Andy Warhol Comes to Ohio State

The Ohio State's Wexner Center for the Arts is a true gem.
One of the super museum's latest additions is Andy Warhol's exhibit. The program is called: Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms.
I will be going to the exhibit in the next few days and will return with more comments.
The museum will feature a cornucopia of shows, lectures, and programming that relates to Warhol's art and artistic contributions.
The museum is also providing space discussing the artist's gender performativity.
Learn more about this here.
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What's Behind a Name?

In this case, a more direct reference to the blog's middle name, i.e., Heteronormativity and Performativity. Ergo, HetPers. The final 's' was added to signify plurality. Many of my readers refer to the blog as 'HetPer' anyway, so for the sake of onomastic consistency I christened it 'hetpers.'
It will take up to three days, the Google machine informs me, for 'hetpers' to show on the search engines. So, for now, either write out the whole address on the navigation bar or simply wait a couple of days for the search engines to pick it up. Thank you.

Sans Power

Dear HetPer readers:

I apologize for the lack of new material but due to the effects of a very harsh storm, we have had no power for days now. Alas, no power means no internet.

HetPer will be up and running with new posts and material once the power and cable services get fully restored. Thank you kindly for your comments and patience.

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Gendering the iPod: Theory and the Media

As a result of Ike's aftermath, we found ourselves without power here in Columbus, OH. We are still, as a matter of fact, sans electricity. Starbucks, however, is open and all the outlets were occupied today.
Slogan of the day: 'In Starbucks We Trust'....?
So, my hat goes off to modernity this week, more specifically, electricity.
Now.
Some of you have asked questions about certain Gender Theory jargon items. Ergo, I'm posting this as an example of literary theory applications to various Pop Culture notions.
I contributed this piece a while back for public radio. As I've already intimated in previous posts, I happen to fully agree with Nietzsche's music-loving, dying Socrates in that music precedes other forms of speech/language. And this piece is premised on the power of expression that music engenders.

In this piece I gender the iPod.
Click here to hear a gendered reading of the iPod.

graphs per apple, google images

'Hari Putar' Postponed

"Hollywood company Warner Bros has filed a lawsuit against all parties involved in the production and distribution of the Hari Puttar film.
It has been quoted as saying the the title of the Indian movie is confusing.
Mirchi Movies, the makers of the Bollywood children's film, have denied the accusations.
It told the BBC that India's Hari Puttar had nothing to do with the Harry Potter wizard movies, to which Warner Bros owns the rights.
Mirchi says that Hari is a popular Indian name, and Puttar means 'son' in Hindi and Punjabi."

Well, Harry Potter folks, not all the lexemes out there, especially those found in non-West Germanic languages, that happens to sound like 'Harry' and/or 'Potter' want to cash in some of the so-called "Harry Potter" cachet. In Hindi and Punjab 'puttar' does, indeed, mean 'son'. What gives?

Read more here
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Burn After Reading

"The biggest punch line is Linda, whom Ms. McDormand plays with a grin that tends to look more like a grimace, perhaps because she’s been saddled with yet another one of the Coens’ ghastly pageboy dos. (Really? Again?) It’s a punishing look for a cruelly unflattering character whose narcissism is matched only by her witlessness."

When the Times said the above about Francis McDormand in its Burn After Reading review, all I could say post-film viewing was, 'ouch, very ouch.' [Notice reference to Mike Myer's Mr. Powers].

I happened to find McDormand's performance in the film one of its highlights. Perhaps the only other character that truly makes this Coen brothers' film watchable would be John Malkovich's character, Osborne Cox, aka 'Ozzie.' Ozzie's disdain for most things is captured intriguingly by his words and wardrobe choices. It almost makes me wish that the brothers had featured him in their other films. So, should one watch this? Well, they have made better films, of course. However, a loyal Coen-ite should give this film a chance as it seems to be sprinkled adequately by the brothers' humor and cinematic genius.

Other things that help this film are Brad Pitt's portrayal of a fitness-obsessed personal trainer with a deplorable hairstyle, George Cloony's passable performance as a paranoia-ridden foible character, and the litany of one-liners which seem to be placed well in the film.
graph per ny times

The Women, the Movie

The Women is directed by Diane English. It could have been significantly better, most definitely. Annette Bening's talents were underused. As were those of Candace Bergman, even Meg Ryan's.
Another thing that Diane English could have tackled is the reality of class differences and class mobility. The film left much to be desired, especially on this account.
Also, I realize that fashion and the aesthetics of the field are, indeed, relevant and important to many, but isn't the 'text' of fashion been covered enough?
All the Patricia Field 'texts' and the 'Project Runway' and 'Project Runway'-ish shows havent' quite been enough?!
When Meg Ryan's character, Mary, shows her 'fashion line' at the end of the film, I believe I heard something like, 'oy!' sighed somewhere. I concur with that sigh. Fully.
graph per movies.yahoo

How to Decide Whether to Read a Book?

How long does it take you to decide whether you want to read a book or not? It takes Tyler Cowen over at MR about five minutes to do. It takes some other people a little longer. I tend to try to read new releases based on their premise and thematic relevance to that on which I am currently work and interested in. I'm also noticing that I'm spending more time on the concluding pages. The 43 folders site lists a few things some being:
"# At the highest level, is this book’s topic based on the typical “zeitgeist” product that gets greenlit by someone who watches lots of golf on TV and who seldom finishes reading the 1,000-word “features” found in in-flight magazines?
# Does the book have one of those irksome, “Everything You Know About Everything is Completely WRONG!” titles?
# Is the author’s large, whitish face the primary feature of the cover?
# Mistral!Does the cover art contain high heels, Mistral, or any reference to either Oprah Winfrey, Joel Osteen, or “Dr. Phil?”
# Can you find the word “secret” anywhere on the cover of the book?
# Is the book published by a company that you’ve never heard of — or, far worse, does that company appear to share the last name of the author or his yacht?
# In the event that this is a book by a “famous” person: if the book were written by someone you’d never heard of, would your interest in the book or its topic wane significantly?"
Read more here.
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Brothers' Coen: Burn After Reading

Those of you interested in the the Brothers' Coen cinematic texts, will be pleasantly entertained by this Times feature. A bit says:
"With its complexly interwoven stories, political backdrop and the central presence of a bearded George Clooney, the film comes across a bit like “Syriana for Dummies,” though given the original this seems somewhat redundant. "
I'm voting for this sentence as the best one read today.
A review of the film will ensue.
Read more here.
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Thanks to Robert Giroux!

Thanks to the legendary publisher, Robert Giroux, we all got to enjoy brilliant literature.
The Times features a wonderful story on the literary giant.
A bit says:

"I was eating a sandwich at my desk when our receptionist called. “Mr. Salinger is here,” she said, “and he wants to meet you.” I said: “Mr. Salinger? What’s his first name?” And she said, “Jerome, his name is Jerome.” I said, “Send him in.”

In he came. He was very tall, dark-haired, had a horse face. He was melancholy looking. It’s the truth — the first person I thought of when I saw him was Hamlet."

Read all here.
graph per ny times