Bill O'Reilly Saves the Drama for Obama

Conservative pundit personality and foe of feminists Bill O'Reilly stormed a recent Obama rally, harassing the senator and socking it to a Secret Service agent. And although O'Reilly claims there was no Secret Service involvement or physical violence, you can see for yourself that he did indeed get physical.



Even if Obama can't save America from foreign threats and a falling economy (I have faith in the him, though!), he can absolutely protect us from Bill O'Reilly, which is arguably much cooler.

Movie Review: Should we say "ciao" to Bella?

Before Christian groups were out on the sidewalk protesting The Golden Compass, they were inside the theatres watching Bella.

Meet Nina. After being late to work multiple times, she's been fired from her job bussing tables a Mexican restaurant. As she walks away from the establishment, looking incredibly upset, head chef Jose follows her to the subway (at the expense of his job) in an attempt to console her. And guess what? Nina's been late because she's pregnant, and she's on her way to get an abortion. Nina and Jose share stories of their troubled pasts, the audience meets Jose's crazy but close family, and several days later, Nina chooses to carry her pregnancy to term with a somewhat surprising ending.

Bella is not a pro-choice movie in which the protagonist "chooses life". The images of an abortion clinic are coupled with ominous music, Nina's final decision is dramatized and emotionalized to a preachy extent. From a feminist perspective, the film cannot redeem itself with its positive attitude towards single-parenthood and alternative family structures. While, Bella is nicely written and directed well, it's highly implausible plot and lack of subtlety makes it feel more like a night at the church than a night at the theater.

Movie Rating: ♀♀ out of 4
Feminist Rating: 0 out of 4

I Suppose Our Snarky Wit is Orgasmic

According to a service I use to see how people come across our humble blog, a recent visitor was directed to Emily's A Shot at Change with Tila Tequila post after he/she typed in "tila tequila porn" in a MySpace search engine.

Isn't that just precious?

Does the Iowa Caucus Merit a Victory Dance?

The Iowa caucus is all said and done, and it's time to examine the results. Obama won over the Democratic set with 38% percent of the vote, and Republican voters selected Huckabee by a near landslide. I don't love Barack Obama (I'm a Clinton girl), but I do like him. I understand why people are crazy in love with Obama, and I do think he'd make a good President. I agree with him on many of the issues moreso than I do some of the other Democratic nominees.

As for Mike Huckabee, this is some awful news. The Christian soldier with a penchant for dieting and celebrity endorsements roundhouse-kicked his way to the top of the Republican polls by infantilising women who have abortions and playing surrogate daddy to pregnant teen star Jamie Lynn Spears. The silver-lining? In the general elections, Huckabee might as well start digging his grave (with a knife and fork, to say the least).

Thoughts?

New Hampshire Gets Civil-ized

New Hampshire law has just legalized civil unions for same sex couples, becoming the fourth US state to do so (Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey are the other three; Massachusetts allows same sex marriage). Civil unions give couples "the same rights, responsibilities and obligations of marriage" without violating the "sanctity of marriage" [re: making the religious right get all pissy]. While the legalization of same sex marriage throughout the world is an ultimate goal, this is progress indeed.

To commemorate this major event, I have included my favorite political and psychological dissertation [re: stand-up comedy routine] on the matter:

6 Grams of Absurdity

In a TV ad campaign for the Subway sandwich franchise, people unperturbedly refer to hamburgers and fries using the effects that eating these foods frequently may cause, such as "thunder thighs" and "blubber".



In one ad [not the one above], a 30-something woman asks what toppings are included with her hamburger. On the list? "Loss of self esteem" and "loss of boyfriend". The pound-packing effects of eating copious amounts of fast food do exist, and eating burger after burger will no doubt expand this woman's waistline.

The implied message, however, is not so tasty: if this woman becomes fat, her boyfriend will dump her because she is now ugly and undesirable. Someone's got a bad case of fatphobia. Many large girls are beautiful, just as many skinnier girls aren't (and vise versa). And to say all big girls are such because they pig out on fast food is a rude, sweeping generalization. The other suggestion, that this woman's boyfriend dated her purely because of her physique, and that her physique is her only desirable attribute, is, while possible, equally absurd.

Happy New Year!

Feministing.com has a great retrospective of 2007 from a feminist perspective. It contains blurbs detailing 2007's most terrifying, titillating, and terrific events, just in case it's old acquaintance and events you've forgotten.

Here's to a great 2008!