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No, Beauty is Not in the Eye of the Beholder

By Selwyn Duke

The American Thinker’s Rick Moran recently wrote a blog piece about how some Catholics in France destroyed two of Andres Serrano’s creations, excreta that some euphemistically refer to as art.  Moran opened by saying that his topic would make for lively debate among commenters, and he was right.  And it has also provoked a lively response from me.

In his piece, Moran states, “Art, as we learned when growing up, is in the eye of the beholder.”  Yes, most of us did learn this growing up—and we learned wrong.  That is to say, unless “art” doesn’t really exist.

The Homosexual Agenda: Urine for a Shock

By Selwyn Duke

When dozens of books on homosexual issues were found doused in urine in a Harvard University library, the campus police (HUPD) were quick to label it a “hate crime.” But now it turns out that what could have been construed as an attempt at literary improvement was just the work of an all-thumbs library official. Writes The Harvard Crimson:

Upon an investigation by HUPD, it was revealed Monday morning that “our own library personnel” had accidentally spilled a bottle, containing what was reported to be urine, that had been found on the shelf, according to Hammonds [College Dean Evelynn Hammonds].… Faculty of Arts and Sciences spokesman Jeff Neal wrote in an e-mail that … the spill was reported by the library employee — the same person who caused the spill, according to his understanding — and cleaned up the same day that it occurred.

Yet not everyone considers the story cleaned up. While campus homosexual groups claim to be relieved by the news, Harvard College Queer Students and Allies co-chairman Marco Chan nevertheless wonders, “Why was there a bottle of urine on the shelf?”

I don’t know, but presumably liberal Ivy League undergrads find walking to the bathroom too much trouble.

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A Time to Remember “Leave it to Beaver” and the America We Left Behind

By Selwyn Duke

This past Saturday, Barbara Billingsley passed away at the age of 94. For those of you scratching your heads but acquainted with 1950s television, Billingsley played the ever-gracious and loving, hearth-and-home mother June Cleaver in the classic sitcom "Leave It to Beaver."

The show, a hit that ran from 1957 to 1963, is a true slice of Americana. It entertained audiences with the innocent mischief-making and misadventures of its main character, Theodore Cleaver (played by Jerry Mathers), an endearing boy who went by the nickname “Beaver.” With his mother, June; his brother, Wally (Tony Dow); and his father, Ward (Hugh Beaumont), they were the ideal American family.

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Online Society, Offline Civilization: How the Internet is Ushering in the End of the Age

By Selwyn Duke

When people discuss the overall effects of the Internet, they will weigh the good and the bad.  On one side, they may mention how the Web, along with talk radio, has broken the stranglehold over public opinion the mainstream media once enjoyed; on the other, they may cite the pernicious effects of pornography, cyber-bullying or the loss of privacy.  Whatever the analysis and verdict, though, it never truly captures how tangled a Web we have woven.  This is because seldom recognized is a simple and profound fact: The Internet is one of the most powerful forces ever unleashed by mankind.

Culture in the Rye

By Selwyn Duke

Many years ago, I was told a story by a woman I knew whose son had been diagnosed with “A.D.D.”  She said that she finally had to take from her boy a book a therapist had given him about how an A.D.D. child acts.  The problem?  Her son was reading it and then imitating the behavior of the child in it!

Then I remember when someone I know well told me about her 13-year-old’s reaction to being confronted about his misbehavior.  He said something to the effect of, “Well, mom, you know, I’m at that age.”  But how did he know he was at “that age”?

Don’t Cry for Roman Polanski

By Selwyn Duke

Even if time does heal all wounds, it certainly doesn’t make us forget all crimes. And, finally, after 31 years on the run from U.S. authorities, Roman Polanski, director, producer, writer, actor, and rapist, may be brought to justice.

On September 26, Polanski was arrested at Zürich Airport in Switzerland on an outstanding international warrant as he tried to enter the country to attend an event. The Polish-born director had long avoided countries that might have extradited him to the United States, remaining mainly in France (where he holds citizenship), Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. However, American authorities had learned of Polanski’s trip to Switzerland in time to negotiate for his arrest with Swiss law enforcement.

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Wild, Wild Kanye West

By Selwyn Duke

Everyone has seen the video of Kanye West running up onto the stage and snatching the microphone away from 19-year-old country music star Taylor Swift at Sunday's MTV video music awards.  West wasn't happy with the choice of Swift as winner and went into a rant about how Beyoncé should have won.  Now, just for the record, I've heard neither Swift nor Beyoncé sing and thus can't render any definitive judgments on this subject.  What I do know, however, is that I wouldn't consider it positive if an over-rated oaf like West was lobbying for me.

Bruno: Some Dare Call It Art

By Selwyn Duke

If art imitates life, then life is starting to seem an awful lot like death. This occurs to me when I think about Bruno, the latest film disgorged by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

Cohen, known for doing mock interviews as the characters Ali G and Borat Sagdiyev, has always specialized in outrageous, often politically incorrect humor. In Bruno, however, critics tell us that he has created not just the outrageous but an outrage, a movie so vulgar that some wonder how it managed its R-rating.

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Michael Jackson and Our Modern Celebrity Culture

By Selwyn Duke

Despite all that is going on in the world, the biggest story for the past week has been the death of Michael Jackson. In fact, it's reported that his funeral, now scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 7 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, will be watched by tens of millions worldwide and that his elaborate funeral procession will at least rival those of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy.

And as it was with Camelot, there has been no shortage of reactions to the King of Pop's untimely end. Fans have been saddened. Critics have, understandably, been muted. And the media have been reporting at a fever pitch, trying to capture television ratings and Web traffic. But my thoughts are a bit different: our reaction to Jackson's death — and life — speaks volumes about our society.

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Movie Review: Angels and Demons

By Selwyn Duke

This weekend I saw Angels & Demons, the controversial film directed by Ron Howard and based on Dan Brown’s book by the same name. The movie is a sequel to the equally controversial The Da Vinci Code, also directed by Howard and written by Brown.

The film is as fanciful as it is controversial. As it begins, we learn that the pope has just died, and a Conclave — an assembly of cardinals who will elect a new pope — is soon to commence in Vatican City. Unbeknownst to the crowds and media gathered in St. Peter’s Square, however, a great evil lurks among them. The four preferiti, the cardinals most likely to assume the papacy, have been abducted by the shadowy Illuminati and are to be systematically murdered, one every hour starting at 8 p.m. Even more ominously, the conspirators have also stolen a canister of antimatter from the CERN particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, and have hidden it in Vatican City along with the preferiti. And, once the mechanical canister’s battery runs down — which is expected to occur at 12 midnight — the antimatter will cease being held in suspension, come into contact with matter, and detonate, creating a five-megaton blast that will destroy the holy city. The clock is ticking.

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