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Misogyny means Women Can Never Win–not even Thoroughly Modern Megan

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Having watched the first three episodes of the long-awaited fifth season of my favorite televised drama ever–namely, AMC’s extraordinary Mad Men–I’m reminded of the timeless wisdom within that French phrase Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The more things change, the more it’s the same thing. The “thing” I’m interested in exploring today–given that I’m more inspired than ever to write about the ongoing War On Women–is misogyny. Hatred of women, and how it we can see it manifested in attitudes toward, and treatment of, the character of Megan Draper–now as well as then.

With a big thank-you to Deborah for inviting me to publish my thoughts here at Basket of Kisses, I’d like to look at misogyny’s ugly underpinnings. Which, once you peel back the bright and shiny (albeit terribly lovely) surface of 1960′s culture, are all right there, waiting to be studied, much the way a design student might examine the parts of a deconstructed couture gown to better understand how the final creation came to be.

This is a television program that engenders fierce debate–surely a reason to love it all the more–but I’ve noticed an unsettling trend in the online discussions about Megan. Now, we’ve all got our favorite heroes and villains in Mad Men; the fact that a single character can inhabit both roles, sometimes in the space of an episode, is one of the reasons it makes for such engrossing theater. Megan is no different, and fans and foes of Megan, The Character are of course entitled to their opinions. What I’m referring to here, though, are some of the nasty, tinged-with-misogyny accusations that even otherwise fair-minded folks are leveling at Megan, in comments as well as in blog posts around the Internet. For example:

She’s a gold-digger.

She’s a “great actress” who got where she is by faking it (“it” being whatever was called-for in the moment) and manipulating men.

She literally slept her way into that copywriting position.

She’s a shameless hussy–a wanton exhibitionist–and that whole Zou Bisou Bisou episode at Don’s party was embarrassing and cringe-worthy.

She stole Don away from other, worthier women he had bedded or with whom he had otherwise been connected.


Let’s do something radical: let’s look at the character Megan as an individual, as a discrete person in her own right, with her own history, traits, motivations, and tendencies.

We know that Megan is from Québec, the French-speaking Canadian province; that she is well-educated and ambitious–no less so than any young woman brave, confident, and talented enough to move to New York City and land a job in a Madison Avenue shop during the 1960s. By any standard–that of the 1960s or the present day–Megan is a physically attractive woman. She is the youngest in what we gather is a large (or largish) family, with many nieces and nephews to whom she gives credit for her Maria Von Trapp-like way with kids.

Like The Sound of Music heroine–though in bolder ways–Megan is not exactly nun material: It is she who makes the first move on Don, right there in his office, in the episode Chinese Wall (4.11): I want you, Megan says. Followed thereafter by the almost-as-shocking in its boldness, considering that she’s the employee, still: I don’t want you drinking any more tonight. Sexual agency! A woman giving an order to a man! Bring out the smelling salts, we’ve got a skirt-wearing woman stating what she wants, and then declaring the obvious: Watch the excessive drinking–it’s not good for you.

Negative reactions to Megan began there and then. She was a minx (definition: A pert, impudent, or flirtatious girl). She was cunning, she was devious, she had “designs” on Don. One has to wonder what reactions to Megan would have been if she had not been assertive about her desire. If, instead, she’d been clingy, needy, subservient, or coy.

Then there was the fateful trip to California, during which Don impulsively asks Megan to marry him. The man whose take-control manner and confidence Mad Men fans have grown accustomed to is now, in the minds of some, the one who’s somehow being “controlled”, and it feels…unfamiliar and flipped-around. That minx!

In Season 5, we first see Megan as Sally sees her: a nude figure, back turned, still asleep. Puritan buttons are duly pushed: She sleeps naked! She sleeps next to Don with nary a scrap of proper, motherly nightdress or even coquettish negligée between that skin (in which she seems so annoyingly comfortable) and the world that whizzes by.

And oh dear, if there was a hint of anti-Meganism last season, we saw an explosion of it the Monday after her Zou Bisou Bisou performance. Megan went from being Don’s Suspicious New Squeeze to Exhibitionist Seductress Without A Clue. (Aside: There’s a fair bit of cultural clash going on, too: though Megan is Canadian, she is French-Canadian. She dresses beautifully, but with an unstudied and terribly European flair: we don’t see Megan with her hair painstakingly rollered or pin-curled; we don’t see her wearing restrictive corsetry beneath her clothes; we don’t, in fact, witness much of her getting-ready routine at all. She’s a far freer spirit–a truly modern model–more so than any woman we’ve seen on Mad Men to date, in fact.)

Then there was that scene the following day–the black-lace-undies scene–wherein Megan takes control of our tough guy Don. She understands his sexuality (he sometimes enjoys being bossed around and even dominated) in ways we have not seen a previous lover “get,” and rather than shy away from it, she embraces it and incorporates it into a wonderfully erotic encounter in the middle of the afternoon, right there on the once-pristine white carpet.

So now we have: A beautiful and stylish woman who, like Betty before her, speaks a foreign language. Who is intelligent, worldly, sophisticated, musically talented, and sexually adventurous.

And I have to ask: what on earth is the problem, O American Viewing Public? What is it about Megan that inspires so much vitriol and harsh criticism? If she was Opposite Megan, do you think she’d be any less despised?

It doesn’t seem to matter what characteristic we isolate and flip around;
indeed, it wouldn’t matter if Megan herself were to change everything about her personality, behavior, and looks: Women can’t win.

Megan is beautiful, so people accuse her of using her looks–whether they feel those looks are too contrived and Maria Von Trapp-ish, or too Swinging-Sixties-sexy, as with the outfit she chose to wear to Whisky a Go Go. And if Megan were not so obviously sexy, but were instead more quietly attractive–more “midwestern pretty”, like Teacher Suzanne, say–people’s complaints, as with Suzanne, would be along the lines of Surely Don can do better, that this plain-Jane was not “up to his usual standard” or that he was “marrying down”.

Megan is foreign–she’s not American!--and as such, the other characters, along with Mad Men‘s audience, display no small amount of animosity and suspicion toward her as they continually misinterpret her motives, her style, and her sunny nature.
(Disclaimer: being British-born, I’ve experienced firsthand this xenophobia and misinterpretation-of-motive more often than I want to think about.) And yet, her foreign-ness is also charming, refreshing, and of course alluring to men–the guys at the office can’t stop talking about her. Which is it, then? Different-sounding foreign woman whom everyone mocks and disdains? Or delightful, exotic foreign woman whom everyone fears will steal their man?

Megan is sexually confident. She not only knows how to handle Don, she appears rather adept at managing her own emotions: witness her expression when Don’s former lover steps into the elevator in Mystery Date, and the straightforward, no-nonsense way she discusses it with him that very day (as opposed to sitting on the whole thing, fuming silently, and saving it up to throw in his face some other time). It was embarrassing, she says. Now, imagine if Megan had broken down and cried later–or if she’d had a big argument with Don and demanded to know who all these women were and where they lived; if she’d extracted a solemn promise from him that she was The One forever and ever–Mad Men fans would be calling her weepy, clingy, old-fashioned, and over-emotional–just like a woman. Again, she can’t win.

Megan is too optimistic; Megan is too deviant and dark in her sexual tastes. She’s too young; she’s too sophisticated. She’s inexperienced and naïve; she’s cunning and manipulative.

Let’s face it, Megan–like the modern, “liberated” young woman of the 1960′s (and beyond) that her character represents, and sadly, like women in 2012–cannot win.

Because that, in a nutshell, is what misogyny is all about:
a bitter, prevalent, and long-established disdain for women that can only be sustained by an ongoing and culture-wide campaign of goalpost-moving.

Women, be they beautiful or plain; rail-thin, voluptuous, or something in-between; brilliant, witty, and worldly or quiet, self-sacrificing, and Sunday-school prim like schoolteacher Suzanne Farrell, simply cannot win.

Until and unless women are simply regarded as the human beings we are, replete with the talents and flaws unique to each of us and capable of feeling–and causing–both pleasure and pain, we will know neither equality nor liberty.

Sunny Megan Draper shows us that, one bout of sturm und drang after another.

Source

Stars, They're Just Like Us!: Justin Bieber's Morning Walk of Shame

This Game of Thrones post is not cleverly titled

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'Game of Thrones' Producer On Season 2 Book Differences, Fan Feedback And What's To Come

In the third and final installment of my conversation with D.B Weiss, the executive producer of "Game of Thrones" (Sundays at 9 p.m. ET), he discusses a dilemma that he and fellow executive producer David Benioff faced in adapting George R.R. Martin's series of fantasy novels. They've got a very popular cast of series regulars -- which is expanding all the time -- and yet, in the books, some of those characters don't make appearances for long periods.

Television is a medium that fosters a certain kind of welcome familiarity -- once we know who Robb Stark, Jaime Lannister and Jon Snow are, we want to see them frequently. But in Martin's epic tale, characters are sometimes "offstage," as it were, for long periods of time.

Below, Weiss discusses how he and Benioff weighed the desires of the audience to see their favorites with the needs of the story; balancing the sheer tonnage of plot in Martin's grand tale with the more emotionally poignant and dramatic sides of "Thrones"; and an important event that may or may not happen next season (and don't worry, you'll get a spoiler warning before you get to that section).

This interview has been edited and slightly condensed.

As the series goes on, ideally for many years, the divergences from the books could kind of add up and accumulate, theoretically. Is that something that you are comfortable with, or is it something that you feel like you have to kind of police as you go forward?

We talk to George a lot about what he has in mind. We know what's in the first five books, and we talked to him a fair amount about what he has in mind going forward [in subsequent books], to make sure we don't do anything that's going to be too drastic in that regard. We do want to make sure that, while we do need to leave the highway here and there, we want to make sure we don't end up taking a detour that doesn't let us get to the places we need to go down the road. So yeah, we're aware of it, but I'm not that worried about it. I think we've got a pretty good handle on the world and on the things that are going to be most central down the line. We're aware of it, but not overly concerned with it.



What about fan reactions to various changes or alterations? Is that something you keep up with, or is it better to just kind of let it unfold without getting too involved in the audience reactions?

Luckily, the time demands of the show are so extreme that any sort of impulse you might have to get lost in the fan reactions is kind of dealt with by the fact that you're working an 18-hour day, and there is just not as much time for that as there would be otherwise. I mean, if you look at what people are saying on a discussion board, you'll change something and some people will say that they love it and some people will say that they hate it and some people will say that it was not better or not worse, but different. Unless you're really going to sit down and start tallying up responses and getting percentages, it's hard to really say what the fans think about anything. The aren't a monolithic entity, and I don't think taking polls and [calculating] percentages is a particularly good way to create anything worthwhile.

I don't think George sent out questionnaires during the writing of his last book and he won't do it in the writing of his next book. Sometimes it's worth dipping your toe in the water and getting a sense of the temperature. But as long as things seem like they're moving in the right direction and as long as people seem happy with where things are going overall, I don't think that overly paying attention to that stuff is in the best interest of the show and ultimately, [it's] not in the best interest of the people who like the show.

"Game of Thrones" is obviously a television show, and people have certain expectations for that medium as opposed to a novel, where people can kind of come in and out of the narrative a little bit more freely. There are characters such as Jon Snow, Robb Stark and Jaime Lannister that fans of the book really care about and viewers of the show, who are new to the story, love. They're not as prominent in certain parts of the novels, but there are a lot of reasons to keep them around. Can you describe how you approach the whole issue of keeping around a series regular and someone who is important to the story, but maybe goes away in the book for long periods? How do you keep them in the mix?

Well, it's interesting. It's one of the places where novels diverge pretty drastically from television. Robb is absent from the second book, but he's not absent. He's not a point-of-view character [in the novels, Martin rotates around a series of "point-of-view" characters; in the second book, Robb is not one of those POV characters]. He's basically not "on-screen" in the book, but in a way, he is on-screen because in the novel, Robb is mentioned as are stories about something that Robb did. [So Robb and his deeds are present and important, but] a story that is being told about a person is words coming out of somebody’s mouth for three, four, five minutes in a way that's just not tenable on television.

So you kind of hit on one of the primary differences between the two media: Robb is present in the books in a very real way, even though he's not technically there "on screen," as it were. And we feel like we needed him to have that same presence, if not more so, in the show. Adding to that, we felt, is the immense talent and magnetism of Richard Madden [who plays Robb] and what he brought to the character -- it was a very easy decision to make sure he had his own storyline that spanned the whole of the second season.

Is that part of it? Could there be an expansion or maybe just a little bit more of a through-line in response to an actor’s performance? Or is it story needs? Do a bunch of different factors go into those decisions?

Yeah, sure. It's all those things. A lot of it is making sure that the stories that are in play remain [coherent] for people and that people don't lose track. It’s much easier to flip back in a book than it is to flip back in a television show. It's easier now than it used to be, but it's still not a natural way of experiencing a TV show [to constantly go back and re-orient yourself in the story], whereas that is a natural way of experiencing a book. I think that a lot of it also does, as you say, come down to individual performances and actors' embodiments of characters. You realize what an asset the people working with you are, and you want to utilize those assets to the fullest because you’d be crazy not to.

There is just so much actual story that you need to put in the show and even as you condense things are pare them down or switch them around, is it a constant battle to keep the emotional and even logistical plights of these characters vivid and in the foreground? You've got to both lay out the story points you have to hit, and then you've got to make us care about each person's dilemmas. Is that the struggle, to just get all of that on the screen?

Yeah, I think we're always trying to strike that balance. [We don't want to get] on such tight rails that you're going A, B, C, D, E -- like, ticking off plot boxes and never stopping to check in with people and have quieter moments where we aren't immediately servicing some urgent plot issue. [We want to have moments where we] are kind of maybe delving more deeply into who they are. There are a lot of great scenes this season between Peter [Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister] and Lena [Headey, who plays his sister Cersei] that especially stand out as scenes that obviously are connected to the story at hand and are related to what's happening, but also give you a bit of a peek into who those characters are. [The hope is to have scenes that] let you know something surprising about the characters that you wouldn't have known if we had just been concerned about getting them from point A to point B to point C as efficiently as possible.

[Weiss' assistant lets him know that he has a meeting to get to.]

All right. Maybe later in the season I'll get to talk to you about the Battle of the Blackwater [which is coming up in Season 2].

Yeah, that would be great. As for the Blackwater, we hope people will have as much fun watching it as we had standing out in the mud and the freezing rain making it.

This next question isn't spoiler-y, per se, but it obliquely references an event that happens in the third book. Look away if you don't want to see the not-very-specific question and Weiss' non-spoilery answer.

There is an important event that happens in the third book, and I'm sure those who have read the books know what I'm talking about. It does that seem like it could be a natural endpoint to the third season. Do you not want to talk about where that event could fall? Could it close out the third season?

All I can really just say is that we’re still writing the third season, so we can let you know when the scripts are done. But we won't let you know. [Laughs.] It's one of those things where even telling people that something big is coming is probably doing them, we think, a bit of a disservice. I remember how I experienced that event in the books and it was just such a massive, shocking, "Holy shit!" moment for me, and part of the shock of it was not having any idea that it was coming. So to the extent that it's possible, we'd love to preserve that for the people who haven't read the books.




Game of Thrones Deaths in Infographic Form

A new game-like app called Punch! is taking aim at pop culture targets - but when it comes to the "Game of Thrones" series, there's enough weirdness within that all it needs to do is point it out.

And so it proudly presents Bloody Hell, an interactive infographic visualization of every death in George R.R. Martin's cultish book series. From the number of women killed vs men, to the number who died of "unknown causes", here's a definitely ghoulish, yet somehow very elegant, look at the violence in the books.

Here's a slideshow of some of their more poignant stats. Which was your most memorable death in the series?













HuffPo 1 and 2

Sorry for the weird formatting in the interview; I wasn't sure how else to separate the long ass questions from the responses.

Stella McCartney writes about Rihanna for Time 100 List

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"I can't remember when Rihanna and I first met, but I think it was near a dance floor and one of her tracks was playing. The thing I remember was her being a normal person, not what you'd expect of a young woman about to take over the world. She's one of the coolest, hottest, most talented, most liked, most listened to, most followed, most impressive artists at work today, but she does it in her own stride. She works hard, very hard. She gives to her fans, friends and foundation not just herself but her energy and spirit.

Rihanna, 24, goes out of her way to support the people she believes in. She is one of the few people I know in that world of fame and celebrity who aren't all about themselves. She'll give a real part of herself to an ordinary person she may meet, and that's rare.

This is the beginning for Rihanna — she has so much more to do and to give. She is just getting going, so watch out. She's the Barbados ambassador for youth and culture, and she's coming to a town near you."

Source

Two former teen idols back bill to protect child actors

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Todd Bridges and Corey Feldman, both of whom were molested by men with Hollywood connections, support legislation to require fingerprinting and background checks for those with unsupervised access to child performers.



"We’re not doing enough to protect children, period," says actor Todd Bridges, who was molested three times beginning at age 12.

By Dawn C. Chmielewski, Los Angeles Times

April 18, 2012

Three decades ago, they were teen idols. Todd Bridges played Willis on the popular sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes." Corey Feldman starred in "Gremlins," "The Goonies" and "The Lost Boys."

The two men held the same dark secret: Each had been molested in his adolescence by men with Hollywood connections, experiences that would lead to downward spirals and years of drug addiction.

Today, they are making a highly public case for California legislation they hope will protect child actors from sexual predators, a problem they say continues to bedevil the entertainment industry.

"We're not doing enough to protect children, period," Bridges said.



The bill that the two actors support would require talent managers, photographers and others whose jobs involve unsupervised access to child performers to provide fingerprints and submit to criminal background checks. It also would prohibit registered sex offenders from representing artists who are minors.

"If this bill can help save one child from the pain and consequences of being made a victim, then it is worth every effort," said the bill's author, Assemblywoman Nora Campos (D-San Jose).

The bill, similar to a measure that died in the state Senate in 2006, was drafted in response to two incidents late last year.

In November, Martin Weiss, a longtime talent manager who specialized in representing young actors, was arrested on suspicion of child molestation. Two weeks later, police arrested Jason James Murphy, a film casting associate working with young actors under the name Jason James. He has been charged with failing to file a name change with authorities alerting them that he had been convicted of child molestation and abduction 15 years ago.

Bridges said the legislation would help shield children from what he described as "a lifetime of shame and anger."

"I cannot imagine why even one politician would object to it passing," he said. "Without these types of precautions, Hollywood will continue to attract pedophiles with an unmonitored playing field to commit their inhumane acts."

"This is a very good idea," Feldman said. "I think it should have been implemented years ago."


Feldman began his acting career as a toddler, appearing in a Clio Award-winning McDonald's commercial at age 3. By the early 1980s, he was his family's principal breadwinner.

Even as his television and film career gathered momentum, though, he was encountering difficulties at home. He describes a "very tormented childhood" characterized by isolation and verbal and physical abuse. He sought out others — big brother figures and peers — to fill the emotional void.

Fleeing an unstable home environment, Feldman moved in with his father, who became his manager.

When he was 14, he said, a man associated with his father's child talent business plied him with drugs and alcohol, showed him a pornographic magazine and molested him.

Feldman said he thought the unwanted sexual encounter with his father's associate was "a one-time occurrence." But the abuse didn't stop, he said.

"I didn't know how to tell him 'Stop' or 'Don't do it,' or I couldn't face it, I was too afraid," Feldman said early this year, during a break in filming of one of his recent movies, "The M Word." "So instead I laid there with my eyes closed and pretended to be asleep, and hoped that he would stop."

It wasn't until he was 16, he said, that "I was able to actually confront him in broad daylight, awake and aware, and say, 'If you ever … touch me again, I will kill you.' "

Feldman sought legal emancipation from his parents, alleging mental and physical abuse and inappropriate handling of his finances, and at age 15 he took charge of his own life and career. But by this time, he said, he had already become a drug user.

Feldman was arrested twice in 1990, when he was still a teenager, on drug possession charges and entered a residential treatment program, according to court documents. Feldman said he's been sober the last 20 years.

Having never come forward with the details of his own molestation, Feldman said he elected to talk about his own experiences to offer emotional support to other victims of abuse, including Weiss' alleged victim. "I'm not doing this for any self-seeking motive," he said. "I'm doing this because I want to support this kid."

Like Feldman, Bridges came from an unstable household. He feared his physically abusive father who, he has said, "didn't know how to love me."

In his autobiography, "Killing Willis," Bridges described the man who sexually abused him as a musician and gospel singer who claimed to have worked for Michael Jackson's family. The man was introduced to Bridges' parents by the acclaimed "King of Gospel," the late Rev. James Cleveland.

At the time, Bridges was 11 and already appearing on television, in episodes of "Police Story" and "Barney Miller."

The abuse began a year later, when Bridges was 12. He said the man "seduced" him by spending time with him and giving him gifts — and molested him three times over the course of a year.

"He said if it came out, then he wouldn't be able to be the person he was to me," Bridges said. "He'd say, 'Look at all the things I've done for you [that] your dad is not doing. I take you where your dad doesn't take you.' "

The assaults left him confused about his sexuality, Bridges said. It wasn't until Bridges had a sexual encounter with his"Diff'rent Strokes"co-star Dana Plato that he realized he was not gay — and that he had been manipulated.

"I was so angry and so mad," Bridges said. "He was a grown man. He should not have done that."

Bridges told his parents what had happened, but his father refused to believe him. His mother, Betty Bridges, said she called police to report the crime but withheld her son's name, out of fear of attracting publicity. Police declined to investigate.

"I told them, 'This man molested my child. You stop him from molesting other children,'" Betty Bridges recalled. "They said, 'It's your son's word against his.'''

No charges have ever been brought in connection with Bridges' alleged abuse, he said.

Bridges said the experience drove him into a spiral of drug addiction that ended Feb. 23, 1993. After he pleaded guilty to drug possession, a judge offered him a choice of prison or rehab. He chose treatment but fought with counselors and wound up spending three days in restraints at a psychiatric hospital. He was 27.

"They strapped me down on all fours and put a diaper on me," Bridges said. "Here I was, one of the biggest television stars of all time, sitting with a diaper on, a complete drug addict. I remember telling God, 'I want to be normal. I want to be like everybody else. I want to be happy.'"

Bridges, who secured a recurring role as Monk on the television show "Everybody Hates Chris"and recently completed work on the Adam Sandler film "That's My Boy," said he has been sober ever since.


Source
Note: The L.A. Times website has instituted a "Pay Wall" so you might be limited in the number of times you can access the article and/or site

Your Sister's Sister Trailer

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Lynn Shelton writes and directs Your Sister's Sister, a comedy about an emotionally distraught man (Mark Duplass) still reeling from the death of his brother who ends up getting romantically involved with the sister (Rosemarie DeWitt) of his brother's widow (Emily Blunt). However, when the three of them end up staying at a cabin for a getaway, things get a little bit complicated. The film played the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and IFC Films sends the film to theaters on June 15th.

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so excited tbh

♡ Your weekly dose of Lana Del Rey ♡

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Image and video hosting by TinyPic

SOURCE




Lana and actress Jamie King hopped into Lana's 1981 Mercedes outside of a private residence in Beverly Hills. Later in the evening, Lana celebrated pal Jaime's birthday during a chic sit-down dinner at the exclusive Soho House in West Hollywood. Lana and Jamie met in December at the Mulberry 2012 Dinner.


Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic



Below are personal pictures of Lana from her trip to Barcelona this past week.  She taped a performance for ‘Buenas Noches y Buenafuente‘ and recorded a sweet message for her Spanish fans which you can see here


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Image and video hosting by TinyPic


Lana Del Rey's cover of Donna Fargo’s “Happiest girl in the whole USA” in 2009 has appeared online, where she gave a concert at “Arlene’s Grocery” in NYC. In addition, a demo version of 'Dark Paradise' has leaked.


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Dick Clark Dead at 82

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Dick Clark
-- famed TV producer, and "New Year's Rockin' Eve" host -- died from a massive heart attack this morning ... TMZ has learned.

He was 82.

Details surrounding his death are unclear, but Clark had suffered a significant stroke in 2004 -- forcing him to retire from his hosting gig at "New Years' Rockin' Eve," which he created in 1972.

Ryan Seacrest took over in 2006. Dick has co-hosted the show ever since.

Before suffering a stroke, Clark told Larry King he suffered from Type 2 diabetes.

Clark has been married 3 times -- and has 3 children from his first two marriages. He is survived by his current wife Kari Wigton.

"For now, Dick Clark ... so long."

Source

I don't think anyone is shocked by this news.

5 more hours...

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Two preview clips for tonight's Revenge


(the second clip is more of an interview backstory on Emily/Victoria)

Theres also another 1 minute clip available on Facebook
Source




Please join us tonight over at ontd_discussion for a live discussion of tonights episode.

I want to try and make this a weekly thing since every post for next weeks promo gets a shit ton of comments about the episode that had just aired. So click the banner above to be forwarded to the community and make sure you join. Its a pretty speedy process and you should get accepted fairly quickly.



TWoP Writers Have No Taste

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WHY RINGER SHOULD BE CANCELLED

After Ringer was rejected by CBS, The CW valiantly swooped in to save little Buffy and her soapy primetime series. And we were smitten with the show at first, thanks to Sarah Michelle Gellar and the promise of lots of dark twists and evil twins. Fast forward 20 episodes later and we've all but given up on what has now become a forgettable drama that we barely remember exists. The CW has yet to announce any plans of renewing the series, but we have a few reasons to offer for why this week's Season 1 finale should be the series finale.



The Two-Month Hiatus Was a Death Sentence 
Ringer took a winter break at the end of November and didn't come back until the end of January; during that time, life went on -- new shows premiered and we gradually lost interest in Siobhan's schemes, Bridget's relationship with Andrew, Gemma's murder and everything surrounding Bodaway Macawi and Victor Machado. Since a second season wouldn't start until at least September, there is no way we'll even remember any of their names by then, let alone care about their new secrets.

Everyone Is Massively Stupid
At first, the plot twists and mysteries were kind of fun. Now we find ourselves yelling at characters to use their peripheral vision, stop trusting shady strangers and never accept obviously-poisoned drinks from former archenemies. Instead of letting us watch people outsmart one another, Ringer became a contest to see which idiot can trick the others first.

It'll Free Up the Actors
As long as SMG keeps making TV shows, we'll be there to watch -- we owe it to Buffy, at this point. Same goes for Nestor Carbonell, whose permanent guyliner continues to be one of the few things we consistently enjoy about this show (and the final season of Lost, for that matter). And now that we've developed crushes on handsome Welsh Andrew, we'd definitely be down to see more of Ioan Gruffudd's small-screen acting chops (this show has been a better American vehicle for him than those awfulFantastic Four movies). And honestly, we've followed Kris Polaha since Life Unexpected, so he can only continue to go up from here.

It Took Too Long to Get Good
It's almost as if Ringer forgot it was a series with characters and secrets for a solid six episodes mid-season. Just when we swore we wouldn't make it through to the end, "It's Called Improvising, Bitch!" stuck its head out and finally gave answers to some of the show's mysteries. Unfortunately, while it wasn't too little -- Crazy Cattie and Evil Olivia as scheming lesbian lovers! Machado saves the day! Juliet stops being an evil brat! Shiv goes into labor! Henry's on to her lies! -- given that almost 40 percent of viewers who tuned into the pilot had stopped watching by that point, it was clearly too late.





FU, TWOP. Ok while I'll agree that everyone is at times stupid and the hiatus really screwed with the pacing, I don't think that means the show deserves to be axed. 

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LMFAO shares “Party Rock” & “High High” mashup on their official Facebook

Chester French Has A Thing For "Black Girls"

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Today Chester French released their new single and NSFW music video titled, "Black Girls." According to Chester French singer, DA Wallach, this song isn't solely about black women:

"I wasn't sure if I should open up with the honest of this song and last night almost said "I can't do it." But as someone who is and has been in interracial relationships I knew that it was important. This isn't just about black girls. It's about anyone who society treats with subtle and overt contempt. I'm so proud of my generation for moving the ball forward."


What do you think, ONTD? Do you applaud him for his openness? Honestly, the video makes me think he's more interested in stirring controversy as opposed to making some deep, poignant statement on the way society treats certain groups.


Source and Source2

Ain't No Fun If The Homies Can't Have None

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Though she wasn’t listed as a performer at Coachella, she surprised fans and hit the stage. She was photo’d with Snoop Dogg and Warren some time during the three-day weekend smoking a larger-than-life blunt. The Bajan rebel flaunted her “Thug Life” tattoo in a “Peace” midriff and spike studded shorts! source

Nicki Minaj Totters Along In Leather Bondage Straps Bound Tightly

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Tight spandex and push-up bras are usually what girls struggle with on a night out. But Nicki Minaj juggled platform boots, hotpants and a skirt consisting of leather bondage straps.
Complete with platinum locks and a red PVC jacket, the 29-year-old emerged from The W Hotel in London's Leicester Square tottering along in the creation that didn't look too comfortable.


The straps appeared to be connected around Nicki's midriff, and bound tightly around her thighs. Not that discomfort would have mattered, considering there was a waiting car ready to whisk her to the BBC studios for a pre-recorded interview for The Graham Norton Show.

Earlier in the day, the queen of chameleons - famed for her ever-evolving style - had been sporting a colourful look with various wigs. But Nicki couldn't make up her mind on which hairpiece she wanted during a day of interviews. The 5ft 2in star was torn between a bright green wig and a red and blue multi-coloured style. The Super Bass beauty eventually decided on the green version, which she teamed with a gold studded corset top with plunging neckline and houndstooth print leggings. Nicki is in town to promote the re-release of her Pink Friday album, called Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.




While the vibrant hair is a startling look on most mere mortals, fans of the singer are accustomed to seeing her in the craziest of get-ups and candy-coloured wigs. From a white and black beehive to hot pink curls, and wearing a red hooded cape with a man dressed as the Pope as her date at the Grammys, Minaj aims to shock. But yesterday, she was the one who was in for a surprise when she landed in London - with a huge number of fans waiting to greet the overwhelmed star.


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Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Martin's short drive to party

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Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin reportedly insisted on being driven to a dinner that was just four properties away.

The actress, who has previously starred in public service announcements for environmental campaigns, and her Coldplay frontman husband were among the guests at a party thrown by Stella McCartney at her Hollywood boutique in celebration of her father Sir Paul McCartney's new music video My Valentine, which was followed by a dinner at a nearby restaurant.

While stars including Orlando Bloom and his wife Miranda Kerr, Jane Fonda and Amy Smart were happy to walk the 0.06 miles to the Madeo eatery, Gwyneth and Chris were driven to the second venue, a journey that took just 10 seconds.

A source told the New York Post newspaper: "It's a short walk. Also at the dinner was Gwyneth with husband Chris, except they left the party in a gas-guzzling Town Car, were chauffeured a few feet and got out at the restaurant that was pretty much next door to the party."


Despite taking the car for the short journey, both Gwyneth and Chris have previously backed environmental campaigns and around 18 months ago, Coldplay were named patrons of non-profit environmental law organisation ClientEarth.

The group aims to bring dedicated legal expertise to the environmental movement across the globe and address big environmental challenges.

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Xtina & Cee-Lo are gonna "Make The World Move"

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After much speculation about the rumored first single from Christina Aguilera called “Love Your Body“, it seems that finally the singer of “Fighter” and The Voice judge will launch as the first preview of her eagerly awaited new album the song “Make the World Move” with the help of her partner on the jury, the singer-songwriter Cee Lo Green.

She said:

“It’s fun and it’s positive and it’s full of life (…) I’m just excited to share the stage with Cee Lo because we both get off on production and dancers and having all of those fun elements about being on stage and and being a performer”


You can hear the interview below: [more towards the end]


Original Video- More videos at TinyPic

The latest rumors suggest that both present the song in three weeks at the end of the second edition of The Voice. Are you excited?


Sourcetina

Fix Edukation Now: The Mashup

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Schools are closing, absentee rates are high and graduation rates are plummeting. Let's face it, folks, education in America is failing.

How do we know this? Because we watch a lot of news. We mean movies.

Here at NextMovie, we're usually all about making you forget about the harsh realities of the world in favor of providing entertainment as a diversion, but we couldn't resist involving ourselves in this vital issue.

Please enjoy the public service announcement above, and pass it on. The children are counting on you.

Source: NextMovie

Moises Arias (from "Hannah Montana") celebrating his 18th birthday with family and friends

The Dark Side Of Disney

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If you've ever watched a Disney animation as an adult, you'll notice the darker side of fairy tales. What seemed like a life-lesson battle between good and bad, actually touched on some fairly controversial issues, like Ursula in "The Little Mermaid" resembling more of a devil-character than just a villain. Artist Rowan Stocks-Moorerealized these deeper threads and captured the seedy underbelly of the classic cartoons in remakes of their posters.



"In recent years I have re-watched some Disney films and noticed a much darker tone than I remembered as a child, (though even as a child who can forget the infamous death scene in Bambi?!)," Stocks-Moore wrote.

Stocks-Moore has always been a fan of the Disney movies. Though as his world perspective changed, so did his perspective on the films. The fantasy world of the movies often masked the deeper stories, a dichotomy reflected in his posters. "The Little Mermaid" shows Arial diving into the ocean with her tail a part of the ship that kills Ursula, granting the little mermaid use of her legs and voice.

"I decided I would combine this love of Disney with the darker tones I'd picked up on to create some new poster art that would appeal more to adults than to children, but would still reflect the inherent magical charm of the Disney movies they depict," he wrote.

His posters are available for purchase on Stocks-Moore's Etsy site.










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Victoria Jackson Update: Still An Idiot

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - She's best known for her satirical comedy on Saturday Night Live. Twenty years after leaving the hit show, Victoria Jackson is back in the spotlight, but this time it's for her political views.

She's now a controversial conservative commentator and she's in Middle Tennessee taking a critical look at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro.

Victoria Jackson is best known for her dim-witted characters on Saturday Night live which brought her a lot of laughs, and fame. (lol rite.) She now works as a citizen journalist.

"I'm trying to use my fading SNL fame to shine a light on the topic that nobody in the media will talk about," said Jackson.

That topic is Islam. Jackson came to Middle Tennessee to produce a story on the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro and its new mosque now under construction. The comic-turned- conservative political activist doesn't mince words about why she thinks this building is rising in the middle of rural Tennessee.

"This is the Bible Belt, and Murfreesboro is the buckle on the bible belt. And it's a college town. So my feeling is they came here to convert people to Islam,"
said Jackson.

Jackson brought her camera to the current Islamic Center offices in Murfreesboro -- but no one was available for an interview. No luck either at the construction site just outside town.

Jackson did recently interview Congressional candidate Lou Ann Zelenik for her story. Zelenik has been an outspoken opponent of the mosque. Jackson claims there's a fatwa , or Islamic decree ,calling for her death because of her criticisms.

"I tolerate all religions. Except the ones that want to kill me," said Jackson.

Jackson plans to post her story on the conservative web site Patriot Update.

Source.

Just when you think there's no SNL alum less likable or more prejudiced than Chevy, Victoria pops up to prove you wrong. Nice of her, tbh.
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