Natasha Richardson (1963-2009)

I recently found out that one my favorite actresses past away this month. Her name is Natasha Richardson and she was in many famous films (such as Nell, The Parent Trap, and Maid in Manhattan). She also did stage work, acting in plays like Tennesee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire.

Richardson came from a long line of actors and actresses; her mother being    the legendary Vanessa Redgrave and sister Joely Richardson (some might recognize her as Julia McNamara on Nip/Tuck).

 

     Natasha was on a skiing trip in Quebec, Canada on March 16^th taking a skiing lesson. In the process, Natasha fell and consequently suffered head injury. After her accident, she was able to hold conversations with the paramedics who came to the scene, so she was not admitted to the hospital right away. It wasn’t until 3 hours after she returned to her hotel room, since she was complaining of a headache, that she was taken to the closest hospital. Subsequently, Natasha was transferred to a different hospital in Montreal, Canada- at this point she was in critical condition. About seven hours later, Richardson was taken to a hospital in New York via airplane. It was there, at Lenox Hill Hospital, that Natasha Richardson passed away.

No one is entirely sure what exactly caused her death, specifically, why this head injuy turned fatal. Research shows that even a small head injury can lead to death, so one must not delay when an accident like such occurs.

At any rate, REST IN PEACE, Natasha! Your theatrical grace and elegance will be forever admired!

 

Fatal Attraction, Swim Fan, Cruel Intentions and the Femme Fatal…

     We’ve all seen it happen; Boy meets girl, their eyes meet, and eventually its love at first sight. But what if something goes awry? What happens when this feeling of “love” is not mutual and instead of ‘love at first sight’ it becomes a matter of LUST at first sight?  Infatuation is not all its cracked up to be.  It can become an agonizing and disgusting process.  Some people take this aspect of lust way too far; we see this example in popular movies.

      The other night, I was watching Cruel Intentions starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe, and Selma Blair. For those of you who have not yet seen this film, it was popular in the late 90s  (1999) and depicts a love/ lust triangle between the main characters Kathryn (played by Gellar), Sebastian (Ryan) and their “conquests” Annette (Witherspoon) and Selma. Gellar and Phillippe make a perverted bet at the beginning of the movie, stating that if Sebastian has sex with Annette ( who is the headmaster’s daughter) before the school year starts, then he gets to have intercourse with his step sister Kathryn. If he fails, Kathryn gains possession of Sebastian’s beautiful car. Ultimately, Sebastian falls in love with his “conquest” Annette, Kathryn being the bitch that she is ends up turning on him and he gets killed. Karma falls on Kathryn in the worst way by the entire school learning all of her horrible tactics at Sebastian’s funeral; including the fact that she is a HUGE crack snorting hypocrite.

      Another example of crazed femme fatal roles comes from the all famous film entitled Fatal Attraction. In this movie (Starring Glenn Close and Michael Douglass), Glenn’s character meets Michael’s at a corporate dinner event. Everything seemed good and fine in the beginning, but then things got a bit more serious- with the two meeting for “lunches” and going out for coffee. Next thing you know, Michael is meeting Glenn in her apartment for dinner and they end up sleeping together, causing him to be cheating on his wife. Michael knows what he’s doing is wrong, and tries confronting Glenn about their actions and tells her that they must STOP, but she has this horrible hold on him- Glenn’s character wants what she cannot have and is an insane and psychotic individual who will attempt any action it takes to try to be with Michael (including following him home, kidnapping his child, and claiming to be pregnant with his child). Sorry to be a killjoy, but I shall come to the conclusion that whomever is reading this entry has seen this movie- the ending of this thriller depicts Glenn eventually trying to kill everyone off (Michael and is his wife), but ironically, Glenn is the one who dies (gets stabbed/ drowns in the bathtub).

      The final film that I wish to describe is one of my personal favorites called Swimfan. This one is basically an updated 2000’s version of Fatal Attraction, with pretty much the same plot- only it is set in a high school setting. The main character is a taken member if the swim team of the high school the actors attend. He has a very happy and functional relationship with his girlfriend until a Southern Belle comes and takes everything away from him (his job, his chance at a swimming scholarship for college, the tight relationship he has with his mother, etc). After multiple turns of events, the Southern Belle goes postal and ultimately gets killed off- causing everyone else to live happily ever after (again similar to Fatal Attraction’s plot). 

CHRIS CROCKER!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2xZmyADubEhahahaaha

I love Chris, he's so flippin' HILARIOUS! For those of you who have not heard of him, he is the youtube star who created the "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE" video about two years ago.

This video (where Chris is crying hysterically, requesting that people stop talking about Britney Spears; that they give her a break, claiming that she is only human, not entirely well emotionally, and that if anyone had a problem with her, they go through him first) was discovered online by millions of  people and criticized  by the press and various television stations

  There is much controversy that comes with Chris and his videos- he voices his opinions regarding gay rights/marriage, vents about his personal love affairs, and makes videos in the oddest places (fast food drive up windows, random connivence stores with friends, the parking lot of a porno super store/glory hole joint etc.) Some might find Chris a bit strange, due to the fact that he's a she (hair extensions, make-up, his extreme feminine characteristics, and so on), but I for one find his youtube videos to to extremely entertaining. 

Why does everything have to be about sex??

Sex in everything from exercise to Hannah Montana - Editorial

While sitting here contemplating whether or not I should do reading/research or go to bed (story of my life- hahaha), I couldn't help but wonder "why does everything have to be about sex"/ "why is the world we live in so obsessed with sex?" I came across an article entitled Sex in everything from exercise to Hannah Montana that I found to be interesting and worthy of sharing on this blog.

     In a nutshell, this editorial discusses various aspects of sex appeal that the world sends to us. These subjects include sports, exercise, advertisements, and the fact that there are certain characters on the Disney Channel who are overtly sexualized. The first subject covered: sports- apparently there are some people who requested that POLE DANCING be added to the genre of sports in the olympics. "Well, that's just silly; WHY would anyone in their right minds want this?!", one might be asking. The reasoning for this is because pole dancing is full of grace, fluidty, and strength- it reminds some people of gymnastics. Okay, seriously- when I think of gymnastics, the LAST thing on my mind is pole dancing! 

     On to advertisement; let's just face it- SEX SELLS. This editorial talks about how gorgeous women are used to sell things like beer, cars, and furniture; but an interesting fact that it brings up is that of Mr. Clean: according to this source, "...he may be bald and a cartoon, but he is muscular and he helps clean the floor". 

     The final point I'd like to bring up about this editorial in particular is that regarding some popular characters on the Disney channel and how they are overtly sexualized. Hannah Montana is a big one- many young girls idolize over her, watch her television show, and sing along to the cute little song she sings. At the same time however, the media is truly over sexualizing her. Granted she is getting older and some might think she needs to be a little bit more "mature" for the media, but seriously- what example is this setting for the younger girls who love Hannah and are too young to be exposing themselves to all that. 

Humm... okay, perhaps I am just a ranting, raving, conservative- lol; but I just figured I'd share what's been on my mind in regard to the media. Ciao for now! ;-)

If the world's a stage....

     Whatever one's walk of life may be, we are all spectators in one way or another. One might be walking down the street and be the witness of a car accident,  robbery, or some other unfortunate event. People have tendencies to stare at others all the time- especially at the bus stop, on buses, or any public place in general. For the sake of media, however, we are truly spectators in many ways. Film is a very important spectator's sport. Individuals go to the movies everyday. One person could see the same film that myself or a friend viewed, but have a different interpretation  (theories) of it. 

    

      A particular theory that I have recently learned about in Media Criticism class is a psychoanalytic one that has to do with film and cinema narratives. This theory revolves around the idea that there is much visual pleasure involved with the film media and the reasonings behind this claim. One main reason that is given to support the claim or idea that visual pleasure abound is that of the image of the castrated woman/ her absence of a penis. According to the studies of Freud and more recent studies from Lacan, there is a type of fetishism involved with the human psyche and this fetishism strongly suggests that society constructs the male structure and that it is a result of what's "missing" from the female anatomy (that they are "incomplete" by not having male genitalia).

      

    In all honesty, I was a little freaked out when I first heard about this theory, but after reading about it in Laura Mulvey's  article entitled Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, and taking a look at various examples from well known films (such as Hitchcock's Vertigo, and Rear Window), my perspectives have been broadened a bit. For example, if one were to look at the movie Rear Window, one would see the trend of a the main character (Jeffries) being a spectator, a "peeping Tom", if you will. He had an interesting relationship with his girlfriend Lisa in the sense where when he was looking out of his apartment window and into her's, there is an aspect of eroticism, yet when the barrier is broken (when she enters his apartment), he sees what has really been going on in her living quarters; a dangerous man had been threatening her. He then saves his girlfriend from a harmful intruder. I found this to be interesting. 

ZOMBIES in area...RUN!

While surfing the internet last week, I came across a shocking article on MSNBC.com entitled,  Pranks with electronic road signs stir worry. 

According to MSNBC.com:

Collinsville- Illinos- Pranksters in at least three states are messing with electronic road signs meant to warn motorists of possible traffic problems by putting on notice about Nazi zombies and raptors. And Highway safety officials aren't amused. 

The latest breach came Tuesday during the morning rush hour near Collinsville, Ill., where hackers changed a sign along southbound Interstate 255 to read, "DAILY LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES."

A day earlier in Indiana's Hamilton County, the electronic message on a board in Carmel's construction zone warned drivers of "RAPTORS AHEAD- CAUTION."  (courtesy of http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29017293/)

     This article goes on to inform is that not only did this disturbing prank occur in Illinois, but also in Texas and that those who tamper with the traffic announcement boards are subject to a hefty fine ($250 and in some states up to $5,000). These hoaxes that were broadcasted on the electronic boards are not a laughing matter... an individual who is suffering from a mental disorder could have gone into hysteria, thinking that there are literally zombies/ aliens in the area. This incident reminds me of the War of the Worlds, when Wells broadcasted a program on the radio that informed the public that there is some sort of invasion of aliens in the area. This occurrence caused a great uproar; many listeners actually believed him and were in a huge state of PANIC. This shows that not only does the media have a very strong hold on us, but that one must be careful what they jest and poke fun at. What might be a joke to one person might be a horrific, life or death issue to another.