Frank Rich: Difference between revisions
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Rich dismissed the [[Historical fiction|historical-drama]] film ''[[The Passion of the Christ]]'' (2004), directed by [[Mel Gibson]], as "nothing so much as a porn movie, replete with [[slow motion|slo-mo]] climaxes and pounding music for the money shots", and praised [[Christopher Hitchens]]'s description of it as "a [[Homoeroticism|homoerotic]] 'exercise in lurid [[sadomasochism]]' for those who 'like seeing handsome young men stripped and [[wikt:flay|flayed]] alive over a long period of time.'"<ref>Rich, Frank ([[essay]]) (March 7, 2004). [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E6D7143FF934A35750C0A9629C8B63&n=Top%2FFeatures%2FArts%2FColumns%2FFrank%20Rich "Mel Gibson Forgives Us For His Sins"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. Accessed May 18, 2010.</ref> |
Rich dismissed the [[Historical fiction|historical-drama]] film ''[[The Passion of the Christ]]'' (2004), directed by [[Mel Gibson]], as "nothing so much as a porn movie, replete with [[slow motion|slo-mo]] climaxes and pounding music for the money shots", and praised [[Christopher Hitchens]]'s description of it as "a [[Homoeroticism|homoerotic]] 'exercise in lurid [[sadomasochism]]' for those who 'like seeing handsome young men stripped and [[wikt:flay|flayed]] alive over a long period of time.'"<ref>Rich, Frank ([[essay]]) (March 7, 2004). [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E6D7143FF934A35750C0A9629C8B63&n=Top%2FFeatures%2FArts%2FColumns%2FFrank%20Rich "Mel Gibson Forgives Us For His Sins"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. Accessed May 18, 2010.</ref> |
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A July 2009 column focused on what Rich believes is the [[bigotry|bigoted]] nature of the U.S. president's detractors.<ref>{{Registration required}}{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/opinion/19rich.html?_r=1|title=They Got Some 'Splainin' to Do|accessdate=April 2010 |author=Rich, Frank ([[essay]])|date= July 19, 2009|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''}}</ref> On the [[Tea Party movement]], which emerged in 2009, Rich opined that they are similar in nature to the [[Ku Klux Klan]], a [[ |
A July 2009 column focused on what Rich believes is the [[bigotry|bigoted]] nature of the U.S. president's detractors.<ref>{{Registration required}}{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/opinion/19rich.html?_r=1|title=They Got Some 'Splainin' to Do|accessdate=April 2010 |author=Rich, Frank ([[essay]])|date= July 19, 2009|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''}}</ref> On the [[Tea Party movement]], which emerged in 2009, Rich opined that they are similar in nature to the [[Ku Klux Klan]], a [[Far-right politics|U.S. far right/racist]] organization and had, in response to the passage of the 2010 [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]] created "its own small-scale mimicry of [[Kristallnacht]]", the two-night, November 1938 anti-[[Jews|Jewish]] [[pogrom]] in [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Austria]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/opinion/28rich.html|title=The Rage is Not About Health Care|accessdate=April 2010 |author=Rich, Frank ([[essay]])|date= March 27, 2010|publisher= ''[[The New York Times]]''}}</ref> |
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==Awards== |
==Awards== |
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Revision as of 17:59, 7 July 2010
Frank Rich | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Essayist and Columnist |
| Language | English |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Spouse | Gail Winston (divorced) Alexandra Witchel |
| Children | two sons (including Simon Rich) with Winston |
| Website | |
| http://www.frankrich.com | |
Frank Rich (born June 2, 1949) is an American essayist writer and columnist. Since 1980, he has written for The New York Times, when he was appointed its chief theater critic. He has held various roles with the Times, and as of May 2010 was an op-ed columnist, with his weekly essay appearing in the Sunday Week in Review section.[1]
Early life and education
Rich grew up in Washington, D.C., attending public schools.
He attended Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he studied American history and literature. While at Harvard, he became the editorial chairman of The Harvard Crimson, the university's daily student newspaper. He became an honorary Harvard College scholar, was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and received a Henry Russell Shaw Traveling Fellowship. He graduated in magna cum laude with a B.A. degree in American History and Literature in 1971.[1]
Career
Before joining The New York Times in 1980, he was a film critic for Time, film critic for the New York Post, and film critic and senior editor of New Times Magazine. In the early 1970s, he was a founding editor of the Richmond (Va.) Mercury. At The New York Times, he has been the chief theater critic, senior writer for the New York Times Magazine, and as of May 2010 was an op-ed columnist.[1]
Theatre criticism
Rich first garnered attention from the theatre community with an essay he wrote for The Harvard Crimson about the theatre musical Follies (1971), by Stephen Sondheim, during its pre-Broadway tryout run in Boston, Massachusetts. In his study of the work, he was "the first person to predict the legendary status the show eventually would achieve", and the article "fascinated" Harold Prince, the musical's co-director, and "absolutely intrigued" Sondheim, who invited the undergraduate to lunch to discuss further his feelings about the production.[2]
A collection of his theatre reviews were published in a book, Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for The New York Times, 1980-1993 (1998). He also wrote The Theatre Art of Boris Aronson with Lisa Aronson in 1987.[1]
Media and political criticism
Since 2003, Rich has written regularly for The New York Times on the mass media and public relations, particularly on its coverage of U.S. national politics. His columns make regular references to a broad range of popular culture — including television, movies, theater, and literature — and draws connections to politics and current events. His column is also published in the International Herald Tribune, a subsidiary of The New York Times Company.
As a political commentator, Rich is often criticized by Bill O'Reilly, host of The O'Reilly Factor, a television talk show on the Fox News Channel. Rich is openly critical of Fox News, accusing it in 2004 of having a politically conservative media bias.[3]
In a January 2006 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, a weekday television talk show, commenting on the James Frey memoir scandal, he expanded on his usage in his column of the term truthiness to summarize a variety of parallel ills in culture and politics.[4]
His book The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina (2006) criticized the American media for its support of U.S. President George W. Bush's administration's policies following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Rich dismissed the historical-drama film The Passion of the Christ (2004), directed by Mel Gibson, as "nothing so much as a porn movie, replete with slo-mo climaxes and pounding music for the money shots", and praised Christopher Hitchens's description of it as "a homoerotic 'exercise in lurid sadomasochism' for those who 'like seeing handsome young men stripped and flayed alive over a long period of time.'"[5]
A July 2009 column focused on what Rich believes is the bigoted nature of the U.S. president's detractors.[6] On the Tea Party movement, which emerged in 2009, Rich opined that they are similar in nature to the Ku Klux Klan, a U.S. far right/racist organization and had, in response to the passage of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act created "its own small-scale mimicry of Kristallnacht", the two-night, November 1938 anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany and Austria.[7]
Awards
In 2005, Rich received the George Polk Award[8] given annually by Long Island University in Brookville, New York, to honor contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting.
Personal life
Rich is married to Alexandra Witchel, who also writes — as Alex Witchel — for The New York Times. He has two sons from his previous marriage to Gail Winston. One of those sons, Simon Rich, as of 2010, was a writer for Saturday Night Live, a live, late-night television sketch comedy and variety show.
His memoir Ghost Light (2000) chronicles his childhood through his college years in 1950s Maryland with a focus on his lifelong adoration of the theatre and the impact it had on his life.[1]
Bibliography
- Rich, Frank; Aronson, Lisa (1987). The Theatre Art of Boris Aronson. Alfred A. Knopf (New York City, New York). ISBN 0394529138.
- Rich, Frank (1998). Hot Seat — Theater Criticism for The New York Times, 1980-1993. Random House (New York City, New York). ISBN 0-679-45300-8.
- Rich, Frank (2000). Ghost Light — A Memoir.. Random House (New York City, New York). ISBN 0-375-75824-0.
- Rich, Frank (2006). The Greatest Story Ever Sold — The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina. Penguin Press (New York City, New York). ISBN 1-59420-098-X.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Columnist Biography: Frank Rich". New York Times. 2005. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ Chapin, Ted (2003). Everything Was Possible — The Birth of the Musical Follies. Alfred A. Knopf (New York City, New York). pp. 116, 193-195. ISBN 0-375-41328-6.
- ^ (registration required)Rich, Frank (essay) (September 19, 2004). "This Time Bill O'Reilly Got It Right". The New York Times. Retrieved April 5, 2007.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Transcript of interview (January 26, 2006). "Journalists Speak Out" (includes video [[Adobe Flash required). The Oprah Winfrey Show (at oprah.com). Accessed May 17, 2010.
- ^ Rich, Frank (essay) (March 7, 2004). "Mel Gibson Forgives Us For His Sins". The New York Times. Accessed May 18, 2010.
- ^ (registration required)Rich, Frank (essay) (July 19, 2009). "They Got Some 'Splainin' to Do". The New York Times. Retrieved April 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Rich, Frank (essay) (March 27, 2010). "The Rage is Not About Health Care". The New York Times. Retrieved April 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Press release. "George Polk Awards for Journalism". Long Island University. Retrieved November 15, 2006.
External links
- frankrich.com, Rich's official website
- TheNew York Times biographical video interview
- Ghost Light
- Index of New York Times columns by Frank Rich
- Harvard Crimson pieces
- Rich participates in extended political discussion with Andrew Rosenthal, David Brooks and Maureen Dowd, The New York Times video, July 17, 2006
- Craig Lambert article, Harvard Magazine, July-August 2007
- San Diego City Beat interview, May 5, 2007