Category Archives: The Zeitgeist

DVDs To Watch Or Not To Watch

Britain, Celebrity, Feminism, Film, Gender, Hollywood, The Zeitgeist

I meant to post on the blog a quick round-up of recommended DVDs before Memorial Day, alas. Still, better late than never.

The Proposition is an Australian western, written by John Cave and directed by John Hillcoat. It’s so good, it will remind the viewer that Hollywood can no longer act. (Angelina Jolie emotes; she doesn’t act. She should take lessons from her estranged father, Jon Voight. Also, Jolie is always herself, and that’s never a good thing.)

The story unfolds in early Australia. The legendary John Hurt (of the Midnight Express fame) is marvelous, but I honestly can’t say he outshines the rest of the cast. If you do take my advice and watch this film (and by so doing, sharpen your appreciation of just how bad the trash on American TV and in the cinemas is), pay close attention to the achingly tender relationship between husband and wife, Captain (portrayed by Ray Winstone) and Martha Stanley (Emily Watson). The two depend on one another for dear life. The civilizing English afternoon tea and the rose bushes in the desert cocoon the couple from the brutality of their reality and surroundings. This is a remarkable film.

Ray Winstone is great in another thriller (you get a feel for the type of films me and my beloved like): The Departed with Leonardo DeCaprio, whom I loved in The Aviator. DeCaprio is still puny, but he’s not as bad as when he played opposite that coarse-faced woman in Titanic (a film I didn’t see, of course. Neither have I seen “Pretty Woman” or “Sleepless in Seattle.”) DeCaprio has also matured as an actor. It’s a good action-packed flick, but nothing like The Proposition.

I recently re-watched Papillon with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. It reminded me of the way Hollywood used to be.

Update I: “The Last King of Scotland” I refuse to see, especially after the noisy and noisome Blockbuster clerk recommended it thus: “It’s amazing; they’ve managed to avoid demonizing Idi Amin.” My reply: “If anyone deserves to be thoroughly demonized, it is Idi Amin Dada. That was one natural-born demon. No thanks; I’ll pass.” The man just stared at me. His internal monologue was so loud, I could almost hear it: “Man, what a right-wing fanatic. Like, Idi Amin also had a mom and a dad. And like, we all have an Idi Amin inside of us, man.”

Update II: A glimpse of Glen Beck reminded me I had clean forgotten to recommend “Idiocracy.” For once, Beck fulfilled a purpose. “Idiocracy” is the product of Mike Judge’s genius (Beavis & Butthead, anyone?). It’s easily one of the smartest and darkest comedies. Why? Because the future is here. The “dumb-ass dystopia” Idiocracy depicts is with us.

Although I like the précis by Nathan Rabin that follows (despite its lefty thrust), my enjoyment (in the perverse sense) came from the constant circular arguments made, and taken as explanations. I see it in every TV broadcast, in op-ed pieces, and, of course, people argue this way with me all the time (and think they’re really clever). Such as “Why is Brawndo [a Gatorade-like drink] good for you? Because it’s got electrolytes. Why are electrolytes good for you? Because Brawndo has them.” Something along these lines. There is even a slot mimicking the Fox News retards. Fabulous.

Sean couldn’t get enough of the most popular reality TV show in this futuristic world: “Ow! My Balls!” It’s repetitive and…painful, and elicits great guffaws. (And is alive and well in some permutation in almost every reality show.) Say no more. As Josh Tyler writes, “The highest grossing movie of all time is called “Ass,” and consists of 90 minutes of the same naked, hairy butt on screen …” America has gone to hell in a hand basket. Garbage avalanches are common, crops have failed, and people are staving, all because there’s no one left who’s smart enough to know how to fix any of it.” Costco is an Ivy-league law school. [And America looks like Mexico.]

“A long-shelved, not-screened-for-critics, high-concept science-fiction comedy that’s being released in a handful of cities with all the fanfare of a CIA black-ops mission, Idiocracy gives viewers many reasons to be suspicious. But before dismissing it sight unseen, it’s worth remembering that Mike Judge’s last film, 1999’s Office Space, was released to groaning indifference, only to become a cult classic, and that Idiocracy is an unrepentant satire, a genre George S. Kaufman famously defined as ‘what closes Saturday night.’ Idiocracy feels more like a Beavis And Butt-head follow-up than an Office Space follower, thanks to its depiction of a society devolving at a rapid clip, and the way it satirizes its instant-gratification-obsessed target audience using the limited vocabulary of the terminally stupid.

In Beavis And Butt-head, that devolution is just suggested; in Idiocracy, it’s made dizzyingly literal. A perfectly cast Luke Wilson stars as a quintessential everyman who hibernates for centuries and wakes up in a society so degraded by insipid popular culture, crass consumerism, and rampant anti-intellectualism that he qualifies as the smartest man in the world. Corporations cater even more unashamedly to the primal needs of the lowest common denominator—Starbucks now traffics in handjobs as well as lattes—and the English language has devolved into a hilarious patois of hillbilly, Ebonics, and slang.

Idiocracy’s dumb-ass dystopia suggests a world designed by Britney Spears and Kevin Federline, a world where the entire populace skirts the fine line separating mildly retarded from really fucking stupid, and where anyone displaying any sign of intelligence is derided as a fag. Working on a sprawling canvas, Judge fills the screen with visual jokes, throwaway gags, and incisive commentary on the ubiquity of advertising—for instance, with the presidential-cabinet member who works paid plugs for Carl’s Jr. into everyday conversations. Like so much superior science fiction, Idiocracy uses a fantastical future to comment on a present in which Paris Hilton is infinitely more famous than Nobel laureates. There’s a good chance that Judge’s smartly lowbrow Idiocracy will be mistaken for what it’s satirizing, but good satire always runs the risk—to borrow a phrase from a poster-boy for the reverse meritocracy—of being misunderestimated.”

Update # III (July 1, 2007)

I’ll keep this post going, but will tack on the most recent reports at the top. In anticipation of Independence Day, patriots ought to ponder how much freer early Americans were as compared to today’s Americans. Once you’ve done that small thing with huge repercussions, you’ll want to indulge in some escapism. If I were you, I would definitely avoid The Queen, with Helen Miren in the lead. From the information I’ve gathered—and the many approving reviews from slobbering left-liberal sources—the Queen is one of those contempt-filled efforts at dissing tradition, duty, and the stiffer upper lip. Embodied by the Queen, these are all ingredients in the British national character, which once made that nation great. The British have since ditched that aspect of their past, and adopted the dodo Diana as the nation’s darling. Diana exemplifies the new, “cool” Britannia, in which the Queen’s iron-lady qualities are obsolete (both the “iron” and the “lady” aspects thereof). Diana was a manipulative neurotic, given to histrionics; the Queen, her absolute opposite. With such a message I could do without. Besides, the Queen promises to be sleep-inducing. A Might Heart is another film (not yet out on DVD) to avoid. In the post “A Mighty Ego,” I explained why.

I did watch “Breach” with Chris Cooper, whom I like a lot. Perhaps because he’s manly. With the rise of the new effeminate man, the old, macho type—my type—is becoming rarer in film. Manliness is being bred out of the male population. Opposite Cooper is one of the new androgynous males: Ryan Phillippe. He can’t act. You’ll also have to endure staring at his puffy pink lips and soft doe eyes. Where is Jeff Bridges when you need him? Or Russell Crowe, who is every bit as sumptuous, but much more talented. (Read the interview he gave “60 Minutes.” As well as my “Affirmative Oscars,” although, in retrospect, I was a bit unfair to the dazzling Denzel.)
But Cooper makes up for Phillippe. The story is that of Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent who was convicted of selling secrets to the Soviet Union. His motives are not explored well. This is not a well-developed depiction, although “shallow,” like “unmanly,” is the norm in Hollywood these days. Still, if faced with the Queen or Breach, take the latter.

Are Hippie Parents Sending Kids Into The Maw of Death?

America, Crime, Criminal Injustice, Family, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Psychology & Pop-Psychology, The West, The Zeitgeist

Another young girl died overseas on a school trip. I saw the item on CNN, but cannot find the link (help please). The parents allege foul play.
American and European parents are blasé about their kids, be it in the way they discipline or supervise them. They are also stupendously naïve, sending their precious progeny, during their most stupid years—the teens—to dangerous spots around the world. Bermuda, for instance, which “US and British crime advisories have warned of as having a medium-high crime rate.”

Consider the case of Rebecca Middleton. This Canadian 16-year-old was packed off to Bermuda by starry-eyed parents with her friend Jasmine Meens, ready for a “trip of a lifetime.” A left-liberal mindset has these folks believing the world is one big happy place, and that walking the streets of Mogadishu and those of Montreal (lovely city) are one and the same thing.
In any event, Middleton “accepted rides on motorcycles, operated by Mr. Smith and Mr. Mundy.” (Here’s Justis Smith.) the Bermuda Online described what these predators did to the girl as “the most animal sexually-depraved, most violent and inhuman murder of any woman or man anywhere in the world.” (Wild and Wooly English, that’s for sure.) Intriguingly, the appeals in the case—no one was convicted—were argued in the Bermudan courts by Cherie Booth Blair.
The hippie spirit was also alive and well in Natalie Holloway’s family. (Never mind the male predators waiting to prey on trusting North American girls, I would not have entrusted my child to any adult chaperon chosen by a North America schools.)

After Imus

Conservatism, Free Speech, Political Correctness, Race, Racism, Republicans, The Zeitgeist

Libertarians will tell you that there is no such thing as free speech, only property rights. In other words, you have no right to deliver a disquisition in my living room, unless I allow it. Your speech rights depend on whose property you’re on. Similarly, Imus’ speech rights depended on the good graces of those holding title to the news network that employed him: CBS.

A libertarian would not dispute that CBS was perfectly entitled to terminate Imus, and thus curtail his speech on their behalf. But this case is not strictly about the libertarian law—most cases rarely are. One cannot neglect the backdrop to, and implications of, a termination that was, on its face, perfectly legal in libertarian law.

It began with a tasteless comment, which, I believe, was not intended to be racially offensive. Imus, rather, was probably trying to be hip, not hurtful. Imus lapsed into Wigga mode in an attempt to get down with the hoodniks.

Cora Daniels, author of Ghettonation: A Journey Into the Land of Bling and Home of the Shameless, examines, in a Newsweek interview, how “the hip-hop lifestyle and behaviors attributed to inner-city neighborhoods—celebrating gangsters and violence, revering fancy cars and bling, flaunting women’s bodies—has permeated American culture and created a widespread ‘ghetto’ mentality.'”

From soda-filled baby bottles to black men calling each other the ‘n’ word to MTV’s ‘Pimp My Ride,’ Daniels chronicles the pervasiveness of ‘ghetto’ thinking and shows how people from all walks of life engage in and celebrate ideas, language and behavior they should find repulsive.

Neither was this about what the conservative representative on The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, called market forces. Imus’ show, I believe, was doing well. But because of the racial lobby, the advertisers, and subsequently the proprietor, froze in fear of being labeled racists. Fear and cowardice drove CBS to forsake a product for which there was demand.

Speaking of Elisabeth Hasselbeck: she’s a real lightweight in the contemporary tradition of the conservative, female teletwit. Her “conservative” credentials include support for breast cancer prevention and research, the Amber Alert Initiative, the war, Our Leader. And being blond and bubbly, of course.

Indeed, conservative thinking is constantly evolving in the age of the idiot. Many prominent conservatives, Michelle Malkin and Bill O’Reilly come to mind, celebrated this frightful coup of mob over free speech. The fuss these conservatives are making, moreover, over hip-hop lyrics is a red herring. A result of complete confusion, the premise of which is that these lyrics ought to also be censored. In that, conservatives resemble Democrat Tipper Gore and her comical attempt in the 1980s to censor rock lyrics.

The media tell us the Imus Affair has inaugurated the beginning of a debate about race. For a change. Prepare, then, for members of the besieged majority to be constantly bashed by the racial lobby—professors, journalists, assorted shakedown artists, and Paula Zahn. This, despite the fact that there is nothing remotely racist about Americans. In fact, they’ve been thoroughly brainwashed to believe mankind is one big brotherhood.

Also, watch how debate will become more timid and dishonest as it is in Canada, where there are anti-hate speech tribunals. To seek a remedy against speech they don’t like, the Canadian clones of Sharpton and Jackson need only to turn to the courts. In these kangaroo courts, none of the traditional legal defenses applies. Truth, the absence of intent to harm, etc.—forget about trying to mount a legal defense. You are guilty until proven innocent.

It is my guess that the Imus watershed will lead to a similar speech-limiting code in the US, the Bill of Rights be damned.

Mob Gives Imus the Ol’ Heave-Ho

Media, Race, Racism, The Zeitgeist

The above is the title of my new WND column. With respect to this excerpt from “Mob Gives Imus the Ol’ Heave-Ho“:

The media monolith, pitchforks hoisted, has conducted a swift public trial, meant to make an example of Imus, and serve as a warning to all others who fail to march in lockstep, shouting ‘Jawohl!’ In solidarity with the offended women, members of the chattering class have been tripping over one another, to show-off their suppurating stigmata.

A regular on MSNBC, Mortimer Zuckerman of U.S. News & World Report, said today that what Imus did —refer to the predominantly black Rutgers women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos”,” is the same as what Michael Nifong did. Both cannot expect an apology to absolve them.

You’ve lost it morally when you compare rude, nasty words to the use of state power in order to intentionally frame innocents with a crime they did not commit; to concealing facts, and to, all together, denying the falsely accused due process, and in the process forcing them to bankrupt their families so as to mount a defense against the illicit assault.

Yes, a prosecutor who’s supposed to uphold the rights of all parties, using the full force of the state to threaten the liberty and property of individual citizens —that’s exactly like, to quote the “Mob Gives Imus the Ol’ Heave-Ho, “An old git uttering an ugly utterance.”

Talk about comparing like with like. Indeed, “the latest media-fanned contagion“; the “lynch mob led by the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton“–it’s all very ominous. It doesn’t bode well for the future and fate of individualism and freedom in this country.

Discuss!