A Hypermodernist Critique of Gossip Girl, Part 2
“I hope this nate plotline goes somewhere”
“because ‘My trust fund got drained, wah wah’”
“welcome to new york nate, you live in a city with a thousand homeless veterans”
A Hypermodernist Critique of Gossip Girl, Part 1
In May of 2009, Oscar Moralde embarked on a project for The Hypermodern: to watch the hit CW teen drama Gossip Girl through the lens of media and political-economic criticism. Presented via a chatlog with Hypermodern editor George Ding are Oscar’s real-time reactions to the show.
Although edits have been made for clarity and some informational links have been added, the following is mostly raw and unaltered. References to characters and events from Oscar Moralde’s feature screenplay 2400 are made; also, for our Peruvian and Cambodian readers, joking references are made to the Shining Path and the Khmer Rouge. No offense was intended, and our sincerest apologies for any it might cause.
Working YouTube Proxy
For anyone that remembers, YouTube was blocked in late March and, sadly, shows no sign of returning. Luckily, a friend linked me a working proxy for the site: http://www.ensa.info/. Usually proxies can’t stream videos but this site uses their own player. It’s not perfect, and there are spasms of pop-ups but it’s something.
Murphy’s Law
On John Rogers’ recommendation, I finally got around to watching I’ve Loved You So Long, written and directed by Philippe Claudel. It’s a beautiful and haunting picture; without giving away too much, it concerns a woman named Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) as she attempts to live her life after a stay in prison. Her struggle to reconstitute her identity intertwines with our own discovery of her as a person; she starts off as a blank slate but drips and drabs of details shade our understanding of her character. In the end, although we cannot claim to really know her, we are in an entirely different place with her. In that way, it’s the quintessential character study.
Anyway, I bring up I’ve Loved You So Long because I want to discuss Glee, the new Fox high school musical comedy from showrunner Ryan Murphy (I’m sure Mr. Claudel would be flattered).
The Supreme Court, Hollywood Style
Souter announces his retirement
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter said in a letter to the White House that he intends to retire.
“When the Supreme Court rises for the summer recess this year, I intend to retire from regular active service as a justice,” he said in a one-paragraph letter notifying President Barack Obama of his retirement plans. The high court goes on recess at the end of next month.
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