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.]

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.]

Culture & Conversation Sexuality

You Don’t Have to Believe Jussie Smollett. But Ask Yourself Why You Don’t.

Feb 1, 11:40am Kieran Scarlett

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.]

Culture & Conversation Race

‘Green Book,’ Oscar Hype, and Black Folks’ Heavy Lifting in Interracial Relationships

Nov 30, 12:43pm Kieran Scarlett

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].

Culture & Conversation LGBTQ

Playing Gay and Playing It Safe: ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s’ Straightwashing

Nov 5, 3:27pm Kieran Scarlett

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.]

Culture & Conversation Media

Don’t Call It a Comeback: Louis C.K. and His #MeToo Bros Don’t Deserve One

Oct 18, 8:10am Kieran Scarlett

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.]

Culture & Conversation Media

Can We Trust ‘Law & Order’ to Truthfully Portray Hate Crimes in Future Spinoff?

Sep 20, 4:19pm Kieran Scarlett

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.]

Culture & Conversation Media

Even in Argento Allegations, the Whitewashing of #MeToo and More Erasure of Tarana Burke

Aug 23, 3:19pm Kieran Scarlett

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]

Culture & Conversation Media

Gay, Closeted, and Evil: Our Politics and Pop Culture’s Perfect Recipe for a Villain

Jul 19, 4:29pm Kieran Scarlett

From editorial cartoons that envision a Trump-Putin sexual alliance to beloved Disney movies, we love to imagine the bad guys as queer.

Culture & Conversation LGBTQ

Scarlett Johansson’s Step Away From Trans Role Is Better Late Than Never

Jul 16, 2:32pm Kieran Scarlett

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]

Culture & Conversation LGBTQ

Daring ‘Pose’ Centers Black Queer Teens—but Are Their Lives Just Trauma?

Jun 22, 5:06pm Kieran Scarlett

Despair need not be the whole of how Black queer adolescence is depicted on screen.

Culture & Conversation Media

Let’s Not Romanticize ‘Roseanne’ 1.0 and Its Racism Lite

May 31, 1:16pm Kieran Scarlett

Sure, the original series included Black and Asian characters here and there—but only to prove how the Conners were good, progressive white folks.

Culture & Conversation Media

‘Black-ish,’ Cliff Huxtable, and Me: The Problem of TV’s Cruel-to-Be-Kind Black Father

May 16, 12:51pm Kieran Scarlett

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.