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Culture Tag

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 02, 2015 32 Comments
While Professor Jacobson was surfing the Twitter stream during the Super Bowl, I was savoring the free market creativity of American advertisers. The runaway favorite commercials feature cute puppies and horses. One particular ad, however, brought out an entirely different animal in me: The Mama Grizzly. I have a serious recommendation to T-Mobile executives: Fire the idiot feminists and their beta-male minions who came up with this commercial: The dialog for one of the scenes, in which Sarah Silverman & Chelsea Handler characters duel over first-world lifestyle quality, has Sarah Silverman's insipid character inform a newborn's mother: "I'm sorry, it's a boy." It was a real piece of #WarOnMen propaganda. As a mother of a son, who is a 100% all-boy alpha male that I have been delighted to raise as such, I was appalled by the crass anti-maleness of the statement. Let's play a game of substitution, shall we?

Posted by Amy Miller on February 01, 2015 10 Comments
I don't know about you, but after a wild week in politics, I'm more than ready for a little queso, a few silly commercials, and maximum football saturation. For those of you who, like me, have chosen to forego an expensive cable TV subscription in favor of a long term relationship with Netflix, NBC sports is offering a free livestream of Super Bowl XLIX, pre- and post-game coverage, and the halftime show. Katy Perry, Tom Brady, and Gronk---oh my! Although commercials will not be streamed, you can watch them here immediately after they air. A few have already been released, including this piece of adorableness involving not one, but TWO cats and their antics:
Post by BuzzFeed Video.
Enjoy the game---and the break from politics! UPDATE: Halftime report, brought to you by puppies and dads!

Posted by Amy Miller on January 28, 2015 58 Comments
Michelle Obama made waves this week with her decision to not wear headscarf during her visit to Saudi Arabia. Although reactions to her decision were mixed, the reaction on social media gave birth to a hashtag accusing the first lady of immodesty---a heady violation in one of the few remaining countries requiring women to cover their heads in public. Via Politico:
On Twitter, Saudis used a hashtag that translates to “#Michelle_Obama_Immodest” or “#Michelle_Obama_NotVeiled” to chastise the first lady for being disrespectful to Saudi traditions. ... Some on Twitter noted that Obama had covered her hair during a visit to a mosque in Indonesia and wondered why she hadn’t done the same, Egypt’s Ahram Online noted, while one woman urged fellow Saudis not to “make Obama angry at us.” The first lady’s office had no comment on her attire.
Twitter is still chirping about it:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 25, 2015 14 Comments
Egypt has three icons that symbolize its ancient glories: 1) The pyramids 2) The Great Sphinx 3) The golden mask of the boy king, Tutankhamun. And while the pyramids and Great Sphinx are safe from the threat of destruction at the hands of Muslim extremists, the famous mask has been damaged by too much care and concern. There are many versions of how the damage happened, but it seems the beard was accidentally knocked off and epoxy, which is designed for use on stone-work and not metal, was slathered on in the repair attempt. Additionally, the mask was scratched in an attempt to remove excess glue that had smeared. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="540"] (Photo: Mohamed El-Shahed, AFP/Getty Images)[/caption] However, it seems that one of history's greatest treasures can be properly restored to its original glory.

Posted by Amy Miller on January 23, 2015 23 Comments
I didn't expect to enjoy President Obama's sit-down interview with YouTube stars Bethany Mota, GloZell Green and Hank Green, first because before today I couldn't name a "YouTube star" to save my life, and second, because of a variety of rapid-fire thoughts involving things like gravitas and Presidential and I'd like to see more of Jake Tapper on my screen, TBH. Of course, I saw this news at the same time I was seeing reports of Yemen burning to the ground, so maybe I was a little irritated that this was taking up space on my wire. I didn't care. I was worried about real issues. As it turns out, so were Hank, GloZell, and Bethany. Watch: Was it "journalism?" We can fight about that all day, but I don't think it matters, because it worked. Hank Green peppered the President with questions, but he pulled it off well and I didn't feel like his Obamacare PSA ruined it (even though I groaned and yelled OH OF COURSE YOU DID HANK because, predictable.) GloZell Green calls Castro a dick at 22:07, which is inappropriate in almost any scenario, but she moved on and asked Obama a question about Cuba. (Then she accidentally called the First Lady the President's "first wife," which was hilarious and human.) Bethany Mota made 19 look smart, which is hard to do with the Justin Biebers of the world running around making 19 look mind-numbingly stupid. (She also asked about Boko Haram, which is more than I can say about most MSM outlets.)

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 22, 2015 9 Comments
I love, love, love when companies and brands go pro-Dad. Last year, Cheerios released a "How to Dad" series of ads that were adorable and quite perfect in their ability to silence the ridiculous "dumb Dad" meme. This year, one company has upped the ante on featuring fatherhood in its marketing. You might need to grab the Kleenex to watch Dove's newly released Super Bowl ad. Called #RealStrength, Dove's commercial asks, "What makes a man stronger?" Take a look: Dove's intention is to highlight the caring side of masculinity. The ad's description states, "90% of men around the world say that their caring side is part of their masculinity and strength. Let’s acknowledge the caring side of men and celebrate their #RealStrength as a true sign of masculinity."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 19, 2015 31 Comments
First and foremost, Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! In 1983, President Reagan signed Martin Luther King, Jr. day into law. Even so, it wasn't until 2000 that all states observed the day as intended. 2000. That's... incredible. So called 'controversial figures' are always difficult to discuss. Regardless of what I write, someone, many even, will inevitably comment about King's shortcomings, his failures, maybe even his alleged infidelities. Yet none of those things detract from what Dr. King accomplished on the civil rights front nor the legacy of hope he left behind. God how I wish he were here today. I've often wondered if we would've been spared the pestilence of the Sharpton's and Jackson's of this world had Dr. King survived. So abundant are King's words of wisdom; the truths he left with us, that it's always hard to pick one. So this Martin Luther, King, Jr. Day, I pick love.

Posted by Amy Miller on January 15, 2015 40 Comments
The Oscar nominations have been revealed, and everyone is talking about this year's nods, snubs, and most importantly---the racial and gender makeup of the Academy and its nominees. Of course. Here we go again. We're barely over this weekend's total freakout over the various combinations of skin color and genitalia that won top rights at the Golden Globes; you'd think we'd be given at least a week to recuperate. But no: That's right, ladies and gentlemen. The internet spent an entire day lobbing hate at a group of talented entertainers whose only crime is the relative paleness of their skin:

Posted by Amy Miller on January 13, 2015 31 Comments
Former Governor and possible presidential candidate Mike Huckabee had some strong words for the Obama family in defense of traditional values and responsible parenting---and of course, they're making waves all over the media. From AP:
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has accused President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, of double standards in parenting, saying in an interview published Tuesday that the first family shelters its daughters from some things but allows them to listen to the music of Beyoncé. While promoting his new book, the former Baptist pastor told People magazine, "I don't understand how on one hand they can be such doting parents and so careful about the intake of everything - how much broccoli they eat and where they go to school ... and yet they don't see anything that might not be suitable" in Beyoncé's lyrics. He also said Beyoncé's choreography is "best left for the privacy of her bedroom." In his book, Huckabee describes the Grammy Award-winning Beyoncé's lyrics as "obnoxious and toxic mental poison." He also accuses Beyoncé's husband, rapper Jay-Z, of "exploiting his wife" like a "pimp."
The problem with what just happened here has less to do with whether or not Beyoncé is a good role model, and more to do with what we allow to become part of the narrative in the run up to the next election cycle. (And yes, I realize we're always considering the next election cycle. That's how you win elections.) There is an important difference between Huckabee's narrative, and the narrative of the conservative movement at large; this difference requires all those who aspire to positions of leadership in the movement---or in the country---to make an important decision the minute they decide to throw their hat in the ring. Whose narrative is more important---mine, or the the people's?

Posted by Amy Miller on January 12, 2015 21 Comments
I remember when Halle Berry won her Best Actress Oscar back in 2002 for Monster's Ball; it was such a huge deal--she beat Judi Dench! It was the same year Denzel Washington won for Training Day, and everyone agreed that entertainment awards would never be the same because an actor and actress of color had both taken home a prestigious award. Apparently, Halle and Denzel didn't set a standard that year---they set a quota. From last night's Golden Globe awards: Is anyone else already exhausted? Twitter was:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on August 08, 2014 19 Comments
God bless Cheerios for their latest ad campaign. Forgoing the tired and insulting schtick of the 'dumb dad' who is too inept to tie his kid's shoes, General Mills decided to highlight the awesomeness of dadhood to promote Peanut Butter Cheerios. The longform web ad begins with a man waking up to find his kid sitting on top of him wearing a horse head mask. The man's response? "Is that a new mask? I like it. It's really creepy. Good stuff." And it just gets better. Getting right to the point, "Hey, let me introduce myself. My name is Dad and proud of it and all dads should be." Take a look: Far too many companies choose to portray fathers as bumbling morons or inconsiderate burdens. Take this cringeworthy Kraft commercial for example, "here we go again, Dad always messes up everything! Thank goodness Kraft Mac N Cheese is here to save the day, otherwise Dad would really be an intolerable oaf." Not an exact quote, but that's the gist:
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