Friday, December 02, 2005
File this under: "The Emancipation of Maria."
The recently married Christina Aguilera plans to legally change her name -- to put her "trashy" image behind her -- to Ms. Maria Bratman.
Aguilera, who has been honeymooning on the island of Bali with new husband Jordan Bratman, might be getting too much sun which leads people to say all kinds of crazy things.
"I'll probably always be Christina Aguilera professionally, but I'm thinking of changing some legal things and going by my middle name Maria and his last names," she said to Ratethemusic .
Although, during 'office hours' she would still be known as Christina Aguilera.
This don't-bring-your-work-home "attitude" should be adopted by all Pop Divas; if they want their marriage to last past the newlywed stage -- Nick and Jessica ring any bells?
In that vain, Britney Spears, who reportedly sent Christina a "self-help guide to marriage," should also consider a name change for her wifey duties -- (we like "Shante" cause it might just be what Kevin needs).
Image Ok Magazine
By Henry Cruz
Thursday, December 01, 2005
http://thebosh.com/archives/img_home_movreair-thumb.jpg" width="200" height="117 border="5" alt="" align="right" vspace="5" hspace="5"/>"This is like eight year old girl crack," one reporter suggested in an interview, talking about the "American Girl" dolls, books, DVD's and of course TV shows.
Light hearted fun: "Only a heart as curdled as Scrooge's would find something of offense here."
"Bah humbug," says I.
Toys are not fun anymore; they're a multimedia marketing campaign or worse used as a political ping-pong ball for extremists.
I'm sure millions of believers tuned into the WB to watch "Felicity: An American Girl Adventure," (based on Felicity Merriman, a character from American Girl's line of historical dolls).
Newsday said: the whole mess is "part of some elaborate marketing scheme to get the suckers to part with their cash?" ...And don't worry if you miss tonight's big movie. The DVD will be out next Tuesday (price: $19.97), and for five extra bucks, you can get the bracelet featuring Felicity's horse, Penny, and her foal, Patriot.
What the "f" is American Girl? Here's a primer: a line of 18-inch dolls representing different periods in American history. Collectors also can buy their furniture, matching clothes for little girls and books telling the dolls' stories. Most sales are by mail order. One "starter kit" was selling for $100 this week. The toy company grossed $379 million in sales last year, Newsweek reported.
Wholesome good times for young girls, right? As one author suggests our children need the "values" of the past so they don't grow up worshiping Paris Hilton or Britney Spears.
"Perhaps the most popular strategy for protecting your young daughter from Britneyhood and Paris Hiltonville, for holding her from the brink of mall-haunting, 'ho'-dressing tweendom," wrote Margaret Talbot in the Ottawa Citizen last spring, "is to get her interested in American Girl dolls." But Talbot cautioned, "It is a strategy that involves buying something in order to try and be something."
Teaching our children values, maybe. But, don't forget to teach them about "shopping." Because being a "consumer" is the american way afterall.
But, even worse is using toys for political gain. Back to Newsday: American Girl had an unusual brush with bad publicity recently when a group of anti-abortion activists in the Midwest called for a boycott after learning that the company had made a donation to Girls Inc., the big girls advocacy group. The activists claimed Girls Inc. supported Roe v. Wade, though its Web site shot back, claiming that "our mission to help girls develop their self-esteem and self-reliance has become the target of false, inflammatory statements from people who are pursuing a narrow political agenda."
Watching tonight's movie, it's almost laughable to think that "Felicity" has been linked - however tangentially - to one of the most charged debates of the era. Only a heart as curdled as Scrooge's would find something of offense here. Produced by Revolution Studios and Julia Roberts' Red Om Films (she also produced "Samantha"), Felicity Merriman (Shailene Woodley) is a high-spirited 10-year-old whose father (John Schneider) runs a dry goods store in Colonial-era Williamsburg, Va., and whose mother (Marcia Gay Harden) wants her two daughters embossed with a genteel upper-middle-class upbringing. (Eulala Grace Scheel, Harden's real-life daughter, plays Felicity's younger sister, Nan.)...But the themes are simple, timeless and all-American Girl: faith, honesty, friendship, proper behavior, dignity and (yes) even property rights.
When did choosing a toy become a political decision? Should one's daughter be versed in support Roe v. Wade when she sits down with her American Girl doll?
"I think it's a real stretch to attach the politicism of a charitable organization to American Girl," said one parent.
I can agree with that. As parents the "happy medium" seems to fall between commercial pressures of a multimedia blitz and politics and that's just sad.
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