The VMAs are Basically Irrelevant

Last night, I gave the 25th annual MTV Video Music Awards about an hour and fifteen minutes before giving up and changing the channel to something else. I wasn't offended by host Russell Brand's lewd and politically incorrect comedy (it wasn't always spot on, but some of it was funny). MTV has always been a sexed-up network, as the last several seasons of The Real World can demonstrate, and anyone looking to MTV for pertinent political coverage is just foolish.

I think that my problem with the broadcast stems from the fact that music videos just aren't that prominent anymore. When I was younger, seeing the newest music video by a favorite artist was an event. MTV premiered videos and people got excited about them. You could mention a music video to a friend and they would actually have seen it and know what you were talking about.

Now, in the digital age, music seems to be a far more isolated entertainment. New music is easy to discover on satellite radio and iTunes, and MTV plays fewer and fewer actual music videos every day.

It's no wonder, since the network has increasingly shied away from actual music programming, that the quality of its music video awards show has decreased. It's just not that exciting to see who wins an award for a video you've likely never even seen.

Last night, MTV seemed to be grasping at straws. They went for the shock-value host, but had Disney tween stars scattered throughout the auditorium and depended on a performance by the Jonas Brothers to pull in some viewers. They only gave out eight awards, and three were to Britney Spears, whose career is hardly on the cutting edge of the music industry these days.

MTV needs to figure out whether they want to be a music television channel or not. If they do, I think they'll need to regain some of their edge to put the VMAs back on the cultural radar as anything worth watching.

P.S. Jordin Sparks may want to be more careful about spewing pejorative terms at everyone who doesn't make the same personal choices that she does.

Online Leak Halts Midnight Sun

As an unabashed fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, I've been looking forward to Midnight Sun since I first read about it on her website several months ago. For those who don't know, Midnight Sun is the retelling of Twilight, the first book in the series, from the perspective of Edward Cullen. The first time around we heard Bella's take on falling in love with a vampire, and Midnight Sun promised the torture of a vampire falling in love with a human and loathing himself for putting her in danger.

Now, it looks like the book may never make it to print.

Meyer has had the first chapter of Midnight Sun up on her official site for quite some time now, but a while back the next eleven chapters leaked online and spread like wildfire.

Last week, Meyer finally addressed the leak. Yes, that is her writing. No, she is not happy about it. As she explains, the chapters that leaked were unedited drafts, not ready for public viewing. She's putting Midnight Sun on hold indefinitely because she's in no mood to keep writing it. I understand her point. When you're writing fiction you have to be in the right head space to do so, and if your work has been tainted by something this unfortunate your head space is going to be pretty messed up.

I for one hope that the release of the Twilight movie and the current outpouring of support from fans will help Meyer move past this nastiness over the next several months so she can get back to Edward's story. In the mean time, she has posted the twelve chapters that were leaked on her own site so that fans can see them legitimately.

New Trailer: Religulous

Wow. This one's going to be good. I don't really know what to say about Religulous, a new documentary coming out on October 3. I'm sure it's going to offend a lot of people. Probably many of those offended people won't even waste time seeing it before judging it, but that's life.

I like that this film looks at all sorts of religions, not simply Judaism or Christianity. I like that Bill Maher brings his trademark irreverence to the table. I like that Gnarls Barkley got some play in the trailer. Most of all, I'm fascinated by stuff like this and I don't think I'll be able to resist.

Katherine Heigl: Selfishly Yappy or Refreshingly Honest?

Last year, Katherine Heigl was on top of the world when she took 2007's Emmy award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama.

This year? She's made the following statement to explain why she her name is not on the list of Emmy submissions:

I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization decided against competing.

Her press release goes on to say that she did not want to take away from other actresses who were given the type of material deserving an Emmy this season.

Heigl is known for her tendency to speak out, even if it means saying something less-than-nice about her show's writers or the director of her star-making movie, Knocked Up. The web debates have loved this week's statement. There are those who think she's trying to get out of her contract at Grey's to pursue films full time. There are those who think she's simply ungrateful and bratty. Then there are those who think she's taking a stand against the typical Hollywood press machine that insists upon niceties and BS.

I'm closest to those applauding her honesty. I really do like that Heigl seems to tell it like it is. She's not saying anything about the writing on Grey's Anatomy this season that many others, including showrunner Shonda Rhimes, haven't already said. I'll even forgive her the seeming arrogance of implying that leaving her name in the running might take away from those who deserve it. It's true that one less big name actress from a big name show could really help an actress from a show on (gasp!) cable, with smaller numbers, pull in a much-deserved nom.

Deepak Chopra defends The Love Guru; I still won't shell out $10 to see it

Deepak Chopra, uber-famous spiritual leader and author, has come to the aid of Mike Myers latest "comedy," The Love Guru. Based on the trailer, many members of the Hindu community were angry that Myers and the film were mocking the Hindu faith and using their sacred terms "frivolously."

In his essay defending the film, Chopra criticizes those members of the Hindu community critiquing the film based on a short trailer. Apparently the film makes more fun of Chopra himself than of Hinduism. Chopra and Myers have been friends for some time, and the real-life guru even has a cameo in the film.

While Chopra says that the film's message is one of "love being the ultimate truth," it still won't tempt me into the theater in three weeks. While I found nothing in the trailer offensive, I found nothing funny either. And when you're talking about the trailer for a supposed comedy film, that's an unforgivable failure.

That's Entertainment?

Saturday night, after an exhausting day, I enjoyed some televisual fun on E! The Soup was good, as always, and they even played one of the best episodes of SNL of the past several years, when Justin Timberlake took hosting duties.

My laughs were interrupted when I caught a promo for the upcoming E! special on the 15 most shocking violent crimes.

Ummm, what? I've heard the old newspaper adage, "If it bleeds, it leads," but should an entertainment network focused mostly on celebrities and reality shows starring pseudo-celebrities really devote time to something so depressing? And should depressing events really be quantified in countdown form?

Shame on E! for trying to capitalize on violence. Shame.

One More Reason to Love Ron Weasley

Even though he is just 19 years-old, Rupert Grint (a.k.a. Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films) is one smart cookie. His recent comments on Lindsay Lohan and why he does not want to move to L.A. were enough to make me temporarily break my own no-celebrity-gossip rule.

From Showbiz Spy:

The 19-year-old actor, who plays Ron Weasley in the wizard movies, said: “I met Lindsay last summer and she talked about herself a lot.

“She said she was going to win an Oscar before she turns 25. I just kept thinking, ‘But you can’t act’.”

Grint also mentioned that he does not want to meet Paris Hilton, and that she and LiLo are "the type of girls you need to stay away from."

I already loved Grint from watching him grow up in the Potter movies (and seeing his great non-Potter flick Driving Lessons), and his willingness to bluntly say what we know everyone else is thinking about Lindsay Lohan is fantastic. Let's keep our fingers crossed that he gets some more screen time in the next couple of films and keeps speaking his mind.

The Wakefields Get Skinnier

Francine Pascal’s teen book series Sweet Valley High, first published in 1983, is getting a tummy tuck and heading back to a book store near you. Twelve books from the original series are being reissued—with some tweaks for a new audience.

The most alarming tweak? Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, described in 1983 as a “perfect size 6” will now be a “perfect size 4.” Wow, thank god Random House had the presence of mind to take care of those cows. No teenage girl in her right mind would be comfortable reading about a size 6.

It’s 2008. There is a constant balancing act going on in women’s magazines, television shows, and movies to encourage women to be healthy. Healthy in the sense that they’re not obsessed with losing weight but also don’t contribute to this country’s obesity problems. Cutting the size reference altogether would have been what I expected from the reissue, not making the twins tinier.

From the press release it’s clear that Random House is scrambling to make Sweet Valley a little more appealing to the Gossip Girl set, not simply bring the old books into the 21st century. I feel a rant coming on, so allow me to close with this delightful reassurance from the publishers:

Although some of the content has been updated, the stories stay true to Francine Pascal’s original plot lines that older fans will remember from the originals. These timeless stories about high school, friendship, sibling rivalry, love and family are ready for a whole new generation to enjoy.

Mixed Reactions to SNL's Return

It was ladies night at SNL last weekend when the show returned after it’s three-month, strike-induced hiatus. Tina Fey, former head writer and cast member, started things off as the first host. From the commentary I’ve been reading post-show, the episode played to exactly the strengths it was expected to with Fey on display. Her goal during her time as head writer was always to promote women being funny.

What was not so funny, and has been getting some less-than-thrilled reactions, was the choice to use Fred Armisen as Obama in the night’s first political sketch. The sketch itself was a pretty good lampoon of the Obama idolization going on these days. Huffington Post blogger Daniel Holloway was not amused by the casting choice:

Apparently unable to find one black comedian able to do an impression of the frontrunner for Most Important Black Person of the 21st Century, Michaels turned to cast member Fred Armisen, who is of Japanese and Venezuelan descent. If you've seen Billy Crystal doing Sammy Davis Jr. on the show in the '80s, it was like that but less funny.

While I don’t agree with Holloway when he says that black people “were actively picked on” in the episode (to me, the sketch illustrating his point is simply an example of lazy writing—a little too dependent on clichés) he has a good point overall. It’s long overdue for SNL to become as culturally diverse as it’s less intelligent, less watchable younger cousin Mad TV. The show shouldn’t have had such a problem figuring out who can play Obama.

Here’s hoping SNL takes a clue from the presidential race it’s parodying and diversifies. If we can finally vote between a woman and a black man in the democratic primaries, we should certainly have already seen a more multicultural cast of characters on America’s sketch comedy gold standard.

Etymology Talk: Cunt

After all the brouhaha surrounding Jane Fonda’s utterance of the word cunt on the Today Show last week (see video below), I decided to do a little research. I was already astounded by the fact that people were making such a big deal over her using the word in the context she did. She was referring to the title of a piece from The Vagina Monologues, not using the term in a negative way. Ironically, the point of the monologue Fonda was referring to is to empower women to break down the stigma associated with the word.

The main definition of cunt is ‘the female external genital organs’ (OED). According to the OED online, the first known appearance of the word cunt was around 1230, in London. Gropecuntelane was a street name, and the street housed brothels. Ha ha, aren’t those Brits clever? These early usages derived from the Middle English ‘cunte,’ of the same meaning.

It was not until 1929 that the term was used in a vulgar manner, directed as an insult. The vulgarization of the term is a modern problem. Arguably, the modern vulgar usage is the equivalent of one person calling another a vagina as an insult. A bit misogynistic? I think so. Granted, male genital slang is also used in an insulting manner, but cunt seems to be far more reviled a word than prick & co.

Something that could grace a street sign in London (even in the red-light district) more than 800 years ago now elicits a look of horrified embarrassment from Meridith Viera. Have we regressed? As you ponder, remember that words aren’t inherently vulgar, they are given power by our response to them.

Has anyone written your obituary?

Last week, NPR’s On The Media did a fairly strange piece on celebrity obituaries. Evidently, the AP has a stock of prepared celebrity obituaries, not only for older stars but also for those in the younger generation teetering dangerously on the edge of disaster. The story comes on the heels of the death of Heath Ledger, who was not among the AP’s candidates for a just-in-case obit.

Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse, though? Primo early-obit candidates.

BOB GARFIELD: At what point during the reality show that has become Britney Spears’ life did the AP say, okay, there is a chance that this show is going to end sooner rather than later – let’s get something on paper?

JESSE WASHINGTON: It was fairly recently. I can't pinpoint the exact moment. I think that everyone would agree that she’s in trouble and does not seem to be improving, so we decided to get ready if the worst-case scenario happened.

Garfield can be cheeky about it, but it’s disturbing. Are young celebrities dying in such great numbers to merit the AP running a young Hollywood death pool? Garfield points out that the gone-too-soon celebrity is no new phenomenon—Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and John Belushi all illustrate his point.

The only recent young celebrity deaths aside from Heath Ledger that I can think of off the top of my head are Brad Renfro and Anna Nicole Smith. While Anna Nicole may have been an AP contender, Renfro—who had long been flying under the radar—likely was not. The deaths of Renfro and Ledger seem to point out that these things aren’t really so predictable. You have to wonder just how helpful the AP's morbid practice really is.