“That’s where some of this comes from, when you hear people saying that a light-skinned woman can’t play a dark-skinned woman when they’re both clearly of African descent. To say that if I’m gonna cast a movie, I’ve gotta hold a brown paper bag up to the actresses and say, ‘Oh sorry, you can’t play her.’ Who’s to decide when you’re black enough?”
Author: Matthew Westphal
It All Comes Down To The Face: Ta-Nehisi Coates On The Controversy Over Casting The Nina Simone Biopic
“It’s equally difficult to ignore the fact that, while it is hard for all women in Hollywood, it is particularly hard for black women, and even harder for black women who share the dark skin, broad nose and full lips of Nina Simone.”
Where Charges Of Cultural Appropriation Go Wrong
David Copelin: “The belief prevalent in some quarters that, given my background, I can’t write authentically about a character from another background, is a plain old attempt at censorship. … There is such a thing as artistic empathy. Similarly, consider the commonplace ‘It’s our story and you have no right to write it.’ I certainly have no right to write it instead of you, but I’m not asking for that and never would.”
How We Got To America’s ‘Post-Fact’ Politics And Society
“Somewhere in the middle of the twentieth century, fundamentalism and postmodernism, the religious right and the academic left, met up: either the only truth is the truth of the divine or there is no truth; for both, empiricism is an error. That epistemological havoc has never ended: much of contemporary discourse and pretty much all of American politics is a dispute over evidence.”
Italy’s Banksy Paints Over 20 Years’ Worth Of His Work To Protest Exhibition
“On Saturday night, the renowned and mysterious Italian street artist Blu went on an art-destroying spree through the streets of Bologna. The work he erased was his own – with the help of activist groups XM24 and Crash, Blu covered 20 years’ worth of massive, colorful murals with gray paint.”
The Website Where People Post Their Darkest Secrets Anonymously Gives Birth To A Play
“The only reason I’m with him is to see if you care enough to fight for me …”
“At first, PostSecret was an art project. Then it was a blog site. Now, the ‘community art project’ is an official website, a TED talk, multiple books, museum installations, and, thousands of secrets later, a dramatic event on tour.”
Forty Under 40: Young Opera Singers To Watch – Part One: The Gentlemen
This list isn’t meant to name “the best” (which isn’t truly possible); it’s “bringing to wider attention singers who may or may not have been known. … Here are 15 male singers who merit your attention, whether or not you have already had the pleasure of hearing them.” (Next up: the ladies.)
Forty Under 40: Young Opera Singers To Watch – Part Two: The Ladies
“In my previous article, I described 15 excellent male singers under the age of 40 who are definitely worth hearing. Now I am pleased to present 25 women who are among those making the future bright for opera.”
It Survived Dictatorship, Sanctions, And War, But Iraq’s Music And Ballet School Might Not Survive Low Oil Prices
“The teachers are still receiving salaries, but funds for instruments and equipment are drying up, leading to the cancellation of performances and raising concerns that the school – which has always recruited based on talent alone – may one day only serve the wealthy or close altogether.”
Spotify Settles With Music Publishers
“Spotify will pay more than $20 million to music publishers to settle a long-running and complex dispute over licensing, according to an agreement announced on Thursday between the streaming service and the National Music Publishers’ Association, a trade group.”