Posts Tagged ‘television’
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is currently showing “Renoir in the 20th Century” ; until May 9th when it moves to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In true Renoir style many of the women that he painted are voluptuous. While his paintings are a little vapid for my taste his female models are glorious in their natural and often nude beauty. One can only hope that families and schools take advantage of exhibitions such as these so that we can remember that the human body is really quite spectacular.
While this LA museum is celebrating the Renoir’s females down the highway television executives decided that a Lane Bryant plus size lingerie commercial should not appear on certain shows in specific time slots.
“According to Lane Bryant, the ad was rejected from a number of programs that would air at 9:00 p.m. including Dancing with the Stars, Game Shows, America’s Funniest Videos, Extreme Makeover, Home Edition and Wipeout …………..”
So why the puritanical censorship when it comes to this company? The model, lingerie and filming are all stunning. One must assume that they object to the plus size cleavage but if we ignore for a minute the sales pitch perspective are not commercials just another form of modern artistic expression?
In 2210 when the Philadelphia Museum of Art is exhibiting ‘Women of the Early 21st Century” will it truly reflect what we see as we dress every morning. For centuries art has been about the portrayal of the authentic female form but perhaps I am wrong and ABC knows better.
Written by a sublimely less than perfect woman
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When it comes to my choice of television shows this season I seem to be experiencing some symptoms of having a multiple personality.
Love The Good Wife for all the right reasons; from the story lines, the clothes, to its strong female characters and if that isn’t enough I watch just to see how Christine Baranski can punctuate the end of a sentence with her expressive eyebrows.
Stepping back in time I confess to enjoying the very lusty and bloody Spartacus: Blood & Sand. Step aside Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) the Emmy goes to John Hannah as Batiatus. This role takes him from supportive roles to carrying the majority of scenes and story line and he does that exceptionally well. In my defense for having this 18A rated show on my list it was a lusty and bloodied time……….wasn’t it?
Tom Hanks & Steven Spielberg have another classic with The Pacific. Done with the same finesse and attention to every detail as Band of Brothers, this is a great series. When the camera puts you right on the battle field you want to turn away but you cannot because if those young men can face the death and agony so can we.
In between these TV shows I am trying to read AS Byatt’s The Children’s Book; many reviews call it absorbing, I’ll let you know. So far it is a bit hard to get into. I will say that some basic knowledge of Edwardian England and an interest in the same is a prerequisite for reading this book. Thank goodness I have all those Masterpiece Theater shows behind me!
With Your Biscotti & Coffee
This week I am bringing you a film site, a book and some perspective on reality TV.
1) The Auteurs, an online movie theater and gathering place for film lovers
http://www.theauteurs.com/dashboard
2) What’s Right with Reality TV by James Poniewozik
I was first going to skim this article because I thought it would be just about the reality shows but he went deeper; touching on generational and social changes which proved interesting.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1963739,00.html
3) This Book is Overdue by Marilyn Johnson
For all the closet librarians out there or info junkies like me this book looks perfect.
http://www.thisbookisoverdue.com/This_Book_Is_Overdue/Stop_Here_First.html
Check out the Librarian Blogs page.