Obscanity: You'll know it when you see it

[Cross-posted at my epinions account.]

Let me preface this part by saying that I am not a fan of “stupid humor” and crude comedy. If a movie is only funny because it exploits sex and bodily functions, odds are I’m going to spend most of the duration rolling my eyes. When I went to see Borat, though, I laughed so hard I thought I was going to throw up. I saw it with my mom, and both of us laughed hysterically throughout most of the movie (I laughed even harder when I learned that the guy sitting next to my mom in the theater got up and walked out halfway through the film!)

Unlike many of the people I know who went to see this movie, I had absolutely no experience with Borat before stepping into the theater, having never seen his television show, and I really had no idea of what to expect, save for the few brief scenes revealed in the previews.

The basic plot of the story is that Borat comes to the USA to make his documentary, but winds up on a detour to Hollywood to track down his new wife to be, Pamela Anderson, who has yet to be informed of her fate. As Borat makes his way to Los Angeles, he catches Americans across the nation with their proverbial pants down. This isn’t just a stupid spoof flick. The thing that makes this movie so great is that the joke is so clearly on us.

Example #1: It’s clear throughout the movie that Borat is intolerably anti-Semitic – which you already know if you’ve seen the clip on YouTube of him singing in a country western bar, as all of the audience sings along with him, “Throw the Jew down the well!” What you don’t know unless you happen to be fluent in certain other languages (which I’m not), is that when Borat speaks in his native tongue, he’s actually speaking Hebrew, sprinkled with some Polish words for good measure. (I didn’t know this until my Israeli friends pointed it out). I’m sure I don’t have to explain why this is hilarious.

Example #2: I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the young men who picked up Mr. “Borat” are now suing him for making them look like idiots. The lesson that should be taken away from this situation: If you don’t want to be shown on film making ignorant, racist comments, don’t make ignorant, racist comments in front of filming cameras. And that, of course, *is* the punchline to that particular joke – people are willing to show their true colors when they think they are influencing the development of some far away country. They’re a bit shamefaced now that they’ve been “outed” here in America. It is absolutely mind-boggling what people will say when they think they can get away with it. Sascha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” character reveals that no matter how much effort some people make to conceal their bigoted views, those hateful sentiments are still there, brewing right beneath the surface. All it takes to stir them up is a charming but socially inept journalist from Khazakstan.

Even more mind-boggling is how other people in the film are willing to tolerate behavior that is at BEST grossly inappropriate and offensive, and at worst violative of human rights, simply because they are naive enough to believe that this is really how things are in “mah cuuuntry.” The running of the Jews? Keeping handicapped siblings in cages? Capturing wives in burlap sacks? Are Borat’s unwitting co-stars so convinced of western (or American) superiority that they really believe civilization ends at the border and the world runs amok outside of North America? Watch this movie and find out!

Be warned – there are scenes in this movie that you don’t want your children to see. There is nudity. Close up, and not pretty. Freaking hilarious, but really, not an image you want to stick with you. Kids may find it really funny to watch a silly guy in a moustache amble around making fools of people, and you may already hear your grade-school kids doing Borat impressions, but I promise – this is not a movie for young kids.

Want to purchase Borat – Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan? Buy from Amazon.com, or buy from Barnes & Noble.

[Cross-posted at my epinions account]

If you were a teenager in any American high school when the Columbine school shooting took place, you know that times have changed compared to “the good old days” (read: before Columbine). School shootings have become more common, but school security has also risen, as has the level of awareness about the potential for student violence against other students. Schools no longer trust students, and students no longer view school as a safe haven.

This type of tragedy continues to occur. The story is so often the same – a young white boy, tormented for years by “the popular kids,” decides to take control of the situation in the most unimaginable way. Sometimes he shoots himself as well, and sometimes he doesn’t – but regardless, we do not usually gain much deep understanding of the student and what drove him to this extreme. We always have hindsight, but never foresight, and rarely insight.

Jodi Picoult’s newest novel, “Nineteen Minutes,” is a start. It isn’t based on a particular school shooting, and yet you can sense echoes of each of them in this page-turner (or in my case, an absolutely unpausable audiobook). It’s clear from Picoult’s detailed accounts that she did her research; you can feel the ghosts of real young victims as you read about each fictional fallen child. You feel their peers’ and parents’ pain – and yet you find yourself torn between grief for their loss and sympathy for Peter Houghton, the young shooter who has suffered for years at the hands of some of his very victims. If you have ever struggled to understand the reason — not the excuse, mind you, but just the *reason* — some teens feel that they have to resort to violence in this manner, this book will open your eyes.

“Nineteen Minutes” refers to the duration of the shooting. However, the bulk of the book focuses not on the shooting itself, but on the periods before and after. Like many Picoult novels, the novel centers around a court trial, but the bulk of the book, written outside of any chronological order, details both the aftermath and the years, weeks, days and moments leading up to the tragic event.

The book chronicles the young Peter’s development over the years, telling stories from his point of view (from age kindergarten to eighteen). It also shares the thoughts of of other key characters in the novel. That is one of the things I love about Jodi Picoult novels; none of her characters are omniscient, but from sharing each of the actors’ limited perspectives, the reader can develop a more complete sense of the story. You see Peter through the eyes of his few friends, his classmates, his parents, his lawyer, and his victims, and you look back at them through Peter’s eyes. Most importantly, you see Peter as he sees himself.

Jodi Picoult has once again funneled a seemingly black and white situation through the prism of her storytelling genius, and repainted it in shades of grey on a paper canvas (with the usual Picoult-style surprise ending that just might make you drop the book in shock). If you ever wanted to understand how such a young person could feel so helpless and hopeless that he might resort to violence, pick up Picoult’s book. If anything, an understanding of this helplessness may help us to reach these students before they reach their own limit.

Buy Nineteen Minutes at Barnes & Noble [Hardcover; Audio CD] or Amazon.com [Hardcover; Audio CD]

View more Jodi Picoult novels: Read the rest of this entry »

I just started using Winzy, another search engine where you can win random prizes while you search. Winzy is a lot like Blingo, except with a new twist in that some of the prizes are for points, which represent entries into a sweepstakes drawing each month. It’s kind of nifty, and a little bit more exciting than Blingo because you win more often (although the prizes are usually for points!). I did win a $5 Amazon gift certificate on Winzy last night. It may not match up to the $100 Visa Gift Card (and multiple $10 iTunes gift certificates) I’ve won through Blingo, but it’s still nothing to sneeze at (and I have been using Blingo longer…)! Besides, it’s fun – in addition to instant wins, you can also land on little “games” where you can spin a wheel, play “Lucky 7s,” or eliminate suitcases a la “Deal or No Deal.”

One thing I do have to say for Blingo over Winzy (one of several things) is that with Blingo, you get your prize as soon as you claim it, if your prize is a gift card. Winzy apparently sends out the gift card within a month of your winning it – which is kind of silly if they could just email it. I will post again when I receive this first prize!

In the end, I like Blingo better, but Winzy is still a fun site to check out, and you can still win some nifty prizes.

If you sign up for either Blingo or Winzy, please be sure to be logged in when you search, so that I can win along with you! If you refer your own friends, tell them the same – if they win a prize, you win the same prize, as long as they’re logged in! (It only goes one level down; I don’t win if your friends win.)

Welcome to Spring! 20% Off at eBags.com – Offer Ends March 28th, 2007

By the way, see if Raining Jane IS coming to your town:

Schedule below the cut: Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve probably already talked about Raining Jane and how very wonderful they are, but now I have a new reason to yammer on about them! My friend was searching on YouTube and found a series of Raining Jane videos from a Fender show, so now you can see how fantabulous these ladies are, even if they’re not coming to your town!

(However, if they are playing locally, GO SEE THEM. No matter how terrific these videos are, Raining Jane is a thousand times better when they’re standing right in front of you. This is pretty mellow as their performances go, and the sound quality is crystal clear but doesn’t really capture their essence.) 😀

Convinced? Buy Raining Jane’s most recent album, Diamond Lane, on iTunes, at Amazon.com, or even better, through Raining Jane’s website.

Desperate Sails:

More Raining Jane awesomeness behind the cut:

Read the rest of this entry »

I am SO excited to be linking to Things From Another World (TFAW), partially because they have a TON of really awesome merchandise, but at least for now, mainly because they’re a retailer for the new Buffy comic.

I’m very excited about the pending arrival of this new comic. If it could just come five minutes ago, that would be good. Did I mention I’m excited? More Buffy! Buffy Season 8! An eighth season of my FAVORITE show ever! It’s supposed to pick up where the television series left off. Not that this gap hasn’t been filled by a million fanfic writers, but still – this comes from the TOP: Joss Whedon himself (well, in concept anyway).

Through TFAW you can preorder the next few issues, and see the cover art, which is already posted. They also have lots of Buffy memorabilia and other fun stuff, including the DVD box sets of Buffy AND Angel.

Check out more Buffy stuff!

Even if you’re not into Buffy, I hope you’ll take a moment to check out the store and see if they have anything that does interest you. 😀

• Barnes & Noble: 25% off one book
  • Use coupon T3Y9Y9T.
  • It says you can save 25% on one book and one DVD, but I’m not clear as to whether you can use this for both in the same order. Give it a try!
  • Expires March 19, 2007

Here’s another great reason to give Netflix a try: Subscribers can now watch a limited number of movie hours right on their computers. Depending on your subscription plan, you get a selected number of hours each month to watch movies right from the Netflix website! I think it’s related to the dollar amount you pay – so the $9.99 plan gets you 10 hours a month, and the $14.99 plan gets you 15 hours per month – in addition to the DVD rentals.

They don’t have the entire stock of movies available, but there is a HUGE selection, and I have the feeling that they’ll make more films available as the service gets more popular. I believe they’re making the service available to customers gradually, but everybody should have it by June. We’ve already watched a few movies, and it’s SUCH fun! We even upgraded our plan so we can get more viewing hours each month (and more DVDs at a time!).

Did you ever have the urge to watch a certain movie right this minute? Satisfy your movie cravings now!

FINALLY! A sale that inlcudes prints! I’ll be using this one myself! With the discount, you can get prints for about 13 cents apiece.

• Kodak Gallery: Five Day Sale! Get 20% off purchases over $15.
  • Use coupon code “PRESIDENTPRINTS”
  • Expires 2/23/2007

Just added a TON of new shopping links on the sidebar, so look for coupons for those sites soon! 😀

I’d forgotten about this, until I received a reply recently that said, simply, ‘Thank you.’ I guess sarcasm is completely lost on them.

I received this email from the American Family Association. All links were included in the email, and I’ve left their emphasis (here’s some background about the AFA’s fabulous emails, if you need reminding):

May 11, 2006

Ford Makes Historic Move in Support of Groups Pushing Homosexual Marriage

Dear Obscanity,

Sign the Pledge! Earlier this year, Ford Motor Company sponsored a program showing two lesbians passionately kissing each other. Now the automaker has made an in-your-face move against traditional marriage advocates with the historic step of advertising all their name brands in a homosexual magazine. This followed a request by AFA that Ford withdraw from supporting any homosexual magazine.

In the May issue of the homosexual publication OUT, Ford has advertised all eight of their brand automobiles. This is first time in history that Ford has advertised all their brands in a homosexual publication.

In this issue of OUT, which Ford supported with their advertising, are articles such as Nightlife: Party All the Time. Here is the description OUT gave of that article: ‘Rockin’ and raunchy queer clubs are making a comeback, and we tell you where the three hottest places to play are.’

Another article was The Mix: Scary Lady, Porn 2 Go. Here is the OUT description: …porn stars cook up their favorite meals for your pleasure…’

Under the title The Long and Short of It, we find this description by OUT: Ronni Radner goes inside Runt, a weekly party for bite-size gay guys and the men who love them, and looks at the rise of the vertically challenged queer man.

To view the front cover of OUT, click here. To see the Ford ad supporting OUT, with all their brands, click here. Notice the wording at the bottom of the ad: ‘Standing strong with America’s families…’ Since this ad was run in a homosexual publication, evidently Ford considers two homosexuals to be a ‘family.’

To which I responded:

‘I want to thank you for the emails you send out regarding homosexuals in the media; were it not for you, I would never get to see two men posing half-naked on a magazine cover, or two girls kissing on TV. Like the rest of your readership, I very much enjoy staring at these images as I commend myself on standing up for morality. You brighten my day with your continuous flow of pictures which I can behold with revulsion as I print them out and paste them on my walls as reminders of your generosity and selflessness. Thank you, AFA. Thank you.’

Tell me if this doesn’t seem more like a promise or an advertisement than a warning:

WARNING: By scrolling down this page, you will see only a few of the offensive photos taken at the last Gay Games. There are dozens more. These photos are provided for informational purposes and only to show the types of activities Kraft Foods is sponsoring at the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago.

Scroll down to see photos.
Scroll down to see photos.
Scroll down to see photos.

I shit you not. This is on the “Gay Games Proof” page created for and linked from the American Family Association’s most recent email, which proclaims, “Kraft Says It Proudly Supports The Gay Games,” and offers these photographs as a representative example of activities commonly held by and/or sponsored by the gay games.

Never mind that these photographs bear the prominent copyright of chrisgeary.com, which is a pornographic site (heads up, AFA members! Not only are they sending you free porn, but they’re telling you where to find more!!). Never mind that these photographs were obviously taken of chrisgeary.com models, for chrisgeary.com. No, clearly these photographs represent the heart, soul and core of the Gay Games. It’s like sending a porn crew to dance outside a junior high school and then using their pictures to convince people that this is what sex education is like. It bears no relevance to anything. (Speaking of inappropriate behavior, did we all hear how Phucking Phred Phelps and his Klan o’Krazies just went to an elementary school to protest and threaten hellfire and brimstone for the homasexshuls because some little kid wrote an essay about Ellen DeGeneres?)

I can add this latest AFA email to my Hall of Shame, along with the following classics I’ve shared in previous posts (emphasis added):

“On December 31, 2004, CBS re-aired an episode of Without A Trace, complete with an extended teen-age orgy scene. The original broadcast of this episode had thousands of FCC complaints against it, which were tossed out in the November FCC/CBS “back-scratching” deal. Click here to view the abominable Without A Trace scene for yourself! Be warned, it contains offensive and graphic scenes.“

and

“YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE THIS ABOUT PROCTER & GAMBLE, SO WE INCLUDED THE PROOF! . . . Suppose I told you Procter & Gamble created and ran an ad that showed two men (in fuzzy focus at top center of the ad) in bed after an apparent sexual encounter. . . Suppose I told you the ad showed clothing scattered across the floor like the two men were in a hurry to get undressed and get into the bed. . . [Thousands of self-righteous closet-cases are nodding their heads eagerly at this point, anticipating the next line even as they savor the last.] Suppose I told you the P&G ad was captioned with these words: “You were more concerned with taking them off than folding them up.” (In other words, the two men just could not wait to get into bed to have homosexual sex.) . . . Suppose I told you this ad, which leaves the impression that homosexual sex is normal, thrilling and exciting, was created by P&G and run in a homosexual publication called Xtra. I know you would have a hard time believing me. So see it for yourself. Click here to see the ad. If that link is no longer active, Click here. There should be no doubt P&G is aggressively promoting the homosexual agenda. A company doesn’t create and run an ad that leaves the impression that homosexual sex is thrilling and exciting unless they support the homosexual agenda. . .”

How many times can you say homosexual in one email? Does it get them off to say it? Do they say it with that conservative twang, which comes in several delicious variants? You know which ones — the two most common are “HomaSECKshul” and “HowmowSECKshools.” God forbid they should actually say SEX. Hmm. I wonder how the author of these emails says it. Really, I just wonder how old the naked men are — you know, the ones you know he’s imagining with relish as he drools drawls it out.