Cultural Representation

Celebrity Profiles

Jennifer Lopez’s performance as the iconic Selena Quintanilla-Pérez in the 1997 biographical musical drama Selena remains a landmark in her career and in Hollywood representa...

film-analysis

Real life Moana refers to the true story, cultural traditions, and oceanic navigation practices that inspired Disney’s animated film. This evergreen profile explains how the m...

culture-and-society

The phrase the barbarian mother evokes a striking archetype: a fierce maternal figure rooted in or reacting to societies perceived as savage or outsiders by a settled civilizati...

television-and-animation

The question “why is Apu not in The Simpsons anymore” stems from the character’s long absence from new episodes and recent commentary. Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the Kwik-E-M...

Relationships

How Hawaiians feel about Lilo & Stitch centers on a mix of appreciation for sincere cultural visibility and ongoing caution about how Indigenous stories are told by outside stud...

culture-and-representation

The phrase foreign exchange student in American Pie points to a recurring character type in a popular 1999 teen sex comedy that uses high school settings to explore cultural mis...