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Caetlin Benson-Allott

@caetlin.bsky.social
1.3K followers 400 following 40 posts

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

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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
At JCMS, we used to ask another double blind reviewer (esp a board member if we had one in the field) to evaluate how well the author incorporated the previous reviewer's feedback. Sometimes they added their own suggestions, but we made it clear that we were really only looking for a thumbs up/down.
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Thanks @hennefem.bsky.social!
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Grrr....
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
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)!
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
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...
events.cornell.edu
Escapism, Hope, and Human Difference: "I Saw the TV Glow"
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
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.
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Why don't FMST folks write about shame? Uncomfortable Television comes close, but there's this goldmine of 2000-2010s queer theory on shame and we keep talking about fandom in exclusively positive terms (bad apples, etc.). Sometimes loving TV is sucky & destabilizing & I want to talk about that too!
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Let's try this again without the adult content block! Come for the cheeks, stay for the theory!
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
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?
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
Too late, but maybe I shouldn't have tossed on the "adult images" warning. It's just tushies, after all.
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
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:...
google.com
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...
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Professional dream realized: Got to review the new Stephen King novel for the Washington Post! wapo.st/3Hos7qQ
wapo.st
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.
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Why is it a competition exactly?
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Vinzenz Hediger @vinzenzhediger.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Nobody fucks with the Society of Jesus.
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
It's a rare day when I'm proud of Georgetown, but I am now.
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Reposted by Caetlin Benson-Allott
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
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
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.
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Dying to hear more about your Stoner Comedy work!
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
I'm doing a deep dive on Last House on the Left right now and he's citing Leave It to Beaver in interviews, so...
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
You'd want to ask a media industry studies person, but my hunch is no.
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
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?
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
*hug* + empathy
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Trash on trash
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
He and Jennifer Lopez seem to have garnered the most butt shot criticism so far!
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Clothed, closed... what is criticism without a little word play?
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
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?
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Anora was a comedy?! The Golden Globes are such trash.
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
I was "yup... yup... yup"-ing my way through that whole article. Especially the part about women's productivity being less likely to be rewarded 😒
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
I have a panel for CP, so maybe another conference that looks good to you both? Could be SCMS 2026, but hopefully we spot something before then!
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
100% I’d love to join you—you know how much I love horror at home!
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
You will love it! It's on Vimeo--let me know if you have trouble finding it.
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
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...
google.com
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...
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Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
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. 😑
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Does everyone/anyone else's university UIS suck this bad? I should note that I'm not on a waitlist with UIS for a technician to investigate. B/c the folks who answer the phone at UIS don't actually do tech support!
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
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.
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Cael M Keegan @caelkeegan.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
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.
wcaleb.rice.edu
Generic Syllabus Maker
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
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.
doi.org
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...
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Thanks! It's chapter three of a book in progress on escapism... and my SCMS talk, if I get in.
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Believe it or not, Al, this is the second half of the same chapter on The Wizard of Oz and The Wiz! I am forever surprised and appalled at the things my head puts together :)
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Thanks, guys! I am writing about the cyclical temporality (aka episodic reset) of sitcoms as facilitating escapism because it mirrors the cycle of escapism (wear yourself out then recharge then wear yourself out ad infinitum). Bob's Burgers is my case study because it is so purely episodic!
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
In my head I've been calling in episodism, or narrative stasis. But the later implies that nothing ever happens, which isn't true within the episode itself. Thoughts?
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Ditto
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
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!
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
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?
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Caetlin Benson-Allott @caetlin.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
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...
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