Monday, May 16, 2005
Monday, April 25, 2005
Jiang Hu Hustle 
I have been a fan of Kung Fu films since I was a child in the late 70s and early 80s. For Baby Boomers and early Gen-Xers this time period brings to mind Disco and bad baseball uniforms, but for me (a middle Gen-Xer) and others like me it means Kung Fu Action Theater on USA network and GI Joe. I remember basking in the glow of cathode ray tube illumination and watching fantastic and bizarre tales filled with martial artists who live tragic, yet wonderfully exciting, lives.
The one drawback to films like Five Deadly Venoms, Five Fingers of Death, Fists of the White Lotus, and The Master Killer was that the production quality of the films never lived up to how they inspired my imagination. I loved these movies as a child, but as I grew older I wanted more. I wanted Kung Fu movies that were not merely inspirational, but also visceral. In the late 80s and early 90s, almost as if in answer to a prayer, came the films of Jet Li and Jackie Chan. The martial arts in Li and Chan films was fast, furious, and exciting. Gone were the New Zealand accents and in were subtitles. There still was little, if any, production sound and some of their films were cheaply made or just plain bad (like Jet Li’s Last Hero in China, but many were magnificent. Jackie Chan’s high production value films like Drunken Master 2 set a new standard for these films, and Jet Li introduced me to a wonderful new genre that combined fantasy and martial arts. After watching Swordsman II it is hard to go back to regular martial arts films. Jet Li had taken me from the world of Kung Fu into the magical realm represented in the genre known as wuxia (woo-shah) meaning “martial chivalry.” These Chinese Fantasy films combined the complex narratives of good fantasy stories (think Lord of the Rings complexity) with amazing martial arts. In wuxia the first lesson or real Kung Fu is flying. Flying is what separates the common warrior from the virtous hero or vicious villain. For the true masters of the martial arts gravity is but an illusion, “sword energy” can extend hundreds of yards beyond the arc of a weapon with lethal precision, and no one can hide from their destiny.
Recent years have seen the release of some amazing wuxia films. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers have all transfixed American audiences with the power and beauty of their narratives. The lives of the people who often want nothing more than to leave the world of jiang hu (literally rivers and lakes), or the “world of martial arts,” only to have their lives end tragically because they fail to understand that you can never leave jiang hu. As Zhang Yimou stated in an LA Weekly interview with David Chute, “There is nothing I can do, I live in jiang hu.” The implication being that life in jiang hu is hopeless and eventually the life will catch up with you.
So what does all this discussion of jiang hu and wuxia have to do with Stephen Chow’s recent release Kung Fu Hustle? Isn’t Kung Fu Hustle a martial arts comedy like Jackie Chan’s films? Doesn’t the hero win and save the day? Good questions and the answers are: everything, yes/no, and yes. Kung Fu Hustle is indeed a martial arts comedy, but it incorporates many of the conventions of the wuxia genre and in particular urbanizes jiang hu. The film is a combination of Half a Loaf of Kung Fu, Johnny Dangerously, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. At the beginning of the film the villainous Axe Gang is taking over the entire Shanghai underworld. The only place safe from their nefarious activities is a dilapidated and collapsing apartment house called “The Pig Sty.” But the Pig Sty is only safe until our wandering and reluctant hero Sing (Stephen Chow), who has long abandoned attempts at heroics, arrives pretending to be a member of the Axe Gang in order to take advantage of the local merchants. Needless to say, heroes avoiding their destiny make for poor imitation villains and Sings attempts at easy money lead to an escalated conflict between the forces of Good and Evil.
It soon becomes clear that Pig Sty is the home to a number of martial arts masters who have sought to leave jiang hu behind them. Pig Sty is home to no fewer than five martial arts masters who wanted nothing more than to live simple lives. When Sing’s impersonation draws the attention of the real Axe Gang, three of the masters must reveal themselves to save the local populace. These men choose duty over self-preservation and quickly dispatch the Axe Gang who flee the prowess of these great heroes. But this is just the beginning of the conflict. No member of the Axe Gang lives in the world of jiang hu and thus their leader must hire expert assassins who do. The story continues from there with “fated couples,” “musical instrument energy,” “lion roars,” “toad styles,” and “palms of Buddha” in abundance. There is almost no martial arts convention left behind in this masterfully sculpted combination. In most wuxia stories the heroes must choose between duty and passion. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero they choose duty and are destroyed because of it. In House of Flying Daggers the heroes choose passion and are destroyed. Stephen Chow’s new film is something I thought I would never see. Kung Fu Hustle is a happy tale about jiang hu, where some heroes perish and the greatest hero can succeed so long as he embraces his destiny. In this case a destiny where duty and passion are in balance.
The one drawback to films like Five Deadly Venoms, Five Fingers of Death, Fists of the White Lotus, and The Master Killer was that the production quality of the films never lived up to how they inspired my imagination. I loved these movies as a child, but as I grew older I wanted more. I wanted Kung Fu movies that were not merely inspirational, but also visceral. In the late 80s and early 90s, almost as if in answer to a prayer, came the films of Jet Li and Jackie Chan. The martial arts in Li and Chan films was fast, furious, and exciting. Gone were the New Zealand accents and in were subtitles. There still was little, if any, production sound and some of their films were cheaply made or just plain bad (like Jet Li’s Last Hero in China, but many were magnificent. Jackie Chan’s high production value films like Drunken Master 2 set a new standard for these films, and Jet Li introduced me to a wonderful new genre that combined fantasy and martial arts. After watching Swordsman II it is hard to go back to regular martial arts films. Jet Li had taken me from the world of Kung Fu into the magical realm represented in the genre known as wuxia (woo-shah) meaning “martial chivalry.” These Chinese Fantasy films combined the complex narratives of good fantasy stories (think Lord of the Rings complexity) with amazing martial arts. In wuxia the first lesson or real Kung Fu is flying. Flying is what separates the common warrior from the virtous hero or vicious villain. For the true masters of the martial arts gravity is but an illusion, “sword energy” can extend hundreds of yards beyond the arc of a weapon with lethal precision, and no one can hide from their destiny.
Recent years have seen the release of some amazing wuxia films. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers have all transfixed American audiences with the power and beauty of their narratives. The lives of the people who often want nothing more than to leave the world of jiang hu (literally rivers and lakes), or the “world of martial arts,” only to have their lives end tragically because they fail to understand that you can never leave jiang hu. As Zhang Yimou stated in an LA Weekly interview with David Chute, “There is nothing I can do, I live in jiang hu.” The implication being that life in jiang hu is hopeless and eventually the life will catch up with you.
So what does all this discussion of jiang hu and wuxia have to do with Stephen Chow’s recent release Kung Fu Hustle? Isn’t Kung Fu Hustle a martial arts comedy like Jackie Chan’s films? Doesn’t the hero win and save the day? Good questions and the answers are: everything, yes/no, and yes. Kung Fu Hustle is indeed a martial arts comedy, but it incorporates many of the conventions of the wuxia genre and in particular urbanizes jiang hu. The film is a combination of Half a Loaf of Kung Fu, Johnny Dangerously, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. At the beginning of the film the villainous Axe Gang is taking over the entire Shanghai underworld. The only place safe from their nefarious activities is a dilapidated and collapsing apartment house called “The Pig Sty.” But the Pig Sty is only safe until our wandering and reluctant hero Sing (Stephen Chow), who has long abandoned attempts at heroics, arrives pretending to be a member of the Axe Gang in order to take advantage of the local merchants. Needless to say, heroes avoiding their destiny make for poor imitation villains and Sings attempts at easy money lead to an escalated conflict between the forces of Good and Evil.
It soon becomes clear that Pig Sty is the home to a number of martial arts masters who have sought to leave jiang hu behind them. Pig Sty is home to no fewer than five martial arts masters who wanted nothing more than to live simple lives. When Sing’s impersonation draws the attention of the real Axe Gang, three of the masters must reveal themselves to save the local populace. These men choose duty over self-preservation and quickly dispatch the Axe Gang who flee the prowess of these great heroes. But this is just the beginning of the conflict. No member of the Axe Gang lives in the world of jiang hu and thus their leader must hire expert assassins who do. The story continues from there with “fated couples,” “musical instrument energy,” “lion roars,” “toad styles,” and “palms of Buddha” in abundance. There is almost no martial arts convention left behind in this masterfully sculpted combination. In most wuxia stories the heroes must choose between duty and passion. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero they choose duty and are destroyed because of it. In House of Flying Daggers the heroes choose passion and are destroyed. Stephen Chow’s new film is something I thought I would never see. Kung Fu Hustle is a happy tale about jiang hu, where some heroes perish and the greatest hero can succeed so long as he embraces his destiny. In this case a destiny where duty and passion are in balance.
Friday, January 21, 2005
ELEKTRA IS THE BEST SUPERHERO FILM OF 2005!
Celluloid Say-So by Christian Johnson
(The author forgot to include that Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Snow Falling on Cedars, Mortal Combat, one of the author's favorite actors, is also in the film. He plays the leader of the "Hand." Tagawa is sadly underused, almost enough to remove the bonus Terrence Stamp half point bump.)
Of course, it is also the worst superhero film of 2005. It is the only superhero film of 2005 so far, but I have always loved the film commercials that make outrageous claims like the one above. Now that is out of the way, how is Elektra as a movie? Is it entertaining? Is it a work of art? Is it literature? What follows will be a mock "chat room" dialogue between me and a fictitious character called MillerFan. For those of you who aren't huge comic geeks Frank Miller is often considered the canonical writer of Daredevil/Elektra stories. So who better to discuss this movie with than MillerFan
(The author forgot to include that Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Snow Falling on Cedars, Mortal Combat, one of the author's favorite actors, is also in the film. He plays the leader of the "Hand." Tagawa is sadly underused, almost enough to remove the bonus Terrence Stamp half point bump.)
Of course, it is also the worst superhero film of 2005. It is the only superhero film of 2005 so far, but I have always loved the film commercials that make outrageous claims like the one above. Now that is out of the way, how is Elektra as a movie? Is it entertaining? Is it a work of art? Is it literature? What follows will be a mock "chat room" dialogue between me and a fictitious character called MillerFan. For those of you who aren't huge comic geeks Frank Miller is often considered the canonical writer of Daredevil/Elektra stories. So who better to discuss this movie with than MillerFan
Number One: Hey MillerFan it is great to see you back for chatting action here at Marvel Movies Masticated! Have you seen the new Elektra film yet?
MillerFan: Yes. I refuse to talk about it. It was even worse than Daredevil.
Number One: What a minute there buddy, are you refering to Daredevil the theatrical release or the Director's Cut DVD?
MillerFan: DVD, no one in their right mind can even imagine the theatrical release without having the "fear put into them" to quote Bullseye and going blind. But without a radar sense.
Number One: Now you know according to Yahoo! Movies Critics rated it a C- and "fans" a B-.
MillerFan: Fans my @$$!
Number One: Hey there, this isn't a Marvel Max title, we need to watch our language. Well MillerFan, it looks like we have some lurkers who have PM'd me to get a synopsis of the film before we continue.
MillerFan: Whatever. I'll read DK2 while you do that.
Number One: Marvel's latest film Elektra sees Jennifer Garner reprise the role she played in last year's box office success Daredevil. Elektra Natchios is a child combat protege who has entered into the career of "assassiness" since being resurrected after her death in Daredevil..
MillerFan: according to the dumb movie. She has always been an assassin...She was her father's fricken assassin. It's what she does.
Number One: If you will refrain from interrupting me please. She has been resurrected by Stick (Terence Stamp) who believes her heart is pure and who seeks to teach her an ancient martial art which incorporates "time manipulation." The martial art is also said to allow its users to bring back the dead. We enter the story with Elektra having been "cast out" by Stick as a potential savior of mankind, and with the hint that there is a new protege or "treasure" who can save us all from the evil that is the Hand!
MillerFan: I don't even see how you can describe the movie as you just did. I don't remember any of that.
Number One: Well...the background is integrated throughout the film through flashbacks.
MillerFan: How do you know this is a sequel and not a prequel?
Number One: Elektra's father is dead, which happened in Daredevil and she is "resurrected" while wearing the same costume she wore in Daredevil when Bullseye killed her.
MillerFan: Okay, okay, I and everyone else here are getting bored. Give us your opinion. Who cares what Yahoo! thinks.
Number One: This beautifully shot film isn't without its problems. The movie opens strong with a suprise guest appearance by the wonderful Jason Isaacs (Chumscrubber, Peter Pan, The Patriot) as the victim awaiting assasination by Elektra. From there, the narrative is a little sketchy, but still fun. Colin Cunningham (most notably of Stargate SG-1 one of my favorite bit characters actually)plays Elektra's agent, the overly eyelinered, but morally forthright McCabe. Okay, he's as morally forthright as an assasin's agent can be, but I liked him in this. Goran Visnijic (the doctor on ER everyone has a crush on, including me) plays the father of the new "treasure" Abby (played by Kristen Prout).
MillerFan: Enough! Tell them the names of these two!
Number One: Okay, okay. Visnijic is "Frank Miller" and Kristen is "Abby Miller." It's called an Easter Egg.
MillerFan: It's called fricken blasphemy!
Number One: Whatever. The heroes of the film have worthy opponents who walk around as if they were in a Tarantino film.
Number One: Will Yun Lee (who was, and this pains me to say, actually pretty cool in Torque) plays "Kirigi" the future of the hand. Lee's portrayal of Kirigi is excellent, from time to time I actually felt I was looking at an Anime character. He was truly iconic as a villain. The writing of his character is pretty weak, but his acting and overall coolness factor are, well, cool.
Kirigi's gang is comprised of four "abominations," each with their own superpower. Stone (Bob Sapp of the upcoming remake of The Longest Yard) is near invulerable. Tattoo (Chris Ackerman)
MillerFan: Who should get Marvel sued by DC.
Number One: No one reads Green Lantern MillerFan, besides I am sure there are plenty of legends of living tattoo guys. Take for example the SciFi channel commercial where the guy buys groceries so he can have dinner with his tattoos.
Anyway...Tattoo can cause his tattoos to become "animated" and attack/spy on his foes.
Kinkou (Edson Ribeiro) has to power to get killed real easy.
Miller Fan: And come back to life right?
Number One: I thought you had seen this. No, just the power to be easily removed.
Then there's Typhoid.
Miller Fan: Typhoid Mary, you mean!
Number One: No I mean Typhoid, no psychosis here. Typhoid (Natassia Malthe, Disturbing Behavior, Lake Placid) is a past treasure turned evil, who has the power to "infect" people and kill them with disease. Oh, she also has the power to create the hottest scene in the film.
I am sure the Typhoid/Elektra kiss has inspired untold numbers of explicit Flash animation films and slash fiction stories.
MillerFan: (Typhoid...mmmm....)
Number One: As you can see by the pictures of Tattoo and the Typhoid/Elektra kiss, the film is often beautifully shot. The action scenes are well choreographed. I was really impressed with the choreography involving Kristen Prout. Either they intigrated her double flawlessly, or she paid more attention than Ben Affleck during the training sessions. Somewhere in this movie is a good action film, but the scenes...while pretty...often dragged. Not the action scenes, those moved rapidly, but the dialogue scenes. The film seemed to be directed so that every actor took one beat too many before delivering their lines. Anyway, I would rate the film a B- just like all the "fans" except it has Terrence Stamp in it and that adds half a grade. Elektra is a 2.9 on a 4 point scale -.1 so that you don't think it is a solid b-film.
MillerFan: BS man, they should watch scriptwriting masterpieces like Robocop 2
Number One: Sure...Okay...I rest my case. Should you see this film? I say so, just don't expect to much.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
No More Games of Global Conquest
I was reading through the Designer's Notes of a new card game being produced by Atlas Games entitled Gloom. In the designer notes, Keith Baker writes,
"I made Gloom because I wanted a game that my wife Ellen and I could play together. Ellen has one problem:she's too nice. Many great games -- Lunch Money, Nuclear War, Family Business, and most CCGs (collectible card games), to name just a few -- are based on the simple principle of kicking your opponents around the block until you're the last one standing. Ellen doesn't do well with these kinds of games, because she just doesn't enjoy pimp slapping a friend. So the question was how we could have a game that suited my desire for direct competition and her dislike of hurting her friends."
My wife and I experience a similar problem. Every weekend my wife and I play a board/card game with one another. We both love games, and I own an overabundance of them, so these are usually wonderful times. We also invite company over once a month for a similar affair, but with more participants and usually topped with a film of some sort. I learned early in my relationship with Jody that beating her, or losing to her, at Risk was not one of the joys of life. Essentially, when it becomes clear that one person is the winner Jody wants to stop playing. Why? Is she a poor loser/winner? No. It is simply because any continuation of the game once victory is clear seems abusive to her. When all you control is Western Australia, is there any reason to continue playing Risk except the total destruction of your opponent? At least that is how she feels.
I have pointed out to her that in many of these games sometimes things appear to be lost when there is still a chance to win. This is usually because, unlike chess, most of these games have a random element. But this is not enough to have her enjoy the game. She is competative, but not mean and she expects the same from her opponents. Thus games of Diplomacy are out of the question. These same sentiments don't arise in games where the theme isn't the killing of your opponent, even if the mechanic is the same. Make a wargame where you kill your opponent's piece before it reaches its "hideout" and Jody will frown when she kills the last of your men (even though a new one will spawn behind enemy lines), but change the name to Sorry and have it send you home and the feelings are lessened. To be fair though, we played Sorry this weekend and Jody, who loves the game, concluded "this game is really mean isn't it?"
So a good deal of my time is spent finding games which avoid one player killing the other, or their armies, as the central component. Even though I love a good wargame. So far I have introduced Jody, and friends to the following wonderful games, Ticket to Ride (amazing), Gold Digger (quick and fun), Colossal Arena (fun but the edge of Jody's tolerance for battle), Scene It! (various editions), Sherlock Holmes (A rare and beautiful card game), 221B Baker St. (a wonderful Holmes based boardgame), and Reiner Knizia's Lord of the Rings (the best cooperative game around). All of which have received rave reviews from wife and friends.
Needless to say, my love of gaming keeps me on the lookout for new and exciting games. So when I saw a game described in the following manner:
In the Gloom card game, you assume control of the fate of an eccentric family of misfits and misanthropes. The goal of the game is sad, but simple: you want your characters to suffer the greatest tragedies possible before passing on to the well-deserved respite of death. You'll play horrible mishaps like Pursued by Poodles or Mocked by Midgets on your own characters to lower their Self-Worth scores, while trying to cheer your opponents' characters with marriages and other happy occasions that pile on positive points. The player with the lowest total Family Value wins.
The person with the most miserable family wins, and the tragedies are all humorous in nature. What more could I ask for? Nothing. So Jody and I will be playing this game in the near future for certain. I will keep you posted as to its entertainment value. For the time being, let me give you a small list of the games we have yet to play, but intend to play soon.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Gamers Giving Gifts to Needy
As a gamer (computer, role-playing, board/card games) I am constantly frustrated with the coverage of the effects of my various recreational hobbies. In the 80s, I was told by Tipper Gore, Pat Robertson, and Jack Chick (of Chick Tracts fame) that playing Dungeons and Dragons, or any roleplaying game, was devil worship. I can watch Mike Myers tell an audience not to applaud the fact that he played D&D during an episode of Inside the Actor's Studio. Lothar of the hill people was based on a character he played.
Continuing from the late 80s are Psychological study after psychological study linking playing violent video games to
violent behavior. Thankfully the research is honest enough to mention that the relationship is correlative and not causal, not that the media notices that. Needless to say, playing games as a hobby is something that has a substantial social stigma, not always, but often enough to be annoying.
This is why events like the Child's Play program run by Penny-Arcade are so important. This year over $300,000 dollars was raised to give toys to needy children's hospitals. Gamers need more publicity like this. Of course, they will only get publicity like this if they do activities like this. Do you value your gaming hobby? Let Sean Fannon and crew at GAMA know and help them find ways to promote gamers as positive contributors to society, rather than as members of the Trenchcoat brigade.
Continuing from the late 80s are Psychological study after psychological study linking playing violent video games to
violent behavior. Thankfully the research is honest enough to mention that the relationship is correlative and not causal, not that the media notices that. Needless to say, playing games as a hobby is something that has a substantial social stigma, not always, but often enough to be annoying.
This is why events like the Child's Play program run by Penny-Arcade are so important. This year over $300,000 dollars was raised to give toys to needy children's hospitals. Gamers need more publicity like this. Of course, they will only get publicity like this if they do activities like this. Do you value your gaming hobby? Let Sean Fannon and crew at GAMA know and help them find ways to promote gamers as positive contributors to society, rather than as members of the Trenchcoat brigade.
Thursday, October 07, 2004
A Day to Listen to the Velvet Underground
I am only 33 years old, but today marks the end of my first six years without a mom. That is an awkward sentence, but it best captures my sentiments. I am not an orphan, I still have a father. In fact, he should be receiving his Halloween card shortly. Yet a part of me is still very much missing, a large part. October 7th, 1998...10,7,98...those numbers loom large and ominous in my heart and this is the first year I am not completely overwhelmed by them.
My wife and I have intimate conversations often, it is one of the joys of marriage, and she and I were discussing death the other day. Her grandmother had just died at the age of 92. My wife explained it this way, "When someone dies, the world feels a little less complete. Bird songs aren't as joyful, and sunrises are slightly less beautiful." Displaying, as she often does, the magnificence of unedited, awkward, and spontaneous verbal poetry. She was also correct. C.S. Lewis opens his book A Grief Observed with another observation about death:
I still feel this way, not everyday...today.
There are two things that are still difficult for me to do six years after my mom died when I was 27 (she was 46).
I have a hard time remembering truly happy moments with her...on command. Happy moments enter my consciousness at random moments and seldom on the anniversary of her death. Glimpses of her nymph-like smile...brief auditory illusions of her laughter enter my mind. But the majority of my memories are neither happy nor sad, they are the memories of everyday activities, evening dinners and the question which ever looms over the head of a teenager, "Have you finished your homework?" I remember watching videotapes with her on many occation, though none as awkward as the time we watched The Hunger, just the two of us and an erotic vampire film. I remember feeling both uncomfortable being aroused by the film, in my mom's presence, while at the same time finding the situation hilarious. This moment just came to mind. There are many more like it, I just can't remember them on demand. In all honesty, I remember my mom as a happy person, a person who added joy to the world. Which is why I have my other difficulty.
I can't understand my mom's addiction, and eventual death due to how it ravaged her body, to heroin. I try, by reading/watching/listening to and about other addicts. I know the narrative of my mom's addictive cycle, I can see each step of her hopeless journey. That's not what I can't understand. I know the things that led to her addiction. What I can't understand is the overwhelming power of it, how addiction stole my mom from me...day by day. Oddly, some really shallow things help. They are a poor substitute for true knowledge, and seem trite when I think hard on them, but they help. These things include the music of the Velvet Underground (in particular, you guessed it, Heroin) and Iggy Pop, the films Permanent Midnight (which I saw just after her death) and Trainspotting, the book and film versions of Razor's Edge, and the writings of C.S. Lewis among other things.
I am the only member of my immediate family I know of who believes in God. I was raised secularly. Strange as it sounds my mom found comfort, though she was baffled by it, in my belief. She once asked if I believed, expecting me (the first college student in my family) to laugh at the absurdity of the question. I told her I did and her response lingers with me to this day, "Really?" Her eyes looked at me...proud, confused, unbelieving, yet hopeful. I never was able to tell her that hope was what faith was all about ("Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen" Hebrews 11:1). It isn't about "knowledge," little of life is about actual knowledge. This is why Socrates asked us to know ourselves, that is a difficult enough task. Let alone the ability to acquire actual knowledge of something else.
I was notified of my mom's death by answering machine. A series of messages of an ever-worsening condition. Siezures...followed by emergency medical action, my wife and I later read the medical records to piece together a timeline, to see if there was an heroic effort to save my mom. There was. It is not the best way to be notified of death, answering machine, I think it is the worst. I also wish that my mom had been buried not cremated, I would have liked to have had the chance to speak, to say my own words. Instead, I will share the two poems I think best capture the way I feel. One is gender confused (for my situation not its own) and the other is written from an older generation to a younger one, but they will have to do.
The first is by W.H. Auden (and yes it's the poem from Four Weddings and a Funeral but that is such a lovely scene.
The second is by Wordsworth:
My wife and I have intimate conversations often, it is one of the joys of marriage, and she and I were discussing death the other day. Her grandmother had just died at the age of 92. My wife explained it this way, "When someone dies, the world feels a little less complete. Bird songs aren't as joyful, and sunrises are slightly less beautiful." Displaying, as she often does, the magnificence of unedited, awkward, and spontaneous verbal poetry. She was also correct. C.S. Lewis opens his book A Grief Observed with another observation about death:
No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing.
I still feel this way, not everyday...today.
There are two things that are still difficult for me to do six years after my mom died when I was 27 (she was 46).
I have a hard time remembering truly happy moments with her...on command. Happy moments enter my consciousness at random moments and seldom on the anniversary of her death. Glimpses of her nymph-like smile...brief auditory illusions of her laughter enter my mind. But the majority of my memories are neither happy nor sad, they are the memories of everyday activities, evening dinners and the question which ever looms over the head of a teenager, "Have you finished your homework?" I remember watching videotapes with her on many occation, though none as awkward as the time we watched The Hunger, just the two of us and an erotic vampire film. I remember feeling both uncomfortable being aroused by the film, in my mom's presence, while at the same time finding the situation hilarious. This moment just came to mind. There are many more like it, I just can't remember them on demand. In all honesty, I remember my mom as a happy person, a person who added joy to the world. Which is why I have my other difficulty.
I can't understand my mom's addiction, and eventual death due to how it ravaged her body, to heroin. I try, by reading/watching/listening to and about other addicts. I know the narrative of my mom's addictive cycle, I can see each step of her hopeless journey. That's not what I can't understand. I know the things that led to her addiction. What I can't understand is the overwhelming power of it, how addiction stole my mom from me...day by day. Oddly, some really shallow things help. They are a poor substitute for true knowledge, and seem trite when I think hard on them, but they help. These things include the music of the Velvet Underground (in particular, you guessed it, Heroin) and Iggy Pop, the films Permanent Midnight (which I saw just after her death) and Trainspotting, the book and film versions of Razor's Edge, and the writings of C.S. Lewis among other things.
I am the only member of my immediate family I know of who believes in God. I was raised secularly. Strange as it sounds my mom found comfort, though she was baffled by it, in my belief. She once asked if I believed, expecting me (the first college student in my family) to laugh at the absurdity of the question. I told her I did and her response lingers with me to this day, "Really?" Her eyes looked at me...proud, confused, unbelieving, yet hopeful. I never was able to tell her that hope was what faith was all about ("Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen" Hebrews 11:1). It isn't about "knowledge," little of life is about actual knowledge. This is why Socrates asked us to know ourselves, that is a difficult enough task. Let alone the ability to acquire actual knowledge of something else.
I was notified of my mom's death by answering machine. A series of messages of an ever-worsening condition. Siezures...followed by emergency medical action, my wife and I later read the medical records to piece together a timeline, to see if there was an heroic effort to save my mom. There was. It is not the best way to be notified of death, answering machine, I think it is the worst. I also wish that my mom had been buried not cremated, I would have liked to have had the chance to speak, to say my own words. Instead, I will share the two poems I think best capture the way I feel. One is gender confused (for my situation not its own) and the other is written from an older generation to a younger one, but they will have to do.
The first is by W.H. Auden (and yes it's the poem from Four Weddings and a Funeral but that is such a lovely scene.
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
The second is by Wordsworth:
SURPRISED by joy--impatient as the Wind
I turned to share the transport--Oh! with whom
But Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb,
That spot which no vicissitude can find?
Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind--
But how could I forget thee? Through what power,
Even for the least division of an hour,
Have I been so beguiled as to be blind
To my most grievous loss?--That thought's return
Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore,
Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn,
Knowing my heart's best treasure was no more;
That neither present time, nor years unborn
Could to my sight that heavenly face restore.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
"Reality" vs. Scripted TV
The other day in the office I asked Fritz, "Hey...What do you think the 1980's would have thought about modern reality television shows?"
His answer was quick, humorous, and to the point, "Isn't that what The Running Man is all about?"
This immediately brought to mind the brilliant 1990 video game Smash TV. A game that is now available for Gen-X nostalgistas on the Play Station 2 as part of a compilation game disk.
I think to a certain extent Fritz hit the nail on the head, especially when it comes to shows like Fear Factor and Survivor, but there are also the mean versions of Cable Classics. What do I mean by this? Well, cable is semi-famous for its off-kilter shows like Trading Spaces and This Old House or even semi-biography series about "real life" situations. These shows have become the The Swan,Big Brother and The Apprentice type television shows when a competative element is added to the existing formula. Shows like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition are just a natural extension of the older cable shows. Think Bob Vila with a sledgehammer, actually doing the work and not leaving it all up to his various sidekicks.
When it comes to reality TV, I have fairly strong opinions about what I enjoy or don't enjoy. I don't tend to enjoy the shows that substitute "meanness" for "dramatic conflict." I prefer shows like The Great Race over Survivor. Nobody gets voted off the Race. That doesn't mean there aren't "villains" or "b*%ches" on Race, but the conflict is the Race itself and not who is getting voted off this week. Maybe that is why it keeps winning Emmys. Even if its ratings are lower than Survivor. I also like the better versions of the "real life" biopics. So I like Blow Out the short run show about Jonathan Antin's new hair salon, or the first The Restaurant before they brought in a "villain" for the second season. Starting up and running a business are difficult enough to create natural conflict. You don't need to insert artificial conflicts into the environment.
So far MOST reality TV is drama based, hence all my comments regarding conflict. We'll ignore America's Funniest Home Videos and the other reality "comedy" shows. Being dramas these shows need some sort of conflict to drive the narrative and keep audience interest. That's why there are the "alliances, politics, and b*%ches/b@$tards" in many of these shows. Without these tropes these shows would be like watching marmots eat, sleep, and breed (which explains why Big Brother is so dull). What strikes me as funny though is that in "reality" TV the conflicts seem more artificial than in "scripted" TV.
I watch a ton of scripted television. From Boston Legal to Scrubs to the new LAX my evenings are filled with drama and comedy, and sometimes the rare adventure tale. Add to these shows the two to three movies I see in theaters each week and you have quite a full schedule, but I can read and watch a 22 or 44 minute show. I love scripted television, and the central requirement of scripted shows is, obviously, writers. This is why I am keeping a close eye on the WGA and their reactions to reality TV.
Some comentators worry that if the WGA strikes that reality TV will be able to fill the time and completely satisfy the pallete of the audience. But I think is a non-issue. Even if true, for the sake of argument, one of the things the WGA is fighting for are reality TV writer's rights as well. Reality TV writer? Yes, reality TV writers. They are an underpaid, and underappreciated group of individuals who do more than just come up with "concepts." They also help structure events and competitions to maximize dramatic stress on the shows. Besides, once reality TV dominates (which I am sure it will for a time) the salaries will eventually have to rise. Right now the networks are getting a kind of old school studio deal (cheap and controllable labor), but that won't last. Sure, everyone wants to be a star and get their 15 minutes of fame, but the people who make that fame are going to want their share of the proceeds. The more the shows make, and they make a lot, the more leverage the employees will have in negotiations. Especially since I don't watch shows for producers to rake in all the money. Not that there is anything wrong with producers making a ton of money, I do in fact actually watch some TV based solely on the producer. It is just that the higher the descrepency the more leverage the unions will have to create a RTVGA (Reality Television Guild of America) or pull the employees into existing union structures. Once this happens and reality costs go up to the levels of scripted TV we will see more balance.
What concerns me is not the long-term picture, which I am optimistic about, rather the short-term. There are a lot of talented, and not so young, writers out there and a lot of developing but rough young writers out there. I worry about how long the situation will last and then how good the new writers will be. Few writers are born comedy/dramatic geniuses. After all, if I remember correctly, one of Seinfeld's most embarrassing moments is that he was fired from Alf.
His answer was quick, humorous, and to the point, "Isn't that what The Running Man is all about?"
This immediately brought to mind the brilliant 1990 video game Smash TV. A game that is now available for Gen-X nostalgistas on the Play Station 2 as part of a compilation game disk.
I think to a certain extent Fritz hit the nail on the head, especially when it comes to shows like Fear Factor and Survivor, but there are also the mean versions of Cable Classics. What do I mean by this? Well, cable is semi-famous for its off-kilter shows like Trading Spaces and This Old House or even semi-biography series about "real life" situations. These shows have become the The Swan,Big Brother and The Apprentice type television shows when a competative element is added to the existing formula. Shows like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition are just a natural extension of the older cable shows. Think Bob Vila with a sledgehammer, actually doing the work and not leaving it all up to his various sidekicks.
When it comes to reality TV, I have fairly strong opinions about what I enjoy or don't enjoy. I don't tend to enjoy the shows that substitute "meanness" for "dramatic conflict." I prefer shows like The Great Race over Survivor. Nobody gets voted off the Race. That doesn't mean there aren't "villains" or "b*%ches" on Race, but the conflict is the Race itself and not who is getting voted off this week. Maybe that is why it keeps winning Emmys. Even if its ratings are lower than Survivor. I also like the better versions of the "real life" biopics. So I like Blow Out the short run show about Jonathan Antin's new hair salon, or the first The Restaurant before they brought in a "villain" for the second season. Starting up and running a business are difficult enough to create natural conflict. You don't need to insert artificial conflicts into the environment.
So far MOST reality TV is drama based, hence all my comments regarding conflict. We'll ignore America's Funniest Home Videos and the other reality "comedy" shows. Being dramas these shows need some sort of conflict to drive the narrative and keep audience interest. That's why there are the "alliances, politics, and b*%ches/b@$tards" in many of these shows. Without these tropes these shows would be like watching marmots eat, sleep, and breed (which explains why Big Brother is so dull). What strikes me as funny though is that in "reality" TV the conflicts seem more artificial than in "scripted" TV.
I watch a ton of scripted television. From Boston Legal to Scrubs to the new LAX my evenings are filled with drama and comedy, and sometimes the rare adventure tale. Add to these shows the two to three movies I see in theaters each week and you have quite a full schedule, but I can read and watch a 22 or 44 minute show. I love scripted television, and the central requirement of scripted shows is, obviously, writers. This is why I am keeping a close eye on the WGA and their reactions to reality TV.
Some comentators worry that if the WGA strikes that reality TV will be able to fill the time and completely satisfy the pallete of the audience. But I think is a non-issue. Even if true, for the sake of argument, one of the things the WGA is fighting for are reality TV writer's rights as well. Reality TV writer? Yes, reality TV writers. They are an underpaid, and underappreciated group of individuals who do more than just come up with "concepts." They also help structure events and competitions to maximize dramatic stress on the shows. Besides, once reality TV dominates (which I am sure it will for a time) the salaries will eventually have to rise. Right now the networks are getting a kind of old school studio deal (cheap and controllable labor), but that won't last. Sure, everyone wants to be a star and get their 15 minutes of fame, but the people who make that fame are going to want their share of the proceeds. The more the shows make, and they make a lot, the more leverage the employees will have in negotiations. Especially since I don't watch shows for producers to rake in all the money. Not that there is anything wrong with producers making a ton of money, I do in fact actually watch some TV based solely on the producer. It is just that the higher the descrepency the more leverage the unions will have to create a RTVGA (Reality Television Guild of America) or pull the employees into existing union structures. Once this happens and reality costs go up to the levels of scripted TV we will see more balance.
What concerns me is not the long-term picture, which I am optimistic about, rather the short-term. There are a lot of talented, and not so young, writers out there and a lot of developing but rough young writers out there. I worry about how long the situation will last and then how good the new writers will be. Few writers are born comedy/dramatic geniuses. After all, if I remember correctly, one of Seinfeld's most embarrassing moments is that he was fired from Alf.
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