In Which I Reveal My Vulnerable Low Culture-Loving Underbelly

I just rewatched "Made of Honor," starring Patrick Dempsey, a surprisingly good actress who doesn't appear to have gotten work since, and Kadeem "Dwayne Wayne" Johnson. The first time I watched this movie I was out in California, and it damned near made me cry with homesickness: the romance between the characters is cute but forgettable, but the love letter that director write to the city of New York? Pass me a cigarette.

But that's not what I'm writing about right now: "Made of Honor," after all, is faintly respectable. No, it's much worse than that.

See, in the movie, Patrick Demsey's womanizing character is at least partially explained away by his much-married lech of a father, whom we meet upon the cusp of his 5th marriage, negotiating how many weekly blow-job go in the pre-nup with his 20-something bride to be via cell-phone wielding divorce attorney. And then we cut to the reception, featuring Kanye's "Gold-Digger."

Yep, it's another Kanye post! I really do have the most bizarre love-hate relationship with that man, only it's love-love tinged with a faint resignation for positions like his not reading. And, oh yeah, the misogyny.

But, allow me to backtrack: being all uncool 19th c. academic, I managed to miss "Gold-Digger" when it first came out. I didn't even know who it was by: all I knew was that the first line was "Now I ain't sayin' she a gold digger ....'" I snorted inappropriately when it came on, thought "Meta!" and liked all the characters in the movie just a little bit more. I also knew that the song got caught in my damned head. So, being me, I researched it.

Peaked at No. 1, huh? Eeeeeeenteresting. Popularity always reflects cultural concerns, and we're all aware of the persistent fear of grasping, greedy, hungry, consuming women (see also, bridezilla). But what I sort of love about this song is the second-string story. "What second-string story?" I hear you say. "Why are you listening intently to bad rap?" I hear you say. "Stop channeling that damn Onion article," I hear you say. But wait!

SO. Our first narrative overlays Jamie Foxx revising the lyrics to "I Got a Woman" and features lyrics like " If you ain't no punk, holla, we want pre-nup!" Very traditional "bro's before ho's" stuff, focusing on Foxx, West, and some dude who's playing the feckless fellow in the second narrative. That second narrative has Kanye addressing the ladies in the crowd, saying "Now I ain't sayin' you a gold digger, you got needs ...." before moving into a story of a lady standing by her man only to be left when she "gets on." Between that and the way the video is shot - a shot of a merry, unrepentant young woman sticking her tongue out at the camera at a line about a man discovering that he is not, in fact, the baby-daddy (after 18 years of child support), for example - it completely undermines any actual anger against or disapproval of women. If anything, I'd argue it fits very neatly into the Black trickster narratives: think, Invisible Man.

Well, I'd argue it if I could figure out a place to send it ....

All I'm saying is, man's a feminist. Bless.

Unrelated: of course he's friends with John Mayer. Of course. How I hope they go to fashion shows together ....

In Which I Reveal My Vulnerable Low Culture-Loving Underbelly

I just rewatched "Made of Honor," starring Patrick Dempsey, a surprisingly good actress who doesn't appear to have gotten work since, and Kadeem "Dwayne Wayne" Johnson. The first time I watched this movie I was out in California, and it damned near made me cry with homesickness: the romance between the characters is cute but forgettable, but the love letter that director write to the city of New York? Pass me a cigarette.

But that's not what I'm writing about right now: "Made of Honor," after all, is faintly respectable. No, it's much worse than that.

See, in the movie, Patrick Demsey's womanizing character is at least partially explained away by his much-married lech of a father, whom we meet upon the cusp of his 5th marriage, negotiating how many weekly blow-job go in the pre-nup with his 20-something bride to be via cell-phone wielding divorce attorney. And then we cut to the reception, featuring Kanye's "Gold-Digger."

Yep, it's another Kanye post! I really do have the most bizarre love-hate relationship with that man, only it's love-love tinged with a faint resignation for positions like his not reading. And, oh yeah, the misogyny.

But, allow me to backtrack: being all uncool 19th c. academic, I managed to miss "Gold-Digger" when it first came out. I didn't even know who it was by: all I knew was that the first line was "Now I ain't sayin' she a gold digger ....'" I snorted inappropriately when it came on, thought "Meta!" and liked all the characters in the movie just a little bit more. I also knew that the song got caught in my damned head. So, being me, I researched it.

Peaked at No. 1, huh? Eeeeeeenteresting. Popularity always reflects cultural concerns, and we're all aware of the persistent fear of grasping, greedy, hungry, consuming women (see also, bridezilla). But what I sort of love about this song is the second-string story. "What second-string story?" I hear you say. "Why are you listening intently to bad rap?" I hear you say. "Stop channeling that damn Onion article," I hear you say. But wait!

SO. Our first narrative overlays Jamie Foxx revising the lyrics to "I Got a Woman" and features lyrics like " If you ain't no punk, holla, we want pre-nup!" Very traditional "bro's before ho's" stuff, focusing on Foxx, West, and some dude who's playing the feckless fellow in the second narrative. That second narrative has Kanye addressing the ladies in the crowd, saying "Now I ain't sayin' you a gold digger, you got needs ...." before moving into a story of a lady standing by her man only to be left when she "gets on." Between that and the way the video is shot - a shot of a merry, unrepentant young woman sticking her tongue out at the camera at a line about a man discovering that he is not, in fact, the baby-daddy (after 18 years of child support), for example - it completely undermines any actual anger against or disapproval of women. If anything, I'd argue it fits very neatly into the Black trickster narratives: think, Invisible Man.

Well, I'd argue it if I could figure out a place to send it ....

All I'm saying is, man's a feminist. Bless.

Unrelated: of course he's friends with John Mayer. Of course. How I hope they go to fashion shows together ....