Controversial Comedy

usatoday.com

Controversy has surrounded the new film The Interview set to be released on December 25th by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The film is directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen who have collaborated on hilariously inappropriate movies such as Superbad, Knocked Up, and Pineapple Express. It seems that The Interview, which is a comedy about an assassination attempt on Kim Jon-un,  may be the film where they have finally pushed their humor little bit too far... at least according to North Korea.

At the beginning of December, Sony Entertainment experienced a hack on an unprecedented scale. According to Yahoo:

The hacking has left Sony reeling. Personal information of its 3,803 employees has leaked online, along with a spreadsheet purportedly listing salaries of top studio executives. Five of the studio's films...turned up on the Internet, where they have been widely pirated... A threatening email was sent to employees warning them and their families of 'danger.' A group calling itself Guardians for Peace has taken credit for the attack, and there has been speculation that North Korea might be involved in the hacking as retaliation for The Interview, an upcoming Sony comedy about a plot to assassinate the country's leader Kim Jung-un starring Seth Rogen and James Franco.

The Guardians of Peace warned Sony to stop "immediately showing the movie of terrorism which can break the regional peace and cause the war." North Korea denied involvement in Sony's hacking but a spokesperson for the country's National Defense Commission said it "might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathizers" of North Korea. "We do not know where in America Sony Pictures is situated or for what wrongdoings it became the target of the attack... But what we clearly know is that the Sony Pictures is the very one which was going to produce a film abetting a terrorist attack while hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership..."

Randall Park plays Kim Jung-un
www.bbc.com

According to BBC News "the North Korea spokesman was quoted by the state KCNA news agency as saying 'Making and releasing a movie on a plot to hurt our top-level leadership is the most blatant act of terrorism and war and will absolutely not be tolerated."

Sony Pictures was clearly frightened and called a meeting in which the company asked its employees whether it should go ahead with plans for the film before continuing to work on its release. Sony also made sure that The Interview was  toned down, and special attention was paid to a scene that apparently depicted Kim Jung-un's head exploding.

The Interview did go ahead and held its premier last night with heightened security and without a traditional red carpet. Seth Rogen took to twitter with a sense of humor: "People don't normally wanna kill me for one of my movies until after they've paid 12 bucks for it."

The Experience of the American Girl

American Girl Dolls represent our country’s rich history… well, some of it.

American Girl Dolls are supposed to portray strong and relatable girls from throughout American history. However, there’s no way that the company can represent the experience of all girls. So which stories should the company choose to tell?

www.chicagomag.com

There was upset among many customers last year over the discontinuation of several dolls. Of the four dolls that were moved to the archives, two were dolls of color. Cecile Rey was African-American and Ivy Ling, who was Chinese-American, was the only doll of Asian heritage in the American Girl collection.

Ivy Ling
americangirlwikia.com

According to NBC News:

To many, the company's decision to discontinue Ivy and Cecile - two dolls of color - underscores the disconnect between corporate decision-making and potential consumer demand among minority communities, particularly in an era that finds the U.S. population becoming increasingly diverse. By 2017, Asian Americans are expected to have a collective buying power of $1 trillion, and African Americans, a collective buying power of $1.3 trillion, according to reports by Nielsen.

Although there is still racial diversity in the "My American Girl" collection, where customers can design their own dolls, there are only three dolls that remain in the traditional line that are not white. Addy is African-American, Kaya is Nez Perce, and Josefina is Mexican-American. When Cecile was first introduced in 2011, many customers were happy to have an African-American doll who, unlike Addy, had not been a slave. The Root complimented the new doll and said that "parents who... simply want to provide their children with a broader picture of the black experience in America, have another choice."

Cecile Rey
www.americangirlfan.com

I think that Jezebel user Addy4ever articulated the concern of Cecile's discontinuation well:

The issue is (like many toys and narratives, and much of history) that American Girl continues to allow the white narrative to be true, viable, and multi-faceted (as it should be! Isn't culture/race's past more than a single event or single type of person?)... 3 of those dolls are random minority characters who are stuck with a single narrative. The ones that attempted to elaborate or describe black culture (for example) as that other than "slave/former slave (Addy)" are being discontinued. The single Asian doll is no more. It's not just about the numbers (which, again, still favors the white doll and therefore, the white girls who get to pick "their story:/character) but about the lack of narrative, the exclusivity and the lack of choices. As a POC... I sorta wished I could have a black AG doll that represented a blackness that wasn't just slavery... the Molly's and Samantha's (real and imaginary) always had a choice. 

 While it is important to teach girls today about the appalling history of slavery in America, it is also important to note that slavery is not the only experience of African-Americans in this country and does not define their entire history. It seems important for the American Girl company to create a variety of dolls of color so that it can portray not only different experiences of race in America, but also stories of girls of colors who face challenges that are not defined by their race. So once again the question comes up, with a limited number of dolls, which stories should American Girl dolls tell? How can they include all of the different stories that make up the experience of being an American girl?
There is one group that is absolutely excluded from the American Girl franchise: the financially disadvantaged. These dolls start at $115 and that's without any additional accessories.

The St. Louis Rams Put Their Hands Up

The grand jury's decision not to indict the white policer officer, Darren Wilson, who shot and killed African American teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri has sparked protests across the country. The gesture of "Hands up, don't shoot!" has become an iconic symbol of the movement, a representation of Michael Brown's position when he was shot.
Last week, five football players walked out onto the field with their hands raised. St. Louis Rams players Jared Cook, Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, Kenny Britt, and Chris Givens used the gesture to show solidarity with protestors.

www.nbcnews.com

Jared Cook stated "Hands Up, Don't Shoot' is not just a Ferguson thing, it's a worldwide thing. People are doing it in New York, people are doing it in Florida, people are doing it on the West Coast... It's a message worldwide that you can do things peacefully without getting out of line." The Saint Louis Police Officers Association, however, seemed to think that the gesure was out of line and made a statement criticizing the players:

The St. Louis Police Officers Association is profoundly disappointed with the members of the St. Louis Rams football team who chose to ignore the mountains of evidence released from the St. Louis County Grand Jury this week and engage in a display that police officers around the nation found tasteless, offensive and inflammatory... It is unthinkable that hometown athletes would so publicly perpetuate a narrative that has been disproven over and over again... The SLPOA is calling for the players involved to be disciplined and for the Rams and the NFL to deliver a very public apology.

The Ethical Society of Police in St. Louis, however, stepped forward to offer a very different statement.

The Ethical Society of Police, is the primary voice of African American Police Officers in St, Louis City, and as such it completely supports the actions of the St. Louis Rams football players in which they showed support for the family of Michael Brown by entering the stadium with their hands up. We think that their actions were commendable and that they should not be ridiculed, disciplined or punishded for taking a stand on this very important issue which is of great concern around the world and especially in the community where these players work. The statements of the St. Louis Police Officers Association do not reflect the opinions of the majority of African American police officers in the department because there are no African American officers on their governing board and thy have a minimal amount of African American members.

Rams coach, Jeff Fisher, said that he will not discipline the players and did not give in for the SLPOA demand for an apology. Jared Cook also did not apologize and says that he would be willing to repeat the gesture although he felt that he and his teammates made their point.

This is not that first time that sports have played a major role in racial politics and, until we have equal treatment for members of all races, it is unlikely to be the last.

Jesse Owens
Summer Olympics 1936
espn.go.com

Tomie Smith and John Carlos
Summer Olympics 1968
www.telegraph.co.uk

Who Knew That Moses Was White?!?

The synopsis on the promotional website for Ridley Scott's latest film, Exodus: Gods and Kings, reads:

Scott brings new life to the story of the defiant leader Moses as he rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses, setting 400,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues.

www.exodusgodsandkings.com

If you’ve seen any of the posters or trailers for Exodus: Gods and Kings it probably became apparent that historical accuracy was not the top priority for the film makers. I mean, it’s a blockbuster action movie about an old testament story. My prediction is that the movie goes light on the history of ancient Egypt but that we get lots of vivid shots of the gruesome effects of the plagues (and maybe some shirtless men). There is one particular aspect of historical inaccuracy within the film that is really drawing criticism, and that is in the film’s casting.

The main cast includes Christian Bale, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, John Turturro, Aaron Paul, Ben Mendelsohn, and Ben Kingsly. Of these actors, Kinglsy is the only one who might fall in to a racial category other than white since his father was of Indian descent. The time of the exodus is unknown, but it is estimated to be around either 1450 BCE or 1270 BCE. In either case, it is pretty safe to assume that the Caucasian cast of Exodus: Gods and Kings does not accurately represent the population of Egypt at that time.

Sigourney Weaver and Joel Edgerton in Exodus
image from www.cinema.com.my

Rupert Murdoch stepped up to defend the film which is being distributed by 20th Century Fox. On November 28th Murdoch tweeted: "Moses film attacked on Twitter for all white cast. Since when are Egyptians not white? All I know are." A couple minutes later he followed up with: "Everybody attacks last tweet. Of course Egyptians are Middle Eastern, but far from black. They treated blacks as slaves." Despite, or quite possibly due to Murdoch's response, the hashtag "BoycottExodusMovie" did not decline in popularity on Twitter.

In the November issue of Variety, an interview with Ridley Scott did briefly mention the controversy.

"Exodus" became the subject of intense media scrutiny before Scott had ever exposed a frame of (digital) film... Much of the outcry online stemmed from his decision to cast white American, European and Australian actors in most of the key roles, no matter that the same could be said of "The Passion of the Christ," "Noah," "The Ten Commandments" and virtually any other big-budget Bible movies. "I can't mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such," Scott says. "I'm just not going to get it financed. So the question doesn't even come up."

While I did not have much initial interest in seeing Exodus: Gods and Kings upon its release, I do believe that I am even less likely to purchase a ticket now that I know that "Mohammad so-and-so" is not part of the cast.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's that time of the year again. The time for being grateful for what we have, for helping others, and for recognizing that not everything was hunky dory between the Native Americans and the pilgrims.

tldr.someecards.com

Not only can Thanksgiving be a difficult time to navigate the morality of United States history, it can also be a difficult time to navigate family relations and political discussions. I'm lucky that my Thanksgivings have passed with little conflict and great joy but not everyone has had such a good run. I came across some links that I have found helpful. Slate provides a "guide to your Thanksgiving dinner table arguments" and  The Atlantic gives suggestions on how to deal with political discussions at the dinner table. Although, with so much strife in the U.S. this week and with so many important issues on the (figurative) table, who knows? this may be a year when you don't want to avoid political discussions.

mentalfloss.com

On the topic of avoiding difficult conversations, did you know that the first turkey pardon was done by Ronald Reagan in 1987 to avoid the question of who he might pardon from the Iran Contra scandal? NPR also lists some other interesting events in its brief political history of Thanksgiving.

I do wish everyone the happiest of holidays!!!! Here is a video to send you off:

Georgia O'Keefe Painting Breaks Sale Record for a Female Artist

Last May, a painting by Joan Mitchell from 1960 became the top grossing painting by a female artist in history when it sold for $11.9 million. At a recent auction this record was broken when Georgia O’Keeffe’s painting, “Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1,” sold for $44,405,000. This beat O’Keeffe’s previous sale record of $6.2 million by a landslide! Now these may seem like exorbitant sums of money for anyone to pay for a painting, but it is still a fraction of the price that the works of top male artists go for at auction.

Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1
image courtesy of Sotheby's

A little over a year ago Francis Bacon’s painting, "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," broke the record for the most paid for a work of art in a public auction when it sold for $142.4 million. Paul Cezanne’s “The Card Players” holds the record of most expensive painting sold. It sold for $250 million in 2011. A list compiled of “the top 10 lots by women artists sold at auction” only has 5 sales that go over $10 million. Wikipedia’s list of most expensive paintings (as of November 2014) does not include any sales less than $60 million. It also does not include any works by female artists. So are female artists not as valued as male artists? Art critic Jonathan Jones feels strongly that the answer is yes:

Even as modern society has changed, and the structures  that controlled art before the modern age - suddenly, in the early 20th century women became far more visible as participants in such movements as dadaism and surrealism - the achievements of women as artists have been subtly underplayed and undervalued. They still are today, in the age when names such as Richter and Kiefer have so much more cache, somehow, than Emin or Sherman or Whiteread, and so many more TV programs are made about David Hockney than they are about Bridget Riley. Women are allowed to do art, nowadays, of course. They are just not permitted to be great at it.

An article in Blouin Artinfo from 2012 featured interviews with several women within the art world and addressed whether the trend of male artists outselling female artists is changing. Linda Blumberg, the Executive Director of the Art Dealers Association of America, acknowledged the slow but steady progress of gender equality stating, "I think it is a general cultural attitude. It was reflected in the workplace, it was reflected in the art world, it was reflected in all kinds of areas. As that began to change culturally, it began to seep in all over." Art gallery owner Gwenolee Zurcher seconds this opinion saying that "right now, today, there are so many good women artists, They do get some attention but obviously they could get more... there is definitely change taking place in the culture and the market for women artists, but... the process is painfully slow."

One Direction, One Ethnicity

www.popjustice.com

Boy band sensation, One Direction, just released their music video for their most recent single “Night Changes.” The concept behind the video is clear: You, the viewer, get to go on a different date with each of the five boys in the group, ranging from a romantic dinner to an evening at a fair. It’s certainly a cute idea! Your favorite member can look at you fondly, win you a stuffed teddy bear, and reach out to hold your hand… but that’s where the video gets tricky. 
You see, the video does show several of the boys holding "your" hand, but that means that the video also shows "your" skin tone, and, in every scenario, your skin tone is white. Unfortunately, if the intention behind the “Night Changes” video was to give every fan the opportunity to have a date with One Direction, it has failed because it makes the assumption that every fan is white.
You can watch the video below.