A Different Kind of Social Commentary

Clearly, Don Hewitt missed the boat on choosing a commentator for the end of 60 Minutes.

I've been working on a paper on blaxploitation, and though it's had its ups and downs (70s fashion - awesome; constant objectification of women - decidedly not) this is one of the most amusing things I've come across in my research.  His is a unique voice, for sure.

NBC, I Need You to be AWESOME

Can you be awesome?

I swear, if Jay Leno's stupid 10 o'clock bullshit interferes with the renewal of Chuck, I will be so upset.  I've given up on so many shows this season.  I don't know if it was the writer's strike, or what, but I have stopped watching multiple shows without caring at all, something I used to never do.  I watched all of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.  I watched all of October Road.  I used to not be a show-abandoner, but I just can't bring myself to keep up with Heroes anymore.  Or Brothers and Sisters.  Or Ugly Betty.  Good shows keep getting cancelled (Pushing Daisies, Kings (probably)) or they end (Battlestar Galactica) or they're limited to 13-episode seasons (Friday Night Lights, anything on cable), which is narratively excellent but bookended by insanity-inducing lengthy hiatuses.  Television is far and away my favorite medium, and Chuck turned into such a pleasant surprise this season, building on the entertaining premise established in the first season and adding depth, emotion and a general all-around awesomeness.  Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak more than delivered this season.  I can only keep my fingers crossed, and send this wish into the cosmic void, that NBC appreciates that delivery and has good news for the fans during their upfronts.

Random Film/Music Observation

Some Aerosmith songs have the writing credit "Tyler/Perry."  Frankly, it's weird either way, to think about the Toxic Twins writing Madea Goes to Jail or Mr. Perry being involved in, say, "Lord of the Thighs."

SNL

One of my favorite SNL sketches, which apparently, aired ten years ago, making me feel old. I love the creepy professors so much.

I know there are a lot of people who found Jimmy Fallon laughing during sketches annoying, but I think this is one of those where the inability of anyone to keep a straight face somehow makes it better.

Mood Music XIV

Sometimes, when life is hard, it's good to remember that no matter how much work you have to do on your thesis (or whatever is challenging about your life at the moment), cheese-slathered arena rock will always be there for you.

Journey - New Music - More Music Videos

Always.

TV Thoughts

Every time I watch American Idol, including tonight, I see commercials for this show and wish Idol would just end and this would come on instead.  Right now. They're all so boring, I don't care who wins. Glee, on the other hand?

Adjectives fail me, that looks so awesome.

"Did that hurt, or is that ethnic?"

I'm really, really trying not to pre-judge this movie, but it's so hard.

First - Fame didn't need to be remade.  Fame is fine just the way it is - there's always a degree to which good stories about teenagers will remain fundamentally true in the emotions and situations they depict, even if the fashions or music are dated.  Fame, in my opinion, is one such story. I was probably about eleven or twelve when I saw it for the first time (on PBS, weirdly) - it's the first 'R' that sticks in my mind as one that I loved.

Second - That remix/update of "Fame" towards the end, whatever that is, demonstrates yet another thing that didn't need to be messed with.  The original song won an Oscar, for Christ's sake. Leave it alone!

Third - It's hard to tell from a trailer, but this movie seems awfully...upbeat. 

Like, the director talking about hard work showcasing talent? Sure, that's an element of the movie, but that's not what I love about Fame. My favorite thing (okay, maybe second favorite, see #4) about the movie is the "Senior Year" section, when most of the characters get slapped in the face by reality. When I first saw Hillary's monologue about her abortion, I remember the feeling of having never seen something like it before, and even though it's been nearly thirty years since Fame came out, the topic is still rarely addressed with that kind of candor in popular culture. If they end this movie with some sort of "Kid A went to Hollywood...Kid B is dancing on Broadway" epilogue instead of the original's disconcertingly ambiguous ending, I am going to be so disappointed and rant about it so hardcore...

Fourth - Originally, I said that "Senior Year" was my favorite part, and then I realized that my most favorite thing about Fame is "Out Here on My Own," probably one of my favorite movie scenes, like, of all time.  Now, I have no complaints with the way it's sung in the trailer - it sounds nice, the song is recognizable.  The song, though, is only half of why I love this scene.

The way Lee Curreri gazes at Irene Cara while she's singing this song makes me swoon more than anything, like, ever. Back in the pre-YouTube days, sometimes I would fast-forward my VHS (!) just to watch this scene, for real. 

Okay. So I'm totally pre-judging. Sigh. Why not make a "teens in the performing arts" movie and just NOT CALL IT FAME?!?! Must the name of a perfectly good film be tarnished?

Commercials

This commercial is kind of cute, but I seriously can't get over the dad being the murderous corrupt cop from Damages. The reveal of his badge in the first season was one of the most unbelievably shocking moments of the show, and I can't quite forget his eeevilness.

Also, I'm watching The Biggest Loser right now, and there was just an ad for Pop-Tarts advocating making ice cream sandwiches with Pop-Tarts as a summer treat.  Talk about not knowing your audience. Also - why would you give that much sugar to children? I love Pop-Tarts and ice cream, but that sounds disgusting.

My Letter to Amazon

The news about Amazon de-ranking "adult" books, most dealing with gay and lesbian issues, has been gaining prominence on the Internet today (I read about it on Jezebel) I sent them an e-mail via customer service (who knows whether I'll ever get a response), and thought I'd share it here:

To Whom It May Concern: 

I was saddened and dismayed to learn today of Amazon stripping certain books of their Sales Rankings. The customer service response was apparently that this action was designed to serve the "entire customer base," but instead it privileges the desires of a segment of the customer base over others. Popularity in and of itself is not a value judgement - refusing to acknowledge popularity is. As a customer who has spent hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars at Amazon.com over the past few years, I am disappointed in such a prominent merchant willfully misleading its customers regarding its sales figures. As an academic, I am appalled by the fact that the chosen field of some scholars has been disregarded and devalued by Amazon. As a lover of reading, I was dismayed to learn that some of my favorite works have been stripped of their rankings, as well as the fact that some classic books, and potential classics-in-the-making, have been determined unworthy of ranking. What's more, I believe that those Amazon claims to help are those most susceptible to being harmed by this action. Many adults have, through time and experience, determined how they feel and think about issues of sexual orientation. It is young people who deserve to have the full range of educational and cultural materials available to them, presented with transparency, as they contend with their own respective thoughts and feelings. I plan to cease spending money at Amazon.com unless this issue is resolved.

Recommendations

Netflix, it seems, has updated their recommendation algorithm, which results in my getting weirdly specific recommendations from them.  I think they're embracing more of a Pandora model, where different aspects of a song are highlighted to form a "You Might Like" playlist.  Hence, I rated Boyz N The Hood highly after watching it for class on Thursday, Netflix tells me they think I would like more "Exciting African-American Crime Movies." (The introductory adjectives are kind of a trip. Exciting?) I've also been recommended "Quirky Mother-Daughter Comedies," "Gritty Drug-Addiction Movies," and "Romantic Independent Immigrant-Life Movies," among others.  There was an article in the Washington Post or somewhere not that long ago talking about people trying to create a new, better algorithm and about how Napoleon Dynamite is the recommendation algorithm's Waterloo (does that count as a pun? If so, it was unintentional). It seems to me, though, that Netflix still hasn't addressed what's most frustrating to me about their recommendations. To them, placing a film in one's queue is expressing interest. To me, that expression has not occurred until I've watched the movie and given it a good rating. They could also really use a "Don't Use This for Recommendations" command like Amazon has, which has saved me from them using my academic reading to generate recommendations.  I don't know - I guess it's just that I have tentative plans to take a trip through Tyler Perry's filmography (so my opinion on him and his work is informed, as opposed to a knee-jerk reaction to trailers) and I'm pretty sure I don't want that informing what Netflix recommends to me thereafter.

Semi-related: I understand why people get down on Gwyneth Paltrow and her newsletter (the lifestyle chasm between "twenty-something graduate student" and "thirty-something Oscar-winning actress who was already pretty rich to begin with" is such that there's probably not much of utility that she can really tell me), but I've never felt a fraction of the disdain that some people seem to work up about her.  She won points with me by featuring the movie rental recommendations of my two favorite directors (among others) in GOOP. I just can't hate you, Gwyneth.