How is it possible that reality TV keeps just going and going? How is it possible that we give mentally stunted adults these TV shows that showcase their immaturity and developmentally challenged growth? Seriously, we sit around and oogle at people who have not matured past the age of 18. The Real Housewives are still cat fighting like its the 7th grade, the reality dating shows on VH1 are all hosted by sub-intelligent nimrods who wouldn’t feel the difference of a lobotomy. Everywhere on cable and network TV you find glimmering, plastic coated smiles that reap the benefits of 15 minutes of fame. Whether it’s Survivor, Jon & Kate Plus 8, or Brooke Knows Best, this highly staged crapola won’t die and won’t go away! I am so over this decade. In my humble opinion the ’00’s have been about celebrity pop culture and reality TV. All we talk about weight, boobs, surgery, (note the lovely picture of plastic surgery fanatic Jocelyn Wildenstein below)
fame, money, and all that glitzy bullshit. Granted, the counter cultures that exist are just as real and biting as the ones from past decades, but they have not penetrated the mainstream enough to put a dent in this superficial society. I cannot wait for the next decade to kick this decade’s ass. I am tired of twiggy Lilo, and her adventures in bisexual land. I am nauseated over bony, and old Brangelina and their softball team size family. Had it with alien head Rihanna and her love life woes. And never again do I want full coverage on the train wreck that is Britney Spears with her chubby-now-thin sloppy and exposed life and body. Granted everyone gets tired of real deal celebs, but what about the others kinds of celebes who are filling up the pages of rag mags and internet gossip sites? There is this culture of faux celebrity that I cannot stand. I could give two farts about like Speidi, Lauren Conrad, or any almost-winner-type-runner up from American Idol. They are all strung out third tier celebs making a display of their pathetic lives on TV and I am just not stimulated any more. While I will admit I love watching rehab shows, and filling my Sunday nights with bad reality TV, (sue me if Rock of Love is on while I scour the internet and paint my nails) but this filler type entertainment can last for only so long. Even if I am making an effort to lighten some things up in my personal life by tuning in to shut my mind off, and just be entertained by stupidity, I will eventually not even be able to take this white noise. I do not think America asked for this complete and utter saturation of the plastic culture. Everywhere we turn there are stores are selling clothes that mirror “housewife” and “celeb” glam. Hipster fashion reaching out from under the underbelly there may be, but the main feature of this glitzy fritzy’s decade’s catwalk is high fashion-frilly-fake Hollywood couture. I believe at some point we might want something more. (And perhaps that something more might be loosely related to the whole Barack Obama being our President, country changing attitude thing. I can’t wait to see what this country will be like in 3 years…)
I love the planet, I want to save the trees, whales, seals, and all kinds of endangered species. I do have sympathy for anything treated poorly and abused. However, deep down… I kinda feel the way George Carlin does about it all… Maybe to a T. When you think about it he’s right. Granted, I don’t like to see anything innocent suffer, but uh… you can’t deny science.
On a sadder note, George Carlin is one of my favorite comedians, and quite possibly one of my favorite celebrity personalities. It’s so funny that as a voice of reason we are not only able to agree with him, but laugh at ourselves because we know he is right. I hope the world breeds another comedian like this guy because we need more of his kind roaming again. Then again, he was one of kind.
I wasn’t home to see SNL last night, but I heard that Will Ferrell made a return to host the show and perform some of his best SNL characters, on of them being Harry Caray. His impersonation of the deceased baseball announcer is one of my favorite SNL skits of all time. For your pleasure…
My favorite “Harry Caray” interviewing Jeff Goldbum:
I watched this movie last night. I was really good. Definitely 4 out of 5 stars. There is a lot to say about this movie, and I think if you go an see it you would agree with me. For starters :
Swedish is a really cool language. I wouldn’t mind learning it. (I already know Russian from going to a tech high school, so this wouldn’t be too far fetched for me.)
No doubt the cinematography along with the scenery is just strangely gorgeous.
Who knew that 11/12 year olds could be such good actors? Perhaps, their innocence lends itself to better molding?
I definitely want to read the book.
In this story set in Falun, Sweden 1982, we meet a boy named Oskar, and a strange little girl named Eli ( pronounced Yel-li). I hate being a plot spoiler, so I won’t tell you much, but I will tell you that the little girl is a vampire. It is not in the same cheesy vein as Twilight, thank God. Much of the vampire lore, and mystery reminded me of the characters in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicle Series. Being a huge Anne Rice fan, I am not easily impressed with other vampire stories be them film or books. (Although I must admit the film adaptation of Queen Of The Damned… meh. Save your money. They make it kinda cheesy, and definitely dumb.)
Anyway, I am not the biggest horror movie fanatic, nor am I a lover of the popular and mainstream. However, with ying, there is always yang. Of course I like plenty of things that would be considered camp, mainstream, or cheese, but the vast majority of what I gravitate towards is withinin the yang arena. I loved the first two Saw movies, The Ring, and I even enjoyed the remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Those were all well done films that stuck to their genre, and gave their audience what they wanted. They weren’t too far off the mainstream map, but strayed just enough to be unique. You won’t get me to go to the movies to see the crap taht’s coming out now. Drag Me Down To Hell? How about Can’t Drag Me To See This Stupid Looking Movie That Will Feature Hot Girl’s Tits and Hot Dude’s Well Scuplted Eyebrows. No, I think not. I think most horror flicks that come out regularly are trying to get some hot actress’ body and face out there. Anyway, moving right along…
This film does an excellent job of straying from many of the stereorypes of the vampire, and not camping it up too much. I was really pleased to find that the film’s focus wasn’t to sell gore and terror. It was a character piece about a strange person, with an unusual life, and a remarkable heart who meets someone equally bizarre and just as misguided. Good stuff. Here is the trailer:
Directed by Tomas Alfredson 2008, Swedish. Starring Lina Andersson, and Kare Hedebrant. Based on the novel “Lat den ratte komma den”by John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also wrote the screenplay.
Watch this film and I guarantee you will be googling Lina Leandersson, just to see what her deal is. I watched several YouTube videos with her, just to get a taste of her personality. She is so beyond her years, and so beautiful. When you see the contrast from her normal personality, verses the job she did with this role, you will be impressed. Even her voice drops a few octaves for the part of Eli.
There is just so much here for an American to be intrigued about. The accents, the acting, the odd scenery, the twisted plot, the illicit sexual undertones, the motifs of blood, supernatural, gender, entrapment, and homosexuality. Very, very interesting flick. Also, this just has to be said Swedish suburbs do in fact look like IKEA sets. (Oddly enough the apartment complex looked like my college alma mater Marist College. That was kinda eerie. Especially if you have went there and know all too well about those eerie yet beautiful Hudson- River gusty winter night walks along the lamp-lit green. The sense and aesthetic is quite similar.)
I am looking forward to comments on this blog. If you have seen the film, I am really curious about your take on it. What do you think of Eli? Oskar? How did the final scene leave you feeling? Happy? Worried? Sad? So much to talk about here… I would go on but I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t seen. Go see it! You will not be disappointed. For chrissakes even open a Netflix account just to see this movie. It’s one of those movies that you can watch instantly on your computer too!
I absolutely love this you tube series, so I decided to put them all in one spot for your viewing pleasure. Perhaps, you have seen these, and perhaps you have not. All I know is that this needed to be apart of my blog. They make me laugh every time, and I sure do love history. I think 2.5 is my favorite.
The past few days have been kind of profound. While I can’t write about it all right now, I had to say something and just get it out. I have a lot going on in my head (and in my life) in all aspects. It feels like the areas of friendship, travel, career, family, and profoundly enough spirituality are becoming activated. It’s not just that a bunch of “cool stuff” is happening, but indeed my horizons are expanding so widely and rapidly that I am amazed … at myself!
More to come once I have a chance to really write this out.
In the meantime here’s a track that fits the bill these days :
A Hollywood Size Rant, (are the ’00s over yet?!)
21 05 2009How is it possible that reality TV keeps just going and going? How is it possible that we give mentally stunted adults these TV shows that showcase their immaturity and developmentally challenged growth? Seriously, we sit around and oogle at people who have not matured past the age of 18. The Real Housewives are still cat fighting like its the 7th grade, the reality dating shows on VH1 are all hosted by sub-intelligent nimrods who wouldn’t feel the difference of a lobotomy. Everywhere on cable and network TV you find glimmering, plastic coated smiles that reap the benefits of 15 minutes of fame. Whether it’s Survivor, Jon & Kate Plus 8, or Brooke Knows Best, this highly staged crapola won’t die and won’t go away! I am so over this decade. In my humble opinion the ’00’s have been about celebrity pop culture and reality TV. All we talk about weight, boobs, surgery, (note the lovely picture of plastic surgery fanatic Jocelyn Wildenstein below)
fame, money, and all that glitzy bullshit. Granted, the counter cultures that exist are just as real and biting as the ones from past decades, but they have not penetrated the mainstream enough to put a dent in this superficial society. I cannot wait for the next decade to kick this decade’s ass. I am tired of twiggy Lilo, and her adventures in bisexual land. I am nauseated over bony, and old Brangelina and their softball team size family. Had it with alien head Rihanna and her love life woes. And never again do I want full coverage on the train wreck that is Britney Spears with her chubby-now-thin sloppy and exposed life and body. Granted everyone gets tired of real deal celebs, but what about the others kinds of celebes who are filling up the pages of rag mags and internet gossip sites? There is this culture of faux celebrity that I cannot stand. I could give two farts about like Speidi, Lauren Conrad, or any almost-winner-type-runner up from American Idol. They are all strung out third tier celebs making a display of their pathetic lives on TV and I am just not stimulated any more. While I will admit I love watching rehab shows, and filling my Sunday nights with bad reality TV, (sue me if Rock of Love is on while I scour the internet and paint my nails) but this filler type entertainment can last for only so long. Even if I am making an effort to lighten some things up in my personal life by tuning in to shut my mind off, and just be entertained by stupidity, I will eventually not even be able to take this white noise. I do not think America asked for this complete and utter saturation of the plastic culture. Everywhere we turn there are stores are selling clothes that mirror “housewife” and “celeb” glam. Hipster fashion reaching out from under the underbelly there may be, but the main feature of this glitzy fritzy’s decade’s catwalk is high fashion-frilly-fake Hollywood couture. I believe at some point we might want something more. (And perhaps that something more might be loosely related to the whole Barack Obama being our President, country changing attitude thing. I can’t wait to see what this country will be like in 3 years…)
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Tags: brangelina, britney spears, jocelyn wildenstein, reality TV, speidi
Categories : Social Commentary