Entertainer Quickie: Ashton Kutcher to play Steve Jobs and Madonna gets censored

Ashton Kutcher to star in Jobs

Ashton Kutcher gained fame with roles on TV shows like That 70s Show and Punk’d, but things are about to get serious for the 34 year-old jokester.  Reports are circulating that Kutcher has been chosen to play the role of the founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, in an upcoming indie biopic about the technology mogul’s early years.  At first it may seem like an odd combination.  Could the man who played Michael Kelso for years really be able to pull off being one of the greatest tech geniuses ever alive?

Those behind the film think yes.  Director Joshua Michael Stern is set to begin filming in May which is also when Kutcher may be experiencing some extra free time due to the hiatus from Two and a Half Men.  While there have been questions raised about the comedian’s skills in a more dramatic film some critics have rushed to defend Kutcher.  In doing so they highlight the resemblance between the two men, a few of Kutcher’s films that strayed away from the comedy genre that were respectable, and the fact that the actor has a toe in Silicon Valley.  He has invested in several companies such as Ooma, Foursquare, Flipboard, and Skype showing some smart investment moves that earn him about 6 million dollars a year.  The most appropriate argument laid out in Kutcher’s favor involves the deep respect that the actor felt for Steve Jobs.  Shortly after the Apple CEO’s death the actor tweeted:

“I never thought I could be so busted up about the loss of someone I never met. Sending love & light to everyone @Apple & the entire Jobs family. Today we lost a giant who will be missed even by those who didn’t know him.”

Despite the faith put in his ability to capture the life of Jobs, Kutcher will have some competition in the works.  Another Steve Jobs film has been picked up by Sony who won the rights to turn Walter Issac’s biography into a movie.  The latter film will focus on the man’s return to Apple when he managed to turn the company into the success it is today.  That means that the wayward hippie days of Jobs’s youth are left to Ashton and fans of the tech genius will be waiting to see if Kutcher will capture the essence of a man who defined Apple.

Madonna censored as “too racy”

We can all respect a woman who’s 53 years old, looks amazing, and is still keeping up with her contemporaries on the dance floor, but with the recent censoring demanded of not one, but two of Madonna’s new videos you have to wonder…. Is she really being that provocative or is media getting too sensitive? One look at her new ad campaign for the perfume “Truth or Dare” or the video for “Girl Gone Wild” and you have to side with networks here.  In her music video there are intensely sexual situations that would be understandably considered unfit for those under the age of 18.

According to the New York Post, YouTube chiefs have told Madonna’s team “that if they want it[the music video] to be available for viewing by all, they must edit out shots of bare bottoms, a man rubbing his crotch and an implied masturbation scene where a man gyrates before a mirror.” Yes, a naked man gyrating in front of a mirror is a scene in the video.  The music video has certainly grabbed some attention and when paired with the ad campaign that is giving Disney-owned ABC a headache it seems like Madonna’s still too racy for many networks and social medias.

The ad campaign features black and white shots of Madonna in a low cut corset and fishnets singing “I’m a bad girl.”  A source has reported that “ABC viewed the ad [and] came back with a list of changes. They say they want her bra digitally made bigger, and to extend higher to cover more of her chest, and her corset longer to cover more of her bottom. ABC also wants to cut another suggestive scene where Madonna writhes around.” Once those changes are made the network will allow it to run, but only after 9pm.  At the moment it would appear that Madonna is once again pushing the limits and not afraid of producing material that makes networks nervous.