I must be an old fucking geezer, as I’ve never heard of any of that shit except for Dee-Lite.

Nah, it’s most just club music.  Mr. Oizo’s been around for as long as Deee-Lite, maybe longer.  But if you don’t dig that kind of music, it would never, ever come across your radar. I like it because it’s good background music.

Although I’m lazy like Sleeping Beauty, I always thought Maleficent was the awesomest Disney Villain EVAR. I liked her way more than any of the princesses.

I would be tempted to buy this.

Yeah, I think the blogger at Bitch was a little confused about how MAC advertises its stuff.  They’re not saying that you should try to make yourself up like a Disney villain; it’s probably just that the line of make-up is dramatic, with colors inspired by the Disney villains.  Who are objectively awesome in terms of color and other design elements.

Amanda, do you like Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers?  I’ve been listening to Roadrunner over and over again.  A paen to Massachusetts.

I sure do.  That’s a great song.

it’s way more fun to be the Evil Queen than to be that drip Snow White.

Have you read the Neil Gaiman version? Brrrrr…

Speaking of music, Abraham Inc released their album back in March (I’d heard about them on NPR over a year ago when they hadn’t released anything yet). For anyone who hears the words “Jazz / Funk / Hip-Hop / Klezmer” and wants to get in on that action, here’s a YouTube video of the album’s title track live.

How about Born to Be Bad by The Runaways?

I have to admit that my biggest “oh shit” moment when playing the original Kingdom Hearts was when Maleficent first made her appearance.

A friend of mine is getting married in about a week and a half and I ran into her yesterday. I noticed she hadn’t bothered to get an engagement ring. Then again, she never did seem the type to care about things like that.

Whoops, wrong thread, sorry…

The theme is “push/pull”—villain protagonists, questionable ethics, fatalism, rejection of society while wanting to be a part of it, and most of all staying on the outside knowing that stepping into the arena could be a disaster for someone. Taken from my library…

“Sympathy for the Devil”, Rolling Stones (okay, way too obvious)—Everyone is an Eichmann.
“Devil Inside”, INXS—Keeping the lizard brain at bay.
“Don’t Cha”, Pussycat Dolls—You can have whatever you want, but the cost may be too great. (Colbie Caillat has a slightly bowdlerized version that is… kind of surreal.)
“Behind Blue Eyes”, The Who—Every villain has a backstory, many of them sympathetic.
“I am a rock”, Simon and Garfunkel—Once burned, a thousand times shy.
“Another Day in Paradise”, Phil Collins—Sometimes privilege doesn’t just blind us, but makes us actively hostile to have-nots. (I once saw this used on a TV show as a sountrack to a fashion show. It was appalling, and I think that was the director’s intent.) (alt. “The Way It Is”, Bruce Hornsby and the Range)
“Only Happy When It Rains”, Garbage—a somewhat satirical dig against the heavy emo of grunge music.
“I love you… I’ll kill you”, Enigma—A largely instrumental, very atmospheric, meandering piece that kicks into a very loud guitar solo. The few lyrics to the song play with themes of obsession and jealousy. (alt “Every Breath You Take” and “Wrapped Around Your Finger”, The Police)
“The End”, The Doors—Jim Morrison’s stream-of-conscious rambling leads into a (implied?) family slaughter.
“Industrial Disease”, Dire Straits—Black humor about corporate abuse of labor.
“Woke Up This Morning”, Alabama3 (aka the Sopranos theme)—What happens when two wrongs don’t make a right, but the victim doesn’t care anymore. (alt. “Sunny Came Home”, Shawn Colvin; “Goodbye Earl”, the Dixie Chicks)

MAC also has a line of makeup with Dame Edna as their spokeswoman, which is pretty awesome.

Also, I seem to remember MAC being Robert Smith’s preferred brand back in the day.

Whatchootalkinbout, Willis?

A piece of my childhood is gone… Gary Coleman just died from complications related to a head injury.  He was only 42 years old.  Sad.

Villains are way better for makeup.  The princesses are goody-two shoes, and everyone knows good girls don’t wear (obvious) makeup (“Whores use rouge, dear.  Ladies pinch”)  And when I was little, I totally wanted Cruella deVille’s hair.  You know who’d play a great Cruella?  Probably Courtney Love - another woman I was a huge fan of that did makeup All Wrong.

Of the Disney villains, I always liked Ursula.  Earthy, sexy, a villain not afraid of her own appetites, and a hell of a lot more interesting than Ariel’s pampered royal ass.  She also rocked the plus-sized aquatic couture, it ain’t easy to pull off the strapless octopus look!  Not satisfied to just consign her to the Disney Pit in order to do away with her, the hero punishes her for her sexuality by impaling her with a phallic ship.  A rape metaphor for the ages. I’m sure everyone’s seen it by now, but What Disney Princesses teach girls is spot the hell on.

Amanda, do you like Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers?

Now them I’ve heard of! I even saw them play once!

Throw in another vote for Maleficent. She rocks.

It’s interesting to note that the Princesses who are menaced by female villains tend to be very bland, saccharine, submissive characters—Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora. The only one with even a shred of spit to her personality is Ariel. The later, more interesting Princesses face off against male villains. No wonder adult women tend to identify with the villainesses over the Princesses. It’s pretty hard not to have more going on in your head than Snow White or Cinderella.

I don’t know that I’d attribute the trend to a virgin/whore dichotomy either. In pretty much every Disney film, the villain is older than the protagonist regardless of their respective sexes. Disney films, like most pop culture works, privilege youth in general, not female youth in particular. At least they have the excuse that they’re trying to keep the interest of a predominantly young audience.

This almost makes me wish there were a rule that only people familiar with the makeup industry and its advertising campaigns (not approving of it, not liking it, but some tiny shred of familiarity with how it all works) are allowed to blog about it. Seriously? Thinking a teamed-up theme release with Disney means people are supposed to make themselves up to look like Disney villains? I suppose that means the MAC Hello Kitty campaign meant we were all supposed to paint ourselves white and draw on whiskers. And the campaign where there were male pinup-types on the lip glosses mean we were all supposed to oil our pecs and create artistic faux 5-o’clock shadows.

It’s certainly an interesting question to consider how Disney is apparently expanding its clutches from little girls to adult women (although it’s been doing that for a while now with its adult-sized clothing, Swarovski jewelry, honeymoon packages at Disneyland and so on, and the whole thing squicks me in a vaguely pedophilia-squick way) but someone who can’t grasp a collaborative ad campaign probably isn’t the person to write about that question. The concept isn’t exactly complicated, clothing and home goods designers have been doing the “inspired by” thing for, like, ever.

i think courtney love does makeup as revenge. not sure for what. i also noticed some of this stuff is euro tech disco, very synth heavy, with a beat that leaves friction burns.

i am amazed at the disco club selection, given its purported actual birthdate. heavy electronic almost before there was such a thing. i don’t normally get into the disco this, but it’s clear that euro and american disco music are miles apart. the euros are working at a far greater skill level.

kristin, I think MAC’s strategy of advertising make-up as play is actually something a feminist can back.  Turning fashion and make-up into playtime may not be as subversive as rejecting them altogether, but it’s still subversive, because it rejects the idea that these things are shows of duty and submission to the patriarchy.  It’s like getting married but keeping your own name.

I agree, Amanda. Buy 5 “natural” shades and spend 20 minutes doing a “natural” eye to make myself look like I just happened to be born looking patriarchy-compliant? Or buy a rainbow of colorful toys to create all kinds of different looks and play with how I can be perceived? I’ll choose Door No. 2 anytime, and I think it’s a huge step closer to “people of any gender who love peacocking should peacock” rather than “women have an obligation to look stylish and fuckable”.

Looks to me like a Disney villains campaign just means it’s going to feature a lot of black, white, red, green and purple. 

>.>

I’m excited. 

I agree with the make-up as play thing.  It may not be feminist in and of itself, but it’s certainly subversive, and certainly awesome.  As it stands, I don’t think it’s exactly patriarchy approved to sport bright green eyeshadow with purple eyeliner, but I’d put money on that combination being part of this line.  Additionally, MAC very overtly caters to gay and straight men who happen to like make up, and every time I’ve walked into one of their stores there’s usually a lot of gender-fucking going on with the pictures they have on the walls, the customers, and even the employees.