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Chris Thile
To hear Nickel Creek's mandolin phenom Chris Thile tell it, when he wound up putting together a bluegrass band and making a bluegrass record, no one was more surprised than him. For though the 25 year old musician's first two solo albums (in his teens) were filled with cutting-edge, yet still traditionally-grounded bluegrass, the evolution of his own career and that of Nickel Creek had taken him into so far into the larger world of music that it sometimes seemed as if the terrain that gave him his start was little more than a youthful launching pad. Acclaimed as one of the most inventive musicians of his (or any other) generation, it was easy to see how his talent could—and did—take him in any direction.
That's not to say that Thile had given up on bluegrass altogether. His third solo album, Not All Who Wander Are Lost, contained more than a hint of his musical roots, while guest appearances on recordings and in performance with artists like Dolly Parton, The Dixie Chicks and Edgar Meyer exhibited a brilliant and ongoing engagement with the style. Still, the growing inventiveness heard on Nickel Creek's breathtaking—and best-selling—albums and shows; the pop-rock roots of the Mutual Admiration Society album and tour; the out-and-out rock of Thile's late 2004 solo effort, Deceiver, and the wide sweep of mandolin virtuosity embodied in his 2006 album of live duets with Mike Marshall all suggested that a bluegrass album would be the last thing on his mind.
But though the path that brought Thile to How To Grow A Woman From The Ground was neither straight nor predestined, the journey has led not only to a bold and exciting take on bluegrass, but to a renewed commitment to make it an integral part of an already striking career.
"When you grow up with something, you can become so familiar with it that you start to take it for granted," Chris says. "And especially when you grow up playing it at a time when, quite frankly, you have nothing to express, it's easy to ignore as a more mature musician the expressive possibilities of that particular musical aesthetic—and they are great, they are many. So I came to see that bluegrass was something that I was unfairly dismissing about my musicianship.
"Part of it was getting divorced, and realizing that I was singing bluegrass heartbreak songs. That's what would really resonate with me; those were the songs I was singing—"Bury Me Beneath The Willow," "More Pretty Girls Than One." And another part of it was living in New York, because for me, at least, New York demands that you find what it is about you that's unique. There are so many talented people—exceptional people—that to stand out, you either have to be completely average or really, really different. And having been trained in the ways of bluegrass as a kid, I realized how much that meant to me. I felt, you can't fight yourself—any time you're fighting yourself, you might not lose, but you just can't win. And I realized, I do that well, because that's what I grew up with. So it signifies a return of sorts; I'm realizing what a meaningful part of my life that music is."
If introspection and self-awareness helped to guide Thile on the road back to bluegrass, the musical friendships embodied on the new album played no less of a role in setting the course. Like Thile, its young members have already compiled an extensive list of credits and connections that spread across a broad musical terrain but ultimately centered around bluegrass.
"I met Gabe Witcher, the fiddle player, at the Follows Camp festival," Chris recalls. "Next to [Nickel Creek's] Sean and Sara, I believe he was the first other playing kid I got to know. We'd always play together at those southern California festivals— and we kept in pretty good touch for a long time. When Nickel Creek was finishing up Why Should The Fire Die, he and I went out to dinner, drank some wine—we had both gotten our hearts smashed to pieces at the same time—and talked about how we needed to have a band. So that brought it to my mind again: just who the hell to do it with?"
"I had met Noam Pikelny before, but it just hadn't really seeped into my head how good he was until one night at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival last year. We sort of met up onstage, sitting in with the Yonder Mountain String Band at a show they were doing nearby, and it was incredible; here's this kid tearing it to shreds on the banjo. I was just freaking out, thinking, how did I miss this? After the show, he and I wound up jamming all night, and I thought, ok; it's Gabe, Noam and me. Now we have three. But as soon as we had a banjo player, I knew that we also needed a bass player and a guitar player—because surprise, surprise, it was a bluegrass band that I was trying to make."
The remaining slots were soon filled when Chris and Noam got together in Nashville for a picking session and the latter suggested inviting Chris "Critter" Eldridge and bassist Greg Garrison to join them.
"We played for four or five hours that night, and I was beside myself…I just felt that the potential of the bluegrass 5-piece band—and these guys in particular—is just limitless. So I told them that I thought the project would have legs, and it would be the kind of thing that would last. We're going to make playing together a habit."
The resulting album is a stunningly original and brilliantly executed suite that pushes the boundaries of bluegrass while remaining, at its center, firmly rooted within them. And though the instrumental abilities of the band are virtually without limit, the heart of the album is its songs. Whether written by Thile himself or drawn from such varied sources as Gillian Welch, the White Stripes, Jimmie Rodgers and the Strokes, each is at once a self-contained performance and a part of a subtle, overarching story of heartbreaking loss and the hope of renewal.
"I had the whole record sequenced and planned before we went in," Chris notes. "I love the idea of being able to tell an at least subconsciously coherent story through the performance of disparately sourced material. It seems to me that on the great bluegrass records there were always some originals, and a couple of traditional songs, but then there were some contemporary covers, too. It's hard to beat a patchwork quilt."
In keeping with the developing spirit of the band and album, the decision to record as simply and directly as possible was an obvious—indeed, the only—choice "I love hearing instrumentalists react to vocalists, and vocalists in turn reacting to instrumentalists, and that can happen if you're cutting everything live, without headphones and separation, which is what we ended up doing."
Finally, Thile notes with a mixture of pride and amusement, "We really wanted somebody in there who knows the music inside and out – someone who could make sure we didn't do anything clichéd or trite - so we had Ronnie McCoury. His official title was 'bluegrass guru,' beyond the bluegrass, he's an amazing musician, with a killer pair of ears. He would hang out in the control room while we were tracking to make sure everyone's tone and level were good and staying consistent...you can't fix anything in the mix when you're recording live to two-track! Occasionally he'd weigh in on an arrangement if he felt that something wasn't quite right, or keep us from losing perspective on songs that were taking longer than we'd hoped. It was awesome to have him on board."
"All in all," Chris Thile concludes, "How To Make A Woman From The Ground is a bluegrass record. There are definitely some musical things that are out of the ordinary, but it sounds like a bluegrass record to me. It's not all like 'Brakeman's Blues,' but 'Brakeman's Blues' doesn't sound out of place, and neither does 'The Beekeeper' sound out of place. It's all related.
"Ideally, I'd like the bluegrass community to feel challenged in a way that they're comfortable with—for them to say 'yeah, it's different, but it's comfortable.' Because I did set out to make a bluegrass record, which signals a certain amount of maturation, in that I'm completely comfortable with that element of my musicianship now. Every facet of music intrigues me, and I want a little piece of all of it. But I have a bigger piece of bluegrass than I realized or wanted for a while. It has always been a major part of me, but it will be a more acknowledged and cultivated part for the rest of my life."
Dead Leaves and the Dirty GroundWatch


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- Krisi Tran
- Las Vegas, NV
- United States
This conversation is closed.
What (if anything) should be done about gender inequality in media or films?
If you've been keeping up with this topic lately, you might have heard that some Swedish cinemas are instituting the Bechdel Test to measure how many women there are in talking roles, not about men, in their films. This is one example of a step taken towards equality in the movie industry, and towards recognizing the gender roles created through media, that are usually unfavorable to women. Only 18% of top movies in 2012 had a female protagonist. Women in movies rarely do anything important by themselves, and there is still the general notion that the greatest thing for a woman is marriage, and when it comes to action, the best she can be is a hardly active, supporting role. Of course, this could all go the other way, when we notice that violent masculinity is also a gender role greatly promoted for men, in addition to little films allowing males to truly express their feelings. Negative gender roles are promoted for both genders, although the lack of women is a grand statement.
On the other hand of this inequality is that films are in fact an art, and there is no reason why art should have to be constrained, and not allowed to reflect how the director sees the world. Maybe film inequality is just a reflection of the ideology of the society we live in.
What do you think? Should anything be done about the gender inequality demonstrated by film or other media? How?
Dec 6 2013: To answer this you have to differentiate between what is meant as fact and what is meant as fiction. Films for the most part are a reflection of the artist, and are not meant as an unequal judgement on society. Such is the argument that "The Hangover" is sexist, as it does not pass the bechdel test, however it was never meant to. You can apply the same logic to games, series, and even music. While the art, ideas, and concepts performed in these reflections can be seen as offensive to some; it can be argued that you shouldn't even be indulging yourself in media that offends you. As for the common argument that media containing 'inequality' is highly influential, it can be said that it is your responsibility as a human being to control what you are influenced by, and what your children are influenced by too. For example you wouldn't expose your child to explicit content, if you view media containing 'inequality' as that poisonous, you would simply prevent your child from being exposed to that too. In the rebuttal that "you shouldn't have to", remember that your child does not see a knight saving a princess as sexist, it is your perception that you are imprinting onto others. To take away the right of an artist to express themselves, is taking away their human right to freedom.
Dec 6 2013: Cultural messages that favor the masculine are pervasive. Although we can certainly choose not to take part in specific events, we cannot avoid the predominant cultural messages. We are not, actually, in control of that influence, and cannot be.
No one is arguing that any specific artist should be denied the right of free expression. The argument is whether we, as a society and a culture, are harmed by the unequal and prejudicial treatment of the female and the feminine in popular media; and whether there is, therefor, a need to more consciously and actively change that through the encouragement of greater access and inclusion of women, and feminine perspectives, in those media.
Leigh Storey
Dec 5 2013: I don't think that quantifying the data, setting targets and quotas will make a impact on the situation. It highlights the problem, but doesn't offer a solution. Akin to the 'glass ceiling' that was identified, quantified and still continues to permeate in white collar or blue collar workplaces.
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I also don't believe that an instantaneous solution is available. Starting the discussion, as you have, will open the minds of future generations to new and different possibilities and ways of expressing their art and understanding of the world. As long as we give these people the opportunity to think and create in a different way, (to what past generations are accustomed to). eg. Instead of teaching, this is how you write a good action script: male protagonist, exploding things, revenge acts etc.
I can think of some action films that I really enjoyed just because the main character was a woman and that in itself made the story flow differently. I choose to see this void as a great opportunity, all the stories yet to be told or conveyed, just imagine! We just have to keep the conversation going and be honest and vocal about our perception of these representations. :)
Comment deleted
Dec 5 2013: I apologize if English isn't your native language- some of this is a little hard to understand. What do you mean by "con job" ? And "propped up by numerous object that become fetish,and institutional" ? Also, it would be easier to read if you used proper punctuation. You only need one period to end a sentence. Multiple periods or commas imply a continuation, so it feels like your text is one long sentence.Dec 5 2013: Film, like all the arts is better at reflecting the world than at changing it. Things tend to change through art when the reflection shows us things that disturb us enough to need to change them. This is why political art is often marginalized in its time.
For that reason, I would like to see a stronger reflection of the feminine in film because it would signal that the very problems you point out are being recognized and change is happening. These things are not, however, only related to the status of women, but to the status of the feminine. In addition to the need for a linear narrative (which is, by the way a masculine trait), the arts require a strong conflict and direct action to resolve the conflict. This tends to lead toward masculine story lines reflecting masculine attitudes and masculine strategies. Even when the heroes are women, there is a bias in favor of women who are capable of acting like men in dealing with the conflicts. The more feminine traits of dealing with conflict through empathy, nurturing, and mutually-beneficial relationships are not seen as having the dramatic impact of car chases, gunfights and explosions. And when the story lines feature women's stories, they tend to focus on competition for men or for status in a masculine world.
There is, of course, a significant amount of independent film making that is able to deal with important real-world conflict from a feminine perspective; but these films are still seen as niche-films, not suited to general audience distribution. Mainstream film goes where the blockbuster money is; and as long as that reflects our masculinized cultural norm, then it will be based in a masculine perspective most of the time.
What's to be done? Work for gender equality everywhere; work to value the feminine everywhere; keep the change happening.
Dec 6 2013: If you associate popularised media from the past and today with masculinity, and then propose that masculine portrayal is the issue, then you exclude the possibility that the components of that media are correct and should be used ("masculine story lines, masculine attitudes, masculine strategies"). This is a problem as it promotes an opposition and exclusion as opposed to negotiation and intertwinement. When discussing sensitive topics it would be logical not to make assumptions such as linearity being a "masculine trait". You make the case that feminine characteristics are not capable in dealing with conflict or inducing intrigue, when that is simply not the case. There are many films in which the "masculine trait" results in a negative outcome, and the "feminine" results in a positive resolution. It can be equally damaging to portray men and women in this way but there is a reason why only a minor percentage of the population notice it. Sensitivity, people's perceptions and opinion differ around the world, no matter what you do, someone will be offended by it; there is a line that needs to be drawn to protect freedom of expression.
By all means i support equal rights but it seems that i am in opposition to a common view, hence my view will not be favoured by many, however let me leave you with one of my favourite quotes; an excellent representation of the texas sharpshooter logical fallacy.
"All the different angles that when occupied make all the other angles seem outrageously wrong, that every facet glitter clear and bright, brandishing its sword like a figure in a stained glass scene." - Dona Nobis Pacem
Dec 6 2013: It was not my intention to pass judgment as to the correctness of anything. "Masculine" and "feminine" traits are determined culturally, reinforced through a myriad of constant cultural messages, are part of our determination of cultural norms, and are highly influential in the development of gender identity within the culture. While many of gender-assigned traits probably originated with observations of biological differences between men and women, the place where biology and acculturation intersect isn't clear. Some things are pretty clear, however. All humans express all the traits of masculinity and femininity in differing proportions. Masculine/feminine does not equal male/female or men/women. Our culture identifies traits such as linear thinking; focus on informational content of messages; the use of physical force for the resolution of conflict, and conversely, the use of logic in problem solving; sexual freedom; and stoicism as masculine traits. Nurturing; a focus on the emotional content of messages; the use of negotiation, compromise and accommodation in dealing with conflicts and the use of emotional reasoning and intuition in problem solving; either sexual restraint or promiscuity; sensitivity to one relationships with others; and emotional vulnerability are seen as feminine traits.
Filmmakers know these things and, like much of our culture generally, have a bias toward the masculine. Much is made about lead females such as Katniss in "The Hunger Games," but the film, it can be argued, emphasizes the well-developed masculine traits of the central character, whose most dangerous adversaries are also masculine. Strongly feminine films, such as "The Hours," are often critically acclaimed, but they are in the minority of American films, even of films with strong female leads.
Both masculine and feminine traits offer ways of dealing with conflict successfully, even dramatically. Our cultural bias is toward the masculine.
Dec 8 2013: David Hopcroft , I find your both comments above very instructive and illuminating.Dec 8 2013: But I disagree that our genderic traits are only developed by cultural reinforcements. There ARE some basic biological differences, including in brains, between the genders. Take for example the nurturing. We see among the animals that by vast majority, within the animals, the female takes care of the offsprings rather than the male. Among the animals there's no cultural reinforcements but only natural tendencies. However, the humanity's mistake is that we have tried to push ahead those natural genderic differences by cultural compulsions and thus unethically reinforced those natural genderic differences.
Nevertheless, many studies show some basic natural differences, including in brains, between the genders, and that those differences do typify certain genderic behaviors, as given below:
"10 Gender Differences Backed Up by Science"
"It's not sexist to accept that biology affects behavior":
"Gender-Specific Differences Found In Human Brain":
Book: "The Essential Difference: Men, Women and the Extreme Male Brain" (read the Book Description little below):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Essential-Difference-Extreme-Science/dp/0713996714Dec 11 2013: I personally do not see the inequality you're talking about but if someone took the time to statistically analyze movies and came to this conclusion I would say that this is an area where the free market and freedom of expression rules as it should. The problem , as I see it , is more that more superficial brainless shocking action movies made to make money at the box office are produced due to popular demand expressed by the movie goers as opposed to subtle, interesting culturally stimulating movies.
Andy Brice
Dec 11 2013: I'm not sure I buy this argument that gender inequality in film and television is driven by audiences.
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First of all, roughly half of film and television audiences are female. Secondly there are plenty of stories that are successful with complex female leads, even though their target audience isn't specifically women.
Also, just because a story has a male lead, it's not unreasonable to expect its female characters to be as well-written as male characters of comparable prominence.
I'm generally of the opinion that film and television studios consistently underestimate the intelligence of their audiences.
Mike Colera
Dec 10 2013: This is an old conversation. I am old. So, what is it about gender equality so important? Is it really?
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According to the UN world population count, there are more girls then boys. Should men stand up for abortion of female fetuses until equality is achieved? Hmmmm, no.
So, should there be more there be more female lead roles in media? Why not?
Wait a minute? What makes media money? They came to the conclusion that single men 18 to older spend money on media that crashes cars, has big explosions, guys doing guy things, if there is a pretty girl cheering on our virile heros, more the better.
It's about the money.
Media moguls have no real interest in sociological debate on men or women, they are out for the bottom line. They made money on a scifi film about a girl who uses a bow and arrow, so I understand.
So, are we suggesting that moguls are to put media out just to have balance for genders?
Small independent film makers out out there that make a number of small films that do that. These media just don't make money and for that reason are not widely seen.
It's not about fairness or justice or art or any societal issues... it's about the moneyDec 9 2013: Making a generalization about what sex is more, "messed up," than another is harsh. I believe what this conversation was attempting to state are some solutions to make the sexes less stereotyped in movies and media. I believe the solution is beginning to come to fruition with a stronger and less sexualized female lead in films. This is starting to include even Disney films, such as, "Brave." As younger generations breaks the molds of their previously precluded gender biases, taught in schools and by parental figures, more and more young people will start to recreate themselves beyond stereotype. This in turn will be reflected in the revamping of our arts and entertainment fields.
Dec 9 2013: I like your optimism! However, it's hard to know if this system can really evolve quickly all on it's own. It seems like it would have to be influenced by a 50/50 gender ratio in everything, and that's unlikely to happen quickly.
Tatiana B
Dec 5 2013: I wrote out a much longer response to this but I realized I was trying to say too much and it was became a mess. So to make the best of your time I'm just going to link to an amazing discussion I was part of a while ago: http://hubski.com/pub?id=95931
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Another great read is "The Mako Mori Test": http://www.dailydot.com/fandom/mako-mori-test-bechdel-pacific-rim/
The Bechdel Test is nothing new. It had good intentions but really doesn't help change anything. Just because your film passes a series of really basic points doesn't make it any better or more female friendly. People should be inspired to write better female characters because they are part story they are telling - not because they want to pass some test. As the Daily Dot article above points out, Pacific Rim fails in all three points of the Bechdel Test. Despite this, Mako Mori is a strong woman, the movie is culturally aware, and the woman isn't sexualized at all.
So, should there be more women in cinema? Absolutely. Could they be less sexualized? Absolutely. But is the Bechdel Test going to change the world? Absolutely not. It's flawed, it's shallow and great films are going to be great films with or without the test.Dec 5 2013: Hi.
I don't know if there is gender inequality in film, arts or other artistic media.
I do know that in the past there most definitely was and some might still prevail today.
That being said there is one part of your introduction I do disagree with and this is it:
" films are in fact an art,.......there is no reason why art should have to be constrained, and not allowed to reflect how the director sees the world."
In respect to film as I understand it, it does not reflect "how the director sees the world" but how the director sees the story.
A director doesn't write the story, although today more and more are doing so, so that comment might be old by the time I add my period. Yes, I think it is.
Anyway, the story comes first. So who writes the story? A man? A woman? And for what? To sell, make moola, to say something, to teach, expose, etc? I write screenplays and I don't write like a woman or necessarily with a women's perspective. Perhaps I could as I learn more and then I don't necessarily have control over the ideas that come to me to write about. They just come.
Again, that being said, my first screenplay has both: a female protagonist and female antagonist with a male supporting role. I am trying to find an agent now and not having much luck at present.
My next story has a male lead but the real story is the story and not the character, if that makes any sense.
A comedy I'm working on involves a father and daughter role, both fairly equal and both naughty people.
Film depends so much on what studios think will sell, will entertain and that last is a sort of motto for the business.
If it isn't entertaining, regardless of the genre, people won't watch it and writers want their stuff bought and on screen.
If more women write and write well, and nothing much happens, then yes, there might be an inequality such as you present here. If theater-goers don't go, then that also might represent a collective mind-set that works against women. We certainly have that.
Dec 5 2013: I agree, you have a point that directors and writers are different people. But regardless, there are movies out there who have more women than men, and general society doesn't deem these movies as something men should be watching. Women are expected to enjoy movies with little women in them, like most action movies, but men are not expected to come anywhere close to something that might be deemed a little bit "girly." Yes the movie needs to sell, but the society likes what it is expected to like. But that could be a debate all on it's own.
Dec 5 2013: Hi Krisi.
After sleeping on my comment I have to agree with you.
There is inequality and there is still too much of it and in too many ways, in too many places.
As someone who writes, I find it somewhat frustrating that what the "business" is selling us tries
to dictate to me what to write about and I don't like that.
I want and try, to write about people, situations and experiences that can make a difference in the lives of humans, to live better, peacefully, and to grow in ways that will benefit all of us.
That still leaves genre's wide-open for exploration.
For me, too much of what we get to purchase is about false reality, nationalism and dangerous ways to think and act. They also promote splitting from reality and truth.
Ah, maybe I will never sell one of my stories. So far, none of them sexualize women, create unnecessary violence or resort to believing and accepting the lies of the media.
I just prefer real stuff and many of those kinds of movies, while very well done, directed, written and produced, didn't fare well box office wise. Again, the dictates of money, instead of what is right.
Dec 6 2013: Best of luck on your movies! I guess the solution is society changing in the first place.Dec 5 2013: For movies and stories, do we, as a society think what women do is important? I think we do. To what extent? To a great extent. For women are not 'aliens', and that idea that women are some independent kingdom that needs 'representation' or 'quota' in films, is against good storytelling.
The question is, how many good stories has been written with women protagonists? How about the music videos with the almost naked women? That's a story too. I refer you to the TED talk "The Danger Of A Single Story" by Chimamanda Adichie.
Do we, as a society, think there's more to a woman than pretty faces and a good shape?
I dont want to believe that only a few women show courage, wit, foresight, and persistence in the face of danger, as we admire in the movie heros.
We want good stories, and when we stop focussing on only money and box office success, we'll make so much progress.
When will that be? Possible soon, probably never.Dec 17 2013: State involvement in an art form—and regardless of one's opinion, film is a form of art—seems to me to be highly problematic, no matter the commercial implications. This is a slippery slope, and one wonders where the state draws its lines in the future. That said, this would seem to be yet the latest installment of the age-old question, "Does art reflect life, or does life reflect art?" Does one view art as a "documentary illustrator" of how life seems to be, or art as a "visualized image" of how life could be? Or is it neither? Is it merely "art for art's sake?"
In an open society, we see a variety of orientations for the telling of a story—in a closed system, the telling of any story is imposingly monolithic. If the society is open to diverse forms of artistic interpretation, there is no need for concern. But when a society demands one, and only one, narrative, art becomes "monochromatic" and "two-dimensional." Whether it be the chains of government or the shackles of the majority opinion, art must remain free from either if it is to remain relevant.Dec 14 2013: have you recent watched the wonderful movie catching fire which is shooting
the first place of box office in this year. What surprised me is main actor is female ,Nicle.
I admit that inequality gender has existed for long time and this one is rare phenomenon.
But if we look this in positive , it's grand progress. Thanks to those prominent feminist ,
former secretary of state Hillary. Marissa Mayer, female will play a more important role
on changing the world.Dec 12 2013: The movie makers make what the audience will pay to see. In every first world country I can find data for women go to the movies more often than men so women decide how many female roles there are in movies.
Dec 13 2013: Maybe directly. But indirectly it's part of a larger social problem where women are expected to enjoy movies with no representation in them, while men are certainly not. Now of course you can argue if that's really a problem. It's essentially stemming from the fear that men can be too feminine if they get near "girly" things.Dec 11 2013: I suspect that quite soft solutions could have a sizeable impact here. For example if influential critics contact prominent writers/directors/publishers with a polite "Listen mate, I'm afraid you're just a bit rubbish at presenting realistic, three-dimensional female characters. Here's a few pointers on why this matters and how you can fix it."Dec 11 2013: Media and films are about views. Views equal money. Since they are businesses, they will continue to supply what it is being demanded. If movie-goers want to see men in leading roles, that is what these businesses should do. If you really want movies to showcase more female leading roles, then you should go to a movie with a female lead. It is a positive feedback loop.Dec 10 2013: Here is another Ted Talk I found that summarizes some of the conflict nicely. This time bringing men and boys well into the picture.
bart hsi
Dec 10 2013: Film inequality IS just a reflection of the ideology and the HISTORY of the society we LIVED in.
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More precisely, most of the current film and drama often reflect the historical events which happened in the past. Since our past history often were mostly dominated by the male in leadership or knowledge, and the women's role is to grow up and getting married (that's the historical fact). This was due to the ancient education custom that the education or training for leadership are customarily for young males. Even a film or drama script is written by modern authors, the inherited style is usually emphasizing the leading role by males by the force of habit or by historical models.
Furthermore, do you want to limit historical films involving male emperors to be exactly equal to that with Queens, in order to achieve the equality of gender role difference.
For example through the entire history of the United States, there hasn't been a single woman been elected as the president. Of course, as the time goes on, we may have a female president in the future. But why should we bother to artificially twist the arms of script writers to do that just for the sake of "inequalty" which is only a concept, really won't cause any harm to our cultural development. There are, of course, many films or dramas involves women leadership, so it is just an small differential quantification at stake. Do you think we must legally limit or twist the arms of all authors to the equality of female vs male roles in all the art works, or rather leave it to natural evolution.
Furthermore, there have been rules and regulations trying to quash the inequality of athletic programs in colleges or the professional sports. At least in the pro basketball programs, the women''s pro teams simply haven't attracted enough spectators to expand the existing programs. Since all the pro-sports are for profit, should we leave the inequality problem alone instead of push it at all cost
Dec 10 2013: Yes, historical accuracy should not be compromised, and we can certainly let such movies off the hook. But there are plenty of modern day or future day movies to criticize on their inequality.Dec 9 2013: Cote de Pablo (AKA: Ziva from NCIS) had the right idea, she quit because of gender inequality and personally the show is boring without her. So I look forward to reading about its plummeting ratings. If all women in the media did the same, the media would have to change.Dec 9 2013: Really we should have another group, one that explores the gender inequality on magazine covers. Why are there so many women. Why are men are being locked out of the market?
Someone looks like they got lots of lovely grant money to do this - and are having a good time with it. Use that above idea and get some too.
Dec 9 2013: What type of magazines exactly?
Dec 12 2013: Go to the your local shop, the ones that sells magazines, count the number of females on the covers of ALL magazines. I mean everything from TV listing magazines, to teen-girls magazines, to practical woodworker. Count them, then you'll get it.
And it does not only apply to magazines. Look at ice cream commercials print and tv, have you ever seen a man as the main actor?
Then look at chocolate adverts, again print and tv, you wont see a man.
Are you seeing a pattern???Dec 8 2013: did you see the film where they had midgets play giants? neither did I..
Dec 9 2013: But women aren't PHYSICALLY restrained from being leaders or important, whereas that is all your comparison is saying.Dec 6 2013: You have money? Don't spend money on such things. Don't patronize companies that use such things to advertise. Get together with like-minded crabby people and complain as a group. Let them know you're not spending your money on them.
Elise +
Dec 4 2013: To be honnest, I had not yet noticed this inequality. And I would like to say that it's probably not the main problem in society. But you awoke my curiosity that's why I thought about it.
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In cinema there are many feminine roles but I agree with you, they are mostly as decorative objects. Women give a glamorous effect on the red carpet, but they have not often a major role to play. I read that about 27% of women actors get partially naked while only 9% of men do...
Figures spoke for themselves : Only a third of the speaking characters are women. It's not right !
However some make films called 'auteur films' which make thought provoking.
As you said, cinema is an art and I don't really know if we can draw any consequences of it on society.Dec 4 2013: One thought that occurs to me, Krisi, is that maybe real women's lives are too good for the movies, in other words, women may have very satisfying, peaceful lives, and maybe these lives transcend, or are better than, the lives of the characters at the center of most movies. If you look at the stories that most movies tell, many of the main characters have a lot of problems. If you see that most protagonists are male, that may say that the male sex is the more messed-up sex.
Elise +
Dec 4 2013: I don't totally agree with you. First we can't say that women have more peaceful lives !
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And it's not because the main part of the characters (who are males) is disturbed that we can conclude that male sex is troubled. Even if it's right that there are a lot of war or action films, where protagonists are almost brutal men...
Dec 4 2013: are you sure women don't have more peaceful lives, E? For example, there are many more men in prison, for much worse crimes, than women.
If you see more women in movies, I hope it doesn't mean their lives are getting as messed up as men's. Maybe women will do a better job than we men have?Dec 4 2013: Yes, but most male protagonists don't suffer from personal problems, they suffer from their environment our other people, whereas women usually create their own problems in movies and solve them. That in itself portrays them as less put together. As a result, and as a cause, the stereotype that women are all drama is perpetuated.
Dec 5 2013: well, you see many movies with horrible male villains, men who want to destroy the world. You don't see too many women like that in movies, and it's probably a credit to the female sex.
Dec 5 2013: I could disagree. There are a disproportionate amount of female villains for the amount of women in movies. You could see them in a number of movies, from Around the World in 80 Days, to Salt. I remember a Die Hard movie having a villain with a female assistant who was just as bad as any other possible villain. Oh and not to forget the James Bond movies, that confirm multiple stereotypes.Dec 5 2013: I'm not sure, but I really doubt it, Krisi. Is there a way to research it, how many significant female villains are there in movies, and is it a disproportionate number? I did see Salt, as best I can recall Angelina's character was not a villain, or maybe the character was ambiguous?
Dec 6 2013: it would be an interesting topic to research. I haven't watched Salt in years, so I probably don't remember enough to support my claim. You're probably right about this example, a protagonist could never be completely evil, though I think she killed her boyfriend or something like that.Dec 6 2013: well, I did put in "disproportionate number of women movie villains" in Google search box. I started getting lots of interesting info on TV and movie "tropes," "tropes" being similar to "cliches," or "standard character depictions." But not too much on the specific question of women villains. But it's hard for me to believe that women would be most often depicted as villains, I mean, we call women "the fairer sex," "the gentler sex." We say "God couldn't be everywhere at once and so he created mothers." And so on.
In real-life prisons there are many more men than women, for more serious crimes. I think not so many women are villains in real life, going to prison. You don't think movies would echo real life and also not have woman criminals?

subset: commoncrawl


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Peasant Girl with a Scarf, c. 1849
Gustave CourbetFrench, 1819-1877
Oil on canvas
23-5/8 x 28-3/4 in. (60 x 73 cm)
Norton Simon Art Foundation
© Norton Simon Art Foundation
On view
During the 1840s, Gustave Courbet began to establish the fundamental tenets of his Realism. Drawing on the materiality of paint, the rural landscape from his home town of Ornans, and the physicality of the family and friends that surrounded him, Courbet dismissed the traditions of history, religious, and allegorical painting inculcated by the École des Beaux-Arts. Instead, he turned to the concrete world that lay before him. Closely tied to the political and economic upheaval in France during this decade, Courbet's ambitions aligned him with the working people rather than political or social elite, and in so doing his art of everyday people doing everyday things was constantly seen as a political statement. "Peasant Girl with a Scarf" is a moderate but acute expression of this vision. A ruddy cheeked, heavy boned woman is placed in a thickly painted wooded landscape. Her position, up against the picture plane and thus in very close contact with the viewer, is nevertheless ambiguous—is she leaning or sitting?—and her relationship to the landscape is therefore also confused. She seems overly large in her setting, and the exaggerated materiality of a figure within a landscape would return over and again in Courbet's work. It was this assertion of the vernacular combined with the dense application of paint that both marked his success and brought about his notoriety.
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UPDATE 12:21 p.m.: Police encountered a chaotic scene at Dewey Street when responding to a 911 call Thursday night.
In the call, an unidentified female asked only for help before hanging up on the dispatcher.
When Sandusky police officers arrived, they found several family members engaged in a fight, in a pile up of sorts, Chief John Orzech said.
Within seconds, the chaos accelerated when Denzel Castile, 19, broke away and struggled with a woman over the 11-week-old victim, Athena Castile.
Then Castile wrestled the infant away and ran down a hallway in the home.
That's when police realized he had a steak knife and was stabbing the child, said Detective Sgt. Dana Newell.
Another family member used a stun device on Castile, who then dropped the knife and let go of the child.
Sgt. Dawn Allen scooped up the child and rushed her out the door to a waiting ambulance, who took her to Firelands Regional Medical Center.
Though a medical helicopter was standing by to take Athena to a Toledo hospital for treatment, she was never stable enough for the transfer and died early Friday morning.
The police officers remaining at the Dewey Street home had to use a taser and mace to subdue Castile before arresting him.
When Erie County deputies took him to the hospital to have the taser probes removed before booking him into the jail, Castile again became combative, biting one deputy in the hand and kicking another.
A few hours before his scheduled arraignment by video feed in Sandusky Municipal Court Friday, Castile started acting up again.
"He had some behavioral issues," Erie County Sheriff Paul Sigsworth said. "He was placed in a restraint chair and is on suicide watch to deal with those issues."
It's unclear how many stab wounds the infant suffered, though it appeared she sustained at least one wound to the head and another to the abdomen.
Her body has been sent to the Lucas County coroner's office for an autopsy.
UPDATE 9:40 a.m.: Sandusky police have identified the child, Athena Castile. While early information indicated she was 11 months old, she was only 11 weeks old, police Chief John Orzech said.
She is a relative of Denzel Castile, charged with assault in her death. Exactly what their relationship is unclear.
The second person injured inside the Dewey Street home late Thursday has been identified as David Castile, also a relative.
Check back for more updates throughout the day.
May 17, 2013, 1 a.m.: An (11-week-old) infant stabbed late Thursday died in the emergency room.
"She died before they were able to Lifeflight her out," Sandusky police Chief John Orzech said this morning. "The ER worked for an extensive time attempting to save her."
Denzel Castile, of the 1500 block of Shelby St., was arrested at the scene and is being held in the Erie County jail without bond. He was charged with assault and likely will face murder charges. He is scheduled to be arraigned this morning via video hookup from the Erie Couinty Jail.
One other person inside the Dewey Street home was injured in the attack but was treated and released, Orzech said.
Police are withholding the child's name pending notification of her mother.
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The Transporter Refueled
The Transporter Refueled is an unnecessary bore from start to finish, one that even the most devoted Luc Besson fanatics will find difficult to defend.
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Matthew Broderick and Alice Eve play business colleagues who get stranded in Albuquerque during a business trip, leading to rather mild complications; except for the…
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American filmmaker Derek Cianfrance takes on too much at all at once in "The Place Beyond the Pines," an over-stuffed, hyper-pulpy, and mostly trite trifurcated drama about family, crime, and moral ambiguity. Cianfrance's film, his follow-up to the similarly lop-sided, but otherwise superior "Blue Valentine," follows four men: a daredevil motorcyclist who becomes a bank robber, a mealy-mouthed smalltown cop who's not the hero his peers think he is, and their respective sons.
Aesthetically, "The Place Beyond the Pines" is an unwieldy mix of psychological realism and visual impressionism, so Cianfrance's characters' dialogue is deliberately coarse while his film's mise-en-scène is distractingly mannered. Ostentatiously composed compositions, manic narrative pacing, and a thunderous Sturm-und-Drang score all strain to make a grand tragedy out of four salt-of-the-earth types' contrived stories.
The worst of these offenses is Cianfrance's over-mannered direction, which slavishly tries to replicate his characters' emotional confusion in visual terms. In one scene, he shows a married couple talking to each other in bed, and takes great pains to plop viewers into the middle of their conversation, so it feels semi-realistic. But Cianfrance also takes great pains to highlight the moon's reflection on both man and wife's up-turned lips as they talk to each other.
That kind of purposeless style-over-substance embellishment is frustrating, but Cianfrance does his talented cast an even greater disservice when he doesn't even show us people's faces as they react to crucial dramatic questions. In one memorably botched exchange, a boy asks his father's friend what his dad was like, and the friend responds with trepidation somewhere off-screen. Both the broad and narrow strokes that Cianfrance and his two co-writers used to sketch out their epic crime narrative are indistinct.
The first of the film's three inter-related storylines concerns Luke (Ryan Gosling), a sideshow motorcyclist who learns he knocked up Romina (Eva Mendes), a Schnectady local, when he last blew through town with a traveling circus. Because speed is understandably the thing in Luke's story, everything happens instantly, leaving no time for us to wonder about Luke's motives. He meets Robin (Ben Mendelsohn), a fellow motorbike enthusiast, they immediately hit it off, Luke moves in with Robin, but Robin can't give Luke much work, so Robin suggests robbing banks together, and they rob banks until one such bank job inevitably goes bad.
Save for a risibly anti-climactic car chase where Luke is pursued by cops at every turn despite his best evasive maneuvers, these initial scenes are not only rushed, but they're also too in love with the film's pseudo-raw dialogue. Cianfrance and his co-writers want to make Luke look like a realistic tough guy, so when Romina's husband Kofi (Mahershala Ali) tells Luke to get out of his house, the two men puff out their chests and bark at each other a couple times before either man makes a move. But Luke is vindicated by scene's end: his baby son stops crying after he picks him up.
Despite Cianfrance's slavish attempts at adding superficial nuance, his film's narrative is also consistently neat and unambiguous. It's telling that when Robin tells Luke that, "If you ride like lightning, you're going to crash like thunder," he's filmed in extreme close-up from below, and his make-up is done up in such a way that it underlines the idea that Robin, a lonely, desperate guy, is characteristically talking faster than his brain can process what he's saying. In this scene, the film's screenwriters are speaking louder than their character.
The second storyline in "The Place Beyond the Pines" is the strongest of the three, only because Bradley Cooper gives a surprisingly solid performance as Avery, a cop who gets involved in Luke's story once Luke fouls up a bank job. But Avery's story is also too reliant on pointless aesthetic flourishes, and largely populated by unbelievable characters, many of whom illustrate Cianfrance's banal observations about the pervasive, institutionalized abuse of power (SPOILER ALERT: cops are just as bad as crooks!). The same is basically true of the film's third storyline, in which Luke and Avery's sons settle what their fathers started.
Tacky and nonsensical dialogue guilelessly spells everything out, making thematic subtext redundant. The creators of "The Place Beyond the Pines" try to hyper-realistically replicate the disharmony and pathos of real life, but wind up making a flat, jumbled drama that's sadly less than the sum of its many disjunctive parts.
This message came to me from a reader named Peter Svensland. He and a fr...
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Recipe by Hidden Valley®
"Chicken pieces are coated with a mixture of Hidden Valley® Original Ranch Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix and bread crumbs and, in less than an hour, delicious crispy, baked chicken is ready to serve."
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1 (1 ounce) packet
Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix
1 cup
unseasoned dry bread crumbs or corn flakes
medium roasting chicken, about 3 pounds, cut into serving pieces
I followed the recipe exactly, except I began the temp at 450 deg. for 15 minutes, then lowered. because some pieces were large. Recipe did not say to remove skin, but I did. Chicken was moist and really easy to prepare. A keeper.
Blander than you would expect; and I even used way more ranch than the recipe called for. They aren't bad, they aren't great, they are just something to eat. I would make sure you season the chicken with some salt and pepper before breading. Maybe adding some Parmesan cheese to the breading would help.
18 Ratings
Adds a different spin to baked chicken
I used cornflakes for this recipe, the problem i had was the crumbs would not stick to the chicken, just the ranch seasoning while the crumbs fell right off, so i rubbed some sour cream on to the chicken and all though it was very messy, the sour cream helped the crumbs stick better, this is a good recipe, but for me, i will need to find a better way to make the crumbs stick, i think the sour cream i tried also makes it very juicy and moist, so next time i make this i may add some sour cream again to help hold the crumbs
If you do not have breadcrumbs, you can use crushed Ritz crackers, crushed croutons or crushed cornflakes. When I make this, I like to use a homemade dry ranch seasoning mix as it helps to keep the sodium low. My kids especially love this, especially when I use chicken tenders and make homemade chicken nuggets!
I too used cornflake crumbs in place of the breadcrumbs. The coating was so good and crunchy without frying. I used chicken thighs and placed them on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet in the oven so the bottom wouldnt be soggy. I will definatly make chicken this way again.
My son who won't eat anything had seconds. I love the fact that it's crispy without being fried. I used chicken breast and cut it into chicken tenders. The chicken was damp and as I pulled it out of the bag I smashed the corn flakes into each piece to make them stick. It worked.
was good..i used corn flakes instead of bread crumbs like others and came out great
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Original Ranch Crispy Chicken
Serving Size: 1/5 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 5
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 782
Calories from Fat: 571
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Ed Sheeran Tickets
Ed Sheeran, folk singer/songwriter has recently announced a tour for this fall that will bring him back to North America. The tour will feature 15 stops at venues across the continent. Sheeran is one of the hottest tickets around so you will want to secure your seats soon and GoTickets can help!
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