It’s official: the Clippers–and the rest of us–won’t have Donald Sterling to kick around anymore. The NBA has barred Sterling for life and fined him 2.5 million dollars–the maximum amount allowable. League president Adam Silver says he will “do everything in [his] power to ensure” Sterling will be forced to sell the team.
What did we learn? There really isn’t room for racism in the NBA! Now who’s ready to tackle the racism outside the NBA?
We wait impatiently. We’ve talked about them incessantly since they’ve been gone. We’ve tried to replace them with hobbies but to no avail. Like a lover returning from a long trip away, we breathlessly wait to see their shining faces and to hear the exploits they have had since we last saw them. We call them by name:Tyrion, Don Jeoffry, Peggy, Daenerys.
April marks the return of two of television’s finest scripted dramas, Game of Thrones and Mad Men. There is little in common between the two, set in different eras, different worlds. One is the story of one man, where the other holds no man sacred to the story. One broods where the other bloodies. One covers miles of a magical land of kingdoms, while the other tours the castle inside one man’s skin.
What these shows share is wide critical appeal, legions of loyal followers, and well deserved accolades for everything from acting to writing to costumes and sets. Between the two, they have been nominated for well over 100 awards. Mad Men won the Emmy for Best Drama 4 years in a row. Game of Thrones marked its meteoric rise with dozens of its own nominations. All this love is not for nothing. You are living in the New Golden Age of Television.
The New Golden Age of Television began, aptly enough, in a therapists office. With the first session in the Sopranos, a new era in television built on quality story telling, A-list acting and rich, vibrant settings began. Since then, audiences have been treated to a string of well-crafted scripted dramas, including Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Wire, Newsroom, The Borgias and Homeland.
What makes TV so exciting is the very thing that makes the rest of TV seem like cold grits: a focus on superior storytelling that respects audiences rather than catering to them. In the dry days between new episodes of your favs, you find yourself wondering, why can’t more TV shows be that good?
In the mid 19th century, changes in printing technology led to the rise of the penny press–newspapers similar to today’s New York Daily that sold for a penny. Previously, newspapers on average cost 5 times that meaning that many working and middle class people could not afford the daily nickel for the news. The advent of the penny press meant that the news was now available to all.
Another result of the penny press was that newspapers began to craft their news to appeal to the wide audience their penny price got them. Mass appeal was a key strategy to grow the audience, and therefore the profit. Sure they still reported news, but with the new competition for that penny, each paper wanted to maximize audience while minimizing costs. Think about our own modern newscasts, stuffed with gossip, show promotions, wild viral videos and social media. Why? To drive eyeballs–bigger audiences mean bigger profit.
John Singleton pointed out recently that getting butts in seats is what’s killing Hollywood. TV also suffers from catering to the lowest common denominator. For more than 40 years, Americans had only three television networks to choose from–CBS, NBC, and ABC. This meant that each channel tried to draw in everybody. To do this, programs reflected the dominant culture at the expense of complex stories and other voices. It wan’t until the 80’s that cable TV came around. Our current 1000-channel universe is less than 10 years old, lining up not-coincidentally with TV’s second golden age.
Niche programming is not designed to appeal to everyone at once, like a variety show meant to appeal to Mom, Dad, the kids and Grandma too. Instead, niche programming is meant to appeal to a smaller subset of the viewing public, allowing producers to take bigger risks and–wa la–better programming.
What is so exciting about Game of Thrones and Mad Men is that–market research be damned–producers set out to to make the shows they wanted, the way they wanted, without watering the show down to appeal to this or that demographic. Don’t underestimate how important being free of the constraints of mainstream appeal. has been for these shows. Where other shows avoid the darker corners of human nature, and flatten out the complexity of characters, these shows charge forward and take us for a ride in the process.
In a few short weeks, Don Draper will exit the stage for good, bringing to a close another of AMC’s fine series. To stay hot, AMC will need to wow us again with another inventive new series. Their profit, and out pleasure depends on it. Don’t worry AMC, I have some good news for you.
Recent TV history shows these great shows do attract audiences. While the audiences may not be Super Bowl-big, with binge watching and DVD sales, theses niche hits are also good for the networks’ bottom line. So for networks with multiple series baiting audiences, like HBO with a whole stable of shows or AMC, turns out these small shows are not so small. Good news for networks means more of the same and that’s great news for us.
Let the Games begin!
Wu Tang Clan, rap royalty and cultural icons, recently put out their first single in 7 years, Keep Watch. The album is from the promised sixth LP from the group, Better Tomorrow.
If you’re a Wu Tang Fan–and who isn’t–you’re looking forward to hearing some new material. Wu is hoping one fan is willing to go the extra mile to get that fresh stuff.
A second album has been recorded by Wu Tang in secret. While that may have you scraping your bitcoins for a download, chances are you won’t hear it unless you are lucky enough to attend one of the art gallery events previewing the album, titled Once Upon A time In Shaolin, before its sale.
Wu Tang has decided to release only one copy of the album to the highest bidder. Wu Tang has always been enterprising, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that they are thinking about a unique way to distributetheir work.
The reasons for this revolutionary record release are perhaps not (totally)so materially driven as you may think. Hip Hop has been little more than product in America for some time now, and Wu Tang hopes to get people to conceive of Hip Hop as the art that is has been and could be again
“The idea that music is art has been something we advocated for years,” says RZA. “And yet its doesn’t receive the same treatment as art in the sense of the value of what it is, especially nowadays when it’s been devalued and diminished to almost the point that it has to be given away for free.”
But releasing the album to the art world instead of the airwaves means that unless a corporation steps in and snaps up the album to give to its customers for publicity, the album could go to a collector, never to be heard by the public. Neither buyer guarantees elevation of the work to art status. Either way, Wu Tang stands to make millions and challenge the traditional boundaries of the genre. Both ways leave long time fans behind.
Somehow, having a single wealthy collector or worse yet, a corporation owning a seminal masterpiece from a classic hip hop group seems to continue the commodification of hip hop in a new sphere even as it limits its availability to loyal fans.
This is only the last in several experiments in music releases. With digital music threatening the ability of artists and companies to tightly control the sale of its products, artist are getting creative. Beyoncé’s album Beyoncé surprised everyone, while her hubby’s Magna Carta was given as a gift to a million Samsung users.
Do you think Wu’s limited release will spark widespread appreciation of hip hop as art, or will putting Wu Tang on the auction block make it chattel music?
Barbie has been the image of femininity for decades, and for most of those decades, women have fretted over the unrealistic image that she presents to young girls. Many have taken up the charge to make a better doll and Nikolay Lamm is one of them. Meet his latest creation: Lammily.
Lammily is Barbie with a little more plastic. Instead of Barbies spurious specs, Lammily is modeled on the CDC’s measurements of an average 19-year old girl.
You can see that she is a sight different from Barbie when the prototype is compared in the pic below. She may be bigger, but not the monster that many young women feel their average body makes them.
Love it? Support it. The doll will be ready for purchase by November. Hope they come in different shades….
Now that the Academy has finally awarded Best Director to a Black man for the first time in its 85 years–wait, what? they didn’t?oh okay,sorry Steve, awarded 12 Years A Slave Best Picture, along with Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay, many will be ready to celebrate another milestone on our way to post racial America.
Though we too raise our glasses to this fine film, we hope this marks only the beginning of Hollywood’s foray into exploring films about the black experience in America, rather than a destination that ends forever in the past.
Despite the power of the film, Hollywood again gives the nod to a film that depicts the darkest chapter of American history, like Amistad before it, but keeps it in the distant past. Issues of race are still present in modern day America, and Hollywood too often misses the opportunity to engage us in thinking about race as something other than a historic setting for period costumes and the exorcism of old guilt .
Fruitvale Station, a film that asks us to confront more recent versions of racial injustice, is notably missing from the field. Also missing from the Academy’s most important stories are representations of people of color that veer from gangsters and slaves.
Look at the wide variety of characters that other nominees are playing this year. Awards do let Hollywood know that stories are worth watching to audiences. Here’s hoping that this award leads to a wider array of films about people of color.
In a field of giants, Barkhad Abdi was in good company for the Best Supporting Actor Award. While he didn’t win for his depiction of a Somali pirate, not a bad result for his first acting career.
In the flash of Hollywood, it can be hard for a first time actor to hold on. When that actor is typecast, it can be even tougher. So that then is the struggle ahead for Abdi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPWkzyxtzUI
Without a lot of roles for Somali pirates, or even general African badies, Abdi has had a hard time nailing down his next roles, despite the accolades. Hopefully he’ll find his footing free of seas legs.
Once again, Lupita Nyong’o kills the red carpet in an ice-blue Prada that she helped to design.
With her powerful performance in 12 years a Slave, she’s been a fashion forward fixture all awards season.
While her style is well worth watching, here’s hoping that she shows up in as many future films as red carpet gowns. Check out this very thoughtful plea to remember her acting chops. With her super svelte style, we shouldn’t overlook the fact that It girls like her are most successful when they act, not just act pretty
Vanity Fair’s Hollywood issue seems to show the joyous post-racial status of Hollywood. But hold on to your popcorn. The fine people from Lee and Low books put together an infographic breaking down the diversity–or lack there of–in the Academy Awards. The numbers show when it comes to Hollywood, you may need a passport because it’s a different country.
The numbers clearly show a lack of diversity. Numbers, though, are just the beginning. Both quality and quality are key to better media representations.
Peyton can thankfully put this year’s Superbowl in the rear view, but for the rest of the NFL, the off season’s drama is just as lively as the regular season. Michael Sam made an appearance this weekend answering questions about his position in the draft, his play on the field, but mostly about is sexual orientation.
As much attention as Micheal Sam occasioned this weekend, the issue of acceptance of professional male gay athletes is just beginning. Much older, and still in many ways unresolved, is the issue of racial diversity in the NFL. This season again spurred several high profile racial flaps like those that we talked about here, and here.
The NFL is now considering a new rule that would levy a 15 yard penalty against players using a racial slur on the field during the game. Before it is even voted into place, the rule is already stirring up a predictable hornets’ nest of naysayers. Will the rule be equally enforced? And if so, by whom? Won’t it ruin the game to have to police players’ language? Oh, and the game is so rough, maybe calling people n@##er and f$**ot are part of the game we can’t do without.
The NFL, despite their sweet tax status, is a workplace. I don’t know about you, but if I yelled a racial slur at my colleague in a faculty meeting, best believe I would be packing up my office by the end of the day. Now, I don’t want my football ruined any more than you do, but if we’re going to fine players for this:
and this
shouldn’t we fine them for yelling n@&&er on live TV? And if we do, will we fine this guy every time he says redskins?
Upset with the display of Pac Sun t-shirts, Utah mom Judy Cox went into the store and bought $567 worth of t shirts . The series of printed t’s in Pac Sun’s Heartbreaker series feature images of women taken by artist by Van Styles of t-shirts. They look like this:
24 hours later, her story hit the news, went viral, and now everyone wants the shirts.
Do I want legions of horny boys going through puberty at the local mall staring at these shirts? Nope. So go on with your bad self , Jusy, for wanting to do what you could where you were. That’s what taking responsibility is all about.
In the interest of fairness though, don’t blacklist Van Styles, the artist behind the series, just yet. Scrolling through his work at The Hundreds online magazine and his own personal pages, his work includes a wider set of subjects with some really beautiful work.
Pushing sexually explicit images to teen boys–Pac Suns target audience–is a bad idea. But here’s an interesting question for you: what is the right place and space for sexual images? Is there a right place and a right way to make images that are beautiful, sexy and PG13+? If you think there is, please tweet Van Styles.
Susan X Jane 