| letters |
“
Yeah, the “Up” was tautological. But the double entendre was too good not to use. The idea is that each editorial, each design and each photograph is the product of being completely engrossed and absorbed in something: an event, a conversation, or even a moment. Capturing that feeling is emotionally transporting in and of itself. But Rapt Up extends that emotion to you. Every piece has some element that speaks to someone. It will be different for everyone, but, like the stories and times they are borne out of, someone will find something inspirational or worthy of sharing with someone else. Like the way the cover story on The Human Condition was formed. Before I went back to school and moved to St. Petersburg, I had been the editorial director of an arts and culture magazine in Sarasota. For our Summer 2007 issue— our music issue—I had featured a band called The Human Condition. These guys, especially lead singer/guitarist Dean Johanesen, are true artists. They write music and play gigs for the same reason many of us write: to converse with people about life in order to learn, grow and inspire others and ourselves. At the end of my first semester back to school, I was chatting with Dr. Tony Silvia, head of USF St. Petersburg’s Department of Journalism & Media Studies at the time. Up walks Dr. Mark Pezzo, associate professor of psychology and associate dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the school. Silvia and Pezzo schmoozed and playfully heckled one another, so who was I to not join in on the sarcastic banter? Pezzo graciously offered the opportunity to do a story on him. Silvia mentioned that Pezzo was a musician. When I asked which band he played in, he said, “The Human Condition.” Naturally, I was excited. The world can never be too small. Pezzo suggested I do a feature on the band’s new bassist. Evidently, he had joined the band right after I wrote that article. A year later, I went to one of their shows at The Tavern, renewed my love for their music and wrote another profile on the band. The working relationship continues to grow, right down to the refreshingly expected sarcasm (there’s talk of making it permanent).
With love,
”
shrink rapt |conversations| 4 art market super bowl 2014?
saran rapt |events| 8 bielski brothers’ fhm exhibit
re:rapt |stories| 10 the graduates of 13th grade spare any change? usf’s tennis club princess tiana
gift rapt |advertisements| 16 best of 18 photography
ShrinkRapt
| conversations |
The art market is dead.
“Other galleries will lie to you and say their affluent customers are still buying but that’s just not true,” says Richard Fortune, owner of the Glass Canvas Gallery. His discouraged sentiments reflect the luxury item market’s struggle in the tired dialogue that is our receding economy. Fortune’s gallery has witnessed 17 years of St. Petersburg’s economic and demographic change, but for him, this is beyond an economic trough.
“The gypsy artists take money away from the galleries, who pay the sales tax, pay the income tax and keep the money in the community,” he says. “People deny that, but it’s true.”
Fortune pinpoints multiple reasons for the dwindling arts community past the generic economy response. First, the small demographic window for art buyers. The typical art buyer is somewhere between ages 35 and 50. People older than 50 usually have all the art they need, and people younger than 35 have other priorities on which to spend their money. Second, he believes cultural growth in the community is a misconception.
Tim Finn, curator of Finn Gallery, acknowledges that his P. Buckley Moss niche is what keeps him in business, despite the “doom and gloom in the newspapers creating a mindset on people.” Finn exhibits the largest collection of Moss artwork in the nation, a soft style of watercolors that began in Virginia with Amish and Mennonite subjects. Last year, he began carrying work by a selection of local painters to stir up cultural buzz.
“It’s like the Rays,” he says. “People love to say that they are great for the whole community, bringing customers to town. It’s just not true. It’s good for those who want to watch baseball, but those people aren’t here to buy art.”
Offering an outlet for culture and the arts to local artists brings a certain quality of people to the area, and inspires students to continue creating, Finn says. In rough economic times, finding a unique artistic style and being a self-promoter is the only way to not get discouraged. That’s what P. Buckley Moss did.
The arts community is a commercial niche like any other business, Fortune says. It must survive on its own, not falsely rely on bigger events bringing the wrong demographic. The weekend art fairs are no different.
Others are hesitant to be so negative.
As for the arts community as a whole, Finn knows it needs a boost. “There’s zero foot traffic,” he says.
Ideally, condensing the arts establishments would unify the Downtown Arts Association, the non-profit organization of St. Petersburg’s galleries and museums. But differing levels of success has individual galleries prioritizing personal economic growth over the arts community as a whole. “People are trying to work in conjunction with one another that just aren’t making it at the same level,” Finn says. “When things are normal, there are no complaints. But it’s hard for 15 galleries to agree on the same thing right now.” Money is not the only obstacle. Right now, gallery owners are having to work 60 hour weeks; additional participation in an organization might as well be having another job.
Some have a more positive outlook. Ellen Rivera, the events marketing manager at the Museum of Fine Arts, does not think the arts community has been suffering. Attendance is always seasonal. Especially when the museum symbolizes the permanence of the artistic environment to St. Petersburg. Rivera believes that St. Petersburg’s growth has fostered a community far more diverse than people realize, opening doors to the more mature art lover and creating more cultural awareness. “The demographic change is not necessarily a generational thing, just people more knowledgeable of art,” Rivera says. “Anytime anything improves the arts, it’s good for everyone.” The Dali Museum’s new lavish structure offers pending greatness for cultural tour-
ism. Kathy White, the Dali’s deputy director, shares Rivera’s sentiments. “Anything that adds quality of life to a city helps arts organizations, like the Grand Prix offering great national exposure for the city,” she says. White says the economy has not drastically affected attendance and sales revenue. Much of the museum’s educational programming is targeted specifically to the St. Petersburg community, as opposed to the out-of-town clientèle. The Dali has cut expenses for special events, like Dalifest, the annual free outdoor festival. However, they intend to keep funding educational and youth programs, like the Junior Docent Summer Camps or S’Real Fridays. The Downtown Arts Association may be on hiatus, but other leaders in the arts community are taking action. Bob Devin Jones, co-founder of The Studio@620, initiated an upcoming mayoral candidate debate. Those interested are invited to inquire about the candidates’ stances on local arts programs. The Studio@620 is not just a theater and not just a gallery, says Jones, but instead produces shows, film, theater, round tables, poetry and dance, among other creative initiatives. The arts market is better for some than others, and no doubt the poor economy has battered it. The studio’s downtown location has been a benefit. “I’m not sure how it quantifies it, but it definitely qualifies our success,” Jones says. “It may not always be like that, but that’s how it is right now.” As Jones says, for the arts to succeed, all creative institutions should be open to artistic partnering in the community. R
ShrinkRapt
| conversations |
Tampa Bay would make Bacchus jealous. Even on a budget. No sooner have the Super Bowl festivities died down, with Gasparilla just around the corner, and Mayor Pam Iorio is already vying for a repeat in 2014. If this were poker, it would be considered an aggressive play; big bets yield bigger returns.
“A positive experience for guests in January will keep them coming back to the region for future tourism, business and special events,” said Host Committee Chairman R.A. “Dick” Beard III in a prepared statement. More than 100,000 visitors arrived in Tampa Bay over the weekend.
Despite the national economic crisis, Super Bowl festivities remained “first-class,” as promised by Iorio at a news conference long before game day. The Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee’s $11 million budget returned an estimated $300-400 million into the region’s economy, according to its website.
You would think the nickname “Recession Bowl” was a misnomer.
Iorio insisted quality would not be traded for frugality. “We are in a recession,” she had said in a New York Times follow-up article. “We’re either in a recession getting to host the Super Bowl, or in a recession without a Super Bowl. Those are the two options. Which would you rather have?” Iorio’s statements dovetail with the region’s effort of economic development through tourism, led primarily by Tampa Bay & Company. More than 700 businesses throughout Tampa Bay are part of the not-for-profit organization that promotes the area to attract conventions and visitors, according to the organization’s website.
In fact, the decadence that once characterized the week-long montage of fanatic football, celebrity-laden parties and staggering advertising prices did wane. Soirees hosted by the legendary Playboy and Sports Illustrated magazines, respectively, were canceled. Maxim Magazine was one of the few hosts to party despite its contemporaries folding, though Editorial Director James Kaminsky did admit in a New York Times interview that “2009 is the wrong time for idiotic excess.” Even the expected mainstays of famed Super Bowl ads—Ford, Chrysler and General Motors—refrained from the $2.6 million, 30 second advertising spots on NBC. Other conspicuous absences included Victoria’s Secret, McDonald’s and Target.
Ticket prices were lower than that of the last few Super Bowls. The average price of a ticket was $2,402, according to StubHub, one of the world’s largest ticket marketplaces. Last year’s average was $3,536; the year before that, $4,004. More than double the amount of tickets were purchased compared to StubHub’s sales last year. The same cannot be said for plane tickets. The cheapest nonstop coach seat from Phoenix for Friday-to-Monday was $2,053 on US Airways. “What you’re seeing here is a textbook case of supply and demand,” said Michelle Mohr, a US Airways spokeswoman in a St. Petersburg Times interview. “When you see demand way up, fares reflect that. It’s Economics 101.” Flights from Pittsburgh did not reflect the same exorbitance, but fares still increased. Many fans splurged in their mecca to the frenzy, but discretionary income was still a commodity. Local visitor bureau Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater compensated by advertising lodging rentals as low as $150 a night. “The rates are unbelievable, not only for this time of year, but also considering that this is America’s largest sporting event,” Executive Director DT Minich said in the press release. The convention and visitor’s bureau initiated many promotional efforts, including “Super Deals” like the accommodation specials, search engine optimization with Google Keywords and advanced media coverage in key markets like New York City and Los Angeles. The efforts were inviting, but according to Competitive Edge Research & Communication, the national public opinion research firm, polls showed that more than 80 percent of Americans had no plans to visit Tampa. A six percent increase in opinion of Tampa was revealed after the big game, but there was no change in tourism expectations. The firm attributed the raised opinions to sportscaster Al Michaels. He was quoted on how “good-looking downtown Tampa” was while shots of the waterfront were on the screen, according to the press release. Quality over quantity must exist for media coverage. Although the Tampa Bay Super Bowl website reports that more than 3,400 media credentials were issued, that number is more
than 1,000 fewer than cited at last year’s Super Bowl. At the stadium, all operations still ran like a well-oiled machine. Even a seating mix-up with Evan Rosenberg, a spectator from New York City, and an AP photographer was solved within minutes. “He mistook section 312 for 311,” Rosenberg explained. “He was so thankful to not have to set up his wires all over again that he offered my friend his jacket and his cookies 20 minutes into the game.” Like so many other attendees, Rosenberg bet big money on the game. “I’ll say how much if I win,” he said, laughing. If only the Steelers hadn’t scored in the last two minutes, Rosenberg would have revealed the number. “I’m still just so excited to be here,” he said. Other fans came just to tailgate, like USF student Christopher Talley. “I had access to a party I probably shouldn’t have,” he said. “Some lady asked who I was here with, and I said, ‘Allen!’ to which she replied, ‘You must be Steven! Come meet my daughter!’” The entertainment did not cease till leaving the parking garage became a two-hour ordeal. “We wound up putting the car in park and hanging out with some people from Indianapolis for an hour,” Talley said. “It’s always great to make new friends.” Rosenberg and Talley are not the only two with positive reactions. Nielsen reports that an average of 98.7 million viewers watched the Steelers and Cardinals battle in its entirety, making it the most-watched Super Bowl ever. More than 150 million people watched at least six minutes of the game, the largest audience in TV history at one time. To put it in perspective, the final episode of M*A*S*H had 106 million viewers. That’s a lot of recognition for Tampa Bay. And 2014 could be even bigger. The NFL is hoping to play the Pro Bowl the weekend before the Super Bowl in the host city. The next few years are set: Miami, Dallas, Indianapolis and most likely, New Orleans, respectively.
But keep your fingers crossed, Tampa Bay. The bids are in. R
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| events |
SARANRapt Bielski Resistance Against Nazis Unveiled
6 | rapt up
Florida Holocaust Museum exhibits story of the three Bielski brothers saving over 1200 Jews in a Belarus forest during World War II.
David Rubenfeld was just brushing up on his Hebrew. In the early morning hours in Brooklyn, he would speak with his neighbor, Tuvia Bielski. Every evening, he would read a Jewish encyclopedia. One day, he came across the story of the Bielski brothers, a trio who single-handedly fought the Nazi invasion in Belarus. “Tuvia, is this you?” Rubenfeld had asked. Bielski was so humble, he would barely admit it. A few weeks later, the limo that came for Bielski once a year arrived. “Tuvia, what is the deal with the limo?” Rubenfeld had asked. Every year, a dinner was held in honor of Tuvia, Zus and Asael Bielski at the Waldorf Astoria. Out of the 1250 Jews that the brothers hid in a Belarus forest, 25,000 descendants now live to celebrate. But the magnitude of the Bielskis’ feat began on a much smaller scale. They were the only Jews in their little town, considered peasants because they ran a flour mill. The Nazis shot their parents immediately when they marched into Belarus in 1941. Rather than flee, the brothers chose to avenge the murders of their mother and father. Saving a few fellow Jews turned into establishing a community in the forest to fight and save as many Jews as they could. Together, they led the largest armed rescue operation of Jews by Jews in World War II. Brendon Rennart, Tuvia’s grandson, volunteers at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg. Eight months ago, he mentioned that a movie depicting his relatives’ fight was coming out, starring Daniel Craig as his grandfather. In six months, the
FHM created an exhibit of this courageous tale that would normally take three years. “The Bielskis are such a unique story because they weren’t only focused on fighting back,” said museum curator Erin Blankenship in a St. Pete Times interview. “They were focused on saving as many people as they could, and they took in anybody, the old, the sick, children. A lot of other partisan groups turned those people away.” The opening reception included a screening of the movie and attendance by all the remaining family members. Rennart explained that the movie is just the beginning of his grandfather’s story. After the war, Joseph Stalin set out to kill the brothers when he heard how many Jews they saved. They escaped in the middle of the night with their girlfriends, boarding a train with no money and no papers. The brothers were stopped at the border. They claimed they were just refugee Greek Jews. Authorities found a Greek man on the train and asked him if they were speaking Greek. The merciful stranger confirmed it, just explaining that it was another dialect. They were actually speaking Yiddish. “It’s a really great story in every aspect of it,” Rennert said in a St. Pete Times interview. “It’s not about death and destruction. It’s about life and living. To me, that’s the greatest story that’s around.” The exhibit will be featured at the Florida Holocaust Museum through February, then will travel to museums nation-wide to correlate with the movie’s premiere. Look for Defiance in theaters this spring.
St. Petersburg City Council passed two ordinances last Thursday that require convenience stores to take security precautions after five store clerk shootings in the last three months. The council voted unanimously for security cameras and automatic door locks, among other measures. The stores receiving the equipment and training on usage depend on how the businesses are defined, said St. Petersburg Police Spokesperson William Proffitt. The city council defined “convenience store” as “any place of business that is primarily engaged in the retail sale of groceries, or both groceries and gasoline, and that is open for business between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.” Some owners are concerned that forced security measures will cut too far into profits. In response, Police Chief Chuck Harmon proposed a grant program supplemented with money confiscated during arrests, in which store owners can receive $500 toward the $700 automatic door locks. Dr. Bill Ruefle, criminology professor at USF-St. Petersburg, said that only 5 percent of serious crime in St. Petersburg is committed downtown. Serious crime is defined as Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Index 1 crimes, which are divided in two categories: violent (aggravated assault, forcible rape, murder and robbery) and property (arson, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft) crimes. “Downtown is highly populated compared to the rest of St. Pete,” he said. “There are good targets down there because of the affluence, but most have substantial security to protect themselves. “You do have hot spots though, like Midtown and other low income areas. But that’s true of any downtown city.” Despite that inevitability, wealth, youth and art are visible from any downtown St. Petersburg corner—juxtaposed right next to homeless havens like Williams Park. Some people have never encountered such chronic homelessness before, while natives view it as part of the scenery. Melissa Mellert, a Sarasota resident, was appalled. Up for dinner one night, her friend had driven down one downtown street “that was packed with homeless people.” “It was seriously an entire neighborhood community on one corner,” she said.
re:rapt | stories 15
And Mellert has encountered homelessness before, working in downtown Sarasota. “I don’t know why NationalHomeless.org says we’re the meanest city in America to homeless. I see Whole Foods giving them bags of food at the end of the night all the time. But I’ve never seen this before.” But some don’t even notice. Any time USF student Christopher Talley is asked for change, he says, “Just have my debit card, man.” Talley, 25, has lived in St. Petersburg his whole life. Most metropolitan cities in Florida will naturally draw the homeless because of the warm weather and the food and shelter within walking distance. Ruefle said that of all arrests last year, the homeless made up 15 percent. Most were alcohol and drugs, larceny, assault and robbery. Proffitt said theft is actually a more prevalent trend in crime. “We saw auto thefts dramatically increase last year, especially downtown and at Tyrone Square, where there is a large concentration of vehicles.” Although he said that has subsided, a number of vehicular thefts have recently been reported. This reflects the USF-St. Petersburg Campus Crime Report, naming theft as the major campus crime. Local USF Student Andrew Silverstein has had his bike stolen. Twice. “I came out of class one day and it was gone. I borrowed my roommate’s bike until I could get a new one, and that was stolen too!” Anyone who watches South Park knows the tale of “Night of the Living Homeless.” However sad the satire is—the city council members offer solutions like giving them designer sleeping bags and makeovers “so they would at least be pleasant to look at”—the funny thing is, the episode ends with no reasonable solution. Offensive exaggerations aside, that is the most accurate conclusion to date. And, perhaps, the nicest. Any dissenters or those unfamiliar with St. Pete? Just ask anybody who lived here in 2006 about two words:
Tent City.
. Nothing seems to faze Dr. Mark Walters. The associate professor of journalism at University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg campus chuckles when he quips about the former Program of Distinction becoming a “program of extinction.” Walters says the overall educational experience should not be negatively impacted by the statewide budget cuts, despite the five percent increase in students since last year and the loss of the graduate tuition scholarships, which had been a benefit of the budget afforded by being a Program of Distinction. Despite pressures to increase class sizes, St. Pete is retaining its smaller numbers. The efficiency of online materials and the natural evolution of technology in learning are significant. Teaching has three relationships that are effectively enhanced through integrating online education: the “sage on stage” to the student, the student to the material, and the student to the student. Teacher to student should be saved for the classroom, according to Walters. “It’s half the fun of teaching.” But, when courses utilize the Internet, material is available 24/7 with more variety, and study groups and student communication are more easily conducted. St. Pete boasts two other advantages: world class professors with commanding authority in their respective fields, and both a physical and occupational proximity to the renowned Poynter Institute. “We are natural friends, and partners in the same business,” says Walters about Poynter. “Our relationship is wonderful and growing, thanks to Dr. Silvia.” As an example of the valuable expertise right across the street, writing coach Roy Peter Clark has addressed Walters’ editing class. Students may also attend lectures by visiting speakers, usually for free.
6 | rapt up
re:rapt | stories 15
Walters cites the peninsular grandeur of St. Pete as an aesthetic draw, but for this former Harvard lecturer, it was also the opportunity for innovation and creativity at a small campus versus working for a huge company that caught his eye. Walters saw “freedom in teaching his courses, not just becoming a cog in the machine.” Since his first day in 2003, this proved to be the case. Students can feel confident of the same sentiment. It recently surfaced that the Tampa campus is at full capacity, and USF hopefuls are being offered St. Pete as an alternative. Some rejected the offer, but those who accepted have been pleasantly surprised. An especially strong journalism department helps, because journalism is such a useful liberal arts degree. “Communication, writing, simplifying information, interviewing, research skills,” says Walters. “No matter what you become, journalism is helpful.” Walters’ 10 years as a medical journalist set him apart when he applied to veterinary school. A divide can sometimes exist between scientists and communication to those unfamiliar with jargon. But don’t let the graduate degree from Columbia University fool you. “I’ve done a lot of different things because I wanted to,” he says. “Everything you do is pertinent.” He cites being a deckhand on a riverboat on the Mississippi as his first relevant job in journalism; it was cultural education. Students should not fret over the whirlwind of coverage on the statewide decrease of educational finances. They should get creative and excited just like Walters. “The best time in my life is right now. The next minute is the most important,” he says. “I’m a here and now kinda guy.”
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“If what you’re doing right now—namely, reading a textbook— drives you bonkers, there’s probably a good feature to be written about why textbooks are detrimental to learning.”
-Ivor Shapiro, The Bigger Picture: Elements of Feature Writing
Melissa Labiak finds rejection exciting. You wouldn’t call her a masochist. It might be a fleeting thought when her vivid pirate ship tattoo flashes behind the strap of a white-and-black tank top as she opens the door to The Tavern to get another round. But something about her sparkling eyes and opinionated frankness say otherwise. Sure, not finding a job in New York City this summer failed. Innate intelligence and a bachelor’s degree in history from USF St. Petersburg proved weak in the weary economy. The disconnect between the languid textbook and the untouched reality of an occupation is obtrusive. The schism is rampant. So rampant, in fact, that
while a plethora of graduates eagerly don their Nordstrom’s best and toothy grins hoping to impress employers with their textbook version of an industry, there are many who fail. Interviews are scarce and jobs are even scarcer. Wannabe yuppies with a smidgen of shrewdness emphasize an internship during the summer of junior year, not realizing that the seasoned employer is seeking someone with the ability to replace three people, not just one. When the stench of rejected self-promotion overcomes the discouraged ones, one option remains: go back to school.
Evidently, quite a few have had it with the schlep.
15a re:rapt | stories
So, like a slew of her peers, Labiak came back to get her master’s degree. But that venture proved futile too. Labiak calmly sips a beer as she explains her changed mentality. While her intention was to satisfy her dramatic side with a master’s degree in theater at her alma mater, life happened. Bureaucratic obstacles, like late registration and financial aid woes, prevented her from taking classes this semester. Rather than fret, Labiak pulls her blonde hair back in a ponytail and casually accepts Plan C. “Someone had advised me, ‘Why get a second degree when you obviously already have the experience behind you?’ and quite frankly, they were right.” Jobs are scarce. No one would argue otherwise. Students like Labiak are competing with more educated and more experienced professionals for the same jobs. Returning to school also accumulates more debt and the distinct possibility of graduating in the same position two or three years later, and still no job. “So what options do we have?” she continues. “Sure, we could take life by the horns and demand that we won’t settle for less than $15 an hour, but that’s not practical. Survival is practical.” Devotion to studying is increasingly eclipsed by the frightening probability of nothing upon graduation: no direction, no job and no prosperity. Applications to graduate programs nationwide leaped 8 percent from 2006 to 2007, and increased at an average annual rate of 3 percent from 1997 to 2007, according to the Council of Graduate Schools’ Office of Research and Policy Analysis. Engineering and physical sciences had the largest spikes; health sciences grew most consistently and rapidly. This echoes the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) research that found the 20072008 school year received 31,946 first-time applicants, its most ever. Ten years prior, the tally was approximately 27,000. The 2007-2008 tally including re-applicants was 42,315. Government research seems to agree. The National Center for Education’s Projections of Education Statistics predicts 659,000 master’s degrees will be awarded for the 2009-2010 school year.
The total awarded in 1999-2000 was 457,056. All this leaves America with copious amounts of highly educated amateurs and no practical experience, all while serial thinkers keep their menial jobs and paychecks so companies can stay afloat. Making a master’s the new bachelor’s is tricky. The occupational norm used to be higher education automatically assumes higher pay. That assumption no longer stands. Maybe this crop of newly educated youth will outwit the paralysis of economic doom and emerge with an insatiable desire to think and create. Maybe they will recognize that academic concepts from seventh grade are regurgitated in the beginning of every school year, no matter the grade level. Maybe the specialized graduate education will just be instituted at a lower grade level, like the college prep system of The Lovett School in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Coleen Roberts, a speech pathologist and special education teacher in Atlanta, knows what works. Thirty-six years as an educator and a son who graduated from Lovett has given her perspective from both sides of the educational setup. “Education is simple. Learning takes place when there is a good relationship and hard work between the student and the teacher. Teachers must scaffold new information for students to master it. Students must independently practice and apply it. Students can use sameness theory to then mentally categorize the newly learned information against prior knowledge of that subject area. That’s the Lovett School Model,” Roberts says.
It’s learning how to learn. And how to grow. As Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci theorized, we “should not attach importance to lectures but rather to the delicate work of discussion and the investigation of problems, in which everybody participates, everybody contributes, and in which everybody is simultaneously teacher and student.” All hope is not lost. It is time to embrace entrepreneurship and create niche markets. Education levels can rise without a parade of college graduates rushing for a master’s. Like Matt Damon says in Good Will Hunting, one of the “two certainties in life” is that you can easily drop “$150,000 on an education you coulda got for a dollah fifty in late chahges at the public library.” R
better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.
Just do it.
Wtastic point of view” in 1992, wide-eyed children might
hen Aladdin belted out, “A whole new world, a new fan-
have seen this coming. When the legendary Disney Princesses franchise added the Native American Pocahontas in 1995 and the Chinese Mulan in 1998 to its lineup, little girls emulating their princess heroines might have guessed this would be next. The Walt Disney Company is introducing its first black princess to the character club of fairy tale icons connoting feminine beauty and heroism. Tiana, the first Disney princess in more than a decade, will be unveiled in The Princess and the Frog at the end of this year. The Broadway-style musical is set in the French Quarter of 1920s New Orleans, loosely inspired by the E.D. Baker novel The Frog Princess. The plot has all the ingredients of the fairy tale archetype: handsome prince, evil antagonist, spells and kisses, and quirky sidekicks. The film is also a reversion to Disney’s traditional, hand-drawn, two-dimensional animation. Computer technology has transformed the animation industry with the ability to create virtually realistic human movement. Although such computer-generated photorealism is the industry standard, 2D animation is the artistic method that established the classic Disney identity. Rob Cavallo, an animator for Walsh Family Media Group in New York, believes this new Disney character is exemplary of the entertainment industry’s climate today. “It all comes down to political correctness and trying to please everyone and not have a stand on any issue other than controversy,” he said. “I would not have said that if the story wasn’t already written out years ago and originally took place in Europe and now includes a Creole woman who falls in love with a prince. I would be hard pressed to believe this has nothing to do with the recent election of our first black president and Disney making a reach at diversity.” Cavallo graduated from Ringling School of Art and Design with computer animation and graphic design degrees. Academically and professionally, he has been asked to create many different characters, but never one that required more political correctness. His field is “based on pushing real life into a fun, fantasy world. It’s pushed from the eyes of the artist more than the eyes of the audience.” Animated characters of late require both relatability and diversity. But he disagrees with the blatant removal of cartoons with racial undertones. “Those shorts are a reflection of an era in
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48 | rapt up