Popcrunch has created a list of famous people who have gone on the record about suffering with depression. The list included more than 100 people from all walks of life: politics, Hollywood, sports, journalism, anthropology, etc. For our purposes here, I’m interested in the women on the list.

Now, some of these women were pretty obvious candidates — I think we all had a hunch Sylvia Plath wasn’t happy every day — but others caught me by surprise and, again, illustrated what we all sort of know: that depression hits anyone, regardless of status, success, talent, smarts, looks, fame, love or lack thereof. Getting depressed is starting to feel like a given in the world today. I mean, times are bad: We’ve been at war for several years. Gas costs too much. It’s hectic out there. We’d be mad not to get sad.

The key, obviously, is dealing with our depression healthily. Talking to friends works for some of us, or sometimes journaling or jogging. Some of us need counseling at times, and despite what Tom Cruise says, medication can help sometimes, too.

It’s important to know that were not alone, and that some of our heroes have been depressed. Several of the people who are responsible for our favorite books, songs, and films, even. (Hey, isn’t it ironic that some of the people we turn to when we’re depressed get down, too?) Here are a few wonderful everyday women who get the blues:

—Politicians, their spouses, and sex scandal partners (regardless of party affiliations): Tipper Gore, Barbara Bush, Betty Ford, Monica Lewinsky, Marilyn Monroe

—Royalty who may or may not have despised each other: Princess Di, Queen Elizabeth II

—Athletes who grunt while playing and/or had a trend-setting hairdo in the 1970s: Monica Seles, Dorothy Hamill

—Women who sing about sad stuff: Shirley Manson of Garbage, Amy Lee of Evanescence, Sinead O’ Connor

—Women who sing about happy stuff: Sheryl Crow, Melanie C

—Women who sing about hot stuff: Donna Summer

—Women who sing about the importance of holding on: Carnie Wilson … continue reading

AfterEllen.com readers outside the U.S. often lament the delays in getting movies and TV series that we write about. But in the case of Hors de Prix (English title: Priceless), the rest of the world is way ahead of the States.

Priceless, which opened in Belgium in 2006, stars the lovely Audrey Tautou, best known to American audiences as Sophie Neveu in The Da Vinci Code and Amélie Poulain in Amélie.

Tautou plays Irène, an attractive hooker woman who relies on the kindness of older, very wealthy men. While on vacation with one such sugar daddy gentleman, Jacque, Irène meets Jean (Gad Elmaleh), a bartender who pretends to be a millionaire in order to spend an evening with Irène. … continue reading

I may finally be too old for a stocking, but there’s one holiday tradition I continue to love, and that’s the airing of classic musicals on television. For a long time now, I’ve been of the opinion that lesbians need to reclaim musicals from gay men — not least because there is such a plethora of gorgeous, talented women in film musical history.

While a list of all my favorite female performances would probably take all day, here in chronological order are ten that I’m hoping to see over the vacation:

1. Ginger Rogers in Shall We Dance (1937)

I love all the Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire collaborations, so it’s hard to select just one.

But Shall We Dance has one of my favorite Ginger Rogers moments, as the camera dwells in close-up on her listening face as Fred Astaire sings "They Can’t Take That Away From Me." While the song is beautiful, it’s Ginger’s subtly despairing response that really strikes at the heart. (She would go on to win an Oscar for Best Actress, for the non-musical film Kitty Foyle, in 1940).

2. Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas (1954)

This very, very silly seasonal musical is mostly notable for the gay undertones brought by Danny Kaye’s performance (no, really — watch it again). … continue reading