S Reignite

  This week, I rushed to Netflix to watch their latest documentary about Australian breakdancer Rachel Gunn and her less than impressive performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, as I was desperate to learn what lead to the now many memes from the competition. I have a low bar for Netflix’s documentaries despite their consistent viewership and control over the cultural conversation. The latest Untold Documentary, adds to my belief that Netflix documentaries are shallow and are created too quickly to offer critical insight. Barely two years removed from the Olympics we have a brief look into the story of Raygun; how she qualified for the Olympics and when it all really fell apart. Although described by her parents as someone who was confident, Rachel didn’t feel that she’d fully found herself until embracing breakdance, where she could rebel against what she had been told a woman should be.  From watching the summer Olympics, many thought that Rachel had no dance background....

  Love Island used to be what some planned their summer’s around. Making sure they were free at 9pm Sunday to Friday, watching in groups, live-tweeting rapidly. But for years, the British reality show has been losing it’s grip on the nation.  It’s seemingly reached it’s peak this year as the American version of the show has become the focus of social media discourse. Even the American bombshell on the British series is the focus of the villa.   Since the seventh season of Love Island USA started in June it has been dominating everyones social feeds as viewers sared clips of sweet but more often questionable actions by the couples. Most of the conversation surrounded the outbursts of islander Huda during her time on the villa as well as a now viral meme with her, revealing to fellow islander Nic that she is a mother. Even people in the UK have been weighing in despite the fact the series isn’t available to watch yet. The Americans continued to be the topic of conversa...

Channel 4's lateset reality show adventure,presented to the contestants as a popularity contest called the Favourite instead was rigged by it's celebrity panel to ensure the show's underdog Josh, won.  And if Josh wins everyone wins. Across the eight episode series - British reality TV alumni; Love Island's Amber Rose Gil,  I'm a Celeb's Vicky Patterson and TOWIE's Pete Wicks worked with Radio DJ Nick Grimshaw to manipulate the show to ensure Bournemouth wrestler Josh won the series. Unlike the othe contestants on the series Josh was quiet , understated and didn't desire to be centre of attention. Making him the obvious underdog in the show. Poised as a show aiming to change the narrative of what a reality Star is, each day the celeb panel worked to put the game in Josh's favour which meant give him an upper hand in challenges or making ti harder for other contestants. This is a less Truman Show version to Amazon's Jury Duty which too sees a ki...

Watching films can be such a communal experience - whether thats attending a screening  with friends or passionately discussing a film and what it represents. This idea of community and the different way these bonds are created is what unites the films in this programme. Stan Lathan’s Statues Hardly Ever Smile(1971) documents the experience of students local to the Brooklyn museum learning more about history. They contort their bodies with ease and imagination to describe their favourite works in the museum and equally manoeuvre themselves away from the box of expectations that were created for them. The short documentary film now also being available in the same museum allows the works of art from history and the young Brooklyn natives to continue to uplift the community. These same joyful experiences occur across the pond as Jessie Blue depicts in the eponymous barbershop, Fresh Cutz(2018) . The buzzing North London salon offers its young patrons a place to learn from their elde...

  MrBeast is one of the most popular YouTubers on the video platform with over 154 million subscribers on his main channel alone and I find his videos …. incredibly boring. I used to watch his videos at the height of the Team Trees project which was a campaign that saw the influencer plant trees for every dollar donated. But quickly I grew bored of his videos. The big production videos MrBeast and his team create are an impressive feat but often when I try to watch a video I end up clicking off because I’m not interested nor invested in the people starring in the videos. Many of MrBeast’s, real name Jimmy Donaldson, videos feature his subscribers who he regularly gifts substantial amounts of money. The only somewhat constant in the videos are MrBeast himself and his childhood friends who operate as supporters and jovial distractions for those competing in challenges. But still for me these big budget videos lacked personality.   Despite the tens of videos I’ve watched by...

  The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on his college season as well as a lingering injury are massive hurdles that block 7ft NBA prospect Makur Maker from success. These challenges aren’t made any easier by his coach’s constant overestimation of what Makur can bring to a team. Across Apple TV+’s five-episode docu-series, The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball , director Seth Gordon documents Makur Maker’s path to the 2021 NBA draft , during his one and done season at Howard University. Like many during 2020, Makur Maker wanted to do more after the death of George Floyd and following the global Black Lives Matter protests. For the teenage athlete, that was committing to play basketball for the Historically Black University – Howard, not one of the Big Six conference schools that an ESPN ranked 16 th prospect would be expected to go to. At Howard Makur hoped to take a on leadership role and put increased spotlight on the academic institution. But whatever status Maker had going...

  Earlier this month, the 65 th annual Grammy awards took place in Los Angeles and saw former member of One Direction and now successful solo artist, Harry Styles win Album of the Year for his third album Harry’s House . After he won there was immediate debate online about whether Beyoncé’s sixth album Renaissance was snubbed for the award. This argument was fuelled by fans who noted Beyoncé has never won the Album of the Year Grammy despite her influential albums Beyoncé (2013) and Lemonade (2016) being nominated in this category. In my opinion Beyoncé isn’t being snubbed by the Recording Academy, she is being pigeonholed. Although Beyoncé is the most decorated female artist in Grammy history, many of her wins have come in the R&B categories including, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), which to me is clearly a pop song. Adding to this, in the summer when Renaissance lead single Break My Soul came out, I was surprised t...