Donna Freitas: January 2007 Archives

Last week my husband returned from Seattle on Delta Airlines, and told me he had some "Idol Chatter blog-worthy" news: As they crossed the country at 35,000 feet, they were treated to quite the interesting version of the Golden Globe-winning "The Queen." All the references to "God" were bleeped out, he explained in shock. And not just the "Lord in vain" kind--but the "God save the Queen" kind too. As one after the other reference to God was edited out of the film, people all around him began questioning whether or not it was just them, or had somebody censored the film.

Turns out, they weren't imagining things!

The Washington Post reports that yes, it's true, "all mentions of God are bleeped out of a version of the film distributed to Delta and some other airlines," and passengers have been hearing characters delivering lines in the following manner: "(Bleep) bless you, ma'am." God is edited out a total of seven times.

Their explanation? It was a rookie employee blunder:

Jeff Klein, president of Jaguar Distribution, the Studio City, Calif., company that supplied the movie to the airlines earlier this month, said it was a mistake, committed by an overzealous and inexperienced employee who had been told to edit out all profanities and blasphemies.

"A reference to God is not taboo in any culture that I know of," Klein said. "We excise foul language, excessive violence and nudity.

Who knew that God could be such a dirty word? Presumably Delta will either stop showing the film or begin screening a newly edited version, though no comment has been made by Delta about where they go from here. "The Queen" is still listed as in-flight entertainment on Delta's website.

I may not be a comic book junkie, nor have I been swept up--at least in any lasting way--into the graphic novel craze that has hit the bookshelves of late, but I couldn't pass by "Persepolis," Marjane Satrapi's vivid (literally) graphic memoir of growing up in Tehran during the Islamic revolution. I was captivated by this comic strip-like portrayal of a girl from a liberal family--once free to run and play like any Western child--suddenly struggling with having to wear the hijab and with new restrictions on education for young Muslim women.

I was excited to read the New York Times' lengthy piece, "An Animated Adventure Drawn From Life," about bringing Satrapi's moving story to the big screen as an animated feature, produced in France and directed by Satrapi herself. The experience of moving from the page to film has not been easy, however, the article explained:

Ms. Satrapi has drawn herself thousands of times. But she found it initially overwhelming to watch her own vivid gestures animated on computer screens in the skylighted atelier that is the film’s headquarters in the 10th Arrondissement. Eventually, she said, she learned to put emotional distance between herself and her character. “From the beginning I started to talk about ‘Marjane’ and ‘Marjane’s parents,’ ” she explained, “because you cannot do it otherwise. There are people, for example, drawing my grandmother. My grandmother is dead. Here not only is she moving, but I have to look at her, image by image."

Though the process of animating her story and remaining true to its original images, style, and life growing up as a "girl rebel" in an strict Islamic regime has been challenging. Now that it's finished and soon to release in France (and eventually the U.S., since they have found a distributor), Satrapi commented with embarrassed pride, "It is hard for me, for my ego, to say this: For me, the movie is better than the book."

If you've somehow missed "Persepolis" the graphic memoir, go right now to your local bookstore and buy it. It's an amazing read.

NBC's fantastic new show "Heroes" finally returned this week after a too-long holiday hiatus, premiering with the episode "Godsend" and leaving viewers with some interesting ideas to ponder: Are the heroes' special powers gifts from God?

At least one of the heroes thinks so. D. L. Hawkins--right-hand man of Claire's (the cheerleader) father, whose power is to block all use of a hero's ability with his presence--played the role of spiritual sage to Claire's doubts and struggles about what she thinks are her "freakshow" abilities. As Claire expressed her wish to go back to a life where things are "normal," Hawkins urged her to be grateful for the gifts bestowed on them. "Gifts?" she replied with disdain and skepticism. For Hawkins, not only are their superpowers gifts from God, but they are God, he expressed with conviction.

Hawkins isn't alone either. Hiro (the most adorable character on television)--who can bend space and time--received a special sword last episode, which is literally meant to represent his "divine" talent. And in keeping with Hiro's wide-eyed, child-like wonder about all that is happening to him, he accepts this divine symbol with a kind of blind faith.

Given that some of the "heroes," like creepy serial-killer Sylar, use their powers for utter evil, the idea that all superpowers are divine is up for debate. Is it the power itself that's divine? Or how a person receives and wields the power an act of God?

I looked forward to Sunday night's long awaited "24" premiere on Fox with the same eagerness as the show's most dedicated fans. But I couldn't help rolling my eyes at the onset of what promises to be yet another season of Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) playing the role of "sacrificial lamb."

As usual, the show dropped us into the middle of intense terrorist action, and our first hurdle was swallowing the idea that, after all of Jack's service and subsequent two years spent being tortured in a Chinese prison (last season ended dramatically with Jack's capture), the U.S. government is yet again ready to sell him down the river: trading his life for the capture of the alleged terrorist mastermind.

Jack's former CTU colleagues approached the matter with sadness, but also a kind of "we hope you don't mind, Jack, since your life is already in the toilet" and a "better you than us" casual attitude.

And what does Jack do? Agree to it! "I'd rather die for something than nothing," he says rather pathetically.

I've decided that Jack's character is a veritable "Giving Tree" of television personalities. Remember that terrible children's book by Shel Silverstein? The one with the kid who takes and takes and takes, and the tree that gives and gives and gives until there's nothing left but a stump for the boy to sit on? (Presumably it's a metaphor--albeit a messed-up one--for the child-parent relationship. Some people think it a beautiful book, but I've long thought it simply awful.)

Jack, as TV's "Giving Tree," so far seems to be nothing more than a stump of his former self. We'll have to see if he grows a few new shoots as the season moves forward.

On January 25th, HBO will air the documentary "Friends of God: A Road Trip With Alexandra Pelosi," which follows key people among the Christian evangelical right in America. Yes, Alexandra Pelosi, the filmmaker in question, is one of those Pelosis--her mother is none other than Nancy--and yes, one of those kep people she happened to follow is none other than Ted Haggard.

All of this documenting occurred before Ted Haggard's very public sex scandal and very public fall from grace as a leader of the evangelical movement in the U.S. It also happened before Ms. Pelosi's mom became the first woman Speaker of the House.

In her N.Y Times article "God, Mom and Country: A Filmmaker's Odyssey," Felicia R. Lee reports on Alexandra Pelosi's uncertainty and dismay that Haggard happened to be the focus of her film, and her worry that a large part of her target audience--evangelicals--won't tune in now that her mother has risen to such a prominent position in Congress on behalf of the Democrats:

People might love it or hate because of her mother or because of its association with Mr. Haggard, she said. But what she really wanted, Ms. Pelosi said, was to further the conversation about religion and culture... In the film Mr. Haggard explains the allure of evangelical Christianity and extols the primacy of sex among evangelicals. "I unfortunately chose the wrong leading man," Ms. Pelosi said of Mr. Haggard, whom she picked for his credibility. She liked him, she said, and they spent a great deal of time together... After his fall, Ms. Pelosi scurried back to the editing room, saddened. "We had to take some stuff out," she said. "But you can't do an entire movie without the failed guy."

Apart from the above worries, Ms. Pelosi said she "tried hard to make [evangelicals] look their best" and believes her film is sympathetic to this growing group of Americans who identify as evangelical. The jury is out, of course, until HBO airs the documentary.

The world has seen its share of cheesy teacher-transforms-students movies ("Dangerous Minds" starring Michelle Pfeiffer is a classic example). But the "Stand and Deliver" examples of the genre--those that not only inspire but are also well-told, well-acted stories--are a rare...

In "Not Everybody Loves Patricia," Jesse Green of The New York Times writes a lengthy profile of Patricia Heaton--the two-time Emmy Award winner for her nine-season turn on "Everybody Loves Raymond"--and her struggles with being at once a popular actress...