Der heimliche Garten 

A Black woman centered in a box office rom-com with a happy ending and no struggle love.

Even after a history changing event, the 93rd Oscars proved it always had the space for more inclusivity in its award ceremony. But it this enough to change the boycott?

Shadow & Bone excels in natural story representation with powerful centering of culture. Jessie Mei Li stars as Alina Starkov, the feisty cartographer with kindness, innocence, and integrity, who comes to be revealed as the legendary summoner of light.

Outer Banks (2020-) knows its audience: young adults in a country that can’t stop romanticizing good ole’ treasure hunts. Add a little of Riverdale’s (2017-) sex appeal, and no one can look away. Forty years after The Goonies (1985) America’s consciousness hasn’t strayed from the same tropes: treasure hunts, a vulnerable white male lead, and the whitewashing of a racially segregated setting.

Tarantino's alternative history of the 1960's uncritically repeats the era's sexist and racist stereotypes.

Severance is about breaking down facades and confronting old models that were once frameworks of our lives. The somewhat subtle message to me is it’s never too late to fall in love, no matter your insecurities.