Historical photos from San Francisco's Chinatown show the differences between the way Chinese Americans were portrayed in the media during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the dignity and humanity with which they decided to present themselves. - Hyperallergic
Cutting the cord and streaming the Oscars is the obvious move for the Academy to get the show out of its current audience-dwindling funk. The move would instantly trim the show of about 45 minutes’ worth of commercial breaks, enough time to give Tom Fleischman and every member of his extended family their own lifetime achievement awards. - The...
"In interviews, leaders of almost a dozen cultural groups across the country emphasized the need for caution and carefulness. But they noted that each of their situations are distinct." - The New York Times
"Complaints about drunken, chaotic and argumentative audience behaviour have been reaching fever pitch. 'It feels like every bloody day there's a new debate about theatre etiquette,' says one theatre usher. 'And I hate to stereotype, but the worst incidents seem to happen at jukebox musicals.'" - The Observer (UK)
The maturity of the subscription market varies by industry, but in some of the categories best known for these kinds of services, there are indicators that the ceiling is close, at least in the United States. - The Atlantic
Time to pull up and reconsider that lightning-fast reshare impulse: Did the Kremlin make the image you're about to share? (In one prominent case just as Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, it sure did.) - Vice
Why? Series like Inventing Anna and The Dropout "create a shared universe in which scamming and entrepreneurship meet in a chaotic portrait of American decline." - The New York Times
"Researchers from (three University of California campuses) have found that when people listen to auditory messages – like podcasts, audiobooks, and radio news – via headphones, they feel more empathetic and persuadable than when listening to those same messages through speakers." - The Guardian
“This is all quite novel in the United States, but actually AMC has been doing it for years in our European theaters. Indeed, in Europe we charge a premium for the best seats in the house — as do just about all sellers of tickets in other industries — take sports events, concerts and live theater, for example.” -...
"In the last few years, as China’s diplomatic relations with the west – and in particular the US – plummeted, the preferences of Chinese audiences changed, too." Now homegrown Chinese media is in vogue, changing Hollywood calculations (and funding). - The Observer (UK)
Three hosts, two fan-voted awards, eight categories cut from the live broadcast … "Too many of these Oscar decisions seem motivated by bone-deep insecurity — a sort of self-loathing from the Academy about what the show really is, let alone what it ought to be." - The New York Times
"The communal understanding that this is our space, our work, our shared awareness is an incomparable feeling. ... Every joke hit. Every cultural reference resonated. I remember thinking, why don’t we do this more often? Seriously. Why don’t we?" - Los Angeles Times
"Venue staff are increasingly on their own, leaving ushers, house managers, security staff and box office managers in the crosshairs of different audience members' diametrically opposed preferences as they deal with the fallout of unclear and inconsistent COVID guidance from government officials." - San Francisco Chronicle
Says one, "There are so many moments where I'm shocked by humanity. Once when I called out for proof of vaccination and photo IDs, a man said, 'I got my proof of vaccination tattooed on my ass. Want me to pull my pants down?'" - Time Out New York
The return rate to movie theaters in the first week of February was 58% of what it was before the pandemic. Restaurants were nearly three-quarters as full as they were before Covid-19, and air travel had recovered to about 80%. - The Wall Street Journal
