This is why I read the New York Times

I took a really interesting class last term about prenatal and infant development. The professor does a lot of research about depression and fetal/infant outcomes, and also did some work on the 'crack baby' epidemic.

I was shocked when she told us that there is overwhelming evidence that the entire epidemic was little more than a scare tactic.


The basics: sure, crack isn't good for developing fetuses..but neither is smoking or a host of other legal but ill-advised activities.

The New York Times has a great article about a longitudinal study that has basically confirmed what she told us, and delves into the ramifications (past & present) for women.

My two favorite quotes from the article:
"But cocaine use in pregnancy has been treated as a moral issue rather than a health problem, Dr. Frank said. Pregnant women who use illegal drugs commonly lose custody of their children, and during the 1990s many were prosecuted and jailed."

&

"He added that factors like poor parenting, poverty and stresses like exposure to violence were far more likely to damage a child's intellectual and emotional development — and by the same token, growing up in a stable household, with parents who do not abuse alcohol or drugs, can do much to ease any harmful effects of prenatal drug exposure."


So we shame women for struggling with addiction, and then blame any and all of their children's problems on their prenatal negligence. Turns out all the time and money spent taking babies away from their mothers and jailing women for endangering fetuses could have been better spent on tackling issues such as...who knew..poverty, economic support for women, parenting classes etc.

The list so far...

I've been thinking about it..and I came up with a few disaster movies with female characters who are not totally useless.

Actually, the criteria is stricter than "not totally useless." I tried to think of movies where there is a dominant female character, someone who takes charge and commands respect (flaws and all!).

So. The list so far:
1. Alien
2. Twister
3. Inferno (sadly)

That's all so far!

I thought about The Deep Blue Sea, but I think being a crazy/frosty scientist disqualifies you for the list.

Being in a Charlton Heston movie also automatically disqualifies you for contention on the list. His misogynist pushiness simply overwhelms any and all co-stars.

Must keep thinking.

It's official. Inferno is the worst disaster movie..ever

I can't believe I sat through all 90 minutes of the monstrosity otherwise known as Inferno.

I should have sent it back when I realized the only A-lister was actually a Z-lister (Al, the sidekick from Quantum Leap).

I should have sent it back when I realized it was the 9th choice on imdb for the title "Inferno"

I should have sent it back when I realized that the main character was a woman who vaguely resembled Jodi Foster. I don't like when they cast look-a-likes. It's deceitful & tricky.

I should have sent it back when I realized that they cast some girl as the look-a-like's daughter because she must have been the only girl n the universe willing to say these lines. They certainly didn't cast her for her acting ability.


But nooo I didn't send it back. I watched the ENTIRE movie.

It was painful.
Bad acting.
Terrible dialogue.
ZERO dead bodies.

All in all, a total waste of my time and blogging.


The only (and I really mean only) redeeming aspect of the movie was the gender dynamics. The main character is a woman firefighter, and there was a lot of tension between her and the 'old boys' firefighting network in the small town.

The movie was awful, but at least it had a genuine butt-kicking heroic female main character.

Most of the times I have to rant and rave about women being portrayed as hysterical and/or sidekicks in disaster movies.

Hmm. Now I think I'm going to have to make a list of movies that have female characters who aren't useless. I'm betting that the majority of blockbuster disaster movies will be lacking, while the low budget ones will fare a little better.

Figures. The crappy movies that nobody watches (except me of course!) will likely have better female characters..

I can boycott Spike in peace..

I am so glad that Spike canceled..well..the show shall remained unnamed since even I am mildly embarrassed I watched the entire season.

I'm sure you can guess what it is though with a little research/knowledge of my tv viewing preferences.

Anyway, the show is long gone and I can gladly boycott Spike TV.

Why?

This article on spike.com about the top "butterbodies" in Hollywood:
http://www.spike.com/blog/top-7-butterbodies/72506?page=1&numPerPage=1

More thoughts to come later. Deep breathing first.

Jurassic Park 3

JP3 is going to be my favorite.

Weak premise, carnage in the first few scenes, and someone has already suggested that maybe "it would be better to split up." Tea Leoni's character is clearly a moron.

This is going to be good. And by good, I mean ridiculous and probably a little yucky.