Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 875

The Irreverent Remembrance of JFK from Around the World

Corriere dela Sera

The entire world knows that today is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK and the end of the country's innocence. And while some American outlets are okay with airing out some of Kennedy's dirty laundry—his infidelities, his political misfires—the general tone in the states has been mournful. Where were you when you heard the news? Who really killed Kennedy? Major media outlets around the world aren't quite as enamored by the myth of the Kennedy family. They're more free to criticize him and the U.S. enduring fascination. The world is a little less forgiving, even 50 years later.

JFK: "A greater president dead than alive"

During an interview with France's TF1 — the country's most popular station, though its news tends to lean to the right  — historian Thomas Snégaroff said that Kennedy's record was weak both domestically and internationally. He goes on to say that the media's current obsession with the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination is partly due to the fact this is "one of the last chances for the media to interview" the eye witnesses. Also, our nostalgia for Kennedy and the '60s is also evident from the popularity of Mad Men, or Stephen King's 11/22/63 time travel novel. Not because he was killed on national television or anything. But really, it's all just a myth, as America longs for a bygone era:

All this has led to a kind of mystification of reality based on the youth, heroism, glamor and even physical courage of JFK while suffering a lot because of his [spinal injuries]. This myth of a strong and virile America partly explains why, paradoxically, Kennedy was a greater president dead than alive.

Yep, he went there. Snégaroff also doubts the necessity of an eternal flame, and thinks Kennedy's burial at Arlington gives a false sense that he's a war hero. He also credits President Obama for reigniting the American Dream, though that's not really a compliment. 

JFK: Kind of overrated

There were two big presidential landmarks this week, and policy consultant and commentator Terry Barnes, writing for Australia's Sydney Morning Herald, thinks Lincoln didn't get enough attention. He writes:

But overshadowed in the nostalgia for JFK and Camelot is a far more significant US presidential anniversary, which not only defined a nation-shaping conflict, but rededicated high ideals on which the United States was founded: values Australia shares as a freedom-loving and democratic nation.

One hundred and fifty years ago today, Abraham Lincoln spoke briefly in a field in rural Pennsylvania, to dedicate a new war cemetery. The place was Gettysburg: Lincoln's speech was the immortal Gettysburg Address.

Kennedy's death "marked" the end of an era in America. Lincoln's speech "defined" the beginning of a new era. 

JFK: The "insatiable" betrayer

Corriere della Sera, a Milan-based paper that garners about 1.6 million visits a day, featured both a slideshow of Kennedy's lovers and an essay from an admirer in its coverage. The slideshow wasn't as in depth as this one from the New York Post, but it picked a pretty evocative Marilyn Monroe photo:

On the same site, an essay called "Jacqueline, Marilyn and Others: The Allure of a Betrayer" by best-selling Italian novelist Sveva Casati Modignani. She writes:

"Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country." I was a girl when I heard these words from an American politician whose image, transmitted by the TV in black and white, was one of a kind, handsome, athletic [man], with laughing eyes and class to spare, who was to become president of the United States. His name was John Fitzgerald Kennedy. It was love at first sight.

After he died the nation mourned, she wrote, but eventually the stories of his infidelities popped up. "Year after year, sprang memorials of women with whom the most fascinating politician of the world had largely betrayed Jacqueline Bouvier, before and after marriage," she writes. Modignani says she doesn't believe the rumors, though she lists a lot of them: how Kennedy snuck girls into the White House when Jackie wasn't there, how Jackie signed a contract with Kennedy's father to stay with him through the cheating, how Jackie was only upset when JFK bedded her friends. It's lyrical, and reminds you that Modignani is a romance novelist.

For her the affairs don't smear Kennedy's reputation because of his political works, but because he was the sort of cheater with a heart of gold. "Among the interns overwhelmed by the charm of the young president, there was also Mimi Beardsley Alford, who wrote his memoirs about their meetings, stating that, in the end, Kennedy loved only one woman, his wife," Modignani notes.

JFK: Definitely, definitely a cover-up

Given that Fidel Castro and JFK didn't get along, it makes sense that the major Cuban papers (heavily controlled by the government) wouldn't pay tribute on the 50th anniversary of his death. That's not to say that they don't remember. An October piece in Granma, the newspaper of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, outlined the various CIA and military officials responsible for Kennedy's murder, then added in a warning for the current president:

LBJ had not only overturned JFK’s decision to downscale the war in Vietnam, but expand it, and had also refused to improve relations with Cuba, as Robert [Kennedy] proposed to do when he assumed the Presidency.

Something similar to Johnson’s approach is now being undertaken by President Obama, insisting on attacking Syria and maintaining the blockade of Cuba, despite Kennedy’s legacy.

Cuba did acknowledge one anniversary, however. On February 3, 2013 Juventud Rebelde (a communist paper for the youth) published an article marking the 51st anniversary of the day Kennedy signed a bill continuing the U.S. blockage of Cuba. "The president's decision did little more than formalize hostile policies and sanctions that Washington applied to the island since the triumph of the Revolution, on January 1, 1959," argues Juventud. But then what else would we expect after the Bay of Pigs?

       

Choosing the Best Hunger Games Strategy For Your Survival

AP

Would you come into the game guns blazing? Would you sit back and hide in a tree until the time is right? Set a trap and take down goliaths bigger than you?  Admit it — as awful as it would be to become a government pawn and kill kids your age (or younger), the best part of the Hunger Games trilogy is grappling with your own imagination, figuring out how you would go about winning (or losing, you silly fatalists) during your time in the arena. 

This element is what makes Catching Fire the best part of the Hunger Games trilogy. With the games of the Quarter Quell bringing together 24 past Hunger Games champions, there is a bevy of new, colorful, sexy characters who each devised their own plan to win. Watching Katniss win in book one was fine, but hearing about electric booby traps, axe-wielding sociopaths and Finnick's abs makes book two go. 

That said, we compiled a list of winning (and some not-so-winning) strategies reaped from the first two films and books for you, tried to figure out what kind of personalities suit them best, and some basic tips ... just in case you ever find yourself in Katniss's situation, or umm, the movie theater on opening night: 

The Champion

Only works if ... you're Katniss Everdeen.

Katniss's path to victory was pretty smooth. She's pretty and likable enough to get enough to get presents from sponsors, but she was also as skilled with a weapon and smart enough to realize that people like a showmance (romance on a TV show) once in a while.

Probably helps if you ... are good with a bow and arrow; are Ryan Gosling. 

Stay away from this strategy if you're  ... uncoordinated. 

Odds of living:  1:3

You are probably not this person. The person who kills you in the Hunger Games is going to be this person. 

The Brute 

Only works if ... you work out, and are good at killing people. 

In the first Hunger Games, it was Cato and Thresh who used this strategy to almost the very end of the first book. Cashmere, Gloss, Enobaria, and Brutus -- the cast of Girls who make appearances in the second book and film -- are all ruthless, very fit killers. The boys (and Enobaria) were all probably highly successful school football stars. Cashmere was probably a beast at field hockey. 

Probably helps if you ... are a gym rat.

Stay away from this strategy if you're ... more of a sidekick. 

Odds of living: 1:2  

This strategy is pretty good. Though, let's be real folks, how many of you are that  good with a spear. 

The Fake Weakling

Only works if ... if you are frail-looking.

In order to successfully employ this end game strategy, you need to give the appearance of being feeble, like so feeble that you can't really lift up an axe. People will underestimate you and string you along to the very end. Then, well... 

Probably helps if you ...are a sociopath or a Scorpio. 

Stay away from this strategy if you're ... a gym rat.  

Odds of living: 5:2

Johanna Mason used this strategy well to the very end of her games. She is also a psychopath. 

The Starving Artist

Works best if ... food isn't a priority in your life. 

There are some people who don't spend a lot of time thinking about their next meals. So, you'd think that an event called The Hunger Games would be right up their alley. They probably don't even know what hunger feels like. A modern day equivalent of these tributes would be someone who is still standing after 10-day juice cleanse. 

Probably helps if you ... are not thinking about tonight's dinner right now. 

Stay away from this strategy if ... you like dinner. 

Odds of living: 6:1

The books say there was at least winner who won just by starving out the others. Good luck with that. 

The Scientist 

Works best if ... you have an idea of electrical engineering. 

You're more active than a weakling, but aren't built like a brute. That's why you have to resort to things like traps to get your way. 

Probably helps if you ... are big MacGyver fan. 

Stay away from this strategy if you're  ... not smart enough to remember where your traps are. Being the first tribute to commit accidental suicide would be embarrassing.

Odds of Living: 3:1

Beetee was pretty good at traps. And his fellow tribute, Mags, was really good at making fish hooks. Being smart in this game helps. So does being active. And being a scientist gets you almost as far as being a brute. 

The Fox 

Only works if ... you are really good at hiding. 

In the first book and movie, we saw Rue, Foxface, and Peeta employ the tactic of running away from the conflict and hiding in the forest to various degrees. 

Probably helps if you ...  can paint yourself to look like moss. 

Stay away from this strategy if you're  ... bad at hiding or are prone to the church giggles. 

Odds of Living:  12:1.  

Rue and Foxface met their grisly ends with this approach. In Catching Fire, a pair of useless tributes called Morphlings were really good at this strategy too. The only reason Peeta is alive today is because Katniss not only carried him this far, but also forced him to change his game. 

The Sex Bomb (ESFPs)

Only works if ... you're good looking. Like really good looking. 

The most anticipated character in the new movie is Finnick Odair, whose special skill is the ability to induce instant ovulation swim, and look really good doing it. While he was a good fighter, part of the reason Finnick excelled was that he was so good looking that people wanted to donate money to his cause. That's how he got a trident to win his first Hunger Games. 

The Finnick road to victory requires that you be good looking. So good looking that someone may send a machine gun your way. 

Probably helps if you ... are Blake Lively, Alex Pettyfer, or Mila Kunis.

Stay away from this strategy if you're ... basic. Glimmer from the first book (the mean girl in the first movie) was only good looking enough to form an alliance. Then bees ate her face. Then she lost.

Stay away from ... bees -- or tracker jackers, more specifically -- that will harm your pretty face. Also, stay away from people you're physically attracted to. Part of the reason Finnick succeeded was because people wanted to sleep with him (which some did after the quell). If you start sleeping with people on camera, your viewers may not be so willing to pay for tridents and stuff. 

Odds of living: 1:1 

Odds decrease sharply depending on the symmetry of your face. 

       

The Sexualization of the Thigh Gap

Tumblr #thighgap, Tumblr

The Tumblr trend of early 2013 was the "inner thigh gap" — the space between the thighs that appears when (very few) women touch their feet together. It's associated with anorexia and an obsessive desire to be as thin as possible. It's also been tacitly approved by the fashion industry (from Cosmo: "The Top 10 Inner Thigh Exercises For Sexy B*tches.") While #innerthighgap, #ITG, and #thighgap still turn up plenty of results on social media, a disturbing new iteration of the trend has recently emerged: the #boxgap. 

#fuckyeahthighgap, Tumblr

The #ITG trend is female-focused: the photos are artful, often black and white, and pretty, even. Posters crib from fashion blogs, which allows them to feature nail art and emaciated legs all in one frame. The #ITG heroine is Cara Delevingne — she's a quirky-cool supermodel with thick eyebrows and a penchant for Bart Simpson. Fans have made a Twitter account called @CarasThighGap to celebrate her twiggy, fashionable legs (bio: "@Caradelevingne works me out everyday so I can stay this perfect.") Delevingne has called the account "pretty funny." (There's that tacit approval.)

The #ITG trend is, obviously, disturbing. It makes extreme thinness seem glamorous instead of scary. And women suffering from eating disorders find encouragement to keep doing what their doing in the easy-to-find photos. But #ITG is decidedly not sexual.  The photos are typically shot straight on, with a focus on the thinness of the legs. 

#boxgap, Tumblr

Since Internet terror knows no bounds, men have co-opted #ITG and made it sexual. #Boxgap (named for the slang for vagina) has been cropping up on Tumblr recently. While #boxgap still prizes thinness, the focus is on, well, the box. Photos are typically shot from behind, and the women in them are usually wearing thongs. It's #ITG porn. You can see some relatively tame examples at right (most of the photos aren't SFW). The Twitter account @BoxGap (ostensibly run by a man) posts photos daily. His bio: "I've stolen this idea from a guy off facebook, but it's too good not to share.... For lovers of...."

#boxgap, Tumblr

Perhaps what's most upsetting is the fact that women have started posting #boxgap photos themselves. While the trend started as a way for men to fetishize very thin women, it's being perpetuated by both genders.

Both #ITG and #boxgap celebrate a look that is unattainable for most women. As fitness expert Dr. Vonda Wright explained to the Associated Press in October, "the spacing between a person’s legs is based mostly on genetics. And even extraordinarily thin people may not have a body type that can achieve a gap. You have to be both skinny and wide-hipped." 

Further, looking at these images all day is (surprise) horrible for your mental health. #ITG and #boxgap photos make women feel inferior and normalize a body type that is not normal. 

One piece of encouragement? After searching #thighgap many times on Tumblr, this icon popped up on my screen:

#thighgap, Tumblr

 

       

'Dads,' Seth MacFarlane's Live Action Awfulness, Is Going 'On Hiatus'

Fox

A few weeks ago, Fox seemed determined to keep the lowest-rated of its new shows on the air, picking it up for a full season. Now it's replacing it with Glee.

Yes, that low-rated font of racist jokes that is Seth MacFarlane's Dads will most likely be gone from our television screens forever after February 11.

Fox announced the schedule changes today, which were also bad news for The Mindy Project. That's being taken off the schedule, too, although it will be returning April 1 for a "spring premiere" before moving to a new timeslot after New Girl. There's no return date for Dads.

If you're concerned about Mindy's future (which you probably should be; it's never a great sign when a show is removed from a schedule, even temporarily), E! would like you to know "our Fox sources tell us not to worry about Mindy taking a break, because the network 'loves it and believes in it.'" And New York Magazine's Joe Adalian tweeted that the winter hiatus could be good for the show, as it would mean "fewer reruns and it won't air opposite the Winter Olympics."

Then again, it hit a new series low in the ratings on last Tuesday's episode.

 

 

       

Costco Is Sorry it Said the Bible Was Fake

One of Costco's offending Bibles, via @calebwilds

Costco has apologized to all of God's creatures for selling Bibles labeled "fiction," chalking it up to a mistake made by a distributor, who, unlike Jesus, was not infallible.

The error wasn't caught until last Friday, when a pastor (who also tweeted that he believes there was a second shooter in the Kennedy assassination) posted a photo of one of the offending Bibles:

Costco has Bibles for sale under the genre of FICTION Hmmmm...... pic.twitter.com/mLZVogkSfd

— Caleb Kaltenbach (@calebwilds) November 15, 2013

Hmmmm indeed! The tweet drew predictable reactions from both sides of the argument and word spread (helped along somewhat by Kaltenbach calling Fox News contributor Todd Starnes to tell him about it), culminating in Kaltenbach having to talk to Elisabeth Hasselbeck in a special Fox & Friends "The Fight for Faith" segment:

In the end, Costco blamed an unnamed distributor, saying in a statement:

Costco’s distributor mislabeled a small percentage of the Bibles; however, we take responsibility and should have caught the mistake. We are correcting this with them for future distribution. We greatly apologize for the error.

And Costco representative Dusty Groves told ABC7:

Our CEO, he's a devout Catholic. He obviously loves the Lord. This isn't something that he is purposely trying to do. It was a mistake.

Hallelujah! All is forgiven:

Just so everyone knows: I'm not outraged, angry, or stunned. I thought the label at Costco on the Bible was interesting

— Caleb Kaltenbach (@calebwilds) November 21, 2013

I believe Costco when they said it was an error. Hopefully God uses this topic to spark conversations on faith & His Word. I'm sure He will

— Caleb Kaltenbach (@calebwilds) November 21, 2013

Incidentally, Kaltenbach was at Costco in the first place to buy a jacket for his wife, since he "wasn't communicating with her in her love language very well."

 

       

If History Holds, the Turkey Obama Pardons for Thanksgiving Will Soon Be Dead

President Obama pardons the 2012 National Thanksgiving Turkey Cobbler during a Rose Garden event November 21, 2012 at the White House. The bird didn't make it. (AP PHOTO)

2012 was a fine year for Cobbler, the turkey. Cobbler, who was raised in Rockingham County, Virginia, was just 19 weeks old when he was named the National Thanksgiving Turkey, earning himself a pardon from the President of the United States on November 21, 2012.

But Cobbler didn't last long. Just months after the passing of his turkey alternate (all pardoned turkeys have an alternate) Gobbler, Cobbler was euthanized on August 22, 2013. Like every single other turkey pardoned by President Barack Obama, Cobbler and Gobbler are no longer among the living. Only one turkey pardoned by the president has lived to see a second Thanksgiving.

Next week, on the day before Thanksgiving, the president will again pardon a National Thanksgiving Turkey and its alternate, this time from Minnesota. And, if history is precedent, those turkeys have two years left at best. Here the Star Tribune has a look at some possible turkeys that are gonna die soon.

So what's the deal? Is Obama casting death spells on these poor birds? Well, no. At least if his predecessor's luck with turkeys is any guide.

AP Photo/Dave Martin

John Stossel wrote about George W. Bush's bad luck with Thanksgiving turkeys for ABC, after Bush made the claim that his two pardoned turkeys would "live out their days" in comfort and care. Stossel did the journalistic heavy-lifting and went to the turkey farm where Bush sent his pardoned turkeys. The Virginia farmer told Stossel that "we usually just find 'em and they're dead."

Like Obama's turkeys, the turkeys pardoned by his predecessors tended to last only a few months.

So, what's wrong with our political turkey class?

A 2010 report for the Human Society detailed the burdens Turkey eugenics have wrought on the birds. Simply put, they are not bred for living, but for eating.

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"Farming interests have transformed Ben Franklin's tree-perching 'Bird of Courage' into a flightless gargantua bred to grow so fast that today's commercially raised turkeys," the report's section on turkey obesity. The added weight causes degenerative hip failure and other joint deformities.

In fact, they are so fat, that without human intervention, the domesticated turkey would go extinct. That's because "Turkeys have been bred for such heavy body weight that they are physically incapable of mating, necessitating artificial insemination via tube or syringe."

And like overweight humans, these obese turkeys suffer and die from heart disease. "Sudden death associated with acute heart failure and perirenal hemorrhage bleeding around the kidneys) is a significant cause of mortality for rapidly growing turkey toms," the report states.

Flightless gargantua. No. Delicious flightless gargantua.

       

Aaron Paul Goes to Work with Russell Crowe

Reuters

Today in casting news: Jesse Pinkman got a new job, a familiar face is headed to FX, and some Hawaii: Five-0 news for those of you who care about such things.

Breaking Bad is over and, if we're honest, Need for Speed just doesn't look that good, so we need a positive bit of Aaron Paul-related news. Might this be it? The actor has been cast alongside Russell Crowe and his old Big Love coworker Amanda Seyfried in the drama Fathers and Daughters. It's unclear whether Paul will be playing one of the fathers, or perhaps one of the daughters, as his role has not yet been identified. The story has Crowe struggling with mental problems and trying to raise his young daughter, and then Seyfried is the daughter 25 years later, all grown up and trying to come to terms with the past. The speculation is that Paul will be playing Seyfried's love interest, as he did on Big Love. But who knows! That's "Fathers" plural and "Daughters" plural in the title, so we may be dealing with more fathers, and more daughters. Maybe Paul is her love interest, but is also the father to a daughter himself? That'd be an interesting thing, a parallel of some kind, perhaps. Anyway, whatever the heck this crazy movie is about, Aaron Paul has scored some decent work, so good for him. [Variety]

David Bradley has been cast on FX's new vampires show The Strain. No, not the David Bradley who owns Atlantic Media. It's Filch. Filch from Harry Potter. Him. The guy who played Filch has been cast on the new FX vampire show. He was also on Broadchurch? You know him. Don't worry. When you see his face you'll go "Oh, right, duhhhh" and you'll slap yourself really hard on the head. But yes, he will play Professor Abraham Setrakian, a Holocaust survivor who knows what's going on with this breakout of an ancient strain of vampirism but no one's listening to him. The role was played by John Hurt in the pilot. John Hurt, who played Ollivander. In Harry Potter. He was originally in this role, but now he's not. Now it's Filch from Harry Potter, not Ollivander from Harry Potter. [Deadline]

CBS's Hawaii Five-0 has upped actor Chi McBride to a series regular. So, Chi McBride is moving to Hawaii! I guess that's exciting. Nice weather, laid-back scene, Mai Tais and whatnot. But it's kind of isolated, Hawaii. All the way out there in the ocean like that. Not much to do once you're sick of surfing and doin' the hula, probably. Do they even have electricity? Well, wait, no, they must, how else would they be able to film Hawaii Five-0. But still. They're probably so far behind on movies and TV and stuff. "Hey, Chi! Aloha, man! Welcome to Ha-wah-ee! Can't wait to see The Terminal, dude!" "That movie came out nine years ago." "Not in Ha-wah-ee, my friend!"* Must be weird. Oh well. Congrats, Chi. Enjoy it. *I have never been to nor know nothing about the state of Hawaii. [Deadline]

       

Bachmann 'Refused' to Add LGBT Language to Her Adoption Bill

Reuters

Rep. Michele Bachmann took up adoption as a cause this month in a big way, with everything from a Buzzfeed community listicle to introducing a House resolution "promot[ing] national awareness of adoption." But her colleague Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney apparently found out that Bachmann's bill isn't meant to support all adoptive parents. Specifically, it's not meant to support the family of the openly-gay Maloney, who has three adopted children. According to Maloney, Bachmann "refused" to add language to her bill that would support LGBT families and adoption. Here's how Maloney put it in an email to supporters:

As a father of three adopted children, I couldn’t agree with her more. So I reached out to Rep. Bachmann to ask her to add language supporting all adoptive families, including families with two dads or two moms. After all, family is family, and the thousands of children in our country waiting to be adopted need parents, not political agendas.

But here’s the thing: She refused. She’s intentionally excluding families like mine.

Buzzfeed's Chris Geidner snagged a screenshot of the exact language Bachmann reportedly turned away: 

Bachmann did not immediately return requests for comment from both Buzzfeed and The Wire. Update: Later on Thursday, Bachmann spokesperson Dan Kotman told Buzzfeed the following in response to the dispute: 

The resolution honoring National Adoption Month is a bipartisan effort sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans. The focus of the resolution is on helping vulnerable children, as has always been the case when we have introduced it in previous years.

Maloney has since introduced his own LGBT-friendly resolution to the House supporting adoption. 

Given Bachmann's record against supporting gay marriage legislation, this is not the most surprising tidbit of Bachmann news. But it does put a spotlight on the complexities of adoption politics. Bachmann has taken care to frame the issue as a bipartisan one. "Every child needs to know that at least one person is crazy about them," she said in a release promoting her bill, which is co-sponsored by Democratic Rep. Karen Bass. Bachmann also has personal stake in the issue: she's housed a total of 23 foster children over time. But despite its public perception as a noble cause, adoption is not always a situation where everybody wins. A harrowing piece published recently in Slate on how some adoptions can go tragically wrong hits that message home. 

This is also certainly true for LGBT couples looking to adopt, as state-by-state laws allowing parents to adopt jointly (or to adopt the child of a same-sex partner) vary. Earlier this year, for instance, the Michigan state House introduced a bill that would allow private adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBT couples on religious grounds. It's a tricky issue, as many of the private agencies handling the state's adoption process are religious in nature. Virginia passed a similar bill in 2012. 

       

How Steve Coogan Found the Laughs in 'Philomena'

The Weinstein Company

Though known as a comedian, Steve Coogan didn't want to be one when playing journalist Martin Sixsmith in Philomena, directed by Stephen Frears and co-written by Coogan himself. In fact, he didn't even think the film would be as funny as it turned out to be. But laughter was something that was integral to the story of the titular Irish woman, whose son was cruelly taken from her, and the journalist who helps her find him. 

The film tells the true story of Philomena Lee (Judi Dench), a woman who became pregnant out of wedlock as a teenager in 1950s Ireland. She was sent to a convent where her son was essentially sold by the nuns to an American couple looking to adopt. Years later, after finally revealing her secret, Philomena tries to find her son with the aid of Sixsmith, who recently had a scandal of his own. "The key to the whole thing was seeing this photograph of Martin and Philomena and seeing her laughing in the photograph," Coogan explained in a recent interview with The Wire.  "I just thought—even though it’s only a photograph and everyone can laugh in a moment—it just seemed to me he’s smiling, and she’s laughing, and this terrible thing happened to her. How did she wind up on the park bench with this journalist, and they’re both laughing?" 

Coogan used his creative instinct—Sixsmith let him invent parts of the character—and his own reporting skills to tease out this odd couple scenario, building a film that provokes smiles and tears. You feel comfortable giggling, for instance, when Philomena recounts the entire plot of a trashy romance novel to the cynical, Russian-history-book-writing Martin. Reading material was integral to how Coogan saw this relationship. "I had an idea in my head--I thought: What would it be like if they were in a book shop, getting on an airplane together, and she had to buy some magazines or books or he had to ask her what kind of newspaper she’d like. Just that thing where people’s tastes bump in to each other," Coogan said. "That wasn’t a scene we used, but I remember that’s the first thing I thought of." He wanted to get to the "nitty gritty" of their relationship, and asked Sixsmith questions like did Philomena ever ask for a newspaper and what she liked to drink.

But Coogan also traded on his own sense of who Philomena might be. "Old Irish ladies, I’ve known a lot in my time, and sometimes they’re quite funny," he said. "Sometimes they’re quite funny because they want to be funny. Sometimes they're quite funny and they don’t realize they’re being funny. I wanted to tap into that." 

And that's not to say the movie doesn't have a very serious side. At its core, it is a story about faith and how faith can be both a force that sustains and corrupts. The film deals with the complex legacy of the Church in Ireland where Magdalene Laundries would force "fallen women" — women like Philomena, who got pregnant out of wedlock as a teenager — into unpaid labor. Members of the Church have argued that the film misrepresents one of the Sisters at the abbey where Philomena had stayed. Coogan told us their reaction slightly "depresses" him. "Their first reaction shouldn’t be that they think that we’ve been a little harsh on Sister Hildegarde. Their first reaction should be to apologize for what happened," Coogan said.

Ultimately, the film is a drama--and will campaign as one at the Golden Globes, according to a representative for The Weinstein Company. But it uses humor to connect its audience more deeply to the characters, to show that Philomena is not, in fact, a broken soul, despite what happened to her. Still, Coogan also didn't want to be his more typical comedic self when playing Martin, and acting opposite the "iconic" Dench. "[Director Stephen Frears] said, 'Oh you want to be like--' and he mentioned some comics name," Coogan recalled. "And I said, 'No no no I don’t want to be like that.' I think I said I want to be like Michael Sheen. And I he went: 'Oh, okay I get it.'" 

 

       

That Guy Next to You on the Plane Can't Start Making Calls — Yet

AP

The FCC, obviously tired of Americans' deep affection for the government, is considering permitting airlines to allow cell service — and, apparently, voice calls — on flights. This is how this horrible idea will work.

There's no law against making a phone call from a plane right now. The trick is getting your voice to the ground. There are two ways of doing this — and two reasons that it's not happening.

Over a cell network. This is how you use your phone all the time: you have reception, you place the call, the phone connects to a cell tower that is itself connected to a series of cell towers, you start talking. The challenge on a plane is that reception from ground-based towers is often poor, meaning that even if you turned your phone on while flying across the country, you wouldn't get a usable signal.

Over an internet connection. This is what's known as "voice over internet protocol" or VoIP. Think Sype. Your voice is converted to data, that data is sent over a network, and the person on the other end has software that converts the data back into audio. There's no technical reason (besides iffy bandwidth) preventing you from making VoIP calls right now. The Wire spoke with Steve Nolan of Gogo Wireless, and he explained that the company has a series of what amount to large Wi-Fi base stations, aimed up at the sky across the country. When you connect, you're connecting directly to a receiver on the ground.

So why don't people make VoIP calls? "If [airlines] want it, they can do it today," Nolan told us — but "our airline partners don't want the talk part." As Bloomberg noted earlier this month, most major U.S. carriers ban voice calls, even using VoIP, largely because Americans find the prospect of being in a small tube with people yakking on the phone somewhat unpleasant. “Voice communications, or voice calls, in a confined space such as an aircraft is simply something our customers do not want,” a Delta representative told Bloomberg.

That's apparently specific to Americans. What the FCC is proposing is to allow airlines to address the tech limitation present in the first case — which already exists on international carriers. Those airlines generally connect to a cellular network using a technology called picocell. In essence, a picocell base station acts as a miniature cell tower that's embedded on the plane. When a person on the flight wants to make a call, she picks up the in-flight cell signal, which is powerful enough to maintain a connection to towers on the ground. A picocell system from a company called AeroMobile installed on Emirates airlines could handle six simultaneous in-flight calls as of last year.

Because this wouldn't be a cell "tower" operated by your cell phone provider, calls on international flights are subject to roaming charges — meaning that this isn't necessarily going to be cheap. Then there's the question of data. Emirates' information page promises that you can use your phone "as you would do on the ground" — but if that means web surfing isn't clear. Picocells are often used to extend cellular networks, including as data needs ramp up, but it seems unlikely that in-flight bandwidth would be terribly robust. (We've reached out to experts for clarification on this point.) Of course, Emirates and Virgin also have Wi-Fi connectivity, so if you wanted to surf the web, that's probably an easier — and cheaper — option.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the FCC has tried this before and wouldn't make it mandatory now.

When the FCC made a similar proposal in 2004, it received more than 8,000 comments. The FCC dropped the proposal in 2007 amid objections from flight attendants and other groups who said it would be a nuisance. …

If adopted, the FCC's order would merely permit airlines to implement wireless technology on planes. It wouldn't require them to do so, and individual airlines would then decide whether to enable voice services on their flights.

In other words, don't expect as rapid a deployment in the wake of a rules change as we saw when the FCC permitted the use of electronic devices during take-off. Letting people read their Kindles is one thing. Letting them hold a three-hour conversation on a three-hour flight is another thing entirely.