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Our 10 Favorite Manic Pixie Free Black Girls
Even before it was given an actual title, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl has long been one of the most popular — and most critically debated — stock film characters. Originally coined by Nathan Rabin, it’s defined as “that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful…
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Five Quick Thoughts About The Stills From The Barack And Michelle Date Movie
Yesterday, two stills were released from Southside With You, the movie depicting the President and the First Lady’s first date. I have some thoughts about this. 1. A friend and I used to joke about each other being a “big deal.” Sometimes it would happen in conversation (“Waitress at Pamela’s got me extra crispy bacon…
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10 Real, Actual, Really Important Things The Bill Cosby Story Is Distracting Us From
Along with the people who still refuse to consider that Bill Cosby might be more like cockroach — and not “Cockroach” the character from The Cosby Show, but an actual cockroach — than Cliff Huxtable, there’s another, more subversive, strain of Cosby sympathizers. Perhaps they’ll (reluctantly) admit that the Cos might be a rapist, but…
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10 Thoughts On Rihanna's "BBHMM" Video
1. Hmm. Okay. That was…something. 2. I know I’m late to the movie Gone Girl, and I realize its had a bit of a resurgence here on VSB as of late, but between this video and that movie…if we’re getting a look into the psyche of pissed off women, I’m off the boat, yo. I’m…
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7 (ish) Of The Greatest White Saviors To Ever Have Done It
One of my favorite tropes is the white savior, especially in movies. You know this person, mostly because they’re white and they come in and do the types of stuff that white people with money and time* do: save coloreds. Well, pop culture and movies have been littered with tremendous examples of the white savior.…
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10 Thoughts About The 2015 BET Awards
I had a lot of thoughts about the BET Awards. But because I’m Black, here are 10. 1. Fuck this is long. This is Easter Sunday long. This is record-breaking long. This is the kind of long that starts out cute but ends up being super annoying…and I watched it at home where I could…
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Sisters Making Waves With Their Swimsuit Designs
Have you ever had trouble finding that perfectly sexy one-piece or tantalizingly comfy bikini to show off your assets in the summer? So did a few designers we met, and they say it was their quest for a curve-contouring swimsuit that drove them to start their own companies. When it comes to swimwear, these sisters…
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Feeling Sentimental: Remembering the Great Phyllis Hyman
“I’m tired. I’m tired. Those of you that I love, know who you are. May God bless you.” Those were Phyllis Hyman’s final words, written in a simple note before she took her own life on June 30, 1995. After seemingly regaining control of her struggle with bipolar disorder, Hyman was finding herself with her…
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White People Who Tried Really, Really, Really Hard To Be Black, Ranked
From Rachel Dolezal to Colonel Sanders, American history is filled with examples of White Americans adopting and appropriating Black culture so aggressively that they started becoming kinda, sorta “Black” themselves. It’s kinda like how my mom used to tell me that if I ate too many bite-sized Snickers, I would turn into a bite-size Snicker. Basically,…
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Five Things Your Lame Ass Better Not Do If Kicking Game On The Internet
Despite the fact that my ethnically ambiguous looks make me appear as if my name could actually be “Don Juan,” I am no Don Juan. I’m just Leon. I am, however, a guy who wants to use the wisdom gained from years of being a sexy internet geek for good. Today, that goodwill manifests as…
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