Posted on 03/20/2007 12:01:06 PM PDT by Chi-townChief
Check out this quote about Barack Obama: "[He's] exciting. Everyone says he's a rock star, which is one of the most overused phrases these days.... You know what? If you're not [receiving oral sex] after an event, you're not a rock star. But OK, Obama is a rock star. Fine, if that's what it takes. He seems articulate and serious and thoughtful and electable."
What's that?! Someone is using the a-word to describe Obama? Let the semi-outrage and the call for apologies begin! The quote appears in the current issue of Playboy magazine during an interview with Bill Maher -- who comes across as so articulate in his responses that you wonder if some of his one-liners are scripted.
Did I say articulate? I meant "funny."
It's also funny how nobody seems to be offended by Maher's remarks after the firestorm that greeted Joe Biden's idiotic comments about Obama.
Maybe we just expect Maher to make incendiary remarks.
Maybe it's because Maher's a comedian and political commentator, whereas Biden is a presidential candidate.
Maybe people just aren't reading the Playboy Interview as much as they used to.
Maybe it's because the "articulate" comment doesn't seem as condescending in print as it comes across in a sound bite.
And yet the fact that Maher employed that same term gives more credence to those who have been saying (long before the Biden controversy) that to call a black person "articulate" is to deliver a back-handed compliment.
Indiana Jones and the Tube of Ben-Gay Cate Blanchett's publicist has confirmed that the Oscar-winning actress is in talks to pair up with Harrison Ford in the much-anticipated fourth installment of the "Indiana Jones" franchise, to be directed by Steven Spielberg. Unconfirmed speculation is that Blanchett, 37, will be playing the love interest of Ford, 64.
This would habe a shocking development in Hollywood. In films such as "Firewall," "What Lies Beneath" and "Sabrina," Ford was a good two decades older than spouses and/or romantic interests played by Virginia Madsen, Michelle Pfeiffer and Julia Ormond.
And granted, I'm hardly the one to be making grand judgments about this fact of movie life, given that I've occasionally dated women who are just a bit younger than me, cough-cough.
Still. Even though Cate Blanchett is one of the best actresses in the world, it would have been pretty cool if they had announced that somebody such as Helen Mirren (who's actually three years younger than Ford) was in negotiations to star in the next "Indy" movie.
Jessica Simpson, Superstar If a pop culture-loving visitor from the year 2000 traveled forward in time to 2007 and landed directly in front of a newsstand, it would be easy for her to ascertain the identities of the biggest stars in show business. All she'd have to do is look at the magazine covers: Britney Spears, Anna Nicole Smith, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson and some creature known as "Brangelina."
Not that the aforementioned are such popular cover subjects because of their work. Does anybody really care about Paris Hilton's next movie or Jessica Simpson's next single? Can you even name a Paris Hilton movie or a Jessica Simpson song? Even the Oscar-winning Jolie and the talented Pitt are cover subjects because of adoptions, not adaptations.
There was a time when even the gossipy entertainment magazines were somewhat concerned with achievement.
These days, not so much. Tom Cruise isn't a hot cover subject because of his work -- he's interesting because of his marriage and his baby. Will Smith is arguably the most popular movie star in the world, but he's not very compelling as a cover subject because he seems to spend his time making movies and hanging out with his wife and children. Bo-ring. Nick Lachey gets more ink.
It's all about relationships, babies and meltdowns. In the magazine and entertainment-television world, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan are bigger stars than the actors and musicians who are actually contributing work of lasting value. Kate Winslet is in her early 30s and she already has five Oscar nominations, but the only way she's getting on the cover of the Star or Us Weekly is if she exits a limo with no panties, throws up on a cameraman and announces she's entering rehab for the next four to six hours.
And if Jessica Simpson hadn't been on an idiotic reality show, about six people would care about her newest boyfriend or her latest project.
mailto:rroeper@suntimes.com
> Maybe it's because the "articulate" comment doesn't seem
> as condescending in print as it comes across in a sound
> bite.
Maybe it's because Maher's comment wasn't nearly as outrageous as Biden's?
“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
Good point. Plus, all candidates are always judged on their abilities to articulate, so the use of the word by itself shouldn't be a problem.
Wow! What on earth did Jessica Simpson (not) do to him?
The 'articulate' observation was sharp when Obama first spoke nationwide bcause it is unusual for politicians these days to be articulate. It is old news now. Obama is articulate as any lawyer.
I'm not a Jessica fan myself but I've always wondered why Roeper and his gay movie-friend Roger Ebert are always on the attack when it comes to Simpson.
Of course last night with Larry King throwing his usual hardballs, Obama did not come across as so articulate. I guess not having a script to read from throws him.
Obama is articulate. Why is it amazing that an African-Amrican can be articulate? I live in an area where a lot of white people aren't articulate.
Roger Ebert is married. In the 60s and early 70s he was notorious for praising films with busty women.
That was a joke about Ebert and Roeper being "funny guys."
Oh ok. Just thought you may want to know.
Osama may be articulate, but after all these years living in a cave I doubt he is clean, other than his genitals perhaps, the washing of which seems to be a major Muslim fetish.
It must be that "Magic" stuff.
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