Posted by: rp
« on: August 25, 2023, 07:46:13 pm »Good idea, but I think that I would still be able to lip-read the English actors though.
A Kuwaiti media outlet has unveiled a virtual news presenter generated using artificial intelligence, with plans for it to read online bulletins.
“Fedha” appeared on the Twitter account of the Kuwait News website on Saturday as an image of a woman, hair uncovered, wearing a black jacket and white T-shirt.
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The presenter’s blond hair and light-coloured eyes reflected the oil-rich country’s diverse population of Kuwaitis and expatriates, Boftain said. “Fedha represents everyone.”
'Oppenheimer' draws debate over the absence of Japanese bombing victims in the film
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Viewers are divided, with many criticizing the lack of Japanese representation as the erasure of the hundreds of thousands of victims of Oppenheimer's creation.
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“Oppenheimer” does little to challenge the long history of glorifying the work of white men, and risks perpetuating the persistent, often reductive, portrayals of Japanese victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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“But it is true that these institutions that are in positions of power, positions of influence, put more value on stories of men like Oppenheimer, like Truman, than it does on the Asian and indigenous communities that suffered because of decisions that those men made.”
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“Even within the realm of entertainment it’s still demoralizing and making, once again, unreal the experience of Asian people,” said Brandon Shimoda, a Japanese American writer and curator of the Hiroshima Library.
Shimoda said that while the Japanese civilians and citizens are not included in the film, their absence makes a dangerous statement.
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“I understand how showrooms and Hollywood cannot be all-encompassing. … But I think it also points societally to the lack of nonwhite, non-U.S. initiatives or perspectives,” said Stan Shikuma, co-president of the Seattle Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League.
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To truly challenge the audience to contend with the horrors of the bombings, Shimoda said that narratives need to shift toward those who were impacted most.
“The experience and perspective of the hibakusha needs to be centered in whatever way possible,” he said. “There are people out there that are telling their stories in real time. The general whiteAmericanrelationship to that is to refuse those stories, and to turn instead to these dramatizations, which largely erase the people whose stories need to be told.”
Controversy surrounds Queen Cleopatra VII's portrayal as a black African in a new Netflix docudrama series. The debate over Cleopatra's race has sparked heated discussions, with conflicting opinions from historians, archaeologists, and the general public (plus Bassem Youssef!). In this video, we delve into the historical context of Cleopatra's life, the lack of concrete evidence about her ancestry and examine the accusations of erasing the Egyptian identity, as well as the casting choices and perspectives from the producer and actress. Join us as we unravel the complexities of Cleopatra's race and shed light on this intriguing and contentious topic.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeV26tPTfAA
An Egyptian lawyer has taken legal action against the popular streaming platform, Netflix. The lawyer filed a case with the Public Prosecutor calling for the closure of the platform after the release of the trailer for the upcoming movie, "Queen Cleopatra."https://www.africanews.com/2023/04/20/egyptian-lawyer-sues-netflix-for-depicting-cleopatra-as-black-woman//
The film depicts the Greek historical figure as a black-skinned woman, a portrayal that has caused controversy and sparked outrage in Egypt.
The lawyer argues that the depiction is historically inaccurate and offensive to the Egyptian people.
According to Egypt Independent, Mahmoud al-Semary demanded that all legal measures be taken against those responsible for the documentary and the management of the streaming platform for its participation in “this crime.”
The complaint submitted against the streaming platform alleged that "most of what Netflix platform displays contradicts Islamic and societal values and principles, especially Egyptian ones.", Greek city times reported.
The case said that the documentary promotes Afrocentrism that is widely spread on social media, which have slogans and writings aimed at distorting and obliterating the Egyptian identity.
The complaint continued addressing Public Prosecution: "In order to preserve the Egyptian national and cultural identity among Egyptians all over the world… we ask and seek you to take the necessary legal measures against this platform."
It demanded stopping broadcasts showing all works aimed at obliterating and distorting the Egyptian identity, through films aimed at falsifying and distorting history in Egypt.
Netflix’s upcoming docudrama “Queen Cleopatra” in which Britain’s Adele James, who is of mixed heritage, plays the first-century Egyptian ruler as a queen with African roots is sparking an uproar in Egypt.
Egyptian academics are claiming that Cleopatra, who was born in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in 69 BC and belonged to a Greek-speaking dynasty, was of European descent and not Black. An Egyptian lawyer has reportedly filed a complaint demanding that legal measures are taken to block Netflix outright in Egypt, to prevent the show from airing.
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There is no doubt among scholars that Cleopatra was Macedonian-Greek on her father Ptolemy XII’s side. But since the ethnic origin of her mother is not known, some historians say it’s possible that the Egyptian ruler’s mother was African and, therefore, that she could have been of mixed heritage.
While I would disagree with someone who likes makeup on both males and females, I would not consider such a person aesthetically inferior as they at least have no gender-based double-standard. (I would consider still them ecologically/economically inferior, but that is a separate discussion.)
I hardly need to remind everyone that in pre-colonial times, long hair (including mullets!) was the American standard for males as well as females:
I naively assumed that female soldiers had always been allowed to have buzz cuts. If buzz cuts are considered the most practical hairstyle for male soldiers, why not for female soldiers also?
Ever since I was a child, I did not understand why women's clothes did not have pockets while men's clothes did. Either pockets are a good idea, in which case they should be used by everyone, or they are a bad idea, in which case they should be used by no one.
Either bikini bottoms are more efficient, in which case men should also wear them, or else shorts are more efficient, in which case women should also wear them.
Over 50,000 people have signed a petition demanding the Academy Awards Committee to withdraw its invitation to Donnie Yen to present an Oscar due to his support for the Chinese government.
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They cited the “John Wick: Chapter 4” actor’s comments on the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests of 2019, which he called a “riot” in an interview with GQ last month.
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The petition has amassed 52,256 signatures as of press time. One top comment reads, “He doesn’t stand up for freedom and democracy, which could violate the values of Oscar prizes.”