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WORK TITLE: You Play the Girl
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.carinachocano.com/
CITY: Los Angeles
STATE: CA
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/carina-chocano-7449bbb/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1968.
EDUCATION:Northwestern University, B.A., 1990; San Francisco State University, M.A., 1994.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, film and television critic, and magazine journalist. Los Angeles Times, television critic, 2003-04, film critic, 2004-08; freelance writer, 2011—; New York Times Magazine, contributing writer, 2017—.
WRITINGS
Contributor to magazines and newspapers, including New York, Elle, Vogue, Wired, Rolling Stone, Washington Post, Vulture, California Sunday Magazine, Texas Monthly, New Republic, and New Yorker.
SIDELIGHTS
Carina Chocano is a writer, magazine journalist, cultural observer, and film and television critic. She was the TV critic for the Los Angeles Times from 2003 to 2004 and the film critic from 2004 to 2008. She is currently a contributing writer to New York Times Magazine. She has contributed to many prominent national magazines including Vogue, Elle, Wired, Rolling Stone, New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly, and Bust. She holds a B.A. in comparative literature and theory from Northwestern University and an M.A. from San Francisco State University in film production and theory. Chocano lives in Los Angeles, California.
Chocano’s first book, Do You Love Me, or Am I Just Paranoid? The Serial Monogamist’s Guide to Love, is a humorous look at the subject of love, dating, and monogamy. Basing the book on some of her own experiences in romance, Chocano offers amusing takes on some of the major elements of a relationship. She covers dating and what new couples can do on dates. She discusses the critical differences between living together and being married. She also helps women evaluate their dates and potential mates, and she eventually asks the critical question of whether one is in love or just insane. Chocano’s tongue-in-cheek advice may well be considered bad advice by many, but it is through the irrationality of her suggestions that some important truths about romance and love are found.
You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, and Other Mixed Messages is based on the many films and television programs Chocano has viewed in her role as a television and movie critic. During these viewings, Chocano came to the realization that “despite the relative progress women made in the twentieth century, twenty-first century entertainment still completely fails to accurately and dynamically represent women,” commented Booklist writer Courtney Eathorne. In response, Chocano wrote the book, which contains carefully considered essays on the frequently conflicting, sometimes completely negative images of women in American popular culture.
During her own childhood, Chocano notes that she and other girls were expected to identify with the image of the fairytale princess. She quickly realized that the princess archetype was unsatisfactory to her, and that it was more likely to be oppressive and limiting to the young girls who adopted it. The image of a frail and helpless princess waiting to be rescued by the stereotypical handsome prince was not an identity she could accept for herself, nor is it one that she considers useful for others.
Chocano observes that Hollywood has four female stereotypes that make up most of the female characters: the mother, the housewife, the love interest, and the generic “girl.” This last character is something of a contradiction: a female who can gain the admiration and camaraderie of men while still maintaining a highly feminine appearance and outlook. Perhaps more disturbing, this female character must maintain a position of being sexually appealing and desirable to males, even those males she sees as her friends but not potential partners.
Throughout the book, “Chocano finds much evidence that movies and TV send a message undermining girls’ empowerment,” observed a contributor to Kirkus Reviews. Films such as Pretty Woman send the wrong kind of message, while movies such as Thelma and Louise and Private Benjamin offer a narrative that resonates more thoroughly with feminist sensibilities. On television, she finds that hugely popular programs such as Sex and the City have succeeded only in creating objectionable stereotypes. Other shows, such as Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, create allegorical representatives of women who have the power to change, if not destroy, the world around them.
The Kirkus Reviews writer called You Play the Girl a “sharply perceptive look at the myths that constrain women.” A reviewer in Publishers Weekly concluded: “These essays will appeal to anyone interested in how women’s stories are told.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, July 1, 2017, Courtney Eathorne, review of You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, & Other Mixed Messages, p. 5.
Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2017, review of You Play the Girl.
Publishers Weekly, May 8, 2017, review of You Play the Girl, p. 49.
ONLINE
Carina Chocano Website, http://www.carinachocano.com (February 9, 2018).
photo credit: Titia Vermeer
Carina Chocano is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine. Her work has appeared in New York magazine, Elle, Vogue, Rolling Stone, Wired, The California Sunday Magazine, Bust, The Washington Post, Vulture, The Cut, GOOD magazine, Texas Monthly, The New Yorker, The New Republic, and many others. She has been a film and TV critic at The Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, and Salon.com. Her book You Play the Girl is out now from Mariner Books. She lives in Los Angeles.
Carina Chocano
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Contributing Writer at The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine Northwestern University
Greater Los Angeles Area 473 473 connections
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Author, journalist, creative writer, and speaker with extensive experience across media platforms. Strategic
thinker with a wide range of experience in print, film & TV, and digital media. Extensive knowledge of pop culture, film and TV in particular. My book, "You Play the Girl," an essay collection about women and pop culture, is out now.
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Experience
The New York Times Magazine
Contributing Writer
Company NameThe New York Times Magazine
Dates EmployedAug 2017 – Present Employment Duration6 mos
Media (3)This position has 3 media
Everywhere You Look, We’ve Downgraded Real Problems Into Mere ‘Issues’
Everywhere You Look, We’ve Downgraded Real Problems Into Mere
‘Issues’
This media is a document
What I Care About Is Important. What You Care About Is a ‘Distraction’
What I Care About Is Important. What You Care About Is a
‘Distraction’
This media is a document
‘Exposure’ Is About Truth, Sure, but Mostly About Power
‘Exposure’ Is About Truth, Sure, but Mostly About Power
This media is a document
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Book Author
Company NameHoughton Mifflin Harcourt
Dates Employed2015 – Present Employment Duration3 yrs
Author of "You Play the Girl"
Media (1)This position has 1 media
You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, & Other Mixed Messages
You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train
Wrecks, & Other Mixed Messages
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The New York Times Magazine, Texas Monthly, California Sunday, Elle, and others
Freelance writer
Company NameThe New York Times Magazine, Texas Monthly, California Sunday, Elle, and others
Dates EmployedMar 2011 – Present Employment Duration6 yrs 11 mos
Locationlos angeles
I'm an essayist, critic, feature writer, and humorist who writes about pop culture and digital culture and and how the two intersect with our lives. I have an extensive knowledge of pop culture in general, film and TV in particular. My work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, Elle, Wired, Details, Vulture and others. You can find selected pieces here: https://www.byliner.com/carina-chocano
Media (2)This position has 2 media
A Modest Proposal for More Back-Stabbing in Preschool
A Modest Proposal for More Back-Stabbing in Preschool
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A Plague of Strong Female Characters
A Plague of Strong Female Characters
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Los Angeles Times
Film Critic
Company NameLos Angeles Times
Dates EmployedSep 2004 – Nov 2008 Employment Duration4 yrs 3 mos
LocationLos Angeles
Played a vital role in the paper’s film coverage as co-lead film critic. Was responsible for reviewing three releases per week as well as writing regular Sunday features that intended to shape the conversation around film and the film industry.
Los Angeles Times
TV Critic
Company NameLos Angeles Times
Dates EmployedNov 2003 – Aug 2004 Employment Duration10 mos
Involved in strategizing new approaches to TV coverage for a new era in TV programming, including covering televised political and news events as theater. Promoted to film critic with eight months of arriving at the paper
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Education
Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Degree NameB.A. Field Of StudyComparative Literature and Theory
Dates attended or expected graduation 1986 – 1990
Université Paris Sorbonne (Paris IV)
Université Paris Sorbonne (Paris IV)
Degree NameJunior Year Abroad Field Of StudyComparative Literature
Dates attended or expected graduation 1988 – 1989
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
Degree NameMaster's degree Field Of StudyFilm Production and Theory
Dates attended or expected graduation 1991 – 1994
Featured Skills & Endorsements
Publishing
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Endorsed by 2 of Carina’s colleagues at Los Angeles Times
Television
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11
Endorsed by 2 of Carina’s colleagues at Los Angeles Times
Magazines
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Endorsed by 2 of Carina’s colleagues at Los Angeles Times
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Accomplishments
Carina has 1 language1
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Language
Spanish, French
You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies,
Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, & Other
Mixed Messages
Courtney Eathorne
Booklist.
113.21 (July 1, 2017): p5.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
* You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, & Other Mixed Messages.
By Carina Chocano.
Aug. 2017. 304p. illus. HMH/Mariner, paper, $16.95 (9780544648944). 306.
In her hours of screenings and endless dissections of character arcs, successful film and television critic
Chocano noticed that despite the relative progress women made in the twentieth century, twenty-firstcentury
entertainment still completely fails to accurately and dynamically represent women. In this memoiressay
hybrid, Chocano shows how the industry continues to compartmentalize fictional women: as a
mother, housewife, love interest, or "the girl." This Chocano-coined "girl" is still the norm for female roles
in Hollywood today. She's generally "chill." She's the cute friend or coworker who can smoke marijuana
and fart with the guys but still maintains a supremely feminine look and sexuality. The girl has become
ubiquitous, but Chocano points out that she wasn't written in a vacuum. Through candid accounts of her
own formative years, Chocano offers solace to a new generation of women dissatisfied with their
representation in the media. She puts words to the numbing frustration she felt while watching Pretty
Woman and explains the feminist satisfaction of such premieres as Thelma and Louise and Nancy Meyers'
Private Benjamin. Chocano's encyclopedic knowledge of film, literature, and television, plus her wickedly
funny, wildly unapologetic, and intimately conversational voice, will leave readers wanting more and more.
--Courtney Eathorne
YA: Young feminists, especially those with an interest in entertainment history, will rally behind Chocano's
tour de force. CE.
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Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Eathorne, Courtney. "You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, & Other
Mixed Messages." Booklist, 1 July 2017, p. 5. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A499862627/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=5396940e.
Accessed 27 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A499862627
1/27/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Chocano, Carina: YOU PLAY THE GIRL
Kirkus Reviews.
(June 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Chocano, Carina YOU PLAY THE GIRL Mariner/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Adult Nonfiction) $16.95 8,
8 ISBN: 978-0-544-64894-4
How culture teaches girls what it means to be female.Growing up in the 1970s and '80s, journalist, essayist,
and TV and film critic Chocano (Do You Love Me or Am I Just Paranoid?: The Serial Monogamist's Guide
to Love, 2003) felt "unreal, peripheral in my own life, trapped in a dream not my own." As a girl, she was
supposed to identify with fairy-tale princesses, but she felt like Alice in Wonderland, living in a world of
contradictions and illogic. The iconic princess, she came to realize, was "limiting, oppressive, infantilizing."
As she argues persuasively, that image of the princess--eager to be rescued by her prince--continues to
pervade. Combining memoir and cultural critique, Chocano finds much evidence that movies and TV send a
message undermining girls' empowerment. Although women "might be smarter, more responsible, and more
together than men now," the movies profess that men are still happier "because this was still a man's world."
Among the movies she examines are Pretty Woman (a "shameless American capitalist version" of
romance), Lars and the Real Girl ("the weirdest Pygmalion story ever told"), Fatal Attraction, Flashdance,
My Best Friend's Wedding; she also looks at the TV show Sex and the City and its "media-created
stereotypes." Now raising her own daughter, Chocano worries, rightly, that ideas about women's sexuality
"have become narrower, more rigid, and more pornographic in their focus on display and performance." She
finds that "the porn aesthetic, combined with the underrepresentation of more multidimensional female
characters," skews girls' conception of gender roles. Even the children's movie Frozen, which her daughter
saw about 30 times, sends mixed messages. Its protagonist is supposed to be powerful, but the movie insists
that "power is perhaps the most unnatural trait for a girl to possess." A girl's "greatest mission," after all, is
to be as attractive as she can be by transforming herself "into a trophy." Independence leads to "solitude and
loneliness," creativity to madness. A sharply perceptive look at the myths that constrain women.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Chocano, Carina: YOU PLAY THE GIRL." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A495427302/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=97d81e15.
Accessed 27 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A495427302
1/27/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies,
Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, & Other
Mixed Messages
Publishers Weekly.
264.19 (May 8, 2017): p49.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, & Other Mixed Messages
Carina Chocano. Mariner, $16.95 trade paper
(304p) ISBN 978-0-544-64894-4
In this whip-smart essay collection, pop culture critic Chocano explores representations of women in books,
movies, and television, with characters ranging in time and temperament from Edith Wharton's Lily Bart to
Mad Men's Joan and Peggy. Remarkably comprehensive and enjoyably associative, the essays move
quickly from the haunting performances of French actress Isabelle Adjani to The Real Housewives of
Beverly Hills, Bewitched, and / Dream of Jeannie as allegories for the potential of powerful women to
"wreck civilization." Chocano astutely observes that Thelma and Louise and Pretty Woman are "dueling
metanarratives" from the same cultural moment, offering diametrically opposed messages about women's
aspirations. On a personal note, Chocano describes her laborious efforts to raise a daughter without the
patriarchy's cultural hangups via an extremely thorough examination of Disney's Frozen and its famous aria,
asking--"What exactly is she letting go of?" Readers with even a rudimentary understanding of feminism
may find it wearisome to have such seminal texts as Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper
(1892) and Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963) rehashed; with a vast spectrum of material, and
Chocano's incisive and witty approach, however, these essays will appeal to anyone interested in how
women's stories are told. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, & Other Mixed Messages."
Publishers Weekly, 8 May 2017, p. 49. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491949109/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=df42c434.
Accessed 27 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491949109