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In your hazy Tuesday media column: a few more people are trusting the media, Paste Magazine returns, the New York Times Co. eyes the education industry, a Village Voice strike threat looms, and Dan Balz stays put.
A public preschool in a liberal part of Stockholm has created an environment where gendered pronouns are not used, the children are referred to as "friends" instead of "boys and girls," and toys are deliberately gender neutral. Sounds crazy!
Are the sharks out for Michele Bachmann, or what? Little miscues that offer a quick, innocent laugh at first become over-reported multiday scandals about how she's the stupidest person alive. She loves serial killers, what an idiot! And now one of Hollywood's prominent songwriters won't even let her use a song she likes, at events. The self-victimizing fundraising letters write themselves.
Well, this is embarrassing: News Corp. will probably sell MySpace for less than a tenth of what it paid for the social network, and for less than a third of its stated minimum bid. And, yes, big layoffs are coming.
I'm thrilled that my favorite summer shows—like True Blood and Weeds—are finally coming back. But one thing is increasingly clear: There are a lot of desperate shows out there. And they're all resorting to the same tired tricks to try to make themselves fresh again.
Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty tries so hard to be loved, and yet. He makes exciting action films on a regular basis, he's apologized for once believing in science, he's released a cartoonish parody of a Republican economic plan, and he's all about the Jesus stuff. He is a full-service pander shop but scares away all the customers. What else can he do at this point? Go nuts about war, obviously.
Demographic analysis is not all that hard, if you think about it. Young white kids are flooding into our nation's cities; the crumbling suburban wasteland, therefore, is welcoming an influx of formerly urban black people. This could be seen as a reasonably fair trade, except for one key factor—the old people are still there in the suburbs. And they're cranky.
Shia says he had an affair with Megan, but he might be lying. Jake Gyllenhaal gets "touchy-feely" with a lady. Hugh Hefner adds another lady to his harem. Nicole Kidman's baby is a ginger. Tuesday gossip kisses and tells.
Some crazy dude has climbed a light pole in Times Square, shutting down traffic. He's apparently rapping? Police are standing on top of a van, trying to coax him down, and you can watch the live feed here. Quite a crowd has developed around Rapping Light Pole Guy, and tourists are no doubt getting the wrong impression that this is something New Yorkers do all the time.
This actor got so upset when he was deleted from a fellow star's Facebook page, he hired teenagers to egg the guy's car. This actress broke up a director's marriage. And this studio head has sex with an employee every day. But does he "poke" them when he's done?
Dissecting the various psychological and socieconomic strands that make up today's sophisticated modern advertising campaigns is no easy task, but we'll give it our best shot. In this ad out of India (click to enlarge) for Lotte Choco Caramel With Mango Inside, the choco-caramel-colored pregnant maid represents the Choco Caramel With Mango Inside. The happily leering mango is pleased that his mango sperm has been "inside" the choco caramel, and will be again soon, by the looks of it. Probably via rape. This scenario makes people want to purchase the candy in question.
