Author Archives: Sherry Toh

On May 2, members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) held their first strike since 2007-2008. The WGA is a joint partnership of labor unions on the East and West coasts, each composed of writers in film, television, radio, and online media. When writers and the studios…

Speaking seems like a simple act: You open your mouth and say words. The end. But in actuality, it involves a number of mechanics: oxygen flowing through your lungs, up your trachea, and through your larynx, creating sounds that are then shaped by the voluntary muscles of your…

It’s been three years since COVID-19 lockdowns were implemented around the world. When that happened, time seemed to grind to a halt as the world intently followed the latest public health announcements. Plans were ripped apart as businesses all around us were shuttered. Three years later, as we’re…

Regular readers of my column may know that I love Taylor Swift. I’ve written multiple columns explaining how her songwriting has given me solace. I still buy physical copies of her albums (even though my laptop has no CD drive), and I’ve attended her concerts each time she’s visited…

My hands are shaking as I look at my crowdfunding page and type. My mouth is dry and my heart is pounding. I feel like an overheated device running too many apps at once, except the apps are emotions. Anxiety tops the list. For half a year, I’ve…

A common tendency among women and girls is to feel like we’re not enough. This insecurity is threaded throughout the media we consume. Netflix’s “One Day at a Time,” a sitcom featuring three generations of Cuban American women, comes to mind, as does the 2004 high school film…

My voice was off-pitch. I was too nervous. Though the casting directors for Singapore’s nationally televised talent show for children, “One Minute of Fame,” gave no obvious reaction, I realized the problem the second air left my lungs. Still, with all the boldness of an 8-year-old covered in makeup…

Once upon a time, I was a child who grew up with fairy tales, love songs on the radio and CDs for my Walkman, young adult romance novels, and romance dramas on TV and in films. Romance was — and is — as ubiquitous as Valentine’s Day discounts for…

The staff at the fictional Manhattan magazine waits with bated breath. It’s a make-or-break moment for reporter Vivian Kent, who’s on a call with Kacy Duke, the personal trainer once in the inner circle of Russian-born con artist Anna Sorokin. Kent had been working on the story of Sorokin’s exploits for…

White, male, formerly nondisabled: That was the typical profile of an explicitly disabled character in pop culture when I was a kid. Even then, I can only recall two who made an impression on me. The first was Charles Xavier, also known as Professor X of the “X-Men” movies.