The 64th Cannes Film Festival began on May 11th and ends on May 22nd. According to a Reuters story covering the event on opening night, Woody Allen's film Midnight in Paris was received with "laughter" and "applause" by Cannes critics at the press screening.
Image by Google Images
Robert Turan reports in a story for the LA Times that the most talked about films of this year's festival are Midnight in Paris, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Footnote, Boy With A Bike, The Tree of Life, This Must Be the Place and Drive.
Tilda Swinton stars in We Need to Talk About Kevin - Image by Google Images
In a story by Entertainment Weekly's Inside Movies, the film We Need to Talk About Kevin stirred the audience with its shocking subject matter. Actress Tilda Swinton plays a mother whose son is the culprit of a school's mass murder. The guilt-ridden mother struggles to cope with the aftermath of the horrific event.
The festival will end with an awards ceremony on Sunday, May 22nd.
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Although there has been recent controversy from international organizations regarding the legality of Osama bin Laden’s killing by U.S. Navy SEALs, most Americans feel “happy” and “proud” that US forces accomplished the murder operation in retaliation to bin Laden and Al Qaeda’a September 11 attacks.
72% of those surveyed expressed feeling “relieved”, 60% said the feel “proud” and 58% claimed they feel “happy”. A much smaller percentage of 16% said they feel “afraid”.
But for others, like Cheryl Desmais of Millburn, NJ, whose husband died in the September 11 attacks, the feeling is more bittersweet.
When asked by Verona-Cedar Grove Patch news about bin Laden's death, Desmais responded, "You know I'm not sure what the right word is. 'Happy' is a funny word to use. But this is the man responsible for my husband's death. This needed to be done. They needed to capture him or kill him and I'm glad they have. I think it's a huge blow to terrorism."
When the Obama administration first reported Osama bin Laden's killing, the White House documented Osama's resistance. It was later confirmed that bin Laden was unarmed at the time of the raid.
This fact stirred controversy among several lawyers, academics and human rights groups, who have since questioned the legality of bin Laden's murder by Navy SEALs in Pakistan.
According to this CBS News story, White Press Secretary Jay Carney said, "resistance does not require a firearm," when asked if bin Laden was armed when they raided the compound. After being pressed by reporters on the issue, Carney claimed that the raid "met with a great deal of resistance" and that many people in the compound had weapons.
Attorney General Eric Holder shares a similar sentiment. In a story by Pete Williams, correspondent for NBC News, Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the bin Laden murder operation was lawful.
Holder is quoted saying, "He was the head of al-Qaida, an organization that had conducted the attacks of September 11th. He admitted his involvement and he indicated that he would not be taken alive. The operation against bin Laden was justified as an act of national self defense."
An International Business Times article states that according to Holder, even if bin Laden did surrender, U.S. armed forces were justified to kill bin Laden "in order to protect themselves and the other people who were in that building," including several women and children who survived the raid unharmed.
In this story, lawyer Michael Mansfield expressed that "vengeance will become synonymized with justice, and that revenge will supplant 'due process."
He argued that raid events should be properly documented and verified. He also warned to not allow revenge or murder execution to replace justice.
The Guardian also mentions Claudio Cordone, senior director at Amnesty International, who argues the death of bin Laden will "put an end in his role in organizing or inspiring such criminal acts."
However, Cordone suggests the cooperation of US and Pakistani governments for "greater clarification about the events that led to the death of Osama bin Laden."
Some feel like the United States has taken unethical liberties to killing a dangerous although unarmed and/or surrendered terrorist. How could they explain justice and ethics to the thousands of victims' families from September 11th?
On what basis should justice and fairness be determined?
"Oh, Prince William of Wales? Isn't the bride-to-be a commoner?," says my 11-year old niece to my surprise when I asked her if she had heard anything about "a prince" and a royal wedding.
The media has had a long fascination with royal weddings. Especially when Kate Middleton, a middle class young woman is marrying Prince William of Wales, son of Prince Charles and the late beloved Princess Diana.
Over 750 million tuned in to watch Princess Diana and Prince Charles take their royal vows 30 years ago. After their divorce in 1996 and Diana's tragic death in a car accident in 1997, the upcoming wedding marks a new beginning for Britain's Monarchy.
Although the United States is not a British Monarchy, America loves a good fairytale. The evidence is in the daily coverage on every major newspaper and magazine in the country. The wedding of a handsome prince and a stylish and graceful commoner, who will become the new princess is enough reason for excitement for some in its anticipation.
However, according to one survey by PriceGrabber, 77 percent of consumers do not plan to get up extra early on April 29th to witness the live royal vows. 72 percent of these responders, do not plan to watch it after it is aired either.
The sample of those that do plan to watch the ceremony cite different reasons. 25 percent will watch for its historical significance, 12 percent for the memory and six percent for the media hype.
According to this article, older people are more interested than younger people and more women are interested in the royal wedding than men. The same could very well be true in the U.S.
Some people going through real life difficulties may have a hard time embracing the romance and fantasy. Sylvia Rojas, 34, from Orlando FL is definitely not enthused about the impending ceremony. "I'm sure she'll be happily ever after. Get married, get divorced and THEN live happily ever after." says Rojas who is currently undergoing divorce proceedings.
Another Orlando native, Stacy Lee, 38, is thrilled. "I'm fascinated by royalty. I love Kate Middleton. Prince William is so handsome. It's such a girl's dream."
Some consider the Monarchy's royalty old fashioned and irrelevant to today's culture, especially for younger generations.
Regardless, for many Americans and others around the world, the pomp, glamour and romantic splendor of this ceremony is enough to tune in. How many actually do, is left to be seen.
Many starlets have graced movie screens and magazine covers through the years. Since the beginning of history, humans have had a fixation with beauty, as literature and art is filled with depictions of what is deemed attractive and sexually appealing.
The beauty standard may be considered by some as recently veering towards a more "ethnic" look as the diversity in U.S. demographics have rapidly increased. The saying "blondes have more fun" does not resonate as it did more than 50 years ago when curvaceous Marilyn Monroe became a beauty icon in the 1950's with movies like "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".
The beauty standard in America and most western societies has been an overall slim, Caucasian woman with light eyes and long straight hair. Although beauty standards vary significantly in different cultures living in America, they have adopted the euro-centric beauty ideals from the predominant white society to a great extent.
As much as society members would like to say that they ignore the media beauty ideal blabber, people have been bombarded since birth with images of white beauty. The clip of Bo Derek running in the beach with braids in the movie "Ten" is ingrained in brains all over the nation.
From the publicity alone, who didn't think growing up that Christie Brinkley and Brooke Shields must be the most beautiful women that will ever walk the face of the earth? Countless of images of women like these have left a subconscious imprint on what the beauty ideal is.
While they are indeed beautiful, the perception of what is deemed physically desirable has been rather limited when compared with other ethnicities in the U.S. and throughout the world.
Christie Brinkley - Image by Google Images
As celebrities of other ethnicities have stepped into the limelight and reached superstardom, the beauty standard has veered into a more exotic and racially ambiguous look. Today, beauty standards set by socialite Kim Kardashian, Brazilian model Adriana Lima and actress/singer Jennifer Lopez have acquired insurmountable popularity. According to a survey in Allure magazine, 64 percent of people think women of mixed race represent the epitome of beauty.
For some of these celebrities being considered ethnic and extremely beautiful is not enough. After rocketing to fame with her TV reality show, Kim Kardashian has had a few well-publicized nose and Botox surgeries at the tender age of 28. If she were compared to pictures of her taken 5 years ago, today she could very well be confused with her mother, Kris Jenner, who has had similar surgeries.
Image by Google Images
The former beauty standards of a very small narrow bridge nose and high cheekbones remain. While the media may be screaming out "your nose is perfect!" It goes well with your face!", it is almost as if they said to themselves "you have crowned me as beautiful, I must live up to your traditional set expectations."
For African Americans, beauty standards seem to be a combination of the white beauty ideal and black ethnic features. Singers Beyoncé and rapper Nicki Minaj's considerable light skin and voluptuous derrieres have become the epitome of beauty especially in young African Americans. However, do they represent the looks of many other black women? Most likely not. The light skin, long hair and white Caucasian features leave a lot of women out.
Beyonce - Image by Google Images
Popular rapper Lil Kim underwent several radical surgeries in order to change her appearance to a more "Caucasian" look. She is unrecognizable. This surgically enhanced look has become common and easily identifiable. It looks like a new synthetic breed of people that hardly live up to the intended beauty standard.
Halle Berry is another actress coveted by many white and black americans as representation of black beauty. Is she? Ms. Berry, who has a black father and white mother, appears to be more celebrated because of her Caucasian features and "not too dark" complexion.
Although not very drastic, Halle Berry and Beyoncé have also had some minor nose surgeries. How can beauty standards truly change when as soon as black celebrities become famous, they change their features?
Lil Kim's transformation through the years. Image by awfulplasticsurgery.com
Why didn't Lauryn Hill, who went on to sell more than 8 million copies and win five Grammys for the "Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" album, ever graced the cover of People's most beautiful issue or any other coveted mainstream beauty magazines?
She is certainly no less beautiful than Halle Berry or Julia Roberts, who have been on the cover of numerous beauty magazines through the years. The United States history of racism, slavery and segregation contributes to the marginalization of African features and beauty.
How can black women with stronger African features and natural hair that don't have ample butts compete when their representations of African American beauty are not acceptable, as they don't adhere to the familiar standards in both white and black cultures in the U.S.?
Lauryn Hill - Image by Google Images
Is the new beauty standard veering into a more ethnic look signs of a post racial society in which ethnic beauty is readily accepted?
Not necessarily.
It creates room for a new set of feelings of inadequacy in the looks department for many Caucasian women with pale skin, thin lips and very slender figures and dark skinned women that may not have the classic curvaceous figure of these "ethnic" women.
What does this mean for other ethnic groups like Asians? They are even more underrepresented in the media than African Americans. Bleaching creams and eye surgeries are already popular in the Asian countries.
Many women with light complexions are suffering the consequences of tanning booth damage and sun exposure. Women of all ethnic groups are now going under the knife for butt implants. There have already been documented cases of death due to complications from this type of surgery in women of all ethnic groups.
The media is not taking enough risks when it comes representing a variety of beauties from the different ethnicities that now live in America.
When it comes to casting for big budget motion pictures, mainstream production companies make it impossible to greenlight movies with ethnic leads. They fear they won't bring in the crowds. The latest confirmation of this is the production of the Asian comic book movie "Akira", which is now set to cast an all white cast.
The movie Slumdog Millionaire had an all cast from India and it became one of the most successful productions of 2008. Its female lead actress, Frieda Pinto, became celebrated for her beauty and has now a long career ahead.
Why should there be one standard? Society has a long way to go when it comes to understanding and embracing the concept of multiculturalism and diversity. Aren't Reese Whitherspoon, Zoe Kravitz, Gabrielle Union, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Hudson all standards of beauty?
Popular media proves that it is uncomfortable with types of beauty that do not conform to the "standard". That says a lot about society in general, since it's members are the ones that fuel the media and entertainment business. This country is a melting pot after all, why not be more representative of such?
Nicole Lester's voice exudes a natural self-confidence, evident during the first few words of our phone interview. "I'm a 6'1" black woman, I'm not easily intimidated", says the Tallahassee, FL native with calm assertiveness. Nicole, 38, currently lives in D.C. with her husband of 13 years, her oldest son, 16, their 12-year old son and 4-year old daughter.
When I asked her if she ever developed an insecurity growing up from being tall, she quickly assured me, "no, I never developed insecurities because my whole family is tall and my friends were tall. The shortest member in my family is 5'6. I grew up in a time where designers made clothes longer to accommodate me."
Although Nicole is the kind of person who stands tall, figuratively and literally speaking, she does fear 2 things in life, "I fear drowning, I’m from Florida but I don't swim." What does she fear from life in general? "Fear of failing maybe," Lester adds after brief thought.
As a child, Nicole wanted to be a nurse but as she grew older she began hating needles and liking politics instead. In college, she wanted to become an attorney. She obtained a degree in Pre-Law/Political Science. After working in politics for a few years, Nicole enjoyed the client representation aspect of the field the most.
What does she hope to achieve with a Master's in New Media Journalism? "I want to be a publicist. I worked in politics and enjoyed representing people but it’s hard in politics. Even with great intentions, it's hard to do your job with all the external influences at play." She acknowledges the importance of representing public figures. "There is a proper way of representing, marketing and building the image of an individual," she concludes.
She mentioned how celebrities like Chris Brown are in dire need of a good Publicist. Speaking of singer Chris Brown, I asked Nicole what type of music she enjoys listening to. "A lot of R&B and reggae. I’m usually a mellow person, that’s why I listen to a lot of RnB. But when I’m working out or working around the house, I like some reggae," she says.
Nicole considers her uncle to be the greatest influence in her life, "He was extremely motivated and driven. He left a small town and became successful. A good Christian man and a role model.” She also shared with me her secret to happiness, "the secret is being myself and being true to me, paying attention to my feelings, my image."
