Media Matters

       As a media critic, I am very familiar with two particular expressions promoting the importance of visual images: " A picture is worth a 1,000 words" and " If you can show it, don't say it" ( relating to film). Last week's  January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol  by so-called "protestors" showed these salient quotations in action.  But not entirely.       Words also played an essential part in the broadcasting of the event, much to the surprise of many viewers. Mid- afternoon coverage showed the action beginning as crowds took to the Capitol steps, open spaces and nearby streets, and later, to the inside of the building itself. Oddly enough, we were not privy to close-ups of the perpetrators, random people, police or reporters. We primarily only saw long-shots of the Capitol and the rioters. Images were limited, at least the kind we are used to seeing at other relatively recent protests in places like Baltimore, N...

     Netflix is not what it used to be, specifically its fictional films and series.  It has grown tremendously in amount of endeavors created, in variety of genres, and in the stars who appear. From a critic's perspective, Netflix has also evolved in its diverse narratives and styles of production. Meaning first that the fictional stories are now more interesting , provocative and "twisty" regarding their plots, all leading to the programs' popularity. Meaning secondly,  the ambiguous nature of the characters. Do we hate or love the protagonists?  Is the world good or evil ? Or both? Or neither? Meaning thirdly, the interplay of styles and genres, not any one of them particularly conventional.       Two rather recent works, OZARK and THE PROM, are cases in point.  The series, Ozark, initially got this critic's attention because of the Emmy nominations it received; The Prom featured Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman singi...