the awesome/terrifying freedom

ok. here's a statement that has irritated me nearly as long as people have been asking me 'what are you?' it's when people (usually people on reality tv shows) say 'i don't agree with homosexuality.'

that phrase just makes me insane. what is the best response to this? i always feel compelled to shoot back 'well, i dont agree with black people.' (or the ethnicity of your choice). because, what's to agree with?

you know, i see some raging homo walking down the street with a really bad fauxhawk and it's quite easy for me to say 'you know, i just don't agree with the gays.' but to not agree with homosexuality is like not agreeing with crayons. or any object.

the phrase perfectly illlustrates the power of language to contain deep misunderstandings. by implying that homosexuality is something to be agreed or disagreed with, it infers that being gay is a chosen position with inherit arguments. it's a carefully constructed weapon of the smarter homophobes, passed down to people like mandisa, because it simultaneously reinforces a world view while couching a deeper intolerance.

how can we combat this? what's the best response?

check out the apple I cake:



now where's my wide-touch-screen ipod!?!?!?

i've been listening to the podcasts of my two favorite shows for awhile now, and i have a few words to describe each.

lost:
smug
self satisfied
defensive

battlestar galactica:
probing
self depricating
analytical

i've found that listening to carlton cues and damon lindeloff has actually lessened my enjoyment of the show a great deal. listening to them make smug jokes about fan questions while patting themselves on the back for their cleverness leaves such me with such a bad taste. and last night's episode was the best in such a long time. goodbye lost podcast, i'm done.

battlestar producer ronald d. moore's podcast couldn't be more different. he sits down at his home and watches the show as he speaks. he talks about successful and unsuccessful aspects of each episode, what the original intent was, and provides a really insightful look into the creative process behind the show - in fact, in an amazing move, the most recent podcast is simply a recording of an entire writer's meeting, midseason. we get to hear ideas first brought up in that meeting, and compare them to how they played out this season. it's also fascinting to hear how each writer will have different specialties - one person knows military life, another knows politics, someone else is better at distilling dramatic moments. brilliant.

you are a struggling director, and you've finally got a shot to prove yourself and build up a really amazing reel - you've landed a job directing a national commercial, and what's better, you will be working with a legend of the cinema, someone whose work you have admired and strived to imitate. you arrive at the set.. and...

a sculptured thoughtless plastic-personality white girl giving birth??



or

an executed chinese prisoner plasticized and posed like 'the thinker'??

check out brandon hardesty's one man re-enactments. brilliant. my favs: breakfast club, the shining, and star trek: first contact, below:

the entire episode!

it works. it totally works.

and here is the equally brilliant trailer.

what i really can't wait for is the sequel.



that eugene levy will do anything! especially sequels.









whatever happened to making sequels with 'too' instead of '2'?? i loved that! nothing said 'cheap as all hell' better.





eugene levy was the villain in 'splash,' but did not appear in 'splash, too.' i have righted this wrong.

wow. she may be a trainwreck, but she's sure having fun.. that moment she takes a call from the musical theatre major.. priceless!

via fourfour

things i love:



v for vendetta: i thought it was great. it's not for everyone. if you liked 'dark city,' this is your kind of movie. i thought it was far better (read: more satisfying) than any of the matrix films. nothing in the matrix ever resonated emotionally the way one sequence of 'v' does - portman reads a letter left by a prisoner of the new government, a lesbian film star, who's open life makes her a target. the sequence was a stunning, unexpected gay twist, and elevated the entire film beyond slickly produced comic book fare.

david cross bitchslaps larry the cable guy: just absolute genius.

the return of hbo sunday nights. i wasn't totally sold on 'big love' last week, and i liked this week's episode even less. it seems like we need something more than -just- polygamy to carry a series, and those external conflicts exist (the family feud, property deals, etc), but aren't given quite enough focus or momentum to propel the episode so that we can linger on the minutiae of what it takes to schedule sex with 3 women. rome took 4 episodes to take off, so that's what i'll give 'big love.' oh also, a fun game is to compare bill paxton's ass from 'weird science'



to his ass now. holdin' up pretty well. man, when he whipped that towel off in 'weird science'.. i remember being so mad that the camera was on the wrong side of him. really it was more of an unconscious anger that i couldn't label until much later. regarding sopranos: i'm going with it for now, but there's shades of 'we're doing a six feet under style final season' here.

the finale of battlestar galactica: so frackin' good, and such a huge risk they took, entirely restructing the show right at the height of its popularity. if you haven't seen it, it's astonishingly good, morally complex, and pretty damn hot too. jamie bamber. mmm.



taylor hicks: at this point, i'm willing to venture a guess that taylor will win american idol, and i think he will win in the same way that ruben won back in the day: he's charming, relaxed, and is the only contestant who gets up there and actually has fun every single time he performs. he also seems incapable of singing a wrong note. of course at times he seems like the 'rain man' of music, but that's what makes him brilliant.

taylor before the gray:


things i don't love:

the TRAJAN logo (however slightly modified, with select serifs removed) for 'big love.' booo. the show's style is already an unabashed echo of 'six feet under.' do we have to copy the font too?

i just finished harry potter 5, the order of the phoenix and loved it loved it loved it. diving right into #6.

my favorite character in #5 is the new villain, umbridge - who will be played by imelda staunton in the movie. she's perfect, though i do know someone who would be far far better.

so, yet another of clay's online hookups has spoken out. and posted his cam pics. it makes me sad n' angry. clay had many perfect opportunities to come out of the closet:

1) the very first time he was interviewed for american idol.

2) the day after losing american idol.

3) his feature story in 'rolling stone'

4) his 'autobiography'

5) every day that he's ever lived since coming into the public spotlight.

6) the day his mother got a sonogram and the doctor said 'yep, it's a gaykin.'

the 'claymates' are suing him for, what, misrepresentation of character? which so perfectly reveals their hypocrisy. these are the same people who shouted from the rooftops that it 'wouldn't matter' and 'who cares' if clay is gay. of course now that evidence of mounting is, well, um, mounting, they're all in a tizzy.

i'm pissed at clay. he was poised to be a hero to awkward gay teens nationwide. and now he's a outright liar to his christian fanbase, and a slutty barebacking manwhore to his gays fans. everyone hates him. he could have played this so many better ways:

the johnny wier way: refuse to answer the question while winking at gay fans.

the ricky martin way: refuse to answer the question while having sex with gay fans.

the george michael way: say 'oops, i really did think i was straight. what was i thinking? who wants to have sex with me?'

clay, you seriously fucked up. what you have to do now is just come out of your own accord, before every internet hookup you've ever had comes forward.. and it sounds like there have been a LOT.

my roommate (and many others.. 'my roommate' is often 'the voice of greater america') says 'why should i care if clay is gay? it doesn't make any difference to me who he sleeps with! why should i give a shit?' and here's what i say: 'when you see clay you see a successful talented white kid. when i see clay i see a person who has overcome adversity, prejudice and self hatred similar to my own in order to be successful.'

and no, i don't believe that 'orientation' is and ever should be considered a 'privacy' issue. we'll never get very far as long as anyone believes that something so fundamental needs to be silenced. i do however fully understand an unwillingness to say -specifically- who a person may or may not be sleeping with. but orientation? sorry. it should be as open, as for-granted, as gender.

are you fuckin kidding me? ugh.

haven't been inspired to blog lately. and what could slap me back into it? yes!!! wonder showzen clips are now on youtube!!

one of my favorites: SLAVES



WHITE PEOPLE



YOU'RE NEVER TOO YOUNG...