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I know the auto insurance market is very competitive right now and some of these companies are flooding the airwaves with television and radio spots. I think the talking gecko for Geico is cute. Hiring the very debonair actor Dennis Haysbert has worked very well for AllState as he's a believable and trustworthy spokesman. Now something about Flo the salesclerk isn't quite working for me with Progressive. Just the fact that they're called "progressive" and have slipped in what I'd term the 2000-decade version of "Hip-Hop Jive Talk" is irritating as all heck. I get that she's supposed to be slightly quirky so I let the colloquialism-gone-wild go.
Yet there's another commercial where she quips "power to the people" that gave me pause. To render the anti-establishment political slogan from the '60's that meant so much into a one-liner tossed out so casually is an offense that should be noted - not that I'd buy their insurance anyway. It just proves how corporations co-opt everything that was at one point considered cool and ruined it! This isn't as bad as the Burger King SpongeBob Got Back ad but it's still highly questionable.
This week's meme is: I'm In the Mood For and I've chosen videos that kinda creep me out. Technically they're not that old but I'm bending the rules. Massive Attack has a knack for pushing the envelope with their creative interpretations which I love! Then I went back to two songs and videos that are older. Leftfield made a video about the discarded landmines being left in countries and threw the message in dance song. Portishead was at their best when they first came out and this technique can be found in commercials every day but it was quite innovative 11 years ago.
What could be more "creepy" than a baby in utero singing? And yes, it's the theme for the American tv show that stars a British actor in vocal drag.
With so much attention being given to Roxana Saberi who had been held - and thankfully released in Iran - I'd glanced over reports of the two Asian-American journalists arrested in North Korea. The US media has dominated its airwaves with one load of crap after another it's hard to distinguish what's real anymore. So imagine my surprise when I flipped over to CNN to see Lisa Ling and her family sitting on the interviewee side of the table on Larry King. Laura Ling and Euna Lee are journalists who both work for Current TV and have been held for nearly three months.
It seems surreal due to the delicate political situation between NK and the US - like the one between Iran and the US. These situations cannot be a coincidence and it's unfortunate that women are the ones being caught in the crossfire while powerful men battle each other indirectly through them. It's also a flash of deja vu because Lisa Ling went to NK as seen on Oprah a little more than two years ago! That's why this cannot be an accident, but a reckoning. The legacy of negativity the last administration left behind is still being felt today and must be accounted for.
This is also an opportunity for these nations to enter into a new era of diplomacy and have more amenable relations. I don't know that I could ignore the undercurrent of hostility as a journalist and be sent into potentially dangerous situations for this very reason. Let's hope that Ling and Lee are released soon. **Update: Both women have been sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp!
What a celebration of life, talent and a tribute to our contributions. The video would have been great on its own, the song Sun Moon Child by Imani Uzuri is fantastic but the combo of them together is just heavenly. From Fania All Stars, to Tina Turner, to Judith Jamison to MJ...wow! See how many people/movies you can spot.
You know I give out a weekly "Award of Shame" and it's serious but I try to present it while being tongue-in-cheek. Yesterday's went to "White Men Howling At the Moon". Apparently some of them feel their death grip on power slipping and they must maintain control - or else. Historically we've seen what those with power will do to maintain order and exert control over others. We saw the emergence of the Klu Klux Klan after the period of forced enslavement ended. We see the continued rage-a-thon by the Republicans against the current Democratic President that is being supported by corporate media.
Now we have the murder of Dr. George Tiller, an OB/GYN in Witchita who was shot to death while at church. Let's chew on that one for a minute. The man was at church and murdered by another (white) man who didn't like the fact that amongst all of the services he provided, one of them was pregnancy termination. Abortions are a controversial subject to be sure. I do believe that if men could get pregnant all the fighting over reproductive choices would not be an issue. Let's get to nitty gritty, shall we? Personal feelings and religious dogma aside this has always been about control over what a woman (or girl) can and can NOT do with her own body.
From having sex to engaging in sex work, laws and religion interpreted by men from a male perspective for the benefit of men have usually ruled the day. Women who were independent thinkers have been branded witches. The role of women who were early followers of Christ have been downplayed by those interpreting the Bible. The Inquisition focused on courtesans. The Pope wanted Queen Elizabeth I assassinated. Women don't get pregnant by themselves but they bear the burden of living with whatever consequences occur.
In a perfect world there'd be no need for abortions. Women wouldn't be raped, molested or abused either. Governments - esp the United States would actually put their money where they claim their values are and provide top-notch (free or low cost) health care, child care and paid time off for both parents. Housing wouldn't cost some people 2/3s of their income. We wouldn't have to work 50+ hours just to try to make ends meat. Now I'm certain in this capitalistic, material-possession obsessed country living below one's means has a profound effect on the self-esteem of many. Yet why allow companies to keep putting out new shiny unaffordable objects every six months?
The President made a statement about how "acts of violence" don't resolve the "difficult issue of abortion", but this is about domestic terrorism! Health care providers should never have to be forced to decide whether to assist others when their own personal safety is at stake be it from a war-torn area, to a lower-income neighborhood to gender-based services. Obama needs to make it clear these acts will not be tolerated in this country anymore.
Dr. Tiller had been under constant threat, his clinic bombed and he'd been previously shot! Operation Rescue - which should be classified a terrorist organization - posted Dr. Tiller's home address and church. Yet he still provided care. Please tell me why law enforcement doesn't take it up a notch or three when such an act of violence occurs? It may be about a medical facility today but will be about a power plant tomorrow if they don't learn to respond to these attacks appropriately.
Where's a woman to go if providers refuse services out of fear of retribution and violence? Or refuse them for "religious" purposes? It isn't going to stop the need for such services. I realize many are opposed to abortion - even those that have them - but this is not the time to stay in your protective bubble. Just like the rise of degradation in music that has specifically denigrated Black women, the tide will keep rising until it reaches your door. Living your life of quiet dignity does nothing to help those exposed to the harshness of reality or a less sheltered and protected existence. When we allow bad things to go unchecked we are in fact contributing towards the demise of the greater society as a whole.
Again personal beliefs and religion aside we have the (concept of) separation of church and state for a reason. We who have been marginalized in some way must take special heed to not turn on others lest we wind up in an even worse predicament than before. Those of us who know better must not shut our doors and stick fingers in our ears until "it all goes away". That's about recognizing how the actions of militant groups, to television commentators making up controversies, to how the "entertainment" industry reinforces a gutter mentality is a threat to our greater society as a whole. That's not focusing on negativity - it's a reality check. We have to see these actions as another battle in a very long war being waged in this country. If successful it will spread to other things that some of us hold dear. By then it will be too late. We'll have no one else to blame but ourselves if we stood by watching passively as the world crashed around our feet.
