mark's blog

As Pop Culture Leans Left, Does it Really Matter?

Submitted by mark on December 20, 2007 - 6:26pm
Writers on Strike in Boston
Jaime Paglia (creator of Eureka), Rob Kutner (writer for The Daily Show), and Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) at the Writers Guild of America Rally in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Mass., on Friday, December 14th, 2007. Photo from Brad Searles

Last Friday there was a rally by striking writers in Boston. Joss Whedon, the Creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of the big names at the event. A friend of mine asked me if I had ever seen the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Buffy gets pulled into a demonic sweatshop. Basically it goes like this -- runaway kids are kidnapped from Skid Row, dragged into this netherworld sweatshop, worked until they are nearly-dead, and then spit back onto the streets of Los Angeles. Ever Buffy, she busts the place up and frees all the captives. My friend mentioned it because he thought it was a great example of the left presence in pop culture, since in a key scene Buffy uses a hammer and sickle to kick the demon guards asses, striking a bad-ass Stakonovite pose in the middle of the fight sequence for good measure.

My Neighborhood Police State

Submitted by mark on September 19, 2007 - 2:47pm
I live in Crown Heights, which is a mostly West Indian and African American neighborhood in Brooklyn. I've been there for two years, and like most black neighborhoods in New York, the cops are pretty much a constant presence.