Phony photos in lying clickbait: North Korea, moments before tragedy, Civil War pics

Lying clickbait keeps appearing on news websites despite the national discussion about “fake news.”
Here are some of the latest examples I’ve seen.

Clickbait purveyors continue to promote articles about life in North Korea with photos of sexy women from South Korea.
Sponsored articles from Kiwi Report and Semesterz each used the same headline and subhead: “N. Korea has been hiding this for 16 years: 47 rare photos of life in North Korea that will blow your mind.” Both appeared on Yahoo Finance pages.
The Semesterz post used a photo of a women’s sexy backside competition held at Blue One Water Park in Gyeongju, South Korea. (See articles by Branding in Asia and Koreaboo.)

The Kiwi Report post used photos of Clara Lee, an actress and model active in South Korea. (See photo at top. Also check out her website and Wikipedia page.)

A Taboola-sponsored clickbait post titled “Perfectly timed pictures taken before a disaster” used a photo of a young woman hanging by one arm from a rocky cliff. She’s fine. The photo is an optical illusion. She is hanging only a few feet off the ground from a big rock at Pedra do Telegrafo in Brazil. (See articles by the Daily Mail and Metro.)

Another Taboola-sponsored article titled “Gruesome Civil War photos released from government vault” featured a black-and-white photo of what appeared to be a soldier shot in the arm. The picture is old, but not from the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865). It was taken during a reenactment in 1913. (See Getty Images.)

One clickbait article seen on Yahoo featured a photo of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg with the headline “Breaking news: We say goodbye. Mark Zuckerberg is gone. Sad day for Facebook.” It falsely implies that he’s dead or has left Facebook. Of course, neither is true.

Finally, a clickbait post titled “Troubled news anchor does the unthinkable on air” included a photo of Olivia Newton-John’s daughter Chloe Lattanzi from an appearance on an Australian morning TV show. She is not a news anchor. She was a guest on the show and had a funny exchange over misunderstood slang term. No big whoop. (See articles by the Express and Mama Mia.)

Related articles:

Lying clickbait: Fake historical photos, fake North Korea photos, fake Titanic photos (March 19, 2017)

Fake North Korea photos: More lying clickbait (Jan. 31, 2017)

Lying clickbait: Close-but-no-cigar edition (Dec. 13, 2016)

Fake planes, fake yachts, real lying clickbait

Clickbait creators HistoryInOrbit and TheBrofessional are at it again using fake photos with their lying clickbait articles.
Here are a bunch of recent examples.

A Taboola-sponsored article from HistoryInOrbit carried the headline “Russia’s new helicopter is straight out of a sci-fi film.” Well, the photo is. The clickbait post used a photo of a quinjet from the 2012 movie “The Avengers.”

Another HistoryInOrbit article titled “China’s new fighter jet looks downright insane” used a picture of a fictional fighter jet from the 2005 sci-fi movie “Stealth.” (See related article by Snopes.)

Two other clickbait articles used conceptual art of airplanes.
TheBrofessional tried to pass off one rendering as a new Chinese stealth fighter. The picture is concept art titled “Gunship” by Romanian artist Alex Ichim. (See his work on ArtStation and DeviantArt.)

The other article, by HistoryInOrbit, used artwork by Al Brady showing a biologically inspired aircraft. (See article by Gizmodo.)

Finally, an article titled “Yachts more advanced than military ships” used art of a concept yacht called Epiphany by Andy Waugh. (See article by Robb Report and Andy Waugh Yacht Design.)

Related articles:

Websites that use lying clickbait (June 29, 2017)

Lying clickbait: Outrageous aircraft, freaky fish and other Photoshop fails (June 27, 2017)

Fake airplane photos and other lying clickbait (Feb. 19, 2017)

In space you can hear the last gasp of dying film franchises

When a movie franchise has no place left to go, producers sometimes decide to set their next installment in space, the final frontier.
That’s how we ended up with the Three Stooges, James Bond, Dracula and Jason Voorhees, among others, in space.
At the D23 Expo in Anaheim, Calif., earlier this month, Disney announced that it’s working on a new “Cars”/“Planes” animated feature that will take place in space. The still-untitled movie is slated for release in April 2019, the Hollywood Reporter said.
F. Gary Gray, director of “The Fate of the Furious,” the eighth installment in the “Fast and Furious” series, has discussed the possibility of the franchise traveling into space in future installments, Screen Rant says.
Producers of the X-Men movie series also have discussed setting a future installment in space, Screen Rant says.
The third film in the “Machete” series of grindhouse action films starring Danny Trejo is called “Machete Kills Again...In Space,” GeekTyrant says.

Related articles:

‘Game of Thrones’ in space, ‘Harry Potter’ in space, other space-set dramas coming (Jan. 21, 2015)

Movies where the setting was changed to ‘in space’ (April 21, 2013)

Photos: Promotional art for “Machete Kills Again … In Space” (top) and for unnamed Disney animated space vehicles movie.

President Trump magazine covers, six months in

President Donald Trump just passed the six-month mark in office and the news media continue to dog him relentlessly.
Magazine covers have centered not on his policies, but mostly on scandals, such as alleged ties between the Russian government and the Trump family.
What follows is the latest in my series on Trump magazine covers since his election.

Time magazine’s May 22 cover showed Trump walking away from the camera. This photo implied that Trump is leaving and that we’re near the end of his presidency. Wishful thinking?

New York magazine’s June 26-July 9 issue used of photo illustration that depicted Trump as Richard Nixon. It was for a cover story by Frank Rich titled “How a Presidency Ends.”

The June 3 issue of Der Spiegel poked fun of Trump’s rejection of the Paris climate agreement. The cover illustration showed Trump hitting a flaming Earth golf ball with the cover line “You’re fired!”

Mother Jones presented the Russia scandal in sinister tones with its July-August cover illustration. The cover line was “The Russia Connection: Your guide to the scandal that could take down Trump.”

The Week magazine had a more playful cover on the subject for its July 21 issue. It showed Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin sharing a milkshake with two straws like young lovers.

People magazine got in on the action with its July 31 cover titled “Trump Family: Secrets & Lies.”

The June 23 issue of Newsweek looked at the role Breitbart played in getting Trump elected.

The July 1-7 issue of The Economist with the cover line “Trump’s America” billed itself as “A Special Report on a Divided Country.”

New Yorker magazine treated the Trump presidency like a comedy with its May 22, June 19 and July 24 issues.

Of course, everything is a joke to Mad magazine, which featured Trump on the covers of its June, August and October issues.

Previous articles about Trump magazine covers: 

The best Donald Trump magazine covers of the 2016 election (Oct. 16, 2016)

Media reaction to Trump’s election based on magazine covers (Nov. 20, 2016)

Magazines go over the top with President Trump covers (Feb. 25, 2017)

Trump magazine covers update: Three months on the job (April 22, 2017)

Overseas magazines trash President Trump (May 26, 2017)

Will Rihanna bring change to Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world?

This week a model named Khulood was arrested for wearing a short skirt and crop top in the heritage village of Ushaiger in Saudi Arabia.
She was charged with “disrespecting and violating the teachings of Islam” for her Western feminine apparel. She had posted a video to social media that caused outrage among conservative Muslims in the country.
Women in Saudi Arabia are expected to wear “conservative” loose-fitting cloaks known as abayas, the Daily Mail reported. Most also cover their hair and face with a black veil.
The incident got me thinking about pop singer Rihanna who is dating a Saudi businessman, Hassan Jameel, and is contemplating marriage, if the tabloids are to be believed.
Fashion icon, humanitarian and sexy celebrity Rihanna doesn’t seem like the type who’d put up with Saudi Arabia’s patriarchal, second-class treatment of women.
Rihanna’s image is the antithesis of Islamic beliefs in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East.
If Rihanna does marry Jameel, I wonder if she’ll effectively live in exile from his home country. After all, her postings on social media alone could get her arrested in Saudi Arabia. But then again, it’s well known that the rich and powerful in Saudi Arabia aren’t subject to the same rules as common folk.
A more interesting possibility is that Rihanna could use her high profile to drive change in the country.
This is all very premature, but it’s still interesting to consider.

Related articles: 

After Saudi skirt woman's brief arrest, many lament double standard (Reuters; July 19, 2017)

Woman who sparked outrage by walking through Saudi village in a T-shirt and short skirt is arrested by police (Daily Mail; July 18, 2017)

Saudi Arabia investigates video of woman in miniskirt (BBC; July 17, 2017)

Actresses who have played Cinderella in movies and TV shows

Continuing my look at pop-culture portrayals of Cinderella, here’s a rundown of actresses who have portrayed the fairytale princess in movies and TV shows throughout the years.
I’ve previously written about actresses who have portrayed Red Riding Hood, Tinker Bell, Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz,” Belle from “Beauty and the Beast” and Alice from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” (See links to those articles below.)

Mary Pickford, “Cinderella” (1914)
Leslie Caron, “The Glass Slipper” (1955)
Julie Andrews, “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” (1957)
Lesley Ann Warren, “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” (1965)
Belinda Montgomery, “Hey, Cinderella!” (1969)
Gemma Craven, “The Slipper and the Rose” (1976)
Cheryl Smith, “Cinderella” (1977)
Charlayne Woodard, “Cindy” (1978)
Jennifer Beals, “Faerie Tale Theatre: Cinderella” (1985)
Brandy, “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” (1997)
Marcella Plunkett, “Cinderella” (2000)
Jessy Schram, “Once Upon a Time” (2011-16)
Anna Kendrick, “Into the Woods” (2014)
Lily James, “Cinderella” (2015)
Lauren Perez, “Cinderella: The Enchanted Beginning” (2018)
Camila Cabello, “Cinderella” (2021)

Updated Sept. 4, 2021.

Related:

Actresses who have played Dorothy from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (Jan. 23, 2017)

Actresses who have portrayed Little Red Riding Hood in movies and TV shows (Oct. 26, 2016)

Actresses who have played Alice from ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ (June 1, 2016)

13 actresses who have played Belle in Beauty and the Beast and 1 more who will (Feb. 10, 2016)

Fap if you believe in fairies; Riley Steele latest actress to play Tinker Bell (Oct. 5, 2015)

6 actresses who have played Tinker Bell and 2 more who will (May 24, 2015)

Sexy Cinderella artwork

Pop-culture artists like to sexualize public-domain fairytale characters, more specifically “Disney princesses.”
In July 2013, I posted an article about sexy Cinderella artwork. It was popular with Tech-media-tainment readers, so I’ve decided to revisit the topic.
What follows are more sexy depictions of Cinderella by pop-culture artists.

Comic book artist J. Scott Campbell is the godfather of sexy fairytale artwork. Here are two of his depictions of Cinderella.

Artist Elias Chatzoudis also is one of the top fairytale princess artists. I’ve included three of his Cinderella illustrations, including the one at the top of this post.

Digital artist Jeff Chapman has tried his hand at making a sexy Cinderella picture as well.

Alastair “Aly” Fell showed a sensual Cinderella wearing ragged clothing and sporting ash smudges on her face, chest and feet. Fell is a U.K.-based artist known for his fantasy illustrations.

Canadian artist Cris Delara depicted a scantily clad Cinderella giving a bluebird a bath with a bucket of water.

Malaysian artist Zhi Lin created an illustration called “Sexy Cinderella,” showing the fairytale princess in lingerie.

Canadian illustrator Emily Molenda also depicted Cinderella in sexy underwear.

German graphic artist PinkyPills drew Cinderella in the buff except for white evening gloves and glass stripper heels.

Artist Elena Mirulla illustrated a pervy prince putting a glass slipper on busty Cinderella.

Artist Ruth McGleish did a cheeky picture of Cinderella sweeping dirt under a rug.

Artist Tim Shumate made a series of Disney princess tattoos, including one of Cinderella.

Comic artist Amy Mebberson did a funny mashup of Cinderella and “Basic Instinct.”

Related:

Sexy Cinderella depictions (July 25, 2013)