Critics act like teenagers are completely at the mercy of the mass culture, that they’re empty vessels that can be filled up and manipulated by whatever base, nasty thing that comes along. But teens have a lot more going for them than they’re given credit for, and this is actually not the case…
Tag: 02.17.04
An Alternate Reality
“Reality TV is entering a chilling new phase. The old format of shows based on voluntary participation isn’t producing the kind of spontaneous, voyeuristic thrills it once did. All traces of naturalism are gone; nowadays people play up to the camera, so that producers have to go further and further in pursuit of the “real.” The only way to find unselfconscious reactions today is to catch people unawares.”
Playwrights: What’s Wrong With Broadway
Broadway is seriously broken, say a trio of playwrights. The business is hostile to new work, and the expense of production is out of hand. Terrence McNally: Today’s Broadway is “a circus identified with smash hits, as opposed to plays that examine the human condition. The message is all wrong.”
Ambitious Plans For An American National Theatre
“Today, no one doubts that Lincoln Center Theater is one of the most vital not-for-profit companies in the nation, but its status as a national theatre – indeed, the question of what a national theatre is – is open to debate. So at the dawn of the 21st century, and in the painful, soul-searching aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, a new national-theatre movement is underway.”
Music Industry Sues More Downloaders
The biig music industry companies sued 531 more music downloaders. “Like the 532 people it sued last month, the RIAA identified its targets by the ‘John Doe’ process, where the identities of these alleged file swappers are unknown. The defendants are listed by their Internet Protocol address. Those identified had shared an average of 800 copyright files, the RIAA said.”
Orchestra May Close For Lack Of $20,000
The Saskatoon Symphony is asking the city for a loan of $20,000. “The symphony has been steadily dipping into the red since the 1990s and this season is carrying an accumulated debt of more than $180,000. Because of its debt, the symphony cannot borrow money from a bank. Without the loan, the symphony may have to close.”
Christ Movie Kicking Up Buzz
Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ is generating the biggest buzz of any movis this year. “Gibson has said he wanted to make the ‘most realistic’ Jesus movie ever made. The R-rated subtitled film, which contains scenes of blood-drenched violence and physical suffering, has generated intense interest among religious audiences, especially evangelical Christians, who have been identified by Gibson as his core audience — and by some Jewish leaders who fear that the portrayal of Jesus’s scourging and crucifixion in such excruciatingly realistic detail will spark anti-Jewish feelings.”
Ontario Orchestra’s Board Quits Over Controversy
The entire board of the Kitchener-Waterloo Sympny resigned Monday before a meeting of the orchestra’s 2,400 members could vote on whether to remove the board. “The resignation of the 14 board members is just the latest instalment in a series of crises flowing from the board’s decision Nov. 27 to fire the KWSO’s principal conductor, Berlin-based Martin Fischer-Dieskau.”
Pain And The Last Minute Resignation
National Ballet of Canada principal dancer Geon van der Wyst was slated to dance a number of major roles this season. But a few days before the season began, he reconsidered. “My knee was acting up. and I had made a promise to myself after my last surgery, that I would take a long and hard look at my career options if another problem developed. I feel guilty about pulling out just before the season, but the pain was telling me that it was time to stop while I still had my dignity.”
A New Scottish Poet Laureate
Edwin Morgan, 83, has been named Scotlan’s new “Scots Makar”, the equivalent of a poet laureate. ” ‘The Scots Makar’ is a term dating back to the Scots poets of the 15th and 16th century. The unpaid position lasts for a three-year term and his task will be to represent and promote Scots poetry.”