A different take on Christmas

A little post for tonight: a new look at the Christmas story from the incredible Jeanette Winterson (h/t AfterEllen)!

Happy Holidays, from FWF...I'll be back bloggin' fresh on Monday.

Sarah Haskins: Lessons Learned in 2009

Bring on 2010! Enjoy...

Things I'm Looking Forward to in 2010...

#1. The new movie about The Runaways starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning (who, last time I checked, was eight...now she's a teenager...I feel old...).



(H/T AfterEllen.)

The Princess and the Frog

So I'm curious about the newest edition to Disney's princess franchise, The Princess and the Frog. It opened last weekend, and it's one in a long list of films I want to see this holiday season (others include Blind Side, It's Complicated, Invictus, Nine, and Avatar). On a positive note, it features a black princess--about time, Disney!--although there's apparently been some controversy about the fact that her prince isn't also black. Personally, I'm not sure why that's a problem. An African American princess and a Latin American-esque prince? The more diversity the better, I say.

However...while I'm in full support of an interracial Disney prince/princess coupling (well, as much as I'm in support of any prince/princess coupling...so that's not saying much), the first time I saw the preview for The Princess and the Frog a few months ago, I was a bit edgy about the way some of the other characters were represented. I realize the film's set in New Orleans and so the characters need Cajun accents. I also realize that there are typically evil witches and wizards and sorcerers pitted against the heroes of Disney pictures, hence the witch doctor. But does the combination of these things--plus the grungy firefly with the missing teeth--in the first Disney film to feature a black princess make anyone else twitch a little with stereotype-overload?



I really want to like this film, but I'm a little worried... So, has anyone seen it yet? What did you think?

Gay Marriage and Gay Mayors

Considering moving to either Washington D.C. or Houston, TX. Aren't you?

D.C. Council Approves Gay Marriage:

“Today’s vote is an important victory not only for the gay and lesbian community but for everyone who supports equal rights,” said Councilman David A. Catania, an independent and the author of the bill.

Opponents have vowed to overturn the bill by putting it to a referendum or by working with Congress, which has a month to review the measure once it is signed.

[...]

Councilman Catania opposes putting the matter to a popular vote. He noted that in a referendum in 1865, only 36 of the city’s residents voted to extend the franchise to African-American men.

“It isn’t that I’m fearful of losing,” Mr. Catania said. “I think the process is diminishing. I think that putting the rights of minorities on the ballot and allowing the forces of intolerance to spend an unlimited amount to demonize and marginalize a population is unsavory.” (emphasis mine)

And...a great political cartoon from the Houston Chronicle (via the Bilerico Project) about Houston's new openly-lesbian mayor-elect, Annise Parker.

NY State Fail, Diane Saviano Win

I'm a little late on the uptake, but Senator Diane Saviano's impassioned response to the NY State's gay marriage disappointment is fantastic!



H/T Jezebel and several of my FB friends.

Bella vs. Buffy

I've admonished my partner for talking down about the Twilight movies when she hasn't actually seen them--hence Twilight is now sitting shamefully at the top of our Netflix queue--which is why I haven't yet posted any sort of take down (or praise???) of the series on this blog. I haven't read the books. I haven't seen the movies. A good friend of mine with preteen daughters described the books, and not favorably, as "Harlequin romance for prepubescent girls," and I'm just too busy to waste my time on a whole series of books I won't even enjoy. It's not even worth the pleasure of being able to critique them. On the other hand, I think I can probably sit through the movies and maybe even be able to enjoy them, so count on my Twilight-related commentary (better late than never) sometime in the next month or so.

That said, just because I don't feel qualified to talk about the series, doesn't mean I can't engage with other people's critiques -- for example, this one from Fannie's Room, in which she compares Twilight's Bella to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is great. And, as a companion piece, there's a video version of this epic comparison (although the video is more of a "if Buffy met Edward..." mash-up):



I know critiques of New Moon and the Twilight series have been floating across my RSS feed over the past month, and I'd be eager to read more of them. So, if you've seen a good post about the films/books or written one, please feel free to comment with a link below.

SYTYCD

Can I just say how much I love Ellenore on So You Think You Can Dance?





I don't have anything really constructive to say except, in the words of Mary Murphy: "WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO."

An Untapped Market

Here's a television show idea that hasn't been done yet: a cooking show where the hosts talk politics; ideally, they could pair the dishes they're creating with the political topics of the day. It could be a cross between The Rachel Maddow Show and Martha Stewart. What would that look like, you say?

Look and see.