Lenore Skenazy: 'Wicca Is The Next Yoga'
It's been nearly five months since Lenore Skenazy was ditched from her perch at the Daily News. Let's catch up with her recent work at the Sun! Wednesday's column, "Witching Hour In America," begins with a bang:
Praise the Goddess and pass the magical candle—the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs has finally recognized the Wicca religion.
We also learn that "Wicca is the next yoga." God we so hope so!
Then there's today's column: "The Catskills Is Why 'Dirty Dancing' Lives On."
"Dirty Dancing" is about to turn 20, and what once appeared to be a cheesy chick flick seems to be gaining the status of "Casablanca."
Oh! Really? And why is that? Well, Skenazy checks in with Manhattan psychiatrist Harvey Roy Greenberg, whose website informs us that he has appeared on the following television shows: "Today, Good Morning America, CBS Evening News, CBS Sunday, Larry King -Live, Donahue, CNN PrimeTime, Dr Katz, Professional Therapist, a BBC-TV documentary on Patrick O'Brian, and a Showtime Cable Network special on "Scream Queens". He has also appeared on national and international radio programs, including those of PBS, BBC, and CBC."
Nuts! (As it were.) What did Dr. Greenberg have to say?
"By setting the film in such a family-oriented place, it makes the transgressiveness" — the breaking of cultural taboos — "even greater."
Aw, that's cute. Lenore or someone doesn't think the Sun's readers know what "transgressiveness" means! But let's see how Lenore's critical analysis skills hold up:
Most parents want their children to stay children, or at least be obedient, and that was one of the appeals of the Catskills. It's where Jews went to keep things — and romances — predictable. Traditional.
"People went up there for romances," the head of the Catskills Institute, Phil Brown, said. "A waiter or busboy would likely be Jewish and a doctor or lawyer in training," he said. Parents, just like the ones in the movie, were happy to see their daughters date them.
The non-Jewish staffers, however, were off-limits. When Baby ( Jennifer Grey) stumbles upon this group dirty dancing, the thrill hits her like a pelvic thrust. And yet she still wants to be daddy's good little girl. She's torn.
And so are we. Genius? Horrorshow? Or the best thinker of our time? Where are we? —Doree
