Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Review of Still Life, Interview with playwright Alexander Dinelaris.
My review of Lucille Lortel Theater's Still Life/interview with playwright Alexander Dinelaris. Here
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Summer Concert and CD Reviews
I'm a little sad that summer is already slipping away, I'm already regreting the many outdoor concerts and movies that I missed out on. I think the summer just got off to a slow start due to the rain, and I never got back onto my usual culture vulture track. However, I did manage to review a few shows and (great) albums. Here's a sampling:
My summer music reviews:
Starlight Mints/ Change Remains
Diane Birch/Bible Belt
John Vanderslice/Romanian Names
Girl in a Coma/ Trio B.C.
Connor Oberst and Jenny Lewis at Battery Park, July 4th
Here We Go Magic, July 3rd River to River
My summer music reviews:
CD Reviews:
Reviews of River to River Shows:
Review of Elizabeth and the Catapult show
Elizabeth and the Catapult are one of my favorite Brooklyn based acts. Here is my review for Venus Zine of their recent show at the Williamsburg Hall of Music. Here is the video for ther charming number "Taller Children."
A bit different than what I usually listen to, but I promise that they will have your foot tapping.
A bit different than what I usually listen to, but I promise that they will have your foot tapping.
Fringe Fest review
I sadly was not too productive with my writing this summer, but here is my review from the Fringe Festival. I reviewed two Harold Pinter one acts:
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Billboard That Has Everyone Pissed Off
The billboard that is pissing everyone off
I first saw this ad in the back pages of Ms. where they print ads they deem to be sexist and demeaning to women. Now the ad has been turned into a giant billboard on Houston in Soho.
Pretty much every feminist website/blog/twitter/ I read is up in arms about it. I mean, it's not the prettiest/least offensive thing I've seen walking down the street, but I've seen much worse. What about all those ad campaigns for vodka brands that would show older men having sex with two women at once, or those ads on the other side of the street on Houston that showed two women flirting with each other and grabbing each other in a homoerotic capacity only to have the series end with them ending up in a sexual situation with a guy. Why didn't people complain about those? Remember those ads with Vincent Gallo and multiple women? There was one right over a subway entrance with him buttoning up his pants while a very young model was kneeling over, reapplying her lipstick, using his belt buckle as a mirror.
In my personal opinion, this ad is maybe a bit too much for a giant ad viewable by all foot and motor traffic, but as a feminist this ad doesn't seem to present any more of an offensive role for a woman than anything else I've seen. In dissecting it, I would note that the female's body is in an active rather than passive role, showing her to be taking a consensual part in the sexual activity rather than being a victim. I would also note the fact that the ad features multiple men, rather than multiple women. Whereas, so many ads be they for vodka, Axe cologne, etc. show one much older man with two or more younger women. The ad also promotes a sense of androgyny and the men all look identical, making them perhaps the same as any expendable unidentifiable female model.
What do you think? Is this more degrading to women than anything else in advertising currently?
I first saw this ad in the back pages of Ms. where they print ads they deem to be sexist and demeaning to women. Now the ad has been turned into a giant billboard on Houston in Soho.
Pretty much every feminist website/blog/twitter/ I read is up in arms about it. I mean, it's not the prettiest/least offensive thing I've seen walking down the street, but I've seen much worse. What about all those ad campaigns for vodka brands that would show older men having sex with two women at once, or those ads on the other side of the street on Houston that showed two women flirting with each other and grabbing each other in a homoerotic capacity only to have the series end with them ending up in a sexual situation with a guy. Why didn't people complain about those? Remember those ads with Vincent Gallo and multiple women? There was one right over a subway entrance with him buttoning up his pants while a very young model was kneeling over, reapplying her lipstick, using his belt buckle as a mirror.
In my personal opinion, this ad is maybe a bit too much for a giant ad viewable by all foot and motor traffic, but as a feminist this ad doesn't seem to present any more of an offensive role for a woman than anything else I've seen. In dissecting it, I would note that the female's body is in an active rather than passive role, showing her to be taking a consensual part in the sexual activity rather than being a victim. I would also note the fact that the ad features multiple men, rather than multiple women. Whereas, so many ads be they for vodka, Axe cologne, etc. show one much older man with two or more younger women. The ad also promotes a sense of androgyny and the men all look identical, making them perhaps the same as any expendable unidentifiable female model.
What do you think? Is this more degrading to women than anything else in advertising currently?
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Diane Birch review
Venus just posted my Diane Birch review, I wrote it in one evening a good month ago, so I'm afraid to peek at it and see how it turned out. Writing music reviews is such a clumsy process, not like reviewing theater and film where you have some sort of plot and chronological set up to analyze, music is so abstract.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
