Last night was such an emotionally draining experience for me that I woke up feeling almost as exhausted as I had been climbing into bed.
We keep hearing folks trying to suggest that Jon Stewart is a phony, and a misogynist, and even most recently a racist.
But I am here to tell you that if any of that were actually true that we would not have witnessed the incredible outpouring of love that we witnessed last night.
Yes I know they are actors, but I also recognize genuine love when I see it.
Good bye Jon Stewart, and thank you so very much for everything.
Showing posts with label Olivia Munn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olivia Munn. Show all posts
Friday, August 07, 2015
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
What everybody is talking about, the Newsroom's college rape storyline.
Courtesy of The Independent:
The Newsroom has been accused of having a “women problem” before, but now Aaron Sorkin has come under fire for a rape storyline that implies male perpetrators are to be believed over female victims.
The latest episode has been criticised for its portrayal of female rape victims after TV news producer Don Keefer said he felt morally obligated to believe the man’s side of the story because he had not yet been convicted of rape.
The episode’ storyline followed a Princeton student who starts a website allowing women on campus to out their rapists after the city justice system failed to prosecute two fraternity members who she claimed raped her.
The student is tracked down by the fictional news network ACN for a debate with her alleged attacker live on air. Don had also interviewed the man she claims raped her and when she asks him who he believes, the producer says he felt obliged to take the man’s side over hers.
This received quite a lot of backlash from all corners.
Including from a writer on the show who claims her misgivings about the segment were ignored, and that she was "kicked out" of the writer's room.
Sorkin himself responds here.
Actress Olivia Munn, who plays the character Sloan Sabbith on the show, also weighed in:
“…The reality is that Sorkin writes things so that they can be talked about, and so we show both sides of it,” she said. “I think it was important to show what it’s like for women to be a rape victim, want to speak out, and then have somebody come in and say, ‘Hey don’t do that. That’s going to be bad for you.’
“Sorkin wasn’t saying ‘Don’t do that,'” Munn said. “He was saying ‘This is what happens.'”
Personally I liked the episode. Partly because it left me conflicted, and not sure whose side I should take in the exchange between the Don Keefer character and the college student.
But that to me is the mark of great television.
I don't often watch shows that make me feel all warm and cuddly inside. I watch shows that make me think, piss me off, or make me grieve for the loss of a character that I have, against my better judgement, grown attached to. (Still miss you Beth.)
I think the show did everything that I would expect it would do with such a controversial subject.
And in the light of the Rolling Stone campus rape scandal, it could not have been more timely.
The Newsroom has been accused of having a “women problem” before, but now Aaron Sorkin has come under fire for a rape storyline that implies male perpetrators are to be believed over female victims.
The latest episode has been criticised for its portrayal of female rape victims after TV news producer Don Keefer said he felt morally obligated to believe the man’s side of the story because he had not yet been convicted of rape.
The episode’ storyline followed a Princeton student who starts a website allowing women on campus to out their rapists after the city justice system failed to prosecute two fraternity members who she claimed raped her.
The student is tracked down by the fictional news network ACN for a debate with her alleged attacker live on air. Don had also interviewed the man she claims raped her and when she asks him who he believes, the producer says he felt obliged to take the man’s side over hers.
This received quite a lot of backlash from all corners.
Including from a writer on the show who claims her misgivings about the segment were ignored, and that she was "kicked out" of the writer's room.
Sorkin himself responds here.
Actress Olivia Munn, who plays the character Sloan Sabbith on the show, also weighed in:
“…The reality is that Sorkin writes things so that they can be talked about, and so we show both sides of it,” she said. “I think it was important to show what it’s like for women to be a rape victim, want to speak out, and then have somebody come in and say, ‘Hey don’t do that. That’s going to be bad for you.’
“Sorkin wasn’t saying ‘Don’t do that,'” Munn said. “He was saying ‘This is what happens.'”
Personally I liked the episode. Partly because it left me conflicted, and not sure whose side I should take in the exchange between the Don Keefer character and the college student.
But that to me is the mark of great television.
I don't often watch shows that make me feel all warm and cuddly inside. I watch shows that make me think, piss me off, or make me grieve for the loss of a character that I have, against my better judgement, grown attached to. (Still miss you Beth.)
I think the show did everything that I would expect it would do with such a controversial subject.
And in the light of the Rolling Stone campus rape scandal, it could not have been more timely.
Monday, August 12, 2013
The brilliance of HBO's The Newsroom. "Sloan explains pictures."
Now if you are confused by that clip, Sloan, played by Olivia Munn, has just learned that intimate pictures that she took with her boyfriend have now found their way to the internet after she broke up with him.
What many viewers may not have known is that in this case art reflected life. Olivia Munn's life.
Last year intimate pictures of Munn were also distributed all over the internet. Only in her case they were not from a disgruntled ex-boyfriend, but the result of her phone being hacked, along with Christian Hendricks, Scarlett Johansson and others.
The pictures were scrawled with very explicit notes to her boyfriend and were very intimate, and undoubtedly she was horribly embarrassed to have them showing up in teenage inbox's all over the world. (Munn was a host of the video game program G4 and the subject of numerous teenage masturbatory fantasies.)
When the pictures came out she, just like her Newsroom character, also tried to play them off as fake at first. But that only made the internet detectives snoop harder, and eventually there was no question.
Now Munn only addressed the photos once that I know of, but after awhile people stopped asking her about it and she went on with her life.
Which brings me to the brilliance of Aaron Sorkin and the incredible courage of Olivia Munn.
Last night Munn's character Sloan went through all of the emotions, anger, frustration, shame, that she MUST have felt when those pictures of her came out last year. She got the chance to let the viewers see up close how painful it must be to have your privacy so callously invaded, and to have your personal sex life shared, judged, and mocked by people who have no right to even know about it.
Munn MUST have known that by revisiting the issue viewers would flock to the internet to once again find her pictures and gawk at them all over again. But she did it anyway.
But at least this time it was HER choice. SHE was in charge.
And what's more, in the show her character got to exact revenge on the person who victimized her. Something that she was never able to do in the real world.
I have long been a fan of Olivia Munn who I think is not only beautiful, but extremely talented. But now I more than admire her, I am in awe of her.
Now that you have read this, play that clip up top again, and you will be in awe as well.
Damn this show is good.
What many viewers may not have known is that in this case art reflected life. Olivia Munn's life.
Last year intimate pictures of Munn were also distributed all over the internet. Only in her case they were not from a disgruntled ex-boyfriend, but the result of her phone being hacked, along with Christian Hendricks, Scarlett Johansson and others.
The pictures were scrawled with very explicit notes to her boyfriend and were very intimate, and undoubtedly she was horribly embarrassed to have them showing up in teenage inbox's all over the world. (Munn was a host of the video game program G4 and the subject of numerous teenage masturbatory fantasies.)
When the pictures came out she, just like her Newsroom character, also tried to play them off as fake at first. But that only made the internet detectives snoop harder, and eventually there was no question.
Now Munn only addressed the photos once that I know of, but after awhile people stopped asking her about it and she went on with her life.
Which brings me to the brilliance of Aaron Sorkin and the incredible courage of Olivia Munn.
Last night Munn's character Sloan went through all of the emotions, anger, frustration, shame, that she MUST have felt when those pictures of her came out last year. She got the chance to let the viewers see up close how painful it must be to have your privacy so callously invaded, and to have your personal sex life shared, judged, and mocked by people who have no right to even know about it.
Munn MUST have known that by revisiting the issue viewers would flock to the internet to once again find her pictures and gawk at them all over again. But she did it anyway.
But at least this time it was HER choice. SHE was in charge.
And what's more, in the show her character got to exact revenge on the person who victimized her. Something that she was never able to do in the real world.
I have long been a fan of Olivia Munn who I think is not only beautiful, but extremely talented. But now I more than admire her, I am in awe of her.
Now that you have read this, play that clip up top again, and you will be in awe as well.
Damn this show is good.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Hollywood joins the effort against gun violence.
Courtesy of USA Today:
A group of Hollywood celebrities has a message to share about gun violence.
Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Jaime Foxx, Conan O'Brien, Ellen DeGeneres and other entertainers are appearing in a PSA calling on Americans to "demand a plan" to stop gun violence.
"How many more?" the stars ask, before action will be taken.
No more "if we had just done something yesterday," says Aniston in the video, which was released Friday.
Well THAT ought to get some attention.
Of course the NRA supporters will simply say that the fault for the increase in violence is on the heads of these actors who participate in fake violence in movies, instead of putting the blame on the accessibility of weapons which allow unhinged people to perpetrate REAL violence in our elementary school classrooms.
A group of Hollywood celebrities has a message to share about gun violence.
Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Jaime Foxx, Conan O'Brien, Ellen DeGeneres and other entertainers are appearing in a PSA calling on Americans to "demand a plan" to stop gun violence.
"How many more?" the stars ask, before action will be taken.
No more "if we had just done something yesterday," says Aniston in the video, which was released Friday.
Well THAT ought to get some attention.
Of course the NRA supporters will simply say that the fault for the increase in violence is on the heads of these actors who participate in fake violence in movies, instead of putting the blame on the accessibility of weapons which allow unhinged people to perpetrate REAL violence in our elementary school classrooms.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
I was gone camping on Sunday and only saw this episode of the Newsroom yesterday. It gave me chills.
Here is a review for those that missed it as well. I especially like this description:
While this episode provided excellent progression for Will McAvoy, it is also a shining night for Olivia Munn as Sloan Sabbith. This intelligent, independent woman has had a few small previous moments to beam; however this episode gave Olivia Munn much more to do than be a steady source of charming comic relief. While Elliot is absent, Will and Don elect Sloan to sub in during their coverage of the Japanese nuclear crisis following the March 2011 earthquake. Consequently, Sloan becomes a related part of the consequences concerning Will’s righteous and stressed actions. In the awkward position to host Elliot’s 10 p.m. show, Sloan does a pre-interview (Olivia Munn is great in speaking fluent Japanese) talking with a Japan representative from the power plant, who Sloan is acquainted with. It further complicates things as she pushes him to tell the truth about the nuclear levels being higher than what they were previously reported being. From there, things don’t become much better for the struggling girl when Will insists Sloan force the truth out of the representatives: Go rogue.
This results one of the best moments of the show thus far, as Sloan alters between English and Japanese attempting to push the Japanese representatives to give her the answers she wants and knows are true. Between Sloan’s shaky confidence and Don’s near-meltdown in the control room, it is an exquisite and rather uncomfortable moment that has some interesting consequences for reporter gone rogue bully. Even better is the quick aftermath following Sloan taking on an enraged Charlie Skinner. Let’s just say, through these moments Olivia Munn proves herself as a great asset to this great cast. She does wonderfully in these scenes. In the end, Sloan ends up being right, but must still deal with tough consequences that definitely give her character growth and more relevance. Good thing Will is there to help take on those consequences with her. These are one of the best moments of the episode and the show altogether, but the best moment comes in the end when we see the real bully of the episode come front and center stage: Will McAvoy himself.
I have always like Olivia Munn, but never really saw her push herself as an actor. The other night certainly changed that for me. She was amazing.
While this episode provided excellent progression for Will McAvoy, it is also a shining night for Olivia Munn as Sloan Sabbith. This intelligent, independent woman has had a few small previous moments to beam; however this episode gave Olivia Munn much more to do than be a steady source of charming comic relief. While Elliot is absent, Will and Don elect Sloan to sub in during their coverage of the Japanese nuclear crisis following the March 2011 earthquake. Consequently, Sloan becomes a related part of the consequences concerning Will’s righteous and stressed actions. In the awkward position to host Elliot’s 10 p.m. show, Sloan does a pre-interview (Olivia Munn is great in speaking fluent Japanese) talking with a Japan representative from the power plant, who Sloan is acquainted with. It further complicates things as she pushes him to tell the truth about the nuclear levels being higher than what they were previously reported being. From there, things don’t become much better for the struggling girl when Will insists Sloan force the truth out of the representatives: Go rogue.
This results one of the best moments of the show thus far, as Sloan alters between English and Japanese attempting to push the Japanese representatives to give her the answers she wants and knows are true. Between Sloan’s shaky confidence and Don’s near-meltdown in the control room, it is an exquisite and rather uncomfortable moment that has some interesting consequences for reporter gone rogue bully. Even better is the quick aftermath following Sloan taking on an enraged Charlie Skinner. Let’s just say, through these moments Olivia Munn proves herself as a great asset to this great cast. She does wonderfully in these scenes. In the end, Sloan ends up being right, but must still deal with tough consequences that definitely give her character growth and more relevance. Good thing Will is there to help take on those consequences with her. These are one of the best moments of the episode and the show altogether, but the best moment comes in the end when we see the real bully of the episode come front and center stage: Will McAvoy himself.
I have always like Olivia Munn, but never really saw her push herself as an actor. The other night certainly changed that for me. She was amazing.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
The woman of the Daily Show deny allegations of sexism.
Jezebel recently posted an article essentially claiming that the Daily Show is a "No Girl's Allowed Club" which only lets chicks hang out with them for the sake of appearances.
Apparently some of the impetus for this online spanking (not the naughty kind) was the recent addition of Olivia Munn to the show. Which apparently PROVES that the producers of the Daily Show are a bunch of overgrown fratboys who only care about a female's looks and could care less about their comic timing or ability to write....you know...funny stuff.
Personally I am feeling a little defensive about this charge because I recently gushed all over one of Ms. Munn's recent segments just last Friday. Now in my defense part of that was tongue in cheek and meant to be a little exaggerated and over the top, but it is certainly true that I have been a "not exactly crazed" fan of Olivia Munn since I first saw her on Attack of the Show.
It is undeniable that Olivia Munn is quite lovely to look at, but if people believe that is the sole reason that she enjoys an enormous fan club of grown men, nerdy women, and geeky career virgins, then they are hypocrites who are just as guilty of making judgements based solely on looks as they claim the men of the Daily Show to be.
Munn is a self effacing, fearless comedian, who rarely if ever takes herself too seriously. I don't believe for an instant that she would get a gig on the Daily Show just because she looks good in a bikini.
And the women of the Daily Show seem to agree with that sentiment.
The truth is, when it comes down to it, The Daily Show isn't a boy's club or a girl's club, it's a family - a highly functioning if sometimes dysfunctional family. And we're not thinking about how to maximize our gender roles in the workplace on a daily basis. We're thinking about how to punch up a joke about Glenn Beck's latest diatribe, where to find a Michael Steele puppet on an hour's notice, which chocolate looks most like an oil spill, and how to get a gospel choir to sing the immortal words, "Go f@#k yourself!"
Hopefully this will put to rest any further allegations that my favorite comedy show is some smutty enterprise putting truly talented women in the background while serving up soft porn versions of female comedy talent for their sweaty male viewers to enjoy.
Now if you will excuse me the show is coming on in a few minutes and I have to get a cold shower ready because I am pretty sure that passionate hunk of man flesh Lewis Black has a segment on tonight and he really gets my motor running!
Apparently some of the impetus for this online spanking (not the naughty kind) was the recent addition of Olivia Munn to the show. Which apparently PROVES that the producers of the Daily Show are a bunch of overgrown fratboys who only care about a female's looks and could care less about their comic timing or ability to write....you know...funny stuff.
Personally I am feeling a little defensive about this charge because I recently gushed all over one of Ms. Munn's recent segments just last Friday. Now in my defense part of that was tongue in cheek and meant to be a little exaggerated and over the top, but it is certainly true that I have been a "not exactly crazed" fan of Olivia Munn since I first saw her on Attack of the Show.
It is undeniable that Olivia Munn is quite lovely to look at, but if people believe that is the sole reason that she enjoys an enormous fan club of grown men, nerdy women, and geeky career virgins, then they are hypocrites who are just as guilty of making judgements based solely on looks as they claim the men of the Daily Show to be.
Munn is a self effacing, fearless comedian, who rarely if ever takes herself too seriously. I don't believe for an instant that she would get a gig on the Daily Show just because she looks good in a bikini.
And the women of the Daily Show seem to agree with that sentiment.
The truth is, when it comes down to it, The Daily Show isn't a boy's club or a girl's club, it's a family - a highly functioning if sometimes dysfunctional family. And we're not thinking about how to maximize our gender roles in the workplace on a daily basis. We're thinking about how to punch up a joke about Glenn Beck's latest diatribe, where to find a Michael Steele puppet on an hour's notice, which chocolate looks most like an oil spill, and how to get a gospel choir to sing the immortal words, "Go f@#k yourself!"
Hopefully this will put to rest any further allegations that my favorite comedy show is some smutty enterprise putting truly talented women in the background while serving up soft porn versions of female comedy talent for their sweaty male viewers to enjoy.
Now if you will excuse me the show is coming on in a few minutes and I have to get a cold shower ready because I am pretty sure that passionate hunk of man flesh Lewis Black has a segment on tonight and he really gets my motor running!
Friday, July 02, 2010
Time for a laugh. Olivia Munn returns as a special correspondent on the Daily Show.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Kremlins 2: The New Batch | ||||
| ||||
You know for quite some time now my favorite Daily Show correspondent has been Aasif Mandvi, followed closely by John Oliver. But now with the addition of Olivia Munn, well now the only thing I have to say is "John Oliver and Aasif Mandvi who?"
I don't know what it is about the lovely Miss Munn? Could it be her comic timing? Her effortless repartee with Stewart? Or just simply the fact that she is OLIVIA MUNN?
Okay I might, just possibly, have the teensy weensiest crush on the lovely Olivia. But trust me I will not let it impact my clear headed, logical appreciation for...OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE HOW CUTE AND FUNNY AND TALENTED SHE WAS?
Okay well that is just embarrassing.
This is almost as bad as when I had that man-crush on Stephen Colbert after he stood up and insulted President Bush and the entire Republican party at the White House Correspondent's Dinner in 2007.
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