Whats wrong with Cinderella

Peggy Orentstein writes in the NYT magazine, about the Princess ideal that young girls are subjected to in American society.

when my own girl makes her daily beeline for the dress-up corner of her preschool classroom — something I’m convinced she does largely to torture me — I worry about what playing Little Mermaid is teaching her. I’ve spent much of my career writing about experiences that undermine girls’ well-being, warning parents that a preoccupation with body and beauty (encouraged by films, TV, magazines and, yes, toys) is perilous to their daughters’ mental and physical health. Am I now supposed to shrug and forget all that? If trafficking in stereotypes doesn’t matter at 3, when does it matter? At 6? Eight? Thirteen?

The Pursuit of Happyness, The Holiday and Dhoom 2

The holiday movie that I recommend watching is The Pursuit of Happyness and maybe The Holiday.Dhoom 2 i do not recommend.

Pursuit deals with poverty and hardwork and sheer grit that leads Chris Gardner (Will Smith) and his son Christopher (Jaden Christopher Smith) out of poverty in San Francisco in the 1980's. What was interesting was the representation of a father son relationship within the African American community, where the father did not disappear from the scene, but was actively trying to take care of his child. A review of “The Pursuit of Happyness” by Jeanne Aufmuth here

“You got a dream, you gotta protect it. If you want something, go get it. Period.” Words of wisdom passed from struggling medical supply salesman Chris Gardner (Smith) to his 5-year old son Christopher (real-life son Jaden Christopher Syre Smith). The sentiment bears heavy meaning considering the hardships facing Gardner as a suddenly single parent endeavoring to break off a piece of the American dream by enrolling in a risky unpaid internship program with high-profile stockbroker Dean Witter.

Salon reviews it here.

This is a movie about the state of not having any money, and about how not having money isn't just a bald economic fact but, particularly if you have children, a spongy specter that expands to fill every minute of your day. "The Pursuit of Happyness" isn't a tract about poverty in America, and perhaps partly because it's a mainstream, big-studio movie (and not a grainy indie with junkies and squalling babies), some critics have already complained that it makes homelessness look too clean, too neat and tidy. (I guess we like our movie poor to be easily identifiable by their dirty clothes.)

The Holiday stars Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black and Jude Law and deals with what happens when one changes homes over the holiday.

See a review here

Iris is in love with a man who is about to marry another woman. Across the globe, Amanda realizes the man she lives with has been unfaithful. Two women who have never met and live 6000 miles apart, find themselves in the exact same place. They meet online at a home exchange website and impulsively switch homes for the holiday. Iris moves into Amanda's L.A. house in sunny California as Amanda arrives in the snow covered English countryside. Shortly after arriving at their destinations, both women find the last thing either wants or expects: a new romance. Amanda is charmed by Iris' handsome brother Graham and Iris, with inspiration provided by legendary screenwriter Arthur, mends her heart when she meets film composer Miles.

Iris (Kate Winslet) holds this movie together, it is a light hearted comedy. It is good to go to it with no expectations, and you might be pleasantly surprised.

I did see Dhoom 2 finally and other than it being a slick production with sexy bodies, cool stunts, poor music and a general upbeat feel, it was a disappointment. It lacked a story or any coherence. Bipasha Basu was an Indian girl and then she was suddenly Brazilian. I guess I had no idea what was going on. The chemistry between Hrithik and Aishwarya was strong, more than with any of her other co-stars including Abhishek who seemed to be mumbling through the movie.
Namrata Joshi gives it a kinder review here.

Nadine Gordimer, No Cold Kitchen

Interesting conflict between Nadine Gordimer and her biographer Ronald Suresh Roberts detailed in the N.Y.T.. His book "No Cold Kitchen", was originally under contract to Farrar, Straus & Giroux in the United States and Bloomsbury in Britain , both houses — which also publish Gordimer — declined to publish it after Gordimer expressed objections to the manuscript and accused Roberts of breach of trust. “We weren’t satisfied with some aspects of the book,” said Jonathan Galassi, the president and publisher of Farrar, Straus, who acquired the book in 1998. “We asked for revisions and we haven’t heard from him.” Instead, Roberts published the book last fall in South Africa with STE, a self-described black empowerment publishing house.

The Gordimer-Roberts dispute is emblematic of the larger political situation in South Africa, highlighting in particular the uncertain role of white anti-apartheid activists now that the African National Congress has become the government. Gordimer, who has been active with the A.N.C. since the ’70s, when it was an illegal organization, may still be lionized abroad, but at home she finds herself criticized from all sides. Some find her too beholden to the A.N.C., while others have accused her of betraying its revolutionary promise by pointing to the government’s shortcomings.

I just finished reached the Pick Up, a wonderful book by Nadine Gordimer. It was about the an illegal from North Africa, working in South Africa. She is steadily becoming one of my favourite authors.

To Do Lists: Give Birth before New Years.

Scary article in N.Y.T. about parents planning to give birth before the new year in order to get a bigger tax break. My Lamaze teacher, mentioned that, but it is horrid to see how mainstream it has became.

In the last 15 years, there has been a huge increase in the number of births that are induced with drugs or come by Caesarean section. In either case, parents or doctors can often schedule a baby’s arrival on a day of their choosing.

Not surprisingly, they tend to avoid weekends and holidays, when doctors have other plans, hospitals are short of staff and the possibility of an unfortunate birthday — Christmas Day, anyone? — looms. During holiday weeks, births have become increasingly crowded into the weekdays surrounding the holiday.

Over this same period — since the early 1990s — the federal government has been steadily increasing the tax breaks for having a child. For parents to claim the full amount of any of these breaks in a given year, a child must simply be born by 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31. If the baby arrives a few minutes later, the parents are often more than a thousand dollars poorer.

Wake Up, Employers: Working Moms Are Giving Up

Alternet has an article by Courtney E. Martin, on why working moms are leaving the workforce. According to her the fault lies with rigid and inflexible work rules, rather than any Martha Stewart fantasies.

While old guard feminists have been busy pointing fingers at young, frivolous co-eds, ignorant of the legacy they have inherited, they should be placing the blame where it is most deserved: in the boardrooms where inflexible and sometimes even inhumane work/family policy is established and in the government offices where little legislation is ever written to protect working parents.

The true oath

Inspiring story in the outlook about urban educated doctors going into rural areas in India and providing much needed medicare.

These highs and lows are woven into the daily life of a very small number of doctors scattered across the country who've opted to offer cheap, high-quality care to rural populations caught between "quackery and crookery", as Prof Amartya Sen once put it. In settings like Ganiyari, or Sittlingi in rural Tamil Nadu, where doctors Regi George and Lalitha Regi work among adivasis, you see doctors as you may never have done: non-intimidating, empathetic, humbled by their patients' struggle to make a living off the land; maintaining detailed case notes for the hundreds of patients who flock to their clinics.

Nicaragua the next tourist destination

Nicaragua
seems to be an upcoming tourist destination. Daniel Ortega's recent victory not withstanding. I visited Nicaragua in 1990-91 and loved it, the people were warm and friendly, and i got a lot of practise in speaking Spanish. I hope the tourist influx does not spoil the environment and make the people into husslers for the American dollar.