Ellen Leventry: December 2006 Archives

Since it's common knowledge that nothing sells a paper like a good scandal, could the same work for pageants?

The latest news in the Miss USA underage-drinking/alleged drug use/inappropriate behavior kerfuffle is that Miss Teen USA--whom current Miss USA Tara Conner is said to have partied and made out with on several occassions--has been dropped by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) for her behavior as well. This after yesterday's revelation wherein Donald Trump, owner of the Miss Universe, USA, and Teen USA franchises, threatened to sue "The View" hostess Rosie O'Donnell over comments she made on the show after Trump decided against dropping Conner as Miss USA because of her hard-partying ways, instead showing mercy and sending her to rehab.

Said O'Donnell, "Because his show 'The Apprentice' is starting again in January, he held a big press conference to see if he was going to allow Miss USA, such a prestigious title."

O'Donnell is partly right.

Sure, underneath that mop of hair, Trump probably is a nice guy who will give a person a second chance. But he's also a shrewd businessman who knows that this story of rehab and redemption can generate buzz about the pageants themselves. After all, even bad publicity is good publicity. And publicity is something that the pageants sure could use.

Just look at the venerable Miss America Pageant. The one-time Altantic City September event is now held in January. In Las Vegas. In 1954, broadcast live for the first time, the pageant broke viewership records with 39 percent of the television audience (27 million viewers) watching the telecast. Now it's aired on CMT (Country Music Television) and has a sister show called "Total Access: Miss America," which follows the reigning title holder, Jennifer Berry, as she travels around the country.

With Trump's money, the Miss Universe Oganization--producers of the Miss Unvirese, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA competions--has fared better and ratings for the pageants have been respectable, even if the winners aren't.

CNN's Soledad O'Brien grilled Miss USA President Paula Shugart yesterday morning as to why the organization should keep Connor, since Miss USA is supposed to be a role model for young girls, implying that it was sending a bad message.

Times have changed since 1984, when Vanessa Williams, the first African-American Miss America, relinquished her crown when it came to light that Penthouse magazine would be publishing nude photos of her without her consent.

Now it seems that redemption, not rejection, is the name of the PR game. In fact, a recent CNN.com headline read "Miss USA says thanks for delivery from evil," adding a bilical flare to the affair.

Fomer Miss USA Finalist and current Star Magazine editor Jill Dobson doesn't buy it:

"I think she has brought disgrace to the program, based on all these reports, and we keep hearing this excuse, 'Oh, she's a small town girl and grew up in a three-stoplight town.'" she told CBS' The Early Show. "I grew up in a one-stoplight town, and I've never caused an international scandal. So, I don't think that's an excuse."

Dobson acknowledges what many have known for years, that all the negative press is actually good for Connor's career. How many former Miss Americas or Miss USAs can you
name? Most likely, no more than the aforementioned Vanessa Williams and Shana Moakler, a former Miss USA who has recently been in heavy rotation in the tabloids for her catfight with Paris Hilton over an ex-husband.

Meant to evoke the salaciousness associated with films, TV shows, and books about the desperate lives of housewives, the latest installment of National Geographic Explorer, "Secret Lives of Jesus," doesn't disappoint. This exploration of alternative gospels, those not included in the canon, such as the gospels of Thomas and Judas, provides as much murder, mischief, and sex as a Sunday night on Wisteria Lane.

According to one source, the young Christ actually murders a boy for talking back to him. Another claims that Joseph was quite advanced in age by the time he wed Mary and that he was never able to consumate the marriage; a tale, the show's experts tell us, meant to bolster the concept of the Virgin Birth. Still another tells us that Jesus would use his "powers" to repair Joseph's shoddy craftsmanship. The episode also touches on the recently popularized Gospel of Mary, which exalts Mary Magdalene as Christ's favorite disciple, and her relationship with Jesus.

Considered at times both scandalous and heretical, these stories provide a fascinating look at the development of Scripture as we know it, what could be dubbed early PR efforts of the Church. Afterall, who wants to follow a murderous Messiah, a scandalous Savior?

"Explorer: Secret Lives of Jesus" airs tongiht on the National Geographic Channel.

Dimension Films is doing a little re-gifting this holiday season--and certain religious groups are responding with a loud "return to sender."

Dimension, a division of the Weinstein Company, is releasing a remake of the 1974 horror classic "Black Christmas," a tale of sorority girls being menaced over Christmas break, considered by most afficionados to be the originator of the "slasher" genre. But the movie and its Christmas Day release date are running afoul of groups such as Operation Just Say Merry Christmas (an organization dedicated to returning the sacred to the increasingly secular holiday season), which are being gore-Grinches about the remake.

"The use of religious music--'Silent Night'--and the nativity set on the front porch in one scene are insensitive to Christians," Jennifer Giroux, co-founder of Operation Just Say Merry Christmas, told Reuters after watching the trailer. "It's not enough to ignore and omit Christmas, but now it has to be offended, insulted, and desecrated. Our most sacred holiday, actually a holy day, is being assaulted."

"To have a movie that emphasizes murder and mayhem at Christmas, a time of celebration and joy around the world, seems to be ill founded," echoes Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, "an organization dedicated to upholding religious freedom and traditional family values."

Certainly, Staver and Giroux are both entitled to their opinions, and in fact, when I first saw an ad for the film, I thought it a bit tacky. But, Mr. Staver forgets that the Yuletide is not necessarily a time of joy and celebration for everyone, either because they are not affiliated with the Christian religion or because they are suffering from depression or anxiety actually made worse by the holidays.

Additionally, Giroux is neglecting another tradition: counter-programming. Just as Ms. Giroux's website offers alternative cards and crèches for those who feel Christmas has become PC and devoid of Christianity, so too do the movie studios offer films for those sick of usual holiday treacle.

In fact, there is a long history of films featuring killer Kris Kringles. Let's take a ride with the Ghost of Christmas Past all the way back to 1980's "To All a Good Night," then on to 1981's "You Better Watch Out," and land at 1984's "Silent Night, Deadly Night," which caused such a brouhaha with its ax-wielding Santa that it was pulled from theaters after two weeks and never made its Christmas Day nationwide release.

But then came a little film you may have heard of, known as "Scream," released on December 20, 1996, a time of year traditionally reserved for Oscar contenders looking to get in under the wire. No Academy Award potential here, but the Wes Craven-directed film and its sequels proved to Hollywood that horror could rule the holidays, with the first two "Scream" films grossing more than $100 million each.

With the recent controversy, the "Black Christmas" ads now have a nifty new feature, an ominous voiceover stating: "The film they don't want you to see...," a tactic sure to draw in viewers who might not have cared otherwise and to give foundations such as Staver's and Giroux's more visibility. So in the end, everyone may get exactly the gift they asked for.

What if the "X" in "X-Files" stood for Christ?

It wouldn't be a surprise to those who believe that the Bible is full of evidence of extraterrestrial visitations and manipulations. But while it's true that Erich Von Daniken's 1974 book "Chariots of the Gods" explored aliens visiting ancient Egypt and Peru, rarely are such theories applied to the Abrahamic religions. In truth, however, "the biblical religion is an example of how [aliens] have shaped our development"--at least according to one researcher interviewed on the History Channel's "UFO Files: UFOs in the Bible,"

Featuring Dr. Barry Downing, a Presbyterian minister and UFOlogist, and other researchers, the show explores some of the exemplars of extraterrestrial encounters found in both the Old and New Testaments and touches on other cultures' close encounters of the third kind.

According to these researchers, it's the Old Testament that can be dubbed the Extraterestrial Testament for all the alien activity contained in it. To listen to these scholars tell it, the burning chariots of fire that Elijah saw was a detailed decription of an encounter with a UFO. And, in fact, Elijah's disappearance into the clouds was no mere Assumption, but an alien abduction.

The pillar of cloud, or smoke, that led Moses out of Egypt? A UFO, the propulsion system of which parted the Red Sea. And it conveniently dropped mana as well. What's more, Isaac was implanted in Sara by ETs, and the prophets were all fed visions of the future through mind control.

The book of Ezekiel has the honor of being UFOlogists favorite evidence for flying saucers in Scripture, with its descriptions of flying, spinning, glowing metallic objects in the sky.

And the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? Alien nuclear warheads, of course.

The New Testament doesn't contain as much UFO evidence, but the one event the panelists point to as proof proves the dictum "quality over quantity": The Transfiguration of Jesus--who, coincidentally, was accompanied by "abductees" Elijah and Moses.

According to one interviewee, the Vatican itself has even made a statement saying that aliens are "not to be feared or demonized," a statement which, astonishingly enough, turns out to be an apparent hoax, according to a quick internet search.

And that's where the show really fails. Contradicting viewpoints are only presented in the last 10 minutes, the archeological evidence they highlight doesn't prove or disprove anything (Sodom and Gomorrah did burn to the ground! But noone knows why), and we never hear a reason why these aliens would care to shape the course of human events.

I'll be the first to admit that I have an extremely hard time believing that technologically advanced beings from outer space shaped the Judeo-Christian religion as we know it. On the other hand, I don't have a hard time accepting the concept of the Holy Trinity, three persons in one. In the end, both positions require a leap of faith.

What happens when you're a time lord--a humanoid race that can, in simplest terms, manipulate time and acts--and you meet another being who claims to have existed before time even began? If you're Doctor Who, the last of the time lords, it shakes your faith.

In the recent two part episode "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit," (which aired on the Sci Fi channel) The Doctor and Rose, his travelling companion, come upon a space station of humans located on a small planetoid that is somehow able to resist being pulled in to a nearby black hole. The station's crew have detected an unknown power source responsible for keeping the planetoid stable in the black hole's orbit.

But then strange things start to happen: The Ood, a squid-faced clone race that serves the crew, tell Rose ominously that "The beast and his armies will rise from the pit and make war against God." And crew members start hearing voices and experience demonic possession.

By the time we realize that the "beast" being talked out is the beast with a capital "B," this episode starts to feel reminiscent of the plot of the computer game "Doom," in which demons invade a space station full of scientists through accidentally-opened portals from hell. Like the videogame and spin-off movie, the episode touches on the inherent dangers in the never-ending quest for knowledge

The Doctor, hesitant to investigate the pit, says, "That is so human, where angels fear to tread. For once in my life, I'm going to say retreat." In digging theologically deeper than the popular videogame, the audience sees something unusual: a doubting doctor.

Usually quite confident in his mastery of all things temporal, the Doctor is thrown for a loop when the Beast says that he has the existed and was trapped on the planetoid since before time. "What does that mean? What does 'before time' mean?" The Doctor asks incredulously.

"Before this universe was created," the Beast replies.

"That's impossible," spits back the Doctor.

"Is that your religion?" asks the Beast.

"It's a belief."

The Doctor challenges the Beast by asking "which devil are you?" When The Beast starts pointing out the crew members' darkest secrets, the Doctor retorts that a good psychologist can do that as well and points out that there are "representations of the horned beast right across the universe. It's the same image over and over again. Maybe that's what the devil is in the end, an idea."

But we're never quite sure if the Doctor believes his own rationalizations. When the Doctor finally comes upon the massive, manacled, horned beast, he admits, "I accept that you exist. I don't have to accept what you are." Ironically, for a character who clearly values science and reason over religion and myth, it's his faith in his partner Rose that ends up saving the day. As regular viewers of the show know, there's nothing shaky about that.

Celebrities may have personal assistants, trainers, make-up artists and stylists, but many of them are just like their average American counterparts--they have a hard time conceiving. In 1995, "Days of Our Lives" star Diedre Hall chronicled her struggle with infertility...