Word: toning
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...kind Hollywood specialized in for ages before it went out of style in the 90s - but which now might be called chick comedy. The protagonist is still a man (the moguls seeming to believe that no actress draw the big crowds), but romantic connection is the goal. And the tone is on the soft side. Chick comedy is about men compromising: trying to be nice, keeping secrets, coping with frustration and embarrassment, finding the middle way. Basically, being bullied. The men in chick comedies have evolved into losers...
...Autumn's first big comedy, The Heartbreak Kid, tried to have it both ways: apply the boisterous tone to the tale of a bridegroom (Ben Stiller) who finds himself in the marriage from Hell and wants out. The movie earned only $14 million its first weekend, about half what the experts had predicted, and was the first big flop of the fall...
...similar hardening of positions has been taking place in Washington, with U.S. rhetoric assuming a more confrontational tone in the past two weeks. On Oct. 17, Bush warned that "if Iran had a nuclear weapon, it would be a dangerous threat to world peace" that risked a third world war. Four days later, Vice President Dick Cheney warned, "The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the international community is prepared to impose serious consequences... We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon...
...tougher tone suggests that U.S. policy has taken a subtle, yet decisive, turn toward not merely stopping Iran's nuclear program, but seeking the end of the Islamic regime. Cheney's objections to Iran went well beyond its uranium-enrichment activities, to include Iran's policies toward Israel and the U.S., its activities in Iraq, its suppression of domestic opposition and what he called its drive for "hegemonic power" in the region - a term echoed by the less hawkish Rice in her congressional testimony...
...trying to demonstrate that it was rampant hypocrisy for Bush to say: 'Ooh that $20 billion in education, health care and sciences is going to unbalance the budget,'" Obey said in a ghoulish tone, shaking his hands for effect. "'But, ooh it's a national necessity to borrow $200 billion for this misbegotten war in Iraq.' Ten times as much money...