Via LATimes

Mattel sues to keep Barbie off porn site 

Toy maker Mattel Inc. went to court Tuesday to declare that the name of its clean-cut Barbie dolls doesn’t belong on a model’s pornographic website.

There isn’t much to the article at all. But just the whole idea is ironic.

September Dawn, a film about the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre, is coming out this week and certain agents in Utah and other institutions close to the church have already began an attack on the film.  When I say church, I mean the LDS church. According to numerous sources, Brigham Young ordered a militia to kill emigrants passing through the Utah Territory. It is also claimed that the Mormons framed local Indian tribes for this attack. Of course, several church officials deny this and have argued that such arguments are wrong and historically inaccurate.
From the Spectrum, a news source from southern Utah, published an article about the film, Massacre Remembered.

The cruel and severe persecution of LDS settlements in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois, and the certainty of an attack by the U.S. Army, is largely minimized in the film. Such pressures, however, proved to be the catalyst of one of the largest migrations in U.S. history and would provide a solid motive for the hardened and defensive dispositions of those early 19th century members of the LDS church….

Why Hollywood chose to embellish the sad tale with dark innuendo is obvious: profit. Exploiting the Mountain Meadow Massacre for any type of gain is reprehensible and does a disservice to the lives lost that day.

Clearly, this denunciation of the film is rooted in more than anti-materialism.  The author comes across as having a lot at stake in both the religious persecution that Mormons struggled with AND the weight of atrocities that occurred during the massacre.

This article from Clarksville, TN offers a less defensive tone about the massacre.

The film has sparked rebuttal from Latter Day Saints, and controversy as the horrors of another time and place spill into today’s headlines, rekindling debate and triggering strong statements from Mormon leaders decrying the murderous attribution and citing the honor and atonements offered to the dead over the ensuing one and a half centuries. In 1999, The LDS dedicated a memorial on the massacre site.

By acknowledging some culpability in the form of a memorial, the Mormon Church is attempting to move on or at least put up the perception of moving on.  But Americans haven’t even had the chance to digest the Mountain Meadows Massacre, as Mormons and Mormon history has not really found its place in the popular culture imagination until recently.  So the rest of non-Mormon Americans have to digest everything Mormon good and bad.  While the Mormon Church will claim the massacre is not them (represtative or responsibility), as soon as hollywood puts it out there…there ain’t no going back.

I’m ready to see it.  But I have to see Super Bad first.  Long story.

I had a very unique New York City week. Wednesday morning minutes after my husband left for work, he returned saying he received a call from a coworker saying that all the subways were messed up because of a tornado! I heard lightning and thunder at 6 am but slept through most of it.

Every single line was interrupted. From this New York 1 article:

At one point, NYC Transit was urging people to stay home until they could get things sorted out after the severe weather led to massive mass transit delays during the morning rush.

I was lucky that I didn’t have to go into work that day anyway, but all of my friends had hard commutes.

On Thursday, I was lucky enough to have to show up serve for jury duty. I’m not trying to be sarcastic, really. Ha!

Of course, on mta.info the two subway lines that were experiencing residual delays were the two closest to us. I went to wait for the bus which took forever. In Manhattan, buses show up continually. In the outer boroughs, they are on a very tight schedule.

I arrived at the wrong building fifteen minutes late. The guard sent me to the right building where I had just missed the awesome movie about jury duty and how important it is to our government, even more so than voting. I don’t know if I agree with that last statement but, eh, what can you do?

This is what I learned at jury duty: how to correctly perforate my jury duty notice, that the wireless does not let you sign onto social networking sites and that there aren’t enough trials in my borough to keep a roomful of hundred juror’s or so occupied. We got dismissed after two hours! It was amazing. The last time I served jury duty, I had to sit around for two days with long breaks in between.

Everyone quickly lept up and almost ran out of the room, but we had to stand in an orderly line to receive the proof that we had served jury duty. That rocked.

I took off and went to meet my friend for lunch and then went to see a movie. I’ve seen a lot of movies so far this month:

SherryBaby
No End in Sight
The Valet
God Spoke
Maxed Out
Becoming Jane
Grizzly Man
Interview
Two days in Paris

I really need to write about all these movies SOON. But I’m too tired from driving all over rockland, weschester and kings counties (sorry for no lack of caps) today.

I want to see this movie RIGHT NOW!

And every other John Ford western ASAP!

If you’re totally into movies like me, join iheartmovies.org

Seriously you should go do it…like right NOW!

And in other news:

You know you want ALL OF IT!

AND:

I just “happened” across this video when doing some research (or my friend who made it sent it to me). I like the music

So, I’ve been wanting to write about the films Waitress and Knocked Up for a week now but I haven’t found the time.  Well, The NYTimes beat me to it! Well, duh, it’s such an obvious connection but they mostly talked about the reluctance of Hollywood to show a movie with a woman even seriously pondering an abortion.

The aspect of Waitress I enjoyed was that it shows how pregnancy can interrupt a married woman’s life as well.  It helps break the myth in popular culture that if you’re married, any pregnancy is a wanted–even if unplanned– pregnancy.   Knocked UP offers the usual fare of “oops we’re having a baby.” Don’t get me wrong, it was hilarious but the ending didn’t surprise me at all.  I thought it presented a much more honest portrayal of marriage than pregnancy.

But yeah neither film even mentioned the word abortion.  I have researched and written about this topic immensely these past few months, the way abortion is portrayed in pop culture.  So the message is loud and clear, no woman is having an abortion on TV or film.  Sure there’s an abortion storyline every few years on TV but thats every FEW years.  Not matching up with statistics at all.

I watched Children of Men last month on a transatlantic flight.  I knew what it was about but kept thinking that the pro-lifers (the scary ones) must have loved the premise of the film.  Of course, the crazy liberals and their abortions would cause all the women in the world to suffer from infertility.  I did like Children of Men but couldn’t help think of all the hidden (unintended?) messages in it.  And what is it with every “end of the humanity” movie taking place in the UK?  28 Days later…anyone?

I HATE repeating point especially here but I don’t get why fictional TV and movies will deal with EVERY controversial subject except this one.  Or maybe its every American movie…a foreign film that features an abortion, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, just won the Palme d’Or.  But even Maria Full of Grace had its heroine carrying cocaine (i think?) in her belly next to her embryo across the border.  I mean if a drug smuggler can’t have an abortion on film, who can?

After Substitute shows “Brokeback in class,” Family of girl, 12, sues

The girl, Jessica Turner, and her grandparents Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson, are seeking more than $400,000 in damages under the suit filed Friday against the Chicago Board of Education and others.The suit claims Jessica continues to suffer from emotional distress caused by watching the film and is currently undergoing psychological treatment and counseling.

Oh dear. I have two thoughts here. The teacher should have realized the possible consequences of showing a film like this in school. Or the parents of the girl should chill out and chalk it up to a mistake, settle for the dismissal of the substitute teacher etc.

BUT I am liberal and I know they are trying to set a precedent.

 THE VIRGIN MARY!
(1) The director of Thirteen tries her hand at telling the story of the most famous virgin ever in The Nativity Story.  CNN just found it boring.
(2) The Virgin Mary is dragged out by the Mormons during the Christmas season but hidden away when its over.

For most of the year, though, Mary is largely tucked away … She does not adorn their chapel walls, nor stare down from stained-glass windows. She is not part of their weekly worship or routinely mentioned in prayers.
And she barely merits a mention in LDS books…She’s nowhere to be found in Mormonism for Dummies, either.  (click here.)

(3) Pope goes to Mary’s house but she is not is home.

I did something last night I wasn’t proud of…I decided to go see a movie on opening night. I hate doing this because moviegoers in NYC are crazy. They physically fight over seats, yell at each other over spilt popcorn, talk throughout the whole film, and just make life hell in general. Instead of being antisocial and rushing home on a Friday night to order Japanese food and watch tv, I decided to go to the movies with a bunch of people from work.

So I saw Borat last night. I laughed. I sat in shock. I held my hand over my mouth. It was a true movie experience.

But I’m not done. I was also appalled. Extremely appalled. When the previews started, I was excited because I like other people love to see whats coming up (i.e. if there is a film worth is to waste money on.) Halfway through the previews I started to notice a disturbing trend: making fun of obese women. Eddie Murphy’s latest film preview for Norbit featured a large black woman bossing around her nerdy boyfriend, strutting around in a tiny bathing suit, dancing obnoxiously, and otherwise acting completely oblivious to the fact that she is fat. Of course that’s where the comedy lies–laughing at someone who doesn’t understand what is wrong with them.

During one of his exploits, Borat calls a 1800 number for a prostitute. Luenell a black, overweight woman in skimpy clothes that reveals her fat rolls shows up. First of all its understood that while the character of Borat makes anti-Semitic, misogynist, racist, homophobic and generally offensive comments throughout the film, that it should not be taken seriously. OK. Fine.

People have been making fun of fat people for as long as forever. Yet, it’s hard to deny that there is a high emphasis on “looking hot naked.” And those who don’t look “hot” naked are there for the other people to make fun of. Of course, it is good for us to get in shape, stay in shape, avoid bad foods, exercise, and lead healthy lives.

I couldn’t help but wondering what the young women there thought of these images of silly, fat women. Were over weight women wondering if they were the object of ridicule like these fictionalized characters? Were thin women secretly thanking their lucky stars they weren’t fat? Or were they were just laughing along with others?

According to an Ebony article from October 2004, 50 percent of African-American women are obese while 40 percent of Mexican-American women and 30 percent of White women are obese. Americans live in an over weight world. Mostly everything is huge, super-sized, and maxed over the edge. Instead of focusing on how we look and who we can make fun of, we need to start focusing on positive images. Of course a film like Akeelah and the Bee isn’t going to be huge weekend opener because people generally won’t go see movies about smart young people or young people trying to educate themselves and improve their lives. If these were the images beamed across the movie screen, computer screen, and tv screen, then there would probably be a lot less emphasis on shape and more attention paid to achieving academic and professional success. It’s safe to say that if people were pushed to focus on their creativity and intellect first and image and popularity second they would be healthier in general. Healthy in mind, spirit, and body.

I enjoy a good laugh like everyone else, but it would be a lie to say I wasn’t disheartened by my latest movie experience.