified eating disorders in many ways and acted like a how-to guide for sufferers. Where Netflix failed though, BBC Three seems to have succeeded with showing people the truth about anorexia – that it is a debilitating illness - without glorifying it or using a romantic storyline to further the plot of recovery. Michelle Fox plays Imogene (Imo), a 17-year-old girl living in Leeds who decides to ‘vlog’ her daily life. It is through the perspective of her camera that the audience are seeing Imogene becoming more and more affected by her anorexia. She becomes more and more withdrawn from her family and friends as well as extremely...

20Sep

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Learning French with Kimmy Schmidt

When I got a free trial of Netflix, it was because I wanted to finally watch some of the Netflix Original Series and also because you can watch endless episodes of Doctor Who without having to swap the DVDs around. What I didn't expect to gain from Netflix was the ability to learn a language. You may well have heard of a programme called Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. It's a very funny comedy series about a woman named Kimmy Schmidt living in New York, with a premise that I won't elaborate on too much because it was a very funny surprise for me. One thing that stands out about the programme is how easy it is to watch. Hours can fly by in the company of Kimmy and her friends and there's good, light-hearted stories that you can easily follow, whether you binge watch a season or dip in and out...

Doctor Who’s regenerating – in more ways than one…

21Jul

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Doctor Who’s regenerating – in more ways than one…

The casting of a new Doctor is actually a reflection of the intended audience, writes Beth Carr. Months of speculation and waiting ended at the weekend: not only did Federer win Wimbledon in straight sets but the identity of the next Doctor in Doctor Who was revealed. A hood was dropped and the secret of Jodie Whittaker’s casting was out. You might know her from Broadchurch, working with Doctor Who’s new showrunner Chris Chibnall, or from playing ditsy Beverley in St Trinian’s. She’s also no stranger to sci-fi after starring in 2011 film Attack the Block. Despite this success under her belt, Whittaker’s casting has caused a tsunami of response from both fans and non-fans of the show. The reason? She is a woman taking over a role traditionally and exclusively played by men, a Time Lor...

4Jul

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Losing It: Reshaping Sex Education

CONTENT WARNING: Rape. Beth Carr shines a spotlight on alumna Nina Lemon and her play ‘Losing It’. Watching a musical about sex education isn’t the most usual Friday activity for students, but that is exactly the theme of the latest play by Peer Productions, written and directed by Royal Holloway alumni Nina Lemon. ‘Losing It’ follows a group of school friends as they look back on their seven years at secondary school and the questions they had about sex and relationships, as well as examining what went well and what went wrong in their love lives. The play fits with Peer Productions’ vision “to use theatre to genuinely change young people’s lives” and is being toured around 30 local schools to tell pupils what they really want to know about sex and relationships. It was develop...

14Jun

By Georgia BeithNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

And The Winner Is…

“Acting is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, and that doesn’t need to be separated into two different categories.” These were Emma Watson’s words as she accepted the MTV Award for “Best Actor in a Movie” as a result of her role as Belle in Beauty and the Beast. Her acceptance speech not only expressed her gratitude for receiving the award, but also her joy at it being the first ever gender neutral award for acting. While the MTV Awards are not renowned for being the most prestigious, in comparison to awards like the Oscars or the Emmy’s, the 2017 awards mark a milestone for gender equality in Hollywood. Many, like Watson, expressed their approval of the move. Billions’ actor Asia Kate Dillon, who presented Watson with the award, perfectly summed up the motivation b...

Medea: a monster, a mother, or a murderer?

13Jun

By Victoria BastableNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV, Literature, Theatre & Performance

Medea: a monster, a mother, or a murderer?

‘A bride of hate to me and death / Tigress, not woman’ (Euripides, Medea) Medea: a monster, a mother, or a murderer? Victoria Bastable reviews her week with By Jove Theatre company and how their ‘Season of Violent Women’ has made her question the dehumanisation of violent women in culture from Ancient Greece to the 21st century. I Googled ‘violent women in art’ and the results were dominated by articles titled ‘Violence Against Women in Art’. To me, this demonstrates how in art we often attempt to distance women from being portrayed as the perpetrators of violence, perhaps because of cultural expectations of the ‘ideal woman’ as either the nurturing mother or passive victim. But what about the violent women who do appear in art and literature? By Jove Theatre Company have been a...

6Jun

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Is audio killing the TV star?

Beth Carr discusses the new Doctor Who spin off content that is for your ears only. ‘Torchwood Series 5 confirmed!’, ‘Billie Piper returns to Doctor Who’ and ‘Fourth Doctor gains new companion’ are just some of the headlines that have graced the websites of TV news providers CultBox and Digital Spy over the last month. Add in a new series on BBC One full of twists and turns and it is enough to make any Doctor Who fan faint with joy - or is it? The headlines, above all, relate to new audio adventures released by Big Finish, a production company which began its life creating audio dramas based on Doctor Who novels while the show was off air in the 1990s. And it seems that, with the rich television content that fans are enjoying now, audio has vastly fallen in favour. Take the anno...