Weird. Weridweirdweirdweird WEIRD

Good. Now that I have your attention and the word "weird" now sounds extremely strange to you, let's talk, shall we?

I'm talking about the concept of pop singers trying to be, well, weird. There have always been the bands who have been deemed "strange" and "unconventional", but I'm talking about super mainstream singers. Okay, I'll be specific. Here's looking at Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Nicki Minaj. I don't know if I'm about to start a war here, but I'm going to say that of these three, Lady Gaga started the whole "Look at me, I'm freaky and you'll never know what I'll wear next!" in these recent years. And sure, you know, whatever gets you noticed, and whatever you decide is fine. But what's bothering me is that Katy Perry didn't used to be this strange. She didn't used to wear outrageous outfits and coloured wigs. She only appears to have been doing this recently, and I really interpret that as "Oh God, Lady Gaga's really popular and she's weird, I need to step it up!"

Same goes for Nicki Minaj. I mean, have you seen her? If we're going by degrees here, there's Lady Gaga, then a super girly version of her that Katy Perry embodies, and then Nicki Minaj is like Katy Perry to the fifth power! And have you seen these three at award shows? It's like they've been spying on each other and then they all try to outdo one another. Lady Gaga, not so much as far as I've noticed. But Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj? Crickey! Frankly, it's exhausting because eventually, somebody's going to run out of ideas. And why can't they just be odd in their own right instead of just looking like different facets of each other?

Look at Florence Welch. It's not like she's trying really really hard to be different, she just is. And that's probably what makes her very likeable, because she is different in her own way without forcing you to notice it. So I say, "I salute you Miss Welch, for proving that you don't need to be exaggeratedly weird to command attention." You know what it probably is? Nicki, Katy, and Lady Gaga all have such very generic music that they have to make up for it some how, so they go all out on stage presence instead of improving the quality of their music.

Church, State, and Gay Marriage

Yes, we're talking about this again, and but this is a serious issue. It now concerns the Church of England. The British government wants to be able to allow gay marriage by 2015, but the Church is putting the breaks on this idea. They say that it will alter the very meaning of marriage. Again with the "meaning of marriage" argument. It doesn't matter. If two people love each other, they deserve the right to get married. England already recognizes civil partnerships and gives gay couples the same legal rights as a married couple, but they're not allowed to call them "marriages". The Church has said that to perform a same-sex marriage would be to undermine its role as the state church. You know what's funny? I always thought the Church of England was a more progressive church. They're so worried about "violating" the sanctity of marriage, but they seem to forget that they became a church in the first place because Henry VIII wanted to divorce his first wife. Wasn't divorce in the 1500s a huge middle finger to the sanctity of marriage? I honestly am surprised that gay marriage is such a huge issue, especially when many of England's most famous people are/were gay (Oscar Wilde, [potentially] Shakespeare, Mark Gatiss, Stephen Fry, Phyllida Lloyd [director of "Mamma Mia!"]). I should have thought that homosexuality would ot be such a huge issue there, but apparently, I was, to my despair, wrong. Full story here.

The Press

The relationship between the Press and various celebrities and other influential people seems to have never been very good. Sensationalism is often the biggest seller, and of course, the press will be the first to offer it. Nobody can be perfect, even the most perfect-seeming people, and many feed off their flaws to make themselves feel better. Whether it's Lady Diana (who, fleeing from the paprazzi, got in a car crash and died), or even as far back as Oscar Wilde, the hounding of the Press is astounding. Recently, it came out that News of the World hacked the phones of many victims and deleted information from them, and there is currently a lawsuit going on between Gordon Brown and The Sun. The Sun released the fact the Brown's son has cystic fibrosis, and they claimed that the Browns had given them permission to run the story, when they had done no such thing. It just goes to show that the magazines will invade anyone's privacy, and often print bald-faced lies (how many times is Jennifer Aniston declared pregnant a year?) just to get a story to entertain the credible masses.

The Sudden Attraction of Intellect

People say that others dumb themselves down to seem attractive, but recently there has been a resurgence in the media in the appeal of intellect. In the words of Irene Adler in the BBC series Sherlock: "Brainy is the new sexy." Across the media, there are characters that are extremely intelligent and women are very much attracted to that. But for some reason, boys our age seem to take pride in seeming stupid. I overheard some boys in the hall discussing marks, and one announced that he had and overall mark of 36% to which his friends gave a loud and appreciative "Niiiiice!" Why is it that teenaged boys hide their intellect for fear of being called a nerd, when really that's what's appealing to most women? It could possibly stem from most cartoons and TV shows that depict the intelligent boy as being bullied and ugly and "nerdy" while the good-looking jock is popular and gets all the girls. Yet, most television shows feature an extremely intelligent character who, while still picked on for his intellect, is still the object of most viewers' fancy because he is, in fact, extremely handsome. Perhaps these characters have been introduced to counteract the stereotype of the ugly, intelligent boy.



Kids These Days

I was going to do my best to ensure that this wasn't going to be a sort of "these kids these days" rant that ends up making me sound like that one elderly conservative character in Agatha Christie books, but oops, too late.
I went to see my friends a few weeks ago and I was shocked over how mature the eleven-year-old was (for the sake of convenience and protecting her privacy, I'm calling her Jane). She was messaging her friends and she let me sort of message them pretending to be her for a bit and oh my gosh. They were swearing as much as people at high school do, and they were asking each other if they had ever been kissed. I was shocked into shame by one of the replies, "Yeah, like three guys at camp and I didn't even like them that much :/ " People, is this really happening? They're eleven. I was playing with dolls and I still thought boys were gross when I was eleven. Is it because of today's environment? The increasing barrage of advertisements and the sexualization of ever-younger girls? I couldn't believe it, I really could not. I can talk to Jane like she's sixteen, no problem, and she understands innuendos that go right over my head. I saddens me to see seven-year-olds with iPhones and Ugg boots shopping around the mall in a little gaggle of their friends. Maybe one day, kids won't be really considered kids anymore, and being "childish" will be a thing of the past, or something you grow out of when you're three as opposed to seven.

Eighties Cartoons

Over the weekend, I went to see some family friends in Windsor, and I was unfortunately forced to watch "Dungeons and Dragons" because Nate (who's nearly four) wanted to. Which, by the way, was fine because I spent the entire time making sarcastic commentary. However I did notice some interesting stereotypes, and a (possibly unintentional?) racist slip-up.
So, the basic story from what I gathered from the intro, this group of teenagers, plus Sheila's little brother, goes on a Dungeons and Dragons theme-park ride and they get transported into the realm of Dungeons and Dragons. The main, glaring stereotypes were:

• Hank: Of course the oldest, most responsible, and general all-round pretty-boy hero is blonde-haired and blue-eyed. Side note: Why do the eyebrows never match the hair? 

• Eric: The spoiled brat that complains constantly is diametrically opposite from the golden boy in superficial appearance.

• Diana: The only black character, the most skimpily clad, and the furry outfit makes her look especially savage and even almost ape-like. I truly hope that the clothing was an unintentional slip on the drawer's part. The one redeeming part is that she seems to assume the leadership role in Hank's absence. I apologise for the quality of this photo; I wanted to show her whole outfit.

• Sheila: Overall, from the episodes I've seen, the quietest character. She has an invisibility cloak. The only thing I can think of here is: why does the woman have to be invisible? Ever thought of Violet from "The Incredibles"? How come she has invisibility and Dash has super speed? Why can't it be the other way around?

• Bobby: Sheila's little brother, as stated above. Again, blonde hair and blue eyes: all the better to look ingenuous with, my dear. 

• Presto: The magician's apprentice whose spells never really work. Of course the kid with the glasses is clumsy and awkward.

North Carolina

North Carolina just passed an Amendment to their Constitution that bans same-sex marriage, and defines marriage as "a union between a man and a woman". I simply cannot believe this is happening. North Carolina has a Republican government for the first time in 140 years, and what's the thing that they make sure they accomplish? Banning gay marriage. It's nice to know that humanity is regressing back to the 1800s. Also, because of the very vague wording in the Amendment, it could cause complications and even lessen protection for victims of domestic abuse, since "domestic union" is not a phrase recognised by state law. I just can't believe that in 2012, we are still struggling for gay rights. It sickens me, it really does.

You can read more about it here and here.