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Something besides a man

Dec 3, 2008 at 7:45PM

This article about cartoonist Allison Bechdel reminded me of her slightly infamous Bechdel test for movies:

My last five movies are Elf, Australia, Must Love Dogs, Godfather II, and X-Men III. Australia and X-Men had a few token woman-to-woman moments, but nothing meaty. Digging into my Netflixed movies queue (we usually watch three or four a month), I have to go back to July for the lady-penned Juno to find a full-fledged female conversation about something other than a man (it's another stereotypical hallmark of the feminine identity, pregnancy, but it adheres to these rules). And even if I were allowed to move any of my rom-coms to the top*, none of these women-targeted films would pass because their entire thesis focuses on the acquisition of a man.

Of course, whining about how many people have boobs in a movie feels hollow when you consider other levels of female subjugation like this, which places my first world ideology issues between "my latte is too hot" and "my hybrid car won't start."

*Ironclad veto power: the secret to any happy relationship.

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Talent is one word you could use

Oct 10, 2008 at 5:18PM
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The Republicans have alienated whole professions. Lawyers now donate to the Democratic Party over the Republican Party at 4-to-1 rates. With doctors, it’s 2-to-1. With tech executives, it’s 5-to-1. With investment bankers, it’s 2-to-1. It took talent for Republicans to lose the banking community.

”David Brooks, The Class War Before Palin
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Sep 24, 2008 at 6:43PM

Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet


There's great television, and then there's transcendental, coke-binge-fueled genius. I miss it so.

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Conflicted

Sep 18, 2008 at 5:42PM

I grew up with the Wall Street Journal. It's a little incongruous with "there was an article in the Times about that" coming out of my mouth at least once a day, but way back before The Rapture (a.k.a. the internet) Dad needed financial info first thing every morning so he could balance out his Solitaire addiction with his day trading habit. I still like reading it when I go home; the tech and lifestyle stories are always good, and the What's News briefing on the front page (left side, two columns, now salmon) is one of my favorite features in any paper.

Of course, the op-eds are another kettle of WASPs, as I rediscovered yesterday*. I will say that their right-wing nitpicking throws into relief the identical tactics employed by the left, but the conservative version is just so petty. And it's not as funny as the liberal ones. And it's wrong. Mocking the Times for calling the Iraqi conflict a civil war because it's a "loaded term"? Favorably comparing Palin to previous forgettable presidents who also had little experience? Employing Karl "what Congressional subpoena" Rove?


Oh, the shame.

And yet. Within five minutes of poking around the site, I had to check definr.com for "ukase" and "panjandrum." And for a girl who loves her language, there's something to be said for that.

*Sorry, NYT. Things are hairy right now and my brain needs multiple explanations to understand why.

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I can't decide which one terrifies me the most.

Sep 15, 2008 at 1:53PM

Can I just say all of them equally? I WANT MY MAMA.

The political climate right now: scarier than a crazy mutant Iowan cloud.

"But that is not what troubled us most about her remarks — and, remember, if they were scripted, that just means that they reflect Mr. McCain’s views all the more closely. Rather, it was the sense that thoughtfulness, knowledge and experience are handicaps for a president in a world populated by Al Qaeda terrorists, a rising China, epidemics of AIDS, poverty and fratricidal war in the developing world and deep economic distress at home."

Editorial, "Gov Palin's Worldview"

"The cunning of the Palin choice as a political strategy is that a candidate who embodies fear of change can be sold as a “maverick” simply because she looks the part. Her marketers have a lot to work with. Palin is not only the first woman on a Republican presidential ticket, but she is young, vibrant and a Washington outsider with no explicit connection to Bush or the war in Iraq. That package looks like change even if what’s inside is anything but."

Frank Rich, "The Palin-Whatshisname Ticket"

"The really scary part of the Palin interview was how much she seemed like W. in 2000, and not just the way she pronounced nu-cue-lar. She had the same flimsy but tenacious adeptness at saying nothing, the same generalities and platitudes, the same restrained resentment at being pressed to be specific, as though specific is the province of silly eggheads, not people who clear brush at the ranch or shoot moose on the tundra."

Maureen Dowd, "Bering Straight Talk"

"Do you believe in the Bush doctrine?” Mr. Gibson asked during the interview. Ms. Palin looked like an unprepared student who wanted nothing so much as to escape this encounter with the school principal.

Clueless, she asked, “In what respect, Charlie?”

“Well, what do you interpret it to be?” said Mr. Gibson.

“His worldview?” asked Ms. Palin."

Bob Herbert, "She's Not Ready"

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