Bianca Stigter: Sinner

Director Steve McQueen with his wife Bianca Stigter and daughter Alex attend
the Accenture Gala ahead of the premiere of "Twelve Years A Slave"
during the 57th BFI London Film Festival at the Langham Hotel
in London, England, in October 2013
[Image source]

In my previous post "The Obama Effect": "Depicting Slavery as a Horror Show" I wrote about the black director of the recently released film, 12 Years Running:

...what a disgusting human being this director is, and how pathetic people are to allow themselves to be manipulated by him not just in this film, but in other guilt-filled and exaggerated, and often false, depictions of the lives of blacks as slaves.

What is actually more shocking than the shock effects of this director is that he's married to a white woman! But he's not actually married to her, although they have a daughter and a son together. She is addressed as his "longtime partner" in various sources. She is referred to as a "cultural critic" and is apparently Dutch. Here is a referral to a Bianca Stigter, placing her in Amsterdam, with a photograph of a girl/boy that very closely resembles the photograph of the girl above. And according to a 2010 New York Times article, McQueen left England for Holland in 1996. It makes sense that he settled down in super-liberal Holland, with a "partner" who is a "cultural critic" who probably advocates that all "culture" is good, and that honesty in art is the most important thing - i.e. that an artist should show all the sex, violence, horror, and demonism he thinks is necessary to get his artistic "message" across. And marriage is unecessary, in their world of "free" love

How does this "partner" reconcile her husband's hate for whites (that is what it boils down to) with his with his partnership with her, a white woman? What does their partnership consist of? How do they discuss his film projects?

Male Partner: I have this idea for a film.
Female Partner: Oh, that's great!
Male Partner: It is about slavery.
Female: I'm sure you'll have a lot to say about that.
Male: Well, it's about the evil whites who loved every minute of humiliating their slaves.
Female: Oh, yes...
Male: I'll add a lot of beautiful cinematography, to accentuate the evil.
Female: OK. Mmmm. I'm sure you'll do a great job.

Stigter's cultural criticism includes works such as:

Gold from Straw: The Human Body as an Adventure which is a book about:

Gold from straw is a book about people are in straitjackets and about people who are burst out brilliantly, about people who adhere to standards, or people who paint. Everyone is born with a body, but virtually no one is satisfied. In this book, there are stories about women who want to be men, about robots who want to be human, pigs that talk and elephants who listen to music. [I constructed this English translation of the synopsis from various online translations]

And a book she co-wrote titled Fransje Killaars, where she does reach out to Third World, or at least to the non-white of the world, as she reviews the works fellow Dutch textile "artist" Fransje Killaars, who makes "installations" of textiles she reproduces based on Indian carpets and rugs.

Stigter was the one who gave the book 12 years running to her husband, probably suggesting that it could be made into a film. She is the ideal, white wife (or partner, in this case) for this black man. She subjugates herself, and her race, in expiation for all those sins she has been told, and will continue to be told, she has performed in the name of her white superiority and inherent desire to harm blacks. It is an exorcism that she needs, and part of that involves endlessly seeing, reading and discussing this great sin. And her exorcist, to her great luck, is her "partner."
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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"The Obama Effect": "Depicting Slavery as a Horror Show"

Title: Some Comfort Gained From the Acceptance of the Inherent Lies in Everything
Constructed: 1996
Artist: Damien Hirst
Description: Multiple cows in a line head-to-tail, divided cross-sectionally
into equal rectangular tanks of formaldehyde, equally-spaced,
each containing about 3 feet (0.91 m) of the animals.
Awards: Turner Prize, awarded in 1995 for Mother and Child Divided

I watched (more on that later) a movie this past week: 12 Years a Slave.

The story revolves around a freed slave, who gets kidnapped and sold back as a slave. It is a true story. This site meticulously separates the truth from the fiction.

But, this movie reviewer questions the truth behind the extreme, vicious, brutality in the film:

Brutality, violence and misery get confused with history in 12 Years a Slave, British director Steve McQueen’s adaptation of the 1853 American slave narrative by Solomon Northup, who claims that in 1841, away from his home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., he was kidnapped and taken South where he was sold into hellish servitude and dehumanizing cruelty.

For McQueen, cruelty is the juicy-arty part; it continues the filmmaker’s interest in sado-masochistic display, highlighted in his previous features Hunger and Shame. Brutality is McQueen’s forte. As with his fine-arts background, McQueen’s films resemble museum installations: the stories are always abstracted into a series of shocking, unsettling events. With Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), McQueen chronicles the conscious sufferance of unrelenting physical and psychological pain...

Depicting slavery as a horror show, McQueen has made the most unpleasant American movie since William Friedkin’s1973 The Exorcist. That’s right, 12 Years a Slave belongs to the torture porn genre with Hostel, The Human Centipede and the Saw franchise but it is being sold (and mistaken) as part of the recent spate of movies that pretend “a conversation about race.” The only conversation this film inspires would contain howls of discomfort.

The astute writer then places this film in the context of the Obama presidency:

...12 Years a Slave appears at an opportune moment when film culture - five years into the Obama administration - indulges stories about Black victimization such as Precious, The Help, The Butler, Fruitvale Station and Blue Caprice. (What promoter Harvey Weinstein has called “The Obama Effect.”) This is not part of social or historical enlightenment - the too-knowing race-hustlers behind 12 Years a Slave, screenwriter John Ridley and historical advisor Henry Louis Gates, are not above profiting from the misfortunes of African-American history as part of their own career advancement.

I've written about the nihilistic, dreary, and ugly film Precious here, and commented on The Butler here, comparing it to Precious.

And in an even better observation, the above writer describes 12 years a Slave as "an inhumane analysis" and compares it with:

...the cross-sectional cut-up of a horse in Damien Hirst’s infamous 1996 museum installation “Some Comfort Gained From the Acceptance of the Inherent Lies in Everything.”

While searching for McQueen's biography, I discovered that he is a black man, from Britain. He received the Turner Prize in 1999, a post-modern, nihilistic "art" prize (Damien Hirst received his in 1995 for Mother and Child Divided). McQueen's prize was for his video installations, one titled Drumroll, which consists of images generated:

...by rolling a metal oil drum through the streets of midtown Manhattan, with cameras mounted on the side and two ends.

And another titled Deadpan, which is a:

...restaging of a Buster Keaton stunt in which a house collapses around McQueen, who is left unscathed because he is standing where there is a missing window.

Several elements combined to make this horror film, and for it to succeed in the box office, around Christmas, no less!

- Obama's anti-white, accusatory governorship
- White guilt, which pushes people to sit masochistically through the film
- Blacks, who bring slavery back, in a relentlessly unforgiving manner, despite the
many reformations that have been made to improve their lives, post-slavery
- Nihilistic art, and the various encouraging institutions like the Turner Prize and the Tate Gallery which award such artists with the highest accolades
- And black artists like McQueen, of this Obama-Age, who, using the art education they received from white institutions (and which they couldn't have received in any other kind of institution), portray whites as evil in a relentless and vicious manner.

I shut my eyes through most of the film. I would have normally walked out, but I went to the movie with some other people. I could hear the grunts and moans of the audience as it was plied with one atrocious image after another. I closed my eyes when the black freed slave, who was later kidnapped, was caught, hanged and lynched.

I tried to find a shot of this scene, but it is available nowhere on the internet. It is too terrible to view, as the director and his many aides well knew. I was caught in those few seconds of horror. Perhaps it is a good thing that I saw it (I think I was meant to see it), in order to realize with anger what a disgusting human being this director is, and how pathetic people are to allow themselves to be manipulated by him not just in this film, but in other guilt-filled and exaggerated, and often false, depictions of the lives of blacks as slaves.

McQueen's other feature films are:
- Hunger (2008), which this film reviewer describes as:
British video artist-turned-director Steve McQueen imbued this vision of the 1981 IRA hunger strike with such a potent visceral sense...that watching it is truly a corporeal endurance test of stark immediacy...McQueen’s efforts carries a profoundly haunting, disturbing, and ultimately revealing insight into the politics of the body, told through a symphony of blood, shit, and urine.
- Shame (2011), a film about sexual addiction (and possibly incest)

Horror shown through a relentless aesthetic lens, particularly showing human suffering and degradation, is to be McQueen's demonic vision.

I suspect more such horrors will be presented to us in the near future, in art, politics and other media by McQueen and his ilk. If we can brace ourselves now, we will be in a better position to fight back later on this "Obama Effect."
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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The Straus Park Poinsettias

Straus Park Memorial, "Memory"
[Photo by KPA: December 2013]

This is the third time I've been to Straus Park.

The first time I went, it was with Larry Auster in August in 2012, who lived in the neighborhood and suggested the park as a meeting place. I wrote about my first visit:

The anonymous person I was with, going through my tablet, was Larry Auster. We met in the park (on his suggestion) on our way to other bigger New York landmarks, but I would have never found this lovely place had he not told me about it.

At the second visit, I took more photographs. It was late August, and the trees and surrounding plants were in full summer bloom.

This time, it was in winter, at Christmas. Some of the shrubs were a brownish hue, but there was a surprising burst of green framing the sculpture's head.

Someone had put a wreath white poinsettias around the shoulders of the sculpture honoring the Christmas season.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Precision and Splendor at the Frick

Gilt-Bronze and Enamel Mantel Regulator Clock
Showing Mean and Solar Time
Paris, 1784
Gilt brass, steel, polychrome enamel and gold on gilt brass and bronze
16 1/8 x 3 3/4 x 16 13/16 in.

Robert Robin (1741–1799)
Case attributed to Pierre–Philippe Thomire (1751–1843)
Enameler Joseph Coteau (1740–1812)
Mainspring by Claude Monginot (working 1784–1797)



(Detail)

Precision and Splendor: Clocks and Watches
At The Frick Collection.

In the Beginning Was the Word: John 1:1-14

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Gilded Age in New York: The Responsibility of Wealth

The small but rich exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York shows us the confident New Yorkers of the city's gilded age of the 19th century. Wealth these days is tossed aside like some kind of poxy. No-one wants to be identified as rich, let alone look rich. It is all about commiserating in equal misery with the poor, and reducing one's standards, or apparently reducing one's standards, in solidarity with the poor.

What caught my attention was the confidence with which these New Yorkers "wore" their wealth. Beauty, especially for the women, is their way to show their confidence, and also their desire to put order and goodness into the world. Wearing a beautifully designed necklace is way of showing their respect and love of the world God has given them. Arranging their homes with details of silk, velvet, and gold and silver threads gives their families a soothing abode of beauty where spirits and souls can rest.

The confidence of these wealthy 19th century New Yorkers comes from the responsibilities that they are willing to take on. They take seriously the Biblical quote: "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."

Wealth is not an isolated entity, but is somehow interconnected with the rest of the world, and of course with God. Their burden is to do search the correct path for beauty and wealth to have a good and Godly purpose. Portraits of young children show that this confidence, and this burden of responsibilty, is acquired at a young age.


Cornelia Ward and Her Children


Virginia Michels Stern (Mrs. Isaac Stern)


DeLancey Iselin Kane


William K. Vanderbilt


Folding fan, made by Duvelleroy, c. 1900
Painted silk, feathers, mother-of-pearl


Mrs. Joseph De La Mar


Mrs. William Bayard Cutting), 1887


Tiffany & Co. necklace, 1904
Gold, diamond, pearls, turquoise, enamel

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Alain Delon, French Film Star Turned Racist

The election of the new Miss France continues to bring interesting stories.

Alain Delon, French heart throb and film star, and chief judge for the Miss France contest, resigned as lifetime president back in October. He is a member of the Front National, "known for its strongly anti-immigrant agenda."

...[M]ovie star Alain Delon quit as honorary president for life in October in a row over his backing of the far-right National Front party.

Organisers of the contest had berated Delon for comments supporting the anti-immigration Front National, its founder Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughter, current party leader Marine Le Pen. [Source]

Here is more on Delon's association with the Front National:

...[L]e président d'honneur à vie du comité Miss France Alain Delon faisait en effet scandale en expliquant dans une interview au Matin qu’il trouvait la poussée […] du Front national « tout à fait édifiant[e] ». « Édifiant parce que les gens en ont marre qu’on leur parle comme on le fait. Ils veulent de l’action, ils veulent autre chose. » « Voilà pourquoi le Front national, […] prend une place très importante et ça, je l’approuve, je le pousse et le comprends parfaitement bien », avait-il ajouté. [Source]

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...The honorary President for life for Miss France Alain Delon created quite a scandal when he explained in an interview to the Matin that he found the direction of the Front National "completely uplifting." "Uplifting because people have had it with the way they're talked to. They want action, they want something else. That is why the Front National has taken such an important place, and I approve of that, I support it, and I understand it perfectly well," he added.

Delon is not the only French film star to take on this "right" position on immigration and race. Brigitte Bardot, whom many derided as the "Seal Goddess" for her fight against the killing of seals for fur coats, has also been in the news denouncing immigration, and specifically Muslim immigration.

I am not surprised that Delon joined the judging committee for Miss France. Another article linked to the one above says:

Alain Delon regrette que "les femmes soient devenues des hommes."

Alain Delon regrets that "women have become men."

Below is an excerpt from the article:

"De plus en plus de femmes sont devenues des hommes », alors qu'elles devraient incarner la "féminité absolue" sur le modèle de Miss France, a déclaré Alain Delon dans une interview au Figaro Magazine. Quant aux hommes, l'acteur regrette qu'ils ne passent plus par l'armée, qui enseignait les "valeurs nécessaires à la construction d'un homme jeune".

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"More and more women have become men," while they should be embodying "supreme femininity" modeled after Miss France, declared Alain Delon in an interview with Figaro Magazine. As for men, the actor regrets that they no longer go through the army, which used to teach the "values necessary for the formation of a young man."

It is not surprising that Delon joined the executive committee for Miss France. Whatever the ideas (and ideologies) behind the competition, it is still primarily about beauty, and the election of the most beautiful woman.

Plus, Delon personally knows something about beauty (besides the beautiful women he met during his film career). He is the male version of beautiful: handsome. At least he was so in his younger days.
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Posed By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Flora

I went through my post on the new Miss France, Flora Coquerel, to review the photograph I posted of her with her African cousins.



I made a small error (well, big in the context of the analysis I later make), but I think I missed it because of the re-writes I did of the post to get to the core meaning of the words and images.

Flora says:

...je pense que beaucoup de personnes peuvent se retrouver en moi.

I translated "se retrouver" and "en" as:

...I think that many people can identify themselves with me.

Later on, in an analysis of this statement, using the correct pronoun for "en" and a different, but more precise phrase for "se retrouver," I wrote:

"find themselves in me"

I think finding oneself is an existential quest. There is only one self to find. Whereas to identify oneself is a fluid, changing, and less traumatic quest. One's identity can be linked to a family, to a gender, to a culture, to a country, to a region, and so on. If my family's link is not solid, then I always have my cultural links. If that is not enough, there is always my country, and so on.

Flora instinctively realizes that there are many like her in France, and although she may not be able to articulate this, in the West as well, who are "finding themselves." Her example, and her candid declaration, may help those others, lost and searching, who cannot feel comfortable with the France they grew up in, but who can still fight to reach the pinnacle she has reached. She is truly "Miss France," but for the disenfranchised, as she has pronounced in her unsophisticated, but sincere, language.

And later on, as she gains more confidence, and without doubt becomes more political, she will try to forge a new "France" where the metisses, the neglected offspring of Africa and Europe, can win more than decorative titles. Why not from Miss France to Madame La Presidente?

Flora's quest is serious and deep. She may have won Miss France, but who is she, really?

Back to the photographs. Flora's parents took her to Benin as a young girl, and from my understanding, took her there regularly. Her mother is very dark-skinned (and I think attractive with her high cheek bones and very dark, ebony skin), so it is not surprising that these cousins also have this blue-black skin color.

Flora seems at ease in the photograph, and is even leaning slightly on the cousin to her right, in a kind of loving gesture. These are family, after all.

But look at the scowls of the boys. And look at how the one on her right is pushing into her, squeezing her between him and the other cousin. It is as though she is to be protected by them, but that she also belongs to them. This beautiful, light-skinned, half-white cousin of theirs is like a trophy. Even the cousin at the far right is vigilant, forming a bodyguard of boys around the girls. I would think the other girl is also a cousin, and she looks like another mettise, although perhaps not as favored as the French Flora. I have to speculate that this other metisse cousin has a difficult life in Benin. Metisse may be good coming from France, but black Africans would most certainly not tolerate such a different looking "relative" in their midst, and would treat her as an alien. That could be the reason for her slightly dejected, and vigilant - in her own way - look. She does look like Flora, but isn't as pretty. And that could be another reason these dark African boys flocked around Flora in their protective/aggressive manner.

Flora is not at all frightened. Her father (whom I assume is taking the photograph) is there after all.

I wonder if Flora were left alone with these boys and the other metisse girl for an extended period the protectiveness of the boys would turn to violence? I think the metisse girl would be an accomplice with the black boys, since she has to deal with them when Flora is gone. She is not Flora's ally. For these black boys (and metisse African girl), Flora is the pretty French cousin who comes from that far-off white world which they see on television and which the whole world admires. She is a trophy, and an enemy. To have her in their midst, and to claim her, would give them prestige. And no-one in their community would denounce them.

This is the volatile world in which Flora lives, as she happily and innocently claims her trophy in the name of her metissage.

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Truth Doesn't Mix With Subtlety

I've posted on a film of a book that I recently re-read titled: Starting Out in the Evening.

Here's what I wrote:

Starting out in the Evening is a quiet, graceful film about Leonard Schiller, a New York writer who is working on what could be his final book, and Heather, a young, aggressive graduate student who disrupts his life to do research for her master's thesis on him. Leonard is initially taken in by this bold young woman, and reluctantly agrees to her regular visits to interview him. He admires her persistent and intelligent personality. But he refuses to answer personal questions, saying that explaining his books and the ideas behind them is sufficient.

Starting Out in the Evening is a book about the importance of writing, and the importance of conveying ideas through writing. Schiller, the protagonist, is a writer who tries to distance the personality of the author as far away from the content of the writing as possible. He is not writing a confessional book, nor really a book about personal perceptions. His quest is a quiet and determined one to bring literature to the forefront of writing.

Here is a paragraph from the book:

The thought crossed his mind that if greatness had eluded him as a writer, perhaps this was why: because he'd never wanted to make a scene. Subtlety and indirection are important tools, but you can't scale the highest peaks with these tools alone. [P. 174]

Writing is like a weapon. It critiques, and often criticizes, the culture it is in. It is not a "stream of consciousness" of the artist's confessions, and who really cares about the author's "personal stories" unless you're a one-in-a-million writer like Dickens or Shakespeare? Even when available, the personal stories of writers tell us very little about the literary aspects of the book. Just because we know that Hemingway liked to watch bull fights doesn't give us any further insight into Hemingway's fascination in brute force. He could have equally watched contemporary football games and written similar books on "sports and force."

Schiller is right. Subtlety and indirection can help some parts of writing, but at the end of the day, the writer has to bite the bullet and write the real story. He has to find other tools to scale the highest peaks. I think you can do that with truth. And often truth is difficult to write, and difficult to accept. And it can lead to serious repercussions, from loss of a career to loss of life, for the writer.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Modern Muse: A Jasminy-Musky-Vanilla Grand Finale

What is a modern muse?

Estee Lauder created the new perfume Modern Muse inspired by:

...the complexity of a modern woman, with the same dynamic contrasts as her life and her personality. Her creative energy and magnetic femininity are captured by its multi-faceted, sparkling floralcy. Her sleek style, strength and sensuality by its sleek woods.

She asks:

"Who is a Modern Muse?"

And answers:

A chic new vision of today's woman.

She's confident and independent, soft and strong, feminine yet dynamic.

Stylish and original, she inspires everyone she meets--without saying a word.

It looks like the modern muse is everything.

Irrespective of this "dual" definition, Modern Muse is a soft and flowery perfume. It has none of the "strength" and "dynamism" that Lauder describes.

And I think it is a good thing.

Here are the notes for Modern Muse:

Top Notes: Mandarine Orange
Middle Notes: Lily, Honeysuckle, Jasmine, Tuberose, "Flower Petals"
Base Notes: Patchouli, Amber, Musk, Vanilla, "Woody Notes"

The perfume is lovely. It does start off a little strong. Could it be the tuberose middle note? I've never liked tuberose in perfumes as it gives them a harsh scent. Or the citrusy orange top note? Citrus notes are my least favorite. But fortunately this doesn't stay long, and a delicate flowery scent - possibly the lily or honeysuckle - takes over for a while. Then we're left with a jasminy-musky-vanilla finale.

I think it can work both for a day and a night perfume. I think it is best as a winter/fall perfume, and is a little too strong for spring and summer. It is just strong enough to give a "dressed-up" feel for an evening, but light enough to wear on a winter's coat.

The bottle is also well-designed, in a modernist sort of way. The long, rectangular bottle resembles the tall modern skyscrapers (very masculine), but the dark bow on top gives it that feminine touch (women shopping in big city department stores?). I like the contrast of the very pale pink of the bottle, which is not the color of the liquid, but rather the enameled bottle, with the stiff navy blue bow. This is not a bottle that men would be attracted to.

The nice shop girl at Sephora's gave me a sample, although I went looking for Elizabeth Arden's "Untold," which is being advertized in magazines and on TV commercials. Again, it is the "multi-faceted modern woman" who is being featured in Arden's new perfume. But the jeweled facets of the bottle more creatively allude to this modern woman. The notes for Untold, though, are very similar to Modern Muse, although Untold doesn't have the vanilla and jasmine base notes which soften it and make it very feminine.



I thought perhaps the perfume designers were the same for Modern Muse and Untold. But it is Karyn Khoury (who sounds like she has Lebanese origins) for Modern Muse, who worked as an assistant to Estee Lauder for thirty-five years, and the French Clement Gavarry, with several generations of perfumers in his family, for Untold.

I will do a review of Untold in the near future.

Karen Khoury, Senior Vice President at Estee Lauder says about creating Modern Muse:

We built Modern Muse by carefully selecting every ingredient to reflect the personality, style and distinctive femininity of today’s woman.

The “dual-impression” creative approach offers each woman the opportunity to connect with the fragrance in her own way. Some will focus on the sparkling floral elements of the fragrance, while others will view the warm, rich woodiness as the defining facet.

The "we" in Khoury's team consists of the French Master Perfumer Harry Fremont:

Parfumer; born in Cannes, France, graduated from the ISIPCA or "Institute Superieur de la Parfumerie" located in Versailles in 1981, he received two consecutive awards for his olfactive creation by the prestigious "Societe Technique Des Parfumeurs de France" in both 1984 and 1985. In 1987, joined the Firmenich International Fragrance Center in New York after spending three years at the Corporate Headquarters in Geneva; has created fragrances in partnership with Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Calvin Klein Cosmetics, Intimate Beauty, Bath & Body Works, Cacharel, Nino Cerruti, Valentino and Lancome

Harry Fremont and Karyn Khoury showcasing Modern Muse

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat

"Je pense que mon métissage est une force"

Miss France 2014 being crowned

We think that through our multicultural mind-set, other cultures will follow our (pious) example.

Well, people don't want to change.

The new Miss France is a metisse: the offspring of a black mother and a white father.

I've tried to find a current definition (and translation) of "metissage" but have decided to keep the word in its French. Tiberge from Gallia Watch has come to the same conclusion, and explains her decision here. She writes:

Here is my rendition of his words. It is far from perfect, because his grammar seems a bit off at times. Except for two places, I have retained the French word "métissage" (crossbreeding), and it's various verbal and adjectival forms, since "crossbreeding", "racial mixing" and other similar terms don't always convey the right meaning. "Crossbreeding" sounds too scientific, as when farmers crossbreed crops. "Miscegenation" is too technical and refers to marriage. "Mongrelization" and "bastardization" are too graphic. It looks as if "métissage" will join "laïcité" and "communautarisme" as French words that are so troublesome, it's better to just leave them.

This Metisse Miss France says:
"I think that my metissage is a strength."

Which is a variation on "Diversity Our Strength."

She says about her "metissage":

Je pense que mon métissage est une force. Ca montre que la France d’aujourd’hui est une France mélangée où il y a toutes les cultures. Et je pense que beaucoup de personnes peuvent se retrouver en moi, que ce soit les Français de souche ou les Français d’origines diverses.

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I think my miscegenation is a strength. It shows that today's France is a mixed France, which has all cultures. And I think that many people can identify themselves in me, whether they are "les Français de souche" or those french from diverse origins .

Some notes on the translation:
- "find themselves in me" implies a deep, even ancestral identification rather than through skin color or looks.
- "Les Français de souche" is a difficult phrase to translate, and Tiberge has given a brief definition here, where she writes: "[I]n French the word "souche" means "root", a "Français de souche" being, therefore, an ethnic Frenchman."
- Rather than say "French of diverse cultures" Miss France goes one step back and says French of diverse origins, as though these are not French people - i.e. les Français de souche - but other peoples of the world. But more specifically, she means French of diverse origins who come from non-European countries.

Miss France is pretty. I thought she was Arab when I first saw her photo, and that her "metissage" was white and Arab. But, here are her parents:


Miss France's parents

Her father is from Orleans, the heartland of France, in the beautiful Loire Valley, in whose town center stands a statue of Joan of Arc.

Her mother is from the west African country Benin.


Statue of Joan of Arc in the city square of Orleans


Statue of King Toffa in Porto Novo, Benin

She looks nothing like either of them. How does she identify with her parents? Children often resemble at least one of their parents, and if they have siblings, the resemblances would be distributed amongst the two parents. They can say "I come from that family," which of course leads to the bigger identification of "I come from that culture," and eventually "I come from that country."

Although Miss France's mother speaks fluent French, she has a slight accent. French is the official language of Benin, which also has a plethora of indigenous languages. Most African countries which were colonized by the British or the French use these European languages as their official ones, but also speak one or more other native language.

I wonder how Flora reacted to her mother's accent growing up? Young children are very discerning of differences. This must have accentuated her mother's "otherness" to her even more. Her father, like her, speaks French like a Frenchman.

Miss France has to invent an identity for her amorphous and difficult-to-identify mixed-parentage of such different racial and national backgrounds. Even countries where metissage is common in the core identity of the country, like Brazil, for example, the strong and confident groups are not the metisse, but those who claim a particular racial group, like blacks or whites. In Canada, there is a racial group called Metisse, but they have never forged alliances either with the "Natives Canadians," i.e. those with Indian ancestry, or with whites. Their cultural and political, and even personal, strength is minimal.

I don't know how strong metissage will prove in France. I don't think it is a strength, as Flora says above. Whites may be having a hard time identifying their whiteness with strength, but there is a group which is not at all shy of doing so, and it is growing in strength and in numbers: Muslims. And this group doesn't tolerate any kind of metissage, either in racial or religious terms. It jealously guards its religious, and cultural, identity. And it eventually seeks to put everyone within its own religious identity, possibly with hierarchical categorizations of Arab Muslims at the top and with white and black Muslims at the bottom of the ladder. The religious superiority of Islam is mandated through their religious book, the Koran. Muslims show this repeatedly throughout history in whatever country they have amassed numbers any strength. Why should France be any different? Where would the black and white metisse like Flora fall under this categorization?

Here is Flora's more specific association with her African roots:

"Je suis franco-béninoise. Je mets en avant mes deux origines. Mes parents ont une association au Bénin, qui vient en aide aux enfants et s'occupe du forage. Au cours de mon année, je souhaite soutenir l'insertion des femmes dans le travail et l'alphabétisation", a-t-elle expliqué après son sacre.

Below is my translation:

I am Franco-Beninese. I give equal importance to both my backgrounds. My parents have an association in Benin, which helps children and drills wells. During my reign, I hope to provide work and literacy for women [in the Benin project, I presume].

In the Wikipedia definition of Beninese (the English translation for Béninois) such a person is:

From Benin, or of Beninese descent.

Flora thus identifies with the culture (or racio-culture) as well as the nationality of Benin.

Her metissage does not place her white and black backgrounds on an equal level: she is more black than white. Her diversity does not put all cultures on an equal footing: she is more Béninoise than Française.

Whenever a mixed-race child with one parent who is white and the other Asian, African or Hispanic, is asked to chose his identity, he will always identify with the non-white parent. This seems to be the rule of racial identity.

This of course also leads to identification with the non-white parent's cultural and national background, even as this mixed-race child lives, and benefits from, the culture, civilization and accomplishments of whites.

I will try to refine this and coin a definition (or definitions) in the manner of: First Law of non-whites' racial and cultural identification.


Flora in Benin as a small girl, visiting her cousins, as Mr. Coquerel informs us in this video.
Her parents kept her in direct contact with her mother's country from an early age.

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A Very Rockefeller Christmas

One minute the tree is dark.

The next minute, it's twinkling with a thousand lights.




The Christmas tree on Rockefeller Center is lit. The Tree Lighting Ceremony took place last week some time, but I missed it for some reason, and watched a recast of the show on ABC last night.

I won't go into the parade of contemporary pop stars who came on singing their renditions of Christmas songs and carols. Suffice to say that many sang their songs flat - although they all made a show of adjusting their ear-pieces, as though it was a technical fault rather than their inadequacies.

But I will mention these two who gave great performances: Jewel and Kelly Clarkson.

Jewel discarded her slightly whiny "country" voice at least for this show, and came on as a chanteuse. I was surprised at her deeper voice, and how effectively she used it. She sang a classic, Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.

Kelly Clarkson came on with gusto and energy, and sang Chuck Berry's Run, Run Rudolph. Her take was more rock, and the rock-and-roll kind of rock, with its feet-stomping, dance rhythms.

Then, there is the magical lighting of the tree. One minute it's dark, the next it's sparkling with thousands of lights (45,000 multi-colored LED lights, to be exact. And on top of the 12-ton tree is a 9 1/2-foot-wide Swarovski crystal star).


Jewel the Chanteuse
Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire


Kelly Clarkson the Rockeuse
Run, Run Rudolph
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A Parasitic Marriage and the Decline in Happiness

Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers on a panel at New America Foundation conference in 2013.
Their panel was titled: Home Economics: How the Changing Economy Shapes Decisions
to Marry - or Not Marry. (Scroll down to the bottom for the video.)

Stevenson has a Rottweiler's expression, as though she's ready to swat someone (Wolfers?).
I don't blame her. Who wouldn't swat Wolfers, with his meek and subservient demeanor.

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I posted a couple of days ago images of unhappy, and aggressive, young girls who were part of a toy campaign to have them play with toys made for boys. The girls, despite their initial interest in these toys, ultimately wanted "girl" toys.

I found this comment I made at Lawrence Auster's Veiw From the Right in 2010 while looking through my emails. The comment was posted in a discussion titled: The Factory Of Liberal Society Keeps Churning Out Its Quota Of Dead Young White Women.

A long and complex 2009 study on women's happiness shows that women lose ground to men (are unhappier than men), and older women are less happy than younger women. And "[Twelfth grade] girls have lost ground [in happiness] both absolutely and relative to boys."
Twelfth grade girls, given a list of items and asked "How important is each of the following to your life? report a large number of these items with increasing importance, compared to boys. The list includes things like: "Having a good marriage and family life" to "Discovering new ways to experience things." It could well include "Running in marathons."
Twelfth grade girls in this study are overwhelmed with the expectations they adopt, and are more anxious and insecure (i.e. unhappy) in general than boys.

Although they seem happier than their mothers or grandmothers, their decline in happiness is predictable, if taken by their mothers' responses.

This study's results, coupled with the trust and innocence of teenage girls (not discussed/measured in the study), makes their "proud and sovereign" appearance not what it seems to be. And women's apparent pride and sovereignty in general. Although one would think by this study that teenager girls are more confident and happier (proud and sovereign) than their older relatives. Another one of those instances where facts debunk wishful thinking.

Here is the full pdf file of the study: The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness. By Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers.

Critics of this study show that the numbers are insignificant, but in a scientific study context, they are statistically significant: i.e., the data mean something.

Wolfer and Stevenson try to explain this declining female happiness, although I think another study which targeted the portion of women who responded with "yes, my happiness is declining" and asked them variations on "why are you unhappy" would be an important follow-up study.

This follow-up study never occurred, but Stevenson and Wolfers continue with another equally fascinating topic about the relationship of men and women in a household where both hold careers. They don't quite present it like that, but I have analyzed it in that context.

Below is a transcript of some sections of the conference Home Economics: How the Changing Economy Shapes Decisions
to Marry—or Not Marry, presented by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfer in 2013. Here is the full video. They haven't come up with any explanation for this decline in

Stevenson: In our household...I do all the bills and all the taxes, and manage all the money.
Wolfers: And I have no idea how much money I have...
[Belly laugh from Stevenson]
Stevenson: And Justin deals with all the bills and all the technology. I can barely turn on...Every time I go on the treadmill I go "how does this TV turn on again?"

Of course, like all female feminists, Stevenson wants the best of both worlds. She can act all "girlie" and confused when it comes to technology (really, how hard is it to figure out house-hold appliances and home exercise machines?), but no toddler or infant will get in the way of her career ("We have a three-year-old and an eight-month-old" announces Stevenson). And she can get her "career" too.

This must be a parasitic relationship. Wolfers and Stevenson must benefit from the double income. I wonder how much of the household chores Wolfers really does? Stevenson implies that modern domestic work is relatively easy, with all the gadgets. But someone still has to cook the dinner and clean the bathroom, albeit with fortified and quick-acting detergents. And there are the children. I assume it is her who takes care of these by maneuvering a large supply of nannies and day-cares. I assume also that she makes the meals, or at least prepares the food in advance and stores it in color-coded tupperware for her husband to defrost and serve when she's out on her after-hour missions. Then she might even take an extra hour after work to buy that new perfume, or the pair of shoes she saw recently in some fashion magazine. Or take a "girl's night out" for a drink of wine with other career women at an expensive downtown bar one day a week. And of course there will be the hair stylist, the cosmetician, the manicures and pedicures, the spa. Her ragged look in the conference photo above should not fool us. And all this costing her several thousand over the course of the year.

I wonder what "gadgets" Wolfers gets for his suffering? A boat for the summer? A "man cave" in the basement, replete with an HDTV, a surround sound music system, and a state-of-the-art Laz-Y-Boy?



This article informs us that Wolfers' hobby is "running."

If You Run the Numbers, It's a Good Time:

I'm not just an economist, I'm also a runner, training for the Marine Corps Marathon.

Runners World magazine recently argued that marathon running is an incredibly cheap sport. All you need is a pair of shoes, and you're off and running. But they're wrong.

You see, they were emphasizing the out-of-pocket cost, which is small. But the foundation of all economics is something called opportunity cost. It says that the true cost of something is the alternative you have to give up.

So each hour that I spend running is an hour that I don't spend hanging out, working, or sleeping. How do I choose? Following economic theory, I keep doing an activity only as long as it yields greater benefits than the alternative.

And as I spend my hours slugging out the miles, I'm forced to confront my choices. Instead of sweating it out on the trails, I could take on extra teaching and earn a few extra bucks. And so going running costs me good money.

The same logic applies to you. Each hour you spend on your hobby is an hour you don't spend working harder to get a promotion, studying for a degree, or shopping around for the cheapest groceries.

By my calculations my 16-week training program comes at an opportunity cost of several thousand dollars. A quicker runner would have a smaller opportunity cost. It's only because I'm both slow and an economist that I fret that the world's cheapest sport is actually incredibly expensive.

But to an economist, the choice is still a no-brainer. We think you should only do what you love, and pay for it by doing what you are good at.

By sticking to economics, I make time for running. Rather than spend hundreds of dollars worth of time cleaning my house each Sunday, I hire a cleaner, who does a better job, at a better price.

When a friend asks me to help them move, I write them a check to pay professional movers instead. It's just more efficient.

And while it can be hard to forgo extra income for a long run, it is even harder to justify wasting that time on Facebook. And with the time that saves, I'm pulling on my shoes to head out for another run.

Running doesn't cost much money, except for the initial investment in a $200 pair of sneakers (I can't see Wolfers going for $50 running shoes) and a monthly gym membership fee of $75, which will set him back $1,000 for the year (he just couldn't share that treadmill with his wife).

But Wolfers clearly understands that the cost for his running is not necessarily monetary, but the time he cannot (does not, will not) spend with his wife and family. Perhaps his running is a ruse to avoid spending time with them, in that chaotic house where he will be shouldered with the chore of the evening.

The goal of women is marriage, however much they deny it. I doubt that Wolfers would want marriage with Stevenson, as is the nature of men unsure of their women, especially emasculating ones like Stevenson. Marriage, with its life-binding promises, with the burden placed higher on males, is something to be avoided with women like Stevenson.

In the meantime, Wolfers gets to work in a career and have a extra money around from his wife's income. Although, Stevenson is clearly the more advanced, career-wise (here is the Wikipedia profile for Stevenson, and here is Wolfers'). At some point, Wolfers who will have to deal with a discontented wife, making more "family" demands on him to come home earlier, take the kids skating or soccer, help with the dishes. And why not the cooking too?


Baby Duty

He surely gets what he deserves. But, since he won't see it like that, at some point he will have to contend with a wife who files for divorce, or a separation. Perhaps she might even suspect him of/catch him cheating.

I thought Stevenson's corpulence and sloppiness (in the top photo) was because of a pregnancy. But, she's eight months past her second child's birth at that point. She just seems overwhelmed with "How does this treadmill work" and "How do I continue with my fast-paced career which won't sync with my breast-feeding and nappy-changing schedule?" I suspect she has a plethora of nannies to feed her expressed breast milk to her infant, and might even bring her baby to her office on "light" days to show what a mom she is. I think all this adds to her her frazzled look of overwhelmedness, which I think is really guilt, buried deep at leaving her children, and husband, behind for a career. And she looks far older than Wolfers, although he is only a year younger. She looks like she could be his mother.



Above is a photo of Stevenson that is profiled in articles as far back as 2008. She has on make-up, and looks pretty. She must resemble the younger woman Wolfers met as a graduate student in Harvard, when they were both twenty-somethings (Stevenson graduated from Wellesley College in 1993, and I would estimate at twenty-three, and from Harvard in 2001, when she must have turned thirty). In her most recent photo (see the top of the blog for one taken in 2013), she looks like she's simply aged. Two toddler children, a full-time career, and a live-in "partner" don't make for an easy life.

Wolfers is no better, with his longish hair, chopped off as though to deny he grooms it carefully (this is a carefully styled hairstyle to look nonchalent and "radical"). Although he looks like he's regressed back to some college era age in his most recent photos.

But, he has a fanatical look which come through when he's discussing the evils done to mankind before Obama came to save it in this video at a Brookings Institue conference taken in 2013. He is a true Obama disciple. His views seem as though he's supporting "rich kids'" ability to transfer to non-paying public pre-schools. But then he faults their move by saying that the "poor kids" would be crowded out by these rich kids, who's greedy parents would rather have the option of sending their children to the non-paying public schools.


Image from the video at a 2013 Brookings Institute conference

Odd logic, these lefties. Surely a rich parent wouldn't want his children to receive mediocre education, as well as the plethora of dangers the child could face in a government subsidized poor school? Surely he will do his best to give quality care, on all counts, for his children and family, and that would include quality day-care, even at a cost?

Wolfers' reverse logic is of course that rich kids could also be crowded out of pre-schools by poor kids entering these schools through various subsidies. But these rich kids would then be forced to enter the free public pre-schools due to overcrowding by poor kids in their own rich schools, in turn crowding out those poor kids left behind without subsidies to enter rich schools. I knew there was a catch when he started "supporting" rich kids. I had to listen to his video, and read a couple of posts, before I could surmise the above [these links might be helphul: a and b).

He must have learned his tactics for arguments from Obama, his mentor.

Such are the convoluted personalities of the liberal elite, who live their public lives advocating for the poor, yet everything they do in their personal lives depends on a large stash of income.

Stevenson and Wolfers have two children, a daughter who is about four, and a son who is about one. It will be interesting to see how the "rear" these children, and if they will have found solutions to increasing the happiness quotient of girls. And what woudl they do if their doaughter wanted a full-own, wedding-dress including, church wedding (miracles do happen.) Would they attend, or would they refuse the invitation out of principle? Or if their son, as a macho teenager laughed at his father's dishwashing ways?

As I wrote above, there are many sequels to this research waiting to be written.

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Mutli-Culti Girl Riveters Building Amunition?

Laura Wood, at The Thinking Housewife has posted the above image, which was sent by one of her correspondents. It is a crew of multi-culti future girl engineers. On closer inspection, what these girls are really interested in are the pinkness of their toy kitchen cabinets. The full interaction about girls (and women) in men-oriented fields like engineering, is discussed at the site.

What I'm interested in is the expressions of these little girls.

I kind of like the black girl's "come and get me if you want trouble" expression, in the group photo I posted above. I think black girls, and low-income black girls in particular, are at the bottom of the totem pole of American life. I think they have it tough. Being on welfare, as many are, is a mind-numbing life. And as the statistics show, they are single mothers on welfare: i.e their men have abandoned them. So I think this aggressive stance is a form of self-protection, even against those men who may show up for whatever opportunistic reason. Does that translate into the tough job of a construction worker though? I doubt it. Manouevering welfare to bring up a baby is very different from wheeling huge machinery around and planning the construction of a building.

But, then look at the black girl when she smiles. What a pretty face, in a strong and chiseled way, she has. Her behavior seems spontaneous and genuine. She really is smiling. And is happy to smile. I suspect that when she gets mad, it is with equal genuineness.

Next, the Asian girl. She seems the most out of place. She cannot act "tough" following the black girl's lead, and instead looks self-conscious, doing an uncomfortable parody of "tough." What happens when a rough, aggressive working man questions her authority? No smile, or half smile, will work.

And she smiles (or half-smiles) as though she doesn't know how to read the cues for "it is o.k. to smile now." Danger seems to be around the corner.

The white girl has mimicked the black girl the closest. She does look serious and angry. I suspect she could wreck her own little havoc if she had to.

But then her expression later in the video loses that boldness. Not only has she lost her boldness, she seems to be asking, pleading, for help from some higher power. Can she not act tough on her own? Does she need the guidance of her black mentor (or some other mentor - probably a male)? Her toughness seems to fall apart pretty easily.

These girls may be wearing construction helmets, but they show us that they just want to be happy, pretty girls, surrounded by pinks and lavenders. Each in her own way, seems to buckle into being the kind of girl she knows how to be.

In terms of running the world, I would give the white girl a longer piece of the rope. And I would prefer the honesty of the black girl (think if Mammy in Gone with the Wind, who loved and took care of Tara and taught her right from wrong) to the hard-drives of an Asian girl (think of the Tiger Mom, who cannot seem to push - force - even her own children to the level she expects them to reach).

Now, the next experiment would be how this multi-culti assortment of female engineers would really fare in the real world. Would the black woman listen to the Asian? Would the white woman diplomatically lead the group? Would the firm build any bridges while making money? So far, the evidence is negative.


Rosie the Riveter: I Can Do It!

I got the title for this post from Rosie the Riveter. She was the iconic image for women working in factories building war machinery towards the war effort during WWII. The "We Can Do It!" Rosie the Riveter poster was created by J. Howard Miller for the War Production Coordinating Committee of the Westinghouse Company, in 1942.

I used Rosie's image and changed it to look like a black and an Asian woman to parody "inclusive" feminism that contemporary feminists advocate.



But, the reality is that even feminism cannot unite the different races of women. Even if the language is a war against a "common" enemy: Men.

Rosie (and the Rosies) went back to their domestic domains once the men came back from the war fronts.

And all little girls want are pretty, soft toys in pinks and lavenders.


Title: I'm proud ... my husband wants me to do my part
See your U.S. Employment Service / / John Newton Howitt.
Creator(s): Howitt, John Newton, 1885-1958, artist
Related Names:
United States. War Manpower Commission , funder/sponsor
United States. Office of War Information , funder/sponsor
Date Created/Published: [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1944.
Medium: 1 photomechanical print (poster) : halftone, color.
Summary: Husband, in suit, and wife in working clothes, standing in front of U.S. flag.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
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Jewel Reigns

Last year a beautiful American Foxhound named Jewel won the Hound category in the National Dog Show.

This year, she went one up and won both the Hound, and the final coveted Best in Show prize.


Yes, she is smiling

Dogs are interesting creatures. They do things with such seriousness, and above all, with such eagerness to please their masters. Some act a little cocky, even in front their masters, but their are quickly reined in by an adroit and commanding voice. Jewel was a little disobedient in last year's competition, and that is why the judges feel she may have lost the grand title, although she did win the 2012 Best in Hound trophy. It looks like she was a little spooked by the foreign environment, with all the noise and the crowd. But, the judges were quick to add that at the moment of the hunt, the American Foxhound focuses in on putting his attention on the chase and capture. That is probably the same spirit that led Jewel to win the coveted dog prize this year.

And this year, she seemed perfect. She was happy to show what she knew, and she did so with some flourish. Probably the familiarity with the place helped, as well as a few other competitions and prizes she took along the way. And a dog's natural proclivity for play (at whatever age) also adds to Jewel's, and other dogs', charms.



The foxhound was President Washington's favorite dog. As I wrote here (quoting from the America Kennel Club):

George Washington, the father of our nation, is also the father of American Foxhounds. In 1770, Washington imported a number of hounds from England and in 1785, he received a number of French foxhounds from the Marquis de Lafayette. These hounds, carefully bred and maintained by Washington, are the founders of today’s American Foxhound. More than 30 hounds were listed in Washington’s journals, including "Drunkard," "Tipler," and "Tipsy."

First Gentleman of Virginia, 1909
John Ward Dunsmore
Fraunces Tavern Museum


Jewel: A Winning Spirit


Roger the Pekingese, who won Best in Toy [Dog] category.
How can this creature compete with the likes of Jewel?

There is a hierarchy of royalty. American President George Washington vs. Chinese Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi

The Pekingese is a spoiled lap dog: The American Foxhound is a working dog. Although the Amercian Foxhound became famous for fox hunts, it was also used for chasing coyote and deer.


Jewel, with her Best in Show 2013 Trophy

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Happy Thanksgiving

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
Freedom from Want
Oil on canvas
1943
45.67" x 35.43"
Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachussetts

Here's how I analyzed the painting in a post in 2005:

Freedom from Want. By Norman Rockwell, 1943

1. The grandfather is the center, both pictorially and actually - there is no ambiguity about that.

2. The picture is designed in the classic pyramidal fashion, with the important figures at the top of the pyramid (grandfather and grandmother) and the rest of family widening out to the base.

3. ...Rockwell has brought nature into to the family, with the turkey, fruits and vegetables all laid out on the table. Rockwell's Nature is really abundant.

4. All the food follows the central and important axis, with the grandfather at the top.

5. Although we are indoors, there is a sense of space and light. The elongated perspective of the table with its white tablecloth connects with the white curtains on the window, which in turn promises to take us out into the sunny mid-day exterior.

6. Finally, this family seems to be fully enjoying the moment. And even the one person looking at us is doing so with a sense of fun and mischief...

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Chutzpah!

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A Bout de Souffle

Jean-Luc Godard is one of my least favorite of the New Wave French film directors. I think his films are cruel and violent.

But, Godard's first feature-length film, Breathless, or A Bout de Souffle, has a charm and wit about it, despite its intermittent violence. Godard's films are about corruption. It is charmingly displayed as in Breathless, or is violently, cruelly and sadistically shown in his later films.

I think Breathless' charm has to do with Jean Seberg's character Patricia Franchini, the American (Girl) in Paris. Seberg had a volatile personal life. Her early life was also clouded by the suicide of her brother. It is not surprising that she was attracted to Godard, and to Breathless. Like all astute people, and those alert to people's sufferings and weaknesses, Godard must have sensed Seberg's sadness, and emotional instability. Her whimsical, fresh looks is perfect for Breathless, and it is her very charm and (initial) innocence that underscores the violence of Breathless. The ending, with its deaths and betrayal, contrasts with the light and fresh beginning. Patricia comes out unharmed, at least physically. But, we sense in the final scenes that she has been damaged, standing lost and alone, unlike the confident and resourceful girl we saw at the beginning. Godard, and Belmondo's character Michel Poiccard, have corrupted her.


Final scenes of Breathless


Patricia in the streets of Paris selling the New York Herald Tribune,
at one of her first encounters with Poiccard.

Here is a detailed write-up on the film by an obvious fan. As well as describing the film, it references its influences, both American gangster movies and a continuation of the French New Wave movement.
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Share Joy with a Starbucks Holiday Coffee

The gradual move away from Christmas is subtle and clever.

Starbucks has a new "holiday" logo out, which seems to be celebrating Christmas. But it doesn't quite do that.

The main, written message of the logo, instead of saying "share the joy" of Christ's birth, simply tells us to "share joy." What could this joy mean? One million things. Something different for each person. The unified joy that we are to feel around the Christmas season has splintered into the joy each of us feels for whatever reason.

That is one way Starbucks is shifting us away from Christams.

Another way it is relaying its message of a Christmas Holiday without Christmas is through the design of its products, which either distort Christmas symbols, or leave them out all together.

Here is the Starbucks paper cup for this "holiday season":



1. What looks like a star on the left cup could just be a sparkly tree decoration shaped in a flower design.

2. The triangular star shapes in the octagons (dispersed around the cup) are too uniform, and there are two of each star ray, making a total of eight. The rays are all the same length.

The star that shines in many renditions of Christmas paintings and illustrations has four rays. And the top and bottom rays are longer, with the bottom the longest. This elongated bottom ray connects the star to the earth, to show the spot where Jesus' manger lay. This star is often called "The Star of Bethlehem."




Elihu Vedder (American, 1836–1923)
Star of Bethlehem, 1879–80
Oil on canvas: 36 3/16 x 44 3/4 in
Milwaukee Art Museum

The frantic holiday scene I’ve described is starkly in contrast to the peaceful one we find in Star of Bethlehem created by American painter Elihu Vedder in 1879-80. This painting, currently housed in Milwaukee Art Museum storage, depicts a serene moment in the muted, golden desert. Three figures on camels overlook the path before them, while three shepherd/guides ahead and three behind also survey what lies ahead. Color can be seen in the distance in the green of trees. Above them the sky contrasts what is seen below with a bright light that illuminates the sky. There is a sense of anticipation created by figures that can be seen in the clouds, standing there, backs slightly hunched as they look down upon the earth. [Source: The Milwaukee Art Museum]

Here's Rembrandt's (or what is attributed to be a pupil of his) Adoration of the Shepherds, where Jesus is bathed in what is most likely the light from the Star of Bethlehem.


Pupil of Rembrandt, 1606–1669
‘The Adoration of the Shepherds’, 1646
Oil on canvas

Painters and art of various centuries and cultures show the importance of the star as a guiding light, and especially its pointed direction toward the earth to indicate where the infant Jesus lay.

Even popular illustrations, often for cards and hanging pictures, depict the bottom ray of the star pointing downwards. In the image below, the star shows the three kings where the manger lies.



3. Back to the Starbucks cup. The illustrations on the cup are sloppy. They look like they're preliminary sketches, rather than decorations ready for display. Especially irritating is the cone-shaped decoration, which is drawn as an amorphous blob.





4. The leaf at the bottom of the smaller cup is not that of a pine tree, nor does it look like a holly, the traditional leaf for most Christmas decorations.



It is a coffee plant leaf, and the nut-like shape, a coffee bean. Starbucks' marketing strategy, is to commemorate this "holiday" season through coffee rather than through Christmas.

The Starbucks Christmas cup is all about the coffee and very little about Christmas.

5. Shapes are scattered around the cups, as though to fill in gaps. What are the spikey triangular shapes - rays from a star? And the white dots - snow flakes? Why not have sketch of snow flakes, with some of the beautiful shapes?





6. The homes we see on the package illustration could be homes on any product cover. They have no Christmas distinction: there is no Christmas tree near the homes; there are no decorations around the houses; there is no angel or star above.



Below is a promotional image from the Starbucks website, showing the homes and their surroundings. There is no Christmas tree. The odd, leafless trees are dotted with what could be lights, but it could just be any kind of graphic embellishment. The homes have what look like lights framing the roofs, but it isn't enough to indicate Christmas lights. And the diamond-shaped objects in the sky could be stars, but there is no unique, distinct Star of Bethlehem to show that this is a Christmas scene, and not just any winter scene.

And we are invited to "create wonder," as though we have supernatural powers. What kind of wonder do we create? Again, whatever strikes our fancy, creators that we are. Like the message "Share Joy," what we create, and the joy that we share, are not related to the Christmas story, but rather, our very own individual fancies.



And finally, here is the description of the Christmas Blend mixture, from the Starbucks website:

A time to create wonder. An invitation to share joy.

Three decades ago, we created something wonderful - a coffee special enough for your celebrations big and small. Christmas Blend brings bright, lively Latin American coffees together with smooth, mellow Indonesian coffees, including rare aged beans from Sumatra. The aged coffee dramatically balances the overall flavor to create luscious, sweet, spice notes. Crafting this coffee embodies the best of everything we do - sourcing, roasting, blending, exploring, perfecting and sharing. It’s one of our most cherished traditions - made for you to savor season after season.

Of course, coffee is a Third World export. But, the description above tells us that it is part of Starbucks' "sourcing" strategy.

Dictionary.com defines "sourcing" as:

...the buying of components of a product from an outside supplier, often one located abroad

And Starbucks tells us how it does this "ethically":

Ethical Sourcing
We've always believed in buying and serving the best coffee possible.

And it's our goal for all of our coffee to be grown under the highest standards of quality, using ethical trading and responsible growing practices. We think it's a better cup of coffee that also helps create a better future for farmers and a more stable climate for the planet.
With the help of Conservation International, we’ve developed ethical sourcing guidelines that help us purchase coffee that is responsibly grown and ethically traded.

We’re working directly with farmers to develop responsible growing methods and investing in their communities to ensure a sustainable supply of quality coffee.

This sounds too much like the "Banana Republics" that developed through vast farmlands being allocated for big business plantations, while local farmers had to do with inferior land.

In this Starbucks produced video, Carlos Mario (no last name), who is clearly an intermediary between Starbucks (the corporation) and the local Costa Rican farmer, talks about the farmer and coffee production. This Third World company man says:

We are helping farmers, teaching them how to improve production, improve the quality, and reduce the use of pesticides. We are taking care of the environment and the pretty country that we have. Helping farmers is really good, and I feel really proud of that. I think Starbucks is working with agronomists because they know that if they don't care about the environment, they will not have good quality coffee in the future."

All Hail King Coffee!

Below is Toik Wolf, the cup's designer saying "All Hail King Coffee."

I found his quotes after I wrote my design break-down above. Wolf is saying almost to the word what I've written about the cup design. Of course, he thinks it is a Good Thing, while my analysis is a lament. This shows further that the deconstruction of Christmas is systematic and deliberate by the likes of Wolf and Starbucks, and not some random aesthetic project:

On The Design Process

Toki Wolf, Creative Director, In-store Promotions:
One of our early idea explorations was treating our core product, coffee, in its agricultural form and seeing if we could apply that in a beautiful way for the holidays. See if it can be meaningful in the holiday timeframe. So, there’s this image, a quick sketch of a coffee plant with coffee cherries coming out of the red cup. We were literally thinking, “If coffee is at the heart of what we do, can that be the foundation where the exploration comes from?” Even in that little sketch form, we thought we might be onto something. We kept going back to it, even after moving on from it and exploring different illustration style. We always went back to the drawing with the red cup below it. It was the basis of the elements that ended up on the red cups and the coffee bags for this year.

So, the idea was to take these coffee cherries and use them as a holiday element – like holly berries. The coffee flower that you see on the cups comes across, as maybe a snowflake, maybe a poinsettia. We start to see these interpretations. Even in the origin patterns, they kind of look like snow in an abstract form. They start to have a holiday feel to them. Once we realized that we could make this work visually in a way that was both authentically Starbucks and authentically holiday, we went for it, and extracted it all the way across all of our holiday elements. We started with the way it can be interpreted, creating the story around it. Going back to that original sketch, it feels like this beautiful holiday moment is coming out of the red cup, literally coming from the coffee. We ended up keeping the element in the swoop. We call it a “story swoop” or “story arch” that kind of flow around the packaging. So, you’ll see that across all of our holiday design elements, including the cups and the coffee packaging.

[...]

This holiday is the next step of the visual journey we’ve been on with the brand. Beginning with the new coffee packaging. We wanted the coffee to be at the center. We wanted it to look like the leader and to elevate above the noise in the coffee category. We wanted to create something that felt right for coffee but was unique and own-able to Starbucks. By doing so, we created this new visual vocabulary around coffee that looks traditional, and looks like it’s rooted in heritage, but yet it’s fresh and new. We haven’t done anything exactly like it - nor has there been anything like it in the category. You’re right. This holiday feels like a natural extension of that [the coffee packaging redesign]. It keeps that momentum going.

I like coffee, and I especially like Starbucks' blends. There is no doubt that its the "King of Coffee." I wish its leader would just say that they're in the business of making great coffee, and that they work in Third World countries. Let those countries make the necessary steps to help the farmers, while Starbucks provides the coffee for us through a true market and competitive manner.

And, I wish Starbucks wouldn't tell us to "Share Joy," or to "Create Wonder" if it cannot come right out with "Share the Joy of Christmas." I would rather just have a warm cup of coffee without being pulled into a false sense of the Christmas holiday. It is just coffee, after all.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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