Kieran Scarlett
Kieran Scarlett is a culture writer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He can be found on Twitter @danblackroyd.
All Work
![[Photo: Abby Johnson (played by actress Ashley Bratcher) looks shocked in a scene from the movie Unplanned.]](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/unplanned_1-740x525.jpg)
Culture & Conversation Abortion
From Abortion Worker to Anti Icon: Abby Johnson’s Conversion-Story Film Falls Flat
With its obvious polemics, Hallmark Channel acting, and gauzy visuals, the film adaptation of the anti-abortion activist's personal story isn't even skillful propaganda.
![[Photo: Jussie Smollett giving a speech at the Chrysalis Butterfly Ball.]](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/jussie_3-740x525.jpg)
Culture & Conversation Sexuality
You Don’t Have to Believe Jussie Smollett. But Ask Yourself Why You Don’t.
So predictable to suspect Black queer men for "provoking" violence against them. But here we are—with much of Twitter speculating he's lying about a hookup gone awry.
![[PHOTO: Black man in a blue plaid suit-overcoat combo and a white man with a touch of gray hair and a much more sober, dark suit flank a giant version of the gold Oscar statue.]](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/greenbook-740x525.jpg)
‘Green Book,’ Oscar Hype, and Black Folks’ Heavy Lifting in Interracial Relationships
The Academy craves films that thrive on Black characters' emotional labor in pursuit of white friendship. Driving Miss Daisy, The Help ... IJS.
![[PHOTO: A dark-haired, hirsute man with a mustache wears a white tank pop and raises a fist while singing or talking into a microphone].](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Malek-Queen-shot-740x525.jpg)
Playing Gay and Playing It Safe: ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s’ Straightwashing
The new biopic of Queen's audacious Freddie Mercury skirts around his sexuality—while straight actors think it's their right to take on LGBTQ roles.
![[Photo: Balding white man in a black suit holds a gold award statues in each hand.]](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/LouisCK-740x525.jpg)
Don’t Call It a Comeback: Louis C.K. and His #MeToo Bros Don’t Deserve One
The comedian who masturbated in front of junior women colleagues said he's lost an estimated $35 million. Funny how he didn't mention the pain he inflicted.
![[PHOTO: Three men and a woman, all wearing conservative, dark suits and serious expressions.]](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/GettyImages-51103235-740x525.jpg)
Can We Trust ‘Law & Order’ to Truthfully Portray Hate Crimes in Future Spinoff?
Given how the franchise made a remixed mess of a 2013 Trayvon Martin-inspired episode, I'm not counting on its producers to get it right.
![[Photo: A line of women actresses and activists, all wearing Black formal wear, to raise awareness of sexual assault survivors.]](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-902403348-740x525.jpg)
Even in Argento Allegations, the Whitewashing of #MeToo and More Erasure of Tarana Burke
Actress Asia Argento may be both a #MeToo survivor and a perpetrator. But claims that accusations against her will gut the movement don't give credit where credit is due.
![[Photo: LeFlou from the movie Beauty and the Beast sits on a table and sings]](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/GettyImages-995363370-1-740x525.jpg)
Gay, Closeted, and Evil: Our Politics and Pop Culture’s Perfect Recipe for a Villain
From editorial cartoons that envision a Trump-Putin sexual alliance to beloved Disney movies, we love to imagine the bad guys as queer.
![[Photo: Scarlett Johansson]](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/GettyImages-883369862-740x525.jpg)
Scarlett Johansson’s Step Away From Trans Role Is Better Late Than Never
It took the actress a while to get that she shouldn't play a trans man in an upcoming movie. But it's the right call in a Hollywood that's too comfortable with actors donning racial or gender identities like costumes.
![[Photo: Two characters, Damon and Ricky, from the show Pose]](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pose-740x525.png)
Daring ‘Pose’ Centers Black Queer Teens—but Are Their Lives Just Trauma?
Despair need not be the whole of how Black queer adolescence is depicted on screen.
![[Photo: Roseanne Barr]](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/GettyImages-902737514-740x525.jpg)
Let’s Not Romanticize ‘Roseanne’ 1.0 and Its Racism Lite
Sure, the original series included Black and Asian characters here and there—but only to prove how the Conners were good, progressive white folks.
‘Black-ish,’ Cliff Huxtable, and Me: The Problem of TV’s Cruel-to-Be-Kind Black Father
These seminal TV shows uncritically depict Black fathers' often caustic “coaching” to prepare their sons for an inhospitable world. I know, from my own family, that cruelty isn't the way to make a man.
