What does it mean when some of the best religion stories these days appear in New York magazine? It means the Apocalypse is near. Last week New York had a concise but interesting Q&A with Jay Bakker, son of Jim and Tammy Faye, who has moved to Brooklyn to found a hipster church. This week, columnist and Zeitgeist tour guide Kurt Andersen announces his heebie-jeebies at the ubiquity of apocalyptic thoughts in the culture just now, from Daniel Pinchbeck, author of the foreboding "The Return of Quetzalcoatl," to Mel Gibson and his new "Apocalypto." (Both focus on the Mayan civilization's demise.)
What bothers Andersen, in part, is that the apocalypse is no longer counted as a necessarily bad thing. "The nuttiest Islamists and Christians agree that the present hell in the Middle East is a hopeful sign of the end-times," he writes. He also notes that the apocalypse as a cause celebre belongs to neither the right nor the left. "Apocalypticism is one of those realms where the ideological spectrum bends into a circle and the extremes meet."
Mel better hope so. After offending Jews last month with his anti-Semitic tirade, his mouth has now gotten him into more trouble, this time with conservative fans, according to The New York Times, this time for comparing the American troop deployment in Iraq to the kind of human sacrifice depicted in his film.
The rest of the Times article debates whether Mel's conservative success in "The Passion," combined with the "Are you a Jew?" rant, will sink his movie's fortunes come Oscar time. Early reviews, like this one from a film-fest viewing with Mel in attendance, suggest the flick's so good the Academy won't be able to ignore it.
At any rate, Mel, as usual, is right on the trend. Says "One member of the audience asked Mel if he was saying that the decay of the Mayan empire was solely from within. Mel responded that he has always felt that the seeds for different civilizations demise always start from within." And guess what? " He does see the film as a metaphor for where we are today."
Perhaps, like me, when you saw the teasers for ABC's new show "Ugly Betty," you thought you'd be getting "Less Than Perfect" at a magazine rather than a television station: a cute sitcom wherein the ugly duckling teaches those around her the value of loving oneself while spewing zippy one-liners.
But "Betty" is much more than that, and that's both good and bad. Starring America Ferrara, Hollywood's go-to gal for the empowered Latina, anti-waif--see her tremendous breakthrough performance in 2002's "Real Women Have Curves"--the show is an almost mind-boggling blend of genres: Think "Sex and the City" meets "The Devil Wears Prada" meets "Cinderella" meets "American Family," all wrapped up in a possible murder mystery/conspiracy.
Betty Suarez, a smart but homely gal from Queens, is first rejected for a job at a magazine publishing company based on her looks, but then is hired by the Rupert Murdoch-esque owner of the company to act as his son's assistant. (It could be argued that Betty is "ugly' only by Hollywood's standards--i.e., glasses and braces make a girl absolutely abhorent.)
The son, Daniel, was recently elevated to editor-in-chief after the death (possibly, murder) of an Anna Wintouresque EIC. He has a penchant for sleeping with any good-looking female that comes within 10 feet. Long story short, Betty is finally humilated by Daniel enough that she quits, but he asks her back, since she's got an idea could win him the cosmetics ad campaign the magazine so desperately needs. At the end, Daniel has gained new found respect for Betty and the magazine gets the ad.
Although the show seems to be an amalgam of other shows and themes--rich vs. poor, beauty vs. beast--it is decidely different than anything else on TV. On the surface, the production feels more like a movie than a television show, the sets and location shots are fantastic, and some of the material is racy enough to be on the big screen (oral sex at the office anyone?). And while the pilot episode introduces far too many distracting storylines for an hour-long show--Betty's family dynamics, her ex-boyfreind dumping her, her friendship with the sassy British gal, her relationship with Daniel, the evil botoxed Vanessa Williams who may be in cahoots with the not-so-dead ex-EIC and the fact that our magazine mogul may have paid to have had her offed in the first place--I still was pulling for Betty and her determination to land her dream job and be the person she knew herself to be. Thanks to Ferrara's humanizing, never degrading portrayal, Betty never comes across as a victim.
Still, I'm not quite set on adding "Betty" to my regular viewing schedule just yet; but I will be giving it another try. One way that ABC could ensure that I stay tuned is to avoid having Betty whip off the glasses, lose the braces, and pluck her eyebrows; don't let the ugly duckling turn into a swan. For network TV, that would be as original and as brave as Betty herself.
Ministers aren't exactly known for their fashion sense and couture style--until now, that is. Beginning this month, the Rev. Joanna Jepson is trading life at a local British parish for big-city London, and most interestingly of all, a post as chaplain for the London College of Fashion--the first chaplain ever at the school, or at any fashion institution in England, for that matter.
In the article "The catwalk finds God," Jonathan Wynne-Jones reports Rev. Jepson's surprise ateveryone else's surprise regarding her new appointment:
As someone who has long taken an interest in fashion, Miss Jepson, 30, feels that the Church should have a presence in the business. "The fashion industry has a huge impact and influence on vast numbers in our society," she said. "It has a particularly powerful role in shaping the self-image and views of young people, and it's important for the Church to be involved with this type of community. It's amazing that it hasn't had this link before." The curate, who has previously criticised society's preoccupation with image, said that she was switching from full-time parish ministry to the fashion world because she could make more of an impact there.
Perhaps the Fashion Insititue of Technology (FIT) in New York City will follow suit.
One of the movies I am most excited about seeing this upcoming movie season is New Line's version of Jesus' birth, "The Nativity Story." And if you are as interested as I am in how Hollywood is going to treat the Christmas story this time around, well, the official movie trailer is available online.
While it is true I scoffed ever-so-slightly when I heard New Line was going to develop the project, all of my concerns about this story--that it wouldn't be given the respect and artistic merit worthy of the big screen--were assuaged whem I heard that teen actress Keisha Castle-Hughes ("Whale Rider") had been cast as Mary and that Mike Rich, the screenwriter, is a Christian.
If all of my LA/Hollywood insider friends are correct with their information, the movie will be less of a sappy Hallmark greeting card and more of a glimpse at the very human emotions Mary and Joseph felt as they embarked on their journey to Bethlehem. The movie will trace the life of Mary and Joseph prior to the birth of Christ and follow the family through Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt after King Herod's mandate to kill baby boys under the age of two.
So while Hollywood has been somewhat erratic in its attempts to tap into the market that made "Passion of the Christ" a blockbuster, everything I am hearing and reading confirms that this time Hollywood has a hit--one most Christians won't want to miss. (Click here to see the trailer.)
Are Jewish men attractive? TV doesn't seem to think so. Sure, Ross Geller certainly had his moment in the sun, as did Paul Buchman before him. (And any Jewess would be out of her mind to refuse to "hug it out" with Jeremy Piven.) But today's television shows seem to be making some rather harsh statements about my Hebrew homeboys.
For an example, try on this article in the NY Times reporting a slam on Jewish men in Ted Danson's new show, "Help Me Help You," which premiered this week. The article reports that one of the characters, played by Suzy Nakamura, "goes to the Jewish matchmaking Web site JDate to meet men, then promptly repels them. Asked if she is even at all Jewish by one man on their first date, she admits she is not and explains, 'I guess I find Jewish guys a lot less threatening because I'm not attracted to them.'"
A recent episode of "Next" (the latest addition in the MTV dating show legacy established by "Dismissed" and "Room Raiders") featured one guy proclaiming his tribal membership by wearing an "Everyone Loves a Jewish Boy" t-shirt. He gave his date cookies, told her it was his grandmother's recipe, and then was promptly dissed and dismissed rather harshly: "I'm not into David Schwimmer meets Napoleon Dynamite..." Adding insult to injury, the show's voiceover said, "For [guy's name] it wasn't hava nagila, but hasta la vista..."
As the author of "Boy Vey! The Shiksa's Guide to Dating Jewish Men," Kristina Grish has spent a good deal of time singing the praises of Jewish men, and she tells me that she thinks it may be a lack of classical machismo that ails the male members of the tribe. "I've always found Jewish men to be warm, articulate, generous, and doting," she says, musing that "perhaps these are the qualities [Nakamura's character in 'Help Me Help You'] considers to be 'nonthreatening' because they can be considered 'soft.' But I also think they're smart, entrepeneurial, passionate, and funny as hell... none of which screams 'wuss.'"
Take Ross Geller from "Friends" as an example, Grish says: "He tiptoed around his feelings for Rachel season after season, and that lack of chutzpah made him unattractive. Give his personality some oomph, and suddenly those doe-eyes would seem dreamy instead of drippy." She cites other examples--Piven, Jon Stewart, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Younger--"all Jews, all hot." I'll add Zach Braff, because I have to, and Oded Fehr, because how could you not?
Grish further noted that the women who responded to her book--whether or not they were Jewish--"couldn't STOP praising Jewish men - and there was no mention of nerdy or unattractive implications. So many Jewish men boast Mediterranean good looks--complete with big eyes, curly hair, dark features and endearing freckles. What's not to love?"
Despite what TV seems to tell us, and even if the stereotype seems to be indicating nerdlike or neurotic tendencies, Jewish boys are still coming out ahead--with an overall assumption that they are smart, funny, and nice. And Grish, whose new book is "Addickted: 12 Steps to Kicking Your Bad Boy Habit," oughta know a nice boy from a naughty one.
posted by Esther Kustanowitz @ 4:24 PM | Permalink |
Though the documentary "Jesus Camp"--which goes inside Pastor Becky Fisher's "Kids on Fire" camp in North Dakota--has only been playing in movie theaters in limited release for two weeks, it has generated a firestorm of controversy. I saw the movie several weeks ago at a film festival and found it one of the more difficult film-watching experiences I've had. Still, I have purposely taken these few weeks since first watching it to think carefully about what I want to say about "Jesus Camp" itself and about its distributors' claim that the film "doesn't come with a prepackaged point of view."
The documentary starts in Missouri, where we meet Becky Fisher, a woman who runs a kids ministry out of a large, conservative evangelical church. It is here at Fisher's church that we also meet the three children whom the documentary follows most closely--Rachael, Levi, and Tory. These children are designated by Fisher as future spiritual leaders in "God's army." They and many other kids are taught to boldly share their beliefs with friends as well as strangers--and to develop their own "prophetic gifts," such as speaking in tongues and healing, for use by God.
Fisher wastes no time before sharing with the camera the goal for her ministry, including the camp: She wants to raise a generation of children who are as passionate about influencing the United States for Jesus Christ as children raised in Muslim-extremist circles in the Middle East are passionate about serving the Taliban and other terrorist groups.
As the campers and Fisher rally together at Devil's Lake, North Dakota, we are treated to such horrific images as campers holding plastic embryos while praying with huge tears in their eyes for the government to end legalized abortion, and children kneeling around a cardboard cut-out of George Bush while praying for him. In every scene, we see children whipped into an emotional frenzy by the adults, all in the name of worshipping God.
But wait, there's more: A documentary about Christians wouldn't be complete without working well-known pastor and political activist Ted Haggard into the movie. Toward the end of the film the directors show footage of Haggard speaking at his church in Colorado, where he reminds those watching that he and his followers--including their children--have the power to turn any election.
Whether you agree or disagree with the people in this film, it is difficult at best to argue that "Jesus Camp" doesn't have an agenda--namely, to scare us into thinking that our freedoms are in grave danger because of those scary evangelicals. In the name of balance, the filmmakers sprinkle throughout the documentary radio talk-show segments featuring Air America host Mike Papaontonio--a self-proclaimed Methodist who frequently criticizes the religious right. The segments probably add up to less than 15 minutes of screen time and don't really offer any insight--just a lot of ranting. That's not balance.
And simply because there is no voiceover to manipulate the narrative of the film--a technique often used by filmmakers like Michael Moore--that doesn't mean "Jesus Camp" isn't carefully edited for maximum sensationalistic impact. It is. And I feel comfortable saying this because my own Christian background includes a hodge-podge of various experiences in different denominations.
I have been to camps similar to this one, so it is easy enough for me to
pick out the scenes where events at the camp were being taken out of context and when they weren't. The perfect example is when the children are praying for George Bush. It's portrayed in the movie as idol worship of some kind, when really it is not so unusual for Protestant churches to look to Scriptures that instruct believers to pray for leaders in power. The same goes for the warfare references. There are references to spiritual warfare in the New Testament, but quoting those verses doesn't necessarily make you a member of a militia group, as the movie implies.
But perhaps more disturbing than the images up on the screen is the fact that the directors have been aggressively promoting the movie to the Christian market in the name of cultural dialogue. There is no real dialogue going on here.
I originally felt that this movie could be significant for Christians to watch--not because I agree with what Fisher does or because I agree with the directors who filmed her, but because this movie could serve as a warning to the many moderate evangelicals in this country that the likes of Ted Haggard have completely drowned out the more tolerant, moderate evangelical middle, which the media seem completely disinterested in.
But "Jesus Camp" is not about a true discussion of politics and religion in our culture; it is simply creating a dialogue of fear. Between the closed-mindedness of the filmmakers and the closed-mindedness of the film's subjects, the true message of "Jesus Camp" is: Freedom-loving Americans should be afraid of Christians. Christians should be afraid of liberals. And we should all be afraid of anyone who has a different worldview that we do. I consider both the subjects of this film and its creators equally guilty for this, and I think the best response is to refuse to join in their one-sided conversation.
The other day, a good friend of mine was creating herself a MySpace account as we were talking on the phone. She was joining the MySpace bandwagon, she said, in order to talk to only one person--a guy friend who tends not to return her calls. "I'm through with the phone thing," she said. "It's just so hard!"
Despite my protests, by the end of our conversation she had joined the millions who spend countless hours tinkering on this increasingly-popular social networking site. Coincidentally, my friend's interest came the same day that an article appeared in USA Today examining both sides of an important issue faced by MySpace (and other comparable sites): Is all of this no-pressure, no-commitment, so-called "socializing" inhibiting vital communication skills in young adults (not to mention not-so-young adults)?
I am opposed to MySpace and other such online forums as ways of communicating in any significant way or meeting new people. My rant stems from a real-life experience that makes me skeptical of most forms of non-verbal communication (though, I'll admit, I'm a text message-aholic, though I don't reserve that mode of communication for important matters).
A person I had known for several years and had considered to be a friend was on my MySpace friends list. (For those of you unfamiliar with MySpace, individuals can create profiles of themselves along with pictures, and users are able to search for people and add them to their group of friends). Another friend of mine was messing around with my account one day and deleted several people, probably out of spite or boredom. One of the individuals she deleted was the first friend I mentioned. He took offense that he had been deleted from my friends list and did not speak to me for four months. Eventually we began talking again, though it was against my better judgment--really, who needs a friend who is offended so easily by something so inane and immature?
My friend is intelligent (graduate student at a film school) and successful (getting his first graphic novel published this fall), among other commendable attributes. Had he simply called me and asked why he had been deleted from my MySpace friends list, our four-month hiatus could have been avoided. But the real point of my tale is this: My 25-year-old, highly-educated friend put a lot of meaning into MySpace, and unfortunately, millions of more impressionable, younger individuals are doing the same.
And why? As the USA Today article pointed out, the quantity of online friends that a person has is akin to a social status among certain age groups, regardless if you personally know each individual on your list. So the sheer number of pictures posted on the screen boosts a person’s self-esteem, and at the same time, the same person’s feelings of self worth plummet when someone doesn’t message them back, doesn’t comment on their profile, or, God forbid, deletes them as a "friend." It’s an avoidable, ridiculous source of anxiety for too many who ignorantly give it any meaning or importance.
This world of communication by typing is getting out of hand. People place too much emphasis on the meaning behind text messages, e-mails, and the number of times their profile and picture are viewed. As a recovering MySpace addict (you know, you’re never really cured), my advice would be to take your hand off the mouse and either pick up the phone or go to a bar, museum or park, and meet people face to face. Sure, it can be hard, as my friend says, but it’s the natural, healthy thing to do.
Anyone familiar with VeggieTales, the popular Christian children's videos, knows the stunning operatic oeuvre of Larry the Cucumber. LarryBoy's "Silly Songs" are masterpieces of drama and kitsch, boasting such lyrics as, "Oh where is my hairbrush?... Not fair, no hair, not fair, nowhere, no hair!" Now that VeggieTales is on NBC, however, both the songs and the Bible verse at the show's end have been dropped--the song for length, the Bible verse because the network required it. What does it say about me that I miss the Silly Songs more than the Bible verse?
Not so for some Christian viewers, who argue that removing the scripture verse is stripping the heart and soul from the series. In a recent column, conservative critic L. Brent Bozell accuses NBC of gutting the Veggies:
...NBC has grown increasingly fierce about editing something out of "VeggieTales"-- those apparently unacceptable, insensitive references to God and the Bible. So NBC has taken the very essence of "VeggieTales"--and ripped it out. It's like "Gunsmoke" without the guns, or "Monday Night Football" without the football…
…They have told parents concerned about their smutty programs like "Will and Grace" that if they're offended, they have a remote control as an option. The networks have spent millions insisting that we have a V-chip in our TV sets. Change the channel. Block it out.
But when it comes to religious programming--programming that doesn't even mention Jesus Christ--just watch the hypocrisy. Instead of telling viewers to just change the channel if they don't like it, or put in a V-chip for Bible verses, they demand to producers that all that outdated old-time religion has to be shredded before broadcast.
In August, VeggieTales' co-creator, Phil Vischer, blogged:
"So, Phil, will they actually let you talk about God on NBC?" Oh, good question. I figured you'd get to that at some point. The answer is... yes and no. At first we were told everything was 'okay' except the Bible verse at the end. Frankly, that news really surprised me, because, heck, we're talking about NBC here. God on Saturday morning? It didn't seem likely. Since we've started actually producing the episodes, though, NBC has gotten a little more restrictive. (I think they actually sat down and started watching a few VeggieTales videos. "Hey wait--these are religious.") So it's gotten trickier, and we're having to do a little more editing. More than I'm comfortable with? Frankly, yes. But I had already committed to helping Big Idea with this, and I really didn't want to leave them in a tight spot. …it could be better, but overall it's not a total loss.
After the media storm, Vischer followed this up on September 21 with a blog post describing NBC's flip-flopping on the issue:
NBC has now issued a new statement about VeggieTales, refining their earlier statement that cuts were only made for timing, not content. They now acknowledge the cuts they requested and explain that they don't want to air programming that offends or excludes any individual religious group.
Today, VeggieTales sent out an email reassuring viewers that the show can continue to fulfill its mission despite the NBC changes:
…we knew that certain religious references would not be allowed on a children's block under current TV network guidelines. And we recognized that we were not going to ch
ange the rules of network television overnight.
…would we still prefer to air the un-edited versions of VeggieTales on TV? Absolutely! It's there where we're able to share a Bible verse and encourage kids by telling them God made them special and He loves them very much. For now, we're hoping a new cross section of kids will fall in love with Bob & Larry… Please know our commitment to introducing kids to God continues.
Having watched VeggieTales on NBC the day it premiered, I don't understand all the fuss. "Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush" was chock-full of wholesome values and Bibley goodness, inextricably embedded in the plot. Midway through the episode, Bob and Larry page through scripture to explain who Samson was. If this is "sliced and diced," I say: it's still yummy.
As if its premise isn't shocking enough--suburban mom selling marijuana to maintain her privileged lifestyle--Showtime's "Weeds" (airing 10 p.m. Mondays) seems set on pushing the envelope on just how raunchy a show can be on cable television. With such a high precedent set in its first season--masturbation references, rampant on-screen sex, and a mother secretly replacing her daugher's candybars with laxatives to help her lose weight--the show seems to have put religion in its sights as the last line left to cross in this, its second season.
Instead of making Christians the target of its un-PC humor, the show is spending its second season taking shots at Muslims and Jews. Among the new side characters added to the show is a Muslim who despises "the white race" so much he refuses to so much as acknowledge the existence of any Caucasian character. The suburb's biggest marijuana supplier becomes smitten with him and his way of thinking, and contemplates abandoning her drug pushing ways for religion.
Meanwhile, Nancy, the drug-dealing soccer mom played by Mary-Louise Parker, finds her hands full with her brother-in-law Andy, whose main objectives in life appear to be getting stoned and getting laid. In an ongoing storyline this season, Andy discovers that he erroneously enlisted in the military and must now find a way to get out of serving. To do this, Andy enrolls in rabbinical school, and must spend endless days slaving away on an essay explaining when he first realized his religious calling. In last night's episode, Andy tries to pull out of rabbinical school--citing an injury sustained from his pot growing hobby--but no matter where this storyline goes, it has certainly provided an interesting glimpse at this character's spiritual life.
Despite his cynical reason for enrolling in seminary, at some points Andy's inspiration seems genuine enough that we wonder whether he might truly feel some connection with his Jewish faith, but the cynicism quickly cuts in before we ever can be sure.
Of course, Andy, being his usual slime-ball self, takes a shining to a female instructor named Yael, and suddenly being enrolled in school becomes not a scam to stay out of the military but rather a way to try and bed the sultry teacher. As the show goes on, Andy milks his rabbinical student status as a means to get his nephew out of trouble in school by convincing the principal of his inherent morality.
While Andy's use of rabbinical school as an endless scam to some extent lampoons the Jewish traditions depicted on-screen, the show also takes steps to explain Judaism and its traditions. Prior to his enrollment in school, the characters displayed a generic "We're Jews" attitude, and the show never really explored how that made them any different from their blond, WASPy neighbors in their suburban gated community.
When it comes to depicting Judaism, television rarely offers any depth or any glimpse at what lies past the Jewish label. Even viewers offended by "Weed"'s antics--which include, most recently, an especially bizarre sexual encounter between Andy and Yael--have to admit that any depiction of modern Judaism is lacking on-screen. While "Weeds" might not provide the most sophisticated depiction of Jewish life today, it still provides something--and that's more than any other ongoing TV series can say.
posted by Adrienne Urbanski @ 3:45 PM | Permalink |
The best TV family dramas, in my opinion, are the ones that leave us feeling like we knew a family from the beginning to the end of a particularly intense period in their lives. The best of these were "Wonder Years" and "Six Feet Under," where the series finales literally showed us that these people went on to live the rest of their lives without us.
"7th Heaven," the longest-running family drama in television history, allegedly had its series finale at the end of last season, but returned for an 11th on the CW network last night. There are lots of reasons why this move made no sense. But maybe the show returned because the finale had left the Camden family unsatisfactorially on the same trajectory we had always seen them on.
Those who were supposed to be married were married, everyone was pregnant (with twins!), and everyone had found their vocation--some, their calling. Not that "7th Heaven" was ever really about life the way it actually is, but come on--this was way too neat and clean.
So last night's season opener started with the funny thing about trajectories: they can change without warning. Lucy miscarried her twins, sending her into a spiral of anger and spite that was extreme even for her character. But there was something else to her and Kevin that's often been missing from the show--palpable sadness. It was in their eyes, their body language, and it finally gave the show a chance to begin to tackle the fascinating premise of when bad things happen to people who aren't just good, but, like a minister's family, are expected to be really good.
As Lucy struggled with recovering herself, Annie confronted her empty(ing) nest, and Martin and Sandy wrestled with whether two people who are not in love should marry for the sake of the child they have together. The fixed roles that have sustained this family for so long are being challenged.
If only the acting would warm up a bit, this could wind up being a compelling season. And maybe at the end of it, the Camdens can finally leave us with the sense that although their lives wil go on, we've seen them through some tough times.
If there could ever be an "accidentally great" movie, the new remake of "All the King's Men" might be it. On the one hand, it's a big political action drama that lacks action, lacks drama, and lacks a real sense of purpose. On the other hand, it accomplishes either a wonderful stumble or a sublime piece of greatness in mirroring our current political system and most of its participants: There's a lot of activity and talk, but not much action or message.
In that way, "All the King's Men" is an expensive and dressed-up version of a TV docu-drama: We were exposed to the characters but not much got solved.
It's been a while since I had been so excited to go to the movies. As a culture blogger and political novice with an interest in spiritual reflection, I wanted to enjoy a big movie with big thoughts about big issues, such as power, money, empowerment, the rich, the poor, and the politics and history of leadership. And this was supposed to have it all: Big stars. Big trailer. Big run-up. Big anticipation. Big themes. Big message. And, in the end, Big Thud.
I'd nominate this for an Academy Award for Art Direction and, for maybe one-third of its score. It had all of the impact of, say, a televised Presidential debate: The characters feel extremely impressed with their own importance, but it's just not making it through the screen. I was sad when it ended, partly because I was waiting for the impact moment and partly because I knew it wasn't coming.
Willie Stark (Sean Penn) is inspired by Louisiana governor Huey Long, surrounded by an all-star cast of trite, typical characters even for today's political landscape. Jude Law's Jack Burden, Patricia Clarkson's Sadie Burke, Kate Winslet's Anne Stanton, Anthony Hopkins' Judge Irwin, James Gandolfini's Tiny Duffy, and Mark Ruffalo's Adam run the range of principled to corrupt to leveraged to irrelevant. Stark navigates his way from idealist to electable to crusader to anti-hero. He gets elected as a voice for the everyday Joe but gets lost somewhere between lost idealism and found ambition. Sort of. It's hard to tell how much of Stark's hysterics are self-realized and how much are just, well, Sean Penn.
In the end, I'm not sure there's enough of a message here, but on the other hand, I'm sure whatever your own message is, you could impose it on this film. And in that way, I guess it is spot on accurate in today's political climate. Except, of course, there weren't any spin doctors to explain it after it was over.
One of these days, the best of our actors and the finest of our scriptwriters will get the funding to bring us an intelligent political movie about the haves, the have-nots, and each of our roles in between. This, sadly, just isn't it.
Censorship and the religious right will once again take center stage during primetime tonight on Aaron Sorkin's "Saturday Night Live"-inspired backstage drama, "Studio 60." At the end of last week's debut, new network president Jordan McDeere gave writer/producers Matt Albie and Danny Tripp her promise that their "Crazy Christians" sketch--the same sketch that lost their predecessor his job--would be allowed to air the following week.
Picking up the story three days after McDeere's promise, "Studio 60" writer/producers Matt Albie and Danny Tripp are at a press conference where they must once again tackle questions about the infamous comedy sketch, because the sketch has now been leaked to the media. In fact, a conservative Christian publication called "Rapture Magazine" has found out about the sketch and asks McDeere at the news conference if "Studio 60" really does plan to air it. When the magazine is told "yes," the woman who runs the magazine does what all good conservative Christians are born to do--at least in TV land, anyway--she starts a boycott.
Immediately after the press conference, we are once again treated to some sharp dialogue that no doubt has been patterned after real-life conversations and plays up the cultural divide between Hollywood and the heartland. When McDeere snippily asks the press conference coordinator, "How many whack jobs subscribe to Rapture magazine anyway?" she is calmly told by the media coordinator that Rapture magazine has a "circulation four times the size of Vanity Fair." McDeere and everyone else in the room is taken aback. They had no idea there were so many people out there who aren't like them.
But while I enjoyed that little bit of sparring, the rest of the storyline illustrates one of several storytelling pitfalls Sorkin is going to face while trying to create an intelligent show-within-a-show about Hollywood. Boycotts by conservative Christian groups are really old news. Those types of stories have already been done to death, and, quite frankly, it would have been more interesting, less cliché, if a different group would have been the ones doing the boycotting--groups like the NAACP and their recent attempt at a boycott, for example.
The other pitfall Sorkin stumbles into tonight is that if you are going to write a series about a sketch-comedy show, at some point your cast will have to perform a funny sketch. However, the sketch Albie finally comes up with isn't as funny as even a mediocre "Saturday Night Live" skit. What's worse is that we never see the infamous "Crazy Christians" sketch at all. If you are going to spend two episodes discussing something supposedly so controversial that most of middle America would be offended, there needs to be a much better pay-off to the conflict
Don't get me wrong, I still hold out some hope for this show to possibly resurrect intelligent, non-crime related storylines on TV this season, but tonight's episode is not a move in the right direction. (Oh, and I'll save my thoughts on the problem with trying to make the Harriet/Matt relationship work on the show for another time!)
Single Jewish women (and their mothers) are supposed to experience a Pavlovian drool reaction to the presence of doctors, but I never went thusly gaga, not even for television doctors. And while I do admit that Clooney was cute, this whole "Grey's Anatomy" McDreamy nonsense over the admittedly adorable Patrick Dempsey wasn't a reason for me to watch. I already had "ER," so my triage rooms were all occupied. And what kind of hospital in a major city doesn't seem to have any Jewish doctors, anyway?
But friends I trusted loved "Grey's Anatomy"--so I gave it a whirl. The format--young doctors dodging barbs from demanding residents and struggling to make it in a hospital--was familiar from other television shows, but the characters are innovative enough to keem me coming back, with each episode peeling back a layer of complexity for the residents of Seattle Grace.
In last night's episode, the first of Season 3, Izzy--devastated by the death of her heart-transplant patient turned love-of-her-life Denny--lay prostrate on the floor of her bathroom as her friends stood outside and debated who should attempt the impossible task of consoling her. Meredith was making sandwiches, because it's what you do when people die. "You mean like shiva," asks Christina Yang (Sandra Oh).
What? Yang reveals that her family is Jewish, so they sit shiva.
"Tell me about shiva," says Izzy from her prone position on the bathroom floor, engaging in conversation for the first time since her fiancee/patient passed away. "It's supposed to help with your grieving," said Yang, explaining that they sat shiva for her grandmother for seven days, offering a detailed--and accurate--description of the traditions of this seven-day Jewish mourning period.
This marks my first awareness that Yang is Jewish, and I wonder what kind of impact that added layer will have on her character's story arcs over the course of the upcoming season.
An hour and a channel flip later, I'm watching "ER," where Estelle Harris (who will forever be known to many as "George Costanza's mother") shows up as the mother of the burly reception manager Jerry Markovic (Abraham Benrubi, who's been with the show on and off since 1994) and starts talking at him with "oy veys" and calling him "sheyneh punim" (beautiful face). So suddenly, another Jewish character is outed on a medical drama--this time by his loud, abrasive cliche of a Yiddishism-spitting Jewish mother.
I found myself again wishing for TiVo, so I could rewatch those scenes for intimations of future plotlines, how Jewish tradition might impact story and character development. But most often, a Jewish television character is just Jewish culturally, making the perfunctory remark about how he or she observes Hanukkah, not Christmas, right before joining in the caroling chorus. And unless there's a Jewish patient, or until Hanukkah rolls round again, we forget that the distinction was even made.
On "ER," it's unlikely that Jerry's religion will become a storyline, but on "Grey's," it has a chance--the show never misses an opportunity to raise the stakes for each character, adding layers of complexity and nuance in characters as distinct from one another as they are interdependent and complementary.
posted by Esther Kustanowitz @ 5:08 PM | Permalink |
Jet Li's "Fearless," opening today and based on a true story, is a film about finding yourself. Jet Li's character, Han Yaunjia, has one goal in life: to be the best fighter. And throughout the first half of the movie you will wonder if there is anything more to his character. You might even wonder if the first half of the movie will work its way to a solid payoff. Hang in there--it will.
The movie starts with Han Yaunjia easily handling three fighters, then flashes back to his childhood, where his need to fight and go undefeated started. The story jumps roughly 25 years into the future, and we see Han Yaunjia, already a master, fighting any and all challengers who are eager to defeat him.
Although some of the effects at times seem weak, the fast-paced martial arts will leave you oohing and ahhing. The fight choreography was done with precision, and two fights stand out in particular.
The first sets up the general arch of the movie, where we see Li's character fall from his own personal pedestal. In a battle to the death with Master Chin, we watch two men fight, not for personal amusement--as with many of the fights in this film--but for survival. Even though Han Yaunjia survives, his family pays the price in the vendetta. It is the brutal murder of his family that breaks him and changes the person he is.
In truth, though, his family was already a distant thought in his mind. He does not see his daughter or take care of his mother or home. He threw his family to the side for his own personal pride and glory.
What we watch in the second half of the movie is his rebirth. Moved by the compassion of those who find him drifting, he starts a new life. We watch as he changes from who he was to who he becomes.
With his newfound set of values, Han Yaunjia loses the will to fight for the pleasure of winning. He learns from all his past mistakes and works to amend for all his sins. And he works to become a teacher to his disciples.
The movie does not disappoint those who come for a good martial-arts fight. Han Yaunjia may have changed his personality, but he remains a fighter until the end, even if his attitude toward fighting has changed. At this point, he fights not for himself but for all of China and the East.
The final battle is the second memorable fight. Done with grace and class, it shows the beauty of martial arts, with its flowing kicks and some very nice camera work. With a single punch, we watch the culminations of the transformation Li's character has undergone and see the honor that a fight can convey.
The success of any heroic journey in fiction is based on the premise that the hero is an ordinary person who is endowed with special powers and is sent on a special quest to fulfill his or her destiny. NBC's new drama "Heroes," which debuts Monday night, takes that classic premise and gives it a slight twist by introducing viewers to the lives of several ordinary people from various parts of the world who are just beginning to come to terms with the reality that they have supernatural capabilities. Unlike "X-Men" or the "Fantastic Four," these heroes do not work together or even know each other--yet--nor do they wear super cool comic-book-hero-style costumes, but their quest to do something more is no less interesting.
In Monday night's episode, we meet a man who can fly, a woman who sees strange images in mirrors, and an artist who paints the future. The only real clue we are given to the possible link between these characters and their superhuman abilities is a genetics professor who is trying to solve the mystery of his father's death. The big question: Did his father make a huge discovery regarding human evolution, and does anyone else know about it?
While it is tough at times to keep track of all of the stories this episode is trying to establish, I think the best storyline by far is the journey of Claire Bennett, a cheerleader who can automatically heal from any wound inflicted upon her. "Heroes" is at its most life-affirming when we watch a teenage girl who has always been judged on the most superficial criteria--even by her own family--discover there is so much more meaning to her life than what she previously thought. (I'll bet I just grabbed the attention of all of you "Buffy" fans out there!)
With multiple characters, multiple storylines, and almost endless possibilities, "Heroes" is probably one of the few potential hits of the new TV season. It has enough action and mythic pathos to keep the graphic novel enthusiasts entertained while providing enough heart and soul to hold the interest of the rest of us.
"My Name is Earl" kicked off its anticipated second season by pairing two of the show's most distinctive characters--the eponymous amends-seeking hero, played by Jason Lee and his moustache, and his insufferably white-trash bitch of a wife, played by Jaime Pressly and her six-pack abs. The task: #183 on Earl's list, "I never took Joy's side." Earl decides to support the next decision Joy makes--which, unfortunately, is inspired by an episode of Britney and Kevin's reality show.
Joy sees that Britney and Kevin have a giant, disappearing TV, and she wants--no, she deserves--one too. So she manages to save up the $3000 and buys one, but it's too big for her trailer home. She tries to return it, but because the item number on the receipt was ruined, the clerk won't accept the return. She swears she's going to get her money back, no matter what she has to do. On her way out of the store, she encounters a delivery truck with the keys in the ignition and steals it with the intent to sell it for her $3000. It falls to Earl to help her sell the truck, which unbeknownst to our flawed protagonists, has a man in the back, effectively making the pair kidnappers as well. Throughout, Joy is unyielding in her beliefs: She is owed her money back, and if she can't t get it back from the store, the universe/life owes it to her.
In a show already steeped with lessons about the circular nature of karma, this episode additionally highlights the subjective morality of circumstance. If life owes us, to what lengths may we go to attain what should be ours? Is a crime of principle--"like when Rosa Parks stole that bus," Joy points out--justified if it achieves what is "right?"
Joy also appeals to her ex's devotion to his list of atonement items, claiming that since he never supported her in the past, he needs to do so now. As the escapade escalates, Earl finally has to admit that he's supported her as far as he could, and that he is going to opt out of continuing to be an accessory to Joy's single-minded pursuit of what she considers justice. In her mind, Joy thinks she's no different from that "Robin Hood, Batman, Jesus stuff." Earl says he doesn't know about Jesus and Batman, but that stealing from the rich to help the poor did sound like it was up Robin Hood's alley.
"Why do bad things always happen to good people?" Joy wonders after the inadvertent hostage runs into a tree, which adds assault to the mounting list of charges against her. But Joy is not a creature of depth and nuance. She is a simpleton, but doesn't seem to understand that society has rules that she must adhere to.
But when we consider that Joy got into this whole mess because she thought Britney and Kevin were like royalty and the Federlinean lifestyle was worth emulating, we also have to ask ourselves who our role models are and why. The image of having a TV larger than your means and circumstances allow is a salient metaphor for the undue emphasis that we put on place on celebrities and television in general, and provokes us to think about what entertainment makes us think about, while we're enjoying that very same entertainment. It's very meta.
posted by Esther Kustanowitz @ 3:59 PM | Permalink |
The ever-rising star television series creator and producer J. J. Abrams has done it again: "Six Degrees" (which premieres tonight at 10 on ABC) is riveting, complex, and promises something simple but essential for TV drama: good stories.
Reminiscent of the film "Love Actually" in more ways than one, the pilot opens with scenes from New York City--the subway, people passing on the streets, the skyline--layered with voice-over narration by one of the characters, Carlos. Carlos, a public defender who is single but seeking, reflects about love, relationships, how people meet and why, and most importantly of all, the roles that fate and chance play in the pivotal moments of our lives: when we meet that person who will one day become our spouse, our best friend, or perhaps even our worst enemy.
The storyline plays out from there, cutting back and forth between the daily lives of its six main characters--Carlos, Whitney, Mae, Damian, Steven, and Laura--encouraging viewers to piece together, bit by bit, each of their stories, and enticing us to guess how each character's story will become connected in some way, as they title implies will surely happen. If you loved or even liked "Love Actually," "Six Degrees" employs the same format of unraveling and intertwining the lives of a large group of people through relationships--friendships, romances, betrayels, breakups. If relationships in general fascinate you in any way, "Six Degrees" is a must-see.
But why am I calling a show about relationships classic J. J. Abrams? Well, for fans of all things J. J. Abrams, viewers will be pleased to see signatures from his three other hit shows--"Felicity," "Alias," and "Lost"--peppered throughout the storyline and casting of "Six Degrees." I am a longtime Abrams devotee, and in a rather classic J. J. Abrams fashion, simply by chance (or is it fate?), not by intention, caught "Felicity" from the get-go back in my early 20s and watched it faithfully until its final season, before moving on to "Alias," and more recently, "Lost."
In some ways, you could say that with "Six Degrees" Abrams has returned to his roots. "Felicity" was driven by the relationships between its characters, but also had a rather magical air of romance and fate as well. The show pivoted on what some would call daring and others foolish--the fact that Felicity, its central character, enrolled in NYU because a boy she didn't even really know at all in high school, Ben, was her soul-mate, and NYU was the college of his choice. Felicity believed they were "fated" to be together. That provided our introduction to Abram's fascination with chance, the mystical, the romantic, the religious, the spiritual; there are many things one could call it--the belief that something mysterious draws people together, makes them do things they otherwise wouldn't, shakes them with fear, drives them to the brink of despair, calls them to believe in some higher power than themselves, or makes them sigh with joy and gratitude. This notion of the "something beyond"--however differently it can be interpreted--is present in everything Abrams does.
The connections between "Six Degrees" and "Felicity" are rather obvious, and with "Alias" and "Lost" a bit less so, but they are still there for fans to find. Viewers will be pleased to find that the name of one character--Mae Anderson--is an alias. She has a secret, and we are not sure if she is on the side of good or evil, though we can't help but root for
good. And most importantly of all, she starts the show a platinum blond and by the end has dyed her hair almost a reddish-brown. Sound familiar?
Then, echoing "Lost," is the ensemble cast (which includes the fantastic actor Campbell Scott as Steven) whose lives we know not only will be thrown together in multiple ways (though not on a deserted island)--but who also may have a past that connects them as well (as do all the characters on "Lost"). Though Abrams so far does not employ the signature flashbacks of character back-stories, as he does each episode on "Lost," it's clear that each character brings baggage to the table that will become important as their relationships evolve and tighten.
All this to say, whether you are new to J. J. Abrams or a longtime fan, "Six Degrees" is yet another fantastic contribution to television drama by the man who can do no wrong (it seems) when it comes to imagining an engaging story. Definitely tune in. I'd say that your horoscope today says its in the cards for you to take a chance on tales of love and friendship.
The long-anticipated FoxFaith Movies, a division of 20th Century Fox, officially came into being this week, a great triumph for whoever is putting out the new division's stationery, with little relevance for the rest of us. Fox has been in the Christian movie business for some years, mostly in distributing DVDs of films as big as "The Passion" and as insignificant as "Love Comes Softly," the Hallmark-channel-flavored film of the Christian bestseller by Jeanette Oke.
The FoxFaith moniker will allow Fox to bolster its already-thriving marketing efforts for biblical films like "One Night With the King," (left) through churches; according to The New York Times, some 90,000 churches get regular information about Fox films. Perhaps more importantly, it will extend Fox's power to flack faith-free but family-friendly movies such as the animated baseball fantasy "Everybody's Hero" and an upcoming remake of "Flicka." A Fox official told the Times, "It’s a Good Housekeeping seal, a marketing umbrella for these pictures, so that people can have confidence the movies won’t violate their core beliefs."
The key here is that FoxFaith films are as much about what they don't show as what they do. "Lov
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