Caetlin Benson-Allott
@caetlin.bsky.social
Professor of English and Film & Media Studies, marathon runner, shih tzu fanatic. If you're looking for more info, check me out at www.benson-allott.com
Just a quick reminder that the world is on fire and escapism is a powerful tool to fuel your resistance. Unconvinced? Please come to my talk at Cornell tomorrow (9/25)!
September 24, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Just a quick reminder that the world is on fire and escapism is a powerful tool to fuel your resistance. Unconvinced? Please come to my talk at Cornell tomorrow (9/25)!
Will you be in the Finger Lakes on September 25? Please join me (and Cornell's Department of Literatures in English) as I talk about escapism, TikTok, and I Saw the TV Glow, one of the best movies made this century: events.cornell.edu/event/escapi...
Escapism, Hope, and Human Difference: "I Saw the TV Glow"
events.cornell.edu
August 21, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Will you be in the Finger Lakes on September 25? Please join me (and Cornell's Department of Literatures in English) as I talk about escapism, TikTok, and I Saw the TV Glow, one of the best movies made this century: events.cornell.edu/event/escapi...
I am done paying for Ari Aster's childhood therapy. When he can make a movie that doesn't demonize mothers/matriachs, please, let me know. Until then, I've had enough.
July 20, 2025 at 6:29 PM
I am done paying for Ari Aster's childhood therapy. When he can make a movie that doesn't demonize mothers/matriachs, please, let me know. Until then, I've had enough.
Let's try this again without the adult content block! Come for the cheeks, stay for the theory!
Free to read in our new issue, FQ contributing editor Caetlin Benson-Allott reassesses the butt shot in The Substance and Anora!
online.ucpress.edu/fq/article/7...
online.ucpress.edu/fq/article/7...
Reassessing the Butt ShotFeminism Versus Spectacle in The Substance and Anora
Two of 2024’s most talked about, putatively feminist films—Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance and Sean Baker’s Anora—both tell stories of women who make their livings exploiting the male gaze and both su...
online.ucpress.edu
June 16, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Let's try this again without the adult content block! Come for the cheeks, stay for the theory!
Reading philosophies of shame for an upcoming essay on Below Deck and discovering that I already thoughtfully, thoroughly highlighted all the passages I need now. But... when? why? Did I write something about shame that I have since repressed?
June 13, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reading philosophies of shame for an upcoming essay on Below Deck and discovering that I already thoughtfully, thoroughly highlighted all the passages I need now. But... when? why? Did I write something about shame that I have since repressed?
Hold onto your butts, folks--my butt shot article is finally out! Thanks for all of your help, hivemind. I can't wait to hear what you think! Here's an open access link: www.google.com/url?q=https:...
Reassessing the Butt ShotFeminism Versus Spectacle in The Substance and Anora
Two of 2024’s most talked about, putatively feminist films—Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance and Sean Baker’s Anora—both tell stories of women who make their livings exploiting the male gaze and both su...
www.google.com
June 8, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Hold onto your butts, folks--my butt shot article is finally out! Thanks for all of your help, hivemind. I can't wait to hear what you think! Here's an open access link: www.google.com/url?q=https:...
Professional dream realized: Got to review the new Stephen King novel for the Washington Post! wapo.st/3Hos7qQ
Review | Stephen King’s favorite recurring protagonist shines in his new novel
Private investigator Holly Gibney returns in King’s “Never Flinch,” and the story will keep you turning pages well past bedtime.
wapo.st
May 23, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Professional dream realized: Got to review the new Stephen King novel for the Washington Post! wapo.st/3Hos7qQ
Reposted by Caetlin Benson-Allott
Nobody fucks with the Society of Jesus.
With his permission, I'm sharing Dean Treanor's response to Ed Martin's letter:
March 6, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Nobody fucks with the Society of Jesus.
Reposted by Caetlin Benson-Allott
Remember when we let JD Vance masquerade as some sort of modern dad pro-family aisle-crosser? These people don't want to help working families; they want to do social engineering.
prospect.org/health/2025-...
prospect.org/health/2025-...
Trump Attacks Child Care for the Most Vulnerable
It turns out that you can’t just turn the government off and then back on again.
prospect.org
February 13, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Remember when we let JD Vance masquerade as some sort of modern dad pro-family aisle-crosser? These people don't want to help working families; they want to do social engineering.
prospect.org/health/2025-...
prospect.org/health/2025-...
If a person only had time to watch one or two Jean-Claude Van Damme movies for their theory of the butt shot, which ones would you recommend?
December 20, 2024 at 5:13 PM
If a person only had time to watch one or two Jean-Claude Van Damme movies for their theory of the butt shot, which ones would you recommend?
1: pls know that there's no way to search "butt shot" in a way that brings up useful histories or outstanding instances of this cinematic trope. 2: any recommendations for criticism of butt shots, either specific instances or as a trope? 3: anyone willing to share favorite filmic butt shots?
December 10, 2024 at 8:10 PM
1: pls know that there's no way to search "butt shot" in a way that brings up useful histories or outstanding instances of this cinematic trope. 2: any recommendations for criticism of butt shots, either specific instances or as a trope? 3: anyone willing to share favorite filmic butt shots?
Anora was a comedy?! The Golden Globes are such trash.
It's kind of crazy when you look at the Drama and Musical/Comedy lists side by side, the extent to which supposedly serious movies are about and for men, while women's stories get relegated to the frothy category
December 9, 2024 at 4:08 PM
Anora was a comedy?! The Golden Globes are such trash.
Great news! My article on Jane Schoenbrun and I Saw the TV Glow is no longer paywalled! Thank you to @filmquarterly.bsky.social and @textplusimage.bsky.social-- here's the new link: online.ucpress.edu/fq/article/7...
Life-Affirming Horror and the Films of Jane Schoenbrun
Filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun’s trilogy of films are not horror movies but movies about horror media that collectively proclaim horror’s value for its trans, queer, and otherwise vulnerable fans. A Self-I...
www.google.com
December 4, 2024 at 10:41 PM
Great news! My article on Jane Schoenbrun and I Saw the TV Glow is no longer paywalled! Thank you to @filmquarterly.bsky.social and @textplusimage.bsky.social-- here's the new link: online.ucpress.edu/fq/article/7...
Reposted by Caetlin Benson-Allott
There are way too many necessary causes that need our support right now but as co-chair of @scmstudies.bsky.social's Precarious Labor SIG I hope some of you might consider donating to SCMS' fund if able. We had 120+ applicants (!!) request membership fee waivers. Our lottery could only cover 43. 😑
Join us for Giving Tuesday and help us create opportunities for those within our community by donating to the Precarious Labor Organization Fund!
More information and link to donate here: https://buff.ly/49zDd6N
More information and link to donate here: https://buff.ly/49zDd6N
December 3, 2024 at 4:32 PM
There are way too many necessary causes that need our support right now but as co-chair of @scmstudies.bsky.social's Precarious Labor SIG I hope some of you might consider donating to SCMS' fund if able. We had 120+ applicants (!!) request membership fee waivers. Our lottery could only cover 43. 😑
Updated my MSWord and Excel with GU-licensed software and now both are ReadOnly. Because it seems that's all GU paid for (unless I work only online, which no). I had to set up a private acct to restore access to Word and Excel. In short: I can write as a private person but not as Georgetown faculty.
December 2, 2024 at 6:34 PM
Updated my MSWord and Excel with GU-licensed software and now both are ReadOnly. Because it seems that's all GU paid for (unless I work only online, which no). I had to set up a private acct to restore access to Word and Excel. In short: I can write as a private person but not as Georgetown faculty.
Reposted by Caetlin Benson-Allott
Did you know that this exist? A tool to pre-populate syllabi with days and dates! Useful for many people I know at this point in the year. Thanks to @alexisshotwell.bsky.social for alerting me to it.
Generic Syllabus Maker
wcaleb.rice.edu
November 27, 2024 at 5:37 PM
Did you know that this exist? A tool to pre-populate syllabi with days and dates! Useful for many people I know at this point in the year. Thanks to @alexisshotwell.bsky.social for alerting me to it.
So, so happy to report that my article on I Saw the TV Glow and Jane Schoenbrun's horror trilogy is out now in Film Quarterly. If you haven't seen this fantastic film, please do! If you're interested in my take, you can find the essay at doi.org/10.1525/fq.2... or DM me for a PDF.
Life-Affirming Horror and the Films of Jane Schoenbrun
Filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun’s trilogy of films are not horror movies but movies about horror media that collectively proclaim horror’s value for its trans, queer, and otherwise vulnerable fans. A Self-I...
doi.org
November 25, 2024 at 5:44 PM
So, so happy to report that my article on I Saw the TV Glow and Jane Schoenbrun's horror trilogy is out now in Film Quarterly. If you haven't seen this fantastic film, please do! If you're interested in my take, you can find the essay at doi.org/10.1525/fq.2... or DM me for a PDF.
Narrative complexity aside, if seriality was the guiding principle of Peak TV, what would you call the opposite of that--i.e., TV series that impose a full narrative reset at the end of each episode? It's not the same as a floating timeline... narrative stasis? episodism? Taking all suggestions!
November 22, 2024 at 2:30 PM
Narrative complexity aside, if seriality was the guiding principle of Peak TV, what would you call the opposite of that--i.e., TV series that impose a full narrative reset at the end of each episode? It's not the same as a floating timeline... narrative stasis? episodism? Taking all suggestions!
Gut check, folks (esp film folks): the line "Come on, legs" from "Ease on Down the Road" in The Wiz, that's a reference to the "Come on, legs" verse from "Come on Feet" in Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, right? Or am I just hearing that because I'm writing about both of them?
November 18, 2024 at 5:41 PM
Gut check, folks (esp film folks): the line "Come on, legs" from "Ease on Down the Road" in The Wiz, that's a reference to the "Come on, legs" verse from "Come on Feet" in Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, right? Or am I just hearing that because I'm writing about both of them?
After fifteen years, our senior shih tzu has discovered that the toilet paper holder is also a perfectly serviceable doggy buffet. The books are starting to look a little nervous...
November 15, 2024 at 8:29 PM
After fifteen years, our senior shih tzu has discovered that the toilet paper holder is also a perfectly serviceable doggy buffet. The books are starting to look a little nervous...