Shoshana Roberts in New York
CAUGHT ON CAMERA
How much unsolicited male attention does a woman endure while walking the streets of New York?
Prepare to cringe at the answer.
A video that's gone viral shows a woman walking solo around Manhattan – and the results are pretty shocking.
The social experiment: At the behest of the anti-street harassment group known as Hollaback!, video-marketing agency Rob Bliss Creative deployed a cameraman with a backpack – fitted with a hidden camera – to roam the streets of the Big Apple.
Walking behind the cameraman was actress Shoshana B. Roberts, who wore jeans and a black crewneck t-shirt and carried a microphone in each hand to capture audio.
Over a 10-hour period, Roberts was steadfastly approached by male strangers. The camera shows men leering, nodding and calling out to Roberts in hopes of getting her attention.
Within moments of Roberts setting out, male admirers try to engage her with their comments.
Several make feeble attempts to initiate a conversation with lines like, "How are you this morning?" and "Smile!"
Also in the mix: "What's up, girl?" "Damn!" and that old standby, "Hey, baby."
Other men are more aggressive. One chap obviously thinks he's paying Roberts a compliment by barking "Sexy!" in her direction.
Another chastises her for not acknowledging his existence: "Somebody's thanking you for being beautiful. You should say thank you more!"
At one point, a young man walks silently alongside Roberts – for more than five minutes – before he finally gives up and goes on his way.
All told, Roberts received 108 catcalls during the 10 hours, which averages to roughly one unsolicited comment every six minutes.
So far, the two-minute video compilation, which you can watch here, has been viewed nearly five-million times on YouTube.
Within hours of the video going online Tuesday, Roberts was the subject of disturbing harassment, reports New York Daily News.
On Tuesday, the Twitter account for Hollaback! (@Hollaback) tweeted, "The subject of our PSA [public service announcement] is starting to get rape threats on the comments. Can you help by reporting them?"
SICK DAY SEASON
Who books the sick day in your household when the kids get ill? According to a new U.S. study, women are ten times more likely to take time off to tend to sick children than their partners and working mothers are five times more likely to take their sick kids to medical appointments. The same study estimates that the annual flu season results in $16-million (U.S.) in lost earnings each year.
Source: The Atlantic
FINAL FRONTIER
Stephen Hawking is finally on Facebook. The world-renowned cosmologist launched his Facebook account on October 7 and posted his first comment last Friday. In his words: "I have always wondered what makes the universe exist. Time and space may forever be a mystery, but that has not stopped my pursuit." The documentary on Hawking's life and times, titled Theory of Everything, examines his struggles with ALS and is slated for theatrical release on November 7.
Source: Salon
LAST MOVIE
The final film of the late Orson Welles is headed for release next year. The New York Times reports that The Other Side of the Wind has been obtained by L.A. distributor Royal Road Entertainment. Rights to the film's ownership have been tangled in legal battles by Welles' daughter Beatrice Welles and the filmmaker's longtime collaborator Oja Kodar in recent years. Welles wrote the script and began filming the story in 1970 and was still working on the project when he passed away in 1985. The film, which includes on-screen performances by Dennis Hopper, John Huston and Peter Bogdanovich, tells the story of a director struggling to finish his cinematic masterpiece. Royal Road plans to release the film to theatres on May 6, 2015, the 100th anniversary of Welles' birth.
Source: New York Times
LATE-NIGHT REUNION
Conan O'Brien and his former bandleader, Max Weinberg, had a touching reunion this week. On Tuesday night's edition of Conan, the host took part in a skit in which his current drummer, James Wormworth, fell into a mining pit. O'Brien then announced the show's band would need a new drummer, at which point Weinberg stood up in the studio audience and announced, "I can play the drums!" Weinberg was the original leader of O'Brien's band on Late Night with Conan O'Brien from 1993 to 2009. Weinberg, who also drums with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, made the move with O'Brien to Los Angeles and The Tonight Show in 2009, but moved back to New York when O'Brien left the show after six low-rated months.
Source: Washington Post
ROAD TRIP!
Veteran Daily Show correspondents – and real-life married couple – Samantha Bee and Jason Jones will create a new sitcom based on their family road trips. The Canadian-born couple (he hails from Hamilton, she's from Toronto) have inked a deal with TBS for a still-untitled sitcom inspired by their family getaways with their three kids. Bee is currently writing the pilot and Jones will take the lead role of a harried dad in the series, which is expected to join TBS's lineup in mid-2015.
Source: Hollywood Reporter