For Make Glorious the Linky-Link

[cleolinda]

Lamictal, day... what day are we on now? Eleven? Nothing new to report. Except that I took Lucky outside this morning and it felt like the first real approach of fall--a few degrees cooler, a few dead leaves swirled on the ground.

I spent most of yesterday away from my desk, which means that I have two or three days of linkspam piled up.

Comments

[fiveforsilver]

As much as I despise Paris Hilton's public persona (and don't get me wrong, I do, completely), I just don't understand why deliberate, planned public humiliation a good thing.

That thing about the movie ratings system is interesting, though. I had no idea it was like that - I assumed it was, y'know, some sort of logical system.

[yarha]

I sort of felt the same way, though I waffle in the case of Paris Hilton. Perhaps every Hollywood celeb should go through a public hazing process to be democratic. ;)

Yarha, They're Just Actors: Most are Even Bad Ones

[fiveforsilver]

Except - sure, they're actors (or celebs of one sort or another, anyway), but they're also people. That's what a lot of other people seem to forget. Just Actors is not some sort of lower life form that it's ok to stomp on, like ants, because they don't have the nerves to feel pain anyway.

[cleolinda]

The way I looked at it was, Paris purposely asked if she could wear a costume that would guarantee that she would be the center of attention at someone else's birthday party. (Why not just go as the Queen of Hearts?) Knowing that this was why she asked to wear it, Branson dressed all the waitresses in the same costume so that she would not, in fact, be the center of attention. I didn't see it as "public humiliation" so much as a step taken to shut her attention-seeking down. Although asking her for a drink was a bit over-the-top; maybe he wanted to make sure she knew he was on to her.

[alexthedevil]

Have I mentioned lately how much your linkspams amuse and entertain me? Because they do.

[spiderfarmer]

Re: Linky goodness

Anna Nichole - Gods, that's tragic. I feel sorry for Ana, I do.

Paris Hilton: Brilliant, hysterical. Is it wrong to take that much pleasure in someone I don't know getting her nose rubbed in her b-list status? Probably. I'll say a novena or something to make up for it. ;)

[snale]

I feel like I must be missing something, re: Borat.
I want to find it funny, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Does it have a minstrel-show quality to it, or am I just not getting the joke?

[cleolinda]

The way the review sums it up is, So, is "Borat" a modern-day version of those old Polish jokes? The movie will have its detractors and defenders, but it's pretty clear the satiric attack isn't on bigotry so much as its origins -- superstitions, traditions, ancestral animosities and beliefs in cultural and gender superiority, all firmly rooted in dire ignorance.

The weapon wielded by Cohen and Charles is crudeness. People today, especially those in public life, can disguise prejudice in coded language and soft tones. Bigotry is ever so polite now. So the filmmakers mean to drag the beast out into the sunlight of brilliant satire and let everyone see the rotting, stinking, foul thing for what it is. When you laugh at something that is bad, it loses much of its power.

[snale]

But are we laughing with the bigots or at them? It was unclear to me from just seeing the trailer. Maybe it's a little bit of both?

[la_sonnambula]

One of my favourite authors, Jeanette Winterson has this to say about Ali G, Sacha Baron Cohen's other alter ego, "I don't know what the difference is between him and the Black and White Minstrels". Following that quotation in the article is another by Felix Dexter, a black comedian, "He allows the liberal middle classes to laugh at black street culture in a context where they can retain their sense of political correctness."

[shebit]

I saw the new Bond trailer for the first time last night, and have to say that it left me quite cold. A 007 trailer should make me bounce up and down with glee, but this just made me go 'meh'. I suppose it would be more impressive on the big screen - I was watching on a rather small tv - but my innitial reaction is indifference bordering on dislike.