Do women critics review differently?
Posted on March 21, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Jennifer Merin of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists invited me to respond to a blog post from Gary Susman of Entertainment Weekly on whether we need more female critics.
Baby Einstein has to admit their DVDs do not educate
Posted on February 27, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Three cheers for the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. In a press release issued today, CCFC announced that “As a result of CCFC’s Federal Trade Commission complaint, Baby Einstein has completely redesigned its website and is no longer making educational claims about its DVDs and videos.”
I have been a long-time critic of DVDs for under-twos and am delighted that they can no longer be marketed as “educational.” Studies have shown that babies learn less from watching these DVDs than they do from spending the same amount of time observing the world around them. The FTC and Disney have acknowledged what parents have known for thousands of years — that babies learn best from interaction and observation.
Congratulations to “The Counterfeiters”
Posted on February 25, 2008 at 7:00 am
It was great to see “The Counterfeiters” win the foreign language Oscar last night. writer-director Stefan Ruzowitsky and lead actor Karl Markovics told me how thrilled they were to be nominated, and how much they were looking forward to attending. I enjoyed Ruzowitsky’s graceful acceptance speech, and I hope Markovics got his wish to meet Gene Hackman!
Should Miley Buckle Up?
Posted on February 13, 2008 at 5:56 pm
A blog post by Consumer Reports points out that in her record-breaking 3D concert film, Miley Cyrus and her dad ride in the back seat of a Range Rover on the way to rehearsal — without their seatbelts. Cyrus senior has issued an apology.
“We got caught up in the moment of filming, and we made a mistake and forgot to buckle our seatbelts,” he explains. “Seatbelt safety is extremely important.”
The blog post inspired a stream of angry comments. Miley Cyrus has some passionate fans –who knew they read Consumer Reports, though? But if the young woman Forbes called “a cultural and merchandising icon” uses her onscreen persona to sell everything from movie and concert tickets to keychains, t-shirts, throw pillows, and beach towels, she has to recognize that she influences more than the decision about which backpack to buy. She has been a wonderful role model for young girls, a welcome contrast to Lindsay Lohan, and Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears. It seems a small point to criticize her for failing to buckle up when we are so glad to have a pop star who seems like a well-behaved, respectful girl. But because she is so intensely observed and imitated, everything she does is a lesson. In this case, the lesson is that when you make a mistake, you apologize. Good for Consumer Reports for pointing out that Miley should have buckled her seatbelt, and good for Miley’s dad for acknowledging their mistake.
Meeting with the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
Posted on February 6, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Yesterday I attended a meeting with Kevin Martin, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to talk about media and family issues. It was arranged by the Parents Television Council, which has been very active on issues of non-family-friendly content and especially on “cable choice,” unbundling of cable channels so that consumers can buy only the channels they want.
Chairman Martin spoke frankly to us about his views and his frustrations. He, too, believes that consumers should not be forced to pay for channels they do not want to watch. But there is so much money at stake that industry is pouring a lot of money into opposition and it is not likely that legislative proposals will get much support. He has some hope that at the local level, as communities select their cable providers, they may be able to insist on unbundling. The Chairman also looks to local communities to oppose the licenses of broadcast stations that do not meet their commitment to the public interest. He pointed out that local complaints led to the largest fine in the Commission’s history, $24 million paid by Univision for claiming that it had three hours of children’s programming when what they were airing was a Spanish language soap opera. He said that what he found even more outrageous was something over which the FCC had no authority. “Sesame Street,” originally created with government funding and broadcast at no charge over PBS stations, will be moving to cable on an exclusive basis when television goes all-digital next year. This also slows down the creation of an all-children’s public television channel because they will not have access to the content. The Chairman feels strongly that programming created with public money should not be able to sell exclusive rights to channels that are not available to everyone.
PTC’s Tim Winter commented on the meeting and the issues he finds important.
PTC has pioneered activism that holds advertisers accountable for the programs they sponsor, and their website has a lot of very useful informtation about television programs and policy initiatives.