Characters on the Couch
Film & Television Blog
by Dr. Sandra Cohen
HAMILTON: Why Infidelity & What Can Turn It Around?
What does “I’m not throwing away my shot” have to do with infidelity in marriage? You’d be surprised. There’s a lesson in it, to be sure. Lin Manuel Miranda‘s Tony-award-winning musical Hamilton holds many lessons on infidelity. To start, we need power, over the past and old hungers. If you’ve had a painful past, the after-effects…
THE HATE U GIVE
Hate Yourself For Keeping Quiet?
Don’t Be Afraid Of Speaking Out
The world is filled with too much hate. This piece is in honor of Black Lives Matter. Dedicated to those who’ve spent their lives, like Starr Carter in The Hate U Give, having to hide, needing to code-switch to play it safe (as discussed on NPR’s Code Switch). George Tillman, Jr’s compellingly forceful film offers…
JOKER
Smile Though Your
Heart Is Breaking
& Hate In A Traumatized Boy
Arthur Fleck is Joker. That’s the name of Todd Phillips’s 2019 film and Joaquin Phoenix’s well-deserved Best Actor Oscar-winning character. Arthur must be a Joker, a self-made stand-up comedian. He must laugh, though his heart is breaking. And, being a comedian is the best way to keep laughing. Isn’t that right …? No, he’s not…
