Friday, June 8, 2018

Mozart in the Jungle of False Dichotomies


There is a knee jerk reaction in “the media”, entertainment and, news alike to fall back, start and or, spring off of pretty laced up packages or false dichotomies out of indolence and for effect that is part of the reason why the United States has been hijacked by special interests. Perhaps the greatest dramedy ever on TV, the marvelous Mozart in the Jungle (recently canceled by Amazon after 4 seasons), is a great place to start as an example because of its superb style and themes. Pointing out the erroneous parsing of overall substance morality and justice into a simplistic structure of right and wrong; black or white is the most weighted detriment, besides greed, to every issue. The value and artistic worth of Mozart in the Jungle taps into high art, culture and social responsibilities as well as creative sensibilities perhaps more than any other series has ever done. Jungle dives head first into the value of being human and how each individual struggles to define themselves; spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. The series pounded the idea of how we view ourselves in applying the strengths of character regardless of talent or results based ultimately on our own divinity and humanity. Whether it is your compassion, your efforts, your wisdom, your charm, your kindness or what have you; however you fit into the grand scheme of life your value is measured by as the main character Composer Rodrigo De Souza, played genuinely by Gael Garcia Bernal says, “the blood”. This main running theme equating all in life essentially to its divinity or divine natural earthly value is what makes Mozart In the Jungle such an important series. This type of sincere open heart practical compassionate dreamlike orgasmic lust for life exposing many of its purist desires and serene indulgences is extremely rare in entertainment but Mozart in the Jungle is just cake baby. Like a much needed “in and out” or “shake shack” burger at the end of a long week of managerial repression or corporate exploitation but, like Ice Cube said at the beginning of “Body Count”, “in some place like You know, The Cosby Show, Ozzie and Harriet You know, where Cops come and get your cat outta a tree and all your friends died at old age. But you see.. I live in South Central, Los Angeles And unfortunately... S**T AIN'T LIKE THAT!! It's real f**ked up!”. 

Here come the puppy dog, hippie dippy voices saying, ‘well that’s not what Mozart in the Jungle is about, it’s just an escape from reality and a look at how great musicians live and experience life’ but no; when you’re talking about the essential worth of all life and the value of its applications you have a responsibility to iron out consequential realities or the weight doesn’t hold as long and the kids don’t vote because they’re too happy holding an all access source of entertainment in their hands. As the bohemian argued about Ernest Hemingway’s Old Man in the Sea in that silly comedy “Peggy Sue Got Married” there is no meat on the fish when the old man returns. While his courage and struggle may very well define him he comes home without the fish or the help he needs. The questions and problems he faced are left unanswered. Hemingway, much like De Souza is having too much fun snapping his magical fingers to do the work. The worth of substance is in the reality of its application; its cause and effect. Like Edgar Allen Poe’s “Single Effect Theory” on writing, Mozart in the Jungle masterfully holds on to its theme of divinity in all things for almost every line and scene but it’s all fake and contrived without the conditional triggers, gray areas and painstaking guides we all need to get there ourselves. 

Society of course like Mozart in the Jungle is missing the institutionalized instant triggers which react to our immediate needs. One example as written in my last ignored neglected post, even the majestically beautiful March 24th 2018 March for Our Lives marches on gun control failed to address the need to take out mentally disturbed individuals for isolated treatment. There was no trigger during this campaign to send sociopaths like Nicolas Cruz to a camp somewhere in the jungle, because like the equally beautiful and marvelous dramedy series Mozart in the Jungle; we’re still in a quicksand of dichotomies. It costs too much money to provide proper mental care for students with violent tendencies says the right, while the so called moderates are too afraid to mention it do to poll numbers. 

In sadly the last season of Mozart in the Jungle, unless it’s picked up by another network, an aspiring young drummer can’t afford professional lessons, so our hero the great De Souza takes his shift waiting tables so he can get said free instructions from a pro; the only time surprisingly and immediately discovered available. The young teen drummer is later confronted about his own rebellious draw backs with some welcome tough love by an injured cellist who steps in one day covering for De Souza. She wouldn’t do his shift that day because of his attitude, and that display of angst snapped the kid out of his woe is me doldrums to turn him into a new hero for us. That’s all well and good, the scene brought tears to my eyes but it’s all delivered in a bright red bow marked, fantasy.  The scene got real in the dramatic sense but failed to outline the important social issue of poverty and lack of opportunity. 

People like to add reason and accountability to futile methods and tactics in a world wind of structure based on a lot of BS, gloss and, packaging but practical methods and bullet point steps needed in achieving desperately needed structural changes go mute or worse yet are hidden in undetailed nuance. Like in the great debate between Thomas Paine and Edmund Bruke it’s all left to political or cultural aristocracies dependent on false illusory dichotomies and obscenely neglectful traditions. The problem is not just the basic right vs left, democrats vs republicans, liberals vs conservatives it’s an overall dichotomy of dichotomies found in sub groups as people feel the need to cling to large cliques like blue dog corporate democrats vs progressive liberals, hipsters vs plebeians or “alternate facts” Trumpers vs “moderate” republicans and so on and so forth. The love of easy headlines and one liners has taken over the debate.

Mozart in the Jungle is understandably made for syndication in that the episodes are too short and not drawn to any current news but it’s really a shame we can’t dwell a little more on scenes breathing in the nuances like aroma therapy. Much of the music in the series are just teasers of performances that we will never hear and the moments of contemplation lack important realism or Cinéma Vérité. Perhaps if they ever make a film we’ll get more drawn out goodies that further indulge us in the hipster lives and intriguing musician perspectives as well as get more into the crusts of the problems. The beauty and intensity of the characters are like a drug I need, vicariously living in the realm of timeless art and the worship of a divine art that lives in our most comforting chaste desires. Season 4 ended with an existentialist orgasm realizing the inner workings of identity crisis. Everyone can relate to the psychological struggles of the artist’s failings and complexity. I’ve never loved and wanted to watch a dramedy as much as this one but again; its power to delight and enthrall lacks the consequential reality needed to understand and deal with current necessities much like our media. When we placate the struggles of injustice without exposing the culprits and their deeds; they win and we lose. The power of an immaculate storyline, characters, actors, and expert observance must not play out in vain.

It’s the reliance on our state of mind as progressives that’s displacing our preoccupations. Punditry and faux social media is replacing substance while no one takes issues with immediate concerns. Every day media filler storms love to chat away about the problems with certain mind sets or the changing of current sensibilities when the real issues dragging us down are like massive gashes we are bleeding to death from. One meme recently quipped “inner peace is the new success”, as if complacency with government and corporate exploitation of the truth can’t affect us. We are too busy debating and discussing the nuances of our problems as a society in easily digested dichotomies in order to fill short broadcast news times or quick social media news feeds. The practice of making specific legislative demands or directional and targeting protest pin pointing candidates as laid out in the writing of Saul Alinsky is lost to propaganda for moderates and right wing extremists alike.
Despite being a womanizer, Rodrigo De Souza is a role model of hipster actualization, doing his part in the insanity of corporate dominance with certain bold selfless acts of defiance but the smooth perfect writing of this series much like the best of our network news shows lack the essential drawn out redundancy of truth and justice. When our rule of law or our regulations fail to protect us we must stop what we are doing that entertains and do whatever we can to stop the injustice. De Souza is a super hero, a magical being that talks to Mozart, reflecting and pointing out to all of us the importance of substance in art and life but he like our media fails to describe what in reality is needed. While we may think it’s not their job to direct protest to specific change it’s also not their jobs to normalize our progressive sensibilities. Doing your part on Earth Day or Election Day is meaningless while 30 to 40 percent of the public believe Trump and his republican cohorts’ lies while they attack the environment and the rule of law. As Bono of the great rock band U2 loves to say, “America is an idea”. There is a great reason we love and look to our founding fathers for truth and inspiration. They penned a government by the people for the people in order to allow reason to be the bearer of justice not aristocracy; from the Zen loving hipster left or the fraudulent oligarchic right.



No comments: