To many, Batman is more than just his beginnings as a comic book superhero. Batman is not just the preserve of ‘comic book geeks’.

Throughout history, women have been told to sit down, be quiet and keep to yourself. Growing up, we are constantly told that sex is purely an act of procreation, that it’s something females should endure not enjoy. It is normalised to a point that we start looking at female pleasure as something wrong, especially self-pleasure. I mean women like sex – I sure do anyway!

Since Netflix’s breakthrough in 2013 with the debut of its original House of Cards series, many other streaming platforms such as Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video have made it possible for binge-watching to become mainstream.

Despite visibly displaying all the hallmarks of the stereotypical female duo so often found in films: the hot, popular ‘queen bee’ and her nerdy, needy best friend, these two characters refuse to conform and subvert this dynamic throughout the film.

Since the beginning of the film and tv industry women have been pushed aside in roles that were traditionally dominated by men, such as directors, producers and writers. If we look back to the golden age of Hollywood, very rarely will you see a female working the camera, taking control of film direction and writing a hit. Many were leading ladies like Judy Garland, Vivian Leigh and Audrey Hepburn.

There has been a slow emergence, and even slower recognition, of the South Asian presence in Western film and television media, which has met with a contemporary boom of South Asian faces and stories in the industries due to the crisis of (self-)representation. Somewhat missing from this ongoing public discourse around representation, however, is the reality of the ‘constructions’ underlying visual media representations.

Cassandra Thomas, played by Carey Mulligan, is on a dangerous mission to avenge the death of her best friend as she singlehandedly attempts to confront rape culture one Nice Guy at a time. Take her home and take your chances - that’s the challenge posed by the tagline of Emerald Fennel’s directorial debut Promising Young Woman.

Beginning a career in law, Turkish born Yasmine has many talents. Scouted for TV when she was five years into her law career, she was then scouted for TV and began work as a news reporter before transitioning to acting and now writing. We caught up with her to discuss her new film, Anxious, which is currently making waves on the awards circuit and why putting mental health at the forefront of the film was important to her.

It’s been almost a quarter of a century since that cataclysmic car accident in Paris took place. Why then, when so many years have elapsed since her death, was it not surprising to hear that yet another film focusing on the plight of the princess would be hitting our screens in the form of Spencer earlier this year? What is it about Diana that continues to inspire directors time and time again? I’d love to believe it was her daring sense of humour, her relentless approach to helping others or her killer wardrobe. However, it seems more likely that our society’s preoccupation with Princess Diana represents something much wider: a lingering obsession with women who have experienced tragedy.

I liked ‘The Snowman’ as a child, but not intensely. I remember the disappointment when my younger sister tore the reel out of our VHS tape to dance around the house wearing it as a cross-body handbag, but I don’t recall any great desire to watch it out of choice. However, in adulthood, ‘The Snowman’ has become a Christmas treasure to me.