Eat your heart out, Evita, there's a new crazy dictator's wife to lionize: Imelda Marcos.
Of course, I am talking about the concept-album, song cycle, whatver you call it, "Here Lies Love" by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim.
I heard one of the tracks, "Why Don't You Love Me" by Cyndi Lauper and Tori Amos, but I didn't care for it out of context. As the final track of the album, it brings it all together. Marcos was completely out of touch by the end of it all.
Of course, the whole album is itself out of context in a way. Byrne was recently interviewed on NPR and he said he specifically omitted the part about the shoes, the most notorious punchline to the fallen dictator story. I agree with Byrne though. The shoes anecdote minimize all of the great and terrible things that Imelda Marcos did. The album uses a disco milieu to bring life to the fascinating story of Imelda, who was herself a fan of discos, and all the decadence that went along with them.
There are eerie parallels to Imelda and Eva Peron, however, where Juan Peron survived Evita, making her a more tragic figure, Imelda lives on today. She's running for office in the Phillippenes, if you can believe that. This album kind of plays on the public's obsession with power and fame. It reminds us that there is often a very dark side to beauty.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Betty Mas Bonita
*Spoilers*
Ugly Betty is over. The show ended well, with a good finalization for most of the characters.
Betty moved to London to start a magazine. Daniel left Mode, and Wilhemena got the magazine, and a little bit of humanity.
The show was part sitcom, part soap, so it had trouble finding and keeping an audience. I still loved it though. But like most of the good television of the past four or five years, the writer's strike seemed to deal it a huge death blow. Television schedules weren't regular anymore. When the split seasons finally aired, who the hell knew when they were on?
I want to thank ABC for keeping the show going as long as they did. Hulu kept me in touch through most of my missed times and my TiVo conflicts.
In spite of it all, the show reached me. I loved its portrayal of social conflicts, corporate ambition, and body image issues. It had the perfect knack of getting to the heart of issues while keeping its audiences entertained.
I for one will miss the red glasses on my screen each week.
Ugly Betty is over. The show ended well, with a good finalization for most of the characters.
Betty moved to London to start a magazine. Daniel left Mode, and Wilhemena got the magazine, and a little bit of humanity.
The show was part sitcom, part soap, so it had trouble finding and keeping an audience. I still loved it though. But like most of the good television of the past four or five years, the writer's strike seemed to deal it a huge death blow. Television schedules weren't regular anymore. When the split seasons finally aired, who the hell knew when they were on?
I want to thank ABC for keeping the show going as long as they did. Hulu kept me in touch through most of my missed times and my TiVo conflicts.
In spite of it all, the show reached me. I loved its portrayal of social conflicts, corporate ambition, and body image issues. It had the perfect knack of getting to the heart of issues while keeping its audiences entertained.
I for one will miss the red glasses on my screen each week.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Remembering Dixie Carter, or Do You Know Who Shirley Chisholm Is?
As a gay kid growing up in a repressive conservative household, Designing Women was the technicolor heroin to my impressionable youth.
When I found out Dixie Carter died, I was sad. Even though Ms. Carter's personal politics were actually much to the right of her DW alter ego Julia Sugarbaker, she (or more appropriately the writers of Designing Women) still taught me a lot about the unspoken pieces of US History.
Dixie Carter reminded me of my oldest sister Katherine. Kath and I both seemed to view the world in a somewhat skewed perspective, both metaphorically and physiologically due to our shared affliction of astigmatism. Kath was brash, but well-meaning, and today she conducts Julia-style dressings down of social mores on her own blog.
I was much more the reserved type. I was much more akin to Annie Potts' MaryJo on the show. I was reasonably informed, but less daring. I often felt stressed and put up with a lot that I shouldn't have.
When I finally got the gumption to get out, I did. But my abiding love and affection for my family means that there's no remaining ill will, even though we rarely see eye to eye. Even Kath and I rarely meet on the political spectrum, except for social issues. In a strange coincidence, Kath moved to Tennessee, which is actually Dixie Carter's home state. Kath also started ascribing to the Libertarian point of view, which is very much in line with that of Ms. Carter.
I prefer the fictional side of Ms. Carter. I am an unapologetic liberal. I believe in a strong federal government, not a namby-pamby network of nincompoop state legislators. But that is a topic for another day.
I want to thank Designing Women. The actors, writers, producers. Everyone helped me learn about America. I first learned about great women through that show -- Eleanor Roosevelt, Emily Dickinson, and Shirley Chisholm, just to name a few. The show inspired me to learn more about these women.
A couple of years ago, I chanced upon a copy of a DVD documenting the life of Shirley Chisholm. It was a video store clearance item, so I picked it up for under $5. It was money well-spent. Not only were the people of Designing Women correct in idealizing her, they didn't nearly go far enough. With all of the polarized and hateful, racists pundits going around decrying the "tyranny" of Obama in 2010, think back to what the country was like in the spring of 1972. The Vietnam War was in its death throes, Watergate was still just a hotel, and a black congresswoman from New York decided to run for President, against all the insurmountable odds, just because she wasn't going to let America maintain the status quo.
Though Ms. Carter is gone, I want to thank her again for allowing me to grow up inspired and with hope. And Ms. Carter, if you see Ms. Chisholm up in heaven, I hope you give her a high five from me.
When I found out Dixie Carter died, I was sad. Even though Ms. Carter's personal politics were actually much to the right of her DW alter ego Julia Sugarbaker, she (or more appropriately the writers of Designing Women) still taught me a lot about the unspoken pieces of US History.
Dixie Carter reminded me of my oldest sister Katherine. Kath and I both seemed to view the world in a somewhat skewed perspective, both metaphorically and physiologically due to our shared affliction of astigmatism. Kath was brash, but well-meaning, and today she conducts Julia-style dressings down of social mores on her own blog.
I was much more the reserved type. I was much more akin to Annie Potts' MaryJo on the show. I was reasonably informed, but less daring. I often felt stressed and put up with a lot that I shouldn't have.
When I finally got the gumption to get out, I did. But my abiding love and affection for my family means that there's no remaining ill will, even though we rarely see eye to eye. Even Kath and I rarely meet on the political spectrum, except for social issues. In a strange coincidence, Kath moved to Tennessee, which is actually Dixie Carter's home state. Kath also started ascribing to the Libertarian point of view, which is very much in line with that of Ms. Carter.
I prefer the fictional side of Ms. Carter. I am an unapologetic liberal. I believe in a strong federal government, not a namby-pamby network of nincompoop state legislators. But that is a topic for another day.
I want to thank Designing Women. The actors, writers, producers. Everyone helped me learn about America. I first learned about great women through that show -- Eleanor Roosevelt, Emily Dickinson, and Shirley Chisholm, just to name a few. The show inspired me to learn more about these women.
A couple of years ago, I chanced upon a copy of a DVD documenting the life of Shirley Chisholm. It was a video store clearance item, so I picked it up for under $5. It was money well-spent. Not only were the people of Designing Women correct in idealizing her, they didn't nearly go far enough. With all of the polarized and hateful, racists pundits going around decrying the "tyranny" of Obama in 2010, think back to what the country was like in the spring of 1972. The Vietnam War was in its death throes, Watergate was still just a hotel, and a black congresswoman from New York decided to run for President, against all the insurmountable odds, just because she wasn't going to let America maintain the status quo.
Though Ms. Carter is gone, I want to thank her again for allowing me to grow up inspired and with hope. And Ms. Carter, if you see Ms. Chisholm up in heaven, I hope you give her a high five from me.
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