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From the Desk of Bob Mankoff…
John Stuart Mill’s famous dictum that the only antidote to bad speech is more speech also applies to humor. This Kim Warp cartoon works as a concise antidote to Seth MacFarlane’s performance at the Oscars.
In this case, I thought it would be interesting to let the cartoonist speak for herself. Take it away, Kim:
The discussion about the Oscars has moved on a little since I drew this cartoon. The comments I see floating across Facebook lately are more like, “Why did all the women go ape-shit? Seth MacFarlane was making a joke about himself. They’re acting like he’s Hitler!” I’ve been asking myself the same question, because, on a certain level, I went way out-of-proportion ape-shit, too. I’ve concluded that the boob song at the Oscars hit a hidden nerve with women. You know how when you go home for the holidays, you think you’re all over your childhood traumas and you’ve achieved something in life that they can’t touch? And then some jerky relative makes a joke putting you down about something you’d forgotten all about, and you go absolutely, inexplicably ape-shit? That was the nerve that Seth MacFarlane hit…
Continue reading: http://nyr.kr/ZgzkYl(Source: newyorker.com)
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Cartoon by Kim Warp. For more from this week’s issue: http://nyr.kr/Z7HgfB
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In Defense of the Happy Girl
Sasha Weiss considers why people find Anne Hathaway, Hollywood’s “happy girl,” to be so annoying: “Little girls learn very quickly to modulate their excitement if they want to be acceptable… Anne has somehow managed to retain that bright look, and many people would like to wipe it off her face.”
Continue reading: http://nyr.kr/XFpWAi
Photograph by Jason Merritt/Getty.
(Source: newyorker.com)
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"After a dutifully memorized laundry list of names, Hathaway closed with the wish that “someday in the not too distant future, the misfortunes of Fantine will only be found in stories.” I’m sure all the consumptive French prostitutes with bad dentistry who were watching the Oscars appreciated that."
—“Anne Hathaway: C+” Michael Schulman grades the Oscar acceptance speeches: http://nyr.kr/W8FSgy
…and, read David Denby on the First Lady at the Awards (“Not good, Academy. Pleaes don’t do it again”), and the night’s highs and lows: http://nyr.kr/15KxxRx
and Claire Hoffman on Seth MacFarlane, creepy imitator and Oscars host: http://nyr.kr/13iytgx
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"Events like the Oscars and the Super Bowl generate what game theorists call ‘common knowledge, which itself has value… If you thought nobody else was watching, would you really give up your Sunday night for such an event? Perhaps you would, but I would guess you are in the minority. The awareness that others are watching, and that you will be able to communicate with them about what happens, changes the cost-benefit calculus of the potential viewer."
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The 2013 Academy Awards
Though I’m a great admirer of the First Lady, I found Michelle Obama’s appearance… wildly inappropriate in its affirmation of the hard power behind the soft power—the connection of real politics to the representational politics of the movies, of the peculiar and long-standing symbiosis of Washington and Hollywood…
Richard Brody reviews the 2013 Oscars: http://nyr.kr/139DkAK
Katniss Wins! Sasha Weiss grades last night’s Oscar fashion: http://nyr.kr/13a9eNu
John Cassidy asks, “Is it rational to watch the Oscars?” http://nyr.kr/YwjPua
1. Photograph by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty. 2. Photograph by Jason Merritt/Getty. 3. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.
(Source: newyorker.com)
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The Oscars’ Hostile, Ugly, Sexist Night
Watching the Oscars last night meant sitting through a series of crudely sexist antics led by a scrubby, self-pleased Seth MacFarlane. That would be tedious enough. But the evening’s misogyny involved a specific hostility to women in the workplace, which raises broader questions than whether the Academy can possibly get Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to host next year. It was unattractive, and sour, and started with a number called, “We Saw Your Boobs.”
Continue reading Amy Davidson on the 2013 Academy Awards: http://nyr.kr/V1roxn
Photograph by Mark Davis/WireImage/Getty.
(Source: newyorker.com)
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NOW: Live Chat: The Academy Awards→
This week on newyorker.com, Richard Brody forecast which films are likely to win Oscar’s favor. Now, join Brody and our Culture Editor, Michael Agger to watch the ceremony and discuss it live: http://nyr.kr/WfLwIn
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Live Chat: The Academy Awards→
This week on newyorker.com, Richard Brody forecast which films are likely to win Oscar’s favor. On Sunday evening, he’ll discuss the show and the scene in a live chat with our Culture Editor, Michael Agger. Follow this link to leave a comment or ask a question about the awards, and come back on Sunday, at 7:30 P.M. E.T., to watch the ceremony with Richard and Michael: http://nyr.kr/WfLwIn
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The magazine piece that became ”Argo” almost wasn’t assigned. Here, Nicholas Thompson tells the story of its origins: http://nyr.kr/15zE5Cy
