“Their art was not only a response to Brown’s death. It was also a way to bring understanding to issues that had angered and oppressed African Americans for generations.” A package looking at responses to Michael Brown’s death and its aftermath in visual art, classical music, theatre, literature, popular music, and cinema. – St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Tag: 08.03.19
How Comedians At The Edinburgh Fringe Are, Or Aren’t, Dealing With Boris And Brexit
“Even leftwing performers in Edinburgh seem unsure what the best response to current affairs should be. Some feel that making Brexit party leader Nigel Farage, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory MP, and Boris Johnson into figures of fun has backfired. … Other young performers at the festival have deliberately made the choice to ‘stay silly’, in spite of their political feelings.” – The Observer (UK)
The Farewell May Be Culturally Specific, But The Issue Of Lying To Dying Relatives Is Cross-Cultural
A man who gained work in the movie business as an undocumented immigrant says that “it’s the element of migration and the severed intergenerational connections it creates that modify the family dynamics in Billi’s story, my story and those of millions of others whose relatives are scattered far from their common source.” – Los Angeles Times
Paul Robeson’s American ‘Othello’
A new play about the play, and the man, and his affair with the woman playing Desdemona (who happened to be Ute Hagen), and also her husband (who happened to be José Ferrer) … well, there’s a lot to discuss about American theatre history. – BBC
What’s The Matter With Renoir’s Nudes?
Trying to sell Renoir as a progressive, or even a feminist … just no. – Hyperallergic
It’s Time To Let ‘Miss Saigon’ Go – Forever
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen: “Fantasy cannot be dismissed as mere entertainment, especially when we keep repeating the fantasy. Fantasy — and our enjoyment of it — speaks to something we deeply want to believe. The enjoyment of this show is based on the privilege that the audience feels, the privilege of not being that Asian woman who kills herself, the privilege of seeing the world from the viewpoint of the powerful white male savior who can both be so attractive that a woman would kill herself over him and be so paternal that he can adopt the mixed-race child who will stand in for childlike Asia, in need of Western benevolent guidance.” – The New York Times
D.A. Pennebaker, Documentary Filmmaker And Bob Dylan Mythmaker, Has Died At 94
Pennebaker’s documentary filmmaking stretched across more than six decades, and in that time, he “chronicled a who’s who of other pop music and entertainment world figures and icons over the course of his long career, including John Lennon, David Bowie, Jane Fonda, Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry and the Monterey Pop Festival.” Then there’s Dont Look Back. – Los Angeles Times
Hollywood Enabled ‘Eccentric Dance,’ And Now It’s Celebrating The Genre
Of course, eccentric dance wasn’t new when the movies started recording it. “Eccentric dance can trace its origins to ancient times and has roots in many cultures. But perhaps no place did it flourish more than in the movies, particularly from the 1930s to the 1950s.” – Los Angeles Times
The Forbidden City Isn’t So Forbidden Anymore
After decades in peril – “Mao’s Communist government debated tearing down the complex, or creating a vast Soviet-style wedding cake palace opposite it.” – the Forbidden City complex has become a tourist attraction with restaurants, exhibits, gift shops, and more as President Xi Jinping makes “a broader push in China to protect and project the country’s cultural heritage.” – The New York Times
The Trouble With Writing About Sex
The author of the viral hit short story “Cat Person” says that it’s not easy. to deal with constant questions about sex. “Write a book about the way young women use words to fight back against those who want to reduce them to sexual objects, and you may struggle to prevent yourself from becoming similarly reduced.” – The Guardian (UK)