Autostraddle’s Pop Culture Fix is a weekly round-up of the queer arts and entertainment news you need in your life.
The Tevee
+ NBC has decided to stage another live musical for TV, but this time it’s going be hella rad because it’s The Wiz and it’s going to co-star Queen Latifah and Mary J. Blige, who will play the Wiz and the Wicked Witch, respectively. It’s all happening on Dec. 3, just in time for Christmas, because Santa Claus loves us.
+ At Netflix’s TCA presentation yesterday, the main thing was “we’re doing it better than anyone, duh” and also, “like you, we want more Arrested Development.” They’re going to have to duke it out with Scandal for Portia de Rossi; she was promoted to series regular in May.
+ Speaking of Netflix, there’s about a billion Orange Is the New Black season three think pieces on the internet right now, but I’m really into Casey Cipriani‘s IndieWire one about how OITNB highlights the way almost all religions fail women.
The trouble for these women is that far too many of the world’s religions consider them daughters of Eve, born of Adam’s rib and his natural subordinate, rather than those of Lilith, the mythological first woman who was created of the same Earth as Adam and was either cast out of or voluntary left Eden after refusing to be subservient to Adam. The show seems to be presenting the idea that religion has been a hurdle for these women in their past lives; for some it was even the thing that landed them in federal prison.
For many, their religion turned their backs on them, so they’ve turned their backs on their religion and look elsewhere while inside for spiritual growth. This reflects the true reality of many inmates who convert or find a new religion while incarcerated, but in a series that prides itself on its depiction of diverse women from multiple backgrounds, more often than not, their religion failed them. This is not only true for women in prison; news stories about how various religions oppress women around the world surface every day.
+ Tig Notaro landed herself an Amazon pilot!
+ MTV has renewed Scream for a second season already; here’s hoping Audrey makes it through the first season!
+ Wanda Sykes was amazing on Jane Lynch‘s Emmy-nominated Hollywood Game Night this week.
+ And so was Rosie O’Donnell. (She’s playing my second favorite Rosie character on The Fosters right now; she’s so good. Second favorite after Doris in A League of Their Own, obviously.)
+ Raven thinks Caitlyn Jenner is moving “too fast, too soon.”
The Moovies
+ Jenny’s Wedding (aka Rory Gilmore and Izzie Stevens Big Day) opens in select theaters this weekend. Am I going to review it for you? Yes, I am.
+ Judy Greer is happy she made out with Lily Tomlin in Grandma. In an interview with Out magazine:
You’ve never played an LGBT character before, right?
I’m going to say you’re right, but I might look back later and be like, “Oh, but I did do that.” Though my role in Grandma is super “out,” in terms of making out with a woman — which is awesome. Especially when the woman is Lily Tomlin.
She also says she never has to pay for drinks in gay bars, for which she is eternally grateful.
+ (Lily Tomlin is nominated for an Emmy already this year for Grace and Frankie, and there’s Oscar buzz for Grandma as well. If anyone deserves to EGOT, it’s Tomlin!)
The Sportz
+ Megan Rapinoe was inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sport Hall of Fame this week!
+ Minnesota Lynx superstar Seimone Augustus wrote a beautiful thing about marriage equality and her wife for The Players Tribune. You’ll cry if you read it, I promise.
The first year in our relationship, I had to go overseas to play in Russia during the WNBA offseason. It was terrible. I was in a foreign country by myself, didn’t speak the language, couldn’t navigate Moscow and hated the food. I was miserable. The second year, LaTaya came with me. She found her way around the city immediately — how to get to the gym, the grocery store, the clubs. She went out with my teammates and really immersed herself in this new life. I wasn’t miserable anymore. Sure, it’s hard to travel across the world to live in a place with so many fundamental cultural differences, but when you fall in love, home is found in a person, not a city. Moscow felt like home because she did.
Cara Delevingne
Cara Delevingne went on Good Morning Sacramento to promote Paper Towns and the news anchors were so horrible it took me like 15 minutes to watch this whole clip. They told her to go “take a little nap.” And then when her satellite feed was gone, one of the guys was like, “She was in a mood!” Between this and that Vogue guy mansplaining her bisexuality to her, I wouldn’t blame her for never doing another interview again! Anyway, here’s the clip; prepare to be bamboozled.
Also.Also.Also.
I think the turtle eating the watermelon was the most important part of this post and, quite possibly, my day!
ALSO do we need to start a “Mansplaining Cara” column where we just list all of the instances of Cara getting mansplained to and/or about? Because this is an alarming trend.
Actually, as a publicist, I’m with the anchors re Cara. She gets paid to do promotion and from the start she clearly does not want to be there and is downright rude. She’s in the entertainment business, as is this show–their reaction to her snarky attitude and flat tone is not really surprising.
I mean, the first question they ask suggests that she is not doing her job well… a certain level of snark or frustration in response seems understandable.
Not to mention that the anchors are also professionals who should be able to handle someone’s “bad” attitude with a little more poise. It’s inappropriate to suggest to an adult in a work setting that they should take a nap as if they were a kindergartener, IMO.
yeah they are immediately patronizing and obnoxious and she has a LOT of opportunities to tell them how awful they’re being, and instead you can actually see her biting her tongue and trying to brush off her reaction as “tired” instead of “about to climb through this screen and eat your face.”
Her smile says she concedes her fatigue.
comment award
Yes, but I guess I’ve worked with enough morning show hosts and producers to know that just isn’t (usually) the case. Sadly, they aren’t hired for their journalistic integrity.
I agree the show’s hosts are terrible, but a lot of major market morning show hosts are exactly like this. Also, the questions are often supplied by the producers (who sometimes are forced to use what publicists and the studios give them). There’s a “procedure” to these corporate interviews and Cara went her own way (or her publicist did an awful job of prepping her about what she was in for). I’m not saying that’s wrong or how the hosts reacted was right (there was a lot of unprofessionalism to go around and I hate lazy “journalism” like this), but not terribly shocking to me how it panned out.
I guess the question is how much she’s going to buy into the procedure you’re talking about, putting “professionalism” above all else, and how much she’s just going to kind of be a little bit more authentic even when it makes for some awkward moments.
Like how much do you have to buy into the Hollywood machine in order to be a successful actor? I have a feeling she’s going to find out, because she’s never really seemed that good at prioritizing “playing by the rules” over being a bit truer to herself.
I was really rooting for that tortoise to get some watermelon!
The anchors in that Cara Delevinge interview were condescending from the start and downright unprofessional towards the end. It reminds me of how the media used to give Kristen Stewart such a hard time for not being outgoing enough during interveiws. There’s something about the way the media expects these young women to keep acting happy and excited 24/7 and punishes them if they fail to do so that really rubs me the wrong way.
I’ve noticed the same thing. Look at how men are allowed to behave in interviews – they can carry a conversation and never crack a smile yet we don’t interpret them as being moody or disinterested.
Exactly. If you watch the full video after Cara is cut off, the anchors spend a good minute or two just making fun of her. They reminded me of hyperbolic high school mean girls. They’d NEVER do that to a male.
I totally cried when I read Seimone Augustus’s piece. My wife and I got married a few months ago, before it was legal in our state, and part of me regretted not waiting until it became legal here. The point she made, about the beauty of committing even without the legal meaning, was so beautiful, and washed that regret away.
I kind of agree with Raven on this one. It’s not only that Caitlyn never supported the LGBT community before she came out, she actually went against us. First you speak out against gay marriage, don’t do one thing to support the community or at least respect it and now you’re our posterchild? No. Just no.
All over a sudden she belongs to that community (in the open) and needs us. Yes, now you support the community, tell everyone of the struggles LGBT people face. But you know what? Just some time ago you were part of the people that make it hard for us. And I’m still waiting for an apology for that.
It’s certainly great the transgender community gets so much more attention through her. But she will not be my hero with that history of hers.
I’m kind of with Raven on this, too. I want to commend Caitlyn for the work that she is setting out to do, and she did acknowledge her privilege in the first episode but… idk, I’m getting some weird vibes from all this that I can’t quite pinpoint.
Glad to know I am not the only one thinking this
The thing is, she has to act quickly if she wants to maximize the impact of her work. All eyes are on her now, but a year from now the media will have moved on. It makes sense for her to use this once in a lifetime opportunity to bring attention to some of the issues facing the trans community. I watched the first episode of her show and she was careful both to acknowledge her privilege and to acknowledge that, while she can bring attention to other’s struggles, she cannot speak for anyone but herself. Some of her past behavior was reprehensible, and I hope she does acknowlege and apologize for that. But it doesn’t make sense to me to criticize her for moving towards activism too quickly. If anything, she should be trying to make up for lost time.
She does contradictory things like acknowledge her privilege, but then posts on twitter (I might be mixing up my social media), that she proud to be born/live in a country that she’s free to be herself.
It’s like WTF? I’m not trans*, I’m not even a good ally. I simply read the news and have a couple good friends and co-workers who are trans* and I know that is not that case. Best case scenario is a life full of discrimination and harassment and worse case scenario is literally death, for the average transwoman. Talk about not realizing/acknowledging it’s your wealth/privilege that keeps you safe, not this country’s policies or it’s citizens.
When I saw that, that really angered me, it reminded me of the Don Lemon types.
Are there things about Caitlyn Jenner that are problematic? Yes. She was never going to be the perfect spokesperson with the perfect politics. We knew this going in. Can’t we acknowledge that her show and her honesty still be good for trans visibility, even though her politics (or letting her minor daughter undergo plastic surgery procedures, something that really rankles me) may be personally problematic for us?
Very few people live up to being perfect role models as they live their actual real lives — especially when they do so in the limelight. I have absolutely no idea what a life full of cameras and paparazzi must be like.
But Caitlyn seems to be truly trying. And she is genuine in sharing her experience with the world. I’m not sure what else she is supposed to do. I hope that her personal politics continue to evolve, but she’s always going to live on a vastly different plane, with vastly different personal beliefs, than I do. I mean I don’t believe in high-heeled shoes, for heaven’s sakes. Caitlyn and I are never going to be on the same page vis a vis whether they are tools of oppression. :-)
I guess I just don’t want for us to demand that the people who are public faces of our movements give up their (sometimes flawed by our own reckoning) humanity in order to be some sort of walking Platonic paradigm of whatever they’re representing. If we want people to be honest about who they are, we are asking for all of their honesty. And then we can say, yes, well, I don’t agree with Caitlyn Jenner’s politics. Can’t we be aware of that and still acknowledge what she is doing for trans visibility?
Maybe that is what people are doing here. This has been a little difficult to say clearly. It’s not generally in my wheelhouse to stick up for political conservatives. :-) And I do truly hope that anyone who doesn’t believe in marriage equality changes their mind (although honestly, they can do whatever they want — it’s legal now, bitches!) Anyway, I wish her all the best, and hope that she and the showrunners continue to do their best to make responsible tv.
Not going to lie; I was wary of watching the Raven commentary b/c so much of what she’s made headlines for saying lately has been pretty upsetting…but I think she hit the nail on the head here. I especially appreciate her last line about activism.
OMG, never have I ever seen an interview where the reporters were so incredibly rude and juvenile. They treated her like a dumb child/model and I thought she showed incredible restraint and poise.
Maybe she could have showed more enthusiasm if they would have given her questions to be enthusiastic about. Everything was a thinly veiled insult. I would say they would never treat a man like this, but this reminds be of some really old awkward Brad Pitt interviews. If anyone knows what I’m talking about.
yeah, they really only made themselves look silly. she came off totally in tune with the commercialized crap they were throwing at her–right from the start she was being real & they were trying so, so hard to be “News Anchors.” insane.
Cringgggggggging while watching that interview, oh god.
Wow that interview was so hard to watch. They asked her the stupidest questions! “Did you read the book?” “Does being busy help you focus?” “Do you have anything in common with the character?” Could you ask more surface-level useless questions? Of course she responded with sarcasm, those questions are ridiculous! And they were so awful to her, and then surprised when she didn’t just turn around and smile after they were rude to her. Jeeeeezus.
Maybe she would have been in a better mood had they gotten her name right. Carla, really lady? It’s not like you’re doing hard hitting important new stories and your mind is someplace else you read vapid nonsense off of a teleprompter. At least get someone’s name right before you start with the asinine questions.
OH MY GOD. I just watched the Cara interview and despite your warnings, I was so shocked and appalled. I literally covered my mouth, eyes saucer wide and watched dumbfounded, until the end, when I screamed. What the actual fuck was wrong with them??
I found Cara absolutely delightful in that interview. Nobody is supposed to be as chipper as those anchors before 10am. I’m convinced they hadn’t slept in weeks, chugged a gallon of coffee, ran around the block 5 times, and washed down a few caffeine pills with some redbull before that interview. It’s the only explanation for their complete lack of tact. How they didn’t get yanked off the stage with a good old Vaudeville hook is baffling.
(I’m clearly fed up with the media’s crap attitude)
Raven, the pot calling the kettle black.
yeah, uh, if you are going to call somebody out like that I’m going to need to see your credentials as well. Last I checked, Raven wasn’t doing all that much for the LGBT community either so who is she to judge Caitlyn’s contributions.
Except that Caitlyn was actively against the LGBT community and Ravyn is no where near as prominent, no tv specials or reality shows, and doesn’t consider herself an activist.
So I don’t get your argument.
Exactly. She doesn’t consider herself an activist yet she is judging what others are doing for the community. If she doesn’t want to be an activist that is fine. We all don’t have that in us but why come after somebody who at least seems to be making effort now even if they weren’t in the past(which is probably related to their own internalized hatred but I don’t want to diagnose the woman).
that interview was so painful to watch
I read Seimone Augustus’s piece wondering when I was going to start crying, then BAM it hit me at the end. So powerful! That turtle just made my day, though.
The Seimone Augustus article was just so lovely to read!
but heather, that seimone augustus piece though.
“It’s incredible to think that there are children right now, at this very moment, that will grow up only knowing “marriage” and not “gay marriage.”
omg, Seimone Augustus, yes.
CARLA DELEVINGNE
WHAT
Had to come back and comment as the papers from this side of the pond are coming out in support of Cara, and her statement that the Anchors didn’t understand her brand of British Humour/Sarcasm. Some outlets are saying the anchors were rude to her. Have to say she seemed to me to be reacting with typically dry humour to what were patronising questions. She could have been far ruder. Good for her, why should she be constantly bubbly? Because the Patriarchy says so? She’s paid to be interviewed not to be the idea of perfect vapid shiny female servitude grateful to be asked moronic questions like did you read the book, appalling. It’s a combination of the questions asked and the tone of them, and then the rudeness at the end. They obviously wanted a Stepford wife to interview, and didn’t get one.
For the record I’m not really into Cara, not a huge fan, I’m just done with the way she’s been treated by the media lately. I respect the hell out of her full eyebrow choice though. This sarcastic Brit salutes her.
Those news anchors were definitely rude to Cara. They seemed to be trying to provoke a certain type of response from her and got mad when she didn’t take the bait. It reminds me of that famous news clip with the anchors similar to this that did an interview with Ryan Lochte and mocked his stupidity endlessly after talking to him. Is Ryan the brightest bulb, no? But you don’t have to be such gross assholes about it to your viewers immediately after speaking to him. It was so mean-spirited that I was shocked by it and I don’t even like the guy.
From my point of view it seemed like Cara has a hilarious personality full of flat Brit humour. They were so off base and obviously humourless to not find her responses funny. Just can not believe how rude they were.
I honestly feel like they didn’t know their questions were dumb, like their feelings were really hurt because they didn’t even realize that what they consider joking was actually rude and awkward. That dude who wanted everyone to be peppy looked like his eyelids are sewn open, that lady in the middle is clearly one of those women who thinks she’s “not like other girls”, and that dude on the right was just a fucking mess. They’re just mad because they tried it and she carried them
why do i get the feeling they are effin with her cuz she’s in a relationship with a girl.. >(
fossil media from ice age can’t take a grasp at women like CARA falling in love with other women.. tolerable to have a drunken lesbian kiss in a bar and have paparazzi photos but to have a relationship and speak about it in the interviews.. hmm.. career death sentence?
I was really rooting for that tortoise to get some watermelon!
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