"Ben Silverman, the co-chairman of NBC Entertainment who oversees the network’s television studio, said that he and the head of the diversity initiative for NBC Universal, Paula Madison, have been pushing for projects starring minorities. Mr. Silverman said, 'We were going after this regardless, but I don’t think you can deny the power that Barack Obama brings in magnifying this direction in our world.' He added, 'We’ve all been colorblind for years, but the results don’t necessarily match up to our intentions.'" (NYTimes)
"Americans are watching the extraordinary sight of two presidents working at once. As President George W. Bush limps through his final days in office, with the economy struggling and seemingly on the verge of collapse, we are greeted every day to roll-outs of President-elect Barack Obama’s new initiatives through another press conference and another policy proclamation. What’s more, there is evidence that the Bush and Obama people have been talking through these immediate decisions. The visibility of President-elect Obama is unprecedented in scale and scope." (TheDailyBeast)
"(John) Judis sees Obama's win as 'the culmination of a Democratic realignment that began in the 1990s, was delayed by September 11, and resumed with the 2006 election.' My own view since spring 2006, when I wrote an essay in The American Prospect touching on these matters,[4] has been that the era of conservative dominance is over, thanks to Iraq, the Katrina fiasco, Bush's failed Social Security privatization effort, and other factors, but that the collapse of conservatism did not perforce imply the rise of a new liberal age. That, I believed—and still believe, even after an Obama victory in which 46 percent voted Republican—would depend on what President Obama and the congressional Democrats did with their power. And here, for reasons both historical and contemporary, we must consider the question of realignment in light of the current financial crisis and the structural economic problems with which the new president must grapple." (Michael Tomasky/ NYRB)
".. (W)atching Hollywood hug itself in an orgy of self-congratulation has some real psychic benefit. Who among us will not enjoy the diversion of watching someone opening an envelope that contains something besides the ashes of your 401(k)? Besides, there is always a bull market in ego, and the movie business will be celebrating the 81st annual Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 22, at the Kodak Theater with or without your consent ..It’s helpful to think of the Oscars as a horse race of human thoroughbreds, with backers wagering millions on the marketing of hopefuls, all fighting for the prestige and box-office boost that comes from appending 'nominated' laurels to their ads. Ultimately, however, when it comes to Academy Awards, there is best picture, and then there is everything else." (TheCarpetbagger)
"Tyler Perry has come to terms with the Writers Guild of America West on a contract covering scribes on his TBS comedy skeins 'House of Payne' and 'Meet the Browns.' Deal, announced Wednesday, came after five months of negotiations. The WGA West played hardball with the indie mogul in October, sending pickets to the opening of Perry's new studio facility in Atlanta." (Variety)
"The birthday of her long-serving PA Fiona Young last night proved the perfect foil for Miss Moss to go on one of her famous benders. The venue was the Miller's Academy of Arts and Science in Westbourne Grove, and she was joined by boyfriend Jamie Hince, Damon Albarn, Sadie Frost and Jefferson Hack. Kate, 34, looked a little worse for wear as the gang bowled out at 2am to head back to her place in St John's Wood for the afterparty." (Thisislondon)
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