Discovery Jumps the Shark Week
Duuuhh dah. Duuuuuuuuhh dah. Duh dah. Duh dah. Duh dah. Duh dah. Duh dah. Duh dah. Duh dah. Duh dah. DUH DAH. Trumpet crescendo. The infamous soundtrack from Jaws? Yes. But this week it could also double as the ominous sound heard by Discovery execs struggling to contain a growing backlash over a stunt it […]
Rolling Stone’ Reminds Us There’s No Such Thing as Bad Publicity
Two weeks ago I wrote about how Rolling Stone’s latest issue, featuring accused Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a flattering picture on the cover, was stirring up controversy. Celebrities called for boycotts. Major retailers said they wouldn’t be carrying the issue. In short, much brouhaha ensued. So all that combined civic outrage naturally resulted in […]
Adventures in (Digital) Parenthood
Raising children has never been for the faint of heart. I suspect it wasn’t easy a hundred years ago. Or a thousand, for that matter. But I also know that we have some challenges connected to raising children in our digitally drenched epoch that didn’t exist even a generation ago. When my son, Henry, now […]
Rock Star. Celebrity. Terrorist.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is not a rock star. He is—allegedly, the libel rules of journalism require me to say—a terrorist and a murderer in the Boston Marathon bombing, which claimed three lives and forever changed hundreds more. And yet there he is, staring out at all of us on the cover of Rolling Stone’s latest issue—which […]
Nudity’s New Normal
You may remember a little controversy that happened back in 2004, one that involved Justin Timberlake’s participation in Janet Jackson’s so-called “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl halftime show. Timberlake exposed Jackson’s breast for a fraction of a second, prompting national outrage and discussion about society’s standards when it comes to nudity in entertainment. Fast-forward […]
Will China Change Movies’ Messages?
What does the Chinese movie market have to do with the content of movies made in America? Until fairly recently, the answer might have been, “Not much.” But last year, China moved past Japan as the second biggest movie market in the world—second only to the United States. And industry experts believe the Chinese box […]
Facebook Spurs Organ Donation
Facebook boasts some 1.1 billion users around the world. But the juggernaut social networking site has also inspired some less than flattering headlines the last few years as well. Articles with titles like “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely” and, “How is Facebook Addiction Affecting Our Minds?” So it’s nice every now and then to stumble […]
1984′ Sales Surge After NSA Storm
In 1949, English writer George Orwell’s dystopian take on a futuristic, totalitarian, always-watching government in 1984 ushered the phrase Big Brother into the popular lexicon. Since then, Big Brother has come to mean any virtually unwanted snooping and surveillance via technology—especially when the government is involved. Orwell’s vision of a grim totalitarian future has always […]
When Young Stars Go Off the Rails
Miley Cyrus is back in the news this week, promoting her controversial new song “We Can’t Stop.” You can read my review here. Suffice it to say that the three years between her last musical effort and this one haven’t, it would seem, contributed to a growing sense of maturity or wisdom. Lest you think […]
From Heart to Selena: Pop Music Reflects Changing Values
As Plugged In’s main music reviewer, I spend a lot of time thinking about popular music—specifically, observing what artists are saying as well as focusing upon the values and worldviews that their lyrics reflect and reinforce. Along with my fellow Plugged In reviewers, I strive to carefully interpret what I’m hearing from a Christian perspective. […]