Dirty Old Women

and a few men too: BWE SLANG: The "Reverse Savage", by Michelle Collins at Best Week Ever, via Stephanie's Soap Box.

The Reverse Savage is a term indicating a child star who was once not that cute, and then grew up to be extremely cute. It derives from the child star Fred Savage, who, as the main character on The Wonder Years, was an extremely crush-worthy youngster with an adorable face. Once grown, however, his youthful features morphed into a sort of unusual adult male face, the result being the man was no longer nearly as adorable, his career dead in the water.

The Reverse Savage describes the opposite effect — a child star who while not necessarily being the cutest kid or young adult, grows up to be extremely successful and attractive.

Ryan Reynolds, Lucas Black, Jake Gyllenhaal, all great examples. Though I must disagree with drreamerr, who chimed in with "Both Ryan Gosling and Joseph Gordon-Levitt." No. Both of them were always cute.

My favorite comment came from Jenn:

I want to be Mrs. George Michael (from Arrested Development, not the gay guy)

Thanks for clearing that up, Jenn. Because the only reason I wouldn't be with the drug-addicted, bathroom-trolling, reckless-driving former front man for Wham! is his gayness. Right. I'm sure Michael Cera rests easier at night knowing that people can tell him apart from the singer due to their divergent sexual orientations.

Yes, that is Jonathan Lipnicki featured above, and he turned out pretty well. Carrie, Stephanie, take a step back: he's 17.

Falling in love all over again

T Style: Men's Fashion Fall 2007, from The New York Times Style Magazine. Thanks, anonymous!



If you all can stop swooning for a moment, there is also a related article: Kid Rock, by Lynn Hirschberg.

During college I started to miss acting. I started auditioning for movies. That’s how I got the part in “Mysterious Skin.”

In that movie, you play a gay hustler. It was a bold decision to take on that role. Were you nervous?

I find it very strange when people say, “How could you make that movie?” I never had any trepidation. When I read the script, I thought the director, Gregg Araki, would want me for another part, the sensitive boy. He said, “No — I want you to be sexy.” I had not heard that a lot. I was always cast as the friend or the nice guy. It’s really great when someone says, “I want you to be the sexy one.”

Yes, it is great. Although no one ever says that to me. :( I would say it to Mr. Gordon-Levitt all the time if I could. :)

It’s interesting that critics consider it riskier from a career standpoint to play a gay hustler than a soldier in an unpopular war, or a psychotic hit man, which you play in your next film, “Killshot.”

As an actor, you have to be open-minded. That’s one of the great aspects of the job. In the real world, people make judgments all the time. But as an actor, you can’t judge. I would rather play someone who is different from me. You can’t be a bigot and be a great actor.

Look at Mr. G-L making sense.

Has Joseph Gordon-Levitt gotten arrested yet?

No More Mr. Nice Guy: LaBeouf Busted For Drunken Walgreens Loitering, and more on the story from The Smoking Gun, via Defamer

Shia LaBeouf, who starred in "Disturbia" and "Transformers," and stars in the upcoming Indiana Jones sequel, was arrested about 2:25 a.m. at the [Walgreens] store at 757 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago police spokesman Marcel Bright said.

A security guard summoned police after LaBeouf refused several commands to leave the store, Bright said.

The guard signed a complaint against the actor, who was cited on a misdemeanor count of trespassing.

Are you still loving The Beef, ladies?

Genius!

Study: Sexist Humor is No Joke, from Live Science via Yahoo!

"We found that, upon exposure to sexist humor, men higher in sexism discriminated against women by allocating larger funding cuts to a women’s organization than they did to other organizations," [Psychologist Thomas Ford of Western Carolina University] said.

"We also found that, in the presence of sexist humor, participants believed the other participants would approve of the funding cuts to women’s organizations," he said. "We believe this shows that humorous disparagement creates the perception of a shared standard of tolerance of discrimination that may guide behavior when people believe others feel the same way."

They could have saved that money and had a conversation with me instead. Or better yet, just give me the money and read my blog. Where is "Western Carolina" anyway?

How would Liz Lemon strike?

Strike Watch: This Week on at 30 Rock, by James Poniewozik at Tuned In. Emphases mine.

"Yeah, to the outside eye, I guess this looks like some pretty lucky people arguing with some very lucky people," Fey said. "We have dream jobs that most people would want to have. That doesn't mean that it's OK for the conglomerates that produce our shows to rip us off." Rip-off, of course, is a subjective term, with the networks and studios arguing that the online distribution of shows--the money from which is the central issue of the strike--is still a financial question mark. Fey, unsurprisingly, doesn't buy it: "These companies clearly smell that the Internet is where their future profits are coming from. If you look at NBC breaking off with iTunes and trying to start their own thing and raise the price, it's because they know this is where the money's going to be."

.

Jon Stewart: Worming his way back into my heart

From Defamer: Jon Stewart Reportedly Offering Two-Week Strike Fund To His Picketing Staffers

"In a show of solidarity with his fellow scribes, the Daily Show host has told his writing staff that he will cover all their salaries for the next two weeks, according to a well-placed source. He has also vowed to do the same for writers on The Colbert Report. A Comedy Central spokesman referred my inquiry about this to Stewart's personal publicist, who has yet to respond.

"Stewart's intention, says the source, is to ensure his writers will face no financial hardship should the strike, which kicked off at 3 a.m. local time, conclude within that timeframe."

In comparison, Defamer brings us this memo from Fox:

"The production you are working on may come to completion, or because your particular skills may no longer be needed, you may not be picked up for another week or day (whichever is applicable) under your deal memo (if applicable). Therefore your work on the production may come to an end. Although we are not required by law to provide this notice, we wanted to give you as much notice as possible so that you can make appropriate arrangements."

Fox just keeps on giving.

We Can Blame Oprah

for this: The Vajapocalypse, from WatchTheSoup on YouTube.





You can read the New York Times article here: What Did You Call It?, by Stephanie Rosenbloom.

See how the vajajay madness began: Oprah's Va-Jay-Jay.




Can't get enough of this news story? Read the commentary on Feministing: Vaginas are the new black (so long as you don't call them 'vaginas') and The downside of 'vajayjay'.

I knew there had to be a downside of this 'vajayjay' business. And his name is Michael Smerconish. In an article for the Philadelphia Daily News, Smerconish argues that vajayjay is a fabulous word because it makes men more comfortable, but pisses feminists off. (Who knew?)...

I'm not quite sure where Smerconish got the idea that feminists are "vajayjay naysayers," since he fails to mention one feminist who has a problem with the word--but that's beside the point. The fact that this dude thinks that euphemisms for female genitalia should exist in order to make a more man-friendly vag tells me all I need to know.

.

Let's Blame Oprah

Gosh, I’m sorry you don’t feel special anymore, by zuzu at Feministe.

From the “Everything can be blamed on a woman” files: Oprah Winfrey is single-handedly responsible for ruining the marathon.

The piece is an extended, and dishonest, whine about how they let just anybody run marathons nowadays, instead of special, dedicated men who did it for the thrill of competition and the frisson of self-denial — oh, and Americans aren’t winning marathons like they used to, which is Oprah’s fault.

After Oprah won her beef trial, I thought we were done blaming her for the ills of America and the world . And by "we", I do not mean people like me.

Really, ICM?

Strike-Prepping ICM Tells Employees Not To Freak Out When Half Of Their Paycheck Disappears, from Defamer.

Dear Colleagues,

On Friday, November 16th, all employees will receive a paycheck that reflects one week's pay, as opposed to the usual two. This is not a salary reduction. It is simply a change in the timing of when we pay our employees.

We had planned to implement this change to a more customary payroll schedule at the end of December, but with a potential strike on the horizon, implementing this payroll change immediately provides the agency with more financial flexibility.

We know that, for some of you, this may cause some short-term financial challenges, and we wanted to give you as much notice as possible.

Human Resources is available to answer any of your questions.

Thank you,
[redacted]
Human Resources
International Creative Management

My first question would be, "If you don't want to pay me, then why am I still working here?"

#

Also: Really, Fox?

Fox Preparing For Possible Strike By Pissing Off Its Assistants, from Defamer.

Over at Fishbowl LA, a disgruntled employee laments that Fox has decided to cut back on assistant overtime to help lessen the financial burden of a strike while leaving their bosses' expense accounts untouched...

Feel the love, people.

South Carolina: Shooting itself in the foot

Colbert won't appear on SC ballot, by Jim Davenport, AP.

South Carolina Democrats squashed Stephen Colbert's fanciful White House bid on Thursday.

Colbert, who poses as a conservative talk-show host on the Comedy Central cable network, filed to get on the ballot as a Democratic candidate in his native South Carolina. His campaign paid a $2,500 filing fee just before the noon deadline, said state Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler.

However, after about 40 minutes of discussion by top party officials, the executive council voted 13-3 to keep the host of "The Colbert Report" off the ballot.

"He's really trying to use South Carolina Democrats as suckers so he can further a comedy routine," said Waring Howe, a member of the executive council. And Colbert "serves to detract from the serious candidates on the ballot."

But state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter told the committee Colbert could showcase the state "in a way that none of the other candidates on the ballot have been able to do."

"I think you're taking this a little too seriously," she said.

I've never been to South Carolina, and I have no immediate plans to visit. To me, the state is one step up from West Virginia, based on nothing but my ignorance. So when I hear that the top Democratic officials in South Carolina are eliminating the only thing that is giving their primary any attention--positive or otherwise--in a desperately overcrowded election, I must roll my eyes, shake my head and wave my fist in the air. Besides Rudy Giuliani's constant 9/11 mentions and Fred Thompson's unwillingness to express defined interest in actually running for President, this is the dumbest, most self-righteous thing I have heard this month regarding the 2008 election. The month of November just began today, so I'm sure I'll find something to top this by next week.

Every big state, from Michigan to Iowa to Arizona, is trying to make their primary the most important one. But the Stephen Colbert announcement last month brought attention to South Carolina, a state that 1) I did not realize John Edwards was also from until now, and 2) I did not know had a primary at all. If I didn't know these facts, and I've been paying so much attention to this Presidential race and US politics in general, how many other people have become interested in this election, primaries and South Carolina based solely on Mr. Colbert?

As if Stephen Colbert would sully the name of South Carolina Democrats. Those people need to get over themselves.

Some people should not have children.

When I was a child, I occasionally saw other children on leashes held by their parents, usually at the airport or at amusement parks. I thought the concept was silly then; they were children, not dogs. But now, I think leashes should be a requirement for certain kids and their absent caregivers.

Today I sat for about twenty minutes in a public establishment, watching a mother dispassionately call for her three-year-old son to stand beside her. "Dan. Danny? Come over here. Daniel? Dan. Dan. Dan-Dan. Come over here. Come here. Here. Dan? Danny. Come here."

It went on and on, and the boy never came. He continued playing over twenty feet away, not even acknowledging the requests. The mother was wrapped up in her own business; she didn't want to lose her place in line, and she didn't want to expend the energy to either raise her voice or to grab her son. There were stretches of time during which the boy could have wandered outside, or when another adult could have abducted him. It takes less than ten seconds to snatch a child. This child could have easily disappeared multiple times, or he could have injured himself on the large objects in the room, because no one was watching him.

The whole time I was thinking, That would not be my child. Also, despite what some people might assume, the lack of parenting described in the situation above did not involve any black people. When I tell my future children to "come here", they will come immediately, or they can find somewhere else to live. I am the adult. I am responsible for their safety. They need to listen to me. Obeying my commands will not be an option for them to consider. There will be no negotiation.

This incident also came after I finished watching Paternal Instinct this morning on Logo. The two men in the documentary tried so hard for years to have a baby, just like my parents did. I couldn't imagine the absolute horror they would go through if someone stole their children from them. So when I see someone letting their child wander off because they are too lazy to be a good parent, I get upset.

Best Quote of the Day

"This kid has nothing on Joseph Gordon Levitt."

This Best Week Ever hilarity was found via Stephanie and her Soap Box.

"A less sleazy, Asian Jeremy Piven"

I found him! After having no luck with Google searches and being led to this other "Asian guy" by the related TWoP forum, I used my noggin, played my tape of the Office episode again, and paused during the end credits. "Tim Kang" was the only non-Anglo name listed in the guest stars. I checked on IMDb, scrolled down to Additional Details, and confirmed that Mr. Kang is indeed the Cingular guy, even though his Office appearance is not yet listed. So there you go. It only took me three days to figure this out. Brilliant.

In case the title of this post isn't self-explanatory even in context, it comes from the comments on the above video's YouTube page.

Unsolicited Blog Mention!

Look! Someone else has linked to me: The Morning After: Searching for Carrie Fisher, by James Poniewozik at Tuned In.

Though Fey didn't write last night's episode, who else could you imagine making an episode about first-meeting-second-wave feminism so funny, complete with an H. R. Haldeman talking-mailbox joke? (Update: Second wave meeting third wave? Or fourth? Version 2.1 meeting version 3.2? Neither math nor history is my strong suit, but, you know, something earlier meeting something later. Maybe Bianca Reagan can straighten this out.)

I'm pretty sure he is referring to the comment I left under his post, Mad Men Watch: His and Hers. How cool am I? Very! Thank you, Mr. P!

"Yah, this is why I don’t watch this crap."

Women in Competition (How I Met Your Mother), by Purtek on The Hathor Legacy, via Feministe's Shameless Self-Promotion Sunday thread:

A couple of weeks ago, on this thread, I mentioned that men are constantly portrayed as competing for women in a way that makes the woman essentially irrelevant. We use game metaphors to describe the system, but the winner and loser–the agents of participation–are always just the men. The women, I said, are the ball, the object you score with.

How I Met Your Mother decided to construct an entire episode (”The Belt”) around proving this point for me, throwing in the additional jaw-droppingly double-standard driven repetition of the idea that women are competitive bitches.

Barney and Ted have a long-standing competition as to who will successfully have a threesome first (two women, of course). They literally have a belt to give the winner–one of those super-tacky, wrestling championship style things. When Ted meets two women in a bar, he’s at first not sure which one he should go for. He keeps sneaking off to make phone calls to evaluate his strategy–note that he never gives a damn about the personalities of either of the women. One is just as good as the other, as long as making a move on the first doesn’t kill his chances of “scoring”. . .

Lily, who is mainly being ‘one of the boys’ during the whole threesome discussion, gets to be the one to remind us (again, repeatedly) that women who do these things are “sluts”.

It goes on from there. You should read the rest. No, I don't need to watch the episode. No, I don't care if my blog friends and outside friends think the show is funny. Yes, I still heart NPH.

#

In semi-related news, Joel Stein can go bleep himself:

This year, I was invited to six Halloween parties, which would not be strange if it weren't for the fact that I'm older than 12. Meanwhile, I was invited to zero New Year's Eve parties last year. People vastly prefer Halloween parties because New Year's Eve involves dressing up like an adult, whereas Halloween involves dressing up like a slut...

...after much research and consultation, I have founded our nation's newest holiday: Slut Day.

It will take place the first Saturday of every August, a time both barren of holidays and plenty hot enough for really degrading costumes. Slut Day festivities include costume parties with themed drinks such as the Lindsay Lohan (just whatever in a giant glass) and, if possible, flat-screen TVs showing the latest celebrity sex tapes and select parts of "Meerkat Manor." Or anything else. Flat-screen TVs are just sexy.

In addition to fixing the Halloween problem, Slut Day also can replace the "Pimps N Hos" parties scattered across the calendar, which are racist and sexist, with an event that is only sexist. That's a 50% reduction in offensiveness.

Immediately after I finished reading this aberration, I composed and emailed the following message to the "columnist":

Dear Mr. Stein,

I used to be a fan of yours. That was until I read your October 26, 2007, opinion piece in the LA Times, in which you stated "I have founded our nation's newest holiday: Slut Day."

I could go on and on for pages on why your article disgusted me. Instead I will refer to the 2004 documentary entitled "Slut" by Rina Barone and Patricia DiTillio. At one point the film was being shown on the Sundance Channel. I'm sure someone with
your connections can get his hands on a copy. I suggest you watch it to understand how deeply this word--and the patriarchal judgment behind it--hurts both women and men.

I also refer you to Feministing, the website which contains the link that led me to your column:

http://feministing.com/archives/007989.html

He has not responded. Oh well.

This could apply to

both Britney and military veterans:

People Person's Paper People

My favorite part of this week's episode of The Office, "Local Ad." Watch the video while you can.


[The video is gone, so you can click here instead.]


For you fellow TV aficionados, what is the name of that ad guy with the thick black glasses in the episode? I have seen him in several commercials probably every day for the past two years, but I don't know who he is. :( You may know as "The Asian guy" in the Cingular commercials:














He has also been the Dad in a Home Depot commercial, and a scientist in both a Shell oil commercial and a pharmaceutical (?) commercial. I am poring through the TWoP forums for info.

I should really direct this actor search energy into something constructive, like promoting world peace. So readers, after you finish perusing the interwebs, give someone a hug.

Stupidest video I've seen today

Purity Pledge via Feministing:



That was until I saw this video that I can't figure out how to embed: O’Reilly: J.K. Rowling Is A ‘Provocateur’ For ‘The Gay Agenda’ Of ‘Indoctrination’ by Matt on Think Progress, which I found via If Bill O’Reilly didn’t exist, we’d have to make him up. by zuzu on Feministe.

I'm a posting fool!

For people like my Mummy

who don't support my desire to yell at people like these in department stores and make them cry:

Mistaken identity by resistance on Resist Racism, via Racialicious

A young African American guy I used to know had two occurrences of mistaken identity in one week. He was washing his very expensive car at his trendy condo building when management came out and told him that he wasn’t allowed to do that. Turned out that they had a problem with homeless people soliciting money for car washes (?). Condo owners, of course, were allowed to use the facilities in the garage for that purpose.

Then he was walking past a restaurant when a man jumped out of a car and handed him the keys. He had been mistaken for a valet.

To me, this was a clear example of how race can blind some white people to everything else. This guy clearly looked wealthy by my standards. He was always extremely well-dressed, lived in a very expensive neighborhood and drove a new sports car...

When walking through a restaurant, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, a white man stopped me and asked me to take his plate away.

Clearly, assumptions held by those people overrode even clear and obvious information that would indicate I was not in a service position.

Also, for some inordinate reason, white people often seem to mistake me for an employee of home improvement stores. Hello! No orange apron! (But every once in a while I like to answer the questions anyway.) Maybe it’s the tape measure and the manly stride. A white woman once abusively screamed that she wanted to see my manager RIGHT NOW because she did not feel I was helpful. Even after she found out she was mistaken, she did not have the grace to apologize.

They never do.

Maybe my Mummy doesn't get it because this doesn't happen to her on a regular basis. However it does happen to me, and those racist, self-satisfied people need to get out of my face. I have shopping to do, and I don't need to be reminded of my societal inferiority while doing so.

I love babies!

I've addressed this question multiple times,

but some people can't take "institutionalized racism" as an answer:

Why is the Universe full of White people? by the angry black woman.

...maybe SciFi channel just sucks ass. I think that might be the case.

What else can you say about a network that allowed the guy who made the Earthsea movie turn all of the people white except for that one guy? On Stargate the black people are all slaves, but the white people might be slaves or they might be rulers or they might be accountants. On Atlantis they gathered together scientists and military folks from countries all over the world, and yet the only person of color from Earth is the one military guy. All of the other black folks come from another galaxy. From backwards, tribal planets no less. Oh, except for that one Asian chick in that one episode...

...it’s very easy for those who don’t have to think about race (read: white men) to say that ethnic minorities should stop counting how many ethnic minorities are represented in the media they watch (not to mention how they are represented) and just enjoy the fact that there are some. That’s just ignorant, people. Ignorant.

White, heterosexual men have the luxury of being able to turn to 99% of the channels beamed into their TVs and see themselves portrayed in a manner that makes them comfortable and happy. Most white women, do, too. Minorities of most any stripe do not have that luxury. This is especially true of ethnic minorities. Why do we ‘bean count’? Because we can. That’s not flippancy, that’s a fact. I can look at my TV and count the number of black people I see because there are so few of them and they tend to stand out in the sea of whiteness. I’m getting sick of it, myself. How about the rest of you?

I will continue to address the rest of the comments (Thank you, readers!) in the section under my previous post, Don't ask, don't tell....