WISDOM
OF THE SAGES
EPISODE XII: WINTER 2016
EPISODE XII: WINTER 2016
Hello People of the
World;
It snowed,
temperatures are plummeting, and now everyone is freaking the f*ck out because
it is NOT supposed to snow in December! How dare it! Then, it all melts. Yeah.
Yet, we still complain that, “it’s supposed to snow in December!” Seriously?
So. Here we are at
the end of the yellow-bricked road that was twenty-sixteen, the year everyone
is calling the worst ever, forget slavery man. Because being owned by a master
is nothing compared to how you felt when David Bowie died. It’s a good thing
racism is over, then, we can talk about how we feel about a celebrity AFTER
they die.
Let’s get this
month’s edition started, shall we?
1:[ Have you ever noticed
that almost everything out there offers some sort of “reward” for using or
buying it? I saw that Shell is offering “Gas Reward Points” for getting a Shell
Credit card. You can wreck your credit, sure, but at least you get gas at a
supposed “cheaper” rate. This sort of Rewarded Behavior has extended to
everything.
Some think it stems
from video games. Which may be true, because look at the whole Pokimon Go
phenomenon. We actually expected some sort of digital avatar reward for doing
shit we are supposed to, like going the fuck outside. What continues to enter
my mind when I see all these ads and apps offering rewards and points for doing
something like using a credit card or buying specific insurances and phone
services, I think “Rewarded Behavior”. Which is a real thing, by the way:
“Operant
conditioning is a form of learning. In it, an individual changes its behavior
because of the consequences (results) of the behavior. The person or animal
learns its behavior has a consequence. That consequence may be. Reinforcement:
a positive or rewarding event.”
Think about it this
way: this sort of creates this near-slave society where you become dependent of
these rewards. Look at how we are changing up social programs like Medicare and
Food Stamps, offering them as rewards for “good behavior”, no, for SPECIFIC
behaviors. It is treating society like dogs. “Want food stamps? Piss in this
cup first, before we even think about
helping you feed your kids.”
We become
conditioned to seek the reward before we think about serving others. We then
begin electing “leaders” who promise the reward of “being our voice” though
they will never do that, but we get the satisfaction of being “rewarded” by
their victory, so we don’t care.
Scary, huh? What is
scarier is the unseen affect of this. It removes a person’s motivation to
secure something better through effort. Instead, conditioning us to think our
simple choice offers a reward. Your candidate wins, that becomes enough, rather
than seeking a better candidate that will look out for your interests. I know:
I should shut up. I am no good at being political. Politics are the worst thing
ever invented y mankind and our use of them is fucking terrible. I will do my
best to avoid politics in my coming editions. We’ll see….
2:[ Teaching again: Returning
to the University of Wisconsin Parkside to teach “Native Americans in Media”,
now, in a post-NODAPL World and a post-Trump Election World. It will be
interesting. I know a lot of people will feel entitled and emboldened to talk
down to a Native person, especially in light of NoDAPL and the other. It should
not bother me too much, because I have had to put up with that far longer than
the existence of NoDAPL and the other. I will simply do my best to instill
critical thinking by using “Native Americans in Media” as a gateway. Actually,
I look forward to this course whenever I can teach, because I do not teach the
expected things that a typical Native teacher would teach. I just hope my
students glean something from it….
3:[ Once again, I will be
posting my annual “My Best of 2016 Lists” on my other blog WOS Reviews. I have
had a tough year being out of work and have not had the opportunity to see and buy
as many movies, DVDs, books, and music as I have in past years. But thanks to
the Chicago Public Library, I have been able to keep up with my reading and
have some really great recommendations for you. So, check out the annual list
of things I thought were good, by CLICKING HERE.
[Link to come soon.
I typically post it on the 1st or 2nd day of January.]
4:[ Review of “Ixcanul”: DIR:
Jayro Bustamante
Probably the other
Best Film I have seen this year. I scraped up my pennies and ventured out to
see this Mayan Guatemalan/French production of Jayro Bustamante's film. It was
well worth the time and money. Beautifully shot, beautifully acted, and
beautifully executed, this film tells the story of a young Kaqchikel woman,
Maria, on the verge of an arranged marriage, whom does her best to avoid it.
The story is simple but the choices she makes and their outcomes are complex
and reflective of the culture she lives and the station the women in the
community.
Both lead actresses
are the best I have seen in any film. María Mercedes Coroy is great as the
young Maria trying her best to satisfy her parents while struggling with her
own needs. María Telón is spectacular as her mother, who while shocked at her
daughter's actions, gives nothing but support for her survival. The mother
became my favorite character of the story. I teared up many times watching this
film.
It is a great film
about contemporary Indigenous peoples and communities. Guatemalan director
Bustamante directs with an assurance and keen focus on the characters without
drowning it in anthropological cultural information that have wrecked other
Native films by having to explain every little detail, mostly through
voiceovers, as if attending the film were supposed to enlighten rather that
tell the stories of Native people from their gaze. So wit; what I disliked
about going to see it was the idea of a white person, a man, giving a lecture
on Indigeneity and feminism. I found it distasteful.
The film returns to
the Siskel Film Center on January 8. I recommend you go and see it. I probably
will.
5:[ Reviews of ROGUE ONE
& ARRIVAL:
ROGUE ONE: A STAR
WARS STORY: WARNING: Kind of SPOILERY: Scrapped up a lot of pennies to catch a
couple of flicks before the end of the year. I have not been interested in any
of the new Star Wars movies since Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney, because I
knew it would be the end of creator-content and moved over into money-making
fan-servicing. This film bears out my fears.
This is the story
about how the Rebellion got the plans for the Death Star in the first place.
Okay story, some nice action set pieces, and a shit-ton of masturbatory
fan-baiting. I actually yawned at one point. If anything, this film exposes the
vast hypocrisy of the Star Wars fandom, that they want interesting characters
and good stories, with no Jedi or Skywalkers, and all we got is a film with as
many shoehorned references to "A New Hope" as possible that were
nothing but clunky.
But the rare good
speech scenes and good action cannot overcome shallow characters with names
that came straight from a Facebook "What's your Star Wars Name?"
Meme. Come on!
Luke Skywalker,
that's a Star Wars name.
Leia Organa, that's
a Star Wars name.
Obi-Wan Kenobi,
that's a Star Wars name.
Han Solo, that's a
Star Wars name.
Chewbacca, that's a
Star Wars name.
Anakin, Padme,
Qui-gon Jinn....
Ipso Facto is NOT a
Star Wars name.
Then to see that
hypocrisy personified in the appearance of Darth Vader, because we are so tired
of Skywalkers and Jedis, but cheer and clap when they show the former Jedi
Anakin Skywalker. One line of dialogue then kept creeping into my head that
sort of negated Vader's presence in Rogue One: "The ability to destroy a
planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force." Weird, Vader
seemed misplaced to me.
A lot of people are
saying that this is the prequel we deserved, like we something fucking special.
All this does is shrink the Star Wars Universe even more that it cannot escape
its aesthetic trappings and iconography. The effects were so clunky that all
the Star Destroyers were LESS detailed and looked like LEGO kits. Plus, it ends
with yet another space battle to destroy a space station. This also means that
Vader has appeared in ALL of the Star Wars theatrical films (Yes, including The
Clone Wars Movie). I guess I am mad because this means a vast stifling of
creativity in a franchise I loved very much.
I agree with
Redletter Media's review, it felt like a very expensive fan film. Which, sadly,
is all we are going to get from now on. Look, there were things I enjoyed but a
lot of stuff I did not. Like a lot of the characters' deaths were unearned and
served only to make the movie "edgy". Plus, the big one: we already
know that the Rebels get the plans, so there is no tension in if they fail,
because we know they won't. Don't give me that line that we all really wanted
to know how the Rebels got the plans, because that is a lie. You all wanted a
movie with stormtroopers and battles, and the Death Star and Vader slashing up
dudes and all those cutesy nods to "A New Hope" in it. In the end,
this movie is passable, and to fans, that is all that counts.
RECOMMEND? Do I
really have to. You'll see regardless. My rating: MEH.
ARRIVAL: I went to
see two movies on this day. I learned from my DEADPOOL experience that I should
watch the weaker film first. Which is what I did. I debated seeing a second
movie but thought that I may regret not seeing it when I had the chance.
This is probably
the best science fiction film I have seen in quite a long time and one of the
best movies I have seen this year. What I think I love most about this is that
Google labels this as "Mystery Science", which as any of you know,
the significance of that term to me.
As Google describes
it: "Linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) leads an elite team of
investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in 12 locations around the
world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must
race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors.
Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life
and quite possibly all of mankind."
Denis Villeneuve
has done a couple of films I never cared about "Prisoners" and
"Sicario", both I found overwrought in a lot of ways, cleverness for
the sake of cleverness. Here, he pulls back and goes for a more subdued tone
and story. As you read above, it is a fairly standard "sci-fi plot",
but, for the acting, the cinematography, the editing structure are great, and
elevate it above his previous works. (For me, at least.) It feels like a
Terrence Malick/ Christopher Nolan hybrid in Malick's cinematography and
voiceover, and how Nolan's best films should be edited, and done in the
structure of both filmmakers. There is not a wasted performance in this, the
stakes are high, and the way humanity reacts to the arrival is very realistic,
and the resolution is very surprising and has much to say about the need for
empathy. I do not want to spoil what the resolution is and how it settles the whole
plot as I think it was very unexpected and very fitting within the context of
the story.
I saw the Star Wars
movie earlier and debated whether or not to see this. I finally gave in,
feeling that I would probably regret not seeing it when I had the chance to. I
am so glad I did. This made my top ten list of favorite movies of 2016.
6:[ Speaking of the weather,
the one upside of global climate change is the lessening of the “CHICAGO
WINTER!!!” and its affects on the stupid people of the city, if not the world.
What I am saying is
if the end of the world as we know it means the end of this shitty “tradition”
of DIBS, then, burn baby, burn….
7:[ Why are we all acting as
if the year 2016 was the worse year ever simply because some of our favorite
celebrities died. They get old, or sick, or had bad luck; it happens. It will
not stop just because we flip our calendars to 2017, as if the simple moving of
one day into the next will some how, magically, stop old or sick people from
dying, or pass great luck to everyone, giving us all a “Magical Death Pass”.
Grow up….
That is it for this
month.
I decided to wait
until the very last day of the year to post rather than meet the usual 30th
of the month deadline, because I wanted to make sure that nothing happened on
the last day of the calendar year that I would have to wait another 30 days to
write about. Plus, I have gotten so lazy with Wisdom of the Sages that I
welcomed an extra day to write and post.
As always, I invite
you to comment, correct, or contradict anything I write here. I am open to a
critical debate. Thanks for taking the time to check out what I write here and
I will see you in a month.
Until next time, remember
“I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control everything
really are.”
2016 Ernest M
Whiteman III