Entries by Penelope Thornton

A Dangerous Method

David Cronenberg’s latest movie gives us his view of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his pupil, Carl Jung, and even more centrally it tells the story of the affair between Jung and his patient, Sabina Spielrein.  It is set in Vienna in the early years of the 20th century. The battle between Freud and Jung […]

“The Help”: Courageous, Color-Blind Strivers Overcome Racist Nitwits

“Looking after White babies, that’s what I do,”  answers Abileen, the long-suffering Black heroine of  The Help when asked by Skeeter, the courageous budding journalist from the right side of the tracks, how it feels to raise someone else’s children while leaving your own at home.  And we’re off to another two hours treat from […]

Machete : Eh, Gringo. I gonna Kill you.

Eh, gringo.  I gonna kill you.  This would seem to be the central message of Machete. Stephen Holden, writing in the New York Times, noticed that the White men in Machete are portrayed in one of two ways: as either sadistic vigilantes murdering pregnant women in the desert (kinda like the Israelis) or as venal, corrupt politicians murdering each […]

Roots: The Prequel

Roots came out in 1977. The made for TV film told the story of  the now famous African, Kunta Kinte, who was captured and enslaved by White men and brought to America where he lived as a slave. He is captured while out in the forest looking for the proper log with which to make his […]