Posts by Dr. Sandra E. Cohen
PRETTY WOMAN
Still Controversy After 25 Years
Does the film that launched Julia Roberts’ stardom insensitively overlook sexual exploitation? Or is it a romantic comedy that features one man’s fantasy? The jury is still out. Such serious issues as prostitution and sex trafficking are hardly comedic. (See my post on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). Reactions have resurfaced from many camps with the celebration…
Read More
AMERICAN CRIME Episode 3
The Lure Of Sex & Drugs
When Love’s In Short Supply
As secrets continue to unfold in American Crime Episode 3, drugs, sex, and complicated family histories are increasingly implicated in the crime against Matt and Gwen. Drugs and sex are not infrequently turned to as ‘answers’ to various kinds of desperate circumstances and pasts. Gwen turned to sex. Matt turned to drugs. Aubrey Taylor (Caitlin…
Read More
UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT
5 Ways The Series Repeats
Kimmy’s Original Problems
SPOILER ALERT: You might not want to read this post until you’ve watched the entire series. It’s terribly difficult to write a comedy about something as traumatic as kidnapping, sexual exploitation, and brainwashing. Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock) tries to do just that. Does it work? Is there a…
Read More
SHONDA RHIMES
Coming Out The Other Side
Of Loneliness
In her Human Rights Campaign award speech on 3/14/15, Shonda Rhimes said that writing as a child saved her. I’m sure it did. Yet, I think her ability to create a world of people who served as placeholders until she could find her “people in the real world” is the most important thing. Shonda was…
Read More
AMERICAN CRIME
What’s Made Barb The Racist She Is?
Racism is a symptom in American Crime – a troubling and destructive one, to be sure. But, like any symptom, it has its personal roots. As a psychoanalyst, my work is to find the roots of any symptom brought into my office. And, with the multi-storied American Crime unfolding each week, the roots of Matt’s…
Read More
THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL
6 Obstacles To Love
We all need love. Age doesn’t lessen that. Yet, sometimes it’s hard to trust love, for complicated reasons, even though you want it. John Madden’s The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel gives us a bird’s eye view into 6 serious obstacles to love. The reasons for putting love off are often not conscious, in my…
Read More