I love Joss Whedon

Yes, the creator of Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Toy Story 2 has done it again. This morning, not only did I receive a writing tip e-mail about the first episode of Buffy and all of its greatness, I was greeted with this on my RSS reader. I don't normally post whole articles on this page, but Broadsheet wrapped up Whedon's blog so well...

"What is wrong with women?"

If you ask almighty geek/feminist icon Joss Whedon, you don't need to seek out exports from Kurdistan -- the ghastly cellphone videos of Dua Khalil's savage public execution, that is -- to see brutal misogyny up close. We've got Hollywood right here. "The trailer [for the controversial movie "Captivity"] resembles nothing so much as the CNN story on Dua Khalil," he writes at Whedonesque (a blog about him and his work where he occasionally posts). "Pretty much all you learn is that Elisha Cuthbert is beautiful, then kidnapped, inventively, repeatedly and horrifically tortured, and that the first thing she screams is 'I'm sorry.'"

Whedon does, of course, know the difference between fact and fiction. But in this passionate, moving, positively reeling -- and ultimately inspiring -- response to Dua Khalil's murder, he makes a strong, strong case for that Hollywood-Iraq continuum. "What is wrong with women?" he writes. "I mean wrong. Physically. Spiritually. Something unnatural, something destructive, something that needs to be corrected. How did more than half the people in the world come out incorrectly? ... I have yet to find a culture that doesn't buy into it. Women's inferiority -- in fact, their malevolence -- is as ingrained in American popular culture as it is anywhere they're sporting burkhas. I find it in movies, I hear it in the jokes of colleagues, I see it plastered on billboards, and not just the ones for horror movies. Women are weak. Women are manipulative. Women are somehow morally unfinished ... And the logical extension of this line of thinking is that women are, at the very least, expendable."

Go read the rest. (Here's dessert.)

-- Lynn Harris

----

How can you not adore this talented, witty, socially-conscious feminist man? For those who are Whedon-ignorant, stop laughing at the name Buffy and get on it. High school as setting for personal as well as literal hell? How can you not adore it?

BCOO: Story Time

Oh, Meggin, I'm so sorry if you're reading this.

I did not like this book. Maybe I wasn't in the correct mindset for a young adult book, maybe I'm too cynical, but I wanted nothing more than to get through to the end. I didn't like the writing, I thought the story was disjointed, I thought the dialogue was forced.

That being said, the idea was certainly creative. A gothic library building houses a magnet school which teaches TBC: test-based curriculum (the setting for a pretty blatant condemnation of teaching to the test - while I agree with the sentiment, the execution was poor). Not only is the school located in the basement, it's haunted. By...uh...book people? It was never completely explained who was doing the haunting and why.

I don't want to spend too long on a book I don't like. I'm going for young again in my next book: Lord of the Flies, by William Golding.

New wallstrip - Molson Coors Brewing Company (mmm...beer)

Homer said it best.

BCOO: Bait and Switch and Brave New World

Oops. I got a little behind.

Bait and Switch, by Ehrenreich was a really interesting read. I fell in love with her after reading Nickel and Dimed, where she attempts to live on minimum wage as a waitress, a Wal-Mart employee, and a maid.

Bait and Switch did not disappoint. In this one, Ehrenreich goes undercover into the white collar world, discovering a new way to (not) get by in America. It's fascinating and entertaining.

And I finally read Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.

Wow. I loved it, as I fully expected to. Everyone should read this (read 1984 first, though).

Not too much detail here, because I'm tired and it's been a little while since I've finished these. I'm reading a book now called Story Time by Edward Bloor. It's a young adult novel recommended by a friend. Should be good enough to tide me over before the next Harry Potter.

wallstrip: CYNO

The guy in the interview is hilarious. Adam and I went back and forth a bit on the interview script, and it looks like it turned out well. Of course, the casting didn't hurt - the guy made me laugh out loud at something I've read at least ten times.

Veto Man!

He uses his powers for evil, but he believes he is doing good. Is there anything more dangerous??? Find out, next week!

Bush warned Congress he would veto the Iraq spending bill and he did, no shocker there. But now he has a taste for it. He's veto-thirsty. Thursday, he let Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid know that he would veto ... well, basically anything that ensured women's rights to control their own bodies.

Bush wrote a two-page letter to the speaker and majority leader, threatening a veto against anything that (I'm not making this up) "allow[ed] taxpayer dollars to be used for the destruction of human life.” (my emphasis)
I think I'm just gonna let that sit there. Okay, I can't resist a little list of Bush's life destruction. Guantanamo prisoners, the Iraqis, illegal immigrants, Abu Ghraib prisoners (and other not-so-public camps that I'm sure exist), Joe Wilson and his wife, abstinence-educated children, creationism-educated children, UNeducated children, and, hey, what about those unwanted children and resentful women pushed into motherhood? They'll be flooding the streets if Bush has anything to do with it.

Can Veto Man get away with his hypocrisy? Will he keep telling women they can't make educated decisions by themselves regarding their own bodies? Will his evil spread to other countries when he vetoes a pending bill that would end a ban on DISCUSSING abortion at family planning clinics in developing nations? Keep your eyes on the skies. Wherever women are in need, Veto Man will be nearby to keep them that way.

BCOO: The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Loved it! I'd forgotten what a great writer Kurt Vonnegut is. I'm going to have to go back and re-read some of his other stuff.

Though The Sirens of Titan is deeply rooted in science fiction, like all Vonnegut novels, it includes intelligent commentary on society that still resonates today. Vonnegut addresses religion, capitalism, philosophy, temptation, and guilt. For an ostensibly simple, short novel that plays with time, that's pretty damn good.

Next: Bait and Switch by Barbara Ehrenreich. I loved Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich's novel about her undercover stint as a blue collar worker. In Bait and Switch she does the same for white collar workers. Her writing style is entertaining and her social commentary is thought-provoking. Sounds good to me.

BCOO preempted for bizarro abortion world

I spent last week with no internet, so I'm a little late and rushed in my posting. Sorry.

Women can't be trusted to make their own decisions. On the 18th, the Supreme Court voted to uphold the federal abortion ban passed by Congress in 2003. It will criminalize abortions in the second trimester (called partial birth abortion by anti-choice groups). There is no exception for the health and safety of the mother. No exceptions, period. The ban if on a procedure called dilation and extraction or D & X. D & X is one of the least common late-term abortion procedures.

Even so, this sets a ridiculously dangerous precedent. The government had taken away one of the options for pregnant women. The fact that it's a federal ban is even more terrifying. It takes away state's rights to decide whether abortion should be legal. Yikes. If you're upset about this, there are many ways to help. Planned Parenthood has a petition you can sign here And you can donate money to them here.

Wal-Mart, on the other hand, has changed their policy regarding emergency contraception. EC must now be dispensed without discrimination or delay. It makes me feel better for shopping their when it's absolutely necessary. Target has no such policy. What's the problem, Target? You're supposed to be the good guys.

All the Names, by Jose Saramago, was very good. Not as good as Blindness, but still wonderful.

Wallstrip: Kellogg Co.

I'm a little late on this one. They posted it Thursday.



Again, head to wallstrip.com for more great shows.

BCOO: The Cider House Rules, John Irving

Sometimes I long for the days when I loved Irving. I threw myself into his long, meandering stories and enjoyed almost every page.

I didn't hate The Cider House Rules, but I didn't love it either. Anyone who knows the story can probably guess that I was happy with the politics. One of the main characters in the story is an abortionist before legal abortion.

The more I read Irving, the more I feel like he doesn't trust me to make the connections, to really read his work. He lays things out too plainly and it gets on my nerves. It feels condescending, patronizing. I like the modern feel of his stories, the modern sentiment and politics, but I hate feeling like he thinks I'm stupid.

I think that's all I want to say. I wish I could enjoy him more.

Next: All the Names, Jose Saramago

Feminists Make Rape Inevitable

Everyone knows that! Well, maybe not everyone. But Orlando Sentinel's Kathleen Parker sure does. In her article, The Fog of Rape, Parker dances around the word rape and blurs the lines between sexual harassment and "harmless sport."

Her piece searches out (in five paragraphs) the answer to why there is so much sexual aggression (the word "rape" disappears in the middle of the article). Is it horny misogynists who believe they're dominant and entitled? Well, yeah. That's pretty much what Parker says. Just not in so many words. In her world, the REASON men rape...oops...sorry..."target women" is because of the Pentagon.
Yes, the Pentagon "and others who have capitulated to feminist pressures to insert women into combat." These poor men are forced to treat women as equals when they KNOW they're not (seriously, it's in the article). "The lie breeds contempt, which leads to a simmering rage that sometimes finds expression in aggression toward those deemed responsible."

Parker's solution? Segregate! We all know how well that's worked in the past! AND, "as a bonus, segregation also would reduce the plague of divorces caused by men and women fraternizing away from spouses." Whew! Good thing we can solve that problem too. Things are so much easier when we don't have to test our will-power.

For more snarky commentary, read Broadsheet's response to this sad article.

Absolutely, Positively Wallstrip

My latest wallstrip script - FedEx:


I couldn't resist a chance to poke fun at Mr. Spears.

A big thanks to my girls for helping/listening/putting up with a bitchy roomate while I wrote this.

ERA: Take Three?

I'm pretty sure a lot of Americans believe the Equal Rights Amendment was passed in the 70s. (The ERA was actually originally introduced to Congress in 1923.)While it's true that the 92nd Congress passed it in 1972, the ERA came 3 states short of ratification, failing to meet it's 1982 deadline.

But it's back! On Wednesday, The Washington Post broke the news that House and Senate Democrats have introduced the amendment back into Congress under a new name: the Women's Equality Amendment. (WEA? Not quite as catchy...)

Just to be clear, here is the text of the amendment:

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

I know. Crazy, right? Good thing we have WOMEN like Phyllis Schlafly to prevent freaky liberals from passing something as "retro" as the ERA. Back in the 70s, she warned us this amendment would give us unisex bathrooms and force women into war via the draft. Now? Why, same-sex marriage for all! Abortions galore!

Schlafly and her flock pretty much single-handedly destroyed the ERA in the 70s. Can she do the same this time? As Carol Lloyd at Broadsheet points out, unlike the 70s, we now have a Christian Right, the Promise Keepers, and a men's rights movement. Shlafly sounds as crazy now as she did then, denying the existence of marital rape and asserting that "women in combat are a hazard to other people around them." (According to Lloyd, 160,000 women have served in Iraq, many in combat zones). Can the Congressional Democratic majority help? We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

An amendment that would give women a right to sue for a higher pay rate (on average, women's salaries are less than men's for equal work - STILL), that would make gender discrimination legally equivalent to discrimination based on race, seems like it should pass with flying colors. I can't even fathom why there is any serious debate about its ratification.

Writing Scripts for wallstrip? Priceless

It's Mastercard today on wallstrip. And yes, they know it's not Thursday. This one was a lot of fun. I don't think they changed my script at all. I credit the stock - it was easy to figure out.



Wallstrip was also featured on CNBC and Viral on Veoh (they're the second show profiled, a little over two minutes in). Both great plugs! Great job, guys.

I love Socialism

According to Broadsheet, "Still reacting to last year's models-dying-of-starvation tragedies, the Spanish health ministry is taking a step beyond just banning ultra-thin models from the catwalk: it's teamed up with four major Spanish retailers to create mannequins that look more like actual women, and plans to set standard sizing for women's clothing so that sizes don't fluctuate between stores. "

So how will they decide what the mannequins will look like? The article goes on: "the Health Ministry is using laser-equipped booths that can scan 130 body measurements in 30 seconds (apparently when the Spanish Health Ministry wants something done, it gets it done). The booths will be sent around the country to measure the curves of 8,500 women, ages 12 to 70, and their results will be passed on to designers who account for 80 percent of the clothing in the Spanish fashion industry, says the Herald. The study's results will be used to set sizing standards."

I know this isn't a magical fix-it for eating disorders, but it's definitely a big step. Women like myself hate size-guessing at different clothing stores. We hate seeing that cool outfit on the mannequin make us look bloated and awkward. It just makes sense. Let's take a page out of Spain's book! Please!!!

The Only Time Porn is Not Okay...

From Bust Magazine:
"U.S. Air force Sergeant Michelle Manhart served in the armed forces for 13 years, until she was relieved of duty this winter because she posed nude for Playboy."

From AP:
""This staff sergeant's alleged action does not meet the high standards we expect of our airmen, nor does it comply with the Air Force's core values of integrity, service before self, and excellence in all we do," Oscar Balladares, spokesman for Lackland Air Force Base, said in a statement."

A woman legally poses nude in a magazine full of (shocker) nude women = relieved of duty on moral grounds. A man gropes, harasses, assaults, RAPES a fellow woman soldier? If the barriers don't intimidate the woman from reporting the incident, the man may be reprimanded (no!), have his pay docked (gasp!), or have his rank reduced (say it ain't so!). Oh, and said man can have any NUMBER of said nudie magazines with no consequences whatsoever. Now THAT'S morality embodied.

Woman feeling proud of her job, body, womanhood, life, and self? Let's can her! Such a public display of immorality must be dealt with! Women can't exploit their own bodies! That's our job!

And ...
Scene.

BCOO: Before the Mortgage

Well, I asked for it and the book delivered. A little fluff for the road.

A book of essays is hard to review. I think the editors, Christina Amini and Rachel Hutton, did a nice job tying everything in together. I had fun reading it. But the only real stand-out for me was Sarah Vowell's family Thanksgiving essay which I'd heard before.

Next, I give John Irving another shot with The Cider House Rules. I didn't like the movie. I hope I like the book!

My latest wallstrip script

Going solar with wallstrip. I learned a lot researching for this one. Solar power is awesome!

BCOO: Blindness, Jose Saramago

Saramago gave me a gift. I felt privileged to read Blindness.

The narration and style of this novel create the perfect tone for this story of a blindness plague. "Blindness" focuses on several unnamed characters, examining their humanity or lack thereof in the midst of inhumane conditions and circumstances. The novels hits you in the gut and tears your heart out, displaying disgusting humans, faithful animals, and regular people in extreme situations.

I'm sorry. I'm trying not to gush. The narrator keeps things interesting (You didn't think a blindness plague would be enough, did you?) with constant intrusions into the story. The voice of the narrator is satirical, sardonic, self-referential, philosophical, and judgemental. It is continually questioning its own logic:

the only difference was in the colour, if black and white can, strictly
speaking, be thought of as colours.

Saramago plays with language constantly, examining the futility of speech in a world with different rules. In a land where no one sees, why would anyone say, suddenly understanding, "Ah, I see." This extends into a metaphor for an uncharted world. When cliches no longer make sense and language is peppered with useless phrases, everything changes. Unconscious gestures, expressions, everything is meaningless in a world where no one can see. This, if you pause to consider it, would be expected. But when language breaks down in addition, all communication stops. The world, in effect, ends.

Well, not exactly. Language, of course, doesn't break down entirely. But the possibility is intriguing and it gives the plot a nice sense of impending destruction.

I can't do this book justice with my little blog entry. If you want the chance to read a gorgeous, self-effacing, original piece of art, read Blindness.

Oh, and thanks to Sharif for letting me know about the musical version of "Blindness" opening in Chicago. It could go either way - I hope it's wonderful.

Next up: Before the Mortgage: Real Stories of Brazen Loves, Broken Leases, and the Perplexing Pursuit of Adulthood, edited by Christina Amini and Rachel Hutton. I know, I'm jumping from Camus to John Irving. But I'm about to go on tour. These essays will be nice fluff for the hotel rooms. It's tongues in cheek and I get to read Sarah Vowell, Davy Rothbart, and Thisbe Nissen.

AutoZone - another wallstrip

The script for AutoZone is about half mine (the last half). I like what they did with it. The stock market being what it is right now, most people aren't looking to invest. But wallstrip keeps on truckin'. Great work, guys.