WISDOM OF THE
SAGES
EPISODE SEVEN
– SUMMER 2015
Hello People of the World;
Well, well, what do you know, it’s summer and guess
what happened? It got warmer! Scandal! Shock! GASP! It’s not supposed to get
hot in the summer, it’s supposed to be the exact correct temperature for you
and you alone! Doesn’t Nature get it yet? The weather happening is all about
You!
Oh well. I guess you are going to have to do what
you have done for all of your life and simply let the weather be the weather
and live in it. Just try not to be surprised when the Earth turns again and it
starts to gradually get cooler. Shoot, we still have August and September to
get through before Fall, so, pace yourself when it comes to bitching about the
weather. On that note, let’s get this month’s edition started, shall we:
1 :[ Singing My Name: Not in terms of Praise: Here
is something I noticed that happens a lot. I have noticed that for almost every
woman that I know, and that I some how make uncomfortable, that whenever I see
them or they meet me, they immediately sort of sing my name upon seeing me.
“ERN-eeeest!” It’s weird. I think I make them uncomfortable for some reason.
Because discomfort is the only reason I can think of that they would do this….
2 :[ LOSING CONTEXT part One: Condensation of MEDIA
I have noticed that we tend to really condense our
information now. Computers have turned learning into a symbol-recognition game,
based on entertainment and nostalgia. Look at how we treat our great literary
classics such as Hamlet: I saw this book titled “Srsly HAMLET” in the book
store and found it a sort of easy reading thing where the drama is reduced to
modern teen angst as told through cell phone text speak. We are creating our
own form of NEWSPEAK…
3 :[ My losing thoughts lately, having trouble recalling
recent things. Maybe this points to a larger problem, maybe? Not really, it is
just that I have way too many thoughts flowing through my head and I have to
stop sometimes to write it all out or else it will get washed downstream and
become harder o recover. Which is why, I guess, that I changed up the format of
WOS a little bit. Increasingly, I find myself less and less interested in what
is going on in the world. Religion, politics, celebrity, sports, social causes
have become repetitive and without any clear solutions to work towards. We will
never evolve into a better society if we constantly leave it to future
generations. It is all frightfully trite. But, if we just grow up and do stuff,
we will find it easier that fighting it…
4 :[ I talk to myself constantly. I mean, I am not
crazy or anything but I tend to give these long speeches to different people
that I think or fantasize about having a discussion with, mostly the likes of
Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, and others like that. I have these long diatribes on
race, the economy, religion, Native American issues, and I find that I should
either start writing them down or recording myself some how. But because I hate
politics, I refuse to do so. Am I been hypocrite enough to sound off on such
topics? Who would care to hear my thoughts on something like abortion? Really?
That is another reason I do not record or write down these opines. I know, no
one cares for my opinion because that is all they are, opinions….
5 :[ NERD RAGE RANTS: The Special Edition
After seeing a bunch of footage for movies come
from the recent San Diego Comic Con I had many thoughts go through my head,
such as, isn’t it supposed to be a comic book convention? Plus all these other
crazy things that I will get out of my system now:
- SDCC Star Wars BTS Reel – I am not too enthused
about the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII. The two teasers really did nothing
for me. Lucasfilm showed a Behind-the-Scenes reel which really hyped the fact
that… Practical Effects!!! THE TRIO!!! NO GEORGE LUCAS!! They really did
everything possible to NOT MENTION creator George Lucas. Poor guy.
- When I first heard about Batman v. Superman, I
was very excited as I am one fo the few people who enjoyed “Man of Steel” and I
thought it would be a historic film to have those two on the big screen for the
first time ever. But then, they cast Ben Affleck as Batman and the wind went
right ourt of my sails. Look, Affleck is a shitty actor. I realize that Batman
is not Macbeth, but it is the closes thing in comic book movie standards. Plus,
every one keeps bandying about his “great” performances in “The Town”, “Argo”
and “Gone Girl.” They keep saying we cannot judge Affleck by “Daredevil”.
I can
ABSOLUTELY use Daredevil to make this assessment. BUT I CAN ALSO USE ALL HIS OTHER
SHITTY ROLES HE PLAYED as evidence of his terrible skills. He was horrible in
“Argo”, not suited for the role at all. (Michael Pena would have been a better
fit but for Affleck’s ego.) and he played typified roles of a Bostonian
meathead in “The Town” and a stupid meathead in “Gone Girl” so, they were NOT
stretches for him as an actor. He is the same personality in ALL his roles. A
gravelly voice cannot mask that. I have to laugh that Snyder did even try to
force a Batman-voice on Affleck, instead used a voice modulator, which all the
stupid fans thought was the greatest thing. Every time I heard “Bruce Wayne”
talk, all I heard was “Hey lady, you fucked up my cabbage patch!”
Also, Affleck is NOT a great director. He is simply
a competent director. He made three strong films. It is just that our standard
of quality is so low right now that Affleck somehow gets called “great” because
now days, movies are JUST entertainment.
I also notice in comments and reaction video no one
ever calls Ben Affleck Bruce Wayne or Batman, which is clearly the problem for
me. Past incarnations are typically called “Keaton’s Bruce/Batman”, Bale’s
“Batman/Bruce” and so on, even “West’s Batman”. But here we are, whenever
Affleck appears onscreen, every so-called geek nods their stupid head and says
“Affleck”. He can never disappear into the role because he cannot act. He’s a
personality. We even call the role fucking “BAT-Fleck” because we cannot
distinguish him from his personality. HE can never truly be Bruce, or Batman. He
will always be “Batfleck”. Have you noticed: All pictures of him in the AWESOME
Batsuit cannot mask his stupid mouth-breathing face.
- I am so loving the hypocrisy of “A Ghostbusters
with Women Reboot? Hollywood is out of ideas, it’s gonna suck, wait- Star Wars
Episode VII, Ash vs. the EVIL DEAD, BATMAN v. Superman, Mark Hamill’s Joker is
returning? Yes!” I guess you can reboot anything as long as it isn’t with
women….
- Look, I get the reason for this new nostalgia. We
are the X Generation. We are getting old; so it only stands to reason that we
want things that remind us of our long-passed childhood. We do not want to face
the simple fact: we are going to die. Yes, even us, the famed Generation X,
will grow old and die. Oops. Sorry: should have wrote “SPOILERS”.
6 :[ Fan Opinions: Why is it that my negative
opinion on something, such as the casting of Affleck as Batman is simply pushed
aside as “well, that’s, like, your opinion man…”, “everyone is entitled to
their opinion, man…”, “Your negative opinion is just an opinion, man, don’t
judge it until you’ve seen it, uh, man….” But isn’t their POSITIVE opinion
still just an opinion also and has as much validity as my negative one?
It is also funny to see how fickle these fans can
be. Take the actor they cast for the Flash Movie. At first when the “Arrow”
actor hated that they did not cast the TV Flash actor, fans were outraged.
“He’s gonna suck” they screamed. Then, recently, the TV Flash Actor posted that
he was okay with him, then fans where screaming, “He’ll crush it!” Stupid. Hypocrites….
7 :[ Something I have Noticed: BUYING INTO THEIR
OWN HYPE
With the recent unnoticed kerfuffle with the Daily
Show where Wyatt Cenac called out Jon Stewart’s racist caricatures and Stewart
shouted him down and dismissed Cenac’s point of view on the caricatures he had planned
to do. Then, from there, I see a lot of people defending Stewart and dismissing
Cenac stating that Cenac should not be “the voice of his people” when
they demand the same thing from rappers that behave like shitheads. Hypocrisy.
But it also made me feel different towards Stewart. That he is just another one
of the long line of comedians that jump behind the 1st Amendment
when they do not want to take responsibility for what comes out of their brains
and mouths.
Then, when he shouts down Cenac in front of the
writing staff of The Daily Shows, shows how little Stewart thinks of Cenac’s
perspective. What Stewart is really afraid of, I think, is that he had an
educated black man on staff that would call him out. “Educated” because who
reading this even knows who “Kingfish” is? Funny how Liberals will defend the
racism of people they agree with.
It also made me realize how much Stewart buys into
his own hype that he is somehow the Most Trusted Liberal News Source and that,
that he has people of color on staff shows that he is magically unlike all
other white man in their relationship to people of color and is more
enlightened when I suddenly realize, and see in society at large, how people of
color in most kinds of relationships sort of become the “blackface” or
“brownface” or “redface” for social issues they really want to talk about,
especially in Stewart’s case.
This Buying of Your Own Hype is something I have
been noticing a lot recent. Take for instance, this Food Reviewer I used to
follow on YouTube, called Daym Drops. He got big when his review of Five Guys
Burger and Fries was featured on “Live with Jimmy Kimmel” I believe. (?? It was one of the Jimmy's.) I
subscribed because I enjoyed his personality and he made fun videos. Then, he
started selling merch and doing game reviews and the like, which was no big
deal. Then, he did a review of a Starbucks breakfast sandwich. As everyone
knows, you do NOT go to Starbucks for a breakfast sandwich. But, when he took
out the sandwich, he erupts into the very long, very loud bout of forced
laughter. After which, I unsubscribed. He did not event try the sandwich but
made a snap judgment because he thinks his fans want one and that they treat
him as some sort of true source of food review info. It seemed forced and fake
and definitely seemed like he was buying into his own hype.
We all do that as some point. Look at how I run the
film festival. I got called out recently about how I do it. Of course, I have
presence of mind to take the criticism but I did feel that I am buying into my
own hype about being this paragon of virtue when it comes to being The Defender
of Native American First-Voice. But, I also saw that I became the “redface” for
those who want to look like they are doing the same. Still. I need to be
careful about buying into my own hype. I mean, who else would try to do a
feature-length, full-text adaptation of HAMLET but a director who bought his
own hype.
I see it happening all over in the Native Arts
world as well. We keep thinking we are so good that if we keep putting out war
bonnets and warrior imagery that we are somehow “critiquing the stereotypes”
when all we are doing is saying it is still okay for white people to wear
headdresses as long as they pay for the privilege….
So that is it for this month. I really have not
been sharing these or making them public. If you are reading this after looking
for it, or you came upon it by chance, thank you! Feel free to comment,
correct, or contradict anything you read here. I am a grown up, I can take it.
I take responsibility for what I write. Unlike some….
Until next month, remember “I try to show the
schemers how pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”
2015 Ernest M Whiteman III
