Five Things I Just Don't Get

1. ANIME I want to like anime.  I'm totally into Japanese language and culture and I dig the style & exaggerated features of anime characters.  That said, I don't understand the enormous popularity of it.  The cutesy-ness of it, the stories... they do nothing for me. 2.  KARDASHIANS Up until about a year ago, I was blissfully unaware of what a Kardashian was.  I thought it was a bonus word which might come in handy someday, but now I know that "Kardashian" has very little to do with intelligence.  I still can't tell any of the sisters apart; I don't even know how many sisters there are.  With their increasing empire and unfortunate influence on American culture however, Kardashians are becoming harder to avoid.  [It helps that I don't have cable.] 3.  EGYPT'S BAN ON BELLY-DANCING Under the regime of President Mohamed Morsi, a Cairo court recently ordered a TV channel off-the-air because it broadcast belly dance clips.  These belly dance clips were deemed "sexually explicit" and in direct violation to strict Islamic standards which require women's bodies to be entirely covered except for their faces.  I'm no expert, but didn't belly-dancing originate in Egypt and Turkey?  Hasn't belly-dancing been around for eons?  Like since Mesopotamian times? 4.  MY STRANGE ADDICTIONS On a lark, I checked out this TLC series about people with unbelievably odd addictions.  There's the woman who eats toilet paper like popcorn, the ventriloquist who can't go anywhere without her puppets, and the woman who can't fall asleep without having a running blowdryer on the bed next to her.   I've seen enough episodes now to wonder about things like: why didn't they pair the woman addicted to "collecting rocks" in the same episode with the woman addicted to "eating rocks"... seems like a win-win solution there.  Privately, I also wonder why I'm strangely addicted to My Strange Addictions.  Is there a cure for that? 5.  VIOLENCE IN THE MEDIA Why does it seem like every other week there's a cover story about the proliferation of violence in entertainment and the media?  Just this last week, The Los Angeles Times devoted the front pages of both the Calendar section and the Arts & Music section to this very topic.  I skipped reading both stories. How can there be any more to say about this topic?  It's the week before the Academy Awards!  Isn't there anything else entertainment-related to report?   I'm not saying that movies, video games and television content aren't violent.  I'm just getting tired of the constant "blame game."  [I think violence in America has more to do with what's lacking in our culture than what people are watching on their TV screens.] ©2013 by KLiedle

She May Be Lively, But I Don't Get It

Whenever I see the covers of OK and Star and In Touch, I realize they're all the same magazine. I feel the same about the stars they write about. Maybe I'm just getting older, but I don't recognize any of them anymore.

They're all clumped together: leggy blondes with no distinguishing features. Some have kidlets that look exactly like them. Sometimes there's a dash of a Kardashian thrown in for extra spice, but I wouldn't know. I don't know what a Kardashian is.

Stars They're Just Like Us! screams the caption in every issue of those magazines. I keep flipping the pages-- looking for the stars.

Where are they? Maybe they're so much like us that I can't recognize them anymore.

On rare occasions, an Emma Stone or an Ellen Page emerges from the crowd with some level of genuine talent and elusive star power, but it doesn't happen very frequently. And even Ellen Page has the capacity to annoy me. (Juno anyone?) And everyone missteps... ( The House Bunny, Ms. Stone?)

I don't watch TV. Maybe that's why I can't pick out a Gossip Girl from a line-up. Maybe that's why I don't have any idea who Blake Lively is. I certainly couldn't name anything she's been in. When I see her face, my mind responds with zero recognition. (In other words, I don't even know I'm seeing her face.)

However, the fashion world loves her. She's seduced them with some invisible power based on pixie dust and empty calories and Gossip Girl- equivalent wardrobe possibilities. What designer wouldn't want to dress a gossip girl? I don't blame Ms. Lively. I just feel like an ingenue should build up solid credits and flex her acting muscles before romping around in haute couture by designers with more name cred than she has.

In IMDB message boards regarding Blake Lively, one contributor posted the question:

Why is she so famous? Several people posted theories, but no one had the answer. Maybe because there isn't one. What I do know is the question: Why is she so famous? could be directed to any number of faceless actresses these days.

Who crowned this new generation of stars? I don't get it.

****

In a recent interview I read part-way, Lively admitted to having 600 pairs of shoes. Perhaps she should make a Goodwill donation and watch the Iranian film, Children Of Heaven, by director Majid Majidi. In that film, a young boy accidentally loses his sister's shoes and must share his own shoes with her for several weeks to avoid telling their parents.
(1997 Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film)

© 2012 by K. Liedle