Isn't that Special?

The recipe is getting old: take a savant, somebody who plays golf better than any other human, or can cut on the bias, or throws a lot of touchdown passes, and surround him with sycophants and barrels full of money. Praise everything he says or does no matter how solipsistic or selfish. And what do you get? Exactly what the adoring public deserves. Even Galliano’s drug abuse was seen by many of the most prominent people in fashion as an adorable foible, like wearing a monocle or writing with a fountain pen. “Oh, that’s just John,” one of France’s better known fashion people once told me. “Obsessive indulgence is his thing.
--John Galliano's Explosion, by Michael Specter, March 2, 2011, The New Yorker

Axel Jordache

Vot about ze sins of ze fodders? You believe ze kids have to pay for vot zare fodders did?

Rudy Jordache

I’m not so sure that’s true.

Axel Jordache

(mocking laughter) You’d better hope it izn’t.

-- Irwin Shaw, Rich Man, Poor Man

When Van Halen was stomping through arenas and making more money in one concert than most see in a year they had a cause and a clause written into a bevy of demands in their agreement ("tour rider" in industry jingo) as legend holds it; indulge in "the good life" to Zeppelin-esque proportions and no brown ones as in M&Ms. Whether or not the clause is true, the story served to make people react with a disapproving shake of the head and raised eyebrows. It also served as a way to capsulize the cult of personality that the late 70's had blueprinted, the go-go 80's nurtured and that now, in the super-predatory era of bankers and their cronies has been juiced up to cosmic clown proportions.

Van Halen and I share one thing in common; we're from sycophant city, where every type of jerkoff with any kind of celebrity is nauseatingly babied so long as the machine deems them worthy. LA's also home to the has-beens, a lot in some ways even more sorry than the never weres, standing on the corner of Hollywood and Vine pathetically trying to light the Hollywood pipe with just their fingers. At least the never weres eventually learn the hard way and give up. Well, most of them.

John Stewart had a great line in his interview with Terry Gross (NPR's Fresh Air) about how he came from a generation and time that would call you out if you thought yourself above the fray.

Oh, you think you're special? You're not special.

Not in today's world of special in a can, where the bargains change daily and the menu runs deep, across industries, spans continents and even co-opts the homeless. Need I mention golden throat Ted Williams? Here's a dude that evidently is a serial abuser on many fronts, and yet with the first glint of Youtube ho-dom, he's given corporate gigs and courted by money. Like he's special.

The truth always evens things out though, at least in reality, sometimes with humor and irony but not enough in raw dollars let alone Federal Grab Your Ankles and Grimace Prison. So Betty Ford was a drunk, Newt, Henry Hyde and half of the Hill are hos and former chair of the senate banking committee during the whole subprime real estate scandal Chris Dodd had not one but two sweetheart conflict of interest deals with Angelo "The Toxicator" Mozilo.

So if John Galliano spits venom, is accused of being a Jew hater and Dior fires him, we should not lose site that despite such public floggings some people very much are special. Welfare thieves and their psycho fuck enablers, for instance, are the specials of the day, perhaps in the Special Hall of Fame; Jamie Dimon, Lloyd Blankfein, Chuck Prince, Ken Lewis, John Thain, Joey Cassano, the aforementioned Chris Dodd, Phil Gramm, his wife Wendy Gramm, Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, Hank Paulson....

Beyond his homespun way of talking on the real, I loved Malcom's pragmatism. He also had what no one on the so-called left has these days; elephant balls. I can hear Malcolm today saying:

Why is it that when a clothing designer is accused of being anti-semitic he's publicly outed and loses his prominent job. A TV star is also outed and flogged. They both lose their livelihoods. But when the corporate board of Texaco is caught red-handed--ON TAPE--uttering racist remarks, two white guys get suspended and it's business as usual? Oh, they pay a fine and do some piddly public relations -- you know, that's when they say what they think you want to hear but don't believe in their heart of hearts. No, my question to you is, if a corporation is an individual, and John Galliano and Charlie Sheen are humiliated to no end, lose their livelihood and are damaged goods, then why is Texaco, some fifteen years after we know the way they feel about black folks, why, if a corporation is a person, is Texaco still working at its livelihood?

Jane Elliott

As we enter into a hopefully new and improved phase of race relations with B-rack's election, I thought it'd be appropriate to talk about a true genius on the subject. In my opinion, very few white people really "get it" when it comes to race and power. The poster boy for white anti-racists is Tim Wise, who, while I think he makes sense, truth be told he says nothing that people of color haven't covered before. His value is in that hopefully, whites will listen.

Jane Elliott is far more valuable as a white anti-racist, her legend cemented in her famous "brown eyes/blue eyes" exercise. There's plenty of info on the web about her that I need not repeat. What is remarkable to consider is the context within which she originally devised her exercise, the crucible of the 60's in America. Because while that time is marked by its historic turbulence, it was also an awakening of a new consciousness emerging. What I mean is that as an awakening, it was the beginnings, and as such, there was still plenty of resistance, ignorance and bundles of naivete. In this setting, in the tiny town of predominantly white Riceville, Iowa, greatness emerged.

In the 80's, as I was about to go back to school, PBS's venerable series Frontline, ran a special commemorative viewing of A Class Divided, the documentary about Elliott's famous experiment. (Originally, I believe, it was called The Eye of the Storm. Frontline re-broadcast the original film, and brought back the students as grown ups to talk about their experiences) It is without a doubt one of the top ten films I've ever seen, insightful and moving like none other. It has, as I like to quote in these situations, what Breton said of Cesaire:

That unmistakable major tone...

It is so painfully and beautifully human.

I've been lucky in my life. A few years back Ms. Elliott came to UCLA to talk, and we got to meet. She is so friendly, down to earth and practical. More - and this is where her work is far in advance of Tim Wise - she goes beyond talking; she does. Jane Elliott transcends teaching, or rather, she elevates teaching to the level of great art.

There is a pristine moment toward the end of the film, after the children, having gone through the exercise, like little wounded birds, emerge from their own intense crucible within a crucible. And they are joyous. As you watch, if you have a heart, it soars with every kid.

If you value my opinion, or even if you don't, take a chance. If you care about race relations, what real education can and should be, watch. Don't do it now; wait until you have a quiet moment this weekend. Eat first, grab a cup of coffee or tea. Relax. Turn off the boob tube, your cell. And devote an hour of your life to this film. I promise you, if you care about what it is to be human, in this world, at this time, you will see.

Watch A Class Divided

A Tale of Two Paris Burnings: Yeah, that's Racist

While some dark-skinned peeps in France are fed up with France and vice versa, let's talk about closer to home.

While for the most part discussions about racism involve consious (and sometimes unconscious) acts against disenfranchised groups, defacto racism is virtually never discussed.

Case in point: Paris Hilton. http://www.spotlightingnews.com/article.php?news=1072

A car driven by her boyfriend of the month hits and runs with her in it. Later, the LAPD detain them, and let them go. On tape, Paris - out of her car and no doubt exercising her "communication skills" - can be heard as she walks away, "We love the police."

The LAPD - LAPD! - let them go.

Let's be frank: If that's a car full of average black or brown folks, it's hurtin' time.

By letting these (white) folks go, after an alleged FELONY, that's inverse racism.

Hey Aaron McGruder - HOLLA ATCHA BOY!!!