(Students, post choices before the start of the Oscar ceremony. Remember if you get all 6 choices correct it will count for one of your responses. I will post my choices this weekend. Good luck!)
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
My choices (corresponding to the list above)
The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow
Jeremy Renner
Gabourey Sidibe
Stanley Tucci
Maggie Gyllenhall
For a list of Oscar nominations
Thursday, February 25, 2010
John Schwartz: Courts as Battlefields in Climate Fights
(Courtesy of Russell Williamson)
Courts as Battlefields in Climate Fights
by John Schwartz
The New York Times
Tiny Kivalina, Alaska, does not have a hotel, a restaurant or a movie theater. But it has a very big lawsuit that might affect the way the nation deals with climate change.
Kivalina, an Inupiat Eskimo village of 400 perched on a barrier island north of the Arctic Circle, is accusing two dozen fuel and utility companies of helping to cause the climate change that it says is accelerating the island’s erosion.
Blocks of sea ice used to protect the town’s fragile coast from October on, but “we don’t have buildup right now, and it is January,” said Janet Mitchell, Kivalina’s administrator. “We live in anxiety during high-winds seasons.”
The village wants the companies, including Exxon, Mobil, Shell Oil, and many others, to pay the costs of relocating to the mainland, which could amount to as much as $400 million.
The case is one of three major lawsuits filed by environmental groups, private lawyers and state officials around the nation against big producers of heat-trapping gases. And though the village faces a difficult battle, the cases are gathering steam.
In recent months, two federal appeals courts reversed decisions by federal district courts to dismiss climate-change lawsuits, allowing the cases to go forward. In Connecticut, environmental lawyers joined forces with attorneys general of eight states and the City of New York seeking a court order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In Mississippi, Gulf Coast property owners claim that industry-produced emissions that contribute to climate change increased the potency of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
And although a federal judge in Oakland, Calif., dismissed the Kivalina suit in October, the village is appealing the decision.
Tracy D. Hester, who has taught a course in climate lawsuits at the University of Houston law school, said that with the issues “very much in play” in three circuits of the federal court system, “the game pieces are being set for eventual Supreme Court review.”
The cases need not even get that far to have an impact, said James E. Tierney, the director of the National State Attorneys General program at Columbia Law School. Kivalina alleged in its complaint that the industry conspired “to suppress the awareness of the link” between emissions and climate change through “front groups, fake citizens organizations and bogus scientific bodies.”
That claim echoes those in suits against the tobacco industry that ultimately led to industry settlements and increased government regulation.
To Read the Rest of the Article
Courts as Battlefields in Climate Fights
by John Schwartz
The New York Times
Tiny Kivalina, Alaska, does not have a hotel, a restaurant or a movie theater. But it has a very big lawsuit that might affect the way the nation deals with climate change.
Kivalina, an Inupiat Eskimo village of 400 perched on a barrier island north of the Arctic Circle, is accusing two dozen fuel and utility companies of helping to cause the climate change that it says is accelerating the island’s erosion.
Blocks of sea ice used to protect the town’s fragile coast from October on, but “we don’t have buildup right now, and it is January,” said Janet Mitchell, Kivalina’s administrator. “We live in anxiety during high-winds seasons.”
The village wants the companies, including Exxon, Mobil, Shell Oil, and many others, to pay the costs of relocating to the mainland, which could amount to as much as $400 million.
The case is one of three major lawsuits filed by environmental groups, private lawyers and state officials around the nation against big producers of heat-trapping gases. And though the village faces a difficult battle, the cases are gathering steam.
In recent months, two federal appeals courts reversed decisions by federal district courts to dismiss climate-change lawsuits, allowing the cases to go forward. In Connecticut, environmental lawyers joined forces with attorneys general of eight states and the City of New York seeking a court order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In Mississippi, Gulf Coast property owners claim that industry-produced emissions that contribute to climate change increased the potency of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
And although a federal judge in Oakland, Calif., dismissed the Kivalina suit in October, the village is appealing the decision.
Tracy D. Hester, who has taught a course in climate lawsuits at the University of Houston law school, said that with the issues “very much in play” in three circuits of the federal court system, “the game pieces are being set for eventual Supreme Court review.”
The cases need not even get that far to have an impact, said James E. Tierney, the director of the National State Attorneys General program at Columbia Law School. Kivalina alleged in its complaint that the industry conspired “to suppress the awareness of the link” between emissions and climate change through “front groups, fake citizens organizations and bogus scientific bodies.”
That claim echoes those in suits against the tobacco industry that ultimately led to industry settlements and increased government regulation.
To Read the Rest of the Article
Steve Cohan: "Hollywood by Hollywood -- The Industrial Self-Reflexivity of In a Lonely Place and Sunset Boulevard" (University of Kentucky: 3/4/10)
"Hollywood by Hollywood: The Industrial Self-Reflexivity of In a Lonely Place and Sunset Boulevard"
by Steven Cohan
Thursday, March 4, 4:00 PM in the Niles Gallery
Steven Cohan's Masked Men "provides a stunning, important, and very entertaining addition to American film studies, to cold war studies, and to gender studies. An exemplary piece of cultural criticism, it helps us construct a sharper, more complete understanding of the fabric of assumptions and tenets of cultural production that circumscribe the performance of 'masculinity' at a specific historical moment."
--Film Quarterly
Professor Cohan, who teaches at Syracuse University, is widely recognized as one of the leading scholars and critics of post-World War II American film. His numerous works include Masked Men: Masculinity and the Movies in the Fifties (Indiana UP, 1997), Incongruous Entertainment: Camp, Cultural Value, and the MGM Musical (Duke UP, 2005) and, most recently, CSI: Crime Scenes Investigation (BFI and Palgrave-Macmillan, 2008). In addition, he has edited or co-edited books on Hollywood musicals, on "road movies," and on masculinities in Hollywood cinema, and he is co-editor of the series "In Focus: Routledge Film Readers," that includes over a dozen titles. Professor Cohan is also an expert on Narrative theory and the English novel, a topic on which he has published two books and several articles.
Professor Cohan's talk will come from his work-in-progress, Self-Reflexive Hollywood, a book on movies about movie-making and the branding of US motion pictures. The talk is free and open to the public.
by Steven Cohan
Thursday, March 4, 4:00 PM in the Niles Gallery
Steven Cohan's Masked Men "provides a stunning, important, and very entertaining addition to American film studies, to cold war studies, and to gender studies. An exemplary piece of cultural criticism, it helps us construct a sharper, more complete understanding of the fabric of assumptions and tenets of cultural production that circumscribe the performance of 'masculinity' at a specific historical moment."
--Film Quarterly
Professor Cohan, who teaches at Syracuse University, is widely recognized as one of the leading scholars and critics of post-World War II American film. His numerous works include Masked Men: Masculinity and the Movies in the Fifties (Indiana UP, 1997), Incongruous Entertainment: Camp, Cultural Value, and the MGM Musical (Duke UP, 2005) and, most recently, CSI: Crime Scenes Investigation (BFI and Palgrave-Macmillan, 2008). In addition, he has edited or co-edited books on Hollywood musicals, on "road movies," and on masculinities in Hollywood cinema, and he is co-editor of the series "In Focus: Routledge Film Readers," that includes over a dozen titles. Professor Cohan is also an expert on Narrative theory and the English novel, a topic on which he has published two books and several articles.
Professor Cohan's talk will come from his work-in-progress, Self-Reflexive Hollywood, a book on movies about movie-making and the branding of US motion pictures. The talk is free and open to the public.
The Auteurs: True/False Film Festival Celebration
In honor of this year's True/False Film Festival The Auteurs are hosting an online a retrospective selection of documentaries from past festivals (all free).
The Auteurs
True/False Film Festival
To Watch the Documentaries Online
Sons of a Gun (USA: Rivkah Beth Medow and Greg O'Toole, 2008: 70 mins)
A freshly minted classic, Sons of a Gun is a portrait of a new archetypal American family—Larry, a laissez-faire LAPD hostage negotiator, and the three mentally ill adults under his care in a Bay Area motel room. Inside this claustrophobic fish bowl, we come to see lovability and comic timing along with the tics and the outbursts. Delightful and disturbing, the film crackles like a dark sitcom by way of R. Crumb and the Beale sisters. With expressive camerawork and brisk editing, Medow and O’Toole have created indelible characters and a narrative that fulfills a social mission much more effectively than a prescriptive piece on behalf of the mentally ill. It’s a jaw-dropping ride that confounds our expectations at every turn — including a second-act twist that shatters any notion their lives were going to be romanticized.
Someday My Prince Will Come Someday My Prince Will Come (UK: Marc Isaacs, 2005: 48 mins)
Heartrending and hilarious in ways that only the love life of an 11-year-old can be, this British doc is certain to provoke lots of discussion and perhaps some controversy. Rare in its willingness to accept kids on their own terms, Someday My Prince Will Come is narrated in rhyming voice-over by its subject, Laura-Anne, as she brings us along on her quest to find a “prince.” Along the way, we’re reminded of the tumultuous nature of young love and offered an unvarnished look at the social life of a small British coastal village.
The Mother (Russia/France/Switzerland: Antoine Cattin and Pavel Kostomarov, 2007: 80 mins)
Though its focus remains tight on its main subject — a Russian single mother of nine — Antoine Cattin and Pavel Kostomarov’s award-winning film has the scope, precision and resonance of a literary masterpiece. The cinematography is startling, with bleached colors that reflect the washed-out dreams of its subjects. Though shot largely with handheld cameras, its compositions would do Cartier-Bresson proud. The film’s blend of long takes and jump cuts give it the feel of an epic. And the characters and their stories are richer than fiction, as they celebrate, fight, grieve and survive. But The Mother is more than the sum of these magnificent parts, thanks to the richness and complexity of the themes it explores: the daily violence absorbed by women and children, the impossible traps of modern masculinity, the generations-long impact of addiction, the innocence of first love. Taking the long-form documentary to new heights, Cattin and Kostomarov have crafted an urgent classic of 21st-century cinema.
The Order of Myths (USA: Margaret Brown, 2008: 97 mins)
The first Mardi Gras in America was celebrated in Mobile, Alabama in 1703. In 2007, it is still racially segregated. Filmmaker Margaret Brown (Be Here to Love Me: A Film about Townes Van Zandt), herself a daughter of Mobile, escorts us into the parallel hearts of the city s two carnivals. With unprecedented access, she traces the exotic world of secret mystic societies and centuries-old traditions and pageantry; diamond-encrusted crowns, voluminous, hand-sewn gowns, surreal masks and enormous paper mache floats. Against this opulent backdrop, she uncovers a tangled web of historical violence and power dynamics, elusive forces that keep this hallowed tradition organized along enduring color lines.
Running Stumbled (USA: John Maringouin, 2006: 85 mins)
Louisiana-born filmmaker John Maringouin arrives at the front door of his father Johnny Roe’s New Orleans home unannounced to offer an apocalyptic portrait of his dysfunctional family in this unflinching, multi-sensory documentary that utilizes digital and auditory manipulation to take the viewer deeper into the psyche of a disturbed artist than they may care to travel. When Maringouin was just a child, his drug-addicted father once threatened to kill his family. These days, artist Johnny lives in drug-addicted squalor with his common-law wife Virgie. Now, as arguments erupt and threats are made, the pieces of the puzzle that Maringouin has worked for years to assemble finally begin to fall into place. —allmovie guide
The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories (Bulgaria: Andrey Paounov, 2007: 100 mins)
A small town and its hopeful citizens are about to embark on a bright new journey. Massive rusty cranes, foreign investors, and the joyful chants of cheerleaders carry the dream of a great nuclear future. Disturbed only by gigantic stinging mosquitoes, the townsfolk celebrate the atomic hurray by engraving the nuclear power plant logo on buildings and soup bowls. Amidst the apparent atomic prosperity, lies a past that no one wants to remember. An island holding terrifying secrets. Stories of shocking and horrible crimes loom on the city just like the dark clouds of mosquitoes descending on its citizens. A world instantly transformed by ideologies, regimes and dreams of economic prosperity. The tales of characters whose lives intersect in a sinister past, nuclear future and the stinging mosquitoes flying through time, sealing their fate together.
The Auteurs
True/False Film Festival
To Watch the Documentaries Online
Sons of a Gun (USA: Rivkah Beth Medow and Greg O'Toole, 2008: 70 mins)
A freshly minted classic, Sons of a Gun is a portrait of a new archetypal American family—Larry, a laissez-faire LAPD hostage negotiator, and the three mentally ill adults under his care in a Bay Area motel room. Inside this claustrophobic fish bowl, we come to see lovability and comic timing along with the tics and the outbursts. Delightful and disturbing, the film crackles like a dark sitcom by way of R. Crumb and the Beale sisters. With expressive camerawork and brisk editing, Medow and O’Toole have created indelible characters and a narrative that fulfills a social mission much more effectively than a prescriptive piece on behalf of the mentally ill. It’s a jaw-dropping ride that confounds our expectations at every turn — including a second-act twist that shatters any notion their lives were going to be romanticized.
Someday My Prince Will Come Someday My Prince Will Come (UK: Marc Isaacs, 2005: 48 mins)
Heartrending and hilarious in ways that only the love life of an 11-year-old can be, this British doc is certain to provoke lots of discussion and perhaps some controversy. Rare in its willingness to accept kids on their own terms, Someday My Prince Will Come is narrated in rhyming voice-over by its subject, Laura-Anne, as she brings us along on her quest to find a “prince.” Along the way, we’re reminded of the tumultuous nature of young love and offered an unvarnished look at the social life of a small British coastal village.
The Mother (Russia/France/Switzerland: Antoine Cattin and Pavel Kostomarov, 2007: 80 mins)
Though its focus remains tight on its main subject — a Russian single mother of nine — Antoine Cattin and Pavel Kostomarov’s award-winning film has the scope, precision and resonance of a literary masterpiece. The cinematography is startling, with bleached colors that reflect the washed-out dreams of its subjects. Though shot largely with handheld cameras, its compositions would do Cartier-Bresson proud. The film’s blend of long takes and jump cuts give it the feel of an epic. And the characters and their stories are richer than fiction, as they celebrate, fight, grieve and survive. But The Mother is more than the sum of these magnificent parts, thanks to the richness and complexity of the themes it explores: the daily violence absorbed by women and children, the impossible traps of modern masculinity, the generations-long impact of addiction, the innocence of first love. Taking the long-form documentary to new heights, Cattin and Kostomarov have crafted an urgent classic of 21st-century cinema.
The Order of Myths (USA: Margaret Brown, 2008: 97 mins)
The first Mardi Gras in America was celebrated in Mobile, Alabama in 1703. In 2007, it is still racially segregated. Filmmaker Margaret Brown (Be Here to Love Me: A Film about Townes Van Zandt), herself a daughter of Mobile, escorts us into the parallel hearts of the city s two carnivals. With unprecedented access, she traces the exotic world of secret mystic societies and centuries-old traditions and pageantry; diamond-encrusted crowns, voluminous, hand-sewn gowns, surreal masks and enormous paper mache floats. Against this opulent backdrop, she uncovers a tangled web of historical violence and power dynamics, elusive forces that keep this hallowed tradition organized along enduring color lines.
Running Stumbled (USA: John Maringouin, 2006: 85 mins)
Louisiana-born filmmaker John Maringouin arrives at the front door of his father Johnny Roe’s New Orleans home unannounced to offer an apocalyptic portrait of his dysfunctional family in this unflinching, multi-sensory documentary that utilizes digital and auditory manipulation to take the viewer deeper into the psyche of a disturbed artist than they may care to travel. When Maringouin was just a child, his drug-addicted father once threatened to kill his family. These days, artist Johnny lives in drug-addicted squalor with his common-law wife Virgie. Now, as arguments erupt and threats are made, the pieces of the puzzle that Maringouin has worked for years to assemble finally begin to fall into place. —allmovie guide
The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories (Bulgaria: Andrey Paounov, 2007: 100 mins)
A small town and its hopeful citizens are about to embark on a bright new journey. Massive rusty cranes, foreign investors, and the joyful chants of cheerleaders carry the dream of a great nuclear future. Disturbed only by gigantic stinging mosquitoes, the townsfolk celebrate the atomic hurray by engraving the nuclear power plant logo on buildings and soup bowls. Amidst the apparent atomic prosperity, lies a past that no one wants to remember. An island holding terrifying secrets. Stories of shocking and horrible crimes loom on the city just like the dark clouds of mosquitoes descending on its citizens. A world instantly transformed by ideologies, regimes and dreams of economic prosperity. The tales of characters whose lives intersect in a sinister past, nuclear future and the stinging mosquitoes flying through time, sealing their fate together.
Another Massey coal slurry spill in Martin County
by Erik Hungerbuhler
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC)
This morning KFTC member Mickey McCoy, a resident of Martin County, discovered that a stream near his home, the Coldwater Fork, was running gray and black from a slurry spill at a coal processing facility owned by Massey Energy. These types of spills threaten the health of nearby residents and wildlife populations and are all too frequently a fact of life for people who live downstream from slurry impoundments.
After investigating the spill for himself, Mickey spoke with an Appalshop filmmaker on the phone about the spill. You can listen to an edited version of their conversation here.
This spill is nowhere near the scale of the Martin Co. coal sludge flood of 2000, but it is a continuation of an ongoing pattern of clean water violations by Massey Energy despite Massey's $20 million settlement with the EPA for Clean Water Act violations two years ago. Ken Ward Jr. reported last month on his blog, the Coal Tatoo:
What is it going to take to get Massey to obey the law? Why are they allowed to continue operating when they show a consistent disregard for the health and safety of the communities they reside in?
To Listen to an Interview and Access More Resources
by Erik Hungerbuhler
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC)
This morning KFTC member Mickey McCoy, a resident of Martin County, discovered that a stream near his home, the Coldwater Fork, was running gray and black from a slurry spill at a coal processing facility owned by Massey Energy. These types of spills threaten the health of nearby residents and wildlife populations and are all too frequently a fact of life for people who live downstream from slurry impoundments.
After investigating the spill for himself, Mickey spoke with an Appalshop filmmaker on the phone about the spill. You can listen to an edited version of their conversation here.
This spill is nowhere near the scale of the Martin Co. coal sludge flood of 2000, but it is a continuation of an ongoing pattern of clean water violations by Massey Energy despite Massey's $20 million settlement with the EPA for Clean Water Act violations two years ago. Ken Ward Jr. reported last month on his blog, the Coal Tatoo:
Between April 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, Massey violated its effluent limits at its various operations at least 971 times, and accrued 12,977 days of violation during that 12-month period. The U.S. government’s lawsuit against Massey, which resulted in the $20 million settlement, alleged more than 60,000 days of violations over a six-year period, or about 10,000 days of violations per year.
What is it going to take to get Massey to obey the law? Why are they allowed to continue operating when they show a consistent disregard for the health and safety of the communities they reside in?
To Listen to an Interview and Access More Resources
No Logo: Brands, Globalization, Resistance (USA: Sut Jhally/Naomi Klein, 2003)
Media Education Foundation
In the age of the brand, logos are everywhere. But why do some of the world's best-known brands find themselves on the wrong end of the spray paint can -- the targets of anti-corporate campaigns by activists and protesters?
No Logo, based on the best-selling book by Canadian journalist and activist Naomi Klein, reveals the reasons behind the backlash against the increasing economic and cultural reach of multinational companies. Analyzing how brands like Nike, The Gap, and Tommy Hilfiger became revered symbols worldwide, Klein argues that globalization is a process whereby corporations discovered that profits lay not in making products (outsourced to low-wage workers in developing countries), but in creating branded identities people adopt in their lifestyles.
Using hundreds of media examples, No Logo shows how the commercial takeover of public space, destruction of consumer choice, and replacement of real jobs with temporary work - the dynamics of corporate globalization - impact everyone, everywhere. It also draws attention to the democratic resistance arising globally to challenge the hegemony of brands.
Link
To preview the book
In the age of the brand, logos are everywhere. But why do some of the world's best-known brands find themselves on the wrong end of the spray paint can -- the targets of anti-corporate campaigns by activists and protesters?
No Logo, based on the best-selling book by Canadian journalist and activist Naomi Klein, reveals the reasons behind the backlash against the increasing economic and cultural reach of multinational companies. Analyzing how brands like Nike, The Gap, and Tommy Hilfiger became revered symbols worldwide, Klein argues that globalization is a process whereby corporations discovered that profits lay not in making products (outsourced to low-wage workers in developing countries), but in creating branded identities people adopt in their lifestyles.
Using hundreds of media examples, No Logo shows how the commercial takeover of public space, destruction of consumer choice, and replacement of real jobs with temporary work - the dynamics of corporate globalization - impact everyone, everywhere. It also draws attention to the democratic resistance arising globally to challenge the hegemony of brands.
Link
To preview the book
Common Sense with Dan Carlin #161: Shhh!
#161 - Shhh!
Common Sense with Dan Carlin
The Patriot Act is being used against people who aren't terrorists. Dan is not surprised. Also: How our country's addiction to secrecy is hurting our Republic.
To Listen to the Episode
Common Sense with Dan Carlin
The Patriot Act is being used against people who aren't terrorists. Dan is not surprised. Also: How our country's addiction to secrecy is hurting our Republic.
To Listen to the Episode
Harry Kelber: The Unemployed Now Have Their Own Union, and It's Catching on Quickly
(Courtesy of Michael Marchman)
The Unemployed Now Have Their Own Union, and It's Catching on Quickly
AlterNet
by Harry Kelber
An ingenious grassroots union for the unemployed is only a month old -- and its numbers are growing.
It's been only a month that a union for the unemployed has come into existence through an ingenious grassroots organizing campaign. In case you haven't heard about it, the union's name is "UR Union of the Unemployed" or its nickname, "UCubed," because of its unique method of organizing.
UCubed is the brain-child of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), whose leaders feel that the millions of unemployed workers need a union of their own to join in the struggle for massive jobs programs.
The idea is that if millions of jobless join together and act as an organization, they are more likely to get Congress and the White House to provide the jobs that are urgently needed. They can also apply pressure for health insurance coverage, unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits and food stamps. An unemployed worker is virtually helpless if he or she has to act alone.
Joining a Cube is as simple as it is important. (Please check the union web site: www.unionofunemployed.com). Six people who live in the same zip code address can form a Ucube. Nine such UCubes make a neighborhood. Three neighborhood UCubes form a power block that cntains 162 activists. Politicians cannot easily ignore a multitude of power blocks, nor can merchants avoid them.
The union is built from the ground up. Cube activists will select their own leadership in each cube, neighborhood, block and higher group as well.
Jobless Union's Encouraging Progress in One Month
The UR Union of Unemployed (or UCubed) already has members in over 300 zip code addresses and 43 states, reports Rick Sloan, acting executive director of the union. Seventy-five cubes are up and running. For the first month, 19,998 people visited the site and viewed over 138,000 pages of content.
The union's Op-Ed article appeared in 62 newspapers, ranging from the "Black News" to the "Mexican American Sun," and from the "Las Vegas Tribune" to the "Senior Life of Northern Indiana." Total circulation exceeded 12 million readers,
UCubed put out three press releases last month, informing politicians in Washington that the union of unemployed will be watching--and reacting--to their vote on the latest job proposals of the Obama administration.
To Read the Rest of the Article
The Unemployed Now Have Their Own Union, and It's Catching on Quickly
AlterNet
by Harry Kelber
An ingenious grassroots union for the unemployed is only a month old -- and its numbers are growing.
It's been only a month that a union for the unemployed has come into existence through an ingenious grassroots organizing campaign. In case you haven't heard about it, the union's name is "UR Union of the Unemployed" or its nickname, "UCubed," because of its unique method of organizing.
UCubed is the brain-child of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), whose leaders feel that the millions of unemployed workers need a union of their own to join in the struggle for massive jobs programs.
The idea is that if millions of jobless join together and act as an organization, they are more likely to get Congress and the White House to provide the jobs that are urgently needed. They can also apply pressure for health insurance coverage, unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits and food stamps. An unemployed worker is virtually helpless if he or she has to act alone.
Joining a Cube is as simple as it is important. (Please check the union web site: www.unionofunemployed.com). Six people who live in the same zip code address can form a Ucube. Nine such UCubes make a neighborhood. Three neighborhood UCubes form a power block that cntains 162 activists. Politicians cannot easily ignore a multitude of power blocks, nor can merchants avoid them.
The union is built from the ground up. Cube activists will select their own leadership in each cube, neighborhood, block and higher group as well.
Jobless Union's Encouraging Progress in One Month
The UR Union of Unemployed (or UCubed) already has members in over 300 zip code addresses and 43 states, reports Rick Sloan, acting executive director of the union. Seventy-five cubes are up and running. For the first month, 19,998 people visited the site and viewed over 138,000 pages of content.
The union's Op-Ed article appeared in 62 newspapers, ranging from the "Black News" to the "Mexican American Sun," and from the "Las Vegas Tribune" to the "Senior Life of Northern Indiana." Total circulation exceeded 12 million readers,
UCubed put out three press releases last month, informing politicians in Washington that the union of unemployed will be watching--and reacting--to their vote on the latest job proposals of the Obama administration.
To Read the Rest of the Article
Bill Moyers Journal: Bill T. Jones "FONDLY DO WE HOPE...FERVENTLY DO WE PRAY"
Bill T. Jones "FONDLY DO WE HOPE...FERVENTLY DO WE PRAY"
Bill Moyers Journal
At the close of Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial year, BILL MOYERS JOURNAL takes a unique look at our nation's 16th President — through the eyes of critically acclaimed, veteran dance artist Bill T. Jones. In a groundbreaking work of choreography called FONDLY DO WE HOPE...FERVENTLY DO WE PRAY, Jones reimagines a young Lincoln in his formative years through dance. Bill Moyers speaks with Jones about his creative process, his insights into Lincoln, and how dance can give us fresh perspective on America's most-studied president.
"This piece, ultimately, is not a biopic [...] It is supposed to be, 'How can we use Lincoln and his time as a mirror through which we look darkly at ourselves?'" says Jones.
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance company has launched a video-packed Web site to document the creative process underlying FONDLY DO WE HOPE...FERVENTLY DO WE PRAY. There you will find video of the work in progress and a diary of the development of the piece.
The upcoming AMERICAN MASTERS documentary A GOOD MAN also chronicles the award-winning and influential Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company as they work on "FONDLY DO WE HOPE...FERVENTLY DO WE PRAY." The film follows Jones and his Company as they create movement and gesture stirring complicated emotions about Lincoln's legacy in contemporary life while asking: What does Lincoln signify in terms of race relations, civil rights, freedom and equality, and these "United States"? Jones lets the camera inside to witness his creative process as he grapples with the contradictions created by an African-American modern dancer creating a definitive work on Lincoln.
To Watch the Episode and Access More Resources
Bill Moyers Journal
At the close of Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial year, BILL MOYERS JOURNAL takes a unique look at our nation's 16th President — through the eyes of critically acclaimed, veteran dance artist Bill T. Jones. In a groundbreaking work of choreography called FONDLY DO WE HOPE...FERVENTLY DO WE PRAY, Jones reimagines a young Lincoln in his formative years through dance. Bill Moyers speaks with Jones about his creative process, his insights into Lincoln, and how dance can give us fresh perspective on America's most-studied president.
"This piece, ultimately, is not a biopic [...] It is supposed to be, 'How can we use Lincoln and his time as a mirror through which we look darkly at ourselves?'" says Jones.
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance company has launched a video-packed Web site to document the creative process underlying FONDLY DO WE HOPE...FERVENTLY DO WE PRAY. There you will find video of the work in progress and a diary of the development of the piece.
The upcoming AMERICAN MASTERS documentary A GOOD MAN also chronicles the award-winning and influential Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company as they work on "FONDLY DO WE HOPE...FERVENTLY DO WE PRAY." The film follows Jones and his Company as they create movement and gesture stirring complicated emotions about Lincoln's legacy in contemporary life while asking: What does Lincoln signify in terms of race relations, civil rights, freedom and equality, and these "United States"? Jones lets the camera inside to witness his creative process as he grapples with the contradictions created by an African-American modern dancer creating a definitive work on Lincoln.
To Watch the Episode and Access More Resources
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death (USA: Loretta Alper and Jeremy Earp, 2007: 73 mins)
War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. Narrated by actor and activist Sean Penn, the film exhumes remarkable archival footage of official distortion and exaggeration from LBJ to George W. Bush, revealing in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated the pro-war messages of successive presidential administrations.
Amy Goodman: Cracking Down on Fracking
Cracking Down on Fracking
by Amy Goodman
Common Dreams
Mike Markham of Colorado has an explosive problem: His tap water catches fire. Markham demonstrates this in a new documentary, “Gasland,” which just won the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize. Director Josh Fox films Markham as he runs his kitchen faucet, holding a cigarette lighter up to the running water. After a few seconds, a ball of fire erupts out of the sink, almost enveloping Markham’s head.
The source of the flammable water, and the subject of “Gasland,” is the mining process called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”
Fracking is used to access natural gas and oil reserves buried thousands of feet below the ground. Companies like Halliburton drill down vertically, then send the shaft horizontally, crossing many small, trapped veins of gas and oil. Explosive charges are then set off at various points in the drill shaft, causing what Fox calls “mini-earthquakes.” These fractures spread underground, allowing the gas to flow back into the shaft to be extracted. To force open the fractures, millions of gallons of liquid are forced into the shaft at very high pressure.
The high-pressure liquids are a combination of water, sand and a secret mix of chemicals. Each well requires between 1 million and 7 million gallons of the fluid every time gas is extracted. Drillers do not have to reveal the chemical cocktail, thanks to a slew of exemptions given to the industry, most notably in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which actually granted the fracking industry a specific exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act. California Congressman Henry Waxman, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has just announced an investigation into the composition of the proprietary chemicals used in fracking. In a Feb. 18 letter, Waxman commented on the Safe Drinking Water Act exemption: “Many dubbed this provision the ‘Halliburton loophole’ because of Halliburton’s ties to then-Vice President Cheney and its role as one of the largest providers of hydraulic fracturing services.” Before he was vice president, Dick Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton.
In an earlier investigation, Waxman learned that Halliburton had violated a 2003 nonbinding agreement with the government in which the company promised not to use diesel fuel in the mix when extracting from certain wells. Halliburton pumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic, diesel-containing liquids into the ground, potentially contaminating drinking water.
To Read the Rest of the Article
by Amy Goodman
Common Dreams
Mike Markham of Colorado has an explosive problem: His tap water catches fire. Markham demonstrates this in a new documentary, “Gasland,” which just won the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize. Director Josh Fox films Markham as he runs his kitchen faucet, holding a cigarette lighter up to the running water. After a few seconds, a ball of fire erupts out of the sink, almost enveloping Markham’s head.
The source of the flammable water, and the subject of “Gasland,” is the mining process called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”
Fracking is used to access natural gas and oil reserves buried thousands of feet below the ground. Companies like Halliburton drill down vertically, then send the shaft horizontally, crossing many small, trapped veins of gas and oil. Explosive charges are then set off at various points in the drill shaft, causing what Fox calls “mini-earthquakes.” These fractures spread underground, allowing the gas to flow back into the shaft to be extracted. To force open the fractures, millions of gallons of liquid are forced into the shaft at very high pressure.
The high-pressure liquids are a combination of water, sand and a secret mix of chemicals. Each well requires between 1 million and 7 million gallons of the fluid every time gas is extracted. Drillers do not have to reveal the chemical cocktail, thanks to a slew of exemptions given to the industry, most notably in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which actually granted the fracking industry a specific exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act. California Congressman Henry Waxman, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has just announced an investigation into the composition of the proprietary chemicals used in fracking. In a Feb. 18 letter, Waxman commented on the Safe Drinking Water Act exemption: “Many dubbed this provision the ‘Halliburton loophole’ because of Halliburton’s ties to then-Vice President Cheney and its role as one of the largest providers of hydraulic fracturing services.” Before he was vice president, Dick Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton.
In an earlier investigation, Waxman learned that Halliburton had violated a 2003 nonbinding agreement with the government in which the company promised not to use diesel fuel in the mix when extracting from certain wells. Halliburton pumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic, diesel-containing liquids into the ground, potentially contaminating drinking water.
To Read the Rest of the Article
William Fisher: US Government Sued Over Cell Phone Tracking
Gov't Sued Over Cell Phone Tracking
by William Fisher
Common Dreams
If you are a U.S. resident who owns a cell phone, you should care about the outcome of a court case that "could well decide whether the government can use your cell phone to track you - even if it hasn't shown probable cause to believe it will turn up evidence of a crime."
That was the warning issued to the public by several major civil liberties organizations as they appeared in federal court in Philadelphia to argue for more privacy protections in the use of cell phones as tracking devices by law enforcement agents.
The case is at the heart of the constitutional crisis now being played out in the U.S. federal court. Civil liberties groups are asking the court to require that the government show probable cause before it can track your whereabouts.
The groups are the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT).
Back in 2007, the U.S. government applied for court permission to obtain information about the location of an individual's cell phone, without showing probable cause that tracking the individual would turn up evidence of a crime.
A magistrate judge denied the government's request and a district court upheld that decision in September 2008. The government is appealing the ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals.
A number of civil liberties groups, on behalf of plaintiffs in the case, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the district court decision, arguing that district courts must require the government to show probable cause before permitting the government to obtain information about the location of a cell phone.
To Read the Rest of the Report
by William Fisher
Common Dreams
If you are a U.S. resident who owns a cell phone, you should care about the outcome of a court case that "could well decide whether the government can use your cell phone to track you - even if it hasn't shown probable cause to believe it will turn up evidence of a crime."
That was the warning issued to the public by several major civil liberties organizations as they appeared in federal court in Philadelphia to argue for more privacy protections in the use of cell phones as tracking devices by law enforcement agents.
The case is at the heart of the constitutional crisis now being played out in the U.S. federal court. Civil liberties groups are asking the court to require that the government show probable cause before it can track your whereabouts.
The groups are the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT).
Back in 2007, the U.S. government applied for court permission to obtain information about the location of an individual's cell phone, without showing probable cause that tracking the individual would turn up evidence of a crime.
A magistrate judge denied the government's request and a district court upheld that decision in September 2008. The government is appealing the ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals.
A number of civil liberties groups, on behalf of plaintiffs in the case, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the district court decision, arguing that district courts must require the government to show probable cause before permitting the government to obtain information about the location of a cell phone.
To Read the Rest of the Report
Peace and Conflict Studies: The People Speak, Pt. 2
(For students to post proposals for term paper--place in comments)
Harlan County USA (USA: Barbara Koppel, 1976: 103 mins)
Criterion Collection: Harlan County USA
In The People Speak there was a presentation of the words of Daniel Ellsberg who exposed the Vietnam War-era Pentagon Papers. A recent documentary explores the significance of his courageous act Filmmaker Magazine: Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith -- The Most Dangerous Man in America
Official site for the DVD The People Speak: The Voices of a People's History: The People Speak where you can access more resources and watch some of the performances again.
Extra credit opportunities for HUM 220 students (All events in the main auditorium in the Oswald Building: 600+ word response to the event):
March 24, 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Erin Howard (BCTC), World Vision
April 5, 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Peggy Ray, UK student, Human Trafficking
April 5, 6:30-7:45 pm
Michael Marchmann (NKU) and
Michael Benton (BCTC),
The Role of Protest in Democracy
April 7, 9:30-10:45
Nancy Reinhart, researcher with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
Coal Issues
April 13, 3:30-4:45
Captain Paul Chappell
Will War Ever End?
April 19, 6:30-7:45
Dave Cooper, Environmental Activist,
Mountain Justice Mountaintop Removal
April 22, 3:30-4:45
EARTH DAY
Sarah Lynn Cunningham, Environmental Educator and Engineer
Global Warming
Also the One World Film Festival is going to be starting in Lexington. All films are free and you can go to one and write a response for extra credit (600+ words):
One World Film Festival
One Page Printout of Films
Harlan County USA (USA: Barbara Koppel, 1976: 103 mins)
Criterion Collection: Harlan County USA
In The People Speak there was a presentation of the words of Daniel Ellsberg who exposed the Vietnam War-era Pentagon Papers. A recent documentary explores the significance of his courageous act Filmmaker Magazine: Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith -- The Most Dangerous Man in America
Official site for the DVD The People Speak: The Voices of a People's History: The People Speak where you can access more resources and watch some of the performances again.
Extra credit opportunities for HUM 220 students (All events in the main auditorium in the Oswald Building: 600+ word response to the event):
March 24, 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Erin Howard (BCTC), World Vision
April 5, 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Peggy Ray, UK student, Human Trafficking
April 5, 6:30-7:45 pm
Michael Marchmann (NKU) and
Michael Benton (BCTC),
The Role of Protest in Democracy
April 7, 9:30-10:45
Nancy Reinhart, researcher with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
Coal Issues
April 13, 3:30-4:45
Captain Paul Chappell
Will War Ever End?
April 19, 6:30-7:45
Dave Cooper, Environmental Activist,
Mountain Justice Mountaintop Removal
April 22, 3:30-4:45
EARTH DAY
Sarah Lynn Cunningham, Environmental Educator and Engineer
Global Warming
Also the One World Film Festival is going to be starting in Lexington. All films are free and you can go to one and write a response for extra credit (600+ words):
One World Film Festival
One Page Printout of Films
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Webster Word-of-the-Day: Logomachy
Webster Word-of-the-Day
logomachy
\loh-GAH-muh-kee\
noun
Meaning
1 : a dispute over or about words
*2 : a controversy marked by verbiage
Example Sentence
The surprising election results have opened the floodgates of logomachy in the political media outlets.
--------------
It doesn't take much to start people arguing about words, but there's no quarrel about the origin of "logomachy." It comes from the Greek roots "logos," meaning "word" or "speech," and "machesthai," meaning "to fight," and it entered English in the mid-1500s. If you're a word enthusiast, you probably know that "logos" is the root of many English words ("monologue," "neologism," "logic," and most words ending in "-logy," for example), but what about other derivatives of "machesthai"? Actually, this is a tough one even for word whizzes. Only a few very rare English words come from "machesthai." Here are two of them: "heresimach" ("an active opponent of heresy and heretics") and "naumachia" ("an ancient Roman spectacle representing a naval battle").
logomachy
\loh-GAH-muh-kee\
noun
Meaning
1 : a dispute over or about words
*2 : a controversy marked by verbiage
Example Sentence
The surprising election results have opened the floodgates of logomachy in the political media outlets.
--------------
It doesn't take much to start people arguing about words, but there's no quarrel about the origin of "logomachy." It comes from the Greek roots "logos," meaning "word" or "speech," and "machesthai," meaning "to fight," and it entered English in the mid-1500s. If you're a word enthusiast, you probably know that "logos" is the root of many English words ("monologue," "neologism," "logic," and most words ending in "-logy," for example), but what about other derivatives of "machesthai"? Actually, this is a tough one even for word whizzes. Only a few very rare English words come from "machesthai." Here are two of them: "heresimach" ("an active opponent of heresy and heretics") and "naumachia" ("an ancient Roman spectacle representing a naval battle").
Monday, February 22, 2010
Michael Dean Benton: On Existentialism -- Five Propositions
(I'm thinking about my own personal philosophy these days and these are just some thoughts... responses appreciated!)
On Existentialism
by Michael Dean Benton
1) As humans we all exist, but it is our essence that makes us unique. What you are (essence) is the result of your choices (your existence) rather than the reverse. Essence is not destiny. You are what you make yourself to be. Our lives are not given to us, but must be developed consciously with care and consideration.
2) Living in the moment is essential, but we also interact and adapt based on our past experiences and future expectations. Yes, we are fundamentally time-bound beings, but we are also, much, much more than that. Unlike measurable (quantative), "clock" time, "lived" time is qualitative: the "not yet," the "already," and the "present" differ among themselves in meaning and value. We need to be aware of all of these. The impetus of living in the "moment" is that we should not let the past hang on us like a weight causing us to drown, or allow the possibility of an uncertain future to intimidate us to the point of inaction. Remember the lessons of the past, recognize the possibilities of the future, in order to fully live in the present.
3) Radical Humanism. Existentialism is a person-centered philosophy. It's focus is on the human individual's pursuit of identity and meaning amidst the social and economic pressures of mass society for superficiality and conformism. It is our responsibility, as free and conscious beings, to create meaning out of life and to develop an authentic essense. It is also, in my opinion, in this regard, our duty to help others develop their response-ability to do the same (for me as a teacher this is the core of an existentialist pedagogy). In this we are cultivating free, ethical and responsible individuals who care about their community. My radical humanism does not discount other beings in this world... it is holistic, in the sense of recognizing that humans are just one set of beings that live and share in the development and continuation of the broader ecosphere.
4) Freedom = Responsibility. Existentialism is a philosophy of freedom. It requires that we step back and reflect/reassess on what we have been doing and what effect our thoughts/actions have on the world. In this sense we are more than just individuals, we are members of larger collectives and our personal ethics always extend beyond ourselves (existentialism is not vulgar egotism). In this we can only be as "responsible" as we are "free." Response-ability, the ability for people to respond to the problems of their society and the impetus for them to care beyond themselves, is only realized by free, authentic and ethical beings. Where there is mindless conformism, shallow consumerism, or brutal oppression, you will see a breakdown in the development of response-ability (both in the ruled and rulers... or, manipulated and manipulators).
5) Ethical considerations are the primary questions. We all understand ethics and freedom differently, this is a given, and we must bring each of our understandings into play and sharpen our ideas through open/free public discourse. In this we, as individuals, as a community, as a society, and as a global ecosystem, should consider ethical questions. Each individual is responsible to develop and consider the authenticity of their own personal lives and their society.
Existentialism is a philosophy of living authentically in the world, but in the realization of our authentic self we also have an ethical responsibility to ensure that others have that same opportunity. My authenticity should not be at the expense of your opportunity to realize yourself (for example, we are not bloated ticks that feed off the misery of others in order to realize some twisted sense of self).
On Existentialism
by Michael Dean Benton
1) As humans we all exist, but it is our essence that makes us unique. What you are (essence) is the result of your choices (your existence) rather than the reverse. Essence is not destiny. You are what you make yourself to be. Our lives are not given to us, but must be developed consciously with care and consideration.
2) Living in the moment is essential, but we also interact and adapt based on our past experiences and future expectations. Yes, we are fundamentally time-bound beings, but we are also, much, much more than that. Unlike measurable (quantative), "clock" time, "lived" time is qualitative: the "not yet," the "already," and the "present" differ among themselves in meaning and value. We need to be aware of all of these. The impetus of living in the "moment" is that we should not let the past hang on us like a weight causing us to drown, or allow the possibility of an uncertain future to intimidate us to the point of inaction. Remember the lessons of the past, recognize the possibilities of the future, in order to fully live in the present.
3) Radical Humanism. Existentialism is a person-centered philosophy. It's focus is on the human individual's pursuit of identity and meaning amidst the social and economic pressures of mass society for superficiality and conformism. It is our responsibility, as free and conscious beings, to create meaning out of life and to develop an authentic essense. It is also, in my opinion, in this regard, our duty to help others develop their response-ability to do the same (for me as a teacher this is the core of an existentialist pedagogy). In this we are cultivating free, ethical and responsible individuals who care about their community. My radical humanism does not discount other beings in this world... it is holistic, in the sense of recognizing that humans are just one set of beings that live and share in the development and continuation of the broader ecosphere.
4) Freedom = Responsibility. Existentialism is a philosophy of freedom. It requires that we step back and reflect/reassess on what we have been doing and what effect our thoughts/actions have on the world. In this sense we are more than just individuals, we are members of larger collectives and our personal ethics always extend beyond ourselves (existentialism is not vulgar egotism). In this we can only be as "responsible" as we are "free." Response-ability, the ability for people to respond to the problems of their society and the impetus for them to care beyond themselves, is only realized by free, authentic and ethical beings. Where there is mindless conformism, shallow consumerism, or brutal oppression, you will see a breakdown in the development of response-ability (both in the ruled and rulers... or, manipulated and manipulators).
5) Ethical considerations are the primary questions. We all understand ethics and freedom differently, this is a given, and we must bring each of our understandings into play and sharpen our ideas through open/free public discourse. In this we, as individuals, as a community, as a society, and as a global ecosystem, should consider ethical questions. Each individual is responsible to develop and consider the authenticity of their own personal lives and their society.
Existentialism is a philosophy of living authentically in the world, but in the realization of our authentic self we also have an ethical responsibility to ensure that others have that same opportunity. My authenticity should not be at the expense of your opportunity to realize yourself (for example, we are not bloated ticks that feed off the misery of others in order to realize some twisted sense of self).
Kevin L. Ferguson: Yuppie devil -- Villainy in Kathryn Bigelow’s Blue Steel
Yuppie devil: villainy in Kathryn Bigelow’s Blue Steel
by Kevin L. Ferguson
Jump Cut
“When Mephistopheles shows up wearing a gold Rolex he’s truly a creature for our age.”
— Janet Maslin
Film critic Janet Maslin must call forth the devil himself to explain the curious appeal of the yuppie to late-80s filmgoers. The yuppie devil at the end of the 80s, though, is more a crafty Mephistopheles than a fearsome Lucifer. A sly character with a keen sense for bargain and an eye for economy, this devil wears his gold Rolex in fashionable display and makes his pacts in public. No more magical, smoke-filled entrances, the devil at the end of the 80s confidently takes his seat at the head of the yuppie bargaining table. The devil’s public appearance as a yuppie points up the heartless greed of that decade, and so Mephistopheles’ gold watch indicates not only his proper place at the yuppie’s table, but also the culpability of those seated across from him (with their own Rolexes, Mont Blanc pens, and Ferragamos). Maslin’s article focuses on two films, Internal Affairs (dir. Mike Figgis, U.S., 1990) and Bad Influence (dir. Curtis Hanson, U.S., 1990), to demonstrate this new trend in late-80s Hollywood cinema, where the formerly successful yuppie was conflated with the newly fashionable serial killer to create the hybrid character of the psychotic, villainous yuppie devil.
In this essay, I want to reexamine a third film that Maslin mentions briefly, Kathryn Bigelow’s Blue Steel (U.S., 1990). Bigelow’s film is unusual since it simultaneously sustains and critiques the new trope of the yuppie devil. Furthermore, the film generated puzzled responses that allow us to see the ambivalent attitudes late-80s spectators held towards this new kind of yuppie villain. For example, even Maslin, in pointing out how yuppie devil films reveal the dangerous effects of “a decade of relative conscience-free complacency,” nonetheless mirrors this complacency by implicitly accepting the merging of yuppie and psycho tropes:
“When [Blue Steel] assumes that [its villain] automatically has the makings of a psychotic killer, it doesn’t imagine itself to be making any kind of leap.”[2]
The self-evident “obviousness” of Blue Steel’s yuppie devil makes the film worth revisiting since its ideological obviousness hides more complex cultural negotiations in the 1980s between economic power and filmic evil. Finally, since Blue Steel features a female heroine who must face the male yuppie devil, the film further questions the obviousness of assumed gender roles in late-80s imaginings of yuppie lifestyles. I will start by offering a reading of Blue Steel which argues that its yuppie devil was hastily dismissed, but is constructed in a significant visual relationship with that film’s heroine. I will then discuss the rapid transformation between 1984-1989 in U.S. popular culture representations of the yuppie from a success story to a symbol of evil.
As Maslin suggested, yuppie devil films like Blue Steel rely on a shared understanding of what the yuppie would signify to a late-80s audience. In that decade, the yuppie was a new figure in the popular imagination who reiterated an U.S. myth of economic success. The term was coined in 1983 and first popularized in 1984, which publications like Newsweek labeled “The Year of the Yuppie.” The word “yuppie,” which comes from mixing the acronym for “young urban professional” with “hippie” or “preppy,”[3] was initially used as a demographic label to describe Baby Boomers
“aged 29 to 35 who live in metropolitan areas, work in professional or managerial occupations, and have an income of at least $30,000 if they live alone.”[4]
Soon, though, “yuppie” became a pejorative description of a lifestyle, and yuppies were identified with a culture of wealth, conspicuous consumption, and conservative politics. Driving a BMW, working on Wall Street, exercising constantly, living in an expensively renovated loft in a gentrified neighborhood, or purchasing imported tarragon vinaigrette from an upscale gourmet store made one a yuppie. A backlash against the expensive, self-absorbed frivolity of the yuppie’s designer lifestyle quickly set in. By the end of the 1980s, the valueless yuppie lifestyle was a ready signifier for the selfish evil born of capitalism, and villains in films like Blue Steel could rely on this signification to scare audiences.
To Read the Rest of the Essay
by Kevin L. Ferguson
Jump Cut
“When Mephistopheles shows up wearing a gold Rolex he’s truly a creature for our age.”
— Janet Maslin
Film critic Janet Maslin must call forth the devil himself to explain the curious appeal of the yuppie to late-80s filmgoers. The yuppie devil at the end of the 80s, though, is more a crafty Mephistopheles than a fearsome Lucifer. A sly character with a keen sense for bargain and an eye for economy, this devil wears his gold Rolex in fashionable display and makes his pacts in public. No more magical, smoke-filled entrances, the devil at the end of the 80s confidently takes his seat at the head of the yuppie bargaining table. The devil’s public appearance as a yuppie points up the heartless greed of that decade, and so Mephistopheles’ gold watch indicates not only his proper place at the yuppie’s table, but also the culpability of those seated across from him (with their own Rolexes, Mont Blanc pens, and Ferragamos). Maslin’s article focuses on two films, Internal Affairs (dir. Mike Figgis, U.S., 1990) and Bad Influence (dir. Curtis Hanson, U.S., 1990), to demonstrate this new trend in late-80s Hollywood cinema, where the formerly successful yuppie was conflated with the newly fashionable serial killer to create the hybrid character of the psychotic, villainous yuppie devil.
In this essay, I want to reexamine a third film that Maslin mentions briefly, Kathryn Bigelow’s Blue Steel (U.S., 1990). Bigelow’s film is unusual since it simultaneously sustains and critiques the new trope of the yuppie devil. Furthermore, the film generated puzzled responses that allow us to see the ambivalent attitudes late-80s spectators held towards this new kind of yuppie villain. For example, even Maslin, in pointing out how yuppie devil films reveal the dangerous effects of “a decade of relative conscience-free complacency,” nonetheless mirrors this complacency by implicitly accepting the merging of yuppie and psycho tropes:
“When [Blue Steel] assumes that [its villain] automatically has the makings of a psychotic killer, it doesn’t imagine itself to be making any kind of leap.”[2]
The self-evident “obviousness” of Blue Steel’s yuppie devil makes the film worth revisiting since its ideological obviousness hides more complex cultural negotiations in the 1980s between economic power and filmic evil. Finally, since Blue Steel features a female heroine who must face the male yuppie devil, the film further questions the obviousness of assumed gender roles in late-80s imaginings of yuppie lifestyles. I will start by offering a reading of Blue Steel which argues that its yuppie devil was hastily dismissed, but is constructed in a significant visual relationship with that film’s heroine. I will then discuss the rapid transformation between 1984-1989 in U.S. popular culture representations of the yuppie from a success story to a symbol of evil.
As Maslin suggested, yuppie devil films like Blue Steel rely on a shared understanding of what the yuppie would signify to a late-80s audience. In that decade, the yuppie was a new figure in the popular imagination who reiterated an U.S. myth of economic success. The term was coined in 1983 and first popularized in 1984, which publications like Newsweek labeled “The Year of the Yuppie.” The word “yuppie,” which comes from mixing the acronym for “young urban professional” with “hippie” or “preppy,”[3] was initially used as a demographic label to describe Baby Boomers
“aged 29 to 35 who live in metropolitan areas, work in professional or managerial occupations, and have an income of at least $30,000 if they live alone.”[4]
Soon, though, “yuppie” became a pejorative description of a lifestyle, and yuppies were identified with a culture of wealth, conspicuous consumption, and conservative politics. Driving a BMW, working on Wall Street, exercising constantly, living in an expensively renovated loft in a gentrified neighborhood, or purchasing imported tarragon vinaigrette from an upscale gourmet store made one a yuppie. A backlash against the expensive, self-absorbed frivolity of the yuppie’s designer lifestyle quickly set in. By the end of the 1980s, the valueless yuppie lifestyle was a ready signifier for the selfish evil born of capitalism, and villains in films like Blue Steel could rely on this signification to scare audiences.
To Read the Rest of the Essay
Bluegrass Contingent: Anti-War Protest, Saturday, March 20 in Washington, DC.
Arise, Kentuckians!
Rousers of the Rabble!
Fanners of the Flames of Discontent!
Agitators and Organizers!
A massive anti-war mobilization is scheduled for Sat, March 20 in Washington, DC.
LET'S GO!!
We don't know about you, but we've been feeling frustrated, angry, un-listened to and impotent lately. This will simply not do!
So, we are helping to organize a bus for people from Lexington to attend the march/protest/mobilization.
Those of us opposed to the wars have really dropped the ball since the election. Well, here is a chance to send a message to the Obama Administration and to get that emotional and political boost that only participating in a mass mobilization can provide. If you've never been to a massive demonstration -- they are fun, energizing, solidarity-building, pessimism-reducing events.
We are trying to arrange a 28-seat bus. Let's pack it with people we know and some we don't and go have a great time doing something that desperately needs doing.
The plan is to make it as cheap and convenient as possible. Bus fare is $102 per person.
We will leave Lexington late Friday; attend the mobilization on Saturday morning/afternoon; leave DC Sat evening; and be back in time for Sunday brunch. [No overnight costs].
Now...
We know that most of us do not have $102 just lying around.
Some of us don't even have a job right now!
We know that beds are more comfortable than bus seats.
We know that some of us are overworked and weekends are a sacred time of rest!
But, let's not allow such trivialities get in the way of stopping these cursed wars and raising some hell!
Seriously... please consider coming. Let me know asap if you think you might be interested.
Tentative details:
* Depart Lexington around midnight (Fri, March 19)
* Arrive Washington, DC around 9:00am (Sat, March 20)
* Depart Washington around 7:00pm (Sat, March 20)
* Arrive back in Lexington around 3:00am (Sat night/Sun morning)
Cost: $102/per seat
In solidarity!
Dialogic
PS: feel free to leave a comment and contact info if you are interested
Rousers of the Rabble!
Fanners of the Flames of Discontent!
Agitators and Organizers!
A massive anti-war mobilization is scheduled for Sat, March 20 in Washington, DC.
LET'S GO!!
We don't know about you, but we've been feeling frustrated, angry, un-listened to and impotent lately. This will simply not do!
So, we are helping to organize a bus for people from Lexington to attend the march/protest/mobilization.
Those of us opposed to the wars have really dropped the ball since the election. Well, here is a chance to send a message to the Obama Administration and to get that emotional and political boost that only participating in a mass mobilization can provide. If you've never been to a massive demonstration -- they are fun, energizing, solidarity-building, pessimism-reducing events.
We are trying to arrange a 28-seat bus. Let's pack it with people we know and some we don't and go have a great time doing something that desperately needs doing.
The plan is to make it as cheap and convenient as possible. Bus fare is $102 per person.
We will leave Lexington late Friday; attend the mobilization on Saturday morning/afternoon; leave DC Sat evening; and be back in time for Sunday brunch. [No overnight costs].
Now...
We know that most of us do not have $102 just lying around.
Some of us don't even have a job right now!
We know that beds are more comfortable than bus seats.
We know that some of us are overworked and weekends are a sacred time of rest!
But, let's not allow such trivialities get in the way of stopping these cursed wars and raising some hell!
Seriously... please consider coming. Let me know asap if you think you might be interested.
Tentative details:
* Depart Lexington around midnight (Fri, March 19)
* Arrive Washington, DC around 9:00am (Sat, March 20)
* Depart Washington around 7:00pm (Sat, March 20)
* Arrive back in Lexington around 3:00am (Sat night/Sun morning)
Cost: $102/per seat
In solidarity!
Dialogic
PS: feel free to leave a comment and contact info if you are interested
Peace and Conflict Studies: The People Speak, Pt. 1
(For students--post responses in the comment section at the bottom of this post)
Here is a list of the resources I'm going to be putting on reserve for you at the BCTC library circulation desk, in the HUM 220 section:
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
Mooney, James, ed. American Dissenters: Volume Two. Maplecrest, NY: Brandywine Press, 2005.
Includes chapters on:
Ida B. Wells-Barnett
Agrarianism
Henry George
Bill Haywood and the IWW
Thorstein Veblen
Emma Goldman
Upton Sinclair
Sinclair Lewis
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Port Huron Statement
Reflections on Power and Self-Righteousness
The Battle in Seattle
The Arrogance of Ownership
Ruane, Kevin. War and Revolution in Vietnam, 1930-1975. Bristol, PN: UCL Press, 1998.
Buchheit, Paul, ed. American Wars: Illusions and Realities. Atlanta, GA: Clarity Press, 2008.
McCarthy, Timothy Patrick and John McMillian, eds. The Radical Reader: A Documentary History of the American Radical Tradition. NY: The New Press, 2003.
Also in regards to the documentary:
The Zinn Education Project
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 - Present. NY: Harper-Collins, 2003.
Howard Zinn on Democratic Education (Z Magazine)
Howard Zinn on Holy Wars (Democracy Now)
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Brooklyn, NY: Verso, 1996.
Loewen, James. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. NY: Touchstone, 2007.
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Propaganda Model of the Media
and an ongoing archive of materials on Howard Zinn
Here is a list of the resources I'm going to be putting on reserve for you at the BCTC library circulation desk, in the HUM 220 section:
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
Mooney, James, ed. American Dissenters: Volume Two. Maplecrest, NY: Brandywine Press, 2005.
Includes chapters on:
Ida B. Wells-Barnett
Agrarianism
Henry George
Bill Haywood and the IWW
Thorstein Veblen
Emma Goldman
Upton Sinclair
Sinclair Lewis
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Port Huron Statement
Reflections on Power and Self-Righteousness
The Battle in Seattle
The Arrogance of Ownership
Ruane, Kevin. War and Revolution in Vietnam, 1930-1975. Bristol, PN: UCL Press, 1998.
Buchheit, Paul, ed. American Wars: Illusions and Realities. Atlanta, GA: Clarity Press, 2008.
McCarthy, Timothy Patrick and John McMillian, eds. The Radical Reader: A Documentary History of the American Radical Tradition. NY: The New Press, 2003.
Also in regards to the documentary:
The Zinn Education Project
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 - Present. NY: Harper-Collins, 2003.
Howard Zinn on Democratic Education (Z Magazine)
Howard Zinn on Holy Wars (Democracy Now)
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Brooklyn, NY: Verso, 1996.
Loewen, James. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. NY: Touchstone, 2007.
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Propaganda Model of the Media
and an ongoing archive of materials on Howard Zinn
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