Justified, My Love (Sorry! Couldn’t Help Myself!): Saying Goodbye to the FX Series

After six seasons, FX’s Justified came to a perfect close this week. Though buckets of blood bathed the episodes leading up to the finale, the last hour was all about quiet, hard-won farewells. Viewers said goodbye to so many memorable characters. Timothy Olyphant’s Raylan Givens, the gunslinger who, despite his white hat and noble intentions, was… Read More Justified, My Love (Sorry! Couldn’t Help Myself!): Saying Goodbye to the FX Series

April 15, 2015 MalaLeave a comment

Game of No: Why Rape is Not the Answer to Your Story Question

Writing a sexual assault into your canon? Take a look at this handy-dandy checklist first: When is it Okay to Use Rape as a Plot Device? Never. And, yet, it persists. So many television shows, both daytime and primetime, revert to rape as a “deep” or “edgy” stunt to move a story forward, reveal a… Read More Game of No: Why Rape is Not the Answer to Your Story Question

April 21, 2014April 21, 2014 Mala1 Comment

How Do You Solve a Problem Like EJ DiMera?

I’ve recently come back to Days of our Lives after a several-year hiatus. In a sea of new faces, there are still the familiar characters. Jennifer Horton. Hope Brady. Marlena. Sami. My geriatric Greek tycoon boyfriend, Victor Kiriakis. And Elvis “EJ” DiMera. To my dismay, it appears absence has made my heart grow fonder…because I’m… Read More How Do You Solve a Problem Like EJ DiMera?

January 9, 2014 Mala1 Comment

Ordinary (White) People

Sometimes, when I talk about “white people” in front of actual white people, there’s this pause…this moment of awkward. It’s a combination of “Did she just call out our skin color?” and “But…we’re people.” Yes. Welcome to my world on a daily basis. How does it feel? That, my friends, is the luxury of being… Read More Ordinary (White) People

June 11, 2013 MalaLeave a comment

Voyage of the Damned: Why STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Can’t Win

J.J. Abrams’ second installment of the rebooted Star Trek franchise delivers classic geekery at warp speed, ratcheting up the action sequences, the rapid-fire dialogue and laugh-out-loud moments and the poignant emotionalism at the root of Spock and Kirk’s famous friendship. It’s a film that any fan of the TV shows and prior films will enjoy,… Read More Voyage of the Damned: Why STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Can’t Win

May 20, 2013May 20, 2013 Mala2 Comments

Pros and Cons: Gender Thinkery on RT13

I’ve been attending conventions and conferences since I was a teenager. I’ve been to fan cons, to professional conferences, to spaces where men dominated and to ones where women empowered each other and created unforgettable bonds. Coming back from the 2013 RT Booklovers Convention, at which I worked as a representative of RT Book Reviews… Read More Pros and Cons: Gender Thinkery on RT13

May 6, 2013 Mala3 Comments

Plugging the Alphahole

Ah, the ‘70s and ‘80s bodice ripper era…when men were men and women were raped. The romance community likes to filter it through a rose-colored rearview mirror, chased by alternating mild chagrin and feminist horror. But more than 30 years later, those misogynist underpinnings of forced seduction romance — mostly overpinnings, if we’re being honest… Read More Plugging the Alphahole

April 5, 2013 Mala11 Comments

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