Month: June 2024

Facebook Privacy Dis-Agreement

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Digital Humanities, Philosophy, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, RMWMTMBM Archive, Teaching 0 Comments

It’s been a little while since the inhabitants of Facebookistan got all fired up about something–  where are you now Kony2012?— so I was half-delighted and half-disheartened to see the newest brouhaha to hit the social media site, which I’m calling the Facebook Privacy Dis-Agreement (FPD).  As these things tend to happen, FPD had been…

Read More

Storytelling and Incredulity

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Film, Film Reviews, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, RMWMTMBM Archive 0 Comments

The new film version of Yann Martel‘s 2001 novel Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee and starring the  wide-eyed and captivating Saraj Sharma in the title role, is (exactly as the posters promise) an “epic journey of adventure and discovery.”  And that’s the problem with it. I read Life of Pi shortly after it…

Read More

The Vicissitudes of Netiquette

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Women and Gender Issues 0 Comments

In the last couple of days, I’ve received a lot of criticism about this post, in which I solicited Dr. Vincent Hendricks (and encouraged my readers to solicit Dr. Hendricks) to grant an interview with me, for the benefit of his English-speaking audience, about the recent kerfuffle surrounding his decision to post on his website–…

Read More

American Values Project Exhibition Gets the Greenlight!

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson American Values video project, RMWMTMBM Archive 0 Comments

After much Sturm und Drang for the AVP team, we’re happy to announce that we’ve finally managed to secure a location and date for our exhibit! So, mark your calendars: We’ll be staging the VERY FIRST exhibition of the entire American Values Project collection on MAY 5 at Marshall Arts gallery in downtown Memphis. May…

Read More

Guest-Blogger Shiloh Whitney on the Hendricks Affair

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Women and Gender Issues 0 Comments

[Introductory note from Dr. J: Hello, readers. Just a quick introductory note about today’s “guest blogger.” Shiloh Whitney (pictured left) is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at McGill University. She submitted a rather long comment to the previous discussion taking place on this blog surrounding the Hendricks affair, so I asked her if she wouldn’t…

Read More

New “Comments Policy” at RMWMTMBM

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson RMWMTMBM Archive, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Well, we managed to make it almost six whole years before having to address the problem of internet trolls on this blog. Not a bad run, all things considered. The practice of not “moderating” discussions or insisting on comment “approvals” has been intentional on this site so far. In my view, the delay caused by…

Read More

Young Adult: The Least Funny Comedy of 2011

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Film, Film Reviews, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, RMWMTMBM Archive, Weak Humanism 0 Comments

I’m guessing I’m not the only one who saw the trailers for the new film Young Adult (directed by Up In The Air and Thank You For Smoking auteur Jason Reitman, penned by Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody) and thought to myself: that looks really funny! I want to see it! I mean, I didn’t expect…

Read More

American Values Project [Update]

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson American Values video project, RMWMTMBM Archive 0 Comments

A lot has happened with the American Values Project since my last update. We received a generous grant from Rhodes College’s Center for Outreach and Development of the Arts (CODA) to buy some new equipment, revamp our website and, most importantly, stage a physical exhibit of the project here in Memphis. CODA has been an…

Read More

The Uncanny Valley 8: Pet Robots

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Uncanny Valley, Weak Humanism 0 Comments

[This is a continuation of my (now numerous) reflections on the Uncanny Valley. You can read the previous seven installments here if you’re interested.] Late last semester, as a part of my department’s semi-regular Philosophy Film Series, we screened Mechanical Love, a 2007 documentary about the ever-evolving relationships between humans and robots. The film focuses…

Read More

The Parking Lot Movie: In Defense of Service Workers

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Film, Film Reviews, Philosophy, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, RMWMTMBM Archive 0 Comments

Many years ago, when I found myself griping about the horrible and infuriating treatment that restaurant service-people– at the time, that included me– get from their patrons, I remember my father telling me: “Everyone should have at least four types of jobs in his or her life: (1) a job in the service industry, (2)…

Read More