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November 5, 2010 

NaBloPoMo Day 5: Guy Fawkes Day

While it may be a little ridiculous (okay, maybe more than a little), I have made it a point to watch V for Vendetta on the 5th of November since the move came out. It was brought to my attention that I missed last year, but you know, it happens. But, as I sit here writing this post and watching the movie, I began to ask myself “why?”

For one, it’s just a great movie. In fact, that’s probably a large part of the reason. But there is at least one other reason: I wish I was V. Not in the sense that I want to overthrow the government and blow up myriad government buildings, but I want that conviction about something. The mental fortitude to plan and pursue a course of action to effect great change.

Also, I want to be such a strong collector, a curator of the former glory of a lost society: the glories of the “old days.” Not just having the stuff. I honestly don’t care about the stuff, but I want to know the history, know where our people have been and how we’ve got to where we are. V is not just a force of change: he is a keeper of the books, the histories. He is one of the outcast intellectuals from Fahrenheit 451. He knows the lore, and he keeps the histories alive. More importantly, he passes it on. Perhaps a little heavyhandedly, but such is life in a Hollywood movie.

Perhaps that’s why I’m so drawn to academia. I love to learn, to teach, to find the hidden, to understand our world, our culture more deeply because I know the lore, I know the sources, I know the histories. Of course, I don’t know it all, and I never will. But, there’s the fun. There’s always more, always new books, always more to study, learn, interpret. V set Evee free. She was suddenly able to think for herself. To think critically. That’s a skill being quickly lost in the world.

It’s not anarchy that’s the goal. Neither is it in V for Vendetta. At least not permanently. The hope is to get people thinking again. The hope is for critical, active thought to take place. That’s a lofty goal, and it starts with just one person: You.

“Beneath this mask there is more than flesh, Mr Creedy. Beneath this mask there is an idea. And ideas are bulletproof.” – V “V for Vendetta”

November 4, 2010 

NaBloPoMo Day 4: Top Ten Favorite Words

While I definitely wouldn’t classify myself as a true logophile, I definitely appreciate a good, descriptive or otherwise incredible word. Just a note: There’s really no rhyme no reason, these words just strike me as generally awesome. Here’s my top 10:

10. Reciprocity: A state of reciprocation.
9. Corpuscle: A free-floating cell.
8. Palimpsest: A paper from which writing has been fully or partially erased to make room for another writing.
7. Curmudgeon: An ill-tempered person.
6. Ephemeral: short-lived
5. Somnambulate: sleepwalking.
4. Minutiae: Precise details.
3. Schadenfreude: Delight in the pain of others.
2. Galvanize: Stimulate, inspire.
1. Sagacious: Sagely, wise.

And how about yours? Favorite words? Least favorite words?

May 17, 2010 

The World According to Thomas

Thomas was an unassuming man. Well, sort of, as unassuming as anybody else. He assumed a lot of things, many of them entirely false. But he guessed that’s what made him human. Some days he traveled back in time, revisiting the events of his life, but they never seemed quite the same. The world according to Thomas, he mused, was created and destroyed in mere moments, only to be created anew again the next time his mind traveled backward.

People, politics, civilizations, poems, philosophies POOF! They came and went like will-o-wisps. Like Jude, he began to feel obscure. Outdated and outmoded in a society of quickly rising, fast burning stars. Throw-away beauties and throw-away politics, and throw-away philosophy. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. But, that’s never how it went, not in the world according to Thomas. Hell, not in the world according to anybody. There was never reduction. Only production, and not even by the people who promoted the whole thing. It was shipped off, shipped out. Made cheaper, Made in China ®. Leaden toys, oil spills. Produce. Produce. Produce. It wasn’t a triangle, just a line. No starting, no stopping. Then what?

Then he’d move on. POOF! Another throw-away thought, another throw-away philosophy. It isn’t quite cynicism, though, he imagined. No, the cynics just say everything sucks. And it doesn’t all suck. There’s just no changing anything. Some new bills here, a new president there, but it’s all really the same. It’s not cynicism, but helplessness. Confusion. POOF! Another freedom gone, another Facebook private message made public. Another judge taking kickbacks for imprisoning children. His friends and coworkers branded him with a big scarlet A. Not that “A.” That one was for adultery, which had become another throw-away philosophy, another throw-away marriage, another throw-away wife POOF! No, this “A” was for apathy. But that wasn’t quite it either. The world according to Thomas had problems! The apathetic don’t admit to problems, why bother? No, not apathy. Something else. Then what?

Then he’d move on. POOF! Another throw-away debate. Another throw-away hung parliament. Another throw-away pundit. Pundits sure aren’t very punny. Another throw-away joke. The problem in the world according to Thomas was that people thought too much. Well, sort of. People thought about which angle would be best for Facebook and which friends could see what, and OH MY GOD, did you see what happened to Tiger Woods? Another throw-away news story. Another throw-away anchor. Take a swim with Edna, take a deep breath. Then what?

Then he’d move on. POOF! See, the will-o-wisps weren’t always so bad, just sometimes there were more, sometimes less. It’s their way, he supposed. Some of them true, some of them not. Everybody had them, he figured. Figured that’s what made him human. Somewhere deep, he felt it all would work out someway or other. Maybe never be the same as it used to be, but figured that’s okay too. The world according to Thomas had changed quite a bit as his memories flashed in and out of existence. Figured it always had. Always wood. Then POOF! He’d move on. Another throw-away blog. Another throw-away idea. Another throw-away story. POOF! There goes the world according to Thomas.

December 23, 2009 

Avatar, or How I Learned To…

In the spirit of fair play, there will be spoilers in this post, I’m sure. I don’t know, as I haven’t written it yet, but I do know I’m not particularly sensitive to what is and isn’t a spoiler, so if you haven’t seen it and expect to be surprised by the story (you won’t be), then come back later. It’ll still be here.

First of all, James Cameron has done something amazing here. There’s no denying the intense complexity of the world he’s created, and not just visually. The whole topography is intriguing, in that it is all at once vaguely familiar and entirely Seussical. From the impossibly tall, and twisty, trees, to the floating mountain ranges, to the vast canyons, every piece of the landscape is taken right from the great sights of our own Terra, only magnified and made somehow more grand on this alien world. Hats off to you, Cameron, for your vision here, and hats off for pulling off such a visually stunning film.

But, the story. Come on, now! Lets roll Dances With Wolves, Fern Gully, Things Fall Apart, and Mechwarrior all into one and call it new? What is this mess? Okay, so, the dastardly humans have showed up to strip mine this planet for “unobtanium” despite any consequences to the indigenous people. There are some scientist types who disagree with this, but they suck at being powerful until the marine shows up. In his wheelchair. There’s a huge twist. The warrior man has a handicap. Instead of hubris, it’s nonfunctional legs. Potaytoh, potahto, I say, when it comes to being a warrior. The scientist people can control genetically grown bodies that look like the aliens, which is a huge help in trying to learn their ways. Or, at least, it could be.

These bodies, or avatars, are really the most key aspect of the message this movie really is driving home. The whole environmental bit is part red-herring, part unifying bad-guy, but more on that in a bit. The humans really think they can become a part of the alien people if they look and talk like the same way. How much more insulting can you really be? I mean, there’s the old adage about the ducks, but does that really apply to people? If I put on a yarmulke, grow a long wispy beard, some curls, and wear a big hat, that doesn’t make me one bit Jewish. But, according to the movie, this should be enough to be accepted into Hasiddic circles. “But, COME ON! I LOOK LIKE YOU, OKAY?” This argument is flawed on so many levels, and to a point, the movie actually admits this, since the Na’vi reject the “sky people,” even in their Avatar forms, but that surely doesn’t stop them from trying the same thing again and a again. Just look at the mecha everywhere. The humans have no faith in their own form, and strive to find something to make themselves better, be that natural resources or surrogate bodies and augmentations.

Ultimately, the target of the humans isn’t nature, or environment. It’s Na’vi culture. This point seemed so blatantly obvious to me, but I still hear this whole guilt-ridden coalescence into, “Okay, James Cameron. We get it. We destroy the environment. We’re sorry.” It’s just absurd. The Na’vi are concerned with the environment because it is PART of their family, their culture, not because it’s what keeps them alive.

So, the story may have been weak, and the vast majority of people who talk about it take it as a little more clever Wall-E type chastisement, but what James Cameron created in the world of Pandora transcends all the problems the movie does have. While Jake Sully and the other characters might be entirely translucent, but the world is extremely rich and full of magic that we haven’t seen before. Quite frankly, the plot and characters only existed because Hollywood wouldn’t make a 3D movie of a simple tour around the world of Pandora, which would have been just as exciting in my opinion.

So, before you jump up on your high-horse and decry the movie as shallow, take a step back and actually LOOK at what Cameron has to show you. You might be surprised at how effectively he communicates to you through your eyes. 4 out of 5 cnidarian soul tree seeds.

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