As I write this, former U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee for U.S. president. Melania Trump, wife of Republican nominee for U.S. President Donald Trump, has monopolized national headlines for delivering a Republican National Convention speech that plagiarizes entire passages of a 2008 Democratic National Convention speech delivered by current U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama. And one of the most popular video clips making social media rounds features Mrs. Obama’s car karaoke with rapper Missy Elliott and talk-show host James Corden.
This is the state of the union, as filtered through the lens of the very complex institution of the U.S. first lady. It is a telling picture because, more than any other moment in history, few agree on what should be expected of a first lady. This is also telling because, more than any other moment in history, few agree on what should be expected of women in general. For that matter, few agree on what women should expect from the world. Continue Reading →
If ever there were a book that wouldn’t be adapted today, it’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. About a 1930s Scottish teacher who pimped out her students to a colleague and favored fascism, it hardly jibes with today’s helicopter parenting and political orthodox–not to mention any ethical compass. Yet it’s arguably Muriel Spark’s best novel and certainly her most touted. As slim as it is crisp – technically, it could be described as a novella – it began its long life as a 1961 segment in The New Yorker before being published as a separate book. In 1968, it was adapted into an eponymous and much-celebrated play by Jay Presson Allen, who went on to write the screenplay for the iconic 1969 film starring Dame Maggie Smith as Miss Jean Brodie. Said Allen: “All the women who played Brodie got whatever prize was going around at that time.” In fact, Zoe Caldwell nabbed a Tony for her portrayal in the theater production, and Smith won a subsequent Oscar.