Thinking about the world one Monday morning
August 24th 2008 15:59
Lesbian marriage may be newly legal in global trend-setting US state California, but old-fashioned discourses permeated Ellen DeGeneres' attitudes to her now wife Portia de Rossi. Says the comedian and talk show hostess: "What can I say? I'm the luckiest girl in the world. She's officially off the market. No one else gets her. And now she'll cook and clean for me."
Ellen's 'luckiest girl' comment makes her post-nuptial gushing indistinguishable from that of any past Californian newlywed. It's a cliche that irks me - she's taking part in a practice which provides the perfect backdrop for innovative sentiment, original declarations of jubilation and unconventional explorations of the beauty of language, yet instead of being motivated to find new ways of expressing herself, she's resorting to an expression that will make a lot of people groan.
As for the latter half of the comment, it sounds as if Portia is being relegated to the traditional devalued female role of 'trophy wife', who assumes all the domestic chores without complaint. Ellen's possessiveness carries traces of machismo which is sad to see, not because she's a woman but because machismo is a product of patriarchal culture which erodes the liberties of both men and women where it is practiced.
So, girls who like girls, choose your role models carefully. Don't let celebrity couples set the standard - invent your own, and only pay attention to what others are doing when it inspires you.
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I just saw the Beijing 2008 Closing Ceremony, and I was quite impressed with the elaborate, modern collectivist displays that China orchestrated. I was even more impressed by the performance from London, which gave me one postmodern sight to revel in after another. Even the logo, which reminds me of a crinkled up Union Jack, is pomo:
The uniformity of Chinese costumes and synchronicity of movements made the London contingent stand out all the more, with everybody wearing a unique outfit, assuming a unique position, and some even managing to sparkle in dark grey suits. I didn't realise how much I was missing a multi-cultural model of a group until the dancers showed up wearing all sorts of colours in their skin pigment! It felt vibrant, spontaneous and very mighty. A humourous touch was added with the introduction of umbrellas, which somehow transformed from the same dark grey to glowing spirals of blue, pink and yellow by the end of the performance. Then there was the red double decker bus, the top floor of which opened up like a flower to reveal a stage/podium, upon which the classical soul and RnB-inspired Leona Lewis would sing, accompanied by rocking guitar riffs from some no doubt famous gentleman whose name eluded me. Even David Beckham, famously metrosexual and famously a champion of football, was a silent presence (as was Jackie Chan during the Beijingers' performance) standing around lending his celebrity to the cause.
Between the excellent video campaign London provided for 2012, the logo and this teaser of things to come at Beijing, I am excited about the Olympics in England in a way I couldn't be about China. Don't get me wrong, I love China! It's people warm my heart a majority of the time... but the atmosphere about London is crackling in a distinctly postmodern way. It's nice to know that I'll have something to look forward to, four years from now!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of globe-trotting, while I would like to be 'based' in California (NorCal, SoCal, it doesn't matter, as long as it's Progressive City/Town, Cali), or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say i would like to return to it with greater regularity than other places, something would be very wrong if I couldn't take off at any time to take part in conferences, exhibitions, performances and the day-to-day life of regions all over the world.
So I'd like to leave you with a beautiful sight - the world:
And a few of its citizens:
Ellen's 'luckiest girl' comment makes her post-nuptial gushing indistinguishable from that of any past Californian newlywed. It's a cliche that irks me - she's taking part in a practice which provides the perfect backdrop for innovative sentiment, original declarations of jubilation and unconventional explorations of the beauty of language, yet instead of being motivated to find new ways of expressing herself, she's resorting to an expression that will make a lot of people groan.
As for the latter half of the comment, it sounds as if Portia is being relegated to the traditional devalued female role of 'trophy wife', who assumes all the domestic chores without complaint. Ellen's possessiveness carries traces of machismo which is sad to see, not because she's a woman but because machismo is a product of patriarchal culture which erodes the liberties of both men and women where it is practiced.
So, girls who like girls, choose your role models carefully. Don't let celebrity couples set the standard - invent your own, and only pay attention to what others are doing when it inspires you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I just saw the Beijing 2008 Closing Ceremony, and I was quite impressed with the elaborate, modern collectivist displays that China orchestrated. I was even more impressed by the performance from London, which gave me one postmodern sight to revel in after another. Even the logo, which reminds me of a crinkled up Union Jack, is pomo:
It's reminiscent of letters, but doesn't spell anything out except perhaps the initials of a phrase of your imagination
The uniformity of Chinese costumes and synchronicity of movements made the London contingent stand out all the more, with everybody wearing a unique outfit, assuming a unique position, and some even managing to sparkle in dark grey suits. I didn't realise how much I was missing a multi-cultural model of a group until the dancers showed up wearing all sorts of colours in their skin pigment! It felt vibrant, spontaneous and very mighty. A humourous touch was added with the introduction of umbrellas, which somehow transformed from the same dark grey to glowing spirals of blue, pink and yellow by the end of the performance. Then there was the red double decker bus, the top floor of which opened up like a flower to reveal a stage/podium, upon which the classical soul and RnB-inspired Leona Lewis would sing, accompanied by rocking guitar riffs from some no doubt famous gentleman whose name eluded me. Even David Beckham, famously metrosexual and famously a champion of football, was a silent presence (as was Jackie Chan during the Beijingers' performance) standing around lending his celebrity to the cause.
Between the excellent video campaign London provided for 2012, the logo and this teaser of things to come at Beijing, I am excited about the Olympics in England in a way I couldn't be about China. Don't get me wrong, I love China! It's people warm my heart a majority of the time... but the atmosphere about London is crackling in a distinctly postmodern way. It's nice to know that I'll have something to look forward to, four years from now!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of globe-trotting, while I would like to be 'based' in California (NorCal, SoCal, it doesn't matter, as long as it's Progressive City/Town, Cali), or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say i would like to return to it with greater regularity than other places, something would be very wrong if I couldn't take off at any time to take part in conferences, exhibitions, performances and the day-to-day life of regions all over the world.
So I'd like to leave you with a beautiful sight - the world:
And a few of its citizens:
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Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
what made you pick those particular citizens?
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Here's the article I read her comment in... It doesn't sound like she's joking, unfortunately...
I picked the African girl because she was wearing a costume that was both minimalist yet elegant, both simple and unusual, and she looked proud and contemplative for someone still quite young, I picked the Cambodian boy because he looked so playful, carefree, and his skin was glowy, a gorgeous representation of the joys of childhood, and I picked Maggie Gyllenhaal because she was a white adult American (to provide some contrast) and smiling prettily, and taking the time to be charmed during a PR commitment. Three people of different skin colours, in different stages of life, who display signs of enjoying what life has to offer. Hope you liked!
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Ellen always struck me as somewhat emotionally stunted, but she does manage to come up with some very funny lines. She has a unique position in TV-land which I'm sure gives hope to a lot of other people.
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
whew... glad I got that orrff mah chest...
can anyone tell I am in a slightly testy mood?
cheers
fog
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
If it helps I talked to my ex-girlfriend for the first time in ages a few days ago and she didn't even entertain the idea that Ellen should be seen as a 'role model' in response to these comments, which I thought was encouraging - I'm sure a lot of non-hetero people already know that being lesbian, gay or whatever doesn't automatically make you 'kewl' and 'down with your values'. I guess I was writing this for people who might have been so inclined.
Hang in there.