The “La-La Di Dah” Edition
Dear Readers,
Happy Oscars Day! For once, it’s appropriate for the event to fall during Black History Month, given the record number of nominations for actors and other talent of color. Perhaps some black history will be made tonight.
That said, the critical and popular darling of the season is ‘La La Land.’ Despite John Legend’s excellent performance and musical prowess, it is a monument of whiteness. And even though it is being hailed as a strong woman’s role that Emma Stone fully inhabits, and maybe it attempts to put a man and woman character on even footing (ha ha so to speak, it’s a dance movie, get it!?) it is so white’ and so man’splainy I just couldn’t get there on the praise side of things.
I saw the director’s first feature, Whiplash, at Sundance, and reacted very negatively to its (well-acted) portrayal of a (white) drummer jazz student who is screamed at by his (white angry abusive) teacher for two hours, in between explaining the finer points of great black music to each other and to the audience. With no black major characters in sight. Or even minor characters. Except the extras. Or any women. Except the girlfriend he breaks up with because he has to concentrate on his music. You can imagine how many people embraced my considered opinion after it won Best Dramatic Feature and the Audience Award at the Festival. Oh, and three Oscars.
Okay so the thing is that I 100% get why both films can be considered breakthrough and even great. I really get the perspective of the film-maker and the technical prowess of the direction, too. I just didn’t relate. Or I related to it in theory but it didn’t move me in real life. And the absence of emotion and connection outside the white guy to white guy thing left a vacuum that didn’t get filled by their emo journey.
Anyhow, I feared for my life when I saw the director’s second feature, ‘La La Land’ and shared that I had anything less than a 1000% positive reaction because it was so universally praised and awarded. So writing this on the morn of Oscar broadcast (and morn of Episode 2 of Big Little Lies!) I really fear for my social media life. And sanity. It feels nuts to be so out of synch with the rest of the world.
But it turns out that
(and this one’s funny:)
agree.
There is no right or wrong about creative endeavors, of course. But I do hope that each week, you can find something right to share or enjoy out of the many perspectives offered in The LZ Sunday Paper. Enjoy the compendium of news hand-picked by me, for you, about and by women in business, politics, media, tech, the arts, fashion, music, science, sports, and pop culture.
Forward it to those you think will enjoy it. Share it on your social media channel of choice.
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And enjoy the Oscars and all the great films there are to see. Including La La Land.
LZ
THE PIC(K) OF THE WEEK:
POLITICS:
Conway: ‘Many Women Have A Problem With Women In Power’ via The Daily Beast
Ellis Island Documents Reveal A Surprising Truth About Donald Trump’s Immigrant Mother via Fusion
NEWS:
Uber Ugliness Unmasks Silicon Valley’s Bro Culture via Info World
Uber Says It’s Not Behind The Phonecalls To Investigate Susan Fowler’s Personal Life via ReCode
Users Get Message About Susan Fowler When Trying To Delete Uber via Mashable
Meet The 16-Year Old Canadian Girl Who Took Down Milo Yiannopoulos via Vox
Women Do Like To Compete — Against Themselves via The New York Times
Rethinking The Ethics Of Photoshop via Fast Company
We Tested Bots Like Siri and Alexa To See Who Would Stand Up To Sexual Harassment via Quartz
Judge Allows Testimony Of Another Accuser In Cosby Case via The New York Times
ARTS, FASHION, SCIENCE, SPORTS, LIT & POP CULTURE:
The Thorny Ethics Of The Oscars via The New Yorker
Oscar Gender Gap: Male Leads In Best Picture Nominees Have Twice As Much Screentime via Variety
True Confessions Of A Female Director, Amy Heckerling via The Ringer
Viola Davis And The Afro As Resistance via B**** Media
Norman Mailer’s Snarling Encounter With Feminism, Restaged In Trump’s America via The New Yorker
Paris Jackson, Michael Jackson’s Daughter, Speaks Out: Life After Neverland via Rolling Stone
Leeds College Of Art Show Puts Female Twist On Classic Cowboys via The BBC
Generation M: How Young Muslim Women Are Driving A Modest Fashion Revolution via The Guardian
AND WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT:
The LZ Sunday Paper™ launched at the dawn of 2014. We expose and recirculate interesting content that is about, and frequently by, women in business, with a dose of ultra-relevant culture. We think that culture comes high and low, not much in between. Our audience is vast and not gender-driven. Every week we expect to deliver at least one good laugh. Send suggestions, clips, or names of people you think might enjoy this to LZSundayPaper@gmail.com.
