Smita M
Smita M has a Masters in Cultural Studies. She has worked in print and digital newsrooms in India and Nepal, writing on culture, politics, social trends, health, and lifestyle.
Latest From Smita M
'Enslaved' Episode 4 Review: Fractals, music and food are just some of the African legacies in the New World
While the West was obsessed with imposing order from above, harshly and often with great damage, African cultures explored order that emerged from the bottom-up organically
'Lovecraft Country' Episode 8: What does the curse of the ghoulish twins mean for Dee?
Dee fights bravely to the very end to avoid her curse, but as Naomi Wadler’s 2018 March for Our Lives speech reminds us, how many Black girls escape their violent fates?
'We Are Who We Are' Episode 4 Preview: Things expected to get wild at Craig’s wedding leading to ‘debauchery’
According to the official synopsis, the Hawaiian-themed wedding will loosen everyone up and lead to 'an evening of debauchery'
'The Good Lord Bird' Episode 1: History lessons on how not to be an ally from vexed abolitionist John Brown
Both Bob and Henry are nothing more than bystanders in the war being fought over their Black bodies by White men
'Flesh and Blood' Episode 1: Is Vivien's late-life romance too perfect? Familial skeletons are tumbling out
Vivien's lover, Mark, the retired surgeon, is too good to be true and his behavior is off, and Mary, the too inquisitive neighbor, is borderline stalking Vivien
'Enslaved' Episode 4 Preview: Discover the first and only African town in America set up by freed slaves
Africatown was unique because it was both a 'Black town', inhabited exclusively by people of African ancestry and also an enclave of people born in another country
'Flesh and Blood' Episode 1 Preview: Beachside mishap kicks off mystery with major characters introduced
The episode opens with emergency vehicles on the scene of a life-threatening mishap. There is a body on a beach but the identity of the victim and the culprit is unclear
'Flesh and Blood': Meet Imelda Staunton, Francesca Annis, Stephen Rea and the cast of murder mystery on PBS
Featuring a well-known cast of character actors, the show has Imelda Staunton as Mary and Francesca Annis as Vivien, the main female leads of this juicy mystery about the perils of late-life romance
'The Boys in the Band': Michael's pal Alan symbolizes society's rude imposition on the gay community
Alan with his uncomprehending disgust toward the queer lifestyle is symbolic of society's constant abuse, negation, and erasure of gay men. He is symbolic of the rudeness of the dominant society as it wields its privilege and imposes on marginalized communities
'The Boys in the Band' Ending Explained: Why does Michael go to church and is his friend Alan actually gay?
Michael's party pops several assumptions Alan has about gay men... that only effeminate men were gay or that a gay man couldn't father children
Netflix 'The Boys in the Band' Review: Come for clever quips but stay for the truth bombs in film adaptation
In the current climate of gender fluidity and sexual experimentation from teen years onwards, the film set in the claustrophobic, fearful gay man's world of the 60s might seem antiquated. But is it really?
'The Boys in the Band': Meet Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer and rest of the cast of film based on the famed play
The Tony-winning cast from the Broadway revival of Mart Crowley’s play from the '60s has reunited, with the help of Ryan Murphy, for their Netflix debut
'Grand Army': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and all you need to know about Netflix’s new teen drama
The show has already courted controversy because despite being marketed as a story primarily about teenagers of color, three writers have quit the show alleging 'racist exploitation and abuse' by the showrunner Katie Cappiello, and Netflix
'We Are Who We Are' Episode 3: Caitlin and Fraser's BFF bond amps up Richard and Sarah's problematic behavior
Episode 3 is an exploration of the types of people thrown together and respective family dysfunctions in close proximity of the base as backyards and lives intertwine for better or for worse
'Enslaved' Episode 3: Samuel L Jackson follows trail of sugar, money and death in South America and Europe
Episode 3 takes up the narrative of slavery in Brazil and Suriname and the fate of the slaves who reached the sugar plantations there and also those who didn't
Why role models like Regina King and Brandee Evans displaying their 'natural hair' at virtual Emmys matters
What adds insult to injury is that 'protective' hairstyles or creative hairstyling methods like 'laying edges' have repeatedly been appropriated by non-Black celebrities
'Lovecraft Country' Episode 7: Glorious technicolor fantasy used to explore reality of Hippolyta’s selfhood
The mysterious machine thrusts Hippolyta into a situation where she has to confront the cosmic nature of reality. She is thrown into a vortex which is an expansion of reality where 'Every beginning is in time and every limit of extension is in space'
'We Are Who We Are' Episode 3 Preview: Fraser tells Caitlin they are 'never going to kiss' despite their bond
When Caitlin tells Fraser everybody thinks they are dating and asks if that bothers him, he tells her that they are 'never going to kiss.' It shows Fraser thinks of their connection as more than a mundane hormone-fuelled bond and as something deeper and soul-affirming
'Enslaved' Episode 3 Preview: Tracing money from South America to Europe, show delves into economics of slavery
Labor-intensive plantations needed enslaved Africans to function and turn a profit, even as sugar became a highly-prized commodity and immensely popular during the 18th century
‘Peter Pan and Wendy’: Yara Shahidi cast as Tinkerbell in Disney’s live-action, fans anticipate racist backlash
Black fans on Twitter were gearing up for racist backlash to the casting as soon as it was announced, even as several tweets celebrated the casting after it was announced