‘POP’ Goes the Culture

Every year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does a few things really well during its Oscar ceremony and a few things really, really bad. This year was no exception.

But perhaps the worst afront was the absence of pop culture icon Farrah Fawcett in the memoriam tribute.

Fawcett, who passed away last June after a highly publicized battle with cancer, rose to fame as one third of the crime-fighting trio Charlie’s Angels in the late 70s but later on turned in high caliber big screen performances in Extremities, The Apostle and Dr. T and His Women.

The beloved actress, whose impact on popular culture remains immeasurable, deserved to be in the memoriam more so than some of the other performers featured in the tribute including Michael Jackson—who only made one feature film.

Shame on you, Oscar for leaving out the ultimate golden girl.

Deepest condolences to family and friends of Brittany Murphy. Murphy, who was just 32, died of an apparent cardiac arrest this morning in Los Angeles. Her credits included Clueless, 8 Mile and Uptown Girl.
Had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Murphy a few years ago. We had both attended a Vivienne Westwood fashion show during New York’s Fashion Week. Ran into her after the show and began chatting with her about her amazing performance as a suicidal teen with an eating disorder in Girl, Interrupted, which had just premiered a few months earlier. Ms. Murphy could not have been more delightful. Warm and funny, she couldn’t have been more gracious. I am very sad to hear about her tragic, untimely death. Rest in peace, Brittany.

Three years ago, audiences roared with laughter at Meryl Streep’s performance as Miranda Priestly, a cynical, bitchy, control-freakish fashion magazine editor in The Devil Wears Prada. A few weeks ago, the documentary The September Issue premiered—an insider’s look at the production of Vogue’s biggest issue and more importantly, a window into the world of revered and feared Vogue editor Anna Wintour—the supposed inspiration for Priestly.

Having worked for magazines and clocked in enough time schlepping bags up and down Fifth Avenue for photo shoots, I can honestly say that The September Issue accurately portrays the fast-past, frustrating, exciting, rewarding, and chaotic world of publishing. But more importantly, the documentary is an unapologetic look at who Wintour is … a demanding, driven perfectionist who expects nothing but the best from everyone … especially herself.

However, that’s not all she is. There’s a vulnerability about Wintour that is particularly moving and it comes across when she’s gazing at her daughter or describing how her father—a formidable former UK editor—chose her career for her. But it is when Wintour confesses that her siblings—all of whom sound like very “serious” people—find her livelihood ‘amusing’—that your heart breaks for her a little. It is then that you realize that at her core, the most powerful woman in publishing is very much like the rest of us feminists and that within her too, lurks that little girl who just wants to be loved.

I loathe reality television and just like with baseball, I don’t understand the national obsession.

Every week, millions tune into the dysfunction of other’s lives in an effort I believe, to tune out their own. I am proud to say that except for the occasional Bridezilla—I am not one of them.

It’s one thing to give your friends TMI—I’m guilty of it. But the world? Not necessary. As a matter-of-fact when I am having a moment where I miss the kind of reality that makes me want to roll my eyes and shake my head, I don’t turn on the television … I call my mother. (I love you, Mom.)

These people that participate in reality television, they don’t need, in my opinion, millions of people to critique their bad behavior or help them become better people—they need one person … a therapist.

We reward bad behavior enough in this world … is it really necessary to give these people star power?

I have so many friends who sit there and watch these shows obsessively. These are smart, professional people. I don’t get it. Read a book. Go for a walk. Have a “date” with your spouse. Life’s too short to watch other people waste the one they’ve been given. Make the most of yours.

Case in point: Two weeks ago, model Jasmine Fiore was most likely shopping for shoes, giggling with girlfriends and trying to decide what to have for dinner. Last week, a coroner was trying to figure out just who the heck her dismembered body belonged to. The other day her husband and alleged killer, reality television star Ryan Jenkins, opted to hang him self in a seedy Canadian hotel. And right now, out in Hell-A somewhere, a television exec is trying to convince himself it’s not déclassé to call Fiore’s mother and buy the rights to her daughter’s story.

Ironically, had Jenkins not allegedly killed Fiore, he’d probably be a household name anyway with tens of thousand of people wasting their time chatting about him around a watercooler. A contestant on the new reality show Megan Wants A Millionaire, Jenkins was handsome and by all accounts a real smooth talker. Unfortunately, he also had a criminal record that somehow got overlooked by the producers of the show. Oops.

So now, the show’s been pulled. I’m not heartbroken. However, I do feel bad for Megan who’s probably a nice girl who worked hard to get that big break. Hang in there, Meg… if you play your cards right, they might let you have a cameo in the movie-of-the-week adaptation. (Now that I will watch.)

Just like the dinosaurs that roamed this planet millions of years ago, the daytime drama is fading fast. Yesterday marked the end of an era, as the CBS soap “Guiding Light” taped its very last show. The drama will be broadcast for the last time on September 18, 2009—72 years after it first premiered on the radio. (Rumored to also be on the chopping block is CBS’ As the World Turns.)

Daytime viewership has dropped dramatically during the last decade and I for one am sad to see it go. Soaps have suffered unfair ridicule for much of their tenure but very few mediums have been able to impact audiences and provoke thought like the daytime drama. Long before there were award-winning primetime dramas like ER, Law & Order, Picket Fences, and Six Feet Under, soaps put social and major health issues on the front burner. Daytime tackled it all—homosexuality, date rape, incest, abortion, personality disorder, post-partum depression, substance abuse, HIV … the list goes on and on. And long before Jodi Piccoult would write a book about parents who gave life to another child so that they could use her as a bone marrow donor for their eldest, cancer-stricken daughter, All My Children had already been there, done that.

I have many wonderful memories of daytime both personally and professionally. I’ve been watching General Hospital since I was five years old and have on and off, been an avid fan of As the World Turns, All My Children, Days of Our Lives, Santa Barbara, Search For Tomorrow, and One Life to Live. My vast knowledge and passion for daytime even landed me one of the best writing gigs that I’ve ever had, covering AMC for a popular soap opera magazine. I have fond memories of that New York City set—which will be no more now that AMC is relocating to Los Angeles to save production costs—as well as time spent and wonderful interviews had with some of the nicest, gracious and most professional people that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. That list includes, but is not limited to, Cameron Mathison (Ryan), Marcy Walker (ex-Liza), Walt Willey (Jackson), Michael E. Knight (Tad), Jill Larson (Opal), Vincent Irizarry (David) and yes, Susan Lucci (Erica).

Here now, are my Top 10 Soap Opera Memories:

10. Frisco Jones returns to Port Charles to find Felicia marrying the man that tried to kill him, Colton Shore. (General Hospital)

9. Reva’s striptease and self-proclamation as the “Whore of Springfield” to a wheelchair- bound Josh. (Guiding Light).

8. Luke and Laura dancing in Wyndham’s Department store while on the run. (General Hospital)

7. The revelation that Doug Cummings was Kim Hughes’ stalker. (As the World Turns)

6. Nola’s Hollywood fantasies. (Guiding Light)

5. Stone’s death from AIDS. (General Hospital)

4. Adrienne confesses to her brother that their father has been abusing her. (Days of Our Lives)

3. Dr. Chuck Tyler’s romance with prostitute Donna Beck. (All My Children)

2. Bo kidnaps Hope from her wedding to Larry and they ride off on his motorcycle to Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero.” (Days of Our Lives).

1. Felicia learns that the heart that’s being given to her daughter, Maxie, is that of her niece, B.J. (General Hospital)

Have a favorite soap moment or storyline? Please share it.

The 80s were good times—at least for pop culture. Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were Must-See TV long before our favorite “friends” and Clooney arrived on the scene. Ingenue Laura Webber and heathen-turned-hero Luke Spencer finally made it official in front of 30 million viewers. Madonna and Michael defined the music scene, got us to dance and for better or worse—had us wearing gloves. And at the movies, John Hughes reigned supreme.

The writer, director and producer showed us in movies like Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller and my personal favorite, Some Kind of Wonderful that no one, but no one understood Generation X adolescent angst like he did.

On Thursday, August 6th, Hughes died of a heart attack in New York City. Sadly, before he could tell us how we all turned out. Rest in peace, Duckie.

As Time Goes By …

The other weekend, my very thoughtful boyfriend surprised me with a trip to Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, NY, which is currently running a movie series. For $15.00 per person, you get to hold each other under the stars and watch a flick while tantalizing your taste buds with two glasses of wine each and as many yummy hors d oeuvres as you can cram. Dates don’t get any cheaper or romantic than this—so pay attention, gents.

The movie on this particular Saturday night was—collective sigh, ladies—Casablanca. It is a movie that is beloved worldwide—and one that I’d never seen before. Starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca tells the story of star-crossed lovers who are reunited under troubling circumstances during World War II. Did I love it? I did—but not for the same reasons that I believe others do.

I was entranced not by Bogie’s swarthy sexiness, Bergman’s breathtaking beauty or the sultry backdrop of Africa, but by how much Casablanca lives on in our everyday lives—67 years after it premiered. Its quotes and music are deeply embedded in pop culture—according to the American Film Institute it has the most famous quotes of any movie, ever. Take a look:

Quotes from Casablanca:

“Play it again, Sam.”

“Here’s looking at you, kid.”

“I stick my neck out for nobody.”

“Round up the usual suspects.”

“We’ll always have Paris.”

“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.”

“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

A few days later, we saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Transformers has made a lot of money at the box office and it’s well worth the price of admission. Director Michael Bay has struck gold with this franchise and the special effects are nothing short of extraordinary. But in a few months, except for rabid Transformers fans, the only thing that anyone will remember is the shot of Megan Fox’s slow motion cleavage in the climax of the film.

What can I say? They just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

To learn more about Brotherhood Winery, visit brotherhoodwinery.net

As Time Goes By …

The other weekend, my very thoughtful boyfriend surprised me with a trip to Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, NY, which is currently running a movie series. For $15.00 per person, you get to hold each other under the stars and watch a flick while tantalizing your taste buds with two glasses of wine each and as many yummy hors d oeuvres as you can cram. Dates don’t get any cheaper or romantic than this—so pay attention, gents.

The movie on this particular Saturday night was—collective sigh, ladies—Casablanca. It is a movie that is beloved worldwide—and one that I’d never seen before. Starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca tells the story of star-crossed lovers who are reunited under troubling circumstances during World War II. Did I love it? I did—but not for the same reasons that I believe others do.

I was entranced not by Bogie’s swarthy sexiness, Bergman’s breathtaking beauty or the sultry backdrop of Africa, but by how much Casablanca lives on in our everyday lives—67 years after it premiered. Its quotes and music are deeply embedded in pop culture—according to the American Film Institute it has the most famous quotes of any movie, ever. Take a look:

Quotes from Casablanca:

“Play it again, Sam.”

“Here’s looking at you, kid.”

“I stick my neck out for nobody.”

“Round up the usual suspects.”

“We’ll always have Paris.”

“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.”

“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

A few days later, we saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Transformers has made a lot of money at the box office and it’s well worth the price of admission. Director Michael Bay has struck gold with this franchise and the special effects are nothing short of extraordinary. But in a few months, except for rabid Transformers fans, the only thing that anyone will remember is the shot of Megan Fox’s slow motion cleavage in the climax of the film.

What can I say? They just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

To learn more about Brotherhood Winery, visit brotherhoodwinery.net

This week, a little piece of my childhood slipped away with the passing of actress Farrah Fawcett. The All-American beauty lost her very public battle with cancer at the age of sixty-two. Ironically, the age that marked the end of her life is for most of us, the beginning of our “golden years.” However, Fawcett’s golden age happened much earlier.
The definitive sex symbol of the 1970s, Fawcett was a dream girl for millions—men wanted to love her; women wanted to be her. Very few stars of today exude such warmth and approachability. And fewer personalities still enjoy the longevity and loyal fan following that Fawcett experienced over four decades. Case in point: A poster of her clad in a red bathing suit, lioness locks flowing, remains the all-time bestseller—more than thirty years later.
Pundits of Charlie’s Angels like to throw “jiggly” barbs at the series. They criticize its “flimsy” storylines and scantily clad heroines as perpetuating the exploitation of females. I never saw it that way. Not then, not now.
In the late seventies having a successful primetime show with three female leads was groundbreaking. Every week, millions watched while Jill Munroe, Sabrina Duncan and Kelly Garrett outplayed con artists, located lost children, and foiled assassination plots. They were always savvy, self-sufficient and successful in achieving their objective—whether they were wearing bikinis or burlap. The three epitomized the new “female” that began to emerge in America; an intoxicating mix of intelligence and sexy—“The Intellexy,” as I like to call it.
Charlie’s Angels didn’t pave the way for breast fests like Baywatch—it blazed the path for smarter, more female character-driven series like Kate and Allie, Cagney and Lacey, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and The Closer. And more importantly, it empowered tens of thousands of little girls like myself to become the women we are today—smart, independent and brave.
As a child, I remember escaping the wrath of my alcoholic father by disappearing into the wooded area behind our Danbury home. It was within that natural shelter that I would pretend to be the “fourth” angel. I would run around dodging the bad guys along with my famous gal pals. Although pretend, those three women unwittingly brought a great deal of solace and comfort to a little girl who, in their “presence”, didn’t feel so alone.
Thank you, Farrah—you truly were an angel. May you rest in peace.

This piece originally appeared in the News-Times on June 28, 2009