The big surprise last week during the Berlin Film Festival was a disastrous premiere for a long-awaited feature film, Jud Süß — Rise and Fall, by a talented German director named Oskar Roehler. The film took liberties with an otherwise true story from the Nazi era and ended its world premiere to a chorus of boos. It was a strange baptism. As pure moviemaking, the film isn't bad. Another film that takes even more outrageous liberties with Nazi history, moreover — Inglourious Basterds, by Quentin Tarantino — has been praised far and wide by German critics. The main difference appears ... Read More
Going ‘Glocal’
February 16, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
No, that wasn't a typo — glocalization is a real word, and it's one you may want to know before jumping into the "Jihad vs. McWorld" fray. A little background: For many scholars and activists, globalization is a dirty word, signifying a homogenizing force that spreads American values like consumption and individualism to every corner of the globe. Others contend that while globalization has certainly facilitated the spread of people, information and technology, it also has inspired people to passionately preserve their local cultures and identities, as is evident in, say, the rapidly ... Read More
Product Placement Links Celluloid and Cellulite
February 8, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
Ever since E.T. was enticed out of hiding by the otherworldly goodness of Reese’s Pieces, sugary and salty snacks have played significant supporting roles in American cinema. A new study finds such products are pervasive in popular films and warns of potential health consequences. “Movies provide an avenue through which companies are marketing foods of low nutritional value to consumers, including children and adolescents, who may not even be aware of the advertising,” a research team led by Lisa Sutherland of Dartmouth Medical School reports in the journal Pediatrics. They examined ... Read More
The Age of Affirmation
January 21, 2010 • By • 3 Comments
When you turn on the evening news, are you actually hoping to learn something? A new study suggests that viewers worldwide turn to particular broadcasters to affirm — rather than inform — their opinions. It's a notion familiar to those dismayed by the paths blazed by cable news networks Fox and MSNBC — although the study finds one (perhaps unlikely) network may actually foster greater intellectual openness. The study in the December issue of Media, War & Conflict by Shawn Powers, a fellow at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, and Mohammed el-Nawawy, an assistant professor in ... Read More
Why Blog? To Change the World — and Blow Off Steam
January 21, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
Blogging has its burdens. If you doubt it, try coming up with an interesting thought every hour or so, shaping it into a coherent, compelling and carefully worded item and then sending it out into the world for potential ridicule by everyone with a laptop and a point of view. For the few bloggers who manage to draw a large readership, the financial rewards can be significant. But the hours are ridiculous, and the pressure to produce enormous. So why do it? Newly published research suggests people are motivated to start a blog by one set of reasons and motivated to continue by quite ... Read More