Idol Chatter

The timing of the release of a movie that centers around a woman who is perpetually upbeat, no matter the circumstances, is pretty intriguing to me to say the least. Just as I thought the eccentric but heartwarming "Lars and the Real Girl" was last year's cinematic litmus test of an audience's cynical side, so it is this holiday season with Michael Leigh's ( "Secrets and Lies", "Vera Drake") whimsical film "Happy-Go-Lucky." However, "Happy Go Lucky" finds audiences members in considerable more dire circumstances than a year ago in many cases, so I wonder if this relentlessly upbeat film will be more of spirit-lifter or a symbolic form of rubbing salt in cultural wounds.

While I don't like this particular blogger's attitude--nor do I agree with what he says--I can't help but share this post I found about the "10 Things Twilight Teaches Teenage Boys About Teenage Girls" by Kevin Kelly. Kelly claims that, in theaters showing "Twilight," "A lot of those teens are going to be of the male variety, hoping to get some insight into the mysterious creature that is a teenage girl."

What insights, you wonder? Well, according to Mr. Kelly, apparently that "Girls Want Sex Just As Much As Boys Do" (# 6 on his list), explaining, rather crassly that:

"[Twilight] shatters an age-old myth that guys just want to get in girls' pants. Let me tell you, girls want to get in your pants just as badly. Bella definitely tries to put the moves on Edward, and she pursues him a lot harder than he pursues her. There's no discussion about waiting for an appropriate time or making sure the moment is extra special. No, she just wants to get him out of those clothes and get busy. Not to say that Bella's a slut, because she's actually a pretty chaste girl. But she definitely wouldn't mind getting Edward in the sack for some extra-curricular activities."

Huh? Well, desire--intense, sexual desire--is clear on both Edward's and Bella's part. But Mormon author Stephenie Meyer is heavy on the chastity, and nonexistent on the vulgarity Kelly tries to add to the mix. #7 on his list is similar to #6: "Girls Like Boys Who Can Resist The Urge" and contains similar, vulgar assessments.

Sure, Thanksgiving is over, but the holiday entertaining season is just beginning. Break out the Yule logs, whip up a bowl of eggnog, bake some gingerbread cookies, and hold the fruit cake.

Have trouble getting in touch with your inner Martha Stewart? Don't worry. Hachette Book Group has provided Beliefnet with 5 sets of books that will help you prepare for a no-fuss, easy month of welcoming guests to your home for delicious nibbles and humorous conversation. Each book set will include 5 books:

1- The Flavor Bible, by Karen Page, Andrew Dornenburg
2- Katie Brown Celebrates, by Katie Brown
3- I Like You, by Amy Sedaris
4- Festivus, by Allen Salkin
5- Holidays on Ice, by David Sedaris

Want a set of these books?

Post a comment below by Wednesday, December 10, answering the question: What's the one holiday memory you will never forget?

Make sure you include your email address in the designated area (it won't be made public). The 5 best responses--based on the judgment of the Idol Chatter editors--will each win a set of the books.

Please read the legal stuff before entering.

Also, be sure to check out our Holidays page.

In "Milk," Gus Van Sant's new political bio-pic starring Sean Penn, there are frames within frames, some of them intended by the filmmaker, some the accidents of history.

There is Harvey Milk, played by Penn, talking into a tape deck at his kitchen table, narrating the story we're watching. Wrapped around that story are the real-world events that created Harvey Milk's place in history as a gay activist and martyr: archival footage of men being arrested in gay bars and loaded into paddy wagons, colorful news video of Milk's nemesis, the evangelical Christian and anti-gay campaigner Anita Bryant, as well as vintage street scenes from the Castro, San Francisco's first gay enclave and Milk's adopted home.

There is, finally, the election of 2008, with its elevation of an African-American president on the same day that Californians ratified Proposition 8, banning gay marriage in their state. "Milk" comes at a perfect time to remind us that we're all more free when some of us become more free.

The first Sunday of the advent season comes a little early this year, right on the heels of Thanksgiving, and if you are looking for some inspiration to usher in this time of expectation and hope, I have some great books for you to try. For the last few years I have made a point of doing more than putting a wreath on the table and lighting a candle. Instead, I have chosen one book every year to use as a guide to learning more about this church tradition. Here are my favorites.

God with Us: The publishers of Image Journal released a coffee table style book last year that is probably the most comprehensive and beautiful book for Advent that I have found. It contains artwork, poetry, and devotions from some of the best post-modern evangelical minds

Poems of the Incarnation: If you haven't read any poetry by Luci Shaw, this is a good place to start. She wrote an entire collection of poems about the season with her usual flair for smart turns of phrase that create unorthodox yet profound images.