Blessings

[taintedhearted-blog]

The Global Significance of Coco Before Chanel

With direction by Anne Fontaine and largely based upon the book by Edmonde Charles-Roux, “Coco Before Chanel” shows is a glimpse into the life of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. This film has set a timeline which is just that, before she founded the iconic fashion empire. This film firmly dwells on Gabrielle as a person, and her romantic dalliances with two men who played significant roles in her life, weather it was in support of her daily sustenance, or inspiring and providing fuel for her desire to make a name for herself.

As Coco Chanel, Audrey Tautou, exemplifies that level of elegance, vulnerability and rebellious streak to do things differently. Her petite-ness and somewhat boyish cut figure, suited the role really well as the initial designs by Coco were those inspired by menswear, though you only get glimpses of her design genius from short montages scattered throughout the film, and from some scenes which show her working at a tailor shop, but other than that you will gain very little from this bio-pic other than the messy love life that she got herself into, first with benefactor of sorts Etienne, who treated her nothing more than an object to bed in exchange for lodging, then Alessandro Nivola's who played, Arthur "Boy" Capel, a businessman which she falls head over heels for.

Coco “before” Chanel, released in 2009 to French cinemas, and created by a female, French, director is a prime example of traditional French cinema and the “guidelines” French directors have to follow to receive subsidies for productions. In the later 1980’s, the French government placed into effect tax incentives for films that have higher production budgets. A delicate balance of both English and French language is proposed through a flexible point system; however, “The use of French is technically encouraged with a 25 percent bonus.” (Danan, M. (2000).

“The 1930’s are often cited as the Golden Age of French cinema.” World War I injured the film industry in France and Hollywood followed behind to dominate the film market. Even though American Hollywood had taken over the market, the French still maintained their importance with cinematic tradition. In 1997, out of the top 100 films thought out the world, 88 of them were American created and 7 of them where joint ventures but still had a significant amount of participation from America. Many individuals believe that free trade should be adopted into European cinema, but it’s said that it would create an end for European culture. However, French cinema has never been “pure”, and many find it absurd for government officials to try and connect cultural to nationality.

French government states that its economic policy for cinema trade, which currently American films is 40 percent television screening and 60 percent within theaters, is essentially securing the French film industry to remain competitive and to help further finance strong culture policy. However, the revenue from taxes on domestic ticket sales along with taxes pointed at television companies’ earnings, feed into the support fund for subsidies for these mainstream French movies. The French government continues to have a leading hand within the cinematographic production, they now have a hand in mediating the assurance that aims for economic and cultural standards are met. (Danan, M. (2000).

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Gatt) have left cinema out of its agreements but it continues the be raised into question. Talks of new GATT negations, being brought back up in 2013, is needed and France has warned that they wouldn’t start negotiations unless it was confirmed that cultural industries are excluded, seeing as how Europe is in a weaker state than the negotiations last in 1993.

The hopeless love story within the film was by far the more relatable aspect of this film. The film steadily showed the connections lost, such as that from Etienne, to the connections gained like “boy” and Coco’s aspiring love. The film was that of a romantic roller-coaster, even portraying the tragic loss of “boy”, where spectators could relate and grasp the motivation for the Chanel empire. Although the film was insightful to her “before” fame life, it lacked the connection of what gave Coco her inspiration for her iconic success. The film could have further focused on the orphanage days with the nun’s as her guardians, perhaps illustrating that her inspiration was formed from the female superiors in chic black and white garments.

While Anne Fontaine nailed the look of the film, the feel somehow was found to be lacking, apart from the romantic angle, nothing else really rang through until the last act, which was a very hastily down finale to show the tremendous progress Coco had undergone once she had closed her heart, where she had broken through a society and introduced radical changes to an industry, from hats to influencing a lot more in the fashion world.

Spectators should not approach this film with an expectation that you would learn something of the beginnings of Chanel the brand and how it became the icon of today. In fact, it's more about the love and early life of its founder. Who without her accomplishment and the name backing her, could have turned out to be nothing more than a generic, average, and perhaps even strange romantic picture. Furthermore, in relation to the on-going struggle with French cinema and struggle we can relate back to Claude Berri's response to Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, after American media utilizing their statements toward film quotas, "Dear friends, do not let those who invest in your films take advantage of you. We are not protectionists. Freedom of expression is as important to us as it is to you. We are simply demanding one sole right: to exist and thus to be able to continue to communicate with you."

Work Cited

Danan, M. (2000). French cinema in the era of media capitalism. Media, Culture & Society, 22(3), 355-364.

[taintedhearted-blog]

Expression within Music

The late 90s and early 2000s was a defining time for the Russian music scene, due to their new found freedom to consume all sorts of culture from outside the rule of the Soviet Union. Under Stalin’s regime in the 1930s music in Russia was required to be contained within certain cultural standards. Any sort of experimentation and innovation in the music world was discouraged, and music from outside of soviet limits was banned. The state monopoly of the music scene in Russia was a place where music was created by a union of approved composers for radio friendly pop, rock and folk music artist who were chosen by the government and then censored throughout their careers. Even though, the harsh censorship could not prevent the “underground” scene of rock and roll from slipping through, most music that was easy for everyone to access was politically neutral and family- friendly.

The 1980s were a hotbed for Russian rock music to grow as the Soviet Union disbanded and western influences were able to penetrate the mainstream markets. At these time artists were able to be more liberal and politically critical with their music, taking their western influences and their nostalgia of the soviet “underground” rock scene Russian artists were able to create a booming post-Soviet musical movement.  After the 80’s rock bands no longer had to remain ideological concepts and western influence in Russia spread, by the time the 90’s kicked around punk and pop music in Russia all began to boom with a more liberal mindset. Bands like Tatu (a famously queer supporting female pop group) began to match the similar 90’s angst found in American music, like Fiona Apple.

From the early 90s to the early 2000s, you can see a lot of American ideals being imitated in Russian music. For example, the political angst from the early 2000s can be portrayed in the song “American Idiot” a song released in 2004 by the California based band Green Day. “American Idiot” was influenced from American events such as the political view of George W. Bush’s presidency and the first war in Iraq. Although band member Armstrong expressed his disagreement and discontentment with the, at that time, future presidential election and his confusion of why America was at War with an interview statement of "This war that's going on in Iraq is basically to build a pipeline and put up a fucking Wal-Mart." Furthermore, punk music has been redefined and developed since Sex Pistols. Green Day is become associated with having ‘‘replaced punk’s hardcore social rebellion with soft-core potty humor’’ and articulating their genre of music to crowds of ‘‘audience of teens and tweens raised somewhere between the shopping mall and the strip mall’’ (Chuang, L. M., & Hart, J. P. (2008).)

In the music video the band stands in front of a discolored American flag, to really push the feelings of discontent with American politics. The lyrics to the song imply that the American people are “idiots” and would rather let cultural propaganda define their understanding of reality as opposed to using their own critical thinking. Their critique of the American culture touches specifically on points of homophobia when the singer starts “Well maybe I'm the faggot America. I'm not a part of a redneck agenda” makes a very strong worded commentary on the way less liberal and accepting parts of our country can shun out those who are more open minded and follow alternative lifestyles, making their lives difficult to live.

There are many Russian punk musicians who can relate to this very much, living in a country where homophobia is still encouraged through means of government supported propaganda, issues of this matter in Russia are still far less accepted and create a space where people who believe this conservative propaganda feel encouraged to perform acts of violence to help others understand their views. For example, Russian citizen, Maxim Martsinkevich, who was sentenced for five years in a labor camp recently had his sentence reduced to less than three years total. Maxim is known for abusing gays due to his founding of a Russian movement, “Tesak”, which is “against the promotion of homosexuality” as well as individuals within the “non-traditional sexual orientation”.

This type of Russian treatment toward the LGBT members has repeatedly continued and has made countless headlines worldwide. Many influential celebrities have spoken out about the continuation of discrimination in Russia. For instance, Elton John, at a performance in St. Petersburg, after the passing of Apple INC. founder, Steve Jobs, who’s CEO Tim Cook, recently came out openly gay, made a statement to his audience after the memorial for Steve Jobs was destroyed, “Does that also make iPads gay propaganda?”

The Russian punk band called Leningrad got their name from the former name of the largest and most westernized city in Russia, Saint Petersburg. Their band is very well known for their political commentary, and satirical music. From songs making fun of the Russian heavy drinking culture, to songs about the reality of life in Saint Petersburg living around heavy crime and alcohol abuse, Leningrad has made their mark for being critical of Russian politics and culture. In their 2007 song “Выбора”, meaning “choices”, the band makes a commentary about the Russian political system in a very similar way to Green Day’s, “American Idiot”. The video depicts the band playing on a steamboat, which could be seen as symbol with a higher class of people, but the people who are on the boat all behave like white trash. Rich men act like total pigs once they have drinks in their system. And the band themselves seems to be being judged by three men dressed in an almost implicatively queer way, perhaps a commentary about the limited political power they have, and the political propaganda being spread against the queer community.

The actual lyrics to the song talk about how the band is abstaining from drinking and drugs in order to be prepared and sober for the elections the following day. They talk about how they need to express their new “grown up sense of justice”, in a very sarcastic manner. Then at the end of the song, the band expressed their wish to vote against everyone, and then point out that they do not play with “goats”. The comparison of Russian politicians to goats very well implies that like goats, Russian politicians are well known for the way they are synonymous with abundant wealth, potency, and intoxication. At the very end of the song the band suggest that politicians are the real faggots, taking advantage of the way politicians have recently used propaganda to oppress the LGBTQ community the band makes a very strongly worded comment on the really unsettling way politics in Russia have manifested over the years.

With entertainment bands, such as Green Day and Leningrad, they are able to express their own view points and speak to their fan base as interviews with Green Day’s band member, Amsterdam, shows. Studies have shown that as humans we are able to cognitively process these messages with our minds. “The phrase “dual-process model of entertainment” that is increasingly used as a synonym for the hedonic/eudaimonic framework highlights interesting parallels of entertainment theory with dual-process models of cognitive information processing”. Furthermore, it could be explained that Musical bands utilize the cognitive process hedonic due to it being defined as “have argued that hedonic entertainment experience is characterized by fast, automatic, and effortless processing”. (Bartsch, A., & Schneider, F. M. (2014).

Work Cited

Chuang, L. M., & Hart, J. P. (2008). Suburban American Punks and the Musical Rhetoric of Green Day's “Jesus of Suburbia”. Communication Studies, 59(3), 183-201. doi:10.1080/10510970802257499

Bartsch, A., & Schneider, F. M. (2014). Entertainment and Politics Revisited: How Non-Escapist Forms of Entertainment Can Stimulate Political Interest and Information Seeking. Journal Of Communication, 64(3), 369-396. doi:10.1111/jcom.12095

[taintedhearted-blog]

“This country has become an expert in persecuting journalists, who are given long jail terms when they are not sentenced to death or life imprisonment,” – Alexandra El Khazen

This empowering quote spoken by Alexandra El Khazen, leaves little room for argument after recent incidents in Egypt have shown three reporters, in which two former employees of Al-Jazeera, are being recommended for a sentence of death being accused of allegedly spying for Qatar. 

One member of this trail is former Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi, who along with three other reporters has been recommended for a death sentence  after being accused of allegedly supplying Qatar with official documents, that supposedly pertained to national security for Egypt. Morsi, who is the first Egyptian president to be elected into office was ousted in 2013 by egypt’s military for releasing  sensitive information to journalists and other sources without clearance. Morsi’s overthrow resulted in the disbanding of the Muslim brotherhood, and the investigation of several media sources he had built close ties with. The journalists accused by Cairo for passing sensitive information between Morsi’s office and Qatar’s government are only a smart part of Egypt’s blackhole. Egypt has become the largest prison for journalists from anywhere, with the new government being quick to accuse  anyone choosing to critique it’s ways of supporting the opposition and sticking them in prison with no promise of release. The death sentences require Mufti; the highest ranking of the Sunni religious leaders in Egypt to sign off on them before they are carried out, they aren’t official but they are held in high respect by the Egyptian court system. Morsi has already been sentenced to 20 years and more in three separate trials, after mass protests of his leadership began merely a year after he became the first democratically elected leader of the country. 

The Journalists have been accused of being affiliated with the Muslim brother-hood, but the media sources deny all accusations. Al-Jezeera one of the media outlets which has lost journalists to these trials has been outspoken for a long time about Egypt’s “Ludicrous” treatment of journalists, from false accusations to long and unstable prison sentences, Al-Jezeera may have been a target for the anti-opppsition due to it’s long winded antagonization of the Egyptian government’s way of oppressing freedom of speech.  Hundreds of journalists have joined protests for the release of their peers, and many moved from Egypt to escape what they call a “tyrant” regime. Al-Jezeera speaks out about it being a “weak point” in the Egyptian system, and expresses concern about the issue of Human Rights in the country, while activists accuse Abdel Fattah al-Sisi man who overthrew Morsi of running an authoritarian regime that targets the opposition with violent force. Journalists have been targeted in al-Sisi’s violent outbreaks, and while many journalists have been detained, those who were accused of supporting the opposition have been imprisoned for over a year without any security of when they will be released. 

Alaa Omar Mohammed Sablan was one of the three reporters being sentenced. Alaa, was identified as one of the news producers for Al-Jazeera within their English news outlet. Another member of the news team for Al-Jazeera, is news editor, Ibrahim Mohammed Helal.

Ibrahim Helai has more than 25 years’ experience with in the international media outlets. He has provided work to affiliations such as BBC, Egyptian TV, Abu Dhabi TV and currently is the Editorial Advisor for Al-Jazeera. Mr. Helai received his degree in Political Science in 1992 for Cairo University. 

Furthermore, Helai was Director of news for Arabic Channel on two different occasions one being 2001-2004 and then returned from 2011-2015 where he then decided to switch companies and become the Editor for the Al-Jazeera. He played a major role in Al-Jazeera English Channel launch and other channel launches as he had previous experience with the Arabic channel in 1996.

Asmaa Mohamed al-Khatib is another journalist among the six that are being convicted of allegedly being a spy for Qatar, espionage. Al-Khatib is an Egyptian writer who writes for the pro-Muslim Brotherhood Rassd news outlet. She was in Turkey when she received news that the Cairo court had ruled in favor of the death sentence for her alleged crimes. Al-Khatib when on to tell TheNewArab “"I was completely shocked," and that “I do not acknowledge the legitimacy of this regime or its judiciary, and I know it will fall sooner or later,"!

“Journalism has become a crime in Egypt, faced with all kinds of terror”

Although the six members being recommended for the death sentence all remain in custody, the “Amnesty International called for the death sentences to be immediately thrown out and for the “ludicrous charges against the journalists to be dropped”.”

In December, a committee that protects journalists when on to state that Egypt was classified as the second country in the world with the worst jail protocol for journalists.