Since I didn't exactly gloat, or even see the issue as that big a deal, I didn't really pay as much attention to this note as I usually do to Althouse's bloggins.
Ms. Althouse is---or was and perhaps still is--- disgusted that "creepy lefty bloggers...burst with pleasure" that the girl is going to suffer.
Okay, it's not EXACTLY political, but it sort of is, a
nd it says something about the confusion of celebrity in our culture with, you know, actual power.
Quote begins from BBC News, Hilton Backs Online Pardon Appeal
Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton is backing an online petition seeking a pardon of her 45-day prison sentence because she enlivens "mundane" lives....
Continue reading "The online netroots movement to free Paris Hilton. " »
Here's what Don Imus and his sidekick said, in case you missed the videotape at Media Matters:
[from The Huffington Post, "Eat the Press," The Imus Suspension: Everybody wins by Rachel Sklar]
IMUS: That's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and--
McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos.
IMUS: That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man, that's some--woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like--kinda like--I don't know.
McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.
IMUS: Yeah.
McGUIRK: The Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes--that movie that he had.
[quote ends]
I didn't think I could talk about it because, honestly, there are so many things wrong with this exchange that I didn't know where to begin. For example, there's the reference to University students as "hos." Then there is the really nasty crack about their alleged "nappy-headed"ness. There's the word "Jigaboos" which....no, I just can't get started on that.
But then there was the apology, the suspension, the attempts at expiation.... I'll let Rachel Sklar deal with that part of it:
If he wasn't going to worry about the feelings of a few random contemporary Jews over his portrayal of them in The Passion of the Christ, I don't know why "members of the Mayan community" should expect him to worry about how they felt about "Apocalypto." But not only Mayans, but an Assistant Professor of Central American studies from Cal State at Northridge, who sat in on a film class where he was speaking wished to make their objections known.
Mel's response? Well, you can see it right here. It's passionate, but not exactly Christ-like. Also he suggested that they make their own movie about Mayan culture.
A whole generation of young people, for example, will probably grow up believing that the question has been (somewhere) settled that Christ was married to Mary Magdalene, that the murder of Julius Caesar was instigated by Brutus's mother (irked at being dumped), that the ancient Egyptians were extraterrestrials, and that Pontius Pilate couldn't pronounce his "R's."
I don't know what you do about films that present a completely erroneous, or bigoted, view of your culture or its history. There are plenty of them around (e.g., all the westerns that were around when I was a kid), but of course nowadays people aren't taught, or do not wish to learn, actual history. So there's no point of reference. But it's ridiculous to encourage people to think that they should somehow have a say in an artistic (or "artistic") endeavor. It's fiction, not a documentary. I'm sure that many of the younger people who saw the film, if indeed any did, assumed that the Mayans lived in Middle Earth or on pre-diluvian Mars.
Anyway, I think Mel should be free to make any damn film he wants to, I guess, but that he needs to suck it up when people criticize its historical authenticity or challenge the message. At that, he ought to be happy someone sat through it.
I'm certain he shouldn't scream "Fuck you, Lady!" at anyone anywhere, hecklers included. ( TMZ published this update: "Gibson's publicist, Alan Nierob, told TMZ, "This person was a
heckler who was rude and disrupted the event, so much so that the event
organizers had to escort her out." For the record, Nierob...reps Gibson."). If you can't stand the hate, stay out of the film industry. And if you can't handle controversy, don't make controversial films.
According to this note at The Huffington Post, Donald Trump called George W. Bush "the worst president in history" in appearance on CNN with Wolf Blitzer. Huh. Who knew?
UPDATE ON 21 MARCH 2007. Someone posted the videotape at You Tube.
Furthermore, it turns out that Hillary Clinton is among Donald's many, many "very good friends" (such as Snoop Dogg). A portion of the transcript is posted at Liberty Post.Org. I must say, this isn't necessarily in her favor as far as I'm concerned. Though he claims subsequently that he also knows and likes McCain and Romney and Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani and every famous politician everywhere, except W. I mean, Schwarzeneggar was the reward (or "reward," depending on how you see it) for the last batch of apprentices.
Just makes me wonder what the history is between W and Trump. Did W make fun of The Apprentice, or what? Wheeee.
[quote begins from AOL News, "Tycoon Offers $25 Million Climate Prize"]
British tycoon Sir Richard Branson on Friday announced a $25 million prize for the first scientist to come up with a way to extract greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
Branson compared it to the competition launched in 1675 to devise a method of estimating longitude accurately. It was 60 years before English clock maker John Harrison discovered an accurate method and received his prize from King George III.
"The Earth cannot wait 60 years. We need everybody capable of discovering an answer to put their minds to it today," Branson said....
In September, Branson pledged to invest $3 billion to fight global warming, saying he would commit all profits from his travel firms - including Virgin Atlantic airline and Virgin Trains - over the next 10 years.
[quote]
Full props to him for doing something about it. .
A couple of my friends have expressed surprise that I---long-time fan of the late and deeply missed Crocodile Hunter---haven't been harder on Bill Maher for his ill-conceived Halloween costume and the even more ill-conceived follow-up during the New Rules Portion of one episode of Real Time.
I have my reasons. Which, if you are interested, are here. And that's my last word on the subject.
MICHAEL J. FOX RESPONDS TO RUSH LIMBAUGH. Man, it hurts to see the kid jumping and jiving from his medications. Who---besides Limbaugh----doesn't love Michael J. Fox? But he still can speak and present his case perfectly damn well and without an ounce of self-pity.
The world needs more, more, more exposure to the consequences of limitations on medical research and current policies on health care. It's so easy to feel sorry for a hypothetical "baby" and so hard to feel that you ought to do something concrete for an abstract adult human being or that society ought to.
