Girls in Love

Girls in Love is a drama series produced by Granada Television which aired on ITV.It is based on the book of the same title (ISBN 0385408048), both created by UK author Jacqueline Wilson that follows the romantic thrills and spills of three teenage girls- Ellie, Magda and Nadine. The show has been running for two series, and has been dubbed by many as the pre-teens version of Sex and the City, exploring the some what weird and wonderful world of boys through the eyes of Ellie Allard, who is played by Olivia Hallinan. She is an artist, and usually portrays her life events in her big bulging sketchbook, which blends the show's live action with animation. She lives with her dad and his girlfriend (later wife) Anna, and her baby brother Eggs. Ellie has had two significant crushes in the course of the past two series- Russell (played by Adam Paul Harvey), in series one, and Darius, from America, in series two (played by Alp Haydar). Magda (played by Zaraah Abrahams) according to Ellie "goes through boys like I do through takeaway pizzas", she is quite a gossipy, bubbly sort of character, and had a brief fling with Darius in series two. And then there's Nadine (played by Amy Kwolek) who is a goth, and is a budding singer/songwriter but has always had a wildchild reputation about her. The show has received some criticism from fans of the book, due to Ellie's appearance. In the book, she is a short, bespectacled, slightly overweight, frizzy haired girl, and some people feel that she should have been portrayed this way in the television show. Also, Magda in the television show has a darker complexion and dark hair, yet in the book, she is caucasian and her hair varies, going from what is described as a 'bottle blonde' bob, to mousey brown (her natural colour) and an unflattering cut, to bright red and a 'punky' hair style. The show has recently been released on DVD. Many of the school scenes were filmed on location at Manchester Grammar School, which is rather ironic considering in real-life this is an all male institution.

Uptown Girls

Uptown Girls is a 2003 drama directed by Boaz Yakin and adapted from the story by Allison Jacobs into screenplay by Julia Dahl, Mo Ogrodnik and Lisa Davidowitz. It stars Brittany Murphy (8 Mile) as a 22-year-old living a charmed life as the daughter of a famous rock and roll musician. Dakota Fanning (I Am Sam) co-stars. Tagline: They're about to teach each other how to act their age.

Plot

Molly Gunn (Brittany Murphy) is a spoiled rock n' roll princess, living off the ample trust fund of her late rock legend father. Molly is carefree and fun-spirited but also can be irresponsible and immature, having no concept of money or the need to work for it. She keeps cash in the freezer of her Upper West Side apartment, treats her doorman like a personal servant and pays no attention to bills for phone, electricity or pet care. When her accountant steals all of her money, Molly has to do the unthinkable—get a job. After a few unsuccessful interviews and a stint at a department store, Molly finally lands a job. She is hired as a nanny for an uptight eight-year-old girl named Ray (Dakota Fanning) who's often ignored by her busy, music executive mother (Heather Locklear). Molly and Ray couldn't be any more different: Molly is an adult but acts like a child, and Ray is a child who acts like an adult. Although they clash at first, they come together and learn to act their age and become best friends. The movie opens with a party for Molly's 22nd birthday at an exclusive dance club, arranged by her chaste childhood best friend Ingrid and Huey, a producer. In the club's ladies room, Molly thinks she's alone and expresses her insecurity over her appearance and says, "Why would I be getting a worry wrinkle?", and she receives an unexpected rejoinder from Ray, a precocious and dour 8-year-old girl who says,"Why would you think anyone would care?". Ray is equally rude and condescending to Molly and to Huey, who is trying to babysit her for his boss, who "can't keep a nanny ... fired their third one this month today." Molly instantly falls for singer Neal Fox (Jesse Spencer). Huey says Neal is celibate for the sake of his musical career, and Ingrid also tries to discourage her, but Molly sees Neal as a "rock and roll poet sex god" and begins to pursue him. She proves she's Tommy Gunn's daughter by showing Neal her father's guitar collection, 16 electric and 1 acoustic on which he wrote the classic "Molly Smiles" (which begins "Daddy's little girl ...") The song is too poignant for Molly to let Neal sing it to her, because her parents died on the way back from the Budokan concert which premiered it. Neal stays the night, breaking his vow "not ... to have romantic relationships my first year." Feeling smothered by Molly's attention and objecting to the chaos of her "looking-glass" world, he gets ready to go home. Meanwhile, the TV shows Wile E. Coyote vainly pursuing the Roadrunner. (The power, which was off the night before, has mysteriously been restored.) Ingrid comes over and scolds Molly for her filthy apartment "beyond its normal grotesque" and refuses to console her by contradicting her plaintive "He's gone. I have no life," because "As your best friend, it's my duty not to lie to you." Ingrid tries to call accountant Bob to get the gas and electricity restored (Molly ignored the final notices), but the phone is out. Later, attorney Feldman explains that Bob milked her estate, even borrowing against her father's royalties, and advises Molly to "get a job". Molly applies at the store where Ingrid works, taking advantage of the employee discount to buy "900 thread count" Egyptian cotton sheets for $1300. She spends all night at Neal's apartment and is found the next morning asleep on a store display and is fired. Huey comes to the rescue and attempts to kill two birds with one stone by getting Molly a job with his own boss Roma (Ray's mother). When Ray finds out at the last moment that Molly is her new nanny, she is less than thrilled. Molly is way underdressed for the Upper East Side. Molly looks clumsy as well as inappropriately attired, breaking a high-heel sandals on the street and destroying the hall closet. In Ray's luxurious but spare home (on Fifth Avenue, directly across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art), she encounters an impersonal doctor and nurse caring for a man in a coma. Ray shuts Molly out of her private life, refusing to tell her that the man is her father (as we learn later). In a symbolic moment showing how stringent are the requirements to gain entry into Ray's world, she curtly yells "Shoes!" before Molly can walk on the immaculate hardwood floor of her room, as she always goes barefoot. In a blatant contrast to Molly's mess and chaos, Ray's room is "so orderly" that the dolls are all on shelves (not to be played with), a bed and small computer desk are tucked up against the windows, and the only other furniture is a small table set for a tea party. "Hey, you don't touch that unless I happen to invite you for tea. You just got your germy drool all over my plastic scones." Ray angrily sprays the contaminated toy morsel. The relationship proceeds rapidly downhill from this inauspicious start with an argument over how to wash dishes. Ray actually calls her new nanny a "tree-loving barefoot hippie" and Molly quits and gets a bloody nose from the swinging door. The barefoot Molly returns to her apartment, only to find her pet pig ("Muu", based on the Thai word for pig) tied to the doorknob in the hallway. She's been locked out, due to nonpayment of rent and having a pig in her pigpen of an apartment. They tell her that she can claim whatever possession she needs until she is banned from her apartment building. Still barefoot and determined to succeed, she tries to visit Neal later that rainy night, but he ignores the door buzzer. They haven't exactly broken up; he's got her sheets, she's got his jacket. The next day, Ingrid invites her to live with her, but she brings way too much stuff, so Ingrid advises Molly to "downsize" and "find her center". She also insists Molly pay half the rent. Molly drops in on Ray, who after her ballet class pointedly declines to participate in freestyle dancing while the other girls enjoy taking a break from classical music for 5 minutes of On Broadway. Molly begs for her nanny job back and is accepted "on probation". As the music continues in the background, Molly dances in jubilant circles around Ray, her long blonde hair swinging as ever-somber Ray walks steadily down a Central Park path. Ray defends her refusal with a Mikhail Baryshnikov quote: "Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun." This conversation ends in another quarrel, and Ray gives Molly the finger (although when the movie premieres on television it shows that Ray balls up her fist). Molly makes her "take it back" and then gives her "a surprise", the gift of her pet pig Mu. Quick cut to the next scene, a yard sale of Molly's belongings incongruously taking place on a ritzy Manhattan sidewalk. Ingrid gets her to sell a putter "that Tiger Woods gave to me at the Masters" for a mere ten dollars. In the next few scenes, Molly and Ray begin bonding, while Molly's klutzy accident-prone tendencies are highlighted. Ray even defends Molly from a schoolmate's slur: "Her au pair said my nanny was a slutbag whore." Eventually, Molly develops the strength to live on her own, reconciles with Neal who buys her father's guitars, develops a strong friendship with Ray, who dedicates her recital dance to Molly and freestyles, and begins rebuilding her fortune as a hot new designer.

Powerpuff Girls Z

Powerpuff Girls Z , Demashita! Pawapafu Gāruzu Zetto?, roughly They're Here! Powerpuff Girls Z) is the name for a Japanese television anime based upon the American animated television series The Powerpuff Girls. The anime is produced by Cartoon Network, Toei Animation, and Aniplex; with Yoshiya Ayugai and Mark Buhaj of Cartoon Network, Hiromi Seki, Hideo Katsumata producing, Hiroyuki Kakudou directing and Miho Shimogasa (of Sailor Moon fame) doing character design. As production occurs in Japan, Craig McCracken, the original creator of The Powerpuff Girls, is not directly involved in this project. The series, an anime reimagining of The Powerpuff Girls, debuted in Japan on July 1, 2006, on TV Tokyo, where the Japanese version of the original Powerpuff Girls premiered, as well as its affiliates, replacing Sugar Sugar Rune in its time slot, Saturday at 7:00 a.m. JST. Its final episode aired on June 30, 2007. Its time was replaced by Fight Tension School on July 7, 2007. Since August 1, 2006, it has also aired on AT-X.Since April 1, 2007, the program airs on Cartoon Network in Japan. The initial order was for about 52 episodes at 30 minutes each. Recently, Nami Miyahara, the voice actress of Miyako and Bubbles, posted an entry on her blog in which she mentions working with the staff and cast of the series after having not worked on the series for so long. As to whether or not this is referring to more episodes, an OVA, or a movie being produced is currently unknown. Cartoon Network has said it will be showing the anime worldwide. Taiwan became the first country to air the show outside Japan when the show aired there on 21 January 2008. The Ocean Group has also dubbed the official English version of the show and has been shown on several English-speaking markets; it is unknown when the show will make its appearance in the United States.

Story

In order to stop an ecological disaster, Ken Kitazawa used Chemical Z, a new form of the Professor's original substance Chemical X, to destroy a giant glacier. However, the impact of Chemical Z caused several black and white lights to appear in the Tokyo sky. Three ordinary girls, Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru, were engulfed in white lights and soon became the new defenders of Tokyo City: the Powerpuff Girls Z. However, the numerous black lights caused others to turn to the side of evil. And so, using their ultra super powers, Hyper Blossom (Momoko), Rolling Bubbles (Miyako), and Powered Buttercup (Kaoru) dedicated their lives to defending Tokyo City from the likes of those swayed by the black lights and Him's black powder.

Characters

The Powerpuff Girls Z are the main heroines of the series. They are three thirteen-year-old girls from three different families, unlike the original Powerpuff Girls who were sisters created by Professor Utonium and attended kindergarten. When Chemical Z exploded into multiple black and white lights, Momoko Akatsutsumi, Miyako Gotokuji, and Kaoru Matsubara received white lights when they protected nearby children from it. Under the condition to keep their identity a secret as long as their needs were met, the girls transform into Hyper Blossom, Rolling Bubbles, and Powered Buttercup to protect Tokyo City. Momoko, Miyako and Kaoru use a yo-yo, a bubble wand and a hammer as their weapons, respectively. In addition, they all have basic abilities such as enhanced strength, enhanced speed, flight, weapon materialization, and atmosphere resistance. Their costumes also have some special abilities, including the ability to fit anyone of any size and withstand strong physical impact. The girls' battle cry is "The Lovely Fighting Science Legend: Powerpuff Girls Z!" Momoko Akatsutsumi , Akatsutsumi Momoko?)/ Hyper Blossom , . Momoko is the first member of the Powerpuff Girls Z squad. She spends a great deal of her time eating candy and dreaming about boys. She's also a bit of whiner and can act a bit spoiled. But as the leader of the powerpuff girls z, she's usually the first to come up with plans against the bad guys. She transforms using the phrase "Hyper Blossom" and uses a yo-yo. Like the original, she's the self-proclaimed leader of the team. However, she is more or less unlike her original counterpart as she is not as intelligent, is a bit boy-crazy by giving to crushes and romantic fantasies, and is an otaku. She is very familiar with the mahou shōjo genre, along with some typical anime/super sentai concepts and is regarded as a "hero maniac" in school, especially by Kaoru. One could say that her "nerdiness" as an otaku is the equivalent to the original Blossom's "nerdy intelligence." Momoko also has a strong appetite for candy and other sweets and spends much of her time snacking. Because of this, most of her attacks are named after types of food, most often sweets. Additionally, she dislikes celery and is afraid of bugs and dentists. Although often distracted and has been known to whine, Momoko tries her best to protect Tokyo City, lead the girls, and help her friends regardless of her situation (In one instance, when Momoko is unable to transform, she tries to fight alongside Bubbles and Buttercup wearing a sentai hero mask). Often she can be very clever and crafty when needed, usually being the first to come up with a plan to trick or defeat a monster that the girls are having trouble with. She has a younger sister named Kuriko. She is represented by hearts. She dreams of being married in the future./Rolling Bubbles Rōringu Baburusu?, Seiyū: Nami Miyahara). Miyako is the second member of the Powerpuff Girls Z team. She transforms using the phrase "Rolling Bubbles" and uses a bubble wand as a weapon. She is quite friendly and trendy, so it's no surprise that she's popular among boys. She can also a bit clueless. However, she is respectful of others,and can be quite mature. In comparison to the original Bubbles, who was known for being the most childish of the girls, Miyako is the ditsiest member of the three, often appearing a bit clueless, and doesn't seem to understand her powers completely, along with a few other things. She is the only member of the girls who, like some villains, end a few sentences with a phrase; hers is desu wa. She is, however, a little more mature than some of the girls in the team and will try to calm any situation, although she too can be angered when provoked. She is also very polite and always uses honorifics at the end of names. She is more concerned with shopping, her appearance and her outfits, and perhaps because of this, she seems to be very popular among her male classmates. While she seems oblivious to the many boys that love her, she already "loves" Takaaki (or Taka-chan as she called him), a boy on whom she maybe has had a crush ever since she was six years old. She retains her hairstyle during the reimagining, but her pigtails are slightly longer, and curl into ringlets. She also uses curlers (3 balls on each pigtail) when going to bed. Miyako/Bubbles remains typified, however, by the original's compassion, gentleness and innocence, as well as her love of animals and her favorite doll, Octi. In episode 34, it is revealed she lives with only her grandmother. Her parents live in Kyoto. The reason for this is yet left unexplained. She is represented by bubbles. She dreams of being a fashion designer or model in the future. Kaoru Matsubara/Powered Buttercup Kaoru is the third and final member of the Powerpuff Girls Z team. She transforms using the phrase "Powered Buttercup" and uses a Daruma Otoshi hammer. She hates skirts and other girly things-in fact, she even hates girls. Like the original Buttercup, Kaoru is a tomboy and is the most easily enraged of the three. She is known at school for being the most athletic girl as she plays tennis, practices martial arts, and numerous other activities, and spends a great deal of time watching sports on television. She is especially good at soccer due to her strengthened determination after receiving new soccer cleats from her brothers when she was younger. This may be part of the reason why she has so many fangirls, much to her dismay. She dislikes girls, who she considers very "girly". This includes Momoko and Miyako. This, in addition to the fact that she hates skirts, makes Kaoru the most reluctant of the girls, only joining due to the power it has given her. In later episodes, she begins to care about Momoko and Miyako and is no longer reluctant about joining them in whatever they do, but she often tries to act calm and indifferent. She speaks with a hard and masculine edge and rarely uses honorifics when speaking. Her greatest fear is ghosts. Kaoru lives with her father, who is a professional masked-wrestler, mother and two brothers, one older and one younger. It is thought that she has feelings for Butch because in episode 51 when the girls kissed the rowdyruff boys, Buttercup was the last to stop because she was told that she could stop now. She is represented by stars. She dreams of being a professional wrestler like her dad in the future.

Villains and monsters

Most of the villains of Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z were normal, everyday humans/animals/organisms/objects, until the explosion of the chemical Z ray and the effect of the black lights (or Him's black particles,) transformed them into "Monsters." The black light is drawn to people, animals, organisms or inanimate objects that were dominated by negative emotions and not only affects the appearance of its victims and grants them powers, but it magnifies their desires and removes their moral inhibitions. In the more recent episodes, Him (Kare) can also inflict darkness in the same way as the green lights with a black demon powder, creating monsters in the process. Whenever these villains cause trouble, the Powerpuff Girls Z must apprehend them and, for the most part, turn them over to Professor to be restored to their normal form with the Chemical Z Ray. At other times, when the trouble surrounding the darkness is vanquished, the black spores will not usually go away on their own.

Barbie

Barbie is a best-selling fashion doll launched in 1959. The doll is produced by Mattel, Inc., and is a major source of revenue for the company. The American businesswoman Ruth Handler (1916-2002) is regarded as the creator of Barbie, and the doll's design was inspired by a German doll called Bild Lilli. Barbie has been an important part of the toy fashion doll market for nearly fifty years, and has been the subject of numerous controversies and lawsuits, often involving parody of the doll and her lifestyle. In recent years, Barbie has faced increasing competition from the Bratz range of dolls.

History

Ruth Handler watched her daughter Barbara at play with paper dolls, and noticed that she often enjoyed giving them adult roles. At the time, most children's toy dolls were representations of infants. Realizing that there could be a gap in the market, Handler suggested the idea of an adult-bodied doll to her husband Elliot, a co-founder of the Mattel toy company. He was unenthusiastic about the idea, as were Mattel's directors. During a trip to Europe in 1956 with her children Barbara and Kenneth, Ruth Handler came across German toy doll called Bild Lilli.[1] The adult-figured Lilli doll was exactly what Handler had in mind, so she purchased three of them. She gave one to her daughter and took the others back to Mattel. The Lilli doll was based on a popular character appearing in a comic strip drawn by Reinhard Beuthin for the newspaper Die Bild-Zeitung. Lilli was a working girl who knew what she wanted and was not above using men to get it. The Lilli doll was first sold in Germany in 1955, and although it was initially sold to adults, it became popular with children who enjoyed dressing her up in outfits that were available separately. Upon her return to the United States, Handler reworked the design of the doll (with help from engineer Jack Ryan) and the doll was given a new name, Barbie, after Handler's daughter Barbara. The doll made its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959. This date is also used as Barbie's official birthday. Mattel acquired the rights to the Bild Lilli doll in 1964 and production of Lilli was stopped. The first Barbie doll wore a black and white zebra striped swimsuit and signature topknot ponytail, and was available as either a blonde or brunette. The doll was marketed as a "Teen-age Fashion Model," with her clothes created by Mattel fashion designer Charlotte Johnson. The first Barbie dolls were manufactured in Japan, with their clothes hand-stitched by Japanese homeworkers. Around 350,000 Barbie dolls were sold during the first year of production. Ruth Handler believed that it was important for Barbie to have an adult appearance, and early market research showed that some parents were unhappy about the doll's chest, which had distinct breasts. Barbie's appearance has been changed many times, most notably in 1971 when the doll's eyes were adjusted to look forwards rather than having the demure sideways glance of the original model. Barbie was one of the first toys to have a marketing strategy based extensively on television advertising, which has been copied widely by other toys. It is estimated that over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries, with Mattel claiming that three Barbie dolls are sold every second.The standard range of Barbie dolls and related accessories are manufactured to approximately 1/6th scale, which is also known as playscale. Barbie products include not only the range of dolls with their clothes and accessories, but also a huge range of Barbie branded goods such as books, fashion items and video games. Barbie has appeared in a series of animated films and makes a brief guest appearance in the 1999 film Toy Story 2. Almost uniquely for a toy fashion doll, Barbie has become a cultural icon and has been given honors that are rare in the toy world. In 1974 a section of Times Square in New York City was renamed Barbie Boulevard for a week, while in 1985 the artist Andy Warhol created a painting of Barbie

Biography

Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. In a series of novels published by Random House in the 1960s, her parents' names are given as George and Margaret Roberts from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin. Barbie has been said to attend Willows High School and Manhattan International High School in New York City, based on the real-life Stuyvesant High School. She has an on-off romantic relationship with her beau Ken (Ken Carson), who first appeared in 1961. Like Barbie, Ken shares his name with one of Ruth Handler's children. A news release from Mattel in February 2004 announced that Barbie and Ken had decided to split up, but in February 2006 they were back together again. Barbie has had over forty pets including cats and dogs, horses, a panda, a lion cub, and a zebra. She has owned a wide range of vehicles, including pink convertibles, trailers and jeeps. She also holds a pilot's license, and operates commercial airliners in addition to serving as a flight attendant. Barbie's careers are designed to show that women can take on a variety of roles in life, and the doll has been sold with a wide range of titles including Miss Astronaut Barbie (1965), Doctor Barbie (1988) and Nascar Barbie (1998). Mattel has created a range of companions for Barbie, including Hispanic Teresa, Midge, African American Christie and Steven (Christie's boyfriend). For more details, see the List of Barbie's friends and family.

Controversies

Barbie's popularity ensures that her effect on the play of Western children attracts a high degree of scrutiny. The criticisms leveled at her are often based on the assumption that children consider Barbie a role model and will attempt to emulate her. In September 2003 the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie dolls, saying that she did not conform to the ideals of Islam. The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice stated "Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful." In Middle Eastern countries there is an alternative doll called Fulla which is similar to Barbie but is designed to be more acceptable to an Islamic market. Fulla is not made by the Mattel Corporation, and Barbie is still available in other Middle Eastern countries including Egypt.In Iran, Sara and Dara dolls are available as an alternative to Barbie. The word Barbie has come to be used as a derogatory slang term for a girl or woman who is considered shallow, most notably in the 1997 pop song Barbie Girl (see Parodies and lawsuits below). In July 1992 Mattel released Teen Talk Barbie, which spoke a number of phrases including "Will we ever have enough clothes?", "I love shopping!", and "Wanna have a pizza party?" Each doll was programmed to say four out of 270 possible phrases, so that no two dolls were likely to be the same. One of these 270 phrases was "Math class is tough!" Although only about 1.5% of all the dolls sold said the phrase, it led to criticism from the American Association of University Women. In October 1992 Mattel announced that Teen Talk Barbie would no longer say the phrase, and offered a swap to anyone who owned the doll. Barbie's waist has been widened in more recent versions of the doll One of the most common criticisms of Barbie is that she promotes an unrealistic idea of body image for a woman, leading to a risk that women who attempt to emulate her will become anorexic. A standard Barbie doll is 11.5 inches tall, giving a height of 5 feet 9 inches at 1/6 scale. Barbie's vital statistics have been estimated at 36 inches (chest), 18 inches (waist) and 33 inches (hips). According to research by the University Central Hospital in Helsinki, Finland, she would lack the 17 to 22 percent body fat required for a woman to menstruate. In 1965 Slumber Party Barbie came with a book entitled How to Lose Weight which advised: "Don't eat." The doll also came with pink bathroom scales reading 110lb, which would be around 35lbs underweight for a woman 5 feet 9 inches tall. In 1997 Barbie's body mold was redesigned and given a wider waist, with Mattel saying that this would make the doll better suited to contemporary fashion designs. Oreo Fun Barbie from 1997 became controversial due to a negative interpretation of the doll's name "Colored Francie" made her debut in 1967, and she is sometimes described as the first African American Barbie doll. However, she was produced using the existing head molds for the white Francie doll and lacked African characteristics other than a dark skin. The first African American doll in the Barbie range is usually regarded as Christie, who made her debut in 1968. Black Barbie and Hispanic Barbie were launched in 1980. In 1997 Mattel joined forces with Nabisco to launch a cross-promotion of Barbie with Oreo cookies. Oreo Fun Barbie was marketed as someone with whom little girls could play after class and share "America's favorite cookie." As had become the custom, Mattel manufactured both a white and a black version. Critics argued that in the African American community Oreo is a derogatory term meaning that the person is "black on the outside and white on the inside," like the chocolate sandwich cookie itself. The doll was unsuccessful and Mattel recalled the unsold stock, making it sought after by collectors. In May 1997 Mattel introduced Share a Smile Becky, a doll in a pink wheelchair. Kjersti Johnson, a 17-year-old high school student in Tacoma, Washington with cerebral palsy, pointed out that the doll would not fit into the elevator of Barbie's $100 Dream House. Mattel announced that it would redesign the house in the future to accommodate the doll. In March 2000 stories appeared in the media claiming that the hard vinyl used in vintage Barbie dolls could leak toxic chemicals, causing danger to children playing with them. The claim was rejected as false by technical experts. A modern Barbie doll has a body made from ABS plastic, while the head is made from soft PVC. In December 2005 Dr. Agnes Nairn at the University of Bath in England published research suggesting that girls often go through a stage where they hate their Barbie dolls and subject them to a range of punishments, including decapitation and placing the doll in a microwave oven. Dr. Nairn said: "It's as though disavowing Barbie is a rite of passage and a rejection of their past

The Powerpuff Girls

The Powerpuff Girls is an Emmy award-winning American animated television series about three little girls in kindergarten who have superpowers. Created by animator Craig McCracken, the program was produced by Hanna-Barbera until 2001 when Cartoon Network Studios took over production for Cartoon Network. The series is a spoof on American superheroes as well as Japanese Tokusatsu heroes like Super Sentai. As is typical in McCracken's work, the show also makes heavy use of references to older pop culture, particularly the famous English musical group The Beatles. The animation director is Genndy Tartakovsky, of Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack fame, who also directed many of the show's episodes himself.

Overview

The Powerpuff Girls revolves around the adventures of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, three cute little girls with super powers. The plot of a typical episode is some humorous variation of standard superhero and/or tokusatsu fare, with the girls using their powers to defend their town from various villains, such as bank robbers, mad scientists, aliens, or giant monsters. In addition, the girls also have to deal with normal issues young children face, such as bed wetting or dependence on a security blanket. The series is one in a long line of cartoons that derives a great deal of humor from pop culture references and parody. There is often a particular emphasis on cultural phenomenons and art styles from the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. For instance, the characters' dialogue often contain allusions to various classic rock and pop songs from these eras; there was even an entire episode whose dialogue consisted almost solely of lyrics from Beatles songs, while the episode's plot was a loose retelling of the Beatles career (featuring the show's villains in roles alluding to the original band members). The show has a highly stylized, minimalistic visual look, reminiscent of 1950s and 60s pop art. Movie critic Bob Longino of the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution praised the style in his review of The Powerpuff Girls Movie by saying that "the intricate drawings emanate 1950s futuristic pizazz like a David Hockney scenescape", and that The Powerpuff Girls is "one of the few American creations that is both gleeful pop culture and exquisite high art".The show has been hailed for showing young girls as active and capable heroines. However, it has also come under criticism for its rather excessive violence (including images of characters gushing blood from their mouths when hit), and for what have been perceived as morally questionable actions on part of the main characters, such as sometimes using more brutal force than necessary.

Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls is an Emmy Award-winning American comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The series made its debut on The WB on October 5, 2000, and it ended on May 15, 2007 in its seventh season, which aired on The CW. The show follows single mother Lorelai Victoria Gilmore (Graham) and her daughter Lorelai "Rory" Leigh Gilmore (Bledel) in the fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, a close-knit small town with many quirky characters, located roughly thirty minutes from Hartford. The series explores family, friendship, generational divides, and social class. Gilmore Girls features intricate, extremely fast-paced dialogue, with frequent popular-culture references and allusions to politics and high culture. It also features social commentary, which is manifest most clearly in Lorelai's diffic Background. Lorelai's conflict with her wealthy parents is central to the back-story foGilmore Girls received an American Film Institute Award and two Viewers For Quality Television Awards, and was named New Program of the Year by the Television Critics Association. The show won an Emmy for its only nomination: 2004's Outstanding Makeup for a Series for the episode "The Festival of Living Art". The show's actors have received many awards for their work on the series. Graham won two Family Television Awards along with a Teen Choice Award for Best TV Mom. Alexis Bledel has won a Young Artist Award and a Family Television Award. The series also won a Family Television Award for New Series, and was named Best Family TV Drama Series by the Young Artist Awards. Cultural references In addition to fast-paced dialogue, Gilmore Girls is also known for numerous popular culture references made by the characters. The references, which may point to anything from movies, television shows, music and books to quotes from celebrities, are frequently quite obscure. To help the viewer understand what the characters are talking about, The WB has included "Gilmore-isms" booklets in the DVD sets of the seasons (except for seasons one, five and six, where purchasers of that set were referred to the site below). The booklets contain "the 411 on many of the show's pop culture references", along with comments from the show creators. Music Music plays a large part in the show. Most of the main or recurring characters on the show have had their musical tastes revealed at one time or another. Lorelai famously likes '80s music like that of The Bangles, XTC, The Go-Go's, David Bowie, Metallica, U2, and Brian Eno. Rory credits her mother with introducing her to new books and music throughout her life, often swaps CDs with her. In the 5th season it is revealed that Rory is a fan of neither Bob Dylan nor The Smashing Pumpkins (whom Lane likes). Lane is a music enthusiast, and her list of musical influences ran to five pages when she was writing her "drummer-seeks-rock-band" ad. Included were David Bowie, the Ramones, Jackson Browne (Lane: "Ah, see, cool people know that he’s more than a mellow hippie-dippy folkie, that he actually wrote some of Nico’s best songs and was in fact her lover before he bored us with 'Doctor My Eyes'. That will separate the posers from the non-posers." —Season 3, Ep. 3 "Application Anxiety"), The Accelerators , The Adverts, Agent Orange, Angelic Upstarts, and Agnostic Front. She also owns a record of Rilo Kiley and another by The Beta Band. Lane's band, Hep Alien (which is an anagram of producer Helen Pai's name), plays rock with different influences, and Sebastian Bach, formerly of Skid Row, plays Gil, the band's guitarist. In one episode Lorelai explains that Lane's kid may like anything. Lorelai says that Lane's mother didn't know that she would love Jane's Addiction, thus showing more of her musical interests. In another episode Zack is planning to have sex with Lane and asks her if the music is alright; He was playing Siouxsie and the Banshees' hit "Hong Kong Garden". Lane says she likes the music. The Bangles made a guest appearance in the Season 1 episode "Concert Interruptus" while The Shins guest-starred (playing their song "So Says I" from the album Chutes Too Narrow) in the Season 4 episode "Girls in Bikinis, Boys Doin' the Twist" (also, their 2000 single "Know Your Onion!" is heard in season two "Like Mother, Like Daughter", while their album Chutes Too Narrow later appears). The song "Know Your Onion" is also on the Gilmore Girls CD, Our Little Corner Of The World: Music From Gilmore Girls. Carole King, who re-recorded her 1971 song "Where You Lead" as a duet with her daughter Louise Goffin as the Gilmore Girls theme song, appears occasionally as local music store owner Sophie Bloom. The original score to the show is performed by Sam Phillips. Grant-Lee Phillips appears in at least one episode per season (up to season 6) as Grant, the town troubadour. In the finale of the sixth season, the aforementioned troubadour is "discovered" by a music producer and is set to open for Neil Young (who Kirk says is "one of the Monkees") and, as a result, Stars Hollow is infested with new "troubadours" includin Yo La Tengo, members of Sonic Youth, Pernice Brothers and Sparks, all "hoping to be discovered". Taylor, the town's Selectman, tries to shove away the musicians, to no avail. He claims that there's no greater music admirer than him, a Pat Boone enthusiast, but that they lack Boone's talent. Later on, the original troubadour returns and says he was booed off stage and never even got to meet Neil Young - "Heart of Gold my ass" he tells Taylor. Lorelai adopts a dog and names it Paul Anka. The famous singer himself appeared in season 6 in the episode "The Real Paul Anka": Lorelai has a strange dream (that serves as the episode introduction) in which "the dog Paul Anka" switches bodies with "the real Paul Anka" numerous times during its morning walk, until the two, dog and artist, meet in the middle of Stars Hollow, and the world ends. Joel Gion, formerly of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, also appeared in an episode, playing tambourine for Zack's side project while Hep Alien is on hiatus. In 2002, a soundtrack to the show was released by Rhino Records, entitled Our Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore Girls. The CD booklet features anecdotes from show producers Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino covering the large part music has played in their lives. Food and drink Food is another important part of the show. Lorelai and Rory are coffee addicts and are frequently seen drinking it on the show. In reality, Alexis Bledel's (Rory) "coffee" mug was generally filled with Coca-Cola or tea. It is a running gag that Lorelai and Rory can eat copious amounts of junk food, but never seem to gain weight. When they are not eating or playing bagel hockey at Luke's Diner, or having formal Friday night dinners at Emily and Richard's, they often order pizza or take-out Chinese food. Surprisingly, their refrigerator is rarely filled with leftovers. They eat tons of food, including French fries and Tater Tots, various types of pies, and ice cream straight from the carton. Lorelai and Rory love to eat Mallomars, which Rory uses to spell out "Happy Birthday Lorelai" on their kitchen table in the third season, and Lorelai snacks on Red Vines red "licorice" during the many movies she watches. The two also like doughnuts and various other chocolate and baked goods. They also enjoy many international foods while on their European trip in the fourth season, and eat the Italian dessert, biscotti, on the night before Rory leaves for Yale (see Season 4: Episode 1 "Ballrooms and Biscotti"). In the DVD commentary for Season 1, Lauren Graham admits that neither she nor Alexis Bledel eat like their characters. Additionally, Pop Tarts recur on the show as both Lorelai's and Rory's favorite breakfast and snack food. Sookie, the chef at the Dragonfly Inn, is very passionate about cooking and often obsesses over the inn's menu. Luke's healthy eating habits are sometimes contrasted with Rory and Lorelai's junk-food diet. Mrs. Kim is a Seventh-day Adventist and follows a strict vegetarian diet, which she also forces upon Lane. Especially in the first season, Rory sneaks Lane candy bars, pizza, and other foods forbidden by her mother. After Lane moves out of her parents' home in a later season, she wins the loyalty of her mother's Korean houseguest by bribing her with fries, other junk food, and advice on skirting Mrs. Kim's many dietary and behavioral restrictionsr the series. Tension with her controlling mother, Emily, and her father, Richard, recurs throughout the show. Lorelai's troubled childhood came to a head when she became the teenage mother of Rory at the age of sixteen, which required the sacrifice of her elite prep-school education (and future as a college student at Vassar). In addition, Lorelai refused to marry the baby's father, Christopher Hayden, much to the dismay of her parents. Instead, the rebellious Lorelai ran away to Stars Hollow, a small, close-knit town near Hartford. There she met Mia, owner of the Independence Inn, who gave her a job as a maid and acted as a surrogate mother to both Lorelai and Rory. Lorelai eventually became general manager of the inn, her position at the start of the series. She and Rory lived in a converted potting shed behind the Inn for about ten years before moving to the house they live in during the show. Lorelai consistently tried to minimize her parents' contact with Rory until (the first episode of the series) Lorelai approached them to fund Rory's elite fictional prep school, Chilton Academy. Rory's education Rory's academic aspirations complicate matters on the show. Rory had wanted to attend Harvard University since kindergarten; to achieve this she transfers to the private (fictional) Chilton Academy, an elite prep school in Hartford, from the public Stars Hollow High at the beginning of her sophomore year. There, she encounters an unfamiliar social environment of wealthy, high-strung peers. Lorelai knows that she cannot afford Rory's Chilton education, and reluctantly solicits help from her parents. Richard and Emily Gilmore agree to lend Lorelai money on the condition that she and Rory attend dinner at their Hartford mansion every Friday evening. The dinners become a common setting for heated conversations and family drama. After much deliberation, and with her mother's blessing, Rory ultimately decides to go to Yale, her grandfather's alma mater, instead of Harvard. Lorelai repays her parents' Chilton loan just before Rory's graduation, ending their mutual arrangement. However, she later discovers Yale is not offering any financial aid for Rory, putting her education in financial jeopardy once again. She has an adequate amount of money, but it was to be used to buy the Dragonfly Inn. Rory realizes that this was important to Lorelai and secretly goes to her grandparents to request the tuition money from them in exchange for the continuance of the Friday night dinners. Rory negotiates the terms of the loan with her grandparents, agreeing on beginning the repayment five years after she graduates and with no interest accrued. After the death of his grandfather Rory's father, Christopher, receives a large inheritance and offers to do anything for Rory. So Rory decides, after a big fight with her grandparents, to have him pay for her tuition from spring semester of her junior year on. This created more tension when her grandfather went to pay for Yale and found out it was already paid for, but ultimately the Friday night dinner tradition continued. In the seventh season, Rory graduates from Yale. She got a job opportunity, but she turned it down in favor of applying for the New York Times fellowship program. Unfortunately, she later finds out she was not accepted into the fellowship and the job she was offered before is now filled. So, Rory graduates from Yale uncertain where her career is going and what she will be doing. In the final episode she accepts an impromptu job offer to work for an online magazine, in which she will follow Barack Obama on the campaign trail. The town throws an equally impromptu going away party for Rory, wishing her well and love as she heads into the world outside of Connecticut. Lorelai's romantic life Lorelai's various romantic entanglements also played a role in the show. Her relationship with local restaurant owner Luke Danes (Scott Patterson) gradually grows from a playful friendship to a romantic relationship at the end of the fourth season. At one point Lorelai and Luke come home drunk and have relations. Lorelai later realizes she may be pregnant, but it is a false alarm. They get engaged in the sixth season premiere after Lorelai sees how much Luke cares for Rory when he finds out she's not going back to Yale. When Luke finds out he has a daughter he wants to slow things down with Lorelai. After a while she grows impatient and gives him an ultimatum. She told him they would get married now or it was over. He declined and their relationship ended in the sixth season finale. In the seventh season, during the Spring Fling (one of the town's many festivals), the two meet in the middle of a hay maze, and both apologize for their behavior regarding the end of their relationship, thus beginning a new, tentative friendship. In the series finale, Luke moves mountains to throw Rory a graduation/going away party in the town square. When Sookie tells Lorelai that Luke painstakingly put the bash together, with the help of most of the townfolk, Lorelai decides to thank Luke for his thoughtfulness. Luke tells her that he just likes to see her happy, they embrace, and kiss. In the final scene of the episode, Lorelai and Rory are seated at Luke's Diner for an early breakfast before Rory must leave for her first job after graduating from Yale. When Luke asks Lorelai what she would like to eat, she says that she needs a minute as she can't decide. Luke smiles and tells her to take all the time she needs. Also, in this scene Lorelai is wearing a necklace that Luke gave to her as a gift. This last scene of the series mirrors the last scene of the first episode, where Lorelai and Rory are eating in the diner with Luke behind the counter. Max Medina (Scott Cohen), Rory's Chilton English teacher, to whom Lorelai was briefly engaged. Luke, after learning of their engagement, makes Lorelai a chuppah, and when he presents it to her they talk. Luke observes that "you only get married once." Then at her bachlorette party her mother talks about when she was about to marry Richard and that she would put on her wedding dress every night. These things make Lorelai realize that she does not truly love Max, and she ends their engagement by leaving for a spontaneous road trip with Rory early in the morning the day before her wedding. Max shows up again in the third season, but nothing serious happens between them. For a while in season 3 Lorelai casually dated Alex, a divorced man with two kids who was starting his own coffee shop. He took her coffee tasting, fishing and to New York for a show and then was no longer on the show. Jason Stiles, Richard's much younger business partner and a childhood friend of Lorelai's, whom she fondly calls Digger. She initially dated him to bother her mother, who she knew would disapprove of their relationship. However, when the relationship became more serious, she feared telling her parents. Jason and Lorelai's relationship was exposed when Jason's father hired a private investigator to follow his son. They broke up when Jason filed a lawsuit against Lorelai's father after Richard sued Jason. Lorelai eventually chose her father over Jason. In the fourth season finale, Jason comes to the test run at the Dragonfly to try to win Lorelai back. He becomes annoying by the end of the night (especially to Luke, who is unclear on the details of his and Lorelai's relationship status). At the end of the episode Lorelai adamantly tells Jason and Luke that her relationship with Jason is over. After which Jason is never seen again. That ends up being the night Luke and Lorelai first kiss. Lorelai periodically reconnects with Christopher Hayden (David Sutcliffe), Rory's father. As their subplot develops, it becomes evident that Lorelai always expected to reunite with Christopher, but he was never prepared to commit seriously. In the first season when we meet him for the first time they go to Friday night dinner with both their parents. It ends up turning into a big fight and Chris and Lorelai end up on the balcony where they held many high school memories, including the initial conception of Rory. After much reminiscing, they find themselves having sex. The next morning Chris spontaneously proposes, but Lorelai knows he can't be a family man. When Rory asks if she loved him, she says, "I think I'll always love your dad..." Christopher begins dating Sherry in season 2, but after they break up, he and Lorelai begin to rekindle their relationship, until Sherry reveals that she is pregnant and Lorelai gets dumped. Christopher and Sherry get married, have a baby and get divorced after Sherry runs off to Paris abandoning Chris and their baby. At this point Lorelai was already romantically involved with Luke, although Christopher tried to win her back at Richard and Emily's "wedding." He messes things up with Lorelai and Luke and makes Lorelai even more irritated with him. They remained platonic until the final episode of the sixth season, when Lorelai goes to Chris for comfort after breaking up with Luke and again they end up having sex. In the seventh season, they took a romantic trip to Paris and decided to elope. During the November sweeps 2006, they are a married couple. However, soon into their marriage they broke up again due to conflicts over lack of sincere devotion to their marriage on her part and her lingering feelings for Luke, as well as his inability to work through conflict. Rory's romantic life As with Lorelai, Rory's romantic attractions also run throughout the show. Rory meets Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki) in the first episode of the series, and maintains a relationship with him for almost two and a half seasons. She does break up with Dean briefly in the first season, when she isn't able to reciprocate his statement, "I love you." It is during this time apart that Rory kisses Tristan DuGrey (Chad Michael Murray), a Chilton classmate with whom she has a love-hate relationship. Eventually, she renews her relationship with Dean and they remain a steady couple until the third season, when Dean decides to call it quits because he is convinced that Rory is in love with Jess Mariano, Luke Danes' nephew. They do not reunite until much later, when she loses her virginity to a now-married Dean in an unexpected fling, which ultimately ends his marriage and creates a short-lived rift between her and her mother. Rory and Dean break-up when he decides he can't compete with her life at Yale and her new Yale friends including Logan Huntzberger. Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia), moves to Stars Hollow in Season 2 to live with his uncle, local diner owner Luke Danes. During that season Rory is torn between her attraction for the combustible Jess and the always dependable Dean. Eventually, Rory chooses Jess and they become a couple and are together throughout the third season. However, their relationship ends abruptly when Jess drops out of high school and leaves Stars Hollow without telling Rory. He goes to California to seek out his father —- his life there was potentially going to be a Gilmore Girls spin-off but this never materialized. In season four, Jess reappears after several months and confesses his love for Rory, imploring her to leave Yale to run away with him to New York but Rory is unwilling to do so. In Season 6, Jess makes an unexpected appearance at Rory's grandparents' house and the two briefly reminisce about old times. Rory and Jess make plans to have dinner together to further catch-up with each other but Logan interlopes on the "date" and he and Jess get into a heated exchange and Jess walks out. Outside the restaurant, Jess questions Rory about her upper-class sensibilities and her apparent fascination with Logan, who Jess claims is exactly the type of person he and Rory "used to make fun of". Later in season 6, Rory takes an impulsive trip to visit Jess in Philadelphia where she and Jess share a romantic kiss after he writes a book and tells her all his success is due to her support. This is cut short however when Rory realizes she doesn't want to betray Logan and walks out. Jess is never seen again in the series. At Yale, Rory becomes involved with Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry), a chronic underachiever whose wealthy family owns a newspaper empire and immediately disapproves of Rory. Logan's father, the infamous Mitchum Huntzberger, hires Rory as an intern. His crushingly negative evaluation of her work leads to her leaving Yale temporarily at the end of the fifth season. (The scenes of Logan's house are filmed at Doheny mansion on the Mount St. Mary's campus.) In the sixth season premiere, Lorelai and Rory are estranged and Rory is living with her grandparents. She is taking time off from college and serving community service for stealing a yacht with Logan. Eventually, an intervention from Jess makes Rory regret her actions, and she reunites with her mother. Logan gets upset at Rory because of Jess' appearance and leaves without resolution. Rory then returns to Yale for the spring semester of the 2005–2006 school year. Rory's relationship with Logan is particularly tumultuous after she attends the wedding of Logan's sister, and discovers that he had sex with all of the bridesmaids during their brief break up earlier in season 6. In the next episode, Rory takes Logan back, although she has not forgiven him. Logan then leaves for three days on a Life and Death Brigade event, although Rory had expressed her concern. During his absence, Rory visits Jess at his new bookstore and kisses him, apologizing and fully confessing her feelings for Logan. Logan is seriously injured on the trip. Rory takes care of Logan after his accident, and their relationship is repaired. In the season 6 finale, Logan graduates and leaves for London. In the seventh season, he relocates to New York City to start his own Internet company, which becomes a financial disaster. Logan has a breakdown and heads to Las Vegas, where he parties frequently. Rory and Logan fight over his irresponsible behavior, but eventually make up. Their relationship continues to strengthen when Logan comes home with Rory to Stars Hollow. There, he asks Lorelai for Rory's hand in marriage and reveals his plans to move to San Francisco. When Logan reveals his intentions to Rory at her graduation party (held by her grandparents), she replies by saying she "needs more time." After her graduation, Rory tells Logan that there is so much in life to pursue now, and that being married would change that. She attempts to convince him to give a long-distance relationship a try, but he tells her that it's "all or nothing". She gives the ring back to Logan and he ends their relationship that same day. Logan still plans to move to San Francisco without Rory. Other characters Rory's friendships with long-time best friend Lane Kim (Keiko Agena), a first-generation Korean American from a strict background, and Paris Geller (Liza Weil), a friend/rival at both Chilton and Yale, are also themes in the show. At the end of the sixth season, Lane marries Hep Alien band-mate Zach van Gerbig (Todd Lowe), a sweet and slightly dopey rocker. At the beginning of the seventh season, Lane discovers that she is unexpectedly pregnant and gives birth to twin boys (Kwan and Steve) later in the season. In the seventh season, Paris is accepted into Harvard Medical School (Harvard is the school she has wanted to go to for years, as her family are all alumni, but was not accepted for the Baccalaureate program during the third season). In season four, Doyle McMaster (Danny Strong) storms onto the show as the Yale Daily News editor. He and Paris start dating in the fifth season, after Paris's relationship with a much older Professor Asher Fleming (Michael York) ends with his sudden death. Episodes Main article: List of Gilmore Girls episodes Production History The pilot episode of Gilmore Girls received financial support from the script development fund of the Family Friendly Programming Forum. It was the first network show to reach the air with help from funding provided by that organization, which includes some of the nation's leading advertisers. The show was not a ratings success initially, airing in the tough Thursday 8pm/7pm Central time slot dominated by Survivor and Friends in its first season. It grew a following that saw it outdraw its time-slot competitor, popular series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in the ratings when it moved to Tuesday. In its fifth season, Gilmore Girls blossomed into The WB's second most watched primetime show, with a fan base which grew by double digits in all major demographics. In its syndicated release in the U.S., the show airs exclusively on the ABC Family Channel. The WB planned to air a spin-off featuring Jess as the main character, called Windward Circle, in which he gets to know his estranged father better and befriends a bunch of California skateboarders. However, the network canceled the show before it aired, citing high production costs to shoot on location in Venice Beach as the reason.On May 3, 2007, The CW announced that the series would not be renewed.According to Variety, "Money was a key factor in the decision, with the parties involved not able to reach a deal on salaries for the main cast members. Other issues, such as number of episodes and production dates, may have also played a role". Furthermore, the entirety of the 7th season was not written or produced by Amy Sherman-Palladino. Since the finale, fans have petitioned for an 8th season. Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino has expressed an interest in pursuing a Gilmore Girls movie, an idea in which many cast members have shown interest. Awardsult relationship with her wealthy upper class parents.