Lather, Rinse, Repeat,Repeat,Repeat
Wow, I've had a couple of busy days so I was thinking that I'll take it easy with today's Blog and just talk about my favorite pastime, going to the movies and with it, one of my favorite parts, the previews. Let's take a look at the paper (you remember the Paper right?) and see what is coming up.
OK, we have: Fame; The Thing; Halloween II; Clash of the Titans; Logan's Run....oh wait a sec, this must be one of those cool retro papers that show you what was going on in the decade you were born in (or within 20 years or so).
I know, let's check the Internet. No more silly gag papers, now we'll see what is really coming up. Let's see, we have: Fame; The Thing; Halloween II; Clash of the Titans; Logan's Run...
OK, forget it, lets just watch some TV. Must be something good on there, right? Let's see, we can watch: "V"; Melrose Place; 90210 (sans Beverly Hills from the title-there's a breath of originality); America's Funniest Home Video's;...
OK, I give up. But I think you get the idea. Apparently, there is a huge sucking void when it comes to creativity and originality in TV and Movies today. Let's talk about why that is. Perhaps it's because these stellar, groundbreaking programs and films cannot be seen anywhere and we need to expose a new generation to them...oh wait, TV Land, DVD's, nope...must be something else.
What it really is comes down to two words: MONEY and LAZY (You can read Lazy as frightened, meek, whipped, take your pick).
Today's producers, Networks and Studio's do not want to look for talent and groom stars. What they want is a known quantity, no risk, no build an audience time. What they want is money and money NOW!
Remakes, Re-Remakes, Re-imaginings (one of my favorite new words that seem new and mean Shit) abound because they believe that if they produce a piece of crap with little to no talent or even reasonable talent AND put a name on it that we all remember, then the program, film or special has a built in audience. Even if it's awful, enough people will see it before it is generally conceded as awful that they will make their money back and who cares whether we, the money spending public, gets anything for their money. After all, if we hate it, we'll just wait till the next lame remake or re-imagined P.O.S. comes out and we'll go see it again.
AND WE DO. By the truckloads, the van-fuls. We order the pay per views, we buy the DVD's, we watch the movies.
We had 8 years of arguably one of the single worse governments we have ever had. We elected him again, even after arguing for the previous four years as to whether he was really elected. We hated him but we brought him back. He actually runs our country, decides our position on nuclear war, your taxes,our health care...and we brought him back...Eight years after his father was voted out after only 4 years,as one of the least popular presidents.
What does that have to do with TV and Movie remakes? Come on people, if we are willing to sit in our chairs and ignore the world around us, griping and pissing and moaning...and keeping the same people in charge of our lives and our country year after year, decade after decade, then why should Hollywood even concern itself with trying something new? It knows we will feed on whatever swill it pours into our trough and they do not have to worry about quality, intelligence, innovation, etc...
We accept what we are fed without thought , argument or action. Yes, there are those who protest, write letters, cry out for public change...and those people are getting elected, or electing the next generation, who then, content with their win, sit back and fight against any change.
Now I have to admit, I am a Democrat. I am a Sci-Fi fan. I loved the new Star Trek film and eagerly await another. I'm looking forward to seeing "V". But honestly, I'd give up ever seeing Kirk or Spock or Picard again if I could see one fresh vision, like Neil Blomkamp's "District 9" every couple of years. Not a never before told story or a amazing new idea. But he didn't remake "Alien Nation" or some other past success. He took idea's that we dealt with yesterday, deal with today and will feel the effects of tomorrow and made an original movie. And we saw it in droves. No big name American stars (or any American stars for that matter), no huge Hollywood press. Just a damn fine film, quality acting and a good story.
Next time the latest SAW movie is made, or Aliens is again on the screen, or FAME premieres at your local theatre, do all of us, yourselves included. Tell the Movie Theatre you'll come back and spend money when a NEW (ie; NOT A REMAKE) movie airs. Or, write a letter to the TV network of your choice and tell them you'll be reading a good book till a new show is put on the air.
And finally, when Obama runs again, or Jeb Bush...or Hillary....or Newt, please, look at their record, judge their past success's and failures, listen to what they say...and what they don't. Then, get off your ass and VOTE, CAMPAIGN, VOLUNTEER...don't wait till the next rudely made and vastly inferior sequel is foist upon us because we didn't want to be bothered.
I am ending this, realizing I didn't start out to make a political statement tonight...but it just seemed the right thing to do, regardless of whether you have seen it before or not.
It's time for a little Bull****
The late, great George Carlin had a routine where he talks about words and their meanings and how we have watered down their true meaning while expanding the words themselves. He uses as an example "Shell Shock" and how veterans of war used to be mentally impaired by their time in combat and we called it "Shell Shocked". It was short, clear and concise and told you exactly what the problem was.
As time went on, we changed the term to sound nicer, softer or perhaps just more politically correct (I hate that term-more on it in a moment). It went from "Shell Shock" to "Battle Fatigue" to "Operational Exhaustion" and nowadays, finally, "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder".
Penn and Teller, The Great (but not yet late Magician duo) have an Showtime TV series called Penn and Tellers Bull****
They don't actually show the name on TV as that would be rude (or again, politically incorrect) even though it's on a subscription channel and only people who have purposely subscribed and choose to tune in can see it. I suppose the reasoning is that everyone who subscribes might have other people or children at their home who might, unsupervised, turn on the TV and see the title sequence.
So, where am I going with all of this? I am going to politics and our national debate on overhauling health care. I watch politicians from both sides talk about what it does or doesn't mean and how it will or won't help and I am feeling shell shocked with all the Bullshit! (oops, I guess I forgot to be pilitically correct).
Newt Gingrich, Sara Palin and many others on the political right warn of "Death Panels" and "Terminating Life" whether or not a person wants to end their life. They tell us we will be forced to give up our current insurance and that we will all be on a government dole and without recourse if we don't like it.
When they are told directly that these type of instances are not written into the legislation and that the President has pointed out over and over again that none of this is true, their answer is "Well, it's not actually in the legislation, but surely that's what they want."
They need to be told that what they are saying is Bullshit! We elected President Obama because we wanted change, and yet the response he gives to the opponents on the right still comes down to politically correct platitudes and responses.
When we watch a movie or a TV series and we see a make believe President of the United States tell someone that they are wrong and their argument is crap, we applaud and laugh and wish our politicians would speak that way...and yet, when they don't and they couch their terms in carefully worded sentences "full of sound and fury and signifying nothing," we change our opinions daily, approval ratings go up and down like a seesaw and we allow the wind from washingtons hot air to fill our sail and move us as it will.
Folks on the right need to start making the argument for or against what they believe in based on facts and if theyu hate something because the democrats thought of it first or changed a codasil in their platform, then say so. I will respect and defend a persons opinion which is truthful and direct far much more than I will someone who couches their belief in half-truths and politically correct platitudes.
And on the left, our President and his people need to get in touch with their own truths and their movement of change. If Sara Palin says "their will be Death Panels", then Obama has to say "That's Bullshit". We need to hear the unvarnished, simplest and most direct truth's from both sides of the aisle and then we need to think for ourselves, be honest with each other and make a choice and stick with it.
Bullshit isn't a pretty word, it sounds ugly and it hurts some peoples senseabilities...But I think it's the kind of word we need right now-along with the truth.
Related Links:
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/5447
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/08/13/2030936.aspx
http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/27248/
http://www.sho.com/site/ptbs/home.do
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/White-House-struggles-to-regain-control-of-the-message-on-health-8103357-53175397.html
Selfishness
Greetings. My name is Chris and I'll be your blogger today (and most days actually). As this is my initial blog I thought I'd talk about a subject that is affecting me right this very minute and that is the topic of selfishness.
Just enough background to make this (and other posts) relevant, I am 48 yr old father of an 8 yr old boy and Uncle to my 11 yr old niece. In a week or two it will be their birthday (3 years and 4 days apart). Today, I thought I'd spend a little quality time with my son; Take him to a movie, maybe lunch or a new video game. Turns out, he wanted a new pair of shoes, some 'Rhino Tough' brand he saw on TV.
Guess what...I didn't have enough money for those. We bought movie tickets, got a snack at the theatre and bought him a new game for the X-Box. He enjoyed the movie and is looking forward to the game but when I asked how he enjoyed the movie, he said, "I don't want to talk to you because I wanted to get those shoes."
Now it's not as if he didn't want the movie and all the other things, he wanted those too. What he got out of our day together was not that we spent time together or had fun, what he got was I couldn't get him the shoes he wanted-as well as all the other stuff.
What bothers me most about this is I am afraid I made him this way. I am selfish too, at least I feel like I am. I want all my toys and doodads; Cell Phone, Laptop, latest PC Game, IPOD, etc... and I don't like to wait if I can help it.
I also like to bring gifts home for my son. If I am out for the day, or shopping at a store, I often see little things or books or a toy or something that I think he would like and often I get it for him.
My wife says I get him too much, I spoil him and I guess today it just sort of hit me between the eyes. I'd like to think that as my son grows older, he will remember me, my thoughts, life lessons I teach him, kindness that I show him. I hope he remembers laughing with me, building a snowman in winter, swimming. I'm just afraid that maybe (almost certainly sometimes) I don't do enough of those things and I do too much of the gifting things.
I'm also concerned that maybe it's not me that is the problem but maybe it is the way of the world. No one writes letters anymore because we don't want to 'wait' for snail mail. We have 150 channels on TV and 'Nothing good is on'.
Every website I visit offers free services and free subscriptions and then 'extra's' for only a little bit more-and we can easily use our credit card because everywhere accepts plastic.
Is that part of this problem too? Are we a world of selfish people who want what we want when we want it and we are not willing to wait or settle for less? I'm not certain I know the answer but I think it's a bit like the legal definition of obscenity..." I don't know what it is but I know it when I see it."
So, is my son already spoiled? Is it too late? Can I learn that I need to take a step back and stop being so selfish myself so that maybe I can teach him to appreciate life for more than just what gifts and toys it can get him? I hope so.
I realize that as a first entry into a Blog, this one isn't amazingly clever or deeply political or insightful into the mysteries of life...But maybe it's just a little insightful into the mysteries of being a good father. I think I need to study that mystery a little more. If you have any comments, feel free to leave them, I read (or I will read) every comment that's left.
Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the web and I'll look for you soon.
