This one satisfies the Bechdel test: two women competing without reference to a man. Sure, there’s Henry Huggins and Harry Helmsley lurking in the background, but let’s face it: Henry was outshined by his friend Beezus and her little sister Ramona, and Harry was a pale shadow of his publicity-grabbing wife. The women are where it’s at here.
As to the particular exemplars of girl-power on offer here: what would you like to hear in your seminar? A good story or some solid tax-cheating tips? One of these could be entertaining and one could be useful, right? Which would you prefer, cosponsorship by the English Department or the Business School?
Past matchup
Dzhaughn offers a positive case for the Chevalier:
I can tell you that over the last few months Peru has been a cauldron of unrest: a flimsy coup attempt by a populist leftish president with a 20% approval rating, then impeached, the promoted vp pres betrayed her supporters, more than 60 protesters killed by police (and apparently 0 police interviewed by investigators about this), airports invaded and closed, practically all roads throughout the south closed in multiple places for weeks due to political protests, except on weekends and a couple weeks around Christmas and New Years because one has got to sell the crops. And party.
Nevertheless, Shakira (and Pique) still seemed to be at least the #3 story on TV news. Beat that.
Meanwhile, Anon slams both contestants:
There’s been some controversy recently over some of Dahl’s more antisemitic comments, and I don’t feel that it would be proper to champion an antisemitic person in the competition like this. However, Shakira committed tax fraud, and that is much more evil.
Agreed on the evilness of tax fraud, and insidious crime that tears apart civil society.
Here’s my problem with Dahl. Every time he comes up, the discussion is always some variant of “He’s an nasty guy” or “He’s getting banned.” I’m sick of hearing about mean people and I’m sick of hearing about people getting banned, so we’ve come to the end of the line for this particular storyeller and war hero. Shakira to the semifinals!
Dark and lonely on a summer’s night. Kill my landlord. Kill my landlord. Watchdog barking. Do he bite? Kill my landlord. Kill my landlord. Slip in his window. Break his neck. Then his house I start to wreck. Got no reason. What the heck? Kill my landlord. Kill my landlord. C-I-L my landlord! – Eddie Murphy (as Tyrone Greene)
In a more classic literary vein, see Langston Hughes, https://allpoetry.com/The-Ballad-Of-The-Landlord
Let Leona defend herself, if she can.
According to Wikipedia “Alan Dershowitz, while having breakfast with her [Helmsley] at one of the Helmsley hotels, received a cup of tea with a tiny bit of water spilled on the saucer. Helmsley grabbed the cup from the waiter and smashed it on the floor, then told him to beg for his job.”
As a macroeconomist (macro has infamously brutal seminars on average), in my experience this sort of temperament can lead to either very good or very bad seminars to observe, it depends on the audience. Equally fiery audiences can be entertaining (although only if everyone remains somewhat friendly), but placid audiences makes the whole experience very unpleasant, with a bully spraker. So the real question is, how are the audiences for seminars at Columbia?
Anonymous is right, Cleary ain’t gonna break no saucers.
Looking at the way this is panning out, physical characteristics are decisive. I thought hot dog guy was a fluke, but no, the tide is irresistable. Behold the fruits of your post-modernism, Bruno Latour! Afraid that Bechdel will not have seen the right kind of movies to compete in the next round.
Narrow edge to the aggressive Helmsley.
You’re saying that with Helmsley, the pre-seminar coffee will be ruined by a temper tantrum? I don’t know about Columbia, but our campus catering wouldn’t stand for such abuse, and then I wouldn’t get any coffee, and then I would leave without attending the talk.
Anon:
I’m still wondering if Dershowitz followed Helmsley’s instructions and begged for his job, or if he just quit and told her to find another lawyer.
Unlike Beverly Cleary, Leona Helmsley wrote nothing I would want to read. Quickly looking at snippets of books *about* her, none of them seem like anything I want to read, either.
“Palace Coup: The Inside Story of Harry and Leona Helmsley” gets 3.6 on Goodreads, which is basically 0 given the scale of scores there, and not even the 2 reviews are interesting. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1553418
“The Helmsleys: The Rise and Fall of Harry and Leona Helmsley” gets 3.0.
There’s a book by the guy who administered her philanthropic trust, and from the preview on Google Books, it looks excruciatingly dull and poorly written.
I’m trying to counterbalance my fondness for Beverly Cleary, but I’ve got nothing here…