Media Matters

       As consumers of TV headlines, we are used to the words, "BREAKING NEWS," splashed often across the screen. However, another relevant banner recently made its debut: JAN. 6:  BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE CAPITOL.  Although these words were never actually aired, they seemed to clearly describe the recent release of footage featuring Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer's attempt at thwarting the attack on the Capitol. This enterprise was called a "documentary," shot by Pelosi's daughter, "an accomplished documentary filmmaker."      The film's provocative nature should not be questioned considering the on-going findings by the  January 6  Committee. In fact, it seemed like the most explosive and perhaps the most informative material revealed so far under the Committee's auspices.       Yet some aspects of the work do need questioning. For example, the broadcasting of the documentary so close to the mid-term elections needs...

      Watching Ken Burns' recent PBS documentary, "U.S. and the Holocaust," is an experience well worth our time. The reason: while most viewers are familiar with the basic facts of the Holocaust and its horrific imagery, there's a lot we don't know after all these decades: namely, the role America played ( or didn't play ) in saving Jews from the Nazis.       But there's another, more personal part to be learned as well, separate from the Jewish relatives whom we may have lost during this period.  Thus, "U.S. and the Holocaust" enabled yours truly to revive the experience of visiting Auschwitz some twenty years ago and also gave me new and startling insights into the images I saw there. Such images have become iconic, abundant in  media sources like articles, books, newscasts, photographs and films. Consider the archway to the camp's entrance which reads, " Work Liberates" in German, the filthy barricks where Jewish prisoners slept...

      TV Hearings have become the new Broadway if you consider the high drama that has played out on two particular network programs over the last month. Sure, this observation seems like a rather exaggerated notion to ponder, but maybe not. First was the recent series broadcasting the   January 6 Hearings with Liz Cheney at the helm. Second was PBS' Frontline:  "Supreme Revenge: Battle For the Court," an investigative documentary on August 23 showing how Mitch McConnell guided the last three confirmations of Supreme Court judges. While footage of these hearings was well documented, the most dramatic was the one offering Clarence Thomas as a "victim." And everyone knew it, including   Judicial Committee members ( with Joe Biden as Chairperson ) and the TV viewers. The Hearings made this clear as Andrea Mitchell stated in a voice over, " The stage is set for a ... brutal hearing. "        Or as Tom Brokaw commented, " This is high dr...

      The last "Media Matters" suggested a new and expanded notion for "media," namely SHAPE. Continuing this temporary diversion means giving "media" another dimension related to the visual arts: TEXTURE. Such exploration features two Spanish cities, Marbella and San Sabastian.      Marbella's location on the Mediterranean Costa del Sol is a perfect place for Darius Yektai's recent exhibit at the Sholeh Abghari Gallery. However, instead of the surrounding Mediterranean Sea as a background, we have the artist's own real-life setting, the nearby ponds and fields of the Hamptons in Eastern Long Island. It's curious to note that these subjects represent quite a departure from Mr. Yektai's past endeavors. For example, this critic remembers several years ago when the artist's figurative art was Expressionist in style and "mysterious" in tone, with a striking, yet often subtle, narrative to consider. Thus, the works showed compo...

       While this "Media Matters" blog has been in existence for nearly four years, the term "media" is temporarily changing course by extending  its dimensions. In the past,  the word has meant traditional "mass" media, including print and electronic approaches. Yet the term has other denotations as well.  In the visual arts, particularly, media means the materials/tools out of which a work is created. ( Acrylics is one example applied to painting. ) For our purposes here, however, media will go a step further, assuming a specific design element: notably shape. No doubt, such a component may present contradictory characteristics: for example, curves ( round / circular ) vs. linear lines ( straight edges / right angles). This critic's favorite samples derive from Washington, D.C.: The Capitol and the Washington Monument, respectively.      Obviously, such a particular media focus is  far-reaching. Yet when opposing shapes help defin...

      This past   Thursday's January 6   Hearing started as, "Here we go again.''       Lots of hype, but still resulting in a boring, almost three- hour broadcast: repeat information and 'so-what' conclusions. Let's be honest. Only people who cared about the issues ever watched this series. The idea that the Hearing was to educate the America public about events during the Capitol Riot only applied to Trump haters and those who did not believe the big-lie. No one else cared.      Despite that fact, the last program of the summer turned out to hold the viewers' attention after all, at least for this media critic. However, we must ask the pertinent question: why?  The answer lies in its unique format, the importance of WORDS and not always IMAGES, and the program's implicit purpose.      The boring part came with the introduction, the expected perfunctory comments from the Committee Chairs. You know, a bit li...

       Last month's Academy Awards garnered a lot of attention which had little to do with the movies. This critic would like to correct that oversight right here and now, starting and ending with "West Side Story,"  nominee for both Best Picture and Best Director. It's only natural that Stephen Spielberg's film would be compared to the original 1961 motion picture which won Oscars for Rita Moreno and George Chakiris. Unfortunately, this recent version is not as good regarding casting, costuming, and use of locations.  Bluntly speaking,  it doesn't have all the "snap, crackle and pop" that the initial one did.      What it does have, however, is the same extraordinary music/lyrics and in many cases, Justin Peck's similar choreography. This last point redeems Spielberg's endeavor, especially considering that dancing per se demonstrates subjects and themes that are hardly ever present in dramatic contemporary films. ( Two exceptions come t...