Can someone please tell me whether Nicki Minaj is awesome or annoying? I’ve been paying attention for months now, and I still can’t decide.

When last we visited Ms. Minaj on The Critical Condition, she was making Young Money’s “BedRock” barely tolerable. Since then, she has become the first female artist to top the Billboard Rap Songs chart in almost eight years, thanks to a song called “Your Love.”

Now, “Your Love” is kind of silly, but it’s pleasant enough, and the video is gorgeous. It’s certainly better than “My Chick Bad” and “Bottoms Up” and “Watch Me Lick A Boob For Your Masculine Enjoyment,” or whatever other song Minaj has released that flirts with lesbianism in a gross, “this is for your, daddy” kind of way.

That’s the thing about this woman that frustrates me: Sometimes, she seems funny and smart and refreshingly above the bad bitch/naughty slut dichotomy that so many women in hip-hop are forced to straddle. And then sometimes, she seems like the very essence of that dichotomy. Yes, her skill as a rapper is undeniable—she’s got a great flow that she can change to suit a wide variety of personae—but too often, she puts it to dubious use.

And I know, I know… her whole thing is that she’s a chameleon, that she’s inhabiting all sorts of characters. Really, I’m okay with that. It worked for David Bowie and Prince and Madonna, after all. But why does she need to craft characters that seem thrilled to be used for the gross sexual exploits of men? Don’t we have enough women like that in the music world? Isn’t there a way to be multi-faceted without also being a stank cliche?

Put another way: Can’t Minaj explore just the many facets suggested by the personality in her new single, “Right Thru Me?”

Because seriously… no female hip-hop artist has covered the territory on “Right Thru Me” in a long time. Take a listen and see if you agree that it’s the single of the week:

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Hey everyone! In case you missed it, here’s my appearance on last Tuesday’s episode of The Joy Behar Show.
Just imagine a commercial between the two videos.

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PART ONE:

PART TWO:

I don’t know why, but I recently started thinking about “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!),” the lone American hit of R&B singer Blu Cantrell. This song climbed all the way to #2 back in 2001, and at the time, it was everywhere. Until last night, though, I hadn’t heard it in at least six years.

What a delight to discover that it’s still amazing! Cantrell can really sing, which is a plus, and songwriter/producer Dallas Austin crafted a really meaty track out of some drum loops, random piano sounds, and what I think is a sample from the theme song for Mr. Peabody and Sherman, though I may be wrong.

More important, however, is the song’s humor. It’s there in the music video, which features Cantrell getting all playful as she mugs for the camera and breaks into Golden Age Hollywood-style dances. It’s also there in the lyrics, like when Cantrell says she went to “Nieman Marcus on a shopping spree-uh,” and on the way, she grabbed her friends Sole and Mia. Spree-uh and Mia… who knew we’d get the rhyme of the century as early as 2001?

Altogether, this song and video make Cantrell seem like a brassy, vaudeville-era performer who somehow got transported to the waning days of New Jill Swing. If she’d stuck around longer, I like to imagine she would have pushed that persona even further and continued to delight us all.

When was the last time you thought about this song? Does it hold up for you? Or if you’ve never heard it before, what do you think?

As New Yorker television critic Nancy Franklin recently noted, 50 television series aired their season or series premieres last week. 50! Even if you have a TV that beams images directly into your brain as you sleep—and Apple does make one of those, right?—you can’t possibly watch all of those shows.

But you know what helps you get a jump on them? A soul-crushingly awful stomach flu… which is exactly what I had last week. To the point that I didn’t really eat for for four days, and when I was finally able to eat half of a damn tuna sandwich tonight without hurling, I said a prayer of thanksgiving.

When you’re in a state like that, your only option, really, is to soak up some televised entertainment, and lord, I did. Honestly, I watched so much television last week that I’m going on a fast for a few days, but in the interim, I’d like to give my quick thoughts on the new series I sampled. (I’ll get to returning favorites later.)

If you saw any or all of these  shows, then I’d love to hear your thoughts, too. And if I’ve left anything out, then talk about that, too!

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By DOUG STRASSLER

I know the year isn’t even quite at the three-quarters mark, but I’m itching to get started on my favorite pastime, predicting the Oscars! Last year I was successful in predicting 29 of the 30 nominees in the big categories, so as you might imagine, this is something I think about year-round. Yes, Doug Strassler is a sick, sick individual.

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You guys, I don’t have anything particualrly deep to say about this video, but I just wanted to share it. How did they get those dogs to do that?

Those of you who saw me on The Joy Behar Show lat night—and thanks for watching!—may remember the conversation we had about Lady Gaga’s recent rally in Maine to oppose “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” She was in that state because Maine’s two senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, are farely moderate Republicans who have supported gay rights in the past, so their votes could be crucial in repealing DADT. (That is, if the Senate doesn’t keep killing DADT bills before they come to a vote, which is what happened yesterday.)

At her rally, Gaga declared that there should be a new rule… that all military personnel who have a problem with homosexuality should be kicked out of the service. “Our new law is called, ‘If you don’t like it, go home,’” she said.

This is disappointing. Gaga is one of the few public figures—celebrity, politician, or otherwise—who can get everyone’s attention, and frankly, if she had delivered a surprising or moving speech about DADT, lots of people may have taken it seriously. (They almost made Bono head of the World Bank, after all.) What she did, however, was respond to intolerance with more intolerance. She suggested that we make homophobes feel like outcasts, just as they have made gay people feel like outcasts. Instead of progress, she called for revenge.

It’s an impulse I understand. When someone hurts us, we almost always want to hurt them back… that’s an animal instinct that we may never overcome. However, as everyone from Gandhi to Aeschylus to Jesus to Nelson Mandela to Paulo Freire has tried to tell us, healing begins when we can love our oppressors, even if they don’t love us.

In other words: When gay soldiers are allowed to serve openly (and I believe that day is coming soon), they will do much more good if they can forgive the homophobic soliders who may be in their barracks. If they can remember that hatred warps not only the oppressed but also the oppressor, then they can invite homophobes into a mutually loving community and erase the need for hatred altogether.

If you are an oppressed person and you suddenly gain power, you don’t have to respond by oppressing your former oppressor. That just seeds new resentment and guarantees new conflict. Instead, you can use your new power to model a different kind of culture. You can shower mercy and grace on everyone around you. Chances are, the people who used to hate you will feel relieved to be welcomed by you, because deep down in their souls, they know that hatred is destroying them.

The onus is on minorities, then, to forgive those who hate us and to instead treat them with the respect that they have never showed us. That will be difficult, yes, but it will be worthwhile, because ultimately, everyone wants to be treated kindly and to treat everyone kindly in return. Nothing will dissolve the Tea Party’s fear like realizing there is enough love and acceptance for them, too.

Is this making sense? I hope so. Because seriously, as I sit here imagining a culture that just forgives, I feel about ten pounds lighter.

And that’s something I wish Lady Gaga had used her platform to discuss. Many people call for vengeance. Far too few call for reconciliation.

[NOTE: I've deleted a paragraph from this essay that was about the Tea Party. A reader, Katherine, correctly pointed out that I was basing my argument on inaccurate facts. Since I don't want to obscure my larger point with something that may not be helpful, I've chosen to eliminate that section.]

Hello there! If you are reading this, it’s possible you’re visiting The Critical Condition for the first time after seeing me tonight on The Joy Behar Show. We’re glad to have you!

So here’s the skinny: The Critical Condition is dedicated to fun and thoughtful discussion of all aspects of popular culture. We try to talk about ideas more than gossip, and we always have a good time.

Would you like a tour? Then just follow me! You may enjoy…

(*) My countdown of the 101 best songs of the aughts.

(*) My special “Sucker Punch” recaps of True Blood

(*) My recent review of the movie Never Let Me Go

(*) My thoughts on why this site exists and what critics are for.

But don’t feel limited by these suggestions. Look around, comment, have fun. I hope you have a good time!

She’s written for The Critical Condition, she’s been a lively part of our discussions, and she’s been awesome for as long as I’ve known her. And tomorrow, our very own Destiny Lilly will be on Jeopardy!

Whoa! Amazing, right? She’s wicked smart. (Here’s her official contestant clip on the Jeopardy! website .)

So tomorrow—Wednesday, September 22—make sure you tune in and cheer her on. In case you’re not watching this season, Jeopardy! is currently being dominated by a guy named Roger Craig, who in just six games has reached the top four on the all-time winners list and set the record for most money won in a single game ($77,000).Personally, I think Destiny has the stuff to stop his victory march. (Assuming he doesn’t go home tonight, of course.)

It’s been far too long since I paid homage to the work being done on other blogs around interweb, so as I’m busily researching the topics we’ll be discussing tonight on The Joy Behar Show (I’m on tonight at 9:00 PM!), I encourage you to research these fine sites and delicious items.

• Over at Low Resolution, Roommate Joe has delivered the latest installment of his Fall Movie Preview. His write-up on Jackass 3-D is funnier than anything Johnny Knoxville has ever done.
• As a side dish to his typically excellent film coverage, Nathaniel at Film Experience wrote this great piece about the tenth anniversary of Madonna’s Music album. Yes, it has been a decade since that album. Cue my shiver as the cold fingers of death dance lightly up my spine.
• Over at HitFix, Alan Sepinwall voices my sentiments about the general goodness of the Boardwalk Empire pilot and the nagging muddiness of the “who stole the liquor” plotline.
• And finally, the Amateur Gourmet makes peace with his recent trip to McDonald’s.