Reviews

X-Men: Apocalypse

/ toseealife / Leave a comment

I never intended to watch this one, but my curiosity was aroused by the reviews.

And it was not so terrible. It seems to have gotten a lot of hate from the fans, but it had its good points.

I’ll list the negative things first: This movie had inconsistencies, it was unrealistic in many ways, notably when some idiot shot Magneto’s wife and daughter with the same arrow when he wasn’t even trying to. I’ve taken archery folks, unless it’s a loaded crossbow, if you aren’t trying to fire, there’s no way you’ll be pulling back on a regular bow hard enough to shoot clear through a child. It would be hard for most people to do that on purpose. Let alone enough to kill someone else at the same time. Give me a break.

Yeah, so I had a problem with that, and I’m so over Magneto changing sides (sort of) and then changing back. I love redemption, but the man has blown every chance he’s had in all previous films, he is consistently bad, and worse, he’s a mass murderer, I think they need to cut their losses, sorry.

Aside from that, the biggest flaw to me was Apocalypse’s whole back story. There’s no way he was the first thing to evolve, that makes no sense in terms of mutant context. (He had to be lying, I figure,) and being reborn all the time…really? Even if I allowed for that, he seemed kind of dull. He was more of a mind controller then an active villain.

And are you seriously telling me that Storm, Angel, and whoever the other girl was, would not bat an eyelash at destroying the whole world? Really? Their lives were so terrible?

However, I do get how it played into the movies central theme, which was also its best theme. After decades of movies convincing us that mutations are only dangerous when they are not controlled, and that powers need to be accepted, we finally get a reality check about the other side of having power. Power corrupts.

We always saw the difference between the older Professor X and Magneto, The Professor is humble and kind with is powers, while Magneto is cruel and sadistic. Then we went back and saw what made them that way.

yet we know that Charles will suffer a lot of the same things Erik suffered later in life, and he will remain the same. Why is Magneto so different?

There’s a myriad of reasons Erik became the way he did. But one of the best moments he had in this movie was when he yelled at God asking “Is this what you want from me?”

We know Magneto later called himself a god among ants (though I suppose that was erased in the previous film) but no one ever gets tot heat point without firs coming to hate and reject God Himself, either as an idea or as a reality. (Both usually.)

This time Erik has given normal life a try, and still found it taken away, this time by accident on the human’s part, though he still hates them, we see now that he really hates God for letting them do this to him.

Since Erik is Jewish, it makes sense that he would find it baffling that God would let any of what happened happen. It’s a question that’s hard for us to answer.

And later Magneto asks Apocalypse “Where were you when my family died?” This question is one of the many points in the movie where Apocalypse seems to be equated with God. Yet the movie gives several instances where it’s clear that Apocalypse is not God as we would define Him. He is not omnipresent. He is not all powerful. he is at best a cheap imitation. Most of us would think him more like the devil then like God. What with him being evil and power mad and all.

Especially since Apocalypses goal is to acquire ultimate power, notice he doe snot already have it. God would already have all power.

It’s almost as old as time that people want to acquire ultimate power to become gods. And that’s why this theme is important in the movie. Magneto and the other evil mutants don’t just hat humans, they desire to shed their humanity, which is still part of them, and become god-like.

Though any real examination of their powers reveals that they are all limited, and I thought Apocalypse magnification of Magneto’s power bordered on the ridiculous.

God is not limited, (except by choice,) is what I’m saying, or He is not God. It’s as simple as that.

A limited god is not worth much to any of us.

Charles gets it, his message that power corrupts and that great power is given to the strong so that they can protect the weaker is profound though it is glossed over. Mystique sort of echoes it when she tells Erik he has the power to save his remaining family for once.

I am a firm believer that we are given gifts sot hat we can use them for others. They benefit us, it is true, and it’s not wrong that they do, but that should never be the only reason we use them. Magneto’s consistent flaw was his selfishness. He refused to deal with it, to try to be different.

Charles greatest strength was his selflessness.

Though this movie still continues the theme about embracing your power, it makes a point of saying you should embrace it for the sake of other people. Disregarding humanity is not that answer.

The reason I like X-men is because it actually faces the prevalent issue of superhero movies head on: that supers could come to despise humanity for its stubbornness and weakness.

And sure, they could, some have. some brilliant people in real life do. But X-Men is always trying to remind us that even the gifted people are human too, and they need to keep their compassion if they would keep themselves intact.

So, despite its faults, this latest X-men movie is worth checking out.

Until next time–Natasha.

Zombies and Redemption.

/ toseealife / Leave a comment

So, I have a confession, I actually dared to watch a movie featuring zombies. I doubt any of you are really shocked, what do you know about my tastes, that’s pretty normal now.

Well it’s not for me, but I gave this one a pass because the zombies in it aren’t brain-eating monsters…except for ten seconds.

This movie was a Disney Channel Original, this movie was their average, not terrible, but not good.

Zombies, which is the full title, is about a post-post apocalyptic world, where in a very Divergent fashion, humans are split into two groups, those who are normal, and those who are infected with some virus that made them into zombies…because someone spilled lime soda on some electric device.

Yeah, WordGirl Levels of sense.

But this movie is for kids and younger teens, so I’ll let the silliness slide. The last thing I need is for horror movies to be a DCOM thing.

The story is about a boy zombie, named Zed, and a normal girl, who of course fall in love and unite to overturn cultural expectations. Since zombies are stigmatized and ostracized.

The whole thing is an obvious metaphor for privileged whites keeping down blacks and Hispanics. The zombies get all the worse jobs, they go to separate schools until the integration act that kicks off this movie.

The movie has one interesting turn. Zed uses his zombie powers to become good at football, but he is endangering himself and everyone else in the process because the only thing keeping him stable is a special watch that sends calming signals to their brain. So there’s that.

When Zed convinces his friend Eliza to help him override his watch slightly so he can win the games, people start to accept the zombies, but unfortunately the anti-zombie kids hijack the signal and send Zed, Eliza, and their other friend into full on zombie death mode. Though Zed seems to resist it briefly.

For awhile things start to go terribly wrong, but then the girl Zed likes fixes everything by having he zombies and cheerleaders unite to win the cheer champions ship…which they don’t, but they do end up bring humans into zombie territory and end with a happy song and dance number.

It was stupid; but the elements of the movie do call for some closer examination, not because the movie is brilliant but because the way it was made reflects a lot about what the writers think teens are into and what they think we should be concerned about.

The biggest problem with this movie is that is mishandled the zombie thing entirely. It made it a metaphor for race, but the zombie virus is a way closer metaphor for mental or social disabilities.

Comparing it to Autism would have been smarter. Like the zombies, autistic people can have triggers that make them go ballistic, they could hurt people. So can other special needs kids. And they can’t help it, necessarily.

It’s a pertinent question to ask how much special needs kids should be allowed to mingle with “normal” ones. There are real dangers to both us and them if they lose it, or get bullied, but is there a greater danger if we don’t learn to understand each other? I think there is.

That’s a worthwhile conversation to have, but this movie doesn’t have it. The cheerleaders who mess up the special watches just to get the zombies to go nuts are never caught, the zombies never even bring it up to them, at the end of the movie they are all cool. Even though the brats could easily have gotten someone killed. They almost did, in fact. There’s no lasting impact from that very serious problem.

All we get is Eliza whining about how they took all the blame.

In all fairness if Eliza hadn’t been screwing with the watches to begin with, the cheerleaders couldn’t have done it. Eliza shows no remorse or horror for what she did, Zed admits it was wrong, but he lingers no longer on it. The girl he likes doesn’t chew him out. Nothing.

It’s no use, in a story like this, to pretend that Zombies aren’t different. The age old problem “Should we blame them for what happened before they were born?” presents itself. Should we punish people for something that is not their fault?

And yet whether we like it or not, in real life kids do get punished for what isn’t their fault. They bear the brunt of other people’s mistakes.

We all have to choose what we will do about the problems we face, but it doesn’t follow that we’ll all make good choices.

This movie slightly touches on that when Eliza wants to sabotage the cheer championship, but it deflates almost instantly. She’s talked out of it in twenty seconds. Zed brings up the point that if they behave that way then they are the monsters everyone thinks they are.

Which  is a good point, but it wasn’t fleshed out to really mean much.

And is it problematic to use zombies at all? They are monsters, they do bad things, and we’d be justified in killing them if they were real. They aren’t human, strictly speaking. Though the movie uses it differently, still it leaves the brain-eating nastiness in there (I thought that was a mistake) then we do have to wonder, why should the humans want them around?

I have a problem with making monsters “relatable” the only reason I might have gone with it for this movie is because monster can be a metaphor, and a powerful one. Just not this time.

That’s an okay way to illustrate, I’ve used the example of zombies myself to teach kids in Sunday school what being spiritually dead might look like. It can work.

Comparing zombies to a certain race isn’t going to work because having a different skin color doesn’t make you a monster prone to eating people.

Making that cool isn’t good. It misses the point. When you admit that there’s something wrong with you, you can be helped. There can be redemption. Forgiveness.

But the more we try to justify our issues, the more ridiculous the situation becomes. The most grotesque things become acceptable.

The idea is to be removed from all that, set apart, cleansed. That’s the idea of holiness the bible talks about.

We’re all, you might say, infected with the virus of sin. We all try to control it, much like with the watches, some of us try to harness it, ultimately we end up hurting people because sin hurts. The wage of sin is death.

It’s not our fault we’re born into it, but we constantly make choices that make us weaker to it, and that is our fault. (See the parallels?)

I think the movie reflects our attitude toward perfection. We think that if we as a species can work together we might overcome our differences and dangers.

Wonder Woman is wiser, she knows that each of us has our own darkness we have to face, and love is what will make us able to do it.

So, that was a lot of thought for such a dumb movie, but sometimes figuring out what went wrong can be more work.

Until next time–Natasha.

The Callous Conduct.

/ toseealife / Leave a comment

This essay is authored by my sister and is not my work in any way–Natasha.

Thoughts from reading “The Bad Beginning.”

Upon this perusal of the first book in the Series of Unfortunate Events, one thing in particular stuck out to me (in fact, the only thing that really stuck out to me), and that was anger.  More specifically, righteous anger. It was not something that was featured in this series so much as the overwhelming sense of sadness and hopelessness that sticks out in every book.  The very word “unfortunate” speaks of remorse and regret, rather than such an emotion as anger.  Righteous anger really only seems to be felt by one character in this book, and that is Klaus, the middle Baudilaire orphan.  His and his siblings’ parents have been cruelly taken from them, they have not a penny to spend at the moment, and they have been deposited, like so much unwanted luggage, upon the dirty doorstep of Count Olaf.  This alleged relative is cruel and unreasonable; he has taken advantage of their helpless state and thinks of nothing except how he may gain their fortune. Why, indeed, should Klaus not be angry?  The more pertinent question may be, why is he the only one?  Where do the helpless have to turn if no one has righteous anger?  The book, The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket, is, I believe, an example of how the idea of different “truths” and “realities” for each person affects the more vulnerable people in society.

These children are being abused and mistreated.  Of all people who plead for the law’s protection, surely they are the most deserving of it.  Why has no one helped them?  Why does nobody listen when they try to explain their situation?  Why are even those who care what happens to them rendered ineffectual?  These are questions that occupy the reader’s mind for the whole of the series, and it gets very frustrating to have to witness over and over.

It is not logical or realistic that every single time the Baudilaires are in danger, no adult can or will help them, and the only ones who really seem to notice or mind this are the children themselves.  True, it is

  Gardner 2

kind of this series’ thing, but one must admit that if something like this happened today there would be outrage.  There would not be a snowball’s chance in hell of Count Olaf escaping the long arm of the law.  The public would despise him and offer pity and support to the three orphans.  Mr. Poe would be fired.

Yet it is not so in this book’s world.  Our heroes just can’t get ahead.  They are friendless, penniless, and helpless.  The only people they can rely on are themselves.  Why is that? Because the books do not follow the rules of logic and reality, and because every  single adult is incurably Stupid.

Each one has a nonsensical idea of what they think life is which they adamantly refuse to give up in favour of the reality the children are actually facing.  Mr. Poe doesn’t believe anything is wrong with Count Olaf.  He chooses to believe that it is merely the children’s grief or petulance that causes their discontentment.  Count Olaf and his theatre cronies refuse to see themselves as bad and evil, instead labeling the children as the nasty and unpleasant characters of the story.  And everyone absolutely will not see how it is completely illegal for a guardian to marry his 14-year-old charge.  Except for the orphans themselves, each person believes what is most convenient for the sake of himself, herself, or the plot.  Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are the only characters who have even a remotely firm grasp on reality and justice.

This is  a literary example of one of the downsides the belief in different realities for

different people can have.  It brings to center stage the utter helplessness of those who depend on justice to save them, when no one around them “sees things” the same way they do.  They have nobody to fight for them, nobody to get angry for them.

We see that they are being treated unfairly, but in the book’s world, who knows?  Perhaps that’s only how they see it.  Perhaps what is outrage to an obvious injustice to them really is only an overreaction to Mr. Poe.  Maybe Count Olaf really is a devilishly handsome hero, just trying to obtain his just desserts.  Who’s really right?  Yet we cannot help but root for the orphans.  We see that they are good-natured, heroic, and resourceful people.   It defies our sense of right and wrong to think otherwise.

 

  Gardner 3

What would it look like if reality and absolute truth were subjective to each individual–if people only saw what they wanted to see?  There would be those, just like the three children, who slip through the cracks, who get abused and mistreated because no one can or will stand up for them in righteous anger.

Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.

/ toseealife / Leave a comment

Finally! I can give a more informed opinion on this franchise upsetting piece of work.

Disclaimer, I have only seen the theatrical version and I hear the Ultimate Edition is much better, if you’ve seen that and I don’t address something that was in it, my apologies.

The big question is: Did it suck?

Well, no.

Unlike most folks who cared enough to see this movie when it came out or at least in the same year it did, I didn’t. So my knowledge of it was based on mostly negative reviews, plus one positive one. Maybe two.

I was predisposed to fine the idea of two of my favorite DC guys fighting to the death a terrible experience.

With that somewhat unique perspective, watching this movie was not the fresh take on the characters that it seemed to be to others. And I’ve seen so much dark and gritty from superheroes now that it wasn’t so big a shock.

This movie tuns one of the most beloved superheros, if not the most, into a bad guy. Who murders and makes irrational decisions. It also turns Superman, who is normally confident and cheerful, into a troubled and uncertain hero.

But this Superman is a lot newer to crime fighting then his previous versions, so maybe I can excuse that. And honestly his perpetual frown didn’t bother me, since every scene he was in there was something depressing happening, I wouldn’t be smiling either. He’s never been the wise-cracking kid of super who never gets down.

I could forgive Batman a lot less readily. But upon seeing it for myself, I actually don’t think Batman was acting entirely on his own initiative.

It may be grasping at straws but I felt like all Batman’s nightmares and oddly rage-filled actions seemed a lot more like they were pointing to mind control then to just him. It sound convenient, but being a DC animated series watcher, I can tell you it’s just the sort of thing that they would do. So why not in a movie. (Actually the whole dream-mind control thing has been done before. It was pretty terrifying.)

Even if you don’t buy that an alien force (hint: Darkseid) could be twisting people’s minds (and I’m not the only one who thinks Luthor was acting like he was being influenced by Darkseid) I think it’s not too big a stretch to say that everyone had a darkness they have to face. Wonder Woman said that in her movie.

So with that in mind, I’ll analyze the movie.

I won’t talk about cinematography or acting, or the Martha line as it relates to good story telling; you can get that a dozen other places. I’m going to talk about what I think the story actually means if you just look at it as a story. An analogy. Which is what all superhero movies really are and always have been.

The first thing this movie introduces us to is Batman/ Bruce’s fear of bats and of superman. Which appear to be connected. The bats aren’t literal, they represent the batman side of Bruce, and how he fears it taking control of him. The reason he fears it is because deep down he knows he’s going down a dark path. With the branding and all. I think his disturbing dreams indicated that several times.

For Bruce that fear is still subconscious, and he blames Superman for the sense of danger he keeps having, of helplessness, Alfred tries to warn him about this, but he doesn’t get the hint.

So over a two year period Bruce’s resentment of Superman grows, for no real reason that we can see since Superman doesn’t destroy any ore cities and often prioritizes saving people over catching up to other people he’s suspicious of. But Bruce isn’t going to be bother with facts, since it’s the possibilities that concern him and he doesn’t realize that we can’t base our decisions on all the possible outcomes of something.

Superman is compared to God a lot. But it’s also pointed out that he should answer to God. Superman doesn’t seem to believe this himself, but the comparison bugs him. As it should. Still, he rightly thinks that Batman’s actual Brutality is a top priority over Superman’s possible damage. I mean, one is a fact and the other is a hypothesis right?

But Bruce is having none of that logic crud when Clark Kent tries to point this out to him. Instead he keeps brooding over Superman and finally decides to get rid of him by making a bunch of Kryptonite weapons. After first meeting Wonder Woman a. k. a. Diana Prince. Whom he eventually figures out the identity of.

What we are seeing with Bruce, in my opinion, is the darkness o f fear and hate clouding the judgment. Fear breeds hate anyway. And Luthor is an example of the same thing. Although his is definitely more unstable and out of control (I say more because Batman is the same way) Luthor hates God and blames Superman the way he blames God, because Superman has enough power for one to say “He could save more, but he choose not to. He could destroy us all.” Of course Superman has no wish to do that, but what he intends doesn’t matter anymore These people hate him irrationally.

So Batman tries to kill him, and seems completely shut off to any logic or decency as Superman tries to talk to him and then fights him when Batman refuses to listen. Then that infamous  Martha moment.

I don’ think the idea behind it was terrible, I just found the build up unsatisfactory, but ignoring that, I think it’s true that something as small as a name could trigger the humanity in a person. There are true stories of it happening. And I think all of us can remember moments in our life when our perspective shifted because of one sentence someone said to us.

The idea is that love is the key. Bruce still had love for his mother, even when he’d shut himself off to almost everyone else. And the moment strangely parallels one of the Justice League show episodes in which an alternate Superman had taken over the world, along with the rest of the League, and our Batman convince the other Batman to help him by asking “Mom and Dad, they would be proud of what you did?” and that’s all. But the other Batman realizes the truth.

The truth being that if we love people, then we need to love what they valued also. Provided it was good. Bruce’s parents were clearly good people who would want peace and mercy to be apart of his life.

And since Superman’s mom represents the same a sort of compassion for him as Bruce’s does, the moment does make sense.

I get why people think it’s stupid, but I don’t find it so. In fact I don’t really see how it was much different from Darth Vader changing sides because his son ended up being alive and was almost killed by the emperor.

Anyway, the point is, love conquers fear and hate. Diana tells us in her movie that only love can save the world. And Bruce is showing us how true that is. Because he was actually becoming the greatest threat to the world by trying to kill superman.

I have to say with all it’s faults I like the point DC has been making. That love is the only answer to the fear and hatred and evil we inflict upon each other and the world. Only love will change someone like Batman from a maniac to a man again. And only love can keep someone on the right path.

Love is what convinces Superman to make Earth his new home. Because of the people in it he loves and who love him. Love is what sets Diana on her path of preserving humanity. Love is what opens Batman’s eyes to what he’d become.

And love is all that will make us able to forgive each other for the terrible mistakes we make. Which to his credit Superman does pretty quickly forgive Batman for almost killing him.

So, was this movie perfect? No. Did I like all of it? No, I actually didn’t like most of it. I don’t think I was supposed to enjoy it honestly.

But it is not without its lesson, and the lesson isn’t a total flop. It makes sense. And for setting up the Justice League this movie serves the purpose well enough.

It always could be better, and I think it should have been, but it also didn’t fail completely at what it was trying to do. At least in terms of Batman’s arc. So I’d say it’s worth seeing at least once.

Until next time–Natasha.

Reaction to The Incredibles 2 trailer.

/ toseealife / 1 Comment

The Incredibles, the best superhero movie I know of. And after 14 years, the movie in the new trailers is the best they could come up with?

I think anyone who really liked the Incredibles will see why I’m upset, but for those of you who might not ever have been that into it, or even watched it, here’s my objections to the ideas in the new trailer:

  1.  Role reversal done wrong: Am I expected to believe that Mrs. Incredible, supermom, is going to decide to pursue a career as a superhero while leaving her children to be guided by their often clueless father. Am I seriously supposed to buy that her mindset will completely change in the span of a few months? That she would feel like it was right to do that? That she would wold become the one pushing for superheros to be a part of the world again at the cost of getting to watch her family grow up…Please.   And am I supposed to believe Mr. Incredible would not want to be a part of the bigger picture, whether or not anyone asked him to be. This is what he believes in, down with mediocrity! Yeah! Tell the kids to embrace what makes them special.
  2. The incompetent male twist: Am I also the only one who remembers that Mr. Incredible is a very adept spy. He hacked into a supergenius’es computer, tricked a probe, knew  a bomb was going to go off by listening to a wall beeping, has a self driving car, and figured out single handedly how to defeat the robot. Remember that, Disney? He was the one who figured it out. Oh, and he defeated the darn thing by himself before it got upgraded. he also got Syndrome monologueing and almost took him out. He is Mr. Incredible for crying out loud! Yet I am supposed to buy the stupid dad cliche? He never had any trouble connecting with is kids, or believing int hem, or handling them. and suddenly Jack-jack is going to be too much fro this resourceful, intelligent, experienced man….?
  3.  The demon baby cliche: If I have to watch one more “baby is too smart for adults” movie I’ll…obviously do nothing, but I’ll be very disappointed in it. Boss Baby was probably the funniest and least gag worthy presentation oft hat, and even then it only worked some oft he time, but when it’s not Alec Baldwin pretending to be a baby and an actual baby being a little unstoppable force, then…seriously? Furthermore, Jack-Jack was never a mean baby. He was very sunny tempered until Syndrome took him away. Now if you wanted to play the angle that that traumatized him (though it didn’t seem to) at least that would be interesting but I don’t give the movie that much credit. I don’t buy the idea that Jack-Jack would enter the terrible twos while still an infant who can’t even walk. His personality is completely changed. Also, why would he even be eating cookies? If he’s not toilet trained, he’s definitely not needing sugar and chocolate. He was still on freaking baby food a few months ago.
  4. The uncreativity: My siblings ad I could come up with three different plots that would have been way more interesting than what the trailers show. We had hoped the movie would be set ten ears into the future, but even for the immediate pick back up we had better ideas for who the whole issue of superheroes cold be handled. Why not do an X-men like story? The Incredibles are already ripping off the Justice League, why not Marvel? (Oh right, Jack-Jack’s become the incredible hulk. Ha!) The Croods was more original then the idea behind this trailer. It seems just like Despicable Me.
  5. What about the kids?: When I saw the trailer show Mr. and Mrs. Incredible run off to defeat the Underminer, leaving the kids to warch, I was like “What the heck? Didn’t we see all of them suit up at the end of the first movie?” The parents were finally willing to let the kids be superheroes too, it was “in their blood” as I recall. And the kids were good at it. Also, I recall that Violet flat out refused to be left out of the fray. Am I supposed to believe the parents are going right back to keeping them out of it and telling them to hide under a bushel. By all means, let’s play the cliche “mom and day won’t let me be me” card. It’s such a nice change for the unusual “parents encourage their kids to be exceptional” vibe of the first movie.

I guess you get the picture.

You know, I don’t hate the idea of a superhero movie that tackles the balance of fatherhood and letting your wife do great things, and teaching your kids not to let one gift define their personality. That’s fine.

But it has nothing to do with the Incredibles. The Incredibles was much more than that. It tackled hard subjects with such apparent ease, such grace, that it made its points without even seeming to try.

And does anyone argue with how it ended? Whether the world agrees or not, you should use your gifts to help people. To save them. End of story.

Embracing your whole self, Violet shows us, will make you confident. Even if no one else knows why, you know what you’re capable of.

not flaunting your powers but using them when necessary is what Dash learns, and he puts it into practice, while his mom lets him still be good at something that other people can see. Because it’s not wrong to be exceptional.

Letting your talents keep you from your family is a mistake, as is lying to them, but also you need to let them help you bear the weight of the job you have to do, that’s what Mr. Incredible teaches us.

And Mrs. Incredible learns that keeping your family safe often means letting them learn how to protect themselves, and sometimes you have to bring out your dangerous side again to be the best mom and wife you can be. Also, she remembers that she’s a super with or without her husband, but she chooses to be with him.

Jack Jack doesn’t really learn anything, because he’s a baby.

Now, is it just me, or did I just cover all the problems the trailer sets up for the sequel, that the first movie already solved. There’s nothing new here.

Well, I  hope I’m wrong, but we’ll always have the first one at least. Until next time–Natasha.

Race.

/ toseealife / 4 Comments

So, it’s black history month and I actually did watch a documentary type film about an important black historical figure. So, let’s talk about it.

I happen to like movies of this sort. Hidden Figures, The Help (not a documentary,) and other films of that sort ar really interesting stories.

But it’s only fair to say they have an agenda.

I have no problem with representing the struggles men and women of a certain race went through, when those struggles actually happened. But these movies very often “stretch the truth” about some of the characters.

There was real adversity I have no doubt, but often racism is best expressed in subtlety. I think these movies tend to make it too blatant. It’s actually more maddening to me when racism is a subtle thing because it’s so hard to pinpoint and remedy.

That being said, this movie wasn’t the worst of offenders in that area. It helped that a lot of the problems of the movie centered on the Germans and their ideas. Which cannot be denied since they were documented. And we know the Germans were pretty blatant about it

Funny isn’t it, a nation advancing in technology and athletics subsequently falls into the rut of racism, which America was just beginning to climb out of.

Never tell me racism is the result of only ignorance and stupidity. Some people are willingly ignorant.

I spend so much time talking about racism against white people, that I don’t want to seem like I’ve never given a thought to the real racism against blacks (and others.) Believe me, I’ve read the books and gotten mad over the accounts. A lot of shootings happen because of racism. Not always between whites and blacks, often it’s between Hispanics and blacks, but it’s still a problem.

The whole idea of skin color meaning anything when it comes to how smart someone  is is ridiculous.

These are differences to be sure, but not ones of essentials. It’s also not racism to simply be prejudiced against one kind of people.

Not color-based racism anyway. There are more than one kinds. Racism of color is a lot less of a problem now than racism of culture. You can be prejudiced against a people because you have heard or seen a lot of the same traits in them. That’s called stereotyping. But it’s not always negative.

For example, thinking all black people are good at gospel music is a stereotype, and it may be silly to assume that, but it is not racism. Because in no way dos thinking that make you think they are inferior.

Also a common mistake now is that portraying any race of people as happier then they should be is racist, because it denies their suffering. It’s propaganda perhaps, but it doesn’t imply inferiority to that race, therefore it’s not racist.

We tend to lump a bunch of different sins all into the one of racism.

This movie, Race, is interesting and informative in some ways. I just read a book that talked about how the Nazis wanted touse eugenics (the controlling of mating people and animals to get a more perfect race) to make their own sort of Garden of Eden world.

One of the best scenes in this movie was when the German racer, Luz Long, was talking to Jesse Owens, after being a good sport to him about the long jump. Luz told Jesse what was easily the most horrifying thing in the movie, that he believed the Germans in charge of the Olympics had sent a girl to him who wanted to get pregnant by him…because he was so talented, they want to breed his genes.

Jesse, who was concerned about the bigotry had this cool moment of realizing he wasn’t the only one who had problems.

Another part was when Jesse had to replace one of the Jews who were suddenly not allowed to complete because of the Germans bullying the Americans into it. (Not that it was right.) The scene was a lot more compelling then most of the other scenes regarding discrimination against Jesse.

Nothing against Jesse, but let’s be real, we’ve seen the poor, looked down upon black character a hundred times. It’s true maybe, but it’s no longer shocking. It doesn’t move us. because we expect it. In fact we’re spoon fed it from the media so often that it’s almost impossible to feel shocked. Familiarity breeds contempt.

The reason this movie’s brief touch on Jewish aimed racism and the creepy factor of eugenics is brilliant is because it makes you feel something, it makes you think about it. How racism against one people leads to racism against another, and even leads to misusing your own people, like they were animals.

Germans became obsessed with the strong and talented, and grew to hate the weak and ordinary. Even among themselves. Germans hated half wits, now known as special needs cases. They hated most people actually.

I don’t bear any ill will to modern Germans, I don’t even hate the ones who did what they did, I pity them. But this movie provided a much needed reality check on the situation. It’s not just in America, and it’s not limited to people of a certain color.

I would not get on a soapbox and preach tolerance. That’s not the answer. Tolerance will never eliminate hatred. Eventually it fosters it. I think twitter ought to be evidence of that.

All that can eliminate hatred, as Wonder Woman would say, is love.

The kind of love that will stick up for other people, no matter what nationality they are. I hope, though I have not been tested on it yet, that I would stand up for anyone I saw being mistreated.

Whether they were a muslim, an african american, a hispanic, or whatever.

Anyway, check out Race if you can, until next time–Natasha.