Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Lee’s School Voucher Bill Not Expected to Advance

The plan to expand school vouchers statewide is not expected to pass the Tennessee House Finance Ways and Means subcommittee Tuesday, a source confirmed to the Tennessee Lookout

The legislation’s failure in the finance subcommittee likely sends it back to the clerk’s desk and requires it to go through the committee process again, all but guaranteeing that the bill won’t pass this legislative session. 

The Tennessee Journal first reported Monday that the voucher bill was dead. 

Three different versions of the school voucher program floated around the Capitol this session:

• A House version that includes several sweeteners for public school advocates, such as less student testing and extra funding for school infrastructure.

• A Senate version with no sweeteners but testing requirements for students who receive vouchers.

• A Gov. Bill Lee version that had no extra funding for public schools or testing requirement but created the base program and provided funding for 20,000 scholarships with ability to expand to every student

The Senate and House have been stuck over items such as testing reduction, which the Senate opposes, and transfer of students from public district to another, a provision the House dislikes. Lawmakers vary in their opposition to the plan, but many dislike the proposal because of concerns raised by public schools officials in their districts.

Ultimately, though, many lawmakers have grown leery of the proposal because right-wing groups have been opposing it because of the potential impact on homeschool families and private schools that might have to give standardized tests.

One of the few remaining decisions for lawmakers is whether to sock away the $144 million it would take to start the private-school voucher program or spend the money in the fiscal 2024-25 budget.

On Monday, Lee and legislative leaders met at the State Capitol, but no compromise was publicly announced. 

The voucher program, which lawmakers had titled “education freedom scholarships” during an announcement in November, has long been Lee’s top priority. He first introduced a similar voucher bill in 2019, but under pressure to pass it, he took out the universal aspect and targeted it at the Democratic-controlled counties of Davidson and Shelby. It has since expanded to Hamilton County. 

Along with Lee’s advocacy, the voucher program also had the backing of the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity and the American Federation for Children, which is affiliated with former Republican Secretary of Education Betsy Devos. 

American Federation for Children sent text messages attacking at least one Republican for not supporting vouchers. 

The money pushing for a statewide school voucher program means the concept is unlikely to go away. Lee could call a special session to pass a voucher program, but it’s election year and lawmakers are not allowed to raise money while in session.

The failure of the voucher bill also means these groups, along with several others, are likely to play a significant role in Republican primaries held later this year. The entire state House and half the Senate are up for re-election in 2024. 

Tennessee lawmakers are expected to finish their legislative session over the next two weeks. The voucher bill was one of the major sticking points left before members could head home and start campaigns. 

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Star Wars Nightmare Fuel at Black Lodge

I’m not convinced the special wasn’t ultimately written and directed by a sentient bag of cocaine. — Nathan Rabin
The worst two hours of televisions ever. —  David Hofsted

The reviews are in — and have been in since 1978 — for the Star Wars Holiday Special. It’s not good. “It’s absolutely insane,” says Chad Barton, co-owner of Black Lodge. “It is just a weird nightmare fuel.” No one in the cast seems to want to be there, Carrie Fisher admitted she was high on coke, the plot is bizarre, Bea Arthur randomly appears, the list goes on. 

And yet the Black Lodge is dedicating the entire evening tonight to the special. Naturally. And it’ll be in the vein of a Rocky Horror Picture Show viewing, complete with singing, shouting, and throwing things. Again, naturally. 

“I’m a huge Star Wars fan,” Barton says. “And I watched this a really long time ago and was super horrified by it, but also really intrigued by it because it’s very strange. And a lot of people don’t know about it. … It’s kind of a fun way for Star Wars fans to come together and enjoy something in a very kind of silly way. And I always thought that it was weird that there’s a lot of other things of a similar ilk that get kind of a sort of reverence and this doesn’t get that. Even George Lucas said that if he could, he would destroy every copy of this that ever existed. And we think, No, you shouldn’t destroy a copy of this because it happened and it’s insane that it actually happened. Yeah, we want to celebrate it.”

This will be the third time the Lodge screens the film. The first go-around drew about 100 people, and last year “did about the same or a little better.” “It’s a nice off-kilter holiday experience that you can have,” Barton says. “We have our own callbacks and prop bags.”

At one point in the film, the wookies take over the screen, except there are no subtitles. “You have no idea what they’re saying,” Barton says. “And so we went in and added subtitles for the wookies and kind of created a story for them, and it changes every year. So it’s not the same experience every time you come back from year to year.”

For the event, the Lodge will have Star Wars-themed dishes and cocktails. “It’s kind of a surprise. But we generally try to like work within the constraints of whatever the Star Wars universe has,” Barton says of the menu. “And then a couple of cocktails to go along with it. As we say, you’re going to need the cocktails to get through it because it’s pretty bad. You need to be drunk while you’re watching.”

The screening, which kicks off at 7 p.m., is free to attend, but donations to Lodge are welcome. Prop bags will be for sale for $5. 

The Lodge also has a slew of holiday-related screenings to get you in the spirit before the 25th, including Sunday’s All-Day Christmas Comedy Movie Brunch (A Charlie Brown Christmas, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, The Santa Clause, Jingle All the Way, and Home Alone) and the Holiday Action Double Feature: Die Hard & Batman Returns. Keep up with Black Lodge’s upcoming events here.

3rd Annual Interactive Star Wars Holiday Special Screening, Friday, December 15, 7 p.m., free.

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

On the Fly: October 20-26

🚬 Reefer Madness The Musical
TheatreWorks @ The Square
Performances through November 5
This raucous musical comedy takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the hysteria caused when clean-cut kids fall prey to marijuana, leading them on a hysterical downward spiral filled with sex, drugs, and evil jazz. Oh my! Catch New Moon Theatre’s performances on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. through November 5th. Get your tickets ($30) here.

🎭 Costume Yard Sale
Playhouse on the Square
Friday-Saturday, October 20-21, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Two years ago at Playhouse on the Square’s Costume Yard Sale, I bought the best pair of Elvis-on-surfboard-patterned shorts I own. God, I love them, and gosh, my mom hates them. They were, like, two whole bucks. A steal. And this year POTS is bringing back the sale, which means more unbeatable prices on even more amazing costume choices. 

🪦 Cemetery Cinema Presents Psycho
Elmwood Cemetery
Friday, October 20, 6-8 p.m.
Cemetery Cinema returns with Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Eeeeek! The film will be shown outdoors, so dress accordingly. Cemetery Cinema events are for children ages 10 and up only when supervised by an adult. Also, no pets. They don’t react well to Hitchcock. Trust me, I know. Tickets ($15) can be purchased here.

🎤 Taylor Swift: The ERAS Tour in the Giant Screen Theater
Museum of Science & History
Friday-Sunday, October 20-22, 7 p.m.
It feels like a perfect night to dress up for Eras (ah-ah, ah-ah). So if you’re happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time, head over to MoSH to immerse yourself in this once-in-a-lifetime concert film experience with a breathtaking, cinematic view of the history-making tour. You’ve seen it on TikTok. You know you want to be a part of the trend. Just do it. It’ll be at MoSH through November 5. Make haste, my Swifties. Make haste. Tickets are $13.13 for kids, and $19.19 for adults. Get them here.

🎨 RiverArtsFest
Riverside Drive
Saturday-Sunday, October 21-22, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
And we’re rolling, rolling, rolling down the river. Big wheel keep on turning, the arts keep on burning — every year at the RiverArtsFest, where more than 150 artists from around the country gather in Memphis to exhibit and sell their latest works of art. You’ll be able to see artist demos, make your own artwork, catch live music and theatrical performances, and eat and drink till your stomach gives out. Tickets are $10 for general admission and can be purchased here. And, hey, if you really love the Flyer (and me personally), you’d read this article all about the festival.  

🔨 Family Fun Day
Metal Museum
Saturday, October 21, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Bring the entire family to watch an iron pour, see artists at work, tour the Metal Museum for free, participate in hands-on activities, and more. Learn more about the free day here

🌳 Community Tree Giveaway
Overton Park Gallery
Saturday, October 21, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Get your free tree! Yes, a free tree! Just for you! A whole tree for free! A tree that is free! If you haven’t guessed, the Overton Park Conservancy is giving away trees for FREE this weekend. All you have to do is meet in front of Rust Hall and choose your free tree from several species of trees that are free. 

🎸 BAM! Wiseacre Beer and Music Festival
Wiseacre Brewing Company
Saturday, October 21, 1-10 p.m.
Just like Emeril, this inaugural festival of beer and music will bring out the spice in life, with a side of BAM! Lucero headlines, with Blitzen Trapper, Dead Soldiers, Psymon Spine, Kuroma, DJ Leroy, and more joining the lineup. Tickets start at $37 and can be purchased here.

🍻 Cooper-Young Beerfest
Midtown Autowerks
Saturday, October 21, 1-5 p.m.
Beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer — that’s what’s on the itinerary at this festival that brings you all your favorite regional breweries to Cooper-Young for an afternoon of fun. Tickets get you a 2023 Beerfest mug, unlimited samples of beer, and a great time. Goner Records will supply tunes, and food will be available for purchase from local food trucks. Tickets are $60.54 and can be purchased here. Also, you gotta be 21 or over to enter — I feel like that should be obvious, but you know what they say about assuming.

📸 “Lens Language” Opening Reception
TONE
Saturday, October 21, 4-7 p.m.
Channel your artsy side and check out TONE’s latest exhibit, “Lens Language,” a photography exhibition exploring the depths of love from behind the lens of MadameFraankie and Kai Ross. The exhibition will be on display through December 12th. 

💀 Day of the Dead Preview
Crosstown Concourse
Saturday, October 21, 5-8 p.m.
In partnership with Crosstown Concourse, Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group presents a Day of the Dead Preview celebration with music, folklore, dancers, altars, and crafts. The evening will feature performances by Cazateatro Catrinas/Catrines, Ballet Meztli, Mariachi Guadalajara, Don Ramon Music, DJ Alexis White, and more. Admission is free.

🖼️ “3:33 AM” Opening
Brantley Ellzey’s Summer Studio
Sunday, October 22, 2-6 p.m.
In this debut solo show, artist Moth Moth Moth reveals a side to their skill set and imagination that is seldom shown. As a body of work “3:33 AM” represents a grounded and sober conclusion that stardom is overrated, werewolves are gay, and America is a haunted house. The first half of these pieces are monotypes on handmade paper. In the second half of the show Moth Moth Moth presents editioned works from their popular “Familiars” collection of block prints.

🎃 Barbie’s Halloween Raving Drag Show
Black Lodge
Tuesday, October 24, 9 p.m.
From the incomparable drag monster, the one and only Barbie Wyre comes a deliciously dark Halloween variety show. Entry free is $10. 

🏀 Memphis Grizzlies vs. New Orleans Pelicans
FedExForum
Wednesday, October 25, 7 p.m.
The Grizzlies are playing on Wednesday. You might want to go to the game or whatever. Go sports. 

New Horror Movie Marathon: Best of 2023
Black Lodge
Thursday, October 26, 3:30 p.m.
Get caught up on some of the best new horror movies of 2023 as Black Lodge screens four great terror tales back-to-back on the big screen: M3GAN (3:30-5 p.m.), No One Will Save You (5-6:30 p.m.), Evil Dead Rise (6:30-8 p.m.), and Talk to Me (8-9:30 p.m.). Our film editor Chris McCoy reviewed a few of ’em back in the day: M3GAN, No One Will Save You, and Evil Dead Rise. Did Chris have thoughts on Talk to Me? The world will never know. The Black Lodge event is free to all — all who are 18 and older. If you’re under 18, you are not invited, sorry, but also I’m not. I’m just the messenger.

There’s always something happening in Memphis. See a full calendar of events here.

Submit events here or by emailing calendar@memphisflyer.com.

 

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Tops Bar-B-Q Now Serving Breakfast at Union Avenue Location. What???!!!!

You might have had breakfast at Tops Bar-B-Q. That is, if you were eating a barbecue sandwich or a hamburger after you got out of bed in the morning. Or afternoon. Or night.

But you’ve never been able to order a breakfast breakfast — as in brisket, egg, and cheese — at Tops. Until now.

“Today is the day,” says Tops Bar-B-Q vice president Hunter Brown.

Beginning Sept. 27th, Tops Bar-B-Q is offering a breakfast menu between 6:30 to 10:30 a.m. at its 1286 Union location, Brown says.

“For the last eight weeks, we’ve been in Marion, Arkansas, and Southaven, Mississippi, testing breakfast,” he says.

And, he adds, “When you do something this big, you don’t want to confuse the masses in your customer base.”

Thirteen of their 16 locations are in the Memphis, Bartlett, and Millington area. They will still offer breakfast in Marion and Southaven.

“We’ve got a very unique menu selection — something we think that sets us apart from the rest of the companies doing breakfast, particularly the quick-service restaurants.

“Our menu is based primarily around breakfast sandwiches. We use a buttered toasted bun that fits the protein — meat, egg, and cheese — perfectly. It just melts together. It’s so fantastic.”

And, he says, “We brought in a bigger, better bacon for this.”

They currently use bacon on their cheeseburger, but, Tops wanted a bacon that matches their ground beef, which is delivered daily from Charlie’s Meat Market. “We wanted to match that quality in bacon. And I’m very confident we have.”

Of course, Tops isn’t going to offer any run-of-the mill breakfast sandwiches. “We’ve got some unique items.”

These include the “Smoked Breakfast Bologna,” which is bologna, egg, and cheese; “Brisket and Cream Cheese,” which is a fried egg, melted cheese and Tops’ new Sweet and Saucy barbecue sauce; and “Breakfast BLT,” a fried egg added to the traditional BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato).

“And then, of course, Tops can’t roll out any menu without highlighting our world famous cheeseburger,” Hunter says.

Their “Rise and Shine Burger” adds “a fried egg and melted cheese to our already famous cheeseburger.”

What about barbecue, you ask? Tops is offering the “Original Que & Egg Sandwich” — a fried egg, pulled chopped pork, queso, and hot barbecue sauce sandwich. “All melted together on a buttery toasted bun.”

They also offer traditional sandwiches, including “Bacon, Egg & Cheese Sandwich,” “Sausage Egg and Cheese,” and, if you don’t want any meat at all, the “Egg & Cheese Sandwich.”

Heck, Tops also is offering a “Pearl Sugar Waffle” on its breakfast menu. “It’s infused with maple syrup and pearl sugar. It’s the only waffle I’ve ever had that didn’t need anything on the side like syrup or butter.”

And, he adds, “It’s drive-through friendly.” You don’t have to worry about trying to dip it into syrup while you’re trying to drive.

As for extending the breakfast to other Tops locations, Brown says, “Right now it’s still under discussion.”

The Union location was perfect, he says. “Being in the hospital district, being able to feed third shifters coming off and first shifters coming on, it’s something we thought would be great.”

Breakfast ends at 10:30 a.m., but Tops will continue to offer its full menu all day. “We have a lot of third shifters getting off at 6:30, 7 in the morning. It’s their end of day. We’re selling ribs, brisket sandwiches, full menu at 6:30 in the morning. The full menu extends through the rest of the day.”

Categories
Music Music Features

Gonerfest 19 Saturday: Compulsive Gamblers Top The Longest Day

The annual gathering of the punk tribes known as Gonerfest climaxed on Saturday with a 12-act bill that stretched a full eleven hours. After two nights of pleasant, early fall temperatures, the weather became a factor at Railgarten’s outdoor stage.

Meredith Lones of Ibex Clone plays Gonerfest 19. (Photo By Christopher Reyes – Live From Memphis.com)

 The afternoon heat was starting to take a bite when first Memphis band on the agenda took the stage at 3 PM. Ibex Clone — Alec McIntyre, Meredith Lones, and George Williford — delivered one of many sweaty sets of the day. 

Andie Luman of Crimes of Passing sings at Gonerfest 19. (Photo By Christopher Reyes – Live From Memphis.com)

Even though their music is better suited to the dark, the sun was really bearing down when Cincinnati, Ohio’s Crimes of Passing fired up. Vocalist Andie Luman channeled Siouxie Sioux’s banshee wail, while the band spun out vivid sonic textures. 

Msr. Jeffrey Evans plays at Gonerfest 19. (Photo By Christopher Reyes – Live From Memphis.com)

Msr. Jeffrey Evans is no stranger to the Gonerfest stage. The singer/songwriter made a string of legendarily shambolic shockabilly records with ’68 Comeback in the 1990s, and his later partnership with Panther Burns drummer Ross Johnson was a comedy rock highlight of the festival for years. His solo appearance was a slightly more serious affair, with the reverent crowd eating up his renditions of his songs and some classics. 

A member of New Buck Biloxi at Gonerfest 19. (Photo By Christopher Reyes – Live From Memphis.com)

New Buck Biloxi (formerly Buck Biloxi and the Fucks) toned down their name, but not the confrontational nature of their rock. They laid down the first of many big screams as the afternoon’s music got progressively harder and louder. 

Only the latest technology is good enough for the Gonerfest Stream Team! Pictured: Camera 3. (photo by Chris McCoy)

I have filmed Gonerfest many times, first with Live From Memphis, then with Rocket Science Audio, and now for the official Gonerfest Stream Team. Since live streaming has really come into its own in the last few years, partially fueled by the pandemic, now you can see what we do in real time, rather than waiting for somebody to get the time to edit it all together. The good news (or maybe the bad news, depending on your perspective) is that we’ve gone to the lo-fi roots of Goner music by filming with 20-year-old Sony Handicams. (Don’t laugh, they’re free!)  The stream was devoured by Goners from all over the world who couldn’t make it to Memphis. It’s hard work, but I hope the folks watching at home could tell how much fun we were having.

Michael Beach at Gonerfest 19. (Photo By Christopher Reyes – Live From Memphis.com}

The first artist I’m stationed on stage left to film is Michael Beach, an Aussie with a new album out on Goner. He’s an excellent songwriter, who can both grasp pounding rockers and the occasional more quiet, heartfelt piano song. 

Sick Thoughts at Gonerfest 19. (Photo By Christopher Reyes – Live From Memphis.com)

Sick Thoughts are another Gonerfest veteran. The New Orleans combo, fronted by Drew Owens and including most of the Trampoline Team, threw down a searing, spitting set that brought the moshers out and sent beer cans flying. 

John Brannon of Negative Approach at Gonerfest 19. (Photo By Christopher Reyes – Live From Memphis.com)

Here’s a safety tip: Don’t bean Negative Approach’s John Brannon in the head with a water bottle during the first song. You’re just going to piss him off more. The ’80s Detroit hardcore legends have long, grey beards now, but their breakneck tempos and punishing sonic assaults haven’t missed a step.

Ron Sakowski of Negative Approach at Gonerfest 19.(Photo By Christopher Reyes – Live From Memphis.com)

As they were taking the stage, lightning was crackling in the middle distance. In the streaming control booth, we nervously tracked the thunderstorms that roared through the area Saturday night. But luckily, the cells went north and south of Central and Cooper, and the crowd got only a few sprinkles and a refreshing cool breeze from thunderstorm outflow. (A couple of miles away, the Memphis Power Pop fest at the Overton Park Shell wasn’t so lucky.) In the end, mother nature provided the light show, and Negative Approach provided the thunder. 

Kevin Boyer of Tyvek kicking up a storm at Gonerfest 19. (Photo By Christopher Reyes – Live From Memphis.com)

Fellow Detroiters Tyvek, a fan favorite of past Gonerfests, returned with a refreshed lineup and new energy. The crowd, many of whom had been baking in the sun for hours, somehow kept up with bandleader Kevin Boyer’s breakneck pace. 

Jack Oblivian sings with the Compulsive Gamblers at Gonerfest 19. (Photo By Christopher Reyes – Live From Memphis.com)

The headliners brought the night to a close with a stunning display of Memphis talent. The first band Greg Cartwright and Jack Yarber formed together in the 1990s was  called Compulsive Gamblers. The pair of Antenna punks from Mississippi and Frayser went back to the well of pre-Beatles r&b 45s that had inspired rock in the beginning, and wrote their own songs from that template. With The Reigning Sound on indefinite hiatus, the Gamblers did a recent swing through the Midwest and arrived at Gonerfest as a tight unit— or at least as tight as you want punk-infused covers of The Bar-Kays to be.

Alex Greene plays with the Compulsive Gamblers at Gonerfest 19. (Photo By Christopher Reyes – Live From Memphis.com)

With Memphis Flyer music editor Alex Greene on keys, Graham Winchester on drums, and John Whittemore providing sonic assistance with a Flying V and EBow, they kept the capacity crowd on its feet all night with songs like the Cartwright-penned Oblivians’ classic “Bad Man” and Yarber’s pounding “Pepper Spray Boogie.” The highlight of the set was a swaying rendition of Cartwright’s doom waltz “Sour and Vicious Man.” As the crowd dispersed to the afterparties, it was clear Gonerfest 19 was one for the ages. 

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Indie Memphis Youth Fest Spotlights New Generation of Filmmakers

From its inception 25 years ago as a forum for Memphis filmmakers to show their work, Indie Memphis has had artist development as a big part of its mission. The ultimate expression of that mandate is the Youth Film Fest. Now in its seventh year, the Youth Film Fest returns in-person this Saturday, August 27th, after two years of meeting virtually. 

The one-day fest will be held Downtown at the Orpheum Theatre’s Halloran Centre. This year’s keynote speaker will be Craig Brewer, director of Hustle & Flow and Coming 2 America. Brewer is a Memphis filmmaking pioneer who wrote, directed, and produced his first movie The Poor & Hungry here in 2000. He will be speaking on the subject of storytelling and the importance of understanding not only what techniques will move the audience, but also why and how each story is being told. 

During the spring and summer, the Indie Memphis CrewUp program brings together groups of students between grades 7 and 12 to create a short film under the tutelage of a professional to screen at the Youth Film Fest. This year’s batch of nine films, all produced with budgets of $500, will screen at 12:15 p.m. A second batch of 11 short films created by Mid-South students will screen at 5 p.m. The audience will vote for their favorite film, which will win a $300 prize. The winner of the jury prize will receive $500. 

A new production grant program modeled on the highly successful IndieGrants awards $5,000 to one youth filmmaker for a short-film proposal. The first Youth Grant winner in 2019 was Janay Kelley. Her film “The River” will make its world premiere at 2 p.m., accompanied by an informational session about the requirements of the grant program. 

Workshops will be held throughout the afternoon, including makeup with Mandie J, production design and title graphics with Mica Jordan, stunt choreography with Jyo “Six” Carolino, directing actors with Princeton James, cinematography with Jason Thibodeaux, and the delightfully titled “Producing & Other Weird Jobs” with Sharrika Evans. 

The day will end with a group dinner and trivia contest at 6:45 p.m., and the awards show at 7:30 p.m. 

Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 27th. Passes, which can be either in-person or, for those unable to attend, virtual, are available at the Indie Memphis website. 

Categories
Cover Feature News

Change is Coming

The election of August 4, 2022, in Shelby County will likely go down in history for more reasons than the length of its ballot, the longest in local history.

Some 31 years since a political revolution occurred in the county’s core city of Memphis, electing an African-American mayor and broadening the concept of both citizenship and officialdom, a similar process is about to occur in Shelby County at large.

The county will still be the site of six suburban municipalities that are predominantly white in population and Republican in disposition, but these enclaves — their populations inflated by a generation of evacuees from the earlier transformation of Memphis — will now be subject to a governing apparatus that is increasingly diversified and bent on reform.

Shelby County already had a Black chief executive, Mayor Lee Harris, who had launched a number of initiatives designed to extend opportunity and ameliorate the lot of the county’s traditional underclass.

As a result of the election, the mayor’s partners in power will include a legislative body, the Shelby County Commission, whose 13 members will have a Black and female majority and a Democrat-to-Republican ratio of 9 to 4; a Juvenile Court judge who is the scion of African-American civil rights pioneers; and a Democratic district attorney general who, though white like the Republican DA he defeated, has declared an agenda that targets the residual racial inequities of the county’s criminal justice system.

Tennessee state government has become as inflexibly Republican and Trump-dominated as much of the rest of the old Confederacy and, via intensified assertion of its authority on home-rule local governments, has managed to suppress the influence of the state’s urban centers. Nashville had been a bastion of progressivism and New South sensibilities, but the capital city saw ruthless state gerrymandering in January that drastically reduced its legislative capacity and virtually scuttled its hundred-year tradition of electing Democrats to Congress.

As Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen, almost surely destined to be the state’s last surviving Democratic member of the U.S. House, foresaw back in the spring, Nashville’s loss would mean a potential gain in leadership possibilities for the Memphis area, where a Black majority made such disenfranchisement of its political base impractical. Among other things, Shelby County now becomes, post-election, a kind of laboratory for governmental experimentation.

The Democrats elected and re-elected last week are free to propose remedies not only to legacies of neglect in Shelby County government but also to the increasing arrogation of power to a Republican-dominated state government.

Consider only the three top-of-the-ticket officials newly confirmed by voters — Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, District Attorney General Steve Mulroy, and Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon.

Candidates Mulroy, Harris, and Sugarmon, with former NAACP head Johnnie Turner, make last-minute pilgrimage to a statue of Ida B. Wells.

All are long-term Democrats with specific ideas for new agendas. (Technically, Sugarmon’s office is nonpartisan, and accordingly he ran without party label, as, for that matter, did his defeated opponent, current — now outgoing — Judge Dan Michael, who essentially was considered a Republican.)

Harris, who invoked “segregation” as the county’s most severe problem during his first race for mayor in 2018, has bent his efforts toward the abolition of racial and economic disparities affecting the county’s underserved population. He has pioneered in the issue of criminal justice reform, in the establishment of re-entry programs for first-time offenders, and in the creation of a new Juvenile Justice Center. He has shown a willingness to take on the establishment’s sacred cows, as when he vetoed funding for a posh new swimming facility at the University of Memphis, holding to his opposition long enough to extract a pledge from university officials to move toward a $15-an-hour pay for all employees, the same plateau he has instituted for county workers.

Harris’ Republican opponent in the recent election, Memphis City Councilman Worth Morgan based his well-financed campaign on the idea that “we deserve better,” though he never was able to articulate any specifics behind that and other pleasantly-put platitudes.

The final vote was 78,552 for Harris to Morgan’s 56,789 and might have been larger, had Harris turned on the jets full-blast. The bottom line was, he didn’t need to.

A major background issue in the campaign, largely unvoiced, was the tension that had prevailed between county government and the state at the height of the Covid pandemic. Early difficulties in the county’s administering of vaccines were one problem; the state’s insistence on overriding home-rule medical authority, hardened and codified into law during a special legislative session, was another.

It is widely assumed that Harris’ future political ambitions run to a congressional bid down the line; it is less well-known that he has also thought of running for governor and, in fact, had considered that idea, among others, before opting for a second mayoral term.

That mayoral race was run, more or less, as a partnership with the campaign of Mulroy for district attorney general. Candidates Harris and Mulroy, who had served together on the law faculty of the University of Memphis, shared a busy campaign headquarters at the intersection of Poplar and Highland, and there was generous overlap between them at the supporter and strategic levels, as well.

The district attorney’s race became the marquee event to the county election campaign, and there were several reasons for that — one obvious one being that DA Amy Weirich was the last possessor of a county elective office for the Republican Party, which, for most of the time in the era of partisan county elections, had been predominant locally.

That trend ran counter to the fact that demographics — notably, in the growing African-American percentage of the county population — were increasingly favorable to Democrats. The GOP, which led the way toward partisan elections in 1992, had been able to do well on the strength of good candidates with crossover platforms. By 2018, the year of the “blue-wave” election, locally as well as nationally, the county’s Democrats had developed that knack, while Republicans, saddled with Trumpism, had drifted toward ideological extremism.

Mulroy — articulate, self-assured, and a demon for work — had been an active political force for years, leading crusades ranging from reforms in the mechanics of voting to efforts to maintain the Libertyland amusement park and its legendary Zippin Pippin roller coaster.

Mulroy promises new age of fairness as Democrats sweep.

He served from 2006 to 2014 on the Shelby County Commission and hazarded a race for county mayor, losing in the Democratic primary to Deidre Malone.

As he liked to say, he had served in “the Bill Clinton Justice Department” and had experience in both the prosecution and defense aspects of criminal law. Highly active and respected as an academic scholar, Mulroy had ambitions to serve as a federal judge but, as a white male liberal, didn’t check the requisite number of boxes for an appointment in either Democratic or Republican administrations.

In local Democratic ranks, his credentials were considered nigh to perfect for the DA’s race, however, and, after coming out ahead in a three-way primary race, he threw himself into the general election showdown with Weirich, brandishing an agenda for reform that jibed with that of Harris and reflected cutting-edge ideas in legal and law-enforcement circles.

Weirich, though not anybody’s idea of an ideologue, styled herself as “Our DA” and campaigned as a law-and-order traditionalist concerned essentially with victims and their rights. She had financial assets of close to a million dollars for the campaign, but other numbers worked against her. For one thing, political affiliations in Shelby County were top-heavy for Democrats, and the early voting especially was in sync with that.

One set of numbers had especially adverse implications for the incumbent — those indicating a continuing upward climb in the crime rate, especially for crimes of violence, during her 11-year tenure. Mulroy was not shy about mentioning that fact and carried with him on the stump a cardboard graphic with bars depicting the steady rise.

For her part, Weirich launched an ad campaign depicting Mulroy, without explicit evidence, as a Defund the Police activist. Mulroy responded with ads noting the incumbent had been officially reprimanded more than once for judicial misconduct and called her the “worst” district attorney in the state.

In a series of debates, the two candidates lambasted each other.

There were genuine differences on the issues, with Mulroy outlining a progressive agenda seeking, among other things, reforms of the cash-bail system, a post-conviction review procedure, and a reduction in the number of juveniles whose cases were remanded to Criminal Court. He also vowed to amend what he saw as a disparity in the DA’s office, in which 80 percent of the attorneys were white and 95 percent of the accused in their caseloads were Black. He opposed “truth-in-sentencing,” which eliminated parole for certain violent felonies, while Weirich celebrated its codification into state law.

Late in the contest, what might have become a test case occurred on the matter of juvenile transfers. A youth whom Weirich had put on a restorative justice regime backslid and committed a brutal carjacking murder of Autura Eason-Williams, a revered local Methodist cleric. Both candidates were on the spot; almost reflexively, Weirich sought a transfer of the youth to adult court, while Mulroy fished somewhat inconclusively for a proper rhetorical response.

The moment passed, and so did a brief sensation arising from Weirich’s decision to be interviewed on “truth-in-sentencing” by “shock jock” Thaddeus Matthews, who had an harassment case pending that technically would call on her to prosecute.

In the end, Mulroy would win with surprising ease, polling 76,280 votes to Weirich’s 59,364.

Still, Mulroy’s victory, like Harris’, came somewhat as expected, and for all the Sturm und Drang of the DA race, for all the late money Mulroy got from a national network of criminal justice reformers, allowing him to compete on equal terms for advertising time, his margin of victory might simply have been owing to the superfluity of blues over reds in the voting population. More uncertain for most of the campaign season was the fate of the third member of the de facto reformist triad, Tarik Sugarmon.

The 2022 campaign was the second race for Juvenile Court judge by Sugarmon, who had run unsuccessfully in 2014 against incumbent Dan Michael, a loyalist in the administrations of former longtime Judge Kenneth Turner and Turner’s successor, Curtis Person. By 2022, Sugarmon was a judge himself, having won election to Memphis Municipal Court in the meantime, but he still hankered for the job of Juvenile Court Judge.

The son of civil rights pioneer Russell Sugarmon and the brother of Erika Sugarmon, who won a race for the Shelby County Commission in the May Democratic primary, Sugarmon believed, like the other two members of his de facto triad, that Black youths had been badly served by the existing social and judicial systems. At a joint press conference held in June in which he was endorsed by Harris and Mulroy, Sugarmon actually reached into the past and unexpectedly espoused a scheme, first advanced by then County Commissioner Mulroy and others in 2007, to double the number of Juvenile Court judges in order to deal with an ever-mounting caseload.

The proposal, when made in 2007, would have replaced one in which the Juvenile Court judge of record was assisted by 12 appointed referees or magistrates who actually tried cases and dealt with offenders. It was a system dictated originally by the fact that Judge Turner did not have a law degree and could not fully function in the judicial sense. The second-judge concept was approved by the County Commission at the time but brushed aside later by a state appeals court. Sugarmon, who had researched the matter, believes it can be successfully revived by the new group of county commissioners. It remains to be seen if he — and they — will try again.

In any case, the trio of Harris, Mulroy, and Sugarmon, who triumphed in a four-candidate race, edging out Michael by 10,000 votes, can be expected to proceed with an era of reforms in their respective jurisdictions.

Cordova Commission winner Shante Avant waves to well-wisher.

And something of the sort can surely be expected of the newly elected County Commission. Early in the current century, this 13-member body was dominated by seven white male Republicans. Come September, the body will number nine Democrats and four Republicans; eight Blacks and five whites; seven women and six men; seven returnees and six neophytes (though the firebrand Henri Brooks, back for a second run, should perhaps not be so described).

No longer will the balance of power be held by what has been called a white patriarchy. For the record, the names of the new commissioners are as follows, those of incumbents in caps:

District 1, AMBER MILLS, R

District 2, DAVID BRADFORD, R

District 3, MICK WRIGHT, R

District 4, BRANDON MORRISON, R

District 5, Shante Avant, D

District 6, Charlie Caswell, D

District 7, Henri Brooks, D

District 8, MICKELL LOWERY, D

District 9, EDMUND FORD JR., D

District 10, Britney Thornton, D

District 11, Miska Clay Bibbs, D

District 12, Erika Sugarmon, D

District 13, MICHAEL WHALEY, D

This, folks, is change. And city government is on the flipper, too. There were two items on the ballot for city voters only. One was a race for City Court judge. The incumbent, former county equity officer Carolyn Watkins, was turned out by Kenya Hooks, the city’s chief prosecutor.

More important for what it augurs was the overwhelming defeat by Memphis voters of proposed Memphis Ordinance 5823 by a convincing margin of 52,582 to 26,759.

That referendum victory for a two-term limit means not just that neither Mayor Jim Strickland nor any City Council member who is now in a second term can run again in city government. It also mandates that the controls will pass to new faces and, mayhap, to new ideas. For some time the names of retiring county Commissioner Van Turner, Downtown Memphis Commissioner Paul Young, and state House Minority Leader Karen Camper have been circulated as possible mayoral aspirants. More names and more energies are almost sure to come.

Former GOP candidate turned poll-watcher Patti Possel

There were anomalies elsewhere in the election, notably in the ranks of the judiciary. But first, props are called for in the case of longtime Republican activist Charlotte Bergman, an African American who has toiled in party ranks for more than a generation and became in the process a perennial primary candidate for the 9th Congressional District seat held, more or less in perpetuity, by Democrat Steve Cohen. There was a tendency for outsiders to see her activities as feckless, but she has just, and in the Republican primary, decisively turned away a moneyed entrepreneur named Brown Dudley, who supposedly had the wherewithal to give Cohen a run for his money in November. Clearly, GOP voters consider Bergman a legitimate voice for grievances and aspirations.

More kudos. Carol Chumney, the onetime state legislator and City Council member who made two races for Memphis mayor and then, to most eyes, had slipped away. Actually, she started taking care of her law practice and went to work on an interesting memoir, published just months ago. Now, after a spell of useful activism on the voting reforms front, she has won the election as Circuit Court judge in Division II. A good year, indeed.

And a tip of the hat to Joe Townsend, who came out of nowhere to beat veteran Judge Karen D. Webster in Probate Court, Division II, by 66,186 to 47,660.

There were, to be sure, unforeseen turns in the judges’ ballot as well. Most drastically, Mark Ward, Criminal Court judge in Division IX and the author of the primer on criminal law which is basic reading for all Criminal Court judges, went down to newcomer Melissa Boyd.

Joe Ozment, who had every known endorsement from various groups, including the Bar Association itself, lost in a multi-candidate race to Jennifer Fitzgerald for the Criminal Court, Division II, post.

Gerald Skahan, junior member of a brother-sister judicial team, lost his seat on the bench in General Sessions Criminal Court, Division 9, to Sheila Bruce-Renfroe, who won a judgeship on her second try. Meanwhile, Skahan’s sister, Paula Skahan, was run unexpectedly close by Michael Floyd in Criminal Court, Division I.

And Christian Johnson, a bankruptcy lawyer with a penchant for wearing cowboy hats, upset Judge Loyce Lambert-Ryan in General Sessions Criminal Court, Division 15.

There were other surprises and close calls, enough to suggest that, to an unusual degree, change was the order of the day.

Judicial races aside, most of that change, to repeat, was at the expense of the Republican Party in overtly partisan matchups, and it is hard, given demographic realities, to see how that trend will be reversed.

Increasingly, the politics of Shelby County will be antithetical to those of Tennessee state government. JB Smiley of the Memphis City Council made a brave, and perhaps premature, run at the Democratic nomination for governor. He won in Shelby County but lost statewide to Dr. Jason Martin of Nashville, another area which, like Memphis, has grievances against the state.

Gubernatorial hopeful Jason Martin of Nashville

Perhaps, Martin can do better than expected against Republican Governor Bill Lee. Even if not, the bench of potential gubernatorial hopefuls, many of them from Memphis and many mentioned in this article, is almost certain to expand. And the change that got started in this year’s Shelby County election is just on its first legs.

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

MAS’ 12 Hours of Christmas Adoption Event

Santy Claws has been making a list and checking it twice, and wouldn’t you know, all the kitties and pups at Memphis Animal Services (MAS) have been put on the nice list. With so many good boys and girls at the shelter, MAS has no choice but to host their third annual 12 Hours of Christmas Adoption Event on Saturday, December 16th, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

For the event, the shelter will extend their normal hours and will waive all adoption fees, which typically range from $20 to $80. All adoptions at MAS, regardless of adoption fee, include spay/neuter, microchip, vaccines, collar, leash, customized ID tag, and heartworm testing and treatment medications if needed (dogs). This Saturday, every adopted dog and cat will go home with a $50 pet supply store gift card and a gift from under the Christmas tree (while supplies last). Hot chocolate will be available for human guests, and adopters can take their first family photo in front of a holiday backdrop. 

At last year’s event, 152 pets got adopted in the 12 hours, said Katie Pemberton, marketing and communications supervisor at MAS. A list of MAS’ currently adoptable dogs and cats can be found here. (Again, all of them are good boys and girls. Santy Claws said so.)

(Photo: Courtesy Memphis Animal Services)

“This is the most joyful event of the year for our staff and volunteers as they watch dozens of dogs and cats find loving families in time for the holidays,” said MAS director Ty Coleman in a press release. “It’s a heartwarming day that fills us with gratitude for the support of our community.”

“This year, we have even more to be thankful for since 12 Hours of Christmas falls during [Bissell Pet Foundation’s national] Empty the Shelters,” added Coleman. Bissell’s initiative has allowed MAS to reduce adoption fees to just $10 from December 1st to 17th. “The support from Bissell Pet Foundation allows us to continue our mission of making Memphis a safe place for people and pets; keeping pets with the families who love them; and caring for and saving the lives of pets who enter the shelter.”

(Photo: Courtesy Memphis Animal Services)

If you are not in the position to adopt at this time, you can still support the shelter by donating supplies, volunteering, or fostering. Foster field trips are also a great way to give back by taking a pup out of the shelter for a day. (Pro tip: If you hoard copies of print Flyers in your house, the shelter will always take newspapers to line the bottom of cats’ kennels. Reduce, reuse, recycle!)

Memphis Animal Services is open daily from noon to 4 p.m. Follow Memphis Animal Services on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X @AdoptMAS, where you’ll also find cute dog and cat content daily.

(Photo: Courtesy Memphis Animal Services)
Categories
News News Blog News Feature

List of Nearly 400 Purged Books Circulating Among TN School Districts

One Tennessee school district’s list of nearly 400 books removed from library shelves, including titles by authors ranging from Dr. Seuss to Toni Morrison, is being used by other school systems as a possible template to follow.

Administrators for Wilson County Schools directed the district’s librarians to pull the books a month ago. This week, leaders with Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools sent its librarians the same list to consider when reviewing their collections.

A third large suburban district, Rutherford County Schools, instructed its librarians this week to remove around 150 titles — 51 of which overlap with the list in neighboring Wilson County.

The removal there came at the request of school board member Frances Rosales, who told Chalkbeat that she used the Wilson County list and reviews on the website Book Looks as the basis for her request.

The purges come under Gov. Bill Lee’s 2022 “age-appropriate” school library law, which lawmakers expanded this year to prohibit public school libraries from having books with “nudity, or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual content, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse.”

Sponsors of the changes, enacted amid national “culture wars” fueled in part by pro-censorship websites, say their goal is to protect students from obscene content and give families more control over their children’s education.

But the changes have also created a climate of fear, confusion, and self-censorship for school leaders and librarians, prompting some to revise or ignore their own review processes and preemptively pull titles from their shelves.

Graphic novels and books containing LGBTQ+ topics for high schoolers are among the casualties, as are classics like Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, about a young African-American girl who longs for blue eyes, and popular children’s picture books like David Shannon’s No, David! and Seuss’ Wacky Wednesday.

“This law was designed to catalyze book banning,” said Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program. “We should not be surprised now that we are seeing the mass removal of books in response to this censorial legislation.”

Tennessee law likely faces a constitutional challenge

Tennessee’s original 2022 law, championed by the governor, required districts to publish the list of materials in their library collections and periodically review them to make sure they are “appropriate for the age and maturity levels of the students who may access the materials.” Each community was to define what is considered age-appropriate based on local standards.

This spring’s revisions by the legislature added a definition of what’s “suitable” — including verbiage about sexual content, nudity, and violence that could be interpreted to prohibit literary classics like Romeo and Juliet, historical novels such as All Quiet on the Western Front, and encyclopedias containing photographs of nude statues.

The law is expected to be challenged in court over its vague wording, a lack of compliance guidance from the state, and the uneven way the law is being applied across Tennessee.

Among groups tracking its implementation are the ACLU of Tennessee and some publishing companies.

In Florida, several large publishers sued education officials there in August over a 2023 state law prohibiting sexual content in school libraries. They argued that the law had ignited a wave of book removals in violation of the First Amendment.

‘Creating an unofficial statewide book ban list’

A survey conducted this fall of members of the Tennessee Association of School Librarians found that more than 1,100 titles had been pulled statewide under the revised law during the first few months of the academic year.

“I’ve removed 300 books in the first month of school,” one librarian anonymously told the organization.

Since the survey, the number of titles pulled across Tennessee has ballooned “from a trickle to a tidal wave,” said Lindsey Kimery, a Nashville school library supervisor who is one of the group’s leaders.

“If Wilson County’s list is being shared around, and district leaders see it as a cheat sheet so that they don’t have to conduct their own reviews, it’s creating an unofficial statewide book ban list,” Kimery said.

A spokesman for the Clarksville-Montgomery district, which serves about 38,000 students near the Kentucky border, emphasized that Wilson County’s roster was being used “as a resource, not a mandate” for its own librarians.

“We are not directing you to immediately remove all of these titles from your library collection,” curriculum leaders told principals last week, according to talking points from the meetings that the district shared with Chalkbeat.

“However, we are providing this list as an example of books already vetted by Tennessee educators and strongly encouraging you and your library-media specialists to review the list and consider, if you have these titles in your collections, whether these materials violate state law.”

Books in violation must be removed, the principals were told.

In Rutherford County, where 150 books were removed this week, the school board voted Thursday night to give librarians time to review the titles and come back with a formal recommendation on whether they should be permanently removed or returned to the shelves.

“I don’t believe we intentionally have pornography in our schools, but I do believe that some books with questionable content have trickled in,” said Rosales, who told Chalkbeat that she “put a lot of thought and research” into her request to remove 150 titles.

She added, however, that “our librarians are experts, and we need to give them time to review these books and give us a report.”

Other school systems conducting library reviews reported that Wilson County’s list isn’t factoring into their work.

A spokesperson for Knox County Schools said the East Tennessee district is collaborating with its librarians and legal team to identify books for possible removal and will provide its schools with a list in the weeks ahead.


Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizzlies Overpowered by Jokic-less Nuggets

With a final score of 122-110, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Memphis Grizzlies Tuesday night in an NBA Cup game.

Poor three-point shooting, turnovers, and missed free throws culminated in the Grizzlies’ first wire-to-wire loss of the season. Memphis is now 0-2 in NBA Cup games this season.

This loss comes after the Grizzlies beat the Nuggets 105-90 on Sunday. In both meetings, Denver was without former MVP Nikola Jokic. The two teams will meet again for a third and final time in Denver on April 11.

The Grizzlies struggled out of the gate, making eight turnovers in the first quarter. The Nuggets did a good job throughout the game, capitalizing on Memphis’ sloppy ball handling and converting 22 turnovers into 26 points.

In addition to Ja Morant’s ongoing injury absence, the Grizzlies were without Marcus Smart and rookie center Zach Edey. Smart was out due to an undisclosed illness, and Edey was sidelined by a left ankle sprain he suffered in Sunday’s game.

Santi Aldama led all scorers with 28 points and 11 rebounds on 12 of 19 overall shooting and 4 of 7 from beyond the arc. Aldama’s 28 points are the most by any Grizzlies’ bench player this season.

Jaren Jackson Jr. led the starting unit with 19 points, eight rebounds, and five blocks.

Scotty Pippen Jr. finished the night with 16 points, six rebounds, and six assists.

Brandon Clarke added 10 points, four rebounds, and two assists.

Who Got Next?

The Grizzlies are back at it tonight at FedEx Forum, facing off against the Philadelphia 76ers. Tip-off is at 7 PM CST.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Anora

Sean Baker has a thing for sex workers. The fiercely independent director’s 2015 breakthrough work Tangerine followed Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez), a transgender sex worker, who just got out of prison and is ready to take revenge on her cheating boyfriend. In his next film, The Florida Project, a stripper named Halley (Bria Vinaite) loses her job for refusing to have sex with clients, and is thrown into extreme poverty with her six-year-old daughter.   Baker’s 2021 film Red Rocket starred Simon Rex as Mikey “Saber” Davies, a down-on-his luck porn star who returns to his Texas hometown, looking for a way to get back on top. 

Now, in his latest venture, Baker has created his latest, and greatest sex worker character yet, Anora “Ani” Mikheeva. Played by Mikey Madison, whose breakthrough role was as Manson Family murderer Susan Atkins in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Ani is a stripper in a high-end Manhattan gentleman’s club called HQ.  She lives with her sister in Brighton Beach, where her Russian immigrant grandmother taught her the language of the home country. Those Russian language skills come in handy when her boss tells her to look after a high roller named Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn).

I love films about work, particularly ones about the differences between the masks we wear in the public personae we bring to the workplace, and who we think we really are. That dichotomy is never greater than for a sex worker. From the moment Ani meets Vanya, her carefully constructed stripper facade starts to crumble. Vanya is too good to be true. He’s a 21-year-old college student who never goes to class with a seemingly unlimited supply of money. When she realizes he really digs her, she naturally decides to get busy exploiting him for all he’s worth, performing “forbidden” acts in the private room as the money rains down. When he asks her for a private session, she says yes. When she arrives at his home, she’s taken aback. This skinny kid lives in a waterfront mansion with gorgeous views of the city. The private sessions go so well, he invites her to his New Year’s Eve party. The mansion is lit up and filled to brim with well-heeled young revelers and disco lights. As the party is still raging, they retire to his bedroom, where he asks for a week of her time, in exchange for $10,000 cash. What’s a girl to do but say yes? 

Ani is dazzled by the money, the drugs, and Vanya’s disarming, boyish look. For her $10K week, they could just lounge around the house and get freaky, but instead, Vanya loads up his friends into a private jet and they head to Las Vegas, where they can get “the good ketamine.” It is there that Ani, and the audience, get their first taste of who Vanya really is. They are greeted at the door of the luxury hotel and casino by the manager, who assures Vanya that he can have his usual suite as soon as they’re finished kicking out the guests who are staying there now. Vanya, it turns out, is Ivan Zakharov, the son of a ruthless Russian oligarch (Aleksei Serebryakov) with ties to Russian organized crime in America.  

The trip plays out like a fever dream of wealth, as the boisterous friends float from pool to party to IV hangover bar and back again. Ani never wants the party to end, and when one morning, Vanya professes his love for her and asks her to marry him so he can become a citizen and escape from the clutches of his dysfunctional wealthy family, she says yes. Since they’re already conveniently in Vegas, the happy couple ties the knot in a wedding chapel on the Strip. The bride wore blue jeans and a bustier. 

Just as Ani’s mask totally slips away, heir honeymoon is interrupted when Vanya’s parents get wind of the nuptials. They task Toros (frequent Baker collaborator Karren Karagulian), a Russian Orthodox priest/gangland fixer, with arranging an annulment. He sends two goons, Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisov) to get to the bottom of the situation. Their arrival at the mansion is a 20-minute tour de force of queasy slapstick which veers from the hilarious to the horrifying. 

The world Baker builds is at once exotic and all too real. Madison is absolutely perfect as a Cinderella who gets a glimpse of ultimate upward mobility, only to have it all crash down around her in a flurry of broken glass, baseball bats, and trashed SUVs. Anora is a gorgeous film that walks the line between screwball comedy and tragedy. Only someone with mad skills like Sean Baker can choose to do both.