SEPTEMBER - EPISODE IX: SUMMER 2024

 WISDOM OF THE SAGES
EPISODE IX: FALL 2024

Hello People of the World;

 

September was a rough month for me. It was horrible. I’m writing this in July 2025, that’s how much this month affected me. For a while, these will probably be short and to the point as I work to catch up and remember things from the month the edition is representing. It’s been a tough year. So, now I’m playing catch up.

 

The weather is getting warmer.

 

As always: Stay safe. Stay home.

 

 All right, let’s get going:

 

 

1:[ This virus really showed how equal we all really are: how much we keep falling for the propaganda.

 

 

2:[ MOVIE REVIEWS:

 

Char finally viewed “Monster”. She thought it was beautiful and was so happy the two lived through to the end. You see, it’s rare for that to happen for such characters. It also made her a fan of Kore-eda Hirokazu….

 

 

3:[ This Month’s Essay:

 

“Our Little Sister”

 

Elvira is one of my best friends in life. It feels very wrong to try and go back to a regular life after losing someone that means that much to you. My Little Sister was tough and kind and rough and funny. It pains me to see the life she lived. While she thrived, she struggled with the very things we never think about. While we argued about which so-called leader will save us, she was living with the conditions and consequences of their collective actions. She worked to give her children a proper start in life. While we all argued about the racism and harm we wanted in a leader, she lived with its implementation, and we argued about taking away those programs and assistance she relied on.

 

She struggled with health, financial, racial issues on the everyday while we complained about slap bracelets and old playgrounds somehow making us better than others, visited over-priced coffeeshops and shoved in her face pictures of expensive food she could never provide for her kids.

 

Here I am, trying to make sense of it all as we mourn a rich actress we've never met over someone who needed comfort and support like so many out there. While we defend that monarchy as something great and worth keeping for some reason, she lived in the poverty of our country's actions. It feels wrong to try and go back to a normal life after losing someone that impacted my life so.

 

 

4:[ Observation: “Per Capita payments are an entitlement.”

 

I’ve heard this being said around the rez recently. It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s dumb and sad to see Northern Arapahos falling for this rhetoric. They are a payout based on the resources pulled from our lands. With all the oil, water, and timber this reservation produced, with all that casino revenue, the entire tribe should be mad at how much is being held back or given to the lawyers. We should be mad at how small the amount is.

 

Instead, we want to be chimpanzee butlers so much we forget treaty rights…

 

 

5:[ We cannot go back to “Normal” all after this: What is normal? My little sister said once. “I don’t know what normal is. If I had two or three lives, I would probably figure out what ‘normal’ is.”

 

I miss my little sister….

 

That is it for this month.

 

 

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.”

 

 

2024 Ernest M Whiteman III

 

AUGUST - EPISODE VIII: SUMMER 2024

WISDOM OF THE SAGES
EPISODE VIII: SUMMER 2024

Hello People of the World;

 

Welp, here I am, two months late once more. This time, life and depression happened. So, I lost track of time trying to keep up with what life dealt me this summer. There were good times and some sad times. That is the course of humanity. My family gave me space enough to simply be depressed is truly lovely.

 

The weather has cooled of recent. Mostily thanks to the hurricanes bombarding the East Coast and Florida. Oh well. Hurricanes and flooding and wildfires and extreme heat and little snow is somehow NOT Climate Change. We’re stupid.

 

As always: Stay safe. Stay home.

 

 All right, let’s get going:

 

1:[ This virus really showed how equal we all really are: As we are in the middle of yet another wave of the latest permutation, we scramble to make things as “normal” as possible – ignoring the homeless, climate change, the genocide in Palestine, the broken democracy we lived in these past decades. But once COVID resurfaces, we work hard to ignore it, as if we are telling ourselves, we made it through it. You see? We want to be fooled….

 

2:[ MOVIE REVIEWS:

 

- Ponyo [崖の上のポニョ] (2008)

Directed by Hayeo Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli Fet 2024

 

One half of the Top Review Team attended the Studio Ghibli Fest 2024 presentation of "Ponyo". We all had never seen this before. "Ponyo" is a tiny fist living with her many sisters and father in the deep oceans. The films opens as she sneaks out to see the world above the ocean and becomes trapped in a discarded jar. Sósuke is a five-year-old boy whom finds her and saves her.

 

Because Ponyo loves Sósuke, the world falls out of balance. Her father continues to search for her, while his mother tries to help the community affected by the ocean's rising and the storms that batter the world. Very Miyazaki of the children having to put right the world to bring balance. It is a common theme in many of Miyazaki's work.

 

It is a simple tale told beautifully. It went in directions that surprised us and subverted our expectations and was, as Char later described it, "Heart warming."

 

And so, it is. We never seen "Ponyo" before. I am happy we did.

 

 

- RIFFTRAX LIVE: POINT BREAK

“Point Break” directed by Kathryn Bigalow

 

We went out and saw the latest show from Rifftrax – Point Break, the Kathryn Bigalow and Keanu Reeves joint from the 90’s. It was fun as usual, but as also usual, I cannot recall the jokes or riffs due to being drawn into how dumb the movie is. I know, I know, it’s some kind of action classic. But it’s really dumb – the dialogue, the characters, the situations, and, in some places, the action. Keanu’s acting reputation was deserved then. Regardless of the status he holds now.

 

For the Rifftrax – HIGH RECOMMENDATION

 

 

-Coraline 3D

Directed by Henry Selick

 

Half of the Top Review Team decided to revisit “Coraline” in 3D!

 

It was great to see it again. Coraline, being neglected decides to explore the small door she finds after her father has her count all of the windows and doors in the house to keep her out of the way. Through the door she finds a portal to an alternate version of her home.

 

This moved at a much quicker pace than I remember. But it was fun to see it in the illusion of three dimensions.

 

HIGH RECOMMENDATION

 

 

3:[ This Month’s Essay:

 

I think I figured out why we are all so suddenly nostalgic for the old days of less safety and outdoor play and the like. It's from a general misunderstanding of the concept "Survival of the Fittest" which was coined by philosopher Herbert Spencer and not Charles Darwin, whose "natural selection" theory is a keystone for biological evolution.

 

The misunderstanding is that, somehow, adversity makes us stronger, thereby making the strongest "worthy" of survival. We think because we played on old playground equipment or rode around in death trap cars as kids we are somehow... "the strongest" and therefore, more "worthy" of survival. Which is why we look down on the current generation, because they didn't have snap bracelets or cassette tapes or rode in the back of pick-up trucks that they are somehow "lesser" than whatever generation we were part of before the 2000's. No, you weren't stronger, you were just lucky that your head wasn't split open.

 

Now, I am not saying surviving something traumatic does not change you, it does. It prepares you for the next thing to come. But that is common across ALL generations, not just the one you are a part of. Everyone has a struggle. It is why we are supposed to be empathetic to one another despite our differences.

 

You see, our generation and the one's before had always strived to make the world better and safer for our kids. Our egos will always make us proclaim those things. That's kind of where the "What about the children?" cliché stemmed from. But once we made the world safer for them and their mortality rate went down, we suddenly have the audacity to complain that "this generation doesn't understand the struggle" when we made it that way.

 

 

AS AN ASIDE: Remember: We wanted our kids to have it easier. But we also gave them a shit world - where billionaires exploit them, where fascists, or religion, (or religious fascists) tell them they can solve all their problems. We wanted them to be smarter. But then, they see the ills of our societies, and when they protest Black, Brown, Trans, and Gay people getting killed, that we should stop poisoning the Earth, that genocides are bad, that the Police should protect and be accountable, that the rich should pay their fair share, that women’s bodies belong to women - then we have the f*cking audacity to yell "Woke" and sic the police on them. F*ck us, we the worst.

 

Now I also realize, making the world easier for whom? Not “their” kids, but MY Kids. If they don't look like my kids I don't care. Every parent posting about hugging their kids after every school shooting because the kids looked like theirs - but NEVER hugging their kids every time a black/brown child on the Southside of whatever town you're in is killed? Nope. Business as usual. "Part of the plan". The world is safe for MY Kids. But the hypocrisy of when MY Kids see this injustice, this inequity and protest about it? Then we have the f*cking audacity to yell "Woke" and sic the police on them. Double: F*ck us, we the worst.

 

 

4:[ Observation: Indigenous Celebrity is only as good as long as the person appears to be on the cusp of "winning", by simply being nominated, or on the cover of magazines. This is because all Natives want this too. This kind of success. It is a signal that the capitalist, colonial system is somehow working on our behalf.

 

It also unfortunately thrusts these Indigenous celebs into the role of ACTIVIST Celebrity, where it becomes their responsibility to uplift ALL Native people, not only their own tribes and people. It is an unfair thing to ask of them, as some, unfortunate to say, are wholly unsuited to the task.

 

It’s the reason why we see the same seven people in all of the Native media. It’s why we get Seminoles and Anishinaabe and Cherokee actors playing Diné characters in stories set and FILMED in the middle of the f*cking Navajo Reservation!

 

 

5:[ We cannot go back to “Normal” all after this: thinking that fresh water is a infinite resource.

 

 

That is it for this month.

 

 

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.”

 

 

2024 Ernest M Whiteman III

 

JULY - EPISODE VII: SUMMER 2024

WISDOM OF THE SAGES
EPISODE VII: SPRING 2024

Hello People of the World;

 

Here we are again, more than a few months late. I am typing his intro on Labor Day. Things could be better, time of typing. But the weather out today is nice. So, let’s take a look back at the things that crossed my mind in July.

 

As always: Stay safe. Stay home.

 

 All right, let’s get going:

 

1:[ This virus really showed how equal we all really are: Being tricked into the idea that getting the economy going is better than saving peoples’ lives….

 

 

2:[ MOVIE REVIEWS:

 

- Seven Samurai [七人の侍] (1954), Directed by Akira Kurosawa

 

Char had never seen this film. I try to watch it every Xmas but I have never seen it on the big screen. I missed a chance to when it screened at the Davis maybe seven years ago. But Janus Films had a 4K restoration made of the film and decided to run it in theaters. I asked Bonnie and Char to accompany me and away we were.

 

Who doesn't know this archetypal story of the seven ronin samurai hired to protect a village of farmers. Char encapsulated it the best, calling it the first "gathering the team for a job" movie, ala "Ocean's Eleven" and more.

 

This sits on my Top Ten All-time Favorite Movies list. (#3 BTW) It is strange as it is not my favorite Kurosawa film. That would be "Redbeard" [赤ひげ], his 1965 film and final collaboration with Toshiro Mifune. That is a touching film that I wish would get more attention. However, there are films that simply transcend their makers' names and enter a cinematic realm of timeless greatness. "Seven Samurai" is one of these films.

 

Starring Toshiro Mifune and Takeshi Shimura as ronin who take rice in exchange for protecting a farming village from a foreseen bandit raid. The seven ronin have become the known archetypes in many films since: The knowledgeable, compassionate leader, the loyal sidekick, the street wise knowledge-keeper, the comic relief, the peerless warrior, the young newcomer, and the rouge outsider. So fundamental was this film to the structure and archetype of many drama and actions films to come, that Char was recognizing them as she watched this three-hour epic with rapt attention.

 

We chatted about all of this and more - the class structure, the characters, that scene with the baby, the love story, the tropes, all of it. This was a film Char thought would be boring from catching snippets of it during my Xmas viewings, but all three of us were moved from seeing it on the big screen.

 

We will all three of us, probably watch it again on the big screen in the future.

 

 

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION

 

 

- Deadpool and Wolverine, Directed by Shawn Levy

 

It's about what you'd expect. Basically “Cocaine Bear” for the MCU fan. I find the Deadpool character dull.

 

MEH.

 

 

3:[ This Month’s Essay: Why Do People Blame Audrey for David’s Life in “Unbreakable”?

 

I have seen too many “movie reactors” get mad at Audrey for David’s sad life in “Unbreakable”. I have to iterate that David was not fulfilled with anything he was doing, including football. That some viewers think Audrey forced this choice on him so she can be happy is unfair. The whole movie is about David not feeling he is doing was he is supposed to be doing. Which is why he gave up football: to have a family, which he thought he was SUPPOSED to be doing, not being a famous athlete, which is shallow valor. But having a family feels like a reward he doesn't deserve, so he puts his family at arms-length. He feels he hasn't earned it.

 

This is made clearer when Audrey states that "fate stepped in", because she is not aware that David had even made a choice to quit "No questions asked", because he is also supposed to be making his wife happy. He even thinks moving out will make her happy. There are tendrils of this ideal still lingering in David at the end when he signals to his son not to tell Audrey. He now has chosen to do what Elijah tells him he is supposed to do, "to save the rest of us", while trying to balance that with making sure Audrey remains happy now that it seems David and she are working things out. It's the standard "Superhero Conundrum" subtly told.

 

Remember, only once David “saves” the kids, does he feel he has “earned” Audrey, and take her up to their bedroom.

 

 

4:[ Observation: The reason why we reduce Indigenous cultures to “Native American” or “Ind14n” is twofold:

 

1 - We are indoctrinated to be lazy about intellectual pursuits – we do not want to do the intellectual heavy-lifting of researching and learning about the over 1200 tribes in North America today. Those tribes have differing cultures and beliefs and though they share some similarities, all tribes consider themselves to be a People separate from other tribes. Paraphrasing Evelyn Ngugi, the Stereotype of the American is that we are uninformed. And that is by design. The US has made it difficult to learn about current events and the histories of people of color. Why would they do this and why do we willingly go along with it?

 

People like to think that they are not susceptible to propaganda, to thought control, to media indoctrination, to government control, but all we need to do is look at ourselves and see how uninformed we are about the Indigenous peoples of the Americas to see how susceptible we all really are.

 

2- We do not do the intellectual heavy-lifting precisely because we do not want to be responsible for it. Once you learn that this country you live in is not really a democracy and it’s still racist and sexist, and has structuring to continue to put certain peoples down and keep them there, and that a lot of us still benefit from that system – so, what do you do with that? I don’t know. Do you?

 

 

5:[ We cannot go back to “Normal” all after this: thinking that fresh water is a infinite resource.

 

 

That is it for this month.

 

 

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.”

 

 

2024 Ernest M Whiteman III

 

JUNE - EPISODE VI: SUMMER 2024

 

WISDOM OF THE SAGES
EPISODE VI: SUMMER 2024

Hello People of the World;

 

Hey, I am writing this on July fourth and it looks like we decided to have kings in this country now. Man, how do people want this? Don’t they know that those sycophants that put this in place are the first to be gotten rid of? Read some history folks.

 

Now I am writing this part in mid-August. Time flies but I hope I remember the thoughts I had in June to populate this month’ edition. I guess I'll keep this episode short. Apologies.

 

As always: Stay safe. Stay home.

 

 All right, let’s get going:

 

1:[ This virus really showed how equal we all really are: How stupid are we to keep thinking that everything is back to normal.

 

 

2:[ MOVIE REVIEWS:

 

I did not see any movies at the theater for the month of June.

 

3:[ This Month’s Essay:

 

I am very tired of this “My Generations is so much better than this current one” schtick we have going on right now. We only pull that card when we see ourselves sliding into irrelevance.

 

 

 

4:[ Observation: Wow, Gil Birmingham is basically the Sean Bean of Native film. Just saw him the “The Marsh Kings Daughter”. His character dies in almost everything.

 

 

5:[ I am working on producing a film essay video, entitled, “Mother’s Watch: How Our Gaze Continues to Reduce Hara Setsuko to “The Eternal Virgin” and The Sad Truth About Noriko’s fate in Ozu’s “Tokyo Story” is probably turning into one of the more favorite things I've written and hope to turn it into an essay video soon.

 

I would need some help with translations, I have a Japanese book I would like the English translation, as there is no translated edition available, but do not know where to start. I have been relying on the peripheral material of this book for information and want to give things the correct context. This is why it is taking so long to get made. (The irony being, this is probably a subject that only interests me.)

 

 

6:[ We cannot go back to “Normal” all after this: thinking that fresh water is a infinite resource.

 

 

That is it for this month.

 

 

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.”

 

 

2024 Ernest M Whiteman III

 

MAY - EPISODE V: SPRING 2024

WISDOM OF THE SAGES
EPISODE V: SPRING 2024

Hello People of the World;

 

The weather is warming. And as ever, we are sooooo caught off-guard by it. Like the turning of the Earth is too fast for us. Sheesh. Hey, it looke like I am all caught up on Wisdom of the Sages. Hooray. I guess. I have stated many times that I know, that no one is reading this, but I keep it up to keep in the practice of writing on a monthly deadline, and to work diligently to get caught up.

 

As always: Stay safe. Stay home.

 

 All right, let’s get going:

 

1:[ This virus really showed how equal we all really are: we are okay with mass deaths until it affects us personally and directly. Look at Gaza.

 

 

2:[ MOVIE REVIEWS:

 

Le Samouraï

Directed by Jean Pierre-Melville

 

One of my Top Ten Favorite Films of All-time. I am kind of happy I finally get to make a review of it. This was a new 4K restoration of the film. It looked beautiful.

 

The effortlessly cool story that had been adapted, at least twice, (John Woo's "The Killer" and Jim Jarmusch's "Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai", if you're interested.) and gave rise to the mythical killer figure recently display by "John Wick". Due mainly to Alain Delon's portrayal of Jef Costello, a hitman who must try to shake the dogged pursuit of the Police, as well as, discover who set him up to be killed instead of paid, and his near-silent portrayal throughout the film.

 

A French production, so don't think it's all gun battles and talks about what a mythical figure the Killer is. Nope. There is no "That f*cking nobody, is Jef Costello" nonsense. In fact, it is low-key and slow-paced. Many without the patience would call it 'boring'. But I like some films like that. Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "The Assassin" is another beautiful film like this and would consider another remake. (I would love a double bill with "Le Samouraï" and "The Assassin"!) Plus, I have seen films where so much is happening and it's still boring.

 

Whereas "The Killer" deals with the heroic violence of not being a ruthless murderer any more, and whereas "Ghost Dog" leans in heavily on the false pretenses of samurai culture, here, Costello knows he is a ruthless killer. When asked why he was doing a job, his response, "I was paid to" is clear. It is also clear that he is running toward his death rather than from the police.

 

It is that kind of film.

 

One of my Top Ten Favorite Films of All-time.

 

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION

 

 

 

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Directed by George Lucas

 

Made May 4th a double-feature day by capping it off with the first episode of the Star Wars Saga.

 

This was once considered the worst of all the Star Wars movies. Glad to see it's getting some shine from this new generation that didn't live through the hell of the Lucas Bashing Era. Heck, I don't even dislike the Sequel Trilogy, I mean, they're a bit corporate, I mean, they're just movies, but the kids seem to like them. Daisy Ridley is a great lead and I'm glad she's getting her own Star Wars movie. Looking for to "The Acolyte" because it's something different!

 

Here, Jedi Knights played by Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, as young Obi-wan Kenobi, must try to prevent the escalation of war during a trade embargo. While they work to keep up with events that spiral out of control, the elder Jedi Qui-gon Jinn (Neeson) comes across a young slave boy who might be the living embodiment of the Living Force and key prophetic figure, Anakin Skywalker.

 

I saw this when it was first released 25 years ago! I went to see it with my family and a friend from work. This time, I went with Char, who'd only seen on on DVD. It was an experience seeing this with her and of people her age and younger. There was the occasional dad dragging their daughters with, but I guess that I am now lumped in with that group.

 

We were entertained, we knew the story and where it goes, we knew the quotes, we found Jar Jar less annoying, the politics never got in the way, we saw the ET's in the Galactic Senate (!), and the pod race was still exciting, so it is a very good movie all in all. Definitely not as bad as people made it out to be. This was because what we had in our head for prequels never materialized because it was never our story to tell. So we got mad. But I would recommend this as good as any Star Wars film. We enjoyed it.

 

HIGH RECOMMENDATION

 

PS: SPOILER - BE READY TO BE INSULTED

 

I really don't care what order you watch them in. But if you are making your kids suffer through these, screen them in episode order, please. Respect the Maker. Then, the whole story will all make sense to your kids. With the advent of the K-Drama, the kids these days prefer episodic media. Because if you're trying to live vicariously through your kids to relive some childhood feeling? Don't. Don't use your child thus. Let them have their own experience. Your childhood is gone and is now an unreliable memory. We all know Darth Vader's his dad and trying to get your kid to relive that for you is evil mind control. Plus: Don't think that the order you saw them as a kid will somehow make your kid a better person, or worse, someone like you. Face it: we turned out trash.

 

 

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Directed by Wes Ball

 

One half of the TOP REVIEW TEAM went to catch the latest in the new Planet of the Apes Saga.

 

This takes place three hundred years after the time of Caesar. Here, the ruination of the world is covered over with the regrowth of Nature and the Apes have evolved into clans and community groups. Noa (Owen Teague), a young ape of the Eagle Clan of apes have been living in their own world for serval generations. As he readies for his Connection Ceremony, with his friends Soona (Lydia Peckham), and Anaya (Travis Jeffery), they come upon a human scavenger, which leads another group, this time Gorillas, into their home. They are attacked and Noa is left for dead and his father is killed and family, friends, and clan taken.

 

He pairs with the human scavenger Nova, and a kind orangutan Raka (Pater Macon), who is the last to remember the true teachings of Caesar of the first trilogy. They encounter Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), the leader of a coastal clan bent on attaining human technology and using Caesar's philosophies as a tool of control.

 

There is much to unpack with this. It is good. It is a differing flavor of the first three. But just as engaging and the right amount of different. Not only in establishing the new series on its own terms, but in the burying of nostalgia for the Caesar Trilogy (as I will call it) and for the Sixties series. That is a tightrope it manages very well and tricks the audience in not really thinking about it while we make the subtle connections to them. Very good.

 

 

High RECOMMENDATION

 

 

 

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

 

Probably one of my most favorite Ghibli films.

 

In the distant future, humanity lives in a post-nuclear world, after the "Seven Days of Fire", where giant humanoid bioweapons set the world aflame and creating the Toxic Jungle, a poisonous forest that is home to mutant insects. The forest is growing year after year. The people of the Valley have learned to live near the toxic waste.

 

Princess Nausicaä has been exploring the Toxic Forest in hopes of finding a way to help humanity to coexist. The militaristic Tolmekia soon invade after a plane of theirs crashes killing its precious hostage and revealing its deadly cargo, an embryo of a Giant Warrior, the bioweapon that destroyed most of the Earth. Now, Naisicaä must race to halt the Tolmekia's plans to unleash the Giant on the Toxic Forest while the Pejite people actively fight against them.

 

This is one of the great "post-apocalyptic" films ever. When folks hear that word, they think Mad Max and that nonsense. (And sometimes actively strive for it. Because every dudebro thinks they're Max in that scenario. Sheesh. I'd rather be Nausicaä.) It has its own aesthetic, cultures, and ideals beyond anything George Miller came up with. I know, heresy.

 

Still a fine, quick-paced epic.

 

 

HIGH RECOMMENDATION

 

 

 

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Directed by George Miller

 

I have no clue why this is so hated, other than sexism.

 

George Miller adds another stellar film to the Mad Max Saga, this time, telling the story of Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron in "Fury Road". Here, Anna Taylor-Joy take the lead and makes it her own in a legendary telling of how Furiosa ended up the Imperator for Immortan Joe.

 

It is broken into chapters which follows the aesthetics of a saga being read or spoken.

 

George Miller is very interested in this idea that Max and Furiosa's stories are retellings long into the future. Which is why there is barely any continuity in the stories. For instance, Max's V8 reappears in Fury Road, much like his daughter, though in the original film from 1978, Max has son.

 

One of the best concepts taken out of the Fury Roads script was Max, after Furiosa and the Mothers leave across the salt plain, Max crosses paths with an old Aboriginal man walking in the other direction. When Max tries to explain his situation, the man stops him say, “I’ve heard your story before” and raises his hand to his forehead, in the motion that later saves Max from taking an arrow to the head. Max notes they never met before to which the old man just walks away.

 

This is from reality, when the production crew wanted to film on Ayer’s Rock for “Beyond Thunderdome” and spoke with the Aboriginal people about filming there since it is a sacred site for them. As the producers told the story of Max, including the original film and “Road Warrior”, the elders stopped the and said they have many stories like this in their lore. This impressed them enough to allow filming, but the producer decided that the site was too sacred to film at after all.

 

Here, we follow Furiosa as she is taken from the Green Place of her youth by Dementus, a wasteland warlord bent on surviving but also taking over the Citadel from Immortan Joe. Furiosa, must navigate Joe's system to get into a position that she can make a run for home, as she promised her mother long ago.

 

I have no idea why this is getting hated, expect for sexism.

 

It's a great movie. I will see it again in theaters as soon as I can.

 

 

BEST OF 2024 (So far.)

 

HIGHEST RECOMENDATION

 

 

3:[ This Month’s Short Essay:

 

My brother Allen's birthday was the day after my mom's. Yet, I remember only celebrating my brother's birthday as a kid. It's been over two years since he passed. But I have been away from him for over 24 years. We sporadically saw one another on my visits home since I left. He would ask for a ride to town or just say Hi and leave with his church group. Mostly, he would be off partying around.

 

It is funny how time changes things. But it should never be surprising, should it? Things change over time, as do people. I keep thinking that I am the same person I was when I felt like a person during my teen years. When I started to think things for myself, kind of. You know how you get as a teen. But looking at my beliefs and philosophy and ideals, and how they've changed, I am a different person than that left the Wind River.

 

But Allen seemed unchanged. He was always joking, always jovial, always stubborn, always contrary, always twenty-nine years old (at least he'd say so), and he never seemed to NOT be Allen when I was back home. There was something comforting in that. Comforting as those sugar cookies he used to make me when I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. We would go to the kitchen, he'd mix up a batch as fast as lighting, and throw them in the oven. He would bake four, two for me and two for him. They were more like biscuits. We would eat them, and go back to bed. It is one of my strongest memories from our old house.

 

I don't have any recent pictures of him to share nor any old ones for that matter. But he mattered to me when I was little. He was fun, he played, he shared, he scolded when needed. I don't know if he was ever satisfied with life but he never showed that that bothered him.

 

He was my brother Allen, "Un" as we called him.

 

My brother Allen's birthday is this month. And I still miss him.

 

 

4:[ Observation: Getting so tired of the meme - "This generation will never know the struggle" and it's something stupid and superfluous. They're dealing with the destruction of the planet and corporate overreach into all aspects of our lives, and religo-political control of the same. Who cares if they didn't have Trapper Keepers in grade school?

 

 

5:[ We cannot go back to “Normal” all after this: thinking that fresh water is an infinite resource.

 

 

That is it for this month.

 

 

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.”

 

 

2024 Ernest M Whiteman III