Just A Girl in Flip-Flops

I’ve been reading a lot over the past month.  Although I’ve always been an avid reader, I’ve never kept track of my reading. The solution, I’ve decided, is to keep a book list.   Rather than reviewing books (there are just too many) I’m listing them and giving them a rating out of 5 stars.

(most recent at the top, updates in bold)

1. Are Men Necessary? by Maureen Dowd ****
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen *****
3. Finally Feminist by John G. Stackhouse, Jr. ****
4. Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan ****
5. Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Battle of the Labrynth by Rick Riordan ****
6. Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan ****
7. Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan ****
8. Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan ****
9. The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall (yes, two colons in the title) by L. J. Smith *
10. The Host by Stephenie Meyer ****
11. Remarkably Jane by Jennifer Adams ***
12. The Vindication of the Rights of Woman – Mary Wollstonecraft ****
13. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer **
14. Generation Dead by Daniel Waters ***
15. Cupcake by Rachel Cohn *

I don’t like to use the f-word.  Not the special word I reserve for when I’m alone in my car. Feminist.

Feminist is a label I’m reticent to accept. When most people hear the word feminist, they think of burning bras, rampant misandry, and lesbians (or  women who look like lesbians). Every group has their rabid fundamentalist outliers who attract the most [negative] attention. Thus, for the same reason I dislike the c-word (Christian), I have deliberately avoided labeling myself a feminist.  Would you want to be grouped with Pat Robertson? Similarly, I prefer not to be counted in the ranks of radical feminists.

As I come to a greater understanding of the movement, I find myself reluctantly agreeing with most of what I read.  And, for simplicity’s sake, I have begun to wear the title Feminist, however begrudgingly. It’s not that I’m becoming a feminist so much as I’ve learned that I was and am a feminist, and probably have been for as long as I can remember.

There are two things I’ve learned from this epiphany:

First, education, voracious reading, and open-mindedness paves a way for greater understanding of self.  By learning about feminism, I’ve acquired a new vocabulary through which I can define, explain, and better understand me.

Second, we all have biases, prejudices, and blind spots.  Ignorant to the movement, I am guilty of painting all feminists with the same brush. However, what we think we know and cold, hard facts are sometimes very different.  To grow we need to strive to reach past our ignorance.

According to this article, court proceedings about the 2004 Superbowl halftime show – yes, the largely forgotten and no longer infamous Nipplegate – are continuing.   The FCC want to ensure a $550,000 indecency fine is served to CBC, who they deem is responsible for the incident.

Have I mentioned Nipplegate, the incident that popularized the phrase wardrobe malfunction, took place in 2004 – that’s 6 years ago, for those of you who are mathematically challenged. This, of course, has to go through the third circuit court of appeals, eating up tax payers dollars, and landing the controversy back in the news. Again. With more pictures of Janet Jackson’s breast.

Frankly, I remember the Janet-Justin Superbowl performance as the last of the greats before we were subjected to Prince and The Who.  I had no idea that anything scandalous had taken place until the following morning when my marketing teacher was still upset that something so dreadful happened on live TV. This is particularly funny because I had recorded the game – just for the halftime show – and then re-watched the halftime show several times, all without noticing the wardrobe malfunction.

Clearly, the, uh, exposure was intentional, but I can’t help but think the entire thing was blown out of proportion. If parents are alright with their kids singing along with the lyrics, “I’m gonna have you naked by the end of this song,” are they really going to care that a fuzzy, wide angle, indiscernible flash of boob made it on to the television?

I think they shouldn’t.

In recent years, Go Daddy has produced superbowl ads that I find very offensive, as they objectify women. And let us not forget that Adam Lambert recently performed on tv, whipping his dancers and simulating oral sex. In my estimation, both are more indecent than Janet’s hardly noticeable breast.

But that’s the stickler, isn’t it?  Indecency is an opinion. What I find insulting or inappropriate is hilarious to some people. The show Family Guy is a great example; I think 90 percent of the show is completely indecent and inappropriate, but a lot of  people I know love it so much they own it on DVD.  The case is still up in the air because as a particularly permissive society, we can’t decided whether or not the event was actually indecent.

Meanwhile, the taxpayers are still paying for this case to make its rounds in court. Haven’t we already suffered enough? For goodness sake, we – the superbowl audience – had to endure Prince in all his elevator shoe, turqouise-wearing, purple-rain-singing glory.

$550,000 is a little more than the price of a house in my neighborhood.  I would guess that 10 times that much has already been spent in legal fees and the cost of proceedings. Easily.  It’s probably a fraction of what the CBC bigwigs get paid, and is probably the amount of money Justin Timberlake spent on his last vacation. I suggest that Janet, Justin, and CBC take one for the team and  split the bill – it would probably feel no different than paying for lunch to them anyway.

In the meantime, we can all concern ourselves with pondering the nature of indecency and the government could spend some of tax dollars working on the healthcare system.

I really wanted to love Up in the Air, starring the fabulous George Clooney and adorable Anna Kendrick, but I felt it was lacking something.  In a lot of ways, it was like a mediocre first date. It was nice, and I enjoyed it well enough, but is it really something to get excited about? Something that I want to see again?  I’m still not sure.

The Jason Reitman directed flick tells the tale of Ryan Bingham (Clooney), a downsizing expert that lives out of a suitcase, traveling the United States to perform layoffs for corporate hot shots without the balls to dismiss their own employees.  Bingham aspires to be a be a motivational speaker, and encourages people to cut themselves free of possessions and people alike.  “What’s in your backpack?” He asks.  “Do you feel how heavy it is?  It’s weighing you down… it’s slowing you down… moving is living… We are sharks.”   Bingham is a man with no ties to anyone and no purpose for his life – save one feat: earning 10 million air miles. Ryan Bingham’s boat is rocked by the addition of Cornell graduate Natalie Keener (Kendricks), who has the lofty goal of revolutionizing the industry by instituting terminations through iChat. With his goal of 10 million miles at stake, Ryan, however begrudgingly, allows Natalie to shadow him on his tour of terminations.  Natalie challenges Ryan’s views on relationships and people, and encourages Bingham to pursue Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), a similarly minded corporate type that he hooks up with whenever their flight paths cross.  Ryan finally lets another person into his life, only to find that Alex has a husband and children at home. He does, however, begin to reconnect with his family and learn to value his relationship with his much younger shadow, Natalie. Still, with his goal of 10 million air miles under his belt, Ryan finds that his life, his future, and any sense of purpose (you guessed it) is completely up in the air…

The chemistry between Clooney and Kendrick was undeniable, and their playful bickering made the film for me; however, with Kendrick grounded and fading into oblivion during the latter part of the film, the plot fell flat.  When Ryan showed up at the Chicago home of Alex, it seemed predictable that she would shatter his heart. It was also predictable when Ryan donated one million of his air miles to his sister’s honeymoon clause. And it was predictable that he found himself alone and (one more!) up in the air.  As he eventually admits, life is really nothing without a co-pilot.

I did enjoy the irony of the film. It was interesting to find that the people struggling through their terminations were the ones with the most to live for. Without his life on the road, it quickly became apparent that Ryan Bingham had nothing to live for.  In this economic climate, it was a fitting message; employment is not the measure of success in life -  relationships are.

I would give the film four out of five stars – just because I adore George Clooney and Anna Kendrick.  Up in the Air is definitely not the best film of the year, but I would be happy enough (at this stage in my Tour de Oscar) for George to take home the Oscar for best actor in a leading role; I’d be even happier if Kendrick took home the award for best actress in a supporting role.

Monday, the Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards were announced.  As a film enthusiast, I was excited to see that the nominees for Best Picture encompassed a broad array of genres, messages, and media.   This year the following films vie for the Academy’s highest honor:

• Avatar, d: James Cameron, with Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Laz Alonso. 20th Century Fox, nine nominations, $598 million, released Dec. 18.

• Up, d: Pete Docter. Pixar / Disney, five nominations, $293 million, released May 29.

• The Blind Side, d: John Lee Hancock, with Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron. Warner Bros., two nominations, $238 million, released Nov. 20.

• Inglourious Basterds, d: Quentin Tarantino, with Melanie Laurent, Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Christoph Waltz. The Weinstein Co., eight nominations, $121 million, released Aug. 21.

• District 9, d: Neill Blomkamp, with Sharlto Copley. Sony, four nominations, $116 million, released Aug. 14.

• Up in the Air, d: Jason Reitman, with George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick. Paramount, six nominations, $73 million, released Dec. 4.

• Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, d: Lee Daniels, with Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey. Lionsgate, six nominations, $45 million, released Nov. 6.

• The Hurt Locker, d: Kathryn Bigelow, with Jeremy Renner, Christian Camargo, Brian Geraghty, Anthony Mackie. Summit Entertainment, nine nominations, $12.7 million, released June 26.

• A Serious Man, d: Joel and Ethan Coen, with Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind. Focus, two nominations, $9.2 million released Oct. 2.

• An Education, d: Lone Scherfig, with Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Emma Thompson, Alfred Molina. Sony Pictures Classics, three nominations, $9 million, released Oct. 9.
  
  **From Alt Film Guide

I’m thrilled to see that Disney has been nominated for Up, which I found painfully beautiful in parts. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced an animated film that so completely enthralled me. But I am yet to see Avatar.   Equally, I found District 9, to be one of the industry’s most pleasant surprises last year.  I can scarcely recall what I expected, but I found the film to be very powerful and compelling.  The film was entirely gripping – so much so that a man in the showing I attended had a panic attack – and brought new life to the sci-fi genre.  I am, however, ashamed to admit that I am yet to see the rest of the nominees.  Thus, I’m embarking on a tour of films this weekend with the intent to see as many of the Best Picture nominations as I can.  This is partially in preparation for our next Kindlings event, Faith and Film: The Best Pictures of the Year, but also because  – with the exception of Basterds – I think each film looks as though it has an interesting or challenging message to communicate.  I will update with reviews as I see each.