Thursday 25 July 2013
Spike Lee Kickstarter Fail; Oxford Dictionary Adds Gay Marriage; UK Same Sex Relationships
Posted on 07:57 by Unknown
Spike Lee Kickstarter Fail
They are saying that this summer has been the worst in years for feature films, and box office sales are down record levels in some cases. It's not completely dismal, and some things are working, but that seems to be thanks to the biggest stars that always seem to draw people into the theaters, not the content of the films. I know that when I see Greg Kinear's name on a film, I'm going to like it.
This is telling, and a sign of the times. It's been happening in publishing for the last five years:
But the movies are undergoing yet another period of transformation. With the increasing appeal of cable and digital entertainment, and the bottoming-out of the home video market, Hollywood has tried to lure moviegoers with bigger (and more expensive) 3-D extravaganzas.
As usual, there's rebellion in the works from filmmakers who feel marginalized by the studios' shrinking purview. Spike Lee on Monday announced that he would seek financing for his next feature film through the online crowd-sourcing site Kickstarter.
People are spending thousands of dollars to design custom home theaters and they either stream or buy/rent on demand now. Tony and I haven't watched a DVD or a video in ages. We either stream or rent on demand. Most of the people I know do the same thing.
But that line about Spike Lee and kickstarter bothers me. I've been a supporter of kickstarter before, in many cases. I think that it's a great way for "starving" artists to get a jumpstart and prove to the world they have talent and that talent always wins out in the end. I've even contributed to a few projects. But when I see people like Spike Lee taking hard earned money from people who haven't got a fraction of what he's worth, it really irritates me. In other words, mortgage the mansion, spend and invest your own money, and back your own projects, Spike. That's what I do with my indie books, because it wouldn't feel right taking money from people that way to me. In other words, Spike, put your OWN money where big your mouth is.
These Hollywood people who have started hocking people on kickstarter really bothers me to no end. It's as if they have this sense of entitlement, and it's changing my opinion of kickstarter. There's an old saying that goes something like this, and it reminds me of Spike Lee begging for money: He cried poor mouth with two loaves of bread under each arm.
Oxford Dictionary Adds Gay Marriage
I'd heard that the Oxford English Dictionary was thinking about revising and adding gay marriage, but now it seems official.
Evidently, they are constantly watching words all the time to see how they change and how they reflect what we are trying to communicate. Communication is constantly evolving, and many times the changes are indicative of common usage.
As it stands, OxfordDictionaries.com defines marriage as being a ‘formal union of a man and a woman, typically as recognised by law, by which they become husband and wife.’
In a reference, it says marriage could also be ‘(in some jurisdictions) a union between partners of the same sex’.
UK Same Sex Relationships
In this article, they dive into same sex relationships and the issues that can, and often do, arise. The problem is that those in same sex relationships aren't always prepared for what's coming along, and they tend to jump into relationships without knowing anything. This is one reason I've been so worried about younger gay couples running out to get married right away. And I've posted many times about how older gay couples were excellent role models for Tony and me when we first started out.
They are asking people for advice in what looks like an interesting survey. I would have taken it myself, but it says the survey is nationwide in the UK, and I assume that doesn't include US residents. In any event, I found some of the definitions about how they define same sex relationships to be excellent.
Researchers at Sunderland and Leicester Universities invite you to take part in a UK-wide survey, to understand what you do when things go wrong in your same-sex, bisexual and/or trans relationships. Recent Equality legislation requires that services respond appropriately to those in same-sex, bi and/or trans relationships who might need help or advice. We believe that the best way to ensure this is to ask you about your experiences and what you need, so that we can feed that back to them.
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