The other night there was a special on HBO entitled, "Nine Innings from Ground Zero." It was an excellently compiled documentary dealing mostly with how baseball helped heal the nation, but more specifically, how it helped heal New York after 9/11. I highly recommend it, despite the fact that it was incredibly hard to watch, still only three years later.
Watching it, I wasn't thinking about the two America's we finally recognize light years after we should have. I wasn't thinking about my job security. And I wasn't thinking about the war raging in Irag right now.
I was thinking about those days. I was thinking about how time stopped being fluid then. How the idea of motion, or of forward momentum, seemed to have stopped when the Towers, the Pentagon, and an isolated field began to burn. I dare any of us to revisit that time in our mind and not get lost amid anger, fear, and sorrow. This is not something to be ashamed of, and yet, I think that feeling lies at the root of our problem.
The country experienced an event it could not understand, rationalize, or come to grips with. The most civilized, technological, and 'self-proclaimed' moral society was devastated and there were, are, and will never be an explanation that will suffice to any of us left behind.
Time never continued after that day. We never moved on. We've spent three years searching for answers that no Commission Report will ever hold. And the government, right or wrong, has gone on the defensive.
Some might argue that we've gone on the offensive, waging war in places that might stir up trouble in the future. Rooting our enemies out of holes and caves. I beg to differ.
I think, right or wrong, on some level we have lashed out at visible, weak opponents to try and re-create some sense of power and authority. We have antogonized at times when diplomacy was needed because we needed to reclaim our status as a World power. We stopped focusing on the constant upkeep of the foundation we had built and started paying attention only to protecting what was left.
America was not founded by people that were satisfied simply by protecting their land from attack. It was founded by people who looked at the land they had claimed as there own and said, "We need a school to educate our young, we need houses of worship where anyone can be free to pray to whomever they want, we need a place where we can sell our goods and trade our services to provide for our family, and once we have all of that." The funny thing is that once we had all that, consciously and unconsciously we also built up the strength to protect all that I mentioned. We had intelligent and educated political and business leaders raised in our own schools who valued the idea of a democracy built not only upon the differences between us, but the respect we all need to have for those differences.
This is how a society not only builds itself up, but maintains itself. It is how we once took the road to prosperity and why we are now lost on that same road.
On September 10th, we went to sleep with a world we all sensed we could control. On September 11th, we woke up to a world that we could make no sense of. I think that many people don't realize that yet. I think that much of our country believes that the only way to regain our lost innocence is by fighting, literally, to regain what once was.
In the end, I think you need to remain idealistic. I know how that sounds, and trust me, I see all the signs surrounding us that beg me not to be optimistic. Still, here we are, a group of a dozen or so, engaging in healthy, spirited, political and ideological debate. The post 9/11 world is recognized by different people and different communities in different ways. Nobody in Nebraska can know how I felt as I fled the city that day anymore than I can know how it feels to have farming subsidies cut because more money went to NYC's homeland security budget.
In the end, I find myself more idealistic than I think I've ever been. I know how that sounds, and trust me, I see all the signs surrounding me that beg me not to be so optimistic. Still, what other choice can be made? I could continue and draw the lines for you, but they are right in front of you everywhere you turn these days. Angry liberals. Angry conservatives. Angry moderates. All with only one thing in common. Anger.
I'm tired of sitting by and debating what's right and what's wrong with young, vibrant, educated people who have different beliefs, but share one common, and devastating, opinion. That there is no one left to believe in. It sickens me.
Still, maybe, just maybe if we continue the right debate (economic, health care, defense, education) and ignore the sensationalistic (Vietnam, Flip Floping) we can all find a common ground that gets us back on track. I guess what it boils down to is that I find hope simply in the fact that there are people out there right now, at this very moment, discussing this, not only with me, but with others. Don't stop doing that. You never know whose mind you mind change.
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Sam Rocha thinks this about himself:
"I am a guy who thinks he's pretty smart, but is constantly being reminded that he really isn’t as smart as he thinks he is. So he reverts to cheap tactics like sarcasm, cynicism, false humility, name-calling (also known as "ad hominem" arguments), "your mom" jokes, and logical arguments to combat all the geniuses who perpetually remind him of his intellectual inferiority. Sometimes he gets carried away referring to himself in third person and this seems to annoy the geniuses even more..."
I think he has an interesting blog that tackles issues far and wide:
Debate, Relate, & Pontificate
Friday, October 27, 2006
Sunday, October 1, 2006
Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind
I was asked what my favorite movie of the past few years was today and I was surprised by how obvious the answer came top me.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind came out to rave reviews across the board a few years back. It was smart, funny, and most of all challenging. And that is why it failed at the box office.
When this film came out, I took it upon myself to champion this film, sending out some of what's below to many of my friends to urge them to see the film. Many, if not most of them saw the film and to my delight I was thanked very often for turning them onto the film. One friend so enjoyed the film that he sent me a free movie poster from it that was handed out at his screening. So I didn't change the box office tally, but I know I did make a difference and helped share my thoughts on what I feel is perhaps the best film to be released in the past few years.
To me, a movie experience is a very personal journey. There are countless reasons why I may like a movie that you do not. Some people enjoy science fiction and fantasy, others straight forward drama. Some like westerns, some like post-modern westerns, and some like any western that doesn't include Kevin Costner. Some people enjoy suspending disbelief to imagine a world unlike their own, others believe that it is impossible to enter a video game and still, years later, refuse to watch Tron. My point is that each person's criticism of a movie is generally, but pointedly bias from the start.
With this in mind, when asked my thoughts of movies, I tend to begin with "In my opinion," so that people know that this was my genuine feeling, but not a feeling that I think should be imposed on another. Unless fully antagonized by a movie, and yes one can be, I also tend not to vilify a film or its maker. This behavior of course has been tested more and more recently, as I find that Hollywood has begun to rush films through production, and thus overlooked minor yet significant details such as, for instance, having a story.
This all brings me to the point of this entry, which is to do what I rarely do, which is go out of my way to recommend a movie. This movie is called Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and it stars, amongst others, Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kristen Dunst, and Elijah Wood. This movie, in my opinion, is the most creative and refreshing film that I have seen in quite a few years. Every little detail received attention, from the most subtle acting performances, to the minutia of the set design. While it retains the sensibility of the writer's work (Charlie Kaufman : Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), it shows startling sentiment. I personally liked both movies previously mentioned, but felt unattached, mainly because I could not relate to the characters. I can relate to every character in this film and that is why I found it so engrossing.
Why so engrossing? The story is a very complex and visually stunning look at a very simple idea, which is that the experience of a relationship often means a lot more that the result or its outcome. It's a universal idea, that anyone can find meaning in, whether its is through a broken heart, a failed friendship. or the loss of a loved one. I won't say anything more because the discovery of the movie was a great part of its charm to me. I would hope that some of you may feel the same way.
If you have seen previous films written by Charlie Kaufman, you know that their directors have chosen to mellow the imagry and let the story speak volumes. This is the first film of Kaufman's work that I feel takes the opposite approach, which is to make the vision of the film match the manicness of the script. Each approach is worth admiring, but seeing Michel Gondry's vision on the screen makes it obvious that he made the right choice in being different.
I definitely urge all that missed this film on the big screen to go out and buy or rent the DVD. While I cannot promise that you will enjoy this film as much as I will, I can promise that no film that is on the horizon this year will challenge you or encourage more discussion than this film.
---
With Rotten Tomatoes, you can see a general consensus on the film, which I'm very happy to see if exceptionally positive (93%).
Rotten Tomatoes
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind came out to rave reviews across the board a few years back. It was smart, funny, and most of all challenging. And that is why it failed at the box office.
When this film came out, I took it upon myself to champion this film, sending out some of what's below to many of my friends to urge them to see the film. Many, if not most of them saw the film and to my delight I was thanked very often for turning them onto the film. One friend so enjoyed the film that he sent me a free movie poster from it that was handed out at his screening. So I didn't change the box office tally, but I know I did make a difference and helped share my thoughts on what I feel is perhaps the best film to be released in the past few years.
To me, a movie experience is a very personal journey. There are countless reasons why I may like a movie that you do not. Some people enjoy science fiction and fantasy, others straight forward drama. Some like westerns, some like post-modern westerns, and some like any western that doesn't include Kevin Costner. Some people enjoy suspending disbelief to imagine a world unlike their own, others believe that it is impossible to enter a video game and still, years later, refuse to watch Tron. My point is that each person's criticism of a movie is generally, but pointedly bias from the start.
With this in mind, when asked my thoughts of movies, I tend to begin with "In my opinion," so that people know that this was my genuine feeling, but not a feeling that I think should be imposed on another. Unless fully antagonized by a movie, and yes one can be, I also tend not to vilify a film or its maker. This behavior of course has been tested more and more recently, as I find that Hollywood has begun to rush films through production, and thus overlooked minor yet significant details such as, for instance, having a story.
This all brings me to the point of this entry, which is to do what I rarely do, which is go out of my way to recommend a movie. This movie is called Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and it stars, amongst others, Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kristen Dunst, and Elijah Wood. This movie, in my opinion, is the most creative and refreshing film that I have seen in quite a few years. Every little detail received attention, from the most subtle acting performances, to the minutia of the set design. While it retains the sensibility of the writer's work (Charlie Kaufman : Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), it shows startling sentiment. I personally liked both movies previously mentioned, but felt unattached, mainly because I could not relate to the characters. I can relate to every character in this film and that is why I found it so engrossing.
Why so engrossing? The story is a very complex and visually stunning look at a very simple idea, which is that the experience of a relationship often means a lot more that the result or its outcome. It's a universal idea, that anyone can find meaning in, whether its is through a broken heart, a failed friendship. or the loss of a loved one. I won't say anything more because the discovery of the movie was a great part of its charm to me. I would hope that some of you may feel the same way.
If you have seen previous films written by Charlie Kaufman, you know that their directors have chosen to mellow the imagry and let the story speak volumes. This is the first film of Kaufman's work that I feel takes the opposite approach, which is to make the vision of the film match the manicness of the script. Each approach is worth admiring, but seeing Michel Gondry's vision on the screen makes it obvious that he made the right choice in being different.
I definitely urge all that missed this film on the big screen to go out and buy or rent the DVD. While I cannot promise that you will enjoy this film as much as I will, I can promise that no film that is on the horizon this year will challenge you or encourage more discussion than this film.
---
With Rotten Tomatoes, you can see a general consensus on the film, which I'm very happy to see if exceptionally positive (93%).
Rotten Tomatoes
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