I had first heard about Harvey Milk several years ago when researching LGBT children and came across Harvey Milk High School. I knew very little of him, and when I heard that Sean Penn and Emile Hirsch were teaming up again after Into the Wild I was ready to see it. I recently finally sat down alone to focus on the historical film. Set in the 1970s Castro area of San Francisco, this film began with shots of the Stonewall Riots and the California reactions before moving into the simpler life of two men who’d just met played by James Franco and Sean Penn.

Sean Penn’s Harvey Milk celebrates his big win.

The chronology of Van Sant’s film covered half a decade as Milk slowly emerged as a voice for the gay and lesbian population of the Castro during this politically charged time. A population materialized around him that included Hirsch who played Cleve Jones one of the biggest gay rights activist of present day and the founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Quilt. Josh Brolin (who I still can’t forget was in The Goonies) played Dan White the suggested closeted, religious family-man politician who assassinated Milk and then Mayor Moscone. Brolin did a nice job as a White albeit the film subtly suggests he was gay himself and fearful of his own identity; that message was relatively ambiguous. Franco, Diego Luna (playing Jack Lira jokingly called “Mrs. Milk” by Jones), and a cast of ensembled characters flesh out an ominous plot that caught me by surprise.

The propositions and events of 1978 mirror today’s events in California, Arizona and elsewhere as even three decades later this group of people still do not have their rights. This was most shocking for me, and for that reason alone, it’s one of the best movies of the year. I think MILK deserves the best picture Oscar over Benjamin Button although I’ve still not see Slumdog Millionaire, the critics underdog darling.

Penn’s performance here mirrored his I Am Sam’s performance from 2001. He was able to immerse himself in these roles to the point where Penn disappeared and Milk became reincarnate. His nomination as Best Actor may be overshadowed by the come back kid, Mickey Rourke.

With 8 nominations this year, this film’s sure to win awards. Brolin has a shot, Gus Van Sant is in a battle of heavyweights, and the screen play is a viable candidate. Strong scores and costume design should fade into the background of the film’s narrative. They both do so here, and they both have a strong shot at winning. See this film.

Been waiting to see The Reader for several weeks now because I am a huge Kate Winslet fan. I’ve not seen all her films, and she doesn’t make Titanic anymore bearable. One of my favorite films of hers is Little Children albeit I still don’t know anyone who has seen it except for me. So I’ve been eager to see some Winslet love. She’s, once again, up for an Oscar this time for playing Hanna Schmitz, an SS guard who was one of six female guards who didn’t stop the death of over 300 prisoners in a burning church. In this film, Winslet the no-nonsense older woman matter-of-factly begins an affair with a young man (played by David Kross and as an adult by Ralph Fiennes) that lasts a summer before she disappears from his life, only to emerge as as on trial SS guard when he’s a law student. This is where their relationship reemerges and only later ends in death.

Winslet’s performance was spot on and wonderful, and Hanna’s biggest secret hidden only from the young Kross and not the audience is not that she’s SS but that she illiterate. How this plays out gives us the title of our film, The Reader. As Fiennes records audio books to mail to her in jail after she allows this secret to be used against her in court.

You know those movies that just bug you and you can’t get over because of all of the holes and unanswered questions? This was that movie. Now while I adored Winslet and was ok with Kross, Fiennes and the story bugged me. Hanna felt so naive during the trial, and even as she answered that they couldn’t unlock the doors to release the women from the burning church, I wanted to yell “Why Not!?” but we never know why not. To me, this felt like half a movie held up by Winslet’s performance.

This film is nominated for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Achievement in Cinematography, Achievement in Directing, Best Motion Picture of the Year, and Adapted Screenplay. I believe Winslet can win the Best Actress category if the Academy doesn’t play it safe with Streep or the black sheep Hathaway pulls an upset. Benjamin Button was a better Adapted Screenplay and Daldry is up against stiffer competition for Director. I did notice the beauty of the Cinematography, but the competition there is daunting, as well. Chances are 2 out of 5 wins.

The other day a couple students asked me who my favorite band is. I had to think about it for a few minutes, and then I needed to filter my thoughts. I wasn’t filtering who I listened to as much as I was trying to figure out why they were asking, what they wanted to get out of my answer, and how I should respond. Did they want to hear about my nostalgia towards 80s Pop or were they looking for cool me from the 90s Grunge Scene (I was not some poseur! I actually liked the music and didn’t wear flannel… not too much, anyway). Did they want to know about time follwing my little brother into a Phish loving life? My years listening only to Oldiers (I am talking late 50s-late 60s)? Did they want to know about my strange propensity for Christian Rock from my early teens years? How about when I figured out that 1970s rocked and my Dad was cool? What did they really want to know?

So I am not sure how to answer this question, so I will break down several of my favorites and give you an idea. These are in absolutely no specific order.

THE PIXIES: I remember Michael Amato in high school being obsessed with this band, and I wasn’t really sure what the hype was all about. One CD cover had a topless model on it, so that was cool but beyond that there wasn’t much for me then. I remember the movie Pump Up the Volume had an awesome soundtrack, and on that soundtrack was a stripped down version of “Wave of Mutilation”. I think that song was my segue into the Pixies, and other than “Here Comes the Man”, the only Pixies I heard of for several years. I, like most of the kids graduating high school in the early ’90s, went through an odd music movement that was part grunge (Alice in Chains or STP) and part wacked out alternative (think Ned’s Atomic Dustbin or Information Society). One of my staples of this period was The Breeders who were these two twin women on guitar and bass. The guitarist had drug problems and learned to play a few chords so she could tour with her sister. Her sister, on bass, was Kim Deal, the guitarist for the Pixies. Kelley Deal went on the other projects even though the Breeders still record from time to time. As for Kim, there’s just something about female musicians (and I still adore L7). Honestly, I didn’t really begin to listen to The Pixies until about 5 or 6 years ago, and since then I’ve devoured several albumns and watched a few full length albums. My sister’s boyfriend got me hooked on The Pixies Red Rock show recordings and I’ve not looked back. I’d say the live version of “Wave of Mutilation” and “Allison” are my two favorites by them, but I can listen to anything by them anytime. Especially in Paradise Bakery on a Saturday morning. I just crank it up and go! My Recommendation: The Pixies Perform at Red Rocks.

PRINCE: Some people won’t admit to listening to Price, but you know what? For someone who’s been in this industry for so long, knows how to play several different instruments, and has not compromised his values, you can’t complain too much. Price turned 50 this year, and he’s still rocking out. I’ve been listening to him for 24 years now, and I think my coolest memory was spending New Year’s Eve 1998 in an Australian bar at the base of the French Alps in Chamonix, France. I brought a copy of Prince’s “1999″ with me, and the DJ played it at midnight. My other awesome Prince memory was the night I got to know my best friend, Dan. He played an acoustic version of “7″. I’d never heard anything quite like it. My Recommendation: 1999.

FLEETWOOD MAC: I remember back in the late 70s my dad listened to Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks all of the time, but I wouldn’t bother with Stevie because I thought she was some scary witch. I don’t really remember when I began to listen to them but I know I first fell in love with “Go Your Own Way” and “Rhiannon”. I think somewhere early I fell in love with Stevie Nick’s voice. The live versions of “Rhiannon” are beautiful, and I even sing the live versions to the studio versions. Early on, I read Mick Fleetwood’s biography about the band, and I loved the whole love quadrangles, etc… I’ve since collected over a hundred different songs and versions of songs by the band. I actually had a chance to see Lindsay Buckingham in concert last year, but it was just him and a work night, so I skipped it. This spring Fleetwood Mac is playing here in Phoenix but tickets are $120! My Recommendation: Rumors.

PINK FLOYD: Who can’t love Pink Floyd? There’s so much history there. I remember the time I saw Pink Floyd during The Division Bell tour.This was in the Spring of 1994. A friend and I drove to Cleveland (I was in Pittsburgh at the time) for the concert. We ended up at the wrong stadium and had to walk several blocks to the other stadium. The closer I got the louder the music became. That album and the song “Stop Talking” still holds a special place in my heart. I love how Gilmour released “Learning to Fly” after Roger Waters left the band, and how popular Momentary Lapse of Reason became after everyone was worried Floyd was done when Waters left. I remember Waters playing on the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the first time I showed The Wall to a classroom of high school kids (believe me, we do NOT do that anymore!). And yes, like everyone else, my cousin and I sat down and watched the entire Wizard of Oz synced to Dark Side of the Moon, and yes, it works! My Recommendation: A Momentary Lapse of Reason.

LIVE: My best friend got me hooked on LIVE years ago. Did you know they were originally called Public Affection? Do you also know how hard it is to talk to people about a band called LIVE? Haha. In college Dan and I saw LIVE as often as possible. I sat out in the freezing snow for 12 hours one day for tickets to see them at the Crowbar in State College, PA because Dan was out of town and couldn’t tag team the waiting with me. The band is from York, PA, and even though I never actually met them, I came close so many times. I believe the last time we saw them Claire was not yet 1; they played at what was then Bank One Ball Park in Phoenix. I have pictures of Claire at the concert. My Recommendation: The Distance to Here.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS: I’ve listened to the Chili Peppers for as long as I remember, but there are a few highlights I need to point out here. I bought Mother’s Milk at National Record Mart in Century III Mall. A beautiful cassette. Loved everything about it, including the cover art. When I began getting tattoos I looked to the art in that band. Later when I met my best friend, Dan, he adored the Chili Peppers and I immediately began to get more into them Frusciante was gone and Dave Navarro was playing guitar. I loved the band. I loved everything about them, and I still tell the story of when Dan and I drove to Philly with a friend to see them at the Tower Theatre. Before that I’d seen them at Lollapalooza, and Blood Sugar Sex Magik is still one of their best albums ever. My Chili Peppers experience culminated a few years ago with the Stadium Arcadium tour. Frusciante was back with the band, and Dan asked me to come along. I remember hesitating, but then I went. Oh my god, this is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe Frusciante’s guitar. His playing and my need to hear it that night was as important to me as breathing that night. I’ve never know anything like this before or after. My Recommendation: Stadium Arcadium.

Now I could probably think of another few bands to detail and discuss here for you, but I will let you just choose for yourself. I know there’s music today I miss because I simply don’t listen to much new music, and I am sure there are bands you’ve passed by years ago that I will find in the future. We’ll see, and I will enjoy that experience as much as you hopefully will by revisiting some of mine above.

I am a huge fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and The Great Gatsby is one of the best half dozen books yet published in this world, so I walked into Benjamin Button kinda curious of what would happen. I am well aware that millions of dollars were thrown at this film (a ton at the headliners salaries alone). Think Pitt, Blanchett, Ormond, Swinton. Pitt’s face is across the front cover of the poster so you do not forget you’re going to see his film, although in the actual film he didn’t do much for me. It’s difficult to be such a big budget film and not be enjoyable, and I don’t see many places where they could’ve trimmed the 160 minute film but I think I wanted to think more. I didn’t have to think, which made more time to listen to the squeaky theatre seat near me and never forget I was watching Blanchett and Pitt romp around the middle of the twentieth century.

Pitt & Blanchett

Don’t get me wrong. The screen play adaption was done well, the original is on my shelf, and I am curious enough to pick it up, but, as I said, Pitt just plays Pitt for me. Blanchett does wonderfully well, but not Oscar-worthy well (think Aviator’s Kate Hepburn toned way way way down). I did appreciate the juxtaposition of Pitt’s remarks about her blue of Blanchett’s eyes and then his foray with Swinton (who scares the hell outta me with those coal black eyes, pale pale demeanor and skin, and those androgynous features) albeit I hated the banality of the hummingbird who appears twice in the film (this is NO Zemeckis feather motif!!).

If you appreciated the special effects of Forrest Gump or the makeup of other period pieces, then this will be ok for you, too. Since I didn’t even realize Caroline (one of our narrators) was played by Julia Ormond, she must’ve been ok since, for me, she disappeared into character. The characters who age (or some who fail to) are relatively convincingly painted to look their ages, although some ages effects annoyed me when it came to Pitt. Another key player (to a degree) was Captain Mike (Jared Harris) who I appreciated for who and what he represented: an askew father figure in some ways as whimsically absent as Mr. Button (Jason Flemyng) is painstakingly present.

There are no real spoilers here. He dies. She dies. That’s it. But do we care? Some audience members cried, but my question was why? We know the end. I suppose for the same reason people still cry and gasp when Juliet stabs herself in the gut, but for me this film was Forrest Gump meets The Notebook, and it’s one notebook that’s fun for a night and quite forgettable in the long haul.

Been seeing previews for Gran Torino and it looked like a cross between Million Dollar Baby andDirty Harry. The early trailers weren’t doing much for me, but then the secondary trailers had some nice plot development and intrigue. I was more interested in catching MILK or The Reader today, but something drew me to this movie. And you know what that was? It was the BEST MOVIE OF 2008.

Yes, I declared this now. The nominees aren’t out yet even, and I am usually more reserved in my reviews. I just can’t be that reserved here. I literally walked out of the film and wanted to sit in the car and sob. Sob like a little baby.

We know Eastwood is good. He’s always been good, although his gravely voice was off putting (much like Bale’s in another much hyped film). In this film Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a Korean war veteran, who’s stuck in back a 1/2 century. His wife recently died, his self-absorbed sons and grand children just suck, and the catholic priest is played by a boy (Christopher Carley) who looks like he just got his driver’s license, although through his tenacity the audience can’t help but want to pinch his cheeks by the second hour in. Eastwood’s gravely snarl is punctuated by the Hmong people who’ve overtaken most of his Detroit suburb. Ever Asian racial slur you could imagine is used by Eastwood in this film and the man sitting next to me scoffing at everyone one were both quite bothersome. It felt overdone to a fault (no I do not hear people actually talk like this anywhere.)

Eastwood saves the life of Thao (Bee Vang) from a local gang and begins to teach the boy to be a man. Thao bugs the hell out of me, not because he’s a “wimp” so much than his mannerisms, haircut (which he could’ve easily changed in a hilarious barber shop scene!), and fact that his true transformation never really comes to fruition except at the very end of the film (and that’s even a week show of it).

I understand this is an Eastwood vehicle all around (included his real life sons), but , for me, Thao’s sister, Sue, stole the show! Introduced as the youngest in a house of women and the older, bossy (well meaning) sister of Thao, Sue is the vehicle who brings the racist and reluctant Walt into the Hmong culture, her home and her people. Ahney Her playing Sue has never acted before, but I was surprised at how refreshingly she holds her own through her seamless banter with one of the most talented actors of his generation. Typically, I am writing these reviews after nominations have been released, and I have no idea if Her will even receive a nod, but here I assert she deserves the nod. Now, for some, being nominated (especially in a first role), is the reward itself, and we both know that Her’ll be up against some talented and experienced actresses. If nominated, I fear she will not win.

Linktribution

Spoilers….Now earlier I mentioned that I sobbed in the end. True. Totally true. This hardass who beats a Hmong gang member, shoves his fists through glass windows, and pokes guns at asians and blacks alike, would be expected to seek out retribution in the same manner as he lived his life through the film. This wasn’t true. This isn’t how it ended. He made a decision for his new family and friends, made good with his dead wife and her priest, and found peace in salvation through his sacrifice of himself for Thao & Sue.

The ’72 Gran Torino that Eastwood never drives in the film weaves itself through the narrative as a harken back to a time when Walt worked for Ford (and put the drive shaft in on the line himself), an american car company, when his wife was alive and his sons weren’t as self-absorbed as they’ve become. Back to a time before when American was “American”. As Walt progressed, developed, and opened himself to Thao, Sue, and his neighbors, the Gran Torino became a symbols of manhood of Thao (who was given permission to take it for his first date) ad a rite of passage for him, as he is given this car, by Walt, in his will at the resolution of the film.

Sue’s simple survival of the rape and beating, Thao’s slow progression to manhood and succession, the priest’s realization of what living and dying really means, brings together a neighborhood, a people, and everything that Walt once felt stratified his neighborhood and his contemporary and disgusting life. A life that he finally lived for those around him, who he came to love.

I think it’s been a decade now since we began our annual Oscar party. The first one was Donna, Dana, me and a pizza, and by last year, it was catered. How fun. Beginning a year or two ago, I began seeing as many of the Oscar films as I could that were nominated. With a kid at home, it wasn’t like the wife and I could just run out whenever we wanted. We had to be creative. Most I saw alone. I am more obsessive with the whole concept. Back in the day we had over two months to catch the ones we wanted to see after nominations were announced, and now we have one more exactly. Ugh. So begins my yearly sojourn.

Today was the first film. I know nominations don’t actually come out until January 22nd, but there are certain movies that fit the Oscar mold. For example, if Kate Winslet is in it and it’s not a comedy, it’s nominated. If Streep, Dench, Washington, Smith, Eastwood, etc… is in it, it’s nominated. If it cost a shitload to make, it’s probably nominated. So today’s movie was a toss up between Gran Torino or Seven Pounds. Gran Torino was more recently released, and I heard great things (and one bad review that I intrigued me) about Seven Pounds, so here I went.

I will say right here and now, that these will pretty much all have SPOILERS. If that kinda stuff pisses you off, STOP READING NOW.

From Flickr via Cine Fanatico

The student who didn’t like (read: understand) Seven Pounds decided to tell me right away that Smith died by jellyfish in the end. Not cool. Not cool at all. Why would you do that to me? So I knew that much, but Joey said there was way more to it, but everytime i saw the damn jellyfish in the film, it sucked a little for me.

I remember seeing the trailer for this film awhile back, and I knew it was the kind of play where you’re just suppose to HAVE TO SEE IT because YOU NEED TO KNOW! And I can see why some people would be disappointed, if they can’t appreciate what the “it” really is.

Smith plays “Ben Thomas” an alleged IRS agent who seems much more (more much less) than that. For most of the first 80-90 minutes the audience isn’t really sure, albeit some people said they knew right away. What did I know? What did I learn? I knew that the jellyfish would kill him and that Emily’s pager would buzz. Pretty much it. And of course we all knew (from the trailer) that he’d give away the house.

I enjoyed the mystique of the film and didn’t mind the sections that were slower, and I understood relatively quickly that seven people had died and it was his fault. His fiancee being played by Smith’s real life with didn’t bother me at all, and I really enjoyed his relationship with Rosario Dawson’s Emily.

Many of my friends said they cried at the end, and yes, tears were forming for me, too, but I understood why and how. When his brother finally sits down with Emily and lays everything out for her (which was subtle enough) I felt like the payout was definitely there in the end. The one thing that did bother me though was that Will Smith, in this film, is looking like death warmed over. I don’t know if the Fresh Prince is getting stale (in appearance) or if he was suppose to look that bad, but it wasn’t something I could really get over in this film. Overall, great flick and would recommend to most intellectually minded people.

Sometime in the early 1990s during high school I began hanging out at the Beehive Coffeehouse on East Carson Street in the Southside of Pittsburgh. Some of my earlier memories were when it was only one store front wide (now it’s three), and we’d play Galaga in the back room by the leather couch. The female manager had blonde and pink hair, and she’d sleep back there. This must’ve been about later 1990 or early 1991. I know this because I could drive then, and I had my blue Dodge Colt. I remember several months where I’d make sure I came down here once a day even if it was just to grab a coffee and play some video games. In the summer, the doors would be open and it’d be muggy as hell here.

After high school I went away to Penn State , but none of the State College coffee houses could do this place justice. I would return on weekends and summers, and always be here. I knew the people from the locals who hung out here to the baristas (some of whom are still here!). I remember in 1992 seeing Jason Szalla hang work he did at Baldwin High School from the ceiling in the Beehive. I remember the different people who’d flirt with each other, and some of the girls who flirted with me. One of whom, in the late 1990s, I still know. Alicia talked to me one night for hours. She was a Fordham student who loved iguanas and worked at VH1. We still know her, and she is still here.

I remember playing cards here through the mid-1990s. Spades was the game, and each night we’d have several tables going all at once. Elliot was a character, and we can to really enjoy his company. One guy we played with had to run off to not go to jail. I think his name was Fruit. An odd fellow. Another guy was just wild. Donna and I ruled the table by this time.

Occasionally famous people would walk in. I saw Patrick Stewart near the front one night, and another night I met Robert Downey Jr buying coffee. He suggested I read Wonderboys which they were filming nearby. I read it that night at a front table. The whole thing.

I remember grad school. The Beehive was the place to study. I’d walk across the 10th street bridge from Duquesne University, and it didn’t matter if it was -10 with the wind chill factor. I’d still do it. I would sit here and write, read, study. I remember bringing my first laptop down here for the first time.

By this time my mother was hanging out here too. Everyone called her Mum. Even the old people. She was everyone’s mother. The funny thing was when we, her biological children, called her “mum” no one knew we were really the children. Jaime got in with Scott and Z the owners, and he followed them from project to project. I buried myself in books when I had to study and cards when I had some time off.

In the summer of 1998, I was in the Beehive when Donna returned from school for the summer. We were just friends then and nothing was going on. I told her to meet me at the Beehive. I still remember sitting in a large red booth ten feet from where I sit when she came in the door. That was May. By July we were back together, and we spent much of that summer in the Beehive.

By fall I was student teaching at Mt Lebanon High School and Donna was back at Lockhaven for her senior year. One night we went out to Dee’s, and I got drunk. I decided to head to the Beehive to sit it off and get some coffee. One of my students walked in! Not the best idea (although I was of age).

By summer of 1999 Donna and I were engaged and moved to Arizona. Alicia came to the wedding; she framed shots of the Beehive for us. Black and whites of some things we will never forget.

Since then, the first few years we’d try to come in. Slowly, it was shifting. We knew less people. The building expanded to a second nonsmoking room (perfect since it was always smokey in here!). My Mum stopped coming and Meghan moved to Colorado.

Until today now I could not tell you the last time I was here. 2005? 2004? People grow and change, but this place. This place stays the same. It’s always for those memories. Today I sit here. Christmas 2008 wondering when I will be back here. Maybe next Christmas (have no trips planned to PA until then), or maybe it won’t be until Claire is older and I can tell her the stories. We will see.

Final grades are due this week. Everything is coming together very quickly, and I’ve been sitting here at Paradise Bakery since they unlocked the door this morning. I’ve always recommended this place, but I am about to rethink that. Read below and please repost. (*Yes, I know other people do, too.)

Dear Paradise Bakery,
I am an online instructor who sits for hours in Paradise Bakeries around Chandler and Tempe, AZ working, grading, web developing. While I am here, I patronize you. I buy lunches, breakfasts, drinks and cookies from you all of the time. I appreciate your very fast wireless internet connections, and I recommend you to the multitudes of other instructors nationally and all of my students (about 320 students a year). This is advertising you can never buy.

I will respectfully await your reply email to these concerns,
Thank you,
Devon Adams

A while back Shelley invited us all out to Bond Night, and I was only half committed and mostly that was because Donna and I really don’t go out much anymore. Then I got an email from my wife (yes, probably sent from 30 feet away!) that I should get a sitter and go have fun, just make sure the sitter watches Claire at her house not ours so Donna could write.

I grew up in a Bond house. My dad’s obsessed and my father-in-law watches the Spike TV marathons. My favorite is still Never Say Never Again, and Duran Duran’s A View to a Kill still holds a special place in my heart. Pierce Brosnan as Bond was scary and didn’t work at all for me, which is maybe why I never gave Craig a chance in Casino Royale. I will admit I never saw it.

So tonight we hit On the Border with Biray and others (even Donna came to dinner!), and then we headed to the movie. I immediately realized they were referencing some things from Casino Royale, but I had a pretty good idea.

I was struck in the film by the filters and cinematography. They had things set up that made the film look “old.” More like early Connery Bond than anything since. I also really loved the jump shots and shaky camera angles. I flinched several times throughout. This was also a younger, darker Bond which alot of people are complaining about. Another comparison is to the Bourne movies (Side note: An acquaintance said that complaining that QoS is too much like Jason Bourne is like bitching that Adam West wasn’t in Dark Knight!).

After the film, I was talking to Shelley and mentioned my comments, and she explained that this Bond and Casino Royale before it were harkening back to a time before Dr. No. This is suppose to be pre-Connery, which I think it awesome! It’s like what Lucas tried to do with the second trilogy and failed. QoS is setting up what will later become campy mid-1980s Roger Moore Bond. Great movie. Now I need to see Casino Royale.

Ah yes, and for Bond girls. Camille (Olga Kurylenko) was pretty good, but Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton) is truly forever!

Ok ok I’ve posted about this before, and here I am again. There’s been a new wave of garbage here. Several of my students showed up recently to my 6:30AM zero hour class and they were tired. Very tired. Two of the girls then bounced into my room with these white and pink ball caps. They were giddy and hurried up to me to show me their new hats.

“Mr Adams, do you like our new hats we got last night?”
“No.”

The girls looked shocked, and asked why. Immediately, I went into a whole class diatribe since obviously half the class had been out the night before catching the midnight showing of High School Musical 3. They were all so excited about this film, and I just couldn’t believe this. I asked them what they think about girls like Vanessa Hudgens (who stars in these movies as an innocent high school girl) who has naked pictures of herself posted on the Internet. Their response was pretty much “So what?”.

So what? I can’t believe our teens today are so desensitized to the objectification of women that this is ok with them. Would these kids want their own naked photos posted? Would they even consider posing? Probably not. When I put it this way, there’s pose. But seriously. These are Disney movies! The Mouse House is suppose to put out these innocent, family products (and I know they don’t!), and then we have people like Hudgens (and Jamie Lynn Spears).

These students just shrugged and several have seen it 2, 3, and 4 times since! I just don’t get it. If you do, come on, please comment below. Explain this to me.

This is the world in which my three year old daughter will grow up, and it’s freaking me out.