edited by Jonathan Doyle

Cloverfield [BLU-RAY] (Paramount Home Entertainment, 6.3.2008) Disguised under deliberately goofy, yet deliciously edible-sounding, aliases such as Cheese and Slusho, Matt Reeves' Cloverfield was produced and rushed into theaters under an equally appetizing shroud of secrecy. From last year's incredibly elusive Super Bowl ad to the film's viral marketing campaign, Cloverfield had everybody scratching their heads and drooling in anticipation. Aside from the as-yet untitled title and the Blair Witch-ian visual style, the film's biggest appeal was the enigmatic creature who was last (un)seen hurling the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty onto the crowded streets of New York City. All we knew about the mysterious beast was that it was big and angry. Now that the highy-anticipated project has come and gone, one question has fortunately been answered: Cloverfield was a major success. (continued)

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Clarifying the meltdown

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Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke did some actual calling about the Pamela Anderson-Kid Rock-Borat argument at Universal honcho Ron Meyer's home that resulted in her filing divorce papers. Wondering why "those two losers were included among the 20 VIPs on what's supposed to be a triple-A screening list," Finke is reporting, the following:

"Anderson is a friend of a Meyer neighbor, who asked the studio mogul if Pam and Kid Rock could come over for the screening because new hubby hadn't seen new bride in Borat yet. The way 'Page Six' made it sound, there was a screaming match in the middle of Meyer's screening room. Wrong. None of the guests knew anything happened -- just that the couple left in the middle of the movie."

Wait a minute: Anderson doesn't appear in Borat until the the final third. Almost the very end, in fact. The marital meltdown fight was allegedly over Kid Rock 's reaction to Anderson's appearance in the film, so they couldn't have left "in the middle" of the film, right?

Meanwhile, here' s another "Page Six" posting, a Kid-Rock's-side-of-the-story thing. What am I doing puttng this crap up?

Re-selling "Guilty"<< previous | next >>Anal horse sex

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 29, 2006 at 12:44 PM

comment #1

JD says ...

It sounds like he had a negative reaction to the film's redneck-bashing and her decision to appear in it, not the particulars of her appearance. Makes sense to me. He certainly is a redneck.

Posted by JD at November 29, 2006 01:08 PM

comment #2

NYCBusybody says ...

The New Yorker this week (the New Yorker, of all places!) has the best, sharpest, ballsiest satire of the disgustingly elitist, regionally biased and xenophobic nature of "Borat".

http://www.newyorker.com/shouts/content/articles/061204sh_shouts

Posted by NYCBusybody at November 29, 2006 01:20 PM

comment #3

ArchiveGuy says ...

Gotta go with JD--it sounds like Kid objected to the movie in general and didn't even wait around to see what part Pam played. The fact that she was in it at all was enough for him.

Posted by ArchiveGuy at November 29, 2006 01:23 PM

comment #4

Mark says ...

Actually, i heard that Rock objected to Pam audible moaning while watching the naked wrestling. that's what i heard anyway.

Posted by Mark at November 29, 2006 01:25 PM

comment #5

Gabriel says ...

Could he have gotten pissed at the scene where the frat boys show Borat her tape? That couldn't be it, could it? He was undoubtedly one of the guys making those remarks before he got famous and married her.

Posted by Gabriel at November 29, 2006 01:26 PM

comment #6

NYCBusybody says ...

JD is a bigot. If this same movie had been made of Mexican culture (or hell, even Northeastern...does anyone REALLY believe the rodeo reaction wouldn't also have happened at a Philly Eagles game, or in parts of Southie Boston?) and said Wilmer Valdaramma left the screening because hell, he's a "wetback" just like the rest of those wetback idiot Mexicans portrayed on screen (after all, all Mexicans really think and act alike, don't they?), he'd be understandably called a bigot.

And yes, Wilmer is Colombian, I know, but those wetbacks are all the same.

Posted by NYCBusybody at November 29, 2006 01:26 PM

comment #7

Dixon Steele says ...

I'm betting it's the scene with the frat boys, where you see the DVD box of her sex antics with Tommy Lee. Am I remembering it correctly?

That would piss me off...

Posted by Dixon Steele at November 29, 2006 01:27 PM

comment #8

Monument says ...

I'm curious why, in our politically correct age, that it is still ok to use negative racial and cultural epithets like "white trash" and "redneck?"

Posted by Monument at November 29, 2006 01:31 PM

comment #9

Edward says ...

And I'm reading about this crap! Yikes!!!!!

Posted by Edward at November 29, 2006 01:32 PM

comment #10

mithollogy says ...

I'm offering personal assistant services to Pam Anderson right here now. Babysitting included. What, she can't afford my asking price? Time is money, as you can see, my new name took a lot of it.

Posted by mithollogy at November 29, 2006 01:36 PM

comment #11

NYCBusybody says ...

I'm curious why, in our politically correct age, that it is still ok to use negative racial and cultural epithets like "white trash" and "redneck?"

Because the urge to demonize entire groups of people in general, sweeping, easy ways, with epithets, is inherent to the human race, especially among elites. The way gays and blacks have historically been treated in media representations, (all blacks are gangsters and troublemakers, all gays are promiscuous, silly people), is exactly what happens with Southerners, or Christians. Going out purposefully in search of people who will fit the easy stereotype, so it can be shown to "our kind of people" to laugh over, has always been done. It's what frat boys do to "silly foreigners". The irony lost on almost everyone is that what Sacha Baron Cohen does to the poor Romanians, or to the woman he calls unattractive in front of her friends and family, is exactly the same mindset the frat boys have towards people who are different from them.

Of course, the silly thing is, as all liberals should know by now, the best way to make people come out and be proud about who they are is to disdain and attack them - just ask gays out of the closet, or women in the 50's-70's. Southerners and especially Christians hear about Borat, quietly take in the message given them by European elites like Cohen, and vocalize who they are even more because of it.

Posted by NYCBusybody at November 29, 2006 01:40 PM

comment #12

msthollyung says ...

I changed it again. How embarrassing, I mean that they had to leave in the middle of a triple-A screening. How many woman her age get film work? I actually kind of liked her sitcom "Stacked."

Posted by msthollyung at November 29, 2006 01:43 PM

comment #13

msthollyung says ...

He's right, I read the same thing somewhere else.

Posted by msthollyung at November 29, 2006 01:46 PM

comment #14

cjKennedy says ...

I couldn't give two shits about Pamela Anderson and/or Bob Richie before, but now that Ms. Finke has something to say about it, I'm endlessly fascinated.

Wait, no I'm not.

Posted by cjKennedy at November 29, 2006 01:48 PM

comment #15

Dixon Steele says ...

NYCBB, it's always about Liberals with you.

As a gay, black man, you should know better.

Posted by Dixon Steele at November 29, 2006 01:56 PM

comment #16

Edward says ...

This thread reminded me of a song from the 60's, by a Kansas City singer -- who's name I forgot -- "Your Neck Don't Have to be Red, To Be a Redneck."

Posted by Edward at November 29, 2006 01:58 PM

comment #17

JD says ...

As much as NYC may want to perpetuate a fantasy that whites are rampant victims of racism in America, I beg to differ. More importantly, "redneck" is not a racist term. Rather than generalize about all white people, it generalizes about a very particular type of attitude that is not particular to age, gender, or class (just look at Britney Spears). It's one thing to use a racist term to randomnly denigrate members of another race (as NYC did in his post), it's another thing to very specifically use a term to describe -- not even dismiss -- a specific type of attitude and behavior among members of your own race (as I did in mine). NYC, if you accept categories like "elitist" as valid, you also have to accept the inverse: uneducated, uninformed, and generally lacking in taste (aka redneck). If you think those are positive traits, more power to you, but don't pretend your disdain for "elitists" is any more hoorable than my acknowledgement of the redneck phenomenon.

Posted by JD at November 29, 2006 02:11 PM

comment #18

mizerock says ...

So if only only Elites weren't so into stereotyping, we wouldn't have White Power groups in the south ... wow, I never knew.

Posted by mizerock at November 29, 2006 02:27 PM

comment #19

D.Z. says ...

If people don't like being referred to as white trash, they shouldn't vote like white trash.

Posted by D.Z. at November 29, 2006 03:23 PM

comment #20

MilkMan says ...

This planet is a prison. Pray we don't escape.

And for all the supposed good, honest, white, christian, working-class garbage that make up a large % of our country, if it makes you upset that some Jew is making fun of you, maybe even demonizing you, all I can say is too bad. You've been demonizing the rest of the world for as long as I can remember, and now it's time for a little payback. Just a little. The ruling class of this country is comprised of the dumbest, most frightened people on the planet. Sascha Cohen proved one point very well with his movie: that he is smarter, on a performative level, than any random sampling of garden-variety 'Mericans. So the bullies are upset that they were punched in the nose? Boo-hoo.

And NYCBusybody, before I have to read your programmatic response, let me just say that I don't care whether you're gay and black, which to me, sounds like pandering, like you want to establish some kind of moral and political superiority. I seriously doubt whether you are either. You sound like a straight white man to me, and since you do, please accept from me this little gift, which is my middle finger, fully extendend, in your face, jackie-o motherfucker.

Posted by MilkMan at November 29, 2006 03:29 PM

comment #21

Monument says ...

In case anyone wants John Waters opinion, here's his take on the term from:

A Pinewood Dialogue following a screening of
Hairspray, moderated by Chief Curator David
Schwartz (October 25, 1998):

SCHWARTZ: One of the things that is so clear in this
film is your affection towards all the characters,
pretty much. And I just wanted...a [term] that gets
tagged to your films is “white trash.” Like you’re
depicting “white trash.”

WATERS: I never said that. That term is the last politically correct racist term to say. I never say that term. It is a racist term, basically. “Blue-collar” is all right.

...I don’t use the term. “Trailer trash,” they
call it now. It’s the same thing—that’s offensive,
too. That’s the L.A. version of that."

Posted by Monument at November 29, 2006 04:27 PM

comment #22

JD says ...

Monument, so you were basically plagiarising Waters in your earlier post? Just to be clear, when I use the term "redneck" (which isn't interchangeable with "white trash") I'm not referring to all blue collar people. In fact, I have the utmost respect for blue collar people and/or people from the south. I come from a blue collar community and I've spent a lot of time in the south (by choice). And just so you know, people in the south use the term redneck, too. Some even refer to themselves as rednecks. Like "bimbo" or "snob," it's a label that describes an attitude, not a race. If it's used correctly -- and I think it is, if you're referring to Kid Rock -- I don't see what's so offensive about it. Most people who are rednecks are proud of it. They brag about it.

Posted by JD at November 29, 2006 05:05 PM

comment #23

sunny says ...

Actually, the term "redneck" has a noble provenance. It refers to the condition of a farmers neck after working all day in the sun

Posted by sunny at November 29, 2006 06:17 PM

comment #24

nemo says ...

Anybody who thinks that "white trash" and "redneck" are equivalent hasn't spent much time in the South or the rural Midwest.

"White trash" is definitely fighting words. "Redneck" is almost a term of pride. Hell, back in the early 70s Johnny Russell had a country hit called "Red Necks, White Socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer". On the album cover he proudly displayed all three. White rural pride, fashion sense, and cheap beer wrapped up in one patriotic package.

(Johnny Russell is also notable as the author of "Act Naturally", recorded by Buck Owens, and covered later on by Ringo Starr with backing from popular 60s group called the Beatles.)

Or for a more recent example, The Kentucky Headhunters had a country hit a few years ago called "Redneck Girl".

"Redneck" a racist term? Get out of here. You don't know what you're talking about. It's mildly offensive at worst, and in most circumstances, it's more like a term of pride. Country music has a whole subgenre of redneck pride, and from what little I know about Kid Rock, he does a rap-rock version of that.

"White trash", as John Waters correctly notes, is another story entirely. Like the N-word, not a term you should feel comfortable throwing around. But JD didn't use that term, he used the mildly offensive but perfectly OK term "redneck". And as he correctly points out, it's an attitude, not a racial term.

Posted by nemo at November 29, 2006 06:45 PM

comment #25

Thrudvangar says ...

Thanks for the link NYCBB. I don't think I'll EVER watch that movie now. It's just as I figured. Sacha's fifteen minutes are about up.

Posted by Thrudvangar at November 30, 2006 03:35 AM

comment #26

EDouglas says ...

I didn't like Borat either, but who would be stupid enough to give up the right and privilege to have sex with Pam Anderson just because they didn't like it? And I thought critics were dumb! :)

Posted by EDouglas at November 30, 2006 03:52 AM

comment #27

Monument says ...

Plagiarism? Are we in class? Please, I was merely posing a question. But if you must, you should report me to the Dean and demand my expulsion.

I just find it interesting that so many of you are vociferously defending your right to denigrate a specific ethnic group.

Posted by Monument at November 30, 2006 09:22 AM

comment #28

storymark says ...

Monument - That's because the only people that consider it a deigrating label are those who are freaking out over it. "Rednecks" are proud of the label. I live and work in a "Redneck" community. People here have no problem with that term. "White trash", yes, but no one has claimed otherwise.

And since when does one group of people suddenly become the whole of their ethnicity?

Posted by storymark at November 30, 2006 12:37 PM

comment #29