...but Bravo's Work of Art makes me want to blog about reality TV again. But! It's hard, because as ready to "take sides" as I feel (the fact that one "side", as I see it, includes Ryan, Mark and Erik - the macho, egotistical, often vaguely homophobic, transphobic and misogynist dudes who hate on the hot girl everyone's desperately trying to treat like a dummy despite her current climb and the one non-normative-ish male who gets called a "pussy" for having insomnia and, I don't know, wearing sweaters and mumbling? is making it so easy.), I know this is a show and they edit this shit to death in order to create drama, and beyond that, this is probably not how this people would actually treat each other if left to their own devices (i.e. not in a contest, not on television, not on edge all the time).
Jaclyn made this point with a great blog post about how unnecessary Erik's exit was, if it weren't for producers messing with him.
They also edited out scenes of Jaclyn doing math, but left in the scene of Erik claiming she brought everyone snacks. A real mystery, what they're trying to do there...
Ok. Forget the drama this past episode (and the way it carried into twitter, which is why I included Mark on that list of people I'm jumping to side against). I want to talk about my problem with this show in general.
WHERE. ARE. THE. QUEERS?
WHERE ARE THE QUEERS, BRAVO? Do you forget why I and an enormous portion of your audience started watching you in the first place? Of course you have. You're a soulless reality machine now. After Queer Eye ran out of juice and Project Runway ran out on you, it's all housewives and fashionistas and straight, straight, straight people who want to do violence to each other. You're so far from home. Kathy Griffin is all you have left, and you can only absorb the residual queer off of her. Bravo, if Work of Art gets another season: QUEERS. And don't you DARE Zulema them out this time. I'm still pissed about that.
Seriously. The most shocking thing about the "shock art" episode was how shockingly fucking heteronormative Ryan has to be to think dressing up like a "tranny hooker in bondage" is innovative and outrageous, instead of casting him as an immature bigot totally devoid of an original thought.
I am OVERWHELMED but how straight this show is. I can't think of an artist I know who isn't queer! Art and queerness go hand in hand. But if any of Work of Art's artists are queer, the subject has been avoided. Forget this evil editing bullshit, next time, just. hire. queers. We make good television.
Friday, July 16, 2010
I feel so ashamed...
Sunday, August 23, 2009
New (Reality) Love
I don't want to say I'm over Project Runway. But after a few seasons of on-and-off watching? It's not vital to my being. I might still comment on it - because I do still watch it - but, you know what? I've found someone else.
None of the designers, or the styles, on Project Runway have really caught my eye the way Ashley of Top Chef already has.
Of course, I might be biased by the fact that the first challenge was completely dull. Red carpet? Seriously? The place where boring = classic, and actually expressing an ounce of individuality = worst dressed list. I know we're under new management here, but usually the first challenge of Project Runway is about throwing everyone out of their comfort zone and seeing who doesn't lose their shit. Not "make a pretty dress for pretty people - that's it, ok, go!"
So, time will tell if I'm actually interested enough to write anything on this. But don't wait patiently on it.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Invisible
Q: Where in the news media can you find a discussion of race in which the host addresses the most basic ways white people are privileged, instead of mindless squawking about what is and is not racist, or, more often lately, "reverse-racist"?
A: Come on now.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| The Word - Neutral Man's Burden | ||||
| ||||
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The Theme of the Day Is, Themes
I am endlessly amused and impressed by collections of clips displaying themes in pop culture that we take for granted. And so today I have amassed for you a COLLECTION OF COLLECTIONS.
Cool Guys Don't Look at Explosions (Lonely Island):
I'm Not Here to Make Friends (FourFour):
Finally Tonight, Jesus (Everything is Terrible):
Put the Camera Down/Turn It Off (FourFour):
Medicine (Target Women with Sarah Haskins):
I could actually use a lot of other Sarah Haskins videos, I'm sure. I'll leave just this one for now, since I was shocked that I never noticed this stupid black and white theme.
I'll add more as I find/they inspire... please leave any I've missed!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Overdue (aka No Longer Relevant)
Alright. I have a few posts in the queue that are long overdue. And I refuse to go the usual route of letting them die alone. So, a solid month after the airing, here are my thoughts on the Dollhouse finale. I'll break it down into things I liked, and things that disappointed.
What I liked:
- I liked that Alpha's obsession with Echo was not actually based on his recognizing her brilliance, or her capacity to be like him, or anything that justified his treating her like an experiment and plaything. I liked the reveal, be it contradictory to all that was built up, that Alpha just became obsessed with an unhealthy crush.
- Amy Acker. Though I'm sold on Eliza Dushku as Echo, sometimes during assignments I find myself thinking about Faith (during her fight in the restaurant with Ballard, I actually said aloud "This is the Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Battlestar Galactica crossover episode." Though I've never actually watched BSG. This is my distaste for Watchmen [the comic, not the movie, which I haven't seen] make me a bad nerd. Among other things). But Amy Acker, not surprisingly, is amazing in every new role. I completely forget her character in the last scene and totally buy into whatever she's playing that minute. I wonder why few if any fans saw the Dr. Saunders being a doll thing coming - what a perfect way for Joss to utilize her versatility. I mean, to my understanding the last time they worked together, he killed off her character just to create a chance for her to play something else.
- Topher's facade cracking. Please, please, please, let this continue to develop in season two. Topher, the goofy asshat, taking a introspective and serious turn could have major positive implications for the direction of the show.
- Ballard feeling discomfort and conflict around November. His reactions to her in Briar Rose were infuriatingly simplified. The ending would indicate that she's being phased out, which is really frustrating. I feel unsatisfied. Speaking of...
What I Didn't Like:
- The playing up of Alpha's violent past and the playing down of the Dollhouse's recklessness with him. This was a huge problem for me. If this was the case, why was it even significant that Echo retained memories? I'm a little interested in Ballard's talk of souls, since the intersection of science and spirituality is always a rich and worthy topic, but, I feel like, they're undermining their own point. Society controls us - except you can't change people! I'm deeply disappointed by this 'evil people are just evil' mixed message.
- The instantaneous of Echo's enlightenment (conveyed so user-friendly-y via monologue) followed by the erasure of that enlightenment. No struggle in either direction.
Well, at this point the show has been picked up for a second season, and I'm glad. I still believe in the basic concept, and despite the missteps, I want to see where it goes. Oh, and if I get my hands on the unaired actual finale, maybe I'll write something up on that. The shots I've seen from it have been most titillating.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Damn you, Joss Whedon
For getting me so emotionally invested in this show.
So, not a full recap or analysis or anything, but yeah, the Episode That Changed Everything delivered. We abandoned the adventure-of-the-week set up, and I'd be happy to never go back- Echo is still central, but we got really involved in the other characters.
Sexual violence got serious treatment this time, and I thought these things were important: It was clearly treated as rape even though Sierra didn't say no or physically resist; and the rapist handler, whose name escapes me, tried to excuse his behavior because the Dollhouse is "in the business of using people". Obviously the excuse isn't acceptable, but I think Joss was wisely making a connection of sexual violence to the environment of objectification and exploitation.
Things that bothered me about Sierra's storyline: I can't recall if they actually used the word "rape" - I know Dr. Saunders said "Sierra's had sex" after the exam, but I don't know if they changed the language after it became obvious that she didn't (and really, couldn't) consent. Also, a little mad at Boyd for letting the other handler attempt again in order to "catch him in the act" instead of, oh I don't know, asking Sierra about him. Of course, it was hugely satisfying to have him punched through a glass wall with his fly down.
The big thing that changed with me is that I am now completely invested in the fate of Mellie/November:
I saw the reveal coming, but it was still a bit heartbreaking. Previews for future episodes indicate possible revolt against the Dollhouse. Can she just be the main character now, please?
Unrelated to this episode: another blog pointed out how wildly inaccurate the homebirth scene was... which I really should have noticed, since I've seen homebirths. Though Topher's probably not a mifwifery expert, and you probably couldn't get away with a completely accurate homebirth on TV (we need to throw a sheet over her- for medical reasons!), this is a still a case of ball-dropping. Oh well. I appreciate the attempt, if not the execution.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Problem with Echo (which is not actually a problem)
Alright, so. I've been putting off writing about Dollhouse because - besides the fact that I've only been casually engaged blogging lately - the series is young, and I felt analyzing the shit out of it was a little premature. It was episode two, and a lot of people seemed to be complaining that "this is not a feminist masterpiece yet!", and, you know, wait.
But, I want to get some writing on it in before the alleged mind-blower next Friday. I don't really want to talk about this past Friday's installment, True Believer - except for Victor's man reaction, which I'll get to in a minute. I want to talk about episode four, Gray Hour, because for me, it solved a fundamental problem a lot of people seem to have with the show, and it made me realize a direction the show could go in, which excites my obsession with the construction of identity to no end.
Particularly after the first two episodes (once again - dude, you have to wait) I read a lot of complaints along the lines of "there is no one to root for". Or relate to, or sympathize with, or what have you. Everyone who works in the dollhouse is evil (Dominic), borderline evil (Topher), or at least has big whomping moral gray area (Boyd). The dolls are either a completely fabricated person or a completely empty person. Well, people with moral gray areas seem to be a staple of the Whedonverse, so I think the answer for a lot of people was to root for Boyd, especially after episode two, The Target, in which we realize that he actually cares for Echo and prioritizes her over the dollhouse itself.
But, Echo is the main character. Though I hope, and think, we will see an episode with someone else in the A-Story (though I suppose it could be argued that The Target was really more about Boyd than Echo), this is clearly Echo's story. And the story we're following is about a person without an identity. And that's a problem. Right?
I think the pilot, Ghost, partially answered this concern for me: we can relate to Echo in an imprinted state, because even though we know it's all made up, it's incredibly real to whatever person she is that day. So we can relate to the main character for the length of the episode, which can be effective, as I think it was in Ghost - especially since we were reminded that, even if it wasn't Echo's real experience, these bad memories were real. But maybe this only works to an extent. Without something steady, it'll get harder and harder to buy into Echo's persona-of-the-week.
Episode three - I don't actually know what it was called because it was, admittedly, the weakest episode so far, the only time so far I've felt THE METAPHOR! was being shoved in my face. But the revelation that Echo was "adapting" to her assignments indicated something important - that Echo does not have a consistent identity on assignments, but she does possibly have a consistent underlying personality, that her self is shading her imprinted personalities. This doesn't really solve the relating-to-Echo problem either, though, I think, since it's not really clear what these glitches imply, except of course plot twists aplenty.
And that still leaves blank doll-state Echo to deal with. The tabula rasa state may be the closest thing to the dolls' "true" personality, and they're, you know, empty hats. Which is why Gray Hour is my favorite episode thus far, and why Victor's man reaction is important (I'll get to it in a minute!).
In Gray Hour, we're watching Echo - not Caroline and not an imprint, but wide-eyed empty-headed Echo, and we find out she's not an empty hat - she's a person. She doesn't just sit around gaping and asking where the massage table is. She gets scared, she thinks about art, she makes a connection to one person and abandons another - she's not a plaything. She's not a blank slate, not really. She's a person who just isn't given a chance to be one. And this, for me, solves the who-do-we-relate-to problem once and for all, but also asks a lot more questions.
Victor's man reaction, i.e. his crush on Sierra, is another example of this. We're being shown that not just Echo, but Dolls in general aren't robots, they're people. DeWitt's cold demand that Victor be "scrubbed" and the whole forced utopia is, you know, goddamn disturbing in this light.
I took a college course called "Science, Literature and Gender", in which we read The Cloning of Joanna May, which deals with identity in a different sci-fi scenario. Sparing the details, since this is already really long, the class talked about the idea of a whole identity versus fragmented identity. The former is usually what we think of as "identity", but the latter isn't necessarrily a bad thing. Joanna May had several outward "selves" whereas Echo has several inward "selves". Joanna May ultimately doesn't become "fragmented", but multiplied, her power increases by virtue of being split up. This possibility for Echo - which I thought of when she uttered the heart-stirring line, "I'm not broken" - really excites me.
Ok. Miscellaneous other things about Gray Hour:
I like the midwife intro, because the show finally winks at us about having too much sex, and because, yay midwives! Even though it seems only the super-duper rich can afford them - or maybe the super-duper rich don't trust ordinary midwives. Whatever. "Yay midwives" stands.
Alas, A Blog took issue with the portrayal (or lack thereof, I suppose) of sexual violence in this episode, which is totally understandable. For me, though, since the people in the show are programmed to consent, I feel much more disturbed by the "consensual" sex that's constantly happening and so far hasn't been dealt with at all. Here's hoping for improvements in this whole area.
(If I could make a subtitle for this post, it would be "And a Journey of Self-Discovery for... Topher?")
Topher knows from the get-go that Alpha would be able to achieve a remote wipe, only thinking it's impossible because he assumes Alpha is dead. If no one understands this technology but Topher and Alpha, and imprints are made from real people, could this imply that Alpha has an imprint of Topher, or at least part of Topher? It's not implausible - if something happens to Topher, how else could they keep the Dollhouse running? I've been toying with the idea that some of the faculty in the Dollhouse are dolls themselves, that this may even be the true meaning of putting someone in "the attic", and this reveal would put a new angle on the exploration of identity. We don't sympathize with Echo's constructed identities because we seem them come and go, sure, but if, say, Boyd or Saunders or Dominic were revealed to be a doll, then how does our relationship to the character change? How does the character's relationship to other characters change? Would they defend their long-term constructed personality or reject it? Of course, I'm thinking more and more that this isn't going to be the case.
BUT, if Alpha has an imprint of Topher, what implications could this have for Topher's sense of identity? Could this be the thing that takes him from witty loveable douchebag to - well, something more interesting?
Alright, that's all. My fangirl is showing.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Double Shot at Love: I Feel a Rant Coming On
Ok, so I was really excited today, because I found out that a person I used to work with is on Double Shot at Love, which gives me a legitimate excuse to both watch the trash and blog about it! But as it turns out, I can't stomach blogging about this shit. I'll still root for the guy I know and all, but the first episode seriously made me physically ill. During the "big reveal" in which Rikki tells the contestants they've been meeting both her and her twin Vikki, Rikki leads with "I was born with another part." Cut to shocked contestants, guys saying things like "I can't believe I kissed her!" and "Please don't have a penis!" and girls saying things like "This happened to me before... twice in a lifetime is too much."
Most of the negative stereotypes this show plays with, I can take because I naively imagine that people, you know, KNOW better. They know that this is MTV and if a bisexual woman is slutty and petty and fake, well, that's not saying much because everyone is slutty and petty and fake on MTV. But using severe and apparent transphobia for drama and laughs is nothing short of appalling. Because one month ago, there was little known day called the Transgender Day of Rememberence. Because for some people, and I want to stress that world - we are talking about people, not a concept, people with families and friends and lovers and jobs and childhoods and hopes - for some people, "twice in a lifetime" might represent too many times they found out someone they cared for was disgusted by their body. "Twice in a lifetime" might represent too many times they were harassed for trying to use a restroom. "Twice in a lifetime" might represent too many times they've had to face discrimination from teachers, employers, doctors and other officials that made life more difficult to navigate. "Twice in a lifetime" might represent too many times they felt threatened just for existing. "Twice in a lifetime" might represent too many times they were a victim of violence. "Twice in a lifetime" might represent too many times they read about a person like them being killed for being a person like them. But probably not, you know. It was probably a lot more than twice.
Don't tell me I'm overreacting when I say: according to MTV, transgender people don't deserve a shot at love.
You see, sometimes things are said or done, and I can hear the average person twenty years from now saying sternly, "I would have never let something like that happen." You know, how we say now, "If I was around when the Native Americans were being slaughtered, I wouldn't have contributed," or "If I was alive during segregation, I wouldn't have just sat back". But here's the thing: you most likely would, and that doesn't mean you're evil. Everything around you would encourage you to be oppressive or apathetic. This retroactive denouncement bothers me to no end. It accomplishes nothing except covering one's ass from being called prejudiced. Listen: it's much more impressive to own up to your prejudice and privilege, to acknowledge that the world around us still encourages us to treat some people as "normal" and others as deviations from that norm, and therefore less worthwhile. White does not mean normal, male does not mean normal, able-bodied does not mean normal, straight does not mean normal and cis-gendered (born with a biological sex that matches one's identity) does not mean normal. When a kid asks you twenty years from now if you tolerated prejudice, fear and violence, what are you going to be able to say to them?
Friday, June 20, 2008
Youtube Favorite Friday: Cuteness (and apologies)
Yep, can't get enough of going "aw" at this one:
I love Sesame Street, so much.
So, sorry I've been totally neglecting this thing. Taize was good, but also hard, I still don't know how to convey the spiritual experience in words, but some more concrete highlights:
- Chocolate and butter sandwiches, for breakfast, everyday.
- Being humbled by people who walked there... from Italy.
- Picking up a slew of dirty ASL signs (prooobably just our group).
- The catchy tune stuck in your head is sung by monks (well, and everyone else).
- Sobbing with people you just met, and some of whom do not share a language with you.
So. That's that. I start work at camp tomorrow, so yeah, blogging is not my priority right now. I may stop in occasionally to link somewhere else, but don't expect too much original content until September.
Speaking of linking other places, here's a few of my favorite stories. I'm limiting myself to ones I found this morning, or else I'd just go on and on:
-Feministe: Latina teacher fired for not regurgitating the same old crap. Oh social justice, how you need to be a requirement- for students, and apparently school administrators. It's fucking scary that challenging Eurocentrism is so dangerous.
-Queerty: "Can’t I Just Have Mayonnaise?" Whines O’Reilly Over "Gay" Commercial O'Reilly's homophobia and glaringly obvious straight privilege here is endlessly amusing/distressing to me. He totally can't grasp the concept that the loving housewife being replaced by a New York deli man is "gender play". Because he totally can't see past two guys kissing. Because if it was a man and woman, it would be normal. Because straight people are normal and gay people are a disturbing and political affront to all straight people. I just feel bad for him at this point. Could someone educate him, please?
-Bitch Magazine: Factory Girl: Dora the Explorer and the Dirty Secrets of the Global Industrial Economy I'm kind of envious of how many issues the writer managed to neatly packed in this one article. I tried to sum it up, but please, just go read it.
-Fourfour: She just doesn't get it Oh, how I hoped- or perhaps rationalized- that Tila Tequila was at least slightly positive for bisexual visibility. But, alas- she's gone and spouted another old bisexual stereotype, and to make matters worse, still thinks she's helping.
Ok, I found another video of the kid, so today you're lucky enough to get two youtube favorites:
I wonder where she is now?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Back on Track, Reality TV Style
Here be ANTM spoilers!
Phew! Finals are over, and I am free to blog regularly again. Until I go to France. And then to camp. So, enjoy the increase of posts while it lasts!
What moves me to write tonight is really a great source of shame for me. You see, I watch America's Next Top Model. I watch: 5% out of true interest, 20% because my housemate watches it, 35% to understand Rich's recaps (but I'd read them anyway, the reading predated the watching), and 40% to feel weekly as if I am in some trippy alternate reality in which Tyra Banks makes sense.
Anyway, tonight was the finale and plus-sized model Whitney took it. I was excited, though I liked all the girls in the final three, Whitney would be the best "spokes model", if you rule out the theory that Anya is so damn cute you'd buy anything she was holding. Whitney's also the first plus-sized model to ever win, which is something. It was feeling like they just always cast a token fat girl for no reason. She went into a speech at the end of the show about how hard growing up not super-thin has been, and the judges had a generally fat-positive (though cheesy, always cheesy) message, saying instead of "plus-sized" or "full-figured" all she should be called is "beautiful". Sweet.
But! An anonymous source told Rich, that Whitney may have been a plant (funny enough, a theory he put forth about the full-figured model last season), and photos on livejournal's ohnotheydidnt of a much slimmer Whitney support. I shouldn't be surprised. Reality TV and ethics don't mix.
However, I'm downright bothered, not because Whitney got the prize- plant or not, she's a good model, and like I said, the best spokes model, and putting to rest the idea that fat girls can't win on this show was a fine gesture. But, if it was truly fixed (in the always-planned-that-this-girl-is-going-to-win way, not the gain-some-weight-and you'll-be-a-good-plus-sized-girl way), I'm bothered that the other top two, specifically, didn't get the prize, and by extension that chance at being the "inspiration" that Whitney is (maybe?) for big girls. If you don't follow the show, both Fatima and Anya, the other finalists, were born outside of the United States. Anya was born in Russia and raised in Hawaii, and Fatima is a refugee from Somalia who currently resides in Massachusetts. So, if this was a fixed win, the message to me reads as kind of "Fat girls CAN make it! But not too fat! And with help! Help that immigrant/refugee women don't get!"
Buuuuut if it's not fixed at all, yay Whitney and everything!
I also post because that ONTD entry features a lot of other models, including my second favorite girl from Cycle 10, Lauren! My first favorite is Kimberly by default, because she's a local girl and because she went all "oh wait I have ethics" in the first episode (though they were more "buying expensive stuff is stupid" ethics than "this industry is wasteful and demeaning and capitalism is evil" ethics, I take what I can get), something I expected Lauren to do when I first saw her punk ass. Alas, no, she stuck with it, but was too delightfully awkward to make it all the way. This photo further captured my heart, of course.
Lauren rocks the pit hair:
Oh, the very vision of beauty.
My secret sources (message boards) tell me that Kimya Dawson has written a song about hairy armpits, avaliable very soon on her album for kids, Alphabutt, which I'm so stoked for. If you're down with hairy armpits, you're pretty much down with me.
Tyra Banks = not down with me.
