Erin Schwartz

Erin Schwartz is a contributing writer for The Nation. They write frequently on television, popular culture, and books.

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“Zola” and the Limits of the Internet Movie “Zola” and the Limits of the Internet Movie

An adaptation of a viral Twitter thread only scratches the surface of how film storytelling might intersect with life online.

Aug 5, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

The Collective Trauma in ‘Mare of Easttown’

The Collective Trauma in ‘Mare of Easttown’ The Collective Trauma in ‘Mare of Easttown’

Unlike a standard true crime show, the HBO series focuses less on the mystery at its center and more on the community that must bear its consequences.

Jul 14, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

The Surreal Pleasures of ‘The Masked Singer’

The Surreal Pleasures of ‘The Masked Singer’ The Surreal Pleasures of ‘The Masked Singer’

By discarding all the tropes of standard reality TV, this singing competition allows viewers to revel in pure weirdness.

Jun 2, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

Luca Guadagnino’s Meditation on Youth

Luca Guadagnino’s Meditation on Youth Luca Guadagnino’s Meditation on Youth

His HBO series We Are Who We Are looks at teenagehood less as a time in one’s life than as a mindset one inhabits.

Jan 27, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

The Horrors of Charlie Kaufman

The Horrors of Charlie Kaufman The Horrors of Charlie Kaufman

His latest existential love story, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, reveals the limits of his work.

Nov 18, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

The Tangle of Desire and Class in ‘Normal People’

The Tangle of Desire and Class in ‘Normal People’ The Tangle of Desire and Class in ‘Normal People’

The television adaptation of the Sally Rooney novel depicts how people can fall in love in a world structured by power.

Jul 28, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

‘God Friended Me’ Was the Strangest Show on TV

‘God Friended Me’ Was the Strangest Show on TV ‘God Friended Me’ Was the Strangest Show on TV

Each episode of the CBS comedy-drama functions as a morality play for a peculiar worldview.

May 14, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

The Beautiful, Baffling Mysteries of Paolo Sorrentino’s Vatican

The Beautiful, Baffling Mysteries of Paolo Sorrentino’s Vatican The Beautiful, Baffling Mysteries of Paolo Sorrentino’s Vatican

His television series, The Young Pope and The New Pope, tell us a story bigger than one focused on just church or state.

Mar 23, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

Why ‘You’ Is So Terrifying

Why ‘You’ Is So Terrifying Why ‘You’ Is So Terrifying

The Netflix show turns Internet obsession and the need for attention when we’re online all the time into a horror story.

Mar 2, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

Every Generation Gets Its Own ‘Little Women’

Every Generation Gets Its Own ‘Little Women’ Every Generation Gets Its Own ‘Little Women’

Greta Gerwig’s adaptation faces two challenges: to be a good film and to mark how we can imagine women—as sisters, as antagonists, as wives, as workers—in our own time.

Dec 18, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

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