Disney’s ‘Moana’: An offensive portrayal of Polynesian culture and mythology
Unsurprisingly, the film’s directors, Ron Clements and John Musker, are white, and it is almost as if “whiteness” prevents artistes, such as film directors, from portraying the non-white peoples with a non-colonial lens.
2w ago
Iran’s presidential elections: A smokescreen?
Should we believe that the same man who didn’t believe in women’s right to freedom of choice is now a changed “reformist”?
4m ago
Is the theme of this year’s Met Gala ironically prophetic?
The parallel between the 2024 Met Gala and 'The Garden of Time,' a short speculative fiction written by JG Ballard, is uncanny.
6m ago
Say their names to save their lives
Let Toomaj Salehi’s words strike a chord in our hearts, a chord that will spur action, no matter how small
6m ago
I, Whore; I, Birangona
Would it be too much to ask you/ To forgive me for the carnal sin I did not commit?
11m ago
The unclassifiable “monsters” of Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Pinocchio’
Guillermo Del Toro’s stop-motion animation, Pinocchio (2022) is loosely based on Carlo Collodi’s novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883).
1y ago
PTSD
Martyrs and-slash-or heroes they call us Is it worth all the fuss? While they celebrate We ache to recuperate
1y ago
January 31, 2022
The not-so-innocent side of mass-produced toys
We don’t normally think of toys from a critical perspective because, well, they’re just toys. But if one were to reflect on it, one might become easily disenchanted by these children’s playthings.
January 22, 2022
Mojaffor Hossain’s All the Sadeqs are getting killed
The most naïve boy of Dhabaldhola village had been murdered. The decapitated body lay on the demarcation line between the Bangari field and the Taro crop-field.
January 4, 2022
Five reasons why ‘safety zone’ for women is a bad idea
According to media reports, a 600-feet-long “safety zone” was recently allocated for women and children visiting Cox’s Bazar.
January 11, 2021
Schools must teach more than academic syllabus
The recent rape and consequent death of a school-going, 17-year-old girl fills one with rage and helplessness.
December 14, 2019
A Translation of Syed Manzoorul Islam’s “Seventy-One”
The title of the story could have been “Tiger,” just “Tiger,” as, for a few days in 1971, a tiger had been the cause of a massive terror to us.
October 12, 2019
A translation of Syed Manzoorul Islam’s short story, “Kathpoka”: Woodworms (Part II)
“I’m doing what I feel like doing. What’s that to you?” Aslam retorted. He opened the door and said, “Like mother, like daughter. Get lost.”
October 5, 2019
Woodworms (Part 1)
It’s been three nights that Aslam hasn’t been able to sleep. He has been trying so hard to fall asleep on the divan for three nights – the divan that he fancifully got carpentered and laid out in the study room of his gigantic apartment in Bashundhara, for the specific purpose of lying down to read and eventually doze off.
September 14, 2019
The Deer
We lived in Pirojpur then. Barisal is the land of rivers and nullahs, and Pirojpur is no exception. Unless you have been to this Southern region of the country, you cannot claim to have really seen the country. We were not used to seeing such multitudes of rivers and
November 3, 2018
After the Half-Time Interval: Part-2
The next day, Lebu had really blasted a peto at the party's office. Well, he had tried to. The peto had fallen off his maimed hand, right in front of the table. It didn't bounce — rather sort of slumped — like a ball in a slow spin. Everyone shrank in fear. Babluda, the secretary, had pulled his legs up on the bench. He pressed his palms against his ears and stared, wide-eyed.
October 27, 2018
After the Half-Time Interval (Part 1)
The alley is dark. Dim streaks of light trickle down from the street lamp at the turn.
X