BALANCE of CULTURE

The Dictator on the Red Carpet

[Update: He's been banned!…or perhaps not!]

With all the dramatic developments of the Arab Spring that has occurred in over a year, it's not a surprise that Hollywood is coming out with a movie that uses some of the subject as inspiration. Whether categorized as insensitive material or mere entertainment, Paramount has big hopes for Sacha Baron Cohen's latest comedy titled The Dictator.

Cohen is already known for pushing the envelope with daring characters that border on the racially- and culturally-risqué, such as Borat. This time, the high profile actor-comedian is rumored to be planning on attending this year's Academy Awards red carpet dressed up as The Dictator's title character, to the dismay of the Oscars' organization.

A spokesperson for the Oscars even went so far as to say, "We would hope that every studio knows that this is a bad idea. The Red Carpet is not about stunting." I am not sure how this person can claim with a straight face that there is a lack of "stunting" on any red carpet, let alone the Academy Awards, but this is the stance that most "purists" are taking in their chagrin towards a costumed Cohen.

Seems to me they're being not only rather uptight about the industry they work in but also pretty hypocritical. If this costume offends people in any way, they should probably recall the concept of storytelling as well as reevaluate some Hollywood issues that actually deserve some ethical critique -- Woody Allen and Roman Polanski come to mind right away. If Hollywood can stomach looking the other way from the decisions of those two glorified filmmakers, who seriously cares about a silly costume on the red carpet? If anything it might keep things interesting!

The trailer is pretty awesome though, especially with the Panjabi MC tunes in the background:

Known Pleasure: Disney Rips Joy Division

Looks like Disney's Mickey Mouse shirt "inspired" by Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures album cover (1979) has been pulled once it was revealed the mega-company may not have had all their permissions in order after all.

Even Joy Division's bass player Peter Hook had some stinging words -- albeit gift wrapped in sugarcoat -- for Disney:

"...in a funny way, it's quite a compliment for a huge conglomerate like Disney to pick up on a poor little Manchester band that only existed for a couple of years, it's quite startling. I'm amazed they're that hard up that they need to prey on little indie bands, but I get the feeling that someone may have done it as a tongue in cheek compliment."

Well, Mr. Hook, obviously they are that "hard up"…aren't all predators these days?

Faux Bling: fox fur headphones

Not being ignorant is the true luxury in life. I can't believe how many first world citizens are so pathetically blind when it comes to something so heinous like wearing fur in 2012. While one may think that worldwide success, experience, and millions of dollars would afford some folks the knowledge that animal fur goods are hardly something to brag about, obviously this is not the case.

Take a look at what these parochial heads (fashion designer Oscar de la Renta and music mogul Dr. Dre) came up with for their collaborative project for the Beats by Dre headphone line:

The "limited edition" (no, really?) design is covered in a plum-colored layer of fox fur and retails for $695 USD. (Of course, a letter from PETA to Dr. Dre has been unanswered.)

Geez, is this straight from the annals of illbred.com or what?! Maybe this is the perfect tacky gift for those poor, provincial souls who also think that covering their waxed bikini areas with fox fur will help them feel more sexy, no?

What's really ironic about all this fox fur nonsense (remember J.Lo's famous fox fur eyelashes?) is that its ubiquity is based upon its relative "cheapness" (above rabbit fur), yet is marketed as some sort of "luxury" product to those who don't know nor care about the gross reality behind the scenes.

I understand some people are still stuck in the increasingly embarrassing "bling-bling" (note the quotation marks) era of the late 90s/early 2000s -- abusing and killing animals in order to make these kinds of junky products will still make sense to them, sadly enough. A small price to pay to maintain the $30k-millionaire lifestyle, right?

What a lighting-fast way for older segments of the fashion and music industries to look utterly stupid. Please educate those around you and #GoFaux!

Louboutin Art on Sunset Blvd.

Neiman Marcus' billboard on the side of a Sunset Blvd. building, a homage to Christian Louboutin's 20 year anniversary in women's fashion: designed with street artist Galo Make Canote, just in time for Mr. Louboutin's visit to the Beverly Hills NM on February 3, 2012.

Ms. Jackson this is nasty...

[Photo by Eastsider LA]

While driving by the future PETA headquarters in Echo Park yesterday, I remembered reading about singer Janet Jackson's upcoming fur line with Blackglama.

I can't be alone in thinking that this is absolutely the most awkwardly offensive time for anybody to start a fur line, even for somebody from music royalty…don't get me wrong, I love her music and I remember her as very friendly when I met her at an event a few years back. It's just confusing and disappointing because there is so much high-quality faux alternatives now!!

Update: Check out EchoParkPatch's piece on this post!

The influence of ballet pointe shoes

Ballet pointe shoes as technological artifacts -- quite an entertaining thesis presented over the weekend at the Society for the History of Technology conference.

I'm not sure if we should be giving the innovation kudos solely to George Balanchine, but the renowned choreographer's contributions to developing pointe shoes that enhanced the dancer's body and movements is undeniable and surely worthy of further exploration.

Ballet is a relatively older form of dance in the Western world, and the path to honing your skills is even more old-fashioned. As an eager ballet dancer since the age of 4, there's one thing about pointe shoes that I won't soon forget: even with all the "technology" that has gone into them all these past years, the archaicness of pointe shoes is part of the challenge of the craft.

There isn't much way around the clunkiness or the extremely precise way you need to "install" (or "wear") them, even if you're putting on the latest pair from Bloch or Capezio. And, frankly, if you don't put in the hours --daily -- it really doesn't matter what kind of pointe shoes you dance with.

All the years of dance training have inevitably left me with a formidable collection of dance shoes of all kinds, from pointe to character to jazz (minus the tap shoes!), as well as adopting the outlook of human bodies as "IBM machines." I've always attributed dancing en pointe to not only my love and familiarity for high-heeled shoes but also my strangely innate clumsiness in flat shoes, as strange as that sounds!

BoC Dérive: 21 October 2011

Online Dérive:

HOLLYWOOD ABROAD: The US State Department has awarded University of Southern California (my alma mater!) a $1-million grant to administer a program of film screenings to US embassies abroad.

VISUAL: More State news--smARTpower has officially launched (see my Huffington Post piece on this program).

HEADING HOME: Today President Obama announced that US troops will leave Iraq by the end of December 2011.

CUNNING: How Qaddafi managed to fool the world while gaining unlikely but widespread power.

LOCKOUT: The NBA talks are going…not so well.

EXCHANGE: If you're in Seoul this weekend, the "Prague Days in Seoul" festival will be full of art, music, dance and film from the Czech Republic (a reciprocal event from Prague's successful 2009 "Days of Seoul in Prague.")

DEPICTIONS: This new fashion magazine from London is full of hand-drawn images -- no photographs -- of both current and historical female fashion icons.

BACHELORETTE: These days single ladies simply aren't interested in marrying the growing numbers of deadbeat guys or middle-aged wannabe playboys.

MUSIC: Sauti za Busara, Zanzibar's annual music festival, has announced their lineup for 2012 (see my post from Sauti za Busara 2011).

BoC Dérive: 30 September 2011

Online Dérive:

SPACE: China is ready to launch its very first space lab out of the Gobi desert.

INSECURITY: Women in Saudi Arabia can vote in the future, but won't be practicing their parallel parking anytime soon.

GAMING: A US military strategist tests UrbanSim, a US Army videogame that teaches COIN to battalion officers.

SKIRTS: Since they still haven't caught the pervy suspect, NYPD advises women not to wear skirts or dresses after a line of recent sex attacks in Brooklyn.

REBUILD: A few wacky projects aimed at rebuilding Iraq that actually got US taxpayer funding (French pastry classes?!)

PERSPECTIVE: So sad that some in Greece are lamenting, "Maybe we are ruining the world."

FASHION: Not sure what happened to his defunct "Pastelle" line, but Kanye West is set to launch a women's collection at Paris fashion week -- and it's rumored to be virtually unwearable.

PANTS ON FIRE: How lying/fibbing is a burden on your brain.

BOOM: Anwar al-Aulaqi, one of the most influential al-Qaeda leaders, was killed in a northern Yemen airstrike.

The Neanderthal Ritual We Still Practice

I've always thought it was pretty hypocritical that so many people who are against the wearing of animal fur often have their feet snug inside leather shoes, their money in their leather wallets and bags, while filling their stomachs with steak and chicken. If you're so against fur, how can you seriously be participating in all that other stuff that comes from animals?

The City of West Hollywood recently banned the sale of fur, which didn't come as a huge surprise since this area in the middle of Los Angeles is already well known for being progressive as well as uber-functional (especially compared to the impotent process of politics in the City of Los Angeles itself).

An online debate, titled "Ban Fur? Then Why Not Leather?" raises so many divergent questions and issues, all of them valid. However, I think this question can be answered pretty quickly if we're just being honest with ourselves:

1) Fur makes some people sad. It reminds them of their dog or cat, or at least something cute and fluffy. Leather doesn't have that same immediate, visceral effect for most people.

2) Leather is everywhere. It's too easy to wear leather, and rather difficult to completely avoid. Even if you don't buy a leather jacket, you're likely to be using the material somewhere in your life -- think your car, furniture, luggage, etc.

3) Businesses in WeHo aren't happy about the ban of fur because it will eat into their sales -- but unless they exclusively sell fur, they'll have tons of other things to get by on. The ban of leather, however, would easily be a serious finance issue for most retailers and the city would not be providing a "supportive" environment for businesses.

It's unfortunate that in 2011 we're still so dependent on the killing of animals for food and material, I admit that. What was necessary in ancient times simply isn't so crucial now, especially with so many respectable alternatives out there.

Fur and leather were once the materials of the wealthy, now everybody has cheap leather all over the place. I just wonder if we're too deep in this habitual rut to ever get out, except for a small population of course. The ban of fur seems feasible, a ban on leather just seems too extreme now.

 

Empowering women, one fine at a time

Over the last year France's burqa ban has been quite a debate (here and here) without much real-life consequence. But with the first "test case" arrests in Paris today resulting in two fully-veiled women being fined 200 euros by the courts (about $271 now), the ban's establishment is definitely taking place.

Interestingly a French businessman named Rachid Nekkaz stepped up and paid for the women's fines himself. He explains: "…I can't accept that my government [has] voted [for] a law [which] doesn't respect the European constitution…I think it is important to help these women to remain free on [the] streets."

Whether or not you support France's burqa ban, the main issue at hand remains -- is the burqa itself an obstacle for gender equality or is the ban an attack on the Muslim faith? (Sarkozy, being the big burqa expert he is, believes the former.)

Probably an impossible question to answer…but all this attention has empowered Parisian Muslim Kenza Drider, who wears a full-face veil, to announce her candidacy to run for president in France's elections next year.

Champions of the veil ban should be careful what they wish for…the tables could turn on them very quickly, especially considering the volatile atmosphere in both the EU and the Middle East these days.

People spend thousands of euros on shoes and clothes from chic French designers all the time. If a woman continuously wears her burqa and gets fined even a 1/4 of the time, that would make that burqa one expensive outfit -- but an outfit coming from defiance about a policy that doesn't seem to address the real issue at hand (if that was ever the true goal!).