Why there were Angels in America in the 80's?

The 80s were a decade of fight, of social concerns, of new trends and so on. It was a decade with events that totally change the world and mold it to be as we know it today. A decade of countless wars, including the Cold War; a decade of conservative politics and of a constant competition and fight between the Western world and the Communists, for example in the space exploration; of technological advances, with the increasing of home computers and the invention of the walkman; of the MTV and of the pop stars, like Madonna and Michael Jackson, and the Metal; of the advances in cinema with films like the “E.T.” and the “Star Wars”; and even of new trends like the Ray-Ban sunglasses and the Rubik’s cube.

Angels in America is not a series made in the 80’s but it is all about that decade. It has its set in 1985 and it is mainly about two relationships passed under the conservative government of Reagan and during the spreading of AIDS and consequently the fast changing of the social and the political climate. These relationships are a quite difference since one is between two gay men and the other is between and addicted woman and a gay man that can’t get out of the closet.

This is a fantastic series based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name by Tony Kushner. Kushner adapted his original text for the screen, and Mike Nichols directed it.

A good question about this series is why does it have that name? In fact an interesting question, however it is really hard to return. This question can be answered with a line by which is “Like the spiritualists try to use that stuff, are you enlightened, are you centered, channeled, whatever, this reaching out for a spiritual past in a country where no indigenous spirits exist – only the Indians, I mean Native American spirits and we killed them off so now, there are no gods here, no ghosts and spirits in America, there are no angels in America, no spiritual past, no racial past, there's only the political.”

In my opinion, with this line, Lou is referring to the constant search of the Americans for a spiritual identity. Despite the best efforts of many to find something holy in America's national character, it just doesn't exist. Instead, there's only politics. Most spiritual movements, purposely or not, have political power as their true aim. (Or, at least, that's what Louis thinks.)

But this series is not called No Angels in America, so the question is still to answer. Why does a series which is about homosexuals, drug addicts and people with AIDS have the name Angels in America?  In my opinion that name is referring to the spiritual guide that almost all of us search and believe that it is protecting us. I think that it also can be a person. A person who is always there to help us. A person who can protect us, who wouldn’t go away when we need her.

So, this series shows the tremendous contrasts and differences between the society of the 80’s. On one side we’ve got the conservative politics of Reagan’s politics, based on the Christian Values; and on the other side we’ve got the disappearance of a lot of taboos, especially in the sexual part.

References:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 1980s (2012) Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s, 3rd June 2012

From the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Angels in America (TV miniseries) (2012) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_in_America_(TV_miniseries), 3rd June 2012

Shmoop, (2012) Shmoop University, Inc., Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner, http://www.shmoop.com/angels-in-america-part-1/title.html, 3rd June 2012

Climbing Down of the Ivory Tower

“The first modern usage of "ivory tower" in the familiar sense of an unworldly dreamer can be found in a poem of 1837, "Pensées d’Août, à M. Villemain", by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, a French literary critic and author, who used the term "tour d'ivoire" to describe the poetical attitude of Alfred de Vigny as contrasted with the more socially engaged Victor Hugo: "Et Vigny, plus secret, Comme en sa tour d’ivoire, avant midi rentrait"”(And Vigny, more secret, as in his ivory tower, before noon returned)

In other words, it is the detachment between the artists and the rest of the people, meaning that not all of the people will understand their work. Only the artist and/or the more educated people will understand it.

A good example of it is the Beat Generation’s art which was just for the beats. It was and it still is great but it is for a restrict group of people. Almost of all the art made before the 20^th Century is a good example, too, because it was just for the ones who were educated.

However, in the fifties a new type of art as appeared: The Pop Art! The Pop art was a movement marked by a fascination with popular culture and the everyday objects. A good definition of Pop Art is:

"The term first appeared in Britain during the 1950s and referred to the interest of a number of artists in the images of mass media, advertising, comics and consumer products. The 1950s were a period of optimism in Britain following the end of war-time rationing, and a consumer boom took place. Influenced by the art seen in Eduardo Paolozzi's 1953 exhibition Parallel between Art and Life at the Institute for Contemporary Arts, and by American artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, British artists such as Richard Hamilton and the Independent Group aimed at broadening taste into more popular, less academic art. Hamilton helped organize the 'Man, Machine, and Motion' exhibition in 1955, and 'This is Tomorrow' with its landmark image Just What is it that makes today's home so different, so appealing? (1956). Pop Art therefore coincided with the youth and pop music phenomenon of the 1950s and '60s, and became very much a part of the image of fashionable, 'swinging' London. Peter Blake, for example, designed album covers for Elvis Presley and the Beatles and placed film stars such as Brigitte Bardot in his pictures in the same way that Warhol was immortalizing Marilyn Monroe in the USA. Pop art came in a number of waves, but all its adherents - Joe Trilson, Richard Smith, Peter Phillips, David Hockney and R.B. Kitaj - shared some interest in the urban, consumer, modern experience."

- From The Bulfinch Guide to Art History

A huge (but complete) definition to describe this movement that Claes Oldenburg, an American pop art artist, describes a little more briefly and hearty in this way: "I am for an art that takes its forms from the lines of life itself, that twists and extends and accumulates and spits and drips and is heavy and coarse and blunt and sweet and stupid as life itself."
Claes Oldenburg (1929- ), in an exhibition catalogue, 1961.

As you can see these pop art examples from Clae Oldenburg are from everyday life and it is accessible for everyone understanding.

Let’s see some curiosities:

The most well-known artist from this movement is Andy Whorl, an eccentric man, who brought Pop Art to the public eye. Let’s see some examples of his works and a representation of his person in The Doors (the film).

Go to this link to see the excerpt of The Doors http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FofUV4paQQ

An example of contemporary Pop Art is in the film American Beauty but this is only a personal opinion:

So, do you agree with me?!

References:

Wikipedia®, The Ivory Tower, This page was last modified on 25 March 2012 at 16:25, last view on 5^th of May 2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory_Tower

Site Credits, Pop Art, 2010, last view on 5^th of May 2012, http://www.artchive.com/artchive/pop_art.html

Artlex, The art dictionary, Pop Art, 2010, last view on 5^th of May 2012, http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/p/popart.html

Tiffany: Buying the brand, buying the history

It all started at September 18^th, 1837, when just two men and 1.000 US$ invested all on store on the 259 of the Broadway, New York. These two men were Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young. At the beginning it sold stationary items and on its first day Tiffany and Young closed the doors with sales of 4.98$. Since that day Tiffany became one of the best well-known corporations of jewelry and silverware.

It quickly gained reputation and in 1845 came out the first “Blue Book”. The Blue Book is the catalogue of Tiffany’s products and it still exists in our days. However, it was in 1861 that became popular for the general public when the president Lincoln offered a Tiffany’s bracelet to his wife, Mary Todd.

After that, it was the dream of every woman to receive a small blue box with a white loop: The “Tiffany Blue Box”. This box is so important that the tiffany employees have to take a formation to learn how to do the loop perfectly. Tiffany also has registered the blue of the box as “Tiffany Blue”.

After 1861, a lot of others references to Tiffany & Co. were made in pop culture by stars as Marilyn Monroe, in films as James Bond: Diamonds Are Forever, in books as Breakfast at Tiffany’s  or more recently in series as the Ugly Betty and Glee.

Since the use of Tiffany’s products by famous people, it became a “must have” by all important people. Still today, a lot of people exhibit their Tiffany’s to gain respect and to show wealth.

In 1940, the Tiffany’s store in NY moved to the current address in the 5^th Avenue. Tiffany’s has 64 stores in USA and 103 international stores.

According to Forbes Magazine, Tiffany is the 1597^th biggest public company of the world, the 1264^th in profit and the 1058^th in Market value. It is estimated that Tiffany as a annual profit of 265.7 million dollars (2009).

References:

© 2012 Time Inc, November 4^th, 1940, Carriage Trade: Tiffany Moves, The Times Magazine, last viewed on 21^st April of 2012, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,764971,00.html

2012 Forbes.com LLC™, Scott DeCarlo, April 2012,The World’s Biggest Companies, The Forbes Magazine, last viewed on 21^st April of 2012, http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottdecarlo/2012/04/18/the-worlds-biggest-companies/

Mundo das Marcas, May 2006, Tiffany & Co., last viewed on 21^st April of 2012, http://mundodasmarcas.blogspot.pt/2006/05/tiffany-co-luxo-e-glamour.html

Wikipedia®, April 2012,Tiffany & Co., last viewed on 21^st April of 2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiffany_%26_Co.

The Blue Note

The fifties were the time where the image was everything. The time where the search for perfection was an obsession. A time of a society afraid of the new and conformed with the conventional.  

Throughout the 50s, a group of people tired of the old manners expressed themselves in most varied forms. It was the fifties counterculture. It was “The Beat Generation”!

The “Beats” choose mainly the arts to speak out for what they considered to be an awful society. In the arts they were writers, painters, sculptors… And they had a thing in common: the love for the jazz and the blues. We can actually say that it was the sound of The Beat Generation.

It was in the 50s that great jazz musicians appeared. The trumpeter Miles Davis, the pianists John Coltrane and Bill Evans, the saxophone player Stan Getz, the drummer Art Blakey and so on. The “beats” found in jazz and in its players the ultimate point of reference to creation. A lot about jazz was said in the “beats’ ” writing. The jazz music was seen just like the things that came out from the beat generation’s people: “Something new and crazy” and in this case “done by black people.”

Besides this, the main common characteristics common to these types of art was the word beat. "The word 'beat' was primarily in use after World War II by jazz musicians and hustlers as a slang term meaning down and out, or poor and exhausted". Kerouac went on to twist the meaning of the term "beat" to serve his own purposes, explaining that it meant "beatitude, not beat up. You feel this. You feel it in a beat, in jazz real cool jazz".

A lot of the beat generation authors wrote about jazz and its musiciams. To know more about the jazz and the beats go to http://www.litkicks.com/Topics/Jazz.html.

Thanks for read.

The Old White Man And The Oscars

The American media and the entertainment industry try to make us to believe that U.S.A. are the most developed country regarding questions of race, religious, gender and so one, in work, in the social life and… In votes!

In the past weekend occurred one of the most important events of the year and of the world. It was The Academy Awards of 2012 - The Oscars!

                      

The first time an Oscar statuette was given was to honor the best films of 1928/1929. It was May 16 of 1929, 84 years ago. A lot of important events happened since that year and now, picking an Academy Awards winner is a serious business.                                                                                                                                

However, can it be that serious when the last studies tell us there is zero diversity on the general public voters?! Let’s see some stats.

“The Academy’s 5,765 members based on a study conducted by the Los Angeles Times:

• 94% Caucasian
• 77% Male
• 14% is younger than 50.
• 4% represent minority voters, with Hispanics and African-Americans evenly representing their votes at 2 percent each.”

The old white man is dominating the general public’s votes. In my opinion, the credibility of the Academy decreased after this reports.

The lack of diversity in the voters could prejudice some movies (more men´s movies or traditional ones winning), actors (less actors from minorities winning) and directors(less women winning). Being The Oscars such an important event worldwide, I think it is right to assume its influence on the choices of the people when they go to the theatres.

In a newspaper article, Jesse Jackson (an African-American civil rights activist) called the academy "akin to the old packed juries of the segregated South."

As you can see, this lack of diversity may jeopardize some movies and the Hollywood’s most important event credibility. It is important for the Academy to change this situation quickly to avoid further charges.

References:

Glenn Lloppis, 23^rd  of February of 2012, from Forbes online magazine, The Oscars Prove that Hollywood Must Place Diversity at the Center Stage to Survive Long Term, last view on 3^rd of March of 2012,  http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2012/02/23/hollywood-must-place-diversity-at-the-center-stage-to-survive-long-term/

Editorial: Lack of diversity among Oscar voters doesn't make for thriller in any sense, 21^st of February of 2012, Daily News LA online magazine, last view on 3^rd of March of 2012, http://www.dailynews.com/politics/ci_20014160

Academy Award, from Wikipedia®, the free encyclopedia, last view on 3^rd of March of 2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award    

The Oscars for "The Lamest Things To Think That Will Be Huge In The Next Decade"

The task for the previous week was to think in something which will be tremendous in the next decade. So, it was what my colleagues and I did.

However, now, I have another task. I will tell you why their ideas are not good.

The lamest things to think that will be enormous in the next decade are:

                     (Suspense)

1^st: The blog Perspectives 19 selected two different things. Two failed things. And here you’ve got a lesson: Quantity is not quality! Choose wisely instead of choosing amount.

Now, to prevent any error by my side, I will let the professionals explain to you the reason why the Ray Gun is not a good idea: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/09/altb_test_fail/.

After you admit why the Ray Gun is a bad idea, please tell me how much countries and places will be able to afford the device which allows us to use the Witricity.

Thank you!

2^nd: The blog B English Through Music picked the Anonymous.

In times of crisis, the States try to close the doors for crimes  these types of crimes because they represent a further expense to the States. A contemporary example is the recent case of S.O.P.A. and P.I.P.A..

3^rd: In the blog Travel Through the World of English the choice was “The Cause”.

Beside The Cause is too vague it depends on this “cure” (?) is achieved or not.

4^th: In The English Tunes, Samsung was the choice.

This choice was based in the belief that Samsung will make some kind of contact with schools and therefore it will be able to provide tablets to all the students in the world. Pretty impossible, don´t you think? There are kids in Africa starving. Do you really believe in tablets for everyone in the next decade?! Not even “Magalhães”, my friend!

5^th: The blog English Essays Fred chose Apple.

Despite of being a great brand and its capacity to reach everyone and every part of the world (even don´t having a product from Apple, everyone knows “the brand of the little apple”) it is and it will continue to be a privileged people’s brand.

Then, in my opinion, being Apple one of the “Americanization” symbols, its demand will decline just like the consumption of all the American things. The world will be more diverse in the next decade.

6^th: China will be huge in 2020. However, do you really think that they will be an example like the Americans are nowadays?

China was the choice of the blog More Blog More Info. The problem of this choice was the fact that China will only be economically huge. A lot of things in their culture are still unthinkable for us. Some easy examples are some stuff they eat and their political system.

7^th: The “Maria’s perspective” tell us that Alexander McQueen will be the icon of the next decade.

I think it is pretty obvious that Alexander McQueen will forever be an unavoidable icon of fashion. However, he will never be an icon for the general public.

Alexander McQueen will be forever missed in the world of fashion.

8^th: Two different social networks (Facebook and Twitter) were chosen by two different blogs.

My argument is the same for the both blogs: These two websites are already huge. Everything on the internet comes and goes and, especially in the internet, the “goes” part is much less than 10 years.

9^th: Angela Markel, a strong lady in a men’s world. She was the choice of the Economics Sphere blog.

The “reign” of this small woman is about to end. She is “pissing off” a lot of people and everyone knows that in politics it is not only the voters who decide.

Then, by 2021 she would being completing her fourth term of office. Germany is no more a dictatorship for having someone in the power for so long. Furthermore, the limitation of terms in office is shrinking.

10^th: Mind Spring Roll’s choice was K-pop, a Korean style of music and fashion.

It is annoying and impossible to understand. And I like a lot to understand the meaning of all music’s lyrics.

Annoying, right?!                           

12^th: English Essay Kce’s choice was Gagafashion, the fashion of Lady Gaga.

I can see my children crying and screaming:”Please dad, I don´t want to dress like that old crazy woman on the TV!”

She is really crazy and scary!

13^th: To conclude, RT Histonomics chose Poker.

OMG! I can’t play poker more than one time for month and do you want to turn it into something huge?! One game of Poker can take hours and it is very expensive. In addiction it is illegal when is played out of the Casinos and other places like it. And it is boring as hell!

Please, mates, think before you write!

Solar Power

                                       Solar Power

 

                               

                             The Future Is Happening Now!