AvidBards
Reflections

Three Years of AvidBards: A Year with Covid

That’s three years of AvidBards done and dusted. Every year it takes us by surprise that we’ve managed to keep this going for as long as we have. Coming out of 2020, that feeling was incredibly intensified. And at the end of every year, knowing that our yearly round-up post is going to come up, we dig into the statistics. To say that we were surprised would be an understatement. Statistics Total views in 2020: 16,130 Most views ever in one month: Nov 2020 with 1,894 Top posts of 2020: Casual Racism, Sexism and Homophobia in Guy Ritchie’s ‘The Gentlemen’,…

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Lifestyle

How to Plan for 2021

Changing tune today for today’s post, I want to look at how we even begin thinking about planning for the new year after a year like 2020. Everything we have ever known about planning went out the window this year, and one thing was left clear: No matter how much you plan, life will get its way.  So, how to go about thinking about what we want to accomplish in the new year? I will be the first to admit that I felt utterly lost this year, unsure how to measure my productivity and successes when I was struggling to…

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Reflections

10 Shows That Got Me Through 2020

A list of the shows that, quite literally, got me through 2020.

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Reflections

The Arts in a World of Scandals

Separating the Art From the Artist The last decade has seen more accountability and increasing calls for public and celebrity figures to be held responsible for their actions and statements. Recently, Johnny Depp was removed from his role as Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beast franchise after he lost his libel case against a UK tabloid that labelled him a wife-beater. This is not an isolated case but rather, the latest of a long line of celebrity scandals just as Kevin Spacey was asked to step down from his notable role in the political drama show, House of Cards. Similarly, Hachette Book Group…

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TV Shows

Good Omens: The Importance of Canonizing Queerness

Good Omens truly is a delight. The mini-series, based on Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s 1990 novel of the same name, came out in 2019. Starring the brilliant David Tennant and Michael Sheen, who are both powerhouse actors and absolute chameleons in whichever role they take on, play a demon and angel, respectively. At its core, the show is about an unlikely/forbidden friendship that is struck up between the two over a span of six centuries, and who secretly work together to put a stop to the Apocalypse which is set to happen in current day. That is Good Omens…

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TV Shows

The Fall: Is it Feminist?

I am definitely late to the game on this one having just finished the BBC, British-Irish series The Fall this week! I knew that I wanted to talk about the series but I was at a loss of what exactly to talk about until I saw the ratings for the show. The three series tense thriller had people falling over themselves to binge watch the first series back in 2013, but by its finale in 2016, reactions to it had shifted. The recent addition of the show on Netflix UK has had many people obsessed (and thoroughly creeped out), bingeing it within a few days, myself included, a change of tune from 2016. So, what happened?

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