Tina Brown, previously of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, is no ordinary editor-in-chief: she now commands the much-ballyhooed magazine, Talk, and gets paid a handsome $50 million over 5 years for doing so. Nice work if you can get it.
Tina is of interest to us for only one thing—she is being funded jointly by Miramax and Hearst Communications. That means that socialites like Bob and Harvey Weinstein (our favorite tag team) and Cathleen Black (the diva of women’s magazines) are the players greasing Tina. Enough said.
William Donohue read the premiere edition of Talk with interest. Would it provide a glimpse of the Miramax imprint? As it turned out, his perusal wasn’t in vain. Indeed, he decided to submit a letter-to-the-editor, the contents of which are as follows:
In your premiere issue, there is an article on “The 50 Best Talkers in America.” In some cases, actual quotes were offered, such as Ted Turner’s quip that “Christianity is for losers.” Jesse Jackson was listed, too, but only with the descriptive, “Agent provocateur.” Had you listed his comment calling New York “Hymietown,” or his remark, “I’m sick and tired of hearing about the Holocaust,” it would have created nice symmetry between these two bigots. Just a thought.
We hope that Tina, Bob, Harvey and Cathleen get the point. Now if they were to spend less time throwing gala parties and more time listening to their servants, much progress could be made.
Sister Mary Ann Walsh of the United States Catholic Conference reviewed a play that appeared at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts this past June, finding that “the barbs against the Church convey an intolerable, mean-spirited stereotyping.” She was referring to “The Complete Millennium Musical,” a performance by the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Sister Walsh said the show repeatedly labeled the Church “intolerant.”
A letter from the Catholic League to the Center expressing our concerns (e.g., the establishment is funded by the taxpayers, one-quarter of whom are Catholic), was “politely” answered by the Executive Vice President for the Center, saying he was “sorry” that the reviewer “found parts of the play offensive and inappropriate.” That we find his “sorrow” to be as insincere as it is condescending is something he’ll never figure out.
“Occasionally a performance will use humor in an effort to make people think,” wrote J. Kevin McMahon, “to open discussion and most importantly help us all recognize that we must all live together.” So why doesn’t the Center sponsor a JKF-bashing show (good ideas are not hard to come by) and then tell the complaining caviar crowd that they missed the humor in it. But most significantly, they should be told how we all have to learn how to live together. Fat chance this will ever happen.
Gerard Bradley, who succeeds William Bentley Ball as Chairman of the Catholic League’s Legal Advisory Committee, has filed an amicus brief for the Catholic League in a case that is bound to have national ramifications. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of Helms v. Picard, and will decide whether certain public aid to religious schools is constitutional. While this legal territory is not new, the specifics in this case are.
Gerry Bradley is Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School and a member of the Catholic League’s league board of advisors. We are delighted to have Gerry on board in his new role and much appreciate his assistance.
We feel obliged to alert our members to a possible trouble spot on TV. According to one report, the September 23 episode of the CBS show, “Chicago Hope,” features “a priest who walks into the emergency room claiming to have been mugged by an assailant who bit through and severed his private parts.”
This episode was written by David E. Kelley. We’ve dealt with him before, most conspicuously with “Picket Fences.” It seems David has a thing about Catholicism. If the show offends, let CBC know it: write to Mr. Leslie Moonves, president and chief executive, CBS Television, 524 W. 57th Street, New York, New York 10019.