(Display Name not set)June 2006 Archives

Earlier this week, Oprah held a Dr. Phil-like parental advice-giving session, yet not with Dr. Phil himself--her show about on-camera counseling for families in crisis was hosted by none other than the ubiquitous Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author of many popular books, including his most recent, "10 Conversations You Need to Have with Your Children." Rabbi Shmuley is no stranger to television, either--he hosts his own show, called "Shalom in the Home," airs on TLC, Monday nights at 10 p.m.

His appearance on Oprah's show included no shortage of "Shmuleyisms"--bits of wisdom that this celebrity rabbi offers to parents and kids unhappy at home, quite like the popular TV nannies that many of my friends with children watch religiously every week. "Shmuleyisms" are generally straightforward and certainly not earth-shattering, and include simple views like the following:

"Many parents believe they can take a hammer and chisel and sculpt their children into an image of what they want them to be. Instead, it's much more effective to get [your children] to hear their own inner voice of what they want to be."

Also:

"Parenting is done with two hands--the right hand is unconditional love, and the left hand is establishing boundaries amidst that unconditional love. That is the role of a parent--love and discipline."

On Oprah, Rabbi Shmuley packed the salvation of four families into one hour, departing from his regular "Shalom in the Home" formula, which focuses just on one family per hour-long episode. Each family story arc on Oprah included the requisite embarassing camera-in-the-home footage of parental incompetence and bratty childish behavior, followed by a Rabbi Shmuley miracle advice session, followed (in most cases) by happy-ending footage of a family excursion orchestrated by the rabbi himself, talking them through success all the way.

As I am one of those people who watches reality TV with my hands over my face, not able to suffer through the public humiliation of others, I can't say that after Rabbi Shmuley's Oprah debut I'll be canceling my Monday night plans to make it home in time for "Shalom in the Home," but it was interesting to see a "male nanny" taking control of the reality-parenting market for once--and a rabbi at that.

The devil I await is the one wearing Prada, of course.

Though the idea of embodying the devil in female form is not terribly original, I tore through Lauren Weisberger's payback of a novel, "The Devil Wears Prada"--a thinly veiled "fictionalized" account of Weisberger's stint as the tortured assistant of none other than the Queen of Fashion herself: Anna Wintour, editor in chief of Vogue. The story is a deliciously hellish portrayal of the underside of the glitter and glamour of the runway and its fashionista critics and connoisseurs. I am excited to see it portrayed on the big screen when the movie version of "The Devil Wears Prada" opens tomorrow, and despite the fact that the famously fashionable are bemoaning the film's "lack of chic" according to Ruth La Ferla's article in today's New York Times, "The Duds of 'The Devil Wears Prada.'"

Though the film's director, David Frankel, apparently aimed to create a "magical kingdom of fashion" for movie-goers, he missed the mark, La Ferla reports. Rather, the film portrays "a caricature of what people who don't work in fashion think fashion people look like."

Regardless of the pan--at least from the runway angle--I'm excited to see Meryl Streep's stint as the devil in couture clothing as she plays the role of Miranda Priestly, the Anna Wintour-like character.

As far as saints go, free-standing statues, mass cards, portraits on the walls, ceramic figurines, and tiny iconic pendants that you can dangle from a chain are par for the course for anyone who grows up an Italian Catholic--namely, me--or, I'd guess, just plain Catholic regardless of ethnicity. In my house you didn't have to go far before you bumped into some martyred man or sainted lady, though, like for many Italians, St. Anthony--the famous finder of lost things--was the reigning favorite in the hearts of my grandmother and mother.

But roadside billboards? Now that's a new one.

Beginning Monday, Loyola Press, a Catholic publishing house based in Chicago, will be treating city drivers to some saintly wisdom on their commutes to and from work, with a campaign called "Use Your Common Saints." St. Jude--also know as the Patron Saint of Desperate Situations--is first on the list for billboard glory, and will be advising motorists that he "knows an alternate route" (ha ha!). A new sign will follow every two weeks until the end of August, featuring the following:

July 10: "St. Joseph says construction takes patience."
July 24: "Joan of Arc says keep your cool."
August 7: "St. Anthony offers roadside assistance."
August 21: "St. Ignatius encourages Mass transit."

What's behind this inspired effort to quell summer road rage and breakdown despair? The instant success of their book "My Life With the Saints," by James Martin--with a dash of company social consciousness thrown in:

"Our goal is to nurture faith-filled lives," says Joseph Durepos, Loyola Press Acquisitions Director, in a press release about the campaign. "Proclaiming these messages on the Kennedy [Expressway] drives home the idea that God is with us in all that we do, even when we are stuck in traffic."

I admit, I could use more than a little assistance from St. Joseph in the patience department when I sit in N.Y.C. traffic. Maybe the saints will soon be gracing expressways beyond Chicago if the campagn is a success. Until then, I'll have to rely on my portable mass cards and pendants.

For those who last watched Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in the thriller "Speed," re-imagining their relationship at a much slower pace and across different times in "The Lake House" might be challenging at first, but it's worth the effort.

The film, which centers around a breathtaking lake house designed by Alex Wyler's (played by Keanu Reeves) father, is at once occupied by Alex, a young architect, and Kate Forster (played by Sandra Bullock), a young doctor--only they exist simultaneously in different years. Through a series of letters left in the mailbox, Alex and Kate discover what seems like the impossible: They are communicating across time, Alex still living in the year 2004 and Kate living in our time, the year 2006. As they puzzle over this mystery, their letters become quite humorous at points and poignant in others, giving new meaning to the idea behind "Instant Messaging."

Though much of the plot is easily guessed from early on, the romance that emerges between Alex and Kate is quite palpable;this despite the fact that, for almost the entirety of the film, each is unavailable to the other--except through their letters. Film reviewers Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat express the allure of "The Lake House" beautifully:

It is waiting that holds the key to everything that matters in this love story. Kate's favorite novel is "Persuasion" by Jane Austen, and it celebrates this virtue. Carlo Carretto, one of the great spiritual writers of our time, once spent a number of years living by himself as a hermit, praying in the Sahara desert. When someone asked him what he thought he heard God saying to him in all that silence and after all that prayer, Carretto replied: "God is telling us: learn to wait--wait--wait for your God, wait for love, be patient with everything. Everything that is worthwhile must be waited for!

The film itself moves at a slow pace--yet not slow in the way that it drags. Instead, it progresses calmly, the characters taking their time as they take in each other and their odd situation, and contemplate whether or not a love for them in real-time will ever be possible.

Anyone who has ever waited for love will understand the slowness and mystery behind this odd love affair, and anyone who believes in waiting for love will find "The Lake House" an encouraging film to watch.

As the spring television seasons wound to a close in May, I finally took the advice of many friends and joined Netflix, the super-fast DVD service that gets film and television favorites to your door in the blink of an eye. While at first overwhelmed with the possibilities, I narrowed my priorities to a top-three television series list of shows I've been wanting to watch forever but never actually caught on the air:

1. "Smallville": Four entire seasons already available on DVD about the boy Clark Kent (aka Superman) who struggles "to come to grips with his emerging superpowers--and the effects of various forms of kryptonite--while battling the strange things that have plagued this idyllic Midwest hamlet since the meteor shower." Season One so far has that same "Monster of the Week" theme of Buffy's Season One, which brings back fond memories.

2. "Joan of Arcadia": Though the show stopped after only two seasons, which I still can't believe I missed, "Joan of Arcadia" follows the life of a teenage girl who is a bit quirkier than average because of "the unusual way various people keep popping up, introducing themselves as God and then giving her specific directions to do things, such as get a job, join the debate team or volunteer with children. " Is she a contemporary mystic? Conversations with God are a promising place to begin in that category.

3. "Firefly": I couldn't overlook Joss Whedon's 13-episode one-season wonder about life in outer space with a Western twist. It's your basic good vs. evil with a lot of moral ambiguity about who is really doing the good, since the heroes are outlaws.

I'm counting on Netflix to fill the summer series void and hope I picked some winners. More later.....

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