Carolyn Keene didn’t exist; nor did Franklin W. Dixon, purported author of the Hardy Boy series. Who the writers actually were isn’t germane, really. “What was important was the author as a brand—a shortcut for readers to know that they were getting a consistent product—and arguably, in the case of Nancy Drew, a more consistent product than they might have received if Carolyn Keene had been a single individual. A real Carolyn Keene might have become bored of the project, she might have died, she might have decided to alter Nancy—make her older, marry her off, or gasp, even have her meet her end with the roadster plunging off a cliff.” – CrimeReads
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The Saga Of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ Adds A New Chapter As Publisher Of Older Play Sues Harper Lee’s Estate
The older production, familiar to millions, is the one threatened by the Broadway play and planned national tour. The problem? Too many agreements. “The latest dispute, over whether and when the Sergel adaptation can be staged now that the Sorkin adaptation exists, pits an agreement Ms. Lee signed with Dramatic Publishing in 1969 against one she signed with Mr. Rudin in 2015.” – The New York Times
Action on diversity, instead of talk
Stuart Murphy isn’t hiring consultants, just making immediate change at the English National Opera. – Greg Sandow
Mexican Cinema And TV Have A Long History Of Making Fun Of Indigenous People
Last week’s utter foolishness over Oscar-nominated Roma star Yalitza Aparicio (Yeka Rosales, a TV personality for the Mexican-based Televisa network wore a prosthetic nose and thick lips to make fun of Aparicio) isn’t new to Mexico. In fact, one professor says the mocking of indigenous peoples is “as old as film” – Los Angeles Times
Struggling to Understand
“We come to know the choreography’s codes, if not always certain what they conceal.” – Deborah Jowitt
Some Directors Get A Second Chance With The Same Movie
No, not with director’s cuts, but with literal remakes of their own earlier movies. “For the studio heads tasked with squeezing as much money out of the project as possible, it’s a can’t-fail proposition even safer than sanding off all of a foreign hit’s edges to prep it for Stateside viewers.” – The Guardian (UK)
Artists In Argentina Join Protest On International Women’s Day
Violence against women and girls, and lack of access to abortion services, led the list of things activists and artists were protesting. The artists – a group known as Nosotras Proponemos – focused on inequalities in the arts last year, but this year widened their focus to safety for women and girls in Argentina. They created a huge green braid to snake through the protests as they were “singing joyfully, hoping for ‘the patriarchy to go down and Latin America to be feminist.'” – Hyperallergic
The ‘Call The Midwife’ Star Who Was Told She Should Try To Be A Secretary
Jessica Raine is not impressed with her school career advisor. Keep in mind that this was Britain, of course, so when she said she wanted to be an actress, “The attitude that you could do anything was firmly shut down.” – The Guardian (UK)
The Latest For Donors Is Traveling Like A Musician, Ballerina, Or Conductor
And by that, we don’t mean “worrying about your instrument all of the time,” but rather, if you have the money, “you can simply donate money to your favorite nonprofit — amounts seem to start at around $2,500 — in exchange for the opportunity to tag along on an international tour with the organization.” – The Washington Post
The Next Big Tech Battle Will Be Between Apple And Facebook
And it will be about messaging. For more than a decade, they didn’t compete: “People bought iPhones, downloaded Facebook and Instagram, and spent large chunks of time on those social networks, while using Apple’s native apps for calling and texting. Facebook made money from the targeted ads in people’s feeds. Apple made money on the hardware, while its software kept users loyal.” – Slate