I will confess, I found the entire 6th Season indecently bad. But for those worried that the FCC’s indecency craze will wipe out hot Vampire/Slayer sex in reruns, you may take comfort from the FCC decision located (in PDF) here. For those interested in the FCC tea leaves, I observe it’s a 5-0 decision. Copps and Martin, the most aggressive on indency, appear happy with the idea that suggestive television does not rise to the level of indecency.
But while the uproar has swayed much of the public to Johansson's defense at a time when #genAI is increasingly under scrutiny, this may not quite be an open-and-shut case should she decide to sue . Read the breakdown from @M_F_Rose in her latest article:
The release of @OpenAI's new digital assistant "Sky" stirred controversy after actress Scarlett Johansson alleged that the company had infringed on her rights by using a soundalike voice of hers after she'd declined to voice it herself.
Just saw @MargotSusca fantastic interview with @adamconover about the death of local news at the hands of hedge funds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N21YfWy0-bA A theme I have written about *a lot*. Like this blog post from 2018: https://wetmachine.com/tales-of-the-sausage-factory/we-need-to-fix-the-news-media-not-just-social-media-part-i/ This has been a long time in the making.
I wrote yesterday on the terrifying escalation of antisemitism in Canada, citing events just over past week. Now there is more: last night a firebomb attempt at a Vancouver synagogue. Daily antisemitic incidents is who we are now.
https://www.jewishvancouver.com/important-community-updates-may-20-2024
https://x.com/mgeist/status/1796233336203194446
I remember that episode and was somewhat shocked — because watching Buffy was a family ritual. It remains the only show, now that I think about it, that my entire family (wife and three children) all regularly watched together.
Younger daughter would have been about 12 or 13 when Spike and Buffy were doing their besotted grappling. So that got a little awkward, kinda.
But in general the whole show was so good, and so much fun that it actually did us a service, because it gave us a chance to talk with our daughters about the situation that Buffy was in. And how sometimes women– even smart, competent women– find themselves in relationships that are based on power and sex rather than any natural afinity.
Actually, maybe I’ll write a Wetmachine entry on Buffy. I was about to summarize some remarks I made when I was on a Buffy panel at Arisia, but I think they’re too long to fit here. . . and I’m too lazy to write them now.