Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Why The Title Politics and Entertainment

Politics and entertainment here in the title of the blog shouldn’t necessarily be read as a set of binary terms that needs to be, a la Derrida,  deconstructed by a third term; in fact, they are  more often than not  -- if you keep an eye on Canadian and American politics -- seldom mutually exclusive.  I refer of course to the habitually nasty but cynically amusing behaviour of Harperites and Teabaggers.

But having taught film studies, film production, and screenwriting in a university, and having worked in both film and television, I want to write occasionally about film or television projects that might deserve a bit more interest than they currently receive since they’re not in the centre of the media promotional  stream in the hope that others might see the value of these efforts.  Except for Executive Producers, everyone with whom I ever worked in a given production did so with utmost responsibility and extremely hard work. It isn't just about talent.

While I taught, I was also very politically active, both within my institution, trying to hollow it out from within,  and in the city in which I lived at the time --especially with respect to environmental issues.   And so the political scene -- federal, provincial, municipal -- continue to intrigue me and might call forth the occasional  rant and other kinds of commentary.

Of course politics and entertainment come forcefully together in entertainers like Bill Maher, and the extraordinary political activism of actors like George Clooney, Leo DeCapprio, Ellen Paige, and Don Cheadle -- not to mention Bono and the gang. This practical use of celebrity status for political purposes also interests me, and so,  I’ll probably have some specific response to a particular action or project.  Don't worry -- no Charlie stuff.

We begin in  earnest soon.

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