In the meanwhile, enjoy!
Monday, November 21, 2016
The Tropes Win! The Tropes Win!
Don't know if this needs much of a preface, minus the "I know, I'm weird" disclaimer. Which really should be the banner headline of the site or something. I'll get on that.
Monday, November 14, 2016
Delayed Response: "When they go low, we go high."
I hated this slogan. Not because of what it stands for. Obviously, it's the correct moral and ethical choice. In a perfect world it's how everyone would act, especially an individual hoping to be the next President of the United States. Unfortunately, the world we live in is very far from perfect. And now this phrase just reminds me of mistakes, regrets, and one of several missed opportunities.
I think Hillary should have gotten filthy. Andy Dufresne dirty. Like she crawled through "500 yards of shit smelling foulness" just to come out clean on the other side. Every time Trump attacked her "30 years of political inaction," she should have asked where he was. What societal good he accomplished borrowing daddy's money and failing at business after business. For every comment about an email, or Benghazi, or her husband's impropriety; there should have been an equal and opposing reaction. Sexual assault, fraud, racketeering, ineptitude, racism, bigotry. Load up the chamber and fire off a round.
It wouldn't have been pretty. It could have backfired spectacularly; especially as Trump seems to avoid the tarnish and consequence of scandal as if they were "flat-chested women." But "going high" - however right an action - wasn't enough. For the voters that Trump had already wrangled - the "mid-western common folk" that Hilary really needed to sway - it came off as elitist. It came off as preachy. It showed a reluctance to get in the muck and fight for your beliefs with passion and fire. However "wrong" this mentality would have been, it was what these people wanted to see. Hillary in the trenches. Because - whether we liked it or not - this was trench warfare. And you win trench warfare with bullets and grenades. Not etiquette handbooks and Purell.
But, here we are. Two months away from living in the United States of Trump. The land of the HUGE, the home of the WRONG.
Like many other Americans - or at least those who live in similar bubbles - I still can't really peg down a single emotion to describe where I am at. Everything vacillates. Feelings come and go like waves against the shore. Or, in perhaps a more apt analogy; emotions swirl and blend like Trump's hair in a strong breeze. My thoughts meander like a hair follicle unbound by physics or natural law.
Sometimes I'm mad. I'm mad at people: of the collective and individual variety. I want to cast Florida adrift into the Atlantic, I want to light Debbie Wasserman Schultz's hair ablaze with several tiki torches. Sometimes I'm sad. I'm sad for people of color, of the Muslim faith, of the LGBT community. I want to tell them we have their back. I want to piss a heart onto a confederate flag. I'm unnecessarily frustrated at the color red. It knows what it did. I'm fearful of what comes next. Of where the game of action and reaction will escalate to. I'm angry, anxious, overwhelmed, embarrassed, and 43% whiskey.
I'm "flabber-aghasted."
And I don't really think that I'm in a position to tell other people how they should feel or act. But I'd like to, because it's my blog, and I DO WHAT I WANT.
To the "good" people who support Trump, I'd ask you to be patient with us. We were kind of caught off guard by this. Many of us were ten to twelve lines into our "I'm With Her" victory Facebook posts; and electing a racist, misogynistic, xenophobe was a pretty big swerve. We really are good people, but were using some pretty broad brushstrokes to paint pictures of you. It's lazy and ignorant. Not all of you are racists, or homophobes, or - politically speaking - "He-Man Woman Haters." Some of you are decent people who felt disenfranchised and forgotten, and believed that a political outsider was a way out from that. That's fair. Maybe not smart, but fair. We don't mean to lump you in with the crowd, but we're still in panic mode here.
To the "bad" people who support Trump: "Fuckin' A" guys. You couldn't wait like a day? Just because we elected one asshole doesn't mean the rest of you get Carte Blanche to run amok. If I were you - and I thank ALL of the Gods that I'm not - I would drastically slow your roll. You are on the wrong side of history. America won't let hate, and prejudice, and the toxicity of your beliefs engulf this country. Even if our leader might look the other way, we will not.
To the people who supported Jill Stein or Gary Johnson: Shhhh. Just, shhhh.
To the Democrats, the Liberals, the "Bernie Bros," and the "With-Hers:" let's not lose our heads. I agree it is not the time to rest on our laurels, but I think we need to be smarter and more thoughtful in our action. I don't think - and that's an emphatic "I" - that we should be investing so heavily in trying to "right the wrong." The election happened and like it or not, we need to let Trump be our next President. He will fail, he will make mistakes, he will ruin this for himself. People - and most importantly, people who supported him - will get to see the monster for what he is. The rich will get richer, the poor poorer. There will still be lobbyists, and extremists. Some of the people who got conned will learn their lesson, and maybe the voting populace in general will get smarter. We don't get that growth if we spend the next two months trying to vacate Trump before he gets into the oval office. And in the meantime, the divide between liberals and conservatives (or our parties, or however you want to define it) will get worse. Which is not something this country can afford.
We can still be vigilant and passionate. If you're worried about climate change, a VP who believes in conversion therapy, or Ben Carson being anywhere near a textbook: do something. Show support for clean jobs and sustainable energy. Try to educate someone you personally know about the struggles of the LGBT community. Send Ben Carson a word search without any words, or a maze without an exit. That could buy us months. Be involved in the politics that are important to you, and be an integral part in making sure they don't take steps back in the next four years. Don't give up on things. Don't give up on people, no matter who they voted for this election. Don't get angry, get active. Stay positive, stay accepting, stay strong. It may not be easy, but it's the path we need to take. Because, "when they go low, we go high."
Because we sure as shit can't go any lower.
I think Hillary should have gotten filthy. Andy Dufresne dirty. Like she crawled through "500 yards of shit smelling foulness" just to come out clean on the other side. Every time Trump attacked her "30 years of political inaction," she should have asked where he was. What societal good he accomplished borrowing daddy's money and failing at business after business. For every comment about an email, or Benghazi, or her husband's impropriety; there should have been an equal and opposing reaction. Sexual assault, fraud, racketeering, ineptitude, racism, bigotry. Load up the chamber and fire off a round.
It wouldn't have been pretty. It could have backfired spectacularly; especially as Trump seems to avoid the tarnish and consequence of scandal as if they were "flat-chested women." But "going high" - however right an action - wasn't enough. For the voters that Trump had already wrangled - the "mid-western common folk" that Hilary really needed to sway - it came off as elitist. It came off as preachy. It showed a reluctance to get in the muck and fight for your beliefs with passion and fire. However "wrong" this mentality would have been, it was what these people wanted to see. Hillary in the trenches. Because - whether we liked it or not - this was trench warfare. And you win trench warfare with bullets and grenades. Not etiquette handbooks and Purell.
But, here we are. Two months away from living in the United States of Trump. The land of the HUGE, the home of the WRONG.
Like many other Americans - or at least those who live in similar bubbles - I still can't really peg down a single emotion to describe where I am at. Everything vacillates. Feelings come and go like waves against the shore. Or, in perhaps a more apt analogy; emotions swirl and blend like Trump's hair in a strong breeze. My thoughts meander like a hair follicle unbound by physics or natural law.
Sometimes I'm mad. I'm mad at people: of the collective and individual variety. I want to cast Florida adrift into the Atlantic, I want to light Debbie Wasserman Schultz's hair ablaze with several tiki torches. Sometimes I'm sad. I'm sad for people of color, of the Muslim faith, of the LGBT community. I want to tell them we have their back. I want to piss a heart onto a confederate flag. I'm unnecessarily frustrated at the color red. It knows what it did. I'm fearful of what comes next. Of where the game of action and reaction will escalate to. I'm angry, anxious, overwhelmed, embarrassed, and 43% whiskey.
I'm "flabber-aghasted."
And I don't really think that I'm in a position to tell other people how they should feel or act. But I'd like to, because it's my blog, and I DO WHAT I WANT.
To the "good" people who support Trump, I'd ask you to be patient with us. We were kind of caught off guard by this. Many of us were ten to twelve lines into our "I'm With Her" victory Facebook posts; and electing a racist, misogynistic, xenophobe was a pretty big swerve. We really are good people, but were using some pretty broad brushstrokes to paint pictures of you. It's lazy and ignorant. Not all of you are racists, or homophobes, or - politically speaking - "He-Man Woman Haters." Some of you are decent people who felt disenfranchised and forgotten, and believed that a political outsider was a way out from that. That's fair. Maybe not smart, but fair. We don't mean to lump you in with the crowd, but we're still in panic mode here.
To the "bad" people who support Trump: "Fuckin' A" guys. You couldn't wait like a day? Just because we elected one asshole doesn't mean the rest of you get Carte Blanche to run amok. If I were you - and I thank ALL of the Gods that I'm not - I would drastically slow your roll. You are on the wrong side of history. America won't let hate, and prejudice, and the toxicity of your beliefs engulf this country. Even if our leader might look the other way, we will not.
To the people who supported Jill Stein or Gary Johnson: Shhhh. Just, shhhh.
To the Democrats, the Liberals, the "Bernie Bros," and the "With-Hers:" let's not lose our heads. I agree it is not the time to rest on our laurels, but I think we need to be smarter and more thoughtful in our action. I don't think - and that's an emphatic "I" - that we should be investing so heavily in trying to "right the wrong." The election happened and like it or not, we need to let Trump be our next President. He will fail, he will make mistakes, he will ruin this for himself. People - and most importantly, people who supported him - will get to see the monster for what he is. The rich will get richer, the poor poorer. There will still be lobbyists, and extremists. Some of the people who got conned will learn their lesson, and maybe the voting populace in general will get smarter. We don't get that growth if we spend the next two months trying to vacate Trump before he gets into the oval office. And in the meantime, the divide between liberals and conservatives (or our parties, or however you want to define it) will get worse. Which is not something this country can afford.
We can still be vigilant and passionate. If you're worried about climate change, a VP who believes in conversion therapy, or Ben Carson being anywhere near a textbook: do something. Show support for clean jobs and sustainable energy. Try to educate someone you personally know about the struggles of the LGBT community. Send Ben Carson a word search without any words, or a maze without an exit. That could buy us months. Be involved in the politics that are important to you, and be an integral part in making sure they don't take steps back in the next four years. Don't give up on things. Don't give up on people, no matter who they voted for this election. Don't get angry, get active. Stay positive, stay accepting, stay strong. It may not be easy, but it's the path we need to take. Because, "when they go low, we go high."
Because we sure as shit can't go any lower.
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Rapid Response - Are You There God? It's me, 'Murica
My most pressing thoughts within 24 hours of the election. Presented without attention to order, spelling, or the normal constraints of profanity on a blog.
1) So you know how the Republican members of the Senate - without any legal authority or political precedent - have held up President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court for almost seven months? Is there a way to duplicate this strategy and apply it to Trump? For say - and this is just a random number, right off the top of my head - four years?
2) I'm full willing and ready to accept the results of this election, no matter how vile and disturbing they are. But - and I say this on the manic end of my ever fluctuating mood spectrum - what if we could get the Russians to "admit" to tampering with our elections; give us one more chance to get the vote right. I mean, there's a 7% chance they already did it, a 40% chance Putin would admit to it just because it would make him an uber badass, and a 53% chance we could push the deal through by relinquishing the rights to some famous American athletes or actors. I mean, who really needs James Franco anyway? We've got Dave. Dave's fine.
3) I realize that the GOP would never allow us to make Election Day a holiday - as suppressing voter turnout is actually a large part of their strategy - but can we all come together and make the day after Election Day a national holiday? It doesn't impact the election at all, but it rewards people for staying up till 3 AM to watch the results and connect with their civic duty. And, as a bonus, also rewards people who drank a lot of whiskey while watching said civic duty unfold.
4) I was hoping that it was avoidable, but a Facebook purge is coming. There aren't many people who support Trump on my feed, but I can't continue to stare at and rage-boil over these people's posts. I'm losing a considerable amount of time and blood vessels.
5) On a related note: New York City is the best bubble to live in throughout this endeavor.
6) Does anyone remember the Family Guy episode, "I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar?" Long story short: Peter makes a bunch of sexist remarks at work, and when threatened with legal response from one of his co-workers, has to attend sensitivity training (which he fails), and a "women's retreat" in the woods. After being told he can only appreciate/understand women after experiencing the pain of childbirth, he promptly falls down a tree and has his lower lip pulled to the back of his neck. Now knowing their pain, he spends the rest of the episode as an extremely effeminate feminist.
I think this was a lot of men's "lip extending moment." As a man, I knew that women often we're treated as second class citizens. I knew they faced discrimination in the workplace, in the higher levels of our academic and scientific communities, and really just in the world in general. I know there were many different "reasons" people didn't vote for Hilary, but I really didn't believe that so many people would vote against the better candidate on the sole grounds that she was a woman. On the bright side, at least I'm personally closer to truly understanding the bias women have to fight through.
7) While we're on the topic of women, how the FLYING HELL did so many women vote for Trump? Yes, Hillary did have a higher percentage of women voters than Trump: 54% to 42%. But how did 42% of women vote for Trump? I seriously don't understand it. Love her or hate her, she's inarguably trying to better your standing in the country, while being explicitly attuned to your needs and struggles. How can you not support that? Especially when the other option is a man who has devalued women on too many levels to keep track of, and literally thinks he can grab you all by the pussy? My brain can't wrap itself around the disconnect. Are 42% of women in the country in some sort of kidnapping situation where they were allowed to vote, but only at the whim of their male captors? Because that is legitimately the most plausible scenario I can think of. Hundred of thousands of women in dog cages being dragged to polling places across the country.
8) I'm having very mixed opinions about "third party candidates." I believe they are a valuable part of our political system, and a necessary escape hatch for people who feel strongly compelled not to vote for one of the two major parties' candidate. But, in specific sentiment to this election, FUCK THEM. This was not the time for a protest vote. This was not the time to get cute. The votes wasted on Johnson and Stein could have swayed the election in Hillary's favor in several key states. Sensible people across the country should have united their votes against Trump. The biggest evil, requiring the most directed of attacks. But people squandered votes on hopeless candidates with no chance of victory. Well, at least it'll give Gary a chance to figure out what the hell "Aleppo" is before 2020.
9) Van Jones is my spirit animal.
10) Do all of Trump's pending legal issues just suddenly disappear? As far as I know - which is all that I could gather from the Wikipedia page "Legal Affairs of Donald Trump" (A THING THAT EXISTS) - our next president has several outstanding court cases. He's facing civil and federal action for his involvement with Trump U; and is in the midst of proceedings for breach of contract, assault, discrimination, charity misuse, and fraud. And that's not even mentioning the stuff he wants to sue other people for. Which as President, can he do? Can he just continue to sue people at will? And does he receive - whether implicitly or explicitly - political leniency on everything else? Or do they just build a HUGE penthouse onto the nearest DC courthouse?
1) So you know how the Republican members of the Senate - without any legal authority or political precedent - have held up President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court for almost seven months? Is there a way to duplicate this strategy and apply it to Trump? For say - and this is just a random number, right off the top of my head - four years?
2) I'm full willing and ready to accept the results of this election, no matter how vile and disturbing they are. But - and I say this on the manic end of my ever fluctuating mood spectrum - what if we could get the Russians to "admit" to tampering with our elections; give us one more chance to get the vote right. I mean, there's a 7% chance they already did it, a 40% chance Putin would admit to it just because it would make him an uber badass, and a 53% chance we could push the deal through by relinquishing the rights to some famous American athletes or actors. I mean, who really needs James Franco anyway? We've got Dave. Dave's fine.
3) I realize that the GOP would never allow us to make Election Day a holiday - as suppressing voter turnout is actually a large part of their strategy - but can we all come together and make the day after Election Day a national holiday? It doesn't impact the election at all, but it rewards people for staying up till 3 AM to watch the results and connect with their civic duty. And, as a bonus, also rewards people who drank a lot of whiskey while watching said civic duty unfold.
4) I was hoping that it was avoidable, but a Facebook purge is coming. There aren't many people who support Trump on my feed, but I can't continue to stare at and rage-boil over these people's posts. I'm losing a considerable amount of time and blood vessels.
5) On a related note: New York City is the best bubble to live in throughout this endeavor.
6) Does anyone remember the Family Guy episode, "I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar?" Long story short: Peter makes a bunch of sexist remarks at work, and when threatened with legal response from one of his co-workers, has to attend sensitivity training (which he fails), and a "women's retreat" in the woods. After being told he can only appreciate/understand women after experiencing the pain of childbirth, he promptly falls down a tree and has his lower lip pulled to the back of his neck. Now knowing their pain, he spends the rest of the episode as an extremely effeminate feminist.
I think this was a lot of men's "lip extending moment." As a man, I knew that women often we're treated as second class citizens. I knew they faced discrimination in the workplace, in the higher levels of our academic and scientific communities, and really just in the world in general. I know there were many different "reasons" people didn't vote for Hilary, but I really didn't believe that so many people would vote against the better candidate on the sole grounds that she was a woman. On the bright side, at least I'm personally closer to truly understanding the bias women have to fight through.
7) While we're on the topic of women, how the FLYING HELL did so many women vote for Trump? Yes, Hillary did have a higher percentage of women voters than Trump: 54% to 42%. But how did 42% of women vote for Trump? I seriously don't understand it. Love her or hate her, she's inarguably trying to better your standing in the country, while being explicitly attuned to your needs and struggles. How can you not support that? Especially when the other option is a man who has devalued women on too many levels to keep track of, and literally thinks he can grab you all by the pussy? My brain can't wrap itself around the disconnect. Are 42% of women in the country in some sort of kidnapping situation where they were allowed to vote, but only at the whim of their male captors? Because that is legitimately the most plausible scenario I can think of. Hundred of thousands of women in dog cages being dragged to polling places across the country.
8) I'm having very mixed opinions about "third party candidates." I believe they are a valuable part of our political system, and a necessary escape hatch for people who feel strongly compelled not to vote for one of the two major parties' candidate. But, in specific sentiment to this election, FUCK THEM. This was not the time for a protest vote. This was not the time to get cute. The votes wasted on Johnson and Stein could have swayed the election in Hillary's favor in several key states. Sensible people across the country should have united their votes against Trump. The biggest evil, requiring the most directed of attacks. But people squandered votes on hopeless candidates with no chance of victory. Well, at least it'll give Gary a chance to figure out what the hell "Aleppo" is before 2020.
9) Van Jones is my spirit animal.
10) Do all of Trump's pending legal issues just suddenly disappear? As far as I know - which is all that I could gather from the Wikipedia page "Legal Affairs of Donald Trump" (A THING THAT EXISTS) - our next president has several outstanding court cases. He's facing civil and federal action for his involvement with Trump U; and is in the midst of proceedings for breach of contract, assault, discrimination, charity misuse, and fraud. And that's not even mentioning the stuff he wants to sue other people for. Which as President, can he do? Can he just continue to sue people at will? And does he receive - whether implicitly or explicitly - political leniency on everything else? Or do they just build a HUGE penthouse onto the nearest DC courthouse?
Friday, November 4, 2016
Westworld? More Like BESTworld!
Yep. Still need to work on my title game. Note taken.
But I stand by the sentiment. Just five episodes
into its inaugural season, and Westworld has already skyrocketed up my list of
favorite TV shows. I mean, only time will tell how high it goes up the list. If season one ends with a kid shaking a tiny western-themed snow globe, my affection will fade.
But if the show continues to be as enthralling as it has been
so far, it may be surpassing some much beloved programs in the not too distant
future. What makes the show so great? It’s easy.
S-C-I-E-N-C-E.
S-C-I-E-N-C-E.
S - Setting
There's something amazing about the grit, grime, and gruffness of the American West. Before you even think about plot, you just know you're going to get booze, debauchery, cussing, shoot-outs, and horse-chases. Westworld gives you all of that (and then some #Pariahtown), coupled with the beauty of the untouched frontier. There's stunning vistas, beautiful plateaus, and truly gorgeous gorges. And the fact that you even notice them as people are mangled, tortured, and murdered: that's saying something.
C - Chaos
Speaking of torture and murder - this show is off the rails. In just five episodes we've seen scalping, self-inflicted stab wounds, a man bash his own head in, a sip of milk drain out through multiple bullet holes, and another man's head explode via cigar. And that's just the really noteworthy stuff. Exit wounds are like mosquito bites in this world. But - and this is going to be hard to say after the previous lines - nothing seems over the top. The violence of this world - as per mechanism of the plot - all seems purposeful and sensible. Everything that happens here gives us a glimpse into the park, it's inhabitants, and the guests who come to visit. Or looks cool enough for me to not care. One or the other.
I - Intrigue
I think this is honestly why I love this show so much. We're halfway into the first season, and I have no idea what is happening. And - well, for the most part - not in a bad way. Nothing in the show is really "confusing." It's more so just wonderfully mysterious. What's happening to Dolores? What's happening to Maeve? What is the Maze? Who's siphoning info out of the park? What's up with Dr. Ford? Or Stubbs? Or anyone, ever, in the entire show? There's 300 plot points, all interacting and evolving over two very distinct worlds, and the possible outcomes and interactions seem limitless. That's the best kind of TV. Where you can watch, and dissect, and immerse yourself in a world; only to be completely wrong and wildly off-base. Like season one of King Of Queens. Who knew Leah Remini's character wasn't held against her will and forced to love Kevin James' character. Shocking twist!
E - Expendability
I think the problem with most TV is that right from the get go the viewer - whether implicitly or internally - defines a premise's end game. Jim needs to date Pam, Jack Bauer needs to thwart the terrorist, the "Golden Girls" need to not die. Good shows make the journey to that point fun, exciting, or intriguing. Great shows never really let you get a lock on what the end game is. Think Game of Thrones for a second. There's lots of reason to love that show, but the biggest is that no character is ever safe. Important people die all the time, and as an audience, you're left trying to figure out what comes next. This aura of expendability - where character's fates aren't knowable in advance - is exciting. And Westworld takes that concept and ratchets it up to eleven. The inhabitants of Westworld - I'm hesitant to call them robots - can, and do, die all the time. But they can come back. And they can come back as new people. Or "different" people. You never know who is still in the game, or out. And you never know - for sure at least - who is and isn't a "robot." It makes it very tough to lose interest.
N - Nudity
I know what you're thinking. And you're right. Boobs, boobs, boobs. Sometimes too many to handle (again #Pariahtown). But - lest that not interest you - there's also a surprising amount of other genitals as well. We've seen an extended shot of an inconsequential character spilling a drink while hanging dong. If that's not in your formula for great TV, I don't know what is.
C - Casting
This cast is beyond amazing. I could waste your time and talk about Marsden, or Jimmi Simpson, or Thandi Newton. They'd all be deserving of adulation. But lets just be honest here: Ed Harris is putting on a freaking clinic as the Man in Black. I mean the guy has been in like 60 movies - and been great in all of them - but this may be his defining role. Rugged, ruthless, methodical, driven, and dapper AF. We're approaching "Omar-esque" levels of character love, and we haven't even begun to explore his back story. Which I guarantee will be amazing. Harris is so good in this role, he makes you forget about Anthony Hopkins perfected performance as a nuanced inventor struggling to regain control over his creations. Who makes Anthony Hopkins a freaking footnote?!
E - Evan Rachel Wood
Still - as good as Ed Harris has been - I feel special praise must be heaped upon Evan Rachel Wood. As Dolores, the show's centerpiece, she's been truly fascinating to watch. Mainly because as at any one given time Dolores is going through about 45 layers of character evolution and growth. In five episodes she's gone from "peaceful unaware robot who wouldn't hurt a fly" to "bad-ass gunslinger desperately longing for answers at all costs." She has visions, and dreams, and hears voices, and has a secret mission from said voice, and is experiencing the world for the first time. And Wood nails all of that. You believe every second of it, even when a single scene has her unfold up to three unique layers of personality. And if it's tough to follow any of that - which it is - imagine acting it. Preach on sista, you're doing the Lord's work.
Still - as good as Ed Harris has been - I feel special praise must be heaped upon Evan Rachel Wood. As Dolores, the show's centerpiece, she's been truly fascinating to watch. Mainly because as at any one given time Dolores is going through about 45 layers of character evolution and growth. In five episodes she's gone from "peaceful unaware robot who wouldn't hurt a fly" to "bad-ass gunslinger desperately longing for answers at all costs." She has visions, and dreams, and hears voices, and has a secret mission from said voice, and is experiencing the world for the first time. And Wood nails all of that. You believe every second of it, even when a single scene has her unfold up to three unique layers of personality. And if it's tough to follow any of that - which it is - imagine acting it. Preach on sista, you're doing the Lord's work.
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