“[The phrase is] a nickname, coined by fans, for young, delicate-featured, makeup-clad male entertainers.” (The Chinese Communist authorities, it seems, prefers to call them niangpao — “sissypants.”) “These well-groomed celebrities star in blockbuster movies, and advertise for cosmetic brands and top music charts. Their rise has been one of the biggest cultural trends of the past decade.” – The New York Times
Author: Matthew Westphal
Big Mood Machine: How Spotify Gathers And Sells Its Customers’ Emotional Profiles
“Spotify is currently running a campaign centered on moods [and its mood playlists] — the company’s Twitter tagline is currently ‘Music for every mood’ — complete with its own influencer campaign. But a more careful look into Spotify’s history shows that the decision to define audiences by their moods was part of a strategic push to grow Spotify’s advertising business in the years leading up to its IPO — and today, Spotify’s enormous access to mood-based data is a pillar of its value to brands and advertisers.” – The Baffler
Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon — Femme Fatale, Enterprising Escapee From Poverty, Victim Of The Patriarchy? All Of The Above?
In the 18th-century source, a novel by the Abbé Prévost, Manon Lescaut was an archetypal siren, luring a helpless young nobleman to his doom; later operatic adaptations may have had more sympathy for her but weren’t so different. Yet MacMillan found in her one of his most powerful, and controversial, heroines, one that great ballerinas love to play. Alastair Macaulay looks at how their portrayals of the character have shifted over the years. – The New York Times
How Disney Has Been Redirecting The Fairy-Tale Notions Of Love It Did So Much To Spread
“The happy ending of our most-watched childhood stories is no longer a kiss. Today, Disney films end with two siblings reconciled despite their differences, as in Frozen (2013); or a mother and a daughter making amends, as in Brave (2012) and Inside Out (2015); or a child reunited with long-lost parents, as in Tangled (2010), Finding Dory (2016) and Coco (2011). Love remains the all-important linchpin of these stories … but over the past 10 years, we have been told to love a new kind of love.” – Aeon
Where Did The Story Of Aladdin And The Magic Lamp Come From? Not ‘The 1,001 Nights’, It Turns Out
In fact, writes Michael Dirda, the tale came from one Antoine Galland, an early-18th-century Orientalist who was the first Westerner to translate the actual Thousand and One Nights from the Arabic. He was working from a manuscript that had only 35 stories in it — and, when his translations became hits, he (not unlike Sheherazad herself) had to come up with more material to meet reader demand. – The Washington Post
Remember ‘Dr. Strangelove’ And ‘The Day After’? Why Don’t They Make Movies Or TV About Nuclear War Anymore?
After all, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock is still set at two minutes to midnight, most of the Cold War-era nukes (or their replacements) are still here, and the world isn’t exactly seeming stable these days. Stephen Phelan looks at Hollywood’s portrayals of nuclear apocalypse, both older and more recent. – Boston Review
The Guardian’s Five Female Choreographers Who Are Pushing Their Art Form Forward
“Their moves are fresh, funny and stylish; their subjects include the climate crisis, gender politics and poetry.” – The Guardian
The Tony Awards’ Most Important Speech, And Most Important Fashion Statement, Were Barely Even Noticed On The Telecast
That fashion statement, writes Chris Jones, was the breathing tube and oxygen device that Terrence McNally wore onstage as he accepted his lifetime achievement Tony, and his speech — as both a major American playwright and a survivor of the worst days of the AIDS epidemic — “was the most beautiful recounting of one of this nation’s most distinguished artistic careers.” – Chicago Tribune
Only Known Recording Of Frida Kahlo’s Voice May Have Been Found
“The National Sound Library of Mexico … [has] unearthed what they believe could be the first known voice recording of Kahlo, taken from a pilot episode of 1955 radio show El Bachiller, which aired after her death in 1954.” (includes audio) – The Guardian
SFMOMA Will Be Sending Art To The Golden State Warriors’ New Arena
When the Chase Center opens in San Francisco in the fall, it will feature a 700-pound mobile by Alexander Calder and Isamu Noguchi’s 1975 Play Sculpture. “[They’re] part of a unique ongoing partnership to install four major works of art either borrowed from or commissioned by SFMOMA specifically for the Warriors’ new home court.” – San Francisco Chronicle