Culture Catch-Up: The loop is here and we're bringing you in
Movies: With Christian Bale brooding in the tight black costume, Batman Begins turns out to be the best Gotham City flick since the Michael Keaton/Tim Burton days. But no one's getting to revel in the deadpan humor, enjoyable action sequences, and top-notch performances, because all the talk is about Katie Holmes, who plays a district attorney who was Bruce Wayne's childhood love interest. After all, she's the one newly engaged to Tom Cruise (yep, he proposed at the Eiffel Tower), whose mission this summer seems to be promoting Scientology instead of his upcoming movie, War of the Worlds. Anyway, according to reports, Holmes is converting to the religion and Cruise has hired a Scientology adviser to follow her on the press junket circuit.
So what is Scientology? The religion, founded by sci-fi writer L. Ron Hubbard, is based on the notion that humans can unlock the powers of their mind to improve their body and spirit. They are adamantly opposed to psychiatrists and drugs—especially antidepressants. And it is believed that once Scientologists have learned enough about mind unlocking through sessions with higher-ups (and paid the requisite fees), they are told about Xenu, who put aliens into Earth's volcanoes 75 million years ago. These aliens have apparently invaded humans' bodies and cause a lot of the misery in life. Right, so the weird part—OK the other weird part—about all of this is that Batman Begins has a not-so-subtle Scientology subtext. The caped crusader's foe is a psychiatrist whose dastardly plan is to give the citizens of Gotham a hallucinogenic drug to freak them out.
Music: Speaking of drugs, Starbucks is hawking Jagged Little Pill ($16) along with its Frappuccinos this summer. An acoustic 10th-anniversary version of Alanis Morissette's insanely popular album (featuring tracks "Ironic" and "Hand in My Pocket" is available only at the java chain for now. It'll be in other stores in late July, but not at HMV Canada locations, which are pulling the album to protest the Starbucks deal. And speaking of Canadians, you may want to join them in Toronto on July 2 for the second North American Live 8 concert organized by Bob Geldof to call attention to African poverty. (The other one is in Philly and will feature the Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder, P. Diddy, and Sarah McLachlan.) The Toronto lineup, rumored to include The Barenaked Ladies, will be announced June 21.
Museums: It's not every day that Egypt's famous boy pharaoh embarks on his farewell tour of the States, so Tutankhamen & The Golden Age of the Pharaohs (kingtut.org, tickets $15–$30), which opened June 16 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is expected to lure millions of visitors over the next two years (after L.A., King Tut will move on to Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, and finally Philadelphia). The treasures on display include 50 objects from Tut's tomb (only 12 of these came to the United States during the tour in the late 1970s), as well as 70 objects from the era. More-contemporary leaders are also being celebrated in L.A., as part of the Petersen Automotive Museum's exhibit Presidents, Popes, and Potentates (petersen.org, tickets $3–$10), which opens today. Among the powerful vehicles on display are two Popemobiles used by Pope John Paul II and the first humvee built for civilian use, which belongs to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
TV: If you're still stuck in the office while your coworkers have commenced their summer globe-trotting, tune into Michael Palin: Himalaya (debuts June 20, the Travel Channel, 9 p.m. ET). The Monty Python alum, who came out with a series on the Sahara in 2002, starts his charming travels in the Khyber Pass. Meanwhile, just as professional celebrity Paris Hilton has been announcing her retirement from public life, her mother, Kathy, is launching the reality show I Want to be a Hilton (debuts June 21, NBC, 9 p.m. ET). What perfect timing for 14 contestants, like hip-hop-loving Rashad and Long Island-bred Jules, to vie for a $200,000 trust fund by learning how to act like wealthy WASPs. Or, flip over to PBS, which will be kicking off the 18th season of P.O.V. with The Education of Shelby Knox, the story of a Texas teen wrangling with abstinence-only education advocates.
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