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      Brownface in Hong Kong TV Show Draws Outrage and Shrugs

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      The TV show “Barrack O’Karma 1968” fueled debate online. To many Filipinos, it was about racism and classism. Other viewers jumped to the actress’s defense.HONG KONG — The Hong Kong supernatural anthology TV series has an eye-catching name, “Barrack O’Karma 1968,” and an eyebrow-raising plot.A Filipino domestic worker, navigating deceit, discrimination and accusations of voodoo, is transformed by her seemingly well-intentioned employers into a Cantonese-speaking surrogate daughter.The TVB series not only chose a Chinese Canadian actress, Franchesca Wong, as the main character for a two-episode subplot. It also cast her in brownface. On the show, her skin grows lighter and she gains a new fluency in the dominant language of the city.After the first episode aired on April 12 and backstage footage emerged of Ms. Wong affecting a singsong accent — presumably meant to be Filipino — as she brushed dark makeup onto her legs, some viewers said they could not believe their 21st-century eyes.“I was really shocked,” said Izzy Jose, 27, a Filipino performer and educator in Hong Kong. “That morphed into feeling really angry and morphed further into feeling disappointed.”The footage quickly became a flash point of debate. To many Filipinos in Hong Kong, it was a twinned mockery — racism and classism. To some actors, it was an all-too-familiar dehumanizing and undignified representation, a reminder that minority performers are often locked out of roles that purport to portray people like them. To others, the brownface portrayal was another example of colorism rearing its ugly head.But another strain of reaction began bubbling up. Many viewers of the show — which first aired in 2019 and which also has elements of romance and drama — jumped to its defense. Chinese-language news media lauded Ms. Wong’s performance and her efforts at a Filipino accent. Others declared it a matter of creative autonomy. Some accused critics of crying racism without understanding the full context of the plot, which, they argued, portrays Ms. Wong’s character as a victim.It all boiled down to a clapback that asked: What’s the big deal?TVB defended Ms. Wong in a statement saying she had “successfully portrayed her character” with “professional performing techniques and sophisticated handling of role-playing.” Franchesca Wong, who wore brownface in the TVB show, apologized on social media last week.TVBEric Tsang, an actor and general manager of TVB, further denied that racism played any part in the show and insisted that brownface was crucial to the plot.“Actually the main character is Filipino, and then she turns pale,” Mr. Tsang told reporters at a TVB event last week. “That’s the tricky part,” he added. “You can’t find a Filipino to paint white, so you can only paint an artist black first, so that she can turn pale again. If we’re making movies about aliens, and we can’t find an alien to the play the part, are we discriminating against aliens? This is what the plot calls for.” TVB’s publicists said that Mr. Tsang was unavailable for comment.Using brownface in this way for a plotline and assuming that all Filipinos are a certain color perpetuate odious stereotypes, critics say.“It essentially is an exercise of privilege,” Christine Vicera, a Filipino filmmaker and researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said in an interview. “Franchesca, at the end of the filming, is able to remove the brown skin. Whereas, Filipinos or Southeast Asians or South Asians in Hong Kong, we don’t have that privilege of removing our skin color.”Jan Gube, an assistant professor at the Education University of Hong Kong who studies multicultural education and diversity, said that many local viewers lacked the historical context to understand why brownface is offensive. Professor Gube said that most students in Hong Kong’s public schools do not grow up interacting with peers who look different from them. Local schools did not teach cultural respect — let alone the context for brownface — in an in-depth way, he said.“You’ll see a lot of comments from social media and local media saying that the actress is being faithful to her role,” he said. “Not a lot of people are looking at it from a cultural point of view, which means they may not necessarily be aware that donning that kind of makeup means something else to other people,” he added.Brownface (and yellowface — imitations of brown and Asian people by light-skinned performers) evolved from the racist vaudeville tradition of blackface, a staple of American minstrel shows in the early 1800s. Mostly white actors applied dark makeup to play mocking caricatures of Black people. With few other representations of Black people onstage — and later onscreen — blackface performances helped reinforce dehumanizing tropes.Asian countries have had a history of perpetuating colorism, in which the preference for lighter skin is imbued in cultural and social mores. Cosmetic companies have been criticized for selling skin-lightening creams. In Pakistan, the TV series “Parizaad,” about the struggles of a dark-skinned laborer, the lead actor appeared to have darkened his face to play the role, drawing criticism from some social media users. But the show was a big hit when it debuted last year.“Brownface is always wrong because it constructs a racist stereotype. The underlying racist premise of brownface is that the essence of a person is embedded in their physical features, not in their character or actions,” said Jason Petrulis, an assistant professor of global history at the Education University of Hong Kong who studies race and politics in U.S.-Asia relations.“An actor who performs in brownface is suggesting that she can portray the inner character of a Filipina domestic worker by embodying her, by mimicking her skin color or speech patterns or hair texture,” he added.About 203,000 Filipinos live in Hong Kong, forming the largest non-Chinese ethnic group in the city, according to a 2021 census. About 190,000 are domestic workers. In the past two years, as Hong Kong has doubled down on Covid restrictions, the domestic workers have been singled out for mass testing and have been slapped with fines for violating social distancing rules that often exceed their entire monthly salary.For Filipinos who find work as actors in the city, the roles are often limited to clumsy maids, gangsters or bit players in ads for cleaning products.“I’ve always felt that our ethnicity and skin color is used as props to add creative value on set,” said Ray Yumul, a 29-year-old Filipino actor and headhunter. “It’s something that needs to stop and change.”Mr. Yumul said he once responded to calls seeking a Filipino actor in a commercial, only to learn that he would be playing a germ.Ricky Chu, who leads Hong Kong’s anti-discrimination watchdog, the Equal Opportunities Commission, said brownface cannot be the sole measure in determining discriminatory behavior. The watchdog would also have to consider whether the makeup is “very exaggerated” with accompanying “speech and gestures,” he said in an interview.As for whether Ms. Wong’s affected accent in the behind-the-scenes footage constitutes offensive behavior, he said a formal complaint would have to be filed before the commission could judge. (The commission, citing confidentiality, declined to say whether it had received complaints.)Mr. Chu did say that as a viewer of the TVB show, he was more concerned by dialogue that used phrases like “all you domestic helpers” that reinforced “negative stereotypes.”TVB, a 55-year-old broadcaster known for variety shows and serial dramas, has faced boycotts from pro-democracy protesters who accuse it of a pro-China bias. It has also drawn complaints for using racial epithets in a historical drama.The latest controversy intensified after the two episodes in which Ms. Wong appeared in brownface. The broadcaster has since removed those episodes from its streaming site, saying it would review their content.Ms. Wong, who did not respond to a request for comment, apologized on social media last week, saying that she had learned that trying to “analyze, interpret and act” was only part of the job.Many of her supporters responded that she had nothing to be sorry for. More

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      Late Night Muses on Elon Musk’s Deal to Buy Twitter

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      Trevor Noah joked that owning Twitter would give Musk “more power than the drugstore employee with the key to the deodorant shelf.”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Elon Musk Is VerifiableAfter initially being denied, Elon Musk reached a deal to buy Twitter on Monday for roughly $44 billion.“It’s the hottest and messiest relationship drama this side of ‘Riverdale,’ and it looks like after weeks of flirtation and fighting, the new couple has officially done the deed,” Trevor Noah joked on Monday’s “Daily Show.”“That’s right, people. Twitter said it would never sell to Elon Musk, and then he produced the cash and they’re like, ‘All right, we’ll sell.’ Yeah, I guess they found that edit button after all.” — TREVOR NOAH“I honestly don’t know why Elon would want to own Twitter, all right? It just doesn’t feel like a fun place to supervise. It’s like buying Jurassic Park after the power went down and the cages are open.” — TREVOR NOAH“So you see, by buying Twitter, Elon Music gets to own one of the most culturally influential publishing platforms in the world. I mean, remember this; think about it: Twitter is how the Arab Spring took off, all right? Black Lives Matter blew up on Twitter, the Me Too movement started on Twitter, Trump used Twitter to turn himself from a reality show joke into the 45th president of the United States and a joke. So owning Twitter gives you more power than the drugstore employee with the key to the deodorant shelf.” — TREVOR NOAH“He said he wants to transform Twitter as a platform for free speech around the globe. Yeah, that’s the problem with Twitter — no one can say what they think. They’re holding back.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Twitter’s an odd thing to buy, you know? It’s like buying YouTube and saying, ‘Forget the videos — I’m just here for the mean comments.’” — JIMMY FALLON“That’s right, the richest man in the world bought Twitter. Right now Bernie Sanders is so mad he just turned into the Hulk.” — JIMMY FALLON“Imagine having so much money that you think it’s a good idea to buy hell.” — JAMES CORDEN“Yeah, everything that happens on Twitter from now on is up to him — and also whatever strain his weed guy gives him that day. I’m just saying: He gets the wrong Sativa, there could be a race war, people; prepare yourselves.” — TREVOR NOAH“He sees something impossible and he makes it happen: building the most sought-after electric car, blasting off into outer space and, now, somehow making Twitter even worse.” — JAMES CORDENThe Punchiest Punchlines (Whose Truth? Edition)“Yeah, Musk has said that he’s pro-free speech, so a lot of people think that he’ll let former President Trump back on the platform. Yeah, not exactly what we meant when we asked for a return to prepandemic vibes.” — JIMMY FALLON“The caps lock key on Trump’s phone was like, ‘I’m back, baby.’” — JIMMY FALLON“But listen to this, today Trump told Fox News that he will not return to Twitter and will instead join his own platform, Truth Social. Wait, so not even Trump is on Truth Social yet?” — JIMMY FALLON“He’s not on his own app? If you’re keeping track, Twitter and Truth Social are like the Four Seasons and Four Seasons Total Landscaping.” — JIMMY FALLON“That is the name of his latest failure. Trump lies so much he can’t even say the word ‘truth.’” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Bits Worth WatchingBill Hader, star of “Barry,” told Jimmy Kimmel how his young daughter pranked him in public in front of Chris Pratt.What We’re Excited About on Tuesday NightElisabeth Moss will talk about her new Apple TV+ series, “Shining Girls,” on Tuesday’s “Tonight Show.”Also, Check This OutAlice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet, with her dog, Ede, at her home in Litho, Calif., on April 4. Marissa Leshnov for The New York TimesThe celebrated author Alice Walker opens up to readers with “Gathering Blossoms Under Fire,” a collection of her diaries spanning 1965 to 2000. More

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      What’s on TV This Week: ‘We Own This City’ and the N.F.L. Draft

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      “We Own This City,” from an executive producer of “The Wire,” premieres on HBO, and N.F.L. teams select new players in a multiday draft.Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, April 25-May 1. Details and times are subject to change.Monday100 DAY DREAM HOME 8 p.m. on HGTV. This reality design show hosted by the husband-and-wife team of Brian Kleinschmidt, a developer, and Mika Kleinschmidt, a real estate agent, where they help clients create their dream homes in 100 days or less, airs its Season 3 finale.WE OWN THIS CITY 9 p.m. on HBO. Executive produced by George Pelecanos (“The Deuce”) and David Simon (“The Wire”), this limited series based on a book by the Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton has its premiere. The series focuses on the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force and the corruption within the department. Simon, who created “The Wire,” suggested in a recent interview that “We Own This City” serves as a sort of coda to that beloved series, which aired on HBO from 2002 to 2008.TuesdayRISE OF THE NAZIS 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). This documentary examining Hitler and the Nazis’ rise to power in Germany during the 1930s closes its second season. Historians and experts attempt to get into the minds of those who plotted with and helped Hitler as he gained control.Sterling K. Brown in a scene from “This Is Us.”NBC, via Associated PressTHIS IS US 9 p.m. on NBC. This series follows the lives of the siblings Kevin, Kate and Randall (known as the Big Three), as well as their parents, Jack and Rebecca Pearson. This episode focuses on the night before Kate’s wedding, and Kevin’s love life takes an unexpected turn.WednesdaySharon Tate, center, with Barbara Parkins, left, and Patty Duke in “Valley of the Dolls.”20th Century Fox, via Getty ImagesVALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1967) 9:45 p.m. on TCM. Based on the novel by Jacqueline Susann, this movie follows three women who attempt to make their way in the entertainment business. When the film was released, Bosley Crowther wrote in his review for the The New York Times that it was “an unbelievably hackneyed and mawkish mish-mash of backstage plots.” However, the film later proved to have staying power. In 2016, as the book had its 50th anniversary, the film was described as a cult favorite, noting that the stars’ “big-haired, Pucci-swathed looks and melodramatic lines are frequently invoked by entertainment and design professionals to this day.”MOONSHINERS: MASTER DISTILLER 9 p.m. on Discovery. Past winners of the title of “master distiller” return for a champions tournament, competing to make the best spirits out of unusual raw ingredients.ThursdayOCEAN’S TWELVE (2004) 8 p.m. on AMC. After pulling off a major Las Vegas casino heist in “Ocean’s Eleven,” Daniel Ocean (George Clooney) recruits one more team member so he can pull off a series of European heists. The scheme is an effort to pay off the debt owed to Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), the man the original team of 11 stole from.2022 N.F.L. DRAFT, ROUND 1: 8 p.m. ABC, ESPN, NFL Network (check local listings). Teams from the National Football League make their selections for the upcoming season from Las Vegas, starting with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Rounds 2 and 3 air Friday at 7 p.m. and Rounds 4 through 7 are on Saturday at noon.FridayDINERS, DRIVE-INS & DIVES 9 p.m. on Food Network. Guy Fieri revisits some of the most memorable restaurants and eateries from previous shows. He checks in to see what new recipes they are cooking up, as well as any other changes they’ve made since they were first featured on the show.GREAT PERFORMANCES: NOW HEAR THIS: 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). This edition of “Great Performances,” one of the longest-running performing-arts anthologies on television, features the show’s host, the violinist and conductor Scott Yoo, visiting Chicago and San Francisco. Yoo examines how American composers are inspired by their cultural heritage through two composers: the Brazilian-born Sérgio Assad and the Indian American Reena Esmail.SaturdayHENRY V (1944) 3 p.m. on TCM. This Shakespeare play is set during the Hundred Years’ War, around the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. After he becomes king, Henry V considers making a claim to rule France as well as England. The play is partially presented on a stage as it would have appeared at the Globe Theater in 1603.PAWN STARS: 9 p.m. on History. Multiple generations of the Harrison family run a pawnshop on the outskirts of Las Vegas. In this episode, customers bring in items to be assessed including 1912 Yale baseball uniforms and a ukulele from 1919.SundayMichael V. Gazzo as Frank Pentangeli in “The Godfather Part II.”Paramount PicturesTHE GODFATHER: PART II (1974) 7:45 p.m. on Paramount Network. The sequel to “The Godfather” follows the rise of Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) to the top of his Mafia family and the fall from grace of his son Michael (Al Pacino) after taking over for his father. Vincent Canby wrote in his New York Times review when the movie was first released that it was a “Frankenstein’s monster stitched together from leftover parts.” When reflecting on the trilogy 50 years after the release of the first film, Michael Wilson wrote about how art imitated Mafia life and vice versa: “Generations of mobsters have looked to ‘The Godfather’ for inspiration, validation and as a playbook for how to speak and act and dress.”AMERICAN IDOL (DISNEY NIGHT) 8 p.m. on ABC. The music competition series features songs from Disney movie soundtracks.STANLEY TUCCI: SEARCHING FOR ITALY 9 p.m. on CNN. In this series’ Season 2 premiere, Stanley Tucci starts off in Venice to continue his exploration of Italy’s culture and history through its food. More

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      ‘Barry’ Is Back. Here’s What You Need to Know.

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      The HBO drama, starring Bill Hader as a hit man trying to start over as an actor, has been away for three years, so here’s a refresher ahead of Season 3.Because HBO’s Emmy-winning drama “Barry” has been on a pandemic-related hiatus for three full years, even the show’s devoted fans may not remember where the story left off at the end of Season 2, back in May 2019. So here is a quick refresher on how that finale ended: The ex-Marine and contract killer Barry Berkman slaughtered dozens of gangsters from various foreign mobs, while trying and failing to murder a man who betrayed him. Oh, and he might be on the verge of becoming a movie star.Created by Alec Berg and Bill Hader (who also plays the title character), “Barry” has so far been a twisted tale of redemption, about a hit man trying to chase away the ghosts of his violent past by starting over in Los Angeles as an actor. The show is a blood-soaked crime drama and a knowing showbiz satire, poking fun at the personas people adopt in Hollywood.In Barry’s case, his painful past lends depth and authenticity to his performances — even though he had hoped to escape those shadows in sunny California. These internal contradictions have led to external complications, affecting nearly everyone Barry knows and raising tough questions about what their futures hold.Here are few of those questions, left to be resolved as we head into Season 3 of “Barry,” debuting this Sunday night.What does Barry do now?Throughout the show’s first two seasons, Barry has often tried to kill his way out of trouble, hoping each assassination will sever his ties to the underworld and allow him to pursue an acting career. In the Season 2 finale he went on a spree, clearing out a nest of mobsters in a monastery while aiming to exterminate his former mentor and business manager Monroe Fuches (Stephen Root). Fuches escaped, but Barry proved again that he’s capable of devastating mayhem.Meanwhile, thanks to some lucky breaks — aided by his off-and-on girlfriend, the promising actress Sally Reed (Sarah Goldberg) — Barry has performed in theatrical showcases where his dangerous intensity has captured the attention of agents and producers. When last we left him, Barry had a genuine shot at a long-term relationship with Sally and a career as an edgy character actor — without having to strangle or shoot anyone, ever again.But those glimmers of hope likely won’t get much brighter. Our man remains a tortured soul, plagued by guilt, doubt and PTSD. And given that he’s angered Chechen, Bolivian and Burmese criminals during his time in Los Angeles, he is unlikely to be left undisturbed for long. Also, he still has unfinished business with Fuches, the old family friend who first recruited him to be a hit man … and then sold him out.Where’s Fuches?Season 2 began with Fuches seemingly out of the Barry-handling business, working back in his Cleveland hometown. He was compelled to return to Los Angeles when an unstable L.A.P.D. detective named John Loach — the former partner of Janice Moss, a cop Barry killed in the Season 1 finale — extorted Fuches into helping with a scheme to ensnare the assassin. Loach was killed midseason, and since then Fuches has been adrift. He is estranged from the man he once treated like a son, and the many different factions that want to take Barry down see Fuches as little more than a pawn, easily disposable.It is unclear where Fuches disappeared to after Barry’s monastery massacre, but wherever he is, it is unlikely we have seen the last of him. The chemistry between Root and Hader is essential to what “Barry” is about, capturing the gnarled personal connections that keep this antihero so confused and so emotionally guarded.Plus, Fuches was responsible for one of last season’s biggest plot twists, when he told Barry’s acting coach, Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler), that Barry killed Detective Moss, whom Gene had been dating. The ramifications of that revelation have yet to play out.Can Gene forgive Barry?Next to Fuches, Gene has been Barry’s biggest father figure — and their relationship is every bit as warped. Gene inspired Barry to try acting, and to confront some of his darkest memories. But this teacher can also be manipulative and self-centered; he has a habit of ignoring what his students need and forcing them into borderline abusive acting exercises.Winkler is giving one of the best performances of his career as Gene, a man equal parts ridiculous, adorable, charismatic and pathetic. In Season 2 we saw more of why he has been teaching for so long instead of acting: Gene’s vanity and insensitivity have rubbed a lot of people in Hollywood the wrong way.The news about Barry and Detective Moss could be a turning point for him. Does Gene take his close contact with a killer as a cue to get his personal life in order, or does he try to find some way to turn this strange situation to his advantage, careerwise?Sarah Goldberg as Sally Reed in a scene from Season 3. Her character seemed on the verge of a breakthrough in her acting career.Merrick Morton/HBOIs Sally a rising star?It’s not too much of a stretch to say that “Barry” has two protagonists: the title character and Sally, the woman with whom he’s infatuated. In Season 1, Sally was the darling of Gene’s class, as one of the few who regularly booked acting work (albeit in bit parts). In Season 2, her life got both more complicated and more exciting, as a scene she wrote and performed — fictionalizing her experiences with an abusive ex-husband — became a minor sensation, convincing producers that she could be a viable dramatic lead.As Season 2 ended, Sally learned to her dismay that these producers expect her to play roles like the one in her showcase: a victim who stands up to her victimizer. Since she fudged her autobiography for that scene, she doesn’t feel connected to those kinds of characters. Sally has wanted to be a famous actress for most of her adult life. Now she is wandering how much she will have to compromise to realize that dream.Will the cops get a clue?Since Season 1, the men and women of law enforcement have always been a few steps behind Barry — if they are on his trail at all. His involvement with the death of a fellow acting student is what got him in trouble with Moss in the first place, and led to him killing her to keep her quiet. Moss’s death then pushed Loach to target Barry. And now Loach’s death has brought another detective into the picture: Mae Dunn (Sarah Burns), who toward the end of Season 2 was misdirected into arresting a stunned Gene for Moss’s murder. (He was later released.)None of these people has been able to pin anything on Barry — yet. In Season 3, perhaps Detective Dunn will be the one to put all the pieces together.Can NoHo Hank find happiness?The overall tone of “Barry” — wryly comic and unflinchingly dark — suggests that Hader and Berg may not have a happy ending in mind for their title character. And given that he’s a violent and emotionally disturbed man who has killed many, many people, it’s hard to argue that Barry deserves one.So fans may have to pin their hopes on NoHo Hank, the Chechen crime lord who, over the course of this series, has been both Barry’s nemesis and an ally. An upbeat fellow, Hank has taken to the Los Angeles lifestyle even more than Barry has. (The “NoHo” nickname is short for “North Hollywood.”) His cheery demeanor and preference for defusing conflicts rather than escalating them has gotten him into trouble with his bosses back home, who want him to eliminate his rivals, not make new friends. Yet he keeps surviving and even thriving, as his colleagues fall.At the end of Season 2, Hank tipped off Barry about Fuches’s monastery hide-out. In the resulting melee, a lot of Hank’s associates were killed. This unexpectedly boosted his status within his own organization — though it also likely ended his truce with the Bolivian and Burmese gangs. Plus, Hank may soon have trouble with the law, given that Barry planted evidence with Moss’s body to implicate the Chechen mob.Still, if anyone can make the most of a no-win scenario, it’s our NoHo Hank. And it says something about how wonderfully cockeyed “Barry” is that even though Hank is just as evil as anyone else on this show, his pleasant disposition has made him our primary rooting interest — almost by default. More

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      Why Max Verstappen Has a Problem With Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’

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      The champion says it’s exaggerating rivalries, and he now refuses to participate, the only driver to drop out.Last year’s heated title fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen drew the focus of Season 4 of “Drive to Survive,” the Netflix series about Formula 1, which was released last month.The streaming series has been a hit for the sport, attracting droves of new fans by highlighting the personalities of the drivers inside the cockpit.But those watching “Drive to Survive” to get the inside story on the championship battle noticed a significant absence. Verstappen has become the only driver to refuse to be interviewed for the series because he thought it faked rivalries and exaggerated incidents.“I’m quite a down-to-earth guy, and I just want it to be facts, don’t hype it up,” Verstappen, of Red Bull, said.“I understand of course it needs to be like that for Netflix. It’s just not my thing.”While Verstappen still appeared in the series through use of Formula 1 footage, the story of his title fight was largely told through interviews with Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal. Hamilton, of Mercedes, took an active part in the series, engaging in interviews throughout his battle with Verstappen.Driver rivalries are central to the narrative of the show. One example came in Season 3, when an episode featured the McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr. While they are known to be good friends who worked well together in the team, the episode sought to depict tension in their relationship that Sainz felt was “pushed a bit too far.”Zak Brown, McLaren Racing’s chief executive, at the Grand Prix of Austria in 2021. He said the Netflix series showed the relationship between two of his drivers “a little bit less friendly than it was.”Mark Thompson/Getty Images“I think that rivalry was there, but it was in a friendly way, and they maybe portrayed it a little bit less friendly than it was,” Zak Brown, the chief executive of McLaren Racing, said in an interview. “Deep down, the rivalry was there, but outwardly they never showed it.”Norris thought the editing of the show “can make you look like you said something in a time and place which is definitely not correct,” but was happy as long as the truth was not twisted completely.“As long as they don’t overdo it and literally make someone look like they’ve done something which they definitely haven’t done, it’s good,” he said.Verstappen was more direct about how Norris was portrayed, arguing it made it look like Norris was a bit of a jerk.Formula 1 has spoken with the producers of the show and the teams after Verstappen’s complaints. Ian Holmes, the director of media rights at Formula 1, said that the producers “need to be mindful of his concerns” and that it was important for teams and drivers to feel comfortable participating in the series.But he disagreed that the series had faked rivalries. “This notion that some things are made up, it’s just chatter,” Holmes said in an interview. “At the end of the day, it is authentic. The other thing to remember, as well, is the people that walk up and down the paddock, they’re a bit too close to the sport” to step back and see the bigger picture.The balance between authenticity and dramatizing events to appeal to the audience is a challenge that documentary series often face. But Horner, whose rivalry with his Mercedes counterpart, Toto Wolff, featured heavily in Season 4 with insults and personality clashes, felt the purpose of “Drive to Survive” had to be kept in mind.“At the end of the day, it is a television show,” Horner said. “They’re taking snippets from a season-long battle and turning that into a television program. One has to remember it is designed ultimately to entertain.”Brown felt that the makers of “Drive to Survive” were “at the limit” of ensuring the show was entertaining while pleasing Formula 1’s hard-core fans. But he also said it was “a TV show, intended first and foremost to be entertaining.”Toto Wolff, left, principal of the Mercedes team, and Christian Horner, principal of the Red Bull Racing Team, at a news conference before the Grand Prix of Russia in 2021. Their rivalry was a focus of Season 4 of “Drive to Survive.”Pool photo by XPB“The numbers say people love it,” Brown said. “It’s drawing a tremendous amount of people in the sport, and I don’t think they’re presenting it as a pure documentary. They’re bringing Formula 1 to you in an entertaining way.“A little bit of creative license, I don’t have an issue with it.”The show has been turning new viewers into fans of the sport, with record crowds attending races in the United States and Australia in the past six months.“We’re happy to report, and I think our Netflix friends would be happy to report, that it was the No. 1 show in 33 countries around the world already,” said Greg Maffei, the chief executive of the Liberty Media Corporation, which owns Formula 1.“The Season 4 audience is already larger than the Season 3 audience. So it’s a huge success.”Brown found firsthand just how the show has helped increase the popularity of Formula 1 when he stayed in the same hotel as the Los Angeles Lakers last year.“Some fans were asking for autographs, and two players turned around and say, ‘Sorry, we’re not signing’. The fans went, ‘No, no, not you.’” They were asking Brown. “‘We’re Formula 1 fans.’” he recalled them saying.“You saw the players look at them and go, ‘Who is this guy?’ I can’t go through an airport now without being recognized, and it’s all because of Netflix.”Filming for Season 5 is already underway. With the exception of Verstappen, all drivers are continuing to participate, aware of the good it has done for Formula 1.“People have been very vocal about it being dramatized a little bit, but at the end of the day, you always want to show the best light of your sport,” George Russell, of Mercedes, said.“As long as it’s having a positive impact on Formula 1, I think there’s no real issue.”Sainz, who now drives for Ferrari, said Netflix was good for the sport. “It is a good thing for myself, for the brand of F1, and I will still take part if they want me to be in it.”But Verstappen said his mind would not be changed. “I’ll probably watch it and see how over the top it is, and just continue with my life.” More

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      Jimmy Fallon Mocks Rudy Giuliani’s ‘Masked Singer’ Appearance

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      Fallon joked that “the C.D.C. reinstated the mask mandate” after seeing the performance.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Put the Mask Back On!Rudy Giuliani appeared on Wednesday night’s episode of Fox’s “Masked Singer,” belting out a rendition of “Bad to the Bone.”Jimmy Fallon joked that after seeing Giuliani’s performance, “the C.D.C. reinstated the mask mandate.”“They finally get a Republican to wear a mask and that’s how it goes.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“You know, it actually takes talent not to hit any notes.” — JIMMY FALLON“I mean, that is just unbelievable — somebody famous was on ‘The Masked Singer.’” — SETH MEYERS“There is a good chance Rudy genuinely did not know where he was, and was just as surprised as everyone else when they opened that box. He was probably thrilled, by the way: [Imitating Giuliani] ‘A singing competition? I just assumed I was going to jail.’” — SETH MEYERS“Yeah, Rudy Giuliani just got voted off ‘The Masked Singer,’ which means he is about to spend the next five years claiming that he actually won ‘The Masked Singer.’” — TREVOR NOAH“I guess history was made last night because for the first time in ‘The Masked Singer’’s history, a contestant took off their mask and everyone was like, ‘No, no, put it back on, put it back on!’” — TREVOR NOAHThe Punchiest Punchlines (Explosive Interview Edition)“Meanwhile, our royal pain in the [expletive], his MAGAsty Donald Trump, is at it again. Trump squatted down for what appears to be a contentious chat with Piers Morgan, who used to be his friend. He was on the — as close to a friend as Donald Trump has, I guess.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“After a clip was released yesterday of former President Trump storming out of an interview with journalist Piers Morgan, a spokesman for Trump called the preview a, quote, ‘pathetic attempt to revive the career of a failed television host.’ Buddy, you’re going to have to be more specific.” — SETH MEYERS“That’s right, Piers Morgan released a clip from an interview with former President Trump that he claims will be, quote, ‘the most explosive interview of the year.’ Well, it’s certainly going to be the sweatiest. I mean, look — he looks like Jigsaw just told him he has an hour to name all the state capitals.” — SETH MEYERSThe Bits Worth WatchingOn Thursday’s “Full Frontal,” Samantha Bee skewered Tucker Carlson’s latest docuseries, “The End of Men.”Also, Check This OutBarbara Gustern, shown here at Joe’s Pub in 2020, found her metier as a vocal coach after her career in musical theater didn’t turn out as she had hoped.James GavinThe singers Debbie Harry, Kathleen Hanna and Justin Vivian Bond remember their late vocal coach Barbara Gustern. More

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      ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 2, Episode 8 Recap: Mind Melt

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      Vulcan mind melds have traditionally been depicted as an intimate telepathic linking of minds — but they can erase memories, too.Season 2, Episode 8: ‘Mercy’Martin Wells, an F.B.I. agent from 2024, is one of the consequential humans in the history of the galaxy, we find out in this episode of “Picard.” It turns out that he is the one who made first contact with an extraterrestrial being, not Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell), as we are led to believe in “Star Trek: First Contact.”And the Vulcans Martin met? They tried to erase his mind. My initial reaction to this revelation was: “Wait a minute. Vulcans can use mind melds to do that?”Actually, it turns out they can! Spock did so with Kirk in the original series episode “Requiem for Methuselah.” Mind melds have traditionally been depicted as an intimate telepathic linking of minds — but they can erase memories, too, like those widgets in “Men In Black.” What if Vulcans were the biggest criminals in the Alpha Quadrant but no one knew about it because they keep erasing everyone’s minds? But we digress.More specifically, how long were Vulcans chilling on Earth?Guinan is the one who correctly deduces that there is more to Martin than being an overzealous F.B.I. agent — that there was something personal to the exchange. Picard notes that the F.B.I. might disrupt the launch of the Europa mission, and this will cause the future timeline to break. (These concerns remain amusing: In the previous episode, Guinan nearly blew up her bar to summon Q. Hardly a subtle gesture to hide an alien presence! Rios beamed 2024 humans to the ship where they’re learning all about the future! And he makes out with one of them! The timeline is shattered, admiral!)Our favorite bartender’s work isn’t done. She finally meets Q, whom, in this timeline, she has never met. And this is where the story becomes even more muddled. Guinan tells Q that when the summoning stopped, she felt “emptiness and fear.” That’s quite perceptive, and in line with Guinan’s character. (Unlike when she first meets Picard and can’t sense anything.) Q is dying and wants to give his life meaning. He seems to fear death.And Q gives Guinan a couple of key pieces of information.“The trap is immaterial,” Q says. “It’s the escape that counts,” Q says.We seem to have gotten away from the story line of the first half of the season, which was that something happens in 2024 that causes a future in which the Federation becomes the bloodthirsty Confederation. It is implied early in the season that Q is the one who caused this in order to teach Picard something about humanity.But how does this link with the Borg Queen’s plan? She wants to assimilate Earth and then the whole galaxy, beginning in 2024, which is essentially the same plot as “First Contact.” It continues to baffle me that Picard doesn’t bring up his previous experience with the same exact thing. The Queen essentially wants to partner with Jurati to accomplish this, which is what she wanted to do previously with Data.This feels like relevant information to bring up to the rest of the crew. It happened! It was a huge deal! It would be like Paul McCartney writing a memoir about his life and not mentioning the Beatles.Either way, lets say Picard stops the Borg Queen from doing her thing, and no one is assimilated — although, as we see at the end of the episode, the assimilations have already begun. How does this connect to a future in which humans become the angry, spiteful versions that Q presents?What remains unclear to me is why the Queen needs Jurati to accomplish her goals, or Adam Soong for that matter. (The Queen is able to mimic voices, overtake computer systems and assimilate at will. She shouldn’t need Soong’s help with anything. Unless her previous fascination with Data comes into play here.) The goal now is to sabotage Renee Picard’s Europa mission, which seems to align with Q’s mission. And now Soong also wants to sabotage the mission so that the world will turn to him for his genius — or at least that’s what the Queen sells him on.(Why does the Queen needs Soong’s assistance to take over La Sirena when she has shown herself perfectly capable of possessing the ship without anyone’s help?)If you’re losing track of what is happening here — who needs what and why — you aren’t alone.There’s a moment when Soong tells his quasi-daughter, “You exist because I willed it,” which lines up neatly with this season’s emphasis on patriarchal views. But more broadly, it speaks to why Soong might be tempted by what the Borg Queen offers: a path to conquest.Even so, Jurati — possessed by the Queen — has become a terrifying figure who nearly chokes Raffi to death, right after Raffi and Seven have a dispute over whether Raffi is too manipulative — incidentally, while they are trying to stop the Borg Queen from accomplishing her mission to manipulate everything.Manipulation is at the core of this season. Jean-Luc wants to manipulate Renee into taking a spaceflight she isn’t ready for. He also manipulates Martin into freeing him and Guinan. (Martin has made finding extraterrestrial beings his life’s work. He finally finds them and almost immediately frees them. It was a bit incongruous.) Q manipulates entire timelines and so forth and so on. Soong manipulates his daughter into believing that she is human.Guinan ends the episode being more optimistic about humans than ever — that they “do the work and want to evolve,” despite not being given any real reason to. No one is to be trusted in this “Picard” universe. And perhaps that’s the key for how the future goes awry. More

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      Mikhail Vasenkov Dies at 79; His Spy Ring Inspired ‘The Americans’

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      He and his wife were among 10 Soviet sleeper agents who blended into American society before being exposed and deported in 2010. The TV series sprung from the episode.Mikhail Vasenkov, the most senior of 10 Soviet sleeper agents who posed as ordinary citizens in the United States as they scouted potential recruits, and whose mass arrest and deportation in 2010 inspired the TV series “The Americans,” died on April 6. He was 79.His death was announced by the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation. The agency did not specify how or where he died, but he was interviewed as recently as December 2020 in Moscow.When they were arrested, Mr. Vasenkov and his wife, Vicky Pelaez, a journalist, had been living undercover in a Soviet-owned two-story brick and stucco house in suburban Yonkers, N.Y., since immigrating from her native Peru in 1985.The house in Yonkers, N.Y., where Mr. Vasenkov and his wife, Vicky Pelaez, lived undercover.Daniel Barry for The New York TimesThey and eight others, part of a network of so-called illegals, were rounded up in a multiyear F.B.I. investigation, called Operation Ghost Stories, and pleaded guilty to failing to register as agents of a foreign government. They were then deported, flown to Europe on July 9, 2010, and swapped for four Russians who had been imprisoned in Moscow on charges of spying for the United States and Britain.The arrests of the sleeper agents, including several couples with children and a self-styled New York socialite, Anna Chapman, generated the concept for “The Americans,” which was broadcast on FX beginning in 2013.“That was absolutely the inspiration for the series,” Joe Weisberg, who developed the series with Joel Fields, told Time magazine in 2010.Over six seasons, the drama, set in the 1980s, followed two Soviet undercover agents masquerading as a suburban Washington couple, Elizabeth and Philip Jennings (played by Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys), in a Cold War cat-and-mouse contest with federal agents.A scene from the sixth season of the FX television show “The Americans,” which was inspired by the arrest of Mr. Vasenkov and nine others as spies. From left, Lev Gorn with Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, who played married Soviet agents at the center of the show. Patrick Harbron/ FXMr. Vasenkov, operating as Juan Lazaro Sr., conducted what sounded more like a cat-and-slouch competition with federal counterintelligence agents. He and Ms. Pelaez didn’t shade their anti-American views, and they apparently neither collected nor delivered any secrets to Moscow.When the spies were rounded up, the F.B.I. said that while “their intent from the start was serious, well-funded by the S.V.R.” — the Soviet intelligence service — “and far-ranging,” they “never got their hands on any classified documents.”Whether for the benefit of eavesdroppers or because he was getting paid regardless, Mr. Vasenkov was recorded by federal agents telling his wife matter-of-factly that his Soviet handlers “say my information is of no value,” adding, “If they don’t like what I tell them, too bad.”He was apparently the first of the Soviet agents to have been compromised, captured on tape as early as 2003 blithely instructing his wife on how to communicate with Moscow.“When you go to Peru, I am going to write in invisible,” he said, according to a transcript, “and you’re going to pass them all of that in a book.” To which Ms. Pelaez replied, “Oh, O.K.”When he was arrested, he told investigators that he “would not violate his loyalty” to the S.V.R. — “even for his son,” a teenager whom he would leave behind when he and his wife were deported.When the 10 agents arrived in Moscow, Vladimir V. Putin, a former K.G.B. agent who was prime minister at the time, greeted them by lustily leading them in patriotic anthems and offering them a “bright life” in Mother Russia with a pension and a monthly stipend.But Mr. Vasenkov, the senior spy among them, said no, thank you. He had not been looking forward to his return. He had not lived in his native Russia for decades (by then he spoke Russian with a Spanish accent), and his wife had never visited the country. And so within weeks of landing in Moscow he decided instead to resume his false identity and return with his wife to Peru.They did, in 2013.In “Deception: Spies, Lies and How Russia Dupes the West” (2012), Edward Lucas wrote that while the infiltration by sleeper agents posed a serious threat to U.S. national security, “it is easy to mock the pointlessness of these people, apparently the least serious of the illegals, sent at vast trouble and expense of a foreign country in order to carry out tasks that most people manage with a mouse click.”Nonetheless, in announcing Mr. Vasenkov’s death, the Russian security agency praised him in an obituary.“At work in special conditions since 1975,” the obituary said, “he created and headed an illegal residency, which obtained valuable political information, which was highly appreciated.”The agency openly identified him as a “former Russian spy and sleeper agent” — a covert infiltrator assigned to scout potential spies, assess vulnerable targets and stand ready to be activated in a crisis even decades later.The S.V.R. said that Mr. Vasenkov had reached mandatory military retirement with the rank of colonel in 2004, without elaborating on why he had remained in New York for six more years before he was betrayed, the agency said, by a Soviet defector.The agency’s announcement listed the medals and other commendations that Mr. Vasenkov had been awarded and characterized him as “a hardworking, honest and modest employee” who had been “prone to work associated with risk” and had shown “will, courage and resourcefulness.”The couple’s son, Juan Lazaro Jr., who was 17 at the time of their arrest and already an accomplished pianist, declined to accompany them back to Russia. He was finishing his studies at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan at the time. According to a résumé, he later graduated from the Juilliard School and studied at the Mannes School of Music in Manhattan, part of the New School, and still lives in New York.Ms. Pelaez’s stepson from a previous relationship, Waldo Mariscal, an architect who was 38 at the time, also remained in the United States. He now lives in Peru with his mother, according to her lawyer, Carlos Moreno. She and her sons are among Mr. Vasenkov’s survivors, Mr. Moreno said.Mikhail Anatolyevich Vasenkov was born on Oct. 9, 1942, into what his obituary described as a family of workers in Kuntsevo, a town outside Moscow. (Stalin had a dacha there.) The family moved to Siberia some time after the German invasion during World War II.Mikhail graduated from the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School. Trained in English and Spanish, he flew from Madrid to Lima in 1976 on a Uruguayan passport under the name of Juan Jose Lazaro Fuentes, an identity he had stolen from a Uruguayan who had died of respiratory failure in 1947 at the age of 3.Described as a freelance news photographer with a black belt in karate, he was granted Peruvian citizenship in 1979. In 1983, “with the sanction” of the spy service, according to the Russian security service, he married Ms. Pelaez, a television reporter.Two years later, they emigrated to the United States, where she went to work as a journalist for the Spanish-language daily newspaper El Diario/La Prensa.Mr. Vasenkov earned a doctorate in political science at the New School, wrote approvingly of the leftist Shining Path guerrilla movement in Peru and, in 2008, taught Latin American and Caribbean politics for a semester as an adjunct professor at Baruch College in Manhattan, part of the City University of New York.Despite the recording of Mr. Vasenkov’s instructions about invisible ink, Ms. Pelaez insisted that she had not known that her husband was a Soviet agent until the arrests. And in interviews, her stepson — who remained loyal to the couple, saying, “We believe in the integrity of our parents”— vouched for her.“My mother barely speaks English,” he said. “She’s going to speak Russian? The only Russian thing my mother likes is vodka.” More