October 11, 2006: Studio 60 versus 30 Rock
Two new SNL-type parodies, both on NBC, both with numerals in their name. Do I really have room in my life (and on my recordable DVD's) for both of them? Well, until tonight, the answer was no. Over the last few weeks, I've grown quite fond of Studio 60: Fantastic cast (especially that Matthew Perry! Could there be a better post-Friends comeback role for him?), snappy dialogue, exciting hour-long stories. I'm not yet convinced that Sarah Paulson is funny, but I think her character(a passionately religious comedian) could be interesting. So in my mind, 30 Rock, with Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Tracy Jordan, was over before it even aired. I love Tina's writing, but I'd rather see another actor perform her stuff. As an actor, she has the potential to irk me. More than that, I felt like 30 Rock would make Mondays feel like a lame sequel to Mondays. And I hate sequels.
But then I got home from work early tonight, and I needed something to do with myself before LOST came on at 9pm. I decided to give 30 Rock a chance. And you know what? Tina wasn't half bad! She held her own alongside both Baldwin's delightfully oily TV/oven exec and Jordan's hilariously nutty, say-anything comedian. She did some of her usual self-deprecating shtick, but she was also feisty and fun in an appealing Mary Tyler Moorish way. And the half-hour length, instead of feeling abrupt, made the laughs all the more precious, and left me wanting more (take note, Ugly Betty).
Of course, television shows follow trends, just like anything else. We've seen the legal trend (Ally McBeal, The Practice, Boston Legal), the crime trend (the CSI franchise, the Law & Order franchise), the scary catastrophe trend (Invasion, Surface, Jericho), the I-see-dead-people trend (Medium, The Ghost Whisperer), among others. Not all of those shows felt like retreads; there was a time when I was a simultaneous fan of both Ally and The Practice.
I'm still skeptical of whether Studio 60 (dramatic SNL spoof) and 30 Rock (funny SNL spoof) can co-exist on TV in general, and on my TV in particular. But until my recordable DVD's fill up, I think I'll keep watching them both.
May 18, 2006: Nicole Kidman to Keith Urban: Marry Me, or Sit Home and Watch Survivor Tonight While I Party With Diplomats and World Leaders
Nicole Kidman's engagement to country music star Keith Urban was all over the international news today. While Urban's spokesman officially confirmed the engagement to Reuters on Tuesday, People magazine says that Kidman broke the news to them during an interview a day earlier, on Monday. According to People, Kidman was in NewYork City last weekend to host the 30th Anniversary UNIFEM gala. In response to what was most likely a reporter's nosy question about her date, Kidman told People, "He's actually my fiancé. I wouldn't be bringing my boyfriend."
Got that, unmarried women? Your boyfriend may accompany you to dimly-lit bars, apartment parties (unless socialites or party photographers are present), parks, island vacations, department stores and even weddings. But when it comes to a "serious" event like a gala to benefit an international NGO, either go solo or propose. Wearing a boyfriend on your arm to such a high-profile soiree is even tackier than sporting a Banana Republic handbag.
It sounds like Nicole is borrowing a page from the Brangelina or TomKat relationship guide. The thinking there: in order to be taken seriously as a humanitarian, an actor, or a mother, you must be married. Otherwise, you're just a woman with with a cause, a talent, or a kid -- and a partner.
April 30, 2006: What's in a name?
My sister and I will be the last to bear our father's family name. Either we'll get married and take on our husband's name, or we'll keep our names and simply die. I suppose we could try to pass them on to our kids in lieu of our husbands' names, but that never seems to work. While Pikul certainly isn't the most musical or catchy of surnames, the realization that I bear the responsibility for its imminent demise still makes me sad. My father has never said anything about it, but I know it bums him out, too. Fortunately for my mother, her family name carries on with her brother, and his son, and so on.
That's why I was so intrigued to learn about the Icelandic naming system on a recent trip to Iceland. Icelanders' names are constructed using the patronymic system, which means that a person receives a Christian name from their parents, and then their surname is made by taking one of their parents' Christian names and adding the suffix of dóttir (for a girl) or son (for a boy). Traditionally, the root of the surname comes from dad's first name. So, if I were an Icelander, my name would be Corrie Ronsdóttir (Ron is my father's name). If I had a brother named Ryan (my mom has always said she likes that name), then his name would be Ryan Ronsson. I read that this naming system used to be common in all Scandinavian countries, but Iceland is the only one that continues to use it.
It's becoming increasingly common to use the mother's name as the root of the surname instead of the father's. This is due to several factors, one of which is that having a child out of wedlock carries less of a stigma in Iceland than it does here in the US, so there are more single mothers. In other cases, a mother may wish to end ties with the father. I've also heard that some spunky Icelandic feminists use this system as a social statement.
Since most Icelandic men have a last name ending in "son," and most women's names end with "dóttir," it could get tricky trying to remember who's who. That's why most Icelanders go by their full name or their first name, and the phone directories are organized alphabetically by first names. In speech, it's common to address people (formally as well as socially) by just their first name. Even the prime minister is addressed in meetings by his first name. So Björk, Iceland's most famous export, isn't trying to be an egomaniac by dropping her last name; she's just following Icelandic custom.
There are a few Icelanders who still have family names dating back to when the country was first settled, but they're rarely used, and the government is actually trying to do away with these altogether. Icelandic citizens are not currently allowed to take on a new family name – nor are they allowed to adopt the family name of their spouse.
I like the idea of extending the concept of family to all of the country's daughters, not just to those born to a particular set of parents. If I were an Icelander, I would have been introduced to the world as Ron's daughter, but I'd have been free to create the person to be known as Corrie through my actions and accomplishments. And I'd be able to hold onto my individuality throughout my life. Retaining my full name (and thus my identity) would also make marriage seem less like an act of shedding my old self, and more of a creating something new and distinct – specifically, a partnership, or perhaps a child with my husband's name as its roots, and its own unique first name and identity.
Sounds like a good system to me.
Women of the Oscars: Recap 2006
The voice of the Oscars belongs to a man. Usually, it's a funny white man, like Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal or Steve Martin. Once in a blue moon, a funny non-white man is invited to share the stage – or, in Chris Rock's case, to take control of the mic. The only woman to have hosted the Oscars is Whoopi Goldberg, who presided over the awards in 1993, 1995, 1998 and 2001. However, while Whoopi did a fantastic job, the shock and novelty of a black Oscar emcee may have distracted from the shock and novelty of a female Oscar emcee. And Whoopi hasn't produced an Oscar heir: this year, with Jon Stewart as host, we were back to funny white men.
So last night, knowing that I wouldn't be hearing a women's voice cracking jokes, introducing presenters, and narrating film montages, I decide to keep an eye and ear out for fabulous feminist moments – speeches and comments and tributes that put women first, that showcased women in film as more than arm candy, Oscar presenters or gracious white smiles in the sea of faces at the Kodak Theatre. Surely, in spite of what I've seen in US Weekly and E!, female celebrities would bring more to American's most prestigious film award show than fancy dresses and borrowed bling.
And they did! Sure, this year's slick, trimmed-down ceremony was a bit on the bland side (no hysterics, dramatics, polemics, or swans), but fortunately, it was also full of female-friendly moments.
And the honors go to…
Best Dig: Jon Stewart. After George Clooney won the award for Best Supporting Actor, Stewart joked to the Sexiest Man Alive that the Oscar would definitely help him "get laid." I'm the first to admit that if Stewart had made this comment to a woman (say, Charlize Theron), I'd be jumping all over him and calling him a chauvinist pig. But, as Stewart's jibe was directed at a supremely confident single man – a man who was recently featured in Vanity Fair's "all-nude issue" fully clothed and directing a squadron of dripping-wet undie-clad females, a man who has already been duly recognized for his directing, acting and flirting talents- this acknowledgement was perfectly appropriate, and delightfully irreverent.
Best Musical Performance by a Sexagenarian: Dolly Parton. When Dolly performed "Travelin' Through," the Oscar-nominated song from Transamerica, she may have looked a little too perky in her white pantsuit, and a little too perfect to be 60 years old. Still, it was great to hear that gay old spark n' warble in her voice. That woman rocks.
Best Shout-Out to the Moms of the World: Corinne Marrinan, producer of "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin." Launching into her acceptance speech for Best Documentary, Short Subject, Marrinan said, "As any woman with a family will understand" and then went on to bestow special thanks upon her kids and her mother. Nice.
Best Shout-Out to a Mom: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Best Actor. With a tremor of sincerity in his voice, Hoffman congratulated his mom, Marilyn O'Connor (who was in the audience) for "bringing up four kids alone," and thanked her for sharing his passions.
Supporting Actress Most Deserving of a Best Actress Nomination: Rachel Weisz. The clip from Weisz's fim, The Constant Gardener, featured the raven-haired beauty demanding that her diplomat lover, Ralph Fiennes, take her with him to Kenya. "Take me as your mistress, your lover, or as your wife," Weisz implores him. "I don' t care, just yes or no." As those who saw the film know, Weisz's character speaks not out of passion for Fiennes, but out of a passion for justice. Once in Africa, she intends to cause trouble, dig up dirt, and effect change. This was just one of the many scenes in which Weisz stole the movie out from under the befuddled-looking Fiennes, and while I wish she got more than just a "supporting" actress nomination, I was happy to see her recognized here. To prove that she's just as big-hearted in real life as onscreen, when Weisz took the stage to claim her much-deserved award, she paid homage to international relief workers.
(Now, we all know that the Supporting Actor Most Deserving of a Best Actor Nomination is Jake Gyllenhaal, but that's another post for another web site.)
Best Shout-Out to a Studio: Colleen Atwood, Winner, "Achievement in costume design" for "Memoirs of a Geisha.” In her acceptance speech, Atwood thanked Sony Pictures for "making a movie about a woman" I didn't realize Sony was hesitant to make women-friendly films (aren't they the distributors behind "Marie-Antoinette"?), but whatever. It never hurts to publicly congratulate studios for the female-focused films. Atwood also gave props to her teenage daughter.
Most Balanced Montage: This year's montage of "issue movies" gave female actors as much face time as male actors, and included shots of some the best broads in the business: Dolly Parton in Nine to Five, Sally Field in Norma Rae, Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis in Thelma and Louise, Jessica Tandy in Driving Miss Daisy, and Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give (that last one's not really an "issue movie," but who cares. It's still delicious to see Keaton basking in the gaze of a hopelessly smitten Keanu Reeves).
The Role Models: Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep, presenters of a lifetime achievement award to Robert Altman. In a seemingly ad-libbed tribute to the 81-year old director, these two gracious actors shared the stage, the limelight and the jokes.
Feel-Good Feminist Moment of the Night: Reese Witherspoon's acceptance speech for her Best Actress award. Witherspoon thanked director Jim Mangold for writing the character of June Carter Cash, whom she referred to as "a real woman, who has dignity and honor, and fear, and courage. A real woman." The pitch-perfect Witherspoon also named her grandmother as one of the biggest inspirations in her life, who taught little Reese to "have strength and self-respect, and to never give those things away." Finally, Witherspoon wrapped up her almost-eerily-eloquent acceptance speech with a tribute to the woman she played in "Walk the Line." "People used to ask June how she was doing, and she used to say, 'I'm just trying to matter.'" The actress then thanked the Academy for making her think that she had made work that meant something, and for making her feel like she "mattered." I'm sorry, but I've just got to say it: You go, girl!
Of course, the night had its low spots:
*When George Clooney stooped to give a congratulatory handshake to Oscar-nominated Heath Ledger, he had to reach over Leger's wife, Oscar-nominated Michelle Williams. No handshake for Williams. No acknowledgement, either.
*After receiving the award for Best Animated Short Film for The Moon and the Son, director John Canemaker totally hogged the microphone. His long-winded thanks prevented writer and producer Peggy Stern from getting a single word in. We watched her mutely mouthing her thanks as the orchestra drowned out her words.
*Post-ceremony, some reporters focused more on Reese Witherspoon's outfit than her award. Yet no one was heard asking George Clooney or Philip Seymour Hoffman where they got their tuxedos.
Slights aside, though, it was a good night for the ladies. And while we wait for the announcement of the next female host of the Academy Awards, these small yet sweet moments deserve our applause.