Here’s some great news out of West Africa: according to the World Health Organization, the outbreak is down to its last couple of cases, with no new cases reported since early August.
We all have differing opinions on Colin Trevorrow’s take on the Jurassic Park series and the treatment of Claire, the female lead of Jurassic World. But Trevorrow’s recent comments about women in film probably won’t convince those who weren’t impressed by Jurassic World’s sexism in survival situations that he can make a female-positive Star Wars film.
Over the weekend, Trevorrow entered into the following exchange on Twitter, which ended up blowing up and fast.
Naturally, the part about “many of the top female directors” not being “interested” in making a big studio blockbuster set many people off. Some might argue that he was trying to say that many women make more compelling work and shouldn’t have to do fluff stuff, but it comes across like he thinks that women can’t be interested in superheroes, spaceships or dinos, a fact we all know is completely, utterly untrue. So it’s no surprise that everyone from actress Jaime King (see her tweet to Trevorrow below) to Angie Han, a writer at SlashFilm responded negatively to his comments.
You really ought to read Han’s full piece on the issue, and not just because it features a response to this whole controversy from Trevorrow himself (more on that in a hot second!). Her analysis of the whole thing is spot-on. While she admits that, yes, there might be certain well-known female filmmakers (here’s looking at you, Ava DuVernay!) who might turn down a big-budget film, the simple fact of the matter is, many of these filmmakers aren’t even getting offered the chance Trevorrow, once an indie filmmaker, had in the first place. We’re not seeing any independent female filmmakers like, say, a Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) getting offered a chance to take a crack at a major franchise. Or at the very least we’re not hearing about them getting offered that chance.
As Han explains,
Is it theoretically possible that the studios have approached some of these women, only to be shot down? Sure. But the fact that their names never crop up in the rumors or shortlists that circulate before any big announcement is telling.
The fact that some of Trevorrow’s female peers are not being afforded the same opportunities as him is a real problem that needs to be addressed. And it’s a problem that Trevorrow really could have addressed in his response to the original Twitter post, in addition to, possibly, his input on solutions. But he didn’t address either thing. And here we are, with him feeling compelled to clarify his comments further in the following e-mail to SlashFilm:
The last thing I’d want to communicate is that I don’t acknowledge this problem exists. I think the problem is glaring and obvious. And while it does make me a little uncomfortable to be held up as an example of everything that’s wrong, this is an important dialogue to have, so let’s have it.
Would I have been chosen to direct Jurassic World if I was a female filmmaker who had made one small film? I have no idea. I’d like to think that choice was based on the kind of story I told and the way I chose to tell it. But of course it’s not that simple. There are centuries-old biases at work at every level, within all of us. And yes, it makes me feel shitty to be perceived as part of this problem, because it’s an issue that matters so much to me. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t talk about it in the first place.
I do stand by the idea that a great many people in the film industry want this to change. I have made attempts at every turn to help turn the tide, and I will continue to do it. When I got the script for Lucky Them, released last year, I advocated hard for my friend Megan Griffiths to direct. She did, and she made a wonderful film (see it please). On my next project, Book of Henry, nearly all of my department heads and producers are women. Will I give a female filmmaker the same chance Steven Spielberg gave me someday? Let’s hope that when I do, it won’t even be noteworthy. It will be the status quo.
I came home from New York tonight and saw my daughter again after a week away. This had come up earlier in the day, so it was on my mind. I did think a lot about how vital it is for me to empower her now, even at age 3. To encourage her to go out and grab whatever it is she wants in life, to lead. It starts with the constant, steady assurance that the top job is attainable.
Becoming a filmmaker is not easy. It’s years of rejection and disappointment and it’s very hard, often grueling work. The job takes insane levels of endurance and sometimes delusional amounts of self-confidence. All I can do is raise one girl with that kind of fearlessness, then let her choose her path. That’s my contribution. The rest is up to her.
(Should I mention we need more female chefs? Different article.)
What do you think of Trevorrow’s e-mail? Do you feel like his first statement was misunderstood, or do you think this is him doing damage control in hopes that we’ll forget this all by the time we get more scoop about Star Wars IX?
And most importantly, do you think this conversation will prompt him to try and work with more women on the Star Wars franchise? Because while it’s great to have female characters leading some of these new films, including them behind the scenes is just as important. If female filmmakers and crew members do indeed have “very high levels of creative and artistic integrity,” then shouldn’t they inject that integrity into the Star Wars universe and all other blockbuster universes to come?
According to reports from other vloggers who attended the conference, the viral Christian vlogger Sam Rader was ejected from the Vlogger Fair conference in Seattle yesterday for “threatening violence” against one or more people. This incident allegedly occurred just one day after Sam admitted to using a paid account on the cheating website Ashley Madison.http://gawker.com/viral-christia...
The popular Christian vlogger Sam Rader—best known for “surprising” his wife with her own positive…
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I reached out to Sam for comment earlier this week about the Ashley Madison hack and did not hear back. This morning, I reached out again to discuss the Vlogger Fair incident, and he called me back almost immediately.
In our phone conversation, Sam admitted he was kicked out of the conference. At first, he said he did not threaten anyone, but later admitted to making a threat against one person, whom he would not identify. He explained, “It was one person, and I didn’t make a threat. What happened was there was a couple of fellow vloggers who had ridiculed our family on Twitter regarding the method we were mourning the loss, our miscarriage on Twitter.”
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(Sam is most famous for “surprising” his wife Nia with her own positive pregnancy test in a viral video. Three days after that video was posted, Nia tearfully announced she miscarried.)
Sam told me that problems at the conference began on Friday, when he approached one of the vloggers and “told him he had hurt our family and that was that.” On Saturday, Sam said that this vlogger “got in my face” and “put his chest up against mine” and that there was a verbal altercation from there. Sam admits that after this incident, the organizers kicked him out of the conference. He said he does not know if the other vlogger was asked to leave.
When asked to clarify whether or not he threatened anyone, Sam told me, “That’s absolutely not true. If I made a threat, it was to the one person, and it was, ‘You need to watch out before he messes with my family.’”
The vlogger and singer/songwriter Meghan Tonjes first accused Sam of threatening other vloggers in a series of tweets yesterday.
Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker said Sunday he doesn’t support a change to the country’s birthright citizenship laws, appearing to take a third stance on the issue in seven days.
Colorado has 20 new WHITE millionaires since legalizing marijuana, MEANWHILE Louisiana continues to incarcerates 1 out of 3 black peoples for non violent crimes such as possession of marijuana WHICH IS MEDICINE FOR WHITE PEOPLE BUT DRUGS FOR BLACKS
White stoners love ignoring how racist all of this is. They get upset when we mention how many Black people are sitting behind bars for a marijuana smh - K
Talk That Real.
Legalization should include ending sentences for people who are currently incarcerated for marijuana reasons. But legalization activists won’t touch that because they’re shits.
Legalization activists won’t touch incarceration because they don’t care about black or brown people
Japanese oil and mining company Mitsui has announced that they want to create a real-life version of the power loader that was made famous in the 1984 sci-fi/thriller Aliens. And it’s not even that they’re making something that calls this piece of machinery to mind, they actually admit that it’s their inspiration!
Tomoya Tsutsumi, an an official at Mitsui’s construction and industrial machinery division, clearly states, “What we have in mind is the Aliens power loader.”
While the full power loader suit is still a plan for the future, the company is already hard at work on a smaller version, named the Assist Suit AWN-03, that allows users to lift up to 33lbs without stressing the lower back. The next iteration, which is said to come out in two years, will add mechanical arms and legs. After that, the plan is to make suits that mimic the infamous power loaders.
the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun + gamer culture + hi boston
Two men who drove from Iowa to Boston for the Pokémon World Championships were arrested Friday after apparently threatening violence over social media against attendees of the event, according to the Boston Police Department.
Reddit user movielover278 made a neat comparison photo that puts a the size of a super Star Destroyer into perspective: it’s the size of Manhattan, give or take a couple of blocks.
'Two men, one in his 20s and the other in his 30s, were taken into custody at the school, the sheriff's office said, adding that one of the men was playing bagpipes on the roof.'
I recently went to a GI doc because I was experiencing
stomach pain. About halfway through the usual probing and embarrassing
questions doctors ask, he asked what I do for a living.
Me: I make
websites
Doctor: Really?
Great! We are redoing ours - maybe you can have a look?
Me: Sure! I can do a consultation later this week…
He meant right now.
In the middle of my examination. He
turns on his laptop, shows me their current site, the bids from two other
companies and asks me for input on them, has me look at their terms, and asks
me if they are fair.
Me: (stammering)
I’d need to look at it from my office, and it’s not really right for me to see
the other bids. And, really, I don’t feel comfortable giving an evaluation in
this setting.
After a bit of work
trying to steer the conversation back to why I was actually there, I finally
told him the companies were great, I couldn’t match them. We finished my
examination, and then I found another doctor.
The Bible is a pretty good book—some would say it’s the good book—but a handful of its stories are a little too old-fashioned for today’s modern audiences. Stories, for example, like the one about Cain and Abel. Oh sure, it’s about a guy murdering his brother, but that happens all the time these days. You need to punch it up a little for it to be relatable.
That’s what NBC is apparently thinking, at least, since it just bought a pilot from Ian Edelman (How To Make It In America) and David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada) that Deadline describes as “a sexy soapy Cain and Abel story.” The project is untitled for now, but it’s reportedly about two “very different” Cuban brothers who live in present-day Miami—which Deadline says is “a world where boxers, models, artists, gangsters, and billionaires collide.” We ...
A collective of radical bio-hackers and TransHackFeminists are out to reclaim gynecological medicine. Under the name GynePunks, they’re assembling an arsenal of open-source tools for DIY diagnosis and first-aid care — centrifuges made from old hard drive motors; microscopes from deconstructed webcams; homemade incubators; and 3D printable speculums.
Collider reports that a #ForceFriday catalogue is now available and in it you can see some photos of the products to come. Looks like we’re getting a mix of Force Awakens goodies and original series toys. Oh, and we’re going to get this:
A Chewie Furby? Not exactly what we’ve been looking for, but I suppose it’s better than a regular old Furby?
Anyway, here are a few of the other Star Wars toys you can expect come September. What’s going on your must-list? Also, can you believe September 4 is getting so close?
frenchman Mark Mooligan engaged the shooter before the Americans; wasn't initially named because he requested anonymity
19.46
More about Mr Moogalian, the French hero:
He tackled the Kalashnikov assault rifle off El-Khazzani, who then drew a sidearm and shot him in the neck before taking back the rifle, his sister has revealed.
Three other US citizens including two military personnel, and Chris Norman, a British businessman then stepped in to disarm and overpower the assailant.
Mr Moogalian’s sister Julia said: “He made sure his wife was hidden behind a seat. She watched the whole thing happen.
“He did manage to get the weapon away from the gunman.
“But the gunman then pulled another gun and shot my brother.
buried lede: the actual winners, including Cixin Liu and ORPHAN BLACK BEAT MOFFAT
BEST NOVEL
The Three Body Problem, Cixin Liu, Ken Liu translator (Tor Books)
BEST NOVELETTE
“The Day the World Turned Upside Down”, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Lia Belt translator (Lightspeed, 04-2014)
BEST GRAPHIC STORY
Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal, written by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Adrian Alphona and Jake Wyatt, (Marvel Comics)
BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM
Guardians of the Galaxy, written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman, directed by James Gunn (Marvel Studios, Moving Picture Company)
BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM
Orphan Black: “By Means Which Have Never Yet Been Tried”, ” written by Graham Manson, directed by John Fawcett (Temple Street Productions, Space/BBC America)
BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST
Julie Dillon
BEST SEMIPROZINE
Lightspeed Magazine, edited by John Joseph Adams, Stefan Rudnicki, Rich Horton, Wendy N. Wagner, and Christie Yant
BEST FANZINE
Journey Planet, edited by James Bacon, Christopher J Garcia, Colin Harris, Alissa McKersie, and Helen J. Montgomery
BEST FANCAST
Galactic Suburbia Podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Presenters) and Andrew Finch (Producer)
BEST FAN WRITER
Laura J. Mixon
BEST FAN ARTIST
Elizabeth Leggett
JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER
Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2012 or 2013, sponsored by Dell Magazines (not a Hugo Award).
“I don’t think we could’ve expected the overwhelmingly positive response from the community’s opportunistic property owners,” he added. ”An outpouring of thanks and evictions. People wanting to get involved. It was really amazing.”
Just one year ago, East Shellwood was one of the poorest neighborhoods in America. Its public schools were buckling under budget cuts and the crime rate was steadily increasing, while property values had hit an all-time low.
Today, all of that has changed. East Shellwood is thriving, and shows no signs of slowing down. So what happened?
It all started when a community-minded entrepreneur by the name of Jackson Klemmer had the innovative idea to replace every single one of the area’s longtime residents with affluent twentysomethings. The rest, as they say, is history.
“I knew if we could just find some way to increase the cost of living so that poorer residents had no choice but to move out, we could completely revitalize the neighborhood by filling it with predominantly white twentysomethings,” said Klemmer, a real estate investor and community activist. “People said East Shellwood was a lost cause. But I never stopped believing in this place and the people who could potentially live here once we got rid of all the poor people.”
Klemmer’s plan started with making small but powerful changes to the urban landscape. Putting an overpriced clothing outlet here. A Starbucks there. Small seeds of progress that, over time, would drive the rent up and longtime residents out, paving the way for an influx of young bohemians from affluent backgrounds.
“We went door to door, asking people if they were struggling financially,” said Klemmer. “Then if they said yes, we encouraged their landlords to raise the rent when their lease ended, forcing them out, and making room for wealthier tenants who would be attracted to the area’s cool, urban vibe.”
“I don’t think we could’ve expected the overwhelmingly positive response from the community’s opportunistic property owners,” he added. ”An outpouring of thanks and evictions. People wanting to get involved. It was really amazing.”
The result of his philanthropic efforts is the miracle of East Shellwood today: a beautiful urban enclave of upper-middle-class privilege where there was once a culturally diverse and economically unprofitable community.
“It’s amazing what you can do when you get a community to come together and vacate their homes so that young, rich people can live there instead,” said Klemmer. “You can change the world.”
Super Opinionated.
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