Dark Thoughts

Not exactly a feel-good flick, but the documentary Dark Girls sheds light on the problem of colorism within the Black community.

Get a taste here:



Even though pale is no longer THE beauty standard, naturally tan cultures are still plagued by the debate of light-skinned vs. dark-skinned superiority.
While this doc focuses specifically on stories told by African-American women, I would be curious to see a comprehensive portrait of colorism, an issue that plagues brown girls around the world.

While getting some color at the beach this weekend, I couldn't help but think that my fair-skin worshiping grandmother would be scandalized by the notion that I wanted my legs to be darker. When will we overcome these superficial restraints?

If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out

The Voice: my new favorite summer show. Why? Not only has it reawakened my 17-year-old's crush on Adam Levine, but it has all the makings of a true talent competition: no embarrassing "loser" auditions, bold voices and no pandering to the audience through grating taped segments. And it is quite possibly the most diverse show on TV.

Yes, unlike that celebration of all that is vanilla in the world --ehem, American Idol-- each episode of the Voice is like an understated celebration of diversity. While AI's last big voice, Adam Lambert, had to keep his sexuality a secret (well, only to the absolutely 'dar deficient), I heard more declarations of the phrase "I'm gay" on the first episode of the Voice than I can recall on any other single network TV episode. What's more, two of the finalists, selected by the home viewers, are openly gay women.

Who better to coach than Ms. "Beautiful" herself, Christina Aguilera, and Space Martian Cee-lo Green, ambassadors for the love yourself the way you are message (even when who you are is a hot mess imitation of Lady Gaga - looking at you Xtina). By combining mentors of different genres, an eclectic mix of artists and minimally messing with the artists' brands, the Voice truly seems focused on bringing the next big voice to the forefront instead of churning out forgettable one-hit wonder contenders (anyone remember Lee Dewyze? Didn't think so.). Somehow, I can't see tomorrow night's standout performer becoming the next Where are they Now.

What I respect most about the show is its spirit of collaboration. Here, you have arguably some of the biggest names in the music business hobnobbing with rising talent, teaching them, sharing group numbers with them and inviting them over for dinner at their homes. And it's also refreshing to see that the members of each team genuinely seem to support each other and enjoy listening to the others' music.

Over and over the judges emphasize that beauty lies in the quirkiness of its contestants, and it is exactly this concept that makes the show so beautiful.

Baby, We Were Born This Way

If you have not yet seen X-Men: First Class, stop what you're doing, clear a space in your schedule and make sure you see it!

I could not speak more highly of this movie. I have already rec'd it to all my friends and my family, and would go so far as to claim it is one of my favorite movies of this summer. I caught the flick last week, and would definitely pay to see it again.

Not only does First Class feature phenomenal actors (McAvoy, Fassbender, yes, even Kevin Bacon!) who are also easy on the eyes (my personal favorite is Tony from Skins, Nicholas Hoult), but this origin story features emotionally layered characters. I never expected a summer action flick to be so affecting.

Since last week, I have not been able to get these characters out of my head. Especially Magneto. He is a beautifully complex individual. I have seen all the films in the X-Men franchise and I never gave him any further thought; I just assumed he was an evildoer. But Erik is not a bad guy. He's actually quite heroic. And even though he grows to be at odds with Professor Xavier and his team, I can't help but agree with his world view.

Because Erik is loud and proud. While Professor Xavier has developed his philosophy based on a fear of not being accepted, Erik takes ownership of his difference. Yes, I see X-Men as an allegory for gay/racial pride.

Throughout the film, Professor Xavier stresses that all he wants to do is blend in with the normal, un-mutated humans - you know, the mainstream. His mantra is not dissimilar from what I heard during my childhood, an iteration of the immigrant mentality: Mutants should do everything in their power to fit in. Act like everyone else and maybe you'll be accepted.



And that's fine for Charles, because he passes for human. The world can't tell there's anything different about him. And if they could, well, he would just convince them to think otherwise via his powers of telepathy.

While his beliefs are noble - unlike Magneto, he doesn't believe that mutants are a superior race to humans - he encourages the X-Men to mask their differences. He continually warns Raven to camouflage her natural blue appearance so as not to draw attention to how different she is. And when the poor, low-esteemed girl experiments in expressing her true self, he chastises her. Keep it in the closet, girl.

Magneto, on the other hand, feels that he shouldn't have to apologize for the way he is. He doesn't come from a place of privilege like Xavier. He's had to fight for everything he has. He sits down with Raven and tell her, "You are beautiful, no matter what they say...." Ok, not those exact words. But his advice holds the same power. He teaches her to embrace her differences and love her natural skin color. While I don't support his belief that mutants are inherently superior to humans and should therefore rise up against them (although I understand why his character feels that way based on his upbringing), I appreciate Magneto's message. Why deny that special something that makes you you?

I Am Not My Food

The next time you see meet an individual with a vaguely brown skin color and foreign sounding name, do not greet them with: "Oh my god! I love Indian food, egg rolls, burritos, [insert other "ethnic" dish]." You might be A.) Drunk B.) Just trying to make conversation C.) Looking for the right opening to announce your love for this dish or D.) All of the above. But please, don't let that be the first thing that pops out your mom.

You don't see me approaching British people telling them I love fish and chips (even though I really, really do), or proclaiming my love of pasta to Italian-Americans the first time I meet them. I love Indian food too. But it's probably not like the kind you're used to. The food my mother and my grandmother make tastes 100x better.

I am many things, Indo-American being just one facet of my personality. But I am not my food.

Maybe Kanye Should Try to Control Himself Instead of Other People

Despite all his flaws (or maybe because of them), I will always have love for Kanye. What I'm not loving at the moment is the newly released full length version of his "Monster" video, specifically the disclaimer at the beginning of the video.

The unfinished version of this video was leaked months ago, and Kanye caught a lot of media attention for his obviously disturbing video, which combines sexuality with violence in the form of disembodied and women and dead bodies in bed with him. In his attempt to quell the criticism, Kanye tacked this message onto his video: "The following content is no way to be interpreted as misogynistic or negative towards any group of people. It is an art piece and shall be treated as such."

His statement raises a number of red flags. First, if I learned anything in college, it is that intentions and interpretation do not, and in most cases, will not always agree. You might have the best intentions in the world, but that does not matter to the individuals who will interpret your work as they see fit. For instance, think about the fact that different religious groups (even within the same faith) differ on their interpretations of holy texts.



Kanye's sad attempt to control people's perceptions is futile anyway. You can't control interpretations just by telling someone not to interpret something a certain way. If anything, he is further drawing attention to the blatant misogyny in his video. One quality that has always distinguished Kanye West is his disregard for people's perceptions of him. In the past, he has had no qualms speaking his mind, or being over-dramatic for the sake of drama, and has never shown any real remorse for his actions. Apologies for Kanye are virtually nonexistent and for him to issue this disclaimer essentially implicates his understanding of how inappropriate his video is. Think about it: During the Katrina fundraiser, Kanye never said, "Excuse me while I turn this charitable occasion into a selfish demonstration of arrogance" nor did he say before stealing the mic from Taylor Swift at the VMAs, "Let me apologize for being a douche."

As for artistry, I'm not sure I understand how Kanye's rape/murder fantasies serve an artistic purpose. The combination of his lyrics and images lead me to this interpretation: Kanye's sexual appetite is so insatiable that he has become a monster, with a power so great he kills women. Well, either that, or he just gets off on sexual violence. WHICH IS NOT OK, because yes, Kanye, your message is degrading to women.

And P.S. Slapping the word "art" on your work doesn't automatically absolve your sexism. There is plenty of creepy, disturbing and offensive artwork in the world. Besides, the best part of your song is Nicki Minaj's verse, which has nothing to do with your artistry.

It Aint Easy Being Green ... With Envy

Have you seen this video yet?



When my brother alerted me to this viral vid, titled UCLA Girl's Asian Rant, I was expecting an outrageous racist rant; instead I saw a mildly annoying ignorant young woman who is tragically out of touch with the rest of the world.

Mostly, I just feel bad for her. She's clearly jealous that:

A. No one in her family ever comes to visit her at her apartment complex, and she wishes her family was as tightly knit as all those Asian ones surrounding her

B. She's not cool enough to ever receive phone calls while at the library

C. She doesn't know an awesome "secret" language to talk shit about other people in

I'm a little surprised this girl even got into UCLA. She seems a bit of a dim bulb and she can't even create a proper rant video. This reaction video, on the other hand is hilarious. Check it out.

Don't Pass the Crazysauce, Please

Hot off his latest rant against CBS, formerly esteemed actor Charlie Sheen announced his tour. Tour!? Hard to believe that someone who has no act would hit the road, but hey, what could be more fun than a live show that follows the progress of a mental breakdown?

The "Charlie Sheen: My Violent Torpedo of Death/Defeat Is Not an Option Show" was announced last week, with an initial two-city line-up. Tickets sold out in mere minutes. Sheen has since expanded his tour to include the concert venue at my fair university. Tickets run about $100. Worse, people (students) are actually willing to pay for this window into man's descent into madness.

I think the name says it all. Sheen is a paranoid delusional. Projections are that Charlie Sheen will make a $7 million profit off his "monologue"-filled tour. Apparently, there are thousands of people out there who are cool with his antics, but I'm not comfortable with supplying him with that much money to support his clear drug habit and bi-polar behavior.

Dude needs help. But he's so filthy rich, he's not going to hit rock bottom for a while... until something tragic happens, no doubt. Hope those $100 tickets are worth it... or you leave feeling like you're winning.

Also, I know this man thinks he has tiger blood pumping through his veins, but what qualifies him as a superhero? What has he done that was remotely close to saving a life? Other than serving as a good example of how to take drugs, act irresponsibly, disrespect your boss, win fans, and make millions of dollars. Thanks as always for being a role model, Charlie.

Anderson Cooper: Man of Many Faces

Anderson Cooper, hands down, is my favorite newsman.

Actually, this may sound odd coming from the mouth of a former journalism student, but other than Brian Williams, Cooper is the only nightly newsman I can stand these days.

What I love most about Anderson is his versatility. First of all, he is a top-notch journalist. This man is not afraid to get his hands dirty. Whether he's saving a teen from a mob in Haiti or getting punched in the face by Mubarak supporters in Egypt, he's where the latest news is.





Bitch, please cannot wait for the fall premiere of Anderson, his daytime talk show. Though he behaves like the consummate professional on Anderson Cooper 360, he has demonstrated his gift of natural banter in hilarious turns hosting CNN's New Years Eve bash with Kathy Griffin and filling in for Regis on Regis & Kelly.

Most of all, I look forward to hearing about his guarded personal history. No, I don't care if he ever comes out as gay or not (that's up to him); I want to know about his childhood. As an heir to the Vanderbilt fortune and son of the famous jean designer/socialite, he's sure to have some colorful stories.

For instance, during CNN's MJ tribute, Cooper revealed this gem:

"When I was 10, for some odd reason, I went to Studio 54 with Michael Jackson and a bunch of people and I had no idea who he was and I saw him dance and I was like, Oh, that guy is a really good dancer."

What was little Anderson doing at Studio 54 when he was only 10? I want to know more about his club kid background.

Let's face it. He's a hard man to hate. He is TV's top silver fox. He's a celebrated watchdog of the people. And based on his 2011 NAACP Image Award nomination, he might even be an honorary person of color. Cuz he's cool like that.

The Kiss Heard 'Round the World?

It finally happened. Sweet little Kurt got a smooch from his season-long crush Blaine on Glee. More than one, actually. Now, it wasn't the first same sex kiss on the show, that's apparently old news (I'm a little out of the viewing loop), but it was the first kiss shared within the development of a traditional teen romance.

Kurt's first kiss came earlier this season via an angry closeted bully. So last night, prime time America got to see two teenage boys realize their mutual attraction. Awww, gay love. Precious.

Recall that it was only 11 years ago that Jack kissed Will on Will and Grace, marking the first same-sex male kiss on a prime time comedy. Since then, we haven't seen too much of it. I mean, are Mitchell and Cam ever going to kiss on Modern Family? How am I ever supposed to find them a believable married couple!

Say what you will about Glee and its overblown, overwrought plotlines, predilection toward cheesy 80s ballads, misguided themed episodes and unbelievable characters. None of that can take away from its power to elevate outsiders to the mainstream. Yes, sometimes the show treads dangerously close to those shooting star "the more you know" moments, but that's exactly what I love about it. Heavy-handed or not, Glee's message of tolerance just can't be ignored.

The Fat and Skinny of It

"You can either be fat and jolly or a skinny bitch: pick one." On the first episode of "The Big C," Cathy (played by Laura Linney) dispenses this tidbit of wisdom to her high school student played by Gabourey Sidibe.

At first, this line might seem unnaturally cruel. But, it had me cracking up and got me hooked to the show. What's so funny about it is how true it is, at least in our culture.

Have you ever noticed how many comedians and comediennes are overweight? Or used to be, growing up? Why do you think that is? I attribute this to childhood insecurities. Fact is, when you're not traditionally attractive (or perceive yourself not to be, according to the mainstream), you feel like your personally has to compensate for your looks. As Cathy puts it, "Nobody likes a fat bitch." Ouch. Harsh. But that's how it feels, at least to the fat kid. So, you craft a funny persona. Hide your feels of inadequacy behind a mask of humor. And try to make witty comments whenever you can; that way, people will like you.

Maybe because I was once a chubby kid (I was pretty well traumatized by another kid calling me "thunder thighs")that I divide the women of the world into two categories. I'll admit sometimes I see a particularly skinny young woman and I will say (in my head or aloud to a friend) "Look at that skinny bitch." And when I say skinny bitch, it comes out like this: "skinnybitch." One word. Can't separate the two.

She might be a totally cool chick, but my preconceived notion is that a tall, skinny woman is somehow bitchy. This is obviously a projection of my own insecurity. This distinction also carries a morsel of respect. I have NO willpower. So if you are able to maintain a tiny frame, that earns my respect and somehow entails you to be bitchy.

The pressure to be funny or to be aloof can be suffocating. While it's hard to overcome our body image insecurities, it's possible to change the way people are portrayed in the mainstream. Maybe one day, we'll (our I'll) be able to change these constructs.