Genarlow Wilson is in prison for having oral sex with a fifteen year-old girl when he was seventeen years-old. The sex was consensual. Those are the facts, not my interpretation. There was no rape charge. I hope everyone who reads this will spend some time at $3.60 in order to catch up on the details of the case, including ongoing movement. As well, that site has some fabulous analysis. I’ve wanted to write on the case for quite some time, so here are a few thoughts… Read the rest of this entry »
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One of the purposes of this writing space, for me, is to draw out the real implications of what seem, initially, to be really rather mundane phenomena. Or to draw connections between what seem to be disconnected cultural obsessions – for example, my claim that immigration border-anxiety is at work in our periodic obsession with celebrity crotch-shots over the past two years. The death of Tammy Faye Messner – a.k.a., Tammy Faye Bakker – is an occasion for a lot of thoughts. I’ll just offer a few here… Read the rest of this entry »
It’s my obsession in this writing space: the gap between the spectacular play of images and the material reality of those images. It’s actually too easy. We’ve really lost that connection, or, at the very least, we’ve decided that that connection can be set aside without explanation. Sports is an exemplary site, but one shaded by gender issues. Witness Mechelle Voepel’s write up of Chamique Holdsclaw’s sudden retirement. Read the rest of this entry »
It happens every five years since I can remember. It’s time to remember The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, to reflect “as a culture” on its significance, and learn again that it is the best and most important album ever. Now it is forty years. Thanks to Jody Rosen at Slate.com for changing that a bit with a nice write up. I have a few thoughts… Read the rest of this entry »
Earlier this week, Charles P. Pierce at Slate.com wrote up some thoughts on LeBron James as “the next Michael Jordan.” Well-timed, of course, given his spectacular take-down of Detroit – honestly, it was a single-handed take-down – and the first visit to the NBA Finals starting last night. I don’t much disagree with the author on assessing The Bron as bluntly non-political, but the very question is quirky. I’ve been trying to sort out my thoughts… Read the rest of this entry »
You know it is a strange day when I find myself in agreement with one of the editors at The National Review. Well, it is strange if you’re me or know me personally, though this agreement is not so substantial. I just like that he made the following comment on Sam Brownback’s editorial in the New York Times: “Here is Sam Brownback talking about evolutionary biology. That’s a bit like saying: ‘Here’s Paris Hilton talking about partial differential equations.’ ” Nice. While Derbyshire is disinclined to respond in detail to Brownback’s “theory” of evolution (though he does, quite well), it is worth a comment. Here it goes… Read the rest of this entry »
In today’s Slate.com, Seth Stevenson writes up a soon-to-appear (as in tonight) miniseries on USA Network, entitled The Starter Wife. Fab write-up. One of my favorite lines, actually: “Having watched an advance DVD of the first three hours, I can offer a mini-review: two thumbs up. Up my own eye sockets.” That’s funny. The review, however, is about a whole lot more, namely, how this show might be pushing ahead a new trend in funding television and movies: single-sponsored work. That just icky. Read the rest of this entry »
OK, so it really shouldn’t be surprising that Donald Trump has been, ahem, “let go” by NBC. The Apprentice had become terribly boring, uninteresting, and genuinely offensive. It certainly didn’t help that the first two episodes were blatantly racist and homophobic … I mean, really, can Trump be expected to tolerate black men in either foppish suits or pink bathing suits? (Sidenote: Martin had some seriously awesome suits. For real. And he looked good…wtf?) Apparently he just can’t. If you saw the opening episodes, you know what I mean. If you didn’t, the folks at Television Without Pity have a nice summary. Read the rest of this entry »