Political Correctness gone too far

I didn’t know about the ‘controversy’ over a non-African American portraying Barack Obama on Saturday Night Live until today, having read this article. But I did watch the actual SNL skit last weekend, and thought it was a good impression. I actually thought the actor was Hispanic, so that shows how much I know. I honestly believe that people make a big deal over things that *really shouldn’t be a big deal,* instead of focusing on real issues.

The article notes that the selection for the actor was made based on merit and general likeness (the actor who played Barack was thin, with ears that stuck out slightly), not skin color:
“[SNL creator Lorne] Michaels said that the show auditioned ‘four to five’ actors for the Obama role, including Thompson. And the winner, he says, was based on merit. ‘When it came down to it, I went with the person with the cleanest comedy 'take' on’ Obama, Michaels said.”

The opposing viewpoint, posited by “Todd Boyd, a professor of critical studies at the University of Southern California” makes this argument: “…viewers might have a different reaction if the roles were reversed. What if, he says, ‘SNL’ had cast a black woman to portray Hillary Clinton? ‘Do you think there's ever going to be a day when we start casting Queen Latifah to portray Princess Diana?’ he asks. ‘We just don't have the same representations going in other direction. If we had as many examples of black actors playing white figures, no one would need to discuss it. But when you have a figure as historically important as Barack Obama . . . people can get mighty protective of his image.’”

I find that argument ridiculous. Comparing Queen Latifah and Princess Diana is just sensationalistic nonsense, considering the two are separated by at least 100 lbs. As such, there’s no reasonable explanation of why she would make a good impersonation. However, I think if a film were made with an African-American actress who could, in fact, closely resemble Princess Diana -- Halle Berry, for example -- then that would be fine. In fact, I think many people were regard it as great progress in race relations to have a black person portray a white one. Keep in mind that Cate Blanchett (a female) recently portrayed Bob Dylan (a male) in a movie about the singer’s life -- and I don’t think anyone cried “foul,” that it was sexist against men to have a woman play a man. So in the case of SNL, because the roles are reversed, it’s supposed to be some sort of racism? Nope. Not gonna buy that.

'The Hills'

This absolutely just made my day:



(big thank you to Katherine Wade, from whose away message i stole it.)

It's Oscar time

"Mr. Stewart is accustomed, of course, to deflating Washington politicians. 'Washington and Hollywood are really sister cities,' he said. 'The only difference between Hollywood and Washington is that Washington actually has power.'"

Quote from a New York Times article about how Jon Stewart has just 8 days to work on his material for the Oscars this Sunday. I wasn't sure if I was going to watch, since I havent really seen most of the movies nominated (yet!) -- but Jon Stewart is obviously worth it. <3

Lunar Eclipse

2/20/08

NY Times: 'Is PBS Still Necessary?'

So, this is a little late because it has taken me a while to compose, and I put some things up in the meantime. But the above is the headline of an opinion article in last weekend's New York Times, which argues that while NPR has successfully implemented measures to stay current with the times and therefore has thrived in recent years, the opposite it true of public television.

It brings up some points which, presumed true, make a lot of sense:

Lately the audience for public TV has been shrinking even faster than the audience for the commercial networks. The average PBS show on prime time now scores about a 1.4 Nielsen rating, or roughly what the wrestling show “Friday Night Smackdown” gets.

On the other side of the ledger the audience for public radio has been growing: there are more than 30 million listeners now, compared to just 2 million in 1980. “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” NPR’s morning and evening news programs, are the second and fourth most listened to shows in the country. Go figure. Who would have guessed 40 years ago, when public broadcasting came into being, that the antique medium, the one supposedly on its way out, would prove to be the greater success and the one more technically nimble. You can even download NPR broadcasts onto your iPod.
...
Every now and then a one-off like “The War,” Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s World War II documentary, the most-watched PBS series in 10 years, comes along and makes a huge splash. The broadcast of the first episode was watched by some 7.3 million people, or about as many as tune in to the “NBC Nightly News.” But such projects are few and far between, and they’re so overwhelming and time-consuming that for many people they mostly serve as lengthy advertisements for the boxed DVD set, which you can view at your own convenience and your own pace.
...
The stunning (and stunningly expensive) BBC documentary “Planet Earth,” for example, which in the old days would have been a natural for PBS, was instead broadcast on the Discovery Channel, which could presumably better afford it. The Showtime series “The Tudors” is just the kind of thing — only better produced and with more nudity — that used to make “Masterpiece Theater” (now simply “Masterpiece”), once the flagship of PBS, so unmissable. Now it’s so strapped for cash that it has pretty much settled into an all-Jane Austen format.

If you’re the sort of traditional PBS viewer who likes extended news broadcasts, say, or cooking shows, old movies and shows about animals gnawing each other on the veld, cable now offers channels devoted just to your interest. Cable is a little like the Internet in that respect: it siphons off the die-hards.
...
Considering how much it costs to create new topnotch programming, the best solution to public television’s woes is the one that will probably never happen: more money, not less. Here too public radio has an edge, because giving listeners what they want doesn’t cost nearly as much.

Sadly, the writer (Charles McGrath) also took a couple hits on the NewsHour, and my several times removed top boss, Jim Lehrer -- mostly lamenting the show's age:

Scanning the PBS lineup, in fact, it’s hard to detect much of a bias toward anything at all, except possibly mustiness. Except for “Antiques Roadshow,” all the prime-time stalwarts — “The NewsHour,” “Nova,” “Nature,” “Masterpiece” — are into their third or fourth decade, and they look it.
...
Listeners complained mightily when Bob Edwards was booted as host of “Morning Edition” in 2004, a month before his 57th birthday, but the change invigorated the show and ratings are up. (Jim Lehrer, 73, has been with “NewsHour” since 1975, so long that some of his early viewers are now in assisted living.)

So, admittedly, PBS as whole may be in trouble -- it's hard to compete with all the TV channels out there now for the attention of viewers. But McGrath oversimplified a couple important aspects of the story. He writes that, "You can even download NPR broadcasts onto your iPod." Umm...hello!? You can download NewsHour broadcasts on your iPod, too! You can subscribe to our RSS feeds, watch videos compilations of past segments, use our interactive election map, and access a lot of other great content that's better than most of the crap on the internet. The NewsHour broadcast, too, has just recently switched to Hi Definition, and added new sets to accomodate the increased attention to detail. They are very much trying to modernize, and are not, by any means, trying to hold onto an antiquated format. Maybe Mr. McGrath hasn't watched the show recently to witness these changes. What hasn't changed, however, is the emphasis on thorough, in-depth analysis, rather than the breaking-news format and pundintry of most cable news shows. Most of the viewers who write into us with comments laud the fact that we are one of the only sources that you can get balanced, thorough coverage, and berate us when they sense the slightest inkling of sensationalism, pundintry, or bias. And they should! Good journalism should not be skewed. Whether or not it's true, most people have the perspective that cable news is biased -- Fox as conservative, CNN as liberal. Evening news programs are better, but then they have the disadvantage of time; there's only such much you can cover in a half hour program, including commercial breaks. The NewsHour and other PBS news shows generally offer the best coverage, on a limited budget.

So yes, while not all of the programming on PBS is the most modern, you can't just substitute it with what's available on cable or the networks - another point McGrath implied. This may seem hypocritical because I don't watch PBS 24/7 or anything; but at least you know that when you turn it on, it's going to be quality programming. And there are a lot of people out there who do watch it as their primary TV source, and it would be great it if could fulfill its potential. A possible solution for this, McGrath says, would be more money, though he admits that's an unlikely reality. Why is it that most things that try and make the world a better place, don't get any money, and yet there's so much damn money out there for rich people to get richer?!

If you're interested in reading or adding to the online forum of viewer comments that the NewsHour setup, check it out here. Or, you can post comments on my blog!

Happy Valentine's Day!

At Filomena, 2/15/08

I promised momma i would show her valentine's day photos (i wore red lipstick just for you, mom!) This one waitress was obsessed with me and nick because she liked the fact that we dressed up ("no one does that anymore," she said), and she thought we were cute -- so she was our photographer. She took a bunch of photos, making us change poses, fixing nick's jacket, etc., and even took one in the special 'Filomena kitchen.' Here are a couple more:

Hurray for punctuation!

I was so delighted to see this article in the New York Times. I enjoy proper punctuation, and try to use it as best I can; but I especially LOVE LOVE LOVE the semicolon. I think it is the most underrated, underutilized, yet most useful mark in our language. Well, I suppose the period is probably more useful, but the semicolon is just so eloquent and adds flavor to one's writing.

Sadly, people just don't use it! As the article states, "Americans, in particular, prefer shorter sentences without, as style books advise, that distinct division between statements that are closely related but require a separation more prolonged than a conjunction and more emphatic than a comma. ... In terms of punctuation, semicolons signal something New Yorkers rarely do. Frank McCourt, the writer and former English teacher at Stuyvesant High School, describes the semicolon as the yellow traffic light of a 'New York sentence.' In response, most New Yorkers accelerate; they don’t pause to contemplate." I think, really, many people are just afraid of using it incorrectly, so they'd rather not use it at all. It's a strange hybrid of punctuation, and I think people are scared that using it will create a run-on sentence. It's funny, though, because I see it in the exact opposite way. Semicolons can rescue a terrible run-on sentence by breaking it up, or join two very juvenile sentences into one that is more cohesive and developed.

The article also makes reference to an awesome and funny (awesomely funny?) book about grammar and punctuation called "Eats, Shoots & Leaves." I own a copy, so if anyone wants to borrow, let me know.

Writers Strike Slideshow

A project for the NewsHour:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/entertainment/writersstrike/

Hoya Rival Reels

I know we are playing Providence today-- not UConn, villanova, or S. Florida, but i just found these hoya rival reel videos that i've never seen before, and they are fantastic. enjoy! and GO HOYAS!

Where Art thou?

Four famous paintings were just stolen from a museum outside Zurich, Switzerland. While I do not, in any way, condone stealing... I have to admit that it was kind of cool to read this article and think about a real, old-school robbery. It sounds like something from a movie -- like 'The Italian Job'. I'm just wondering what they now do with these paintings, seeing as how they are easily indentifiable. How do they make money off of them, when whoever is the last person holding the 'hot potato' is likely to be found out.

Now i get it....

This picture makes me understand why, when my brother just created his facebook account, he listed his name as "Roberto DeNiro Nuzzo."

Found out...

Guess I have now shown my true colors as a blogging slacker. I do, however, have a good excuse -- the last week has been crazy busy, including a trip to NY with about a 26-hour turnaround, late-night shifts at the NewsHour, and finishing a project for Rosalind for her conference this week.

On Super Tuesday, I was fortunate to be one of the NewsHours election bloggers, writing about the Democratic side of the race. You can read 'em here:

Race for States Over, Campaigns Focus on Delegate Counts
Economy, Iraq Continues to Weigh on Democratic Voter
Obama Projected Winner in Early Peach State Primary
Ahead of Tuesday, Democratic Poll Numbers Show Tight Race

And as mentioned, last weekend I was in New York for my wonderful brother-in-law Kenny's birthday. Lucky for him, 30 is the new 20, and age ain't nothin but a number as evidenced here. Jacqui sent me some lovely photos from the party, which she said I should post on my "bloge" (maybe that's British for blog?)


Ken, me, mom

most of the fam

Me and momma.

Latest article

I would just put up a link, but these articles only remain on the site for a week. In the interest of posterity, here's the full text:

--

NewsHour Extra Daily Buzz
Posted: February 1, 2008

'No Child Left Inside' taxes indoor games to promote those outdoors

Some groups want to tax children's indoor activities -- such as video games and television -- to help motivate them to participate in outdoor activities instead.

The Rio Grande chapter of the Sierra Club is spearheading the No Child Left Inside movement, which aims to have state lawmakers impose a 1 percent tax on TVs and gaming equipment to fund outdoor education programs, the Associated Press reported.

"We believe that an outdoor education program in New Mexico could be funded through a tax on the very activities that are divorcing kids from nature, promoting more sedentary lifestyles," Michael Casaus, Sierra Club's state youth representative, told the AP.

Opponents argue that the initiative would unfairly punish New Mexico retailers, which must compete with online rental services exempt from the tax, and that the gaming industry should not bear the sole responsibility for complex issues, such as childhood obesity.

Analysts predict that the tax could bring in about $4 million in annual revenue, according to the AP.

superbowl preview

we all know that the best part of the superbowl is the opportunity to see new and creative commercials. it will be especially significant this year because all the ad agencies have been losing out on viewers due to the writers' strike, and so have spent an exorbitant amount of money trying to capitalize on the guaranteed captive audience. I noticed that my friend Leslie, another McLaughlin Group survivor, has some "advanced copies" of new superbowl ads on her blog, and i thought i'd whet your appetites a bit. I don't want to scoop her, so I'll just give ya the links:

Justin Timberlake commercial

A surprise