The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien)
The famous fantasy/sci-fi author Michael Moorcock once called Tolkien's Lord of The Rings "Epic Pooh", a characterization which I thought wasn't entirely accurate or fair. It is true that Moorcock wrote work that was (occasionally self-consciously so) much grittier with more moral ambiguity of the sort that would become popularized by later writers such as Donaldson, Martin and Abercrombie , to name a few. But on the other hand Tolkien knew all about the uglier side of life. He was after all a WWI veteran who fought in and survived the war's bloodiest battle, The Somme. Two of his best friends were killed during that battle. So if some sections of the Lord of The Rings are not as dark or as explicit as some later fantastical novels, it's not because Tolkien hadn't seen evil and hardship in his life. One of his earlier works, although it was only published after his death, was The Silmarillion, which had all sorts of doomed heroes, grim people doing grim things for worse reasons and even a few families which didn't fork. The Silmarillion as published is a collection of Tolkien's older stories about Middle-Earth ,ultimately going back to its creation and corruption. Perhaps the most tragic tale in The Silmarillion involves the story of Turin Turambar and his sister Nienor. As the title indicates they were the children of the northern lord, Hurin, considered to be the greatest warrior to ever live. The events detailed in this story took place roughly 6000 years before the occurrences in the Lord of the Rings. So with the exceptions of immortals like Gandalf, a few surviving elves like Galadriel or humans like Aragorn who are descended from some of the protagonists, most people by the time of the Lord of the Rings consider these tales mere legends if they remember them at all. If you think Martin's Starks had a rough time of it well they got off light compared to Hurin and his children. This story is also a great example of how creative people build on what's been done before to construct their own works. The Children of Hurin bears a very clear (Tolkien readily acknowledged this) debt to such classic stories as Wagner's Ring Cycle and the Volsung saga, Oedipus, and especially the Finnish national saga, the Kullervo. There's a saying that your arms are too short to box with God. Well if that's true it's also probably the case that your arms are also too short to box with the Devil. Tolkien's primary evil force was Melkor, or as he became known, Morgoth. Morgoth vacillated between wanting to destroy all of creation, because he didn't make it, and wanting to rule it.
To this end he attempted to physically subdue all incarnate beings in the world and make them accept him as God. He was resisted in this by most of the elves and many of the humans who came later. Tolkien was a very religious man though as he hated allegory and heavy-handedness this wasn't always easily seen in his works. One theme that crops up over and over again is that humans won't win the battle against evil without some sort of godly intervention. Evil is too strong. And yet we must constantly try.
Hurin was a man who took up that struggle against evil. As lord of his group of men, he and his brother Huor led his army to join the elves, dwarves and other men against Morgoth's legions in what became known as The Battle of Unnumbered Tears. As you might guess from the title of that battle things didn't turn out so well for the good guys. Via betrayal and bad intelligence of their enemy's true numbers they got curb-stomped. Despite a truly legendary last stand in which Huor was killed and Hurin stood alone against Morgoth's entire army, Hurin was finally captured and taken before Morgoth. Morgoth wanted intelligence about the elves who had escaped and of course worship from Hurin. Hurin gave some very rude suggestions about just what Morgoth could do with his questions. Hurin could not be daunted by fear, torture or threat. But Morgoth is nothing if not malicious. He cursed Hurin and his children, promising that he would personally guarantee that nothing but horrible things would happen to his son Turin and his daughter Nienor. In fact, Morgoth via magic would give the imprisoned Hurin a front row seat to everything that would go down. So The Children of Hurin is a tragic story of the impact of Morgoth's curse on one man's family. It's also just as much a story of what happens AFTER a defeat and how people try to pick up the pieces when their father and husband is gone. It's expanded greatly from the version found in The Silmarillion. It has slightly more dialogue, some of which has even been written in a less stilted, less heroic manner. You probably won't like Turin very much. He's not really a sympathetic character. He makes tons of mistakes. He occasionally falls into evil. Sometimes even when he's trying to do the right thing, he ends up doing evil. But again, if the Devil took a personal dislike to you, I'm betting your life wouldn't be that much fun either. This was just under 300 pages and is a quick read for a Tolkien fan. Others might find there to be a tad too much description. I can't say. What I can say is that this is a story for adults. People are motivated by some of our highest and most ignoble emotions. If you are looking for grittiness or realism in your fantasy (aside from talking dragons and evil swords) you'll find it here.
One of the interesting things about Michigan is that although it has two Democratic US Senators and is a pretty reliable Democratic state in presidential elections it also has a large vibrant conservative electorate. That electorate is not all that happy with some of the recent changes in society. As you may have known if you read our previous post on gays in Michigan and some of the challenges they face around family law, sexuality is not a protected status in the state of Michigan. Theoretically then, there is no current state protection against discrimination against homosexuals in hiring, public accommodations, contracts or housing. Such protection is not in the state constitution or in state law. Those protections exist in Michigan not at all. However Michigan conservatives, religious and otherwise, can see which way the courts and more importantly the larger national electorate are both leaning on this issue. Michigan conservatives don't like it. They also don't like the fact that in certain other states or in Washington D.C. , adoption agencies who refused to place children with gay adoptive parents were forced to either change their policies or close. So yesterday Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, signed into law a measure that explicitly allows religiously based adoptive agencies to refuse to place children with prospective parents who happen to be gay. So if Pat and Pat show up and want to adopt a child, the agency, should it find same sex relationships (gay marriage is not legal in Michigan) distasteful can tell the two men or two women to take a hike. There's no longer any need to couch rejections in niceties. I think that some conservatives view this both as a rearguard action against a culture they no longer recognize and as a necessary and prudent preemptive strike.
Lansing — Gov. Rick Snyder signed a controversial package of bills Thursday allowing faith-based agencies to turn away gay and lesbian couples seeking state-supported adoptions. Snyder signed the bills without ceremony, just one day after the Legislature sent him the legislation. The law goes into effect immediately. The ACLU of Michigan vows to challenge it. The new law allows faith-based adoption agencies to invoke their sincerely held religious beliefs in denying adoption placement services to gay and lesbian couples who want to be parents. The agencies would be required to refer gay and lesbian couples to another adoption agency.
In a statement, the Republican governor emphasized the bills puts adoption practices, already in use, into law. Snyder’s office said that adoption rates in Michigan have continued to increase in recent years. In the 2014 fiscal year, 85 percent of children in the foster system were adopted, up from 70 percent in 2011. As many as 13,000 children reside in Michigan’s foster care system at any given time, according to lawmakers. “The state has made significant progress in finding more forever homes for Michigan kids in recent years and that wouldn’t be possible without the public-private partnerships that facilitate the adoption process,” Snyder said in a statement. “We are focused on ensuring that as many children are adopted to as many loving families as possible regardless of their makeup.”
In fiscal year 2014, Michigan spent $19.9 million on contracts with private agencies for adoption services, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. It accounted for about 85 percent of the $23.2 million the state spent that year on adoption support services. Seventeen of Michigan’s 62 adoption placement agencies are faith-based, according to the Michigan Catholic Conference.
The ACLU is threatening to sue. Perhaps one of the resident lawyers or other legal experts can explain what the grounds for such a lawsuit might be and how likely it would be to succeed in state or federal courts. The governor also signed into law the "Parental Responsibility Act". Despite what it sounds like this is not a law which sanctions busybodies who are offended at how some other parents raise their children. Nor is this a law which makes it clear that Child Protective Services actually can't take children first and work out parental guilt later. No. This law gives the state the ability to cut off welfare cash to a family if a school age child in the home is chronically truant from school.
LANSING, MI — A parent's failure to ensure his or her child is going to school could cost the family welfare cash under a new law signed Thursday by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. The so-called "parental responsibility act" gives the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services statutory authority to cut off Family Independence Program assistance if a child is chronically truant and interventions fail. Snyder, in a statement announcing he signed the controversial legislation, compared it to the Pathways to Potential program, which has seen the state put caseworkers into schools to work directly with students.
"Much like the Pathways to Potential program, this legislation brings together parents, schools and the state to determine obstacles that keep students from being in school and how to overcome them," Snyder said. "To break the cycle of poverty, kids need an education to position them for future success. We have to do everything we can to see that they are regularly attending school."
If a child who is younger than 16 regularly misses school, his or her whole family could lose cash benefits. If the child is 16 or older, they would be removed from the family group, which could continue to receive some assistance.LINK
It's important to note, that per article, in fiscal year 2104 less than 200 families or individuals were sanctioned for missing school. So I'm not really sure what huge problem this is supposed to solve, other than satisfying the never ending conservative desire to stigmatize and control poor people. There are a lot of problems in the schools but children from families on welfare missing school is really not the most pressing issue to address. As long as we are putting strings on acceptance of public monies should we also place restrictions and checks on the state legislators' family member's behavior? Or should all the social engineering experimentation and moral scolding be reserved for the impoverished among us. Presumably if two parents had decided that NO ONE in their family would eat for a month because a knucklehead sibling had done something wrong, people would want the entire set of children removed from those parents. They wouldn't be cheering the parents for their decision. What are your thoughts on these issues?
"I believe in second chances. I don't believe in third chances." Well I think it's safe to say that Stannis is out of the running for Father of The Year. More on that in a minute. First we open up in the North where Melisandre, apparently unbothered by the cold as she is wearing her normal plunging neckline gown, (heh-heh) seemingly senses something awry and walks out of her tent. She sees what is probably one of Ramsay's men scurrying away. Then fire breaks out across the camp. Tents, horses, and men are all set ablaze. It's chaos and near panic. The next morning Davos gives the grim report to Stannis. We see what Ramsay wanted those twenty men to do. Much of the food stores and all of the siege engines have been burned. Stannis' army has also lost horses, Going forward just became even more difficult. Even if they reach Winterfell they have no way to besiege it now. Stannis is, needless to say, more than a bit perturbed. He can't understand how twenty men can infiltrate his camp so easily. This lack of security around a ruler will be bookended in the episode's final scenes. Stannis is not mollified by Davos' excuse that the southerners are unused to the grim North and don't know the terrain. Not raising the alarm while you're on guard duty means that you're either incompetent or you're a traitor. Stannis has no use for either; he orders the guards hanged. His march looks like it's dead in the water...or rather dead in the snow I guess.
Later on Stannis summons Davos to undertake a new mission. He is to return to Castle Black to ask for food and supplies with the promise that once Stannis becomes King, he will ensure that the Night's Watch is provisioned and manned far beyond the skeleton crew it currently has. Stannis doesn't seem to care that this request would require the Night's Watch to break the neutrality it's supposed to maintain. And he cares even less that, as Davos angrily points out, that this message could and should be carried to the Night's Watch by someone far less senior than Davos, the King's Hand. But orders are orders. Right. Before he leaves Davos visits Shireen. He has carved her a beautiful wooden stag. A stag is of course the Baratheon sigil. It's a gift to her for not giving up on him, and for teaching him to read. There's some very obvious subtext here as to why Stannis wants Davos temporarily gone. You probably know what it is too. Davos may even sense it which is why he gave Shireen the gift. Just in case you're really thick, we see Stannis give a meaningful look at Melisandre. And I don't think he's checking out her womanly goodies though probably everyone else is.
Jon Snow and his ragtag alliance of Night's Watch men and wildlings make it back to the Wall. After a brief staredown, Alliser Thorne gives a disgusted look and opens the gate. Alliser says Jon has a good heart but that Jon will get them all killed. Jon admits to Sam that he thinks the mission was a failure but Sam points out all the people he saved. For the first time Jon looks around and really seems to notice that his fellow Night's Watch brothers not only don't seem happy with his decisions to let the wildlings in, they also seem downright upset. Nobody tells him good job, or glad to see you made it back or asks him how things went. There are just sullen looks and silence as the group of wildlings, including the giant, enter Castle Black. Hmm. In Dorne Areo Hotah leads Jaime to see Prince Doran, who is sitting with Ellaria, Myrcella, and Trystane. Doran asks Jaime why all the sneaking around? It's insulting and unnecessary. Jaime tells everyone about the implied threat of Myrcella's necklace received in a viper's jaws. Myrcella says that's the necklace that was stolen. Everyone looks at Ellaria who shrugs. Doran says that if his loyal ruler King Tommen, demands that Myrcella return to King's Landing then of course he will comply. He just insists that Trystane accompany his betrothed back to King's Landing and take a seat on the Small Council. That settled everyone toasts, well everyone except Ellaria, who ostentatiously refuses to do so. There's the small matter of punishment for Bronn, who struck Trystane. Although Doran is seemingly in a forgiving mood, he's not fond of people smacking his heir. That stuff won't fly. But he leaves the matter up to his son. Trystane will be running things one day. He might as well get some executive experience now.
Bronn is retrieved from his cell. Nearby the Sand Snakes are playing a slapping game. Bronn makes sure to respond affirmatively to Tyene's parting query of who is the most beautiful woman in the world. Taken before Doran and Jaime, Bronn is pleased to learn from Jaime that he will be set free. But there is one condition. At a nod from Trystane, Areo gives a quick brutal elbow to Bronn's face. Pow. Right in the kisser. Right to the moon!!!! Afterwards, as the manacled Sand Snakes look on sadly, Doran quietly and angrily explains to Ellaria that, family or not, he's done playing with her. Her disrespect and rebellion ends now. Or she dies. It really is that simple. After she kneels and kisses the ring, Ellaria goes to visit Jaime, who is trying to write left-handed. He's not very good at it. She lets him know that she knows all about his incest, but does not judge. After all the Targaryens famously wed brother to sister, uncle to niece, aunt to nephew. Love comes in many forms. She also claims she would not have hurt Myrcella. What's her game?
In Braavos, it's time for Arya to take out the corrupt insurance agent. She is about to do so, in her guise as a seafood vendor when she sees something that makes her forget all about her mission. She walks past her target, who is actually desirous of purchasing her wares. It's Ser Meryn Trant, with Mace Tyrell. If you recall Tyrell was sent to Braavos by Cersei in order to get him out of the way while she went after his children. But the cover story, which Tyrell was too dim to see through, was that he needed to renegotiate terms with the Iron Bank. But if you recall back further in the story, Ser Meryn Trant is the one who killed Syrio, Arya's sword instructor. Also, though Arya doesn't know this, Trant also beat and stripped Sansa Stark. Anyhow he's on Arya's list. She follows him and Tyrell as Tyrell ineptly (does he do things any other way?) tries and fails to charm the head banker, Tycho. At the day's end Arya follows Trant and two of his companions to a brothel. Arya uses her cover as an oyster seller to get inside. Oysters have zinc. So they are famously supposed to help put lead in a man's pencil. So a few of the ladies of the night want to buy some oysters. We see that Trant is a pedophile. He doesn't want older women. He doesn't even want young attractive women. He wants young girls. Arya's cover is almost blown when the house madam catches her spying and Trant seems taken aback by her face. But never mind. As he takes his child prostitute to the room, Trant reminds the madam he'll want someone new tomorrow. As she is kicked out, you can see the wheels turning in Arya's mind. When she returns to the House of Black and White she lies to Jaqen H'ghar by telling him that the insurance agent wasn't hungry today. Jaquen doesn't slap her. So maybe he believed the lie? Or maybe he didn't? But as we know, Arya is not no one. She is still Arya of House Stark, Princess of Winterfell.
As Shireen plays with the stag which Davos gave her, Stannis comes to see his daughter. She has been reading about the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of Dragons. Stannis is trying to decide whether to sacrifice his daughter. This is a pretty powerful scene. Stannis speaks obliquely about some of the problems he's having. Happy to see her Daddy and having no idea of what he's really talking about, Shireen says she would be happy to help. After all, as she reminds Stannis, using the same line he told her a few episodes back, she is Princess Shireen of the House Baratheon, and she is his daughter. Stannis tells her that actually she can her. Stannis embraces Shireen and mutters "forgive me." Cut away to Shireen being led to the pyre by soldiers. She's calling for her daddy. She's still holding the stag. At every point you think that someone is going to intervene because a few of the soldiers appear disgusted. Melisandre appears and tells Shireen that it will all be over soon. Stannis and Selyse are watching and holding on to each other. Shireen screams for their help. Selyse tells the shaking Stannis that this is the right thing. But as Melisandre lights the stake, it's actually Selyse, not Stannis, who reveals there's a drop of parental love still left inside. She runs to the stake, but soldiers catch her. Selyse collapses and sobs as Shireen screams for her parents and ultimately just screams. Still want Stannis to take Winterfell?
In Meereen Daenerys watchs the opening of the fighting pits. On stage she is joined by Hizdahr,Tyrion, Missandei and Daario. Hizdahr and Daario like each other about as much as you would expect, which is to say not at all. Daario can't stop boasting about his own time in the fighting pits and showing off his skills with daggers and short swords. He's doing this right in Hizdahr's face so it's less passive-aggressive and more "I don't like you one bit, pretty boy!" Daario and Tyrion are a bit taken aback when Hizdahr correctly predicts the outcome of the first match. Daario and Daenerys can't stop themselves from needling Hizdahr about his own lack of fighting experience. Hizdahr shrugs that off. He gives a very pragmatic defense of violence, saying that good or bad, everything that is accomplished relies ultimately on the threat of force. Daenerys is kidding herself if she believes otherwise. This prompts Tyrion to mutter that Tywin would have liked Hizdahr. Hizdahr is probably unaware that the sardonic Tyrion means this as an insult. Daenerys doesn't like the fighting. She is disturbed by how into it the crowd is. People are cheering for blood. But philosophical discussions and poorly hidden sexual rivalries will have to wait for later. The next match is about to start and wouldn't you know it's Lord Friendzone again, back for more. Yes good old Jorah Mormont is there to show these easterners how a Westerosi knight does things. The crowd boos him lustily, preferring their home town favorites. After a pause Daenerys gives permission for the melee to proceed.
Although he's not the quickest, youngest or largest opponent, Jorah does have the advantage of good protection, experience and a weapon (longsword) that if used correctly is one hit, one kill. He's last man standing, to the crowd's severe displeasure. Suddenly he grabs a spear and with surprising accuracy throws it right at Daenerys! Well of course he didn't throw it at Daenerys. He threw it at the Son of the Harpy who had somehow gained access to Daenerys' stage and was just about to kill her. Again, where's that security? Or perhaps the Sons of the Harpy were security. Suddenly there are Sons of the Harpy everywhere in the stadium. Some have swords and daggers, others have spears. And they aim to misbehave. It's the perfect kill zone. Their enemy is trapped and outnumbered. Hizdahr is killed. Daario, Jorah and the Unsullied make a shield wall around Daenerys. Or they would if they had the numbers. They don't. Still this is not a situation where surrender is an option. The butchery commences. Daenerys and Missandei think they'll be dead soon. Things don't look good for Team Targaryen. But wait. Look at the skies! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Drogon! You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit in the wind. You don't pull the mask off the Lone Ranger. And you don't mess with Drogon's mama. Drogon starts slicing, dicing and burning people. However he's apparently not at full growth and is still vulnerable to spears. Well what mother can stand to see her children harmed? Selyse ultimately couldn't. And neither can Daenerys. She yanks spears from Drogon's hide. She mounts Drogon and flies out of the pit. To where we do not know. What I liked
Dillane's acting as Stannis is something that needs to be recognized.
Arya's recognition of Trant and her refusal to forget herself.
Davos' gift to Shireen (and his request to take Shireen with him). He had to know something was up. This will really set up a conflict between Davos' morality and his sense of loyalty.
It appears that Daenerys is linked telepathically to Drogon (and her other dragons?)
The attack on Daenerys. Who knows if Hizdahr was in on it or not. But it was a perfect set up. Or it would have been if not for Drogon.
The sight of soldiers dragging Shireen raised some general questions. Any sovereign can give orders. But why do people obey? What would happen if soldiers refused to obey criminal orders. That question may not be answered unless we see Davos in the finale but very few people can wreak havoc without the active support of others. Just something to ponder.
What I didn't like
I don't know if this ultimately came from Martin or not but I didn't think Stannis' sacrifice of Shireen made sense for the Stannis character. The book mythical hero whom Stannis is emulating had a similar moment with his wife but I just don't think the Stannis who loved his daughter so much would have watched her burn. It feels like shock for shock's sake.
I thought Drogon should have been a bit larger but that's just a small nitpick.
Dorne continues to be a waste of resources and time.
There was a bit too much foreshadowing.
*This post is written for discussion ofthisepisode and previous episodes. If you have book based knowledge of future events or have seen future leaked episodespleasebe kind enough not to discuss that here. NO SPOILERS. NO BOOK DERIVED HINTS ABOUT FUTURE EVENTS.Most of my blog partners have not read the books and would take spoilers most unkindly. Heads, spikes, well you get the idea....
All of the facts leading up to this incident are still up for debate. What's not up for debate are the apparently unprofessional, thuggish and dangerous actions of one of the police officers who responded. Knowing how police generally behave and their differing perceptions of threat based on race I'm not really too surprised by anything in the video, though I am angered. I really don't have a whole lot to add about this other than incidents such as these are precisely the reason that police officers ought to be better trained. But if someone is racist and hateful the level of training is meaningless. This is in many ways the historical and apparently current black experience in America in a nutshell. Blackness is considered criminal by definition when it's outside of its "place". In our (not so) post-racial America, black children, white children and hispanic children are apparently having a good time at a pool party. Apparently some white adults are put off by the numbers of black invitees or question whether they are all invitees. A security guard (white?) starts to evict the black children who were apparently invited. One white woman, who evidently feels that black children should not be at that particular pool party, starts hurling racist insults. When she is called out on this by another black woman, she apparently initiates a physical assault. The police are called. Like most black people, young or old, would do, many of the black children decide that now would be a good time to depart the premises. After all the police are quite comfortable beating or shooting black people. Everyone knows that. What the video seems to show is that one police officer, upset at having fallen down chasing someone, decides to unload his bile on any black teen in the vicinity. He curses and insults them and then takes down a young teen girl, grinding her face in the ground and sitting on her. He also pulls his gun and points it at the children when they protest. These children were treated as if they had just slaughtered nine people. Oh wait, no they weren't. The bikers who actually killed people and exchanged gunshots with the police were treated better than unarmed children committing the felony crime of being black in an area where being black is illegal. The officer has been placed on administrative leave...
WASHINGTON -- When Miles Jai Thomas arrived at a party at the Craig Ranch North Community Pool in McKinney, Texas, on Friday night, the pool was open to everyone -- until a security guard showed up and removed black partygoers from the area. “Then he started making up rules to keep us out,” Thomas, 15, told The Huffington Post.
A white woman at the pool started making racist comments, Thomas said, such as telling black teens at the party to get used to the bars outside the pool because that’s all they were going to see. Grace Stone, 14, who is white, told BuzzFeed News that she and friends objected to an adult woman making racist comments to other teens at the party and that the woman turned violent. This is when, according to Thomas, a 19-year-old black woman told the belligerent white woman to stop fighting with the teenagers. The white woman called the black woman a “young b***h,” then walked up to her. After the young woman said her age out loud, the older woman punched her in the face. Another unidentified white woman jumped in as well before Thomas, who was recording the incident, and his friends went to break it up.
It was after this incident that the cops showed up and “started cursing and yelling at us,” Thomas said. He described an officer manhandling a young girl, as shown in this video embedded above. “So a cop grabbed her arm and flipped her to the ground after she and him were arguing about him cursing at us,” Thomas said. When two teens went toward the cop to help the girl, they were accused of sneaking up on the cop to attack. “So a cop yelled 'get those motherf*****s' and they chased [us] with guns out. That's why in the video I started running,” Thomas said. "I was scared because all I could think was, 'Don't shoot me,'" he said.
There are a few takeaways here, besides the obvious one that white police officers are often very quick to resort to force or the threat of force with black citizens of any age. If you haven't been living in a cave your whole life you already knew that. The really sad infuriating thing on display here is what the black children learned. They learned that just being in a "white" area when someone thinks you shouldn't be there can be hazardous to your health. They learned that the police really don't care about their constitutional right to assemble or use free speech. Being polite and respectable won't prevent you from being detained or arrested. And the children also learned that no adult will come to their aid. That last thing is a horrible lesson to learn. I don't see where the young woman committed any crime. And I certainly don't see where it was necessary for the cop to body slam her and sit on her. What would you do if that was your daughter, your sister, your wife, your mother, your girlfriend? Could you live with yourself if you did nothing? Or if you were the young woman being so treated could you ever look the same way again at the men in your life if they didn't do something? Of course the police would be very happy to shoot anyone they believed was even thinking about "interfering". It's comforting to imagine that your loved ones would never be in that situation but that is not only foolish, but downright delusional. It's also tempting to believe that this is only a Texas problem but it's not. It's nationwide. But maybe I'm all wrong. Maybe the police were all in fear of their lives from the black kids (and apparently only the black kids), who after all may have had rifles and hand grenades stuffed in their swimwear. Of course, once again I look at the Cliven Bundy situation where police, faced with numerous men who had their own guns and weren't afraid to shoot back, somehow managed to show some restraint. There's probably a lesson to be learned there.
This movie was supposedly based in part on a real life story. So then I can't get too upset if it dragged at times because that could very well be how it all went down. Still there are some directorial techniques which might have been put to better use in order to keep the film moving. Watching this film I also got the distinct impression that there was more than usual in terms of scenes or writing that was cut from this theatrical release. Some character motivations and frustrations are severely lacking. Perhaps another ten minutes or so would have been worthwhile adding? Or perhaps ten minutes trimmed from other scenes to let you know why some people were so upset could have been useful. I don't know. I just watch movies. I don't make them. Still this film features Danny Glover (it is difficult for me to watch the actor who famously groused in the Lethal Weapon series that he was getting too old for this s*** actually become someone who is old) so I was positively inclined to watching it. Glover carries the movie despite the fact that he must act and look every bit of his 68 years on this planet. Although Glover stands a commanding 6'4", his role in this film mostly requires him to downplay his height, physicality and baritone. Here he's an old and often bitter man who, armed with nothing more besides reason and words, must try to protect his family. Nevertheless Glover gives the film gravitas though the frantic energy is brought to the table by the other lead actor. As do most movies of this kind this film made me think twice about people from times past, whether they found themselves on a plantation in Mississippi or a death camp in Poland, who did what they had to do in order to survive. It's all very easy to look back and talk big about what you would have done or how you wouldn't have stood for this or that. Bottom line if someone has a gun to your head or to that of a loved one, you may decide that death before dishonor is not really a code to live by. Not everyone is ready to die right this minute, though we obviously remember and cherish those who are.
After a number of years in prison for armed robbery and assault one Tully (Joe Anderson) is finally released. Tully is, to put it mildly, a white supremacist. He's covered in racist tattoos. He will not speak three sentences without a reference to how much he hates black people. Tully is a man of some importance in the Aryan Brotherhood. He has big plans for his after prison life, serious plans. He expects to be treated with respect and awe by Brotherhood members on the outside. So he's more than a little peeved when he's picked up from prison not by an honor guard of his Aryan brothers but by Doreen (Dawn Oliveri) a hardbitten woman of easy virtue and definite drug habits with a thang for Aryan Brotherhood members. In fact Tully is so upset that he can't or won't even do the obvious with the initially deferential and horny Doreen. He claims a race warrior such as himself must remain pure for the cause and not sully himself with someone like Doreen. Insulted, Doreen wonders aloud if Mr. Big Bad Race Warrior liked prison so much that he now prefers the company of men. And their fragile relationship such as it is deteriorates from there. It's only Doreen's close links to higher ranking Aryan Brotherhood members that keeps Tully from ditching her or worse.
Well criminals commit crime, right? It's what they do. So no one should be surprised when Tully as much for racial reasons as economic ones, robs a convenience store (he's irritated by the presence of a clerk with apparent South Asian ancestry). And shortly afterwards when Doreen and Tully are stopped by a black police officer who may or may not be responding to the store robbery, Tully decides to add cop-killing to the night's misdeeds. Fleeing the ensuing manhunt the depraved duo force their way into the first home they find off the beaten path, which just happens to be owned by Mr. Walker (Glover) and his wife (Lela Rochon). Some of their children and grandchildren are also with them. Although the movie makes a desultory attempt at making you wonder if any of the adults in the home will try to physically resist the armed white racists, the film's meat is Walker's insight into what makes Tully tick. He will try to use that to protect his family. Walker claims to be an ex-con himself. Walker's family has its own fault lines which will become apparent as the hostage situation continues. I could accept that a man of Walker's age is probably not going to try to physically resist intruders but there were some scenes where I wondered if someone shouldn't have made a move. Again though unless and until you're ready to die it's hard to say what you'd do. The film thinks it knows why racists are the way they are but its answer was too pat for me. I did like the film's easy acceptance of the idea that racism isn't specific to men alone. Doreen is just as dangerous as Tully, more so in some ways because she, unlike Tully, can almost effectively fake empathy. Still, this film drags a bit in the middle. The tension dissipates somewhat. So it's not a must see movie. It's an okay film, just not a great one. Derek Luke has a small role as Walker's estranged/absent son. Anson Mountbrings it as the imprisoned Aryan Brotherhood leader. Supremacy uses flashback to tell a lot of its story, a technique which I thought it relied upon once too often. TRAILER
The Gambler
directed by Rupert Wyatt
This is an excellent example of why they call it acting. Mark Wahlberg shed a great deal of weight and muscle as well as most of his usual trademark character cockiness to play the role of Jim Bennett, a depressed and gaunt college literature professor and writer, who when he's not ranting at his students about the meaningless of everything and their general mediocrity, can be found throwing away thousands of dollars gambling at both legal and illegal casinos and card games. Although this film was not directed by Scorsese, it was produced by long time Scorsese associate Irwin Winkler. So it may not be an accident that this film has a lot of the lush look and meaningful soundtrack that you might otherwise identify with Scorsese. There is actually some evidence that beyond a surprisingly low amount of household income that happiness doesn't increase all that much with more money. Other studies dispute that figure or to be more precise claim that the measurement is not really capturing happiness over time. I can't call it. More income and wealth would definitely make me happier but on the other hand the things I require most in life are not things money can grant.That might be a subject of a future post but the reason I brought it up here is that Bennett is a walking example of how material goods can't bring happiness. They really can't. Can they? How much joy does money bring into your life? Is it the making of the money that you like or the things you can do with money?
Jim Bennett is the scion of an extremely wealthy old money banking family. Although his grandfather has just passed away Bennett's mother (Jessica Langein a taut performance) now controls the family fortune. The mother-son relationship is not super strong. And although Bennett is not exactly a best selling author or a household name, he is published and apparently tenured. So money is not what drives him. He doesn't need to waste his time or money (well a lot of it is Mama's money) playing blackjack, roulette or other games of chance. Because he's a compulsive gambler who takes dumb chances Bennett finds himself in deep debt to both casino owner Lee (Alvin Ing) and entrepreneurial loan shark Neville (Michael K. Williams). Each of these men have very well deserved reputations as exactly the sort of people to whom you do not want to owe money. Though Lee is quiet and Neville is affable, both of them have put people in the ground. They will have no problem doing the same to Bennett. Their problem however is that it's not really clear that Bennett cares about living or dying any more. How do you intimidate someone who doesn't give a flying Fibber McGee about anything or at least pretends that he doesn't. One thing that Bennett might care about though is his relationship with three of his students, a rich tennis player who is about to go pro, a bored basketball player who is on the verge of making the same decision and Amy (Brie Larson), an attractive young woman who just happens to work in the same illegal casino where Bennett plays. Bennett thinks that virtually alone among his students Amy has real writing skill, interest in literature and the ability to do more with her talent. He's angry that she won't engage intellectually in class more. Amy might be interested in engaging parts of Bennett besides his brain. When things get a little rougher than Bennett can handle he has to go to his mother and to another loan shark, Frank (John Goodman). I liked Goodman in this role. He's avuncular and downright engaging. But if you don't pay him back he will, like any other man in his position, hurt you very very badly. I actually bought the menace that Frank represented though it's mostly unspoken. Goodman had some very good dialogue in this film, which rose above the cliched thanks almost entirely to his convincing delivery and world weariness. Ultimately the problem with the film is that you're never quite able to penetrate Wahlberg's excellent acting job to understand why it is that he is so self-loathing. There are plenty of people who have it all and throw it away but in order for me to care about them it would be useful to get some insight into their character or their life story to see what went wrong and why they just don't care anymore. Bennett's classroom rants hint at the reasons behind his alienation but on the whole they seem to be more symptom than explanation. So this movie is a good film to see Wahlberg step away from his normal type characters but I didn't find the writing strong enough to put this movie over the top. This is a remake of a 1974 film of the same name which starred another famous cinematic tough guy, James Caan. Wahlberg and Caan are friends. They discussed the lead role. Perhaps, as with Caan, the idea of playing a character that was defined by moral /physical weakness and acuity appealed to Wahlberg, who usually gets tough guy roles. TRAILER
Just two episodes left. What have your impressions been of the season so far? Anyhow this episode opened up with Daenerys trying to decide what to do with Tyrion and Jorah. She wonders openly as to why she shouldn't just kill them both. Tyrion being Tyrion snarks that it's too early for him to decide if Daenerys would be a good ruler or not but he is impressed and intrigued that someone who was sold to a warlord as a wife and later lost her husband has managed to rise to a position of power and leadership. However as Tyrion sees it she needs an adviser like him because of his intelligence and political acumen. As a test Daenerys asks Tyrion what would he do with Jorah. After all she did order Jorah not to return on pain of death. Who will take her seriously if she doesn't follow through. Tyrion agrees that keeping your word is important. But it's also important to inspire devotion. You can't do that if you kill a man who is obviously devoted to you and also in love with you. Tyrion counsels exile. So once again Jorah is banished. Only this time he has greyscale. Life is just not working out for Mr. Mormont. But a man will do anything for love. Jorah sells himself back into slavery for the chance to fight in the pits and once again sneak back on Daenerys' radar. A faint heart never won a fair lady. But then again this lady has dragons. She's denied Jorah twice already. I hope Jorah knows what he's doing. Two's company but three's a crowd. Now that Jorah is out of the picture Daenerys and Tyrion relax and share guarded stories about their fathers, or in Daenerys' case stories she's heard about her father as she never knew him. Tyrion cautions her that it might not necessarily be a good idea for her to invade Westeros as Daenerys has no base of support. Why not just stay in Meereen? Daenerys says the common people of Westeros will support her. Politely declining to inform her that she might be a tad deluded on that front, Tyrion points out that none of the leading families of Westeros will rally to her banners. It's not in their interest. Politics in Westeros is just a spinning wheel that goes around and around and around. Daenerys gives her "I will break the wheel" speech. Daenerys doesn't lack for confidence, that's for sure.
In Braavos, Arya has received her first formal undercover mission from Jaqen H'ghar despite the worries of the other woman that Arya is not ready. Arya is to pose as a seller of fresh oysters so that she can watch and interact with a corrupt merchant/insurance agent. This man has accepted premiums for life insurance contracts for ship captains but has refused to pay the policy to the family of a deceased captain. Once she gets the man's trust, Arya is to poison him. In King's Landing Cersei, like Margaery ,is stripped of gowns and robes and shoes. She resides in a filthy cell where a large septa urges her to confess her crimes. Cersei is not about to do that and as a result gets smacked around and denied water. Qyburn visits Cersei. He confirms that she will be tried for murder, treason, adultery and incest. He warns Cersei that the Faith is not really bound by enlightenment era standards of proof. Qyburn tells Cersei that King Tommen is depressed and inactive. He refuses to see anyone. There's no news from Dorne. Pycelle has called Kevan Lannister back to be the Hand. But so far Kevan has refused to interfere. Qyburn obliquely suggests that confession might be the smart move here. He also lets her know that his secret project is continuing. Cersei still refuses to confess anything. She still sneers about the horrible acts of revenge she will order upon all those who have wronged her. But she is so thirsty that she will drink from the cracks in the floor. My how the mighty are fallen. Up North, Sansa, with as much contempt as she can muster in her current condition wants to know why Reek Theon ratted her out. Theon claims that he was helping her because there is no escape from Ramsay.Trying to escape will only bring more pain. Theon starts to go into detail about all the horrors he suffered from Ramsay but obviously Sansa is not very sympathetic to the man who murdered her kid brothers. She says she would have done the same or worse to Theon. This apparently gets through because Theon lets it slip that he did not kill Bran and Rickon, but the miller's boys instead. Sansa is shocked and wants more information but fearing he's said too much Reek flees. Team Evil Bolton is planning its response to Stannis' invasion. Roose says the smart play is to stay behind the Winterfell walls where they can break Stannis and watch his small army fall apart in the snow. Ramsay disagrees. He thinks that a true Northman rides out to meet his enemies. Roose scoffs at doing battle in the snow. Ramsay replies calmly that he doesn't need an army. Give him twenty good men and he'll settle this.
As Gilly tends to Sam's wounds, Olly enters to talk to Sam. Olly can't accept that Lord Commander Snow is trying to make peace with the wildlings. Again, remember that Ygritte and her group murdered Olly's parents and his entire village. Olly doesn't want to trust or ally with such people. Sam says that he trusts Jon. Sometimes a man must do difficult things for the greater good. Olly appears unmoved by Sam's rock solid faith in Jon. Speaking of Jon, he and Tormund along with a small group of wildlings and Night's Watch men have arrived at Hardhome. They don't exactly receive a warm welcome. Everyone is confused to see that neither Jon nor Tormund is a prisoner of the other. Let's not forget that just as the Night's Watch has lost people fighting the wildlings or Free Folk as they call themselves, so has the Free Folk. The wildling leader Rattleshirt is particularly unimpressed with Jon's plan to move the wildlings onto the ships and south of the Wall. He vehemently expresses his disdain to both Jon and Tormund in the most profane of ways. However he evidently crosses the line when he casts aspersions on Tormund's sexuality. Tormund grabs Rattleshirt's staff and beats him over the head with it until Rattleshirt lies on the ground, bleeding and unmoving. That's always a clear way to settle disputes.
The other wildling leaders are careful not to suggest anything untoward about Tormund,(they don't want to end up bleeding on the ground) but they will not easily let go of their hatred and distrust of the Night's Watch. This is amplified when Jon, in typical blunt Stark fashion, casually reveals that he killed Mance Rayder without also pointing out that it was an act of mercy. It's up to Tormund to do that. People still don't trust or like Jon or his people but if Tormund says Jon is okay they will trust Tormund. They are however still a little worried about what happens if they get on the ships but Jon doesn't make it. Will the Night's Watch still honor his commitment? Jon says all those concerns can be addressed later but right now they have to move. He shares the dragonglass (obsidian) and explains how it can be used. The Thenn leader and a few others still refuse to trust Jon or leave but most of the other wildlings start to make preparations to depart. But just as they do in what I thought was the episode's best scene, cliched though it was, the guard dogs start to give off frantic warnings. Winter really is coming. From the hills overlooking Hardhome, cold and mists and snow start to flow down to the camp. Everyone knows what that means. People redouble their efforts to leave but for many of them it will be too late.
There's an attack by the wights. The humans close the gate to the camp but there are so many wights that a wooden gate won't hold them for long. They tunnel below the wall or climb over it. Ultimately they force it down through sheer force of numbers. A desperate battle breaks out. But it's all very chaotic. There are no battle lines or anything like that. It's just the dead vs. the living. Things are starting to look grim. When Jon sees the White Walkers looking down on the melee he decides that now might be a good time to go get the dragonglass. He's assisted by the Thenn leader who doubted him before. But they are prevented from reaching their goal by a White Walker. As you might expect this creature is inhumanly fast. The Thenn's sword shatters on the White Walker's ice spear. The White Walker kills the Thenn. Now it's Jon's turn to dance. He can't match the White Walker's speed. However once he regains his sword Longclaw he's able to parry his opponent's blows. Longclaw does not shatter. There might be just a hint of surprise in the creature's cold blue eyes. You may get yours but brother don't let me get mine. Jon's strike hits home. The White Walker explodes into a million pieces of ice. Valyrian Steel. Never leave home without it. The White Walker Night King orders his entire wight army into the battle. There is no way for the humans to stay and fight any longer. It's the get to the choppa moment. As Jon and team are rowing away to the ships, the Night King saunters to the edge of the water and seems to rest his gaze on Jon. If he were human you might even think he was smirking. Never taking his eyes off Jon, the Night King casually spreads his arms and slowly raises them. All of the dead suddenly open their eyes (now solid blue) and rise from the ground, wildling and Night's Watch alike. There is no sound. It's a very creepy and effective end to the episode.
What I liked
The battle at Hardhome was not as epic as the Battle of The Blackwater but felt just as desperate. Well done.
The reveal that Valyrian Steel is unaffected by the White Walker's nature.
The meeting between Daenerys and Tyrion. Daenerys is still naive about Westeros but has matured enough to know she needs advisers.
Olly seeking out someone else he knew and trusted to share his misgivings about Jon's course of action.
What I didn't like
That I knew the wildling mother/leader was going to die as soon as she told her children she'd be on the next boat behind them.
*This post is written for discussion ofthisepisode and previous episodes. If you have book based knowledge of future events or have seen future leaked episodespleasebe kind enough not to discuss that here. NO SPOILERS. NO BOOK DERIVED HINTS ABOUT FUTURE EVENTS.Most of my blog partners have not read the books and would take spoilers most unkindly. Heads, spikes, well you get the idea....
Every now and then you run across a first time novelist that writes something so true to life that you are surprised that this is their first novel. Angela Flournoy is such a writer. The Turner House flows very easily and doesn't take a long time to read. It has a huge cast but some people are more closely or lovingly detailed than others. But even the people who just pop in and out without saying or doing much are still well crafted. There are people like that in life of course. An aunt's nephew whom you only see at weddings and funerals turns out to be a rising film producer. A peripatetic cousin who married someone overseas comes back with three kids and no place to stay. Say you're not doing anything with your finished basement are you? Or maybe a younger sibling moves halfway across the country. Although they're always polite they make it crystal clear that they would just as not be caught up in any family business and refuse to discuss their own. Don't call them and they certainly won't call you. The other interesting thing about family is that as much as our gender and sexuality and whatever specific combination of genes we got from Mom and Dad influence us, so does our birth order, early responsibilities and old jealousies and resentments. People can reach adulthood and remain, by choice or not, trapped in these roles. The older siblings may feel greater levels of responsibility for everyone, whether or not they're truly capable of bearing those burdens. The younger siblings may have come along at a time when the parents had mellowed out in terms of discipline and so have had an easier time of it. Or the younger siblings may be seething with resentment at having been constantly compared to their older brothers or sisters. The younger ones may reject being told what to do. They could become embittered at people automatically assuming that they need help or oversight. People enter these roles and often embrace them as part of their identity, even if they are harmful. The family rebel, often younger, may spend decades needlessly struggling against restrictions or expectations simply because that's what she does. The older brother might worry himself into life threatening problems with hypertension or cardiac disease because he's always trying to ensure that everyone else has their stuff together. Or maybe the older siblings are not actually more reliable people but rather instead are serious control freaks who really get off on exercising authority. It all depends on your perspective. Of course families also provide a sense of love and protection. A healthy family is the first place that we learn to love and get along with people, even when they may work our last nerve from time to time. That sense of affection and contentment is critical. Who else but an older sister might safely call her precociously developed younger sister "Jug-a-lug" and affectionately tease her about not being able to run high school track for fear of putting her eyes out? Years later when the nickname is shortened to "J", curious nieces and nephews might innocently ask why everyone calls their aunt "Aunt J" when her given name doesn't even have a "J" in it.
And there are times when an uncle or aunt, not limited by the parental role, can provide some good advice to a niece or nephew, advice a parent might never give. An aunt or uncle can be a good sounding board when you have some things you'd rather not share with your parents. On the other hand there are some aunts and uncles you're better off not knowing.
The Turner House brings all of this and more into the story. Ultimately it's a slice of life story about a large extended family which is based in Detroit. It jumps back and forth in time between the 1930s/1940s when Francis Turner moves to Detroit from Arkansas before bringing his wife Viola with him and 2008 when Francis has long since died. By this point Viola is sickly. She's had strokes. Her mental and physical capacity is declining noticeably. Being finally unable to care for herself she has moved in with her oldest son Charles (everyone calls him Cha-Cha) and Charles' wife Tina. Viola is not really happy about this situation. Born in 1944, Charles has entered senior citizen status. He's always been the most responsible one in the family, who helped look after his twelve younger brothers and sisters, sometimes whether they wanted his guidance or not. Now Cha-Cha and the rest of his siblings, many of whom are spread out across the country, must decide what to do with the family home. It's still in their mother's name though Cha-Cha has power of attorney. Thanks to bad advice from another daughter Viola refinanced the east side home and now owes $40,000 on a house that's worth $4,000 at most. Meanwhile the youngest child, the daughter Lelah, born in 1967, is struggling with a gambling addiction and has lost her job and home. Unwilling to ask her daughter, her ex, or her siblings, nieces or nephews for help and with no place else to go, Lelah moves into the abandoned family home. Lelah really doesn't want to impose on her daughter and thus lose her relationship with her grandson. Reading the description of the decline of some neighborhoods interspersed with the occasional optimism of those people still living there was very true to life. The book focuses primarily on Lelah and Cha-Cha and their different perspectives and problems. There's a hint of the supernatural as Cha-Cha is convinced he's seeing ghosts or "haints" as he would put it. He saw a haint or claimed to have done so as a young boy in the family home. But anyone he mentions it to now thinks Cha-Cha just needs to man up and/or get some rest. "Encouraged" by his employer to go see a psychiatrist he finds that that choice might open up a different can of problems. Another prominent sibling is Troy, an ambitious police officer and youngest son. Troy has big plans for the family home and is frustrated that no one, especially Cha-Cha, seems to take him seriously. From what I've seen in some families this is a common complaint of the youngest siblings but as oldest I have little sympathy for that sort of pointless whining. This story book is matter of fact about whether we like it or not, everything must change. One day you will find yourself needing help or looking back over the years and wondering where all the time went. This book is also a love letter to the city of Detroit and to family. It examines how for good and bad the past continues to influence how we perceive ourselves and how we relate to others. You will probably recognize some of your own family or friends in this story, no matter where you were raised or how you grew up. That said it is very rooted in the Black Detroit experience. It shows that experience as universal. I am very happy to have read this book.
