I considered just letting this go. There’s so much other important news happening and frankly I’d rather concentrate on my next animation. However, after listening and reading some of my regular morning news sources I felt I had to spend a few minutes to address last night’s Oscars. Yes, there were funny and memorable moments; I laughed out loud at the clever Christopher Plummer Von Trapp intro and cheered Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger performance– but really, we’re still doing boob jokes? Yes, I know Seth MacFarlane was brought in to attract younger audiences but the obnoxious references to women’s body parts and female tendencies really set my teeth on edge. As some of you may know, MacFarlane’s fame comes from animation and since I began my career there, I wasn’t surprised at the sophomoric humor. But what was a surprise was that it hasn’t changed since the 1980’s.
But maybe I’m not reading the tea leaves here. Perhaps this is the way to look at the situation; let’s hope so.
More and more news about the Vatican has been appearing since the sudden resignation of Pope Benedict on Feb 11th. There’s a report which investigated the 2012 scandal over leaked Vatican documents , dysfunction within the Vatican, and criticism of Cardinal Mahony’s plans to participate in the choosing of the next pope. Speaking of Cardinals involved with the Church’s sexual abuse scandals, during next month’s gathering in Rome Cardinal Law (remember him?) will not be participating; he’s 81 and ineligible to vote in the conclave.
It’s a busy news day- the Pentagon is announcing lifting the ban on women in combat and confirmation hearings for John Kerry for Secretary of State on the Hill this morning.
Today is the 4oth anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v Wade, which made abortion legal in all 50 states. Every year on this day the Pro-life groups descend on Washington DC to march around the Court. I live in the area so I’ve witnessed these over the years and it always strikes me how the majority of these protesters are very young children.
In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shootings, there’s been plenty of discussion about guns. Violent video games and the role of Hollywood have also been mentioned as causes, with calls for restricting the amount of sex and violence. My radar immediately pops up whenever I hear someone going down the censorship path- who would make those decisions and where does it end? Frankly, I find Victoria Secret ads tasteless for their blatant sexual messages but I wouldn’t call for outlawing them. This will cause some readers to roll their eyes but I think the lack of diversity is a big reason why this country has a “culture of violence”. The majority of the video game developers are young males, the powerful players in Hollywood are men, and we’re still a far way from true representation in Congress. From my own experiences in the animation industry and the editorial cartooning profession I can tell you the lack of women and minority groups does color what is created and commented on.
Oh, look- just days after Speaker Boehner appointed 19 men to committee chair positions for the 113th Congress, he announces that Representative Candice S. Miller of Michigan will head the Committee on House Administration.
He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.
I didn’t know this but the actual Benjamin Franklin quote is “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety” or; “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety”.
Anyway, the Petreaus still-evolving mess has brought up the issue of surveillance and how far it reaches into our private lives. Glenn Greenwald over at The Guardian has great column about it.
The Washington Post has a story about top GOP officials planning “an exhaustive review to figure out what went so wrong and how to fix it”. I don’t think the Republicans need to spend all that money on focus groups; try joining the 21st century.
I considered just letting this go. There’s so much other important news happening and frankly I’d rather concentrate on my next animation. However, after listening and reading some of my regular morning news sources I felt I had to spend a few minutes to address last night’s Oscars. Yes, there were funny and memorable moments; I laughed out loud at the clever Christopher Plummer Von Trapp intro and cheered Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger performance– but really, we’re still doing boob jokes? Yes, I know Seth MacFarlane was brought in to attract younger audiences but the obnoxious references to women’s body parts and female tendencies really set my teeth on edge. As some of you may know, MacFarlane’s fame comes from animation and since I began my career there, I wasn’t surprised at the sophomoric humor. But what was a surprise was that it hasn’t changed since the 1980’s.
