On the Disempowering Demise of Penny Dreadful

For nearly three seasons, Showtime’s lush, mesmerizing, and beautifully acted Penny Dreadful focused on a choice between submission and self-determination. The show’s female protagonists, Vanessa (Eva Green) and Lily (Billie Piper), were singular portraits of women struggling to take control of their destinies, standing up to their abusers and demanding to be treated as equals. But while the audience rooted for their heroines, finding empowerment in their struggle, the show’s finale demolished its female protagonists, leaving them on their knees at their abusers’ feet and invalidating all that came before.

Hymn for the Weekend, or Bowie Does It Right

So I finally watched that Coldplay/Beyonce video that apparently everyone but me is talking about, Hymn for the Weekend. I won't bother linking to it. Apparently, some people are complaining that Beyonce is appropriating Indian culture, and others say a Black woman can't engage in cultural appropriation.

So fine, here's my two cents (Canadian, so their value is negligible). Beyonce might be Black, but she is still a representative and beneficiary of America's cultural colonialism - so of course she can and does engage in cultural appropriation in this video. But that's not what people should be worried about.