You Can't Go Home Again

I guess I'm stepping back onto my soap box. This fall's tv lineup will include the new 90210. The new 90210! Do we need another 90210? Do we even need another teen drama series? Isn't there enough sex and deception and angst on tv in the form of One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl and The Hills? On the promos the creators said that this 90210 will be edgier, sexier, more controversial than the first. How much edgier can you get it? Why is it entertaining to watch high schoolers sluttin' it up? Really, I find it a little disturbing that adults would be watching high scoolers sluttin' it up. I know you may say that adults are not the target demographic, but the creators did say that they expect the original show's fans to watch also. And the fact that they have Jennie Garth reprising her role as Kelly Taylor says that they are trying to pull in old fans (who are definitely no longer teenagers).

As I watched the cast members (only a few; I couldn't get through all of the intros) talk about their characters, I just didn't care. I did not care that Silver would be the atypical high schooler who is a free spirit type (sadly, she does not sound like an atypical high school tv character). I did not care that Naomi is the hot rich girl with the on-again/off again relationship with sexy Ethan and she gets whatever she wants. I just didn't care. As I watched, I was thinking, "Been there, done that."

I know the next generation has not been there, done that (actually they have--One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, The Hills), but people, COME UP WITH NEW IDEAS! Stop trying to make us relive yesterday. 90210 is Generation X's memory; not Gen Yers'. Hollywood will suck the life out of anything, then revive it and suck the life back out. They didn't even bother to come up with a new premise--a wholsome, nuclear family with one boy, one girl (both teenagers) from the heart of America comes to rich, wild Beverly Hills and tries to adjust.

Okay, I am just venting. But we should demand more out of the film and tv industry. We're smarter; we deserve more. Steel Magnolia, you like to write letters. Write them a letter. I will do my part--I'm not going to watch. Do you think they'll get the message?

History in the Making

How interesting! Cynthia McKinney just chose Rosa Clemente as her running mate for the 2008 Presidential race. Her selection has created the first all-women-of-color presidential ticket in America's history. This presidential race is truly historic! I wonder if all those Hillary supporters who seemed to only be voting Democrat because they wanted a woman to win will cast their vote for the Green party.
Here's a link to an interview with McKinney and Clemente about the race:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/21/first_all_women_of_color_presidential

What's Wrong with Elisabeth ?!?

Last week on The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck started crying when the women discussed the use of the word "nigger." Apparently, she was confused as to how the word can be used and who can use it. When Whoopi Goldberg explained (yet again) that as a white person, she cannot acceptably use the word, Elisabeth became upset and started crying, babbling something about everyone living in the same world.

Here is my issue: After Whoopi said that we live in different worlds, who is Elisabeth to dismiss that and say that we live in the same world? I don't presume to speak for all black people as no one person can (for instance, I disagree with Whoopi's assessment that Blacks can use the word acceptably), but I believe most black people would agree that we do live in different worlds in America. They would agree that black people see the world through different eyes than white people. That's not to say that we have no similarities. At our core, regardless of culture or race, we want to be happy, we want the best for our families, we want connection with others. Even beyond the core, we can laugh at some of the same jokes, we can find the same people attractive, we share the same hobbies. But none of these things negates the fact that as a black person in America, one's experiences will be shaped and viewed differently from a white person's because he/she is black in America. And it is the height of arrogance to tell that person that his/her experience is not different! That is like a rich person telling a poor person that his life is no different or a thin person telling a fat person to stop imagining mistreatment. You can't tell another person what his/hers experience is!

The thing is, there cannot be a meeting of the minds or even the possibility that we can live in the same world as Elisabeth insists we already do, until everyone is willing to admit that people have different experiences and we all start to respect those experiences rather than trying to negate them.

If there's one thing black people have learned throughout history, shedding tears won't change things.

Note: Don't forget to check out Black in America tonight on CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america/

Past is Prologue

This week in Washington, DC, approximately 35,000 women participated in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.'s centennial celebration. Often, when I think about the stability and endurance of this sorority, I am amazed. One hundred years ago, in the face of discrimination, Jim Crow, lynchings and educational apartheid among other life-changing struggles, young women like Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, Lillie Burke, and Lucy Diggs Slowe had the courage and insight to start an organization that would ultimately attract over 200,000 college-educated women. Not only that, the organization would last for an hundred years. In a Women's Studies course I once took, I learned that men respect the things that men build because they are lasting--buildings, bridges, societies--but not so much what women produce because it is temporal--life, for example. AKA is an example of women producing that which lasts. And when one considers that these were young women--college students--the age of those that I teach and sometimes throw my hands up and wonder about, I am humbled. Steel Magnolia says that we should not count out the young. AKA's founders are examples of why we shouldn't.

This achievement gives me pause and at this pivotal point in our history, I am honored to be a part of this legacy.

How to Get Your Baby to Walk

So I discovered something tonight: All people are motivated by their grandest desires. My daughter's favorite plaything at one year old? Her Elmo doll. My son's? His member.

He started walking about month ago, so he's still unsteady on his feet and would rather crawl when he's in a hurry. My husband thinks it's hilarious and freeing to let him go commando, and he was having just such a moment a little while ago. He wanted to follow his sister, who was moving much faster down the hall. He was holding his favorite item with one hand and trying to crawl. Realizing that crawling with one hand doesn't quite work, he finally decides to get up and walk. Thus, he did not have to let go of his favorite toy.

I have no words. Only laughter.

Mommy Dearest

So, I'm trying not to cry. That's a challenge. I cry at commercials. And weddings. And funerals. And movies. And the opening of a can of soup. I'm a crier. But the point today is that I just left my beautiful, cuddly son at daycare. And, like his mother, he was crying. Actually, he was screaming. Like he was in the third circle of Dante's Inferno. Let me tell you, this was not a good feeling. He put a death grip on me as I kissed him goodbye and I had to pry his little hand from my blouse. I offered to stay with him for a while. In fact, I had planned to stay with him to help him get comfortable. But the teacher told me that the sooner I left, the better. I don't feel that silly, working mother guilt that women keep describing because I know that I have to continue to do what I need to do. (And because fathers are rarely subject to that guilt, either externally or internally). But leaving him crying and afraid and missing me feels exceptionally crappy.

This moment comes on the heels of another less than stellar parenting moment. Yesterday was bike day and I lugged my 2 year old daughter's scooter--the kind you push with your feet--into her classroom. All of the children were lined up on their bikes to go outside. Then I realize that all of the other children have tricycles with pedals. My daughter scoots down the hall with her class, but she's the only one pushing with her feet. She has two bikes with pedals at home, but she doesn't know how to ride them alone because the last time we tried her legs were too short. And because it's hot as all get out and we haven't been spending much time outdoors. So, ultimately, I've been holding her back. I sent her to school with this little baby toy and she should have been on a big kid bike. What's wrong with me?! I haven't been reading all the books like I should have so that I would know her developmental stage. AND last week I forgot to bring her ball for ball day.

Are these the things that will send my children to therapy?

My Dirty Little (TV) Secret

I don't watch reality shows except for the occasional season of American Idol. And a show or two on TLC, which aren't really reality shows--they're life unscripted. I don't watch them because I believe television and film are the domain of writers and actors and reality shows eliminate a significant need for them. I believe I read recently on Yahoo that acting is one of the top 20 jobs in decline this year. Give me Cashmere Mafia over reality tv any day.

That said, I do not understand my fascination with Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. Why am I enthralled by this show? I didn't hate Tori Spelling when I used to (religiously) watch Beverly Hills, 90210, but she was my least favorite main character (although I did like that she played a virgin for most of the series). If I had to guess, I would not have thought that I would care about her life. But there is just something about her show, something I cannot explain. It started with Tori and Dean: Inn Love. I couldn't get enough of her preparation for and running of a bed and breakfast. When she and the show moved to Hollywood, I knew I wouldn't watch anymore because I don't care about the day-to-day lives of the rich and famous. But I do care! At least enough to watch. Maybe it's because her relationship with her mom is mad fascinating and her interactions with her husband are certainly interesting. Perhaps it's because I find that she does pretty much the same things I do: I recently went looking for a house; I was pregnant (for awhile, but that's another post); I hope to have a book tour. It's not that I'm surprised that she's a real person. I'm surprised that I care.

I guess now the question is, since I like to read, will I be buying Stori Telling? (That title is just so clever!)

I need help.