News of the Day - A Protest No One is Reporting About

     On Thursday, 27^th February, a protest against racism and hate crime was held in Norway’s capitol, Oslo. Even though there were, according to the Facebook event, between four and five hundred people present, even though the protesters went from city’s central square to the house of parliament, even though a lot of good points were made by many panelists and even though racism seems to be blooming in this northern country, there are no reports on it in any of the popular newspapers today. 

(facebook.com/pages/Antirasistisk-Senter/148172115254308)

Why is that? Or even better – how is it possible? We’re talking about the country were, 13 days ago a 53 year old man, Jacob Kuteh was attacked outside his own home probably because he was an immigrant; the country where the leader for Youth against racism (Ungdom mot rasisme) also was attacked outside her home, by right extremists; the country where gay people are attacked or discriminated against almost daily, especially if they aren't white; the country where the only terrorist attacks came from the right extremist groups, but people still consider Muslims to be the terrorists… A country that has experienced 22^nd July 2011 and still hasn’t learned anything. 

     If you ask people in Norway about their opinions on race and racism, most of them will tell you that they either are anti-racists or that race doesn’t mean anything to them. I don’t think Norway’s population has recently been reduced to 500 people, so where were these anti-racist, open-minded people on Thursday? Probably thinking this protest is just for those with other skin tones or cultural backgrounds…

But what about media, then? Even if there was only one person standing in front of the Norwegian house of parliament, this topic is so important and controversial in the society that it’s media’s obligation to report on it. 

Every fight for a better society deserves to be talked about and made visible. Get a grip, journalists!  

Sex On Screen - Bodies and Taboo

Sex on screen: No longer taboo? – Nicholas Barber (BBC)

(missionpoint.com)

     I saw this article just today, even though it’s a bit over a month old, and it got me thinking. Although I support the apparent sexual freedoms becoming more and more acceptable on the "silver screen", this article doesn’t consider one important part of film nudity, and that is the body itself. 

What do I mean by this?

If you’ve ever watched a movie containing an open sex scene, then you’ve certainly noticed a big inequality in, well just that – nakedness. There are always more women who are shown naked than man, and that is a fact. Breasts are seen in almost every movie these days, regardless if it contains explicit sex scenes or not. If male body is shown, though, it’s usually just a naked torso, rarely the whole body from the back, but almost never a full naked male body. However, recent films that concentrate on sex, such as von Trier’s Nimph()maniac, do fix this inequality to some extent.

One other important thing is how these females look. They are always “picture perfect”, almost model-like women, with no apparent flaws. Does that tell us that a woman can be sexual and attractive only if she looks like a model? 

Well, reality check, dear film makers! We are not all models, our teeth are not always "Colgate-white", our breasts are not always perfectly rounded, we fart, we sweat, we go to the bathroom; if we don’t shower – we stink too, we often eat more than just a salad, we have zits, wrinkles, hairy bodies and other “imperfections”; and one more thing – most of us use make-up, so that “natural look” everyone is talking about is most often achieved with a lot of it.

(2.bp.blogspot.com)

One TV show that stands in the way of these typical presentations of nudity is a well-known HBO series “Girls”. Not only that some of the characters don’t have perfect bodies, and are not afraid to show them, but nudity is almost always distributed equally. If there’s a sex scene, you can be sure that you’ll see both participants’ naked bodies. So I have nothing but thanks to the show’s maker, Lena Dunham, who showed us all how you make a show that’s both interesting and respectful. 

     I’m well aware that these issues take a lot of time to change. But, if Hollywood and other big film centers don’t improve their attitude towards women, we’ll never see equality in our society. Because no matter how “unimportant” entertainment industry may seem, it’s still influencing almost everyone across the globe. If we’re going to be naked, let us all be naked! Equally!

PS: One more interesting article on women in movie industry, good read!

Shout out to the King of Internet

     

Return of Kings

(pbs.twimg.com)

     Even though I already reacted to this website on Facebook, I still can’t stop thinking about it. It makes me extremely angry that it just can exist without anyone protesting or reporting this page… But where to report it, then? Is there some kind of service one can turn to or someone working as a King of Internet maybe?

I’m fully aware that this site could be a work of an internet troll (and if so, a great one!), but I can’t quite get myself to believe that someone would dedicate so much time and energy on trolling. To say it in meme language – Ain’t nobody got time for that! 

So, what to do with this site, then? On one hand, we shouldn’t share it and talk about it since that just raises its popularity on Google. But on the other, it should be discussed. And be exposed. And stopped. Even if it is a troll page. It’s still unacceptable.  

News Of The Day - Venezuela on Fire!

 

Caracas Chronicles– “The Game Changed in Venezuela Last Night – and the International Media Is As leep At the Switch”

Caracas Chronicles– “19F – The Night Venezuela Finally Imploded”

 

(washingtonpost.com)

     Once the revolution starts, there will be nothing that will be able to stop it. And it will spread all over the world. Could it already be happening?

As I already said about Ukraine, if you’re not there, you can’t be sure what’s really going on, since you under no circumstances should blindly trust the (western or whatever) media. However, when it comes to the conflict between the government and the People, wherever on the globe, my support is always going to be with the People. Because the government should serve the People, not the other way round.

So, go, Venezuela! I hope you get your story through to as many as possible, because the revolution is seldom won alone…