Arts & Entertainment
‘9 to 5’ screenwriter says the Academy replaced racism with ageism
Lesbian Oscar voter doesn’t like Academy’s response to #OscarsSoWhite
(Screenshot courtesy of YouTube)
Lesbian Academy member Patricia Resnick says the Academy is”replacing sexism and racism with ageism” in an effort to correct the #OscarsSoWhite controversy by adding younger, more diverse members.
In a column written for The Hollywood Reporter, Resnick says she is a successful and competent member of the film industry who has battled ageism and sexism along the way.
“By 27, I had written the highest-grossing film of 1980 and what was to become one of the iconic comedies of our time, ‘9 to 5,’ Resnick says. “I wrote a number of other films, got some produced and then found myself running into the brick wall of ageism and sexism by my mid-forties.”
“As the sole provider for my two children, I did what I could to take care of us all, which meant going where the work was for me: television movies, then television pilots and then series work,” Resnick continued.
Despite her accomplishments, the screenwriter says the Academy does not recognize her achievements as a minority enough to stay on the board.
“One of the proudest accomplishments of my life was being invited to join the Academy way back in the eighties, and now I am being told that I no longer deserve to vote because the Academy is too white and too male,” Resnick writes.
“I happen to be female and I’m also gay, another underrepresented minority, and yet, because I haven’t been hired on a film in the last 10 years, I am to be booted into the ’emeritus’ status and replaced by younger members who are being asked to join in order to help you deal with a publicity nightmare,” Resnick says.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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