According to her new
autobiography, Might As Well Laugh About It Now, Marie Osmond
says she turned down an offer to play Sandy Olsson in Grease.
But despite the movie's success, Osmond doesn't regret the
decision, saying its conclusion sent a "mixed" message to girls.
"At the end of the movie, [Sandy] appears as her transformed
self in tight black pants, a revealing shirt, sassy high heels,
a cigarette in hand, and an attitude of 'come and get it.' This
is the 'happy' ending for Sandy—becoming exactly what her peers
and boyfriend want her to be. From my perspective, it was not a
story of a girl becoming a woman; it was a story of a girl
becoming a sex object." Osmond adds, "I know I would have done a
good job playing Sandy. I would probably have had a different
career, with more film work or perhaps more hit records. I also
know, however, that I would regret having my 11-year-old
daughter watch Mommy in that movie now, especially as she enters
that time in her life when she is deciding what it means to be a
female, and how to navigate in today's world all the
expectations that may come her way when it comes to dating." [abcnews.com,
4/13/09]
Susan Boyle, an unemployed fortysomething church volunteer, has
become YouTube's newest and arguably most inspirational
sensation. Boyle, a contestant on the Simon Cowell-helmed
reality competition Britain's Got Talent, initially provoked
howls of laughter from the audience. But that was before she
began singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables. She
received high marks from the judges and a standing ovation from
the audience. And, now, estimates put subsequent YouTube views
well above 100 million. Why? "In our pop-minded culture so
slavishly obsessed with packaging—the right face, the right
clothes, the right attitudes, the right Facebook posts—the
unpackaged artistic power of the unstyled, un-hip ... Ms. Boyle
let me feel, for the duration of one showstopping ballad, the
meaning of human grace," wrote Entertainment Weekly's Lisa
Schwarzbaum. "She pierced my defenses. She reordered the measure
of beauty. And I had no idea until tears sprang how desperately
I need that corrective from time to time." [ew.com, 4/14/09;
washingtonpost.com, 4/20/09; youtube.com, 4/20/09; news.sky.com,
4/20/09]
Perhaps taking their cues from such Disney shows as Hannah
Montana, iCarly and High School Musical, some tweens are
dressing more modestly of late, according to trendcentral.com.
The site reports, "Tweens are seeing their role models wearing
cardigans instead of tube tops and they want to do the same.
Additionally, tweens these days are much closer to their parents
and are hyperconscious of anything that could upset them. As the
generation gap closes, tweens are truly looking to their parents
for second opinions and are seeking parental approval in their
clothing choices." [trendcentral.com, 4/13/09]
According to a new study, Facebook users get lower grades than
those who don't use the popular social networking site. Aryn
Karpinski, the Ohio State University doctoral student who
authored the study, said this doesn't necessarily mean that
Facebook triggers lower grades—only that there's some
correlation between the two. "Maybe [Facebook users] are just
prone to distraction," she says. "Maybe they are just
procrastinators." But PC World's Brendan Slattery argues that
the study's size—just 219 students were polled—make its results
a bit dubious. [time.com, 4/14/09; pcworld.com, 4/14/09 stats,
c&e]
Facebook officials report that as of April 8, the social
networking site boasted 200 million users. The business site
Silicon Alley Insider noted that if Facebook were a country, it
would be the fifth largest in the world after China, India, the
United States and Indonesia. [emarketer.com, 4/10/09 stats]
In the wake of Capt. Richard Phillips' rescue from Somali
pirates, Spike TV is preparing to launch a reality show titled
Pirate Hunters: USN. The U.S. Navy recently gave the cable
channel permission to follow its crews on the USS San Antonio
and the USS Boxer—the latter being the ship Phillips was taken
to following his successful rescue by Navy SEALs. [eonline.com,
4/13/09]
In an effort to convince youth to stay away from marijuana,
anti-drug crusaders are employing a new strategy: telling
would-be users that smoking pot puts money in the pockets of
ruthless Mexican drug kingpins. "A lot of young people,
especially teenagers, can sometimes be a little impervious to
just simply, 'This is bad for your health' or 'This is bad for
your future,'" said John Walters, director of drug-control
policy during the George W. Bush administration. But he says of
the new strategy, "[Teens are] idealistic, and they don't like
supporting people who kill others and harm the innocent." [online.wsj.com,
4/9/09]
Arguing that smoking marijuana is safer than binge drinking, an
organization calling itself the Safer Alternative for Enjoyable
Recreation is asking college presidents to relax regulations on
pot—both on campus and as a national law. The group is
approaching the same college presidents who signed the Amethyst
Initiative (a petition to lower the drinking age). [insidehighered.com,
4/9/09]
QUOTE: "Legalize marijuana, and take all that money and invest
it in teachers and in education. You will see a transformation
in America." —61-year-old guitarist Carlos Santana, who when not
advocating for the legalization of pot is likely talking about
God. The guitarist also told USA Today, "Every time I tell God
my plans he cracks up, he starts laughing. So I just decided to
be quiet for a while and not say that I am going to retire and
go to Maui and become a minister." [usatoday.com, 4/3/09]
Actor and comedian Jamie Foxx has apologized for some rude
remarks he made about Miley Cyrus on his Sirius satellite radio
program. Foxx said the 16-year-old entertainer should "make a
sex tape and grow up." During an appearance on The Tonight Show
shortly after offering that suggestion, he admitted to Jay Leno
that he had crossed a line. "I so apologize to [Miley], and this
is sincere. I am a comedian, and you guys know that whatever I
say, I don't mean any of it. And sometimes, as comedians, as we
do, we go a little bit too far." Looking directly at the camera,
Foxx repeated, "Miley, I apologize, so I'll call you. I got a
daughter, too, so I completely understand." Understanding,
however, was something Miley's father, Billy Ray Cyrus, wasn't
so quick to dole out. "It was hurtful; there wasn't nothing
funny about it," the elder Cyrus told Bonnie Hunt on her talk
show. "And quite frankly, I think if I said those things about
his daughter, he might not find it so comedic." [Access
Hollywood, 4/14-16/09; msnbc.com, 4/14-16/09]
A 13-year-old boy at a Des Moines, Iowa, middle school has been
referred to juvenile corrections on assault charges after he
allegedly bit 11 students at his school in February and March.
His inspiration? "When police contacted the boy's father," The
Des Moines Register reported, "he said that his son didn't mean
to hurt anyone and that he was biting other students because of
the [vampire] movie Twilight." [desmoinesregister.com, 3/27/09
c&e]
QUOTE: "That was such bulls---. I'm definitely not getting
married. In this business, you're either getting married or they
want you to be pregnant. I'm not getting married until I'm 40.
If ever. The thought never crossed my mind. Maybe not 40. Maybe
not until I'm 30." —21-year-old actor Zac Efron, in his
interview with GQ magazine, on rumors that he and girlfriend
Vanessa Hudgens had gone to Hawaii to get married [GQ, 5/09]
Culture Clips is researched, compiled and written by Adam Holz with
assistance from Bob Hoose, Paul Asay and Meredith Whitmore. It is edited
by Steven Isaac.
Sources for #1s: Billboard, BPI Communications, SoundScan, Nielsen Media
Research, Box Office Mojo, Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc., Video Business,
Video Software Dealers Assoc., Associated Press
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