Awesome review of white privilege in Avatar and other recent scifi

http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar” This review, by Annalee Newitz of i09, is spot-on. I wish *I* wrote it. Some of the highlights: — “Avatar is a fantasy about ceasing to be white, giving up the old human meatsack to join the blue people,…

“This is a song about faking orgasms!”

The title of this post comes from the introduction to the Au Pairs song “Come Again”. So, I’ve been thinking recently about Gaga’s relationship to post-punk — With all her homage to “The New York Scene,” the connection isn’t too…

UNC Charlotte Ethics Bowl Team

Here’s a video of UNC Charlotte vs. Univ. of Miami Team B in the Mid-Atlantic Ethics Bowl semifinals. Kathleen’s presentation about research ethics and Javan’s response to UM’s Kantian environmental ethics are *excellent*!! Students: Kathleen Lowenstein, Javan Lapp, Megan Norton,…

Beyonce/Gaga: Dear Dr. Mulvey, Video Is Not Narrative Cinema

Beyonce and Lady Gaga have a newish video out for their collaboration “Video Phone”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtIdxk2zqXs The men in the video all have cameras for heads: This might be seen as a literalization of Laura Mulvey’s (in)famous article “Visual Pleasure and…