Here are the photos from last night’s big Sex and the City 2 premiere in New York. Just a couple of fashion/style/observational notes: Kim Cattrall looks very pretty, but she’s started wearing too much makeup in general; Kristen Davis was styled to look like Elizabeth Taylor, as she was often enough in the television series; I think Liza Minnelli was wearing a foil suit(?); and Cynthia Nixon looks a little boring, but pretty. But of course the “star” came, with her husband. I have to say, Matthew Broderick put on his best “I f-cking hate every minute of this” grumpy face and somehow forced himself to walk the red carpet with a neon-clad Sarah Jessica Parker. SJP’s dress isn’t terrible, I just don’t think the color is appropriate. Meaning it hurts my eyes.

In other SATC news, I just want to say, for the record, that I saw this “controversy” coming a mile away. I even talked about it in April, when a longer trailer for Sex and the City 2 came out and I was put-off by the sight of four horny cougars sitting around guzzling liquor in the middle of the Middle East. Well, now that reviewers have gotten a glimpse of the full movie, some are making even more specific comments about how this film could offend many Muslims, mainly because these are “emancipated” Western women in the heart of the Middle East (Morocco, standing in for Abu Dhabi), interacting cartoonishly with Muslim men and women. Here’s The Daily Mail’s take:

The premiere is still days away, but Carrie Bradshaw and the ladies of Sex and the City are already causing a controversy – after being accused of being ‘anti-Muslim’. Sex And The City 2 will find the four friends travelling from their beloved New York to the far-flung sand dunes of Abu Dhabi on an all-expenses paid jolly, thanks to the irrepressible maneater Samantha Jones.

However, the first review of the long-awaited film, which opens in the UK on Friday, has revealed how the Manolo-wearing, Chanel-loving fashionistas get caught up in some outrageous moments while in the Middle East.

One scene even features Carrie, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Scott) and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) , being rescued by Muslim women who strip off their burqas to reveal the stylish Western outfits they are concealing beneath their black robes.

While in another moment, the ladies perform a karaoke version of Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman in an Abu Dhabi nightclub, as Samantha shocks the locals with her sexual escapades.

Officials in the United Arab Emirates had already denied the production team permission to film within the city – as did Dubai – and instead the Abu Dhabi scenes were recreated in Morocco. Writer and director Michael Patrick King admitted: ‘Abu Dhabi was like: ‘You know, the UAE is not really ready to have four sexually liberated American girls filmed here’.’

The review, by industry bible, the Hollywood Reporter, reveals that Carrie and her friends ‘run up against the puritanical and misogynistic culture of the Middle East.’

It says: ‘The rather scathing portrayal of Muslim society no doubt will stir controversy, especially in a frothy summer entertainment, but there’s something bracing about the film’s saucy political incorrectness. Or is it politically correct? SATC 2 is at once proudly feminist and blatantly anti-Muslim, which means that it might confound liberal viewers. These endearingly loopy scenes exhibit the tasteless humour that enlivened the TV series on its best nights.’

Speaking about the storyline, Miss Cattrall, 53, insisted: ‘To transport these emancipated new-millennium women to a world that has not changed, in a lot of ways, since Biblical times was a fascinating idea. You’d think a Muslim country would not embrace a show like this, but they loved Samantha, they loved the show, they understood what we were doing.’

Despite her comments, however, Abu Dhabi is currently considering whether to ban the film. In 2008 the UAE, where kissing, nudity and expletives are routinely weeded out, refused to show the first film. So far, a decision has not been reached as to whether the movie will hit UAE screens, but with Abu Dhabi currently marketing itself as an emerging force where film production is concerned, its sensitivity is unlikely to encourage the big names of Hollywood.

Mr King said: ‘We didn’t kid around. We really went there and made a big old-fashioned Hollywood movie, but hopefully with a current sensibility involved.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Now, is much of Muslim culture “puritanical and misogynistic”? In my opinion, yes. But if I was in Abu Dhabi, I would respect their culture because I would be a guest, and, you know, I wouldn’t feel like getting stoned (literally, beaten with stones, not “high”). My fear is that Sex and the City 2 is less a triumph of “liberated American women” showing Muslim women how to be emancipated, and more of “ugly Americans” who just go to other countries to order hamburgers and scream at people who don’t speak English. My other fear? That this “liberation” that the SATC ladies offer Muslim women is a consumer-driven emancipation. As in, “We all have the right to wear Monolos! Yay sisterhood!” rather than “We have the right to vote, drive, work, and use birth control, and none of these things is a punishable offense.”

And can I just say something else… if these ladies had said or done something that reviewers considered offensive to Muslims while they were in New York City, I don’t think it would be a big deal. They are New York girls, and there would be American standards of “women’s liberation” at play. I think the criticism mainly stems from the fact that they are American women in the Middle East. I still don’t know why the f-ck the writers decided to set a large chunk of the movie in Abu Dhabi. It just seems so random.

SATC premiere in NYC on May 24, 2010. Credit: WENN.

People Magazine has an interview this week with the Duggars, the famous family in Arkansas that stars on a reality show with now their 19 kids. The Duggars have been dealing with so much after their youngest daughter, Josie, was born last September by emergency C-Section at only 25 weeks old and weighing just 1 lb. 6 oz. Little Josie was in the NICU unit in a hospital in Little Rock for four months. She went home briefly in April, only to have to return two days later following a medical crisis. Josie’s youngest sister, Jordyn-Grace Makiya, was also born in December just one year prior.

The Duggars are outspoken about the fact that they don’t use birth control, never will, and will let God decide how many children to give them. In their half hour reality show, which airs on TLC once a week, they are always calm and collected to a degree that can seem delusional. The family is devoutly religious and nothing seems to bother them, but they admitted to People that Josie’s premature birth and medical condition were the hardest thing they’ve ever had to deal with, and that they were fighting, crying and praying that she would pull through.

One thing that really stuck out for me in this story was an anecdote by Michelle about how she tried to assert her authority over a medical test for Josie. She almost convinced her husband and the doctors not to allow a scary MRI for the infant, only to back down and eventually give her approval. Michelle also didn’t rule out another pregnancy, of course, and admitted that she’s not sure if she’s pregnant again. Michelle Duggar is a 43 year old grandmother and has 19 children from the age of five months to 22 years.

Here’s some of what the Duggars told People, and I really feel for them after reading what they’ve been through:

While doctors try to determine why Josie, born three months prematurely, is now struggling to digest normally, the couple are just grateful for their littlest girl’s continued survival. We’ve never walked through anything like this,” Michelle says. Agrees Jim Bob: “the first 72 hours in the NICU rock your world. This is like surviving a hurricane…

This has tested our marriage and family relationships. It tests the foundation of your soul. Our prayer is that we stay close,” Jim Bob says. “We have totally felt overwhelmed – we didn’t know if Josie was going to live or die or what kind of problems she would have. It’s tough to accept all these things.” And under these conditions, even the most serene couple can start to clash. “When you are under pressure, you have the tendency to be quick to anger and become self-centered,” Jim Bob admits. “We try to have a loving response instead of a sharp one.”

But it isn’t always easy. The couple find themselves struggling over how to make the right decision for their baby’s well being – and they don’t always see eye to eye. When Josie was scheduled to have an MRI as part of an optional study, Michelle worried the loudness of the machines would cause her baby further stress. Jim Bob thought the test was a good idea in order to see how Josie’s brain was developing – until Michelle woke up in the middle of the night, panicked and convinced the test should not proceed. “Jim Bob and I talked about it,” Michelle says. “He said we should pray about it, and then it would be up to me.” In the end, Michelle allowed the test – but it was halted when Josie became too upset by the entire process – much as Michelle had feared.

[When Josie had to return to the hospital after her vitals dropped] “I was terrified. I was thinking. ‘My baby is going to die. I am losing her now.’ I held her skin-to-skin in the ambulance, trying to warm her,” says Michele. “I was crying out to the Lord for her life because I didn’t know what was going on.”

After a frantic race back to the hospital, Josie has stabilized, growing to an impressive 6 lb. 9 oz. But complex questions remain about her condition. Unable to normally digest her feedings, Josie needs enemas ever six hours and constant staff assistance. Ligaments that should keep her stomach in place are weak or nonexistent; portions of her intestines are similarly mobile. Doctors next plan on a surgery to repair three hernias; they may also try to anchor certain organs in place…

As for whether Jim Bob and Michelle will continue to procreate… the couple say they are ready and willing to have more kids – perhaps sooner rather than later. “I don’t know… it’s possible,” Michelle says simpley, when asked if she might already be pregnant. As Jim Bob explains, he and Michelle remain ready to face any challenge – including the public criticism that could accompany yet another pregnancy: “We trust God with our lives, our children, our future. Let’s pass this test. Let’s have the right response.”

[From People Magazine, May 31, 2010]

In April, we ran a story in which the mother of a premature baby criticized the Duggars for both allowing cameras around fragile Josie and acting so nonchalant about her condition. In terms of how eerily mellow they are, the Duggars believe that God controls everything, and that He makes the decisions for them. A lot of people feel that way, and while I can’t personally relate I admire how the Duggars go through life without looking like a damn thing stresses them out. Whether that’s ignorant or wiser than the rest of us is a matter of perspective I guess.

They should really give it a rest, though, and realize that it’s not healthy for Michelle or any potential offspring if she continues to have children. Even if God is calling the shots, I don’t get the idea that it’s ok to have as many kids as you want, even if that puts people’s lives at risk. It’s probably all in the Bible, right? I never could figure that thing out. Maybe it’s easier when you pick and chose passages to take at face value. At least Josie is hanging in there and we hope that things look up for that little one soon. She certainly has plenty of people who love her and are pulling for her.

I read this at one point during the crazy Sandra Bullock coverage yesterday, but I honestly thought it was a joke. It was just too perfect… not only did Sandra “win” whatever public relations war was going on by showing up on the cover of People Magazine with her beautiful, adopted, African-American child, she also held a Jewish bris for baby Louis. It’s just so perfect – you’re America’s sweetheart, and the world finds out you’re married to a neo-Nazi motherf-cker who likes doing nasty things to neo-Nazi skanks, and now everyone wonders if Sandra has secretly been a racist, anti-Semitic bigot all along, and then she comes out and is all “Check out my African-America baby, we had the mohel do the bris.” Problem solved! We love you, Sandy!

And I’m being totally serious! In more excerpts from People’s cover story, Sandra talks about having the bris – which is the traditional Jewish ceremony for circumcision – and how it was performed by a mohel, which is the Hebrew name for the Jewish dude who performs the circumcision. Here’s what she said:

“A friend of ours helped arrange for a bris at the house, because we couldn’t go [to a hospital for the procedure]. The mohel [a person trained in the practice] came to us. You have never seen adults more panicked about what was about to happen to their son, but the celebration and the amount of love we felt and the pride in the little man whom we love so, so much became the greatest moment I have ever had in my life.”

[From People Mag via HuffPo]

Mazel tov! I’m so in love with Sandra right now, I can barely stand it. If that wasn’t enough, Sandra also told People, regarding all of the neo-Nazi stuff, including the photo of Jesse James wearing a Nazi hat: “The photo shocked me and made me sad. This is not the man I married. This was stupid, this was ignorant. Racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, homophobia, anything Nazi and a boatload of other things have no place in my life… and the man I married felt the same.” Sandra Bullock for President!

Additionally, MSNBC had a few more choice quotes from the interview:

The baby, whose name is Louis (pronounced Lew-ee) Bardo Bullock, was born in New Orleans. Bullock told PEOPLE she chose that name because she heard Louis Armstrong’s song “What A Wonderful World” playing in her head when she first saw him.

Bullock said she was blind-sided by the news of James’ infidelity and, while feeling “sad and scared,” is filing for divorce and is finalizing Louis’ adoption as a “single parent.”

Bullock and James reportedly began the adoption process 4 years ago after James’ daughter, Sunny, suggested they adopt a baby. The couple found out they had been matched with Louis in January, just as awards season was beginning.

Bullock told PEOPLE she didn’t want the baby pulled into “the awards season energy” and after she brought him home she kept virtually all visitors out of her home, including stylists and make-up artists working with her for the awards.

“I did not want him brought into a world that would not have been too sincere to him as I wanted,” Bullock told PEOPLE. “I wanted to be alone with him as long as I could then we had to tell his story.”

As for James’ infidelity, Bullock tells People that she had no idea until the day she got the call. Her next step after finding out about the news, was to pack a bag and get herself and Louis out of her house “before the vultures descend.”

“I really don’t know how our paths will intersect in the future, but that father I have known Jesse to be … is one that I hope Louis can experience one day, no matter how Jesse and I go on with our lives.”

Bullock had been involved in parenting James’ three kids from previous marriages, and told People that she couldn’t imagine her life without them, and the plan is for them to co-parent.

[From MSNBC]

Sigh… this really is how you bounce back from emotional devastation. Sandy could teach a master class in crisis management. She could also teach a class called: “I’m a classy bitch, so f-ck you very much”. Because that seems to be what she’s saying to the world in general, even though she’s now watching her language because of the baby.

People cover courtesy of People online. Additional photo Sandy on February 28, 2010. Credit: INFphoto.com.

One of my favorite parts about Vanity Fair is the Proust Questionnaire at the very end of the magazine. Every month, VF picks someone interesting and asks them the same questions from the famous list of questions Marcel Proust put together. Sometimes the person is a an older Hollywood type, sometimes a businessman, sometimes a writer. It’s always fascinating. Anyway, this month’s interviewee was Bill Maher. Now, I like Bill. I don’t love him, but I like him. He’s smarmy and smug, but he’s also funny and sharp as a tack. Considering his very public criticism to religion, it’s no surprise that he took a whack during the questionnaire, but still, even I was a little shocked:

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being in love while organizing my closet.

What is your greatest fear?
Waking up after a sleepover at John Waters’s house and finding my sleeping bag isn’t zipped up the same way as when I passed out. Or “President Palin.”

What is your greatest extravagance?
Hope.

What is your current state of mind?
Cautiously pessimistic.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Sobriety.

On what occasion do you lie?
To advance my personal agenda.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Proximity.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?“It’s an honor just to be nominated.”

When and where were you happiest?
Right now, here with you. Let’s not ruin it by talking.

Which talent would you most like to have?
The ability to bullsh-t.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My desperate need to be liked.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Staying on the air.

What is your most treasured possession?
My freedom.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Thinking of the right thing to say—later.

What do you most value in your friends?
Non-disclosure.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Paul Revere.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Jesus of Nazareth.

What is it that you most dislike?
Hypocrisy, animal cruelty, and yams.

What is your greatest regret?
It’s a tie between muttonchop sideburns and believing Judith Miller. Honorable mention: Lehman Brothers—thanks a lot, a–holes.

How would you like to die?
Surrounded by enemies, holding a grenade.

What is your motto?
“Religion is bad, drugs are good.”

[From Vanity Fair]

For the love of… Bill! JESUS. And that’s what always bothers me about Bill. I get that he doesn’t like organized religion, or that he thinks Christianity is a joke, but claiming that Jesus was a “hero of fiction” only alienates people… people who might agree with him on a ton of other issues.

By the way, that girl on his arm is his girlfriend. Young much?

The National Enquirer has a story this week which is supposedly an “exclusive look” at the private church Mel is building in Agoura Hills, California. We don’t have access to the photos, but it’s not really important. Just imagine a villain’s hilltop lair in one of the James Bond films from the 1970s (I‘m thinking For Your Eyes Only), and you’ve got the idea. Anyway, the accompanying article had some interesting pieces of information:

Workers are putting the finishing touches on Mel Gibson’s 9,000-square-foot Holy Family Chapel in Agoura Hills, California – and the Enquirer has learned that Mel and Oksana, 40, will tie the knot there later this year.

“This is Mel’s dream church and the center of his world,” an insider told the Enquirer. “He’s a devout traditionalist Catholic and views the chapel as his own house of worship where he can pray privately with family and friends.”

Oksana – who gave birth to Mel’s eighth child, daughter Lucia, on Oct. 30 – is taking catechism classes at the church, according to the insider.

“It’s important to Mel that he and Oksana are of the same faith,” the source added. “She’s learning the doctrines and traditions of his conservative sect.”

Gibson financed the chapel’s construction, and Lucia will soon be baptized there, said the insider.

The chapel’s crowning glory is the huge mural behind the altar.

“Mel handpicked an artist to paint a modern interpretation of the ascension of Christ,” said the insider. “He’s also commissioned someone to cast a bell for the church tower. Mel says he is more proud of his church than any of his other achievements.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, March 22, 2010]

I’m not trying to bash Catholicism or people of faith in general, but I really don’t understand why someone would need their own private 9,000-foot church. I mean, doesn’t that go against the tenets of Christianity and the teachings of Christ? Now, I sort of get the whole idea of having a big estate, and including a private chapel on the property so that your rich family can pray privately, in-house. I mean, it sort of makes sense. But that’s not what Mel is doing. This is not a small, private chapel. He bought property to build his own tribute to “Mel As God” so all of his family and friends can practice this ultra-conservative Catholicism and not have to worry about the riff-raff getting in. Eh. Maybe I’m completely off-base. Anyway, I was amused that Oksana is going all out to “learn the doctrines and traditions of his conservative sect”. That’s what you get for going with crazy.

Mel and Oksana at the ‘Edge of Darkness’ premiere in Paris on February 4, 2010. Sidenote: Don’t you love that when you sound out the French name it read “Whores d’ Control”? Credit: WENN.

Leave it to Roseanne Barr to offend a family after a tragedy. The acerbic 57 year-old comedianne blogged two days after Marie Osmond’s son committed suicide that he was gay and that his depression was due to his family’s involvement in the Mormon church, which teaches that homosexuality is a choice and that sex outside a male-female marriage is wrong. Barr wrote:

“Marie Osmond’s poor gay son killed himself. He had been told how wrong and how sick he was every day of his life by his church and the people in it. Calling that ‘depression’ is a lie!”

“Yet the Osmonds still talk lovingly about their church, saying nothing about it’s extremely anti-gay crusade. Marie also has a gay daughter! Hey I want her and all the gay kids in the world to know that they are just fine being gay and that they deserve love and respect instead of insults and rebuke! I have gay people in my family and my circle of friends and I am kicking bigot a** and taking names!”

[via Starpulse]

Now, Barr could be correct in that 18 year-old Michael Bryan was having issues with his identity because of the religion with which he was raised. The thing is, we don’t know if Bryan was gay or not and his friend to whom he addressed his suicide note claims she’s 100% certain that he was not. Barr brings up a good point, that many religions, particularly Mormonism, make young gay people feel inadequate and can contribute to suicide among gay people who have been taught that the way they are is somehow wrong or their fault. She shouldn’t have attached that message to such a recent tragedy though, and Barr realizes this. She penned a long apology that is more carefully written that her usual stream of consciousness style. Here’s part of what she wrote:

I saw on the front page of a tabloid that he had killed himself because he could not handle being gay, and I wrote about how angry that made me, after seeing it hundreds of times, growing up as I did in Utah. I don’t know the Osmonds, but was always offended at their constant defense of the indefensible things that their church does, the way it promotes hatred and racism and sexism, tax free.

I have known so many gay people who killed themselves, or suffered and that is why I put myself on the line to bring TV’s first gay characters to America. I never intended for my comments to be picked up and broadcast on sleazy gossip TV shows, or on other blogs. That was done without my consent or knowledge.

I always intended that my remarks are directed to Power, and always on behalf of its victims. I am sorry to have hurt Marie Osmond, who is the most open minded person in her whole family. I really apologize to her. I thought about waiting to say what I had to say, but then I thought that perhaps there was no better time to add to the conversations in America about homophobia.

Alot of people know they are gay at age three, and I just feel that is why parents should keep little ones away from organizations that tell them from an early age that they are sick and going to hell and not worth the love of God. That is so vile, and a large part of the reason that I never sent my own kids to any synagogue or other religious place ever. You never know if your kids are gay, and aside from that, why would you want to take any of them to a place to learn about God, that teaches hate?

I really encourage parents to stop destroying their children by doing that. It is not good family values. Being gay is not a choice. I didn’t choose to be straight anymore than my siblings chose to be gay, or we chose to be born Jews in SLC, where we were all tormented daily by hateful Mormon neighbors (not all of them were hateful, but too many were).
Anyway, I apologize again for having added to another mother’s pain, and have asked myself if I should have said nothing at all, or waited a while to say what I said. I really don’t know. I think it’s good to get people talking about being more aware of what we accept, and i know that my comments got people talking.

[From Roseanne Barr's blog]

I agree with Roseanne that we need to bring light to the fact that these churches are preaching intolerance. The Mormon church funded 50-75% of the campaign for Prop8 that ultimately banned same sex marriage in California. What good is it to deny families legal rights that should be guaranteed them? Still, Roseanne was wrong to bring Marie Osmond’s terrible loss into it, and she realizes that. Her apology seemed sincere to me. Reading the rest of her blog kind of bummed me out, though. I’m liberal but I try to keep my head up and not get too depressed about the way the country, and the world, is headed. (It helps a lot that I have a job and health insurance that I don’t pay for out of pocket. I’ve done that and it was a fortune.) Barr isn’t looking on the bright side at all, though, and it’s all bad to her. I doubt that much would be different under Hilary as she claims, but we’ll never know.

Oh, God. Elton John is going to piss people off with this one. Perhaps that’s what he’s trying to do, though. Get a little controversy going, add on some publicity for… whatever he’s promoting? I think he’s just promoting his foundation, honestly. Anyway, this is Elton’s new interview in Parade Magazine, and it’s pretty interesting. Even though I think Elton is probably one of the biggest bitches out there, I have so admiration for him, and I love his music to this day. Elton talks about love and loss, HIV/AIDS, drugs, and in the sound byte that will launch a million anti-Elton campaigns, he says “I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems. On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don’t know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East — you’re as good as dead.” Oh, Jesus!

Making early mistakes in love.
“I’d always choose someone younger. I wanted to smother them with love. I’d take them around the world, try to educate them. One after another they got a Cartier watch, a Versace outfit, maybe a sports car. They didn’t have jobs. They were reliant on me. I did this repeatedly. In six months they were bored and hated my guts because I’d taken their lives and self-worth away. I hadn’t intended to.”

Love and drugs.
“Just about every relationship I ever had was involved with drugs. It never works. But I always had to be with someone, good or bad, otherwise I didn’t feel fulfilled. I’d lost the plot.”

It’s all or nothing when it comes to drugs.
“For some people a gram of cocaine can last a month. Not me. I have to do the lot, and then I want more. At the end of the day, all it led to was heartache.”

Why fame has lost its appeal.
“Princess Diana, Gianni Versace, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, all dead. Two of them shot outside their houses. None of this would have happened if they hadn’t been famous. Fame attracts lunatics. I never had a bodyguard, ever, until Gianni died. I don’t like celebrity anymore.”

Remembering friends lost.
“Every time I sing ‘The Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes’ onstage, I say that this is a song written about a time when people in America started getting AIDS and your president, Ronald Reagan, did nothing about it. I get boos. There’s a lot of hate in the world.”

His take on Christianity.
“I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems. On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don’t know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East — you’re as good as dead.”

He’ll never stop helping.
“I set up my foundation because I wanted to make amends for the years I was a drug addict. People with HIV are still stigmatized. The infection rates are going up. People are dying. The political response is appalling. The sadness of it, the waste.”

Finding new relationships.
“In 1993 I went back to my house in Windsor for a while. I wanted meet new people so I rang up a friend in London and said, ‘Could you please rattle some new people together for dinner here Saturday?’”

An instant connection.
“I was attracted to David immediately. He was very well dressed, very shy. The next night we had dinner. After it, we consummated our relationship. We fell in love very quickly.”

Keeping the love alive.
“Every Saturday for 16 years, we’ve sent each other a card, no matter where we are in the world, to say how much we love each other.”

Communication is key.
“We’ve never been jealous. We talk about the sexual side of things, things that normally would have frightened me before.”

[From Parade]

See, I know what Elton is trying to say, kind of. He’s trying to talk about what he’s learned from the New Testament and the teachings of Christ. And maybe what he’s learned has led him to the belief that he’s a lot like Jesus, or vice versa? Maybe. Is Elton saying that Jesus is gay, and this, gay people are closer to Jesus? F-ck, I really have no idea. I’m just hoping this doesn’t become a huge thing.

Parade cover courtesy of Just Jared.

Here is Anne Hathaway on the cover of In Style’s March issue. Pretty, isn’t it? That shade of amethyst is lovely on her, unlike the weird blue feathered crap that Rachel Zoe put her in for the Valentine’s Day premiere. I like Anne so much better when she keeps her makeup simple and her hair loose. I swear, whoever does her hair and makeup for most of the red carpets makes Anne look about 40 years old. Anyway, good cover, and a pretty good interview too… Anne is self-effacing about her “weird features.”

Anne Hathaway looks as unequivocally gorgeous and radiant as ever on the March cover of InStyle—though she’s probably the only person out there who doesn’t see it: “I think I’ve got really weird features. I have very large features on a very small head,” she tells the magazine.

“But, you know, I’m not going to beat myself up. It’s my face. I’m not very pretty. But that’s OK because I do know that I look like myself, and I think at the end of the day, as nice as pretty is, authenticity is more important.”

The self-effacing actress continues: “If I don’t work out at all, I have too much curve and no tone—which is not OK. It’s about finding balance.”

Hathaway strives for equilibrium in the way she dresses too, with her tomboy-by-day, glamazon-by-night approach: “In the evening it would never occur to me to go out in motorcycle boots like this,” she says, referring to the black Burberry pair she wore to her interview. “I love going out in high heels and dressing up and glamming it up, and having there be a distinction between what happened throughout the day and the evening.”

As to where she finds style inspiration, the 27 year-old, who calls out Marc Jacobs as one of her “all-time favorite designers,” has a long list of Hollywood peers who demonstrate “innovation and originality,” including Tilda Swinton, Gwen Stefani, Lady Gaga, Selma Blair, and Natalie Portman, and says: “I like people who are true to themselves.”

[From People Magazine]

I do think Anne has unusual features, but it works for her and that’s what makes her beautiful rather than “average” or “pretty, I guess”. Sure, her styling is hit-or-miss, but when it’s a hit, she’s an absolutely stunning woman.

Meanwhile, a new interview excerpt just came out from Anne’s GQ UK cover profile - this is the one where it seemed the whole piece about comparing Anne to Angelina Jolie. Anyway, Anne tells the magazine that she left the Catholic Church because her brother is gay:

Anne Hathaway’s family left the Catholic Church because of its intolerance of homosexuality. Anne grew up wanting to become a nun but shunned Catholicism when she learned her older brother, Michael, was gay.

“The whole family converted to Episcopalianism after my elder brother came out,” she told British GQ. “Why should I support an organization that has a limited view of my beloved brother?”

But Episcopalianism didn’t really take either.

“So I’m … nothing,” she said. “F-ck it, I’m forming. I’m a work in progress.”

[From Huffington Post]

I don’t really have anything to say about what religions are cool with gay people and all of that stuff. But I will say this – I think it’s great that Anne (and her whole family, it seems) chose to put love ahead of Church dogma. I really do.

One last note about Hathaway’s GQ cover… HuffPo claims that someone got a little over-zealous with the Photoshop and edited out Anne’s armpit. To me, it just looks like they made the skin look nice, but it’s not too much. Meh. Tempest in a teapot.

InStyle cover courtesy of People Magazine. GQ UK cover courtesy of previous Celebitchy post.

Mother of all that is holy. So, I was just going to write this up as an amusing little story about some douchey reverend getting his panties in a twitch over Lady Gaga. Then I googled this guy, Rev. Fred Phelps, and now I’m so angry I might bite and claw at this piece of crap “man of God” if I ever saw him. Rev. Phelps is the guy who leads that backwoods congregation of idiots, the Westboro Baptist Church, who protest dead soldiers’ funerals, because Rev. Phelps thinks soldiers are dying in the battlefield because of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” military policy. Rev. Phelps is also the guy who actually thinks there’s a passage in the Bible that reads “God Hates F-gs” and thus, Rev. Phelps’ congregation puts that on signs and screams it at the mourning family members of American soldiers slain in battle. Some of his other favorite sayings are “Thank God for Dead Soldiers”, “America Is Doomed” and “Priests Rape Boys”.

So, yeah. This isn’t just some random wingnut trying to get a quick press hit off Lady Gaga’s name. Phelps is a professional hate-monger, and is considered a very dangerous piece of work. And now he’s set his sights on Gaga, and he even wrote up a press release about how Gaga has a “whore’s forehead” and he mocks “this particular hussy’s pretentious prancing.” Sounds like someone’s got a crush!

Thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed…Will He reserve HIs anger forever? Will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.” Jer 3:3,5

“Art” and “fashion” are the euphemisms, the guise under which proud whore Lady Gaga teaches rebellion against God (incidentally, her claim to the title of “lady” is sound only if she tacks on “of the night,” thereby alluding to another euphemism of what she is.)

As much as she’d like to pretend otherwise, there’s nothing new or different about this particular hussy’s pretentious prancing. Does the simple slut truly think that she can change God’s standards by seducing a generation of rebels into joining her in fist-raised, stiff-necked, hard-hearted rebellion against Him? Get real!

Even as she gives lip-service to “liberating” her young fans, Lady Gaga brings them into slavery to their own corruption, teaching them to glory in their shame. She hates you!

“For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness…While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption!” 2 Pet. 2:18-19

YOU’RE GOING TO HELL.

[From Rev. Fred Phelps’s press release, via Huffington Post]

I like the all-caps “you’re going to hell.” My response? “Yr doin it wrong.” But seriously, this is about Gaga’s huge gay following, and her out-spoken support of the gay community (her fan base). And that’s sad. Let the gays have their divas! Is Rev. Phelps going to issue press releases about Cher and Barbara Streisand? Perish the thought. In all seriousness, though, I love the First Amendment and everything, but Rev. Phelps shouldn’t be allowed to speak. He’s crazy.

Reality star Michelle Duggar is out of the hospital after having an emergency c-section less than two weeks ago to save her premature 19th child. (Little Josie Duggar, who was just 1 lb., 6 oz. at birth is still in the hospital but is stable and taking breastmilk.) Michelle was spotted at a public meeting for her local Alcoholic Beverage Control board spreading her puritanical wrath. Michelle and her husband, Bob, objected to a proposed beer license for a gas station in their small town of Springdale, Arkansas. According to local reports, Michelle was crying at the board meeting over the fact that some booze might invade her town. The beer permit for the EZ-Mart was denied, but they’ll probably continue to do decent business in gas since residents will have to go out of town to get their buzz on.

Controversy looms over the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board’s decision to deny a beer permit for a local gas station.

The board denied the request Wednesday for the EZ Mart on Sunset Avenue in Springdale.

And for some in the area, it comes as a shock. EZ Mart thought it would get the go-ahead.

Employees at the store said initially, no public officials had objected to their request, until yesterday, when a surprise guest came into the ABC board’s meeting to testify.

“I was told the Duggars were there protesting it, and that Mrs. Duggar was up there crying. And she said that she didn’t want alcohol in her neighborhood or her town, so we got turned down for it,” said assistant manager Tomie Labeff.

Labeff said she and others were more than certain that EZ Mart would be selling beer.

“I was told the mayor wasn’t contesting it, so we were told by our general manager that we were going to get it for sure, but we were told no,” said Labeff.
40/29 News spoke to Michelle Duggar on the phone, and she said alcohol in convenience stores would bring children closer to it.

“Personally, I don’t think alcohol needs to be convenient. I think it needs to be placed in a place where adults can get to it and they will have a choice to get it. But our children should not be bombarded with that. It’s so close to home,” said Duggar.

For some, it’s a let down.

“I’m kind of upset about the situation because I feel that it would be convenient to my house. I could just walk down the street instead of having to drive my car,” said Jeremy Bara.

Although that convenience store was turned down, several others in the area got the green light — including the Murphy Express on Wedington Drive in Fayetteville, where construction at the site isn’t even fully completed.

[From 4029tv.com via Radar Online]

I never understood the concept of a “dry town” or “dry county.” We had a dry town next to the one I grew up in and the people who lived there just had to do a little more planning to get their beer. Studies have shown that dry municipalities can actually be more dangerous as people are getting drunk further away from home and then driving to get back. Drunk drivers on the road are more dangerous to kids than seeing some beer at the gas station. It’s not like they’re selling it to kids under 21. Michelle Duggar isn’t known for her excellent deductive reasoning skills. She is a model of serenity and patience, although that doesn’t seem to include much tolerance of others.

Header is of Michelle Duggar and then also-pregnant daughter-in-law. All photos credit: TLC