Pop Culture v. Authoritarianism: Oscar Edition

​It’s been notable how quiet American movies have mostly been about democratic erosion and the rise of the extreme right up until 2025, and the ways in which some of those themes have surged to the forefront in this year’s Oscar contenders, like KPop Demon Hunters, Wicked: For Good, The Secret Agent, It Was Just an Accident, My Undesirable Friends, and, of course current frontrunner One Battle After Another.

​We would like to invite you to join us for a Zoom conversation at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, January 21. We’ll talk some about the ways in which movies have responded to the threats to American democracy. Your homework assignment is to see Wicked: For Good, KPop Demon Hunters, and One Battle After Another, but you are more than welcome to join us even if the last movie you saw was the first Wicked—or The Wizard of Oz, for that matter. Attendance is free, and everyone is welcome to join.