Michael Dodd Archives – The Missing Slate

‘Nam in Hollywood (Part Two: War is Hell)

By Michael Dodd

In the second part of a series on the Vietnam war in Hollywood, Michael Dodd explores how American cinema addressed ‘Nam itself and influenced the nation’s perspective on the war.

Arts & Culture, Film, The Critics

‘Nam in Hollywood (Part One: The Beginning)

By Michael Dodd

In the first part of a series on the Vietnam war in cinema, Michael Dodd traces the early history of this now instantly identifiable sub-genre.

Arts & Culture, Film, The Critics

Safe Scares: How 9/11 Caused the American Horror Remake Trend (Part Three)

By Michael Dodd

In the final part of a series, film critic Michael Dodd examines how modern horror has addressed the post-9/11 psyche.

Arts & Culture, Film, The Critics

Safe Scares: How 9/11 Caused the American Horror Remake Trend (Part Two)

By Michael Dodd

In the second part of a series, Michael Dodd explores how 9/11 caused a spate of American horror remakes and affected their tone and content.

Arts & Culture, Film, The Critics

Safe Scares: How 9/11 caused the American Horror Remake Trend (Part One)

By Michael Dodd

In the first part of a series, Michael Dodd writes that American horror movies have a history of reflecting, examining and exploiting the national mood.

Arts & Culture, Film, The Critics

Back to the Beginning: The Evolving Influence of â€˜Batman: Year Oneâ€™

By Michael Dodd

Film critic Michael Dodd on the relationship between comic book movie franchises and their source material, focusing specifically on ‘Batman: Year One’.

In the Magazine

A Word from the Editor

Don’t cry like a girl. Be a (wo)man.

Why holding up the women in our lives can help build a nation, in place of tearing it down.

Literature

This House is an African House

"This house is an African house./ This your body is an African womanâ€™s body..." By Kadija Sesay.

Literature

Shoots

"Sapling legs bend smoothly, power foot in place,/ her back, parallel to solid ground,/ makes her torso a table of support..." By Kadija Sesay.

Literature

A Dry Season Doctor in West Africa

"She presses her toes together. I will never marry, she says. Jamais dans cette vie! Where can I find a man like you?" By...

In the Issue

Property of a Sorceress

"She died under mango trees, under kola nut/ and avocado trees, her nose pressed to their roots,/ her hands buried in dead leaves, her...

Literature

What Took Us to War

"What took us to war has again begun,/ and what took us to war/ has opened its wide mouth/ again to confuse us." By...

Literature

Sometimes, I Close My Eyes

"sometimes, this is the way of the world,/ the simple, ordinary world, where things are/ sometimes too ordinary to matter. Sometimes,/ I close my...

Literature

Quarter to War

"The footfalls fading from the streets/ The trees departing from the avenues/ The sweat evaporating from the skin..." By Jumoke Verissimo.

Literature

Transgendered

"Lagos is a chronicle of liquid geographies/ Swimming on every tongue..." By Jumoke Verissimo.

Fiction

Sketches of my Mother

"The mother of my memories was elegant. She would not step out of the house without her trademark red lipstick and perfect hair. She...

Fiction

The Way of Meat

"Every dayâ€”any dayâ€”any one of us could be picked out for any reason, and we would be... Weâ€™d part like hair, pushing into the...

Fiction

Between Two Worlds

"Ursula spotted the three black students immediately. Everyone did. They could not be missed because they kept to themselves and apart from the rest...."...

Essays

Talking Gender

"In fact it is often through the uninformed use of such words that language becomes a tool in perpetuating sexism and violence against women...

Essays

Unmasking Female Circumcision

"Though the origins of the practice are unknown, many medical historians believe that FGM dates back to at least 2,000 years." Gimel Samera looks...

Essays

Not Just A Phase

"...in the workplace, a person can practically be forced out of their job by discrimination, taking numerous days off for fear of their physical...

Essays

The Birth of Bigotry

"The psychology of prejudice demands that we are each our own moral police". Maria Amir on the roots of bigotry and intolerance.

Fiction

The Score

"The person on the floor was unmistakeably dead. It looked like a woman; she couldnâ€™t be sure yet..." By Hawa Jande Golakai.