You know, it may be un-empowering or even sexist to refer to menstruation as “the curse,” but I don’t care – that’s exactly what it is! There’s no better name for it. Sometimes I really wonder what the point of all this torture is.
Whenever I return from Paris, my clothes reek of cigarette smoke. All my sweaters and trousers stink. Even with the ban on smoking in cafes, it doesn’t matter. I don’t even recall being that close to smokers, so the strong stench on my clothes surprises me. There must just be smoke in the atmosphere. Off to the laundry now…a post-Paris ritual.
Since it’s the Oscars tonight, I thought I’d post a link to this article “Don’t Give an Oscar to The Reader.” The author makes a number of strong points. I didn’t completely dislike The Reader, but there are many things about it that are disturbing in terms of how it handles the Holocaust. The article I linked to places The Reader into a genre of “Holocaust revisionism,” which is along the same continuum as Holocaust denial. Very disturbing.
I know someone who is from a cultural background that’s, well, let’s just say hostile to Jewish people. This person saw The Reader and told me that he didn’t understand what the big deal is about the Holocaust. He said that anyone who participated in the Holocaust was just doing their duty for their country, even if it was wrong, and that they shouldn’t be blamed for it now. This person thought The Reader was just a nice romantic film. This encounter I had really highlighted the danger of a film like The Reader, which I think is irresponsible in so many ways. And I’ve had more than one debate with people about whether Kate Winslet’s character in the film was a Nazi. **Spoiler** She says in the film that she joined the SS and then took a job as a prison camp guard. She’s a Nazi! Why is it hard for so many people who see the film to admit this? She built relationships with Jewish women in the camp, then sent them to their deaths at Auschwitz. Plus she let 300 innocent women and children burn to death inside of a church. There is no way to rationalize these actions. There just isn’t. Many years later she felt no guilt about this whatsoever. She’s a monstrous person.
I’m back from Paris. I had a relaxing time and got the escape that I so needed and craved. I’m glad to be home, however, because I want to get back to work. I have so much to do!
For the most part it was very gray and cold in Paris, but I guess that’s to be expected this time of year. The place was packed with tourists, global recession be damned. I just wandered around mostly, lost in thought. I sat in gardens, browsed in shops, visited many English-language bookshops, read in cafes, went to late-opening at the Louvre on Wednesday night. It was lovely.
I love late-night Louvre and never miss it when I’m in Paris (on Wed. and Fri.). I took this picture of the crowd looking at the Mona Lisa, because that’s what’s interesting – not the painting itself, but the frenzy surrounding it:
On this visit to the Louvre, I visited the Napoleonic apartments. If I’ve ever seen them before, I have no recollection of it. They were absolutely stunning. I thought the mannequins modeling the dresses were really a nice touch, given the French thirst for headlessness:
It is officially the beginning of half-term! YAY! I taught my last class of the week this morning and I have all of next week off. Sigh. of. Relief. I really need to get away. Since I returned in late December, it’s been nothing but freezing cold and miserable here. Aside from teaching, I’ve spent virtually all of my time at the computer writing…for seven long weeks. No theatre, no fun at all, just work and hibernation. I’ve made a lot of progress on my novel, but right now I feel burned out. I loathe January, but it’s long gone and February is half-way over as well. All good reasons to celebrate. This weekend I leave for Paris, just for a short trip. I can’t wait to get out of here, meaning the place where I live, the fishbowl, the collegiate version of Big Brother. I know it’s cold in Paris as well, but who cares. There are cafes and museums there and more room to breathe. I booked this trip a few weeks ago because I knew that by this time I’d be absolutely stir crazy. I was right.
There is a lot more I’d like to write about the freedom of speech issues of the week. I saw an int’v with former London Mayor Ken Livingstone on the BBC in which he said that he supported the ban on Dutch MP Geert Wilders and that in Britain, there is no guarantee to freedom of speech like there is in the U.S. This is true in many European countries, some of which make Holocaust denial a crime. I find all of this to be so chilling. Since my brain is fried, I can’t write much more that is coherent right now, but I want to link to this editorial by Johann Hari called Why Should I Respect these Oppressive Religions? I agree with so much of what he wrote. The right to criticize religions (which often spread hate and intolerance and even encourage violence) is being curtailed by laws around the world and the mere act of criticizing a religion now makes one a racist, prejudiced and/or a hate monger. So much of this is coming from the left-wing, as evidenced by the Labour government banning Wilders. This is a big reason for my disillusionment with many so-called liberals of today, many of whom are spineless wimps who stand for nothing. So many religious groups preach values that are anathema to liberal values, yet too many liberals are too blinded by political correctness (or just plain idiocy) to stand up for their own values, which should include women’s rights and gay rights. The real danger is not the minority of people who criticize religions. The real danger is the religions preaching hate and intolerance, sexism and homophobia.
This is one of the most important issues of the day and I am going to start devoting a lot more of my time to getting involved with these issues. BTW, the editorial I linked to above was reprinted in an Indian newspaper. This week the editor was arrested for outraging Muslims and there were violent protests in the streets.
See you next week!
To update an earlier post, Geert Wilders arrived in London this afternoon and has been detained at Heathrow. I just listened to a live interview with him on the BBC News Channel. He said he’s in a detention center at Heathrow, where they have confiscated his passport and told him he will be sent back to Amsterdam within two hours.
His film is going to be shown at the Houses of Parliament this evening anyway, so this ban has achieved nothing besides the appeasement of religious extremists, who are as powerful here as any branch of government. I watched part of Wilders’ 17-minute film Fitna online last night. I stopped watching it because it shows extremely graphic footage of dead people from the WTC and I don’t want to see that, but overall, the production values of this “film” are a joke and worse than something the average 15-year-old would upload to YouTube. That the British government has banned him from the UK for this would be laughable if it weren’t such a terrifying example of the erosion of freedom of speech and human rights in this country.
Barack Obama being president (active):
Michelle Obama being a fashion model (passive):
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Some things never change.
In yet another blow for freedom of speech and democracy courtesy of the British government, Dutch MP Geert Wilders has been banned from entering the UK. He was due here for a screening of his controversial film about Islam, which he was invited to show by a member of the House of Lords. EU citizens normally travel freely within the EU, which is what makes this ban outrageous. In response to this, the government has stated that “It will stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country.”
This kind of ban is very selective. The government is paranoid that anything critical of Islam will trigger off violent protests from radical Muslim groups and thus, they actively attempt to censor any speech that is critical of Islam. If I were Muslim, I would be offended that the government thinks Muslims are incapable of handling any criticism of their religion.
What’s up with the Royal Mail?
Winter 2008: Ordered books from Amazon UK. Package lost in the post, never to be found. Thanks Royal Mail.
Summer 2008: Order very expensive rail pass for my trip around Europe. Have rail pass sent to STA Travel, as required. Rail pass is delivered to the wrong building. The receptionist at this building signed for it, then lost my package. I was left stranded in Europe. Thanks Royal Mail.
November 2008: My sister ordered something from Ebay UK and had it sent to me. Package lost in the post, never to be found. Thanks Royal Mail.
February 2009: My new American bank card is sent to my parents’ house in the States. My mom pays extra money to have this sent to me via special delivery. I desperately need this bank card, but my package has never arrived. Using the tracking number, it seems they’ve been attempting to deliver it to the wrong address, but we don’t know which address. Current status of my extremely important package: Lost in the post. Once again, thanks Royal Mail.
The bottom line: If you have anything important to send, do not use the Royal Mail. Their new motto says it all: Welcome to the Royal Mail – we really can’t be bothered.
I went to see The Reader this weekend. I don’t feel like writing a review, but during one of the *many* scenes where Kate Winslet appears semi-nude, the woman sitting behind me whispered to her husband: “Look, she has stretch marks!”
Sigh.
I didn’t want to write about Jessica Simpson, because she’s a talentless moron. But the hoopla around her recent weight gain isn’t really about her – it’s about our woman-hating culture. And even Obama has commented on it.
For those who don’t know, Jessica Simpson – whose entire career as a “singer” and “actor” is based upon her image as a thin, blond sexpot with big boobs – has recently gained weight, as seen in the magazine cover above. This is major news in the celebrity “journalism” world. All the magazines and tabloids (British and American) are running with this story. The coverage is so intense that Simpson apparently broke down during a concert last night. Jessica has good reason to cry. She has no talent and thus, there is no future for her as a fat singer. She is not Aretha Franklin. She is only popular because of her image and that’s it. If she isn’t thin, popular culture has no use for her – she might as well be thrown out with the trash. The reality of this for Simpson must be devastating.
Luckily, Simpson’s family have come to her defense. According to them, she’s not really fat, it’s just a problem with styling and camera angles. Whew.
When I refer to Simpson as “fat,” I mean she is fat by Hollywood standards. To me she is not fat. I would imagine this is her normal weight. She is probably still thinner than the average American woman. Her previous weight, as seen in The Dukes of Hazard, etc., was the result of excessive exercising and starvation diets. Simpson has recently said that this obsession with thinness is “not good for your mind; it’s emotionally destructive, it really is.” Clearly she could not take the emotional and physical strain and the 24/7 obsession that was required for her to maintain her bombshell figure. She thought she could just live like a normal woman and she would be accepted. Not surprisingly, Jessica Simpson is terribly naive and stupid.
Sometimes I really miss New York. Today I heard the tape of the air traffic controller talking to the pilot of the US Airways jet that landed in the Hudson River (click here to listen, short version, longer version). And I just have to crack up laughing when I hear the New York controller talking to the pilot. He’s just such a New Yorker, not just his accent but his whole demeanor. He’s very professional, of course, but even during this crisis, when a jet filled with passengers could plunge into NYC or NJ and kill everyone on the plane and hundreds on the ground, he sounds bored and slightly annoyed. At one point, when talking to Teterboro Airport in NJ, he actually sighs. He sighs! I love it. Only a New Yorker would take time to sigh during an emergency.
[BTW, I can just imagine Christian Bale in this situation. "Do you want me to f---in' crash this plane into the f---in' Hudson? DO YOU? I'm gonna f---in' kick your f---in' ass after we f---in' crash." Sorry, didn't mean to bring up Christian again, but now his actions are being called "reasonable" by others in Hollywood. I guess those of us outside of Hollywood just can't understand the stress of being an "actor" fighting cyborg machines and being paid millions to do it. Forget working to cure cancer or fight fires or land jets in the Hudson - acting is real stress!]
Anyway, I think this NY air traffic controller is the real hero of the story, just for the sheer comedy he provides now. I need to get back to NYC sometime this year, that’s for sure. Sometimes I really do miss it.
I have a long day of writing ahead of me and I really needed to laugh this morning. Voila! The Christian Bale rant that I wrote about yesterday has been turned into a dance mix. As the Guardian says, “It’s the expletive-strewn nervous breakdown you can dance to!” OMG, it’s hilarious! Be warned about the language…
Guardian link: Christian Bale’s Rant Is More Embarrassing for McG
I hereby retract my crush on Christian Bale. What a complete psycho! Listen to this audio tape of him going absolutely crazy on the set of “Terminator Salvation.” [Be warned this is laced with mega profanity.] The person he’s screaming at is the cinematographer, who screwed up a shot. Apparently, this happened just days before Bale was accused of assaulting his mother and sister – a charge I didn’t believe at the time, but now I do.
If anyone I worked with talked to me like that, I’d walk out and never return. Sure glad I don’t work in Hollywood with these a**holes.
the view across the street
Today the southeast of England has seen the worst snow for two decades. There were no buses on the streets of London this morning – none! [From the Daily Mail: "Every bus was withdrawn from service for the first time in living memory because of fears for passenger safety - not even the Blitz stopped the capital's buses running."] Most of the Tube lines faced total or partial suspension, though for the life of me I can’t understand why. Trains in this region of the country were suspended – everything going into and out of Victoria Station was canceled. Heathrow’s runways were closed. If you really needed to go somewhere today, I feel sorry for you.
Wow, I just looked out the window and it’s snowing!!! I quickly snapped this photo:
The weather forecasters have been predicting heavy snow, but normally they’re not to be trusted. I guess this time they were right. I’ve never seen so much snow in London and it’s still coming down. Yippee! It is worrisome though, because even 3/4 of an inch of snow can shut down the entire country [don't laugh, it's true]. Tomorrow will be a nightmare. What you see in this photo is, for London, the equivalent of a New England Nor’easter. I wonder if I’ll be teaching tomorrow? Well, at least I can walk there…
Matt Damon is going to be appearing in a 4th Bourne movie. Yay! And once again, he’s trashing James Bond:
“They could never make a James Bond movie like any of the Bourne films because Bond is an imperialist, misogynist sociopath who goes around bedding women and swilling martinis and killing people…He’s repulsive.”
Oh Matt, when you talk like that you make my heart swoon!
Anglofille is an American living in London, finishing up a novel and a PhD, taking photos, and blogging about expat life, books, feminism and perpetual angst.
