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There's a Q&A with Quentin Tarantino in this weekend's New York Times Style Magazine. (It's online here.) The occasion is the upcoming debut screening of Tarantino's latest movie, "Inglourious Basterds," a war-'n'-gore flick starring Diane Kruger and Brad Pitt in which a band of Jewish American soldiers attempt to kill a hell of a lot of Nazis. (I read the script before it was sold, and it is bloody.) "This was the hardest movie I've ever made," Tarantino admits, before not-so-humbly deeming it a "masterpiece." Interestingly, the photo accompanying the interview features Quentin in a black suit and black patent leather high-heels. In one hand, he holds his drink. In the other hand, he holds a bra. Not sure what's going on there, but while some may say he's a hack, few can ever say he's boring.
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Meghan, I'm fascinated by the "cultural metabolism" (as you so aptly put it) of these parental age stories, as well, but I suspect that men will never feel the same sort of pressure no matter how many of these studies are pumped out. Even with the rise of a few emo daddy bloggers, there is still not the same sort of imperative. Women are told, implictly and explicitly, that their lives are incomplete unless they become mothers. All you have to do is look at the celebrity fetishization of motherhood to see how this plays out. After Brad and Angelina started having kids, Jennifer Aniston was cast as pathetic because she was childless, and countless tabloid stories were churned out speculating about Jen's potential baby bump or lack thereof. On the other hand, Angelina was heralded as the second coming of Mother Teresa. Do we ever read stories about how George Clooney cries into his Cheerios because he's never been blessed with a bundle of joy? Of course not. Obviously the celebrity media isn't a complete reflection of pedestrian life, but I think in this case its telling.
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Although it seems to be having a few technical problems, Nadya Suleman, ad hoc CEO of the octuplets+6 media corporation, recently set up a tasteful portal to capture a revenue stream (accepts credit cards!) during the launch of her new family business. As Dahlia mentioned last week, the newly delivered mother of eight slightly resembles Angelina Jolie. In addition to their age and some physical similarities, both women also seem very comfortable with far more notoriety than a truly rational individual would ever want. (Is it a coincidence that Jolie's 1999 breakthrough performance as a mental institution patient in Girl, Interrupted was the same year as Suleman's injury at her California mental hospital job? The worker compensation settlements provided development capital for her new venture.) Giving a whole new meaning to the notion of sweat equity, to provide manpower for the company, the fecund executive also ovulated enough viable IVF embryos to incubate 14 of them to delivery from six pregnancies.
Speaking of compensation, NBC insists it paid "not a dime" to air the first post-birth Ann Curry interview with "Octomom," nor for any of the access and personal materials used in the network's "special Dateline" featuring her other six children. Nevertheless, I'd love to read the contract between NBC's legal department and Ms. Suleman's business managers, spelling out what everyone did agree to.
Anyway, I applaud the fledgling media dynamo's entrepreneurship and resourcefulness and hope for Suleman that she gets that cable reality show. Who knows? Maybe it will even get network interest from, say, NBC. As for Suleman's 14 fatherless offspring, they will, it seems, be joining the growing ranks of working realty actors that includes ratings magnet and 3-year-old son of the current Bachelor star Jason Mesnick. While the Pitt children, though perhaps too often pressed into service as accessories, are so far still unemployed.
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