As part of his studies, UC#2 was reading The Sacred Is the Profane: The Political Nature of “Religion” by William Arnal and Russell T. McCutcheon
“This hard-hitting collection overturns common ideas about religion. Arnal and McCutcheon argue that ‘religion’ has no independent existence but is rather the unstable creation of political and economic forces. These two prominent critical theorists call for far-reaching reform of the study of religious traditions so that the concepts of nation-state, citizenship, and secularism can be productively transformed. Their compelling work will have profound effect on both specialists and general readers.”–Naomi Goldenberg, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Ottawa (from the Amazon page)
What an interesting AI Image prompt: “The Sacred is the Profane.” We entered this sole prompt, verbatim, into Perchance and HotPot, only varying the styles and genres.
A few themes emerged (more of a reflection of the AI algorithms that the prompt, I suspect):
- a blurring of traditional icons and traditions
- femme fatale
- power-hungry dudes
- fierce, determined, and sincere seekers
- nothing involving twine, so we’re spared any associated controversy
HotPot
Perchance
(click on image for full res / new tab)
This topic could lead to an interesting debate about the role of religion in politics, Christian Nationalism, the Religious Right, etc, but come on…. this is WLBOTT. Let’s look instead at…
Femme Fatales
For the generation of the Elders, there is only truly terrifying Femme Fatale: Natasha Fatale (a.k.a. Natasha Nogoodnik).
Natasha Fatale is an antagonist of the 1959-1964 animated cartoons Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, collectively referred to as The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. She was voiced by June Foray, who also voiced Rocky.
Natasha is a spy for the fictional country of Pottsylvania, and takes orders from Fearless Leader. Natasha usually serves as an accomplice to fellow spy Boris Badenov. Like Boris, she is also a master of disguise.
…. Natasha is supposedly the only child of Axis Sally and Count Dracula. A former Miss Transylvania, she was expelled from college for subversive activities at a local cemetery. She traveled from Transylvania to the United States at the age of 19, landing in New York, where she spent two years posing for cartoonist Charles Addams, and as the party girl who pops out of the big cake at embalmers’ stag parties. (Much as Boris was loosely based on Gomez Addams, Natasha’s appearance was based on that of Morticia Addams, who had not yet been named at the time Rocky and His Friends was airing.)
She met Boris when they were arrested for throwing rocks at Girl Scouts. He became smitten with her charms and they became partners in crime. Usually, Natasha’s and Boris’s misdeeds are thwarted by Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle the Moose. She refers to them collectively as “moose and squirrel”.
Natasha’s last name is a pun on the phrase femme fatale, with emphasis on the “fatal” part; in keeping with that, Natasha was drawn as a shapely, attractive looking woman. However, in nearly all episodes, the character is identified only as Natasha, with no surname. She is apocryphally known as “Natasha Nogoodnik”. However, she is identified in the series premiere by her proper name by the show’s narrator, making “Fatale” her canonical and correct surname. However, either or both may be a nom de guerre.
Wikipedia
WLBOTT Word of the Day: Apocryphal
WLBOTT Word of the Day: Canonical
Personal favorite Cinema Fatale: The Last Seduction
WLBOTT Ministry of Virtue and Vice: Not for the children (and not for a large subsection of adults)
Some interesting factoids about the lead actress, Linda Fiorentino:
Personal life
Fiorentino later had a relationship with Los Angeles private investigator Anthony Pellicano and dated former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Mark T. Rossini. In 2009, Rossini pleaded guilty to illegally accessing FBI computers during the prosecution of Pellicano. Law enforcement officials said Fiorentino wanted to assist Pellicano’s defense. According to prosecutors, Fiorentino was then dating Rossini, told Rossini she was researching a screenplay based on Pellicano’s case. Rossini conducted searches of government computers for information related to the case and passed the results to Fiorentino, who then handed the files over to Pellicano’s lawyers in a failed effort to help Pellicano avoid a 15-year prison sentence.
Wikipedia
You can get the full ET/TMZ treatment here.
Allegedly, Fiorentino put Rossini up to the break-in as research for her screenplay. – Lebeaule Blog
Femme Fatale + Film Noir: A Combustible Combination
Femme Fatale + Film Noir + Twine: Block Buster Movie or Abandon Hope?
HotPot
Perchance
WLBOTT Wonders: Should Jessica Rabbit be Considered a Femme Fatale?
Opinions differ…..
But…. The Independent has a different view:
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? at 30: The feminist appeal of Jessica Rabbit
From Marilyn Monroe to Lara Croft, pop culture pin-ups have often come with their own subversive, feminist appeal: especially within the construct of third wave feminism, which allows space not only to embrace contradiction, but to celebrate it.
Jessica is, funnily enough, best summarised in her own catchphrase: “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.” A line that exemplifies her own appeal beyond straight objectification: in an almost meta acknowledgement that she exists as a product of the male gaze, a creation of men, she knows all too well that she can both profit off her sexuality and be a victim to it.
Jessica Rabbit may not be much of a femme fatale at heart, as we come to learn, but she’s certainly a woman who understands its power: to shun traditional femininity gets you marked as a danger, but it can also gain you control over those interested only in controlling you.
The Independent