Esther Kustanowitz: January 2008 Archives

In the world of pop culture blogging and Google Image searching, you learn some valuable lessons. Firstly, there are way too many photos of Britney Spears on the internet. (And some of them are "not safe for work.") But second to that lesson is if you're searching for "Amy Winehouse," adding the word "rehab" to the search doesn't help narrow down the results. Part of this is because of Amy's song, "Rehab," where she reports that "they tried to make me go to rehab, and I said, no, no, no." But now she's said "yes" to rehab, after input from Amy Winehouse has finally said "yes" to rehab, reports Yahoo! News.

"Amy decided to enter the facility today after talks with her record label, management, family and doctors," Winehouse's record company, Universal Music Group, said today in a statement to reporters. "She has come to understand that she requires specialist treatment to continue her ongoing recovery from drug addiction."

[...]The statement also indicated Winehouse still planned to attend and perform at the Grammys, to be held Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.

Every time I express my opinion about what a troubled celebrity should do, someone jumps down my throat. Still, if I were Amy, and going into rehab, I'd want to seriously commit to the process, no matter how long it takes, Grammys be darned. But then again, I'd have fewer tattoos, too. So who am I to judge? A full and speedy recovery to Ms. Winehouse.

First we lost Brad Renfro, and now the New York Times reports that actor Heath Ledger, critically lauded for his performance in the groundbreaking "Brokeback Mountain," has been found dead in his SoHo apartment. Pills were found near his body, but no cause of death has been reported yet.

Heath Ledger most recently gave one of the critically acclaimed performances in the Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There" and will be seen shortly as the Joker in the second Batman prequel, "The Dark Knight", which is now in post-production. He was filming Terry Gilliam's "Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," which was due in 2009.

In September, Ledger and actress Michelle Williams ended their three-year relationship. They had one daughter, Matilda Rose. Heath Ledger was 28. Our thoughts are with his family as the world mourns the loss of another promising young actor.

We don't often gloat here at Idol Chatter. But last week we published a post by guest blogger John Brooks, who wrote about Obama as "America's Second Black President," second to David Palmer, who rose to Presidential power via the powers that be at FOX, who "elected" him as the Commander in Chief during the early days of "24." And now, the man who played David Palmer, actor Dennis Haysbert, has endorsed Obama. So let's not call this a gloat, exactly...more like a "hey, look at that!"

Former "24" star Dennis Haysbert is backing Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama. And the actor says his character on the FOX hit is at least partly responsible for opening America's mind to a black commander in chief, according to TV Guide.

[...]"As far as the public is concerned, it did open up their minds and their hearts a little bit to the notion that if the right man came along -- I do believe Barack Obama is the right man -- that a black man could be president of the United States," Haysbert says in the January 21 issue of TV Guide (on newsstands January 17).

Life imitating art? Coincidence? Prophecy? You, as always, are the judge.

Last night, I saw this video celebrating Tom Cruise's role in promoting Scientology to the world, in commemoration of his winning of the Freedom Medal of Honor award (a church honor). I understand that they were playing on "Mission: Impossible" (the famous theme song music, looped endlessly and playing for the duration of the nearly ten-minute video was also a clue). But to an extent, their Mission is really one of the most Impossible--to show the world that Scientology is the way, when most of the unconverted think that it's more akin to a bowl of Fruit Loops that has a lot of money and celebrity endorsements.

The video had been on YouTube, but it was, sadly, taken down. You can now watch it here, on Gawker.com.

It's part heritage, part occupational hazard--but I have seen more than my fair share of documentaries about Jews. Many of them center on the Holocaust, or the post-Holocaust triumph and redemption earned through the creation of the state of Israel. Others focus on "Jews and showbiz" or "Jews in comedy." I live in New York, and working in Jewish journalism, I've met many academics, historians, movers and shakers. I've been to the Lower East Side for both its history and its hipsters, many of whom I count among my colleagues and friends (and a few of whom, not entirely unexpectedly, pop up during the course of the film).

But with the arrival of "The Jewish-Americans," David Grubin's three-night series airing on PBS beginning tonight, I'm humbled by what I don't know about my own heritage: as one of the eponymous Jewish-Americans (or, depending on the day, American Jews), even in my modern laptop-bearing writer's life--a few dozen blocks north and emotional miles away, but a mere three generations from--a member of an immigrant nation.

Celebrities live in the glare of a harsh, unforgiving and unfair spotlight. But what the spotlight illuminates is often, ironically, the darker side of success, and exposes the inner workings of the human mind, which for all the exposure, are...

Now that it's 2008, we can finally say that new episodes of "Lost" are imminent. And by "imminent," we mean the end of the month. If you're a fan, you were likely shocked (in a good way) by the season...