Michael Che Joke: Fragility and Reality

If someone protested against or made sarcastic jokes about apartheid in South Africa, housing discrimination in the United States, or racist soccer fans in Italy or Spain, most of us would not immediately say that the person is anti-white/anti-Afrikaner/anti-Italian/anti-Spanish. They very well could be of course but that wouldn't change the fact that there are/were problems in all of those areas which need(ed) to be addressed.

Most people recognize that it's a dishonest tactic to accuse the person drawing attention to bias of being biased himself or herself. Nobody likes to have their particular group or even a representative of their group in the spotlight for something negative. Just human nature. But no group and especially no government or nation is above criticism. Governments and even nations are not synonymous with ethnic, racial, or religious groups. There is a huge difference between criticizing a government for what it does and criticizing a group for who it is.

Unfortunately the state of Israel and its US partisans have expanded and weaponized claims of anti-Semitism to include anyone who criticizes the appalling treatment that Israel doles out to non-Jews in areas under its control, particularly the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. SNL comedian Michael Che recently made a minor joke about this and was accused of being the second coming of Hitler by some Jewish organizations.

Movie Reviews: Destry

Destry
directed by George Marshall

This 1954 Western remake movie starred the famous WW2 hero and single most decorated soldier of all time Audie Murphy in the title role. As do many of these type of movies, including their vigilante film descendants, Destry gives us a protagonist who just wants to be left alone and to do right. Unfortunately life intervenes with the man's plans.

I guess given that Murphy had put two hundred or more enemy soldiers in the ground there is some unspoken irony here seeing him as a man who eschews firearms and violence in favor of peaceful discussion and adherence to the law above all else. 

The 5-5 Murphy was in real life, like his character here, soft spoken, calm and quiet.  

That is until you tried to mess with him or his. Murphy was once tried for attempted murder after getting into a fistfight (and apparently winning) with a 6-3 dog trainer who had made the mistake of groping one of Murphy's female friends and abusing her German Shepherd.

Murphy didn't deny attacking the man but basically said that if he had wanted to kill the man he would have. The jury agreed and acquitted him. So, Murphy was not a man to mess with.

Destry was, like Shane, a didactic movie. It feeds into and defines the American image of a real man as someone who doesn't go looking for trouble but doesn't run from it either. 

In Destry the sheriff of of a small Western town dies unexpectedly. Very unexpectedly. The official word is heart attack though some people have their doubts. But unless those people want to have a heart attack as well they are well advised to keep their thoughts to themselves. After all, nobody asked them did they? 

Television Reviews: 30 Coins

30 Coins (Season One)

directed by Alex de la Iglesias

This is a Spanish language supernatural thriller that finished its first season on HBO Europe. I don't know if there will be a second season or not. The completed first season smartly tied up some loose ends.

The last episode was marketed as a "series finale". At first I thought it was more of a season finale but after thinking about it some more and remembering how disappointing the 2nd and 3rd installations of The Matrix were in comparison to the original film, I would be content if this turned out to be a one off sort of deal. There were only eight episodes. There was very little narrative fat in this series. 

The film has a little bit to attract everyone. There are attractive women and men who are both occasionally seen without much clothing. There are a few soap opera storylines which seem designed specifically to bring in women viewers. Those viewers who are keen on alternative or secret histories, who think that there are conspiracies carried out at the highest levels of society, and who eagerly read Dan Brown books will find much to enjoy in 30 Coins. 

There's not a tremendous amount of bloodshed in most of the series but what there is is emotionally engaging--read shocking. It's not just popcorn mayhem designed to meet a quota of severed limbs. Lastly, the film has some very deliberate nods to H.P. Lovecraft-both his worldview and his fictional creations. 

Philadelphia Teen Girls Assault and Carjack Elderly Cancer Patient

From time to time people tell me that there is never any excuse for violence against women. My response has always been that that supposed axiom is untrue. There are some women who initiate violence against other people. I think everyone has the right to self-defense. Period. End of story. 

All of my grandparents are now deceased but if someone were to have assaulted either of my grandmothers in my presence I can safely say that I would not have hesitated to defend them, with deadly force if need be. I wouldn't have worried about the criminal's gender. I want to stop them from hurting me and mine.

Although the majority of violent criminals are and likely always will be men, anecdotally it does seem as if women are becoming more aggressive in their violence. Thugs come in both genders now. Recently in Philadelphia three young women attacked a 78 year old cancer patient. 

The women doused the victim with pepper spray, punched her in the face, and threw her to the ground, before stealing her vehicle. The victim temporarily lost sight in one eye and had a heart attack. 

Two of the alleged perpetrators have been identified and arrested. Just another day in the big city I suppose. If the old woman's daughter had shot the assailants to defend herself and her mother I am pretty sure that some people would be crying and saying that she didn't need to do that.

Neera Tanden For OMB

Did you ever joke about or insult someone at your job? Maybe you forwarded nasty comments about them over company instant messenger or email. Maybe your friends love your hilarious impression of a co-worker's nasal accent or the funny way they walk. 

Maybe you catalogued this person's mistakes or dumb ideas and gleefully referenced them whenever the person's name came up in business discussions. Maybe you didn't care if the person heard your jokes, putdowns, or criticisms because you didn't report to them. You never foresaw a time when that person or his/her friends would have any authority over you or influence over your next assignment or promotion. Life can quickly change. 

Sometimes the person you called a malodorous bird brained blockhead is appointed to the committee considering your hire, pay raise, or promotion. Or he or she has good friends who are on that committee. This person or his/her friends might ask you some hard questions about your previous comments. What happens next depends on how badly you want the hire, promotion, or pay raise. If you want it, you will swallow your pride and abase yourself before the committee. You will denounce your past comments. You will apologize for the unprofessional conduct and any hurt you've caused. You will promise to do better going forward. 

That's no guarantee of success. Some people still won't support your ascension. You could stand on principle, grab your gonads, and tell everyone you're not apologizing for a muyerfuying thing. That generally doesn't work either. President Biden's nominee for OMB director, Neera Tanden, has a long history of combative toxic online and public statements against people with whom she disagrees, which includes but is not limited to Republicans and especially anyone to her left. 

Movie Reviews: Greenland

Greenland

directed by Ric Roman Waugh

This is a disaster movie. But it's not just a disaster movie. It's a possible world ending, extinction level event disaster movie. With these sorts of films there are usually two choice the writer(s) and/or director can make. One choice usually involves some square jawed hero solemnly intoning we will not go gently into the night and along with his ragtag group of desperately attempting to avert the Apocalypse by any means necessary while attempting to reconnect with his estranged wife or child. 

The other choice takes it for granted that there is nothing that can be done. The film then has the protagonist spend the entire running time talking to his loved ones and examining the mistakes he or they have made with each other before the inevitable happens. There are usually a number of impressive effects that show the impending doom's progression. Maybe the asteroid gets closer and smaller pieces of it hit places across the world. Maybe the ozone barrier is pierced. Each day the earth's temperature climbs or drops but gets nearer to a point where humans can't survive. And so on. 

Greenland is a hybrid of these two types of films. Somewhat surprisingly, perhaps because of the relatively low budget it doesn't have a lot of iconic disaster scenes. It concentrates much more on the struggle to survive--even if survival may literally just mean one more day.

Movie Reviews: Let Him Go

Let Him Go
directed by Thomas Bezucha

This is a combination Western/vigilante movie. I usually enjoy both of those genres. So I was set to enjoy this one. It hit most of the points that you expect to see in either of those genres. But something was off. It took a minute for me to realize it but my problem was that the good guys in this film were not only breaking the law, but their reasons for doing so were weak. 

There have been some legal cases where a set of grandparents, or an aunt, uncle, cousin or other relative have attempted to obtain visitation to or custody of a child over the objections of that child's biological mother, father, or legal stepmother or stepfather. Usually absent some rather serious and chronic physical or sexual abuse, financial or medical incapacity, the parent(s) will win the case. Grandparents or other relatives do not have the right to see their minor relative unless the parent agrees.

Purely from spite a parent could take their children out of the state and refuse to let their grandparents visit. Such an action might be vile and malicious or it might be well considered and the right thing to do. But with the exceptions listed above, usually the state won't get involved.

Movie Reviews: The Set-Up

The Set-Up
directed by Robert Wise

This is a taut 1949 film noir by the man who would later go on to direct The Sound of Music. But The Set-Up is not something which is going to have anyone breaking out into song. The Set-Up is set in the brutal world of boxing. Here there are no excuses or explanations, just results. And very few of the boxers achieve anything resembling long term success. 

Many wind up barely better off than they would have been in a 9-5 job while a significant minority are worse off. The boxers are ripped off by the sport's parasitical promoters, managers, and mobsters. Some boxers end up with permanent health issues. Glory and the ability to say they took the best their opponent had to offer and kept moving forward are the motivators for all of these boxers.

Film noir mainstay Robert Ryan is aging boxer Bill "Stoker "Thompson. Stoker's no bum. He's had some ups and downs in his career, but more downs than ups. At thirty-five he's considered an old man by boxing standards. He's getting hit more often than he used to, something has not failed to escape the attention of his loyal wife Julie (Audrey Totter). Julie thinks that Stoker needs to get out of the game before he gets brain damage. 

Television Reviews: Salem's Lot (1979)

Salem's Lot (1979)
directed by Tobe Hooper

This is the three hour television miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name. Although it was directed by the man who became famous for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this movie was tasteful and restrained in its use of violence and sexually charged imagery. There's very little. What there is turns out to be all the more impressive because of its rarity. It's certainly toned down a great deal from King's book, where there are detailed descriptions of gore and exactly what certain perverted bus drivers or preachers want to do to the teen girls they encounter. 

Obviously a lot of these changes were for television, but I never felt the movie was holding anything back either. It manages to scare and occasionally titillate without nudity, much cleavage, or long takes of blood spurting everywhere. It also prunes away and/or combines many of King's characters, simplifies or flattens many of those who remain, and completely alters the novel's urbane but dangerous master vampire to a wordless snarling monster who can never ever ever be mistaken for anything else. 

Despite these changes this miniseries was and remains one of the best adaptations of King's work. This movie is an excellent example of how to move a story from one setting to another. It keeps the major themes and story points. It utilizes the advantages of the new medium while minimizing the losses of the original.

Movie Reviews: While The City Sleeps

While The City Sleeps
directed by Fritz Lang

This is a 1956 crime film noir directed by the famed Fritz Lang, who also helmed such films as M, Metropolis, and The Big Heat, among many many others. Although the film opens with a murder, which provides the surface basis for the story's events, in fact that's really something of a red herring. 

This movie is more concerned with the political and moral battles, internal and external, of a group of media conglomerate executives--think Fox News. There's also a fair amount of romance and sexual skulduggery. 

Although we may often think that women's film roles were always limited and stereotypical in Hollywood's Golden Age, actually the women in this film all have their own agency, get pretty good lines, don't take any stuff off anyone, and exude sex appeal without taking off their clothes. There are some modern directors who could learn from this. 

The film's point of view is that although men and women will often get on each other's last nerve, normal men and women like and need each other. This is in direct contrast to the murderer.

Amos Kyne (Robert Warwick) is an elderly and ailing news mogul who leads the company he founded and which bears his name. His company has three divisions: television, newspaper, and wire service. As are many such men in his position, Amos is a hard charging Type A personality who doesn't take no for an answer. Amos demands that things be done the right way--his way.