Media Anatomy

 As a white cisgender man, I possesses the privilege of being able to see myself reflected in historical media, indeed all media, consistently. This is a privilege many do not possess so I would like to spot like some dream films/shows that could offer a more diverse view of the historical world. 1. Baron Von Steuben was instrumental to turning the tide of the American Revolution. His training of the Continental Army is widely credited with turning them from a motley crew into a seasoned fighting force capable of combatting the British on an even playing field. Steuben was also most likely gay and it is highly likely he engaged in a romantic relationship with fellow officer, Benjamin Walker. Even today, a common myth about Gay men is that they are not strong and indeed to be called "gay" is still an epithet amongst many straight people. Therefore, how better to challenge that preposterous notion than to make a film about the man responsible for molding the first American Army...

 Mulan 2020 had a lot of controversy surrounding its release due to its star expressing support for the authoritarian Chinese Government  and the filmmaker's decision to film in some areas where the Chinese concentration camps for the Uighurs populations are . Beyond all of that, however, there is also the fact that the film is shockingly regressive compared to its animated predecessor which came out 22 years prior. The animated film has a heavy "queer" subtext that is omitted form the live action version. Second, the animated film suggests one can be strong in ways that defy traditional ideas of masculinity. The live action film, however, seems to believe that strength can only come from traditional ideas of masculinity. One of the most powerful scenes from the 1998 film is the song Reflection. When one listens to the lyrics, one can see how they have a far greater poignancy than just being about a woman who does not fit in. Rather they are for anyone who does not fit i...

Whether we like it or not, media is tremendously important to shaping how we see the world. Thus, it is important to value films that upend traditional views of the world and offer us alternatives to how we can conduct ourselves. All That Heaven allows is one of those films. It upends what it means to be an older woman and also what means to be a man in ways that are still timely and still critical.  Our media typically does not portray women as frequently with a 2018 study finding that women made up 35% of the speaking  parts . Perhaps most soberingly it is actually an improvement over 2017 where women made up just 24% of the speaking parts. Furthermore, when we look at our media we rarely see films that deal with domestic problems and the entrapment one can feel when society says one is no longer relevant. A simple google search reveals that many women over 40 feel this particular problem.  We see these issues throughout the film, as Jane Wyman's character, Cary Scott, ...

 "Had he and I but met/by some old Ancient Inn/We should have sat us down to wet/Right many a nipperkin/But ranged as infantry/And staring face to face/I shot at him as he at me/And killed him in his place." These lines come from Thomas Hardy's 1902 poem, The Man he Killed, and offers a commentary on the then raging Boer War. The poem is a rumination on war and how the people who kill one another are not so different. It is that theme that runs throughout the Star Trek episode, Balance of Terror, which over 50 years later still holds up as one of the masterpieces of the Star Trek Franchise.  This theme of recognizing the humanity of our common enemy is apparent right away in the episode with this line by Spock: "Earth believes the Romulans to be warlike, cruel, treacherous, and only the Romulans know what they think of Earth." Through this line, the episode instantly making clear that there is going to be greater nuance in this episode than hunt down the evil mo...

The Rise of the internet has also seen a rise in internet demagogues. People who are predicated on spreading rumors and continually hating on things. The policies they follow are adherent to many of the masters of propaganda. Lenin argued that skillful propaganda is not " calculated . . . to convince [or to] correct the mistake of the opponent, but to destroy him, to wipe his organization off the face of the earth. This wording is indeed of such a nature, as to evoke the worst thoughts, the worst suspicions about the opponent."  (Michiko Kakutani,  The Death of Truth,  136) And it is that rhetoric we see when we look at the internet rhetoric used again and again at say Rian Johnson. It is not enough to dislike The Last Jedi. Instead even Johnson's own name must be destroyed, as a frequent moniker for him is Ruin Johnson. A google search finds endless posts all about Rian Johnson but by referring to him as the name, Ruin Johnson. Indeed there is even an entire twitter...

 I am taking a break from discussing media to write something personal. Life can be brutal and life will give you setbacks. I would argue that is inevitable. What I would also argue, however, is that what truly matters most is how we respond to it. I know this because my high school years were defined by huge setbacks. I was homeschooled until my Junior year of High School and so simply going to school was a tremendous cultural shock for me. The first day I was lost and late to practically every class. By Lunch time I was thoroughly miserable and by the evening I was huddled underneath a blanket whispering to myself repeatedly "I wish I could back in time to when I was seven." High school would only get worse from there. I do not want to act as if there were only bad times because that would be greatly misleading. I did well in my history classes, indeed I got an 115 in my 12th grade history class, and met some excellent teachers who I greatly respected and still enjoy commun...

 Much ink has been spilt about the quality or lack thereof when it comes to the two films, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. This is not one of those articles. This is more of a analysis of how the directors responded to one another and the puzzling fan reactions to those responses.   It is inarguable that the Last Jedi chose to go its own way when it came to key story beats of the Force Awakens as Rian Johnson reportedly threw out JJ Abrams' Star Wars Episode 8 script . Essentially Rian Johnson snatched Abram's toys and said "I want to play this way." Johnson's choosing to ignore Abrams is apparent right away. The Force Awakens ends with a dramatic scene of Rey holding out Luke's lightsaber to him as the force theme plays. Clearly Abrams intended this to be a scene of immense gravitas. In the Last Jedi, however, when we pick up with that scene he has Luke casually throw the lightsaber away. Now, whether one likes that storytelling...

 Animation. It is commonly referred to as if it were a genre when really it is an art form. And one of the most artistic studios working today is LAIKA. LAIKA prides itself on its stop-motion and doing as many things as practically as possible. The result is some of the most stunning animation ever put to film. When we are children and we play with our toys, the worlds come to life for us. We are not confined to our room, but rather we imagine we really are in a magic setting. It is that feeling LAIKA replicates as it creates practical scenes ranging from Asian castles to snowy mountains.  But what truly makes Laika special is that despite their films being ostensibly "kid's films" they have some of the most important themes any piece of media can deliver. One of the central ones is tolerance which is present in both Paranorman, Boxtrolls, and their most recent film, Missing Link. Each of those films teach us not to fear the "other" but rather to support them wh...