Midnight - Hand to Mouth

Midnight has always wanted an opposable thumb. He has been watching me carefully for the past 3 years and has noticed the miracles that I can perform with that remarkable appendage. And he wants one; badly. This sequence of him eating lunch on the patio yesterday illustrates my point.

Here he has just gotten his midday bowl of tuna and is reaching in for one of the first delicious paw-fulls. Notice the intense concentration as he attempts to successfully fish one out. The scraps of tuna lying about in the foreground are testament to the inexact results of his efforts.

Having successfully gotten some tuna in his paw, he is now going to maneuver the food to his mouth. You can just see the tip of his tongue, which will be an important part of this process.

Curling is not just a sport to Midnight. It is the critical, final movement necessary to getting the food into his mouth. Again, notice the assist from his tongue.

And here he is, at the finish line so to speak. I call this his “Politician’s Pose.” He has his foot in his mouth. Wait; that's not quite fair to the cat!

Real Women Have Curves

I love these new mannequins. They look like real women. Not those scrawny alley-cat looking Goth models slinking down the runways at Milan or in Paris or New York. These mannequins look like real women; ones who hold real jobs, and have real kids like so many of us do. In an age where a woman is valued more for her looks than her brains, this is a very refreshing change.

As a boy growing up in the 1960’s and early ‘70’s, I was always confused at how women wished to be perceived. In the films and books of the times, women were housewives and mothers, nurses, waitresses etc. And the models were all waif-like and almost asexual; I never could get the “hots” for Twiggy.

As the women’s movement grew and changed their perceptions of themselves; in many cases freeing them from a life of few selections; something strange happened. For decades men had been accused of valuing women only for their sexuality, and men had to learn a hard lesson in how to treat women properly. Then came the confusing part; many women took Roe vs. Wade as being the apex of victory in the Feminist Movement. Indeed, it is a pet peeve of mine that women never did push further for the ERA after Roe was decided. Instead they took the sexual equality as being the victory itself, rather than merely a component of a larger goal. And until this very day, America remains one of the only industrialized nations on Earth without an Equal Pay Act for Women.

The war against women is full on in America today, with many of the leading culprits being women politicians who have been elected, in large part, by women. It will never cease to amaze me at how many women turned out the vote for Hillary Clinton as she traveled the world demanding Equal Rights for women, while remaining silent on the same issue at home. Condolezza Rice and Madeleine Albright, along with every woman congressperson and senator, all share the blame in this.

Excuse my rant; I am just happy to see that someone, somewhere, is taking a vital step towards having women view themselves through the lens of accomplishment rather than the size of their dress. 

Rex Reed - The Shallow Man Weighs In

I suppose that everyone on the planet is now aware that Rex Reed, film critic for the New York Times, has referred to Melissa McCarthy as “tractor-sized” and a “screeching, humongous creep”, as well as some other choice and unnecessary adjectives. Apparently he did not agree with the casting director’s choice of the role for Ms. McCarthy; but those who throw stones at others; as Mr. Reed does; should beware, lest the winds change and hurl some of the stones back in their own direction.

  

Melissa McCarthy, a fine actress best known for her appearance in the film “Bridesmaids”; which I have never seen; is a plus sized and very capable actress who took her new film “Identity Thief” to Number One at the Box Office this past weekend. It earned $36.6 million in the United States. No small feat; as there are several good films out right now.

Mr. Reed, an industry icon for decades, seems to be fraying at the edges these days. Let’s face it though; he has never been a real positive person to begin with. There was a time, when New Yorker's routinely ignored his reviews. Actually, that is not correct. The truth is that if Rex Reed panned it; they went to see it.

People such as Mr. Reed are long overdue for retirement. Giving a movie a bad review is a perfectly honorable way to make a living; but trashing someone for their physical appearance is something which I thought had passed us by a long time ago; back in the days of Twiggy.

   

In today’s more educated world, we recognize; and welcome; diversity as well as physical differences in appearance. I wonder how Carroll Baker and Sylvia Miles (pictured with Mr. Reed above) feel about his callous and insensitive remarks concerning Ms. McCarthy. Remember, pound for pound, Mr. Reed himself is no longer the skinny little film critic he was in the early 1970’s. If physical appearance were the only thing required of actors and actresses, the majority of films would be as shallow as Mr. Reed and the skinny little waifs which he seems to admire so much.

"What's Eating Gilbert Grape" with Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio (1993)

When Albert Grape passes away he leaves behind a family of 5; a wife with emotional problems, 2 daughters, and two sons; one of whom is developmentally disabled. Johnny Depp plays Gilbert Grape, the older brother to Arnie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in one of his finest roles ever.

Set in the town of Endora, where nothing ever happens, this film explores the nature of relationships and family. Gilbert feels trapped by his dead end job working in the town’s old grocery store. There is a new supermarket located just outside of town which serves as a harbinger of change which is set to come to Endora, and seems to symbolize the impending changes that will take place in Gilbert’s life, if he will only let go.

A new girl named Becky, played with great sensitivity by Juliette Lewis, arrives in town at the same time that Gilbert is having an affair with the wife of a local insurance salesman. She is able to understand and deal with Arnie, and does not view him as an obstacle to a relationship with Gilbert. As he begins to see that Becky may be the key to his freedom, he questions his relationship to the older woman. He realizes that he has been taking care of her emotional needs, much in the same way that he has always had to care for his widowed mother and siblings.

Gilberts mother, who was once the local beauty pageant winner, deals with all of the sadness and problems in her life by eating. She tops 500 pounds and has not left the living room sofa in years. She eats and sleeps there, with the family catering to her every need, which has a stifling effect on the rest of the family. They love her, but her problems complicate their own lives. It’s as if they cannot move forward as individuals while having to care for their mother. And she knows this.

Arnie manages to get into mischief in many different ways; the least of which is climbing the town’s water tower. Eventually this gets him taken into custody by the town police, which forces his mother to leave the house for the first time since her husband’s passing. She goes to the police station, demanding his release. When the family leaves the police station with Arnie, she sees most of the people in town have gathered to stare at her, some even taking pictures.

Realizing how her emotional problems have affected her family, she goes home and climbs the stairs to her bedroom for the first time in years. Gilbert and his sisters tuck her in, relieved that she is going to finally get some rest. But her excessive weight causes her to suffocate in her sleep, leaving the family seemingly rudderless.

But there is still one card left to play in this high stakes emotional drama, and Gilbert, along with his siblings, play that card, freeing them to live their own lives. A very emotional film, this movie underscores the ways in which all of our problems intersect with one another. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; we are all connected. What we do as individuals has an effect on all those around us. It’s up to us all to try and make those effects positive ones.