Frenemies: Network TV & Diversity

2010 saw some interesting developments on television. Here are the highlights!

FOX

Glee! Audiences around the world became self-professed Gleeks. The show did well in the ratings and set an example with its diverse cast. Here's to more Glee!

with Dianna Agron, such a doll!(check out her new movie)

NBC

This network really challenged themselves with an attempt at being MORE COLORFUL. Some of you may remember their commercials last fall showcasing the iconic peacock with those two words in the tag line. Although they had a failed attempt with Undercovers (the first prime-time scripted drama with black protagonists as the lead? really?), at least they tried. They put the big guns behind it too (J.J. Abrams), but for some reason it just didn't stick. I only caught one episode, and I think I understood why. It was a bit slow for TV, and showed like a very tired espionage entanglement. Spying is supposed to be exciting, sexy, dangerous, a la Jolie and Bond. It seemed like Abrams was trying to take the show in an entirely new direction to avoid Alias comparisons, but perhaps he focused too much on the departure thereby ruining what make his shows good.

Maybe a better promo pic would've helped?

Although Undercovers didn't survive, NBC still fared best in the diversity department, boasting 7 shows with more than 2 minorities on the main cast, while ABC only had 4 shows like this, and FOX only did so with Glee. Let's just keep mum on CBS for now, they are a disaster, but boast the best ratings...

CW

The CW network is also a strange case, but since their roster is largely made up of teen soaps and reality programs, no one expects much from them. The writers however, are either really bored, or interested in making some sort of statement, even if they are few and far between.

On Gossip Girl, Chuck Bass issues a dating fatwa on Queen Bee Blair preventing her from dating anyone else. This surely left tweens across America googling the strange word to discover its meaning. Very clever.

Had the writers investigated the term a bit further, they would have realized that a fatwa is just a religious opinion on any religious law given by a scholar in the Muslim faith. It's non-binding, as anyone who calls themself a scholar can issue one. So unless Chuck is the Grand Mufti of Love (and even if, who cares), I don't quite see the analogous Ah-Ha! moment.

Also on the CW is the spy-drama Nikita, based on the French film from the 90s. The title character is played rather well by Maggie Q (Vietnamese-American) and is choc full of action and suspense. On a recent episode, operative Michael (remember Shane West?) is captured by Kasim, a Yemeni who had betrayed and killed Michael's family years ago. During this ordeal Kasim explains the reason for the betrayal by quoting the Qu'ran no less. He says, "Fight in God's cause against those who fight against you," to which Michael responds, "..but do not commit aggression. You forgot that part of the Qu'ran. If you're going to twist its meaning at least quote the whole passage." Who thought a script with bite would exist on the CW? Well done.

CBS

Over at CBS, Zach is listening to 'Muslim music'. Let me start by saying I think The Good Wife is a great show. The acting is on point, the writing is great, and there are even some diverse characters on: it's fantastic. But I did have a WTF moment. In the "threesome" episode, Alicia's son Zach has a friend advise him that he can get anything he wants from his parents by playing a cd she gives him. The cd contains none other than the at'han, the muslim call to prayer. This of course is not 'muslim music', and the fact that the writers were so quick to offer it up as something to be mocked is quite upsetting. It was so unapologetically ridiculed which I found very disturbing. The only slight positive in this scenario is that Alicia completely dismissed this as something to be feared as her mother-in-law suggested with her reporting, but nonetheless left a terribly awful taste in my mouth.

CBS had the least diversity in their programming. They are the highest-rated tv network.

ABC

ABC was right behind NBC in effort. It seems that they also tried to be innovative, but fell behind. One show I felt had promise was MY Generation. I thought it was a really interesting concept: uncovering the superficial 'where-are-they-now' curiosity while also exposing the problems of a generation who became adults in perhaps the most complicated of times. And of course, who isn't nostalgic for the 90s? The flashback scenes were great. But more importantly, the show employed a mockumentary format that was both fresh and engaging. The cast was impressive, capable, and diverse. This could have been good ABC, but you canceled it after 2 episodes.

I'm beginning to think Mehcad Brooks is cursed. Ever since they killed him off on True Blood, he hasn't had the best luck. The Deep End (also on ABC) was canceled. Now MY Generation. Please don't cancel his Calvin Klein ads.

Let's hope we see some more interesting programming on Network Television in 2011. Perhaps by some miracle the networks will give shows more than 2 episodes to get the ratings. Here's to hoping CBS takes a cue from NBC, don't we all have color TV sets these days (c'mon it was intro-ed in the 50s and pretty sure became standard in households in the 60s!!)

Polaroid Grey Label and Lady Gaga at CES

I wrote about Gaga's appointment as creative director back in May, and it looks like she lived up to her title, not just as a celebrity spokesperson, but as a legit part of the creative team. Gaga and Polaroid debuted 3 new products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas this past week.

GL 20: Camera Sunglasses

Gaga got the idea for this initially on her Fame Ball tour, where she made glasses out of iPod screens for her set on stage. Now her idea has become functional. These glasses take photo and video, and it registers them into a USB that is the earpiece of the sunglasses. The earpiece (USB) comes out and can be connected to comp or you can use the bluetooth capability to connect it to your devices.

This is rather innovative in the way that it is bridging together fashion and technology. Gaga calls the product 'innovative and also cultural'. I guess we will have to wait and see if the glasses take on cultural iconography.

GL 10: Mobile Printer

When asked what the camera of the future was (presumably by her Polaroid creative consorts), Gaga held up her cell phone. I guess this ticked them off a bit seeing as how their brand is built on a camera which she is suggesting now be replaced by a phone no less. But she has a point. How many of us actually carry around digital cameras (even to special events)? Most of us rely heavily on our camera phones, which take pretty good photos these days as evidenced by the number of mobile uploads on facebook and the twitpic overflow.

So the idea is to integrate the cell phone camera into the polaroid family, and it seems they have found a way to do so. This could possess even more utility when you think about how many times we have actually printed our digital content. I'd venture to say, not often, because it's just too much of a hassle in most cases.

All you have to do is set up the bluetooth on your phone to connect to the printer. The printer produces 3 x 4 prints, and you have the option of the polaroid trade dress or full bleed.

Unfortunately, the printer is NOT compatible with the iPhone, but it does work with all phones with bluetooth capability.

GL 30: New Polaroid Camera

Last but definitely not least, they unvelied THE camera. Gaga described it as sexy, sleek, and hearty. It takes regular instant polaroids, and has a zink printer (zero ink) which is in the actual camera and the printer and makes this fantastically eco-friendly. Each cartridge holds 10 photos, and the photos register both digitally and as a regular polaroid. Pretty freaking awesome, and should be out by Christmas.

***In the future, they are working on a forward camera that is also digital and will link to all social media outlets, yikes.

2010's Most Underrated Films

All the best and worst lists that came out at the 11th hour this past year (weird to say that) got me thinking about all the movies that didn't get a mention, because even for the Razzie winners, there is no such thing as bad publicity. So here's my two cents:

5- Bright Star

Can't say I had high hopes for this, especially since Abbie Cornish's angsty face is on the poster, but boy did this little film show me. Don't be afraid, it's not a John Keats biopic, and it's not an over the top melodrama either. The story is subtle yet captivating, and the cinematography is stunning. Abbie Cornish is rather good as well. Check it out, you won't be sorry, and read some Keats to fuel your pretentious ways while you're at it.

4- Nowhere Boy

Never ever will there be enough creative content on John Lennon. He is probably one of the most fascinating human beings EVER. That said, I was very confused as to why this film didn't receive more attention. For one thing, the acting, particularly by Aaron Johnson, who played the young Mr. Lennon was brilliant. So many of these 'before they were stars- type' films make annoying foreshadowing gestures, but this film makes you forget the enormity of his future celebrity, and really focuses on the coming-of-age story. Ah-mazing.

3- A Single Man

Two Words: Tom Ford.

I was going to leave it at that, but between this film and An Education I wish I could time travel back to the 60s, and never come back...yes, just freeze me in that decade, thank you.

2- Sin Nombre

Talk about impactful. I challenge you to watch this and not feel something. I just learned that it was EP-ed by Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal, so if you don't trust my opinion, then their association should say something. Not only does this film add perspective to the immigration debate, it raises questions often left out of the discourse. MUST WATCH.

1- Never Let Me Go

For those of you who have seen One Hour Photo, you might have a slight idea of what you're in for. But only slight, because Romanek (who is mainly known for his music videos, remember MJ and JJ's Scream? yea, that was him) is given MAJOR ammo to work with thanks to Ishiguro's fantastical novel. If you've read the book and are afraid the film won't live up to it, fear not. Yes, it's that good. If you haven't read it, you most likely will after watching. Carey Mulligan is perfect. Please just see it because anything I say won't do it justice.

** some of these may have technically been in production in 2009, but were not released until 2010 (in the US). Just go with it people.

Most underrated film composer of 2010

Alexandre Desplat

His score for Coco before Chanel (also completely underrated, Audrey Tatou was fabulous) was awesome, and he also did these other little movies some of you may have heard of, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. But more notably check out his work in The Painted Veil (and also for Ed Norton!)

Instant Gratification: Polaroid edition

Polaroid is making a comeback.

That's right. Don't believe me? Check out who they just named as their new Creative Director...

If their website is any indication, they are definitely riding on the tech wave, and doing a pretty kick ass job of it.

Polaroid says,

The collaboration will deliver new products that mix the best of “instant” with digital era multi-media. Lady Gaga has a personal connection to the Polaroid experience that she wants to share with the world through the introduction of products that will appeal to a new generation –building on the Polaroid movement into the future.

Gaga looks so Grace Kelley-esque in the bottom right polaroid

If I remember correctly, Polaroid ended instant film in 2008, and hipsters everywhere were rushing to Wal-Mart (who I think was the only retailer carrying the film) to buy out all the stock. Urban Outfitters, being the representative for hipsters everywhere, announced in late 2008 that they would sell the remaining 700 sets of instant film across the US and UK. Well, never fear hipsters, it may have been a tough year without your film, but Polaroid has come back with a vengeance.

It seems that they have realized that they need to get back to the core of their brand. Polaroid was at one point a noun. You would say, check out this Polaroid, instead of 'photo' or 'picture'. I think they may have figured out a way to get back. Enlisting Lady Gaga (recently named Time's most influential person) was not a bad idea.

Only time well tell if this realization comes too little too late, or if there is still a viable market out there for instant. I am putting my money on my feeling that there are enough people out there too keep the brand relevant. The new Polaroid 300 I must admit looks pretty cool, and it even comes in 3 colors!

Oh the Olsens

After a short hiatus from the massive Middle America market, the Olsen twins return with their line for JC Penney, fittingly (or not) called Olsenboye. If you check out the site for the new clothing line, the twins are noticeably absent from much of the promo. In fact, I wasn't sure they were even associated with the brand until I saw a post on teen vogue's website about their new launch. It seems as though they may be avoiding a repeat of their faces plastered on every product per the Wal-Mart days.

Check out her shirt (on right)! What a hipster, even back in the day...

And maybe this is a smart move. What with their sort-of-high-end Elizabeth & James, and even higher-end The Row, it looks like the twins are carefully choosing their associations to maintain their image in the fashion world. Are Mary Kate & Ashley trying to wear too many hats or putting their hands in all the cookie jars, or however the saying goes? Possibly, but if anyone is to pull off the high and low saturation of the fashion world, they may be the ones to do it.

Electro-______ music genres: The Hybrid of the hybrid

Electricity. A spark. A pulse. A presence that has been consistent in maintaining an identity in music for quite some time. Adding this pre-fix to genres of music i.e. (electro-pop, electro-rock) can almost be seen as an injustice... for Electro has all the capabilities of standing on its own. The hybridity between electro and other genres is essentially what induces an inflammatory reception in the senses. An electric-feel per say (to borrow from MGMT).

I started thinking of this post in terms of what first comes to mind when I think of electronic music. I first thought geographically, and mostly associated the genre with Europe. Then I started to think of the music I am listening to these days, and I realized most of the stuff I am really digging is one form of electro or another. Either electro pop, electro-synth-pop, electro indie-rock, etc etc etc….Even Wikipedia has a very extensive list of the different sub-genres which you can check out here:

So, in terms of a breakdown here are some interesting sub-genres that I think are worth looking at:

The resurgence of the DJ: (EURO style)

Tiesto

Armin Van Buren

David Guetta

Paul Van Dyk

Ferry Corsten

Electro-pop (UK style)

La Roux

is an English electropop duo band whose music is influenced by 1980s synthpop including Yazoo, Depeche Mode, The Human League, Heaven 17, and Blancmange. I got to see them live this summer in Los Angeles and they really had that element that literally put a jolt of electricity through the crowd. The playful melodies in songs such as "I'm Not Your Toy" and "Tigerlily" re-charged the initially dull audience into replicas of the energizer bunny.

Little Boots

is an English electropop musician who sings and plays the keyboard, piano, stylophone and a Japanese electronic instrument, called Tenori-on is definitely putting her stamp on the electro-pop movement. Check out her songs "Stuck on Repeat" and "New in Town"

and across the Pond...

In Lady GaGa’s new album The Fame Mons†er: a new, monstrous side of GaGa is shown. A side that can be attributed to the European Electro-Industrial vibe present in her songs such as "Dance in the Dark". This new eerie and metallic sound substantiates her equally eerie lyrics that allude to other highly respected artists such as Plath and Kubrick. The album’s high-voltage delivers and liberates the listener. An escape to a filthy over-sized 'warehouse' somewhere in Eastern Europe, echoing with the sharp current of electricity.

Down Under

Sneaky Sound System

are very well received in the dance scene, and some of their stuff has been remixed by Tiesto making for an interesting sound:

Cut Copy

is a synthpop band from Melbourne, Australia. Their sound, often labeled as electropop, draws considerable influence from 80s new wave, synth-pop and post-punk genres.

Ladyhawke

all of her music is very nostalgic of the 1980s, (her name is a riff on the movie of that decade), but her music featuring PNAU is especially noteworthy.

Rock fusion

MGMT

"We weren't trying to start a band," remarked Goldwasser. "We were just hanging out, showing each other music that we liked." They experimented with noise rock and electronica before settling on what David Marchese of Spin calls "their current brand of shape-shifting psychedelic pop."

Phoenix

An interesting thing about Phoenix (who I think are one of the best indie rock outfits on the scene today): In early 2009, it was announced that the band was returning with a new album titled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which was released on May 25, 2009. The album was recorded in Paris by Cassius's Philippe Zdar who co-produced and mixed the album. Cassius is a French house music duo consisting of producers Philippe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francard, better known as Philippe Zdar and Boom Bass. You can definitely hear the house influence on Phoenix's new record (especially in Fences, Girlfriend, and Armistice) which I think makes for an amazing one, and the technique in the recording is phenomenal.

Experimental (goes Canadian)

Crystal Castles

is an experimental electronic music band from the province of Ontario consisting of producer Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass. Crystal Castles are known for their chaotic live shows and their low-fi melancholic home productions. To listen to Crystal Castles "is to be cast adrift in a vortex of deafening pain without a safety net. You get the feeling you could do anything in the world, but that that "anything" would ultimately mean nothing. Crystal Castles marks a nuanced emotional territory that dance music never covered before." (BBC).

MSTRKRFT

is an electronic music group from Toronto. MSTRKRFT (pronounced Master Kraft) have been commissioned to remix songs by such artists as Justice, Bloc Party, Metric, Wolfmother, and Annie and The Kills...and you have probably heard Heartbreaker featuring John Legend, one of their singles:

These are just some of my favorites, and hopefully are illustrative of how influential electronic music is across the board...perhaps it is THE postmodern musical genre of our time, and can be counted on for constantly mixing and remixing (quite literally) the music scene for our enjoyment and paving the way for more groundbreaking sounds to come...

PS... I also love this Felix Da Housecat Remix of the Nina Simone song "Sinnerman" which is now being featured in the new HTC mobile phone commercial you have probably seen on TV in the past couple of weeks...

The Slavery of Narrative and the Ivory Tower Dilemma

I found Peter Greenaway's film roster to be both slightly disturbing and fascinating (and as a reference, The Pillow Book is apparently one of his warmer films). Up until this point, I had considered myself to be adequately in-the-know when it came to the 'Art-house' genre, but I had never heard of Greenaway or his films. (Sidenote: in the Salon interview the journalist mentions that Greenway thinks "most movies are empty and sentimental -- and that includes art-house pictures, which Greenaway treats with as much disdain as mainstream Hollywood products"—so with this statement, I guess I don’t feel quite as bad.)

What I found to be most interesting in reading through his interviews was this notion of the narrative in cinema, and his feelings of enslavement by the very idea. Usually when someone critiques a film (not necessarily a professional critic, but maybe an average consumer of this popular art form) you will hear them say something like, “it was a little slow”, or maybe ‘it was too fast paced’, (the latter being less common I presume). I think it’s safe to say that these critiques are really of the narrative structure of the film, rather than the actual visual nature of the movie (this is just my idea, and I could be wrong). I found his discussion on the narrative nature of cinema to be very interesting, as he doesn’t feel like it is conducive to it. Or maybe not that it’s not conducive to it, but that it should transcend storytelling to achieve other ends.

“These may be heretical opinions, but I don't think that cinema is a very good narrative medium. I think if you want to tell a story you should be a writer -- it's far more powerful. I think that cinema should be allowed to get on with other things.” He says that like music and painting have done before it, cinema also needs to explore other elements apart from the narrative. He even proposes that cinema needs to ‘dump’ narration altogether. He explains that there is and should be another purpose for cinema aside from just telling stories. He does however qualify this statement by saying, “I'm not against narrative, I enjoy storytelling. I do think that cinema has so much to offer outside the slavery of narrative.” I think his choice of words here are quite audacious: it’s slavery.

Enter the Ivory Tower conundrum: Greenaway says, “I would continue to push in that direction [away from the narrative], though John Cage suggested if you introduce more than 20 percent of novelty into any artwork, you're going to lose 80 percent of your audience. And I want to go on making movies, so -- without any sense of condescension or patronage -- we have to work at a certain pace, otherwise I'm going to disappear into the outer darkness and never make another movie. And I want to make mainstream movies. This might sound very strange, but I don't want to live in an ivory tower, I don't want to be an underground filmmaker. I want to make movies for the largest possible audience, but arrogantly I want to make them on my terms.” Herein lies the dilemma of every indie (or art-house) filmmaker (or musician, artist, etc) out there: How can you get your work to reach a lot of people (which is always the goal, because culture is shared after all) while protecting it from the agendas of those with the money and power (Hollywood, production companies, etc) to do so? I feel like this struggle for credibility and audience, and let’s face it—money—is one that may have no end. This problem of course is not unique to cinema, and exists in all realms of cultural production.

This brings me back to a little earlier in the discussion to the idea of the slavery of narratives. The Pillow Book, although highly stylized visually by integrating all different types of cutting edge technologies, is very much a narrative, and not only does it have a definite narrative structure, but it was in a sense adapted from a preceding text (although the film is set in the modern day and the stories are different). When confronted with this in an interview, Greenaway said, “One shouldn't start a discussion of this film by referring to a set text because the origins of the project are much deeper than that, and respond to, I suppose, my general sense of anxiety and disquiet about the cinema we've got after 100 years -- a cinema which is predicated on text. So whether your name is Spielberg or Scorsese or Godard, there's always a necessity to start with text and finish with image. I don't think that's particularly where we should organize an autonomous art form. That's why I think that, in a way, we haven't seen the cinema yet, all we've seen is 100 years of illustrated text.”

I think this is a very interesting point, and I will definitely keep my eye out for Greenaway’s next projects, and hopefully he will produce the breakthrough in cinema, not just ‘illustrated text’. Just to relate these ideas to my own very recent experience, I saw the second installment in the Twilight franchise: New Moon (along with 5,000 other screaming girls at the Georgetown theater), and I must say I was a bit disappointed. I will admit (for the purposes of this blog) to being part of this subculture of fanatics surrounding the franchise, and I found myself identifying (if only slightly) with Greenaway’s analysis of cinema as a poor medium for narratives. I felt as though (especially in the second installment) that the book was infinitely more satisfying in this respect than the highly anticipated film. You always hear that the ‘books are always better than the movies’ but on the flip side there is always a delight in seeing narratives take on a visual form. I guess I will conclude by saying that although it is very difficult for me to envision a world and cinema culture in which narratives are obsolete, I still welcome the prospect of a cinematic departure from the narrative into something new.