Lights, Camera, Analysis

The children's book The Lorax was first published by Dr. Suess in 1971. The Lorax film was released in 2012. Still, in 2025, the warning remains as relevant today as it ever was. Who are the Once-lers of today? Why does the selfishness of Mayor Aloysius O'Hare continue to exist today? Who is our generation's lorax? And what can we do to keep our environment safe, beautiful, and plentiful?Written by Research Intern Clarina

Why do we still read Animal Farm today? Where did the idea for Animal Farm even come from? What can Animal Farm teach us about the hopes and harms of socialism and communism? Written and recorded by Troy Ashkinos and Audrey Thorne. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What if your life is really a tv show and everyone you know are paid actors? Amazon's new hit show Jury Duty puts the question to the test. Written and recorded by Troy Ashkinos and Audrey Thorne If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What makes Barbie so controversial? Is Barbie a feminist film? What do most people miss on the first watch? All this and more! Episode written and recorded by Nathan Lu and Audrey Thorne. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

College is expensive, financial aid is limited, and student loans are burdensome, as Nina from In The Heights plainly shows us. How can you afford the college experience you so deserve and the credentials for your dream career? Quinton Lampkin can help! Written and recorded by Quinton Lampkin and Audrey Thorne. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What is government surveillance? Why is 1984 still so relevant today? Written and recorded by Troy Ashkinos and Audrey Thorne If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What does Shawshank Redemption warn about prisons? How true are these concerns about our prison system in the United States? Should we look to Scandinavian countries as a model for prison reform? Written by Troy Ashkinos and Audrey Thorne Sources from this episode can be found here. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What do the lead characters in To Kill a Mockingbird represent? What can they teach us about how we should act in our own lives? Written by Troy Ashkinos and Audrey Thorne Sources from this episode can be found here. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What does the classic novel and film, Lord of the Flies, teach us about morality? Are people naturally good or bad? What is the role of government in our lives? How can we make the world a better, less chaotic and harmful place? Written by Troy Ashkinos and Audrey Thorne Sources from this episode can be found ⁠here⁠. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What can Fairly Oddparents teach us about our own reality? How can Timmy teach us to have a better quality life? Written by Troy Ashkinos and Audrey Thorne Sources from this episode can be found ⁠⁠here⁠. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Promising Young Woman discusses a familiar struggle through a new lens. Why use a horror style to make a film about calling out assault? Why cast lovable actors across the board? And what makes Promising Young Woman truly horrifying? Written and recorded by Taiye Martin and Audrey Thorne. Sources from this episode can be found ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What makes “good” queer representation? What makes a “good” queer film? What makes Crush so special? Written and recorded by Audrey Thorne. Sources from this episode can be found ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠.⁠ If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Can accurate satire can do more harm than good? Why is it so hard to tell the difference between earnest work and satire? Why use satire at all? And what can we use this knowledge  to keep from falling into the trap of perpetuating harmful ideas? Written by Audrey Thorne If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together! Works Cited can be found here.

Why is it SO hard to be a teen? And why don't adults understand? And what can I do to make my own life less depressing? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What is with all the God allegories? And why is the main character a plot device? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What is the school-to-prison pipeline? How does it happen? How can we fix it? Works Cited and further reading resources can be found here. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What rom com tropes does To All the Boys I've Loved Before use? Do these tropes make the film cliche or even more enjoyable? What does this do for Asian representation in the media?  If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What message does Gone Girl send about women? Is Amy a feminist? Is Amy likeable? Does it matter? How does the film fit into larger conversations about sexual assault and violence against women? Works Cited and further reading can be found here. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

We love a villain. Right? And if we don't, then why? And why does it even matter? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What is the purpose of life? What actually makes people happy? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Are you Team T’Challa or Team Killmonger? Is Black Panther an anti-radical film? How does the film influence how viewers think about real Black Power movements? Works Cited can be found here. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Is Mary Poppins a good nanny? How can you be a good role model for young siblings and other kids? And are your teachers doing it right? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Is Wonder Woman 1984 a good film? And if not, why did they make it that way? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Why is the mom so funny? And how different is she from a 50s housewife? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

How do we talk about Mothers? What power do POV shots have? Why should we watch and study Chinese Cinema? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Why does feminism matter? What even is feminism? Is Thelma and Louise feminist? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What makes a good therapist-patient relationship? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Where do zombies come from? Who is worth remembering? How do we work through fear in film? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Does water reinforce the social order? How? Why? What? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

How does horror reinforce or reject gender norms? What makes a 1950s ideal woman? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

How do movies trick us into feeling uneasy? And how can they use that power for good? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Is it appropriation or appreciation? What does the imagery mean? And how can we be more like the Queen Bee? All this and more in this BONUS episode of Lights, Camera, Analysis 

What makes us scared? Why is It so dang terrifying? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Who do we represent? How do we bend reality when we represent it on screen? And how does this distorted version of reality change who we are? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Who are you? Are you really? Do you have to be? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

How did the Vietnam War shape The Graduate? Why is it so relatable now? And what does that say about our future? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together! Works Cited available here.

What is White Face? How does it speak to the legacy of Black Face? And how does gender play into all of this? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Is Wonderland wonderful? Do we have the same problems today? And what is with those xenophobic flower? Works Cited can be found here. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Is She’s the Man groundbreaking? Problematic? Feminist? Sexist? Who knows? We do!  Works Cited available here. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Is Inside Out really anything more than a kids movie? What can it teach us about leading a better life? And why is Joy such an attention hog? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

When does representation do more harm then good? And how does the modern adaptation of Aladdin answer for the cartoon’s past failures? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together! Works Cited can be found here. 

Why does Olive have all of this pretend sex? Why does it ruin her life as she knew it? And what is up with those Bible study girls? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

So . . . what’s up with all the Fascism in Muppets Most Wanted? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

The Lovebirds started with a comedically realistic breakup and sent us on a tailspin adventure. If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What is a “good” representation of depression? Why does it matter? And how do I help a friend in need? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together! Works Cited available here.

Would you sacrifice everyone you love for the greater good? What’s so “good” about that? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Why is Philadelphia still relevant af today? And where do we go from here? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

How does Jordan Peele challenge white cinema? Why does the Black Lives Matter Movement mean so much to so many people? And is the ending a good one? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

What does the government owe Moonie? And what do they owe her mom? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!

Everyone has heard of Romeo and Juliet, but what if their tragic ending wasn’t all their fault? Baz Luhrmann’s film interpretation, AKA the Leonardo DiCaprio one, offers two alternatives: Was it all because of drugs? Or was it Tybalt’s fault? If you want to help me with a future episode, you can email me at [email protected] and cc a family member if you’re under 18. With their permission, we may even record one together!