Our Hope Beat Geert Wilders' Hate [Thank You, Netherlands!]

Dear friends, 

One small European country just struck a bright, beautiful blow for hope and unity!

After Brexit and Trump, everyone said the nationalist, racist Prime Minister candidate Wilders would win in the Netherlands. But the Dutch people overwhelmingly rejected his hate AND chose instead a beautiful diversity of environmentalists, progressives and decent democratic leaders.

We can make this the wall that stops the march of the far right. Let's celebrate the Dutch vote from every corner on earth and take the wind out of the sails of Trump-style politicians everywhere!

Add your name to the open thank you letter -- it will be published in newspapers in the Netherlands, the US and across Europe: 

ADD MY NAME

To the people of the Netherlands: Thank you for choosing hope, unity, and dialogue over hate, fear and old fascist rhetoric. By rejecting Geert Wilders you've helped stop the rise of the far right everywhere, and shown the world that what unites us can overcome the bigotry and lies used to divide us. We stand with you in fighting extremism, and pledge to do the same in our own countries. Yours sincerely,  ADD MY NAME

Dutch Avaazers marched and travelled the country to encourage citizens to vote for unity. This victory sends a message of warning to the white nationalists trying to grab power in upcoming elections in France and Germany that when we come together our hope will beat their hate. With deep thanks for this community,  Loup Dargent On behalf of Emma, Mia, Antonia, Christoph, Anneke, Lisa and the whole Avaaz team. Bonus pic: Apologies for the mispelling of his name... it was one of "those" days ;-) Click here to see tweet on Twitter...

The Love Witch: A Film About The Perversities Of Desire That Will Soon Be A Cult Feminist Classic

The Love Witch

By Marion Gibson, University of Exeter

Elaine is a gorgeous witch who has been abandoned by her husband. She tells us that she is looking for new love: she wants a manly man, someone who will be fascinated by her womanly charms (witchy puns intended) but remain the strong, silent type, pay no attention to her needs, and generally treat her as a trophy. A specific and peculiar desire, perhaps, but attainable. This may not sound like the premise for a thought-provoking film about feminism, but Anna Biller’s latest movie, The Love Witch, is just that: and it’s odd, shocking and beautiful to boot.


Elaine (Samantha Robinson) goes out looking for love: seducing a man she meets in the park, ensnaring her neighbour’s husband. But even when she finds what she wants and is appropriately adored, lusted after, and treated as an object, her love affairs tend to end fatally. It quickly becomes clear that “love” is not what she really wants – she seems more interested in power, or exploitation, or revenge. As we follow her on her quest, things get bloody.

Out for love … or revenge? (Icon)

But of course, Elaine is not a realistic character, and The Love Witch isn’t about real men and women. Instead, it’s about the pursuit of fantasy, especially unreasonable fantasies of the perfect man or woman. And it’s also heavily influenced by its director’s interest in the pleasures afforded by genre films: the Hammer horror, the 50s romantic comedy, the hey-nonny-nonny musical, the film noir.

By slowing down the action, quoting from lots of classic movies, and making her actors ham up their roles, Biller pushes us beyond the simple story of a lovelorn witch. The audience is encouraged to laugh at the plot and its stereotypes. What we end up with is a sophisticated reflection on the way old films offer us gendered pleasures, especially those involving the square-jawed cop and the soft-focus pussycat.

Even the critical vocabulary The Love Witch conjures up (as you can see) reeks of the mid-20th century, when men were men and women were women, or pretended to be. At times, you expect Cary Grant or Grace Kelly to walk into the frame, smoking without guilt or ash, grimly flirtatious, a walking stereotype of the debonair playboy or the femme fatale. Why, viewers might ask themselves, do we still enjoy these films? What do we get out of looking at these actually quite harmfully unreal heroes and heroines?

A dream wedding. (Icon)

This makes The Love Witch sound like a joyless argument for censoring cinema. But in fact it’s the reverse. By all means, it suggests, let’s enjoy the ludicrous gender politics of mid-century Hollywood, so long as we know it’s ludicrous. Let’s play at being Doris Day or Victor Mature or Rock Hudson – after all, they were “playing” themselves in every sense of the word. Let’s pretend we’re fairytale princesses, and knights on white chargers. And, of course, witches.

The film goes all out to help us enjoy playing with these ideas. Its colours and textures are delicious, filled with scarlet lipsticks, creamy cakes, pastel veils and blushing roses. Samantha Robinson, as Elaine, goes from one breath-taking outfit to another, moving between 1955 and 1975 with equally gorgeous results. And the sets that surround her are crammed with design classics: cars, lamps, hats, bags, chairs, rugs that you immediately want to buy on eBay.

Out for tea. (Icon)

But there’s also the odd jam jar of urine, and splash of menstrual blood. Although it is broadly a romp, the film tips delicately from romantic comedy to exploitation horror, quoting every witchcraft film and TV show you could name: The Wicker Man, Charmed, Bewitched, Practical Magic, To the Devil a Daughter, Suspiria, Season of the Witch as well as a host of others.

Interest in witchcraft is at an all-time high in popular culture, with Harry Potter on the one hand and American Horror Story: Coven on the other: one a satisfying empowerment fantasy for children and teenagers, the other an adult festival of sex and violence dramatising female power and the strengths and limitations of sisterhood. The Love Witch is closer to the latter.

But because it’s not tied to a week-by-week suspenseful plot or ratings data, The Love Witch can wander off in absurdist or Brechtian directions whenever Biller wants it to. Bertolt Brecht’s drama aimed to show audiences the political facts behind personal stories, drawing attention to capitalist exploitation by breaking down the audience’s ability to invest in the characters he put in front of them. When characters started singing or directly addressing the audience with political statements, viewers couldn’t hide behind enjoyment of the plot or speculation about their fictional motives, but had to confront bigger economic truths.

The Love Witch works in a similar way at times, although its focus is gender, not economics. The result is that viewers who don’t know what to expect might sometimes be taken aback by sections where the acting is deliberately wooden or the plot is put on hold for a sing-song or a lecture on feminism. But if you know something about mid-20th century theatre, you should be greatly entertained.

There are also reflections on witchcraft as a pagan religion in the film, which will interest contemporary witches, and perhaps enrage some modern pagans. Scenes set in a Wiccan coven suggest that far from liberating women, witchcraft as it was imagined in the 1960s and 1970s simply replicated patriarchal exploitation. Elaine strips and submits to sex with the cult leader in a way that looks more like abuse than empowerment. Her witch friends are creepy pseudo-feminists, and she herself a “bad witch”, trailing madness and death in her wake. This depiction is more about paganism in film than in reality.

Modern witchcraft. (Icon)

The Love Witch is a sophisticated collage of filmic history and as part of that it plays with stereotypes of the witch in popular culture. It’s funny and sad, but above all it is a visual delight and it makes you think. If that sounds like your chalice of hellbroth, then The Love Witch is for you. I enjoyed it, and I suspect before long I’ll be discussing it in the classroom as a cult classic.

About Today's Contributor:
Marion Gibson, Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literatures, University of Exeter

This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

Getty Images And MuslimGirl.com Partner To Promote Positive Images Of Modern Muslim Women

Muslim Women via Getty Images

Getty Images, a world leader in visual communications, and MuslimGirl.com, the largest Muslim women's online platform in the United States, today announced an exclusive content partnership that aims to tackle misrepresentation of Muslim women in marketing and advertising. Together, they've created an offering of high quality images that authentically represent Muslim women in a fresh and contemporary light.

The partnership seeks to diversify the depiction of Muslim women online and flood the internet with positive imagery to push back against broad misconceptions of the Islamic community. Joining the Getty Images community as a contributor, MuslimGirl.com aims to provide a collection of images that seeks to take back the narrative and raise the profile of the young modern Muslim woman.

Available for commercial use to encourage a more positive depiction of Muslim women, images feature girls with and without a hijab, are shown doing every day activities, at home, with friends, and in the workplace, and their style and strength is front and center. In each photo, they are portrayed as the protagonist to project and normalize a modern view of Muslim women today.

Embed from Getty Images

"Getty Images has a deep belief in the power of visuals to incite change and shift attitudes," said Pam Grossman, Director of Visual Trends at Getty Images.  "Visual literacy is so prolific with today's generation, that photos are now absorbed and processed with unprecedented immediacy. Positive imagery can have an impact on fighting stereotypes, celebrating diversity, and making communities feel empowered and represented in society.  We're so proud to partner with MuslimGirl.com to increase the visibility of these kinds of images in the world."

"One of the ways I open up my talks is by asking the audience to search 'Muslim women' images on their phone browsers, which is always met with their awe at the unsettling results," says Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, founder and editor-in-chief of MuslimGirl.com. "I don't want to be able to use that example anymore, and I could not be prouder to partner with Getty Images on finally taking on such an important and influential task."

Pam Grossman adds: "Keyword searches for Muslim have gone up 107% on GettyImages.com over the past year, so it's even more important to ensure images like these are surfaced at the top of our results."

>> View the MuslimGirl.com images here <<

Embed from Getty Images

SOURCE: press.gettyimages.com

UK: Stop Rupert Murdoch Taking Over Sky! [Petition]

Rupert Murdoch - image via 38degrees.org.uk

Fresh from my email's inbox: Rupert Murdoch is at it again!

Read the following email that was sent to me by the peeps at 38 Degrees and, as usual, act accordingly. Thanks in advance.

Stay safe!

Loup Dargent 

The Email:

"Dear Loup,

Urgent: Rupert Murdoch has just submitted his bid for a total takeover of Sky TV. [1] If this deal goes ahead he’ll control what’s beamed into 22 million homes - making him the most powerful media owner in the UK. [2]

We have just 10 days to push the government to block the bid. [3] Karen Bradley, the minister in charge of newspapers and TV, has the final say. She could refer the bid to OfCom - an independent body with the power to stop Murdoch. [4] Or, she could wave it through.

Last time he launched a takeover bid in 2011, public opposition sank Murdoch's chances, thanks to the phone-hacking scandal. [5] Now he’s hoping we’ve forgotten his past dodgy dealings. A huge petition, delivered on Monday before time runs out, will prove that he’s wrong: the public don’t want Murdoch to get more power.


Loup, please add your name now. It only takes a minute:
SIGN THE PETITION

Murdoch’s power grab will give him even more control of what news we see. One man's personal opinions and politics would skew the news that million of us watch and read. Democracy only works if voters can get at the facts - fake news, biased reporting, and Murdoch's media power grabs all add up to a big threat to democracy.

10 days is all we have to convince Karen Bradley, the media minister, to tell OfCom to investigate. Right now, she'll will be huddling with her advisors, trying to figure out what to do. And you can bet that Murdoch’s lobbyists will be throwing everything they can at influencing her. All of our signatures, added together, are our best bet for outweighing that pressure.

Please add your name to petition now:
SIGN THE PETITION

Thanks for being involved,

Tom, Amy, Maggie, David and the 38 Degrees team"

NOTES:

• [1] Independent: Rupert Murdoch moves step closer to full takeover of Sky
• Gov.uk: Department of Culture, Media and Sport press release: Statement in response to the formal notification of the proposed merger between Sky and 21st Century Fox
• [2] The Guardian: From films to Fox News: Rupert Murdoch’s far-reaching media empire
• [3] Gov.uk: Department of Culture, Media and Sport press release: Statement in response to the formal notification of the proposed merger between Sky and 21st Century Fox
• [4] See note 3
• [5] 38 Degrees: Victory! Murdoch withdraws BSkyB bid

Virtual Reality Calling for Humanity

RCS Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Calling supporting Video, Voice and Chat by Summit Tech (CNW Group/Summit Tech)

Summit Tech  has launched real-time RCS virtual reality and augmented reality calling – VRcalling.com.  The solution allows wireless carriers to add support for RCS services such as IR.92/94 from within VR/AR environments.

Whereas many VR experiences isolate users from real life, Summit begins by connecting real people through real-time 360° live video streams including support for virtual environments.  Users connect through globally standardized communication services such as RCS and VoLTE ensuring mass reachability by allowing VR users to share their experience with, well, virtually anyone with a smartphone.

Oculus Rift, HTC Vive or Gear VR users connect to live VR streams, then by simply VRcalling their friends on RCS or ViLTE enabled devices, users share their experiences in real-time – no app required. Additionally, while connected to streams, users can publish their social presence allowing for communication between any user connected to the stream. VR calling enables new, high-value experiences such as:

• Immersive live-streaming entertainment - by connecting to 360° streams from sporting events or music concerts, carriers can put their subscribers in the center of the action, allowing them to look around and experience the location like a physical attendee while sharing the stream with friends through RCS.
• Immersive meetings/training – by giving visual context and 360° views of attendees and location, immersive business meetings bridge the divide between flat telepresence sessions and physical attendance.
• Immersive edutainment – students can explore educational locations like museums, galleries and observatories and interact with students in distant locations through overlaid video calling and group chat.

RCS is the next generation communication and conversation platform being deployed by operators with services ranging from enriched calling to chatbots. Not limited to RCS smartphones, users access VR calling through VR headsets or AR glasses for immersive experiences, or tablets and web browsers as easily accessible alternatives.

Alido Di Giovanni, President of Summit commented: "We want to empower operators to rapidly launch VR/AR services and secure new revenue streams. To facilitate carriers in piloting RCS VR, we are also demonstrating a white-label IMS cloud service."

Summit Tech will also demonstrate the innovative IMS-enabled connected car and operator-managed connected living services supporting Cat M1 and NB-IoT.

SOURCE: Summit Tech