Still, some other “big” celebrities have done dancing better:

With John Oliver replacing him, the house won’t be empty late evenings, but the tone will change from Yiddish to British as our inner child reacts to the insanity of the day’s news.

At 50, Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz may be having his midlife crisis, but it serves to underscore the role he plays in American life, something more than what the New York Times has described as “advocacy journalism,” coupling him with Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite.

That may have been damning him with faint praise. What Stewart more closely resembles is a 21st century version of figures going back to Will Rogers and, before he started writing novels, Mark Twain–the comedic commentator who keeps Americans sane by deflating political powers-that-be.

Calling Stewart a pop social critic could be closer to the mark but might lump him with gasbags he so deftly deflates–the cable TV commentators who purportedly analyze the news but pour the ketchup of ideology over it and obscure rather than reveal its essence.

Whatever he is or may eventually become, Stewart is now part of thinking people’s brain structures whose absence will leave a hole in their lives until he returns.

To ease the pain, they can revisit one of his earlier ventures into movies, as an actor…

MORE.

We have had too many stories recently on too many troubling, serious issues.

Here is one perhaps tilting too far the other way. Oh well…

Writers are human. They like to be patted on the back for their work — especially if they feel they have poured their heart and soul into their creation.

While TMV readers are generally quite generous with their compliments and constructive feedback on articles we post, they are no match for a cornucopia of fawning comments I have been reading — sweet talk that would stroke any writer’s ego.

Ignoring the obvious motive for the comments — more on this later — and perhaps because of the somewhat less-than-perfect use of the English language (as someone who still has not mastered all the nuances of the language, I can say this hopefully without fear of repercussion), I found the comments not only charming, but also having a haunting, almost “poetic” quality about them.

Here are some of them — unedited:

This article is really wonderful, a friend gave me a look. I set eyes on, I would like to express the feelings I looked. Others did not feel that I do not mind, at least now I show myself…

If you consider I do not care to set eyes on this article, the next time I am followed about your article, I think I will never again careless. Do you believe in yourself, you do not know your article can make people so infatuated with…

A slightly different version:

If you think I do not care to see this article, the next time I am concerned about your article, I think I will never again careless. Do you trust yourself, you do not know your article can make people so enchanted….

Some more:

A wonderful article will widen one’s horizon because the article is true, make us touching and laugh. When I catched sight of this article, I consider I can gains these…

A work of a harvest, precisely because of your troublesome writing, we can feel so much felicity, learn more our own understanding of their. The world could be so beautiful…

On “eudemonism”:

Your article is here, the feeling of a mere individual can bring in more. Let these people from every corner of the world, even in the heart with eudaemonia. We are not solitude…

And a creative ensemble of the two:

A work of a harvest, accurately because of your troublesome writing, we can feel so much eudaemonia, learn more our own understanding of their. The world could be so okay…

I could not quite figure out the next three comments:

The words that hear Yang Yi, the cold Europe Chen is tiny to tinily sigh tone:”Are you worried if the brother-in-law had an accident?”

Yang Yi is very tiny wrinkly to knit the brows, upsetly say:”That wench had an accident, you how have an accident than the parents still worried?”…

Something for our NSA to analyze? It will probably drive them crazy…

Most of these charming comments are posted by folks promoting certain web sites or the latest fashion sunglasses, women’s purses, shoes, etc. and are caught by TMV’s very efficient spam filters.

Thus our readers don’t get to enjoy them.

Shame, they attest to the worldwide adulatory fan base TMV enjoys and represent a pattern that could be emulated by our frequent “commenters.”

Self deprecating Satire; Self deprecating satire

Image: www.shutterstock.com

The American arts has lost one of its most solid actresses — a long time reliable character and supporting actress who shot to fame as the long-suffering but actually quite wise Edith Bunker, wife of Archie Bunker in the ground-breaking 1970s comedy “All in the Family.” She is dead at 90.:

Jean Stapleton, an actress whose portrayal of a slow-witted, big-hearted and submissive — up to a point — housewife on the groundbreaking series “All in the Family” made her, along with Mary Tyler Moore and Bea Arthur, one of the foremost women in television comedy in the 1970s, died Friday at her home in New York City. She was 90.

Her death was confirmed by her agent, David Shaul.

Ms. Stapleton, though never an ingénue or a leading lady, was an accomplished theater actress with a few television credits when the producer Norman Lear, who had seen her in the musical “Damn Yankees” on Broadway, asked her to audition for a series. The audition, for a character named Edith Bunker, changed her life.

The show, initially called “Those Were the Days,” was Mr. Lear’s adaptation, for an American audience, of an English series called “Till Death Us Do Part,” about a working-class couple in east London who had reactionary and racist views.

It took shape slowly. The producers filmed three different pilots, the show changed networks to CBS from ABC, and Ms. Stapleton acted in a film directed by Mr. Lear, “Cold Turkey,” before “All in the Family,” as it came to be known, was broadcast in January 1971. Then, for three or four months, hampered by mixed reviews, the show struggled to find an audience, but when it did, it became one of television’s most popular programs, finishing first in the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive seasons and winning four consecutive Emmy awards for outstanding comedy series. Ms. Stapleton won three Emmys of her own, in 1971, 1972 and 1978.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Audiences who weren’t around to see “All in the Family” when it debuted in 1970 don’t appreciate how record-breaking it was. Norman Lear confronted the issues of bigotry and other issues using often searing humor — something that most television comedy of the era avoided, unless it was a segment with insult comic Don Rickles. And it was also groundbreaking for another reason: by the early 70s many TV comedies had moved to “canned laughter,” inserted in shows shot using a one camera technique. All the family proudly declared it was taped in front of a studio audience.

Stapleton’s Edith was a beloved character. And when Stapleton decided to leave and was killed off, “All in the Family” and a sequel show only starring O’Connor did not measure up — and an era fizzled to an end.

People were confused, though. NO that was not Stapleton’s real voice. She gave the character what she called “that nasal voice” that she had used in a supporting role in “Damn Yankees” on Broadway. And she was hardly ditzy. Watch this serious, fascinating interview with her:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Stapleton loved the Edith character:

“She was a wonderful character who was loving and colorblind,” Stapleton told The New York Times of her character Edith. “I think she would be appealing at any time because of her freedom from hate and bigotry.”

Born on January 19, 1923, Stapleton attended Hunter College before launching a career in show business.

Her work on Broadway included turns in several hit musicals including “Damn Yankees” and “Funny Girl.” Stapleton was also nominated for an Emmy for her 1982 turn as Eleanor Roosevelt in “Eleanor, First Lady of the World,” and Aunt Vivian in ABC’s “Grace Under Fire.”

The trailer for Eleanor:

Click here to view the embedded video.

She even sang a song on the Muppets’ show:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

–Doug Mataconis:

Playing the “straight man” in a comedy, even one that was as much social commentary as it was a comedy like “All In The Family,” is never an easy job, but Stapleton took the role of Edith Bunker and made it her own. Indeed, one wonders how the show itself would have worked without Stapleton’s Edith there to humanize Archie and, more than once, get the best of him notwithstanding all the barbs and insults directed her way. Her and O’Connor worked so well together it was almost like they really were married.

It’s been said more than once that a show like “All In The Family” would never make it on television today, and that’s likely true. It’s not just because of the frank way that the show dealt with topics that weren’t just controversial, but also taboo back in the 1970s, but also because it’s hard to believe that any other group of actors could have pulled off a show like that with any degree of credibility.

–LA Times fills in some more blanks which again underscore what a serious and versatile actress she was:

She had been a veteran of stage, film and television when she was cast in the CBS sitcom opposite Carroll O’Connor’s loud-mouthed, bigoted Archie Bunker, who often addressed her as “dingbat.” She won three Emmys for the role.

“The benign, compassionate presence she developed made my egregious churl bearable,” O’Connor wrote of Stapleton in his 1998 autobiography. He died in 2001.

Born in New York City on Jan. 19, 1923, Stapleton was the daughter of a billboard advertising salesman and an opera singer.

In 1949, she got a break when she was cast in the national touring company of “Harvey.” Many characters later in summer stock, regional and off-Broadway plays, Stapleton starred as a wisecracking waitress in 1953 Broadway production of “In the Summer House.”

Stapleton went on to a feature role as Sister in “Damn Yankees,” singing the hit tune “You’ve Gotta Have Heart,” and reprised the role in the 1958 film. She also appeared in both the stage and film versions of “The Bells Are Ringing” as Sue, the proprietor of Susanswerphone Service. And she originated the role of Mrs. Strakosh in “Funny Girl,” which made a Broadway star of Barbra Streisand.

–Some celebrity reactions on Twitter:

Bette Midler, who is iconic in her own right, tweeted about her peer saying, “Jean Stapleton, beloved as Edith in ALL IN THE FAMILY dies at 90. She was unforgettable in that role…rest in peace…”

Actress Alyssa Milano simply tweeted, “RIP,” while Debi Mazar tweeted, “R.I.P Jean Stapleton!!One of my favorites.”

Marlee Matlin left a beautiful message on her Twitter: “Jean Stapleton who played Edith Bunker was no dingbat. When I finally saw All in the Family with captions I realized she was brilliant! RIP.”

Marie Osmond also wrote about a memory of Jean, saying, “So remember Carroll O’Connor & Jean Stapleton on #DonnyandMarie talk show in 2000. Last TV interview together. Peace to you Jean.”

And Jean’s death seemed to really crush actress/comedian Sandra Bernhard, who tweeted the simple message, “suddenly they’re gone. and it’s too much to bear.”

But it wasn’t all actresses – Vegas actor Michael Chiklis also tweeted, “‘All in the Family’ star Jean Stapleton dies at 90. One of my favorites has passed away. Jean was Brilliant. RIP.”

Father Greeley was a combative polymath, often at odds with his Church’s hierarchy. A quarter of a century ago he denounced pedophile priests and later gave a million dollars from his book earnings to an organization for their victims.

Twenty years ago, we shared an airplane ride. He had been a guest speaker at the Magazine Publishers Association in Bermuda and somehow contrived to have my coach ticket upgraded so I could sit next to him in First Class. We spent the two hours parsing a new movie, Ingmar Bergman’s autobiographical masterwork “Fanny and Alexander,” the shaping of an artist’s sensibility by his widowed mother’s remarriage to a tyrannical Lutheran bishop.

On our plane trip, we traded reactions to Bergman’s brilliant imagery including his boyhood refuge in the home of his grandmother’s Jewish lover and a wistful speech by his uncle about “the little world” of theater that their family inhabited:

“Therefore let us be happy while we are happy. Let us be kind, generous, affectionate and good. It is necessary and not at all shameful to take pleasure in the little world.”

In today’s scandal-plagued Catholic Church, Father Greeley in his prime would have been a rallying figure for dissidents. Even diminished by illness, he wrote his last book about the US in Iraq titled “A Stupid, Unjust and Criminal War.”

MORE.

There are very good films that get forgotten, never to be thought of again until they reappear on television brutally ruined by adverts.

Cast Away is such a film. It’s not only very good, but for me it changed my opinion about what films and great acting can achieve. I have always been in love with the movies but until I watched Cast Away they rarely moved me. They rarely put me in the shoes of the character on screen and made me ask serious questions about myself. Cast Away changed all of this.

…

I live in a world where everyone around me is obsessed with being busy and leave no time for their close ones. The problem is that I have had to conform to this world in order to support my young family and barely get a chance to even find out how their day has been. Re-watching Cast Away raised the uncomfortable question of whether this busy life is worth it.

The answer is no. Not by a long shot, but what choice do you have.

…

Cast Away also asks another uncomfortable question, ‘could I survive on a desert Island?’ The question is pretty much asking what type of man I am and the truth is, I’m not manly at all. There is no way I could survive what Tom Hank’s Chuck goes through in this film – I’m not nearly resourceful enough.

Importantly, I don’t think I have the mental capacity to deal with the suffocating loneliness in the film. I couldn’t deal with the thought of Mrs Bear and the little cub moving on, probably with another man, while I was stuck on the Island. As selfish as that is, it’s the god honest truth.

If I was in the same situation as Chuck, I would have given up. And for someone as proud as myself, that is a scary and embarrassing thought.

…

I’m not the biggest fan of Tom Hanks, but what he does in this film is nothing short of an acting master-class. Hanks has to sell the majority of this film by himself and he is damn near awe-inspiring in this film. The scenes with him and his imaginary friend Wilson are bitter-sweet and lends a lot of humanity to a character that was very unlikable at the start of the movie.

I originally watched this film when I was an cocky teenager, when I thought I was invincible and could take on anything that the world threw at me. It took a film, this film, to finally drive home to me how bloody vulnerable life is; it took this film to make me realize that the privileges I enjoyed (and still enjoy) could disappear at any minute. If you knew me as a teenager, you’d understand what a feat this was.
…

Cast Away is a fantastic film that should be celebrated a lot more than it is. In a time where we are taking our offices home with us via our mobile phones, it has a very clear warning to us all – don’t take your loved ones for granted.

@chocoteddyfilms

As is often the case, the English-language write-thrus of this review of a new book about John F. Kennedy’s time in Germany left out some important details by playing up the 20-year-old JFK’s ‘fascination’ with Hitler’s regime, without mentioning the misgivings the future president expressed. This this is the entire German-language review of the book, the title of which translates as John F. Kennedy Among Germans: Diaries and Letters 1937-1945, which outlines Kennedy’s clear interest in the stagecraft of Hitler and and the Nazis, but also his dismay at the ‘docility’ of the German officials who, unlike Americans, seemed to have a problem questioning authority.

For Germany’s Der Spiegel, book reviewer Johanna Lutteroth starts off this way:

Fascism? “The right thing for Germany”? As a young man, John F. Kennedy toured Germany three times from 1937 to 1945 – and was impressed by the “Third Reich.” Now, for the first time, the surprising accounts of the future president are being published in German.

In the summer of 1937, two young Americans and a Ford Cabriolet landed at the Port of Le Havre. Their mission: See Europe in three months. It was the classic “Grand Tour” of wealthy east-coast Americans, which, like a debutante ball, was a must for the adolescent elite. One was named Kirk LeMoyne Billings, also called Lem, and the other was Jack – better known as John F. Kennedy.

The two boys, who had just finished their first year of college at the elite university Harvard, were 20 years old and ready for adventure. They enjoyed their trip to the fullest – flirting, partying, and meeting with friends. At the same time, however, they actively studied political systems – the fascism of Italy and Germany, in particular. Lem Billings recalled later that Kennedy was “completely consumed with interest in the Hitler movement.” As a student, the future U.S. president traveled to Germany on two more occasions: In the summer of 1939, while conducting research for his senior thesis that dealt with the Munich Agreement of 1939, and in 1945, when he accompanied James Forrestal, the-then secretary of the Navy, on a tour.

READ ON IN ENGLISH OR GERMAN AT WORLDMEETS.US, your most trusted translator and aggregator of foreign news and views about our nation.

In 1959, Nikita Khrushchev came here in Eisenhower’s lame-duck days and, at his request, visited Hollywood where he happily mingled with Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine and other stars on movie sets. But when he wanted to go to Disneyland, permission was denied for “security reasons.”

The volatile Khrushchev exploded, “I would very much like to go and see Disneyland. But then, we cannot guarantee your security, they say. Then what must I do? Commit suicide? What is it? Is there an epidemic of cholera there or something? Or have gangsters taken hold of the place that can destroy me?”

Three years later, when I was in California during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Hollywood people were sure that ICBMs were aimed at them and also been re-targeted from San Francisco. In the ensuing panic, they emptied supermarkets of toilet paper.

Now President Obama will be hosting his Chinese counterpart at a lavish private estate and will no doubt take him to Disneyland, if asked.

In these days of cyber-spying, what a foreign leader can see at a theme park is the least of American security worries…

MORE.

With her announcement of a double mastectomy, Angelina Jolie has created a social media tsunami. But according to columnist Patrik Etschmayer of Switzerland’s News, she has unwittingly done something else: expose the ugly underbelly of misinformed new media opinion.

For Switzerland’s News, Patrik Etschmayer writes in part:

Anyone who has actually read her statement realizes that this is woman who had a difficult decision to make – a decision influenced by her mother’s ten-year battle and eventual early death from cancer; the questions and fears of her children; as well as a genetic test that gave her an 87 percent chance of developing breast cancer, and 50 percent of ovarian cancer.

She expresses herself with the words of a woman who weighed very carefully what is best for her and her loved ones. But many social media commentaries were just off the cuff opinions, convictions and aloof expressions of superiority from those privileged NOT to be confronted with such a situation.

Jolie wanted to trigger a discussion and spread awareness of the problem. In this, she has succeeded. However, as almost is always the case in these times of social media, the indeed lively discussion is mainly driven by opinion rather than analysis of the facts. Simply put, this culture of opinion, characterized by reflexive commentary, has been made extremely visible in this specific case, but also determines the political and social discourse on issues beyond the tabloids.

It’s safe to say that these breasts of contention won’t change our cultural discourse, but they can serve as a wonderful example of how not to discuss other people – whether prominent or not, whether rich or poor. Because, to quote the words of Peter Glaser, we wouldn’t so freely express our opinions if we had more ways of better informing ourselves before hitting the send key.

READ ON IN ENGLISH OR GERMAN AT WORLDMEETS.US, your most trusted translator and aggregator of foreign news and views about our nation.

One month ago, Venezuelans authorities arrested U.S. filmmaker Timothy Hallet Tracy for ‘fomenting post election violence’ and charged him with being a spy. Last week, in this petition signed by Venezuela’s leading filmmakers published in El Universal, the artists implore the government of Venezuela to quickly release Tracy, who they believe was arrested simply for pursuing his craft by documenting one of the most tumultuous periods in their nation’s history.

The petition from Venezuelans filmmakers starts off this way:

The detention of filmmaker Timothy Tracy infringes the right to free expression in Venezuela.

From the beginning, the detention of U.S. citizen Timothy Hallet Tracy by Venezuelan authorities caught the attention of the national cinematography community, because it was reported he was a filmmaker who for several months had been making a documentary about the socio-political situation evolving in our country. We have, however, waited several days before speaking out, pending more detailed and reliable information about the case, because the circumstances of his arrest and the reports issued by police and judicial authorities were confusing and needed to be better investigated for the sake of reliability and adherence to the truth.

Today, all information we have been able to collect about Timothy Tracy is that he is a 35-year-old filmmaker who has been in Venezuela for several months, and that during his stay, he has carried out intense and extensive work preparing a record of the political developments taking place in this country. Since the regional elections, held before the October 7, 2012 presidential election and the outcome of the illness suffered by President Chavez, up to the new campaign that ended April 14, Tracy had been relating all of the factors on both sides of our politically-polarized divide. He visited many communities at opposite ends of the socio-economic spectrum, all with the aim of recording their activities and points of view, using his only resource – his video camera.

READ ON IN ENGLISH OR SPANISH AT WORLDMEETS.US, your most trusted translator and aggregator of foreign news and views about our nation.

But I LIKE colorization. Here’s the full Laurel and Hardy short from the 1930s — colorized:

Click here to view the embedded video.

On this Mother’s Day weekend I have already posted two articles in honor of that very special day and of those very special ladies.

As a retired military I naturally gravitate to “all things military,” thus both articles are about “military Moms.”

Yesterday, however, I read a touching article about Mothers, period.

Moreover, it is written by a mother who has experienced all the joys and all the pains and grief of motherhood — including the loss of her daughter, Katie, who died at age 29 in July 1999, after a 10-year battle with pediatric brain cancer.

I have quoted Mary Jane Hurley Brant several times here at TMV. For example, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with suggestions on how we all might help comfort the survivors of that tragedy. More recently — not being the “mushy” kind — I used Mary Jane’s writing “as a Proxy for My Valentine’s Day Wishes.”

So here is Mary Jane Hurley’s “Happy Mother’s Day to Every ‘Good-Enough Mother’”

For many of us, Mother’s Day stirs something deeply loving. For others, ambivalent feelings abide. You see, after thirty-three years in the counseling field and drying the tears off many faces, I can accurately say that not every woman feels she had, was or is the “good-enough mother.”

So, exactly what is the “good-enough mother”? English pediatrician, Donald Winnicott, M.D. – an influential object-relations psychoanalyst – believed this type of mother was a different kind of mom because she didn’t hold perfectionism as her model. Good on you, Doc Winnicott; that’s “a like” button over here for sure. Honestly, I never realized that perfectionism in motherhood was even a possibility. Maybe it’s a new app.

I loved being a “good-enough mother.” I use the past tense now because the needs of my children have changed: my precious daughter, Katie, is in heaven with her Creator and my ever-humorous son, Richard, is happily raising his own sweet family. Each would laugh at my memories, my deep thoughts, my recollections.

For instance, in those first weeks of motherhood, if anyone even mentioned my new baby daughter’s name, my breasts would gush like the Trevi Fountain. Thank you Mother Nature.

And we all know that babies need things like diapers – lots of them. No designer Pampers for this mother either; both children were allergic to the plastic coating. Plus, my mindset was allergic to the idea of doing something easy when I could do it the hard way. The folding was nothing, but the trip to the Laundromat? Now that was an outing because we had no washer or dryer and owned one car. Besides, somebody had to make a living. (Yes, my husband’s name was “Somebody.”) Oh, the things we women do to economize saving for a house. And I really did work within a budget – absolutely resisted the purchase of a stackable washer/dryer combo for the apartment – even though “Somebody” thinks I only scrunched my nose up at the word “budget.”

~ I smile remembering days in the sun watching my toddlers splash around in a plastic pool with pictures of fish and waves on the side or pointing to my cheek for a kiss whenever the urge fell upon me.

~ I smile remembering pre-adolescence when buying a dozen donuts after Mass and eating three because “the kids like donuts.”

~ I smile remembering all those checkups and my favorite pediatrician (who happened to look like Antonio Banderas) saying to me on one I can barely stand I’m so tired mornings, “I can’t understand why your son isn’t sleeping through the night at four months.” Then he narrowed his eyes and leaned in, “You’re not playing with him when he wakes up are you?” When I didn’t immediately respond he tilted his head, pursed his lips and continued in a considerably louder voice, “Who wouldn’t want to wake up, have a little nuzzle and play? Next time, just give that baby boy water and he’ll never wake up again in the middle of the night!” Ladies, I think there’s a lesson for us in there somewhere!

So to the young moms out there, don’t worry so much about how things look or who has what. Don’t worry about making every kid’s game, every practice, while hurrying to work, cleaning up after the dog, cooking from scratch for your mate -Yikes! It’s simply too much for any woman, any mother! Instead, take a deep breath, book a facial for yourself and just do the best you can being the loving and devoted, dare I say it, “good-enough mother.”

Happy Mother’s Day, dear Moms.

CODA:

Mary Jane Hurley Brant, M.S., CGP, is a practicing Human Relations Counselor, a Certified Group Psychotherapist and a Clinical Member of The American Group Psychotherapy Association.

After her daughter’s death, Brant — always a letter writer — continued writing to her daughter and, eventually, she compiled those letters into a book, “When Every Day Matters: A Mother’s Memoir on Love, Loss and Life.”

In her book, Brant tells of the efforts she and Katie made to maintain their joy and passion for life while struggling against the devastating disease, but she also hopes the book will help other grieving parents and she includes advice on accepting unimaginable loss.

Read more about Mary Jane Hurley Brant and her book — Published by Simple Abundance Press and available at Amazon.com — here or go to Mary Jane’s web site here.

Image: www.shutterstock.com

Raleigh, N.C. – A new music-oriented poll from Public Policy Polling finds widespread support for several genres and music and artists – but Americans are united in their dislike for teen pop sensation Justin Bieber. PPP tested the favorability ratings of several of today’s biggest music stars: Taylor Swift (53-27), Adele (54-18), Beyonce (51-30), and Justin Timberlake (52-24) all received positive reviews from voters. Others didn’t fare as well – Chris Brown (13-57), Lady Gaga (29-50), Justin Bieber (20-54) were all rated unfavorably by 50% or more, and Jay-Z (25-44) and Rihanna (30-39) had net-negative favorability ratings as well. Veteran British rocker Morrissey (17-31 with 52% not sure) and dubstep pioneer Skrillex (11-35 with 54% not sure) were the least known of artists tested.

Bieber was the only artist whose unfavorability rating stretched across partisan lines – a majority of Democrats (23-54), Republicans (17-52), and independents (18-56) all reported negative views of the singer.

They call this “consensus.”

I often buy films that I never got to see in the cinema based on their hype alone. As I’ve said in recent posts, I used to rely on Rotten Tomatoes and the reviews listed on the site to help me chose my movies. However, as much as the site overlooks some gems, Rotten Tomatoes also over-praise some films.

The Hurt Locker is such a film

…

The Hurt Locker feels like it was made by that SOB in school that thought he was the smartest person in the building – but he wasn’t, he was just a git (in this case, he is a she). Hurt Locker feels overdone, it feels over complicated and it’s a missed opportunity to tell a story about a conflict that has influenced the lives of my generation, whether they like it or not.

For mid-twenty somethings, the Iraq war is a big deal. We saw the birth of the war on terror. I still remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. Although I was and I am too much of a coward to sign up for the UK Army, I still take great interest in how this conflict is portrayed on film – and The Hurt Locker doesn’t ring true. None of it.

Jeremy Renner’s Sergeant James feels like a 2D character with no complexity to him. He comes across as an idiot, not someone who is emotionally compromised because of his time in Iraq or Afghanistan. Just a reckless git.

The rest of his team come off as whingers who I forget about as soon as the credits roll.

Ultimately, I come out of watching The Hurt Locker thinking, what is it actually trying to say? If it’s not trying to say anything, what is it actually trying to do? Because I just don’t know.

…

I’m placing a lot of the blame for the shortcomings of this film on the director’s shoulder, Kathryn Bigelow. I don’t think there is a story here. I don’t even think that she makes any attempt to tell one, which is ok, to a point.

The much lauded actions scenes are not tense, they’re boring. They feel empty and distant.

I am amazed that this is the same woman that made the brilliant Zero Dark Thirty which addresses all of my problems with this film – and then some.

…

War films should give the audience a feel, even if it’s the slightest hint, of what it’s like to be a soldier in that conflict. This film fails this litmus test.

I got sold on this film being part of a long and illustrious tradition of American War films, such as Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and The Deer Hunter. The makers of those three films should be very offended.

…

More movie articles at my blog.

This time, the five photographs shown here were selected by the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit school of journalism in Sarasota, from 266 photos submitted by the Department of Defense to the Institute. Those 266 photos had been in turn selected by Steve McGill, multimedia manager at the Defense Imagery Management Operations Center (DIMOC) from among thousands of photos taken by military photographers on active duty.

More from the American Forces Press Service:

The five photos will be among 49 included in the “Witness to Mission” exhibit that will be displayed on standing marble tablets at Patriot Plaza at the Sarasota National Cemetery in Sarasota, Fla.

“Witness to Mission” will be one of two exhibit themes and will depict the mission of the U.S. military since the Civil War shown through the experiences of the men and women who made the history. The other theme will be “Service, Support, Sacrifice” and will capture personal stories of those who experienced military life, according to Lawrence A. Sichter, Defense Media Activity.

The images competed with the work of some of the finest, award-winning photographers in the world to get their shots of the U.S. military included in the $2 million art portion of the Patriot Plaza project, officials at DIMOC said.

“It’s truly an honor to have DOD imagery displayed in a permanent exhibit alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning pictures,” said Gregg Porter, DIMOC director.

The Patterson Foundation in Sarasota is funding the $10 million project to build Patriot Plaza, which will be donated to the Veterans Affairs Department’s National Cemetery Administration. Patriot Plaza will be dedicated in spring 2014 and will be a gathering point for patriotic events in Sarasota.

These are the selected images, in addition to the lead image.

Hey TMV. I thought I’d do a more topical post. After you’re done, check out my other stuff over at my blog.

…

Jason Collins (some NBA player I’d never heard of until recently) declared, to much fanfare, that he was gay. In his coming out piece to Sports Illustrated he began by saying:

“I’m a 34-year-old NBAcenter. I’m black. And I’m gay.”

I’m feeling a little proud of myself at the moment because my reaction to this big story is me wondering why it’s a big story. I genuinely don’t care. I didn’t even know who this bloke was until his name started clogging up my Twitter timeline and appearing on news-sites.

What did catch my eye was the emphasis he put on his skin colour. I’ve seen a lot of coming-outs of celebrities in my life time, but I can’t remember them bringing their race into it. In fact, come to think of it, I can’t remember any coming out of a black celebrity at all. And when my lady and a couple of friends asked me why his race was such a big deal in this subject matter, I simply shrugged and said: “we black folks are some homophobic SOBs”.

…

About 7 years ago I was probably the most homophobic little runt around. I put this down to many factors. And yes, being black, or more specifically, of African descent, was one of them. I come from a very religious family. Not just religious, but African religious. If you know anything about how African countries treat gay people, you know the term homophobia just doesn’t cut it. On top of this, I am a huge hip-hop fan and that isn’t a gay friendly music.

But I can point to one event that changed my outlook on LGBT community. To the point, one film that started to make me look at this subject matter very differently.

Brokeback Mountain.
…

I have very contradictory views about Brokeback – It’s a very ordinary movie, while also being an extraordinary movie.

I remember the hype surrounding this film, marketed as if it’s a shocking and revolutionary piece of cinema, when in truth it’s simply a love story. In fact, if you swap the two male leads for a heterosexual couple, it becomes an unremarkable love story like the ones in Dear John or The Notebook. But as it stands, with its gay characters, it becomes something more. That unremarkability gives you space to actually think about the subject of gay relationships and homophobia, without being distracted by controversy.

If this was a film with heterosexual leads, they would be unsympathetic adulterous characters. As it stands, it’s still a film about two people cheating on their wives, but all the way through this film I felt sorry for the poor bastards. I mean, I felt excruciating sympathy for them. Not disgust or anger at the fact that they are gay, but heartfelt sorrow for their situation.

The difference between me now and the homophobic me back in 2005 is that I didn’t understand what true desperation was. I am an extroverted person, I wear my feelings on my sleeve. I have never been in a situation where I couldn’t be… well, me. What Brokeback Mountain gets across very well is how these two characters have had to lie for most of their lives about who they are. That time up the mountain is the only time they could be themselves. It also happens to be the case that in 2005 I was at university and actually got to know gay people. They were not just a theory, the proverbial monsters – they were real people I studied with, I talked to and to my surprise, they didn’t try to jump me or convert me in anyway. They were cool. Knowing this and watching Brokeback, it was difficult to watch Jack and Ennis’ story unfold, brush it aside and quote the “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” line.

…

In truth, watching Brokeback Mountain was difficult for me. It was bad enough watching the torture of Jack and Ennis, but it was worse watching the behaviour of the farmer, Jack’s wife and ultimately his killers. Their intolerance and homophobia bothered me. It messed me up because in their hatred I saw myself and started to question why I felt that way and the truthful answer is that I didn’t know. I didn’t know why I discriminated and was openly hostile towards a group of people that I had absolutely no dealings with.

Brokeback Mountain is the first film that revealed what an ugly f-g person I was. And importantly, it showed me that I was a hypocrite.

Back then, me and my baby mama (who was just my girlfriend at the time) experienced minor events where complete strangers took umbrage at the fact that we were together (by the way, my lady happens to be white). I remember while watching Brokeback wondering how I have the balls to look down and discriminate against gay people when people were doing the same to me. If me and my woman lived in the American south not too long ago, it would have been illegal to be together.

Hypocrisy.

And then I started to think about all the arguments against gay people and the stupidity began to unravel. Although I was from a religious family, I wasn’t even a little bit religious. And as far as I know, not a single gay person had tried to convert and break me and Lady Bear up. Now heterosexual folks on the other hand…

…

I’m not saying this 180 in thinking took place over one sitting of this film – that wasn’t the case. I’m saying that this film was the catalyst for that change in thinking. Having gay friends that were out and could share their story and experiences helped as well. Also, as stupid as it sounds, seeing Eminem (“Homophobic, nah, you’re just heterophobic”) perform with Elton John helped too. Thinking for myself was a huge revelation. All this helped me to get to a stage where I can shrug off this Collins story and just simply say that it’s not a big deal.

But I know that Collins could inspire some homophobic black kid somewhere to rethink his stupid views until one day we can reach a point where all this hatred isn’t necessary and everyone can just live their lives -minding their own business.

@chocoteddyfilms

A U.S. filmmaker has been arrested in Venezuela on charges that he was there to incite a civil war after national elections to elect the successor of Hugo Chavez on April 14. Here are two articles on the arrest of Timothy Hallet Tracy – both which refer to how the movie Argo may be hurting Tracy’s cause.

One from Argentina’s La Nacion, sees the arrest as a sign that Chavez’ heir Nicolas Maduro is coming unglued trying to fill his old boss’ shoes. The other, from Venezuela’s Apporea, lays out a case that Tracy appears is a typical CIA/NSA/DHS/Mossad plant, based on apparently mistaken information supplied by the Associated Press, and on the history of espionage, which involves the regular use by spies disguised as journalists and filmmakers.

First, an editorial from Argentina’s La Nacion headlined Magical Surrealism’ and the Arrest of Timothy Hallet Tracy, likens the news to a movie script and suggest that that nation’s new president, Nicolas Maduro, is losing his composure and making up stories in a struggle to fill the shoes of Hugo Chavez:

The magical surrealism of Venezuela these days is the latest chapter in the Bolivarian Revolution, this time with a new protagonist: Timothy Hallet Tracy, alias, “El Gringo.” According to the Nicolas Maduro government, the Michigan director is a dangerous conspirator who sought to incite a “civil war” after the April 14 elections.

Directed by the filmmaker, operation The April Connection … “included the triggering of foci of violence that would lead to civil war, the aim of which was to generate a spiral of violence that would delegitimize the government. So we acted to bring peace,” said one very convinced minister, who also tied Tracy, 35, directly to the student movement. The ultimate aim of the scheme set in motion by “El Gringo” would have been “the intervention of a foreign power in the country.”

Then from Argentina’s Aporrea, in an article headlined Timothy Hallet Tracy: U.S. Spy or ‘Filmmaker’? … You Be the Judge, columnist Ivana Cardinale pulls together apparent inconsistencies from the Internet and Associated Press reports to conclude that Tracy’s identity as a spy is almost beyond question. Cardinale writes in part:

When does an innocent filmmaker go to a country without a film crew? To our knowledge, Tim Tracy was alone in Venezuela.

On the other hand, the alleged arrested filmmaker, as the Associated Press reported on Thursday, is also said to have directed and produced a documentary called Under Siege. But this is a lie, because again, the man who made that film was Aengus James. The film was shot along the Canadian border with Department of Homeland Security agents who work “in the civilian sphere to protect the United States both inside and outside its borders.” The aim of this agency is to “prepare for, prevent and respond to national emergencies, particularly terrorism.”

As I said, the documentary Under Siege was released last month on the Discovery Channel – and filmed at the Canadian border with DHS agents. So – let us suppose Tracy works on documentaries, and if so, in Under Siege, he worked hand-in-hand with DHS agents.

As we know, agents of the CIA, NSA, Mossad, etc., have agents who are disguised and have a thousand ways of entering countries undetected: as filmmakers, journalists, mountain climbers, and even diplomats.

READ MORE GLOBAL VIEWS OF THE UNITED STATES AT WORLDMEETS.US, your most trusted translator and aggregator of foreign news and views about our nation.

Vladdo, Semana, Colombia, www.caglecartoons.com

As a respite from All Boston Bombers All the Time, cable news turns to happy talk with the George W. Bush Library dedication and the annual Correspondents Dinner of media strivers basking in their own celebrity with fake self-deflation.

It’s enough to make an old journalist cry (Tom Brokaw stifled his tears by staying home rather than hobnobbing with Lindsay Lohan.)

With production help from Steven Spielberg, the President got more laughs than Conan O’Brien (“Some people think I don’t spend enough time with Congress. ‘Why don’t you get a drink with Mitch McConnell ?’ they ask. Really? Why don’t you get a drink with Mitch McConnell?”)

The cable networks covered the speeches live but, for the full flavor of the event, C-Span showed the preening and mingling for hours before as would-be media stars and has-been pols babbled while looking over one another’s shoulders for bigger game. (Mrs. Newt Gingrich with her helmet of hair was towing her smiling mate like a beached whale.)

After the event, attendees left with a Hollywood junket-like swag bag of fragrance, snacks, candy, headbands and other goodies.

Impressive, yes, but fake bonhomie had peaked earlier in the week at the Bush Library dedication…

MORE.

Miranda Rights and the Cartoon Police
by Daryl Cagle

Now I know how Mitt Romney felt when he was dogged by complaints about his “flip-flopping”. Nothing makes editorial cartoonists angrier than another cartoonist who changes his mind.

There was a short lived debate about whether a Miranda warning should be given to Boston bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who had been questioned without being given the warning. I drew a cartoon featuring Dzhokhar with two other, famous killers, and a caption that concluded that “none of them” deserved a Miranda warning. I got no response from editors or other cartoonists to this cartoon, but I got such a strong reaction from readers against the cartoon, with many well reasoned arguments, that I changed my mind — something that doesn’t happen much in the editorial cartooning profession.

I remember when the Miranda decision came down in the 1960′s, on a 5-4 vote. It was controversial for a long time. Liberals liked it, conservatives still don’t like it. The Miranda debate resurfaced when Dzhokhar was questioned without being given a Miranda warning, a topic that filled editorial pages for nearly a week.

Of-course Dzhokhar doesn’t personally deserve any special consideration, but the American people deserve to have civil rights that are applied consistently to all, including the most heinous killers. Most of the reader responses to my cartoon conflated reading the Miranda warning to Dzhokhar with Dzhokhar’s overall civil rights; I have come to the conclusion that this is a good thing. I see now that the Miranda warning has become a part of our national fabric and I changed my mind. I really read the arguments that readers send to me. I drew a new cartoon that showed a revised conclusion that “all of” the killers deserved to be read their Miranda warning.

Then I learned that, as I was drawing the revised cartoon last Monday, Dzhokhar was read his Miranda warning, so I doubt that my second cartoon got reprinted much. Even so, the talking heads on TV were engaging in renewed debate about the wisdom of giving the Miranda warning in this case, which caused the suspect, Dzhokhar, to stop “talking.”

I’ve changed my mind before, not often, and usually over a longer period of time, but I won’t go back into my online archive to delete my regrettable old cartoons. I posted them, I should live with my history. So both versions of my cartoon are still posted on my web site. (My old cartoons supporting the run up to war in Iraq are still posted too — I’m more embarrassed by those.)

I got almost no response to the second version of the cartoon from readers or editors, but there was an angry torrent of responses from my fellow editorial cartoonists. Some of my colleagues blogged that I had a new, insidious business plan to make more money by offering two versions of the same cartoon, for both liberal and conservative editors — to sell twice as many cartoons with only one drawing. Others agreed, adding that I was cheapening the profession with this crass, two-faced commercialism.

One political cartoonist blogged that my cartoon was no editorial cartoon at all (and by extension, that I am no editorial cartoonist) because editorial cartoons must, by definition, express only one opinion. Another editorial cartoonist raged at my cartoon in his blog by calling me the “Osama Bin Laden” of editorial cartooning.

Some cartoonists wrote that I must surely be lying about my reason for changing the cartoon, because the idea that I would change my mind was simply not credible. Others called for me to be punished for my breach of the unwritten laws of cartoon ethics. Some demanded that I be thrown out of our professional organization.

Other editorial cartoonists demanded that I remove the old version of the cartoon from my archive, as I would do with a cartoon that was revised to correct a spelling error. The idea that an editor could purchase and print both versions of the cartoon, with two different opinions, was repugnant. Bloggers and journalism sites reported on the cartoon controversy.

Yes, the cartoon police really do exist.

I know this all sounds unbelievable, but I’m not exaggerating. It is fascinating that editorial cartoonists have such a different perspective on their own work than editors and readers do. We editorial cartoonists take ourselves far more seriously than anyone else takes us.

I’m tempted to resist this cartoon police brutality. When I’m arrested, I hope they read me my Miranda warning.

Daryl Cagle is a cartoonist who runs the CagleCartoons.com newspaper syndicate distributing editorial cartoons to more than 850 newspapers around the world including the paper you are reading now; he is a past president of the National Cartoonists Society. Comments to Daryl may be sent to cari@cagle.com. Read Daryl’s blog at www.cagle.com/daryl.