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Barbra Streisand’s stand against the patriarchy and much more! $$PLAIN_TEXT_PREVIEW$$
MY FAVOURITE THINGS |Where Are We Going?
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“Where is the good part of the news? We’re all animals and we have these violent instincts; why nurture those? Why not nurture the better ones, the more positive, more progressive, more intelligent instincts?”— BARBRA STREISAND
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As the final month of winter rolls in, it’s been surreal to take stock of the year to date, especially seen through my archive of iPhone photos. To comprehend how many photos from last year were captured outside a one kilometer radius of my hacienda. While I’m incredibly grateful to not have personally suffered from this ongoing pandemic (knock on wood!) it has taught me to find joy in a smallest things and re-live the exotic memories of yesteryear.
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On a very rainy Sunday, Billie and I decided to shift up our usual routine by having breakfast somewhere completely different. After a delicious meal at Bread and Circus, we went window shopping at a local antique centre. It was here that I came across a table full of vintage Playboy magazines. While I was enticed by the beautiful imagery it was the whole aesthetic of Hugh Hefner’s celebrated publication that led me to snap up a few copies. The October 1977 edition features an extensive interview of Barbra Streisand in the wake of her new film A Star Is Born and explores all facets of her professional life and romantic interludes. It’s difficult to understand how influential Streisand was on the culture, a hugely successful singer turned actor whose fastidious approach to work made her an ongoing target for the press. Streisand holds her own in this extensive conversation and confronts the endless stream of sexist abuse embedded in the questions with quiet assurance. A fascinating read. “It’s a very male-chauvinist word, bitch. I resent it deeply. It’s an unkind, mean word. It implies uncalled-for anger. A person who’s bitchy would seem to be mean for no reason. I am not a mean person. I don’t like meanness in anyone around me.” — Barbra Streisand
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Jacques Peretti offers a damning indictment of the one percent in this hard-hitting account of corporate greed and malpractice. While I’m only half-way through, this book has filled in many pieces of the puzzle for me, shedding light on so many complex truths within our modern world. Each chapter takes aim at different industries, from pharmaceutical giants to fast food behemoths and has left me feeling deeply ambivalent about the world we live in. I’ve never gone in for conspiracy theories but Peretti’s investigative journalism has reinforced the glaring holes in free market theory. A chapter on the rise of processed food led me down a rabbit hole before watching Sugar: The Bitter Truth, a fascinating lecture by Dr. Robert Lustig on the inherent dangers of high-fructose corn syrup — an ingredient of pretty much anything in a box or bottle — to our body and minds.
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Tommy Lee Jones has wrought a searing look at frontier life in this heartfelt tale of mental illness and redemption. The Homesman marks Jones’ third outing behind the camera and is the kind of film that grows on you with every passing minute. I love the way he portrays Hilary Swank, a hard-working plains-woman and spinster who seems to be making a good go of an altogether difficult situation. Yet her inability to find a suitor willing to settle for her strong-mind is what makes this film so tragic and relevant all at the same time. A fascinating indictment of gender and the strictures that still keep women from enjoying the same liberties as men. Jones’ adaptation of Glendon Swarthout’s novel of the same name is one of finest films I’ve chanced upon in a long while.
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It’d been a while since I sat down with a good piece of fiction. When I noticed a copy of Curtis Sittenfeld’s new novel in my lady’s hands, I grew curious at the cover of a young Hillary Clinton. And while I’ve never been a fan of revisionist history (the book explores an alternate life of Hill without Bill), Sittenfeld’s examination of Clinton’s interior life has helped me take stock of my own feelings towards her. I’m ashamed to admit that I got sucked into the media’s portrayal of the Illinois native during the 2016 election, coming to perceive her as a man-eating workaholic who sold her soul for a chance to rule the world. And while there may be a semblance of truth in this generalization, Sittenfeld’s latest novel achieves a sense of perspective, allowing us to step into the shoes of this public figure and fully appreciate her remarkable life and achievements.
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Edward Norton’s directorial debut offers a curious examination of history as seen through the eyes of a mentally handicapped private eye. Loosely adapted from Jonathan Lethem’s celebrated novel of the same name, Norton set out to look at the parameters of power, especially when viewed through the lens of the everyman. Norton takes aim at the controversial legacy of Robert Moses (as portrayed by Alec Baldwin), a developer and city planner whose life’s work played an enormous role in the fundamental landscape of New York and the outer boroughs. And while I’ve been advancing at a snail’s pace through Robert Caro’s The Power Broker, Norton’s depiction of Moses’ exploits and his unnerving intolerance for African Americans is right on the money. Yet it is Norton’s ability to weave a curious whodunit murder mystery into this historical piece that left me on the edge of my seat.
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When I sat down with Michell Obama’s memoir, Becoming, I was deeply moved by her backstory and came away with even more admiration for the Obama clan. The first episode of this new series with her husband and former POTUS Barack Obama is both sweet and educational. As I wrote on my blog last week, the conversation revolves around the power of values and their resonance throughout our earliest years. And while there’s no earth shattering reveals in this chat, it’s nonetheless comforting to listen to rational positivity in the age of Trump. I love the final takeaway from the conversation, hearing both spouses speak to the power of giving back. I’ve been working on making this a more constant part of my life and have found my whole outlook all the brighter for it.
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Billie recommended this Jim Sheridan film as reference for a script I’m currently adapting into a graphic novel. While it had been many years since I’d laid eyes on it, its resonance remains as powerful as the day it was released in 2009. Based on Susanne Bier’s 2004 film of the same name, trauma; both past and present, carries this dramatic film over the line as a family reels from the apparent death of Tobey Maguire’s character — a two-term grunt — during a mission in Afghanistan. Jake Gyllenhaal shines as the fuck-up younger brother who finds a semblance of redemption taking care of Maguire’s spouse (Natalie Portman) and her children. I love the way Sheridan captures the verisimilitude of these hard-working souls, taking us into their living rooms to better understand the innate complexities of foreign policy.
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After soaking up some sobering facts on Sugar: The Bitter Truth, (did you know the average person only consumes 12 grams of fibre per day compared to 100-300 grams enjoyed by our hunter gather ancestors!) I grew hungry for more nutritional information from Dr. Robert Lustig. A quick Google search led me to this fascinating YouTube conversation in advance of the release of his new book of the same name. Lustig takes aim at the cultural exports that have made the US public enemy number one while lining the pockets of the one percent with an embarrassment of riches. These material offerings have led to a whole new level of gluttony and made us wholly dependent on corporate behemoths like Monsanto, Alphabet Inc. and Merck & Co. Thanks to the rise of Fast Food, Big Pharma, and Silicon Valley the hacking of the American Mind has evolved to encompass the world at large and compelled me to order a copy of his book.
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In advance of our conversation with Harry Greenwood on Popcorn Therapy last week (you can listen to it here!) I sat down with Jennifer Kent’s startling feature debut. There is something so refreshing about a story that holds us accountable for its underlying message, offering up a character portrait that evokes the pain and emotional weight of grief. I stumbled across this fascinating Vanity Fair video with Kent speaking about her process. Her unflinching devotion to story, through the use of practical effects and intricate sound design making me love her films all the more. Essie Davis is transcendent as a grieving single mother and channels this uncomfortable energy with such majestic grace. Kent’s portrayal of strong female protagonists is exactly the kind of cinema our little industry needs.
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Jann Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone magazine and a devout acolyte of celebrity, conducted this curious interview with the former Beatle and Yoko Ono in the wake of the release of their first album in 1971. I first came across Plastic Ono Band while spending a month in Rome, playing the LP on repeat before and after a day of writing. There is something so potent and profound in its emotional residue, a reflection of the primal scream therapy that Lennon underwent with Arthur Janov in Los Angeles to help him come to terms with his familial trauma. Reading about this period and Lennon’s decision to turn his back on his former successes helped me to accept how courageous this act had been. By putting his innermost pain on tape, the Liverpool native consequently showed the wider world a deeper reflection on love and loss. “This time it was my album and it used to get a bit embarrassing in front of George and Paul, because we know each other so well. We used to be a bit supercritical of each other, so we inhibited each other a lot. And now I have Yoko there, and Phil there, alternatively and together, who sort of love me so that I can perform better, and I relaxed.” — John Lennon
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Pam Grossman’s Waking The Witch turned me onto the incredible life of Victoria Woodhull. Grossman cites the former Suffragette as an iconic case-in-point of a celebrated independent woman, one whose life and values stood in stark contrast to the societal strictures of the time. Woodhull found early fame as a celebrated medium, someone who was known to communicate with the dearly departed on behalf of living family members. Tucking into Woodhull’s Wikipedia page was extraordinary. Here was a woman who openly decried the virtues of free love, ran for President at the tender age of thirty-five and is even celebrated for being the first female stock trader on Wall Street. While I was disappointed to learn that her life rights are no longer available, I was nonetheless fascinated to learn that Brie Larson is in talks to play the iconic Ohio native in an Amazon original film. “Yes, I am a Free Lover. I have an inalienable, constitutional and natural right to love whom I may, to love as long or as short a period as I can; to change that love every day if I please, and with that right neither you nor any law you can frame have any right to interfere.” — Victoria Woodhull
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This beautiful album came to my attention by way of Barbra Streisand’s Playboy interview. Kris Kristofferson, Streisand’s love interest in Frank Pierson’s A Star Is Born, was another musician turned actor whose chiseled looks had catapulted him into the Hollywood mainstream. Kristofferson was a military brat and served as a helicopter pilot before resigning from the army to pursue music. The decision would estrange the Texan native from his family who would spend the next decade in Nashville. Kristofferson would find early interest in his solo records before meeting and marrying the talented recording artist Rita Coolidge. Full Moon was the first of three duet LPs recorded by the young lovers. So many tracks are reminiscent of Johnny Cash and June Carter’s recordings, an unlikely yet strangely alluring kinship between beauty and the beast.
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