Quote
May 30, 2013
32,917 notes
"You mean the generation that paid three times as much for college to enter a job market with triple the unemployment isn’t interested in purchasing the assets of the generation who just blew an enormous housing bubble and kept it from popping through quantitative easing and out-and-out federal support? Curious."

— When comments are better than the article, Atlantic edition (“The Cheapest Generation: Why Millennials arent’ buying cars or houses, and what that means for the economy”)

(Source: bostonreview, via cinemanotebooks)

Tags: truth life the atlantic

Photo
May 25, 2012
185 notes
theatlantic: The ‘7 Dirty Words’ Turn 40, but They’re Still Dirty Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s start from the beginning. On May 27, 1972, George Carlin took to the stage for a show at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium to record his Class Clown album, which was scheduled to come out that fall. Carlin—a comedic champion of the counterculture with long hair, a thick beard, earrings, and a propensity for recreational drugs—was writing material that was going to upset some people. He didn’t think much of what kind of influence a seven-minute routine on those seven words would have on the culture at large. He was aware, however, that what he was going to say that night could put his career in jeopardy. Read more. [Image: AP]

theatlantic:

The ‘7 Dirty Words’ Turn 40, but They’re Still Dirty

Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s start from the beginning. On May 27, 1972, George Carlin took to the stage for a show at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium to record his Class Clown album, which was scheduled to come out that fall. Carlin—a comedic champion of the counterculture with long hair, a thick beard, earrings, and a propensity for recreational drugs—was writing material that was going to upset some people. He didn’t think much of what kind of influence a seven-minute routine on those seven words would have on the culture at large. He was aware, however, that what he was going to say that night could put his career in jeopardy.

Read more. [Image: AP]

(via laughinacorner)

Tags: george carlin seven dirty words the atlantic comedy freedom speech fcc america

Link
April 21, 2012
64 notes
Ta-Nehisi Coates: 'Girls' Through the Veil

There’s a lot of talk around the web about Lena Dunham’s new HBO joint Girls and its lack of diversity. Part of the problem is that those of us who fit into that amorphous space of “black alternative” or “Afrobohemia” or whatever we are called today, so rarely see ourselves represented creatively. […] 

With that said, I think storytellers—first and foremost—must pledge their loyalty to the narrative as it comes to them. I don’t believe in creating characters out of a desire to please your audience or even to promote an ostensible social good. I think good writing is essentially a selfish act—story-tellers are charged with crafting the narrative they want to see. I’m not very interested in Lena Dunham reflecting the aspirations of people she may or may not know. I’m interested in her specific and individual vision; in that story she is aching to tell. If that vision is all-white, then so be it. I don’t think a story-teller can be guilted into making great characters. […]

I thought about that episode after one of the writers on Girls responded to the criticism by tweeting sarcastically, “What really bothered me most about Precious was that there was no representation of ME.”  That comment understandably set of a new round of outrage. But it should also set off some reflection. I don’t know Dunham or anyone who writes for Girls. Perhaps that was a rogue comment that says nothing about her team. Nevertheless, I think it’s only right to ask whether you really want black characters rendered by the same hands that rendered that tweet. Invisibility is problematic. Caricature is worse. […]

There has been a lot of talk, this week about Lena Dunham’s responsibility, but significantly less about the the people who sign her checks. My question is not “Why are their no black women on Girls,” but “How many black show-runners are employed by HBO?” This is about systemic change, not individual attacks.

It is not so wrong to craft an exclusively white world—certainly a significant portion of America lives in one. What is wrong is for power-brokers to pretend that no other worlds exists. Across the country there are black writers and black directors toiling to bring those worlds to the screen. If HBO does not see fit to have a relationship with those writers, then those of us concerned should assess our relationship with HBO.

Most important bit for me:

“There has been a lot of talk, this week about Lena Dunham’s responsibility, but significantly less about the the people who sign her checks. My question is not “Why are there no black women on Girls,” but “How many black show-runners are employed by HBO?” This is about systemic change, not individual attacks.”

(Source: kateoplis)

Tags: girls lena dunham hbo the atlantic ta-nehisis coates tv race white black