What the world is reading

was not even gently,rather severely,urged to go and sing it as though I had in fact sung it myself in the first place!” Lesson learned: When you hire a band,rent a vintage bat-wing dress,and prepare a seductively choreographed number for the surprise birthday party that Winslet does not want,but you think she surely deserves,pick a song other than My Heart Will Go On,concludes Miller.

Rolling Stone

Can drinking make you conservative?

Enough jokes have been told already (even in German) about a provocative study in the latest issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin—the conservatism-and-alcohol study,says Chris Mooney. The researchers were outside a bar in New England where they flagged down exiting patrons with the request:

Would they get their blood alcohol level tested and fill out a short questionnaire on their political views? Eighty-five of them consented to share their level of agreement with statements like “Production and trade should be free of government interference” and “Ultimately,privately property should be abolished.” Then came the breathalyzer,wrote Mooney. Many liberals will be tempted to cite the latest research to argue that they’re in some way superior,while conservatives may feel insulted by this new assault from academics (who,they’re already convinced,are radical socialists). But in truth,neither interpretation seems to be the correct one,writes Mooney. The real upshot,thinks Mooney,may be that conservatives have a built-in political and communications advantage,simply because human beings,in their busy lives,cannot be expected to be in “liberal” mode all the time,or even most of the time.

The Sun times

Jennifer Lawrence laughs off insults

The Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence has both a great sense of humour—and a very good sense of self,writes Bill Zwecker. A source close to the actress said that the Oscar nominee had a sarcastic reaction to some of the critics of her mega-hit movie who basically claimed she was too chubby-looking to convincingly play Katniss Everdeen in the blockbuster,based on Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel,writes Zwecker. “This is hilarious. First,people say how so many actresses in Hollywood look anorexic,and now they are criticising me for looking normal,’” the source recalled. The actress reportedly added that overly thin body images “are too often adopted by young girls and women—thanks to what they are constantly being shown as being attractive.” Another point supposedly made by Lawrence was that nothing was written about her two main co-stars—Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth—who both also play residents of the film’s fictional District 12,where people are constantly facing starving conditions. While most critics raved about the film and Lawrence’s performance,it was comments from the Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy (about the actress’ “lingering baby fat”),Salon’s Andrew O’Hehir (“well-fed” body) and Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells (calling Lawrence a “big-boned lady”) that have unleashed a torrent of furious responses from the legions of loyal Hunger Games fans,writes Zwecker. All this aside,The Hunger Games continued its roll as the biggest box-office bonanza of the year—easily winning its second weekend and holding off new releases Wrath of the Titans and Mirror,Mirror,with Julia Roberts,concludes Zwecker.