I thought this was interesting. Loved the mini deep-dives into different tv and movie characters and while I didn't always agree with what the author was saying and thought it got quite repetitive, I enjoyed the time I spent reading this book.

Favorite quotes:

“The stranglehold pop culture has on us lies in its cyclical nature: it is both a mirror and an influence. There’s a reason moral panics have happened because of books, films, music videos, and video games. The stories and characters we see onscreen, the ones we grow up with, the ones that we enjoy publicly, and the ones that we secretly think are only ours to understand—all those stories influence how we see the world and how we see ourselves.”

“When men get angry onscreen, they're angry at the system. When women are angry onscreen, they're angry at someone. Women are not allowed to be angry at the system, because that would be a tacit acceptance that we're all participants in the oppressive patriarchal structure that create this pressing, everyday anger. Women onscreen are only allowed to be angry at one person, one wrongdoing. Something they can fix. Something that doesn't antagonize audiences too much.”

“There is little more threatening to the social order than a woman who's angry. The only thing scarier is a woman who's angry about something. The only thing scarier than that is a woman who's right.”