Dispatches from the Culture Wars - George Stoney Memorial
Edition - July 24, 2012

Published by Portside

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George C. Stoney, Documentary Filmmaker, Dies at 96

By Paul Vitello

New York Times
July 14, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/arts/television/george-c-stoney-documentarian-dies-at-96.html

George C. Stoney, a dean of American documentary film and a
leader of the citizens movement that gave every American the
right to a public-access television show of his or her own,
died on Thursday at his home in Manhattan. He was 96.

Mr. Stoney, who taught filmmaking at New York University
from 1970 until the last year of his life, was acclaimed in
equal measure for his roles as a filmmaker, teacher and
prophet of social change at the barrel of a camera.  Besides
mentoring two generations of students, many of whom became
prominent in the film industry, Mr. Stoney devoted himself
to training community activists in the use of film as a tool
for voiceless people. He also had a seminal role in creating
public-access television, in a hope that it would become an
outlet for that kind of community-building documentary film.

[George was an inspiration and mentor to many of us, and a
true pioneer and giant in the indie/community media movement
- Nan Otek]

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Guerilla Group Hijacks 30 UK Billboards, Pre-Olympics

BuzzFeed Sports
July 17, 2012

http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/brandalism-hijacks-30-uk-billboards-pre-olympics

Six artists, including Banksy collaborator Paul Insect, have
postered their own work over existing outdoor campaigns to
"challenge the destructive impacts of the advertising
industry."

The group, Brandalism, says it is in reaction to the strict
enforcement of branding regulations for the London 2012
Olympics. Installed over five days in one continuous road
trip that has covered the length of the country, the
Brandalism crew have hit 33 spots in 5 cities. The project
promises to add more content to the sites on a regular
basis.

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Disney family member renounces her investments in Israel's
Ahava Cosmetics

By Amira Hass

Haaretz (Israel)
Jul.16, 2012

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/disney-family-member-renounces-her-investments-in-israel-s-ahava-cosmetics.premium-1.451506

Abigail Disney, a filmmaker, businesswoman and granddaughter
of Roy O. Disney, who co-founded The Walt Disney Company
with his brother Walt, is renouncing her share of the
family's profits in the Israeli cosmetics company Ahava due
to its location in an 'Israeli settlement in the occupied
West Bank.'  Shamrock Holdings, the family firm in which she
is a partner, has invested heavily in Israel.  Disney said
she will donate the profits and a sum equal to the worth of
her shares to "organizations working to end this illegal
exploitation."

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Boy Scout ban on gays to continue

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske,

Los Angeles Times
July 18, 2012

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bsa-gay-20120718,0,5267056.story

The Girl Scouts have vowed to not exclude gays and lesbians.
So have Boys & Girls Clubs and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
But the Boy Scouts of America reaffirmed its ban on gays as
both scouts and scout leaders, a decision experts say
reflects the conservative values of many members and the
influence of two powerful benefactors - the Roman Catholic
and Mormon churches.  Tuesday's announcement came after a
confidential two-year review by a special committee formed
in 2010.  More than 300,000 people have signed a petition
urging the Boy Scouts to reinstate Jennifer Tyrrell, a
lesbian who was forced to resign as a den mother in Ohio
this year.

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Can Rape Jokes Ever Be Funny?

by Sarah Seltzer

AlterNet
July 13, 2012

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/1032702/can_rape_jokes_ever_be_funny/#paragraph3

After comedian Daniel Tosh got into a confrontation with a
woman at his comedy show over rape jokes, a few strands of
furious debate have emerged. Tosh's behavior to the woman as
reported was by all accounts totally unacceptable, because
rape jokes generally aren't edgy, they're just bullying. But
jokes that call attention to rape culture can be funny and
even receive the feminist seal of approval.

A number of feminists from the Women's Media Center,
PopCulturePirate, Women In Media & News, and Fem2pt0 teamed
up to create a "supercut" of a variety of rape jokes, and
asks audience members to decide for themselves where that
line is, what makes them laugh, and what makes them
uncomfortable.

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Occupy LA Stages Artful "Chalk Walk" Protest during City's
Art Walk and Draws Riot Police

Occupy the Social
July 13, 2012

http://www.occupythesocial.com/post/27150570167/chalk-it-up-occupy-la-stages-protest-during-citys-art

Occupy LA caused a laugh riot when an absurd demonstration
for free speech was met with an even more ridiculous police
response. Because twelve members of occupy LA, Occupy the
Hood, and Occupy Skid Row were arrested with felony
vandalism for writing on the sidewalk in chalk, occupiers
devised an action to fight these unreasonable charges.  They
planned to give out "free chalk for free speech" along with
fliers detailing the recent arrests during the city's
monthly art walk event.

Within minutes of starting, a member of Occupy LA was
arrested for chalking and soon hundreds of onlookers
gathered in disbelief as the LAPD deployed a skirmish line
in full riot gear to round up the sidewalk vandals.

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Even at a Comics Event, You can't Defy Gravitas

By Michael Cieply

New York Times
July 14, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/business/media/even-at-comic-con-you-cant-defy-gravitas.html

Once a year for the last four decades, comic-book and
fantasy fans dressed in Batman suits or carrying light
sabers have descended on San Diego Convention Center for
Comic-Con. But as fantasy has become big business  -  7 of
last year's 10 top-grossing movies were either science
fiction or comic-book-inspired  -  a new anxiety has settled
over the convention about the future of the business and
over comics themselves.

Topics for panels this year include comics and the plight of
indigenous peoples, feminist writers and censorship,
progressive politics in comics and, of course, the many
financial and copyright issues created by the explosion in
Hollywood's interest.

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The Patriot Movement's New Bestseller Tests Their Anti-
Racism

J. M.  Berger
June 8, 2012

The Daily Beast

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/08/the-patriot-movement-s-new-bestseller-tests-their-anti-racism.html


Racism just doesn't sell like it used to.  Years after the
racism of the infamous 1978 novel The Turner Diaries, some
within the Patriot movement have tried to sideline or
redefine its racial politics and focus on other issues such
as gun rights, survivalism, individual liberties,
traditional morality, and Constitutional hyper purity.  So
now there is "Enemies Foreign and Domestic", a Patriot-
themed self-published novel known to fans as EFAD.   It's
the first in a trilogy of political thrillers which
spotlights several Patriot memes and an almost militant
multicultural drumbeat, including heroes from almost every
ethnic background - white, black, Arab and Jewish. Between
its serviceable writing and self-inoculation against charges
of racism, EFAD is probably as close to a mainstream
recruitment tool as the Patriot movement could hope for.

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Spike Lee Talks Obama, the End of Mookie's Brooklyn, and the
Hollywood Color Line

By Will Leitch

Vulture
July 8, 2012

http://www.vulture.com/2012/07/spike-lee-on-reality-tv-minstrelsy-and-hollywood.html

Returning to Brooklyn - a very different Brooklyn - with his
latest film Red Hook Summer, the outspoken filmmaker talks
with Will Leitch about the timidity of Hollywood, reality-TV
minstrelsy, and what it's like to have inspired the
president and the First Lady's very first date. [Interview
w/Spike Lee

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