Week in review: 5/26 - 5/30

This week, writers across the Web discussed modern misogyny, gun control, and mental illness, among other topics related to the tragic events of last Friday in Isla Vista, CA. Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday argued Hollywood bears some responsibility for propagating the kind of misogyny many believe -- given his YouTube videos and vitriolic writings -- fueled Elliot Rodger's shooting spree. In singling out "out-sized frat boy fantasies like Neighbors," however, Hornaday angered the film's star, Seth Rogen, and frequent Rogen collaborator Judd Apatow, whom she also named in her piece. Both entertainers fired back over Twitter ("I find your article horribly insulting and misinformed," tweeted Rogen), eventually prompting Hornaday to clarify her statements on "The Tony Kornheiser Show": "I was using their work as an example, not to suggest blame or cause and effect," she said, before lauding Apatow's "Freaks and Geeks" and Funny People.

Her conciliatory remarks notwithstanding, Hornaday has suffered a backlash, as have many of the women participating in, as well as many of the men decrying, the Twitter movement #YesAllWomen. Women across the nation have taken to the social media platform to share their stories of quotidian and extreme misogyny. Interestingly, even eerily, The New York Times published an article just two days before the Isla Vista shooting, in which celebrities and other notables debated the state of modern feminism. The thought piece was prompted in part by the answer Shailene Woodley recently gave to TIME magazine when asked if she considers herself a feminist: "No. Because I love men, and I think the idea of ‘raise women to power, take the men away from the power’ is never going to work out because you need balance.” Talk about backlash -- Woodley has received a lot of heat for her remarks. She doesn't understand feminism, the kinder critics claim. But, as the NYT article makes clear, it isn't such an easy, homogenous, theory to understand.

Far clearer are those news items that deal in numbers, dollars and cents. Their ideology might be difficult to pin down, but it's safe to assume many feminists have embraced the world's newest fifth highest-grossing movie of all time: Frozen. The Disney cartoon about sisterly love surpassed Iron Man 3's worldwide total over the weekend.

Finally, for those searching for further positivity regarding the State of the Modern Female, we suggest taking a peak at Buzzfeed's thorough analysis of Angelina Jolie, the persona.

Happy Friday -- here's the trailer for the recently wrapped Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or winner, Winter Sleep!