“… Our consciousness as to what being powerful is has changed. And for me, what is powerful is being truthful. A truthfulness that is your own truth, following what is inside of you, whatever it is you’re going to create, however you see your life and shape it …”

With a brain as sharp as a needle, and a laugh as sexy as silk stockings, Sukanya Krishnan, Moves Power Woman extraodinaire, just makes our world better.

by Chesley Turner     photography by Tony Gale

Changing the Rules.

In 2007, Sukanya Krishnan was named one of the New York Moves Power Women of the year. Since then, she’s knocked out 12 years of career building and family growth. Now, it’s time to take a beat, take a breath, and envision what’s next.

“I think the world has changed. You know, the #MeToo movement and everything like that. Our consciousness as to what being powerful is has changed. And for me, what is powerful is being truthful. A truthfulness that is your own truth, following what is inside of you, whatever it is you’re going to create, however you see your life and shape it.”

Sukanya isn’t shy about her state of mind. After two decades of New York City newscasting, the familiar fan favorite took a sudden step back, a surprise to many who were used to seeing her every day. But she knows exactly what she’s doing.

“I feel like I’ve been on this fighter jet every day. Like, shot out of a cannon every morning. And I’ve been go-go-go-go-going, and I never had real downtime. So this has been incredible.” She isn’t completely checked out. Krishnan is still dipping a toe in radio and digital media. But for the most part, she’s taking a break. “I’ve just been thinking and redefining myself. And I know that sounds really selfish, but I’ve never been selfish! So that’s what I’m doing right now. It’s even hard for me to say it.”

But for her it’s important to take this break, particularly to determine who she wants to be. “There’s no way to really look at my potential and what is the next cycle and recreation of who I’m going to be if I don’t actually sit back and look at it.”

There’s never been time for self-searching before. “For so long, we just do what’s expected of us, or what we think life should be. And we kind of fall into these traps.” Keeping up with the Joneses, or the producer’s preferences, or the public opinion took priority for so many years. That’s television. But she’s not a young and impressionable girl anymore. Experience has changed the way she defines her life. “What I would have assumed ten years ago changes with age, with perspective. Power is truth. It’s standing in your own truth, your own life, whatever that is.” At 48, Sukanya is approaching a new decade and a new perspective on life. She’s taking the time she feels she richly deserves to find the truth of what her life will look like next.

“As I move into my 50s, how am I going to shape these two little minds that I waited so long to have?” Admitting her career development delayed the start of her family, she’s thinking about life differently. It’s less about what people think of her, and more about what she thinks of herself. “It’s all these things you get trapped with while you’re climbing the ladder to success and then you stop and go, ‘My God, I never really valued myself. I never really valued my time.” Especially in the television industry, she’s used to other people’s opinions being foisted on her—about her looks, her image, even her name. Enough is enough. “Who is that 48-year-old Sukanya Krishnan? Well, I’m trying to figure that out. What’s gonna make me happy, ultimately? What does that look like? I got so tired of being on Survivor Island. I was like, you know, I’m gonna get off. I’m gonna walk away, and I’m gonna gamble on me. I’m gonna figure out me, and I’m not gonna be worried about how people see it, perceive it, define it.”

At home, her two children, Kiran, aged ten and Shyla, aged six, keep her honest. “My son and my daughter, they’ve been so supportive. It’s so weird. My daughter, she’s like, ‘You’re doing okay today, Mommy?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes, I’m doing great!’ And she goes, ‘Good. You look great. I’m happy you’re good.’”

Shyla’s more than just a great pep-talker, though. She is the one audience that her mother could never fool. “You know what, that little girl has made me stand in my truth in more ways than one. I mean, there’s something about having a girl baby in your family. Boy does she hold you accountable. She’s a mirror every time I look at her. She’s a mirror if I’m being honest. She’s a mirror if I’m being truthful and happy…. What kind of person am I going to be? How am I role modeling? She’s my mirror, and she has freed me of so many things. It’s incredible. And she’s helped me forgive myself for past mistakes and to help me heal.”

Perhaps because she has a young daughter, Sukanya is able to identify the things women give up as they grow older. She’s eager to gain some of that back. “I think somewhere along the line, women forget to dream. When we’re young girls, we have dreams.  And then you stop that creative dreaming and that process and that hopefulness that you used to have.” But you can get it back if you try. “I think that’s what I’m doing right now. I’m dreaming again. I’m dreaming of what my life might look like. I’m dreaming of what I want for my children. I’m dreaming of what I want for my family.”

It’s no surprise that the role models and power women in her own life impacted her at a young age. The influencer that stands out the most? The amazing Mrs. Lannigan. “Ernestine Lannigan. She was the volleyball coach.” As a 13-year-old immigrant child matriculating in New York City’s vast, diverse, and unruly high school system in the 1980s, Sukanya was shy and unassuming. That is, until Mrs. Lannigan approached her in the school cafeteria and told her to come to volleyball try-outs. It didn’t matter that she’d never played a sport before. “I’ll teach you,” she was told. Krishnan started to bust out of her shell because a teacher took an interest. “It’s teachers and coaches who gave a crap about me and told me I mattered. When somebody else sees that fire inside of you and sees you for who you can really be…. That was a moment of awakening.”
Those role models and fire-starters set her on her path with confidence and charisma. The shy girl is long gone, replaced by a woman who’s been the voice of reason and comfort through times of real trouble and times of playful happiness. from 9/11 and Superstorm Sandy to interviews with Donny Osmond, she’s become a habit for so many New Yorkers.

Building a life comes with ups and downs, both professionally and personally. But for Sukanya, it’s important not to mistake the trials and errors of life for failure. “I believe that when things don’t work, it’s not meant to work at the moment. That’s not a loss, or being broken. It’s just not time yet.” She believes that the universe holds our choreography, and that our course is mapped out. We don’t need to stress quite so much about the small stuff. “It’s not failure. It’s not that you’re broken or there’s something wrong with you. That’s something I think that women get a chance to realize with age.” With age comes wisdom, so they say. And while the 20-year-old is hustling, the 30-year old is becoming, the 40-year old is analyzing and redefining, the older you get, the more flexibility you have. “You know, people always say in your 50s and 60s things start getting better, because you really do accept yourself for exactly who you are. You are lighter. You forgive easier. You don’t hold grudges. you don’t take things so personally. And all of that is power. And all of that gives you the ability to be free, to redefine, to recreate, to reimagine.

“That’s how I see power now.”

And while dreaming and taking time are definitely on the docket for this downtime, so is the simple joy of trusting herself. “I trust my gut now, more than ever. Before, I used to do things because it was the right thing to do, or because we needed money to pay the mortgage, or to put aside for the kids. I would do everything for everybody, even though my gut would be like: Step back. Time to not say yes to that. You’re worth more. You’re valuable, You are a valuable entity in New York City. Trust that.”

For Sukanya Krishnan, it’s time to redefine; to reimagine; to trust her gut. And she’s got the power to do it. “Life is about choices. Forever begins any day you want it to. Disappointments of the past? Leave them behind. Personal decisions? Forget about them. Forget about anything that defines you. It’s time to do it differently. But this time, it’s just gonna be for me, and my kids. It’s not gonna be for anyone else.”

By Moonah Ellison

Photography by Nathan Johnson

James Badge Dale’s 2019 is reaching the sort of buzz levels most actors strive for. His face is the one you know, but can’t always quite get the name spot-on as an “instantly recognizable” Hollywood commodity. But boy is he coming up fast as that main stream lead.

The first time I saw Badge Dale on screen he was shooting Leonardo DiCaprio right between the eyes in Martin Scorsese’s 2006 Best Picture Oscar-winning film, The Departed, only to get whacked a few seconds later by Matt Damon’s character, Colin Sullivan.

Since then you’ve seen him in Iron Man 3 with Robert Downey, Jr., World War Z with Brad Pitt, and the big-budget World War II HBO miniseries The Pacific from Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Or maybe you saw him in Parkland, the 2013 drama that centered on the JFK assassination, another Hanks-produced film.

But first, he’s got to get past the fall. And a deal of recent traveling.

He is feeling zen. Well, relaxed and rested when I caught him after a recent surfing trip to El Salvador, a trip planned to “clean that character off me and start over again and get acclimated to myself” as he puts it, a cleansing process. The hours of working have caught up to him. He went to El Salvador for the first time and immersed himself in the country’s local vibe.

“I met some amazingly beautiful people, some amazing local people that took me around. I worked on my Spanish and I learned about their history and their families and you make friendships that can last a lifetime,” he says with a grin in his voice.

Such a happy-go-lucky attitude is at the forefront of Badge Dale’s MO. Fresh off his trip, he’s back in LA when we talk, the San Fernando Valley to be exact, off on a long hike in the scorching heat. 700 degrees or feels like it, he claims tongue-in-cheek. Or not.

He remembers these hills from high school. “My family had this little ranch house up in the hills and all my friends lived in the San Fernando Valley. On Friday after school I’d take my skateboard and I’d run down all these dirt paths from like Cold Water and Mulholland all the way down into like Ventura Boulevard and friends would pick me up and we’d just go cause trouble for 48 hours and then on Sunday I’d walk up all the trails back home.”

Life has been good to Badge Dale. He just shot his first television show in 10 years (the last was Rubicon on AMC), an eight-episode show called Hightown for Starz set to debut this fall, about heroin trade on Cape Cod.

He plays a narcotics officer with personal demons and Badge Dale is no stranger to personal conquest. He had wild teenage years, was “out of control,” went to five high schools and got into a lot of trouble, got arrested and spent eight months in a group home.

His life changed when he was 18 years old and got a second chance at life. It’s risky material like Hightown, or Mickey and the Bear—an indie film debuting this fall where he plays a opioid-addicted, PTSD-inflicted veteran in constant conflict with his teen daughter in Montana—he doesn’t shy away from.

“I love independent film, I like getting down and dirty,” he says. “When you’re out in the middle of Montana with a young film crew, no one’s doing it for money, everyone’s doing it for respect, everyone’s doing it for the right reason, everyone’s doing it to tell a good story,”  “Every once and a while a movie squeaks through and it gets seen and Mickey and the Bear looks like that movie right now.”

And he’s getting rave reviews for the role, a script that he felt in the pit of his stomach. Variety says Badge Dale provides an “arresting role” and Hollywood Reporter says Badge Dale turns in a “superb” performance.

It’s gritty roles like Hank that bring Badge Dale a sense of purpose in choosing roles. And this one called to him. “There are moments when you read something and you become afraid. There are moments when you read something and you go, ‘Oh my God this is so risky. I don’t know if I can take this journey.’ But I thought I had something personal to bring to it.”

When making Mickey and the Bear, Badge Dale prepped three months, spending a lot of time with servicemen who have been overseas, a lot of time with people who have come back and who go back time and time again—servicemen who have a hard time assimilating back into society.

He also had a chance to bring personal experience to the role and learned a lot and went back to his past acting experiences and people he’s worked with to take it all in.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with people with traumatic brain injuries. I had some personal things to bring to it as I have a long history of concussions and I was talking to some people I’ve met down the road from years ago, from guys I worked with on The Pacific, guys I worked with from Thirteen Hours.There’s a lot of different kinds of threads going on in there, but at the end of the day when an actor takes a job, it’s yours and you gotta trust your instincts.”

Camila Morrone, a lifelong model and fairly new to the acting world, plays his daughter Mickey. Badge Dale knows she’s going to be a star. “It’s a beautiful thing watching Cammi work, Cammi shows up,” he gushes. “She’s 21 years old, this is her third movie ever, her first lead role and we’re just meeting for the first time, I mean, you think about all these circumstances and she sat down and she had done extensive research and she personalized everything and she was like, ‘I’m Mickey.’ She trusted her own instincts and it was one of the greatest experiences of my acting life and career watching her change and how she did that work through this movie. I’m so proud of her.”

blue shirt his own
Custom Jorge Morales jacket, Carlos Campos shirt, Edwin USA jeans
Carlos Campos shirt

photographer Nathan Johnson
stylist Jorge Morales
groomer Kumi Craig
location Burke & Willis nyc

In Autumn de Wilde’s upcoming adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma Mr Flynn combines his longtime love of the Austen oeuvre with an uncanny ability to look through the camera lens straight into our eyes and give us a Mr Knightley never seen before.

“… what are the important stories to tell now? How relevant is this?’ It’s an urgent age for storytellers across the board and we can’t waste our breath …“Johnny Flynn is walking and talking in the rain on a drizzly London day and has to find a quieter place, a quieter seat, to continue our chat. I’d like to think of the raindrops hitting him as a metaphor for how many roles he’s going to be offered this year, and based on his current resume, a monsoon is upon us. Every actor worth his weight has experienced the moniker of “potential breakout year” but for Flynn, 2020 could be just that.

The British actor and musician will soon star as Mr. Knightly in Autumn de Wilde’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic 1815 novel Emma. He’s also portraying a young David Bowie in Stardust, a Tribeca Film Festival entry that focuses on Bowie’s first visit to the US in 1971, a trip that inspired the invention of Bowie’s iconic alter ego Ziggy Stardust. Flynn has two World War II films on the horizon: he recently finished filming the Netflix UK feature film The Dig with Ralph Fiennes, and is currently filming Mincemeat opposite Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen and Penelope Wilton. Flynn also stars in the UK thriller film Cordelia opposite Antonia Campbell-Hughes.

But next up is Emma. Flynn loved Austen’s book and studied it cover-to-cover. (The book also happens to be his high school English teacher’s favorite book, the same teacher who was a mentor and believed in him, inspiring his love of poetry and literature. He still keeps in touch with him to this day.) But like so many adaptations from book-to-screen, Flynn was cautious because for every hit, there are a ton of literary flops. “The other part of me was a little skeptical about [being a part of] another version of Emma because it’s been adapted so much, and as an artist it’s always hard to be like ‘what are the important stories to tell now? How relevant is this?’ It’s an urgent age for storytellers across the board and we can’t waste our breath.” But then Flynn met Autumn de Wilde, famed photographer and now director, and quickly realized how special this was going to be. “Her vision for her pitch and her aesthetics, her references. It’s kind of a profound story which at first is not necessarily apparent, in that it’s about a woman in 1815 who doesn’t have much agency but then she did, using her intelligence and wit for the one thing she can control which is the social interactions of her circle, and that in itself is kind of the profound thing,” says Flynn.

“…  It’s a really tough moment we find ourselves in. I’m struggling at the moment. I feel like I have days when it’s just too much. I’ve been out in the street for protests about Brexit to try to educate my kids about climate change and some of the political things going on …“
Flynn’s profound journey, which began with violin lessons at age 6 in Winchester UK, started out with a lot of foreshadowing: his mom used to take him to lessons every week to the house where Jane Austen died. “It was very atmospheric, and I was friends with the daughter [of the persons who owned the home] and at her birthday parties we’d always play hide and seek and I was nervous to find a dead Jane Austen, whoever she was, underneath one of the cupboards,” Flynn reflects. “We rented a tiny flat in the village, which was kind of proper Jane Austen country, and felt like I knew the villages she was describing when I finally got to read her books.”

His dad was a singer and an actor, and it was Flynn’s love of music that instantly created a a special connection with de Wilde. “To work with Autumn, whose background is music and being a photographer and being on the road with Elliott Smith and to talk to her about that stuff and how she approached the work. And then she asked me to write this song for the film from the perspective of my character.

“I had been living with that character for so long and had his perspective of Emma and so I was allowed to just picture it like a broad ballad film, like one of those period songs about one of those things around the piano. I was listening to a lot of folk songs from that period. You have to channel that.”
A family man, Flynn is doing his best to educate his children on the world around him, knowing all too well real-life struggles with his mother’s family from South Africa and witnessing firsthand the effects of apartheid. “It’s a really tough moment we find ourselves in. I’m struggling at the moment. I feel like I have days when it’s just too much. I’ve been out in the street for protests about Brexit to try to educate my kids about climate change and some of the political things going on.”

Brexit deepens the divide for Flynn. “I think it’s based on a series of lies that we’re told to believe about ourselves being individuals or a side of humanity that is fundamentally selfish. This is the thing I wrestle with every day: who am I? What do I want in the best version of myself? To quote John Dunne, ‘no man is an island.’ The best side of myself is the version that stands with my brothers and sisters around the world and part of that community. What politicians would have us believe in order to divide and confuse us is that we need to fight for ourselves, and that’s where there’s more money to be made.

“I keep clinging to the phrase ‘talent is everywhere, opportunity isn’t.’ We, the people who are privileged to be in a position having a voice or a platform, we need to step aside. Make the change and ask questions. Which stories need to be told? I think I can try to support stories to be told that haven’t been heard before and that’s what I’m excited for at the moment.

At the moment, Flynn is readying himself for a planned trip to New York City. He hasn’t been back since 2018 so it’s been a while. His return trip is to promote Stardust, and being a huge fan adds a little bit of extra pressure for Flynn and the rest of the cast – but will no doubt revel in the moment.

“This is huge and he was huge for millions of people,” insists Flynn. “I wanted to savor this thing. Our film is very small, it will be playing at festivals. It’s about enjoying the moment, it’s not like these big moments. It’s about enjoying these as an artist.”

Johnny Flynn’s own star  is rising rapidly.

Photograher: Autumn de Wilde
photo assistant: Ben Tietge
personal assistant: Sarah Graley
Johnny is wearing a Paul Smith suit, shirt & shoes.
Groomed and styled by Autumn herself.

But what happens when one has a task for which one feels obligated and even enthusiastic, to make the trek, to infiltrate foreign and sometimes hostile territory?  What is the only topic on which the most jaded New Yorkers wax ever optimistic, for which they are willing to disrupt their stony routines and subject themselves to the hazards and inconveniences of travel? That’s right. Love.

Picture this: A well-mannered young Radcliffe-type has struck out on her own (with a little trust-fund help from her old-money ‘rents), won a job at a chic gallery in Chelsea, or as a handbag designer or couturier to small dogs (or whatever occupation is the current favorite career-of the month with upper set youth), and taken a modest studio somewhere in the lkzxdnvkljxbSlkCFNn b 80’s.  She wears twin sets and pearls and kitten heels and fancies herself an edgier, modern Audrey Hepburn. She definitely “fits in” with the general ethos of her neighborhood—clean, upwardly-mobile, classically elegant,…posh.

He is an artist, or a playwright, or an activist, and of course he waits tables to pay his bills and buy his supplies. He wears second-hand duds in black and urban camouflage and allows his hair, which is greasy enough to make him look sexy in that gallic-philosopher way but not so greasy as to be gross, grow a little too long for him to ever get a job at Brooks Brothers or the Bear Stern building. He attends readings at the Bowery Poetry Club and has never seen the inside of the Plaza.

This unlikely pair meets at relatively neutral ground, say, Shakespeare in the Park or the steps of the Public Library. They seem the poster children for opposite attraction: he loves her class, she loves his bohemianism. Sparks fly, yada, yada.. When they are alone together, all is bliss.

It’s negotiating how to get together, and alone, which presents the problem. They start to bicker over at whose apartment they will spend nights. Her studio can be named, “that than which nothing smaller may be conceived;” he rents the living room of a two-bedroom inhabited by two or even three other dubiously clean guys. Neither place conduces the sweetly private atmosphere necessary to romance. Furthermore, it takes at least two subway trains for one to visit the other, requiring struggling through the morass at the dreaded Times Square station. To resume one’s daily routine after a night spent at the other’s pad requires at least an extra hour head start.

Furthermore, it’s difficult for them to adjust to each other’s friends. Hers are sleek, coiffed, sorority-ish; they go to club openings and mourn the demise of Sex and the City. His carry placards in war protests and compare tatts. In other words, the friends are much like the stars of our story, only without the acute mutual attraction, and thus misunderstand and despise each other. Our hero and heroine spend a lot of time justifying their relationship to their respective buddies, who insist such a union is unwise and gauche. This isolates and irritates them both; they resent their friends’ astuteness and snap at each other when they make it home and can finally be alone together. Each secretly wonders if all the differences and incompatibilities are signs from Fate that they should cleave their bond in twain (well, he wonders if they’re signs from Fate, she wonders if she’s unconsciously sought out the opposite of what she needs out of a fear of intimacy and a revulsion at the prospect of actually pleasing her parents with a more appropriate match—she was a psychology minor)
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But, ahhhhh…..how trivial these concerns seem when the noise of the city and the nay-sayers clears and each realizes that something rare and perfect has been found. What are long subway rides, sceptical friends, and horrified parents compared to finding someone whose inner aspects harmonize so perfectly with one’s own? And shouldn’t one blanche to admit that one had almost thrown that harmony away over such petty differences? Considering the vastness of the world, and the tinyness of this island, does the term “long-distance relationship” really apply to Manhattan?
Let romance fail for greater things; if you find love outside your neighborhood (or even, ohmigod—borough!!), embrace those little obstacles as Fate’s way of making you appreciate that perfect love you found all the more. Let your friends scratch their heads, and leave your parents to their apoplexy, and read a damn book in your extra time on the train! Vive la Difference!
Brad, Writer, Hell’s Kitchen

“Wedding Bell Blooo…hoos”
Ok. You know that super aggressive chick at every wedding who bodychecks people to catch the bouquet? Yea. That’s me. I’m that girl. Call me superstitious, but I consider the throwing of the bouquet to be a serious business. Which is why mothers need to stop letting their little girls compete in this event. Tradition states that the woman who catches the bouquet will be the next to get married. I can’t compete with a 4 year old! If your little brat catches it, I won’t get married for another 14 years AT LEAST. I’m 32! By that time I’ll be 46, and I’m telling you, I’m not going to have the money to cosmetically keep everything as perky and youthful as it is right now. Because right now it’s great, but it takes a lot of work. So get your spawn out of the way, and let me catch those damn flowers, I only have a few more years left in me before I give up and start raising cats.
Maxine, Editor, Midtown

“All By Myself .. I wanna be…”

During my undergraduate years I made the salutary discovery that traveling alone has so many advantages over the much safer yet infinitely more boring alternative of group activity. My brother bought me a ticket to Brazil as a birthday present; my brother the adventuring wanderer wanted me to face my fear. Having been backpacking before in groups, I packed my things, received my shots, bought my malaria pills, and, of course, got a new colorful bikini. Finally the day before I was scheduled to leave I was all ready (and to be honest) a little scared.

I loved it. Traveling alone gave me a sense of freedom I had never experienced before. I could do whatever I wanted whenever. More than that being alone allowed me to truly enjoy the place I was. If I had been with my friends, I would have met Brazilians but spent most of my time with people I already knew. It was in being alone that I met, and really spent time with, natives. I had to speak some Portugese everyday, I had to be truly in Brazil. Unlike the foreigners who go to Club Med for vacations (which allows you to be at home somewhere else, a place where the new country becomes simply the backdrop for a photo), being alone lets you step straight into the frame. And, then, a month into the trip, I learnt what traveling alone can really be like.

Sick to the bone with influenza, I stepped off the bus in Salvador feeling like death. Right next to me, in the most colorful bikini tops and shorter-than-short shorts, was a group of Brazilian students on vacation, girls with huge sunglasses and tiny bags, giggling at each other’s pointless (or so it seemed to me) jokes. Noticing me crouching by the side of the bus leafing through my Lonely Planet guide to Brazil, one of them leaned down, awash with fruity fragrance, and asked, “Are you ok? Would you like some help?”
Thirty minutes later I sat on a ferry, doped up on some Brazilian headache medicine one of them was carrying, heading out to an island I had never heard of before. Sitting listening to them chatter in the background, I kept thinking back to all the things I had planned for Salvador, all the seemingly wonderful things I had left back on the mainland. But the moment we pulled up to island Morro de Sao Paulo, I realized I had inadvertently entered paradise. Following them to a little Bed and Breakfast near Beach One (surprisingly, the actual name of the beach), I felt my illness miraculously melting away.

Situated off the coast of Salvador, the island is a tiny utopia tucked away from wandering eyes. With no cars but the noisy garbage truck which appeared out of nowhere and disappeared full of trash back into nothingness, and most people bikinied and barefoot, I barely noticed as the days wound into each other at a dangerously beautiful pace. Waking up at ten o’clock, I would dine with my new-found friends (medical students, as it turned out) on varieties of fruit hard to find back in my college city of Montreal. Melons, mangos, and coconut water swam in limitless quantities of fresh cream. Bellies full of juicy fruit and sunshine, we would head to a beach where gorgeous men and women (with me in the background) would lie working on tans and Frisbee games. Vendors walked by selling us new bikinis (which these doctors-to-be would buy almost daily to wear the next) and cheese grilled to gooey perfection.

As the sun went down we would head home and nap, tired from the beach and the eating. Come twilight the island awoke, filling the main street’s bars and restaurants like a carnival of party-goers. Under a moon-filled sky we would all head back to Beach One to dance and drink, where vendors would sell everyone drinks made from fresh fruit and alcohol. By the time you were drunk, your body was too sugared up to care. At this point my new friends would find cute boys to dance with, pushing me towards them with glee. “It’s ok if you have a boyfriend back home. We are on vacation, yes? Let’s party!” In those moments of morality I would feel boring and immediately have another drink. Finally, I would head home to sleep it all off, anticipating my big breakfast of the morning.

After a few days had turned into a week, and a week into almost two, I ended up in a conversation with another tourist one day. “I got here and loved it so much, I thought I would stay for a few weeks to really enjoy it,” he said.

“I like it too… it’s easy to get lost here. How long have you been here now?” I asked him.

Six months.”

That afternoon I went back to my room and packed my things. As much as I loved utopia, I had the real Brazil to see and much more to do. As much as making friends and going with the flow was fun, I wanted to be able to say that I had done more than lose myself on this wonderful island. On the ferry to the mainland, after the goodbyes and the pleas of my new-found friends to stay were all over, I looked back at the island and took a long deep breath. Fantasy is good, but leaving can be even better.
John, Exec assistant, Gramercy

“Out of the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings…”
Why has the world gone completely mad. Why does every country seem to be self immolating at exactly the same time in history. There must be a common denominator in the mix that is affecting the human race regardless of race, color, creed, nationality, political hue etc., etc. All populations seem to be divided right down the middle: 50% left leaning and 50% for the right. And if one side says shit, the others say sugar. Have we reached a stage in our development from animals into humans (and yes I believe our brain capacity for reason and debate and our ability to think about thinking really does separate us from other animals) where we can no longer contain the dichotomy within our selves. We have always had a conflict in our individual psyche between good and bad; a choice between self indulgence and doing the right thing. In today’s world however we seem to have given ourselves over to abandoning that ongoing and constant choosing for a full blown “fuck it”  And it shows. Even the most concientious and concerned citizen from either side who loves their mom and the family dog dig their toes in in the most stubborn and unreasonable fashion when faced with the same from the other side. Understandable? Yes. Sustainable? Er no. Somethings gotta give and the worry is it won’t be civil or civilized. My own mother used to intervene in intransigent family arguments with the threat, “I’ll knock all your silly heads together in a minute.” The threat usually did the trick. She’s been dead for 25 years now and there might well be a hint for us  in that loss of common sense. We can only hope (in light of recent activities; climate strikes, gun control marches etc.) that we will come full circle when today’s kids are in charge and we again move forward in our humanity.
Harry, Accountant, UES

“a little ole wine drinker, me”
If you’re having a BYOB wedding I’m not coming. Period. This isn’t a frat party, bro, you’re getting married. Look, I’m not stupid, I know the economy sucks. But aren’t there other things you could get rid of in place of an open bar. Lighting? Flowers? FOOD? Anything?! Please, God, I’m traveling to the middle of nowhere Ohio, I bought you some stupid Norwegian cutlery from Bloomingdales, and I’m stuck sitting with your fiance’s old sorority sisters. Please do me the common courtesy of getting me properly tanked. Thanks.
Max, (Maxine’s other half), Editor, Midtown

  Minority Report
The way Latin women are portrayed in the media has always raised questions about how knowledgeable Americans are about the various  culture groups within the Hispanic community. Hispanics are just one minority group who are depicted in the media, but these portrayals can lead to stereotyping and raise the question of identity among Latinos in the United States.

The term “minorities” is defined as a small group of people who are non-white, and live within the majority of the population of the United States.  The term minority not only leads a person to think the group is small, but also makes the group seem insignificant.

To first understand these stereotypes is to first know the impact the group has in the United States. The “group” known as Latin Americans is not small and in fact is increasing over time. Twelve million, foreign-born Latinos live here and the numbers are increasing three times faster than the U.S. population as a whole. Hispanic “is any person who either speaks Spanish as a first language or had some ancestor who did, even if this person speaks only English.”  This group has descended from Latin America, a region stretching 7,000 miles southward from the Mexican/U.S. border to the tip of Tierra del Fuego on Cape Horn. The shared language, culture, and traditions among this large population are in a sense creating an independent nation in the United States.

Although there is a large, increasing population, media portrayal of Hispanics has likely caused Americans to form certain stereotypes and clichés. These appear on television and in film, but exclude Spanish literature, which is mostly recognized in theatre. Because this type of media portrayal has become part of our American culture, many people have accepted these stereotypes, clichés, and characters that are represented as common as American pie.

Hispanic women often share these misconceptions, creating identity confusion, i.e., what it means to be Latino/a in the United States. These stereotypes, especially how they are represented in television and film, leads to a silent almost passive racism.

Passive racism refers to the ongoing acceptance of stereotypes and clichés of Hispanics in the media. This type of racism arrives due to the lack of effort towards changing what the media have already created.
To better understand the reason why Hispanic women are portrayed in a certain way, we must grasp how the media has contributed to the lives of women.  Certain stereotypes and gender norms have always defined women in these media.

Several types of images create both traditional and contemporary standards for women. For example, both positive and negative images appeared among the population based upon how women were represented on television. The traditional stereotypical portrayal of women as caretakers and sex objects created mostly negative images of dumb blondes and silly housewives.  On the flip side, positive traits of women show independence, strength and determination, and grew out of the contemporary representation of women on television as professionals.

Still, women have found themselves in a struggle. The number of women presented on television is not nearly equal to that of men. While trying to reach a higher level in television and film, women are being underrepresented.  For example, it is more likely for a man to be a spokesperson for a car advertisement than a woman. Women are represented as feminine in ads for hygiene products, as sex symbols on music videos, and are more often featured on children’s television programs.

The term “spitfire” is often used to describe Hispanic women in many Latin roles.  A “spitfire” is described as the damned woman with a wild temper, often left by her white hero and awaiting his return.  Although Hispanic women do not always fit this image, the idea of the brunette Latina has always been a dominant physical quality of actresses playing Hispanic roles.  Natalie Wood, an American actress, played “Maria,” a Puerto Rican girl, in West Side Story.

Some Hispanic women have had breakthroughs in television, but not nearly as many Hispanic men.  Daisy Fuentes, Rosie Perez, Jennifer Lopez are just some of the major Latin actresses that have made the transition from television to movie mainstream. Although many dramas or sitcoms do not portray Hispanic women or even Hispanic men, network executives are anticipating developing shows highlighting Hispanic characters and their culture.

The need to link one’s ancestral past to present and future as a Hispanic American is very important. Any type institution (theatre, volunteer groups, or non-profit organizations) in your community may tie that missing link or piece of the puzzle that most Latin women try to seek or make sense of when living a non-traditional lifestyle.
Veronica, Architect, Queens

Say What You Mean…Eh !
How much does the way we express ourselves really matter? Grammatical precision and sentence structure in verbal and written communication is often used to gauge a person’s intelligence or at least command of English and although I am for preserving the endless nuance of meaning good use of punctuation produces, I am also aware that English a live language, the main purpose of which is to interact accurately.  So as long as we both agree that  this is called a cup (even though it looks like a mountain to others) we are on the right track to understanding each other. Silly snobbery has no home anyplace close to reasonableness.
Joanna, Teacher, Upstate ( far Upstate, not just Westchester)

“…I AM INVINCIBLE, I AM STRONG, I AM WOMAN … HEAR ME ROAR…”

  Fuck the glass ceiling. In my mind, fighting for career power isn’t poor-little-woman- struggles- against- man’s-world, but    more, watch-woman-take-man’s-world-by-the-balls.

Climbing the ladder in the work place doesn’t have anything to do with whining about how disadvantaged women are, or about how society has pushed the working girl into a place of screwy double-standards and double-edged swords, and it certainly isn’t about spending longer than a mere second wishing things just weren’t so tough [insert Marilyn Monroe’s pouty lips circa Gentleman Prefer Blondes]. Because getting what you want at work- and in every other respect- is about savvy not setbacks, motivation not disadvantage, and, in this case: sex appeal. Well, sex appeal and winning a game in which men have just happened to get a head start. [But who needs a head start when you have lipstick and stockings?]

Flirtation is key when it comes to building relationships. Be it with man, woman, friend, lover, or boss, a ready smile, quick wit, and confident demeanor go a long way when promoting yourself; but fuck if I don’t sound like a self-help book waiting to be thrown up on, so let me move forward and get to the point: sexual undertones are everywhere. Why don’t we utilize them?

Women may finally be getting some serious recognition, respect, and high paying positions in the career world [and it’s no big surprise because we’re smarter than men, aren’t we?] but now, can we please stop pussy-footing around what men have already been doing for centuries? Schmoozing! Come on! Schmooze thy neighbor! Sexy it up! Stop letting the men do it and then tell you that you can’t. In fact stop letting the men do it, tell you that you can’t, and then have every other woman look down your nose at you if you do! Feminism and post-feminism days are over [thank god] so we don’t have to listen to hippie women in birkenstocks and no bras reproaching our flirting as being detrimental and self-deprecating- but that doesn’t mean women don’t still see using sex appeal to our advantage as lewd and lascivious. And in that sense we as women become our own worst enemy. For if we comply and act demure and cold and don’t let the sexy, not to be cheesy here but… shine, we are letting society box us in and shape us into boring- pod-creatures treading own the path already cut for us. Barf.

If we ourselves don’t destroy the notion that sexiness and flirtation is reserved only for sluts and prostitutes, who will? And let me remind you, in case you effing forgot: this is 2019. The glass ceiling days are behind us, and so is calling a girl a slut. Free love already happened [maybe you didn’t hear?] and the ceiling’s already been broken, it’s just a terrible pity it took so long because women on top often just do it better [and no, I’m not talking about that kind of on top, but I could comment on that as well.]

So what are women so scared of? Is it fear that swinging those hips and batting those eyelashes and landing a lunch meeting with the CEO before big-pec-Arnold down the hall does will make you look bad? Look bad to who? You’re grandmother? You’re friends? Yourself? Jesus, just look at Arnold. If he could swing hips and say witty things while looking glamorous and beautiful he would, but, alas for him and lucky for us, he can’t, so instead he’s asking to play golf, grab a beer, watch the game and talk about tits and work and golf all at the same time because he wants to impress the Boss man. So really, it’s all about sex in the end no matter what side of the fence you’re coming from. Time to cut the bullshit and end the perpetuation of double-standards in our respective fields of work. If we think flirtation is wrong, so will everyone else. So let’s stop trying to be exactly who everyone thinks we should be and just be who we actually are: sexy, flirtatious, smart, working women. Just try not to burn any bridges, but hey, bridges might be better than bras in this case.
Louise, Singer, Tribeca

What’s in store, Glor
   Getting dressed is like going into battle. And when you live in this City, you better be dressed to kill.  Women are catty wenches, so the minute you walk into a room, you’re going to be sized up. Sad but true. But a few wardrobe staples will protect you from the heinous glare this fall.

It’s important that you always look put together and not like you spent two hours getting ready. You won’t have to break the bank either. Well, maybe a little. Let’s start from the bottom shall we. Get ballet flats. Guess and Marc Jacobs make great pairs and they go great with everything, especially New York City streets. nobody wants to wear heels every single day to work. But the only other alternative is sneakers. Remember in the eighties when you would see businesswomen wearing sneakers with their suits? Ugh. And then they topped it off with those disgusting Channel 13 tote bags.  If it is heels everyday, make sure you get a decent pair. Christian Louboutin or Gucci. They’ll take you from work to cocktails.

Jeans? That’s a no brainer.  I prefer a little stretch. Get them to measure you at Saks. It doesn’t always mean you get a perfect fit but at least your thighs won’t look sausages. Same with nice pair of pants. If you don’t want black, go for charcoal gray instead. Always a classic look. They’ll look so great with a silk camisole.

A little black dress. As necessary as the air that we breathe. Any style,  silk, strapless, sleeveless, knee length, mini; it all comes to the same thing, simple elegance.

The right trench coat will always be in fashion. Just make sure you pick a basic color, like black, beige, or blue.

As long as you have the basics right, it doesn’t matter if you shop at Barney’s or the Gap. They are timeless. A big leather satchel is great to own because it will hold everything. but it’s an investment piece. Speaking of pieces you should have a signature one. I have my grandmother’s diamond ring. Even if it’s just a pair of aviators, its still part of your personal style. Big sunglasses are important though. that was just some of the basics to get you through the daily grind of living in the fashion capital of the world. Besides a barrel and suspenders is not exactly functional.
Domenica, Fashion Expert, Midtown

Such A Sensitive Soul

Why is there an unending stream of movies that cater to the lowest common denominator?

I get that all the deeply stupid movies out there–I’m looking at you Movie Movies franchise–are profitable, but this mass proliferation of crap on the big screen has to be detrimental to the general publics’ mental facilities.

This problem goes beyond the mindless summer blockbuster; I’m not entirely opposed to shutting off my brain for an hour and forty-five minutes to watch a few robots blow each other up, but there is a line between mindless and mentally damaging.

I really shouldn’t walk out of a movie feeling like the lower half of my body has lost all function because my brain had started to ooze out of my nose.

I am even more disturbed to know that the lowest common denominator appears to be an alarming majority who enjoy watching S****** P***** complain about first world problems or T***** B**** dressed as a woman in a fat-suit.

I’ve lost track of how many times I tried, in vain, to turn off all the fucking smurf ads every time I took a cab this summer.

Are we supposed to find this shit entertaining?
Or is there a larger endemic that is at play here?

It’s depressing to think that such a large majority of people eschew movies that might make them think.

Are we so in hock to Big Business that we take ANYTHING they throw at us and gobble it up?

(I even have the tv set to fast forward whenever a movie involves more than two contiguous shootings. Yes I’m looking at you J*** W*** 3 and the S**** franchise. Please I’d rather sit through ten girlie movies than be numbed by another shoot ‘em up. And I’m a fire fighter for fuck’s sake.
Thomas, Fireman, Red Hook

“It’s strange that a man can live with a woman for ten years and not know the first thing about her.” The Letter takes place on a rubber plantation on the outskirts of Singapore. Everything is ideal and serene until the night is ripped apart by a gunshot committed by Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis). Davis gives a stellar performance as the femme fatale with her complex portrayal of a passionate woman who kills her lover and torments her tycoon husband. Davis’s nails the noir genre conveying a character that is both a victim and malevolent wife.

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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962):

This film is infamous for serval reasons: one of them being that the film was the center of a massive feud between Bette Davis and her co-star Joan Crawford. Crawford and Davis could barely stand each other and continued to bad mouth one another to the press. The plot of the film revolves around a former child star who torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion. Davis created her own makeup for the lead role of “Baby Jane” Hudson, which perfectly highlighted the deranged nature of the character. Baby Jane sparked a genre of crazy lady psychological thrillers.

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ALL ABOUT EVE (1950):

All About Eve is widely considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. Bette Davis plays Margo Channing, who is a respected, aging, Broadway star. Channing’s career is threatened by an adoring woman named Eve Harrington, who is suspiciously trying to take Channing’s career and personal relationship. The film received a record 14 Academy Award nominations and won six, including Best Picture. It is still the only film in history to receive four female acting nominations. The nominees include leads Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, and best-supporting actors, Celeste Holm and Theresa Ritter

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THE CATERED AFFAIR (1956):

Bette Davis stars as an embittered housewife named Agnes Hurley, who’s married to a Bronx cab driver. She’s a disheveled woman who thinks highly of herself and wants more for her daughter, played by Debbie Reynolds, who makes her on-screen debut in this film. The film deals with the ensuing money troubles and conflicts within the family, and Agnes is not connected with the reality of the situation and wants to focus on an expensive wedding ceremony for her daughter.

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IN THIS OUR LIFE (1942):

This film was the third of six films that Olivia de Havilland and Bette Davis starred in together. Davis plays Stanley, who rivals her sister Roy, played by de Havilland, in both romance and life. The night before her wedding, Stanley runs off with Roy’s husband, Peter. The two marry and settle in Baltimore, but she ultimately drives her sister’s husband to drinking and suicide. When she returns home, she finds out that her sister has taken up with an old flame of hers. Not one to be outdone, Stanley tries to steal her former flame back from her sister and continues to wreak havoc on her family.

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.THE VIRGIN QUEEN (1955):

Bette Davis plays Elizabeth I at the height of her reign, conveying the middle-aged virgin queen as a brutal, manipulative, and terrifying monarch. This historical drama focused on the relationship between Elizabeth I of England and Sir Walter Raleigh and was also the second time Davis played the English monarch. The Queen falls for Sir Walter and doesn’t want him to leave even though he falls in love with the beautiful Beth Throgmorton played by Joan Collins.

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NOW, VOYAGER (1942):

Bette Davis is a Boston heiress named Charlotte Vale, who is a neurotic mess, primarily because of her domineering mother. After a short time in a sanatorium, she receives the attention of Dr. Jasquith. The psychiatrist aids Vale’s recovery and transformation into a modern, attractive, and glamorous woman, thus freeing herself from tyrannical shackles of her overbearing mother. The film ranks at #23 in AFI’s 100 Greatest Love Stories of All Time. Davis’ closing line in the movie, “Oh, Jerry, don’t let’s ask for the moon… we have the stars!” is at #46 in AFI’s Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time.

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JEZEBEL (1938):

This film would be Bette Davis’ second and last Oscar-winning performance, and this film may have made up for the fact that she missed out on the lead for Gone With the Wind. Davis plays a headstrong young Southern woman during the Antebellum period in 1852 New Orleans. Her character, Julie Marsden, is engaged to banker Preston “Pres” Dillard, and she sabotages the relationship with her behavior and spends the rest of the film trying to gain him back.

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THE WHALES OF AUGUST (1987):

Bette Davis and Lillian Gish play elderly sisters near the end of their lives who never really grew close. At a seaside house in Maine where they annually spend their summers, the setting allows issues that took place in their youth to resurface, and open up jealousies and misunderstandings that slowly festered over the years. This film would be the second to last of Davis’s career, and when it screened at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, which Gish attended, she got a 10-minute standing ovation.

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DECEPTION (1946):

Bette Davis stars as a piano teacher who believes that her fiancé was killed on the battlefield. When her dead lover miraculously returns, they decide to marry, but a rebound love affair hinders her during his supposed death. For Davis, Deception marked the end of her Golden Age and was the last of the great Bette Davis/Warner Bros.collaborations.