White Hot

After reading Stephanie's ravings about Chuck, I decided to watch the show's pilot episode tonight. I initially didn't want to watch it because of the picture the commercials painted: dorky guy, hot girl, guns and car chases. Not my bag, man. So I chose to watch it so I could share an informed opinion.

I'm really annoyed.

I like the concept of the show: an employee at Best Buy, er, "Buy More," becomes a human computer, and both the NSA and the CIA are after him. What I don't like is the basis for the casting choices, especially in the women's roles. It's great that Sarah, the secret agent, has agility, intelligence, and a challenging career. So why does she have to walk around in her underwear for two scenes? And it's great that she can dance. But why does her moves at the concert serve mainly to overstimulate Chuck? It wasn't necessary for her to gyrate like a stripper to toss knives at her assassins. Although Chuck creator Josh Schwartz wanted you to believe it was necessary. Was it also necessary for her to be white, blond, stunning, and borderline emaciated? I swear I saw her ribs while she was parading around her hotel room in her bra and panties.

I understand that white, blond, pretty, thin women actually exist in America. I have friends who fit this description. The problem is, they aren't the only women who exist in America. I think Josh Schwartz would prefer if they were the only women on the planet . . . but anyhoodle. Yes, Sarah Lancaster and Julia Ling were also on the show, and they both have dark hair. And Ms. Ling isn't white, as far as I know. However, both of them are really good-looking, and Julia's character had maybe two lines. Sarah Lancaster's character was somewhat more substantial, although I don't think she had any funny lines or any motivation other than helping her brother Chuck find a girlfriend.

Some people may say that I am overanalyzing a harmless, humorous show. Some people may point out that if I don't like Chuck, I can watch something else; there are other TV shows out there that speak to me as a clever, average-looking, nonwhite woman. Oh really? Which shows, besides Ugly Betty (who in real life is super cute), are those? I'd settle for one that addresses just one of those adjectives. Conversely, how many shows on television right now are made for, by and about dorky white guys who enjoy white supermodel-esque girls that exist mainly for their pleasure?

One of the reasons I'm perturbed is that I spent my Thursday night at a forum for women interested in getting an MBA. All of the women I encountered there were smart, driven, friendly people. They also all looked different, but they looked wonderful. They were different ages, shapes, colors and sizes. These were real women with a purpose, and none of them were being accurately represented in or acknowledged by our mainstream media. It makes me sick that all of the women in that room, and outside of that room as well, have so much to offer our society. Yet we keep getting the same detrimental message from our billboards, our magazines, our movies and our television shows: if you're not white, and if you're not hot, you probably don't exist.

Pam and Jim were there too.

Season 4 of The Office premiered last night with the much anticipated episode entitled "Fun Run". I haven't watched the second part of it yet, but here was my favorite exchange of the night so far:

Michael: Kelly, you are Hindu. So you believe in Buddha.

Kelly: That’s Buddhists.

Michael: Are you sure?

Kelly: No.

(Michael turns to the new IT guy.)

Michael: What are you?

IT guy: Well, if you’re gonna reduce my identity to my religion, then I’m Sikh. But I also like hip-hop and NPR. And I’m restoring a 1967 Corvette in my spare time.

Michael: Okay so one Sikh. And . . .

Oh, Michael. While searching unsuccessfully for a video or screen capture of that scene, I found this lovely article: Masti See TV, by Hilal Nakiboglu Isler, at Nirali Magazine.

. . . [Mindy Kaling's character on The Office, Kelly Kapoor] might be a minor one—like most roles that go to desi actors—but it is different. Tune in to NBC on Thursdays and you’ll see why: Kelly is memorable–not because she’s Indian, but because she is chatty, upbeat and, well, irritating. There are no exaggerated accents to her performance, no suggestions of superior ability in math, no terrorist plots uncovered by co-workers.

Kelly Kapoor is the girl next door (make that cubicle). And her character is so stunningly ordinary, it represents a real triumph.

Kaling, a Dartmouth College alumna, once told her school paper she felt the world of “sitcoms and sketch” was “very white.” A script intern for Conan O’Brien at the time, she found the lack of women and people of color backstage to be disappointing.

Six years later, she is now in Los Angeles—and with acting, writing and producing credits on an Emmy-winning show, she’s out to change the plot. . .

If you readers watched the show last night, what was your favorite part?

Look how far we've come?

On HBO tonight: Little Rock Central High: 50 Years Later, by Carmen Van Kerckhove at Racialicious, originally from HBO.com.

Desegregation ripped through the American South in 1957 when Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus ordered National Guard troops to prevent nine black teenagers (dubbed the “Little Rock Nine”) from entering Little Rock’s Central High School while President Dwight Eisenhower sent military troops to guard them from an angry mob of whites outside the school. Today, Little Rock Central High, though 60% black and 40% white, still struggles with educational equity.

Natives of Little Rock, filmmakers Brent and Craig Renaud explore the mark of the 50th anniversary of the famous “Integration Crisis of 1957,” in Little Rock Central High: 50 Years Later premiering Tuesday, September 25 at 8 p.m. by following present-day Central High students and faculty both in and out of school, along with community leaders and one of the original “Little Rock Nine,” who reflects on how much – and how little – has evolved since she courageously crossed the school’s steps nearly half a century ago.

Even more troubling:

Um, wow. by Samhita at Feministing, originally at the Chicago Tribune.

No sooner did tens of thousands of African-American demonstrators depart the racially tense town of Jena, La., last week after protesting perceived injustices than white supremacists flooded in behind them.

First a neo-Nazi Web site posted the names, addresses and phone numbers of some of the six black teenagers and their families at the center of the Jena 6 case and urged followers to find them and "drag them out of the house," prompting an investigation by the FBI.

Then the leader of a white supremacist group in Mississippi published interviews that he conducted with the mayor of Jena and the white teenager who was attacked and beaten, allegedly by the six black youths. In those interviews, the mayor, Murphy McMillin, praised efforts by pro-white groups to organize counterdemonstrations; the teenager, Justin Barker, urged white readers to "realize what is going on, speak up and speak their mind."

Well, I certainly feel safer. Thank goodness the terrorists didn't take away our traditional American values.

Last week on Yo Gabba Gabba:

I love that tiny dancing child. I want one of my own. I wonder if they are available in the Nickelodeon store . . .

And last month on Yo Gabba Gabba:



Oh, Elijah. How the mighty have fallen. And please shave. You'd be better off with an Oreo Pizza Moustache.

Oh, if only, Mr. Smooth.

If Bill O'Reilly Was A Rapper, by Jay Smooth at ill Doctrine.



btw, I found this after Mr. Smooth posted it in the Shameless Self-Promotion Sunday comments thread on Feministe. I'm telling you, the coolest boys I know are feminists. Not that I know Mr. Smooth personally. But someday maybe.

Who was I thinking for in the past?

Shocker: Black people act like people! by zuzu on Feministe, originally from Media Matters.

During the September 19 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, discussing his recent trip to have dinner with Rev. Al Sharpton at Sylvia’s, a famous restaurant in Harlem, Bill O’Reilly reported that he “had a great time, and all the people up there are tremendously respectful,” adding: “I couldn’t get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia’s restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by blacks, primarily black patronship.” Later, during a discussion with National Public Radio senior correspondent and Fox News contributor Juan Williams about the effect of rap on culture, O’Reilly asserted: “There wasn’t one person in Sylvia’s who was screaming, ‘M-Fer, I want more iced tea.’ You know, I mean, everybody was — it was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun. And there wasn’t any kind of craziness at all.” O’Reilly also stated: “I think black Americans are starting to think more and more for themselves. They’re getting away from the Sharptons and the [Rev. Jesse] Jacksons and the people trying to lead them into a race-based culture. They’re just trying to figure it out. ‘Look, I can make it. If I work hard and get educated, I can make it.”

If you listen to the audio clip on the Media Matters page, you'll hear some classic O'Reilly gems. For instance, he thinks rap and hip hop music is different for white and black consumers "because the young white kids don't have to struggle out of the ghetto." Also, when Mr. O'Reilly went to an Anita Baker concert at Radio City Music Hall, he noticed, with a tone of surprise in his voice, that "the blacks were well-dressed" and the band was "dressed in tuxedos." According to Mr. O'Reilly, "white America" is unaware of this unaware of this excellence because they think that "[black culture] is dominated by Twista, Ludacris, and Snoop Dogg."

One, who named Bill O'Reilly as the spokesperson for "white America"? Two, can I vote next time? I have a white friend (or twenty), so I'm qualified.

Ed. note: Click on the picture of the loofah for the related reference.

The TV Paper Bag Test

As some of you readers may have noticed, I've been having a lively discussion with irwin in the comment section of my post "Jigaboos & Wannabees" about colorism (and Steve Harvey's alleged baldness?) in nonwhite communities. This has inspired me to issue a challenge to you all, which I like to call The TV Paper Bag Test. It's the weekend, so I'll be watching many shows on the small screen; I hope you'll be doing the same. While you're lounging on your couch stuffing your face with Cheetos, note how many light-skinned women and how many dark-skinned women you see on the TV. Dark-skinned meaning the color of a brown paper bag or darker. I'm not asking you to identify what race the women are, but what color. For instance, on weekday mornings, I watch Noticias and Despierta America on Univision, a network which features and targets the Spanish-speaking Latinos. In the many years that I've been watching, I have only seen one dark-skinned correspondent on either show, and he was a guy.

Report back to me on Monday with your findings. So far I've spotted Frangela on Best Week Ever, and Tyra, Whoopi and Sherri Shepherd who were featured in clips on The Soup. That's it. Bonus points if you see dark-skinned women who are not black.

Unacceptable.

Rape as a war crime is so hot right now, by Jill at Feministe.

Clickety-click on the links for the whole story.

Also, Woman tortured, sexually assaulted in West Virginia, by Jen at Feministing.

and subsequently,

West Virginia torture and rape victim arrested for writing bad checks, by Carmen Van Kerckhove at Racialicious.

Someone alert Winnie and Nelson!

No, not Sondra and Elvin's kids.

Bush pronounces Mandela dead, via YouTube:



There are no words. Do you readers have any?

Visual Semantics, or, Why I don't listen to KTLK on weekdays from 3 to 7 pm

I got stressed out this afternoon when heard this bleepity-bleep on "Progressive Talk" radio, Mark "Mr. K" Germain, pictured above. He doesn't understand why black people (and sane people) are so upset over the situation in Jena. He feels that hanging nooses on a "white tree" in the South is freedom of speech, and not an actionable crime.

You know I had to call in. Apparently, everyone else listening in the Los Angeles area shared my passion, because the phone line was busy for at least an hour. So I choose to yell my radio between dialing attempts.

I am so tired of this fool talking wrong and strong on his self-titled program. Mr. Germain had no idea what was really going on in Jena. He read one small article on the situation and thought the entire rally and march was about three nooses and a school fight. People actually had to call in and tell him to read the Newsweek article that gives more details on the situation. He actually had the nerve to state that he had the right to walk through Inglewood with a noose since it's not a crime; it's free speech. In the words of Cedric the Entertainer in The Original Kings of Comedy, I wish that bleepity-bleep would. I doubt he'd be welcomed with flowers and candy. Then we Angelenos could get a replacement for the 3-7 slot on KTLK. Someone who does real research on topics and speak with understanding and sensitivity, instead of filling his four hours with ignorance and misinformation.

All Mr. Germain had to do was watch this video. It's not that hard! Seriously.

What Randi Rhodes has been angry about

for at least the past two days:

Student Tasered at John Kerry Speech ... Right or Wrong?



There's no question that tasering a human being for asking a question is wrong, but that's what the video was labeled on MySpace.

So far, John Kerry has said and done nothing about this. If Senator Kerry has said something, and Randi and I have missed it, please let me know.

Your Republican Party Today

Bush calls for expansion of spy law, by Deb Riechmann, AP via Yahoo! News

President Bush said Wednesday he wants Congress to expand and make permanent a law that temporarily gives the government more power to eavesdrop without warrants on suspected foreign terrorists...

Under the new law, the government can eavesdrop without a court order on communications conducted by a person reasonably believed to be outside the U.S., even if an American is on one end of the conversation — so long as that American is not the intended focus or target of the surveillance...

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said lawmakers understand the need to update the law, but also the need to protect the rights and liberties of Americans.

"For over five years, the president carried out a warrantless surveillance program that ignored the law and the role of court oversight," Rockefeller said. "Today, the president continues to seek unchecked surveillance powers that many of us in Congress cannot support. The fact is, the Protect America Act did provide authority for collection, but it did not include sufficient protections for Americans. There's no reason we can't do both."

Senate blocks bill on Iraq combat tours, by Anne Flaherty, AP via Yahoo! News.

Democrats' efforts to challenge President Bush's Iraq policies were dealt a demoralizing blow Wednesday in the Senate after they failed to scrape together enough support to guarantee troops more time at home...

[Democratic Senator Jim Webb's] legislation would have required that troops spend as much time at home training with their units as they spend deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Members of the National Guard or Reserve would be guaranteed three years at home before being sent back.

Most Army soldiers now spend about 15 months in combat with 12 months home.

"In blocking this bipartisan bill, Republicans have once again demonstrated that they are more committed to protecting the president than protecting our troops," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

FYI, about an hour ago, the second story was labeled something like, "GOP blocks bill to give troops more time at home." Why the duplicitously fair and balanced change, Yahoo?

Where will you be on Thursday?

Click on the above video, The Jena Six, by Collateral News on YouTube. Then click on MichaelBaisden.com to find out more about the RALLY & MARCH FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE on Thursday, September 20, 2007, in Jena, Louisiana. Thousands of people will be there. I'm hoping it will be on C-SPAN so I can tape it.

Who let this bigot run for President?

(In case you're wondering which bigot I'm referring to, the one pictured above is Mitt Romney.)

Romney targets gay marriage in new ad, by Mike Glover, AP via Yahoo! News.

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney is launching a radio ad touting the strength of his opposition to gay marriage.

Romney, who has come under criticism from conservatives for his past support of some gay rights issues, says he is the only major GOP candidate backing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

"Not all Republican candidates agree, but defending marriage is the right thing to do," Romney says in the 60-second spot to begin airing Wednesday.

"As Republicans we must oppose discrimination and defend traditional marriage: one man, one woman," Romney says in the spot.

Does Mitt Romney not know what the word discrimination means? I don't need another butcher of the English language sitting in the White House again.

Ms. hooks, if you're reading,

I think you're awesome, too! I found the video below via I crush on bell hooks, by Jessica on Feministing.



Some day I'll read one of your books. For now, I'll enjoy you on my computer. There are more bell hooks videos on YouTube, but I haven't watched them yet.

I also also found this post in the comments: Why can’t bell hooks think more about the feelings of white men? on Our Descent into Madness. I immediately started yelling at my screen. Nice!

Walking the streets of Hollywood

I saw Wicked last night at the Pantages theater. By intermission, I was crying. It was like when I watched An Inconvenient Truth the second time; I was so moved. It felt like Al Gore and Elphaba were talking/singing directly to me, and I understood exactly what they were saying. I feel green all the time. I want to help the animals, too. I too am not that girl.

It was amazing. I want to take my niece to go see it. I don't have that kind of money now, but someday I will. And I'll do it. Unless the movie comes out first. Then I'll take her to see that instead. In the meantime, I encourage all of you readers to see Wicked and take a young woman with you as well. A good time will be had by all.

Some say global warming is a myth.

For those nonbelievers, I direct you to this article: Arctic ice melt opens Northwest Passage, by Jamey Keaten, AP via Yahoo! News (emphases mine).

Arctic ice has shrunk to the lowest level on record, new satellite images show, raising the possibility that the Northwest Passage that eluded famous explorers will become an open shipping lane.

The European Space Agency said nearly 200 satellite photos this month taken together showed an ice-free passage along northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland, and ice retreating to its lowest level since such images were first taken in 1978...

A U.N. panel on climate change has predicted that polar regions could be virtually free of ice by the summer of 2070 because of rising temperatures and sea ice decline, ESA noted.

Who's laughing now, suckers? Ha!

The Democratization of the Internet

When I first heard about Quarterlife, the new MySpaceTV series coming in November, I didn't want to jump to any conclusions. Why should I think a television show about individuals in their twenties necessarily be about skinny, pretty, whiny white Americans who don't really have anything to say about anything?

If only my cynicism could be proven wrong once. To be fair, I think I saw one black guy in the trailer. The peeps at Defamer had some humorous comments about this groundbreaking series as well.

For more thoughts on representation on and off the interwebs, I direct you to a poignant article about this summer's Yearly Kos convention: Radical Knowledge: Where are all the bloggers of color?, by Brownfemipower, on Zuky, found via Feministe.

Happy Friday!

Jigaboos & Wannabees

A few months ago, I posted the following heated pieces on this blog: I'm a normal person., I should share this with everyone!, and Agree to Disagree?. As an update on that series of posts, I offer this letter from the Strawberry 23 segment of this morning's Steve Harvey Morning Show (overuse of commas and exclamation points not mine):

Subject: Color Blinded Husband!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello, I have been married for two years now, I have known my husband five of those years. But Shirley the longer you stay with someone you start to know a person, I am married to a man that is damn color struck, if I had known this before I married him, I would have second thoughts, it does not matter how a woman looks, if you are fair skin, or white she is pretty to him, we will be watching TV, and he will comment on someone which is okay, but they are always white or light skin, I was brought up not to have any prejudice when it comes to color, he has never said any woman that is medium to dark skin is cute, or pretty, it is just like they do not exist, this is so irritating to me, and get this I am a dark skin sister, I ask him all the time why he married me he say I am pretty etc, but it makes me think, but he is always saying that is a pretty red woman, I do not like that term for color (red) it is like he is lost in this color blindness, please help, Lost in and confused in South Carolina!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shirley answered the letter in her usual levelheaded way. However, Steve had some controversial words for both the woman who wrote in and the woman's husband. The phrases "Uncle Tom" and "house negro" were used liberally. I was cracking up, not at the poor woman's situation, but at Steve's methods for dealing with this man. He suggested things like serving the husband a plate of warm cotton for dinner, putting the initials "UT" in his clothing, and placing chocolate chip cookies around the house. I like that last piece of advice for me. Yum! You can read the comments on Steve's website here until another letter appears tomorrow morning.

Your thoughts?

I apologize to Zac Efron.

After multiple (two) of you readers pointed out that Mr. Efron may not have leaked Ms. Hudgens's pictures on the internet, I will no longer label Zac guilty until proven innocent. Until the IP addresses are checked, Mr. Efron is just an unfortunate bystander. I'm sorry, sir.

My apology was also sparked by this developing situation, which I discovered on People via Defamer: High School Musical nudity update.

In a shocking--just shocking!--development in the Vanessa Hudgens Nudie Photos Scandal, a "source close to the situation" says that the High School Musical libertine sent the racy images to Drake Bell...star of Nickelodeon's Josh and Drake. We know! Already-enraged Disney Channel execs will be additionally livid about Hudgens' disloyal decision to show her body to a direct competitor's horny talent.

However, Mr. Bell's rep reports, "Drake says he never received those photos."

I feel like I'm in an episode of Law and Order where Sam Waterston and his supermodel Assistant DA keep arresting the wrong suspects.

The best part? The comments.

From Ben:

What about Malcolm? Was he in the middle?

And from El SmrtMnky:

ironically, zac efron emailed naked photos of himself to drake bell, too.

So wrong, yet so funny.

Also, since Stephanie is into the younger men, I wonder which one she would choose:

Drake?


Or Zac?


What about a Jonas brother?


Not the middle one, readers. Nick's not legal yet.

For readers like my Mummy who could never tell the difference between Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, there are five separate people in these photos. However, Drake is featured in two of them: the picture at the top of the post with the birds, and the picture right below his name and the question mark.