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.

Cheers to the Commander in Chief

www.contrarie.com

Mark Will-Weber has just published "Mint Juleps with Teddy Roosevelt: The Complete History of Presidential Drinking". This not-so-typical history book details American presidents' most interesting interactions with alcohol. Apparently Andrew Johnson showed up drunk to the vice presidential inauguration and gave a slurred and lengthy speech while Lincoln just about died of embarrassment. Thomas Jefferson was a wine aficionado and had to sell part of his personal library to pay for providing libations to the many guests he entertained. After being verbally harassed, Teddy Roosevelt knocked out a rancher in a saloon bar fight before calmly returning to his seat. Eisenhower made his own gin in a bathtub at Fort Meade... during prohibition. If you are interested in seeing a more human, less moral, and more inebriated side to the 44 presidents, you might want to go and check out this book!

Oh, and as a bonus, The Washington Post has a list of all our presidents' favorite drinks.

Veronica Lake's Victory Rolls

www.imbd.com

Veronica Lake was a 1940s Hollywood star, instantly recognizable for her sultry blonde waves that covered one eye. Lake reached the height of her career during World War II and women everywhere were trying to replicate her signature hairstyle. This star worship became problematic as women working in factories to help the war effort got their long, beautiful, Veronica Lake locks caught in industrial machinery. Lake had such an effect on what young woman wanted to look like, that the government pressured her to set an example for American women and change her hairstyle. Thus, Lake styled her hair in victory rolls, named after the movements of fighter planes through the sky. Victory rolls were seen as both glamorous and practical and they became an iconic hairstyle during the war.

Celebrities may come and go but their influence remains evident long after their names are forgotten.  Lake's career began to fall apart by the late 40's due to alcoholism and mental illness. She died in 1973 at age 50. Lake's years in the spotlight are commemorated by her films, her star on the Hollywood walk of fame, and her impact on the war effort where she served as pin up girl for soldiers, promoter of war bonds, and style icon for young female factory workers.

Kim's Racy (and Racially Insensitive) Photo Shoot

Warning: several links are NSFW

If you have been on any news sites that includes an entertainment section within the past 24 hours, you've probably seen a photo of Kim Kardashian, oiled up, smiling, and butt naked.

SOHH.com

The reality tv star is appearing nude in Paper Magazine's winter issue. This issue has already spawned a number of interesting conversations and debates. Here are some that I have encountered: Are these photos powerful and body positive or trashy? What does this issue mean for the print magazine industry?  What does this say about women? What are the underlying racial problems with this photo shoot? Is it appropriate for a mother to pose naked? What's Kim's role in current celebrity culture? Is the use of photo shop ok? My own personal question: Who knew that Kim Kardashian could make people think so much?

Heterosexual Hollywood Harmonies

It is undeniable that the genre of the musical film is neither solely created by, nor solely enjoyed by heterosexuals. In fact, the musical film has historically been hugely popular within the gay community. The irony is that the classic Hollywood studio musical is all about the formation of the heterosexual couple and it works very, very hard to deny the possibility of homosexuality.

Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor in Singin' In The Rain
theatlantic.com

In Rick Altman’s essay “From Homosocial to Heterosexual: The Musical’s Two Projects” Altman examines the openings of Hollywood musicals which most other writers on the genre have ignored in favor of an analysis of endings. In fact, in Altman’s previous work, he himself had only analyzed the beginnings of films to see how they supported a film’s ending. He primarily considered the resolution of the plot through the formation of the heterosexual couple and the dramatic musical numbers that often accompanied this event. Altman now criticizes his previous statements that the beginnings of Hollywood musicals do not have shared commonalities in the same way as endings, saying “on what basis I made this claim I have no idea.” So Altman turns his attention to the openings of musicals and the message he might find in them outside of the context of endings. Altman points out that while the endings of musicals focus on the heterosexual couple, the beginnings are largely homosocial in nature. They show one or both of the characters that make up the main couple in the company of a single companion or a group of friends and colleagues of the same sex. 

The start of Grease
www.collider.com

Over the course of the film, the characters eventually come to find their true place in life through the centrality of a relationship with a member of the opposite sex. Altman states that musicals are actually about this move from homosocial to heterosexual.

The ending of Grease
www.hitfix.com

Altman presents two different hypotheses to address the effect of this structure of moving from homosocial to heterosexual. Altman’s first hypothesis is that the homosocial relationships at the start of musical films provide examples of wrong couples that emphasize the rightness of the final heterosexual romance. This hypothesis supports the traditional theory that the plot of the musical is the formation of the couple and that the character dynamics of the beginning are in service of the film’s conclusion.

Altman’s second hypothesis is that opening the musical film with homosocial relationships is not just to stress the ultimate rightness of the heterosexual couple but also to subvert the formation of a homosexual couple. Altman claims that the development of the heterosexual romance is a rite of passage for the members of the couple. The characters’ growth and maturation goes hand in hand with abandoning homosocial ties in favor of heterosexual ones. 

The Jets in West Side Storywww.lens-views.com

Through presenting the heterosexual couple as a natural replacement for the homosocial relationship, the musical does not leave room for the formation or even a consideration of the homosexual couple. By previously only focusing on the ending and the creation of the heterosexual couple, Altman realizes that he had missed the message in the opening of the Hollywood musical, which was a specific argument against the homosexual relationship.

Tony and Maria
rogerebert.com

Smooth Jazz and Rough Politics

Kenny G, a smooth jazz saxophonist, caused some conflict when he visited a pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong last week. Kenny G. is hugely popular in China and his song "Going Home" has actually become an anthem that is played to signal that it is time to, well, go home.  Sometimes the song even plays on a loop around closing time until people get the idea and leave.
On a recent tour of China Kenny G. tweeted a photo of himself at a pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong.

www.dailymail.co.uk

According to The Guardian

Within hours of his tweet, the Chinese foreign ministry had issued a frosty condemnation of his display of solidarity. "Kenny G's musical works are widely popular in China, but China's position on the illegal Occupy Central activities in Hong Kong is very clear," ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news briefing, according to Reuters. "We hope that foreign governments and individuals speak and act cautiously and not support the Occupy Central and other illegal activities in any form," she added.

 Kenny G immediately took to Twitter to defend himself. Over a series of tweets throughout the day he stated:

I was not trying to defy government orders with my last post. I was in Hong Kong as a stop on my way to perform at Mission Hills and happened to walk by the protest area as I was walking around Honk Kong as a tourist. Some fans took my picture. It's unfair that I am being used by anyone to say that I am showing support for the demonstrators. I am not supporting the demonstrators. I don't really know anything about the situation and my impromptu visit to the site was just part of an innocent walk around Hong Kong. I love Hong Kong and always come here to perform when I'm asked to. I love China and love coming here to perform for over 25 years. I only wanted to share my wish for peace for Hong Kong and for all of China as I feel close to and care about China very much.

Me think the man doth protest too much but he clearly wants to protect his image in China which continues to be his biggest market worldwide. 

A Bug's Life

Entomaphagy: the consumption of insects. Not so appetizing? Megan Miller weighs in:

What if eating insects could help solve world hunger? According to a report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in May 2013, incorporating insects as part of our diet could not only help solve the global food crisis but provide other environmental and economic benefits. The human population is continuing to grow and the current estimate is that the population will be at 9 billion by the year 2050. That's a lot of mouths to feed! In fact, to provide enough food for 9 billion people we would need to nearly double the world's food production.

Unfortunately, our current food production system is not sustainable and far from efficient, especially when it comes to meat. Livestock production accounts for 70% of agricultural land use globally and it is also responsible for 18% of our green house gas emissions. Raising edible insects as part of our food source is far more efficient and far more sustainable. Insects could be fed using organic waste, would require far less land and would produce considerably less methane, ammonia, waste (urine and manure), and other forms of pollution. The FAO estimates that if we globally incorporate insects in to our diets we could reduce green house gas emissions by 18%.

ohfortheloveofscience.com

Insects have a high feed conversion efficiency which is partly due to the fact that they’re cold blooded and do not require a lot of additional food that they burn off as energy. Crickets in particular are a great example of this high feed conversion. Crickets need half as much feed as pigs and chickens, 4 times less feed than sheep, and 12 times less feed than cattle to produce the same amount of protein!

Speaking of protein, let's talk a bit about nutrition. Nutritional values vary amongst different kinds of insects but many edible insects are very high in protein, essential fatty acids, fibre, iron, zinc and other minerals and micro nutrients. The FAO points out that more consumption of edible insects worldwide could help improve food and nutritional security as well as prevent many diseases that are products of malnutrition.

www.npr.org

Insects are part of the diets of about 2 billion people worldwide and the reason we don’t eat them in most of the Western world is largely cultural. There is the issue of the "ick factor." In the United States we think of bugs as dirty, as pests, and culturally as part of the diet of more “primitive” people. Now eating insects doesn’t necessarily mean picking bugs out of your garden and chowing down. There would have to be FDA regulations since many insects can carry disease and those not raised for food could also be exposed to pesticides. Megan Miller also points out that insects do not need to be eaten whole. The emerging trend of cricket flour is a way to get the benefits without as much of the "ick factor." Some companies are beginning to incorporate insects in to protein bars and view this as a way to ease people in to eating insects. As Gabi Lewis, co-chief executive officer of Exo, puts it "sushi did it with the California roll, an easy, introductory vehicle to ease people into the idea of raw fish. That's how we view this protein bar. It's the gateway bug."

Besides efficiency, sustainability, and nutritional benefits, the U.N. report emphasizes another benefit of eating bugs: it could lower the average cost of food globally by 33%.  That number is nothing to turn up your nose at, especially when considering a future with 9 billion humans on the planet. Just some food for thought.

photograph by Julian Woods for Bloomberg Businessweek

The Passing of a Fashion Icon

Renowned fashion designer Oscar de La Renta died this Monday at age 82.  Besides dressing countless stars on the red carpet, Oscar de La Renta designed outfits for several first ladies including Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama. According to The Daily Beast :

 "Oscar de La Renta's name is practically synonymous with "First Lady" fashion- his obituaries identify him as someone who "dressed" president's wives. But more than dress Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush ("fashion is non-political and non-partisan," he once said), de la Renta shaped, changed, and altered our ideas of what the First Lady of the United States should - and could- wear... he cultivated a sort of 'first lady' style that has dominated for decades: tasteful, impeccably made, and above all pretty."

Here are some of photos and articles commemorating his influence on the Washington catwalk.

Jackie Kennedy

www.susannavaris.com

Nancy Reagan

             

Hillary Clinton at the the Second Inaugural Ball for her husband

www.huffingtonpost.

Laura Bush and Cindy McCain both in Oscar de La Renta at the 2008 Republican National Convention

In the New York Times the article "Never Mind the Parade, What Did They Wear?" discusses the anticipation for Laura Bush wearing Oscar de La Renta as her second inaugural gown.

The Bush's were such big fans of the designer that they introduced "Oscar de la Renta: Five Decades of Style" at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas this summer.

Another New York Times article mentions the debate over Ann Romney's dress at the Republican National Convention. 

"The choice of what to wear on the convention stage was apparently the subject of much behind-the-scenes wrangling between Mrs. Romney and some of her husband's advisors... she told reporters that she was surprised to learn the political team thought it should weigh in on her fashion choices... In the end the de la Renta outfit won."

style.time.com

 A big fuss was made when Michelle Obama finally wore Oscar de la Renta. To the fashion world it seemed a slight to the designer that Michelle Obama did not wear Oscar de la Renta during her first five and a half years in the white house and, in fact, there were some snarky comments made on Mr. de la Renta's part on the subject. When Michelle wore a de la Renta dress to the cocktail party after the White House Fashion Education Workshop it made a statement. The New York Times says that "for the last seven years, the first lady's clothing has been the subject of intense scrutiny, which she has leveraged pretty effectively. She wore the de la Renta dress at the public event, in front of most of the United States fashion world. There's no way she wasn't aware of the messaging potential of the moment."

Fighting Balrogs and Bullying

www.stonewall.org.uk

 Stonewall is a gay rights advocacy group and their Education for All campaign "helps tackle homophobia and homophobic bullying in schools." Recent research for Stonewall has found that 55% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual pupils have experienced direct bullying in Britain's schools. 86% of teachers surveyed in secondary schools have witnessed homophobic bullying against students, 36% of teachers reported that they had heard homophobic language used by other staff members, and only 17% said that they have received any guidance in how to deal with homophobic bullying among students.

The ever awesome Sir Ian McKellen has been touring schools in the U.K. on behalf of Stonewall, of which he is co-founder. He recently visited Chew Valley School to congratulate them on their Equalities Team and their work against bullying.  The school reported:

"In a series of mesmerizing addresses and question and answer sessions he talked movingly about his own personal history in the context of changing attitudes and legislation in relation to gay rights. Whilst celebrating the undoubted progress he has witnessed in his own life-time he urged Chew Valley students to continue to be a beacon for civilized attitudes and behavior."

McKellen also provided an important warning to students of what would happen if they did not do their school work. Listen to the man!

Style That Offends More Than Just The Eyes

Retail stores are constantly turning out new products in attempts to meet demand and stay ahead in a highly competitive industry.  Unfortunately, such rapid design and manufacturing of products means that not all of the items are screened thoroughly and some of the final merchandise is in very poor taste.  When I say “in poor taste” I do not mean that these items are in last seasons styles, are ugly, are cheaply made, or might be considered immodest.  I mean that I find these products to be outright offensive. Luckily so do thousands of other people across the Internet. Outcry on social media can quickly call attention to a brand’s insensitivity.

According to Yahoo “Social media certainly plays a part in raising awareness for a brand’s ethical and social responsibility. Consumers understand their power to call things out more than ever before… All it takes is one unhappy customer to trumpet these types of social injustices… we’re living in an age of instant media… which means that brands need to be more self-aware.”

One of the main items in question in the Yahoo article was a "punk rock ring for men" released by Sears. What made it punk rock? It had a swastika on it.

www.washingtontimes.com

The immediate backlash across Twitter and Facebook following the release of an offensive product can cause a company to pull it as quickly as possible and often leads to a public apology.  This consequence, while not severe, could damage a retailer’s public image and so will hopefully encourage more careful thought about the message sent by their products. 

There have been quite a few interesting shirts sold (and discontinued) over the past several years. Let’s take a look!

Check out this headline: Urban Outfitters apologizes for its blood-red-stained Kent State sweatshirt

Another tasteful release from that company, their “Eat Less” t-shirt. 

nypost.com

We have a couple lovely selections marketed towards young girls that completely devalue their intelligence.
Here's one from the Children's Place which reads "My Best Subjects: Shopping, Music, Dancing, Math." Each item is checked off except for math and below it is printed "Well, nobody's perfect"

nymag.com

And another from JC Penny that says "I'm too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me."

nypost.com

I believe that these companies should be free to print whatever they want per The First Amendment.  Consumers are also free not to buy these products and to speak out against them and I fully encourage them to exercise that right.

Race in Shondaland

ABC Television's Thursday prime time slots are filled by “Grey’s Anatomy,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” and “Scandal.” What do these shows all have in common besides high ratings? Shonda Rhimes.

Rhimes is the executive producer of “How to Get Away with Murder” and the creator of “Scandal” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” All three of these shows have female leads. Two of these leads are African American.  Before the premiere of “Scandal” in 2012, the last network drama to have a black female lead was “Get Christie Love!” which ran from 1974-1975. An article in The New Yorker states that in “Scandal,” the main character “Olivia Pope’s ethnicity is a non-issue; the show never refers to it. This places ‘Scandal’ in contrast to ‘The Good Wife,’ another network procedural, but one that is set in an Obama-haunted Chicago, and quite explicit about racial politics, as well as about institutional racism and white guilt.”

www.foxnews.com

Shonda Rhimes graces the cover of this month's issue of The Hollywood Reporter.  In the interview with Rhimes in that issue it becomes clear that she doesn’t want to focus on race in her personal career any more than she does in her television shows.

            “Shonda Rhimes read a draft announcement for an event where she was set to appear. It called her ‘the most powerful black female showrunner in Hollywood.’ She crossed out ‘female’ and ‘black’ and sent it back… ‘They wouldn’t say that someone is the most powerful white male showrunner in Hollywood… I find race and gender to be terribly important; they’re terribly important to who I am. But there’s something about the need for everybody else to spend time talking about it… that pisses me off.”

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 Kerry Washington, the star of "Scandal," has a different approach to the topic of race. In an interview with The Guardian Washington says:

“I don’t believe in post-racial. It’s like saying we should live in a post-gender world. But I love being a woman! I am interested in living in a post-sexist world and feel the same about race. I don’t want to live in a post-race world because being black is really exciting… it’s who I am… I’m interested in living in a post-racist world, where being African American doesn’t dictate limitations on what I can do, but I don’t want to live post-race. Our differences are so fascinating and wonderful. We don’t want to all be the same. Who wants that?”

Now that I have ignored Ms. Rhimes' desires and focused on the topic of race in her work, I'm going to step back and take a little look at Shondaland (the name of Rhimes' television empire) by the numbers. The season premieres of "Scandal" and "How to Get Away with Murder" dominated all other non-sports television in the ratings on Thursday night.  "Scandal" drew 11.9 million viewers and "How to Get Away with Murder" debuted to 14 million viewers. Race may still be a hot topic and racism an ever present issue, but Shonda Rhimes' television shows have proven that good character development, exciting story lines, and excellent acting are more important to a show's success than the gender and color of its star.