Armond White

Civil Rights Moonwalk: Michael Jackson, Armond White, and Democracy

by Micah Towery December 3, 2010 Film and TV
Thumbnail image for Civil Rights Moonwalk: Michael Jackson, Armond White, and Democracy

A focus on the human person allows White to cut right to the heart of cultural issues without getting lost or tossed around in the media firestorms that accompany cultural events.

Read the full article →

Do Movie Critics Matter?

by Micah Towery March 25, 2010 Aesthetics
Thumbnail image for Do Movie Critics Matter?

Journalistic standards have changed so drastically that, when I took the podium at the film circle’s dinner and quoted Pauline Kael’s 1974 alarm, “Criticism is all that stands between the public and advertising,” the gala’s audience responded with an audible hush—not applause.

Read the full article →

Blogging through Grossman, Part 3: Poetic Promiscuity.

by Micah Towery March 2, 2010 Art
Thumbnail image for Blogging through Grossman, Part 3: Poetic Promiscuity.

We recent poets have two great tools at our disposal: freedom of poetic license, and freedom of publishing. Generally, we can say whatever we want, and get a significant number of people to hear what we have to say. The question is whether this freedom has led to better poetry or degeneration. Perhaps that’s not the best way to put it. The question should be, even if somebody is doing something amazing and new in poetry, would we even see it? Will we travel all this way to find that we really did need the gatekeepers of poetry??

Read the full article →