#su critical satire

[secretmellowblog]

On the subject of the Titanic ‘submersible’ that was lost in the deep with all its wealthy tourists— it’s so insane/eerie in hindsight to read this article from the Smithsonian that interviews the CEO Stockton Rush long before the disaster.

Despite the Smithsonian supposedly being an organization that cares about science and truth, and the fact that there were SO MANY obvious red flags from the beginning and so many people criticizing the company…..the article is a puff piece uncritically glorifying the CEO’s obviously terrible submersible project. It compares him in glowing terms to Elon Musk. It is an article about how private ventures like those of Stockton Rush and Elon Musk can and should be the future of the world.

We’ve obviously learned now that there were whistleblowers at the company who were warning for a long time that Stockton Rush’s submersible was unsafe— only to be fired and then sued. It makes sense the submersible was so unsafe, because the CEO in this interview is open about how he has no background in underwater engineering and is annoyed by quote “regulations that needlessly prioritize passenger safety.”

Soon after, the private [submersible] market died too, Rush found, for two reasons that were “understandable but illogical.” First, subs gained a reputation for danger. Working on offshore rigs in harsh locations like the North Sea, saturation divers, who breathe gas mixtures to avoid diving sicknesses, would be taken in subs to work at great depths. It was the world’s most perilous job, with frequent fatalities. (“It wasn’t the sub’s fault,” says Rush.) To save lives, the industries moved toward using underwater robots to perform the same work.

Second, tourist subs, which could once be skippered by anyone with a U.S. Coast Guard captain’s license, were regulated by the Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993, which imposed rigorous new manufacturing and inspection requirements and prohibited dives below 150 feet. The law was well-meaning, Rush says, but he believes it needlessly prioritized passenger safety over commercial innovation (a position a less adventurous submariner might find open to debate). “There hasn’t been an injury in the commercial sub industry in over 35 years. It’s obscenely safe, because they have all these regulations. But it also hasn’t innovated or grown—because they have all these regulations.”

The fact that Stockton Rush (who was piloting the submarine when the disaster happened) is on record complaining about the evils of regulations that prioritize people’s safety, and the Smithsonian uncritically regurgitated that rhetoric in their glowing puff piece about how rich tycoons like Elon Musk and Stockton Rush are going to save the world is just…..in hindsight of how everything ended it’s just so much horrible black comedy? It’s like a satire about the dangers of uncritically worshipping the rich.

It is mentioned in the article that Rush chose to make his submersible in a different shape, and with a different (cheaper) material than is usually used for submersibles. The article frames this as a result of daring innovation, and not of negligence/ignorance. This passage in particular, which in context is supposed to portray Rush’s critics as joyless naysayers who were proven wrong by the noble tycoon, is pretty foreboding in hindsight:

Rush planned to pilot the sub himself, which critics said was an unnecessary risk: Under pressure, the experimental carbon fiber hull might, in the jargon of the sub world, “collapse catastrophically.”

And then!!

The exact problem that happened to Titan this weekend, happened on Titan’s very first test voyage to the Titanic! The experimental carbon fiber hull had an issue and it caused communications to break down!

The dive was going according to plan until about 10,000 feet, when the descent unexpectedly halted, possibly, Rush says, because the density of the salt water added extra buoyancy to the carbon fiber hull. He now used thrusters to drive Titan deeper, which interfered with the communications system, and he lost contact with the support crew. He recalls the next hour in hallucinogenic terms. “It was like being on the Starship Enterprise,” he says. “There were these particles going by, like stars. Every so often a jellyfish would go whipping by. It was the childhood dream.”

Both Rush and the article writer treat this as a fun quirky story, instead of a serious safety failure and red flag with his experimental macgyvered regulation-flaunting submersible.

Other highlights from the article include:

Stockton rush saying that if 3/4 of the planet is water, why haven’t we monetized it?

Stockton saying we will “colonize the ocean long before we colonize space”

Lots of weird pro colonialism stuff in general??? This article loves colonialism and thinks it’s cool

Rush saying he plans for this to eventually help find more underwater resources for the US to exploit and profit from

Elon musk comparisons. The article writer does not mention that Elon Musk’s rockets explode and therefore it would be a bad idea to get in one of them, because that would imply it’s a bad idea to get into the submersible

Stockton rush seeing himself as Captain Kirk

The article writer comparing the tourists who plan to join Rush to Englishmen who went on colonialist journeys to Africa as if that’s like, a good thing. So much pro colonialism stuff in this article

So many sentences about Stockton Rush being handsome when he literally just looks like some guy

The article beginning with an editor’s note from years later disclaiming that the extraordinary submersible they’re advertising in this article is uh. It’s now uhhhh

But yeah it really does just bring home how so many organizations that supposedly care about scientific truth or journalistic integrity are willing to uncritically platform propaganda for wealthy CEOS. It’s frustrating how easily people fall for the fake myths that careless wealthy people invent for themselves, and even more frustrating that supposedly respectable institutions will platform irresponsible lies that end up getting people killed.

Rush is such an obvious and simple example of this, and his negligence is “only” killing five people including himself. But to me it feels like a cautionary tale to bear in mind when it comes to uncritical puff piece media coverage of similar “daring tycoon innovations” by people like Bezos or Musk.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Justin Baragona at The Daily Beast:

Fox News host Greg Gutfeld wanted to let Bill Maher know he was “so sorry” on Monday night—in the form of an off-key satirical song. Hilarity did not ensue. While making the media rounds to promote his latest book (which is really just a roundup of his favorite editorials from his long-running HBO series Real Time), Maher made his debut on Fox News’ Gutfeld! on Monday evening.

Once a favorite villain in the Fox universe, Maher has become the network’s favorite “liberal” in recent years as he’s become an outspoken critic of progressive policies and all things “woke.” This has also resulted in Maher and Gutfeld forming something of a mutual admiration society, bonding over their anti-woke expertise and disgust of so-called cancel culture. “There’s a new king of late night, and his name is Greg Gutfeld,” Maher gushed after Gutfeld launched his weeknight “comedy” show in 2021. The two would then smoke some weed and shoot the breeze on Maher’s podcast last year.

After delivering his opening show monologue on Monday night, which included Maher jokingly asking when the other guests would be allowed to talk, Gutfeld segued into introducing the Real Time host to his program. Which, for some reason, also featured the Fox star making a sexually explicit joke about an 81-year-old host of The View.

[...]

Throughout the rest of the episode, Maher occasionally clashed with the Fox News host over some topics, specifically over their disagreements on Donald Trump. At one point, Maher mocked Gutfeld for being unaware that Trump has sued him in the past. “You’re in the news?” Maher incredulously asked. Yet, for the most part, the two seemed to find common ground on what they felt was the most pressing problem at hand: wokeness. “Liberalism is not the same thing as woke,” Maher grumbled. “Woke would like to think they’re an extension of liberalism. I’m an old-school liberal, they’re not. It’s very often the opposite.”

On Monday night’s edition of Fox “News”’s Gutfeld!, host Greg Gutfeld welcomed right-wing talking ham cosplaying as a liberal Bill Maher. The network (and Gutfeld himself) used to take potshots at Maher, but in recent years, they have chummed up to him as the “sensible” liberal who mouths right-wing talking points almost any chance he gets.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

(Mark Twain, left, with John T. Lewis, a lifelong friend and inspiration for the character Jim in 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn')

* * * * *

February 18, 1885: "Mark Twain publishes his famous–and famously controversial–novel 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'. Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) first introduced Huck Finn as the best friend of Tom Sawyer, hero of his tremendously successful novel 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' (1876). Though Twain saw Huck’s story as a kind of sequel to his earlier book, the new novel was far more serious, focusing on the institution of slavery and other aspects of life in the antebellum South. At the book’s heart is the journey of Huck and his friend Jim, a runaway slave, down the Mississippi River on a raft. Jim runs away because he is about to be sold and separated from his wife and children, and Huck goes with him to help him get to Ohio and freedom. Huck narrates the story in his distinctive voice, offering colorful descriptions of the people and places they encounter along the way. The most striking part of the book is its satirical look at racism, religion and other social attitudes of the time. While Jim is strong, brave, generous and wise, many of the white characters are portrayed as violent, stupid or simply selfish, and the naive Huck ends up questioning the hypocritical, unjust nature of society in general. Even in 1885, two decades after the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' landed with a splash. A month after its publication, a Concord, Massachusetts, library banned the book, calling its subject matter “tawdry” and its narrative voice “coarse” and “ignorant.” Other libraries followed suit, beginning a controversy that continued long after Twain’s death in 1910. In the 1950s, the book came under fire from African-American groups for being racist in its portrayal of black characters, despite the fact that it was seen by many as a strong criticism of racism and slavery. As recently as 1998, an Arizona parent sued her school district, claiming that making Twain’s novel required high school reading made already existing racial tensions even worse. Aside from its controversial nature and its continuing popularity with young readers, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' has been hailed by many serious literary critics as a masterpiece. No less a judge than Ernest Hemingway famously declared that the book marked the beginning of American literature: “There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.”" 

- history.com 'A heroic deed, a rewarding friendship' - via The Washington Times: https://bit.ly/2V4sHN3 [Random History of the Day]

[firstprince-ao3feed]

Su Culpa (Their Fault) - aka The Adventures of cinematically histrionic Alex and poetically dramatic Henry

by Djokodal_Fan Alex, the son of US Ambassador to Sweden Oscar Diaz, and Henry, the son of UK Ambassador Catherine Hanover-Stuart Fox, are highly antagonistic rivals. They are key members of their respective high school football teams, and have had a tempestuous relationship tinged by mutual acrimony and yet, an inexplicable and irresistible pull. Try as they might, they are quite unable to let the other be, or simply avoid each other. Their animosity had been fuelled by a misunderstanding at their first meeting, 18 months ago. Until one day, circumstances force them to bury their feud, since they are both drafted to a combined school team which is to play against the visiting Norwegian team, on the occasion of Sweden's National Day. Even more critically, Alex & Henry jump to the worrying conclusion that their parents just might have started seeing each other - an alarming idea, no doubt fuelled by their watching of such questionable 'classics' like Culpa Mia and Culpa Tuya. Given to overreactions, Alex and Henry add 2 and 2 to make 22, and decide to pretend they themselves are a couple, so their parents will hold off on starting anything serious. But what happens when HenLex cross the thin line between hate and love? Words: 12463, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English Fandoms: Red White & Royal Blue (2023), Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Alex Claremont-Diaz, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Liam (Red White & Royal Blue), Percy "Pez" Okonjo, Spencer (Red White & Royal Blue), Marco Peña (The Kissing Booth), Original Male Character(s), Shaan Srivastava, Cash (Red White & Royal Blue), Zahra Bankston, Catherine Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Oscar Diaz (Red White & Royal Blue), Beatrice Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Philip Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Alex Claremont-Diaz & Liam, Alex Claremont-Diaz & Spencer, Liam/Spencer (Red White & Royal Blue), Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Percy "Pez" Okonjo, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Marco Peña (The Kissing Booth), Cash & Alex Claremont-Diaz, Cash & Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Percy "Pez" Okonjo & Liam, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Shaan Srivastava, Alex Claremont-Diaz & Shaan Srivastava, Zahra Bankston & Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Zahra Bankston & Alex Claremont-Diaz, Alex Claremont-Diaz & Oscar Diaz, Oscar Diaz & Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Catherine Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Alex Claremont-Diaz & Catherine Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Oscar Diaz & Catherine Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Football, Football | Soccer, Alternate Universe - Children of Ambassadors in Sweden, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Rivals to Teammates to Allies to Friends to Lovers, Rivals to Co-conspirators to Friends to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, From Fake Relationship to Love, Misunderstandings, Erroneous Assumptions, Oscar and Catherine are not really a couple!, semi-crack treated seriously, Crack Treated Seriously, Satire, Parody references to Culpa Mia and Culpa Tuya, Humor, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Crack, Romantic Fluff, Romance, Resolved Sexual Tension, Resolved Romantic Tension, situational humor, Non-Royal Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Alex Claremont-Diaz is Not First Son of the United States, Possessive Alex Claremont-Diaz, Jealous Alex Claremont-Diaz, Good friend Marco Peña, Banter, Bantering as a metaphor for Love, Alex is Henry's Gay Awakening, Henry is Alex's Bisexual awakening, First Kiss via https://ift.tt/d64APFE

[rubiatinctorum]

something i like about tumblr's 'forgot to read the url' moments is that it shows the speaker isn't the message here yet. when people talk about tiktoks i feel like i'm going to lose my mind because sometimes the words of a meme don't matter at all, people will continue to shut down any discussion of the meaning or wider use and implications just because 1. the creator is good 2. the creator has benefitted from the tiktok so therefore 3. the tiktok is inherently good and must not be discussed critically or else you're like, a traitor to the people or something. It's basically a script at this point, any time someone says "yeah i didn't find that funny" or heaven forbid "this could go in a sus direction" you get people chiming in a thought-terminating rote memorization of who made it and what the positive outcomes of fame were to sway you (and more importantly other onlookers) to think only positively about it. not being a stan is not a crime of the mind and it's foolish to drop the script on people as if simple education about a tiktok's outcome will immediately make them have 'the right opinion' of its actual contents (aka no opinion, because the speaker is the message now).

personally i don't want to celebrate an algorithmic attention lottery that rewards people with virality and fame at completely random being the main system for both entertainment everyone (including off the app) is expected to participate in and a legitimized system for financial success, thereby necessitating that we continue to play the attention lottery in the hopes that either we or someone we approve of will be the next to get lifechanging amounts of money. I think the structure of that itself is deeply insidious, so excuse me for not clapping like a toy seal every time it works, and excuse me extra for finding it irritating when the virality lottery is won by probably-satire that gets so stripped from its original context in reproduction that it becomes unironic parroting of conservative ideals, which i'm expected to hear and see everywhere unquestioningly despite having deleted that godforsaken app months ago

[letsgethaunted]

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Episode 168: The Denver Airport Conspiracy*IS LIVE*!

Image 01: The Denver airport is plagued by conspiracy theories. Some believe the airport is hiding aliens in secret bvnkers and harboring messages of an international “Gr8 R3S3T”, others believe the airport is a front for the NW0. The giant demon horse with glowing red eyes nicknamed “Bluecifer” is not helping.

Image 02: The “pinwheel” runway pattern at DIA is very sus.

Image 03: An engraving mentions that the airport was created by Freemasons and “The New World Airport Commission.” IS THIS A COINCIDENCE???

Image 04: Are these Navajo sayings and mineral floor patterns a callback to Colorado’s past, or a secret code about a new p4th0gen?

Image 05: The USA literally used Navajo as a secret code in WWII.

Image 06: 90 miles from DIA is Cheyenne Mountain’s NORAD center. A nuclear bunker capable of withstanding nuclear impact and serving as a backup operating center for NASA.

Image 07: Talking gargoyles in the baggage claim used to say things like “Welcome to Illuminati Headquarters” before being silenced by critics.

Image 08-09: Tanguma’s Murals tell a story of the natural world finding peace once countries lay their weapons down and respect nature… or is it something more nefarious?

Image 10: DIA’s clapback at conspiracy theorists came in the form of a “satirical” campaign that played upon popular sentiments about the airport.

What do you guys think? Is DIA just an airport or something more?

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Matthew Syed

Published: Aug 14, 2022

Yesterday morning, it was reported that Salman Rushdie — who had been attacked at a literary event on free speech in America— was unable to speak. Many fanatical Muslims will take this as a sign from God. This, after all, was their intention: to censor those who criticise their religion. The assailant kept trying to attack Rushdie even after he was restrained, according to witnesses. “It took like five men to pull him away and he was still stabbing,” one said.

A fatwa was imposed on Rushdie after the publication of The Satanic Verses, a beautifully written novel that was, in my view, tame in its supposed mockery of Islam. To Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran, however, the book was blasphemous. After a bounty was put on his head, Rushdie lived under British protection while his book was burnt on the streets and craven politicians such as the former Labour MP Keith Vaz spoke out in protest. Cat Stevens — the singer now known as Yusuf — said in a speech to students in London that said “he must be killed”, although he later claimed he had not called for Rushdie’s death.

Yet while Rushdie survived this hostility, others did not. Hitoshi Igarashi, his Japanese translator, was stabbed to death. Ettore Capriolo, his Italian translator, was also stabbed, and William Nygaard, his Norwegian publisher, was shot and critically injured. Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh perished while preparing explosives designed to kill the British novelist. A shrine in Tehran for Mazeh says: “The first martyr to die on a mission to kill Salman Rushdie.”

But while we look at all this with anger, while we condemn the religious fundamentalists, while we pray for Rushdie himself, let us also acknowledge something closer to home. Many of the comments on the Rushdie affair over the past 24 hours have pointed out that for many years he has been living quite freely, that the fatwa had been revoked by Iran (although the bounty remains) and that society has moved on from the dark days of book-burning, even if lone attackers remain a threat.

I would suggest that this is delusional, a fantasy conjured up by western liberals to distract from a more sinister truth: over 30 years they have worked as the de facto accomplices of the ayatollah, assisting in the task of dismantling free speech, sending fear through those who dare to criticise or ridicule religion or anything else. Rushdie, in this sense, is not — and never was — a historical affair but a live scandal running through the veins of British life, not to mention other western societies.

As I read about the attack on Rushdie, my mind turned to Louis Smith, another high-profile Briton from an ethnic minority; a gymnast who won three Olympic medals before going on to a TV career. A few years ago, he and his friend Luke Carson, a fellow gymnast, were frolicking around, singing (as they often did together) when Carson lay down on a mat and shouted “Allahu akbar” while Smith laughed. It was a bit of a giggle, nothing nasty, scarcely satirical. But the video, as you have probably guessed, leaked.

In the following days, liberal commentators were united in outrage. None saw this as two kids harmlessly mocking religion. None saw it as a trivial episode of ridicule of the kind that has always existed in liberal societies. None stated that no citizen, religious or otherwise, has a right or even a reasonable expectation to not be offended. Instead, they called for Smith to be banned — and he was, for two months, by British Gymnastics. He was accused of Islamophobia, racism, you name it. He appeared to have broken a chilling clause in UK Sport’s athlete’s contract: “Athletes may be ineligible for funding if they are derogatory about a person’s disability, gender, pregnancy or maternity, race, sexuality, marital status, beliefs or age.” I was astonished when I read this clause for it didn’t just prohibit mockery of protected characteristics, but all beliefs, of whatever kind. It meant that British athletes were prohibited from criticising Scientology, astrology or even Nazism. Under such a decree, Billie Jean King would have been banned in five minutes flat and Muhammad Ali even quicker. This wasn’t a contract; it was a gagging order. And yet this was the clause that UK Sport deemed necessary to “protect” its reputation

But this isn’t the half of it. I interviewed Smith a few months later, and he still looked shell-shocked. Death threats had started almost immediately: “We are going to find you, and kill you.” “You are going to get it.” One posted a video on social media: “I am going to splash acid in your face.” Scarcely any of this was reported in the media. In the week of our interview, he had received the message: “We are going to cave your face in.” Smith was forced to take out 24-hour protection, a hired heavy at his side at all times, even while he slept.

Yet the truly chilling aspect of this affair — which also went largely unreported — is that Smith couldn’t earn a living after his “crime”. Sponsors and broadcasters turned their backs on him. Progressives didn’t want to know. His income vanished and he struggled to pay his mortgage. To be clear: this punishment beating was perpetrated on Smith not by fanatics, not by knife-wielding fundamentalists, but the monolithic liberal ideology that will not tolerate opinions (or even jokes) that breach their antiliberal creed.

It was the same creed that defended those who hounded into hiding a teacher at a school in Batley, West Yorkshire, last year for showing his class a religious cartoon. It is the same creed that equates criticism of the myriad excesses of the Muslim Brotherhood with Islamophobia. And it is the same creed, to broaden the perspective, that connives in the cancellation and intimidation of anyone who engages in wrongthink on trans rights, climate change or the demolition of statues.

I pray — metaphorically — for Rushdie. He is a great and courageous Briton. But I also pray for the West. We like to think we have free speech but we lack even its pale imitation. Smith found work again only by issuing abject, almost pitiful apologies, bending the knee to liberal dogma, just as Galileo once prostrated himself before the Inquisition. Is it any wonder that myriad surveys reveal that people throughout the West desist from speaking out on sensitive issues, out of fear of the consequences?

This is the destination at which the liberal world has arrived — through stealth and increment, through a million little retreats, through the acquiescence of those who should know better. For initially noble motives related to the fear of giving offence to minority groups, we have committed the most grievous offence on our way of life. “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” was the view attributed to Voltaire by his most famous biographer. We must resurrect its spirit, reclaim its beauty. For today, with Rushdie hooked up to a ventilator, we continue to sleepwalk towards disaster.

[ Via: https://archive.ph/md8Uk ]

==

This is how Islam wins. Not by spreading the "truth" of Islam, not even by threatening violence. It wins by learning how to play the victim and recruiting virtuous flying monkeys.

[sci-fantasy]

I'm a little worried about Stuart Semple right now, I have to admit... https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/culturehustle/abode-a-suite-of-world-class-design-and-photography-tools

I've not been sued yet, if you scroll down the main page and watch the 'New Reality' video you'll see an IP lawyer talking about some of my previous work. I think everyone knows where I stand on issues like this.

Saying that I'm a contemporary artist and use the medium of satire in my work as a form of social critique. The project is a non-profit, so commerce really isn't the main point at all. I like to use parody in a lot of my internet art. I believe if an artist authors software, and uses it to be critical it should be protected by the law, just like any other artwork would be.

Dude's about to learn the difference between trademark and copyright. And it's going to be expensive.

if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to live in the midwest, this is it. 

[10siglosdehistoria]

The Alewife

Image: Mother Louse, a well-known Oxford alewife in the 17th century. /Mother Louse, una conocida cocinera de cerveza de Oxford en el siglo XVII.

(English / Español / Italiano)

The term 𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗪𝗜𝗙𝗘𝗦 appeared in medieval English texts from 1393 onwards and referred to all women who brewed beer for domestic or commercial use, an activity carried out in the home and passed down from generation to generation. With the arrival of the Black Death between 1347 and 1350, beer consumption increased because the boiled water from which it was brewed destroyed bacteria, making it the only drinkable beverage. By brewing it, it became profitable for the women who had learned the trade.

In the popular culture of the time, the Alewife was depicted in front of a cauldron of boiling water to which she added wheat, which she kept away from mice with many cats.

When he brewed a lot of beer, he would mark it by placing a broom outside his house or go to the market to sell it wearing a dark dress common among Protestants and the henin - a pointy hat very fashionable at the time - dyed black to stand out from the crowd.

In the 16th century, the Church began to no longer tolerate women who subverted the natural patriarchal order by brewing beer, and the arrival of the plague, associated with the idea of hell as divine punishment, began to obsess the Church. Hence, in commissioned paintings, priests urged artists to include brewers, who were no longer seen as businesswomen, but as immoral people, stimulating sexual appetites with alcohol, dirty and ambiguous in agreement with the devil.

In The Tunning of Elynour Rummyng, a long misogynistic and defamatory poem by the English poet-priest John Skelton, probably written in 1517, we read a portrait of the brewer Elynour Rummyng. Elynour is described "to the smallest detail as a grotesquely ugly woman: her face is bristling with hair; her lips drool "like a whirling rain"; her crooked, hooked nose drips constantly; her skin is lax, her back is hunched, her eyes misty, her hair grey, her joints swollen, her skin greasy. She is, of course, old and fat. She is also religiously suspect, accepts rosaries as payment for beer, swears blasphemies, learns the secrets of beer from a Jew, 'looks like a witch' and dresses on holidays 'like a Saracen' and 'like an Egyptian''. At one point, the author writes that 'the devil and she are brothers'. The poem, written to cheer the English court, was praised by literary critics for its "descriptive power" and because it was considered a satire against alcohol and drunkenness. Despite numerous reprints, the Alewifes did not lose its clientele. (1)

It goes without saying that this was especially true of the women who cured with herbs, spices and plants, who were also depicted with a deformed face, a tall hat, dressed in black, cats and a cauldron.

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El término 𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗪𝗜𝗙𝗘𝗦 apareció en textos medievales ingleses a partir de 1393 y se refería a todas aquellas mujeres que elaboraban cerveza para uso doméstico o comercial, actividad que se llevaba a cabo en el hogar y se transmitía de generación en generación. Con la llegada de la peste negra, entre 1347 y 1350, el consumo de cerveza aumentó porque el agua hervida con la que se elaboraba destruía las bacterias, convirtiéndola en la única bebida potable. Al elaborarla, se hizo rentable para las mujeres que habían aprendido el oficio.

En la cultura popular de la época, se representaba a la Alewife delante de un caldero de agua hirviendo al que añadía trigo que mantenía alejado de los ratones con muchos gatos.

Cuando elaboraba mucha cerveza, lo señalaba colocando una escoba en el exterior de su casa o acudía al mercado a venderla con un vestido oscuro muy común entre los protestantes y el henin -un sombrero puntiagudo muy de moda en la época- teñido de negro para destacar entre la multitud.

En el siglo XVI, la Iglesia empezó a no tolerar más a las mujeres que subvertían el orden patriarcal natural fabricando cerveza, y la llegada de la peste, asociada a la idea del infierno como castigo divino, empezó a obsesionar a la Iglesia. De ahí que, en los cuadros encargados, los sacerdotes instaran a los artistas a incluir a las cerveceras, que ya no eran vistas como mujeres de negocios, sino como personas inmorales, que estimulaban los apetitos sexuales con el alcohol, sucias y ambiguas de acuerdo con el diablo.

En The Tunning of Elynour Rummyng, un largo poema misógino y difamatorio del poeta-sacerdote inglés John Skelton, escrito probablemente en 1517, leemos un retrato de la cervecera Elynour Rummyng. Elynour es descrita «hasta el más mínimo detalle como una mujer grotescamente fea: su rostro está erizado de vello; sus labios babean “como una lluvia que gira”; su nariz torcida y ganchuda gotea constantemente; su piel es laxa, su espalda está encorvada, sus ojos empañados, su pelo gris, sus articulaciones hinchadas, su piel grasienta. Es, por supuesto, vieja y gorda. También es sospechosa desde el punto de vista religioso, acepta rosarios como pago por la cerveza, jura blasfemias, aprende los secretos de la cerveza de un judío, «parece una bruja» y se viste en los días festivos «como una sarracena» y «como una egipcia»'. En un momento dado, el autor escribe que «el diablo y ella son hermanos». El poema, escrito para alegrar a la corte inglesa, fue alabado por la crítica literaria por su «poder descriptivo» y porque se consideraba una sátira contra el alcohol y la embriaguez. A pesar de las numerosas reimpresiones, las alewifes no perdieron clientela. (1)

No hace falta señalar lo que ocurría especialmente con las mujeres que curaban con hierbas, especias y plantas, a las que también se representaba deformadas de la cara, con un sombrero alto, vestidas de negro, gatos y un caldero.

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Il termine 𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗪𝗜𝗙𝗘𝗦 compare nei testi medievali inglesi a partire dal 1393 e indicava tutte quelle donne che producevano birra per uso domestico o commerciale, attività svolta in casa e tramandata da generazioni di donne. Con l’arrivo della Peste Nera, tra il 1347 e il 1350, Il consumo di birra aumentò perché, l’acqua bollita con la quale veniva realizzata , distruggeva i batteri rendendola l’unica bevanda potabile. Produrla, diventò redditizia per le donne che avevano imparato il mestiere.

Nella cultura popolare dell’epoca, la Alewife veniva rappresentata davanti ad un calderone di acqua bollente nel quale aggiungeva il grano tenuto lontano dai topi con molti gatti.

Quando produceva tanta birra, lo segnalava mettendo una scopa fuori della sua casa oppure andava al mercato per venderla indossando un abito scuro molto comune tra i protestanti e l’henin — un cappello a punta molto in voga all’epoca— tinto di nero per distinguersi tra la folla.

Nel XVI secolo la chiesa iniziò a non tollerare più quelle donne che stavano sovvertendo l’ordine patriarcale naturale con la produzione della birra e l’avvento della pestilenza, associata all’idea dell’inferno come punizione divina, iniziò ad ossessionare la chiesa. Ecco che, nei dipinti commissionati, i sacerdoti esortarono gli artisti ad inserire anche le birraie viste non più come imprenditrici bensì come persone immorali, che con l’alcool stimolavano gli appetiti sessuali, sporche e ambigue in accordo con il diavolo.

Nel The Tunning of Elynour Rummyng, lungo poema misogino e diffamatorio del poeta-sacerdote inglese John Skelton, scritto probabilmente nel 1517, leggiamo il ritratto della alewife Elynour Rummyng. Elynour viene descritta « nei minimi dettagli come una donna grottescamente brutta: il suo viso è irto di peli; le sue labbra sbavano "come una pioggia filante"; il suo naso storto e adunco gocciola costantemente; la pelle è lassa, la sua schiena è piegata, i suoi occhi sono appannati, i suoi capelli sono grigi, le sue articolazioni gonfie, la sua pelle è unta. È, ovviamente, vecchia e grassa. È anche religiosamente sospetta, accetta rosari come pagamento per la birra, impreca in modo blasfemo, apprende i segreti della birra da un ebreo, "sembra essere una strega" e si veste nei giorni sacri "come un saraceno" e "come un'egiziana"». L’autore, ad un certo punto, scrive che «il diavolo e lei sono fratelli». Il poema, redatto per rallegrare la corte inglese, venne lodato dai critici letterari per la “potenza descrittiva” e perché considerato una satira nei confronti dell’alcol e dell’ubriachezza. Nonostante le numerose ristampe, le alewifes non persero clienti (1).

Inutile sottolineare quello che accadde soprattutto alle donne che guarivano con erbe, spezie e piante, anche loro rappresentate deformi nel viso, con un cappello alto, vestite di nero, gatti e un calderone.

(1) Bennett J. M. Ale, Beer and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World, 1300–1600, Oxford University Press, 1996.

Source: Donne nel tempo

[aydanmadelineblog]

Luis Estrada y el Comentario Político

¡Hola lectores! Espero que todo esté bien y que puedas encontrar tiempo para relajarte y desconectar durante este periodo de mucho estrés que viene con el final del semestre. ¡Puede ser difícil, pero solo tres mesas más y será terminado! Y, para regresar al tema de este blog, durante el verano todos tendremos mucho tiempo sin tarea o escuela, así que yo recomiendo que miremos unas películas mexicanas. Hoy, hablaré sobre el comentario político en el cine mexicano, y este tema es de actualidad: este noviembre, habrá una elección para el presidente de los Estados Unidos. El resultado de la elección tendrá efectos enormes en nuestras vidas, y en las vidas de muchas personas por todo el mundo. En esta entrada, voy a discutir las ideas políticas que vemos en el cine mexicano, como son representados, y más. Espero que aprendas algo y que continúes pensando sobre los políticos y el comentario político en las películas aún después de leer. 

Como dije, el comentario político es muy común en el cine mexicano, especialmente en el movimiento de nuevo cine mexicano. Un director que se sabe por hacer películas con muchos mensajes políticos es Luis Estrada—aún se describió como “el cineasta más rebelde y polémico de México,” y “a master of political satire, a merciless critic of politics and society, and an artist who loves making his countrymen uncomfortable.” Él es inspirado por otros directores mexicanos que comentan sobre los políticos, incluyendo Luis Buñuel y sus películas El Ángel Exterminador, Los Olvidados, y también El Compadre Mendoza por Fernando de Fuentes. En una entrevista, dijo “Me han ayudado a entender mi realidad, mi país y sus contradicciones,” y por eso él también quiere hacer arte que ayuda a la gente a pensar sobre su país, la realidad, y cómo la pueden mejorar. Sus propias películas sacan temas muy importantes y enfatizan la importancia de la libertad de expresión y el peligro de la censura. 

En 2015, la película de Estrada La Dictadura Perfecta se lanzó. Pero, antes, ya había muchos disturbios en México, incluyendo la desaparición de 43 estudiantes, el descubrimiento de fosas comunes, y una investigación federal a una posible ejecución masiva por parte de los soldados. Por eso, el gobierno y el presidente ya tenían mucho para resolver, y la película sólo añadió al conflicto. 

La Dictadura Perfecta es la cuarta obra de una pentalogía de películas de Estrada. La primera es La Ley de Herodes (1999), que es una comedia satírica sobre la corrupción en México cuando el Partido Revolucionario Institucional tenía poder. La segunda, Un Mundo Maravilloso (2006), sobre el gobierno de Vincente Fox, el presidente derechista de México de 2000 a 2006. La tercera se llama El Infierno (2010) y aborda el problema del narcotráfico en México que persiste. La Dictadura Perfecta critica la relación entre de la media y los líderes políticos de Mexico. En la película, un gobernador manipula la media y las noticias para no cubrir un escándalo de soborno, una alusión a la empresa de medios mexicano Televisa que se acusó de vender cobertura positiva a los políticos mexicanos. Sobre la película, Estrada dijo “si nos fijamos en los acontecimientos recientes en México, en la desaparición y posible asesinato en masa de decenas de estudiantes en el estado de Guerrero, hay muy poca diferencia entre la realidad y la ficción.” 

La quinta película, ¡Que viva México! (2023), que explora la corrupción, el clasismo, y la avaricia. Estrada espera que la obra ayude a los ciudadanos a pensar críticamente sobre los políticos y la libertad de expresión. 

Hay muchos otros directores mexicanos que incluyen el comentario político en sus obras, y por eso es una parte muy importante del cine mexicano. Todos debemos mirar estas películas geniales. 

¡Quiero decir gracias por leer este blog! Espero que hayas aprendido mucho sobre el cine mexicano este semestre. Finalmente, quiero recomendar otros blogs. Primero es el blog de Lexi y Melissa. Es sobre las mujeres de los politicos de Mexico, asi que obviamente es muy relajado con esta entrada. Aprenderás mucho sobre figuras importantes como María Eva Perón y otros. Segundo, recomiendo el blog de Emma y Dani, sobre España en los años 80s. Tienen mucha información sobre el país durante el periodo, y también hablan sobre el cine español. ¡Es muy interesante comparar los cines de España y de México, así que espero que visites su blog!

Muchas gracias por leer. ¡Adiós!

- Madeline

Fuentes:

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2019/1021/Why-more-Mexicans-wrap-themselves-in-the-flag

https://diccionariodedirectoresdelcinemexicano.com/directores-cine-mex/estrada-rodriguez-luis/

https://theweek.com/articles/442949/new-film-thats-making-mexican-politicians-sweat

https://www.instagram.com/canacine_mexico/p/C0hWuNrO2rt/?next=%2Fp%2FCp59PhJOxg6%2F&img_index=2

https://www.marca.com/mx/trending/cine/2023/05/19/64679a4aca474169748b45b8.html

https://netflixqueue.com/luis-estrada

[msclaritea]

ANYBODY ELSE TIRED OF HOLLYWOOD AND SILICON VALLEY BULLSHIT Beyonce Gets Publicly Humiliated By Disgusting Publicity Stunt Involving John Schneider and Tyler Perry.

John Schneider is a TOOL. He's worked directly in black film with very black writer/producer Perry. So, while he's pulling a fake ass stunt to garner Perry sympathy, THAT CAT released a false statement about immediately going AI using SORA.

IT'S NOT EVEN READY TO SCALE. Perry, The Billionaire, sitting in the middle of anti-union Atlanta is attempting to squeeze more Tax Breaks out of Georgia. The COS and BLM trolls helping run all of these scams also took another opportunity to show videos of Naked Black Men ALL OVER Elon Musk VERY VERY Queer platform.

Reception

Greg Braxton of the Los Angeles Times cited "Pause" as one of the sharpest public criticisms of [Tyler] Perry" and situated it alongside other critiques of Perry's work from African American filmmakers like Spike Lee.

Leonard Pierce of The A.V. Club graded the episode a B+, writing that although the episode felt at times "directionless" it nonetheless featured "a bunch of good laugh lines, a dynamite ending, and an increased role for some characters that have been neglected of late".

Tyler Perry was infuriated by "Pause", contacting Turner Broadcasting executives and threatening to re-evaluate his relationship with the company. When "Pause" aired, Perry had two series broadcast on Turner networks, Tyler Perry's House of Payne and Meet the Browns on TBS. Following an encore airing on June 26, 2010, the episode did not rerun again on Adult Swim until May 29, 2020, as a part of a marathon featuring the previously banned episodes "The Hunger Strike" and "The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show"..."

"Recently, a Twitter user reminded fans of one of the series’ most controversial episodes. “Pause,” the eighth episode in the third season, aired in June 2010 and parodied Tyler Perry and his style of filmmaking.The episode was ultimately pulled from TV and media reports began to circulate that Perry called Turner Broadcasting furious over it, leading to the episode being banned. However, Perry never admitted to doing so.

During the episode, fictional iterations of Perry and his Madea character show up as Winston Jerome and Ma Dukes, respectively. Jerome is depicted as a cultish entertainment mogul who uses religious rhetoric and his film themes to seduce men behind the scenes and hide that he is gay.

Throughout the episode, Jerome is depicted as invoking Jesus and isolating his cast and crew from family and friends to brainwash them to bend to his will.

At one point, Huey and Riley are so concerned about their Granddad, they go on a rescue mission to save him.

Near the end of the episode, Jerome drops his polished accent and flat-out asks Granddad to have sex with him. “Look man, all bulls**t aside, can I please just have some a**?” the fictional version of Perry says.

Granddad replies, “Do you mean to tell me that this whole cross-dressing Christian cult crap is just so you can sleep with men?” To this, Jerome replies, “Uh, pretty much, yeah.”

Written by Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder and Rodney Barnes, the episode was expected to cause tension by insiders, according to a report the Los Angeles Times reprinted.

There was also speculation that Perry fired some of his staff and planned to sue ‘The Boondocks” over the episode, but he shot those reports down as false at the time.

“Just like the Spike Lee situation, I feel that ‘no response’ is the best response. I’m just gonna leave it at that,” Perry said, referring to separate criticism Lee lodged at him about his work.

“But I will tell you this … there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that I’m suing ‘The Boondocks.’ Those are all lies. I’m not suing anybody over that. And I haven’t fired anyone because of that show, either. I don’t know where all that came from,” Perry continued.

A reboot of ‘The Boondocks’ was announced in 2019, a month before the death of actor John Witherspoon, who played Granddad. In 2021, it was announced that Sony Pictures had “pulled the plug” on restarting the show."

The trolls are always bringing up Boondocks and it's supposedly, to go after Tyler Perry for getting the show cancelled but this has all the earmarks of a publicity stunt from The Hollywood Mafia. Practically all of Perry's promo consists of attacks but it's far too sophisticated. Clips of his new projects are always included and ALWAYS the most graphic scenes.

The episode was on the same channel as Perry's show, House of Payne

The Executive Producer was Reginald Hudlin, a close business friend of Perry's

The other producers were Sony Pictures, both directly and through a subsidiary; another company Perry has gone business with and they are firmly in the Mafia

The Creator, Aaron McGruder has done little else but they're still promoting him

The episode, like the rest of the show has promotional cultural references, such as mentioning Trump supporter, Ice Cube and a cult that sounds an awful lot like Scientology

"..Robert eventually passes the audition and meets Winston himself, who is revealed to be a devout, closeted evangelical Christian who claims Jesus Christ himself personally inspired him to write. Winston offers him the part of Ma Dukes' love interest and invites him to his compound and inner circle, on condition that he accept Jesus as his savior and renounce Ice Cube and all of his works. At the compound, Winston makes a grand entrance a la Rocky Horror Picture Show, descending on a golden elevator while singing "It's All Right to Cross-Dress for Christ"; from there, Robert quickly realizes Winston leads a cult-like organization, forbidding the compound residents from contacting their family..."

It was a publicity stunt and likely gave Tyler Perry a smooth out at TBS.

[intothestacks]

I want to double down on what's been said already based on what I know of copyright law:

In Canada, the protected areas for copying are said to fall under Fair Dealing. In the US it’s Fair Use, but the idea is the same - you can copy whatever you want depending on the purpose, whether the amount that you're copying is reasonable for that purpose*, and, critically, whether you are profiting off of someone else's work (which kind of purpose will determine whether you can profit from it. and will vary from country to country).

The list of what exactly is protected under law for copying will look slightly different from country to country, but the following is a pretty typical list of protected areas for copying:

The Canadian Copyright Act Sections 29, 29.1, and 29.2 explicitly state that copying a work is 100% legal for the purpose of 

Research

Private study

Education

Parody

Satire

Criticism or review

News reporting

While it could well be argued that fanfic could qualify to be protected as parody, satire, and criticism or review depending on the fic, fanfiction is typically viewed to fall under the realm of education and private study** (which yes, is technically a subset of education, but by "education" they mean formal education like taking a course, going to school, etc).

And those two categories?

Unless the material is registered under a Creative Commons license that allows you to profit, you CANNOT profit off of other people's work in order for your fic to legally be considered fanfic.

So I cannot stress this enough: @just-tea-thanks is 1,010% right: you absolutely could be sued by the owner of the rights to the franchise if you sign up with that site. Why? Because you signed a document saying that you knew about your work being used for profit and aided and abetted the site in profiting off of work it had no rights to.

* You can legally copy insofar as the use and amount of copying are fair, but what that means depends on the situation (there’s a prevailing myth that you can only copy 30%, but no such stipulation exists neither in law nor in Supreme Court decisions). In the case of CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada in 2004, for example, it  was determined that it’s fair for a lawyer to copy an entire court decision to use for preparing their defence.

** The Supreme Court’s decision on Alberta (Education) v. Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright) very deliberately and explicitly states that private study need not be a single person viewing the material.

I got this comment on a story from my Other AO3 Account this morning.

(Info redacted because I prefer keeping these accounts separate but no one follows me on the side blog I have for that account.)

The story was posted almost a year ago and is relatively “popular” by my average statistics even though it has tropes and themes that are big turnoffs for a lot of people (hence separate accounts). This popularity is undoubtedly because it’s a Marvel Loki story and that fandom is massive.

So there is obviously an algorithm or a bot scrubbing ao3 statistics and leaving this comment on fics that meet a certain metric with the main character of the fic inserted into the comment.

I had a little time to kill this morning so I decided to investigate further. And y’all this is so predatory. Come on this journey with me. It made me mad. It may make you mad.

First, if you go to Webnovel’s website, you HAVE to choose between male lead or female lead stories before you can go any further. WTF?

And that’s weird, but this gets so much worse. This is basically a pay-to-read site that has different subscription models. Which… okay BUT! The authors don’t get paid! Look at that comment again. They’re promising a supportive and nurturing community, but zero monetary compensation. It’s basically, “post your stuff here so we can get paid and you can get… nice vibes?” I mean look at this Orwellian writing:

Using the phrase “pay-to-read model” in the same sentence as “qualitative changes in lifestyles for authors” deliberately makes you think that you can get paid and maybe even make a living on this website. But that’s not actually what it says and authors will not receive one red cent.

Oh but wait, the worst is still to come. In case this breaks containment (which I kind of hope it does) this is where I mention that I’m a lawyer in the US.

I don’t do intellectual property or copyright law but I do read and write contracts for a living. So I went to look at their terms of service. It was fun!

Highlights the first, in which Webnovel gets a license to do basically whatever they want with content you post on their site. This is how they get to be paid for people reading authors’ writing without paying them anything.

Highlights the second, in which Webnovel takes no responsibility for illegally profiting off of fan fic. This all says that the writer is 100% responsible for everything the writer posts (even though only Webnovel is making money from it).

Highlights the third which say that by posting, the author is representing that they have the legal right to use and to let Webnovel use the content according to these terms. So if a writer posts fan fiction and Webnovel makes money from people reading the fan fiction, and the House of the Mouse catches wise, these sections say that that’s ALL on the writer.

So that’s a little skeevy to start off with but the thing that is seriously shitty and made me make this post was that these assholes are coming to ao3. They are actively recruiting people in comments on their fan fiction. And they are saying they are big fans of the character you’re writing about and that they share your interests.

They are recruiting fan fiction writers and giving every impression that you can make money from posting fan fiction on their site and hiding the fact that you absolutely cannot but they can make money off of you while you try, deep in their terms of service which no one but a lawyer who writes fan fic and has some time to kill will read.

I see posts on here regularly from people who don’t understand how this stuff works, don’t understand that they (and others) can not legally make a financial profit from fan fiction. And there are tons of people who will not take the time to dig into the details.

Don’t deal with these bastards. Fuck Webnovel.

[prelawland]

The Law Of Parody And Copyright

By Elizabeth Wolnik, George Mason University Class of 2024

September 8, 2023

Parody is a form of commentary or criticism where someone humorously exaggerates a creative work to convey a message to a broader audience. In the United States, it's protected by the First Amendment as a form of expression, but it often relies on the fair use exception to defend against copyright claims. Fair use is governed by a four-factor test that assesses the purpose, nature, sustainability, and market impact of the parody.

For a parody to qualify as fair use, it must be transformative, adding something new to the original work, rather than merely replicating it. Courts also consider the social commentary aspect, often favoring parodies that serve this purpose over copyright owner's rights. Parody is distinct from satire, as only parody is typically considered fair use.

A notable case involved Jack Daniel's suing a dog toy company over a parody toy resembling their whiskey bottle. The dispute centered on trademark dilution and the application of the Rogers test, which balances free speech with the need to avoid public confusion in trademark disputes.

Despite legal battles, true parody remains a defense against copyright and trademark claims. Intellectual property rights have limits, especially when they conflict with fair use and the First Amendment. Brand owners should explore creative solutions before pursuing litigation, particularly when their works are more likely to be parodied.

For full article please visit

Parody and the Law

at

Virginia PreLaw Land

[therecordconnection]

Ranting and Raving: "Sussudio" by Phil Collins

This is ‘Sussudio.’ A great, great song. A personal favorite.

When American Psycho first came out in 2000, one of the ways that protagonist Patrick Bateman was shown to be utterly insane to the audience was through the way he would ramble on and talk about pop music as if he were talking about high art. At the time of the film’s release, nobody did this. Nobody could be bothered to examine vapid pop music made by Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis & the News, or Genesis/Phil Collins with any kind of analytical eye. It was decided that there was nothing worth exploring. His musings on “Hip to be Square” and Genesis’ career path from prog rockers to pop stars are interesting and people can now quote them on command, but make no mistake: It was supposed to be one of the many clues that revealed that this guy is a special kind of deranged. 

Twenty-three years have passed since then and Patrick Bateman’s strange, falsely profound manner of finding critical value in pop music has become the prevailing ideology. Bateman’s monologues come while he’s preparing to kill somebody with an axe, while he’s setting up equipment to film himself fucking two women at once, and while he’s watching the same two women feel each other up on a couch. Satire or not, it caused something to shift in the culture. People take mainstream pop music more seriously now than they ever have before. Pop music does have critical value to it and it’s only been within the last two decades that people have truly decided that maybe pop songs aren’t as vapid and shallow as we may think they are. There are now entire books dedicated to doing the kind of wild, deep, analytical study of silly pop songs and artists that Bateman does in the movie.

If you’ve seen American Psycho, you may notice that while he plays “Sussudio” (a strange choice of sex music) as he’s walking over to get busy with the women, he mentions that it’s a great song, but does not monologue over it. 

This is because “Sussudio” is indeed a great, great song. But it’s also a stupid, silly pop song that doesn’t actually say a hell of a lot. It doesn't need to. 

In my experience, “Sussudio” is one of those songs that you either love or despise. When Phil Collins backlash had reached a height in the nineties (due to him being so successful and inescapable during the previous decade that people were just sick of the guy) “Sussudio” tended to be one of the low-hanging fruits people went for when insulting the guy. Back in the day, famous internet frat guy Seanbaby had this old joke, which sums up the negativity well: "Sussudio" is what a normal word sounds like when you try to say it through a mouthful of dick. South Park went full playground bully and made entire episodes making fun of the guy, one scene having him sing the song with complete nonsensical babbling in the worst attempt at mockery I think I’ve ever seen (which is a low bar for South Park). Family Guy at least had a more light-hearted, complimentary joke about the song: During the season two episode, “The King is Dead,” Brian Griffin is seen doing vocal warm-ups before he and Peter Griffin put on their production of The King and I. Part of Brian’s vocal warm-up is to sing “su-su-sussudio” quickly. So people make jokes about this song, but not all of them are mean.

Personally, I’ve loved Genesis and I’ve loved Phil Collins for a really long time. I don’t mind going to bat for “Sussudio” because Patrick Bateman is absolutely correct: It’s a great, great song. It’s also a personal favorite of mine as well. 

Musically, this song is dated as all hell, but it’s dated in a “time capsule” kind of way. “Sussudio” is a song that only could’ve been made in 1985. The production just has all of the hallmarks of what was hot at the time, that if this had been made at any time before or after that year it wouldn’t have had the same impact. Sussudio works because it needs to be this big eighties monstrosity. Everything about the production is just a blast in the face in the best way. It’s the kind of song that you only need to hear about thirty seconds in order to know if it’s something you’ll love or hate. Phil spent most of the eighties trying to find the loudest and biggest drum sound he could make and he found it with this song. It sounds like your angry cousin turning his bedroom wall into swiss cheese but it grabs your attention immediately. You hear it and you know within the first few measures what song is playing. Beyond the drums (which are just a drum machine that he found the perfect programming for), there’s that colossal main keyboard riff that’s so pleasing to the ear and such a good hook that you don’t even care how many times it's played. “Jump” by Van Halen is a similar song that benefited from that. There’s the bass synth, guitar, and the horns all tucked in there as well. The important thing about this song is that while it sounds big and in your face, it’s mixed very well so it doesn’t sound like formless sludge. Make no mistake, this groove is  t i g h t . It’s locked in from the second it starts and remains that way until the end. It’s tight without ever sounding too stilted. It’s just right.

Now, Phil Collins attempting to get funky and make a dance track wasn’t any sort of record company request and it wasn’t him losing a bet or anything. It was a deliberate attempt to change things up. By the mid-eighties, Phil was afraid his image was getting too dark, too dour. His solo songs “In the Air Tonight,” “I Don’t Care Anymore,” “Do You Know, Do You Care?,” “Thru These Walls,” and the Genesis song “Mama” are all some shade of dark, moody, twisted, bitter, and angry. He was also getting worried that people were starting to see him as a sad balladier, “If Leaving Me is Easy” and “Don’t Let Him Steal Your Heart Away” being examples of that. He decided that No Jacket Required, his third album in 1985, needed to lighten things up. He needed to show the people that he could party. 

So he listened to Prince’s 1999 way too much and went from there. There’s an argument to be made that “Sussudio” is a Prince ripoff. Truthfully, I don’t think I fully agree with that. Yes, “1999”’s DNA can easily be found in “Sussudio.” The foundations of the track are pretty similar, mostly in that steady drum beat/keyboard riff combo. It has the aura of “Can we have ____? No, we have ____ at home” meme. Then again, if trying to make a party track is your goal, you might as well take inspiration from one of the greatest party tracks ever written. 

Phil wasn’t the only strange white guy trying to get funky in the mid-eighties. Hell, he wasn’t even the only Genesis member trying to get funky in the mid-eighties. Peter Gabriel tried it with “Sledgehammer” and Talking Heads tried it with “Burning Down the House” (and most of the Speaking in Tongues album). Both were attempts from weird white guys trying to take influence from Motown and old funk from the seventies and attempt to make something new with it. Both of them fail as the things they aimed to be, but succeed in their own weird and oddly charming way that narrowly avoids the usual “cultural appropriation” conversation that kind of thing would warrant. However, Steve Winwood took a stab at that same idea a year after “Sussudio,” but he ended up with “Higher Love,” a song so fucking lame and awful to listen to that it should be considered a hate crime to some degree. 

Anyway, “1999” is definitely the basis for the song, but I don’t agree with writing it off as a Prince ripoff. “Sussudio” goes in directions that the Purple One would’ve never gone. If anything, I’d argue Phil borrows more from Rick James than Prince. Those horns are blowing notes that wouldn’t sound out of place on something like “Give It To Me Baby” or anything off of his Street Songs album. The Prince comparison is very obvious and apparent, but what he’s trying to capture is the kind of party Rick James was legendary (and infamous) for throwing.

Speaking of those horns, Phil puts those horns to damn good use here. Those horns you hear are none other than the legendary Phenix Horns, better known as the main horn section for Earth, Wind & Fire. “Sussudio” is not the first time Phil has employed their help on a song. They appeared on Phil’s first four albums as well as “No Reply At All” by Genesis. By the time of this song, Phil was well aware of what he could get them to do and what they do here is just phenomenal. They add little flourishes here and there through the first half of the song, then just as the second half is starting, Phil stops singing and lets the horns speak for him. And boy, do they speak. It’s glorious. The Phenix Horns more less dominate the mix for the second half and they never shined brighter with Phil than they do right here. Sometimes, less is more, but for “Sussudio,” the goal is to go big or go home. 

Everything about this song is just so over the top and fun in the best way. There are a lot of mid-eighties songs that sound too stilted, too lifeless, too processed. “Sussudio” doesn’t have this problem. It should, but there’s a strange magic to it where the song just feels alive. It sounds like a never ending party that everyone is invited to. It sounds like a song that’s so cheesy it doesn’t matter how you look while dancing to it, so long as you’re having fun. 

You wouldn’t think a song like this would work in a live environment, given how it sounds on record, but this song absolutely kills live. Phil performs the song live with the same energy given in the studio and since they’re not bound by a time limit for a single or space on a record, he can stretch the song out to lengths you’d never think possible. Live versions of this song can go on for about seven minutes. You’d think it would run out of gas after a bit, but it just doesn’t. He can have the horns go full blast for a little longer, he can throw it to just the guitar, just the bass, just the drums and keys, he can do crowd work with the vocals, whatever! It can keep going and it never feels like it’s overstaying its welcome. It feels like it shouldn’t, but Phil was just batting a thousand during that No Jacket Required period and the things he was writing at the time just worked. “Take Me Home,” the song that ends the album (“Sussudio” starts it) was given the same treatment. Live renditions of that song can stretch to the eight minute mark and it can just build up and go on and the crowd will just keep it going.

Now, the biggest question on your mind, whether you’re unfamiliar with the song or not, is probably this: what does the word “Sussudio” mean? The answer? Not a goddamn thing. 

It’s a nonsense word Phil used when he was writing the song. He explains as much in his 2016 autobiography, Not Dead Yet:

“I program a drum machine track and improvise some syllables over the top. The rhythmic word ‘sussudio’ comes out of nowhere. If I could have a pound for every time I’ve been asked what the word means, I’d have a lot of pounds. I can’t think of a better word that scans as well as ‘sussudio,’ so I keep it and work around it.”

It’s something that’s commonly found in a lot of songwriting demos. A writer will have the music written but it doesn’t have the words yet. They know how the vocal melody will go and the rhythm and meter that the words will eventually have to fit, so until the words get written, they just sing syllables that are meaningless. It’s just a placeholder. The chorus to “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire is an example of a placeholder that just never changed. The band had most of the words but they didn’t have the chorus so they just sang nonsense over it and would figure out lines to fit with “say that you remember” and “dancing in September” later... and then they liked the placeholders so much that they never went back and added words. If it works, it works.

“Sussudio” is a complete nonsense word, but it’s a good nonsense word. It rolls off the tongue well and it’s easy to sing. Your lips make an O shape when you say it so you look like a horn while you’re saying it. It’s silly, but it’s a fun word to sing and you can come up with a number of ways to do it. Phil even sings it in several different ways. “Su-su-sudio” is the main way he sings it, but there are also points in the song where he just sings “sudio,” points where it slithers out of his mouth like a snake and he stutters like the Who on “My Generation” (“she makes me n-n-nervous, m-m-makes me scared” and “s-s-s-su-su-sudio”). Phil also goes the extra mile to really sell it and you can tell he’s just fucking ecstatic to be singing this. He almost makes it sound like a war cry of sorts. You don’t have to be a good singer in order to join him when he yells “OHHHHHHHH” after “just say the word.” “Sussudio” is a stupid nonsense word, but it sure is a fun one. It’s the first song I can think of that I would include in a playlist called “Party Music for Yuppies”.

I’ve spent so much time talking about how silly a word like “Sussudio” is, but the lyrics to the song aren’t completely brain-dead, they’re just not the thing you’re listening for. “Sussudio” is about something. It’s about a schoolboy crush and Phil sells it like this is the first time someone has ever fallen in love with someone. 

There's a girl that's been on my mind All the time, Sus-Sussudio, oh-oh Now she don't even know my name But I think she likes me just the same, Sus-Sussudio, whoa-oh

Listening to this song again, I began to wonder if anybody considered “Sussudio” to be the name of the person Phil is singing about. I wondered about it enough to ask friends and also put up a poll about it. My friends were divided, my poll was also pretty close, but the answer, “Yes, it’s her name” was the winning result. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. We’ve already covered that the word “sussudio” is gibberish. The music speaks for this song more than the lyrics ever could. Phil could’ve said anything over this song and it still would’ve been a hit. I was just interested in seeing if anybody else considered it a name, perhaps I did that as an excuse to try and find deeper meaning in places where there is none. According to Phil’s appearance on VH1 Storytellers back in 1997, his daughter apparently had a horse named “Sussudio,” which tracks because horse names are very strange. He also apologized if anybody had ever encountered somebody who had named their child “Sussudio.”

Regardless, the lyrics and the music work together to really sell the feeling of developing a crush on somebody for the first time or falling for somebody after not being interested in anyone for some time. It’s this really big, joyous, and wonderful feeling. It wouldn’t land that well if the music wasn’t blaring and busy being completely over the top. 

Ah, I've got to have her, have her now I've got to get closer, but I don't know how She makes me nervous and makes me scared But I feel so good if I just say the word, Sus-Sussudio Just say the word, oh, S-Sus-Sussudio, oh

Phil sought to lighten things up and make something more fun-sounding when starting No Jacket Required and “Sussudio” succeeds in doing that. It’s a fantastic opening track that hits hard and relishes in all the best parts of big eighties excess. This is the kind of song where you’re allowed to be silly with it and have fun. Dance to it like nobody’s watching! Sing along with it even if you’re not a singer! Enjoy it however you wish. The best pop songs are the ones that make things larger than life. They take you away from the world and send you to another one where you’re free to just enjoy yourself. 

All you gotta do is just say the word.

[halflingcaravan]

Well there was a moment earlier today…

I’m yet to see how poking fun at such a massive company with known poor quality work (as evidenced by the scandals that company has attracted in the UK, the fact one of its major writers was successfully sued for Racial Discrimination in Australia, and many more) by suggesting it’s editorial quality was improved by the use of procedurally generated text is “political”.

Apparently this makes certain media corporations a particular kind of protected species, and sets them apart from criticism on the quality of work because that criticism must constitute a partisan attack.

If you think you need to defend a major media company from criticism by saying that any criticism, including satirical criticism, of that company is partisan… then feel free to keep walking to some other part of Tumblr.

[mommy-mortis]

NO-CONTEST PLEA WILL SETTLE CASE OF ‘PINK FLAMINGOS’ FILM

PUBLISHED: April 19, 1991 at 4:00 a.m. | UPDATED: July 26, 2021 at 3:07 p.m.

An Orlando video store owner is scheduled to plead no contest Monday to a felony charge for renting the John Waters cult film Pink Flamingos to a 14-year-old girl last summer.

The plea by American Video Network owner Steve Zlatkiss avoids a trial over whether the 1973 classic trash film is obscene or harmful to minors under Florida law.

An Orange County grand jury indicted Zlatkiss, 28, last July on the misdemeanor charge of obscenity and the felony charge of distributing material harmful to a minor. A clerk in one of Zlatkiss’ five stores rented Pink Flamingos to the girl. She had been sent in by police to see if she could rent the film after a couple in their 20s complained that it offended them.

Zlatkiss will not be sentenced to jail or probation and will not have a criminal record as the result of his plea to the felony in Orange Circuit Court, said his attorney David Glicken and Orange-Osceola Assistant State Attorney Robin Wilkinson. He will be fined $1,000.

Also as part of the agreement, Zlatkiss has reviewed his collection of 16,000 movies and moved some that he determined could be harmful to minors from the general section of the stores to the adult section, Wilkinson said. The misdemeanor charge will be dropped.

If Zlatkiss had been convicted of the felony charge, he could have been sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison.

There will be no ruling on whether the film itself, which is unrated and has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York among other places nationwide, is obscene.

The movie features a contest between the late female impersonator Divine and neighbors over who is the world’s filthiest person. There is little nudity, but the plot involves people who distribute pornography, sell heroin in schools and kidnap young women and have them forcibly impregnated. There is sex involving a dying chicken between two bodies, police being killed and eaten, castration, and Divine eating dog excrement.

Waters, the Baltimore director and producer who gained a reputation for making satirical, B-grade movies that were intentionally in bad taste, continued his criticism of prosecutors Thursday for filing charges.

“I’m fully convinced that my movie is not obscene, and I know plenty of kids who have seen it who are upstanding citizens today,” he said by telephone from Baltimore.

However, Wilkinson and Joe Cocchiarella, director of the drug and vice agency that rented the movie and sought the indictment, said the case was a success.

“Our goal all along was to make sure that any films harmful to a minor are placed where minors can’t get to them, and that’s what we’ve achieved,” Wilkinson said.

Some video store owners have said that prosecutors and Cocchiarella’s agency, the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, could have achieved their goal without arresting and embarrassing Zlatkiss, a mainstream video store owner.

Cocchiarella said he felt court rulings prevented MBI agents from simply writing Zlatkiss or visiting him and suggesting that the movie be moved from the general section of the store.

“Other police departments have been sued for going to movie stores, so we didn’t feel like that option was open to us,” Cocchiarella said.

But Louis Sirkin, a Cincinnati lawyer who specializes in obscenity cases and last fall successfully defended a Cincinnati art gallery in the Mapplethorpe obscenity trial, said Cocchiarella is wrong.

Courts have only outlawed attempts by police to threaten store owners into removing entire groups of movies, he said.

“In a case where you have one complaint about one movie, it seems like a decent police department could go in and say ‘Hey, we’ve had a complaint about this movie, you might want to review it and move it over to the adult section,’ ” Sirkin said.

“I don’t think that would be any kind of prior restraint, and I don’t think I could go to court over that. Now if they go back every day with a different movie, that’s different.”

The plea won’t result in a mass reshuffling of movies in area video stores, said Barry Freilich, a Volusia County video store owner and president of Friends of the First Amendment, a group formed to fight a police crackdown on X-rated movies.

That’s because most video store owners already had a policy before Zlatkiss was charged of not renting R-rated movies or adult-oriented unrated movies to teens.

Glicken and Zlatkiss could not be reached for comment on what movies were moved. Cocchiarella said MBI won’t conduct follow-up checks on Zlatkiss’ stores unless someone complains about a specific movie.

“We do not intend to conduct a general review of what movies are available in which stores,” he said.

Since last summer’s indictment, MBI has received “several” complaints about X-rated movies from citizens, but none about unrated movies, Cocchiarella said. Agents have watched the movies but determined that they were not obscene under Florida law and decided not to seek indictments.

1991

April

19

This Filthy World (Jeff Garlin, 2006)