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AaronMichaelGordon.com Voice of Degeneration
AaronMichaelGordon.com: Voice of Degeneration
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| OK, I'm so far from an economist, it's not even funny. Yet, I think I'm a pretty smart cookie, so I've had some thoughts brewing ... |
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Posted by Aaron Michael Gordon at | | | |
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OK, in case you haven't heard, Alec Baldwin has just written a book about "parental alienation," which is basically when one parent uses the courts and custody to "alienate" their child from the other one. In effect, this is (a) Baldwin's attempt to recast himself as the ostracized good guy who only called his daughter a "thoughtless, little pig" out of frustration, and to make the world aware of how female-centric the divorce court system is in this country.
Ummmm...duh. And it's not by accident. While there may be some exceptions to this rule (and perhaps Baldwin is one of them,) in general, it's the mom who wants the kid, it's the mom who takes responsibility as the primary care-giver, and it's the mom who picks up the pieces. Again, not always the case...but the phrase "deadbeat dad" isn't something fashioned out of thin air.
Anyhoo, Baldwin wrote a book, gave an interview, and seems to take every opportunity to trash his ex-wife, Kim Basinger, in the press. Meanwhile, Basinger has said nothing. She has no comment for we, the people.
That, my friends, is fucking awesome parenting. Period.
Why? Because it's none of our business. Isn't divorce hard enough on the damn kid, without reading about it in the papers and online? Isn't it better to minimize the harm by keeping Perez Hilton out of it? Or ABC News?
Look, I don't know Basinger OR Baldwin personally, so I can't testify as to whether or not either is a good or bad or indifferent parent. I don't know if either is batshit, if Kim bathes in the blood of innocents, or if Baldwin shaves his back. What I do know is that it's best for the kid if we, the people, aren't involved in the custody hearings. That little Ireland really doesn't need to see her family life on the cover of a glossy mag. And that whatever is going on between Kim, Alec and Ireland should stay between them.
And guess who's fulfilling that promise? Basinger.
So Alec? Shut UP.
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Posted by Aaron Michael Gordon at | | | |
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Let's get this right out of the way from the start. I'm a ShanDo fan.
Seriously.
There are many reasons why, but I think it all boils down to the theme of survival. Shannen Doherty is a survivor in show business. Moreover, she's not a 'survivor' like people with the last name 'Spelling' or 'Sheen' are. She's a kid from nowhere who's been shot to the moon, shot by the press, shot down by the press, and keeps on tickin'.
That's worth an extraordinary amount of respect.
Along the way, she's been idolized, demonized, glamorized and villified. She's done some brilliant work, some very popular work, some so-bad-its-awesome work...and some utter crap. She's been written off so many times, the inkwell has run dry on snarky sarcasm.
And yet, like the awesome Stephen Sondheim song, Shannen Doherty can gloat and smile and sing, "I'm Still Here."
Heck, look at her resume. She never went away. There's a continuous block of work from 1981-2008. That's damn astonishing, for any actor, let alone Shannen Doherty.
So why do I have mixed feelings about her five-episode 'iconic' return to her old zipcode? On the one hand, you can't blame the CW here. The original 90210 basically became utter crap (instead of angsty, enjoyable crap,) when ShanDo left the building. The buzz on their remake launched into the stratosphere when she signed up.
...but this needs to be a limited engagement for Shannen. We need to see Brenda, love her, and move on. Let's leave the past in the past, shall we?
And give Shannen Doherty a damn series already! Seriously. Clearly, we're all waiting for the next series that ShanDo can rock out. Alas, it wasn't "North Shore."
Yet, whether or not she stays on 90210 or moves on to her next movie-of-the-week...or in fact, gets her deserved series (and career vindication,) Shannen's a survivor. And that's why we're all tuning in, really. To see this chick survive, against all odds, Garths and Milanos.
You go, girl.
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Posted by Aaron Michael Gordon at | | | |
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| You know, when I was in Vermont, one of my friends fessed up to not seeing the utterly brilliant film, Body Heat. From a ... |
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Posted by Aaron Michael Gordon at | | | |
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| It was a wonderful Sunday afternoon in the District. I had tumbled out of bed around 12:00, still groggy from the effects of the previous ... |
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Posted by Aaron Michael Gordon at | | | |
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| You know, normally I love Time Magazine. It's a nice, unbiased slice of life I can digest as I move my bowels each and ... |
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Posted by Aaron Michael Gordon at | | | |
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| OK, so I journeyed back to Vermont for my second time as an adult (went skiing as a child in Killington.) And now I can ... |
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Posted by Aaron Michael Gordon at | | | |
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| I have to get this right out of the way. I abhore the new Madonna song, "Four Minutes." Having said that, I adore her new ... |
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Posted by Aaron Michael Gordon at | | | |
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| Ever since Ridley Scott's "Alien," movie studios have been trying to capture the intensity and brilliance of that particular haunted house in space. Most of ... |
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Posted by Aaron Michael Gordon at | | | |
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