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How do you like it so far?

How Do You Like It So Far uses pop culture to take soundings of a society in transition, exploring intersections with civic imagination and engagement, and social and political change. Henry Jenkins and Colin Maclay are your guides on this adventure.

Episode 134: Hollywood Actresses, the Oscars, and Wuthering Heights with Izzy from Be Kind Rewind

March 11, 2026

Showing her love of movies, Izzy from Be Kind Rewind chats with us about her process of creating video essays and connection to researching actresses in the Hollywood system. We discuss how her fannish love of TCM films turned into a passion for making videos and navigating complex topics often overlooked or simplified into gossip. Diving deeper into this, Izzy speaks about her recent video on actress Merle Oberon’s race as it relates to William Wyler’s Wuthering Heights (1939) and its latest adaption by Emerald Fennell. There we discuss how the construction of stardom and the text of a piece impact readings of race as a racialized work attempts to become de-racailized by directorial choices. Using her Vanessa Redgrave video, Izzy also talks to us about the Oscars,its relationship to politics, and how it impacts actresses. We end this longer epsiode with a hint of the future for Be Kind Rewind and our 2026 Oscar predictions. Afterwards, Samantha and Henry give their Oscar predictions in every category.

This episode is filled with fun, fandom, and just a touch of Hollywood magic! We get into what passions drive a video essayist and the interesting topics that can happen about the film industry if we are not strictly going by salacious headlines. It is an episode that not only asks viewers to watch more films but, also challenges them to think about the wider implications of the moving image.  

Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:

Some Suggested BKR Videos:

Academic/Educational readings and resources:

People & Places:

Media:

You might also enjoy our previous Oscar Themed episode and the Oscar Watch series Henry is currently running on his blog. 

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