Late Night's Big Secret

I am lucky I grew up in a household of limitless possibilities. I remember my parents telling me I could be anything I wanted to be. Being a female was never a hindrance in my life, and then I grew up.

There are times in “the real world” that I feel equal to my male colleagues and oblivious of gender issues. And still, there are other times where I find myself keenly aware of my gender and feel hindered by it.

I tend to forget Hollywood is a male dominated industry. In my graduate and undergraduate education, my classmates were predominately female. That is not an accurate representation of the industry; I tend to forget that.

I have had my share of experiences with sexism. A prestigious production company in Texas (who shall remain nameless), denied my internship request based on gender. I think their exact words were, “what would we do with her?”

One of the dirty little secrets of late-night programming is the absence of the female voice. Until now, Letterman, Leno, and O’Brein have had zero women on the writing staff. Letterman final hired Jill Goodwin after she “paid her dues.” Goodwin has been on the Letterman's staff for ten years, most recently as an assistant to the writing staff.

Why is that? Why must women prove themselves over and over again?

Congratulations, Jill; thank you, Letterman (hire another woman); and Leno you’re up.

AFI Top 100: #100: Ben-Hur

As though He were carrying in that cross the pain of the world. –Miriam

I am working my way through AFI’s top 100 list (10th anniversary edition).

So, let’s get started!

#100 Ben-Hur (1959)

William Wyler’s Ben-Hur is an epic masterpiece. The film contains over a million props, over 300 sets, 78 horses, 15,000 extras in the chariot race alone, and over 1,250,000 feet of raw film. It is arguably the first epic film to usher in a new era of filmmaking still used today. Take a look at Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, Troy or even Star Wars and you will find pieces of Ben-Hur.

The film depicts a Jewish man, Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), living in the time of Christ. The life and death of Christ is beautifully woven into the fictional story. Christ remains a mysterious figure in the background, never speaking or revealing his face. His path merely passes in out of Ben-Hur's life. The Bible is a backdrop, but not the focus of the film which brings a fresh perspective, and displays Christian principals without over stating them.

Ben-Hur is not only a spectacular film, but it is historically significant. The following is a list of a few ground-breaking accomplishments:

• A remake of a 1925 silent film, it became the first remake to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.
• One of the widest prints ever made, with a ratio of 2.76:1.
• Shot with a revolutionary camera known as “MGM Camera 65.” It later became known as “Ultra Panavision 70.”
• Won a record 11 Academy Awards. The only other films to reach such a record are Titanic and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

Star: 4/5

Lord Save Us From Your Followers

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. -Mohandas Gandhi

We live in a world where Christians are full of anger. Every day a new fundamentalist Christian is seen on TV yelling their message of hate. The church is in turmoil. We are founded on love and inclusion, but the irony of it all, we are being torn a part by hate and exclusivity masking as religion. We are exploding from the inside out and driving people away at an alarming rate.

It's time to stop!

We need to get out of our Sunday clothes, take down the banners, put away the communion plate and get out into the world. We need to stop preaching and start showing. It's not going to be easy. In fact, it will probably be painful. But my question to you is where would Jesus be? In Sunday school or washing the feet of the homeless.


All that lead us to today. I heard Dan Merchant speak. Dan produced a documentary Lord Save Us From Your Followers. In the film, he travels across the country opening a dialogue about Christianity and why religion is dividing our nation. I can't wait to see the film. His talk was both uplifting and challenging; and touched on things that I am currently struggling with in my own life.