The Dictatorship
‘Anora’ puts one of the most uncomfortable realities of class structure on full display
UPDATE (March 2, 2025, 10:45 p.m. ET):On Sunday night, “Anora” was named the year’s best picture at the 2025 Academy Awards. The honor capped a night of wins for the acclaimed film, including best actress, best director and best original screenplay.
On the surface, Sean Baker’s “Anora,” which has been nominated for multiple Oscars and has already won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, doesn’t seem interested in the present political moment. For example, the film’s Russian and Russian American characters show no discernible awareness of a war started by Vladimir Putin in 2022. But upon closer inspection, the movie probes a timely subject: the superwealthy and how they bend and distort civil society to their selfish whims.
“Anora” is many things at once. It’s a meditation on sex work, a theme Baker examines with ingenuity in films like “Starlet,” “Red Rocket” and “Tangerine.” It’s a genre-toggler — shifting between a farcical rom-com, a gangster movie and an indie flick. It’s also a handy introduction to oligarchs and the obscene power they wield over institutions and the lives of working-class people.
“Anora” subverts the feel-good vibe that movies like “Pretty Woman” radiated when portraying sex workers and their “kindhearted” johns.
At first, “Anora” appears to be stampeding to what in earlier decades would have been its Hollywood ending. We watch an exotic dancer from the outer boroughs named Ani/Anora (Mikey Madison) practice her craft at the local strip club. Because she speaks some Russian, her manager introduces her to a patron named Vanya (played by Mark Eydelshteyn).
Cute and absurdly wealthy, 21-year-old Vanya takes an apparent shine to Ani. He invites her to accompany him from one bender to another. Ani, with tinsel in her hairseems to like him too. Still, she negotiates her price on each cocaine-fueled outing. Soon they end up in Las Vegas, where assorted onlookers (and Sean Baker’s giddy camera work) celebrate their shotgun wedding as fireworks discharge above.
But then “Anora” subverts the feel-good vibe that movies like “Pretty Woman” radiated when portraying sex workers and their “kindhearted” johns. Hours after the Vegas wedding, Vanya’s disapproving Russian parents spring into action. None too pleased about their son’s marriage to “a prostitute,” they dispatch their local goon squad to annul the union. The goons are an Armenian Orthodox priest (Father Toros, played by Karren Karagulian) and his two enforcers Garnick (also Armenian, played by Vache Tovmasyan) and the Russian “gopnick,” or “street thug,” Igor (Yuriy Borisov).
Garnick and Igor break into Vanya’s Mill Basin mansion, a location with its own real-life connection to oligarchy. Vanya flees the scene, leaving his bride behind to deal with the intruders. What follows is no longer comedy, but every woman’s nightmare.
Having grown up in South Brooklyn, permit me to say that Mikey Madison does a spot-on imitation of a very pissed-off resident of Brighton Beach. Terrified Ani resists the goons and a wild melee ensues. After screaming “rape” at the top of her lungs, she is gagged. Father Toros — not, I surmise, a pro-choice advocate in his ministerial capacity — informs Ani that he will arrange an abortion should that be necessary.
Where, oh where is Vanya? Our boy has scampered off to other benders. His lushery encompasses Everything We Talk About When We Talk About Toxic Man-boys. Inability to establish emotional intimacy? Check. Obsession with video games? Yup. Construing sex as a sort of sprint? That too. We soon learn how little he cares about his wife. It is only the sex worker, Ani, who behaves as if marriage is a sacrament.
For oligarchs, by contrast, nothing is sacred. Vanya’s parents so control the priest Toros that he abandons a baby’s baptism midceremony to heed their call. If religious leaders will always play ball with the wealthy, so will the judicial system. In one crucial scene, these Russian nationals use their well-compensated American lawyer to set up an emergency annulment hearing in a New York City courtroom — which is the wrong place to annul a Nevada marriage. Now we are headed to Las Vegas. So are Vanya’s parents, who recently alighted from their jet and were rapidly processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Vanya’s mother, Galina (Darya Ekamasova), makes it very clear to Ani that she must agree to legally terminate her marriage (“You are getting on this plane [to Las Vegas] and you are getting divorce”). Failure to do so, she threatens gleefully, will result in legal destruction. Imagine that! A wealthy foreigner feels so flush with power that she can use the American legal system to bully a working-class citizen. Naturally, Galina insinuates that Ani will be physically harmed if she refuses to comply.
As they part, Galina calls Ani “a disgusting hooker.” Ani bites back: “Your son hates you so much, he married one to piss you off.” Finally, the verbal smackdown we have been craving. That’s the stuff! Make the oligarchs squirm, Ani!
But oligarchs, as it turns out, don’t squirm. Ani’s sick burn immediately elicits uncontrollable laughter from Galina’s husband (Aleksey Serebryakov). His Papa Karamazov cackle, at once nihilistic and demented, reminds us of a truism: The superrich find all of this human suffering stuff fantastically funny.
“Anora’s” final scene, which has been widely analyzed and debatedswitches to art house mode. Ani initiates sex in a car with the “gopnik” Igor. She then breaks down and sobs over his supine body (the masculinity of the silent and supportive Igor might be usefully contrasted to Vanya’s loud, party-boy antics). The credits roll to the accompaniment of the loudest windshield wipers in the history of cinema.
Madison and Baker insist that the meaning of this cryptic scene is up to the viewer. With that interpretive license granted, permit me to advance my own. Yes, Ani is likely crying over the betrayal, violence and feelings of powerlessness she’s endured. But in light of “Anora’s” portrait of the elite, maybe we could think of this sobbing woman as us — the U.S., weeping over what the wealthiest people in the world are doing to Americans.
Jacques Berlinerblauis a professor of Jewish civilization at Georgetown University. He has authored numerous books about the subject of secularism, including the recent “Secularism: The Basics” (Routledge). He has also written about American higher education in “Campus Confidential: How College Works, and Doesn’t, For Professors, Parents and Students” (Melville House). With Professor Terrence Johnson, he is a co-author of “Blacks and Jews in America: An Invitation to Dialogue” (Georgetown). His current research concentrates on the nexus between literature and comedy on the one side and cultural conflicts on the other.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday accelerated its dismantling of the Education Departmentdelegating much of its work to protect the nation’s at-risk students.
The Department of Justice will take on enforcement of civil rights in education, while the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education, administration officials announced. With those moves, the Education Department has now carved away the vast majority of its functions for other agencies to handle.
The two Education Department offices involved — the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the Office for Civil Rights — defend the rights of children with disabilities and those who experience discrimination based on race, sex or religion. Advocates worry the change could mean lapses in communication for families and school officials who need help.
Trump, a Republican, campaigned on shutting down the Education Department, saying he would “move education back to the states where it belongs.” While only Congress can close the department, Trump’s education secretaryLinda McMahon, a billionaire and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, has formed agreements with other federal agencies to handle much of her department’s work.
McMahon said the agreements align federal responsibilities with the agencies best positioned to support them.
“The Trump Administration has been clear: as we scale back federal micromanagement when it hinders success, we are equally committed to bolstering the efficacy of federal oversight where it is essential,” McMahon said in a written statement.
Critics warn of impacts to student services
Advocates said the changes would create uncertainty around services relied upon by millions of students and families.
“As is too often the case, traditionally underserved students — including students with disabilities, Black and Latino students, multilingual learners, students from low-income backgrounds, and students in rural communities — will bear the greatest burden created by this reckless decision, to which the disability and civil rights communities have already been vehemently opposed,” said a written statement from EdTrust, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that advocates for educational equity.
The Education Department already has offloaded some of its programs through 10 earlier internal agreementsbut the offices affected by Tuesday’s announcement were among the most closely watched.
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services manages billions of dollars in grants and oversees state compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Office for Civil Rights, which has been thinned by mass layoffsinvestigates complaints of discrimination at the nation’s schools and universities.
The Department of Justice also will take over work protecting student privacy and will provide some training and advisory help to schools.
While Justice and Health and Human Services will handle over most day-to-day duties of the assigned offices, the Education Department will continue to perform some tasks, such as responding to audits and issuing final determinations in civil rights cases, which it is explicitly required to do by law.
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said the announcement Tuesday was a political one intended to fulfill the president’s campaign promise. The changes, he said, will likely widen inequities for students of color and students with disabilities.
The agreements are scattering education programs to agencies that do not have the expertise to manage them, said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
“Instead of helping kids get a great education, this administration is spending its time, energy, and taxpayer resources fixated on where employees sit and illegally trying to shutter the Department of Education,” Murray said in a written statement.
Rachel Gittleman, president of the union that represents department employees, said the moves will create chaos for families, students and schools.
“This will leave our most vulnerable students and families who have been shut out of our education system without the services they need and without protection when they face discrimination,” Gittleman said in a written statement.
Families of students with disabilities opposed the decision
The transfer of special education to Health and Human Services most alarmed disability advocates, who say oversight of whether schools are adequately serving children with disabilities is best handled by education experts — not medical experts.
“The IDEA is intended to equip students as they learn alongside their peers, not cure them — the HHS is not prepared to oversee and administer the IDEA program effectively. Health and education systems speak in entirely different languages, including variations in terminology, training and disciplines,” said Jennifer Coco, interim executive director of the Center for Learner Equity.
The Education Department said McMahon spent over six months in listening sessions with families, advocates and educators to better understand concerns around how the department’s dismantling could affect special education. Many families raised concerns about obstacles to obtaining proper services for their children, but Coco said participants in those sessions were united in their opposition to moving special education oversight out of the Education Department.
“I think we agree on the problem,” Coco said. “We have stark disagreement on the solution and these transfers today don’t feel like a solution to that problem.”
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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Rep. Mike Collins won Georgia’s Republican Senate primary runoff Tuesday, defeating former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley.
Now, he will have the far larger task of knocking off Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in one of the most competitive Senate race this election cycle.
The runoff was triggered after Collins and Dooley each failed to win a majority in the May 19 primary, forcing a second round in a contest that Republicans view as one of their best opportunities to flip a Democratic-held Senate seat in 2026. President Donald Trump endorsed Collins over the weekend, boosting his chances in the runoff.
Collins, a congressman representing Georgia’s 10th District, finished first in the primary. The trucking company owner and staunch ally of Trump built his campaign around support for the president’s agenda, border security, immigration enforcement and conservative cultural issues. Collins sought to portray himself as a proven conservative fighter with experience in Washington and strong ties to the Republican base.
Dooley, meanwhile, leaned on his name recognition as a former college football coach and member of one of Georgia’s most prominent political families. His father, Vince Dooley, was the legendary University of Georgia football coach and athletic director. Although Dooley has never held elected office, he has campaigned as a political outsider capable of attracting independent and swing voters in a general election.
Collins argued that Republicans need a candidate with a proven conservative record and close ties to Trump. Dooley has countered that his outsider status and broader appeal would make him a stronger challenger in November.
But some Republicans are worried about Collins, including his hardline stance on abortion rights and an Office of Congressional Conduct probe into his office’spotential misuse of resources that the Republican lawmaker has referred to as a “nothing burger.”
His social media tonewhich includes severely downplayingthe U.S. Capitol attack where some pro-Trump rioters injured members of law enforcement, gives credence to the president’s view of him as a “a true Friend, Fighter, and WARRIOR,” as Trump wrote in his post endorsing Collins.
But those sentiments also spotligh a few of the vulnerabilities for a statewide candidate coming from a reliably red congressional district.
Collins will now face Ossoff, who is seeking a second term after winning a pair of runoff elections in 2021 that helped Democrats gain control of the Senate. Since taking office, Ossoff has built a national fundraising network. His re-election campaign has emphasized lowering costs for families, protecting access to healthcare, supporting economic development and promoting government accountability.
In a statement published shortly after Collins’ win, Ossoff called the congressman a “notorious bigot” who was under federal investigation.
“Donald Trump’s handpicked candidate Mike Collins is a notorious bigot, antisemite, and extremist currently under federal investigation for the illegal misuse of tax dollars,” Ossoff said. “Collins, who is only a congressman because his daddy was a congressman, voted to double health insurance premiums for more than a million Georgians, for the Iran War, and for the Trump tariffs.”
The House Ethics Committee is investigating allegations that Collins used government funds to benefit an aide.
Georgia remains a key battleground state heading into the midterm elections. Once considered a reliably Republican stronghold, the state has become increasingly competitive over the past decade.
Republicans see Georgia as one of their strongest pickup opportunities in a midterm cycle where control of the Senate could once again hinge on a handful of closely contested races. Democrats, meanwhile, are expected to invest heavily to protect Ossoff’s seat, viewing him as a key part of the party’s future.
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at BLN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.
Senate Republicans are still waiting for details of the preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement. But they’re already making one thing clear: Congress should have a vote on any final deal.
President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday, formally giving the two countries 60 days to negotiate an agreement.
While there’s a healthy dose of skepticism about the deal and whether it will actually materialize, Republicans want a say on the eventual agreement.
“If there is a final deal, and I hope there is, it should come to the Senate for approval,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters on Tuesday.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said if the final agreement is a treaty — and it “sounds like a treaty,” he said — then it “certainly seems like” the deal should be subject to a vote by Congress.
And Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, echoed his colleagues.
For now, it appears Trump agrees with Senate Republicans.
During a bilateral meeting at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in France on Tuesday, Trump suggested he would be open to sending the eventual deal to Congress. “I wouldn’t mind,” he said.
“I never thought about sending. Never even thought about it,” Trump added. “But I will — I will send it to Congress. I like the idea.”
Trump’s comments quickly made their way to Washington, where Republican senators like Lindsey Graham and Roger Marshall repeatedly pointed out that Trump said he would give Congress a vote.
“I hope he does,” Marshall said.
Despite the GOP desire for a vote, it’s far from clear Congress will ever hold one. For starters, the talks could fall apart before a final agreement is reached. And if the deal ultimately resembles elements of the Obama-era accord that Republicans long opposed, GOP leaders may be reluctant to force lawmakers into a politically fraught vote — particularly if Democrats line up against it.
The dynamic highlights a familiar tension on Capitol Hill.
For years — decades, even — lawmakers have talked about replacing the sweeping 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force with a more targeted authorization. The law has been used to justify dozens of military operations in more than 22 countries. But when it comes time to take ownership of a new war authorization, many in Congress seem content to defer to the president and the nearly 25-year-old law.
To be sure, there were some GOP voices on Tuesday who suggested a vote on Trump’s emerging Iran deal isn’t needed.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., argued that a law signed amid the debate over the Obama-era deal never explicitly required a vote — just congressional review.
“You might decide your opinion is we should vote on it, but there is no requirement that we do,” Schmitt said.
And some other Republican senators kept their cards close to their vest, insisting they need more information on the deal before asserting that a vote is necessary.
“Everybody’s got to see what it is first,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said. “None of us have seen it.”
Pressed on whether he wants a vote, regardless of the terms of the deal, the Oklahoma Republican offered a congressional truth: “It depends on what the deal is.”
Part of the insistence on a vote, Republicans say, is because the Iran nuclear deal brokered under President Barack Obama — formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA — wasn’t affirmed by Congress. That allowed Trump to singlehandedly dismantle it during his first administration.
This time, lawmakers say they want a deal to outlast the Trump presidency.
Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said Congress should “absolutely” vote on the final agreement, if negotiators reach one.
“That was one of the problems with President Obama’s deal,” Curtis said.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he thought it “makes more sense” to have Congress give any agreement its stamp of approval, pointing to Obama’s now defunct deal.
“Obama made a mistake when he didn’t do the work to have it rise to a level of a treaty, and I believe that we should here, otherwise it’s only good for two and a half years,” Tillis said.
“Why don’t we do the hard work of making sure that it has staying power?” he added.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle — particularly Republicans — would be happy to approve an Iran peace agreement that advances U.S. interests. Republicans are inclined to support Trump, and few lawmakers seem eager to prolong the Iran “excursion,” as the president has put it.
But approving a deal that’s less-than-stellar for the United States isn’t such a popular prospect. And congressional leaders might hesitate to put the agreement up for a vote out of fear that lawmakers may shoot it down.
A failed vote would put Trump and the United States in a difficult position.
Just having to vote on the deal could put lawmakers in a tough political spot of their own — and right before the midterm elections.
If the final agreement ends up resembling the Obama-era JCPOA, Republicans could be forced to either support a deal they’ve long criticized or risk drawing Trump’s ire. Neither choice is ideal.
Meanwhile, if Democrats vote against a final deal, they could face accusations that they don’t want the war to end. Some Republicans see political value in forcing Democrats to take a position.
“When there’s a deal, of course, put the Democrats on record,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, told MS NOW.
But if the final deal is one Republicans don’t love, don’t expect the agreement to come before Congress.
Already on Monday, several Republicans expressed nervousness about the early contours of a deal, as described in press reports about a yet-to-be released memorandum of understanding. And on Tuesday, the top Senate Republican — John Thune of South Dakota — said he had still not been briefed on the contents of the memorandum.
A handful of Republicans revealed to reporters that they had been in touch with senior U.S. officials to get some of their questions answered.
Moreno, for instance, said he was given some details about the agreement on Monday from Vice President JD Vance and White House peace envoy — and Trump son-in-law — Jared Kushner.
Asked about the delay in revealing the preliminary memorandum, Moreno insisted the Trump administration was just being “methodical,” in part so as not to upend the internal politics in Iran.
“It’s not going to kill everybody to just take a breath and wait until Friday,” Moreno said.
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW.
Kevin Frey is a congressional reporter for MS NOW.
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