Tomorrow’s February 1st — which means it’s time to dig out that yearly “Is Vanity Fair racist?” headline. Yes, the magazine has unveiled its 2012 Hollywood Issue, and the cover isn’t pretty. No, strike that. It’s a lovely photo, filled with gorgeous, talented starlets. But while there are two women of color — Pariah‘s Adepero Oduye and Paula Patton from Mission Impossible — among the 11 actresses featured on the fold-out cover, all four of the ladies on the left panel that readers will see on newsstands are white. As Jezebel reminds us, this is no fluke: It’s been going on since the ’90s, with some Hollywood Issues excluding non-white actors entirely. Flavorwire editor Caroline Stanley, meanwhile, notes that this isn’t a photographer problem, as several different photographers have shot the cover over the year — it seems to be an editorial decision.
So, what’s going on here? Even if VF was, at one time, unaware of what it was doing, a few years of scrutiny should have gotten its editors thinking about who they aren’t showcasing. Now, we’re left to wonder whether the magazine thinks the risk of putting a non-white actress on the newsstand is so high that it’s worth enduring widespread annual accusations of racism. Readers, what do you think is going on in the VF boardroom?
1. Remember the nude sketch that Tony Bennett did of Lady Gaga for Vanity Fair per Annie Leibovitz’s suggestion? Well, it’s now up for auction on eBay, with the proceeds going to Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation and Bennett’s Exploring The Arts. [via NME]
2. “I have heard that Lady Gaga is keen to play Amy in a film. I don’t know what her English accent is like but it’s not just an English accent she would have to perfect – it’s an English-Cockney-Jewish accent so she better start practicing now. But she would be great.” — Amy Winehouse’s father Mitch, as quoted by The Mirror. Meanwhile The Daily Mail is reporting that he says that there will never be a film. Which UK tabloid do we trust?!
3. Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer-Camp were on Rock Center last night discussing their talented son, Marcel the Shell, with host Brian Williams. Watch the adorable interview (which takes place in their adorable Brooklyn apartment) here.
4. Evidently, James Franco is now writing movie reviews for The Paris Review. He also narrates the new documentary Eames: The Architect and the Painter, which comes out on DVD today.
5. You know that you need to watch SNL cast member Taran Killam re-create Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend” video. Why doesn’t he get to do stuff like this on the show? [via Vulture]
Oh boy, Courtney Love. You have many haters, but here at Flavorpill, we have a soft spot for you and attempt to defend your ill-advised statements regularly. But we can’t help you when you insist on giving interviews to Vanity Fair – which, as we’re sure you remember, is the magazine that, back in 1992, published an article that claimed you’d knowingly done heroin during your pregnancy and temporarily got your child taken away from you. Courtney, these people are not your friends!
So, here’s their big headline this time: “Courtney Love on Kurt Cobain: ‘For What He Did to Us, I’d Fucking Kill Him.’” While she does indeed say these words when asked if she was angry about Cobain’s suicide — and Vanity Fair makes sure to get them into the lead — the majority of the piece (which seems to have no particular peg or reason for being, aside from the public’s eternal interest in Love’s mental instability) is actually about how much Love misses her estranged daughter, Frances Bean Cobain. While there’s no comment from Frances, her lawyers do surface to maintain that just about everything her mother says is false. And then there’s the matter of “the fraud,” Love’s theory about what has become of all the money she and Cobain should have had. Taken together, it’s your latest gratuitous “Courtney Love Is Crazy” piece — enjoy it, America!
We have good news and bad news about Vanity Fair‘s 2011 Hollywood Issue. First, the positive: Unlike last year’s wildly controversial model, the new cover actually includes a more diverse group of actors. (Also, for some reason, VF decided to go with a co-ed bunch this time around.) It’s great to see Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker star who has a slew of movies lined up this year, get some recognition. And we can never, ever get enough of Rashida Jones. We’re also pretty thrilled the magazine dropped its “Young Hollywood” focus and stuck the legendary Robert Duvall in the mix, even if he does have to tend bar.
But there are still a few things we find unsettling about the cover. Read all about them — and see how last year’s compares to this year’s — after the jump.
1. In case you haven’t heard it yet, listen to “H.A.M.,” the first single off Watch the Throne, the highly-anticipated joint LP from Kanye West and Jay-Z, which is currently set for a March 1 release. [via The Daily What]
2. Tina Fey is in talks to star in a Paul Weitz-directed adaptation of Jean Hanff Korelitz’s novel Admission, a story about “an admissions officer at Princeton and her relationship with a prospective student who may not be Ivy League material.” [via The Wrap]
3. Last week the History Channel decided that they weren’t going to air The Kennedys, perhaps in part a result of pressure from the real Kennedys. Now it looks like Showtime is the only option if we’re ever going to see this miniseries on TV — and more importantly, Katie Holmes in all of her Jackie O. ensembles. [via Vulture]
4. You’ll never guess who is the first-ever guest editor of Vanity Fair’s Facebook page: Justin Bieber, who graces their February cover. Among his first posts in the week-long gig: “Gonna be a fun week — make sure you make some comments because I will send one random fan who writes in the comments section a signed copy of my book. LEGGOOOO!” [via MTV]
5. David Fincher and Trent Reznor are teaming up again; in what he calls a “natural step forward” for his career, the Nine Inch Nails frontman and his frequent writing partner Atticus Ross will be composing the score for Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. [via Rolling Stone]
What does Jonathan Safran Foer have to do with cocaine? Well, probably not much, but his wife (and fellow author) Nicole Krauss is repped by William Morris agent Bill Clegg, whose forthcoming memoir Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man is about a particularly nasty crack habit. Vanity Fair‘s Claire Howorth, in her insidery yet engrossing infographic which explores how “ten potential best-sellers coming out this spring and summer fit into the [publishing industry] firmament,” relates that theme back to the Saturday Night Live crew associated with Simon Rich, whose first book Elliot Allagash comes out May 25. Got all that? Peep all the interconnectedness after the jump. Read More »
Though the creative output of John Hughes had slowed to a crawl in the decade preceding his death in August at age 59, the iconic director’s alter ego JL Hudson wasn’t taking to retirement quite so easily. Penning screenplays, essays, and fiction for his own amusement, some of his later writing — imbued with the same irreverent, sly but tender narrative quality as his film work — saw the light of day as a series called Very, Very Short Stories (some only four brief paragraphs in length). Excerpts after the jump.
