Confession: I love this movie!

When Clueless came out in 1995, you could not tell me I was not Stacey Dash among my group of white girlfriends in catholic school, and 17 years later I will still bust this movie out from time to time on a Saturday, no lie. For it’s special “reunion issue,” Entertainment Weekly got the popular crew back together from Cher (Alicia Silverstone), Josh (Paul Rudd), Dionne (Stacey Dash) and Murry (Donald Faison), to Christian (Jeremy Sisto), Travis (Breckin Meye), and even the full-on Monet Amber (Elisa Donovan).

The cast talked about how the movie essentially made all of their careers (even if attitudes, ahem, have gotten in the way for some of them along the way), and they talked about crazy it is that a movie that was expected to be a bust is still a cult classic almost 20 years later. Here are a few of the “secrets” behind the film that the cast revealed during their EW photo shoot and interview:

*Stacey Dash, who plays Cher’s best friend Dionne, was hardly a teenager at the time. “I was 27, and I was playing this high school student,” says Dash, “and I had a son at home who was six years old.”

*Everybody’s expectations were low. Says Faison, “When we were making the movie, you don’t think the movie’s going to be good. You think, I’m making the next License to Drive. You think this movie’s going to be just for teenagers and that’s it.”

*Over the years, the film’s cult following has come up with some odd interpretations of the film. “Someone came up to me once and — very serious and teary-eyed — said, ‘I just want you to know that when I saw Clueless and I saw Travis decide to go into a 12-step program, that’s when I decided to get sober.’ There was a part of me that was like, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ And there was another part of me that was like, ‘Are you serious? Because I’m pretty sure Travis might have relapsed. But I’m happy you found that.’”

Are you a closet “Clueless” fan?

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Source: RollingOut.com

Describing herself as a “good Christian girl” Kenya Bell tells the Examiner’s Njai Joszor that it was her Christian faith that kept her so calm when Evelyn threw a wine bottle at her during an argument on one of season four’ episodes:

“To be honest with you, the scene right before the wine bottle incident, I went to church. So, (it was) Jesus,” Bell told the Examiner. “But seriously, I didn’t want to fight. I have a master’s degree in engineering. I do want to do other things besides the reality show, as far as business ventures, so I really don’t want to put myself out there like this nut that can’t control her temper.”

That’s the first we’ve heard of Jesus taking the wheel. But as someone accused of stabbing her husband and claiming to be professionally trained to fight thanks to her Dad, maybe only the son of God could have kept her as calm as she was.

The reality star also told the Examiner that her “Hate Me” song was not about any Basketball Wives castmates—in particular:

“Okay so I’m like a good Christian girl. The songs that I put out before, like ‘Fly,’ are very mainstream easy going songs,” she said. “I hooked up with Jazze Pha, he’s like “no no no you need some flavor. It’s not a diss song to the ‘Basketball Wives.’”

With lyrics like:  “Watch yo mouth/This is my show./I’m takin’ ova/Snappin’ on you silly hoes. Them b****es hate me/They make me famous tho.” I’m not sure if anybody believes that’s not a direct diss to her castmates, but okay.

At the time of the interview, Kenya said she wasn’t sure if she was coming back to the Basketball Wives for Season 5. It’s unclear whether she wasn’t sure if she wanted to or if she wasn’t sure if Shaunie was giving her the axe. She survived the cut announced today, so maybe that means she’ll be back next season…with Jesus by her side.

Alissa Henry is a freelance writer living in Columbus, OH. Follow her on Twitter @AlissaInPink or check out her blog: This Cannot Be My Life

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Source: Necolebitchie.com

Last week Meagan Good had everyone in her corner when she stated in an interview that she wouldn’t be rolling around in the bed with her husband until their wedding night. But what they didn’t expect was for the actress to hop up on a pole a few days later. Over the weekend, Meagan had a burlesque bachelorette party and when photos hit the net, many started questioning what kind of woman who just proclaimed her commitment to God to the world would do a little on-stage, lap dance/strip-tease simulation so publicly—let alone one who’s engaged to a seventh-day Adventist pastor?

I’m not going to lie, I was one of those people. I didn’t think anything was necessarily wrong about what she did, it definitely wasn’t a sin, but it just seemed odd. On one hand, it’s not like Meagan could disguise her beauty if she was wearing a brown sack. She’s a gorgeous woman who’s going to attract and tempt men no matter what she does, but it was something about her performance, no matter it’s harmless intent, that just seemed a little unbecoming of not just a preacher’s wife but a woman exclaiming how devout of a christian she is. Hearing the backlash that’s come her way, Meagan made a mini-statement on Twitter along the lines of, mind your own business when she typed:

She absolutely can, but I wonder how she makes peace with the mixed messages she’s sending. To be fair, Meagan’s routine was really far more innocent than what still shots suggest. Aside from some boisterous cleavage and a leotard, she was pretty covered up and only did a few moves, but I think the clip just added to questions people already had about whether she’s got one foot in the world and the other in the church. Or in this case, one foot in the pulpit, and the other wrapped around the pole.

I agree that what she does as an actress and how she lives in real life are two separate things, although let’s be real there’s still some responsibility that comes with the type of roles you portray and the lifestyles you cosign by playing certain characters. I suppose this appearance could be considered a performance but it was more so a personal thing done out in the open which opened her up to public scrutiny. There are some clear scriptures about not being conformed to the world and living one’s life as an example where people can see that you are set apart from those living a so-called secular lifestyle, and while I honestly don’t doubt that she’s celibate and loves the lord and honors him, I think for many people it’s hard to believe her words because of the over-sexed way she presents herself on- and off-screen. Let’s just say she has a very different approach to her relationship from the Victoria’s Secret model who quit the runway to save her body for her husband.

It’s not up for anyone of us to judge Meagan’s lifestyle but it is necessary to judge what aspects of her life you take as a model to mimic and those which you leave. I think it’s great that she participated in the Fearless magazine event and mentored young women about prayer but I’d also like to see her talk to girls about not always being the temptress and showing their bodies off for attention and perhaps even stop using hers so much. The backlash in this case may be a bit much or cause people to draw unfair conclusions about her walk with God but when you put yourself out there like a beaming ray of christian light and then appear to be a part of stripper culture the next day, you’re going to raise a few brows.

Check out a clip of Meagan’s performance and tell us what you think. Do you think her whole image is problematic?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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By Charlotte Young

When Stuart Wilber discovered many large corporations often give a portion of the earnings bought through Internet marketers to conservative Christian organizations, he didn’t see it as a charitable act. He saw large companies funding hate groups. According to the New York Times, Wilber, a gay man from Seattle, believed these large corporations shouldn’t fund Christian groups that proclaimed anti-gay messages. In July he not only started a petition, he also started a heated, online retail battle.

The Charity Giveback Group (CGBG) was the Christian-oriented Internet marketing group that Wilber stumbled upon a few months ago. Through CGBG, he learned that many large retailers, including Microsoft, Apple and Netflix, sell their products and donate a portion of the profits to conservative evangelical groups such as Family Research Council and Focus on the Family, which are known for their strong anti-gay stance.

Outraged, Wilber created a petition on Change.org which gained 520 supporters on its first night alone. In response, Microsoft quickly and quietly stopped its donations. Soon other petitions began to circulate causing Apple, Macy’s and almost 100 other businesses to also stop their donations through CGBG.

A counter-campaign was also started by the conservative Christian groups with the title, “Please Don’t Discriminate Against My Faith.”

“People have been misled. The retailers are not donating to anyone; they are simply paying a commission to get traffic,” John Higgins, the president of CGBG, told the NY Times.

The situation has sparked outrage on all sides. Wilber and other gay-rights activists are shocked to learn that large retailers are contributing to anti-gay messages while often touting diversity platforms. Conservative groups feel attacked for their stance on sex and marriage and companies feel caught in the middle as they attempt to please both sides.

While none of the companies have responded to media over the controversy, Microsoft and Apple have quickly decided to remain away from the CGBGnetwork.

Other companies, such as Delta and Wal-mart, have reconsidered and joined again with CGBG. Representatives from Wal-Mart and its sister company Sam’s Club said that they changed their minds as the company serves over 43,000 organization with a wide range of interests with diverse viewpoints.”

Delta divulged that they realized how important it was to their faith-based clients. A representative told the NY Times that while they support these clients, they do not want to be involved in any political debates, only in flying planes.

By Alexis Garrett Stodghill

The nation of Nigeria, with its 150 million inhabitants — split almost evenly between Christians in the south and Muslims in the north — might be a half-century old. But it is still facing growing pains. A year before it’s 50th anniversary as a sovereign nation in 2010, Nigeria’s most famous writer Chinua Achebe published an essay making this statement about his homeland: “Nigeria is neither my mother nor my father. Nigeria is a child. Gifted, enormously talented, prodigiously endowed, and incredibly wayward.”

The “wayward” ways of the most populous nation in Africa has international policy experts concerned, not only for the future of the oil industry there that America depends on — but also for the social stability of a country with so much promise. Ironically, the material well-being of Nigeria depends greatly on whether its warring religious factions can get along. So far, the Mulsim-Christian divide has continually fueled bloody conflict, culminating in an attack last Friday on a United Nations building in the capital city of Abuja that killed 19 people.

The attack was orchestrated by the home-grown Muslim terrorist group Boko Haram, a faction seen as expressing the frustrations many Muslims feel as a disenfranchised group. Even though oil-rich Nigeria is the largest African exporter of the resource to the U.S., most of the oil comes from the south which is populated by Christians. In addition, the vast majority of the educated elite both within the country and abroad are Christians, including the current president. Muslims in the north have responded to their relative powerlessness by rejecting secular education, medicine and other practices that are associated with the Christian way of life.

Dear Very Smart Brotha,

I was dating a guy for awhile. We had some deep conversations of our past and he never judged me. When he confided in me of some addictions he had and how he was a practicing Muslim. I  listened and didn’t judge him either. Knew the only one to judge was God.  Things were great until one day he told me that I was neither a friend or a girlfriend and that hurt so much. I didn’t talk to him for a few days. That is when he asked what was wrong. I told him I was hurt by what he said on how he saw me as nothing to him. He laughed and explained it was just a joke. I was furious. I told him that it was a bad joke and we ended it right there. A few weeks after he contacted me and wanted to see me because he missed me. I told him after some deep thought that his addictions were hard to accept since I dealt with them from a previous relationship and I felt that with my religion being Christian it would be hard for us to be together. He laughed and said that all that was a joke and cant believe that I fell for it. We stopped talking and I moved on. Well he contacted me again apologized to me, saying he missed me and wants me back that he will never joke like that again. Part of me wants to move on some of me wants to see if he is willing to change. What do I do? Everyone says to forget him and how Id be crazy if I went back to him. Wondering?

Sincerely,

Conflicted Christian

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(Grio) — Obama says he came to his Christian faith as an adult because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to him in terms of the kind of life he wanted to lead. Obama says human beings are flawed and make mistakes, but that he tries to see God in others and does his best to help them.

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