Category Archives: Arts
Elizabeth Taylor and the American Century
Elizabeth Taylor‘s death last week made me sad, but not for the reasons I expected. I wasn’t sad for her; by all accounts, she lived a long and fulfilling life, brought joy to millions through her movies, and did enormous … Continue reading
Filed under Arts, Books, In Memoriam, Movies
Mark Twain, Sarah Palin, Tucson, and the Follies of Censorship
Your elites don’t trust you. They don’t trust you to be able to read certain historical or literary documents, listen to TV and radio pundits, or even look at certain billboards and posters without getting the wrong ideas and letting … Continue reading
Filed under Arts, Books, Censorship, Media, TV
Immigration Backlash Over “Machete” in 5…4…3…2…
I’m just waiting for the right blogosphere, the op-ed pages, and the folks at Fox News to get riled over Robert Rodriguez’ surprisingly fiery take on illegal immigration (shorter Rodriguez: powerful business and political interests are cynically exploiting the issue … Continue reading
“Miss Gorightry, I protest!”: Racism in the Movies
I really don’t want to be the movie-racism police, especially after the flame war that started after I pointed out the lazy and thoughtless stereotyping in Avatar, but hey, Moviefone asked me to, so here’s my commentary on this Complex.com … Continue reading
Filed under Arts, Censorship, Feuds, Media, Movies
“Avatar” Makes Me Blue Over Our Dumb Discourse
When I launched this blog a year ago, one of my hopes was that it would support the tendency of our popular culture to serve as a medium of discussion through which people of all ideological stripes comment on issues … Continue reading
Back to the Future
The future isn’t what it used to be, said Yogi Berra. It’s certainly not, now that I’m its beat reporter. All this week, through June 12, I’m guest editor/blogger at io9, Gawker Media’s sci-fi/pop futurism blog. Whether or not you’re … Continue reading
Film Criticism Is Torture
Twenty years ago, conservative scholars like Allan Bloom and E.D. Hirsch were complaining about the decline of cultural literacy; today, conservatives are on the other side, egging on anti-intellectualism. Witness the twin posts this week from John Podhoretz and Rod … Continue reading
Interview: Iconia Asks Me About Art and Religion
The intersection of fine arts and faith is a ways away from my usual beat (though it’s in the same neighborhood), so I was certainly flattered that Menachem Wecker, who explores that particular crossroads on his Iconia blog, wanted to … Continue reading
Gary Susman is an editor, writer, reporter, and critic. He has been a journalist in print and online for more than 20 years. He blogs daily for AOL's entertainment sites, including Moviefone, TV Squad, and PopEater. His work continues to appear in Entertainment Weekly, where he spent nearly eight years as Senior Writer. Other outlets have included MSNBC, People, the Village Voice, the Guardian, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Boston Phoenix, for which he has written since 1989. 
