Required Reading

This week, Wim Wenders and reactionary sentimentalism, the importance of Palmyra, when civilization started to discriminate against women, the power of images, African Americans and appropriation, and more.

 The Wim Wenders takedown (from The New Yorker!) you didn’t realize you were waiting for:

… Wenders never wondered about the connection between aesthetic conservatism and reactionary politics, between the severed connection to classical ages of culture and the hierarchies that they embodied and advanced. Despite the superficial progressivism and internationalism of his concerns, Wenders became the exemplary art-house filmmaker of the age of Reagan, and his aesthetic, with its pious deference to ancestral authority, remains stuck in that mode of stirringly reactionary sentimentalism.

 The Royal Ontario Museum published a discussion between two specialists on ancient cultures. They talked about Palmyra and what is happening at the archeological site today. They mention that the city was so powerful, it even rivaled Rome:

The city’s wealth was founded on trade. Historical sources mention its name early on in the first millennium BC. By the first century AD, it had fallen under Roman influence, retaining a significant degree of autonomy. Greeks and Romans lived side-by-side with local Palmyrans (whose language is closely related to Aramaic), creating a truly cosmopolitan society. But Palmyra grew into much more than a trade colony. By the third century AD, Palmyra felt strong enough to take on Rome. In 270–271, during the reign of the legendary Queen Zenobia, its troops conquered the Levant, Egypt, and much of Anatolia. The Roman reply was swift: by 272 Zenobia was defeated—legend has it that she was taken to Rome in golden chains. At first the city itself was saved; following another rebellion in 273, however, it was reduced to rubble by Roman troops.

When you visit the site nowadays you realize, of course, how much has escaped the Roman destruction and you are left with a first-hand impression of the multicultural nature of this city. Its colonnaded streets, senate, and tetrapylon seem very Roman, but its agora (market) and theatre remind you of Greek cities. Looking closely at the columns, you may recognize Roman, Greek, and Egyptian elements, but there is also a distinct local style. This mix is also reflected in religious architecture. The majestic Temple of Bel, the great overlord of the Aramaic pantheon, with its columns and peristyle, looks like a Greek temple at first. In its layout, however, it functions very much like a Mesopotamian temple. This is what makes Palmyra so fascinating—a diversity that reflects an openness and internationalism.

 How the new Texas history textbooks downplay slavery:

That infuriating method of downplaying is most evident in the description of the Ku Klux Klan in HMH’s high school-level textbook The Americans: United States History Since 1877, in which the KKK is portrayed as having a broad range of political goals, among which violently racist political intimidation is only a lesser, incidental factor …

 When did civilization start to restrict women’s rights? Well, a new BBC documentary looks at that question and considers the fact that in ancient Sumer (4,000 BCE), women had equality under the law:

 Really futuristic-looking bike parking:

 A writer takes a very controversial position and asks African Americans to be conscious when they are appropriating from Africa:

I’m not trying to start a war, but I would just like you all to realize the hypocrisy of seeing someone wearing a Fulani septum ring, rocking a djellaba, painted with Yoruba-like tribal marks, all the while claiming that this is meant to be respectful. It’s a hodgepodge, a juxtaposition, a right mess of regional, ethnic and cultural customs and it screams ignorance and cultural insensitivity.

Yes, that’s right, even when worn by Black people.

I know it looks cool and the wearer looks unique, but if you look at it for what it is, it’s still cultural appropriation.

It’s basically like a White Australian guy with dreadlocks, Ta moko, wearing Batik. They are all Islanders after all. So he’s not being offensive, right?

Africans may not be as vocal as Americans when it comes to appropriation rights. And I get that Black America’s history is one marred with so many injustices that I would never claim to understand. The emergence of a unified voice that is strong and proud is one that I respect and continue to applaud, but please also understand the need for us to be heard, too. Please don’t trample our rights fighting for yours.

She has already responded to the uproar by speaking about it in a video:

 Google vs. Microsoft:

https://twitter.com/ThBenkoe/status/640227788407111680

 The rise of internet shaming is not a secret, but the latest episode was initiated by a Breitbart blogger against Monica Foy, who tweeted something sarcastic about a recent cop murder and was scared enough to flee from her home and find safe houses because of the angry and threatening responses:

By the time Foy got to her husband’s office, she’d received a number of increasingly urgent texts from friends who were worried about her — they’d seen what was going on online, and, not knowing Foy had had her phone off for five hours, had noticed that she wasn’t responding. Her phone number and address had been leaked online multiple times, and the death threats had started coming in via Twitter, phone calls, and text messages. Foy and her husband rushed home, grabbed what they could — “I was looking out the window the entire time that we were there” — and headed for Foy’s mother’s house. Foy said she received about 30 voice-mail death threats. Here are some of them — the language is obviously not safe for work.

New York Magazine has some of the troubling voicemails:

 Recording artist Chris Brown just had the Venus de Milo tattooed on his head:

 Muscle & Fitness magazine reviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s workout video and says he has bad form:

“His cable crossover form is crap,” Tuthill says. “[That’s] weird because it’s such an easy exercise. His reps are fast and bouncy. That exercise is all about getting a good contraction, and it doesn’t look like he’s getting any. Meanwhile, the prime minister [Medvedev] is doing some legit pullups. It’s telling that we only see Putin doing lat pulldowns. Whenever two guys are working back and it’s time for pullups, the weaker guy always opts for pulldowns.”

 A special thanks to @heartasarena for point us in the direction of Burning Man Hate Week, which sums up my feelings:

Required Reading is published every Sunday morning ET, and is comprised of a short list of art-related links to long-form articles, videos, blog posts, or photo essays worth a second look.

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