The Critical Condition’s Doug Strassler watched both parts of Whitney Houston’s appearance on Oprah. After his mind stopped reeling, this is what he made of it.

Whitney Houston: Didn’t She Almost Have It All

By DOUG STRASSLER

To paraphrase Stephen Sondheim, during this sorry-grateful summer of Michael Jackson mourning and worship, I’ve often thought about the musical idols I grew up with during the 1980s. That age of excess launched some of the biggest stars of all time. In addition to MJ, there was Prince, Madonna, George Michael, Janet, and Sting, and most weathered the ups and downs of the celebrity roller coaster. Massive success was followed by career disappointments, marred reputations, and cherished comebacks. Madonna, for example, released her infamous Sex coffee table book only to redeem herself with Evita and Ray of Light. It’s all part of the trajectory.

One of the biggest ‘80s icons, though, continues to rest on laurels from long ago. Consider Whitney Houston in the 1980s: Her 1985 debut album remains the best-selling debut album by a female artist. Her second studio album, Whitney, became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one. The Bodyguard soundtrack is the world’s best-selling soundtrack, and her “I Will Always Love You” cover took on a life of its own. It’s still the biggest selling single by a female artist and the biggest selling non-charity single ever. The Recording Industry Association of America ranks her as the fourth best-selling female artist in the countryl with 54 million certified albums, following only Barbra Streisand, Madonna, and Mariah Carey. She also holds the record having the most consecutive #1 songs, with seven.

But the bubbly hit maker of yore is gone. She’s only released two moderately successful albums in the last fifteen years, and her marriage to and divorce from Bobby Brown has made her a pop culture joke and tabloid fodder.

Which is why I was excited to see her promotion her new album I Look to You in a two-part appearance as the season-opening guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Would she talk about her old songs? Which drugs would she admit to using? Would O make her cry? How quotable would she be?

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I recently returned to CNN.com’s Blogger Bunch to discuss Chris Brown’s community service sentence. (And I didn’t have any technical problems this time. Hooray!)

I got to say almost everything I wanted, but you know… I like to talk, so I didn’t get everything in. Just below the video, I’ll share the point I didn’t make on air.

My co-panelist Russell Wetanson makes the point that this is only day one of Chris Brown’s community service and that while he’s all smiles now, he may be in a much different, more penitent place by day 180.
Agreed. But that will be Brown’s personal story. Whether we like it or not, a celebrity in the justice system also tells a larger cultural story, and right now, the story being told about Brown’s punishment for abusing Rihanna is that he’s getting slapped on the wrist. He’ll be inconvenienced with some trash duty, but otherwise he’ll be fine.

If the media picks this story back up at the end of his community service, and if he seems more repentant, then the cultural story of his punishment will change. It will say something about the consequences of domestic abuse. But will that story be told? Will the media go back for more? I don’t know.

And besides—and this is the main thing I wanted to say—the rapper T.I. recently went to jail for a weapons charge, but before he did, he released a single (“Dead and Gone”) expressing his regret for his violent past, published an essay on the Huffington Post about what he’d learned, and made lots of other public gestures to tell people what he’d done was wrong. I don’t know what his personal story is, but he created a cultural story about regret and rehabilitation, and that’s the story that’s going to resonate with his fans. It’s the story that might teach people something about living a less violent life.

At the start of his community service, Brown’s cultural story is saying that domestic violence can result in living up while you wear an orange vest. The story may change later, but it didn’t have to begin that way to start with.

It’s the final countdoooown! Here it is folks, the last installment of The 101 Best Songs of the Aughts.

Thanks for all your comments and feedback. They’ve inspired me to keep going with a project that has proven to be incredibly time consuming and incredibly rewarding.

(To see the entire countdown, go here.)

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We’re almost home! I was only planning one more post for our countdown of the 101 Best Songs of the Aughts, but I had a lot to say about the top five. I figured it would be better to split this final section into two pieces.

(For the rest of the countdown, go here.)

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A few weeks ago, The Critical Condition’s Casey Cole attended a special screening of Jane Campion’s new film Bright Star (opening tomorrow in select cities.) The next day, she spoke with Campion herself about the film, filmmaking, and the concept of “feminist” art. Here is Casey’s fascinating report on what saw, heard, and thought.

Jane Campion and the Nature of (Female) Creativity

By CASEY COLE

Jane Campion’s new film Bright Star, about the romance between poet John Keats and his neighbor Fanny Brawne, opens with a close-up of a needle poking through fabric. Much like the film itself, the image is humble and domestic, yet sharp and piercing.

Fanny’s sewing is an important part of the film, and a theme that Campion felt compelled to include. In the four years that she took off after making In The Cut in 2003, Campion took up sewing, making toys and embroidering pillowcases for her daughter. She also collects embroidered tablecloths and linens. “There’s something humble and beautiful about [sewing] to me,” she says. “Nobody gives a damn, or takes notice or pays any attention to it, but it takes hours and hours. It’s such a metaphor for a woman’s life in a way.”

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“Um… Mark? Pink is singing ‘Sober,’ and she’s upside down on a trapeze.”

Thanks to that announcement from Roommate Joe, I found myself watching this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. I haven’t watched, cared, or even thought about that show since Kriss Kross was a market force, so you can imagine my surprise when I really got into Sunday night’s broadcast.

Apparently, the rest of the world got into it, too. Because it’s not only Twitter that’s exploding with VMA chatter, but also my office, where many people are old enough to have crushed on David Cassidy. If you’re getting the kids and their mothers, then you’re doing something right.

So what is it about this year’s VMAs that made them click? I’ve got a few ideas, and if you watched (or heard) about the show, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Welcome to Sucker Punch, the only blog post that ranks the gaudiest moments on this week’s episode of True Blood.

There’s big doin’s in this week’s season finale. In the first half hour alone we get death and blood and egg licking. But the end is where things really get crazy.

To read all about it, join me here at The Huffington Post.

We’ve getting close to the end of our countdown of the 101 Best Songs of the Aughts. Let’s keep the party going!

(To enjoy the rest of the countdown, just go here.)
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You may have noticed that Tyler Perry’s new movie I Can Do Bad All By Myself, opening today, co-stars both Mary J. Blige and Gladys Knight. And their characters aren’t called “Nightclub Singer” or “Gladys Knight” either. They’re both playing honest-to-god roles.

And that got me thinking…. sometimes rock stars turn out to be great actors. More often than they turn out to be great politicians, at least.

With that in mind, the good folks at Only Good Movies invited me to write about the 10 Best Movie Performances by Rock Stars. Let me know what you think of my choices!

It’s time for part three of our countdown of the 101 Best Songs of the Aughts. Today, I’ll be revealing #60-41.

To enjoy the rest of the list, please go here.

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