“The judges offered the justification that ‘the public had been subjected to too many bad things this year to justify exposing it to bad sex as well,’ but come on — the bad things we’ve weathered in 2020 are exactly the reason we need to laugh and cringe at [execrable sex writing]. … The Literary Review judges admonished writers not to take the cancellation as ‘a license to write bad sex’ — but they abandoned us in our time of need so we don’t have to listen to them.” – Electric Literature
Why Just ‘Adding Context’ To Controversial Monuments May Not Change Minds
In two words, confirmation bias. If the text about slavery added to a statue of a Confederate general at a battleground or to the displays at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello conflict with visitors’ pre-existing beliefs, those people will dismiss the new information as irrelevant (if they even notice that it’s there). This is particularly true at historical monuments because, research has shown, most people who visit them don’t go there to learn. – Smithsonian Magazine
The Academy Disqualifies Canada’s International Oscar Submission For Too Much English
The film, Deepa Mehta’s Funny Boy about a young gay Sri Lankan man coming of age during the beginnings of a horrific civil war, has “too much English dialogue.” Last year, two films (the submissions from Austria and Nigeria) were disqualified for the same reason. – The Hollywood Reporter
In Canada, A True Brouhaha About Yet Another Well-Funded Artist’s Claim Of Indigenous Identity
Michelle Latimer is the co-creator and director of Canada’s Trickster, a TV series that has won acclaim as an adaptation of an Indigenous writer’s trilogy. But Latimer’s claimed identity has come into serious question. She said she had “prematurely claimed a link without first doing the proper research to back up her belief.” – CBC
It Took A Netflix Movie To Shed Light On Playwright August Wilson’s Vision
Well, not in the theatre world, obviously – but in the wider world, Netflix carries some pretty solid cultural cachet. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is the first of Wilson’s plays to be adapted for the streaming behemoth. Its director says Wilson’s play is all too relevant in 2020. “It would be lovely one day if it was a lovely piece of nostalgia about the difficult complicated racial equation of 1927. But that’s not going to happen for a while.” – NPR
Pop Culture Absolutely Failed Us In 2020
Perhaps it’s too overwhelming to contemplate on any pop level, but also, the lack of a sufficient representation of our time is weird. “Months into this altered reality, pop culture has remained stunted, vaguely gesturing at our shared reality without having contributions of substance. There have been surprisingly few works in music, TV, or films that help us process what we are going through. This is not for lack of content.” – BuzzFeed
BMG Says It May Have Given Black Recording Artists Unfair Contracts
And BMG doesn’t mean “in historical times,” but since 2008. “Although it did not identify the labels in question, BMG said black musicians’ royalties were up to 3.4% lower than those of non-black artists.” The inquiry at BMG will continue. – BBC
The Head Of Americans For The Arts Steps Aside After Many, Many Workplace Complaints
The powerful arts advocacy nonprofit had many successes – but workplace culture wasn’t one of them. “The move comes after a growing chorus of criticism, from current and former AFTA employees and advisory council members, who said that the organization was failing its mission with respect to diversity, equity and inclusion. There were also complaints of sexual harassment, and of a management culture that was built on intimidation instead of transparency.” – The New York Times
Yes, It Absolutely Is A Big Deal To Have Queer Christmas Movies
Why would anyone want to join that schlocky tradition? Well, ask screenwriter Michael Varrati. “‘Movie Christmas is a lot different than real Christmas,’ Varrati said. ‘Not everybody has a great relationship with their family or has pristine memories of yesteryear.’ In holiday movies, he added, queer people ‘get to live in the Christmas they always wanted or didn’t get to have.'” – The New York Times
Is Making Movies Worth It Right Now?
That’s really what Tom Cruise’s rant was about, and it’s also about the concentration of power during the pandemic, while studios are paying millions to try to keep their productions afloat: “In the short term, this means more projects in the pipeline to keep Tinseltown busy. In the long term, though, the shift only widens Hollywood’s power imbalance, creating an industry dependent on the wealthiest studios and celebrities.” – The Atlantic
Another Delay For The Film Academy’s Museum
Announced in 2012, supposed to open in 2017, and … what now? “Setbacks have included sparring architects, the discovery of mastodon fossils by excavation crews, a budget that ballooned by roughly 90 percent, the ouster of its founding director and now, for the second time, the coronavirus pandemic.” – The New York Times
Wood’s A Great Building Material, Except For That Little Thing Called A Legacy
Take Stonehenge, for example. “Stonehenge too might once have been largely a wooden structure. The central bluestones and the rings of sarsen stones that surround them are surrounded in turn by several rings of postholes, just as at Woodhenge. The stones could therefore originally have been covered or surrounded by a huge ring-shaped wooden building. The archaeological blogger Geoff Carter has even suggested that the sarsen stones themselves and their lintels could have acted as load-bearing structures in a huge wooden temple that completely covered the bluestones.” – LitHub
How The Ailey Company Is Dealing With The Pandemic
Considering that it’s not an easy time for dance companies, the Times says, the Ailey is making wonderful choices for its current and future audiences. “Since Dec. 2, the company has been releasing themed programs mixing archival and newly filmed performance excerpts with taped conversations about the dances and the moment.” – The New York Times
The Path From Broadway To Your TV Screen Is, While Now Familiar, Still Bumpy
The good: “Musicals — and, in a way, plays too — are now being filmed because of their music, not in spite of it.”
The less good: “They put us onstage with the story and give us no say.” – The New York Times
Why Netflix’s ‘Ma Rainey’ Ends With A Scene That’s Not In The Play
Director George C. Wolfe says of the final scene, “It’s a very slippery little slope: When does sharing become cultural appropriation become theft?” – Los Angeles Times
Many TV Shows Shut Down Because Of Positive Tests – Many Of Them False Positives
Several shows got what might be called early Christmas holidays this week, with a side of positive coronavirus test terror spicing up those free days. – Vulture
The Berlin Film Festival Is Now Delayed
And there are pretty clear indications that Cannes and Venice may – and probably should – follow suit. “‘There is a great desire to meet face to face,’ Mariette Rissenbeek, the festival’s executive director, said in a statement, but ‘the current situation does not allow a physical festival in February.'” – The New York Times
Record Intact: Boston’s H&H Extends Its Streak To 167 Years Of Messiahs. Here’s How
The period-instrument orchestra first performed the resplendent “Hallelujah” chorus during its inaugural concert in 1815, presenting the American premiere three years later. In the centuries since, H+H has often performed the storied oratorio, including, for the past 166 years uninterrupted, annual holiday performances that have sustained Bostonians through the Great Depression, two World Wars, 32 presidencies, the Civil War, and the Spanish Flu pandemic. – Boston Globe
It’s Been Six Months, And Australian Arts Organizations Still Haven’t Gotten Any Rescue Fund Money
“The $250m rescue package to arts and cultural organisations affected by Covid was announced in June, … [yet] in October it emerged in budget estimates that still no emergency funding had been disbursed.” Now the government says that some money has been designated for specific organizations, but those groups say no cash has actually arrived. – The Guardian
Performers Angry As One Of Australia’s Fringe Festivals Adds Non-Disparagement ‘Gag Order’ To Contracts
“Perth’s Fringe World, which opens on 15 January, attracted criticism and protests earlier this year over its longstanding sponsorship by fossil fuel giant Woodside. In a bid to head off disruption of next month’s event, the organisers – not-for-profit company Artrage – have included in the festival’s main contract the stipulation that ‘the presenter and the venue operator must use its best endeavours to not do any act or omit to do any act that would prejudice any of Fringe World’s sponsorship arrangements’. … [Performers] said the clause effectively amounted to a gag order, curtailing comment on anything from climate change to local politics.” – The Guardian