searching for Tony Danza
For some reason, the episode of "Naomi's New Morning" (ugh) that I'm working on today was shot incredibly out of order, runs pretty long, and the script notes are all over the place. I thought I was nearly done with the line cut when I realized I was still missing the Tony Danza segment...the one they're not sure if they're even going to use b/c they're obsessed with this Father Bill guy and rather have him prattle on for most of the hour instead...but I digress...When I did finally find the segment, I also found my favorite Naomi moment of the week: They're talking about aging (Tony was apparently voted sexist grandparent recently) and Naomi gets up, leans over Tony (half shoving her breasts in his face) and starts darting her head around checking out the top of his head. She then puts her hand on the back of his neck and tries to push his head down, calling to the cameras to move in for a close up of his still full head of hair...all of this while Tony is trying not to lose the thread of the story he's in the middle of. He actually has to push her hand off him and tell her to leave his hair alone. It was great. I wanted to hug him. Every time I see Tony Danza actually, all I can think about is that Friends episode where Joey thinks the lyrics to the Elton John song are "Hold me closer Tony Danza". Haha. This moment now rivals my earlier Naomi favorite of the week, where her and Patti Labelle have a discussion about relating to the "regular" people. If I haven't told you that story, remind me to.
On a very different note, I hate this neighborhood on the weekends. Now that it's getting nice out, the tourists are swarming around in herds, and they annoy the hell out of me. It's not so much that they're tourists...sure I avoid Times Square and Macy's at all costs b/c of them...but they don't piss me off as much up there. I know their presence is vital to the city's economy, and I've been a visitor in too many other cities to be hypocritically judgmental. It's different up there though. When they're filming the signs in Times Square, taking pictures of themselves in front of the Empire State building, sure they get in the way, but it's all ok, b/c that's what those places are for. They're meant to be exciting and fun. But when they carry that light-hearted attitude down here....See, I work a block and a half from Ground Zero (which is a term I don't even like to use...even the words have taken on a connotation that doesn't sit right with me - maybe I've just heard them used too many times as a political play for power, or like it's some sort of tragic theme park or bad action movie). I hate when these out of towners come down here and treat my city's gaping wound, this mass grave, like it's something they need to fit in before lunch and a quick spin on the circle line. They think coming here makes them patriotic, they think it justifies their vote to a president who claims to defend democracy in it's name while he simultaneously tramples the very essence of true democracy, making him the real anti-patriot.
I understand the need to see, and to understand. But it's the tone in the air, or rather the lack of one. As a kid, I went on tons of class trips to D.C. and we'd always go to Arlington. Before going in, we'd get the lecture about having respect for where we were about to set foot, about the weight of meaning it carries and why. It amazes and disturbs me that a bunch of 12 year olds - filled with the excitement of being away from their parents, staying in their very own hotel rooms, all on the brink of hormonal explosion - could grasp the gravity of death and war and how to treat it appropriately more than the adults I see down here every day. I wish I had some machine I could plug them into, where they would see what I saw, and feel what I felt that day. And what it was like for months after...Everyone that experienced that day could plug their memories in, and we'd make it mandatory for each person to experience at least 3 clips before they're allowed anywhere near the site. That, maybe, would teach them a little more respect.
On a very different note, I hate this neighborhood on the weekends. Now that it's getting nice out, the tourists are swarming around in herds, and they annoy the hell out of me. It's not so much that they're tourists...sure I avoid Times Square and Macy's at all costs b/c of them...but they don't piss me off as much up there. I know their presence is vital to the city's economy, and I've been a visitor in too many other cities to be hypocritically judgmental. It's different up there though. When they're filming the signs in Times Square, taking pictures of themselves in front of the Empire State building, sure they get in the way, but it's all ok, b/c that's what those places are for. They're meant to be exciting and fun. But when they carry that light-hearted attitude down here....See, I work a block and a half from Ground Zero (which is a term I don't even like to use...even the words have taken on a connotation that doesn't sit right with me - maybe I've just heard them used too many times as a political play for power, or like it's some sort of tragic theme park or bad action movie). I hate when these out of towners come down here and treat my city's gaping wound, this mass grave, like it's something they need to fit in before lunch and a quick spin on the circle line. They think coming here makes them patriotic, they think it justifies their vote to a president who claims to defend democracy in it's name while he simultaneously tramples the very essence of true democracy, making him the real anti-patriot.
I understand the need to see, and to understand. But it's the tone in the air, or rather the lack of one. As a kid, I went on tons of class trips to D.C. and we'd always go to Arlington. Before going in, we'd get the lecture about having respect for where we were about to set foot, about the weight of meaning it carries and why. It amazes and disturbs me that a bunch of 12 year olds - filled with the excitement of being away from their parents, staying in their very own hotel rooms, all on the brink of hormonal explosion - could grasp the gravity of death and war and how to treat it appropriately more than the adults I see down here every day. I wish I had some machine I could plug them into, where they would see what I saw, and feel what I felt that day. And what it was like for months after...Everyone that experienced that day could plug their memories in, and we'd make it mandatory for each person to experience at least 3 clips before they're allowed anywhere near the site. That, maybe, would teach them a little more respect.
posted by ath at 3:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home